Turtogtokh with Rob Hjerling "I am very happy for Turtogtokh and I'm very proud of him as he has worked very hard and put in an indescribable amount of preparation," said Head Coach Rob Hjerling. "He gave himself an opportunity to win every match, and it was very nice to see all of the hard work pay off."
The sixth-place finish is the second-best in Citadel history as the Mongolia native closed out his career with a school record 134 wins, including 39 this season. In his four seasons, Luvsandorj earned two Southern Conference titles, made four trips to the NCAA tournament and was tabbed as the league's wrestler of the year twice.
"This was another historic weekend for The Citadel wrestling program, and Turtogtokh has been instrumental in setting a new standard for our program," added Hjerling. "Our guys come out here expecting to make things happen. They compete. They believe."
Luvsandorj topped three seeded wrestlers en route to his sixth-place finish – No. 6 Corey Mock (Chattanooga), No. 7 Pierce Harger (Northwestern) and No. 9 Joseph Booth (Hofstra).
Following exciting wins over Booth and Harger last night, Luvsandorj put himself in a position to finish as high as third place heading into the final day of the tournament.
Luvsandorj opened the morning session with a hard-fought bout against No. 4 Steven Monk of North Dakota State, but was unable to come out on top as the Bison grappler earned the 5-3 win to drop Luvsandorj to the fifth place bout.
In that match, the Bulldog wrestler was pitted against No. 8 Mike Moreno of Iowa State. Luvsandorj topped the Cyclone wrestler earlier this season in an overtime tilt at the Southern Scuffle, but was unable to do the same today.
Down 2-1 in the second period, Moreno scored an escape followed by a takedown and three-point near fall to gain control of the match and collect a 9-3 decision.
Aaron Walker, Matt Frisch and Marshall Haas are all expected to return next season, while Ugi Khishignyam finished his Bulldog career with 64 wins through two seasons and won two SoCon titles at 141 pounds.
"The three younger guys learned a lot this weekend and they are leaving here as better wrestlers and are more prepared mentally for next season," said Hjerling. "Having two sophomores and a freshman out here getting that kind of experience is priceless. They have standards to live up to and records to shoot for and try to break.
"This was a great team experience, not just some individual accomplishments. We have a great group of guys returning and there's no reason why we shouldn't raise our expectations for next year," finished Hjerling.
QUOTES BY HEAD COACH ROB HJERLING ON UGI, FRISCH, HAAS and WALKER
For Ugi:
"It was a very tough tournament for Ugi, but nothing can take away from what he has done for our program. Our team was better this year because of the example he set in the room and in the way that he handled adversity."
"When Ugi's tournament was over, he was there for the rest of the team helping them prepare for their competition."
"Ugi has also been instrumental in taking this program to another level. He was the inspiration for Turtogtokh and the other national qualifiers."
For Frisch:
"Matt picked up a great win and gained some more invaluable experience. He improved from last season and from last year's NCAA tournament."
"He is always working to get better and he should have a breakout season next year."
For Walker:
"Aaron also earned a good win out here. He got hurt. It happens. He toughed it out but it was a little too much."
"This was a good season for Aaron and this tournament was a good experience for him. We could see him getting better all year long. He's real tough and I'm sure that he is already thinking about next year."
For Haas:
"Marshall might have gotten the most out of this experience because he stepped up huge at the Southern Conference, and was able to come out here and see what it takes to advance at the NCAA Championships. I know that Marshall will build on this."
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