College wrestling: Ridgewater uses a big finish to beat St. John's JV
Feb. 9—WILLMAR — With Ridgewater and the St. John's junior varsity tied 19-19 with one match left, Austin Schlangen was zoned in.
"There's no option," said Schlangen, a freshman heavyweight from Eden Valley-Watkins. "The only thing was winning."
Schlangen did just that with a fall over the Johnnies' Zach Hunter in 4 minutes, 40 seconds. That secured a 25-19 win for the Warriors on Thursday in their lone home dual of the season.
"I think we wrestled well," said Ridgewater co-head coach Travis Deegan. "We got the job done."
Hunter bumped up from 197 pounds to wrestle at heavyweight. The bigger Schlangen led 4-2 after the first period. Starting down in the second, Schlangen added an escape and a takedown before securing the fall.
"They're a lot faster, but as a bigger guy, I'm a lot stronger," Schlangen said. "So it's easier for me to slow 'em down and keep them under control."
Said Deegan, "(Schlangen's) improved a lot and he's done really well. I think he's got one junior college loss on the year, so we're excited to see him have a shot at nationals and see where he can go. His potential is huge."
Ridgewater had four straight wins from Cole Holien at 141, Brady Holien at 149, Taedon Nichols at 157 and Wilhem Yasseri at 165. Cole Holien, a freshman from Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City, won by fall at 4:25. Yasseri, a sophomore from Rogers, got another fall at 1:15.
Deegan gave a nod to Taedon Nichols. A freshman from Siren, Wisconsin, Nichols won a 3-2 decision over Logan Thorsten.
"He's been doing really well," Deegan said of Nichols. "He was wrestling 49 most of the year and has stepped up to 57 late in the season."
The Warriors now prepare for the Region 13 championships on Sunday, Feb. 19 at Thief River Falls.
Schlangen is getting honed in on a chance to qualify for nationals. The NJCAA National Championships are March 3-4 in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
"It's more of a mind game at this point," Schlangen said. "Keeping 'em out of my head and keeping the condition up. I'm doing pretty good there."
125: Double forfeit
133: Teagyn Ludwig, SJ, maj dec Tristian Lang, 12-4
141: Cole Holien, R, pinned Andrew LeMire, 4:25
149: Brady Holien, R, maj dec Jorge Hernandez, 8-0
157: Taedon Nichols, R, dec Logan Thorsten, 3-2
165: Wilhem Yasseri, R, pinned Nathan Langer, 1:15
174: Logan Edwards, SJ, won by forfeit
184: Hayden LeMonds, SJ, pinned Johan Rodvik, 1:47
197: DJ Myles, SJ, dec Rick Jones, 5-3
285: Austin Schlangen, R, pinned Zach Hunter, 4:40
