JIM MOULSOFF | HEAD COACH
Jim Moulsoff (Minnesota ‘03), an 18-year veteran of the high school coaching ranks, enters his first season as interim head coach of the Augsburg Wrestling program in 2014-15. In addition to his coaching duties, Moulsoff serves as the Director of the James Haglund Family Fitness and Recreation Center in the Augsburg Athletic Department.
AUGSBURG COACHING HIGHLIGHTS: During his tenure as an assistant at Augsburg, Moulsoff has been a part of Augsburg teams that have recorded one national championship and three second-place finishes at the NCAA National Championships. In the 2009-10 season, Augsburg collected it's NCAA best 11th national championship in school history, as eight wrestlers earned All-American honors. Since being promoted to the full-time assistant position prior to the 2010-11 season, Moulsoff has coached two individual national champions and 10 All-Americans.
PREVIOUS COACHING EXPERIENCE:
Prior to joining the Auggie staff, Moulsoff spent 15 years as head coach of the Minnehaha Academy HS wrestling program. In the 2002-03, Moulsoff led the Redhawk program to a 12-5 dual meet record and earned the Metro Alliance Conference Coach of the Year honors.
In addition to his experience at the high school level, Moulsoff has been active as a coach in many levels of amateur wrestling and currently serves as the cadet director for Minnesota/USA Wrestling.
WRESTLING EXPERIENCE / ACHEIVEMENTS: Moulsoff wrestled competitively at the North Dakota State College of Science from 1981-83.
OTHER DUTIES / CAMPUS INVOLVEMENT AT AUGSBURG: Moulsoff serves as the Director of the James Haglund Family Fitness and Recreation Center in the Augsburg Athletic Department.
PERSONAL / FAMILY NOTES: A native of Breckenridge, Minn., Moulsoff and his wife, Norine, live in St. Paul, Minn. Moulsoff completed his bachelor's degree from the University of Minnesota in 2003.
TONY VALEK | ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH
Tony Valek (Augsburg '12) enters his third season as a member of the Augsburg wrestling coaching staff in 2014-15. A three-time All-American during his wrestling career at Augsburg, Valek is currently serving as a graduate fellow in the Augsburg Athletic Department.
WRESTLING CAREER / ACHEIVEMENTS: As one of the most accomplished lightweight wrestlers in school history, Valek finished his four-year career with a 136-25 record, with 87 bonus-point victories (60 pins, six technical falls, 21 major decisions). A four-time national tournament qualifier, Valek earned All-American honors three times and finished as national runner-up at 149 pounds in both 2011 and 2010. He was a part of Auggie teams that won the NCAA Division III national championship in 2010, while placing second nationally in 2009, 2011 and 2012.
Valek was a top performer in the classroom as well, as he was named to the Capital One Academic All-District men's at-large team twice during his four-year career. He earned National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III Scholar All-America honors his final three seasons, and was named as the recipient of the NCAA Elite 89 Award as the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average at the 2012 NCAA Division III Wrestling National Championships.
Valek is the first Augsburg student-athlete ever to be named as a first-team CoSIDA Academic All-America honoree twice.
PERSONAL / FAMILY NOTES: A native of Belle Plaine, Minn., Valek graduated with a degree in accounting and management from Augsburg in 2012, and a Master of Arts in Leadership from Augsburg in 2014.
BRAD FISHER | ASSISTANT COACH
Brad Fisher (Augsburg ‘02) enters his first season as an Augsburg assistant coach in 2009-10. Fisher was a three-time All-American at Augsburg, finishing his career with a 118-30 record. Fisher finished second at the NCAA Division III national championships at 141 pounds in 2001, fourth in 2002 and sixth in 1999. Fisher also won three MIAC championships in his career (1999, 2001, 2002). Fisher was a two-time state champion at Austin (Minn.) High School, making state history as the first eighth-grader to win a wrestling state title in Minnesota history in 1993.
JARED MASSEY | ASSISTANT COACH
Jared Massey, a former All-American during his wrestling career, enters his second season as a member of the Augsburg coaching staff in 2012-13.
WRESTLING CAREER / ACHEIVEMENTS: Massey was a three-time All-American at Augsburg, winning the national title at 197 pounds in 2009 while finishing second in 2011 and third in 2010. He had a 79-4 record in three seasons at Augsburg (84-6 collegiate overall record).
A four-time Minnesota state tournament qualifier and two-time state champion at Centennial HS (Circle Pines, Minn.), Massey wrestled at Division I Wisconsin in the 2003-04 season before returning to college at Augsburg in the 2008-09 campaign.
PERSONAL / FAMILY NOTES: A native of Circle Pines, Minn., Massey was a health and physical education major at Augsburg.
ORLANDO PONCE | ASSISTANT COACH / CAMP INSTRUCTOR
• 2015 NCAA National Championship Coach
• 3-Time Great Lakes Regional Champion
• 4-Time NCAA Qualifier
• 3-Time NCAA All-American and National Finalist
• Ponce Trained Wrestling, Owner / Instructor
MATT HECHSEL | ASSISTANT COACH
• Alma Mater / Major: Augsburg '15
• Hometown / HS: Apple Valley, MN
• Number of Seasons at Augsburg: 1 (2015-Present)
JOHN PETERSON | ASSISTANT COACH
Personal Development Coach John Peterson (Wisconsin-Stout ‘71), an Olympic champion, two-time Olympic medalist, three-time World Cup champion and a member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, will be assisting the Auggies with personal development.
Peterson earned a silver medal as a freestyle wrestler at the 1972 Olympics, then won the 180.5-pound freestyle gold medal at the 1976 Olympics. He earned World Cup championships in 1973, 1975 and 1980.
As a collegiate wrestler at Wisconsin-Stout, he was an NAIA All-American (fifth place) in 1971 and earned three conference titles. He was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1986.
He has shared his faith with people around the world, working with Athletes In Action and Campus Crusade for Christ. Along with his brother, fellow Olympic wrestling champion Ben Peterson, the duo founded Camp of Champs in 1977.
JEFF SWENSON | CAMP DIRECTOR
Jeff Swenson (Augsburg '79), who spent 25 seasons as one of the most successful amateur wrestling coaches in the country at Augsburg College, is the college's Athletic Director. He began his duties overseeing the athletic department in 2001, when he was named Assistant Dean for Athletics and Recreation. In 2007, as part of a restructuring of the athletic department, Swenson's title was changed to Athletic Director.
In his role as a member of President Paul C. Pribbenow's staff, Swenson currently supervises the 20-sport Augsburg intercollegiate athletics program and the college's intramural athletic program. Swenson was named to the position on an interim basis in 2001, and his posting was made permanent in 2004.
"I look forward to working with Coach Swenson in the years ahead as we partner to make Augsburg one of the finest examples of NCAA Division III athletics in the country -- a college that honors the connections between academics and athletics, that celebrates both sportsmanship and competition, and that helps our students to grow as individuals and teammates," Pribbenow said. "I can think of no one better than Jeff Swenson to lead us in this vision for intercollegiate athletics at Augsburg College. His track record speaks for itself. His love for the college is unparalleled. And he has the passion, commitment and skills to guide our athletics programs into a bright future."
As an administrator, Swenson has led the Augsburg program through a period of unprecedented growth and improvement. In 2007, construction was completed on the new Kennedy Center addition to Si Melby Hall, which includes expanded classroom, meeting and locker room space, along with a new fitness facility and a new wrestling training facility. In 2005, a new SprinTurf surface was installed at Edor Nelson Field, and a new seasonal air-supported dome was installed over the field in the 2006-07 school year.
Swenson, a 1979 Augsburg graduate, served as Augsburg's wrestling head coach for 25 seasons (1980-84, 1986-2007), building the squad into a national small-college wrestling powerhouse. Under Swenson's leadership, Augsburg won a record-10 NCAA Division III national championships and produced a career dual-meet record of 321-44 (.879 winning percentage).
Swenson has been a member of the Augsburg community for more than 30 years -- as a student, athlete, coach and administrator. A national champion wrestler at Augsburg in his senior year of 1979 with a career record of 102-17, Swenson began his coaching career in his first year out of college, as an assistant coach on John Grygelko's Auggie staff. Grygelko retired in 1980, and Swenson was named head coach.
"I've been around Augsburg since the fall of 1975, over 30 years," Swenson said. "Augsburg has shaped me. Augsburg has made me who I am, and it's allowed me to pursue my passion to be a coach. Now, I have a greater passion to lead the entire athletic department as a full-time administrator. I've learned a lot about leading and coaching by being the head wrestling coach here for 25 years. That's going to help me as I lead Augsburg athletics into the future."
Under Swenson's leadership, Augsburg won 10 NCAA Division III wrestling national titles in a 17-year span, a championship total doubling that of any other Division III school. Augsburg is one of only three NCAA schools to have won 10 or more wrestling national titles. Augsburg also finished second in Division III national competition seven times under Swenson, and finished among the top four teams in national competition 19 seasons in a row -- the only NCAA school in any division that can make that claim.
During his tenure as Augsburg's head coach, Swenson coached 158 All-Americans and 39 individual national champions. Since beginning its competition in the NCAA Division III national tournament in 1983 (Augsburg competed in the NAIA prior to 1983) under Swenson, Augsburg won 38 Division III national titles in Swenson's tenure, the most of any Division III school, and had at least one All-American in national wrestling competition (NAIA and NCAA) every season since 1977, at least six All-Americans every year since 1996 and at least five All-Americans every year since 1989.
Augsburg has also been a success in the classroom. Under Swenson's leadership, Augsburg produced 98 NWCA Scholar All-Americans, the most of any college in any division in the nation. Augsburg has had at least two Scholar All-Americans every year since 1993. Augsburg has also had eight ESPN The Magazine Academic All-Americans in wrestling, as awarded by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), during Swenson's tenure.
Over the 10 seasons the NWCA has awarded Division III academic team national championships while Swenson was head coach, Augsburg finished second three times and first once (1998-99). Augsburg finished 11th among Division III schools in 2006-07 with a 3.283 team grade-point average.
Swenson, whose teams also won 20 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference team titles, was named MIAC Coach of the Year 13 times and NWCA National Coach of the Year six times (1983, 1991, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2007). Swenson was inducted into the NCAA Division III Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame in 2005, the Minnesota Wrestling Coaches Association/David Bartelma Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Augsburg Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999. In 2000-01, Swenson was named Lutheran College National Coach of the Year (all sports) from Lutheran Brotherhood, and in 2002, he earned National College Coach of the Year honors (all divisions) from Wrestling USA Magazine.
"I am proud to know Jeff Swenson and to be able to honor his remarkable career as our head wrestling coach at Augsburg," Pribbenow said. "He has accomplished great things with his wrestling teams -- 10 national championships, countless individual titles, team academic achievements and so on. But perhaps more than anything, I am proud of Jeff's commitment and passion for that individual student who needs the guidance, support and challenge to be the best he or she can be -- as an athlete, as a student, as a person. Jeff exemplifies what makes Augsburg the special and rare place that it is -- putting students first and helping them to grow to be successful, responsible and good people.
"Jeff Swenson leaves a remarkable legacy as the Augsburg wrestling coach. He has built a program that will endure as a shining example of quality and achievement. Now he has made the remarkable decision to bring his skills and passion to bear on moving Augsburg's intercollegiate athletics programs to the next level of excellence. Surely there is no one better than Jeff to lead our athletics programs -- both to the benefit of our student-athletes and the reputation of the college."
As a wrestler at Augsburg from 1975-79, Swenson produced a 102-17 competitive record, earning NAIA All-American honors three times (1977-78-79) and winning the national title at 167 pounds in 1979. He earned the school's senior Honor Athlete award in 1979 and was inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999.
Swenson also served as an assistant coach on the Augsburg football staff for 10 years. Swenson earned Augsburg degrees in health and physical education in 1979, and earned a master's degree in health from the University of Minnesota in 1982. He also spent two years away from Augsburg (1984-86) as wrestling coach at Rosemount (Minn.) High School.
Swenson and his wife, Melissa, reside in Minneapolis with sons Brady, Brett and Ethan, and daughter Amy.
JIM MOULSOFF | HEAD COACH
TONY VALEK | ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH
BRAD FISHER | ASSISTANT COACH
JARED MASSEY | ASSISTANT COACH
ORLANDO PONCE | ASSISTANT COACH / CAMP INSTRUCTOR
JOHN PETERSON | ASSISTANT COACH
JEFF SWENSON | CAMP DIRECTOR