2015 NCAA Preview: 174 lbs.

Conner Lefever

Conner Lefever hopes to become the third Lefever to stand on the podium this weekend

 

2014 Champion: Landon Williams, Wartburg

2015 Field (with rankings)

West 1 (10) Martin Augsburg
West 2 Gardner Concordia-Moorhead
West 3 Mergener Concordia Wisconsin
Central 1 (6) Hamm Cornell
Central 2 (4) Welter Wartburg
Central 3 (8) Harrington Coe
Midwest 1 (1) Lefever Wabash
Midwest 2 (5) Newman Whitewater
Midwest 3 (9) Allen Olivet
Mideast 1 (2) Thomson Messiah
Mideast 2 (7) Chase Baldwin Wallace
Mideast 3 Cain RIT
East 1 (3) Zotollo TCNJ
East 2 Sibblies Centenary
East 3 Diesel Wilkes
Northeast 1 Ressler Roger Williams
Northeast 2 Shermot Coast Guard
Northeast 3 Sblendorio Wesleyan

Conner Lefever joins brothers Reece and Riley in the tournament for the second year in a row. The other two have been All-Americans, and Conner enters the tournament as the top seed hoping to not only get on the podium for the first time, but become a national champion in his own right. He has not lost to a Division III opponent this season and has wins over the ranked Welter, Newman, and Allen. Sorting out the bracket after that is a chore, as nobody has made it through unscathed. Two time All-Amerian Josh Thomson of Messiah won the Mideast regional, getting his third win in a row over Chase of Baldwin Wallace after losing to him early in the season. He dropped a wild 14-13 match to Whitewater’s Newman at Wheaton, but defeated fellow two time All-American Zach Zotollo of TCNJ in a dual meet late in the year. The loss to Thomson is Zotollo’s only blemish in a short season where he only has wrestled 21 times.

Jordan Newman of Whitewater and Brandon Welter of Wartburg could challenge for a spot in the finals as well. Newman has the win over Thomson, but he has injury defaulted during the finals of both the WIAC tournament and the Midwest Regional. Welter defeated Newman and has split with both Gardner and Hamm, losing to Hamm in the Central final. Hamm has had a bit of an uneven season, but comes in on a nine match winning streak with wins over Welter and Harrington in the last month. Augsburg’s Martin only got in the lineup when Hensel dropped to 165, but went on to win the West region. Sibblies of Centenary dropped to 174 for the second semester and turned an early season 10-3 loss to Kowal from Stevens into an overtime decision win to qualify for the second year in a row.