{"id":12770,"date":"2023-09-25T18:53:55","date_gmt":"2023-09-25T18:53:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/?p=12770"},"modified":"2025-09-16T19:32:39","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T19:32:39","slug":"learning-lessons-on-the-wrestling-mat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/2023\/09\/25\/learning-lessons-on-the-wrestling-mat\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning lessons on the wrestling mat"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Once Tony Valek \u201912, \u201914 MAL<\/strong> became part of the Augsburg University community, he never left. From student wrestler to head wrestling coach, he remains invested in training the next generation of Auggies\u2014helping them not only grow as athletes, but as human beings ready for life after graduation. Amateur wrestling website The Open Mat named Valek the 2022\u201323 NCAA Division III Coach of the Year for leading the men\u2019s wrestling team to its 14th national championship in program history. Following last season\u2019s tremendous success, Valek reflects on his Augsburg journey and what he loves most about coaching.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Q: How did you end up at Augsburg?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: I\u2019ve been involved in the Augsburg community for quite a while. My older brother, Ryan Valek \u201906<\/strong>, actually attended and wrestled at Augsburg. The relationships with the coaches\u2014like Coach [Jeff] Swenson<\/strong>\u2014and the people ended up drawing me here. I wrestled at Augsburg from 2008 to 2012, and I really haven\u2019t left. I was the graduate assistant coach for two years, and then I became a full-time coach in the 2014\u201315 season and have been here ever since.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Q: Was there a particular Augsburg coach who invested in you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: Mark Matzek \u201905<\/strong> was our head coach during my time wrestling for Augsburg, and Jared Evans \u201907<\/strong> was my personal coach. Every student-athlete in the program gets a personal coach. Coach Evans was super devoted to the team and gave me way more time than any student-athlete deserved. Jim Moulsoff<\/strong> is the other full-time coach with me here at Augsburg. He also coached when I was wrestling, and I\u2019ve learned so much from him\u2014probably even more while we\u2019ve been coaching together. Whether it\u2019s literally talking about health insurance plans, buying a house, or having kids, the people I go to the most\u2014besides my parents\u2014are the wrestling connections, the wrestling family that Augsburg has.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Tony Valek<\/strong> coaches NWCA nationally ranked 197-pounder Bentley Schwanebeck-Ostermann ’24<\/strong> at the “Battle of the Burgs” Augsburg University vs. Wartburg College men’s wrestling, 2022. (Photo by Mike Mingo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Q: How did you become a wrestling coach?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: Wrestling was a big part of my college search. I didn\u2019t necessarily know what I wanted to do after graduation. Augsburg\u2019s liberal arts degree was a good fit because I had a little more flexibility to pursue different careers. When I went to grad school at Augsburg and coached, I think that\u2019s when I fell in love with it and knew that this could be a good fit, because I get to wear a lot of different hats. I\u2019m recruiting. I\u2019m coaching the student-athletes. I\u2019m dealing with budgets and scheduling. It\u2019s definitely different throughout the day and throughout the year.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Q: What do you love most about coaching?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: Building the relationships with the student-athletes is the best part. Sure, we\u2019re coaching wrestling, but ultimately, we\u2019re preparing them to be successful when it\u2019s all said and done here. A lot of life lessons can be learned on the wrestling mat and from all the trials and tribulations you go through.<\/p>\n

Q: Tell us about the road to the 2022\u201323 championship and what it felt like to win the title.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
Augsburg University men’s wrestling team at the NCAA Division III National Championships in Roanoke, Virginia, on March 11, 2023 (Photo by Don Stoner<\/strong>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A: It was Augsburg men\u2019s wrestling\u2019s 14th NCAA championship, but none of the wrestlers on this team had been part of a team championship before. We won nationals in 2019, before any of this crew were at Augsburg. We were heavy favorites in 2020, but the championships were canceled due to COVID-19. The night before the championships, we were actually already down in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, when the cancellation decision was announced.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s senior class in particular went through so much because the wrestling experience looked so different during online learning. That was by far the most challenging time of my coaching career\u2014trying to help student-athletes understand that we were going to get back to more normal things. We were going to be able to wrestle, but it seemed like that was never coming. For those guys to finish with that national championship experience, it was really gratifying. They\u2019ll have that the rest of their life.<\/p>\n

For me personally, this was my first year as the sole head coach. Those moments with the parents and the student-athletes talking about everything being worth it\u2014those are the coolest moments. Obviously, winning the matches, sure. But I think it\u2019s the senior speeches. At nationals, we have all the student-athletes who wrestled get up on a chair and hold the trophy and just say a few thank yous. Sometimes the speeches are kind of unscripted and unprompted, and it\u2019s fun to see the appreciation these student-athletes have for everything that goes into it and the men they become.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Augsburg
Augsburg men’s wrestling, 2023 Division III Champions, at a Minnesota Twins game (Courtesy photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
\"The
The Minnesota Twins recognized the Augsburg University men\u2019s wrestling team by inviting Head Coach Tony Valek to throw the ceremonial first pitch on June 20. (Photo by Don Stoner)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Q: What does it mean to you to be The Open Mat\u2019s NCAA Division III Coach of the Year?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: It\u2019s a big-time honor. To me, it\u2019s a staff award or team award. I\u2019m blessed to work with lots of assistant coaches who have the same drive and passion that I do for Augsburg and Augsburg wrestling and what it can do for students. It\u2019s a reflection of the work that we all did. It\u2019s always nice to be honored and have something tangible that says we won together.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Q: And what\u2019s next?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A: Do it again. Do it again is the plan.<\/p>\n

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Top image: Tony Valek<\/strong>\u00a0in the Alan and Gloria Rice Wrestling Center within Augsburg’s Kennedy Center (Photo by Courtney Perry)<\/em>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Once Tony Valek \u201912, \u201914 MAL became part of the Augsburg University community, he never left. From student wrestler to head wrestling coach, he remains invested in training the next generation of Auggies\u2014helping them not only grow as athletes, but as human beings ready for life after graduation. Amateur wrestling website The Open Mat named <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":569,"featured_media":12776,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[240],"tags":[236],"class_list":["post-12770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spotlight","tag-fall-2023"],"wps_subtitle":"On the Spot Q&A with Men\u2019s Wrestling Head Coach Tony Valek","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/569"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12770"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12770\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13726,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12770\/revisions\/13726"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}