The Bronchos, who had a 15-year run of regional championships ended with last year's third-place finish, rolled to a dominating 33.5-point victory in the team race while advancing nine of their 10 individuals to the national tournament March 10-11 in Findlay, Ohio.
Evans (141), Hess (174) and Finn (285) won three matches each to take individual crowns, with UCO also getting runner-up finishes from 125 Shane Caruthers, 149 Shea Timothy and 165 Cort Petersen. Also qualifying for the national meet were third-place finishers Earl Jones (133) and Jason Leavitt (157) and fourth-placer Heath Jolley (197), while 184 Kenny Meredith failed to advance after taking sixth.
The No. 3-ranked Bronchos finished with 138.5 points to easily outdistance runner-up No. 12 Wisconsin-Parkside's 105-point total. No. 18 Findlay was third in the nine-team tourney with 88 points, followed by No. 7 Ashland (86.5) and No. 14 Truman State (74).
"We came here with the intention of qualifying all 10 guys for the national tournament and came up a little short of that, but it was still a good day," UCO coach David James said. "We won some tight matches that we had to have and really had some individuals step up today.
"We put ourselves in position for the national tournament and now we've got to work hard the next two weeks to get ready."
Evans won his second straight Midwest Regional title with a repeat win over Central Missouri State's Wade Kilgore, scoring a third-period fall. Evans broke a 2-2 tie with a takedown and two-point near-fall in the second period, then escaped early in the third period and took Kilgore to his back to get the fall at the 5:29 mark.
Hess capped a dominating tournament with a 17-4 major decision of Indianapolis' Mike Jackson to earn his first national tournament berth, scoring five takedowns and two near-falls in that rout.
Finn took his title with a methodical 7-3 triumph over CMSU's Dan Moore, getting a takedown in each period to secure the win.
Caruthers fell in the finals to Ashland's Mike Compton 5-2, Timothy dropped a 4-2 decision to Findlay's Tony Guerra and Petersen had a 14-match winning streak ended with a 15-3 loss to Blake Peterson of Truman State.
Jones came back from a semifinal loss with two consolation wins, taking third with a tight 3-2 win over Jesse Emery of Ashland, while Leavitt rebounded from a quarterfinal loss with three straight wins in finishing third. Caruthers made the finals with two decisions, topping Indianapolis' Jimmy Nichols 5-1 in the first round and slipping past Allen Stokes of Truman State 8-5 in the semifinals. He got a takedown and two-point near fall in the final minute to clinch the win over Nichols and secure a national tournament berth.
Evans rolled to a 19-3 technical fall in his opening-round match before needing a riding time point to edge Ashland's Zach Meisner 5-4 in the semis. Evans led 3-1 after the first period and was up 4-2 in the third when Meisner scored a late takedown, with Evans' 2:55 riding time advantage giving him the match-winning point.
Timothy also rolled in his opener with a first-period fall then overcame an early 2-0 deficit for an 8-3 semifinal victory over Charlie Pingleton of Indianapolis. Timothy had an escape and takedown to take a 3-2 lead after the first period, then pulled
away with a reverse in the second and takedown in the third.
Petersen had an 11-1 major decision in the first round before getting a pair of late takedowns in a tough 7-5 win over Adam Morris of Findlay in the semifinals. Petersen's takedown at the first-period buzzer gave him a 2-0 lead, but Morris came back to take a 6-5 lead in the final minute of the match before Petersen got the match-winning takedown with 18 seconds left.
Hess had no trouble advancing to the finals, scoring a third-period fall in his opening match and then piling up 9-2 third-period lead in the semis when Ashland's Clint Carmony was forced to default because of injury.
Finn stormed to a 9-2 win in his first match then pinned Indianapolis' Joey Navarro at the 4:39 mark to make the finals. He broke a scoreless tie on an escape five seconds into the second period then threw Navarro to his back for a quick fall with 21 seconds left in the stanza.
MIDWEST REGIONAL
Team Scores
1.Central Oklahoma 138.5; 2, Wisconsin-Parkside 105;
3, Findlay 88; 4, Ashland 86.5; 5, Truman State 74; 6,
Central Missouri State 71.5; 7, Carson-Newman 60.5; 8,
Indianapolis 51; 9, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville 1.
Championship Finals
125: Mike Compton, AU, dec. Shane Caruthers, UCO, 5-2.
141: Kyle Evans, UCO, pinned Wade Kilgore, CMSU, 5:29.
149: Tony Guerra, Findlay, dec. Shea Timothy, UCO, 4-2.
165: Blake Peterson, TSU, major dec. Cort Petersen, UCO, 15-3.
174: Jared Hess, UCO, major dec. Mike Jackson, Indy, 17-4.
285: Chris Finn, UCO, dec. Dan Moore, CMSU, 7-3.
Consolation Finals
133: Earl Jones, UCO, dec. Jesse Emery, AU, 3-2.
157: Jason Leavitt, UCO, dec. Dustin Teeman, TSU, 8-2.
197: Ryan Kirst, AU, dec. Heath Jolley, UCO, 7-3.
Fifth Place
184: Matt Allen, AU, dec. Kenny Meredith, UCO, 3-2.
Championship Semifinals
125: Caruthers, UCO, dec. Allen Stokes, TSU, 8-5.
133: Shane Perkey, Indy, dec. Jones, UCO, 3-2.
141: Evans, UCO, dec. Zach Meisner, AU, 5-4.
149: Timothy, UCO, dec. Charlie Pingleton, Indy,
165: Petersen, UCO, dec. Adam Morris, Findlay, 7-5.
174: Hess, UCO, by injury default over Clint Carmony, AU, 6:24.
197: Plamen Paskalev, CMSU, pinned Jolley, UCO, 0:56.
285: Finn, UCO, pinned Joey Navarro, Indy, 4:39.
Championship First Round
125: Caruthers, UCO, dec. Jimmy Nichols, Indy, 5-1.
133: Jones, UCO, pinned Dan Keller, TSU, 6:24.
141: Evans, UCO, tech. fall Alex Cate, C-N, 19-3 (4:23).
149: Timothy, UCO, pinned William Forrest, CMSU, 2:38.
157: Stephen Humphrey, C-N, dec. Leavitt, UCO, 4-2.
165: Petersen, UCO, major dec. Aaron Brooks, Indy,11-1.
174: Hess, UCO, pinned Jacob Petri, SIUE, 6:15.
184: Matt Allen, AU, dec. Meredith, UCO, 8-3.
197: Jolley, UCO, dec. Steve Doeschot, TSU, 6-0.
285: Finn, UCO, major dec. Matt Craig, TSU, 10-2.
Consolation First Round
184: Meredith, UCO, dec. Jeremy Hudson, CMSU, 3-2.
Consolation Quarterfinals
157: Leavitt, UCO, major dec. Mike Horton, Indy,11-2.
184: Meredith, UCO, major dec. Daniel Midgett, SIUE,17-4.
Consolation Semifinals
133: Jones, UCO, pinned Kent Pierson, C-N, 0:59.
157: Leavitt, UCO, dec. Angelo Vettesse, Findlay, 4-2.
184: Nate Jones, C-N, tech. fall Meredith, UCO, 16-1.
197: Jolley, UCO, dec. Justin Tazzi, Findlay, 6-3.
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