12^th-ranked Nebraska-Kearney raced out to an early nine-point lead and went on to defeat the sixth-ranked Mountain Cat wrestlers, 25-19, in Thursday's opening round of the 2018 Nuway NCAA Division II National Wrestling Duals in Fort Wayne, Ind.
 
Pitt-Johnstown, 5-2 on the year, will take on 13^th-ranked University of Central Oklahoma in Thursday's first round of the consolations at 1 p.m.
 
Nebraska-Kearney jumped out to a 9-0 lead after the first two matches.  Vlad Kazakov won a 10-1 major decision over Matt Siszka at 125 lbs., and eighth-ranked Bryce Shoemaker followed with a 17-2 second-period technical fall over Sam Holandez at 133 lbs.
 
Fifth-ranked Chris Eddins answered for Pitt-Johnstown by pinning Jonathan Killingsworth at 5:54 at 141 lbs. to get the Mountain Cats back to within three, but Nebraska-Kearney quickly rebuilt its lead to nine at 15-6 when top-ranked Keith Surber took just 10 seconds to pin Corey Falleroni at 149 lbs.
 
The Mountain Cats got a 10-8 win by second-ranked Cody Law at 157 lbs. and a 7-4 decision by Devin Austin at 165 lbs. to pull to narrow the gap to 15-12
 
However, the Lopers came right back with two more wins to put the match away.  12^th-ranked Zach Stodden dealt Steve Edwards a 17-4 major decision loss at 174 lbs., and Isaac Deaton pinned Tony Welsh at 4:12 at 184 lbs. to put
Nebraska-Kearney in front 15-12 with two matches remaining.
 
The Mountain Cats finished strong with wins at 197 lbs. and 285 lbs.  Seventh-ranked Levi Niebauer's 10-2 major decision victory at 197 lbs. made it 25-16, and D.J. Sims closed it out by holding off Jarrod Hinrichs', 8-4, at 285 lbs.
 
With the win, Nebraska-Kearney improves to 7-0 and advances to the quarterfinals to take on No. 5 McKendree (IL) University.
 
Following the National Duals, Pitt-Johnstown travels to Lake Erie (OH) on January 12 and Seton Hill on January 16, before hosting Wheeling Jesuit (WV) on January 20 at 7 p.m. in the Sports Center.