Saint John's junior Mitch Hagen (Sunburg, Minn./Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg) showed a streak of dominance in the 184-pound bracket as he posted four straight wins, the closest by four points, to earn the title at the Citrus Open Dec. 29-30 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Hagen followed his opening-round bye with a pin and a 9-5 win over Ryan Swansen of Division II Colorado School of Mines. He started Friday with an eye-opening 20-5 technical fall against the top seed, Royal Brettrager, of Liberty (Va.), a former Division I program that was reclassified as a club sport this year. Hagen defeated Upper Iowa's Mitchell Schultz 7-2 in the championship bout. He is now 10-2 on the year.
The Johnnies travel to the Illinois state capital for the 2012 NWCA/Cliff Keen Division III National Duals this Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 7-8. The elite two-day tournament will be held at the Prairie Capital Convention Center in Springfield.
