CHADRON, Neb. -- The No. 8-ranked Dickinson State wrestling team used a pin from junior Bryden Lazaro to jumpstart the team.
Lazaro, who is ranked No. 3 at 125 pounds, led the Blue Hawks with a 21-18 dual win over Chadron State on Wednesday.
"We were definitely a little bit of the underdog," Thadd O'Donnell said. "They wrestled really well. This is probably one of the best intensity levels we've had."
Bonus points for the Blue Hawks came in big as senior Brad Steele (149) and freshman Sean Elkins (157) picked up a technical fall and major decision, respectively.
"Up and down our line, we wrestled well," O'Donnell said. "We probably outwrestled them in nine out the 10 matches."
ADVERTISEMENT
Lazaro pinned Jace Johnson in 2 minutes, 56 seconds. The Blue Hawks tallied three of the next four wins including a decision from Clayton Steinmetz (141) and a technical fall by Steele, who is ranked No. 4 at 149.
"Anytime you can go into Chadron and come out with a win, it's pretty dang good," O'Donnell said.
Once the upper weights hit Chadron started gaining momentum, winning four of the next five matches.
The lone match DSU won in the upper weights was by senior Jesse Hellinger, who is ranked No. 5 at 184 pounds. Hellinger defeated Jordan Debus in an 11-6 decision.
The Blue Hawks had to flip-flop the lineup since senior Kevin Keisler (197) was sick. His replacement was freshman Skyler Carroll, who was pulled out of anatomy class just before DSU left.
"We bumped guys around," O'Donnell said. "Skyler hadn't planned on going until we were already loaded on the bus. We had some changes before we left."
The Blue Hawks aren't back in the wrestling room until Dec. 28 and return to action against Jamestown on Jan. 10.
"This is a big confidence booster for us," O'Donnell said. "For these guys to go out and know this intensity level, we just have to carry it over. We just have to come back with same condition."
ADVERTISEMENT
125: Bryden Lazaro, DSU, pin. Jace Johnson, 2:56. 133: Perry McAfee, CS, dec. Matt Chambers, 5-2. 141: Clayton Steinmetz, DSU, dec. Leandro Arias, 11-5. 149: Brad Steele, DSU, tech. fall Jesse Larralde, 5:00 15-0. 157: Sean Elkins, DSU, maj. dec. Bryce Wiedeman, 18-8. 165: Dylan Fors, CS, pin. Jonathan Morales, 6:21. 174: Bret Klopp, CS, dec. T.J. Poole, 9-7. 184: Jesse Hellinger, DSU, dec. Jordan Debus, 11-6. 197: Chris Leak, CS, dec. Skyler Carroll, 9-5. HWT: Michael Hill, CS, dec. Brian Klevis, 1-0.
