• Photo Showcase: NCAA Division II National Championships

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It's probably no longer a question of if.

The better questions are how many (individual champions) and by how much (margin of victory).

UNO appears headed for its second straight NCAA Division II wrestling national championship, and its fifth in seven seasons.

The Mavericks sent seven wrestlers to the semifinals during first-round and quarterfinal sessions Friday at Sapp Fieldhouse, and they have another still in contention for third place. Only third-place Augustana, with four semifinalists and two in the consolation bracket, comes close.

Before a two-session total of 4,234, the University of Nebraska at Omaha churned out 57 points, far ahead of second-place St. Cloud State's 32.5 and Augustana's 29.5.

Mav wrestlers went 10-0 in the first round, 7-3 in the quarterfinals, and 1-2 in the consolation bracket.

“That's pretty good,” UNO coach Mike Denney said. “You take that most days.”

But Denney also had to fight hard to hide the disappointment of seeing both 174-pounder Aaron Denson and 184-pounder Austin Boehm eliminated in consolation matches.

“We really thought we'd have a good shot at 10 All-Americans,” Denney said.

Instead the Mavs will settle for eight, and probably the school's seventh national title, six of them in Division II.

Second-ranked and unbeaten 133-pounder Cody Garcia improved to 47-0 by pinning his two opponents in a combined 2:42 as he works toward a third overall individual championship.

“I was able to get out there and wrestle my matches and conserve some energy, which is nice,” said Garcia, who has 31 pins this season.

Also reaching the semifinals for UNO were third-ranked 141-pounder Mario Morgan, third-ranked 149-pounder Esai Dominguez, fourth-ranked 157-pounder George Ivanov, third-ranked 165-pounder Ryan Pankoke, third-ranked 197-pounder Jacob Marrs and second-ranked heavyweight Elijah Madison.

Terrell McKinney, who beat seventh-ranked Russell Weakley of North Carolina-Pembroke before a 5-4 loss to No. 4 Tyler Mumbulo of Upper Iowa, is still in contention for third place at 125.

“We've got eight bullets, eight guys who can really do well,” Denney said. “But this team is so close that Aaron and Austin not being All-Americans could affect them. They've got to look forward.”

In one of Friday night's top matchups, top-ranked UNK 174-pounder Marty Usman beat Denson, the runner-up last year at 165, 2-0.

Denson was leading 4-3 in the final minute of his ensuing consolation match against Cody Rowell of Central Oklahoma, but gave up five points on a reversal and near fall.

Boehm appeared to be knocked out in a loss to Minnesota State-Mankato's Aaron Norgren, with the match ending immediately after Norgren slammed Boehm to the mat. Boehm had won two previous matches with Norgren this season.

“To have seven in the front (semifinals) is big, but watching Aaron and Austin going down, former national finalists, is tough,” Marrs said. “But we're still doing all right.

“You look at who's starting us off in the semifinals tomorrow (Garcia) … he'll get us going in the right direction and we'll be fine.”

While Garcia cruised, top-ranked Shane Valko (25-1) of Pittsburgh-Johnstown struggled to a 9-8 tiebreaker win over sixth-ranked Todd Wilcox of Grand Canyon.

“It was the (133) match right before me, and I almost didn't want to watch it,” Garcia said. “But he wrestled a good kid. I'm not going to look into it too much. I've still got one match (today) before I have to worry about anybody on the other side of the bracket. I'll let them fight it out.”

The 141-pound division came wide open for Morgan. While the top two wrestlers were upset, Morgan steamed toward a semifinal matchup with Central Missouri's Cory Bloodgood. Bloodgood beat No. 5 Brady Schneeberger of Minnesota State-Moorehead and No. 2 Josh Hensley of Adams State to get there, but he's been pinned in less than one minute in both prior meetings with Morgan this season.

Augustana's Jay Sherer, a seventh-ranked senior from Columbus, Neb., knocked off top-ranked Andre Harrison 2-1 in a tiebreaker on the other side of the bracket to reach the semifinals.

“It was just an adrenaline rush,” Sherer said. “He'd beaten me earlier in the year, and coach gave me a game plan and it worked.

“Being here is like wrestling in my own backyard. I grew up wrestling in the Sapp Fieldhouse.”

Dominguez faces fourth-ranked Nate Herda of Augustana in one semifinal. Another UNO-Augustana semifinal is Marrs against second-ranked Ty Copsey of Glenwood, Iowa, at 197.

“He beat me on Senior Night at home, so I was peeking ahead to the semifinals if anything,” Marrs said. “I'm definitely not looking past him.”

Ivanov beat Augustana's fifth-ranked Marcus Edgington on a takedown with two seconds left for a 3-1 win.

Ivanov said he thought Edgington had been stalling. “I knew if I just kept wrestling that I would break him mentally,'' Ivanov said.

Garcia said the Mavs understand what they've done so far, but also knows they aren't finished.

“For us to get this many into the semis is remarkable,” Garcia said. “It's quite an accomplishment, and we should be proud of it. But at the same time we're not going to settle for it. We've got high expectations for our team.”

Contact the writer:

444-1027, rob.white@owh.com

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