November 21, 2007

Wrestling Heads To Northern Quadrangular

Nov. 21, 2007

Weekly Release #3: Northern Quadrangular

Tournament #3

Northern Colorado at Northern Quadrangular

Saturday, November 24 • Rochester, Minn. • 10:00 a.m.

 

Three For The Price Of One

Northern Colorado will travel to Rochester, Minn., to compete in the Northern Quadrangular, where they will face host Minnesota, Northern Illinois and North Dakota State in dual meets. The Bears will open the quadrangular at 10:00 a.m. against North Dakota State, face the Golden Gophers at noon and close the day with a dual against Northern Illinois at 2:00 p.m. Minnesota is currently ranked No.-1 in the nation by W.I.N. Magazine.

 

A Tough Test

The Bears will wrestle against several nationally ranked student-athletes this weekend. All rankings are according to the Nov. 20 W.I.N. Magazine rankings. Jayson Ness from Minnesota is ranked third at 125-pounds, while Mack Reiter ranks third at 133-pounds. Northern Illinois' Pat Castillo also ranks 17th in the 133-pound division. At 141-pounds, Manuel Rivera is sixth, Dustin Schlatter currently holds the top spot at 149-pounds, C.P. Schlatter ranks fourth at 157-pounds and Tyler Safratowich is 11th at 165-pounds, all for Minnesota. At 174-pounds, Minnesota's Gabe Dretsch ranks ninth, while Northern Illinois' Duke Burk is 12th and Roger Kish is second at 184-pounds for UM.

 

That's Outstanding!

Sophomore Tony Mustari was named the Outstanding Wrestler of the Old Chicago's Northern Colorado Open on Sunday. Mustari won the 125-pound division, posting a perfect 4-0 record on the day, with two wins coming on pins. In the third round, he pinned Adrian Rios of Grand Canyon University in 1:49, then notched his second pin in 1:07 over Kyle O'Brian of Western State in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals he defeated fourth-seeded Jeremy Ensley from Northwest Wyoming College, 4-0 and for the second straight week, defeated Ben Kjar from Utah Valley State in the finals, this time by a score of 3-2. Mustari is now 9-0 on the year after he also won the Cowboy Open to begin the season.

 

Four of 10

Northern Colorado hosted the sixth-annual Old Chicago's Northern Colorado Open, where the Bears won four of the 10 weight classes and had at least one student-athlete place in the top six in all 10 divisions. Sophomore Tony Mustari was named the Outstanding Wrestler of the Meet after winning the 125-pound division and all four of his matches, bringing his season record to 9-0. In the 149-pound division, junior college transfer Daniel Prater won the title, defeating T.J. Hepburn of Colby Community College 5-2 in the finals. Devan Lewis also won an individual title for the Bears, bringing home gold in the 165-pound division. Ranked 16th nationally, senior Reece Hopkin won the heavyweight title for the second straight season, winning all five of his matches and three by pins.

 

Nationally Ranked

In the November 21 release of the InterMat/NWMA/NWCA Division I Individual Wrestling rankings, senior Reece Hopkin is ranked 17th in the heavyweight category. According to W.I.N. Magazine, Hopkin is ranked 13th among heavyweights in the Nov. 20 listings. Hopkin has started the season 8-1 with five of his victories coming from pins.

 

Cowboy Open Recap

Northern Colorado got its season underway at the annual Cowboy Open, hosted by the University of Wyoming in Laramie. Sophomore Tony Mustari won the title at 125-pounds, while senior heavyweight Reece Hopkin finished second in the elite heavyweight division and freshman Rocco Depaolo was second in the amateur 141-pound division.

 

Donning The Blue & Gold

After competing unattached in the first two tournaments of the season, freshman Justin Gaethje will wrestle this weekend under the blue and gold. He currently sports a 9-2 record on the year and placed second in the 157-pound division at the Old Chicago's Open on Sunday.

 

Lohr Hopeful

Richard Lohr missed the Old Chicago's Open with an injury but is likely to return to action at the Northern Quadrangular. Lohr posted a 2-2 record at 149-pounds in the season-opening tournament at Wyoming but is slated to wrestle at 141-pounds this weekend.

 

All In The Family

The 2007-08 roster boasts one pair of brothers in Blayze and Brett Bahe. Blayze is a junior who posted a 6-8 overall record last season, while Brett is a true freshman. Both wrestle at 133-pounds. Head Coach Jack Maughan also has a familial connection in the wrestling world, as his father, Bucky, is the head coach at North Dakota State. Last season, the Bison edged the Bears 23-14 in a dual meet and Bucky holds the 19-1-1 advantage in the all-time series.

 

A Look Ahead

Next Friday and Saturday the Bears will be in Las Vegas for the prestigious Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational at the Convention Center.