SNYDER CLAIMS 157-POUND TITLE; Leads Huskers at Great Plains

Lincoln, Neb.-- Nebraska freshman Bryan Snyder spearheaded the 12th-ranked Huskers' effort Saturday at the seventh annual Great Plains Open in the Bob Devaney Sports Center, earning the 157-pound title over teammate Billy Gabel.

Snyder recorded a technical fall at six minutes (22-7) over Jason Wanek (unattached), pinned Wyoming's Mike McConville at the 1:05 mark, and dominated Missouri's Matt Webster, 17-6 to advance to the 157-pound finals, where he defeated GAbel, 14-10. Gabel earned the championship berth with a pin and major decision.

Although Snyder was the lone Husker champion at the meet, he wasn't the only Nebraska wrestler to rack up victories Saturday.

Sophomores Brad Vering and Charles McTorry and senior Jose DeAnda each finished runner-up in their respective weight classes. Vering notched two wins, including a technicall fall over 13th-ranked Victor Sveda of Indiana, before dropping the 184-pound title to first-ranked Brandon Eggum of Minnesota in a nailbiting 3-2 match. McTorry advanced to the finals of the 174-pound weight class before losing to Oklahoma's Bryan Tucker by technical fall.

DeAnda, who entered the meet with an unblemished 13-0 record, continued his winning ways with four straight wins to open the tournament, including a 15-5 major decision over Jason Bader of Indiana and a technical fall. But it was Indiana's James Torres that became the first wrestler to earn a victory against DeAnda this year in the finals of the 141-pound matchup. Torres beat DeAnda, 13-10. DeAnda finished the meet with a 4-1 record, moving his season mark to 17-1.

A number of Huskers were competing at less than 100 percent or were forced out of the meet because of injury.

NU's 165-pounder, Josh Henson, earned two close victories and was one win away from a finals berth, but a sore back forced him to forfeit his final scheduled match. Henson's brother, Joe Henson, won two matches before injuring a knee against UNK's Joe Renfro in a pin loss. Henson fought off the pain in the first two rounds of the consolation bracket, winning two contests by narrow margins, before eventually forfeiting a possible berth in the consolation finals to unattached wrestler Billy Maldonado. Heavyweight J.R. Plienis was poked in the eye and suffered excessive bleeding in his opening-round match, forcing him to injury default to St. Cloud State's Matt LeBlanc. Plienis did not wrestle in the rest of the tournament. Paul Gomez did not compete, either, after missing two weeks of competition with a face rash.

Despite a long list of unfortunate events, Nebraska still performed well, recording six major decisions, four pins, and four technical falls against teams from Indiana, Marquette, Minnesota (No. 2), Missouri, Nebraska-Kearney, Oklahoma (No. 6), St. Cloud State and Wyoming. First-ranked Oklahoma State and No. 10 West Virginia were forced to withdraw from the competition because of hazardous traveling conditions.

Nebraska Head Coach Tim Neumann said this weekend's Great Plains Open was a great chance to prepare the Huskers for the prestigious Cliff Keen National Duals in Iowa City next weekend.

"Hopefully the guys learned something today," Neumann said. "We seemed to wrestle very physically overall against some good competition. Minnesota is as good a team as we have seen this year, and there were a number of fine athletes here this weekend. It's good for us to see that before next weekend."

No team scores were kept for the first time in three years, although the second-ranked Gophers would have walked away with the title had scores been tabulated.

Six Minnesota wrestlers earned titles, and one finished runner-up to dominate the field of talent. Leroy Vega won at 125 pounds, Pat Connors took the 133-pound title, Troy Marr was victorious at 149 pounds, Josh Holiday was tops in the 165-pound bracket, Brandon Eggum earned three wins for first-place recognition in the 184-pound class and defending national champion Tim Hartung took home top honors at 197 pounds. Heavyweight Brock Lesner added a runner-up finish to bolster the Gophers' accolades.

Nebraska's Big 12 foe, Oklahoma, made some noise as well. Sooner Byron Tucker posted four wins that included three technical falls and a major decision en route to a title campaign at 174 pounds and the meet's outstanding wrestler award. Tucker's teammate, Pat Connors earned the distinction of having the most falls in the least time with four falls for a total of 13:48. Connors pinned each opponent he faced before taking the 133-pound crown.

The Husker wrestling team travels to Iowa City, Iowa, for the Cliff Keen National Duals on Jan. 16 and 17.

1999 GREAT PLAINS OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
125--Leroy Vega, Minnesota, dec. Bo Maynes, Oklahoma 3-2
133--Ryan Schoettle, Marquette win by fall Pat Connors, Minnesota 1:50
141--James Torres, Indiana dec. Jose DeAnda, Nebraska 13-10
149--Troy Marr, Minnesota dec. Joe Renfro, Nebraska-Kearney 11-7
157--Bryan Snyder, Nebraska dec. Billy Gabel, Nebraska 14-10
165--Josh Holiday, Minnesota dec. Todd Buckland, unattached 9-7
174--Bryan Tucker, Oklahoma tech. fall Charles McTorry, Nebraska 3:40 (18-2)
184--Brandon Eggum, Minnesota dec. Brad Vering, Nebraska 3-2
197--Tim Hartung, Minnesota dec. Orville Palmer, Oklahoma 6-2
Hwt--Trent Hynek, unattached dec. Brock Lesner, Minnesota 5-3