CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa --- The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) announced its end-of-season wrestling awards Thursday with four-time defending NCAA champion Wartburg College collecting the lion's share of the honors.
 
Wartburg 133-pounder Kenny Anderson (Billerica, Mass./Billerica), Wartburg 165-pounder Cole Welter (Gilbertville, Iowa / Don Bosco), Wartburg 174-pounder Landon Williams (Davenport, Iowa / Assumption) and Loras heavyweight James Buss (Chicago, Ill. / De La Salle) have been named Iowa Conference MVPs after successfully capturing individual titles at the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships at U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids.
 
Anderson, a senior, finished the year with a 15-2 mark after defeating Ithaca’s won his third consecutive NCAA Division III title with a 4-2 sudden-victory win over Ithaca’s Alex Gomez in the NCAA final. He finished the season with six major decisions and a fall. He avenged regular-season losses to Luther’s Evan Obert and Coe’s Jimmy Gotto en route to the 133-pound title at the NCAA Central Region Championships, where he was named the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler.
 
Welter, a senior, finished the season with a 34-1 mark after defeating Washington & Jefferson’s Nicholas Carr, 5-3, for his first NCAA title. His only defeat was a 5-1 loss to John Messinger of New York University at the NWCA National Duals. Welter posted 10 major decisions, one technical fall and five falls. Along with the regional and national titles, he won titles at the Buena Vista Open and Dick Walker Invitational.
 
Williams, a senior, completed a 40-3 season with his second national title after pinning Waynesburg’s Anthony Bonventura in 2:46 in the NCAA championship final. Thirty-two of Williams’ 40 victories came via major decision (eight), technical fall (12) or fall (12), while his three losses all came to NCAA Division I opponents. He won three titles (CUW Open, Buena Vista Open, Dick Walker Invitational) in addition to the regional and national crowns.
 
Buss, a sophomore who was last year’s IIAC Freshman of the Year, won his first NCAA title with a 4-1 win over Wartburg’s Ryan Fank. He finished the season 27-3, avenging two of his three losses with the win over Fank in the final. Buss had six falls, one technical fall and five major decisions and captured the title at the Duhawk Open.
 
The Iowa Conference MVP honor is the third for Anderson (2012, 2013), the second for Williams (2012) and the first for Welter and Buss, which are bestowed upon any wrestler that captures an NCAA individual title. Williams is the 17th IIAC wrestler, and the ninth from Wartburg, to win at least two national titles. Anderson is the 14th Division III wrestler, and the third from Wartburg (Hinschberger, Tate), to win at least three national titles.
 
Wartburg’s Campo Named Top Freshman
Wartburg 141-pounder Connor Campo (Covington, La. / St. Paul’s) has been named the 2014 IIAC Freshman Wrestler of the Year. Campo, who finished the year 28-9 overall, won the NCAA Central Regional title but failed to place at the NCAA Division III Championships. Of his nine losses, six were to NCAA Division III Championship participants, including the second-, third-, and fourth-place finishers at that weight two others came to top-3 finishers at the NAIA Championships. He was the only Iowa Conference true freshman to qualify for the national tournament. Campo also captured a title at the Dick Walker Invitational.
 
Steward, Keller Named IIAC Coaches of the Year
Loras head coach Randy Steward and Wartburg head coach Eric Keller were recognized by their peers by being named IIAC Coaches of the Year.
 
Steward led the Duhawks to an 11-10 dual record and a third-place Iowa Conference finish. He also led Loras to a tie for 14th place at nationals behind Buss’ title. The Duhawks crowned a national champion for the first time since Ricky Casarez won at 158 pounds in 1997 and had multiple all-Americans for the first time since 2003-2004. He was also named Central Region Coach of the Year at the NCAA Division III Central Region Championship.
 
Keller led the Knights to a fourth consecutive -- and 11th overall -- NCAA Division III crown March 15. Six Wartburg wrestlers earned All-America honors led by the national championship efforts from Anderson, Welter and Williams. He also led the Knights to an 18-0 dual record, the program’s fourth-straight NWCA National Duals title (eighth overall), and an IIAC-record 22nd-straight conference title.
 
The honor is the fourth for Steward (1995, 2001, 2011) and the third in succession for Keller, who shared the last two honors as co-coach with Jim Miller.
 
In addition to their other honors, Anderson, Welter, Williams, Buss and Campo are also members of the All-Iowa Conference Wrestling Team. The 30-member squad is composed of the top three Iowa Conference place-winners at the NCAA Division III Central Region Championships. Included in that total are nine regional champions. Wartburg led the way, placing its entire 10-man regional lineup on the all-IIAC team. Coe placed seven on the all-league squad, followed by four from Dubuque and three each from Loras and Luther. Two wrestlers from Central and one from Buena Vista round the all-conference squad.
 
The entire 2014 All-Iowa Conference Wrestling Team is listed below.
   

Weight	Wrestler	Yr.	School	Hometown/High School	Regional Finish
149	Steve Gutschenritter	Jr.	Buena Vista	Pacific Junction, Iowa / Glenwood	4th*
125	Daniel Page	Jr.	Central	Yelm, Wash. / Tumwater	2nd
197	Tyler Lowy	Jr.	Central	Phoenix, Ariz. / Thunderbird	4th*
133	Jimmy Gotto	Sr.	Coe	Epworth, Iowa / Western Dubuque	4th*
157	Dimitri Boyer	Sr.	Coe	Eddyville, Iowa / Eddyville-Blakesburg	1st
165	Farai Sewera	So.	Coe	Roselle, Ill. / Lake Park	3rd
174	Ethan Ball	Sr.	Coe	Aledo, Ill. / Mercer County	2nd
184	Ryan Sheldon	Jr.	Coe	Cedar Rapids, Iowa / Kennedy	2nd
197	Donnie Horner	Jr.	Coe	Blue Springs, Mo. / Blue Springs	3rd
285	Cory Becker	Sr.	Coe	Gilbertville, Iowa / Don Bosco	3rd
125	Nick Rivera	Jr.	Dubuque	Mesa, Ariz. / Red Mountain	3rd
141	Brian Travis	Jr.	Dubuque	Redlington Shores, Fla. / Northside Christian	3rd
149	Nick Drendel	Fr.	Dubuque	North Aurora, Ill. / West Aurora	1st
165	Derek Mizaur	Sr.	Dubuque	Sherrard, Ill. / Sherrard	2nd
141	Matt Holmes	Sr.	Loras	Lake Villa, Ill. / Lakes	2nd
157	Steven DeWitt	Jr.	Loras	Sterling, Ill. / Sterling	2nd
285	James Buss	So.	Loras	Chicago, Ill. / De La Salle	2nd
133	Evan Obert	Jr.	Luther	Genoa, Wis. / DeSoto	2nd
174	Jarid Groth	Jr.	Luther	Wanamingo, Minn. / Kenyon-Wanamingo	4th*
184	Jayden DeVilbiss	Jr.	Luther	Ossian, Iowa / South Winneshiek	1st
125	Gilberto Camacho	Sr.	Wartburg	Fresno, Calif. / Washington Union	1st
133	Kenny Anderson	Sr.	Wartburg	Billerica, Mass. / Billerica	1st
141	Connor Campo	Fr.	Wartburg	Covington, La. / St. Paul’s	1st
149	Mark Pinero	Jr.	Wartburg	Saint Rose, La. / Archbishop Rummel	3rd
157	Brett Yonkovic	Sr.	Wartburg	Manchester, Iowa / West Delaware	3rd
165	Cole Welter	Sr.	Wartburg	Gilbertville, Iowa / Don Bosco	1st
174	Landon Williams	Sr.	Wartburg	Davenport, Iowa / Assumption	1st
184	Gerard Roman	So.	Wartburg	Harahan, La. / Brother Martin	4th*
197	Punahele Soriano	Sr.	Wartburg	Waialua, Hawaii / Kahuku	2nd
285	Ryan Fank	Sr.	Wartburg	Independence, Iowa / Independence	1st

 
Note: Non-IIAC wrestlers finished in the top-3 at 133 pounds (third), 149 pounds (second), 174 pounds (third), 184 pounds (third) and 197 pounds (first) at the NCAA Division III Central Region Championships.