DES MOINES, Iowa — The No. 2-ranked Augsburg College wrestling team finished in fourth place at the National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III National Duals, presented by Hibiclens and The Marines, on Sunday at the Iowa Events Center. After claiming two victories on Saturday — a 34-8 win over Elmhurst College (Ill.) and a 16-15 win over No. 9-ranked Coe College (Iowa) — the Auggies fell 21-15 in the semifinals to No. 6-ranked Concordia-Moorhead and 25-9 in the third-place match to No. 4-ranked Wisconsin-Whitewater on Sunday.
Three Auggies won all four of their matches on the weekend. Top-ranked and two-time defending NCAA Division III national champion heavyweight Chad Johnson (SR, Ferryville, Wis./DeSoto HS) went 4-0 with a major-decision on the weekend, including two wins over ranked opponents — a 6-0 win over Elmhurst’s No. 6-ranked Danny Vargas on Saturday and an 8-2 win over No. 4-ranked Cody Kasprick of Concordia-Moorhead on Sunday. He also scored a 5-1 win over UW-Whitewater’s Anthony Edgren on Sunday. Johnson is now 17-1 on the season and 122-14 in his Auggie career.
No. 2-ranked 125-pounder Mike Fuenffinger (JR, Hibbing, Minn.) also won all four of his matches on the weekend, including a second-period pin in his opening match on Saturday. On Sunday, he scored a 6-5, overtime win over Gabe Foltz of Concordia, then scored a 6-1 win over Zac Denny of UW-Whitewater. Fuenffinger is now 16-1 on the season and 59-18 in his career.
No. 2-ranked 197 pounder Matt Hechsel (JR, Apple Valley, Minn.) scored four wins, including a forfeit win against Concordia and an 8-2 win over Justin Birschbach of UW-Whitewater on Sunday. He had a 16-2, major-decision win over Danny Balderas of Elmhurst on Saturday. Hechsel is now 18-2 on the season and 72-31 in his career.
Since the NWCA established a Division III National Duals format in 2002, Augsburg has finished among the top four teams in 12 of the 13 tournaments. Since 1992, Augsburg is now 46-19 all-time in the National Duals, including a 41-10 mark in Division III National Duals competition. Against NCAA Division III opponents since the 1979-80 season, Augsburg is now 272-36-1, including a 197-26-1 record since the 1989-90 season.
NWCA Multi-Divisional National Duals Results and Information
Augsburg returns to action next Saturday (1/18), as the varsity competes in a dual meet at 7 p.m. at Concordia-Moorhead, while the White Team (JV) will compete at 9 a.m. at the Minnesota West CTC-Worthington Open.
THIRD-PLACE MATCH
No. 4 Wisconsin-Whitewater (9-3) 25, No. 2 Augsburg (5-2) 9
125 – No. 2 Mike Fuenffinger (AUG, 16-1) dec. Zac Denny (UWW) 6-1 (Augsburg 3-0)
133 – No. 9 Jimmy Nehls (UWW) dec. Chad Bartschenfeld (AUG, 9-8) 6-2 (TIED 3-3)
141 – Max Hubbard (UWW) maj. dec. Tom Kuehn (AUG, 4-5) 14-3 (UW-Whitewater 7-3)
149 – Elroy Perkin (UWW) dec. Rashad Kennedy (AUG, 15-10) 2-0 (UW-Whitewater 10-3)
157 – Tom Gerszewski (UWW) pinned No. 9 Will Keeter (AUG, 14-8) 4:35 (UW-Whitewater 16-3)
165 – No. 4 Cedric Gibson (UWW) dec. Justin Bowland (AUG, 11-8) 4-2 (UW-Whitewater 19-3)
174 – Jordan Newman (UWW) dec. Tommy Teigen (AUG, 13-8) 5-3 (UW-Whitewater 22-3)
184 – Ryan Aprahamian (UWW) dec. Miles Hammerlund (AUG, 6-9) 6-0 (UW-Whitewater 25-3)
197 – No. 2 Matt Hechsel (AUG, 18-2) dec. Justin Birschbach (UWW) 8-2 (UW-Whitewater 25-6)
HWT – No. 1 Chad Johnson (AUG, 17-1) dec. Anthony Edgren (UWW) 5-1 (UW-Whitewater 25-9)
SEMIFINALS
No. 6 Concordia-Moorhead (9-1) 21, No. 2 Augsburg (5-1) 15
125 – No. 2 Mike Fuenffinger (AUG, 15-1) dec. Gabe Foltz (CON) 6-5 (OT-TB1) (Augsburg 3-0)
133 – Jacoby Bergeron (CON) dec. No. 4 Kirk Anderson (AUG, 8-5) 8-5 (TIED 3-3)
141 – Yonas Gebreab (CON) dec. Tom Kuehn (AUG, 4-4) 4-3 (Concordia 6-3)
149 – No. 3 Jacob Long (CON) pinned Rashad Kennedy (AUG, 15-9) 6:27 (Concordia 12-3)
157 – No. 8 Kyle LeDuc (CON) dec. No. 9 Will Keeter (AUG, 14-7) 2-0 (Concordia 15-3)
165 – Justin Bowland (AUG, 11-7) dec. Brandon Haluptzok (CON) 4-1 (Concordia 15-6)
174 – Sebastian Gardner (CON) dec. Tyrell Martin (AUG, 12-6) 7-5 (OT-SV1) (Concordia 18-6)
184 – Christian Harrison (CON) dec. Tommy Teigen (AUG, 13-7) 6-2 (Concordia 21-6)
197 – No. 2 Matt Hechsel (AUG, 17-2) wins by forfeit (Concordia 21-12)
HWT – No. 1 Chad Johnson (AUG, 16-1) dec. No. 4 Cody Kasprick (CON) 8-2 (Concordia 21-15)