MOORHEAD, Minn. – The Minnesota State University Moorhead wrestling team built a 20-point lead and went on to beat Long Island University Post, 23-12 in a nonconference dual Friday night at Nemzek Fieldhouse in Moorhead, Minn.
Redshirt freshman Kristian Vazquez won by fall for MSUM at 141 pounds while junior Garret Hoffner won by technical fall at 157 to give the Dragons (2-1 duals) bonus points.
“One thing we wanted to do was for our lightweights to control the dual, and allow our heavyweights to just wrestle without having to focus on getting points.” MSUM head coach Kris Nelson said. “Our lightweights really did their job, and we were happy with their performance.”
The dual started at 125 pounds when MSUM freshman Jared Goldmsith won a 12-7 decision over Tyler Walsh.
The 133-pound match was a highlight, with Dragon junior Blake Bosch — ranked No. 2 in the nation at 133 according to intermatwrestle.com — battled LIUP’s Joe Calderone, who is ranked No. 3. Bosch won a hard-fought match by a 5-4 decision to push the Dragon lead to 6-0.
“That was a huge match,” Nelson said. “Blake knew what he had to do to win, and he went out and accomplished it.”
Vazquez took the mat at 141 pounds for the Dragons and got a second-period pin over TJ Fabian. Vazquez finished the fall in 4:38 to extend the Dragon lead to 12-0.
“That was a huge pin,” Nelson said, “Those six points were huge for us, as they allowed the rest of the team to focus on just wrestling, and not need to worry about achieving a specific result.”
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The 149-pound match was the first one that the Pioneers won, as Matt Langan won a 3-2 decision over MSUM freshman Dylan Connell.
From there, the Dragons got a first-period tech fall from Hoffner to push the lead back to 17-3. Hoffner’s win was followed by a 5-3 decision in the 165-pound match by MSUM freshman Adam Blees.
Freshman Brayden Kuntz took the mat at 174 pounds and won a close 7-6 decision that came down to the closing seconds.
“Brayden wrestled hard,” Nelson said of the match, “He is tough as nails, and he showed it there.”
The Pioneers won the final three matches, all by decision, to cut the gap to 23-12, but the Dragon lead was insurmountable.
MSUM is next in action on Saturday morning when they host the 12th annual Dragon Open. That event will start at 9 a.m. at Nemzek Fieldhouse.
MSU-Moorhead 23, Long Island University Post 12
125-Jared Goldsmith (MSUM) dec. Tyler Walsh, 12-7
133-Blake Bosch (MSUM) dec. Joe Calderone, 5-4
141-Kristian Vazquez (MSUM) pinned TJ Fabian, 4:38
149-Matt Langan (LIUP) dec. Dylan Connell, 3-2 157-Garret Hoffner (MSUM) tech. fall Cory Ashe, 19-0
165-Adam Blees (MSUM) def. Ed Ramirez Jr., 5-3
174-Brayden Kuntz (MSUM) dec. Juan Carlos Diaz, 7-6
184-Ron King (LIUP) dec. Mike Urban, 8-6
197-Jake Horton (LIUP) dec. Austin Warren, 2-1
285-James Louison (LIUP) dec. Cody Anderson, 8-2
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