Iowa Conference Wrestling February 18, 2008 Contact: Joshua Schroeder, Director of Information 222 Third Street SE, Suite 423 Cedar Rapids, IA 52401 Phone - (319) 366-4975 ** Fax - (319) 366-4911 e-mail - [email protected] Standings IIAC Overall W L PCT W L T PCT 2008 IIAC Wrestling Championships Wartburg 8 0 1.000 22 0 0 1.000 Coe 6 2 .750 17 4 0 .810 Buena Vista 6 2 .750 11 7 0 .611 February 21 Luther 5 3 .625 13 6 0 .684 Dubuque 5 3 .625 11 8 0 .579 Hosted by Wartburg College Cornell 3 5 .375 8 12 0 .400 Loras 2 6 .250 7 14 0 .333 Simpson 1 7 .125 3 11 0 .286 Central 0 8 .000 0 151 .031 This Week’s Schedule Feb. 21 Iowa Conference Championships, 10:00 AM at Wartburg College Championship preview begins on page 2 of this release Iowa Conference Wrestlers of the Week Week Week Ending Wrestler, School Ending Wrestler, School Nov. 11 Chris Heilman, Cornell Jan. 6 Clayton Rush, Coe Nov. 18 Alec Bonander, Luther Jan. 13 Clayton Rush, Coe Dec. 2 Jacob Naig, Wartburg Jan. 20 T.J. Miller, Wartburg Dec. 9 Chris Heilman, Cornell Jan. 27 Luke Satern, Buena Vista Dec. 16 Aaron Cook, Buena Vista Feb. 3 Rob Struthers, Wartburg Dec. 31 Pat McAuley, Cornell Feb. 10 Chris Heilman, Cornell 2008 IOWA CONFERENCE WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS PREVIEW CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA . The 2008 Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) Wrestling Championships are Thursday, February 21, at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. Matches begin at 10 a.m. inside Levick Arena with the finals set for 7 p.m. following the Grand March at 6:30 p.m. Iowa Public Television (IPTV) will televise the Championship finals live across the state beginning at 7:00 p.m. Tim Johnson will provide the play-by-play and former national champion wrestlers Jim Gibbons and Dan Gable will provide analysis. For local IPTV stations, visit IPTV’s web site at www.iptv.org. National Polls: Six Iowa Conference schools and 24 individuals are ranked in the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association/Brute-Adidas poll released on February 12. Ranked teams are Wartburg (1st), Coe (8th), Buena Vista (10th), Luther (12th), Dubuque (19th), and Loras (21st). All 10 weight classes have at least one Iowa Conference wrestler ranked in the top-8, including nine classes with at least two wrestlers. Four IIAC wrestlers are among the top-8 at 157-pounds, while three other weights (125, 133, and 184) each have three IIAC wrestlers listed in the rankings. Wartburg has eight wrestlers ranked. Buena Vista has five ranked wrestlers and Coe has four. Cornell, Luther, and Loras each have two, while Dubuque rounds out the list with one ranked wrestler. 2007 IIAC Championships Recap: Wartburg College won its 15th consecutive Iowa Conference title last season. The Knights amassed 181 points as they claimed their 25th overall title by 21 markers over runner-up Luther College, which finished second for the seventh time in eight years. The 21-point margin of victory is the closest since 1994 when Wartburg defeated Buena Vista (158.75-138) and the 160 points by Luther is the most by the Conference runner-up. Wartburg claimed five individual titles, Luther crowned three individual champions, and Buena Vista and Coe each had one wrestler claim the top spot on the awards stand. Five former Conference Champions return to their teams’ line-up this year. Wartburg’s T.J. Miller, the defending national champion at 197 pounds, will look to become the 37th wrestler to win at least three Iowa Conference championships since 1965. Buena Vista’s Jestin Hulegaard (133), Wartburg’s Aaron Wernimont (157) and Romeo Djoumessi (184) will also defend titles earned last winter, while Wartburg’s Jacob Naig, who was sidelined last season by an injury, was the champion at 149 pounds and Outstanding Wrestler of the 2006 meet. Fifteen of the Conference’s 32 national qualifiers, and 11 of 19 All-Americans from 2007 return to their teams’ line-ups in 2008. Hulegaard will look to qualify for nationals for the fourth time in his career, having earned All-American honors each year. T.J. Miller, Naig, Cornell’s Chris Heilman, Loras’ Jay Figgins, and Luther’s Alec Bonander and John Miller are each looking for their third trip to nationals. Naig, T.J. Miller, and Heilman are each two-time All-Americans. T.J. Miller leads a group of six returning Knight national qualifiers. Luther and Cornell each have three returning national qualifiers, while Buena Vista, Coe, Loras, and Simpson each have one qualifier in their line-up. Thirty-two IIAC wrestlers will qualify for the NCAA Championship field of 160, the top-three in each weight class and two wildcards. The 2008 NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships will be hosted by Coe College, Cornell College, and the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids March 7-8. A class-by-class preview follows with each school’s probable line-up. Championship brackets will be posted on Wartburg’s Championships Web site (http://www.go-knights.net/2008IIACwrestling/index.html) and the Iowa Conference Web site (www.iowaconference.com) on Thursday morning and the web site will be updated with results throughout the day. ~~ www.iowaconference.com ~~ 125-Pounds School Wrestler, Yr. School Wrestler, Yr. School Wrestler, Yr. (2007-08 Record) (2007-08 Record) (2007-08 Record) Buena Vista Mike Miille, Fr. (21-7) Cornell Chris Heilman, Sr. (32-3) Luther Lee Meirick, So. (16-10) Central Brandon Rose, Fr. (2-10) Dubuque Andre Taylor, Fr. (26-18) Simpson --OPEN-- Coe Clayton Rush, Fr. (31-3) Loras Mark Beatty, So. (20-15) Wartburg Robert Struthers, Sr. (32-5) The second-, third, and fifth-ranked wrestlers in the nation hail from the IIAC in Cornell’s Chris Heilman, Coe’s Clayton Rush, and Wartburg’s Robert Struthers. Heilman, who has spent most of the year ranked second in the nation, finished second in the Conference last year after fourth-place finishes in 2005 and 2006. Rush began the year unranked but has steadily climbed the rankings, spending the last three weeks at No. 3. Struthers, who has been ranked all season, finished fourth a year ago. Loras’ Mark Beatty took fifth last year as a freshman. 133-Pounds School Wrestler, Yr. School Wrestler, Yr. School Wrestler, Yr. (2007-08 Record) (2007-08 Record) (2007-08 Record) Buena Vista Jestin Hulegaard, Sr. (26-4) Cornell Nick Nothern, So. (25-7) Luther Zach Bartlett, Jr. (10-11) Central --OPEN-- Dubuque Donte Brown, Fr. (4-2) Simpson --OPEN-- Coe Gannon Hjerleid, Sr. (23-10) Loras Jordan Loy, Jr. (21-18) Wartburg Jake Helvey, Sr. (25-3) This weight class also has three ranked wrestlers in Wartburg’s Jake Helvey, Cornell’s Nick Nothern and Buena Vista’s Jestin Hulegaard. Hulegaard has finished first (2007), second (2005) and third (2006) in the weight class the last three years and is a three-time All-American. Helvey, last year’s runner-up, took fifth at the national meet to earn All-America honors. Coe’s Gannon Hjerleid took fifth last season, but bounced back at national to place eighth. Loras’ Jordan Loy and Luther’s Zach Bartlett both competed at 133 last year, finishing fourth and sixth, respectively. 141-Pounds School Wrestler, Yr. School Wrestler, Yr. School Wrestler, Yr. (2007-08 Record) (2007-08 Record) (2007-08 Record) Buena Vista Luke Satern, So. (14-4) Cornell Kevin Donohue, Fr. (12-11) Luther Travis Grawin, Sr. (17-8) Central Nick Johnson, So. (5-21) Dubuque Adam Canty, Fr. (8-10) Simpson Caleb Brus, Fr. (19-13) Coe Niles Mercer, Sr. (31-9) Loras Eric Davis, So. (11-13) Wartburg Matt Kelly, So. (15-1) Wartburg’s Matt Kelly is currently ranked third in the nation. Luther’s Travis Grawin, who has also spent much of the year ranked, finished third last season and fourth in 2006. Coe’s Niles Mercer, fourth in the Conference at 149-pounds last year, was a national qualifier at 141 in 2006. Buena Vista’s Luke Satern is currently ranked eighth. Central’s Nick Johnson (133-pounds in 2007) has previous Conference Championship experience. 149-Pounds School Wrestler, Yr. School Wrestler, Yr. School Wrestler, Yr. (2007-08 Record) (2007-08 Record) (2007-08 Record) Buena Vista Aaron Cook, Jr. (28-3) Cornell Ryan Mulnix, Fr. (19-12) Luther Yonny Quist, Jr. (15-7) Central Curtis Hobbs, Fr. (11-13) Dubuque Hunter Davenport, Fr. (14-9) Simpson Curtis Barber, So. (25-12) Coe Tyler Baker, So. (27-16) Loras Chris Bishop, Jr. (19-18) Wartburg Jacob Naig, Jr. (36-3) Two-time All-American Jacob Naig is currently the top-ranked wrestler in Division III at 149-pounds. He missed last year’s meet with an injury after finishing first and being named the meet’s Outstanding Wrestler in 2006. Naig, who also finished fourth in 2005, is a two-time All-American with a runner-up finish in 2006. Simpson’s Curtis Barber finished third last year and qualified for nationals. Buena Vista’s Aaron Cook competed in the IIAC Championship at 165-pounds in 2006. 157-Pounds School Wrestler, Yr. School Wrestler, Yr. School Wrestler, Yr. (2007-08 Record) (2007-08 Record) (2007-08 Record) Buena Vista Joey Verschoor, Jr. (29-7) Cornell Pat McAuley, Sr. (29-10) Luther Lance Serbousek, Fr. (10-15) or Dustin Balsley, Fr. (12-11) or Danny Fornoff, Jr. (8-10) or Jason Pyle, Fr. (17-5) or Zach Walrod, Sr.