The SMSU Wrestling team competed on Sat. Feb. 23 at the 10-team Super Region V Tournament. The competition took place at Minnesota State University Moorhead’s Nemzek Fieldhouse facility. The top three placing winners from each weight class are advancing to the NCAA Championship Tournament on Mar. 8-9 in Cleveland, Ohio. Two SMSU Wrestlers will be attending the national tournament: Cortez Arredondo (157) and Griffin Osing (184).

SMSU’s wrestling lineup included Ben Emrich (125), Brock Buysse (133), Jordan Biehn (141), Justin Haneke (149), Arredondo (157), Kegen Fingalsen (165), Dru Kuchenbaker (174), Osing (184), Cole Hennen (197), and Andrew Peterson (285).

In the first round, each wrestler except Peterson and Buysse either won or had a bye. The quarterfinals changed that, with only Arredondo winning by fall at 3:14 and Hennen also winning by fall at 3:28.

The wrestle backs were when Osing started to make his comeback. He won by fall at 1:00 in the second round, then won by sudden victory in the third round. This put him in the consolation semifinals, where he won by a medical forfeit. Osing then qualified for the third-place match.

While Osing was wrestling to secure the third-place match, Arredondo and Hennen were in the semifinals. Hennen fell to Vince Dietz from St. Cloud State by a 3-0 decision. He still wrestled in the third-place match, but came up short against Clayton Wahlstrom from Augustana with a 4-3 decision.

On the other hand, Arredondo won over Collin Ayers from Augustana by a 5-4 decision and found himself in the championship match. There, he wrestled against Jake Barzowski from St. Cloud State. The match went into overtime, but Arredondo won in a sudden victory, earning him the title of regional champion and a trip to nationals. This was his first regional title but will be his second trip to nationals.

Osing also won his third-place match by sudden victory over James Lehman from Wisconsin-Parkside; this will be his first trip to the national tournament.