With two matches remaining in the 2011 NCAA Division III Championships, Wartburg wrestling coach Jim Miller and the Knights were looking for a way to put an exclamation point on the program’s eighth national title.

They got it in the form of two individual national titles from junior 197-pounder Byron Tate and senior heavyweight John Helgerson.

“It was awesome to get the team title wrapped up early, but those two wins for Byron and John were sort of icing on the cake,” Miller said. “I am so happy for those two. I think I jumped 10 feet when John won, too.

“This entire team got up here and earned this championship,” he added. “I’m very proud of these guys.”

Augsburg finished second in the team race with 88.5 points, with Wartburg earning 117.0 points. Host UW-La Crosse was third with 76.5 points, while Ithaca was fourth with 72.5 points and Coe was fifth with 67.0 points. 

Tate’s second national title was paved with a flurry of second period takedowns to defeat Jared Massey of Augsburg 9-4. Helgerson took his first trip to the top of the awards stand with a thrilling 3-1 win over Elmhurst’s Mark Corsello. He caught Corsello’s legs towards the edge of the mat and scored the winning points with three seconds left.

“It just feels unbelievable right now,” Helgerson said. “I can’t even put it into words how this feels for me and for the entire team. We’ve been battling back and forth the past few years with Augsburg, and we knew coming into this weekend it was going to be a battle. That was one of our biggest goals this year was to get the title back in Waverly. We knew, as a team headed into the final session tonight, we had a pretty good hold on it all. On the individual side of things, to cap off my career with a national title feels absolutely amazing.”

“I am honored to be a part of the Wartburg wrestling program,” Tate said. “We took it one match at a time this year. First, I wanted to give my entire effort to win a team title, and then focus on my individual title here at La Crosse. I feel like I have accomplished a lot this season.”

Junior 174-pounder Bradley Banks, who hoped to join teammates Helgerson and Tate on the top of the podium, ended as a national runner-up. Wartburg ended the meet with 117 points, besting the field by 28.5 points.

Augsburg's 23-year top-four streak is the longest active streak among any NCAA wrestling program, regardless of division, and is 13 years ahead of the next-longest active streak. The 23-year streak is the second-longest overall streak in NCAA wrestling history, behind the 29 of Oklahoma State from 1928-59. Augsburg has placed in the top four in NCAA competition 25 times in school history – the most of any Division III program and the fifth-most of any NCAA wrestling program.