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Husky matmen lose to Johnnies
By Ryan K. Dale
The injury depleted Husky wrestling team traveled to Collegeville on Tuesday night in a battle for central Minnesota wrestling supremacy. However, SCSU came out on the short end to St. John’s, 26-20.
The score would have been a lot closer if not for two key injuries to the Husky lineup. James Tabatt (197 pounds) was unable to wrestle and the Huskies were forced to forfeit surrendering six points to the Johnnies, who were only up 20-15 at the time of the forfeit. Tabatt’s injury is considered minor. He hopes to return this weekend at the Northern Iowa Open.
The other injury was to sophomore All-American Jon Duncombe, (174 pounds) who has been sidelined with an elbow injury. Duncombe originally had planned on returning this upcoming weekend when the Huskies travel to the UNI Open, but the elbow is still bothering him and he doesn’t plan on returning until Jan. 8 against Northern State. Duncombe watched the match from the stands on Tuesday and thought the team has room for improvement.
“The team needs to pick up the intensity a little, it looks like they’re going at it half-heartedly,” Duncombe said.
That is putting it nicely. Head coach Steve Grimit was not very happy with SCSU’s performance.
“I’m extremely disappointed with the way we wrestled tonight,” Grimit said. “The injuries were key, but that doesn’t excuse the poor effort we received from a couple of our wrestlers tonight.”
The night started out poorly for SCSU when Stephen Clay was defeated by Nate Schraan in a major decision at 125 pounds. Dustin Speltz (133 pounds) was then pinned by Chuck Griffith to give the Johnnies a 10-0 lead over the Huskies.
John Dirksen (141 pounds) finally got the Huskies on the board by defeating Nate Lefebvre. Dirksen scored the first two points with a takedown.
Dirksen went on to win 3-1 over Lefebvre. It was his first win of the year.
At 149 pounds, SCSU’s Blake Christopherson faced off against Brian Vetter and put up a fight. Christopherson lost 10-5, but was only down three points entering the final period. Fatigue eventually set in and he was defeated, giving the Johnnies a 13-3 lead.
Next, Brad Hunter faced Tim Anderson (ranked seventh in Division III) at 157 pounds. Anderson took a 2-1 lead into the final period and defeated Hunter for a three-point decision that gave the Johnnies a 16-3 lead entering the upper weight matchups.
Potential All-American Matt Neumueller (165 pounds) got the Huskies rolling in the right direction by scoring a 6:54 pinfall victory over Tim Roth. That gave his team a quick six points, narrowing the deficit to seven points.
The Huskies last two wrestlers didn’t care if the match had already been decided, they still wanted to show everyone in the stands what they were made of.
Gerard Evans (184 pounds) scored a technical fall victory at 5:00 over Chris Dykhoff, 15-0. Even though he defeated his opponent, Evans still says he has techniques to work on.
“I should have had more takedowns and I was too hesitant on my feet tonight,” Evans said. “We just have to work harder and longer. There’s no excuses, the injuries shouldn’t have been a factor.”
In the last match of the night the Huskies second-ranked (D-II), and soon to be all-time leader in victories, Dustin Darveaux (heavyweight) matched up against Adam Clemen. The All-American made it look easy as he barely broke a sweat, scoring a 5:00 pinfall victory.
Darveaux, now 12-1 on the year, needs just 10 more victories to enshrine his name atop the Husky record books.
“The record is in the back of my mind, but I try to keep it there and stay focused on my goals. I’m disappointed with the match from a team standpoint, but I think the high expectations for the team should still be there,” Darveaux said.
The Huskies would have preferred to head into the UNI Open this weekend on a high note, but they know they can’t change what happened against St. John’s.
The tournament will host over 300 wrestlers from Division I, II and III and includes the top teams from all across the Midwest. Grimit expects the Huskies to have a tough challenge ahead this weekend in Cedar Rapids and knows the team must wrestle much better.
“If we wrestle this weekend like the way we wrestled tonight, we’ll gets are butts kicked,” Grimit said.
Last year’s top finisher at the UNI Open for the Huskies was Neumueller, who placed sixth at 165 pounds. Evans and Darveaux also hope to continue their success this weekend. Evans has set some goals for himself at the UNI Open.
“I would like to at least make it to the placement rounds at this tournament. I just missed out in Omaha and I think I have a legitimate shot at placing on Saturday,” Evans said.
Darveaux also looks forward to the challenge this weekend, and the possibility of breaking the Huskies’ victory record at home Dec. 14 during the SCSU Invitational.
“It would be awesome to break the record in front of the home fans, but right now I’m focused on the team and the Northern Iowa tournament,” Darveaux said.
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