Johnnies Finish 15th at NCAA Championships
March 11, 2009
Saint John’s finished 15th place out of 62 teams at the NCAA Division III Championships March 8 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Batsukh Wins Title, Baxter Claims 7th
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Sophomore Minga Batsukh (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia/St.
Benedict’s Prep, N.J.) defeated Wartburg’s (Iowa) Zach McKray 5-2 to
become the fourth wrestling national champion in the school’s history
at the 2009 NCAA Division III championships Saturday, March 7, in Cedar
Rapids, Iowa.
Batsukh becomes the first national champion since current head coach
Brandon Novak won the 197-pound title in 2001. Sophomore Dustin Baxter
(Fairbanks, Alaska/West Valley) finished seventh at 184 pounds to also
earn All-American honors (top eight). Baxter fell to North Central’s
(Ill.) Gabe Youel 3-1 in overtime before defeating Wheaton’s (Ill.)
Toby Boltz, 7-4.
Batsukh defeated Nick Garber of Waynesburg (Pa.) and James Beshada of
U.S. Merchant Marine (N.Y.) by scores of 14-9 and 9-3, respectively, to
advance to the semifinals on Friday, March 6. Batsukh upset top-seeded
Austin Bautista of Wisconsin-Whitewater 4-3 in the 141-pound semifinals
to advance to the championship match.
Baxter, meanwhile, defeated the College of New Jersey’s Scott Kelley
6-2 in the first round at 184 before falling to top-seeded Michael
Wilcox of Delaware Valley, 5-4 in triple overtime. Baxter then defeated
Wartburg’s Romeo Djoumessi, the No. 2 seed, 13-11 in his first match of
wrestlebacks on Friday.
Junior Mogi Baatar (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia/St. Benedict’s Prep, N.J.)
broke his hand in a 6-1 loss to Wartburg’s Matt Kelly following his
first-round bye at 133, and then lost to Ithaca’s Chad Winowich, 8-3.
Sophomore Matt Baarson (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Champlin Park) fell to
Messiah’s (Pa.) Craig Gin 5-2 in the first round, before bouncing back
with a 14-5 win over Jonas Flok of Lakeland (Wis.) in the consolation
bracket of 157. Baarson then lost to Ithaca’s (N.Y.) Willie Horwath,
9-6.
Eustice Named Academic All-American
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John’s University senior Grant Eustice
(Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View) was named a 2008-09 National Wrestling
Coaches Association (NWCA) Academic All-American on Wednesday, March
11. A psychology and Spanish double-major with a 3.52 GPA, Eustice
posted a 24-11 record in 2008-09 and finished fourth in the 174-pound
bracket at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional. Eustice also earned NWCA
Academic All-America honors in 2007.
Head Coach Brandon Novak
Brandon Novak ended 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 34-35 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
