TOURNAMENT BRACKETS

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- With six wrestlers alive for championships in a competitive field, the Augsburg College wrestling team sits in second place after the first day of the Citrus Invitational on Thursday.

Augsburg is in second place with 92.5 points, just 1.5 points behind leader Upper Iowa's 94. The 16-team tournament features five teams ranked in the top 30 in the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III national rankings – No. 7 Augsburg (second), No. 6 St. John's (third), No. 5 Cornell (Iowa, fifth), No. 26 Ohio Northern (sixth) and No. 24 Mount Union (Ohio, ninth). Five other NCAA Division III programs are also in the field, along with three NCAA Division II programs and three club programs.

Six Auggies remain alive in championship brackets entering Friday's second day of action, including Tony Valek (SR, Belle Plaine, Minn./Scott West), the top-ranked wrestler nationally at 149 pounds. Valek improved to 16-0 on the season with three bonus-point wins on Thursday – two pins and a major decision. So far this season, 14 of Valek's 16 wins have been bonus-point victories.

At 141, Will Keeter (SO, Twin Falls, Idaho) and Jake Saatzer (SR, Mound, Minn./Mound-Westonka HS) each won three matches to remain alive entering Friday's semifinals. Saatzer won all three matches by pin, while Keeter, ranked No. 6 nationally at 141, outscored his opponents by a 38-2 margin with a technical fall and a major-decision triumph among his three wins.

Chad Johnson (SO, Ferryville, Wis./DeSoto HS), ranked No. 2 nationally at heavyweight, had a first-period pin and a major-decision among his three victories Thursday, improving to 14-1 on the season.

Brad Baus (SR, Mukwonago, Wis.), ranked No. 6 nationally at 197, had two first-period pins and a 16-0, technical fall among his three wins on Thursday.

Boyd Suparat (JR, North Branch, Minn.) improved to 12-4 on the season with two technical falls and a major decision among his three wins.

Auggies still alive in consolation brackets: Chad Bartschenfeld (FY, Amery, Wis.) at 125, Tom Kuehn (FY, Fargo, N.D./West Fargo HS) at 133, Zach Enrico (SR, Minnetonka, Minn./Hopkins HS) at 157,  Orlando Ponce (SR, Hialeah, Fla./Hialeah-Miami Lakes HS) and Noel Sweeney (SO, Grand Rapids, Minn.) at 165, Josh Kohler (SR, Monticello, Minn.) and Justin Bowland (SO, Foley, Minn.) at 174, and Alex Krautkremer (SR, Jordan, Minn./Scott West) and Joshua Vaughan (FY, Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy HS) at 184.

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Team scores after first day: 1. Upper Iowa 94; 2. Augsburg (Minn.) 92.5; 3. St. John's (Minn.) 74; 4. John Carroll (Ohio) 68.5; 5. Cornell (Iowa) 68; 6. Ohio Northern 58; 7. Liberty (Va., club) 54; 8. North Carolina-Pembroke 47.5; 9. Mount Union (Ohio) 44; 10. New York Univ. 38.5; 11. Colorado School of Mines 33; 12. Heidelberg (Ohio) 29; 13. Ursinus (Pa.) 19.5; 14t. Case Western Reserve (Ohio) 12.5; 14t. Central Florida (club) 12.5; 16. Florida Gulf Coast (club) 6.5.

First-day results from Augsburg wrestlers:
125 -- Chad Bartschenfeld 3-1.
133 -- Boyd Suparat 3-0; Tom Kuehn 2-1; Donny Rosenbloom 0-2.
141 -- Will Keeter 3-0; Jake Saatzer 3-0; Ryan Cook 1-2; Alex Johnson 1-2; Nick Dahlquist 0-2.
149 -- Tony Valek 3-0; Rashad Kennedy 2-2.
157 -- Zach Enrico 2-1; Kurt Knutsen 0-2.
165 -- Orlando Ponce 3-0; Noel Sweeney 3-1; Tim Hanlin 1-2; Brandon Bahr 0-1.
174 -- Josh Kohler 2-1; Justin Bowland 2-1.
184 -- Alex Krautkremer 3-1; Joshua Vaughan 2-1; Matt Hechsel 0-2.
197 -- Brad Baus 3-0; Caleb Davis 0-2.
HWT -- Chad Johnson 3-0.