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November 11, 2002
Stevens Point, WI -- The University of Minnesota-Morris men's wrestling team got off to a fast start to the 2002-03 wrestling season at the Golden Eagle Open at the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point on Saturday, November 9th bringing home a gold medal at the 125 pound weight division.
A total of 19 colleges and universities from a four-state area, representing all collegiate divisions made up a very strong field for the Cougars as they took to the mat for the first time this season in competition.
Junior captain, Dante Lewis (Omaha, NE) opened the season on a winning note, capturing the championship title at 125 pounds. Lewis had a bye in the first round; in the quarterfinals Lewis defeated Eric Hoffman of Minnesota State -- Mankato with a 19-3 technical superiority. Lewis scored a dominating four takedowns and four near falls in route to the first win of the season.
In the semifinals, Lewis defeated David Davila of UW-Stevens Point 3-2 on a takedown in the last thirty seconds of the match to earn the win. Lewis scored an escape in the second period, and Davila counter with an escape in the third period. Lewis did what all champions have to do, pull out a big win late, against the hometown favorite.
In the championship finals, Lewis met Davey Starks of UW- Eau Claire. Lewis was looking to square things up with Starks, as he dropped a match to Starks in the consolation semifinals of the St. Cloud Invitational last year. Today was to be payback time. Lewis opened up the match with a first period takedown, then Starks escaped to end the first period with a 2-1 Lewis lead. In the second period Lewis gained an escape to build the lead 3-1. In the final period, Lewis turned Stark with a bar-arm tilt to gain a two-point near fall, and a 5-1 lead. Stark fought back for a escape, and Lewis gave up a takedown with 10 seconds left to capture a 5-4 win and the Golden Eagle Open title.
Lewis, who is a pre-season NCAA II Coaches Association All-American pick, starts the season undefeated with a prestigious title to his credit. "Dante is tough when he wrestles his style," said UMM head coach Doug Reese. "With Dante, we want to force his opponents out of their normal style of wrestling, and put them in the defensive mode. When we do that, Dante wins. Dante was able to control the action all weekend," commented Reese.
Also recording wins for the Cougars were freshman Jaime Compean (El Paso, TX) at 133 pounds, Robert Sauter (MN) at 141 pounds, Jeremy Glende (Medford, MN) at 149 pounds, and Joel Fugleberg (Roseau, MN) at 149 pounds.
Compean won a match over Aaron Monroe of UW-LaCrosse with a strong 7-3 decision. Compean lost a tight 6-5 decision versus Pat Austinison of UW-Parkside and an 8-6 decision versus Ben Witmer of UW-Parkside.
Robert Sauter won a 9-0 major decision over Eric Keese of UW-LaCrosse, and then dropped matches to Tony D'Amuno of UW-Eau Claire and to David Dow of Kennedy-King College of Chicago.
Jeremy Glende produced a 2-and-2 record on Saturday. Glende opened up the season with an 8-0 major decision versus Josh Murname of UW-Oshkosh. Glende then dropped a 8-6 decision versus Spenser Dominequez of UW-Stevens Point. Glende bounced back with a fall over Matt Kehoe of UW-Oshkosh with a fall in 2:19. In his final match, Glende lost a 3-0 hard fought decision to Victor Juarez of UW-Parkside.
Joel Fugleberg won a decision over Tony Mosel by default, then lost an 11-3 decision versus Hanon Hisek of Minnesota State &endash; Mankato, then dropped a 5-3 decision to Craig Henning who was wrestling unattached.
"Overall I was happy with our performance," said Reese. "There are areas where we need to get better. Conditioning is just one area where I wasn't pleased. This weekend is helpful in adjusting what we need to work on for the next competition," noted Reese.
The Cougars travel to Regina, Saskatchewan next weekend for a Saturday evening dual meet with the Cougars of the University of Regina. Wrestling begins at 7:00 pm.
Dante Lewis shows off the hardware as champion of the 125 pound weight division in the Golden Eagle Open. Lewis, a NCAA II Pre-Season All-American pick went 3-0 in the tournament. (photo by DC Reese)
Morris, MN -- This Friday the Cougars will hit the road to travel to the southern plains of Saskatchewan to take on the Canadian freestyle wrestlers of the University of Regina.
Last season the UM-Morris wrestlers battled tough into the upper weights before they forfeited away the dual that was hotly contested and televised on TSN in Canada.
"This is a great opportunity for us," noted head coach Doug Reese. "First there is no pressure for us to win here in freestyle, but we will be striving to do so. We are here to build "team" and to work on our wrestling on our feet. Regina has a fine program, and their kids are tough. I have a lot of respect for them. We just desire to go up into their house and have a battle, a good old brawl of sorts," said Reese.
The Cougars of Regina and the Cougars of UM-Morris will face off at 7:00 pm in the University of Regina Physical Activity Centre.