COLUMBUS, Ohio (1/18/03) -- Winning six of 10 matches, top-ranked Wartburg College won the National Wrestling Coaches Association's Division III National Duals championship over defending champion Augsburg College, winning 19-13 on Sunday afternoon at Ohio State University.

Augsburg's Marcus LeVesseur (Fr., Minneapolis, Minn./Bloomington Kennedy HS) was named the Division III tournament's Wrestler of the Duals on a vote of the Division III coaches at the 16-team meet. LeVesseur, Augsburg's only unbeaten wrestler at 24-0, won all four of his matches at the duals, including two by pin and a major decision on Saturday at 157 pounds.

On Sunday, LeVesseur, ranked fourth in the latest Division III national rankings at 157, defeated Wartburg's Kevin Bratland, currently the nation's top-ranked wrestler, 8-3. LeVesseur is a transfer from the Division I University of Minnesota.

Augsburg, now 6-2 in dual meets this season, reached the Division III championship match by dominating its three matches on Saturday, outscoring its opponents 101-13 and winning 26 of 30 individual bouts. Augsburg beat national No. 14 Ohio Northern 40-4, No. 7 Buena Vista (Iowa) 36-3 and No. 9 College of New Jersey 25-6.

Augsburg, winners of the last three NCAA Division III national titles and eight of the last 12 crowns, is currently ranked third in the nation in the latest Division III national polls. The Auggies were the No. 2 seed in the 16-team National Duals tournament behind top-ranked Wartburg; No. 2-ranked Brockport State (N.Y.) was the only team among the top 10-ranked national teams not to compete at the National Duals.

With Sunday's win, Wartburg has now beaten the Auggies twice this season, though Sunday's match was much closer than the Knights' 25-9 win at Augsburg on Nov. 27. The teams were tied at 13-13 entering the final two matches, as higher-ranked Wartburg wrestlers claimed decision wins at 197 pounds and heavyweight to give the Knights the margin of victory.

Augsburg won three of the four meetings of nationally ranked wrestlers against Wartburg. In addition to LeVesseur's win at 157, Ricky Crone * (Sr., Apple Valley, Minn.), ranked third nationally at 184, claimed a 3-2 win over Wartburg's Sonny Alvarez, ranked No. 2 nationally. Crone's win avenged a 2-1, two-overtime loss to Alvarez in the Nov. 27 dual meet.

For the second time this season, Augsburg's Jamell Tidwell (So., Burnsville, Minn./Bloomington Kennedy HS), ranked fourth nationally at 141, topped Wartburg's Wil Kelly, ranked sixth, with a 5-3 decision on Sunday.

The only Wartburg win in a meeting of ranked wrestlers came from LeRoy Gardner (Golden Valley, Minn.), the nation's top-ranked heavyweight, who topped Augsburg's Mike Flanagan (Sr., St. Paul, Minn./St. Thomas Academy HS), ranked fourth, 2-0.

Joe Moon * (So., Ellendale, Minn./New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva HS), ranked fifth at 174, claimed a major decision win for Augsburg with an 11-3 win over Mark Sturm, Moon's second win over Sturm this season.

Augsburg returns to action next Saturday (1/25) at 10 a.m., competing at the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Confernece Team Duals at St. John's University.

College Wrestling -- NWCA Division III National Duals Championship
Wartburg (Iowa) 19, Augsburg (Minn.) 13
January 19, 2003 at Ohio State University St. John Arena, Columbus, Ohio.
All match action begins at 125 pounds.
125 -- Heath Ropp (WAR) dec. Bryan Miller (AUG, 5-3) 10-6 (Wartburg 3-0).
133 -- Ozzie Saxson (WAR) dec. Mark Matzek (AUG, 25-5) 10-7 (Wartburg 6-0).
141 -- Jamell Tidwell (AUG, 32-2) dec. Wil Kelly (WAR) 5-3 (Wartburg 6-3).
149 -- Bart Mehlert (WAR) maj. dec. Josh Erlandson (AUG, 20-6) 9-1 (Wartburg 10-3).
157 -- Marcus LeVesseur (AUG, 24-0) dec. Kevin Bratland (WAR) 8-3 (Wartburg 10-6).
165 -- Ryan Sturm (WAR) dec. Billy Morgan (AUG, 17-6) 7-5 (Wartburg 13-6).
174 -- Joe Moon * (AUG, 22-4) maj. dec. Mark Sturm (WAR) 11-3 (Wartburg 13-10).
184 -- Ricky Crone * (AUG, 24-4) dec. Sonny Alvarez (WAR) 3-2 (TIED 13-13).
197 -- Alain Djournessi (WAR) dec. Justin Sorensen (AUG, 22-15) 9-4 (Wartburg 16-13).
HWT -- LeRoy Gardner (WAR) dec. Mike Flanagan (AUG 27-6) 2-0 (Wartburg 19-13).