MARSHALL, Minn. – The Southwest Minnesota State University wrestling team will compete in a triangular tonight against
Dakota Wesleyan and
Northwestern (Iowa) before opening the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference portion of its schedule on Saturday. The triangular is set to begin at 4:30 p.m. at Dakota Wesleyan in Mitchell, S.D.
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Triangular opponents: Southwest Minnesota State has won four straight meetings over Dakota Wesleyan. The two teams first met during the 2000-01 season, with SMSU last taking on the Tigers during the 2003-04 season. Dakota Wesleyan enters the triangular with a 1-4 record in duals this season. SMSU has never lost a dual with Northwestern (Iowa) owning a 5-0 record over the Red Raiders. The two teams first met in 1978-79 and last met during the 2002-03 season. Northwestern enters the triangular 2-3 in duals o the season.
Bring on the NSIC: After spending two months competing in open tournaments and duals with non-conference foes the Mustangs are set to begin the NSIC season on Saturday, Jan. 19 at 7 p.m. in the PE Gym. Southwest Minnesota State will host the NSIC's preseason favorite to win the league
St. Cloud State University.
Huskies at a glance: St. Cloud State enters the dual with a record of 12-1 in dual competition. The Huskies finished seventh in the national tournament as a team a season ago. In the latest edition of the National Wrestling Coaches Association Top-25 Poll St. Cloud State was the second ranked team in the country behind Nebrask-Omaha.
In the latest edition of the individual rankings St. Cloud State had six individual wrestlers ranked in the top eight in the country. Gabe Suarez, seventh at 141 pounds, John Sundgren, sixth at 157 pounds, Tad Merritt, second at 165 pounds, Shamus O'Grady, sixth at 174 pounds, Mic Berg, fifth at 184 pounds, and Jacob Kalnke, at 285 pounds. SCSU is currently 12-1 in duals on the season.
Results vs. the Huskies: Southwest Minnesota State is 12-26-1 all-time against St. Cloud State. The two teams first met during the 1969-70 season, and last met a season ago. SMSU fell in a dual against the Huskies 37-9 on Jan. 16 last year. SCSU was ranked ninth in the nation at the time and won four bouts by fall to beat the Mustangs in St. Cloud. The Huskies have won the last four duals with the Mustangs.
Mustang lineup:
Wt. Wrestler
125
Travis Borchert or
Ed Reno
133
Justin Reinsma or #A.J. Jenniges#
141
Ethan Hildebrandt or
Codie Lane
149
Kyle Anderson or
David Albrecht
157
Casey Field
165
Logan McAlpin
174
William Fate
184
CD Johnson
197
Martin Hagen
285
Brian Rodas or
Todd Klemz
In the poll: The Southwest Minnesota State wrestling team received votes in the latest edition of the
NCAA Division II wrestling rankings released by the NCAA Division II Wrestling Coaches Association released Jan. 4. The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference earned four spots in he top-20 in this week's edition of the rankings. St. Cloud State currently ranks second while Augustana (S.D.) is ranked third. Minnesota State cracked the poll at seventh and Upper Iowa landed at 11th. Along with the Mustangs, MSU Moorhead received votes in the coaches' poll this week.
Last time out: The Southwest Minnesota State wrestling team had 10 wrestlers place at the Buena Vista Open today in Storm Lake, Iowa. Zach Coates and
Trent Molacek led the Mustangs going 3-0 on the day as the champion at 174 pounds. Molacek followed that performance going 4-0 at 165 pounds and winning that weight class.
Nine Mustangs wrestlers placed sixth or higher at the Buena Vista Open.
Travis Borchert finished second place at 125 pounds and
Justin Reinsma picked up second place honors at 133 pounds.
Brian Beilke also came in fourth at 133 pounds for SMSU as well.
Ethan Hildebrandt lost his second bout of the night before reeling off four straight wins to take third place at 141 pounds.
Casey Field finished the day 2-1 at 157 pounds while finishing in second place. Billy Fate went 3-1 and finished third at 174 pounds.
Brian Rodas and
Andrew Rodas made their first appearances of the season after spending the fall with the SMSU football team.
Andrew Rodas picked up a second place finish at 197 pounds while Brian went 1-2 and finished sixth at 285 pounds.
Coates started the afternoon off with a win by fall at 2:56 over Ryan Peres and followed that with a win by fall at 1:13 over Casey Paprocki of Buena Vista.
133-pounder on a tear: Redshirt freshman
Justin Reinsma (Slayton, Minn.) had a strong showing in December going 4-0, including winning the Red Bracket at the Dragon Open in Moorhead on Dec. 4 with a perfect 3-0 record. Reinsma, a 133-pounder, began the stretch with a win by fall at 4:48 over Jake McManigal during SMSU's 18-18 dual match tie versus Morningside College.
Reinsma opened the Dragon Open with a 9-2 victory over Tossaporn Suparat from Augsburg, before advancing to the finals with a victory by fall at 6:30 over Evan Forde from MSU Moorhead. Reinsma capped the day with a 12-2 win over Cody Madsen from Augsburg in the finals. Reinsma is now 16-6 on the season.
Veteran presence: CD Johnson enters the triangular with a record of 14-8 on the season. Johnson picked up a win in SMSU's first dual of the season picking up a 5-1 decision. Draper was a part of the comeback against Morningside earning a 10-7 decision over Morningside's John Sievert. Johnson has recorded two pins on the season.
Nationally ranked: Brian Rodas, a native of Farmersburg, Iowa, was the first Mustang to be ranked this season, and has been ranked in every poll this season. Rodas entered the season at No. 8 at 285 pounds. The junior made his first appearance of the season in the Buena Vista Open on Dec. 11. Rodas went 1-2 in the open finishing in sixth place. Last season, Rodas qualified for the national tournament at 285 pounds and finished the season with a record of 12-8.
National qualifiers: The 2010-11 Mustangs return two national qualifiers from last season.
Brian Rodas and
CD Johnson both qualified for the NCAA tournament last season. Johnson earned a spot in the national tournament at 184 pounds.
Experienced returners: Demond Carter and AJ Jenniges will add to the veteran leadership for the Mustangs. Carter just missed out on a national tournament berth last season. Carter spent two weeks in the national rankings last season as well. The 146 pounder spent time ranked sixth and eighth in the country last season. He was the only Mustang Wrestler to earn a national ranking last season. Jenniges compiled a 14-11 record in his freshman season for the Mustangs.
Talented newcomers: The 2010 recruiting class combined for a 1,448-363 career high school record. The class had 29 state tournament appearances last year. 22 of those placed in the state tournament and 10 were finalists. Zach Coates highlight the incoming freshman and will look to contribute to the Mustangs on the mat in their freshman season. Coates was a six-time letterwinner at Henry Sibley High School who appeared in three state tournaments and finished his season with a 39-2 record.
According to the coaches: The Mustangs were picked to finish fifth in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll. SMSU earned 14 points and a tie with MSU Moorhead for the fifth place spot in the preseason poll. St. Cloud State earned 67 points and the top spot in the preseason poll.
2010-11 NSIC Wrestling Preseason Coaches' Poll
1 St. Cloud State 67
2 Augustana 64
3 Minnesota State 37
4 Upper Iowa 24
5 MSU Moorhead 14
Southwest Minnesota State 14
7 Northern State 12
8 University of Mary 8
SMSU Individual NSIC Preseason Rankings
125 pounds
8.
Brian Beilke
133 pounds
4. AJ Jenniges
141 pounds
6.
David Albrecht
149 pounds
3.
Demond Carter
157 pounds
6. Jake Begin
165 pounds
8.
Trent Molacek
174 pounds
4. Billy Fate
184 pounds
4.
CD Johnson
197 pounds
7.
Andrew Rodas
285 pounds
3.
Brian Rodas
