No. 23 NDSU Travels to No. 10 Virginia; No. 12 Virginia Tech With Gardner-Webb This Weekend
The No. 23-ranked (USA Today/NWCA Top 25) North Dakota State wrestling team is set to open the dual season on the road, traveling to Charlottesville to battle No. 10 University of Virginia at 11 a.m. Central Saturday, Nov. 15. The Cavaliers are 3-0 defeating Anderson (S.C.) 33-9, VMI (51-0) and George Mason (34-6) on Nov. 2 in Charlottesville.
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North Dakota State will travel to Blacksburg, Va., to wrestle Gardner-Webb (2-0) at 3:30 p.m. Central, and No. 12-ranked Virginia Tech (1-0) at 5 p.m. Central on Sunday, Nov. 16. The Bulldogs defeated Buffalo 32-7 and Cumberland 56-0, while the Hokies defeated Newberry College 41-9 on Nov. 2.
Coverage
Live scoring will be provided through TrackWrestling.com for each duals this weekend.
#23 North Dakota State Bison Probables (0-0)
Wt. – (#InterMat/TOM Rankings) Name (Record)
125 – #13/14 Josh Rodriguez (0-0) OR Tirso Lara (1-4)
133 – Kyle Gliva (4-2) OR Justin Scherkenbach (10-3)
141 – #20/18 Mitch Bengtson (8-1) OR Clay Cathey (7-4)
149 – Clay Ream (7-4)
157 – Steven Keogh (4-2)
165 – Matthew Gray (8-4) OR Trevour Chavez (2-2)
174 – #14/11 Kurtis Julson (4-0)
184 – #13/12 Hayden Zillmer (8-1)
197 – Tyler Lehmann (1-2) OR Tommy Petersen (5-3)
285 – #10/14 Evan Knutson (4-0)
#10 Virginia Cavaliers Probables (3-0)
125 – Will Mason (6-1)
133 – #10/#14 George DiCamillo (6-0)
141 – #12/#12 Joe Spisak (6-0))
149 – TJ Miller (4-2)
157 – Andrew Atkinson (5-2)
165 – #2/#2 Nick Sulzer (2-0)
174 – #11/#12 Blaise Butler (2-0)
184 – Billy Coggins (3-0) OR James Suvak (4-1) OR Tyler Askey (4-1)
197 – #14/#15 Zach Nye (4-0)
285 – Collin Campbell (3-2)
Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs Probables (2-0)
125 – Cortez Starkes (2-3)
133 – Tyler Ziegler (5-2)
141 – Chris Vassar (5-2)
149 – Ryan Mosley (6-2)
157 – Kyle Ash (2-2)
165 – #20 Austin Trott (4-1)
174 – Brett Stein (6-2)
184 – Gray Jones (4-2)
197 – Terry Henderson (3-4)
285 – Justin Kozera (3-2)
#12 Virginia Tech Hokies Probables (1-0)
125 – #5/#4 Joey Dance (1-0)
133 – #18/NR Kevin Norstrem (1-0)
141 – Jerry Ronnau (0-0) OR Nick Anderson (3-3)
149 – #2/#7 Devin Carter (1-0)
157 – Sal Mastriani (4-0)
165 – David Bergida (2-2) OR Chad Strube (3-1)
174 – #13/#10 Zach Epperly (1-0)
184 – Austin Gabel (1-0)
197 – Jared Haught (1-0)
285 – #12/#11 Ty Walz (1-0)
Hayden Zillmer 184 Bison Open Champion, Mitch Bengtson 141 Runner-up
North Dakota State University junior Hayden Zillmer won the 184-pound division at the 44th annual Bison Open held Nov. 8, at the Fargodome. Zillmer’s win at 184 gave NDSU at least one Bison Open champion for the ninth straight season. Redshirt freshman Mitch Bengtson was runner-up at 141-pounds as nine Bison wrestlers placed among the top six finishers at the all-day event. Zillmer, who entered the tournament ranked No. 14, won all four matches to improve to 8-1 overall. The native of Crosby, Minn. (Crosby Ironton H.S.), won 6-4 in sudden victory over Minnesota’s No.16-ranked Brett Pfarr in the championship match. Zillmer posted a pair of pins and a tech fall to advance.
NDSU sophomore Justin Scherkenbach (Muskego, Wis./Muskego H.S.) bounced back from a 15-4 major decision to Minnesota’s No. 3-ranked Chris Dardanes in the semifinals to place third. At 197-pounds, redshirt freshman Tommy Petersen (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville South H.S.) placed third with a 12-4 major decision over University of Mary’s John Devito.
Bison redshirt freshmen Clay Ream and Joe Umlauf finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 149-pound division. Sophomore Matthew Gray placed fifth and junior Anthony Caputo finished sixth at 165-pounds. Wrestling unattached, true freshman Kade Johnson recorded four straight pins and placed sixth at 174 pounds.
Bison in the Rankings
North Dakota State was ranked No. 23 in the first regular season USA Today/NWCA Top 25 released on Nov. 11. The Bison were ranked No. 22 in the InterMat.com Division I Top 25 released Nov. 11. The next top 25 polls will be released Nov. 18. Individually, in the InterMat.com (Nov. 11) individual weight class rankings, Josh Rodriguez was No. 13 at 125 pounds; Mitch Bengtson was No. 20 at 141; Kurtis Julson was No. 14 at 174; Hayden Zillmer was No. 13 at 184, and Evan Knutson was No. 10 at 285. TheOpenMat.com’s TOM Ten to Watch (Oct. 31) included Josh Rodriguez at 125 and Mitch Bengtson at 141. In the TheOpenMat.com’s rankings (Nov. 11), Josh Rodriguez was No. 14 at 125; Mitch Bengtson was No. 18 at 141; Kurtis Julson was No. 11 at 174; Hayden Zillmer was No. 12 at 184, and Evan Knutson was No. 14 at 285. In Asics/Flowrestling (Nov. 11) rankings, Josh Rodriguez was No. 15 at 125; Mitch Bengtson was No. 18 at 141; Kurtis Julson was No. 14 at 174, and Hayden Zillmer was No. 13 at 184. In WIN Magazine’s (Nov. 11) rankings, Josh Rodriguez was No. 20 and Hayden Zillmer was No. 14 in their respective divisions.