Preview – 285 lbs.

285 lbs.

2011 Seeds
1. Helgerson, Wartburg
2. Corsello, Elmhurst
3. Connell, Merchant Marine
4. Glotfelty, McDaniel
5. Burkle, Coe
6. James, Cortland
7. Mayer, UW-Lax
8. Johnson, Augsburg

Returning All-Americans
Helgerson, Wartburg, 2nd in 2010, 3rd in 2009
Corsello, 2nd in 2009, 7th in 2008
Glotfelty, 8th in 2009

Is Helgerson the top wrestler in Division III this year? The case can definitely be made, given who he has beaten. He is the runner up here and undefeated against DIII, and he has also beaten Division I wrestlers currently ranked 4th (Russo of Rutgers), 12th (Lane of Nebraska), 13th (Brantley of Northern Iowa) and 20th (Simonson of Iowa State). Those wins all came in a fantastic Midlands tournament where he placed fourth and finished ahead of the Big 10 champ. His chief competition, Corsello of Elmhurst, is no slouch himself, finishing the regular season undefeated for the second straight year. The 2009 runner-up was 0-2 as the top seed, but he will be trying to both become a three time All-American and prevent Helgerson from stepping one spot higher on the podium.

The third and fourth seeds are familiar foes from the Centennial Conference. Connell finally beat Glotfelty for the first time in his career in their dual, and he then repeated the feat with a last second reversal to take his second 6-5 win over the McDaniel wrestler this year. The top two plus Glotfelty are the only returning All-Americans in this weight that cleared out significantly since last season’s bracket had all eight All-Americans return. James of Cortland is a junior college All-American who has just one loss this year, Burkle may be the top guy coming back next year, and Mayer and Johnson fill in the last two seeds stepping in for excellent wrestlers who graduated last year from La Crosse and Augsburg respectively.

Prediction: Helgerson has proven he can beat the best regardless of weight class, but it is worth noting that a lot of heavyweight matches are close, so it will not take a huge slip up for him to fall short of expectations.