Senior night generates much-needed wins for Vikes

By Erin Mangen

Mirror Sports Editor
February 22, 2008

Senior night was particularly special for senior Vikings Beau Severtson and Aaron Haddorff as the Augustana wrestling team took down the No. 20-ranked Northern State University Wolves (NSU) in a 21-12 decision Saturday, Feb. 16, at the Elmen Center.

“It was a good win for us as a team to get back on track after our tough North Central Conference schedule,” Haddorff said. “We have always had success against NSU so we did not want to have any letdowns against them.”

Severtson sparked the Viking fire. Ranked No. 7 in the nation at 184 pounds, he put an end to the Wolves’ early nine-point lead and defeated Cale Cornemann 4-2. The rest of the Vikings followed his example and won seven of the following nine matches.

Viking freshman Ty Copsey, ranked No. 4 in the NCC, defeated the Wolves’ Todd Naasz for a 2-1 win. Both Copsey and Naasz earned an escape point from the down position, but Copsey was able to escape with five seconds into the second period.

Naasz earned his point with 55 seconds left in the third period. Copsey racked up one minute of riding time for the match-winning point.

Viking freshman heavyweight Lance Peters and the Wolves’ Jared Little battled in a scoreless match until the final period when Peters defeated Little 4-1, resulting in a tied dual score at 9-9.

NSU regained the lead after the Wolves’ Corbin Surat defeated Viking freshman Al Megar. However, the Vikings went on to win the next four matches. Freshman Jason Jermiason tied the dual with a 10-3 win over the Wolves’ Rick Schiley at 133 pounds. Viking freshman Jay Sherer followed with a 6-4 win over Dave Schiley to give the Vikings a 15-12 lead for the night.

Next, Viking junior Matt Longwon 10-3 over the Wolves’ Ryan Larson, moving the Augustana advantage to 18-12.

“As a team, we wrestled more to Northern State’s level and did not rise up to meet our own potential individually,” Long said. “We have a team that is turning the corner, especially at 133, and starting to realize how good they are. At this point in the season, a win is a win and you need to take what you can get, but the key is to never be satisfied.”

Haddorff, returning from a knee injury that caused him to sit out most of the season, a sealed the win by defeating the Wolves’ Dustin Bonn.

“Hopefully we can use this win to gain some momentum going into tournament time,” Severtson said. “We want to continue to win the close matches because every match is going to get tougher from here on out.”

Augustana will return to action today against University of Nebraska-Kearney and University of Mary at 1 p.m. at the Elmen Center.