2023 Upper Midwest Preview
Friday and Saturday, February 24-25, 2023
Concordia University Wisconsin | Host Site | 2022 Results
Teams (19):
Augsburg, Aurora, Carthage, Chicago, Concordia-Moorhead, Concordia-Wisconsin, Elmhurst, Lakeland, MSOE, Pacific, St. John’s, Linfield, UW-Eau Claire, UW-La Crosse, UW-Oshkosh, UW-Platteville, UW-Stevens Point, UW-Whitewater, Wheaton
NWCA Ranked Tournament Teams
#3 Augsburg
#7 UW-La Crosse
#8 UW-Whitewater
#12 UW-Platteville
#18 UW-Eau Claire
#22 UW-Oshkosh
Top 10 Ranked Individuals | February 16th Ranking (25 total)
125:
133: #3 Bisek (Concordia-Moorhead), #5 Thompson (UW-Platteville), #8 Fleetwood (UW-Eau Claire), #10 Mallinder (UW-Whitewater)
141: #7 Johnson (Aurora), #8 Stuhl (Augsburg)
149: #6 Burford (UW-Whitewater), #8 Goebel (UW-La Crosse)
157: #2 Shilson (Augsburg), #4 Hertel (La Crosse)
165: #6 Willis (Augsburg), #7 Leisgang (UW-La Crosse), #9 Vedner (UW-Whitewater), #10 Massie (UW-Eau Claire)
174: #3 Brossard (UW-La Crosse), #4 Stricker (UW-Eau Claire), #8 Wynsma (UW-Platteville)
184: #1 Shinhoster (UW-Whitewater), #5 Schwanebeck-Ostermann (Augsburg), #7 Schoenfelder (UW-Eau Claire)
197: #1 Yineman (UW-Oshkosh), #5 Kawczynski (UW-La Crosse), #8 Venz (Augsburg), #10 Hannah (UW-Platteville)
285: #4 Kim (Augsburg)
Contenders & H.M. (28 total)
125: Steele (Augsburg), Valdez (UW-Oshkosh)
133: Willis (Augsburg)
141: Clay (UW-Whitewater), Harsted (Wheaton), Lundeen (Concordia-Moorhead), Blakely (UW-Platteville), Lorenz (UW-La Crosse)
149: Fleck (Chicago), Sato (Eau Claire), Stuhl (Augsburg), Prunty (Concordia-Moorhead)
157:
165: Estevez (Chicago), Peckham (UW-Stevens Point)
174: Goetzinger (Augsburg), Rapelje (Concordia-Moorhead), Silva (Aurora)
184: Jahn (UW-La Crosse), Altensey (UW-Stevens Point), Ross (UW-Platteville)
197: Punzel (Wheaton), Zierden (Concordia-Moorhead)
285: Douglas (UW-La Crosse), Fibranz (Chicago), Jones (UW-Whitewater), Schoenherr (UW-Platteville), Barnes (Linfield), Melton (UW-Eau Claire)
Augsburg comes in as the favorite, but they will certainly be pushed by a number of the WIAC schools. La Crosse and Whitewater both bring strong teams to the tournament with Platteville and Eau Claire right behind, while Oshkosh boasts a #1 ranked wrestler of their own. Augsburg’s 33-3 win over La Crosse puts them in the driver’s seat this weekend, but every weight will be a fight given the depth of the tournament. Three weights are guaranteed to leave at least one top-ten wrestler home.
Jaritt Shinhoster is the lone returning NCAA champion in the region. Last year he fought his way to the title from the 5th seed. If he wins out here, he will start on top of the bracket in Roanoke. The highlight of his season so far is a runner-up finish in the Midlands back in December. His only DIII loss is to Liegel of Loras, and he avenged that loss later in the season. Bentley Schwanebeck-Ostermann (Augsburg) a 2022 All-American at 197 and #7 Schoenfelder of UW-Eau Claire will toughen this bracket along with three others who appear in the d3wrestle.com rankings.
The other #1 ranked wrestler in the region is Beau Yineman of UW-Oshkosh. He was 3rd in the NCAA last year and has a single DIII loss this season. That loss, though, is to Ben Kawczynski of UW-La Crosse who should also be in this bracket after spending last season at 285. The rest of the field has spend the season trading matches depending on who has the best week. Four ranked wrestlers will enter, and no more than three will head to Virginia.
Chicago has a pair of wrestlers who were All-Americans last season but fall outside of the top ten leading into the regional. Ryan Fleck stormed to the semis at 149 before dropping to 6th place. He has split with Prunty this year and lost twice to Burford. Can he get in there and take another top three spot? Darian Estevez finished 8th at 157 last year and has moved up to 165 in 2023. He has some good wins this season including a recent victory over 2022 All-American Pontelandolfo (NYU), but his competition this weekend will be stiff. There are four top-ten wrestlers in the weight class, two of whom have already beaten him this year.