LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A return trip to the finals of the National Wrestling Coaches Association National Duals will not be in the cards this year for the Johnson & Wales University wrestling team. The No. 8 Wildcats started Friday's action with a victory, but couldn't take down the defending national champions.

The Wildcats started the day by topping eighth-ranked Wisconsin-La Crosse, 24-16. Unfortunately, the Wildcats couldn't upset #1 Augsburg as they fell 27-14 to the Auggies.

JWU relied on the pin to defeat the Eagles. With the Wildcats trailing 7-3 after three bouts, eighth-ranked Da'mani Burns pinned Tyler Shackle in 2:19 to give JWU the lead. Two matches later, it was Christian Murphy's turn as he only needed 2:21 to pin Nick Fetzner.

Nick Munsch picked up a 9-7 win at 184 pounds to give JWU an 18-13 lead. Wisconsin-La Crosse won at 197 pounds, but senior Michael DiNardo, ranked sixth at 285 pounds, secured the team victory when he pinned Adam Gusky.

Johnson & Wales had an early 6-3 lead over Augsburg thanks to wins from Christopher Caban at 125 pounds and Jordan Robinson's overtime triumph at 141 pounds. Unfortunately, the Aggies won the next five bouts before Giovanni Santiago got a pin in just 47 seconds into 197 pounds and DiNardo ended the day with a 2-1 victory at 285 pounds

The Wildcats are back in action Saturday at 9 a.m. in the quarterfinals of the consolation bracket against #19 Wisconsin-Whitewater.

#8 Johnson & Wales 24, #9 UW-La Crosse 16                                                             JWU-UWLC
125       Tristan Jenny (UWLC) over Christopher Caban (JWU) Major 15-3                        0-4
133       Hayden Brown (JWU) over Josh Stenger (UWLC) Decision 9-3                            3-4
141       Hayden Schlough (UWLC) over #9 Gabe McDaniel (JWU) Decision 10-4           3-7
149       #8 Da'mani Burns (JWU) over Tyler Shackle (UWLC) Fall 2:19                            9-7
157       #3 Grant Zamin (UWLC) over Darius Joyce (JWU) Decision 9-2                           9-10
165       Christian Murphy (JWU) over Nick Fetzner (UWLC) Fall 2:21                               15-10
174       Mitchell Hertel (UWLC) over Cam Altobelli (JWU) Decision 9-3                      15-13
184       Nick Munsch (JWU) over Connor Williams (UWLC) Decision 9-7                          18-13
197       Isaac Lahr (UWLC) over Tommy Wrzesien (JWU) Decision 3-1                            18-16
285       #6 Michael DiNardo (JWU) over Adam Gusky (UWLC) Fall 1:22                           24-16
Dual Meet Score                                                                                                          24-16

#1 Augsburg 27, #8 Johnson & Wales 14                                                                    JWU-AC
125       Christopher Caban (JWU) over Justin Stauffacher (AC) Dec 5-2                           3-0
133       #2 Victor Gliva (AC) over Hayden Brown (JWU) Dec 6-0                                      3-3
141       Jordan Robinson (JWU) over David Flynn (AC) TB-1 4-3                                     6-3
149       #9 Aaron Wilson (AC) over Kyle Althenn (JWU) TF 17-0                                      6-8
157       Ryan Epps (AC) over Da'mani Burns (JWU) Fall 5:16                                          6-14
165       Lucas Jeske (AC) over Christian Murphy (JWU) Maj 17-4                                    6-18
174       #9 Solomon Nielsen (AC) over Cam Altobelli (JWU) Dec 15-9                        6-21
184       #3 Tanner Vassar (AC) over Nick Munsch (JWU) Fall 4:49                            6-27
197       Giovanni Santiago (JWU) over Lance Benick (AC) Fall 0:47                                 12-27
285       Michael DiNardo (JWU) over Tyler Kim (AC) Dec 2-1                                           15-27
JWU Unsportsmanlike Conduct                                                                                      -1.0
Dual Meet Score                                                                                                          14-27