LA CROSSE, WI – Wilkes University wrestling junior Cameron Butka (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) placed fourth in the 197-pound weight class at the 2024 NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships on Saturday at the La Crosse Center in La Crosse, Wis. His fourth-place finish cemented him as the program's first All-American since 2015.

Full Results (Trackwrestling) | 157-pound Bracket | 197-pound Bracket | 285-pound Bracket

Butka, the No. 7 seed and Southeast Regional Champion at 197-pounds, won his Round of 16 and Quarterfinal bouts yesterday to advance to the Semifinals today to face No. 3 seed Gabriel Zierden of Concordia-Moorhead. Zierden earned a takedown 25 seconds into the first period to take a 3-0 lead. Butka used an escape 12 seconds later to make the score 3-1 and the two remained neutral for the rest of the first period. Butka chose bottom to start the second period and escaped 14 seconds in to cut the lead of Zierden down to one at 3-2. Zierden scored the escape point to start the third period to make it 4-2 and was called for two stalling calls resulting in a penalty point for Butka with seven seconds left as the score went to 4-3. The final seconds ticked away as Zierden earned the place in the Finals with the decision victory.

Butka then faced Dylan Harr of Johnson & Wales University in the Consolation Semifinals with a spot in the Third-Place bout on the line for the winner and the Fifth-Place bout for the loser. Butka defeated Harr with a 4-1 decision in the Round of 16 to open the tournament on Friday and in the rematch was an 8-6 winner by decision. The two grapplers traded takedowns followed by an escape by their opponent in the first period that ended 4-4. Butka chose bottom to start the second period and escaped eight seconds in to take the lead. Butka connected on a takedown with 48 seconds left in the second period to take an 8-4 lead before Harr made it 8-5 heading to the third with an escape. Harr escaped early in the third, but Butka was able to avoid a takedown over the final 1:54 to earn the 8-6 victory and move into the Third-Place match.

Montgomery Mills of Westminster College defeated Butka by fall in 1:44 as Butka earned fourth place overall. His outstanding season saw the junior finish with a 39-4 overall record, two wins shy of the program record of 41 single season wins.

Augsburg University won the team title for the 15th time while individual championships went to Josiah Fry of Johnson & Wales at 125, Chase Randall of the United States Coast Guard Academy at 133, Josh Wilson of Greensboro College at 141, Michael Petrella of Baldwin Wallace University at 149, Nolan Hertel of the University of Wisconsin La Crosse at 157, Nicholas Sacco of TCNJ at 165, Jared Stricker of the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire at 174, Bentley Schwanebeck-Ostermann of Augsburg at 184, Massoma Endene of Wartburg College at 197, and Tyler Kim of Augsburg at 285.