Western State’s Donovan McMahill tries to take down Augustana’s Tyler Copsey. Photo by Matt Pfiffner, The Predicament.

KEARNEY, Neb. – The close race everyone expected has become a reality at the NCAA Division II Championships.

Entering Saturday night’s championship finals, top-ranked Nebraska-Omaha is in the lead with 90.5 points. Second-ranked St. Cloud State is in second place with 86.5 points.

The Mavericks, seeking their third straight national title, have three finalists in Mario Morgan (141 pounds), Ryan Pankoke (174) and Aaron Denson (184). Morgan placed second in this event last year and Denson was NCAA runner-up in 2009.

UNO is seeking its sixth title in the past eight years.
  
“We’re hanging in there,” UNO coach Mike Denney said. “We haven’t been as sharp as we’ve been, but our kids have stayed in there and battled. We’ve actually had the lead after each session. You have to give St. Cloud a lot of credit for the way they’ve wrestled and come back. It is two days and four rounds, and we’ve got another round where we have to perform in the finals.”

St. Cloud State has finalists in John Sundgren (157) and Jake Kahnke (285). The Huskies are seeking their first national team title.

The finals are scheduled for 7 p.m. at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.

Augustana, after going 1-5 in Saturday’s semifinals, has fallen out of title contention with 81.5 points. The Vikings were seeking their first national title after second-place finishes in 2005 and 2010.

UNO received a huge spark from sophomore George Ivanov, who won five straight matches after losing first round. The top-ranked Ivanov, second in this event last year, finished third at 157.

Returning champion Donovan McMahill of Western State outlasted 2010 runner-up Tyler Copsey of Augustana 5-3 in overtime in the semifinals at 197.

Returning national champions Jay Sherer of Augustana (141) and Bryant Blanton of Newberry (184) suffered semifinal losses.

Sherer was caught and pinned in just 17 seconds by Nebraska-Kearney’s Dalton Jensen, an NCAA Division I qualifier for Iowa State last year.

Blanton dropped a 5-3 decision to Western State’s Charlie Pipher in the semis.

TEAM SCORING AFTER SESSION III
Nebraska-Omaha 90.5, St. Cloud State 86.5, Augustana 81.5, Upper Iowa 62, Newberry 60, Western State 60, Nebraska-Kearney 54.5, Grand Canyon 54, Wisconsin Parkside 43, Minnesota State Mankato 31.5, Pitt-Johnstown 31.5.

SATURDAY NIGHT’S FINAL MATCHUPS

125 POUNDS
Trevor Franklin (Upper Iowa) vs. Alex Meger (Augustana)

133 POUNDS
Todd Wilcox (Grand Canyon) vs. William Young (Newberry)

141 POUNDS
Mario Morgan (Nebraska-Omaha) vs. Dalton Jensen (Nebraska-Kearney)

149 POUNDS
Nick Walpole (Indianapolis) vs. T.J. Hepburn (Nebraska-Kearney)

157 POUNDS
John Sundgren (St. Cloud State) vs. Dillon Bera (Wisconsin Parkside)

165 POUNDS
Michael Lybarger (Findlay) vs. Zack McKendree (Gannon)

174 POUNDS
Luke Rynish (Wisconsin Parkside) vs. Ryan Pankoke (Nebraska-Omaha)

184 POUNDS
Charlie Pipher (Western State) vs. Aaron Denson (Nebraska-Omaha)

197 POUNDS
Mitch Knapp (West Liberty State) vs. Donovan McMahill (Western State)

285 POUNDS
Jake Kahnke (St. Cloud State) vs. Matthew Mueleners (Northern State)