Coe College Sports Releases
Contact: Ryan Workman, Sports Information Director
E-mail: sid@coe.edu

Rush, Burkle and Jentz advance to NCAA Championship Finals

Rush	Burkle	Jentz

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Three Kohawk wrestlers have earned a spot in tonight's NCAA National Championship Finals in a record record-setting NCAA Tournament for the Coe wrestling team. Coe had previously only had four wrestlers in the championship match, with none of the four winning a national championship.

Freshman Clayton Rush (Aledo, Ill./Aledo), sophomore Tyler Burkle (Coggon, Iowa/North Linn) and senior Tyler Jentz (Hortonville, Wis./Hortonville) will take part in tonight's championship matches, scheduled for 7 p.m. at the US Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids. Senior Niles Mercer (Keosauqua, Iowa/Van Buren) finished sixth, while sophomore Rob Kramer (Swisher, Iowa/Prairie) finished fourth, guaranteeing all five Kohawk wrestlers All-American honors. This year's five All-Americans beats the school record set last year with three.

Rush, the number two seed at 125 pounds, earned a 6-1 victory over sixth-seeded Chris Sheetz from Delaware Valley. Rush will face defending national runner-up Seth Flodeen of Augsburg in the finals. Flodeen upset top-seeded Chris Heilman of Cornell in the semifinals. Rush and Flodeen met earlier this season at the NWCA National Duals, with Rush pinning Flodden in 1:14.

Undefeated Burkle ran his record to 38-0 with a 6-2 win over sixth-seeded Ben Youel of North Central. Burkle, the number two seed, will face fourth-seeded Benjamin Hoover of Maranatha Baptist in the finals. Hoover won by major decision over top-seeded Tim Palmer of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

The seventh-seeded Jentz advanced to the finals with a 2-1 upset over third-seeded Kyle Vanderhvde of Olivet. Jentz will face top-seeded Josh Chelf of Wisconsin-La Crosse in the finals.

At the conclusion of the semifinal round, the Kohawks were in third place with 68.5 points. Wartburg holds the top spot with 129.5 points while defending national champion Augsburg is fourth with 68 points. Coe trails Wisconsin-La Crosse for second by 14 points. Augsburg has two wrestlers in the finals, while Wisconsin-La Crosse has XX in the championship round.

Tonight's championship finals, which start at 7 p.m. at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, will be streamed live at www.coe.edu/ncaawrestling.

Day 1 Recap

Individual Full Results

	125 Pounds - #2 Clayton Rush First Round - Defeated Mike McInally (Rochester Institute) by Major Decision 15-7 Quarterfinals - Defeated #7 Munkhbaatar Baatar (St. Johns) by Decision 3-2 Semifinals - Defeated #6 Chris Sheetz (Delaware Valley) by Decision 6-1 Championships - Will face #5 Seth Flodeen (Augsburg)
	141 Pounds - Niles Mercer First Round - Defeated #2 Dan Hall (Delaware Valley) by Decision 4-1 Quarterfinals - Defeated #7 Austin Bautista (Wisconsin-Whitewater) by Decision 10-8 Semifinals - Lost to Jason Adams (Augsburg) by Decision 8-4 Consolation Semifinals - Lost to #8 Travis Grawin (Luther) by Decision 4-1 Fifth Place Match - Lost to Matt Kelly (Wartburg) by Decision 8-5 Final Place: Sixth Place (35-13 Record)
	165 Pounds - #2 Tyler Burkle First Round - Defeated Patrick Stanley (John Hopkins) by Fall 5:46 Quarterfinals - Defeated Patrick Nagel (Wisconsin-Whitewater) by Major Decision 11-2 Semifinals - Defeated #6 Ben Youel (North Central) by Decision 6-2 Championships - Will face #4 Benjamin Hoover (Maranatha Baptist)
	174 Pounds - #7 Tyler Jentz First Round - Defeated Jared Czarneski (Roger Williams) by Decision 4-1 Quarterfinals - Defeated David Priest (Ithaca) by Decision 5-3 Semifinals - Defeated #3 Kyle Vanderhyde (Olivet) by Decision 2-1 Championships - Will face #1 Josh Chelf (Wisconsin-La Crosse)
	197 Pounds - Rob Kramer First Round - Lost to #7 Josh Holforty (Wisconsin-Eau Claire) by Decision 4-2 Consolation First Round - Defeated #8 Diego Crespo (Johnson and Wales) by Decision 3-2 Consolation Quarterfinals- Defeated Anthony Neumann (Concordia Moorhead) by Decision 8-4 Consolation Semifinals - Defeated #7 Josh Holforty (Wisconsin-Eau Claire) by Fall 4:05 Third Place Match - Lost to #4 Craig Bollig (Wisconsin-Stevens Point) by Decision 5-2 Final Place: Fourth Place (38-15 Record)