Augsburg College - Athletics

Augsburg finishes sixth in wrestling academic national standings; 8 Auggies named NWCA Scholar All-Americans

MINNEAPOLIS (3/10/05) -- For the eighth year in a row, Augsburg College finished in the top 10 in the National Wrestling Coaches Association's Scholar All-America team program, finishing sixth among more than 100 NCAA Division III wrestling institutions with a 3.331 team grade-point-average.

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 eight years that the NWCA has awarded an academic team national championship.

Augsburg won its ninth national championship in the last 15 years at the national tournament, held last weekend at St. Olaf College in Northfield.

Mark Matzek (Sr., Ellsworth, Wis.), the two-time national titlist at 133 pounds, led a group of eight Augsburg wrestlers to earn NWCA Scholar All-American honors. Fellow All-Americans Jared Evans (Jr., Blue Earth, Minn./Blue Earth Area HS), Ryan Valek (Jr., Belle Plaine, Minn.) and Justin Sorensen (Jr., Owatonna, Minn.) also earned Scholar All-American honors. Valek was the national runner-up at 165 pounds, while Evans placed seventh at 149 pounds and Sorensen placed sixth at 197 pounds.

Also earning Scholar All-American honors from Augsburg were Joe Cullen (Sr., Coon Rapids, Minn.) at 197 pounds, Kirk Rall (Jr., West St. Paul, Minn./Henry Sibley HS) at 165, Josh Hansen (So., Albert Lea, Minn.) at 141 and Jeremiah Knabe (Sr., Jackson, Minn./Jackson County Central HS) at heavyweight.

Over the past 22 seasons, Augsburg has produced 89 NWCA Scholar All-Americans, the most of any college in any division in the nation. Augsburg has had at least three Scholar All-Americans every year since 1993, and has had 66 athletes honored since 1997.

In order to qualify for individual Scholar All-America honors, student-athletes must have a 3.2 cumulative GPA or previous-year GPA, be enrolled at the institution for at least one full year, and have specific athletic credentials.

The Milwaukee School of Engineering (Wis.) was the top team academically for the second straight year, with a team GPA of 3.603. The University of Dubuque was second with a 3.418 team GPA. In all, 14 schools had team GPAs of 3.2 or higher.

Fellow Minnesota school St. John's was fifth in the academic team national standings with a 3.334 team GPA. Johnnie wrestlers Charlie Sadder (149 pounds) and Daniel Willaert (184) earned Scholar All-American honors.

Wrestling -- NWCA Division III Scholar All-American Wrestling Team Standings:
1. Milwaukee School of Engineering (Wis.), 3.603 team GPA; 2. Dubuque (Iowa), 3.418; 3. Wesleyan (Conn.), 3.38; 4. Wabash (Ind.), 3.354; 5. St. John's (Minn.), 3.334; 6. Augsburg (Minn.), 3.331; 7t. Chicago (Ill.), 3.305; 7t. Rochester Inst. of Tech. (N.Y.), 3.305; 9. Wisconsin-La Crosse, 3.276; 10. Olivet (Mich.), 3.26; 11. Ursinus (Pa.), 3.256; 12. Washington & Lee (Va.), 3.229; 13. Messiah (Pa.), 3.213; 14. Oneonta State (N.Y.), 3.21; 15. King's (Pa.), 3.189; 16. Wilkes (Pa.), 3.177; 17. Springfield (Mass.), 3.162; 18. Luther (Iowa), 3.156; 19. Loras (Iowa), 3.138; 20. North Central (Ill.), 3.131.

Wrestling -- NWCA Division III Scholar All-American Wrestlers from Minnesota/Wisconsin schools:
125 pounds: Owen Putman, MSOE.
133 pounds: Mark Matzek, Augsburg.
141 pounds: Ryan Forbes, MSOE; Josh Hansen, Augsburg; Nicholas Karls, Wisconsin-Whitewater; Adam Kuchina, Wisconsin-La Crosse.
149 pounds: Jared Evans, Augsburg; Sam Rugg, Concordia-Wisconsin; Charlie Sadder, St. John's.
157 pounds: Ross Needham, Wisconsin-La Crosse.
165 pounds: John Budi, Lawrence; Kirk Rall, Augsburg; Ryan Valek, Augsburg.
174 pounds: Joseph Field, MSOE; Sean Fortman, Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
184 pounds: Nathaniel Lease, Wisconsin-Platteville; Daniel Willaert, St. John's.
197 pounds: Joe Cullen, Augsburg; Justin Sorensen, Augsburg; Tom Venner, Wisconsin-Platteville.
Heavyweight: Mike Hayes, Wisconsin-Stevens Point; Jeremiah Knabe, Augsburg.

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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.