Friday and Saturday will be host to the Midwest Duals at Nebraska-Kearney. There will be high school and college matches going on both days. Friday will be small colleges and some of the smaller classes in Nebraska competing in high school, while Saturday will feature all Division II schools and six high schools. The high school division will have schools from Wyoming, Colorado, and Nebraska. The DII schools wrestling will be Nebraska-Kearney, Western Colorado, Newman, Fort Hays State, Chadron State, Northern State, and New Mexico Highlands.

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Nebraska-Kearney leads a tough pack of Midwest teams. The Lopers are fresh off a fourth-place finish at the NWCA National Duals in Kentucky. Many of these teams are familiar with each other from competing at the Cowboy Open, Bob Smith Open, and Younes UNK Open. They will all come together Saturday looking to make their mark on the season

Below is a weight-by-weight look at all the wrestlers set to compete at the 2020 Midwest Duals.

125

#1 Josh Portillo (Nebraska-Kearney)

#3 Patrick Allis (Western Colorado)

It should be a tightly contested match. Three-time All-American Portillo has wrestled some of the best kids in the country this year including an 11-5 victory over #2 Marcus Povlick. He will be tested by freshman Patrick Allis, who will be looking to take a claim to the top spot.

133

#9 Tyler Lawley (Newman)

#11 @141 Wes Dawkins (Nebraska-Kearney)

Dawkins is a returning national runner-up. He has wrestled most of the season at 141 before making the drop at NWCA duals. Lawley is 24-5 on the season with two of his losses coming to wrestlers from Missouri and Northwestern.

141

#2 Brandon Ball (Fort Hays State)

#13 Jason Hannenberg (Western Colorado)

Ball is 7-0 on the season. He has only wrestled in the second semester. He has a close 4-2 victory over Jonathon Trujilio from New Mexico Highlands who he could face again here. He has also defeated Hannenberg 3-2 two weeks ago in Fort Hays dual with Western Colorado.

149

#15 Giovanni Cassioppi (Western Colorado)

Cassioppi is the lone ranked wrestler in this group. He has been wrestling tough all season for Western Colorado and will look to continue his run at the Midwest Duals. Northern State sophomore Caden Moore spent much of last season ranked and will be looking for an upset in his home state to get back in the rankings.

157

#4 James Burks (Northern State)

#7 Kameron Frame (Newman)

#11 Chase Clasen (Chadron State)

Three wrestlers in this weight class will make for exciting duals all the way around. Burks is also returning to his home state and will look to defend his high ranking early on in his freshman campaign. He will have top-notch competition with Frame and Clasen. Clasen is a returning national qualifier and is looking to build off that this season. Frame is a tough sophomore, 12-4 on this season with losses to #1, #3, #6 and a Nebraska freshman.

165

#2 Matt Malcom (Nebraska-Kearney)

Matt Malcom is the defending national champion at 157 pounds and has moved up a weight this season. Though he is the lone ranked wrestler in the Midwest Duals at his weight, he will wrestle plenty of healthy competition.

174

#10 James Laconte (Western Colorado)

Laconte will look to build momentum from his #10 spot heading toward regionals. He will face Matin Verhagge from Fort Hays again. Laconte won the first match up 6-1.

184

#17 Ruger Wyneken (Western Colorado)

Wyneken will look to climb the rankings with a big weekend at the Midwest Duals. In a weight pretty wide-open it will be the Western Colorado sophomore’s weekend to build some momentum. He will have a big challenge from Nebraska-Kearney senior transfer, Anthony Mancini, who became eligible in the second semester and is looking to make a name for himself as well.

197

#6 Wade French (Chadron State)

French is a returning national qualifier for the Eagles. He won the Younes Open in December against much of this same competition. He will look to continue to roll this weekend and keep his record perfect when wrestling in Kearney this season.

285

#2 Jarod Hinrichs (Nebraska-Kearney)

Hinrichs is a returning national finalist for UNK. He has been off to a fast start after missing the first part of the season. Someone to keep an eye on will be AJ Cooper from Fort Hays State. He finished third at the Younes UNK Open. He is on a nine-match win streak including winning the RWC-Jet invite last weekend.