Wartburg Knights Football Ranked 5th in the Nation

The Wartburg Knights football team improved their national rankings after a huge win this past Saturday in Storm Lake, IA.  The team's 43-24 win over Buena Vista University helped move the Knights to fifth in both the D3football.com and AFCA polls.

The Knights are 8-0 overall and 5-0 in Iowa Conference (IIAC) action.  With two more games left in the 2014 regular season, the Knights are looking to better their previous best in the national spotlight.  The highest ranking in program history is No. 4 which occurred in week 11 and the final 2003 poll.

The No. 5 Wartburg football team ranked in the top 100 of 39 statistical categories, which the NCAA released Monday.   The Knights rank first in winning percentage (1.000) and blocked punts allowed (1), seventh in scoring defense (10.6), eighth in team passing efficiency (178.97), ninth in passing yards per completion (16.64), and 10th in passing yards allowed (136.9).

A few of the key individual stars are former Cedar Valley Sports high school alumni.

Junior Brandon Domeyer (Manchester, IA - West Delaware) ranks 18th in rushing TDs (11), 54th in scoring (8.3), 90th in rushing yards (666) and rushing yards per game (83.3).

Junior Gunner Tranel (Vinton, IA - Vinton-Shellsburg) ranks 35th in solo tackles (6.3) and 43rd in total tackles (10.4).

On special teams, senior Taylor Hotek (Waterloo, IA - Waterloo Columbus) ranks third in punt return TDs (2), and classmate Michael Bohlke (Manchester, IA - West Delaware) ranks 47th in field goals per game (0.88) and 48th in field goal percentage (0.700).

Next up, the Wartburg Knights travel to Indianola, IA to take on Simpson College. Kick-off is set for 1:00 PM on Saturday.