Saint John’s travels to compete in the Northwestern Open this Saturday, Jan. 16. The meet is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. in Orange City, Iowa.
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: No. 1 Augsburg scrambled out of a 15-12 deficit with a pair of wins at 197 pounds and heavyweight to defeat No. 11 Saint John’s 19-15 on Jan. 14 in Collegeville. The Auggies jumped out to a 7-0 lead via a major decision at 125 pounds and an 11-5 decision at 133 pounds. Senior Mogi Baatar (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia/St. Benedict’s Prep, N.J.) surrendered two, three-point near falls in the final minute in the loss. The Johnnies answered with two consecutive wins to cut the deficit to 7-6. Junior Minga Batsukh (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia/St. Benedict’s Prep, N.J.), the defending national champion ranked second nationally, defeated Jafari Vanier 4-2 at 141 pounds. Junior Drew Larson (Willmar, Minn.) then defeated Lucas Murray, 5-2. Augsburg’s Jason Adams earned a technical fall at 157 pounds to increase the lead to 12-6. SJU answered, however, and took control of the dual with three consecutive wins. Junior Matt Baarson (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Champlin Park) increased his record to 14-2 on the year with a 4-3 upset win over No. 6 Orlando Ponce at 165 pounds. Sophomore Matt Pfarr (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson) tied the dual at 12-12 with an upset win of his own, an 8-5 victory over No. 3 Zach Molitor in overtime. Junior James Carlson (Royalton, Minn.) then gave the Johnnies their first lead of the dual with an 11-7 win at 184 pounds. Top-ranked Jared Massey re-gained the lead for Augsburg, 16-15, with a major decision. With the dual yet to be decided, the Auggies’ Andy Witzel, ranked No. 7, edged sophomore Cody Socher (Delano, Minn.) via a takedown in the final minute, 3-2.
WHO WILL BE THERE: Individuals from No. 1 Augsburg, No. 2 Wartburg (Iowa) and No. 20 Wis.-Stevens Point will be among some of the individuals competing.