DECORAH, Iowa — The defending NCAA Division III national champion Augsburg University men’s wrestling team opened its title defense with a strong effort against challenging competition at the Luther College Open on Saturday.
A total of 33 Augsburg wrestlers competed in the 22-team open tournament, which featured four teams ranked in the National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III national rankings — No. 1 Augsburg, No. 2 Wartburg (Iowa), No. 5 Wisconsin-La Crosse and No. 15 Coe (Iowa). Two top-five ranked teams in the NWCA Division II national rankings — No. 4 St. Cloud State and No. 5 Upper Iowa — also competed, along with wrestlers from Division I Iowa.
Tyler Kim (SR, Burnsville, Minn./Apple Valley HS), the top-ranked 285-pounder in the Division III preseason national poll and a three-time All-American, opened his season with a dominant performance to claim his individual weight-class title. He went 4-0 with a first-period pin on Saturday, and claimed wins over a pair of Iowa wrestlers in his final two matches — a 9-1 major decision over Gage Marty in the semifinals, and a 2-1 triumph over Bradley Hill in the championship match.
Top-ranked 184-pounder Bentley Schwanebeck-Ostermann (SR, Loyal, Wis./Marshfield HS) finished second at 184 pounds, going 3-1 with a pair of major decision victories. The three-time All-American claimed a 6-4 win over No. 6-ranked Division II 184-pounder Colter Bye of Upper Iowa in the semifinals, before falling to Iowa’s Brennan Swafford in the finals.
No. 6-ranked 174-pounder Seth Goetzinger (JR, Chatfield, Minn./Chatfield HS) finished second on Saturday, going 4-1 with two pins and a technical fall, before dropping the title match to Iowa’s Gabe Arnold. Goetzinger earned All-American honors last year with a seventh-place national finish at 174.
No. 7-ranked 197-pounder Parker Venz (JR, Farmington, Minn./Farmington HS), a national tournament qualifier last season, finished second in his weight class, scoring three pins en route to the title match, which he dropped to Iowa’s Zach Glazier. Venz, who had 21 pins last season, now has 37 pins in his 49-21 collegiate career.
Cooper Willis (SO, Kansasville, Wis./Union Grove HS), ranked No. 4 nationally at 165, went 4-1 to finish third in his weight class, with a pin and technical fall among his victories. His biggest win came in the third-place match, when he scored a 13-7 victory over defending NCAA Division II national champion and current No. 1-ranked 165-pounder Chase Luensman of Upper Iowa.
No. 10-ranked 157-pounder Blake Jagodzinske (JR, Sherburn, Minn./Martin County West HS) opened his season sharing a third-place finish in his weight class, going 4-1 with three pins and a technical fall in a dominating day.
Charlie Stuhl (JR, Ellsworth, Wis./Ellsworth HS), an All-American ranked No. 5 at 149 pounds, shared the fifth-place title in his weight class, as he reached the six-match daily limit before the fifth-place match. Stuhl went 4-2 on the day with a technical fall and major decision among his wins.
Derek Steele (JR, Winthrop, Minn./Sibley East HS), ranked No. 14 nationally at 125 pounds, finished fifth on Saturday, going 5-1 on the day with a pin, technical fall and major decision.
Wyatt Kaczrowski (JR, Seymour, Wis./Seymour HS) finished in seventh place at 133 pounds, as did Lucas Jagodzinske (SO, Sherburn, Minn./Martin County West HS) and Cole Becker (SO, Albertville, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville) at 149, Kaden Reetz (SR, Madison, Wis./Madison Memorial HS) at 157, and Tyler Raway (SO, Wyoming, Minn./Forest Lake HS) at 197. Brant Bombard (SO, North Branch, Minn./North Branch HS) finished eighth at 184.
In the Silver division, newcomers Chance Suddeth (FY, Stoughton, Wis./Stoughton HS) and Ian Radintz (FY, Glenwood City, Wis./Glenwood City HS) shared the title at 133, each going 3-0 with two pins. At 157, Nick Alexander (FY, Kaukauna, Wis./Wrightstown HS) finished third and Karsen Otis (FY, Combined Locks, Wis./Kimberly HS) finished fifth.
UP NEXT
Augsburg hosts its annual Augsburg Invitational next Saturday (11/18) at 9 a.m. at Si Melby Hall.
AUGSBURG RESULTS BY WEIGHT CLASS
- Elite 125: Derek Steele 5-1, 5th place; Keno Vanier 1-2.
- Silver 125: Luke Dux 2-2; Austin Laudenbach 1-2.
- Elite 133: Wyatt Kaczrowski 3-2, 7th place; Cade Willis 1-2; Thomas Oswald 0-2.
- Silver 133: Chase Suddeth 3-0, co-1st place; Ian Radintz 3-0, co-1st place.
- Elite 149: Charlie Stuhl 4-2, co-5th place; Cole Becker 3-2, co-7th place; Lucas Jagodzinske 3-2, co-7th place; Austin Gabbert 2-2.
- Elite 157: Blake Jagodzinske 4-1, co-3rd place; Kaden Reetz 4-2, co-7th place; Lukas Paulson 2-2.
- Silver 157: Nick Alexander 4-1, 3rd place; Karsen Otis 5-1, co-5th place; Ethan Ballweber 1-2.
- Elite 165: Cooper Willis 4-1, 3rd place; Bowen Rothbauer 1-2.
- Elite 174: Seth Goetzinger 4-1, 2nd place; Carter Sorenson 3-2; Max Sokolski 1-2.
- Elite 184: Bentley Schwanebeck-Ostermann 3-1, 2nd place; Brant Bombard 3-3, 8th place.
- Elite 197: Parker Venz 3-1, 2nd place; Tyler Raway 4-2, 7th place.
- Elite 285: Tyler Kim 4-0, 1st place; Jagger Schack 2-2; Robert Beese 1-2; Hunter Goreck 0-2.
Check out Auggies Wrestling at athletics.augsburg.edu and on Facebook and X (Twitter).