Heavyweight John Helgerson leaps into the arms of Wartburg assistant Chris Ortner after earning a last-second takedown to win the NCAA Division III championship at 285 pounds. G. Wyatt Schultz Photo)

With the championship wrapped up before Saturday night’s final session at the La Crosse Center in La Crosse, Wis., the only work the Wartburg Knights had to finish were trying to win three individual championships.

With seven All-Americans, Wartburg won its eighth NCAA Division III Championship on Saturday night, outdistancing second-place Augsburg 117-88.5.

Wartburg went 2-1 in the finals, as top seeds Byron Tate and John Helgerson captured individual championships at 197 pounds and 285 pounds.

Coach Jim Miller was quick to point out everyone who played a role in bringing another team championship to Waverly, Iowa.

“It was awesome to get the team title wrapped up early, but those two wins for Byron and John were sort of icing on the cake,” he said. “I am so happy for those two. I think I jumped 10 feet when John won, too.

“This entire team got up here and earned this championship,” he added. “I am very proud of these guys.”

Tate beat past champion Jared Massey of Augsburg in the finals at 197 pounds. 

Helgerson, a three-time All-American, captured his first championship scoring two points in a wild scramble in the closing seconds at 285 pounds, edging past runner-up and previously unbeaten Mark Corsello of Elmhurst 3-1. 

The only other Wartburg finalist, Bradley Banks at 174 pounds, was pinned in the second period by third-seeded Zach Molitor of Augsburg in the finals. The “Burgs” would face off twice in the finals, with Molitor winning at 174 and Tate winning over Massey in the finals at 197.

St. John’s senior Myanganbayar “Minga” Batsukh became just the 11th three-time NCAA Division III champion, topping Tony Valek of Augsburg 7-4 in the finals at 149 pounds. Batsukh was honored as the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler, capping a sensational career at the Collegeville, Minn., school. 

Batsukh finished the season 27-1 and avenged his only in-season loss with a semifinal victory over Ithaca’s Blaine Woszczak. The weight was one of the tournament’s best, with three past champions in the field and a runner-up.

Valek finished as the runner-up for the second straight year, while 2010 champion Isaac Dukes of Case Western Reserve finished third.

Returning champion Bebeto Yewah of UW-La Crosse earned a second title, this time at 141 pounds, besting Ithaca’s Jordan Stierly 4-3 in the championship final.

Also winning a second championship was four-time All-American Clayton Rush of Coe. Rush bested Lloyd McKinney of UW-La Crosse 11-8 in a high-octane final. Rush finished his career as a three-time finalist and went 35-1. His only loss came earlier this season to returning Division I champion Matt McDonough of Iowa.

Joining Tate, Yewah, Rush and Batsukh as a multiple-time champion was Concordia’s Phil Moenkedick. The Cobber senior used a riding time point as the difference in beating UW-Stevens Point senior Ben Engelland at 184 pounds. Moenkedick finished the season with just one loss, coming back in November to Big Ten runner-up Kevin Steinhaus of Minnesota. 

Seth Ecker of Ithaca beat Mike McInally of RIT in the finals at 133 pounds in the fourth meeting between the two this season. Ecker gave coach Marty Nichols, who was honored by his peers as NWCA National Coach of the Year, the eighth individual champion in school history and first since Tommy Hall won the 2002 championship at the same weight. 

Another great story came at 157 pounds, where eighth-seeded Dan Twito of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy won the school’s second individual championship, beating Augsburg’s Orlando Ponce in the second tiebreaker. Last season, Vincent Renaut won the school’s first championship. 

Top-seeded Josh Terrell of Dubuque finished his career as a four-time All-American, using a riding time point to win the championship at 165 pounds over Iowa Conference rival Nick LeClere of Coe.

For complete team scores and brackets, click the links above. 

Team Scores
1. Wartburg 117, 2. Augsburg 88.5, 3. UW-La Crosse 76.5, 4. Ithaca 72.5, 5. Coe 67, 6. St. John’s (Minn.) 64.5, 7. Concordia-Moorhead 52. 8 (tie). Merchant Marine Academy & Mount Union 37, 10. Elmhurst 32, 11. Dubuque 30.5, 12. Ohio Northern 29.5, 13. Centenary 24.5, 14. SUNY-Cortland 23, 15. York College (Pa.) 22.5

Championship Finals
125: #1 Clayton Rush (Coe) DEC #3 Lloyd McKinney (UW-La Crosse) 11-8.
133: #3 Seth Ecker (Ithaca) DEC #4 Mike McInally (RIT) 6-2.
141: #1 Bebeto Yewah (UW-La Crosse) DEC #2 Jeremy Stierly (Ithaca) 4-3. 
149: #3 Myanganbayar Batsukh (St. John’s) DEC #4 Tony Valek (Augsburg) 7-4.
157: #8 Dan Twito (Merchant Marine Academy) DEC #2 Orlando Ponce (Augsburg) 3-3, TB2, RT. (:16)
165: #1 Josh Terrell (Dubuque) DEC #6 Nick LeClere (Coe) 6-5.
174: #3 Zach Molitor (Augsburg) FALL #8 Bradley Banks (Wartburg) 3:20.
184: #1 Phil Moenkedick (Concordia-Moorhead) DEC Ben Engelland (UW-Stevens Point) 2-1.
197: #1 Byron Tate (Wartburg) DEC #2 Jared Massey (Augsburg) 9-4.
285: #1 John Helgerson (Wartburg) DEC #2 Mark Corsello (Elmhurst) 3-1.

NWCA Division III Coach of the Year: Marty Nichols, Ithaca
Most Falls, Least Time: Tony Valek, Augsburg
Outstanding Wrestler: Myanganbayar Batsukh, St. John’s