Hernandez places sixth for T-Birds

KEARNEY, Neb. — Cloud County Community College heavyweight Benny Hernandez recorded a sixth-place finish in the University of Nebraska-Kearney Holiday Inn Open on Saturday.
Hernandez, ranked fourth in the NJCAA in the 285-pound class, won his first three matches before suffering a 7-1 loss to Logan Church, Wayne State University, in the semifinals.
With Hernandez having suffered an injury in the loss to Church and having wrestled several matches during the week, Cloud County coach Cody Cole made the decision to sit him out of the consolation semifinals and fifth-place matches.
“He went out and performed really well,” Cole said of Hernandez, “I think he might have been able to push through but he's been in a lot of tough matches the last week and a half and we thought it was better to give him some rest there after he tweaked his knee.
Hernadez pinned Connor Mahoney, unattached, in 42 seconds in the opening round. Hewon a 3-2 decision over Collin Braun, unattached then defeated Michael Stann, Concordia (Neb.) University before losing to Church.
Church went on to beat Blake Berryhill, Central Oklahoma University, 4-1 in the championship match.
The tournament included nearly 500 wrestlers from NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NAIA and NJCAA teams.
“As a team I thought we performed a lot better and bought into the tough matches,” Cole said, “What we were looking for coming off those three duals against NCAA Division II schools was to see our guys develop the mentality of going after people. This was a huge and difficult open for our kids to wrestle in going into Thanksgiving.”
Cloud County freshman Quentin Jiner finished 3-2 in the 157-pound class. He had wins over NCAA Division II opponents Austin Morgan, Central Missouri State, a 15-2 major decision, and Ryan Fidal, Colorado School of the Mines, a 3-1 decision.
“He fought really hard and has improved a lot on his feet the last few weeks,” Cole said, “He's bought in and changed his style to fit what we're trying to do here. He's improved immensely so far as a collegiate wrestler.”
Freshman Dakota Miller, 133 pounds, was wrestling for the first time since suffering a rib injury on November 8, and finished 3-2 in the tournament. He advanced to the fourth round of the consolation bracket.
Cloud County will compete in the Bob Smith Open hosting by Fort Hays State University, on December 2.