2012 – 141 lbs. Preview

Qualifiers (returning All-American in bold, qualifier in italics)

This is another weight with a returning NCAA champ. Yewah won the 2010 title at 133, then moved up to 141 in 2011 and repeated as champ. This year, he stayed at 141, and his only two losses came at the Midlands where he finished 5th to lead all DIII entrants. His top competition looks to be last year’s semifinal opponent Albright of York. Albright opened the year with a win over the top ranked 133 Ecker and finished it by avenging one of his losses at the Metro Championships.

Timmerman is the only other All-American back at this weight. He came out of nowhere to place third, dealing Albright a loss along the way. This year, he has only three DIII losses, and they are all to Keeter of Augsburg, who won the Great Lakes Regional. Zobac was Keeter’s foe in that final, while Denhof from Elmhurst is the fourth 141 to make it out of the Great Lakes region.

Marcello, Antista, and Malave are all now multiple time qualifiers, though none of them won even a match at last year’s championships. Malave is the one of the three most favored to place this year, however. Several newcomers are poised to make a run to the second day of the tournament, and that group is headlined by Silvestri, the IIAC champ from Wartburg. He was an NJCAA All-American and could find himself in the finals with a good weekend.

It seems unlikely that anyone will be able to challenge Yewah, especially since nobody has in quite awhile, though there are a few guys in this weight with the talent to take advantage if he falters.