Wartburg College crowned seven individual champions after sending all ten wrestlers to the finals en route to its 19th consecutive Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) wrestling championship Tuesday at Simpson College. The Knights amassed 206.5 points as they collected their 29th title overall.
 
Coe, which had one champion and five finalists, finished second with 147.5 points, while Dubuque edged Cornell, 114.5-115.5, for third place. For Dubuque, it was the program’s highest team finish since finishing second in 1971. The Spartans clinched the spot when Josh Terrell scored a 12-4 major decision over Wartburg’s Adam Weber for the 165 title.
 
Coe kicked off the championship session on a strong note as senior Clayton Rush topped Wartburg’s Mark Kist, 6-1, at 125 to become the program’s first three-time Iowa Conference champion. Top-seeded Tommy Mirocha of Wartburg captured the 133 title with a 10-1 major decision over Cornell’s Tigue Snider.
 
Kevin Donahue became Cornell’s first multiple-time Iowa Conference champion after holding on for a tight 3-2 victory at 141 over Wartburg’s Matt Kelly. Wartburg’s Jacob Groth, an IIAC runner-up last season, moved one step up the podium and claimed his first IIAC title with a 7-3 win over Coe’s James Locke. Wartburg’s Carrington Banks gained a measure of revenge over Cornell’s Nicholas Loughlin, toppling the defending IIAC champion, 9-4, in rematch of last year’s 157-pound final. Terrell’s victory at 165 made him only the second Spartan to win three IIAC titles (Dan Daack, 137 pounds, 1966-67-68).
 
The Knights closed out the tournament with four consecutive victories. Bradley Banks picked up a 10-1 major decision over Coe’s Scott King at 174, Dylan Azinger topped Coe’s Seth Rehn, 9-5, and Byron Tate and John Helgerson scored technical falls at 197 and heavyweight, respectively.
 
Tate Named Outstanding Wrestler: Wartburg 197-pounder Byron Tate, the defending national champion and current No. 1 wrestler in Division III at the weight, dominated the competition at the Championships, pinning Simpson’s Jared Bevins in 46 seconds in the quarterfinals and Cornell’s Alex Coolidge in 1:59, before dropping Dubuque’s Sam Johnson, 32-16, in the Championship match.
 
Titles by Rush (125) and Terrell (165) Wartburg increased the number of wrestlers with at least three Iowa Conference titles to 45 and the number to accomplish the feat at the same weight class to 26. It was the third consecutive title for both wrestlers.
 
Steward Named Coach of the Year: Loras’ Randy Steward was named Iowa Conference Coach of the Year for the third time in his career and the first time since 2001. The Duhawks finished fifth at the Championships – their best finish since 2007 – and sent four wrestlers to the NCAA Championships.
 
A total of thirty-five Iowa Conference wrestlers will qualify for the 2011 NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships hosted by University of Wisconsin-La Crosse at La Crosse Center in La Crosse, Wis., of which 33 are already know. The top three finishers in each of the ten weight classes advanced to the national meet along with three at-large selections picked by the coaches. Two additional qualifiers will be selected by the NCAA Division III Wrestling Committee once all of this weekend’s qualifying tournaments have been completed. The 33 know national qualifiers from the Iowa Conference are:
 
Buena Vista (1) – Brian Broll (197)
 
Central (1) – Kalen Greiner (125)
 
Coe (7) – Clayton Rush (125), Chris LeClere (141), James Locke (149), Nick LeClere (165), Scott King (174), Seth Rehn (184), Alex Burkle (285)
 
Cornell (6) – Tigue Snider (133), Kevin Donahue (141), Jacob Schwebke (149), Nicholas Loughlin (157), Joe Hambleton (165), Andrew Roberts (184)
 
Dubuque (2) – Josh Terrell (165), Sam Johnson (197)
 
Loras (4) – Matt Holmes (133), Erik Hanson (157), Stephan Birt (174), Jeremy Klein (285)
 
Luther (2) – Daniel Mendoza (125), Kevin Bokoski (141)
 
Wartburg (10) – Mark Kist (125), Tommy Mirocha (133), Matt Kelly (141), Jacob Groth (149), Carrington Banks (157), Adam Weber (165), Bradley Banks (174), Dylan Azinger (184), Byron Tate (197), John Helgerson (285)