By Mara Allen
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
It’s what all kids dream of: winning a national title with your team. For Seymour High School alumnus Wyatt Kaczrowski, the dream came true earlier this month. On March 11, Kaczrowski and the Augsburg University men’s wrestling team won the NCAA Division III national championship, the school’s 14th title.
Kaczrowski’s journey to being crowned a national champion started at a young age. He began wrestling at 4 years old.
By the time he entered high school, he was already one of the best wrestlers in the state. Kaczrowski was a four-time state qualifier and placer for Seymour, landing himself in second place on the podium his sophomore and senior years. Finishing with a 133-19 high school record, it was a no-brainer for Kaczrowksi to continue his career at the collegiate level.
“I chose to attend Augsburg because of the culture of the wrestling team and the great tradition of wrestling they have,” Kaczrowski said. “I wanted to be a part of a national championship team.
Augsburg wrestling coach Tony Valek praised Kaczrowski as a wrestler and a person.
“Wyatt and the Kaczrowski family have been great contributors to the Augsburg wrestling program and our success. Wyatt is very consistent,” Valek said. “He shows up and gives his best effort every single day in the classroom, on the wrestling mat and in the weight room.”
This season as a sophomore, Kaczrowski finished 22-13 wrestling at the 125 pound weight class.
“My favorite part of the year was wrestling in the national duals and being national duals champs,” he said.
Of course, winning the national title was also one of his favorite memories of this season and his career.
“Winning the championship was surreal knowing my team was the best in the nation,” Kaczrowski said.
Other matches from this season stood out to Valek.
“[Wyatt] stepped up and won some big dual meet matches for us this year,” Valek said. “He won a big swing match in our dual meet win against UW-Eau Claire and he had a win over Christian Guzmon from North Central, who ended up finishing as the third place all-American at the NCAA Championships.”
Kaczrowski credits Seymour wrestling for playing a part in getting him to where he is today.
“Seymour wrestling helped me get to Augsburg by exposing me to the college during my high school years by bringing me to team camp there,” Kaczrowski said.
The rest is history.
Valek has high expectations for Kaczrowski moving forward.
“If Wyatt continues to be consistent in his offseason training, we expect him to contend to be an all-American and national champion in 2024,” Valek said.
Kaczrowski isn’t complacent, either. He has already set similar goals for next season.
“My goals for next year are to be an all-American and to win the championship again,” he said.