Wrestling 1/28/05 -- Augsburg 26, Nebraska-Omaha 10

OMAHA, Neb. (1/28/05) -- Claiming seven of 10 matches, the Augsburg College wrestling team claimed a 26-10 victory over the University of Nebraska-Omaha in a battle of the top-ranked teams in the latest rankings in NCAA Division III and Division II, before 850 fans on Friday at UNO's Lee and Helene Sapp Fieldhouse.

Tied 6-6 after the first five matches, Augsburg won five of the last six matches to improve to 11-1 in dual meets this season. Augsburg, the top-ranked team in the Division III national rankings and winners of eight of the last 14 Division III national titles, improved to 196-13 against teams from Divisions II and III since the 1989-90 season. Augsburg has lost just eight matches to non-Division I opponents since the 1995-96 season.

Nebraska-Omaha, the defending Division II national champions and current top-ranked team in the latest Division II national rankings, is now 4-1 in dual meets this season.

Augsburg's Marcus LeVesseur * (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn./Bloomington Kennedy HS) extended his consecutive-match winning streak to 109 straight matches with a 6-1 victory over Patrick Allibone at 157 pounds. LeVesseur, the two-time defending national champion and current top-ranked wrestler nationally at 157, improved to 25-0 on the season. His 109-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.

LeVesseur's win was the first of five straight victories for the Auggies, capped by two impressive wins by No. 4-ranked Auggies. Brad Tupa (Jr., Dundas, Minn./Faribault HS) scored a 15-0, second-period technical-fall victory at 184 pounds, and Justin Sorensen (Jr., Owatonna, Minn.) with a 1:18 pin of UNO's Ben Strandberg at 197, the lone pin of the match.

Augsburg's Ryan Valek (Jr., Belle Plaine, Minn.), ranked No. 3 nationally at 165, scored a major upset with a 7-1 victory over UNO's J.D. Naig, the top-ranked wrestler in Division II in the weight class. Valek converted a second-period two-point near-fall and got a reversal and takedown in the third period to pull away, improving to 18-4 on the season.

Casey Flaherty (Sr., Big Lake, Minn.) improved to 21-7 on the year with a 3-1, overtime victory over UNO's Steve Conlin, converting the match-winning takedown with nine seconds left in the first extra session.

Augsburg opened the match with two straight victories by unbeaten, top-ranked wrestlers. Matt Shankey (Sr., Apple Valley, Minn.), the defending Division III national champion at 125, improved to 9-0 on the season with a 6-5 win over UNO's Dustin Tovar, ranked No. 6 in Division II. The two dueled in a wild final minute of the third period. Shankey took the lead with a takedown with 47 seconds left, but Tovar escaped six seconds later, then scored a takedown with 12 seconds left to tie the match at 5-5. But Shankey escaped with five seconds left to clinch the win.

Mark Matzek * (Sr., Ellsworth, Wis.), the defending national champion at 133 pounds, improved to 23-0 on the season and extended his winning streak to 31 straight matches with a 10-5 decision over UNO's Mitch Waite, ranked No. 5 in Division II.

Nebraska-Omaha tied the match at 6-6 with two straight victories in the lower weights, as Eli Dominguez, ranked No. 4 in Division II, scored a 9-6 win over Augsburg's No. 2-ranked Jamell Tidwell * (Sr., Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy HS). Tidwell escaped early in the third period to cut the advantage to 7-6, but Dominguez scored a pin with 22 seconds left to clinch the match.

Shane Unger, ranked No. 2 in Division II, claimed a 5-3 win over Augsburg's Jared Evans (So., Blue Earth, Minn./Blue Earth Area HS), ranked No. 3 in Division III at 149.

The match closed with UNO's only extra-point win of the evening, as its top-ranked heavyweight, Les Sigman, claimed a 10-2, major-decision win over Augsburg's Mark Simmonds (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn./Edison HS), ranked No. 4 in Division III. Three 3-point near-falls in the second period broke a scoreless tie and clinched the win for the Mustang wrestler.

Augsburg's varsity finishes its trip to Nebraska on Sunday (1/30) at 1 p.m., facing Dana College (Neb.), ranked No. 4 in the NAIA national rankings. Augsburg's White Team (junior varsity) will compete at the Great Plains Open in Lincoln, Neb., on Saturday (1/29).

Wrestling -- No. 1 D-III Augsburg (11-1) 26, No. 1 D-II Nebraska-Omaha (4-1) 10
January 28, 2005 -- Lee and Helene Sapp Fieldhouse, Omaha, Neb.
Attendance: 850.
Official: Tom Vincentini.
Action begins at 125 pounds.
125 -- No. 1 Matt Shankey (AUG, 9-0) dec. No. 6 Dustin Tovar (UNO, 22-7) 6-5 (Augsburg 3-0).
133 -- No. 1 Mark Matzek * (AUG, 23-0) dec. No. 5 Mitch Waite (UNO, 19-7) 10-5 (Augsburg 6-0).
141 -- No. 4 Eli Dominguez (UNO, 23-7) dec. No. 2 Jamell Tidwell * (AUG, 22-4) 9-6 (Augsburg 6-3).
149 -- No. 2 Shane Unger (UNO, 29-6) dec. No. 3 Jared Evans (AUG, 13-3) 5-3 (TIED 6-6).
157 -- No. 1 Marcus LeVesseur * (AUG, 25-0) dec. Patrick Allibone (UNO, 22-7) 6-1 (Augsburg 9-6).
165 -- No. 3 Ryan Valek (AUG, 18-4) dec. No. 1 J.D. Naig (UNO, 10-3) 7-1 (Augsburg 12-6).
174 -- Casey Flaherty (AUG, 21-7) dec. Steve Conlin (UNO, 20-9) 3-1 (OT) (Augsburg 15-6).
184 -- No. 4 Brad Tupa (AUG, 18-7) tech. fall Jay Wood (UNO, 17-14) 15-0 at 3:31 (Augsburg 20-6).
197 -- No. 4 Justin Sorensen (AUG, 18-6) pinned Ben Strandberg (UNO, 13-13) 1:18 (Augsburg 26-6).
HWT -- No. 1 Les Sigman (UNO, 39-3) maj. dec. No. 4 Mark Simmonds (AUG, 20-6) 10-2 (Augsburg 26-10).