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St. Cloud State clinches NCAA Div. II national title; Nebraska-Kearney puts four in gold-medal round

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by JD Rader, USA Wrestling

Top photo: Wesley Dawkins of Nebraska-Kearney celebrates his 133-pound semifinal win, one of four Lopers to advance to the NCAA Div. II National finals. Photo by Coreby Dorsey of UNK

Bottom photo: Vince Dietz of St. Cloud State celebrates his semifinals win at 197. Photo courtesy of St. Cloud State.



CLEVELAND, Ohio - All matches except the finals have been wrestled at the 2019 Div. II National Championships and St. Cloud State will repeat as national champions once again.


In second place but 16 points behind St. Cloud State, Wheeling Jesuit will not be able to catch up despite having two finalists to St. Cloud State’s one finalist.


Senior Vince Dietz of St. Cloud State will be returning to the 197 lbs. finals. Dietz took out unseeded Clayton Wahlstrom of Augustana 4-3 in the semifinals. Wahlstrom went on to finish fourth. Dietz won’t have any easy match in the finals, however. Nicholas Mason of Tiffin has pinned his way through the tournament thus far.


The race for second place is where things will get very interesting tonight. Wheeling Jesuit, McKendree, and Notre Dame are all within seven points of each other and have two finalists in tonight’s finals. Nebraska-Kearney is currently in fifth place and 5.5 points behind Notre Dame, but will have four in the finals tonight.


Nebraska-Kearney had a unique morning session that saw them go four-for-four in the semifinals with no other wrestlers. All four of the Loper wrestlers to All-American will at least finish with a top two performance.


While the Nebraska-Kearney got it done on the front side of the bracket, St. Cloud State got it done on the backside. After going 1-2 in their semifinal matches, the Huskies wrestled back to finish with to finish with seven All-Americans. Senior Brett Velasquez finished his career with the Huskies as a four-time All-American, placing first, third, fourth, fourth. The lone finalist for St. Cloud State will be Vince Dietz at 197 lbs.


Defeating Velasquez in the semifinals was Josh Portillo of Nebraska-Kearney. He’ll take on Carlos Jacquez of Lindenwood. Portillo and Jacquez are 2-2 all time with Jacquez winning the one match they have wrestled this year 7-2.


Joining his teammate in the finals at 133 lbs. will be Wesley Dawkins of Nebraska-Kearney. He’ll take on top-seed Tyler Warner of Wheeling Jesuit in a match that will have big team point implications.


Wrestling all the way from the pigtail match, Jose Rodriguez of Notre Dame made the 141-pound finals by defeating Danny Swan of Lindenwood 13-4. Top seed Brandon Ball of Fort Hays State suffered his first loss of the season when he lost 6-4 to Isaiah Royal of Newberry. Ball went on to finish fourth.


At 149 lbs., the top seed, Pitt-Johnstown junior Chris Eddins, will be taking an undefeated record with him into the finals, but Trey Grine of Tiffin is having an outstanding tournament. After winning by 15-6 major decision in the opening round, Grine pinned both his quarterfinal and semifinal opponents in the first period.


Top seed Matt Malcom of Nebraska-Kearney is having an outstanding tournament as well at 157 pounds. The Loper has two tech. falls and has only given up three points in his three matches. Malcom will be taking on the only unseeded wrestler to make the finals, Colin Ayers of Augustana.


Having arguably the best tournament of any wrestler, Shane Ruhnke of Millersville has pinned all three of his opponents and only wrestled for a combined 9 minutes and 18 seconds at 165 lbs. Despite being unseeded Devin Austin of Pitt-Johnstown, the wrestler Ruhnke defeated in the semifinals, picked up 14.5 team points for the Mountain Cats and finished in third place.


In one of the most important matches of the night concerning the team race, Nick Foster of McKendree will take on Connor Craig of Wheeling Jesuit in the 174-lbs. finals. Foster took out top seed Brandon Supernaw of Western Colorado State 4-3 in overtime in the semifinals. Supernaw went on to finish in sixth place.


In one of the more interesting results of the day, Michael Pixley of McKendree won by disqualification over top seed and undefeated Jeff Reimel of Kutztown at 184. Reimel was hit for unsportsmanlike conduct three times, disqualifying him. Reimel then went on to lose 15-13 to Brock Biddle of Pitt-Johnstown and lost by medical forfeit in his fifth place match. This will be another big team race match as Pixley will be wrestling Notre Dame’s Tony Vezzetti.


In a wild semifinal round that saw both returning NCAA finalists from last year lose, Jarrod Hinrichs of Nebraska-Kearney beat Terrance Fanning 9-7 in overtime and Andrew Dunn of Kutztown beat Kameron Teacher 7-6. The returning national champion and national runner-up did wrestle for third, however. Teacher defeated Fanning 15-8, reversing both last year’s NCAA final and this year’s regional result.

NCAA DIV. II NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

At Cleveland, Ohio



Finals pairings


125 - Carlos Jacquez (Lindenwood (Mo)) vs. Josh Portillo (Neb.-Kearney)

133 - Tyler Warner (Wheeling Jesuit) vs. Wesley Dawkins (Neb.-Kearney)

141 - Isaiah Royal (Newberry) vs. Jose Rodriguez (Notre Dame (OH))

149 - Chris Eddins Jr. (Pitt.-Johnstown) vs. Trey Grine (Tiffin)

157 - Matt Malcom (Neb.-Kearney) vs. Colin Ayers (Augustana (SD))

165 - Shane Ruhnke (Millersville) vs. Rodney Shepard (UNC Pembroke)

174 - Nick Foster (McKendree) vs. Connor Craig (Wheeling Jesuit)

184 - Michael Pixley (McKendree) vs. Tony Vezzetti (Notre Dame (OH))

197 - Vince Dietz (St. Cloud St.) vs. Nicholas Mason (Tiffin)

285 - Jarrod Hinrichs (Neb.-Kearney) vs. Andrew Dunn (Kutztown)

Medal Match results


125 pounds

3rd Place Match - Cole Laya (Wheeling Jesuit) won by decision over Brett Velasquez (St. Cloud St.) (Dec 6-4)

5th Place Match - Marcus Povlick (McKendree) won by fall over Tyler Kreith (Maryville (MO)) (Fall 3:48)

7th Place Match - Cole Jones (MSU Moorhead) won by major decision over Brendan Howard (Pitt.-Johnstown) (MD 13-5)


133 pounds

3rd Place Match - Hunter Bray (Notre Dame (OH)) won by decision over Jordan Gurrola (San Fran. St.) (Dec 5-3)

5th Place Match - Tate Barnhardt (Mary) won by fall over Garrett Vos (St. Cloud St.) (Fall 4:17)

7th Place Match - Justin Folley (Upper Iowa) won by decision over Alexis Soriano (Mercyhurst) (Dec 8-3)


141 pounds

3rd Place Match - Eduardo Penha (Colorado Mesa) won in sudden victory - 1 over Brandon Ball (Fort Hays St.) (SV-1 4-2)

5th Place Match - Joey Alessandro (Pitt.-Johnstown) won by decision over Danny Swan (Lindenwood (Mo)) (Dec 4-0)

7th Place Match - Joseph Calderone (LIU Post) won by decision over Jared Donahue (Wheeling Jesuit) (Dec 3-0)


149 pounds

3rd Place Match - Gavin Londoff (Lindenwood (Mo)) won by decision over James Pleski (St. Cloud St.) (Dec 3-2)

5th Place Match - Isaiah Kemper (McKendree) won by injury default over Kameron Frame (Newman) (Inj. 0:00)

7th Place Match - Kyle Rathman (Minnesota St.) won by decision over Josh Wimer (Findlay) (Dec 6-3)


157 pounds

3rd Place Match - Jake Barzowski (St. Cloud St.) won by decision over Nate Smalling (McKendree) (Dec 6-4)

5th Place Match - Tyler Mies (Newman) won by decision over James Wimer (Findlay) (Dec 5-3)

7th Place Match - Austin Palmer (Newberry) won by fall over Kevin Almond (Emmanuel (GA)) (Fall 2:19)


165 pounds

3rd Place Match - Devin Austin (Pitt.-Johnstown) won by decision over Tyler Harrington (Maryville (MO)) (Dec 5-2)

5th Place Match - Koery Windham (Adams St.) won by decision over Devin Fitzpatrick (St. Cloud St.) (Dec 6-5)

7th Place Match - Matthew Rodriquez-Kirkland (Limestone) won by fall over Anthony Dailey (Notre Dame (OH)) (Fall 5:33)


174 pounds

3rd Place Match - Michael Raccioppi (East Stroudsburg) won by fall over Kolton Eischens (St. Cloud St.) (Fall 3:39)

5th Place Match - TC Warner (Kutztown) won by decision over Brandon Supernaw (Western Colo.) (Dec 6-2)

7th Place Match - Phillip Springsteen (Mary) won by decision over Damon Greenwald (Seton Hill) (Dec 8-1)


184 pounds

3rd Place Match - Heath Gray (Central Okla.) won by decision over Brock Biddle (Pitt.-Johnstown) (Dec 8-2)

5th Place Match - Aidan Pasiuk (Wheeling Jesuit) won by medical forfeit over Jeff Reimel (Kutztown) (M. For.)

7th Place Match - Justin Pichedwatana (San Fran. St.) won by decision over Anthony Collins (Limestone) (Dec 6-1)


197 pounds

3rd Place Match - Nick Baumler (Upper Iowa) won by decision over Clayton Wahlstrom (Augustana (SD)) (Dec 5-2)

5th Place Match - Colton Dull (Millersville) won by fall over Ethan Sherertz (Maryville (MO)) (Fall 4:38)

7th Place Match - Ryan Vasbinder (McKendree) won by decision over Khalil Gipson (Adams St.) (Dec 10-5)


285 pounds

3rd Place Match - Kameron Teacher (Notre Dame (OH)) won by major decision over Terrance Fanning (Wheeling Jesuit) (MD 14-6)

5th Place Match - Ciaran Ball (Simon Fraser) won by decision over Tristen Weirich (Ashland) (Dec 4-1)

7th Place Match - Patton Gossett (Newberry) won by decision over Greg Wilson (Central Okla.) (Dec 8-3)

Team Standings heading into finals

1 St. Cloud St. 95.5

2 Wheeling Jesuit 79.5

3 McKendree 79.0

4 Notre Dame (OH) 72.5

5 Neb.-Kearney 67.0

6 Pitt.-Johnstown 64.5

7 Lindenwood (Mo) 44.0

8 Newberry 42.0

9 Tiffin 41.0

10 Maryville (MO) 38.0

11 Kutztown 37.0

12 Millersville 34.0

13 Augustana (SD) 26.5

14 East Stroudsburg 23.5

15 Upper Iowa 22.5

16 Central Okla. 22.0

17 San Fran. St. 21.5

18 Limestone 20.0

19 Mary 19.0

20 Newman 18.0

Semifinals results


125 pounds

Carlos Jacquez (Lindenwood (Mo)) won by decision over Cole Laya (Wheeling Jesuit) (Dec 4-1)

Josh Portillo (Neb.-Kearney) won by decision over Brett Velasquez (St. Cloud St.) (Dec 5-3)


133 pounds

Tyler Warner (Wheeling Jesuit) won by decision over Tate Barnhardt (Mary) (Dec 4-2)

Wesley Dawkins (Neb.-Kearney) won in sudden victory - 1 over Hunter Bray (Notre Dame (OH)) (SV-1 3-1)


141 pounds

Isaiah Royal (Newberry) won in sudden victory - 1 over Brandon Ball (Fort Hays St.) (SV-1 6-4)

Jose Rodriguez (Notre Dame (OH)) won by major decision over Danny Swan (Lindenwood (Mo)) (MD 13-4)


149 pounds

Chris Eddins Jr. (Pitt.-Johnstown) won by decision over Isaiah Kemper (McKendree) (Dec 7-4)

Trey Grine (Tiffin) won by fall over Kameron Frame (Newman) (Fall 0:45)


157 pounds

Matt Malcom (Neb.-Kearney) won by tech fall over Nate Smalling (McKendree) (TF-1.5 4:50 (16-0))

Colin Ayers (Augustana (SD)) won in tie breaker - 1 over James Wimer (Findlay) (TB-1 7-5)


165 pounds

Shane Ruhnke (Millersville) won by fall over Devin Austin (Pitt.-Johnstown) (Fall 2:52)

Rodney Shepard (UNC Pembroke) won in sudden victory - 1 over Koery Windham (Adams St.) (SV-1 3-1)


174 pounds

Nick Foster (McKendree) won in tie breaker - 1 over Brandon Supernaw (Western Colo.) (TB-1 4-3)

Connor Craig (Wheeling Jesuit) won by decision over Kolton Eischens (St. Cloud St.) (Dec 9-2)


184 pounds

Michael Pixley (McKendree) won by disqualification over Jeff Reimel (Kutztown) (DQ)

Tony Vezzetti (Notre Dame (OH)) won by decision over Heath Gray (Central Okla.) (Dec 3-2)


197 pounds

Vince Dietz (St. Cloud St.) won by decision over Clayton Wahlstrom (Augustana (SD)) (Dec 4-3)

Nicholas Mason (Tiffin) won by fall over Colton Dull (Millersville) (Fall 2:39)


285 pounds

Jarrod Hinrichs (Neb.-Kearney) won in sudden victory - 1 over Terrance Fanning (Wheeling Jesuit) (SV-1 9-7)

Andrew Dunn (Kutztown) won by decision over Kameron Teacher (Notre Dame (OH)) (Dec 7-6)

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