Posted: Nov 03, 2016

Storm fall to No. 11 Cornell in outdoor dual

MOUNT VERNON, Iowa — Jason Kiehne's pin at 149 pounds gave the Simpson wrestling team a 9-8 lead over 11th-ranked Cornell but the Storm couldn't sustain the momentum, losing 27-15 in the season-opener held at Ash Park Stadium.

The first outdoor meet in school history started strong when freshman Clayton Fenzl began his career with a 10-7 win over Gage Griffin at 125 pounds. Kiehne then picked up where he left off last year when he registered a team-high 10 pins, putting Jake Allen to the mat six seconds before the end of the first period.

"We need to see more things in competition that we've seen all preseason in the room," head coach Nate Hansen said. "We're excited about the year because we know we have great potential. Now it's on our coaching staff to find ways to tap into everything we have and produce results."

At 157 pounds, Jason Clark battled against eighth-ranked Aaron Engle -- a 2016 national qualifier -- but lost 3-2. Cornell rattled off wins in the next three matches before DeVaughn Scott and Colby Vlieger picked up close wins to close the dual. Scott beat Ben Bergen 4-2 at 197 and Vlieger edged Tyler Ortmann 3-2 at 285.

UP NEXT
The Storm travel to Lamoni on Tuesday, Nov. 8 for a non-conference dual against Graceland. Start time is set for 7 p.m.

#11 Cornell 27, Simpson 15
125 — Clayton Fenzl (SIM) dec. Gage Griffin, 10-7
133 — Brody Lamb (COR) tech. fall Jacob Irwin, 23-3 (7:00)
141 — #8 Josh Martin (COR) dec. Zach Johnston, 11-6
149 — Jason Kiehne (SIM) pinned Jake Allen, 2:54
157 — #8 Aaron Engle (COR) dec. Jason Clark, 3-2
165 — Ben Hewson (COR) pinned Austin Stotts, 3:53
174 — Michael Maksimovic (COR) major dec. Jake Mize, 18-8
184 — Brian Cristion (COR) pinned RJ Brown, 2:05
197 — DeVaughn Scott (SIM) dec. Ben Bergen, 4-2
285 — Colby Vlieger (SIM) dec. Tyler Ortmann, 3-2
Rankings are NWCA