ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Fort Hays State dropped its third straight dual meet to ranked opponents, suffering a 26-12 defeat to the No. 4 ranked Maryville University on Sunday (Jan. 31). The Tigers never held a lead and the closest score was an early 6-6 tie.
After FHSU dropped the first two matches by decision (Kregg Clarke at 165 pounds and Dylan Wiesner at 174 pounds) to go down 6-0, the No. 6 wrestler at 184 pounds Jon Inman knotted the dual by pinning Maryville’s Nick Burghardt at the 3:25 mark.
Maryville went on to win the 197-pound bout with a major decision (18-4) by the No. 2 wrestler Ryan Beltz over Cash Drylie, then followed up with a 9-6 decision from the No. 5 wrestler at 285 pounds Donnell Walker over Dakota Gulley pushing back in front 13-6.
At 125 pounds, Adam Ludwin brought the Tigers back within four by defeating Jaret Singh with a 9-6 decision, but the gap widened again as No. 5 Dakota Bauer scored a technical fall (18-1) over the Anthony Calderon at 133 pounds. Noah Killip (141) kept the Tigers alive with a 7-1 decision over Keygan Foster, bringing the score to 18-12 in favor of Maryville.
That was all the Saints allowed as they won the next two matches with back-to-back major decisions by James Krischke (149) and Greg Hegarty (157) to seal the victory by the score of 26-12. William Homalon (149) lost 16-8 and Joey Dozier (157) lost 10-2.
The Saints improved to 1-1 overall on the season and the Tigers went to 5-5 overall. The Tigers look to bounce back in an MIAA match in Hays, Kan. against Central Missouri on Wednesday (Feb. 3). It will be senior night at Gross Memorial Coliseum as the dual is the final home event of the season.