2009 NCAA Division III
Nationals Preview

BY MATT PFIFFNER

For the second year in a row the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids will play host to the NCAA Div. III National Championships on March 6-7.

Second-ranked Wartburg claimed the team title last season and the Knights and long-time rival and top-ranked Augsburg are expected to battle for the championship once again. Both teams bring nine wrestlers to the big dance. Delaware Valley is tied for second in the rankings with Wartburg and has six strong wrestlers in the tourney.

Several other Iowa Conference schools will also be well-represented at the Championships. Fourth-ranked Coe has seven grapplers competing in its backyard, 14th-ranked Cornell brings four, No. 15 Dubuque three, 30th-ranked Loras three and No. 16 Luther seven.

The Iowa Conference crowned a league-record 25 All-Americans out of their 32 qualifiers last season. This year's group of 33 Iowa Conference qualifiers appears to have the ability to challenge that mark.

Six 2008 NCAA Div. III individual champions return to defend their titles, including Jacob Naig, Aaron Wernimont and Romeo Djoumessi of Wartburg and Coe's Tyler Burkle.

What follows is a weight-by-weight preview of the 2009 NCAA Div. III National Championships, including where each wrestler from Iowa sits in the bracket.

125
Who's No. 1? - Jake Oster, Elmhurst
Returning All-Americans - Seth Flodeen, Augsburg (1st at 125); Clayton Rush, Coe (2nd at 125); Jake Oster, Elmhurst (5th at 125); Chris Sheetz, Delaware Valley (6th at 125).
Iowa School Qualifiers - No. 2 Clayton Rush, Coe; No. 7 Mark Kist, Wartburg; Jayson Swanson, Luther.

Rush nearly won the title as a freshman last season, but Flodeen fought off his back and earned a pin for the gold. Rush starts his run at a title against Max Oldenburg of UW Whitewater in the first round. A quarterfinal bout between Rush and Kist is a very good possibility. Kist transferred from Iowa State and has had a solid first season in D3 wrestling. He lost a close decision to Rush in the Iowa Conference finals. Swanson is also on the bottom half of the draw and faces No. 6 Mike McInally of Rochester Institute of Technology in the first round.

On the top half of the draw, top-ranked Oster and returning champ Flodeen could meet in the semifinals. Oster may be No. 1, but there is something to be said for having that National Champion experience.

Don't be surprised if we see a rematch of last year's title bout between Flodeen and Rush, but there are many quality individuals in the field and it will take a solid effort over two days to win the title.

133
Who's No. 1? - Travis Lang, Augsburg
Returning All-Americans - No. 1 Travis Lang, Augsburg (5th at 133); No. 4 Matt Kelly, Wartburg (5th at 141); No. 6 Zac Bartlett, Luther (7th at 133); No. 8 Nichalos Northern, Cornell (6th at 133).
Iowa School Qualifiers - No. 2 Brandon Ball, Coe; No. 4 Matt Kelly, Wartburg; No. 6 Zac Bartlett, Luther; No. 8 Nichalos Northern, Cornell.

With four seeded wrestlers from the Iowa Conference in the field, this could be a very big weight class for the league. Finishing with half of the All-Americans is a distinct possibility.

Ball has had a solid season for the Kohawks and the No. 2 seed begins the tournament against Phillip Greene of the Merchant Marines. If Ball wins that match, he could face No. 7 Nichalos Cucciniello of Johnson & Wales in the quarters. No. 6 Bartlett received one of two byes at this weight class and will face either No. 3 Brandon Clemmer of Delaware Valley or Chad Winowich of Ithaca in the quarters.

On the top half of the bracket, No. 4 Kelly meets Jered Kern of UW Stevens Point in the first round. If the Knight gets past that opponent, he will meet No. 5 Munkhbaatar Baatar of St. Johns in the quarters. If No. 8 Northern of Cornell gets past Joshua Pauling of Wilkes in the first round, he will likely face top-ranked Lang in the quarters.

141
Who's No. 1? - Austin Bautista, UW Whitewater
Returning All-Americans - No. 1 Austin Bautista, UW Whitewater (7th at 141)
Iowa School Qualifiers - No. 2 Zach McKray, Wartburg; Kevin Donahue, Cornell; Jordan Loy, Loras.

With the top-ranked Bautista the lone returning All-American, this weight class appears to be wide open for the taking.

McKray is seeded second and returns to the championships after finishing eighth at 133 in 2006. He starts his tournament against Virgil Pope of the Milwaukee School of Engineering. In the other first-round bout in this quarter, Donahue of Cornell meets No. 7 Tony Valek of Augsburg.

Loy is on the top half of the draw and takes on No. 5 James Beshada of the Merchant Marines in the first round. The winner could meet No. 4 Myanganbayar Batsukh of St., Johns in the quarters.

149
Who's No. 1? - Willy Holst, Augsburg
Returning All-Americans - No. 2 Jacob Naig, Wartburg (1st at 149); No. 1 Willy Holst, Augsburg (3rd at 149); No. 4 Matt Mauseth, UW LaCrosse (6th at 149); No. 3 Paul LeBlanc, Cortland State (7th at 149).
Iowa School Qualifiers - No. 2 Jacob Naig, Wartburg; Ryan Mulnix, Cornell; Jason Pyle, Luther.

The second-ranked Naig returns to defend the title he claimed a year ago. After a first-round bye, he will face either Andrew Gardella of Case Western Reserve or Tyler Branham of The College of New Jersey in his opening bout. A possible quarterfinal bout could pit Naig against former Cedar Falls standout and No. 7 Dan Twito of the Merchant Marines.

On the top half of the draw Mulnix meets No. 5 Dan Mizener of John Carroll in his opening bout, while Pyle faces No. 4 Mauseth of UW LaCrosse. The winners of those two bouts will square off in the quarters. The man to beat on this side is the top-ranked Holst, who has given Naig both of his losses this season.

157
Who's No. 1? - Aaron Wernimont, Wartburg
Returning All-Americans - No. 1 Aaron Wernimont, Wartburg (1st at 157); No. 2 Jason Brew, Olivet (2nd at 157); No. 5 Jesse Milks, UW Platteville (6th at 157); No. 4 Andrew Goldstein, Gettysburg (8th at 157); Johanson Quist, Luther (8th at 149).
Iowa School Qualifiers - No. 1 Aaron Wernimont, Wartburg; No. 6 Erik Hanson, Loras; Johanson Quist, Luther.

Wernimont brings a 76-match win streak into the championships and is probably the biggest favorite at any weight class. The Knight senior has not tasted defeat since his sophomore season and opens the tournament against Issac Dukes of Case Western Reserve. If he is victorious, Wernimont would face No. 8 William Horwath of Ithaca or Luther's Quist in the quarterfinals.

No. 6 Hanson of Loras is on the bottom half of the draw and will meet Mike Martini of Rhode Island in the first round. A win there would put Hanson into the quarterfinals with a possible showdown against No. 3 Jason Adams of Augsburg. The man Wernimont defeated last year in the finals, No. 2 Brew, may get a shot at revenge on Saturday night.

165
Who's No. 1? - Justin Hanson, Wartburg
Returning All-Americans - No. 5 Tyler Burkle, Coe (1st at 165); No. 2 Benjamin Hoover, Maranatha Baptist (2nd at 165); No. 3 Ben Youel, North Central (4th at 165); No. 4 Josh Terrell, Dubuque (4th at 157); No. 1 Justin Hanson, Wartburg (7th at 165); No. 8 Justin Bonitatis, The College of New Jersey (8th at 165).
Iowa School Qualifiers - No. 1 Justin Hanson, Wartburg; No. 4 Josh Terrell, Dubuque; No. 5 Tyler Burkle, Coe.

Hanson has had an outstanding season for the Knights, but was injured in the Iowa Conference finals and had to injury default to Dubuque's Terrell. Fans will find out how healthy he is in the first round against Patrick Nagel of UW Whitewater. No. 4 Terrell meets Matt Curley of Heidelberg in the first round. The winner of that bout will meet defending champ Burkle in the quarters. Burkle made it through last season undefeated as a sophomore, but has dropped six bouts this year. He received the lone first-round bye in the bracket.

The wrestler Burkle defeated for the title last season, No. 2 Hoover, will be favored to come out of the bottom half of the draw. A possible semifinal bout against No. 3 and 2008 fourth-place finisher Youel looms. Hoover's first-round opponent is former Montezuma standout Cory Ferguson of UW LaCrosse.

174
Who's No. 1? - Jerome Owens, Johnson & Wales
Returning All-Americans - No. 3 Kyle Vanderhyde, Olivet (4th at 174); No. 5 Kyle Kehrli, Cornell (6th at 174); No. 1 Jerome Owens, Johnson & Wales (8th at 174).
Iowa School Qualifiers - No. 5 Kyle Kehrli, Cornell; No. 8 Evan Brown, Dubuque; Bryon Grothus, Coe.

All three Iowa Conference qualifiers are on the top half of the draw. No. 5 Kehrli of Cornell meets Michael Reilly of Kings College in the first round, No. 8 Brown faces Gregory Hurd of Wesleyan and Grothus must take on top-ranked Owens right off the bat. If Brown wins his first bout, he would meet the Grothus-Owens winner in the quarterfinals, while Kehrli could meet No. 4 David Priest of Ithaca in the quarters.

No. 3 Vanderhyde of Olivet is the lone returning All-American on the bottom half of the draw and a semifinal bout between him and No. 2 Rocky Mantella of Delaware Valley seems likely.

184
Who's No. 1? - Michael Wilcox, Delaware Valley
Returning All-Americans - No. 2 Romeo Djoumessi, Wartburg (1st at 184); No. 1 Michael Wilcox, Delaware Valley (2nd at 184); No. 4 Gabe Youel, North Central (4th at 184); No. 5 Joshua Zabel (5th at 184); No. 6 Bryan Lenhardt, Johnson & Wales (6th at 184).
Iowa School Qualifiers - No. 2 Romeo Djoumessi, Wartburg; Seth Rehn, Coe; Nic Barclay, Luther.

A loaded weight class with five of the top six place finishers from 2008 returning, including champion Djoumessi and runner-up Wilcox. Expect some great quarterfinal and semifinal bouts.

Djoumessi has only wrestled 10 times this season and brings a 9-1 record into the tournament. He starts his run at a second title against Ben Adams of John Carroll. Barclay of Luther meets No. 7 Ben Engelland of UW Stevens Point in the first round. The winner there likely meets Djoumessi in the quarters. Rehn is also on the bottom half of the draw and takes on No. 3 Phil Moenkedick of Concordia Moorehead in the first round.

Top-ranked Wilcox is favored on the top half of the bracket, but may have to get past one of two returning All-Americans, No. 4 Youel or No. 5 Zabel in the semifinals.

197
Who's No. 1? - Alec Bonander, Luther
Returning All-Americans - No. 7 Rob Kramer, Coe (4th at 197); No. 1 Alec Bonander, Luther (5th at 197); Josh Holforty, UW EauClaire (6th at 197); No. 5 Anthony Neumann, Concordia-Moorehead (8th at 197).
Iowa School Qualifiers - No. 1 Alec Bonander, Luther; No. 6 Matthew Wonderlin, Dubuque; No. 7 Rob Kramer, Coe; Nick Shandri, Wartburg.

The top-ranked Bonander appears to have drawn the toughest first-round bout of any No. 1 seed in the tournament. Last year's fifth-place finisher must face Holforty, the sixth-place finisher last season, right off the bat.

The other three Iowa Conference wrestlers are on the bottom half of the draw. Shandri meets No. 3 Karl Voeck of UW Whitewater in the first round, No. 6 Wonderlin faces Bill Schindel of Mount Union and No. 7 Kramer takes on Ed Broderick of The College of New Jersey. If Shandri and Wonderlin are victorious, they would meet in the quarters, while Kramer would likely face No. 2 Jared Massey of Augsburg.

285
Who's No. 1? - Kyle Bilquist, Delaware Valley
Returning All-Americans - No. 2 Dan Laurent, UW LaCrosse (1st at 285); No. 4 Glenn Geesman, MIT (3rd at 285); No. 1 Kyle Bilquist, Delaware Valley (5th at 285); No. 5 Mark Corsello, Elmhurst (7th at 285).
Iowa School Qualifiers - No. 3 John Helgerson, Wartburg; No. 7 Mitch Sander, Coe; Trevor Kaufman, Loras; Allyn Plattner, Luther.

Helgerson is favored in his quarter on the bottom half of the bracket and opens the tournament against Joe Murphy of Cortland State. If victorious, he would likely face No. 6 Brock Glotfelty of McDaniel in the quarters. Plattner of Luther has the chore of facing No. 2 and defending champion Laurent in the first round. The winner there could meet No. 7 Sander of Coe in the quarters. Sander meets Anthony Carothers of Heidelberg in the first round.

On the top half of the draw, Kaufman of Loras has a tough first-round challenge, with top-ranked Bilquist of Delaware Valley the opponent.