Augsburg College will honor longtime coach and instructor Edor Nelson by re-dedicating the outdoor athletic field in his honor.

A ceremony to dedicate the field as Edor Nelson Field will be held during the Augsburg football team's home-opener against St. John's University on Saturday, Sept. 22. Game time for the season-opener has not been set.

In 1984, the College named the outdoor athletic field as Anderson-Nelson Field, in honor of Nelson and longtime athletic director and men's basketball coach Ernie Anderson. In February, the College dedicated the court in Melby Hall in Anderson's honor.

Nelson earned Augsburg Hall of Fame honors as both a student-athlete and coach at Augsburg. As an athlete, he was a multi-sport star in football, basketball, and baseball, graduating in 1939. After serving his country in World War II—including six months of imprisonment in a German prison camp—he returned to this country, earning his master's degree from the University of Minnesota in 1947.

He coached for three years in Lamberton, Minn., and returned to Augsburg in 1946, when he was named baseball coach. He was named football coach in 1947, and also served the College as hockey and wrestling coach at times in the 1950s.

Nelson coached football for 23 years (1947-69), finishing with a 58-118-10 coaching record, the most coaching wins in school history. He was inducted into the Minnesota Football Hall of Fame in 1973. He coached baseball for 33 seasons (1946-79), earning MIAC titles seven times (1947, ’48, ’59, ’61, ’63, ’73 and ’75) and earning conference coach of the year honors in 1975.

Nelson was an associate professor in Augsburg's health and physical education department for 32 years, retiring in 1978.

More information on the Sept. 22 event will be sent to A-Club members during the summer, as well as being placed on Augsburg's athletic Web site. For more information on the dedication event, contact Norm Okerstrom at 612-330-1616.

Augsburg wins record seventh national title

With one of the most dominant performances in collegiate wrestling history, the Augsburg College wrestling team won its second consecutive national championship and seventh title in the past 11 years to highlight the 2000-01 sports year for the Auggies.

The wrestlers had three individual national championships and eight All-Americans. Their 119.5 points was the sixth-largest total in Division III history. Defending national champion senior Ben Bauer became the fifth Auggie in school history to earn consecutive national titles.

Senior Nik Lewandowski, who became the fourth Auggie ever to earn four All American honors, claimed the first national championship of his career with a dramatic 7-5 overtime victory in the 184-pound final. And, two-time national runner-up Darin Bertram earned his first national championship.

Defending national champion Nick Slack saw his unbeaten streak end in the 174-pound championship match and finished his season at 29-1, notching a two-season, consecutive-match winning streak of 60--the second-longest in school history. The team finished the dual season at 16-1 and won the MIAC title for a record 15th consecutive year, defeating perennial Division II powers North Dakota State and South Dakota State in the dual season.

The wrestlers also excelled in the classroom, earning a 3.372 GPA with its distinction of being the fourth highest in national Division III.

Don Stoner is sports information coordinator.

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