Augsburg leads DIII at Citrus Invite

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — With six wrestlers alive for championships in a competitive field, Augsburg sits in second place after the first day of the Citrus Invitational.

Augsburg is in second place with 92.5 points, just 1.5 points behind leader Upper Iowa. The 16-team tournament features four teams ranked in the top 25 in the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III national rankings — No. 7 Augsburg, No. 6 Saint John’s (Minn.), No. 5 Cornell (Iowa) and No. 24 Mount Union. Six other NCAA Division III programs are also in the field, along with three NCAA Division II programs — including No. 2 Upper Iowa — and three club programs.

Six Auggies remain alive in championship brackets entering Friday’s second day of action, including Tony Valek, the top-ranked DIII wrestler nationally at 149 pounds. Valek improved to 16-0 on the season with three bonus-point wins on Thursday – two pins and a major decision. So far this season, 14 of Valek’s 16 wins have been bonus-point victories.

At 141, Will Keeter and Jake Saatzer each won three matches to remain alive entering Friday’s semifinals. Saatzer won all three matches by pin, while Keeter, ranked No. 6 nationally at 141, outscored his opponents by a 38-2 margin with a technical fall and a major-decision triumph among his three wins.

Chad Johnson, ranked No. 2 nationally at heavyweight, had a first-period pin and a major-decision among his three victories, while improving to 14-1 on the season.

Brad Baus, ranked No. 6 nationally at 197, had two first-period pins and a 16-0, technical fall among his three wins on Thursday.

Boyd Suparat improved to 12-4 on the season with two technical falls and a major decision among his three wins.

Auggies still alive in consolation brackets: Chad Bartschenfeld at 125, Tom Kuehn at 133, Zach Enrico at 157,  Orlando Ponce and Noel Sweeney at 165, Josh Kohler and Justin Bowland at 174 and Alex Krautkremer and Joshua Vaughn at 184.