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Augsburg ranked No. 2 in preseason wrestling national poll

October 30, 2009

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Augsburg College wrestling team is ranked No. 2 in the Brute-Adidas/National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III preseason national poll, it was announced this week. Augsburg has six wrestlers ranked in individual weight class rankings, including two top-ranked wrestlers.

Brute/Adidas NWCA Preseason Rankings

Defending 197-pound national champion Jared Massey (JR, Circle Pines, Minn./Centennial HS) is the top-ranked wrestler in his weight class, as is Jason Adams (SR, Coon Rapids, Minn.) at 157 pounds.

Massey finished 30-1 on the season with 16 pins and three major decisions in 2008-09 to win the national title in his first season of collegiate wrestling after a four-year absence from the sport. A two-time Minnesota state high school champion (2002-03) at Centennial High School, he competed at Division I Wisconsin in the 2003-04 season.

Adams is a two-time All-American at Augsburg, finishing as national runner-up in 2007-08 and in third place at 157 in 2008-09. Adams, whose father Bob Adams was a three-time All-American and a 1983 national champion at Augsburg, was 39-6 last season and is 90-20 on his career.

Zach Molitor (JR, Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti HS), who finished sixth last season at 174 pounds, is ranked No. 3 in his weight class in the preseason poll. In his first season at Augsburg after transferring from Division I North Dakota State, Molitor finished the 2008-09 campaign at 31-10 and is 45-23 in his collegiate career.

Andrew Witzel (SR, Fulda, Minn.), who finished fifth last season at heavyweight for his first All-American honor, is ranked No. 4 in the preseason poll. Witzel was 34-9 last season and is 82-35 in his Auggie career.

Two other national tournament qualifiers from last season are also nationally ranked in the preseason poll. Tony Valek (SO, Belle Plaine, Minn./Scott West) is ranked No. 5 at 141, while Orlando Ponce (JR, Hialeah, Fla./Hialeah-Miami Lakes HS) is ranked No. 6 at 165. Valek was 32-13 last season, while Ponce was 28-14.

Augsburg was 11-2 in dual meets last season and finished second to Wartburg (Iowa) at the NCAA Division III national championships. Winners of 10 of the last 19 national titles, Augsburg claimed a top-four national meet finish for the 21st straight year in 2009 -- a record currently unmatched by any other NCAA wrestling program in any division. Four All-Americans and six national tournament qualifiers return to compete for the Auggies this season.

Wisconsin-La Crosse, which finished third nationally last season, is ranked No. 1 in the preseason national poll. Augsburg is joined by two other Minnesota schools in the top 10 in the preseason poll -- St. John's is ranked No. 5, while Concordia-Moorhead is ranked No. 8. Defending national champion Wartburg is ranked No. 6 in the preseason poll.

Augsburg opens its 2009-10 campaign with the annual open practice/fall banquet on Saturday (10/31) at 6 p.m. at Si Melby Hall. The Auggies' competitive season begins on Saturday, Nov. 21 at 9 a.m., with the Auggie-Brute-Adidas Open at Si Melby Hall.