Augsburg alumnus Donny Longendyke ’17 finished second for USA Wrestling in the 130 kg (287 pounds) Greco-Roman bracket at the 2021 Senior Pan American Championships in Guatemala City, Guatemala on Thursday.
Longendyke went 3-0 to reach the finals, beating Luis Roman Barrios (Mexico) 5-2, Catriel Pehuen Muriel (Argentina) 8-4 and Isaque Medeiros Conserva (Brazil) 6-1. Longendyke dropped a 3-0 decision to Leo Santana Heredia (Dominican Republic) in the finals.
Minnesota Storm Wrestler Donny Longendyke Wins Silver
GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala – The USA collected two gold medals and four silver medals to wrap up the first day of Greco-Roman competition at the 2021 Pan American Championships in Guatemala City, Guatemala.
Winning gold medals tonight were Marines athletes Xavier Johnson (67 kg) and Jamel Johnson (72 kg).
Xavier Johnson, an Olympic Trials runner-up and Senior Nationals champion, dominated his way to gold today, giving the fans a show with multiple five-point throws throughout the competition. In the finals, he finished off Enyer Feliciano of the Dominican Republic in just 1:12, scoring a two-pointer, followed by a lift for four points and finally a huge throw for five to win 11-0, securing his first international gold medal. Overall, Xavier went 4-0, outscoring his competition 38-3. Continue reading at www.teamusa.org →
By Jeff Beshey
When Donny Wichmann passed away in July 2019 at the age of 53, it left a void in the Minnesota wrestling community. He touched the lives of the many people he met in a special way – whether as a family member, a teammate, a coach, a friend, or even just an acquaintance.
At Donny’s funeral, a group of Augsburg Wrestling alumni came together to celebrate his life, and that’s when the idea of a Donny Wichmann Foundation came into being.
Manheim, PA – On Monday, the National Wrestling Coaches Association announced the 2021 Scholar All-American individual honorees for NCAA Division III with awards going to 413 individuals representing 84 institutions.
“In what has been a trying season for all, I’m excited to recognize these talented athletes who stayed the course in the classroom and continued their pursuit of excellence as they work toward their degrees,” said NWCA Executive Director Mike Moyer. “The NWCA and our Board of Directors remain committed to honoring outstanding academic performance and would like to thank the coaches, support staff, and administrators at these institutions for their commitment to their student-athletes .”
Parker Venz of Farmington has committed to wrestling for Augsburg University next season.
FORT WORTH, Texas — Augsburg University women’s wrestler Marlynne Deede (SO, Springville, Utah/Springville HS) will join teammate Emily Shilson (SO, Maple Grove, Minn./Mounds View HS) and two Auggie men’s wrestling alumni with a chance to compete for a spot on the United States team for this summer’s Tokyo Olympics, after qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials with a second-place finish in the 76 kilogram (167 pounds) weight class at the Last Chance Qualifier meet over the weekend at Texas Wesleyan University.
Competing for the Twin Cities Regional Training Center, Deede went 3-1 in a five-wrestler round-robin bracket to finish second in the 76 kg class, clinching one of 15 spots in the weight class at the U.S. Olympic Trials, which will be held next Friday and Saturday (4/2-3) at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. She opened with a 4:00, injury default win over Menlo (Calif.) alumnae Marilyn Garcia, then scored a 5-2 win over Colorado Mesa wrestler Tristan Kelly. Her lone loss came in a 10-0, 4:21 technical fall to eventual winner Jackie Cataline, a Team USA member. She closed the tournament with her own technical fall win, a 10-0, 2:03 triumph over Greys Harbor Community College (Wash.) wrestler Kamilla Montenegro.