The NWCA Scholar Teams and Scholar All-Americans have been released. The team awards honor the top 25 teams. The team GPA is calculated by averaging the GPA of ten wrestlers. At least six must have competed in regional and the others must have competed in at least 50% of the team’s scheduled events.
The individual Scholar All-Americans have at least a 3.2 GPA and meet one of the following wrestling criteria: 1. NCAA qualifier with a winning record 2. Regional placewinner (top 8) with a winning record and appeared in at least half of a team’s scheduled events 3. Won at least 2/3 of matches and appeared in at least half of a team’s scheduled events
Case Western Reserve University won the team award with a GPA of 3.817 for their 10 counted athletes. Washington & Lee had the most Scholar All-Americans with 11.
According to team rosters, there were 68 seniors set to wrestle in this weekend’s NCAA Championships. Ideally, the tournament would begin this afternoon, and those athletes would have the chance to put an exclamation mark on their careers. Sadly, they will not have that opportunity. For some of them, this was their one and one chance to compete in an NCAA Championship. For others, it was their last chance to get on the podium and forever be an All-American. Some were looking for a first NCAA title, and all were looking forward to one last competition in team colors. Here are the names of those 68 athletes listed by school. Please let me know if anyone is missing or on this list in error. They can be recognized here, even if they will not have that chance in Cedar Rapids.
Brendan Ladd, Alma, 141 Ryan Epps, Augsburg, 157 David Flynn, Augsburg, 141 Victor Gliva, Augsburg, 133 Lucas Jeske, Augsburg, 165 Tanner Vassar, Augsburg, 184 Aaron Wilson, Augsburg, 149 Zeckary Lehman, Baldwin Wallace, 197 Charlie Nash, Baldwin Wallace, 133 Nathan Fritz, Central, 184 Duncan Lee, Central, 285 Steve Bonsall, Chicago, 157 AJ Aeberli, Coast Guard, 174 Patrick Irwin, Coast Guard, 285 Cole Erickson, Coe, 157 Taylor Mehmen, Coe, 197 Kordell Rush, Delaware Valley, 133 Dylan Roth, Heidelberg, 184 Ben Brisman, Ithaca, 149 Austin Whitney, Ithaca, 165 Da’mani Burns, JWU, 149 Michael DiNardo, JWU, 285 Mitchell Hertel, La Crosse, 165 Sawyer Massie, La Crosse, 184 Clint Lembeck, Loras, 141 Brandon Murray, Loras, 157 Guy Patron, Loras, 197 Eddie Smith, Loras, 165 Hadyn Swartwood, Lycoming, 174 Joshua Glantzman, Merchant Marine, 184 Stephen Maloney, Messiah, 157 Sean Redington, Messiah, 125 Seth Hayes, Mount Union, 125 Conner Homan, Mount Union, 174 Jimmy Fratantoni, Muhlenberg, 184 Austin Sherman, Muhlenberg, 149 Marc Fleenor, North Central, 141 Ian Mullen, North Central, 133 Anthony Rink, North Central, 149 Evan Drill, NYU, 149 Jack La Corte, NYU, 197 Sean Lyons, NYU, 157 Seth Transue, Ohio Northern, 133 Drew Kasper, Otterbein, 285 John Donohue, RIT, 197 Dempsey King, RIT, 165 Sam Weinger, RIT, 285 Keegan Connelly, Scranton, 285 Peter Del Gallo, Southern Maine, 125 Joe Fusco, Springfield, 285 Noah Becker, St. John’s, 133 Thomas Poklikuha, Stevens, 165 Troy Stanich, Stevens, 141 Dylan Van Sickell, Stevens, 157 Daniel Kilroy, TCNJ, 174 Daniel Ortega, TCNJ, 125 John Boyle, W. New England, 184 Darden Schurg, Wabash, 174 Max Forsyth, Wartburg, 165 Martine Sandoval, Wartburg, 157 Michael Heinl, Washington & Jefferson, 149 Hunter Neely, Washington & Jefferson, 174 Shane Conners, Washington & Lee, 165 Rexx Hallyburton, Washington & Lee, 184 Hazen Rice, Whitewater, 141 Ryder Sigler, Whitewater, 165 Mike Tortorice, Whitewater, 125 Tyler Marsh, WPI, 165
All winter NCAA Championships, including DIII wrestling, are canceled.
Here is part of an email sent to the coaches
As most of you know, several sporting events have been canceled today. The NCAA has determined that all winter and spring championships, including the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championship, are canceled, effective immediately.
Heavyweight has the most new faces of any weight in the tournament. Only the top-ranked Drew Kasper placed last year, and Patrick Irwin of Coast Guard is the only other returner at the weight. Northeast champ Michael DiNardo of Johnson & Wales qualified at 197 last year, but the other 15 competitors were not in the bracket. Kasper is currently undefeated with wins over five of the entries at this weight.
Joe Fusco and Nico Ramirez both qualified here in 2018, while Sam Weinger qualified for RIT in 2017. All three finished 3rd in their respective regions to earn a trip back to the tournament. DiNardo and Irwin finished ahead of Fusco, while Ramirez is behind freshman Rocky McGeary of Waynesburg. Richard Knapp won the Mideast and has split with Weinger. Duncan Lee won the Lower Midwest as a seventh seed. A surprise in that region was Jerhett Lee, who had not lost a DIII match before the tournament, finishing sixth. Jordon Lemcke won an Upper Midwest region where the top seed did not qualify despite having a single DIII loss before the tournament.
Isaiah Espinoza of Adrian finished 3rd in his region but has wins this year over McGeary, Rodenhaber, and Lee. He earned his spot with a tiebreaker win over 2019 qualifier Grant Miller of Wheaton. The final spot in the Lower Midwest also came down to a tiebreaker with Wartburg’s Jordon Brandon prevailing to give his team their fifth qualifier.
Here is the latest on the 2020 NCAA Championships. 1. Tickets will not be sold 2. All tickets previously sold are now invalid 3. The NCAA will distribute 6 passes per qualifier and 1 per coach to be used for limited family members 4. Media and event workers will be permitted to enter
NCAA President Mark Emmert released the following statement today:
The NCAA continues to assess the impact of COVID-19 in consultation with public health officials and our COVID-19 advisory panel. Based on their advice and my discussions with the NCAA Board of Governors, I have made the decision to conduct our upcoming championship events, including the Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, with only essential staff and limited family attendance. While I understand how disappointing this is for all fans of our sports, my decision is based on the current understanding of how COVID-19 is progressing in the United States. This decision is in the best interest of public health, including that of coaches, administrators, fans and, most importantly, our student-athletes. We recognize the opportunity to compete in an NCAA national championship is an experience of a lifetime for the students and their families. Today, we will move forward and conduct championships consistent with the current information and will continue to monitor and make adjustments as needed.
The defending champion Lance Benick of Augsburg is just 5-2 this season. Neither of the wrestlers he lost to qualified, and he has not competed against anyone in this year’s field. Guy Patron, the top ranked wrestler from Loras, is undefeated this year. He was 3rd, 2nd, and 6th at this tournament the past three years. He has a pin over the 2nd ranked Mehmen who beat Patron in the 5th place match last season. Patron forfeited the regional final to Mehmen. Zeckary Lehman of Baldwin Wallace is the fourth All-American in the bracket. He won the Central region and hopes to improve on his 8th place finish last season.
Both Northeast finalists qualified last year, though Tommy Wrzesien of JWU was at 285 in 2019. Jonathan Wagner of Coast Guard won the region, and his only matches against other qualifiers are in-region. Quinn Haddad of TCNJ and Isaac Lahr of La Crosse both won their region finals by forfeit. Haddad has a loss to Southeast champ Michael Dooley of Stevens who lost to Wrzesien but has wins over four other qualifiers. Lahr has a few wins in the tournament along with a pin over last year’s 3rd place finisher who missed the second half of the season.
Johnson & Wales swapped their 285 and 197 from last year, and both have qualified again. Tommy Wrzesien lost both his matches at 285, while Michael DiNardo finished in the round of 12 at 197. Both will be in contention to place in Cedar Rapids.
John Boyle beat the top two seeds on his way to Western New England’s first National Champion. He placed 3rd in his region this year, and to repeat as champ, he will likely have to do it from a lower seed than last year. Dylan Roth was the top seed for Heidelberg last year and finished 6th. This year he is one of two returning All-Americans, along with Ben Sarasin of Chicago, whose only loss is to Lower Midwest champ Cody Baldridge of North Central. Tanner Vassar of Augsburg is up from 174 and is undefeated this season. Antonio McCloud of Mount St. Joseph placed at 197 and is down to 184 this year. His only losses at the weight are to Roth. Josh Glantzman of Merchant Marine is the second highest returning finisher after getting 4th in 2019 as an unseeded entry.
The winners in the Northeast and Mideast regions both qualified last year. Neither won a match, but Paul Detwiler is undefeated for Coast Guard and Chibueze Chukwuezi has a single DIII loss to a returning All-American who did not qualify this season. Rexx Hallyburton makes his second trip to the tournament and will be looking for his first NCAA win. Baldridge knocked Hallyburton out before falling in the round of 12.
Nathan Fritz of Central and Sawyer Massie of La Crosse both qualified at 174 in 2018, with Massie finishing in 6th place, but they each finished 4th in the region last year, also at 174, to just miss a return trip. Both are up a weight for 2020 and hoping for a podium spot.
Five All-Americans return from last year’s bracket including the champ Darden Schurg. He has lost twice this year, dropping matches against 2019 qualifier Jarrit Shinhoster and Notre Dame (OH) transfer Cornell Beachem, a 2019 DII qualifier. His only other match against a qualifier is a pin over Brian Shermeyer. The 3rd and 4th place finishers last year are back in Kyle Briggs of Wartburg and Dan Kilroy of TCNJ. Briggs started the year at 174, went up to 184 for awhile, and then dropped back down just in time for the regional. Kilroy is a four-time qualifier and two-time All-American with seven losses, though all but one came early in the season. Jacob Krakow transferred from Wartburg to Loras and become the only unseeded placewinner at 174 last season. A.J. Aeberli was 6th last year and has a win over Zuckerman and a split with Esposito to go along with two losses to Gaita.
Marco Gaita won the Northeast region out of the #2 seed and defeated both of the other qualifiers (including Aeberli) along the way. Demitreus Henry of Cortland beat Kilroy and the then-ranked Esposito of Merchant Marine to secure his trip to Iowa. In the Southeast, Hunter Neely qualified two weights up from last season. He started the year at 157 but moved up all the way to 174 after the new year and managed to win the region. The aforementioned Beachem led the Mount St. Joseph football team in rushing and receiving before winning all 20 of his bouts this year to earn the top ranking. Solomon Nielsen swapped weights with Tanner Vassar for Augsburg and won the Upper Midwest with a major decision over the once top-ranked Shinhoster.
Three wrestlers have held the top spot in the rankings this year. Defending champ Schurg started the year on top until Shinhoster beat him at the National Duals. Then Beachem took over the top spot by beating Shinhoster in the Wheaton finals. Beachem solidified his ranking with a 2-1 win over Schurg in the regional finals that was decided by a first period penalty point.
Most Wins: 43, Evan Fidelibus, New England College, 149 Most Losses: 15, Darius Joyce, Johnson & Wales, 157 Fewest Wins: 5, Lance Benick, Augsburg, 197 Fewest Losses: 0, Matt Berlin, Stevens Point, 133; Kyle Hatch, Wabash, 165; Cornell Beachem, Mount St. Joseph, 174; Tanner Vassar, Augsburg, 184; Paul Detwiler, Coast Guard, 184; Drew Kasper, Otterbein, 285
Seeded Wrestlers Per Region (please check my work)
NE
ME
SE
C
LM
UM
125
2
2
1
1
1
1
133
1
2
—
1
1
3
141
1
1
3
1
2
149
3
2
1
1
—
1
157
1
1
1
2
1
2
165
—
2
—
3
2
1
174
1
1
—
2
2
2
184
2
1
—
1
2
2
197
1
1
1
1
2
2
285
2
1
3
2
—
Total
14
12
6
18
14
16
Top Seeds: UM 3, C 3, LM 2, SE 1, ME 1, NE 0 #2 Seeds: UM 2, C 1, LM 4, SE 1, ME 0, NE 2 Top two seeds from the same region: 157 (Zamin & Epps), 197 (Patron & Mehmen)
Zach Cooper of Alma, 2nd in the Central at 149, has been replaced by Chase Sumner, the 4th place finisher from Ohio Northern.
Seven 2019 All-Americans are in this field, and Lucas Jeske of Augsburg is the two-time defending champion at the weight. He is just 9-3 this year with losses to Max Forsyth of Wartburg and Ryder Sigler of Whitewater. His finals opponent from last year, Dempsey King, is 31-1 and won the Mideast Region. His only loss is to last year’s 4th place finisher Eddie Smith. Smith gave both King and Bradan Birt their only losses but lost to Jeske, Hatch, and Forsyth. 2019 157 lbs. runner-up Antwon Pugh made his 165 debut at the regional and finished in 2nd place behind the undefeated Kyle Hatch of Wabash. Austin Whitney was 8th here last year and returns after a runner-up finish to King in the Mideast.
Philip Rogers of Coast Guard won the Northeast region but has only wrestled one match against another qualifier, and that was the regional final. Dominick Reyes of Johns Hopkins won the Southeast over Thomas Poklikuha in a battle between 2018 NCAA qualifiers. Mitchell Hertel won the Lower Midwest at this weight. All three of his losses this season were at 174 before he dropped to 165 for the WIAC Championships in mid-February.
Tyler Marsh qualified for the third year in a row,
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giving WPI their first three-time qualifier since 1999. He is looking for his first win at the championships, however.
All four returning All-Americans at this weight placed in the same weight last year. Ryan Epps leads the pack as a two-time champ, but he has lost to two of the other returning placewinners. Grant Zamin is undefeated in Division III and comes in as the top ranked wrestler. Brandon Murray was 4th last year and has a win over Epps (but losses to Lyons and Zamin). Kaidon Winters was 5th last year and his only loss at 157 is Murray.
Sean Lyons won the Northeast Region with two falls and two tech falls. His only losses are to Bleich (now at 149) and Epps in the Citrus finals. Ryan Luth won the Southeast Region and avenged his one DIII loss multiple times before pinning Maloney and winning 15-8 over Van Sickell. Whitten won the Central Region out of the #3 seed and was one of the beneficiaries of returning NCAA runner-up Antwon Pugh moving up to 165 late in the year.
Two wrestlers have taken the long way back to the NCAA Championships. Steve Bonsall was an All-American in 2017 and has not qualified for the tournament since. Sam Schneider of Ithaca is in a similar situation having placed in 2017 but not making back until this year. Now, both are at the same weight looking to climb the podium again. A third former All-American, Cole Erickson of Coe, is a 2x placewinner who did not qualify last year. He is just 9-6 but has a win over Schneider. Schneider actually defeated Erickson for 5th place in his one trip to the NCAA championships in 2017.
Brett Kaliner of Stevens has finished 2nd and 3rd in his two trips to the NCAA Championships and dominated his way to a regional title. He has a single DIII loss to Ryan Anderson of Centenary. Kaliner’s 2018 finals opponent Ben Brisman of Ithaca is up at 149 this year after starting the season at 141 where he finished 4th last season. Evan Drill is the third 2x All-American in this weight with 5th and 4th place finishes. Zach Cooper was the #2 seed last year and ended up finishing 5th. He is currently undefeated.
Da’mani Burns of JWU was the top seed last year but lost to Cooper in a rare 1 vs. 2 blood round matchup. He won the Northeast Region over Evan Fidelibus, a former Rider wrestler whose only losses are to Burns and the top-ranked Ryan Anderson of Centenary. Anderson was Flowrestling’s #13 overall ranked high school wrestler last season, and he is undefeated against DIII. His 3-2 win over Kaliner has boosted him to the top spot in the rankings. Stanley Bleich lost one match wrestling up at 165 and another at 149 that he avenged at the regional. Anthony Rink topped the Lower Midwest region, defeating both of the other qualifiers along the way. He does have five losses to wrestlers in the bracket, though he did split with McAuliffe. Aaron Wilson was 28-3 at 157 last year behind NCAA champ Ryan Epps, and he has gone 30-1 at 149 this season with Bleich dealing him his only loss.
Central’s Robert Areyano was undefeated against DIII until running into Rink in the regional semifinal. Eric Hutchinson, a 2018 qualifier at 157 who missed all of last season with an injury, only wrestled one match down at 149 before qualifying at this weight in the regional.
There are two returning NCAA champions in this weight as Jordin James has moved up from 133 and David Flynn returns to defend his title. James has one DIII loss to a wrestler who did not qualify, while two of Flynn’s three losses are also to a non-qualified opponent. His other loss is to Robinson, and he gave Hazen Rice his only loss of the year in the Upper Midwest final. James has defeated Brezovec twice, but he has not faced any of the other 16 entries this season. Clint Lembeck was 3rd here last year, and Brendan Ladd was 7th, but both had to fight back through the consolation rounds to make it here.
Hazen Rice was the 3rd seed last year and had been undefeated until running into Flynn in the regional final. He has beaten Lembeck, Ladd, Robinson, and Brezovec this season. Eli Sims was a surprise winner for Brockport in the Mideast. His only match against a qualifier was his win over Merwin in the region finals. Riley Wright of Coe was another surprise region winner. He was just 9-8 coming into the region and left with a 1st place finish.
Troy Stanich of Stevens has reached the final year of a great career. He has never lost to a DIII opponent…except at the NCAA Championships. After beginning his career with a pair of 3rd place finishes, he lost to Flynn in the quarterfinals last season and dropped his next match to the 7th seed Fritz and was eliminated. This year has been typical for Stanich, as he is undefeated against DIII and only JWU’s Robinson has been able to hold him to a decision.
The final rankings only includes wrestlers who qualified for the 2020 NCAA Championships, so 18 wrestlers appear at each weight. Only the top ten are ranked in order; the other two sections are listed in alphabetical order and should be viewed only as tiers. Also, rankings are not seedings and have different criteria. Finally, everyone is good at this point, and it only takes 2-3 wins to become an All-American, so nobody should be surprised by any wrestler on this list getting on the podium.
Four All-Americans return at 133 lbs. Victor Gliva was at 125 last year, but the other three are back at the same weight. Charles Nash and Jake Giordano were 4th and 5th last season, while unseeded Levi Englman surprised and finished 7th. None of the four won their regional, however. Giordano had a single loss to Hayden Brown before his regional final loss to Jones, and Gliva defeated both Nash and Englman this season.
Matt Berlin (Stevens Point) and Kristian Rumph (Wartburg) are both undefeated against DIII opponents this year, though Berlin’s 32 wins nearly double Rumphs 17. Noah Becker’s only loss besides Berlin is to Nash, but he also beat Gliva and Englman on consecutive weekends straddling the new year. Seth Transue of Ohio Northern has two losses. He twice avenged his loss to Mount Union’s Massey, and his other loss was to an opponent who did not place in the same region Transue won.
Hayden Brown of JWU has a few losses to wrestlers not in the bracket but has defeated Slendorn, Giordano, and Horton while losing to Jones. Kyle Slendorn of Stevens split with Jones, beat Massey, and pinned Englman in the region semi. Jones put together a dominant performance at the regional with a pin in the finals, two tech falls, and a major decision.
Bradley Beaulieu of Southern Maine is just 6-1 with over half his matches coming at the regional. He spent a year at Old Dominion and is the Maine state record holder for career wins.
Two All-Americans return at 125 in Mike Tortorice (2nd) and Peter Del Gallo (3rd). Tortorice came out of the #2 seed to make the finals where he fell to Jay Alibs of Johnson & Wales. Del Gallo lost in the quarterfinals and fought back to 3rd. Each has only lost to one opponent this season, though Carlos Champagne, who defeated Tortorice in a tiebreaker, did not qualify. Del Gallo has two losses to Nick Arborio of Western New England with one loss happening in the regional final.
Samuel Braswell, Matt Caccamise, and Sawyer Sarbacker were in this bracket last season. Caccamise eliminated both Sarbacker and Braswell before bowing out in the round of 12. This year, Braswell dealt Caccamise his only DIII loss in the York finals. Sarbacker has seen limited action this year, but managed to get through with a 3rd place finish in the Upper Midwest.
Robbie Precin of North Central and Dan Ortego of TCNJ each have a single loss on the year. Precin dropped a 3-2 match to Tortorice in November but has otherwise been unscathed. Ortega is coming off his only loss of the year in the regional final in a 7-5 loss to Caccamise that wasn’t decided until the second sudden victory period. Andrew Perelka won the Central region and has a win over Redington along with wins in his region.
Sean Redington of Messiah and Nathaneal Rankin qualified in 2018 but did not qualify last season.
24 different home states are represented: NJ 26, PA 24, OH 21, MN/NY 15, IL 14, IA 13, WI 9, CT/MI 7, CA 5, IN 4, MA/VA 3, FL/MD/ME/NC 2, GA/LA/NH/RI/TX/WA 1
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Teams with four or more qualifiers: 8: Augsburg, Loras 7: Stevens 6: Baldwin Wallace, Coast Guard, Ithaca, JWU 5: La Crosse, Messiah, Mount Union, North Central, RIT, TCNJ, Wartburg 4: Coe, John Carroll, Millikin, NYU, Springfield, Wabash, Whitewater
