Related: 2012 Iowa Conference Wrestling Championships Page
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa . . . Wartburg College crowned six individual champions after sending nine wrestlers to the finals en route to its 20th consecutive Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) Wrestling Championship Friday at Coe College. The Knights amassed 193.5 points as they collected their 30th title overall.
Coe, which had three champions and seven finalists, finished second with 157 points, while Luther edged Cornell, 123.5-115.0, for third place. It was Luther’s highest finish since taking second at the 2009 Championships in Decorah.
Wartburg kicked off the championship session on a strong note as sophomore Kenny Anderson topped Coe’s Jimmy Gotto, 11-0, at 125. At 133, Coe senior Jordan Westfall edged defending champion Tommy Mirocha of Wartburg, 3-1, to capture the 133 title. The Knights rebounded at 141 as Kodie Silvestri pinned Luther’s Kyle Windquist in 1 minute, 53 seconds.
Joe “Barney” Wood became Loras’ first champion since 2006 (Brad Bishop, 157 pounds) after edging top-seeded James Locke of Coe, 7-6, in the 149-pound final. Wood scored the victory by picking up an escape in the closing seconds of the third period with the score tied at 6-6. Coe picked up back-to-back titles at the next two weights as Dale Handley topped Wartburg’s Cole Welter, 4-1, and Nick LeClere edged Wartburg’s Landon Williams, 8-6.
The Knights had already clinched the team title at that point but, nonetheless, closed out the proceedings by taking the final four individual titles. Bradley Banks topped Coe’s Scott King, 4-0, for his second straight IIAC title at 174. The same for Dylan Azinger at 184, who took out Brian Broll, Buena Vista’s only finalist, by an 11-7 score.
Two-time defending national champion Byron Tate used a 23-8 technical fall over Luther’s Trent Flegel to take his third consecutive 197-pound title, while Ryan Fank was awarded the heavyweight title after Coe’s Alex Burkle was forced to default due to a knee injury while leading 5-1 after two periods.
Consecutive Titles Streak Sets IIAC Mark: Wartburg set an Iowa Conference record for consecutive titles in any sport with its 20th straight title Friday, surpassing the mark of 19 consecutive titles it previously shared with Luther women’s tennis (1982-2000).
Wood Named Outstanding Wrestler: Loras 149-pounder Joe “Barney” Wood, last year’s fourth-place finisher at 149, was named the Dick Walker Outstanding Wrestler after gutting his way to the 2012 title. After posting a fall over Central’s Josh Atwell in the quarterfinals, Wood defeated Wartburg’s Drew Wagenhoffer, 5-4, in sudden victory in the semifinals before surviving in the final against Locke. Wood is the first Loras’ recipient of the Walker Outstanding Wrestler Award since 2000 when Duhawk 174-pounder Rob Murray shared the honor with Ben Kritsonas of Wartburg.
Miller, Keller Named Coaches of the Year: Wartburg co-head coaches Jim Miller and Eric Keller were named Iowa Conference Coaches of the Year after leading the Knights to their 20th straight Iowa Conference mat title, and 30th overall. It is the first award for the pair as a team, the first for Keller overall, and the 10th for Miller overall (1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2009 and 2012). The Knights placed nine in the championship finals, winning six titles, and have qualified nine for the NCAA Division III Championships.
A total of 32 Iowa Conference wrestlers will qualify for the 2012 NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships hosted March 9-10 by University of Wisconsin-La Crosse at La Crosse Center in La Crosse, Wis., of which 31 are already know. The top three finishers in each of the ten weight classes advanced to the national meet along with one at-large selection picked by the coaches. One additional qualifier will be selected by the NCAA Division III Wrestling Committee once all of this weekend’s qualifying tournaments have been completed. The 31 known national qualifiers from the Iowa Conference are:
Buena Vista (1) – Brian Broll (197)
Central (1) – Joseph Atwell (157)
Coe (8) – Jimmy Gotto (125), Jordan Westfall (133), James Locke (149), Dale Handley (157), Nick LeClere (165), Scott King (174), Ethan Ball (184), Alex Burkle (285)
Cornell (5) – Tim Hood (125), Tigue Snider (133), Michael Buhr (141), Joe Hambleton (165), Alex Coolidge (197)
Dubuque (2) – Ryan Warczynski (149), Logan Einerson (174)
Loras (1) – Joe Wood (149)
Luther (4) – Daniel Mendoza (125), Kyle Windquist (141), Trent Flegel (197), Conner Herman (285)
Wartburg (9) – Kenny Anderson (125), Tommy Mirocha (133), Kodie Silvestri (141), Cole Welter (157), Landon Williams (165), Bradley Banks (174), Dylan Azinger (184), Byron Tate (197), Ryan Fank (285)
~~ www.iowaconference.com ~~
