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What a great day for the Mavs. Wrestling wins back to back National titles. All three UNO wrestlers that won national titles are back next year. Can you say threepeat? UNO women finished fifth at NCAA Indoor Track Championships. UNO womens swimming finished ninth at Nationals and the Hockey team won its playoff series and is headed to the JOE in Detriot. The Mens basketball team did have a crushing defeat but IMO does not take away from one of the best years in school history and another conference title. Kind of quiet and the rabbitt front this weekend other than an arse kicking by the Husker baseball team. Oh well it"s all about the expereince anyway, right?????????
Mavs#1
P.S. I agree with Coach Denney that winning national titles never gets old.
They were the team that was supposed to win it this year.
The team with everybody back from the 2004 national champions.
The team with a home-mat advantage as the host of the 2005 NCAA Division II wrestling championships.
The UNO Mavericks came through to repeat as national champions as Patrick Allibone (157) and J.D. Naig (165) captured their first individual titles and Les Sigman (heavyweight) earned his third before a boisterous crowd of 3,500 fans Saturday night at UNO's Sapp Fieldhouse.
"This is very, very special," UNO Coach Mike Denney said. "Winning national titles never gets old because it is very difficult to do this. Our kids turned in an outstanding performance."
Second-ranked UNO clinched the title after the second-to-last match when No. 8 Corey Jacoby of Shippensburg edged No. 2 Tim Boldt of Augustana 5-3 in the 197-pound final. The Mavs won the title last year when Sigman won in the tournament's last match.
The No. 2 Mavericks recorded their second straight superb Saturday performance at nationals to overtake No. 1 Augustana. The University of Nebraska at Omaha finished with 109.5 points, 8.5 ahead of the Vikings. UNO senior Eli Dominguez (141) placed second.
"UNO wrestled really well," Augustana Coach Jason Reitmeier said. "They wrestled with a lot of heart. It's hard to cheer against a team that wrestles like that."
The Mavericks won their fourth national team title overall and third championship under Denney, who also guided UNO to championships in 1991 and 2004. The Mavs also won nationals in 1970.
"One of the toughest things to ever do is defend your title," UNO Athletic Director David Herbster said. "We were a little behind in the team race after the first day, but we showed great poise to come back. And Mike Denney, he is just unbelievable. What a great teacher."
UNO led by 4.5 points entering the finals, but Augustana cut the lead to half a point when Aaron Graumann (125) won his first national title. After Dominguez's setback, the Mavs responded with back-to-back wins by Allibone and Naig to build the lead to 8.5.
Augustana cut the lead to 3.5 when Tom Meester (184) won by major decision in the finals, but Boldt fell short and UNO clinched the title.
UNO overcame its share of adversity in an injury-filled season where it lost a late-season dual to Augustana and placed second to the Vikings at regionals.
Key contributions in the wrestlebacks by UNO senior Dustin Tovar (125) and sophomore Steve Conlin (174) also boosted the Mavs. Tovar finished third and Conlin placed seventh.
The No. 4 Allibone, a sophomore who was second at nationals last year at 149, was locked in a 2-2 tie with Findlay's Angelo Vettese before riding him the entire third period to earn the title. Allibone cranked Vettese to his back in the closing seconds for a three-point near fall to win 6-2.
"I can't even explain how this feels," said Allibone, who never won a state title. "It is the sweetest thing ever. It is so satisfying."
The No. 1 Naig, a sophomore who was third at nationals as a freshman, neutralized the athletic Dwayne Coward of North Carolina-Pembroke 10-5 in the finals. Coward was ranked second.
"Winning this hasn't sunk in yet," Naig said. "Our crowd was just awesome. They provided us a huge boost."
The No. 1 Sigman, a junior, downed No. 6 Chris Tuscherer of Minnesota State-Moorhead by an 18-4 major decision in the final round.
"I knew I had to come out aggressively," Sigman said. "It's definitely great to do it again."
The No. 4 Dominguez was thrown to his back early when No. 5 Thad Benton of Pitt-Johnstown executed a five-point move in the first period. Dominguez closed within 6-4 in the third period, but could not draw any closer.
• Team scoring: UNO 1091/2, Augustana 101, Minnesota State- Mankato 771/2, Pitt-Johnstown 731/2, Findlay 65, Nebraska-Kearney 541/2, UNC Pembroke 521/2, Shippensburg 511/2, Mercyhurst 481/2, Adams State 451/2, Central Oklahoma 351/2, San Francisco State 351/2, Ashland 34, Central Missouri
Mavs#1
P.S. I agree with Coach Denney that winning national titles never gets old.
They were the team that was supposed to win it this year.
The team with everybody back from the 2004 national champions.
The team with a home-mat advantage as the host of the 2005 NCAA Division II wrestling championships.
The UNO Mavericks came through to repeat as national champions as Patrick Allibone (157) and J.D. Naig (165) captured their first individual titles and Les Sigman (heavyweight) earned his third before a boisterous crowd of 3,500 fans Saturday night at UNO's Sapp Fieldhouse.
"This is very, very special," UNO Coach Mike Denney said. "Winning national titles never gets old because it is very difficult to do this. Our kids turned in an outstanding performance."
Second-ranked UNO clinched the title after the second-to-last match when No. 8 Corey Jacoby of Shippensburg edged No. 2 Tim Boldt of Augustana 5-3 in the 197-pound final. The Mavs won the title last year when Sigman won in the tournament's last match.
The No. 2 Mavericks recorded their second straight superb Saturday performance at nationals to overtake No. 1 Augustana. The University of Nebraska at Omaha finished with 109.5 points, 8.5 ahead of the Vikings. UNO senior Eli Dominguez (141) placed second.
"UNO wrestled really well," Augustana Coach Jason Reitmeier said. "They wrestled with a lot of heart. It's hard to cheer against a team that wrestles like that."
The Mavericks won their fourth national team title overall and third championship under Denney, who also guided UNO to championships in 1991 and 2004. The Mavs also won nationals in 1970.
"One of the toughest things to ever do is defend your title," UNO Athletic Director David Herbster said. "We were a little behind in the team race after the first day, but we showed great poise to come back. And Mike Denney, he is just unbelievable. What a great teacher."
UNO led by 4.5 points entering the finals, but Augustana cut the lead to half a point when Aaron Graumann (125) won his first national title. After Dominguez's setback, the Mavs responded with back-to-back wins by Allibone and Naig to build the lead to 8.5.
Augustana cut the lead to 3.5 when Tom Meester (184) won by major decision in the finals, but Boldt fell short and UNO clinched the title.
UNO overcame its share of adversity in an injury-filled season where it lost a late-season dual to Augustana and placed second to the Vikings at regionals.
Key contributions in the wrestlebacks by UNO senior Dustin Tovar (125) and sophomore Steve Conlin (174) also boosted the Mavs. Tovar finished third and Conlin placed seventh.
The No. 4 Allibone, a sophomore who was second at nationals last year at 149, was locked in a 2-2 tie with Findlay's Angelo Vettese before riding him the entire third period to earn the title. Allibone cranked Vettese to his back in the closing seconds for a three-point near fall to win 6-2.
"I can't even explain how this feels," said Allibone, who never won a state title. "It is the sweetest thing ever. It is so satisfying."
The No. 1 Naig, a sophomore who was third at nationals as a freshman, neutralized the athletic Dwayne Coward of North Carolina-Pembroke 10-5 in the finals. Coward was ranked second.
"Winning this hasn't sunk in yet," Naig said. "Our crowd was just awesome. They provided us a huge boost."
The No. 1 Sigman, a junior, downed No. 6 Chris Tuscherer of Minnesota State-Moorhead by an 18-4 major decision in the final round.
"I knew I had to come out aggressively," Sigman said. "It's definitely great to do it again."
The No. 4 Dominguez was thrown to his back early when No. 5 Thad Benton of Pitt-Johnstown executed a five-point move in the first period. Dominguez closed within 6-4 in the third period, but could not draw any closer.
• Team scoring: UNO 1091/2, Augustana 101, Minnesota State- Mankato 771/2, Pitt-Johnstown 731/2, Findlay 65, Nebraska-Kearney 541/2, UNC Pembroke 521/2, Shippensburg 511/2, Mercyhurst 481/2, Adams State 451/2, Central Oklahoma 351/2, San Francisco State 351/2, Ashland 34, Central Missouri
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