PRESCOTT, Ariz. – With three pins, two technical falls, and one major decision, (5) Argo wrestling came away with a strong dual against Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 35-9. The dual was the penultimate event of UGF's regular season, with just one more dual to go before the NAIA West Regional Tournament.
 
The dominant nature of the final score is made more impressive in the light of two facts. The first is that two days earlier the Eagles beat #3 Montana State University – Northern 27-16 and have also defeated three other ranked times. The second is that the score came despite two of UGF's ranked wrestlers lost.
 
"It's amazing how this dual team has come along. Some of our best guys didn't win tonight and we still dominated a dual like that," UGF Head Coach Caleb Schaeffer said. "We haven't been able to do that in years past."
 
The most shocking loss came at 165, where (4) Khaldoon Rashid lost a 7-4 Decision to unranked Kody Davis. Not only was the loss a potential game changer because of the difference in national standing, but also because Rashid, a redshirt-junior, has been a leader and tone setter for an otherwise inexperienced Argo squad.
 
In this situation, however, there was already a 16-6 cushion built by the preceding bouts. After (16) Isaac Wilson fell to (9) Chandler Strand in a 12-6 decision at 125, UGF rallied off two straight pins. First came junior Clinton Garvin, who continues a strong last few weeks in which he has made his case for being on UGF's regional finals roster. Next was freshman (4) Shonn Roberts who also won by Fall at 141.
 
Bookending Rashid's match were the two performances Schaeffer said he was most impressed by.
 
At 157 redshirt-freshman Gage Bentley earned a 10-1 Major Decision against Carlos Apodocca, controlling the match throughout in a veteran-like performance.
 
"He wrestled really well. He was dominant and was scoring all the time," Schaeffer said. "I think he and Randy Keesler wrestled the best tonight."
 
(7) Keesler was the other side of the bookend at 174. With both he and his opponent, (14) Brenn Schiess, ranked and the two currently holding the top two spots in the West Region individual rankings.
 
Their battle lived up to the hype. The match was a low scoring affair, settled by just one point. Keesler, a redshirt-freshman, trailed heading into the third and final round, but earned two takedowns for his first points of the match and a 4-3 win by Decision.
 
"Those are the type of matches that you have to win at regionals and at nationals if you have a goal of being an All-American. Freshman sometimes find a way to lose those matches," Schaeffer said. "Randy has probably won ten matches like that by one point this season. His maturity has been pretty good."
 
In the last three matches of the night, UGF had three ranked wrestlers go up against three unranked opponents and the results were as expected.
 
Senior (16) Sam Voigtlaender won by Fall at 184, redshirt-freshman (4) John Hensley won by Technical Fall (21-6), and sophomore (8) Matt Hopkins won by Technical Fall (17-1).
 
The win brings UGF's dual record to 12-2 on the year, with a battle of top-5 teams wrapping up the team's regular season. That battle will feature the fifth ranked Argos against (3) MSU-Northern inside the McLaughlin Center on Wednesday, February 8 at 7 p.m.
 
When the two squads faced off in November, then unranked UGF came away with a 23-13 win.