Only three times in Division III wrestling history has a team won the national championship without an individual champion. Buffalo accomplished the feat in 1978, while Ithaca repeated it in 1989. Prior to Saturday night's finals at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, that number still stood at just two.

Despite going 0-3 in finals matches in the season finale, Augsburg won its 11th NCAA Division III championship, scoring 110.5 points and placing eight of their nine qualified wrestlers in the top eight.

For second-year head coach Mark Matzek, he'll take it.

The Auggies had the tournament title locked up before 133-pounder Paul Bjorkstrand took the mat for his final against UW-La Crosse's Bebeto Yewah, but that didn't make the three final losses any easier to swallow.

"I wanted nine champs," said Matzek, brazenly admitting he'd have preferred everyone's maximum possible performance.

Even without a title, Matzek became just the 12th coach in Division III history to win a national championship and at 27, the youngest. He was named NWCA Division III Coach of the Year in just his second season, while assistant Jared Evans won the NWCA Division III Assistant Coach of the Year.

But Saturday night's finals were less about the men barking out the instructions, than it was the 10 champions crowned.

Coe College junior Clayton Rush, a finalist as a freshman, dominated Elizabethtown's Tyler Erdman en route to a 14-3 major decision, becoming the Kohawks' second-ever NCAA champion.

At 133, Yewah beat Bjorkstrand 14-9 in one of the most exciting, get-after-it matches in Division III history. Both wrestlers continually attacked as they went toe-to-toe for much of the first two periods. Yewah never tired and finished the season 24-1.

Yewah was one of three champions for second-place UW-La Crosse. Michael Schmitz won the championship at 174 pounds, beating returning champion Evan Brown of Dubuque 7-4, while heavyweight Dan Laurent won his third Division III championship in a row, downing Wartburg's John Helgerson 2-0.

Laurent and St. John's Myanganbayar "Minga" Batsukh repeated as champions. Batsukh beat unseeded sophomore Jeremy Stierly of Ithaca 10-4 to repeat as champion.

Augsburg's Tony Valek fell to Case Western Reserve's Isaac Dukes in the finals at 149 pounds. Dukes used a second-period cradle to build a lead an was never threatened, wisely taking neutral in the third period to avoid Valek's bruising cradle series.

Ohio Northern crowned a champion at 157 pounds, as Luke Miller beat Heidelberg's Zach Mizer for the fourth time this season, picking up a 4-2 victory.

While the records in Division III haven't indicated the seeds of all the champions, there hasn't been an unseeded champion since Krieder PC Tournaments began running the tournament software in 2004. That changed when unseeded Vinnie Renaut of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy defeated Augsburg's Orlando Ponce in a thrilling 7-3 final.

With the score tied 3-3 in the third and time ticking away, Renaut bull rushed Ponce, sending him to his back for two and two. As Ponce bellied out, only six seconds remained on the clock and Renaut gave coach Greg Ilaria his first national champion and the third All-American in program history. 125-pounder Jordan Alfaro also placed for the Merchant Marine Academy, which finished in 11th place. The previous best finish for USMMA was 35th in 2007.

For his work, Renaut was voted the tournament's outstanding wrestler. 

Concordia's Phil Moenkedick captured the championship at 184 pounds, beating upstart Brennan Ward of Johnson & Wales 7-4. Moenkedick kept away from Ward's arsenal of home run moves … at least for the most part. Ward, trailing 4-0 in the second, chin-whipped Moenkedick to his back an stepped over, getting a two count. It was the only chance he would get to beat Moenkedick. The Cobber grappler came out with a reversal to take a 6-4 lead and added a riding time point for the final margin.

Moenkedick was second last year. 

Wartburg and coach Jim Miller had to wait until the final two bouts to make a finals appearance as 197-pounder Byron Tate and Helgerson stepped to the mat. Tate upended returning runner-up and second-seeded Ryan Malo of Williams 8-5 in one of the best displays of tactical, technical wrestling of the evening. Tate kept on the offensive, not allowing Malo to score and get on top, where he's most dangerous.

UW-La Crosse and coach Dave Malecek went 3-0 in the finals, bringing in the most gold medals of any team. Eight different schools earned individual championships. 

Wartburg finished third, while Coe, for the third year in a row, finished fourth.