STORM LAKE, Iowa - Junior Clayton Rush (Aledo, Ill./Aledo) and senior Tyler Burkle (Coggon, Iowa/North-Linn) became Coe's first two-time Iowa Conference Champions as a school record 10 Kohawks advanced to the NCAA National Wrestling Championships.
Freshman Chris LeClere (Coggon, Iowa/North-Linn) and senior Rob Kramer (Swisher, Iowa/Prairie) joined Rush and Burkle in Tuesday night's Iowa Conference Championship matches. Rush won his second title at 125 years, while making his third-straight appearance in the championship match. It was Burkle's second Iowa Conference Championship, as he won the 165 pound weight class in 2008.
Rush started the day with a 20-5 technical fall in 5:45 over Ryan Lessner of Dubuque. He followed that up with a 24-12 major decision against Luther's Jayson Swanson. Rush beat second-seeded Mark Kist of Wartburg 5-1 in the championship match.
Top seeded Burkle at 184 pounds also earned two bonus point wins to advance to the finals. In the quarterfianls, he won by major decision 13-5 over Loras' Josh Kirkland. In the semifinals he won by technical fall over fifth-seeded Jake Durbin of Dubuque by score of 19-4 in 4:49. Burkle earned a 7-5 overtime win over second seeded Todd Becker of Wartburg in the finals.
After a first round bye, Chris LeClere pinned Dubuque's Derick Smith in 1:14. In the semifinals, LeClere needed overtime to beat fourth-seeded Kevin Bokoski 14-12 to advance to the finals. LeClere, the top seed at 141 pounds, was knocked off by second-seeded Kevin Donahue of Cornell in the title bout 7-5.
Coe's final participate in the championship matches advanced to the finals with a pair of bonus point wins. At 197 pounds, Kramer pinned seventh-seeded Alex Grafft of Loras in 3:17. In the semifinals, the second-seeded Kramer beat third-seeded Brian Broll of Buena Vista by technical fall 15-0 in 7:00. Kramer lost an 8-3 decision to Wartburg's top-seeded Byron Tate.
At 133 pounds, freshman Drew Hinschberger (Belle Plaine, Iowa/Belle Plaine) took third place to earn a trip to the national tournament. After a first round bye, Hinschberger beat sixth-seeded Ryan Capouch of Luther 5-0. The win was the only non-bonus point win for Coe in the first round. Hinschberger lost a 6-5 decision to Cornell's Nick Nothern in the semifinals. In the consolation semifinals, Hinschberger beat Loras' Brendan Murphy by technical fall 16-0. He took third with a 6-0 win over Simpson's Jeff Sand.
Senior Mark Carey (Raytown, Mo./South) earned his first trip back to the NCAA Championships since 2005 with his third place finish. After a first round bye, Carey won by technical fall 16-1 over Loras' Chris Gansen. Following a 6-2 semifinal loss to Wartburg's Jacob Groth, he defeated Cornell's Jacob Schwebke 7-1. Carey ended the day with an 8-4 win over Dubuque's Andrew Knoll in the third-place match.
Coe earned one of three wildcard spots at 157 pounds. Fourth seeded sophomore Dale Handley (Toddville, Iowa/Alburnett) defeated Simpson's Wade Dowling by major decision 10-0 in the quarterfinals after a first round bye. Handley then lost a tight 5-3 decision to eventual conference champion Nicholas Loughlin of Cornell. In the consolation semifinals, Handley beat third-seeded Lance Serbousek 5-2 before losing the third place match 4-3 to second-seeded Adam Weber of Wartburg.
At 165 pounds, sophomore Nick LeClere (Coggon, Iowa/North-Linn) took third place honors and a trip to the NCAA National Championships. LeClere pinned Tiegen Podliska of Loras in 4:35 in the opening round. In the semifinals, LeClere lost 6-3 to eventual conference champion Josh Terrell of Dubuque. LeClere bounced back with two bonus point wins, a 17-2 technical fall and a 14-3 major decision, to take third place.
Junior Seth Rehn (Oceanside, Calif./Vista) earned his second-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament with a third-place finish at 174 pounds. Rehn pinned Nathan Tool of Buena Vista in 2:10 before losing a 5-3 decision to Wartburg's Dylan Azinger in the semifinals. Rehn won by major decision 10-1 over Cornell's Joseph Hambleton before beating Tool by medical forfeit for a spot at nationals.
Coe's final qualifier for the national tournament came at heavyweight, where senior Mitch Sander (Clarence, Iowa/North Cedar) took third-place honors. Sander pinned Central's Jake Crawford in 2:43. In the semifinals, Sander lost to eventual conference champion Allyn Plattner of Luther 7-5. Sander then pinned Loras' Jeremy Klein in 3:53 before beating Dubuque's Christopher Schiewe 8-2 in the third-place match.
Wartburg won their 18th-straight Iowa Conference Championship with 176.5 points. Coe scored 167 points for second place, which was the most in Iowa Conference history for a non-winning team. The nine and a half point difference between Wartburg and Coe was the closest an Iowa Conference Tournament race had been since 1989. Cornell was third with 120 points, while Luther and Dubuque rounded out the top-five with 115 and 113.5 points apiece. Each of the top-five schools crowned two champions each.
