2024 CENTRAL REGIONAL Preview (March 1st & 2nd)

 CENTRAL REGIONAL 

So that we're all on the same page here:  My goal in this preview is to do my best to determine who in each weight class will be in contention for NCAA Division III qualification.  Unfortunately, only the top 3 in each weight qualify for the NCAA DIII tournament, so bet your bottom dollar, we're gonna have some real dogfights to earn those gold, silver & bronze medals.  

125 lbs

A two time Central Regional champion & thus far 1st & 2nd in two NCAA DIII appearances, I'm pretty sure that the top spot on the award stand is already spoken for. Now as I say this about Baldwin Wallace's Jacob DeCatur, it's not lost on me that James Day of Wabash has taken DeCatur into sudden victory twice. This included in the finals of last year's Central Regional championships.  Yet as Day looks to pull off a huge upset over DeCatur, he'll need to watch his own back.  Jack Stanley of Mount Union, a two time D3 qualifier in his own right, who finished one match shy with a 4th place finish last year, owns a 10-5 decision over Day.  Yet Day owns a 10-4 decision over him.  

The bracket gets more convoluted the further we go along.  Cade Odrobina of Albion was a qualifier last season with a 3rd place finish.  He has both a 9-7 s.v. over Stanley, as well as a 5-3 decision over Colin Mellott of Ohio Northern.  Yet, here's the kicker.  He struggles with Adrian's Zach Phifer, having dropped both an 8-3 decision, as well as a 1:37 fall.  Phifer on the other hand has a loss to Stanley & three losses to Mellott.  We like to romanticize a lot that "Seeds don't matter" but here's proof that indeed they do. Bracket placement could make a lot of difference.   For record, Mellott was 5th last year & Phifer was 6th. 

133 lbs 

These are the three Central Regional wrestlers I say qualify for the NCAA DIII championships & this is the order I think they'll finish in.  4th in the D3 nation last season & thus far 3rd & 2nd within the Central Regional, I say Jaden Hinton wins his first title this tournament.  So far he's 29-2 on the season, having won titles at both the Ithaca Invite as well as the Baldwin Wallace Invite. 

As to our other finalist, I'm putting my money on Desmond Diggs of Mt St Joseph.  An NCAA DIII qualifier last season with a 3rd place finish, he's thus far 15-5 on the season.  His best competition for that spot in the finals, I believe will come from Dylan Le of Ohio Northern.  Le with 21 wins on the season, was one match shy of qualification last year.  Diggs owns an 8-3 decision over Le. 

141 lbs 

Granted, upsets happen but I'm 99.9% positive that our champion here will be Jacob Reed of Ohio Northern.  Twice 3rd in the NCAA D3 nation, he was a Central Regional champ last season & he stands at 17-0 on the year, with titles won at both Mount Union & the Pete Willson Invitational.  As to who takes 2nd here, I can see that being either Evan Burge or Blake McGee, whomever the Little Giants decide to start this weekend.  Unlike the NAIA, unfortunately in NCAA DIII competition, only one wrestler per team.  A shame too, as both of these guys are D3 qualification material.  Taking a wild guess, I would say they end up going with Burge.  3rd in the Central Regional last year & one match shy of placing, he holds a 10-1 record.  One of those wins, a 10-9 decision over McGee.   As to our bronze medalist?  Again, upsets can happen & Jett Boots of Trine did give him an 8-7 scare earlier this season, but nonetheless I'm still going with Dylan Phelps of Olivet.  He's 12-3 on the year & he was 7th at Pete Willson. 

149 lbs 

The massive sting of the Yellow Jackets will be felt once again at 149 lbs.  A two time Central Region champion already & last year's NCAA DIII champ, ain't nobody gonna come close to touching Michael Petrella.  As to our other qualifiers, I'm pretty certain that two time Central Regional bronze medalist Daniel Uribe of Wabash will nab a silver medal this tournament. If not, another bronze.  He's proven susceptible before, barely squeaking past Darese Sparkman in a 5-4 match, but when there's something on the line (like a DIII qualification) he gets down right tough. 

The real question here is, who will be the third man heading to La Crosse, Wisconsin? I'd say our best bet is Kale Buckiso. 4th in the Central Regional last season, three of the four meetings have been close, but he's beaten Isaac Hawkins every time he's stepped on the mat with him.  For the record, Hawkins pinned Sparkman at the 1:46 mark. 

157 lbs 

Here's where you can get an in depth look at what NCAA Division III wrestling is all about.  As mentioned previously, only three guys per weight qualify for the national tournament & 157 lbs in the Central Regional is going to be an all out war.  

Ranked #7 & already a two time Central Regional champ, John Carroll's Patrick McGraw is a very safe bet at being one of those three people.  Tommy West of Baldwin Wallace did give him a heck of a good 8-7 match in last year's finals, and on top of it, he owns a 2-0 decision over McGraw.... BUT once again the two should be on opposite sides of the bracket.  What concerns me with West is two things.  First and foremost, he has struggled with Tyson Nisley of Wabash.  Nisley had to injury default out of the Regional last season & thus far owns both a 6:39 fall & an 8-4 decision over West.  Here's the deal though....  While Nisley owns these two impressive victories over West, he has both a 5:43 loss by fall to Ramiro Guerrero, as well as a 5-3 loss to Nick Nettleton.  With all that said, the Little Giants could end up starting Tim Smith here instead. He does own a head to head with Nisley, but Nisley overall has the better record. 

For clarification, Nettleton was 4th in last year's Central Regional & he was more recently 5th at the Pete Willson Invitational.  He owns a 2-0 victory over Teagan Hendricks of Ohio Northern, and he's had three close losses to West.  Hendricks, who was 7th in last year's Central Regional also has two close losses to West, but he's also defeated him once too. 

Guerrero for the record has been 6th twice the past two seasons, and he also owns a 6-5 victory over Hendricks, and a 9-4 loss to West. 

It's kinda confusing isn't it? 

Then add in that Peyton Brooks of Albion has a 13-10 win over Guerrero. 

It goes to show you why D3 wrestling takes these Regionals so seriously & why placing within the regional is held with damn near the same prestige that is making All American.  All seven of these guys  on the right day could be NCAA D3 qualifiers.  Only three will. 

165 lbs 

165 lbs in the Central Regional has been an absolute madhouse this season.  The only thing I feel confident in saying about this weight is that I'm pretty sure our champion is going to be Andrew Supers of Baldwin Wallace. The freshman thus far is 29-5 on the season, undefeated within the conference. 

174 lbs 

There is a lot of returning Central Regional place-winners in this bracket, but I believe I have narrowed it down to the five who will be contending for NCAA DIII qualification.  Blake Williams of Adrian was an NCAA D3 qualifier last year with a 3rd place finish here at the Regional, competing at 184 lbs. He's been 184 most of this season too, but recently moved down to 174.  Similar reflections can be made of Owen McDaniel.  He's thus far been 8th & 4th in the Regional  & he too moved down to 174 from 184.  Between the two, Williams majored McDaniel 16-6. 

Rankings be what they are, the two will still have some hefty competition to get through in order punch their tickets to La Crosse, Wisconsin.  Joey Petrella was an NCAA DII qualifier for Gannon, 18-4 on the season, you know he plans on making it to the dance. 

Ray Arebalo of Wabash is another candidate for NCAA DIII qualification, as is Daniel Devera of John Carroll.  Arebalo was a D3 qualifier last year with a 3rd place Regional finish, as Devera was a qualifier in 2022. 

Again, only three get to go.  Two very talented wrestlers in this group will be staying home. 

184 lbs 

Upsets of course are always lingering within the shadows, but here at 184, we're back to at least what seems to be a little more order. Thus far 6th & 7th within the D3 nation, he was a Central Regional champion last year.  He's thus far 19-0 on the season & I would imagine he heads to La Crosse, Wisconsin with his undefeated record in check. 

On the other side of the bracket, I say we're gonna have what very well could be our best semi-final of the entire tournament.  Gavin Layman of Ohio Northern & Carter Lloyd of Baldwin Wallace.  Layman was 2nd at last year's Central Regional & he's the one with the ranking.  However, head to head, Lloyd owns a 6-3 decision over Layman.  Now some might point to an 11-4 loss that Loyd has against Ethan Risner of Manchester.  Here's my response to that.  Lloyd quickly turned that around into a 13-7 victory & otherwise, he's undefeated within the conference, 23-5 overall. 

197 lbs 

We have three returning NCAA DIII qualifiers in this bracket & all three look to once again earn qualification.  Luke Hopkins of Baldwin Wallace who was one match shy of All American honors will most likely be our *1 seed.   As we look at the rest of the bracket, I will say there is a chance that Dylan Wellbaum, a two time Central Regional runner-up could compete at 184 this weekend.  He's had matches at both 184 & 197.  Hasn't wrestled much though, with a record of 8-1. Hence why he's not ranked at either weight.  Then we also have Jesse Kanatzar of John Carroll, who ironically enough also has matches at both 184 & 197.  He's mainly wrestled 197 though, which is why I put him here.  He was 3rd in the Central Regional last season. 

Last but certainly not least is Neil Johnson of Wabash, who proved with a 12-6 win over Hopkins at the Mid-State Invitational that "stealing" a spot is a very capable task. He did have some ugly losses earlier this season, but he's avenged the ones that matter here.  

4 guys, three spots.  Who will be the odd man out? 

HWT

All right. Pretty confident in who I predict to be the top three here at HWT.  Donovan King a two time D3 All American with finishes of 2nd & 5th, has thus far earned two silver medals here at the Central Regional. He's 11-1, looking to try and trade in those silvers for a gold.  Right behind him, with a 29-2 record is Doug Byrne of Baldwin Wallace who won a Central Regional title, taking 5th place D3 All American honors competing at 197 last season.  

My pick for 3rd place?  C.J. Krum of Albion, 5th in last year's Regional with 27 wins on the season. 

Now you're probably wondering with the one wrestler per team rule, why I posted a picture of Boe Eckman.  I did so, cause I wanted to point out a plausible All American candidate who is currently a reserve.  Earlier this year he pinned Byrne in 19 seconds! 19 seconds! Now, that may very well have been a fluke.  That does happen in our sport.  Fluke or legit, doesn't matter.  Eckman as King's backup, currently holds a 20-3 record & Byrne isn't his only impressive win.  If he were wrestling for any other team, he'd be a threat to qualification.