Central Oklahoma snapped St. Cloud State’s 77-match winning streak last year at the National Duals. Last weekend, the Huskies returned the favor with a 19-16 win over the Bronchos, ending UCO’s 25-match winning streak and winning the tournament. 

In the final dual of the weekend, St. Cloud State and UCO each won five matches, with the Huskies securing bonus points at 125 pounds and 197 pounds to give them the edge in the team score. With the dual on the line and top-ranked 197-pounder Dalton Abney taking the mat, the Bronchos seemed primed to rally back for the win, but the returning national champion suffered an apparent ankle injury midway through the first period and, although he was able to continue, he lost 9-0 to #7 Dom Murphy. 

"We had a lot of chances to win the dual and just came up a little short," Central Oklahoma coach Todd Steidley said. "I thought our guys fought hard, but we lost a few matches that could have gone either way and Dalton's injury certainly didn't help our situation.”

Outside of the championship dual, there were great head-to-head team and individual matchups giving wrestling fans a chance to see how top teams perform on the big stage. Here are the five things we learned from the National Duals. 

St. Cloud State and Central Oklahoma Were On a Different Level

St. Cloud State and Central Oklahoma both rolled into the finals match without much trouble, showcasing just how deep and talented both of these teams are. UCO won each dual by 10 or more, beating a tough #7 West Liberty by 35 in the semifinals. The Bronchos have a top-5 ranked wrestler in seven weight classes, which will make them extremely difficult to beat in March. 

For the Huskies, winning is an attitude as the team won at least seven matches in each of their dual meets leading up to the finals. Coach Steve Costanzo loves his team’s style of wrestling.

“They are extremely tough and gritty and they performed consistently on both days,” he said. “Those were the things we were looking for. Those are the things that we talked about.” 

Costanzo sees more growth potential for his Huskies, especially as freshmen wrestlers get more experience. 

“We had a couple of freshmen wrestle — at 141 we have Alyeus Craig and at 285 we have Elijah Novak — and I’ve just been really impressed with the way that those guys have competed this year,” he said.

Fresh off the duals title, St. Cloud State suffered a 20-19 loss to UW-Parkside on Thursday. The Huskies dropped six bouts, including two in overtime. 

“We have to stay hungry, we have to stay humble,” Costanzo said prior to the loss. “You gotta keep coming back to the wrestling room and getting better day after day.”   

UMary Makes A Move 

The University of Mary pulled off a stunner in Louisville, handing Nebraska-Kearney its first dual meet loss of the season with a 21-12 quarterfinal win over the Lopers. The UMary athletic website called it the “biggest victory of the school’s NCAA era” and it locked in a top-four finish for the Marauders. 

UMary has been surging lately, placing seventh at the Midwest Classic after bouncing around in the upper end of the rankings for the early part of the season. At the National Duals, the Marauders knocked off #19 Ashland in the first round, followed by #2 Nebraska-Kearney. UMary also beat #7 West Liberty to finish third. 

Anchored by a trio of ranked wrestlers in #5 Reece Barnhardt at 133 pounds, #9 Braydon Huber at 157, and #3 Max Bruss at 174, the Marauders wrestle tough and keep matches close. If UMary can find a way to win a few more close matches they are capable of a top-10 finish at the NCAA tournament. 

Is 125 Up For Grabs?

West Liberty’s Cole Laya blitzed through the 125-pound bracket last March en route to his second national title and entered this season as a favorite to win his third championship. However, the National Duals showed that the weight class is perhaps more wide open than anticipated after Colorado Mesa’s Dawson Collins downed Laya 3-1 in a sudden-victory battle of returning All-Americans. 

Collins wasn’t done wreaking havoc on the 125-pound ranked wrestlers as he knocked off #2 Jaxson Rohman of Augustana the following day to help secure a dual win for the Mavericks. 

Outside of Collins, #3 Paxton Creese from St. Cloud State was also dominant, earning bonus points with two major decisions and a fall in his three matches. His most critical win came in the D2 title dual when Creese scrambled for an overtime fall against #8 Studd Morris of Central Oklahoma. 

“That was big,” Costanzo said. “You gotta keep wrestling, whether it’s seven minutes of wrestling or nine minutes of wrestling, you gotta keep wrestling. … Fortunately, we put ourselves in good position, their guy got out of position, we took advantage of it and they called the fall.” 

Expect the Unexpected 

The National Duals opened Friday with mayhem when Collins knocked off Laya minutes after the tournament’s opening whistle. Not to be outdone, in the next match Collins’ teammate, unranked Collin Metzgar beat #7 Vincent Scollo to give his team the early edge. 

The upsets continued throughout the tournament and into the final dual with #8 Nick Novak (St. Cloud State) beating #2 Gabe Johnson (Central Oklahoma) and #7 Dom Murphy (St. Cloud State) and #9 Derek Blubaugh (Indianapolis) both beating #1 Dalton Abney (Central Oklahoma). 

The National Duals show how small some of the margins are near the top. Looking forward into the second half of the season one thing is guaranteed, we should expect the unexpected. 

Don’t Count Out Nebraska-Kearney 

Second-ranked Nebraska-Kearney dropped three duals on the weekend, losing to #15 UMary, #8 Upper Iowa, and #12 UIndy. But don’t dismiss the Lopers in March when they take aim at a second straight national title.  

While last weekend may have exposed some dual meet depth issues, Nebraska-Kearney’s elite individuals performed well. Second-ranked Nick James went 4-1 at 141 pounds, #2 Austin Eldredge also went 4-1 losing only to #3 Max Bruss at 174, top-ranked 184-pounder Billy went 5-0 and #1 heavyweight Lee Herrington went 3-0. 

These four wrestlers make the Lopers dangerous in March and they’re the reason why we cannot count them out, even after an eighth-place finish at the National Duals. If UNK can supplement this nucleus, the Lopers will be a factor in the title chase.