Wartburg wins NCAA Div. III title as Martin repeats as champion; Wabash’s Lefever named Outstanding Wrestler

The Wartburg wrestling team poses with its NCAA team trophy.

CEDAR RAPIDS -- For the first three sessions of the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships, beating Wartburg wrestlers was a nearly impossible task. On Saturday night, roles reversed.

With the team title already clinched, Wartburg struggled in the finals. Nobody outside of the Wartburg contingent seemed to mind, however.

"Wartburg is tough," Messiah's Ben Swarr said. "They just kept getting those bonus points. We have all the respect in the world for those guys."

Wartburg finished with 129.5 points to win its fifth title in the past six years and tie Augsburg for the most titles all-time in Division III with 12. But Messiah had a lot to be happy about, placing second with 100 points.

"This is going to be the highest finish that Messiah has ever had, so we're happy that people are recognizing us as a force to be reckoned with," Swarr said. "We all just showed up and peaked at the right time."

Swarr was one of two champions for Messiah. The other was junior Lucas Malmberg, who won at 125 pounds after back-to-back runner-up finishes the past two years.

Wabash, which placed fourth with 55.5 points, also had a pair of champions.

Leading the Little Giants was junior Riley Lefever, who became the 16th three-time champion in Division III history with a 12-4 major decision against Messiah's Josh Thomson at 184 pounds.

"It feels better," Lefever said, comparing the title with the first two. "No nerves really this time; I just had a lot of fun. I went out there and wrestled, I thought, pretty well when I've had fun."

Lefever now will turn his attention to joining former Augsburg wrestler Marcus LeVesseur as the only four-time champion in Division III history.

"One more would be nice," Lefever said. "I've just got to keep wrestling and improving."

Lefever, voted the meet's Outstanding Wrestler, finished the tournament with two pins and two major decisions and was named the most dominant wrestler in Division III.

Kenny Martin was Wartburg's lone champion out of five finalists. He repeated at 149 pounds with a 7-5 win against Cornell's Trevor Engle.

"This is equally great," Martin said. "Each of them feels really good."

A first-period takedown gave him a lead he never lost, then he added one in each of the final two periods. A strong double-leg attack all but clinched the win with 47 seconds left.

"At the end of the day it was my goal; it was the team's goal, and it feels great," Martin said of the twin titles.

Returning heavyweight champion Donny Longendyke of Augsburg wasn't as fortunate. Delaware Valley's Zach Roseberry continued to show his nimbleness on his feet in a 5-4 win. Roseberry scored a takedown in each of the first two periods and scored the decisive point for accumulating 1 minute, 4 seconds of riding time.

"In high school I wrestled at 195. I was always in the 195-, 189-pound weight classes and that's how I won matches, with speed and athleticism and just getting in on the guy," Roseberry said. "If I can create scrambles I usually win them, and at heavyweight I just do the same thing, not exactly the same -- I can't shoot under guys and let them get their heavy hips on me, but I really try to be quick and agile and get around them quick."

While the returning champions had mixed results, three other wrestlers who came in as former runners-up claimed top honors this time.

Malmberg was the first, beating Central's CJ Pestano 14-6 at 125. The victory started with a takedown off the opening whistle.

"It's a big relief to finally come here and take it home," Malmberg said.

Luther's Drew Van Anrooy, the runner-up last year at 141, finished on top this time with a 10-2 win against second-seeded Jimmy Nehls of Elmhurst. Van Anrooy was clinging to a 3-2 lead when he used a six-point move in the final 10 seconds to break it open, then got another point for riding time.

"He was aggressive there that last period, going for it," Van Anrooy said. "He got in on a nice high crotch, and I was able to fend it off, get an underhook and whipped him over. That was a good way to finish it."

Cortland State's Bobby Dierna, the 2014 runner-up at 149, won at 157 this time with a 7-5 win against Wartburg's Drew Wagenhoffer.

"I've been edging to get out there and win a national title, and it finally happened," Dierna said. "It was amazing, unlike any other experience I've had."

Wagenhoffer went ahead 5-4 on a takedown with 1:13 left, but Dierna went back on top 23 seconds later with a reversal, then got a bonus point for riding time.

"I saw an opportunity and I went for it," Dierna said. "I was going for the escape and set up for a takedown, but I saw that leg there, grabbed it and caught him and got the reversal.."

Swarr claimed his first title when he scored a takedown with 11 seconds remaining to beat Wartburg's Eric DeVos 3-1 at 174.

"He kept posting, and I knew at some point I was going to be able to post his arm and get into my high crotch," Swarr said. "It just presented itself late in the match. I wasn't even really thinking about the time; I was comfortable going to overtime, but it was just there, I hit it and it worked."

The Messiah fans congratulated Swarr by singing "Happy Birthday" to him in honor of his 20th birthday Saturday.
Wartburg's Nick Michael also lost in the final seconds to Logan Hermsen of Wisconsin-Stevens Point at 165. Hermsen was 5 seconds from a 3-1 loss when he pulled even with a takedown. He then won 5-3 on another takedown with 24 seconds left in the 1-minute sudden-victory period.

"It felt so good getting that last takedown. It's indescribable really," Hermsen said.

The other first-time champions were Devin Broukal of Wabash at 133 and David Welch of Roger Williams at 197.
Welch became the first champion in his school's history with a 5-4 win against Wartburg's Gerard Roman.

"A lot has gone into it, and the hard work has paid off; it's a great feeling," Welch said.

The winning point came on a third-period escape, but a last-second reversal in the second period after Roman went ahead 4-2 on a takedown with 7 seconds left in the second period, but Welch evened it on a last-second reversal.

"You've just got to wrestle throughout positions and you've got to keep your cool and stay composed at all times," Welch said. "That's what I did and I was able to get that reversal and get back on top."

Broukal defeated Nathan Pike of NYU 8-5.

"It feels surreal to me, something I've worked the whole season for," Broukal said. "To finally see it come to fruition is unbelievable."

Broukal changed the complexion of the match with a reversal and rideout for the final 1:20 of the second period. Then, he used a pair of tilts to score two two-point near falls in the third period to take the lead.

"As soon as I got the first one I was feeling pretty confident," Broukal said. "But I think that next tilt really got it for me. I think it really broke him, too. That's when I really started feeling the victory."

NCAA DIV. III NATIONALS
At Cedar Rapids, Iowa, March 12

125
1st - No. 1 Lucas Malmberg (Messiah) maj. dec. C.J. Pestano (Central), 14-6
3rd – Jacob Spearman (Washington & Jefferson) dec. Zac Denny (Wis.-Whitewater), 3-2
5th - No. 4 Arnulfo Olea (Wartburg) pin No. 3 Jacob Stageberg (Concordia-Moorhead), 5:26
7th - No. 6 James Kaishian (Ithaca) dec. Jan Rosenberg (Coe), 8-4

133
1st - Devin Broukal (Wabash) dec, No. 2 Nathan Pike (NYU), 8-5
3rd - Dustin Weinmann (Wis.-LaCrosse) dec. No. 3 Ryan O’Boyle (McDaniel), 10-6
5th – No. 4 Jesse Gunter (Baldwin Wallace) dec. Phillip Opelt (Cornell), 4-2, SV 1
7th – No. 1 Connor Campo (Wartburg) inj. dft. No. 7 Romeo Riley (Alma College)

141
1st - No. 1 Drew Van Anrooy (Luther) maj. dec. No. 2 Jimmy Nehls (Elmhurst), 10-2
3rd - No. 3 Nathaniel Behnke (Wisconsin-Eau Clair) maj. dec. No. 5 Justin Kihn (Heidelberg), 9-0
5th - Gregory Warner (York -PA) maj. dec. No. 7 Chris Williams (Millikin), 17-7
7th- No. 8 Jeremy Border (Mount Union) med. forfeit No. 4 Shawn Giblin (Rhode Island College)

149
1st - No. 3 Kenneth Martin (Wartburg) dec. Trevor Engle (Cornell College), 7-5
3rd - No. 2 Dan Mirman (John Carroll) dec. No. 5 Seth Lansberry (Lycoming), 4-3
5th – No. 4 Blake Santi (Elmhurst) tech. fall No. 7 Dakota Gray (Luther), 16-1
7th – No. 6 Rashad Kennedy (Augsburg) dec. Joey Gaccione (Johnson & Wales - RI), 10-3

157
1st - No. 1 Robert Dierna (SUNY-Cortland) dec. No. 3 Drew Wagenhoffer (Wartburg), 7-5
3rd - No. 2 Jorge Lopez (Williams) dec. No. 8 Larry Cannon (Messiah), 10-8
5th - Tristian Zurfluh (Luther) dec. No. 4 Logan Meister (Ferrum College), 3-1
7th - Grant Parker (Augsburg) dec. No. 5 Nick Bova (Wabash), 8-3

165
1st - No. 5 Logan Hermsen (Wis.-Stevens Point) dec. No. 2 Nicholas Michael (Wartburg), 5-3, SV-1
3rd - No. 3 Nolan Barger (Lycoming) dec. No. 6 Colin Navickas (Stevens Tech), 6-1
5th - No. 8 Eric Hensel (Augsburg) dec. Jeff Hojnacki (Messiah), 12-10
7th – Nick Velez (Ithaca) dec. No. 1 Farai Sewera (Coe), 10-4

174
1st - No. 7 Ben Swarr (Messiah) dec. No. 1 Eric DeVos (Wartburg), 3-1
3rd - No. 4 Ryan Harrington (Coe) dec. No. 3 Tyler Schneider (Wis.-LaCrosse), 5-2
5th- Sonnieboy Blanco (Washington and Jefferson) dec. Joshua Sibblies (Centenary-NJ), 5-3
7th - Garrett Beaman (St. Olaf) pin Doug Hamann (The College of New Jersey), 1:11

184
1st - No. 1 Riley Lefever (Wabash) maj. dec. No. 3 Josh Thomson (Messiah), 12-4
3rd - No. 4 A,J. Kowal (Stevens Tech) dec. No. 5 Justin Kreiter (Luther), 3-2
5th - No. 6 Carlos Toribio (Ithaca) dec. Austin Cook (Wis.-LaCrosse), 7-1
7th – Brandon Conrad (Rhode Island College) maj. dec. No. 8 Jeff Palmeri (Brockport), 19-9

197
1st - No. 1 David Welch (Roger Williams) dec. No. 2 Gerard Roman (Wartburg), 5-4
3rd - No. 3 Joe Giaramita (SUNY-Cortland) dec. No. 4 Angus Arthur (Adrian), 8-4
5th - No. 6 Jamie Jakes (Alma College) dec. Ricky Fisher (Merchant Marine), 6-2
7th – No. 7 Michael Swider (Wheaton - IL) dec. Malcolm Watson (Loras), 4-2, SV-2

285
1st - No. 2 Zachery Roseberry (Delaware Valley) dec. No. 1 Donald Longendyke (Augsburg), 5-4
3rd - No. 2 Lance Evans (Wartburg) dec. No. 4 Trevor Maresh (Alma), 4-2
5th – No. 6 Paul Triandafilou (Gettysburg) dec. Jason Wright (Messiah), 5-1
7th - Tyler Maher (Stevens Tech) dec. No. 7 Conner Herman (Luther), 3-1

Outstanding Wrestler Riley Lefever (Wabash)
Coach of the Year Brian Brunk (Messiah)
Assistant Coach of the Year Craig Hogan (Messiah)
Rookie Coach of the Year Ryan Birt (Millikin)
Most Fall in Least Amount of Time Ryan O'Boyle (McDaniel) 3 in 6:05

NCAA Awards
Elite 90 Daniel de Gallo (Southern Maine)
Most Dominant Riley Lefever (Wabash)
Most Falls AJ Kowal (Stevens Institute of Technology)
Most Technical Falls Jeff Palmeri (Brockport)

Team Standings
1. Wartburg 129.5
2. Messiah 100.0
3. Luther 64.0
4. Wabash 55.5
5. Augsburg 46.5
6. Wisconsin-La Crosse 37.0
7. SUNY-Cortland 35.5
8. Stevens Institute Of Technology 34.0
9. Elmhurst 33.0
10. Cornell College 30.5
11. Alma College 30.0
12. Coe 28.5
13. Lycoming 28.0
14. Ithaca 26.5
15. Roger Williams 24.0
16. Delaware Valley University 23.5
17. Washington and Jefferson 23.0
18. New York University 20.5
19. Wisconsin-Stevens Point 19.0
20. Central (IA) 18.0
21. McDaniel 17.5
21. York (PA) 17.5
23. Adrian 15.5
23. Wisconsin-Eau Claire 15.5
23. Wisconsin-Whitewater 15.5
26. John Carroll 15.0
27. Williams College 14.5
28. Heidelberg 13.5
29. Rhode Island College 12.5
30. Merchant Marine 10.5
31. Baldwin Wallace 10.0
31. Concordia-Moorhead 10.0
33. Gettysburg 9.0
33. St. Olaf 9.0
35. Centenary (NJ) 8.5
35. Ferrum College 8.5
37. Brockport 8.0
37. Millikin University 8.0
39. Johnson & Wales (RI) 7.5
39. Mount Union 7.5
41. The College of New Jersey 6.5
42. Wheaton (IL) 5.5
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