STEVENS POINT, Wis. — No. 3-ranked 143-pounder Katie Lange (SO, Sherburn, Minn./Martin County West HS) claimed an individual title, one of 10 Augsburg University women’s wrestlers to claim top-six individual finishes, as the Auggies opened their season at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointer Open on Saturday.
Lange won an individual title at 143 pounds and three Auggies finished as runners-up at the tournament, which featured wrestlers from 13 schools. Augsburg enters the 2022-23 campaign ranked No. 5 in the National Wrestling Coaches Association preseason national rankings for NCAA-affiliated schools.
Lange, who finished 18-1 in her debut season, got off to another strong start with three dominating victories, with two sub-2-minute pins and a 12-0, 1:11 technical fall win over Kendall Bostelman of North Central (Ill.) in the finals. Lange enters the season ranked No. 3 nationally at 143 pounds.
Gabrielle Torgerson (SR, Spooner, Wis./Cumberland HS), ranked No. 7 nationally at 123 pounds, finished second in her weight class with a 3-1 day. She opened with a 1:39 pin and two technical falls but lost 6-2 in the finals to No. 3-ranked Amani Jones of North Central. Skidmore is now 43-16 in her collegiate career with 17 pins and 14 technical falls.
Faith Tuttle (SR, North St. Paul, Minn./North St. Paul HS) went 2-1 with a technical fall and a pin to place second at 191 pounds, and Ashley Lekas (SO, Plano, Texas/Plano West HS), a transfer from Texas Wesleyan, made her Augsburg debut with a second-place finish at 170 pounds, going 3-1 with a technical fall and a pin.
No. 1-ranked Nina Makem (SO, Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee HS), last year’s national runner-up at 136 pounds, finished third in her weight class in this season’s opening meet, going 4-1 with two pins and two technical falls. Maia Foster (FY, Decorah, Iowa/Decorah HS) made her collegiate debut with a third-place finish at 191 pounds, going 4-1 with three pins and a technical fall. Belle Huss (FY, Circle Pines, Minn./Centennial HS) also made her collegiate debut at 191, finishing fourth with two pins in a 2-2 effort.
No. 8-ranked 143-pounder Kya Rybachek (JR, Mountain Iron, Minn./Hibbing HS) finished fifth in her weight class, as did Tateum Park (JR, Davenport, Iowa/Davenport North HS) at 123. Autumn Flanigan (JR, Troy, Mo./Troy Buchanan HS) finished sixth at 136 pounds.
UP NEXT: Augsburg competes at the Waldorf (Iowa) Open next Saturday (11/12) at 9 a.m. in Forest City, Iowa.
AUGSBURG INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
123 — Gabrielle Torgerson 3-1, 2nd place; Tateum Park 3-2, 5th place.
130 — Mikalah Konz 0-2.
136 — Nina Makem 4-1, 3rd place; Autumn Flanigan 2-3, 6th place.
143 — Katie Lange 3-0, 1st place; Kya Rybachek 4-2, 5th place.
155 — Brooklyn Hays 5-1, consolation 1st; Kahlea Jolly 1-2.
170 — Ashley Lekas 3-1, 2nd place; Madi Horn 1-2.
191 — Faith Tuttle 2-1, 2nd place; Maia Foster 4-1, 3rd place; Belle Huss 2-2, 4th place; Melissa Jacobs 0-2.
Check out Auggies Women’s Wrestling at athletics.augsburg.edu.