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Three Husky wrestlers to head to national competition
Three Husky grapplers are on their way to the "big dance" of college wrestling.
Heavyweight Dustin Darveaux, 184-pounder Nate Whiting, and 174-lb. Jon Duncombe all placed fourth in their respective weight classes at the NCC Tournament this weekend to earn trips to the NCAA Division II National Tournament.
Darveaux and Whiting are no strangers to the national tourney, as both qualified last year. Darveaux came away an All-American after last season's tourney, while Whiting narrowly missed the same honor himself. For the red-shirt freshman Duncombe, this will be his first appearance.
Qualifying for the National Tourney was not an easy task for the trio of wrestlers as the NCC is the powerhouse of Division II wrestling. Darveaux's path to the finals began with a 3-2 decision over the University of Nebraska-Omaha's Lance Tolstedt.
After the narrow victory over Tolstedt, it was time for the much anticipated re-match with North Dakota State's top ranked heavyweight, Nick Severson. Earlier in the season, Severson stole a victory from Darveaux in a double overtime thriller at Halenbeck Hall, largely due to Darveaux losing the coin flip prior to the start of the second overtime period. Although no overtimes or coin flips were needed this time around, the results were just as frustrating for Darveaux as he fell, 6-5.
"I missed an opportunity against Severson," Darveaux said. "I had him on the ground and said to myself 'we're not supposed to be in this position.' It was a mental lapse on my part."
Darveaux bounced right back, however, and pinned Minnesota State-Mankato's Paul Svien to advance to the third place match against Jon Madsen out of South Dakota State.
The two heavyweights went into overtime tied at one. Darveaux had Madsen's leg up in the overtime session but was unable to score a takedown and dropped another frustrating match, 3-1.
Duncombe began his day with a 7-5 decision over Jake Emerick of Minnesota State-Mankato. North Dakota State's Todd Fuller then knocked off Duncombe, 4-1, in a tightly wrestled match. Fuller would go on to place first at 174-lbs.
Duncombe was able to rebound and pin South Dakota State's Scott King in 1:59 before falling to UNO's Bob Edwards in the third place match, 4-3.
Nate Whiting, one of only two seniors on the SCSU roster, went into Sunday's NCC Tourney knowing that it very well could be his last day of wrestling at the collegiate level. Whiting found himself needing to win his final match of the day in order to claim fourth place and earn a spot in the National Tourney. To say it was a pressure filled situation for the veteran Whiting is quite the understatement.
"I knew it had the potential to be my last match," Whiting said of his state of mind prior to the fourth place match. "I was just thinking about all the good times I've had in wrestling and how fun wrestling has been for me."
Whiting pulled through, however, and extended his season by defeating Augustana's Sam Kenton, 7-5.
"I went out there with the feeling that I knew I was going to win," Whiting said. "It was weird because that almost never happens."
North Dakota State came away with the most team points when all was said and done as they qualified all 10 wrestlers for the National Tourney and finished with 92.5 points. Severson also came away with NCC Wrestler of the Year honors, while North Dakota State head coach Bucky Maughan claimed coach of the year. SCSU finished with 15.5 team points.
The University of Wisconsin-Parkside is the host of this year's Division II National Tournament. The tourney will take place over two days, March 8 and 9.
"I'm at the doorstep," Darveaux said of the national tournament. "Now it's time to come through."
Adam Czech can be reached at: [email protected]
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