InterMat: Inside info from the N.W.C.A
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Adams State Green-White
The White team won four straight and six of the last seven matches as they tripled-up the Green team, 21-7 in Adams State College's annual Green & White Wrestling Dual, Wednesday night in Plachy Hall.
Junior Josh Marquez (Bakersfield, Calif.) closed out the sizeable victory as he pinned freshman Collin Backlund (Taylorsville, Utah) just two minutes and 31 seconds into the final match, a 197-pound/heavyweight affair.
Although that was the capstone to the night, the White team had plenty of other highlights as they overcame an early 4-0 deficit to take a 12-4 lead.
A.J. Alexander (Pueblo, Colo.) put the Green squad ahead with a 12-4 major decision win over Kevin Schmitt (Arlington, Texas) in a 133-pound match. Alexander, a Pueblo Central High School product, redshirted in 2006-07 while Schmitt moved took over the starting role late in the season.
White answered right back as Raymond Dunning (Nashville, Tenn.) bested Arsenia Barksdale (Norfolk, Va.) in a battle of All-Americans. Dunning, a 2005 All-American who redshirted last season, is ranked seventh in the Division II National Wrestling Coaches Association Preseason Poll at 133 pounds and used a first-period takedown to take a 2-1 lead.
Barksdale, a returning All-American at 125 pounds, gave up a penalty point for fleeing the mat in the second period and trailed 4-1 before escaping to begin the third. However, Dunning scored a takedown and late near fall to record the win in one of the most anticipated matches of the night.
White continued the momentum as Omar Gonzalez (Monte Vista, Colo.) dominated Nick Dionisio (Greenwood Village, Colo.) in a battle of 2006-07 redshirts at 141 pounds. Gonzalez trailed 3-2 in the first period but scored a reversal to take the lead.
He then racked up five near fall points and another reversal the rest of the way en-rout to a 12-5 decision that gave the White team the lead for good.
With a 6-4 advantage, redshirt freshman Josh Hensley took a 4-2 win over returning All-American Joey Deaguero (Commerce City, Colo.) in a 141/149-pound match. Hensley, an undefeated state champion as a senior at Alamosa High School, redshirted in 2006-07 but took control of the match in the third period with a reversal of Deaguero, who finished sixth at the NCAA Division II National Championships last year.
That victory gave White a 9-4 lead before Noomis Jones (Arvada, Colo.) squeaked out a 5-4 win over Mike Gallegos (Alamosa) of the Green team in a 157-pound affair. Jones, ASC's 149-pounder last year, trailed 3-2 after three minutes before equalizing the match with a second period escape.
Gallegos, who qualified for the national tournament in 2007, then went back up 4-3 with an escape of his own before Jones claimed the win with a takedown in the waning moments.
Green finally got back on the board as Dan Intlekofer (Fort Collins, Colo.) took a 6-3 win over White's Joe Kelso (Monte Vista, Colo.). Intlekofer, who missed all of 2006-07 with an injury, trailed 3-2 after the first two periods but stormed back to claim the win that cut Green's deficit to 12-7.
Senior Evan Copeland (Las Cruces, N.M.) then used three takedowns to record a 6-4 decision over redshirt freshman Brandon Morris (Nucla, Colo.) in a 174/184-pound match. Copeland, a 2-time All-American at 165 pounds, is ranked fifth nationally in that weight class to begin the year.
With the dual already sealed up, Marquez then capped the evening. A 2-time California Junior College Championship placer, while at Bakersfield College, Marquez will contend with Jeff Schossow (Fort Morgan, Colo.), who is finishing up the football season, for the starting heavyweight job.
The Grizzlies, who are ranked fourth in the national poll, begin their regular season on Saturday as they compete in the Wyoming Cowboy Open. Action in Laramie, Wyo. is slated to begin at 9 a.m.
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