Corpus Christi crunches offense Saturday at BSA
Air Force and Wyoming in Fargo
Head coach Bucky Maughan emphasized the importance of performing well against the Bison’s recent two opponents, citing the formation of a new regional that will hold all three teams.
The homestead proved fruitful as NDSU took down both of its future annual foes on consecutive nights at the Bison Sports Arena.
Friday
The Air Force Academy wrestling team came to the BSA Friday night to take on the Bison.
NDSU started the weekend slow but won inaugural dual 27-9.
The AFA match started at 149 pounds when Gabe Mooney lost a close match to Bridger Lord.
Bridger’s twin brother, Zach, followed suit with a decision over Adam Aho.
The Bison quickly found themselves in a scoreless hole.
Freshman Zach Molitor got the Bison on the board at 165 pounds by picking up the decision.
“ You just want to get the momentum back on our side. I just wanted to be physical and do what I normally do and keep my pace,” Molitor said of wrestling from behind.
The riding advantage proved lofty at 174 pounds as Matt Hermann beat Stephen Crozier 9-8 to tie up the team score. The one-point riding time swayed the match in favor of Hermann and the Bison never trailed again.
Matt Wetterling gave NDSU a go-ahead pin that capped the win.
Mike Maresh, the newest Bison wrestler, picked up another win at heavyweight.
Air Force forfeited to Mike Meger at 125 pounds, sealing the match for good.
Saturday
The University of Wyoming brought three returning national qualifiers and was fresh off a win over SDSU before wrestling the Bison Saturday.
The green grapplers sent the Cowboys back to Laramie, Wyo., with an 18-15 loss.
Zach Molitor provided the momentum turner again with 6-1 win over Gary Dack, one of the national qualifiers from last year.
“ Molitor’s good,” head coach Bucky Maughan said. “The team is so young you don’t know what to expect sometimes.”
For the first time of the season, Mike Maresh proved to be mortal with his first loss. It came at an 11-6 decision to Dusty Hoffschneider in the heavyweight match to end the dual.
However, prior to the duals end, Matt Wetterling pinned his man, Preston Pavich, to give the Bison their first lead of the meet after Matt Hermann tied the score with an 8-4 victory.
Later on, Eric Sanders pitched in with a pin of his own, only he finished off his man in 1:37 to give NDSU another lead.
“ Those pins make a big difference,” Maughan said. “Obviously with us both getting five wins that wins (the dual) for us.”
Mike Meger and Maresh were the only Bison to lose by a considerable margin.
The team effort overcame the close decisions lost by David Cunningham, Gabe Mooney and Andrew Quittschreiber.
Recap and preview
“ These were some nice wins for us,” Maughan said after the Wyoming dual. “Both these teams (Air Force and Wyoming) will be in our conference next year, so these were important for that.”
The Bison will wrestle their next six meets on the road before ending their season at home.
“We learned from this one that we need to come in ready to play like we’re playing the Gophers every game,” Sonstelie said. “We’ve lost so many games because of sloppy play and turnovers.”
The Bison turned the ball over 21 times.
The team has a full week off before their next game at SDSU.
“ We need to get our energy back (and) get our legs back,” Ruley said. “We have to go in there making sure we are ready to get after them.”