Bradley Banks of Wartburg battles with King’s College 174-pound Michael Reilly in the semifinals. G. Wyatt Schultz Photo

As Wartburg’s Mark Kist took off his ankle bands for the last time after a technical fall over Waynesburg’s Alex Crown, the Knight fans saluted their senior with a standing ovation. 

Kist’s win provided the most important points of the tournament for Wartburg as the Knights clinched their eighth Division III wrestling championship in school history. While the Knights, with three finalists, are assured of the team championship,  Augsburg and UW-La Crosse still have some things to sort out for second place.

The only team that qualified all 10 wrestlers to the tournament, Wartburg’s depth was the difference as the Knights placed seventh. Augsburg, which only brought five wrestlers, placed all of them with four of the five making Saturday night’s championship session.

Wartburg will put returning finalists Byron Tate (197) and John Helgerson (285) into the Saturday night session for the second year in a row, while upstart Bradley Banks reached the finals at 174 pounds after coming in as the #8 seed.

Augsburg put wrestlers into the finals at 149, 157, 174 and 197 pounds. The two ‘Burgs will meet at 174 and 197. 

Host UW-La Crosse, Ithaca, and Coe College also put multiple wresters into the finals. 

Saturday morning’s semifinal round provided much excitement, much of it centering around three of the tournament’s deepest and most talented weights.

At 141 pounds, returning champion Bebeto Yewah of La Crosse earned a major decision over Chris Albright of York College to advance. Yewah will take on last year’s runner-up at 141 pounds, Jeremy Stierly of Ithaca. Stierly dominated Cornell’s Kevin Donahue 11-0.

At 149 pounds, Augsburg’s Tony Valek avenged last year’s finals loss to Isaac Dukes of Case Western Reserve, picking up a fall late in the third period. Valek was reversed late in the match and while Dukes was riding high late in the match, Valek caught his head and held Dukes to the mat for the defensive fall with 14 seconds left. 

Valek will face face two-time champion Myanganbayar “Minga” Batsukh of St. John’s in the finals. Batsukh, seeded third, beat Ithaca’s Blaine Woszczak 6-5.

While there were fireworks at both those weights, one of the most controversial outcomes of the day came at 197 pounds where 2009 champion Jared Massey picked up an overtime victory over Mount Union’s Bill Schindel.

Schindel took an early lead, scoring nearfall points on a second-period cradle, but it was late in the match where the issues arose. Massey closed the gap to one in the closing seconds and cut Schindel free in short time. As Massey attempted another takedown on the edge, time expired, apparently giving Schindel the win.

After the officials conferred, Massey was awarded the takedown to tie the match at nine apiece and force sudden victory. The outcome was met by a chorus of boos from many in the La Crosse Center. Schindel eventually finished third, completing a tumultuous season for the Purple Raiders. The team was involved in a bus accident in January that took the life of longtime trainer Dan Gorman.

Statistically, Augsburg reached two milestones – it’s the 23rd year in a row the Auggies have placed at least five wrestlers and they extended their current NCAA all-division record by placing in the top four for 23 consecutive seasons. Wartburg’s streak is currently 10. 

Team Scores (Finalists)
1. Wartburg 109 (3)
2. Augsburg 82.5 (4)
3. UW-La Crosse 72.5 (2)
4. Ithaca 68.5 (2)
5. Coe 63 (2)
6. St. John’s 60.5 (1)
7. Concordia-Moorhead 48 (1)
8. Mount Union 37 (0)
9. Merchant Marine Academy 33 (1)
10. Elmhurst 32 (1)

Finals matchups
125: #1 Clayton Rush (Coe) vs. #3 Lloyd McKinney (UW-La Crosse)
133: #4 Mike McInally (RIT) vs. #3 Seth Ecker (Ithaca)
141: #1 Bebeto Yewah (UW-La Crosse) vs. #2 Jeremy Stierly (Ithaca)
149: #4 Tony Valek (Augsburg) vs. #3 Myanganbayar Batsukh (St. John’s)
157: #8 Dan Twito (Merchant Marine) vs. #2 Orlando Ponce (Augsburg)
165: #1 Josh Terrell (Dubuque) vs. #6 Nick LeClere (Coe)
174: #8 Bradley Banks (Wartburg) vs. #3 Zach Molitor (Augsburg)
184: #1 Phil Moenkedick (Concordia-Moorhead) vs. #2 Ben Engelland (UW-Stevens Point)
197: #1 Byron Tate (Wartburg) vs. #2 Jared Massey (Augsburg)
285: #1 John Helgerson (Wartburg) vs. #2 Mark Corsello (Elmhurst)