Story by Steve Thomas, Bismarck Tribune (1/23/00)

BISMARCK, N.D. (1/22/00) -- Augsburg College's wrestlers owned the University of Mary's Marauder Invitational like never before, winning the tournament for the sixth straight year Saturday with a record 125.5 points.

The Minneapolis-based Auggies snapped up six of the 10 individual titles, winning three of the first four championship matches in the process.

All three of Augsburg's victims in those finals were U-Mary wrestlers as the host Marauders picked up losses in each of the first four championship matches. Pat Runez fell 8-4 to Augsburg's Darin Bertram at 125, Brian Biel was a 23-9 major decision victim of Augsburg's John Marchette at 133, Derek Weigel dropped a 9-3 decision Kyle Nay of the Montana Bear Paw Club at 141 and Justin Haas was majored 13-0 by Augsburg's Josh Cagle at 149 pounds.

Justin Currie reversed the trend for U-Mary, handing Augsburg's Justin Baker a 15-6 major decision setback for the 157-pound title. Currie said the four previous Marauder losses didn't have a negative effect on him. "If anything, it was more positive," he said. "After the fourth in a row you want to get a little respect back out there, I guess."

The U-Mary championship was the second for Currie, a senior, and continued his domination of Baker. "I wrestled him at least three times last year and beat him pretty good every time -- by major decision," he said.

Currie said the previous success against Baker didn't allow him the luxury of overconfidence. "I looked at him the same way I do everyone else," he said. "I go out there and try to dominate him every time."

Defending national champion Jeremy Engelhardt allowed U-Mary to finish on an upbeat note, winning by default in the 184-pound final.

Other champions were Dickinson State's Brett Nedens at 165 and Augsburg's Nick Slack, Josh Clausen and Ben Bauer at 174, 197 and 285, respectively.

Cagle, Currie, Nedens, Engelhardt, Clausen and Bauer are all repeat champions. Cagle and Engelhardt have won three in a row. Nedens was voted the tournament's outstanding wrestler by the coaches. He won via tie-breaker after he and Engelhardt tied in the initial ballot.

Engelhardt was up 9-0 when Sean Salmon of the Bear Paw Club, a Montana State-Northern affiliate, had to call it quits in the second period due to a rib injury.

For Engelhardt, a junior, it was at least the 12th straight victory at the Activity Center. He hasn't lost on his home turf since the first match of his freshman year.

Like Currie, Engelhardt wanted to wipe away the bad taste of losing in the finals. "When things don't go the way you want them to, it hacks you off and gives you a drive -- something to go on," he said.

Engelhardt said when he noticed Salmon was hurting he reacted "like when a shark smells blood."

"I noticed something was wrong when we went out-of-bounds about 30 seconds into the first period," he said. "I knew if it was his ribs I was going with a lot of deep waists and I was going to work on his ribs."

As a freshman, Engelhardt finished third in the nation and last winter he was a national champion. Both years he said the U-Mary tournament served as a springboard for him. "It seems like after Christmas I get a streak going. I only have one loss after Christmas and that was at nationals my freshman years," he said.

Augsburg's 125.5-point performance broke the previous mark of 117.5 set by the Auggies in 1995.

Team Totals

1. Augsburg (Minneapolis) 125.5. 2. University of Mary 94. 3. Dickinson State 56.5. 4. Augsburg Wrestling Club 45. 5. Montana Bear Paw
Club (Havre) 25. 6. Jamestown College 5.5. 7. Concordia (Moorhead, Minn.) 5. 8. Huron (S.D.) College 1.5.

Individual Results

125 Pounds

Semifinals: Pat Runez, U-Mary, bye. Darin Bertram, Augsburg, def. Aaron Hartnell, unattached, 7-3.

Third place: Hartnell, bye.

Championship: Bertram def. Runez, 8-4, ot.

133 Pounds

Quarterfinals: John Marchette, Augsburg, bye. Zach Schroeder, Concordia, def. Clay Bainbach, Dickinson, 15-10. Paul Darda, Augustana WC, bye. Brian Biel, U-Mary, bye.

Semifinals: Marchette def. Schroeder, tech. fall, 6:47. Biel def. Darda, major dec., 11-0.

Third place: Darda def. Schroeder, 7-6.

Championship: Marchette def. Biel, major dec., 23-9.

141 Pounds

Quarterfinals: Brian Jones, Augsburg, pinned Tyrone Martinez, unattached, 4:24. Kyle Nay, Montana BP, def. Eric Woolverton, U-Mary JV, 12-5. Josh Johnson, Montana BP JV, def. Curtis Gerber, unattached, 4-3. Derek Weigel, U-Mary, bye.

Semifinals: Nay def. Jones, 8-6. Weigel def. Johnson, 4-3.

Third place: Jones pinned Woolverton, 2:37.

Championship: Nay def. Weigel, 9-3.

149 Pounds

First round: Josh Cagle, Augsburg, bye. Brent Riggin, Montna BP, def. Chris Mueller, unattached, 5-3. Eric Roth, Augsburg JV, bye. Nick Nihill, Dickinson, def. Matt Warner, Huron, 6-3. Justin Haas, U-Mary, pinned Joc Muir, unattached, 4:55. Jared Marck, U-Mary JV, def. Adam Diesterhaft, Augsburg JV, 6-1. Shane Spensley, Augsburg WC, def. David Wickstrom, Dickinson JV, 4-3. Jayme Depee, Jamestown, bye.

Quarterfinals: Cagle def. Riggin, tech. fall. Roth def. Nihill, default. Haas pinned Mack, 2:36. Spensley def. Depee, 7-4.

Semifinals: Cagle def. Roth, tech. fall. Haas def. Spensley, 7-4.

Third place: Roth def. Diesterhaft, forfeit.

Championship: Cagle def. Haas, major dec., 13-0.

157 Pounds

First round: Justin Currie, U-Mary, pinned Syd Sparks, Dickinson JV, 1:22. Mark Carlson, Augsburg JV, bye. Drew Gau, Augsburg JV, pinned Ryan Weigel, U-Mary JV, 2:30. Jeremy Jirele, Augsburg WC, def. Brendan Burns, Montana BP, 8-1. Dusty Matson, Dickinson, bye. Jason LaBrie, U-Mary JV, def. Mark Peterson, Augsburg JV, major dec., 11-3. Daniel Johnson, unattached, pinned Rory Olson, Concordia, 2:14. Justin Baker, Augsburg, bye.

Quarterfinals: Currie def. Carlson, 12-10, ot. Gau def. Jirele, 6-4. Matson def. LaBrie, 6-3. Baker pinned Johnson, 2:35.

Semifinals: Currie def. Gau, major dec., 22-13. Baker def. Matson, major dec., 11-2.

Third place: Gau def. Peterson, forfeit.

Championship: Currie def. Baker, major dec., 15-6.

165 Pounds

First round: Brett Nedens, Dickinson, pinned Joe Kunshier, Augsburg JV, 2:11. Larry Lyden, Augsburg JV, def. Nate Laslovich, Montana BP, 9-4. Lucas Lucier, Jamestown, pinned Dallas Heid, U-Mary JV, 6:32. Kyle Fisher, Montana BP JV, def. Matt Romsdahl, Augsburg WC, 7-6. Danny Williams, U-Mary, def. Tony Davis, Augsburg JV, tech. fall. Charlie Williams, Dickinson JV, def. Carl Hanson, unattached, 8-6. Jeremy Johnson, Montana BP JV, bye. Tony Abbatt, Augsburg, def. Casey Pinion, Montana BP JV, 7-3.

Quarterfinals: Nedens def. Lyden, major dec., 20-7. Fisher pinned Lucier, 4:23. D. Williams pinned C. Williams, 2:11. Abbatt pinned Johnson, 4:03.

Semifinals: Nedens pinned Fisher, 6:49. Abbatt def. D. Williams, 7-6.

Third place: Fisher def. D. Williams, major dec., 13-4.

Championship: Nedens def. Abbatt, major dec., 16-5.

174 Pounds

First round: Nick Slack, Augsburg, bye. Emmit Willson, Montana BP JV, def. Brandon Eckert, Augsburg JV, 10-6. Ben Wilson, Augsburg JV, pinned Kalief Rongstad, U-Mary JV, 5:39. Cade Taylor, Dickinson, bye. Tony Baumgartner, U-Mary, def. Joe Andreoli, Jamestown, 9-6. Jed Shelton, unattached, bye. Matt True, Montana BP, bye. Josh Barlage, Augsburg WC, bye.

Quarterfinals: Slack def. Willson, major dec., 11-2. Taylor pinned Wilson, 5:28. Shelton pinned Baumgartner, 1:38. Barlage pinned True, 4:49.

Semifinals: Slack def. Taylor, major dec., 13-1. Barlage pinned Shelton, 5:41.

Third place: Willson def. Taylor, 9-7.

Championship: Slack def. Barlage, default.

184 Pounds

Quarterfinals: Jeremy Engelhardt, U-Mary, pinned Jake Huebsch, Dickinson JV, 3:34. Darick Gorder, Dickinson, pinned Ryan Cornell, Jamestown, 5:57. Nik Lewandowski, Augsburg, bye. Sean Salmon, Montana BP, def. Mike Dahl, unattached, 16-11.

Semifinals: Engelhardt def. Gorder, 7-1. Salmon def. Lewandowski, 6-3.

Third place: Gorder def. Huebsch, forfeit.

Championship: Engelhardt def. Salmon, default.

197 Pounds

Quarterfinals: Josh Clausen, Augsburg, def. Seth Farnsworth, Dickinson JV, tech. fall. Randy Gust, U-Mary, pinned Caleb Vigue, Jamestown, 2:36. Matt Meyer, Dickinson, def. Dane Jacobsen, Montana BP, 3-0. Shane Wevley, Augsburg WC, bye.

Semifinals: Clausen pinned Gust, 4:44. Wevley def. Meyer, major dec., 13-2.

Third place: Gust def. Meyer, default.

Championship: Clausen def. Wevley, forfeit.

285 Pounds

Quarterfinals: Ben Bauer, Augsburg, pinned Jay Danbom, unattached, 2:30. Dustin Gorder, unattached, pinned Dan Eaves, Montana BP, 2:40. Mark Anderson, Augsburg WC, def. Brent Long, Concordia, major dec., 12-2. Jason Ackerman, Dickinson, def. Brian Criddle, unattached, 5-0.

Semifinals: Bauer def. Gorder, major dec., 8-0. Ackerman def. Anderson, 5-0.

Third place: Anderson def. Criddle, 5-4.

Championship: Bauer def. Ackerman, 5-3.