Aberdeen, S.D. – The Northern State University wrestling team opens the NSIC season tomorrow at home versus Augustana. The No. 7 Wolves and No. 18 Vikings will face off at 7 p.m. from Wachs Arena.
The Wolves are coming off a fourth place team finish from the Midwest Classic prior to the holiday beak. Northern also tallied five place winners from the Classic.
Richard Casillas finished fifth at 125 pounds,
Tyler Stenberg won the 149 pound weight class,
Blake Perryman finished fifth at 157 pounds,
Sean Havlovic finished fourth at 165 pounds, and
Joe Gomez finished sixth at 197 pounds. The five were also ranked in both the recent national and regional rankings released earlier this week. The Wolves sit No. 5 in Super Region Three and No. 7 in the nation as a team. Casillas is ranked second in the region and ninth in the country, Stenberg is ranked first in the region and second in the country, Perryman third in the region and sixth in the country, Havlovic is ranked first in the region and seventh in the country, and Gomez is ranked fourth in the region and 11
th in the country.
Both Perryman and Havlovic are nearing 20 wins this season with 18 and 16 respectively. Gomez is just 12 wins away from breaking the 100 career win mark, which would make him just the 11
th member of the Northern State 100 career win club. Northern is 2-2 in duals this season and 1-0 from Wachs Arena.
About Augustana
- The Vikings enter the NSIC opener after a weekend at the Warrior Viking Open where Aero Amo and Clayton Wahlstrom each won their weight classes
- Augustana is currently ranked sixth in the region and 18
th in the country behind the Wolves
- A total of nine wrestlers are ranked for the Vikings in the region and two in the nation in No. 3 Aero Amo and 184 pounds and No. 8 Michael Lowman at 285 pounds
- AU is led by head coach Jason Reitmeier in his 14
th season with the Viking program where he holds a career dual record of 153-69
Earlier this Season
- The Vikings narrowly defeated the Wolves from the SD Showdown in December with a score of 19-18
- Northern was unable to field a wrestler at 197 pounds, which could have made the difference in the dual
- Casillas, Stenberg, Perryman, Havlovic, and
Tanner Olson each came away with victories in the dual
Probable Lineups
