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March 31, 2010

2009-10 WRESTLING REVIEW

Eric Juergens just finished his third year as the head coach of the Augustana wrestling program and the improvement shown in the first two years of his tenure continued in 2009-10. The Vikings were 5-10 in dual meets, placed third in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin with 51.5 points and for the first time since 2006 had an individual qualifier for the NCAA Division III national meet.

While Juergens, a former two time NCAA Division I national champion at Iowa, might be a little impatient with his team’s progress, nobody can argue that he has the program on the right path. Senior 125 pounder George Gogonas (Bowie HS, Austin, Texas) became the first Augustana wrestler since Brian Daly and Ryan McMurray in 2006 to qualify for the national tournament. He did it by placing third in the NCAA West Regional on February 20 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Gogonas won a match at the national tournament and finished the season with a fine 27-12 overall record and he ended his career with an 86-53 mark.

He wasn’t the only one to turn in a fine showing this past season, however. A total of four Vikings eclipsed the 20 victory total, the first time that has happened since the 2005-06 campaign. Besides Gogonas, freshman Alex Vavra (Gull Lake HS, Dowling, Mich.), senior Zac Holland (West Des Moines Dowling HS, Pleasant Hill, Iowa) and freshman Steve Poffenberger (Allegan HS, Paw Paw, Mich.) all eclipsed the 20 victory plateau. Vavra was 24-19 at 174, Holland put together a 23-22 mark at 157 and Poffenberger was 22-18 at 133.

In the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin tournament Poffenberger and Vavra each placed second in their respective weight classes as the Vikings piled up 51.5 points and finished third. That is the highest point total compiled for Augustana since the 2005-06 season. Besides Poffenberger and Vavra’s runner-up finishes, eight Vikings took third in the CCIW. They were: Gogonas (125), sophomore Alberto Quiros (Morton HS, Cicero, Ill.) (141), freshman Tyler Hernandez (Bloomington HS, Bloomington, Ill.) (149), Holland (157), junior Matt Nykaza (Brother Rice HS, Oak Lawn, Ill.) (184), freshman Hunter Feraco (Gull Lake HS, Battle Creek, Michigan, Ill.) (197) and senior Jeff Daisy (Thornton Fractional South HS, Lansing, Ill.) (285).

The Vikings started the season by dropping their first six dual meets before picking up their first victory by a score of 31-18 over Truman State on January 9 at the Knox Duals in Galesburg, Illinois. Over the last 10 dual meets of the season, they would win five of those, including a 27-12 victory over Simpson in the final meet before the conference tournament.

After placing third in the CCIW meet, Augustana took 10 th in the NCAA Division III West Regional by scoring 29 points. Gogonas’ third at 125 was the top finish but Quiros placed fifth at 141 pounds.

2010 COLLEGE CONFERENCE OF ILLINOIS & WISCONSIN TOURNAMENT

February 11, 2010 *** Merner Fieldhouse *** Naperville, Illinois

TEAM SCORES: 1. North Central 100.5; 2. Elmhurst 95; 3. AUGUSTANA 51.5; 4. Wheaton 23; 5. Millikin, North Park, Illinois Wesleyan and Carthage did not field teams.

INDIVIDUAL PLACE WINNERS

2009-10 AUGUSTANA WRESTLING SUPERLATIVES

NCAA DIVISION III NATIONAL MEET QUALIFIER – George Gogonas @ 125 pounds

NATIONAL WRESTLING COACHES ASSOCIATION "SCHOLAR ALL-AMERICAN" - George Gogonas

MOST VALUABLE PERFORMER - George Gogonas

MOST IMPROVED WRESTER - Tyler Hernandez

HARDEST WORKER - Alberto Quiros

SACRIFICE AWARD - Zac Holland