NCAA Preview: 174

Weight Class Previews:
125 | 133 | 141 | 149 | 157 | 165 | 174 | 184 | 197 | 285

Weight Class Preview: 174
Qualifiers by Weight

Josh Chelf blew through the competition last year and is poised to do so again this season. He was 4th at the Midlands, losing only to highly ranked D1 competition. He has yet to lose in D3 this year, though last year’s finalist Vanderhyde gave him a close match earlier this year, catching him in some upper body throws and Bath wrestled him close once as well. He’s defeated Bath, Lynaugh, Vanderhyde, Kehrli, Osgoodby, and Plowman this season and is coming off a 6-0 blanking of the #2 seed.

Bath was an All-American last year and is the #2 seed. He has 7 losses, but only the two to Chelf were in D3. He’s won big in some matches, but wrestled others closer than you would expect. Vanderhyde was 2nd here last year after a great run that ended against the powerful Chelf. He has missed a lot of time with injuries, but he’s done well down the stretch as he worked to erase the memory of a 16-8 loss to Owens in January.

Van Patten and MacWhinnie are two wrestlers who have not seen a lot of the other competition due to the schedules they wrestle, but both are talented and slotted in right where they belong in the bracket. MacWhinnie has split with Osgoodby and beaten Priest and DeCristo, while Van Patten has only wrestled Priest.

Moenkedick has burst onto the scene this year as a freshman with over 30 wins and his only D3 loss is up at 184 to Zabel. He has a lot of falls this year and won the Great Lakes region in impressive fashion. Jentz is the IIAC champ who is 3-2 against Kehrli and has beaten Lynaugh, Owens, and Brown. Owens is the NEWA champ who has beaten Vanderhyde but lost to Jentz. He also topped conference foe Czarneski a few times.

After the seeded wrestlers, there are some other returning qualifiers like Plowman, Osgoodby, and Reilly as well as sleeper pick and mid year transfer Reilly who has shown his talent in a half season of work.