The fourth NWCA rankings were released yesterday. Adam Johnson of North Central moves into the top spot at 133 after toppling Morgan this week. The top spot at the other weights remain unchanged. In the team race, Ithaca moves up to the top 10 as Cornell drops out.
December 19, 2007 Team | IndividualÂ
Ashland Quad:
Mount St. Joseph 39, Mount Union 8
Mount St. Joseph 34, Seton Hill 12
Ashland 31, Mount St. Joseph 10
Seton Hill 30, Mount Union 15
Ashland 46, Mount Union 0
Desert Duals – Full Results Here
Wartburg 48, Great Falls 0
Wartburg 37, Morningside 4
Wartburg 56, King’s -1
Wartburg 39, Elmhurst 3
Coe 25, Morningside 12
Coe 33, Elmhurst 15
Coe 28, North Central 9
Coe 42, Grand Canyon 6
North Central 31, King’s 10
North Central 26, Simpson 15
North Central 18, Loras 15
Simpson 31, Apprentice 13
Simpson 22, Great Falls 21
Simpson 33, Grand Canyon 16
Loras 22, Menlo 17
Loras 36, King’s 15
Elmhurst 34, King’s 3
Elmhurst 22, Loras 13
Elmhurst 57, Central 0
Apprentice 34, Central 18
Grand Canyon 30, Central 30
In a slow week for wrestling, here’s a look at some of the top events at the end of December and beyond.
December 29-30 Midlands Championship – The Midlands now has a sizable Division III contingent, led by UW-La Crosse, a team that has had several placewinners in the past few years. Wartburg, Luther, Olivet, Elmhurst, and North Central are some other teams that enter athletes. In 2005, Dustin Hinschberger of Wartburg defeated Iowa All-American Alex Tsirtsis. Last year, placewinners included Tim Palmer, Josh Chelf, and Blake Gillis.
January 5 North/South Duals – Ursinus hosts this even that will have Delaware Valley, Wartburg, UW-Lax, and TCNJ among the competitors. The event gives teams from different regions the chance to compete and helps with rankings and seedings come NCAA tournament time.
January 12-13 NWCA National Duals – The top teams will be in attendance going for the dual meet title. Augsburg and Wartburg met in last year’s final and may do so again. Augsburg won last year, but lost to Warburg later in the season for the first season split in the rivalry’s history. UW-Lax, Luther, Delaware Valley, and Heidelberg will all be there as well, looking to spoil the anticipated finals matchup.
February 1-2 Pete Willson Invitational – Wheaton has hosted this tournament for over 60 years, and it brings in some of the toughest teams in the Midwest. UW-Lax, Elmhurst, North Central, Heidelberg, and Olivet headline the field with Division II Indianapolis and UW-Parkside in the mix as well.
Some top dual meets include:
January 19 – Luther @ Wartburg
January 19 – Wilkes @ York
January 27 – Augsburg @ UW-Lax
Feburary 1 – Coe @ Luther
February 2 – Augsburg @ Wartburg
February 13 – Cortland @ Ithaca
The latest from the Metro Conference
Tomorrow is the Desert Duals in Las Vegas, hosted by Wartburg. Thirteen teams make up the field including #2 Wartburg, #7 Coe, #19 North Central, #28 Loras, Elmhurst, King’s, and Simpson. Non-division III teams include Apprentice, Grand Canyon, Menlo, Morningside and Great Falls.
d3wrestle.com ranked wrestlers that could compete are Jake Oster (Elmhurst), Rob Struthers (Wartburg), and Clayton Rush (Coe) at 125; Dave Morgan (King’s), Jacob Helvey (Wartburg), Adam Johnson (North Central), and Gannon Hjerleid (Coe) at 133; Zach McKray (Wartburg) and Niles Mercer (Coe) at 141; Jacob Naig (Wartburg) and Jeff Kastel (Elmhurst) at 149; Aaron Wernimont (Wartburg) at 157; Tyler Burkle (Coe) and Adam Weber (Wartburg) at 165; Grant Jenkins (Wartburg) at 174; Romeo Djoumessi (Wartburg), Gabe Youel (North Central), and Greg Lalla (Coe) at 184; TJ Miller (Wartburg) at 197; and Brian Borchers (Wartburg) at 285. Morgan, Naig, and Djoumessi are all ranked #1 at their respective weights, while Miller was the national champion at his weight in 2007.
Overall, that is four ranked teams and 20 ranked individuals at this tough event that caps off the fall semester for most of the teams in attendance.
Champions:
125: Lucas Huffman, West Liberty
133: Matt Mossor, West Liberty
141: Theo Dotson, Cumberlands
149: Elliot Spence, Mount St. Joseph
157: Jason Brew, Olivet
165: Casey Bradley, Limestone
174: Kevin Flinn, Indianapolis
184: Dan Scanlan, Limestone
197: Dave Bush, Limestone
285: Ryan Bowers, Heidelberg
St. Cloud State 22, Buena Vista 16
Dubuque 25, St. John’s 10
Buena Vista 39, Ridgewater 3
St. Cloud State 24, Dubuque 14
MSU-Moorhead 29, St. John’s 9
Buena Vista 27, St. John’s 7
MSU-Moorhead 30, Dubuque 7
MSU-Moorhead 20, Buena Vista 15
Dubuque 31, Ridgewater 15
St. Cloud State 41, St. John’s 3
Northern Illinois 42, Augustana 6
USMMA 33, Princeton 9
Binghamton 31, USMMA 10
North Central 23, Cornell 21
Metropolitan Conference Individual Rankings
Click for the latest d3wrestle.com national rankings
Here are the NCAA Qualifying tournament allocations for the 2008 championships. The only change from last season is reducing the Midwest Region from 16 to 15 as a result of Lycoming, Elizabethtown, and Messiah leaving, and increasing the Great Lakes Region from 22 to 23 as a result of good performance at the NCAA tournament. The NCAA allocates qualifiers based on a formula that takes into account the previous three years of data for number of All-Americans, number of participants, and number of schools in the qualifier.
| Tournament | 2008 Qualifiers |
|---|---|
| Centennial | 11 |
| Empire | 18 |
| Great Lakes | 23 |
| Iowa | 32 |
| Metropolitan | 17 |
| Midwest | 15 |
| New England | 14 |
| Ohio | 11 |
| Wisconsin | 19 |
| TOTAL | 160 |
Springfield 24, Norwich 21
Ithaca 29, Oswego 22
Plymouth State 39, WNEC 9
Roger Williams 22, USM 22
USM 24, Plymouth State 18
Roger Williams 42, WNEC 15
Roger Williams 21, Plymouth State 21
USM 32, WNEC 22
Messiah 23, Johns Hopkins 19
Messiah 31, Morrisville 23
York 28, Messiah 16
York 44, Morrisville 10
York 24, Johns Hopkins 19
Johns Hopkins 37, Morrisville 4
UW-Oshkosh 47, Maranatha 4
Lakeland 30, Wheaton 9
Lakeland 24, UW-Oshkosh 19
Wheaton 28, MSOE 18
MSOE 22, UW-Oshkosh 20
Wheaton 54, Maranatha 3
UW-Oshkosh 22, Wheaton 20
Oneonta 21, Wilkes 19
Oneonta 21, Johnson & Wales 20
Johnson & Wales 42, WPI 4
Wilkes 44, WPI 3
Oneonta 37, WPI 6
Wilkes 22, Johnson & Wales 19
Elizabethtown 47, Scranton
NYU 28, Bridgewater State 3
Thiel 30, Baldwin-Wallace 9
Centenary 27, McDaniel 15
Behind falls at 165, 174, and 184, the #3 Eagles from Wisconsin-La Crosse defeated the #5 Norse from Luther College in front of a crowd of 450 at Mitchell Hall on the campus of UW-La Crosse. Luther’s #1 ranked Alec Bonander did not compete at 197, and his replacement fell to Andy Moore by major decision. His presence wouldn’t have been the difference though, as the three falls from La Crosse proved too much to overcome. See below for play by play and Sports Information releases from each school.
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.
Thanks to Wartburg College Sports Information for this preview
