North Dakota State headed down south to the Daktronics Invitational hosted by rival SDSU this Sunday. The Bison saw five place finishes in the tournament. Kyle Burwick took second in the 133 class with two wins, one via fall to a rival Jackrabbit and another by an 8-3 decision.
Unfortunately, Burwick lost to 24th-ranked 133 wrestler Derrick Cardinal in a 9-1 major decision. Michael Olsen also grabbed second place for the 141 class in Brookings. Olsen went 3-2 with three straight wins via decision. He would drop his final two matches via a 4-1 decision and 12-2 major decision. Max Petersen would go 1-2 in the 149 class, winning his first match by an 11-9 decision. He would then lose a 10-6 decision.
Teammate Gavin Drexler would be his second loss in an 8-9 decision. Drexler would go 2-1 in the event, with his first win coming by tech fall. His only loss would be to 21st-ranked Willie McDougald in a 7-4 tiebreaker. Drexler would finish third for the 149 class. After losing his first match, Gabriel Schumm would bounce back and win his final two matches, with a 6-3 decision and a pinfall victory to claim third place in the 157 class. Brendan Howes would finish third for 165 with a 2-2 record. Howes would lose his opening match in an 11-5 decision.
He would come back with two more wins with a pin victory and a major decision. Howes lost his final match by pinfall. The second 165 wrestler was Boeden Greenly. Greenly would go 0-3, losing two matches by major decision to SDSU rivals. And a close final loss of an 18-16 decision. Devin Wasley would go 1-2 in the 174 class.
He picked up his win via pinfall over Nebraska’s Adam Thebeua. Wasley lost his first match by a major decision and his second in a 4-1 decision. Aidan Brenot also finished 1-2 in the 184 class. Brenot picked up a 17-9 major decision in his third match, overcoming losses via tech fall and a 15-1 major decision to 26th-ranked DJ Parker. Michael Baker went 0-3 in 197, losing all three matches via pinfall. Aidan Hight would suffer the same fate as Baker in 197.
Hight went 0-3, losing his first match via tech fall, his second in a 21-second pinfall, and his final match in an 11-3 major decision. Drew Blackburn-Frost would also finish the tournament 0-3. He lost his opening match in a 12-0 major decision, his second in an 18-0 tech fall, and finally, he dropped a close 2-0 decision. Shilo Jones would finally pick up a win for the Bison with a 1-2 record at 285. Jones won in an 8-4 tiebreaker.
The Bison will be back in action next Friday at home, taking on the 12th-ranked Minnesota Gophers. Be sure to show up Friday night in support of our Bison!