cciw wrestling teams compete at great lakes regional

MEQUON, Wis. -- Five wrestlers from the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) qualified for the NCAA Division III National Championship during Saturday's Great Lakes Regional hosted by Concordia (Ill.).

CCIW champion North Central finished third with a team score of 105 while Elmhurst finished fifth at the regional with a team score of 95.5. Wheaton finished eighth (32.5) while Augustana was 12th (18).

North Central qualified two wrestlers for nationals in Ben Youel (Crystal Lake, Ill./Central) at 165 pounds and Gabe Youel (Crystal Lake, Ill./Central) at 184 pounds. Ben Youel finished 3-1 at the regional, losing in the championship 9-7 to Ben Hoover from Maranatha Baptist.

Gabe Youel went 2-1 including a win in the semifinal against Wheaton's Toby Boltz (Sycamore, Ill./H.S.). He lost for just the second time this season in the championship match, losing a close 10-9 decision to Phil Moenkedick from Concordia-Moorhead.

Boltz finished fourth at 184 pounds to also qualify for nationals as an at-large representative.

Elmhurst also had two wrestlers qualify for nationals. Two-time all-American Jake Oster (Lockport, Ill./H.S.) will make his third-straight trip to the NCAA Championship with his win at 125 pounds. In the championship match, he pinned Augsburg's Seth Flodeen in 2:10.

Elmhurst All-American Mark Corsello (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South) will also be making a return trip to the national meet by winning at 285 pounds. He defeated Augsburg's Andrew Witzel 3-2 in the championship match. Both Oster and Corsello finished 3-0 at the regional meet.

The 2009 NCAA Division III National Championships will be held March 6-7 at the U.S. Celluar Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.