February 18, 2003

MOUNT VERNON, IOWA . . . The 2003 Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) Wrestling Championship is Thursday, February 20, at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Preliminary and quarterfinal rounds begin at 9:00 am in Eby Fieldhouse. The finals are scheduled to begin at 7:00 pm.

Wartburg College enters the Championship as the 10-time defending Champion and returns seven wrestlers from last year’s team including all three of its individual champions. Though Wartburg, which tied for second with Upper Iowa University at the 2002 National Championship, has won 10 straight Conference titles, the other schools have closed the gap in recent years as the Knights defeated second-place Luther by just 24.5 points last season. In 2001 Wartburg won by 32 points and in 2000 the margin of victory was 67.5 points. Upper Iowa finished third (122.5) in the IIAC in 2002 with Loras (114) and Buena Vista (108.5) rounding out the top five.

Seven individual champions return – 149-pounds (Luther’s Garrett Kurth), 157-pounds (Buena Vista’s Aaron Loewens), 174-pounds (Wartburg’s Mark Sturm), 184-pounds (Loras’ Paul Cleary), 197-pounds (Wartburg’s Alain Djoumessi) and heavyweight (Wartburg’s LeRoy Gardner). Luther’s Garrett South won the 165-pound weight class in 2002 but is wrestling at 157-pounds this year.

Each weight class will feature at least one 2002 national qualifier and nine weight classes feature at least one returning All-American (174-pounds being the lone exception).

IIAC WRESTLING – DOMINATING THE COACHES POLL: The Iowa Conference is one of the top wrestling conferences in NCAA Division III. Seven IIAC teams are ranked in the Brute/Adidas National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Top-30, including six in the top-12. Wartburg is ranked number one in the Nation, a spot it has held the entire year. Loras is ranked sixth in the February 14 poll and has been ranked as high as #5. Upper Iowa is currently ninth, but spent two weeks early in the season at #2; Luther is ranked 10th but has been as high as #5. Buena Vista is ranked 11th, but spent two weeks as high as #6. Simpson is 12th, its highest ranking since the final regular season poll of the 1997-98 season. Coe is currently 17th, having been as high as #16 during the year.

Twenty four wrestlers are ranked in the top-8 of their weight class including all ten of Wartburg’s wrestlers, four of Loras’ wrestlers and three from both Upper Iowa and Luther. Buena Vista, Central, Coe and Simpson each have one wrestler ranked in his respective weight class.

The IIAC will have 36 wrestlers qualify for the NCAA Championship field of 160. The 2003 NCAA National Wrestling Championships are March 7-8, at Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio.

A complete class-by-class preview follows with each schools probable line-up. Championship brackets will be posted on the Conference web site (www.iowaconference.com) by Thursday morning and the web site will be updated with results throughout the day on Thursday.

125-Pounds

Eight freshmen compete with a junior and senior in the 125-pound weight class. Wartburg senior Heath Ropp is ranked #1 nationally in the weight class, a ranking he has held in seven of the eight polls. He was ranked #2 in the preseason poll released in October. Ropp, who finished third at the 2002 IIAC Championship, finished fifth nationally and earned All-American honors. Loras freshman Terry Morgan is ranked eighth in the February 14, Brute/Adidas NWCA Poll, his first ranking of the season. Coe junior Sean Pearl finished sixth at the 2002 IIAC Championship.

133-Pounds

Upper Iowa junior Ralph Acosta and Wartburg junior Ozzie Saxon are ranked first and second, respectively, in the current Brute/Adidas NWCA Poll. Acosta is ranked first for the second straight poll, after spending the first five polls at #2. He finished third at the 2002 IIAC Championship and fifth at the NCAA Championship, earning All-American honors. Saxon was first ranked in poll six (sixth) then moved up to third in poll seven and is now at #2. Simpson sophomore Quent Christensen finished fourth and Buena Vista senior Mike Vagher finished sixth in the Conference last season.

141-Pounds

Wartburg senior Will Kelly, who finished second at the 2002 IIAC Championship and third at the NCAA Championship is ranked fifth in the current Brute/Adidas NWCA Poll. He was ranked #1 in the first two polls of the season. Central sophomore Derek Konrad wrestled in the 2002 IIAC Championships at 133-pounds.

149-Pounds

The 149-pound weight class is one of the Conference’s stronger classes with four wrestlers ranked in the top-eight. Luther senior Garrett Kurth is ranked #3, Wartburg junior Bart Mehlert is ranked #4, Loras senior Chris Vogel is ranked #6 and Simpson sophomore Clint Manny is ranked #7. Kurth, the 2001 National Champion and 2002 national runner-up, was ranked #1 in five polls this year. Mehlert was ranked as high as third this year while Manny, a 2002 national qualifier, and Vogel are at their highest ranking of the season. Central sophomore Danny Ebling finished seventh in the 141-pound weight class and Coe junior Jeff Wiele finished fifth in the 149-pound weight class at the 2002 IIAC Championship,

157-Pounds

Like the 149-pound weight class, four wrestlers are ranked at 157-pounds. Buena Vista senior Aaron Loewens has been #2 all year. Luther sophomore Garrett South is ranked #3 for the fourth time this year, Wartburg senior Kevin Bratland, who spent four polls at #1, is currently ranked #4 and Central senior Dustin Roland is ranked #7 after being as high as third this year. The 157-pound weight class features two individual Conference champions from last year. Loewens won 157-pounds and South won 165-pounds. It also features three All-Americans and four national qualifiers. Bratland (third place), Loewens (fourth place) and Roland (seventh place) each earned All-American honors last year. Cornell senior Mike Pfeilsticker finished sixth and Loras junior Charlie Bishop finished seventh in the IIAC last year. Upper Iowa sophomore Aaron Destival finished fourth at 149-pounds last year.

165-Pounds

Wartburg sophomore Ryan Sturm is the top ranked wrestler in the 165-pound weight class. Luther senior Jesse Reyerson is ranked fourth and Buena Vista junior Pat Wilsbacher is currently eighth but both wrestlers have been as high as second. Reyerson and Wilsbacher were both national qualifiers in 2002 after finishing third at 157-pounds and fifth at 165-pounds, respectively at the Conference Championship. Wilsbacher earned All-American honors last year, finishing fifth at the National Championships. Reyerson was an All-American in 2001, finishing fifth at 157-pounds. Loras senior Richard Schroeder finished fourth and Central junior Andy Gum finished sixth in the Conference last season. Upper Iowa senior Andy Geerts finished fifth in the Conference at 157-pounds last season. Coe sophomore Adam Reid (157-pounds) and Cornell sophomore Justin Sinclair (165-pounds) both competed in the 2002 Conference Championship.

174-Pounds

Wartburg sophomore Mark Sturm is currently ranked seventh and has been as high as third this year. He was a national qualifier in 2002 after winning the 174-pound weight class at the Conference Championship. Coe senior Gary Franck is currently ranked eighth. He finished seventh at the Conference Championship last season. Loras sophomore Tom Andrews finished fifth in the Conference last year and Simpson junior Jason Mitchell finished fifth at 184-pounds. Dubuque sophomore John Southworth competed at 165-pounds at the 2002 IIAC Championship.

184-Pounds

Loras senior Paul Cleary is ranked #1 at 184-pounds and has been since the second poll of the year. He was #2 in the preseason poll. Cleary won the weight class in 2002 and earned All-American honors, finishing third nationally. Wartburg senior Sonny Alvarez, currently ranked third, finished second to Cleary in the Conference last year and was an All-American in 2001 (finishing seventh) and 2002 (finishing fourth). Luther sophomore Danny Adams and Central senior John McClure finished sixth and seventh, respectively, in the Conference at 184-pounds last year. Luther sophomore Wyatt Reyerson, Dubuque sophomore Pat Dapkus and Cornell junior Rory O’Farrell finished fourth, sixth and eighth at 174-pounds, respectively, last year.

197-Pounds

Upper Iowa senior Brent Meyers and Wartburg senior Alain Djoumessi are ranked first and second, respectively in the current Brute/Adidas NWCA Poll. Djoumessi is the returning Conference champion at 197-pounds, Meyers finished third at 184-pounds last year. Both wrestlers earned All-American honors last year, Djoumessi finished third at 197-pounds and Meyers finished sixth at 184-pounds. Loras senior Justin Post and Simpson junior Bart George were both national qualifiers in 2002. Post finished third and George finished fourth in the IIAC at 197-pounds. Buena Vista sophomore Adam Buthe competed at 184-pounds at the 2002 IIAC Championship.

Heavyweight

Wartburg senior LeRoy Gardner, Loras senior Pat Thomas and Upper Iowa sophomore Brian Black are ranked first, third and fourth, respectively. All three are returning All-Americans – Gardner finished third, Black finished seventh and Thomas finished eighth at the 2002 National Championship. Gardner also earned All-American honors in 2001 with a sixth place national finish. At the 2002 Conference Championship, Gardner finished first, Black third and Thomas fourth. Buena Vista sophomore Michael Irvin finished sixth in the Conference at 197-pounds last year and Cornell junior Eric Boos finished eighth at 184-pounds.

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