Meet time is set for 10 a.m. with varsity and junior varsity slated throughout on the day. The grand march and championship finals are set for 6:30 and 7 p.m. in P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium. Mediacom Cable will broadcast the finals on a tape-delayed basis on its Connections channel across the state of Iowa. The broadcast is set for Saturday, February 18, at 11:00 a.m., Sunday, February 19, at 11:30 a.m., and Monday, February 20, at 8:30 p.m. Subscribers should check their local listings for the Mediacom Connections channel in their area.
Complete information on the 2006 IIAC Championships, including updated results and brackets throughout the competition, are and will be available at http://www.central.edu/athletics/wrestling/iowaconf.html.
Fans can also tune in to live play-by-play through http://www.kwar.org/kwar.ram or going to http://www.kwayradio.com and clicking on the "Listen Live" button.
Wartburg out-scored rival Luther 194-158 for the 2005 conference championship. Six Knights' individuals claimed conference titles as well.
Knights news, notes: Head coach Jim Miller's team enters the tourney ranked No. 1 in the recent National Wrestling Coaches Association/Brute-Adidas Division III top 30, released Monday, Feb. 13. Wartburg brings seven ranked individuals into the championships as well with senior 125-pounder Tyler Hubbard of Blue Springs, Mo., senior 141-pounder Dustin Hinschberger of Belle Plaine, junior 197-pounder T.J. Miller of Cedar Falls and junior heavyweight Blake Gillis of Spencer each sitting at No. 1. The rest of the ranked Knights are sophomore 149-pounder Jacob Naig of Emmetsburg (No. 2), senior 174-pounder Scott Kauffman of Emmetsburg (No. 2) and senior 184-pounder Akeem Carter of Waterloo (No. 3).
Carter, Gillis and Hinschberger each seek their third consecutive individual league titles Thursday. Carter won his first two at 197, while Gillis and Hinschberger each gained their first two crowns at their current weight classes. Kauffman and Hubbard are seeking two straight titles with their first championships coming at different weights, as Kauffman was the 184-pound champion and Hubbard won at 133 last winter. Naig looks to place in the top four for the second consecutive year.
Wartburg has been out of competition since a 33-9 win at Buena Vista Feb. 7. The win over the Beavers moved the Knights' dual record to 27-0, tying the 2005-06 squad with the 2003-04 national championship team for the most dual wins in a season.
In alumni news, former three-time All-American and two-time national champion Jamal Fox is slated for induction into the National Wrestling Coaches Association's Division III Hall of Fame during the weekend of the national championships at The College of New Jersey. Fox is the second of head coach Jim Miller's wrestlers to be inducted, joining former standout Tom Smith who went in during the 2003 national championships hosted by Loras College of Dubuque.
"I hadn't really thought of myself being on the level of a Hall of Famer, but it is starting to set in," Fox, the program's all-time win leader with 166 victories, said. "I will always remember Wartburg wrestling as a place where you had every opportunity to excel, whether it came from the coaching staff or the guys going against you in practice. When you see success around you, it tends to rub off."
Currently a doctor of optometry at Groat Eye Care Associates in Greensboro, N.C., Fox was a part of four consecutive Iowa Conference team champions and the 1996 national team champions. He earned back-to-back top two finishes at nationals, placing second in 1995 and winning the title in 1996. Fox also concluded his career with three individual conference titles.
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