WICHITA, Kan. — After a wild two-week stretch of action, the Newman wrestling team had nearly a week off since Sunday's Kansas Cup, but that won't make its next task any easier, as the Jets travel to face No. 5 Nebraska-Kearney in an MIAA dual at 7 p.m. Saturday.
SCOUTING NEWMAN
The Jets (1-6, 0-3 MIAA) may be hitting their stride after seeing their competitions spaced out last week. A tough 29-12 loss at the hands of Central Oklahoma was followed up by the team's best performance of the season at the Kansas Cup, where four Jets won titles and eight of Newman's nine wrestlers earned spots in the top six.
Junior Dustin Reed ran his record to 20-1 on the season with a dominating day at 125 pounds, senior Colton Duhr picked up two falls and a major to move to 13-7 on the year and win the title at 157, freshman Heath Gray added two majors and his win in the 174 championship pushed his overall mark to 21-9, and sophomore Dalton Weidl recorded two falls to run his winning streak to nine straight bouts to win at 197.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
The Lopers (12-2, 3-0 MIAA) turned in a pair of MIAA victories last week, going on the road to beat Fort Hays State 23-15 and Central Missouri 37-10. Those two wins ran their streak to six straight, which included comfortable wins over ranked teams in Colorado State-Pueblo and Western State. Those are two of the seven nationally-ranked teams the Lopers have faced in dual meets this year, with their only two losses coming to No. 4 Pitt-Johnstown and No. 8 Upper Iowa.
UNK features a solid lineup, with eight of its 10 wrestlers ranked in the latest D2wrestle.com Super Region 4 rankings. Connor Bolling (125) is a two-time MIAA champion and qualified for the NCAA tournament a year ago. Devin Aguirre (165) is a returning All-American, while Romero Cotton (197) and Daniel DeShazer (133) are both three-time national finalists and two-time champions.
IN THE RANKINGS
Newman comes in at No. 11 in the Super Region 4 rankings and is receiving votes nationally from D2wrestle, and is 18th in the latest Basford rankings. Reed continues to top the region at 125, and bumped up one spot to No. 2 nationally by D2wrestle and is third in the Basford ranks. Ryan is honorable mention at 184 by Basford, and Gray is ranked fifth in the region by D2wrestle.
The Lopers are the top-ranked team in Super Region 4, and fifth nationally. DeShazer and Cotton are both ranked first in the country at their weight class, while Bolling comes in sixth in the country and second—right behind Reed—in the region. Chase White (157) and Aguirre are each ranked second in the region, while Keith Surber (141) is fourth, and Calvin Ochs (174) and Luke Peterson (285) are both sixth.
HISTORY
UNK has controlled the all-time series between the two sides, winning all six meetings.
COVERAGE
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