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Don Stoner

NCAA Wrestling Session 3 - Longendyke to go for national title

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

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Augsburg College heavyweight Donny Longendyke (JR, Vadnais Heights, Minn./White Bear Lake HS) will wrestle for his second straight NCAA Division III national title at heavyweight tonight, leading the Auggies after the third session of the NCAA Division III National Championships on Saturday morning at the U.S. Cellular Center.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Longendyke claimed his third straight pin of the tournament, a 5:16 match-ender over Trevor Maresh of Alma (Mich.) in the semifinals. Leading 3-0 going into the third period, Longendyke scored a reversal and quickly put Maresh to his back for the pin, just 16 seconds into the final frame.
• Now 39-2 on the season, Longendyke claimed his 24th pin of his junior campaign. Of his 39 wins, 30 are bonus-point victories (24 pins, one technical fall, five major decisions). Longendyke is now 83-4 in his two Augsburg seasons and 123-15 in his collegiate career.
• Longendyke, the No. 1 seed in the tournament and defending national champion, will battle No. 2-seed Zachery Roseberry of Delaware Valley (Pa.) in the national championship match tonight. Longendyke is now 29-0 against Division III competition this season, including 19 pins, one technical fall and three major decisions.
• Through the third session, Augsburg stands in a tie for fourth place in the team standings with Wabash (Ind.), both with 46.5 points. Top-ranked Wartburg (Iowa) leads with 125.5 points, followed by Messiah (Pa.) with 91.0 and luther (Iowa) with 59.0.
11126• Eric Hensel (JR, Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville South HS) repeated his fifth-place finish from a season ago at 165 pounds, earning his second All-America honor.
• Hensel dropped back-to-back matches on Saturday -- a 12-6 loss to Logan Hermsen of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and a 8-3 loss to Nolan Barger of Lycoming (Pa.). But Hensel finished strong, with a 12-10 win in a wild match against Jeff Hojnacki of Messiam (Pa.). Hensel and Hojnacki exchanged advantages throughout the match, with Hensel eventually building an 11-7 lead in the third period en route to the win.
• Hensel finished his junior campaign at 27-8, and is now 49-22 as an Auggie and 65-34 in his college career.
11124• At 149, Rashad Kennedy (SR, Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Henry Sibley HS) finished in seventh place to complete his collegiate career with All-America honors. He was pinned in his opening match on Saturday by Dakota Gray of Luther (Iowa), but came back with a 10-3 win over Joey Gaccione of Johnson & Wales (R.I.) in the seventh-place match.
• Against Gaccione, Kennedy built a 4-0 lead on a takedown and reversal in the first period, then clinched the match with a takedown and four-point near-fall midway through the third period.
• Competing in his first national tournament, Kennedy finished 25-6 on the season and 91-54 in his Augsburg career.
11125• At 157, Grant Parker (JR, Onalaska, Wis.) also finished in seventh place for the Auggies. He was edged 8-7 on an escape with three seconds left by Logan Meister of Ferrum (Va.), then scored an 8-3 win over Nick Bova of Wabash (Ind.) in the seventh-place match.
• Against Bova, Parker built a 4-0 lead in the first minute of the match and held on for the win, taking advantage of two stalling penalty points.
• Parker finished his junior season at 34-13 and is 66-49 in his Augsburg career. 
• 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.

SATURDAY'S SESSION 3 RESULTS:
TOP 10 TEAM SCORES: 1. Wartburg (Iowa) 125.5 2. Messiah (Pa.) 91.0; 3. Luther (Iowa) 59.0; 4t. Augsburg (Minn.) 46.5; 4t. Wabash (Ind.) 46.5; 6.Wisconsin-La Crosse 37.0; 7. Stevens Tech (N.J.) 34.0; 8. Elmhurst (Ill.) 33.0; 9. SUNY-Cortland (N.Y.) 31.5; 10. Cornell (Iowa) 30.5. Other Minnesota colleges: 31t. Concordia-Moorhead 10.0; 33t. St. Olaf 96.0; 48t. Saint John's 1.0.

SATURDAY'S SESSION 3 INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (Augsburg and Minnesota colleges):
125 -- C.J. Pestano (Central) dec. Jakob Stageberg (Concordia-Moorhead) 5-3 (OT-TB1); Jacob Spearman (Washington & Jefferson) dec. Stageberg 7-3; Fifth-place match: Arnulfo Olea (Wartburg) pinned Stageberg 5:26.
149 -- Dakota Gray (Luther) pinned Rashad Kennedy (Augsburg) 3:16; Seventh-place match: Kennedy dec. Joey Gaccione (Johnson & Wales) 10-3.
157 -- Logan Meister (Ferrum) dec. Grant Parker (Augsburg) 8-7; Seventh-place match: Parker dec. Nick Bova (Wabash) 8-3.
165 -- Logan Hermsen (Wis.-Stevens Point) dec. Eric Hensel (Augsburg) 12-6; Nolan Barger (Lycoming) dec. Hensel 8-3; Fifth-place match: Hensel dec. Jeff Hojnacki (Messiah) 12-10.
174 -- Joshua Sibblies (Centenary-N.J.) dec. Garrett Beaman (St. Olaf) 9-8; Seventh-place match: Beaman pinned Doug Hamann (College of New Jersey) 1:11.
HWT -- Donny Longendyke (Augsburg) pinned Trevor Maresh (Alma) 5:16; National championship match: Longendyke vs. Zachery Roseberry (Delaware Valley), later tonight.
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