MOORHEAD, Minn. – Minot State senior
Cannon Potts and
Jake Swirple led the way on the mats for the Beavers on Saturday as both battled their way to the consolation bracket championship in their respective weight class at the Dragon Open hosted by Minnesota State Moorhead.
Potts went 3-1 on the day at 197 pounds, scoring an 8-7 decision win over St. Cloud State's Nathan Fury before falling in the semifinals. Bouncing back strong, he won an 8-1 decision over Augustana's Jaret Peterson, then in a rematch with Fury rolled to an 18-1 technical fall victory to finish 3
rd at the Dragon Open.
Meanwhile, at 285 pounds, Swirple also went 3-1 as he won by pin in 3 minutes, 40 seconds over Mary's Aidyn Mitchell to start the day, and after a semifinal setback, he picked up a pin in 46 seconds over Delson Saintal, who was wrestling unattached, then won the consolation final by medical forfeit to finish 3
rd.
While Potts and Swirple led the way,
John Armstrong (165) and
Gavin Turk (174) each finished 4
th for the Beavers,
Wayne Joint (133),
Marcus Allen (184 red), and
Mario Esposito (184 white) all added 5th-place finishes, and
Dom Howlett (184) was 6
th on the day.
Armstrong picked up a pair of major decision wins, 11-2 over Laiken Copeman from St. Johns and 14-4 over Tate Laducer from Minnesota State Moorhead, while Turk won a tech fall 22-6 over teammate
Kale Farrington, won a major decision over Barrett Schneck from North Dakota State, and won a 12-7 decision over Anthony Sykora of Minnesota State Moorhead.
Joint also picked up three wins at 133 pounds, a 6-4 decision over Logan Swensen of South Dakota State, a 13-1 major decision win over Thurman Christensen of Augustana, then a 7-5 win by decision over Thomas Carillo of Minnesota State Moorhead.
Allen picked up one win, in the 5
th-place match, a 16-9 decision over teammate
Dom Howlett who finished 6
th, and Esposito won his 5
th-place match by pin in 2:13 over Qilee Jackson of Northland Community & Technical College.
The Beavers are back in tournament action next weekend in the team's final tune-up before opening NSIC dual action, wrestling at the largest NCAA Division II tournament in the nation, the Midwest Classic hosted by the University of Indianapolis on Saturday and Sunday.
