SUPER REGION IV
Nearly every weight class in the Super Region IV has a wrestler ranked within the top 5 & those that don't is because wrestlers that would have otherwise been ranked within the top 5 didn't start wrestling until second semester. Most have at least one returning NCAA DII All American, if not more. It's safe to say that Super Region IV is an extremely tough qualifier.
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| 125 lbs |
It's been quite the back and forth for Central Oklahoma's Paxton Rosen & McKendree's Christian Mejia. At last year's Super Region IV, it was Rosen who took the title with a 4-0 decision, but it was Mejia who upended Rosen for 5th place at the NCAA Division II tournament. No guarantee that it will be a rematch in the finals, as Mejia has had a back and forth affair with Maryville's Anthony Pisciotta as well. Mejia has won 12-7 & 9-7 decisions, whereas Pisciotta has won 5-3 & 7-5 decisions. Even that plausible semi-final is not a guarantee as Pisciotta has shown susceptible to loss on more than one occasion. Rosen's backup Studd Morris handed him an 8-5 defeat earlier this season & Kentucky Wesleyan's Nicholas Ornelas despite having a bit above .500 season also owns a 6-5 decision over Pisciotta.
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| 133 lbs |
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| 141 lbs |
If there be a more competitive weight class within all six Super Regions I don't know what it is. 141 lbs Super Region IV is absolutely bananas.
Colby Smith of Lindenwood is about all that I'm sure of. He's proven himself against everyone, He's beaten Central Oklahoma's Nate Keim twice by scores of 4-1 & 9-1. He's beaten Drury's Peter Kuster twice by scores of 7-4 & 8-3. He's beaten McKendree's Devin Schwartzkopf twice 4-0 & once by fall in 6:26. He hasn't faced Maryville's Taylor Jokerst yet, but he does own a 6-0 victory over Indianapolis's Raymond Rioux.
Keim and Kuster have one of the best feuds going on in collegiate wrestling period. The two have met a total of 9 times! Keim owns 5-3, 4-2, & 4-3 decisions, whereas Kuster owns 4-2 sudden victory, 6-2, 5-2, 43, 2-1 and 5-3 decisions. Keim has defeated Jokerst 3-2, whereas Kuster has defeated him 6-2 & twice by 5-0 decisions. Keim has never wrestled Schwartzkopf whereas Schwartzkopf owns a 5-4 decision over Kuster. Kuster owns a 1-0 decision over Rioux.
Now speaking of Schwartzkopf, he has yet to wrestle a match this season (as of the time this was written). Yet if he does show up he also has two victories 4-2 sudden victory and 6-4 over Jokerst.
Did I mention that everyone here is a NCAA DII qualifier except for Rioux? 5/6 here are returning NCAA DII qualifiers. Yeah, we're talking competitive. Only 3 qualify this season.
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| 149 lbs |
Central Oklahoma's Brik Filippo is the favorite to win a title here, but regardless of whether he faces's Darick Lapaglia of Central Missouri or Logan Bailey of Indianapolis, he will have a tough match in the finals. He snuck by Lapaglia 2-1 & he snuck by Bailey 5-4. He's defeated Jack Tangen of Lindenwood 6-1 & he owns two victories over Maryville's Tyler Stegall by scores of 4-0 & 11-3 major decision.
For those of you that think Michigan's Stevan Micic & Iowa's Mike Kemerer have been around forever, note that Lapaglia was a DII All American in 2014!
I'd give Tangen an outside shot of possibly making the finals, as he does own a 4-2 victory over Bailey. Ironically enough, Stegall owns a 6-5 decision over Tangen, but Bailey owns an 8-1 decision over Stegall. Parity anyone?
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| 157 lbs |
Let's make it very clear that the only reason 2021 NCAA DII Runner-up Ronnie Gentile of Lindenwood isn't in the rankings (as of the time this was written) is because he didn't start wrestling until second semester. So technically we're looking at what would otherwise me five ranked wrestlers at 157 lbs in Super Regon IV. May I add that three of them are returning NCAA DII All Americans.
Along with Gentile, Indianapolis' Dawson Combest was 4th at last year's NCAA DII championships & Tyler Lucas was 5th.
As to seeding? Lucas owns a 1-0 victory over Gentile, but what may throw off that win a 3-1 loss to Central Missouri's John Ridle. Gentile on the other hand owns a 7-3 victory over Ridle, as well as a 4-3 victory over Combest.
Ridle for the record also owns a 7-6 decision over Newman's Jace Fisher.
No matter how you slice it, at least three of the nation's top 157 lbs'ers will not be going to the national tournament this season. An incredibly tough weight class.
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| 165 lbs |
Another extremely tough weight class in Super Region IV will be 165 lbs. Five of the nations top 16 wrestlers, with three returning NCAA DII qualifiers and two returning NCAA DII All Americans.
Newman's Kameron Frame missed out on being an All American last season after placing 6th in 2019. While he's dropped a 4-3 match to McKendree's Cory Peterson, he's defeated Lindenwood's Nathan Trepanier 3-1, Indianapolis' Jack Eiteljorge 2-0 & he's pinned Will Kuster of Drury in 2:40.
Peterson 4th at the 2021 NCAA DII championships along with his victory over Frame, also owns a 4-3 decision over Trepanier, & two wins over Kuster via fall in 1:03 & an 11-8 decision. He's split with Eiteljorge having won a 10-3 decision and lost an 8-6 decision.
Trepanier has defeated Eiteljorge 6-1 & 6-3, but lost to him 4-3.
The other wrestler who could possibly come in here and perhaps steal a spot might be Central Oklahoma's Hunter Jump. He's thus far dropped two close matches to Kuster by scores of 5-2 & 7-4.
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| 174 lbs |
Lindenwood's Abner Romero a 2021 NCAA DII champion has not competed since 11-20-2022, thus explaining why he's currently out of the rankings. It's safe to assume that if he does he stands a good shot at winning the Super Region IV title. It doesn't escape me that Joshua Jones of McKendree once majored him 13-2, but in more recent meetings Romero has won 3-2 & 7-2 decisions.
Jones who was 4th at last year's NCAA DII championships, should have a good semi-final with Indianapolis' Andrew Sams. In three meetings thus far, Jones has won 4-1 & 7-3 decisions to Sams' 3-2 decision.
With three returning All Americans it'd be a chore for Central Oklahoma's Kalin Walker to place within the top three, but don't count it out as a possibility. He took Sams to a 4-3 decision.
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| 184 lbs |
Both 2021 NCAA DII champion Heath Gray of Central Oklahoma & 2021 NCAA DII 3rd place finisher Dan Filipek of McKendree didn't start wrestling until second semester, thus explain why they were not in the rankings at the time this was written. It's a fairly safe assumption to think that Gray & Filipek will be our final, with Gray heavily favored. Gray has defeated Filipek four times by scores of 8-1, 3-1, 3-1 & 4-1. He also owns a 12-7 victory over Gleason Mappes of Indianpolis. Filipek has defeated Mappes three times by scores of 5-1, 13-5 & 3-2. Mappes a two time NCAA DII qualifier in his own right, will have a challenge in getting back to the DII's this season. Joel Williams of Maryville, his likely opponent in the third place match to qualify, defeated him earlier this season 6-3.
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| 197 lbs |
The case of qualification could end up being quite real at 197 lbs in Super Region IV. Safe bet to say that one of the qualifiers and likely champion will be 2021 NCAA DII runner-up Dalton Abney of Central Oklahoma . He's defeated Derek Blubaugh of Indianapolis twice by a score of 4-0 and once pinning him in 1:01. He also owns 5-1 & 8-0 victories over Ivan Balavage of Newman.
Despite his high ranking Vs the fact that neither Balavage or Chase Stegall of Maryville are ranked (at the time this was written) Blubaugh has had very close matches with each. He defeated Balavage 3-1 & he needed sudden victory to defeat Stegall 8-6. Balavage has defeated Stegall twice by scores of 3-1.
I think it's a logical conclusion to think that 2nd & 3rd places that qualify for the NCAA DII's & 4th with does not, are likely to be separated by a mere takedown, riding time or an escape.
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| HWT |
These are the three gentlemen that I believe will be out HWT qualifiers out of Super Region IV. Before I speak on behalf of them, I want to give a shout out to Julian Ramirez, McKendree's backup heavyweight behind Ian Kuehl, one of the best backups in NCAA DII. He himself owns a victory over Indianapolis' Cale Gray 8-7. For the record, Logan Kvien, who competes at 197 for McKendree owns a 16-1 technical fall over Ryan Herman of Maryville, yet at 197 (at the time this was written) he's struggled with a losing record. (Herman also owns a 4-1 win over him).
With that said, Kuehl has a 5-2 win over Gray and a 7-4 victory over Herman, easily setting up up to be the #1 seed. The semi-final between Gray and Herman should prove to be good, with the loser likely to come back and take 3rd.
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The top teams in Super Region IV are loaded with talent. As noted I do think Kentucky Wesleyan does stand a chance at getting a qualifier through, but from where I sit it's going to be difficult for William Jewell or Ouachita Baptist to get anyone on through. William Jewell's entire starting lineup is freshmen, and it's difficult to succeed when your team is so inexperienced. With one sophomore, Ouachita Baptist is pretty much in the same position. Both will grow and improve as time comes. In such a tough Region, they'll have to.
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