Dlagnev becomes the inaugural winner of the award, sponsored by the NCAA Division II Wrestling Coaches' Association and voted on by eight regional representatives from around the country.
Each of the four regions nominated a candidate, with West Region nominee Dlagnev receiving seven first-place votes and finishing with 31 points to beat runner-up Kyle Evans of Central Oklahoma and the Midwest Region. Minnesota State-Mankato's Jason Rhoten was the North Region representative and Dan Scanlan of Limestone the East nominee.
Dlagnev, a native of Arlington, Texas, went a perfect 38-0 this season with 16 falls, six major decisions and five technical falls. He captured his second straight national championship with a 4-1 finals win over Central Oklahoma's Dustin Finn that enabled UNK to edge MSU-Mankato by a mere half-point for the team crown.
A four-time West Region champion, Dlagnev finished with a school-record 167 wins. He put together a phenomenal 167-19 career record that included 55 falls, 38 major decisions and 10 technical falls and he was 87-1 his last two years.
Dlagnev became just the fourth four-time All-American in UNK history with national tournament finishes of sixth-second-first-first. Also a four-time Wrestling Coaches All-Academic pick, Dlagnev was selected for the 2008 NWCA All-Star Classic and will continue his wrestling career on the international level.
He was a fourth-place finisher in the Senior Men's Freestyle Division at the U.S. National Championships in 2007 and won the prestigious Sunkist Kids International Open last fall.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now