Wartburg Preview

Wartburg College Knights
Head Coach: Jim Miller/Eric Keller   Co Head Coaches
Years at School as head coach:   20/1
Career Record at school: 335-32-4
Assistant Coaches: Chris Ortner/Tyson Reiner/Chris Smith/Jason Zastrow

2009-2010 Dual Meet Record: 19-2
2009-2010 National Qualifiers and All-Americans: 125 Mark Kist NQ/133 Sean White NQ/141 Matt Kelly 3rd/149 Jacob Groth NQ/157 Adam Weber 6th/165 Carrington Banks 7th/174 Dylan Azinger 6th/184 Todd Becker NQ/197 Byron Tate 1st/285 John Helgerson 2nd
Returning Qualifiers and All-Americans: Kist, Groth, Banks, Azinger, Tate, Helgerson
Number of returning wrestlers who competed in 2010 national qualifier: 10

Top returning starters with accomplishments:
125 Mark Kist 2009 AA, 2x NQ
141 Matt Kelly 3x AA
149 Jacob Groth National Qualifier
157 Adam Weber 6th NCAA
165 Carrington Banks 7th NCAA
174 Dylan Azinger 6th NCAA
184 Todd Becker National Qualifier
197 Byron Tate NCAA Champ
285 John Helgerson 2nd NCAA

Top incoming wrestlers:
149 Cole Welter 3x Iowa State Champion
157/65 Landon Williams Iowa State Champion
HWT Ryan Fank Iowa State Champion
184 Sam Upah 4x Iowa state placewinner
165/74 Bradley Banks Jr College National Champion (Iowa Central)
157 Tanner Kampen Jr College All American (Iowa Central).

Season outlook:
Wartburg brings back a lot of experience into 2010-2011.  There is the potential that nine starters will return this season, at least for the second semester.  Kelly, Weber, and Becker all have the option to come back for one last shot starting in January.  Even if they do not come back, the Knights are well-stocked with All-Americans at 125, 165, 174, and 285 with NCAA champ Byron Tate rounding things off at 197.  This is definitely a team that will once again be in the mix for an NCAA championship when all is said and done.  They are able to keep this level of success from year to year because they do an outstanding job bringing in new talent to replace that which is lost to graduation.  The top incoming guys are probably 3x Iowa state champ Cole Welter and Bradley Banks, last year’s NJCAA champion for Iowa Central.