2015 NCAA Preview: 149 lbs.

Daniel Mirman was close to the finals last year and aims to improve on his 6th place finish

2014 Champion: Ryan Prater, Elmhurst

2015 Field (with rankings)

West 1 (10) Keeter Augsburg
West 2 Bohm Platteville
West 3 Kostik Concordia-Moorhead
Central 1 (2) Martin Wartburg
Central 2 Gray Luther
Central 3 (9) Engle Cornell
Midwest 1 (6) Savenok Wheaton
Midwest 2 Segal North Central
Midwest 3 (8) Perkin Whitewater
Mideast 1 (1) Mirman John Carroll
Mideast 2 (5) Lohr Waynesburg
Mideast 3 (7) Mayville RIT
East 1 (3) Arnold Ursinus
East 2 (4) Fava Delaware Valley
East 3 Evans Wilkes
Northeast 1 Gaffney Ithaca
Northeast 2 Del Gallo Southern Maine
Northeast 3 Garripoli Williams

This is the first weight without a returning finalist, though the 3rd, 5th, and 6th place finishers are all back in 2015. Vinny Fava finished 3rd last season and was undefeated on the year until dropping an overtime decision to the undefeated Arnold of Ursinus. Mirman of John Carroll lost in overtime in last year’s semifinals before falling to 6th place. Perkin split with Mirman at the NCAA Championships, winning the back half in the 5th place match. New to the weight and the NCAA this year is Martin of Wartburg. Martin wrestled for Clackamas Community College last season and is part of the lightning fast rebuild done by Wartburg in their quest for a fifth consecutive team championship. He has one Division III loss to a wrestler who did not qualify and has a win over Perkin this season.

Though just three of last year’s All-Americans return at this weight, Mark Savenok of Wheaton was an All-American at 157 last season. He dropped to 149 less than two weeks before the regional and came out on top in the Midwest. Augsburg’s Will Keeter was an All-American at 141 in 2012 but has not been back on the podium since. Josh Evans of Wilkes transferred from Eastern Michigan to Wilkes halfway through the year before qualifying out of the East. Daniel Del Gallo of Southern Maine became the seventh individual from his school to qualify, while Mayville (RIT), Lohr (Waynesburg), and Engle (Cornell) are all making return trips in search of their first All-American awards.

Update 3/9 – Luke Lohr was a 2013 All-American, placing 7th