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2008-09 College Results
St. Cloud State's Skala Wins Title at Bison Open

November 15, 2008

Fargo, N.D. - Derek Skala (Owatonna) led a solid St. Cloud State showing at the Bison Open Saturday, by going a perfect 5-0 and winning the 174 lbs. championship for the Huskies. The Huskies had six other wrestlers finish in the top six.

Skala, a national qualifier in 2008, won two matches by major decisions but won his semifinal and final matches by one point over Minnesota's Kaleb Young (3-2) and Cody Yohn (5-4).

Red-shirt freshman Tad Merritt (Canby) and senior Brad Padgett (Buckley, Wash.) were next in the Husky charge as they took home third place honors at 165 lbs. and 184 lbs. respectively.

Merritt went 5-1 on the day, winning his first three matches by two falls and a major decision before falling to NDSU's Adam Aho 3-2 in the semifinal. He would rebound with another major and a 9-4 win in the third place match.

Padgett, a returning All-American, went 4-1 after a first round bye. He added one fall and one major decision and a 4-2 decision over Minnesota's Brad Eidenschink in the third place match.

John Sundgren (Blaine), also a returning All-American, earned a fourth place finish at 157 lbs. Sundgren's 4-2 mark on the day included a fall, tech fall and a major before a loss in the third place match.

The two fifth-place finishers were Gabe Suarez (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Lucas Munkelwitz (Forest Lake). Suarez rebounded after a second round loss to win his first four bouts in the wrestleback. He would fall 5-4 in the wrestleback final before taking the fifth place match by forfeit.

Munkelwitz made the Husky presence felt at 184 lbs., accompanying Padgett's third place finish with his fifth place mark. He lost in the quarters and won his first three wrestleback matches before running into Padgett. He finished off his day by taking the fifth place match by forfeit.

Rounding out the Husky placers was Mitch Altermatt (Wabasso). He started 1-1, before going on a four-match streak of his own. Altermatt finally fell in his last two matches to end at sixth place.

The Huskies will be back in the Fargo area next weekend as they will take place in the Cobber Open. Action is set to get underway at 9:00 a.m.