ST. CHARLES, Mo. — Continuing to show itself as a sturdy tournament side, the Newman wrestling team put forth its best showing at the MIAA Championships since joining the league, placing four in the top four and getting a champion for a second straight year as Dustin Reed captured the 125-pound title.
While Reed doubled the Jets' total number of conference champions in the first championship bout of the night, Colton Duhr gave Newman its first MIAA tournament with multiple finalists, putting together an excellent day to finish second at 157.
Dalton Weidl made it three medalists with a third-place finish at 197, and Garrett Whitson tallied a fourth-place finish at 141. Together, with four of the Jets' six wrestlers in attendance placing, Newman finished in fifth place with 34.5 team points.
"I think everyone's starting to wrestle the way they need to be," coach Ryan Smith said. "We had four guys place and a big upset with Colton Duhr beating the No. 4 guy in the country. There's a couple guys that need to step up by the time we get to the regional tournament in a couple weeks, but we're heading in the right direction."
Reed snapped up two steady victories to run his individual winning streak to 19 and put his overall record for the year at 25-1. The junior gave up a takedown for the first time since November, but responded by dominating the rest of the way in a 5-2 win over Fort Hays State's Adam Ludwin in the semifinals at 125 pounds.
He followed that up with another rematch, grabbing the first takedown against Central Oklahoma's Zac D'Amico and building riding time from the start to earn a 4-0 win and pick up his first postseason tournament title. For his performance both Sunday and all season, Reed was named the MIAA Wrestler of the Year.
Duhr came up with possibly the biggest upset of the tournament when he locked up a semifinal victory over Nebraska-Kearney's Chase White, who came in to the day as the top seed and the No. 4 wrestler in the country at 157. Down 3-2 with less than 20 seconds to go and needing a takedown, the junior went straight at White, locking up a double-leg and taking White straight to his back for the lead and two insurance points on a nearfall.
That came after Duhr planted Central Missouri's Zane Heiter in 2:39 in the first round. He fought off two tough takedown attempts from UCO's Jeromy Davenport in the first period of the final to head to the second scoreless, but Davenport was able to turn him from the top early in the second to record the fall and give Duhr the silver medal.
A pair of wrestlers bounced back from losses in the championship bracket to secure place finishes as well.
Whitson bounced back from dropping his opening match to eventual runner-up Jared Mestas of Lindenwood to win two straight consolation bouts. The first came by injury default while Whitson was leading in the first period, and he powered back from behind to top Central Missouri's Caleb Crabtree in the consolation semifinals. A loss to UCO's Joshua Ailey in the consolation final put Whitson in fourth place after a 2-2 day.
Weidl responded nicely to suffering a loss to UNK's two-time national champion Romero Cotton in the 197 semifinals, not giving up in his consolation semifinal against UCM's Robert Schneider. Despite going down 7-2 in the second period and having to fight off his back, the sophomore was able to lock up a cradle and stick Schneider in 4:42. That momentum continued into the third-place match, where Weidl grabbed a takedown in the second period to help bring home a 4-3 win over UCM's Grant Sparks.
Noel Torres and Forlanda Parker each went 0-2 on the day, while injuries and illness kept regular starters Jake Gentzler, Heath Gray and Kyle Ryan out of the lineup. The Jets get two weeks off before heading to the Super Region 4 tournament in Gunnison, Colorado Feb. 26-27.
Newman Results
125
Dustin Reed
Quarterfinal: Reed received a bye.
Semifinal: Reed dec. Adam Ludwin, FHSU, 5-2.
Final: Reed dec. Zac D'Amico, UCO, 4-0.
141
Garrett Whitson
Quarterfinal: Jared Mestas, LU, mdec. Whitson 11-1.
Cons. Rd. 1: Whitson won by inj. def. over Jacob Kay, FHSU.
Cons. Semi: Whitson dec. Caleb Crabtree, UCM, 11-6.
Cons. Final: Joshua Ailey, UCO, pinned Whitson 0:14.
149
Forlanda Parker
Quarterfinal: Bradley Little, FHSU, tech. fall Parker 17-1.
Cons. Rd. 1: Parker received a bye.
Cons. Semi: Colton Orlando, LU, pinned Parker 3:53.
157
Colton Duhr
Quarterfinal: Duhr pinned Zane Heiter, UCM, 2:39.
Semifinal: Duhr dec. Chase White, UNK, 6-3.
Final: Jeromy Davenport, UCO, pinned Duhr 3:33.
165
Noel Torres
Quarterfinal: Isaac Deaton, UNK, dec. Torres 6-1.
Cons. Rd. 1: Torres received a bye.
Cons. Semi: Daniel Carillo, UCO, mdec. Torres 10-2.
197
Dalton Weidl
Quarterfinal: Weidl received a bye.
Semifinal: Romero Cotton, UNK, pinned Weidl 1:36.
Cons. Semi: Weidl pinned Robert Schneider, UCM, 4:42.
Cons. Final: Weidl dec. Grant Sparks, UCM, 4-3.
