Wrestling 1/24/04 -- Augsburg wins MIAC Team Duals for 14th straight year

NORTHFIELD, Minn. (1/24/04) -- Winning 27 of 30 individual matches, the Augsburg College wrestling team claimed its 14th straight Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Team Duals title by winning all three matches against league opponents on Saturday at St. Olaf College's Skoglund Fieldhouse.

In improving to 10-1 on the season in dual meets, Augsburg beat Concordia-Moorhead 55-0, St. Olaf 58-0 and St. John's 34-9. St. John's went 2-1, beating St. Olaf 49-6 and Concordia-Moorhead 34-9. Concordia-Moorhead beat St. Olaf 46-6. Augsburg is ranked No. 2 nationally in the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III national poll.

Augsburg has won each of the 14 MIAC Team Duals, outscoring conference opponents by a 3,266-to-145 margin in going 68-0. Augsburg now has an 18-season, 88-match dual-meet winning streak against MIAC opponents. Since 1975-76, Augsburg is 187-2 against MIAC opponents.

Against teams from Divisions II and III, Augsburg is 187-11 since 1989-90, losing just six matches since the 1995-96 season. Against Division III opponents, Augsburg is 209-16 since the 1979-80 season and 133-6 since 1989-90.

Claiming the Carl Larson Trophy as most valuable wrestler in the tournament was Matt Vos (Sr., Arlington, Minn./Sibley East HS) of St. John's, who went 3-0 with two pins at 125 pounds. Vos, ranked No. 5 nationally at 125, avenged an earlier defeat with a 5-3 triumph over Augsburg's Matt Shankey (Jr., Apple Valley, Minn.), the current top-ranked wrestler nationally at 125. It was the only meeting of nationally ranked wrestlers on the day. Shankey fell to 12-1 on the season. Vos had pins of 15 and 11 seconds in his other two matches on Saturday.

Claiming the Rory Jordan Award for the most falls in least time was Augsburg 133-pounder Mark Matzek (Jr., Ellsworth, Wis.). The top-ranked wrestler nationally at 133, Matzek improved to 23-2 on the season as the only wrestler on the day to record three pins.

Augsburg's Marcus LeVesseur (So., Minneapolis, Minn./Bloomington Kennedy HS) extended his school-record winning streak to 69 straight matches with three victories on the day, including two first-period pins and a major decision. The defending NCAA Division III national champion at 157 pounds and current top-ranked wrestler in the weight class, LeVesseur improved to 25-0 on the year. LeVesseur has yet to lose a collegiate match in his two seasons.

Joe Moon (Jr., Ellendale, Minn./New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva HS), the No. 2-ranked wrestler nationally at 174, also had two first-period pins and a technical fall for the Auggies, improving to 28-1 on the season. Jamell Tidwell (Jr., Burnsville, Minn./Bloomington Kennedy HS), ranked No. 3 nationally at 141, had a technical fall and major-decision win to move to 30-2 on the season and 107-10 on his career.

Mark Simmonds (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn./Edison HS), ranked No. 3 at heavyweight for Augsburg, claimed two first-period pins and improved to 25-6 on the season. Also going 3-0 for Augsburg on the day were Ryan Valek (So., Belle Plaine, Minn.) at 165 (two pins) and Josh Erlandson (Jr., Ellsworth, Wis.) at 149.

In addition to Vos, St. John's had two other wrestlers go 3-0 on the day -- 184-pounder Dan Willaert (So.. North Mankato, Minn./Mankato Loyola HS) with two pins, and 197-pounder Dan Fiecke (So., Winsted, Minn./Holy Trinity HS).

David Ahmed (Fr., Conrad, Mont.) had two victories at 165 pounds to lead Concordia-Moorhead, while Dain Kaklbrenner (Fr., Atwater, Minn./Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City HS) went 2-1 with a major decision.

Augsburg returns to action on Tuesday (1/27) with a dual meet against the top-ranked team in NCAA Division II, North Dakota State. The meet begins at 7 p.m. at Augsburg's Si Melby Hall. A White Team (junior varsity) meet against Ridgewater Community College will begin at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.

MIAC Team Duals wrestling tournament
January 24, 2004 -- St. Olaf College Skoglund Fieldhouse, Northfield, Minn.
All action begins at 157 pounds.
Officials ­ Tim Shiels, Jerry Reker.

Carl Larson Trophy (Most Valuable Wrestler) -- Matt Vos, St. John's.
Rory Jordan Trophy (Most Falls in Least Time) -- Mark Matzek, Augsburg (3 pins in 13:14).

Augsburg 55, Concordia-Moorhead 0
157 -- Marcus LeVesseur (AUG) pinned Lee Rahrlien (CON) 0:55 (Augsburg 6-0).
165 -- Ryan Valek (AUG) pinned David Ahmed (CON) 4:51 (Augsburg 12-0).
174 -- Joe Moon (AUG) pinned Mitch Gabrielson (CON) 1:28 (Augsburg 18-0).
184 -- Clint Hodgdon (AUG) tech. fall Lucas Reuss (CON) 17-0 at 3:00 (Augsburg 23-0).
197 -- Justin Sorensen (AUG) dec. Ed Oehlers (CON) 8-2 (Augsburg 26-0).
HWT -- Mark Simmonds (AUG) pinned Dain Kaklbrenner (CON) 1:33 (Augsburg 32-0).
125 -- Matt Shankey (AUG) pinned Kevin McBride (CON) 0:29 (Augsburg 38-0).
133 -- Mark Matzek (AUG) pinned Justin Lessard (CON) 4:51 (Augsburg 44-0).
141 -- Jamell Tidwell (AUG) tech. fall Cameron Avelsgard (CON) 16-1 at 7:00 (Augsburg 49-0).
149 -- Josh Erlandson (AUG) pinned Eric Splichal (CON) 6:15 (Augsburg 55-0).

St. John's 49, St. Olaf 6
157 -- Jacob Malone (SJU) pinned Anthony Rogers (STO) 6:45 (St. John's 6-0).
165 -- Jeff Snegosky (SJU) pinned Paul Olin (STO) 3:34 (St. John's 12-0).
174 -- Adam Gosiak (SJU) pinned Kurt Miller (STO) 1:55 (St. John's 18-0).
184 -- Dan Willaert (SJU) pinned Phia Xiong (STO) 0:54 (St. John's 24-0).
197 -- Dan Fiecke (SJU) won by forfeit (St. John's 30-0).
HWT -- Tyler Meuleners (STO) won by forfeit (St. John's 30-6).
125 -- Matt Vos (SJU) pinned La Thor (STO) 0:15 (St. John's 36-6).
133 -- Jacob Ziegler (SJU) maj. dec. Ben Tucker (STO) 14-5 (St. John's 40-6).
141 -- Charlie Sadder (SJU) won by forfeit (St. John's 46-6).
149 -- David Sadder (SJU) dec. Mike Peabody (STO) 7-5 (St. John's 49-6).

Augsburg 58, St. Olaf 0
157 -- Marcus LeVesseur (AUG) pinned Anthony Rogers (STO) 1:28 (Augsburg 6-0).
165 -- Ryan Valek (AUG) pinned Phil Simondet (STO) 6:03 (Augsburg 12-0).
174 -- Joe Moon (AUG) pinned Kurt Miller (STO) 1:37 (Augsburg 18-0).
184 -- Clint Hodgdon (AUG) pinned Phia Xiong (STO) 0:57 (Augsburg 24-0).
197 -- Justin Sorensen (AUG) won by forfeit (Augsburg 30-0).
HWT -- Mark Simmonds (AUG) pinned Tyler Meuleners (STO) 1:29 (Augsburg 36-0).
125 -- Matt Shankey (AUG) pinned La Thor (STO) 0:24 (Augsburg 42-0).
133 -- Mark Matzek (AUG) pinned Ben Tucker (STO) 3:27 (Augsburg 48-0).
141 -- Jamell Tidwell (AUG) won by forfeit (Augsburg 54-0).
149 -- Josh Erlandson (AUG) maj. dec. Mike Peabody (STO) 11-0 (Augsburg 58-0).

St. John's 34, Concordia-Moorhead 9
157 -- Jacob Malone (SJU) pinned Lee Rahrlien (CON) 2:29 (St. John's 6-0).
165 -- David Ahmed (CON) dec. Jeff Snegosky (SJU) 7-2 (St. John's 6-3).
174 -- Adam Gosiak (SJU) dec. Mitch Gabrielson (SJU) 5-2 (St. John's 9-3).
184 -- Dan Willaert (SJU) pinned Lucas Reuss (CON) 3:23 (St. John's 15-3).
197 -- Dan Fiecke (SJU) dec. Ed Oehlers (CON) 5-0 (St. John's 18-3).
HWT -- Dain Kaklbrenner (CON) won by forfeit (St. John's 18-9).
125 -- Matt Vos (SJU) pinned Kevin McBride (CON) 0:11 (St. John's 24-9).
133 -- Nate Schraan (SJU) maj. dec. Wes Graff (CON) 13-5 (St. John's 28-9).
141 -- Charlie Sadder (SJU) dec. Cameron Avelsgard (CON) 5-0 (St. John's 31-9).
149 -- David Sadder (SJU) dec. Mike Eric Splichal (CON) 7-3 (St. John's 34-9).

Augsburg 34, St. John's 9
157 -- Marcus LeVesseur (AUG) maj. dec. Jacob Malone (SJU) 11-2 (Augsburg 4-0).
165 -- Ryan Valek (AUG) won by forfeit (Augsburg 10-0).
174 -- Joe Moon (AUG) tech. fall Adam Gosiak (STO) 16-0 at 7:00 (Augsburg 15-0).
184 -- Dan Willaert (SJU) dec. Clint Hodgdon (AUG) 6-2 (Augsburg 15-3).
197 -- Dan Fiecke (SJU) dec. Justin Sorensen (AUG) 3-1 (Augsburg 15-6).
HWT -- Mark Simmonds (AUG) won by forfeit (Augsburg 21-6).
125 -- Matt Vos (SJU) dec. Matt Shankey (AUG) 5-3 (Augsburg 21-9).
133 -- Mark Matzek (AUG) pinned Jacob Ziegler (SJU) 4:56 (Augsburg 27-9).
141 -- Jamell Tidwell (AUG) maj. dec. Charlie Sadder (SJU) 10-1 (Augsburg 31-9).
149 -- Josh Erlandson (AUG) dec. David Sadder (Augsburg 34-9).

Concordia-Moorhead 46, St. Olaf 6
157 -- Lee Rahrlien (CON) dec. Anthony Rogers (STO) 12-11 (Concordia 3-0).
165 -- David Ahmed (CON) dec. Phil Simondet (STO) 7-1 (Concordia 6-0).
174 -- Mitch Gabrielson (CON) pinned Kurt Miller (STO) 1:45 (Concordia 12-0).
184 -- Lucas Reuss (CON) pinned Phia Xiong (STO) 0:19 (Concordia 18-0).
197 -- Ed Oehlers (CON) won by forfeit (Concordia 24-0).
HWT -- Dain Kaklbrenner (CON) maj. dec. Tyler Meuleners (STO) 13-1 (Concordia 28-0).
125 -- Kevin McBride (CON) pinned La Thor (STO) 0:37 (Concordia 34-0).
133 -- Wes Graff (CON) pinned Ben Tucker (STO) 2:49 (Concordia 40-0).
141 -- Cameron Avelsgard (CON) won by forfeit (Concordia 46-0).
149 -- Mike Peabody (STO) pinned Mike Eric Splichal (CON) 4:49 (Concordia 46-6).