Two Tiger wrestlers take third in DWU Open

Two Dakota Wesleyan University wrestlers placed third in the Dakota Wesleyan Open on Saturday at the DWU/Avera Sports and Wellness Complex.

Coby Eikenhorst won his first two matches of the day in the 157-pound B division before dropping his final two. Kyle Mullaney’s lone loss of the day came on an injury stoppage in the fourth round and he went on to take third in the 285-pound B division. Mitchell native Carter Max also took fifth at 197 pounds for the Tigers.

Eikenhorst pinned Jamestown’s Matt Thompson in 2 minutes, 27 seconds in his opening match and then defeated Concordia (Neb.)’s Tavoris Smith in 2 minutes, 9 seconds. Eikenhorst dropped a back-and-forth match to Briar Cliff’s Trevor Zeitner in 6 minutes, 59 seconds. He lost to Northwestern’s Breckin Sperling by fall in 1 minute, 24 seconds to finish the day.

Mullaney defeated Briar Cliff’s Ashton Brecht in a 4-2 decision to start the tournament and then beat Briar Cliff’s Connor Mahoney 5-4 in overtime. Mullaney’s contest with Northwestern’s Elijah Blare, a Winner native, was stopped at the 4:57 mark following a takedown. Mullaney won by medical forfeit in a scheduled match with Waldorf’s Izaiah Ieramia to end the day. Blare went 4-1 on the day and finished second.

Max beat Northwestern’s Jose Sanchez in an 11-5 decision in the opening match, but lost two consecutive matches to Briar Cliff’s Caleb Shanks and Concordia’s Mason Garcia, before pinning Sanchez in the fifth-place match in 6 minutes, 54 seconds.

The Tigers face Briar Cliff in a dual meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Sioux City, Iowa.