'The Mayor of Augustana': How Ramberg became the heart of Viking wrestling

True senior Max Ramberg grew up in Baldwin, Wisconsin — a rural town near the Twin Cities known for dairy farms and tight-knit community roots. Those small-town values of family, work ethic and resilience became the backbone of an athletic career that has taken him from youth tournaments to international mats.

With a mom working in education and a dad in construction, Ramberg says he learned toughness early.

“My dad works long hours and a grueling job, and working with kids like my mom does is just as hard,” Ramberg says. “I love my family. My mom and dad and I are really close, and I’m getting a lot closer with my sister and my nephew.”

His older sister is 35. He calls her “awesome.” Her 8-year-old son is Ramberg’s nephew, who Ramberg says is “pretty cool.”

Ramberg started wrestling around age five after dabbling in several sports. Wrestling, he says, was the only one that stuck — and it was the first to reward his effort. In fifth grade, he qualified for the youth state tournament.

“That was the point where I was like, ‘Man, I like this wrestling thing,’” Ramberg says. “The physical nature of it was always appealing. It’s very personal. You are the maker of your own success.”

That mindset has carried him through a decorated career both with Augustana and the Viking Regional Training Center, the USA Wrestling-sanctioned center based at Augustana. As an unranked freshman (2022–23), Ramberg stunned the NSIC by defeating the No. 3-regionally ranked wrestler Matt Kaylor, then a redshirt sophomore at UMary — and Ramberg didn’t just beat Kaylor but majored him, meaning his win was by eight or more points. That spring at the US Open, he earned double All-American honors at the Under 20 (U20) level, placing third in Greco-Roman and seventh in freestyle.

His momentum continued as a sophomore as he reached the U20 World Team Trials returned to the U20 Open to place third in Greco and fifth in freestyle. He also earned All-American status again and ranked sixth nationally at 197 pounds. Despite not making a world team, Ramberg was proud of his work.

As a junior, he took yet another leap in stats: That year, he finished fourth in the nation, collecting his second collegiate All-American honor. When he aged out of U20, he moved to the Under 23 (U23) division, where he was the Greco-Roman national champion at 97 kilograms — approximately 210 lbs — at the U23 World Team Trials in May 2025. He later placed eighth in the freestyle event, marking his fifth double All-American finish across four age groups.

That accomplishment at the team trials earned him the chance to represent the United States as a senior at the U23 World Championship in Novi Sad, Serbia this past Oct. 20–27.

“I came up short of a medal over there, but I still had a really good time and enjoyed it,” Ramberg says.

To those around Ramberg, the success that any spectator might see at one of his matches is only part of the story — he’s also just a stand-up guy. Assistant coach Chism Fink calls him “the mayor” of Augustana athletics.

“Everybody seems to know him, seems to like him,” Fink says. “He’s got a great personality. He’s very friendly, and he’s extremely disciplined and dedicated.”

Ramberg’s roommate, fifth-year and fellow captain Cael Larson, had his eye on Ramberg even before he arrived on campus.

“We watched his Fargo national tournament round, and that’s the epitome of high school wrestling,” Larson says. “He sends a guy straight over the head for five points — and that dude went on to win a national title. We knew he was going to be our future, our main guy.”

Larson describes Ramberg as a “workout freak,” but just as importantly, someone with “outstanding character.”

“That kid will talk to anyone and be the best friend to anyone in this world. He’s super nice off the mat and a fierce competitor on it,” Larson says.

Head coach Jason Reitmeier says Ramberg’s outgoing personality has helped the program recruit, but his versatility is what makes him rare.

“There’s not many guys that do all styles of wrestling, and Max does all three — Greco, freestyle and folkstyle,” Reitmeier says. “When he was in Serbia, he was the only guy on the U.S. Greco team who didn’t train just Greco. We are Division II, but there aren’t many Division I wrestlers who do all three. When you put that together, he’s probably one of the best all-style wrestlers in the nation.”

Ramberg is quick to credit those who helped him get here — from his family and his high school staff to his coaches at Pinnacle Wrestling School and now Augustana.

“That’s just how I roll,” he says.

At his core, though, wrestling is something he wants to enjoy.

“I think wrestlers get a really— it’s not a bad rep, it’s a good rep, of being super intense,” Ramberg says. “I want it to be known that I try to have a lot of fun. I try to enjoy myself and enjoy wrestling. And when I’m all said and done with wrestling, whether I’m done in college or whether I’m done in the future, or whether I keep wrestling after college, I just want to give everything I have and have a good time doing it.”

Wherever the sport takes him next, Max Ramberg has already proven he can thrive — grounded by his community, driven by his work ethic and fearless in chasing the next challenge.