Weber sets new quickest pin best; Parker, Pentz & Henningson earn falls
The North Dakota State wrestling team picked up a dominating victory over West Virginia in Big 12 play Saturday afternoon at the Scheels Center, as the Bison (7-3, 2-3 Big 12) picked up six bonus-point victories in a 39-9 victory over the Mountaineers (5-5, 0-3 Big 12)
No. 7 Jared Franek started off the dual with a dominant victory over Alex Hornfeck at the 157-pound class, picking up a tech fall victory early in the third period to give the Bison an early 5-0 lead. Then the No. 20 ranked Luke Weber avenged a loss earlier this season to No. 10 Peyton Hall by securing a pin just 47 seconds into the 165-pound match. The pin set a new personal best for the senior, breaking his previous best of 1:03 earlier this season against Dylan Kohn (Edinboro).
The Bison then went up 14-0 as Riley Habisch continued a hot start for NDSU by picking up a 6-4 decision over Dennis Robin in the 174-pound match. Habisch took the early lead with a takedown in the first period and added another in the second period before securing an escape and a riding time point in the third. At 184 pounds, DJ Parker jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first period over Anthony Carman before pinning him with 31 seconds left in the second period for his fourth fall of the season. Parker improved to 16-1 against unranked competition on the year. No. 23 Owen Pentz closed out the first half with his NDSU leading 10th pin of the season. Pentz quickly secured a takedown on Jackson Moomau before securing the fall 1:19 into the match. It is Pentz’s third-fastest pin of his career and puts him one off the national lead.
Coming out of halftime, West Virginia picked up their only two wins of the match, cutting the deficit to 26-9, but Ryan Henningson responded by securing a pin as he wrestled up a class at 133 pounds. Henningson was trailing 3-2 in the third before securing the takedown and his first collegiate pin as he defeated Garett Lautzenheiser with the fall at 6:16. The win also secured the victory for the Bison, who went up 32-9 with two matches remaining. No. 28 Dylan Droegemueller continued to expand the Bison lead as he picked up an 8-5 decision over Caleb Rea. Droegemueller had takedowns in the first and second before a reversal in the third secured the 141-pound match. In the final match of the dual, Gaven Sax secured two 4-point near falls in the first period to open a 10- lead and Sax cruised to a major decision victory at 12-2.
Michael Nelson also saw action in an extra match following the dual. The 184-pounder defeated Scott Joll 7-1 with three takedowns and a riding time point.
The Bison will be back in action Sunday morning, as they take on Air Force (3-3, 0-3 Big 12) at the Scheels Center. The dual is slated for an 11 a.m. start.