SJU Hosts NCAA Regional In Two Weeks
The Johnnies will be working hard over the next two weeks to prepare
for the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional on Saturday, Feb.
23. The meet is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. at Sexton Arena in
Collegeville.
Johnnies Struggle At SCSU, Claim a 1st Place Finish At North Country
ST. CLOUD, Minn. (Feb. 8) – Saint John’s struggled last Friday as it
fell to No. 11 (NCAA Division II) St. Cloud State, 28-9 in St. Cloud.
Sophomore Mogi Baatar (125; Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia/St. Benedict’s,
N.J.), junior Matt Schrupp (165; Watertown, Minn./Watertown-Mayer) and
freshman Dustin Baxter (184; Fairbanks, Alaska/West Valley) all won by
decision for SJU.
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. (Feb. 9) – Freshman Matt Baarson (Brooklyn Park,
Minn./Champlin Park) earned first place honors at 157 lbs. in the
annual North Country Tournament held in Collegeville last Saturday.
Baarson (left) earned 42 match points with wins over Jamestown’s Chris
Harmon (15-1), Iowa State’s Brad Kruse (11-2), Dickinson’s Nick Zumwalt
(11-9) and Pacific’s Justin Barden (5-3) in the championship match.
Over 190 wrestlers participated in the tournament.
Head Coach Brandon Novak
Brandon Novak begins his fourth season as head coach of the SJU
wrestling program in 2007-08. Last year, Novak led the Johnnies to a
23rd place finish (63 teams) at the NCAA Championships. Keeping the
academic standards high in 2005-06, Novak's SJU wrestling team had the
fifth-highest team grade point average in NCAA Division III at 3.334.
Prior to becoming the head coach in 2004-05, Novak assisted 2007 NCAA
Division III Wrestling Coaches’ Hall of Fame inductee John Elton, who
was head wrestling coach from 1981-2004. Novak, a 2001 graduate
of SJU, won the NCAA Wrestling Championship at 197 pounds in 2001 and
was a three-time All-American. Novak currently owns a 25-31 career dual
record as head coach of the Johnnies.
For all the latest news on Johnnie Wrestling and other SJU sports, visit the Saint John’s athletic Web site at gojohnnies.com