KEARNEY, Neb. --- The New Mexico Highlands wrestling team nearly saw a freshman qualify for nationals, but fell just as the Cowboys finished in 10th-place at the NCAA DII Super Regional VI on Saturday.
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NMHU freshman
Jonathan Trujillo worked his way back into the third-place match at 149 pounds with the winner qualifying for the national tournament (the top three in each weight class qualify). Trujillo – a Las Vegas, New Mexico, native – had bounced back after losing his opening round match by winning a 12-3 over Daniel Van Hoose of Colorado Mesa and 6-1 over Jasaih Williams of CSU-Pueblo to get back into the third-place match against Noah Ottum of Colorado School of Mines. But Trujillo was edged 11-8 in the match and finished his season 21-13.
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The Cowboys had one more wrestler make it to a placing match as
Allen Michel at 157 made it to the fifth-place match after winning his first round match, falling in the quarterfinals, winning via major decision in the consolation round before falling in the consolation semifinals. Michel fell in the fifth-place match to Ryan Rochford of Adams State and finished his season 17-15.
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Kyler Gonzales (133 pounds – 2.0 points) and
Julian Sanchez (285 – 3.5 points) also picked up points for the Cowboys on Saturday.
