Omaha, Neb. – Senior heavyweight Brady
Wilson (Faribault, Minn.) concluded his senior season with a
runner-up finish at the NCAA Division II National Championships,
dropping a heartbreaker by a score of 1-0 in the finals to Elijah
Madison of Nebraska-Omaha. He concludes his historic career at
Minnesota State with four All-American honors and sits atop the
Minnesota State career wins charts with a 142-25 record. His tournament
performance and that of his six teammates gave the Mavericks a
sixth-place finish in the team race with 52.5 points. Host UNO won the
team title with 131 points.
Wilson was unable to secure a takedown in the first period of his
semifinal matchup with Dustin Finn of Central Oklahoma, a two-time
national finalist. Finn earned an escape in the second, followed by one
for Wilson in the third. With fewer than 20 seconds remaining, Wilson
picked up a single-leg takedown and rode Finn for the remainder of the
period to advance to his first NCAA final.
Neither Wilson nor Madison was able to put any points on the board in
the first frame of the final despite a wild scramble from each
wrestler. Madison was able to ride Wilson the entire second period and
chose the neutral position for the third. As in the first, neither
wrestler secured any points but Madison came out on top with a point for
the riding time advantage. Wilson finishes the season with a 32-5
record.
Three other Mavericks already secured All-American status with their
performances Friday and wrestled for their final placings today.
Junior Andy Forstner (Madelia, Minn.) avenged
losses to two of his opponents to move into the third-place match. He
defeated Terrell McKinney of Nebraska-Omaha 6-4, locking up a takedown
on the edge of the mat with mere seconds remaining in the first sudden
victory session. McKinney had defeated Forstner in the NWCA National
Duals. Forstner followed that with an 8-5 win over last season’s
125-pound runner-up Thomas Edgemon of Fort Hays State. Edgemon had
defeated Forstner 3-2 in the first round yesterday. In the final match
of his junior season, he fell 6-5 to defending national champion
Arksenia Barksdale of Adams State. Two stalling warning to Barksdale
moved Forstner to within a point as time wound down but he was unable to
secure the deciding takedown. Forstner concludes his season with a
fourth-place finish , his second All-American honor and a 25-12
record. He also improved upon his sixth-place finish from a year ago.
Senior Travis Elg (Mountain Lake, Minn.) advanced in
the consolations at 149 pounds, pinning Kevin McElhaney of Gannon. The
now two-time All-American ended the match at 4:22 after staking a 12-0
lead. He then fell to Nate Herda of Augustana by major decision 12-4 to
head to the fifth-place match. Elg finished his Maverick career in fine
style, taking Derek Bomsted of MSU Moorhead directly to his back off an
ankle pick and sticking his shoulders to the mat in just 1:12. It was
Elg’s third fall of the tournament and improved upon his sixth-place
finish at the NCAA meet in 2008. He also was awarded the tournament's
Gorrarian Award winner for most falls in the least amount of time. He
caps his career with an 83-38 mark, 15-16 on the year.
Sophomore Aaron Norgren (Good Thunder, Minn.), a
first-time All-American, was pinned in 53 seconds by Derek Ross of
Nebraska-Kearney to fall to the seventh-place match at 184 pounds. He
finished his sophomore campaign strong, earning an 8-5 win over Ryan
Bacerra of Grand Canyon. Norgren picked up two takedowns in the first
period en route to a seventh-place finish and his first All-American
honor. He finishes with a season ledger of 16-11 after a 3-2 showing at
the NCAA meet.
125 pounds - Andy Forstner - 4-2, 4th Place
L, dec. Thomas Edgmon (Fort Hays State), 3-2
W, maj. dec. Brandon Davis (Ashland), 14-6
W, dec. Alex Johns (Indianapolis), 7-2
W, dec. Terrell McKinney (Nebraska-Omaha), 6-4 SV
W, dec. Thomas Edgmon (Fort Hays State), 8-5
L, dec. Arksenia Barksdale (Adams State), 6-5
149 pounds – Travis Elg - 4-2, 5th Place
W, fall Thomas Hepburn (Nebraska-Kearney), 5:51
L, maj. dec. Craig Becker (Wisconsin-Parkside), 18-5
W, dec. Jeremy Espinoza (Findlay), 8-4
W, fall Kevin McElhaney (Gannon), 4:22
L, maj. dec. Nate Herda (Augustana), 12-4
W, fall Derek Bomsted (MSU Moorhead), 1:12
157 pounds - Justin Turek - 1-2, DNP
L, dec. Sean Byrnes (Newberry), 5-2
W, dec. Bryce Givens (Indianapolis), 16-10
L, dec. Marcus Edgington (Augustana), 3-1 SV
165 pounds - Tel Todd - 0-2, DNP
L, dec. Ryan Pankoke (Nebraska-Omaha), 6-1
L, maj. dec. Jake Varilek (Belmont Abbey), 8-0
174 pounds - Ben Becker - 0-2, DNP
L, dec. Kamarudeen Usman (Nebraska-Kearney), 9-2
L, dec. Anthony Petrella (Gannon), 16-9
184 pounds – Aaron Norgren - 3-2, 7th Place
L, dec. Bryant Blanton (Newberry), 5-2
W, dec. Lucas Haag (Wisconsin-Parkside), 14-8
W, default Austin Boehm (Nebraska-Omaha)
L, fall Derek Ross (Nebraska-Kearney), 0:53
W, dec. Ryan Bacerra (Grand Canyon), 8-5
Heavyweight – Brady Wilson - 3-1, 2nd place
W, fall Patrick Carey (CSU-Pueblo), 4:36
W, maj. dec. Neil McGrath (Gannon), 10-1
W, dec. Dustin Finn (Central Oklahoma), 3-1
L, dec. Elijah Madison (Nebraska-Omaha), 1-0
For final brackets:
http://omavs.com/documents/2010/3/12/200910WRNCAABrackets.pdf?id=1098
