A lot of these early season tournaments can often get overlooked and that's a shame. Some of them have some very good wrestling, with some really important matches. Year after the year, the Augsburg Invitational sees outstanding wrestling. We often have matches between ranked wrestlers & of special interest it is a tournament that gives us a look at NCAA Division II Vs NCAA Division III wrestling. Let's take a weight by weight look at the upcoming tournament.
*NOTE* - NWCA rankings are used. Black indicates NCAA D3 ranking. Blue Indicates NCAA D2 ranking.
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| 125 |
We have two 2024 NCAA DIII R12'ers in this bracket that could very well end up battling it out for the title. Wyatt Kaczrowski is down from 133 lbs, where he finished as the runner-up here a year ago. The other R12'er from the national tournament that will be in this bracket is Matt Griffin. As we contemplate how great of a match that will be, keep in mind that Trey Ackman of Upper Iowa won this tournament last season. Also here to continue to make a name for himself is David Vukobratovich. A win over either Kaczrowski or Griffin would indeed show that the Dutch, is much.
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| 133 |
Ever since the reinstatement of Sioux Falls wrestling, one of their top stars has been Beau Klingensmith. He came in here last year & won the tournament, nearly majoring Wyatt Kaczrowski 10-3 in the finals. This year, he'll have some stiff competition challenging him for the title in both Chance Suddeth & Luke Hoerle. Both are NCAA Division III qualifiers from last season, Hoerle a R12'er. Why he's currently unranked is a mystery to me. He's on the Ducks' '24-'25 roster. All I can figure is that he may be gray-shirting or perhaps sitting this year out. Maybe he was overlooked. Not hard to do when you have 126 schools to look at in D3. Nonetheless, if he's competing here, he's a title threat.
Other wrestlers to look out for this tournament are Connor Kidd & Kyle Nase. Kidd placed 4th here a year ago. Nase probably isn't on too many radars at the moment. Understandable as he did not place at the Regionals last season. However, I can see him having a turn around season. I really can. What makes me think this? He's had two good matches with Hoerle. A 6-3 loss, and a 5-4 loss. A one point match with a guy that nearly made All American last season says something to me. Auggie invite would be a place to let it fly.
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| 141 |
Lots of fun things could happen in this bracket. We could very well see a good match between NCAA D3 R12'er Pierre Baldwin & Nico Diaz. This will also give us an opportunity to see how D3 matches up with D2, as we have #12 Ryan Wehner in the bracket. What really excites me here is the opportunity put forth at the lap of Cade Willis. He's not ranked yet at 141 lbs, but that could all change after this weekend. He's twice finished 3rd here & being his home invitational, in front of his home crowd, on his mats, what better atmosphere than to garner a win over Baldwin, Diaz, Wehner or depending on seeding, all three?
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| 149 |
Emotionally exhausting & mentally taxing, wrestling can be a sport that wears you out more psychologically than it does physically. I truly admire the way these athletes handle high pressure situations and conduct themselves in matters of confidence and self-assurance. This weekend will be a big one for Charlie Stuhl. Not only does he have hellacious competition to get through to win another Augsburg Invitational title, he has hellacious competition just to secure his spot. An All American two seasons ago, he would love to knock off two time All American Mike Conklin. What a win that would be for the Auggie. With that said, he also has to concern himself with teammate Cole Becker. While Stuhl has managed to say one step ahead of him this whole time, we're not talking the step of Big Foot here. We're talking the step of baby's pink-toe. Two of the meetings between Stuhl and Becker have been by one point, including a 5-4 battle in last year's Augsburg Invitational finals.
Both Stuhl & Becker own wins over another Auggie teammate, Lucas Jagodzinski. Stuhl has majored Ethen Doty, who was 4th here last year, as well as 4th at Super Region V. Jagodzinski also has an 8-4 victory over Doty as well.
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| 157 |
Looking very forward to this one. In this bracket we have three returning NCAA D3 All Americans. Clayton McDonough who was 4th last season, Blake Jagodzinske who was 5th & Ryan Smith who was 6th (8th in '23 as well). McDonough and Jagodzinske has both introduced the other's shoulders to the mat, with McDonough sticking Jagodzinske at the 5:53 mark, and Jagodzinske pinning McDonough at the 4:21 mark. Smith for the record, owns a 7-4 decision over McDonough. Jagodzinske has been 3rd & 2nd here the past two seasons.
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| 165 |
As to the rest of the bracket, I think the battle for 3rd place will be a DIII Vs DII showdown. Bryce McDonough is ranked #15 in D3, but Kole Marco is a tough wrestler with 4th & 5th place showings the past two seasons at the Super Region V. We also have Eli Hunt & Chris Stathopoulos in this bracket. Two tough wrestlers in their own respects.
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| 174 |
Two time NCAA D3 All American Seth Goetzinger (7th 7th) is also a two time Augsburg Invitational champion & I'm pretty sure that when this tournament is a said & done thing, he'll be a three time champion. he defeated last year's runner-up Lawson Losee 6-0 in the finals & he defeated teammate Carter Sorenson who has 2nd & 3rd place finishes 6-2. Among the three returning place-winners, it'll be interesting to see where Harrison Hinojosa ends up.
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| 184 |
Augsburg picked up a huge transfer from Ursinus in freshman sensation Max Borton who took 8th place honors at the NCAA D3 championships last season. Wearing his new colors, for his new school, at his new school, he'll have an opportunity to win his first title of the season for his new school. Easier said than done though. Hot on his trail will be Joel Martsinovsky, who finished one match shy of NCAA D3 All American honors last season. While Borton & Martsinovsky look to battle it out within D3, it could be D2's Colter Bye who steals the show. An NCAA D2 All American in 2023, he barely missed out on qualification last year when he finished 4th at Super Region V. He's looking to reclaim his status, and one or possibly two victories over two of D3's best would look mighty good on the resume.
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| 197 |
7th place NCAA DI All American Parker Venz on paper looks to walk away with the Augsburg Invitational this weekend with relative ease. However, teammate Tyler Raway could give him a run for his money. The last time the two met, Venz did pin Raway at the 1:19 mark, but Raway does own a 6-3 decision over Venz. For the record, Raway was a runner-up here last season.
As to our D2 competition in this bracket, I'm anxious to see how Geoff Freeman measures up. A two time NJCAA R12'er, I called him one of the best junior college wrestlers in recent times to not All American. I think he's capable of some big things the next two seasons. We could see some of those big things this weekend.
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| HWT |
Being behind an NCAA D3 champion in the lineup, Jagger Schack was overshadowed last year, as most of the wrestling community was focused on Tyler Kim. Now that Kim has graduated (or ran out of eligibility, better put) Schack has the opportunity to showcase that he'll be a great one for the Auggies too. In fact, in many ways he already has. He owns a 3-2 tiebreaker over All American Walter West (why he's not ranked at the moment, I don't know. He's on the '24-'25 Luther roster.) It also puzzles me as to why Quick often Medical Forfeits to West whenever they are to meet on the mat. Quick, who finished 4th here a year ago to West's 3rd, does own a 3-1 decision over his teammate.
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