031315-hechsel-1
Don Stoner

Augsburg leads after 1st session of national tourney

HERSHEY, Pa. -- Augsburg College has four wrestlers still in the hunt for individual national titles and nine wrestlers alive in the competition, leading the team standings following the opening round of the NCAA Division III National Championships on Friday morning at the Giant Center.

THE BASICS
AUGSBURG'S NCAA TOURNAMENT PAGE
NCAA DIVISION III NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PAGE (ELIZABETHTOWN)
SCORES/BRACKETS (TRACKWRESTLING)

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Through the opening round of competition, which included "pigtail" matches, opening-round matches and pigtail consolation matches, Augsburg leads the team standings with 15.0 points, ahead of second-place Wartburg (Iowa) with 13.5 points.
• The second session, known as the "All-American Round," will begin at 6 p.m. (Eastern time), which will eliminate the field to the top eight wrestlers in each weight class, who earn All-American honors.
• Defending 125-pound national champion Mike Fuenffinger (SR, Hibbing, Minn.) opened defense of his national crown with two strong victories, winning a pigtail match by an 8-0 major decision of Devan Richter of Chicago (Ill.), then topping Brian Amato of Worcester Polytechnic Institute (Mass.) 6-2. Fuenffinger improved to 31-1 on the season, extending his winning streak to 28 straight matches.
• Fuenffinger scored three takedowns and built 3:21 of riding time in his opening win over Richter, then scored two escapes and a third-period takedown to overcome Amato, advancing to the quarterfinals.
•  Heavyweight Donny Longendyke (SR, Vadnais Heights, Minn./White Bear Lake HS) was dominant in his opening two matches, scoring a 12-1, major-decision win over Chris Florek of Stevens Tech (N.Y.) in a pigtail match, then pinning Jack Seaman of Augustana (Ill.) in 2:20 to reach the quarterfinals. Longendyke is now 41-2 on the season, including a 29-0 NCAA record. He has now won 31 matches in a row.
• Longendyke was in command throughout both matches. Against Florek, he used four takedowns, a near-fall and 4:39 of riding time to score the major-decision win. He scored his 22nd pin of the season with his first-period match-ender against Seaman. On the year, Longendyke now has 32 bonus-point wins (22 pins, two technical falls, eight major decisions).
• Chad Bartschenfeld (SR, Amery, Wis.) opened his tournament with a 3-2 win over Ryan Flynn of York (Pa.), improving to 28-11 on the season.
• Bartschenfeld built a 2-1 lead after one period, but Flynn tied the bout with a second-period escape. Bartschenfeld claimed an escape 11 seconds into the third period, which proved to be the winning point in the match.
• At 197, Matt Hechsel (SR, Apple Valley, Minn.) improved to 28-9 on the season with a 10-0, major-decision win over Todd Gaydosh of John Carroll (Ohio) in his opening match. The win was Hechsel's 18th bonus-point win of the season (10 pins, two technical falls, five major decisions).
• Hechsel built a 5-0 lead after one period, scoring a takedown and three-point near-fall, building 1:31 of riding time to earn the major-decision win.
• At 174, Tyrell Martin (SR, Eagan, Minn./Henry Sibley HS) opened his tournament with a 12-4, major-decision victory over Dan Ressler of Roger Williams (R.I.) in a pigtail match, but then lost a 10-2 major decision to Josh Thomson of Messiah (Pa.) to drop into the wrestlebacks. Martin is now 19-5 on the season.
• At 184, Tommy Teigen (SR, Ham Lake, Minn./Meadow Creek Christian HS) dropped his opening matchby a 13-6 decision to Devin Peterson of Wartburg, but rallied back with a dominating effort in a pigtail wrestleback match, scoring a 17-2, technical-fall victory over Michael Cole of Wisconsin-Platteville. Teigen rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the first period with a reversal, two takedowns and three 3-point near-falls to improve to 27-10 on the year.
• Will Keeter (SR, Twin Falls, Idaho) was edged in the final minute by No. 5 seed Luke Lohr of Waynesburg (Ohio) in his opening match, falling 6-3. Trailing 3-0 after two periods, Keeter tied the match by earning a stalling point and a takedown with 1:31 left, but Lohr converted an escape with 37 seconds left and a takedown with 17 seconds left, knocking Keeter to 30-12 on the season.
• Competing in his second national tournament, Marcus Hamer (SO, Kimball, Minn.) dropped to the wrestlebacks with a 6-2 loss to No. 2-seed Drew Van Anrooy of Luther (Iowa) at 141, falling to 28-19 on the year.
• Eric Hensel (JR, Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville South HS), competing in his first national tourney at 165, also dropped his first match in a wild 17-12 decision to No. 2-seed Farai Sewera of Coe (Iowa). Hensel built a 10-4 lead on Sewera in the first period, but Sewera rallied back to claim the win, dropping Hensel to 18-13 on the year.
• At 157, Gable Frandsen (FY, Ellsworth, Wis.), the lone first-year among Augsburg's 10 national tournament qualifiers, was eliminated with two losses in the opening session. He dropped a 9-1 major decision to Kevin Collins of Ithaca (N.Y.), then was beaten 6-0 in a pigtail wrestleback to Jon Garrison of Mount Union (Ohio). Frandsen finished his first Auggie season with an 18-14 record.
Top 10 Team Scores after Session 1:  1. Augsburg (Minn.) 15.0; 2. Wartburg (Iowa) 13.5; 3. Wisconsin-Whitewater 12.5; 4. Delaware Valley (Pa.) 11.0; 5. Wisconsin-La Crosse 7.5; 6. Loras (Iowa) 7.0; 7. Wabash (Ind.) 6.5; 8. Concordia-Moorhead (Minn.) 6.0; 9. Luther (Iowa) 5.5; 10t. Ithaca (N.Y.) 5.0; 10t. New York University 5.0. Other Minnesota teams: 40t. St. Olaf 1.0; 50t. Saint John's 0.0.

Friday morning results from Minnesota college wrestlers:
125 -- Mike Fuenffinger (Augsburg) maj. dec. Devan Richter (Chicago) 8-0; Fuenffinger dec. Brian Amato (WPI) 6-2; Guesseppe Rea (Wilkes) dec. Jakob Stageberg (Concordia-Moorhead) 6-2.
133 -- Chad Bartschenfeld (Augsburg) dec. Ryan Flynn (York) 3-2; Connor Campo (Wartburg) maj. dec. Gabe Foltz (Concordia-Moorhead) 9-1.
141 -- Jacoby Bergeron (Concordia-Moorhead) pinned Adrian Berry (SUNY-Cortland) 7:26; Drew Van Anrooy (Luther) dec. Marcus Hamer (Augsburg) 7-2; Bergeron dec. Bryant Roby (Mount Union) 2-1 (OT-TB1); Brandon Jones (New York Univ.) dec. Ben Henle (Saint John's) 4-3.
149 -- Luke Lohr (Waynesburg) dec. Will Keeter (Augsburg) 6-3; Brad Mayville (RIT) maj. dec. Jake Kostik (Concordia-Moorhead) 13-3.
157 -- Kevin Collins (Ithaca) maj. dec. Gable Frandsen (Augsburg) 9-1; Richie Jasinski (Ursinus) dec. Ben Cousins (Concordia-Moorhead) 4-0; Carl Elmer (St. Olaf) dec. Michael Polizzi (Stevens Tech) 10-8; Jon Garrison (Mount Union) dec. Frandsen 6-0 (Frandsen eliminated).
165 -- Farai Sewera (Coe) dec. Eric Hensel (Augsburg) 17-12; Jake Krogstad (Concordia-Moorhead) dec. Francisco Colom (Roger Williams) 4-2.
174 -- Tyrell Martin (Augsburg) maj. dec. Dan Ressler (Roger Williams) 12-4; Sebastian Gardner (Concordia-Moorhead) dec. Brandon Welter (Wartburg) 2-1 (OT-TB1); Josh Thomson (Messiah) maj. dec. Martin 10-2.
184 -- Devin Peterson (Wartburg) dec. Tommy Teigen (Augsburg) 13-6; Teigen tech. fall Michael Cole (Wis.-Platteville) 17-2 at 7:00.
197 -- Matt Hechsel (Augsburg) maj. dec. Todd Gaydosh (John Carroll) 10-0; Eric Twohey (Wis.-La Crosse) tech. fall Danny Pike (Concordia-Moorhead) 17-2 at 6:33; Joe Giaramita (SUNY-Cortland) dec. Ryan Michaelis (Saint John's) 7-5.
HWT -- Donny Longendyke (Augsburg) maj. dec. Chris Florek (Stevens Tech) 12-1; Longendyke pinned Jack Seaman (Augustana-Ill.) 2:20; Cody Lovejoy (Ohio Northern) pinned Justice Davis (Concordia-Moorhead) 6:50.
Print Friendly Version

Related Videos

Related Stories