Postseason: Wrestling
Two Greyhound wrestlers qualified for the 2011 Division II National Championships after placing in the top four in their respective weight classes at the NCAA Super Regional 3 on Feb. 27.
Seniors Nick Walpole and Matt Irwin qualified in the 149 and 141 brackets, respectively. As a team, the Greyhounds placed seventh of 11 schools.
Walpole, the No. 1 seed in the tournament, was perfect that day on his way to the title of regional champion. He started the day by defeating Beau Voegeli of Northen State. Walpole next took on the No. 3 seed of the bracket, Jesse Westphal of Minnesota State, and defeated him 6-3. In the final, Walople bested No. 2 seed Nate Herda of Augustana 3-0 to take the regional title.
Head Coach Jason Warthan explained that Walpole was out of practice for a week and a half before regionals due to an injury.
“He wasn’t able to execute as much on offense as he usually does,” Warthan said. “He wasn’t as aggressive.”
Despite this setback, Walpole still went undefeated on his way to becoming the regional champion.
Irwin was the No. 3 seed in the 141-pound bracket of the tournament. He began the day by beating No. 6 seed Robby Fisher of Minnesota State 7-2. Irwin then upset the No. 2 seed in the tournament, Gabriel Suarez of St. Cloud State, to reach the regional final.
Irwin explained that this was his toughest match of the day.
“I let the other guy dictate the pace of the match,” Irwin said. “I eventually won the match by getting back into my offense.”
He fell in the regional final to defending national champion Jay Sherer of Augustana.
“I’m glad we got to see him [Sherer],” Warthan said. “If we match up with him [at nationals], it will be for a place, and now we know what we need to do to beat him.”
Sophomore Alex Johns, who competed at nationals last season, missed the cut for nationals by placing sixth in the 125 bracket, while freshman Taylor Scott placed sixth in the 197-pound bracket.
“Johns’ weight class was completely loaded,” Warthan said. “You have to basically be All-American to make it out of that regional.”
He explained that since the Greyhounds have been moved to the north region, the competition has increased. In his opinion, the region is the toughest in the nation.
Warthan added that the team members who didn’t make it to nationals were plagued with unlucky draws. He described how many of them faced the No. 1 seed of the tournament in the first round and then followed by wrestling the No. 2 seed in the second round due to upsets.
Despite sending just two wrestlers to nationals, Warthan emphasized how pleased he was with the team.
“We wrestled better than we ever have in any competition,” Warthan said. “I was really proud of their effort. We wrestled as well as we could, and we know we can compete with them [the region].”
Heading into nationals, Walpole is ranked No. 3 in the nation, and Irwin is ranked No. 5, a jump from his previous honorable mention spot.
“I am really going to keep pushing my cardio and be more offensive in practice,” Irwin said. “I want to be in the best shape of my life for nationals.”
Walpole and Irwin will travel to Kearney, Neb., on March 11-12 to compete in the Division II National Championships.
“I need to mentally prepare myself so that I go out and perform to the best of my abilities,” Irwin said. “If I do that, then I should have a good weekend.”
