Saint John's wrestling travels to face Minnesota West C.T.C. for a 7 p.m. dual on Wednesday, Feb. 12, in Worthington. 

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Six Saint John's wrestlers collected top-three finishes last Saturday (Feb. 8) at Concordia's Last Shot Invitational in Moorhead.

Sophomore Aidan Wayne (Maple Grove, Minn./Osseo) won the heavyweight title with a 3-0 record, including two pins, to improve his record to 19-5 on the season. He started the day with a pair of falls and bounced back from Tuesday's 4-2 loss to the Cobbers' Mason Swanson with a 9-3 victory in the championship bout.

Junior Zachariah Hunter (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area) led SJU with four wins on the day (4-1), all pins, to take second in the six-man round robin at 184 pounds.

Sophomore Connor Krueger (Superior, Wis.) finished second with a 1-1 record at 133 pounds and classmate Kris Castro (Simi Valley, Calif./Chaminade) did the same with a 2-1 mark at 157. Castro is second on the team with 16 wins (16-12 record).

Junior Marcus Hayes (Katy, Texas/Cypress Lakes) claimed second in the four-man round robin at 125 pounds with a 2-1 record and freshman Laiken Copeman (Zumbrota, Minn./Zumbrota-Mazeppa) took third with the same mark at 174.

FINAL COMPETITION BEFORE REGIONAL: Wednesday night's dual serves as the Johnnies' final competition before the NCAA Upper Midwest Regional Feb. 28-March 1 at Augsburg.

SJU'S PROBABLE LINEUP: The Johnnies are scheduled to send this lineup to the mat Wednesday.

125: Freshman Thomas Holmquist (11-6)
133: Sophomore Connor Krueger (4-4)
141: Freshman Jose De Los Santos (4-10)
149: Open
157: Sophomore Kris Castro (16-12)
165: Senior Logan Thorsten (7-2)
174: Freshman Laiken Copeman (10-12)
184: Junior Zachariah Hunter (7-4)/Junior Andy Johnson (9-12)
197: Senior D.J. Myles (6-6)/Freshman Jordan Silvera (5-6)
285: Sophomore Aidan Wayne (19-5)/Senior Thomas Allen (0-8)

LAST YEAR'S DUAL: SJU recorded five pins, including a new program record from sophomore Owen Herbst (Buffalo, Minn.), in a 44-6 win over Minnesota West C.T.C. last Jan. 27 (2024) in Sexton Arena. The two teams both forfeited the match at 125 pounds and exchanged forfeits at 149 and 184. SJU recorded bonus-point wins – five pins and two major decisions - in the remaining seven bouts.

Sophomore Erick Solano (Katy, Texas/Paetow) gave up an early takedown in his match at 133 pounds, but he scored a reversal and turned it into a pin 1:16 into the bout. 

Krueger followed with a fall in 18 seconds at 141 pounds, his seventh-straight win (16-6 record), and Castro posted a 20-11 major decision at 157. Ahead 11-10 entering the third period, Castro chose down and tallied a reversal with a minute left and surrendered an escape. He sealed the victory on a takedown with 15 seconds remaining and a four-point near fall at the horn for his 15th win of the season (15-8 record).

Senior Logan Thorsten (Foley, Minn.) jumped out to a 7-0 first-period lead in an eventual 9-1 major decision at 165 pounds to improve to 14-6 on the year.

Herbst broke the SJU record for fastest pin with an 8-second fall at 174 pounds. The previous record was Matt Kadrlik '16, at heavyweight, during the 2013-14 season.

Hunter extended his win streak to seven matches with a pin in 2:41 at 197 pounds to improve to 11-3.