Pirner Takes South Dakota State Open Title

Brookings, S.D. -- Nebraska wrestler Derek Pirner took home a first-place finish at the 125-pound weight class in the 2003 South Dakota State open Saturday.

Pirner, an Elk Point, S.D., native defeated Shane Sutera, 9-2, in the championship match. In the opening rounds, Pirner defeated Apollo Bellisle of Regina by fall in 1:44 before defeating Josh Atwell of Iowa Central, 7-3, and scoring a technical fall over Shaun Marshall of Dana, 19-3.

At 141-pounds, NU freshman Jegan Gabbidon won his opening-round match against Tom Messerli of St. Cloud State, 14-9, before suffering an injury against Jaime Anderson of Northern State. Grand Island native Efrain Ayala went 2-2 on the day defeating Justin Bolke of Augustana, 9-7, and Chad Herrboldt of South Dakota State, 9-7.

NU heavyweight Jon May opened the tournament with back-to-back falls over Armondo Montoyar of Dana in 1:43 and Craig Martinmaas of South Dakota State in 2:10. In the semifinals, May fell to Les Sigman of Nebraska-Omaha, 5-1, before defeating Chris Bietz of Augustana, 6-1, to recorded a third-place finish..

Members of the NU wrestling will next travel to Fort Dodge, Iowa, for the Harold Nichols Open on Nov. 15. Nebraska will kick off the regular season this Saturday, Nov. 15 with duals against Portland State and Oregon State. The Huskers will face-off against Portland State at noon before taking on Oregon State at 6:30 p.m. at the NU Coliseum.