2023 NCAA Division III The Season: New Teams & Miscellaneous

We have some new programs coming to NCAA Division III as well as some restorations! I am excited about both.  As it always is when a team is either brand new or coming back after a discontinuation, I'm never quite sure what to say. I just have to be patient and see what happens.  

I also have to admit, as long winded as I am, even with programs that have been around a long time, I'm not always sure what to say. I hate being a loss for words, and usually I'm not, but in some cases I am.  No use beating around the bush about it. I come clean. 

I was pretty excited about this restoration last season. The Soring Eagles had a program back in the 70's & it's refreshing to see the oldest existing college in New York to give equal status degrees to women pick the sport back up. It was a rough first year often finishing last or close to it in most tournaments with a rather small roster. It takes time to build a program sometimes & Elmira will. Give it time. 

 
With no regional place-winners last season & going 3-14 in duals I wasn't exactly sure what to say about the Panthers this season. I feel that they are located in a relatively good area for recruiting and I'm not sure why the program is struggling at the moment. If they can get some good kids locally & semi-locally, I think this program can be very good in a few years. 

I've always been a big fan of the Beavers. I've visited the school many times. I've gone to dual meets there. I had a good friend who was a varsity wrestler. It's simply that I wasn't sure what to say about this for this upcoming season. One of their best wrestlers, Don Phillips I'm pretty sure has used up his eligibility & they are in such an incredibly tough Regional as well as conference. Hope to see some good things out of them this season. 

The Giants of Keystone have been around forever & the Keystone Classic is a tournament that I have always held in high regard. However, I'm just not sure what to say about the program this season. I thought Regional Place-winners Kenny Santiago & Caleb Burkhart both had eligibility left, but neither are on the 22'-23' roster. Giants have been in a slump for quite some time now & I'm really hoping that they'll get out of it. 

Back in 1996 the Panthers went 10-1 on the season, winning a conference title & taking 28th place at the NCAA Division III Championships. They haven't had a winning season since 2011. Matter of fact in the last seven seasons they have only managed 11 dual victories against 55 losses. This is a program that has seen glory before & hopefully will again. Rough times suck, but they don't last. 

Turnaround always has to take place at a specific time & I can actually see that specific time being 22'-23' for the Engineers this year.  They have talent on their team.  Tanner Thatcher, Tommy Dell'Aera, David Gibson & Chris Gens. I don't feel that I'm out of place in saying that I think all four of those guys ARE Regional place-winner capable. 

On the complete opposite side of the state, things are drastically different in Behrend than what they are in University Park. These Panthers went 0-11 on the season. If there's anything I can't stand to be, it's negative. Yet the only thing I hate worse than being negative is being dishonest. Five of those 11 loses were shutouts. Only a nine team roster, expectation should also include what a team has to work with as well as what they are up against. Not every team is going to win every dual. Not every team is going to contend for conference or regional status.  I know a guy years ago that wrestled for Maranatha Baptist & in four years both he & his team won about 5 matches.  He loved every minute of being a part of that program. I wrote an article years ago on St. Olaf preaching that our "Not so good teams" have a place in the wrestling world & that we should cherish them for the experiences and opportunities that they provide. I imagine PSU-Behrend as well as some of the other programs listed in this article are among them.  With that said, I hope not to be misconstrued or misunderstood. Simply explaining myself as to why these particular teams didn't get the big elaborate write-ups like I did for some of the other programs. 

The Pilgrims had a Regional Runner-up last season in Diego Santiago as well as Chris DeRosa who damn near qualified for DIII's himself with a 4th place finish. No doubt about it that the Pilgrims will continue to produce such talent, but both were seniors last year & I'm not sure who all they have coming in/coming back who will match in terms of success. 

I do think that Jacob Raboy could very well be a Regional place-winner this season, but by George I just don't feel like I've seen him compete enough to make that call yet. From what I DID see of him, it seems like a logical prediction. Will wait and see. 

I'm going to say the same thing about Southern Virginia that I said about New England.  The Knights had an All American last season with Nico Ramirez who took 5th. Who may I add was also 5th in 2021 as well as a qualifier in 2020.  Yet he, along with Morgan Peterson a 2021 qualifier both graduated. I'm sure that Southern Virginia will again have contenders in 22'-23', I'm just not sure at this point who those contenders will be. 

It's been a rough go for the Griffins there first couple of seasons. 3-26 since the 19'-20' season, didn't even fill an entire roster last year. Again, not wanting to be pessimistic or negative here, the roster last year was very young. Plenty of time for growth and improvement. 

I thought the Wasps already were varsity status but they competed in the NCWA at the end of the season last year. So I am a bit confused. Will they be NCAA DIII this year & compete in the Regional?  A  22'-23' schedule has not been posted yet, so I do not know. 

This was another program where I was very excited to read about the restoration. They had a respectable program at one time that should have never been discontinued in the first place. Very happy to see them back on the mat & I think I have good reason to believe that they will be competitive within due time. For one, it's in Ohio! That right there gives props to faith. 

The reinstatement of Wildcat wrestling made me very happy. Linfield has a rich history & believe it or not, the program was originally started by a guy who had played basketball in high school. So happy that with all the work he put into Linfield wrestling that after a long lay off they are once again back on the mat! Oregon needed another varsity collegiate team. This is a-w-e-s-o-m-e. 

We're on a roll with restoration aren't we!?!? Gawd I love seeing old programs make a comeback. Definitely one of my favorite things about wrestling. I mean of course I'd have rather they never dropped in the first place, but next best thing? They return!! St. John Fisher back in the day was a team that was always competitive in dual meets. Matter of fact in 1973 they went 10-1. I think they can have that type of success again. I'm excited. 

As a wrestling fan in general how can you not be excited about this. Jason Nolf of Penn State said the other day, "Texas needs college wrestling" & while his sentiment was geared towards Division I, the fact that we  now have NCAA Division III wrestling in the Lone Star state is HUGE!  The Mountaineers won two dual meets in their inaugural season & considering the competition, that's pretty good. Not sure if it'll be this season or not, but very excited to see some Regional place-winners & hopefully some NCAA DIII qualifiers! 

We actually won't see the restoration of Saint Vincent until the 23'-24' season but none the less I am excited about it! 

The Saints begin wrestling for the first time in school history this season! 

The Muskies actually do return Noah DeHainaut who was 8th in the Central Regional last season. I was initially thinking he was a senior this past year, but double checking I believe he will actually be a senior THIS season. 

A 2021 national qualifier, Jayce Kuehnlein finished off his career with a 5th place finish at the Central Regional last season. He was by far the Scots top wrestler last year. Not sure who will step up for Alma this year, but I am anxious to find out. 

There's no use of repeating what I've already said, but Manchester falls into a category of  pretty much what I said about Penn State Behrend.  It's inevitable that when you have a 20 team regional, someone is going to finish 20th. There's no way around it. There's been a lot of programs in Indiana that have had & are currently having success. I hope to see Manchester as one of them one day. 

The Blue Jays have had some success since reinstating in the 2017-2018 season.  (The Blue Jays also had a program from 64'-65' through 66'-67').  They had NCAA Division III qualifier Sean Sax in 2019 & five Regional Place-winners over all. They will have more. They're simply in a down time right now. 

I worked with a guy for a while that wrestled at St. John's and I tell you I would wish his college experience on everyone. He made St John's & the wrestling team out to be the greatest experience of his life. I only wish that everyone's college experience could have been as good as his. It pains me to see a program that has been around 75 seasons in a time of struggle. This is a team that has known success.  14 team conference titles, they have crowned countless individual conference champions. Six NCAA Division III champions & 44 NCAA Division III All Americans. 15 individual Regional Champions.  The Jonnies have been there before & they will be there again. 

It's been a bit of a struggle since the restoration of Firebird wrestling. This is a program that during their first 30+ year run produced over 200 dual meet wins, & had an NAIA national champion as well as an NCAA Division III All American. I think they'll find that success again in round two. It just might take some time. 

A west coast school, whose small 14 man roster is made up of 7 from Oregon, 3 from Washington & 2 from Hawaii, I would like to see them have more success. Like some of the other programs they have had ups within their history and are likely to again. 

Much like what I said about St John's, the Lakeland Muskies have had success during their history.  Three All Americans, 15 national qualifiers. At the Conference level the Muskies have won five team titles, taking runner-up honors 9 times & third place four times. They will see the top of the heap again. Simply a down time right now. 

What can I say about the Raiders that I haven't already said about some of these other programs. They are a small team at a school with a very specified curriculum. It's always going to be a challenge for them in various ways. Nevertheless it is awesome & it should be as celebrated as it is respected that such a school offers its students the opportunity to continue their wrestling careers. They have won six team conference titles & finished as runner-ups on one occasion as well as 3rd place on six occasions. Not to mention they have crowned 57 individual conference champions. They will have success again. 

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I hope this satisfies all of the questions concerning, "When are you going to write about ' ' " & "Why didn't you write about ' ' ".