Wartburg Knights wrestling

The Wartburg Knights wrestling program is one of the most successful programs in the NCAA Division III. They are a member of the American Rivers Conference and wrestle for Wartburg College. Wartburg has an NCAA DIII leading 15 National Championships while finishing as a runner-up 10 times.[2] They have also won 12 NWCA National Duals titles.

Wartburg Knights
Head CoachEric Keller (13th season)
Assistant CoachLandon Williams
Chris Smith
Elard Coello
Brady Kyner
ConferenceARC
LocationWaverly, IA
ArenaLevick Arena
(Capacity: 2,000)
NicknameKnights
ColorsOrange and Black[1]
   
Team national championships
15
National championship years
1996, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022
NCAA individual champions
49
All-Americans
243
Conference championships
1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1954, 1960, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023

History

Wartburg wrestling began in 1955. It took until 1996 when Wartburg would win their first ever National Championship. Since then Wartburg has won an NCAA DIII leading 15 NCAA wrestling National Championships. Since 1995 only two teams have won a DIII NCAA wrestling team title, those two being Wartburg College and Augsburg University. Both teams have gone back and forth throughout the last 28 years which created one of the greatest rivalries in any sport. The rivalry gained national attention when it was placed front and center on the New York Times sports section in 2012.[3] The two teams meet every year and wrestling for a belt in a dual aptly named "Battle of the Burgs",[4] with Wartburg winning the last 8 straight and most recent in 2023.[5] In 2022, Wartburg would go on to win its NCAA leading 15th National Championship by beating Wabash by one single point 79-78[6]

Home meets

Home meets are held in the Levick Arena in Waverly, Iowa.[7]

Championships

NCAA team championships
Year Coach NCAA Meet Points Duals Record (W-L-T)
1996Jim Miller95.517-2-0
1999Jim Miller117.517-1-0
2003Jim Miller166.522-1-0
2004Jim Miller156.527-1-0
2006Jim Miller145.427-0
2008Jim Miller14722-0-0
2009Jim Miller117.515-2-1
2011Jim Miller/Eric Keller11719-1-0
2012Jim Miller/Eric Keller141.519-1-0
2013Jim Miller/Eric Keller10319-0-0
2014Eric Keller103.518-0-0
2016Eric Keller129.519-0-0
2017Eric Keller129.520-0-0
2018Eric Keller136.518-2-0
2022Eric Keller7913-1-0
15 NCAA Championships

[8]

NWCA Team Championships

2021 (no NCAA Championship was held due to the COVID-19 Pandemic)[9]

ARC/IIAC Conference Championships

1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1954, 1960, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023[10]

NWCA National Duals Championship

2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2020[11]

NCAA Individual Champions
Year NCAA Champion Weight Class
1989Dean Gavin190 lbs
1993Tom Hogan150 lbs
1993Lance Christensen167 lbs
1994Zane Braggs118 lbs
1996Tom Smith126 lbs
1996Jamal Fox142 lbs
1997Tom Smith126 lbs
1997Dusty Rhodes134 lbs
1998Ben Shane142 lbs
1999Zac Weiglein125 lbs
1999Ben Shane149 lbs
2000Zac Weiglein125 lbs
2003Heath Ropp125 lbs
2003Wil Kelly141 lbs
2003LeRoy Gardner IIIHwt.
2004Dustin Hinschberger141 lbs
2004Bart Mehlert149 lbs
2004Ryan Sturm184 lbs
2004Akeem Carter197 lbs
2005Dustin Hinschberger141 lbs
2005Akeem Carter197 lbs
2006Tyler Hubbard125 lbs
2006Dustin Hinschberger141 lbs
2007T.J. Miller197 lbs
2007Blake GillisHwt.
2008Jacob Naig149 lbs
2008Aaron Wernimont157 lbs
2008Romeo Djoumessi184 lbs
2009Aaron Wernimont157 lbs
2009Justin Hanson197 lbs
2010Byron Tate197 lbs
2011Byron Tate197 lbs
2011John HelgersonHwt.
2012Kenny Anderson125 lbs
2012Kodie Silvestri141 lbs
2012Landon Williams165 lbs
2012Byron Tate197 lbs
2013Kenny Anderson133 lbs
2014Kenny Anderson133 lbs
2014Cole Welter165 lbs
2014Landon Williams174 lbs
2015Kenny Martin149 lbs
2016Kenny Martin149 lbs
2017Eric DeVos174 lbs
2018Brock Rathbun133 lbs
2018Cross Cannone149 lbs
2018Kyle Fank197 lbs
2023Zane Mulder174 lbs
2023Massoma Endene197 lbs

The following table counts the achievements of Wartburg Knight wrestlers by name as opposed to year.

Wrestler NCAA Championships NCAA Runners-up
Kenny Anderson30
Dustin Hinschberger30
Byron Tate30
Akeem Carter21
Kenny Martin20
Ben Shane20
Tom Smith21
Zac Weiglein20
Aaron Wernimont20
Landon Williams20
Zane Braags11
Cross Cannone11
Lance Christensen10
Eric DeVos11
Romeo Djoumessi10
Massoma Endene10
Kyle Fank10
Dean Gavin10
LeRoy Gardner III10
Blake Gillis13
Justin Hanson10
John Helgerson11
Tom Hogan11
Tyler Hubbard10
Wil Kelly10
Bart Mehlert10
TJ Miller11
Zane Mulder10
Jacob Naig11
Brock Rathbun10
Dusty Rhodes10
Heath Ropp10
Kodi Silvestri11
Ryan Sturm10
Cole Welter10
Bruce Brye02
Jon Dawley01
Mike Alesch01
Josh Dodd01
Matt Buskohl01
Ozzie Saxon02
Kevin Bratland01
Sonny Alvarez01
Cory Connell01
Scott Kauffman01
Jake Helvey01
Brian Borchers01
Drew Wagenhoffer01
Zach McKray01
Bradley Banks02
Ryan Fank01
Devin Peterson01
Nick Michael01
Gerard Roman01
Logan Thomsen02
Tyler Lutes01
Zayren Terukina01
TOTALS4940

[12]

Head coaching history

As of the completion of 2023 season[13]

Tenure Coach Years Record Pct.
1955–1966, 1967-1968Norm Johansen1050–49–7.505
1966–1967Kaye Young14–7–0.364
1968–1990Dick Walker22175-85-4.670
1991-2013Jim Miller22411–38–2.914
2010–presentEric Keller13218–10–0.956
Totals 5 coaches 66 seasons 858–189–14 .815

Notable Wartburg wrestlers

See also

References
  1. "Brand Guidlines Wartburg College" (PDF). Retrieved March 22, 2023.
  2. "DIII Wrestling Championship History | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com.
  3. Bishop, Greg (March 5, 2012). "Locked in Struggle for Supremacy" – via NYTimes.com.
  4. "Battle Of The Burgs: A Wrestling Rivalry Like No Other - FloWrestling". www.flowrestling.org.
  5. "Wartburg wins 8th straight Battle of the Burgs". KWWL.
  6. Goodwin, Cody. "Wartburg wins exciting team race over Wabash for Division III wrestling national title". The Des Moines Register.
  7. "Wartburg Facilities". go-knights.net. Retrieved Feb 7, 2023.
  8. "NCAA Wrestling Championships". ncaa.com. Retrieved Feb 7, 2023.
  9. Goodwin, Cody. "Takeaways: NWCA's Division III national championships was another example of wrestling at its best". The Des Moines Register.
  10. "ARC/IIAC Wrestling Championships". rollrivers.com. Retrieved Feb 7, 2023.
  11. "NWCA Multi-Duals Program" (PDF). nwcaonline.com. Retrieved Feb 7, 2023.
  12. "Wartburg National Championships". go-knights.net. Retrieved Feb 7, 2023.
  13. "Wartburg Knights Wrestling Record Book" (PDF). Wartburg Knights. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
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