Muleskinner

Issue date: 2/1/07 Section: Sports

TANGLED UP-- The Mules got all they could handle at the UCM Dual Jamboree Saturday, winning their first two duals and dropping the next two to finish 2-2.

The wrestling team will travel to Fort Hays State University Friday and then to Missouri Valley Saturday. The Mules now 8-7 in duals went 2-2 this past weekend at the UCM Dual Jamboree.

"Fort Hays State is a good team," Jeremy Hudson said, "so we just need to keep doing what we have been doing all year long."
Head Coach Robin Ersland also said this is going to be a big dual for the team.

The Mules' won their first two duals. They beat Northern State, 23-16. They also defeated Southwest Minnesota State 39-8. They lost their next two dual. First losing to 20th-ranked Minnesota State-Moorhead 19-15 and then to No. 1-ranked Nebraska-Kearney, 38-6.

"I really thought we would go 3-1 at this meet," Ersland said. "I thought we wrestled well against Northern State and Southwest Minnesota. I really thought we should have beat Moorhead and Nebraska-Kearney just out-manned us."

"We all thought that we could have wrestled better," Hudson said. "We would have liked to have beat Moorhead."

Keaton Baker was the top wrestler for the UCM this weekend. He was the only Mule to win all four of his matches Saturday. In his first match Baker pinned NSU's Corbin Surat in 1:40. Next he won a decision over Mike Barrie of SMSU, 9-4 and MSUM's Troy MacFarland, 15-13. Baker finished his with a forfeit in the Nebraska-Kearney match.

"The guy that wrestled the best this weekend was the guy who did not lose," Ersland said. "Keaton had a good day on Saturday. He wrestled some really good matches, even during his 15-13 win over Moorhead; he never lost his cool; he just kept his head and kept scoring points."

"Keaton had a good match," Hudson said, "but he has been wrestling good all year; he has really stepped it up for the team."

Mark Carey was another top wrestler for the Mules. Carey finished the day 3-1, winning his first three matches. His first match was a 13-5 major decision over NSU's Dustin Bonn. Carey's next win was an injury default over Luke Gises of SMSU. He then beat Shan Walton from MSUM, 7-1.

"Mark did a good job this weekend," Ersland said. "I am really happy with what he did this weekend; he looked really good."
"[Carey] is a pretty good wrestler," Hudson said. "So him doing that good at this meet was really no surprise."

Other standout performers for the Mules were by Hudson and John Ott. Ersland said Hudson won a good match against Matt Nelson of Moorhead. He won by an 8-6 decision. Ott beat a returning Junior College All-American.

"We wrestled better this weekend than we have the past couple," Ersland said. "Right now, that is all that matters. We want to be at our best at the end of the year when it counts."

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