The end of February is always a good time to sit down and reflect and enjoy life. Think of all the wonderful things that happened during the month: Ground Hogs Day, Valentine's Day, making snowmen - all the fun stuff that comes to mind.

True, February is also a tough month, the start of a new semester, Valentine's Day, extra-curriculars. However, the end of this month is pressure time. It's when you separate the winners from the losers. It is also post-season for winter sports. And that could only mean one thing, the 2001 MIAC Wrestling Championship.

For the second straight season, the Ole Wrestlers placed third in the Championships, sending one person to Nationals. The overall standings saw Augsburg College take the top spot and the MIAC Title for the 15th straight season. Saint John's University had a good showing at home, taking second ahead of the Oles.

Besides winning their 15th consecutive MIAC title, being first in Division III and being virtually unbeatable (as they claimed nine of the ten automatic bids and sent thier tenth and final wrestler to nationals as a wildcard), Augsburg was not the only story during the day. The Oles were also headlined as sophomore Alex Morf took second place and will represent St. Olaf at the national tournament, taking place in Waterloo, Iowa this weekend.

Following the young leadership of Morf, the rest of the Oles responded nicely. Finishing their careers in fine style, senior captains Shaun Murphy, John Holm and Andy Brown all placed third and took all-conference at 165, 174 and 184 respectively. Holm was named first alternate for the big meet coming up in Iowa over the weekend.

Sophomore Wil Palmieri took home third place and senior Matt Pichietti ended up fourth at Heavyweight.

When speaking to Brown, he sounded pleased with the teams effort. He said that even though they would have liked to send a couple more people to Nationals, the team wrestled well and had a good showing when it came down to crunch time.

Next year, the Oles will be without the services of seven seniors due to graduation. However, with the leadership and dedication they received from Morf this season, the Oles should be prime contenders once again.