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No. 6 Vikings entertain No. 1 Nebraska-Omaha on Wednesday
February 14, 2006
THIS WEEK: The sixth-ranked Augustana College wrestling team will be at home for its final dual of the season on Wednesday when the Vikings entertain top-ranked Nebraska-Omaha in a 7 p.m. dual in the Elmen Center.
Augustana brings a 12-4 dual record into the North Central Conference matchup, while Nebraska-Omaha is 9-0. The Mavericks and Vikings finished first and second at the 2005 NCAA Division II National Championships.
NCC CHAMPIONSHIPS: With only four North Central Conference schools sponsoring wrestling, there will not be a conference tournament. Instead, the NCC team championship will be determined by a series of round-robin duals.
The NCC title will be on the line on Wednesday. If Nebraska-Omaha wins, the Mavericks would win the title outright. But if Augustana wins, the Vikings will tie UNO and Minnesota State for the league title.
For the NCC individual championships, the top finisher in each weight class at the North Regional Qualifier will be designated as the NCC champion.
LAST TIME: This will be the second time this season and fourth time in the past two seasons that Augustana has faced Nebraska-Omaha. UNO defeated Augie 28-11 in the quarterfinals of the National Duals in January. Last year, the Mavericks edged Augustana 20-18 at the National Duals, but the Vikings rebounded with a 20-19 win in Omaha.
ABOUT NEBRASKA-OMAHA: Nebraska-Omaha has been ranked No. 1 all season. The Mavericks, 9-0 in duals this season, have eight wrestlers nationally ranked in their respective weight classes.
Leading UNO is senior heavyweight Les Sigman. Sigman, the three-time national champion, is 17-0 this season and has won 66 straight matches. Also ranked No. 1 is junior Patrick Allibone (157 pounds). Junior J.D. Naig is No. 2 at 174 pounds. Allibone won the 157-pound national title, while Naig won the 165-pound national title. Redshirt freshman Cody Garcia is No. 2 at 125 pounds, while senior Mitch Waite is No. 3 at 141 pounds. Freshman Ross Taplin is fifth at 165 pounds, while senior Dan Hilario (133 pounds) and sophomore Shane Unger (149 pounds) are both ranked sixth.
Augustana Probable Lineup
Wt, Wrestler, Yr., Overall Record, NCAA Rank, Region Rank
125 Chris Trampe, Jr., 16-13
133 Jeremie Degen, So., 11-11
141 Andre VanderVelde, Sr., 18-9, 6, 3
149 Ryan King, Sr., 26-4, 2, 1
Or Brandon Kruger, Fr., 11-12
Or Aaron Haddorf, So., 12-9
157 OPEN
165 Cody Henriksen, Jr., 18-7
174 Dusty Wilking, Sr., 14-10, 5, 4
184 Nate Buys, Jr., 21-10, 4, 2
197 Tim Boldt, Sr., 14-0, 1, 1
Hwt. Cris Bietz, Sr., 16-7, 4
RYAN KING ECLIPSES CENTURY MARK: Senior Ryan King had a very happy 22nd birthday on Saturday. King went 2-0 on the day with a 15-4 major decision over Adams State’s Dave Welanko and a 5-2 win over Nebraska-Kearney’s Matt True. King’s win over Welanko was his 100th career victory. The 149-pounder is 26-4 this season and has a 101-26 career record.
King is a two-time All-American who finished fourth at the national championships in 2005 and third in 2004.
VIKINGS NO. 6 IN NATIONAL POLLS: Augustana slipped one spot to No. 6 in the latest NCAA Division II Wrestling Coaches’ Association Top 20 Poll, released February 8. Augustana received 125 points to fall out of a tie with Nebraska-Kearney. The Vikings are only 4 points behind No. 4 Nebraska-Kearney, and 3 points behind No. 5 Pittsburgh-Johnstown. Two-time defending national champion Nebraska-Omaha is ranked No. 1, followed by Minnesota State-Mankato and Central Oklahoma.
SEVEN VIKINGS NATIONALLY RANKED: Seven Vikings are nationally ranked in their respective weight classes, according to the NCAA Division II Wrestling Coaches’ Association individual rankings. Tim Boldt is No. 1 at 197 pounds, while Ryan King remained No. 2 at 149 pounds. Dusty Wilking is No. 4 at 174 pounds, as is Nate Buys at 184 pounds. In addition, Austin Scarset is ranked No. 5 at 157 pounds, while Andre Vandervelde is ranked No. 5 at 141 pounds. Rounding out the group is Cris Bietz, who is ranked No. 6 at Heavyweight. See page 3 for a complete list of individual rankings.
North Region Team Rankings
1. Nebraska-Omaha 72
2. Minnesota State-Mankato 61
3. Augustana 51
4. Minnesota State-Moorhead 16
5. Upper Iowa 15
6. Northern State 7
7. Southwest Minnesota State 8
8. St. Cloud State 0