North advances to semifinals, Docken eliminated on day one of NCAA Championships

CLEVELAND – Augustana’s TJ North continued his dominant final stretch of the season with two wins and advanced to the 125-pound semifinals at the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships on Friday. Jayd Docken’s season came to a close as he lost two decisions on the first day of the national meet.

North opened the tournament with Patrick Mestrez of Belmont Abbey and Augustana’s junior from Elk Point, S.D. never let his opponent have a chance. North scored a takedown in every period and kept Mestrez’s limited shots at bay to earn an 8-0 major decision for his 22nd consecutive win.

In the quarterfinal, North showed off his No. 3 ranking by taking down Jeff Vesta of Newberry by 8-1 decision. The redshirt sophomore is set to take on No. 5 Dave Fogle of Pitssburgh-Johnstown when action begins tomorrow at 9 a.m. CST.

Docken lost a one-point decision I his opening bout which placed him into the consolation bracket. A high scoring affair between Augustana’s 197 pounder and Colorado Mesa’s Paco Retana ended in Docken losing 12-1 after Retana built a big enough lead to withstand Docken’s third-period takedown.

In the first round of the consolation bracket, Docken squared off against Kenny Breaux of Lindenwood. Docken trailed 3-2 after the first period then 4-3 entering the third. Breaux kept his tournament hopes alive with a 9-5 decision and ended Docken’s chances at repeating as an All-American. Docken’s season comes to an end with a 17-5 record.

Action resumes tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. CST with North taking on Pittsburgh-Johnstown’s Dave Fogle in the semifinals.

College Tournament Time

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