The University of Mary is hosting its annual Dean Walker Memorial Throwdown this Saturday at 12:30 PM in the parking lot of the MDU-Resources Community Bowl.  The throwdown will take place during tailgating festivities for the Minot State-Mary football tilt scheduled for 2:30.

This is the third year that Marauder Head Coach has used the Dean Walker Memorial event to stir excitement for the program, and this season promises to be the most exciting of Aho’s five year tenure. This Marauder team will be led by returners Tate Barnhardt and Rudy Guillen, plus a stable of other young wrestlers that should make this Mary’s most competitive squad of the Divison 2 era.  Barnhardt, a Bismarck native and two time state champion for St. Mary’s Central High School, finished last season 12-1 in dual competition, but was unable to break through and qualify for the national tournament.  Guillen, a Georgia state champion, had a stellar true freshman campaign two seasons ago before redshirting last year and focusing on Greco Roman.  Both are prime candidates to become Aho’s first national qualifier at Mary.

This weekend’s event will have no bearing on the future of the roster, Coach Aho is simply matching up wrestlers that will give the fans in attendance reason to get excited about the sport.

“Our goal with this event is to create an atmosphere for Marauder fans to show up and enjoy the sport of wrestling,” Aho noted.  “We are rolling out our dual mat outdoors to get our wrestlers and fans excited for the season.