KEARNEY, Neb. – The Augustana wrestling team earned 13 placements, including five in the Elite Division, on Saturday at the Younes Hospitality Open. The Vikings also had a pair of unattached champions in the Intermediate Division. 

In the Elite bracket, Nolan Ambrose placed third to pace the Viking finishers. Ambrose opened his day with a pin over Corbin Reisz of Nebraska Kearney and followed it with a win over Angel Flores of Adams State. In the next round, he earned a DI victory over Trason Oehme of Air Force to reach the semifinals. After dropping another DI match, Ambrose closed his day with a no contest over Conlan Carlson of SDSU and decision over Brady Collins of Nebraska-Kearney to earn third place. 

At 184 pounds, Josh Wagener earned a first period pin over Andrew Zarate of New Mexico Highlands and a 10-8 decision over No. 17 Brady Westall of Northern State to begin his day. After a 10-3 decision over Sam Bruss of UMary, he dropped a semifinal match to No. 16 Kaden Hart of Nebraska-Kearney. A forfeit victory moved him into the third place match where a narrow decision went against him on his way to fourth place. 


At 157 pounds, Cael Larson made his debut at his new weight class. He earned a major decision to start and then collected a takedown to cap a sudden victory over Dez Garterell of Nebraska. He went on to lose a pair of decisions to DI opponents and another to No. 8 Kaden Renner of UMary to close out his sixth place performance. 

Coy Gunderson opened the 174 pound bracket with a 15-0 second period tech fall over Chris Mapp of Newman. He followed it with another shutout, this time 16-0 in just a period over Henry Reilly of Nebraska-Kearney. His day ended in his next match, losing by decision before a pair of forfeits saw him place sixth. 

285-pounder Max Balow also saw a strong start to his day, knocking off Colorado Mesa's Tyler Doyle by sudden victory and then a win over Adam Ahrendsen of Northern Iowa, by 7-2 decision. He went on to lose his final two matches, securing his spot in sixth place. 

For full results, click HERE

The Vikings continue dual season in two weeks, taking on Northern State in Aberdeen on Dec. 4 at 7 p.m.