Upper Iowa duo to finals
Former Glenwood prep Copsey reaches title bout at 197

BY MATT PFIFFNER

Sometimes it pays to not know the score of your match.

Upper Iowa 125-pound senior Tyler Mumbulo thought he was trailing 4-3 in the final seconds of his semifinal bout against returning champion Arsenia Barksdale of Adams State, when it was actually 4-4 after Barksdale was hit for his second stall call.

Mumbulo locked up double underhooks and threw Barksdale to the mat with a lateral drop. After a short struggle to get on top, Mumbulo finally muscled Barksdale over and earned the takedown and three back points in the final seconds for the stunning 9-4 victory.

"I thought it was 4-3," Mumbulo said moments after the biggest win of his collegiate career. "I was just going and thought I needed more points. That's the object, to score points.

"I knew I would beat him. I was just attacking. I knew he was tired."

For the 25-year-old senior, this is his last shot at glory at Upper Iowa.

"I feel like I've been working for this moment my whole life," he said.

Mumbulo will be joined in the finals by senior teammate Travis Eggers at 165.

Eggers and Ryan Pankoke of Nebraska-Omaha were tied 1-1 at the end of regulation and went into overtime. Pankoke got in deep with a single leg shot late in the extra period, but Eggers had a tough whizzer in to fight it off.

Pankoke attempted to climb on top of Eggers and when he did, the Peacock hipped him over to his back out of bounds. Pankoke's entire body was out and most of Eggers' body was too, but the Peacock kept a foot in and was given the takedown for the thrilling 3-1 win.

"He was in pretty deep. But I worked too hard to give up something like that easy," Eggers said. "I just hit it and came out on top. Right when he was coming over the top I just hit the move."

Eggers, the runner-up at 157 last season, now gets another crack at the gold.

"It means everything in the world to get back to the finals. Prove to everyone I can do it at 165," he said.

Also reaching the finals were a pair of wrestlers from Nebraska-Omaha with ties to the state of Iowa.

At 149 Esai Dominguez, who went to high school in Omaha, but lived in Council Bluffs and wrestled for Iowa in the summer circuit, handled former Central Lyon two-time State champ Nate Herda of Augustana, 10-5.

Dominguez scored two takedowns in the first period to get out to a quick lead and sealed the win with two more takedowns in the third.

At 157, former CB Lewis Central standout George Ivanov of UNO scored a 4-3 victory over Danny Grater of Fort Hays State.

Augustana had three former Iowa high school wrestlers in the semifinals and one of them reached Saturday night's finals.

At 197, former Glenwood wrestler Ty Copsey defeated last year's runner-up, Jacob Marrs of Nebraska-Omaha, 4-3.

Copsey used a slide by for a takedown in the second period for a 2-1 lead. A Marrs escape knotted the match at 2-2 entering the third.

Copsey took down in the third and used his past experience wrestling Marrs to his advantage.

"I knew he was going to pull me on top and look for the tilt," he said. "I knew if I kept a level base and hit a switch it would be there."

That's exactly what happened and Copsey earned the reversal for a 4-2 lead. He was able to ride Marrs for nearly a minute before an escape made it 4-3. Marrs never got close to Copsey's legs in the final minute.

"If I'm on my game, no one can get in on my legs," he said.

As for wrestling in the finals tonight, Copsey said, "It's going to be a moment of a lifetime."

Former Winterset star and Iowa State transfer Laramie Shaffer of Augustana lost 4-0 to top-ranked Shane Valko of Pittsburgh-Johnstown at 133 and Herda lost at 149.