Saint John’s wrestling hosts Division II MSU-Moorhead for a 7 p.m. dual on Wednesday, Dec. 2, in Sexton Arena.
Tuesday’s dual has been designated as Military and Veterans Appreciation Night at Sexton Arena. All active military and veterans (and a guest) will receive free admission to the event. SJU will wear camouflaged singlets in honor of the event, and members of the CSB/SJU ROTC program will present the colors.
RIDGEWATER: SJU’s junior-varsity dual against Ridgewater, which was originally scheduled for Nov. 18, has been rescheduled for Wednesday night. The two duals will be wrestled simultaneously on two mats, though the video webcast will film the varsity matches only.
MSU-Moorhead vs Saint John’s Live Video
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John’s (0-2 dual record) fell to No. 2 St. Cloud State, the defending NCAA Division II national champions, last Tuesday (Nov. 24) in Collegeville by a score of 45-3. SCSU started the dual with two pins before senior Ben Henle (Spicer, Minn./New London-Spicer) put SJU on the scoreboard with an 8-6 overtime win at 141 pounds. Henle, who is ranked fifth nationally by D3wrestle.com, scored a takedown with 33 seconds left in the first overtime (sudden victory) to improve to 8-3 on the young season. Henle’s opponent, Travis Swanson, tied the match at 5-5 with a reversal to start the third period. Henle escaped with a minute remaining, but Swanson held a 1:19 advantage in riding time to send the match to overtime.
Senior Mike Pleski (Stacy, Minn./Forest Lake) suffered a tough 8-7 loss at 149 pounds. He entered the second period with a 7-3 lead, but allowed four points in the frame, including a technical violation for grabbing the edge of the mat. The deciding point was riding time in favor of the Huskies’ Jay Hildreth.
Freshman Luke Dodd (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) just missed earning his eighth win of the season at 184 pounds. He led 2-0 in the third period, but allowed a reversal with 50 seconds remaining and then the deciding takedown 26 seconds later.
A LOOK AT THE DRAGONS: MSU-Moorhead (0-1 dual record) travels to Collegeville Wednesday following a good showing at the Concordia-Moorhead Open Nov. 21, three days after falling to the Cobbers by a 16-15 dual score. The Dragons are led by junior Blake Bosch, who is currently ranked fifth in Division II at 133 pounds. He posted a third-place finish at the Cobber Open. Following an opening-round bye, Bosch pinned North Dakota State’s Nicolas Colunga but lost a tough 7-5 decision to Mike Rhone of St. Cloud State in the semifinals. He rebounded with an 18-4 major decision win and outlasted St. Cloud State’s Jarred Oftedahl 4-2 to take third and finish the day with a 3-1 record. Junior Garret Hoffner was fifth at 157. He lost a tough 7-6 decision to SDSU’s Colin Holler in the first round, but came back with a 15-0 technical fall over Minot State’s Marcus Polak in the consolation bracket.
LAST YEAR: MSU-Moorhead won the first eight matches, four by two points or less, en route to a 34-6 wrestling win over SJU last Jan. 16 (2015) in Moorhead. Ryan Michaelis ’15 erased the shutout for SJU with a pin in 6:20 at 197 pounds. Henle saw his 14-match win streak come to an end with a 9-7 loss in double overtime at 141 pounds. He picked up a three-point near fall near the end of the second period to gain a 7-4 lead but ran out of time for the pin. Henle surrendered a reversal in the third period and the Dragons’ Philippe Walker accrued over a minute of riding time to send the match to overtime. Following the first overtime (sudden victory), Henle chose down in the first 30-second frame but could not escape. Walker recorded a reversal with 10 seconds left to earn the win.
SJU dropped three other matches by two points or less. Evan Guffey ’15 fell to Blake Bosch, who was ranked sixth in Division II, by a 2-0 score at 133 pounds. JuniorTeddy Erickson (Annandale, Minn.) lost by a 3-1 decision at 165 pounds and sophomore Nick Pegelow (Eagan, Minn./Eastview) suffered a 3-2 loss at 184 pounds.
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