Saint John’s
will host the annual North Country Tournament this Saturday, Feb. 3 at
9 a.m. in Sexton Arena. No. 1 Augsburg (Brute/Adidas NWCA Division III,
Jan. 29), No. 5 Ridgewater College (NJCAA Division III, Jan. 23), No. 2
Dickinson State, N.D. (NAIA, Jan. 18), and University of Mary, N.D. are
all expected to compete. Senior Jacob Malone (New York Mills, Minn.)
won the title at 157 pounds and junior Jason Finley (Lake City, Minn.)
finished second at heavyweight at North Country last season, while
junior Tim Thompson (Lake City, Minn.) finished fifth at 125 pounds and
junior Cory Feehan (Corcoran, Minn.) finished sixth at 133 pounds.
SJU Clobbers Cobbers
WADENA, Minn. -- Saint John’s defeated Concordia-Moorhead, 30-9 on Jan.
23. Senior Jacob Malone (157; New York Mills, Minn.), junior Jason
Finley (197; Lake City, Minn.) and sophomore Joe Kuka (Hwt; Parker,
Colo.) each tallied pins for SJU. The Johnnies also saw impressive
performances from their underclassmen, including sophomores Grant
Eustice (174; Shoreview, Minn.) and Zach Anderson (149; Thief River
Falls, Minn.). Freshmen Mogi Battar (125; Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia) and
Minga Batsukh (141; Ulaabaatar, Mongolia) also collected wins.
Batsukh Ranked Nationally, Baatar
Inches Toward School Record
Freshman Minga Batsukh (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia) is currently ranked 7th
nationally at 141 pounds in the latest Brute/Adidas NWCA Division III
individual rankings released on Jan. 23. Meanwhile, freshman Mogi
Baatar’s (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia) season record of 25-8 at 125 pounds
puts him eight wins shy of the freshman record for victories held by
current teammate Jacob Malone (New York Mills, Minn.).
SJU Head Coach Brandon Novak
Head Coach Brandon Novak is in his third season as the head wrestling
coach in Collegeville. A 2001 graduate of SJU, Novak won the NCAA
Division III Championship at 197 pounds in 2001 and was a three-time
All-American. As a football player at SJU, Novak was named MIAC Most
Valuable Player as a linebacker in 1999 and a two-time first-team All-
America selection. Last year, Novak led the Johnnie grapplers to a 16th
place finish at the NCAA Championships. In 2005-06, Novak's SJU
wrestling team had the fifth-highest team grade point average in NCAA
Division III at 3.334.
For all the latest news on Johnnie Wrestling and other SJU sports,
visit the Saint John’s athletic Web site at www.gojohnnies.com