February 15, 2007

DUBUQUE, IOWA . . . Wartburg College won its 15th consecutive Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) wrestling Championship on Thursday at the University of Dubuque. It was the Knights’ 25th overall title as they amassed 181 points to win by 21 points over runner-up Luther College, which finished second for the seventh time in eight years. The 21-point margin of victory is the closest since 1994 when Wartburg defeated Buena Vista (158.75-138) and the 160 points by Luther is the most by the Conference runner-up.

Luther senior Matt Pyle won his second individual Conference title at 149-pounds and was named Dick Walker Outstanding Wrestler. The top-seed won all three of his matches by fall including a pin of Central’s Nick Wardes at 0:35 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals he pinned Simpson’s Curtis Barber at 4:08 and then pinned the #3-seed Adam Weber of Wartburg at 1:55 of the Championship match. Pyle is the Norse’s first IIAC Outstanding Wrestler since Garrett South in 2002.

Wartburg senior heavyweight Blake Gillis became the fifth wrestler to win four Conference titles since 1965, joining former Upper Iowa wrestlers Craig Campbell (1968-71) and Steve Exline (1968-71), and former Wartburg wrestlers Mike Hogan (1981-84) and Jon Dawley (1991-94).

Other individual Champions were: Luther senior Nate Hansen (125-pounds), Buena Vista junior Jestin Hulegaard (133-pounds), Coe senior Jared Creason (141-pounds), Wartburg sophomore Aaron Wernimont (157-pounds), Wartburg senior Jason Knipp (165-pounds), Luther senior Paul Meirick (174-pounds), Wartburg sophomore Romeo Djoumessi (184-pounds) and Wartburg junior T.J. Miller (197-pounds). Hulegaard was the #3-seed, Meirick was the #5-seed, and all other Champions were the top-seed in their respective weight classes. It was Miller's second straight IIAC title.

Buena Vista University head coach Mark Schwab was named Iowa Conference Coach of the Year after leading the Beavers to a fourth-place finish with 112.5 points, its highest finish and point total since 2001 (4th with 114.5 points).

Complete Conference Championship results are here.

Thirty-two wrestlers qualified for the NCAA Championships hosted by Loras College on March 2-3, at the Five Flags Center in Dubuque. The top-three finishers in each of the ten weight classes along with two wildcards will represent the Conference at the National Championships. The Iowa Conference national qualifiers are:

Buena Vista (4) – Jestin Hulegaard (133), Kyle Forness (157), Ben Strandberg (197), Wade Hammen (Hwt.)

Coe (3) – Brian Clement (125), Gannon Hjerleid (133), Jared Creason (141)

Cornell (3) – Chris Heilman (125), Nick Nothern (133), Pat McAuley (157)

Dubuque (1) – Robert Larson (174)

Loras (2) – Dave Early (165), Jay Figgins (184)

Luther (8) – Nate Hansen (125), Travis Grawin (141), Matt Pyle (149), Nate Van Dyke (165), Paul Meirick (174), Mark Mueller (184), Alec Bonander (197), John Miller (Hwt.)

Simpson (1) – Curtis Barber (149)

Wartburg (10) – Robert Struthers (125), Jake Helvey (133), Zach McKray (141), Adam Weber (149), Aaron Wernimont (157), Jason Knipp (165), Jason Zastrow (174), Romeo Djoumessi (184), T.J. Miller (197), Blake Gillis (Hwt.)

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