CLEVELAND, Ohio (1/22/05) -- Two Division III wrestling powerhouses will meet for the fourth year in a row in the finals of the National Wrestling Coaches Association/Cliff Keen Division III National Duals presented by Hershey's SmartZone, as national No. 1-ranked Augsburg College will meet two-time defending national champion and current national No. 2-ranked Wartburg College (Iowa) later on Saturday night.

Both Augsburg and Wartburg advanced to Saturday's Division III National Duals finals at the Cleveland State University Convocation Center with easy semifinal victories, as Augsburg dispatched national No. 4 Delaware Valley (Pa.) 35-3, and Wartburg took care of in-state rival and national No. 3 Luther (Iowa) 32-3.

Saturday's Division III final between the Auggies and Knights will be at 8:30 p.m. (Eastern time).

Augsburg, the top-ranked team in the Division III national rankings and winners of eight of the last 14 Division III national titles, had an easy time with its first two wins on Friday, a 47-0 win over Baldwin-Wallace (Ohio) and a 40-3 triumph over national No. 10 John Carroll (Ohio). Augsburg has won 28 of 30 individual matches in its first three victories in the National Duals.

Marcus LeVesseur * (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn./Bloomington Kennedy HS) extended his consecutive-match winning streak to 107 straight matches with his third straight pin victory in the tournament, a 2:55 pin of Delaware Valley's Alan Schwartzbeck at 157 pounds.

LeVesseur, the two-time defending national champion and current top-ranked wrestler nationally at 157, improved to 23-0 on the season. Of LeVesseur's 23 wins this season, 15 have come by pin. His 107-match winning streak is the second-longest streak in college wrestling history, behind the 159 straight wins by Cael Sanderson of Iowa State from 1998-2002. LeVesseur has yet to lose a collegiate wrestling match.

Jamell Tidwell * (Sr., Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy HS), the No. 2-ranked wrestler nationally at 141 pounds, claimed his third straight technical-fall victory in Saturday's semfinal. He is now 22-2 on the season.

Matt Shankey (Sr., Apple Valley, Minn.), the top-ranked wrestler and defending national champion at 125, improved to 7-0 on the season with his second technical-fall victory of the weekend.

Mark Matzek * (Sr., Ellsworth, Wis.), the defending national champion and current top-ranked wrestler at 133 pounds, extended his winning streak to 29 straight matches with his second straight win over a ranked wrestler, a 9-2 win over No. 2 Barry Wise in a rematch of last year's national semifinals. Matzek is now 2-1 all-time against Wise (Wise beat Matzek in the 2003 national third-place match).

Two Auggies claimed upset wins over Delaware Valley ranked wrestlers, as Casey Flaherty (Sr., Big Lake, Minn.) scored a 4-3 win over No. 4 Jason Shivak at 174, and Brad Tupa (Jr., Dundas, Minn./Faribault HS) claimed a 2-1 win over No. 5 Andrew Helms at 184.

Augsburg's Ryan Valek (Jr., Belle Plaine, Minn.), the No. 2-ranked wrestler at 165, scored a 9-2 win over Ryan Pope. Mark Simmonds (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn./Edison HS), ranked No. 4 at heavyweight, claimed a 14-0 major-decision win over Caleb Churchwell. Jared Evans (So., Blue Earth, Minn./Blue Earth Area HS) scored a decision victory at 149.

Justin Sorensen (Jr., Owatonna, Minn.), ranked No. 4 at 197, was upset 9-5 by Delaware Valley's Jamall Johnson.

Delaware Valley and the College of New Jersey were scheduled to meet in a consolation semifinal on Saturday, but both teams decided to return home, due to a snowstorm on the East Coast. Midwest schools Luther and Wisconsin-La Crosse advanced from the consolation semifinals and met for third place, with Wisconsin-La Crosse winning 21-17.

Wrestling -- Augsburg (9-1) 35, Delaware Valley (Pa., 8-3) 3
January 22, 2005 – Cleveland State Convocation Center, Cleveland, Ohio.
Action begins at 125 pounds.
125 -- No. 1 Matt Shankey (AUG, 7-0) tech. fall Mike Weston (DVC) 15-0 at 4:35 (Augsburg 5-0).
133 -- No. 1 Mark Matzek * (AUG, 21-0) dec. No. 2 Barry Wise (DVC) 9-2 (Augsburg 8-0).
141 -- No. 2 Jamell Tidwell * (AUG, 22-2) tech. fall Dominic Spitalieri (JCU) 16-0 at 3:39 (Augsburg 13-0).
149 -- Jared Evans (AUG, 12-2) dec. Rick Frondorf (DVC) 10-5 (Augsburg 16-0).
157 -- No. 1 Marcus LeVesseur * (AUG, 23-0) pinned Alan Schwartzbeck (DVC) 2:55 (Augsburg 22-0).
165 -- No. 2 Ryan Valek (AUG, 16-4) dec. Ryan Pope (DVC) 9-2 (Augsburg 25-0).
174 -- Casey Flaherty (AUG, 20-6) dec. No. 4 Jason Shivak (DVC) 4-3 (Augsburg 28-0).
184 -- Brad Tupa (AUG, 17-6) dec. No. 5 Andrew Helms (DVC) 2-1 (Augsburg 31-0).
197 -- Jamall Johnson (DVC) dec. No. 4 Justin Sorensen (AUG, 17-5) 9-5 (Augsburg 31-3).
HWT -- No. 4 Mark Simmonds (AUG, 20-4) maj. dec. Caleb Churchwell (DVC) 14-0 (Augsburg 35-3).