O’Brien, Nielsen Take First with 13 Mavericks Placing at Luther Open

Decorah, Iowa. — Minnesota State finished the Luther Open Saturday with two wrestlers claiming the top spot in their brackets, and 13 total Mavericks finishing in top-six positions at the tournament.

Andrew McFall (Jr., 125 lbs.) wrestled in the Elite 125 bracket where he went 3-1 to finish in third place at the tournament. McFall beat Arie Reyes by a 15-3 major decision in his first match, and then went on to win his second match on a 4-2 decision. McFall was pitted against Ethan Rotondo from the University of Wisconsin in the semifinal round where he narrowly lost by a 5-3 sudden victory. The day ended on a strong note when he defeated Connor Cleveland (Wartburg) in the third-place match on a 5-0 decision.

Kolbe O’Brien (Fr., 141 lbs.) posted a perfect 4-0 record Saturday on his way to a first-place finish in the Elite 141-pound bracket. O’Brien stayed unblemished in his two career Luther Open appearances as he also went 4-0 last year in his unattached redshirt season to win the Silver bracket. O’Brien began this year’s tournament by pinning his first two opponents before defeating Brenden Baker (Wartburg) with a tech fall (17-0) in the semifinal match. O’Brien went on to defeat fellow Maverick, Louie Sanders, in a 5-2 decision to win first place in the 141 Elite bracket.

Brody Nielsen (Fr., 157 lbs.)(Unattached) wrestled to an undefeated record of 4-0 which led him to be named champion of the Silver 157 bracket. The Albert Lea, Minnesota native got off to a fast start pinning his first opponent in 0:24. Nielsen followed that by winning his second match on a 5-0 decision and his third match by a fall at 2:14. Nielsen competed against Lewis Robinson of Coe College in the final match where he pinned his opponent in 3:27 to finish at the top of the bracket.

Logan Saltou (Jr., 165 lbs.) wrestled to a 3-1 mark to win second place in the Elite 165 bracket. Saltou dominated his first match with a 13-6 decision and followed that with a sudden victory (8-6) over Upper Iowa’s Tucker Black. He went on to win his semifinal match in a 5-4 decision which brought him up to compete in the first-place match. There, Saltou faced Mike Ross of Wartburg and lost by tech fall (16-1).

The remaining Maverick wrestlers that placed at the Luther Open include Louie Sanders (Jr., 141 lbs.) second, Tony Heng (So., 149 lbs.) fifth, Daniel Close (Sr., 157 lbs.) third, Seth Elwood (Sr., 165 lbs.) fourth, Brandon Moen (Fr., 184 lbs.) second, Cooper Siebrecht (Fr., 149 lbs.)(Unattached) second, Dylan Butts (Fr., 184 lbs.) sixth, Max Villnow (Fr., 285 lbs.)(Unattached) fifth, and Sam Horn (Fr., 285 lbs.)(Unattached) sixth.

2018 Luther College Open Results

Maverick wrestling records at the Luther College Open include:

Elite Brackets:
Andrew McFall (Jr., 125 lbs.) 3-1
Lucas Hagel (Jr., 125 lbs.) 1-2
Trenton McManus (So., 133 lbs.) 1-2
Louie Sanders (Jr., 141 lbs.) 3-1
Kolbe O’Brien (Fr., 141 lbs.) 4-0
Tony Heng (So., 149 lbs.) 3-1
Daniel Close (Sr., 157 lbs.) 3-1
Click Here: Bape Kid 1st Camo Ape Head rompers Logan Saltou (Jr., 165 lbs.) 3-1
Seth Elwood (Sr., 165 lbs.) 2-2
Brandon Moen (Fr., 184 lbs.) 2-1

Silver Brackets:
Cooper Siebrecht (Fr., 149 lbs.) 3-1
Brody Nielsen (Fr., 157 lbs.) 4-0
Bridger Kraye (Fr., 174 lbs.) 1-2
Etienne Kinney (Jr., 174 lbs.) 1-2
Dylan Butts (Fr., 184 lbs.) 2-2
Max Villnow (Fr., 285 lbs.) 5-1
Sam Horn (Fr., 285 lbs.) 3-2

Check out Mavericks Wrestling at msumavericks.com and on Twitter.

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