By Joe Vanden Acker, Director of Athletic Media Relations
    APPLETON, Wis. -- Lawrence University's Andy Kazik capped a perfect season with the school's first NCAA wrestling title.
    A native of De Pere, Wis., Kazik put together a 40-0 record on his way to winning the title at 184 pounds at the 2002 NCAA Division III Championships. It was the perfect ending to a career for Kazik, who was inducted into the Lawrence Hall of Fame in 2012. Along with the national title, he picked up All-America honors for the first time in 2001 when he finished third at 184 in the NCAA Championships.
    Kazik, who compiled a career record of 129-18 for a cool .878 winning percentage, started the NCAA Championships with a pair of relatively easy wins on March 1 at First Union Arena in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 
    Entering the meet as the No. 1 seed and the No. 1-ranked wrestler in the nation at 184, Kazik started with a 14-4 thrashing of Wes Koteski of Washington and Jefferson College on the opening morning of the championships. Kazik then defeated Ben Dusina of Ohio Northern University 7-1 in the quarterfinals that evening.
    Kazik returned the next day for a semifinal matchup with Paul Cleary of Loras College. In a tight match, Kazik posted a 3-1 victory over Cleary, and he would face the No. 2 seed in the championship match that night. The second seed was Ricky Crone of Augsburg College, and he had knocked off Sonny Alvarez of Wartburg College in the other semifinal.
    Kazik was the aggressor against Crone in the opening period, but neither wrestler was able to score a point. Kazik started on the bottom to begin the second period and got the first points of the match midway through that period. He scored a reversal to go up 2-0, but Crone picked up an escape a few seconds later to trim the lead to 2-1.         
    The key moment of the match took place late in the second period when Kazik scored the only takedown of the match with about 35 seconds left to grab a 4-1 advantage heading into the final period. Kazik started on top in the third period and let Crone go with about 1:20 left in the match for an escape to cut the lead to 4-2.
    Crone now needed a takedown to tie the match. Easier said than done against Kazik, who had been taken down just twice in his previous 39 matches that season. Crone was never able to mount a serious challenge for a takedown, and Kazik walked away with the 4-2 victory and a national title.  
    "I'm on top of the world right now," Kazik told Lawrence Sports Information Director Joe Vanden Acker minutes after the match.
    "Andy was in control the entire weekend," Lawrence coach Dave Novickis said that night. "He came here to win a national championship. He proved he was the best in the country, and his 40-0 record speaks for itself."     
    The title also gave Kazik All-America honors for the second consecutive season, and he and Ross Mueller are the only Lawrence wrestlers to accomplish that feat.   


Andy Kazik celebrates after winning the NCAA title.

The Top 25 Countdown ...
No. 25 Lawrence football makes ABC-TV debut vs. Cornell in 1980
No. 24 Lawrence football beats Coe 14-10 in 1986 MWC Championship Game
No. 23 Lawrence women's soccer beats Aurora 2-1 for first NCAA Tournament win
No. 22 Aljay Wren and Nick Maxam team up for 99-yard touchdown pass
No. 21 Remarkable turnaround for women's basketball
No. 20 Jim Miller takes 12th at 1978 NCAA Cross Country Championships
No. 19 Basketball stars Kenya Earl, Brad Sendell chase scoring titles
No. 18 Cross country sweeps Midwest Conference titles in 2021
No. 17 Keven Bradley scores final 20 points for men's basketball in win over Ripon
No. 16 Men's basketball breaks 54-year drought by winning 1997 Midwest Conference title
No. 15 Football beats Ripon in final seconds to secure third straight Midwest Conference title
No. 14 Kate Leventhal runs to All-America cross country honors in 1981
No. 13 No. 1 Lawrence men's basketball team hosts 2006 NCAA Division III sectional
No. 12 (tie) Josh Janusiak runs to All-America honors/1950 cross country team eighth in nation
No. 11 Keven Bradley's buzzer-beater preserves perfect season and delivers Midwest Conference title
No. 10 Mike Gattnar wins NCAA title in epee
No. 9 Mallory Koula's 42-second hat trick
No. 8 1967 football team posts perfect season
No. 7 Men's hockey pulls off epic comeback against St. Norbert
No. 6 Sara Schye pitches Lawrence to pair of NCAA Tournament wins

We reveal No. 4 in the countdown on Aug. 16.