Morningside men's wrestling wins three of four duals at GPAC Duals

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – It was a busy day inside the Long Lines Family Recreation Center Saturday, as the No. 17 Mustangs battled four opponents as a part of the GPAC Duals Day 2 in Sioux City.

The Mustangs went 3-1 on the day, defeating Hastings 36-12, Midland 52-0, and Briar Cliff 32-16. Between the Midland and Briar Cliff results was a 29-15 loss to No. 7 Doane.

To start the day, Taylor Vasquez earned a fall in 2:56 to pick up the first of four wins for him on the day. Noah Styskal added a 23-13 major decision to start a run of four straight victories for Morningside against the Broncos. Zander Ernst followed with an 18-3 tech fall and Alex Vandyke a 4-0 decision made it 24-6. Hayden Wempen received a victory by forfeit to make it 30-6. Hunter DeJong earned a fall in 4:51 to wrap up the 36-12 victory to open the day.

Morningside won all 10 matches against Midland, including five by forfeit and two by tech fall. Caelan Oakes Sudhish earned a win in the first match of the contest, winning by fall in 2:01. Taylor Vasquez won 17-1 by tech fall, followed by Chris Aragon winning by 13-10 decision. After three straight forfeits from Midland, Wempen won by tech fall 19-4 to make it 43-0. Brenick Birks Hoppe won by 14-7 decision in the final contested match as DeJong won by forfeit at 285.

In the highly anticipated showdown between top 20 teams, it was the Tigers who jumped out to the early lead. A tech fall and a forfeit made it 11-0 after two bouts for Doane. Vasquez got the Mustangs on the board with a 20-4 tech fall reached as time expired in the match.

Zander Ernst picked up a 13-4 major decision and Alex Vandyke earned a sudden victory win to make it 20-12. Hunter DeJong was the final Mustang to compete against the Tigers, winning by 2-0 decision.

The Mustangs looked to bounce back against Briar Cliff to end the night. The Chargers were spotted a 12-0 lead, but Morningside scored 32 of the final 36 points to win the dual.

Vasquez got the scoring started again for Morningside, earning a 10-5 decision. Starting with Styskal at 157, the Mustangs rattled off six consecutive wins to come from behind and steal the match. Styskal won 15-4 in a major decision, followed by a 21-6 tech fall in 1:56 for Ernst.

Jackson Chapin won by 10-7 decision and Caleb Connor picked up a pin with eight seconds remaining in his match to give Morningside its' first lead. Wempen added his second victory by tech fall of the day, this time a 21-6 score in 4:04. To cap off an undefeated day for DeJong, he picked up his second pin, this time in five minutes.

Overall, Vasquez (4-0), Ernst (4-0), DeJong (4-0), Chapin (2-0) and Vandyke (2-0) went undefeated with multiple victories on the day. 

Morningside is back in action Saturday in Orange City at the Raider Duals. That will be the final competition of the season until the GPAC Individual Tournament Feb. 16-17 in Seward, Neb.