Saint John’s update
February 4, 2009
JOHNNIES HOST NORTH COUNTRY SATURDAY
The Johnnies will host the annual North Country Open this Saturday,
Feb. 7 at the Donald McNeely Spectrum in Collegeville. Competition is
scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.
SJU DROPS MEET AGAINST CONCORDIA
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – No. 17 Saint John’s University dropped its second
consecutive dual in the final match with an 18-15 loss to No. 8
Concordia-Moorhead on Jan. 30 in Collegeville. SJU (10-5 dual record)
opened the dual with a 9-0 lead thanks to wins from sophomore Matt
Baarson (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Champlin Park), senior Matt Schrupp
(Watertown, Minn./Watertown-Mayer) and senior Grant Eustice (Shoreview,
Minn./Mounds View). Baarson, ranked No. 8 nationally, defeated the
Cobbers’ Lane Lunde, ranked No. 6, 6-0 at 157 pounds to start the dual.
Schrupp then followed with a 3-2 win over Luke Vetsch and Eustice
topped Ross Dankers, 5-3. The Cobbers (9-1 dual record), however, tied
the match at 9-9 thanks to a pin from Phil Moenkedick, ranked No. 8, at
184 and a decision from Tony Neumann at 197. SJU sophomore Dustin
Baxter (Fairbanks, Alaska/West Valley) posted a near-fall of Moenkedick
just seconds into the match to take a 5-1 lead before suffering a fall
near the edge of the ring 1:24 into the match. Neumann then followed
with a 5-3 win over sophomore Tony Willaert (North Mankato, Minn./Lake
Crystal-Wellcome Memorial). The Johnnies regained the lead (12-9) with
a 7-5 overtime win from freshman Cody Socher (Delano, Minn.) over Nick
Nadeau at heavyweight. Socher scored a takedown with 13 seconds left in
the first overtime to earn the victory. Concordia’s Daron Hohbein tied
the dual at 12-12 with a 6-4 win over freshman Chad Henle (Spicer,
Minn./New London-Spicer) at 125, before junior Mogi Baatar
(Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia/St. Benedict’s Prep, N.J.) gave SJU a 15-12 lead
with a 14-7 win over Mike Holman. The Cobbers then tallied two wins
from Ben Anderson and Justin Berns at 141 and 149 pounds, respectively,
to end the match. Anderson, ranked No. 3, defeated sophomore Minga
Batsukh (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia/St. Benedict’s Prep, N.J.) 5-1 to tie
the dual at 15-15. The match was Batsukh’s first since Dec. 6 due to a
knee injury. Berns then posted a 10-6 win over SJU sophomore Drew
Larson (Willmar, Minn.) in the final match.
BATSUKH, SCHRUPP PLACE AT GRAND VIEW OPEN
DES MOINES, Iowa – Two of the four Saint John’s University wrestlers
placed in the top four at the Grand View Open Saturday, Jan. 31 in Des
Moines, Iowa. Batsukh claimed third place at 141, while Schrupp took
fourth at 165. Batsukh posted a 6-1 record, including a 4-3 win over
Grand View’s Jon Henslee in the third-place match. Schrupp went 4-1
before forfeiting the third-place match. In other action, junior Jake
Evenson (Burnsville, Minn./Apple Valley) went 2-2 at heavyweight, while
senior Mike Cronan (Edina, Minn.) went 1-2 at 174.
For all the latest news on Johnnie Wrestling and other SJU sports, visit the Saint John’s athletic Web site at gojohnnies.com
