Air Force Academy
Big 12 Tournament
Falcon Wrestling Places Three at Big 12 Tournament
3/5/2017 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
TULSA, Okla. - Air Force concluded the Big 12 Championships with three place winners, led by sophomore Alex Mossing's fourth-place finish at 157. Seniors Jerry McGinty and Dylan Hyder finished fifth and sixth, respectively. The finish marks Air Force's most podium finishes and highest finish since joining the conference last year. Oklahoma State won the 2017 team title while Air Force finished 10th.
Mossing led the charge in the consolation semi-finals with a 10-8 decision win over Colston Diblasi of Iowa State. The win propelled Mossing to the third-place bout. Hyder fell to Cam Sykora of North Dakota State, 16-6, while McGinty fell to Cole Mendenhall of Wyoming, 11-0. Hyder and McGinty entered fifth-place bouts following the losses.
In the Falcons' first fifth-place bout, Hyder met with returning All-American in No. 10 Earl Hall of Iowa State. Hall scored most of his points in the first two periods, taking a six-point lead early on. Hyder rallied for a comeback, scoring four takedown points and nearly turning Hall to his back for tying near fall points. Hyder was unable to tilt the All-American Cyclone, finalizing his tournament run at sixth.
McGinty met with Grant LaMont of Utah Valley in the fifth-place bout at 149. McGinty scored takedown points in each period, holding LaMont to three with an escape and reversal scored in the first period. The win secured McGinty's fifth-place finish and allotted him the opportunity to take on No. 16 Alex Kocer of SDSU in a true-fourth bout for an NCAA tournament bid. McGinty was downed by Kocer, 12-1, in the true-fourth bout.
Three Falcons remain eligible for at-large bids to the NCAA tournament. The NCAA wrestling at-large selections will be made March 8, at 6:00 p.m. ET. The NCAA tournament will be held in St. Louis, Mo., March 16-18.
Match Results
Consolation Semi-Finals
133: Cam Sykora (NDSU) def. Dylan Hyder (AFA) -MD (16-6)
149: Cole Mendenhall (WYO) def. Jerry McGinty (AFA) -MD (11-0)
157: Alex Mossing (AFA) def. Colston Diblasi (ISU) -10-8
Fifth Place
133: #10 Earl Hall (ISU) def. Dylan Hyder (AFA) -8-5
149: Jerry McGinty (AFA) def. Grant LaMont (UVU) - 7-3
Third Place
157: #12 Clark Glass (OU) def. Alex Mossing (AFA) -MD (8-0)
True Fourth
149: #16 Alex Kocer (SDSU) def. Jerry McGinty (AFA) -MD (12-1)
