Norgren Earns Husky Open Championship

Norgren takes first while six others place

St. Cloud, Minn. – The Minnesota State University Mavericks took to the mat on Saturday as they participated in the St. Cloud State Husky Open where they went on to place a season-best seven wrestlers.

Wrapping up his best performance of the year was Aaron Norgren who finished first place in the 184-lb weight class with a 3-0 record.

After a first round bye, Norgren defeated Randall Wallace (UM) by a 23-6 tech fall before earning a 15-2 win by major decision against Michael Berg (St. Cloud State) to advance to the championship match.  Here, Norgren would earn a hard-fought 2-0 win over John Gusewelle (North Dakota State) to seal the 184-lb championship.

Placing for the first time this year in the 141-lb weight class was Robby Fisher.  Fisher captured a fourth-place finish after going 3-2 on the day.  Fisher earned back-to-back wins by fall to begin the tournament before losing a major decision to Nick Dardanes (Minnesota).  After earning an 11-3 major decision in his next match, Fisher advanced to the third-place match where he would lose a 14-3 major decision to Seth Lange (Minnesota) giving him a fourth-place finish.

Also earning a fourth-place finish was Jesse Westphal.  This also marks the first time this year which Westphal has placed in a tournament as he finished the Husky Open with a 4-2 record.  After losing his first match of the day, Westphal went on a tear winning four straight matches giving him a spot in the third-place match.  However, Westphal’s run would end here as he was defeated 16-0 by Matt Mincey (Minnesota) giving him a fourth-place finish.

Earning fifth-place finishes in their respective classes where David Demo (125-lb) and Brendan Eichmann (165-lb).  Demo would go 2-2 in his first four matches which landed him a spot in the fifth-place match where he went on to defeat Corey Hodowanic (Minnesota) by a 9-3 decision.  Eichmann finished the day with a 4-2 record and would defeat Brian Peterson (Minnesota) to earn his fifth-place finish.

Derek Hahn (157-lb) and Alex Bach (184-lb) would both go on to earn sixth-place finishes as the event marked the first time either has placed in a tournament this year.

The Mavericks will next compete on December 19th as they travel to Reno, Nevada to take part in the Reno Tournament of Champions.

MSU Placers

125 David Demo, 3-2, placed fifth
141 Robby Fisher, 3-2, placed fourth
149 Jesse Westphal, 4-2, placed fourth
157 Derek Hahn, 4-3, placed sixth
165 Brendan Eichmann, 4-2, placed fifth
184 Aaron Norgren, 3-0, placed first
184 Alex Bach, 3-3, placed sixth