North Dakota State Returns Home to Battle MSU Moorhead Friday
1/16/2008 6:00:00 AM | Wrestling
THIS WEEK:
North Dakota State returns home for its first solo dual meet of the season hosting cross-river rival Minnesota State Moorhead on Friday, Jan. 18, at 7:30 p.m. at the Bison Sports Arena.ON THE WEB: Internet coverage of the meet against MSU Moorhead will be available on GoBison.com. Live and on-demand video is available by subscription to All Access premium service starting at $7.95.
ABOUT MSU MOORHEAD: The Dragons are 9-3 on the season after going 3-2 at the Cliff Keen National Duals in Cedar Falls, Iowa, this past weekend in which freshman Derek Bomstad was named the Division II Most Outstanding Wrestler. MSU Moorhead is also 1-0 in Northern Sun competition after routing Mary 43-3 on Jan. 9 at Moorhead. The Dragons are ranked 17th in Division II, and return four NCAA qualifiers in Troy McFarland (133), Kelly Janke (133), Shane Walton (149) and Tyler Tubbs (174). Head coach Keenan Spiess is in his fifth season with MSU Moorhead with an overall record of 55-25.
THE SERIES: The rivalry between the Bison and Dragons is one of the most extensive in North Dakota State wrestling history, stretching back to NDSU's inaugural 1957-58 season. This is the 48th meeting between the two schools, as only South Dakota State (50 meetings) has wrestled the Bison more times than the Dragons. North Dakota State holds a 33-14 advantage in the series including having won the last 31 meetings. The last time the two schools met was in 2005 when NDSU recorded a 24-16 victory at the Bison Sports Arena.
BISON FALL TO PENN IN FIRST ROUND OF VIRGINIA DUALS: North Dakota State drew a Penn team that had been ranked in the top 25 for the majority of the season in the first round of the 2008 Virginia Duals on Friday, Jan. 11, and the Quakers showed why. Decisions by senior Eric Sanders (133) and junior Adam Aho (157) were the only points NDSU was able to generate as the Bison fell to Penn 29-6. Wrestling with three nationally ranked wrestlers, the Quakers took the last five weight classes to seal the victory. North Dakota State dropped to 0-2 all time against Penn, having lost to the Quakers 38-3 in the 2006 Virginia Duals.
NDSU RALLIES TO DEFEAT OHIO: Up next for the Bison was a showdown against Ohio University, and it proved to be one of the best matches of the morning schedule. North Dakota State started out strong with a technical fall from senior Eric Hoffman and decisions by senior Eric Sanders, junior Adam Aho and redshirt freshman Andrey Patselov. The Bobcats would then take the next four weight classes and led NDSU 16-14, but a decision from junior Jacob Bryce reclaimed the lead for the Bison at 17-16, and a pin from freshman Tyler Hemmesch at 1:14 sealed the 23-16 victory for NDSU.
BISON START STRONG, BUT FALL TO VIRGINIA TECH: North Dakota State got off to a fast start in its dual meet against Virginia Tech, but the Hokies took four of the final five weight classes to hand the Bison a 22-13 loss on Saturday, Jan. 12, at the Virginia Duals. The senior Erics started NDSU out strong, as Eric Hoffman earned a 15-6 major decision over Steve Armor, followed up by a 6-0 decision by Eric Sanders over Jared Jones. Losses at 141 and 149 narrowed the Bison lead to 7-6 before junior Adam Aho recorded an 8-2 decision over Andre Johnson and extended NDSU's lead to 10-6. But Virginia Tech would take the next four weight classes, including a major decision at 165 and a fall at 184 to seal the victory for the Hokies. True freshman Tyler Hemmesch finished the meet on a positive note for North Dakota State, earning a 6-5 decision over David Marone.
PAIR OF BISON EARN WRESTLER OF THE WEEK HONORS: A pair of North Dakota State wrestlers have been awarded Western Wrestling Conference Wrestler of the Week honors so far this season. Junior Adam Aho captured the first weekly award of the season on Nov. 14 after capturing the 157 pound title at the 2007 Bison Open. Aho was 4-0 at the open including a pin and technical fall. Junior Gabriel Mooney received the award on Dec. 12 after recording a pair of victories at the Northwestern Duals on Dec. 8. Mooney registered a 9-5 decision on SIU-Edwardsville's Nicholas Schumate before pinning ninth-ranked Northwestern's James Kohlberg in 2:22. North Dakota State was the first WWC school to have a pair of wrestlers capture the award.
TRIO OF BISON WRESTLERS PICK UP DRAGON OPEN TITLES: Gabriel Mooney (141), Vince Salminen (149) and Adam Aho (157) highlighted the day for NDSU wrestling at the MSU Moorhead Dragon Open on Dec. 1, capturing the individual championships for their respective weight classes. It was the second tournament championship this season for Aho, who also captured the 157 pound championship at the Bison Open on Nov. 10. For Mooney, it was his third top-five finish of the season after placing second at the Bison Open and fourth at the Kaufman-Brand Open on Nov. 17.
Five other Bison wrestlers placed at the Open, led by Andrey Patselov who fell to teammate Salminen in the finals of the 149 pound class. Geoff Martin also recorded a runner-up finish in the White Division 141 pound classification. Eric Sanders (133) and Mike Quamme (165) recorded third place finishes while senior Matt Wetterling (184) placed sixth after withdrawing in his final two matches.
MOENKEDICK FINISHES THIRD, MOONEY FOURTH AT KAUFMAN-BRAND:
Redshirt freshman Kenny Moenkedick and junior Gabriel Mooney highlighted the afternoon at the Kaufman-Brand Open for North Dakota State on Saturday, Nov. 17. Moenkedick placed third at 174 in the amateur division, while Mooney finished fourth at 141 in the elite division.Mooney went 3-2 at the Open, recording a pair of decisions before falling to Minnesota's Manny Rivera, the eventual champion, for the second straight week. He finished up with another decision before falling to unattached Daniel Leclere in the third-place match. Moenkedick was an impressive 5-1 at the Kaufman-Brand, starting out the day with three straight decisions. After a 6-3 loss to eventual champion Alex Caruso (Lehigh), Moenkedick finished the competition with a pair of convincing wins. The pair were the only Bison wrestlers to place at the Kaufman-Brand Open, the largest single-day collegiate wrestling tournament which drew over 40 schools and 650 wrestlers.
AHO CAPTURES 157 TITLE AT BISON OPEN:
Junior Adam Aho highlighted the afternoon for North Dakota State, defeating Joe Grygelko of Minnesota 5-2 to capture the 157 pound championship at the 38th annual Bison Open on Nov. 10. It is the second straight season Aho has placed at the event, finishing third in 2006. Senior Eric Sanders (133), junior Gabriel Mooney (141) and redshirt freshman Vince Salminen (149) all recorded runner-up finishes for NDSU.A handful of other Bison wrestlers placed in the top six at the Open. Redshirt freshmen Brady Schneeberger (141), Andrey Patselov (149) and Kenny Moenkedick (184) all placed third and were impressive in their first official meet for NDSU. Juniors Mike Quamme (165) and Jacob Bryce (197) placed fourth with junior Justin LaGosh finishing sixth (197).
BISON TO FACE BIG GUNS:
The 2007-08 could arguably be one of the toughest seasons in North Dakota State wrestling history. To date, the Bison have already met up with a pair of teams ranked in the top 10 (fifth-ranked Minnesota and tenth-ranked Northwestern) and a Cal State Fullerton team which is ranked 24th, while Penn also received votes for the top 25 as well. NDSU also faces formerly 24th-ranked Northern Iowa in the regular season finale on Feb. 24. Individually, NDSU has gone head-to-head with 24 wrestlers ranked in the top 20, including 12 2007 Division I and Division II All-Americans.WESTERN WRESTLING CONFERENCE:
This will be the second season North Dakota State will compete in the Western Wrestling Conference. The Bison finished their inaugural season in the conference with a 3-2-1 league mark and finished fourth at the NCAA West Regional in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The wrestling-only league is comprised of seven schools spread across six states, including Air Force, Northern Colorado, Northern Iowa, South Dakota State, Utah Valley and Wyoming. The 2008 West Regional will serve as the NCAA qualifying tournament for the conference and will be hosted by NDSU at the Bison Sports Arena on March 8.THE COACH: Legendary head coach Bucky Maughan is in his 44th season at the helm of the Bison wrestling program. The three-time national coach of the year has compiled an impressive 437-134-12 record at NDSU and has led North Dakota State to four NCAA Division II national championships. Maughan has coached 30 individual NCAA champions and over 170 All-Americans, and was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2003. Assistant coaches are Bret Maughan (7th season) and Kris Nelson (8th season), both All-Americans at North Dakota State, and the volunteer coach is Tommy Davis, a two-time ACC champion and four-time NCAA qualifier at North Carolina State.
