NO. 17 SJU Hosts Two Duals This Week
January 15, 2008
The Johnnies (9-3 dual record) host No. 9 Ridgewater (NJCAA Division
III) for a 7:30 p.m. dual this Thursday, Jan. 15 at Sexton Arena in
Collegeville. SJU then hosts No. 12 St. Cloud State (NCAA Division II)
on Friday, Jan. 16. The dual is also scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in
Collegeville. SJU was ranked No. 17 in the latest Brute-Adidas National
Wrestling Coaches’ Association (NWCA) Division III team rankings
released Dec. 13. Other teams ranked from the NCAA Great Lakes Region
include Augsburg (No. 1), North Central (Ill.; No. 6),
Concordia-Moorhead (No. 9), Elmhurst (Ill.; No. 14) and Lakeland (Wis.;
No. 30). The Johnnies defeated both Augsburg (18-13, Nov. 26) and North
Central (19-18, Nov. 15), as well as No. 10 Cornell, Iowa (18-15, Dec.
6), No. 12 Heidelberg, Ohio (22-10, Jan. 10) and No. 15 Luther, Iowa
(19-18, Nov. 15) earlier this season. Individually, sophomores Matt
Baarson (16-7 record; Brooklyn Park, Minn./Champlin Park) and Dustin
Baxter (12-3 record; Fairbanks, Alaska/West Valley) are ranked No. 8 at
157 and 184 pounds, respectively, while junior Mogi Baatar (14-6
record; Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia/St. Benedict's, N.J.) is ranked No. 10 at
133 pounds.
Johnnies Go 1-2 At National Duals
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – SJU went 1-2 at the NWCA/Cliff Keen Division III
National Duals on Jan. 10. SJU defeated No. 24 Heidelberg (Ohio) 22-10
in the opening round before falling to No. 3 Delaware Valley (41-4) in
the quarterfinals and Concordia-Moorhead (22-14) in the consolation
bracket. All three ranked SJU wrestlers mentioned above went 2-1 on the
day. Baatar defeated Heidelberg’s Tony Lawler (7-6) before falling to
Delaware Valley’s Brandon Clemmer, ranked No. 10 (now No. 9), in a
close match, 3-2. Baatar ended the day with a 10-4 win over
Concordia-Moorhead’s Joe Leacox. Baarson started the day 2-0, including
the Johnnies’ lone win against Delaware Valley (14-6 major decision),
before falling to the Cobbers’ Lane Lunde, ranked No. 9 (now No. 6),
7-1. Baxter defeated Heidelberg’s Ed Bizorik (6-3) in his first match
before falling to top-ranked Mike Wilcox of Delaware Valley (16-7).
Baxter then bumped up a weight class to defeat No. 9 Tony Neumann of
Concordia, 3-2 at 197 pounds.
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 34-34 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
