Cleveland, OH -- At the conclusion of the 2018 NCAA Division III Wrestling National Championships, three individual wrestlers earned National Titles and Wartburg College claimed their 14th team championship in program history. All-American honors were earned by 13 of the 19 Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) qualifiers, with three collecting runner up honors, two taking third, two on the fourth-place podium, one earning sixth, and two finishing in eighth.
For the third-straight year, the NCAA Division III team trophy is headed to Waverly, Iowa. Wartburg's 14th overall team championship now puts them two ahead of Augsburg, who owns 12 national titles. Along with the team title, Wartburg's
Brock Rathbun (133lbs.),
Cross Cannone (149lbs.), and
Kyle Fank (197lbs.) earned individual gold. The Knights also earned runner-up finishes from
Logan Thomsen (157lbs.) and
Tyler Lutes (184lbs.). Rathbun, just a freshman, became Wartburg's 45th All-American with a 12-5 championship decision over
Sam Bennyhoff of Augsburg. In the 149lbs. championship bout, Cannone defeated
Gregory Warner of York, 9-1, to become a two-time All-American. A season ago Cannone finished second. In the only all Iowa Conference final of the night, Kyle Fank capped off an outstanding career with an 8-2 win over Loras' Guy Patron Jr. Fank's national tournament efforts made him a two-time All-American, taking fifth in 2017.
In a true championship battle at 157lbs., Thomsen fell to Augsburg's
Ryan Epps, 3-1 in SV-1. Thomsen finished his career as a two-time National Runner-up. At 184lbs., senior Lutes earned his first All-American honors, as he took second to UW-Whitewater's
Jordan Newman.
In the consolation bracket, Wartburg saw three wrestlers battle their way to All-American finishes. At 174lbs.
Eric DeVos earned third-place with a 1:57 fall over Darden Shurg of Wabash. The All-American finish was the third of DeVos' career. The senior finished second in 2016 and was the 174lbs. National Champion in 2017. 165-pound freshman, Mike Ross battled an injury he picked up in the championship quarterfinals to finish in eighth-place. Senior
Lance Evans earned his third All-American honor at 285lbs., collecting fourth-place for the second-consecutive year. In 2016 Evans took home third-place.
Loras'
Guy Patron Jr. (197lbs.), moved up the podium to second after finishing third a season ago. With the runner-up finish, the sophomore became Loras' 15th two-time All-American.
Coe College picked up a 12th-place team finish with all three qualifiers earning All-American accolades.
Cole Erickson (157lbs.) finished third to earn his second All-American performance. A season ago Erickson finished fifth. At 174lbs.
Jake Voss became an All-American after finishing eighth.
Andrew Holladay battled his way through a tough 197lbs. weight class to earn fourth-place. Holladay, unseeded, upended the eighth, fifth, and sixth seeds to earn his All-American distinction.
Central's
CJ Pestano closed out a stellar career for the Dutch, becoming a three-time All-American. Pestano finished sixth in 2018, having wrestled the maximum amount of matches possible in the two day tournament, seven. Pestano dropped his opening round match and then rattled off four straight wins to place himself in the consolation semifinals, and eventually earning sixth-place. Pestano placed fourth in 2017 and was the 2016 runner-up, both at 125lbs.
The IIAC finished the two day tournament with an overall record of 47 and 30.
| Team Results After Session III |
| Place |
Pts |
School |
# of Qualifiers |
# of
All-Americans |
# of National Champions |
# In Championship Match |
# on Consulation Side |
| 1 |
123.5 |
Wartburg |
9 |
8 |
3 |
5 |
3 |
| 10 |
34.0 |
Coe |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
| 20 |
19.5 |
Loras |
4 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| 34 |
8.0 |
Central |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
|
Total |
19 |
13 |
3 |
9 |
7 |
| Round |
# of Wrestlers |
| Championship Qtrs |
12 |
| Championship Semis |
9 |
| Championship |
6 |
|
|
| Consolation Rnd 1 |
6 |
| Consolation Rnd 2 |
6 |
| Consolation Qtrs |
4 |
| Consolation Semis |
5 |
| Consolation 3/4 |
4 |
| Consolation 5/6 |
1 |
| Consolation 7/8 |
2 |
IIAC Returning All-Americans in the 2018 Field
125 - CJ Pestano, Central (Sr., 2017 4th-place, 2016 Runner-up)
149 - Cross Cannone, Wartburg (Jr., 2017 Runner-up), Jimmy Davis, Loras (Sr., 2017 5th-place)
157 - Logan Thomsen, Wartburg (Sr., 2017 Runner-up), Cole Erickson, Coe (So., 2017 5th-place)
174 - Eric DeVos, Wartburg (Sr., 2017 National Champion, 2016 Runner-up)
197 - Kyle Fank, Wartburg (Sr., 2017 5th-place), Guy Patron, Loras (So., 2017 3rd-place)
285 - Lance Evans, Wartburg (Sr., 2017 4th-place, 2016 3rd-place)
| Iowa Conference NCAA Qualifiers By School |
| Weight Class |
Name |
Team |
Win |
Loss |
Seed |
NWCA Rank |
D3wrestle.com Rank |
| 125 |
CJ Pestano |
Central |
27 |
0 |
1 |
1st |
1st |
| 165 |
Jeremy Vester |
Central |
25 |
7 |
- |
- |
Honorable Mention |
| 174 |
Nathan Fritz |
Central |
19 |
3 |
- |
- |
6th |
| 157 |
Cole Erickson |
Coe |
16 |
7 |
5 |
6th |
5th |
| 174 |
Jake Voss |
Coe |
28 |
6 |
6 |
5th |
5th |
| 197 |
Andrew Holladay |
Coe |
28 |
9 |
- |
- |
Contender |
| 141 |
Kevin Kelly |
Loras |
25 |
5 |
- |
- |
6th |
| 149 |
Jimmy Davis |
Loras |
25 |
3 |
2 |
5th |
2nd |
| 197 |
Guy Patron Jr. |
Loras |
31 |
3 |
2 |
3rd |
2nd |
| 285 |
Quin Gilliam |
Loras |
24 |
3 |
7 |
9th |
7th |
| 125 |
Brennen Doebel |
Wartburg |
19 |
4 |
- |
- |
Contender |
| 133 |
Brock Rathbun |
Wartburg |
21 |
5 |
3 |
3rd |
3rd |
| 149 |
Cross Cannone |
Wartburg |
30 |
0 |
1 |
1st |
1st |
| 157 |
Logan Thomsen |
Wartburg |
29 |
1 |
2 |
2nd |
2nd |
| 165 |
Mike Ross |
Wartburg |
25 |
0 |
1 |
1st |
2nd |
| 174 |
Eric DeVos |
Wartburg |
14 |
0 |
1 |
1st |
1st |
| 184 |
Tyler Lutes |
Wartburg |
24 |
1 |
3 |
2nd |
3rd |
| 197 |
Kyle Fank |
Wartburg |
29 |
2 |
1 |
2nd |
1st |
| 285 |
Lance Evans |
Wartburg |
19 |
1 |
1 |
1st |
1st |
