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Augsburg 37, Wisconsin-Stevens Point 6
Marcus LeVesseur (So., Minneapolis, Minn./Bloomington Kennedy HS) extended his school-record winning streak to 76 straight matches with a first-period pin on Friday night, leading Augsburg College to a 37-6 victory over the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in a nonconference wrestling match at Augsburg's Si Melby Hall.
Augsburg, ranked No. 2 in the latest NCAA Division III national poll, won nine of 10 matches in the dual to improve to 12-3 on the season in its final dual meet of the season. Wisconsin-Stevens Point, ranked No. 4 in the same poll, is now 7-3 on the season. Augsburg is 11-1 all-time against Wisconsin-Stevens Point, winning the last 10 duals in a row in the series.
Against teams from Divisions II and III, Augsburg improves to 189-12 since 1989-90, losing just seven matches since the 1995-96 season. Against teams from Division III, Augsburg is now 210-17 since the 1979-80 season and 134-7 since 1989-90.
LeVesseur, the defending national champion and top-ranked wrestler nationally at 157 pounds, improved to 32-0 on the season with a 1:43 pin of Nate Kurszewski (Fr., Stevens Point, Wis.). LeVesseur has yet to lose a match in his two seasons as a collegiate wrestler.
In one of the most-anticipated matches of the evening, Wisconsin-Stevens Point's Cody Koenig (Jr., Underwood, Iowa), ranked No. 3 nationally at 174 pounds, avenged an earlier loss to Augsburg's Joe Moon (Jr., Ellendale, Minn./New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva HS), the No. 2-ranked wrestler in the class, with a first-period pin (1:32), giving the Pointers their only team points of the match.
In the only other meeting of ranked wrestlers, Augsburg's Mark Matzek (Jr., Ellsworth, Wis.), currently the top-ranked wrestler nationally at 133, used three takedowns, a reversal and 3:35 of riding time to dominate in a 9-1, major-decision win over UWSP's Brady Holtz (Sr., Oconto Falls, Wis.), ranked No. 6 nationally.
Jamell Tidwell (Jr., Burnsville, Minn./Bloomington Kennedy HS), ranked No. 2 nationally at 141, scored a 10-4 victory to improve to 37-3 on the season and 114-11 on his career. Third-ranked Mark Simmonds (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn./Edison HS) used three takedowns, two escapes and 1:46 of riding time to improve to 29-7 on the season with a 9-3 triumph.
Ryan Valek (So., Belle Plaine, Minn.) improved to 35-9 on the year with a 16-1, third-period technical-fall victory at 165 pounds. Dustin Dahlblom (Fr., Stillwater, Minn.) earned a 13-2, major-decision win at 149, converting a takedown and three near-falls in the first period to build a 10-0 advantage.
Clint Hodgdon (Jr., Ostrander, Minn./LeRoy-Ostrander HS), used three takedowns, an near fall and reversal to score a 12-5 victory at 184, and Ben Moss (Fr., Council Bluffs, Iowa/Lewis Central HS) earned a 9-5 win in the final match of the evening at 125.
Augsburg returns to action at the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Invitational on Feb. 21 at 9 a.m. at Concordia University in Mequon, Wis. Wisconsin-Stevens Point returns to action on Saturday (2/14) in a quadruple-dual event at Wisconsin-Eau Claire. UWSP faces Wisconsin-Eau Claire at 12 noon, faces St. John's at 2 p.m. and Concordia-Moorhead at 4 p.m.