Fremont, Nebraska — Five Northwestern College wrestlers advanced to the semifinals in their respective weight class on day one of the 2021 Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Wrestling Championships held in the Wikert Events Center on the campus of Midland University in Fremont, Neb.
Nine of the 12 Northwestern wrestlers will compete in six different weight classes on day two. Head Coach Rik Dahl’s squad completed day one with a 9-10 record.
After a first round bye, Trey Schuck pinned Roman Cartillo of Jamestown, the No.4 wrestler in the GPAC, and moved to Saturday’s semifinal round where he will square off against No.2 Taylor Vasquez (Morningside).
Breckin Sperling is in the semifinals at 149, defeating Riley Dement of Hastings 3-2, in the quarters. Sperling, ranked fourth in the GPAC, will compete against the GPAC’s No.1 wrestler at 149, John Diener (Morningside), who is eighth in the NAIA. The Raiders Chase Peterson is also still going at 149, going 1-1 today, losing to No.2 Tristan Zamilpa (Doane) 5-3 in the first match before defeating Jeaven Scdoris (Concordia) 9-4. Peterson will face Dement in an elimination match on Saturday.
Jakob Francksen-Small, ranked sixth in the GPAC at 165, picked up two wins by fall and advanced to Saturday’s semifinals against No.1 Caleb Connor (Morningside). Francksen-Small pinned Jeshua Castillo (Midland) at the 1:27 mark and followed with a 2:00-pin against Ethan Hatcher of Morningside. Sam Copley finished day one with an 0-1 record and is still going in the consolation round where he fill grapple against Gabriel Crawford (Concordia).
Austin Hendrickson will face No.1 Jonah Egli (Morningside), the NAIA’s eighth-ranked wrestler, in the semifinals at 174. Tyler Zeimen is still going in the consolation bracket at 174 where he will be paired against No.6 Cole Halouska (DWU) tomorrow morning.
Luke Jenness, the defending GPAC Champion at 184, earned a 9-2 win by decision over Oscar Ramirez-Garcia of Concordia in his only match. Jenness will have a tought match against No.3 Garrett Cornwell (Doane) in the semifinals.
Bennett Sikkink amassed a 2-1 record on day one in the 197-pound weight class. Sikkink earned a major decision (11-2) win over Ivan Vargas (Jamestown) in his first match before losing a close match, 5-4, to Jeremiah Gilse (Briar Cliff) to fall into the consolation round. The senior then defeated Evan Morara (Hastings) by major decision to advance to the quarters in the consolation.
Action will get underway at 10am on Saturday.
133- Trey Schuck: 1-0, semifinals
149 – Breckin Sperling: 1-0, semifinals
149 – Chase Peterson: 1-1, consolation
157 – Edward Punzalan: 0-2
157 – Blake Pomajzl: 1-2
165 – Jakob Francksen-Small: 2-0, semifinals
165 – Sam Copley: 0-1, consolation
174 – Austin Hendrickson: semifinals
174 – Tyler Zeimen: 0-1, consolation
184 – Luke Jenness: 1-0, semifinals
197 – Bennett Sikkink: 2-1, consolation
285 – Chris Van Der Brink: 0-2
