Devin Schelske, sports editor
As the fall athletic season draws to a close, the winter season starts to ramp up. The Augsburg women’s wrestling team begins their season ranked number 25 in the NCAA. Head coach Ali Sprenger is in her second season leading the Auggies. In her first season at the helm, she had three wrestlers qualify for the National Championship tournament and one place in the tournament.
The national tournament is no stranger to coach Sprenger as she was a five-time Collegiate National Champion. Sprenger was also a two-time Olympian in womens wrestling, qualifying for both the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games. With small victories in her first season and an impressive wrestling resume, recruiting became a little easier. The Auggies added eight first-year recruits to the roster who will look to grow into a strong class of wrestlers who will continue Augsburg’s rich history in wrestling. The Auggies return four wrestlers from the 2023-2024 campaign, two of which competed in the 2023-2024 season National Championship tournament in their respective weight classes.
I had a chance to interview first year wrestler Katie Whelan about the upcoming season. Since the Auggies are ranked number 25 in the NCAA to start the season, I wanted to know if the ranking was accurate. “[Ranked 25] in the nation feels crazy. I feel like we’re such a small team but we’ll see,” commented Whelan. When asked about team goals for the season, Whelan responded, “We really don’t talk about that kind of stuff. I’m an S.M.A. (student medical assistant) and I get to listen in on other teams, how they work and their dynamics and I feel like there’s a lot of motivational speaking. We don’t really do that which is kind of weird because in high school we wrote down our goals on post-it notes and we put it on our mirrors and read it every day. We don’t do that here, which is nice because there’s a different sense of freedom.” It can be assumed that rather than focusing on the results of an entire season, the Auggies are striving to be process-oriented over being result-oriented. Wrestlers focus simply on working hard at the next competition rather than competitions down the road in the season or eventually making it to the national tournament.
Wrestlers focus simply on working hard at the next competition rather than competitions down the road in the season or eventually making it to the national tournament.
Devin schelske
The Auggies’ next matchup is in Decorah, Iowa where they will dual Luther College for the first time in school history. The Auggies will take on the Norse on Nov. 9 at 9 a.m. Catch the Auggies at their home opener against the University of Sioux Falls in Si Melby Hall on Jan. 15, 2025 at 6 p.m. Augsburg looks to rebound from last season’s 10-38 dual meet loss.