Third-year running back Dawson Rud rushes as three opposing Luther players tackle him at Carlson Stadium on Oct. 4.
The Wartburg Knights beat the Luther College Norse 36-3 at Carlson Stadium on Oct.4 for the final time as American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) rivals. Wartburg, currently ranked No. 8 in Division III football and 9 in the American Football Coaches Association (A-F-C-A), got to face their opponents in blue one last time before Luther ultimately leaves the A-R-C after over a century of competition.
This decision was made after a long discussion focusing on Luther’s athletic ability and leadership of their coaches. Luther is set to join the Midwest Conference during the 2026-2027 academic year, making this year the final time the two schools will go head-to-head.
The A-R-C, established in 2018, of the NCAA is a conference for Midwest Division III colleges. The A-R-C covers schools in Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Missouri.
Wartburg, a member of the A-R-C, has had a long-lasting rivalry with Luther College for the last 150 years. Luther, a small and selective religious arts college located in Decorah, Iowa, is notable for its academic and community values.
The standings between the two private schools began due to similar historical and athletic factors as Wartburg originated from German immigrants and is rooted in heritage and history values and Luther is an institution that is based on Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran values. In the A-R-C, Wartburg and Luther are best known for their athletic opposition.
“They’ve got the information, they’ve got the data, they’ve got the ability to predict those things, and they feel it’s best for the institution moving forward… Being [at the] Division III level, about 50% of your student body at a lot of institutions are student athletes,” says Luther football play-by-play announcer, Darin Svenson.
In early June, the A-R-C published an official statement declaring Luther’s departure from the A-R-C. In a post the conference says,
“After 103 years, Luther College has announced that it will be leaving the American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) at the conclusion of the 2025-26 academic year. The Norse will be departing for membership in the Midwest Conference.”
Svenson acknowledged that while this change was unexpected, the move for Luther is within their best interest.
“The leaders at Luther College have decided that moving to the Midwest Conference is their best bet moving forward,” Svenson says. “What it ends up being is… I don’t think anyone can fully predict that.”
Wartburg and Luther collide on the blue turf during their final conference game against each other at Carlson Stadium on Oct. 4.
With the Norse set to depart the conference within the next academic year, emotions are running high as Wartburg and Luther celebrate over a century of competition with our rivals in blue.
“Luther is going in a different direction from a nostalgic standpoint, I’m kind of sad about it, because, I mean, you’ve been in one conference for a century, and changing to another conference, there’s a little bit of loss of history, loss of nostalgia, but at the same time, moving forward is the best,” says Svenson.
Although the schools have been very competitive for decades, Luther has yet to beat Wartburg’s football team since 1991. In their last A-R-C matchup, Wartburg hoped to maintain their historical dominance, and Luther aimed to change the narrative.
After the coin flip, the Knights lead their team to a 36-3 victory marking their 29th consecutive victory against the Norse. With the Knights limiting the Norse to only 126 yards on the field, the win creates a tie in the all-time conference record for consecutive league victories following in the footsteps of Central College’s mark set in 1983.
There is no way to determine what the conference is going to look like without the Norse, but their absence is going to be felt heavily in athletics. As the Knights move forward, they have their eyes set on beating the longest-held conference winning streak, previously held by Central College. The Wartburg Knights faced the University of Dubuque on Saturday, Oct. 11 in their homecoming match-up and won 33-7, breaking an all-time A-R-C record with a 30-0 conference win streak.
“They’re what division three football is all about, a high standard on the field, obviously, with their success, but about 60% of their team has at least the 3.5 group, GPA, I know there’s a lot of programs that sit out there and say that, that we’re not just about the results, we’re about making better people, and a lot of them don’t say that as kind of an empty phrase, Wartburg football lives it year by year, game by game, day by day basis.”
-Darin Svenson
To stay up to date with the status of the Wartburg Football program, check out the Wartburg Athletics page and watch the Knights keep up their streak and take on Loras College on Saturday, Oct. 18 in Dubuque, IA.
