Not so nice; wrestling shutout twice

By CHARLIE GROEBNER Staff Writer

Even though love is in the air, mixed emotions can be said about Minnesota State Wrestling. For the second time this season, the Mavs were once again neutralized against a top-ranked team, extending the Mavs’ losing streak to three straight and still winless in the month of February.

Friday night, the Mavs traveled across state lines to take on the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. In what was their final home game of the season, the Rangers proved why they are undefeated, ranked in the top ten, and have all but one of their starters ranked in the top 15.

They manhandled the Mavs’ entire lineup and ended their regular season with a perfect record of 11-0.

Entering the match, the Mavs were already in a rather tough position. Having to use two forfeits, the Rangers already had a commanding lead of 12-0.

Not even ten minutes in, the Mavs were in the hole against the ly. Junior Guard Joey Batt scored 19 points while Freshman Natalie Bremer had 17 points on 7-12 shooting.

This weekend also brought Bremer her second NSIC South Division Player of the Week award. She recorded her career-high 26 points versus Wayne State as she connected on 10-12 shots from the field. She was lethal all weekend on a staggering 70.8% shooting while averaging 21.5 points per game. She also averaged 3.0 steals and 2.5 rebounds this past weekend.

Rangers. Head Coach, Jim Makovsky, said following the match forfeiting the first was not his choice.

Going into the contest the Mavs had been dealing with a slew of injuries and illness had struck the team.

“We have been dealing with a massive string of injuries this year. Each one is unique and causes guys to miss time. We had quality guys who could have been starters, but just couldn’t get healthy, which happens. It not only limits us in our lineup but also in practice partners to help the guys get better. But that is still not an excuse because it happens to everyone,” said Makovsky.

In the first official match, MSU senior Brock Luthens lost to No. 10 ranked, 141 Ibs sophomore, Cayden Henschels. Things didn’t get easier as MSU freshman Caleb Meunier would lose the decision to UW-Parkside sophomore Jalen Spuhler.

This was then followed by another decision loss, after MSU sophomore Drake Hayward fell to UW-Parkside sophomore Ben

Bremer’s 26-point game against Wayne State, Friday, helped secure the win for the Mavs. Wayne State is currently sitting near the bottom of the conference with a record of 7-13 in NSIC play.

The game was close throughout but the Mavs found themselves on a 14-3 run in the final four minutes of regulation, which pushed the score to a Maverick win of 94-80.

The Mavericks shot 51.4% throughout the game and tallied 32 rebounds, 21 assists and 21 steals. Destinee Bursch also had a 17 point scoring game.

Durocher, giving them a lead of 21-0 at the halfway point.

Staring into another large hole, the Mavs needed a miracle to get back in the game. However, their prayers would go unanswered as the onslaught would continue.

MSU freshman Kole Marko, junior Mike Smith, sophomore Nic Leo, and seniors Max Villnow and Darrell Mason lost their matches in that order, ending with a final score of 37-0 for the Rangers and keeping their streak alive.

Following the loss, Coach Makovsky felt there were a lot of problems that went wrong for them in the contest. However, Coach did mention one thing that he felt really had the most impact on his group following the match.

“There’s a handful of things that went wrong and It’s hard for me to tell. Technique, and conditioning, but I would say the biggest issue is confidence. We are trying to give consistent efforts, wrestle a little harder, and respect winning. It’s not easy to win in this conference, but we are young and still fighting our battles,” said Makovsky.

“This weekend felt really great,” said Thiesse. “I’m just really proud of this team. It is never easy to get a road sweep in the challenging NSIC South but we pulled away with two great wins. Our team continues to focus on one game at a time and executes each time.” on Sunday, which I know makes some of you mad.

This weekend secured the Mavs a first-round bye in the south division of the NSIC post-season tournament. It also secured them a top-two seed.

Two games remain of the regular season, one against Winona State at home Thursday and the last against Upper Iowa on the road Saturday.

Ah, Patrick Mahomes. Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes. If you look at his stats, you might be thinking only 182 yards? But Mahomes stayed clean, did not throw an interception, had 44 rushing yards and threw three touchdowns.

At the end of the day, the Super Bowl MVP is still a Most Valuable Player award, and there is no arguing that the Chiefs could have gotten to this point without Mahomes. Oh yeah, he is also the first player to win Super Bowl MVP and MVP in the same season since Kurt Warner in 1999.

While Tom Brady grabs his nuts on Instagram, Mahomes is grabbing another two trophies to rival Brady’s collection.

Despite losing the Super Bowl, the Eagles do have some positive things to take away from the game. Jalen Hurts is the guy. I, along with a lot of people, doubted his ability to show up when the lights shined the brightest, but he did. Tying Terrell Davis’ record for rushing touchdowns in a Super Bowl while also throwing for over 300 yards is no easy task.

This loss is not on his shoulders. Devonta Smith also shined, being the only player to reach the century mark in receiving yards. They have a great duo at WR with him and A.J. Brown for years to come. However, Miles Sanders sucks.

There are so many things that could have changed the outcome of this game, but for me, it came down to two plays. The first being Toney’s 65-yard return, which gave the Chiefs an incredibly short field, and unfortunately, a holding penalty called on Eagles’ cornerback James Bradberry with 1:54 remaining in the fourth quarter that allowed the Chiefs to drain the clock and kick the game-winning field goal.

It is such a shame that a game like this came down to the decisions of people not even playing in the game, but such is life.

In the wise words of my brother, “The only way the Chiefs are winning is if they have the refs on their side, which they will.” Well, I’m sorry Brenny, but they still get credit for the win. Skol.