COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. (2/5/05) -- Augsburg College, the top-ranked team in the NCAA Division III national rankings, earned seven individual championships and placed 11 other wrestlers among the top six on Saturday, competing at the North Country Invitational wrestling tournament at St. John's University. No team results were kept at the meet.

Augsburg's three top-ranked wrestlers -- 157-pounder Marcus LeVesseur * (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn./Bloomington Kennedy HS), 125-pounder Matt Shankey (Sr., Apple Valley, Minn.) and 133-pounder Mark Matzek * (Sr., Ellsworth, Wis.) -- all cruised through their classes to win titles.

LeVesseur, the two-time defending national champion at 157, extended his consecutive-match winning streak to 114 straight matches with three victories, all by first-period pin, including a 17-second pin in his second match. LeVesseur, the two-time defending national champion and current top-ranked wrestler nationally at 157, improved to 30-0 on the season, with 19 wins coming by pin.

His 114-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.

Shankey improved to 17-0 on the season with four victories, including two by technical fall, to win at 125 pounds. He claimed a 4-2 victory over Division I Minnesota's Andrew Dominguez in the finals. Matzek improved to 28-0 on the season and extended his winning streak to 36 straight matches with three wins at 133 to claim the title.

Joe Moon * (Sr., Ellendale, Minn./New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva HS), in his second meet after returning to the Auggie lineup at the semester break, cruised through the 174-pound weight class, winning four matches. Moon won the 174-pound national title last season, and will compete in his final semester this season.

Jamell Tidwell * (Sr., Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy HS), ranked No. 2 nationally at 141, won three matches, including a pin and major-decision, to win the title at 141. He topped Minnesota's Manuel Rivera 4-2 in the finals.

Brad Tupa (Jr., Dundas, Minn./Faribault HS), ranked No. 4 nationally at 184, continued his strong end-of-season push with three wins to dominate his weight class. He had a pin and 16-5, major-decision win over Dan Willaert of St. John's in the finals.

Mark Simmonds (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn./Edison HS), ranked No. 4 nationally at heavyweight, used two pins and a 5-1 decision over Minnesota State-Mankato's Ben Janike to clinch his weight-class title.

Jared Evans (So., Blue Earth, Minn./Blue Earth Area HS), ranked No. 3 at 149, reached the finals with three victories before falling 7-3 to Minnesota's Tyler Safratowich.

Kirk Rall (Jr., West St. Paul, Minn./Henry Sibley HS) used a pin and two major decisions to reach the finals at 165, but dropped an 11-1 decisoin to Minnesota's Mitch Kuhlman in the finals. Teammate Ryan Valek (Jr., Belle Plaine, Minn.), ranked No. 3 nationally at 165, dropped two matches to Dana's (Neb.) Trent Leichleiter to finish fourth.

Justin Sorensen (Jr., Owatonna, Minn.), ranked No. 4 at 197, suffered a 4-1 loss to Dickinson State's (N.D.) Justin Schlecht, ranked No. 4 in the NAIA, in the semifinals, but rebounded to take third. Teammate Joe Cullen (Sr., Coon Rapids, Minn.) finished fifth.

Also finishing third for Augsburg was Ryan Stroud (Jr., Park Falls, Wis.) at 149, Tim Matzek (Fr., Ellsworth, Wis.) at 157, Casey Flaherty (Sr., Big Lake, Minn.) at 174 and Andrew Neumann (So., Somerset, Wis.) at heavyweight. Rich Taylor (Jr., St. Paul, Minn./Como Park HS) finished fourth at 141, and Robbie Gotreau (Fr., Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS) placed sixth at 174.

Augsburg finishes its dual-meet season on Friday (2/11) at 7 p.m., at Wisconsin-Stevens Point, the No. 12-ranked team in the Division III national rankings.

AUGSBURG RESULTS
125: Matt Shankey 4-0, 1st.
133: Mark Matzek * 3-0, 1st; Graham Petersburg 2-1; Jake Flett 0-2.
141: Jamell Tidwell * 3-0, 1st; Josh Hansen 5-1, 3rd; Rich Taylor 4-1, 4th; Adam Ketcher 3-2.
149: Jared Evans 3-1, 2nd; Ryan Stroud 5-1, 3rd; Greg Brendemuehl 0-2.
157: Marcus LeVesseur * 3-0, 1st; Tim Matzek 3-0, 3rd; Mitch Collins 2-2.
165: Kirk Rall 3-1, 2nd; Ryan Valek 4-2, 3rd; John Preiss 0-2.
174: Joe Moon * 4-0, 1st; Casey Flaherty 4-1, 3rd; Robbie Gotreau 4-3, 6th; Brian Fischer 1-2.
184: Brad Tupa 3-0, 1st.
197: Justin Sorensen 3-1, 3rd; Joe Cullen 3-2, 5th; Wally O'Connor 1-2.
HWT: Mark Simmonds 3-0, 1st; Andrew Neumann 5-0, 3rd; Jeremiah Knabe 1-2; Dylan Soberg 1-2; Matt Michelson 0-2; Danny Manley 0-2; Bud Gelhaye 0-2; Zak Jensen 0-1.