2003-04 College News - St. Cloud State Wrestling Update

St. Cloud State Wrestling Update

12/9/03

THIS WEEK'S ACTION: The Huskies will host the 33rd annual St. Cloud State Invitational on Dec. 13, at the Halenbeck Hall South Fieldhouse. A total of 14 teams are slated to bring wrestlers to this meet, which was won by North Dakota State in 2002. Other teams scheduled to appear at the meet include Augsburg, Concordia- Moorhead, Dickinson State, Jamestown, Mary, Minnesota State-Moorhead, Northern State, Ridgewater Community College, St. John's, Southwest Minnesota State, Itascha Community College and Minnesota-Morris. Action gets under way at 9 a.m.

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS: The SCSU wrestling team travelled to the Northern Iowa Open on Dec. 6. In action at 125-pounds, Josh Lindquist posted a 1-2 record while Matt Jensen and Tom Messerli were both 0-2 at 141-pounds. In the 149-pound bracket, Seth Cole gained a first round bye and a 7-2 decision over Omaha's Dirk Desmond before falling in the next round to UNI's Colby Goetsch. In the wrestlebacks, Cole gained a 13-0 win before losing by a pin to Kyle Nay of Dickinson State. Also at 149, Justin Werk was 0-2 at the meet. At 157-pounds, Blake Christopherson was 1-2 and Zach Theine was 1-2. At 165-pounds, Dan Duch lost in the first round but came back with three wins in the wrestlebacks to gain a solid 3-1 record at the meet. At 174- pounds, Loren Johnson went 0-2 and Jeff Mills was 0-2 at 184. In action at 197- pounds, Mikal Peterson was 0-2. At the recent Kaufman-Brand Open in Omaha, Neb. on Nov. 21-22, the Huskies' Josh Lindquist posted a 3-2 record at 125-pounds. Tom Messerli (141-pounds), Aaron Bemboom (147-pounds) and Blake Christopherson (157-pounds) also gained wins at the tournament.

LAST YEAR: St. Cloud State University (1-13, 0-6 NCC) finished its 2002-03 season with a ninth place finish at the NCAA Division II championships in Wheeling, W.V. on March 14-15. That marked the Huskies' third highest finish at the NCAA championships. At the 2002-03 NCC championships, SCSU placed seventh.

TEAM NOTES: The Huskies are coming off an incredible finish by the 2002-2003 wrestling team. The team sent four Huskies to Nationals and three became All- Americans, allowing a 9th place team finish at the NCAA Division II championships. Last year Jon Duncombe claimed All-America honors for the second consecutive time, and placed 2nd last year. A three-time All-American, Dustin Darveaux had a second place finish, which was his best ever at nationals following a 4th place finish in 2002 and a 7th place ending in 2001. In his 4 years at SCSU, Darveaux posted a 142-40 career record, which bypasses the record of 126 wins set by Andy Reigstad from 1993-97. Matt Neumueller, made his second NCAA trip in 2003 and gained All- America honors for the first time with his 3rd place ending at 165... Dan Duch made his first trip to the NCAAs in 2003 but he did not place ...Huskies' 9th place finish at the NCAA meet is the team's best since finishing 8th in 1985-86. The team's best NCAA finish was a 7th place ending in 1982-83...back in the 1960s, the Huskies placed third at the NAIA meet in 1963 and 1965.

SCSU COACHING STAFF: The Huskies are led this season by Steve Grimit (Western Illinois, 1987). Grimit is in his 11th season as head coach of the Huskies. Grimit has led the Huskies to a 62-73 overall/21-45 NCC record during since 1993.