
Augustana Update
March 6, 2003
Augustana qualified six wrestlers for the national tournament in Wheeling, WV:
Noticeably absent from the list of qualifiers is Tom Meester. After having been ranked #1 for most of the season, Tom was hit with a flu virus at a very inopportune time. He tried wrestling the first round, but the flu got the best of him. Dusty Wilking and Cris Bietz were the other two that did not qualify. In any other region, those two would have likely qualified.
I was extremely proud of the way the squad bounced back after a rough first round. In perhaps my favorite match of the day, Ryan King defeated Lucas Christianson of NDSU 13-11 in OT to qualify for nationals. He was trailing by 4 with less that two minutes remaining, and he somehow got the job done. We will need more of that kind of effort in Wheeling on March 14-15.
The first round pairings have:
Since I am busy with national tourney plans, I will cut this short. However, I will send a season wrap-up after we return from the national tournament.
Thanks for your support!
Kraig Presler,
Augie Wrestling