Augustana College Athletics

Jamie Pales’ wrestling career at Augustana included a pair of CCIW and NCAA regional championships and three national tournament appearances, including a fifth-place All-America performance as a senior. Tonight, the ninth-winningest grappler in program history joins the Tribe of Vikings Hall of Fame.
 
A native of Roselle, Illinois, Pales graduated from Lake Park High School, where he was a three-time sectional and two-time state qualifier. As a senior in 1997, he captured the IHSA Class AA 119-pound state championship. He also lettered twice as a center fielder on the Lancer baseball team.
 
Recruited to Augustana by Head Coach Kevin Puebla, Pales immediately established himself at 126 pounds. Late in the season he had a stretch of nine wins in 10 matches, including dominant 15-7 and 13-4 wins to claim the CCIW 126-pound championship. He won four straight matches at the NCAA West Regional at the University of Chicago before falling in the title match, but his second-place finish earned him a trip to the national meet in Waterloo, Iowa. While he dropped both of his matches there, he finished his freshman season with a 28-18 record.
 
As a sophomore, Pales moved to 133 pounds and won his first of three career Al Hanke Invitational championships on his way to posting a 30-11 mark. He finished second at the CCIW Championships and third at the Great Lakes Regional in Appleton, Wisconsin, failing to qualify for the national meet for the only time in his career.
 
During an outstanding junior season in 1999-2000, Pales won individual titles at the All-Lutheran Classic, Augustana Invitational, Al Hanke Invitational and Bi-State Open (at 141 pounds). After another second-place CCIW finish, he claimed the Great Lakes Regional 133-pound championship with a dramatic 10-8 overtime win over top-seeded and defending national runner-up Shawn Thomas of Pacific. His performance earned him the regional’s Most Outstanding Wrestler award.
 
Pales picked up a win at the NCAA Division III Championships in Ada, Ohio, helping the Vikings finish 22nd in the team standings. He finished the year with a team-high 37 wins against just 10 losses. He also led the Vikings in takedowns and earned the team’s Most Improved award.
 
Under new Head Coach Pat Marsh as a senior in 2000-01, Pales served as a team captain and had a huge year, leading Augustana in wins (31-7 record), points, takedowns and near falls. He won another Al Hanke title and pinned Millikin’s Eric Peterson for the CCIW 133-pound championship.
 
Pales claimed his second straight Great Lakes Regional title with a 6-2 win over Steve Mlynarczyk of the University of Chicago. At the national meet in Waterloo, Iowa, Pales won his first two matches to reach the semifinals. A loss there and another in wrestlebacks put him in the fifth-place match against Jason Rogers of Wisconsin-Whitewater. In his final collegiate match, Pales defeated Rogers 5-3 for his 126th career victory, a fifth-place national finish and All-America honors.
 
With a 126-46 record, Pales ranked seventh in program history in wins when he graduated in 2001. Eighteen years later, he still ranks ninth all-time. In addition to all of his accomplishments on the mats, he was also a two-time NCAA Division III Wrestling Coaches Scholar Athlete and a two-time Jack Swartz Award winner.
 
An education major at Augustana, Pales also owns a master’s in education administration. He’s been an English literature teacher at Thomas Kelly High School in Chicago, Illinois since 2002. He coached wrestling from 2003-15—including a brief stint as the Trojans’ head coach—sophomore girls volleyball from 2010-15 and varsity boys golf from 2006-09.
 
Jamie and his wife, Eileen Krotiak, reside in Chicago, Illinois with their daughter, Vivian. They are expecting their second child in October.
 
“My years at Augustana hold some of the fondest memories that I have,” said Pales. “Not only just from wrestling, but my education as well. The people that I met at Augie have remained important to me and will be life-long friends. I was lucky to have two head coaches, Kevin Puebla and Pat Marsh, who believed in me and gave me a chance to wrestle in college. Pat and I are close today and travel quite some distance just to golf together once in a while. On the educational side, I had some wonderful professors who helped shape my views on literature and life. I am extremely grateful to this institution.”