HOMETOWN HERO — Augsburg’s Blake Jagodzinske (top) pins his opponent during regular-season college wrestling action. Jagodzinske earned NCAA Division III All-American honors by placing fifth at 157 pounds during Saturday’s national meet in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Jagodzinske also helped Augsburg win the national team crown, and won the NCAA’s Elite 90 Award for academics. (Photo courtesy of the sports information department at Augsburg)

FAIRMONT — Augustana Vikings junior Jaxson Rohman and Augsburg Eagles junior Blake Jagodzinske both etched their names into the NCAA wrestling record books as All-Americans on Saturday.

Rohman captured Division II national runner-up accolades at 125 pounds for the second consecutive year, while Jagodzinske claimed a fifth-place medal in the 157-pound bracket of the Division III national meet.

Jagodzinske also earned more elite honors by contributing points to Augsburg’s down-to-the-wire 95-87.5 margin of victory over Wartburg College to claim its second consecutive Division III national team crown in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

“I feel the national championship means a lot more to me personally this year because I had the chance to earn points while competing on the mat for my school,” said Jagodzinske.

But the former Martin County Red Bull standout’s accolades did not end there as Jagodzinske became only the third Augsburg grappler to capture the annual Elite 90 Award.

“Going into nationals, I knew I had a chance to win the award,” said Jagodzinske, who carries a perfect 4.0 GPA while majoring in finance and accounting at the Minneapolis-based university. “I was a bit nervous as it came down to a tie, but I won it since my total amount of credit hours taken was more than my competition’s.”

The Elite 90 is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA’s 90 championships.

“Our family appreciates the opportunities that athletics provide, but getting an education and putting your academics to good use is the most important aspect of college,” said Mark Jagodzinske, Blake’s father.

Blake Jagodzinske did exactly that on the canvas by ‘schooling’ his first three 157-pound opponents on Friday to earn a spot in the Day 2 rounds and a place on the medals podium on Saturday.

“I prepared for the individual portion of the tournament like I always do — knowing everyone competing would be good, so I knew I had to wrestle to the best of my abilities,” said Blake Jagozinske. “My goal was to get off the mat as quickly as possible and advance to the next match.”

After generating three wins in a row on Friday, Jagodzinske displayed his mettle by rebounding from a loss in the championship semifinals on Saturday to garner fifth-place honors and All-American status during his national meet debut.

No. 1-seeded Nolan Hertel of Wisconsin-La Crosse posted an 11-3 victory over the No. 5-seeded Jagodzinske in their Saturday morning bout at 157 in the Division III competition at the La Crosse Center in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

Jagodzinske battled to trail only 3-1 after the first period of his semifinal clash with Hertel and 7-1 after two segments in the books. Hertel notched a pivotal third-period takedown to put the match out of Jagodzinske’s reach.

After losing a 12-3 semifinal wrestleback bout to Luther’s Clayton McDonough, Jagodzinske refocused to earn an 8-5 decision over Ryan Smith of Stevens to pocket the 157-pound fifth-place medal.

Jagodzinske notched the only takedown of his opening frame to build a 3-0 lead over Smith. Smith netted a two-point near-fall during the second segment from the ‘up’ position only to have Jagodzinske escape and take him to the canvas for a 7-2 lead at the 1:02 juncture.

Jagodzinske allowed a third-period takedown, but gained one point back by earning riding time throughout the match for an 8-5 victory.

Jagodzinske closed out his junior collegiate wrestling season with a 20-8 overall record and Division III national honors.

“When I had the chance, I was trying to follow his (Rohman’s) tournament,” said Jagodzinske. “I knew he had reached the championship match again, but didn’t find out how he did until later.

“It’s super cool that he was able to capture second place at the nationals again.”

The No. 4-seeded Rohman utilized his stellar conditioning and stamina to outlast No. 1-seeded James Joplin of Lander by a 6-5 overtime decision in Saturday’s 125-pound national semifinals at Hartman Arena in Wichita, Kansas.

Rohman and Joplin battled to a 4-all score after their opening period. The Vikings’ standout recorded the match’s initial takedown for a 3-0 lead before Joplin countered with an escape and ensuing takedown with 23 seconds remaining in the first frame.

Rohman, however, displayed his resiliency by escaping Joplin’s grasp with 4 seconds showing on the scoreboard to knot the score at 4-4.

Joplin claimed the only point of the second segment with an escape before Rohman countered in the third frame by earning a penalty point via a stalling infraction on his Lander opponent.

The hard-charging Rohman set the tempo during the overtime and collected the match-winning point via another stalling call on Joplin at the 58-second juncture.

“I’m thankful that I placed second, but obviously my goal coming into the nationals was to win the title,” said Rohman, who helped Augustana’s six-wrestler crew place eighth in the Division II national team standings. “Overall, I’m happy with the season, but it’s tough to think that I beat the No. 1-ranked guys two years in a row during the semifinals and then fall short in the finals.

“I can’t dwell on the losses though. I just need to keep moving forward and focus on what’s next down the line.”

The Augustana University junior then squared off against No. 3-seeded Christian Mejia of McKendree College in the 125-pound gold-medal match on Saturday night.

The two battled to a scoreless opening period before Mejia converted a second-period escape into a takedown to grab a 4-0 lead over Rohman.

Rohman halved his deficit by netting an escape and receiving a penalty point via a Mejia stalling infraction.

Mejia earned an extra point by riding out Rohman during the third period to win the Division II national championship via a 5-2 decision.

Rohman closed out his second straight national runner-up showing with an overall record of 22-5 and All-American accolades in back-to-back style.

“I need to work on my bottom game and figure out a way to put two or three moves together to get away,” said Rohman. “It’s difficult to get an escape at the college level because of riding time.

“Unlike high school, you don’t have to work toward a move, but can just stay on top and prevent you from getting up.

“Now I have a year to grow and get better, and get the job done next year.”