1/7/01
by Don Stoner, Augsburg SID
MINNEAPOLIS (1/7/01) -- Claiming victories in six of the 10 individual matches, Augsburg College claimed a 24-12 win over Wartburg College in a nonconference wrestling dual meet Sunday afternoon at the University of Minnesota's Williams Arena.
Augsburg, the top-ranked team in the NWCA Adidas-Brute Division III national rankings, improves to 4-0 in dual meets this season. Wartburg, ranked fourth in the nation, drops to 5-2. Augsburg has beaten Wartburg the last five years in a row in dual meets, and holds a 6-1 edge in the all-time dual-meet series.
The two teams have dominated NCAA Division III wrestling the past decade. Augsburg has won six national championships in the last 10 years (1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000), while Wartburg has won two national crowns (1996, 1999). The two teams have taken the top two spots at the last five Division III national championships.
The match was held as a precursor to the University of Minnesota's match with Oklahoma State University. The Gophers fell to Oklahoma State 25-12. Attendance for the two matches at Williams Arena was 9,565.
Sunday's dual was highlighted by the only meeting of ranked wrestlers at 184 pounds, when Augsburg's Nik Lewandowski (Sr., Hastings, Minn.) took advantage of a penalty point for stalling with 16 seconds left to force overtime, then scored a takedown 26 seconds into the extra frame to claim a 6-4 victory over Wartburg's Sonny Alvarez (So., Aledo, Ill.). Lewandowski, a three-time All-American, is ranked third in the nation at 184, while Alvarez entered the match ranked eighth in the nation.
Defending national champion Ben Bauer (Sr., Faribault, Minn.) had the lone pin in the match, claiming a third-period pin at heavyweight over Wartburg's Scott Eddy (Jr., Independence, Iowa) to move to 18-1 on the season.
Augsburg's Nick Slack (Jr., Belle Plaine, Minn.) improved to 13-0 with a major-decision victory at 174 pounds. The defending national champion at 174, Slack currently has a 44-match winning streak spanning two seasons. The school record for consecutive wins is 64, set by Henry Gerten during the 1996-97 and 1997-98 seasons.
Bryan Miller (Jr., Virginia Beach, Va.) scored an impressive 23-7, technical-fall victory at 133 pounds for the Auggies, whose other victories came on decisions from Tony Abbott (Jr., Inver Grove Heights, Minn./St. Thomas Academy HS) at 165 and Darin Bertram (Jr., Herman, Minn./Herman-Norcross HS) at 125. Bertram, a two-time defending national runner-up at 125, is currently the top-ranked wrestler in the nation in his weight class; Abbott is ranked fourth in the country at 165.
Wartburg's victories all came on three-point decisions, from Matt Buskohl (Sr., Dike, Iowa) at 197, Kevin Bratland (So., Humboldt, Iowa) at 157 pounds, Anthony Ganas (So., Des Plaines, Ill.) at 141 and from Kurt Morgan (So., Eagle Grove, Iowa) at 149.
Buskohl, unbeaten at 12-0 on the season, is currently ranked second in the nation at 197 pounds. Ganas is ranked eighth in the country at 141.
Augsburg returns to action on Wednesday night (1/10) at 7 p.m., hosting Division II St. Cloud State at 7 p.m. at Augsburg's Si Melby Hall. Wartburg competes at the Central College (Iowa) tournament next Saturday (1/13).