Wrestling 12/9/03 -- Augsburg 41, Southwest Minnesota State 3
MINNEAPOLIS (12/9/03) -- Augsburg College lost the first individual bout of the evening, but won the next nine in convincing fashion as the Auggies dominated Southwest Minnesota State University 41-3 in a wrestling dual meet Tuesday night at Augsburg's Si Melby Hall.

In improving to 3-0 in dual meets this season, Augsburg claimed three pins, two technical falls and a major decision among its nine match victories. Augsburg, last year's NCAA Division III national runner-up, is currently the top-ranked team in the current Division III national rankings. Southwest State, an NCAA Divison II team, is now 1-3 in dual meets this year.

The Auggies claimed their 16th straight victory over Southwest State in dual-meet competition and improved to 17-3 in the all-time series with the Mustangs. Against teams from Divisions II and III, Augsburg is now 180-10 since 1989-90, losing just five matches since the 1995-96 season.

Auggie newcomers provided two of the three pins. At 125 pounds, Ben Moss (Fr., Council Bluffs, Iowa/Lewis Central HS) rallied from a 7-4 third-period deficit to score a takedown and convert it four seconds later into a pin over SMSU's Ryan Reed (Fr., Flandreau, S.D.). Moss is now 11-3 on the season.

Dustin Dahlblom (Fr., Stillwater, Minn.), ranked eighth nationally at 149 pounds, continued his impressive debut with a second-period pin of Nate Martinez (So., Renville, Minn.), to improve to 11-2 on the year. Clint Hodgdon * (Jr., Ostrander, Minn./LeRoy-Ostrander HS) moved to 10-2 at 184 pounds with a dominating win by fall over SMSU's Greg Frank (Fr., Foley, Minn.), converting three 3-point near-falls before getting the pin late in the second period.

At 157 pounds, top-ranked Marcus LeVesseur * (So., Minneapolis, Minn./Bloomington Kennedy HS) remained unbeaten with his 10th win of the season, a 22-7, third-period technical-fall victory over Shawn Plumley (Fr., Bird Island, Minn./BOLD HS), who entered the match with the Mustangs' best record at 9-2. LeVesseur dominated the match with 10 takedowns, including seven in a third-period flurry to get the technical fall.

LeVesseur, the defending Division III national champion at 157, has yet to lose a collegiate match; he is now 54-0 in his first two seasons in an Auggie singlet. His 54 straight wins is the third-longest winning streak in school history, behind Nick Slack's 60 (2000-01) and Henry Gerten's 64 (1996-98).

Tyler Marr (Jr., Wyoming, Minn./Forest Lake HS), in his first season at Augsburg after transferring from the University of Minnesota, also scored a technical fall victory, using five takedowns and two 3-point near falls to dominate in a 17-2, third-period win over Adam Barton (So., Plainview, Minn.) at 165. Marr is now 8-4 on the year.

Mark Matzek (Jr., Ellsworth, Wis.) improved to 10-1 on the season with a 12-0, major-decision win at 133 pounds over Jeff Cooley (Fr., Westbrook, Minn./Westbrook-Walnut Grove HS). Matzek, who finished fourth nationally last year at 133, is currently ranked third nationally in the weight class and is locked in a battle for the position with teammate and fellow All-American Greg Brendemuehl (So., Medford, Minn.), who finished sixth at 125 last year and is moving up a weight class this season.

Jamell Tidwell * (Jr., Burnsville, Minn./Bloomington Kennedy HS), ranked second nationally at 141 pounds, remained unbeaten at 13-0 on the year with a 7-1 win over Keefer Jenson (Jr., Missouri Valley, Iowa. Tidwell, Augsburg's most prolific wrestler in terms of wins in the last three seasons, improved to 90-8 in his Auggie career.

Rich Miller (Jr., Anoka, Minn.) claimed a 10-3 win over Adam Baete (So., Harrisburg, S.D.) at 174, and Dylan Soberg (So., Elbow Lake, Minn./West Central Area HS) earned a 7-4 win over Chris Abbott (Fr., Des Moines, Iowa/Roosevelt HS) at heavyweight for the other Auggie victories.

The lone Mustang victory came in the first match of the evening, as Joel Wipperfurth (So., Dane, Wis./Lodi HS) upset Justin Sorensen (So., Owatonna, Minn.) 5-3 in overtime at 197 pounds. Sorensen is ranked fourth in the Division III rankings at 197 and is now 12-1 on the season. Wipperfurth, now 3-1 on the year, got a takedown with 1:00 remaining in the third period, and after receiving a stalling penalty for an Augsburg point with eight seconds left in the third, held on to get one minute of riding time at the end of regulation time for a bonus point, tying the match at 3-3. Twenty-five seconds into the sudden-victory first overtime period, Wipperfurth scored a takedown for the decisive points.

Augsburg returns to action on Saturday (12/13) with split-squad action, as the Auggie varsity competes at the St. Cloud State Invitational and the Auggie White Team (junior varsity) competes at the Dick Walker Invitational at Wartburg (Iowa). Both meets start at 9 a.m. Southwest Minnesota State also competes at the St. Cloud State Invitational on Saturday.

Augsburg 41, Southwest Minnesota State 3
December 9, 2003, Si Melby Hall, Minneapolis, Minn.
Action begins at 197 pounds. Time of match 1:32.
Official: Rod Frost. Attendance: 156.

197 -- Joel Wipperfurth (SMSU, 3-1) dec. Justin Sorensen (AUG, 12-1) 5-3 (1OT) (SMSU 3-0).
HWT -- Dylan Soberg (AUG, 5-5) dec. Chris Abbott (SMSU, 4-5) 7-4 (TIED 3-3).
125 -- Ben Moss (AUG, 11-3) pinned Ryan Reed (SMSU, 0-1) 6:01 (Augsburg 9-3).
133 -- Mark Matzek (AUG, 10-1) maj. dec. Jeff Cooley (SMSU, 1-4) 12-0 (Augsburg 13-3).
141 -- Jamell Tidwell * (AUG, 13-0) dec. Keefer Jensen (SMSU, 4-4) 7-1 (Augsburg 16-3).
149 -- Dustin Dahlblom (AUG, 11-2) pinned Nate Martinez (SMSU, 0-1) 3:53 (Augsburg 22-3).
157 -- Marcus LeVesseur * (AUG, 10-0) tech. fall Shawn Plumley (SMSU, 9-3) 22-7 at 6:51 (Augsburg 27-3).
165 -- Tyler Marr (AUG, 8-4) tech. fall. Adam Barton (SMSU, 0-4) 17-2 at 5:42 (Augsburg 32-3).
174 -- Rich Miller (AUG, 4-4) dec. Adam Baete (SMSU, 0-4) 10-3 (Augsburg 35-3).
184 -- Clint Hodgdon * (AUG, 10-2) pinned Greg Frank (SMSU, 0-3) 4:24 (Augsburg 41-3).