Dragon’s Monk Advances to Semifinals at 174 Pounds at Super Regional 3 Tournament

EDMOND, Okla. — Minnesota State University Moorhead senior Conner Monk recorded a pair of pins to advance to the semifinals at 174 pounds at the Super Regional 3 Tournament Friday in Edmond, Okla. Also keeping their national tournament hopes alive for MSUM were freshman Blake Bosch (125 pounds) and senior Matt Lewellen (184).

Eight of the 10 Dragon entrants won at least one match on the day. MSUM has 24.5 team points after the opening day and is in 10th place, ahead of five teams from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.

“The guys wrestled hard today. Everybody had a good day,” MSUM head coach Kris Nelson said. “It is the first time some of these guys have been to the regional tournament. It’s good experience.”

Monk was the lone Dragon unbeaten on the day. He opened the tournament with a pin of Lindenwood’s Morgan Fitzgerald in 5:36, and then pinned Upper Iowa’s Blake Sorensen — the No. 2 seed and former national runner-up — in 5:53 to reach the semifinals.

“He hasn’t changed his style,” Nelson said. “He wrestles hard. He is not intimidated by anybody. He just goes out and wrestles everybody. He’s going out there to beat everybody.”

Monk is now 13-10 on the year and will face Josh Rodriguez of Fort Hays State (15-8 record) in the semifinals on Saturday morning. With one win on Saturday, Monk will assure himself a trip to the national tournament.

Bosch’s solid freshman season continued as he went 2-1 on the day at 125. He opened with a 9-0 major decision win over Antonio Meikel of Southwest Minnesota State before losing to No. 2 seed Garrett Evans of Ouchita Baptist, 13-4 in the quarterfinals. In the consolation bracket, Bosch (18-11 record) pinned Mary’s Hunter Menendez in 3:36 to advance. He will face Malacai Collins of Central Missouri in the consolation round on Saturday.

Lewellen lost his first match at 184 pounds, falling to top seed Sean Derry 8-3 in the first round. Lewellen came back with a 10-1 win over Mary’s Tom Devito, and followed with a thrilling 3-2 win over SMSU’s Travis Peralta. Peralta had beaten Lewellen twice during the year.

“It was good to see Matt get that win,” Nelson said.

Lewellen (26-13) will face Dallas Smith of Ouachita Baptist in the consolation bracket on Saturday.

One of the highlights of the first-round for MSUM was senior Gerad Fugleberg. The Fargo, N.D., native recorded a pin of St. Cloud State’s Austin Goergen — the No. 2-ranked wrestler at 285 pounds — in just 14 seconds in the opening round at 285 pounds. Fugleberg lost in the quarterfinals to Lorenzo Sema of Newberry, 7-1 and was eliminated in the consolation bracket when he was pinned by SMSU’s Cole Wilson in 2:44.

Freshman Shane Novak (133), senior Connor MacGregor (141), redshirt freshman Isaac Novacek (149) and junior Shawn Porter (165) each went 1-2 in their divisions but were eliminated in the consolation round.

Saturday’s competition begins at 9 a.m.
“We want to get as many guys to the national tournament as we can,” Nelson said. “We’ve got three guys still going and hopefully they can do that.”

MSUM Wrestlers

125-Blake Bosch (2-1)
–maj. dec. Antonio Meikel (SMSU), 9-0
–lost to Garrett Evans (OBU), 13-0
–pinned Hunter Menendez (Mary), 3:36
Up Next: vs. Malacai Collins (UCM)

133-Shane Novak (1-2)
–lost to Justin Reinsma (SMSU), 6-3
–dec. Hunter Neighbors (UCM), 9-7, OT
–lost by technical fall to Casy Rowell (UCO), 17-1, eliminated

141-Connor MacGregor (1-2)
–pinned by Alphonso Vruno (Mankato), 4:53
–pinned Zachary Cummings (Minot), 1:55
–pinned by Jordan Roths (Upper Iowa), 2:47, eliminated

149-Isaac Novacek (1-2)
–pinned by Destin McCauley (UNK), 1:20
–maj. dec. Beau Buysse (SMSU), 16-7
–pinned by Terrel Wilbourn (Lind), eliminated

157-Dan Murakami (0-2)
–lost to Cory Dauphin (Central Oklahoma), 6-1
–lost to Colton Duhr (Newberry), 2-1, eliminated

165-Shawn Porter (1-2)
–lost to Ty Loethen (Central Missouri)
–dec. Marc Smith (OBU), 5-2
–pinned by Brock Krumm (Mary), 3:33, eliminated

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174-Conner Monk (2-0)
–pinned Morgan Fitzgerald (Lindenwood), 5:36
–pinned Blake Sorenson (Upper Iowa), 5:53
Up Next: vs Josh Rodriguez (Fort Hays State)

184-Matt Lewellen (2-1)
–lost to Sean Derry (Augie), 8-3
–maj. dec. Tom Devito (Mary), 10-1
–dec. Travis Peralta (SMSU), 3-2
Up next: vs. Dallas Smith (Ouchita Baptist)

197-Tyler Schlosser (0-2)
–lost to Chris Brassell (St. Cloud State), 4-0
–lost to Chris Zimmer (Mankato), 4-1, eliminated

285-Gerad Fugleberg (1-2)
–pinned Austin Goergen (St. Cloud State), 0:14
–lost to Lorenzo Sema (Newberry), 7-1
–pinned by Cole Wilson (SMSU), 2:44, eliminated