2014–15 Augsburg Wrestling season

The 2014–15 Augsburg Wrestling season is Augsburg's 33rd season at the NCAA Division III level. The team is coached by Jim Moulsoff. Captains for the season are Matt Hechsel, Will Keeter and Tommy Teigen.

On Feb. 28, 2015, Augsburg won the 2015 NCAA Division III West Regional, qualifying all 10 wrestlers to the the 2015 National Championships.

Head coaching change
Augsburg announced on July 28, 2014 that six-year Head Coach Mark Matzek had resigned his post to return to his hometown of Ellsworth, Wisconsin to become a math teach. After graduating from Augsburg in 2005 with a degree in Mathematics, Matzek spend time as a math teach in the Apple Valley, Minn. school system.

Jim Moulsoff was named interim Head Coach in the same announcement, having served as an assistant coach during each of Matzek's six seasons as coach. Assisting Moulsoff will be former Augsburg 3-time All American Tony Valek.

Duals
Augsburg opened their dual season on December 6, 2014 at the 2014 Candlewood Suites Duals hosted by the University of Wisconsin La–Crosse. No. 7 Augsburg went 2–1 on the day against teams from Iowa. The Auggies opened with a 37–7 win over Dubuque, dropped a tight 25–24 contest to No. 15 Loras before closing with a 35–3 win over No. 22 Cornell. Tommy Teigen (184 lbs.) went 3–0 on the day claiming all victories by fall. Joining him with undefeated records on the day were Mike Fuenffinger (125 lbs.) and Eric Hensel (174 lbs.), the latter claiming two victories by pin.

The Auggies faced division II Opponent Southwest Minnesota State University on December 11, winning by a 30–14 margin. Austin Boniface (165 lbs.) and Matt Hechsel claimed pins, while Fuenffinger (125 lbs.) and Will Keeter (149 lbs.) won by major decisions. Keeter's victory capped a 15–0 run in the first four wins, while Teigen (184 lbs.) sealed the dual with a decision to bring the score to 24–8.

Augsburg faced another Division II opponent in Sioux Falls, S.D. as the No. 16 Augustana Vikings hosted the No. 11 Auggies. The Auggies prevailed behind pins from Hensel, Donny Longendyke and Fuenffinger in three of the final 5 matches. Marcus Hamer and Teigen also picked decision victories for the Auggies.

The Auggies next competed at the NWCA National Duals on January 9 and 10. They entered the tournament as the 8th seed (ranked 10th by the NWCA) and began the tournament with a 35–6 victory over Cornell (Iowa) and falling 24–12 to top-ranked Wisconsin–Whitewater on Friday. Augsburg rebounded with a 23–12 victory over Alma College (Mich.) to end Day 1 with a 2–1 record. On the day, both Fuenffinger and Longendyke went 3–0, while the Auggies also went 3–0 at 133 with Chad Bartschenfeld (2–0) and Kirk Anderson (1–0) splitting time. Fuenffinger (125), Bartschenfeld (133) and Longendyke (285) all picked up pins against Cornell College (Iowa) in the first match of the day.

Augsburg went 1–1 on the second day of the National Duals, defeating Mount Union (Ohio) 23–13 behind pins from Hensel (174) and major decisions by Fuenffinger (125) and Longendyke (285). With the victory, the Auggies moved to the fifth-place match were they dropped a 19–18 match to Wisconsin–La Crosse. A Longendyke (285) pin tied the match at 18 points apiece, but the Eagles prevailed on criteria, have won six matches to the Auggies' four. Hensel added another pin in the match as well. Fuenffinger, Bartschenfeld, Hensel and Longendyke all went 2–0 on the day with Fuenffinger and Longendyke both went 5–0 over both days, Bartschenfeld (133) went 4–0, Keeter (149) and Hechsel (197) went 3–2, with Hensel (174) finishing at 2–2.

The Auggies returned to dual action with two wins over MIAC opponents. On Jan. 23, Augsburg upset third-ranked Concordia Moorhead 26–12. On Jan. 25, the Auggies defeated St. John's (Minn.) 34–12. Teigen (184) led the way with two pins, while Fuenffinger (125), Bartschenfeld (133), Keeter (149) and Longendyke (285) all went 2–0 on the weekend. On Jan. 30, Augsburg claimed another win over MIAC foe St. Olaf, defeating the Oles 49–6. After five forfeit victories, Keeter (149) and Logan Hortop (197) claimed pins while Tyrell Martin (174) claimed a major decision. Kurt Knutsen notched a decision at 165 pounds.

At the 2015 Battle of the Burgs against Wartburg College at Si Melby Hall on Feb. 5, Augsburg dropped a 25–7 match to the top-ranked Knights. Augsburg's wins came in the first and last matches of the dual, when Fuenffinger (125) won a 6–4 decision to sixth-ranked Jake Agnitsch and Longendyke (285) upset fifth-ranked Ben Nagle by a 12–4 major decision.

On Feb. 12, 2015, the fifth-ranked Auggies upset the fourth-ranked Wis.–La Crosse Eagles by a 18–16. Longendyke's pin in 1:53 at 285 pounds proved to be the difference.

Tournaments
Augsburg opened their season at the Auggie Open on November 22, 2014, placing 16 members including three runner-ups in their respective gold brackets by Mike Fuenffinger (125), Rashad Kennedy (149), and Matt Hechsel (197). Will Keeter also placed third at 149, with he and Kennedy both losing to Dakota Gray (Luther). Austin Boniface rounded out Augsburg's top-three gold bracket placers at 165.

On December 13, the Auggies competed at the St. Cloud State University Husky Open with Fuenffinger (125) and Hechsel (197) both finishing first in their weight classes. Fuenffinger used two major decisions and a decision over three Division II wrestlers to claim the top spot, while Hechsel claimed three decisions claimed three decision, including two over Division II wrestlers and an overtime victory over the 2014 197-pound NJCAA national champion VJ Giulio. At 174 pounds, Eric Hensel finished third, losing only to the No. 7 ranked wrestler in Division II.

On December 29 and 30, Augsburg competed at the Citrus Open in Fort Lauderdale, Fla, finishing second behind seventh-ranked Mount Union (Ohio). Augsburg claimed four individual champions and a runner-up while compiling 161.5 points, just six behind the Purple Raiders. Fuenffinger (125), Keeter (149), Hechsel (197), and Donny Longendyke (285) all topped their podiums, while Chad Bartschenfeld (133) finished second.

On January 17, the Auggies competed at the Matman Wrestling Invitational. Bartschenfeld (133) and Longendyke (285) both finished first in their weight classes; Keeter (149), Tone Fuenffinger (157), and Hechsel (197) finished second; Kirk Anderson (133), Marcus Hamer (141), Grant Parker (157), Tyrell Martin (174), and Tommy Teigen (184) all finished fourth.

On Feb. 7, Augsburg will split their squad for two tournaments: the St. John's North Country Open and Wisconsin–Eau Claire's Don Parker Open. Anderson (133), Hamer (141), Frandsen (157), T. Fuenffinger (157), Parker (157), Boniface (174), Martin (174) and Hechsel (197) are registered to compete at the North Country Open. James Goman (125), Bartschenfeld (133), Dylan Lesar (133), Keeter (149), Bryce Zdanovec (149), Dwayne Williams (157), Hensel (165), Kurt Knutsen (165), Miles Hammerlund (184), Teigen (184), Hortop (197), Longendyke (285) and Jordan Reisinger (285).

White Team
Augsburg's White Team, or junior varsity, sent seven seven wrestlers to the MSU Moorhead Dragon Open on December 7, 2014. Sophomore Cameron Henning was the lone non-freshman to compete, finishing fifth in the Red Division (Upper Class) at 141 pounds. In the White Division (Lower Class), Xianou Xiong (125; 0–4), Dylan Lesar (133, 0–2), Bryce Zdanovec (149, third place, 3–1), Tone Fuenffinger (157, third place, 3–1), Dwayne Williams (157, 0–2), and Sebastian Larson (184, first place, 3–0) all competed for the Auggies.

The White Team next competed at the Rochester Community and Technical College Triangular on January 6, 2015, going 1–1. The Auggies lost the first match against the host Yellowjackets in a contest that featured seven pins, an injury default and a forfeit. Tyrell Martin had the lone decision of the match, while Luis Pinto (RCTC) pinned Jordan Reisinger in the final match to take the dual 30–27. Augsburg faced Northland Community and Technical College in the second match, winning by a comfortable 44–4 margin. Logan Hortop (197) won both his matches by fall, while James Goman (125), Kirk Anderson (141), Fuenffinger (157), and Martin (174) all won both their matches.