The St. Olaf wrestling team competed at the NCAA Division III West Regional Championship on Feb. 28 in Minneapolis, Minn. The Oles faced tough competition, but managed to compete strongly, with Carl Elmer ’15 winning three consecutive matches to qualify for the NCAA Division III Championships. The Oles finished 10th out of 11 teams, with a score of 38.5 points.
However, less than 10 points seperated St. Olaf from sixth place University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, who posted a final score of 47. Elmer, competing in the 157-pound weight division, defeated Joe Pelky ’17 from University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh by a fall in his first match. He followed this victory up with a hard-fought 11-8 decision over Gunnar Melstrand ’16 from University of Wisconsin-Platteville. To capture the event, he defeated Concordia College’s Ben Cousins ’17 in the final round, by a comfortable decision of 7-0. Elmer will compete at Nationals on March 13 in Hershey, Pa., where he will be looking to become an All-American for the first time.
Sameh Almousa ’18 fell agonizingly short in the 149 weight division, losing by a 1-3 decision in the final seconds of the third place match to Jake Kostik ’15 from Concordia College. It was a reverse of the result earlier in the tournament, where Almousa defeated Kostik with a 5-2 decision.
Augsburg College dominated the event, qualifying individuals in all 10 weight classes to the national championships and claiming the NCAA regional title for the 13th consecutive season. The meet marks the end of the St. Olaf wrestling careers for seniors Robert Caulfield and Nick Hopkins.
