St. Cloud State won its second NCAA Division II wrestling championship on Saturday night in Sioux Falls, S.D., when redshirt freshman Brett Velasquez won the 125-pound title, beating Willie Bohince of Mercyhurst 5-0.
Velasquez was used to being challenged. He had to beat last year's national champion, teammate Tim Prescott, a Huskies senior, in a wrestle-off for his spot on the postseason roster.
Two Huskies took third place with dominating wins: Clint Poster won 13-0 at 165 and Austin Goergen on a technical fall at heavyweight.
St. Cloud State's final total of 90 points was eight ahead of Notre Dame (Ohio) College.
• Heavyweight Malcolm Allen of Minnesota State Mankato finished second and his teammates Matt Mincey (157) and Adam Cooling (174) third.
U gymnasts win title
The Gophers women's gymnastics team won the Big Ten regular-season title by winning a five-team meet with Iowa, Michigan, Penn State and Rutgers in Rosemount, Ill. That gave Minnesota, which had a score of 197.425, a 9-0 conference record.
Senior Lindsay Mable finished second in the all-around (39.550) and tied for first in floor exercise (9.925). Teammate Hannah Nordquist, also a senior, scored a perfect 10.000 to win the balance beam.
Etc.
• Apple Valley's Mark Hall defeated Alex Marinelli of Ohio 14-5 to highlight the Dream Team Classic in New Prague. Hall was ranked No. 1 in the country, Marinelli No. 2. He was 49-0 this season and won his fourth Ohio individual title.
• Junior Sara Groenewegen struck out 12 in her first perfect game and fifth no-hitter as the Gophers softball team beat Florida Atlantic 1-0 in the Owls' tournament. Sydney Fabian hit a home run for Minnesota (15-7) in the fourth inning. Earlier, the Gophers lost to Mercer 5-2.
• Justin Karstad of the Gophers won pommel horse (15.050), Jalon Stephens the high bar (15.150) and Paul Montague the parallel bars (15.150), but Minnesota's gymnastics team lost at Iowa 435.650-433.550.
• Myles Hunter of Minnesota State Mankato won the 60-meter hurdles (7.53) in the Division II track and field championships in Pittsburg, Kan., while Altoniece Williams was second in the same event (8.42) on the women's side. … Sophomore Emilee Trost of Minnesota Duluth finished second in the mile (4:47.57) and also anchored UMD's second-place distance medley relay (11:28.86).
• St. Thomas senior Emily Gapinski won the mile (4:52.28) in the NCAA Division III meet in Grinell, Iowa; she also anchored the winning distance medley (10:47.04). … Paul Escher of St. Olaf won the men's mile (4:10.10) for the second year in a row while teammate Jake Campbell was second in the 3,000.
• Junior Donald Longendyke (39-3) of Augsburg lost 5-4 to Zachery Roseberry of Delaware Valley in the heavyweight final at the NCAA Division III championships in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
• Junior David Sufficool of St. Cloud State placed third in 1-meter diving (522.40) and fourth in 3-meter (495.70) at the NCAA Division II swimming and diving championships in Indianapolis.
