Luther's Mitchell named to Hall of Fame

Luther head wrestling coach Dave Mitchell has been named to the National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III Wrestling Coaches Association's Hall of Fame.

Mitchell has coached the Norse for 14 seasons, guiding them to 175-76-6 dual record. He is the school's all-time winningest coach. Mitchell has coached Luther to six top-5 finishes at the Division III National Championships, including school best third-place finishes in both 2004 and 2005. In 2004, he was named NCAA Division III National Coach of the Year.

The program has had eight national champions and four more finalists under Mitchell, who has had 41 total All-Americans at Luther.

Even more impressive is the academic achievements of his wrestlers, which consist of 30 Scholar All-Americans, two NCAA Postgraduate Scholars, four CoSIDA Scholar All-Americans, and two Iowa Conference Scholar Athletes of the Year an award that has only been in existence for nine years.

Mitchell, a former Riceville prep and 167-pound All-American at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in 1993, will be honored in a ceremony March 4 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Cedar Rapids prior to the NCAA Division III National Championships held March 5-6 at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids.

"This is an honor I did not expect and I am very thankful to my colleagues for considering me for it," Mitchell said in a news release. "I have been very fortunate to have the opportunity to coach some outstanding student-athletes, all of whom played huge roles in taking Luther College to a high level. I have also been very fortunate to be surrounded with outstanding people, including my top assistant coach Jeff O'Gara. I share this honor with him as I would not have been inducted had it not been for his dedication, loyalty and great service to our program and the student-athletes."

Mitchell also praised his family for its sacrifice and support.

"I would also like to thank my wife Bridgette and our children Olivia, Cecilia, Isaiah and Elijah," Mitchell said. "As people in the coaching profession know, a coach spends a lot of time away from home. My family has been wonderful in the support they have given me that has allowed us to accomplish the things we have here at Luther."