AUGSBURG'S NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PAGE
FINAL TEAM RESULTS
FINAL INDIVIDUAL BRACKETS
2012 ALL-AMERICANS

LA CROSSE, Wis. – With a second-place team finish on Saturday night at the La Crosse Center and an individual national champion, the Augsburg College wrestling team claimed its 24th straight top-four finish at the NCAA Division III Wrestling National Championships.

Augsburg finished second with 86.5 points, behind national champion Wartburg (Iowa) with 141.5 points. Coe (Iowa) was third with 74.0 points, Wisconsin-La Crosse was fourth with 65.0 points and Ithaca (N.Y.) was fifth with 61.5 points.

The top four teams at the NCAA championships receive team trophies, and Augsburg has finished among the top four every season since 1989 – a 24-year streak of finishing in the top four in NCAA national team competition. The 24-year 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.

With five All-Americans, the Auggie wrestling team also extended its streak of claiming at least five All-Americans to 24 straight years – also every year since 1989.

Heavyweight Chad Johnson (SO, Ferryville, Wis./De Soto HS) won the national title in his second appearance at the national tournament, claiming a 6-1 victory over Corey Anderson of Wisconsin-Whitewater in the title match.

Johnson claimed two takedowns and was dominant in the top position throughout the match, building 2:34 of riding time, including 1:50 in the first period. Leading 3-0 in the third period, Johnson fought off a leg attack by Anderson and spun around for a takedown, giving Johnson a 5-0 lead.

Johnson is Augsburg's 46th individual national champion, Augsburg's record 42nd in NCAA Division III competition. He is the third national champion under Augsburg head coach Mark Matzek.

In the semifinals, Johnson scored a 4-1 victory over William Mayer of Wisconsin-La Crosse. 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. He finished his season at 36-1 and is 68-12 in his two seasons at Augsburg, including a seventh-place finish last year.

Augsburg's Orlando Ponce (SR, Hialeah, Fla./Hialeah-Miami Lakes HS) reached the national championship match for the third straight year, but fell one point short of claiming the national title with a 10-9 loss to Wisconsin-Oshkosh's Nazar Kulchytskky in the 157-pound final.

Kulchytskky took a 5-0 lead with a minute to go in the first period, converting a drive into a takedown and three-point near-fall. He extended the lead to 8-3 early in the third period, but Ponce began a strong comeback, claiming two takedowns and receiving two stalling penalty points in the final 1:22 of the third period to cut the lead to the final margin of 10-9.

Ponce, who placed second nationally at 157 last season and second nationally at 165 in 2010, finished his senior season at 23-1 and his career at 115-32. A four-time NCAA Division III national tournament qualifier in his Auggie career, Ponce became the fourth Division III wrestler to ever be a national runner-up three times, according to wrestling writer Jon Gremmels of the Clinton (Iowa) Herald.

In the semifinals on Saturday, Ponce claimed 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.

Two Auggies earned third-place honors in Saturday's early session – 149-pounder Tony Valek (SR, Belle Plaine, Minn./Scott West) and 141-pounder Will Keeter (SO, Twin Falls, Idaho). Brad Baus (SR, Mukwonago, Wis.) finished fourth at 197 pounds.

Valek 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. Keeter finished his sophomore campaign 33-7 on the season and 59-26 in his career. Baus finished his senior season with a 30-11 record and ended his career at 99-56.

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

Top 10 Team Scores: 1. Wartburg (Iowa) 141.5; 2. Augsburg (Minn.) 86.5; 3. Coe (Iowa) 74.0; 4. Wisconsin-La Crosse 65.0; 5. Ithaca (N.Y.) 61.5; 6. College of New Jersey 47.0; 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: Nazar Kylchytskyy (Wis.-Oshkosh) dec. Ponce 10-9.
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: Tate dec. Baxter 7-2.
HWT – Chad Johnson (Augsburg) dec. William Mayer (Wis.-La Crosse) 4-1. National Championship Match: Johnson dec. Corey Anderson (Wis.-Whitewater) 6-1.