Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Ripon

Ripon is a small NCAA Division III school with less than 1,000 students located in Wisconsin.  Known as The Red Hawks, they sponsored varsity wrestling up through the 1993-1994 season. 

Mike Van Boxel
167 lbs 

Going 58-5 during his final two seasons on the mat, Van Boxel won an NCAA Division III title in 1974 & followed it up with a fifth place finish in 1975.  With his wrestling eligibility out, Van Boxel pulled a Steve Mocco & played one year of football while finishing up his degree. That season he made All conference. 

Kurt Searvogel
177 lbs 

After taking runner-up honors at the Wisconsin high school state championships, Searvogel came to Ripon to become the school's first to graduate with a degree in computer science. As a wrestler he took sixth place All American honors at the 1983 NCAA Division III championships. 

Today if you obtain a copy of The Guinness Book of World Records, you will find Kurt Searvogel under the most amount of miles ridden on a bicycle in one year.  He rode 75,065 in less than 365 days.