DWU gets two All-American wrestlers

DES MOINES, Iowa — Dakota Wesleyan University’s Dusty Paulsen and Trever Devestern earned All-American statuses over the weekend.

Paulsen (149) and Devestern (157) each took seventh place at the NAIA national wrestling tournament, giving them the honors of being All-American. To earn the status, a wrestler must finish in the top eight of his weight class.

“It’s really good to have All-Americans in the program again,” DWU coach Matt Sedivy said. “I don’t think we had an amazing tournament, but we wrestled well.

“There are guys that I’m sure they’re disappointed with their tournament, but to get two All-Americans was great for us.”

Paulsen, a sophomore from Pierre who went 22-14 on the season, had three two-point decision wins in his tournament. He won his seventh-place match 6-4.

“He showed up when the lights were on,” Sedivy said. “He’s fun to watch and fun to work with.”

Devestern, of Pearblossom, Calif., won his first-round match by major decision and his next two victories were decision wins, including a 9-2 win to take seventh place.

He finished his sophomore season with a 22-9 record.

“Trevor Devestern has had kind of a demon in his past of getting through the round of 12 and not getting through,” Sedivy said. “He’s been in the round of 12 at the California state tournament, the high school national tournament and last year at the NAIA nationals. So I think he’ll just be able to wrestle these national tournaments with a lot less pressure and just go compete.”

Paulsen and Devestern are the 14th and 15th All-American wrestlers in Wesleyan history. This marks the first time since 2004 the school has had more than one in a season. They are the Tigers’ first All-American since Josh Geppert, a heavyweight, in 2011.

Tags: sports, dwu, tigers, wrestling, updates