Eight named NWCA All-Academic
Eight NCAA Div. I wrestlers from in-state schools were honored for their work on the mat and in the classroom when the NWCA Div. I All-Academic Wrestling Teams were named.

Included on the list was University of Iowa sophomore Jay Borschel (pictured). Borschel finished third in the nation at 174 in March and holds a 3.07 GPA in biology.

Click here to view the entire list of those honored.

The Predicament's Academic All-State teams have been decided and will be announced in the May issue of the newspaper and on the website later in the month.

Rial wins Greco-Roman National title
Mark Rial, a former two-time State Champion from Fort Dodge, took another big step in his dream of qualifying for the Olympic Games later this year, when he won the Greco-Roman National title at 66 kg. in Las Vegas, Nev.

The Olympic Trials are back in Las Vegas in June, with the winners there advancing to the Olympics in Beijing, China. Rial will be tabbed as the favorite at his weight class at the Trials coming off the U.S. Nationals victory.

Click here to view article.

Click here for complete U.S. Nationals coverage and results on themat.com

Dream Team takes down Iowa all-stars
The USA Dream Team lived up to the billing Saturday night at Iowa City West High School, with a 40-15 victory over a squad of Iowa high school senior all-stars.

The Iowa team did win five of the 14 matches, including an 8-4 win at 145 by Tanner Kampen of Humboldt (pictured on top) against second-ranked Jon Burns of North Carolina.

Other Iowans who picked up wins were No. 1 Andrew Long of Creston at 119, top-ranked Nate Moore at 125, No. 4 Grant Gambrall of Iowa City West at 171 and top-ranked heavyweight Eric Thompson of Waverly-Shell Rock.

Click here to check out hundreds of photos from the meet by Wyatt Schultz for viewing and purchase at DotPhoto.

Find out how all the matches went and what some of the winning Iowans had to say about their performances in our Full Access article from the meet.

Click here for complete results.

2008 Dream Team home page

Camps and tourneys added
The wrestling season never ends!
Several summer camps have recently been added to our camps/clinics calendar. Check it out to see where you would like to spend this summer working on your wrestling skills. Also, a new freestyle and Greco-Roman Tournament scheduled for later this month in Council Bluffs has been added to our youth tourneys calendar.

State AAU action in Des Moines
The 2008 AAU State Tournament got underway Saturday at Vets Auditorium in Des Moines and concludes Sunday afternoon.

The Predicament will post complete results once they become available and hundreds of photos from Saturday's action in the A and B Divisions for viewing and purchase will be posted on DotPhoto later in the week. At 65 pounds in the A Division, Keaton Geerts (top) battles Zachary Scott.

Nearly 400 photos from action in the A and B Divisions Saturday in Des Moines at the 2008 AAU State Tournament have been posted on DotPhoto.

To view a list of the matches we shot, click here.

Metcalf named Hodge Trophy winner
The Dan Hodge Trophy award winner, which is considered the Heisman Trophy for college wrestling, is Iowa sophomore 149-pounder Brent Metcalf. The award usually goes to a wrestler who finishes the season undefeated, but Metcalf, who suffered one loss this season against 39 victories, was rewarded for a dominant campaign through what was considered the toughest weight class in the nation.

Metcalf  is the first winner of the award from the University of Iowa since Mark Ironside was named the winner in 1998.

Click here to view article.

Two champions for Hawkeyes
The Iowa Hawkeyes capped off their return to the top of the wrestling world with a pair of individual NCAA Div. I Champions Saturday night in St. Louis, Mo. 149-pounder Brent Metcalf stormed back from an early 4-1 deficit to dominate Bubba Jenkins of Penn State, 14-8. And at 165, Mark Perry (pictured on top) closed out his brilliant career at Iowa with a second straight National title. He scored a 5-2 win over Michigan's Eric Tannenbaum.

Metcalf was named the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler, while Hawkeye Coach Tom Brands was named Coach of the Year.

In other title bouts, Iowa 133-pounder Joey Slaton was pinned by Coleman Scott of Oklahoma State and Iowa State's Jake Varner at 184 had to settle for the silver medal for the second year in a row, with an overtime loss to Mike Pucillo of Ohio State.

Iowa finished the tournament with 117.5 points for the title. Ohio State was second, followed by Penn State and Nebraska. Iowa State and Oklahoma State tied for fifth-place honors with 72 points.

On Saturday afternoon we posted a free notebook from the consolation semifinals and finals. We also have hundreds of photos from the first three days of action free for viewing at DotPhoto.

Click here for The Predicament's NCAA Div. I Championships coverage page.

Eggers and Copsey fourth, Mumbulo finishes sixth at NCAA Div. II Nationals.
Three wrestlers with ties to the state of Iowa finished as All-Americans at the NCAA Div. II Nationals this past weekend in Cedar Rapids.

Travis Eggers of Upper Iowa (pictured on top) finished fourth at 157, as did Glenwood native Ty Copsey of Augustana (S.D.) at 197. Upper Iowa 125-pounder Tyler Mumbulo finished sixth for the Peacocks.

The Predicament's NCAA Div. II National Championships coverage page

Click here to view hundreds of photos of NCAA Div. II action, including Saturday's semifinals and place matches. Also recently added to DotPhoto are more than 300 photos from the NCAA Div. III National Championship title bouts from last weekend.

Wartburg crowns three champs on way to NCAA Div. III team title; Burkle claims Coe's first ever gold medal
Wartburg lived up to their No. 1 ranking this weekend, as the Knights breezed to another NCAA Div. III National title. Wartburg finished the tournament with 147 points, 47 more than runner-up UW LaCrosse. Coe College finished fourth, while Luther and Cornell also earned top 10 honors.

Wartburg had a trio of individual champions. They were Jacob Naig at 149, Aaron Wernimont at 157 (pictured at left) and Romeo Djoumessi at 184. Coe's Tyler Burkle (pictured below) became the school's first wrestling National Champion with his victory at 165.

Burkle and Djoumessi capped off undefeated seasons, while Naig and Wernimont ended the year with win streaks greater than 30 matches.

Click here to view hundreds of free photos from the first two sessions of action in Cedar Rapids and hundreds from the NAIA Nationals on DotPhoto. More NCAA Div. III photos from the medal matches will be added soon.

Check back all weekend for photos, articles and updates from the
NCAA Div. III National Championships. Check the links below for coverage of all the college wrestling tournaments held this weekend.

The Predicament's NCAA Div. III Championships coverage page

The Predicament's NAIA National Championships coverage page

NJCAA National Championships  I  NWCA National Open Championships

Contact Information:
Matt Pfiffner (Publisher/Advertising/Web Page)
pfiffner@thepredicament.com
Phone: 641-414-1962
Fax: 641-342-1558
Wyatt Schultz (Photographer)
gwyatt@thepredicament.com