2016 East Regional Preview
2016 East Regional
Saturday & Sunday, February 27 & 28
Warner Center – Washington & Lee University – Event Website
Teams
Centenary, Delaware Valley, Ferrum, Gettysburg, Greensboro, Hampden-Sydney, Hunter, Johns Hopkins, King’s, McDaniel, Merchant Marine Academy, Mount Saint Vincent, Muhlenberg, New York University, Stevens Institute of Technology, The College of New Jersey, Ursinus, Washington & Lee
Top Ten Ranked Individuals – 2015 All-Americans in bold
125 – #8 Murray (Stevens)
133 – #1 Pike (NYU), #10 Kirkegard (Delaware Valley)
141 – #8 Budzek (TCNJ)
149 – #2 Arnold (Ursinus)
157 – #3 Meister (Ferrum), #5 Mancella (TCNJ)
165 – #4 Herring (TCNJ), #5 Navickas (Stevens)
174 – #9 Sibblies (Centenary)
184 – #4 Kowal (Stevens), #10 Gockel-Figge (NYU)
197 – #9 Fisher (USMMA)
285 – #2 Roseberry (Delaware Valley)
Top 30 Teams (d3wrestle.com list)
#8 TCNJ
#14 Stevens
#23 NYU
#25 Delaware Valley
#28 Ferrum
TCNJ and Stevens are set to battle for the team title in the East Region this year. The two New Jersey schools have been the class of the region and each has three wrestlers ranked in the top ten. Budzek (141), Mancella (157), and Herring (165) have helped propel TCNJ to a #8 ranking, and they have plenty of help from just outside the top ten. Murray (125), Navickas (165), and Kowal (184) give Stevens some firepower as well. The next two teams in the rankings battled to the final match for last year’s regional title. Delaware Valley clinched the title over NYU when current #2 Zach Roseberry provided the margin of victory with a fall in the finals.
Nathan Pike is the sole top ranked wrestler in the tournament, and his second year at NYU has been outstanding as he works to improve on last year’s 5th place national finish. He is able to score points in a hurry. There are wrestlers here who could test him, as 133 has some depth, including 2014 All-American Ryan O’Boyle. Derek Arnold won the region last year at 149 and went on to place 4th in the NCAA. This year, he made a late descent to the weight and is back as the top competitor, even though he has only wrestled twice at the weight. Roseberry is a two time All-American and is ranked 2nd like Arnold. He will be a heavy favorite to repeat as regional champ.
2013 qualifier and 2014 All-American Ryan O’Boyle has one more shot to reach the podium again. He was ill for last year’s regional and underperformed. This year, he has had some good wins mixed in with a few unexpected losses and wins that were less dominant than is typical. If he is on, he is tough to beat. Another wrestler to watch is Ferrum’s #3 ranked Logan Meister at 157. He qualified for the NCAA tournament at 141 in Ferrum’s first year of competition but missed all of last season. He is back and up two weight classes with a good chance to become Ferrum’s first All-American.