BY TRISTAN SASSE
PHOTO COURTESY OF FHSU ATHLETICS
A season after finishing 12th at the NCAA Championships, a young Fort Hays State Tigers wrestling squad is looking for redemption. In 2016-17, FHSU had a successful season, with four national qualifiers and two wrestlers, Brandon Ball and Jon Inman, being named All-Americans. Fort Hays also finished fourth in the always competitive MIAA Tournament a season ago.
For the upcoming season, Fort Hays was picked to finish third in the MIAA Preseason Coaches’ Poll. Nebraska-Kearney was voted to finish first, with Central Oklahoma close behind. UNK has won the MIAA conference tournament the past five seasons.
In 2017-18, the Tigers will be without Inman due to graduation, who finished as national runner-up at 197 pounds last season and broke the program record for winning percentage (83.4%, overall record of 141-28), but three national qualifiers will be returning (Ball, Greg Tooley, and Christian Lance).
Ball finished the 2016-17 season sixth in the nation and posted an overall record of 38-8 at 141 pounds. Tooley wrestled at 157 pounds and ended the season 27-6. To round out the national qualifiers, Lance wrestled at 285 and finished 44-10.
Micquille Robinson and Rakim Dean are also returning for the Tigers. Robinson (174) and Dean (184) both finished third in the MIAA Tournament last year. Robinson will be wrestling at 184 pounds this season, while Dean moved up to 197.
Additionally, the Tigers have many notable contests to watch for this season. The annual Black and Gold Scrimmage will be held on Thursday, November 2. The regular season officially begins Wednesday, November 8, in Golden, CO with a match against the Colorado School of Mines. Also, on December 3, Fort Hays State will host the FHSU-Bob Smith Open.
FHSU will also compete in the Midwest Duals on January 13 in Kearney, Nebraska against Western State, Colorado State-Pueblo, Chadron State, and Maryville. Other notable dates will be the MIAA Tournament (February 11), NCAA Regionals (Feb. 23), and the NCAA Championships (March 9).