Tribe of Vikings Hall of Fame
In his 13 seasons as Augustana’s head wrestling coach, from 1987-2000, Kevin Puebla led the Vikings to 12 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin championships and eight top 25 national finishes. His teams posted a dual meet record of 168-57-7, making him the winningest coach in program history. Individually, his grapplers captured 61 CCIW championships, four national titles and claimed All-America honors 21 times. Puebla’s considerable accomplishments have earned him induction into the Tribe of Vikings Hall of Fame.
Puebla enjoyed a stellar amateur career on the mats. At nearby Moline High School in Moline, Illinois, he compiled a record of 101-5-3 for the Maroons. He placed fifth in the state at 119 pounds as a sophomore and fourth at 126 during his junior season. As a senior in 1975, he went 37-0-1 and claimed a state title at 126 pounds.
An AAU national champion, Junior National All-American and Scholastic Wrestling News first team All-American, Puebla went on to wrestle collegiately at the University of Illinois. He put together a career record of 105-27-4 and when he graduated, held Illini school records for single-season and career wins.
Puebla’s collegiate coaching career began at his alma mater, where he served six seasons as an assistant coach.
In 1987, Puebla had some big shoes to fill, taking over for Dennis Riccio as head coach of the Viking program. Riccio had won seven conference championships in his eight years, but the new Viking mentor didn’t miss a beat. His first outfit won Augustana’s seventh straight CCIW title and crowned four individual conference champions.
By his third season, Puebla had led the Vikings to two more league titles and firmly entrenched Augustana as a top 20 national program. In six seasons from 1989-95, his teams went 67-13 in dual meets and finished no lower than 17th in the nation. His 1990-91 squad went 23-1, setting a school record for dual-meet wins before finishing fifth in the nation behind Craig Wagner's national title-winning performance. The next year, with Raphael Wilson claiming his first of three national championships, the Vikings went 18-4 and were fourth in the nation—the highest finish in program history. They finished 16-1 and eighth in the nation in 1994-95 as Wilson earned his third crown.
Under Puebla’s direction, Wilson compiled a 175-5-1 record at 134 and 142 pounds from 1991-95. Wagner went 151-22-5 from 1989-93. The two rank first and third in career wins at Augustana.
Puebla’s final five seasons yielded four more CCIW team titles. His 1997-98 squad went 20-7 in dual meets and crowned seven individual conference champions and his final two editions each finished 22nd at the NCAA Division III Championships.
During his time with the Vikings, Puebla served as Tournament Director for the 1991 and 1995 NCAA Division III Championships in Rock Island. Augustana also hosted a pair of Illinois High School Association State Team Dual Championships.
A member of the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association (IWCOA) and NCAA Division III Halls of Fame, Puebla was also inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in October of 2018, receiving the Lifetime Service Award from the organization’s Illinois chapter.
Puebla calls his time with the Vikings “very rewarding and memorable.” He adds that he “enjoyed being associated with all the great student athletes and watching them have success during their time at Augustana, but also continued success since.”
Kevin, a national account manager for DAS Companies, lives in Moline with his wife, Carolyn. They are parents to daughters Theresa, Lily and Alexis. The family also includes sons-in-law Tim and Ricky and grandchildren Charlie, Cohen and Caroline.
