Wrestling 11/22/02 -- Wartburg (Iowa) 25, Augsburg 9;
Augsburg White Team 37, Itasca Community College (Minn.) 15
MINNEAPOLIS (11/27/02) -- Winning seven of 10 individual matches, Wartburg College dominated en route to a 25-9 triumph over host Augsburg College in a wrestling dual meet Wednesday night at Augsburg's Si Melby Hall.

The Knights, now 2-0, broke Augsburg's (1-1) 25-match, three-season winning streak, and broke Augsburg's streak of 71 straight dual-meet wins over NCAA Division III opponents. Augsburg's last loss overall was a 19-17 loss to North Dakota State on Nov. 24, 1999; its last Division III loss was a 26-16 loss to Wisconsin-Stevens Point on Feb. 11, 1994.

Wartburg won the first three matches and never looked back, claiming a technical fall and two major decisions en route to the dominating victory. Wartburg broke a seven-dual losing streak to the Auggies with the win in the series, which Augsburg leads 8-2.

Wartburg is ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Division III national polls, while Augsburg, winners of the last three national titles and eight of the last 12, is ranked third this season.

In the highlight match of the evening, Wartburg's Sonny Alvarez (Sr., Aledo, Ill./Davenport Assumption HS) pulled off a 2-1, two-overtime victory over Augsburg's Ricky Crone * (Sr., Apple Valley, Minn.) at 184 pounds. Crone was ranked No. 1 in the preseason Division III national polls, while Alvarez was ranked third. It was Alvarez's first win over Crone in four meetings in their careers.

After a scoreless first overtime, Alvarez won the second overtime flip and chose the down position, needing to escape within 30 seconds to claim the win. Crone held on and nearly turned Alvarez over for back points, but Alvarez forced a stalemate. After the whistle, Alvarez worked quickly out and got the match-winning escape with seven seconds left.

The other highlight match saw Augsburg pull off an upset, as 141-pounder Jamell Tidwell (So., Burnsville, Minn./Bloomington Kennedy HS), ranked eighth in the nation, toppled Wartburg's top-ranked Wil Kelly (Jr., Dubuque, Iowa./Wahlert HS). Tidwell claimed three first-period takedowns to build a 6-2 lead, and he held on for the win to improve to 10-0 overall.

Top-ranked heavyweight LeRoy Gardner III (Sr., Golden Valley, Minn./Hopkins HS) won in the other meeting of ranked wrestlers, as the Wartburg senior scored a 4-0 win over Augsburg's Mike Flanagan (Sr., St. Paul, Minn./St. Thomas Academy HS), ranked fifth nationally.

Wartburg's Bart Mehlert (Jr., La Porte City, Iowa/Union HS) opened the match with a technical-fall, 19-4 win over Augsburg's Ryan Stroud (So., Park Falls, Wis.) at 149, followed by a major-decision, 10-2 win by Wartburg's top-ranked Kevin Bratland (Sr., Dakota City, Iowa/Humboldt HS) over Chris McAlpine (So., Dayton, Minn./Elk River HS) at 157.

Ryan Sturm (So., Armstrong, Iowa/Emmetsburg HS) completed the opening surge with a 6-2 win over Augsburg's Billy Morgan (So., Elbow Lake, Minn./West Central HS) at 165.

Wartburg junior Alain Djournessi (Jr., Quest, Cameroon), ranked second nationally at 197, claimed his first win of the year in dominating fashion, dispatching Augsburg's Josh Barlage (Sr., Farmington, Minn.) in a major-decision, 17-8 win, accumulating eight takedowns in the process.

Heath Ropp (Jr., Kalona, Iowa/Mid-Prairie HS), ranked second nationally at 125, scored a 9-3 triumph over Augsburg's Greg Brendemuehl (Fr., Medford, Minn.), scoring a three-point near fall in the closing seconds of the first period to take over what was a close match to that point.

Augsburg's Joe Moon * (So., Ellendale, Minn./New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva HS) claimed a 9-5, upset win over Wartburg's Mark Sturm (So., Armstrong, Iowa/Emmetsburg HS), ranked third at 174. The turning point of the match was an escape by Moon and a clasped-hands penalty against Sturm with 52 seconds left in the second period, a three-point turnaround that gave Moon the lead.

Augsburg's Mark Matzek (So., Ellsworth, Wis.) also claimed an upset of a ranked wrestler in the final match of the evening, as Matzek scored an escape with 25 seconds left in the second overtime to earn a 2-1 win over Tyler Hubbard (So., Blue Springs, Mo.), ranked seventh nationally at 133.

In the precursor match, Augsburg's White Team (junior varsity) won seven of 10 matches, including four by pin, en route to a 37-15 win over Itasca Community College (Minn.).

Augsburg returns to action on Dec. 7, competing at the Minnesota-Morris Open. Wartburg competes at the Northern Iowa Open and the Wisconsin-Parkside Tournament, both on Dec. 7.

College Wrestling -- Wartburg (Iowa) 25, Augsburg 9
Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2002 at Si Melby Hall, Minneapolis, Minn.
Time of Match: 1:54. Attendance: 1,000.
Officials: Tim Shiels, Jerry Reker.
Action begins at 149 pounds.
149 ­ Bart Mehlert (WAR, 5-1) technical fall over Ryan Stroud (AUG, 7-2) 19-4 at 7:00 (Wartburg 5-0).
157 ­ Kevin Bratland (WAR, 2-2) maj. dec. Chris McAlpine (AUG, 5-2) 10-2 (Wartburg 9-0).
165 ­ Ryan Sturm (WAR, 4-1) dec. Billy Morgan (AUG, 5-1) 6-2 (Wartburg 12-0).
174 ­ Joe Moon * (AUG, 7-2) dec. Mark Sturm (WAR, 1-3) 9-5 (Wartburg 12-3).
184 ­ Sonny Alvarez (WAR, 2-1) dec. Ricky Crone * (AUG, 6-2) 2-1 (2OT) (Wartburg 15-3).
197 ­ Alain Djournessi (WAR, 1-0) maj. dec. Josh Barlage (AUG, 6-3) 17-8 (Wartburg 19-3).
HWT ­ LeRoy Gardner (WAR, 4-1) dec. Mike Flanagan (AUG, 8-2) 4-0 (Wartburg 22-3).
125 ­ Heath Ropp (WAR, 6-0) dec. Greg Brendemuehl (AUG, 7-2) 9-3 (Wartburg 25-3).
133 ­ Mark Matzek (AUG, 9-1) dec. Tyler Hubbard (WAR, 2-3) 2-1 (2OT) (Wartburg 25-6).
141 ­ Jamell Tidwell (AUG, 10-0) dec. Wil Kelly (WAR, 0-1) 7-5 (Wartburg 25-9).

College Wrestling -- Augsburg White Team 37, Itasca Community College (Minn.) 15
Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2002 at Si Melby Hall, Minneapolis, Minn.
Time of Match: 1:52. Attendance: 400.
Officials: Tim Shiels, Jerry Reker.
Action begins at 149 pounds.
149 ­ Josh Erlandson (AUG, 8-0) pinned Mike Childers (ICC) 2:34 (Augsburg 6-0).
157 ­ Ryan Valek (AUG, 8-3) pinned Matt Houtsma (ICC) 1:51 (Augsburg 12-0).
165 ­ Andrew Moore (ICC) dec. Jesse Marsh (AUG, 3-5) 3-1 (Augsburg 12-3).
174 ­ Brad Bruns (AUG, 3-3) dec. Mitch Mistic (ICC) 4-2 (Augsburg 15-3)
184 ­ Andy Fraley (AUG, 4-1) wins by forfeit (Augsburg 21-3).
197 ­ Justin Sorensen (AUG, 7-2) maj. dec. Andy Schauer (ICC) 8-0 (Augsburg 25-3)
HWT ­ Logan Kling (AUG, 4-3) pinned Micah Primus (ICC) 1:01 (Augsburg 31-3).
125 ­ Josh Filbrant (ICC) wins by forfeit (Augsburg 31-9).
133 ­ Jared Evans (AUG, 4-1) pinned Chris Story (ICC) 1:43 (Augsburg 37-9).
141 ­ Ryan Flininger (ICC) pinned Josh Hammer (AUG, 3-3) 2:49 (Augsburg 37-15).

EXHIBITION ­ Kirk Rall (AUG, 7-2) dec. Joe Morgan (ICC) 10-4.