CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Claiming four All-Americans, with three remaining in championship contention, the Augsburg University men’s wrestling team sits in second place in the team race after the first day of the NCAA Division III National Championships at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse.
Seven Augsburg wrestlers went 11-7 in the first day of the two-day meet, claiming two pins, four technical falls, and two major decisions. Four Auggies remain among the top eight in their weight classes, earning All-American honors.
Augsburg, winners of 13 national titles since 1991, stands second in the team race with 45.0 points, behind the leader and 14-time national champion Wartburg (Iowa) with 58.0 points. Wartburg earned seven All-American honors, with six remaining in championship contention.
TOP 10 TEAM SCORES AFTER FIRST DAY: 1.Wartburg (Iowa) 58.0; 2. Augsburg (Minn.) 45.0; 3. Wabash (Ind.) 40.5; 4. North Central (Ill.) 32.5; 5. Stevens Institute of Technology (N.J.) 29.5; 6. Rochester Institute of Technology (N.Y.) 26.5; 7. Coe (Iowa) 24.0; 8. Millikin (Ill.) 22.5; 9. University of Chicago (Ill.) 20.0; 10t. Baldwin-Wallace (Ohio) 180; 10t. U.S. Coast Guard Academy (Conn.) 18.0; 10t. Wisconsin-Oshkosh 18.0
Heavyweight Tyler Kim (JR, Burnsville, Minn./Apple Valley HS) had a dominant day, as one of just two wrestlers in the 180-wrestler field to claim three pins in the first two rounds. After scoring two second-period pins in the opening session on Friday morning, he earned All-American honors for the second time in his career, pinning No. 3-seed Liridon Leka of Johnson & Wales (R.I.) in 4:48. The No. 6 seed in the 285-pound field, Kim is now 37-6 on the season with 19 pins, two technical falls, and four major decisions. Kim was a runner-up at the 2021 National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III national tournament.
Tyler Shilson (JR, Maple Grove, Minn./Centennial HS) also had a dominant first day, scoring two technical fall victories to earn his second career All-American honor, and first in NCAA competition. After scoring a 20-5, seven-minute technical fall in his opener, Shilson dispatched No. 4 seed Ryan Luth of Washington & Lee (Va.) in the 157-pound quarterfinals by a 15-0 score in 5:50. He scored a takedown and four-point near-fall in each of the first two periods, then scored a takedown in the third period to win the bout, improving to 31-3 on the season with 17 technical falls, six major decisions and four pins. Shilson, the No. 5-seed in the field, finished third at 157 at last year’s NWCA tournament.
Competing in his third national tournament, Solomon Nielsen (SR, Luverne, Minn./Luverne HS) earned his third All-American honor with a 9-4 win over Stefan Major of Stevens (N.J.) in the quarterfinals, his second win over Major this season. Nielsen surrendered an early takedown but responded with three takedowns and 1:44 of riding time to earn the win, improving to 31-3 on the season and 118-22 in his career. The No. 5 seed in the field, Nielsen scored a 10-1 major-decision win in his opening match. Nielsen finished second at 174 pounds at last year’s NWCA national meet.
Bentley Schwanebeck-Ostermann (JR, Loyal, Wis./Marshfield HS) claimed the most dramatic win of the day for the Auggies, surviving in his 197-pound wrestleback match with a 4-2 overtime win over No. 8-seed Tyler Hannah of Wisconsin-Platteville to earn All-American honors for the second time. Trailing 1-0 late in the third period and facing a riding-time bonus point for Hannah, Schwanebeck-Ostermann got an escape with 38 seconds left in regulation, then forced a stalling bonus point with two seconds left to force overtime. With 1:01 left in the first overtime period, Schwanebeck-Ostermann fought off a shot by Hannah and converted it into the match-winning takedown. Unseeded in the meet at 197, Schwanebeck-Ostermann opened with a major decision win, then suffered a 12-0 major decision loss to No. 2-seed Jack Heldt of Wabash (Ind.) in the quarterfinals. A sixth-place finisher at 197 at the NWCA meet last year, Schwanebeck-Ostermann is now 19-6 on the season.
Three Auggies had their seasons end with losses in wrestlebacks on Friday. At 125 pounds, Derek Steele (FY, Winthrop, Minn./Sibley East HS) lost a pigtail match, then rallied with a victory in the first session, but dropped a 5-2 decision to Joey Maginelli of Springfield (Mass.) in the wrestlebacks, ending his first college campaign at 24-8.
Nick Rogge (SR, Eastman, Wis./Prairie du Chien HS) dropped his opening match to the top-seeded wrestler at 184 pounds but came back with a second-period technical fall win in a pigtail consolation match to survive to the second session. But facing Daniel Surich of the College of New Jersey, he surrendered a late takedown to fall 6-5, ending his season at 25-6 and his career at 90-22.
Sam Stuhl (JR, Ellsworth, Wis./Ellsworth HS) dropped his opening match on Friday morning but came back with a 15-0, second-period technical fall win over Brandon Woody of Averett (Va.) in the wrestlebacks. But in the “blood round” match, he was edged 7-5 by Jacob Reed of Ohio Northern, ending his season at 24-7, including a 20-5 record at Augsburg after transferring from Division I North Dakota State.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
Augsburg has now earned 268 men’s wrestling All-Americans in program history — 217 in NCAA competition, 38 in NAIA competition, and 13 by the NWCA the last two years, when the NCAA national championships were not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Augsburg has earned at least two All-Americans every year since 1988 and has had at least one All-American in national competition every year since 1977, a 46-year streak.
Saturday, March 12 (all times Central):
10 a.m. — Session 3 — Championship Semifinals, Consolation Quarterfinals and Semifinals, Placing Matches for 3rd, 5th, and 7th Places
6:30 p.m. — Parade of All-Americans
7 p.m. — Session 4 — National Championship Matches
AUGSBURG FIRST-DAY RESULTS
- 125: Riley Parker (Washington & Lee) maj. dec. Derek Steele (Augsburg) 15-6; Steele dec. Isaac Wiegel (UW-Platteville) 11-6; Joey Manginelli (Springfield) dec. Steele 5-2 (Steele eliminated).
- 141: Brandon Woody (Averett) dec. Sam Stuhl (Augsburg) 7-4; Stuhl tech. fall Travis Jones (Ithaca) 16-0 at 4:25; Jacob Reed (Ohio Northern) dec. Stuhl 7-5 (Stuhl eliminated).
- 157: Tyler Shilson (Augsburg) tech. fall Eric Hutchinson (York) 20-5 at 7:00; Shilson tech. fall Ryan Luth (Washington & Lee) 16-0 at 5:51.
- 174: Solomon Nielsen (Augsburg) maj. dec. Kade Kravits (King’s) 10-1; Nielsen dec. Stefan Major (Stevens) 9-4.
- 184: Shane Liegel (Loras) maj. dec. Nick Rogge (Augsburg) 12-2; Rogge tech. fall Brian Torres (Cortland State) 16-0 at 3:26; Daniel Surich (College of New Jersey) dec. Rogge 6-5 (Rogge eliminated).
- 197: Bentley Schwanebeck-Ostermann (Augsburg) maj. dec. Quinn Haddad (College of New Jersey) 15-3; Jack Heldt (Wabash) maj. dec. Schwanebeck-Ostermann 12-0; Schwanebeck-Ostermann dec. Tyler Hannah (UW-Platteville) 4-2 (OT-SV1).
- 285: Tyler Kim (Augsburg) pinned Brayan Reyes (Millikin) 4:11; Kim pinned Hank Behaeghel (Johns Hopkins) 4:04; Kim pinned Liridon Leka (Johnson & Wales) 4:48.
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