2000 MIAC Team Duals Wrestling Tournament -- January 28-29 at University of St. Thomas

 

ST. PAUL, Minn. (1/29/00) -- Augsburg College, ranked No. 1 in NCAA Division III wrestling, allowed just six team points scored by its opponents in sweeping to its 10th straight Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference team duals championship on Friday and Saturday (1/28-29) at Schoenecker Arena at the University of St. Thomas.

Augsburg topped St. Olaf 47-3 and St. Thomas 52-0 on Friday, then dispatched Carleton 60-0, Concordia-Moorhead 56-0 and St. John's 41-3. Josh Clausen (Sr., Apple Valley, Minn.), who went 4-0 with a pin, technical fall and major-decision win, was voted the tournament's Most Valuable Wrestler on a vote of conference coaches.

In the 10-year history of the MIAC Team Duals, Augsburg has never lost a dual in cruising to 53 victories, extending the school's current streak of dual-meet victories over MIAC opponents to 73 straight matches, dating back to 1986. Since 1975, Augsburg is 172-2 against MIAC opponents. In the MIAC Team Duals, Augsburg has outscored its opponents by a margin of 2,518-106.

Clausen, rated No. 2 in the nation at 197 pounds, improved to 22-1 on the season with his four victories, including an 18-6, major-decision win over St. John's Brandon Novak (Jr., Becker, Minn.), who entered the meet rated third in the nation at 197.

Augsburg's Josh Cagle (Sr., Faribault, Minn.), rated No. 1 at 149 pounds, remained unbeaten, improving to 29-0 on the season with four wins, including three technical falls to raise his season total to 16. He also had a pin in the meet.

St. John's University, which took seventh at last year's national meet and was rated 12th in the nation in the most recent Division III national poll, went 4-1 in its matches, topping St. Thomas 31-12, Concordia-Moorhead 33-18, St. Olaf 29-24 and Carleton 42-10 before its final-match loss to the Auggies.

Jeremy Abfalter (Sr., Foley, Minn.) had the most success for the Johnnies at the event, winning all five matches -- one of just two non-Augsburg wrestlers to do so. An NCAA qualifer last season, Abfalter included a technical fall and pin in his five-victory total to move to 22-5 on the season. Novak, a two-time All-American, went 3-1 with two pins at 197 to improve to 18-1. Chris Gross (Sr., Blaine, Minn.) improved to 26-10 with a 3-2 mark at 174.

St. Olaf College went 3-2 at the meet, paced by Thor Apland (Sr., Circle Pines, Minn./Centennial HS), who joined Abfalter as a 5-0 finisher on the weekend. A two-time NCAA qualifier, the 165-pounder had three pins and two match decisions. Alex Morf (Fr., Mount Vernon, Iowa) went 4-1 at 149 pounds, as did John Holm (Jr., Northfield, Minn.) at 174/184. Junior heavyweight Matt Picchietti (Jr., Wilmette, Ill./Loyola HS) went 3-2.

The University of St. Thomas went 2-3 at the meet, while Concordia-Moorhead went 1-4 and Carleton College was winless in its five matches. Concordia's Rory Olson (So., Wadena, Minn.) had the quickest pin of the weekend, with a 21-second stick of Carleton's Erik Wakamatsu (Fr., Akashi, Japan/Doshisha International) at 165.

The five MIAC schools will meet again at the MIAC Individual Wrestling Championships, set for Feb. 26 at Concordia-Moorhead. That's also the qualifier for the NCAA Championships, set for March 4-5 at Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio.

All matches at Schoenecker Arena, University of St. Thomas
Click on match below for complete boxscore results

Friday, Jan. 28 -- 7 p.m.
Augsburg 47, St. Olaf 3
St. John's 31, St. Thomas 12
Concordia 34, Carleton 24

Friday, Jan. 28 -- 8:30 p.m.
Augsburg 52, St. Thomas 0
St. John's 33, Concordia 18
St. Olaf 45, Carleton 12

Saturday, Jan. 29 -- 10 a.m.
Augsburg 60, Carleton 0
St. John's 29, St. Olaf 24
St. Thomas 29, Concordia 27

Saturday, Jan. 29 -- 11 a.m.
Augsburg 56, Concordia 0
St. John's 42, Carleton 10
St. Olaf 36, St. Thomas 18

Saturday, Jan. 29 -- 1 p.m.
Augsburg 41, St. John's 3
St. Olaf 36, Concordia 18
St. Thomas 35, Carleton 21

Referees -- Jerry Rekar, Neal Jensen, Bill Benson
Tournament Champion -- Augsburg
Tournament's Most Valuable Wrestler -- Josh Clausen (197), Augsburg

Augsburg College, ranked No. 1 in NCAA Division III wrestling, will try to continue its dominance of the MIAC duals tournament. Under 18-year head coach Jeff Swenson, the Auggies have won 68 consecutive MIAC dual meets. They have only lost two dual meets to conference opponents since 1975 with a 167-2 record in that span. That includes a 48-0 all-time record in the nine-year history of this duals tournament. Augsburg won five NCAA team titles in the 1990s and placed a close second to Wartburg (Iowa) last season.

This season, Augsburg has been rated No. 1 in Division III wrestling all season long, and reinforced its standing with a 27-9 win over No. 2 Wartburg on Jan. 9. Augsburg is the only school in the nation to have nine individuals rated in the top eight, led by defending 133-pound national champion John Marchette, who is 21-1 this year. Here's a look at other top Auggies:
-- Two-time All-American Josh Cagle, who finished fourth in the country in 1998 and second last year at 149 pounds, has a 25-0 record so far this season, including 13 technical-fall victories.
-- Two-time NCAA runner-up Nik Lewandowski is back at 184 and is 15-4.
-- Two-time All-American Brian Jones at 141, who battled injuries last season, is 19-4.
-- Josh Clausen transferred to Augsburg in 1998 after winning a national juco title at North Idaho, finished fourth at 197 at nationals last year and is 18-1 this season.
-- Ben Bauer, a national qualifier last year, is 24-1 at heavyweight.
-- Darin Bertram, a national runner-up in his first season with the Auggies at 125, is 15-1 this season.
-- Nick Slack (19-0) qualified for the NCAA tourney at 174 in his first year.
-- Justin Baker, a national tourney qualifer at 157 last season, also returns.
-- The lone newcomer for the Auggies this year is at 165, where soph Tony Abbott (17-7) has won that weight class.

St. John's University, which took seventh at last year's national meet led by NCAA champion John Newman, is ranked 14th this season, with several strong seniors for 19th-year head coach John Elton. Brandon Novak, a two-time All-American, returned to SJU after studying abroad last year and is 15-0 this season and ranked third at 197; All-American Ryan Tietz is 19-4 and ranked second at 184 pounds; senior tri-captain Jeremy Abfalter, an NCAA qualifier last season, is 17-5 on the year at 165; senior Mike Timm, a 1998 NCAA qualifier, is 21-9 this year at 141; and senior Chris Gross is 23-8 at 174.

St. Olaf College is led by senior Thor Apland, a two-time NCAA qualifier, at 165; junior John Holm, an MIAC runner-up in 1999, at 174; and junior heavyweight Matt Picchietti, another MIAC runner-up in 1999.

Concordia College-Moorhead is led this season by soph Ryan Smith (11-7 at 149) and soph Zack Schroeder (7-10 at 133).

The University of St. Thomas is led by senior Ryan Willaert, an NCAA qualifier last season who's 9-9 at 157; freshman Cha You (11-4 at 133); freshman Mitch Becker (8-5 at 165); freshman heavyweight Jon Behnken (11-5); and soph Geoff Walerack at 141.

Carleton College is led by freshman Joel Stark (15-12 at 174), soph Cody Brown (15-9 at 197) and senior heavyweight Ben Miller (8-5).

The MIAC Wrestling Championships will be held Feb. 26 at Concordia-Moorhead. That's also the qualifier for the NCAA Championships, set for March 4-5 at Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio.