SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Saint John’s stumbled out of the gate but fought back to end the first day of the NWCA/Cliff Keen Division III National Duals with a 2-1 record on Saturday, Jan. 7, in Springfield, Ill. The seventh-ranked Johnnies fell by one point to No. 24 Mount Union of Ohio (20-19) before defeating No. 25 Centenary of New Jersey (32-11) and No. 9 Elmhurst of Illinois (26-18).
SJU will face No. 10 Olivet (Mich.) at 9 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 8, at the Prairie Capital Convention Center. A win would pit the Johnnies against the winner of Mount Union and No. 18 Wisconsin-Whitewater for fifth place.
Down 4-0 early, senior Chad Henle (Spicer, Minn./New London-Spicer), ranked No. 10 in the most recent D3wrestle.com poll, put SJU (5-3 dual record) on the board with a 10-8 win at 133 pounds. He had a comfortable 7-2 lead before the match became interesting in the third period.
Junior Nick Schuler (Roseville, Minn./Totino-Grace) stopped the bleeding, a 14-3 deficit, with a 13-4 major decision at 165 pounds. Senior Matt Pfarr (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson) posted a 6-3 win in his first match back at 174 pounds, and junior Mitch Hagen (Sunburg, Minn./Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg), ranked sixth in the latest NWCA poll, tallied a 6-4 victory at 184 pounds.
With the team down by one point (14-13), senior Dustin Baxter (Fairbanks, Alaska/West Valley) delivered a pin in 53 seconds at 197. He is currently ranked second (NWCA) and third (D3wrestle.com), respectively. The fall gave SJU its first lead of the dual, but a pin by the Purple Raiders’ Derick Hesson, ranked second (NWCA) and fourth (D3wrestle.com), at heavyweight gave the 12th-seed a one-point upset over the Johnnies.
SJU found its form with the 32-11 win over Centenary. Freshman Brian Waldron (Lake Zurich, Ill./Carmel Catholic) started the Johnnies on the right foot with an 8-4 decision, followed by a 7-5 win from Henle at 133 pounds. Sophomore Joe Hessing (Loretto, Minn./Delano) answered the Cyclones’ first win with a pin at 149. Chris Burdge, ranked as high as third in the country, posted a major decision over sophomore Brandon Seppelt (Foley, Minn.) at 157 pounds before SJU rattled off four straight wins.
Schuler and Pfarr tallied back-to-back technical falls, 16-0 and 20-3, before Hagen recorded a major decision (14-6) at 184 pounds. Baxter earned six team points via forfeit. Joe Zitone, ranked as high as fourth in Division III, won by major decision at heavyweight.
The Johnnies started their final dual of the day against Elmhurst with a 9-0 lead thanks to a forfeit at 125 and a 5-3 win from Henle. The Blue Jays stormed back to tie it at 9-9 before the Johnnies won three straight matches to take a commanding 22-9 lead. Stevermer won by major decision (9-1) and Schuler pinned his man in 2:05. Pfarr upset the fourth-ranked wrestler in Division III, Danny Balderas, 3-1 at 174 pounds. Josef Rau, ranked third nationally, edged Hagen by a 4-1 margin to cut the deficit to 10, but Baxter notched an 8-0 major decision.
No. 24 Mount Union, Ohio (UMU) 20; No. 7 Saint John’s (SJU) 19
125 – Brad Kress (UMU) major dec. sophomore Matt Hickerson (SJU), 10-0 [0-4]
133 – Senior Chad Henle (No. 10, SJU) dec. T.J. Arnone (UMU), 10-8 [3-4]
141 – Josh Malave (No. 8/9, UMU) major dec. sophomore Aaron Padrnos (SJU), 13-5 [3-8]
149 – Kevin Shadrach (UMU) dec. sophomore Ryan Arne (SJU), 5-2 [3-11]
157 – Jon Garrison (UMU) dec. junior Chris Stevermer (SJU), 10-6 [3-14]
165 – Junior Nick Schuler (SJU) major dec. John Piechuta (UMU), 13-4 [7-14]
174 – Senior Matt Pfarr (SJU) dec. Jeremy Hathaway (UMU), 6-3 [10-14]
184 – Junior Mitch Hagen (No. 6, SJU) dec. Andy Jenkins (UMU), 6-4 [13-14]
197 – Senior Dustin Baxter (No. 2/3, SJU) pinned Darin Lyles (UMU), 0:53 [19-14]
Hwt – Derick Hesson (No.2/4, UMU) pinned sophomore John Scepaniak (SJU), 2:25 [19-20]
No. 7 Saint John’s (SJU) 32; No. 25 Centenary, N.J. (CENT) 11
125 – Freshman Brian Waldron (SJU) dec. Alex Reeves (CENT), 8-4 [3-0]
133 – Senior Chad Henle (No. 10, SJU) dec. Adam Swift (CENT), 7-5 [6-0]
141 – Nick Priest (CENT) dec. senior Scott Padrnos (SJU), 4-0 [6-3]
149 – Sophomore Joe Hessing (SJU) pinned Don Miller (CENT), 3:37 [12-3]
157 – Chris Burdge (No. 3/4, CENT) major dec. sophomore Brandon Seppelt (SJU), 11-2 [12-7]
165 – Junior Nick Schuler (SJU) tech. fall Nick Bach (CENT), 16-0 [17-7]
174 – Senior Matt Pfarr (SJU) tech. fall Khalid Shakir (CENT), 20-3 [22-7]
184 – Junior Mitch Hagen (No. 6, SJU) major dec. James Valcius (CENT), 14-6 [26-7]
197 – Senior Dustin Baxter (No. 2/3, SJU) won by forfeit [32-7]
Hwt – Joe Zitone (No. 4/6, CENT) major dec. sophomore John Scepaniak (SJU), 9-1 [32-11]
No. 7 Saint John’s (SJU) 26; No. 9 Elmhurst, Ill. (ELM) 18
125 – Freshman Brian Waldron (SJU) won by forfeit [6-0]
133 – Senior Chad Henle (No. 10, SJU) dec. Dalton Bullard (ELM), 5-3 [9-0]
141 – Jake Denhof (ELM) pinned senior Scott Padrnos (SJU), 5:00 [9-6]
149 – Ryan Earley (ELM) dec. sophomore Ryan Arne (SJU), 4-3 [9-9]
157 – Junior Chris Stevermer (SJU) major dec. Michael Grice (ELM), 9-1 [13-9]
165 – Junior Nick Schuler (SJU) pinned Yousef Al-Ghoul (ELM), 2:05 [19-9]
174 – Senior Matt Pfarr (SJU) dec. Danny Balderas (No. 4/10, ELM), 3-1 [22-9]
184 – Josef Rau (No. 3, ELM) dec. junior Mitch Hagen (No. 6, SJU), 4-1 [22-12]
197 – Senior Dustin Baxter (No. 2/3, SJU) major dec. Jon Nelson (ELM), 8-0 [26-12]
Hwt – Brian Brooks (ELM) pinned sophomore John Scepaniak (SJU), 2:46 [26-18]