MARSHALL, Minn. – The Southwest Minnesota State University wrestling team will host No. 10 Upper Iowa University in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference dual on Friday night. The match is set to begin at 7 p.m. in the PE Gym on the campus of Southwest Minnesota State.
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Bring on the NSIC: The Mustangs spent two months competing in open tournaments and in duals with non-conference teams before opening the NSIC schedule on Jan. 19.
Peacocks at a glance: Upper Iowa enters the dual ranked No. 10 in the NWCA Top 20 Poll. The Peacocks are 2-0 on the season and will wrestle Minnesota State on Thursday night in Mankato. Upper Iowa's 2-0 dual record was put up against NSIC foes U-Mary and Northern State. The Peacocks defeated the Marauders 34-6 on Jan. 13 before downing Northern State 25-15 on Jan. 16.
The Peacocks have five wrestlers ranked in the top 8 in the latest edition of the individual rankings. Trevor Franklin, third at 125 pounds, Kyle Pedretti, first at 133 pounds, Mitch Schultz, sixth at 184 pounds, Carl Broghammer, sixth at 197 pounds and Zach Rosol, fifth at 285 pounds are ranked in the NWCA individual rankings released on Jan. 19.
Results vs. the Peacocks: Southwest Minnesota State is 0-6 all-time against Upper Iowa. The two teams first met during the 1991-92 season. Last season, Upper Iowa took eight of 10 bouts en route to a 35-12 win over the Mustangs on Jan. 29, 2010 in Fayette, Iowa. SMSU's 12 points came from current Mustang
Brian Rodas who won by fall and former Mustang
Brandan Schunk who also won by fall.
Mustang lineup:
Wt. Wrestler
125
Travis Borchert
133
Justin Reinsma
141
Ethan Hildebrandt
149
David Albrecht or
Kyle Anderson
157
Casey Field
165
Logan McAlpin
174
Zac Coates
184
CD Johnson
197
Martin Hagen
285
Brian Rodas
In the poll: The Southwest Minnesota State wrestling team received votes in the Jan. 4 edition of the NCAA Division II wrestling rankings released by the NCAA Division II Wrestling Coaches Association.
Last time out: No. 3 St. Cloud State University defeated Southwest Minnesota State 32-8 in the NSIC opener for the Mustangs.
SMSU's
CD Johnson looked inspired when jumping on to the mat for his bout against No. 5 ranked Mic Berg at 184 pounds. Johnson was aggressive from the start earning a 15-0 technical fall putting the Mustangs on the board for the first time of the night.
Travis Borchert started out the dual for the Mustangs at 125 pounds with a strong performance against SCSU's Dylan Wright. Wright scored early with a takedown before Borchert would tie the bout with a takedown of his own. Borchert's takedown forced the bout into an overtime period. The freshman almost came away with a win before being taken down by Wright for a 4-2 decision giving the Huskies a 3-0 lead.
St. Cloud State picked up wins in the next two bouts at 133 pounds and 141 pounds when Westy Hanson defeated
Justin Reinsma by a 4-1 decision and #7 ranked Gabe Suarez earned a 14-5 major decision over
Ethan Hildebrandt to give SCSU a 10-0 lead.
At the 149-pound weight class St. Cloud State's Jacob R. Horn defeated SMSU's
Kyle Anderson in a 9-6 decision giving the Huskies a 13-0 lead. The Huskies would stretch the lead to 23-0 after Josh Jorniman defeated Mustang wrestler
Casey Field by major decision 10-0 and SMSU's forfeit by SMSU at 165 pounds.
The Huskies' Shamus O'Grady who is ranked sixth nationally at 174 pounds defeated SMSU's Billy Fate by fall at 4:23 stretching SCSU's lead to 29-0.
The Mustangs would get on the board after senior
CD Johnson defeated the fifth ranked wrestler in the nation at 184 pounds by technical fall earning a 15-0 decision. The Huskies lead the dual 29-5 heading into the 197-pound bout.
SMSU's
Martin Hagen dropped a 5-2 decision at 197 pounds to Luke Munkelwitz, which gave the Huskies a 32-5 lead in the dual. Senior heavyweight
Brian Rodas earned a 5-1 decision over SCSU's Chris Brassell at 285 pounds to make the final score 32-8 in favor of the Huskies.
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 20-8 on the season.
Veteran presence: CD Johnson and
Brian Rodas bring a veteran presence to the Mustang wrestling team every time they hit the mat. Johnson enters the dual with a record of 19-11 on the season after picking up a 15-0 technical fall over No. 5 Mic Berg of St. Cloud State. The senior has four pins, two technical falls, three major decisions and seven decisions on the season.
Rodas enters the dual 3-0 on the season after picking up a 5-1 decision over Chris Brassell of St. Cloud State last Saturday. The senior heavyweight has two pins on the season and one decision. The two seniors accounted for all of SMSU's eight points in the dual with St. Cloud State on Saturday.
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
