JD Rader
raderjd@lopers.unk.edu

The Loper wrestling team was split up this weekend with six members wrestling in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational and the rest competing at the Bob Smith Open in Hayes, Kansas. 

With over 100 nationally ranked Division I wrestlers competing, the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational is one of the hardest wrestling tournaments of the year. UNK was one of only two non-Division I teams competing. 

The six Lopers competing in Las Vegas were second ranked redshirt Josh Portillo (Clarion, Iowa), top ranked redshirt junior Wesley Dawkins (Lincoln), Teontae Wilson (Kearney), Tyler Cunningham (Gretna), top ranked Matthew Malcom (Glenwood, Iowa), and Lee Herringotn (Kearney).

UNK picked up a combined four victories. 165-pounder Malcom picked up victories over Sam Dover of Oklahoma and Richard Stamm of Hofstra, 141-pounder Wesley Dawkins pinned Brody Lamb of Northern Colorado, and 125-pounder Portillo earned a 17-0 technical fall over Benny Martinez of Cal Poly.

“This is an extremely tough tournament,”  Malcom said. “But that’s why we’re so good at the Division II level. We come to tournaments like this and wrestle the toughest Division I teams. We didn’t put very many wins on the board this weekend, but everyone that came out here will be better because of it.”

Second ranked redshirt senior Jarrod Hinrichs (Geneva), redshirt junior Jonathan Killingsworth (Lincoln), sophomore Terrel Garraway (Lenexa, Kan.), and redshirt sophomore Andrew Demos (Lake Villa, Ill.) all finished in second place at the Bob Smith Open.

In his first competition of the season, heavyweight Hinrichs bonus-pointed his way into the finals with a major decision and a fall before dropping his finals match 8-5 to Wyatt Hendrickson of Air Force Prep.

Demos also bonus-pointed his way to the finals. The 197-pounder picked up three falls in just over 12 minutes of wrestling before dropping his finals match by pin to Tereus Henry of Fort Hays State. 

Killingsworth, a 141-pounder, came close to bonus-pointing his way to the finals. He won his first two matches by technical fall and major decision before winning 10-5 and then losing in the finals 6-1.

Competing at 174 lbs., Garraway won four matches, two coming by pin, before dropping a 6-3 decision in the first place match.

Redshirt freshman Nick James (Kearney) and Wyatt Hayes (Scott City, Kan.) both picked up four wins for the Lopers while competing unattached. 

“We came out here and we fought hard,” assistant coach Zach Ondrak said. “We’ve definitely got some things to work on, but the guys competed well.”