LAS VEGAS, Nev. – No. 18 Saint John’s wrestling went 2-2 at the Desert Duals, hosted by Wartburg (Iowa), on Saturday, Dec. 21, at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas.
SJU (4-5 dual record) started the day with a 30-6 loss to No. 4 Cortland State (N.Y.) and defeated No. 26 Heidelberg (Ohio) 21-18, before falling to No. 14 Olivet (Mich.), 24-12. The Johnnies ended the long day of wrestling with a 27-18 win over Pacific (Ore.).
Senior Ryan Arne (Orono, Minn.) and sophomore Ben Henle (Spicer, Minn./New London-Spicer) tallied the Johnnies’ lone wins in the loss to Cortland State. Henle, who is ranked fifth nationally at 141 pounds, entered the third period scoreless but reversed his opponent and earned a three-point near fall en route to a 6-4 victory. Arne, meanwhile, tallied an 8-2 decision at 157 pounds.
SJU found itself down 9-0 to No. 26 Heidelberg before junior Joe Hessing (Loretto, Minn./Delano) and Arne tallied back-to-back pins at 149 and 157 pounds, respectively. Senior Brandon Seppelt (Foley, Minn.) recorded six more team points via medical forfeit at 165 and classmate Aaron Brasket (Independence, Minn./Delano) earned a 6-4 decision at 174. Junior Ryan Michaelis (Monticello, Minn.) suffered his second two-point loss at 197 pounds on the day.
The Johnnies were down 10-0 to No. 14 Olivet before Joe Hessing pinned the Comets’ Gage Pederson, who is ranked No. 10 at 149 pounds. Arne cut SJU’s deficit to 10-9 with a decision, but Olivet won four of the final five matches. Michaelis earned a 3-1 overtime win at 197.
Four of SJU’s five wins against Pacific in the finale were pins. Henle returned to the win column at 141 pounds to improve his season record to 8-3 on the year. Arne wrapped up his perfect 4-0 day with a pin and is now 11-2 on the young season. The Boxers, however, rattled off three consecutive wins to tie the match at 18-18 before Michaelis earned a decision and senior John Scepaniak (Avon, Minn./Holdingford) clinched the win with a pin at heavyweight.
Sophomore Josh Willaert (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson) and freshman Teddy Erickson (Annandale, Minn.), two starters at 184 and 174 pounds, respectively, did not compete. SJU is also hopeful that junior Dalton Sowers (Long Lake, Minn./Delano), who finished fourth at the NCAA West Regional at 133 pounds last spring, is ready to return to the mat for spring semester.
The Johnnies return to action at the University of Chicago Duals on Saturday, Jan. 4.
No. 4 Cortland State (CS) 30, No. 18 Saint John’s (SJU) 6
125: Jacob Green (CS) dec. John Wells, 6-3 [0-3]
133: Alec Dierna (CS) dec. Andy Poster, 12-8 [0-6]
141: Ben Henle (No. 5, SJU) dec. Tony Battista, 6-4 [3-6]
149: Bobby Dierna (No. 1, CS) pinned Joe Hessing, 2:38 [3-12]
157: Ryan Arne (SJU) dec. Brendan Dent, 8-2 [6-12]
165: Joe Cataldo (CS) dec. Brandon Seppelt, 8-3 [6-15]
174: Lou Puca (No. 2, CS) pinned David Rademacher, 4:05 [6-21]
184: Nick Bellanza (CS) dec. Aaron Brasket, 6-0 [6-24]
197: Joe Giaramita (CS) dec. Ryan Michaelis, 8-6 [6-27]
285: Lance Moore (No. 5, CS) dec. John Scepaniak, 3-1 [6-30]
No. 18 Saint John’s (SJU) 21, No. 26 Heidelberg (HC) 18
125: Joe Brodman (HC) dec. John Wells, 6-4 [0-3]
133: Justin Kihn (HC) dec. Andy Poster, 5-3 [0-6]
141: Ian Gillespie (HC) dec. Evan Guffey, 2-0 [0-9]
149: Joe Hessing (SJU) pinned Damon Cheek, 0:54 [6-9]
157: Ryan Arne (SJU) pinned Aaron Banko, 2:15 [12-9]
165: Brandon Seppelt (SJU) medical forfeit over Jeremy Stepp [18-9]
174: Aaron Brasket (SJU) dec. Brennan Kelly, 6-4 [21-9]
184: Richard Dowdley (HC) dec. Devin Nanik, 11-4 [21-12]
197: Jason Russell (HC) dec. Ryan Michaelis, 3-1 [21-15]
285: Nino Majoy (HC) dec. Matt Kadrlik, 4-1 [21-18]
No. 14 Olivet (OC) 24, No. 18 Saint John’s (SJU) 12
125: Robbie Bidlingmaier (OC) major dec. John Wells, 16-2 [0-4]
133: Michael Gancer (OC) dec. Andy Poster, 3-2 [0-7]
141: Justin Holm (OC) dec. Ben Henle (No. 5), 5-0 [0-10]
149: Joe Hessing (SJU) pinned Gage Pederson (No. 10), 4:19 [6-10]
157: Ryan Arne (SJU) dec. Kyle Witgen, 8-3 [9-10]
165: Dan Fleet (OC) dec. Brandon Seppelt, 6-2 [9-13]
174: Nick Allen (OC) major dec. David Rademacher, 8-0 [9-17]
184: Jeff Holm (OC) major dec. Kyle Spengler, 12-1 [9-21]
197: Ryan Michaelis (SJU) dec. Andrew Simpson, 3-1 (OT) [12-21]
285: Trevor Timmreck (OC) dec. John Scepaniak, 9-7 [12-24]
No. 18 Saint John’s (SJU) 27, Pacific (PU) 18
125: John Wells (SJU) pinned Lucas Beltz, 3:48 [6-0]
133: Eric Harder (PU) dec. Andy Poster, 10-3 [6-3]
141: Ben Henle (No. 5, SJU) pinned Carson French, 1:38 [12-3]
149: Ryan Baxter (PU) pinned Aaron Padrnos, 3:55 [12-9]
157: Ryan Arne (SJU) pinned Devin Silva, 1:43 [18-9]
165: Bruce Balcita (PU) dec. Bandon Seppelt, 5-2 [18-12]
174: Michael Tyner (PU) dec. Devin Nanik, 7-0 [18-15]
184: Caleb Malychewski (PU) dec. David Rademacher, 7-1 [18-18]
197: Ryan Michaelis (SJU) dec. Chris Harlin, 4-1 [21-18]
285: John Scepaniak (SJU) pinned Aaron Beadle, 1:47 [27-18]