2017 NCAA Preview: 197 lbs.
Riley Lefever is going for his fourth championship
2016 Champion – David Welch, Roger Williams
| Central 1 | Kyle Fank | Wartburg |
| Central 2 | Matt Seabold | Central |
| Central 3 | Guy Patron | Loras |
| East 1 | AJ Kowal | Stevens |
| East 2 | Kacee Hutchinson | Greensboro |
| East 3 | Etiini Udott | Centenary |
| Mideast 1 | Kyle Koser | Messiah |
| Mideast 2 | Triston Engle | Brockport |
| Mideast 3 | Gage Gladysz | Thiel |
| Midwest 1 | Riley Lefever | Wabash |
| Midwest 2 | Michael Swider | Wheaton |
| Midwest 3 | Dylan Diebitz | Stevens Point |
| Northeast 1 | Carlos Toribio | Ithaca |
| Northeast 2 | Devon Carrillo | Wesleyan |
| Northeast 3 | Hunter Ayen | Springfield |
| West 1 | Mason Baumgartner | Concordia Wisconsin |
| West 2 | Devin Mahnke | MSOE |
| West 3 | Robert Tait | St. John’s |
There has only been one 4x NCAA Division III champion. That could change this year as Riley Lefever of Wabash aims to cap a brilliant career with his fourth NCAA title. He has never lost to a Division III opponet, and that record will remain intact if he has his hand raised on Saturday night. Lefever has scored bonus points on every DIII opponent he has faced and leads all of the NCAA is the Most Dominant standings with an average of 5.85 team points per match.
Kyle Fank of Wartburg is the #2 seed. He gets his first shot at the NCAA Championships and has just two losses this year. One of them is to Michael Swider of Wheaton. Swider was 7th at this weight last year and is the only returning 2016 All-American at 197. Matt Seabold of Central was an All-American in 2015 at this weight, while AJ Kowal of Stevens and Carlos Toribio of Ithaca placed 3rd and 5th respectively last season at 184. Hunter Ayen of Springfield did not wrestle last season, but he was a qualifier at this weight in 2015. Devon Carrillo of Wesleyan beat Ayen twice this year and split with Toribio, and he has just one loss this season.