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    Mankato East wrestling 1-19-07

January 19, 2007

East middleweights dominate in win

Cougars’ Michael Davis picks up career win No. 141 in 42-30 victory over New Prague

By Paul Dunlap

MANKATO — Staring at a 12-0 deficit after his team forfeited the first two matches, Mankato East’s Drew Schumacher knew exactly what his team needed.

Six points.

The 119-pounder didn’t disappoint as he pinned Alex Mueller in 51 seconds, igniting the Cougars wrestling team to five pinfalls in a 42-30 nonconference win over New Prague Thursday at the East gym.

The win moved Schumacher’s record to 18-6 on the season.

“I was just trying to put up the most points I can for my team, which obviously a fall does for you. ... They count on me to get those points to get us back in the dual (meet),” Schumacher said. “My single-leg (takedown) worked well on (Mueller), and then I was able to get into my half-nelson and armbar and work it over.”

After Alex Minette’s tight 4-3 decision over the Cougars’ Wyatt Derynck at 125, East’s middleweights took over. Cody Adams got his 101st career pin, sticking Josh Meyers in 38 seconds in the 130-pound match. Michael Davis then overpowered New Prague’s David Doran in just 12 seconds at 140, followed by Daniel Davis’ fall (55 seconds) at 145 and Don Thomas’ pin (2:57) at 152. Suddenly, the Cougars held a 30-18 advantage.

“We’ve got some pretty tough kids there in those middleweights.” East coach Bruce Urbatch said. “We were kind of counting on those (pins) to happen.”

Michael Davis’ win was the 141st of his career, tying assistant coach Jon Dierks for third place on the Cougars’ all-time win list.

“Michael’s been looking forward to it,” Schumacher said of his teammate. “He’s been talking quite a bit about breaking coach Dierk’s record. ... As a team, we get a kick out of breaking old records that were set before us. We are just real tough in the middle.”

New Prague wouldn’t go down without a fight though, as decisions at 160 and 189 sandwiched around a fall at 171 knotted the score at 30-30. But just as they endured two forfeits to start the meet, the Cougars’ Sean Willaert (215) and Kevin Hughes (275) gained forfeit wins to produce the final margin.

“There were quite a few close matches that we thought we should have gotten (wins),” Urbatch said. “In that 171-pound match, we had the guy on his back and we got flopped. We lost a lot of close ones. ... We could have really blown it wide open, but we’re happy to still come out on top.”

The win moves East back to .500 at 10-10 as they travel to the 13-team South St. Paul tournament on Saturday.





Mankato East 42, New Prague 30



103—Aaron Redding (NP) won by forfeit; 112—Kody Dolezel (NP) won by forfeit; 119—Drew Schumacher (ME) pinned Alex Mueller :51; 125—Alex Minette (NP) dec. Wyatt Derynck 4-3; 130—Cody Adams (ME) pinned Josh Meyers :38; 135—Ryan Schmitz (NP) dec. Logan Sheppard 15-12; 140—Michael Davis (ME) pinned David Doran :12; 145—Daniel Davis (ME) pinned Aaron Becker :55; 152—Don Thomas (ME) pinned Jonathan Vlasak 2:57; 160—Jay Reinke (NP) dec. Dylan Fast 8-4; 171—Kevin Olson (NP) pinned Nick Ackerman 5:12; 189—Brad Hartman (NP) dec. Shawn Nordstrom 3-2; 215—Sean Willaert (ME) won by forfeit; 275—Kevin Hughes (ME) won by forfeit.

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