LeClere, Westfall earn silver; Wartburg dominates for second straight title

LA CROSSE, Wis. - The rally cry for the Coe Kohawks is “Bleed Crimson, Win Gold.”

Unfortunately, silver became more attainable and harder to accept.

Seniors Nick LeClere and Jordan Westfall advanced to championship matches but came up one win shy, placing second at the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships Saturday night at the La Crosse Center.

LeClere reached the finals for a second straight year, but couldn't force his way to the top of the podium. Top-seeded LeClere suffered a 7-4 defeat to Wartburg's Landon Williams in the 165-pound final. It was also the second straight time he finished behind an Iowa Conference foe, losing to University of Dubuque's Josh Terrell in 2011.

“This one is tougher because I feel like I had this one in the bag,” said LeClere, a three-time All-American. “I let it slip away. Last year was a hard-fought match and so was this one. I was so confident for this one. It's heart breaking.”

LeClere started strong, scoring a takedown in the first 10 seconds of the match. Williams answered with a reversal, riding LeClere out in the first. He rode LeClere most of the second before LeClere added a reversal, but couldn't prevent an escape in the final second of the period.

Williams amassed more than 2:00 of riding time by the end of two periods, producing a point and essentially put him in command with a third-period escape.

“He scored a lot of points in the last seconds of a couple periods, and I couldn't get out,” LeClere said. “It's the same as last year. I got to get out.”

Coe Coach John Oostendorp said the difference boiled down to a few areas.

“A couple positions in the match that cost him,” Oostendorp said. “I don't think we really opened up like we were capable on our feet.”

LeClere beat Williams in the final of the IIAC tournament. They know each other's tendencies, and he needed to distance himself from Williams in the previous match.

“I felt like he had a strategy, and I knew his strategy going in,” LeClere said. “That's what kills me. … I just let it slip away.”

Westfall, seeded seventh, was the highest seed in the entire tournament to reach the finals. Westfall was disappointed, but said he will have more appreciation for the accomplishment.

“I'm a little frustrated right now, but I accomplished a lot this year,” Westfall said. “It's something I can be proud of.

“I worked my tail off this year just to get to this point and I'm proud of that, too.”

He ran into Ithaca's top-seeded and defending NCAA champion Seth Ecker in the finals. Ecker controlled the bout from his opening takedown, posting an 8-0 major decision. He racked up points late in first two periods, getting a tilt for three nearfall points in the final 10 seconds of the first and a takedown in the waning ticks of the second.

“He came out and tied my wrist up real well,” Westfall said. “I couldn't real move him. I only got to his leg once.”

Westfall closed with one heck of a run, beating two of the top three seeds before Ecker. In his first postseason appearance, the Kohawk senior claimed an Iowa Conference title and national runner-up honors.

He advanced to Saturday night with a 4-3 win in the second tiebreaker of overtime against Wisconsin-La Crosse's Adam Sheley, avenging a shutout loss to him in December.

They battled for 11 minutes with Westfall getting the decisive escape in the last 30-second period. He had just enough left in the gas tank.

“It was running out,” Westfall said. “I knew he was feeling it too. I felt like I was in a little bit better shape. I don't think anyone trains harder than we do at Coe. I was confident the whole time.”

Westfall used a quick turn in the second period for two nearfall points. Entering the finals, Westfall scored back points in each match.

“It's something we've worked on for the past two months, trying to capitalize when I'm riding,” Westfall said. “It's paying off right now.”

The final decisions shouldn't cloud the overall achievements.

“You want to end on a win, especially when you're in the finals,” Oostendorp said. “I know they're hurting.”

The Kohawks tied the school record of six All-Americans set in 2009, and placed a program-best third in the team Dale Handley finished a strong career at Coe, placing third at 157 pounds. Handley posted a 37-5 record this season and went 98-39 for his career after an 8-5 win over Elias Larson of Trine for third.

Jimmy Gotto (125) and Scott King (174) both placed sixth and 149-pounder James Locke was seventh, helping Coe to its fifth straight top-five finish. It was a good performance but Coe wasn't celebrating Saturday night.

“We have high goals,” Oostendorp said. “We've got to work to attain them.”

For the second year in a row, Wartburg clinched a national team title here before the finals. The Knights tied an NCAA record with four champions and tallied 141 1/2 points, whipping the field and finishing 55 ahead of runner-up Augsburg.

The Knights doubled its lead in the opening session Saturday, building a 44-point advantage to secure their ninth team title and fourth in the last five years.

“You never when you come in what's going to happen, whether you even have a chance to win,” Wartburg Coach Jim Miller said. “Hopefully we're going to be in a position to win, but it's sure nice to have it over before the finals.”

Wartburg advanced five to the finals with eight total All-Americans. The Knights were led by 197-pounder Byron Tate, who capped his college career, joining Dustin Hinschberger as the school's only three-time national champion. He is just the 12th in D-III history.

Tate beat Dustin Baxter of St. John's (Minn.), 7-2, in the finals.

“It feels pretty great,” Tate said. “I tried to wrestle my hardest and win every match this season. That was my goal. I accomplished that on the D-III level.”

Tate would have been No. 13 if not for teammate Kodie Silvestri. The Knights' 141-pounder knocked off two-time defending NCAA champion Bebeto Yewah of Wisconsin-La Crosse, 11-9, in the championship. Silvestri knew what Yewah brought to the table, but wasn't intimidated.

“I just came in here looking at it as another opponent I had to defeat to get a national title,” Silvestri said. “I just knew I had to outfight him.”

Silvestri was the aggressor. The game plan was to take the attack to Yewah, scoring two first-period takedowns.

“I knew I couldn't be the opponent that just stayed back and wrestled his match,” Silvestri said. “I knew I had to wrestle my match and wrestling my match is what got me the national title.”

Wartburg's Kenny Anderson opened the finals by winning the 125-pound title.

This year's team title provided a different sense of satisfaction for Miller.

“It's probably one of the biggest surprise ones,” Miller said. “Not only winning but the dominance of it.

“They're all special. The cool thing is there are a lot of people here who were a part of a lot of the other ones, and they're sharing in it still.”

Heavyweight Ryan Fank and Dylan Azinger at 184 were fourth, while Drew Waggenhoffer (157) was fifth for Wartburg.

The Knights added six new starters to their lineup this year. They answered all the questions, rising to each challenge that stood in the way of continuing the winning tradition.

“I've been waiting all year for something to fall apart,” Miller said. “In the mean time, we win the National Duals, the Iowa Conference and the NCAA Championships. These guys weren't about to fall apart.

‘We had a really good team last year and this team scored more points. I would have never have guessed that. I'm real proud of this group coming together.”

Trent Flegel matched the highest finish of any Luther wrestler the last three years, placing sixth at 197 pounds. Flegel, a junior who was an NJCAA All-American for Muskegan (Mich.) Community College last year, finished the season with a 32-10 mark.

Loras was the only other IIAC team with a medalist. Conference champion Joe Wood placed fourth at 149 for the Duhawks.

NCAA DIVISION III CHAMPIONSHIPS

At La Crosse, Wis.

Team scores (top 10 plus Iowa Conference) -- 1. Wartburg 141.5; 2. Augsburg 86.5; 3. Coe 74.0; 4. Wis.-La Crosse 65; 5. Ithaca 61.5; 6. The College of New Jersey 47; 7. Elmhurst 39.5; 8. Wis.-Whitewater 35.5; 9. North Central (Ill.) 32; 10. Cortland State 31.5; t29. Loras 11.5; 33. Luther 10; t38. Cornell College 5.5; t47 Buena Vista 1; t47. Central 1; t47. Dubuque 1.

Championship matches

125 pounds -- Kenny Anderson (Wartburg) dec. Nathan Fitzenreider, 6-2; 133 -- Seth Ecker (Ithaca) maj. dec. Jordan Westfall (Coe), 8-0; 141 -- Kodie Silvestri (Wartburg) dec. Bebeto Yewah (Wis.-La Crosse), 11-9; 149 -- Jeremy Stierly (Ithaca) dec. Anthony Dattolo (Wilkes), 3-1; 157 -- Nazar Kulchytskyy (Wis.-Oshkosh) dec. Orlando Ponce (Augsburg), 10-9; 165 -- Landon Williams (Wartburg) dec. Nick LeClere (Coe), 7-4; 174 -- Kyle Kwiat (Ohio Northern) dec. Bradley Banks (Wartburg), 7-4; 184 -- Mike Denver (The College of New Jersey) pinned Michael Reilly (King's, Pa.), 3:55; 197 -- Byron Tate (Wartburg) dec. Dustin Baxter (Saint John's), 7-2; 285 -- Chad Johnson (Augsburg) dec. Corey Anderson (Wis.-Whitewater), 6-1.