February 22, 2008

WAVERLY, IOWA . . . Wartburg College crowned seven individual champions en route to its 16th consecutive Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) Wrestling Championship on Thursday at Wartburg College. It was the Knights’ 26th overall title as they amassed 185.5 points to win by 44 points over runner-up Coe College, which posted its best-ever finish at the IIAC Championships.

Cornell senior Chris Heilman won his first individual conference title at 125-pounds and was named Dick Walker Outstanding Wrestler. After receiving a first-round bye, Heilman major decisioned Wartburg's Robert Struthers 16-6 in the semifinals and followed it up with a 9-5 decision over No. 2-seed and third-ranked Clayton Rush of Coe. Heilman is the Rams' second IIAC champion (Nick Dohrmann, 126-pounds, 1998) and the school's first IIAC Outstanding Wrestler.

Wartburg senior 197-pounder T.J. Miller became the 37th wrestler to win at least three Conference titles and the 21st to accomplish the feat at the same weight class. Miller becomes the 12th wrestler in Wartburg history with at least three titles.

Other individual Champions were: Wartburg senior Jacob Helvey (133-pounds), Wartburg sophomore Matt Kelly (141-pounds), Wartburg junior Jacob Naig (149-pounds), Wartburg junior Aaron Wernimont (157-pounds), Coe sophomore Tyler Burkle (165-pounds), Coe senior Tyler Jentz (174-pounds), Wartburg junior Romeo Djoumessi (184-pounds), and Wartburg senior Brian Borchers (heavyweight). Jentz was the No. 3-seed. It was Miller's third straight IIAC title and the second title each for Naig, Wernimont, and Djoumessi.

Coe's John Oostendorp and Luther's Dave Mitchell were named Iowa Conference co-Coaches of the Year. Oostendorp led the Kohawks to their best overall finish (second) and most points (141.5) at the IIAC Championships since joining the league in 1997. Mitchell led the Norse to a third-place finish with 123.5 points, their tenth consecutive top-three finish. This is the fourth time time Mitchell has been named IIAC Coach of the Year (1999, 2002, 2004).

Complete Conference Championship results are here.

Thirty-two wrestlers qualified for the NCAA Championships hosted by Coe College, Cornell College, and the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference on March 7-8, at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids. 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 (3) – Jestin Hulegaard (133), Aaron Cook (149), Julian Mancha (165)

Coe (5) – Clayton Rush (125), Niles Mercer (141), Tyler Burkle (165), Tyler Jentz (174), Rob Kramer (197)

Cornell (5) – Chris Heilman (125), Nick Nothern (133), Pat McAuley (157), Kyle Kehrli (174), Josiah Payne (Hwt.)

Dubuque (2) – Josh Terrell (157), Evan Brown (174)

Loras (2) – Erik Hanson (157), Jay Figgins (184)

Luther (6) – Zac Bartlett (133), Travis Grawin (141), Johanson Quist (149), Nic Barclay (184), Alec Bonander (197), John Miller (Hwt.)

Wartburg (9) – Robert Struthers (125), Jacob Helvey (133), Matt Kelly (141), Jacob Naig (149), Aaron Wernimont (157), Justin Hanson (165), Romeo Djoumessi (184), T.J. Miller (197), Brian Borchers (Hwt.)

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