2024 NCAA Preview: 184 lbs.

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Returning 2023 All-Americans in Bold

Northeast 1Sampson WilkinsCastleton
Northeast 2Trent FurmanNYU
Northeast 3Ryan DeVivoJohnson & Wales
Mideast 1Sean MalenfantAlfred State
Mideast 2Jack RyanOneonta
Mideast 3Max BortonUrsinus
Southeast 1George MoseleyAverett
Southeast 2Joel MartsinovskyStevens
Southeast 3Ryder SlaytonMessiah
Central 1Charles BaczekWabash
Central 2Gavin LaymanOhio Northern
Central 3Dylan WellbaumAdrian
Lower Midwest 1Kasey RossWartburg
Lower Midwest 2Cael McLarenCornell
Lower Midwest 3Cole CervantesNorth Central
Upper Midwest 1Bentley Schwanebeck-OstermannAugsburg
Upper Midwest 2Marcus OrlandoniUW-La Crosse
Upper Midwest 3Niall SchoenfelderUW-Eau Claire

Just two 2023 All-Americans return at this weight in 4th place finisher Bentley Schwanebeck-Ostermann and 7th placer Charles Baczek. Schwanebeck-Ostermann has not been seriously challenged by a DIII opponent this year and holds onto his #1 ranking heading into the tournament. Baczek is undefeated and has had a similarly smooth ride through the season so far. Outside of those two, ranking this weight has been a challenge all year as wrestlers take turns picking up big wins. The #3 ranked wrestler in the February 22 rankings, Sampson Wilkins of Castleton, did beat Baczek in the first round of last year’s NCAA tournament.

Wilkins won the Northeast region to return to the tournament for the second time. He has just two losses this year, one of which he turned around by beating JWU’s DeVivo in the regional semifinals. He has wins over a full third of the entries at this weight. Cael McLaren, one of the six, has had a great back half of the season, picking up a somewhat unexpected Wheaton title and beating a few wrestlers he had lost to earlier on the way to a regional runner-up finish. The winner of that region, Kasey Ross of Wartburg, lost to Baczek and Schwanebeck-Ostermann but has beaten every other DIII opponent so far.

Trent Furman of NYU was a 2022 NCAA qualifier way down at 157 lbs. and now is back in the tournament three weight classes up. He even wrestled 157 just last year. Sean Malenfant of Alfred State pinned Furman this year and joins teammate Zach Levey (133) as the first ever NCAA DIII qualifiers for his team. Dylan Wellbaum of Adrian and Gavin Layman of Ohio Northern are returning to the tournament this season, though Wellbaum had qualified each of the past two years up at 197.

Malenfant beat Jack Ryan of Oneonta in the regional finals as Ryan makes a second trip to the championships. His only other loss this season is to Wilkins. The Southeast region was a slugfest with winner George Mosely coming in as the third seed. He was a 2020 NCAA qualifier and 2021 NWCA placewiner. Joel Martsinovsky brings his oft-misspelled name to the tournament for the first time as a senior. This year was the first time he ever even wrestled in the regional tournament. Third in the region is Ryder Slayton of Messiah who had to avenge a loss from earlier in the same tournament to earn his slot here.

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