WAVERLY, Iowa. (2/2/08) -- Winning eight of 10 individual bouts,
including a technical fall and two major decisions, Wartburg College
(Iowa) scored a 28-9 dual-meet victory over visiting Augsburg College
in a meeting of the top two ranked teams in NCAA Division III wrestling
on Saturday night at Levick Arena at the Wartburg-Waverly Sports and
Wellness Center.
Wartburg, the defending national runner-up and current top-ranked team
in the National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III national
rankings, improved to 21-0 on the season in dual meets.
Augsburg, the defending national champion and winners of 10 of the last
17 national titles, is now 9-2 on the season. Against teams from
Divisions II and III, Augsburg is now 227-19 since the 1989-90 season,
losing just 14 matches to non-Division I opponents since the 1995-96
season. Against strictly Division III opponents, Augsburg is 234-22
since the 1979-80 season and 158-12 since the 1989-90 season.
The Auggies' lone victories came from No. 4-ranked Travis Lang (JR,
Bismarck, N.D.) at 133 pounds and George Lynaugh (SR, Inver Grove
Heights, Minn./Simley HS) at 174. Lang claimed a first-period pin of
No. 3-ranked Jacob Helvey, while Lynaugh scored a 12-8 win over
Wartburg's No. 10-ranked Craig Kreman.
Lang rebounded from an early takedown by Helvey, claiming an escape,
takedown and pin at the 2:22 mark. Lynaugh collected a takedown,
three-point near-fall and two escapes to build a 7-3 lead after two
periods, en route to the 12-8 win with a takedown, two escapes and a
riding-time bonus point in the third period.
Wartburg claimed three bonus-point victories -- a third-period, 17-0
technical-fall by top-ranked Jacob Naig at 149 over Augsburg's Jason
Adams (So., Coon Rapids, Minn.); a 13-4 major-decision by top-ranked
Aaron Wernimont at 157 over Augsburg's Beau Hansen (FY, Albert Lea,
Minn.); and a 10-0 major-decision by top-ranked T.J. Miller over
Augsburg's Wallace O'Connor (SR, Oshkosh, Wis./Oshkosh West HS) at 197.
In the two other meetings of ranked wrestlers, Wartburg's No. 6-ranked
Robert Struthers scored a 7-5 win over No. 4-ranked Seth Flodeen (JR,
Cannon Falls, Minn.) at 125, and Wartburg's top-ranked Romeo Djoumessi
scored a 6-4 win over No. 6-ranked Robbie Gotreau (SR, Bloomington,
Minn./Jefferson HS) at 184.
Tied at 3-3 after two periods, Struthers scored an escape and takedown
to take a 6-3 lead, and rebounded from a Flodeen reversal with an
escape in the last second of the match. At 184, Djoumessi used two
takedowns and two third-period escapes to hold off Gotreau's upset bid.
At 141, No. 3-ranked Zac McKray scored a 6-2 win over Augsburg's Lucas
Murray (FY, Anoka, Minn.); Wartburg's No. 10-ranked Justin Hanson
scored a 6-2 win over Brandon Klukow (JR, Albert Lea, Minn.) at 165,
and No. 3-ranked Brian Borchers used a second-period escape and
riding-time bonus point to score a 2-0 win over Augsburg's Andy Witzel
(SO, Fulda, Minn.) at heavyweight.
Also on Saturday, the Augsburg White Team (junior varsity) finished in
third place at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Invitational at
the McPhee Phy Ed Center in Eau Claire, Wis. Paul Bjorkstrand (JR,
Burnsville, Minn., 133 pounds) and Zach Hansen (SO, Albert Lea, Minn.,
157) won individual championships for the Auggies, while Jake Saatzer
(FY, Mound, Minn./Mound-Westonka HS) finished second at 141 and Freddy
Vigil (SO, Bakersfield, Calif./South HS) finished third at 125.
Augsburg returns to action next Saturday (2/9) at 9 a.m., at the St. John's University North Country Open in Collegeville, Minn.
College Wrestling -- No. 1 Wartburg (Iowa, 21-0) 28, No. 2 Augsburg (Minn., 9-2) 9
Saturday, February 2, 2008 -- Levick Arena at Wartburg-Waverly Sports and Wellness Center, Waverly, Iowa
Attendance: 1,900. Official: Rick Stahl.
Match begins at 125 pounds.
133 – #4 Travis Lang (26-1) won by fall over #3 Jacob Helvey (25-3), 2:22
1st period – Helvey takedown, :25, 2-0; Lang escape, 1:13, 2-1; Lang takedown, 1:48, 3-2
AUGSBURG 6, WARTBURG 3
