Gone, Lost & Forgotten: Their Best = Lawrence

I met coach Dave Novikis at the Coe Invitational the season of 2003-2004.  He was impressed by my enthusiasm & passion for the sport.  He talked to me about my plans for the future & I told him that I was planning on going to college, had narrowed it down to a few schools & planned to study theatre.  He asked me if I was going to wrestle. I told him I hadn't made up my mind.  He said he'd like me to think about Lawrence.  That's when I made sure that he understood who he was talking to.  I told him I had never gone to state.  My records up to that point had been 11-17 as a freshman, 14-25 as a sophomore & 13-12 as a junior.  I wasn't anyone that anyone was going to want to recruit.  He said he had a lot of guys on his team that had never gone to state.  Guys on his team with worse records than mine.  Told me that at Lawrence they didn't believe in weight cutting & that he saw them putting me into the weight room & making me a 165'er.  (Trust me, I was little back then. Not the tub of lard 215 lbs that I am now).   He said he wanted guys on his team that had a real passion for the sport.  Then we talked about his HWT for a while & how he once took Garrett Lowney down in a match.  A kid that never made state that took down an Olympic bronze medalist in a match.   

That April I received a letter in the mail from Coach Novickis.  A questionnaire & information about Lawrence wrestling as well as the school itself.  Saying best of luck on whatever I chose to do & that at Lawrence I would be welcomed as a walk-on into the wrestling room.  

I of course chose other opportunities, but I look back on those moments sometimes.   I'd hate to think of the out of state tuition I would have paid in Appleton, Wisconsin, but I can't help but wonder what if I had gone that route.  

If I would have, my senior season could have ended up the final year of the program.  Lawrence dropped wrestling after the 2008-2009 season.  I can only imagine that if I had been a Viking how intensified my passion to write about dropped programs would be. 

Lawrence won conference titles in 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002 & 2003.   In 2001 they finished in tenth place at the NCAA Division III tournament. 

Michael Hoskins
167 lbs 

A four time NCAA Division III qualifier, Hoskins took fifth place All American honors in 1998. 

Ross Mueller
174 lbs 

A graduate of Richfield High school, Mueller put together a career record of 105-23 earning back to back third place All American finishes in 2000 & 2001.  

He later served as an assistant coach at Lawrence before becoming a Spinal Implant consultant. 

Andy Kazik
184 lbs 

Andy Kazik finished third at the 2001 NCAA Division III championships as a junior before capping his career off going 40-0 winning the national title as a senior in 2002.   He now operates a Jujitsu club in Green Bay.