Aberdeen, S.D. – Seven Minnesota State wrestlers placed in the top four in their respective weight classes Sunday at the NCAA Super Region 3 tournament and earned berths to the 2010 NCAA Division II National Championships, held in Omaha, Neb., March 12-13. Minnesota State was paced by senior heavyweight Brady Wilson who won his fourth consecutive region title and shattered Minnesota State’s career wins record in the process. The Mavericks finished fourth in the team race with 84.5 points, trailing champion Augustana who accumulated 120.5 points.
Junior Andy Forstner (Madelia, Minn.) earned his second trip to the national tournament with a second-place showing at 125 pounds. He won two matches to gain a spot in the finals but lost by fall to Tyler Mumbolo of Upper Iowa.
Senior Travis Elg (Mountain Lake, Minn.) earned his fourth-straight trip to nationals at 149 pounds. After a first-round loss, Elg rattled off three straight wins to place third.
Fellow senior Justin Turek (New Prague, Minn.) won his first round match at 157 pounds but fell to the consolations with a second-round loss. He then won two straight matches to place third and advance to his first NCAA national tournament.
Sophomore Tel Todd (Bozeman, Mont.) had perhaps the most difficult road to the national tournament. He fell in the opening round to Northern State’s Donnie Bowden but won his next match in the consolation round. After another loss, he avenged that earlier loss, topping Bowden 12-3 to place fifth. He earned a chance at a true-fourth placing and made the most of it, defeating Tayler Nagel of Mary 4-3 to move on to nationals.
Junior Ben Becker (Fort Dodge, Iowa) advanced to nationals for the second straight season at 174 pounds. He fell in the opening round by major decision but won two straight in the consolations to advance to the third-place match where he fell by a score of 5-0.
Sophomore Aaron Norgren (Good Thunder, Minn.) rolled all the way into the finals at 184 pounds and earned his second straight trip to the national meet. Norgren picked up 9-4 and 7-0 wins to get to the finals but finished second after a 3-2 loss to Derek Skala of St. Cloud State.
Three-time All-American Brady Wilson (Faribault, Minn.) rolled to his fourth consecutive region championship at heavyweight. He had a momentous first round, pinning Kriss McCleary of Mary to break Minnesota State’s career wins record with his 137th career triumph. He earned another fall in the second round to earn a berth in the finals where he dominated St. Cloud State’s Jake Kahnke by a score of 4-1.
The Mavericks will head to Omaha, Neb., March 12-13 to take part in the NCAA Division II National Championships.
Final brackets can be found HERE.
Final bout-by-bout can be found
HERE.
Final team scores can be found
HERE.
