DECORAH, Iowa – Redshirt freshman Paolo Salminen, 157-lb. from Billings, Mont., and freshman Derrick Steinke, 197-lb. from Hastings, Minn., placed second in the respective brackets today at the Luther Open hosted by Luther College.
 
Salminen, a transfer from Wyoming, made it to the semifinal match with two major decision wins and a tech fall. In the semifinals, Salminen beat Colton Bornholdt (SCSU) by a 5-1 decision. The first place match was close, with Joel Jesuroga (SCSU) besting Salminen (9-8 Dec).
 
Steinke received a bye first round, and quickly made it to the semifinals with two falls (1:20 and 0:35 respectively). In the semifinal match, Steinke faced Augustus Johns(Labette Community College) and won by a 10-9 decision. In the finals, Nathan Fury (SCSU) won by tech fall.
 
Placing third at the open were captains Kole Marko (165-lb.) and Drake Hayward (174-lb.), along with freshman Callen Smithpeter (HWT).
 
Marko, a junior from Amery, Wis., tallied two decision wins, a fall at 0:59, and a 22-6 tech fall for the day, along with his 16-5 major decision win to take home third. The redshirt-junior from Neenah, Wis., Hayward won by fall at 1:48 in the first round, followed by decision and major decision wins to put him in the semifinals. In the third place match, Hayward beat Leo Tukhlnynovch (RCTC) (10-3 Dec). Smithpeter, a freshman from Lees Summit, Mo., received a bye for the first round, following with a major decision win and fall at 4:08 to land in the semifinals. After a 4-1 sudden victory loss, Smithpeter won by no content over Jesus Gonzalez (MSU-Mankato).
 
Also placing at the Luther Open were freshmen Jesus Gonzales (285-lb.) in fourth from Reedsburg Wis. and Colton Hush (141-lb.) in fifth from Woodville, Wis. From Winneconne, Wis. and placing fifth was junior Caleb Meunier (157-lb.) In sixth place was sophomore transfer Walker Bents (149-lb.) from Glenwood, Minn.
 
The Mavericks look to continue their pre-conference success at the Auggie Invite on Saturday, Nov. 16^th, in Minneapolis, Minn.