2015 All-Freshmen Team & Freshman of the Year
Update – An earlier version of this post had a weight class error that has now been corrected
The 2015 d3wrestle.com Freshman of the Year is Matthew Grossmann of Wilkes University. Grossmann won the 133 lbs. weight class at the 2015 NCAA Championships in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Grossmann picked up falls in both of his opening matches, including a victory over #4 seed Connor Campo of Wartburg. He defeated the top seed Nate Giorgio of Coast Guard in the semifinals before dispatching unseeded Chad Bartschenfeld of Augsburg 4-3 in the championship bout.
The Lancaster, Pennsylvania, native had six losses on the year and was in a fight to even own the starting spot at Wilkes, but his improvement throughout the season culminated in the national title. After taking a loss at the MAC Championships on January 24th, Grossmann had his hand raised in every subsequent match, including the finals of the East Region and in a 5-1 dual win over 2014 NCAA runner-up Alex Gomez of Ithaca. He was 2nd in the Monarch Invitational, 2nd at Petrofes, 2nd at the Wilkes Open, 1st at the Will Abele Invitational, and 2nd in the MAC.
In high school, Grossmann was a two time Pennsylvania AAA placewinner with a career record of 136-31 for Manheim Township High School. Read on for the full d3wrestle.com All-Freshmen Team.
2015 d3wrestle.com All-Freshmen Team (records are taken from Trackwrestling)
125 – Jakob Stageberg, Concordia-Moorhead, NCAA Qualifier, 27-13
133 – Matthew Grossmann, Wilkes, NCAA Champion, 36-6
141 – Kaz Onoo, Wartburg, 4th Central Region, 23-10
141 – Nashid Barrow, Buena Vista, NCAA Qualifier, 25-9
149 – Josh Evans, Wilkes, NCAA Qualifier, 21-14
157 – Gable Frandsen, Augsburg, NCAA Qualifier, 18-14
165 – Nick Velez, Ithaca, NCAA Qualifier, 33-11
174 – AJ Kowal, Stevens, 4th East Region, 30-4
184 – Ben Swarr, Messiah, NCAA Qualifier, 18-3
197 – Kyle Koser, Messiah, 5th Mideast Region, 37-14
285 – James Bethel, Oneonta, 4th NCAA, 39-6
2015 Results for the 2014 All-Freshmen Team
125 – Lucas Malmberg, Messiah – NCAA Runner-Up, Mideast champion
133 – Dustin Weinmann, La Crosse – 19-8, WIAC Runner-Up
141 – Charlie Banaszak, Chicago – did not wrestle
149 – Nick Drendel, Dubuque – did not wrestle
157 – Larry Cannon, Messiah – 4th Mideast Region
165 – Stephen Aiello, Wheaton – NCAA Qualifier
174 – Carlos Toribio, Ithaca – 5th Northeast Region at 184
184 – Riley Lefever, Wabash – NCAA Champion, Midwest champion
197 – Hunter Ayen, Springfield – NCAA Qualifier
285 – Zachery Roseberry, Delaware Valley – NCAA 3rd, East champion