Athletics - Wrestling

MOUNT VERNON – Cornell’s wrestling team will be well represented this weekend at the NCAA Division III National Championships at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids.

The tournament, hosted by Cornell, Coe and the Iowa Conference, gets under way at 11 a.m. Friday, March 7 with preliminary round matches. The event resumes at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 8 and concludes with championship bouts at 7 p.m. Tickets are still available in Cornell’s section. For more information, contact the wrestling office at 895-4486.

The eighth-ranked Rams qualified five individuals – the most in head coach Mike Duroe’s three seasons at the helm – in senior Chris Heilman (Colorado Springs, Colo./St. Mary’s) at 125 pounds, sophomore Nick Nothern (Salina, Kan./Salina South) at 133, senior Pat McAuley (Austin, Texas/Lanier) at 157, junior Kyle Kehrli (Winthrop/East Buchanan) at 174 and freshman Josiah Payne (Paola, Kan./Paola) at 285.

Heilman is a two-time All-American who placed fourth at nationals in 2007 and seventh in 2006. McAuley earned All-America status last year when he finished seventh. Nothern returns to nationals for the second year. Kehrli and Payne are both first-time qualifiers.

The eighth-ranked Rams carry momentum from a school-best fourth-place showing at the IIAC Championships Feb. 21 in Waverly. Cornell placed 12 th at last year’s national championships with 26.5 points. The team could be in the hunt for a top-10 finish Saturday.

The program’s highest finish at the Division III level was in 1988, when the Rams placed 11 th. The last time Cornell cracked the top 10 in the team standings was in 1963, when coach Barron Bremner’s squad took fifth in Division II.

“I would like to think based on our conference performance that a top-10 finish is realistic if everybody takes care of their business,” Duroe said. “Any time you have a good showing at an event, it gives you confidence for the next event. I’ve known all along that this team had some potential. Now, it’s all starting to come together.”

Heilman (34-3) takes the No. 1 seed and national ranking into his weight class. He will face Jacob Calhoun of UW-Stevens Point in a first-round match. Heilman is the first Ram to earn the No. 1 seed at nationals since Nick Dohrmann was seeded first at 133 pounds in the 1999 tournament.

Heilman was voted Outstanding Wrestler at the IIAC Championships after claiming the 125-pound title with a 9-5 win over Clayton Rush of Coe. He became Cornell’s first IIAC individual champion since 1998 (Dohrmann). Heilman has won 19 of his last 20 bouts.

Cornell hasn’t crowned an individual national champion since 1990, when Shawn Voigt won the 150-pound title.

“We have a couple guys that have aspirations to be national champs and I think they’re on track,” Duroe said. “I know anything other than a title would be a disappointment for Heilman. I think it will be important for Heilman to set the tone for us. You can definitely feed off the successes of your teammates.

“I continue to be amazed at how competitive the Division III national tournament is. There are only 160 qualifiers. It is very tough to win a national title. This is the time of year you prepare for. It’s our March madness.”

Sixth-ranked Nothern (27-8) earned the No. 6 seed and will meet Adam Pizzurro of John Carroll in the first round. He is 2-0 against Pizzurro this season, winning 11-3 and 4-1. Nothern is coming off a runner-up finish at the conference tournament. He went 1-2 in his national tournament debut last year. Nothern has lost just twice in his last 21 matches, both defeats against third-ranked Jacob Helvey of Wartburg.

Ninth-ranked McAuley (31-12) is the No. 7 seed and will face Nathan Bachmann of Rochester Institute in the opening round. McAuley received one of the IIAC’s two wild card berths to nationals after placing fifth at the conference tournament. He has beaten five nationally-ranked opponents this season.

Kehrli (31-9) opens the tournament against No. 8 seed and eighth-ranked Jerome Owens of Johnson and Wales. Kehrli earned his first trip to nationals after placing second at the conference tournament. He has won 15 of his last 17 matches, the lone blemishes coming against ninth-ranked Tyler Jentz of Coe.

Payne (23-20) will meet No. 5 seed and sixth-ranked Ryan Bowers of Heidelberg in the first round. Payne, the No. 6 seed in the conference tournament, defied the odds with a third-place finish at the IIAC Championships. He avenged earlier losses to three opponents – Dubuque’s Gordon Johnson, Loras’ Jeremy Klein and Coe’s Jared Carder – during his strong run at the conference championships.