MINNEAPOLIS -- Augsburg
College will attempt to win its 10th NCAA Division III wrestling
national championship in a 17-season span this weekend, entering the
national championship tournament at the Five Flags Center in Dubuque,
Iowa, as the No. 2-ranked team in the national polls.
The Auggies, winners of nine of the last 16 national championships,
enters the weekend tournament ranked second behind top-ranked and
defending national champion Wartburg College (Iowa).
Augsburg has qualified wrestlers in all 10 weight classes to compete in
the national tournament, as has Wartburg. Wisconsin-La Crosse, ranked
No. 3 nationally, and Luther College (Iowa), ranked No. 4 nationally,
both have eight individuals competing in the national meet. Cortland
State University (N.Y.), ranked No. 5, has six individuals competing in
the national meet.
Augsburg College was ranked No. 1 in the Division III wrestling
national rankings for most of the season, before falling in a dual meet
to Wartburg (Iowa) 19-13 on Feb. 1. The Auggies topped the Knights in
an earlier dual meet, 22-10 on Jan. 14. Augsburg finished the season
11-1 in dual meets.
The Division III national tournament will be held at the Five Flags
Center in Dubuque, Iowa. The Five Flags Center also hosted the event in
2004. Friday’s two sessions (11 a.m. and 6 p.m.) eliminate the field to
the final eight in each weight class, which earn All-American honors.
Saturday’s 10:30 a.m. session includes championship semifinals and
wrestlebacks, with placing matches scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.
Championship finals begin at 7 p.m.
Augsburg is one of only six NCAA schools -- and the only Division III
school -- to have won eight or more wrestling team national
championships. In Division I, Oklahoma State has won 34 team titles,
while Iowa has won 20 and Iowa State has won eight. In Division II,
California State-Bakersfield and Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo have won
eight national titles apiece. In NAIA history, two schools have won
eight national titles -- Adams State (Colo.) and Central State (Okla.).
Augsburg and Wartburg have been the powers of small-college wrestling
over the past decade. Either Augsburg or Wartburg, or both teams, have
finished among the top two in the NCAA Division III national
championship race every year since 1990. Augsburg has won nine of the
last 16 Division III national titles (1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998,
2000, 2001, 2002, 2005), finishing second seven times; while Wartburg
won national titles in 1996, 1999, 2003, 2004 and 2006, finishing
second seven times.
Augsburg has two top-ranked wrestlers in the latest Division III
national rankings (Feb. 20) -- Marcus LeVesseur (Sr., Minneapolis,
Minn./Bloomington Kennedy HS) at 165 pounds and Quincy Osborn (Jr.,
Grand Rapids, Minn.) at 141 pounds. Augsburg’s Jafari Vanier (Jr.,
Minneapolis, Minn./Bloomington Kennedy HS, 133 pounds) and Jeremy
Anderson (Jr., Thief River Falls, Minn., 157 pounds) are ranked No. 2
in their weight classes. Seth Flodeen (So., Cannon Falls, Minn., 125
pounds) and Robbie Gotreau (Jr., Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS, 174
pounds) are ranked No. 3 in their weight classes. Jared Evans (Sr.,
Blue Earth, Minn./Blue Earth Area HS) is ranked No. 4 at 149 pounds.
Also competing at the national tournament for Augsburg are: George
Lynaugh (Jr., Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley HS) at 184 pounds,
Wally O’Connor (Jr., Oshkosh, Wis./Oshkosh West HS) at 197 pounds, and
Andrew Neumann (Sr., Somerset, Wis.) at heavyweight.