Iowa Conference Preview

Please Note: These are predictions of what will happen at a specific tournament on a specific date.  They are not seedings or rankings.  We have seen all the results and made predictions based off those results.  We may predict someone to win, even if they recently lost to a conference opponent, but that does not mean we did not see the results.

All week long, d3wrestle.com will be publishing previews of each of the NCAA qualifying tournaments to be held this weekend.  In addition to predicting winners and identifying the top athletes at each weight, we will attempt to predict all 160 qualifiers based on the number of wildcards available for each qualifying tournament.  With nine qualifiers, d3wrestle.com will publish two each day, with the last one appearing Friday morning.

Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – 33 qualifiers
Predicted Team Champion: Wartburg College

Top Individual: Aaron Wernimont, Wartburg

Returning NCAA Qualifiers: Clayton Rush (Coe 125, 2nd NCAA), Nicholas Nothern (Cornell 133, 6th NCAA), Zac Bartlett (Luther 133, 7th NCAA), Matt Kelly (Wartburg 133, 5th NCAA), Jacob Naig (Wartburg 149, 1st NCAA), Yonny Quist (Luther 149, 8th NCAA), Aaron Wernimont (Wartburg 157, 1st NCAA), Erik Hanson (Loras 157), Justin Hanson (Wartburg 165, 7th NCAA), Tyler Burkle (Coe 165, 1st NCAA), Josh Terrell (Dubuque 165), Kyle Kehrli (Cornell 174, 6th NCAA), Evan Brown (Dubuque 174), Romeo Djoumessi (Wartburg 184, 1st NCAA), Nic Barclay (Luther 184), Alec Bonander (Luther 197, 5th NCAA), Rob Kramer (Coe 197, 4th NCAA)

The IIAC is again the toughest conference in the division and will bring 33 qualifiers to the tournament in 2009.  Among these are four returning NCAA champions, though only Wartburg’s Aaron Wernimont would get a top seed if they were announced today.  Jacob Naig, Tyler Burkle, and Romeo Djoumessi have all taken losses this season to opponents who are now ranked above them.  The tournament started this morning, so the action should be well underway by now.  Check it out at the IIAC Tournament Website.

Weight by Weight (predicted qualifiers in bold)
125 Prediction: Clayton Rush, Coe
Top Challengers: Mark Kist, Wartburg; Jayson Swanson, Luther; Timothy Hood, Cornell

133 Prediction: Matt Kelly, Wartburg
Top Challengers: Brandon Ball, Coe; Nicholas Nothern, Cornell; Zac Bartlett, Luther

141 Prediction: Zach McKray, Wartburg
Top Challengers: Johnny Siegel, Coe; Jordan Loy, Loras; Kevin Donahue, Cornell

149 Prediction: Jacob Naig, Wartburg
Top Challengers: Yonny Quist, Luther; Ryan Mulnix, Cornell; Tyler Baker, Coe

157 Prediction: Aaron Wernimont, Wartburg
Top Challengers: Erik Hanson, Loras; Aron Kindlesperger, Cornell

165 Prediction: Justin Hanson, Wartburg
Top Challengers: Tyler Burkle, Coe; Josh Terrell, Dubuque

174 Prediction: Kyle Kehrli, Cornell
Top Challengers: Evan Brown, Dubuque; Bryon Grothus, Coe; Grant Jenkins, Wartburg

184 Prediction: Romeo Djoumessi, Wartburg
Top Challengers: Greg Lalla, Coe; Brian Stueve, Buena Vista; Nic Barclay, Luther; Carmen Sacco, Cornell

197 Prediction: Alec Bonander, Luther
Top Challengers:  Rob Kramer, Coe; Nick Shandri, Wartburg; Matt Wonderlin, Dubuque

285 Predictions: John Helgerson, Wartburg
Top Challengers: Mitch Sander, Coe; Allyn Plattner, Luther; Trevor Kaufman, Loras