Full List of 2011 NCAA Qualifiers (all 170)

Centennial Conference – Site | Brackets | Team Scores – OW Judd Connell, USMMA, 285, Team Champs USMMA, Glotfelty (McDaniel) is 285 wildcard

Empire Conference – Site, Team Scores & Wildcards | Brackets – OW Ecker, Ithaca, 133, Team Champs Ithaca

Great Lakes Regional – Site | Team Scores (bottom of page) | Brackets | Wildcards – Team Champs Augsburg
(St. Johns was 2nd, but will send 7 qualifiers over Augsburg’s 5)

Iowa Conference – Site | Brackets & Team Scores | Wildcards | Finals Photos – OW Tate, Wartburg, 197, Team Champs Wartburg (19 straight)

Midwest Regional – Site | Brackets & Team Scores – OW Garber, Waynesburg, 141, Team Champs Olivet, Brady (Manchester) is 149 wildcard

Ohio Conference – Site | Team Scores | Brackets – OW Miller, Ohio Northern, 165, Team Champs Mount Union, Curley (Heidelberg) is 165 wildcard

Sunday Qualifiers

New England Wrestling Association – Site & Brackets | Team Scores – Team Champs Springfield (Malo, Grippi, Foote, Cambi wildcards)

Metro Conference – Site | Brackets | Team Scores | Wildcards – OW Martocello, York, 184, Team Champs Centenary

Wisconsin Conference – Site | Brackets | Team Scores | Wildcards – OW Yewah, Lax, 141, Team Champs UW-La Crosse

Quick hits on qualifier weekend:

IIAC finished Friday – Wartburg wins with seven champs and three runners-up, 7 qualify for Coe

Centennial – USMMA wins again, Johns Hopkins 2nd

Empire – Ithaca 1st, Cortland 2nd, Messiah 3rd

Midwest – Olivet 1, Wabash 2, Waynesburg 3

Great Lakes – Augsburg wins 9th in a row, St. John’s 2nd

NEWA – first day finished, they wrap tomorrow

Ohio – Mount Union takes it, Miller (ONU) outstanding wrestler

Metro and Wisconsin are at it Sunday.

Great Lakes Regional Championships – 29 qualifiers
Saturday, February 26, 2011 at Lakeland
Returning Qualifiers/AA: Roberts (Augsburg, 4th, 125), Fitzenreider (North Central, 133), Batsukh (St. John’s, 1st, 141, now 149), Valek (Augsburg, 2nd, 149), Berns (Concordia-MN, 7th, 149, now 157), Skillings (St. Olaf, 157), Ponce (Augsburg, 2nd, 165, now 157), Baarson (St. John’s, 165), Waples (St. Olaf, 165), Molitor (Augsburg, 3rd, 174), Dankers (Concordia-MN, 8th, 174), Moenkedick (Concordia-MN, 1st, 184), Baxter (St. John’s, 7th in ’09, 184), Massey (Augsburg, 3rd, 197), Corsello (Elmhurst, 285)

Ranked first at various times this season, Augsburg is the top ranked team coming into the regional at #3. They are closely followed, however, by #6 Concordia and #7 St. JOhn’s. Concordia has even defeated the Auggies in a dual meet, dealing Augsburg only its fourth loss to a MIAC school since 1975. As is typical, this region is packed with talent and even earned an extra wildcard spot compared to last season, bringing the total number of qualifiers up to 29. There are four returning NCAA finalists from last year, and that does not include a pair of finalists from 2009 who did not make it back last year. It should be a good team race between the top three with plenty of other teams sending individuals to the NCAA championships. The finals at 149 should be a marquee matchup between two time champ Batsukh (at 141) of St. John’s and last year’s runner up Valek of Augsburg.

125
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Presler (Concordia, 4th), Roberts (Augsburg, 5th), Scholten (Augustana, Contender)
Roberts was an All-American last year, fighting his way back to fourth after losing in the semifinals. He has lost to Presler this year, a junior who has done much better since dropping to 125 in January. Roberts has, however, defeated serveral other top ten competitors despite falling twice to McKinney of La Crosse, the wrestler he beat to make the semifinals last season. Scholten is a freshman with 34 wins who has yet to see either Presler or Roberts, but he has avenged several of his losses to other wrestlers in the d3wrestle.com Rankings. Other contenders at this weight are DeLigio of MSOE and Laskowske of Elmhurst.

133
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Fitzenreider (North Central, 2nd), Henle (St. John’s, 10th), Hohbein (Concordia, Contender), Denhof (Elmhurst, HM), Suparat (Augsburg, HM), Lubner (Concordia-WI, HM)
Fitzenreider was the #2 seed at the NCAA championships last season before faltering and failing to place after running into current #1 Livingston of Centenary in the All-American round. This year, he is ranked #2 behind that same Livingston and should be favored to make a return trip to the championships in search of redemption. His only losses are at the Midlands, and he has beaten several of the competitors at this weight, though he has not yet seen Henle or Hohbein, and they may be his top competition here. Henle has defeated Hohbein and split with Suparat. Augsburg tends to have a good showing at this tournament, so perhaps Suparat can shake off some recent losses and get to La Crosse.

141
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Zobac (North Central, 10th), Sandy (St. John’s, Contender), Hansen (Augsburg, Contender), Quiros (Augustana, Contender), Timmerman (St. Olaf, HM), Baca (Elmhurst, HM)
Lots of new faces here compared to last year where Batsukh was the national champ and two time runner up Vanier also appeared. This year, Zobac is in the top spot and in the top ten. He has just one DIII loss, but it was to Elmhurst’s Baca. Zobac holds a 2-1 season edge over Baca, however. Sandy transferred from Wartburg to St. John’s looking for a spot in a starting lineup, and he found it with the Johnnies. His only losses are to top ranked wrestlers, and he has some good wins. Hansen is ranked, but he has not wrestled in awhile, so Augsburg’s entry could be Keeter instead. Quiros and Narveson of MSOE both have over 30 wins and cannot be counted out, while Timmerman is 25-4 with losses to both Quiros and Sandy.

149
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Batsukh (St. John’s, 3rd), Valek (Augsburg, 4th), Earley (Elmhurst, HM)
What 149 lacks in ranking depth, it more than makes up for in quality, as you have two time 141 champ Batsukh match up with 149 runner-up Valek. Batsukh took the first match between the two 6-1, and both have lost to the #2 ranked wrestler Woszczak of Ithaca. Valek has also lost to Groth of Wartburg, while both have defeated three time All-American Mauseth of La Crosse. It looks to be a two man race here, as the other entrants here cannot match the firepower of these accomplished competitors. Earley is the next best guy here, but he has yet to beat anyone with a good chance of making it to La Crosse.

157
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Ponce (Augsburg, 4th), Berns (Concordia, 6th), Roberson (Lakeland, Contender), Larson (St. John’s, HM), Skillings (St. Olaf, HM)
A fairly deep weight class, the big news here came when last year’s NCAA runner up at 165 Ponce made a late move down in weight to earn the top spot here. Berns was an All-American at 149 before moving up to 157 this season and has earned a #6 ranking. His only DIII loss is to the #2 ranked Banks of Wartburg. He has not wrestled Roberson, but has beaten Larson of St. John’s and Bodi of North Central. Roberson is a senior with just two losses, and he is poised to possibly pick up a wildcard with a good weekend. Pope of MSOE was an NCAA qualifier in 2009, and Skillings was a qualifier at this weight last year and cannot be counted out.

165
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Baarson (St. John’s, 1st), Bahr (Augsburg, Contender), Graham (Augustana, HM), Renon (Lakeland, HM), Waples (St. Olaf, HM)
Baarson lost to the 3rd and 4th place finishers last year at the NCAA tournament, but he is right now ranked #1 above both of them. His only DIII loss on the year is to LeClere of Coe, but he later avenged that loss to earn his current ranking. Bahr stepped into the Augsburg lineup when defending runner-up Ponce dropped to 157, dropping himself from 174 to 165 in order to get a starting spot. He has only been at 165 for a few weeks, but his last win was against NCAA qualifier Schulte from Stevens Point. Graham and Renon are a step down from the top contenders but still good. Waples has only wrestled Baarson from this group, but he was an NCAA qualifier last year at this weight.

174
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Molitor (Augsburg, 3rd), Pfarr (St. John’s, 5th), Dankers (Concordia, 6th), Savegnago (Elmhurst, Contender), Schroeder (North Central, HM), Vavra (Augustana, HM)
Molitor would probably be ranked #1 if he had ever been able to beat Schmitz of La Crosse, but two losses to him this year to go along with one in the national semis last year have him at #3, which is enough to be the top guy at this weight in the region. Beyond rankings, he has wins over Dankers and Pfarr, and those losses to Schmitz are the only two he has suffered in DIII this year. Pfarr was not a qualifier last year, but he beat the All-American Dankers as well as the highly ranked Priest of Ithaca. With three wrestlers in the top ten, Savegnago, Schroeder, and Vavra may be out of luck when it comes to the wildcard meeting, especially given what we are about to see at the next weight.

184
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Moenkedick (Concordia, 1st), Baxter (St. John’s, 4th), Baus (Augsburg, 7th), Rau (Elmhurst, 9th), Rudd (St. Olaf, Contender), Marble (Wheaton, Contender), Malone (North Central, Contender)
Someone good is going to be left at home. With seven of the top 18 wrestlers in the country in the same weight class, it is the only reasonable conclusion. Moenkedick should be safe, considering his only loss is to the Minnesota starter Steinhaus and he has not yet been in danger of losing a match since then. He blanked the #2 ranked wrestler at the weight and beat the #4 ranked Baxter 8-3. What happens below him is what will be interesting. Baxter and Baus have split this year, Rhoads is the Wheaton champ, and Rau has just two losses (one to Rhoads). Marble is the leader in wins, but may be the first man left home if the coaches take two wildcards here (top two at each weight are auto qualifiers). That “honor” could also go to Rudd, as he has a win over Marble early on. Malone is 30-9, but six of those losses are courtesy of Marble and Rau.

197
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Massey (Augsburg, 3rd), Willaert (St. John’s, 10th), Schmitz (Concordia, Contender)
Massey is a former champ who was third last year; his only loss is to Tate, the defending champ. He has beaten Tate before, however. He could definitely get a rematch in the NCAA finals coming out of the #3 seed. Willaert could also become an All-American. He lost to Massey but beat Schmitz this year, solidifying his #2 spot in the conference. If that seed holds, he will punch his ticket to La Crosse. Schmitz may be overshadowed in the Cobber lineup by the two All-Americans below him, but he is hovering just outside the top ten and only needs one hot weekend to place. Things start to thin out after these three, though all three could qualify.

285
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Corsello (Elmhurst, 2nd), Johnson (Augsburg, 7th), Bourressa (Concordia, 9th)
Corsello was undefeated and the #1 seed last year after a runner-up performance the year before, but he faltered in Cedar Rapids and failed to win a match. This year, he is back and again undefeated. He is ranked #2 and should carry that through to La Crosse with a good performance Saturday. He has beaten several ranked opponents this year. Johnson is a freshman stepping into All-American Andy Witzel’s shoes and filling them well. With this weight cleared out from last year, he is sitting in good position to place. Bourressa is 20-4 without having wrestled Johnson or Corsello. It is Corsello’s weight to lose as he looks to finish his career as a three time All-American and national champion.

Final NEWA Individual Rankings – February 17, 2011

New England Wrestling Association Championships – 14 qualifiers
Saturday and Sunday, February 26th and 27th, 2011 at Trinity
Returning Qualifiers/AA: Grippi (Springfield, 133, now 141), Paulish (Williams, 149, AA in ’09), Sutherland (Rhode Island, 149), Lenhardt (JWU, 174), Ward (JWU, 2nd, 184), Malo (Williams, 2nd, 197)

Wesleyan came through a topsy-turvy New England conference and landed in the top spot in the final Coaches Poll of the year. However, Springfield is the highest ranked team at #25, a few spots above #29 for Wesleyan. No other NEWA team made the final top 30, and there should be good competition for the team title at their two day championship. In the annual NEWA dual meet tournament, Wesleyan met Plymouth State in the finals, but the best team in New England is far from a settled question. Focusing on individuals, just three individuals in the tournament have been All-Americans previously. Two of them come from Williams, where Paulish was 4th in 2009, and Malo has been a runner-up each of the past two years. Ward of Johnson & Wales is the other All-American, and he was a surprise finalist last year. It should be an exciting tournament, and the unique wrestle back system employed adds a bit of drama to the proceedings. The team title may be decided by who can get the most placewinners 2-6 rather than who has the most NCAA qualifiers.

125
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Gauthier (RIC, Contender), Francis (Bridgewater, HM), Alvanos (Wesleyan, HM), Mattana (Williams, HM)
There’s no returning qualifier here, but there is clearly a sizable group of wrestler with a chance to win and attempt to get on a roll at the national tournament. Gauthier has earned the top spot with recent wins over the other contenders, and he had most of his losses early in the year. Francis started out very strong, but he has lost twice to conference foes in the last month. Mattana has lost twice to Alvanos but beaten Francis. It is going to be tough to predict this weight, and that does not even include the fact that Thomas of Springfield has wins over Mattana and Gauthier, or the fact that Huber of Plymouth State is talented and spent some time in the rankings last season. The hot wrestler is going to take this one, and 2nd place may end up left at home.

133
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Giron (Springfield, HM), Tanabe (Williams, HM)
Here is another weight class where it is not entirely clear who the favorite will be. Giron is ranked first by the coaches, but he has been defeated the fifth ranked Gerry of Coast Guard. Drappi of Rhode Island is #2, but he has lost twice to Cole of Southern Maine. Tanabe has lost to Nagata but beaten Cole. None of these wrestlers will be seeded at the NCAA tournament or given much of a chance to place, and like 125, it seems like the wrestler who has the best two days will take this, as any of six wrestlers have a realistic chance to come out on top.

141
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Antista (Williams, Contender), Goewey (USM, HM), Trasso (RIC, HM), Grippi (Springfield, HM)
Trasso and Goewey have each handed the other his most recent loss, but Antista and his 20-2 record is the leader here. Trasso is not far behind at 29-3, and he has more wins against the field so far. Those two have yet to meet, so their first encounter this season could be pretty important. Grippi is easy to overlook with his losses to both Trasso and Goewey, but he was an NCAA qualifier one weight below this last year and has just 3 losses. The NEWA Coaches rankings have Chatham listed for Springfield, but Grippi wrestled in the Pride’s last two duals, so it is hard to know what to make of this.

149
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Sutherland (RIC, Contender), Tobochnick (Wesleyan, HM)
Sutherland has just one loss this year, and it was to the defending NCAA runner-up Valek, so he gets the nod here and the pole position to earn another tip to the NcAA tournament. Paulish of Williams has been an All-American and multiple time qualifier, though he has lost to Tobochnick recently. His losses to some other non-ranked wrestlers have pushed him out of the d3wrestle.com list. Webster of JWU is 2nd in the NEWA poll, though he seems to have earned that spot primarily by beating Tobochnick. Tobochnick, for his part, has won 14 matches in a row against almost exclusively New England competition. Other contenders include McGilvray of Springfield and Oliverio of Plymouth State.

157
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Willey (Plymouth State, HM)
This is not a great weight class for the NEWA in terms of national significance, but it should be competitive. Willey is ranked #1 and the only wrestler in the d3wrestle.com Rankings. He is 18-1 but has hardly wrestled anyone outside of his own conference, making it tough for him to get noticed nationally. He has beaten all his top competitors for this weekend, however. This weight is a good example of how it can be tough to evaluate NEWA wrestlers for national ranking consideration because many of them do not wrestle much outside of the 13 team conference. Snyder of Coast Guard is the second best guy here with 29 wins. There are six wrestlers over 20 wins, along with Willey’s 18, so some good matches could be in store.

165
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Archambeau (Springfield, Contender)
Archambeau is the class of the weight here, hovering just outside the national top ten and winning the title at Messiah Petrofes. He is undfeated in New England, but it is worth noting that he defaulted in his last match on January 30th and has not competed since. Raymond of Bridgewater State is ranked 2nd in New England, though he does have two losses to Monson of Roger Williams. He does have some decent out of region wins against the likes of Dennis (W&L) and Marich (Wilkes). Monson has those two wins over Raymond but has lost to four other NEWA wrestler this season. If Archambeau answers the bell this weekend, he should be your champ.

174
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Bates (Bridgewater, Contender), Lenhardt (JWU, HM), Carter (Plymouth State, HM)
Bates was 2nd here last year but the coaches skipped him in favor of Lenhardt, but he has earned the #1 spot here and hopes to win the automatic bid and prevent the wildcard meetin from going against him two years in a row. He has not lost to anyone in New England and beat Lenhardt (again) in their only meeting this year. Carter also is in the discussion here as a result of his win over Lenhardt, but Parcel of Roger Williams has earned the #2 spot in the coaches rankings with wins over both Carter and Lenhardt to go along with his two losses to Bates. Since Lenhardt was a qualifier last year but is not favored to win, there is a chance that a wildcard could come out of this weight class.

184
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Ward (JWU, 6th)
We waited until 184, but here is the first of three NEWA wrestlers ranked in the top ten. ward was a surprise finalist after using a series of big moves to stun the #1 and #4 seeds with falls before falling to Moenkedick in a match where he very nearly pulled the same trick for a third match in a row. He is 26-2, losing once up at 197 and once to former All-American Baxter of St. John’s. He has been dominant in conference, putting up a lot of bonus point wins against the same wrestlers looking to dethrone him this weekend. He has not yet seen the #2 guy here in Ernst of Roger Williams. Lomio of Williams and Ajayi of Wesleyan are other potential placewinners at this weight.

197
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Malo (Williams, 2nd), Frazer (Bridgewater, HM)
Here is the top wrestler in New England in Malo. A two time NCAA runner-up, he will have to deal with each of the two wrestlers that beat him in the finals in La Crosse. If he is focused, he should have little trouble getting to the top of the NEWA podium again, even considering his loss to Frazer of Bridgewater State, a result that should not be expected to repeat itself. He has not been pinning at nearly the same rate as last season, but he keeps winning and lost in overtime to defending NCAA champ Tate. Spencer of Southern Maine and Mulligan of Johnson and Wales will join Frazer in trying to take Malo out, but Malo will get a wildcard even if that somehow happens.

285
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Cambi (RWU, 10th), Fusco (Springfield, HM), Vaughan (Trinity, HM), Conroy (Wesleyan, HM)
Cambi decided to get big over the offseason and make the move from 197 to 285, a choice that has paid off with a national ranking and status as the favorite in New England. He lost to a bumped up Malo and Etown’s Katzaman for his only DIII losses and has knocked off each of the top contenders save for Fusco, who he has not faced. Fusco has some good wins but has lost to Gagnon of Plymouth State and Foote of Williams. Vaughan is near the 285 limit, and all four of his losses are to conference foes. Conroy has won some and lost some in the conference. The only thing that is sure is that Cambi is the favorite, but places 2-6 are up for grabs.

contributed by Eric Walker, Elizabethtown College

Metropolitan Conference Championships – 18 qualifiers
Sunday, February 27th, 2011 at King’s College
Returning Qualifiers/AA: Will Livingston (Centenary, 133, 3rd), Dan Herr (TCNJ, 133), Matt Ulrich (Delaware Valley, 141, 6th), Tye Boyer (Elizabethtown, 149), Jesse Harrington (Delaware Valley, 157, 5th), Justin Bonitatis (TCNJ, 165, ’09), Matt Magill (NYU, 157, 8th, now 165), Dan Daddino (Delaware Valley, 174), Mike Rielly (King’s, 174), Mike Denver (TCNJ, 184, 7th).

TCNJ reclaimed the team title last year after Wilkes took it away from them the year before.  This year TCNJ is again looking to claim another Metro title, but it won’t be easy, especially with the addition of Delaware Valley this season.  6 of the 10 teams in the conference are ranked in the top 30 in the latest NWCA team rankings.  TCNJ is led by Dan Herr (133), Justin Bonitatis (165), Brian Broderick (174), and Mike Denver (184).  Centenary is loaded to make a run at the title this year led by Jose Vega (125), Will Livingston (133), Dave Alsieux (141), Jon Stillo (149), Owen Vernon (157), Matt Regan (165), Tim Lutke (197), and JD Zitone (285), a transfer from Delaware Valley.  They certainly have the fire power to bring home their first team championship in history.  Certainly schools like Wilkes, Elizabethtown, York, and Delaware Valley also have line ups that could make some noise at the conference championships as well.  There was not one undefeated team in the conference this year so there is evidently some parity to this year’s tournament.

125
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Bentley (Elizabethtown, Contender), Vega (Centenary, Contender), Frankel (Delaware Valley, H.M.)
With the transfer of 2x conference champion Tyler Erdman, this weight class is certainly up for grabs as Bentley of Elizabethtown comes in with the best record but has a loss to Vega of Centenary.  Frankel of Del Val has dropped down from 133 and has had some good wins (1 over Vega) but also a few losses as well.  Throw in Hartman of York, who has been competitive with everyone, Oliver from Hunter, Dorsey of King’s, and Peterson of Wilkes and it will be a very competitive weight class.

133
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Livingston (Centenary, 1st), Herr (TCNJ, 5th)
The top two finishers from the conference championship last year look to be the front runners again this year.  Will Livingston has been dominant and worthy of his number 1 ranking as 16 of his 18 wins have been by bonus this year.  Herr will look to close the gap on Livingston, as he too is having an outstanding year with a 30-4 record.  Others looking to upset will be Gogatz of Hunter, Glatz of York, Signorelli of Scranton, and Harnish of Elizabethtown.  Look for one of the wild cards to come from this weight class.

141
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Albright (York, 4th), Alsieux (Centenary, 6th), Ulrich (Delaware Valley, 7th)
This is one of the more competitive weight classes at the tournament with 3 ranked wrestlers in the top ten.  Albright of York, who transferred from Pitt last year has had nothing but success this season.  He has wins over Alsieux and Ulrich.  Alsieux has two wins this season over Ulrich, but of course Ulrich was an All-American for Southern Maine last season at 141.  Others looking to spoil will be Wilson of Wilkes, Sheridan of Elizabethown, Messina of Hunter.  Look for one or possibly two wild cards to come from this weight class.

149
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Dattolo (Wilkes, 6th), Andrews (Delaware Valley, Contender), Darling (TCNJ, Contender), Stillo (Centenary, Contender), Boyer (Elizabethtown, H.M.)
Probably the deepest weight class at the conference tournament with five wrestlers ranked in the latest d3 rankings.  Boyer of Elizabethtown is the returning champion of the weight class, but Dattolo of Wilkes has had a great year with no losses in DIII.  Andrews of Delaware Valley has had wins over Stillo of Centenary and Darling of TCNJ, but has a loss to Gugliotti of York.  Dattolo is a two-time conference runner up but will be looking to go one step higher on the podium this year.  Possibility of a wild card here.

157
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Harrington (Delaware Valley, 3rd), Delgado (Hunter, 9th), Vernon (Centenary, H.M.)
Jesse Harrington of Del Val is a returning All-American(5th), and is looking to step a little higher up on the podium this year.  He will be challenged this year by Delgado of Hunter who has a win over Magill of NYU at 165.  Owen Vernon will have something to say at this tournament as he comes in with a 20-5 record.  Others looking to make some noise will be Everett of Wilkes, Sheridan of Elizabethtown, and Desir of King’s. Look for a wild card to come out of this weight class.

165
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Bonitatis (TCNJ, 4th), Magill (NYU, Contender), Regan (Centenary, Contender), Eno (Elizabethtown, H.M.)
Justin Bonitatis is the front-runner at this weight class.  He has wins over Regan and Eno.  Regan has a head to head win over Eno.  Magill is a returning All-American but is up a weight class.  It will be interesting to see how this weight class shapes up.  One guy that could add a little noise to this weight class is Ben Marich of Wilkes, who sports a 15-6 record and has quality wins over non conference opponents.  Others looking to place would be Heisey of York, Marinucci of King’s, and Chiappetta of Delaware Valley.

174
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Reilly (Kings, 4th), Meaney (Elizabethtown, 7th), Broderick (TCNJ, 8th).
This could be one of the more hotly contested weight classes in the tournament.  Mike Reilly of King’s, returns as the favorite of the weight class after missing last season due to injury.  He is the returning 2x conference champ and is looking for his 3rd title.  However, Julian Meaney of Elizabethtown and Brian Broderick have had great seasons and are looking to put a halt to his championship run.  All 3 find themselves in the top 10 of the rankings.  One particular person with credentials looking to spoil is Dan Daddino, a qualifier from a year ago.  Others in the mix for placing would be Stough of Wilkes and Sawari of Hunter.  One or possibly two wild cards could be given at this weight.

184
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Denver (TCNJ, 3rd), Martocello (York, 10th)
Mike Denver is the returning champ and looking to improve his place on the podium this season.  He will be challenged by Martocello of York who has had a couple close matches with Denver this season.  Others in the mix at this weight and are looking to crack the top 4 would be Galassi of NYU, Mitchell of Centenary, and Oberrender of Wilkes. You could certainly see a wild card out of this weight class.

197
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Tim Lutke (Centenary, 6th), Aaron Karns (Delaware Valley, 7th), George Saliba (York, Contender)
This will be a very competitive weight class.  Lutke of Centenary seems to be the early favorite with a win over Karns during the regular season.  Karns has had an impressive freshman campaign with a win over Saliba of York.  Saliba has been extremely consistent and has some signature wins of his own.  Others looking to spoil and has kept close with these guys are Dwyer of King’s, Landis of Elizabethtown, and Transue of Wilkes.

285
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Katzaman (Elizabethtown, 8rd), Laughlin (York, Contender), Smith (Wilkes, Contender)
This is another competitive weight class and could pose some problems with seeding.  Tim Katzaman seems to be the front runner at the weight class with a number 8 ranking, but he has a close loss to Zitone of Centenary.  Laughlin of York does not have a ton of matches under his belt but does have a win over Smith of Wilkes.  Smith of Wilkes has a win over Zitone of Centenary.  Pyle of Delaware Valley also has had close matches with these 4 guys as well.  Regardless of seed, any one of these top 4 guys has the same potential to win this weight class.

Midwest Regional – 11 qualifiers
Saturday, February 25th, 2011 at Wabash
Returning Qualifiers/AA: Brown (Thiel, 8th, 133), Garber (Waynesburg, 7th, 133, now 141), Strausbaugh (Wabash, 141, now 149), Tucker (Olivet, 141), Dukes (Case, 1st, 149)

With Delaware Valley taking its team title (and five allocated qualifiers) from the Midwest to the Metro, that leaves just one wildcard in play. Olivet is the team best poised to benefit from Delaware Valley’s departure, as the 9th ranked Comets are having a good season. Wabash is ranked 16th and has a pair of strong individuals in Strausbaugh and Rhoads while #27 Waynesburg is led by All-American Garber. The top wrestler in the tournament is defending NCAA champ Isaac Dukes of Case. He has held down the #1 ranking all year at 149 and was a Midlands placewinner.

125
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Crown (Waynesburg, Contender)
Crown is a heavy favorite here and has spent some time in the national top ten. He is 28-2 with his only DIII loss coming in his first competition of the year. He has yet to wrestle anyone ranked above him, but he has defeated pretty much everyone else. The next two best guys are probably Wilson from Olivet and Boyer from Wabash, but there is only one wildcard in this conference, and it is not coming from here.

133
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Brown (Thiel, 8th), Richmond (Olivet, Contender)
Brown is a two time All-American who has been able to save his best performances for the NCAA tournament. He has had a better record this year, only losing to Colagiovanni of Cortland in DIII. Like Crown at 125, he has not seen a lot of the top competition at this weight, but he has beaten pretty much whoever is in front of him and he also has the track record to back up his ranking. Richmond was a Wheaton placewinner, while Borz from Waynesburg was a January addition for the Yello Jackets and has taken half of his four losses to Brown.

141
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Tucker (Olivet, Contender), Garber (Waynesburg, HM)
Tucker was a qualifier last year and is a talented, if sometimes inconsisten wrestler. He has some good wins this year and some close losses. This might be the year he puts it all together on the right weekend and finds his place on the podium. Garber was an All-American at 133 last year and a qualifier the year before, and he has had an up and down year. He started off with some nice wins in season’s first few weeks, but he also has lost a few unexpectedly from time to time. One of those losses was to Etzel of Washington & Jefferson. Etzel has only wrestled five matches this year, but he is 5-0 and should be considered a possible entry at this weight. Payne of Wabash is a 20 match winner, but is probably a step behind the top two here.

149
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Dukes (Case, 1st), Strausbaugh (Wabash, 10th), Brady (Manchester, Contender), Lohr (Waynesburg, HM)
It is fitting that one of the stronger weights in the Region features the top wrestler in the region in Dukes. He is a tremendous athlete whose biggest win came against a top ten ranked DI wrestler in the opening round of the Midlands. He has majored Strausbaugh in both of their meetings thus far, showing the separation between him and the rest of the field. Strausbaugh has wrestled 50 matches already this year, and his best win is against three time All-American Mauseth of La Crosse. He has, however gone 2-1 against Brady this year, with Brady winning the last matchup at Wheaton. Lohr of Waynesburg has had very good freshman year, losing just three times all season, though he has not run into any of the top contenders here. Berger of W&J could also be in the mix to place in a weight class that has as good a chance as any to get the Midwest wildcard.

157
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Larson (Trine, 7th), Mena (Olivet, Contender), Fehring (Mount St. Joseph, Contender)
After a rough postseason last year that saw his freshman year end in a disqualification, Larson has grown into a very tough 157. He won the Wheaton tournament, beating a DII All-American along the way. He had a slight hiccup, however, in his last match against Olivet where Mena defeated him 4-0. Mena is 13-3, but Larson is the only notable victory to his credit, so it is hard to know what to make of that match. We will get the chance to find out this weekend, though. Fehring has 31 wins and has defeated several other d3wrestle.com ranked wrestlers, but lost 5-0 to Larson. Others to consider here are Youngs from Wabash and Miller from Thiel, and Johnston from Waynesburg.

165
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Myers (Olivet, 7th), Lowry (Thiel, Contender), Moore (Wabash)
This is another weight with some depth to it. Myers is the top guy, and has gone 22-4 this year, moving up to 165 for good in late December and taking second at Wheaton ahead of the ranked Curley of Heidelberg and Ferguson of La Crosse. He has also defeated Moore. Lowry is a good #2 here with wins over DiBenedetto of W&J, Lombardo of Waynesburg, and Pieper of Trine. DiBenedetto defeated the defending NCAA champ Renaut in a match in November but is just 18-13 on the year and has lost three in a row to guys who will be in this weight class.

174
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Markou (Trine, Contender), Tyler (Olivet, HM)
Markou has split with Tyler this year, but he has also beaten the defending NCAA champ Schmitz at Wheaton. He also has three losses to current #1 at this weight Kwiat of Ohio Northern. He is 32-8 so far and may have the rubber match with Tyler this weekend. Tyler has been inconsistent so far, splitting with Markou, losing to Graber of Manchester, but also defeating #5 ranked Pfarr of St. John’s. It seems like Tyler could win this weight class if he has a good day. Graber has not wrestled since his win over Tyler, so he is a maybe for this weekend. Roberts of Waynesburg is 21-7 and Stanley of Wabash is 21-14 to round out the weight.

184
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Rhoads (Wabash, 8th), Neal (Olivet, HM), Karwoski (Mount St. Joseph, HM)
Rhoads has put together a nice year capped off by a title at Wheaton. He is 35-14 so far. Neal also has some good wins, including one over Hagen of St. John’s who recently defeated Rhoads. Also in the HM list is Karwoski of Mount St. Joseph. His big win so far was an upset over Wheaton runner-up Marble. Marble has beaten Rhoads once but lost three times. Alber of Trine is probably the fourth guy here who will figure in the placement rounds, but with a 19-18 record, he is not a serious threat to win.

197
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Fleet (Trine, HM), Mies (Washington & Jefferson, HM), Leonard (Olivet, HM)
Fleet has to be the favorite here after two recent major decision wins over Leonard. He does, however, have an identical 26-13 record to Leonard. Fleet is experienced and has been close to qualifying before, so this could be his year. Mies is an engima. He finished December with a 5-7 record, but he has gone 10-0 since then to get consideration at this weight. He has not run into Fleet or Leonard yet, though. Jameson at 21-14 could also be a placewinner at this weight.

285
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Renas (Olivet, Contender), Forbes (Trine, Contender), Fedorka (Waynesburg, HM)
These last two weights in the Midwest do not have much in the way of national level wrestlers, but there should be some good competition to see who earns the automatic bid. Renas is one of the top guys here along with Forbes, but they have yet to see each other. Renas beat King of Manchester, but that is the only contender he has seen this year. He also has a good win over Zarate of Whitewater. Forbes is the leader in wins with 26, but he has lost to Zarate and not really won any matches to suggest he is an All-American candidate. Fedorka is 15-4 with his best win coming against Christopher of Gettysburg. King of Manchester and Harter of Case both have over 20 wins, while Clegg is 18-10 and has split with King.

Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletics Conference – 18 qualifiers
Sunday, February 27th, 2011 at UW-Platteville
Returning Qualifiers/AA: Lloyd McKinney (Lax, 125), Mileski (SP, 125), Mueller (Oshkosh, 125, now 133), Yewah (Lax, 1st, 133, now 141), Mauseth (Lax, 3rd, 149), Schulte (SP, 165), Ferguson (Lax, 8th, 165), Schmitz (Lax, 1st, 174), S. Engelland (Oshkosh, 174, now 184), B. Engelland (SP, 4th, 184), Latella (Whitewater, 197)

La Crosse ran away with the regular season again and, like Wartburg, never surrendered double digits in team points to a conference opponent. Of the nine returning qualifiers in the conference, five are from La Crosse, and three of them, Yewah, Mauseth, and Schmitz, have been NCAA champions. With a host of other nationally ranked wrestlers, the Eagles are thinking they have a chance to win more than just the WIAC and make a run at the national championship that they narrowly missed last season. Whitewater and Stevens Point seem best poised to go after that second spot in the team standings. Whitewater had a much better team in the second semester than the first, and Stevens Point is their typically strong self led by All-American Ben Engelland. Oshkosh has some wrestlers who will challenge for the conference title in Sam Engelland and freshman phenom Kulchytskyy.

125
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – McKinney (Lax, 3rd), Mileski (SP, Contender), DeLuca (Oshkosh, HM), Drees (Platteville, HM)
McKinney is the lone returning qualifier at this weight, and he has had a good season, working his way into the #3 spot in the latest rankings. He has not wrestled the other contenders at this weight this season except DeLuca, but he earned the top spot via some big wins, including two over last year’s 4th place finisher Roberts of Augsburg. Mileski was one of three WIAC qualifiers at this weight last year, but he has not wrestled since January, so he may be out. If he wrestles, he is probably the #2 seed. Drees is approaching 30 wins in a nice freshman year, and DeLuca has had the chance to get in the lineup with last year’s qualifier for Oshkosh (Mueller) moving up to 133.

133
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Sheley (Lax, 6th), Fredericksen (WW, 7th), Fish (Platteville, Contender), Mueller (Oshkosh, Contender), Kust (SP, Contender)
Another strong weight in a strong conference. Sheley has stepped in at 133 after Yewah moved up and gone 23-3 with a single DIII loss. He had won over all the WIAC contenders and an impressive number of other wrestlers appearing in the d3wrestle.com rankings including all three of the IIAC’s top wrestlers. Right behind him, though, is Fredericksen. He started wrestling in January and has put together a 20-2 record, only losing to Sheley in Division III. Fish, Kust, and Mueller have traded wins back and forth this year, and this is a weight where the WIAC will surely take two and may end up taking three, depending on how the tournament goes.

141
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Yewah (Lax, 1st)
The WIAC may be able to take three at 133 since they will likely take just one here. Yewah is head and shoulders above the rest, having gone undefeated in Division III. He may be the only entry at this weight with more than 15 wins unless one of the 133 wrestlers moves up. He has earned that #1 ranking by virtue of his record and wins over several returning All-Americans like Kelly of Wartburg and Ulrich of Delaware Valley. The next best guys at this weight will likely be Peterson of Platteville and Sweeney of Stevens Point, but they are pretty far behind the returning champ.

149
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Kulchytskyy (Oshkosh, 5th), Mauseth (7th), Magruder (SP, Contender), Sarbacker (Whitewater, Contender)
Mauseth is a three time All-American and former champ, but the freshman Kulchytskyy has to be the favorite after defeating in their dual. Kulchytskyy got a late start this year after recovering from offseason knee surgery, but has had some good wins to keep him high in the rankings. One thing to watch for is the fact that he has defaulted out of the last two tournaments after winning his first few matches. If his knee can hold up, he is a threat, but it seems like that may be an open question. Mauseth has proven he can win in the postseason, though he occasionally is prone to regular season lapses. At this tough of a weight, he will have to be on his game. Magruder is a clear #3 here with a chance to slip through to the NCAA championships, and Sarbacker is a good wrestler in a tough weight.

157
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Farwell (Lax, HM), Schmidt (WW, HM)
This is a weight without much in the way of national contenders, and perhaps someone like Magruder would consider a move up. If not, Farwell and Schmidt are the top two guys here, thought they are both properly rated in the Honorable Mention category. It is a pretty good weight nationally, and the group at 157 in the WIAC has not shown that they have a great chance to place, but anything can happen once you are in the tournament. That said, only one guy at this weight should move on, and Farwell and Schmidt have yet to see each other this season to make it easier to pick a favorite.

165
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Ferguson (Lax, 9th), Schulte (SP, Contender)
The top two guys at this weight were two of the representatives from this conference at the NCAA Championships last season. Both have had good, if short seasons, as Schulte is tied for the conference lead in wins at this weight with 16. Ferguson was an All-American last year, and he holds a head to head win over Schulte this season. Schulte was two matches from placing last year and he started very strong before trading wins and losses in equal proportion the rest of the way. One of those losses was to Kesselhon of Whitewater, a wrestler with no other wins on his resume to suggest that result should have happened. It did, and could make for an interesting seeding meeting. Other wrestlers with winning records here are Konitzer of Oshkosh and Hutterer of Platteville.

174
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Schmitz (Lax, 2nd)
This is another weight with an overwhelming favorite from La Crosse. Like 141, 174 only has a single ranked wrestler, but he is a returning NCAA champ. Schmitz had a puzzling loss to Markou of Trine at Wheaton, but he bounced back to beat All-American Molitor of Augsburg for the second time this year to re-solidify his #2 ranking. Conat of Stevens Point and Dickerson of Whitewater will be shooting to either upset Schmitz or snag a wildcard spot. Conat beat Dickerson 8-1 in their only match this year.

184
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – B. Engelland (SP, 2nd), S. Engelland (Oshkosh, Contender), Artist (Lax, Contender)
Ben Engelland has earned his #2 ranking by losing only to defending champ Moenkedick, and he will be looking for yet another WIAC title. He is a two time All-American, and should be the #2 seed at this weight at the NCAA tournament should he win the conference championship. His top competition will come, interestingly, from his younger brother Sam Engelland who wrestles for Oshkosh. Sam was at 174 last year, but moves up this season. He is second here ahead of Artist of La Crosse who he beat. Both Engellands have a good chance to move on at this weight, and it will be interesting to see if they wrestle, should they both make the finals.

197
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Latella (WW, 9th), Scott (Platteville, Contender)
Latella was an NCAA qualifier at this weight last year and will be the favorite going into this Sunday’s tournament. He had a curious loss to Yeo of McDaniel early in January, but he has come back strong from that and only lost in DIII to the #5 ranked Myhrberg of Cortland. d3wrestle.com had Jochem of Stevens Point in the Contender list, but it seems like Gregory is actually the starter for the Pointers, and Latella recently defeated him in a dual. Platteville’s Scott is another contender at this weight who started the year at 184 but moved up to 197 in January and has yet to lose since the first of the year. He has not wrestled either Gregory or Latella, however.

285
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Mayer (Lax, 6th), Zarate (WW, Contender), Wozniak (SP, Contender)
Three time champ Dan Laurent may be gone, but La Crosse still has the top ranked heavyweight in the WIAC. Mayer is ranked 6th in the country and has beated Zarate and Wozniak. He may be able to take advantage of a weight that has significantly cleared out since last year and become an All-American for the first time. Zarate beat Wozniak a few weeks ago and will be #2 here.

Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – 33 qualifiers
Friday, February 25, 2011 at Simpson
Returning Qualifiers/AA: Rush (Coe, 1st, 125), Kist (Wartburg, 125), Mogg (Buena Vista, 5th, 125), Hinschberger (Coe, 133), Matt Kelly (Wartburg, 3rd, 141), Kevin Donahue (Cornell, 4th, 141), C. LeClere (Coe, 141), Bokoski (Luther, 141), Groth (Wartburg, 149), Handley (Coe, 157), Warcynski (Dubuque, 157), Loughlin (Cornell, 157), Hanson (Loras, 157), Weber (Wartburg, 6th, 157, now at 165), Banks (Wartburg, 7th, 165, now at 157), N. LeClere (Coe, 4th, 165), Rehn (Coe, 7th, 174, now 184), Becker (Wartburg, 184), Tate (Wartburg, 1st, 197), Broll (Buena Vista, 197), Helgerson (Wartburg, 2nd, 285)

Each year, it seems like the other eight schools are fighting for second place behind Wartburg. It seems that way because it is true, as the Knights will be going for their 18th straight IIAC title. The #1 ranked Knights will be challenged mainly by #5 Coe for the second year in a row. It looks to be a two team race, as those are the only teams in the conference ranked in the top 15, with Cornell coming in next at #19. On an individual level, the tournament should be very competitive, as there are at least 21 returning NCAA qualifiers and 22 wrestlers in the latest d3wrestle.com top ten. Wartburg returns six All-Americans as well as several other qualifiers from last season. They were dominant in the conference schedule, not letting any IIAC reach double digits in the team score. While they are strong up and down the lineup, they really bring the hammer down in the last two weights where returning finalists Tate and Helgerson were both Midlands placewinners this year. Coe is led by defending champ and d3wrestle.com Wrestler of the Year Clayton Rush at 125. He has only lost to the DI champ this year and is heavily favored at both this tournament and the NCAA. As usual, the tournament should be fiercely contested as some good wrestlers will be left home, even with 33 allocated qualifiers.

125
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Rush (Coe, 1st), Kist (Wartburg, 2nd), Taylor (Dubuque, 6th), Mendoza (Luther, 7th), Mogg (Buena Vista, 8th), Hood (Cornell, 9th)
Obviously, this is the weight with the mostpower at the top, as no less than six of the top ten in the country are here. Though Rush is the heavy favorite, Kist has kept it closer with Rush than most. The real drama here is determining who will get the three automatic spots and whether or not any of the wildcards will come to this weight. It seems likely that at least one of the IIAC’s three wildcards will come at 125, and the new system allocating the ten extra qualifiers this year could get another one of this talented group to La Crosse. The freshman Mendoza has had a great season and looks to have a bright future at this weight, especially after it clears out with the graduation of Rush and Kist.

133
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Mirocha (Wartburg, 9th), Snider (Cornell, Contender), Hinschberger (Coe, Contender)
There was some turnover at this weight in the IIAC, with only Hinschberger returning from last year’s qualifiers. He is, however a clear #3 right now in the conference after taking losses to both Mirocha and Snider. Mirocha has lost just twice in DIII at 133, and both losses were to wrestlers ranked above him. He swept the IIAC schedule, pinning Hinschberger and defeating Snider twice. Snider has defeated everyone in the conference except for Mirocha. Nationally, the power in this weight is spread out with six of the nine qualifiers represented in the top ten, so it is a contrast to the IIAC-centric 125 class.

141
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Kelly (Wartburg, 8th), Donahue (Cornell, 10th), C. LeClere (Coe, Contender), Bokoski (Luther, Contender)
Kelly entered the NCAA tournament last season as a bit of an underdog, having not had the season expected, but he turned it on in Cedar Rapids and finished 3rd. This year has been more in line with expectations, even though he has only wrestled ten matches after joining the team in December. He lost to Bokoski in a close one, but came back to subsequently defeat both the All-American Donahue and LeClere. Regardless, he cannot be counted out come tournament time. Donahuehas wrestled well as of late including two major decision victories against Bokoski and a close win against LeClere. Seeding could be a little tricky with Bokoski’s win over Kelly, but it should shake out, and this could be a weight with a wildcard qualifier.

149
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Groth (Wartburg, 8th), Locke (Coe, Contender), Schwebke (Cornell, HM)
Groth was a qualifier at this weight last year and is the only top contender at this weight with NCAA experience. He has split with Locke this year, winning the most recent matchup. His other losses in DIII were to wrestlers ranked above him in the top ten. Locke swept both matches from Schwebke and has lost to some of the same highly ranked wrestlers who have taken down Groth. Schwebke is a clear #3 at this weight and has a win over OAC favorite Shadrach of Mount Union. One name to watch for here is Jason Pyle of Luther. He has only wrestled three matches at the beginning of the semester and is unlikely to be here, but if he enters, it could throw a wrench in the works, as he is a returning All-American.

157
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – C. Banks (Wartburg, 2nd), Handley (Coe, 5th), Loughlin (Cornell, 8th), Hanson (Loras, 10th)
Another very deep weight for the IIAC, and the list above does not include one of last year’s qualifiers Warcynski of Dubuque. Banks has dropped a weight from his All-American turn at 165 last year, swapping with teammate Weber, and he has only lost a 12-10 match to the top ranked Brenon. He defeated each of the other top contenders at some point throughout the year. Handley’s only DIII loss is to Banks, and he should contend for the title both here and two weeks later in Wisconsin. Loughlin was the NCAA #2 seed last year before failing to place, but he has bounced back and should be seeded third. Hanson came back after some time off to have a good season as he seeks to become an All-American. His only losses of any kind this year are one each to Banks, Handley, and Loughlin. This should be an easy weight to seed.

165
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Terrell (Dubuque, 2nd), N. LeClere (Coe, 3rd), Weber (Wartburg, 10th), Hambleton (Cornell, HM)
It looks like a two man race between some very talented wrestlers in Terrell and LeClere, though Weber was an All-American at 157 and cannot be counted out. LeClere bested Terrell in their first meeting this season back in the season’s first week, but Terrell returned the favor in late January to earn the top spot at this weight. LeClere has one other DIII lost to the top ranked Baarson of St. John’s. Weber, like teammate Kelly at 141, only joined the team midseason and has a win over Hambleton and a loss to LeClere. It would be a surprise if the final was anything other than Terrell vs. LeClere, and it would not be a shock if that final repeated itself two weeks later in the NCAA finals.

174
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – B. Banks (Wartburg, Contender), King (Coe, Contender)
This is not one of the top weights for the IIAc, as it is the only one without a top ten ranked individual. Banks takes the top spot based on winning the starting job at Wartburg and topping King in their match. A few other wrestlers who could work their way into the conversation here include Van Renterghem of Central, Minch of Dubuque, and Munsey of Cornell. It seems unlikely that a wildcard will come fromt his weight.

184
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Becker (Wartburg, 5th), Rehn (Coe, HM), Einerson (Dubuque, HM), Roberts (Cornell, HM)
Becker was an NCAA qualifier last year at this weight and has had some recent good wins to earn his top spot in the conference. Rehn was an All-American last year at 174, but he has not had nearly that level of success up at 184. He has been better lately, winning over Einerson and Roberts. Einerson dealt Becker a loss early in January and beat Roberts a few weeks later. No one else should really be able to insert himself into the NCAA qualifying conversation, as there are only three wrestlers in the tournament at this weight with more than 20 wins.

197
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Tate (Wartburg, 1st), Broll (Buena Vista, 8th), Johnson (Dubuque, Contender), Widmer (Cornell, Contender)
There is Tate, and then there is everybody else at 197. He has only lost in the Midlands final after winning the NCAA championship last season. He beat Broll, Johnson, and Widmer by bonus points in the last two months and only four DIII competitors have kept matches to a decision all season. Broll qualified last year and will challenge to be an All-American, even if he will not challenge to win the IIAC. Johnson split with Broll, so he may be able to slip into the final and earn his spot at the NCAA championships. Widmer will hope for a good performance to potentially either score an upset or get a wildcard.

285
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Helgerson (Wartburg, 1st), Burkle (Coe, 5th)
Helgerson also placed in the Midlands, knocking off more than one top ten ranked DI wrestler along the way. The only blemish on his DIII record is a disqualification for an illega slam against St. John’s. He has pinned almost every other contender in his conference and is as overwhelming a favorite in this tournament as there is. One can argue who is better between Tate and Helgerson but not where each belongs in the national rankings. Burkle has come on strong this year, and he has done well when not facing Helgerson. Klein of Loras may contend here as well and pick up that third spot at the NCAA tournament.

contributed by Bryan Brunk, Messiah College

Empire Conference Championships – 15 qualifiers
Saturday, February 26, 2011 at Ithaca
Returning Qualifiers/AA: Dave Colagiovanni (Cortland 125), Seth Ecker (Ithaca, 6th, 133), Mike McInally (RIT, 2nd, 133), Jeremy Stierly (Ithaca, 2nd, 141), Aljamain Sterling (Cortland, 4th, 141), Blaine Woszczak (Ithaca, 4th, 149), Isaiah Britton (Lycoming, 149), David Priest (Ithaca, 174)

Just like last year, Ithaca is the overwhelming favorite in the ever competitive Empire Collegiate Wrestling Conference, but upset minded Cortland is the defending champion.  Ithaca currently has five wrestlers ranked in the top 10 by d3wrestle.com and could have as many as 6 top seeds at the tournament.  In addition to Cortland, Brockport always seems to give a strong performance at the conference tournament, although some losses to the roster throughout this season could make it tough.  Messiah, Lycoming, and Oneonta all look to be in the mix to finish in the top three, while RIT and Oswego boast some of the top individuals.

125
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Cohen (Ithaca, Contender), Colagiovanni (Cortland, HM), Gentilcore (Oswego, HM)
While this doesn’t look to be the strongest weight in the conference it certainly should be on of the most hotly contested.  Although he’s only wrestled in twelve matches, an overtime win over Cohen in a late season dual could make Colagiovanni the top seed.  Still Gentilcore has had a great rookie season posting a 23-7 record and may have something to say about this.  Hinton (Lycoming), Lethbridge (Messiah), and Delamothe (Morrisville) are all solid wrestlers that could prove spoiler for one of the favorites.  No matter the outcome this looks to be a win it all or go home weight class.

133
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Ecker (Ithaca, 3rd), McInally (RIT, 4th), Santiago (Oswego, HM)
The 133lb finals should be a highly anticipated rematch of former All Americans.  In the regular season matchup, Ecker pulled the mild upset and will be the top seed.  It would be a shock if either of these wrestlers weren’t in the conference finals and if either of these wrestlers didn’t make the trip to Lacrosse.  After the favorites it could be a tight battle for third between Santiago, Bistis (Cortland) and Mikac (Oneonta)

141
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Stierly (Ithaca, 2nd), Sterling (Cortland, 3rd)
Stierly surprised a lot of people last season with an NCAA performance that saw him take runner up honors and while he has struggled with some injuries throughout the year, when he’s wrestled he has been dominant this season.  Fellow All American Aljamain Sterling looks to mount a challenge for the title of Empire Champion, but few other conference wrestlers are expected to contend for the title or for a wildcard.  Still, Mike Maurer (Lycoming) is a proven gamer and shook off a subpar regular season in 2010 to become the Empire runner up.  He along with Payne (Oswego) could be darkhorse contenders.

149
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Woszczak (Ithaca, 2nd), Britton (Lycoming, 9th), Golding (Brockport, HM), Berry (Cortland, HM)
Defending champ and All American Blaine Woszczak is the heavy favorite to repeat and a contender for the national crown with wins over many of the top wrestlers in the country.  Britton is looking forward to earning a rematch of last year’s conference finals and hopes to earn another trip to the NCAA tournament.  The rest of the field looking to earn All Conference honors include Golding, Berry, Fisher (Oswego), Graff (Oneonta), and Hardenberg (Messiah)

157
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Brenon (Ithaca, 1st), Rispoli (Brockport, Contender), Sterling (Cortland, HM)
Brenon is the nation’s top ranked wrestler and the clear favorite here.  Still, he has wrestled sparsely in the second semester and a late season win in overtime against Kristopher Krawchuk from Wilkes may give the other contenders some hope.  Rispoli is the defending Empire runner up and his only D.III loss is by 3 points to Brenon.  A lot of wrestlers should be vying for All Conference placement including Sterling, Sercu (RIT), Bressler (Messiah), Rodgers (Oswego), and Sala (Oneonta)

165
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Conroy (Cortland, Contender), James (Brockport, Contender), Jones (Messiah, HM)
This weight looks to be a wide open battle of four fairly even wrestlers for the conference crown and a trip to the national tournament.  While three wrestlers are listed in the d3wrestle.com rankings, a late season weight change and victory over Conroy has Nick Sanko of Ithaca in contention as well.  This matchup is the only time that any of the top four have wrestled one another this season and seeding could be dicey.  Jones is the only one of these wrestlers to wrestle in the conference tournament in the past placing 4th and 3rd in ’08 and ’09.  James is a former JUCO All American but has lost to opponents that both Conroy and Jones have beaten.  By any measure things will be interesting.  In a weight so evenly matched, don’t count out Collins (Oswego) or Cross (Morrisville) either.

174
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Priest (Ithaca, 9th), Mills (Oswego, Contender), Plummer (Messiah, HM)
After narrowly missing All American honors as a freshman, Priest has not come as close since, and now enters the post season of his senior year with unfinished business.  He is the clear favorite, but will have considerable challenges at the conference tournament.  Cam Mills has wrestled to a 22-5 mark and should contend for a spot in the finals, if he gets there he certainly has a shot at a wild card bid to the national tournament.  A young wrestler with a chance to make some noise is freshman Ricardo Plummer.  While he has experienced some growing pains in his first year, he also has shown an ability to win big matches.  He could pose problems for the favorites.  Others in the mix will be Bosco (Brockport) and Brent (RIT).

184
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Hayre (Lycoming, Contender), Stewart (Messiah, Contender)
This weight looks to be a two person race for the title between Hayre and Stewart.  Both wrestlers are having fine seasons and they have met twice in their careers with Hayre taking the match this season 6-2.  Outside of the favorites it could be an open battle for All Conference honors among Kramer (Oneonta), Dickey (Ithaca), Parks (Cortland), and Brunschmid (Morrisville)

197
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Myhrberg (Cortland, 5th), Voorhis (Brockport, Contender), Korbul (Lycoming, HM)
After finishing fourth in the Empire at 184 last season, Jared Myhrberg found his niche at 197 in 2010-11.  He came out of the gates very quickly and has never looked back.  He is a clear cut favorite and it would be a surprise if a wild card came out of this weight.  Korbul and Voorhis have had some success in the past and wrestled in the consolation finals at this weight last year.  Korbul was able to win the match last year.  A darkhorse at the weight is Tim Hopkins of Messiah.  Hopkins has big wins out of the conference and should at least contend to be in the top four.

285
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – James (Cortland, Contender), Mahon (Ithaca, Contender)
Mahon spent most of the season in the rankings but faltered late, including dropping a decision to James.  James is a former JUCO All American and is very tough to score on.  A darkhorse at this weight is Messiah’s Pat Hogan who has a 17-13 record, but also has recorded some key out of conference wins that could put him as the third seed at the weight.

Ohio Athletic Conference Championships – 11 qualifiers
Saturday, February 26, 2011 at Ohio Northern
Returning Qualifiers/AA: Riki Reynolds (Mount Union, 125), Tom D’Alessandro (Heidelberg, 133), Luke Miller (Ohio Northern, 1st, 157), Matt Curley (Heidelberg, 165), Kyle Kwiat (Ohio Northern, 4th, 174), Bill Schindel (Mount Union, 7th, 197)

There has been a bit of a changing of the guard in the Ohio Athletic Conference over the past few years. After John Carroll took the early decade titles, Heidelberg came in and dominated the last half of the decade. Now that it is 2011, Mount Union has won the dual meet title and is poised to take its first OAC crown since 1997. The 8th ranked Purple Raiders have a strong team led by two time All-American Bill Schindel and do not have many holes in the lineup. They finished the year undefeated and are on a roll. They will be challenged, however, by Ohio Northern and their potent 1-2 punch of NCAA Champ Luke Miller at 165 and reigning d3wrestle.com Freshman of the Year Kyle Kwiat at 174. Tournament scoring is different than dual meets, and those two will be high scorers for the Polar Bears. Baldwin-Wallace and Heidelberg each have some talented individuals who will challenge for one of the 11 spots available at the NCAA Championships.

125
d3wrestle.com Ranked Individuals – Reynolds (Mount Union, 9th)
Reynolds was the champion last year and should be able to repeat. He got off to a bit of a rocky start at 133 before making the wise decision and dropping to 125. Since then, he has only lost to All-American Roberts of Augsburg in DIII and was 2nd at the tough Wheaton Invitational. It looks like a pretty sizable step down to the next group of guys at this weight, though Herrington of Wilmington gave Reynolds a 5-4 match recently and Cobos of John Carroll went 3-1 with him. Neither of them have the body of work that competes with Reynolds, but they can try to pull the upset if they can keep it close. Dombrady of Baldwin-Wallace probably has the best record of the challengers, but he just lost by 11 to Reynolds last week.

133
d3wrestle.com Ranked Individuals – D’Alessandro (Heidelberg, Contender), Halko (Muskingum, HM)
D’Alessandro won the weight last year and has come through an abbreviated 2011 season as the top contender at this weight. Dennis of Mount Union and Halko of Muskingum have had similar seasons with identical 19-9 records, while Dennis has beaten Halko. Payne of Baldwin-Wallace also has a win over Halko and a loss to Dennis, so that probably makes Dennis #2 behind D’Alessandro at this weight. While the weight is not very strong in the national sense, it should be very competitive.

141
d3wrestle.com Ranked Individuals – Malave (Mount Union, Contender)
Malave place 2nd last year, just missing out on a trip to Iowa, but he is the favorite this time around to make it one step higher on the OAC podium and punch his ticket to La Crosse. He has had a good year, losing mostly to ranked wrestlers. Hoopes of ONU and Ryan of John Carroll are the top contenders here, but both have lost close to Malave and cannot match his record of success so far. While 133 seemed like it could be competitive, 141 looks like the favorite is pretty clear.

149
d3wrestle.com Ranked Individuals – Shadrach (Mount Union, HM)
Shadrach has had a good year including a 3rd place finish at the Petrofes tournament, an 8th place finish at Wheaton, and 23 wins on the year. None of his competitors here can match any of that, and the best they can say is that some have kept it close. Johnson of Heidelberg lost 6-4, but Locsei of John Carroll went down 5-0. There is a group of wrestlers who are just above .500 on the year, but Shadrach is another clear favorite in a weight without much in the way of national level wrestlers.

157
d3wrestle.com Ranked Individuals – Painter (Ohio Northern, Contender)
Painter has placed in the top three in four different tournaments, highlighted by his 3rd place finish at Wheaton. Finally, though, this is a weight class with a number of wrestlers who have cracked 20 wins on the year. Spooner of Mount Union has 24, while Leonard of Baldwin-Wallace spent the whole year at 165 before dropping in the season’s final week to bring his 22 wins to bear. A wildcard here could be Barnett of Heidelberg. He is 10-3 and just defeated Spooner in his first year of wrestling in a while. Barnett was a 2001 Ohio state champ and made his return to competition this year. He also spent a chunk of the year at 165 before dropping to 157 for the last push. Painter is a definite favorite, but he should be challenged.

165
d3wrestle.com Ranked Individuals – Miller (Ohio Northern, 6th), Curley (Heidelberg, 8th)
This is a two man race with 2010 157 lb. champ Miller in the pole position. Miller has four losses, but only one to a DIII competitor at 165. His last win also came at the expense of Curley, giving him the momentum heading into the tournament. Curley was the OAC champ last season at this weight and lost in the All-American round at the NCAA tournament. He has since avenged that loss this year and has just one other DIII loss besides the recent one to Miller. This is the only weight with a possible matchup of 2010 NCAA qualifiers, but the next one also features multiple past qualifiers.

174
d3wrestle.com Ranked Individuals – Kwiat (Ohio Northern, 1st), Scavuzzo (Baldwin-Wallace, Contender)
Kwiat was 4th in the NCAA last year during a tremendous freshman campaign that earned him the d3wrestle.com first ever Freshman of the Year award. He has followed that year up by attaining a #1 national ranking in a tough weight class. He will certainly be challenged in the OAC by Scavuzzo of Baldwin-Wallace, a very big 174 lb. wrestler who is 32-2 and has been at the NCAA tournament in the past. He also recently defeated a bumped up Luke Miller in the ONU vs B-W dual meet. Williams of Heidelberg, Gaydosh of John Carroll, and Hathaway of Mount Union make up the rest of the challengers here.

184
d3wrestle.com Ranked Individuals – Jenkins (Mount Union, Contender), Rigsby (Heidelberg, HM)
Jenkins was 2nd at Petrofes, 6th at Wheaton, and he also has a win against a bumped up Kwiat in a dual meet. He has, however, gone 2-1 against the next top contender Steinmetz of John Carroll. Steinmetz has lost to Georgian of Baldwin-Wallace, and Georgian has lost to Raber of Ohio Northern. It will be a messy weight to seed, but Jenkins should be the favorite, if not overwhelmingly so. Steinmetz has proven he can win against Jenkins, but he can also be beaten by others at this weight.

197
d3wrestle.com Ranked Individuals – Schindel (Mount Union, 4th), Stoll (Baldwin-Wallace, HM), Alexander (Ohio Northern, HM), Lovins (Heidelberg, HM)
Schindel placed 8th as a freshman before following it up with a 7th place finish a year ago. This year, he has had another very good season, only losing to an NAIA wrestler in the Wheaton finals. He has not had a ton of matches where the outcome was ever in doubt, and he has dominated the OAC field so far. No one is really in position to take the top spot away from him, but a trio of d3wrestle.com Honorable Mention wrestlers will give it a shot in a fairly deep weight. Stoll of B-W is 19-5 and should be the #2 seed at the tournament. He defeated Alexander of Ohio Northern and Lovins of Heidelberg, though Alexander does have a common opponent win over Stoll in Leonard of Olivet. Schindel is so far ahead of these guys that the main drama will come in La Crosse when he tries to exceed his #4 ranking.

285
d3wrestle.com Ranked Individuals – Hesson (Mount Union, HM), Knapp (Heidelberg, HM)
Hesson is the favorit here with wins over both Knapp and Jones of Baldwin-Wallace. Swain of Wilmington could enter the picture here as he has a win by fall over Hesson and a decision over Jones. Knapp has beaten Jones and Swain. Hesson was the runner-up at this weight in 2010 and has been the heir apparent all year. If he can avoid whateve tripped him up against Swain, he has a good shot to be the OAC representative at this weight.

The conference and regional championships will be taking place this week in Division III, and d3wrestle.com will be posting previews of each of the nine qualifying tournaments throughout the week, looking briefly at each weight class and the team race. Today, we start with the Centennial Conference.

Centennial Conference Championships – 11 qualifiers
Saturday, February 26, 2011 at Washington & Lee
Returning Qualifiers/AA: Jordan Alfaro (USMMA, 8th, 125), Paul Marcello (JHU, 133), James Beshada (141, USMMA), Ryan Bridge (Stevens, 5th, 141), Connor McCormick (Ursinus, 149), Dan Twito (157, USMMA), Vincent Renaut (USMMA, 1st, 165), Ryan Dormann (Stevens, 174), Patrick Stanley (JHU, 174), Nate Murren (Ursinus, 184), Brock Glotfelty (McDaniel, 8th in 2009, 285)

The US Merchant Marine Academy has won the last three Centennial Conference championships and has not lost a Centennial dual in four years. This year, the 12th ranked Mariners are undefeated against Division III opponents, and they return a pair of All-Americans in Jordan Alfaro (8th, 125) and Vincent Renaut, the first NCAA champion in conference history (1st, 165). Past multiple time NCAA qualifiers James Beshada (141) and Dan Twito (157) will be on hand to help USMMA go for four in a row. Three teams tied for second in the dual meet season, and each will try to either take down Merchant Marine or fight off the others for second place. Stevens has 2010 All-American Ryan Bridge (5th, 141) and 2009 qualifier Ryan Dormann (174) along with a solid 133-174 core. Johns Hopkins has some experience led by 2008 qualifier Patrick Stanley (174) backed up by some solid underclassmen like sophomore Reid Mosquera (197) and their lone returning qualifier Paul Marcello (133). Ursinus is always in the thick of things, and they return both of their NCAA qualifiers in Nate Murren (184) and Connor McCormick (149). They usually finish high by consistently getting most of their lineup into the top four places. It would not be a shock if all eleven Centennial qualifiers came from these top four schools, but McDaniel’s All-American Brock Glotfelty may have something to say about that.

125
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – none
Even though Merchant Marine’s Alfaro placed 8th last year, he has had an up and down season that has left him looking up at the other top contenders in the nation at this weight. A rough start to the year has gotten him there, but he has been better as of late. All that said, he has defeated everyone in the conference and should earn the top seed in what is looking to be a six man weight class. Yagloski of Johns Hopkins and Evans of Gettysburg should come in at 2 and 3 in some order, though they have not yet wrestled. Yagloski has has the better season, getting 24 wins as a freshman, but Evans has some common opponent wins including Bentley from Elizabethtown who has defeated Yagloski and Alfaro. Regardless of what happens here, it is pretty much assured that only the champion will make it to La Crosse.

133
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Curtiss (Stevens, HM)
This is another weight where the defending champ has not had a great year. Marcello of Hopkins has harldy competed, putting up a 5-5 record (4-1 vs DIII), and losing to Curtiss of Stevens in his last match of the regular season. Curtiss started competing in January and was at 141 until the very end when he defeated Marcello. Goretsas of McDaniel is the first contender at this weight to have put in a full season, and he could definitely win this weight with a good performance. The fourth contender at this weight is Blank of Ursinus. He defeated Goretsas in the Ursinus-McDaniel dual but has not seen Curtiss or Marcello this year. He has lost his last two matches coming into the tournament, but he looks to rebound.

141
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Bridge (Stevens, 5th), Beshada (USMMA, HM), Stauber (JHU, HM)
Ryan Bridge nearly toppled the eventual champ but settled for 5th place at last year’s NCAA championships. This year, he is just 8-2 after missing a big chunk of the year following an injury in his first match. His only other loss besides that default are to the returning NCAA runner-up Stierly of Ithaca, and he has wins against his top competition in the Centennial and will be a heavy favorite. Beshada was a two time conference champ in 2008 and 2009 but missed last year. Stauber is a freshman who lost to both Beshada and Bridge on the season’s last weekend, but has had a good first year. Tancredi of McDaniel, last year’s runner up Homan of Muhlenberg, and Watkins of Ursinus come in right behind the top three and will make this a deep weight.

149
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – none
Defending champ McCormick was abroad for the first semester, but he returned in January and has not lost since that first week back. He will be the favorite in comparitively weak weight class for the conference. It should be competitive, however, as Caserta of Stevens and Barilla of Johns Hopkins have had close matches with McCormick this year and could pull the upset. Bell of Merchant Marine is back at this weight, and Swanson of Muhlenberg may appear here, though he has been competing at 157 for most of the second semester.

157
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Twito (USMMA, Contender), Fusaro (JHU, Contender), Dormann (Stevens, Contender)
Twito is a three time NCAA qualifier who has won titles the last two years, but he has yet to make it onto the NCAA podium. He will be challenged, to say the least, by a strong field, as he has already been defeated once by Stevens’ Dormann, and he slipped past Fusaro 3-2. Twito started the season a little late after the Merchant Marine soccer team made it deep into the postseason, but he came back quickly and has just the one DIII loss. Dormann missed last year with an injury, but he returned this season and dropped to 157 after a semester at 165. He defeated Twito, but lost to Fusaro on the season’s last day. Fusaro started strong but had a fairly long layoff due to injury, only wrestling a handful of times since the first of the year. Twito’s experience makes him the pick here, but he is by no means a lock.

165
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Renaut (USMMA, 5th), Levenseller (JHU, HM)
Vencent Renaut is the sole NCAA champion in Centennial history, and he will certainly be looking to repeat. An opening weekend loss and injury put him on the shelf for a good two months, and he comes into the championships with an 8-4 record. He will be the favorite to win the conference, but one wonders how his truncated season, along with a very tough national weight class, will affect his finish in La Crosse. Top competition for Renaut will come from Washington & Lee’s Dennis and Johns Hopkins’ Levenseller. Dennis was a finalist at 157 a year ago, and Levenseller has a good amount of experience to go alone with his 26 wins. Renaut has not faced Levenseller, but won by injury default over Dennis, while Dennis defeated Levenseller in their only meeting this year.

174
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Dormann (stevens, 10th), Diesel (USMMA, Contender), Stanley (JHU, HM), Leon (Gettysburg, HM)
As stated in the intro, Dormann was a 2009 qualifier who missed last year, and Diesel was a finalist, losing to Dormann’s teammate Bishop. Dormann had defeated Diesel twice this year while also majoring Leon. His only losses are to the two wrestlers right above him in the d3wrestle.com rankings. Diesel has also had a good season, with his only DIII losses coming against Dormann, and one of his wins coming against Broderick, who defeated Dormann. Stanley is a bit of an enigma here. After winning the conference his freshman year, he transferred to UNC for a year before coming back to Hopkins last year and wrestling just twice before making the final at 184, losing to Murren. This year, his only DIII losses are to Diesel and Messiah’s Plummer. Leon comes in next as a freshman having a good year, but he is a definite step below the likes of Diesel and Dormann.

184
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Murren (Ursinus, HM), Lowe (USMMA, HM)
Murren was the champ last year and will come in as the favorite in a weight class that lacks depth. Lowe will be here after spending much of the season at lower weights. After those two, anything can happen, as Neri of Gettysburg is the only remaining wrestler with more wins than losses, but he was defeated by Forrester of McDaniel. Finelli was a placewinner two years ago at 174 before transferring from Ursinus to Johns Hopkins and should probably be considerd the third best guy. It looks like a two man race with a few guys looking to play spoiler.

197
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Mosquera (JHU, Contender)
Neither of last year’s finalists are back as the runner up graduated and the champ has been out all year after briefly wrestling at the beginning of the season. That leaves Mosquera as a clear favorite with a 17-1 DIII record and wins over most of the top contenders. Schott of Merchant Marine made a late move to this weight class, but Mosquera defeated him in the last match of the year. Yeo of McDaniel has moved up from 184 last year to have a pretty successful year at 197, though he has three losses to Mosquera and one to Termini of Stevens. Yost of W&L has not wrestled much in the second semester, but could challenge for a spot on the podium. It looks to be Mosquera as a definite favorite with Schott the one most likely to upset him while Yost, Yeo, and Termini fight for the other places.

285
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers – Connell (USMMA, 3rd), Glotfelty (USMMA, 4th), Cornely (Ursinus, HM), Christopher (Gettysburg, HM)
This is the best weight in the conference and the only one with multiple top ten individuals. After 285 cleared out last year, that left only three wrestlers in the country who had previously been All-Americans, and one of them is 2009 8th place finisher Glotfelty. He was, however, defeated for the first time in the dual meet with Merchant Marine by 2x runner-up Connell. That was Glotfelty’s only loss of the year so far. Connell has a single DIII loss back in November, and has only lost one other match to a DI opponent since then. He has proven he can score on Glotfelty in prevous matches, and the last match proved he can win. Cornely and Christopher make up the next two contenders. Cornely stopped Christopher in a close match in November, and he has lost to the other two. Christopher has not seen Connell this year, but was caught and pinned quickly in his match with Glotfelty. Three of his six losses have come in overtime. Depending on how things go, this is the likely weight for the Centennial’s lone wildcard.