DES MOINES – North Dakota State senior 125-pounder Trent Sprenkle capped his historic run at the NCAA Wrestling Championships with a fifth-place finish on Saturday morning at Wells Fargo Arena.
Sprenkle, the tournament’s ninth seed at 125 pounds, won a 7-2 decision over fifth-seeded Jarrod Garnett of Virginia Tech in the fifth-place match. He becomes the first All-American of NDSU’s Division I era and the seventh in school history.
Sprenkle’s win over Garnett was his 109th career win – enough for him to overtake Brian Kapusta (1991-95) for the No. 2 spot on the all-time wins list for the Bison. He posted a 6-2 record over the three-day NCAA Championships to run his career record to 109-46, catapulting from sixth to second in career wins at NDSU.
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Only two wrestlers in NDSU history have finished higher than fifth at the NCAA Division I meet. Lee Petersen placed fourth at 142 pounds in 1973, and Brad Rheingans was fourth at 190 pounds in 1975.
The Billings, Mont., native went 46-9 over the final 55 matches of his career.
No. 1 seed Alan Waters of Missouri pinned Sprenkle in the first period of the consolation semifinals prior to the fifth-place match.
With just the championship matches remaining on Saturday night, NDSU stands in 30th place in the team standings with 15.5 points.