News Archives - 2007

Under head coach Jeff Swenson, the Augsburg College wrestling team is aiming for its 10th NCAA Division III national championship. The national tournament will be held Friday-Saturday, March 2-3, at the Five Flags Center in Dubuque, Iowa.

On Feb. 17, the Auggies qualified individuals in all 10 weight classes to the national tournament and won nine individual titles at the Great Lakes Regional in Elmhurst, Ill. In winning the regional for the fifth straight year, Auggie wrestlers won 35 of their 36 individual bouts, collecting four pins, six technical falls and eight major decisions.

The Auggies are currently ranked No. 2 in the latest NCAA Division III national rankings by the National Wrestling Coaches Association. The Auggies finished third at last year's Division III national championships.

Top-ranked Wartburg College (Iowa), the defending Division III national champions, is the only other school to have qualified all 10 of its wrestlers to
the national championships.

This year, Augsburg started the season ranked No. 1 nationally, with Wartburg No. 2. Augsburg topped Wartburg the first time the teams met in a dual meet, 22-10 on Jan. 14 in the finals of the NWCA Division III National Duals, as Augsburg won the first seven bouts in the dual. But on Feb. 1, the tables were turned, as Wartburg upset Augsburg 19-13 in Minneapolis.

Updates from the national championships will be available on the Augsburg athletic website all weekend long, at www.augsburg.edu/athletics. There will be an update after each of the four sessions of the tournament.

Photo by John Nicholson