Colleges from the state of Iowa made a statement on Sunday at the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals at the Prairie Capital Convention Center in Springfield, Ill.

Somewhat amusing considering the tournament was hosted in Iowa the past half decade. 

Wartburg and Iowa Central had been there before, with each school winning multiple titles in Division III and the NJCAA Divisions, but Grand View joined the state’s elite with a dominating championship in the NAIA division.

The Vikings, only in their fourth year in existence, powered past top seeded Great Falls 31-7 in the championship final.

“This is what we talked about from day one,” said Grand View coach Nick Mitchell. “These seniors have been there since the get go – Travis Evans, Ty Knowler, Nick Coffman – those guys have been here since year one.”

Mitchell was well aware of the Iowa colleges dominance throughout the weekend. 

“I love it,” said Mitchell. “We have some Iowa Central guys on our team and I coached at Wartburg for eight years, I like seeing that all the way around.”

Heavyweight Eric Thompson was named the Outstanding Wrestler of the NAIA division. The former Iowa State wrestler picked up two falls on the weekend, including a fall over top-ranked Leviticus Roberson of Midland.

Great Falls jumped out to a 7-3 lead after the first three weights with victories by Danny Luttrell at 125 and NAIA champion Anthony Varnell at 141, but the next seven weights all went to Vikings.

Brad Lower (165) and Derek Nightster (197) provided statement victories, as each pinned their opponents the help Grand View, which finished seventh last year, pull away.

In Division III, top-ranked Wartburg trounced rival Augsburg  29-6. The Knights built a 19-0 with victories at the first five weights.

It was Wartburg’s sixth Division III National Duals championship, and they did it with as dominating a performance as ever. As a team, Wartburg lost six matches the entire tournament.

“We love the tradition, that thing we got going with Augsburg, they’re a great program, and we ended up on the right side of a lot of the matches, but it will be a lot tougher next time,” said Wartburg coach Jim Miller.

“We just tried to hang, one guy at a time and do our best, it’s a simple formula,” added Miller. “I’m really pleased with the effort, we came together.”

Ithaca College’s Jules Doliscar went 4-0 and was named the Division III Outstanding Wrestler. Doliscar upended returning Division III champion Michael Schmitz of UW-La Crosse in the third-place dual won by Lax.

Iowa Central cruised past Labette 31-10 to win the NJCAA Championship to make it three-for-three in the finals for Iowa-based college programs.

Clackamas’ Austin Morehead was the division’s OW. 

In Division II, St. Cloud State won its first National Duals crown, beating top-seeded Newberry 23-12. 

Head coach Steve Costanzo has steadily rebuilt St. Cloud into a power within the Division and the win over Newberry puts the Huskies in a confident position heading into the stretch run of the season.

“It’s just one step closer,” said Costanzo. “This is one of the goals – winning the National Duals. It was a big deal to us, it’s not the end of the season, our guys need to enjoy it. We’re sure happy about this.”

We’ve had a lot of support from our administration, from our alumni, boosters. We’ve had the opportunity to bring in some great recruits over the last few years and it’s made a difference,” said Costanzo.

One team notably absent from competition was multi-time champion Nebraska-Omaha – Costanzo’s alma mater.

“It is bittersweet,” said Costanzo. “I saw coach (Mike) Denney here today and it’s just not the same without Nebraska-Omaha in this tournament. They created a great rivalry for many teams and they were always the team to beat for many years at this event and it’s bittersweet. Fortunately, we won the tournament, at the same time, being a Nebraska-Omaha alumni, I wish they were back here.”

Limestone’s Dan Scanlan was the Division II OW.

Oklahoma City won its fifth straight women’s freestyle National Duals championship, beating a very game King College squad 25-14. Head coach Archie Randall is looking forward to future growth in the women’s division at the event.

“There’s like 19 colleges now and each one of them has 25 kids,” said Randall. “You’re not going to see nothing but growth from here on out. We’re looking at maybe 12 teams here next year. We’re going to try to grow in that area too.

Growth aside, Oklahoma City has hoisted every women’s team trophy since their program’s inception, but it’s getting tougher. In October, OCU beat King 31-10. 

Jennifer Page was the tournament’s OW, mainly on the strength of her upset win over King’s Alli Ragan at 143 pounds.