ST. CLOUD, Minn. (12/9/00) -- Augsburg College claimed five champions and had eight individual place-winners in recording a second-place finish at the St. Cloud State Invitational Saturday afternoon at SCSU's Halenbeck Hall.

The Auggies, who had won the St. Cloud State meet the previous six years in a row, placed second in the 14-team meet with 126.5 points. North Dakota State, the defending NCAA Division II national champions, won the meet with 143.5 points, earning four individual titles.

Defending national champion Ben Bauer (Sr., Faribault, Minn.) went 4-0 to claim the heavyweight title, improving to 12-0 in the process. Another defending national champion, Nick Slack (Jr., Belle Plaine, Minn.), kept his unbeaten streak alive with three victories to notch the 174-pound championship. Slack is now 7-0 and has won his last 38 matches in a row; the school record for consecutive wins is 64, set by Henry Gerten in the 1996-98 seasons.

Darin Bertram (Jr., Herman, Minn./Herman-Norcross HS) moved to 12-0 with three victories and the championship at 125 pounds, including a 2-1 win over North Dakota State's Matt Strawser in the championship match. Jeremy Jirele (Jr., Owatonna, Minn.) also claimed a win over a North Dakota State wrestler in a championship match, beating Thad Pike 7-2 in the 157-pound final. Jirele is now 7-1 on the season.

Kevin Rasmussen (Jr., Owatonna, Minn.) won the championship at 197 pounds, going 3-0 to improve to 11-3 this season. Chris McAlpine (Fr., Dayton, Minn./Elk River HS) lost in the championship match at 149 pounds, losing his first match of the season to fall to 8-1 on the year. Nik Lewandowski (Sr., Hastings, Minn.) placed third at 184 pounds, and Troy Peterson (Jr., Watertown, Minn./Watertown-Mayer HS) finished fourth at 133.

Augsburg next competes at the Orange Bowl Sunshine Open Dec. 28-29 in West Palm Beach, Fla. The Auggies won the tournament last season, the first time a Division III team had ever won the primarily-Division I meet.

Augsburg at St. Cloud State Invitational
Dec. 9, 2000 at St. Cloud, Minn.
Team Results: 1. North Dakota State 143.5; 2. Augsburg 126.5; 3. Univ. of Mary (N.D.) 120.5; 4. St. Cloud State 58.5; 5. Northern State (S.D.) 56.5; 6. Southwest State 49.5; 7. Moorhead State 43.0; 8. Dickinson State 42.5; 9. Wisconsin-Eau Claire 40.5; 10. St. John's 32.5; 11. Ridgewater CC 30.5; 11. Concordia-Moorhead 22.0; 13. Minnesota-Morris 18.0; 14. Rochester CC 8.5.
Most Valuable Wrestler: Steve Saxland (NDSU -- 184 lbs.)

Augsburg Wrestlers:
125 Pounds: Darin Bertram 3-0, champion.
133 Pounds: Troy Peterson 2-2, fourth place.
141 Pounds: Blaine Kuhlman, 1-1.
149 Pounds: Chris McAlpine 3-1, second place.
157 Pounds: Jeremy Jirele, 3-0, champion.
165 Pounds: Brad Tupa, 1-1.
174 Pounds: Nick Slack 3-0, champion.
184 Pounds: Nik Lewandowski 2-1, third place.
197 Pounds: Kevin Rasmussen 3-0, champion.
Heavyweight: Ben Bauer 4-0, champion. 

Match-By-Match Results Involving Augsburg Wrestlers

 

125 Pounds: Darin Bertram maj. dec. Steve Weber (St. Cloud State) 9-0; Bertram dec. Matt Vos (St. John's) 7-2; Bertram dec. Matt Strawser (North Dakota State) 2-1.

133 Pounds: Troy Peterson pinned Matt Zeilhofer (Wisconsin-Eau Claire) 2:36; Scott Larson (Moorhead State) maj. dec. Peterson 13-4; Peterson tech. fall Brent Mees (Rochester CC) 5:59; Larson dec. Peterson 5-4.

141 Pounds: Derek Weigel (Univ. of Mary) dec. Blaine Kuhlman 5-3; Kuhlman dec. Jake Lawrence (Wisconsin-Eau Claire) 6-3.

149 Pounds: Chris McAlpine tech. fall Mike Ritt (St. John's) 15-0; McAlpine maj. dec. Tony Graziano (Moorhead State) 17-8; McAlpine maj. dec. Matt Phillippi (Ridgewater CC) 10-2; Jared Cooley (Southwest State) dec. McAlpine 9-6.

157 Pounds: Jeremy Jirele dec. Wade Blakenbaker (Dickinson State) 9-5; Jirele dec. Adam Araujo (Univ. of Mary) 9-7; Jirele dec. Thad Pike (North Dakota State) 7-2.

165 Pounds: Brad Tupa tech. fall Darrel Woolsey (Dickinson State) 5:46; Jason Labrie (Univ. of Mary) dec. Tupa 6-4.

174 Pounds: Nick Slack maj. dec. Cory Adnerson (Northern State) 9-1; Slack maj. dec. Danny Williams (Univ. of Mary) 8-0; Slack dec. Travis Nagel (Moorhead State) 8-7.

184 Pounds: Nik Lewandowski dec. Adam Kolo (Wisconsin-Eau Claire) 6-1; Jeremy Engelhardt (Univ. of Mary) dec. Lewandowski 5-3; Lewandowski dec. Brandon Padden (Dickinson State) 3-1.

197 Pounds: Kevin Rasmussen dec. Bryan Mueller (North Dakota State) 4-0; Rasmussen dec. Derrick Gorder (Dickinson State) 8-3; Rasmussen dec. Paul Breth (St. Cloud State) 8-2.

Heavyweight: Ben Bauer maj. dec. Scott DeCamp (Moorhead State) 17-5; Bauer dec. Pete Peterson (Wisconsin-Eau Claire) 3-0; Bauer pinned David Miller (Rochester CC) 5:53; Bauer dec. Dustin Darveaux (St. Cloud State) 5-4.