2015 NCAA Preview: 197 lbs.

Action Photo

Eric Twohey is having great success after moving up from 184 this year

2014 Champion: Alex Coolidge, Cornell

2015 Field (with rankings)

West 1 (9) Hechsel Augsburg
West 2 (10) Michaelis St. John’s
West 3 Pike Concordia-Moorhead
Central 1 (6) Roman Wartburg
Central 2 (7) Seabold Central
Central 3 (8) Horner Coe
Midwest 1 (1) Twohey La Crosse
Midwest 2 (2) Siefert Whitewater
Midwest 3 Groeneveld Alma
Mideast 1 Secor Lycoming
Mideast 2 Gaydosh John Carroll
Mideast 3 Olson Mount Union
East 1 (3) Karns Delaware Valley
East 2 Fisher USMMA
East 3 Leer TCNJ
Northeast 1 (4) Giaramita Cortland
Northeast 2 (5) Welch Roger Williams
Northeast 3 Ayen Springfield

As February began, it looked like everything was going according to the preseason script. Returning runner-up Shane Siefert of Whitewater had rolled through the rest of Division III, including an 8-3 victory in January over Eric Twohey of La Crosse. Then, at the WIAC tournament, Twohey turned that result around with an overtime takedown to defeat Siefert. Two weeks later, he defeated Siefert again, cementing his hold on the top spot in the rankings. Twohey only has that one loss to Siefert this season, and is poised to be much higher on the podium this year than his 8th place finish at 184 last season. Siefert will have to come through the bottom half of the bracket to get a fourth match with Twohey, but he has shown the ability to put points on the board in bunches. Karns of Delaware Valley, and Giaramita of Cortland were both All-Americans last season, and will not be easy outs for either of the top two seeds. Neither has lost in Division III this season.

Roman from Wartburg has been wrestling as well as anyone lately. He had early losses to Horner of Coe and Watson of Loras, but came back to beat both later on. He has not lost since an early December dual meet against Twohey. Maybe he will have a chance to avenge that loss as well. Other previous All-Americans in the bracket include Horner, who beat Giaramita for 5th last season, Welch, who beat Twohey for 7th last year, and Hechsel, who was 7th in 2013. Finally, only one of the top three seeds qualified out of the Mideast region.