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2008 Champion: David Morgain, King’s
Returning All-Americans: Travis Lang (Augsburg), Nichalos Nothern (Cornell), Zac Bartlett (Luther), Mogi Baatar (St. John’s, 125)

The highest returning placewinner is also the top seed this year in Augsburg’s Travis Lang.  Lang is 31-1 this season, though that one loss was in the regional final to Baatar of St. John’s.  Just like Sheetz in the weight below, Lang is dangerous with his headlock that has helped him rack up 21 falls this year.  Brandon Ball of Coe has come on strong of late and won an IIAC weight class featuring three returning All-Americans.  He has split with the 3rd ranked Clemmer and gone 2-2 against #4 Kelly of Wartburg.  In both cases, Ball has won the most recent matches, but the difference between the three wrestlers is razor thin.

Moving up from 125 Baatar is another who has been wrestling well of late.  He won the Great Lakes over Lang, though Lang has beaten him twice this season, and Clemmer and Bartlett have also taken wins over Baatar.  A wildcard at 133 may be Cucciniello of Johnson & Wales.  He is 22-1 with just a loss to Kelly blemishing his record.  He has not wrestled any other contenders this year, so he could sneak up on some people.  One thing for sure is that he puts points on the scoreboard.

The only other returning qualifier is Greene of Merchant Marine Academy.  He has a win over Clemmer and could be a bad early draw for one of the seeds.  The rest of the qualifiers are all talented enough to pull an upset in a weight with good quality from top to bottom.

Seeds
1. Lang, Augsburg
2. Ball, Coe
3. Clemmer, Delaware Valley
4. Kelly, Wartburg
5. Baatar, St. John’s
6. Bartlett, Luther
7. Cucciniello, Johnson & Wales
8. Nothern, Cornell