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April 1, 2001

2000-01 WRESTLING REVIEW

2001-02 AUGUSTANA WRESTLING REVIEW

VIKINGS WIN 34^th CCIW CHAMPIONSHIP IN SCHOOL HISTORY; CARLOS SANCHEZ (157) & AARON GRANELL (197) WIN INDIVIDUAL TITLES; PAT MARSH IS NAMED CCIW "COACH OF THE YEAR"; AUGUSTANA FINISHES SEASON RANKED 27^th IN FINAL NCAA DIVISION III DUAL MEET POLL

Pat Marsh was a happy man on the 16^th of February when his Augustana Vikings wrestling team defied the odds and won the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin title. It was the 34^th CCIW title in the school's long and glorious wrestling history but this one was never a sure thing.

With only two seniors on the squad and with freshman and sophomores peppered throughout the lineup, Marsh knew when the season started that this would be a learning experience for his entire team. When the points were totaled at the CCIW meet, the Vikings were on top with 77 points, 8.5 ahead of runner-up Millikin's 68.5. Elmhurst was third with 62, North Central took fourth with 53 and Wheaton was fifth with 49.5. Carthage, Illinois Wesleyan and North Park do not field wrestling teams in the CCIW.

Augustana has long dominated this sport in the CCIW and the 2002 title allowed the Vikings to pick up the 34^th league title since winning for the first time in 1963. It was the fifth CCIW crown in a row and the 20^th in the last 21 years for the Blue & Gold. Marsh was named co-Coach of the Year in the league, sharing the honor with Tim Gotto of Elmhurst.

Athough they crowned just two individual champions - freshman Carlos Sanchez (Olympia HS, Atlanta, IL) at 157 and sophomore Aaron Granell (J.D. Darnall HS, Geneseo, IL) at 197 - the Vikings had seven finalists and basically clinched the team title in the semifinals.

Sanchez bumped up to 157 pounds from his normal 149 and it didn't seem to slow him down as he defeated Rick Lamas of Elmhurst 6-4 in the championship match to move his record to 26-9. He beat Matt Janosek of North Central by a score of 2-1 in the semifinals. Granell won his second consecutive CCIW title by beating Christian Campbell of Wheaton 12-5 in the title bout. He got to the finals by beating Jermaine Butler of North Central 18-7 in the semifinals.

Five Vikings finished second to help bolster the team score. Matt Kapraun (St. John's Military Academy, Harvard, IL) lost in the championship match at 141 to Josh McCarty of North Central by a score of 11-4. Brad Weinhold (Plainfield HS, Plainfield, IL) placed second at 149 pounds as he was defeated 14-5 in the title match by Sean Collins of Wheaton. Rob Golombek (Streamwood HS, Streamwood, IL) finished second at 165, falling to Eddy Rosecrants of Elmhurst 7-4. Sean Hoover (Rock Island Alleman HS, Rock Island, IL) picked up second at 174 pounds, losing to Ricky Flores of North Central 6-4 in the title match. John Mischler (Metamora HS, Metamora, IL) finished second at 285 pounds, losing to Nate Carden of Millikin 8-0.

Besides the five runner-up finishes, Chris Acree (Gibson City HS, Gibson City, IL) was third at 125 and Mike Novelli (Glenbard West HS, Glen Ellyn, IL) finished third at 133.

Augustana finished the season with a 10-6 dual meet record, quite impressive considering that the Vikings were 1-4 at one point during the early portion of the year. The final NCAA Division III team dual meet rankings had the Blue & Gold 27^th in the nation.

The Vikings were third in the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional in the week after the CCIW meet. Pacific University won with 128.5 points while Chicago was second with 115.5 and Augustana was third with 81. Golombek was the top finisher in that meet, placing second at 157 pounds. Marsh's team was third in the MacMurray Invitational on December 8, fourth in the Citrus Open on December 29, third in the Augustana Invitational on January 19 and fourth in the Elmhurst Invitational on January 26.

Kapraun led the team in victories with a 30-12 overall record and a total of six wrestlers finished with at least 22 wins. Acree was 27-8 and Hoover finished 27-12 with Sanchez 26-9. Granell had a 26-10 mark and Weinhold was 22-14.

2002 COLLEGE CONFERENCE OF ILLINOIS & WISCONSIN WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP

February 16, 2002 * Elmhurst College * Elmhurst, Illinois

TEAM SCORES

INDIVIDUAL WEIGHT CLASS CHAMPIONS

MOST OUTSTANDING WRESTLER – Ricky Flores – North Central College  - 174 pounds

CO-COACH OF THE YEAR: Pat Marsh, Augustana & Tim Gotto, Elmhurst

INDIVIDUAL WEIGHT CLASS PLACINGS

NCAA DIVISION III FINAL TEAM DUAL MEET RANKINGS

1.                   Augsburg (MN)

2.                   Wartburg (IA)

3.                   Wisconsin-LaCrosse

4.                   King's (PA)

5.                   Upper Iowa

6.                   Buena Vista (IA)

7.                   Loras (IA)

8.                   John Carroll (OH)

9.                   Luther (IA)

10.                Springfield (MA)

11.                College of New Jersey

12.                Ithaca (NY)

13.                Lycoming (PA)

14.                Western Maryland

15.                Montclair State (NJ)

16.                Wisconsin-Platteville

17.                Simpson (IA)

18.                SUNY-Brockport

19.                Ohio Northern

20.                SUNY-Oswego

21.                 Pacific (OR)

22.                Coe (IA)

23.                Wisconsin-Stevens Point

24.                Delaware Valley (PA)

25.                Chicago (IL)

26.                SUNY-Cortland

27.                AUGUSTANA (IL)

28.                Wesleyan (CT)

29.                Muskingum (OH)

30.                Johnson & Wales (RI)