MARSHALL, Minn. – The Southwest Minnesota State University wrestling team will compete in a triangular tonight against Dakota Wesleyan andNorthwestern (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 leagueSt. 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.