AUGSBURG'S NCAA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS PAGE
TEAM RESULTS (FIRST ROUND)
INDIVIDUAL BRACKETS (FIRST ROUND)

LA CROSSE, Wis. -- The Augsburg College wrestling team won five of its eight opening-round matches, including four by bonus-point margins, to stand in third place after the first round of the NCAA Division III Wrestling National Championships on Friday afternoon at the La Crosse Center.

Augsburg currently has 12 points, standing in third place behind leader Wartburg (Iowa) with 18 and second-place Coe (Iowa) with 14.

Augsburg's two top-seeded wrestlers opened their tournament runs with major-decision victories on Friday. No. 1-ranked 149-pounder Tony Valek (SR, Belle Plaine, Minn./Scott West) improved to 30-0 on the season with a 9-1, major-decision win over Mike Willey of Plymouth State (N.H.). Valek built 1:44 of riding time on two takedowns, a reversal and two-point near-fall to score the victory.

Valek is now 30-0 on the season and 132-24 in his career. Of his 30 victories this season, 26 are bonus-point decisions (86.7 percent; 14 pins, two technical falls, 10 major decisions).

Top-seed Orlando Ponce (SR, Hialeah, Fla./Hialeah-Miami Lakes HS) improved to 21-0 on the season with a 16-8, major-decision win over Joseph Atwell of Central (Iowa). Ponce recorded five takedowns and a two-point near-fall in his win, accumulating 2:23 of riding time. Ponce claimed his 10th bonus-point win of the season (five pins, five major decisions) and improved to 113-31 in his career.

Both two-time national runners-up, Valek and Ponce will attempt to earn their third All-American honors in the quarterfinals tonight, starting at 6 p.m. Tonight's second session, the “All-America round,” will reduce the field to the eight All-Americans in each weight class.

Fourth-seeded 197-pounder Brad Baus (SR, Mukwonago, Wis.) claimed his 19th pin of the season with a 3:26 win over Paul Glover of Brockport State (N.Y.) in his opening match. In his first national tournament appearance, Baus is now 28-9 on the season and 97-54 in his career. Baus now has 64 pins in his career.

Heavyweight Chad Johnson (SO, Ferryville, Wis./DeSoto HS) improved to 33-1 on the season with a 12-0 win over Conner Herman of Luther (Iowa), claiming two 3-point near-falls in the third period and claiming 1:59 of riding time. Johnson entered the tournament as the No. 1-ranked heavyweight in the Division III national rankings, but was seeded No. 2 in the field behind unbeaten Derick Hesson of Mount Union (Ohio), who was upset in his opening-round match.

Augsburg 141-pounder Will Keeter (SO, Twin Falls, Idaho) won his opening-round match in overtime (OT-TB1), a 2-1 decision over Paul Marcello of Johns Hopkins (Md.). After a scoreless first overtime, Keeter rode out Marcello in the second, 30-second session, and Marcello began his 30-second session in the neutral position, giving up a point to Keeter. Marcello was unable to get a takedown in his 30-second session, as Keeter earned the win to improve to 29-6 on the year.

Three Auggie first-time national tournament competitors lost their opening-round matches, meaning they will have to win twice in the wrestlebacks tonight in order to earn All-America status.

Augsburg 125-pounder Mike Fuenffinger (FY, Hibbing, Minn.) was defeated 10-6 by Grant Sutter of Wisconsin-Whitewater, falling to 14-8 on the season. At 165, Tommy Teigen (SO, Ham Lake, Minn./Meadow Creek Christian HS) gave top-seed Nick LeClere of Coe (Iowa) a close match, but could not overcome a first-period takedown in a 2-0 loss. Teigen is now 24-13 on the year. At 174, Josh Kohler (SR, Monticello, Minn.) dropped to 30-18 on the year with a 9-4 loss to top-seed Jules Doliscar of Ithaca (N.Y.).

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NCAA Division III Wrestling National Championships
First Round – Friday, March 9 at La Crosse Center, La Crosse, Wis.

Top 10 Team Scores after first round: 1. Wartburg (Iowa) 18.0; 2. Coe (Iowa) 14.0; 3. Augsburg (Minn.) 12.0; 4. Wisconsin-Whiteater 10.0; 5t. North Central (Ill.) 8.0; 5t. Wisconsin-La Crose 8.0; 7t. Ithaca (N.Y.) 7.0; 7t. College of New Jersey 7.0; 9t. Elmhurst (N.Y.) 6.0; 9t. Cortland State (N.Y.) 6.0; 9t. York (Pa.) 6.0. Other Minnesota schools – 12t. Concordia-Moorhead 5.5; 15t. St. John's 5.0; 30t. St. Olaf 2.0.

Results from Minnesota college wrestlers:
125 – Grant Sutter (Wis.-Whitewater) dec. Mike Fuenffinger (Augsburg) 10-6; Ben Presler (Concordia-Moorhead) tech. fall Stephen Hinton (Lycoming) 17-0.
133 – Corey Brown (Thiel) maj. dec. Chad Henle (St. John's) 13-4; Joe Mileski (Wis.-Stevens Point) dec. Daron Hohbein (Concordia-Moorhead) 8-6 (OT); Thomas Mirocha (Wartburg) dec. Henle 5-3 (Henle eliminated).
141 – Will Keeter (Augsburg) dc. Paul Marcello (Johns Hopkins) 2-1 (OT-TB2); Ryan Timmerman (St. Olaf) dec. Ces Anista (Williams) 6-5.
149 – Tony Valek (Augsburg) maj. dec. Mike Willey (Plymouth State) 9-1.
157 – Orlando Ponce (Augsburg) maj. dec. Joseph Atwell (Central) 16-8; Dale Handley (Coe) dec. Chris Stevermer (St. John's) 12-5; John Darling (College of New Jersey) dec. Jacob Bohler (St. Olaf) 8-6; Isaac Dukes (Case Western Reserve) dec. Stevermer 12-5 (Stevermer eliminated).
165 – Nick LeClere (Coe) dec. Tommy Teigen (Augsburg) 2-0.
174 – Jules Doliscar (Ithaca) dec. Josh Kohler (Augsburg) 9-4; Mathew Pfarr (St. John's) dec. Dan Schiferl (Wis.-Oshkosh) 9-4; James Roach (St. Olaf) dec. Logan Einerson (Dubuque) 4-3.
184 – Mitchell Hagen (St. John's) dec. Ryan Pieper (Trine) 5-1.
197 – Brad Baus (Augsburg) pinned Paul Glover (Brockport State) 3:26; Nathan Schmitz (Concordia-Moorhead) dec. Reid Mosquera (Johns Hopkins) 5-2; Dustin Baxter (St. John's) dec. Sam Johnson (Dubuque) 3-1.
HWT – Chad Johnson (Augsburg) maj. dec. Conner Herman (Luther) 12-0; Joey Giaramita (Cortland State) dec. Tom Bouressa (Concordia-Moorhead) 4-3.