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

Burkle becomes Coe's first wrestling National Champion

Burkle

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Sophomore Tyler Burkle (Coggon, Iowa/North Linn) became the first Kohawk to win an NCAA National Championship on the wrestling mat with a 9-4 decision over Benjamin Hoover from Maranatha Baptist. Burkle was one of three Kohawks to earn a spot in Saturday night's NCAA National Championship Finals. Burkle was the first of six different Coe athletes to wrestle in the national championship match in school history. In a record setting NCAA Tournament for the Kohawks, they finished fourth as a team, the highest in school history, along with crowning five All-Americans, topping last season's school record of three.

Freshman Clayton Rush (Aledo, Ill./Aledo) opened the first period of his 125 pound championship match against Seth Flodeen of Augsburg with a quick takedown at the :35, putting Flodeen right on his back to start the match. Rush gained three nearfall points to take a 5-0 lead 45 seconds into the match. Flodeen escaped seven seconds later after Rush nearly picked up his second first period pinfall over Flodeen of the season. With Rush leading 5-1, Flodeen tightened the lead with a takedown at 1:45, while eventually putting Rush on his back to win by fall at 2:07. Rush finishes the season with a 36-4 record.

Burkle wasted no time trying to improve his perfect record on the season with a takedown :11 into the match. After two minutes of riding time, Burkle put Hoover on his back for a quick two-point nearfall to take a 4-0 lead. Hoover turned into Burkle for a two-point reversal at the end of the first period. Burkle choose down to start the second period and earned a reversal at 4:05 to teka a 6-2 lead to close out the second period. Hoover choose down to start the third and earned a reversal at 5:26 to make it a 6-4 match. Burkle closed out the match with a reversal at 5:44 to take an 8-4 lead and won 9-4 with a point for riding time.

"I've trained all year to make it to the national championship match," Burkle said. "Coach O stressed from the start of the season that I needed to make it to the finals. The perfect record and national title capped off a perfect season for our team.

Senior Tyler Jentz (Hortonville, Wis./Hortonville) was Coe's third finalist, facing top-seeded Josh Chelf of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Chelf earned a takedown :32 into the match, but Jentz was able to escape at 1:00 to make it 2-1. Jentz wasn't able to get any closer the rest of the way, as he was defeated by major decision 13-2.

Senior Niles Mercer (Keosauqua, Iowa/Van Buren) and sophomore Rob Kramer (Swisher, Iowa/Priairie) joined the the finalists as All-Americans with their sixth and fourth places finishes.

Coe finished fourth in the team standings, topping last year's school record 11th place finish. The Kohawks finished with 78 points, 14 ahead of Delaware Valley and nine points behind defending National Champion Augsburg. Wartburg won the team title with 147 points.

Day 1 Recap

Day 2 Afternoon 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 - Lost to #5 Seth Flodeen (Augsburg) by Fall in 2:07 Final Place: Second Place (36-4 Record)
	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 - Defeated #4 Benjamin Hoover (Maranatha Baptist) by Decision 9-4 Final Place: National Champion (39-0 Record)
	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 - Lost to #1 Josh Chelf (Wisconsin-La Crosse) by Major Decision 13-2 Final Place: National Runner-Up (39-9 Record)
	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)