Jan. 17, 2003

Minnesota State-Mankato Spoils Bulldogs First Home Wrestling Meet

Truman's Merrick Meyer and Dustin Teeman picked up wins but the Minnesota State-Mankato wrestling team proved to be too much in Truman's home opener. The Mavericks won the first seven matches and defeated the Bulldogs by a 32-10 score on Friday night at Pershing Arena.

Meyer, ranked No. 8, won the 141-pound bout by a 14-4 major decision over Tait Thompson. The Bulldog wrestler dominated the match, recording four takedowns, a reversal and nearly earning a pin during a near fall in the third round. At 149-pounds, the Bulldogs' Dustin Teeman earned a takedown followed by a pin against Chris Murphy just 2:16 into the match.

Minnesota State won the opening match of the night at 165-pounds as Pete Miller scored two first round takedowns and held on for a 4-3 win. At 174-pounds, the Mavericks Jon Dierks had two near falls in the first round before pinning Truman's Tom Tajkowski at 3:43. Minnesota State's Joel Schrimpf and the Bulldogs Gregg Nurrenbern were tied at 184-pounds before Schrimpf recorded a takedown with less than 15 seconds remaining in the match for the 5-3 decision.

Truman's Marc Heinecke managed just three escapes as he fell to Mike Engelmann by a 7-3 decision at 197-pounds. Paul Svien of Minnesota State won the heavyweight battle by a technical fall over the Bulldogs' Matt Sonn.

The Mavericks' Joey Neigum won an exciting decision at 125-pounds. Both wrestlers scored their only two points late in the match but Neigum got the 3-2 decision with nearly four minutes of riding time. Second-ranked Tony Fratzke of Minnesota State pinned Allen Stokes at 4:22 in the 133-pound weight class.

Minnesota State's final win came at 157 pound as David Sheldon took advantage of a second round reversal and near fall to record a 6-2 win over Truman's Corey Crandall.

Minnesota State, Mankato-32, Truman-10
125- Joey Neigum (MSU) dec. Steve Cox (TSU), 3-2
133- Tony Fratzke (MSU) pinned Allen Stokes (TSU), 4:22
141- Merrick Meyer (TSU) major dec. Tait Thompson (MSU), 14-4
149- Dustin Teeman (TSU) pinned Chris Murphy (MSU), 1:14
157- David Sheldon (MSU) dec. Corey Crandall (TSU), 6-2
*165- Pete Miller (MSU) dec. Chris Pivirotto (TSU), 4-3
174- Jon Dierks (MSU) pinned Tom Tajkowski (TSU), 3:43
184- Joel Schrimpf (MSU) dec. Gregg Nurrenbern (TSU), 5-3
197- Mike Engelmann (MSU) dec. Marc Heinecke (TSU), 7-3
HWT- Paul Svien (MSU) tech. fall Matt Sonn (TSU), 6:49 (20-5)

* Starting Weight