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Augsburg
Athletics 2003-04 Year In Review:
Winter Sports
For
Fall Sports Year in Review -- Click here
For
Spring Sports Year in Review -- Click here
2003-04
Athletic Awards -- Click here
Wrestling | Men's Basketball | Women's
Basketball| Men's Hockey | Women's Hockey | Women's
Swimming |
Indoor
Track and Field -- See Spring Sports Review
Wrestling
Augsburg College finished second for the second year
in a row at the NCAA Division III national tournament, held in March
in Dubuque, Iowa, with an NCAA-record-tying four individual national
champions and a school-record-tying nine All-Americans. It
marked the 16th straight year that Augsburg has had at least five wrestling
All-Americans. Wartburg (Iowa) won the national
title for the second year in a row.
Augsburg's Joe Moon
(Jr., Ellendale, Minn./New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva HS) earned
the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler honors, after he scored a 13-6
upset victory of top-ranked Eduard Aliakseynka of Montclair State
(N.J.) in the 174-pound national title match. Aliakseynka was a four-time
All-American and won the national title in 2001.
Marcus LeVesseur
(So., Minneapolis, Minn./Bloomington Kennedy HS) extended his school-record
winning streak to 84 straight matches, finishing 40-0 on the year with
his second straight national title at 157. Mark Matzek (Jr.,
Ellsworth, Wis.) earned his first national championship at 133 pounds,
and Matt Shankey (Jr., Apple Valley, Minn.) claimed his first
national title at 125.
Jamell Tidwell
(Jr., Richfield, Minn./Bloomington Kennedy HS) finished second at 141
pounds to earn All-American honors. Mark Simmonds (Jr., Minneapolis,
Minn./Edison HS) finished fourth nationally at heavyweight, Dustin
Dahlblom (Fr., Stillwater, Minn.) placed sixth at 149, and Ryan
Valek (So., Belle Plaine, Minn.) and Joe Cullen (Jr., Coon
Rapids, Minn.) placed seventh each, at 165 and 197, respectively.
Augsburg has won a record
eight NCAA Division III wrestling national championships in the last
14 years. Augsburg has had top-two national finishes in 15 of the last
16 years, top-four finishes the last 16 seasons in a row and top-20
national finishes every year since 1971.
For the seventh
year in a row, Augsburg College finished in the top 10 in the National
Wrestling Coaches Association's Scholar All-America team program, finishing
third among more than 100 NCAA Division III wrestling institutions with
a 3.39 team grade-point-average. Earning individual NWCA Scholar All-American
honors were Matzek, Cullen and Valek, along with 165-pounder Kirk
Rall (So., West St. Paul, Minn./Henry Sibley HS).
Augsburg has had 81 NWCA Scholar All-Americans since 1983 -- the most
of any college in any division in the nation -- including 58 in the
last six seasons.
Each
of the past seven years, Augsburg has had a team grade-point-average
of over 3.30, and Augsburg is the only school
in NCAA Division III wrestling to finish in the top 10 both in competition
on the mat and in the academic team competition in each of the seven
years that the NWCA has awarded an academic team national championship.
Men's Basketball
Head coach Brian Ammann's Auggies finished 9-16
overall, 6-14 in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play
this season. This season, Ammann became just the second men's basketball
coach in Augsburg history to eclipse the 200 mark in career victories.
Augsburg started the
season strong, with a 5-3 record in the pre-holiday portion of the schedule.
But the Auggies suffered through a prolonged losing stretch, going 1-12
in the middle portion of the season. However, nine of those 12 losses
were by a dozen points or less. Augsburg closed the season strong, winning
three of its final four games to close the campaign, including a 68-67,
season-ending win over Concordia-Moorhead, a MIAC playoff team.
Lucas Olson-Patterson
(Jr., Minneapolis, Minn./Robbinsdale Cooper HS) earned All-MIAC honorable-mention
recognition. Olson-Patterson, in his first season at Augsburg after
transferring from Iowa Lakes Community College, led the Auggies in scoring
and rebounding, averaging 15.2 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. He
also contributed 33 steals, 19 assists and had seven blocked shots.
Olson-Patterson was
second among Auggie regulars in field-goal percentage, hitting 42.9
percent (132-of-308) from the field, including 33.3 percent (20-of-60)
from beyond the three-point arc. Olson-Patterson scored in double figures
in 20 of his 23 Auggie games this season, while recording six point-rebound
double-doubles.
Women's
Basketball
Augsburg
finished 5-20 overall, 5-17 in the MIAC, considered the toughest conference
in the country in NCAA Division III women's basketball. Of the 20 losses
this season, 11 were by 10 points or less. Augsburg
was hampered by key injuries all season long and a thin roster, finishing
the season with just nine active players. However, the Auggies rallied
to beat Macalester and St. Olaf twice, and also beat playoff contender
St. Catherine 82-81 in overtime.
Augsburg was led this
season by freshman center Selina Theisen (Fr., Circle Pines,
Minn./Centennial HS), who had one of the best seasons of any freshman
in the country this season, leading the Auggies in both scoring and
rebounding, averaging 17.1 points and 10.0 rebounds per contest. Theisen
was third in the MIAC in scoring (16.9 points per game in league games)
and led the league in rebounding (10.4 rebounds per game) as the only
conference player to average a point-rebound double-double. Nationally,
Theisen ranked third among Division III players in field-goal percentage
(61.4 percent overall) and 14th in blocked shots per game (3.0).
Theisen was the only
freshman selected to the 16-player All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic
Conference first team, along with being selected to the conference's
All-Rookie Team. She was also selected to the D3hoops.com All-West Region
third team, as the lone freshman to earn a spot on the squad and one
of only five freshmen to earn a spot among the 116 players selected
to the eight women's basketball All-Region squads nationwide by the
basketball website. Theisen was also named to the Freshman All-American
team by Women's DIII News, a publication that covers NCAA Division III
women's basketball.
Augsburg completed the
2003-04 season under head coach Dave Johnson, who moved to the
collegiate coaching ranks after spending 19 seasons as the girls' basketball
head coach at Hudson (Wis.) High School. However,
Johnson resigned following the season, citing personal issues. Jennifer
Britz, who served as a women's basketball assistant coach at Augsburg
College in the 2003-04 season, has been named the team's new head coach
in May.
Men's Hockey
Augsburg's men's hockey team, coached by Mike Schwartz,
finished 8-13-4 overall and 5-8-3 in the MIAC, finishing in sixth place
in league play.
With one of the youngest
lineups in Schwartz's eight-season tenure at Augsburg, the Auggies struggled
early, starting the season 0-7-1. However, the Auggies gained momentum
in the second half of the season, going 8-6-3, including a six-game
unbeaten stretch in early January, which included sweeps of Marian (Wis.)
and Hamline. Augsburg also claimed a 6-2 win over Division II Minnesota-Crookston
late in the season.
David Nelson
(So., Woodbury, Minn./South St. Paul HS) and Critter Nagurski (Fr.,
International Falls, Minn.) earned All-MIAC honorable-mention recognition.
Nelson, a defender, led the Auggies in scoring this season, with 17
points (eight goals, nine assists), including a team-high four power-play
goals. He ranked fourth in the MIAC in scoring among defensemen, with
five goals and six assists for 11 points in conference games.
Nagurski, one of just
three freshmen to earn a spot on either the All-MIAC first team or honorable-mention
squad (36 players), ranked fourth on the team in scoring, with 12 points
(five goals, seven assists) in 22 games, missing three games late in
the season due to an injury. Nagurski was fifth-best among MIAC freshmen
in scoring, with four goals and six assists for 10 points in league
games.
Women's
Hockey
Augsburg's women's hockey team, under ninth-year head
coach Jill Pohtilla, finished 15-10-2 overall, 10-6-2 in MIAC
play. The Auggies earned a spot in the MIAC's postseason playoffs for
the second season in a row.
The Auggies shined late
in the season, with an eight-game unbeaten streak (6-0-2), including
taking three of four points (a win and tie) against league regular-season
champion St. Thomas in the final series of the regular season. Augsburg
went 9-2-2 in its final 13 games, ending the season with a 6-5, double-overtime
loss to St. Thomas in the MIAC playoff semifinals, a game played in
a conference-record 96:09.
Annie Annunziato
(Sr., Commack, N.Y.) was named to the Division III JOFA All-American
West Region team by the American Hockey Coaches Association. Annunziato
led the Auggies this season in all scoring categories, with 17 goals
and 19 assists for 36 points, including seven power-play goals. She
had at least one point in 21 of Augsburg's 27 games this season.
Annunziato, who transferred
to Augsburg from Manhattanville (N.Y.) last year, finished with 153
career points (62 goals, 91 assists) in 104 career games. At Augsburg,
she finished with 90 points (40 goals, 50 assists) in 53 games over
two seasons, the third-highest total in each category in school history.
Annunziato joined Lauren
Chezick (Jr., Hastings, Minn.) and Melynda Kleewein (Jr.,
Anchorage, Alaska/Dimond HS) on the All-MIAC first team, with teammate
Stacy Anderson (Fr., Huntington Beach, Calif./Marina HS) earning
honorable-mention and All-Rookie Team recognition. Chezick, last year's
MIAC Player of the Year, earned All-MIAC honors for the third straight
season.
Chezick tied for second
on the team in scoring, with 34 points (15 goals, 19 assists), 34th-best
nationally, including five power-play tallies. Chezick ranked third
in the MIAC in scoring in conference games, with 29 points (12 goals,
17 assists). With a season to play in her career, Chezick is closing
in on Augsburg's all-time scoring records. With 113 career points, she
is just seven points away from equaling the school's all-time point
record of 120, set by Angie Rieger from 1997-2001. Chezick already holds
the school's career assists record with 66, and she is currently second
in career goals with 47, behind Rieger's school record of 68.
Kleewein, one of six
defenders to earn a spot on the All-MIAC team, finished with 14 points
(one goal, 13 assists), her assist and points total tops among the team's
defenders. Anderson finished tied for second on the team in scoring
with 34 points (sixteen goals, 18 assists), including four power-play
goals. Her 22 points (10 goals, 12 assists) in league play ranked 13th
in the MIAC, fourth-best among conference freshmen.
Ten members of Augsburg's
women's hockey team also embarked upon a unique mid-season trip, as
the team travelled to Italy for three games during the holiday break.
Augsburg won all three of its games in northern Italy and Austria, outscoring
its opponents by a 26-2 margin.
Women's
Swimming
Augsburg's newest varsity sport -- its 18th overall
and ninth for women -- was women's swimming, competed for the first
time in 2003-04 under new head coach Charlie King. Augsburg
competed with just four swimmers -- all freshmen -- for most of the
season, and finished 11th in its first appearance at the MIAC championships
in February.
Kasi Clauson
(Fr., Kansas, Okla./Cookson Hills Christian HS) was Augsburg's top swimmer
in 2003-04, recording the best times for the Auggies in most meets.
At the MIAC meet, she had two top-16 finishes in B-finals, finishing
13th in the 400-yard individual medley and 14th in the 100-yard breaststroke.
She also finished 20th in the women's 200-yard butterfly (2:32.28).
Augsburg's other three
swimmers -- Lindsey Persons (Fr., Wayzata, Minn./Orono HS), Beke
Shroyer (Fr., Monticello, Minn./St. John's Prep HS) and Rachel
Forsberg (Fr., Monticello, Minn.) -- also peaked at the final meet,
recording personal-best times in 13 of their 15 races entered.
For
Fall Sports Year in Review -- Click here
For
Spring Sports Year in Review -- Click here
2003-04
Athletic Awards -- 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.
All comments or questions regarding this web site should be directed
to Sports Information Coordinator Don Stoner -- E-mail: stoner@augsburg.edu
Phone: (612) 330-1677.
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