ACC Preview (March 6th, 2022)

 

No team will go unrepresented here.  Every team in the ACC will send multiple wrestlers to the NCAA's.  The ACC continues to showcase its talents and prove to the world that it is indeed a wrestling conference. Now if we could only get Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, Syracuse, Boston College, Miami(FL), & Clemson to reinstate their programs...plus Notre Dame to actually use the $1.5 Million Dollar Pat O'Connor endowment (Which equals out to be about $90,000 per year) that was specifically set up for wrestling, FOR wrestling...plus Florida State to officially have varsity wrestling for the first time & for Louisville to have wrestling for the first time ever...then we'd really be in business.   I digress on that.  Let's take a look at the weight classes. 

Now before we do, a little color coding to understand what's going on. 

Black = These wrestlers have earned allocations & are expected to be our NCAA qualifiers 

Blue = These wrestlers have not earned allocations but stand a chance at either stealing a spot or being one of our at large (Wildcard) selections once the conference tournaments are all said and done.  

125 lbs 

Our final here is most likely going to be Jakob Camacho of North Carolina State Vs Sam Latona of Virginia. In fact Latona winning it & Camacho taking 2nd is exactly what I'm going to predict.  The guy that may have something to worry about here is Pittsburgh's Gage Curry.  As of right now he is slated to finish 3rd in the ACC, but he'll have both Spencer Moore of North Carolina and Patrick McCormick of Virginia wanting to steal that spot from him.  It took him a tiebreaker to get past Moore & he only slid past McCormick 3-2.  Neither Moore or McCormick are going to go to the NCAA's based on the grace of an At-Large/Wild Card selection.  They both HAVE TO steal a spot, or they aren't going. 

133 lbs 

At 133 lbs in the ACC, what you see, is what you get. There are five allocations and these are the five men who will take them.  The question is, in what order will they finish? Based on likely seed and the history of results, Korbin Myers of Virginia Tech is likely to be one of our finalists.  I would say that there is a good shot at Pittsburgh's Micky Phillippi being in the finals against him, but I'm anxious to see what North Carolina's Joe Heilmann can do at this tournament.  Heilmann is one of the most improved wrestlers in the nation.  This was a guy that was 14-16 as a true freshman & then 4-4 last season as a redshirt sophomore.  He went from getting manhandled by Kai Orine of North Carolina State 15-6, to defeating him 4-2 sudden victory.  Not to mention, he also already has a 3-2 victory over Phillippi.  All five of these guys deserve to go to the NCAA's this season & all things considered, all five will get to go.  

141 lbs 

Again what you see is what you get.  There are four allocations at 141 lbs in the ACC & these are the four the gentlemen who will taking them.  As close as these guys have wrestled one another, it'll be a real treat to see what order they finish in. I can see North Carolina State's Ryan Jack having a standout tournament. He's young, he's hungry & above anything else he has that Jack blood running through his veins. Older brother Kevin wasn't always picked to win, but he often did anyway.  It's in his genetic makeup to wrestle well & he very well could here.  

I wouldn't put it past Kizhan Clarke to win an ACC title. He's looked exceptionally good this season.  

The guy I think will win it though is Pittsburgh's Cole Matthews. I've said for the last two years that all Matthews needed was that one big, significant win to boost his confidence & once he had it, then like the 1988 DeLorean in Back to the Future, we were gonna see some serious shit. That win was an 11-5 decision over Stevan Micic of Michigan & as predicted, Matthews has been on fire ever since. He's been 3rd in the ACC twice before. 

 I can see Gerardi possibly upsetting Jack, but I think he'll most likely take 4th into the NCAA's. 

149 lbs 

Here is where things might get interesting. We have four allocations & five wrestlers gunning for them.  First and foremost I believe our champion here is going to be Tariq Wilson of North Carolina State. He's proven before & I believe he'll prove again that he is a post season wrestler. He has had a close match with Josh Finesilver of Duke & in eight matches, he even lost to North Carolina's Zach Sherman once. So it isn't a given, but he'll at least be given the #1 seed. 

The guy to watch here, is going to be Zach Sherman of North Carolina. His losing record isn't going to do him any favors, but the fact that he remains ranked within the top twenty very well might.  I wouldn't at all rely on the at large/wildcard selection, but if he does indeed finish in 5th place, his ranking could possibly be what saves him.  He'd be better off to steal a spot though & he's more than capable of it.  He took Finesilver into sudden victory the last the two met & he already owns a 6-2 decision over Jared Verkleeren of Virginia.  The NCAA only allowed for four At Large/Wildcards in the entire 149 lbs weight class & I can almost guarantee the ACC will be in a fight to get one of them. 

157 lbs 

There are five allocations here & five quality candidates that have earned them.  Is there anyone here that could possibly steal a spot? Yes, and that someone is Duke's Wade Unger. Already with an upset over Virginia Tech's Connor Brady 4-3, he'll need to continue his upsetting ways if he wants to make a trip to the NCAA tournament this year.  It's either upset his way to a 5th place showing or higher, or stay home.  Not being ranked with a losing record, indicates that an at large selection/wild card is not feasible.  

As to the rest of the weight class? I think two time ACC champion Austin O'Connor of North Carolina is in route to win a third title.  How I think seeds will go has me convinced that our semi-final here on the other side of the bracket will be Ed Scott of North Carolina State Vs Elijah Cleary of Pittsburgh, which I'll go with Scott.  That'll give us a classic Tar Heel Vs Wolfpack final.   

Jake Keating of Virginia Vs Cleary I believe will be our consolation final with Brady & Unger battling it out for that precious 5th place slot that still guarantees NCAA qualification.  It's rewarding to see Cleary with a clear shot at making the NCAA tournament. He's been at this a long time & has yet to make a trip to the dance. Nothing's guaranteed but things do look good. 

165 lbs 

I think things are pretty cut and dry here.   I think North Carolina State's Thomas Bullard Vs Pittsburgh's Jake Wentzel will be our final with Justin McCoy of Virginia finishing a strong 3rd. Now what is in question, is who wins between Bullard & Wentzel?  Bullard has won 3 out of their last 4 meetings & the one win Wentzel has was tiebreaker.  Can Bullard keep Wentzel from winning his third title while winning his first? On the same hand Wentzel has that little something extra that all wrestlers wish they had during the post-season.  He's hard to beat in those moments we have collaboratively decided "matter." 

174 lbs 

Somebody help me, this is one tough weight class. We're talking an NCAA champion, an NCAA runner-up & three wrestlers that have won an ACC title.  One of them already a four time ACC champ.  Can you imagine already owning four conference titles & your fifth title will be your most difficult challenge? That blows my mind, but it is the exact circumstance that North Carolina State's Hayden Hidlay is up against this weekend. All I can say is all four of these guys are more than capable of being on the award stand at the NCAA's.  

184 lbs 

I was a little surprised but happy to see that the ACC earned five allocations for 184 lbs. I was iffy on whether Gregg Harvey of Pittsburgh would be among the 33, but I am glad to see that he was.  I believe the feud between Trent Hidlay of North Carolina State & Hunter Bolen of Virginia Tech will continue as we're destined to see yet another low scoring match between the two unless North Carolina's Gavin Kane might have something to say about that. I wasn't expecting Kane to jump in and essentially fill the spot that brother Devin did & I certainly wasn't expecting him to be even better.  Yet thus far, that's exactly what he is.  He's manhandled both Harvey & Virginia's Michael Battista and he took Bolen into sudden victory when they met.  Speaking of Battista it's rewarding to see him having such a good season & to know that it'll be rewarded with his first trip to the NCAA's. 

Since I forgot to include 2021-2022 records in the picture here they are...

Hidlay 15-0
Kane 15-3
Harvey 8-8 
Battista 14-4
Bolen 19-4 

197 lbs 

This is an interesting case study. A weight class that illustrates why so many say that the sport of wrestling is often a mental game. There are six wrestlers here.  Three that have earned the allocations throughout the season that are likely to take them at the ACC tournament & three that in the laws of probability most likely won't, but still could steal those spots.   Here's what's most interesting to me. 

Kaden Russell of Duke has been beat by everyone in the ACC & in nearly every match that he's wrestled, he's been beaten pretty bad, EXCEPT against Trumble who based on record is likely to be the #1 seed.  When Russell pinned Trumble in 44 seconds last season, I chalked it up as a fluke victory, but when they met earlier this season, Russell was in the match the entire time & only lost a 2-1 decision.  I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see Trumble the #1 seed, with Russell the #6 seed.  Virginia Tech's Dakota Howard is likely to be the #5 seed, which pits Howard Vs Russell in R1.  Howard has defeated Russell 10-5 but Russell owns a 1:27 fall over him too. If Russell wins this match, then our semi-final is Trumble Vs Russell.  Ironically enough, Russell who has been majored, tech'd or in the least beaten by a notable decision by everyone else, is the one guy that thus far has given Trumble fits.  Take that for what it's worth. 

As to the mental game, Nino Bonaccorsi of Pittsburgh cannot figure out Trumble & Jay Aiello of Virginia cannot figure out Bonaccorsi.  When Bonaccorsi wrestles Trumble, he just cannot get any of his offense going. Yet when Aiello wrestled Trumble, he took him into SV. Put Bonaccorsi up against Aiello & suddenly Bonaccorsi becomes a scoring machine where Aiello often only manages escapes. You can't tell me that there isn't something mental going on here.  

On paper I think we're looking at a final between Trumble & Bonaccorsi, with Aiello finishing 3rd.  Shaw a strong candidate for 4th place, with Howard & Russell duking (pardon the pun) it out for 5th.  This begs the question, not automatically earning allocations are any of the three eligible for at large/wild card bids?  Shaw & Howard are both ranked within the top 33. That helps but doesn't guarantee anything. Shaw's best wins this season are ironically against Howard & Russell.  Howard, pretty much in the same boat, only not as good.  Russell's chances I'd say are slim or none, & I'm gonna lead with none. 2021-2022 is an abnormal season because of the extra 5th year. That puts a lot of otherwise would have graduated wrestlers back in the mix & that effects qualification.  As a result I think it's still possible Shaw & Howard could get bids to the NCAA's, but I'm gonna wager that this year, they stay home. 

HWT 

You'd think this late in the game we'd know who all of our starters are going to be, but I guess not. According to the report Tyrie Houghton of North Carolina State is who earned the spot, but it is Owen Trephan who has the ranking.  I'm not sold on one over the other & I sure haven't seen an official report yet (as of the time this was written) as to who will start. Either one of these guys as far as I'm concerned stands a shot at being an ACC champion.  One has not established himself to be clearly better than the other. Hell their last match came down to a tiebreaker.  So either way, NC State has themselves a qualifier. 

The rest of the weight class displaces a bit of parity.  Nathan Traxler of Virginia Tech is another guy that I'd call ACC champion material. Yet he has an odd 4-3 loss to Virginia's Quinn Miller.  That particularly sticks out when you take into consideration that Jacob Slinger of Pittsburgh upset Miller 4-1, yet Traxler thumped Slinger 12-0.  That's wrestling for you. 

As to Slinger can I see him possibly stealing a spot & making the NCAA tournament.  I think his chances aren't anywhere near as good as Zach Sherman's but I'd say they're better than most anyone else's who is fighting to steal a spot in the ACC.   

==== 

While the ACC won't get the love or support that some of the other conferences get, it should. It may only be six teams, but we're talking some really good, quality wrestling at each weight class. It's one to watch & pay attention to.  

Upper Midwest Regional Preview - DIII - (February 25th-26th, 2022)

 UPPER MIDWEST REGIONAL 

Unlike some of the other Regionals in NCAA Division III wrestling where a majority of the teams have a shot at NCAA DIII qualification, the Upper Midwest Regional is completely dominated by the top half teams.  While there are 18 teams, 11  are at least in my estimation going to get wrestlers on through to nationals.  

125 lbs 

These are the gentlemen I see placing in the top three at the Upper Midwest Regional and qualifying for the NCAA DIII Championships.  Whether he finishes 1st or 2nd, I'm pretty confident that Isaac Wiegel of UW-Platteville will finish ahead of Luc Valdez of UW-Oshkosh as he has five wins against him already.  4-1, 6-1, 7-4 & two 5-2 decisions.  Our other top three place-winner/qualifier should be Derek Steele of Augsburg.

133 lbs 

There's a probable possibility of our final being between UW-Stevens Point's Matt Berlin an NCAA DIII qualifier in 2020 & UW-Eau  Claire's Tyler Fleetwood.  Berlin owns a 12-3 major over Fleetwood.  I think that there could be a chance at a upset out of Zach Thompson of UW-Platteville or Ethan Harsted of Wheaton.  Although Fleetwood has a 12-4 major over Thompson, Thompson has also kept it very close with him in a 3-2 decision.  Harsted who was an NCAA DIII qualifier in 2020, wrestled Berlin to a 4-1 decision.  The other player here to not over look is Concordia's (MN) Ty Bisek.  

141 lbs 

If I were a betting man, I'd bet on Jimmy McAuliffe of Elmhurst, Sam Stuhl of Augsburg & Zach Sato of UW-Eau Claire on being our top three place-winners/NCAA DIII qualifiers. Now ask me if there is anyone going to steal a spot from one of those three?  Dakarai Clay of UW-Whitewater could. 

149 lbs 

With Brock Parker of UW-Platteville likely to take the #1 seed, the fight for our silver & bronze medals with be a battle of the Jakes.  Jake Buford of UW-Whitewater, Jake Drexler of UW-Eau Claire & Jake Mandt of UW-La Crosse.  Parker owns a 10-4 decision over Mandt, as Buford squeaked by Drexler in their last meeting 5-4.  I think the real battle for NCAA DIII qualification could come between Drexler and Mandt.  In all close matches, Mandt has won 4-2 sudden victory & 6-5, Vs a 2-0 victory for Drexler.   Four good wrestlers, three of them go, one stays home. 

157 lbs 

Like at 141 lbs, I think who our top three place-winners/qualifiers will be is pretty set in stone, but as they say, we don't wrestle on paper, we wrestle on a mat.  Augsburg's Tyler Shilson, third in the NWCA last season, will most likely face UW-La Crosse's Nolan Hertel in the Upper Midwest Regional final.  Shilson owns a 5-3 victory over Hertel.  Our likely candidate for third place, is UW-Stevens Point's Luke Smiley.  Hertel has defeated Smiley twice by scores of 4-0 & 11-3.  If there is anyone that can possibly steal a spot here, I believe that someone is Florida native Darian Estevez of Chicago.  Estevez wrestled Smiley to a 3-2 decision. 

165 lbs 

I think we're looking at a Upper Midwest Regional champion when we look at Seth Brossard of UW-La Crosse.  Thus far he's pinned Chase Schmidt of UW-Eau Claire in 4:27 & He's defeated Brandon Peckham of UW-Stevens Point 8-4.  Now the fun will be the semi-final between Schmidt and Peckham.  In some wild matches Schmidt has won 4-2, 12-11 & 7-6 tiebreaker decisions, whereas Peckham has won a 5-3 decision.  Look for the loser, to come back and take a strong 3rd. 

174 lbs 

This is an extremely tough weight class.  We have four of the top 12 wrestlers in the nation plus two other very talented wrestlers, for a total of six that will be fighting tooth & nail for a spot in the top three.  Ben Sarasin of Chicago was 7th at the 2019 NCAA DIII's & I honestly think he has a shot at winning a DIII title this season, but he has to get past Solomon Nielsen of Augsburg just to win an Upper Midwest Regional title first.  He defeated Nielsen, last season's NWCA Runner-up, 6-5.  Sarasin also owns a 7-1 decision over Ryan Vender of UW-Whitewater. 

Nielsen is likely to be Sarasin's opponent in the finals. He pinned Luke Silva of Aurora in 5:00 & also owns a 10-7 victory over him.  Then Jared Stricker of UW-Eau Claire has always wrestled him tough, but has yet to get any offense going as Nielsen has won 5-1 & 5-2 decisions.  Nielsen also owns a 15-4 major over Nick Dado of UW-Plattville. 

Vender's testimony here is a 3-2 decision that he has over Stricker, and then of course Dado's testimony is his 3-2 victory over Vender.  

184 lbs 

Now this is one competitive weight class.  We have five of the top 16 guys in NCAA DIII wrestling & what a miscarriage of justice it is that only three of them will be going to DIII nationals.   

We have two time NCAA DIII qualifier Jarrit Shinhoster of UW-Whitewater.  He was a 7-0 victory over Kalyn Jahn of UW-La Crosse & he's pinned Evan Lawrence of UW-Eau Claire on two occasions. 

Augsburg's Nick Rogge who was 5th in the NWCA last season, has split with Jahn, winning a 3-1 decision but losing a 5-4 decision. 

Jahn owns a 9-3 decision over Lawrence who was an NCAA DIII qualifier in 2020. 

Then if that ain't enough, we also have Chicago's Maguire Pecci in the mix. 

197 lbs 

I believe these will be our three top three place winners/NCAA qualifier.  Beau Yineman has pinned Isaac Lahr of UW-La Crosse twice & for what it's worth, Lahr and Augsburg's Bentely Schwanebeck-Osterman have only met once in their careers & it was Lahr who earned a 16-0 technical fall.  Schwanebeck-Osterman was 6th at last year's NWCA. 

HWT 

And perhaps we end on the toughest weight class in the Upper Midwest Regional, HWT, with 5 wrestlers ranked in the top 12, four of which on paper, predicted to be NCAA DIII All Americans.  Only three of these guys get to go to the NCAA DIII tournament. Absolute travesty that two have to stay home. 

Ben Kawczysnski (Sorry about the spelling above) of UW- La Crosse is the forerunner for a title here, but it's not a given.  Jordan Lemcke of UW-Oshkosh has given him two close matches 6-4 & 2-0 & Tyler Kim of Augsburg has also challenged him in 4-3 & 2-0 matches. Not to Mention Caden Koeppel of UW-Whitewater gave him a decent 5-2 match. 

Lemcke a 2020 NCAA DIII qualifier is 1-2 Vs Mason Hawkins of UW-Eau Claire.  He owns a 4-2 sudden victory, but has dropped both 9-3 & 4-3 decisions.  Against Kim he is 2-0, with 8-3 & 4-0 decisions. A 3-1 decision over Koeppel. 

Hawkins has split with Kim, who was the NWCA runner-up last season.  Hawkins won 3-1 & Kim won 4-3. Hawkins also has a 3-2 victory over Koeppel. 

There should be a law against weight classes being this competitive. 

Southeast Regional Preview - NCAA DIII- (February 25-26, 2022)

SOUTHEAST REGIONAL  

Not as tough as some of the other regionals, but still quite competitive, what I appreciate most about the Southeast Regional is that it's fairly well represented by the 20 teams within it.  I truly think that 17 in the least stand a chance at getting at least one wrestler through to the NCAA DIII tournament.  That's saying something considering only the top three in each weight class qualify. 

125 lbs 

Florida native Samuel Braswell who was 3rd in the NWCA last season will most likely be our #1 seed, but he's got his work cut out for him if he wants to win the Southeast Regional title this season.  Not only has Riley Parker of Washington & Lee given him two close 7-4 matches, he's also defeated him 11-9.  On top of that Austin Fashour of Wilkes has given him a 7-5 match as well.  

The other guy to look out for here will be Thiel's Evan Whiteside.  Between the four will be the battle for qualification. 

133 lbs 

York's (PA) Dalton Rohrbaugh is the favorite to win a Southeast Regional title here.  He absolutely demoslished Luke Kowolski of Gettysburg, who could be his opponent in the finals 14-2.  That's if Kowolski can defeat Josh Wilson of Greensboro in a likely semi-final match.  Wilson defeated Kowolski 12-10 sudden victory the last time the two met.   Whoever comes out on the losing end of that match, will then most likely have to face Hunter Thompson of Thiel.  Kowolski defeated Thompson earlier 11-8. 

141 lbs 

Have some very talented wrestlers at 141 lbs in the Southeast Regional.  Kyle Slendorn of Stevens Tech was 4th in the NWCA last season & both Josiah Gehr of Messiah and Brandon Woody of Averett have previously made it to the NCAA DIII's twice. 

149 lbs 

Take it to the bank, your 2022 Southeast Regional Champion will be Brett Kaliner, two time All American (3rd in 2019, 3rd in 2021 NWCA).  I believe regardless of who he faces in the finals, it won't be pretty.  

One of the guys he could meet in the finals might be Jake Coniglio of Messiah & what a story that would make.  Far from a superstar in high school, Coniglio's best season up to this point has been 14-12 his sophomore year. As a freshman he was 7-9 & as a junior last year he was 4-5.  This year he enters the Southeast Regional with a 21-10 record. In wrestling we preach hard work, dedication & commitment to getting better, but most of the time one of two things happen before this point. Either you get better much earlier or you quit. It's a rarity to see someone hold on, and truly live by the moniker of "never give up" the way Coniglio has.  Although his matches with Kaliner have not been pretty (pinned & tech'd twice), I do believe he's capable of beating anyone else here.  He owns a 5-4 victory over Jared Bair of York (PA). 

Another candidate for NCAA DIII qualification & a top 3 spot in the Southeast Regional is Nic Zamaloff of Washington & Lee who owns a 7-5 sudden victory over Bair.  Lastly, also look for Eli Blackwell of Southern Virginia to fight for a top 3 spot. 

157 lbs 

Also positive that our three NCAA DIII qualifiers will be Nick Barnhart of Messiah, along with 2020 NCAA qualifier Ryan Luth of Washington & Lee and Eric Hutchinson of York (PA) 2021 NWCA qualifier.  I will though put out a slight possibility for an upset out of Hunter Gutierrez of Stevens Tech. 

Thus far Barnhart has defeated Luth 9-6, with two victories 6-3 & 9-5 over Gutierrez. 

Luth has defeated Gutierrez 7-3  

Hutchinson does own an 11-3 victory over Barnhart, as well as a 5-0 victory over Gutierrez. 

165 lbs 

I believe these three will be our top three place winners/NCAA DIII qualifiers at the Southeast Regional.   Matt Lackman of Alvernia will take the top seed, with what should be a classic semi-final between Alex Turley of Averett and Joe Salerno of Washington & Lee.  Turley who was 7th at the NWCA last season, owns a 4-3 victory over Salerno. 

174 lbs 

From where I sit the war for qualification at 174 lbs in the Southeast Regional will be among five talented wrestlers. 

Stefan Major of Stevens Tech who owns a 9-4 decision over George Moseley of Averett, who was 6th in the NWCA last season.  

Ray Martin of Gettysburg who owns a 6-1 victory over Kade Kravits of Kings (PA)

Kravits who owns a 7-6 victory over Moseley.  

Jaden Datz of Washington & Jefferson. 

184 lbs 

184 lbs mirrors 174 lbs in the Southeast Regional as it too looks to be a 5 man war for NCAA DIII qualification.  Ironically though, other than Colton Babcock pinning Isaac Kassis  of Alvernia in 3:59, none of these guys have met yet.  As said, it'll be a war between Babcock, Kassis, Mahlic Sallah of Roanoke, Bryce McCloskey of Thiel & Brad Basham of Washing & Lee. 

197 lbs 

Michael Dooley a two time NCAA DIII qualifier is likely to be our #1 seed here.  He owns a 10-0 major decision over Alex Donahue of Washington & Jefferson.  A likely finalist to challenge Dooley might be Braden Homsey of Ferrum who also owns a 10-0 major decision over Donahue, although Donahue has also defeated him 3-1 sudden victory. 

Gable Crebs of Lycoming is  another Candidate who owns a 54 second fall over Donahue, as is Camden Farrow of York (PA).  Farrow has struggled with Dooley, having lost 3-2, 8-3 & 6-3 decisions, but he has split with Crebs winning a 5-2 decision and dropping an 8-2 decision. 

HWT 

This weight class is pure chaos.  We have 8 guys here, all 8 capable of NCAA DIII qualification.  Just take a look. 

Connor Fulmer of Lycoming. Not sure if it has been time in the weight room, improving technique, something mental or a combination of all of the above, but he's been able to turn some pretty ugly losses into victories.  Nick Ramirez of Southern Virginia defeated him 10-0 & 6-1, but it was Fulmer who won the most recent meeting 8-0.  He turned a 12-2 major decision loss to Palmer Rodenhaber of Avernia into a 10-1 major decision victory.  Then he took an 11-2 major decision loss to Carter Urich of Messiah & turned that into both a 2 minute fall & a 1-0 victory.  He also owns a 4-2 decision over Clay Chadwick of Washington & Lee. 

As to Ramriez, he was 5th at the NWCA last season.  He has pinned Urich twice, as he's defeated RayShawn Dixon of Ferrum on three occasions. 3-0, 9-2 & a 21 second fall.   Although he does own a 15-0 technical fall over Trent Ragland of Averett, he's also lost to him 9-3 & 4-2 sudden victory.  Struggling with Rocky McGeary of Waynesburg, he's dropped 7-2, 11-6 & 9-8 decisions. He's also dropped a 6-3 decision to Chadwick. 

Rodenhaber an NCAA DIII qualifier in 2020 has pinned Urich on three occasions, but has lost to McGeary 4-0.

Urich a 2021 NWCA qualifier owns an 8-6 decision over McGeary & he's pinned Chadwick twice. He's also lost by fall to Ragland twice. 

McGeary an NCAA qualifier in 2020, has split with Ragland winning 4-3 but dropping a 6-3 match. 

Ragland a 2021 NWCA qualifier has defeated Chadwick on three occasions, pinning him at 6:26, along with 5-0 and 6-1 decisions. 

Finally Chadwick owns a 4:39 fall over Dixon, who was also a 2021 NWCA qualifier. 

Does your head hurt yet? 

HWT in the Southeast Regional is like a grenade. Just sit back and watch it explode. 

Northeast Regional Preview - DIII - (February 25th-26th, 2022)

NORTHEAST REGIONAL  

If you enjoy things being up in the air & an assortment of wrestlers having an opportunity advance to the NCAA DIII championships, then this is the Regional for you. From where I sit, very little is written in stone & a top three finish is possible out of quite a few wrestlers at quite a few weight classes.  Let's take a look. 

125 lbs 

On Paper it would seem most logical that we are to see a Northeast Regional final of Joey Manginelli of Springfield & Nick Arborio of Western New England.  That very well could be a rematch that we do see. (Manginelli won 6-3, the last the two met.)  However, it should be noted that New England College's Chris Derosa owns a 10-8 victory over Arborio & that Justin Lopez of Johnson & Wales has given Manginelli a couple of close matches in 4-3 & 5-2 losses.  He also lost to him 11-3 though too & for the record, lost to Arborio 9-2.  Lopez and Derosa have yet to meet.  All three of these guys are very talented. It'll be interesting to see who ends up being the odd man out. 

133 lbs 

Again another weight class where what should happen on paper might not necessarily happen on the mat.  Kyle Kaiser of Roger Williams will take the top seed here.  He has two victories over Gabriel Leo-Esparolini of Johnson & Wales 5-1 & 7-3. What sticks out most though is a tight 2-1 victory over Diego Santiago of New England College, who has given him close matches in the past. 

Chase Randall of the United States Coast Guard seems another candidate for possible Northeast Regional Champion/runner-up, but like Kaiser, one of his closest matches of the season has been with Santiago, who took him to a 3-2 match.  Randall also owns a 13-8 victory over Leo-Esparolini. 

Another candidate for a top three qualification is Castleton's Michael Gonyea.  He's split with Leo-Esparolini winning by fall at 3:57 & losing a 6-4 sudden victory match.  He took Santiago to a 2-1 match. 

Scotty Richter of Williams defeated Gonyea 10-2, so that certainly also makes him a contender for NCAA DIII qualification.   Santiago defeated Richter 4-2. 

As you can see we have six quality wrestlers all more than capable of being top three in the Northeast Regional when it is all said and done.  QF's on through, this will be an interesting bracket. 

141 lbs 

 

Both Johnson & Wales' Hayden Brown & Springfield's Chris Trelli were NCAA DIII qualifiers in 2020. Is that the final we'll see at this year's  Northeast Regional?  It's a real possibility.  Brown took it to Trelli 14-2 in one match, yet also lost to him 5-4.  Seeding could make a difference here as Brown owns a 1:32 fall over Chris Perry of Trinity, who defeated Trelli 5-2.   

The other wrestler of note in this bracket is James Rodriguez of Castleton.  He owns a 6-3 match over Perry, and has kept it close with both Trelli & Brown.  Vs Trelli he dropped a 3-0 match & Vs Brown although he did lose once by an 8-2 decision, he's given him 3-0, 2-0 and 4-3 matches. 

Four talented grapplers and only three get to go. 

149 lbs 

The United States Coast Guard's Tony Ulaszek will be our #1 seed here, but again, I wouldn't call it a lock or a guarantee. Both Chase Parrott of Springfield in a 2-1 match & Anthony Chavez of NYU in a 3-2 match have given him some close ones.  

Evan Fidelibus of New England College was an NCAA DIII qualifier in 2020.  He'll have his work cut out for him if he wants to make it back again in 2022.  Thus far he has a nice 6-5 victory over Colby Frost of Southern Maine, as he has split with Ben Bariso of Roger Williams. Dropping a 13-5 major decision, he defeated Bariso 15-8.  He's also dropped a 5-1 decision to Parrott. 

As to Bariso, he has a 9-7 sudden victory over Frost & an 11-5 decision over Chavez going for him. Marks against him include a 6-1 loss to Parrott & then 11-2 & 7-4 losses to Gabriel McDaniel of Johnson & Wales.  Chavez has a -4 victory over McDaniel. 

Good luck. 

157 lbs 

You can lay your money down on Nathan Lackman of Rhode Island College, as he should win a Northeast Regional Title without much problem. Tus far he owns a 7-1 victory over Trent Furman of NYU & a 3:35 fall over Logan Dubuque of Castleton. 

The question is, who joins him? Who takes silver & who takes bronze?  

Jacob Deguire of Springfield? He's split with Dubuque winning a 10-3 decision and dropping a 4-1 decision. 

Another name to look at here is Williams' Albert Xing who owns a 5-1 victory over Dubuque. 

Only two spots remaining with Lackman leading the way & four guys who want those spots. 

165 lbs 

2021 NWCA All American Phil Rogers of the United States Coast Guard will be our forerunner for the Northeast Regional title.  He owns a 5-1 victory over plausible finalist Cooper Pontelandolfo of NYU, as well as a 16-0 technical fall over Michael Angers of Castleton.  

The real question here at 165 lbs, is who will take 3rd?  I think it could be be one of four wrestlers, Angers being one of them.  He owns a 6-5 victory over Brenden Kiernan of Williams.  Kevin Lyskawa of Trinity  owns a 5-4 victory over Kiernan.  Robert Garcia of Johnson & Wales owns a 5-4 victory over Angers.  If history repeats itself, whoever takes 3rd here, will most likely do so with many hard fought, close matches. 

174 lbs 

Undefeated on the season, the closest match that Michael Ross of Johnson & Wales has had with his competition in the Northeast Regional has been a 5-2 match with Jason Geyer of NYU.  He owns a 16-0 technical fall over Dominick Esposito of USMMA.  

Speaking of Esposito, an NCAA DIII qualifier in 2020, I'm not even 100% positive if he'll be the starter for the USMMA at this tournament.  Thus far he's split with teammate Draygan Colonese, winning a 2-0 match but dropping a 7-2 match. He has a 7-3 loss to Geyer as well.   

Another candidate for possible NCAA DIII qualification & a top three finish is Marco Gaita of Wesleyan, who also qualified in 2020.  He owns a 7-0 victory over Daniel Curran of Norwich, but dropped a 10-6 decision to Dante Gutbrod of Williams.  To make matters even more confusing, Curran pinned Gutbroad in 6:52.    

We have a bit of parity going on at 174 lbs & it'll be interesting to see how this bracket ends up being seeded.  In wrestling we often like to romanticize that seeds don't matter, but when you have a 19 man bracket, & only the top 3 get to go to the NCAA DIII's, you often find out that seeds actually do matter. In fact, they matter a lot.   Upsets always have and will continue to happen, but some paths are certainly easier than others. 

184 lbs 

Three time NCAA DIII qualifier, 2021 NWCA runner-up, Paul Detwiler of the United States Coast Guard is arguably the surest bet for a Northeast Regional Champion there is.  His likely opponent in the finals is Ryan DeVivo of Johnson & Wales, who he's already majored 20-7.  He also owns three impressive wins over Edwin Morales, a likely candidate for 3rd place, 13-8, 13-4 & 9-3. 

DeVivo as mentioned, a candidate to meet Detwiler in the finals owns a 12-4 victory over Morales, as well as a 5-2 decision over Cole Shaughnessy of Roger Williams & a 6:12 fall over Izaake Zukerman of NYU.  

Shaughnessy owns a 9-3 victory over Zuckerman & Morales owns a 7-5 sudden victory over Shaughnessy.  

Zuckerman, a 2020 NCAA DIII qualifier has his work cut out for him if he wants to make another appearance at teh national tournament.  

197 lbs 

This will be a really fun weight class.  You have Coy Spooner of the United States Coast Guard the likely #1 seed.   Then we have Darby McLaughlin of Western New England as Chance Lapier of Castleton. Better's chance, I'd give Lapier the #2 seed and McLaughlin the #3 seed, but switch them around, either way, it's our likely semi-final match.  Lapier as of now owns a 5-2 decision over McLaughlin.  Now, Spooner does own a 14-0 decision over Lapier, but the last time the two met it was a very close 8-6 decision.  Then when Spooner and McLaughlin met, that too was a very close decision, a 2-1 decision in fact.   

Those are the three I see placing 1st, 2nd, 3rd & going to the NCAA DIII national tournament, but with that said, I dare not overlook Travis Arata of Roger Williams and his capabilities. 

HWT 

The one thing I'm very confident about when it comes to the Northeast Regional at HWT is the one of our qualifiers will be Liridon Leka of Johnson & Wales.  An 18-4 major decision as well as a 1:45 fall over Shea Garand of Castleton & two 6-2 decisions over Addison Boisvert of Roger Williams.  The one thing that is not guaranteed though, is that he'll win a title. I do think that Jake Peavey of Southern Maine, who's wrestled him to 8-5 & 4-3 decisions thus far will give him a run for his money. 

As to Peavey he also owns a 2:38 fall, a 8-0 major decision and a 7-2 decision over Garand.  He's pinned Tommy Goodwin of Williams in 2:31 & he's beaten Boisvert twice once by fall in 2:00 & by 9-1 major decision. 

Boisvert owns a 7-0 decision over Garand as well as a6-2 decision over Goodwin. 

Garand owns a 9-3 decision over Goodwin.

Then last but not least there is Jacob Raboy of Hunter, who owns a 13-7 decision over Goodwin. 

The final I see here is betwen Leka and Peavey, with an all out War among the rest listed for 3rd. 

====

This is a fun regional to follow for a couple of different reasons.  While Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York are still represented strong, it's fun to write about kids from the "other" eastern states of Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine, ect.  It's also fun to see how well the USCG is doing this seaso & that the USMMA has some good wrestlers too.  The smaller military schools often get over shadowed by Air Force, Navy, Army, The Citadel & the other "bigger" schools.  I realize that Johnnythompsonnum1 didn't get as much coverage done for DIII this year as I hoped to. I'm hoping that time, $$ & resources will be more plentiful for me next season & in the years to come. It's been brought to my attention that JT#1 is heavy in DI coverage. I'm trying to expand that more, but as a one man show, it's a challenge.  I hope you have enjoyed what DIII coverage I have been able to do this season.  

Mideast Regional - DIII- Preview (Feb 25th-26th, 2022)

MIDEAST REGIONAL 

125 lbs 

Pretty sure one of the qualifiers we'll see out of the Mideast Regional will be two time NCAA DIII qualifier Matt Caccamise of Brockport State.  Although he does have a loss by fall to Matthew Griffin of Ithaca in 6:04, he's also defeated Griffin by technical fall 16-0.  He also owns a 1:51 fall over Terry Adams of Ursinus. 

I think another possible qualifier here could be Cody Merwin of SUNY-Cortland as well as Joey Lamparelli of Muhlenberg.   Either way, I think Caccamise will be a top three place-winner/qualifier be it gold, silver or bronze & whoever the other two end up being, I say it'll be one of the four listed above. 

133 lbs 

I believe the fight for a top three qualification in the Mideast Regional will be among five wrestlers.  Zach Levey of Borkport State, J.C. Cardenas of SUNY-Cortland, Jacy Jones of Centenary, Andre Ruiz of Jersey City and Kyle Nase of College of New Jersey.   

Cardenas owns a 7-1 victory over Levey 
Ruiz owns a 11-9 victory over Cardenas
Nase owns a 10-7 victory over Ruiz 

Should be a fun competitive bracket. 

141 lbs 

Did I spell it right? Am I saying it right?  Either way, I believe that one of the Mideast Regional finalists at 141 lbs will be Domenic Difrancescantonio of the College of New Jersey.  With a 7-4 victory over Chris Horton of R.I.T. & a 2:07 fall over Travis Jones of Ithaca, I'd say he has a pretty good shot at winning a title too.  I wouldn't count out Jones though, who won a Mideast Regional title in 2020 at 133 lbs.  He's thus far defeated Horton on three occasions, 18-5, 19-4 & 9-6. 

149 lbs 

See the fight for qualification at 149 lbs in the Mideast Regional being among four talented individuals.  

One of which will be Matt Beyer of Ithaca, who thus far has wins over the other three I see fighting for a spot in the top three. Beyer has defeated Michael Conklin of the College of New Jersey 7-2, Michael Glynn of RIT 10-2 & Marquis Larmond of Brockport State 14-9.  

Conklin has defeated Glynn 5-1 & Larmond has split with Glynn, winning a 10-5 match by dropping a 8-1 decision. 

157 lbs 

The best Kaidon Winters of R.I.T. ever finished in high school was 5th at the state championships & now he's the #1 ranked wrestler at 157 lbs in NCAA Division III looking to win both a Mideast Regional title & a DIII title.  The question is, who will be the other two to join him in a trip to the NCAA's? 

Chandler Merwin of SUNY-Cortland? I think he makes a case.  He's thus far defeated Anson DeWar of Muhlenberg 13-6 & he owns a 3-1 sudden victory over Adam Wagner of Ithaca. 

DeWar owns a 3:35 fall over Shawn Marchesano of Ursinus, but dropped an 11-5 decision to Jeff Johnson of Jersey City.  

Marchesano owns a 9-7 victory over Wagner. 

Semis, consolation semis, consolation finals...I think we're going to see some good wrestling at 157 lbs in the Mideast Regional. 

165 lbs 

 Similar to 157 lbs, we have Dominick Reyes of Johns Hopkins as our for runner & it's sort of up in the air after that.   

I believe Austin Lamb of RIT is a good candidate for a top three finish & NCAA DIII qualification.  He owns both a 5-4 & 6-2 decision over Tyler Brazinski of Oneonta.   Jackson Gray of Ithaca has also defeated Brazinski 9-5.  

Alex LaVek of McDaniel among names already mentioned, another I could see finishing in the top 3. 

174 lbs 

Pretty sure we're looking at a final between two former NCAA DIII qualifiers, Charlie Grygas of SUNY-Oswego and Demitreus Henry of SUNY-Cortland.  The battle for third?  See Joe Paul of Johns Hopkins & Reid Colella of the College of New Jersey battling it out. 

184 lbs 

Two time NCAA DIII qualifier Eze Chukwuezi of Ithaca heads the class at 184 lbs.  He has victories over Daniel Surich of the College of New Jersey, who could very well end up his finals opponent, 8-2 & 8-3.   Anxious to see if Jake Kallenborn of the Pennsylvania College of Technology can end up in 3rd. 

197 lbs 

The College of New Jersey's Quinn Haddad won a Mideast Regional title in 2020. Can he win another title in 2022? I think it's a real possibility, although he'll have some serious competition out of Luca Colestock of Muhlenberg who was a runner-up at the Mideast Regional in 2020 as well as Jordan Wallace of Ithaca who has been wrestling exceptionally well this season.  It'll be fun to see how this bracket turns out. 

HWT 

As to the NCAA qualifiers at HWT for the Mideast Regional? I think Richard Knapp of Brockport State stands a good shot.  A NCAA DIII qualifier in 2020, he owns both a 1:56 fall & a 3-1 sudden victory over Thomas Marretta of the College of New Jersey.  

Tony Wuest of McDaniel has pinned Malcolm Hunt of Ursinus twice in 6:02 & 2:14, but he dropped a 9-2 decision to Dylan Waller of Elizabethtown.  Waller also owns an 8-7 decision over Caleb Burkhart of Keystone.  

Among these six wrestlers, three I predict will be out top three place-winners/NCAA DIII qualifiers. 

=== 

It's fun to see the who's who among some of the smaller east coast schools. The Wrestling Gawds above only know how dedicated, braggadocios and proud Pennsylvanians, New Jerseyans & New Yorkers are of their big school wrestlers from Penn State, Rutgers & so on. I'm excited to see if their small school wrestlers get any of the same love and recognition.  There are a lot of good wrestlers here, if you simply open up your eyes and give DIII a look.