Cedar Rapids, Iowa - University of Wisconsin-La Crosse sophomores Bebeto Yewah and Mike Schmitz and senior Dan Laurent captured titles Saturday night at the 2010 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Wrestling Championships at the U.S. Cellular Center. It is the first time in school history UW-L has won three individual national titles in the same championships.

The Eagles finished second as a team with 100.5 points while Augsburg College (Minn.) won the national title with 110.5 points. Wartburg College (Iowa) placed third (83.5) and Coe College (Iowa) fourth (76.0). UW-L has now placed a school-best second four times (2001, 2006, 2008 and 2010).

"I'm so proud of this team on how they wrestled," said UW-L head coach Dave Malecek. "Words can't explain on how I feel right now. It means a lot to me to for us to have three national champions, the most of any team this season."

"We've really added depth to the program and we're going in the right direction," added Malecek.

Laurent earned his third consecutive national crown at 285-pounds with a 2-0 victory over fifth-seeded John Helgerson of Wartburg College (Iowa) in the title match. Laurent, seeded third this season, is the third wrestler in school history to win multiple national championships and the second to win three titles. Ryan Allen won the 285-pound crown in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Josh Chelf captured the 174-pound title in 2007 and 2008.

"I knew what I needed to do and was able to keep him (Helgerson) from scoring," said Laurent. "It feels great to win the title and help the team out. I know the NCAA's are my time."

Even though he was a two-time defending national champion, Laurent didn't mind being the third seed this year. "I like coming from behind and it takes some of the pressure off."

"It's a huge accomplishment joining Ryan (Allen) has a three-time champion," added Laurent. "I worked out with him while he was coaching at UW-L and really look up to him for everything he accomplished."

"Dan did what he needed to do to win," said Malecek. "He won with guts and a lot of heart."

Yewah became the first wrestler in school history to win the 133-pound title with a 14-9 victory over third-seeded Paul Bjorkstrand of Augsburg College (Minn.) while Schmitz defeated top-seeded and defending national champion Evan Brown of the University of Dubuque (Iowa) 5-2 to win the 174-pound division. Schmitz is the second wrestler in school history to win the 174-pound title, joining two-time national champion Josh Chelf (2007, 2008).

"It feels so good right now," said Yewah. "I think it shows that our hard work during the season really paid off. Our coaches have meant a lot to us and they've been there for extra work throughout the season."

"Bebeto has trained hard all year and it shows our team if you work hard this is what you can do," said UW-L head coach Dave Malecek. It was Yewah's second win over Bjorkstrand this season, also earning a 14-12 overtime victory Jan. 24 at UW-L.

Yewah, the top-seed at 133-pounds, went 4-0 in this year's championships and finishes the season with a record of 24-1. He earned a 5-3 win over fifth-seeded Chad Winowich of Ithaca College (N.Y.) in Saturday's semifinals. Yewah went 2-0 in Friday's action, winning by fall (1:47) over Heidelberg University's (Ohio) Tom D'Alessandro in his opening match and winning by fall (6:15) over William Livingston of Centenary College (N.J.) in Friday's quarterfinals. Yewah was competing in his first national tournament.

Schmitz says he was ready for Brown in the title match. "He knows my style, but I knew exactly what I wanted to do in the match," said Schmitz. "I knew I was going to win the national title."

Schmitz, seeded third, went 4-0 at this year's tournament and concludes the year with a 32-5 mark. He advanced to the 174-pound title match with a 5-2 win over second-seeded Zach Molitor of Augsburg College (Minn.) in Saturday's semifinals. The match was tied 2-2 with Molitor needing one more second to gain the riding time advantage, but Schmitz escaped with under :30 remaining and then recorded a two-point takedown in the final seconds to earn the win. "That match really gave me confidence," said Schmitz.

Schmitz advanced to the semifinals with a 6-1 decision win over Cowan Brown of North Central College (Ill.) in Friday's quarterfinals. He had advanced to the quarterfinals with a win by fall (1:22) over Wesleyan University's (Ct.) Gregory Hurd in the first round. Schmitz also earned All-America accolades in 2009 with a fourth-place finish.

"Mike wrestled really smart all weekend and has been coming on since January," said Malecek. "He just keeps getting better."

Laurent went 4-0 in this year's tournament and finishes the season at 33-3. He advanced to the title match with an 8-4 victory over second-seeded Kyle Bilquist of Delaware Valley College (Pa.) in the semifinals. Bilquist had won the previous three meetings between the two. Laurent earned a 2-0 victory over sixth-seeded Adam Sutter of Lakeland College (Wis.) in the quarterfinals and a 5-2 win over Brock Glotfelty of McDaniel (Md.) in the opening round Friday. Along with winning national titles in 2008 and 2009, Laurent finished 1-2 in 2007.

Junior Matt Mauseth placed third Saturday at 149-pounds while senior Andy Moore was fourth at 197-pounds and junior Cory Ferguson eighth at 165-pounds as all three earned NCAA III All-America honors. Mauseth went 5-1 in the tournament and finishes the season at 30-4 overall. Mauseth, seeded fourth, won the 149-pound national title in 2009 and earned All-America recognition with a sixth-place finish in 2008. Moore earns his second NCAA III All-America award after also finishing fourth in 2009. The third seed in the tournament, Moore went 2-2 overall this weekend and finishes the year at 17-4. Ferguson placed eighth with a 2-3 overall record at the tournament and 21-5 on the season. It is the first All-America recognition for Ferguson. He went 0-2 at last year's national championships.

The six All-America honors for UW-L are tied for the third-most in school history. UW-L also had six awards in 2007 and 2008. The Eagles finished with a school record seven NCAA Division III All-America honors in 2005 and 2006.