Minnesota Scene: St. Cloud State wins Division II wrestling title

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.

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.

• 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.