How they fared: #1 ranked wrestlers
Most teams took a small break this past weekend for the holiday, so now is a good time to check up on the top ranked wrestler at each weight class, now that most, if not all, teams have competed. Both the NWCA and d3wrestle.com rankings concur on the top wrestler at each weight.
125 – Seth Flodeen – Augsburg – Flodeen has not competed yet, but he only really missed the Auggie Open. Augsburg did dual Augustana (SD) on Wednesday, but Augustana forfeited 125 to a different Augsburg wrestler.
133 – Dave Morgan – King’s – 2007 champ Morgan is undefeated, winning the King’s Tournament over #10 Mike Gummerson and continuing with the lone victory for King’s against Delaware Valley, defeating Eric McCann.
141 – Mike Bonora – Rhode Island – Bonora sits at 10-0 with titles at the Roger Williams and Doug Parker Invitationals to go along with a dual meet win. Rhode Island won both team titles as well.
149 – Joe Pflug – Heidelberg – Pflug has one match on the year, winning in a dual against Tri-State at 157. Where he wrestles in tomorrow’s dual against Mount Union and the Petrofes Tournament this weekend may show whether he plans to stay at 157 or 149.
157 – Quincy Osborn – Augsburg – Osborn won the 157 Gold Division of the Auggie Open by sweeping four matches, a good indication that he will handle the two weight class jump just fine.
165 – Tim Palmer – UW-La Crosse – Palmer opened with a third place finish at the Harold Nichols Open, losing only to Aaron Denson of Division II Nebraska-Omaha. He followed his 5-1 day with a three match sweep at the Olivet Duals, defeating #6 Daron Cruikshank in the process.
174 – Josh Chelf – UW-La Crosse – Chelf also placed third at the Harold Nichols, falling to Cauley of Lindenwood. Chelf also went 3-0 at Olivet, defeating #4 Ben Plowman 10-0 in the opening dual.
184 – Romeo Djoumessi – Wartburg – Djoumessi rolled to the title at Coe, defeating NAIA #5 Nigel Kenworthy in the finals. He continued with a technical fall against UW-Stevens Point on Wednesday to get to 5-0.
197 – TJ Miller – Wartburg – Last year’s D3 champ made the finals at Harold Nichols, falling only to Iowa State starter David Bertolino 5-0. Wednesday, he became the first #1 ranked wrestler to fall to a Division III opponent, losing 5-3 to #4 Craig Bollig of UW-Stevens Point.
285 – Jaran Rutledge – Rutledge won the Knox Invitational with three falls and a 5-3 win over McGlaughlin from Rend Lake Community College.
This week, Augsburg has the MSU-Moorhead Dragon Open and UNI Open. Wartburg is at Loras Thursday with the Simpson Invitational on Saturday. UW-Lax wrestles Platteville Thursday and the UW-Lax Invitational on Saturday. King’s is at TCNJ on Wednesday and the Petrofes this weekend. Rhode Island College has Plymouth State on Wednesday and the RIT Tournament on Saturday. Heidelberg wrestles Mount Union tomorrow and Petrofes this weekend. Finally, Knox will be at the MSOE Quad on Friday and the MSOE Invitational on Saturday. This week is one of the last chances to see top ranked wrestlers in action before the end of the fall semester.