Saint John’s Wrestling Update
December 3, 2008
JOHNNIES AT LA CROSSE DUALS SATURDAY
The Johnnies
return to action at the Wis.-La Crosse Duals this Saturday, Dec. 6. SJU
is scheduled to face No. 5 Wis.-La Crosse and No. 12 Cornell (Iowa), as
well as Augustana (Ill.). SJU fell to both Wis.-La Crosse (38-7) and
Cornell (20-15) at the Wis.-La Crosse Duals last year. The Johnnies
defeated Loras (Iowa), 30-28, and pulled out a 27-3 win over Winona
State in their other two duals last winter. SJU has defeated Cornell
each of the other two meetings between the two schools: 21-18 in
1999-00 and 34-6 in 2002-03 season. SJU is ranked No. 7 in the latest
Brute-Adidas National Wrestling Coaches’ Association (NWCA) Division
III team rankings released Nov. 19.
SJU SNAPS STREAK, UPSETS AUGSBURG
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Saint John’s snapped a 22-match losing streak to
Augsburg with an 18-13 win over the No. 2 Auggies Wednesday, Nov. 26 in
Minneapolis. The win, which was the first for the Johnnies over the
Auggies since the 1985-86 season, also broke two other Augsburg winning
streaks - a streak of 70 straight victories over Minnesota Division II
or III opponents since 1996, and a streak of 92 straight victories over
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foes stretching to the
1986-87 season. The Johnnies built an 18-6 lead after eight bouts and
withstood Augsburg wins in the final two bouts to secure the dual
victory. The Johnnies claimed three wins on riding-time bonus
points - a 4-3 win by freshman Chad Henle (left; Spicer, Minn./New
London-Spicer) over Augsburg's Josh Roberts at 125; a 3-2 win by
sophomore Matt Baarson (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Champlin Park) over
Augsburg's No. 3-ranked Jason Adams at 157; and a 4-3 win by senior
Matt Schrupp (Watertown, Minn./Watertown-Mayer) over Augsburg's Brandon
Klukow at 165. Augsburg's Lucas Murray used a takedown and three-point
near-fall midway through the third period to claim an 11-8 win over the
Johnnies’ No. 3-ranked Minga Batsukh (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia/St.
Benedict's Prep, N.J.) at 141. Sophomore Dustin Baxter (Fairbanks,
Alaska/West Valley) used a takedown with 14 seconds left to score a
12-10 win in his first match of the season over Augsburg's Garrett Long
at 184. Sophomore John Vaith (right; Hastings, Minn.) used a reversal
and a three-point near-fall in the third period to rally for an 8-6 win
over Augsburg's Tony Valek at 149, while senior Grant Eustice
(Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View) scored a 6-3 win over Augsburg's Brandon
Bahr at 174.
HEAD COACH BRANDON NOVAK
Brandon Novak is in his fifth season as head coach of the SJU wrestling
program in 2008-09. Last year, Novak led the Johnnies to a 30th-place
finish (60 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 30-31 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
