MOORHEAD, Minn. (12/4/04) -- Marcus LeVesseur * (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn./Bloomington Kennedy HS) extended his unbeaten streak to 90 straight matches, claiming four pins and a major decision to win the 157-pound weight class and earn the meet's Outstanding Wrestler honors for Augsburg College at the Minnesota State University-Moorhead Dragon Open on Saturday at Alex Nemzek Hall.

Augsburg, ranked No. 1 nationally in the latest Division III rankings, claimed four individual titlists and three runners-up at the MSU-Moorhead meet, which attracted wrestlers from 12 different colleges. No team results were kept at the meet.

LeVesseur, the two-time defending NCAA Division III national titlist at 157, has yet to lose a college match in his three seasons and is now 6-0 on the season.

All four of LeVesseur's pins on Saturday came in the first period and were under two minutes in length, including a 24-second pin in his opening match and a 55-second pin in the title match over Josh Jansen of MSU-Moorhead, ranked No. 2 nationally in the Division II national rankings. He also had a major-decision win on Saturday.

Defending NCAA Division III 133-pound national champion Mark Matzek * (Sr., Ellsworth, Wis.), the top-ranked wrestler in his class in the national rankings, improved to 7-0 on the season by winning three matches and the title at 133.

Jamell Tidwell * (Sr., Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy HS), a two-time All-American currently ranked No. 2 nationally at 141 pounds, easily won his weight class to remain unbeaten at 8-0 on the year, with two pins and a 15-3, major-decision win in the title match over Ben Keen of MSU-Moorhead.

Ryan Valek (Jr., Belle Plaine, Minn.), ranked fourth nationally at 165 pounds, remained unbeaten at 8-0 by winning four matches to claim his weight-class title, while teammate Casey Flaherty (Sr., Big Lake, Minn.) went 3-1 to finish second.

Another weight-class battle is shaping up at 197 pounds for the Auggies, as two national tournament qualifiers, Justin Sorensen (Jr., Owatonna, Minn.) and Joe Cullen (Sr., Coon Rapids, Minn.), placed second and third respectively. Sorensen won two of his first three matches by major decision before falling 5-3 in overtime to Jesse Laber of Mary (N.D.) in the finals; Cullen also lost 13-2 to Laber in the semifinals, but won four other matches on the day.

Travis Birhanzl (Jr., Montevideo, Minn./Yellow Medicine East HS) scored major-decision wins in his first two matches and won his third to reach the finals at 174, where he lost 4-3 to Josh McLay of the University of Minnesota to place second. Teammate Robbie Gotreau (Fr., Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS) also lost to McLay (6-5), but won four other matches, including his last two in overtime, to place third at 174.

Greg Brendemuehl (Jr., Medford, Minn.) placed second for the Auggies at 149, going 3-1 on the day to improve to 6-2 on the season.

R returning All-American Mark Simmonds (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn.) continues to face tough competition at heavyweight, where he rallied from an opening-round loss to Justin Hoag of Dickinson State (N.D.) with five straight wins to place third in his class, including a technical fall and two major decisions.

Ben Moss (So., Council Bluffs, Iowa/Lewis Central HS) and Josh Hansen (So., Albert Lea, Minn.) shared third place at 133, while Tony Biggs (Fr., Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley HS) placed fourth at 157.

Augsburg splits its squad for dual meets on the road on Tuesday (12/7) at 7 p.m. The Augsburg varsity will face Division II Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, Minn., while the Augsburg White Team (junior varsity) will travel to Willmar, Minn., to face Ridgewater Community College.

Individual champions:
125 -- Mark Johnston, Dickinson State (N.D.)
133 -- Mark Matzek *, Augsburg
141 -- Jamell Tidwell *, Augsburg
149 -- Danny Meyer, MSU-Moorhead
157 -- Marcus LeVesseur *, Augsburg
165 -- Ryan Valek, Augsburg
174 -- Josh McLay, Minnesota
184 -- Elijah Simberger, Mary (N.D.)
197 -- Jesse Laber, Mary (N.D.)
HWT -- Justin Bronson, Minnesota

Augsburg wrestlers' results:
125 -- Graham Petersburg 1-1 (6th).
133 -- Mark Matzek * 3-0 (1st), Ben Moss 2-1 (t-3rd), Josh Hansen 3-1 (t-3rd), Jake Flett 0-2.
141 -- Jamell Tidwell * 3-0 (1st), Rich Taylor 2-2.
149 -- Greg Brendemuehl 3-1 (2nd).
157 -- Marcus LeVesseur * 5-0 (1st), Tony Biggs 3-2 (4th), Tim Matzek 3-3 (6th), Mitch Collins 1-2.
165 -- Ryan Valek 4-0 (1st), Casey Flaherty 3-1 (2nd), Jon Priess 2-2.
174 -- Travis Birhanzl 3-1 (2nd), Robbie Gotreau 4-1 (3rd), Brian Fischer 3-3 (6th), Kirk Rall 1-2.
184 -- Brad Tupa 1-2 (6th).
197 -- Justin Sorensen 3-1 (2nd), Joe Cullen 4-1 (3rd), Wally O'Connor 2-2, Chris Sogge 1-2.
HWT -- Mark Simmonds 5-1 (3rd), Jeremiah Knabe 2-2, Danny Manley 1-2, Bud Gelhaye 1-2.