IW wrestlers take part in National Championships

CORALVILLE - Seven Iowa Wesleyan wrestlers traveled north to Coralville this weekend for the National Wrestling Coaches Association's Division III Nationals. Four of those seven are able to say they won a match on the big stage.

Those four Tigers are Brendon Lunsford, Humberto Alcala, Mark Roberts and Zachary Thomas. Each member of that quartet went 1-2 over the weekend.

Lunsford, the Tigers' 285 pounder, was the only Iowa Wesleyan wrestler to win his first round match. The former Fairfield Trojan pinned Alex Helsdorffer in the first round, beating him in one minute and 31 seconds.

In the round of 16, Lunsford wrestled third-seeded Kaleb Reeves tough, but fell 4-2. He finished his tournament out with a loss by major decision, falling 14-2 to Carter Urich of Messiah University.

Alcala took a different route to a 1-2 finish. The 165-pounder dropped his first match to Coe's Ryker Kurlmskl, falling via pinfall in 1:25. He followed that by beating Greensboro College's Lucas Utt by pinfall. Alcala lost his next match, getting pinned in 6:45 by 10th-seeded Morgan Peterson of Southern Virginia.

Roberts dropped his 149-pound opener by major decision, falling 10-0 to Charlie Stuhl of Augsburg, but rebounded with a 6-2 defeat of Westminster's Jackson Beene in the wrestlebacks. He was then pinned by Messiah's Garret Cornell, the No. 7 seed, in 3:33.

Thomas had to face fourth-seeded Nick Rogge of Augsburg in the 184-pound opener, losing on a 19-2 technical fall. He defeated Simpson College's Andrew Wolff in the wrestlebacks, but fell 7-4 to Augustana's Josh Bush in the next bout.

Also wrestling for Iowa Wesleyan were Dustin Britt, at 133 pounds, Jarron Metzler, at 197 pounds, and Jesus Diaz, at 157 pounds. All three of those athletes finished 0-2.