Sam BarberRevWrestling.com recently caught up with the new Augsburg head coach, and asked him if he feels any pressure to carry on the storied tradition at Augsburg, his thoughts on the upcoming season, what teams he expects to challenge in Division III this season, his views on MMA, the current state of wrestling in Minnesota, and much, much more.
You are replacing a coaching legend, Jeff Swenson, as Augsburg's eighth head wrestling coach. How much pressure do you feel to carry on the storied tradition of the Augsburg wrestling program?
Barber: Not too much, Andrew. Actually, no one's expectations for this program are higher than my own. The alumni, the state, the fans, the state of Minnesota, I don't feel any pressure from those people to do well. I want it for my own expectations for this program and what I expect to do as a coach. It's not a situation where I feel a lot of pressure quite honestly.
Alan Rice's generous donation to the Augsburg wrestling program has allowed for a new wrestling room to be built, which opened in January. What has it been like working in the new wrestling room?
Barber: It's real nice. It's full of full-size mats. It's 7,000 square feet of wrestling mat. We have cardio machines in there and an area for people to come in and watch practice. We have three scoreboards. It's just a great room. It's a great facility. The real benefit has been that the entire state of Minnesota has benefited from the room. It's not only our program that trains in here, but it's also the regional training site for the metro area and the Storm. So Greco and freestyle train here on Mondays and Wednesdays in the spring. And they average about a hundred athletes per training session. And Pinnacle Wrestling is here as well, with their youth program, and their high school program, and they average between 60 and 80 wrestlers. So there's stuff going on in the room all the time and it benefits a lot of different people. Obviously, it benefits our program, but there's wrestling-related stuff going on in the room every day of the week, all year round, 12 months of the year. It has really been a good benefit and it has gotten used by a lot of people, the entire wrestling community.
Aside from the coaching changes and the new wrestling room, will there be any other significant changes in the program?
Jeff SwensonWith those things already in place, and the things that I believe in for this program, we're going to continue to run the program based on those principles. On the wrestling side of it, I think that we have a great system here at Augsburg. We're technically sound. We attack and score points. And we're focused in the top position. We're going to work hard on the recruiting trail to make sure that we have the best athletes in our program and make sure that everyone has the opportunity to wrestle a great schedule.
You return six of your nine All-Americans from last season. Will anything less than a national title be considered a disappointing season?
Barber: We don't talk about winning a national title much. We always talk about when the season starts we'll get ready for the Auggie Open. Then we'll get ready for the Dragon Open. Then we'll get ready for the Augustana dual. We don't look ahead very much. We just take it one day at a time, one run, one lift, one practice at a time, getting one percent better every day. We do those things and hope that we'll have an opportunity to contend for a national title in March, but the focus really isn't on the end, but on the journey.
What schools do you expect to challenge for the national title?
Barber: I think that there are a lot of good schools out there in Division III. There are some great coaches in Division III too. Wartburg is tough every year. La Crosse has a great program. Luther is tough. Those three schools, along with Augsburg, have been in the top four the last few years. But there are a lot of other schools that are good. Buena Vista, where Mark Schwab is coaching, is tough. There are some schools out East that are tough too.
What are some highlights on your schedule this season?
Barber: I'm excited about the Auggie Open. There are now nine mats, rather than six mats, with the new wrestling room. The day after the Auggie Open, we're having a youth tournament. We're excited about that. We have Augustana at home on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. The Nationals Duals, Nebraska-Omaha, La Crosse, Wartburg, Great Lakes Regional. We have a great schedule.
Are you still involved with Minnesota/USA Wrestling? And if so, what is your role?
Barber: Yeah, I'm the FILA Junior and University Director. And I'm the head Junior freestyle coach. So I coach the Junior Duals team and the Junior Nationals team in Fargo.
Marcus LeVesseur (Photo/The Guillotine)Barber: Not at this point. He's pursuing own interests and fighting MMA, while finishing his degree. He's pretty busy with that stuff and has a travel schedule.
Do you expect Marcus to ever wrestle competitively again? Or do you see him focusing strictly on mixed martial arts (MMA)?
Barber: You'll have to ask Marcus that question.
On the topic of MMA, another former Augsburg wrestler, Roger Huerta, has gone on to find great success in the UFC. He was featured on the May 28 issue of Sports Illustrated. What do you make of his success in the UFC?
Roger HuertaOverall, do you think MMA is good for wrestling?
Barber: I think it's good for wrestling post-collegiate years. I think we need to be careful. You have guys that aren't going to go onto college and get a college education, because they can make $500 some Saturday night fighting. As MMA gets better, it's going to be tougher for guys to be successful and make money. I'm worried about guys who won't go onto college so that they can pursue MMA careers. The other thing that it's going to affect is international wrestling. The more that guys like Johny Hendricks and Jake Rosholt don't pursue Olympic medals, the more it's going to affect our performance on the international level. Not that those guys will necessarily make the team, but the guy that makes the World Team has to be as good as the competition. You want that pool to be real deep. Obviously, wrestling gets a lot of publicity as a result of MMA … and that side of it is really good. I'm just concerned about guys that forgo collegiate wrestling, or try both, and some guy is fighting in November, breaks his hand, so he can't wrestle until January or February.
So, right now, collegiate athletes can compete in MMA events?
Barber: Yeah, and also international events. You can get paid $30,000 to fight in the UFC and still be NCAA eligible.
Do you expect to finish your coaching career at Augsburg? Or do you have aspirations of someday coaching at the Division I level?
Barber: I would love nothing better than to retire from Augsburg College. I wrestled Division III. I love the idea of being a student-athlete first. The students here are not here for scholarships. But they're here because they choose to be here. They train every bit as hard. They may not be as talented as Division I athletes, but as far as the effort that goes into pursing their dreams, they give one-hundred percent. I love the Division III aspect of it. Augsburg is a great place. I would say Augsburg is one of the top 30 college wrestling jobs in the country. We have a great facility. We have a great tradition. We have great support. We have a great location. We have a great pool of athletes to choose from in the state of Minnesota. Wrestling is important here in the state of Minnesota and at Augsburg. It's a great place to get an education. I believe in the product I'm selling from the education side of it. I think if guys come here, they're going to get an education, a good job, and become men. This is a wonderful opportunity for me to be at Augsburg. I plan to be here a long, long time.
Obviously, a lot of your wrestlers come from the state of Minnesota. What can you say about the talent coming out of the high school ranks in Minnesota?
Barber: Well, this is a great senior class coming up. I was just looking at the high school rankings in WIN Magazine. We have a guy ranked in the top 15 in the nation at almost every weight. Population wise, we're not even close to being one of the bigger states in the country. If I'm not mistaken, we were fourth in the country this year as a state, all age groups, all styles. I think that speaks volumes of where we are as a wrestling state. School of Champions, Pinnacle, and Competitive Edge, those three schools are opportunities for year-round training for youth wrestling. The work of guys like Cole Konrad, Jared Lawrence, and Brandon Eggum is raising the bar, raising the level of where our youth will be. Some of the young kids coming up are just unbelievable.
Is there anything else you would you would like to add?
Barber: I'm real fired up about our coaching staff. Mark Matzek is a full-time assistant. He has my old job now. Mark was a three-time All-American for Augsburg, two-time national champ, and three-time scholar All-American with a 3.47 GPA. He's going to be a great young coach. Jim Moulsoff has 18 years of coaching experience. He's the Cadet Director in Minnesota. He's loved by just about everyone. He has great passion for the sport of wrestling. Jared Evans was a three-time All-American for Augsburg. We were able to bring him on staff as our first-ever graduate assistant. Mike Uker is back for his fifth year. He was a two-time All-American for Iowa. He wrestled on four national championship teams under Dan Gable. Jamell Tidwell is back again. He was a three-time All-American for the Auggies … and a huge success story. His road to where he right now is very inspirational. He's a great kid. Ryan Rettke is back with us. He was a two-time All-American at Mankato. Andrew Neumann, our heavyweight last year, is on our coaching staff. He was an All-American for us. John Peterson is coaching with us. Jon was an Olympic champion and silver medalist. It's a great staff. Jeff Swenson will still be involved with the wrestling program. His official title is Camp Director for Augsburg Wrestling Camps. And he's also the Director of Wrestling Alumni Relations at Augsburg.
Please Note:This story also appears in the October 12 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 The Guillotine, Click HERE.
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