Donny Longendyke

Donny Longendyke is a 285 pound Augsburg wrestler. Longendyke won the 2015 285-pound national title. Longendyke joined the Auggies in the spring 2015 semester after transferring from Div. I University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Longendyke was two-time Class AAA Minnesota State Champion at heavyweight, winning both the 2010 and 2011 titles. As a senior, he was ranked first nationally at heavyweight and later earned Nebraska's Redshirt of the Year award going 34-10 in open competition.

For Augsburg, Longendyke is a two-time All-American, finishing first in 2015 and second in 2016, both at heavyweight.

High School career
Longendyke wrestled for White Bear Lake (Minn.) High School and was three-time state finalist, finishing first his junior (2010) and senior (2011) years.

2011–12 season
Longendyke redshirted his first season at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, compiling a 34–10 record in open competition. For his efforts, he was named Redshirt of the Year.

2012–13 season
Longendyke spent part of the year as the starter at heavyweight for the Huskers, finishing with a 2–7 record in duals and a 6–11 record overall. The starting spot was taken by Spencer Johnson, who competed in the 2013 Big Ten Championships for Nebraska.

2014–15 season
Longendyke transferred to Augsburg starting in the 2014–15 season, competing unattached during the fall semester. His first matches in an Auggie singlet came at the Citrus Open on December 29 and 30, where he went 4-0 to claim his second collegiate tournament title. He made his dual debut against DII Augustana (S.D.), pinning Michael Lowman in 4:23.

Regional
Longendyke competed for Augsburg at 285 pounds at the 2015 NCAA Division III West Regional. He finished first, qualifying for nationals.

Nationals
Longendyke competed for Augsburg at 285 pounds at the 2015 National Championships earning his first national title as part of the Auggie's team National Championship.

2015–16 season
Longendyke spent the entire 2015–16 season as the Auggie starter at Heavyweight, keeping the top ranking nationally all season as well. His regular season was near flawless, scoring tournament wins four times. His only two regular season losses were to top-ranked Div. II wrestler Austin Goergen (St. Cloud State) the eventual third-place finisher nationally, as well as to eventual Div. II eighth-place finisher Cole Wilson of Southwest Minnesota State.

His unblemished record against Division III opponents came to an end in the national finals, when Zachary Roseberry (Delaware Valley) won a 5–4 decision. Of his 39 wins on the season, 30 came with bonus points. Longendyke also claimed a 3–0 mark against Division III wrestlers.

2016–17 season
After not competing in the first semester, Longendyke began the 2016–17 season at the Citrus Open, where he claimed a convincing win in the finals over third-ranked James Bethel (Oneonta State). Vaulted back into the rankings at the second spot (behind Zachary Roseberry (Delaware Valley), who defeated him in the previous year's national finals), Longendyke competed at the NWCA Division III National Duals where he went 3–1, dropping a 4–0 decision to third-ranked Lance Evans (Wartburg).

Now ranked third nationally, Longendyke competed in his second tournament of the season, finishing first at the Cornell Matman Open on January 14, including a 5–4 decision over eight-ranked Adarios Jones (Augustana-Ill.) in the final. He claimed two first-period pins the following weekend against Concordia-Moorhead's seventh-ranked Justice Davis in 0:59 and a 2:03 fall over St. John's Colin Fisher.

As of January 22, Longendyke has a 13–1 with nine falls.