1999 MIAC Wrestling Individual Championships -- Saturday, Feb. 27 at Augsburg College

Augsburg claims all 10 titles to claim 13th straight MIAC wrestling championship

MINNEAPOLIS -- Augsburg College, the top-ranked team in the NCAA Division III national wrestling poll, won its 13th straight Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference wrestling championship on Saturday afternoon at Augsburg's Si Melby Hall.

In the process, the Auggies accomplished a unique first in the 51-year history of the MIAC championships - winning all 10 weight classes, the first time a single school has accomplished that feat in an MIAC meet. All 10 will advance to the NCAA Division III National Championships, March 5-6 in Trenton, N.J. Augsburg will attempt to become the first Division III school to win its sixth national championship and third title in a row.

Josh Cagle (Jr., Faribault, Minn.), who won an MIAC title for the second year in a row in the 149-pound weight class with two technical-fall victories, was named the winner of the Carl Larson Trophy for the outstanding wrestler of the meet. Cagle, the top-rated wrestler in the nation at 149 pounds, is now 31-3 overall. Ben Bauer (So., Faribault, Minn.), who won the heavyweight class with two first-period pins, claimed the Rory Jordan Trophy for most pins in the least amount of time. Bauer, rated second in the nation at heavyweight, is now 34-4.

Jim Peterson (Sr., Eyota, Minn./Dover-Eyota HS), the lone senior on the Auggies' varsity roster, claimed a measure of revenge with a two-overtime victory over John Newman (Sr., Mayer, Minn./Watertown-Mayer HS) of St. John's University in the 174-pound final. Newman had beaten Peterson in the last two MIAC championships in the 167-pound weight class. Peterson, rated No. 2 in the country at 174, is now 31-6. Newman, who also qualified for the national tournament as a wild-card bid, is rated eighth in the country at 174 and is now 26-7.

Nik Lewandowski (So., Hastings, Minn.), rated No. 1 in the country at 184, improved to 27-6 with his second-straight MIAC championship.

Other MIAC titlists for the first time at Augsburg were: Darin Bertram (Fr., Herman, Minn/Herman-Norcross HS), now 29-7 at 125; John Marchette (So., Canton, Ohio/North Canton Hoover HS), now 21-4 at 133; Brad Fisher (So., Austin, Minn.), now 20-5 at 141; Justin Baker (Jr., Kerkhoven, Minn./Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunberg HS), now 26-9 at 157; Nick Slack (Fr., Belle Plaine, Minn.), now 26-8 at 165; and Josh Clausen (Jr., Apple Valley, Minn.), now 30-3 at 197.

St. John's, which finished third in the competition, had four national tournament entrants. In addition to Newman at 174, the Johnnies advance Eric Tschudi (Fr., Delano, Minn., 12-8) at 125, Jeremy Ahfalter (Jr., Foley, Minn., 21-9) at 165, and Ryan Tietz (Jr., New Prague, Minn., 24-1) at 184.

St. Olaf, which finished second in the team competition, qualified Thor Apland (Jr., Circle Pines, Minn./Centennial HS, 16-10) for the national tournament at 174, while St. Thomas qualified Ryan Willaert (Sr., Mankato, Minn./Mankato Loyola HS, 21-8) at 157. Nathan Reiff (Sr., Whitehall, Mont., 18-9) will advance to the nationals at 174 for Concordia-Moorhead.

FINAL TEAM RESULTS -- Augsburg 151, St. Olaf 69.5, St. John's 54.5, Concordia-Moorhead 42.5, St. Thomas 21.5, Carleton 17.

Friday, Feb. 26 -- 7 p.m.: Seeding meeting at Si Melby Hall upper classroom (202). Seeds will be posted here as soon as possible after the meeting.

Saturday, Feb. 27 -- 8 a.m.: Weigh-in at wrestling room in lower level of Si Melby Hall.
10 a.m. -- Championship quarterfinals (7-minute matches).
11 a.m. -- Championship semifinals (7-minute matches) and consolation quarterfinals (6-minute matches).
1 p.m. -- Consolation semifinals (6-minute matches).
2 p.m. -- Championship finals (7-minute matches) and consolation finals (6-minute matches), with true-second matches (if needed, 7-minute matches) to follow the heavyweight bouts.
Wrestlers will be guaranteed a 45-minute rest.

Results will be posted on our site (click on this link) as soon as possible after the completion of the championship semifinals round and after the meet is completed. All scores will be listed, along with complete play-by-play summaries of the championship matches.

Centennial Conference, Feb. 20 at Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pa. (11 qualifiers)
Empire Wrestling Conference, Feb. 20 at SUNY-Brockport, Brockport, N.Y. (18 qualifiers)
Great Lakes Independents Regional, Feb. 20 at Lawrence College, Appleton, Wis. (12 qualifiers)
Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Feb. 19 at Luther College, Decorah, Iowa (30 qualifiers)
Metropolitan Wrestling Conference, Feb. 21 at The College of New Jersey, Ewing, N.J. (15 qualifiers)
Middle Atlantic States Conference, Feb. 20 at Messiah College, Grantham, Pa. (14 qualifiers) (alternate site, click here)
Midwest Independents Regional, Feb. 27 at Manchester College, North Manchester, Ind. (12 qualifiers)
New England College Wrestling Association, Feb. 20-21 at Rhode Island College, Providence, R.I. (19 qualifiers)
Ohio Athletic Conference, Feb. 27 at Baldwin-Wallace College, Berea, Ohio (13 qualifiers)
Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Feb. 19-20 at Wisconsin-La Crosse, La Crosse, Wis. (19 qualifiers)
Total qualifiers: 180.