The No. 1-ranked Wartburg wrestlers, three-time defending NCAA Division III national champions, seek to extend their Iowa Conference win streak to 166 against Simpson College Nov. 20 at Levick Arena.
Wartburg will be returning six NCAA Division III All-Americans and eight national qualifiers under Eric Keller, the full-fledged head coach after sharing a "co-coach" title with the legendary Jim Miller, now retired.
Landon Williams (Davenport Assumption) at 174, a national champion in 2012 at 165, will be wrestling along with Ryan Fank (Independence) at 285, a two-time All-American.
Freshman Jace Lopez (Greeley) is a newcomer to watch at 141. The former Colorado high school state champion won the Freshmen Division Saturday, Nov. 16, at the Luther Open, which included University of Iowa wrestlers. Senior All-American Cole Welter (Gilbertville Don Bosco) at 165, Williams, and Fank all reached the Elite Division finals against Hawkeye wrestlers. Senior Punahele Soriano (Waialua, Hawaii), a national qualifier at 197 a year ago, upended No. 1-ranked D3 wrestler Alex Coolidge of Cornell College en route to fourth place. 
Two-time national champion senior Kenny Anderson (Billerica, Mass.) at 133 pounds and senior All-American Gilberto Camacho (Fresno, Calif.), a 125-pound All-American, will return at the Desert Duals in Las Vegas Dec. 21. Other returnees not wrestling tonight are senior Sam Upah (East Marshall) at 184; junior Drew Wagenhoffer (High Point, N.J.), sixth in 2012 at 149, but now at 157; Welter and Soriano.
The Nov. 13 National Wrestling Coaches Association rankings list seven Knights in the top 10:

• 149 — Junior Brandon Welter (Gilbertville Don Bosco), ninth.
• 157 — Wagenhoffer, fourth.
• 165 — Cole Welter, third.
• 174 — Williams, third.
• 184 — Upah, sixth.
• 197 — Soriano, fifth.
• 285 — Fank, fourth.

After finishing 0-7 in the Iowa Conference in 2012-13 and 1-14 overall with an 11-match losing streak, Simpson is looking ahead to better days.
Seven wrestlers won at least two matches at the Luther Open, led by freshman Jacob Freeman (Franklin, Tenn.), who was sixth among 133 pounders in the Elite Division, and Colby Vlieger (Indianola), third at 285 in the Freshmen Division.
"We surprised a lot of folks who were expecting the same Simpson wrestling team from last year," said head coach Nate Hansen. "The only people not surprised were us. (It) was a measuring stick for the season, and now we know the areas we need to focus on technically as a team."
Other Simpson wrestlers with winning records at Luther were Ryan Joint (West Central Valley), 3-2, at 149 in the Elite Division; and Shane Swank (Mount Ayr), 4-2, at 165 in the Freshmen Division.