Wrestling 2/3/05 -- Augsburg-vs.-Wartburg match preview

MINNEAPOLIS (2/3/05) -- One of the biggest small-college wrestling dual meets of the year will happen on Thursday (2/3), when the top two-ranked teams in Division III, No. 1 Augsburg and No. 2 Wartburg (Iowa), will face off at 7 p.m. at Augsburg's Si Melby Hall.

A large crowd is expected to pack Si Melby Hall for the dual meet in an all-time series that Augsburg leads 9-5. The mat will be placed on a raised platform stage, the first time that special staging has been used for a wrestling dual meet at Augsburg.

Tickets are $6 for adults and $3 for students, and are available at the door. Augsburg students, faculty and staff get in free (with ID). Gates will open at 5:30 p.m. For team and group ticket information, contact Sam Barber at 612-330-1116 or at barbers@augsburg.edu. There will be NO general advance ticket sales; all tickets will be available at the door.

Thursday's dual will also feature several special events. Brock Lesnar, a national champion heavyweight at the University of Minnesota and former pro wrestling superstar, will provide guest commentary throughout the match. Prior to the match, local sports author Ross Bernstein will sign copies of his new book, "Grappling Glory: Celebrating a Century of Minnesota Wrestling and Rassling." There will be prize giveaways throughout the match, and the Augsburg Silver Stars dance team will perform at halftime.

Augsburg (12-1 in dual meets) and Wartburg (23-2) have dominated small-college wrestling in the last decade. At least one of the two schools has finished among the top two teams nationally in the Division III team race every year since 1990. Wartburg has won the last two national titles, topping Augsburg each time.

Augsburg has won eight Division III national titles (1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002) while finishing second seven times (1984, 1990, 1992, 1996, 1999, 2003, 2004). Wartburg has won national titles four times (1996, 1999, 2003, 2004), while finishing second six times (1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002).

This year's dual is shaping up to be one of the most evenly matched in the series. Earlier this season, in the finals of the Division III National Duals on Jan. 22 in Cleveland, Augsburg topped Wartburg 18-15, with each team winning five individual matches. The Augsburg win broke a 44-match winning streak for Wartburg over Division III competition, dating to the 2002-03 season.

The three-point difference in the match was provided by Augsburg's top-ranked 157-pounder Marcus LeVesseur (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn./Bloomington Kennedy HS), who pinned second-ranked Cory Connell (Sr., Iowa City, Iowa/City HS) in 2:09.

LeVesseur, now 26-0 on the season, continues to improve upon his consecutive-match winning streak. The streak is now at 110 straight matches, the second-longest streak in college wrestling history, behind the the 159 straight wins by Cael Sanderson of Iowa State from 1998-2002. LeVesseur has yet to lose a collegiate wrestling match.

Other potential No. 1-vs.-No. 2 matchups expected in the match will come at 125, where Augsburg's No. 1 and defending national champion Matt Shankey (Sr., Apple Valley, Minn.) will face Wartburg's No. 2 Justin McClintock (Sr., Fort Dodge, Iowa/Eagle Grove HS); and at 141, where Wartburg's No. 1-ranked and defending national champion Dustin Hinschberger (Jr., Belle Plaine, Iowa) will face Augsburg's No. 2-ranked Jamell Tidwell (Sr., Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy HS).

Eight of the 10 matchups in Thursday's meet will be between two nationally-ranked wrestlers. In addition to LeVesseur and Shankey, Augsburg's Mark Matzek (Sr., Ellsworth, Wis.) is also top-ranked at 133 pounds. Matzek is 24-0 and has won 32 straight matches.

The meet will also feature two coaches who are reaching career milestones. Augsburg head coach Jeff Swenson, in his 23rd season at Augsburg (1980-84, 1986-present) reached the 300-win milestone on Sunday, when the Auggies topped Dana (Neb.). He is now 300-40 on his college coaching career. Wartburg head coach Jim Miller, in his 14th season, is now 249-28-1 in his dual-meet coaching career, just one win from the 250 mark.

Here is a match-by-match preview of Thursday's dual meet, with anticipated starters:

125 -- Augsburg's Matt Shankey (Sr., Apple Valley, Minn., ranked No. 1, 12-0) vs. Wartburg's Justin McClintock (Sr., Fort Dodge, Iowa/Eagle Grove HS, ranked No. 2, 21-2) -- It's the fourth meeting between Shankey and McClintock. Shankey has won all three matches in the series, winning by a 6-2 decision and an 11-2 major-decision last year, and winning by a 6-1 decision at this season's Jan. 22 dual. Both are returning All-Americans from last season. Shankey won the Division III national title last season, while McClintock finished fifth. Shankey, who transferred to Augsburg last season from Division I Iowa, returned to the Augsburg lineup at the semester break and has two pins and two technical falls.

133 -- Augsburg's Mark Matzek (Sr., Ellsworth, Wis., ranked No. 1, 24-0) vs. Wartburg's Tyler Hubbard (Sr., Blue Springs, Mo., ranked No. 5, 20-2) -- It will be the third meeting between the two wrestlers in their collegiate careers, with the prior two meetings both going to overtime in Matzek's favor. In a dual in 2002, Matzek claimed a 2-1 overtime victory, while in this season's Jan. 22 dual, the two wrestlers were deadlocked 2-2 after three overtimes, with the deciding criteria being a three-second riding-time advantage for Matzek, earning him the win. Matzek will carry a 32-match winning streak, dating to last season, into Thursday's match. Matzek is a three-time All-American, having won the national title last year while finishing fourth the season before. This is Hubbard's first season on varsity, after backing up Ozzie Saxson for two seasons. Matzek beat Saxson 4-3 in last year's national championship match.

141 -- Augsburg's Jamell Tidwell (Sr., Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy HS, ranked No. 2, 23-3) vs. Wartburg's Dustin Hinschberger (Jr., Belle Plaine, Iowa, ranked No. 1, 32-1) -- It's the fourth meeting between the two wrestlers, with Hinschberger winning each of the previous three. In 2004, Hinschberger won 4-1 in a dual, then claimed a 9-1, major-decision win over Tidwell in the Division III national championship match. In this season's Jan. 22 dual, Hinschberger scored a 4-2 overtime win. Tidwell has "climbed the ladder" of success throughout his career at Augsburg, with winning the national title his senior season as the final step. He earned a trip to the national tournament his freshman year, finished third nationally his sophomore year and finished second last season, with a career record of 144-15 entering Thursday's match. Tidwell has been a bonus-point specialist, as he has earned the Auggies extra points in 20 of his 23 victories -- five pins, eight technical falls and seven major decisions. Hinschberger has been one of the most prolific wrestlers for the Knights, having won a team-high 68 matches the last two seasons. His lone loss this year was a 6-3 decision to Division I Northern Iowa wrestler Mark Manchio in the finals of the Iowa State Harold Nichols Open on Dec. 13. He has won 28 straight matches.

149 -- Augsburg's Jared Evans (So., Blue Earth, Minn./Blue Earth Area HS, ranked No. 3, 14-3) vs. Wartburg's Jacob Naig (Fr., Emmetsburg, Iowa, ranked No. 4, 4-2) -- This is a meeting of two wrestlers who have made major impacts on their respective varsity teams in the past month. Evans returned to the Augsburg lineup at the semester break and earned a varsity spot for an extended period for the first time in his career, while Naig made the Knights' varsity in mid-January. The two met for the first time at the Jan. 22 dual meet, with Evans winning in a 6-3 decision. Both were unranked at the time, but have since moved into the top eight in the 149-pound national rankings.

157 -- Augsburg's Marcus LeVesseur (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn./Bloomington Kennedy HS, ranked No. 1, 26-0) vs. Wartburg's Cory Connell (Sr., Iowa City, Iowa/City HS, ranked No. 2, 25-4) -- This will mark the fourth meeting between LeVesseur and Connell in collegiate competition, with LeVesseur winning each of the previous three matches. Last season, LeVesseur topped Connell 6-2 in a dual meet, then beat him 8-4 in the 157-pound national championship match. In this season's Jan. 22 dual, LeVesseur claimed the lone pin of the evening, with a 2:09 match-ender that provided the eventual match-winning team points for the Auggies. LeVesseur has developed a reputation as the most dominant small-college wrestler in the country, as his 110-match collegiate winning streak and two national titles will attest. Of his 26 wins this season, 16 are by pin, to go with one technical fall and five major decisions. Connell earned All-American honors for the first time with last season's second-place national finish.

165 -- Augsburg's Ryan Valek (Jr., Belle Plaine, Minn., ranked No. 3, 23-4) vs. Wartburg's Andrew Knaack (Sr., Traer, Iowa/North Tama HS, unranked, 12-9) -- This will be the fourth meeting between the two wrestlers, with Valek winning two and Knaack winning one. Knaack won 12-6 in a dual last season, and Valek avenged the loss with a 5-4 wrestleback win over Knaack in the national tournament. Earlier this season, Valek scored a 5-0 win in the Jan. 22 dual. In his first season on the Auggie varsity last year, Valek finished seventh nationally. Last weekend, Valek made a major statement with a 7-1 win over Nebraska-Omaha's J.D. Naig, the top-ranked wrestler in Division II, then shut out Leister Bowling of Dana (Neb.), the No. 4-ranked wrestler in the NAIA. Knaack is also in his second season as a varsity starter for the Knights, qualifying for the national tournament for the first time last season.

174 -- Augsburg's Casey Flaherty (Sr., Big Lake, Minn., unranked, 21-8) vs. Wartburg's Mark Sturm (Sr., Armstrong, Iowa/Emmetsburg HS, ranked No. 3, 23-5) -- This will be the second meeting between the two wrestlers, after Sturm topped Flaherty 4-1 in the Jan. 22 dual. Sturm is a two-time All-American for the Knights, finishing fifth last season at 174 and sixth in 2003, despite battling injury problems the last two years. Flaherty transferred to Augsburg this season from the University of Minnesota and has emerged as the starter in a very competitive weight class. His biggest win so far this season came on Jan. 11, when he topped Dusty Wilking of Augustana (S.D.), ranked No. 2 in Division II.

184 -- Augsburg's Brad Tupa (Jr., Dundas, Minn./Faribault HS, ranked No. 4, 19-5) vs. Wartburg's Scott Kauffman (Jr., Emmetsburg, Iowa, ranked No. 1, 18-0) -- This will be the second meeting between the two wrestlers, after Kauffman edged Tupa 7-6 in the Jan. 22 dual. Tupa has made the most of his first season on the Auggie varsity, building a 19-5 record with nine pins, four major decisions and technical-fall wins in his last two matches -- a 15-0, second-period match-ender against Nebraska-Omaha's Jay Wood last Friday, and a 17-0 win over Blair Alderman of Dana (Neb.), ranked No. 6 in the NAIA, last Sunday. At age 25, Kauffman returned to college wrestling this season after a four-year absence (he wrestled his first two years at Division I Iowa) and has emerged as the lone unbeaten wrestler in the Knights' varsity lineup. He has filled a spot that became open when Ryan Sturm, the national champion at the weight class last year, suffered an arm injury that will force him to miss the entire season.

197 -- Augsburg's Justin Sorensen (Jr., Owatonna, Minn., ranked No. 4, 19-7) vs. Wartburg's Akeem Carter (Jr., Waterloo, Iowa/West HS, ranked No. 1, 23-2) -- Carter, the defending Division III national champion at 197, has won both previous meetings over Sorensen. Last season, Carter claimed a 10-2, major-decision victory in a dual, and in this season's Jan. 22 dual, Carter scored a 6-1 win. Carter has been a dominant wrestler this season, with just two losses against him. Sorensen was a national tournament qualifier his freshman year, but lost a battle with teammate Joe Cullen for the varsity spot last season. This year, Sorensen has returned to the varsity spot at 197.

HWT -- Augsburg's Mark Simmonds (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn./Edison HS, ranked No. 4, 21-5) vs. Wartburg's Blake Gillis (So., Spencer, Iowa, ranked No. 2, 25-3) -- This will be the fourth meeting between the two wrestlers, with Gillis leading 2-1 so far. Last season, Simmonds won the first meeting between the two, 4-1, but Gillis won the second meeting 6-1. This season at the Jan. 22 dual, Gillis won 5-0. The two wrestlers are among a group of solid wrestlers in what could be the most competitive Division III weight class in the country. Simmonds transferred to Augsburg last season from Division II Southwest Minnesota State and finished fourth nationally last year, while Gillis had an incredible freshman campaign for the Knights, reaching the national title match before losing 12-5 to Wisconsin-La Crosse's Ryan Allen.

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