APPLETON, Wis. -- Lawrence University's Dave Novickis will be inducted into the Division III Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Fame in March 2009.
Novickis, who has been the Vikings' head coach for 16 seasons, will be inducted on March 5 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, which is the site of the NCAA Division III Championships.
"This is a great honor for Lawrence University and the wrestling program and all the men who have wrestled for me," Novickis said. "I accept this honor on behalf of the university and myself."
Novickis was the architect of the Lawrence wrestling program's rise to national prominence in the 1990s.
Novickis coached three Midwest Conference champions and 27 conference placewinners from 1994 until the league discontinued the sport in 1997. The Vikings also established themselves on the national stage during this time. Lawrence started a string in 1994 of nine consecutive seasons with at least one national qualifier. Of Lawrence's 30 national qualifiers, 18 have come during Novickis' 16 seasons at the helm of the team.
Novickis coached Mike Hoskins to four consecutive NCAA Division III Championships appearances, and he became the school's first wrestling All-American in 1998. Lawrence then sent a school-record three wrestlers to the NCAA Division III Championships in 2000.
The Vikings followed that with a 10th-place finish at the 2001 NCAA Championships, which is Lawrence's highest team finish at the national meet. Also in 2001, Lawrence had two All-Americans in the same season for the first time in school history when Ross Mueller took third at 174 pounds and Andy Kazik claimed third at 184.
Kazik took it a step further in 2002 when he won Lawrence's only individual national wrestling title at 184 pounds. Kazik put together a perfect 40-0 record during that season.
The Vikings also achieved their first national ranking during the 1998-99 season, and Lawrence would be ranked as high as ninth during the 2000-01 season.
Novickis oversaw Lawrence's move to the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for the 2002-03 season and coached Ben Dictus, a three-time national qualifier, to an individual title at 184 in 2005. Even with the move to the WIAC, Lawrence maintained its close ties to the state's other private colleges. The Vikings won the Private College Championships in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, and 2003, and Lawrence took the team title at the inaugural Northern Wrestling Association Tournament in 2007.
Novickis, who began his coaching career in 1978, has received numerous individual awards. He was the Division III District 9 Coach of the Year in 1997, 1999, and 2000. He was the 1998 NCAA Great Lakes Regional Coach of the Year and also won the Northern Wrestling Association Coach of the Year award in 2007.
The Vikings also have flexed their muscle in the classroom during Novickis' tenure. Lawrence has had 19 Scholar All-Americans during the past 16 years, and the Vikings had at least one wrestler chosen for 14 consecutive years.
Wartburg College coach Jim Miller also will be inducted. Three wrestlers, Ithaca College's Mike Fusilli, Cortland State's Rick Armstrong, and John Carroll University's Brad Bowman also will be inducted.