St. Cloud, Minn- Minnesota State (8-4, 5-1 NSIC) traveled to face the #1 ranked Huskies in St. Cloud Saturday afternoon where the Mavericks fell 34-12. Louie Sanders (R-Fr., 141 lbs.), Adam Cooling (Sr., 174 lbs.), and Corey Abernathy (Jr., 184 lbs.) all picked up wins in the dual for the Mavericks.  

With the match starting at the 125 pound weight class, #12 Andrew McFall (R-Fr., 125 lbs.) was pitted against #5 Brett Velazquez, the 2016 National Champion. McFall was aggressive throughout the match and was able to score a reversal in the last ten seconds to force overtime. McFall could not complete the upset in the overtime period, dropping an 8-6 decision and losing his first match of the season.

Louie Sanders scored the first team points for the Mavericks with a quick fall in the first period against Jared Oftedahl. Sanders and Oftedahl were both scrambling for position when Sanders caught the St. Cloud State wrestler for the pin at the 1:20 mark. Sanders' fall narrowed the Huskie lead to 8-6. 

The 174 pound match-up would again see two nationally ranked wrestlers take the mat in #3 Adam Cooling for the Mavericks and #4 Clayton Jennissen. The two had already wrestled once this season, with Cooling claiming a 4-2 decision victory. Cooling surrendered the first points of the match in the second period with Jennissen scoring a quick escape. Cooling then scored a takedown and led 2-1 into the third period. Cooling stayed aggressive until the end, scoring a late takedown to claim a 4-1 decision for the Mavericks.

Corey Abernathy followed up with a decision of his own against #6 Uthman Rabiu at 184. Abernathy trailed by a score of 6-4 in the third period before registering a takedown and scoring two near fall points to secure the 8-6 decision victory.

Minnesota State will finish their NSIC dual schedule next week with a match against the Northern State University Wolves at Taylor Center Thursday, February 9 at 7:00 p.m., and will travel to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to take on Augustana Saturday, February 11.

Final Results
SCSU: 34         MSU: 12
125: Brett Velasquez (SCS) over Andrew McFall (MSM) (SV-1 8-6) 
133: Mike Rhone (SCS) over Paul Selman (MSM) (TF 21-4 7:00) 
141: Louie Sanders (MSM) over Jarred Oftedahl (SCS) (Fall 1:20) 
149: James Pleski (SCS) over Daniel Close (MSM) (Fall 6:10) 
157: Larry Bomstad (SCS) over Dylan Herman (MSM) (MD 10-0) 
165: Gabe Fogarty (SCS) over Max Bullock (MSM) (TF 17-1 7:00) 
174: Adam Cooling (MSM) over Clayton Jennissen (SCS) (Dec 4-1) 
184: Corey Abernathy (MSM) over Uthman Rabiu (SCS) (Dec 8-6) 
197: Vince Dietz (SCS) over Matt Blome (MSM) (TF 20-4 5:00) 
285: Austin Goergen (SCS) over Chris Zimmer (MSM) (Fall 3:00)

-30-