FOR THE FANS: Competition at the 2007 national tourney opens Friday at 11 a.m. with the first session and runs through Saturday at 9 p.m. with the awarding of the individual All-American honors and team trophies. A tournament schedule, complete team-by-team national qualifiers, advanced ticket sales information and more are available at the official web site of the 2007 NCAA Division III Championships at http://depts.loras.edu/sports/2007ncaawrestling/index.html. Brackets will be announced Thursday night.
Fans of the Knights can follow the national tourney through http://www.go-knights.net, the Internet home of Wartburg athletics, with complete recaps, photo galleries, and more, and through web broadcasts on Go-Knights.net, courtesy of KWAY Radio, Waverly, and KWAR-FM, 89.1, Waverly. The broadcast on KWAY will be available both days, while KWAR's broadcast will be available Saturday.
NATIONAL TOURNAMENT HISTORY: This year's tournament marks the second time in the last four years that Loras College has been the host institution at the Five Flags Center. The last time around was a good one for the Orange and Black as they won the 2004 national meet, crowning four national champions and nine All-Americans…This year's tourney begins a run of back-to-back years in which the Iowa Conference has a strong flavor in host duties. The 2008 national tourney will be held at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids with Cornell College, Coe College, and the IIAC as hosts…Head coach Jim Miller's program looks to continue four remarkable streaks this weekend. The Knights have had a view from the top of the team race in 12 of the last 14 national championships, ending either first or second with five national titles and three of those coming since 2003…Wartburg has had at least three All-Americans in each of the last 16 national championships with a high water mark of 10 in 2003 and nine in 2004 and 2006…The Knights have had at least one All-American in each of the last 19 national championships…Wartburg has also had at least one individual national champion in each of the last four years with two-or-more in each of those instances.
2007 KNIGHTS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES: Senior heavyweight Blake Gillis of Spencer, fresh off becoming the Iowa Conference's fifth four-time individual champion, seeks more history on the national level this weekend. He can become the first four-time All-American for Wartburg since Jon Dawley did so from 1991-94. Gillis has previously finished second three times…Junior 197-pounder T.J. Miller of Cedar Falls also looks for repeat All-American honors after finishing fourth in 2007 along with sophomore 141-pounder Zach McKray of Iowa City who was eighth at 133 pounds last year…Miller is the lone unbeaten in the Wartburg wrestling room, sporting a 25-0 record, while sophomore 184-pounder Romeo Djoumessi of Waverly has the longest winning streak of any of the Knights, sitting at 29 straight since a loss to Iowa State University's David Varner at the Harold Nichols Open in late November…Djoumessi, Gillis, and Miller have yet to be defeated by an NCAA Division III opponent this year with Gillis' lone loss coming at the hands of Northwestern University's Dustin Fox in the semifinals of the Midlands Invitational in late December. Gillis has won 20 in a row since the loss…Sophomore 157-pounder Aaron Wernimont of Pocahontas joins Djoumessi and Gillis in the 30-win club with a 35-4 record. He's won nine straight since a 5-4 loss to Augsburg's Jeremy Anderson in the finals of the National Wrestling Coaches Association's Division III National Duals…Freshman 149-pounder Adam Weber of Waterloo is close behind with 29 wins, while junior 125-pounder Robert Struthers of Emmetsburg (28 wins), and senior 174-pounder Jason Zastrow of Coon Rapids, Minn., (26 wins) are also within range of 30 victories…The remaining records for Wartburg's national qualifiers are junior 133-pounder Jake Helvey of Mitchellville (25-15), McKray (9-8), and senior 165-pounder Jason Knipp of Waterloo (13-2).
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