As a "competitor," Matzek compiled a record of 129-21 and won two NCAA titles at Augsburg. Off the mat, he was a three-time NWCA Scholar All-American, an ESPN The Magazine (CoSIDA) Academic All-District honoree three times, and a first-team selection on ESPN The Magazine’s Academic All-American (CoSIDA) team.
InterMat recently talked to Matzek about having the interim tag removed from his title, the highs and lows of this past season, how Jeff Swenson has mentored him, what it's like coaching against Jim Miller, his expectations for next season, and much more.
Mark Matzek (Photo/The Guillotine)Matzek: First off, I'm really humbled to have this position and excited at the same time to take on this challenge and give these wrestlers a championship experience just like I had when I was here. That's my goal. I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure that happens.
This past season, Augsburg dropped its first dual meet of the season to another MIAC school, St. John's. Augsburg had won the previous 22 meetings against St. John's with many of those meetings being lopsided. What did you learn from that loss?
Matzek: Leave nothing to chance. Never take for granted that these guys are still college guys who need guidance, even seasoned wrestlers do for the first dual meet. They need to be reminded how to prepare for a dual meet. I will train them the same way … like I did the rest of the season. And our dual meet record was pretty good after that. After that dual meet, I took a look at what I used to do to prepare myself for dual meets. Then I talked to the assistant coaches and asked them what they used to do. Then I called up some of the successful Augsburg alumni and asked them what they used to do. We came up with a plan and did pretty much a variation of the same thing to prepare for a dual meet. And then we put that into place and made all of our guys do it … whether they liked it or not. The success we had the rest of the season in dual meets speaks for itself.
Obviously, the expectations at Augsburg are to win the national title every season. This past season, you were ranked No. 1 for the last few months of the season. On the one hand, you had seven All-Americans and an NCAA champion in Jared Massey. On the other hand, you came up short of your team goal of winning the NCAA team title. Describe your emotions after the NCAAs this past March.
Matzek: It was a little bitter sweet. It was a great feeling coming off the mat after Jared Massey had a dominating performance in the finals. But at the same time, we knew that it was our title to lose, especially after the first round when a few of Wartburg's big names went down. That was our window of opportunity. We needed to really take that opportunity in the second round … and we didn't. Second in the nation, maybe in the grand scheme of things, it's not too bad. But our expectation going into that national tournament was to win it. So, like I said, it was a little bitter sweet. We left with a national champion in Jared Massey, but at the same time, we came up a little short. A lot of what ifs. There are a lot of places in that national tournament where I could find 12 points.
This past season, former Augsburg coach Jeff Swenson, who also serves as the athletic director at Augsburg, was on your coaching staff. How involved is Jeff in the day-to-day operations of the wrestling program?
Jeff SwensonAugsburg and Wartburg have dominated Division III college wrestling for many years. Wartburg is coached by Jim Miller, someone who is 30 years older than you. He has won seven national team titles and amassed more than 300 wins. Is it intimidating being so young and competing against a coach who has been around so long and accomplished so much in the sport of wrestling?
Matzek: I wouldn't say it's intimidating. I'm honored to coach against Jim. I relish that opportunity to not only wrestle against him when I competed, but now coach against him. This rivalry has done a lot for Division III wrestling. We had about 1,500 people at our dual meet at Augsburg. I wouldn’t say it's intimidating. I just feel lucky to coach against him and hopefully there are more years to come with that.
In 2009, Mark Matzek led Augsburg to a Nationals Duals title and a runner-up finish at the NCAAs (Photo/The Guillotine)Matzek: My high school, Ellsworth, has a great wrestling coach by the name of Jack Radabaugh. It's a very successful high school wrestling program. And I wanted to continue on in a successful wrestling program. When I came to Augsburg, there was a returning national champion in my weight class. I knew that I was going to have to take my lumps and do my time. But I was confident that I could be successful there. I didn't want to take a step down. We were used to winning every single dual meet. We were used to winning state championships. I wanted to go to a place where when you put on that maroon and white singlet, you're confident, and you’re always in the match no matter the score or who you’re against.
High school wrestling in the state of Minnesota is arguably as strong as it has ever been. In many cases, you are recruiting kids who are also looking at nearby schools, like Minnesota, Minnesota State-Mankato, and St. Cloud State, that can offer athletic scholarships. How do you sell a kid on your program when you are unable to offer athletic scholarships?
Matzek: I feel like it's about the experience you're going to have and living a little bit more of a balanced life. Wrestling is very important to us, but at the same time, there is also a little bit more to life than just wrestling. That's not to say that we're not training them as hard as we used to. I guess what I'm trying to say is that you get a more well-rounded experience at Augsburg. I don’t care what division you are in. Wrestling and competing for a national championship, it doesn’t matter … I don’t care if you are in Division I, Division II, Division III, NAIA, or junior college. If you’re competing for a national championship every single year, that's an experience second to none. I don’t care what division it's in.
The Augsburg wrestling programs has produced some very successful MMA fighters in recent years, most notably Roger Huerta and Marcus LeVesseur. What is your stance on MMA? And how would feel if one of your wrestlers wanted to fight while being a member of the Augsburg wrestling team?
Matzek: Being a member of the team, I wouldn't support it because they have the rest of their lives to do MMA fighting. You have a very small window of opportunity in your life to wrestle at the collegiate level. Four, maybe five years. That's it. In the grand scheme of things, if you're looking at an entire lifetime, that's not very long. To jeopardize that is not in their best interest. But I feel that as sport, we really need to embrace MMA because I think we can somehow work together and promote both our sports at the same time. MMA has taken off. Because there are so many wrestlers getting into MMA, I want wrestling to have a hand in the success of MMA.
As a competitor, Mark Matzek won two NCAA titles at 133 pounds for Augsburg (Photo/The Guillotine)Matzek: They are very similar. But I would say coaching someone to a national championship is better. I think it was Dan Gable who said that helping others succeed is much more gratifying than succeeding on your own. That why I'm into coaching. I want as many of my wrestlers as possible to have that feeling that after the whistle is blown in the national finals … and they have their hand raised and look up in the stands and see 200 to 250 Augsburg wrestling fans rooting them on … and to know that every single thing they did to get there was worth it.
Looking ahead to next season, you return seven starters and four All-Americans, including NCAA champion Jared Massey. Based on what you have returning, plus the recruits you are bringing into the program, how great can Augsburg be next season?
Matzek: I feel like we can be just as good or better than this past year's team. Our goal is to win both the National Duals and the NCAA championship next year. As you said, we have seven starters returning. That’s seventy percent of the starters back. I feel like we'll have great senior leadership next year. That's an intangible that I feel is a necessity to having a national championship team. I'm really excited for next year.
This story also appears in the May 15 issue of The Guillotine. The Guillotine has been covering amateur wrestling in Minnesota since 1971. Its mission is to report and promote amateur wrestling at all levels -- from youth and high school wrestling to college and international level wrestling. For information on how to subscribe, click HERE.
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