Saint John's wrestling returns to competition with Wisconsin-Eau Claire's 8-Man Battle at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 23. – Live Results

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's opened the 2024-25 season with a pair of home competitions two weeks ago (Nov. 9-10) in Collegeville.

at Saint John's 27, Nebraska Wesleyan 23 (Nov. 9)
The Johnnies started the season with a thrilling, 27-23 win over Nebraska Wesleyan in the Donald McNeely Spectrum. Down 23-12, SJU recorded a decision and two pins to close the dual and earn the victory.

Senior Jacob Vaughan (New Prague, Minn.) started the rally with an 11-6 decision at 184 pounds and freshman Jordan Silvera (Forest Lake, Minn.) followed with a first-period pin (2:29) at 197.

Sophomore Aidan Wayne (Maple Grove, Minn./Osseo) bumped up to heavyweight and clinched the win with a quick takedown and fall in 1:39.

Freshman Jose De Los Santos (Melrose, Minn./Melrose Area) put SJU on the scoreboard with his first collegiate win, a second-period pin (3:56), at 141 pounds and classmate Owen Carlson (Albany, Minn.) did the same (4:11) at 157.

Haws/Elton Rumble (Nov. 10)
Twenty-one Saint John's wrestlers competed at the Haws/Elton Rumble the following day in Sexton Arena.

Wayne led the Johnnies with a 3-0 record and the title at heavyweight. Less than a day after he clinched the season-opening, dual win over Nebraska Wesleyan with a pin, Wayne started the tournament with two more falls and edged Minnesota North-Itasca's Andreas Barnett 7-4 in the title match.

Senior Logan Thorsten (Foley, Minn.) went 3-1 in a round-robin at 165 pounds to take second place. His lone loss was his first match of the day, 7-2, to Cooper Sanders of Division II Sioux Falls (S.D.). He rallied with a 5-2 decision in his next match and ended the day with a pair of technical falls.

Freshman Drew Lange (Albany, Minn./Holdingford) posted a 2-1 record at 174 pounds to place second in his collegiate debut. He pinned his first two opponents before falling to Sioux Falls' Grant Moraski in the championship match.

REGIONAL RANKINGS: Sophomore Connor Krueger (Superior, Wis.) slipped from second to fourth at 141 pounds in the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Region 7 rankings released today (Nov. 22).

WHO WILL BE THERE: The Johnnies and Blugolds are scheduled to be joined Saturday by Augustana (Ill.), Buena Vista (Iowa), Concordia-Moorhead, Illinois Wesleyan and Nebraska Wesleyan.

LAST YEAR'S TOURNAMENT: Three Johnnies reached the podium at last year's UWEC 8-Man Battle held Nov. 18 (2023). Krueger posted a 2-0 record to win the title at 141 pounds. Following a bye, Krueger recorded a technical fall and defeated Eau Claire's Andrew Kested with a pin at the end of the first period for the title. 

Thorsten finished second with a 3-1 record in his five-man, round-robin at 165 pounds. He started the day with a pin and technical fall, but dropped his third match via tech fall. Thorsten finished the tournament strong, however, with a 15-2 major decision.

Sophomore Owen Herbst (Buffalo, Minn.) won his first match at 174 pounds via technical fall, but suffered his first loss of the season (4-1 record) by a 6-5 decision in the semifinal. He claimed third place with a no-decision against Ben Gilbertson '24. 

Junior Andy Johnson (St. Cloud, Minn./Tech) won three matches in his round-robin (flight) bracket at 174 pounds, including two first-period pins.