5th-Ranked Augsburg Women's Wrestling Aims For Postseason Push
MINNEAPOLS (WCCO) --Now in its third season in existence, the Augsburg women's wrestling team is one of the best in the country and hosted a rare home meet Saturday.
Augsburg women's wrestling is ranked 5th in the NCAA, and Saturday they brought in two NAIA teams, #18 Iowa Wesleyan and #13 University of Jamestown.
"We're training to be national champions, so it's a good test to see where we're at and where we need to be," junior Emily Shilson said.
The Auggies beat Jamestown and Iowa Wesleyan handily. COVID and injury absences played a role in the wide margin of victory.
"It is what it is," head coach Jake Short said. "We're just blessed that we get to go out and compete every single day. I'm just thankful for the fans who are able to make it out here and support this group of women."
A group that's led by back-to-back NCAA champion Shilson, won her only official match on Saturday by a quick technical fall.
"My match, I'm not super happy with because I made some mistakes and didn't take every opportunity that I had. But it's a learning experience and gonna get better because of it," Shilson said, who is the number one ranked wrestler in the country in her 109-pound weight class.
"I'll go out on a limb and say Emily will be an Olympic world champ at the senior level," Short said.
This was the last of just two home meets for Augsburg this season. It came and went in record time.
"When you still get those matches, it's all worth it," Short said. "You get to see some high-level wrestling."
Augsburg is still the only women's college wrestling program in Minnesota. Down a level, the Minnesota State High School League recently sanctioned a girls wrestling state tournament, an experience Shilson didn't get when she wrestled with the boys at Mounds View High School.
"It's just gonna keep growing," she said. "We're going to be competitive with the states that have had girls wrestling at the high school level for a long time and I'm really excited to see how the future goes for women's wrestling in Minnesota."