Six of the seven Kohawks that qualified for the 2009 championships advanced to the medalist round on Saturday morning, with sophomores Clayton Rush (Aledo, Ill./Aledo) and Brandon Ball (Columbus Junction, Iowa/Columbus) still in the hunt for a national championship.  Fate didn't play out for either of the two, as they both lost in the semifinals, sending them to the consolation bracket with four other Kohawks.

Rush faced Rochester Institute of Technolgy's Mike McInally in the semifinals.  Rush took a 2-0 lead with a takedown 2:10 into the match, but an escape by McInally with :37 in the period and a takedown with :25 remaining gave McInally the lead.  With 1:09 remaining in the second, McInally used a takedown to take a 6-2 lead, but Rush battled back with an escape and a takedown with :05 remaining in the second.  Rush then escaped with :21 left in the match to tie it, but a point of riding time sent McInally to the finals.

In the consolation semifinals, a rematch of last year's championship bout was set with Rush and Seth Flodeen of Augsburg.  Once again, Rush held a 4-1 lead in the match before falling to his back and being pinned by Flodeen in 1:41.  Rush bounced back in the fifth-place match against Seth Ecker of Ithaca.  Leading 14-4 heading into the third period, Rush put Ecker on his back with :05 remaining in the match to win by fall.  With the win, Rush closed the season with a 26-3 record and improved to 62-8 in just his sophomore season.

   

The first career meeting between Ball and Luther's Zac Barlett didn't go as the Kohawks would like, as Ball caught himself on his back after a scoreless first period that resulted in a fall for Bartlett in 3:52.  Ball bounced back for a 7-5 overtime win over top-seeded Travis Lang of Augsburg.  Ball used a takedown with :07 left in the match to tie it and another takedown :19 into overtime to seal the win.  In the third-place match, Ball dropped an 8-5 decision to Matt Kelly of Wartburg in the fifth meeting of the year between the two.  With the fourth-place finish, Ball went 3-2 in the tournament and improved to 30-12 on the year.

   

Defending National Champion Tyler Burkle (Coggon, Iowa/North-Linn) finished his season with four-straight wins, three of them coming on Saturday morning.  Burkle beat Christopher Dahlheimer of Lycoming 6-1 in the consolation quarterfinals, which set up a rematch of last year's national championship match against Benjamin Hoover of Marantha Baptist.  Burkle dominated once again, coming away with a 5-1 decision that advanced him to the third-place match against Michael Morin of Southern Maine.  Burkle gave the Kohawks some much needed bonus points with his 12-4 major decision.  The junior went 4-1 in the tournament and improved to 27-7 on the year.  He will return next season with an 88-15 career record.

In one of the best stories of the tournament, unseeded Bryon Grothus (Davenport, Iowa/Assumption) went 5-1 to take third place honors.  His first round upset of undefeated top-seed Jerome Owens sparked the senior to two falls and a major decision in the consolation round.  Grothus ended his career with back-to-back falls in the consolation semifinals and third-place match.  He pinned sixth-seeded Zach Molitor of Augsburg in 1:35 before pinning Michael Schmitz of Wisconsin-La Crosse in 4:08.  Grothus finished with a 36-13 record on the year and 111-66 in his career.

Junior Rob Kramer (Swisher, Iowa/Prairie) went 1-1 on the day for a fifth-place finish.  Kramer defeated Mount Union's Bill Schindel 14-8 before losing by fall to Andy Moore of Wisconsin-La Crosse in 3:43.  Kramer bounced back for a fall of his own in 2:14 over third-seeded Karl Voeck of Wisconsin-Whitewater.  The win improved Kramer to 36-10 on the year and was his 90th win of his career. 

Heavyweight Mitch Sander (Clarence, Iowa/North Cedar) lost his first match by fall in 6:25 to Adam Sutter of Lakeland before bouncing back for a 4-3 win over sixth-seeded Brock Glotfelty of McDaniel in the seventh-place match.  Sander finished the year with a 27-9 record.

In a repeat of the 2008 championships in Cedar Rapids, the top four schools stayed the same, as the top five positions have been locked up heading into Saturday night's finals.  Wartburg won the team title, while Augsburg is in second.  The Knights have three in the finals, with the Auggies only having one, making it impossible for the Knights to be caught.  Wisconsin-La Crosse holds a half point lead over Coe, but Wis.-La Crosse has two wrestlers in the finals.  Coe holds an 18 point lead over Delaware Valley, with the Aggies having two in the finals.