SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Minnesota State University Moorhead wrestler Blake Bosch is two wins from a national title. The junior advanced to the semifinals at 133 pounds at the Division II National Wrestling Championships with a pair of wins to open the tournament on Friday.
Bosch recorded a 22-4 technical fall win over Chandler Minnard of Ashland in the first round, and then used a late reversal to top Taylor Summers of Chadron State, 4-2 in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals which begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning, Bosch (33-5) will face Nick Crume (22-6) of Indianapolis. Nick Roberts (16-1) of Pitt-Johnstown and Daniel DeShazer (35-5) of Nebraska-Kearney will meet in the other semifinal.
Bosch trailed Minnard 4-0 in the opening round, but stormed back with 22 unanswered points to win the match by technical fall.
“I just battled back. You can’t let that stuff get to you,” Bosch said. “I worked on pushing the pace hard and making him tired, and all of the things started falling into place.”
In the quarterfinals on Friday evening, Bosch faced Summers of Chadron State. Bosch led 2-0 going into the third period before Summers tied the match at 2-2. A late reversal by Bosch broke the tie and allowed him to advance to the semifinals.
“I wasn’t able to get much going on my feet, so I had to be solid in every position, just Coach Steven Monk has been telling me all year,” Bosch said. “Another big thing is keeping my composure after the questionable takedown he was awarded after a coach’s challenge. It was really just believing in my conditioning and training and that got me through the match.”
Bosch finished eighth at 133 a year ago and was an All-American. With the two wins on Friday, Bosch has already clinched All-American honors for 2016.
NCAA Division II National Championships Brackets/Results on TrackWrestling.com