Augsburg, which had the title clinched heading into finals, dropped all three of its finals matches to finish with 110.5 points, marking only the third time a school has won the NCAA Division III title without winning an individual title. Wis.-La Crosse won three titles, including two at the expense of Iowa Conference wrestlers, finished second with 100.5 points. It was the closest Championship finish since 2002. Wartburg (83.5) and Coe (76.0), with one national champion each, finished third and fourth, respectively, while Delaware Valley (50.5) rounded out the top five.
Dubuque (32.5) placed eighth, just ahead of Luther (31.0) in tenth and Cornell (25.0) in 12th place. Luther had three All-Americans, while Dubuque and Cornell had two each. Buena Vista, with one All-American, also found its way in the scoring column, finishing in a tie for 19th with 13.5 points.
The Iowa Conference placed four schools in the top 10 for the fourth consecutive year and three in the top 10 for the 10th consecutive championship.
Coe junior 125-pounder Clayton Rush and Wartburg sophomore 197-pounder Byron Tate each won individual gold. Rush, the top-seed and now a three-time All-American, topped defending national champion Jake Oster of Elmhurst, 10-3, in the semifinals before rolling over Elizabethtown’s Tyler Erdman, 14-3, in the first championship final staged Saturday evening.
Tate, in his first trip to nationals, handed defending national champion Jared Massey of Augsburg his first loss of the season with a 2-1 overtime decision in the semifinals, then defeated Ryan Malo of Williams, 8-5, in the final. Malo, Division III’s leader in victories this season, completed his season at 46-5.
Dubuque 174-pounder Evan Brown saw his goal of a repeat national championship fall by the wayside in the final, dropping a 5-2 decision to Wisconsin-La Crosse’s Michael Schmitz, while La Crosse’s Dan Laurent topped Wartburg heavyweight John Helgerson, 2-0, to win his third national title in as many years.
A trio of Iowa Conference wrestlers battled through the consolation bracket to finish third, most notably Dubuque’s Josh Terrell at 165 pounds. Terrell, who entered the tournament as the top-seeded wrestler at the weight, was pinned by Delaware Valley’s Justin Barowski in his opening match. In the wrestlebacks, he posted five consecutive victories, including wins over conference foes Carrington Banks of Wartburg (2-1) and Nick LeClere of Coe (4-2) in the third-place match, who were seeded second and third, respectively.
Coe’s Tyler Burkle, the top-seed at 184 pounds and the 2008 champion at 165, also regrouped well after being stuck in his quarterfinal match. He scored nine points in each of his four consolation victories. Wartburg’s Matt Kelly defeated Cornell’s Kevin Donahue for third at 141 after falling to top-seeded Minga Batsukh of Saint John’s (Minn.) in the semifinals. Batsukh went on to win his second consecutive national title with a 10-4 win over Ithaca’s Jeremy Stierly in the finals.
Also capturing All-America honors from the Iowa Conference were Buena Vista’s Austin Mogg (5th at 125), Coe’s Seth Rehn (7th at 174) and Mitch Sander (7th at heavyweight), Cornell’s Nick Nothern (5th at 133), Luther’s Jayson Swanson (6th at 125), Jason Pyle (6th at 149), and Allyn Plattner (6th at heavyweight), and Wartburg’s Adam Weber (6th at 157), Banks (7th at 165), and Dylan Azinger (5th at 174).
Rush, Burkle, Nothern, Terrell, and Kelly each earned All-America honors for the third time, bringing the number of Iowa Conference wrestlers to accomplish the feat at least three time to 47. Rush, Burkle, and Terrell are the first 3-time wrestling All-Americans for their respective institutions.
Donahue, Pyle, Brown, Helgerson, and Sander each became 2-time All-Americans.
Merchant Marine's Vincent Renaut was named the meet's Outstanding Wrestler after capturing the 165-pound title. He is Kings Point's first National Champion in wrestling. Augsburg's Mark Matzek was named NWCA Division III Coach of the Year, while Auggie assistant coach Jared Evans was named Assistant Coach of the Year and Olivet's Brandon Brissette was named Rookie Coach of the Year.
Weber receives NCAA academic honor
Prior to the championship finals, Wartburg’s Adam Weber was recognized as the first recipient of the Elite 88 Award for Division III wrestling. The Elite 88, an award founded by the NCAA, recognizes the true essence of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the national championship level in his or her sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers. The Elite 88 is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA’s 88 championships.
NWCA Releases Academic Awards
The Division III Wrestling Coaches Association announced Scholar-Athlete and All-Academic Top 20 Team awards at their annual coaches' social Thursday prior to the start of the Championships.
Coe, Cornell, and Luther were each honored as recipients of the NWCA All-Academic Team Top 20. Coe led the three IIAC schools by ranking third with a 3.482 grade-point average. Luther ranked 12 (3.3395) and Cornell 18th (3.227). Williams topped the list with a 3.543 GPA, followed by Ohio Northern (3.484) and Coe.
Iowa Conference wrestlers receiving the NWCA Scholar-Athlete Award include:
Central — Austin Imerman
Coe — Tyler Burkle, Rob Kramer, James Locke, Clayton Rush
Cornell — Joe Hambleton, Nic Loughlin, Alex Riniker, Jacob Schwebke
Dubuque — Josh Terrell
Luther — Jayson Swanson, Lance Serbousek, Nic Barclay
Wartburg — Adam Weber, Mark Kist, Ben Scott, Chris Sandy, Michael Sandy, Jesse Froehner
