Jaxson Rohman qualified for the national tournament third time in his career with a second-place finish at 125 pounds at the NCAA Division II Region V wrestling tournament at All Seasons Arena on the North Dakota State Fairgrounds in Minot Saturday.
The Martin County West graduate, a junior at Augustana University, won three matches and lost one after a first-round bye.
He won by a technical fall over Lucas Ryan of Minnesota State and then won a one-point decision over Mary’s Jaden Verhagen to reach the finals.
That put him in the finals against a familiar opponent in Wisconsin-Parkside’s Shane Corrigan as the two were matchup for the fifth time in the past two seasons.
Corrigan would win the championship match 9-6 in sudden victory overtime to split their matches this season. Rohman won 9-7 over Corrigan when the teams met in a dual in December.
They met three times last season with Rohman winning in the team’s regular season dual, Corrigan won in the region finals and Rohman coming back to win in the national quarterfinals. Rohman would go on to place second in the national tournament.
This season, Rohman will take a 19-4 record to the national tourney March 15-16 in Wichita, Kan.
Another MCW grad competed for Augustana as Connor Simmonds went 1-2 at 157. He opened with a win by major decision before losing his next two matches. A sophomore, Simmonds finishes his season 13-5.
The Vikings were third in the team standings. St. Cloud State was first with 142 points, followed by Wisconsin-Parkside (123) and Augustana (117.5).
Here are the complete tournament results for Rohman and Simmonds:
125: Jaxson Rohman, Augustana, 2nd
First round: Bye
Quarterfinals: Tech fall Lucas Ryan (Minnesota State) 4:01 16-0
Semifinals: Dec. Jaden Verhagen (Mary) 7-6
Championship: Lost to Shane Corrigan (Wisconsin-Parkside) SV-1 9-6
157: Connor Simmonds, Augustana, DNP
First round: Maj. dec. Sean Howk (Southwest Minnesota State) 8-0
Quarterfinals: Lost to Braydon Huber (Mary) 3-1
Consolation Round 2: Bye
Consolation Round 3: Lost to Caleb Meunier (Minnesota State) 14-5