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Stanton Schlecht broke-in the new year the right way--with a four bout championship in the 165-pound division at the Blue Hawk Classic held in Weinbergen Gym today. Teammate Brett Owen was edged in the 184-pound class, 3-1, but together this senior pair led Dickinson State to a 2nd place team finish.
Augsburg College won the tournament with 149.5 points with DSU sliding into the second slot with 76.5 points. The Hawks were followed by Chadron State (70.0), University of Great Falls (65.5), Concordia College of Minnesota (60.0), Jamestown College (37.5) and Dakota Wesleyan University (2.5) completed.
Schlecht did not pin any of his opponents but he was in command. His winning scores in the prelims were 6-0, 7-2 and 6-1 and then he defeated Brandon Bahr (Augsburg College) for the weight-class title in an 8-3 decision.
Owen won by technical fall over Jackson Mboma (Unattached) 17-2, and then defeated Jason Pence (Great Falls) by major decision, 11-2. In the championship it was a much tighter struggle. Owen was ultimately bested by Ryan Smith (unattached), 3-1 and thus had to settle for the runner-up position.
At 133-pounds, Blake Hunter wrestled well but was overtaken late in the third place match against Joe Leacox of Concordia College (Moorhead, Minn.). Hunter was undoubtedly disappointed with his 4th place finish, but he is progressing well as a collegian and one should expect him to turn this defeat into productivity. In the 149-pound class, newcomer Jordan Ewen also claimed 4th place. His aggressive style powered him past two opponents--one of which came by fall--before he lost to the eventual champion Byron Kuylen (Unattached). Ewen won another match in the wrestle-backs, but then the young wrestler was introduced to the tactics of Zach Hanson, who defeated Ewen 10-0.
Other notes included Jake Kallestad (197) winning his division; a 2nd place finish by Eli Zuniga (141) and a 3rd place earned by Cameron Schrempp (174). All are excellent wrestlers for DSU but today they competed unattached.
Kallestad recorded a fall and one win by major decision before turning back Chadron State’s Josh Majeras, 4-3. That of course was no easy match since Majeras was the NCAA II National Champion in 2008. Zuniga Had three wins under his belt before Jason Costello earned a 5-2 decision in the title match. Schrempp won four total matches on the day. He recorded one fall and one major decision and then controlled Matt Curtis (Unattached) for top honors in the wrestle-back brackets.
For their next competition, DSU travels to Aberdeen, S.D., to face the Wolves of Northern State University. Their dual meet begins at 6:00 pm on Thursday, January 8th. NAIA #8 Blue Hawk Grapplers Compete in Two Venues--Cliff Keen Invite and Moorhead Dragon Open
Complete Results - Moorhead State Open - RED Division - WHITE Division
The Dickinson State wrestlers split their squad this past weekend with 10 members traveling out to Las Vegas, Nev., to compete in the prestigious Cliff Keen Invitational, while the rest of the grapplers headed out to the Moorhead State University Open in Moorhead, Minn. Both groups represented DSU well, though the Cliff Keen Invite was, as typical, replete with top-level collegiate talent.
Shane Bennett brought down two victories in Las Vegas. Competing at the 174-lb division, Bennett bested Adams State’s Jacob Jurney 8-3 and also decisioned Andrew Coles, 6-4, of University of Pennsylvania. The sophomore from Belle Fourche, S.D., bowed out of the tournament however, to Steve Bosak of Cornell, 16-5.
Wins for the Blue Hawks were hard to come by, though Brett Owen (184) did succeed in defeating Casen Eldridge of Utah Valley State, 6-5. Nevertheless it is an exciting trip for DSU and allows 10 mat-men, a special venue and stellar early-season competition to test their readiness for future bouts.
At the MSU Dragon Open, Jake Kallestad (197) led the way by winning his weight class. Kallestad won three matches, all by decision en route to the individual title. He dumped Matt Nelson of the host Dragons in the finals, 7-2.
Other notable competitors were turned in by newcomer Frank Lopez (285), who was runner-up and Matt Michaelson (197), who earned a 4th place finish. Lopez claimed two victories by decision before he met Willie Hernandez of Jamestown College in the finals. Hernandez was able to shutout his foe, 5-0. Meanwhile, Michaelson won two matches before being edged by Tony Neumann of Concordia College, 3-1.
Falls were recorded this weekend by Nathan Bauer (165), Kyle Haustveit(165), David Lau (174) and Spencer Runnings (197). Southwest Minnesota State’s Jason Deling became the quickest victim of the tournament for the Blue Hawks, when Runnings put his shoulders down in an efficient 1:21 of their bout.
The team takes to the road this week to Fargo, N.D., where they face Iowa State (yes, that Iowa State) and NDSU on December 13. Immediately afterwards, the winter break descends upon the competitive phase of DSU’s season, but then the Blue Hawk Classic opens 2009 in quick order with the tournament to be held January 3. The first matches begin at 9:00 am. Owen and Bennett Lead Blue Hawks in 50th Year of DSU Wrestling
Complete Results - Click Here
Dickinson State opened their 50th year of wrestling in fine style recently in an open tournament at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, S.D. The Blue Hawks recorded 12 falls and both Shane Bennett (174) and Brett Owen (184) won their respective weight classes. Owen left no doubt in his championship match by pinning Mitch Lunning (Augustana College). Bennett, who was the NAIA runner-up in 2007 at 165 pounds, defeated Kody Koster (Buena Vista University) in an 11-5 decision.
Other positive signs came from Jose Serrato (149), Nick Zumwalt (157) and Stanton Schlecht (165) who were runners-up in their weight divisions. Meanwhile Blake Hunter (133) took 3rd place and Edgar Mercado (141) and Tod Molesworth (197) both grabbed 6th place.
Owen had an outstanding tournament. There was no official “wrestler-of-the-week” acknowledged by the host school Dakota Wesleyan, however the Blue Hawk grapplers didn’t seem to pay attention and appropriately gave Owen that title in a team vote. The senior from Polson, Mont., whipped through two opponents by fall--Alex Monegro (unattached) and Nick Henning (Augustana College)--in about two-and-a-half minutes per man. Julian Mancha (Buena Vista University) succumbed to Owen by forfeit to set the stage for the gold medal match for 184-pounders. Lunning and the rest of the onlookers today did not have to wait long for the suspense to end and it did so in dramatic fashion. Owen flipped Lunning and put his shoulders to the mat in an economical 1:15 for the championship.
Bennett powered through Chris Diaz (William Penn University) 9-1, edged Martin Beeler (Northwestern College) 3-1 and Royce Thomas (WPU) 7-6, before taking on Koster.
Jose Serrato defeated four opponents in the 149-pound bracket but was not able to match wits with Ben Knight (Morningside College) and was went down in a fall at 2:00. Nick Zumwalt also seemed to breeze in the early rounds, winning three matches with one pin. However, Zumwalt was no match for Josh Swanson in the championship bout and had to settle for 2nd place. Stan Schlecht was the 2008 runner-up in the 165-pound class and he had a good start to his senior season. He won three matches, two of which were decided by falls, but then came up short against Gavin Nelson in the finals, 11-5.
The squad will take a breather and then split-up after their Thanksgiving break with competitions going on at the prestigious Cliff Keen Invitational in Las Vegas, Nev., while others will be headed to Moorhead, Minn., to test their readiness in the Moorhead State University Open. Both tournaments start at 8:00 am (MST) on December 6th. |
