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Men's Wrestling

Holliday's pin vaults No. 4 Wolves to National Duals finals with 19-18 win over No. 3 Central Oklahoma

DES MOINES, Iowa - A pin by Jared Holliday in the 184 lbs. bout sparked a phenomenal comeback for the No. 4 Newberry Wolves, as the scarlet and gray howled back to take a 19-18 victory over the No. 3 Central Oklahoma Bronchos in the semifinals of the NWCA National Duals in Hy-Vee Hall on Sunday morning.

With the win, Newberry moves to 11-0 and wrestles No. 1 Notre Dame (Ohio) for the national dual title at 3 p.m. CST today. The 11-match winning streak to start the season is the longest in school history.

Holliday (Burlington, N.J.) pinned his Znick Ferrell at the 5:22 mark of the 184 lbs. bout, sparking a raucous celebration amongst the Newberry faithful. Newberry trailed 18-13 at that point and needed strong performances from its upper weight classes.

Braden Carter (Christiansburg, Va.) stepped into the lineup at 197 lbs. and outworked Garrett Henshaw, who was hit with a second stalling call late in the third period to give Carter a 2-1 decision and keep the Wolves' chances alive.

No. 5 Matt Wade (Easton, Md.) faced No. 3 Cody Dauphin in the heavyweight bout with the finals berth hanging in the balance. Neither wrestler scored in the opening period and both got an escape quickly off the whistle on their chosen period. Wade outworked the larger Dauphin and scored a takedown with three seconds left in regulation, clinching a 3-1 decision and sending the Wolves to the finals of the National Duals for the fourth time in their six trips to the event.

Newberry was in a hole from the start as No. 3 Jeff Vesta (Manhattan, Kan.) was upset by Ryan Brooks in a 1-0 decision at 125 lbs. and Trung Duong (Lynchburg, Va.) suffered a loss by technical fall to No. 5 Casy Rowell at 133 lbs.

No. 5 B.J. Young (Jackson, N.J.) got Newberry on the board at 141 lbs. with a 12-3 major decision over Dustin Reed, cutting the Bronchos' lead to 8-4.

UCO went on a run in the middle weight classes with No. 1 Jordan Basks taking a 10-0 major decision from Seiji Borja (Charleston, S.C.) at 149 lbs., No. 1 Cory Dauphin earned a 5-0 decision at 157 lbs. despite a valiant effort form Kayne Melko (Bellaire, Ohio) and No. 3 165-pounder Chris Watson worked an 8-2 decision over Taylor Knapp (Lawrenceville, Ga.), putting Newberry at an 18-4 disadvantage before the fantastic effort vaulted Newberry into the finals.

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