COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. –
It was a late change of plans for No. 23 Northern Colorado wrestling going from a tri-dual against Air Force and South Dakota State to sending only a handful of wrestlers to the Air ForceAcademy to compete in matches against South Dakota State, Wyoming and Air Force.
The change came due to COVID-19 protocols within the UNC program.
A pair of wrestlers made their debut in the Blue and Gold on Sunday in Johnny Blankenship and Jackson Hemauer. No. 21 Hemauer, a transfer from Fresno State, went 2-0 in his debut with a pair of decisions over Cade Kingof South Dakota State (7-4) and Guillermo Escobedo of Wyoming (6-2).
Blankenship, a transfer from Nebraska, went 1-3 in his four matches on the day. He did earn the team's lone fall of the competition over Jacoby Ward of Air Force at 2:44.
Jace Koelzer was the other Bear to earn a win on the day with a 7-5 decision over Brendon Garcia of Wyoming. It was his second win of the year over Garcia, the other a fall in the season-opening dual.
What's Ahead
Friday, January 22 Match cancelled.
The Bears return to dual action on Friday with their home-opener against No. 5 Oklahoma State. UNC and OSU are set to square off at 5 pm. The Cowboys and Air Force will wrestle each other in a dual match afterward.
Both matches will be aired on FloWrestling.
To stay up to date on all things UNC Wrestling, visit UNCBears.com, follow the team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and the new UNC Athletics
Jackson Hemauer
(174) – 2-0
Dec. 6-2 vs Guillermo Escobedo (Wyo)
Dec. 7-4 vs Cade King (SDSU)
Jace Koelzer
(125) – 1-2
Dec. 3-4 vs Daniel Vega (SDSU)
Dec. 1-5 vs Tanner Jordan (SDSU)
Dec. 7-5 vs Brendon Garcia (Wyo)
Johnny Blankenship
(165) – 1-3
Fall over Jacoby Ward (Air Force) 2:44
Dec. 0-3 vs Kenny O'Neil (SDSU)
Dec. 4-8 vs Cole Moody (Wyo)
Dec. 5-10 vs Carlson (SDSU)
Damen Pape
(174) – 0-2
Dec. 4-6 vs Cade King (SDSU)
Fall vs Brett McIntosh (Wyo) 3:27
https://uncbears.com/news/2021/1/17/hemauer-makes-strong-debut-for-wrestling.aspx