MAC SLAVIN SPORTS EDITOR
After topping Buena Vista 44-4 and Luther 38-3 this week, the Knights wrestling team kept their 126 Iowa Conference dual win-streak and unblemished conference record alive.
“[The wins] were pretty big for us. Everybody knew nationals was kind of a disappointment for us, so to come out here and wrestle well was pretty important,” Aaron Wernimont said.
The Knights finished ‘Beat Luther Week’ with a win over the Norse in Decorah Saturday. The Knights came out on top in nine of the 10 matches.
The Knights only pin came from John Helgerson (285 lbs.), as he pinned Allyn Plattner in 3:19.
Zach McKray (141 lbs.) helped the Knights with a technical fall. McKray topped Logan Queck 22-6 in 6:11.
Major decisions for the Knights came from Jacob Mirocha (133 lbs.), Wernimont (165 lbs.) and Justin Hanson (174 lbs.). Mirocha beat Zac Bartlett 10-0, while Wernimont topped Lance Serbousek 18-7. Hanson battled Brandon Reyerson and come out victorious, 13-3.
Mark Kist (125 lbs.) wrestled to a 4-2 win over Jayson Swanson and Jacob Naig (149 lbs.) beat Yonny Quist 6-0. Mike Sandy (157 lbs.) beat Ryan Bouslog 5-0.
Luther’s Alec Bonander (197 lbs.) came away with the Norse’s lone win, as he won an 8-2 decision over Byron Tate.
Friday, the Knights finished the night with victories in all but one match, as they topped BV in Levick Arena.
“It was nice to be home, we are only home a few times this year and it’s good to be home … It’s a good tune up, we need to build momentum each week,” head coach Jim Miller said.
Kist started things off with an 11-3 major decision over Kyle Donlan. Hanson and Helgerson also won by major decision. Hanson topped Ramon Villegas 12-3, while Helgerson beat Josh Wilkins 11-1.
Three Wartburg wrestlers brought home six points each for the Knights as Sean White (133 lbs.), Naig and Nick Shandri (197 lbs.) pinned their Norse opponent. White pinned Matt Korinek in 1:43, while Naig pinned Semir Duric in 6:19. Shandri’s pin came 5:40 into the match.
Wernimont won by technical fall over Kody Koster 18-2.
Three periods weren’t enough for Sandy and Logan Silliman. Sandy came out victorious 8-5 after the two wrestled in overtime.
BV’s Brian Stueve (184 lbs.) wrestled to their only win of the night over Ben Scott, winning by major decision 12-3.
“We need to send a message each and every time we go out to everybody in our conference. We need to send a message each time we compete, and if at some point they are saying, ‘hey man, I hope we can get second,’ our job is to make them think and understand that we aren’t going to give up that conference championship,” Miller said.
Currently the Knights are ranked second in the country in the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association poll. Augsburg (Minn.) is at the top of the poll.
The Knights schedule has them putting their IIAC dual win-streak on the line this weekend, as they will travel to Dubuque to participate in the Iowa Conference Dual Championships. They start by wrestling Simpson at 10 a.m.