2013 197 lbs. Preview
| 197 | ||
| West 1 | Hechsel | Augsburg |
| West 2 | Schmitz | Concordia Moorhead |
| West 3 | Michaelis | St. John’s |
| Central 1 | Coolidge | Cornell |
| Central 2 | Soriano | Wartburg |
| Central 3 | Flegel | Luther |
| Midwest 1 | Siefert | Whitewater |
| Midwest 2 | Faber | Wheaton |
| Midwest 3 | Benefiel | Elmhurst |
| Mideast 1 | Lovins | Heidelberg |
| Mideast 2 | Landis | Elizabethtown |
| Mideast 3 | Ebersole | Messiah |
| East 1 | Karns | Delaware Valley |
| East 2 | De’Reese | Hunter |
| East 3 | Transue | Wilkes |
| Northeast 1 | Myhrberg | Cortland |
| Northeast 2 | Burns | Springfield |
| Northeast 3 | Roometua | Wesleyan |
d3wrestle.com Ranking #11 – March 5, 2013
#1 Myhrberg has led the way this season and comes into a second straight NCAA tournament without a DIII loss on his record. He defeated #3 Karns and #6 Benefiel this year and is a definite favorite at the weight. He narrowly missed the finals last year and is looking to improve upon last year’s 3rd place finish. #2 Coolidge is also undefeated in DIII and comes out of the tough Central Region where he has defeated both #4 Soriano and the returning All-American #5 Flegel multiple times this season. #3 Karns has just that one loss to Myhrberg in DIII and has wins over five of the wrestlers in the bracket. He was in the round of 12 in 2011. Soriano stepped into the lineup for graduated 3x champion Byron Tate and has had a good season. Flegel was 6th last year and has split with Soriano. #6 Benefiel has settled in at 197 and looks to finish out his career on a high note after spending time at both Northwestern and Oklahoma State. He lost to #8 Faber at the regional but beat him earlier in the year. The only other losses for Benefiel were to Myhrberg on an overtime pin and to Olsen, Faber’s teammate who qualified at 184. #7 Siefert is a tough freshman who won the region with Faber and Benefiel and has improved as the year progressed. #9 Lovins and #10 Landis met in the Mideast final and round out the top ten. Schmitz is not ranked, but he was 5th at this weight a year ago.