Saint John’s wrestling returns to the mat with Division II MSU-Moorhead’s Dragon Open at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 3.
Saint John’s opened its 2022-23 season with a pair of third- and three fourth-place finishes two weeks ago (Nov. 19) at Wisconsin-Eau Claire’s 8-Man Battle.
Junior Ben Gilbertson (Sauk Rapids, Minn./Sauk Rapids-Rice) led the way with a 2-1 record to take third place at 184 pounds, and freshman Teagyn Ludwig (Richmond, Minn./Eden Valley-Watkins) went 2-2 for third in a round-robin bracket at 133.
Junior Hayden LeMonds (174; St. Michael, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville) and sophomores Logan Thorsten (157; Foley, Minn.) and Jacob Vaughan (165; New Prague, Minn.) all went 1-2 for fourth-place marks at the respective weights.
WHO WILL BE THERE: The Johnnies and host Dragons are scheduled to be joined by wrestlers from Division II Augustana (S.D.), Concordia-Moorhead, Itasca C.C., Division II Mary (N.D.), Minnesota West C.T.C., Division II Minot State (N.D.), Division II Northern State (S.D.), Northland C.T.C., Ridgewater, Division II Southwest Minnesota State and Division II St. Cloud State.
Dragon Open Brackets/Results on TrackWrestling.com
LAST YEAR’S TOURNEY: Two Johnnies placed at last year’s MSU-Moorhead’s Dragon Open held Dec. 5 (2021). Gilbertson led SJU with a second-place finish (2-1 record) at 184 pounds. He started the day with a 9-5 decision over Lathan Duda of Division I North Dakota State and advanced to the title match with a medical forfeit. Gilbertson suffered a 12-1 loss to Southwest Minnesota State’s Caden Steffen, who was ranked fourth nationally in Division II at the time.
A pair of Johnnies fared well at 157 pounds against all-Division II competition. Wareke Gillette claimed sixth place with a 1-3 record and Thorsten went 2-2.
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