Eggers finishes stellar
Upper Iowa career on top

BY MATT PFIFFNER

For the second time in their brief history as an NCAA Div. II program, the Upper Iowa University Peacocks have a National Champion.

Former MFL MarMac standout Travis Eggers claimed the 165-pound title Saturday night in Omaha, Neb. with a dominating 8-3 decision over returning champion Josh Shields of Mercyhurst.

Eggers added the gold medal to second and fourth-place awards he claimed the past two seasons at 157.

The championship match couldn't have started any better for Eggers, who hit a picture-perfect foot sweep to take Shields down to his back in the opening seconds. Eggers nearly had the fall, but settled for a big five-point move and quick 5-0 lead.

"That big move just made me more confident. And then that guy's struggling and has to force stuff," Eggers said. "It worked out well."

Shields escaped late in the period and again to start the second to cut the lead to 5-2. Eggers all but put the title in his back pocket with a strong double leg takedown with 30 seconds left in the second period.

Eggers said the experience of wrestling in the finals last season helped get him ready to perform tonight.

"Coming into this match, I felt completely relaxed and didn't have any nerves at all," he said. "I knew it was going to be the last match of my career and wanted to go out with a bang."

The victory capped off an incredible 9-1 day for the Peacocks and helped the team tie Nebraska-Kearney for third place in the team standings.

"We were on a great roll today. You come here you lay it all on the line," Egger said.

The first title bout of the evening at 125 also featured an Upper Iowa grappler, as fourth-ranked Tyler Mumbulo and No. 2 Seth Wright of New Mexico Highlands started off the championships.

Mumbulo got off to a fast start, with an ankle pick for a takedown just five seconds into the bout. But Wright earned a quick reversal and pair of near fall points with a neck wrench. Wright used a tilt in the closing seconds of the period for a 7-2 lead. A pair of takedowns by Wright in the second made it 11-3 and he kept pouring it on in the third, winning 17-4.

Mumbulo's strength is on top, but both times he got in that position, Wright earned quick reversals on his way to the dominating victory.

At 197, former Glenwood star Ty Copsey of Augustana met Donovan McMahill of Western State for the gold.

At the end of a pretty slow first period, McMahill hit a low double leg and dropped Copsey to the mat for a takedown. A McMahill escape in the second made it 3-0 heading into the third.

Copsey earned his first point of the match with an escape early in the third, but he could never get to the legs of McMahill in a 3-1 loss.

The University of Nebraska-Omaha rolled to the team title behind five finalists, including a pair with ties to the state of Iowa.

At 149, third-ranked Esai Dominguez, who wrestled in high school in Omaha but competed for Iowa in the summer USA Wrestling events, took on top-ranked Craig Becker of Wisconsin-Parkside.

Dominguez got in deep on a single leg midway through the first period and nearly finished it off for a takedown, but Becker showed outstanding counter technique and got behind Dominguez after a long scramble for the takedown and 2-0 lead.

Dominguez took neutral in the second, but neither wrestle came close to a takedown. Becker escaped to start the third period, but a Dominguez takedown with one minute left in the match cut the deficit to 3-2. Becker escaped, but was called for stalling twice to make it a 4-3 match. Dominguez could not muster a final attack on his feet and fell, 4-3.

In the next title bout at 157, former Council Bluffs Lewis Central wrestler and fourth-ranked George Ivanov battled No. 8 Jonathan Jackson of Anderson University.

After a scoreless first period, Ivanov chose neutral in the second, but it was Jackson who put the first points of the match on the board with a takedown with 40 seconds left in the period. Ivanov escaped to cut the lead in half, but Jackson escaped in the third period and held off Ivanov in the closing seconds for the 3-1 win.