Today in Golden, Colo., the Lopers scored 141.5 points to beat out Fort Hays State (109.5) and Western State (103.5) for the team trophy.
The field consisted of nine teams, including a first year program (Mesa State) and RMAC-affiliated member San Francisco State and Hays.
Winning their weight classes as No. 1 seeds were senior Trevor Charbonneau (125 lbs.), junior Brett Allgood (133 lbs.) and junior Tervel Dlagnev (Hwt.). All three are repeat winners.
Junior Joe Ellenberger was seeded 2nd at 157 lbs. and recorded pins in the semifinals and finals to make his first trip to the RMAC meet a memorable one. The Omaha native is now 39-9 on the year.
Making the event finals and finishing 2nd were sophomore Matt Farrell (184 lbs.) and redshirt freshmen Taylor May (165 lbs.) and Kelsey Empting (197 lbs.).
Empting was the 2nd seed his class with May fourth. Farrell was No. 1 but saw his 24-match win streak end when he lost to 2nd-seed Jared Deaguero of Adams, 6-4, in the finals.
Of Farrell's (29-4) four losses this year, two have been to Deaguero.
Senior Matt True (22-9), the 2nd seed at 149 lbs., will be making his fourth straight trip to the NCAA meet as he beat top seed Mikel Delk of Hays to finish third. Finally, junior Jeff Rutledge, the top seed at 141 lbs., makes a return visit to the NCAA's thanks to a win in the "true" fourth place match.
Rutledge (23-15) was upset in the second round and then lost in the consolation bracket. However, he won the fifth place match by forfeit and then beat Virgil Lockett of San Francisco State, 6-2, to give UNK a ninth qualifier.
Wahoo sophomore Paul Sutton, who came into the meet with only four matches under his belt, was seeded 2nd at 174 lbs. He won his first bout but lost three straight matches by one point to finish sixth.
Dlagnev was named the RMAC Wrestler of the Year, thanks to his 45-1 record. He had an easy day, having one pin and two forfeit victories.
Allgood also had a dominating day, recording two majors and a pin to move to 26-5 on the season.
Charbonneau (26-8), who moved into the nation's top spot earlier this week, beat the RMAC Freshman of the Year, Arsenia Barksdale of Adams, 7-3, in the finals. Barksdale is 2nd in the national rankings.
May (Imperial) pulled off one of the bigger upsets in the tournament. Coming in with a 13-15 record, he beat top seed Zac Lee of Western, 3-1 in sudden victory, in the semifinals. It's his second win over Lee, ranked 4th nationally, this year.
Empting (24-14) got to the finals with a major and a fall before falling to top seed, and No. 1 nationally, Casey Woodall of Adams, 5-1.
Finally, head coach Marc Bauer was named RMAC/West Coach of the Year. It marks the sixth time he has won the award.
UNK will host the NCAA Championships March 9-10. Brackets for the event will be released early this week.
Final Team Scores
UNK 141.5
Hays 109.5
Western State 103.5
Adams State 92.5
Chadron State 91.5
San Francisco State 48
Mesa State 24.5
Colorado School of Mines 24
N.M. Highlands 23
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