Final Brackets

OVIEDO, Fla. – Five Saint John's University wrestlers finished in the top three of their respective weight classes at the Brute/Zac Jarzynka Sunshine Wrestling Classic tournament, held Sunday and Monday in Oviedo, Fla. Twelve of the 20 Johnnies finished in the top eight of their weight classes.

No team results were kept at the open tournament, which featured five schools ranked in the top 25 in the latest Division III national rankings:  No. 6 Saint John's, No. 7 Augsburg, No. 8 Ithaca (N.Y.), No. 15 College of New Jersey and No. 24 Heidelberg (Ohio).

Sophomore Dustin Baxter (Fairbanks, Alaska/West Valley), ranked No. 7 nationally, started the tournament with two major decisions before edging Matt Olsen (Milwaukee School of Engineering) 3-1 in the semifinal and Lawrence's (Wis.) Sam Laes in the 184-pound championship match, 5-2.

Freshman Chad Henle (Spicer, Minn./New London-Spicer) and junior Mogi Baatar (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia/St. Benedict's Prep, N.J.) each won three consecutive matches before falling to Augsburg wrestlers in close championship matches. Henle fell to Freddie Vigil 11-7 at 125, while Baatar, ranked No. 9 in the latest national poll, dropped a close 13-10 decision to top-ranked Travis Lang at 133 pounds.

Sophomore Matt Baarson (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Champlin Park) followed suit at 157 pounds, including a 7-2 win over No. 6 Willie Horwath of Ithaca, before falling to Augsburg's Jason Adams, 10-6. Baarson, who is unranked, claimed second-place honors ahead of Horwath and No. 5 Zach Mizer of Heidelberg, Ohio (fourth place).

Senior Grant Eustice (Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View) fell to eventual champion Dave Priest of Ithaca at 174 pounds, but battled back with four wins in the consolation bracket to earn third place. Eustice defeated College of New Jersey's Greg Osgoodby, who is ranked No. 2 nationally, 3-1 in overtime of the third-place match.

At 165 pounds, senior Matt Schrupp (Watertown, Minn./Watertown-Mayer) pinned Dennis Bencosme of Ithaca in 2:29 and defeated Augsburg's Spencer Flodeen 10-3 on Sunday, but forfeited all three of his matches Monday due to injury.

SJU returns to action Jan. 10-11 at the NWCA Division III National Duals hosted by the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls.

Saint John's Individual Results
125: Chad Henle (3-1, second)
133: Mogi Baatar (3-1, second), Derik Gertken (1-2), Scott Padrnos (1-2)
141: Jon Shellenberger (1-2)
149: John Vaith (4-1, fourth), Drew Larson (2-2)
157: Matt Baarson (3-1, second), Roger Anderson (1-2)
165: Matt Schrupp (2-3, sixth)
174: Grant Eustice (4-1, third), Mike Cronan (2-2), Matt Pfarr (2-2)
184: Dustin Baxter (4-0, champion), Kyle Schumm (2-3, sixth)
197: Tony Willaert (3-2, seventh), James Carlson (2-3, eighth)
285: Jake Evenson (3-2, sixth), Cody Socher (4-2, seventh), Brent Christiansen (1-2)