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Two SCSU wrestlers earn
Darveaux, Duncombe each named D-II All-American
The NCAA held another version of March Madness in the form of the Division II Wrestling Championships over the weekend of March 8-9.
The event took place at the University of Wisconsin, Parkside, and featured three SCSU grapplers: 184-lb senior Nate Whiting, third-year heavyweight Dustin Darveaux and Jon Duncombe, a 174-lb red-shirt freshman. Whiting finished the tournament with a 1-2 mark and did not place while Duncombe and Darveaux each came in fourth, earning All-American honors.
Darveaux opened up the tourney with a frustrating 16-8 loss to Ashland's Josh Hendricks.
"I made some dumb mistakes," Darveaux said of his opening round defeat. "When you wrestle tough kids like that there is no room for error."
Darveaux then took out the frustrations of his opening round performance on Wisconsin, Parkside's Ryan Deprey, pinning him in a mere 43 seconds. After Deprey, Darveaux plowed through Central Missouri State's Willie McGowan, 5-4, to advance to the second day of the tourney.
After impressive victories over Chardon State's Cody Beguin and Dupree Lacey of Central Washington, Darveaux found himself in the third-place match against a familiar opponent and rival, Augustana's James Garvey. Garvey ended up getting the best of Darveaux, earning a hard fought 6-2 victory of the now two-time SCSU All-American.
"It means a lot to me," said Darveaux of his second All-American honor. "I was pretty happy with how I performed. At the same time, I'm also hungry for next year."
While many were expecting Darveaux to finish the season an All-American, many did not know quite what to expect out of first-year standout Duncombe. Duncombe, however, had his goals set from the beginning.
"I set a goal to be an All-American and I met that goal," he said. "It really feels good to be one."
Duncombe won both of his matches on the opening night of the tournament, posting a 5-2 win over James Tietema of Findlay and a 3-1 victory over Frank Kuchera of Nebraska, Kearney.
North Dakota State's Todd Fuller, the eventual 184-lb champion, upended Duncombe, 4-1, to open the second day. Duncombe then pinned South Dakota State's Scott King before falling to Nebraska, Omaha's Bob Edmonds, 4-3, in the third place contest.
So, what's left for Duncombe to achieve in his remaining years as a Husky? Plenty.
"I want to get first next year," he said. "That's the goal I'm setting."
Overall, NDSU dominated the tourney, finishing with five national champions and an overall team score of 92.5.
Adam Czech can be reached at: [email protected]
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