Moorhead, Minn. - Nick Wilkes (Onamia) led the Huskies at the 2007 NCAA
Division II North Regional on Sunday, Feb. 25 in Moorhead, Minn. with a
true-fourth place finish at 184-pounds. Wilkes' efforts at the Regional
have gained him a bid to the upcoming 2007 NCAA Division II
championships that will be held in Kearney, Neb. on March 9-10.
The St.
Cloud State wrestling team placed seventh at the 2007 NCAA Division
II North Reghional championships. SCSU posted 31.0 points along with
Northern State, while Minnesota State Mankato won the meet with 146.5
points. Upper Iowa (122.0) placed second, while Nebraska-Omaha was
third with 114.5. Augustana (85.5), Minnesota State Moorhead (76.0) and
Southwest Minnesota State (34.0) completed the field.
For the Huskies, Westy Hanson was 0-2 in action at 125-pounds, and
Sonny Silva claimed sixth place at 133-pounds. Silva lost in his first
round match to Troy Macfarland of Moorhead, before he bounced back with
a 3-2 decison over Augie's Adam Schlee in the wrestlebacks. Silva then
lost a tough 3-2 decision to Jeff Rau before dropping a 7-4 decision
against Michael Barrier of Southwest Minnesota State in the bout for
fifth place.
Matt Jackson charted a 0-2 record for the Huskies at 141-pounds, and
Grant Johnson was also 0-2 at 149-pounds. In play at 157-pounds, Adam
Minnette opened with a 16-5 loss to Brandon Girtz of Mankato in first
round play. Minnette charged back with a 4-2 win over Phil Downs of NSU
in the wrestlebacks. He then lost a 9-3 decision to #1 seed Austin
Scarset of Augie, before gaining a pinfall win over Henry Wahle of
Omaha at 4:22 in the bout for fifth place. Minnette lost a tough 11-8
decision against Kyle Traut of Moorhead in the "true" fourth bout to
determine the NCAA qualifier bid.
At 165-pounds, Tom Anderson lost his first round bout before picking up
a 12-7 decision over SMSU's Justin Crouch in the wrestlebacks. Anderson
then lost in the second round of the wrestlebacks before dropping a 6-3
match to Aaron Haddroff of Augie in the bout for fifth place.
In action at 174-pounds, Matt Steffenson was 0-2, while Nick Wilkes
placed fifth at 184-pounds for the Huskies. The #2 seed, Wilkes won his
first round match by a 16-2 tally over Cody Chamblin of SMSU. In the
second round, Wilkes dropped a close 6-3 match against Austin Boehm of
UNO. Wilkes then suffered a 6-4 loss to Cale Cornemann of NSU in the
consolation round, before charging back with an 11-1 win over Tony
Gehling of Upper Iowa, which provided him with the fifth place title.
To gain the NCAA bid, Wilkes posted an 11-3 win over Beau Severtson of
Augustana in the match for "true" fourth place.
At 197-pounds, SCSU's Jairo Sandoval opened with a a loss to Jacob
Marrs of UNO, before gaining a 3-2 win over Josiah Bush of Moorhead in
the consolation bracket. Mankato's Ben Janike added a 5-0 win over
Sandoval in the second round, and NSU's Todd Nasz edged Sandoval by a
4-0 margin in the bout for fifth place.
Wilkes will now represent SCSU at the upcoming NCAA Division II
wrestling championships on March 9-10, in Kearney, Neb.