BURNSVILLE, Minn. – Augustana is ranked third in the 2011-12 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Preseason Coaches’ Poll released Friday by the conference office. The Vikings, who are the defending conference champions, collected 44 points in the poll.
St. Cloud State, the national preseason favorite, is the top choice in the NSIC with 55 points. The Huskies narrowly edged out Upper Iowa, which collected 54 points.
The points in the rankings were assigned from the top-five individuals in each of the 10 weight classes using the following system: first = 10 points, second = 7 points, third = 4 points, fourth = 2 points, fifth = 1 point.
Individually, Jason Jeremiason (133), Nate Herda (149) and Marcus Edgington (157) were the top-ranked wrestlers in their respective weight classes.
Carl Serck took the No. 2 spot at 174 pounds, while TJ North (125), Jayd Docken (184) and Brian Schultz (197) were all fourth.
Mike Roberts (285) checked in at No. 5, Tom Davies (165) was sixth and Ryan Hartnett (141) was eighth.
Earlier this week, Augustana was slotted sixth in the preseason national poll released by the Division II Wrestling Coaches Association.
Augustana finished third and had seven All-America honorees at the 2011 NCAA Championship. The Vikings, who took second at the Super Regional Three Championship, finished the dual season with a record of 14-2 and were the NSIC champions with a flawless 7-0 conference campaign.
The Vikings will hold their annual intrasquad dual Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Elmen Center.
2011-12 NSIC Wrestling Preseason Coaches’ Poll
1 St. Cloud State 55 points
2 Upper Iowa 54
3 Augustana 44
4 Minnesota State 32
5 University of Mary 20
6 MSU Moorhead 17
7 Northern State 11
8 Southwest Minnesota State 7
125
1 Kyle Pedretti Upper Iowa
2 Corey Ulmer MSU Moorhead
3 Dylan Wright St. Cloud State
4 TJ North Augustana
5 Travis Borchert SMSU
6 David Demo Minnesota State
7 Anthony Bruno Northern State
8 Hunter Menendez Mary
133
1 Jason Jeremiason Augustana
2 Trevor Franklin Upper Iowa
3 Drew Lexvold Minnesota State
4 Andy Pokorny St. Cloud State
5 Justin Reinsma SMSU
6 Ian Muirhead Northern State
7 Deven Loepp MSU Moorhead
8 Kyle Larson Mary
141
1 Robbie Fischer Minnesota State
2 Trevor Johnson Mary
3 Tyler Steinwand MSU Moorhead
4 Victor Coronado Upper Iowa
5 Benton Crow Northern State
6 Ethan Hildebrandt SMSU
7 Matt Leibforth St. Cloud State
8 Ryan Hartnett Augustana
149
1 Nate Herda Augustana
2 Tommy Abbott Minnesota State
3 Jacob Horn St. Cloud State
4 Jordan Rinken Upper Iowa
5 Tanner Beaman Mary
6 Codie Lane SMSU
7 Derek Lee MSU Moorhead
8 Bea Voegeli Northern State
157
1 Marcus Edgington Augustana
2 Jacob Horn St. Cloud State
3 Winston Robbins Upper Iowa
4 Tel Todd Minnesota State
5 Collin Engelhardt Mary
6 Blaine Miller SMSU
7 Kerron Williams MSU Moorhead
8 Neil Sell Northern State
165
1 Tad Merritt St. Cloud State
2 Taylor Nagel Mary
3 Tyler Kivel MSU Moorhead
4 Jake Begin SMSU
5 Blake Sorenson Upper Iowa
6 Tom Davies Augustana
7 Blake Lundgren Northern State
8 Cody Quinn Minnesota State
174
1 Shamus O’Grady St. Cloud State
2 Carl Serck Augustana
3 Wade Gobin Upper Iowa
4 Brendan Eichmann Minnesota State
5 Trent Sovde MSU Moorhead
6 Donnie Bowden Northern State
7 Trent Molacek SMSU
8 Tom Devito Mary
184
1 Mitchell Schultz Upper Iowa
2 Derek Skala St. Cloud State
3 Brady Anderson Mary
4 Jayd Docken Augustana
5 Micah Larson SMSU
6 Chad Gibson Northern State
7 Kody Kalkbrennar MSU Moorhead
8 Brandon Pederson Minnesota State
197
1 Carl Broghammer Upper Iowa
2 Pat Mahan Minnesota State
3 Lucas Munkelwitz St. Cloud State
4 Brian Schultz Augustana
5 Brandon Manderscheid MSU Moorhead
6 Kris McCleary Mary
7 Martin Hagen SMSU
8 Baker Haar Northern State
285
1 Matt Meulners Northern State
2 Jake Kahnke St. Cloud State
3 Zach Rosol Upper Iowa
4 Brian Rodas SMSU
5 Mike Roberts Augustana
6 Gerad Fugleberg MSU Moorhead
7 Nathan Haynes Minnesota State
8 Martin Patron Mary