CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA . . . Wartburg College won its 11th straight Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) wrestling championship behind the performances of six individual champions and four runners-up. The Knights defeated second place Loras College by 68 points (199-131). Luther (122.5), Upper Iowa (121.5) and Buena Vista (110.0) rounded out the top-five.
Wartburg junior Bart Mehlert (LaPorte City, Iowa) was named Dick Walker Outstanding Wrestler after winning the 149-pound weight class as the third seed. In the finals he defeated defending Conference Champion Garrett Kurth (Waukon, Iowa), the top seed of Luther College (8-5). He also defeated second-seeded Clint Manny (Peru, Iowa) of Simpson College (8-3) and #6 Jeff Wiele (West Liberty, Iowa) of Coe (pin at 4:02). Mehlert is the 10th Wartburg wrestler to earn Outstanding Wrestler honors, an award now named after the team’s former head coach.
Wartburg Head Coach Jim Miller was named IIAC Coach of the Year for the seventh time. He guided the Knights, who were ranked #1 in the Nation the entire season, to a 22-1 overall dual record.
Thirty-six wrestlers qualified for the NCAA National Championships to be held March 7-8, at Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio. The winner and runner-up of each of the ten weight classes along with 16 wildcards will represent the Conference at the National Championships. All 10 of Wartburg’s wrestlers will be joined by seven wrestlers from Loras, five from Luther, four from Upper Iowa, three from both Buena Vista and Simpson, two from Coe and one each from Central and Dubuque. The Iowa Conference’s National qualifiers are:
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125-lbs.
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Heath Ropp, Wartburg
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Terry Morgan, Loras
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Joe Honts, Buena Vista
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133-lbs.
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Ralph Acosta, Upper Iowa
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Ozzie Saxon, Wartburg
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Marcus Cobbs, Loras
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Mike Lopez, Luther
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141-lbs.
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Will Kelly, Wartburg
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Jeff Patzke, Luther
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149-lbs.
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Bart Mehlert, Wartburg
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Garrett Kurth, Luther
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Clint Manny, Simpson
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Chris Vogel, Loras
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157-lbs.
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Kevin Bratland, Wartburg
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Aaron Loewens, BVU
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Garrett South, Luther
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Dustin Roland, Central
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165-lbs.
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Pat Wilsbacher, BVU
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Ryan Sturm, Wartburg
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Jesse Reyerson, Luther
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Richard Schroeder, Loras
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174-lbs.
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Gary Franck, Coe
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Mark Sturm, Wartburg
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Tom Andrews, Loras
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C.J. MacNaught, UIU
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184-lbs.
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Sonny Alvarez, Wartburg
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Paul Cleary, Loras
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Pat Dapkus, Dubuque
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197-lbs.
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Brent Meyers, Upper Iowa
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Alain Djoumessi, Wart.
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Bart George, Simpson
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Hwt.
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LeRoy Gardner, Wartburg
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Brian Black, Upper Iowa
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Chris Harrison, Coe
Pat Thomas, Loras
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Brett Christensen, Simpson
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Complete standings, bout-by-bout results and brackets can be found
here.
~~ www.iowaconference.com ~~
