MOORHEAD, Minn. - Getting a head start on their busy weekend, the University of Mary Wrestling team went on the road to Moorhead this evening for a neutral-site dual with Long Island University Post.
 
The Marauders (2-3) got pins from Josh Jensen at 125 pounds and Travis Smith at 285 pounds, but their performances weren't enough as the Pioneers (2-5) came away with the team victory at 32-16.
 
Jensen made short work of Tyler Walsh to start the match out as the Marauder scored the early takedown and worked a fast pin at the 1:28 mark to put U-Mary on the board early at 6-0. Tate Barnhardt seemingly had the momentum going in his match as well with a takedown in the first period against Joseph Calderone at 133 pounds, but the Pioneer escaped quickly in the second frame after choosing bottom and scored a takedown and two-point nearfall to go up 6-2 heading into the third. Barnhardt chose neutral in the final frame but gave up the early takedown and couldn't string together enough points of his own before dropping a 9-5 decision.
 
Unfortunately, the Marauders were beset by missing members in the middleweights as Reed Cronin was filling in for Rudy Guillen at 141 pounds, Noah Huff wrestled at 149 pounds in place of Jakob Weisbrod, and Ray Young had a go at 157 pounds with Dane Fischer out of the lineup. Cronin had strong showing against Vincent Turano but couldn't overcome two nearfall-fours as the Pioneer came away with the 12-9 decision; Huff had his hands full with T.J. Fabian as Fabian scored the early takedown to go with a handful of nearfall-fours before pinning the Marauder at 2:18 into the bout; and Young dropped a 16-1 technical fall at the 2:27 mark to Cory Ashe, putting the team score at 17-6 in favor of LIU-Post.
 
Paul Michaelson snapped the string of losses at 165 pounds as he scored a takedown to go with two nearfall-twos in the first frame against Eduardo Ramirez, added a reversal and nearfall-four in the second, and capped off his major decision with a takedown in the final period for a final score of 15-3 with riding time.
 
Riley Nagel started off strong against Dan Arkow at 174 pounds with two takedowns in the opening period, but ran into trouble in the second frame after choosing bottom and getting pinned at the 3:08 mark. Jonathan Pelach took on Ron King at 184 pounds and both wrestlers failed to score a point in the first period, but Pelach ran into trouble as well after choosing bottom and giving up a nearfall-four before getting pinned at the 4:47 mark.
 
Jacob Green got the bill at 197 pounds against Jake Horton but the slow bout was punctuated by a lone takedown from the Pioneer in the first period followed by an escape from Green, another escape from Green in the second after choosing bottom, and Horton earning the early escape in the third period coupled with a pair of takedowns for a final decision of 8-4 over the Marauder.
 
Travis Smith ended the match on a high note as he took on Monair McDonald at 285 pounds, and the senior from Ripon, Calif., scored the only takedown in the match in the first frame before pinning McDonaled at the 4:48 mark after the Pioneer chose bottom.
 
The Marauders will remain in Moorhead overnight as they compete tomorrow in the Dragon Open starting at 9:00 AM.
 
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