MINNEAPOLIS (2/20/03) -- Augsburg College wrestling alumnus Dan Lewandowski '97 will be inducted into the National Wrestling Coaches Association's Division III Wrestling Hall of Fame on March 6 in Ada, Ohio.
Lewandowski, who won Division III national titles for the Auggies in 1996 and 1997, is the first Augsburg wrestler to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, which 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.
He will be inducted at an NWCA Hall of Fame banquet on March 6 at Ohio Northern University, site of this year's Division III wrestling national championships. Also being inducted are Paul Elsen, who won 177-pound national titles in 1996 and 1997 at Wheaton (Ill.), and longtime coaches Bill Racich of Ursinus (Pa.), Tom Jarman of Manchester (Ind.) and Kerry Volkmann of John Carroll (Ohio).
One of only five Augsburg athletes to win two national titles, Lewandowski earned All-American honors three times (1995, 1996, 1997), qualifying for national tournaments all four years in his Auggie career. He was a member of two national title teams (1995, 1997), a national runner-up squad (1996) and a fourth-place national finisher (1994).
Lewandowski completed his career with a 126-43 record, placing him among the top 20 in school history in career victories. He won two Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference individual championships (1996, 1997) and earned the Rory Jordan Award at the 1996 MIAC tournament for most pins in least amount of time (three in 6:16).
A native of Hastings, Minn., Lewandowski graduated from Augsburg with a computer-science major and a 3.48 grade-point average. He earned NWCA Scholar All-America honors in 1995, 1996 and 1997, and was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America team in 1997. Lewandowski, who also played soccer for the Auggies for two seasons, was named the school's male Honor Athlete in 1997, the highest honor the school gives its senior student-athletes.
After graduating from Augsburg, he served as an assistant coach for the Auggie wrestling program for four seasons (1998-2002), and was part of three national title teams as a coach. He is currently in graduate school at the University of Minnesota.
Lewandowski is one of three members of his family to be Augsburg student-athletes; his brother Nik was a four-time wrestling All-American and national titlist at 184 pounds in 2001, and his sister Teresa was a four-year cross country and track and field athlete.