2002-03 College News - Augustana Update December 11, 2002

Augustana Update

December 11, 2002

Greetings Everyone,

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The Viking wrestlers have been quite busy the last few days, and they have experienced some success as well. On Dec. 6-7, the current varsity wrestlers (minus Ryan King who is out with Mono) wrestled in the prestigious Las Vegas Invitational. Overall, the Augie wrestlers won 19 out of 36 matches in the predominantly division I tourney. The Vikings were the top NCAA II team in the standings, and the field included the two NCAA II teams ranked #1 and #3--Central Oklahoma and NDSU. Individually, Tom Meester placed 6th at 174, earning NCC Wrestler of the Week honors, and Sam Kenton placed 7th at 184. Tom and Sam both defeated highly ranked Division I opponents. Complete results were as follows:

125 Aaron Graumann 3-2 DNP

133 Andre VanderVelde 0-2 DNP

149 Austin Scarset 1-2 DNP

157 Ben Caven 0-2 DNP

165 Dustin Wilking 2-2 DNP

174 Tom Meester 5-3 6th place

184 Sam Kenton 5-2 7th place

285 Cris Bietz 3-2 DNP

The travel and tough competition took its toll on the team as Sam Kenton and Cris Bietz were unable to compete in our dual meet with Northwestern on Wed., Dec. 11. However, the Vikings did pick up a win in their first dual meet of the season. The final score was 27-18, but all seven wrestlers who wrestled won their matches. Austin Scarset, Andre VanderVelde, and Tom Meester all won by major decision while Aaron Graumann picked up a win by forfeit. Dustin Wilking and Ben Caven-Johnson each won by decision.

The wrestlers next compete on Jan. 7th, 2003. On that date, Augsburg comes to the Elmen Center for a 7:00 PM dual. Augsburg is the defending NCAA III champion. The Vikings will have their full squad ready for this contest, and we hope to give them a long ride home. In the coming week, final tests and final paperes will be occupying most of our time.

Thanks for reading, and Merry Christmas!

Kraig Presler, Augustana Coach