Saturday & Sunday, February 26 & 27
Elizabethtown College

Teams (20): Alfred State, Brockport, Centenary, Cortland, Elizabethtown, Elmira, Ithaca, Johns Hopkins, Keystone, McDaniel, Muhlenberg, New Jersey City, Oneonta, Oswego, Penn College, Pitt-Bradford, RIT, Scranton, TCNJ, Ursinus

NWCA Ranked Tournament Teams
17. RIT
25. Johns Hopkins

Top Ten Ranked Wrestlers – February 4th Ranking
125: #10 Griffin (Ithaca)
133:
141:
149:
157: #1 Winters (RIT)
165: #3 Reyes (Johns Hopkins)
174: #7 Grygas (Oswego), #8 Henry (Cortland)
184: #6 Chukwuezi (Ithaca)
197: #9 Wallace (Ithaca)
285:

RIT and Johns Hopkins are the top two teams in the tournament rankings, but that is largely on the strength of a single individual for each squad. The College of New Jersey and Ithaca will each factor heavily in the final standings along with Cortland.

Kaidon Winters of RIT has been the top ranked wrestler at 157 most of the season and remains undefeated in Division III. He has scored bonus points in every DIII match but one and leads the nation in the Most Dominant standings. He should still be leading those standings as we head to the national tournament next month.

#3 Dominick Reyes is undefeated at 165, just like the #1 and #2 wrestlers at this weight. He is a two-time NCAA qualifier with a win over the 4th ranked wrestler at this weight. Johns Hopkins has moved to the Mideast Region this year, so he will not defend his Southeast title from 2020, but he will have a shot at a second regional championship.

Ithaca has three ranked wrestlers in Matthew Griffin at 125, Chibueze Chukwuezi at 184, and Jordan Wallace at 197. Chukwuezi and Wallace are both undefeated so far, though Wallace is just 11-0 after beginning his season in January. Chukwuezi was also a 2020 NCAA qualifier.

Friday & Saturday, February 25 & 26
Adrian College

Teams (20): Adrian, Albion, Alma, Baldwin Wallace, Case Western Reserve, Defiance, Heidelberg, Hiram, John Carroll, Manchester, Mount St. Joseph, Mount Union, Muskingum, Ohio Northern, Ohio Wesleyan, Olivet, Otterbein, Trine, Wabash, Wilmington

NWCA Ranked Tournament Teams
3. Wabash
4. Baldwin Wallace
8. Mount Union
14. Mount St. Joseph
15. Olivet

Top Ten Ranked Wrestlers – February 4th Ranking
125: #1 Decatur (Baldwin Wallace)
133: #4 Massey (Mount Union), #6 Perelka (John Carroll)
141: #2 James (Mount Union)
149: #4 Petrella (Baldwin Wallace), #7 Murphy (Olivet), #10 Sumner (Ohio Northern)
157:
165: #2 Hatch (Wabash)
174: #1 Beachem (Mount St. Joseph)
184: #4 McCloud (Mount St. Joseph), #7 Salmon (Baldwin Wallace)
197: #7 Byrne (Baldwin Wallace), #8 Heldt (Wabash)
285: #1 Bishop (Wabash)

Wabash and Baldwin Wallace lead the way here. They are 3rd and 4th in the tournament rankings and 4th and 5th in the last NWCA Dual Rankings. Both teams have multiple ranked wrestlers and a slew of guys just outside the top ten. The schools wrestled to a close 18-15 Wabash win at the National Duals. The teams bookend the national individual rankings with Decatur of Baldwin Wallace 1st at 125 and Bishop of Wabash 1st at 285.

Jacob Decatur transferred to Baldwin Wallace this year after a few seasons at Ohio State. His older brother Jordan was a two-time NCAA qualifier for Baldwin Wallace in 2015 and 2017. This year, Jacob Decatur is 27-1 with his only loss coming to the #1 ranked defending Division II champion Cole Laya of West Liberty.

Cornell Beachem was the undefeated top seed heading into the canceled 2020 championship at 174 lbs., and he enters the postseason in 2022 in a similar spot. He is 14-0 and won the Pete Willson Wheaton Invitational. Max Bishop is 28-1 and ranked 1st at heavyweight. His only loss was outside DIII. He, along with teammate and 165 lbs. #2 ranked Kyle Hatch (#1 in NWCA rankings, 24-0 record), gives the Little Giants two great shots at individual titles in Cedar Rapids.

Finally, there is one returning NCAA Champion in this field. Jordin James of Mount Union was the 2019 champion at 133 lbs. He is 14-0 at 141 and will be looking to add another championship trophy to his collection.

Friday & Saturday, February 25 & 26
Lycoming College | Host Site

Teams (20): Alvernia, Averett, Delaware Valley, Ferrum, Gettysburg, Greensboro, King’s, Lycoming, Messiah, Penn State Behrend, Roanoke, Shenandoah, Southern Virginia, Stevens, Thiel, Washington & Jefferson, Washington & Lee, Waynesburg, Wilkes, York

NWCA Ranked Tournament Teams
10. Stevens
22. Averett
24. York

Top Ten Ranked Wrestlers – February 4th Ranking
125: #2 Braswell (Averett), #9 Fashouer (Wilkes)
133: #5 Rohrbaugh (York)
141: #5 Slendorn (Stevens), #9 Gehr (Messiah)
149: #1 Kaliner (Stevens)
157: #8 Barnhart (Messiah), #9 Luth (Washington & Lee), #10 Gutierrez (Stevens)
165: #4 Lackman (Alvernia)
174:
184:
197: #10 Dooley (Stevens)
285:

Stevens won this region the last time it was contested and will battle a strong Averett squad as well as Messiah, Washington & Lee, Alvernia, and York. The Ducks have the lone top-ranked wrestler in the region along with three others in the top ten, and they won the MAC Championship last month.

Brett Kaliner, the top ranked 149 for Stevens, has had an outstanding career. He was NCAA runner-up in 2018, 3rd in 2019, seeded 2nd at the canceled 2020 tournament, and finished 3rd at the NWCA DIII tournament last season. This year, he is 21-0 with 17 bonus point wins. He enters the postseason looking to become the first NCAA wrestling champion for Stevens.

One weight above Kaliner, the 157 class features three ranked wrestlers and one late addition who had been ranked at the weight above. #8 Nick Barnhart (Messiah), #9 Ryan Luth (Washington & Lee), and #10 Hunter Gutierrez (Stevens) are joined by York’s Eric Hutchinson, a 2x NCAA qualifier who made a late drop to 157. Hutchinson beat Gutierrez in a late season dual, as did Barnhart and Luth. Barnhart gave Luth his only loss early in the season, and Luth was the 2020 regional champion at this weight.

Two other weights should be competitive at the top. At 125, Sam Braswell of Averett (3rd at NWCA DIII tournament) beat Austin Fashouer 7-5 in the first week of the season, and they could meet again here, though there are numerous wrestlers just outside the top ten in this weight. At 141, Kyle Slendorn of Stevens and Josiah Gehr of Messiah are experienced and ranked. Slendorn has won both matchups this season, though Gehr has a win over one of the two wrestlers to beat Slendorn so far.