BROOKINGS, S.D.--Redshirt freshman Andy Pickar captured an individual championship at 165 pounds at the Warren Williamson/Daktronics Open on Saturday, Nov. 6 hosted by South Dakota State. Thirteen other Bison placed in the tournament which featured over 200 wrestlers from 15 different teams. Heavyweight Tim Kraemer recorded the most pins in the tournament with four, on way to placing fifth in the tournament.
Pickar went 4-0 in the tournament, including an opening round 18-3 technical foul over Erin Hume of Iowa Central. The Brainerd, Minn., native decisioned Matt England of Northern State (S.D.) 4-1, then pinned Josn Soupir of Southwest Minnesota State (:58) to reach the finals. Pickar edged Ben Imdieke of the University of Mary 6-4 for the title.
Five other Bison wrestlers reached the finals. Senior Lucas Christianson (141), senior Collin Kelly (157), sophomore Matt Hermann (184), sophomore Dustin Benz (197) and senior heavyweight Chris Tuchscherer all finished runners-up in the tournament.
Christianson advanced to the finals at 141 with three straight decisions before falling to Andre Vander Velde of Augustana 8-3 in the finals. Christianson posted wins over Phil Basting of Regina (14-5), Brandon Kruger of Augustana (15-6) and Dusty Kavitz (25-9) of South Dakota State to reach the championship match.
Kelly posted a 4-1 record at 157 with wins over David Weisgerber of Regina by fall (4:33), Dane Helmly of Iowa Central (12-5), David Davis of Iowa Central CC (11-2) and Matt McDougall of Augustana (6-5). Kelly lost by decision 4-1 to Shawn Plumley of Southwest Minnesota State in the championship match.
Hermann went 3-1 on the day, capturing wins over Todd Naasz of Northern State (8-4), Tim Johns of Southwest Minnesota State (9-5) and Elijah Simburger of the University of Mary (5-4) to advance to the finals at 184. In a rematch of last year's NCAA Division II final, Hermann met Augustana's Tom Meester. Hermann fell 20-5 to finish second to Meester once again.
Benz recorded four straight wins, including a 9-3 semifinal victory over Zach Loberg of Dana College to reach the finals at 197. Todd Paszek of Mary decisioned Benz 3-1 to capture individual honors.
Tuchscherer also went 3-1 at the tournament, recording hard-fought wins over James Laber of Mary (5-3), Chris Abbott of Southwest Minnesota State (6-2) and Chris Bietz of Augustana (2-1). In another closely battled contest, Tuchscherer fell to two-time NCAA Division II defending champion Les Sigman of Nebraska-Omaha 1-0 for top honors.
In other action, true freshman Gabriel Mooney won by default over Chris Herrboldt of South Dakota State in the third place match at 149. Mooney was 3-1 on the day, registering two decisions before falling to Ryan King of Augustana 3-2 in the semifinals.
Junior Zach Stevens went 3-2 on the day and finished in sixth place. Stevens lost to eventual champion Matt Collum of Iowa Central Community College 6-2 in the quarterfinals and then worked his way back through the consolation brackets. He fell 5-3 to Terrence Almond of Dana in the fifth-place match.
Two other Bison cracked the top-six at 157 besides Kelly. True freshman Adam Aho met fellow freshman Mike Quamme in the fifth-place match after both had successful tournaments. Aho won by default over Quamme to capture fifth. Both lost quarterfinals matches.
At 174 pounds, Adam Dahlstrom captured third place. The junior from Oakes, N.D. won by fall in the opening round, then posted two straight decisons to reach the semifinals. Nate Althoff of South Dakota State decisioned Dahlstrom 3-2 to advance to the finals. Dahlstrom defeated Ben Caven by injury default in the third-place match.
True freshman Jacob Bryce finished in sixth place at 184. Bryce went 4-2 on the day. Tim Johns of Southwest Minnesota State decisioned Bryce 8-1 to capture fifth.
Redshirt freshman Skip Johnson placed sixth at 197. He was 3-2 at the tournament, falling to eventual champion Paszek of Mary. Johnson's three wins came via three pins.
The only Bison with more pins on the day than Johnson was heavyweight Kraemer. The senior captured fifth place on the day. Kraemer fell in the second round after posting a 11-6 victory over Mike Christianson of Iowa Central in the opening round. He flattened four opponents in the wrestlebacks, including Christianson again for fifth.
North Dakota State will host the 35th annual Bison Open on Saturday, Nov. 13 at the Bison Sports Arena.
