THIS WEEK
The #24 University of Mary wrestling team has a busy week ahead taking on two ranked foes. The Marauders will start the week off against the #9 Minnesota State Mavericks on Thursday, January 31 at 7 PM in Mankato, MN. The Mavericks boast a 6-1 record, with an undefeated 4-0 record in conference duals. UMary will follow that up with a dual against the #19 Upper Iowa Peacocks on Friday, February 1 at 7 PM in Fayette, IA. The Peacocks have a 6-5 record, going 3-2 in NSIC duals. 
 
 
LAST TIME OUT
The last time the Marauders took to the mat was for a thriller against Minot State to win the second annual Battle for the Barrel. UMary won five out of the ten bouts on the night. Tate Barnhardt got things rolling for the Marauders with a win by technical fall. Phillip Springsteen was able to make short work of his Minot State foe, pinning him at the 1:25 mark to give UMary their first lead of the night.
 
The excitement really got going when the final bout of the day began. The two 197 lbs wrestlers battled for a winner take all match. The Marauders trailed the Beavers 18-17 heading into the final match with the winner taking home the barrel. A scoreless first period led to even more anticipation entering the final two. At the end of the second period Ryan Stottler of UMary held a 2-1 lead. Je-Mario Jones of Minot State tied things up at three a piece in the third period. With time winding down, Stottler made an impressive reversal to take the lead and never looked back from there, taking the match by a 6-4 decision. The win sealed the deal on a 20-18 win for the Marauders, won the barrel, avenged a loss earlier in the season to the same opponent, and won him dude of the dual.
 
A couple days later, the Marauders placed five wrestlers at the North Country Open. Jeremy Leintz (125) led all Marauders with a third place finish. 
  
THE RECORD
The Marauders have a 4-2 record and are 2-2 in the NSIC.  
 
NSIC WRESTLER OF THE WEEK
Two UMary wrestlers have received the honor of NSIC Wrestler of the week. Phillip Springsteen received the honor for his 5-0 record and first place finish at the Midwest Classic. Most recently, Nate Humann received the award for his upset victory over #7 Cole Jones of MSU Moorhead.
 
PROJECTED STARTERS
125 – Nate Humann
133 – Tate Barnhardt
141 – Noah Huff / Josh Weisbrod
149 – Max Bruss
157 – Isaac Berger
165 – Austin Eichmann
174 – Phillip Springsteen
184 – Lance Jarrett
197 – Gabe Anderson / Ryan Stottler
285 – Gerardo Jaime / Emmitt Brooks 
 
TOP 25
The Marauders continue to climb the rankings and impress many. In the most recent poll the Marauders have been ranked 24th in the nation. A 15th place finish at the Midwest Classic and two wrestlers finding themselves high up on the podium has helped UMary climb the rankings.
 
BEST OF THE BEST
The Marauders have two athletes who are recognized as some of the nations best wrestlers in the most recent poll.
 
Tate Barnhardt continues to climb his way up the national rankings as well. The senior is ranked sixth in the nation at 133 lbs in the latest poll. This is two spots up from the previous poll where Barnhardt was ranked eighth. Barnhardt currently has a 15-4 record on the season, going 12-2 against DII opponents. Barnhardt is 6-0 in duals so far this season. 
 
Phillip Springsteen has climbed into 7th in the nation. The redshirt sophomore was unranked when the last poll came out. A dominant 5-0 performance at the Midwest Classic helped Springsteen climb the rankings rapidly. Springsteen is 10-3 on the season and 8-2 against DII opponents.
 
WRESTLING AWARD STANDINGS
Tate Barnhardt made his debut in the NCAA DII Awards Standings in the most recent release. Barnhardt ranks #10 in the nation in wins by technical fall. The senior has posted three technical falls this season in a time of 17:17. Since the first standings were released Barnhardt has added another win by technical fall in just 4:29.
 
 
 
OPEN CHAMPS
Nate Humann captured the 125 division at the Jamestown Open. After opening with a bye and two wins by technical fall, he claimed a semifinal win by decision 3-0. Humann won the championship by Decision 12-9 over Dean Arevalo.
At 141, Hunter Eckert would be crowned champion at the Jamestown Open. He took the first two matches of the day by fall and technical fall. The senior won the weight class with a decision over Sawyer Degen 6-3. 
Lance Jarrett (184) went 3-0 in dominant fashion in the white division to take first place at the Dragon Open. The freshman won his first two bouts of the day by fall. He took the championship match by technical fall 19-2.
Gerardo Jaime (285) won the white division at the Dragon Open with a perfect 3-0 record on the day. The sophomore won his first two matches of the day by decision then the championship bout by an 8-0 major decision. 
Phillip Springsteen (174) won the Midwest Classic going 5-0 on the weekend. The redshirt sophomore won his first three bouts by pin. He won the championship match by a 3-0 decision.
Wrestling unattached for UMary, Braydon Huber (149) took first at the Jamestown Open, winning by fall over Ty Johnson of Concordia College in the championship match. Huber also took first in the amateur division at Kearney Holiday Inn Open when he won by decision over Logan Pine of New Mexico Highlands.
Lincoln Turman (125), wrestling unattached went undefeated at the Dragon Open, winning his first two bouts by fall and the championship match by 6-4 decision.
 
 
REGIONALS
The Marauders wrestling team has six athletes ranked in the Super Region 5 Rankings. As a team, UMary is sixth in the rankings.
 
The Marauders that received individual rankings are:
125 lbs Nate Humann: 5th
133 lbs Tate Barnhardt: 2nd
141 lbs Hunter Eckert: 6th
149 lbs Max Bruss: 4th
174 lbs Phillip Springsteen: 3rd
 
 
GOT FANS
The MAC Mob was out in force to cheer on the University of Mary wrestling team during their home opener. "Let's go Mary" and thunderous applause filled the McDowell Activity center as the Marauders downed Minot State and MSU Moorhead in home duals. UMary performed in front of over 1,000 fans on back-to-back home duals. 
 
Seating room was a rare commodity as students, faculty, parents, and the community piled into the MAC to see first hand the product that head coach Adam Aho had created coming into the highly anticipated season. The Marauders set an unofficial attendance record of 1,118 fans in attendance as UMary took on Minot State. Yes, that is well over ONE THOUSAND FANS packed into the MAC. This breaks the Marauders wrestling attendance record in the UMary NCAA DII era.
 
HOME MAT ADVANTAGE
The UMary wrestling teams boasts arguably the best atmosphere in division 2 wrestling. The MAC is without a doubt one of the hardest places in the nation for opposing teams to come wrestle thanks to the spectacular fans. The University of Mary wrestling team and fans caught the eye of Jason Bryant, who runs a nationally recognized podcast in the wrestling community called Short Time Shots with Jason Bryant.
 
"The University of Mary, the MARAUDERS had a packed house in Bismarck as they topped Minot State 31-12. You want to talk about the environment that Adam Aho is growing out there check twitter and UMary wrestling and you'll see it for yourself, wild stuff I mean other teams at the University of Mary were tweeting about this, they were all there it was crazy." stated Bryant "Just the video itself is like wow that's a division II dual meet?"
 
 
 
#Marauders#