Augsburg (5-1 overall), ranked No. 2 in the latest Division III national poll, won six of 10 matches, including two by fall, in topping No. 3-ranked Delaware Valley (Pa.) 25-17 in Sunday's semifinals. Then, behind the strength of two key pins late in the match, the Auggies defeated top-ranked and defending national champion Wartburg (Iowa) 21-20 in the championship match.
"We wrestled with purpose. We had a goal to be Division III national dual meet champions, and we weren't going to be denied," said Augsburg head coach Mark Matzek. "Each and every kid stepped up in their own way in each dual meet, and in that last dual, we wrestled hard."
Augsburg claimed its fourth NWCA Division III National Duals championship in the eight years that the tournament has been in its current format, where teams from all three NCAA divisions, the NAIA, junior college and women's wrestling compete at one site. Augsburg previously won National Duals titles in 2002, 2005 and 2007, while Wartburg won National Duals titles in 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2008.
In a match which featured two ties and three lead changes, Augsburg clinched the victory over Wartburg when the Auggies' Jared Massey (JR, Circle Pines, Minn./Centennial HS), ranked No. 2 at 197 pounds, pinned Wartburg's No. 7-ranked Nick Shandri in 2:14, giving the Auggies a 21-17 advantage going into the final bout of the day. Massey, now 13-0 on the season with seven pins, earned the Division III National Duals Outstanding Wrestler award. A transfer from Division I Wisconsin, Massey is in his first season with the Auggies after a four-year absence from collegiate wrestling (he competed at Wisconsin in the 2003-04 season).
"He had two pins and a decision on the weekend. He was very deserving," Matzek said of Massey's weekend performance. "He expects big things of himself, and we expect big things of him. He is the type of wrestler that can get in a zone, and he'll get the points that are asked of him."
Augsburg won four of the six meetings of ranked wrestlers in the dual against Wartburg, including a 6-3 victory by No. 2-ranked Willy Holst (SR, Prescott, Wis.) over top-ranked Jacob Naig of Wartburg at 149 pounds. Holst is now 12-0 on the season. Top-ranked Seth Flodeen (SR, Cannon Falls, Minn.) bounced back from an upset loss in the semifinals with a 6-5 win over Wartburg's No. 7-ranked Mark Kist.
Top-ranked 133-pounder Travis Lang (SR, Bismarck, N.D.) improved to 24-0 on the season with a first-period pin of Delaware Valley's No. 10-ranked Brandon Clemmer in the opening match, and a 5-4 win over No. 2-ranked Matt Kelly of Wartburg in the finals. Of his 24 wins this season, 21 have been by bonus points -- 16 pins, two technical falls, two major decisions and a forfeit.
Another key win for the Auggies against the Knights came at 174 pounds, as Zach Molitor (SO, Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti HS), a transfer from Division I North Dakota State, scored a 6:23 pin over Wartburg's No. 5-ranked Grant Jenkins. Molitor is now 17-5 on the season with five pins.
The Auggies are now 12-9 in the all-time series against Wartburg, breaking a two-match losing streak to the Knights. Augsburg is now 233-20 against Divisions II and III teams since the 1989-90 season, losing just 15 matches to non-Division I opponents since the 1995-96 season. Against strictly Division III opponents, Augsburg is 239-23 since the 1979-80 season and 163-13 since the 1989-90 season.
Augsburg and Wartburg will meet again in a dual meet on Jan. 30 at Augsburg's Si Melby Hall in Minneapolis.
In the victory over Delaware Valley, pins by Lang and 141-pounder Tony Valek (FY, Belle Plaine, Minn./Scott West), along with a major-decision win by Holst and decisions by Massey, No. 3-ranked heavyweight Andy Witzel (JR, Fulda, Minn.) and No. 5-ranked 157-pounder Jason Adams (JR, Coon Rapids, Minn.) provided the difference in the match.
Among other Minnesota teams at the National Duals, No. 22-ranked Concordia-Moorhead placed fifth in the Division III field with a 24-15 win over No. 11-ranked Cornell (Iowa). In Division II, Minnesota State Mankato placed third, while in Division I, Minnesota placed sixth.
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