184 Preview

2008 Champion: Romeo Djoumessi, Wartburg
Returning All-Americans: Djoumessi, Mike Wilcox (Delaware Valley), Gabe Youel (North Central), Josh Zabel (UW-La Crosse), Bryan Lenhardt (Johnson & Wales)

All four semifinalists form last year return, though the top two seeds are reversed.  Mike Wilcox pinned Romeo Djoumessi in a dual meet earlier this year to claim the top seed, and Djoumessi is coming off a knee injury that seriously abbreviated his season to just ten matches to end the year.  Both are very good and likely looking forward to meeting for a third time in the finals.  Wilcox has been very good this year with 9 falls and 11 tech falls.  He can put points on the board.  Djoumessi combines an aggressive style with great athleticism.

That said, neither can overlook the other top wrestlers in this weight.  Third seed Phil Moenkedick has handled to move up to 184 nicely and it undefeated this season at 32-0.  He has three wins over Baxter and one over Youel.  Interestingly, only 14 of his 32 wins have come against DIII competition.  Gabe Youel sputtered a bit at the regional, taking two of his three losses on the year that day.  His only other loss is to Boltz of Wheaton, a loss he avenged in each of the next two weekends.  He hopes that the regional was just a bad day and not indicative of where this tournament is headed.  He has defeated five of the other qualifiers this year.

184 is a thick weight with returning All-Americans at the 5th and 6th seeds in Zabel and Lenhardt.  Zabel has dropped matches to Youel and Wilcox this year, but not to any other DIII opponent, and could set up a rematch with Youel in the quarters and Wilcox in the semis with a good performance on Friday.  Lenhardt is 40-2, but he had to fight his way back through the convoluted wrestle backs in the New England conference to win the automatic bid at his weight.  The last two seeds were also qualifiers here last year that failed to place.

The rest of the weight includes a number of talented wrestlers who could end up as a bad draw for a seed.  Adams is 27-3, Horn is 29-2, and Kelley if 14-2.  Additionally, the weight features the only athlete in the tournament with a losing record in Barclay.  Laes from Lawrence will sadly be wrestling in what looks like the last NCAA tournament for his school, as they currently plan to drop the sport after this season.

Seeds
1. Wilcox, Delaware Valley
2. Djoumessi, Wartburg
3. Moenkedick, Concordia Moorhead
4. Youel, North Central
5. Zabel, UW-La Crosse
6. Lenhard, Johnson & Wales
7. Engelland, UW-Stevens Point
8. Baxter, St. John’s