The evening started off at the 125-pound weight class and six quick points for Minnesota State as sophomore Nick Smith (Yankton, S.D.), the #6-ranked wrestler in NCAA Division II, went unopposed. Junior Jeff Pfaffinger (Blue Earth, Minn.) followed with an 18-5 major decision at 133 pounds over Jeremie Degen.
Augustana claimed victories in the ensuing pair of matches, starting off with #6 Andre VanderVelde notching a mild upset over senior Zach Stevens (Erwinna, Pa.), ranked #5 in the nation, via an 8-5 decision at 141. #2 Ryan King followed at 149 with a 6-2 decision over MSU junior Brandon Girtz (Forest Lake, Minn.). King and Girtz were tied at 2-2 late in the third period, but King managed a takedown and a two-point near fall to avoid the upset.
Senior Mathias Bitz (Bismarck, N.D.) got the Mavericks back on track at 157-pounds with an 11-4 decision over the Vikings' Aaron Haddorff. Interestingly enough, all 15 combined points came in the third period of that match after Bitz earned an escape to start the final stanza, then unleashed a series of takedowns on Haddorff. Augustana again closed the deficit to four points after 165-pounder Cody Henricksen notched the biggest upset of the evening with a 5-4 decision over the #3-ranked wrestler in the nation, MSU sophomore Andy Pickar.
With the Vikings threatening to take their first lead of the evening, the marquee matchup of the evening came up next at 174 with a pair of Top Five wrestlers taking the mat in Augustana's #5 Dusty Wilking and MSU's #2 Krinkie. However, the build-up proved to be short--lived as Wilking struck first with a takedown, but Krinkie earned an escape and a takedown of his own. Shortly thereafter, Krinkie put Wilking on his back to win by fall at the 2:17 mark.
Not to be outdone, Koons, also ranked #2 in the nation, followed up Krinkie's pin with one of his own at the 3:28 mark in the 184 pound match. A scoreless first period gave the decision on position to Augustana's Nate Buys. Koons chose to be down after Buys deferred, and just 28 seconds into the second period, Koons worked a reversal then got his pin to extend the Maverick lead to 25-9 and clinch the dual victory for MSU at that point.
Though Augustana was unable to come back to win the dual, they did claim victories in the final two bouts on the evening. Tim Boldt, the top-ranked wrestler in the nation, earned a 24-9 technical fall over MSU junior Ben Janike (Wascea, Minn.) only after the point for riding time was factored in at the 7:00 mark. In the final match of the night at heavyweight, the Vikings' Chris Bietz earned a 9-5 decision over Maverick senior Tim Kraemer (Cold Springs, Minn.). That match was tied at 5-5 late in the match, but Bietz had already clinched a point for riding time. Because of that, Kraemer allowed Bietz to escape in hopes of earning a takedown and forcing an overtime period, but Bietz thwarted those plans with a takedown to clinch the win.
The Mavericks will next be in action on Friday, Feb. 3, when they host #12 MSU Moorhead in a non-conference dual, with the meet scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. in Taylor Center.
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