2017 USA WRESTLING UNIVERSITY AND CADET NATIONALS BRACKETS

AKRON, Ohio -- Two Augsburg College wrestling alumni reached the finals at the USA Wrestling University Nationals tournament in Greco-Roman competition on Friday, with Donny Longendyke '17 winning the championship at 130kg (286 pounds) and Mike Fuenffinger '15 finishing second at 59kg (130 pounds).
 
Longendyke, competing for the Minnesota Storm wrestling club, topped Storm teammate Malcolm Allen 5-4 in the 130kg Greco-Roman finals on Friday. The finals win capped a day where Longendyke won all four of his matches, outscoring his opponents by a 28-6 margin -- including two 8-0 technical superiority wins in his first two matches, over 2016 NAIA heavyweight national titlist Dean Broghammer of Grand View (Iowa) and Division I wrestler Matt Voss (George Mason). He then topped Storm teammate Parker Betts (U.S. Olympic Training Center-Northern Michigan) 7-2 in the semifinals before topping Allen, a 2016 Division II national runner-up at heavyweight at Minnesota State-Mankato, in the finals.

All three of Longendyke's opponents were ranked in the latest USA Wrestling Senior Greco-Roman national rankings at 130kg -- Voss was No. 4, Allen was No. 5 and Betts was No. 6 -- while Longendyke was unranked.
 
During his three seasons at Augsburg after competing his first year at Division I Nebraska, Longendyke was a three-time NCAA Division III All-American, winning the heavyweight national title in 2015 and finishing as national runner-up in both 2016 and 2017. He finished his collegiate career at 151-30, including 109-9 at Augsburg.
 
Fuenffinger shut out all three of his opponents leading up to the championship match -- an 11-0 win over Garret Cleveland of Olivet (Mich.), a 9-0 win over Jake Stogdill, a redshirt first-year at the Division II Colorado School of Mines, and an 8-0 win over Randon Miranda (U.S. Olympic Training Center-Northern Michigan) -- before falling 7-0 in the finals to Dalton Roberts (U.S. Olympic Training Center-Northern Michigan). Roberts is currently ranked No. 6 in the USA Wrestling Senior Greco-Roman national rankings at 59kg, while Miranda is ranked No. 10.
 
Fuenffinger won back-to-back Division III national titles at 125 pounds for the Auggies in 2014 and 2015, finishing his career with a 110-21 collegiate record. He was a four-time national tournament qualifier and three-time All-American for the Auggies, finishing seventh nationally at 125 in 2013.
 
This season, Fuenffinger began competing for the U.S. Army wrestling team in Colorado Springs, Colo., winning the Armed Forces Freestyle championship at 59kg in February.