Contact: Nathan Cameron, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications, 563-588-7243

Feb. 11, 2022 - Two NCAA Division III giants went toe-to-toe inside the Lillis Athletic and Wellness Center Friday night as the No. 1 Loras College wrestling team (11-1, 6-1 A-R-C) took on the No. 6 Wartburg College Knights (12-1, 7-0 A-R-C) with the American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) title on the line. Junior Gabe Fiser collected his 17th win of the season for the Duhawks but the Knights walked away with a 29-3 victory. 

Wrestling at 125 lbs. for the Duhawks was Jared Hensley, who entered the match ranked No. 11 by the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA). Hensley wen up against No. 9-ranked Brady Kyner for the Knights, seeing Kyner earn five points with a technical fall. In the 133 lbs. match, Wartburg's Joe Pins, who was ranked No. 3 in the weight class, defeated Aiden Evans by a 5-1 decision before No. 14 Jalen Schropp met up with No. 8 Zayren Terukina in the 141 lb. matchup. Schropp took Terukina the distance and held a 2-1 lead in the third period before a late escape and stalling point in favor of Terukina gave the Knight a 3-2 victory by decision. 

No. 9-ranked Daniel Ruiz took on Wartburg's Kristian Rumph, who entered the match ranked No. 2 in the 149 lb. weight class. Ruiz battled for seven minutes with Rumph, but the Knights grabbed another three points on a win by 3-2 decision in favor of Rumph. At 157 lbs., No. 7-ranked Zeke Smith took on No. 10-ranked David Hollingsworth, seeing Hollingsworth earn another three by way of a 9-4 decision. 

At 165 lbs., Fiser, who currently sits at No. 14 in NCAA Division III, squared off against Matthew Doyle and earned a decision win of his own, taking down Doyle 4-2. Wrestling at 174 lbs. for the Duhawks was No. 3-ranked Jacob Krakow who went up against Wartburg's Zane Mulder, who was ranked No. 4 by the NWCA. Mulder earned a first period take down and a third period escape while holding Krakow to two escapes to narrowly walk away with a 3-2 decision. 

Two 2021 NWCA National Champions were up against each other in the 184 lb. match between No. 2-ranked Shane Liegel and No. 1-ranked Kyle Briggs, who wrestled at 174 lbs. in the 2021 season. Briggs scored early on a first period takedown but Liegel came back in the second with a pair of escapes before scoring an escape and takedown in the third period but Briggs held on to win by a 9-5 decision. Colin Murphy met up with Kobe Woods in the 197 lb. match, seeing the Knight take another three points on a 4-2 decision. In the final matchup of the night, No. 15-ranked Brady Vogel took on Damari Dancy in the heavyweight bout. Vogel scored a pair of escapes but a first period takedown and the riding time advantage proved to be the difference in the match, seeing Dancy win 4-2. 

The Duhawks return to the mats on Feb. 16 as they take on the Simpson College Storm. The dual is slated to begin at 6:00 PM inside the Stoltz Sports Center on the campus of University of Dubuque.