Morningside Athletics
Mark Adkins, Sports Information Director
SEWARD, NEB. – The big picture was in sharp focus Thursday, Feb. 7.
While a led from the beginning, two-fall included 27-12 victory over previous Great Plains Athletic Conference unbeaten Concordia University was exciting for Morningside College and its fans, head coach Jake Stevenson, his staff and team were looking forward to what could lie ahead.
“It’s awesome (for the program) to get a part of the conference dual championship,” the Maroon head coach admitted. “However, at the end of the night, our coaching staff and the guys are excited for the way we’re competing going into the conference tournament/regional meet.”
“We’ve really gotten it going (over the last two competitions),” he added. “The guys are wrestling confident and executing.”
Those facets showed themselves early and often inside CU’s Walz Human Performance Center. With a Senior Night crowd buzzing for the Bulldogs’ shot to run the loop table, a span of three straight wins, led by the upperclassman trio of seniors Lane Nichols (Hornick, Iowa) and Dakota Drenth (Hartley, Iowa) and junior Kyle Fowler (Elk Point, S.D.) took the wind of the home crowd’s sails. Nichols11-5 win over Kyle Carey at 141 gave Mside a 12-3 advantage, while Drenth, setting a new program mark for falls (45), caught Cameron Devers on the edge for a pin, and Fowler followed suit with a pin against Keanu Tom for a commanding 24-3 lead.
“It was special for Dakota (to get the record) in this situation,” Stevenson pointed out. “He set his sights on that this year and was able to stay within the big picture plan we had for him while reaching it.”
Morningside, improving to 8-7 overall and 7-1 in the league, got the dual started on the right foot. Senior 197-pounder Caleb Deemer (Palmer, Alaska) ran his win string to fourth with a 10-6 thriller over Darrin Miller, and sophomore heavyweight Phil Rasmussen (Luxemburg, Wis.) became the third member of the 20-win club, upending No. 10-ranked Michael Stann 3-0. Senior 125-pounder Keegan Hessler (Scottsbluff, Neb.) moved his win skein to six with a hard-nosed 2-0 victory over Mario Ybarra to make the count 9-0.
The Mustangs join the rest of the conference at Northwestern College’s Bultman Center Saturday, Feb. 16, for the 2019 league tourney/regional meet.