UNK Lopers dominate D-II nationals

INDIANAPOLIS — At the end of this year’s NCAA Division II national wrestling tournament Saturday night, commemorative caps and T-shirts were handed to University of Nebraska-Kearney wrestlers as they assembled for a team photo with the championship trophy.

In a video produced by the Nebraska-Kearney team, 197-pounder Jackson Kinsella of Creston was visibly misty-eyed as he joined his teammates for the photo. The magnitude of the moment seemed to hit him after two hard days of wrestling, and a lifetime of waiting for his first team championship. The redshirt junior had just become a two-time All-American by placing third at 197 pounds, after taking fourth at that weight in 2024.

Despite many individual accolades — three-time state placewinner in high school along with two NCAA Division II medal-winning performances — Kinsella had never been a part of a team title. For once, he was on the mountain top as part of a collective effort. Technically, he was on the Lopers team for their fourth NCAA D-II crown in 2022, but he was a freshman redshirting and did not directly contribute.

This time he was an integral part, and was soaking it in.

Key contributor

“I don’t claim a lot of credit for that (2022) trophy, but our guys had a heck of a run that year,” Kinsella said in an interview this week while on spring break. “This is a first for me, and it’s really cool. I’ll never forget walking back to the locker room after that first round, and talking to the guys. We had brought 10 guys and got ranked first coming in, but I said we have to get ready for the quarterfinals tonight. The job’s not finished. We have to score some points tonight and tomorrow.”

They certainly delivered, virtually wrapping up the team title after that second round on the way to a dominating performance with 115 points. Runner-up Augustana was 52 points behind with a team score of 63, making it the sixth biggest margin in tournament history. St. Cloud State, the favorite going into postseason action, took third with 57.5 points. Lander (56) and Central Oklahoma (55.5) rounded out the top five.

Nebraska-Kearney qualified 10 wrestlers for the national tournament and eight became All-Americans. The dominating victory came despite the upset first-round loss by undefeated and No. 1-seeded heavyweight Crew Howard of Clarinda, who battled back with a 4-1 record through the consolation bracket to place fourth.

“The boys did it,” Kinsella said. “We needed each other. We have the toughest room in the country. The fact that we won it by that kind of margin with no individual champions speaks to the depth on this team.”

Sixth-year team member Nick James (149 pounds), redshirt senior Jacobi Deal (174) and redshirt sophomore Zach Ourada (125) each reached the finals for the Lopers and finished second.

Kinsella, seeded fifth after winning the 197-pound title at Super Region VI in Gunnison, Colorado, started strong at the nationals Friday with a 20-4 technical fall over 12th-seed Eli Reese of Gannon in 4:50.

Upsets rival

The key to Kinsella’s third-place finish was a 7-3 quarterfinal decision over third-seed Max Ramberg, a familiar opponent from Augustana.

“Ramberg had beaten me twice in overtime this year,” Kinsella noted. “I just tried to stay calm and pick my spots.”

Trailing 2-0 in the second period, Kinsella secured the first of his two takedowns to go ahead 3-2 and got another in the third period in winning a 7-3 decision.

The former Panther was derailed from reaching the national finals in the semifinal round by eighth-seed Tereus Henry of Fort Hays State in a 4-2 decision. Henry had lost to Kinsella in the Super Region finals, 4-1.

“We have wrestled nine times in college and he’s up 5-4 on me now,” Kinsella said. “We’re very familiar with each other. He’s very athletic, and I’m more of a wrestler than an athlete and usually hard to score on. It’s a clash of styles. This time he got the takedown. He had a good tournament.”

Henry lost a 5-1 decision to top-ranked Derek Blubaugh of UI-Indianapolis in the championship.

Consolation rebound

Kinsella regrouped and edged 13th-seed Wyatt Miller of Grand Valley State, 8-7, in the consolation semifinals. That set up a rematch with Augustana’s Ramberg for third place, and Kinsella matched his scoring output from the first meeting in taking a 7-2 decision, improving his national placing by one position over his 2024 finish.

“Ramberg probably thought it was his turn,” Kinsella joked. “At that point I knew the team title was already wrapped up. I just woke up a little after some hand fighting and got going after a scoreless first period. I’m about 6-2 as a 197-pounder and he’s about 5-9, so we have very different builds and styles. I got a clean ankle pick in the second period and then in the third period I was able to get a snatch single for another takedown with about 30 seconds left.”

As a high school wrestler, Kinsella placed eighth, second and third. While it was disappointing to miss a chance at wrestling for a collegiate national championship, Kinsella realizes that becoming a two-time All-American at the NCAA Division II level is no small accomplishment. He finished with a 23-8 record.

“I had goals of becoming a national champion and a multi-time All-American,” Kinsella said. “It’s not what I wanted, but I’m proud of it. This isn’t an easy sport, and we’re at the second or third-highest level of the sport behind Division I and the world stage. It’s hard to come back and take third.”

Semifinal losers at any level face the challenge of overcoming disappointment and regrouping to compete in the consolation bracket. Kinsella did that by winning two straight matches. He credits coach Dalton Jensen, an Iowan from Missouri Valley, and his staff for establishing a culture that encourages the mindset to rebound from setbacks.

“A lot of it comes down to what coach Jensen says about character and how you want to be remembered in 20 years, 30 years,” Kinsella said. “Do you want to be known as somebody that when things don’t go your way, you lay down and quit? Or, do you double down and get the next best thing? It goes along with how I was raised. My dad (Jason Kinsella) always harped on that, that when things get hard you don’t let down. I wasn’t in a great mood after that (semifinal) loss, but I was able to get it done.”

Howard, an undefeated heavyweight going into the tournament as the clear No. 1 seed, also had to regroup after that shocking first-round defeat to win four of five matches in placing fourth. The two friends from southwest Iowa know they have something to shoot for in their final season next year.

Looking ahead

Six of this year’s national tournament competitors return next season, including four of the eight All-Americans. All four placed in the top four this year.

“We want to come back and win it with individual championships as well,” Kinsella said. “I have one year left. We have high expectations.”

A championship reception was held Sunday evening at World Theater in downtown Kearney. All the national tournament wrestlers spoke, including Kinsella.

“I thanked the community for showing up, and I thanked Dalton and (assistant coach Andrew Sorenson) for taking a chance on me out of high school,” Kinsella said. “I probably wasn’t a highly-regarded recruit, but I had that blue collar work ethic to figure out a way to win. I said let’s run it back again.”

The 2026 Division II national championships will be held March 13-14, 2026 at the Denny Sanford Previer Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.