Bismarck, North Dakota -- Using great team depth, the Itasca Community College (ICC) Vikings claimed the 1995 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division III National Wrestling Championship. Six Vikings earned All-American status as nine of the ten qualifiers scored points for the team.

The ICC coaching staff had stated all year that the team was very well-balanced, but even they were surprised with the team strength at the national meet. "When you are competing against the best individuals in the nation, it is always surprising to have six All-Americans on one team," stated coach Dr. Mike Rybak. "We try to recruit the best Minnesota wrestlers available and it is a credit to the high school coaches of Minnesota to produce the quality of wrestler that can compete on a national level."

Minnesota wrestlers gaining All-American honors: Jason Widman at 158# from Albany H.S., Mike Goebel 167# from Little Falls and Larry Liljenquist 190# from Aitkin. Also scoring points for the Vikings were: Chip Rankin HWT from Little Falls, Craig Taylor 150# from Pine River and Bemidji product via Fairbanks, AL, Tom Ritchie 142#.

Chad Veenendall 134# from Baldwin-Woodville, WI; Joe Burgess 177# from Bloomer, WI; and Ashantia Avery 118# from Fairbanks, AL obtained All-American awards for ICC. Veenendall became ICC's first two time All-American with the 1995 award. Chad finished his Viking career with a 65-8 record, breaking Viking Assistant Coach Jim Denny's school record of 59 victories.

Viking coach Rybak gave credit to Assistant Coach Mike Schauer for his great recruiting efforts at ICC. After coaching for 11 years in the high school ranks at Foley, Rybak stated that he is aware of the great talent available in Minnesota but Coach Schauer is the driving force to "beat the bushes" to get them on campus. "We have been very fortunate to have 20 to 25 quality wrestlers in the practice room for the past four or five years and the culmination of a national championship represents Coach Schauer's recruiting efforts," praised Rybak. "ICC has also been fortunate to have two additional assistant coaches that have wrestled in the ICC program, Jim Denny and Chad Holm. These young men have provided invaluable individual help and at times moral support for the head coach."

It has been the mission of the Itasca Community College wrestling program to provide a good education for wrestlers who desire to attend a two-year college in a rural setting. In addition to the six wrestling All-Americans, the ICC Squad had six Academic All-Americans. Mike Olson 118# from Eau Claire, WI; Ross Kuehn 158# from St Croix, WI; Tom Ritchie, Craig Taylor, Larry Lilijenquist and Chip Rankin were selected as NJCAA Academic All-Americans. The team grade point average was 2.87 on a 4.0 scale. Seven of the eight on the squad will graduate with an Associate of Arts degree in the spring. Chip Rankin, a two-time Academic All-American, stated, "It is expected of all wrestlers at ICC to do well in the classroom. Coach Rybak will accept nothing less."

It is very rewarding for the college to be part of a National Championship while the wrestlers are meeting their educational goals. The 1994-95 wrestling season was very rewarding for ICC!