Dragons End Regular Season Strong with 26-14 Win over Minot State
MOORHEAD, Minn. — The Minnesota State University Moorhead wrestling team won seven matches and picked up bonus points at two weight classes in a 26-14 win over Minot State in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference wrestling Wednesday night at Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse in Moorhead, Minn.
MSUM improved to 2-9 overall and 1-7 in the NSIC with the win while Minot State fell to 6-9 overall and 1-7 in the league.
Sophomore Braydon Ortloff won by technical fall at 165 for MSUM while senior Logan Rhode won by fall at 197 to boost MSUM.
”It was good to end the dual season with a win at home and we look to keep the momentum going into the regional tournament,” MSUM head coach Kris Nelson said. “It was nice to see seniors Zach Scott and Logan Rhode win their last matches at Nemzek.”
Sophomore Mason Schulz controlled his match at 141, beating Minot’s Liam Hayden by a 7-2 decision to put MSUM up 3-0. Senior Zach Scott picked up his 19th win of 2019-20 with an 8-5 win over Shadi Mitwalli at 149 to put the lead to 6-0.
Minot won by decision at 157 to cut the lead to 6-3, but Ortloff dominated his match at 165 for MSUM, building a 12-0 lead after one period on his way to a 21-3 technical fall victory over Brody Mohr to push the MSUM lead to 11-3.
Sophomore Evan Foster trailed in the first period of his match at 174 but battled back to take a 7-5 win over Joey Lopez to push the Dragon advantage to 14-3 heading into intermission.
After the break, junior Steve Abbott came through for MSUM with an 8-2 decision over Dustin Swisher.
Rhode ignited the Dragon crowd, finishing off a pin in 5:41 over Parker Osterman at 197 to give the Dragons an insurmountable 23-3 lead.
Junior Jordan Magnuson improved to 11-5 on the year with a hard-fought 3-2 win over Minot’s Jacob Belland at 285.
Minot won by technical fall at 125 and by forfeit at 133 to make the final score 26-14.
MSUM is off until Feb. 29 when it competes at the NCAA Super Region 4 meet in Sioux Falls, S.D.
“Our guys wrestled hard and battled well,” MSUM assistant coach Jake Lords said. “We have a great attitude in the room right now and it translated to a dual win tonight. The guys are putting themselves in a great position to do well at regionals next week.”
MSU Moorhead 26, Minot State 14
141-Mason Schulz (MSUM) dec. Liam Hayden, 7-2
149-Zach Scott (MSUM) dec. Shadi Mitwalli, 8-5
157-Zach Berry (Minot) dec. Justin Dravis, 7-2
165-Braydon Ortloff (MSUM) tech fall Brody Mohr, 21-3
174-Evan Foster (MSUM) dec. Joey Lopez, 7-5
184-Steve Abbott (MSUM) dec. Dustin Swisher, 8-2
197-Logan Rhode (MSUM) pinned Parker Osterman, 5:38
285-Jordan Magnuson (MSUM) dec. Jacob Belland, 3-2
125-No. 6 Dean Arevalo (Minot) tech fall Cameron Williams, 20-5
133-Logen Fischer (Minot) won by forfeit
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