Tigers win GPAC dual

Dakota Wesleyan University 157-pound Kyle Gerlach had two things to celebrate Tuesday.

Before the Tigers defeated Briar Cliff 21-15 in a Great Plains Athletic Conference wrestling dual Tuesday night, Gerlach — a Mount Vernon native — was named the conference’s individual wrestler of the week.

Then, in the Tigers’ sixth dual victory of the season, Gerlach picked up a 9-4 decision win over Dylan Kavanaugh. It was one of six individual victories for DWU Tuesday night.

“(Kyle) has been wrestling with a lot of confidence and the award is well deserved,” said DWU wrestling coach Matt Sedivy, whose team is 6-4 in duals this season. “He has a lot of good energy right now.”

Last week, Gerlach won six of his seven matches, including a 5-1 win for a third-place finish Saturday at the Tyler Plummer Classic, hosted by Dickinson State University. He avenged his only loss at the tournament by beating the same opponent by a 5-3 decision in the third-place match.

Tuesday night, DWU’s Richard Rios earned a 5-2 decision win at 133 pounds. Gerlach was the Tigers’ next victorious wrestler two matches later and Ryan Roach (165), Nick Hutcheson (174) and Tyler Sarringar (184) each picked up wins for Wesleyan.

Sedivy said all three wrestled up one weight class from their normal spots.

“It’s always a little bit of a handicap when you wrestle up, but they really responded for us,” he said.

With DWU leading 18-15 in the dual headed into the heavyweight match, the Tigers’ Eric Gruis picked up a 3-2 victory to seal the win. Sedivy said it was a solid win for the Tigers’ heavyweight.

“It was a good, grinding dual for us,” he added. “We were far from full strength and it was a battle for us to get a win.”

The Tigers are back in action next on Tuesday, when they travel to Fremont, Neb., for duals against Concordia and Midland. The first dual begins at 4:30 p.m.

DAKOTA WESLEYAN 21, BRIAR CLIFF 15

125: Kyle Robison (BC) wins by forfeit; 133: Richard Rios (DWU) dec. Alex Markle 5-2; 141: Devin DeRocher (BC) dec. Karl Bell 4-1; 149: Skylar Weber (BC) dec. Dusty Paulsen 13-8; 157: Kyle Gerlach (DWU) dec. Dylan Kavanaugh 9-4; 165: Ryan Roach (DWU) dec. Curtis Bright 7-2; 174: Nick Hutcheson (DWU) dec. Thomas Patterson 7-4; 184: Tyler Sarringar (DWU) pinned Dan Harvey 3:59; 197: Jordan Watkins (BC) dec. Jade Hoisington 3-1; HWT: Eric Gruis (DWU) dec. Abram Reynolds 3-2.

Tags: sports, updates, dwu, wrestling