ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – With the two seniors in the lineup coming up big on a day when they were honored, the 26^th ranked Augustana Vikings rolled over the University of Chicago 41-3 in non-conference wrestling action on Saturday, February 8 in the Carver Center. Head coach Eric Juergens' team rebounded well from a 29-17 defeat at the hands of Elmhurst on Thursday night and the Vikings are now 11-5 on the season.
 
The two seniors on the Augustana roster: Hunter Feraco (Gull Lake HS, Battle Creek, Mich.) and Abe Duran (East Aurora HS, Aurora, Ill.) put the exclamation point on the team's victory with wins in the final two weight classes. The Vikings held a 32-3 lead by the time Feraco hit the mat for the 197 pound match. He upped his season record to 24-17 with an 8-4 win over Preston Werth. Duran took the mat next for the 285 pound bout and he pinned Jeffrey Tyberski at 5:25 to move to 10-7 on the year.
 
Augustana lost just once on the day and that came at 165 pounds when David Tessiatore (Downers Grove North HS, Downers Grove, Ill.) gave up a takedown late against Paul Papoutsis and fell 4-3.
 
Other than that, the day belonged to Juergens' Vikings.
 
Sophomore Jimmy Panozzo (Carl Sandburg HS, Orland Park, Ill.) moved to 21-10 with a forfeit victory at 125 pounds. Freshman Sean McMahon (Andrew HS, Tinley Park, Ill.) continued his late season surge with a 3-1 win over Adam Wyeth at 133 pounds to push is record to 15-13.
 
Isaiah Schaub (St. Francis HS, Traverse City, Mich.) survived a tough battle with Charlie Banaszak, who came into the match with a 22-7 record, at 141 pounds. Schaub beat Banaszak 6-4 to move his record to a team-leading 34-9.
 
Junior Hector Ruiz (East Aurora HS, Aurora, Ill.) beat Jacob Smith 7-2 at 149 and is now 21-15 while junior Kevin Sundberg (Paw Paw HS, Paw Paw, Mich.) manhandled Michael McNulty at 157 pounds. Sundberg was ahead 17-0 when the match was stopped on a technical fall at 6:10. He is now 26-12 this year.
 
After Tessiatore dropped his tight match at 165, junior Jordan Richardson (Grandville HS, Wyoming, Mich.) pinned Chase Scherer at 3:30 in the 174 pound weight class to go to 19-11. Junior Thomas Reyhons (Davenport Assumption HS, Davenport, Iowa) jumped his mark to 29-8 with a pin at 2:26 in the 184 pound weight class over Samuel Pennisi. After that, Feraco and Duran closed out the dual with wins for the home team.
 
Augustana will close out the dual meet portion of its schedule with a match against Cornell on Thursday, February 13 at 7:00 p.m. in the Carver Center.
 
February 8, 2014 *** Rock Island, Illinois *** Carver PE Center
#26 AUGUSTANA 41, CHICAGO 3
125 – Jimmy Panozzo (A) beat FORFEIT (C) 6-0
133 – Sean McMahon (A) beat Adam Wyeth (C) 3-1
141 – Isaiah Schaub (A) beat Charlie Banaszak (C) 6-4
149 – Hector Ruiz (A) beat Jacob Smith (C) 7-2
157 – Kevin Sundberg (A) won by technical fall (6:10 – 17-0) over Michael McNulty (C)
165 – Paul Papoutsis (C) beat David Tessiatore (A) 4-3
174 – Jordan Richardson (A) pinned Chase Scherer (C) at 3:30
184 – Thomas Reyhons (A) pinned Samuel Pennisi (C) at 2:26
197 – Hunter Feraco (A) beat Preston Werth (C) 8-4
285 – Abe Duran (A) pinned Jeffrey Tyburski (C) at 5:25
 
FINAL SCORE: AUGUSTANA 41, CHICAGO 3
RECORDS: AUGUSTANA 11-5, CHICAGO 3-9