College Post Season Coverage

KEARNEY, Neb. - All the talk before the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships was how even the top handful of teams were.

Much of the talk on Friday night started to shift to how many points Central Oklahoma was going to win by.

The third-ranked Bronchos have jumped out to a commanding lead and took a big step toward winning their seventh Division II national title with a strong performance Friday at the University of Nebraska at Kearney's Health & Sports Center.

The Bronchos, the nation's No. 1 team at the beginning of the year, moved closer to ending it on top Friday night after advancing seven wrestlers into the semifinals. Central Oklahoma piled up 70 points, 14.5 ahead of top-ranked Nebraska-Kearney. The Bronchos also have another competitor still alive in the wrestlebacks.

"Momentum is such a big thing in a tournament like this and we just got on a roll today and it hasn't stopped," said Central Oklahoma heavyweight Josh LeadingFox, who became the team's seventh semifinalist. "We have seven in the semis - that's just amazing. We're having so much fun right now and this team has really come together. It's been a great day, a great day for Central Oklahoma."

Nebraska-Kearney closed the gap a little bit on UCO with a strong finish to end Friday night's session with 55.5 points. The Lopers have three in the semis and five others who have clinched All-American status.

"I don't know if it's a surprise what UCO did," UNK coach Marc Bauer said. "They got on a roll and it was hard to stop. They had an awesome day. They have eight All-Americans and we have eight All-Americans. Tomorrow morning will be real interesting obviously."

Second-ranked Minnesota State-Mankato was in third place with 45.5 points. The Mavericks, the North Regional champions, have three wrestlers in the semifinals and two others alive.

"I'm extremely disappointed with our performance," MSU-Mankato coach Jim Makovsky said. "It's been a crazy day with upsets all over the place. I didn't know if any team was going to get on a roll like Central Oklahoma did. The potential was there and I was hoping it was going to be us. I think we had the opportunity, but I think we did the opposite of getting on a roll.

"We just have to focus on the five guys we have and try to come back strong tomorrow."

Three-time defending national champion and No. 4 Nebraska-Omaha stands in fourth place with 37.5 points. The Mavericks have three in the semis and just one other wrestler who will finish in the top eight. UNO returning All-American Ross Taplin (165) went 1-2 and did not place. Taplin placed third nationally last year and was ranked No. 1 briefly this season.

UNO had four freshmen and three sophomores among its eight national qualifiers.

"We just couldn't quite get that consistency and get everything clicking the way we needed to," UNO coach Mike Denney said. "We need to do a better job as coaches to make sure our guys are ready to wrestle. We had some guys do some good things, but we didn't quite get the overall consistency we needed."

The semifinals are set for Saturday morning with the finals scheduled for Saturday night.

Central Oklahoma senior Jared Henning (133) provided the early spark in the first round with a 7-5 overtime upset over defending national champion Brett Allgood of Nebraska-Kearney. Henning reached the semis as did freshman Tyler Zukerman at 125. Henning and Zukerman both finished fourth in the regional tournament and now they're both in the national semifinals.

"Those two guys at 125 and 133 gave us a great spark and provided us with a springboard in both rounds today," UCO coach David James said. "Those guys have done a great job. For us to have a chance, we needed stuff like that to occur. I'm very proud of those guys for the job they did."

James said his team has to come back with another strong performance Saturday.

"It's not over - this is just the first day," James said. "I've been around long enough to realize that a lot of crazy things can happen in this tournament. We need to be ready to go again tomorrow."

Two-time national champion and top-ranked J.D. Naig (174) of Nebraska-Omaha racked up over three minutes of riding time in a convincing 7-2 quarterfinal win over No. 3 Zach Shafer of Mercyhurst. Shafer is a past NCAA runner-up.

Naig, a senior from Emmetsburg, Iowa, is now a four-time All-American. He will face Western State's eighth-ranked Larry Wilbanks in the semifinals.

"J.D. is special - he's really special," Denney said. "He seems to always wrestle his best this time of year - he's perfected it."

Chadron State's Brett Hunter (165) knocked off defending national champion Nate Baker of Minnesota State-Moorhead 4-2 in the quarterfinals.

Minnesota State-Mankato suffered a tough loss to start the quarters when All-American and third-ranked Nick Smith (125) was caught and pinned in the third period by Chris Neidermeier of Belmont Abbey. The match had been tied 2-2. Second-ranked Travis Elg of Mankato also was pinned in the quarters, by West Liberty State's Doug Surra at 141.

Top-ranked Casey Woodall of Adams State dropped a 7-1 quarterfinal decision to No. 4 Nate Buys of Augstana at 197. Top-ranked Mike Corcetti (184) of Pitt-Johnstown fell 3-2 to No. 2 Jared Deaguero of Adams State in the quarters.

Other past NCAA champions still alive to win another title include Findlay's Andy Uhl (133) and Antonio Guerrera (157), and Wisconsin-Parkside's Brad Becker (157). Uhl won in 2005 and Guerrera won a title at 149 last year.

2007 NCAA DIVISION II CHAMPIONSHIPS
SEMIFINAL PAIRINGS
125
Tyler Zukerman (Central Oklahoma) vs. Arsenia Barksdale (Adams State)
Chris Neidermeier (Belmont Abbey) vs. Trevor Charbonneau (Nebraska-Kearney) 

133
Joe Kemmerer (Kutztown) vs. Shane Perkey (Indianapolis)
Jared Henning (Central Oklahoma) vs. Andy Uhl (Findlay)

141
Steven Fittery (Shippensburg) vs. John Gamble (Upper Iowa)
Kyle Evans (Central Oklahoma) vs. Doug Surra (West Liberty State)

149
Todd Meneely (Nebraska-Omaha) vs. Shea Timothy (Central Oklahoma)
Jason Rhoten (MSU-Mankato) vs. Mike Rogers (Carson-Newman)

157
Jason Leavitt (Central Oklahoma) vs. Brad Becker (Wisconsin-Parkside)
Joe Ellenberger (Nebraska-Kearney) vs. Antonio Guerra (Findlay)

165
Eric Lakia (Ashland) vs. Brett Hunter (Chadron State)
Zach Lee (Western State) vs. Andy Pickar (MSU-Mankato)

174
Cody Henriksen (Augustana) vs. Michael Jackson (Indianapolis)
J.D. Naig (Nebraska-Omaha) vs. Larry Wilbanks (Western State)

184
Mark Murphy (Shippensburg) vs. Austin Boehm (Nebraska-Omaha)
Jared Deaguero (Adams State) vs. Jared Hess (Central Oklahoma)

197
Josh Majerus (Chadron State) vs. Nate Buys (Augustana)
Michael Fowler (Pitt-Johnstown) vs. Ryan Phillips (Upper Iowa)

Hwt.
Jason Groller (Shippensburg) vs. Josh LeadingFox (Central Oklahoma) 
Brady Wilson (MSU-Mankato) vs. Tervel Dlagnev (Nebraska-Kearney)

SATURDAY, MARCH 10 SCHEDULE
10 a.m. - Session III, Semifinals, wrestlebacks, consolation finals
7:15 p.m. - Session IV, Finals