On Fri., Feb. 1, the SMSU Wrestling team won it’s first dual of the season. They defeated MSU Moorhead 24-16 at home, winning six of the ten duals.

The dual started off with a win by Cole Hennen (197) His 3-1 decision victory earned him his second straight conference win to make a 2-4 conference record.

Brock Buysse (133) and Griffin Osing (184) won their first conference victories that night. Buysse by a 2-1 decision and Osing by a 5-4 win.

Both Justin Haneke (149) and Kegen Fingalsen (165) won their matches by fall; Haneke at 4:42 and Kegen at 4:18.

Cortez Arredondo (157) continued his winning pattern with a 10-9 decision victory. As of Mon. Feb. 4, Arredondo was ranked No. 7 in the NWCA poll.

The team’s winning did not continue the following weekend though. They lost 12-29 at Minot State and 27-12 at UMary, making them now 1-9 overall, 1-8 in the NSIC.

While the team fell at Minot State, Arredondo, Dru Kuchenbaker, and Osing individually did not.
Kuchenbaker and Osing both won by decision, giving Osing his second consecutive conference victory. Arredondo extended his 7-0 undefeated conference record by fall at 5:59.

Arredondo again remained undefeated at UMary, winning by a 6-1 decision. This win gave him a perfect record in the conference.

Fingalsen and Osing were the only other two to win their match. Fingalsen won by fall at 4:05. Osing had a decision victory of 5-2.

This loss to UMary concluded the team’s conference play. It was the last conference dual for the team’s seniors Arredondo, Jordan Biehn, Fingalsen, Osing, Nick VonRuden, and Zach Beaumaster.

These seniors and the rest of the team has about two weeks to prepare for the 2019 NCAA Super Region 3 Tournament in Moorhead on Feb. 23.