Dick Walker Invitational

A 17-team field visits Levick Arena inside the Wartburg-Waverly Sports and Wellness Center Saturday, Dec. 8, for the 35th annual Dick Walker Invitational.

Action begins at 9 a.m. Updates will be posted throughout the day at http://www.go-knights.net/wrestling/dickwalker/index.html

TOURNAMENT HISTORY: The tournament is named after the late Dr. Richard Walker, Wartburg’s head wrestling coach from 1968-90. Walker guided the Orange and Black to four conference tournament titles and a school-record 54-dual win streak as part of a 180-93-4 record…Wartburg is the 12-time defending champions of the Dick Walker tourney. The Knights have won the team title in 14 of the last 15 seasons…A team championship this weekend would be Wartburg’s 20th since the tourney began in 1973…Augustana College of Rock Island, Ill., was the last team, other than the hosts, to claim the team title in 1994.

KNIGHTS NOTES: No. 2-ranked Wartburg is one of 10 ranked squads in the field. The Knights are among seven NCAA Division III programs (No. 1 Augsburg, No. 7 Coe, No. 10 Cornell, No. 19 North Central of Illinois, No. 22 UW-Whitewater, and No. 28 Loras), while three junior college teams (No. 1 Iowa Central, No. 10 NIACC, and No. 17 Ellsworth) are also in the field…Three Knights seek repeat titles Saturday. Senior 133-pounder Jake Helvey of Mitchellville, junior 157-pounder Aaron Wernimont of Pocahontas, and junior 165-pounder Justin Hanson of Humboldt each claimed championships in 2006…Junior 149-pounder Jacob Naig of Emmetsburg and senior 197-pounder T.J. Miller of Cedar Falls each won titles in 2005 and didn’t compete in the Dick Walker tourney last season…Junior 184-pounder Romeo Djoumessi of Waverly and senior heavyweight Brian Borchers of Holstein have reached the finals in each of the last two tournaments…Wartburg remained second in the third National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III top 30, released Tuesday. Nine individuals are ranked in their respective weight classes. Naig and Djoumessi are No. 1, while junior 141-pounder Zac McKray of Iowa City is second, Helvey and Wernimont are third, Borchers and Miller are fourth, and senior 125-pounder Robert Struthers of Emmetsburg and junior 174-pounder Grant Jenkins of Manchester are each at No. 10…The Knights seek their second consecutive tourney title after claiming top honors at the Simpson Storm Invitational last weekend. Wartburg crowned seven individual champions and defeated the tourney field by 187.5-175.5 for the top spot…Six individuals (freshman 125/133-pounder Jacob Mirocha of Davenport, Naig, freshman 149-pounder Jacob Groth of Marshalltown, Wernimont, Djoumessi, and Borchers) are at or above the 10-win mark going into the weekend. Naig leads the group with a 14-2 record…Naig earned the program’s first Iowa Conference Male Athlete of the Week honor of 2007-08 Monday after claiming an individual title at Simpson and going 6-0 last week.

Tournament Website

Thanks to Wartburg College Sports Information for this preview