Four Johnnies Headed To National Championships In Two Weeks
February 27, 2009
The Johnnies return to action March 7-8 at the NCAA Division III Championships in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
SJU Claims Fourth At Great Lakes Regional
MEQUON, Wis. – Saint John’s finished fourth out of 15 teams at the NCAA
Great Lakes Regional on Saturday, Feb. 21, in Mequon, Wis. SJU has now
placed in the top five each of the past seven seasons at the
regional. A total of seven Johnnies finished in the top six of
their respective weight classes, including four that are headed to
nationals: sophomore Matt Baarson (26-8 record at 157; Brooklyn Park,
Minn./Champlin Park), junior Mogi Baatar (25-7 record at 133;
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia/St. Benedict’s, N.J.), sophomore Minga Batsukh
(15-4 record at 141; Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia/St. Benedict’s, N.J.) and
sophomore Dustin Baxter (25-7 record at 184; Fairbanks, Alaska/West
Valley).
SJU has now qualified two or more wrestlers to the NCAA Championships
19 of the last 20 seasons. Both Baatar and Batsukh claimed
regional championships to advance to the 2009 NCAA Division III
Championships. For Baatar it is his third consecutive trip and second
for Batsukh. Baatar, ranked No. 9 nationally, defeated Augsburg's
Travis Lang, ranked No. 1 in the nation, 9-5 in the championship match.
Batsukh, unranked, defeated Augsburg's Tony Valek, ranked No. 4
nationally, 7-3 before posting a 9-4 win over the Milwaukee School of
Engineering's Virgil Pope in the finals. Pope defeated
Concordia-Moorhead's Ben Anderson, ranked No. 3, 3-2 in the semifinals.
Baarson, ranked No. 6 nationally, defeated Concordia-Moorhead's Lane
Lunde, ranked No. 7, 4-3 for third place at 157 and later earned a wild
card entry to nationals. Baxter went 5-1 on the day, including a
7-5 overtime win over North Central’s (Ill.) Gabe Youel, ranked No. 4
nationally, in the true second match to earn his second consecutive
appearance.
Senior Grant Eustice (Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View) and sophomore Tony
Willaert (North Mankato, Minn./Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial) each
claimed fourth place at 174 and 197, respectively, while senior Matt
Schrupp (Watertown, Minn./Watertown-Mayer) ended his career with a
sixth-place finish at 165. Eustice fell to the eventual champion, Zach
Molitor of Augsburg (No. 7 in the nation), 9-1 in the semifinals.
For all the latest news on Johnnie Wrestling and other SJU sports, visit the Saint John’s athletic Web site at gojohnnies.com
