Wrestling Heads West for Duals with Utah Valley, Wyoming

Friday, February 2

Orem, Utah

7 p.m.

North Dakota State

Utah Valley

Photo by: Zachary Lucy

Wrestling Heads West for Duals with Utah Valley, Wyoming

1/31/2024 4:57:00 PM | Wrestling

NDSU Notes

FARGO, N.D. - North Dakota State wrestling hits the road for a pair of Big 12 duals this week, traveling to Orem, Utah and then Laramie, Wyoming to face Utah Valley and Wyoming. The Bison take on the Wolverines of Utah Valley on Friday, Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. CT at Lockhart Arena. NDSU will then face the Cowboys of Wyoming on Sunday, Feb. 4 with the first match slated for a 2 p.m. CT start inside the Uniwyo Sports Complex.

The Bison Lineup
125 | Ryan Henningson (Sr., Winona, Minn.)
133 | Fernando Barreto (RFr., Pomona, Calif.)
141 | #28 Gavin Drexler (RFr., Stratford, Wisc.) or Walker Bents (RFr., Glenwood, Minn.)
149 | Max Petersen (RFr., Byron, Minn.)
157 | Landen Johnson (RFr., Owatonna, Minn.) or Boeden Greenley (Fr., Lisbon, N.D.)
165 | Brendan Howes (RFr., Ramsey, Minn.) or Luke Barker (Fr., Dodge City, Kan.)
174 | #23 Gaven Sax (Jr., St. Robert, Mo.) or Mason Gode (So., Browerville, Minn.)
184 | Adam Cherne (Fr. Medina, Minn.)
197 | Spencer Mooberry (So., Osage, Iowa) or Lathan Duda (So., Broken Bow, Neb.)
285 | Devon Dawson (Jr., Brooklyn Park, Minn.)

Dual Coverage
The dual between the Bison and Utah Valley will be streamed live through the Utah Valley YouTube Channel. The dual between NDSU and Wyoming will be streamed live via FloWrestling. Live results for both events will also be available through TrackWrestling. Links for coverage are available on the wrestling schedule page at gobison.com.

Sax, Drexler Appear in First Coaches' Ranking Release
In the first Coaches' Ranking released on January 22, Bison junior Gaven Sax (174) and redshirt freshman Gavin Drexler (141) made appearances in the rankings in their respective weight classes. Sax was ranked No. 18 with 194 points, while Drexler was ranked No. 29 with 63 points.

Ranked Bison
Three Bison are ranked in the FloWrestling and InterMat rankings. Kellyn March (149) sits at #18 overall in Flo, while Gaven Sax (174) sits at #18 in Flo and #23 in the Intermat rankings. Redshirt freshman Gavin Drexler (141) sits at #28 in Intermat and #30 in the Flo rankings.

Dual Win Streaks
Gavin Drexler (141), Max Petersen (149), and Landen Johnson (157) have been carrying win streaks in dual competition for all of 2024. Petersen's win streak is the longest, sitting at five-straight in duals, dating back to two wins on December 19. He has wins in duals against Purdue, Stanford (MD), Cal Baptist, Northern Colorado (MD) and Air Force (MD). Drexler and Johnson have each one three-straight duals, including one major decision for each, coming in the dual vs. Northern Colorado.

Quick Pins
Devon Dawson (285) and Brendan Howes (165) each recorded first-period pins to help the Bison to dual victories against Cal Baptist and Northern Colorado. Dawson sealed the win over Cal Baptist with his second takedown of Chris Island, securing the fall at 2:18 on the edge of the mat. Howes ultimately scored the winning points in the dual against Northern Colorado with his takedown and pin of Derek Matthews at 1:37.

Scuffle Wrap Up
Gaven Sax (174), Aidan Brenot (184) and Max Petersen (149) picked up placing finishes at the Southern Scuffle. Sax finished 6-1 to take third overall and also claimed the Gorrarian Award with a pin and three tech falls., Brenot was 4-2 and placed seventh, while Petersen finished 4-3 and claimed 8th overall.

Fighting Camel Sweeps
Gaven Sax (174) and Max Petersen (149) went perfect at the Fighting Camel Duals. Sax (3-0) had two major decisions and an upset of #21 Austin Murphy. Petersen (2-0) also had a major decision.

Statement Debut
True freshman Adam Cherne (184) recorded an 18-6 major decision over #19 Guiseppe Hoose at Oklahoma in his dual debut. He then secured a pin in his Scheels Center dual debut against Virginia.

Bison Open Titles
Redshirt freshmen Gavin Drexler (141) and Max Petersen (149) claimed Bison Open titles in mid-November. Drexler claimed his title by defeating No. 24 Vance Vombaur of Minnesota by a 6-4 decision. Petersen scored a 10-8 decision over No. #17 Drew Roberts of Minnesota in his championship match.

Two Big 12 Wrestler of the Week Accolades
Gaven Sax (174) was named the Big 12 Co-Wrestler of the Week following the opening week of the season after he took down then-No. 20 Elise Brown Ton of Nebraska in the opening dual. Max Petersen (149) won the award the next week after winning the Bison Open, which included defeating Minnesota's then No. 17 Drew Roberts by a 10-8 decision in the championship match.

Young Herd
Just four Bison are upperclassmen, including one junior college transfer. The Bison have two returning seniors, led by NCAA qualifier Kellyn March (149), as well as Ryan Henningson (125). NDSU has one returning junior, two-time Big 12 Championship participant Gaven Sax (174). Of the six sophomores, just Spencer Mooberry (197) had dual experience entering the year. The Bison have 10 redshirt freshmen and 9 true freshmen, with 13 of the 19 ranked in the recruiting big boards the last two years.

Up Next
North Dakota State will return to Fargo and the Scheels Center for one final dual this season, welcoming in the Missouri Tigers on Friday, February 16. The Bison and Tigers are slated for a 7 p.m. first match in the dual, following senior day festivities. The dual with Missouri will be televised on WDAY Xtra and also broadcast live on the radio on Bison 1660.