Warrensburg, Mo. (Mar. 13, 1999) -- Led by a sixth-place All-America finish from senior Ryan Hintz (Green River, Wyo.) at 133 pounds, Central Missouri State scored nine-and-a-half points at the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships in Omaha, Neb., Friday and Saturday to tie for 22nd place with Gannon University in a 36-team field. The University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown won the team title with 110 points.

Unseeded in the first-round pairings, Hintz won his opening match Friday with a 6-5 decision over top-seeded Mike Barerras of Adams State College. He advanced to the semifinals with a 13-8 win over Packy Burke of Binghamton University, but lost an 8-5 decision to fourth-seeded Scott Braun of South Dakota State University. In the consolation bracket, he faced a re-match with Barerras and was pinned in 1:52, then lost a 4-3 decision to sixth-seeded Jeremy Rhodes of Gardner-Webb University in the fifth-place match. Hintz finished his season with a record of 37-12. His 37 victories ties him with Mules' former national champion Chris Mihlfeld for the fifth-best single-season win total in school history.

The Mules' other four qualifiers -- Luke Shaw (Columbia, Mo., Hickman H.S.) at 141, Dean Leaders (Underwood, Iowa) at 157, Matt Johnson (Jefferson City, Mo., Jefferson City H.S.) at 174 and John Rolling (Carmel, Ind.) at 184 -- each won one match, but did not place in their respective weight classes (see below):

Shaw: lost in 1^st round 10-2 to #3 seed Tony Clark of Pittsburgh-Johnstown; beat #6 seed Jake Thielbar of North Dakota State University in the consolation round; was pinned by #5 seed Mark Mentzer of Shippensburg University in 5:18; final season record 28-15.

Leaders: lost in 1^st round 16-1 to #4 seed Wayne Mooney of North Dakota State; pinned Tyke Conover of Pittsburgh-Johnstown in 1:41 in the consolation round; lost 5-2 to #3 seed Benny Charles of the University of Southern Colorado; final season record 11-13.

Johnson: was pinned in 1^st round by Justin McNicholas of Kutztown University in 5:53; beat Shawn Bannes of Fort Hays State University 3-0 in the consolation round; lost 5-3 to Kevin Allison of Chadron State College; final season record 35-16.

Rolling: beat Scott Antoniak of Nebraska-Omaha 7-3 in 1^st round; lost 10-6 to #2 seed John Simpson of Colorado School of Mines in 2^nd round; was pinned by Brent Henriksen of Augustana (S.D.) in 0:51 in consolation round; final season record 18-18.