CEDAR RAPIDS -- Jim Miller has been on a roller coaster or two in his life.

But the six-time national champion head coach at Wartburg College typically hasn't ridden one with his defending Division III national champion Knights.

It's been a strange season for Miller and Wartburg which opened the year ranked No. 1, but a had an up-and-down January which included a loss to Augsburg College at the NWCA National Duals and a tie to Delaware Valley College.

The Knights rebounded last week to qualify nine wrestlers to the Division III National Championships which begin Friday at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids.

"This team … we're still waiting for our best performance," Miller said. "We've had our disappointments this year. We've had a lot of adversity. But I think we hit closer to our full potential at the conference tournament.

"I've worked this team harder than any other this last month than I have before. They've responded and I think we have the potential for a breakout performance this week."

The Knights are in strong position to repeat with three returning national champions - Jacob Naig at 149, Aaron Wernimont at 157 and Romeo Djoumessi at 184.

Additionally, Zach McKray is the second seed at 141, and Justin Hanson is the top-seed at 165. Eight of Wartburg's nine qualifiers are seeded.

"We need to have a real big tournament and need all nine guys to do it," Naig said. "We have our work cutout for us. It's going to be an interesting tournament."

McKray said the Knights are using their January struggles as motivation this week.

"I think it was a reality check," McKray said. "I think we figured out we're not bulletproof. We let some matches get away from us and I believe we've turned it around and are going to feed off those disappointments … use them to motivate us ."

Augsburg and Wartburg have won every Division III national title since 1994 and it wouldn't be a shocker to see one them win again Saturday although teams like Coe College, Delaware Valley and Wisconsin-La Crosse have been closing the gap.

"I feel this national tournament has the potential to be a very close race between first through fourth," first-year Augsburg head coach Mark Matzek said. "It will be exciting for the competitors, the fans and stressful for the coaches."

Augsburg returns defending 125-pound national champion Seth Flodeen and a pair of top-ranked wrestlers in Travis Lang at 133 and Willie Holst at 149.

Delaware Valley has just six qualifiers, but the Aggies are bringing quality. Five of Delaware Valley's six qualifiers are seeded third or better, including top-seeded Michael Wilcox at 184 and Kyle Bilquist at heavyweight. The Aggies were fifth last year.

Coe College could be another challenger with seven qualifiers, including defending 165-pound national champion Tyler Burkle and national runner-up Clayton Rush at 125. The Kohawks finished a program-best fourth last year.

"It's not going to be easy," Miller said of the team race. "We didn't have a good first half of the year. We had a to fight through a lot of stuff but that is wrestling. I feel the thinking is lets have our best performance at the end when it counts the most."

Luther coach Dave Mitchell is riding high after his Norse pushed seven wrestlers into the tournament with a great Iowa Conference tournament. At mid-season, Mitchell's roster was decimated by injuries and illness.

Mitchell didn't think he had more than a couple potential national qualifiers, let alone seven.

"I had five starters out and I was beginning to think it wasn't going to happen for us this year," Mitchell said. "But we were able to get healthy, get back on the mat and kept going to work. And, we put it together at the conference tournament.

"But in mid-January, it felt like we were at an all-time low, so qualifying seven, is really rewarding."

The Norse will be led by two-time all-American and top-seeded Alec Bonander at 197. Zac Bartlett at 133 and Johansen Quist at 157 are also returning all-Americans.

"It will be an up-hill battle," Mitchell said. "We only have two out of seven wrestlers seeded so that means five of our qualifiers aren't expected to place."

Cedar Falls native Dan Twito (24-6) of the Merchant Marine Academy is seeded seventh at 149.

Contact Jim Nelson at (319) 291-1521 or jim.nelson@wcfcourier.com