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Sat, 11 Dec 2004
Mankato, Minn. -- Minnesota State wrestling continued to dominate on the mat, placing second behind Augsburg College at the St. Cloud State Invite held on the campus of St. Cloud State Saturday. Not only did MSU place second as a team, they also placed eight of 10 individuals.
At 125 pounds, Charlie Dawson (El Paso, Texas) earned his first two falls of the year, including a fall at 2:49 over the second seeded Mark Johnston of Dickonson State University. Fellow junior Joey Neigum (Bismarck, N.D.) picked up a couple of victories in his sixth place campaign at 133 pounds.
At 141 pounds, sophomore Brandon Girtz (Forest Lake, Minn.) picked up his third fall in the first round of the tournament and his 19th victory of the season in the last round, as he took a 5-1 decision over top seeded Jamal Tidwell of Augsburg College for the championship. Sophomore captain and third ranked Jason Rhoten (Kasson, Minn.) matched Gritz's performance.
Rhoten took the top seed in the tournament and showed why as he technical falled his first and third opponent, dropping a pin in between them. He then took a 4-2 decision over Ryan Stroud of Augsburg College in the championship match.
Junior Math Bitz (Bismarck, N.D.) earned three decisions in his third place quest, while eighth ranked junior John Koons (Crosby, Minn.) went 2-1 losing the championship match to Brad Tupa of Augsburg College.
Fifth ranked senior Josh Janousek (Greenbush, Minn.) pinned his first opponent at 1:16 before taking two decisions, including a 6-3 finish over top ranked Justion Sorensen of Augsburg College, for the championship. Senior Mike Engelmann (Spencer, Iowa) continued his dominance on the mat.
Engelmann was 3-0 on the day, pinning his first opponent in 0:34 seconds and recieving a victory for injury default in his second match. Engelmann then butted heads with #1 seeded Mark Simmons of Augsburg College. The match ended favorably for Engelmann as he downed Simmons 4-2, taking the championship.
The Mavericks return to the mat for the Reno Tournament of Champions in Reno, Nev. on Dec. 19. MSU returns to dual action Jan. 6 with a meet at Northern State. North Central Conference action starts for the Mavericks with a dual at St. Cloud State Jan. 14.
WT, Name, Record, Place
125: Charlie Dawson, 3-1, 3rd
133: Joey Neigum, 2-3, 6th
141: Brandon Girtz, 3-0, 1st
149: Jason Rhoten, 4-0, 1st
157: Math Bitz, 3-1, 3rd
165: Jeremiah Nowak, 0-3, ----
174: Erik Wallace, 0-2, ----
187: John Koons, 2-1, 2nd
197: Josh Janousek, 3-0, 1st
Hwt: Mike Engelmann, 3-0, 1st