Olympic wrestling exhibition to be featured at halftime of Augsburg-North Dakota State wrestling sho

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Don Stoner (Augsburg Sports Information)
01/26/2004


MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. An Olympic wrestling exhibition match between U.S. amateur wrestling stars Brandon Paulson and Jesus Wilson will be featured during the halftime of Tuesday's (1/27) small-college college wrestling showdown between North Dakota State University and Augsburg College.    The Augsburg-NDSU match will be held on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Augsburg's Si Melby Hall in Minneapolis. A junior varsity match between Augsburg and Ridgewater Community College will set the stage at 6 p.m. Admission is $6 for adults and $3 for students, with Augsburg faculty, staff and students receiving free admission (with ID). Group rates (wrestling teams of 10 or more) are $2 per person.     Paulson, an Anoka native, is a University of Minnesota alumnus who earned silver medals in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 1996 Olympics and 2001 world championships. Wilson, an Upper Iowa University alum who defected to the United States from his native Cuba in 1994, earned the 132-pound (60 kilogram) championship in freestyle competition at the 2003 Pan American Games. He is a two-time NCAA Division III national champion.    The two will hold an exhibition match featuring the two styles of Olympic-caliber wrestling -- Greco-Roman and freestyle -- in separate three-minute rounds during the mid-match break of the Augsburg-NDSU dual meet.    Paulson is currently ranked No. 1 in the country in Greco-Roman wrestling at 121 pounds (55 kilograms) and is in his eighth season as a U.S. national team member. Wilson is currently ranked No. 4 nationally in freestyle at 132 pounds (60 kilograms), in his second season on the national team.    Also featured as guest coaches and honorees for their contributions to amateur wrestling will be: Dan Chandler, 2000 U.S. Olympic Greco-Roman team coach and current coach of the Minnesota Storm amateur wrestling club; Alan Rice, a 1956 Olympian in Greco-Roman wrestling, founder of the Minnesota Amateur Wrestling Club and head coach of the 1972 U.S. Olympic Greco-Roman team; and Gordy Morgan, freestyle coach for Minnesota USA Wrestling, a 1996 U.S. Olympic team member and former head coach of the Greco-Roman program at the U.S. Olympic Education Center in Marquette, Mich.    More than 150 children from the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board's youth wrestling program will also be in attendance at Tuesday's meet. Augsburg wrestlers volunteer as referees several nights per week for the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board's youth wrestling program as part of the college's commitment to community service by its student-athletes.    The Augsburg-North Dakota State match will feature two of the top small-college wrestling programs in the country. Augsburg, winners of eight of the last 13 NCAA Division III national championships, is currently ranked No. 2 in the nation in the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III national poll. On Saturday, Augsburg won its 14th straight Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Team Duals championship, sweeping the three matches by a combined score of 147-9.    Augsburg is currently 10-1 on the season in dual meets. Against teams from Divisions II and III, Augsburg is 187-11 since 1989-90, losing just six matches since the 1995-96 season. Against Division III opponents, Augsburg is 209-16 since the 1979-80 season and 133-6 since 1989-90. Augsburg leads the all-time series with North Dakota State by a 5-4 margin.    Augsburg has seven individuals in the latest Division III national rankings, released on Wednesday. Three Auggies are top-ranked in their weight classes -- Marcus LeVesseur (So., Minneapolis, Minn./Bloomington Kennedy HS) is ranked No. 1 at 157 pounds; Matt Shankey (Jr., Apple Valley, Minn.) is ranked No. 1 at 125; and Mark Matzek (Jr., Ellsworth, Wis.) is ranked No. 1 at 133.    Joe Moon (Jr., Ellendale, Minn./New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva HS) is ranked No. 2 at 174 pounds; Jamell Tidwell (Jr., Burnsville, Minn./Bloomington Kennedy HS) is ranked No. 3 at 141; Mark Simmonds (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn./Edison HS) is ranked No. 3 at heavyweight; and Dustin Dahlblom (Fr., Stillwater, Minn.) is ranked No. 7 at 149.    North Dakota State, winners of three NCAA Division II titles in the last six seasons, is currently ranked No. 1 nationally in the NWCA Division II national poll. NDSU is currently 8-0 on the season in dual meets.     Like Augsburg, NDSU has three top-ranked national wrestlers -- Paul Carlson (Sr., St. Francis, Minn.) at 157, Thad Pike (Sr., Hayfield, Minn.), first at 174 and Brian Kraemer (Sr., Cold Spring, Minn.) at 197. Five other Bison are also nationally ranked: Zach Stevens (So., Erwinna, Pa.), second at 149; Mike Fiedler (Sr., Sauk Centre, Minn.), third at 165; Joe Bryce (Jr., Glenwood, Minn.), third at heavyweight; Lucas Christianson (Sr., Apple Valley, Minn.), eighth at 133; and Mathias Bitz (So., Bismarck, N.D.), eighth at 141.    In the team's only head-to-head competition, at the St. Cloud State Invitiational on Dec. 13, North Dakota State won the tournament with 152 points to second-place Augsburg's 147.5. However, Augsburg got the better of NDSU individually, as Augsburg claimed five individual champions to NDSU's three, and Augsburg won five of seven head-to-head matches between the two schools.