2023 Southeast Regional
The 2023 Southeast Regional looks to be extremely competitive this year. A ton of great wrestlers in each weight class that will fight for NCAA Division III qualification. Only the top 3 per weight class qualify, meaning that there will be an assortment of excellent talent that unfortunately will end up staying home. That's the nature of DIII though. I've decided to go through each weight class to try and determine who I think will be the top 3 at each weight. These are my best educated guesses. Enjoy.
 |
| 125 lbs |
Earning a top 3 spot here at the Southeast Regional at 125 lbs will be no joke. A very competitive weight class with a lot of great wrestlers looking to earn NCAA qualification.
Luke Hoerle of Stevens Tech is most certainly one of them. An NCAA DIII qualifier in 2021 & a match shy of qualification last season, he currently holds a 21-3 record. Although he does have one 4-3 loss to Jared Kuhns of York (PA), he has also defeated Kuhns by scores of 4-3 & 11-6.
Riley Parker of Washington & Lee is a returning NCAA DIII All American who placed 6th last season. In the Southeast Regional, he was 3rd. At 33-10, I would say he's a SER title contender, but he does have an odd 3-1 loss to Mason Barrett of Averett. He's also defeated Barrett 4-0 & 3-1 s.v.
Kuhns at 32-6, was also a match shy of NCAA DIII qualification last season.
Austin Fashouer was an NCAA DIII qualifier last season, earning a runner-up finish here at the southeast regional.
Last but certainly not least, Mac Cafurelllo of Roanoke can always be tough as well. 26-7 on the season he's struggled against Barrett, but gave Fashouer a very close match in a 5-4 loss.
 |
| 133 lbs |
Again a lot of quality talent at 133 lbs, but if I had to take a wager at who our top 3 will be, these are the guys I'm guessing. Very confident that Dalton Rohrbaugh will be our champion. 20-2 on the season, he was a southeast regional champion last year & 3rd in the NCAA Division III. With that said....
Giving Rohrbaugh one of his toughest matches of the year, was freshman Nico Diaz of Stevens Tech. The Duck has had a very good first year in collegiate wrestling & I'm anxious to see him duke it out with Luke Kowalski of Gettysburg in what I predict will be an excellent semi-final. Kowalski who is 12-3 on the season, was 3rd in the Southeast Regional & a match away from All American honors last season. Whoever loses this potential matchup, I say comes back & takes 3rd.
 |
| 141 lbs |
Like at 125 lbs, the fight for qualification at 141 will be fierce.
First and foremost, I can't see anyone touching Kyle Slendorn of Stevens Tech before the finals. He's a three time NCAA DIII qualifier who has taken 4th place finishes the past two seasons. 24-2, he's undefeated within the Regional, as he's had nothing but majors & falls.
Might say the same for Josh Wilson of Greensboro, who will challenge Slendorn for a title. 34-3 he was 5th in the DIII nation last season.
So the real question here is, who's taking 3rd?
Jack Bauer of Wilkes will compete. 26-4 he's been 5th & 7th thus far in the regional.
Evan Lindner of Washington & Lee is a tough wrestler. Currently holds a 21-5 record. Then we also have Avery Leonard of Alvernia. At 27-8, he gave Wilson a scare in a 3-2 loss.
The guy I'm really anxious to see here though & see what magic he might be able to pull off is Levi Englman of Ferrum. A three time NCAA DIII qualifier, he was 7th all the way back in 2019. I realize that there's a lot to take into account here, but he's found a way to win in three other qualifiers. I can't help but think he might be able to do it again.
 |
| 149 lbs |
I'm not sure who's gonna take 3rd here, but I can tell you who I think our finalist will be. Hunter Gutierrez of Stevens Tech who was one match shy of NCAA DIII qualification last season & three time NCAA DIII qualifier Hai Siu of Averett. Now the last time these two met, it was a 4:37 fall for Gutierrez but I don't think that'll be the case again here at the Southeast Regional. I think Siu, a four time conference champion, will give him a much better match.
 |
| 157 lbs |
A wild weight class that could end in a number of ways. Very confident that our champion here is going to be Ryan Luth of Washington & Lee. The General is 14-0 on the season, having won a Southeast Regional last season, while placing 4th in the DIII's. His closest match in the conference thus far has been a 6-1 decision with Jesse Alvarado of Averett. Other than that he majored Alvarado 12-0 & he also majored Garrett Cornell 11-1.
Who's taking 2nd here? Who's taking 3rd?
Garrett Cornell has the past credentials of being a two time NCAA DIII qualifier, who was 5th in the D3 nation back in 2021. Yet on the same hand he has losses to Ryan Smith of Stevens Tech & Robert Lawlor of Alvernia. Alvarado, already mentioned, at 24-3 owns a 9-5 decision over Smith. Then if that's not enough competition, Peyton Hearn of Thiel currently stands at 27-4.
 |
| Matt Lackman Alvernia 165 lbs |
No doubt in my mind, 38-0 on the season, 5th in the NCAA Division III nation last season.... Matt Lackman of Alvernia will be our 2023 Southeast Regional champion. As to who takes silver? Who takes bronze? That I don't know. I really think this weight class is a free for all. I really do. Zach Needles, Chris Stathopoulos, James Snyder, Chase Chapman, Harrison Kelly? I mean they're all solid and they're all quality picks.
 |
| 174 lbs |
Four very good wrestlers here & only three of them get to go to the NCAA DIII tournament. A shame really. Realize I'd get enough rebuttals & "yeah buts" to fill the Grand Canyon thrice over, but I'll say it anyway. DIII should really be more qualifiers. Everyone wants to defend and justify no matter what, so let it remain. Moving on.....
Our final I believe will be Stefan Major of Stevens Tech Vs Alex Turley of Averett. Major a Southeast Regional champion last year, was also 7th at the DIII nationals. Turley who was a SER runner-up last season, was 7th at the DIII's in 2021.
Kade Kravits of King's is a strong candidate for 3rd I feel. 24-7 on the season, he does have an 8-1 loss to Major.
The guy that could spoil my vision here is Colby Morris of Waynesburg. 24-1 says a lot, but he hasn't faced Major, Turley or Kravits yet this season and that says a lot too. He had a nice 3-2 victory over T.J. Ramey of Heidelberg, but other than that, I personally feel his competition just hasn't been to the level of the three guys I have listed here. We'll see this weekend.
 |
| 184 lbs |
I don't know how anyone can take a look at this weight class & not shake their head at the fact that only three of these guys will end up going to the NCAA DIII tournament. As I'll illustrate here in a bit, 197 & HWT are even worse, but 184 lbs in the Southeast Regional has a ton of talent.
Mahlic Sallah, 7th in the NCAA DIII nationals last year is currently at 23-1. I think he's our forerunner for a title here. Khalil Mitchell of Averett seems to know how to wrestle him fairly well, having given him 6-2 & 3-0 matches, but there's no guarantee the two will meet this tournament. Mitchell at 23-8 has a weird history with Washington & Lee's Cameron Blizard. While he owns a 15-3 major over the General, he's also lost 7-3 to him. Sallah on the other hand, owns a 9-3 decision over Blizard.
The guy to watch here may very well end up being Steven Tech's Frank Medina. Among his notable wins on the season, a 9-3 decision over Blizard, a 3-1 decision of Isaac Kassis of Alvernia & a 3:54 fall over Mitchell.
Speaking of Kassis he was an NCAA DIII qualifier last year, taking 3rd at the SER.
That leaves us with Bryce McCloskey of Thiel, who is 19-2 on the season.
 |
| 197 lbs |
Chaos, absolute chaos. In this bracket, we have two All Americans, one R12'er, plus two more NCAA DIII qualifiers. That means out of the 5 who have been to the NCAA DIII tournament in the past, two of them won't be going this season. How's that for tough?
Cam Farrow of York (PA) who was 4th in the NCAA DIII last year, is otherwise undefeated in the conference despite a 0:54 loss via fall to Dan Eckley of Delaware Valley. I chop this up as a fluke though. Why? Because in their other match, Farrow won 16-0 technical fall.
Gable Krebs of Lycoming, our likely candidate for silver, I guess could challenge Farrow for a SER title as he owns an 8-2 victory over the Spartan. He's also lost to him 3-1, 14-10 & 5-2.
As to bronze? Braden Homsey of Ferrum & John Sedovy of Washington & Lee both seem like worthy candidates to me. Homsey a two time NCAA DIII qualifier owns a 3-1 victory over Sedovy & Sedovy owns a 6-4 s.v. over him.
Mauro Pellot of Alvernia was NCAA DIII R12 last season & Billy Baldwin of Averett, an NCAA DIII qualifier in 2021 took Sedovy into overtime.
Cameron Butka of Wilkes was one match shy of NCAA DIII qualification last season. He owns a 5-3 victory over Eckley, who we need to mention on top of his less than a minute fall over Farrow, also owns an 8-6 s.v. over Pellot.
Good luck.
 |
| HWT |
Another weight class that features an assortment of talent. Some very good wrestlers here, some of which will not be going to the NCAA DIII's this year. This includes one All American in a total of 5 NCAA DIII qualifiers from years' past.
7th in the DIII nation last year, John Fullmer of Lycoming at 32-1, I would say is our likely *1 seed. Palmer Rodenhaber of Alvernia a two time NCAA DIII qualifier at 23-3 or RayShawn Dixon of Ferrum, 28-2 I would think might duke it out to see who's 2nd & who's 3rd.
At the same time though, Matt Majoy of Washington & Lee has came alive as of late. Earlier this season he lost 6-3 to Dixon & by fall in 6:49 to Brandon Williams of Greensboro. He recently avenged both of those losses beating Dixon 3-1 & Williams 3-2. Dixon for the record owns a 4-2 victory over Williams.
The other guy to watch here is Michael Dooley of Stevens Tech. Granted both of his NCAA DIII qualifications were at the lower weights of 184 & 197, but he's still a threat.
No comments:
Post a Comment