Brackets | Regional Website
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Saint John's finished fourth out of 15 teams at the 2010 NCAA Great Lakes Regional held Saturday, Feb. 20, on the campus of Augsburg College in Minneapolis.
Augsburg won the meet with a total of 224 points, followed by Concordia-Moorhead (142), Elmhurst (Ill., 133.5) and SJU (126).
Three Johnnies earned spots at the 2010 NCAA Division III Championships held March 5-6 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Junior Minga Batsukh (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia/St. Benedict's Prep, N.J.), the defending national champion at 141 pounds, earned an automatic berth thanks to a win in the true-second match. Senior Mogi Baatar (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia/St. Benedict's Prep, N.J.) and junior Matt Baarson (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Champlin Park) earned at-large bids. For Baatar, the bid is his fourth consecutive, while the berth is the second straight for Baarson.
Freshman Mitch Hagen (Sunburg, Minn./Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg) was selected as an alternate qualifier.
SJU has now qualified two or more wrestlers to the NCAA Championships 20 of the last 21 seasons.
Baatar, the No. 3 seed at 133 pounds, began the tournament with a technical fall and 9-2 decision before falling to the eventual runner-up, Paul Bjorkstrand of Augsburg, 5-0 in the semifinals. He then tallied decisions of 9-6 and 1-0 to claim third place.
Batsukh posted a pin in his first match before falling to Jafari Vanier, 7-4, in the semifinal. He battled back with three consolation wins, including a 13-3 win over North Central's (Ill.) John Starzyk in the true-second match.
Baarson, meanwhile, posted back-to-back 15-0 technical falls in the first two matches at 165 pounds before dropping a tough-luck 11-10 decision in the semifinal. He then tallied a pin and 10-7 decision in the consolation bracket to earn third-place honors.
Hagen recorded a major decision and 8-5 win over the No. 4 seed, Augsburg's Brad Baus, in his first two matches before losing a tough 4-0 decision to top-seeded Gabe Youel of North Central (Ill.). He then tallied a pin and an 11-7 win over the No. 3 seed to claim third at 184 pounds.
The surprise of the meet for SJU was junior John Vaith (Hastings, Minn.) at 157 pounds. Vaith upset the No. 6 seed 5-4 in the opening match before pinning the No. 3 seed, Elmhurst's (Ill.) Dan Hamilton, in 6:12. He then lost a heartbreaking 11-9 decision in the semifinal and defeated the No. 6 seed, North Central's (Ill.) Tim Gingerich, 8-2. Vaith then found himself on the wrong end of a 12-6 score to Hamilton in the third-place match.
Sophomore Matt Pfarr (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson), who entered the tournament ranked No. 5 to earn the No. 1 seed at 174 pounds, competed with a high ankle sprain and finished sixth with a 2-3 record.
Juniors James Carlson (Royalton, Minn.) and Tony Willaert (North Mankato, Minn./Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial) finished sixth at 197 and heavyweight, respectively.
125 – Scott Padrnos: 0-2
133 – Mogi Baatar: 4-2 (Third)
141 – Minga Batsukh: 4-1 (True-Second)
149 – Drew Larson: 4-2 (Fifth)
157 – John Vaith: 3-2 (Fourth)
165 – Matt Baarson: 4-2 (Third)
174 – Matt Pfarr: 2-3 (Sixth)
184 – Mitch Hagen: 4-2 (Third)
197 – James Carlson: 2-3 (Sixth)
Hwt – Tony Willaert: 3-3 (Sixth)
