Augsburg College - Athletics

Wrestling 3/3/06 -- Augsburg at NCAA Division III National Championships -- Session 1

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EWING, N.J. (3/3/06) -- With five wrestlers remaining in the championship bracket and seven of its eight wrestlers still alive in the tournament, Augsburg College completed the first session at the NCAA Division III national championships with four points to stand in 15th place on Friday afternoon at The College of New Jersey's Student Recreation Center.

Augsburg wrestlers won four of eight matches in the opening session to stand with four team points. Wisconsin-La Crosse and Wartburg (Iowa) are tied for first with 15 points. Wisconsin-La Crosse, the lone school to have wrestlers in all 10 weight classes, had all 10 survive, with eight in the championship bracket. Wartburg has eight of its nine wrestlers alive in the championship bracket. Augsburg has the next-most wrestlers still alive in the competition, with seven.

The seven Auggies will compete for All-America honors in tonight's second session, which begins at 6 p.m. (Eastern). The eight wrestlers in each weight class still alive after the second session earn All-American honors.

Jeremy Anderson (So., Thief River Falls, Minn.), ranked No. 2 nationally at 157 pounds, improved to 42-2 on the season with a 9-4 victory over Joseph Duca of Ithaca (N.Y.), converting three takedowns and accumulating 3:33 of riding time.

Brad Tupa (Sr., Dundas, Minn./Faribault HS), ranked No. 5 nationally at 184 pounds, scored an early escape and accumulated 3:28 of riding time to claim a 4-2 win in his opening match over Benjamin Plowman of Ohio Northern. Tupa is now 19-3 on the year.

At 174, Robbie Gotreau (So., Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS) improved to 41-7 on the season with a 7-1 win in his opening match against David Kraus of Johns Hopkins (Md.), using three takedowns and 3:26 of riding time to claim the win.

Jafari Vanier (So., Minneapolis, Minn./Bloomington Kennedy HS), entering his first NCAA Division III national tournament as an unseeded wrestler, pulled off an upset of a seeded opponent with a 3-1 overtime win over sixth-seed David Morgan of Kings (Pa.). Vanier converted a double-leg takedown with six seconds left in the first overtime period to clinch the win.

At 149, Jared Evans (Jr., Blue Earth, Minn./Blue Earth Area HS) fell behind 3-0 in the second period of his match and gave up an escape with 10 seconds left in the match to fall 4-3 to Kyle Forness of Buena Vista (Iowa) and drop to the wrestlebacks. Evans is now 34-7 on the season.

Heavyweight Andrew Neumann (Jr., Somerset, Wis.) dropped to 25-9 on the year with a 13-5 loss to Ryan Allen of Wisconsin-La Crosse, ranked No. 2 nationally, to fall to the wrestlebacks.

At 141, Augsburg's Josh Hansen (Jr., Albert Lea, Minn.) was eliminated by losing twice in the opening session. He fell 9-5 to Garrett Pino of Wabash (Ind.) in an opening-round "pigtail" match, then lost 6-4 in overtime to Joel Burdick of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in a first-round wrestleback match. Hansen rallied from a 4-2 deficit with an escape and 1:39 of riding time to tie the match and force overtime, but Burdick scored the match-ending takedown on a scramble with 30 seconds left. Hansen finished his season 32-10 and is 68-36 in his career.

Ryan Valek (Sr., Belle Plaine, Minn./Scott West), ranked No. 2 at 165 pounds, had a first-round bye and will have his first match tonight. Valek is 39-3 on the season.

Among other Minnesota schools, St. John's stood in 12th place after the first round with five points, with two of its three wrestlers still alive in championship brackets. Dan Willaert claimed a 9-4 win at 184 pounds, while Jacob Malone claimed a first-period pin at 157. At 197, Dan Fiecke opened his tournament with a 6-4 overtime win, but fell 4-2 in his second-round match to drop to the wrestlebacks.

Wrestling -- Augsburg at NCAA Division III National Championships -- Session 1
March 3, 2006 -- The College of New Jersey Student Recreation Center, Ewing, N.J.

Top 15 team standings: 1. Wisconsin-La Crosse 15.0; 1t. Wartburg (Iowa) 15.0; 3. York (Pa.) 11.0; 4. Cortland State (N.Y.) 8.0; 5t. Ithaca (N.Y.) 6.5; 5t. Wisconsin-Platteville 6.5; 7t. Elmhurst (Ill.) 6.0; 7t. Heidelberg (Ohio) 6.0; 7t. Loras (Iowa) 6.0; 7t. Luther (Iowa) 6.0; 7t. Brockport State (N.Y.) 6.0; 12t. St. John's (Minn.) 5.0; 12t. Wilkes (Pa.) 5.0; 14. Delaware Valley (Pa.) 4.5; 15t. Augsburg (Minn.) 4.0; 15t. College of New Jersey 4.0; 15t. Wilmington (Del.) 4.0.

First-round results involving Minnesota wrestlers (number before wrestler's name is tournament seed):
133 -- Jafari Vanier (Augsburg) dec. 6-David Morgan (Kings) 3-1 (OT).
141 -- Garrett Pino (Wabash) dec. Josh Hansen (Augsburg) 9-5; Joel Burdick (Wisconsin-Stevens Point) dec. Hansen 6-4 (OT) (Hansen eliminated).
149 -- Kyle Forness (Buena Vista) dec. 4-Jared Evans (Augsburg) 4-3.
157 -- 2-Jeremy Anderson (Augsburg) dec. Joseph Duca (Ithaca) 9-4; Jacob Malone (St. John's) pinned 5-Shaheem Bradshaw (Brockport State) 2:35.
165 -- 2-Ryan Valek (Augsburg) received a first-round bye.
174 -- 6-Robbie Gotreau (Augsburg) dec. David Kraus (Johns Hopkins) 7-1.
184 -- 4-Brad Tupa (Augsburg) dec. Benjamin Plowman (Ohio Northern) 4-2; 6-Dan Willaert (St. John's) dec. Zackery Weinrich (Roger Wiliams) 9-4.
197 -- Dan Fiecke (St. John's) dec. Jeffrey Wright (Olivet) 6-4 (OT); 1-Tyler Miller (Wartburg) dec. Fiecke 4-2.
HWT -- 2-Ryan Allen (Wisconsin-La Crosse) maj. dec. Andrew Neumann (Augsburg) 13-5.

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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.

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