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CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Augsburg College heavyweight Chad Johnson (JR, Ferryville, Wis./De Soto HS) opened his defense of his national title with a pin in his opening match at heavyweight on Friday morning, leading the Auggie wrestling team after the first session of the NCAA Division III National Championships at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena.

Johnson claimed a 4:25 pin of Nick Pearch of Luther (Iowa) to improve to 34-1 on the season in his opening match, claiming his 15th pin of the season. Of Johnson's 34 wins this season, 34 are bonus-point wins (15 pins, one technical fall, eight major decisions).

The defending national champion at heavyweight, Johnson is now 102-13 on his career, including a 70-2 record over the past two seasons.

However, it was a rough start overall for the Auggies during Friday's opening round. Auggie wrestlers dropped seven of their eight opening matches, and two were eliminated with wrestleback losses. The remaining five will have to win twice during Friday night's “All-American round,” which begins at 6 p.m., in order to claim one of the eight All-American spots in each weight class in the national tournament.

Johnson's opening pin, along with a wrestleback win by 174-pounder Josh Kohler (SR, Monticello, Minn.), gave the Auggies 3.5 points in the team race, putting them in a tie for 15th place. Wartburg (Iowa) leads the team race with 21.0 points after the first round.

After dropping a 15-8 first-round decision to Dylan Azinger of Wartburg, Kohler rallied back to remain alive in the wrestlebacks, scoring a 9-4 win over Zach Hartzell of Worcester Polytechnic (Mass.). Kohler built an 8-3 lead after two periods and collected 1:26 riding time to improve to 28-13 on the season in his second national tournament appearance.

Mike Fuenffinger (SO, Hibbing, Minn.) opened his second national tournament with a 3-1 loss to top-seed Ricardo Gomez of Ithaca (N.Y.) at 125 pounds, while 141-pounder Tom Kuehn (SO, Fargo, N.D./West Fargo HS) dropped a 5-1 decision to No. 2 seed Ryan Earley of Elmhurst (Ill.).

At 157, Augsburg's Kurt Knutsen (So, Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley HS) suffered a 9-1, major-decision loss to Cade Sarbacker of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Augsburg 197-pounder Matt Hechsel (SO, Apple Valley, Minn.) lost in a first-period pin to No. 4-seed Mike Benefiel of Elmhurst (Ill.).

Two Auggies saw their seasons come to an end with two losses in Friday's opening round. At 133, #Tossaporn “Boyd” Suparat# (SR, North Branch, Minn.) dropped a 12-2 major-decision loss to top-seed Kenneth Anderson of Wartburg in his opening match, then dropped a 10-4 decision to Joey Giaccio of York (Pa.). Suparat finished his senior season at 28-14 and his Auggie career at 84-50, making his first appearance in the national tournament.

At 165, Augsburg's Justin Bowland (JR, Foley, Minn.) was edged in two matches, falling 4-3 to Cedric Gibson of Wisconsin-Whitewater in his opening match and 8-6 to Derrick Longo of Springfield (Mass.) in the wrestlebacks. Making his first national tournament appearance, Bowland finished his junior season 20-19 and is 45-44 on his career.

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2013 NCAA Division III National Championships – Session 1
Friday, March 15, 2013 – Cedar Rapids Ice Arena, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Team Scores after Session 1: 1. Wartburg (Iowa) 21.0; 2. Wisconsin-Whitewater 15.0; 3. Elmhurst (Ill.) 10.5; 4. St. John's (Minn.) 8.0; 5. Wisconsin-La Crosse 7.5; 6. Luther (Iowa) 7.0; 7. SUNY-Cortland (N.Y.) 6.5; 8. Springfield (Mass.) 6.5; 9. Centenary (N.J.) 5.5; 10t. Trine (N.J.) 5.0; 10t. Wheaton (Ill.) 5.0; 12t. Concordia-Moorhead (Minn.) 4.0; 12t. Ithaca (N.J.) 4.0; 12t. Ursinus (Pa.) 4.0; 15t. Augsburg (Minn.) 3.5; 15t. New York University 3.5. Other Minnesota school: 39. St. Olaf 1.0.

Matches involving Minnesota college wrestlers:
125 – Ricardo Gomez (Ithaca) dec. Mike Fuenffinger (Augsburg) 3-1; Brandon Preston (Trine) maj. dec. Will McCarthy (Concordia-Moorhead) 10-2.
133 – Kenneth Anderson (Wartburg) maj. dec. Tossaporn “Boyd” Suparat (Augsburg) 12-2; Dalton Bullard (Elmhurst) dec. Jacoby Bergeron (Concordia-Moorhead) 7-4; Joey Giaccio (York) dec. Suparat 10-4 (Suparat eliminated).
141 – Ryan Earley (Elmhurst) dec. Tom Kuehn (Augsburg) 5-1.
149 – Chris Stevermer (St. John's)dec. Ben Strobel (Wisconsin-Stevens Point) 10-5; Jacob Long (Concordia-Moorhead) pinned Jorge Lopez (Williams) 2:07; Stevermer dec. Michael Polizzi (Stevens Tech.) 8-6 (OT-SV1).
157 – Cade Sarbacker (Wisconsin-Whitewater) maj. dec. Kurt Knutsen (Augsburg) 9-1; Ryan Arne (St. John's) dec. Troy Sterling (SUNY-Cortland) 6-3; Chris Burdge (Centenary) pinned Kevin Fynboh (Concordia-Moorhead) 6:12.
165 – Cedric Gibson (Wisconsin-Whitewater) dec. Justin Bowland (Augsburg) 4-3; Collin Crowell (Roger Williams) dec. Nicholas Schuler (St. John's) 8-3; Derrick Longo (Springfield) dec. Bowland 8-6 (Bowland eliminated); Sam Guidi (Waynesburg) dec. Schuler 5-4 (Schuler eliminated).
174 – Dylan Azinger (Wartburg) dec. Josh Kohler (Augsburg) 15-8; James Roach (St. Olaf) dec. Ryan Conat (Wisconsin-Stevens Point) 2-1; Kohler dec. Zach Hartzell (Worcester Polytechnic) 16-8.
184 – Julian Meaney (Elizabethtown) maj. dec. Mitchell Hagen (St. John's) 14-6; Hagen medical forfeit over Matt Rieckhoff (Wisconsin-Eau Claire).
197 –  Mike Benefiel (Elmhurst) pinned Matt Hechsel (Augsburg) 2:05; Aaron Karns (Delaware Valley) maj. dec. Ryan Michaelis (St. John's) 8-0; Alex Coolidge (Cornell) dec. Nathan Schmitz (Concordia-Moorhead) 2-1 (OT-TB1); Jeremy Burns (Springfield) dec. Michaelis 7-2 (Michaelis eliminated).
HWT – Chad Johnson (Augsburg) pinned Nick Pearch (Luther) 4:25; Ryan Fank (Wartburg) dec. John Scepaniak (St. John's) 3-2; Tom Bouressa (Concordia-Moorhead) dec. Corey James (SUNY-Cortland) 2-0; Scepaniak pinned Pearch 4:43.