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

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (Mar. 12, 2022) - For the first time since 2019, the NCAA Division III Wrestling National Championship was back after being cancelled for two straight years. Qualifying four wrestlers, the No. 2/7 Loras College wrestling team (12-1, 7-1 A-R-C) capped of the 2022 season with two All-Americans in Jacob Krakow and Shane Liegel after two days of hard-nosed competition on the national stage. 

Krakow, the No. 5-ranked wrestler at 174 lbs. began his weekend with a round of 16 matchup against No. 13 Marco Gaita from Wesleyan University. The Marengo, Iowa native made easy work of Gaita, winning by an 11-3 major decision before falling in the quarterfinals to Michael Ross, the No. 6-ranked wrestler in the weight class from Johnson & Wales University. Making his way to consolation, Krakow took on No. 15 Jared Stricker from University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire, taking down Stricker by way of a 6-4 decision to stay alive and battle in the second day of competition. Going up against SUNY-Cortland's Demetrius Henry, the No. 7-ranked wrestler at 174 lbs., Krakow found himself down by a point with seconds left in the match before a stalling call on Henry forced the match into sudden victory where Krakow earned a take down to continue his hunt for third place, meeting up with Augsburg University's No. 4-ranked Solomon Nielsen. Making light work of Nielsen, earning a 16-0 technical fall, Krakow secured his spot in the third place match. Krakow met back up with No. 2-ranked Zane Mulder from American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) rival Wartburg College in the third place match, seeing the foe for the second time of the season, falling in the regular season dual and winning by a medical forfeit at the Lower Midwest Regional tournament. For the second match in a row, Krakow went into sudden victory where he earned a vengeful victory over Mulder by a 3-1 decision to finish third in the nation and earning his third NCAA Division III All-American accolade. 

Wrestling at 184 lbs. for Loras was No. 2-ranked Liegel, who entered the tournament as the top seed in the weight class. The Spring Green, Wis. native opened his weekend in the round of 16 against No. 10 Nick Rogge from Augsburg, winning the match and advancing to the quarterfinals with a 12-2 victory by major decision. In the quarterfinals, Liegel met up with Roanoke College's Mahlic Sallah and earned his second straight win by major decision, taking down Sallah by an 8-0 margin. In the second day of action, Liegel met up with No. 5 Jarrit Shinhoster from University of Wisconsin - Whitewater in the semifinals and fell into wrestle backs after Shinhoster walked away with the win. In his first match of consolation, Liegel earned a 6-0 decision over Wabash College's Charles Baczek to move on and meet back up with Wartburg's No. 1 Kyle Briggs for the third time of the season. In the regular season, Briggs took the win before Liegel earned Lower Midwest Region Champion honors, taking down Briggs in the championship match. This time, Briggs squeezed out a narrow 2-0 decision to take third, seeing Liegel finish fourth in the nation and earning his second NCAA Division III All-American honor.

Also qualifying for the Duhawks was Zeke Smith at 157 lbs. and Gabe Fiser at 165 lbs. Smith, the No. 6-ranked wrestler in his class fell to Baldwin Wallace University's No. 15 Stanley Bleich to move into the pigtail matches where he stayed alive with a 5-0 decision win over Messiah University's No. 9-ranked Nick Barnhart. Smith's weekend came to an end in the next match as he fell to Ohio Northern University's Schuyler Caprella by a narrow 10-8 decision. At 165 lbs., Fiser, the No. 13-ranked wrestler in the class, opened his weekend against No. 6-ranked Matt Lackman from Alvernia University and fell into consolation where his weekend came to a close against No. 4-ranked Seth Brossard from University of Wisconsin - La Crosse. 

The Duhawks finished the weekend with two All-Americans and earning 29.5 team points.