Senior wrestler captures NCAA title
Senior Rami Ratel capped off one of the finest seasons in Montclair State
wrestling history as he captured the 149-pound national title in helping
the Red Hawks finish fourth at the National Collegiate Athletic Association
(NCAA) Division III Championships held at Ohio Northern University on
March 8.
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| Rami Ratel |
Montclair State posted its 17th top 10 finish at the NCAA tournament and registered 69 points. Wartburg College won the team title with 166.5 points, breaking Montclair State's record for team points in a tournament. Augusburg College finished second followed by Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
Ratel posted a 12-4 major decision over Garrett Kurth of Luther College
to finish the season at 39-0. Named the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the
Tournament, Ratel becomes the first Red Hawk to record and undefeated
season since Jim Sloan went 36-0 in 1993. Ratel's win total is the third-highest
in MSU history, trailing only John and Karl Monaco's 43-win campaigns
in the 1988 and 1985, respectively. Ratel and Brad Christie posted 40-win
seasons in 2000. He is the seventh MSU athlete to win the Outstanding
Wrestler Award and the first since Pete Gonzalez in 1989. Ratel went 5-0
in the tournament recording a pin three technical falls and a major decision.
"Coming into this weekend I expected to do my best," said Ratel,
who finished his career with a 132-9 record, which includes 62 victories
by pinfall. "I've always wanted to be a national champion and I tried
to keep mentally focused and take one match at a time. I have been waiting
for this my whole life."
Ratel, who also was named an All-American, becomes the 29th individual
champion for Montclair State as the Red Hawks extended their NCAA Division
III Record. Montclair also had four other wrestlers earn All-American
honors -- Eduard Aliakseyenka, who finished as the runner-up at 174 pounds;
Dennis Gaul, who placed fourth at 184 pounds; and Bill Deniz and Gary
Mikolay who were eighth at 165 and 133 pounds, respectively.
The Montclair State Wrestling Team also placed in the top 20 of the 2003 National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Division III All-Academic Team for its outstanding record on the mat as well as the classroom. In addition, three individuals also were named NWCA Academic All-Americans: Bulet Bill Deniz, Azat Nougumanou and Eduard Aliakseyenka.
Alumnus--the 'Johnny Appleseed of Philosophy'--
returns to campus for March 19 lecture
Christopher Phillips '97 M.Ed., dubbed the "Johnny Appleseed of Philosophy"
by Public Radio International, will present "Philosophical Communities
In and Out of the Academy" on Wednesday, March 19, at 8 p.m. in Dickson
Hall, Room 178.
On Thursday, March 20, Phillips will facilitate a Socrates Café for parents, teachers and high school students at Montclair High School's library from 6 to 8 p.m. Both events, which are free and open to the public, are sponsored by MSU's School of Graduate and Continuing Education, the College of Education and Human Services, the New Jersey Network for Educational Renewal and the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children.
Phillips has traveled the world, gathering people to participate in Socrates Cafés in bookstores, senior centers, elementary schools, universities and prisons. Many of these experiences are related in his acclaimed book Socrates Café: A Fresh Taste of Philosophy. He also is the author of The Philosophers Club, a children's picture book of philosophical questions and ideas. His next book, The Six Questions of Socrates: A Fresh Taste of World Philosophy, will feature dialogues he had held all over the world.
Christopher and Cecilia Phillips are co-founders of the Society for Philosophical Inquiry, a grassroots nonprofit organization with numerous affiliate groups nationwide.
Alum organist to give Jack Sacher Memorial Alumni Lecture
Organist and scholar Gail Archer '73 will give a talk and presentation,
"Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck and his Disciples: the Foundations of
the 17th-Century North German Organ School," at this year's Jack
Sacher Memorial Alumni Lecture. The free event will take place Monday,
March 24, at 1 p.m. in McEachern Recital Hall.
Archer will show 50 slides of organs in and around Hamburg, Germany dating from 1470 to 1750, and discuss the relationship among the organists, structural design of the pieces, performance practice, organ registration and notable organ builders.
An alumna of Montclair State, Archer is the director of the music program at Columbia University's Barnard College and conductor of the Barnard-Columbia Chorus. She is a member of the music history faculty at the Manhattan School of Music, where she teaches the doctoral seminar in historical performance practice and an undergraduate course in Baroque music.
The Jack Sacher Memorial Alumni Lecture is presented annually in honor of the late MSU music history professor. Sacher was author of several books; his last was Opera: A Listener's Guide.