MITCHELL, S.D. – The (RV) Northwestern College wrestling team (2-0, 1-0 GPAC) picked up their first win in Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) action Wednesday over the Tigers of Dakota Wesleyan (0-1, 0-1 GPAC) 28-18.
“Dakota Wesleyan came out aggressive and overwhelmed a few of our young guys, but we got some big wins when we needed them. Freshman Erik Rodriguez pulled out his second win of the season, and his pin gave us the lead after four bouts.”
In the first two bouts of the night, after DWU forfeited 125, the Tigers led 9-6 thanks to a decision and a major decision at 133 and 141. Erik Rodriguez (Fr., Weston, Fla./Cypress Bay) picked up the first Raider win of the evening with a fall victory at 149. Dakota Wesleyan would tie the dual up at 12-12 at 157, but it was all Northwestern after that.
Blake Pomajzl (Jr., Sedalia, Mo./Smith-Cotton) picked up a major decision over DWU’s Kaleb Bigelow, the bout that would end up sealing the deal for the Raiders.
Freshman Jakob Francksen-Small (Merrill, Iowa/Le Mars Community) and Tyler Zeimen (Jr., Cherokee, Iowa/Washington) picked up back-to-back decisions to push the Raider lead out to 22-12.
“Our big guys once again came through and won some hard-fought bouts. Senior captain, Blake Pomajzl tallied a huge 19-5 major decision to swing momentum to us and we pulled out gritty wins at 174 and 184 to seal the dual,” noted Dahl. “We won when we needed to and it was good to get our first conference dual win of the season.”
The Tigers forfeited two weight classes on the night at 125 and 197.
Up Next: Northwestern is set to host Benedictine (Kan.), Jamestown, and St. Ambrose (Iowa) in Orange City inside the RSC Four Courts Center this Saturday, November 20. Wrestling begins at 10:00 a.m. against the University of Jamestown.
