CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - The battle between two of the best NCAA Division III wrestling teams lived up to its billing Saturday afternoon.  Second-ranked Wartburg won the final two matches to come away with an 18-12 win over third-ranked Coe at the Iowa Conference Duals.
The win was the 140th-straight Iowa Conference win for the Knights, while the six-point margain was the closest match during that span.  The streak started in 1994.  Coe won its first match of the day 35-15 over 22nd-ranked Dubuque and closed the day with 46-0 win over Simpson.

Number one ranked Clayton Rush (Aledo, Ill./Aledo) went 3-0 on the day at 125 pounds, including a 2-1 win over second-ranked Mark Kist of Wartburg.  Rush beat Dubuque's Ryan Lessner by fall in 6:19 and won by forfeit against Simpson.

At 133 pounds, freshman Drew Hinschberger (Belle Plaine, Iowa/Belle Plaine) was 2-1 on the day, with his only loss coming to Sean White of Wartburg 8-3.  Hinschberger pinned Dubuque's Derick Smith in 1:39 and defeated Simpson's Jeff Sand 7-2.

Two Kohawks wrestled at 141 pounds, as Jordan Westfall (Riverside, Iowa/Highland) went 1-1 and freshman Chris LeClere (Coggon, Iowa/North-Linn) was 1-0.  Westfall was 3-1 winner over Dubuque's Mark Schultz, but lost to ninth-ranked Matt Kelly of Wartburg 7-1.  LeClere beat Simpson's Caleb Brus 8-2.

Senior Mark Carey (Raytown, Mo./South) scored one of the biggest wins of the day for the Kohawks as he went 3-0. He started the day with a fall in 6:49 over Anderson Sainci of Dubuque before beating fourth-ranked Jacob Groth of Wartburg 6-5.  Carey ended the day with a fall in 1:12 over Simpson's Kasey Green.

Ninth-ranked Dale Handley (Toddville, Iowa/Alburnett) was 1-2 at the duals with his win being an 8-1 decision over Simpson's Wade Dowling.  Handley lost 7-5 to Dubuque's Ryan Warcynski and 4-2 to 10th-ranked Adam Weber of Wartburg.

Sophomore Nick LeClere (Coggon, Iowa/North-Linn) was 2-1 on the day at 165 pounds.  The top-ranked wrestler in the nation, LeClere pinned fourth-ranked Josh Terrell of Dubuque in 5:58 before falling 10-6 to second-ranked Carrington Banks of Wartburg.  LeClere ended the day with a 21-6 technical fall in 4:39 over SImpson's Cory Stratton.

Junior Seth Rehn (Oceanside, Calif./Vista) was 2-0 with a big win at 174 pounds.  Rehn beat seventh-ranked Dylan Azinger of Wartburg 7-4 and was a 6-0 winner over Jordy Ammons of Simpson.

Top-ranked Tyler Burkle (Coggon, Iowa/North-Linn) continued his dominance as he went 3-0 at the duals.  Burkle won 11-2 over Jacob Durbin of Dubuque before beating Wartburg's seventh-ranked Todd Becker 8-4.  Burkle closed the day with a 17-2 technical fall over Simpson's Curtis Barber.

Senior Rob Kramer (Swisher, Iowa/Prairie), ranked fifth in the nation, went 2-1 on the day with his lone loss coming to fourth-ranked Byron Tate of Wartburg 6-2.  Kramer was a 8-0 winner over Dubuque's Sam Johnson and pinned Simpson's Ryan Haworth in :33.

The Kohawks used three different wrestlers at heavyweight, as they came away with one win from freshman Kyle Kober (West Branch, Iowa/West Branch).  Kober pinned Simpson's Sam Collora in :34.  Senior Mitch Sander (Clarance, Iowa/North Cedar) lost a tight 3-2 match to fourth-ranked John Helgerson of Wartburg.  Helgerson scored a takedown with :23 left in the match for the win.