After qualifying all 10 wrestlers for the Division II National Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana for the second time in school history, the UNK wrestling team won their fifth team national championship and their first since 2022.
UNK dominated the scoring, and wrapped up the team title before the individual championship matches took place. The Lopers tallied 115 points, which was 52 more than the second place finisher. Their margin of victory is the sixth best in the national meet all time.
UNK wrestling coach Dalton Jensen said with sending 10 wrestlers to nationals, he felt good about his team’s chances.
“I think this was the right crew,” Jensen said. “By that point margin, if you would ask me that, there’s no way I would’ve bet that in a million years.”
While the Lopers won the team title, UNK had no individual winners. The Lopers had eight All-Americans, which are awarded to anyone who finishes in the top eight.
Jensen said the goal was to get as many All-Americans as possible, but going 0-10 on individual champions was tough.
“We were close in a couple and put three in the finals,” Jensen said. “That’s just the way it happens sometimes. A lot of those matches were really close so you gotta be grateful for what you got. To walk away with the national title and bring it back to Kearney, couldn’t be more happy.”
Out of the eight All-Americans, UNK had three runner up finishers. Sixth-year Nick James at 149 pounds, redshirt senior Jacob Deal at 174 pounds and redshirt sophomore Zach Ourada at 125 pounds all finished as the runner up in their weight classes.
James had returned to wrestling after serving the beginning part of the year as a coach.
“When I got the opportunity, it was pretty easy to say yes,” James said. “I wanted to win a lot (individually), but that’s just the competitor in me. I stepped away last season and was content with my career so this year was kind of just a bonus. My only goal was to bring home that trophy we’ve got here, so pretty happy about that.”
Ourada, who is now a second time All-American, said he watched the 2022 national title as a senior in high school.
“I remember watching and was like I want to be a part of that,” Ourada said. “We all do it for each other. Individually, I love it, but I do it more for them just because they’re my best friends for life.”
Other top eight finishers featured redshirt junior Hector Serratos at 133 pounds who finished in fifth place, redshirt sophomore Joseph Airola finished in fourth place at 141 pounds, redshirt senior Jacari Deal was an eighth place finisher at 184 pounds, redshirt junior Jackson Kinsella placed third at 197 pounds and redshirt junior heavyweight Crew Howard fought back after losing his first round matchup and finished in fourth place.
It is the first All-American honors for Serratos, Airola, Jacobi and Jacari Deal. It is the second All-American honor for Ourada, Kinsella and Howard. James finished his season earning his fourth All-American honor.
Jensen said looking back on the season and how his team peaked at the right time is truly a blessing.
“I think historically we’ve been a team that peaks at the right time and March is what we’re focused on,” Jensen said. “There’s been a lot of times that we haven’t gotten that squad together till maybe late January or early February. This year it didn’t happen until the regional, it was the first time we got those ten guys on the mat at the same time. Starting from the regional tournament, those guys proved this was the right squad.”
