Swenson, who served as the Auggies’ head coach for 25 seasons (1980-84, 1986-2007) and is currently Augsburg’s Athletic Director, will be one of five recipients of the chapter’s Lifetime Service Award. Good, a two-time All-American who served as Augsburg’s head coach in the 1971-72 season and now serves as chairman of the Augsburg Board of Regents, will receive the chapter’s Outstanding American Award.

Jeff Swenson

Swenson has spent nearly his entire adult life as a member of the Augsburg athletic community, first as a three-time All-American wrestler, then as one of the most decorated coaches in NCAA wrestling history, and now as leader of Augsburg’s 20-sport intercollegiate athletics program.

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.

Under Swenson’s leadership as head coach, Augsburg won 10 NCAA Division III wrestling national titles in a 17-year span. 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. Swenson coached 158 individual All-Americans and 39 individual national champions.

In the classroom during Swenson’s tenure, Augsburg produced 98 National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Scholar All-Americans, the most of any college in any division in the nation, and eight College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-Americans in wrestling. 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).

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.

Mike Good

A three-time MIAC wrestling champion, two-time NAIA All-American and a state high school title holder in his hometown of Fridley, Minn., Good will be honored with the “Outstanding American” award by the Minnesota Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. According to the Hall of Fame, the Outstanding American award “demonstrates wrestling’s pride in those who have used the disciplines of the sport to launch notable careers in other walks of life, such as science and technology, business and industry, government and the military, and the arts and humanities.”

Good won MIAC titles in 1968 and 1969 at 130 pounds, while winning the 134-pound conference crown in 1970. In 1969, he earned NAIA national runner-up honors at 130 pounds, and in 1971, he finished fourth nationally at 134 to become the first Auggie wrestler to ever earn two All-American honors. A two-time team captain, Good was named Augsburg’s Senior Honor Athlete in 1971, and was inducted into the Augsburg Athletic Hall of Fame in 1991.

After graduating from Augsburg with a major in sociology and minor in physical education in 1971, Good served as Augsburg’s head coach in the 1971-72 season, finishing with a 14-0-1 dual-meet record, a second-place MIAC team finish and a 10th-place NAIA team national finish with two All-Americans.

Good served as a high school teacher and wrestling coach for five years at Blaine (Minn.) High School, before moving into the real estate industry, where he has worked for more than three decades.

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The Jeff Swenson Wrestling Wall of Fame will contain more than 30 trophies earned by Augsburg wrestling squads from various national tournaments, along with other artifacts celebrating the rich history of Augsburg’s wrestling program, considered one of the elite small-college wrestling programs in the nation.

Swenson, a 1979 Augsburg alum who now serves as the school’s athletic director, coached the Auggie wrestlers for 25 years (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). During his 25 years as head coach, Swenson coached 158 All-Americans and 39 individual national champions.

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 schoolâ€s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999.

Swenson has led Augsburg’s 18-sport intercollegiate athletic program since 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. He is also serving as a wrestling assistant coach in 2008-09 under current head coach Mark Matzek.

For more information on the Jeff Swenson Wrestling Wall of Fame event, contact the Augsburg Alumni Relations office at 612-330-1085.

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2008 Athletic Hall of Fame Inductees

Greg Chmelik ’87 Wrestling, Football

Mike Colehour ’78 Hockey

Julie Hanson ’93 Basketball, Softball

Mary Klinefelter Resch ’73 Basketball

John Mayer ’88 Baseball, Football

Chuck Preiss ’87 Basketball

Stephanie Simones ’98 Track and Field, Cross Country

Karl Sneider ’71 Football, Track

Joe Wabner ’83 Football

Darrell Wiese ’60 Distinguished Service Award

First Decade Awards

Zach Curtis ’98

An Augsburg theatre arts and English major, Zach Curtis continues to be active in the Twin Cities theater scene as an actor, artistic director, manager, and marketing director. Zach maintains a connection to Augsburg working with alumni in professional theater, speaking for Augsburg directing classes, and teaching stage combat as a guest artist for Augsburg’s Theatre Artist Series. In addition to his Bachelor’s degree from Augsburg, Zach holds a graduate degree from National Shakespeare Conservatory Program in New York.

Jeffery Cameron ’96

After completing his Bachelor’s in physics and philosophy at Augsburg, Jeffery continued his education at Hamline University School of Law. Jeff became a registered patent attorney and has also been sworn in before the Minnesota Supreme Court, the U.S. District Court, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. In 2002, he started a law firm with a friend. Jeff has returned to Augsburg to speak with students about the patent system and about careers in patent law and has served as a mentor to several Augsburg students.

Distinguished Alumni Awards

LaRhae Grindal Knatterud ’70

LaRhae graduated from Augsburg College with a Bachelor’s degree in Music. She received a MS degree in Public Affairs in 1977 from the University of Minnesota, Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs with a focus on gerontology and healthcare policy. LaRhae has been active in the aging policy, research, and program development in the study of aging and has developed new approaches to needs assessment, program and service design, and policy development that have become the standards for the aging network in Minnesota. She has been a member of Augsburg’s Masterworks Chorale for 15 years.

Dennis Kalpin ’61

Dennis graduated from Augsburg College with a Bachelor’s in Mathematics and received his Master’s degree in Education from North Dakota State University in 1976. He has been a high school mathematics teacher for 40 years and a coach for 47 years in Minnesota and North Dakota. Dennis has served on numerous committees related to his coaching career. He is also active in his church in Alexandria, Minn. Always a promoter of Augsburg, Dennis recommends Augsburg to his students and athletes.

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