Best In the Midwest

Saturday, January 17

Kearney, Neb.

7:00 AM

California Baptist University

Lindenwood

1/17/2015 5:18:00 PM | Wrestling

By: Andrew Shortall, Asst. Sports Information Director

KEARNEY, Neb. – After a split at Tracey Borrah dropped California Baptist University out of the NCAA Division II top-20, the Lancers had something to prove coming into the UNK Midwest Duals Saturday.

Not only did they prove something, the Lancers may have shocked the wrestling world. CBU came into the day receiving votes in the D-II rankings and responded by defeating two nationally-ranked teams and several nationally-ranked wrestlers en route to a 4-0 day. On the year, CBU is now 10-4, 4-2 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.

Wins were not only in great supply, but there was no drama in the matter, as CBU won all four duals by a combined score of 123-35. The Lancers started the day with a huge 31-7 win over 10th-ranked Lindenwood, then picked up 31-6 and 35-9 wins over RMAC-foes Adams State and New Mexico Highlands, respectively, before ending the day with a 26-13 victory over No. 15 Fort Hays State.

Overall, CBU went 30-10 in its 40 matches Saturday. Three Lancers – Matt Hickman (149), Nolan Kistler (157) and Jacob Waste (184) – went 4-0 on the day. Christian Betancourt (125), Peter Cunningham (141), Paul Head (197) and David Dill (285) went 3-1. Betancourt, Cunningham and Head also picked up wins against nationally-ranked opponents from Lindenwood.

From the first match, it was clear it was going to be a good day for the Lancers. Betancourt defeated Lindenwood's Marco Tamayo, the sixth-ranked 125-pounder in Division II, with a 4-3 decision.

The Lions came back to take a 4-3 lead after the 133 bout, but CBU embarked on a 16-0 run sparked by Cunningham pinning the fifth-ranked 141 pounder in Division II, Kyle Web, just 38 seconds into the action.

Hickman, Kistler and Alec Smith (165) built on the momentum to give the Lancers a 19-4 lead. After a Lindenwood win at 174, CBU closed the dual with three more wins. Waste and Dill had decisions of 8-2 and 3-2, respectively, but Head came up with arguably the biggest win of the day, defeating the Lions' Kenny Beaux, the No. 3 197-pounder in the division, with a pin at the 1:26 mark.

Against Adams State, CBU started in a 3-0 hole but used a 19-0 run from there to take over. A forfeit at 133 led into a 12-5 win from Cunningham, followed by another major from Hickman, 11-2, and a pin from Kistler. The Grizzlies paused the run with a victory at 165, but the Lancers finished on a 17-0 spurt.

Christian Smith (174) started it with an 8-3 decision and Waste clinched the victory with a 16-0 technical fall. Head got his second pin of the day and Dill posted a 9-4 decision.

The Lancers jumped out to a 15-6 lead against New Mexico Highlands after a pin from Betancourt and decisions from Cunningham, Hickman and Kistler. After a Cowboy win at 165, Christian Smith and Jacob Waste logged consecutive major-decision wins, leading to the Lancers ending the dual with back-to-back pins from Head and Dill.

CBU got off to another great start and 21-3 lead against 15th-ranked Fort Hays State. A forfeit at 133 and 4-0 Betancourt win gave the Lancers the first nine points of the dual, and Hickman and Alec Smith sandwiched a Kistler decision win with technical-fall victories.

The Tigers snapped the run with a victory at 174, but Waste logged an 11-1 major win to give the Lancers an insurmountable 21-6 lead with two matches to go as they closed out the dual.

Looking to keep the momentum going, CBU travels to Colorado School of Mines for an RMAC dual next Friday, followed by the Colorado School of Mines Open on Saturday.