DUBUQUE, Iowa - Augsburg coach Jeff Swenson is too superstitious to declare victory before the heavyweight championship is decided. But he came pretty close to anointing his Auggies as national champions after the semifinal round of the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships on Saturday at the Five Flags Center.

"I haven't done the math, but I think it's close," Swenson said. "You can pick up a lot of points in that round."

As for the math, the Auggies had piled up 121.5 points after advancing five wrestlers to Saturday night's finals. That gave Augsburg its 10th NCAA Division III title.

Second-place Wartburg had 87.5 points, two more than Wisconsin-La Crosse, but the most the Knights could score in the placing matches was an additional 24 points, which would leave them 10 points behind Augsburg if the Auggies didn't win another match.

"I think we were 6-2 in that round, and that was the key," Swenson said.

Seth Flodeen (125 pounds), Jafari Vanier (133), Quincy Osborn (141), Jeremy Anderson (157) and Marcus Levesseur (165) advanced to the finals for Augsburg. Levesseur moved within one win of becoming the first four-time champion in Division III and improved to 154-0 in his college career. He will face sixth-seeded Michael Guenther of The College of New Jersey in the finals.

Flodeen will face Luther's Nate Hansen in the finals, Vanier will meet No. 1 seed David Morgan of Kings, Osborn will take on No. 2 seed Ricky LaForge of Delaware Valley and Anderson will meet Joseph Galante of The College of New Jersey.

Swenson credited a dual loss to Wartburg for lighting a fire under the Auggies.

"We got a wakeup on Feb. 1," he said, referring to the day Wartburg traveled to Minneapolis and avenged a loss at the National Duals. "That was absolutely good for the team. This team needed at that time to be knocked down a peg. The thing that says about our guys is they responded the last four weeks. We had a great Great Lakes Regional (winning nine titles) and came here focused."

Wartburg, fourth-place Luther (72 points) and fifth-place College of New Jersey (46.5) each advanced two wrestlers to the finals.
Top seeds T.J. Miller (197) and heavyweight Blake Gillis will represent Wartburg, with Gillis seeking his first championship in four trips to the finals.

Top seed Hansen (125) and second seed Matt Pyle (149) will wrestle in the finals for Luther. Pyle, the 2005 champion at 149, beat last year's 157-pound champion, Joe Pflug of Heidelberg, 6-2 in the semifinals.

Both College of New Jersey finalists entered the tournament as sixth seeds.

Galante beat Wisconsin-La Crosse's Ross Needham 2-1 at 157 pounds, and Guenther trailed Shaheim Bradshaw of SUNY-Brockport 4-3 when he used a "cement job" to take down Bradshaw to his back for a five-point move in the final half-minute to win 8-5.

"The kids just did a great job," TCNJ coach Dave Icenhower said. "Both were sixth seeds, and they were the only two seniors in our lineup."
The wins pretty much cemented the Lions' spot at No. 5 in the team standings.

"This has been an unbelievable year," Icenhower said. "We started the season ranked No. 18, and I thought that was too high. We went 19-1 in duals, losing only to Wartburg. I'm tremendously happy with everything that has happened this year."

The other finalists are Jason Roush of Mount St. Joseph at 149, Josh Chelf of Wisconsin-La Crosse and Kyle Vanderhyde of Olivet at 174, Terrance Madden of Hunter and Stephon Sair of SUNY-Cortland at 184, Ben Strandberg of Buena Vista at 197 and Bryan Kmetz of Baldwin-Wallace at heavyweight. Strandberg is the only unseeded wrestler in the finals.

125 pounds

Semifinals

Top seed Nate Hansen (Luther) pinned No. 4 seed Chris Heilman (Cornell) in 2:49.

Heilman recorded a takedown at 1:14 on the edge of the mat. After Hansen escaped, Heilman got another takedown, but Hansen reached back and managed to pin Heilman in 2 minutes, 49 seconds. Upset, Heilman threw his headgear, bringing a one-point deduction in Cornell's team total.

No. 3 seed Seth Flodeen (Augsburg) dec. No. 2 seed Brandon McDonough (Johnson and Wales) 14-7

Flodeen shot in on a single, and though a stalemate stopped the action, he was awarded a penalty point at 2:17 in the first period when McDonough was called for locked hands. McDonough got a takedown at 1:07, but Flodeen reversed him to his back at :58, then  McDonough reversed Flodeen to his back and got a two-point near fall. Flodeen escaped, then took McDonough down to his back in the final 10 seconds. Referee Ken Daws met with the scoring table at the end of the period to sort out the scoring. When the issue was solved, Flodeen was given a 10-6 lead. McDonough started the second period down and got a quick escape. There was no more scoring in the period. Flodeen started the third period down and escaped. He then got a takedown at 1:24 to go ahead 13-7. Flodeen finished with 1:20 of riding time for a point and a 14-7 win.

In the consolation quarterfinals, No. 8 seed Eracieo Vallejo (Manchester) beat Jake Oster (Elmhurst) 10-6 and Kyle Flickinger (York) beat Brian Clement (Coe) 8-5.

McDonough beat Vallejo 12-6 and Heilman beat Flickinger 19-7 in the consolation semifinals to advance to the third-place match.

133 pounds

Top seed David Morgan (Kings) dec. Jacob Helvey (Wartburg) 5-2.
There was no scoring in the first period. Morgan started the second period down and escaped at 1:56. Morgan got a takedown with 14 seconds left to go ahead 3-0. Helvey was down in the third period and escaped, making it 3-1. Morgan got a takedown with 1:10 left to go ahead 5-1, then Helvey escaped. Morgan won 5-2

No. 2 seed Jafari Vanier (Augsburg) dec. No. 3 seed Jestin Hulegaard (Buena Vista) 7-5.

Hulegaard got a takedown at 2:46 for a 2-0 lead. Vanier escaped at 1:38. Vanier started the second period down and took a 3-2 lead with a reversal. Hulegaard escaped to tie the score 3-3. Vanier got a takedown with 47 seconds left to take a 5-3 lead. Hulegaard escaped. Hulegaard chose down to start the third period and escaped to tie the score at 5-5, then Vanier got a takedown with 27 seconds left for a 7-5 lead.

In the consolation quarterfinals, fifth seed Adam Johnson (North Central) beat Gannon Hjerleid (Coe) 12-5 and No. 8 seed Jordan Kolinski (Wisconsin-La Crosse) scored a 13-1 major decision against Justin Seifried (Ithaca).

Johnson beat Helvey 5-2 and Hulegaard got a point for riding time after surrendering a four-point move in the final 10 seconds to beat Kolinski 9-8 in the consolation semifinals.

141 pounds

Semifinals

Top seed Quincy Osborn (Augsburg) dec. No. 4 seed Mike Gaeta (Springfield) 15-3.

Osborn took down Gaeta to his back at 2:43 and got the three-point near fall at 2:27. Osborn started the second period down and escaped. He then got a takedown to go ahead 8-0. Gaeta escaped to make it 8-1. Osborn went ahead 10-1 on a takedown with 1:10 left. Gaeta escaped to make it 10-2. The third period started with both wrestlers on their feet. Osborn got a takedown for a 12-2 lead, then Gaeta escaped. Osborn got another takedown and finished the match with 3:04 in riding time for a bonus point and a 15-3 victory.

No. 2 seed Ricky LaForge (Delaware Valley) beat No. 6 seed Micahel Bonora (Rhode Island College) 7-4.

LaForge took a 2-0 lead on a takedown with 1:47 left in the first period. Bonora pulled even with a reversal at :42. La Forge escaped to go ahead 3-2. Bonora started the second period down and escaped to tie the match at 3-3. LaForge got a takedown with 1:12 left for a 5-3, then Bonora escaped. LaForge started the third period down and escaped, then got a bonus point for 2:01 of riding time for the final margin.

In the consolation quarterfinals, No. 5 seed Jared Creason (Coe) beat Tyler Branham (College of New Jersey) 9-6 and Zach Chambers (Wisconsin-Platteville) won by technical fall over Travis Grawin (Luther) 17-1 in 4:51.

Creason beat Bonora 10-5 and Chambers defeated Gaeta 11-5 in the consolation semifinals to advance to the third-place match.

149 pounds

Semifinals

No. 4 seed Jason Roush (Mount St. Joseph) dec. top seed Jared Evans (Augsburg) 2-1.

There was no scoring in the first period. Evans started down in the second period and escaped at 1:57. There was no more scoring. Roush chose to start the third period neutral, and with 9 seconds remaining got a takedown for a 2-1 win.

No. 2 seed Matt Pyle (Luther) dec. No. 3 seed Joe Pflug (Heidelberg) 6-2.

In the matchup of former national champions, Pyle got a decisive big move in the first period when he tossed Pflug to his back for a four-point move at 1:18. There was no more scoring in the period. Pyle started the second period and escaped for a 5-0 lead. Pflug started the third period down and escaped to make it 5-1. A stalling penalty against Pyle gave Pflug another point with 14 seconds left, but Pyle had 1:35 in riding time for a 6-2 win.

In the consolation quarterfinals, No. 6 seed Don Ooton (SUNY-Brockport) beat No. 7 seed Timothy Bohlman (York) 5-3 and No. 5 seed Jake Larsen (Wisconsin-La Crosse), the defending champion, beat No. 8 seed Ryan Higgins (Wisconsin-Platteville) 3-1 in a repeat of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference final.

Evans rebounded to beat Ooton 4-0 in one consolation semfinal, while Pflug won the matchup of 2006 national champions against Larsen with an 11-3 major decision.

157 pounds

Semifinals

Top seed Jeremy Anderson (Augsburg) dec. No. 4 seed Bobby Gingerich (North Central) 7-3.

Gingerich scored first on a takedown with 1:24 left in the first period, but Anderson escaped with :58 left, then got a go-ahead takedown with 3 seconds left in the period. Anderson started the second period down and escaped for a 4-2 lead. He made it 6-2 on a takedown with 1:27 left. Gingerich cut the deficit to 6-3 with an escape. There was no scoring in the third period, but Anderson had 2:53 of riding time for a bonus point and the final 7-3 margin.
No. 6 seed Joe Galante (College of New Jersey) dec. No. 2 seed Ross Needham (Wisconsin-La Crosse) 2-1.

There was no scoring in the first period. Galante chose down to start the second period and got a reversal with 4 seconds left for a 2-0 lead. Needham chose down to start the third period and escaped. There was no more scoring.

In the consolation quarterfinals, Jacob Malone (St. John's) pinned No. 8 seed Pat McAuley (Cornell) in 1:45 and No. 3 seed Aaron Wernimont (Wartburg) beat No. 5 seed Elliot Spence (Mount St. Joseph) 13-5.
Needham beat Malone 3-1 and Gingerich pinned Wernimont in 5:49 in the consolation semifinals.

165 pounds

Semifinals

Top seed Marcus LeVesseur (Augsburg) beat No. 5 seed Jason Knipp (Wartburg)

Levesseur got a takedown at 1:55 of the first period for a 2-0 lead. Levesseur started the second period down and escaped, then got a takedown with :56 left to go up 5-0. Knipp started the third period down and was released. Levesseur got a takedown at 1:51 and released Knipp, then got another takedown at 1:30 and rode out the match. His 3:18 of riding time gave him an extra point for the 10-2 major decision.

No. 6 seed Michael Guenther (College of New Jersey) dec. No. 7 seed Shaheim Bradshaw (SUNY-Brockport) 8-5.

There was no scoring in the first period. Bradshaw started the second period down and escaped at 1:49. Bradshaw got a takedown at 1:08 for a 3-0 lead. Guenther escaped to cut the deficit to 3-1. Guenther started the third period down. He got a penalty point and then an escape to tie the score, but a penalty point put Bradshaw ahead 4-3. With 27 seconds left, Guenther took down Bradshaw to his back for a five-point move. Bradshaw got a point for 1:11 of riding time for the final margin.

In the consolation quarterfinals, Gino Russo (Baldwin-Wallace) beat Phil Kruzel (University of Chicago) 9-5 and No. 2 seed Tim Palmer (Wisconsin-La Crosse) beat No. 3 seed Steve Martell (Johnson and Wales) 11-2.

Bradshaw pinned Russo in 6:58 and Palmer beat Knipp 5-3 in overtime in the consolation semifinals.

174 pounds

Semifinals

Top seed Josh Chelf (Wisconsin-La Crosse) pinned No. 4 seed Jon Dolan (Williams) in 6:15.

Chelf got a takedown at 2:07 of the first period and added a three-point near fall for a 5-0 lead. Chelf started the second period down and escaped to go up 6-0, then got a takedown for an 8-0 lead. They started the third period on their feet, and Chelf got a takedown with 1:20 left and pinned Dolan 35 seconds later.

No. 3 seed Kyle Vanderhyde (Olivet) dec. No. 2 seed Robert Gotreau (Augsburg) 8-5.

Gotreau scored first with a takedown, but Vanderhyde escaped to end the first period down 2-1. Gotreau started the second period down and escaped for a 3-1 lead. Vanderhyde started the third period down and escaped. He then got a takedown with 1:36 left, but Gotreau escaped five seconds later to tie the score 4-4. Vanderhyde went ahead 6-4 on a takedown with 30 seconds left. Gotreau escaped, but Vanderhyde closed with another takedown off a desperation shot by Gotreau for the 8-5 final.

In the consolation quarterfinals, No. 7 seed Andrew Winfield (McDaniel) beat No. 6 seed Treavor LeBlanc (SUNY-Cortland) 8-2 and Eric Bath of Wisconsin-Stevens Point beat Adam Dorner of Wisconsin-Oshkosh 5-2 to avenge a loss in the conference semifinals.
Bath then advanced to the third-place match by beating Gotreau 6-4 in the consolation semifinals, while Dolan beat Winfield 8-5 in the other consolation semifinal.

184 pounds

Semifinals

No. 4 seed Terrance Madden (Hunter) dec. top seed Jason Lulloff (Wisconsin-La Crosse) 3-2.

Madden got a takedown with 25 seconds left in the first period, but Lulloff escaped 8 seconds later. Lulloff chose down to start the second period and pulled even on an escape. Madden started down in the third period and escaped with 1:50 left for the final points in the 3-2 win.

No. 2 seed Stephon Sair (SUNY-Cortland) dec. No. 3 seed Romeo Djoumessi (Wartburg) 8-2.

Sair went ahead 2-0 on a takedown with 17 seconds left in the first period. Djoumessi started the second period down and escaped to make it 2-1, but Sair got another takedown with 47 seconds left for a 4-1 advantage. Sair started the third period down and escaped. He added another takedown with :33 left and released Djoumessi to make it 7-2. A point for 1:24 of riding time made the final 8-2.

In the consolation quarterfinals, Nicholas Calandrino (Ithaca) pinned Ryan Summers (John Carroll) in 4:09 and Nick Coleman (New York University) beat No. 6 seed Jay Figgins (Loras) 3-2.

Lulloff pinned Calandrino in 4:26 in the consolation semifinals to advance to the third-place match for the fourth time in his career. He will face Djoumessi, who beat Coleman 8-2 in the other consolation semifinal.

197 pounds

Semfinals

Top seed T.J. Miller (Wartburg) dec. No. 5 seed Keith Garrard (Wabash) 10-2.

Miller came out on top in a scramble for a takedown and a 2-0 lead at 1:31 of the first period, but Garrard escaped with :57 left. Miller went on top 4-1 on a takedown with :34 left. Garrard chose down in the second period and escaped with 5 seconds left to cut the gap to 4-2. Miller started down in the third period and escaped. He got a takedown with :53 left and a two-point near fall 21 seconds later for a 9-2 edge. His 3:37 in riding time gave him an additional point for the major decision.

Ben Strandberg (Buena Vista) dec. No. 2 seed Matthew Loesch (Muhlenberg) 12-6.

Strandberg went ahead 4-0 when he took down Loesch to his back at 2:08 of the first period. He added another near fall later in the period for a 6-0 lead. Strandberg started the second period down and escaped for a 7-0 lead. Loesch threw Strandberg to his back with :44 left for a five-point move, but Strandberg got a reversal just before the period ended to go ahead 9-5. Loesch chose to go up in the final period, but Strandberg got a reversal for an 11-5 lead. Loesch escaped, but Strandberg got another point for 2:33 of riding time and won 12-6.

Jason Reilly (Kings) pinned Wally O'Connor (Augsburg) in 1:46 and No. 4 seed Alec Bonander (Luther) beat No. 7 seed Phil Archer (SUNY-Cortland) 8-3 in the consolation quarterfinals.

In the consolation semifinals, Reilly recorded his third consecutive pin, in 3:09 against Garrard, and Bonander won by medical forfeit against Loesch.

Heavyweight

Semifinals

Top seed Blake Gillis (Wartburg) pinned No. 5 seed Trevor Hiffa (Oneonta State) in 1:59.

Gillis shot in for a takedown with 1:51 left in the first period and put Hiffa on his back for the fall 50 seconds later.
No. 3 seed Bryan Kmetz (Baldwin-Wallace) dec. No. 2 seed Arkadiy Levitin (Hunter) 3-0.

After a scoreless first period, Kmetz started the second period on top and turned Levitin for a two-point near fall at 1:33. Kmetz was up again in the third period and rode out Levitin, and the point he got for 4:00 in riding time made for the final 3-0 margin.

Andrew Neumann (Augsburg) pinned No. 7 seed Kyle Brown (Thiel) and Jaran Rutledge (Knox) beat Wade Hammen (Buena Vista) 3-2 in the overtime tiebreaker in the consolation quarterfinals.

Hiffa beat Neumann 7-2 and Rutlege beat Levitin 4-3 in the consolation semifinals.