Sioux City, Iowa — Three Northwestern College wrestlers placed at the Dave Edmonds / Sioux City Open held Saturday on the campus of Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa.
Saturday’s meet is the final competition for head coach Rik Dahl’s squad prior to the GPAC Championships on Feb. 20.
Jakob Francksen-Small was the top Raider finisher, placing second at 165 in his return to action after missing the last month due to injury. The freshman pinned Alexander Thompson (Morningside) in his first match and then defeated Brody Kacmarynski, also of Morningside, 7-3 in the semifinals. Francksen-Small lost in the championship match, 11-3 (major) and is now 7-2 on the season.
Eddy Punzalan posted a 4-1 record and finished third at the 149-pound weight class, totaling the second most points for any wrestler at the meet. Punzalan began the meet with a major decision (20-7) win over Jahn Williams (Jamestown) and then defeated Jeaven Scdoris (Concordia) 7-2 in the quarterfinals. The freshman lost his only match in the semifinals, a 16-0 technical fall defeat to Andrew Shea (Briar Cliff). Punzalan finished the day with wins over Riley Dement (Hastings) and Scdoris (CNC) in the third place match.
Tyler Zeimen returned to the mat after a short layoff and finished fourth at 174, going 2-2 on the day. Zeimen pinned Caleb Watson (Morningside) in his first match but was defeated by Tim Huber (CNC) 13-5 in the semi’s. He came back with another win by fall (3:34) against Jonathan Sutter of Briar Cliff in the consolation semifinals before losing to Tim Sibbel (Morningside) 10-4 in the third place match.
