2015 East Regional Preview
2015 East Regional
Sunday, March 1, 2015
Roanoke Civic Center – Roanoke, Virginia – Event Website
February 18th d3wrestle.com Rankings
Teams
Centenary, Delaware Valley, Ferrum, Gettysburg, Hunter, Johns Hopkins, King’s, McDaniel, Merchant Marine Academy, Mount Saint Vincent, Muhlenberg, New York University, Scranton, Stevens Institute of Technology, The College of New Jersey, Ursinus, Washington & Lee, Wilkes
Top Ten Ranked Individuals – 2014 All-Americans in bold
125 – #6 Bewak (JHU), #7 Rea (Wilkes)
133 – #3 O’Boyle (McDaniel), #10 Grossman (Wilkes)
141 – #3 Palmer (Hunter), #4 Jones (NYU)
149 – #1 Fava (Delaware Valley), #9 Arnold (Ursinus)
157 – #5 Polizzi (Stevens), #6 Jasinski (Ursinus)
165 – #6 Bader (Hunter)
174 – #5 Zotollo (TCNJ), #7 Kowal (Stevens)
184 – none
197 – #3 Karns (Delaware Valley)
285 – #7 Roseberry (Delaware Valley)
Top 30 Teams (d3wrestle.com list)
#7 Delaware Valley
#18 Hunter and Stevens (tie)
#25 Ursinus
#29 NYU, TCNJ, Wilkes (tie)
Wilkes, Ursinus, and Delaware Valley all topped 100 points in the 2014 regional, and all three are part of the lead pack again in 2015. With three All-Americans returning, Delaware Valley has their sights set on a team trophy at the NCAA Championships. Stevens is coming off of their first Centennial Conference championship and has a few guys who expect to be heard from in Hershey. NYU has a strong overall lineup that should score well in this format.
Eight 2014 All-Americans return in the East,, and they are led by Vinny Fava of Delaware Valley. Fava is the highest returning placewinner at 149 and has been ranked #1 in all nine individual rankings this season. He was 3rd in the NCAA last season and has not lost in Division III this year. Four wrestlers will be looking for their third All-American awards in Hershey. Paul Bewak of Johns Hopkins is ranked 6th at 125 and has a pair of 7th place finishes to his name. Brandon Jones of NYU is 4th at 141 and has placed 5th and 3rd in 2013 and 2014. Zach Zotollo of TCNJ is ranked 5th at 174 and has finished 4th and 6th. Finally, Aaron Karns is 3rd at 197 for Delaware Valley and has finished 6th and 4th.
A wrestler to watch is 174 lbs. freshman AJ Kowal of Stevens. Kowal dropped to 174 in the second half of the season and has now pinned all 11 wrestlers he has faced at that weight while remaining undefeated in DIII at any weight. Also in the mix, if not the rankings, is a late-arriving wrestler from Ursinus. Matan Peleg came back from his injury just this month, and the 2014 regional heavyweight finalist has wrestled just five times since his February 7th debut.