Preview – 197 lbs.

197 lbs.

2011 Seeds
1. Tate, Wartburg
2. Massey, Augsburg
3. Schindel, Mount Union
4. Malo, Williams
5. Myhrberg, Cortland
6. Lutke, Centenary
7. Latella, UW-Whitewater
8. Karns, Delaware Valley

Returning All-Americans
Tate, Wartburg, 1st in 2010
Massey, Augsburg, 3rd in 2010, 1st in 2009
Schindel, Mount Union, 7th in 2010, 8th in 2009
Malo, Williams, 2nd in 2010, 2nd in 2009

Tate was a bit of a surprise champion after coming in as the 5th seed in a weight with both of the previous year’s finalists in the bracket, but he not only won the tournament, he defeated both of those finalists along the way. This year, he rolled from the opening whistle, winning the Harold Nichols Open and defeating the 2011 Big 12 runner up from Iowa State in the finals. He followed that up with a trip to the Midlands final and wins over both Massey and Malo during the regular season. It is hard to imagine him losing, though it was hard to imagine him beating Massey and Malo last season, and Malo did take him to overtime in their match this year.

Massey and Malo are a pair of Division I transfers who have had great success at the DIII level over the past three seasons. Both are two time finalists with Massey winning their lone head to head matchup. Malo stumbled a bit this year, losing a number of conference matches including two at the NEWA Championships. Some of that could be familiarity, as the NEWA wrestlers see a lot of each other throughout the year. Schindel is the remaining All-American. He has climbed from 8th in 2009 to 7th last year and should manage to take more than one more step up this season. A trio of newcomers fill up the bottom seeds as Myhrberg wrestled 184 last year, Lutke was previously at Edinboro, and Karns is a 2008 high school graduate who is a freshman this year at Delaware Valley.

Prediction: It is hard to pick against a Midlands finalist, so Tate gets the nod as he goes for his second title.