LA CROSSE, Wis. -- If Saturday's first session at the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships taught the spectators anything, it's that this year's title is up for grabs.

The host school, Wisconsin-La Crosse, will have eight hands trying to grab the crown away Saturday night from the two teams that have won the title each of the past 27 years. Those teams -- Augsburg and Wartburg -- advanced two wrestlers each into the final, half of La Crosse's total.

"We're going to go back, relax now ... and these guys are going to fuel up, and you'll see some exciting matches tonight," UW-La Crosse Coach Dave Malecek.

Not to mention an exciting team race that tightened up during the first session and then saw the lead change twice during the placing matches for third, fifth and seventh.

Several teams traded the lead before host Wisconsin-La Crosse got hot in the semifinals and advanced four wrestlers into Saturday night's finals at the La Crosse Center. The four-for-four showing vaulted the Eagles into the team lead with 78.5 points.

"Anytime you get in the semifinals, you've got to love Division III," Malecek said. "If anybody's a fan of wrestling I don't know why you wouldn't watch Division III because there's upsets all over the place. I told our guys, 'Hey, let those upsets happen to everyone else except us.

"Yes, having four in the semis and four in the finals, we had some things go our way, but I think though hard work good things do happen."

Good things happened to the Eagles' Tyler Goebel, who beat Wartburg's Charlie Dojan on a takedown in overtime in a semifinal at 149. Defending national champion Nolan Hertel followed with an 11-3 major decision against Augsburg's Blake Jagodzinske at 157, then Noah Leisgang scored a late takeodown for a 4-1 win over defending national runner-up Matt Lackman of Alvernia at 165. Michael Douglas capped the successful round when he beat Dylan Waller of Elizabethtown in the semifinal at 285 pounds.

"It was awesome; it feels amazing," Douglas said of the Eagle's semifinal performance.

"People might think it puts pressure on you, but it makes it that much easier," he said of keeping the winning streak alive. "You can just go out and wrestle for those guys. All the hard work they put in, I can just go out there and keep it going for us."

It could all come down to Douglas' match as he squares off against Augsburg's Tyler Kim. They split a pair of matches this year.

Despite La Crosse vaulting into the lead, the two teams that have dominated Division III wrestling for the past three decades -- Augsburg and Wartburg -- made it clear they weren't ready to secede their spots at the top, crept back in the wrestlebacks and headed into the placing matches tied for second place, one point behind the Eagles.

First, Wartburg overtook La Crosse when senior Joe Pins lived up to his name and pinned two-time national champion Robbie Precin of North Central for third place at 133. Kyler Romero added another point with a comeback win for fifth place at 141 and Dojan pushed Wartburg's total to 82.5 with a third-place finish at 149.

Then Augsburg had the final say of the session and pulled even with Wartburg with a fifth-place finish from Cooper Willis at 165 and a pin in the seventh-place match at 174 from Seth Goetzinger.

The defending champion Auggies then showed they won't relinquish the title without a fight when Parker Venz pinned La Crosse's Ben Kawczynski in the seventh-place match at 197, giving the Auggies 85.5 points when the session ended.

Despite being overtaken, Malecek knows the numbers give his squad a fair chance of ending the reign of the Burgs.

"I learned from the best coach ever, and that's Jim Miller," Malecek said of the former Wartburg coach who was an assistant coach at Northern Iowa early in Malecek's wrestling career there before Malecek served as an assistant to Miller at Wartburg. "Go out and fight somebody and enjoy it. Go out and score points, and don't make it a bigger deal than it is."

Defending national champions Joziah Fry (125 pounds) of Johnson & Wales and Michael Petrella (149) of Baldwin Wallace joined Hertel, Mulder and Endene in keeping alive hopes of a repeat title. But two-time champion Robbie Precin of North Central saw his string of 90 wins end in the 133-pound semifinals.

Coast Guard junior Chase Randall knocked off Precin with an overtime takedown.

"I'm dangerous, I know he's dangerous, but I just wanted it bad and it was just a battle of the wills.

"It was pretty awesome," he said of the winning takedown. "I had to chain wrestle; I had to scramble a little bit. ... I'm just super-excited to see all my training pay off. He came in on my leg, I had to scramble, I had to get creative and came out on top."

Randall will face Baldwin Wallace's Jaden Hinton in the final at 133.

The other championship matches:

125 -- Fry, the top seed, vs. No. 2 seed Christian Guzman of North Central.

141 -- No. 1 seed Jacob Reed of Ohio Northern vs. No. 2 seed Josh Wilson of Greensboro.

149 -- Petrella, the No. 2 seed, vs. Goebel, the No. 2 seed.

157 -- Hertel, the top seed, vs. No. 3 seed Peter Kane of Williams, who pinned No. 2 seed Cooper Pantelandolfo of NYU in the semifinals.

165 -- Leisgang, the fourth seed, vs. second Seed Nick Sacco of The College of New Jersey.

174 -- No. 1 seed Jared Stricker of Wisconsin-Eau Claire vs. No. 2 seed Mulder in a rematch of last year's final.

184 -- Augsburg's Bentley Schwanebeck-Ostermann, the top seed, vs. unseeded Ryan DeVivo of Johnson & Wales.

197 -- Endene, the top seed, vs. third-seeded Gabriel Zierden of Concordia-Moorhead.

285 -- Douglas, the fourth seed, vs. Kim, the third seed.

NCAA DIV III NATIONALS

At LaCrosse, Wis., March 16, 2024

Finals pairings

125 - Joziah Fry (Johnson and Wales) vs. Christian Guzman (North Central)

133 - Chase Randall (Coast Guard) vs. Jaden Hinton (Baldwin Wallace)

141 - Jacob Reed (Ohio Northern) vs. Josh Wilson (Greensboro)

149 - Michael Petrella (Baldwin Wallace) vs. Tyler Goebel (Wisconsin-La Crosse)

157 - Nolan Hertel (Wisconsin-La Crosse) vs. Peter Kane (Williams College)

165 - Noah Leisgang (Wisconsin-La Crosse) vs. Nicholas Sacco (TCNJ)

174 - Jared Stricker (Wisconsin-Eau Claire) vs. Zane Mulder (Wartburg)

184 - Bentley Schwanebeck-Ostermann (Augsburg) vs. Ryan DeVivo (Johnson and Wales)

197 - Massoma Endene (Wartburg) vs. Gabriel Zierden (Concordia-Moorhead)

285 - Michael Douglas (Wisconsin-La Crosse) vs. Tyler Kim (Augsburg)

Semifinals results

125

Joziah Fry (Johnson and Wales) won by tech fall over James Day (Wabash) (TF-1.5 3:37 (18-2))

Christian Guzman (North Central) won by decision over Mason Barrett (Averett) (Dec 5-3)

133

Chase Randall (Coast Guard) won in sudden victory - 1 over Robbie Precin (North Central) (SV-1 8-5)

Jaden Hinton (Baldwin Wallace) won by decision over Joe Pins (Wartburg) (Dec 9-6)

141

Jacob Reed (Ohio Northern) won by decision over Josiah Gehr (Messiah) (Dec 8-7)

Josh Wilson (Greensboro) won by decision over Mark Samuel (Roanoke College) (Dec 5-4)

149

Michael Petrella (Baldwin Wallace) won by decision over Zach Sato (Wisconsin-Eau Claire) (Dec 11-4)

Tyler Goebel (Wisconsin-La Crosse) won in sudden victory - 1 over Charlie Dojan (Wartburg) (SV-1 4-1)

157

Nolan Hertel (Wisconsin-La Crosse) won by major decision over Blake Jagodzinske (Augsburg) (MD 11-3)

Peter Kane (Williams College) won by fall over Cooper Pontelandolfo (NYU) (Fall 1:35)

165

Noah Leisgang (Wisconsin-La Crosse) won by decision over Matt Lackman (Alvernia University) (Dec 4-1)

Nicholas Sacco (TCNJ) won by decision over Will Esmoil (Coe) (Dec 4-2)

174

Jared Stricker (Wisconsin-Eau Claire) won by fall over Jason Geyer (NYU) (Fall 2:27)

Zane Mulder (Wartburg) won by decision over Zeb Gnida (Loras) (Dec 7-0)

184

Bentley Schwanebeck-Ostermann (Augsburg) won by major decision over Sampson Wilkins (Castleton) (MD 9-0)

Ryan DeVivo (Johnson and Wales) won by decision over NIall Schoenfelder (Wisconsin-Eau Claire) (Dec 4-2)

197

Massoma Endene (Wartburg) won by decision over Montgomery Mills (Westminster) (Dec 9-4)

Gabriel Zierden (Concordia-Moorhead) won by decision over Cameron Butka (Wilkes) (Dec 4-3)

285

Michael Douglas (Wisconsin-La Crosse) won by decision over Dylan Waller (Elizabethtown) (Dec 4-2)

Tyler Kim (Augsburg) won in sudden victory - 1 over Rayshawn Dixon (Ferrum) (SV-1 2-1)

Team Standings heading into finals

1 Augsburg 85.5

2 Wartburg 82.5

3 Wisconsin-La Crosse 78.5

4 Johnson and Wales 71.0

5 Wisconsin-Eau Claire 65.0

6 Baldwin Wallace 55.5

7 Coast Guard 46.5

8 North Central 42.5

9 Loras 34.0

10 TCNJ 33.0

11 NYU 27.0

12 Castleton 24.5

13 Luther 22.5

14 Roanoke College 21.5

15 Westminster 20.5

NCAA Div. III Nationals team title up for grabs; Augsburg, Wartburg & UW-La Crosse in hunt going into finals

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