Wrestling competes in showcase
Augustana’s wrestling team competed at the Dakota Showcase on Nov. 17, wrestling against Northern State University, Dakota Wesleyan University and South Dakota State University. The Vikings’ first quad meet of the 2023-2024 season ended with a score of 2-1.
In the first round against Northern State, junior Christian Olsen at 125 pounds kicked off the meet with a 9-6 victory.
Junior Kyle Boeke at 149 pounds and junior Connor Simmonds at 157 pounds also found wins against Northern State.
Boeke defeated his opponent by take down in the second period and won the match 8-2.
With the match before me, it was a kid that got concussed so that match was done in a minute,” Boeke said. “I knew the kid I was going to wrestle from high school, so I had an idea of what he was planning for, so if I could minimize what he was going for, I could take control and set a tone.”
Senior Payton Anderson at 165 pounds gave Augustana its first lead of the night after scoring a 14-5 win to bring the team to a 13-12 score. Northern State later caught up to the Vikings and tied the score at 18-18, but wins by graduate student Zach Peterson at 197 pounds and senior Edward Hajas at 285 pounds helped Augustana clinch the win at 26-18.
“I’m not one to ‘clutch up’ at the end of the day,” Hajas said. “The nerves usually get to me, but at that point Zach [Peterson] tech falled his opponent, so we were far enough ahead that I got to go out there and wrestle.”
Against Dakota Wesleyan, the Vikings took wins in nine of the 10 matches. Anderson was among the winning group.
“I’m not the starter. I usually wrestle 157, but our 165 pounder is a sixth year, and he hasn’t wrestled a ton of matches yet,” Anderson said. “[The coaches] wanted me to get more matches in, so they bumped me up to 165. It felt good to wrestle two matches and win both.”
The Vikings defeated Dakota Wesleyan with a score of 52-6.
“We have been wrestling with ourselves and becoming more consistent with our training and focus day in and day out,” head coach Jason Reitmeier said. “Each time we walk on the mat, we want to see improvement technically, conditioning wise and more importantly, mentally.”
Augustana later fell to South Dakota State with a score of 37-9.
“I think we all wrestled well at the showcase,” Boeke said. “I think we have a lot of good things to look forward to, and our conditioning is awesome. Our coach is good with that and making sure we’re the most conditioned guy on the mat. I feel really positive about this year.”
On Nov. 11, the wrestling team began its season at the DWU Open with five Viking placements.
In first place, Simmonds won the open 157 by fall. Hajas, who went 3-1, claimed second in the open 285. He won by pin twice and decision once but lost by one point in the first place match.
Sophomore Max Balow earned third place in the open 285, losing by decision and later winning third by no contest. Boeke snagged fourth in open 149 by no contest and Olsen took fifth in the open 125.
“The best way we can support each other is helping each other get in the right headspace for our match and being positive,” Hajas said. “Wrestling is tough enough. We don’t need to be tearing each other down.”
Wrestling returns to the mat for its first NSIC conference match against Northern State on Dec. 7 at 7 p.m.
“When we dueled [Northern State] in the showcase, it was kind of our first duel of the season,” Hajas said. “Our coaches were trying different lineups, but this time it’ll be our best against their best.”
