Four USU wrestlers qualify for nationals in Dallas
The USU Wrestling Club traveled to the University of Colorado and competed in the Southwest Conference regional tournament in an effort to qualify for nationals.
The Aggies competed against 13 other schools and finished seventh overall, qualifying four wrestlers for nationals.
Tanner Purser led the way for the Aggies with a second place finish in the 125-pound weight class with a 3-1 record. His only loss came in the finals, 12-11.
“He wrestled real solid and gave himself a chance to win, but just barely couldn’t pull it off,” club President Mike Haslam said.
Another Aggie to place second was Tyler Thiessen, who competed in the 235-pound weight class. He lost in the final match, 5-2, and ended the tournament with two wins and one loss.
Other Aggies to place were Mark Haslam, with third place in the 141-pound class, Scott Snarr, with sixth place in the 184-pound division and Ben Shurtz, with fifth place in the 125-pound category.
Mark Haslam placed third overall and finished with a record of 4-1. He was able to avenge his only loss to Colorado State wrestler Nick Medina when they met again in the match to decide who finished third or fourth.
“He beat me my first match, and then he ended up losing in the semis and we met up again,” Mark Haslam said. “I wanted a rematch because I knew that I could beat him and shouldn’t have lost to him the first time.”
Any wrestler who placed in the top four qualified for the national tournament in Dallas.
Purser, Thiessen and Haslam all qualified by placing in the top three and Ben Shurtz who finished in fifth place was able to get in because another wrestler dropped out.
“I was very happy with our team performance,” Haslam said. “To finish in seventh place was amazing considering we only had five wrestlers who competed and only four were able to count towards our team score, while the other teams ahead of us had eleven wrestlers scoring points.”
-samabry@cc.usu.edu