Last Friday was a very busy day for Augsburg sports. The athletic department staff had to prepare for two big home events going on at the same time -- a wrestling match against perennial rival Wartburg (Iowa) and a men's hockey game against Concordia-Moorhead. We also had a high school wrestling match in the Si Melby Hall gym, and the wrestling meet had a "major event" feel to it ... a raised stage for the mat, an anticipated huge crowd, our first-ever live video webcast, and a very special event prior to the meet honoring our department's boss, athletic director Jeff Swenson.Jeff was being honored for his quarter-century as Augsburg's wrestling head coach with the unveiling of the "Jeff Swenson Wrestling Wall of Fame" in the Kennedy Center lobby, adjacent to the Alan and Gloria Rice Wrestling Center and the Lute Olson Hall of Champions. Knowing Jeff as I have for the last dozen years, I know that he was very humbled by the event, and given his druthers, he probably didn't want his name attached to the Wall of Fame ... he's a good Lutheran, and we Lutherans don't like attention drawn to ourselves. "Honor the history of the program, not one person," he probably said at first (I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing that was the case).
But I'm glad that Jeff Swenson's name has a place on the Wrestling Wall of Fame, and that it is featured in such a prominent and public place in the athletic complex. Jeff has given nearly all of his adult life to Augsburg College. As a student, coach, alumni director, and now in his role as athletic director, he has lived and breathed this great place. And he has been one of the key elements in developing the success of not only our wrestling program, but now our entire athletic department.
Can you imagine what it was like to be Jeff Swenson back in 1980? Just a year removed from graduating from Augsburg, at the tender age of 22, he's asked by the college to take over the wrestling program that his coach and mentor, John Grygelko, had developed into a major player in the sport at the small-college level. John, or "G" as everyone knows him, has given his blessing to Jeff's taking over the program.
And what a job Jeff did. In 25 years, he took the program that "G" gave him and made it a national powerhouse. Ten national championships ... 39 individual national champs ... 158 All-Americans ... 321 dual-meet wins ... 20 MIAC team titles ... 14 MIAC Team Duals titles ... a reputation of athletic AND academic excellence ... and other records too numerous to count. And then, in 2007, after leading Augsburg to its 10th national title, he stepped down to take on the full-time responsibility of leading Augsburg's athletic department (a job he had done on a part-time basis since 2001).Over the last decade, under Jeff's leadership, Augsburg's athletic department has shown tremendous growth and progress. The little school in the heart of Minneapolis has improved its facilities and staff, while making a commitment to develop our student-athletes into leaders, both on the field and off. He has brought our 18 teams together under one umbrella and has made our athletic department a true family. He's applied the lessons he taught hundreds of wrestlers through the years to our entire athletic endeavor, and we're all the better for it.
When you take the steps up into the Kennedy Center -- a building dreamed and realized under Jeff's leadership -- you now see the Jeff Swenson Wrestling Wall of Fame on your right. In the trophy case are more than 30 national trophies ... most of which earned under Jeff's leadership. It's a great tribute to a great leader.
Back to Friday night ... on that busy evening, many people gathered in the Kennedy Center to honor Jeff. The A-Club Suite was as full as I've ever seen it, with former wrestlers, coaches and friends all there to pay tribute to Jeff Swenson and his leadership. Former wrestlers Mark Matzek -- now Augsburg's head coach with Jeff as an assistant -- and Nick Slack delivered great tributes to Jeff, and how he played a key role in not only their lives, but in the lives of everyone around them. Then, Jeff took the stage, and of course, he deflected the attention from himself. He thanked everyone for their contributions to the growth and success of Auggie athletics, and paid special tribute to his family ... his parents, his sister, his wife Melissa and their young kids, Brady, Brett and Ethan.
And during halftime of the wrestling match -- a match Augsburg won 21-16 to secure the No. 1 ranking in the Division III national polls -- a public tribute was given to Jeff, in front of a nearly full house in Si Melby Hall. And he received a well-deserved standing ovation. A fitting honor for a great person, and someone I'm proud to call my friend, Jeff Swenson.
