COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. (2/8/03) -- Claiming six individual champions, Augsburg College dominated in winning the North Country Invitational wrestling tournanment on Saturday at Sexton Arena at St. John's University.

Augsburg's varsity wrestlers were scheduled to compete at the Luther (Iowa) Paul Solberg Invitational, but the event was cancelled. Instead, the Auggies, ranked second in the latest NCAA Division III national rankings, competed at the St. John's event, finishing with 159.0 points, ahead of Wartburg (Iowa) with 110 points. Wartburg had mostly its second-team wrestlers at the event. Minnesota State-Moorhead was third with 94.5 points, Dickinson State (N.D.) was fourth with 79.5 and Buena Vista (Iowa) was fifth with 78.5 points.

Marcus LeVesseur (Fr., Minneapolis, Minn./Bloomington Kennedy HS), ranked No. 1 in the nation at 157 pounds, improved to 35-0 on the season with five dominating victories, incluidng a pinn, technical fall and major decision. In the championship match, LeVesseur beat Aaron Loewens of Buena Vista 5-3, the second time LeVesseur has beaten Loewens this season. Loewens is currently ranked second in the nation at 157.

Ricky Crone * (Sr., Apple Valley, Minn.), ranked second nationally at 184, scored a 54-second pin and a major decision en route to winning his weight class. Jamell Tidwell (So., Burnsville, Minn./Bloomington Kennedy HS), ranked fourth in Division III at 141, won his weight class with four victories.

Joe Moon * (So., Ellendale, Minn./NR-H-E-G HS), ranked fifth in Division III at 174, won four matches, one by pin and one by a second-period technical fall, to easily win his weight class. Mark Matzek (So., Ellsworth, Wis.), ranked eighth in Division III at 133, won his weight class with four wins. Ryan Stroud (So., Park Falls, Wis.) won four maches to win the title at 149.

Placing second was fifth-ranked heavyweight Mike Flanagan (Sr., St. Paul, Minn./St. Thomas Academy HS) and 197-pounder Justin Sorensen (Fr., Owatonna, Minn.), both going 3-1.

Greg Brendemuehl (Fr., Medford, Minn.) placed fourth at 125, as did Jared Evans (Fr., Blue Earth, Minn./Blue Earth Area HS) at 133.

Placing fifth was Clint Hodgdon (So., Ostrander, Minn./LeRoy-Ostrander HS) at 184 and Joe Cullen (So., Coon Rapids, Minn.) at 197. Placing sixth was Clarke Athman (Fr., St. Cloud, Minn./Athman Home School) at 149 and Jeremiah Knabe (So., Jackson, Minn./Jackson County Central HS) at heavyweight.

Augsburg has its final dual meet of the season on Friday (2/14), with a 7:30 p.m. match at Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

Augsburg at North Country Invitational
February 8, 2003 -- Sexton Arena, St. John's University, Collegeville, Minn.
Most Valuable Wrestler: Jason Moore, St. Olaf.
Team results: 1. Augsburg A 159.0; 2. Wartburg (Iowa) 110.0; 3. Minnesota State-Moorhead 94.5; 4. Dickinson State (N.D.) 79.5; 5. Buena Vista (Iowa) 78.5; 6. Wisconsin-Eau Claire 68.5; 7. Univ. of Mary (N.D.) 62.5; 8. Concordia-Moorhead 43.5; 9. Augsburg B 43.0; 10. St. John's 40.5; 11. Rochester CC 26.0; 12. Itasca CC 24.0; 13. Cornell (Iowa) 20.0; 14. St. Olaf 18.0; 15. Ridgewater CC 12.0; 16. MSU-Moorhead B 11.5; 17. Cornell B 10.5; 18. Augsburg C 10.0; 19. Wartburg B 7.0; 20t. St. John's B 6.5; 20t. Wisconsin-Eau Claire B 6.5; 22. Montana State-Northern 6.0; 23. Dickinson State B 3.0; 24. MSU-Moorhead C 2.0; 25. St. John's C 1.5; 26. Wartburg C 0.5; 27t. Augsburg D 0.0; 27t. Concordia-Moorhead B 0.0; 27t. Mary B 0.0; 27t. St. Olaf B 0.0; 27t. Itasca CC B 0.0.

Augsburg results:
125 -- Greg Brendemuehl 3-2, 4th place.
133 -- Mark Matzek 4-0, 1st place; Jared Evans 2-2, 4th place; Jeremiah Dawson 0-2.
141 -- Jamell Tidwell 4-0, 1st place.
149 -- Ryan Stroud 4-0, 1st place; Clarke Athman 2-3, 6th place; Josh Erlandson 0-2.
157 -- Marcus LeVesseur 5-0, 1st place; Kirk Rall 1-2; Roger Huerta 1-2.
165 -- Ryan Valek 2-2; Sam Britt 1-2; Jesse Marsh 0-2.
174 -- Joe Moon * 4-0, 1st place.
184 -- Ricky Crone * 3-0, 1st place; Clint Hodgdon 3-2, 5th place.
197 -- Justin Sorensen 3-1, 2nd place; Joe Cullen 4-2, 5th place; Josh Barlage 0-2.
HWT -- Mike Flanagan 3-1, 2nd place; Jeremiah Knabe 4-3, 6th place; Dylan Solberg 0-2; Lucas Johnson 0-2.