Wrestling 11/26/03 -- Augsburg 31, Minnesota State-Moorhead 8
MINNEAPOLIS (11/26/03) -- Claiming victory in eight of 10 matches, Augsburg College cruised to a 31-8 victory over Minnesota State University-Moorhead in a wrestling dual meet Wednesday night at Augsburg's Si Melby Hall.

Augsburg claimed one pin and two technical falls to earn the victory, improving to 2-0 on the season in dual meets. MSU-Moorhead claimed both its individual victories by major decision in falling to 2-1 in dual meets this year. Augsburg, the top-ranked team in the Division III national rankings and defending national runner-up, has won all eight duals in the all-time series with the Division II Dragons. Against teams from Divisions II and III, Augsburg is now 179-10 since 1989-90, losing just five matches since the 1995-96 season.

Greg Brendemuehl (So., Medford, Minn.), making his dual-meet debut at 133 pounds after earning All-American honors at 125 with a sixth-place national finish last year, claimed the only pin of the evening for the Auggies, with a third-period fall over the Dragons' Jeremy Kellar (Sr., Fargo, N.D.). Brendemuehl, who is competing with fellow Auggie All-American Mark Matzek (Jr., Ellsworth, Wis.) for the 133-pound opening, is now 2-1 on the season.

Top-ranked Marcus LeVesseur * (So., Minneapolis, Minn./Bloomington Kennedy HS) remained unbeaten with his fifth win of the season, a 21-5, third-period technical-fall victory at 157 pounds, taking advantage of eight takedowns to score the win. LeVesseur, the defending Division III national champion at 157, has yet to lose a collegiate match; he is now 49-0 in his first two seasons in an Auggie singlet.

Dustin Dahlblom (Fr., Stillwater, Minn.), ranked eighth nationally at 149 pounds, also won by technical fall in his first home dual meet as an Auggie; earning a 16-1 victory, utilizing four takedowns and two near-falls in his triumph to improve to 7-2 on the year.

A late escape and riding-time advantage gave Justin Sorensen (So., Owatonna, Minn.) a 10-8 win over MSU-Moorhead's Eric Hageman (Jr., Fargo, N.D.) in the opening match of the evening at 197 pounds. Sorensen is ranked fourth in the Division III rankings at 197 and is now 10-0 on the season.

Augsburg heavyweight Mark Simmonds (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn./Edison HS) rallied from a 4-2 first-period deficit with a near fall, reversal and takedown to score a 10-5 victory over Jordan Vallie (Fr., Belcourt, N.D.). Simmonds, ranked sixth nationally at heavyweight, is now 9-0 on the year.

Jamell Tidwell * (Jr., Burnsville, Minn./Bloomington Kennedy HS), ranked second nationally at 141 pounds for Augsburg, remained unbeaten at 9-0 on the year with a narrow 3-2 decision over Jeremy Kellar (Sr., Fargo, N.D.). A Kellar stalling penalty, an escape and a 1:23 riding-time advantage provided the points for Tidwell in the victory, as he improved to 86-8 in his three seasons as an Auggie.

Joe Moon * (Jr., Ellendale, Minn./New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva HS), ranked second nationally at 174, picked up his 10th victory without a loss this year with a 7-1 triumph. Ryan Valek (So., Belle Plaine, Minn.) also picked up a victory for the Auggies, with a 10-3 triumph at 165 pounds to improve to 5-2 overall.

MSU-Moorhead's two returning Division II national qualifiers picked up the team's victories on Wednesday. At 125 pounds, Desmund Radunz (Sr., West St. Paul, Minn./Henry Sibley HS) used five takedowns and a near fall to score a 14-5 win over Augsburg's Ben Moss (Fr., Council Bluffs, Iowa/Lewis Central HS), a freshman making his home dual-meet debut.

Ryan Kopiasz (Sr., Anchorage, Alaska) closed the match with the other triumph for the Dragons at 184 pounds, with a 16-7 victory over Augsburg's Clint Hodgdon * (Jr., Ostrander, Minn./LeRoy-Ostrander HS), taking advantage of five takedowns and a near fall.

Augsburg returns to action with another match against a Division II opponent, as Southwest Minnesota State University visits Si Melby Hall on Tuesday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. MSU-Moorhead returns to action on Thursday, Dec. 4 with a dual meet at the University of Mary (N.D.).

Augsburg 31, Minnesota State-Moorhead 8
November 26, 2003, Si Melby Hall, Minneapolis, Minn.
Action begins at 197 pounds. Time of match 1:37.
Official: Bryan Kelvington. Attendance: 272.

197 -- Justin Sorensen (AUG, 10-0) dec. Eric Hageman (MSUM, 5-6) 10-8 (Augsburg 3-0).
HWT -- Mark Simmonds (AUG, 9-0) dec. Jordan Vallie (MSUM, 5-4) 10-5 (Augsburg 6-0).
125 -- Desmund Radunz (MSUM, 5-1) maj. dec. Ben Moss (AUG, 7-3) 14-5 (Augsburg 6-4).
133 -- Greg Brendemuehl (AUG, 3-1) pinned Jeremy Kellar (MSUM, 4-3) 5:37 (Augsburg 12-4).
141 -- Jamell Tidwell * (AUG, 9-0) dec. Shane Eskelson (MSUM, 4-3) 3-2 (Augsburg 15-4).
149 -- Dustin Dahlblom (AUG, 7-2) tech. fall Brandon Kok (MSUM, 3-5) 16-1 at 7:00 (Augsburg 20-4).
157 -- Marcus LeVesseur * (AUG, 5-0) tech. fall Josh Jansen (MSUM, 4-3) 21-5 at 6:49 (Augsburg 25-4).
165 -- Ryan Valek (AUG, 5-2) dec. Allan Huigens (MSUM, 5-2) 10-3 (Augsburg 28-4).
174 -- Joe Moon * (AUG, 10-0) dec. Cody Ranz (MSUM, 2-5) 7-1 (Augsburg 31-4).
184 -- Ryan Kopiasz (MSUM, 6-0) maj. dec. Clint Hodgdon * (AUG, 6-2) 16-7. (Augsburg 31-8).


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------