CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Serving as a host school for the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships doesn't always mean success. But it has brought out the best in Coe and Cornell, as both teams were in the top six after the opening day.

The Kohawks, whose campus is 10 blocks from the U.S. Cellular Center where the wrestling is taking place, never had more than three All-Americans in one season. Friday, they put four wrestlers in the semifinals and five of their wrestlers will earn medals Saturday.

"The kids have taken a jump mentally to where they come out and expect to win," Coe coach John Oostendorp said. "I really think it comes down to confidence we've built over the season. The program has a lot of guys feeding off the success."

Clayton Rush (125 pounds), Niles Mercer (141), Tyler Burkle (165) and Tyler Jentz (174) moved into the semifinals for the Kohawks. Rush and Burkle entered as No. 2 seeds, so neither was a surprise, and Jentz, the seventh seed, won 5-3 in overtime against Ithaca's David Priest, who had upset the second seed in his first match.

"That helps a lot," Jentz said of having three teammates win in the quarterfinals before he went out on the mat. "You see those guys you practice with and know you can reach that level, too. 

But Mercer (35-10) was the upset man for Coe. He beat No. 2 seed Dan Hall of Delaware Valley 4-1 in the first round, then beat No. 7 Austin Bautista of Wisconsin-Whitewater 10-8 in overtime in the quarterfinals.

Mercer said he was gaining confidence throughout the match against Hall, and he clinched it on a takedown with 12 seconds left.
"Right off the get-go I forced my style on him," he said. "He wasn't able to adjust well. When he did, I was able to counter."

Mercer is a senior who qualified for the tournament as a sophomore at 141 but moved up to 149 last year when teammate Jared Creason dropped to 141 for his senior season and placed third in the nation. Hall is a three-time national qualifier who sat out last year.
Mercer said facing a high seed didn't bother him.

"When you're in a big tournament like this, you've got to wrestle every match like it's the finals," Mercer said.

Coe was tied with Delaware Valley for fourth place with 44 points. Cornell was next with 30.5. The Rams, from nearby Mount Vernon, Iowa, are the other co-host for the event, and they guaranteed themselves four All-Americans, including semifinalists Chris Heilman (36-3) at 125 pounds and Nick Nothern (29-8) at 133.
Despite their success, Coe and Cornell still were well behind fellow Iowa Conference team Wartburg in the standings.

Wartburg, which entered the tournament as the heavy favorite, built a solid lead, advanced six wrestlers into Saturday morning's semifinals and guaranteed that all nine of its qualifiers place in the top eight and earn All-America status.

"I feel pretty good about nine All-Americans; you don't get that often," Wartburg coach Jim Miller said. "There always are some disappointments. It's the NCAA tournament. We still have a lot of work to do. There's a big difference between eighth (place) and first for each of these guys."

The Knights went 10-0 in the morning round and advanced all of their entrants into the quarterfinals. They almost suffered a huge disappointment early, however. Unseeded James Quinlan of Bridgewater State put top-ranked Romeo Djoumessi on his back twice in the second period for a 5-2 lead and then reversed Djoumessi to his back to go ahead 9-4 in the third. But Djoumessi (27-0) rallied with a re-reversal and three-point near fall to pull even at 9-9 and won with riding time he accumulated after a first-period takedown.

"I kind of saw my dream disappearing for a second," said Djoumessi, a junior who followed his brother Alain (a former Wartburg All-American) from Cameroon to Waverly, Iowa, where he won a high school state championship. "I knew deep inside that he (Quinlan) was not better than me. I had a voice inside saying, 'Romeo, you're better.' I had to believe. By fate I ended up beating him."

Djoumessi made sure things weren't quite as exciting in the semifinals, building a 10-point lead before pinning Springfield's Elliot Smith with 10 seconds remaining.

"I had to come back really hard," Djoumessi said. "It was really a good feeling. My goal was to come back and prove myself."

Wartburg's other semfinalists are fourth-seeded Jacob Helvey at 133, third-seeded Brian Borchers at heavyweight and top seeds Jacob Naig (149), Aaron Wernimont (157) and T.j. Miller, the defending national champion at 197 who beat Diego Crespo 1-0 in the quarterfinals.

Although Djoumessie escaped in the opening roung, 17 seeded wrestlers lost in the morning session, including one No. 1, two Nos. 2s and a No. 3.

The highest seed to fall was Oneonta (N.Y.) State heavyweight Trevor Hiffa, who placed fourth last year. He lost 4-3 to Luke Panizzi of York College (Pa.). Panizzi recorded a takedown just before time expired to pull out the victory.

"It's my first, and last, shot out here, so you've got to make something happen," Panizzi, a senior, said. "I looked at the coaches (in the final half minute after an escape gave Hiffa a 3-2 lead), and they said to push the pace, and I hit a double." 

"I had wrestled him earlier in the year (a 4-1 Hiffa win) and knew he was good on top with tilts, so I practiced on the bottom."

Ithaca's David Priest pulled off an upset at 174 when he beat No. 2 seed Eric Bath of Wisconsin-Stevens Point 7-3. Bath placed third in the nation a year ago at 174.
Unseeded Justin Hanson of Wartburg knocked off third-seeded Gino Russo of Baldwin-Wallace 5-2 at 165.

Only one other top-two seed fell in the semifinals. In that one, seventh-seeded Josh Holforty (30-8) of Wisconsin-Eau Claire knocked off defending national runner-up Alec Bonander of Luther.

The rest of the top 10 teams after Wartburg were Wisconsin-La Crosse, 55.5 points; Augsburg, 45; Coe and Delaware Valley, 44 each; co-host Cornell 30.5; Luther, 28; Elmhurst, 26.5; North Central, 26; and Wisconsin-Stevens Point, 20.

"We came out of here with six All-Americans, and I'm real proud of these guys," UW-La Crosse coach Dave Malecek said. "I feel like it's a good day, and I'm excited where we are at."

Tim Palmer (165), Josh Chelf (174), Joshua Zabel (184) and Dan Laurent (heavyweight) moved into the semifinals for the Eagles.

Five Augsburg wrestlers moved into the All-America round, marking the 20th consecutive year five or more Auggies have accomplished that feat. Seth Flodeen (125), Jason Adams (141) and Willie Holst (149) advanced to the semifinals, while Travis Lang (133) and Robert Gotreau (184) remained alive in the semifinals.

Flodeen and Adams moved into the semifinals by avenging losses to Wartburg wrestlers. Flodeen scored on a reversal with 55 seconds remaining and beat Robert Struthers 5-4, and Adams beat Matt Kelly 3-2. Struthers beat Flodeen 6-4 in the dual, and Adams lost to Kelly 13-6 at the North Country Invitational.

"I wanted to get back at him, and it was good for team points," Adams said. "Flodeen had just beaten Struthers, so if I beat him (Kelly), it helps the team. The coaches said what I could do to stop his offense, and I capitalized on it."

Adams will face Coe's Mercer in a battle of unseeded wrestlers in the semifinals. Adams won an earlier matchup, 6-2 at the National Duals.

"I think it's good (to have faced him)," Adams said. "I know what he has. He has a good snapdown."
He also said it would be easier to wrestle Saturday with All-America honors already guaranteed.

"Yes, it does help," he said. "One of my goals was to be an All-American. Tomorrow I'll be very loose because I've already accomplished that goal."