March 4, 2005

NORTHFIELD, MINN. . . . Three Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) schools are among the top-10 schools after day one at the NCAA Division III National Wrestling Championships at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. Nineteen of the IIAC’s 33 national qualifiers have earned All-American honors by finishing in the top-eight of their weight class.

Two-time defending National Champion Wartburg College sits in second-place with 59.5 points, two points ahead of Conference rival Luther College. Augsburg College holds the team lead with 80.5 points. Simpson is in sixth-place with 27 points. Buena Vista University is tied for 26th with 8 points, Coe College is tied for 28th with 7.5 points and Loras College is tied for 34th with 4.0 points.

Individually, 14 of the Conference’s 19 All-Americans are in the Championship bracket and 10 earned All-American honors last year. Wartburg has seven All-Americans, Luther has six, Simpson has three, and Buena Vista, Coe and Loras each have one.

IIAC wrestlers in the Championship bracket include: Buena Vista’s Jestin Hulegaard (133-pounds), Luther’s Jeff Patzke (141-pounds), Matt Pyle (149-pounds), Ryan LeBeau (157-pounds), Garrett South (165-pounds) and Danny Adams (184-pounds), Simpson’s Dustin Brewer (141-pounds), Clint Manny (149-pounds) and Brett Christensen (heavyweight), and Wartburg’s Justin McClintock (125-pounds), Dustin Hinschberger (141-pounds), Scott Kauffman (184-pounds), Akeem Carter (197-pounds) and Blake Gillis (heavyweight).

IIAC wrestlers in the Consolation bracket include: Coe’s Mike McCabe (197-pounds), Loras’ Terry Morgan (125-pounds), Luther’s Mike Lopez (133-pounds), and Wartburg’s Tyler Hubbard (133-pounds) and Jacob Naig (149-pounds).

Complete Championship results can be found here.

Championship semifinals, and consolation quarterfinals and semifinals are Saturday beginning at 11:00 a.m. Third-, fifth-, and seventh-place matches begin at 5:00 p.m. and the Championship matches are set for 7:30 p.m.

-30-