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CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Augsburg College heavyweight Chad Johnson (SO, Ferryville, Wis./De Soto HS) will have a chance to defend his NCAA Division III national title, as he scored a semifinal win on Saturday morning at the NCAA Division III National Championships at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena.

Johnson advanced to the national championship match with a 6-2 victory over James Buss of Loras (Iowa) in the semifinals on Saturday morning. Johnson claimed two takedowns and built a 2:01 riding-time advantage to score the win. He will face Joseph Zitone of Centenary (N.J.) in the finals, which start at 7 p.m. Johnson faced Zitone on Jan. 12 at the National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III National Duals, with Johnson claiming a 6-3 win.

The 40th Augsburg wrestler in school history to earn three or more All-American honors, Johnson is now 36-1 on the season and 104-13 in his career. Over the last two seasons, Johnson is unbeaten against Division III competition, with a 72-2 record in that span.

Johnson could become the 10th Auggie wrestler to ever win multiple national championships, and the second Auggie heavyweight to achieve the feat, after Ben Bauer won heavyweight national titles in 2000 and 2001.

Making his second career trip to the national tournament, Augsburg's Mike Fuenffinger (SO, Hibbing, Minn.) earned All-American honors with a seventh-place finish. Trailing 5-3 in the first period, Fuenffinger scored the next 19 straight points to claim a second-period, 22-5 technical-fall victory (4:37) over Matthias Ellis II of Brockport State (N.Y.). Fuenffinger used two reversals and five 3-point near-falls to build the necessary advantage to end the match early.

Fuenffinger finished his second Auggie season at 29-8, and is now 43-17 in his collegiate career.

In his first consolation match on Saturday, Fuenffinger dropped a 9-5 decision to Miguel Venecia of Elmhurst (Ill.). Fuenffinger surrendered two takedowns and a three-point near-fall in the first period to fall behind 7-1 and could not rally back, despite an escape and takedown in the second period.

Augsburg's Matt Hechsel (SO, Apple Valley, Minn.) captured seventh place in dramatic fashion on Saturday, scoring a 7-5 win over Trent Flegel of Luther (Iowa). Tied at 3-3 in the third period, Flegel scored a takedown with 35 seconds left in the match, but Hechsel claimed a reversal with 16 seconds left, then earned a two-point near-fall in the closing seconds to secure the win and the seventh-place finish.

Hechsel finished his sophomore season 35-11, and is now 54-29 in his Augsburg career.

In his first consolation match on Saturday morning, Hechsel dropped a 9-6 decision to Jared Myhrberg of Cortland State (N.Y.). Hechsel fell behind 6-2 after the first period, surrendering four takedowns and 2:08 of riding time.

Augsburg currently sits in 10th place with 33.0 points entering Saturday's final session.

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2013 NCAA Division III National Championships – Session 3
Saturday, March 16, 2013 – Cedar Rapids Ice Arena, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Team Scores after Session 3: 1. Wartburg (Iowa) 98.0; 2. Wisconsin-Whitewater 78.0; 3. Elmhurst (Ill.) 74.0; 4. Wisconsin-La Crosse 52.0; 5. Centenary (N.J.) 45.0; 6. Ithaca (N.Y.) 43.0; 7. College of New Jersey 42.5; 8. SUNY-Cortland (N.Y.) 40.0; 9. Springfield (Mass.); 10. Augsburg (Minn.) 33.0. Other Minnesota schools: 12t. Concordia-Moorhead 21.5; 15. St. John's 19.5; 50t. St. Olaf 1.0.

Matches involving Minnesota college wrestlers:
125 – Miguel Venecia (Elmhurst) dec. Mike Fuenffinger (Augsburg) 9-5. Seventh-place match: Fuenffinger tech. fall Matthias Ellis III (Brockport State) 22-5 at 4:37.
149 – Jacob Long (Concordia-Moorhead) dec. Emanual Ajagbe (Delaware Valley) 7-4; Vincent Pisani (York) maj. dec. Long 14-3. Fifth-place match: Long dec. Jorge Lopez (Williams) 6-2.
184 – Mitchell Hagen (St. John's) maj. dec. Daniel Olson (Wheaton) 9-1; Julian Meaney (Elizabethtown) maj. dec. Hagen 16-5.  Fifth-place match: Hagen pinned Colin Lenhardt (Johnson & Wales) 0:34.
197 – Jared Myhrberg (SUNY-Cortland) dec. Matt Hechsel (Augsburg) 9-6. Seventh-place match: Hechsel dec. Trent Flegel (Luther) 7-5.
HWT – Chad Johnson (Augsburg) dec. James Buss (Loras) 6-2. Tom Bouressa (Concordia-Moorhead) dec Ryan Fank (Wartburg) 5-0; Buss dec. Bouressa 5-1. Fifth-place match: Anthony Edgren (Wisconsin-Whitewater) dec Bouressa 6-4. National championship match: Johnson vs. Joseph Zitone (Centenary).