AUGSBURG'S NATIONAL TOURNAMENT PAGE
SESSION 3 INDIVIDUAL BRACKETS
SESSION 3 TEAM SCORES

LA CROSSE, Wis. – Two Augsburg College wrestlers will compete for national titles later tonight, while two Auggies finished in third and another placed fourth during the third session of the NCAA Division III Wrestling National Championships on Saturday afternoon at the La Crosse Center.

Entering Saturday night's final session, Augsburg stands in second place with 82.5 points, trailing Wartburg (Iowa), which has already clinched the national title with 126.5 points. Coe (Iowa) is in third place with 74 points, while Wisconsin-La Crosse is fourth with 65 points.

Augsburg 157-pounder Orlando Ponce (SR, Hialeah, Fla./Hialeah-Miami Lakes HS) will compete in the national championship match for the third straight season, after winning a dramatic 6-4 victory in overtime over Chris Burdge of Centenary (N.J.) in the semifinals. Trailing 3-1 after two periods, Ponce scored an escape and takedown to take a 4-3 lead, but Burdge tied the match at 4-4 with an escape, forcing overtime. In the first overtime session, Ponce scored the decisive takedown with 31 seconds left to reach the finals.

Now 23-0 this season and 113-31 in his career, Ponce will face Nazar Kulchytskyy of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in the national championship match later tonight. It will be the second meeting of the top two-ranked 157-pounders this season; Ponce claimed a 9-4 win over Kulchytskyy in a Feb. 10 dual meet. Ponce placed second nationally at 157 pounds in 2011, while placing second at 165 pounds in 2010.

Augsburg heavyweight Chad Johnson (SO, Ferryville, Wis./DeSoto HS) will compete for his first national title tonight, after scoring a 4-1 victory over William Mayer of Wisconsin-La Crosse in the semifinals. Johnson claimed an escape and takedown in the second period, then rode Mayer out through the entire third period, building 2:15 of riding time.

Now 35-1 on the season and 67-12 in his career, Johnson will face Corey Anderson of Wisconsin-Whitewater in the national championship match later tonight.

Two Auggies earned third-place honors in Saturday's early session, both avenging losses to their opponents earlier in the tournament.

At 149, Tony Valek (SR, Belle Plaine, Minn./Scott West) claimed a 5-3 victory over Joe Wood of Loras (Iowa), who had topped Valek 3-2 in overtime in Friday's quarterfinals. In Saturday's third-place match, Valek rallied from a 2-0 first-period deficit, collecting two takedowns in the final 28 seconds – including the decisive takedown with 13 seconds left – to win the match.

Valek reached the third-place match with two major-decision victories earlier on Saturday – an 8-0 win over James Locke of Coe (Iowa) and a 15-2 win over Zac Andrews of Delaware Valley (Pa.). He finished his senior season 34-1, with 29 bonus-point wins (15 pins, two technical falls, 12 major decisions). He finished his career at 136-25.

At 141, Will Keeter (SO, Twin Falls, Idaho) scored a 9-2 win over Ryan Timmerman of St. Olaf, avenging his 8-4 loss to Timmerman in Friday's quarterfinals. In the third-place match, the duo's fifth meeting of the season, Keeter claimed his fourth victory, scoring a takedown, two 2-point near-falls, a reversal and 1:50 of riding time.

Keeter reached the third-place match with an 8-6 victory over Brian Bistis of Cortland State (N.Y.), rallying from a 6-5, third-period deficit with an escape and a takedown with 27 seconds left in the match, and a 4-3 win over Chris Albright of York (Pa.). Keeter finished his sophomore campaign 33-7 on the season and 59-26 in his career.

Augsburg 197-pounder Brad Baus (SR, Mukwonago, Wis.) finished in fourth place in the competition in his first appearance in the national tournament. Baus gave top-seed Byron Tate of Wartburg a challenge in the semifinals, but dropped a 10-6 decision.

In his wrestleback match, Baus used an escape early in the second period to gain the only point in a 1-0 win over Nathan Schmitz of Concordia-Moorhead, putting him into the third-place match. But Jared Myhrberg of Cortland State (N.Y.) converted a key three-point near-fall midway through the third period to score a 6-2 victory. Baus finished his senior season with a 30-11 record and ended his career at 99-56.

The Auggie wrestling team has claimed at least five All-Americans for the 24th straight season. Augsburg has had at least five All-Americans in NCAA national wrestling competition every year since 1989.

In the final session, Augsburg will have a chance to extend another streak to 24 straight years – a streak of finishing in the top four in NCAA national team competition. Augsburg's current 23-year top-four national team finishing streak is the longest active streak in NCAA wrestling among all divisions, and is the second-longest streak in NCAA wrestling history, behind the 29 of Oklahoma State from 1928-59.

Saturday's Parade of All-Americans is at 6:30 p.m., with the championship matches scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

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NCAA Division III Wrestling National Championships
Saturday, March 10 at La Crosse Center, La Crosse, Wis.

Top 10 Team Scores after third session: 1. Wartburg (Iowa) 126.5; 2. Augsburg (Minn.) 82.5; 3. Coe (Iowa) 74.0; 4. Wisconsin-La Crosse 65; 5. Ithaca (N.Y.) 52.5; 6. College of New Jersey 41.0; 7. Elmhurst (Ill.) 39.5; 8. Wisconsin-Whitewater 35.5; 9. North Central (Ill.) 32.0; 10. Cortland State (N.Y.) 31.5. Other Minnesota schools – 11. St. John's 29.5; 13. Concordia-Moorhead 27.5; 28. St. Olaf 12.5.

Saturday's results from Minnesota college wrestlers:
125 – Ben Presler (Concordia-Moorhead) maj. dec. Charlie Frankel (Delaware Valley) 10-2; Grant Sutter (Wisconsin-Whitewater) dec. Presler 5-0. Fifth-Place Match: Presler dec. Jimmy Gotto (Coe) 1-0.
141 – Will Keeter (Augsburg) dec. Brian Bistis (Cortland State) 8-6; Bebeto Yewah (Wis.-La Crosse) maj. dec.  Ryan Timmerman (St. Olaf) 15-7; Keeter dec. Chris Albright (York) 4-3; Timmerman dec. Andrew Zobac (North Central) 4-0. Third-Place Match: Keeter dec. Timmerman 9-2.
149 – Tony Valek (Augsburg) maj. dec. James Locke (Coe) 8-0; Valek maj. dec. Zac Andrews (Delaware Valley) 15-2. Third-Place Match: Valek dec. Joe Wood (Loras) 5-3.
157 – Orlando Ponce (Augsburg) dec. Chris Burdge (Centenary-N.J.) 6-4 (OT-SV1). National Championship Match: Ponce vs. Nazar Kylchytskyy (Wis.-Oshkosh).
174 – Bradley Banks (Wartburg) dec. Mathew Pfarr (St. John's) 6-4; Pfarr dec. Matt Cross (Messiah) 6-5. Third-Place Match: Michael Schmitz (Wis.-La Crosse) dec. Pfarr 3-2.
197 – Byron Tate (Wartburg) dec. Brad Baus (Augsburg) 10-6; Dustin Baxter (St. John's) dec. Jared Myhrberg (Cortland State) 4-2; Nathan Schmitz (Concordia-Moorhead) dec. William Meaney (Elizabethtown) 8-1; Baus dec. Schmitz 1-0. Third-Place Match: Myhrberg dec. Baus 6-2; Fifth-Place Match: Schmitz dec. Trent Flegel (Luther) 5-3. National Championship Match: Baxter vs. Tate.
HWT – Chad Johnson (Augsburg) dec. William Mayer (Wis.-La Crosse) 4-1. National Championship Match: Johnson vs. Corey Anderson (Wis.-Whitewater).