Wrestling

2005 NWCA/CLIFF KEEN DIVISION III NATIONAL DUALS - DAY 2
Semifinals: No. 1 Augsburg College 35, No. 4 Delaware Valley 3
Aggies End Competition Early, Head Back Home Due To Snowstorm

CLEVELAND (OH) - Competition ended earlier than expected for the Delaware Valley College wrestling team at the NWCA/Cliff Keen Division III National Duals (hosted by Cleveland State University), but it was by their choice.

The Aggies and other East Coast schools headed home early on Saturday due to the snowstorm. They finished with a 2-1 mark at the National Duals to improve their record to 8-3 on the season (4-1 against Division III opponents),

Delaware Valley, ranked fourth in Division III, opened competition on Friday with victories over No. 29 Augustana College (35-6) and No. 5 University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse (21-18). That put them into Saturday's semifinals against the top ranked team in the country, Augsburg College (MN). Augsburg won nine of 10 weight classes, en route to a 35-3 victory.

Delaware Valley dropped into the consolation semifinals, where it was scheduled to meet No. 9 The College of New Jersey for the right to wrestle for third place. However, both teams agreed to end competition at that point and head back East (No. 3 Luther College and Wisconsin-LaCrosse, who were meeting in the other consolation semifinal match-up, moved up to the third-place match as a result).
In the match against Augsburg, the Aggies' lone victory came at 197 pounds as junior transfer Jamall Johnson notched 9-5 victory over the fourth-ranked wrestler in his weight class, Justin Sorensen. The win was the third straight at the National Duals for Johnson as he improved his record this season to 17-6.

Augsburg's lineup featured seven nationally-ranked wrestlers, including top-ranked Matt Shankey (125), defending national champion Mark Matzek (133) and Marcus LeVesseur (157). The trio notched 14 points, including Matzek's 9-2 decision over second-ranked Barry Wise in a rematch of last year's national championship semifinals.

SEMIFINALS: AUGSBURG COLLEGE 35, DELAWARE VALLEY 3
125 - Matt Shankey (AUG) by technical fall over Mike Weston, 15-0
133 - Mark Matzek (AUG) by decision over Barry Wise, 9-2
141 - Jamell Tidwell (AUG) by technical fall over Tommy Becker, 16-0
149 - Jared Evans (AUG) by decision over Rick Frondorf, 10-5
157 - Marcus LeVesseur (AUG) by fall over Alan Schwartzbeck, 2:55
165 - Ryan Valek (AUG) by decision over Ryan Pope (DVC), 9-2
174 - Casey Flaherty (AUG) by decision over Jason Shivak, 4-3
184 - Brad Tupa (AUG) by decision over Andrew Helms, 2-1
197 - Jamall Johnson (DVC) by decision over Justin Sorensen, 9-5
Hwt - Mark Simmonds (AUG) by major decision over Caleb Churchwell, 14-0