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2013 Champion: Joe Rau, Elmhurst

2014 Field (with rankings)

The rest of this weight is a mess, but the top spot is pretty obvious, at least before the NCAA Championships. Riley Lefever of Wabash has gone 37-0 in a fantastic debut season. He defeated #5 Holm of Olivet and #7 DeVilbiss of Luther multiple times during the season and also defeated Harrison of Concordia-Moorhead and Balderas of Elmhurst, who is #9 at 197. After Lefever, nobody has gotten through this group of 184 wrestlers without a loss. #2 Broderick lost to #4 Welch but nobody else. Both of them defeated #8 Thomson of Messiah, the 3rd place finisher at this weight last year. Thomson beat #5 Holm. #6 Deupree stopped Welch in the Northeast final after two previous losses to the Roger Williams wrestler. #3 Twohey split with #6 Holm, losing the last in the Midwest final, but beat Thomson. As you can see, the seeding here is pretty complicated.

What is not complicated is the great tournament #10 David Dibenedetto of Washington & Jefferson wrestled to even get here. He started the year at 174 and was successful, but not dominant at either weight. However, he got hot at the right time and beat last year’s 3rd and 4th place NCAA finishers at this weight in the regional before avenging an earlier loss to Fine of Waynesburg to win the Mideast Regional. Dibenedetto isn’t the only guy at this weight who started the year at 174. Ryan Dormann of Stevens is a three time qualifier at 174 who started this year hoping to make it four times. He moved up during the season and will look for his first All-American award after a second place finish in the East.

2013 Champion: Mike Benefiel, Elmhurst

2014 Field (with rankings)

Alex Coolidge of Cornell enters as the favorite after a runner up finish in 2013 and a win at the Central Regional, but he will definitely be challenged. He has split matches this year with #2 Shane Siefert of Whitewater who finished 4th in this weight last season. Coolidge also split with #4 Soriano of Wartburg, but as with Siefert, he won the most recent matchup to earn the #1 spot. Siefert has only that one loss to Coolidge on his DIII record this year, so he will be a definite contender for the title. #3 Joe Giaramita was 8th at 285 in 2012, but he has dropped to 197 this year and also has just one DIII loss to Parcel of Roger Williams, who he split with this season. #7 Karns and #8 Hechsel finished in 6th and 7th place, respectively, last year, and each will be looking for a second trip to the podium.

#5 Jacob Lowry of Thiel is the only undefeated wrestler in this weight, though the only wrestlers in the field he has faced are the two from his own region. He at least beat both of those guys, while Jake Reuteler of Eau Claire has not defeated any of the wrestlers in the field and has lost the the three he has faced. Two of the unranked wrestlers are making repeat appearances in the tournament, as Shane Parcel of Roger Williams qualified at 184 last season and Ryan Michaelis returns at 197. Michaelis seems like the better chance to place coming off his win over Hechsel, who spent a short time at #1 in the NWCA rankings,  in the regional semifinals.

2013 Champion: Chad Johnson, Augsburg

2014 Field (with rankings)

As has been stated elsewhere on this site, 2x defending champion Chad Johnson of Augsburg has not lost to a Division III opponent since 2011. He has been in control of this weight class since there and shows little sign of dropping a match in Cedar Rapids. He has already wrestled and defeated the #2, #4, #5, #6, and #10 heavyweights this year. The unenviable task of attempting to knock him off the top of the podium is led by #2 Ryan Fank of Wartburg. Fank was 7th last year, but his only DIII loss so far this season has been to Johnson. He beat #3 James Buss of Loras, last year’s 4th place finisher, twice already this season. Anthony Edgren of Whitewater was 5th last season, thought he split with Minske of La Crosse, with Minske taking the most recent matchup in the Midwest finals.

The Northeast Regional provides two of the better stories in this tournament. Winner Kyle McGuire of Trinity came into the region unseeded and beat each of the top three seeds on his way to the championship and a trip to Iowa. The third place finisher in the region, Ricky Caruso of Bridgewater State, lost his starting spot to a D1 transfer in 2012 and  missed all of 2013 with an injury but came back strong to win 40 matches this year and make his first trip to the tournament.

Number of Teams Represented: 65

d3wrestle.com top ten wrestlers who entered the regional and failed to qualify: 11

2013 All-Americans who failed to qualify: 8

Three returning NCAA Champions won their region (Anderson, Kulchytskyy, Johnson); one failed to qualify (Biscaha)

Trophy Contenders (5 or more qualifiers)

Here are links to the Trackwrestling.com results for all the Regionals. Not all tournaments are necessarily using the Trackwrestling software to do live results, so these links may or may not work for the tournament you are interested in following.

Northeast Regional (Wesleyan) – Live Results (Saturday & Sunday)

East Regional (King’s) – Live Results (Sunday)

Mideast Regional (York) – Live Results | Possible Alternate Site: Brackets | Team Scores (Sunday)

Midwest Regional (Wabash) – Results Updated After Each Round (Saturday)

Central Regional (Loras) – Live Results (Saturday)

West Regional (Augsburg) –Live Results (Saturday)

2014 Northeast Regional
Saturday & Sunday, March 1 & 2, 2014
Wesleyan University – Middletown, Connecticut

d3wrestle.com Latest Rankings

2013 Results

Teams
Bridgewater State, Coast Guard, Cortland, Ithaca, Johnson & Wales, Norwich, Oneonta, Oswego, Plymouth State, Rhode Island, Roger Williams, Springfield, Trinity, University of Southern Maine, Wesleyan, Williams, Western New England, WPI

Top Ten Ranked Individuals – 2013 All-Americans in bold
125 – none (Casper was #8, but does not appear to be entered)
133 – #4 Gomez (Ithaca)
141 – #3 Bistis (Cortland), #8 Giacolone (Ithaca)
149 – #1 Dierna (Cortland)
157 – #9 Desilets (JWU), #10 Biscaha (Springfield), HM Lopez (Williams)
165 – #4 Schimek (Ithaca), #10 Crowell (Roger Williams)
174 – #4 Puca (Cortland), #8 at 184 Lenhardt (JWU)
184 – #3 Welch (Roger Williams), #7 Deupree (Southern Maine)
197 – #3 Giaramita (Cortland)
285 – none

Top 30 Teams
#4 Cortland
#12 Ithaca
#25 Springfield and Roger Williams (tie)

Once again, Cortland and Ithaca provide a lot of the top level talent in the Northeast Region, but Springfield and Roger Williams both have strong top to bottom teams, while Johnson & Wales has a few excellent individuals that will vie for All-American awards.

The top wrestler here is Bobby Dierna of Cortland at 149. He finished 3rd in a very tough weight last year, and has handled all DIII competition in an abbreviated season on his way to a #1 ranking. 157 could be the best weight, with a pair of All-Americans including last year’s NCAA champion Biscaha at #10 and Lopez of Williams just outside the top ten. Ahead of both them is #9 Desilets of Johnson & Wales who is undefeated at 157 this year and beat both Biscaha and Lopez this year. Biscaha shocked everyone with his unseeded run to the championship last year and hopes for a repeat performance. 157 gets some competition from 174 this year, as #4 Puca was an All-American a year ago, and Colin Lenhardt, a 184 placewinner in 2013, made a late drop to 174 this season to make things very interesting. Add Ithaca’s Toribio, who has been ranked this year, into the mix, and 174 is looking quite good.

A pair of Cortland wrestlers to watch are #3 Bistis at 141 and #3 Giaramita at 197. Both were All-Americans in 2012 and are situated well to repeat the feat after a year off the podium. #8 Giacolone will challenge Bistis at 141, while Ayen of Springfield and 2013 NCAA qualifier Parcel or Roger Williams will make a run at Giaramita. Roometua of Wesleyan qualified at 197 last year as well, but he has fallen completely out of the d3wrestle.com Rankings this season.

A last interesting note is that with Casper apparently not entered at 125, all three qualifiers from the Northeast at that weight will be wrestlers who do not appear anywhere in the last d3wrestle.com Rankings.

2014 Central Regional
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Five Flags Center – Dubuque, Iowa

d3wrestle.com Latest Rankings

2013 Results Team | Brackets

Teams
Augustana, Buena Vista, Central, Coe, Cornell, Dubuque, Knox, Loras, Luther, Simpson, Wartburg

Top Ten Ranked Individuals – 2013 All-Americans in bold
125 – #3 Camacho (Wartburg), #7 Wangsness (Luther), #9 Page (Central)
133 – #1 Obert (Luther), #2 Gotto (Coe), #3 Anderson (Wartburg)
141 – #4 Holmes (Loras), #9 Travis (Dubuque), #10 Schaub (Augustana)
149 – #9 Engle (Cornell)
157 – #2 Boyer (Coe), #3 Dewitt (Loras), #5 Yonkovic (Wartburg)
165 – #2 Welter  (Wartburg), #5 Mizaur (Dubuque)
174 – #1 Williams (Wartburg), #3 Ball (Coe)
184 –  #9 DeVilbiss (Luther), #10 Sheldon (Coe)
197 – #1 Coolidge (Cornell), #5 Soriano (Wartburg), #10 Lowy (Central)
285 – #2 Fank (Wartburg), #3 Buss (Loras)

Top 30 Teams
#1 Wartburg
#5 Coe
#11 Loras
#12 Luther
#14 Cornell
#27 Dubuque

The qualifier may have changed last year, but the top team remains the same. Instead of the Iowa Conference, Wartburg has moved on to dominating the Central Region. With seven ranked individuals, they will be a heavy favorite both in the region and to win their fourth consecutive NCAA Championhip. Even without the Knights, the Central would be very good, as there are five other ranked teams led by #5 Coe. The region has nine returning All-Americans; five are from Wartburg. Every weight has at least one top ten individual, and nine have more than one. If you make it to the NCAA Championships from this region, you have earned it.

133 is the best weight with three top ten individuals who are all returning All-Americans. Two time champ Kenny Anderson of Wartburg has battled injuries and some unexpected losses to #1 Obert and #2 Gotto, but should not be counted out on the big stage. Gotto was the runner-up at 125 last year, and Obert finished 8th at this weight. The other returning NCAA champion in the region is #1 Landon Williams of Wartburg at 174. Williams was 1st in 2012 and 3rd in 2013, both at 165, and he is undefeated against DIII competition.

The other weight with multiple returning All-Americans is 285 with #2 Fank and #3 Buss both in the mix. Buss was 4th and Fank was 7th last season, though Fank has the win over Buss this year and only a single loss to the defending champion Johnson in Division III competition. The top returning non-champion from last year is #1 Coolidge of Cornell. He was 2nd in the NCAA last year and has split this year with both #2 Siefert (Whitewater) and #5 Soriano (Wartburg), winning the last bout in both cases.

2014 Mideast Regional
Sunday, March 2, 2014
York College – York, Pennsylvania – Event Website

d3wrestle.com Latest Rankings

2013 Results Team | Brackets

Teams
Baldwin-Wallace, Brockport, Case Western, Elizabethtown, Heidelberg, John Carroll, Lycoming, Messiah, Mt. St. Joseph’s, Mt. Union, Muskingum, Ohio Northern, RIT, Thiel, Washington & Jefferson, Waynesburg, York

Top Ten Ranked Individuals – 2013 All-Americans in bold
125 – #4 Malmberg (Messiah), #10 Gunter (Baldwin-Wallace), Ellis (Brockport)
133 – #6 Border (Mt U), #10 McDermitt (Heidelberg)
141 – #1 Loht (Messiah), #6 Black (Mount St. Joseph)
149 – #5 Mirman (John Carroll), #10 Lohr (Waynesburg)
157 – #6 Garrison (Mount Union), #8 Gott (John Carroll), Contender Etzel (Wash.&Jeff.)
165 – #7 Carr (Wash.&Jeff.), #8 Daniels (Brockport)
174 – #5 Plummer (Messiah), #8 Bonaventura (Waynesburg), #10 Powell (Thiel)
184 – #5 Thomson (Messiah), HM Meaney (Elizabethtown)
197 – #4 Glover (Brockport), #8 Lowry (Thiel), HM Kramer (Messiah)
285 – #7 Lovejoy (Ohio Northern), #9 Majoy (Heidelberg)

Top 30 Teams
#3 Messiah
#15 Brockport
#19 Mount Union
#27 tied Waynesburg, Heidelberg

The Mideast Region looks to be one of the toughest of the six regions in 2014 in large part due to the depth and balance across the 17 teams. Messiah leads the way after one of the best seasons in program history, but should be challenged by the other ranked teams in the region.

There are several very tough weights in the Mideast region that include 2-3 top ten individuals and additional contenders vying for three births to the tournament. 125 could be the toughest weight in the tournament headlined by Lucas Malmberg and 2013 All-American Ellis. In addition to the two ranked wrestlers, Schneider (Heidelberg) and Spearman (W&J) qualified for the NCAA tournament last year in this weight. 174 has three top 10 wrestlers, however it lacks some of the depth of 125.

There have been some interesting developments in the second semester at 165 leading to a tough, deep weight. The addition of former Pennsylvania state champ Carr to the Washington & Jefferson roster as well as Daniels (Brockport) dropping from 174 bolster an already deep weight that includes 2013 region champ Sam Guidi (Waynesburg). The top individual in the region appears to be #1 ranked Kaleb Loht (Messiah) at 141 as he’s run up a record of 39-1 with no Division III losses.

With real balance in the region, most teams have a realistic shot to send individuals to the national tournament. One final interesting fact is that only Thomson (Messiah) at 184 is a returning All-American who is the top ranked wrestler at his weight in the region. Will those other returning placewinners step up like last year, or have they been eclipsed by the competition?

2014 West Regional
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Augsburg College – Minneapolis, Minnesota – Event Website

d3wrestle.com Latest Rankings

2013 Results Team | Brackets

Teams
Augsburg, Concordia-Moorhead, Concordia Wisconsin, Lakeland, Maranatha, Milwaukee School of Engineering, Pacific, St. John’s, St. Olaf, Eau Claire, Oshkosh, Platteville

Top Ten Ranked Individuals – 2013 All-Americans in bold
125 – #5 Fuenffinger (Augsburg)
133 – #9 Bergeron (Concordia Moorhead)
141 – none ranked, Behnke (Eau Claire)
149 – #6 Long (Concordia Moorhead)
157 – #1 Kulchytskyy (Oshkosh)
165 – none
174 – #2 Schiferl (Oshkosh), #7 Roach (St. Olaf)
184 – none
197 – #7 Hechsel (Augsburg)
285 – #1 Johnson (Augsburg), #5 Kasprick (Concordia Moorhead)

Top 30 Teams
#6 Augsburg
#8 Concordia Moorhead
#16 Oshkosh

The West Region will again be one of the weaker regions in 2014, though it has two of the better wrestlers in Division III in its ranks. That said, it looks to be a two team race between Augsburg and Concordia-Moorhead for the team title, and both teams should again have a large representation at the national tournament. There are three weights without a top ten ranked individual in the West. No other region has more than one (Central and Mideast have zero).

As stated before, despite the lack of depth, the West features two wrestlers each seeking a 3rd NCAA Championship after winning each of the last two years. Nazar Kulchytskyy was the 2013 d3wrestle.com Wrestler of the Year after earning his second title in Cedar Rapids last March, putting the cap on a dominant season. He is back at 157 where he won his first title in 2012. Chad Johnson of Augsburg is also hoping to finish out his career as a three time champion. He has not lost to a DIII opponent since his freshman year, and has only lost three matches total in the last three seasons combined. Neither should face much of a challenge this weekend, though Johnson has the tougher task with #5 Kasprick in the mix.

In addition to Kulchytskyy, Oshkosh has a second wrestler in Dan Schiferl looking to gain the top of the podium. Schiferl lost in the round of 12 last season, but is now up to #2 in Division III. He has just one Division III loss, but that loss is to #7 Roach of St. Olaf, who he will likely see in the finals this weekend, unless Gardner (Concordia Moorhead) or Martin (Augsburg) can insert themselves into the mix.

Finally, this region would have had a third returning NCAA Champion here at 149 in Greg Sanders of Concordia Wisconsin, but he was unfortunately the victim of a season ending injury and will not be able to defend his national title. That makes Long (Concordia Moorhead) the favorite here for sure with Keeter of Augsburg looking to regain his old form that saw him place 3rd at 141 in 2012.

2014 Midwest Regional
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Wabash College – Crawfordsville, Indiana – Event Website

d3wrestle.com Latest Rankings

2013 Results Team | Brackets

Teams
Alma, University of Chicago, Elmhurst, Manchester, North Central, Olivet, Trine, La Crosse, Stevens Point, Whitewater, Wabash, Wheaton

Top Ten Ranked Individuals – 2013 All-Americans in bold
125 – none
133 – #7 Binion (North Central), #8 Nehls (Whitewater), HM Venecia (Elmhurst)
141 – #5 Holm (Olivet), #7 Adcock (Whitewater)
149 – #2 Prater (Elmhurst), #4 Pederson (Olivet), #7 Perkin (Whitewater)
157 – #4 Lefever (Wabash), #7 Tardy (North Central)
165 – #3 Gibson (Whitewater), #9 Sampson (Wabash)
174 – #9 Allen (Olivet)
184 – #1 Lefever (Wabash), #2 Twohey (La Crosse), #6 Holm (Olivet), HM Olsen (Wheaton)
197 – #2 Siefert (Whitewater), #9 Balderas (Elmhurst)
285 – #4 Edgren (Whitewater), #6 Minske (La Crosse), #10 Koranda (Stevens Point)

Top 30 Teams
#2 Whitewater
#6 Olivet
#9 La Crosse and Wabash (tie)
#20 Elmhurst
#21 North Central

The Midwest was very tough last year, and this year follows the same script. There are only 12 teams, but a full half of them are ranked in the top 21. Four of the weights have at least six wrestlers in the d3wrestle.com Rankings, and three have three guys ranked in the top ten, making it tough to even get to the NCAA championships if a wrestler is not predicted to challenge for an All-American Award.

184 takes the prize as the toughest weight for sure, with the top two wrestlers in #1 Riley Lefever (Wabash) and #2 Eric Twohey (La Crosse) leading the way. #6 Holm is the third top ten guy here, but do not forget about Dan Olsen of Wheaton, a returning All-American after finishing 7th last season at this weight. 149 and 285 are the other weights with three ranked wrestlers, but of those six wrestlers, only #4 Edgren of Whitewater was an All-American a year ago. That said, #2 Ryan Prater of Elmhurst is 13-0 in an abbreviated season at 149 with a win over an All-American this year. He was a transfer from Illinois and will be heard from at the NCAA Championships.

Wabash has a trio of brothers in Reece (157), Connor (174), and Riley (184) Lefever, and all three stand a good chance of making it to Cedar Rapids. Reece was an All-American last season and sits at #4 in the rankings. Connor is just outside the top ten at 174, but is likely the #2 seed at the Regional. Finally, freshman Riley has gradually worked his way up to the #1 spot this season and sits at 34-0 in an outstanding debut year.

Finally, keep an eye on Alma College this weekend. They have not had a national qualifier since the program was resurrected in 2011, but they have a great shot at a few qualifiers this weekend. Matt Tuttle has been in and out of the top ten and has pins in 18 of his 25 wins this year, while Jamie Jakes will be seeded to qualify and has a win over #5 Plummer of Messiah this season.

2014 East Regional
Sunday, March 2, 2014
King’s College – Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania – Event Website

d3wrestle.com Latest Rankings

2013 Results Team | Brackets

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, Yeshiva

Top Ten Ranked Individuals – 2013 All-Americans in bold
125 – #1 Bewak (JHU),#2 Donaldson (Ursinus)
133 – #5 O’Boyle (McDaniel)
141 – #2 Jones (NYU)
149 – #3 Hartenstine (Wilkes), #8 Polizzi (Stevens)
157 – none ranked, Krawchuk (Wilkes), Ajagbe (Delaware Valley)
165 – #1 Burdge (Centenary), #6 Desir (King’s)
174 – #6 Zotollo (TCNJ)
184 – #4 Broderick (TCNJ)
197 – #6 Karns (Delaware Valley)
285 – #8 Roseberry (Delaware Valley)

Top 30 Teams
#17 Wilkes and Delaware Valley (tie)
#22 Centenary and TCNJ (tie)
#24 Ursinus

In 2013, the East Region was one of the toughest of the six in terms of both the difficulty of qualifying for the NCAA Championships and the region’s performance at the Championships itself. There has been a bit of a drop off this season, but there is at least a top ten wrestler at every weight but one. Wilkes and Delaware Valley head the team rankings here, but Ursinus is very balanced and expects to score well at all ten weights.

The top individual at this region is probably #1 ranked Chris Burdge of Centenary at 165. He is a 3x All-American who was upset in last year’s NCAA semifinal but bounced back to finish 3rd at 157. He is undefeated this year, but is just 13-0 thanks to missing some time in the middle of the season. He should be challenged by #6 ranked Desir of King’s, as well as Mancella of TCNJ and the talented but relatively untested Carlo of Ursinus. The other top ranked individual here is 2012 All-American Paul Bewak of Johns Hopkins at 125. He has a win in his only matchup this season with #2 Donaldson of Ursinus who defeated Bewak for the first time ever in last year’s Regional semifinal. Donaldson did lose this past weekend to Mui of Merchant Marine in the Centennial final, so that’s another name to watch for in what is becoming an interesting weight class.

Another top ten wrestler to lose since the rankings came out is Polizzi of Stevens. Derek Arnold of Ursinus continued his great freshman season with a dominating win in the Centennial finals at 149 to put himself firmly in the NCAA conversation. With #3 Hartenstine of Wilkes in the mix along with Delaware Valley’s Fava just outside the top ten, 149 will leave a very good wrestler at home after Sunday’s tournament.