14th article at the Independent

SMSU WRESTLING: Early energy not enough as Mustangs fall to No. 8 Parkside

CHRIS DRUMMOND cdrummond@marshallindependent.com MARSHALL – After dropping its last three meets, the Southwest Minnesota State University wrestling team looked to bounce back against the University of Wisconsin-Parkside on Friday. SMSU started out strong, but Parkside quickly responded and never looked back en route to a 21-12 victory in the PE Gym.

The Mustangs got out to a quick start, winning their first two matches at 125 pounds with Jackson Stauffacher and 133 pounds with Hunter Pfantz. After that, it was all Parkside.

Parkside would go on to win the next six out of seven matches, with three coming by major decisions to cement the victory. Mustang wrestlers Caden Steffen and Jacob Dykes would also garner victories in the match.

SMSU head coach Chayse Jackson assessed his team’s performance.

“Tonight was a great learning experience for our guys, we showed a lot of fight against a high quality opponent in Wisconsin-Parkside,” Jackson said. “We battled them and we came away with some really big wins. The upset at 125 pounds over the No. 1 kid in the country is huge for Jackson and our program moving in the right direction.”

SMSU will host next the Minnesota State Mavericks on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.

No. 8 Wisconsin-Parkside 21, Southwest Minnesota State 12

125 pounds: Jackson Stauffacher wins by decision (5-3, SV-1) over No. 3 Joe Arroyo

133 pounds: Hunter Pfantz wins by decision (7-2) over Joey Roti

141 pounds: Cayden Henschel wins by decision (4-2, SV-1) over Justin Sampson

149 pounds: Nathan Hensley wins by major decision (15-4) over Robert Shields

157 pounds: Ben Durocher wins by decision (10-3) over Lucas Hodges

165 pounds: No. 3 Shane Gantz wins by major decision (14-4) over Elijah Sterner

174 pounds: No. 6 Job Ayala wins by major decision (9-0) over Carter Marx

184 pounds: No. 4 Caden Steffen wins by decision (3-1, SV-1) over Reece Woracheck

197 pounds: No. 9 Rodsean Graham wins by decision (11-7) over Dillon McEachran

285 pounds: Jacob Dykes wins by decision (5-2) over Nate Lloyd

Extras

184 pounds: Kevin Bostwick wins by fall (3:35) over Edgar Heredia

285 pounds: Lloyd Reynolds wins by fall (6:48) over Neil Hanson