FHSU Sports Information Department
Fort Hays State wrestling heads to Gunnison, Colo., this weekend for the NCAA Division II West Super Regional, held Friday and Saturday (Feb. 26-27). The top four finishers in each weight class will advance to the NCAA Championships two weeks later (Mar. 11-12).
The Tigers are returning two third-place finishers, Jon Inman (184) and Bradley Little (149), and one fourth-place finisher, Noah Killip (141), from the 2015 regional.
The No. 6 wrestler at 184 pounds, Jon Inman looks to build on of his fantastic 2015-16 season. Inman has put together an overall record of 32-1, and an NCAA Division II record of 19-0. Inman is also considered the third-most dominant wrestler in Division II according to a release by the NCAA on Wednesday (Feb. 24). The criteria for the most dominate wrestler awards points to each wrestler based on their victories such as, falls, technical falls, major decisions and decisions, and divides them by the number of victories within the same division of competition. Inman is averaging 4.68 points with nine falls, six decisions, three major decisions, and one technical fall. Inman currently sits behind Pittsburgh-Johnstown’s 184 pounder Travis McKillop (5.33 pts) and Tiffin’s 285 pounder Garrett Grey (4.73 pts).
Bradley Little looks to improve on his 21-7 overall record as he enters the weekend regional. Little started the season at 157 pounds where he put together a 9-5 record before taking over at 149 pounds where he has gone 12-2 in his last fourteen matches.
Noah Killip has seen limited time on the mat due to injuries this season, but has still managed a very respectable 14-3 record and has won his last seven matches against Division II opponents.
Regional Notes
13 NCAA team championships, Central Oklahoma (7), UNK (3), Western State (2), and San Francisco State (1)… 11 wrestlers are ranked in the top five in the nation in their respective weight classes:
#1 Daniel DeShazer (133) and Romero Cotton (197) both from Nebraska-Kearney.
# 2 Dustin Reed (125) Newman.
# 3 Martin Ramirez (133) Adams State and JaCobi Jones (157) CSU-Pueblo.
# 4 Corbin Bennetts (141) Western St., Drew Schumann (149) Colorado Mesa, Chase White (157) Nebraska-Kearney, and Joe Fagiano (285) California Baptist.
# 5 Austin Harris (174) Western St., and Jacob Waste (184) California Baptist.
Five ranked teams: No. 5 Nebraska-Kearney, No. 9 California Baptist, No. 11 Colorado Mesa, No. 14 Western State (Colo.), and No. 18 Central Oklahoma.
Below is a list of teams competing in the NCAA Division II West Super Regional.
Adams State
#9 California Baptist
#18 Central Oklahoma
Chadron State
# 11 Colorado Mesa
Colorado School of Mines
Colorado State-Pueblo
Fort Hays State
#5 Nebraska-Kearney
New Mexico Highlands
Newman (Kan.)
San Francisco State
Simon Fraser (B.C.) Canada
#14 Western State Colorado