Luke Miller wins national title at 157, Kyle Kwiat finishes 4th at NCAA III Wrestling Championships Saturday

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- Junior Luke Miller became Ohio Northern's third national champion as he won the national title in 157-pound weight class at the 2010 NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships Saturday night at the US Cellular Center.

Miller, the No. 4 seed at 157 pounds with a record of 39-4, defeated sixth-seeded rival Zach Mizer of Heidelberg 4-2 for the national crown Saturday evening.

Earlier in the day, No. 4 seeded freshman Kyle Kwiat earned All-America honors with a fourth place finish at 174 pounds, going 3-2 in the tournament.

Both Miller and Kwiat earned All-America honors by virtue of their top eight finish. Miller is now a two-time All-American, after finishing fourth at 157 pounds in 2009.

Miller shook off a first period takedown and rallied to tie the match at 2-2 midway through the second period on a pair of escapes.

He got a takedown near the end of the second period to go up 4-2 and kept Mizer at bay the rest of the way to pick up ONU's third national title in school history and its first since 1989.

"It didn't hit me until I left the mat," Miller said. "It is a great feeling. I was hesitant early for some reason. I guess the surroundings and the atmosphere had me distracted. The early takedown was a slap in the face. It woke me up and I just wrestled like I have all year."

The victory was the fifth consecutive for Miller over Mizer, including four straight this season and the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament title matches in 2009 and 2010.

Kwiat finished his season with a school record 41 victories against just six defeats.

"I'm very happy that I was able to get All-America honors," Kwiat said. "I really wanted to get to the finals and I just missed that. But overall I am happy with my performance this weekend. It was a great experience and hopefully I can build on it next year."

Kwiat defeated Chris Wade of Oneonta State (N.Y.) 8-4 in the consolation semifinals Saturday afternoon after falling 4-3 semifinals match to top-ranked and defending national champion Evan Brown of Dubuque (Iowa) in the semifinals on Saturday morning.

He then fell by decision 5-1 to No. 2 seed Zach Molitor of Augsburg (Minn.) in the third palce match Saturday afternoon.

In the semifinals, Miller got a takedown with seven seconds left in the third period to advance to the finals with a come-from-behind 4-3 decision over top-ranked Jesse Harrington of Delaware Valley (Pa.) Saturday morning.

Trailing 3-2, Miller got a takedown with seven seconds left to grab the victory and make it an all-Ohio Athletic Conference finals at 157.

He got a pair of escapes to offset a reversal by Harrington to make it a 2-2 tie with less than a minute to go in the match.

Miller got a stalling call with 20 seconds left to trail 3-2, but got the late takedown to get the victory, his third of the championships.

Miller advanced to the semifinals with a pair of shutouts on Friday.

He won by a 3-0 decision over No. 5 seed Jason Adams of Augsburg (Minn.) in the championship quarterfinal round Friday night and had an impressive 18-0 technical fall victory over Ryan Warcynksi of Dubuque (Iowa) in just 2:21 of the first period in the first round Friday afternoon.

Kwiat shook off an early takedown against Wade and posted an 8-4 decision in the consolation semifinals.

A reversal by Kwiat tied the match at 2-2, Wade escaped to make ot 3-2 and Kwiat got a takedown to take a 4-3 lead.

A Kwiat escape to start the third period made it 5-3 and a takedown gave the Polar Bear a 7-3 lead.

Kwiat nearly pulled off the upset against Brown in the semifinals.

Trailing 4-0 and down more than three minutes of riding time late in the second period, Kwiat got a reversal to pull within 4-2 and turned the tide of the match dramatically.

Kwiat then controlled Brown the remainder of the match, eliminting the riding time point and getting a late stalling call to pull within 4-3.

As time ran out, Kwiat turned Brown and was just moments away from two near-fall points and a victory.

Kwiat won in a thrilling 6-4 overtime decision over No. 5 seed Frank Heffernan of Wilkes (Pa.) in the championship quarterfinals Friday evening and began his Championships competetion with a solid 5-0 decision over Sam Engelland of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in the first round on Friday afternoon.

Both men reached the NCAA Championships by winning their respective weight classes at the 2010 Ohio Athletic Conference Championships on Feb. 20.

Miller won his second consecutive OAC Championship at 157 pounds and finished fourth at the 2009 NCAA III Championships.