Air Force Academy

Feb. 10, 2008

Greeley, Colo. - Missing its starters at a few key weight classes, the Air Force wrestling team dropped a tough 25-14 decision to Northern Colorado Sunday afternoon at Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion. With the loss, the Falcons fall to 7-8 overall, 1-1 in the WWC, while the Bears improve to 6-5, 4-1 in the conference.

The match opened at 141 pounds, where senior Jake Kriegbaum (Abilene, Kan.) faced off against Richard Lohr. Kreigbaum dominated most of the match, before pinning Lohr with 58 seconds remaining in the second period. Kriegbaum's fall, his fourth of the season, put the Falcons up 6-0.

Northern Colorado tied the team score up with decisions at both 149 and 157 pounds, before taking the lead with a decision at 165 pounds. Sophomore Tyler French (Malta, Mont.) put the Falcons back on top with a 9-1 major decision over Ryan Johnson, while senior Jacob Devlin (Livingston, N.J.) extended Air Force's advantage with a win at 184 pounds, a 12-0 major decision over Ed Harris.

Unfortunately, the Falcons were unable to win any of the final four bouts in the eventual 25-14 loss. The closest match of the afternoon came at 133 pounds, where sophomore Samuel Sheppard (Ramstein AB, Germany) battled Blayze Bahe. With Bahe leading 4-2 in the final period, Sheppard was able to score a reversal late in the period to tie the score at 4-4. However, Bahe's riding time advantage gave him the extra point for the 5-4 decision.

The Falcons are back on the road next weekend, Feb. 15-16, for a pair of WWC matches, facing North Dakota State on Friday night, while visiting South Dakota State on Saturday.

Northern Colorado 25, Air Force 14
141 - Jake Kriegbaum (AF) fall Richard Lohr, 4:02
149 - Daniel Prater (UNC) dec. Chris Szabolcs, 5-1
157 - Rocco Depaolo (UNC) dec. Tony Dorward, 5-3
165 - Devan Lewis (UNC) dec. Stephen Crozier, 7-4
174 - Tyler French (AF) maj. dec. Ryan Johnson, 9-1
184 - Jacob Devlin (AF) maj. dec. Ed Matthews, 12-0
197 - Patrick Carey (UNC) dec. A.J. Harris, 9-6
HWT - Reece Hopkin (UNC) fall Anthony Stegeman, 1:42
125 -Tony Mustari (UNC) dec. Andrew Zwirlein, 17-3
133 - Blayze Bahe (UNC) dec. Samuel Sheppard, 5-4