Wrestling 1/30/05 -- Augsburg 34, Dana (Neb.) 3 -- Augsburg coach Jeff Swenson wins 300th career match!

BLAIR, Neb. (1/30/05) -- Augsburg College won nine of 10 individual matches and earned head coach Jeff Swenson his 300th career dual-meet victory on Sunday, as the Auggies scored a 34-3 victory over Dana College in a nonconference wrestling dual meet at the Gardner-Hawks Center.

Augsburg, ranked No. 1 in the latest NCAA Division III national rankings, is now 12-1 in dual meets this season. Dana is currently ranked No. 4 in the latest NAIA national rankings.

Swenson, in his 23rd season as Augsburg's head coach (1980-84, 1986-present), improved to 300-40 (.882 winning percentage) in his career with Sunday's dual-meet victory.

In his Auggie tenure, Swenson has coached 133 All-Americans and 32 individual national champions. His Auggies have won an NCAA-record eight Division III national championships (1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002) in the last 14 seasons. Since 1990, Augsburg has finished either first or second nationally each year but one (1994, 4th) -- the only NCAA wrestling program in any division that can make that claim. Swenson has earned National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III National Coach of the Year honors five times.

Augsburg scored six extra-point victories -- five major decisions and a technical fall -- to cruise to Sunday's victory over the Vikings. Augsburg did not allow opponent points in six of its nine victories.

Augsburg's Marcus LeVesseur * (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn./Bloomington Kennedy HS) extended his consecutive-match winning streak to 110 straight matches with a 15-2, major-decision victory over Ben Henderson at 157 pounds. Henderson is ranked No. 6 in the NAIA.

LeVesseur, the two-time defending national champion and current top-ranked wrestler nationally at 157, improved to 26-0 on the season. His 110-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.

Brad Tupa (Jr., Dundas, Minn./Faribault HS), ranked fourth nationally in Division III, scored his second technical-fall victory of the weekend trip to Nebraska, with a 17-0 blanking of Dana's Blair Alderman, ranked No. 6 in the NAIA. In improving to 19-7 on the season, Tupa outscored his opponents 32-0 on the weekend.

Mark Matzek * (Sr., Ellsworth, Wis.), the defending national champion and current top-ranked wrestler at 133 pounds, improved to 24-0 on the season and extended his winning streak to 32 straight matches with an 8-0 major-decision win over Brian Tsutsumi, ranked No. 6 in the NAIA.

Matt Shankey (Sr., Apple Valley, Minn.), the defending Division III national champion and current top-ranked wrestler at 125, improved to 10-0 on the season with an 8-2 victory.

A battle of No. 2-ranked wrestlers at 141 pounds ended up in Augsburg's favor in a big way, as Jamell Tidwell * (Sr., Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy HS) scored an 11-0 major-decision win over Dana's Jason Lozier. Tidwell is now 23-4 on the season and 144-16 on his career.

Augsburg's Ryan Valek (Jr., Belle Plaine, Minn.), ranked No. 3 nationally at 165, continued his impressive weekend of matches with a 4-0 decison over Dana's Leister Bowling, ranked No. 4 in the NAIA. Valek is now 19-4 on the season.

Jared Evans (So., Blue Earth, Minn./Blue Earth Area HS), ranked No. 3 in Division III at 149, scored a 6-3 win over Dana's Rusty Taper.

Augsburg's No. 4-ranked wrestlers, Justin Sorensen (Jr., Owatonna, Minn.) at 197 and Mark Simmonds (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn./Edison HS) at heavyweight, scored major-decision victories to close the match, Sorensen topping Webster Farris 8-0 and Simmonds topping Ryan Tonkin 11-0.

Dana's lone win came from Marshall Marquardt, ranked No. 7 in the NAIA at 174, edging Augsburg's Casey Flaherty (Sr., Big Lake, Minn.) 6-5.

Augsburg has its biggest dual meet of the season on Thursday (2/3), hosting Wartburg (Iowa) at 7 p.m. at Augsburg's Si Melby Hall. Wartburg, winners of the last two Division III national titles, is currently ranked second to Augsburg in the Division III national rankings. On Jan. 22, Augsburg scored an 18-15 win over Wartburg in the finals of the NWCA Division III National Duals in Cleveland, Ohio.

Wrestling -- No. 1 D-III Augsburg (12-1) 34, No. 4 NAIA Dana (Neb.) 3
January 28, 2005 -- Gardner-Hawks Center, Blair, Neb.
Action begins at 125 pounds.
125 -- No. 1 Matt Shankey (AUG, 10-0) dec. Craig Trampe (DC) 8-2 (Augsburg 3-0).
133 -- No. 1 Mark Matzek * (AUG, 24-0) maj. dec. No. 6 Brian Tsutsumi (DC) 8-0 (Augsburg 7-0).
141 -- No. 2 Jamell Tidwell * (AUG, 23-4) maj. dec. No. 2 Jason Lozier (DC) 11-0 (Augsburg 11-0).
149 -- No. 3 Jared Evans (AUG, 14-3) dec. Rusty Taper (DC) 6-3 (Augsburg 14-0).
157 -- No. 1 Marcus LeVesseur * (AUG, 26-0) maj. dec. No. 6 Ben Henderson (DC) 15-2 (Augsburg 18-0).
165 -- No. 3 Ryan Valek (AUG, 19-4) dec. No. 4 Leister Bowling (DC) 4-0 (Augsburg 21-0).
174 -- No. 7 Marshall Marquardt (DC) dec. Casey Flaherty (AUG, 21-8) 6-5 (Augsburg 21-3).
184 -- No. 4 Brad Tupa (AUG, 19-7) tech. fall No. 6 Blair Alderman (DC) 17-0 (Augsburg 26-3).
197 -- No. 4 Justin Sorensen (AUG, 19-6) maj. dec. Webster Farris (DC) 8-0 (Augsburg 30-3).
HWT -- No. 4 Mark Simmonds (AUG, 21-6) maj. dec. Ryan Tonkin (DC) 11-0 (Augsburg 34-3).