[Men's Wrestling] Four Pins Leads Men's Wrestling to Home Win
Doane Men's Wrestling opened their home dual slate on Thursday evening in the Haddix Center as they hosted Midland (Neb.). The Tigers are ranked No. 4 in the NAIA while the Warriors are receiving votes in the national poll. Doane used four pins on the night as they cruised to a 50-0 victory over Midland.
The night opened at 125 where NAIA No. 18 Hunter Bennett (SO/Tilden, Neb.) took on Cyrus Bucsit. Bennett needed just one takedown in the match and secured a pin at the 2:02 mark. Daniel Vargas (SR/San Diego, Calif.), ranked No. 8 at 133, picked up a forfeit win to give the Tigers a 12-0 lead.
Next to the mat was NAIA No. 1 Baagii Boldmaa (SR/Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia) as he took on Mario Martinez in the 141 division. Boldmaa picked up a takedown and four near-fall points early before the two wrestlers ended up outside the circle. Boldmaa chose to start neutral, giving an escape point to Martinez but the defending national champ needed just seconds to take his opponent back to the mat and finish him with a pin at the 1:07 mark.
The next two matches were the closest on the night. Tristan Zamilpa (JR/Madera, Calif.), ranked No. 10 at 149, took on Steven Aranda. Zamilpa led 2-1 after the first period and 3-1 after the second. In the final period, Aranda started with an escape point and trailed by one but Zamilpa hit a late takedown and secured a 5-2 victory.
At 157, Nate Lendt (FR/Des Moines, Iowa) wrestled up a weight class to take on Ray Aranda. Lendt, ranked No. 11 at 149, started similarly to Zamilpa by taking a 2-1 lead after the opening period. He started in the down position to open the second and earned an escape and later added a takedown to take a 5-1 lead. Aranda picked up an escape in the third period and Lendt won 5-2.
Benjamin Dobler (SO/Torokszentmiklos, Hungary), ranked No. 17 at 165, picked up a forfeit win to extend the Tiger lead to 30-0. Chinges Tsermaa (JR/Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia), ranked No. 7 at 174, stepped to the mat next and started out with a quick takedown and four near-fall points against Colton Horne. Following an escape, Tsermaa added another takedown which finished in a pin at the 1:27 mark of the match.
In what could be defined as a rivalry, Garrett Cornwell (SR/Albion, Neb.) faced off against Connor Rinn at 184. The meeting marked the fifth time since December 2020 that the two had wrestled each other. The opening period saw Cornwell pick up two takedowns as he held a 4-2 lead. He extended his lead in the second period to 10-4. A pivot escape came from Cornwell after Rinn had picked up a reversal. In the final period, Cornwell picked up an escape and a riding time point to get the major decision, 13-5.
The lone Top 25 battle came at 197 where No. 2 Bradley Antesberger (SO/North Pole, Alaska) took on No. 25 Kolton Kammeyer. The first period was a scoreless battle. In the second, Kammeyer started in the down position and could not escape the grasp of Antesberger. The Tiger wrestler managed to pick up two near-fall points to take a 2-0 lead entering the final period. Antesberger started down and picked up an escape point. Following injury stoppage, Antesberger again started down and picked up another escape point. He then added two takedowns and a riding time point to get the major decision, 9-1.
The night closed with No. 10 Brandon Antesberger (JR/North Pole, Alaska) taking on Matthew Johnston at 285. Antesberger picked up one takedown and would battle to close out the match at 1:44 with the final pin of the night.
Doane improved to 6-0 on the season in duals and 3-0 in GPAC action. Midland fell to 0-4 overall and in the GPAC. The Tigers return to action on December 17 when they participate in the Concordia Duals in Seward.