Augie Wrestling Camps

Coaching Staff

Tom Meester
Assistant Coach

Tom Meester is in his fourth season as an assistant coach on the Viking wrestling coaching staff, working primarily with the upper weights.

Now in his third season as head coach Jason Reitmeier's top assistant, Meester has taken on a greater role in the recruiting process.

In addition, he is in his third year as an assistant director for the Augustana Strength and Conditioning Program.

Meester is one of the most decorated athletes in Augustana history and one of the best wrestlers in NCAA Division II history.

Meester, who posted a 137-20 career record, was a three-time national qualifier and All-American. As a junior and senior he won the national title at 184 pounds to become Augustana’s second two-time national champion and the Vikings’ first national champion since head coach Jason Reitmeier won a national crown in 1997.

After winning his second national title and helping the Vikings to a runner-up finish in the team standings in 2005, Meester was named the NWCA Outstanding Wrestler at the NCAA Championships. In addition, he was named the 2004-05 North Central Conference Wrestler of the Year and was the Outstanding Wrestler at the 2005 National Duals.

Meester, who went three years without losing to a Division II opponent, began his career in 2001-02 by placing third in the nation at 174 pounds. The next season he was ranked No. 1 in the nation much of the season, but he did not advance to nationals after he became ill at the regional tournament.

Meester continues to compete at the national level, finishing in fifth place at 185 pounds at the 2009 Las Vegas/ASICS U.S. National Championships in May to advanced to the 2009 World Team Trials in Council Bluffs, Iowa, where he battled for a top 6 finish in the 84KG/185-pound weight class. He was one match shy of the third-place match, with the top three wrestlers earning spots to represent the United States later this summer in Denmark.

A Rock Rapids, Iowa native, he graduated in May of 2006 with a degree in elementary education and currently has a teaching position with Lincoln High School in Sioux Falls.