The Augustana wrestling team dropped a pair of duals against Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference foes to finish in eighth place at the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals Sunday at the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The No. 8 Vikings dropped a 31-10 decision to No. 11 Upper Iowa before #9 St. Cloud State squeaked past the Vikings 19-18 in the seventh-place match.
The dual against St. Cloud State saw the Vikings win 3 matches in sudden victory before the Huskies staged a late rally.
Al Meger started the dual with a 10-8 decision over Trent Herold in the second sudden victory period.
There was no score in the first sudden victory period, and then each wrestler scored reversals in the 30-second tiebreaker periods, knotting the score at 8-8. After an injury timeout, Meger managed to take down Herold in the second sudden victory period and secure the win.
After the teams exchanged forfeits at 133 and 141 pounds, Augustana's
Nate Herda defeated Jacob Roberts 7-2 to give the Vikings a 12-6 lead.
Marcus Edgington, ranked No. 7 at 157 pounds, beat John Sundgren 7-3 in sudden victory. In the overtime period, Edgington took Sundgren down to his back. He was unable to record the pin but was awarded a 2-point near fall for the 4-point win.
St. Cloud State's Tad Merritt, ranked third at 165 pounds, beat Augustana's
Kyle Svendsen 7-0 to make the score 15-9. Augie's
Carl Serck pushed the lead to 18-9 when he got a takedown in sudden victory to edge SCSU's Shamus O'Grady 7-5.
But St. Cloud State rallied to take the final 3 matches. At 184 pounds, SCSU's Derek Skala, ranked No. 8 in the nation, scored a late takedown to edge Augustana's
Nick Henning, ranked No. 6 in the country, by a score of 4-3.
At 197 pounds, SCSU's Lucas Munkelwitz, ranked fifth in the nation, defeated
Luke Heine 7-1 to make the score 18-15 in favor of the Vikings. Heine was wrestling in place of
Ty Copsey, who is ranked second in the nation.
The Huskies scored the winning points at 285 pounds where Jacob Kahnke, ranked eighth in the nation, won by a 10-2 major decision over
Lance Peters.
Against Upper Iowa in the morning consolation semifinals, the Vikings fell behind early 15-0 and could not recover. At 125 pounds,
Al Meger dropped a close 3-0 decision to No. 7 Tyler Mumbalo. The Vikings were open at 133 pounds, making the dual score 9-0.
Upper Iowa's J.R. Baker then surprised Augie's
Jay Sherer, ranked No. 2 at 141 pounds, by pinning Sherer in 6:29. Baker was leading 6-2 at the time of the fall.
Augustana won the next 2 matches. At 149 pounds, Herda won a wild match against UIU's Brett Hakeman, scoring a 20-10 major decision. Edgington, followed with a 4-2 decision over Derek Stolarzyk at 157 pounds, cutting the deficit to 15-7.
But Upper Iowa won 4 of the final 5 bouts to coast to the win. Augustana's other victory came at 197 pounds where Copsey scored a 9-3 decision over Nick Shandri.
Augustana opens NSIC dual action on Friday, January 15, when the Vikings entertain Southwest Minnesota State in a 7 p.m. dual at the Elmen Center.
Consolation Semifinals: #11 Upper Iowa 31, #8 Augustana 10
125 pounds: Tyler Mumbulo (UIU) dec.
Al Meger (Augie), 3-0
133 pounds: Kyle Pedretti (UIU) won by forfeit
141 pounds: JR Baker (UIU) pinned
Jay Sherer (Augie), 6:29
149 pounds: Nate Herda (Augie) major dec. Brett Hakeman (UIU), 20-10
157 pounds: Marcus Edgington (Augie) dec. Derek Stolarzyk (UIU), 4-2
165 pounds: Travis Eggers (UIU) dec.
Kyle Svendsen (Augie), 6-2
174 pounds: Mitch Norton (UIU) major dec.
Carl Serck (Augie), 16-3
184 pounds: Mitchell Schultz (UIU) dec.
Nick Henning (Augie), 2-0
197 pounds: Ty Copsey (Augie) dec.. Nick Shandri (UIU), 9-3
285 pounds: Arron Cramer (UIU) pinned
Lance Peters (Augie), 0:43
Seventh Place: #9 St. Cloud State 19, #8 Augustana 18
125 pounds: Al Meger (Augie) dec. Trent Herold (SCSU), 10-8 (SV-2)
133 pounds: Shane McQuade (SCSU) won by forfeit
141 pounds: Jay Sherer (Augie) won by forfeit
149 pounds: Nate Herda (Augie) dec. Jacob Roberts (SCSU), 7-2
157 pounds: Marcus Edgington (Augie) dec. John Sundgren (SCSU), 7-3 (SV)
165 pounds: Tad Merritt (SCSU) dec.
Kyle Svendsen (Augie), 7-0
174 pounds: Carl Serck (Augie) dec. Shamus O'Grady (SCSU), 7-5 (SV)
184 pounds: Derek Skala (SCSU) dec.
Nick Henning (Augie), 4-3
197 pounds: Lucas Munkelwitz (SCSU) dec.
Luke Heine (Augie), 7-1
285 pounds: Jacob Kahnke (SCSU) major dec.
Lance Peters (Augie), 10-2
