LOUISVILLE, KY – Facing off against the defending national champions and the second-ranked team in the nation, the 11^th ranked University of Mary wresting team created program history with the Marauders biggest victory of the school's NCAA era. Behind outstanding performances throughout the lineup, the Marauders downed the University of Nebraska-Kearney 21-12 in the quarterfinals of the NWCA National Duals.
 
The victory ensures a top-4 finish for the Marauders at the NWCA National Duals, the preeminent dual meet of the regular season. UMary now faces #3 St. Cloud State University in the semifinals on Saturday, January 7. The meeting between the two Northern Sun squads is set for 11 am EST / 10 am CST from the Kentucky Exposition Center. The UMary-SCSU victor advances to the championship match with the other squad competing for 3^rd place. Both of those matches are slated for 3 pm EST/2 pm CST.
 
Seeded 7^th in the NWCA Nation Duals, the Marauders opened the day with a 37-8 victory over #24 Ashland to set up their quarterfinal meeting with the Lopers.
 
The Marauders improve to 6-0 on the season.
 
OPENING ROUND | #11 University of Mary 37 #24 Ashland 8
The University of Mary opened the 2023 NWCA Duals with a rout of #24 Ashland. The Marauders picked up eight wins, including six bonus point victories with three by fall.
 
After opening with a loss, the Marauders ripped off six straight wins, including three by fall, a major decision and a medical forfeit. 4^th ranked Reece Barnhardt opened the run with a pin just 96 seconds into the 133 match. Laken Boese needed even less time, pinning his opponent in 84 seconds. Following a Leo Mushinsky 12-1 major win at 149, #11 Braydon Huber had the shortest match of the day. The two-time All-American took just 30 seconds to dispatch his Eagles opponent at 157.
 
The Marauders picked up six more points at 165 due to a medical forfeit before #3 Max Bruss extended the UMary win streak to six with a 10-5 decision at 174.
 
#12 Matthew Kaylor and Luke Tweeton closed the match with two more wins for UMary. Kaylor captured a 10-3 win at 197 and Tweeton shut out his opponent 2-0 in the 285 match.
 
#11 UMary defeated #24 Ashland 37-8
January 6, 2023 | Louisville, KY
NWCA National Duals | Opening round
 
125 - Tyler Masters (Ashland) over Jaden Verhagen (Mary) Maj 12-4
133 - #4 Reece Barnhardt (Mary) over Jeremiah McKee (Ashland) Fall 1:36
141 - Laken Boese (Mary) over Andru Hollopeter (Ashland) Fall 1:24
149 - Leo Mushinsky (Mary) over Jesse Bowers (Ashland) Maj 12-1
157 - #9 Braydon Huber (Mary) over Colton Turnbaugh (Ashland) Fall 0:30
165 - Riley Noble (Mary) over #12 Drew Wiechers (Ashland) MFF
174 - #3 Max Bruss (Mary) over Nate Barrett (Ashland) Dec 10-5
184 - #6 Daniel Beemer (Ashland) over Wyatt Lidberg (Mary) Maj 17-8
197 - #12 Matt Kaylor (Mary) over Kaine Morris (Ashland) Dec 10-3
285 - Luke Tweeton (Mary) over Ty Petrey (Ashland) Dec 2-0
 
QUARTERFINALS | #11 UMary 21 #2 Nebraska Kearney 12
A fast start with several clutch performances at the lower weights combined with solid efforts in the upper weights carried the Marauders to their biggest win of the program's NCAA era in a 21-12 win over 2^nd ranked University of Nebraska Kearney, the 2022 NCAA Division II national champions.
 
In only his fourth varsity match of his career for UMary, redshirt freshman Chase Milligan gave the Marauders an immediate spark with an impressive 9-5 win at 125.
 
In a matchup between a pair of nationally ranked athletes at 133, #4 Barnhardt earned a narrow 3-1 decision over #11 Joseph Airola.  
 
The Lopers slowed the Marauders fast start as #2 Nick James downed Laken Boese 7-3 in what was only a speedbump in the UMary run.
 
Leo Mushinsky got the Marauders back on track with a 3-1 decision over John "Beau" Hostler at 149 with #11 Braydon Huber rolling to a 9-3 win at 157 over Briar Reisz at 9-3 and pushing the UMary lead to 12-3. UNK rebounded to win at 165 to cut the Marauders lead in half.
 
The marquee matchup of the dual featured #3 Max Bruss battling #2 Austin Eldredge at 174. After Eldredge scored first on a takedown, a reversal by Bruss evened the match. Two more reversals sent the match into the second period tied 4-4. Starting on the bottom, another reversal by Bruss gave the DePere, WI, native a 6-4 lead. Bruss then clamped down on Eldredge in the third period, refusing to allow Eldredge to escape his grasp and earning a point of riding time to claim a 7-4 win and push UMary to a 15-6 lead.
 
A UNK 10-5 win by #1 Billy Higgins over Wyatt Lidberg at 184 set up a huge matchup at 197 between two more nationally ranked foes.
 
Down 2-0 early, #12 Matthew Kaylor used a pair of escapes, including one to even the match early in the second period, to pull even with #6 Hayden Prince at 2-2. Prince regained his lead on an escape early in the third but was injured in his effort. After the match resumed, Kaylor followed with an escape of his own to tie the match before a takedown gave the Bismarck, ND, native a 5-3 lead. In an effort to escape Kaylor, Prince exacerbated his injury and was forced to retire, earning Kaylor a win by injury at 5:24 and providing UMary six team points to earn the historical win.
 
#11 UMary defeated #2 Nebraska-Kearney 21-12
January 6, 2023 | Louisville, KY
NWCA National Duals | Quarterfinals
 
125 - Chase Milligan (Mary) over Bishop Murray (Nebraska-Kearney) Dec 9-5
133 - #4 Reece Barnhardt (Mary) over #11 Joseph Airola (Nebraska-Kearney) Dec 3-1
141 - #2 Nick James (Nebraska-Kearney) over Laken Boese (Mary) Dec 7-3
149 - Leo Mushinsky (Mary) over John `Beau` Hostler (Nebraska-Kearney) Dec 3-1
157 - #9 Braydon Huber (Mary) over Briar Reisz (Nebraska-Kearney) Dec 9-3
165 - Kaden Hart (Nebraska-Kearney) over Riley Noble (Mary) Dec 5-3
174 - #3 Max Bruss (Mary) over #2 Austin Eldredge (Nebraska-Kearney) Dec 7-4
184 - #1 Billy Higgins (Nebraska-Kearney) over Wyatt Lidberg (Mary) Dec 10-5
197 - #12 Matthew Kaylor (Mary) over #6 Hayden Prince (Nebraska-Kearney) Inj 5:24
285 - #1 Lee Herrington (Nebraska-Kearney) over Luke Tweeton (Mary) Dec 4-0
 
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