For Immediate Release
Monday, January 16, 2012
NSIC Media Relations
Full PDF Release
NSIC Wrestler of the Week
Jacob Begin
165 lbs, So.,
Anoka, Minn.
Anoka HS
Southwest Minnesota State
Jacob Begin won all five of his matches last week, starting with a 13-5 major decision over Nicholas Hutcheson of Dakota Wesleyan on Wednesday. Begin helped the Mustangs to its win over Waldorf (Iowa) pinning Cameron Childs at 1:07. The sophomore continued to wrestle strong for the Mustangs at the Western State Duals in Gunnison, Colo. Begin helped the Mustangs pick up a 20-19 win over No. 20 Colorado State-Pueblo pinning Matt Addington at 4:14. He followed that with a 10-3 decision over Chester Granard of Colorado Mesa University and a 10-6 decision over Cody Frankum of Western State (Colo.).
NSIC Wrestling Notes
Out of the ten weight classes, the NSIC has five wrestlers ranked No.1 in the nation at their respective weights. The NSIC also has a wrestler ranked in the top four in each of the other five weight classes. (see page 4 of PDF release for full individual national rankings.
AUGUSTANA COLLEGE
Chism Fink (141, Sr., Harrisburg, S.D./Harrisburg HS) recorded two wins by major decision to help No. 5-ranked Augustana to a pair of wins over St. John’s (Minn.) and Concordia (Moorhead) this past weekend. On Saturday against SJU, Fink blanked Alex Pink 9-0 to help the Vikings earn a 23-13 victory over the Johnnies ,who are ranked ninth in Division III. He followed with a 13-3 victory over Michael Holman on Sunday as Augustana logged a 22-18 victory over the Cobbers, who are ranked 15th in Division III. Fink is ranked No. 5 in the nation.
UNIVERSITY OF MARY
Trevor Johnson (141, So., Bismarck, ND/North Dakota State) dominated two decisions on Sunday as the University of Mary faced two of the top teams in the nation. In his opening match of the day, Johnson earned a 9-2 victory over Jay Hildreth of #1 St. Cloud State. The sophomore followed with a 10-1 major decision over Duane Richardson of #3 Upper Iowa. Ranked fourth in the nation, Johnson improves to 20-4 with the two wins… Martin Patron (285, Sr., Modesto, CA) also earned two victories in the Marauders first Northern Sun duals of the season. Patron jumped out to a 5-0 lead on a pair of takedowns on his way to a 7-2 win over St. Cloud State’s Caleb White. The U-Mary senior closed the day in dramatic fashion, recording a takedown with five seconds left in the match to defeat Luke Stika of Upper Iowa 3-1.
MINNESOTA STATE
Minnesota State was idle last weekend. The Mavericks will return to action this weekend at the Ranger Duals in Kenosha, Wis.
MSU MOORHEAD
The Dragon’s Corey Ulmer, second ranked in the NCAA Division II 125-weight class, gave them an early lead as the redshirt-senior pulled out a 7-4 decision over Bryden Lazaro of Dickinson State. In three duals on the season, Ulmer is 3-0. The Dragons fell 16-28 to the Bluehawks.
NORTHERN STATE
Matt Meuleners won both his matches this past week defeating St. Cloud State’s Caleb White 14-0. The then defeated Upper Iowa’s Luke Stika with a 10-1 major decision. Meuleners is the defending hwt national champion and is ranked No.2 in the nation this season.
SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE
Jacob Begin (165, So., Anoka, Minn.) has won five straight matches starting with a 13-5 major decision over Nicholas Hutcheson of Dakota Wesleyan on Wednesday. Begin helped the Mustangs to its win over Waldorf (Iowa) pinning Cameron Childs at 1:07. The sophomore continued to wrestle strong for the Mustangs at the Western State Duals in Gunnison, Colo. Begin helped the Mustangs pick up a 20-19 win over No. 20 Colorado State-Pueblo pinning Matt Addington at 4:14. He followed that with a 10-3 decision over Chester Granard of Colorado Mesa University and a 10-6 decision over Cody Frankum of Western State (Colo.).
Martin Hagen (197, Sr., Hanley Falls, Minn.) improved to 11-5 on the season earning four victories last week. Hagen began with a 20-5 technical fall over Shea Klooster of Dakota Wesleyan and a 10-7 decision over Brock Binversie of Waldorf in SMSU’s two wins in its own triangular. Hagen began the Western State Duals with a 15-4 major decision over Cody Johnson of CSU-Pueblo before earning a 5-0 decision over Jordan Passehl of Colorado Mesa University.
ST. CLOUD STATE
Tad Merritt (174 lbs, Sr., Canby, Minn.) improved his overall season record to 23-1 with a pair of victories in the Huskies’ matches at Northern State and Mary. On Jan. 13, Merritt charted an 18-5 major decision victory over Donnie Bowden of NSU at 174-pounds. He completed the weekend with a 4:51 pin against John Devito of Mary on Jan. 15 in Bismarck, N.D. Merritt’s victories helped the Huskies earn a 28-12 win over Mary and a 23-19 victory at Northern State. Merritt is currently ranked #1 in the nation at 165-pounds this season.
St. Cloud State regained its number one national team ranking last week in the latest DII coaches’ poll. Tad Merritt (165) and Jacob Kahnke (285) also earned number one rankings in the poll, while Derek Skala (184), Lucas Munkelwitz (197) and Shamus O’Grady (174) also received number three rankings in the DII poll, while Jacob D. Horn was ranked #5 at 157-pounds...SCSU currently owns a perfect 13-0 record this season in dual meet competiton...SCSU will open its 2011-12 home dual season on Jan. 18 with a dual at home against UW-Eau Claire. The match was originally slated for Feb. 7 but the date was changed due to facility conflicts at SCSU...a unique dual for the Huskies will take place on Jan. 28, when the Huskies battle Southwest Minnesota State at the Canby H.S. gym in Canby, Minn. SCSU senior Tad Merritt is a graduate of Canby H.S. and will be making a return trip to his former high school for the dual against SMSU...the Huskies are closing in on the team’s season record of 19 dual match wins set in 2010-11 (19-2 overall). SCSU has 8 more dual matches left this season and the Huskies already own a 13-0 dual match record this winter...freshman Josh Howk has been impressive this season with an 18-10 record, which includes 14 pins. He added to his pin total with another one against Mary this weekend. Merritt is a close second for pins this season at 12...Lucas Munkelwitz joined the team’s 20-win club this season with his victory at Mary on Jan. 15. Munkelwitz is now 20-4 at 197-pounds this season. SCSU’s other 20-win wrestlers this season include Merritt (23-1) and Jacob Kahnke (22-1).
UPPER IOWA
Jordan Rinken (149, Fr., Denver, Iowa) earned a pair of wins by fall over the weekend as Upper Iowa posted two NSIC victories. Rinken fell behind in his match versus Beau Voegeli of Northern State, 4-2, but countered with an escape and a takedown near the end of the first period to secure a 5-4 lead heading into the second. He added an escape and a takedown to push his lead to 8-5 as the match went to the final period. The Peacock freshman worked hard in the third period and earned UIU’s third win by fall of the night (5:37). On Sunday, the freshman from Waverly-Shell Rock High School didn’t let U-Mary get a second win in a row thanks to a pin in the final seconds (6:54) of his match. With the match tied, 4-4, in the final period, Rinken found himself with an opportunity for the pin and he took advantage with just six seconds left to push Upper Iowa’s lead to 16-4. The two wins improve his record to 23-4 overall including eleven wins by fall, two technical falls and three major decisions.
The #3 Peacock wrestling team opened their Northern Sun Conference season this weekend with a pair of dominating duals against the Wolves of Northern State (41-4) and the Marauders of U-Mary (32-7) on the road. Upper Iowa moved to 6-1 overall and 2-0 in the NSIC with the impressive wins claiming seventeen of the twenty matches including five wins by fall and four major decisions. Eight UIU wrestlers won both of their matches including Kyle Pedretti (125, #1 NCAA), Trevor Franklin (133, #1 NCAA), Rinken (149), Winston Robbins (157), Blake Sorensen (165), Wade Gobin (174, #6 NCAA), Mitch Schultz (184, #4 NCAA) and Carl Broghammer (197, #4 NCAA).
The Peacocks will return to Dorman Gym this coming Sunday, Jan. 22, for a NSIC dual versus the Mustangs of Southwest Minnesota State. The action will begin at 2 p.m. Upper Iowa will also be celebrating their second annual Wrestling Alumni Day on the 22nd. The home dual marks the first of four straight home duals for Upper Iowa.
Week 9 Results
1/11 Dakota Wesleyan 3 at SMSU 35
1/11 MSU Moorhead 28 at Dickinson State 16
1/11 Waldorf (Iowa) 6 at SMSU 31
1/13 *St. Cloud State 23 at Northern State 19
1/14 *Upper Iowa 41 at Northern State 4
1/14 Augustana 23 at Saint John’s (Minn.) 13
1/14 Colorado State-Pueblo 19 vs SMSU 20
1/14 Colorado Mesa 15 vs SMSU 22
1/14 SMSU 12 at Western State (Colo.) 30
1/15 *St. Cloud State 28 at U-Mary 12
1/15 *Upper Iowa 32 at U-Mary 7
1/15 Augustana 22 Concordia (Moorhead) 18
* = NSIC Match
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