News

Four Eagles qualify four for national tournament

Mar 1, 2008

Josh Majerus of Albion won the 197-pound championship to lead Chadron State at the West Regional Wrestling Tournament hosted by New Mexico Highlands University on Saturday.

Majerus was one of four Eagles to qualify for the NCAA Division II National Tournament by placing among the top four in their weight classes. After posting a pin and a major decision in his first two matches, Majerus defeated Donovan McMahill of Western State 8-5 for the 197-pound title.

The other CSC qualifiers include Brett Hunter of Rushville, who easily defeated his first three opponents, but lost to Zach Lee of Western State in overtime to decide the 165-pound title. It was the second time this season that Lee has edged Hunter in overtime.

The other CSC national qualifiers are Devlon Webb of Omaha, who finished third at 125 pounds, and Jimmy Savala of Clovis, Calif., who was fourth at 133.

Webb earned his third straight ticket to nationals the hard way. He lost his first match, but won the next three. Savala, who suffered an elbow injury in his first match and was forced to default. But he returned to win a pair of tough matches, then defaulted in the third and fourth place showdown to avoid further damage to his elbow.

Two more Eagles, Sam Udell of Colorado Springs at 184 pounds, and Shaine Odell of Camp Crook, S.D., at heavyweight, finished fifth.

Nebraska-Kearney had five champions and won the team title. Western State and Adams State were second and third, respectively, while the Eagles were fourth in the 10-team field.

The National Tournament will be March 14 and 15 at Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The team scores:

1, Nebraska-Kearney, 154; 2, Western State, 129; 3, Adams State, 122.5; 4, Chadron State, 82.5; 5, San Francisco State, 66; 6, Fort Hays State, 49.5; 7, New Mexico Highlands, 46; 8, Colorado School of Mines, 38; 9, Mesa State, 27; 10, Grand Canyon, 15.5.

The Eagles’ results:

125—Chad Lousberg, CSM, dec. Devlon Webb, CSC, 6-1; Webb dec. Daniel Perales, NMHU, 8-5; Webb dec. Eddie Lopez, WSC, 8-5; Webb dec. Michael Abril, UNK, 6-3 for third.

133—Raymond Dunning, ASC, won by injury default over Jimmy Savala, CSC; Savala major dec. Kellen Costelow, CSM, 10-2; Saval dec. Ben Lockett, SFSU, 5-1; Dunning won by injury default over Savala.

142—Josh Hensley, ASC, major dec. Brady Shatto, CSC, 10-2; Keith Johnson, MSC, dec. Shatto 10-5.

149—Max Baker, CSC, dec. Paul Aragon, NMHU, 9-6; Camille Dupont, WSC, pinned Baker; Jimmy Sheets, CSM, dec., Baker 6-4; Josh Nolan, SFSU, dec. Baker 7-6 for fifth.

157—J.D. Thrall, CSC, dec. major dec. Randyu Aguirre, SFSU, 9-0; Joe Ellenberger, UNK, pinned Thrall 1:31; Trey Saxon, pinned Thrall 1:28.

165—Brett Hunter, CSC, tech. fall Christopher Riding, NMHU, 15-0; Hunter pinned Nathan McLain, CSM, 2:29; Hunter major dec. Michael Gallegos, ASC, 10-0; Zach Lee, WSC, dec. Hunter 1-0 in 2 OT for first.

174—Kamarudeen Usman, UNK dec. Willy Jones, CSC, 9-3; Zac Cornett, CSM, dec. Jones 8-7.

184—Paul Sutton, UNK, pinned Sam Udell, CSC, 2:15; Udell dec. Shawn Kuhlman, FHSU, 8-6; Alecxis Lara, SFSU, dec. Udell 6-4; Udell dec. Andrew Laiminger, MSU, 5-4 for fifth.

197—Josh Majerus, CSC, pinned Arman Ostadsharif, SFSU, 4:06; Majerus major dec. Derek Ross, 8-0; Majerus dec. Donovan McMahill, WSC, 8-4 for first.

Hwt—Andrew Skinner, WSU, dec. Shaine Odell 3-1; Odell pinned Bryan Stansbury, CSM; Odell won by injury default over Skinner; Jesse Boggs, NMHU, dec. Odell 6-3; Odell pinned Jeff Schossow, ASC, 2:32 for fifth.