St. Cloud State holds ½ point lead over Notre Dame after session one of Div. II Nationals in Cleveland
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by JD Rader
Top seed Vince Dietz of St. Cloud State in battle at the 2019 NCAA Div. II Nationals. Photo courtesy of SCSUHuskies_WR Twitter.
After the first session at the DII national wrestling tournament, which included pigtail matches, first round matches, and backside pigtail matches, St. Cloud State is leading the team race with 15.5 points. Rounding out the top four is Notre Dame with 15 points, Newberry with 12.5 points, and Lindenwood with 9.5 points.
St. Cloud State having the lead isn’t surprising as they are the favorites to repeat as champions again this year. The Huskies came out strong with bonus points from 2016 125 lbs. champion Brett Velasquez, 157 lbs. No. 4 seed Jake Barzowski (157), and the top seed at 197 lbs., Vince Dietz. In addition to their bonus point victories, the Huskies picked up big wins from 149-pounder James Pleski, who avenged his lone loss of the season when he beat Chase Clasen from Chadron State 3-1 and Kolton Eischens, who defeated two-time All-American Zach Stodden of Nebraska-Kearney 4-2.
Not all of St. Cloud State wrestlers escaped defeat, however. Garrett Voss, the No. 3 seed at 133, was upset by Notre Dame’s Hunter Bray in the opening round. In similar fashion, unseeded Notre Dame 165 lbs. wrestler Anthony Daily upset St. Cloud State’s No. 8 seed, Devin Fitzpatrick. Those two matches could prove to be big in the team race as Notre Dame is only a half-point behind St. Cloud State.
Also getting upset in the first round was returning 125 lbs. finalist Maleek Williams of Upper Iowa. He dropped a 9-6 decision to unseeded Brendan Howard of Pitt-Johnstown but came back to win 12-3 in his backside match.
On the other side of the upset for Upper Iowa was 165-pounder Brock Benitz, who took out Matthew Rodriquez-Kirkland of Limestone 4-3. Also getting upset at 165 lbs. was returning national champion Brett Romanzak of Ashland. Romanzak suffered an ankle injury as time expired and will not be finishing the tournament.
In a big upset at 197 lbs., unseeded Nick Weldon of Newberry pinned second seeded Levi Niebauer of Pitt.-Johnstown in the first period. Niebauer went on to win his backside match and stay alive.
All No. 1 seeds took care of business and advanced on the front side.
Session two will begin at 5 p.m. ET and can be streamed live on trackwrestling.com. Quarterfinals, and two rounds of consolation will be wrestled.
NCAA Div. II Quarterfinal pairings
125
Carlos Jacquez (Lindenwood (Mo)) vs. Brendan Howard (Pitt.-Johnstown)
Nick Daggett (UNC Pembroke) vs. Cole Laya (Wheeling Jesuit)
Josh Portillo (Neb.-Kearney) vs. Cole Jones (MSU Moorhead)
Tyler Kreith (Maryville (MO)) vs. Brett Velasquez (St. Cloud St.)
133
Tyler Warner (Wheeling Jesuit) vs. Sha`Mun Smith (Limestone)
Tanner Hitchcock (Lindenwood (Mo)) vs. Tate Barnhardt (Mary)
Hunter Bray (Notre Dame (OH)) vs. Justin Folley (Upper Iowa)
Wesley Dawkins (Neb.-Kearney) vs. D`andre Brumfield (Colorado St.-Pueblo)
141
Brandon Ball (Fort Hays St.) vs. Jared Donahue (Wheeling Jesuit)
Travis Swanson (St. Cloud St.) vs. Isaiah Royal (Newberry)
Joey Alessandro (Pitt.-Johnstown) vs. Danny Swan (Lindenwood (Mo))
Jose Rodriguez (Notre Dame (OH)) vs. Joseph Calderone (LIU Post)
149
Chris Eddins Jr. (Pitt.-Johnstown) vs. Gavin Londoff (Lindenwood (Mo))
Isaiah Kemper (McKendree) vs. Kyle Rathman (Minnesota St.)
Trey Grine (Tiffin) vs. Josh Wimer (Findlay)
Kameron Frame (Newman) vs. James Pleski (St. Cloud St.)
157
Matt Malcom (Neb.-Kearney) vs. Kevin Almond (Emmanuel (GA))
Nate Smalling (McKendree) vs. Jake Barzowski (St. Cloud St.)
Skyler Lykins (Colo. Sch. of Mines) vs. Colin Ayers (Augustana (SD))
James Wimer (Findlay) vs. Tyler Mies (Newman)
165
Shane Ruhnke (Millersville) vs. Anthony Dailey (Notre Dame (OH))
Devin Austin (Pitt.-Johnstown) vs. Brock Benitz (Upper Iowa)
Koery Windham (Adams St.) vs. Calvin Ochs (Neb.-Kearney)
Jason Buhr (Colorado Mesa) vs. Rodney Shepard (UNC Pembroke)
174
Brandon Supernaw (Western Colo.) vs. Robert Gambrell (Colo. Sch. of Mines)
Nick Foster (McKendree) vs. TC Warner (Kutztown)
Connor Craig (Wheeling Jesuit) vs. Michael Raccioppi (East Stroudsburg)
Cornell Beachem (Notre Dame (OH)) vs. Kolton Eischens (St. Cloud St.)
184
Jeff Reimel (Kutztown) vs. Griffin Osing (Southwest Minn. St.)
Konnor Schmidt (Western Colo.) vs. Michael Pixley (McKendree)
Chance Helmick (St. Cloud St.) vs. Tony Vezzetti (Notre Dame (OH))
Tarrence Williams (Colorado St.-Pueblo) vs. Heath Gray (Central Okla.)
197
Vince Dietz (St. Cloud St.) vs. Nick Baumler (Upper Iowa)
Clayton Wahlstrom (Augustana (SD)) vs. Ryan Vasbinder (McKendree)
Nicholas Mason (Tiffin) vs. Dylan McBride (Western Colo.)
Colton Dull (Millersville) vs. Nick Weldon (Newberry)
285
Terrance Fanning (Wheeling Jesuit) vs. Patton Gossett (Newberry)
Jarrod Hinrichs (Neb.-Kearney) vs. Tristen Weirich (Ashland)
Andrew Dunn (Kutztown) vs. Courvoisier Morrow (Lindenwood (Mo))
Greg Wilson (Central Okla.) vs. Kameron Teacher (Notre Dame (OH))
After the first session at the DII national wrestling tournament, which included pigtail matches, first round matches, and backside pigtail matches, St. Cloud State is leading the team race with 15.5 points. Rounding out the top four is Notre Dame with 15 points, Newberry with 12.5 points, and Lindenwood with 9.5 points.
St. Cloud State having the lead isn’t surprising as they are the favorites to repeat as champions again this year. The Huskies came out strong with bonus points from 2016 125 lbs. champion Brett Velasquez, 157 lbs. No. 4 seed Jake Barzowski (157), and the top seed at 197 lbs., Vince Dietz. In addition to their bonus point victories, the Huskies picked up big wins from 149-pounder James Pleski, who avenged his lone loss of the season when he beat Chase Clasen from Chadron State 3-1 and Kolton Eischens, who defeated two-time All-American Zach Stodden of Nebraska-Kearney 4-2.
Not all of St. Cloud State wrestlers escaped defeat, however. Garrett Voss, the No. 3 seed at 133, was upset by Notre Dame’s Hunter Bray in the opening round. In similar fashion, unseeded Notre Dame 165 lbs. wrestler Anthony Daily upset St. Cloud State’s No. 8 seed, Devin Fitzpatrick. Those two matches could prove to be big in the team race as Notre Dame is only a half-point behind St. Cloud State.
Also getting upset in the first round was returning 125 lbs. finalist Maleek Williams of Upper Iowa. He dropped a 9-6 decision to unseeded Brendan Howard of Pitt-Johnstown but came back to win 12-3 in his backside match.
On the other side of the upset for Upper Iowa was 165-pounder Brock Benitz, who took out Matthew Rodriquez-Kirkland of Limestone 4-3. Also getting upset at 165 lbs. was returning national champion Brett Romanzak of Ashland. Romanzak suffered an ankle injury as time expired and will not be finishing the tournament.
In a big upset at 197 lbs., unseeded Nick Weldon of Newberry pinned second seeded Levi Niebauer of Pitt.-Johnstown in the first period. Niebauer went on to win his backside match and stay alive.
All No. 1 seeds took care of business and advanced on the front side.
Session two will begin at 5 p.m. ET and can be streamed live on trackwrestling.com. Quarterfinals, and two rounds of consolation will be wrestled.
NCAA Div. II Quarterfinal pairings
125
Carlos Jacquez (Lindenwood (Mo)) vs. Brendan Howard (Pitt.-Johnstown)
Nick Daggett (UNC Pembroke) vs. Cole Laya (Wheeling Jesuit)
Josh Portillo (Neb.-Kearney) vs. Cole Jones (MSU Moorhead)
Tyler Kreith (Maryville (MO)) vs. Brett Velasquez (St. Cloud St.)
133
Tyler Warner (Wheeling Jesuit) vs. Sha`Mun Smith (Limestone)
Tanner Hitchcock (Lindenwood (Mo)) vs. Tate Barnhardt (Mary)
Hunter Bray (Notre Dame (OH)) vs. Justin Folley (Upper Iowa)
Wesley Dawkins (Neb.-Kearney) vs. D`andre Brumfield (Colorado St.-Pueblo)
141
Brandon Ball (Fort Hays St.) vs. Jared Donahue (Wheeling Jesuit)
Travis Swanson (St. Cloud St.) vs. Isaiah Royal (Newberry)
Joey Alessandro (Pitt.-Johnstown) vs. Danny Swan (Lindenwood (Mo))
Jose Rodriguez (Notre Dame (OH)) vs. Joseph Calderone (LIU Post)
149
Chris Eddins Jr. (Pitt.-Johnstown) vs. Gavin Londoff (Lindenwood (Mo))
Isaiah Kemper (McKendree) vs. Kyle Rathman (Minnesota St.)
Trey Grine (Tiffin) vs. Josh Wimer (Findlay)
Kameron Frame (Newman) vs. James Pleski (St. Cloud St.)
157
Matt Malcom (Neb.-Kearney) vs. Kevin Almond (Emmanuel (GA))
Nate Smalling (McKendree) vs. Jake Barzowski (St. Cloud St.)
Skyler Lykins (Colo. Sch. of Mines) vs. Colin Ayers (Augustana (SD))
James Wimer (Findlay) vs. Tyler Mies (Newman)
165
Shane Ruhnke (Millersville) vs. Anthony Dailey (Notre Dame (OH))
Devin Austin (Pitt.-Johnstown) vs. Brock Benitz (Upper Iowa)
Koery Windham (Adams St.) vs. Calvin Ochs (Neb.-Kearney)
Jason Buhr (Colorado Mesa) vs. Rodney Shepard (UNC Pembroke)
174
Brandon Supernaw (Western Colo.) vs. Robert Gambrell (Colo. Sch. of Mines)
Nick Foster (McKendree) vs. TC Warner (Kutztown)
Connor Craig (Wheeling Jesuit) vs. Michael Raccioppi (East Stroudsburg)
Cornell Beachem (Notre Dame (OH)) vs. Kolton Eischens (St. Cloud St.)
184
Jeff Reimel (Kutztown) vs. Griffin Osing (Southwest Minn. St.)
Konnor Schmidt (Western Colo.) vs. Michael Pixley (McKendree)
Chance Helmick (St. Cloud St.) vs. Tony Vezzetti (Notre Dame (OH))
Tarrence Williams (Colorado St.-Pueblo) vs. Heath Gray (Central Okla.)
197
Vince Dietz (St. Cloud St.) vs. Nick Baumler (Upper Iowa)
Clayton Wahlstrom (Augustana (SD)) vs. Ryan Vasbinder (McKendree)
Nicholas Mason (Tiffin) vs. Dylan McBride (Western Colo.)
Colton Dull (Millersville) vs. Nick Weldon (Newberry)
285
Terrance Fanning (Wheeling Jesuit) vs. Patton Gossett (Newberry)
Jarrod Hinrichs (Neb.-Kearney) vs. Tristen Weirich (Ashland)
Andrew Dunn (Kutztown) vs. Courvoisier Morrow (Lindenwood (Mo))
Greg Wilson (Central Okla.) vs. Kameron Teacher (Notre Dame (OH))
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