FALL SPORTS REGULAR SEASON COMES TO A CLOSE

NICK THOMPSON, TRUMPET SPORTS EDITOR

Cross Country Continues Dominance

Both the men’s and women’s cross country teams are ranked in the top five nationally according to the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches’ Association poll. The men are ranked first with the women ranked fourth. They both will be competing at the American Rivers Conference Championships Oct. 30 in Decorah, IA. 

The men are led by senior Joe Freiburger, who was recently named as the runner of the week by the USTFCCCA for the second time, and junior Christopher Collet. Freiburger and Collet finished as the top two runners at the Augustana Invite Oct. 16.

The women have senior runners Riley Mayer and Corina Collet leading the charge. Mayer finished in the top 10 at the Augustana invite with Collet finishing in the top 15.

Downing Named to Football Team of the Week

Junior defensive lineman Jordan Downing was named to the D3football.com team of the week. Downing led a stout defense the held the University of Dubuque to negative 20 rushing yards. Downing finished the game with six tackles, four and a half sacks and a forced fumble. 

The Knights are currently on a three game winning streak that started with an impressive homecoming win over the Loras College DuHawks. Oct. 16 saw the team travel to Decorah, IA to face their rivals, Luther College. Wartburg dominated the Norseman by a score of 67-0 behind over 500 yards of offense on 59 plays. The Knights were back home at Walston-Hoover Stadium Oct. 23 to play the University of Dubuque. The final score was 27-7 favoring Wartburg.

Running back Hunter Clasen has the most rushing yards in a pack backfield with 383 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Jace Moore has the most rushing touchdowns with five and 114 total rushing yards.

Moore as the starting quarterback has over 1300 passing yards while completing 60% of his passes while averaging 189 yards per game. He has 13 passing scores against five interceptions. Nile McLaughlin has played in three games and has thrown for 212 yards on a 57% completion percentage with one touchdown. 

Drake George has the most receptions with 29 and averaging 44 yards per game. JoJo McNair is not far behind with 18 receptions and 229 receiving yards. 

Antonio Santillian and Eli Barrett lead the stout defense with over 40 tackles a piece. Five Knights defenders have interceptions. Downing has the most sacks on the team with seven and a half. The team totals 20.5 sacks with eight defenders tallying a sack. 

Volleyball Finishes Regular Season Undefeated

The Wartburg volleyball team finished the regular season undefeated after a top 25 matchup against Bethel Oct. 26. The team also won their seventh straight conference regular season title. 

Fifth-year seniors Katie Foster and Kylie Bildstein have been at the lead during the regular season both statistically and in leadership roles. Foster had continued her dominance in the digs department with a total of 508 during the regular season. Bildstein finished the regular season with 256 kills and 80 blocks, both leading the team.

Senior Claire Marsh had over 800 more assists than the next person finishing with 884. Marsh also finished second in digs with 300 even. She also finished second in service aces with 28.

The A-R-C tournament starts Nov. 2 with Wartburg and Coe College having first round byes. The Knights will host every game of the tournament that they play in. 

Men’s and Women’s Soccer Wrap Up Regular Season Against Luther

Both soccer teams wrapped up their regular seasons against Luther College Oct. 26. On the men’s side, they tied with a score of 1-1 in a double overtime game in Decorah, IA. Jack Palen was the lone goal scorer for the Knights. They faced the Norseman again Oct. 30 to start off the A-R-C conference tournament in Decorah, with a 4–0 loss.  

The men’s team finished with a 7-6-3 total record and a 4-3-1 conference record. Palen finished the season tops of the team with 15 goals and two assists. Caleb Halleran had the most assists with four.

On the women’s side, they finished with a 14-2-1 record with a 7-1-0 record in conference play. In the game against Luther, Lauren Kirkle scored the game’s lone goal on a penalty kick. Joy Smith was the main goal scorer with 11. She paired the 11 goals with two assists. 

Wartburg Bowling Begins Season 

The still new bowling team, which is in its fourth season, started its season Oct. 2 at the Midwest Collegiate Challenge in Wisconsin. The men finished 38th out of 41 teams. The women finished 25th out of 30 teams at the same tournament. 

The big highlight of the bowling season will be when they travel to Las Vegas during December. It will be the second team travels over the Christmas break to compete against the top teams in the nation.