Wartburg takes commanding lead at Div. III Nationals with seven in semifinals
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by USA Wrestling
Wartburg heavyweight Lance Evans (left) spins around and catches Gettysburg's Paul Triandafilou on his back for a first-period pin in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships on Friday night in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Photo by Jon Gremmels.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- An accountant might be able to make the numbers work, but the math says it's going to be difficult for anybody to catch Wartburg at the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships.
The Knights won 10 of 11 matches Friday night to take a commanding lead at U.S. Cellular Center.
"There's no doubt about it, it's been a fun round," Wartburg Coach Eric Keller said. "The challenge was we've got to dig deeper. We've got to dig as deep as it's going to take to get it done, and I think you saw that that round. Guys dug deep and stepped up."
Wartburg's lone loss came in its final match, a consolation bout at 184 pounds. By that time, it had built a 78-48 lead over second-place Messiah. Luther, Wartburg's Iowa Conference rival, was third with 35.5, one point ahead of defending champion Augsburg. Wabash (31.5) was fifth.
"How the round went, minus that last one right there, was exactly how we drew it up and how we wanted it to go," Keller said. "We knew it wasn't going to be easy, obviously, but they dug deep."
Seven Wartburg wrestlers advanced to Saturday morning's semifinals, giving the Knights a total of eight All-Americans. Messiah has three in the semifinals and three in the wrestlebacks.
The math says Messiah, Luther and Augsburg are the only teams with a chance at catching Wartburg, and they would need to be almost perfect while Wartburg would have to suffer a near collapse.
Not only was Wartburg winning Friday night, it was picking up bonus points. Arnulfo Olea (125 pounds), Eric DeVos (174) and Lance Evans (heavyweight) recorded pins for the Knights. Defending champion Kenny Martin (149), Drew Wagenhoffer (157), Nick Michael (165) and Gerard Roman (197) advanced with decisions.
"Coach Keller was like, 'We've got to have a great round this round,' so we did," Evans said. "We came out and I think everybody wrestled pretty well."
Even though the Knights have the same number of All-Ameicans (8) as last year, they are within 11 1/2 points of last year's total when they finished a disappointing second to rival Augsburg.
"Huge motivation," Roman said. "We talk about it every day. Every time we're about to go out in competition we always think about what happened the year before and how we're not going to let that happen again."
Messiah's semifinalists are top seed Lucas Malmberg at 125, Ben Swarr at 174 and Josh Thomson (184), who guaranteed himself All-America honors for the fourth time.
Malmberg won a hard-fought 4-3 win over Washington & Jefferson's Jacob Spearman in a rematch from the Mideast Regional. He recorded a takedown with 18 seconds left to take a break a 2-2 tie.
"I knew there was short time left and I just wanted to give it my all," Malmberg, the runner-up the past two years, said. "It's just a horrible feeling taking second two years in a row, and I didn't want to place anything lower or even at that.
"I came to this tournament to take it home this year, and I could not let it fall short. I couldn't let myself fall short. I couldn't let this one go."
Three top seeds weren't as fortunate as Malmberg. Wartburg's Connor Campo (141), Derek Arnold of Ursinus (149) and Coe's Farai Sewera, the defending champion at 165, all lost in Friday morning's session. Another returning champion, 2014 winner James Buss, lost both of his matches Friday morning.
Luther's Drew Van Anrooy, a 2015 runner-up who is seeded first at 141, survived three close matches to advance to the semifinals.
"They're bringing their A game when they're out there against you," he said of the opposition. "They're really going after it, trying everything they can to take you down because there's no pressure on them. ... The underdog has no pressure on him. A lot of times you see underdogs coming out on top because they have nothing to lose and they're out their giving it their all. But I'm trying to do the same thing and not letting that pressure get to me."
Two defending champions who didn't even earn top seeds stayed on track to return to the finals: Wartburg's Martin at 149 and SUNY-Cortland's Joe Giaramita at 197. Both were third seeds, although that didn't surprise Martin.
"It really doesn't matter to me," he said.. "I guess I expected it coming in at semester, only having a couple of matches. It didn't shock me, really."
Also on track to repeat are top seeds two-time champion Riley Lefever of Wabash at 184 and Augsburg's Donny Longendyke at heavyweight.
First-day attendance was just short of 4,000. The first session drew 1,834 fans, the second 1,996.
NCAA DIV. III NATIONALS
At Cedar Rapids, Iowa, March 11, 2016
Semifinal pairings
.
125
No. 1 Lucas Malmberg (Messiah) vs. No. 4 Arnulfo Olea (Wartburg)
No. 3 Jacob Stageberg (Concordia-Moorhead) vs. C.J. Pestano (Central)
133
Devin Broukal (Wabash) vs. No. 5 Tyler Keane (Springfield)
No. 3 Ryan O’Boyle (McDaniel) vs. No. 2 Nathan Pike (NYU)
141
No. 1 Drew Van Anrooy (Luther) vs. No. 5 Justin Kihn (Heidelberg)
No. 3 Nathaniel Behnke (Wisconsin-Eau Clair) vs. No. 2 Jimmy Nehls (Elmhurst)
149
Trevor Engle (Cornell College) vs. No. 5 Seth Lansberry (Lycoming)
No. 3 Kenneth Martin (Wartburg) vs. No. 2 Dan Mirman (John Carroll)
157
No. 1 Robert Dierna (SUNY-Cortland) vs. Tristian Zurfluh (Luther)
No. 3 Drew Wagenhoffer (Wartburg) vs. No. 2 Jorge Lopez (Williams)
165
No. 8 Eric Hensel (Augsburg) vs. No. 5 Logan Hermsen (Wis.-Stevens Point)
No. 6 Colin Navickas (Stevens Tech) vs. No. 2 Nicholas Michael (Wartburg)
174
No. 1 Eric DeVos (Wartburg) vs. No. 4 Ryan Harrington (Coe)
No. 3 Tyler Schneider (Wis.-LaCrosse) vs. No. 7 Ben Swarr (Messiah)
184
No. 1 Riley Lefever (Wabash) vs. No. 4 A,J. Kowal (Stevens Tech)
No. 3 Josh Thomson (Messiah) vs. Austin Cook (Wis.-LaCrosse)
197
No. 1 David Welch (Roger Williams) vs. No. 4 Angus Arthur (Adrian)
No. 3 Joe Giaramita (SUNY-Cortland) vs. No. 2 Gerard Roman (Wartburg)
285
No. 1 Donald Longendyke (Augsburg) vs. No. 4 Trevor Maresh (Alma)
No. 2 Lance Evans (Wartburg) vs. No. 2 Zachery Roseberry (Delaware Valley)
Team Standings
1. Wartburg 78.0
2. Messiah 48.0
3. Luther 35.5
4. Augsburg 34.5
5. Wabash 31.5
6. Stevens Institute Of Technology 25.0
7. Wisconsin-La Crosse 23.5
8. Alma College 22.0
8. Coe 22.0
10. SUNY-Cortland 20.0
11. Elmhurst 18.5
12. Cornell College 18.0
12. Ithaca 18.0
14. Lycoming 15.5
15. New York University 13.5
16. Roger Williams 13.0
17. Delaware Valley University 12.5
18. Adrian 12.0
18. McDaniel 12.0
18. York (PA) 12.0
21. Central (IA) 11.0
22. John Carroll 10.5
22. Rhode Island College 10.5
24. Concordia-Moorhead 10.0
24. Heidelberg 10.0
26. Washington and Jefferson 9.5
27. Baldwin Wallace 9.0
27. Williams College 9.0
29. Brockport 8.0
29. Wisconsin-Eau Claire 8.0
29. Wisconsin-Stevens Point 8.0
32. Johnson & Wales (RI) 7.5
33. Merchant Marine 7.0
34. The College of New Jersey 6.5
34. Wisconsin-Whitewater 6.5
36. St. Olaf 6.0
37. Centenary (NJ) 5.0
37. Ferrum College 5.0
39. Gettysburg 4.5
39. Millikin University 4.5
39. Mount Union 4.5
39. Wheaton (IL) 4.5
43. Loras 4.0
44. Hunter 2.0
44. North Central (IL) 2.0
46. Southern Maine 1.5
46. Wisconsin-Platteville 1.5
48. Springfield 1.0
48. St. Johns (MN) 1.0
48. Ursinus 1.0
51. Concordia (WI) 0.5
51. Elizabethtown 0.5
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- An accountant might be able to make the numbers work, but the math says it's going to be difficult for anybody to catch Wartburg at the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships.
The Knights won 10 of 11 matches Friday night to take a commanding lead at U.S. Cellular Center.
"There's no doubt about it, it's been a fun round," Wartburg Coach Eric Keller said. "The challenge was we've got to dig deeper. We've got to dig as deep as it's going to take to get it done, and I think you saw that that round. Guys dug deep and stepped up."
Wartburg's lone loss came in its final match, a consolation bout at 184 pounds. By that time, it had built a 78-48 lead over second-place Messiah. Luther, Wartburg's Iowa Conference rival, was third with 35.5, one point ahead of defending champion Augsburg. Wabash (31.5) was fifth.
"How the round went, minus that last one right there, was exactly how we drew it up and how we wanted it to go," Keller said. "We knew it wasn't going to be easy, obviously, but they dug deep."
Seven Wartburg wrestlers advanced to Saturday morning's semifinals, giving the Knights a total of eight All-Americans. Messiah has three in the semifinals and three in the wrestlebacks.
The math says Messiah, Luther and Augsburg are the only teams with a chance at catching Wartburg, and they would need to be almost perfect while Wartburg would have to suffer a near collapse.
Not only was Wartburg winning Friday night, it was picking up bonus points. Arnulfo Olea (125 pounds), Eric DeVos (174) and Lance Evans (heavyweight) recorded pins for the Knights. Defending champion Kenny Martin (149), Drew Wagenhoffer (157), Nick Michael (165) and Gerard Roman (197) advanced with decisions.
"Coach Keller was like, 'We've got to have a great round this round,' so we did," Evans said. "We came out and I think everybody wrestled pretty well."
Even though the Knights have the same number of All-Ameicans (8) as last year, they are within 11 1/2 points of last year's total when they finished a disappointing second to rival Augsburg.
"Huge motivation," Roman said. "We talk about it every day. Every time we're about to go out in competition we always think about what happened the year before and how we're not going to let that happen again."
Messiah's semifinalists are top seed Lucas Malmberg at 125, Ben Swarr at 174 and Josh Thomson (184), who guaranteed himself All-America honors for the fourth time.
Malmberg won a hard-fought 4-3 win over Washington & Jefferson's Jacob Spearman in a rematch from the Mideast Regional. He recorded a takedown with 18 seconds left to take a break a 2-2 tie.
"I knew there was short time left and I just wanted to give it my all," Malmberg, the runner-up the past two years, said. "It's just a horrible feeling taking second two years in a row, and I didn't want to place anything lower or even at that.
"I came to this tournament to take it home this year, and I could not let it fall short. I couldn't let myself fall short. I couldn't let this one go."
Three top seeds weren't as fortunate as Malmberg. Wartburg's Connor Campo (141), Derek Arnold of Ursinus (149) and Coe's Farai Sewera, the defending champion at 165, all lost in Friday morning's session. Another returning champion, 2014 winner James Buss, lost both of his matches Friday morning.
Luther's Drew Van Anrooy, a 2015 runner-up who is seeded first at 141, survived three close matches to advance to the semifinals.
"They're bringing their A game when they're out there against you," he said of the opposition. "They're really going after it, trying everything they can to take you down because there's no pressure on them. ... The underdog has no pressure on him. A lot of times you see underdogs coming out on top because they have nothing to lose and they're out their giving it their all. But I'm trying to do the same thing and not letting that pressure get to me."
Two defending champions who didn't even earn top seeds stayed on track to return to the finals: Wartburg's Martin at 149 and SUNY-Cortland's Joe Giaramita at 197. Both were third seeds, although that didn't surprise Martin.
"It really doesn't matter to me," he said.. "I guess I expected it coming in at semester, only having a couple of matches. It didn't shock me, really."
Also on track to repeat are top seeds two-time champion Riley Lefever of Wabash at 184 and Augsburg's Donny Longendyke at heavyweight.
First-day attendance was just short of 4,000. The first session drew 1,834 fans, the second 1,996.
NCAA DIV. III NATIONALS
At Cedar Rapids, Iowa, March 11, 2016
Semifinal pairings
.
125
No. 1 Lucas Malmberg (Messiah) vs. No. 4 Arnulfo Olea (Wartburg)
No. 3 Jacob Stageberg (Concordia-Moorhead) vs. C.J. Pestano (Central)
133
Devin Broukal (Wabash) vs. No. 5 Tyler Keane (Springfield)
No. 3 Ryan O’Boyle (McDaniel) vs. No. 2 Nathan Pike (NYU)
141
No. 1 Drew Van Anrooy (Luther) vs. No. 5 Justin Kihn (Heidelberg)
No. 3 Nathaniel Behnke (Wisconsin-Eau Clair) vs. No. 2 Jimmy Nehls (Elmhurst)
149
Trevor Engle (Cornell College) vs. No. 5 Seth Lansberry (Lycoming)
No. 3 Kenneth Martin (Wartburg) vs. No. 2 Dan Mirman (John Carroll)
157
No. 1 Robert Dierna (SUNY-Cortland) vs. Tristian Zurfluh (Luther)
No. 3 Drew Wagenhoffer (Wartburg) vs. No. 2 Jorge Lopez (Williams)
165
No. 8 Eric Hensel (Augsburg) vs. No. 5 Logan Hermsen (Wis.-Stevens Point)
No. 6 Colin Navickas (Stevens Tech) vs. No. 2 Nicholas Michael (Wartburg)
174
No. 1 Eric DeVos (Wartburg) vs. No. 4 Ryan Harrington (Coe)
No. 3 Tyler Schneider (Wis.-LaCrosse) vs. No. 7 Ben Swarr (Messiah)
184
No. 1 Riley Lefever (Wabash) vs. No. 4 A,J. Kowal (Stevens Tech)
No. 3 Josh Thomson (Messiah) vs. Austin Cook (Wis.-LaCrosse)
197
No. 1 David Welch (Roger Williams) vs. No. 4 Angus Arthur (Adrian)
No. 3 Joe Giaramita (SUNY-Cortland) vs. No. 2 Gerard Roman (Wartburg)
285
No. 1 Donald Longendyke (Augsburg) vs. No. 4 Trevor Maresh (Alma)
No. 2 Lance Evans (Wartburg) vs. No. 2 Zachery Roseberry (Delaware Valley)
Team Standings
1. Wartburg 78.0
2. Messiah 48.0
3. Luther 35.5
4. Augsburg 34.5
5. Wabash 31.5
6. Stevens Institute Of Technology 25.0
7. Wisconsin-La Crosse 23.5
8. Alma College 22.0
8. Coe 22.0
10. SUNY-Cortland 20.0
11. Elmhurst 18.5
12. Cornell College 18.0
12. Ithaca 18.0
14. Lycoming 15.5
15. New York University 13.5
16. Roger Williams 13.0
17. Delaware Valley University 12.5
18. Adrian 12.0
18. McDaniel 12.0
18. York (PA) 12.0
21. Central (IA) 11.0
22. John Carroll 10.5
22. Rhode Island College 10.5
24. Concordia-Moorhead 10.0
24. Heidelberg 10.0
26. Washington and Jefferson 9.5
27. Baldwin Wallace 9.0
27. Williams College 9.0
29. Brockport 8.0
29. Wisconsin-Eau Claire 8.0
29. Wisconsin-Stevens Point 8.0
32. Johnson & Wales (RI) 7.5
33. Merchant Marine 7.0
34. The College of New Jersey 6.5
34. Wisconsin-Whitewater 6.5
36. St. Olaf 6.0
37. Centenary (NJ) 5.0
37. Ferrum College 5.0
39. Gettysburg 4.5
39. Millikin University 4.5
39. Mount Union 4.5
39. Wheaton (IL) 4.5
43. Loras 4.0
44. Hunter 2.0
44. North Central (IL) 2.0
46. Southern Maine 1.5
46. Wisconsin-Platteville 1.5
48. Springfield 1.0
48. St. Johns (MN) 1.0
48. Ursinus 1.0
51. Concordia (WI) 0.5
51. Elizabethtown 0.5
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