COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Division II Southwest Minnesota State won the final six matches in a 31-12 win over Saint John's wrestling on Wednesday, Nov. 18, in Collegeville.

Senior John Wells (Janesville, Wis./Milton) put SJU (0-1 dual record) on the board first with a 5-4 decision at 125 pounds. 

Following a SMSU pin at 133 pounds, senior Mike Pleski (Stacy, Minn./Forest Lake) tied the match at 6-6 with a 9-4 decision at 141.

Senior Ben Henle (Spicer, Minn./New London-Spicer), who is ranked fifth nationally at 141 pounds by D3wrestle.com, improved to 7-3 on the season and gave the Johnnies a 12-6 lead with a pin in 4:49 at 149 pounds. Henle was down in the match, 10-4, at the time of the pin.

The Mustangs (2-0 dual record) posted four bonus-point wins, including a pin from Cole Wilson over sophomore Nick Pegelow (Eagan, Minn./Eastview), who bumped up from 197 pounds and surrendered a significant amount of size.

The Johnnies travel to the Twin Cities for the annual Augsburg Open at 9 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 21, at Si Melby Hall in Minneapolis.

Southwest Minnesota State (SMSU) 31, Saint John's (SJU) 12
125: John Wells (SJU) dec. Taylor Curtis, 5-4 [3-0]
133: Antonio Meikel (SMSU) pinned Luis Balderrama, 2:28 [3-6]
141: Mike Pleski (SJU) dec. Justin Haneke, 9-4 [6-6]
149: Ben Henle (No. 5 @ 141, SJU) pinned Cortez Arredondo, 4:49 [12-6]
157: Jake Slocum (SMSU) tech. fall Branden Schorr, 16-0 [12-11]
165: Colton Vekved (SMSU) dec. Nick Hoff, 3-0 [12-14]
174: Kyle Begin (SMSU) tech. fall Muqkadeen Poole, 18-0 [12-19]
184: Brody Goens (SMSU) dec. Luke Dodd, 9-4 [12-22]
197: Ashton Bartlett (SMSU) dec. Glenn Castro, 7-2 [12-25]
285: Cole Wilson (SMSU) pinned Nick Pegelow, 0:41 [12-31]