College Wrestling 1/7/01 -- Augsburg 24, Wartburg (Iowa) 12

MINNEAPOLIS (1/7/01) -- Claiming victories in six of the 10 individual matches, Augsburg College claimed a 24-12 win over Wartburg College in a nonconference wrestling dual meet Sunday afternoon at the University of Minnesota's Williams Arena.

Augsburg, the top-ranked team in the NWCA Adidas-Brute Division III national rankings, improves to 4-0 in dual meets this season. Wartburg, ranked fourth in the nation, drops to 5-2. Augsburg has beaten Wartburg the last five years in a row in dual meets, and holds a 6-1 edge in the all-time dual-meet series.

The two teams have dominated NCAA Division III wrestling the past decade. Augsburg has won six national championships in the last 10 years (1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000), while Wartburg has won two national crowns (1996, 1999). The two teams have taken the top two spots at the last five Division III national championships.

The match was held as a precursor to the University of Minnesota's match with Oklahoma State University. The Gophers fell to Oklahoma State 25-12. Attendance for the two matches at Williams Arena was 9,565.

Sunday's dual was highlighted by the only meeting of ranked wrestlers at 184 pounds, when Augsburg's Nik Lewandowski (Sr., Hastings, Minn.) took advantage of a penalty point for stalling with 16 seconds left to force overtime, then scored a takedown 26 seconds into the extra frame to claim a 6-4 victory over Wartburg's Sonny Alvarez (So., Aledo, Ill.). Lewandowski, a three-time All-American, is ranked third in the nation at 184, while Alvarez entered the match ranked eighth in the nation.

Defending national champion Ben Bauer (Sr., Faribault, Minn.) had the lone pin in the match, claiming a third-period pin at heavyweight over Wartburg's Scott Eddy (Jr., Independence, Iowa) to move to 18-1 on the season.

Augsburg's Nick Slack (Jr., Belle Plaine, Minn.) improved to 13-0 with a major-decision victory at 174 pounds. The defending national champion at 174, Slack currently has a 44-match winning streak spanning two seasons. The school record for consecutive wins is 64, set by Henry Gerten during the 1996-97 and 1997-98 seasons.

Bryan Miller (Jr., Virginia Beach, Va.) scored an impressive 23-7, technical-fall victory at 133 pounds for the Auggies, whose other victories came on decisions from Tony Abbott (Jr., Inver Grove Heights, Minn./St. Thomas Academy HS) at 165 and Darin Bertram (Jr., Herman, Minn./Herman-Norcross HS) at 125. Bertram, a two-time defending national runner-up at 125, is currently the top-ranked wrestler in the nation in his weight class; Abbott is ranked fourth in the country at 165.

Wartburg's victories all came on three-point decisions, from Matt Buskohl (Sr., Dike, Iowa) at 197, Kevin Bratland (So., Humboldt, Iowa) at 157 pounds, Anthony Ganas (So., Des Plaines, Ill.) at 141 and from Kurt Morgan (So., Eagle Grove, Iowa) at 149.

Buskohl, unbeaten at 12-0 on the season, is currently ranked second in the nation at 197 pounds. Ganas is ranked eighth in the country at 141.

Augsburg returns to action on Wednesday night (1/10) at 7 p.m., hosting Division II St. Cloud State at 7 p.m. at Augsburg's Si Melby Hall. Wartburg competes at the Central College (Iowa) tournament next Saturday (1/13).

Augsburg (4-0 dual meets) 24, Wartburg (5-2) 12
1/7/01 at Williams Arena, University of Minnesota
Action begins at 157 pounds
157 -- Kevin Bratland (WART, 9-3) dec. Jeremy Jirele (AUG, 12-2) 7-3 (Wartburg 3-0).
165 -- Tony Abbott (AUG, 13-1) dec. Kevin Powell (WART, 12-2) 5-3 (TIED 3-3).
174 -- Nick Slack (AUG, 13-0) maj. dec. Cody Alesch (WART, 5-8) 16-2 (Augsburg 7-3).
184 -- Nik Lewandowski (AUG, 15-2) dec. Sonny Alvarez (WART, 13-5) 6-4 in overtime (Augsburg 10-3).
197 -- Matt Buskohl (WART, 12-0) dec. Kevin Rasmussen (AUG, 14-4) 5-2 (Augsburg 10-6).
HWT -- Ben Bauer (AUG, 18-1) pinned Scott Eddy (WART, 6-6) 5:52 (Augsburg 16-6).
125 -- Darin Bertram (AUG, 17-1) dec. Brian Frost (WART, 10-6) 5-0 (Augsburg 19-6).
133 -- Bryan Miller (AUG, 13-4) tech. fall over Nick Kilburg (WART, 5-9) 23-7 at 7:00 (Augsburg 24-6).
141 -- Anthony Ganas (WART, 7-2) dec. Blaine Kuhlman (AUG, 7-5) 8-3 (Augsburg 24-9).
149 -- Kurt Morgan (WART, 3-0) dec. Tony Quance (AUG, 8-3) 10-9 (Augsburg 24-12).

Play-By-Play
Time is time remaining on clock.

157 -- Jeremy Jirele (AUG, 12-1) vs. Kevin Bratland (WART, 8-3)
1st Period -- 2:38 AUG takedown (AUG 2-0), 1:55 WART escape (AUG 2-1), 0:39 WART stalling warning, 0:07 WART takedown (WART 3-2).
2nd Period -- WART defers, AUG down -- 1:31 AUG escape (TIED 3-3).
3rd Period -- WART down -- 1:55 WART escape (WART 4-3), 1:14 WART takedown (WART 6-3), 0:44 AUG stall warning, WART 1:13 riding time advantage (WART 7-3).

165 -- Tony Abbott (AUG, 12-1) vs. Kevin Powell (WART, 12-2)
1st Period -- 2:41 AUG takedown (AUG 2-0), 1:51 AUG 3 near fall (AUG 5-0), 0:28 WART escape (AUG 5-1).
2nd Period -- AUG defers, WART neutral -- No scoring.
3rd Period -- AUG down -- 0:50 AUG stall warning, 0:00 WART 2 near fall (AUG 5-3).

174 -- Nick Slack (AUG, 12-0) vs. Cody Alesch (WART, 5-7)
1st Period -- 2:32 AUG takedown (AUG 2-0), 1:09 WART stall warning, 0:09 AUG 3 near fall (AUG 5-0).
2nd Period -- WART defers, AUG down -- 1:44 AUG reversal (AUG 7-0), WART stalling penalty-1 pt. (AUG 8-0).
3rd Period -- WART neutral -- 1:42 AUG takedown (AUG 10-0), 1:24 WART escape (AUG 10-1), 0:39 AUG takedown (AUG 12-1), 0:35 WART escape (AUG 12-2), 0:15 WART stalling penalty-1 pt. (AUG 13-2), 0:09 AUG takedown (AUG 15-2). 4:27 riding time advantage (AUG 16-2).

184 -- Nik Lewandowski (AUG, 14-2) vs. Sonny Alvarez (WART, 13-4)
1st Period -- 0:16 WART takedown (WART 2-0), 0:13 AUG escape (WART 2-1).
2nd Period -- AUG defers, WART neutral -- 0:35 BOTH WRESTLERS stall warning.
3rd Period -- AUG down -- 1:52 AUG escape (TIED 2-2), 1:16 WART takedown (WART 4-2), 1:07 AUG escape (WART 4-3), 0:15 WART stalling penalty-1 pt (TIED 4-4).
Overtime -- WART neutral -- 0:34 AUG takedown (AUG 6-4).

197 -- Kevin Rasmussen (AUG, 14-3) vs. Matt Buskohl (WART, 11-0)
1st Period -- 2:00 AUG takedown (AUG 2-0), 1:18 WART escape (AUG 2-1).
2nd Period -- WART defers, AUG down -- No scoring.
3rd Period -- WART down -- 1:53 WART escape (TIED 2-2), 0:57 WART takedown (WART 4-2), 2:06 riding time advantage (WART 5-2).

HWT -- Ben Bauer (AUG, 17-1) vs. Scott Eddy (WART, 6-5)
1st Period -- 1:15 AUG takedown (AUG 2-0), 0:47 AUG 2 near fall (AUG 4-0), 0:10 WART stalling warning.
2nd Period -- AUG defers, WART neutral -- 1:21 WART stalling penalty-1 pt (AUG 5-0), 1:05 AUG takedown (AUG 7-0), 0:22 WART stalling penalty-1 pt (AUG 8-0), 0:01 AUG 3 near fall (AUG 11-0).
3rd Period -- AUG top -- 1:08 AUG pin.

125 -- Darin Bertram (AUG, 16-1) vs. Brian Frost (WART, 10-5)
1st Period -- 2:30 AUG takedown (AUG 2-0).
2nd Period -- WART defers, AUG down -- 1:20 AUG reversal (AUG 4-0).
3rd Period -- WART down -- No scoring. AUG 5:07 riding time advantage (AUG 5-0).

133 -- Bryan Miller (AUG, 12-4) vs. Nick Kilburg (WART, 5-8)
1st Period -- 2:14 AUG takedown (AUG 2-0), 1:38 WART escape (AUG 2-1), 1:16 WART takedown (WART 3-2), 1:04 AUG escape (TIED 3-3), 0:23 AUG takedown (AUG 5-3).
2nd Period -- AUG defers, WART down -- 1:27 AUG 3 near fall (AUG 8-3), 0:16 AUG stall warning.
3rd Period -- AUG down -- 1:55 AUG escape (AUG 9-3), 1:38 AUG takedown (AUG 11-3), 1:27 WART escape (AUG 11-4), 1:10 AUG escape (AUG 13-4), 1:07 WART escape (AUG 13-5), 0:56 AUG takedown (AUG 15-5), 0:56 WART escape (AUG 15-6), 0:43 AUG takedown (AUG 17-6), 0:41 WART escape (AUG 17-7), 0:37 AUG takedown (AUG 19-7), 0:05 AUG 3 near fall (AUG 22-7), AUG 3:19 riding time advantage (AUG 23-7), AUG technical fall victory.

141 -- Blaine Kuhlman (AUG, 7-4) vs. Anthony Ganas (WART, 6-2)
1st Period -- 2:34 WART takedown (WART 2-0), 1:23 AUG escape (WART 2-1).
2nd Period -- WART defers, AUG down -- 0:54 AUG stall warning.
3rd Period -- WART down -- 1:42 WART escape (WART 3-1), 1:03 WART takedown (WART 5-1), 0:58 AUG escape (WART 5-2), 0:53 WART takedown (WART 7-2), 0:51 AUG escape (WART 7-3), WART 3:01 riding time advantage (WART 8-3).

149 -- Tony Quance (AUG, 8-2) vs. Kurt Morgan (WART, 2-0)
1st Period -- 2:24 WART takedown (WART 2-0), 0:32 AUG reversal (TIED 2-2), 0:24 WART escape (WART 3-2), 0:16 AUG takedown (AUG 4-3).
2nd Period -- AUG down -- 1:37 AUG escape (AUG 5-3), 1:04 WART takedown (TIED 5-5), 0:24 WART 2 near fall (WART 7-5).
3rd Period -- WART down -- 1:55 WART escape (WART 8-5), 1:31 AUG takedown (WART 8-7), 1:25 WART escape (WART 9-7), 0:29 WART stall warning, 0:09 AUG stall warning, 0:00 AUG takedown (TIED 9-9), WART 2:49 riding time advantage (WART 10-9).