College Wrestling: Rager builds powerhouse at RCTC | Brainerd Dispatch

The Pequot Lakes graduate and head wrestling coach at Rochester Community and Technical College is coming off a season in which he won his third NJCAA Division III National Championship in seven years. When he was in seventh grade, Pequot Lakes and Pine River-Backus combined wrestling programs to become the Road Crew. “I want to say we were in the cafeteria at Pine River trying to figure out what the name was going to be and what the colors were going to be and all that,” Rager said. When he graduated high school in 1994, he finished with 154 wins, most in program history. That kid is Conner Tulenchik, who is at 128 wins total and is coming off a second place in state individuals as a sophomore. Rager attended college at the University of Minnesota-Morris and notched 162 wins, making him the all-time winnest Division II wrestler. Rager is now a member of the Pequot Lakes and Minnesota Morris hall of fame. His dad owns a seasonal resort RV park on Loon Lake. It’s like you’re out doing hard work whether you are a farmer plowing in the field or you are in the classroom teaching. Like discipline and perseverance and goal setting and those are things to be successful and now I am doing that with my boy.”