The Knights made history by pinning their eighth consecutive conference championship Thursday night at Young Area in Waterloo. Wartburg scored 187.5 points; second place team Luther had 120. Prior to the meet, the Knights were tied with Luther for the most consecutive IIAC titles at seven. Luther captured its sequential seven from 1961-67.

The Knights finished with five conference champions and four runner-ups. Wartburg qualified all 10 wrestlers to go to the national tournament March 3-4 in Ada, Ohio, repeating the feat from last year.

The Knights' senior Ben Kritsonis and Loras' Rob Murray split the IIAC Wrestler of the Year Award. Miller was named IIAC Coach of the Year.

Wartburg's five IIAC champions are senior Zac Weiglein (125), Kritsonis (133), junior Casey Doyle (141), senior Nick Mitchell (149) and senior Chris Smith (157).

At 125 pounds, defending national champion Weiglein defeated Britt Marolf of Simpson by major decision, 15-4. Weiglein earned a spot in the finals by defeating Zach Audetat of Luther in the semi-finals and a second round win against Eric Casey of Coe College. Weiglein had a first round bye.

"Every year we seem to turn it up a notch at the conference tournament. This year is no different. Hopefully, we'll just keep rolling to nationals," Weiglein told Jim Nelson of the Courier.

Kritsonis escaped a near pin in the final seconds to defeat Rick Schwietzbereger of Buena Vista 7-5 for the conference title at 133. Kritsonis handed Schwietzbereger, ranked second in the nation, his first loss to a Division III opponent all year.

Doyle's win at 141 was a 7-3 decision over Mark Van Beek of Buena Vista. The match was scoreless through the first period. With the score tied 2-2 going into the third, a take down by Doyle broke open the match and led to a Knights victory.

At 149, Mitchell claimed his third conference title by defeating Craig Collins of Loras with an 11-3 major decision. Mitchell earned his way to the finals by defeating Jesse Reyerson of Luther in the semi-finals and Joel Baker in of Simpson in the second round. Mitchell had a first round bye.

Wartburg's Smith won his match against rival Ben Barclay of Luther in a 4-2 decision. Smith held off Barclay to win the 157 title. After a scoreless first period, Smith took his first lead at 3-1 with a takedown at 1:30 left in the match. Smith was the only Knight that didn't get a first round bye, wrestling four matches during the day.

Junior Justin Holdgrafer was runner-up at 165 pounds to Buena Vista's Andy Krueger in a 6-2 decision. Holdgrafer fell behind 4-0 early in the match and wasn't able to overcome the deficit against the defending national champion.

At 174, Wartburg's Brandon Holmberg took runner-up honors after a defeat by Loras' Rob Murray in a 9-4 decision. Holmberg was behind 7-2 going into the third period.

Senior Carson Andorf earned runner-up at 184 pounds, losing to Gene Adams of Luther in a 4-0 decision. The match was scoreless through the first two periods. Andorf fell behind 3-0 early in the third period and didn't have enough time to make a comeback.

Junior Matt Buskohl finished in second after a 5-4 decision to Dave Doebel of Buena Vista. Buskohl had a 3-2 deficit in the second period. A takedown by Doebel in the final seconds proved to be the difference.