Hawks fly by Mary

• Blake Hunter

Press Photo by Chris Aarhus Dickinson State 133-pounder Blake Hunter circles with the University of Mary’s Chris Vizenor as they remain in each other’s grasp Wednesday at Scott Gymnasium. The Blue Hawks put UMary away early with three pins en route to a 37-9 victory.

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Matt Michaelson and Dusty Vliem gave fans plenty of excitement Wednesday at Scott Gymnasium.

But even in that match, Michaelson came out on top to continue the Blue Hawks’ dominance as the Dickinson State wrestling team looked like a well-oiled machine in a 37-9 drubbing of the University of Mary.

Michaelson, a Dickinson native wrestling for Dickinson State, scored a 3-2 overtime decision over Lodgepole, South Dakota native Dusty Vliem, who once wrestled for Hettinger High School.

“I knew it would be seven minutes of pure battling,” Michaelson said. “He’s a great wrestler.”

Michaelson took the down position in the second period and notched an escape to take a 1-0 lead. Likewise, Vliem did the exact same thing in the third period and the two stalemated into overtime where Michaelson scored a point on an escape and another one on an illegal clasping of the hands by Vliem.

During Vliem’s 30 seconds on the bottom, he was able to escape and get one point back, but he couldn’t make up the final point, giving Michaelson the win.

UMary coach Ben Berogan said both wrestlers were waiting to capitalize on a mistake.

“They were very selective in their shots,” Berogan said. “One mistake could mean the match.”

Dickinson State coach Thadd O’Donnell said he was pleased with the win, but noted that he’d like to see Michaelson exhibit more confidence in the early goings.

“We have more confidence in him than he does himself,” Michaelson said. “He wasn’t really committing to taking him down. Once he starts making those steps, everything will fall into place.”

Though it provided the only real excitement, the dual had already been decided. Michaelson’s win put Dickinson State up 37-3.

Just 12 minutes into the match, the Marauders found themselves trailing 24-0 after giving up three pins and a forfeit to start the dual.

Dickinson State’s Isaac Romero (125) pinned Dan Sabin late in the first period and Blake Hunter chose not to wait that long, sticking Chris Vizenor in 1 minute, 35 seconds.

Eli Zuniga stepped out to take a forfeit at 141, which was followed by Jordan Ewen’s fall over UMary’s Landon DellaSilva with just 10 seconds remaining in their match.

Stanton Schlecht major-decisioned Shane Primeau at 165 and Shane Bennett outlasted Lance Piatz 8-4. Cameron Schremp, who logged an escape early in the third period to win 4-3, wrestled right before Michaelson and helped Dickinson State win eight of 10 matches.

The Marauders used to compete in the Dakota Athletic Conference against DSU, but moved up to NCAA Division II several years ago. O’Donnell said a win against UMary is always nice.

“Definitely, some of the older guys, some older coaches talked to some of the guys that didn’t know about the old rivalry,” O’Donnell said. “That really tells them how important it is.”

Dickinson State 37, University of Mary 9

125: Isaac Romero, DSU, pinned Dan Sabin, 2:18.

133: Blake Hunter, DSU, pinned Chris Vizenor, 1:35.

141: Eli Zuniga, DSU, won by forfeit.

149: Jordan Ewen, DSU, pinned Landan DellaSilva, 6:50.

157: Taylor Nagel, UM, dec. Nick Zumwalt, 5-1.

165: Stanton Schlecht, DSU, maj. dec. Shane Primeau, 12-3.

174: Shane Bennett, DSU, dec. Lance Piatz, 8-4.

184: Cameron Schremp, DSU, dec. Kurt Weidrich, 4-3.

197: Matt Michaelson, DSU, dec. Dusty Vliem, 3-2 (OT).

HWT: Kevin McLeary, UM, pinned Cody Jamtgaard, 5:12.

Tags: dickinson, state, university, of, mary, marauders, blue, hawks, wrestling, dual