ADA, Ohio (3/4/00) -- Augsburg College claimed four individual national titles Saturday night, building one of the most dominating championship finals in history with a NCAA-record sixth national championship at the NCAA Division III Wrestling National Championships at the Ohio Northern University Sports Center in Ada, Ohio.

Augsburg won the title with 136 points, the second-most points in the history of the national championships. The record was 143, by Montclair State (N.J.) in 1976. Augsburg outdistanced the second-place finisher, Wartburg (Iowa), by a 136-88 margin. Augsburg's 48-point margin of victory was also the second-most in history, second to Wilkes' (Pa.)49-point margin of victory in 1974 (135.5 to 86.5). Augsburg's four individual titles tie an NCAA record for the most ever by a single school, matching John Carroll's (Ohio) four titles in 1975 and Montclair State's four in 1976.

The Auggies have won all their titles in the last 10 years, previously winning championships in 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997 and 1998.

In addition to the four individual national titlists, Augsburg claimed a total of eight All-Americans -- one runner-up, one third-place finish, a fifth-place finish and a sixth-place finish.

Augsburg head coach Jeff Swenson was named National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III National Coach of the Year, earning the honor for the fourth time (1991, 1995, 1998, 2000).

Josh Cagle (Sr., Faribault, Minn.) earned NWCA Most Outstanding Wrestler honors and became just the second Auggie wrestler ever to finish a season unbeaten, finishing a perfect 40-0 with a 7-3 win over Montclair State's (N.J.) Rami Ratel in the 149-pound championship match. Cagle held the advantage virtually the entire match, scoring two takedowns, a reversal and accumulating more than two minutes of riding time. Earlier in the day, he notched his school-record 23nd technical fall of the year with a 16-0 win over Wilmington's Jimmy Wallace in the 149-pound semifinals.

Cagle, a three-time All-American who finished second in the nation last season, finished his career 139-17. Henry Gerten was the first Auggie to accomplish an unbeaten season, when he went 44-0 in the 1996-97 season.

Later on in the 174-pound weight class, Nick Slack (So., Belle Plaine, Minn.) matched Cagle's feat, finishing a perfect 31-0 with his national title, after entering the tournament as the top seed, but the No. 5-ranked wrestler in the final NWCA national rankings. Slack wrestled an outstanding match to blank John Roden of Springfield (Mass.) 8-0 in the championship final. He also topped Buena Vista (Iowa) wrestler Sevond Cole 9-4 in the 174-pound semifinals.

Josh Clausen (Sr., Apple Valley, Minn.) executed a brilliant move to claim his national championship, the second of his career, with a 3-1 win over Eric Vaughn of SUNY-Brockport (N.Y.) in the 197-pound final. In the closing seconds of the first period, Clausen defended a shot by Vaughn, then quickly moved in on Vaughn's ankles to claim a takedown. That produced the final margin of victory in the match, giving Clausen a 32-1 final record. He also topped Wartburg's Matt Buskohl in the 197-pound semifinal on Saturday.

The win gives Clausen the second national championship of his career. He had won a junior college national title at North Idaho Junior College in 1997. He finished his Auggie career 65-6 and had four All-America finishes -- an eighth-place and championship finish at North Idaho JC, and a fourth-place finish last year at Augsburg.

At heavyweight, Ben Bauer (Jr., Faribault, Minn.) scored an escape, then earned a penalty point in the third period to cruise to a 2-1 win over Rob Cosper of Lycoming, last year's fourth-place finisher, in the national final match. He finished his year with a 39-2 record. Bauer also beat SUNY-Oswego's (N.Y.) Jason Turner 8-4 in the semifinals.

In a rematch of last year's national championship match at 125 pounds, Augsburg's Darin Bertram (So., Herman, Minn./Herman-Norcross HS), the top-ranked wrestler at 125 pounds, fell victim to a penalty point for stalling and an escape in the final 20 seconds an lost 4-2 to Zac Weiglein of Wartburg. Last year in the national title match, Weiglein won 7-5 over Bertram. This season in an Auggie dual-meet win over Wartburg on Jan. 9, Bertram picked up a 6-4 overtime win over Weiglein, which catapaulted Bertram into the No. 1 spot in the national rankings. Bertram finished the season at 31-2 and has a career record of 63-10.

Nik Lewandowski (Jr., Hastings, Minn.), who finished second in the nation the last two years, finished third at 184 pounds this season. He beat Andy Povenski of Delaware Valley 2-0 in the third-place match. Earlier in the day, he dropped a 3-1 overtime decision to Pacific's Ian Courter in the national semifinal match, but rallied back for a 2-1 win over Luther's Gene Adams in the consolation semifinal to improve to 32-8.

At 141, Brian Jones (Sr., Alexandria, Minn.) claimed fifth place in the 141-pound weight class with a third-period rally to beat Casey Doyle of Wartburg 4-3. Trailing 3-1 on an early third-period takedown, Jones scored a reversal with just over a minute to go, then held on to score a minute of riding time for a bonus point, providing the winning margin. He finished 34-7 on the season and closed his career at 127-27. Earlier in the day on Saturday, Jones dropped two tough matches to fall into the consolation bracket. He lost 10-6 to Forian Ghinea of Montclair State in the semifinals, then rallied in the final period but lost 11-10 to Delaware Valley's Bryan Klass in the consolation semifinal.

Defending national champion John Marchette (Jr., Canton, Ohio/North Canton Hoover HS) fell to 30-5 with two losses and an injury default at 133 to finish sixth overall. He dropped a 5-3 overtime decision to Rick Schwietzberger of Buena Vista (Iowa) in the national semifinal match, then was upset by John Conte of Wilkes (Pa.) 5-1 in two overtimes in the consolation semifinal. He injury defaulted from the fifth-place match with SUNY-Brockport's Frank Palumbo Saturday night. Marchette's career mark is now 56-9 at Augsburg.

Among other Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schools, St. John's Brandon Novak finished third at 197 pounds. He beat Wartburg's Matt Buskohl 5-1 in the third-place match Saturday night. Novak lost to SUNY-Brockport's Eric Vaughn 6-1 in the national semifinal, then beat Clifton Thompson of Upper Iowa 2-1 in the consolation semifinal.

Top 25 scores -- FINAL: Augsburg (Minn.) 136, Wartburg (Iowa) 88, Montclair State (N.J.) 69, SUNY-Brockport (N.Y.) 45.5, Lycoming (Pa.) 42.5, Wisconsin-La Crosse 40.5, Delaware Valley (Pa.) 38.5, Buena Vista (Iowa) 37, Messiah (Pa.) 31.5, Springfield (Mass.) 30.5, Luther (Iowa) 29, Upper Iowa 28.5, Pacific (Ore) 22.5, Loras (Iowa) 22, Ithaca (N.Y.) 21.5, College of New Jersey 19.5, Western Maryland 19, Lawrence (Wis.) 17.5, U.S. Coast Guard (Conn.) 16, Wheaton (Ill.) 15.5, St. John's (Minn.) 14.5, Augustana (Ill.) 11.5, SUNY-Oswego (N.Y.) 10.5, Wilmington (Ohio) 10, Wilkes (Pa.) 9.5.

Saturday's Results involving MIAC Wrestlers:

125 Pounds
Championship Semifinals: Darin Bertram (AUG) maj. dec. Michael Jones (Delaware Valley) 10-2.
National Championship Match: Zac Weiglein (Wartburg) dec. Darin Bertram (AUG) 4-2.

133 Pounds
Championship Semifinals: Rick Schwietzberger (Buena Vista) dec. John Marchette (AUG) 5-3 (sudden-death overtime).
Consolation Semifinals: John Conte (Wilkes) dec. John Marchette (AUG) 5-1 (two overtimes).
Fifth-Place Match: Frank Palumbo (SUNY-Brockport) by injury default over John Marchette (AUG).

141 Pounds
Championship Semifinals: Florian Ghinea (Montclair State) dec. Brian Jones (AUG) 10-6.
Consolation Semifinals: Bryan Klass (Delaware Valley) dec. Brian Jones (AUG) 11-10.
Fifth-Place Match: Brian Jones (AUG) dec. Casey Doyle (Wartburg) 4-3.

149 Pounds
Championship Semifinals: Josh Cagle (AUG) tech. fall over Jimmy Wallace (Wilmington), 16-0.
National Championship Match: Josh Cagle (AUG) dec. Rami Ratel (Montclair State)7-3.

174 Pounds
Championship Semifinals: Nick Slack (AUG) dec. Sevond Cole (Buena Vista) 9-4.
National Championship Match: Nick Slack (AUG) maj. dec. John Roden (Springfield) 8-0.

184 Pounds
Championship Semifinals: Ian Courter (Pacific) dec. Nik Lewandowski (AUG) 3-1 (sudden-death overtime).
Consolation Semifinals: Nik Lewandowski (AUG) dec. Tavis Adams (Muskingum) 2-1.
Third-Place Match: Nik Lewandowski (AUG) dec. Andy Povenski (Delaware Valley) 2-0.

197 Pounds
Championship Semifinals: Eric Vaughn (SUNY-Brockport) dec. Brandon Novak (St. John's) 6-1; Josh Clausen (AUG) dec. Matt Buskohl (Wartburg) 8-4.
Consolation Semifinals: Brandon Novak (St. John's) dec. Clifton Thompson (Upper Iowa) 2-1.
Third-Place Match: Brandon Novak (St. John's) dec. Matt Buskohl (Wartburg) 5-1.
National Championship Match: Josh Clausen (AUG) dec. Eric Vaughn (SUNY-Brockport) 3-2.

Heavyweight
Championship Semifinals: Ben Bauer (AUG) dec. Jason Turner (SUNY-Oswego) 8-4.
National Championship Match: Ben Bauer (AUG) dec. Rob Cosper (Lycoming) 2-1.