MORNINGSIDE WRESTLING DUALDAY T H UR SDAY, D EC . 1 7 , 2 0 2 0 A set of five home dates on the 2020-21 Morningside College calendar begins this afternoon inside the fieldhouse section of the Hindman-Hobbs Center. Head coach Jake Stevenson’s Mustangs, standing 1-0 in dual action, match-up with the defending National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics’ champions to start a span of four duals in three days. The visiting Vikings of Grand View College, coached by Nick Mitchell, sport a 4-0 record and close out their pre-Christmas slate.
THE MATCH UP GVC has won all five of the previous meetings versus the Maroon. Their last battle occurred in the 2013-14 season, with the Vikings claiming a 32-9 decision. Morningside began its Great Plains Athletic Conference and dual campaign on a rousing note on Dec. 10. Stevenson’s crew rolled past the defending league champions from Concordia University 28-12. Three pivotal weights turned the tide. The bonus-point variety’s victories occurred from sophomore 125-pounder Evan Shell, senior 174-pounder Jonah Egli, and freshman 197-pounder Kasten Grape. The trio delivered 16 of the Maroon’s 28 team points to help stop the Bulldogs’ 10-dual win streak. Shell and Egli each tallied technical falls, with Shell improving to 5-2 on the season with an 18-3 roll, and Egli, in his first outing of the year, strolling to a 17-0 win. Grape, the impressive freshman who was second in his collegiate opener at Doane University’s Conner/Oppenheim Open Dec. 5, increased his mark to 4-1, pinning CU’s Mason Garcia in 2:53 just five days after edging him 4-2 in the semifinals in Crete, Neb. Beyond those results, Stevenson’s squad also received victories from sophomore Taylor Vazquez at 133, freshman Caleb Connor at 165, and freshman Kory Van Oort at 184. Through two competitions, the Maroon wrestling room’s wins ladder is led by Connor and Shell with five each. They’re following closely by Grape, freshman heavyweight Derell Zagurski, Van Oort, and sophomore Noah Styskal who have claimed four triumphs. The win-loss average lead goes to Grape who’s 4-1 mark has him at an impressive 80 percent.
VIKING VIGNETTES Head coach Nick Mitchell’s team set a new standard across all divisions for consecutive dual victories when they went 3-0 at the Missouri Valley tournament Dec. 14. The Vikings, 7-0 this season, have captured 95 triumphs in a row going into this afternoon’s match-up with the Mustangs. There were several individual highlights for GVC at Missouri Valley, highlighted by those that enabled Mitchell’s crew to hold off a strong charge from No. 10-ranked Cumberland University. Unranked heavyweight Greg Hagan topped them by taking down No. 2 ranked Patrick Depiazza with a pin in 3:47. Another huge victory was Carson Taylor over No. 7 Kobe Nelms of Texas Wesleyan, and teammate Tanner Abbas posted tech falls versus No. 9 Marian University and Cumberland. He defeated Ismael Cornejo 23-8 and Tyler Moore 18-3.
ON THE HORIZON The Mustangs are scheduled to wrap up their pre-Christmas section Saturday, Dec. 19. They take on Montana St.Northern, Texas Wesleyan, Oklahoma Wesleyan, and Arizona Christian at 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1 p.m., and 2:30 p.m., respectively as part of the Concordia University Duals at Walz Human Performance Center in Seward, Neb. The calendar is scheduled to resume Saturday, Jan. 16, when the Mustangs host the inaugural GPAC-Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Duals. Fans are asked to check out the schedule at www.msidemustangs.com for more information and potential additional competitions.