MINNEAPOLIS (6/14/05) -- Augsburg College wrestlers Mark Matzek * (Sr., Ellsworth, Wis.) and Ryan Valek (Jr., Belle Plaine, Minn.) were named to the 2005 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America College Division Men's At-Large Teams, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), it was announced on Tuesday.

Matzek was named to the 15-member Academic All-America first team, while Valek was named to the 16-member Academic All-America third team. A total of 46 student-athletes were named to the three Academic All-America men's at-large teams.

Three Augsburg student-athletes have named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America teams by CoSIDA this school year. Matzek and Valek joined baseball player Darren Ginther (Jr., Crystal, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS), who earned Academic All-America first-team honors in baseball in May. Since 1981, Augsburg student-athletes have earned 16 Academic All-America honors from CoSIDA.

Both Matzek and Valek earned Academic All-District V men's at-large honors in May, Matzek for the third straight year and Valek for the first time. Both were named to the Academic All-America squad by CoSIDA for the first time in their careers.

One of the top lightweight wrestlers in school history, Matzek won NCAA Division III individual national titles at 133 pounds in both his junior and senior campaigns, while earning NCAA Division III All-American honors three times and compiling a 129-21 career record. He had 17 pins, 18 technical falls and 19 major decisions in his career.

Finishing his collegiate career with a 42-match winning streak, Matzek dominated his weight class in the 2004-05 campaign, finishing 34-0 on the season to repeat as national champion at 133 pounds, one of four Auggies to repeat as national champions with unbeaten campaigns. In the process, he joined a select group of nine Auggie wrestlers in school history to win multiple national championships. He went 35-4 to win the national title at 133 in 2003-04, while finishing fourth nationally with a 40-7 record in 2002-03.

Academically, Matzek is a mathematics and secondary education major with a 3.408 grade-point-average. He earned the school's Senior Honor Athlete award in 2005, the highest honor Augsburg gives to student-athletes. He earned National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III Scholar All-America honors three times. He was a member of Augsburg academic national teams in wrestling that ranked sixth twice (2003, 2005) and third (2004) in team grade-point-average nationally.

Valek earned All-American honors for the second time in his career in the 2004-05 campaign, finishing second nationally at 165 pounds with a 34-7 record. He finished the season with six pins, a technical fall and five major decisions in his run to the national runner-up finish. He topped two wrestlers who eventually were ranked No. 1 nationally in the NAIA and NCAA Division II in a three-day span in January, and also claimed a 2-0 win over Oregon State's Matt Ellis, a Division I national meet qualifier and Pac-10 wrestling runner-up, in a January meet.

In his three seasons at Augsburg, Valek has a 92-35 career record, with 24 pins, two technical falls and 14 major decisions. He finished 38-10 in his sophomore season of 2003-04 to finish seventh nationally at 165 pounds in his first trip to the national tournament.

Academically, Valek is an accounting major with a 3.789 grade-point average. He has earned National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III Scholar All-America honors in both 2004 and 2005.

Augsburg won its ninth NCAA Division III wrestling national championship in the last 15 years this season, claiming 10 All-Americans, four individual national champions and six national finalists. The Auggies finished 14-1 in dual meets this season, while also claiming the NWCA Division III National Duals title for the second time in the tournament's four-year history.

Academically, Augsburg finished in the top 10 in the NWCA's Scholar All-America team program, finishing sixth among more than 100 NCAA Division III wrestling institutions with a 3.331 team grade-point-average. Augsburg is the only school in NCAA Division III wrestling to finish in the top 10 both in competition on the mat and in the academic team competition in each of the eight years that the NWCA has awarded an academic team national championship.

Augsburg had eight NWCA Scholar All-Americans in 2004-05, bringing to a national-record 89 the number of NWCA Scholar All-Americans in school history. Augsburg has had at least three Scholar All-Americans every year since 1993, and has had 66 athletes honored since 1997.

The ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America program is administered by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Top student-athletes from non-Division I programs, who have already earned Academic All-District first-team honors, are eligible for inclusion on the team. Student-athletes must have a grade-point average above 3.20 (4.0 scale) and have outstanding athletic credentials. The Academic All-America ballot is voted on by a committee of CoSIDA members. The men's at-large team awards student-athletes in 12 sports -- golf, rifle, volleyball, gymnastics, skiing, water polo, fencing, ice hockey, swimming, wrestling, lacrosse and tennis.

From other Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schools, joining Matzek on the first team were senior swimmer Dave Linn of St. Thomas and senior tennis player Pete Schwingler of Gustavus Adolphus. Lynn "Tut" Fuller, a senior tennis player from St. Thomas, was named to the second team. Joining Valek on the third team was St. John's junior hockey player Adam Hanna.

Other Minnesota natives named to the Academic All-America men's at-large teams were: first-teamer Dan Cloutier (Roseville), a senior rifle athlete from Rose-Hulman (Ind.); third-teamer Jason Ford (Granite Falls), a junior tennis player from Central (Iowa); and third-teamer Jonathan Kleinman (North Oaks), a senior swimmer from Johns Hopkins (Md.).


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