CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- Earning five individual All-Americans, including two alive in individual championship contention, the Augsburg University men's wrestling team sits in a tie for second place after the first day of the NCAA Division III National Championships.

THE BASICS
TEAM SCORES: Augsburg t-2nd (54.0)
LOCATION: Alliant Energy PowerHouse, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

FIVE ALL-AMERICANS FOR AUGGIES
• Five of Augsburg's 10 tournament qualifiers earned All-American honors, guaranteeing top-eight national finishes. Two Auggies -- No. 2-seed 149-pounder Matthew Randolph (SO, Jordan, Minn./Jordan HS (Scott West)) and No. 5-seed 197-pounder Ethan Winkelman (SO, Hudson, Wis./Hudson HS) -- remained alive in pursuit of national titles, with both winning their two matches on Friday.
• No. 9-seed 133-pounder Chance Suddeth (JR, Stoughton, Wis./Stoughton HS), unseeded 141-pounder Cole Becker (SR,  Albertville, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville HS) and No. 6-seed 184-pounder Brandt Bombard (SR, North Branch, Minn./North Branch HS) earned All-American honors with victories in the wrestlebacks.
• Fifteen-time national champion Augsburg stands in a tie for second place with Wisconsin-La Crosse, with each scoring 54.0 points on Friday, behind the 61.5 points of defending co-national champion Wartburg (Iowa). Roanoke (Va.) is in fourth place with 45.5 points, and New York University is in fifth place with 41.0 points.
• Augsburg has now extended its streak of claiming at least one All-American in national tournament competition to 50 straight seasons -- every year since 1977. The Auggies have had at least two All-Americans every year since 1988, and has had at least five All-Americans in 33 of the last 38 years.
• Augsburg has now earned 291 men's wrestling All-Americans in program history -- 240 in NCAA Division III competition (1983-present), 38 in NAIA competition (1969-1983), and 13 by the National Wrestling Coaches Association (no NCAA tournaments held in 2020 and 2021).
• Saturday's second day of the NCAA tournament begins at 10 a.m. with championship semifinals, consolation action and placing matches for third, fifth and seventh places. The 10 national title bouts begin at 7 p.m.

149 -- Matthew Randolph (SO, Jordan, Minn./Jordan HS (Scott West)), seeded No. 2 • Randolph claimed a workman-like 12-0 major-decision win over Jovanni Greco of Ohio Northern in his opening match. He claimed a first-period takedown, then after an escape to start the third period, exploded in the final 45 seconds with a takedown and four-point near-fall, building 2:42 of riding time in the victory. • He was again steady and strong to remain in contention for an individual national title, clinching his second All-American honor with a 12-3 major decision win over No. 7-seed Nate Fitt of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy (Conn.). He used three takedowns and 2:38 of riding time to improve to 27-2 on the season and 58-6 in his career. Randolph finished fourth last season at 149 pounds in the national tournament.

197 -- Ethan Winkelman (SO, Hudson, Wis./Hudson HS), seeded No. 5 • Winkelman faced a battle with unseeded Jean Ngoma of Coe (Iowa) in his first national tournament match of his career, but rallied late for a 5-4 victory. Trailing 3-2 entering the third period, he gave up an intentional escape, then worked his way for a double-leg takedown with 42 seconds left to clinch the victory. • Against unseeded Nicholas Woodruff of Penn Tech (Pa.) in the quarterfinals, Winkelman built a 15-2 lead after two periods, on the strength of three takedowns, a reversal and a four-point near-fall, clinching his first All-American honor with a 5:14 pin, his 15th pin of the season and 25th of his career. He is now 31-4 on the season and 53-6 in his career.

141 -- Cole Becker (SR, Albertville, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville HS), unseeded • Becker rallied for an 8-5, sudden-victory overtime win over Ty Trickle of Trinity (Conn.) in his opening pigtail match. Trailing 5-3 in the third period, he was able to force two stalling penalty points on Trickle in the third period to tie the match, and he earned the victory with a takedown 10 seconds into sudden-victory overtime. • In Becker's second match of the day, he drew the top seed and defending 141-pound national champion, Mark Samuel of Roanoke (Va.). Samuel claimed a pair of takedowns in the first period and dominated, building 3:15 of riding time in an 8-2 win over Becker. • Having to wrestle a pigtail consolation match in the opening session, Becker dominated in a 17-1, third-period technical fall victory over Daniel Metzler of Albright College (Pa.). He scored four takedowns in the victory, and connected on a four-point near-fall at the end of the second period to turn the match into a rout. • In the evening session, Becker broke open a tight match into a 6-1 wrestleback victory over No. 9-seed Dresden Grimm of Coe (Iowa), claiming an impressive four-point near-fall with 45 seconds in the bout. • Becker reached a career milestone in clinching his first career All-American honor, reaching the 100-victory plateau for his career with a 2-1 victory over No. 7-seed Sean Conway of Chicago (Ill.). Both wrestlers had escapes in the match, but Becker forced Conway into a second stalling call and a point with 28 seconds left in the third period. Competing in his second national tournament, Becker is now 31-7 on the season and 100-22 in his college career.

133 -- Chance Suddeth (JR, Stoughton, Wis./Stoughton HS), seeded No. 9 • No. 9-seed Suddeth had a strong battle with No. 8-seed Art Martinez of Case Western Reserve (Ohio), with the two wrestlers only claiming an escape each through the seven minutes of regulation. But 22 seconds into sudden victory overtime, Martinez was able to convert a single-leg attack into the deciding takedown in a 4-1 decision. • Suddeth rebounded in his first wrestleback match, using four takedowns, two reversals and more than three minutes of riding time to clinch an 18-5, major-decision victory over Esuar Ordonez of Springfield (Mass.). • Suddeth clinched his second All-America honor with his second straight major decision, an 11-1 triumph over No. 7-seed Jacob Blair of Arcadia. Improving to 25-12 on the year and 75-30 in his career, Suddeth used three takedowns and 1:31 of riding time to advance in the consolation bracket. Suddeth finished seventh at 133 at last year's NCAA tournament.

184 -- Brandt Bombard (SR, North Branch, Minn./North Branch HS), seeded No. 6 • Last year's national runner-up at 184, Bombard opened his tournament run with an 8-1 win over No. 11-seed Jackson Davis of Chicago (Ill.). Bombard scored two takedowns and an escape, and built 2:06 of riding time to claim the victory, the 80th of his collegiate career. • Bombard faced unseeded Hunter Moore of Roanoke (Va.) in his quarterfinal match, which ended up being a tight affair. Both wrestlers claimed escapes in regulation, forcing sudden-victory overtime, and with 34 seconds left in the extra session, Moore scored a double-leg takedown to win 4-1. • But Bombard rallied back in a big way to clinch his second career All-American honor. Facing Casey Aikman of North Central (Ill.), Bombard built an 8-4 lead after two periods, then poured it on in the third, eventually capping the win with a 6:12 pin, his 19th pin of the season, improving to 27-6 on the season and 81-28 in his career.

125 -- Jafari Vanier (SR, Edina, Minn./Richfield HS), unseeded • Vanier opened with a 10-0, major decision loss to Andrew Marchese of Vermont State-Castleton in his opening pigtail match. Vanier was unable to solve several attacks by Marchese, who scored two takedowns, a two-point near-fall and 2:08 of riding time. • He rebounded with a 7-2 victory over Nikko Beato of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy (Conn.), scoring a takedown with 49 seconds left in the first period, and another to clinch the win with 40 seconds left in the third period. • Vanier rallied back from a 9-2 deficit late in the third period in his wrestleback match against No. 6-seed Matt Griffin of the College of New Jersey, claiming a takedown in the second period and an escape and takedown in the third period to tie the bout at 9-9 and force overtime. But Griffin scored a takedown 17 seconds into the sudden-victory period for a 12-9 win. Vanier ended his senior season at 19-14 and his college career at 55-39.

157 -- Karsen Otis (JR, Combined Locks, Wis./Kimberly HS), seeded No. 8 • Otis opened his tournament run with a 6-3 victory over No. 9-seed Cameron Johnson of Aurora (Ill.). Trailing 3-1 after one period, Otis had the top position to start the second period and rode Johnson the entire two minutes. Getting an escape at the start of the third period to cut the lead to 3-2, he converted the eventual bout-winning takedown on a double-leg shot with 38 seconds left in the match. • Otis then suffered two close losses to end his tournament run with a 29-8 record. Despite riding out top-seed Peter Kane of Williams (Mass.) in the second period, a first-period takedown by Kane proved to be the difference in a 3-1 quarterfinal victory. • Otis traded escapes with Joe Penchi of UW-La Crosse, an opponent he had split a pair of matches with earlier this season, forcing overtime. But Penchi scored the 4-1 victory with a takedown 36 seconds into the sudden victory session. Otis is now 80-20 in his Auggie career.

165 -- Cooper Willis (SR, Kansasville, Wis./Union Grove HS), seeded No. 2 • Three-time All-American Willis opened with a dominant performance, a 14-5 major-decision win over Peyton Brooks of Albion (Mich.). He built a 12-0 lead on the strength of two takedowns, a three-point near-fall, two-point near-fall and an escape, and accumulated 2:30 of riding time to score the victory. • In the quarterfinals, Willis suffered his first loss to Brayden Peet of Wisconsin-Whitewater in their fourth career meeting, as he was edged 1-0 when Peet, the No. 7 seed, rode out Willis in the third period to gain a riding-time point. • Willis was eliminated from the tournament with an 8-1 loss to No. 9 seed Bo Koedam of Coe (Iowa), ending his senior season at 27-5 and his career at 125-20.

174-- Nick Alexander (JR, Kaukauna, Wis./Wrightstown HS), unseeded • In an opening pigtail match, Alexander scored an impressive 10-6 victory over Mike Slade of Wartburg (Iowa), claiming his second victory over the Knight this season in three attempts. Late in the second period, Alexander converted a takedown into a four-point near-fall, eventually building an 8-0 lead before Slade scored a pair of takedowns in the third period. • Alexander faced No. 2-seeded Noah Leisgang of Wisconsin-La Crosse in his next match, looking for his first victory in the third meeting between the two wrestlers this season. The two battled in a tight match, with Leisgang gaining an escape in the second period and Alexander gaining an escape in the third. But Leisgang was able to convert a takedown with five seconds left in the bout to earn a 4-1 win. • In a pigtail consolation bout to close the first session, Alexander stayed alive with a 3:49 pin over Jermaine Butler of Wisconsin-Whitewater, avenging a 10-3 loss earlier in the season and claiming Augsburg's lone pin of the opening session. He rallied from a 5-2 first-period deficit with an escape, takedown, a pair of four-point near-falls and the closing pin with 1:11 left in the second period. • Alexander's tournament run came to an end with a 6-0 loss to No. 7 seed Thomas West of Baldwin Wallace (Ohio), with West recording a reversal, takedown and 1:23 of riding time. Alexander finished 20-17 on the season and is 70-31 in his career.

285 -- Tyler Raway (SR, Wyoming, Minn./Forest Lake HS), seeded No. 7 • Facing Wisconsin-Eau Claire's Sloan Welch for the second straight time after a 7-4 win in the Region VII Regional final two weeks ago, Raway used a takedown, reversal and 1:19 of riding time to score a 6-3 victory in his first national tournament match, his third win over Welch this season. • In a tight match against unbeaten No. 2-seed Carl DiGiorgio of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy (Conn.), Raway was edged 4-2, with a first-period takedown by DiGiorgio proving to be the difference. • Raway suffered a 5-4 loss to Mohamed Abdelatti of Ursinus (Pa.) in the wrestlebacks, with the No. 8-seed breaking a 3-3 tie with escapes in the second and third periods. Raway finished his senior year at 29-6 and his career at 91-31.