FINAL BRACKETS
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS

SIOUX FALLS, S.D.- The Greyhounds will be sending a pair of wrestlers to the Division II National Championships in Kearney, Neb. Mar. 11-12. Nick Walpole won the 149 bracket to earn his trip, and Matt Irwin took second in the 141 bracket to make the return trip to Nationals.

As a team, the Greyhounds placed seventh of the 11 schools, amassing 42.5 team points. St. Cloud State won the team title with 131.0 team points.
 
No. 3-seeded Irwin (23-6) earned his second trip to Nationals with a second-place finish in the 141-pound bracket. The Greyhound senior started the day by defeating No. 6 seed Robby Fisher of Minnesota State 7-2. He then pulled off a 6-4 upset win in the second sudden victory period over St. Cloud State's Gabriel Suarez, the No. 2 seed in the bracket. Irwin lost in the first sudden victory period 8-4 to the top-seeded, defending National Champion Jay Sherer of Augustana.

The lone Greyhound to be seeded No. 1 at the tournament, Walpole earned his trip to Kearney with a 4-0 run though the 149-pound bracket. Walpole won his first match of the day via a fall in 1:59 over Beau Voegeli of Northern State. Walpole, the No. 3 ranked wrestler nationally at 149, then bested the bracket's No. 4 seed, Jesse Westphal of Minnesota State 6-3 to earn a trip to the regional final. Walpole beat No. 2-seed nate Herda of Augustana 3-0 in the final to take the Regional 149 title and move to 39-3 on the season.

A pair of Greyhounds placed at the Regional, but missed out on the trip to Nationals. To qualify for the National meet, you must place in the top four in your weight bracket.

Alex Johns finished sixth in the 125 class, going 1-3 on the day. The sophomore, who was seeded fourth in the 125 class, won his first match over No.5-seed Corbin Surat  of Northern State 9-3. Johns then fell to the bracket's top seed, Trevor Franklin of Upper Iowa 10-2. In the wrestleback portion of the bracket, Johns lost to No. 3-seeded Andy Forstner of Minnesota State 7-5 in the first tiebreaker period, and then lost to Surat in the fifth/sixth place bout 5-3 in the first sudden victory period. Johns closes out the 2010-11 season with a 17-6 record.

Freshman Taylor Scott placed sixth in the 197 bracket. Scott, the No. 6 seed in the weight class, went 2-3 on the day to close out his 2010-11 season 18-11. Scott lost to No. 3-seeded Lucas Munkelwitz of St. Cloud State 9-0 in his first bout of the day, and rebounded with a 6-0 win over Martin Hagen of Southwest Minnesota State. Scott also defeated Minn. State-Moorhead's Brian Woelfel 7-3, before losing to No. 4 Carl Broghammer of Upper Iowa via a 16-0, 7:00 tech fall. Scott then lost to No. 5-seeded Curtis Hines of Wisconsin-Parkside in the fifth/sixth place bout 7-4.

Walpole and Irwin will face off with Division II's best Mar. 11-12 at the NCAA Division II National Championships in Kearney, Neb.