Kearney, Neb. -- The Central Missouri Mules wrestling squad had five placewinners between the Elite and Amateur Divisions at the University of Nebraska-Kearney Open. Zadac Lankford (141) not only was first in the Amateur Division, but was also named the Outstanding Wrestler of the division. Robert Schneider (197) was fifth, with the most pins in the Amateur Division, and Evan Young (157) was sixth. Malacai Collins (125) was a runner-up at the Elite level, while Josh Thomson (165) finished third.
Lankford had an 11-6 decision win over Beau Blackham (Colorado State) to start the day. He pinned Joshua Miller (Chadron State) at 2:36 in next match. Lankford then won by 13-11 decision against Will Stelzlen (Central Oklahoma) to advance to the finals, where he beat Mason Brownlee (Augustana) by 10-7 decision.
Collins did not allow Javier Vieyra (Augustana) to score a point in his first match of the tournament, winning by 6-0 decision. He took his second match at 5-1 over Lawson Ludwin (Fort Hays State), Collins is 2-1 against Ludwin in his career. In the finals, Connor Bolling (Nebraska-Kearney) took the championship match with a 5-2 decision.
Thomson had major decisions in this first two bouts. He won at 13-3 against Bradyn Neises (Augustana) and then by 10-1 over Jeremy Deizer (Air Force). Thomson his toughest opponent of the day in the third round, No. 1 Chris Watson (Central Oklahoma). Watson didn't allow a point, and won by major decision, 10-0. Thomson followed the loss with two pins, first at 2:35 against Tim Weber (Augustana) and then at 2:00 against Bryce Lewis (Fort Hays State).
Dalton Weidl (Newman) had a 6-4 decision over Schneider in the first round of the day. Schneider then pinned Kyle Hoffman (Doane) at 3:18 and Skyler Hittle (Fort Hays State) at 2:33 to follow. He had a 10-7 decision against Brandon MacKearney (Chadron), and then won by fall over Austin Beaman (Colorado-Pueblo) at 1:45. Beau Henson (Colorado-Pueblo) pinned Schneider at 0:25 in his sixth bout of the day, followed by a win by fall at 0:41 over Zach Thomson.
Young won his first three matches of the day, but fell short on the back side of the bracket. He had a 3-2 decision against Austin Chauncey (Nebraska-Kearney) and a 14-5 major decision against Cooper Self (Midland). In his last win of the day, he did not allow a point in the 2-0 win over Jesse Martinez (New Mexico), but then lost by decision to Logan Peterson (South Dakota) and Phil Young (Colorado-Pueblo)
Dec. 4 will be the next time the Mules compete. They will host Central Baptist, the match will begin at 7 p.m. in the UCM Multipurpose building.
