PELLA, Iowa – Augustana went on the road Thursday and split a pair of dual meets at Central College. Coach Tony Willaerts' Vikings, ranked 18th by InterMat, defeated Simpson 27-17 before falling to the 12th-rated host Dutch by a score of 28-12. Now 1-2 on the season, Augustana will take on another ranked foe when number eight Loras visits Carver Center on Thursday, December 7. That 7:30 dual has been designated Military Appreciation Night.
 
AUGUSTANA 27, SIMPSON 17
 
Junior Travis Pulse's (Assumption HS, Milan, Ill.) pin of Jacob Irwin at 125 got the Vikings off on the right foot against the Storm. It took Pulse 2:22 to put Augustana up 6-0.
 
Simpson took an 8-6 lead with wins by John Giofredi and Zach Johnston at 133 and 141, respectively. Gioffredi scored a 17-2 technical fall over freshman Josh Diehl (Oskaloosa HS, Oskaloosa, Iowa) and Johnston defeated senior Brendan Gould (Assumption HS, Davenport, Iowa) 6-0.
 
Junior Dale Charlier's (Cary-Grove HS, Cary, Ill.) 6-4 overtime victory over Blake Bauer at 149 regained the lead for the Vikings and they would maintain it the rest of the way, although not pulling away until the final four weights. Freshman Neil O'Shaughnessy (Niles West HS, Niles, Ill.) scored an 11-7 decision over Dalton Koenig at 157, but R.J. Brown got those points right back for Simpson, defeating senior Nick Torres (Lincoln-Way Central HS, Manhattan, Ill.) 6-0 at 165 to leave the score 12-11 in favor of Augustana.
 
Senior Trace Timmons (Assumption HS, Davenport, Iowa) pinned Kobey Bosworth in 4:53 at 174 and classmate Christos Giatras (Lemont HS, Lemont, Ill.)—ranked second in the nation at 184—defeated Noah Robinson 9-2 to give the Vikings a 21-11 advantage heading to the final two weight classes.
 
DeVaughn Scott's pin of  freshman Andrew Gonzalez (Loyola Academy, Skokie, Ill.) in 1:21 at 197 pulled the Storm within four points (21-17), but sophomore Adarios Jones (Moline HS, Moline, Ill.)—the nation's top-ranked 285-pounder—locked up a 27-17 Viking win by pinning Sam Mathis in 5:49.
 
CENTRAL 28, AUGUSTANA 12
 
The hosts got the better of Augustana 28-12 in the nightcap, which featured not only a pair of ranked teams, but four individuals ranked in the top three in the nation in their respective weight classes.
 
All of the Vikings' points came from Giatras and Jones, both of whom won their matches by fall.
 
Giatras improved to 8-0 on the season by pinning Wayne Sommerlot at 184. Giatras led 4-1 after a scoring a first-period takedown, conceding a escape and being awarded a pair of second-period back points, before recording his fourth win by fall of the year at 4:18.
 
At 285, Jones also recorded his eight win in as many decisions and his fifth pin of the season. It took just 19 seconds for him to record a takedown of Central's Chris Murino and after an escape, he scored another to go up 4-1 in the first minute. Jones then employed a crossface to tally four back points and another to record the fall at 2:31.
 
A pair of ranked wrestlers got the Dutch off to an 11-0 lead. C.J. Pestano, ranked second in the nation at 125, pinned Pulse in 5:29 and the nation's third-ranked 133-pounder, Cam Timok, scored a 16-1 technical fall over Diehl.
 
At 141, Gould's shot attempt in the second period backfired, resulting in a Tristan Clark takedown that ended up being the only scoring in a 2-0 Clark victory.
 
Central won at 149 through 174 as well, eventually going up 25-0 before Giatras' win. Duncan Lee completed the Dutch's scoring with a 4-0 win over sophomore Trystyn Schoonover (Champaign Central HS, Champaign, Ill.) at 197.