6 Coe wrestlers advance to NCAA Division III tournament in Cedar Rapids

DUBUQUE — Brock Henderson has been to the top of the mountain.

The journey was such a joy, he decided to try it again.

Coe’s Henderson will get a chance to add a second national championship to his resume in two weeks, and he will be joined — at what is essentially a home tournament — by five other Kohawks.

Henderson, a fifth-year senior, was one of seven Coe wrestlers to lose in the semifinals in Saturday’s opening session of the NCAA Division III Lower Midwest Regional at Five Flags Center, but rebounded from an 8-4 loss to North Central’s Javen Estrada with two consecutive wins to reach the NCAA Division III championships, held March 11-12 at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse in Cedar Rapids.

“It’s just a joy. It’s a lot of fun,” said Henderson, who placed third at 141 pounds. “I could have been done last year, I could have went out on top, but I just love wrestling. It’s just fun to get to wrestle another tournament.”

Coe had eight wrestlers win quarterfinal matches Friday night, but one by one they all went the other way in the semifinals until Kaleb Reeves pinned Central’s Sam Zook at heavyweight.

Reeves won the regional championship with a 59-second pin of North Central’s Robby Bates. He won the regional’s award for most pins in least amount of time, recording four falls in five minutes.

“I think it just shows that all the hard work in the room has paid off,” Reeves said. “Countless hours of commitment from not just me, but the other heavyweights and the other guys in the room who are willing to push me for the whole year.”

The Kohawks’ Bryce Parke (133), Will Esmoil (165), Tristin Westphal (174) and Ryan Schott (184) also lost in the semifinals but bounced back to place third.

Coe scored 148.5 points as a team and was third behind Wartburg (158.5) and Loras (149.5). The American Rivers Conference accounted for 22 of the region’s 30 qualifiers.

“Coming out of a tournament like this, a loaded tournament, it was great to get those six through,” Coe Coach John Oostendorp said. “Obviously there’s four guys who are hurting inside, but I thought we really had to circle the wagons and have a great round and we did there in the end.”

Henderson started his comeback with a 14-2 major decision over Simpson’s Zach Stewart. He beat Loras’ Jalen Schropp, 5-1, to secure his trip to nationals. Only the top three wrestlers advance to nationals.

Donovan Corn was Luther’s only qualifier after finishing runner-up at 197.

Casey Allen registered Cornell’s top finish with a fourth-place showing at 165.