2023 NCAA Preview: 197 lbs.
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| Northeast 1 | Coy Spooner | Coast Guard |
| Northeast 2 | Dylan Harr | Johnson & Wales |
| Northeast 3 | James Cruz | Merchant Marine |
| Mideast 1 | Chibueze Chukwuezi | Ithaca |
| Mideast 2 | Demitreus Henry | Cortland |
| Mideast 3 | Josh Harkless | RIT |
| Southeast 1 | Camden Farrow | York |
| Southeast 2 | Braden Homsey | Ferrum |
| Southeast 3 | Mauro Pellot | Alvernia |
| Central 1 | Doug Byrne | Baldwin Wallace |
| Central 2 | Dylan Wellbaum | Adrian |
| Central 3 | Jared Setliff | Otterbein |
| Lower Midwest 1 | Massoma Endene | Wartburg |
| Lower Midwest 2 | Gage Linahon | Central |
| Lower Midwest 3 | Jared Voss | Coe |
| Upper Midwest 1 | Tyler Hannah | UW-Platteville |
| Upper Midwest 2 | Beau Yineman | UW-Oshkosh |
| Upper Midwest 3 | Parker Venz | Augsburg |
Half of last year’s field returns and is led by returning third place finisher Beau Yineman of UW-Oshkosh. Yineman dropped his regional final to Tyler Hannah of UW-Platteville after beating him twice earlier this year. His only other DIII loss is to Ben Kawczynski of UW-La Crosse who did not qualify. Hannah also reversed an earlier loss to Parker Venz of Augsburg in the semifinals. He does have a loss to Jared Voss of Coe, the third place finisher in the Lower Midwest. Almost anything could happen in this weight, as there are a lot of wrestlers with the potential to win up and down the bracket.
Coy Spooner of Coast Guard was 5th last year and is undefeated entering the tournament for the second year in a row. He has wins over Pellot and Harr. Camden Farrow of York was 4th last season as an unseeded entry and split with Spooner at the tournament. He has lost this season to Chibueze Chukwuezi, an All-American at 184 last season and Mideast champ. Also coming from the Mideast is Demitreus Henry, and All-American two weights down at 174 a year ago. Third in the region was 2022 qualifier Josh Harkless of RIT who was eliminated from the tournament by Hannah last season.
After missing out on the postseason last year as a late regional scratch, Doug Byrne of Baldwin Wallace was the seventh of seven regional finalists for his team this year. Byrne has just one loss to Massoma Endene of Wartburg and just four of his 29 wins came without bonus points. Dylan Wellbaum of Adrian and Jared Setliff of Otterbein are the other qualifiers from Central region, and both qualified last year, though neither won a match.
Massoma Endene of Wartburg was the 2022 NJCAA runner-up for Iowa Lakes CC and is 23-1 on the season. Like Yineman, his only DIII loss is to Kawczynski. He has wins over Byrne, Harr, Linahon, Venz, and Voss in the field. Wartburg has done well with transfers in the top half of lineup, as Fuller, Mulder, and Endene are all highly-ranked qualifiers above 157 who started elsewhere.