2014 Mideast Region Preview

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2014 Mideast Regional
Sunday, March 2, 2014
York College – York, Pennsylvania – Event Website

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2013 Results Team | Brackets

Teams
Baldwin-Wallace, Brockport, Case Western, Elizabethtown, Heidelberg, John Carroll, Lycoming, Messiah, Mt. St. Joseph’s, Mt. Union, Muskingum, Ohio Northern, RIT, Thiel, Washington & Jefferson, Waynesburg, York

Top Ten Ranked Individuals – 2013 All-Americans in bold
125 – #4 Malmberg (Messiah), #10 Gunter (Baldwin-Wallace), Ellis (Brockport)
133 – #6 Border (Mt U), #10 McDermitt (Heidelberg)
141 – #1 Loht (Messiah), #6 Black (Mount St. Joseph)
149 – #5 Mirman (John Carroll), #10 Lohr (Waynesburg)
157 – #6 Garrison (Mount Union), #8 Gott (John Carroll), Contender Etzel (Wash.&Jeff.)
165 – #7 Carr (Wash.&Jeff.), #8 Daniels (Brockport)
174 – #5 Plummer (Messiah), #8 Bonaventura (Waynesburg), #10 Powell (Thiel)
184 – #5 Thomson (Messiah), HM Meaney (Elizabethtown)
197 – #4 Glover (Brockport), #8 Lowry (Thiel), HM Kramer (Messiah)
285 – #7 Lovejoy (Ohio Northern), #9 Majoy (Heidelberg)

Top 30 Teams
#3 Messiah
#15 Brockport
#19 Mount Union
#27 tied Waynesburg, Heidelberg

The Mideast Region looks to be one of the toughest of the six regions in 2014 in large part due to the depth and balance across the 17 teams. Messiah leads the way after one of the best seasons in program history, but should be challenged by the other ranked teams in the region.

There are several very tough weights in the Mideast region that include 2-3 top ten individuals and additional contenders vying for three births to the tournament. 125 could be the toughest weight in the tournament headlined by Lucas Malmberg and 2013 All-American Ellis. In addition to the two ranked wrestlers, Schneider (Heidelberg) and Spearman (W&J) qualified for the NCAA tournament last year in this weight. 174 has three top 10 wrestlers, however it lacks some of the depth of 125.

There have been some interesting developments in the second semester at 165 leading to a tough, deep weight. The addition of former Pennsylvania state champ Carr to the Washington & Jefferson roster as well as Daniels (Brockport) dropping from 174 bolster an already deep weight that includes 2013 region champ Sam Guidi (Waynesburg). The top individual in the region appears to be #1 ranked Kaleb Loht (Messiah) at 141 as he’s run up a record of 39-1 with no Division III losses.

With real balance in the region, most teams have a realistic shot to send individuals to the national tournament. One final interesting fact is that only Thomson (Messiah) at 184 is a returning All-American who is the top ranked wrestler at his weight in the region. Will those other returning placewinners step up like last year, or have they been eclipsed by the competition?