Minnesota State sending two wrestlers to NCAA Division II Nationals

The Minnesota State wrestling team had a successful weekend competing in the NCAA Division II Super Region V tournament in Moorhead. The NCAA holds six different Super Region tournaments across the United States to send qualifiers to the national tournament. 

At 285 pounds, junior Darrell Mason came into the weekend 14-0 and ranked No. 8 in NCAA Division II. Mason opened his tournament with a convincing 13-6 decision over MSU Moorhead’s Samuel Grove. 

The Chicago native continued his dominating performance with a 16-6 major decision over Joshua Trumble of Northern State to advance to the semifinal. In the semifinal matchup, Mason stayed hot, defeating Southwest Minnesota State’s Jacob Dykes by a 5-2 decision and moving onto the championship.

The championship round featured Mason and Kameron Teacher of St. Cloud State. Mason stayed victorious, defeating Teacher 2-1 in a tie breaker match. With his first place finish at regionals, Mason scored 16 team points for the Mavericks and qualified for the NCAA Wrestling Championships.

At 174 pounds, senior Trevor Turriff came into the weekend 15-2 and ranked third regionally. The Depere, Wis. native opened the tournament with a 11-4 decision over Moorhead’s Anthony Castro.

Turriff extended his tournament with a 9-4 decision victory over Colter Bye of Upper Iowa. In the semifinal match, Turriff defeated Job Ayala of Wisconsin Parkside by an 11-4 decision to move onto the championship round. 

In the championship round, Cade Mueller of Augustana defeated Turriff by a 3-1 sudden victory. With Turriff’s second place finish at regionals, he earned MSU 13 team points and will qualify for the NCAA Wrestling championships. 

Several other Mavericks also placed high this past weekend. Junior Cooper Siebrecht took fourth place at 157 pounds, senior Kyle Rathman finished fourth at 149 pounds, junior Brock Luthens finished fifth at 141 pounds, and freshman Isaiah Mlsna finished fifth at 133 pounds. 

Minnesota finished the regional tournament with 71.5 points, finishing sixth. Mason and Turriff will be competing in the NCAA Division II National Championships on Mar. 11-12 in St. Louis, MO.

Header Photo: Junior Darrell Mason remained undefeated at 17-0 this season after winning three duals in the NCAA Regional in Moorhead. Senior Trevor Turriff will join Mason at the NCAA National Championships in St. Louis. (Dylan Engel/The Reporter)

Write to Karson Buelow at karson.buelow@mnsu.edu.