No. 1 St. Cloud State Wrestling Captures Second Top-4 Win with 20-19 Victory Against No. 4 Nebraska-Kearney

Saturday, January 25

Kearney, NE

12:00 P.M.

St. Cloud State

#4 Nebraska Kearney

Photo by: Nathaly Delgado

No. 1 St. Cloud State Wrestling Captures Second Top-4 Win with 20-19 Victory Against No. 4 Nebraska-Kearney

1/25/2025 7:49:00 PM | Wrestling

Dominic Murphy seals the dual with tiebreaker win

Kearney, NE.- No. 1 St. Cloud State Wrestling (10-0, 5-0 NSIC) picked up their second top-4 victory of the season as they defeated No. 4 Nebraska-Kearney 20-19 Saturday afternoon. The dual kicked off at 125 where Conor Knopick came up with an 18-5 victory to put the first points on the board with a major decision. The Lopers would capture two shutout wins in the next two matches as No. 8 Sam Spencer would be defeated 8-0 and then No. 13 Alyeus Craig lost 2-0 to No. 9 Joseph Airola. Trailing 7-4, No. 13 Colby Njos came up with a pin in 51 seconds as the Huskies would go back on top 10-7. The newly touted No. 1 wrestler at 157 Joel Jesuroga stayed unbeaten on the year as he came away with a 7-2 decision against Cael Robb. Moving to 165, No. 3 Nick Novak lost 5-3 to No. 6 Trenton Munoz. The match then came to a tie as No. 2 Bryce Dagel would be defeated 4-1 in sudden victory as the Lopers appeared to have momentum on their side. At 184, No. 9 Bryce FitzPatrick came up with a big 11-2 major decision against No. 8 Jacari Deal to give St. Cloud State a 17-13 lead. Moving to 197, No. 2 Dominic Murphy faced off against No. 5 Jackson Kinsella. After a defensive oriented three periods, the match headed into sudden victory as the match would be tied 1-1 after both wrestlers earned an escape point. No scoring would occur in overtime as the match would head into a tiebreaker. Choosing to defer to start the tiebreaker, Murphy rode Kinsella for 14 seconds before Kinsella escaped to now lead 2-1. The wrestlers moved out of bounds before resetting at neutral. After starting at neutral, Murphy attacked a single led of Kinsella where he ultimately worked his way towards the clutch takedown. Moving into the second tiebreaker period, Murphy blocked all shot attempts by Kinsella in the period as No. 2 Dominic Murphy defeated No. 5 Jackson Kinsella 5-2. St. Cloud State now held a 20-13 lead as No. 5 La'Ron Parks took to the mat against No. 1 Crew Howard. Howard would ultimately pin Parks, but it would not matter as No. 1 St. Cloud State stayed undefeated with a 20-19 victory over No. 4 Nebraska-Kearney.

Notables

St. Cloud State is now 6-0 against Nebraska-Kearney all-time.
Conor Knopick picked up his ninth win of the year as he moved to 9-4 on the year. Knopick captured his seventh bonus point win and fourth major decision. He is now 6-1 in dual matches.
No. 13 Colby Njos moved 7-2 with his fourth bonus point win of the season. Njos is 7-2 in duals and captured his first pin of the season.
No.1 Joel Jesuroga stayed unbeaten on the year with his decision win. Jesuroga is 15-0 this season with a 10-0 dual record.
No. 9 Bryce FitzPatrick now sits at 12-5 on the season with a 5-2 dual record. FitzPatrick captured his seventh bonus point win and third major decision.
No.2 Dominic Murphy remained undefeated with a 17-0 record and a 10-0 dual record.

No. 1 St. Cloud State 20, No. 4 Nebraska-Kearney 19
125- Conor Knopick MD Bishop Murray, 18-5
133- Hector Serratos MD No. 8 Sam Spencer, 8-0
141- No. 9 Joseph Airola dec No. 13 Alyeus Craig, 2-0
149- No. 13 Colby Njos fall Brady Collins, 0:51
157- No. 1 Joel Jesuroga dec Cael Robb, 7-2
165- No. 6 Trenton Munoz dec No. 3 Nick Novak, 5-3
174- Jacobi Deal dec No. 2 Bryce Dagel, 4-1 SV
184- No. 9 Bryce FitzPatrick MD No. 8 Jacari Deal, 11-2
197- No. 2 Dominic Murphy dec No. 5 Jackson Kinsella, 5-2 TB
285- No. 1 Crew Howard fall No. 5 La'Ron Parks, 6:08
Extra 133- Caleb Meekins fall Caleb Coyle, 4:39
Extra 184- Tyson Meyer MD Tate Kuchera, 8-0

Up Next
St. Cloud State will be back in action on Friday, January 31 as they host No. 3 Wisconsin-Parkside. For all the latest on St. Cloud State Wrestling, stay tuned to scsuhuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.