HAYS, Kan. - Colorado School of Mines lost a heartbreaker to #18 Fort Hays State Thursday night, nearly pulling off the upset but falling on a tiebreaker after each team won five bouts apiece.

The dual ended tied 19-19, but FHSU ended up with a 20-19 win on tiebreak criteria after the Tigers erased a 19-6 Mines lead with three matches to go.

The Orediggers got off to a hot start as Matt Lavengood won an 8-7 thriller over Conrad Cole. Trailing heading into the third, Lavengood chose bottom for the period and reversed Cole to take a lead, but an escape tied the match. Lavengood's riding time was enough for the win, however. Noah Au-Yeung then dominated at 133 to earn a technical fall over Matt Mejia, using a huge second period with three near-fall 4s to build the advantage.

#7 Brandon Ball got FHSUU on the board with a 6-0 win against Lukas Erickson, but #9 Jacob Gerken matched it at 149 with his 6-5 win over Jacob Kay. Gerken used a second-round reversal and near-fall 2 to set the edge, then held off Kay in the third despite a late reversal. Greg Tooley's 8-4 win at 157 over Ethan Ruby cut the Mines advantage to 11-6 at the halfway mark.

Keenan Willits improved to 3-0 on the season with a dominating display at 165 against Kyler Mick. Willits got to work quickly for a takedown and three near-fall 4s before a near-fall 2 ended it in a tech fall 2:58 into the match. Robert Gambrell then took care of a 6-1 decision against Micquille Robinson at 174, keyed by his four-point third period, to give Mines a 19-6 lead.

FHSU's strength was in its upper weights, and the Tigers tried mightily for a comeback over the final three matches. Rakin Dean beat Ben Krantz 6-1 at 184, and Austin Brandt used some late points to earn a 12-2 major decision against Anthony Spallino at 197. That cut Mines' lead to 19-13, meaning #9 Christian Lance needed six points to tie the match and win it for Fort Hays on tiebreakers; Lance did just that, drawing the fifth stalling penalty of the match to win by disqualification at 6:35 and make it 19-19. 

FHSU earned a tiebreaker point for having the only six-point win in the match after both teams matched on the first criteria having won 5 bouts apiece.

Mines will head to Nebraska-Kearney for four matches Saturday in the Midwest Duals.
 

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#18 Fort Hays State 20, Colorado School of Mines 19 [Full Scoring]
125: Matthew Lavengood (MINES) over Conrad Cole (FHSU), Dec 8-7
133: Noah Au-Yeung (MINES) over Matt Mejia (FHSU), TF 20-4 5:00 
141: #7 Brandon Ball (FHSU) over Lukas Erickson (MINES), Dec 6-0
149: #9 Jacob Gerken (MINES) over Jacob Kay (FHSU), Dec 6-5
157: Greg Tooley (FHSU) over Ethan Ruby (MINES), Dec 8-4
165: Keenan Willits (MINES) over Kyler Mick (FHSU), TF 16-0 2:58
174: Robert Gambrell (MINES) over Micquille Robinson (FHSU), Dec 6-1
184: Rakim Dean (FHSU) over Ben Krantz (MINES), Dec. 6-1
197: Austin Brandt (FHSU) over Anthony Spallino (MINES), MD 12-2
285: #9 Christian Lance (FHSU) over Jake Feldman (MINES), DQ 6:35
      (Fort Hays State earns 1 tiebreaker point - more falls/forfeits/DQs)