Mavericks wrestles in 3 duals at "The Battle of the Rockies and the Heritage Inn"
GOODLAND, KS- The Maverick wrestling team made a long trip out to Great Falls, Montana to wrestle in 3 duals as part of the Battle of the Rockies and the Heritage Inn Open the next day hosted at Providence College.
On Friday the Mavericks first dual was against #9 in the NJCAA Northwest College out of Powell, Wyoming. The dual came down to the final match, which featured the top two ranked wrestlers at 285 in the NJCAA. Odgerel "Odgi" Batkhishig defended his #1 ranking and closed out the dual for the Mavs with a 3-2 win. Other winners for the Mavs included a major decision by Natorian "Tank" Lee at 165, "Buka" at 174, Casey Hand at 184, Austin "Play-Play" Hernandez at 141, and Munkhbat "Muugi" Bat-Erdene at 133. Muugi had a great win over a top 4 wrestler in the country.
The Mavericks fell to Providence and Montana State Northern, two of the perennial top teams in the NAIA in their other two duals that day. Muugi and Odgi went 3-0 on the day.
On Saturday the team participated in the open tournament. Kaje Reynolds obtained his first win of the season at this tournament. Other highlights included Tristan Cooper winning three matches to finish 6th at 133 pounds in a very strong field. Buka wrestled a great tournament going 5-1 with a win over last years NJCAA National Finalist in his weight to place 3rd. Odgerel added another tournament crown to his growing resume, going 5-0 on the day against all 4-year competition. His win in the finals was a 5-3 victory over an athlete who represented Canada at the under 23 World Championships in November.
The Mavericks return to action at home in the Student Union at 4 pm on Tuesday to face off against Cloud Community College.