The top-ranked Augsburg Wrestling team did not disappoint last weekend at the St. John’s North Country Open as 25 wrestlers took to the mat, combining to go 49-33 with 15 Auggies placing in the top six. Augsburg had five individual champions as well.
Sophomore Lucas Jeske, the number-one ranked wrestler at 165 pounds, continued his perfect season as he captured the 165-weight class championship. It was his third tournament championship of the season as he defeated two wrestlers from D2 St. Cloud State and two from D1 South Dakota State.
Fellow sophomore Ryan Epps, the number-three ranked wrestler at 157 pounds, also was undefeated in the tournament as he won the 157-weight class championship, his fourth tournament championship of the season.
Yet another sophomore took home a title for the Auggies. This time it was Wyatt Richardson who won the 197-pound division. Seniors Tone Fuenffinger and Jackson Graham were co-champions in the 174-pound division.
Along with them, junior Mike Hayes finished second place for the Auggies. He competed in the 141-weight class division. The number 10 ranked 125-pound Victor Gliva and senior 157-pounder Bryce Zdonavec each claimed a third-place finish. Finishing fourth for the Auggies was Sam Bennyhoff at 133 pounds and Aaron Wilson at 149 pounds. Brady McFarland and Brent Chambers captured fifth place finishes, and Cruze Hurlburt, Solomon Nielsen and Lorenzo Hernandez claimed sixth place finishes to round out a successful weekend for the Auggie grapplers.
Augsburg headed to Waverly, IA, to wrestle longtime foe Wartburg on Thursday, Feb. 2. They then will head to Eau Claire, WI, to compete in an Open Tournament on Saturday.
This article first appeared in the Friday, February 2, 2018, Edition of The Echo.