The achievement bypassed the 1972-75 squads who did the same three straight years. It also led Wartburg into its fourth consecutive league tournament championship game and fourth straight meeting with Buena Vista for the NCAA Division III automatic national tournament berth. Game time is set for 8 p.m. at Siebens Fieldhouse in Storm Lake Saturday, Feb. 28.
The Knights (20-7) rallied from a 4-0 deficit early with 11 straight points and were never headed the rest of the way in an 85-72 win over Simpson in front of 700 fans at Knights Gymnasium in Waverly. Wartburg, the tourney's second seed, opened as large as a 16-point margin, while the third-seeded Storm, closing at 16-11, couldn't get any closer than nine in the second half.
The sophomore tandem of sophomore guard Jason Steege and sophomore center Nate Schmidt led the charge. Steege dropped in 21 points and dished out four assists, while Schmidt scored 20 and was eight-of-eight at the free throw line. Junior guard Jordan Atchison (12 points) and sophomore forward Rance Cartmill (10 points) also were in double digits.
Simpson's top scorer was first-year forward Jason Burkhardt who ended with 15 points. Senior forward Jason Snyder added 12.