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Augsburg wrestling coach Jeff Swenson to be inducted into NCAA Division III Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame
Augsburg enters this weekend's NCAA Division III national championships as the No. 1-ranked team nationally, with wrestlers in all 10 weight classes slated to compete for individual national crowns. The national tournament will be held Friday and Saturday (3/4-5) at St. Olaf College in Northfield. Augsburg has finished second nationally the last two seasons. The NCAA Division III Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame ceremony will be held on Thursday (3/3) at 6:30 p.m. at The Grand of Northfield. A 1979 Augsburg graduate, Swenson is in his 23rd season as head coach of Augsburg's wrestling team, one of the top small-college wrestling programs in the nation. During his tenure, the Auggies have won a record eight NCAA Division III national championships, the most in Division III history and just one of seven teams among all NCAA divisions to win at least six national championships. Augsburg has also finished second six times since 1990, in the top four nationally the last 16 seasons in a row and in the top 20 nationally (NCAA from 1983 to present, NAIA pre-1983) every year since 1971. Swenson's collegiate dual-meet coaching record of 302-40 is among the best of active coaches in the nation. During his tenure as Augsburg’s head coach (1980-84, 1986-present), Swenson has coached 133 All-Americans and 32 individual national champions, earning National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III National Coach of the Year honors five times (1983, 1991, 1995, 1998, 2000). Under his commitment to academic as well as athletic success, Swenson’s Auggies have earned a national-record 81 NWCA Scholar All-America honors, as well as earning the academic national team championship in 1999 (second in 1998 and 2000, third in 2002 and 2004, fourth in 2001). No other school has finished in the top 10 both academically and on the mat in the seven seasons of the NWCA's academic national rankings. He is one of a handful of wrestling coaches in the nation to win at least 300 matches as a coach and 100 as a college wrestler. He was a three-time All-American and an NAIA national champion at 167 pounds in 1979, finishing his collegiate career with a 102-17 competitive record. He earned Augsburg's Senior Honor Athlete Award in 1979 and was inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999. In addition to his wrestling coaching duties at Augsburg, Swenson also serves as Augsburg’s Assistant Dean for Athletics and Recreation. In this role, he supervises the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic departments, the athletic facilities department, and the college's intramural athletic program. Swenson earned Augsburg degrees in health and physical education in 1979, and earned a master's degree in health from the University of Minnesota in 1982. To return to Augsburg Wrestling, click here To return to Augsburg Athletics, click here Augsburg College, a college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, is a member of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III. This is the official web site for Augsburg
College athletics. |
MINNEAPOLIS
(3/1/05) -- Augsburg College wrestling head coach Jeff Swenson will be inducted into the NCAA Division III Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame in a ceremony on Thursday night in Northfield, Minn., site of this weekend's Division III wrestling national tournament.