Central Regional Preview

Central Region Championship | Event Website
Five Flags Center in Dubuque (Host School: Loras)
Saturday, March 2nd, 9:00 AM

11 Teams – Full List

d3wrestle.com Rankings | NWCA Team Rankings

Ranked Teams: #1 Wartburg, #14 Coe, #22 Luther, #24 Dubuque, #25 Loras, #28 Central, #30 Cornell

d3wrestle.com Top Ten Individuals (Returning AA in Bold)
125 – none
133 – #1 Anderson (Wartburg), #7 Steger (Loras), #9 Sokol (Dubuque), #10 Obert (Luther)
141 –  #10 Mirocha (Wartburg)
149 –  #1 Silvestri (Wartburg), #10 Engle (Cornell)
157 – #4 Welter (Wartburg)
165 – #1 Williams (Wartburg)
174 – #7 Azinger (Wartburg)
184 – #2 Broll (Buena Vista), #3 Upah (Wartburg), #9 Einerson (Dubuque)
197 – #2 Coolidge (Cornell), #6 Soriano (Wartburg), #7 Flegel (Luther), #10 Horner (Coe)
285 – #3 Buss (Loras), #4 Burkle (Coe), #7 Fank

The Central Region is mostly the IIAC with the addition of Augustana and Knox. Wartburg ran away with the NCAA title last season and is hoping to do the same this year. Even less in doubt is their upcoming dominance in the Central Regional this weekend. They won nine of ten bouts in a dual against the next highest ranked team and have nine wrestlers in the top ten plus one that has been in the top ten most of the season. In six of those weights they also have the highest ranked wrestler in the region. With six returning All-Americans, this team will be hard to stop. Coe will again be the top challenger, but they are a step down from last season’s excellent team. Luther, Dubuque, Loras, Central, and Cornell are the other ranked teams in the region, and each has wrestlers that should challenge for some of the 30 qualifying spots available. The addition of an Augustana team that has improved in recent years helps add strength to the smallest of the six regions.

There are three returning Wartburg NCAA Champions in the Central Region, though only Landon Williams will defend at the same weight of 165. Kenny Anderson (133) and Kodie Silvestri (149) have each moved up one spot from last season. All three are ranked #1 at their respective weight classes. 133 is in the running as the toughest weight, as there are three other top ten ranked wrestlers at the weight in Steger, Sokol, and Obert, though Anderson has not had much of a challenge with either Sokol or Obert so far. 197 also has four ranked wrestlers with #7 Flegel the lone returning All-American. 184 and 285 are also well-represented with three ranked wrestler each.

Outside of the top ten, there are numerous other wrestlers who have either been in the top ten this year or could argue to be in it right now. 125 is a good example with Camacho (Wartburg), who has been #1 as some points in the year, and Scholten (Augustana), who has been as high as #4. 133 has two listed Contenders in addition to the four ranked wrestlers. Some guy wrestlers will stay home at 133 for sure. Boyer (Coe) and 3x NCAA Qualifier Warczynski (Dubuque) are lurking at 157 and will have a good chance to make it along with #4 Welter (Wartburg).