A crowd of 1,513 watched UNK improved to 13-1 by beating a powerful Bronchos (12-4) team that has been ranked No. 1 for most of the season.
Senior Trevor Charbonneau (Clay Center, Kans.) started the night off with a 5-1 win at 125 lbs. He recorded a late takedown in the second period to grab a 3-0 lead.
UCO was primed to pull off an upset at 133 lbs. as veteran Jared Henning (24-5) had a takedown and a near fall in the first period.
Henning easily could've had a fall and given UCO a huge momentum swing but Allgood (Bennington), for nearly a minute, managed to keep his back just off the mat.
Things quickly turned the Lopers way as Allgood managed to pin Henning early in the second period. The four-time Nebraska state champ is now 32-1 vs. Division II competition as a Loper.
At 141 lbs., junior Jeff Rutledge (Lincoln East) almost gave top-ranked Kyle Evans (25-0) his first loss of the year but Evans used a second period escape to score the only point of the match.
UNK quickly got back the momentum as True (Mitchell) used a takedown with around 15 seconds left in the second period to upset 4th-ranked Shea Timothy, 2-1, at 149 lbs.
Ellenberger (Millard South) then gave UNK a 15-3 lead when he had a take down and a two-point near fall in the final 20 seconds of his match to stun top-ranked Jason Leavitt, 5-1.
The Bronchos managed to win the next two weight classes but sophomore Matt Farrell (Skutt Catholic), ranked 3rd nationally at 184 lbs., pushed his win streak to 19 in a row by jumping out to a 4-0 lead over 4th-ranked Jared Hess.
Farrell (24-3) was taken down twice in the final frame but still won 6-4.
Another tight match would go the Lopers way as redshirt freshman Kelsey Empting (Ponca City, Okla.), ranked 8th at 197 lbs., used an escape in the third period to edge veteran Heath Jolley, 3-2.
In maybe the most anticipated match of the night, top-ranked heavyweight Tervel Dlagnev (Arlington, Texas) battled 2nd-ranked Josh LeadingFox.
The long time rivals have had several classic battles over the last two years and nothing changed tonight. Each wrestler recorded an escape and the match went into overtime tied at one.
After a scoreless one minute period, both Dlagnev and LeadingFox recorded an escape in the 30 second periods. The match almost continued but Dlagnev managed a takedown with one second showing on the clock in the second sudden victory period.
Dlagnev improves to 38-1 and has with 22 matches in a row.
UNK hosts New Mexico Highlands tomorrow night.
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