WATERLOO, Iowa—The state of Iowa added to its wrestling legacy in 2017 by adding three national team championships to its total. The state of Iowa now has a staggering 63 national team titles between five different divisions and eight different colleges.

Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge (NJCAA), Grand View University in Des Moines (NAIA), and Wartburg College in Waverly (NCAA Division III) won team championships 61, 62, and 63 this season.

Luke Moffitt coaches the Tritons, Nick Mitchell coaches the Vikings and Eric Keller coaches the Knights.

This is the third time in that three different schools from Iowa have won a team national championship in the same season.

Iowa Central won its eighth national team championship and the sixth under Moffitt.

Grand View won its sixth consecutive NAIA championship this season, all under Mitchell. Mitchell has the second longest championship winning streak in the state behind former Iowa head wrestling coach Dan Gable, who won nine consecutive Division I NCAA championships in a row from 1978-86.

Wartburg won its 13^th overall NCAA championship, which is the most among all Division III programs. Keller has coached the Knights to three team championships during his four seasons as head coach.

Iowa is the only state to have eight different colleges win at least one national team wrestling championship. Iowa has 63 national team wrestling championships (NJCAA, NAIA, NCAA Division III, Division II, and Division I) and 30 wrestlers with ties to the state who have won a medal at the World Championships or Olympic Games.

The first Iowa team to win a national championship was Cornell College in 1947. On three occasions (2008, 2009, and 2017), three Iowa schools have won national championships in the same year.

Iowa’s first Olympic champion was Marshalltown native Allie Morrison in 1928. Its most recent Olympic champion was Iowa State’s Jake Varner in 2012.

National team champions from Iowa schools (8 teams).
1.  Iowa—23
2. Wartburg—13
3. Iowa State—8
4. Iowa Central—8
5. Grand View—6
6. Northern Iowa—3
7. Cornell College—1
8. NIACC—1
Total: 63

Division I titles: 33 (Iowa, Iowa State, UNI, Cornell)
Division II titles: 2 (UNI)
Division III titles: 13 (Wartburg)
NAIA titles: 6 (Grand View)
NJCAA titles: 9 (Iowa Central, NIACC)
Total: 63

Coaches with national team championships (16 coaches)
1.  Dan Gable (Iowa)—15
2.  Jim Miller (Wartburg)—10
3.  Harold Nichols (Iowa State)—6
4.  Luke Moffitt (Iowa Central)—6
5.  Nick Mitchell (Grand View)—6
6.  Tom Brands (Iowa)—3
7.  Jim Zalesky (Iowa)—3
8.  Eric Keller (Wartburg)—3
9.  Gary Kurdelmeier (Iowa)—2
10. Chuck Patten (Northern Iowa)—2
11. Denny Friederichs (Iowa Central)—1
12. Jim Gibbons (Iowa State)—1
13. Dave McCuskey (Northern Iowa)—1
14. Mark Ostrander (Iowa Central)—1
15. Hugo Otopalik (Iowa State)—1
16. Paul Scott (Cornell)—1
17. Kaye Young (NIACC)—1
Total: 63


Years with multiple team championships from Iowa
(3) 2008—Iowa (DI), Wartburg (DIII), and Iowa Central (NJCAA)
(3) 2009—Iowa (DI), Wartburg (DIII), and Iowa Central (NJCAA)
(3) 2017—Wartburg (DIII), Grand View (NAIA), Iowa Central (NJCAA),
(2) 1973—Iowa State (DI) and NIACC (NJCAA)
(2) 1975—Iowa (DI) and Northern Iowa (DII)
(2) 1978—Iowa (DI) and Northern Iowa (DII)
(2) 1981—Iowa (DI) and Iowa Central (NJCAA)
(2) 1996—Iowa (DI) and Wartburg (DIII)
(2) 1999—Iowa (DI) and Wartburg (DIII)
(2) 2006—Wartburg (DIII) and Iowa Central (NJCAA)
(2) 2012—Wartburg (DIII) and Grand View (NAIA)
(2) 2013—Wartburg (DIII) and Grand View (NAIA)
(2) 2014—Wartburg (DIII) and Grand View (NAIA)
(2) 2015—Iowa Central (NJCAA) and Grand View (NAIA)
(2) 2016—Wartburg (DIII) and Grand View (NAIA)

Iowa—23 titles (Division I)
1.  1975 (Gary Kurdelmeier)
2.  1976 (Gary Kurdelmeier)
3.  1978 (Dan Gable)
4.  1979 (Dan Gable)
5.  1980 (Dan Gable)
6.  1981 (Dan Gable)
7.  1982 (Dan Gable)
8.  1983 (Dan Gable)
9.  1984 (Dan Gable)
10. 1985 (Dan Gable)
11. 1986 (Dan Gable)
12. 1991 (Dan Gable)
13. 1992 (Dan Gable)
14. 1993 (Dan Gable)
15. 1995 (Dan Gable)
16. 1996 (Dan Gable)
17. 1997 (Dan Gable)
18. 1998 (Jim Zalesky)
19. 1999 (Jim Zalesky)
20. 2000 (Jim Zalesky)
21. 2008 (Tom Brands)
22. 2009 (Tom Brands)
23. 2010 (Tom Brands)

Wartburg—13 titles (Division III)
1.  1996 (Jim Miller)
2.  1999 (Jim Miller)
3.  2003 (Jim Miller)
4.  2004 (Jim Miller)
5.  2006 (Jim Miller)
6.  2008 (Jim Miller)
7.  2009 (Jim Miller)
8.  2011 (Jim Miller)
9.  2012 (Jim Miller)
10. 2013 (Jim Miller)
11. 2014 (Eric Keller)
12. 2016 (Eric Keller)
13. 2017 (Eric Keller)

Iowa State—eight titles (Division I)
1.  1933 (Hugo Otopalik)
2.  1965 (Harold Nichols)
3.  1969 (Harold Nichols)
4.  1970 (Harold Nichols)
5.  1972 (Harold Nichols)
6.  1973 (Harold Nichols)
7.  1977 (Harold Nichols)
8.  1987 (Jim Gibbons)

Iowa Central—seven titles (JUCO)
1.  1981 (Denny Friederichs)
2.  2002 (Mark Ostrander)
3.  2006 (Luke Moffitt)
4.  2007 (Luke Moffitt)
5.  2008 (Luke Moffitt)
6.  2009 (Luke Moffitt)
7. 2015 (Luke Moffitt)
8. 2017 (Luke Moffitt)

NOTE: In 2010, Iowa Central placed first in the Division I (scholarship) standings at the NJCAA national championships but placed second in the overall standings to Harper (non-scholarship). Harper is recognized by the National Junior College Athletic Association as team champion; therefore, Iowa Central is not being recognized as a team champion in 2010 in this listing.


Grand View—six titles (NAIA)
1.  2012 (Nick Mitchell)
2.  2013 (Nick Mitchell)
3. 2014 (Nick Mitchell)
4. 2015 (Nick Mitchell)
5. 2016 (Nick Mitchell)
6. 2017 (Nick Mitchell)

Northern Iowa—three titles (one Division I, two Division II)
1.  1950 (Division I) (Dave McCuskey)
2.  1975 (Division II) (Chuck Patten)
3.  1978 (Division II) (Chuck Patten)

Cornell—one title (Division I)
1.  1947 (Paul Scott)

North Iowa Area Community College—one title (NJCAA)
1.  1973 (Kaye Young)

World and Olympic wrestling medalists with ties to Iowa

1. Royce Alger (Lisbon and Iowa), 2^nd in 1990


2. Ed Banach (Iowa), 1^st in 1984


3. Lou Banach (Iowa), 1^st in 1984


4. Glen Brand (Clarion and Iowa State), 1^st 1948


5. Terry Brands (Sheldon and Iowa), 1^st in 1993, 1st in 1995, 3^rd in 2000


6. Tom Brands (Sheldon and Iowa), 1^st in 1993, 1^st in 1996


7. Chris Campbell (Iowa), 1^st in 1981, 2^nd in 1990, 3^rd in 1992


8. Nate Carr (Iowa State), 3^rd in 1988


9. Joe Corso (West Des Moines), 3^rd in 1979


10. Kevin Darkus (Iowa State), 2^nd in 1985


11. Barry Davis (Cedar Rapids and Iowa), 2^nd in 1984, 3^rd in 1986, 2^nd in 1987


12. Bobby Douglas (former ISU coach), 2^nd in 1966


13. Dan Gable (Waterloo and Iowa State), 1^st in 1971, 1^st in 1972


14. Kevin Jackson (Iowa State), 1^st in 1991, 1^st in 1992, 1^st in 1995


15. Gerry Leeman (Osage and UNI), 2^nd in 1948


16. Randy Lewis (Iowa), 1^st in 1984


17. Terry McCann (Iowa), 1^st in 1960


18. Lincoln McIlravy (Iowa), 3^rd in 1998, 2^nd in 1999, 3^rd in 2000


19. Allie Morrison (Marshalltown), 1^st in 1928


20. Nat Pendleton (Davenport), 2^nd in 1920


21. Brad Penrith (Iowa), 2^nd in 1991


22. Ben Peterson (Iowa State), 1^st in 1972, 3^rd in 1973, 2^nd in 1976


23. Cael Sanderson (Iowa State), 2^nd in 2003, 1^st in 2004


24. Bill Smith (Council Bluffs and UNI), 1^st in 1952


25. Chris Taylor (Iowa State), 3^rd in 1972


26. Tolly Thompson (Janesville), 3^rd in 2005


27. Jake Varner (Iowa State), 3^rd in 2011, 1^st in 2012


28. Joe Williams (Iowa), 3^rd in 2001, 3^rd in 2005


29. Bill Zadick (Iowa), 1^st in 2006


30. Mike Zadick (Iowa), 2^nd in 2006

International wrestling statistics
1.  13 wrestlers with ties to Iowa have won an Olympic gold medal.
2.  16 wrestlers with ties to Iowa have won 21 World/Olympic titles.
3.  30 wrestlers with ties to Iowa have won 47 World/Olympic medals.