The 2023 American Rivers Conference football season was the season of college football played by the nine member schools of the American Rivers Conference (ARC) as part of the 2023 NCAA Division III football season. The 2023 Wartburg Knights football team compiled a 13–1 record (8–0 in conference games), won the ARC championship, and made it to the NCAA Division III semifinal where they lost to North Central (IL) 34–27.

Teams

Wartburg

2023 Wartburg Knights football
ARC champion
NCAA Division III Semifinal, L 27–34 vs North Central
Conference	American Rivers Conference
Ranking
D3Football.com	No. 3
Record	13–1 (8–0 ARC)
Head coach	Chris Winter (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Matt Wheeler (13th season)
Defensive coordinator	Matt Tschetter (3rd season)
Home stadium	Walston-Hoover Stadium
Seasons ←  2022 2024 →

The 2023 Wartburg Knights football team represented Wartburg College of Waverly, Iowa. In their third year under head coach Chris Winter, the team compiled a 13–1 record (8–0 against ARC opponents), won the ARC championship, and made it to the NCAA Division III semifinal where they lost to North Central (IL) 34–27.

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 2	Monmouth (IL)*	Walston-Hoover Stadium Waverly, IA	W 62–35	3,756	[1] [2]
September 9	at No. 16 Bethel (MN)*	Royal Stadium Arden Hills, MN	W 16–2	3,642	[3] [4]
September 16	Buena Vista	Walston-Hoover Stadium Waverly, IA	W 47–0	2,137	[5] [6]
September 23	at Simpson	Buxton Stadium Indianola, IA	W 63–0	1,524	[7] [8]
September 30	Coe	Walston-Hoover Stadium Waverly, IA	W 27–21	3,106	[9] [10]
October 7	at Luther	Carlson Stadium Decorah, IA	W 54–0	317	[11]
October 14	Dubuque	Walston-Hoover Stadium Waverly, IA	W 31–10	5,102	[12] [13]
October 21	at Loras	Rock Bowl Dubuque, IA	W 62–7	1,300	[14] [15]
October 28	Central (IA)	Walston-Hoover Stadium Waverly, IA	W 24–14	1,500	[16]
November 4	at Nebraska Wesleyan	Abel Stadium Lincoln, NE	W 45–0	1,200	[17] [18]
November 18	Illinois College	Walston-Hoover Stadium Waverly, IA ( NCAA Division III First Round)	W 49–14	1,355	[19] [20] [21]
November 25	No. 20 Whitworth	Walston-Hoover Stadium Waverly, IA (NCAA Division III Second Round)	W 42–20	1,207	[22] [23] [24]
December 2	No. 5 Wisconsin–Whitewater	Walston-Hoover Stadium Waverly, IA (NCAA Division III Quarterfinal)	W 31–28	3,259	[25] [26] [27]
December 9	No. 1 North Central (IL)	Walston-Hoover Stadium Waverly, IA (NCAA Division III Semifinal)	L 27–34	3,525	[28] [29] [30] [31] [32]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game

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Coe

The 2023 Coe Kohawks football team represented Coe College of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In their 8th year under head coach Tyler Staker, the team compiled a 9–2 record (7–1 against ARC opponents), finished second in the ARC, and made it to the NCAA Division III first round where they lost to Aurora 7–20.

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 2	at Cornell (IA)*	Van Metre Field Mount Vernon, IA	W 56–6	1,360
September 9	Wisconsin–Ear Claire*	Clark Field Cedar Rapids, IA	W 44–14	850
September 16	at Central (IA)	Schipper Stadium Pella, IA	W 19–11	2,000
September 23	Nebraska Wesleyan	Clark Field Cedar Rapids, IA	W 56–6	672
September 30	at No. 3 Wartburg	Walston-Hoover Stadium Waverly, IA	L 21–27	3,106
October 7	Buena Vista	Clark Field Cedar Rapids, IA	W 52–7	479
October 14	at Simpson	Buxton Stadium Indianola, IA	W 28–0	1,462
October 28	Luther	Clark Field Cedar Rapids, IA	W 62–2	0
November 4	at Dubuque	Chalmers Field Dubuque, IA	W 23–20	875
November 11	Loras	Clark Field Cedar Rapids, IA	W 54–14	503
November 18	at No. 12 Aurora	Spartan Athletic Park Aurora, IL ( NCAA Division III First Round)	L 7–20	2,189
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game

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Central (IA)

The 2023 Central Dutch football team represented Central College of Pella, Iowa. In their 20th year under head coach Jeff McMartin, the team compiled an 8–2 record (6–2 against ARC opponents) and finished in third place in the ARC.

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Dubuque

The 2023 Dubuque Spartans football team represented Dubuque College of Dubuque, Iowa. In their 15th year under head coach Stan Zweifel, the team compiled a 5–5 record (5–3 against ArC opponents) and finished in fourth place in the ARC.

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 2	Wittenberg*	Chalmers Field Dubuque, IA	L 27–28	1,200
September 9	Wisconsin–Platteville*	Chalmers Field Dubuque, IA	L 19–35	4,850
September 23	Loras	Chalmers Field Dubuque, IA	W 35–23	4,250
September 30	at Central (IA)	Schipper Stadium Pella, IA	L 16–55	1,750
October 7	Nebraska Wesleyan	Chalmers Field Dubuque, IA	W 56–28	630
October 14	at No. 3 Wartburg	Walston-Hoover Stadium Waverly, IA	L 10–31	5,102
October 21	Buena Vista	Chalmers Field Dubuque, IA	W 41–0	2,315
October 28	at Simpson	Buxton Stadium Indianola, IA	W 45–21	1,377
November 4	No. 24 Coe	Chalmers Field Dubuque, IA	L 20–23	875
November 11	at Luther	Carlson Stadium Decorah, IA	W 42–10	195
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game

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Loras

The 2023 Loras Duhawks football team represented Loras College of Dubuque, Iowa. In their 11th year under head coach Steve Helminiak, the team compiled a 5–5 record (4–4 against ARC opponents) and finished in fifth place in the ARC.

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 2	Benedictine (IL)*	Rock Bowl Dubuque, IA	W 42–41	1,750
September 9	at Hope*	Ray & Sue Smith Stadium Holland, MI	L 28–42	2,344
September 16	Luther	Rock Bowl Dubuque, IA	W 44–29	2,500
September 23	at Dubuque	Chalmers Field Dubuque, IA	L 23–35	4,250
October 7	Central (IA)	Rock Bowl Dubuque, IA	L 14–38	1,500
October 14	at Nebraska Wesleyan	Abel Stadium Lincoln, NE	W 41–38	275
October 21	No. 3 Wartburg	Rock Bowl Dubuque, IA	L 7–62	1,300
October 28	at Buena Vista	Rollins Stadium Storm Lake, IA	W 49–21	120
November 4	Simpson	Rock Bowl Dubuque, IA	W 82–16	1,250
November 11	at No. 25 Coe	Clark Field Cedar Rapids, IA	L 14–54	503
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game

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Nebraska Wesleyan

The 2023 Nebraska Wesleyan Prairie Wolves football team represented Nebraska Wesleyan University of Lincoln, Nebraska. In their 28th year under head coach Brian Keller, the team compiled a 4–6 record (2–6 against ARC opponents) and finished tied for sixth in the ARC.

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 2	at Austin*	Apple Stadium Sherman, TX	W 19–7	1,253
September 9	Mayville State*	Abel Stadium Lincoln, NE	W 33–30	540
September 16	Simpson	Abel Stadium Lincoln, NE	W 21–13	350
September 23	at Coe	Clark Field Cedar Rapids, IA	L 6–56	672
September 30	Luther	Abel Stadium Lincoln, NE	W 35–10	500
October 7	at Dubuque	Chalmers Field Dubuque, IA	L 28–56	630
October 14	Loras	Abel Stadium Lincoln, NE	L 38–41 (2OT)	275
October 21	at Central (IA)	Schipper Stadium Pella, IA	L 0–72	1,500
November 4	No. 3 Wartburg	Abel Stadium Lincoln, NE	L 0–45	1,200
November 11	at Buena Vista	Rollins Stadium Storm Lake, IA	L 20–25	400
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game

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Simpson

The 2023 Simpson Storm football team represented Simpson College of Indianola, Iowa. In their first year under head coach Reed Hoskins, the team compiled a 3–7 record (2–6 against ARC opponents) and finished tied for sixth in the ARC.

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 2	Augustana (IL)*	Buxton Stadium Indianola, IA	L 27–49	1,452
September 9	at Crown*	Old National Bank Stadium St. Bonifacius, MN	W 48–46	455
September 16	at Nebraska Wesleyan	Abel Stadium Lincoln, NE	L 13–21	350
September 23	No. 3 Wartburg	Buxton Stadium Indianola, IA	L 0–63	1,387
September 30	at Buena Vista	Rollins Stadium Storm Lake, IA	W 55–28	400
October 14	Coe	Buxton Stadium Indianola, IA	L 0–28	1,462
October 21	at Luther	Carlson Stadium Decorah, IA	W 56–14	215
October 28	Dubuque	Buxton Stadium Indianola, IA	L 21–45	1,377
November 4	at Loras	Rock Bowl Dubuque, IA	L 16–82	1,250
November 11	Central (IA)	Buxton Stadium Indianola, IA	L 14–69	1,506
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game

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Buena Vista

The 2023 Buena Vista Beavers football team represented Buena Vista University of Buena Vista, Iowa. In their first year under head coach Austin Dickinson, the team compiled a 2–8 record (2–6 against ARC opponents) and finished tied for sixth in the ARC.

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 2	at Gustavus Adolphus*	Hollingsworth Field St. Peter, MN	L 7–51	2,137
September 9	Lakeland*	Rollins Stadium Storm Lake, IA	L 16–34	450
September 16	at No. 3 Wartburg	Walston-Hoover Stadium Waverly, IA	L 0–47	2,137
September 30	Simpson	Rollins Stadium Storm Lake, IA	L 28–55	400
October 7	at Coe	Clark Field Cedar Rapids, IA	L 7–52	479
October 14	Luther	Rollins Stadium Storm Lake, IA	W 17–10	600
October 21	at Dubuque	Chalmers Field Dubuque, IA	L 0–41	2,135
October 28	Loras	Rollins Stadium Storm Lake, IA	L 21–49	120
November 4	at Central (IA)	Schipper Stadium Pella, IA	L 22–56	1,500
November 11	Nebraska Wesleyan	Rollins Stadium Storm Lake, IA	W 25–20	400
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game

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Luther

The 2023 Luther Norse football team represented Luther College of Decorah, Iowa. In their second year under head coach Joe Troche, the team compiled a 0–10 record (0–8 against ARC opponents) and finished last in the ARC.

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References