Standards. Raphael Wilson was all about standards. He lived by them, set them and ultimately, became one.
For a four year period from 1991 until 1995, Raphael Wilson was the definition of excellence in the collegiate wrestling world. An extremely devout young man, he pushed himself to limits in both his faith and his athletic endeavors. When he was not working out on the mat, improving himself, he was counseling young people in hopes of making a “difference”. There were not a lot of idle moments in his life.
The numbers alone are staggering. He finished his career with an incredible record of 175-5-1 for a winning percentage of .970. Of those five losses, four came in the same season. He lost four matches in 1992-93, his sophomore year, including two on the same day at the NCAA Division III national tournament. He would not taste defeat again in his collegiate career, stringing together back-to-back perfect seasons of 45-0 in both 1993-94 and 1994-95.
During his freshman season he went 41-1-1 and won the NCAA Division III national title at 134 pounds. He was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler. The most remarkable thing about that first year was the fact that in his first weekend of competition he suffered a loss and a tie in his first three matches. After starting the year 1-1-1 he ripped off 40 straight victories, culminating with an 11-7 win over Chris Stevens of SUNY-Brockport in the national title match.
Only a performer of Wilson’s caliber would consider what happened in 1992-93 anything but a success. However, after a 44-4 record and “only” a fifth place finish in the NCAA Division III tournament, the introspective Wilson went home from Augustana for the summer heavy with doubt. He credits a chance conversation with then-Viking assistant basketball coach Cecil Youngblood and a summer working with youth in Aurora, Illinois as the key components to snapping him back to reality.
He came back for his junior season in 1993-94 with a rejuvenated outlook and the rest of the small college wrestling world had no defense. He stormed through that year with a perfect 45-0 record and won his second national title with a 6-5 win over John Johnson of Trenton State at 142 pounds. The win over Johnson came in a match that long-time NCAA Division III wrestling observers still refer to as one the classic battles of all time. Johnson was lightning to Wilson’s thunder. With less than a minute left in the match Wilson broke a 4-4 tie with a takedown but Johnson escaped six seconds later. Over the final 44 seconds Wilson was able to hold off several late charges by Johnson to secure the victory and win his second national title.
In his senior year he repeated his 45-0 record and this time had the special memory of winning the national title on his home mat as the Carver Center was the host for the NCAA Division III national tournament. He beat Jamal Fox of Wartburg 2-1 in the championship match for national title number three. After the win, Wilson was overcome with emotion as the enormity of his accomplishment swept over him. It was the 11th time during his career that he had defeated Fox, who was a junior and no doubt glad to see his nemesis graduate in the spring.
Wilson won four straight College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin championships, two at 134 pounds (1992 and 1993) and two at 142 pounds (1994 and 1995). He was named the CCIW’s Most Outstanding Wrestler in 1992, 1993 and 1994. Twice he was the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the NCAA national tournament, winning the honor in 1992 and again in 1994. He was inducted into the NCAA Division III wrestling “Hall of Fame” in 2000.
He helped lead the Vikings to four straight team titles in the CCIW and a 61-11-1 record in dual meets while under the expert tutelage of head coach Kevin Puebla. He won the last 91 matches of his college career.
An Illinois Class AA state champion at 135 pounds out of Waubonsie Valley High School in Aurora, Illinois, Wilson wrestled for former Augustana national champion and Tribe of Vikings Hall of Famer Fred Johnson.
After graduating from Augustana, Wilson continued his combined passion of working with youth and following his faith. He was a family counselor for the Christian Friendliness Youth Center in the Quad Cities before getting a call from the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He joined the program’s Greco-Roman team and spent four years representing his country in competition. He then took a job as a team leader/assistant supervisor for Time Warner Communications from 2001 until 2007.
An ordained elder/minister in the Pentecostal Church, Wilson currently serves as a senior chaplain in the United States Army.
