Over the holiday weekend, NDSU wrestling headed to California for three matches against Cal Baptist, Cal State Bakersfield, and Little Rock.
The first meet would be against Cal Baptist on Saturday night. The Bison would snap their losing streak with a 24-12 victory over the Lancers. NDSU would have seven wins as a team on Saturday, with Tristian Daughtery picking up a narrow 2-1 decision victory over Mitchell Neiner. Kyle Burwick, who ranks 23rd for 133 wrestlers, would win in dominating fashion with his 15-1 major decision over Hunter Leake. Gideon Cole would suffer the first defeat for the Bison, with Brady Hoshino winning a 14-3 major decision at 141. 31st-ranked Gavin Drexler would secure a 12-3 major decision win over Paul Kelly at 149 to get NDSU back on the winning track. For the 157 bout, Max Petersen would lose in a 5-1 decision to the Lancers Drayden Morton. Boeden Greenley picked up an 8-4 decision victory over Daniel Manibog at 165. In a narrow 3-1 decision, Devin Wasley would defeat Carter Schmidt for the 174 match. 32nd ranked 184, Aidan Brenot defeated Nathan Haas 12-1 in a major decision victory. Tayshaun Glover lost via fall to Eli Shreenen during the 197 match. And for the heavyweight 285 bout, Drew Blackburn-Forst would win a 4-1 decision against the Lancers Tristan Kemp.
North Dakota State would take on the Little Rock Trojans for the early cap on Sunday morning. The Bison would lose an extremely close 16-21 match, with NDSU securing four wins in the early cap. Tristan Daughtery would start the Bison off right with an 18-5 major decision victory over Jayden Carson. Next, Kyle Burwick would fall to Nasir Bailey in a close 9-6 high-scoring decision to cut the Bison lead to one. Michael Olsen would increase the lead to 7-3 as he picked up a 4-1 overtime win against the Trojans Brennan Van Hoeck. Jordan Williams would defeat Gavin Drexler with a 9-5 decision. Matty Bianchi would beat Max Petersen with a 14-3 major decision to give the Trojans a 10-7 lead over NDSU. Joseph Bianchi won a 12-6 major decision over Boeden Greenley. Tyler Brennan would keep the win streak going for the Trojans with a narrow 6-3 decision over Devin Wasley. Aidan Brenot would try to give some late life back to the Bison with a pinfall victory over Brock DelSingore to make it 10-16. Stephen Little would then secure victory for the Trojans with his 20-3 tech fall over Tayshaun Glover. Drew Blackburn-Forst would give the Bison some late momentum for the nightcap as he secured a 4-2 decision in the final match of the early set.
Against Cal State Bakersfield, NDSU would win with a score of 28-10. Tristan Daughtery would start things for the Bison with his 2-1 decision victory over Richard Castro-Sandoval to give the Bison a 3-0 lead for the 125 bout. At 133, Kyle Burwick would win an 18-0 tech fall over Santino Sanchez to increase the Bison’s lead to 8-0. Michael Olsen would make it three in a row for NDSU with his 11-6 decision over Hayden Zinkin at 141 to give the Bison an 11-0 lead before they would suffer their first loss of the evening as Gavin Drexler fell to Brock Rogers in an 11-6 decision at 149.
NDSU would get back on the rocker with Maxwell Petersen picking up a huge 19-2 tech fall over Jose Farias. CSU Bakersfield would pick up their second team win as Boeden Greenley would suffer a 14-3 major decision loss to Guillermo Escobedo. Devin Wasley would secure the Bison a huge 5 points with his 16-0 tech fall over Coen Quintana. Aidan Brenot would secure the crucial three points for the Bison to secure a 2-1 road trip as defeated Gerrit Nijenhuis in a 5-1 decision. Tayshaun Glover would keep the Bison hot with his 14-3 major decision over Chris Neal, and Drew Blackburn-Forst would end the weekend for the Bison with a narrow 5-4 loss to Jake Andrews.
The Bison will close out the regular season on Feb. 23rd at the Scheels Center against archrival SDSU.