NORTHWESTERN MIDLANDS CHAMPIONSHIPS SITE
MIDLANDS FINAL BRACKETS

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Four Augsburg College wrestlers gained valuable experience competing against top opponents on Sunday, competing at the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships at Northwestern University.

Two-time defending NCAA Division III national champion heavyweight Chad Johnson (SR, Ferryville, Wis./De Soto HS), 125-pounder Mike Fuenffinger (JR, Hibbing, Minn.), 157-pounder Will Keeter (JR, Twin Falls, Idaho) and 197-pounder Matt Hechsel (JR, Apple Valley, Minn.) all competed at the Midlands Championships, which draws some of the top collegiate wrestlers in all divisions in the country.

"This tournament was good for our wrestlers. We were able to see wrestlers from coast to coast from Division I and the different styles of wrestling that accompanied them. This will help prepare us for the National Duals and the national tournament," said Augsburg coach Mark Matzek. "I felt like we could have performed better, but the one thing these guys didn't lack was fight. These guys were put in some tough positions that will only make them better -- which is what a midseason tournament is supposed to do. These four guys will become better wrestlers because of this experience."

Johnson, ranked No. 1 nationally in Division III at heavyweight, was seeded No. 7 in the heavyweight field. He opened with a 6-2 win over Alex White of Purdue, but suffered a 3-2 loss to Blaize Cabell of Northern Iowa. The loss snapped a 42-match winning streak for Johnson, who is now 13-1 on the season and 118-14 in his Auggie career.

Fuenffinger, ranked No. 3 nationally at 125, claimed a 1:42 pin over Tom Angsten of NJCAA school Triton (Ill.), but dropped a 19-3, third-period technical fall to Dylan Peters of Northern Iowa. Peters, the No. 5 seed in the bracket, entered the tournament ranked No. 8 in the Amateur Wrestling News Division I national poll and No. 7 in the InterMat Division I national poll. Fuenffinger is now 11-1 on the season and 54-18 in his career.

Both Johnson and Fuenffinger were medically forfeited from their wrestleback matches, but Matzek told Auggie fans not to worry. "We had a couple of medical forfeits with Fuenffinger and Johnson, but I want the Auggie faithful to know they aren't detrimental to their seasons. They each aggravated past injuries and the coaching staff and I decided to pull them," he said.

Keeter, ranked No. 8 nationally at 157, dropped an 8-2 decision to Chad Ryan of Columbia in his opening match. Keeter claimed a 6-4 win over Spencer Hill of California State-Bakersfield in his first wrestleback match, but fell 2-0 to Justin Staudenmayer of Brown in his next match. Keeter is now 12-5 on the year and 81-35 in his career.

Hechsel, ranked No. 2 nationally at 197, suffered a 14-2, major-decision loss to No. 8 seed Joe Rau of the Minnesota Storm club, a 2013 Division III national champion at 184 pounds for Elmhurst (Ill.), and lost a 14-1 major decision to Matt Meadows of George Mason in the wrestlebacks. Hechsel is now 13-2 on the season and is 67-31 in his career.

Augsburg returns to action with a pair of events next weekend. Next Saturday (1/4) at 9 a.m., the White Team (junior varsity) competes at the William Penn (Iowa) Open, and next Sunday (1/5) at 7 p.m., the Auggie varsity competes in a dual at St. Olaf.