Saint John's wrestling travels to face Minnesota North-Itasca for a 1 p.m. dual on Tuesday, Jan. 7, in Grand Rapids.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Six Saint John's wrestlers recorded top-three finishes in the silver brackets of Central's Under Armour Invitational on Saturday (Jan. 4) in Pella, Iowa.

The six Johnnies were an even split between second and third place. Sophomore Aidan Wayne (Maple Grove, Minn./Osseo) recorded three pins and a 3-1 record to take second at heavyweight. He is now 12-4 this season, including an 8-3 record against non-NCAA Division III wrestlers, with a team-leading eight pins.

Freshman Thomas Holmquist (Mendota Heights, Minn./St. Thomas Academy) and sophomore Kris Castro (Simi Valley, Calif./Chaminade) both went 2-1 to take second via fall at 125 and 157 pounds, respectively. Holmquist started his day with a technical fall (17-2) and pin (2:11), while Castro totaled a pair of decisions. Holmquist is now 8-5 so far this season and Castro is 10-7 with a 7-3 mark against non-Division III competition.

Senior D.J. Myles (Dayton, Minn./Champlin Park) made his season debut with a 3-1 to take third at 197 pounds. He posted a technical fall and a decision before falling to Augsburg's Jacob Schimek in the semifinals. He bounced back with a fall in the third-place match.

Freshmen Owen Carlson (Albany, Minn.) and Drew Lange (Albany, Minn./Holdingford) both went 2-1 to claim third at 157 and 174 pounds, respectively. Carlson won his first match of the day via fall and suffered a technical fall in the semifinal, only to register another pin in the third-place bout. Lange split a pair of decisions before he claimed third with a dominating, 16-0 technical fall.

SJU's PROBABLE LINEUP: The Johnnies are scheduled to have these 10 wrestlers in the lineup Tuesday afternoon:

125: Thomas Holmquist (8-5)
133: Marcus Hayes (5-3)
141: Jose De Los Santos (3-6)
149: Erick Solano (1-4)
157: Kris Castro (10-7)
165: Owen Carlson (7-6)
174: Andy Johnson (4-7)
184: Laiken Copeman (5-8)
197: D.J. Myles (3-1)
285: Aidan Wayne (12-4)

LAST YEAR'S DUAL: SJU suffered a 31-16 loss to then-No. 18 (NJCAA) Minnesota North-Itasca last Jan. 4 (2024) in Sexton Arena. The Johnnies earned three bonus-point wins but forfeited the match at 149 pounds and injury defaulted the bout in the second period at 184.

Sophomore Connor Krueger (Superior, Wis.) put SJU on the scoreboard with a second-period pin at 141 pounds to improve his season record to 11-6. 

Itasca tallied 22-straight points, including a pair of narrow decisions at 157 and 165 pounds, before the Johnnies posted wins in the final two matches. Wayne moved his record to 8-7 with a pin at 197 pounds and Cody Kwak collected a 15-4, major decision at heavyweight. 

Sophomore Jawahn Cockfield (St. Paul, Minn./Stillwater Area) made his collegiate debut and registered a 23-second pin in an exhibition at heavyweight. The Vikings won the other five exhibition bouts, including four pins.