Weekend Recap
Quick thoughts on each of the nine qualifiers this weekend
Centennial: USMMA wins as expected, but will take half as many to the championships this year as last. There were not a lot of upsets at the top. A few #1 seeds lost, but it was not anything unreasonable. Stanley of JHU came within seconds of winning the tournament after wrestling in only one match prior to the tournament. Choosing Favia as the wildcard was a reasonable choice, though it did mean leaving 2x qualifier Vincent at home.
Empire: In a surprise, not only did #4 Ithaca not win, they placed 3rd behind Cortland and Brockport. A few guys were less than 100% for the Bombers, and that hurt their chances. Only six #1 seeds won the tournament, though only Ciaburri of Cortland was lower than #2. Priest of Ithaca was the only returning qualifier not to make it, and first alternate Pariso had previously defeated the Midwest champ.
Great Lakes: No surprise at the top of the standings, as Augsburg put nine through to the NCAA tournament. National champs Oster and Batsukh both lost but still qualified. 141 was as advertised with four of the top five in the rankings, though #4 seed Vanier came out on top in front of the home fans. All four qualified. St. Olaf came through with a pair of qualifiers and will be appearing at the NCAA tournament for the first time in a few years. Wildcard choices were pretty much as expected based on the tournament results.
Iowa: 18 in a row for Wartburg as they held off Coe. Both teams qualified all ten. Josh Terrell had the best day, defeating the national #2 and #1 wrestlers to win the tournament. Add Warcynski making it at 157 out of the #6 seed and Brown holding serve at 174, and Dubuque had a pretty good day. Barclay of Luther again had his best day of the year when it counted most to make it at 184 for Luther. Some controversy in the wildcards as 5th place Mogg made it at 125 over 4th place hood who beat him that day.
Metro: Upsets were the name of the game at TCNJ on Sunday. All-American Bonitatis of TCNJ dropped to 157 after wrestling 165 all year but fell to 4th place. Five #1 seeds failed to win, though at 174, the winner was a returning All-American in Heffernan. TCNJ was able to overcome injuries to All-Americans Branham and DiColo to retake the team title it lost to Wilkes last year. One place without an upset was 125, where All-American Erdman came back from a month off with a knee injury to win going away.
Midwest: Delaware Valley dominated again, getting seven through and winning six weights. Clendenin was a mystery at 125 coming in, having only wrestled four times and only once against DIII. The former Lehigh wrestler proved he still has something left as he lapped the field at 125 and should be one to watch for in Cedar Rapids. Garber avenged his recent loss to Brown to head to Iowa on a high note. Del Val dominated the upper weights, winning 5 out of the last six finals. Kraus of Trine made it as a wildcard at 184, making him the only wildcard in that weight.
New England: Williams won as Ryan Malo continued his dominance, picking up his 38th fall of the year in his final match. Five top seeds won, and All-American Paulish of Williams was 3rd, but still picked up a wildcard in a weight where the coaches picked two to go along with champ Marsh of Bridgewater State. Returning qualifier Bloom wrestled from the #4 seed, winning multiple overtime matches on his was to the championship. The NEWA coaches likely made the most controversial wildcard pick when they took third place Lenhardt over second place Bates at 174, especially since Bates had just defeated Lenhardt twice in that tournament.
Ohio: Ohio Northern won the regular season title, but Heidelberg came back to make it five in a row for the tournament championship. They will take four to Iowa as Mizer got the wildcard to join champs D’Alessandro, Delpra, and Curley. Ohio Northern freshman Kyle Kwiat continued his outstanding debut season, winning decisively to run his record to 38-4.
Wisconsin: All ten #1 seeds won the tournament, and La Crosse won their 13th straight title, putting all ten into the finals and winning seven. Returning NCAA champs Mauseth and Laurent will head to Iowa as WIAC champs, as will All-Americans Bautista, Milks, Schmitz, Engelland, and Moore. Andrew Johnston of Eau Claire lost early, but fought his way back to win the true second match and claim the last of the 9 wildcard slots.