Wrestling 12/5/00 -- Augsburg 37, Southwest State 3

MARSHALL, Minn. (12/5/00) -- Claiming victories in nine of 10 matches, including three by pin, Augsburg College dominated action in a 37-3 dual-meet victory over Southwest State University in a nonconference wrestling match Tuesday at Southwest State.

Augsburg, now 2-0 in dual meets this season, is the defending NCAA Division III national champion and top-ranked team in the first NWCA Brute-Adidas NCAA Division III national poll. Southwest State drops to 3-3 overall.

Blaine Kuhlman (Fr., Medford, Minn., 141 pounds), Chris McAlpine (Fr., Dayton, Minn./Elk River HS, 149 pounds) and Nik Lewandowski (Sr., Hastings, Minn., 197 pounds) all scored pins for the Auggies, who improved to 14-3 all-time with their 13th win in a row in dual meets against the Mustangs. Since 1989-90, Augsburg is 135-7 against Divisions II and III opponents, and has lost just two matches to Division II opponents since the 1995-96 season.

McAlpine improved to 5-0 on the season, and three other Auggies also remained unbeaten on the season. Darin Bertram (Jr., Herman, Minn./Herman-Norcross HS) moved to 9-0 with 15-2, major-decision win at 125 pounds; and Ben Bauer (Sr., Faribault, Minn.) improved to 8-0 with a win at heavyweight.

Nick Slack (Jr., Belle Plaine, Minn.) improved to 4-0 with his victory at 174 pounds. Slack has now won his last 35 matches in a row; the school record for consecutive wins is 64, set by Henry Gerten in the 1996-98 seasons.

Troy Peterson (Jr., Watertown, Minn./Watertown-Mayer HS, 133 pounds), Drew Gau (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn./South HS, 165 pounds) and Kevin Rasmussen (Jr., Owatonna, Minn., 197 pounds) also won matches for the Auggies.

The lone Southwest State win came from Gus Condezo (Sr., Marshall, Minn.), who claimed a 9-8 win at 157 pounds.

Augsburg returns to action Saturday (12/9), competing at the St. Cloud State Invitational in St. Cloud, Minn. The White Team will compete at the Dick Walker Invitational Saturday at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. Southwest State will next compete on Thursday (12/7) in a dual meet at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, S.D., and will also compete at the St. Cloud State meet on Saturday.

Augsburg (2-0 dual meets) def. Southwest State (3-3) 37-3
At SSU, Marshall, Minn.
Action begins at 125.

125 -- Darin Bertram (AUG, 9-0) maj. dec. Ravin Samaraweera (4-5) 15-2 (Augsburg 4-0).
133 -- Troy Peterson (AUG, 4-4) dec. Josh Soupir (6-4) 7-1 (Augsburg 7-0).
141 -- Blaine Kuhlman (AUG, 4-1) pinned Chase Foster (1-7) 2:05 (Augsburg 13-0).
149 -- Chris McAlpine (AUG, 5-0) pinned Josh Payne (3-3) 4:08 (Augsburg 19-0).
157 -- Gus Condezo (SSU, 6-3) dec. Mike Cunningham (4-1) 9-8 (Augsburg 19-3).
165 -- Drew Gau (AUG, 6-2) dec. Bret Bartholomaus (5-4) 8-2 (Augsburg 22-3).
174 -- Nick Slack (AUG, 4-0) dec. Drew Bouwman 3-0 (Augsburg 25-3).
184 -- Nik Lewandowski (AUG, 7-1) pinned George Bryant (7-2) 5:40 (Augsburg 31-3).
197 -- Kevin Rasmussen (AUG, 8-3) dec. Brian Tesch (6-3) 3-2 (Augsburg 34-3).
HWT -- Ben Bauer (AUG, 8-0) dec. Mark Simmonds (4-5) 3-0 (Augsburg 37-3).