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Wrestling 3/4/05 -- Augsburg at NCAA Division III National Championships -- Session 2 AUGSBURG NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS WEBSITE -- CLICK HERE NORTHFIELD, Minn. (3/4/05) -- For the first time in school history and just the second time in the history of the NCAA Division III wrestling national championships, Augsburg College claimed All-Americans in all 10 weight classes to take a commanding lead at the tournament, following Friday's second round at St. Olaf College's Tostrud Fieldhouse. After the first day of the two-day tournament, the Auggies hold a commanding 21-point lead, with 80.5 points compared to 59.5 for second-place Wartburg (Iowa). Augsburg has seven wrestlers remaining in the championship bracket and three in the consolation bracket. Augsburg had previously claimed nine All-Americans in the 1998 championships, which it won, and in last year's championships, which it lost to Wartburg. Wartburg was the first school to claim 10 All-Americans, when it accomplished the feat in winning the 2003 championships. Augsburg's Marcus LeVesseur (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn./Bloomington Kennedy HS) extended his consecutive-match winning streak to 122 straight victories, but faced one of the toughest matches of his collegiate career in the quarterfinals. After recording a first-period pin over Joe Galante of The College of New Jersey in the opening round, LeVesseur escaped with a 5-4 victory over eighth-seed Ross Needham of Wisconsin-La Crosse to improve to 38-0 on the season. LeVesseur led 3-0 after one period, but gave up an escape and takedown early in the third period to tie the match at 3-3. LeVesseur scored a reversal with 1:15 remaining to gain the advantage for good, giving up an escape late. LeVesseur extended his collegiate unbeaten streak to 122, the second-longest winning streak in college wrestling history behind the 159 of Cael Sanderson at Iowa State (1998-2002). Of his 38 wins this season, 23 have come by pin. LeVesseur tied Carlton Haselrig of Pitt-Johnstown (Pa., 1985-89) for the second-longest overall unbeaten streak in college wrestling history. Haselrig went 121-0-1 during his streak; LeVesseur has yet to lose a college wrestling match. Augsburg's other defending national champions also advanced to the semifinals with victories on Friday. Defending 133-pound national champion Mark Matzek (Sr., Ellsworth, Wis.) claimed a 14-5 win over Matt Sganga of Cortland State (N.Y.) in his opening match, but held off a strong effort by Mike Lopez of Luther (Iowa) in a 3-2 victory. Matzek, the top-ranked wrestler at 133, is now 32-0, extending his winnning streak to 40 straight matches dating to last season and earned All-American honors for the third time. Matt Shankey (Sr., Apple Valley, Minn.) improved to 21-0 at 125 pounds and extended his winning streak to 34 straight matches with his lone win on the day, a 10-3 triumph over Brandon McDonough of Johnson and Wales (R.I.). Defending 174-pound national champion Joe Moon (Sr., Ellendale, Minn./New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva HS) improved to 14-0 with two major-decision wins, a 12-2 win over Adam Reid of Coe (Iowa) in the opening match and a 13-2 triumph over Jeff Harrington of The College of New Jersey in the quarterfinals, earning All-American honors for the third time. Jamell Tidwell (Sr., Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy HS), the defending national runner-up at 141 pounds, improved to 33-4 and claimed his 24th and 25th bonus-point victories of the season, an 11-0 major-decision win over Mark Carey of Coe (Iowa) in the first round and a 17-0, first-period technical-fall victory over Nick Karls of Wisconsin-Whitewater in the quarterfinals. Tidwell claimed All-American honors for the third straight season. Ryan Valek (Jr., Belle Plaine, Minn.) improved to 33-6 on the season with a 10-4 victory over Brad Bishop of Loras (Iowa) in his opening-round match at 165 and a 13-6 triumph over Frank Petrucci of Oswego State (N.Y.). Mark Simmonds (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn./Edison HS) claimed his 100th collegiate victory with a 6-2 win over Kyle Brown of Thiel in his first match at heavyweight, then earned All-American honors with a 6-0 win over Derek Ankney of John Carroll (Ohio) in the quarterfinals. Simmonds, who has wrestled for two seasons at Augsburg after transferring from Division II Southwest State, is now 101-48 in his career. At Augsburg, he is now 31-7 on the season, 67-16 the last two seasons. Brad Tupa (Jr., Dundas, Minn./Faribault HS) scored a win in his first match of the day, but gave up a takedown with 41 seconds left in the sudden-victory overtime in his 184-pound quarterfinal match with Ryan Summers of John Carroll (Ohio). Tupa rallied back to remain alive and earn All-American honors for the first time in his career with a 4-2 triumph over Ben Dictus of Lawrence (Wis.). Jared Evans (So., Blue Earth, Minn./Blue Earth Area HS) also earned All-American honors for the first time by rallying after a quarterfinal loss at 149. He fell 7-5 to Rick Frondorf of Delaware Valley in the quarterfinals, but came back from a 2-1 first-period deficit to score a 4-3 win over Rory Tobias of Oneonta in the wrestlebacks. The lone Augsburg loss in the first round came against 197-pounder Justin Sorensen (Jr., Owatonna, Minn.), who lost 10-7 to Jim Swanson of Wisconsin-La Crosse. But he came back with a 6-2 win over Dan Fiecke of St. John's in the consolation bracket to earn All-American honors for the first time in his second career appearance in the national meet. Fellow Minnesota school St. John's has two wrestlers in the championship field, but both were eliminated on Friday. Fiecke claimed a 6-4 win over Wyatt Reyerson of Luther (Iowa) in his first match at 197 pounds before losing 8-4 to Jamall Johnson of Delaware Valley (Pa.) and falling to Sorensen in the wrestlebacks, while 157-pounder Jacob Malone lost to third-seed Ryan LeBeau of Luther (Iowa), 4-2, and to Danny Irwin of Manchester (Ind.), 4-2. Wrestling -- Augsburg at NCAA Division III National Championships -- Completion of first day Top 10 team standings: 1. Augsburg (Minn.) 80.5; 2. Wartburg (Iowa) 59.5; 3. Luther (Iowa) 57.5; 4. Wisconsin-La Crosse 47.5; 5. Brockport State (N.Y.) 30.5; 6. Simpson (Iowa) 27.0; 7. Delaware Valley (Pa.) 26.0; 8. Elmhurst (Ill.) 21.0; 9. Wisconsin-Stevens Point 20.0; 10. College of New Jersey 19.5. Other area school: 39t. St. John's 1.0. Friday's results involving Minnesota wrestlers: To return to Augsburg Wrestling, click here To return to Augsburg Athletics, click here Augsburg College, a college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, is a member of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III. This is the official web site for Augsburg
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