Final Brackets | Final Team Scores

DECATUR, Ill. -- Millikin claimed its first-ever College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) wrestling title on Thursday in front of its home crowd at the Griswold Center. 

The Big Blue edged out two-time defending champion North Central by one point, winning with a team score of 135, followed by the Cardinals with 134. Augustana was third with 112 points, followed by Elmhurst (94.5), Wheaton (91.0), Milwaukee School of Engineering (54.0), Concordia-Wisconsin (47.0) and Lakeland (21.5). 

Millikin junior Bradan Birt was named the 2020 CCIW Most Outstanding Wrestler after winning the title at 165 pounds. He pinned Elmhurst's Mike Huck 19 seconds into the championship match, which concluded a 3-0 day. He is the second-straight Big Blue student-athlete to win Most Outstanding Wrestler honors following Chris Williams last season.

Birt has been nationally-ranked all season. He was fifth in the most recent National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Division III Individual Rankings, which were publicized earlier this week.

Millikin head coach Ryan Birt earned 2020 CCIW Coach of the Year honors for the second-straight season and first outright honor after sharing the award with North Central's Joe Norton in 2019.

CCIW teams will now travel to their respective NCAA regionals held February 29 to March 1. The 2020 NCAA Division III Wrestling Championship will take place March 13-14 at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

2020 CCIW Championship Finals Results:
125: Robbie Precin (North Central) over Marco Padilla (Concordia - Wisconsin) MD (8-0)
133: Ian Mullen (North Central) over Ren Dazey (Millikin) TF (22-7)
141: Marc Fleenor (North Central) over Ethan Harsted (Wheaton) Dec. (10-7)
149: Anthony Rink (North Central) over Jimmy McAuliffe (Elmhurst) MD (12-3)
157: Tristan Birt (Millikin) over Danny Terronez (Augustana) Dec. (7-3)
165: Braden Birt (Millikin) over Mike Huck (Elmhurst) Fall (0:19)
174: Taylor McGiffen (Millikin) over Drew Matticks (MSOE) Fall 0:59
184: Cody Baldridge (North Central) over Isaac Odell (Wheaton) SV-1 (7-5)
197: Logan Hagerbaume (Millikin) over Ben Bergen (North Central) Fall 1:04
285: Grant Miller (Wheaton) over Garret Hunt (Lakeland) Dec. (5-1)  
The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) was founded in 1946 and currently services nine member institutions including Augustana College (Rock Island, IL), Carroll University (Waukesha, WI), Carthage College (Kenosha, WI), Elmhurst College (Elmhurst, IL), Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, IL), Millikin University (Decatur, IL), North Central College (Naperville, IL), North Park University (Chicago, IL) and Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL). During the 2018-19 academic year, the CCIW honored over 2,200 academic all-conference recipients, 18 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, 43 CoSIDA Academic All-District recipients, and over 100 all-Americans.