WAVERLY, Iowa - The No. 1-ranked Wartburg wrestling team earned a 19-14 comeback victory over No. 2 Augsburg University Thursday evening at Levick Arena in the Annual "Battle of the Burgs" dual match.
Down 14-3 after the fifth bout, the Orange & Black closed out second half with victories, capped off by a
Brady Fritz 3-2 decision over the Auggies' David Flynn to seal the five-point triumph.
"I wanted the guys to understand that the score doesn't mean anything at that point," said head coach
Eric Keller regarding his message to the team during the intermission following an Augsburg win at 184 lbs. "The only thing that mattered was the very next match. A lot of times these duals are back-and forth which carries its own emotions, but to be in that type of deficit and come back the way we did, that was special."
Trailing by nine points, five-straight wins by
Kobe Woods,
Jordon Brandon,
Brady Kyner,
Kris Rumph, and Fritz guided the Knights to victory. A 12-4 major decision from Kyner put Wartburg in just a one-point deficit at 14-13 prior to Rumph and Fritz decisions.
No. 1 Wartburg 19, No. 3 Augsburg 14
149 -- #3 Aaron Wilson (AUG) over
Nick Meling (WAR) DEC 8-3
157 -- #2 Ryan Epps (AUG) over
Martine Sandoval (WAR) TF 15-0
165 -- #6
Max Forsyth (WAR) over Moses Madimba (AUG) DEC 1-0
174 -- #5 Solomon Nielsen (AUG) over
Paul Calo (WAR) DEC 6-2
184 -- #1 Tanner Vassar (AUG) over #2
Kyle Briggs (WAR) DEC 3-1
197 -- #4
Kobe Woods (WAR) over Wyatt Richardson (AUG) DEC 8-2
HWT -- #9
Jordon Brandon (WAR) over Tyler Kim (AUG) DEC 3-2
125 -- #8
Brady Kyner (WAR) over Justin Stauffacher (AUG) MD 12-4
133 -- #1
Kris Rumph (WAR) over #2 Victor Gliva (AUG) DEC 8-6
141 -- #4
Brady Fritz (WAR) over #5 David Flynn (AUG) DEC 3-2
*Match started at 149
Up Next
Wartburg, now 16-0 overall, hosts American Rivers Conference rival Loras College next Friday, Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. inside Levick Arena to conclude regular season action.
