Omaha, Neb. – Senior heavyweight Brady Wilson (Faribault, Minn.) concluded his senior season with a runner-up finish at the NCAA Division II National Championships, dropping a heartbreaker by a score of 1-0 in the finals to Elijah Madison of Nebraska-Omaha. He concludes his historic career at Minnesota State with four All-American honors and sits atop the Minnesota State career wins charts with a 142-25 record. His tournament performance and that of his six teammates gave the Mavericks a sixth-place finish in the team race with 52.5 points. Host UNO won the team title with 131 points.
Wilson was unable to secure a takedown in the first period of his semifinal matchup with Dustin Finn of Central Oklahoma, a two-time national finalist. Finn earned an escape in the second, followed by one for Wilson in the third. With fewer than 20 seconds remaining, Wilson picked up a single-leg takedown and rode Finn for the remainder of the period to advance to his first NCAA final.
Neither Wilson nor Madison was able to put any points on the board in the first frame of the final despite a wild scramble from each wrestler. Madison was able to ride Wilson the entire second period and chose the neutral position for the third. As in the first, neither wrestler secured any points but Madison came out on top with a point for the riding time advantage. Wilson finishes the season with a 32-5 record.
Three other Mavericks already secured All-American status with their performances Friday and wrestled for their final placings today.
Junior Andy Forstner (Madelia, Minn.) avenged losses to two of his opponents to move into the third-place match. He defeated Terrell McKinney of Nebraska-Omaha 6-4, locking up a takedown on the edge of the mat with mere seconds remaining in the first sudden victory session. McKinney had defeated Forstner in the NWCA National Duals. Forstner followed that with an 8-5 win over last season’s 125-pound runner-up Thomas Edgemon of Fort Hays State. Edgemon had defeated Forstner 3-2 in the first round yesterday. In the final match of his junior season, he fell 6-5 to defending national champion Arksenia Barksdale of Adams State. Two stalling warning to Barksdale moved Forstner to within a point as time wound down but he was unable to secure the deciding takedown. Forstner concludes his season with a fourth-place finish , his second All-American honor and a 25-12 record. He also improved upon his sixth-place finish from a year ago.
Senior Travis Elg (Mountain Lake, Minn.) advanced in the consolations at 149 pounds, pinning Kevin McElhaney of Gannon. The now two-time All-American ended the match at 4:22 after staking a 12-0 lead. He then fell to Nate Herda of Augustana by major decision 12-4 to head to the fifth-place match. Elg finished his Maverick career in fine style, taking Derek Bomsted of MSU Moorhead directly to his back off an ankle pick and sticking his shoulders to the mat in just 1:12. It was Elg’s third fall of the tournament and improved upon his sixth-place finish at the NCAA meet in 2008. He also was awarded the tournament's Gorrarian Award winner for most falls in the least amount of time. He caps his career with an 83-38 mark, 15-16 on the year.
Sophomore Aaron Norgren (Good Thunder, Minn.), a first-time All-American, was pinned in 53 seconds by Derek Ross of Nebraska-Kearney to fall to the seventh-place match at 184 pounds. He finished his sophomore campaign strong, earning an 8-5 win over Ryan Bacerra of Grand Canyon. Norgren picked up two takedowns in the first period en route to a seventh-place finish and his first All-American honor. He finishes with a season ledger of 16-11 after a 3-2 showing at the NCAA meet.
125 pounds - Andy Forstner - 4-2, 4th Place
L, dec. Thomas Edgmon (Fort Hays State), 3-2
W, maj. dec. Brandon Davis (Ashland), 14-6
W, dec. Alex Johns (Indianapolis), 7-2
W, dec. Terrell McKinney (Nebraska-Omaha), 6-4 SV
W, dec. Thomas Edgmon (Fort Hays State), 8-5
L, dec. Arksenia Barksdale (Adams State), 6-5
149 pounds – Travis Elg - 4-2, 5th Place
W, fall Thomas Hepburn (Nebraska-Kearney), 5:51
L, maj. dec. Craig Becker (Wisconsin-Parkside), 18-5
W, dec. Jeremy Espinoza (Findlay), 8-4
W, fall Kevin McElhaney (Gannon), 4:22
L, maj. dec. Nate Herda (Augustana), 12-4
W, fall Derek Bomsted (MSU Moorhead), 1:12
157 pounds - Justin Turek - 1-2, DNP
L, dec. Sean Byrnes (Newberry), 5-2
W, dec. Bryce Givens (Indianapolis), 16-10
L, dec. Marcus Edgington (Augustana), 3-1 SV
165 pounds - Tel Todd - 0-2, DNP
L, dec. Ryan Pankoke (Nebraska-Omaha), 6-1
L, maj. dec. Jake Varilek (Belmont Abbey), 8-0
174 pounds - Ben Becker - 0-2, DNP
L, dec. Kamarudeen Usman (Nebraska-Kearney), 9-2
L, dec. Anthony Petrella (Gannon), 16-9
184 pounds – Aaron Norgren - 3-2, 7th Place
L, dec. Bryant Blanton (Newberry), 5-2
W, dec. Lucas Haag (Wisconsin-Parkside), 14-8
W, default Austin Boehm (Nebraska-Omaha)
L, fall Derek Ross (Nebraska-Kearney), 0:53
W, dec. Ryan Bacerra (Grand Canyon), 8-5
Heavyweight – Brady Wilson - 3-1, 2nd place
W, fall Patrick Carey (CSU-Pueblo), 4:36
W, maj. dec. Neil McGrath (Gannon), 10-1
W, dec. Dustin Finn (Central Oklahoma), 3-1
L, dec. Elijah Madison (Nebraska-Omaha), 1-0
For final brackets:
http://omavs.com/documents/2010/3/12/200910WRNCAABrackets.pdf?id=1098