Nagel, McCleary Claim Fifth Place But Marauders Unable to Qualify Grapplers for NCAAs

Marshall, MN – Taylor Nagel and Keith McCleary both claimed fifth place at the NCAA Super Regional Three today but the Marauders fell just shy of qualifying any wrestlers for the national tournament.

A redshirt freshman, Nagel claimed fifth in the 157-pound weight division with a 4-2 decision over Tanner Skillings of Southwest Minnesota State. That victory allowed Nagel to wrestle for true fourth place and a chance to advance to nationals but he suffered a 4-0 loss to Tallen Ward of MSU Moorhead. Nagel finished the tournament 2-3.

McCleary claimed fifth in the heavyweight classification with a pin of Bobby Ross of St. Cloud State 3:16 into the match to finish the day 2-2. The second seed entering the day, the senior opened the day with a 6-0 defeat of SCSU’s Bobby Ross. In the second round, Lance Peters of Augustana nudged McCleary 10-7. In the consolation semifinals, Jared Little of Northern State earned a 5-1 decision over McCleary that pushed McCleary into the fifth-place match.

Dusty Vliem opened the tournament with a 3-2 win over 4th seeded Matt Nelson of MSU Moorhead at 197, but was pinned in the second round at the 1:19 mark by top-ranked Pat Mahan of Minnesota State University. The junior then dropped his next two matches, a fall at 4:26 to Brent Florsheim of NSU and to #3 Luke Munkelwitz, a 3-1 decision for fifth.

At 141 pounds, freshman Landon DellaSilva advanced to the fifth place match. After dropping his first match of the day, DellaSilva went to overtime to defeat fifth-seeded Garret Rozeboom of SMSU 11-9. He lost his next match before facing Evan Forde of MSUM for fifth place, a 7-3 loss.

Shane Primeau at 165, Lance Piatz at 174 and Kurt Wiedrich at 184 competed but were unable to claim a victory in the tournament.

As a team, the Marauders finished eighth with 25 points. Minnesota State claimed the regional crown with 135.5 points.