|
WOLVES
WIN NSIC CHAMPIONSHIP IN THRILLER DUAL
Jan.
24, 2002
Pivotal
Pin -- NSU's Cory Wellnitz sticks
MSUM 197 pounder Joe Olson to turn the tide in Thursday's
match. |
Northern
State won its second-ever NSIC Championship and first since
1986 with an 18-17 dual win over No. 18 Minnesota State-Moorhead
Thursday night in NSU's Barnett Center.
The
win ended NSU's conference dual season with a perfect 3-0
mark. NSU is 6-5 overall in dual competition.
Things
looked bleak for the Wolves when MSUM's Ryan Kopiasz scored
an overtime 6-4 decision over NSU's Joey Krause and took a
17-9 overall lead with two matches remaining.
But
freshman 197-pounder Cory Wellnitz turned the match around
with a pin on MSUM's Joe Olson at 5 minutes, 26 seconds. The
score read MSUM 17, NSU 15 entering the end-all heavyweight
match, meaning the winner of the match would hand his team
the 2002 NSIC championship.
Champions
-- NSU's Baron Blanchard is declared the
winner of the heavyweight match, giving the Wolves not
only a dual win over MSUM, but also the 2002 NSIC Championship. |
NSU
sophomore and reigning conference heavyweight champion Baron
Blanchard (Kindred, N.D.) was up to the task, scoring a late
takedown on MSUM's Don Hoonhorst and winning the match 9-6.
Blanchard was down early in the match but rallied with the
aid of four points credited to him for opponent's stalling.
MSUM
took a 6-0 lead in the dual with hard-fought wins at 125 and
133 pounds. NSU countered with two decisions of its own, as
senior Todd Currey (Miles City, Mont.) and Dana Dargatz (Webster)
posted close wins at 141 and 149 pounds, respectively. After
two more wins for MSUM put the Dragons up 14-6, senior Cory
Anderson (Milbank) came up big at 174 pounds with a 7-1 decision
to keep the Wolves in the dual.
The
Dragons seemed to counter with a knockout punch at 184, but
the home crowd of 400-plus soon saw quiet dejection turn to
raucous enthusiasm as Wellnitz posted the biggest pin of his
career to turn the tide of the match and set up Blanchard's
heroics.
Here
are the complete results from the dual:
Wt.
|
Match
|
NSU
|
MSUM
|
|
125
|
Mark
Twardy, MSUM, dec. Chris Feldhaus 10-4
|
0
|
3
|
|
133
|
Aaron
Erickson, MSUM, dec. Richard Goethals 11-10
|
0
|
6
|
|
141
|
Todd
Currey, NSU, dec. Scott Larson 5-3
|
3
|
6
|
|
149
|
Dana
Dargatz, NSU, dec. Dan Meyer 9-5
|
6
|
6
|
|
157
|
Nate
Hanson, MSUM, Ron Reszel 14-10
|
6
|
9
|
|
165
|
Luke
Duffey, MSUM, tech. fall Spencer Dockery 3:41
|
6
|
14
|
|
174
|
Cory
Anderson, NSU, dec. Mike Richards 7-1
|
9
|
14
|
|
184
|
Ryan
Kopiasz, MSUM, dec. No. 7 Joey Krause 6-4 ot
|
9
|
17
|
|
197
|
Cory
Wellnitz, NSU pinned Joe Olson 5:26
|
15
|
17
|
|
Hwt
|
Baron
Blanchard, NSU, dec. Don Hoonhorst 9-6
|
18
|
17
|
More
photos from NSU's intense dual with MSU-Moorhead!
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