Seth Flodeen

Seth Flodeen was a 125-pound wrestler for Augsburg College. He was a three-time All-American, having placed first at the 2008 National Championships, second in 2007 and fourth in 2009.

In high school, Flodeen wrestled for Cannon Falls High School of Cannon Falls, Minnesota and placed third at 119 in 2005, second at 119 in 2004 and fifth at 103 in 2003.

2005–06 season
Flodeen made his debut for Augsburg at the Auggie-Brute-Adidas Open on November 19, 2005. He finished second, going 3-1 in the 125 Gold Division. In his first match at the open, Flodeen earned his first collegiate pin, with a 2:52 fall over Jamestown first-year Scott Thompson. Flodeen then faced second-seeded Jimmy Marx (Rochester CC), whom we beat by 4-2 decision. In the semi-finals, Flodeen defeated Ellsworth CC's Shamar Haynes 11-5. In the title match of the open, Flodeen lost to top-ranked Terry Morgan of Loras, 16-7.

Flodeen made his varsity debut against Division II opponent Dave Burgard of Minnesota State-Moorhead on November 23. Flodeen won by a 7-6 decision. At the Minnesota State University Moorhead Dragon Open on December 3, Flodeen went 4-2, finishing fifth. Flodeen earned another victory over a Divisision II opponent, this time a 7-3 victory over Kurt Smith of Southwest Minnesota State University on December 6. Flodeen went 2-2 at the St. Cloud State Invitational on December 10, finishing in fourth place. On December 28, Flodeen finished 2005 with a weight-class title at the Sunshine Open Tournament.

Flodeen began the season with a 9-4 loss to Division II wrestler Chris Trampe of Augustana (S.D.) during a home dual meet on January 3. On January 7, Flodeen began 2006 with a 3-2, fourth place finish at the Dickinson State University Blue Hawk Classic. At the National Duals on January 14, Flodeen split a pair a 3-1 decisions, winning the first one over Augustana's Leo Bird, but loosing the second to Cornell's Chris Heilman. On the second day of the duals, Flodeen lost twice, the first by fall to Pat Parrillo (UW LaCrosse) 0:40 and then to second-ranked Tyler Hubbard (Wartburg), 12-5. On January 18, Flodeen defeated Tim Thompson (St. John's), 8-4.

On January 21, Flodeen competed at the Northwestern College (Iowa) Red Raider Invitational. In the first round, Flodeen pinned Evan Bowder at 5:36. In the quarter-finals, Flodeen earned a 8-6 decision over Greg Smith (York), and followed that by a 9-4 decision over Isacc Wall (Newman). In the finals, Flodeen topped NAIA fifth-ranked Craig Trampe of Dana College 8-2 to claim the title.

On January 27, Flodeen fell to Division II second-ranked Cody Garcia of Division II top ranked University of Nebraska-Omaha in a 9-5 decision. Flodeen fell again on February 1, this time to Division III top-ranked Tyler Hubbard of Wartburg, in a 17-8 major decision.

On February 4, Flodeen competed at the Wisconsin-Eau Claire Invitational. After receiving a bye in the first round, and earned a 17-2 technical fall over Jeremey Johnson (UW Whitewater) and a 13-0 major decision over Jared Kern (UW Stevens Point) in the semi-finals. In the finals, Flodeen defeated Kyle Anderson (North Central), 7-2.

On February 10, Flodeen lost to Jake Calhoun (UW Stevens Point), in a 10-4 decision to close out the regular season.

Regionals
After earning the starting position early in the season, Flodeen competed for Augsburg at the 2006 Great Lakes Regional held in Chicago, Illinois on the campus of the University of Chicago on February 18. Flodeen earned the second seed.

Flodeen earned a bye in the first round and in the quarter-finals, earned a 4-0 decision over David Copp (Lakeland). In the semi-finals, Flodeen earned a 10-1 major decision over Leland Brincefield (Concordia College). In the title match, Flodeen lost to top-seeded Tom Gagan of Elmhurst.

In the true second match, Flodeen pinned third-seeded Leo Byrd (Augustana) at 3:59. Flodeen was not chosen as a wild-card entrant to the National Championship and ended his season with a 28-15 record.

2006–07 season
Flodeen began his sophomore season as the eighth-ranked wrestler at 125 pounds.

He began the season wrestling unattached at the Auggie-Brute-Adidas Open on November 18. He opened the tournament with a 10-2 major decision over York's Kevin Gray. He then earned a 6-0 decision over Jered Fields (Jamestown) and a 3-1 decision over Rochester CC's Brian Beilke. He then shared the title with teammate Jamie Rocha.

Flodeen was not active again for over a month when he went to 2-0 to claim a share of the 125-pound title at the Sunshine Open Tournament in Lakeland, Florida on December 28 and 29. Flodeen shared the title with teammate Jamie Rocha.

Flodeen then lost to Division II eighth-ranked Chris Trampe (Augustana) in a 7-6 decision on January 3, 2007. He then went 2-1 at the Dickinson State University Blue Hawk Classic on January 6.

Flodeen began the National Duals with the number 3 ranking at 125 pounds. In the first dual against against Simpson, Flodeen pinned Tony Hager in 47 seconds. In the quarter-finals against no. 17 Cornell, Flodeen defeated second-ranked Chris Heilman 4-3. Flodeen then suffered a 5-3 overtime loss to fourth-ranked Brandon McDonough of Johnson and Wales. In the final dual, Flodeen topped Wartburg's seventh-ranked Rob Struthers 6-3.

Flodeen then went 4-0 at the Northwestern College (Iowa) Red Raider Invitational on January 20, including two first-period pins and a 6-5 decision over the NAIA sixth-ranked wrestler and a 2-0 decision over the third-ranked NAIA wrestler. Three days later, Flodeen earned a 10-2 major decison over Division II foe Casey Dschaak (Minnesota State Moorhead). Flodeen earned another Division II victory with an 11-3 major decision over Nebraska-Omaha's Jimmy Ball on January 23. Flodeen earned his third victory in a row over a Division II opponent when he earned a fall over Westy Hanson at 3:17 on January 28.

Flodeen could not extend his nine-match winning streak when he lost a 6-2 decision to Rob Struthers (Wartburg) on February 1. Flodeen rebounded with a 9-0 major decision over UW Stevens Point's Jake Calhoun on February 9.

Regionals
Flodeen competed for Augsburg at 125 pounds at the 2007 Great Lakes Regional on February 17. Ranked third in the nation, he earned the first seed.

Flodeen earned a first-round bye and in the quarter-finals, pinned Joseph Norton (North Central) at 2:54. In the semi-finals, he earned an 11-0 major decision over fourth-seeded David Copp (Lakeland). In the title match, Flodeen defeated Jake Oster (Elmhurst) 7-4 and earned an automatic berth in the 2007 National Championships.

Nationals
Flodeen competed for Augsburg at 125 pounds at the 2007 National Championships and earned the third seed behind Nate Hansen (Luther) and Brandon McDonough (Johnson and Wales).

Flodeen earned a first-round bye and faced Felipe Queiroz (Wilkes), whom he defeated 4-2 in the first sudden victory period. In the quarter-finals, he faced Rob Struthers (Wartburg). Flodeen defeated the sixth-seeded Struthers 5-2. In the semi-finals, Flodeen faced second-seeded Brandon McDonough, and earned a 14-7 upset victory to reach the title match.

In the title match, Flodeen faced top-ranked Nate Hansen. In the first period, Hansen scored a takedown at 1:15 and Flodeen earned an escape 25 seconds later. The first period ended 2-1 in favor of Hansen. In the second period, Flodeen choose down and escaped at 3:55 to tie the match at 2-2. Hansen choose down in the third period and escaped at 5:50 to give him a 3-2 advantage Flodeen couldn't counter.

The second-place honor was Flodeen's first All-American award. He finished his season with a 25-5 record.

2007–08 season
As a junior, Flodeen compiled a 25-7 and won the 125-pound title at the 2008 National Championships.

2008–09 season
Flodeen began the 2008–09 season as the defending national champion and the top-ranked wrestler at 125 pounds. On December 6, 2008, Flodeen went 3-0 at the Minnesota State University Moorhead Dragon Open to claim the championship with 2 pins and an 8-0 major decision. Flodeen next competed at the St. Cloud State University Husky Open on December 13, where he finished in second place after losing 10-5 to Division II sixth-ranked wrestler Cody Zimmerman of Wisconsin-Parkside in the title match.

After nearly a month off, Flodeen opened 2009 at the national duals, where he earned a 17-1 technical fall over Buena Vista's Kyle Donlan at 2:35, a forfeit victory over Johnson and Wales. Flodeen then lost to fifth-ranked Chris Sheetz of Delaware Valley before defeating Wartburg's Mark Kist 6-5. In the next individual rankings, Flodeen fell to fifth at 125 pounds.

On January 16, Flodeen was pinned again, this time by Division I wrestler Trent Sprenkle of North Dakota State University. Against Division II opponent Al Meger of Augustana, Flodeen earned a key major decision to seal an Augsburg victory in the dual meet on January 20. Three days later, Augsburg, the top-rannked school in Division III, traveled to Division II top ranked University of Nebraska-Omaha. Flodeen earned a 5-2 decision over Matt Rein, only one of three Augsburg victories in the dual.

Augsburg hosted Wartburg on January 30 in the annual Battle of the Burgs. Flodeen earned a 7-2 victory over Mark Kist in the first sudden victory period. Flodeen then pinned Division II opponent Corey Ulmer of Minnesota State Moorhead at 4:36.

On February 7, Flodeen went 2-1 at the St. John's North Country Open, to place third. Flodeen won his first match, a 1:25 pin over John Dutch of Itasca Community College. He then lost his second match, 7-6 against Jake Fredricksen (UW-Whitewater), earned an injury default victory of teammate Ky Olsen before pinning Lloyd McKinney (UW LaCrosse) at 1:47 in the third-place match.

Flodeen finished regular season competition with a 6:35 pin of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point's Joe Mileski.

Regionals
Flodeen competed at 125 pounds at the 2009 Great Lakes Regional and drew the second seed behind top-ranked Jake Oster of Elmhurst.

Flodeen faced Ian Peppel of St. Olaf in the first round and won by fall at 2:05. In the second round, Flodeen faced seventh-seeded David Copp of Lakeland and won by fall at 4:20. In the semi-finals, Flodeen pinned sixth-seeded Jimmy Schoettle of the University of Chicago at 4:24.

In the final, Flodeen faced Oster, to whom he lost to earlier in the year. Flodeen fell by pin at 2:10.

Flodeen advanced to nationals with a true-second match decision over fourth-seeded Joe Norton of North Central College, 4-0.

Nationals
Fourth-ranked Flodeen represented Augsburg at 125 pounds and earned the fourth seed. Flodeen began the tournament with a 20-5 record. In the first round, all wrestlers at 125 pounds were given byes.

In the second round, Flodeen faced Lloyd McKinney (UW-LaCrosse), whom he had beaten once earlier in the season. Flodeen earned his first pin of the tournament at the 1:37 mark of the second period. In the quarter-finals, Flodden fell to fifth-seeded Seth Ecker (Ithaca), by a 7-3 decision. In the third round of the wrestlebacks, Flodeen faced Jerrad Hoxie (Heidelberg), whom he pinned at 4:27. In the quarter-finals of the wrestle-backs, Flodeen pinned eighth-seeded Tyler Erdman (Elizabethtown). In the wrestleback semi-finals, Flodeen faced Coe's second-seeded Clayton Rush, whom he had pinned in the 2008 national title match. Flodeen pinned Rush at 1:41, 27 seconds quicker than he had done the previous year. In the third-place match, Flodeen faced Wartburg's Mark Kist. Despite two previous wins over Kist that season, Flodeen lost by a 5-3 decision.

The fourth-place finish was the third All-American honors in Flodeen's career. Flodeen received the most falls in the least time award with four falls in 16 minutes.

Statistics
The 2006–07 stats (outside of the wins and losses) are current through January 28, 2007 and do not reflect Flodeen's final 12 matches.