NDSU Set to Tangle with No. 7 Missouri on Saturday

The North Dakota State wrestling team (5-6), ranked No. 22 in the latest Intermat poll, will travel to Columbia, Mo., on Saturday, Jan. 19 to take on the No. 7-ranked Missouri Tigers. The dual with Mizzou will be NDSU’s sixth against a ranked opponent and third against a top-10 team this season.

Coverage

The dual is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. inside the Hearnes Center. Live scoring and results will be available on TrackWrestling.com. Live video is available with a subscription on MUTigers.com.

About Missouri

Missouri (7-0-1) returns 10 NCAA qualifiers from a year ago, including All-American heavyweight Dom Bradley who is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation. The Tigers have wrestlers ranked in the top 20 in nine of the 10 weight classes.

Premier Matches

Saturday’s dual will likely feature two matches between wrestlers ranked in the top 10 in the country. At 125 pounds, No. 3 Alan Waters of Missouri will meet up with No. 6 Trent Sprenkle. At 165 pounds, No. 6 Steven Monk will take on Missouri’s Zach Toal, ranked No. 10 in the nation.

125 – No. 3 Alan Waters, Jr., (16-0)/Boomer Boyd, RFr., (13-7) vs. No. 6 Trent Sprenkle, Sr., (20-2)
133 – No. 7 Nathan McCormick, Sr., (20-2) vs. Josh Rodriguez, Fr., (18-10)
141 – Nicholas Hucke, Sr., (7-7)/ Trevor Jauch, RFr., (21-6)/Eric Wilson, Sr., (14-5) vs. Mark Erickson, Sr., (13-11)
149 – No. 16 Drake Houdashelt, Soph., (16-7) vs. Joe Garner, Sr., (13-11)
157 – No. 20 Kyle Bradley, Jr., (16-8) vs. Hayden Zillmer, R-Fr., (9-8)/Anthony Caputo, R-Fr., (2-2)
165 – No. 10 Zach Toal, Jr., (16-8) vs. No. 6 Steven Monk, Jr., (24-3)
174 – No. 15 Todd Porter, Sr., (19-6) vs. Kurtis Julson, So., (11-11)
184 – No. 8 Mike Larson, Sr., (19-5)/Johnny Eblen, Soph., (19-3) vs. No. 19 Mac Stoll, Sr., (12-7)/Kody Sorenson, R-Fr., (9-3)
197 – No. 11 Brent Haynes, Sr., (20-4) vs. Kallen Kleinschmidt, Sr., (8-10)
285 – No. 1 Dom Bradley, Sr., (22-0)/Devin Mellon, Soph., (21-3) vs. Evan Knutson, So., (11-11)/John Gusewelle, So., (9-11)

NDSU Match Notes

 

Intermat Rankings

The North Dakota State wrestling team is currently No. 22 in the Intermat team rankings. The Bison improved their spot for four consecutive weeks in the national tournament-strength poll earlier this season, climbing as high as No. 21 for the week of Dec. 11.

The Bison are once again the highest-rated team from the Western Wrestling Conference, and NDSU is ranked higher than five teams from the Big Ten Conference. The Intermat team rankings are based on projected NCAA Tournament strength.

Dynamic Duo

NDSU senior 125-pounder Trent Sprenkle and junior 165-pounder Steven Monk have combined to go 22-0 in duals this season.

Pair of 6’s

North Dakota State wrestlers Steven Monk and Trent Sprenkle are each ranked No. 6 in the nation in the latest Intermat individual rankings.

Monk improved to 24-3 on the season with a 5-0 record at the Virginia Duals on Jan. 11-12. He owns four wins this season over wrestlers currently ranked in the Top 11 at 165 pounds – No. 7 Nick Sulzer of Virginia, No. 8 Conrad Polz of Illinois, No. 10 Cody Yohn of Minnesota and No. 11 Mark Lewandowski of Buffalo.

Monk is 41-6 in his last 47 matches and owns a record of 86-21 in his Bison career. His .804 career winning percentage is the 10th-best in NDSU history.

Sprenkle was ranked as high as No. 4 in December — the highest ranking ever achieved by a Bison wrestler in NDSU’s Division I era.

Sprenkle has climbed steadily in the AWN rankings this season after starting the year at No. 9. He is 20-2 on the season with seven wins by fall, including victories over the current No. 9 and No. 11-ranked wrestlers at 125 pounds, Christian Cullinan (Central Michigan) and David Thorn (Minnesota).

Senior Mac Stoll (21-7) is currently ranked No. 19 in the Intermat rankings.

Bison Take Down Second Ranked Foe

NDSU closed out the Virginia Duals on Jan. 12 with its second victory over a ranked opponent this season, topping No. 25 Old Dominion, 27-15, to go 3-2 for the tourney and claim a seventh-place finish.

Old Dominion forfeited to Trent Sprenkle at 125 pounds before recording wins at 133, 141, 149 and, by forfeit, at 157 pounds. Steven Monk sparked the comeback with a 16-0 technical fall that was followed by a decision from Kurtis Julson (174) and a major decision from Mac Stoll at 184 pounds.

Senior Kallen Kleinschmidt locked up the victory over ODU with a late third-period pin of Jacob Henderson, catching Henderson for the fall with 30 seconds remaining. Evan Knutson closed the dual with a 3-1 decision at 285 pounds.

Monk, Sprenkle Guide Bison to Ninth-Place Team Finish at Midlands

North Dakota State junior Steven Monk and senior Trent Sprenkle each earned top-five finishes at the prestigious Midlands Championships on Dec. 30 to help the Bison to a ninth-place team finish. Monk placed fourth at 165 pounds and Sprenkle took fifth at 125 pounds, while redshirt freshman Hayden Zillmer claimed eighth place at 157 pounds.

The Bison scored 57 team points to earn a ninth-place finish out of 34 Division I schools – an improvement of 15.5 points and seven places over one year ago. NDSU finished in front of seven schools currently ranked in the national coaches’ poll, including No. 13 Pittsburgh, No. 17 Nebraska, No. 18 (tied) Edinboro, No. 18 (tied) Maryland, No. 21 Purdue, No. 22 Penn and No. 23 Wisconsin.

Monk Claims WWC Wrestler of the Week

NDSU 165-pound junior Steven Monk (Wausau, Wis./Wausau West HS) was named the Western Wrestling Conference Wrestler of the Week on Jan. 1 after leading his team to a ninth-place finish at the 50th annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships. Monk was 4-2 for the tournament, winning twice by fall and defeating two opponents ranked in the top 11 in the nation at the time. The WWC weekly honor was the fourth of Monk’s career.

Sprenkle, Monk Named Back-to-Back WWC Wrestlers of the Week

NDSU wrestlers Trent Sprenkle (125) and Steven Monk (165) claimed back-to-back Wrestler of the Week awards from the Western Wrestling Conference. Sprenkle won the award on Nov. 27 after defeating No. 5 David Thorn of Minnesota as part of a 3-0 record at the Bison Quad. Monk took the honor on Dec. 4 after earning a runner-up finish at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.

Two Good Runs

Steven Monk is 41-6 in his last 47 matches dating back to Jan. 13, 2012. Trent Sprenkle is 32-5 in his last 37 matches dating back to Jan. 20, 2012, with two of those three losses coming against the No. 1 and No. 2-ranked wrestlers in the nation at last season’s NCAA Championships.

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