The Auggies won regional titles in seven of the 10 weight classes, had a regional runner-up and one at-large qualifier for the national championships, to be held March 5-6 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Augsburg (Minn.) won the tournament with 224 points, followed by second-place Concordia-Moorhead (Minn.) with 142 points, Elmhurst (Ill.) with 133.5 points and St. John's (Minn.) with 126.0 points.Winners of 10 of the last 19 national titles, Augsburg has won the Great Lakes Regional every year since joining the region in 2003.
Augsburg's Josh Roberts (125), Jafari Vanier (141), Tony Valek (149), Jason Adams (157), Orlando Ponce (165), Zach Molitor (174) and Jared Massey (197) all won regional titles to qualify for the national tournament, while Paul Bjorkstrand was a runner-up at 133. He qualified along with at-large qualifier Andy Witzel at heavyweight.
Massey, the defending national titlist at 197 pounds, won all three of his matches, including one by fall, to improve to 25-0 on the season. In two years at Augsburg, Massey is now 55-1 in his two seasons at Augsburg. A competitor at Division I Wisconsin in the 2003-04 season, he returned to college wrestling last year after a four-season absence.
Adams won four matches, including two by pin, at 157 to return to the national tournament for the third straight year, improving to 39-4 in the process. Adams is a two-time All-American, finishing second at 141 in 2008 and third at 157 last season. Adams is now 129-24 in his career.
At 141, Vanier reached the Division III national tournament for the third time in his career with four victories, emerging from the No. 4 seed to win the regional title in a weight class that featured four of the top-five ranked wrestlers in the latest national poll. Vanier returned to the Auggie lineup this season after a two-season absence. He was a national runner-up in both 2006 and 2007 at 133 pounds.
Molitor claimed four wins at 174, including two major decisions, to improve to 27-3 and advance to the national tournament for the second straight year. Molitor scored a 10-1, major-decision win in the championship match.
Valek will return to the national tournament for the second year in a row after claiming his crown at 149. He won three matches, including a 6-0 decision in the finals, to improve to 30-4 on the season. Ponce, also a national tournament qualifier last year, won the regional title with four victories, including a 14-6, major-decision win in the finals, to improve to 27-10 on the season.
Roberts qualified for the national tournament for the first time in his career, scoring three wins, including an 8-7 win over top-ranked Jake Oster of Elmhurst in the finals. Roberts is now 24-8 on the season.
Bjorkstrand reached the national tournament for the first time in his career with a runner-up finish at 133, and will advance with a 36-7 record. Witzel, an All-American last year with a fifth-place finish at heavyweight, reached this year's tourney as an at-large qualifier with a 27-9 record.
Concordia-Moorhead (Minn.) qualified four individuals to the national tournament -- 184-pound champion Phil Moenkedick, 174-pound runner-up Ross Dakners, 149-pound runner-up Justin Berns and at-large qualifier Ben Anderson at 141.
Also qualifying four individuals was North Central (Ill.) -- 133-pound champion Nathan Fitzenreider, 184-pound runner-up Gabe Youel, 141-pound at-large qualifier John Starzyk and 174-pound at-large qualifier Cowan Brown.
St. John's (Minn.) qualified three individuals to the national tournament -- 141-pound true-second winner Minga Batsukh, 133-pound at-large qualifier Mogi Baatar and 165-pound at-large qualifier Matt Baarson.
Elmhurst (Ill.) qualified three individuals -- heavyweight champion Mark Corsello, 125-pound runner-uip Jake Oster and 149-pound at-large qualifier Charlie Curran.
St. Olaf (Minn.) qualified two individuals -- 156-pound true-second finisher Justin Skillings and 165-pound runner-up Josef Waples. Qualifying one individual each were Lakeland (Wis., heavyweight runner-up Adam Sutter), Chicago (Ill., 197-pound runner-up Troy Carlson) and Augustana (Ill., 125-pound at-large qualifier George Gogonas).
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