Mavs take close Victory over Peacocks, to take on No. 1 St. Cloud

Daniel McElroy ® Sports Editor |
Photo by Mansoor Ahmad ® Photo Editor |

In a streaky performance, the Mavericks wrestling team took a 19-13 team win over the Upper Iowa Peacocks. Minnesota State University took their third win in a row and remains undefeated halfway through the shortened season.

The dual started with two nationally ranked wrestlers in No. 3 Trevor Turriff and No. 12 Myron Crawford at 174 pounds. The two battled it out with both failing to takedown the other, but Turriff came out on top with a 3-1 overtime decision, giving the Mavericks a 3-0 lead.

After the Mavericks early win, the Peacocks then won three straight matchups at 184, 197, and 285 pounds. No. 8 Dalton Hahn won a 7-3 decision over Dylan Butts, followed by Zach Ryg taking an 8-5 decision over Matt Blome, and finally Jordan Baumler taking a 3-2 decision over David Griffet. The wins gave Upper Iowa a 9-3 advantage over Minnesota State, but the boys in yellow didn’t give up yet.

The Mavericks would win the next four duals consisting of No. 10 Trenton McManus taking a 3-1 decision, Brock Luthens in a 4-3 decision, Kolbe O’Brien upsetting No. 9 Tate Murray in a 9-5 decision, and No. 2 Kyle Rathman’s 10-1 major decision over Chance Throndson. The lethal combination of these Mavericks gave MSU a 16-9 lead heading into the two most important duals of the night.

No. 8 Chase Luensman of Upper Iowa University scored four takedowns and two nearfall points to take an 11-3 major decision over MSU’s Cooper Siebrecht. This win brought the Peacocks within arms reach of the Mavericks with a team score of 19-13.

It all came down to Michael Smith of MSU against Scott Kellenberger of UIU. Each of the wrestlers grabbed a takedown and an escape for an early 3-3 score. After a couple of takedowns from Smith, he would hold on and take the 9-6 win over Kellenberger, securing the 19-13 win for the Mavericks.

Rathman continues his hot streak and improves his season record to 3-0, along with McManus, O’Brien, and Turriff.

The No. 12 nationally ranked Minnesota State University Mavericks look ahead to their next opponent, the No. 1-ranked St. Cloud State University Huskies on Thursday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. in St. Cloud.