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Don Stoner

NCAA Wrestling Session 2 - Auggies earn 4 All-Americans

AUGSBURG'S NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PAGE
NCAA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKETS/RESULTS

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – With four All-Americans, including two in national championship contention, the Augsburg College wrestling team stands in fourth place after the first day of the NCAA Division III National Championships on Friday at the U.S. Cellular Center.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Defending heavyweight national champion Donny Longendyke (JR, Vadnais Heights, Minn./White Bear Lake HS) and 165-pounder Eric Hensel (JR, Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville South HS) remain alive in the championship bracket, after both repeated their All-American honors from last season. Both Longendyke and Hensel claimed two pins on Friday to reach Saturday's semfinals.
• Augsburg stands in fourth place after the first day with 34.5 points. Top-ranked Wartburg (Iowa) leads with 78.0 points, with Messiah (Pa.) second with 48.0 points, Luther (Iowa) third with 34.5 points and Wabash (Ind.) fifth with 31.5 points.
• Augsburg has recorded at least two All-Americans in NCAA national championship competition every year since 1988, and has recorded at least one All-American in every national tournament it has competed in since 1977 -- 40 straight years. Augsburg has now earned 232 wrestling All-Americans in program history (196 in NCAA competition, 36 in NAIA competition).
• Augsburg has recorded four or more All-Americans in 31 national tournament competitions since 1975, including 28 times since competing in its first NCAA Division III national tournament in 1983.
• Longendyke improved to 38-2 on the season with two pins -- a 2:30 pin of Wisconsin-La Crosse's Clay Broze in his opening match and a 6:38 pin of Tyler Maher of Stevens Tech (N.J.) in the quarterfinals. 
• Longendyke claimed his 22nd and 23rd pins of his junior campaign. Of his 38 wins, 29 are bonus-point victories (23 pins, one technical fall, five major decisions). Longendyke is now 82-4 in his two Augsburg seasons and 122-15 in his collegiate career.
• Eric Hensel (JR, Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville South HS), who had four pins en route to a fifth-place national finish at 165 pounds last season, also had two pins on Friday, a 1:29 match-ender over Aaron Banko of Heidelberg (Pa.) and a 1:06 pin of Connor Brummett of Wabash (Ind.) in the quarterfinals.
• Improving to 26-6 on the season, Hensel recorded his 17th and 18th pins -- and his 11th and 12th first-period pins of the year. Hensel is now 48-20 as an Auggie and 64-32 in his college career.
• At 149, the lone senior on the Augsburg roster, Rashad Kennedy (SR, Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Henry Sibley HS), suffered a 6-3 loss to Kenny Martin of Wartburg (Iowa) in the quarterfinals, but rallied back with a 5-3 win over Daniel Del Gallo of Southern Maine in the wrestlebacks to earn All-American honors for the first time in his career. Kennedy used three takedowns and an escape to counter Del Gallo's three escapes in the win.
• Competing in his first national tournament, Kennedy is now 24-5 on the season and 90-53 in his Augsburg career.
• At 157, Grant Parker (JR, Onalaska, Wis.) also rallied in the wrestlebacks to earn All-American honors for the first time, winning two matches in the evening session. He topped Pierce Holtfreter of Concordia-Wisconsin 8-5, then scored a 6-4 win over Ty Herzog of Roger Williams (R.I.), battling back from an early deficit to win a wild bout.
• Parker is now 33-12 in his junior campaign and 65-48 in his Augsburg career. 
• At 197, Logan Hortop (JR, Faribault, Minn.) nearly completed an incredible comeback in the wrestlebacks, coming back from a 6-0, first-period deficit to Kyle Koser of Messiah (Pa.) to take an 8-6 lead after two periods on the strength of a takedown and two nearfalls. But Koser was able to convert a reversal into a pin with 50 seconds left in the third period, ending Hortop's season. Hortop finished his junior campaign at 23-21, and is 42-49 in his Auggie career.
• After going 1-1 in the opening session, 133-pounder Sam Bennyhoff (FY, Mound, Minn./Mound-Westonka HS) saw his season end with a 14-2, major-decision loss to Dustin Weinmann of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Bennyhoff could not overcome a takedown and back-to-back four-point near-falls in the final 20 seconds of the first period. Bennyhoff finished his strong first season as an Auggie at 28-7.
• Competing in his first national tourney, Aaron Wilson (FY, Oak Grove, Minn./Trinity-River Ridge HS) battled hard against Ithaca's Nick Wahba in the 141-pound wrestlebacks, but fell 7-3 to bring his first collegiate season to an end at 16-20.

FRIDAY'S RESULTS
TOP 10 TEAM SCORES: 1. Wartburg (Iowa) 78.0; 2. Messiah (Pa.) 48.0; 3. Luther (Iowa) 35.5; 4. Augsburg (Minn.) 34.5; 5. Wabash (Ind.) 31.5; 6. Stevens Tech (N.J.); 7. Wisconsin-La Crosse 23.5; 8t. Alma (Mich.) 22.0; 8t. Coe (Iowa) 22.0; 10. SUNY-Cortland (N.Y.) 20.0. Other Minnesota colleges: 24. Concordia-Moorhead 10.0; 36. St. Olaf 6.0; 48t. Saint John's 1.0.

FRIDAY'S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (Augsburg and Minnesota colleges):
125 -- Lucas Malmberg (Messiah) maj. dec. James Goman (Augsbug) 12-3; Jakob Stageberg (Concordia-Moorhead) maj. dec. Brenden Velez (Delaware Valley) 13-4; Velez dec. Goman 4-2 (Goman eliminated); Stageberg dec. James Kaishian (Ithaca) 3-2.
133 -- Sam Bennyhoff (Augsburg) dec. Michael Triplett (Loras) 10-6; Devin Broukal (Wabash) dec. Gabe Foltz (Concordia-Moorhead) 4-0; Nathan Pike (New York Univ.) pinned Michael Pleski (Saint John's) 2:21; Tyler Keane (Springfield) dec. Bennyhoff 7-6 (OT-SV1); Dustin Weinmann (Wis.-La Crosse) maj. dec. Bennyhoff 14-2 (Bennyhoff eliminated); Connor Campo (Wartburg) dec. Foltz 3-2 (Foltz eliminated); Romeo Riley (Alma) dec. Pleski 7-4 (Pleski eliminated).
141 -- Chris Williams (Millikin) dec. Aaron Wilson (Augsburg) 9-6; Ben Henle (Saint John's) dec. Ryan Budzek (College of New Jersey) 7-0; Nick Wahba (Ithaca) dec. Wilson 7-3 (Wilson eliminated); Nathaniel Behnke (Wis.-Eau Claire) dec. Henle 9-5 (Henle eliminated).
149 -- Rashad Kennedy (Augsburg) dec. Ben Williamson (North Central) 6-4 (OT-SV2); Kenneth Martin (Wartburg) dec. Kennedy 6-3; Kennedy dec. Daniel Del Gallo (Southern Maine) 5-3.
157 -- Grant Parker (Augsburg) dec. Brett Beltz (Thiel) 11-7 (OT-SV1); Logan Meister (Ferrum) dec. Ben Cousins (Concordia-Moorhead) 3-1 (OT-SV1); Josh Tardy (North Central) maj. dec. Parker 13-5; Parker dec. Pierce Holtfreter (Concordia-Wisconsin) 8-5; Nick Bova (Wabash) dec. Cousins 3-2 (Cousins eliminated); Parker dec. Ty Herzog (Roger Williams) 6-4.
165 -- Eric Hensel (Augsburg) pinned Aaron Banko (Heidelberg) 1:29; Farai Sewera (Coe) pinned Teddy Erickson (Saint John's) 0:51; Cole Sladek (Concordia-Moorhead) dec. Erickson 8-5 (Erickson eliminated); Nolan Barger (Lycoming) pinned Sladek 0:31; Hensel pinned Connor Brummett (Wabash) 1:06; Velez tech. fall Sladek 16-0 at 3:27 (Sladek eliminated).
174 -- Ryan Harrington (Coe) maj. dec. Jake Johnson (Concordia-Moorhead) 8-0; Garrett Chase (Baldwin-Wallace) dec. Garrett Beaman (St. Olaf) 5-4; Doug Hamann (College of New Jersey) dec. Johnson 6-3 (Johnson eliminated); Beaman pinned Stephen Jarrell (Johnson & Wales) 1:56; Beaman dec. Ethan Farmer (Wabash) 13-8.
184 -- Carlos Toribio (Ithaca) maj. dec. Sebastian Larson (Augsburg) 10-1; Jeff Palmeri (Brockport State) tech. fall Ricky Briggs (Concordia-Moorhead) 16-0 at 5:43; Briggs dec. Larson 8-5 (Larson eliminated); Bryan Levsen (Wartburg) maj. dec. Briggs 13-0 (Briggs eliminated). 
197 -- Matt Seabold (Central) maj. dec. Logan Hortop (Augsburg) 11-1; Kyle Koser (Messiah) pinned Hortop 6:10 (Hortop eliminated).
HWT -- Donny Longendyke (Augsburg) pinned Clay Broze (Wis.-La Crosse) 2:30; Tyler Maher (Stevens Tech) dec. Zachary Gibson (St. Olaf) 4-1; Longendyke pinned Tyler Maher (Stevens Tech) 6:38; Broze dec. Gibson 5-1 (Gibson eliminated).
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