BY ANDREW NOSTVICK OP/ED EDITOR
The top-ranked Knights wrestling squad opened their dual season with a 44-0 victory on the road against Loras Wednesday night.
New faces filled the line-up for the dual against the No. 19 Duhawks. Mark Kist (125 lbs.), Matt Kelly (133 lbs.) and Jacob Mirocha (141 lbs.) all won their matches.
Other wins came from newcomers Jacob Groth (149 lbs.), Byron Tate (197 lbs.) and John Helgerson (Hwt.).
Mirocha and Craig Kreman (174 lbs.), both won their matches via pin fall.
Justin Hanson (165 lbs.), who also won, said the Knights wrestled well, but have a lot of room for improvement.
“I think we want to do more than shut them out, we want to dominate,” Hanson said.
Knights’ head coach Jim Miller said it was nice to not lose a match.
“That’s the way we want to roll and start our season,” Miller said.
For Kist, it was his dual debut for the Knights.
“It was a lot of fun, it was fun to finally wrestle with these guys,” he said.
Kist transferred to Wartburg from Iowa State University and has found a niche with the Knights.
“He’s a hard worker and really adds another dimension to that weight class. We got some other good kids in there, but I think he’s got some good experience under his belt,” Miller said.
On Saturday, the Knights took part in the Simpson Invitational and left with top finishes from five wrestlers.
Aaron Wernimont (157 lbs.) and Justin Hanson (165 lbs.) both finished in first place.
Zack McKray (141 lbs.) finished in second place in his weight class. Kist, Kelly, and Kreman finished in third place in their respective weight classes.
Currently eight Knights are ranked as top ten wrestlers in the nation.
Romeo Djoumessi (184 lbs.) and Wernimont are ranked atop their weight classes.
Kelly and McKray are ranked second in their respective classes, while Hanson is ranked third.
Grant Jenkins (174 lbs.) is ranked eigth, Helgerson is ranked ninth and Nick Shandri (197 lbs.) is ranked tenth.
This weekend, the Knights will wrestle at home as they host 14 teams in the Dick Walker Invite.
Wrestling will start inside Levick Arena and the Walker Wrestling Room inside “The W” at 9 a.m. Saturday.