MSU wrestling take split at Maverick Duals

Minnesota State wrestling was at home this weekend, as they faced off against both Central Missouri and UW-Parkside in Mankato.

The Minnesota State wrestling team made it look very easy against Central Missouri, and then ran into a bit of trouble getting points points on the board against UW-Parkside, finishing 1-1 at the Maverick Duals Saturday afternoon.

The Mavericks got out to a quick start in their dual against the Central Missouri Mules. Minnesota State rattled off five straight victories to get up to a big lead over the Mules 24-0 halfway through the dual.

Andrew McFall garnered a 16-0 major decision at 125 pounds, ending the match before the third period. George Farmah upset the #12 wrestler in Division II, John Feeney, by fall in 4:23 and earning his first pin as a Maverick. Louie Sanders followed with a first period pin in 2:11 over Carson Meek. Kyle Rathman and Daniel Close gained major decision and decision victories at 149 and 157 pounds respectively. Rathman won his third major decision victory of the season, defeating Kaleb Warner 18-5. Close extended his team-leading decision victory mark to ten wins, topping Shea Conley 9-4.

The Mavericks from that point on caught fire against the Mules. Zach Johnston, Corey Abernathy, and Matthew Blome all gained pins for the Mavericks and kept Minnesota State rolling in the second half of the match. Johnston and Abernathy had identical 2:40 pins while Blome defeated Dominique Hampton in 4:25. Chris Zimmer won the final match of the dual by a 5-0 decision to make the final score 45-3.

This was Minnesota State’s first time surpassing the 40 point plateau since their 49-6 victory over Truman State in December of 2016.

The Mavericks would later take on the Rangers in their second dual of the day. Wrestling in the 1,000th dual in program history, the Mavericks tried to make it a special one. Minnesota State took a 9-0 lead over second ranked UW-Parkside. Following a forfeit at the 125 pound weight-class, Farmah defeated #3 Airk Furseth by a 2-0 margin, finishing the day 2-0 with wins over nationally ranked opponents. Rathman kept the advantage with a 6-4 decision over #3 Frank Yattoni at 149 pounds. The freshman from Apple Valley, Minn. leads the team with 17 wins this season.

The Maverick wrestling team just couldn’t carry on the same success they had that day when facing the Rangers in this matchup, as Minnesota State dropped three decision victories to nationally ranked opponents in the second half of the match-up. Dylan Herman fell 10-4 to #3 Pernvelon Sheppard. Johnston wrestled #1 Nick Becker close at 174 pounds, pushing Becker to the final whistle, falling 13-8. And #12 Connor Price overcame Corey Abernathy in sudden victory to help the Rangers to a 28-12 win.

The Mavericks are now 4-1 overall and hold a conference record of 2-0. Minnesota State will next face MSU-Moorhead on Jan. 12, at Taylor Center at 7:00 pm.