By Matt Krumrie “Senior Editor
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The Augsburg College wrestling team made history on Wednesday Oct. 12, becoming the first NCAA Division III championship wrestling team to meet with the President at the White House. The nine-time national champion Auggies met with President George W. Bush at the White House on Wednesday afternoon. The visit was delayed from its original date of Sept. 8.
“It was an unbelievable experience,” said Augsburg Associate Head Coach Sam Barber. “It’s hard to put into words what it was like being there. It is something I will never forget.”
Eight wrestlers from the 2005 NCAA Division III national championship squad were honored by the President, along with head coach Jeff Swenson, Barber, assistant coach Scott Whirley, Augsburg President Dr. William V. Frame, and team leaders Alan Rice and Dean Kennedy.
The wrestlers who attended the event included Jared Evans, Marcus LeVesseur, Jamell Tidwell, Ryan Valek, Brad Tupa, Mark Matzek, Justin Sorenson, and Joe Moon. Matt Shankey and Mark Simmonds were not able to attend. Shankey is currently in the Army attending Ranger school, while Simmonds is in the Navy stationed in Pensacola, Florida, where he is wrestling for the All-Navy team.
Barber said team members were able to do some sight-seeing, and visited the Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Jefferson Memorial, Vitenam Veterans Memorial, U.S. Marine Corps Memorial, Korean Memorial, World War II Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, and the Washington Monument. On Thursday they toured the United States Capitol Building where they met with the staff of Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert. Paul Sorensen, a former wrestler from Manchester College, A DIII school in Manchester, Indiana, and a member of Hastert’s staff, gave the Augsburg contingent a tour.
When they arrived at the White House for their meeting with President Bush they were taken to the Roosevelt Room and briefed by security on how to behave and act during the visit. The team then toured the White House and waited in the Roosevelt Room where they waited for Bush to arrive. They were then taken to the Oval Office where they were greeted by Bush. Bush spent about 30 minutes with the team, Barber said. He talked about everything from the first decision he had to make as a President (which was choosing a rug for the Oval Office), to 9/11, to leadership and more.
“It was impressive to hear him talk about the things he did,” said Barber. “Everything in the Oval Office symbolized something to him in regards to his leadership and that was the basis for his talk. He went around the room in the Oval Office and pointed to different features in the office and its meaning and how it comes back to his leadership of the country. He said he bought the rug (Bush said he delegated that decision to the First Lady) because he felt it symbolized optimism and hope, that America is a great place to live and that it will be a great place to live in the future.
Barber Continued.
“He had three busts in the Office that he talked about “Churchill, Eisenhower and Lincoln. He said after Sept. 11 he sat down and realized that when he was elected President that he didn’t want to be a war-time leader, but things happen, and that you have to play the hand your dealt, hope for the best and prepare for the worst.”
The team also presented Bush with an Augsburg wrestling singlet with Bush on the back. Barber said Bush briefly spoke about wrestling, about how challenging a sport it would be to compete like that for seven minutes. Barber then emphasized to Bush to how America needs wrestling because it builds the type of character people in this country need to succeed.
Augsburg’s Jamell Tidwell, a three-time NCAA All-American, said his meeting with Bush helped change his personal opinion of the President.
“It was unbelievable,” said Tidwell. “I really think differently of President Bush now. He was really down to earth, a really nice guy. They treated us special and took us to places in the White House the general public doesn’t see. It was one of the best experiences of my life. I thought I was dreaming. When I was waiting to meet the President. I wasn’t that nervous, but when he walked into the room and I shook his hand I didn’t know when to let go.”
Ryan Valek, a two-time All-American for the Auggies, said the trip was inspiring.
“It definitely wasn’t what I expected,” said Valek. “This just helped me put things in perspective, to be at the White House, to meet the President, you can’t explain it unless you go there. I’ve always liked him, but he didn’t act like the President, he acted real down to earth. It was pretty amazing because here we were in the Oval Office with the most influential guy in the country. That’s something I’ll never forget.”
It is the first time that an Augsburg team has ever been honored at the White House, and it is just the second time a national championship college wrestling team has ever been honored by the President. The 2001 University of Minnesota NCAA Division I national championship team was the first college wrestling team to receive the White House honor.
Over the last three decades, Augsburg has established itself as a national power in college wrestling. Augsburg won its ninth NCAA Division III wrestling national championship in the last 15 years in 2005, claiming 10 All-Americans, four individual national champions and two national runners-up. The Auggies finished 14-1 in dual meets in the 2004-05 season, while also claiming the NWCA Division III National Duals title for the second time in the tournament’s four-year history.
The nine team national titles is an NCAA Division III national record. Augsburg has had top-two national finishes in 15 of the last 16 years, top-four national finishes the last 17 seasons in a row (the only NCAA wrestling program, regardless of division, that can make that claim) and top-20 national finishes every year since 1971.
Augsburg, Wartburg and Wisconsin-LaCrosse are expected to be among teams that challenge for the NCAA title again in 2005-06.
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