Centennial Conference Preview
Please Note: These are predictions of what will happen at a specific tournament on a specific date. They are not seedings or rankings. We have seen all the results and made predictions based off those results. We may predict someone to win, even if they recently lost to a conference opponent, but that does not mean we did not see the results.
All week long, d3wrestle.com will be publishing previews of each of the NCAA qualifying tournaments to be held this weekend. In addition to predicting winners and identifying the top athletes at each weight, we will attempt to predict all 160 qualifiers based on the number of wildcards available for each qualifying tournament. With nine qualifiers, d3wrestle.com will publish two each day, with the last one appearing Friday morning.
Centennial Conference – 11 qualifiers
Predicted Team Champ: Merchant Marine Academy
Top Individual: Andrew Goldstein, Gettysburg
Returning NCAA Qualifiers: Steve Kingsland (Ursinus 133), Phil Greene (USMMA 133), Billy Hall (Muhlenberg 133, 2007), James Beshada (USMMA 141), Dan Twito (USMMA 149), Rob Kein (Muhlenberg 149, 2007), Andrew Goldstein (Gettysburg 157, 8th NCAA), Eric Vincent (USMMA 197)
The Centennial had three All-Americans last year, but only Gettysburg 157 Andrew Goldstein returns. With only 11 qualifiers, winning the tournament is paramount. Beyond Goldstein, wrestlers with a good chance to place in the NCAA include Beshada, Twito, and Renaut from Merchant Marine, Kein from Muhlenberg, and Glotfelty from McDaniel. Glotfelty, in particular is having a good year with a single loss and nearly 20 falls. A few weights have more than one returning qualifier, so someone who has been to the NCAA championships before will not be back this year.
Weight by Weight (predicted qualifiers in bold)
125 Prediction: Jordan Alfaro, USMMA
Top Challengers: Ben Ersing, Washington & Lee; Alex Blank, Ursinus
133 Prediction: Phil Greene, USMMA
Top Challengers: Steve Kingsland, Ursinus; Mark Bistis, Stevens
141 Prediction: James Beshada, USMMA
Top Challenger: Rocky Barilla, Johns Hopkins
149 Prediction: Rob Kein Muhlenberg
Top Challengers: Dan Twito, USMMA; Connor McCormick, Ursinus
157 Prediction: Andrew Goldstein, Gettysburg
Top Challenger: Leo Dormann, Stevens; Scott Lowe, USMMA
165 Prediction: Vincent Renaut, USMMA
Top Challenger: Joey Favia, Stevens; Zach Hetrick, McDaniel
174 Prediction: Ryan Dormann, Stevens
Top Challengers: Erik Schott, USMMA; Justin Fitch, Muhlenberg
184 Prediction: Matt Horn, Muhlenberg
Top Challengers: Nate Murren, Ursinus; Hector Cintron, Johns Hopkins
197 Prediction: Eric Vincent, USMMA
Top Challengers: Tyler Schmidt, Johns Hopkins; Connor McNamara, Ursinus
285 Prediction: Brock Glotfelty, McDaniel
Top Challengers: Bobby Christopher, Gettysburg; James Roarty, Stevens