2014 West Regional Preview
2014 West Regional
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Augsburg College – Minneapolis, Minnesota – Event Website
Teams
Augsburg, Concordia-Moorhead, Concordia Wisconsin, Lakeland, Maranatha, Milwaukee School of Engineering, Pacific, St. John’s, St. Olaf, Eau Claire, Oshkosh, Platteville
Top Ten Ranked Individuals – 2013 All-Americans in bold
125 – #5 Fuenffinger (Augsburg)
133 – #9 Bergeron (Concordia Moorhead)
141 – none ranked, Behnke (Eau Claire)
149 – #6 Long (Concordia Moorhead)
157 – #1 Kulchytskyy (Oshkosh)
165 – none
174 – #2 Schiferl (Oshkosh), #7 Roach (St. Olaf)
184 – none
197 – #7 Hechsel (Augsburg)
285 – #1 Johnson (Augsburg), #5 Kasprick (Concordia Moorhead)
Top 30 Teams
#6 Augsburg
#8 Concordia Moorhead
#16 Oshkosh
The West Region will again be one of the weaker regions in 2014, though it has two of the better wrestlers in Division III in its ranks. That said, it looks to be a two team race between Augsburg and Concordia-Moorhead for the team title, and both teams should again have a large representation at the national tournament. There are three weights without a top ten ranked individual in the West. No other region has more than one (Central and Mideast have zero).
As stated before, despite the lack of depth, the West features two wrestlers each seeking a 3rd NCAA Championship after winning each of the last two years. Nazar Kulchytskyy was the 2013 d3wrestle.com Wrestler of the Year after earning his second title in Cedar Rapids last March, putting the cap on a dominant season. He is back at 157 where he won his first title in 2012. Chad Johnson of Augsburg is also hoping to finish out his career as a three time champion. He has not lost to a DIII opponent since his freshman year, and has only lost three matches total in the last three seasons combined. Neither should face much of a challenge this weekend, though Johnson has the tougher task with #5 Kasprick in the mix.
In addition to Kulchytskyy, Oshkosh has a second wrestler in Dan Schiferl looking to gain the top of the podium. Schiferl lost in the round of 12 last season, but is now up to #2 in Division III. He has just one Division III loss, but that loss is to #7 Roach of St. Olaf, who he will likely see in the finals this weekend, unless Gardner (Concordia Moorhead) or Martin (Augsburg) can insert themselves into the mix.
Finally, this region would have had a third returning NCAA Champion here at 149 in Greg Sanders of Concordia Wisconsin, but he was unfortunately the victim of a season ending injury and will not be able to defend his national title. That makes Long (Concordia Moorhead) the favorite here for sure with Keeter of Augsburg looking to regain his old form that saw him place 3rd at 141 in 2012.