Wrestling 2/10/06 -- Augsburg (Minn.) 25, Wisconsin-Stevens Point 12

MINNEAPOLIS (2/10/06) -- Claiming wins in seven of 10 individual bouts, the Augsburg College wrestling team scored its 12th straight victory in the all-time series against the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, a 25-12 triumph in a nonconference dual meet Friday night at Augsburg's Si Melby Hall.

Augsburg, ranked No. 2 in the latest NCAA Division III national poll, finishes its dual-meet season 8-3. Wisconsin-Stevens Point, ranked No. 17 in Division III, is now 9-8 in dual meets. Augsburg leads the all-time series with Wisconsin-Stevens Point 13-1, in a series that dates to the 1992-93 season.

After dropping the first individual match, Augsburg claimed seven straight victories, including a third-period pin by top-ranked 165-pounder Ryan Valek * (Sr., Belle Plaine, Minn./Scott West) and a 14-6, major-decision victory by Jafari Vanier (So., Minneapolis, Minn./Bloomington Kennedy HS) at 133 pounds.Valek built a 9-1 lead before scoring his pin at the 6:43 mark, while Vanier used six takedowns and 3:51 of riding time to score the win at 133.

At 141, Augsburg's Josh Hansen (Jr., Albert Lea, Minn.) rallied from a 6-2 first-period deficit to force overtime, with a three-point near-fall and riding time bonus point against the Pointers' No. 7-ranked Joel Burdick (Sr., Racine, Wis./Park HS). Hansen then claimed a takedown 12 seconds into overtime to score an 8-6 win.

In the only meeting of ranked wrestlers in the meet, Augsburg's No. 5-ranked Robbie Gotreau (So., Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS) scored a 4-3 win over the Pointers' No. 7-ranked Al Stacilauskas (Sr., Escanaba, Mich.) at 174 pounds. Gotreau built a 3-0 lead after two periods, but Stacilauskas tied the match with a takedown with 51 seconds left. But five seconds later, Gotreau scored an escape, which proved to be the winning point in the match.

Augsburg's other ranked wrestlers also claimed victories, with No. 3-ranked Jared Evans (Jr., Blue Earth, Minn./Blue Earth Area HS) scoring a 6-4 win at 149; No. 5-ranked Jeremy Anderson (So., Thief River Falls, Minn.) scoring an 11-5 win at 157; and No. 4-ranked Brad Tupa * (Sr., Dundas, Minn./Faribault HS) scoring a 3-1 win at 184.

Wisconsin-Stevens Point closed the match with two victories, as Mitch Szwet (So., Coleman, Wis.) topped Wally O'Connor (So., Oshkosh, Wis./Oshkosh West HS) 5-0 at 197, and No. 4-ranked heavyweight Mike Hayes (Sr., Beaver Dam, Wis.) pinned Augsburg's Andrew Neumann (Jr., Somerset, Wis.) in 5:39.

The Pointers also claimed a win at 125 pounds, as Jake Calhoun (So., Plover, Wis./Stevens Point Area HS) topped Seth Flodeen (Fr., Cannon Falls, Minn.) 10-4.

Augsburg competes at the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional next Saturday (2/18) at the University of Chicago (Ill.). Wisconsin-Stevens Point closes its dual-meet season with a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match at Wisconsin-Eau Claire this Saturday (2/11) at 1 p.m.

College Wrestling -- No. 2 Augsburg (Minn., 8-3) 25, No. 16 Wisconsin-Stevens Point (9-8) 12
February 10, 2006 -- Si Melby Hall, Minneapolis, Minn.

Action begins at 125 pounds.
Offical: Joel Toedter.
Time of match: 1:30.
Attendance: 262.

125 -- Jake Calhoun (UWSP, 8-8) dec. Seth Flodeen (AUG, 25-13) 10-4 (UWSP 3-0).
133 -- Jafari Vanier (AUG, 12-2) maj. dec. Jared Kern (UWSP, 10-17) 14-6 (Augsburg 4-3).
141 -- Josh Hansen (AUG, 30-5) dec. No. 7 Joel Burdick (UWSP, 24-6) 8-6 (OT) (Augsburg 7-3).
149 -- No. 3 Jared Evans (AUG, 31-7) dec. Jon Burdick (UWSP, 15-14) 6-4 (Augsburg 10-3).
157 -- No. 5 Jeremy Anderson (AUG, 34-2) dec. Chris Brown (UWSP, 14-15) 11-5 (Augsburg 13-3).
165 -- No. 1 Ryan Valek * (AUG, 35-3) pinned Ed Wynimko (UWSP, 8-10) 6:43 (Augsburg 19-3).
174 -- No. 5 Robbie Gotreau (AUG, 32-6) dec. No. 7 Al Stacilauskas (UWSP, 7-2) 4-3 (Augsburg 22-3).
184 -- No. 4 Brad Tupa * (AUG, 16-3) dec. Craig Bollig (UWSP, 6-9) 3-1 (Augsburg 25-3).
197 -- Mitch Szwet (UWSP, 18-12) dec. Wally O'Connor (AUG, 22-14) 5-0 (Augsburg 25-6).
HWT -- No. 4 Mike Hayes (UWSP, 19-2) pinned Andrew Neumann (AUG, 22-7) 5:39 (Augsburg 25-12).