FARGO, N.D. — A pair of third-place finishes by seniors Matt Lewellen and Angel Vega led the way for the Minnesota State University Moorhead wrestling team at the Bison Open Saturday in Fargo, N.D. Several Dragon wrestlers recorded wins against Division I foes at the event.
No team scores were kept.
Senior Matt Lewellen had an excellent day at 184 pounds for the Dragons. He opened with a pin of South Dakota State’s Jake Turk in 2:36 and then edged Anthony Navarro of Northern State, 6-5. He fell to Brett Pfarr of Minnesota by technical fall, 17-0 but came back to beat Christian Harrison of Concordia, 7-5. Lewellen captured third with a 7-6 win over SDSU’s Ben Schwery.
Senior Angel Vega claimed third at 141 pounds. He pinned Joe Umlauf of North Dakota State, in 6:24. and then beat Coltan Laganiere of South Dakota State, 7-2. Vega lost in the semifinals to Christopher Dardanes of Minnesota, 21-9. He came back to pin Justin LaValle of North Dakota State, 2:48 to claim third.
Junior Michael Joseph was fifth at 174 pounds for MSUM. He beat Lance Valiquette, 6-0 and then followed with a 9-4 win over Blake Lundgren of Northern State. Joseph fell to Hayden Zillmer of NDSU, 19-5 and then lost to Concordia’s Sebastian Gardner, 10-1. Joseph came back with a 15-5 major decision win over Lundgren to claim fifth.
At 125 pounds, freshman Blake Bosch went 1-2, losing both matches to Division I wrestlers. He had an opening-round bye and then lost to Jordan Kingsley of Minnesota, 6-1. He came back to beat freshman teammate Shane Novak, 6-2 in the consolation bracket before losing to Isaac Andrade of South Dakota State, 7-2.
At 133 pounds, redshirtfresman Austin Leibel finished 1-2. He lost to Clayton Cathey of North Dakota State, 8-3 and then beat Richard Byrd, 7-5. He fell to Nathaniel Thomas of Minnesota to end the day.
Mario Tuccitto went 0-2 at 141 for MSUM while Daniel Murakami was 0-2 at 157.
Connor MacGregor finished 2-2 at 149 pounds for the Dragons, with all of the matches coming against Division I wrestlers. He lost his first match at 149, falling to Minnesota’s Jake Short 14-6. he came back to earn a 15-0 win by technical fall over NDSU’s Nathaniel Rykard, and then added a 12-4 win over South Dakota State’s Kyle Leet. He fell to Nichole Olejnik of NDSU, 8-6.
Sophomore Jesse Puncochar was 1-2 on the day. He lost a tough 8-6 decision to Marcus Polak of Minot State but came back to pin Trevour Chavez of NDSU in 1:17. He then lost to Brock Krumm of Mary in a tough 5-4 contest. Junior Shawn Porter also competed at 165 and went 0-2.
Junior Connor Monk lost his first match at 174 pounds to Logan Storley of Minnesota, 18-3. He came back to beat Jackson Barber of Concordia by technical fall, 16-1. Monk fell to Blake Lundgren of Northern State, 8-2.
MSUM opens the dual season on Thursday at Jamestown.