Wartburg adds individual champs Blume, Ross to NCAA DIII Championships team title performance

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Wartburg wrapped up the title in the afternoon, but the Knights made things even more special Saturday night as they won two of their three finals matches at the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships at Alliant Energy PowerHouse.

Freshman Kade Blume knocked off one of the two defending national champions and senior Kasey Ross capped his career with the other title for Wartburg.

Blume beat defending champion Mark Samuel of Roanoke 4-3 at 141 pounds, avenging an overtime loss at National Duals.

“I didn’t think of it like that,” Blume said of beating the national champion to become the national champion. “I just thought of it as just another wrestling match. What an opportunity, right, like that opportunity is something that 90 percent of wrestlers dream of, and I looked at it as, ‘Hey, I get the chance, let’s go wrestle.’

“Obviously, I knew who it was, but it was like let’s just go wrestle; let’s go have fun.”

Blume scored the key takedown with 23 seconds left in the second period during a long back-and-forth battle. Samuel got a reversal six seconds later, but he was unable to overcome the 4-2 deficit.

“I remember hanging on for dear life to that leg … but I honestly couldn’t tell you how I got that takedown,” Blume said.

For Ross, the key was a takedown late in the second period that gave him a more comfortable advantage as he beat 184-pound top-seeded Ganon Smith of Elizabethtown 5-0 in the only finals matching the top two seeds.

“It made a big difference,” Ross said of the takedown that put him ahead 4-0 with 11 seconds left in the second period. “I knew if I could get one, whether it was in the first or second (period), that I’d be looking good.”

His confidence grew even more when Smith elected to go underneath for the final period and put Ross in his best position. He rode out the match and collected a bonus point for riding time.

“I can end a match on top,” Ross said. “He chose down, and that’s where I want to be. I like saying I’m a hammer on top. I like putting a hurting on. Getting that takedown just opened it up.”

Blume and Ross became the 39th and 40th wrestlers to win individual titles for the Knights, who won their Division III-record 17th team title, scoring 110 points with seven All-Americans.

“This team, the team title, I think, feels better than the individual, man,” Ross said. “I wouldn’t be here at the top without these guys. … We’ve got a room full of amazing wrestlers and amazing people, and that creates a culture; that’s what creates the winning environment.”

A perfect night eluded Wartburg when defending champion Mitchell Williamson dropped a 4-1 decision to Josh Harkless of Rochester Institute of Technology on a last-second takedown in the night’s final match.

“The only thing going through my head was, I’m gonna get this,” said Harkless, who lost to Williamson in the quarterfinals a year ago. “It just comes down to willpower. You just gotta push through.”

Wisconsin-La Crosse’s Tanner Gerber, who was pinned in his first match at nationals a year ago but wrestled back all the way to third place, avoided upsets this time and defeated Andrew Supers of Baldwin Wallace 4-0 in the final at 165. A takedown with 29 seconds left in the first period was the key.

“My coach does a really good job of telling me that I was the best in the country, so I never had any doubts,” Gerber, a four-time Wisconsin state champion in high school, said. “I don’t want to sound too cocky or anything, but I just really thought that I was the best, and my coaches kept reinforcing that idea in my head. “So, you know, after taking third last year, the goal doesn’t change.”

Gerber’s win boosted La Crosse past Augsburg in the team standings, giving the Eagles their fifth runner-up finish in Division III history and third for Coach Dave Malecek. La Crosse finished with 68 points, Augsburg, which had no finalists, with 67.5 points.

“Oh, that’s awesome,” Gerber said. “It’s always good to beat Augsburg; that’s the simplest way to put it. So that’s pretty cool. I love this team, and I wouldn’t be here (atop the podium) without them. I feel I paid them back for all they’ve done for me.”

New York University earned a team trophy with a fourth-place finish (65.5 points) when Mo Talebi, the former Cadet World freestyle tournament entry for Iran10 years ago, won the title at 197 for the Violets. He defeated York’s Josh Stahl 10-5.

“The last five years I was away from wrestling. Two years ago, I decided to come back, and it was very tough,” Talebi said. “But I’m so happy I did.

“What went through my mind was just having the chance to be able to compete again. It kind of just all comes back to you. Wrestling is like riding a bike. It always sticks with you.”

Talebi used his freestyle career to his advantage, scoring a pair of first-period takedowns and then adding another in the second to build a 9-4 lead.

“The freestyle really helped me,” he said.

For the fifth year in a row there was a second-generation champion.

Garrett Totten of The College of New Jersey accomplished what his father, Brandon, did 30 years earlier when he beat James Day of Wabash 8-1 in the final at 133. His father won back-to-back titles at 158 in 1995 and 1996 for Delaware Valley.

“I’ve been thinking (about) that since I started wrestling, walking around,” Garrett Totten said. “Him and my uncle (Justin, who won a national title for TCNJ in 1999), they’re the biggest inspirations in my life, and I’m glad I get to join them now. I’ll come back next year and hopefully join my dad as a two-timer.”

Totten wowed the crowd when he scored a takedown 33 seconds into the match and never trailed.

“James went with that Russian tie, and it was just one of my go-to moves I like, a 360 double,” Totten said. “I’ve been landing it since high school, my freshman year. And I just felt it instantly.”

Millikin’s Bradan Birt, whose father, Ryan, won a title for Upper Iowa in 1999, was the first second-generation champion in 2022. The past three years, Michael Petrella of Baldwin Wallace accomplished the feat his father, Paul, did in 1978, also for Baldwin Wallace.

Hunter Mays gave the Lions a second champion later in the night when he defeated Luther’s Bryce McDonough 8-6 at 174. McDonough reached the finals with successive wins over the Nos. 3 and 2 seeds.

“Just following the bracket, I knew he was kind of on a hot streak and it was going to be the best version of him,” Mays said. “But at the same time, I’m hot, too. I had just majored (fourth seed Ty Finn of NYU), who’s a super-tough opponent.”

A pair of takedowns staked Mays to a 7-2 lead. After an escape, McDonough pulled within 7-6 with a takedown, but Mays closed the scoring with an escape.

“I made money on my feet this whole tournament,” Mays said. “I knew that’s where I was gonna win the match.”

The two titles gave the Lions a fifth-place finish in the team race with 58.5 points.

Williams’ Peter Kane, one of the few returning runners-up who made it back to the finals, came out on top in his second attempt at a title. He broke a 1-1 tie on a takedown with 19 seconds left in the match to defeat Rhenzo Augusto of Elmhurst 4-1 in the 157 final.

“One of my strengths is definitely pushing through those scrambles and finding the positions where I can really be comfortable,” Kane said. “Not all my offense comes from strictly shooting, like most other people, so I took the opportunity when I saw it.

“I’m not the most open wrestler; I’m not the most offensive. I play to my strengths, and I think that showed in this match. I’m proud of the way I wrestled, and I felt I left everything on the mat.”

The win allowed Kane, who finished second two years ago behind three-time national champion Michael Petrella of Baldwin Wallace to go out with his highest finish in four trips to the awards stand.

“It feels great … especially after my sophomore year, being in the finals, and them coming back the next year and not doing exactly what I wanted,” Kane said. “This one felt really good.”

Overtime was nothing new for Central’s Cade Siebrecht and Wisconsin-Whitewater’s Dominik Mallinder. Each had won two previous overtime matches, including the semifinals, and it appeared they were headed that way again tied 1-1 in the final at 149.

But Siebrecht saw his spot as the clock wound down, scored a takedown with 10 seconds left and defeated Mallinder 4-1.

“I was feeling him out throughout the match, so I committed to that takedown,” said Siebrecht, who began his college career at the University of Iowa, then spent a short time at South Dakota State before coming to Central a year ago.

“He was a little bit lower to me the whole match, so it was kind of hard to get to him,” Siebrecht said. “But I was able to find a way though his hands. He dropped his hands on the mat, and right when he brought them up, back off the mat,” I shot that double, and I was right on his legs.”

Chip Guzman’s climb to the top reached the pinnacle Saturday night.

“I finally broke through, and it means a lot,” Guzman said.

Guzman, a senior for North Central, scored a takedown in the first minute, then added five more to record a 19-3 technical fall win against Coe’ Brayden Parke in 5 minutes, 17 seconds in the 125-pound final.

It capped a career that produced a third-place finish as a freshman followed by back-to-back runner-up placings behind three-time champion Joziah Fry of Johnson & Wales.

“I’ve just grown every year,” Guzman said of persevering during Fry’s reign. “I know I had that kid in my weight class, and he was pretty good, he was pretty darn good,” Guzman said. “But these coaches always told me I was the best, and I believed I was the best. Every time I fell short, I just like, I just got to pick myself back up and just keep getting after it.

“I truly believe I’m the baddest man here.

"My goal ever since I came into college was national champ and win OW and just try to rack some points up, and I got it done tonight, and it’s awesome.”

Final brackets and archived matches from this event are available at FloWrestling.com.