GREELEY — The Grizzlies’ second All-American Travis Koppenhafer, a redshirt freshman from Mancos, Colo. ended up in seventh place in the 157-pound weight class on Saturday, March 10, at the NCAA Division II National Wrestling Championships.

He began the day in the consolation bracket after clinching his All-American honor Friday night, March 9. He dropped a 3-2 match to Justin Willuweit of the University of Nebraska-Kearney in the consolation quarterfinals. However, he then took a 6-5 decision over Matt LaMotte of West Liberty State (W. Va.) College in the 7th place match. That win allowed the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year to finish the season with 30 wins and only 12 losses. He also won Western Region Freshman of the Year accolades as well.

When Koppenhafer won his second round consolation matchup over Ryan Mizushima of Western State College by fall in just one minute, 22 seconds, that win earned him All-America status. That victory allowed Koppenhafer to clinch at least eighth place (he actually finished in seventh as stated earlier). Koppenhafer’s victory over Mizushima marked the third time this season he defeated the 1998 NCAA West Region/Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Outstanding Wrestler.

"Kopper" had began the day with a 5-0 shutout victory over Hugh Chapman of Central Oklahoma. He then dropped to the consolation bracket as he was pinned by Mankato’s Matt Petsinger in the championship quarterfinals. Petsinger is the tournament’s #1 seed and finished third at last year’s National Championships. He had also pinned Mizushima in the finals of this year’s regional tournament allowing him to claim the conference’s Freshman of the Year award.

Adams State College got great news that wrestling coach Jason Ramstetter will never forget. One of his pupils, 125-pound sophomore Adam Mars (Glenns Ferry, Idaho), became his first All-American earlier in the day as Mars posted a 12-4 major decision win over fifth-seeded Brian Burzynski of Kutztown (Pa.) University in the quarterfinal round of the national tournament that was held in the University of Northern Colorado’s Butler-Hancock Hall this past weekend.

Mars’ win, which sealed All-American honors with a minimum of sixth place finish, was his second of the day over a seeded wrestler. He began the Grizzlies’ day with a 8-6 win over Matt Strawser of North Dakota State University sparking ASC’s 3-1 effort in the tournament’s first round. Mars, who entered the tournament ranked seventh in the country did not receive a seed in the 16-man bracket but is just two matches away from a National title.

The North Dakota State University Bison claimed the NCAA II National Wrestling Team Championship with a pin by heavyweight Nick Severson in the final match of the 2001 NCAA Championships. It was the Bison's second straight national title for head coach Bucky Maughan, father of UNC head coach Jack Maughan. For NDSU it was its fourth national title and tied the Bison for third all-time with Central Oklahoma. Cal Poly and Cal State Bakersfield hold the record with eight each.

North Dakota State held a slim lead heading into the final match of the evening. South Dakota State was in second place but if they won the final match they would claim the team championship. South Dakota State sent out No. 1-ranked Jon Madsen, while the Bison sent out No. 3-ranked Severson.

The match was tied 1-1 when Severson scored a takedown with just over a minute to go in the third period. Severson used his momentum gained in the takedown to push Madsen to his back. Severson then turned the moving into a pinning combination and just as the Bison crowd exploded with cheers, the referee pounded the mat for the pin and the championship for the Bison.

The Bison crowned three champions to go along with the team title. Also winning individual championships for NDSU were Steve Saxlund, the meet's Most Outstanding Wrestler, at 184 pounds and Todd Fuller at 174 pounds.

Ramstetter is in his second year at the helm of the Grizzlies’ program. He took three qualifiers to the 2000 National Championships in Brookings, S.D. but came home with no All-Americans, making these honors all the more sweeter. Ramstetter himself was an All-American scoring the honor in 1997 at Division I Cal-State Bakersfield. Before that he was a three-time State Champion at Alamosa High School.

Koppenhafer redshirted last year as a freshman and assisted as the team manager. But he went from manager to All-American in one short season as a redshirt freshman this year.

Koppenhafer placed second at State in 1999 at 152-pounds. He also played football, and ran track at Mancos High School. He was a two-time state champ in the 800 meters. He is the son of Carla and Gerald Koppenhafer for Mancos. This is only his fourth year of wrestling competitively.

UNC drew 10,390 fans over the two-day tournament that featured four sessions and a fantastic finish.

South Dakota State also crowned an individual champion in four-time All-American Paul Konechne. Konechne earned the 141 pound title.

The night's first match provided some early fireworks when Mars pulled off the fastest pin of the tournament. Mars pinned No. 2-ranked Mack LaRock (Nebraska-Omaha) in only 18 seconds. However, neither wrestler had scored a point in the match when the pin occurred. Both wrestlers were scrambling to gain position and LaRock happened to place both his shoulders on the mat with Mars on top of him. The referee slammed the mat for the pin and Mars had claimed the championship.