Wartburg Knights wrestling

Wrestling team of the Wartburg College Knights

Wartburg Knights

Head Coach| Eric Keller (14th season)
Assistant Coach| Landon Williams
Trevor Kittleson
Elard Coello
Brady Kyner
Conference| ARC
Location| Waverly, IA
Arena| Levick Arena
(Capacity: 2,000)
Nickname| Knights
Colors| Orange and Black[1]

Team national championships

National championship years
1996, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022
NCAA individual champions

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, 2024

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 13 NWCA National Duals titles.

## History[edit]

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[edit]

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

## Championships[edit]

### NCAA team championships[edit]

Year  | Coach  | NCAA Meet Points  | Duals Record (W-L-T)

|
|
|

1996 | Jim Miller | 95.5 | 17-2-0
1999 | Jim Miller | 117.5 | 17-1-0
2003 | Jim Miller | 166.5 | 22-1-0
2004 | Jim Miller | 156.5 | 27-1-0
2006 | Jim Miller | 145.4 | 27-0
2008 | Jim Miller | 147 | 22-0-0
2009 | Jim Miller | 117.5 | 15-2-1
2011 | Jim Miller/Eric Keller | 117 | 19-1-0
2012 | Jim Miller/Eric Keller | 141.5 | 19-1-0
2013 | Jim Miller/Eric Keller | 103 | 19-0-0
2014 | Eric Keller | 103.5 | 18-0-0
2016 | Eric Keller | 129.5 | 19-0-0
2017 | Eric Keller | 129.5 | 20-0-0
2018 | Eric Keller | 136.5 | 18-2-0
2022 | Eric Keller | 79 | 13-1-0
15 NCAA Championships

[8]

### NWCA Team Championships[edit]

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

### ARC/IIAC Conference Championships[edit]

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, 2024[10]

### NWCA National Duals Championship[edit]

2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2024 [11][12]

### NCAA Individual Champions[edit]

Year  | NCAA Champion  | Weight Class

|
|

1989 | Dean Gavin | 190 lbs
1993 | Tom Hogan | 150 lbs
1993 | Lance Christensen | 167 lbs
1994 | Zane Braggs | 118 lbs
1996 | Tom Smith | 126 lbs
1996 | Jamal Fox | 142 lbs
1997 | Tom Smith | 126 lbs
1997 | Dusty Rhodes | 134 lbs
1998 | Ben Shane | 142 lbs
1999 | Zac Weiglein | 125 lbs
1999 | Ben Shane | 149 lbs
2000 | Zac Weiglein | 125 lbs
2003 | Heath Ropp | 125 lbs
2003 | Wil Kelly | 141 lbs
2003 | LeRoy Gardner III | Hwt.
2004 | Dustin Hinschberger | 141 lbs
2004 | Bart Mehlert | 149 lbs
2004 | Ryan Sturm | 184 lbs
2004 | Akeem Carter | 197 lbs
2005 | Dustin Hinschberger | 141 lbs
2005 | Akeem Carter | 197 lbs
2006 | Tyler Hubbard | 125 lbs
2006 | Dustin Hinschberger | 141 lbs
2007 | T.J. Miller | 197 lbs
2007 | Blake Gillis | Hwt.
2008 | Jacob Naig | 149 lbs
2008 | Aaron Wernimont | 157 lbs
2008 | Romeo Djoumessi | 184 lbs
2009 | Aaron Wernimont | 157 lbs
2009 | Justin Hanson | 197 lbs
2010 | Byron Tate | 197 lbs
2011 | Byron Tate | 197 lbs
2011 | John Helgerson | Hwt.
2012 | Kenny Anderson | 125 lbs
2012 | Kodie Silvestri | 141 lbs
2012 | Landon Williams | 165 lbs
2012 | Byron Tate | 197 lbs
2013 | Kenny Anderson | 133 lbs
2014 | Kenny Anderson | 133 lbs
2014 | Cole Welter | 165 lbs
2014 | Landon Williams | 174 lbs
2015 | Kenny Martin | 149 lbs
2016 | Kenny Martin | 149 lbs
2017 | Eric DeVos | 174 lbs
2018 | Brock Rathbun | 133 lbs
2018 | Cross Cannone | 149 lbs
2018 | Kyle Fank | 197 lbs
2023 | Zane Mulder | 174 lbs
2023 | Massoma Endene | 197 lbs

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

Wrestler  | NCAA Championships  | NCAA Runners-up

|
|

Kenny Anderson | 3 | 0
Dustin Hinschberger | 3 | 0
Byron Tate | 3 | 0
Akeem Carter | 2 | 1
Kenny Martin | 2 | 0
Ben Shane | 2 | 0
Tom Smith | 2 | 1
Zac Weiglein | 2 | 0
Aaron Wernimont | 2 | 0
Landon Williams | 2 | 0
Zane Braags | 1 | 1
Cross Cannone | 1 | 1
Lance Christensen | 1 | 0
Eric DeVos | 1 | 1
Romeo Djoumessi | 1 | 0
Massoma Endene | 1 | 0
Kyle Fank | 1 | 0
Dean Gavin | 1 | 0
LeRoy Gardner III | 1 | 0
Blake Gillis | 1 | 3
Justin Hanson | 1 | 0
John Helgerson | 1 | 1
Tom Hogan | 1 | 1
Tyler Hubbard | 1 | 0
Wil Kelly | 1 | 0
Bart Mehlert | 1 | 0
TJ Miller | 1 | 1
Zane Mulder | 1 | 0
Jacob Naig | 1 | 1
Brock Rathbun | 1 | 0
Dusty Rhodes | 1 | 0
Heath Ropp | 1 | 0
Kodi Silvestri | 1 | 1
Ryan Sturm | 1 | 0
Cole Welter | 1 | 0
Bruce Brye | 0 | 2
Jon Dawley | 0 | 1
Mike Alesch | 0 | 1
Josh Dodd | 0 | 1
Matt Buskohl | 0 | 1
Ozzie Saxon | 0 | 2
Kevin Bratland | 0 | 1
Sonny Alvarez | 0 | 1
Cory Connell | 0 | 1
Scott Kauffman | 0 | 1
Jake Helvey | 0 | 1
Brian Borchers | 0 | 1
Drew Wagenhoffer | 0 | 1
Zach McKray | 0 | 1
Bradley Banks | 0 | 2
Ryan Fank | 0 | 1
Devin Peterson | 0 | 1
Nick Michael | 0 | 1
Gerard Roman | 0 | 1
Logan Thomsen | 0 | 2
Tyler Lutes | 0 | 1
Zayren Terukina | 0 | 1
TOTALS | 49 | 40

[13]

## Head coaching history[edit]

As of the completion of 2023 season[14]

Tenure  | Coach  | Years  | Record  | Pct.

|
|
|
|

1955–1966, 1967-1968 | Norm Johansen | 10 | 50–49–7 | .505
1966–1967 | Kaye Young | 1 | 4–7–0 | .364
1968–1990 | Dick Walker | 22 | 175-85-4 | .670
1991-2013 | Jim Miller | 22 | 411–38–2 | .914
2010–present | Eric Keller | 14 | 233–11–0 | .955
Totals  | 5 coaches  | 64 seasons  | 816–190–14  | .807

## Notable Wartburg wrestlers[edit]

* Punahele Soriano
* LeRoy Gardner III
* Dan Ige

## See also[edit]

* National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum

## References[edit]

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. ^ "Mo Endene clinched national duals title for Wartburg". Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier. January 7, 2024. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
13. ^ "Wartburg National Championships". go-knights.net. Retrieved Feb 7, 2023.
14. ^ "Wartburg Knights Wrestling Record Book" (PDF). Wartburg Knights. Retrieved June 2, 2023.

## External links[edit]

* Official website