Augustana captures three titles at Dragon Open

MOORHEAD, Minn. - Augustana's Carl Serck, Parker Swanson and Kale Merrell all picked up titles Saturday at the Dragon Open hosted by Minnesota State Moorhead. Serck captured the crown at 174 pounds in the Red Division, while Swanson and Merrell were champions in the White Division at 149 and 157 pounds, respectively.

The Vikings had a total of 11 place winners on the day.

Serck went 3-0 en route to his title; he topped Augsburg's Brandon Bahr in 15-2 major decision in the championship match.

Swanson's 4-0 performance was good enough to earn him a first-place finish. He took a 16-4 major decision from Concordia's (Moorhead) Jacob Long in the title bout.

Merrell also compiled a 4-0 campaign to win his weight class. He pinned Dickinson State's Jake Sherbrune in 4:36 to secure his crown.

Augustana also had a trio of runner-up finishers--all in the Red Division. Marcus Edgington earned a second-place medal at 157 pounds, Tom Davies was second at 184 pounds and Mike Roberts was a runner-up in the heavyweight class.

TJ North (125 pounds, Red Division), Austin Carmichael (157 pounds, Red Division) and Gavin Nelson (165 pounds, Red Division) all picked up third-place honors.

Sean Derry (Red Division) and Bradyn Neises (White Division) placed fourth at 174 and 165 pounds, respectively.

Augustana returns to action on Thursday, traveling to Northwestern (Iowa) to continue dual competition.