Saint John's wrestling travels to face Buena Vista for a 7 p.m. dual on Thursday, Jan. 22, in Storm Lake, Iowa. – Live Stats | Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's hosted three competitions last weekend in Collegeville.

Duals vs. Minnesota North-Itasca and Concordia-Moorhead (Jan. 16)
The Johnnies (3-6 dual record) cruised to a 54-0 win over Minnesota North-Itasca in the opener but dropped the nightcap 42-8 to Concordia-Moorhead.

Sophomore Thomas Holmquist (Mendota Heights, Minn./St. Thomas Academy) led the Johnnies with a 3-0 record at 125 pounds and junior Aidan Wayne (Maple Grove, Minn./Osseo) went 2-0 at 197. 

SJU took advantage of five forfeits and posted four bonus-point victories against the Vikings. Junior Connor Krueger (Superior, Wis.) wrestled his first competitive match since winning the 133-pound title at the Milwaukee School of Engineering (Wis.) Invitational on Dec. 6 and posted a 15-0 technical fall. Junior Xavier Jones (Annandale, Minn.) followed with a pin and freshman Isaac Hunter (Stillwater, Minn./Stillwater Area) capped a string of three-consecutive forfeits with a 14-4 major decision at 174 pounds. Another freshman, Carson Gellerman (Becker, Minn./Big Lake), won his 17th match of the season with a 5-1 decision at 184 pounds.

Concordia followed Holmquist's technical fall at 125 pounds with seven-straight victories for a 36-5 lead until Wayne's 7-5 decision at 197 stopped the skid.

Saint John's (SJU) 54, Minnesota North-Itasca (MNI) 0
125: Thomas Holmquist (SJU) won by forfeit [6-0]
133: Connor Krueger (SJU) tech. fall Kody Fleck, 15-0/3:50 [11-0]
141: Xavier Jones (SJU) pinned Gabe Hendricks, 1:11 [17-0]
149: Dominic Smith (SJU) won by forfeit [23-0]
157: Josiah Solliday (SJU) won by forfeit [29-0]
165: Laiken Copeman (SJU) won by forfeit [35-0]
174: Isaac Hunter (SJU) major dec. Roman Weber, 14-4 [39-0]
184: Carson Gellerman (SJU) dec. Connor Gmahl, 5-1 [42-0]
197: Aidan Wayne (SJU) pinned Brandon Lucas, 0:30 [48-0]
285: Zeke Conner (SJU) won by forfeit [54-0]
Exhibition
125: Thomas Holmquist (SJU) pinned Malik Bell, 1:36
285: Jay Moen (MNI) pinned Zeke Conner, 2:14

Concordia-Moorhead (CON) 42, Saint John's (SJU) 8
125: Thomas Holmquist (SJU) tech. fall Hunter Mars, 15-0/3:59 [5-0]
133: Kie Anderson (CON) won by forfeit [5-6]
141: Jack Major (CON) pinned Xavier Jones, 1:55 [5-12]
149: Aidan Ruddy (CON) major dec. Dominic Smith, 17-4 [5-16]
157: Chris Acuna (CON) pinned Josiah Solliday, 3:53 [5-22]
165: Zach Pribyl (CON) tech. fall Laiken Copeman, 17-0/5:47 [5-27]
174: Nate Kisgen (CON) dec. Isaac Hunter, 4-0 [5-30]
184: Aiden Russell (CON) pinned Carson Gellerman, 1:57 [5-36]
197: Aidan Wayne (SJU) dec. Will Freking, 7-5 [8-36]
285: Mason Swanson (CON) pinned Zeke Conner, 2:11 [8-42]

North Country Invitational (Jan. 17)
Wayne won the six-man round-robin at 197 pounds with a 5-0 record, while Krueger went 3-0 to take second in the five-man round-robin at 133. Wayne, who is now 26-4 this season, recorded three pins and a technical fall. Krueger improved to 15-1.

Sophomore Dominic Smith (Maple Grove, Minn./St. Michael's, N.M.) was the third Johnnie with two wins or more on the day thanks to a 2-2 mark and fifth-place finish at 149 pounds. He is now 17-12 on the year.

SJU'S PROBABLE LINEUP: The Johnnies are scheduled to send this lineup Thursday to Iowa.

125: Thomas Holmquist (22-4)/Marcus Hayes (1-7)
133: Connor Krueger (15-1)
141: Xavier Jones (7-12)
149: Dominic Smith (17-12)
157: Josiah Solliday (6-17)
165: Laiken Copeman (10-18) 
174: Isaac Hunter (14-6)
184: Carson Gellerman (17-3)
197: Aidan Wayne (26-4)
285: Zeke Conner (5-16)

LAST YEAR'S DUAL: SJU recorded five bonus-point wins in a 38-12 dual victory over Buena Vista (Iowa) last Jan. 18 (2025) in Sexton Arena. The dual started at heavyweight, where Wayne scored his team-leading 14th win and ninth by fall in 1:04. 

Holmquist followed with a first-period pin of his own at 125 pounds, 1:47 in, and Krueger answered a BVU fall at 133 with one of his own at 141. 

A decision for the Beavers at 149 pounds cut their deficit to 18-9, but SJU responded with back-to-back major decisions from junior Kris Castro (Simi Valley, Calif./Chaminade) and Logan Thorsten '25 at 157 (13-2) and 165 (11-2) pounds, respectively.

SJU picked up forfeits at 174 and 197 pounds.

Saint John's (SJU) 38, Buena Vista (BVU) 12
285: Aidan Wayne (SJU) pinned Colton O'Hern, 1:04 [6-0]
125: Thomas Holmquist (SJU) pinned Tyler Japp, 1:47 [12-0]
133: Nolan Nguyen (BVU) pinned Erick Solano, 3:21 [12-6]
141: Connor Krueger (SJU) pinned Daryn Brown, 1:04 [18-6]
149: Hayden Stout (BVU) dec. Jose De Los Santos, 9-6 [18-9]
157: Kris Castro (SJU) major dec. Jaxon Mikolyzk, 13-2 [22-9]
165: Logan Thorsten (SJU) major dec. Aiden Kirk, 11-2 [26-9]
174: Andy Johnson (SJU) won by forfeit [32-9]
184: Trevor Kruse (BVU) dec. Jacob Vaughan, 6-1 [32-12]
197: D.J. Myles (SJU) won by forfeit [38-12]
Exhibition
125: Jesus Olivares (BVU) dec. Marcus Hayes, 9-6
285: Kam Evans (BVU) pinned Thomas Allen, 5:54