Contact | Subscribe | Advertise | Links | Youth | H.S. | College | Club | News/General
Named Most Outstanding Wrestling, Remains Undefeated at 12-0
12/9/02
Morris, MN - Dante Lewis kept his winning streak alive and won his third straight tournament individual title of the season at 125 pounds with a solid performance at the UM-Morris Cougar Open on Saturday, December 7th.
The 2002 UM-Morris Cougar Open drew 175 wrestlers, from 14 college and university teams from a seven-state area, from as far away as Kansas, Montana and Indiana.
Lewis defended his 2001 UMM Cougar Open title by defeating Jamestown's Bryce Villa with a strong 21-8 major decision. Lewis used eight takedowns in the victory. In the semifinals, Lewis downed Tony Fuctehenborg of Ridgewater Community College by fall in 3:41.
In the finals, Lewis made a strong statement when he won by major decision, 13-5 versus Greg Brendemuehl of Augsburg College. Lewis scored five takedowns and a nearfall in the win and allowed just five escapes. The win upped Lewis' record to 12-0 on the season.
The coaches of the competing teams voted Lewis as the "Most Outstanding Wrestler" of the tournament.
"Dante is wrestling at a pretty high level," said UMM head coach Doug Reese. "Right now he is in the zone. He is explosive, quick, and very fun to watch."
Also wrestling well for the Cougars this weekend was Jaime Compean, a freshman at 133 pounds. Compean went 2-2 in the competition. In the first round he lost a 9-5 decision to Scott Treft of Northwestern College, then defeated Billy Vaugh of Neosho County College 7-5, then downed Jake Anderson of North Dakota State University with a solid 8-3 performance. In his final match Compean lost a heartbreaking 11-9 overtime decision to Gabe Prescott of Briar Cliff University.
At 141 pounds sophomore Todd Sanchez went 2-2. Sanchez opened the tournament with a 11-9 decision versus Chad Rhoads of St. John's University, then won another 11-9 decision versus Adam Mohr of Northwestern College to advance to the semifinals. In the semifinals, Sanchez lost a tough 6-5 decision to Brian Zinkan of Neosho County College. In the wrestle-backs, Sanchez dropped a 6-4 decision to Charlie Sadder of St. John's and was eliminated from the competition.
Also at 141 pounds, Robert Sauter lost by fall to Ryan Stusse of Briar Cliff by fall, and dropped a 9-5 decision to Chad White of Neosho.
At 149 pounds, sophomore Jeremy Glende defeated Adam Monroe of Huron University 6-4 in overtime, and lost a 4-1 decision to Mark Dugan of St. John's. Following the loss, Glende withdrew from the tournament due to injury.
Also wrestling tough at 149 pounds was freshman Lucas Scharmer. Scharmer opened the tournament with a fall in 1:50 versus Bo Shallert of Itasca Community College. In the second round, Scharmer lost by fall to John Suter of Northwestern College by fall in 3:37, then he came back to defeat Jake Esser of Jamestown College by decision 9-6. In his final match, Scharmer lost by fall to Neosho's Clay Chambers in 3:23.
At 184 pounds senior captain Eric Steinhoff placed sixth. Steinhoff dropped his opening match when he got caught and pinned by a headlock by Nick Small of Jamestown. Steinhoff came back to defeat teammate Jacob Scott by a 15-0 technical fall, then stopped a tough Aaron Barthel of St. John's University with a 10-2 major decision. In the consolation semifinals, Steinhoff lost a 8-3 decision to Corey Feltman of Ridgewater Community College. In the fifth place match, Steinhoff got pinned by Jesse Syderbotham of Neosho County College in 1:05 to place 6th in the tournament.
Freshman Jacob Scott wrestled at 184 pounds and recorded his first collegiate win when he defeated Huron's Brian Johnson with a solid 5-1 performance. Scott lost by fall to tournament champion Ricky Crone of Augsburg College and to teammate Eric Steinhoff.
"We wrestled quite well this weekend," said Coach Reese. "Sanchez was a point away from making the finals at 141 pounds, Compean was an overtime win away from placing at 133, and Scharmer was a win away from placing at 149. They wrestled tough, and a few times came back in the final period to win. I am real happy that we are continuing to improve," commented Reese.
The Cougars will close out their 2002 portion of their schedule at the Mike Rybach Open at Itasca Community College in Grand Rapids on Saturday, December 14. Wrestling is scheduled to begin at 3:00 pm.