Augustana College

Complete Brackets - PDF
Top 8 Finishers - PDF

Mitch Lunning led a strong showing by the Augustana wrestling team by finishing second at 184 pounds at the Dakota Wesleyan Open Saturday in Mitchell, S.D.

Competing without several starters, the Vikings had six wrestlers place among the top eight in their respective weight classes. Headlining the group was Lunning, who went 3-1 on the day. Also placing at 184 pounds were Luke Heine, who was fourth, and Nick Henning, who finished sixth.

Brandon Kruger added a third-place finish at 157 pounds, while Jay Sherer was fourth and Adam Schlee eighth at 141 pounds.

Following a first-round bye, Lunning defeated Joe Lockett of Morningside 11-6 before pinning Clint Whitley of Sioux Falls in 2:23. Lunning then knocked off Tom Eaton of Northwestern in the semifinals before getting pinned by Dakota State’s Brett Owen in 1:15 in the championship match.

Heine posted a 4-2 record on the day to finish fourth. He beat Dakota State’s Brett Mathern 7-1 after receiving a first-round bye. Next, he lost to Eaton 6-1 in the quarterfinals. Heine then shut out Cole Spree of Northwestern 7-0. Heine then advanced to the third-place match with a pair of medical forfeits before he dropped a 5-2 decision to Eaton in the third-place bout.

Henning split his first two matches before dropping into the consolation bracket. He then pinned Lockett in 4:12 before edging Tyler Winklemen 10-6. Henning then lost by medical forfeit to Eaton in the consolation finals.

Kruger cruised to an easy 15-5 major decision over Brody Verschoor of Morningside in the first round. He then edged Dan Gilfeather 5-3 and Levi Price of Northwestern 3-1 to gain a spot in the semifinals. There, Kruger fell 12-2 to Nick Zumwalt of Dakota State. In the consolation semifinals, Kruger earned a medical forfeit over Peter De La Cruz. Kruger was then awarded third place even though he did not face Carl Serck in the third-place match.

Sherer got a first-round bye and then scored an 18-6 major decision over Steven Shields of York in the second round. In the third round, Sherer dropped a 7-6 decision to Morningside’s Drew Smith. He then posted three wins in the consolation bracket. He scored a 20-4 technical foul over Travis Clark of York, picked up a 13-9 decision over Nathan Schweitzer of DSU and a 3-1 win over Edgar Mercado of DSU to reach the third-place match. However, he was forced to medical forfeit the match to Nate Herda.

Schlee went 3-2 on the day to finish eighth. He defeated Codey Schultz of Buena Vista 12-4 before knocking off Clark 4-0. After losing 15-7 to Marcus Cobbs, Schlee pinned Steven Shields in 1:41 before falling to Herda 7-3.

Augustana Results
125 pounds
4. Cody Lensing, 5-2
141 pounds
3. Nate Herda, 5-1
4. Jay Sherer, 4-2
8. Adam Schlee, 3-2
149 pounds
Elliot Bloom, 2-2
Jarred McCarthy, 1-2
157 pounds
3. Brandon Kruger, 4-1
4. Carl Serck, 3-1
165 pounds
1. Gavin Nelson, 4-0
4. Marcus Edgington, 3-2
174 pounds
4. Brian Schultz, 4-2
Bryce Flaherty, 0-2
Matt Morris, 0-2
Casey Mouw, 1-2
184 pounds
2. Mitch Lunning, 3-1
4. Luke Heine, 4-2
6. Nick Henning, 3-1
Dan McKie, 0-2