THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Augsburg 1st/11 (159.0)
LOCATION: Memorial Auditorium, Moorhead, Minn.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Augsburg, ranked No. 2 in the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III national poll, won the 11-team regional with 159.0 points. Augsburg has won the team title in its NCAA regional every year since starting regional competition in the 2002-03 season.
• With its eight national tournament qualifiers -- including five first-year competitors -- Augsburg has had seven or more national tournament qualifiers in 14 of the last 15 seasons. Augsburg had seven regional champions and one third-place finisher. The top three finishers in each weight class qualify for the national tournament.
• Augsburg Head Coach Jim Moulsoff was named West Region Coach of the Year, while Augsburg's Tony Valek was named West Region Assistant Coach of the Year by his coaching peers.
• Augsburg 184-pounder Owen Webster (FY, Shakopee, Minn.), ranked No. 1 nationally, earned the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler honors with three dominant wins on Saturday, claiming two second-period pins to advance to the finals, where he scored a 12-0, major-decision win over No. 9-ranked Grant Wedepohl of Wisconsin-Platteville. Now 29-1 on the season, Webster has scored 26 straight victories and has 22 bonus-point victories (10 major decisions, four technical falls, eight pins). Webster is now 20-0 against NCAA Division III opponents, with his lone loss coming to Division II Minnesota State-Mankato's Matt Blome (3:50 pin) on Nov. 19 in the finals of the Auggie-Adidas Open.
• No. 3-ranked heavyweight Donny Longendyke (SR, Vadnais Heights, Minn./White Bear Lake HS) qualified for his third national championship as an Auggie with his third regional title. He scored two first-period pins to reach the finals, then topped No. 8-ranked Justice Davis of Concordia-Moorhead 6-1 in the championship match. The 2015 Division III heavyweight national champion and 2016 national runner-up, Longendyke is now 24-3 on the season with 18 bonus-point wins (15 pins, three major decisions). He is now 148-29 in his collegiate career with 111 bonus-point wins (84 pins, four technical falls, 23 major decisions), including a 107-8 record with 81 bonus-point wins (61 pins, four technical falls, 16 major decisions) in three seasons at Augsburg.
• Sam Bennyhoff (SO, Mound, Minn./Mound-Westonka HS) will compete in his second national tournament, after winning the 133-pound regional title for the second straight year .He claimed two major decisions -- a 14-2 win over Cody Vogel of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in the semifinals and a 10-2 win over Scott Arneson of UW-Platteville in the finals. Now 28-7 on the season, Bennyhoff has 18 bonus-point wins (11 major decisions, five technical falls, two pins). He is now 56-14 in his two seasons at Augsburg, with 33 bonus-point wins (17 major decisions, eight technical falls, eight pins).
• Augsburg dominated in the lower weights, with four titlists in the first four weight classes, including three first-year wrestlers -- No. 3-ranked 125-pounder Victor Gliva (FY, Farmington, Minn.), No. 5-ranked 141-pounder Dave Flynn (FY, Jordan, Minn./Scott West) and No. 8-ranked 149-pounder Ryan Epps (FY, Cannon Falls, Minn.).
• Gliva opened with a first-period pin, then scored a 9-3 win over Concordias Aaron Dick and a 3-2 win over Wisconsin-Eau Claire's Zackary Sirny to advance to the national tournament for the first tie. Gliva is now 30-4 on the season with 15 bonus-point wins (six major decisions, four technical falls, five pins). He extended his winning streak to 21 straight matches with his three wins on Saturday.
• Flynn scored two decision wins to reach his first national tournament, scoring a 7-2 win over Joshua Curcuio of Concordia-Wisconsin and a 7-2 win over Kody Azarian of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Now 21-4 since transferring to Augsburg after competing in the first half of the season at Division I North Dakota State (now 30-7 overall), He has 17 bonus-point wins (12 pins, two technical falls, three major decisions) this season, including 11 (eight pins, three major decisions) as an Auggie.
• Epps opened his tournament run with a 10-0 major-decision, then scored a 17-0, technical-fall win over Branden Schorr of Saint John's in the semifinals. He secured his first trip to the national tournament with a 4-0 win over Ty Johnson of Concordia-Moorhead in the finals. Epps is now 31-5 on the season with 14 bonus-point wins (four pins, five technical falls, five major decisions).
• Lucas Jeske (FY, St. Michael, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville HS) continued the first-year bonanza for the Auggies with the title at 165 pounds, improving to 21-7 on the season. He scored a 14-3 major-decision in his opening match, then scored a 2:04 pin of Mitchell Fucile of Lakeland (Wis.) in the finals to claim the title. Jeske now has 12 bonus-point wins on the season (seven pins, one technical fall, four major decisions).
• Grant Parker (SR, Onalaska, Wis.) rallied from a semifinal loss at 157 pounds to finish third for the second straight year at the regional, qualifying for his second national tournament. He rallied in the wrestlebacks with a 4:52 pin of Sam Rathburn of the Milwaukee (Wis.) School of Engineering and a 4-2 win over Jerod Novak of Saint John's to earn the national tournament bid. Parker is now 22-10 on the season with 10 bonus-point victories (five major decisions, five pins) and 88-59 in his career with 30 bonus-point wins (15 pins, one technical fall, 14 major decisions).
• Two Auggies saw their seasons end with fourth-place finishes in the regional. Austin Boniface (SR, Wyoming, Minn./Forest Lake HS) went 2-2 with a pin at 174 to finish 23-14 on the season and 68-42 on his career, and Sebastian Larson (JR, River Falls, Wis.) went 3-2 at 197 to finish his season at 19-18. He is now 59-45 in his career.
UP NEXT
• Augsburg competes at the NCAA Division III National Championships, to be held March 10-11 at the La Crosse Center in La Crosse, Wis.
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