Saint John's returns to action with a 4:30 p.m. dual at Augsburg Saturday, Jan. 26, at Si Melby Hall in Minneapolis. – Live Video
A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: The Johnnies are coming off a restful weekend after going 4-0 at the Concordia (Wis.) Duals Jan. 12. The Johnnies racked up a total of 34 wins out of the 40 matches wrestled during the four dual meets. The Johnnies started the day with a 30-11 win over Wisconsin-Oshkosh before rattling off sure-handed wins against Lakeland of Wisconsin (34-7), host Concordia (42-4) and Wisconsin-Eau Claire (46-3). Senior Mitch Hagen (7-4 record; Sunburg, Minn./Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg) went 4-0 on the day with a pin of 10th-ranked Matt Rieckhoff (Eau Claire) and three major decisions. Junior Nick Schuler (9-1 record; Roseville, Minn./Totino-Grace) won three matches, via forfeit, major decision and technical fall, but suffered his first loss of the season to Oshkosh's Nazar Kulchytskyy, who is ranked second nationally at 165 pounds and won the national championship last season at 157. Senior Chris Stevermer (Savage, Minn./Prior Lake) collected three more wins at 157 pounds to move to 9-3 on the year. Sophomore Ryan Michaelis (7-2 record; Monticello, Minn.) went 4-0 at 197 pounds. Freshman Josh Willaert (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson) improved to 11-2 with a perfect 4-0 record at 174 pounds Saturday. Classmate Ben Henle (10-3 record; Spicer, Minn./New London-Spicer), meanwhile, went 2-0 at 133. Freshman Sammy Roundtree (Southport, N.C./South Brunswick) posted a 3-0 record in his Johnnie debut at 125 pounds.
NATIONAL RANKINGS: For the first time since the 2007-08 season, the Johnnies fell out of the latest National Wrestling Coaches' Association (NWCA) Division III team rankings released Jan. 16. Hagen was ranked fourth by D3wrestle.com (Jan. 16) and moved up to fourth in the NWCA list at 184 pounds. Stevermer fell out of D3wrestle.com's top 10 at 157 pounds and is listed as a “contender.” Schuler was also listed as a “contender” at 165 pounds, while Michaelis (7-2 record) was honorable mention at 197.
A LOOK AT THE AUGGIES: The Auggies (3-3 dual record) are currently ranked No. 7 by the NWCA and have four wrestlers individually ranked. Sophomore Mike Fuenffinger is currently ranked sixth at 125 pounds and boasts a 19-2 record. Junior Will Keeter is No. 5 with a 4-2 record at 149 pounds, while juniors Tom Teigen (2-2 record) is No. 5 at 165 pounds. Junior Chad Johnson is currently the top-ranked heavyweight in the country with a 20-1 record. The Auggies are coming off a loss to Augustana (S.D.), ranked No. 19 in Division II, 23-13 on Jan. 20.
LAST YEAR: The Johnnies fell to the Auggies with a score of 23-16 last Jan. 28 in Minneapolis. The Johnnies split the individual matches with the Auggies but could not overcome the four bonus-point wins that the Auggies recorded at 125, 141, 149 and 285 pounds. Augsburg got out to a fast start, winning four of the first five matches to go up 17-3. SJU brought its deficit to one (17-16) with four straight wins before the Auggies' Chad Johnson earned a pin at heavyweight.
SERIES HISTORY: The Johnnies have dropped each of their last three meetings to Augsburg by a combined 12 points (19-15 in 2009-10 and 20-19 in 2010-11) since they tallied the 18-13 upset win on Nov. 26, 2008, in Minneapolis. The victory snapped a 22-match losing streak to Augsburg, as well as the Auggies' 70-match winning streak over Minnesota Division II and III opponents (since 1996) and their streak of 92 consecutive wins over Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foes (since the 1986-87 season).
