MINNEAPOLIS -- Nick Slack '02. who earned three NCAA Division III men's wrestling All-American honors and won the 2000 national title at 174 pounds, will be inducted into the National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III Hall of Fame in March, it was announced on Wednesday. The induction ceremony will take place on March 12 at 5:30 p.m. in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, at the Grand Ballroom at the Cedar Rapids Convention Center, prior to the NCAA Division III Men's Wrestling National Championships.

One of the top upper-weight wrestlers in Augsburg history, Slack earned All-American honors three times in his career, finishing second in the NCAA Division III national championships at 174 pounds in 2000-01 and 2001-02, while winning the national title with a 31-0 record in 1999-2000.
 
Slack had winning streaks of 60 (2000-01) and 31 (2001-02) matches in his career, with the 60-match streak the third-longest in school history. He finished 43-2 in 2001-02, 29-1 in 2000-01, 31-0 in 1999-2000 and 27-10 in 1998-99, qualifying for the NCAA Division III National Championships all four years of his career. He finished his career at 130-13, 23rd in victories in school history. He was a part of Augsburg teams that won three straight NCAA Division III team national titles (2000, 2001 and 2002), while finishing second in 1999, with a dual-meet record of 56-4.
 
Slack was one of 11 wrestlers ever to win four Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference individual championships. In 2002, he earned both the Carl Larson Award as MIAC Tournament MVP, and the Rory Jordan Award for most pins in least time at the conference tournament.
 
A marketing major at Augsburg, Slack was named as one of Augsburg's co-Senior Athletes of the Year in 2001-02. After graduating, he served for four seasons (2002-06) as an assistant coach for the Auggies, while also working in the sporting goods field. In recent years, he has moved to Arizona, where he works for Resilite and also serves as a volunteer coach for a prep wrestling program.

Slack's induction brings the number of Augsburg wrestlers inducted into the NWCA Division III Wrestling Hall of Fame to 12, joining Dan Lewandowski '97 in 2003, Gary Kroells '93 in 2005, John Beatty '90 in 2007, Steve Gliva '85 in 2010, Nick Fornicoia '93 in 2011, Joe Hoialmen '93 in 2012, Jesse Armbruster '96 in 2014, Henry Gerten '98 in 2016, Marcus LeVesseur '07 in 2022, Nik Lewakdowski '01 in 2022 and Mark Matzek '05 in 2023. Three Augsburg coaches have also earned NWCA Division III Wrestling Hall of Fame honors -- 10-time national champion head coach Jeff Swenson '79 in 2005, longtime assistant coach Scott Whirley '82 in 2016, and longtime assistant coach Donny Wichmann '89 in 2019.

The pair will be part of a six-person class entering the NWCA Division III Wrestling Hall of Fame this year. Also being inducted are wrestler Clayton Rush of Coe (Iowa), coaches Mike Howard of Oswego State (N.Y.) and John Oostendorp of Coe, official Alan Boucher, and contributor Mike Surak of Millikin (Ill.).
 
The NWCA Division III Wrestling Hall of Fame has honored NCAA Division III wrestlers, coaches and contributors since 1989. Augsburg has been an NCAA Division III member since 1983. To be considered for Hall of Fame induction, wrestlers must be three-time All-Americans or two-time national champions.