The Red Raider wrestlers hosted a dual meet versus the William-Penn Statemen on Nov. 24.
The Raiders won their second match by the dual off of a throw by freshman heavyweight Chris Van Der Brink in his first match of the year, helping elevate the Raiders to a 30-27 victory over the Statesmen.
“The freshmen were especially impressive. They look for the pin every time they step on the mat and they are tenacious,” graduate assistant Dylan Costello said. “Did you see what Van Der Brink did to that kid? The future is bright for the Raiders, and the present is hopeful.”
Other stand-out freshman performers included Trey Schuck at 141 pounds and Jakob Francksen-Small at 165 pounds who both won by fall and advanced their season to a 5-1 record.
“Our young team rallied and found a way to win despite being down two guys,” Costello said. “That shows the potential this team has. We have a team that will upset a lot of established opponents at the conference and national tournaments.”
Redshirt junior Matthew Dahl also won with a big throw in the third period, improving to 4-1 on the season. The Raiders also were given a forfeit at 184 to sophomore Luke Jenness.
This was the Raiders first win of the season pushing the dual record to 1-2.
“This was a big win for the Raiders. Our young guys pulled through for us,” head coach Rik Dahl said. “We had four pins, three by freshmen. Schuck, Francksen-Small and Van Der Brink carried us tonight. William Penn came out looking for the big move all night long which made some of our older wrestlers uncomfortable. When we controlled the ties and tempo, we did well. When we gave up position, we found ourselves trying to catch up and we broke down physically. It was great to get the win…now we heal up and work to improve over the coming weeks.”
The Raiders were able to enjoy a long break before returning to practice to continue the season for their next competition on Jan. 9. 
