MINNEAPOLIS — The 13-time NCAA Division III national champion Augsburg University men’s wrestling team has announced organizational changes in its coaching staff, with three-time Auggie All-American Tony Valek ’12 assuming solo head coaching duties, and longtime coach Jim Moulsoff assuming associate head coach duties.
Valek and Moulsoff have served as co-head coaches for the past three seasons, with Moulsoff serving as head coach from 2014-19. Moulsoff has been on the Augsburg coaching staff for 15 seasons, while Valek has been on the coaching staff for nine years. Valek served as associate head coach under Moulsoff from 2015-19. The pair have been a part of six top-five finishes in NCAA Division III national competition since 2015, winning team national championships in 2015 and 2019, finishing second in 2017 and 2018, and finishing fifth in 2016. The Auggies finished third at the 2022 national championships.
The head coaching transition has been planned since 2018, according to Augsburg Athletic Director Jeff Swenson ’79, who led the Auggie men’s wrestling program to 10 national titles in his 25-season tenure (1980-94, 1986-2007) as head coach. Valek and Moulsoff were named co-head coaches in the 2019-20 season.
It’s college wrestling season and here in Minnesota, that means one of the first major events is hosted by Augsburg University in Minneapolis. On Episode 36 of The Guillotine Grapevine, we’ll chat with Augsburg head wrestling coach Jim Moulsoff about the team, the tournament and the landscape of Division III wrestling and we’ll also get a chance to sneak into a back hallway to talk with new Minnesota State assistant coach Ty Eustice.