Augsburg wrestling update, courtesy of head coach Mark Matzek: Wow! What an incredible weekend. We marched through the first day of the NWCA Division III National Duals, beating our opponents by a combined score of 110-0. The second day in the semifinals, we faced Delaware Valley (Pa.). Our guys fought hard and we came out on top with a 25-17 victory. In the finals, we faced our nemesis, No. 1-ranked Wartburg College (Iowa). With more than one swing in momentum, the meet was a roller coaster ride of emotions. We beat the Knights 21-20 to win the tournament and take over the No. 1 ranking in the country.
This Friday, we travel to Fargo, N.D., to wrestle the Bison of North Dakota State University. The Bison are a Division I opponent and will be a great test for the wrestlers on this team. We wrestled NDSU in the past when it was a Division II program. Assistant head coach Jared Evans and I were on the last two squads when we dueled them as athletes, and we ended up on the short end of the stick in both 2003 and 2004. Both of us want to turn the tables on them!
The other half of our squad will be competing at the Northwestern-Iowa Red Raider Invite in Orange City, Iowa. The field of competition looks to be a mix of very tough NAIA opponents.
The following two weeks after the NDSU dual will be a test of both talent and toughness for us. We go to Sioux Falls, S.D. to wrestle Division II Augustana (S.D.) on Tuesday, Jan. 20. Then we head out to wrestle the No. 2-ranked team in Division II, the University of Nebraska-Omaha. We have twice gone into their home in the past and come out on top (2005 and 2007).
We finish up January with duals against Wisconsin-LaCrosse on Sunday, Jan. 25, and a rematch of the NWCA National Duals finals against Wartburg on Friday, Jan. 30. There will also be a high school dual preceding the meet vs Wartburg. Coon Rapids and Albert Lea will wrestle at 6 p.m. and we will wrestle at approximately 7:30 p.m.
The wrestlers are not satisfied with their performance at the NWCA National Duals. It was great to win it and get that No. 1 ranking, but that is not their long-term goal for the season. Every single student-athlete in this program has their eyes set on the Great Lakes Regional and the NCAA Division III national tournament.
