Wartburg’s wrestling has the chance to extend their dominance of the Iowa Conference tonight as the Knights host Coe in a dual to determine the league championship. The Knights are seeking their 21st straight conference championship, and a win would also extend their Iowa Conference winning streak to 165.
Wartburg coach Jim Miller calls it a “unique but awesome scenario” that he says many of the wrestlers like because every meet means something. Wartburg’s previous twenty Iowa Conference crowns as a result of winning the league’s individual tournament, but this year the conference switched formats and the winner of the conference’s dual tournament will now get the distinction of being the conference champ.
The Knights defeated Coe in their regular season meeting, a 29-3 win in Cedar Rapids. Miller says he knows his team will get Coe’s best shot, but says that is nothing new.
The championship dual will be Miller’s final home meet at Wartburg. He announced in September that this will be his final season as the Knights head coach. “I just want to win the next one, some of the other stuff that’s involved, it’s been great…I’ll feel alot better about it if we can win the dual, and then we can talk about it,” Miller says.
Wartburg is the top-ranked team in Division III, while Coe is rated number 14.
By Jesse Gavin, KCNZ, Cedar Falls