College Wrestling 1/12/01 -- Augsburg 3-1 at Oregon Classic Duals

PORTLAND, Ore. (1/12/01) -- Augsburg College claimed three victories in four dual meets at the Oregon Classic Duals college wrestling tournament on Friday at the Memorial Coliseum, beating Pacific University (Ore.) 39-3, Central Washington 34-6 and Pacific Lutheran (Wash.) 42-6 before falling to the Division I University of Oregon 35-4.

Augsburg, currently the top-ranked team in the NCAA Division III national rankings, improves to 8-1 this season in dual meets. Pacific entered the meet as the No. 15-ranked team in the Division III national rankings, while Central Washington, an NCAA Division II team, finished 17th at the national meet last year and is currently ranked 18th in the Division II national rankings. The University of Oregon is ranked No. 14 in the most recent NCAA Division I national coaches poll.

Augsburg's Nick Slack (Jr., Belle Plaine, Minn.), the lone Auggie wrestler to go unbeaten in the four matches, improved to 18-0 on the season. Slack, the defending Division III national champion at 174, improved his current winning streak to 49 straight matches over two seasons. The school record for consecutive wins is 64, set by Henry Gerten during the 1996-97 and 1997-98 seasons. Slack had the lone Auggie win in the dual against Oregon, scoring an 11-1 major-decision victory.

Darin Bertram (Jr., Herman, Minn./Herman-Norcross HS), the top-ranked wrestler in the nation at 125 pounds, went 3-1 in the tournament, with all three victories coming by major decision. Kevin Rasmussen (Jr., Owatonna, Minn.) also went 3-1, with two pins and one major decision, at 197.

Bryan Miller (Jr., Virginia Beach, Va.) had a strong meet at 133, going 3-1 with a pin, technical fall and major decision. Nik Lewandowski (Sr., Hastings, Minn.) also wrestled well at 184, going 3-1 with a pin and technical fall. Lewandowski is the top-ranked wrestler in Division III at 184. Tony Abbott (Jr., Inver Grove Heights, Minn./St. Thomas Academy HS), ranked fourth at 165, went 3-1 with a pin and two major decisions. Ben Bauer (Sr., Faribault, Minn.), top-ranked at heavyweight, went 3-1 with a major decision. Tony Quance (Jr., Stillwater, Minn./Totino-Grace HS, 149 pounds) also went 3-1.

Blaine Kuhlman (Fr., Medford, Minn.) and Brad Fisher (Jr., Austin, Minn.) split time at 141 pounds, Kuhlman winning both his matches by decision and Miller notching a major-decision win before falling 4-0 to an Oregon wrestler. Jeremy Jirele (So., Owatonna, Minn.), ranked seventh in Division III at 157, won his first match before bowing out of the tournament with an injury default in his second match.

Augsburg returns to action at the University of Mary Invitational on Jan. 20 in Bismarck, N.D. Augsburg's next home meet is the annual Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Team Duals, Jan. 26-27 at Si Melby Hall.

Augsburg (8-1 dual meets) at Oregon Classic Duals
1/12/01 at Memorial Coliseum, Portland, Ore.

Augsburg 39, Pacific (Ore.) 3
125 -- Darin Bertram (AUG, 19-1) maj. dec. Kahaa Rezantes 12-2 (Augsburg 4-0).
133 -- Bryan Miller (AUG, 15-4) pinned Todd Knutson 5:30 (Augsburg 10-0).
141 -- Blaine Kuhlman (AUG, 9-5) dec. Guy Delemeau 11-10 (Augsburg 13-0).
149 -- Tony Quance (AUG, 10-3) dec. Jesse Fouch 6-2 (Augsburg 16-0).
157 -- Troy Hall (PAC) dec. Jeremy Jirele (AUG, 13-3) 5-3 (Augsburg 16-3).
165 -- Tony Abbott (AUG, 15-1) pinned Andy Brick 2:43 (Augsburg 22-3).
174 -- Nick Slack (AUG, 15-0) maj. dec. Jacob Pence 13-2 (Augsburg 26-3).
184 -- Nik Lewandowski (AUG, 17-2) pinned Ryan Jones 4:05 (Augsburg 32-3).
197 -- Kevin Rasmussen (AUG, 16-4) maj. dec. Bob Reinhard 11-3 (Augsburg 36-3).
HWT -- Ben Bauer (AUG, 20-1) dec. Jon Small 3-1 (Augsburg 39-3).

Augsburg 34, Central Washington 6
125 -- Darin Bertram (AUG, 20-1) maj. dec. Eric Pedeferri 9-0 (Augsburg 4-0).
133 -- Bryan Miller (AUG, 16-4) maj. dec. Ross Kondo 11-3 (Augsburg 8-0).
141 -- Brad Fisher (AUG, 10-0) dec. Cole Denison 7-6 (Augsburg 11-0).
149 -- Tony Quance (AUG, 11-3) dec. Ken Salvini 9-2 (Augsburg 14-0).
157 -- Kyle Smith (CWU) injury default over Jeremy Jirele (AUG, 13-4) (Augsburg 14-6).
165 -- Tony Abbott (AUG, 16-1) maj. dec. Matt Ballard 13-5 (Augsburg 18-6).
174 -- Nick Slack (AUG, 16-0) dec. Franco Santiago 12-5 (Augsburg 21-6).
184 -- Nik Lewandowski (AUG, 18-2) dec. Ty Roberts 7-0 (Augsburg 24-6).
197 -- Kevin Rasmussen (AUG, 17-4) pinned D.C. Hazen 3:50 (Augsburg 30-6).
HWT -- Ben Bauer (AUG, 21-1) maj. dec. Jess Workman 8-0 (Augsburg 34-6).

Augsburg 42, Pacific Lutheran (Wash.) 6
125 -- Darin Bertram (AUG, 20-1) maj. dec. Matt Holt 11-0 (Augsburg 4-0).
133 -- Bryan Miller (AUG, 17-4) tech. fall Karl Krebs 18-2 at 4:34 (Augsburg 9-0).
141 -- Blaine Kuhlman (AUG, 10-5) dec. Scott Jones 2-1 (Augsburg 12-0).
149 -- Tony Quance (AUG, 12-3) dec. Rich Vigorito 10-4 (Augsburg 15-0).
157 -- Tom Brown (PLU) won by forfeit (Augsburg 15-6).
165 -- Tony Abbott (AUG, 17-1) maj. dec. Eli Porter 16-2 (Augsburg 19-6).
174 -- Nick Slack (AUG, 17-0) won by forfeit (Augsburg 25-6).
184 -- Nik Lewandowski (AUG, 19-2) tech. fall David Chew 16-1 at 4:16 (Augsburg 30-6).
197 -- Kevin Rasmussen (AUG, 18-4) pinned Greg Nelson 5:46 (Augsburg 36-6).
HWT -- Ben Bauer (AUG, 22-1) won by forfeit (Augsburg 42-6).

University of Oregon 35, Augsburg 4
125 -- Shawn Williams (ORE) maj. dec. Darin Bertram (AUG, 20-2) 16-6 (Oregon 4-0).
133 -- Ryan Watson (ORE) dec. Bryan Miller (AUG, 17-5) 3-1 (Oregon 7-0).
141 -- Branson Phillips (ORE) dec. Brad Fisher (AUG, 10-1) 4-0 (Oregon 10-0).
149 -- Tony Overstake (ORE) maj. dec. Tony Quance (AUG, 12-4) 15-7 (Oregon 14-0).
157 -- Eugene Harris (ORE) won by forfeit (Oregon 20-0).
165 -- Luke Larwin (ORE) dec. Tony Abbott (AUG, 17-1) 10-3 (Oregon 23-0).
174 -- Nick Slack (AUG, 18-0) maj. dec. Leif Williams 11-1 (Oregon 23-4).
184 -- Doug Lee (ORE) dec. Nik Lewandowski (AUG, 19-3) 3-1 (Oregon 26-4).
197 -- Chael Sonnen (ORE) pinned Kevin Rasmussen (AUG, 18-5) 1:52 (Oregon 32-4).
HWT -- Eric Webb (ORE) dec. Ben Bauer (AUG, 22-2) 9-2 (Oregon 35-4).