Louisville, Ky. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse wrestling team placed fourth at the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA)/Marine Corps Multi-Divisional Duals Saturday at the Kentucky Expo Center. The duals are presented by ARMS, Defense Soap, & Capital Construction. 

UWL, third in the NWCA Dual Rankings, fell 23-13 to third-ranked Augsburg University (Minn.) in the semifinals and 27-9 to top-ranked Wartburg College (Iowa) in the third-place match. The Eagles are now 10-2 on the season.

UWL has finished at least fifth in eight of the last 12 NWCA Multi-Divisional National Duals. The Eagles captured their first national duals title last season with a 31-9 win over Wabash College (Ind.) in the championship match. UWL was second in 2011 and third in 2012 while placing fifth in 2010, 2013, 2015, and 2016.

Augsburg (Minn.) took a 10-0 lead in Saturday's semifinals, winning the first three duals. Derek Steele opened with a decision (5-0) over Remington Bontreger at 125-pounds for a 3-0 lead. Cade Willis followed with a sudden victory (5-3) over Cael Weinzweig at 133 to make it 6-0 and Sam Stuhl's major decision (9-1) over Sam Lorenz at 141 gave the Auggies the 10-0 lead. 

UWL responded with four straight victories to take a 13-10 lead. Tyler Goebel won by decision (9-8) over Charlie Stuhl at 149-pounds get UWL on the scoreboard. Nolan Hertel won by major decision (13-0) over Tyler Shilson at 157 and Noah Leisgang won by decision (2-0) over Cooper Willis at 165 to tie the dual, 10-10. Seth Brossard gave the Eagles a 13-10 lead with a decision (9-5) over Seth Goetzinger at 174-pounds. 

The Auggies secured the dual win with victories in the final three matches. Bentley Schwanebeck-Osterman gave Augsburg (Minn.) a 14-13 with a major decision victory (12-4) over Kalyn Jahn at 184-pounds. Parker Venz' fall (3:21) over Marcus Orlandoni made 20-13 and Tyler Kim earned a decision (5-2) over Michael Douglas at 285.

Versus Wartburg (Iowa), James Levy gave the Knights a 3-0 lead with a win by decision (7-1) over Brandon Murphy at 125. Joe Pins followed with a technical fall (18-3) over Weinzweig at 133-pounds and Zayren Terukina's major decision (17-6) over Tyler Shackle gave Wartburg (Iowa) a 12-0 lead. 

UWL got on the board at 149-pounds as Parker Kratochvill won by fall (6:49) over Kristian Rumph to cut the lead to 12-6. Wartburg (Iowa) took the next four duals, all coming by decision. David Hollingsworth won by decision (4-3) over Hertel at 157-pounds followed by Nathan Fuller winning by decision (5-3) over Kaleb O'Reilly at 165. Zane Mulder won by decision (6-3) over Brossard at 174-pounds and Jordan Bushey picked up a decision (6-2) over Jahn at 184. 

Ben Kawczynski earned UWL's second dual victory with a win by decision (2-1) over Massoma Endene at 197-pounds. The Knights' Damari Dancy won by decision (4-2) over Douglas at 285. 

UWL returns to action Thursday, January 12 at UW-Whitewater at 7 p.m.