Augsburg survives adversity to lead NCAA Div. III Nationals on day one, with UW-La Crosse in second

Those expecting to see Augsburg romp to a repeat title at the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships didn't get what they expected Friday at the La Crosse Center.

Three of the Auggies wrestling preliminary-round matches lost Friday morning -- including returning national champion Sam Stuhl at 141 pounds -- putting the Auggies on their heels.

But, even though the Auggies sustained more blows along the way, they persevered and will take a 9.5-point lead into the second and final day of the tournament Saturday.

"Our main key is to battle through adversity," Augsburg senior Bentley Schwanebeck-Ostermann said. "Our focus, I guess, is just to go out there and have fun, and we just work and every position we're in we work hard whether it's in the room or on the mat our main focus is always just working hard, and when that happens, great things happen."

Despite having fewer semifinalists than Wisconsin-La Crosse and Wartburg, Augsburg ended the first day with 59 points, while UWL led Wartburg 49.5-49 in the battle for second place. Johnson & Wales (44) and Wisconsin-Eau Claire (41) rounded out the top five, both with three semifinalists.

Blake Jagodzinske (157 pounds), Schwanebeck-Ostermann (184) and Tyler Kim (285) advanced to the semifinals, but just as important, Cooper Willis (165), Seth Goetzinger (174) and Parker Venz (197) survived the consolation rounds to earn All-America status.

"We do a lot of focusing on being able to bounce back ,,, and it's not how hard you get hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and get back up," Schwanebeck-Ostermann said.

The Auggies earned bonus points in 11 matches, helping them make up for the loss of four of their 10 qualifiers. Schwanebeck-Ostermann had two technical falls and Jagodzinske had a pair of pins.

"First off, my goal is to be the OW (outstanding wrestler) of this championship, so every day I practice just like it," Schwanebeck-Ostermann said. "I wrestle hard, I run hard. Everything I do, I do to my best ability. I leave nothing out there. ... That goes for our whole team."

The semifinals could go a long way to determining the champion. Included in those are head-to-head semifinals matchup between La Crosse's Tyler Goebel and Wartburg's Charlie Dojan at 149 pounds and La Crosse's Nolan Hertel and Jagodzinske at 157. Hertel is the defending national champion.

La Crosse also has Noah Leisgang in the semifinals at 165 and Michael Douglas at heavyweight. Wartburg's Joe Pins (133) joins defending national champion teammates Zane Mulder (174) and Mo Endene (197) in the semifinals.

Also reaching the semifinals were 2023 national champions Joziah Fry (125) of Johnson & Wales, Robbie Precin (133) of North Central and Michael Petrella (149) of Baldwin Wallace.

"Just having fun, getting to my attacks and driving through (were the keys)," Petrella said. "About me, I just need to get better; I know if I get better I can beat the best of the world. I just keep working on my own self and getting those moral victories. Being able to switch it in a match, that's what will win for me."

Baldwin Wallace owned the team lead for a short time when Petrella won, even though teammate Jacob Decatur, a former national champion and two-time finalist lost earlier in the quarterfinals. The Yellow Jackets ended the first day in sixth place.

"We want to win this title," Petrella said. "But it's not always about that. It's about getting better as a team and growing and just to have fun wrestling."

NCAA DIV III NATIONALS

At LaCrosse, Wis., March 15, 2024

Semifinal pairings

125

Joziah Fry (Johnson and Wales) vs. James Day (Wabash)

Mason Barrett (Averett) vs. Christian Guzman (North Central)

133

Robbie Precin (North Central) vs. Chase Randall (Coast Guard)

Jaden Hinton (Baldwin Wallace) vs. Joe Pins (Wartburg)

141

Jacob Reed (Ohio Northern) vs. Josiah Gehr (Messiah)

Mark Samuel (Roanoke College) vs. Josh Wilson (Greensboro)

149

Michael Petrella (Baldwin Wallace) vs. Zach Sato (Wisconsin-Eau Claire)

Charlie Dojan (Wartburg) vs. Tyler Goebel (Wisconsin-La Crosse)

157

Nolan Hertel (Wisconsin-La Crosse) vs. Blake Jagodzinske (Augsburg)

Peter Kane (Williams College) vs. Cooper Pontelandolfo (NYU)

165

Matt Lackman (Alvernia University) vs. Noah Leisgang (Wisconsin-La Crosse)

Will Esmoil (Coe) vs. Nicholas Sacco (TCNJ)

174

Jared Stricker (Wisconsin-Eau Claire) vs. Jason Geyer (NYU)

Zeb Gnida (Loras) vs. Zane Mulder (Wartburg)

184

Bentley Schwanebeck-Ostermann (Augsburg) vs. Sampson Wilkins (Castleton)

NIall Schoenfelder (Wisconsin-Eau Claire) vs. Ryan DeVivo (Johnson and Wales)

197

Massoma Endene (Wartburg) vs. Montgomery Mills (Westminster)

Gabriel Zierden (Concordia-Moorhead) vs. Cameron Butka (Wilkes)

285

Dylan Waller (Elizabethtown) vs. Michael Douglas (Wisconsin-La Crosse)

Tyler Kim (Augsburg) vs. Rayshawn Dixon (Ferrum)

Quarterfinal results

125

Joziah Fry (Johnson and Wales) won by tech fall over Mac Cafurello (Roanoke College)(TF-1.5 4:30 (19-4))

James Day (Wabash) won by decision over Jacob Decatur (Baldwin Wallace) (Dec 5-1)

Mason Barrett (Averett) won by decision over Zac Blasioli (Millikin) (Dec 13-11)

Christian Guzman (North Central) won by tech fall over Gavin Bradley (Castleton) (TF-1.5 6:35 (18-3))

133

Robbie Precin (North Central) won by decision over Zach Beckner (Ferrum) (Dec 4-2)

Chase Randall (Coast Guard) won by decision over Dominik Mallinder (Wisconsin-Whitewater) (Dec 10-5)

Jaden Hinton (Baldwin Wallace) won by tech fall over Gabriel Leo-Esparolini (Johnson and Wales)  (TF-1.5 5:20 (17-1))

Joe Pins (Wartburg) won by decision over Luke Hoerle (Stevens) (Dec 9-3)

141

Jacob Reed (Ohio Northern) won by decision over Evan Burge (Wabash) (Dec 9-2)

Josiah Gehr (Messiah) won by tech fall over James Rodriguez (Castleton) (TF-1.5 5:33 (16-0))

Mark Samuel (Roanoke College) won by decision over Kyler Romero (Wartburg) (Dec 5-3)

Josh Wilson (Greensboro) won by decision over Alex Samson (St. John Fisher) (Dec 8-1)

149

Michael Petrella (Baldwin Wallace) won by decision over Mike Glynn (RIT)  (Dec 10-5)

Zach Sato (Wisconsin-Eau Claire) won by fall over Charlie Stuhl (Augsburg) (Fall 4:39)

Charlie Dojan (Wartburg) won by decision over Daniel Uribe (Wabash) (Dec 6-3)

Tyler Goebel (Wisconsin-La Crosse) won by major decision over Taylor Smith (Washington & Jefferson)  (MD 12-3)

157

Nolan Hertel (Wisconsin-La Crosse) won by tech fall over Xavier Howard (McDaniel)  (TF-1.5 4:48 (17-1))

Blake Jagodzinske (Augsburg) won by decision over Ryan Smith (Stevens) (Dec 11-8)

Peter Kane (Williams College) won by medical forfeit over Nathan Callaway (Millikin)

Cooper Pontelandolfo (NYU) won by decision over Clayton McDonough (Luther) (Dec 6-0)

165

Matt Lackman (Alvernia University) won by fall over Patrick Wisniewski (Johnson and Wales) (Fall 3:48)

Noah Leisgang (Wisconsin-La Crosse) won by decision over Brian Schneider (Elizabethtown) (Dec 2-0)

Will Esmoil (Coe) won by major decision over Cooper Willis (Augsburg) (MD 11-3)

Nicholas Sacco (TCNJ) won by decision over Alex Villar (North Central) (Dec 2-0)

174

Jared Stricker (Wisconsin-Eau Claire) won by tech fall over Dejon Glaster (Millikin) (TF-1.5 7:00 (17-1))

Jason Geyer (NYU)  won by decision over Stefan Major (Stevens) (Dec 4-1)

Zeb Gnida (Loras) won in sudden victory - 1 over Seth Goetzinger (Augsburg) (SV-1 9-6)

Zane Mulder (Wartburg) won by major decision over Charlie Grygas (Oswego State) (MD 13-4)

184

Bentley Schwanebeck-Ostermann (Augsburg) won by tech fall over Jack Ryan (Oneonta State) (TF-1.5 7:00 (16-1))

Sampson Wilkins (Castleton) won by decision over Sean Malenfant (Alfred State) (Dec 7-6)

NIall Schoenfelder (Wisconsin-Eau Claire) won by decision over Max Borton (Ursinus) (Dec 4-3)

Ryan DeVivo (Johnson and Wales) won by tech fall over Cole Cervantes (North Central) (TF-1.5 6:53 (19-3))

197

Massoma Endene (Wartburg) won by tech fall over Lorenzo Pellot (Roanoke College) (TF-1.5 2:36 (19-2))

Montgomery Mills (Westminster) won by fall over Ben Kawczynski (Wisconsin-La Crosse) (Fall 3:58)

Gabriel Zierden (Concordia-Moorhead) won by decision over Darby McLaughlin (Castleton) (Dec 8-2)

Cameron Butka (Wilkes) won by decision over Coy Spooner (Coast Guard)  (Dec 8-6)

285

Dylan Waller (Elizabethtown) 6-0 won by fall over Carl DiGiorgio (Coast Guard) 5-1 (Fall 1:53)

Michael Douglas (Wisconsin-La Crosse) 26-1 won by injury default over Doug Byrne (Baldwin Wallace) 6-1 (Inj. 5:14)

Tyler Kim (Augsburg) 29-2 won by decision over Donovan King (Olivet) 4-2 (Dec 4-0)

Rayshawn Dixon (Ferrum) 33-0 won by decision over Robby Bates (North Central) 32-6 (Dec 8-6)

Team Standings after day one

1             Augsburg             59.0

2             Wisconsin-La Crosse         49.5

3             Wartburg              49.0

4             Johnson and Wales             44.0

5             Wisconsin-Eau Claire        41.0

6             Baldwin Wallace 34.5

7             Coast Guard         26.0

8             North Central       25.0

8             TCNJ     25.0

10           Loras     21.5

11           Castleton              19.0

12           NYU      17.5

13           Roanoke College 17.0

14           Stevens 16.5

15           Averett 15.5