Anxious to see how 174 lbs shapes up in NCAA Division III for '24-'25, as many tough wrestlers saw their final year of eligibility expire this season. Saying a goodbye to a lot of great talents.
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| Zane Mulder Wartburg |
I can remember reading when Zane Mulder first committed to Iowa State. When I found out that he was transferring to Wartburg, I knew the Knights had picked up someone was going to do some great things for them. Indeed he did. 2nd in the NWCA in 2021, it was 4th-1st-2nd place finishes in NCAA Division III. 100-16 throughout his career, he finished the past two seasons with Lower Midwest Regional finishes 1st & 2nd.
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| Charlie Grygas SUNY-Oswego |
Here's a guy I always enjoyed watching. Super tough in the top position, the guy was always trying to put points up on the board. A 4 time NCAA DIII qualifier he was 3rd-2nd-1st-2nd at the Mideast Regional. After finishing R12 as a sophomore, had NCAA DIII All American finishes of 4th & 5th. 119-19 on his career, he'll go down as a favorite of the Laker program.
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| Jason Geyer NYU |
It's hard for me to believe that this guy spent his first couple of years at 141 lbs! Spent some major time in the weight room & ended up competing at both the 174 & 184 lbs weight classes. 25-3 on the year, won the Northeast Regional title. I believe he had 91 career victories in total.
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| Stefan Major Stevens Tech |
What to say about Stefan Major? I first started covering collegiate wrestling 18 years ago. I bounced around a lot of unpaid or very low paid gigs for quite a few years before I started my own website back in 2014. I continued to doing a lot of work for other organizations, again at no pay or little pay, until wrestling writing legend Dan McCool convinced me in April of 2017, that I could gain a respectable audience on my own. Over the past 7 years, I have gained a respectable audience. I average 25,000 readers a month & make a low of $50 to a high of $200 a month through advertisements.
Like most wrestling media, I had a heavy concentration of NCAA Division I. One night a former teammate of mine, who had remained a good friend throughout the years called me up. At the time he was an assistant at the NAIA level. He told me that I owed it to the sport, as well as to myself to start covering the small programs. I made up my mind that I was going to start doing that. I had always paid some attention to NCAA DII, DIII & NAIA, but three years ago, I decided I was gonna dive in & get to know these Divisions as well as I knew Division I.
Then this year, I added in NJCAA too. Let me tell you, I had no idea how much extra work it would be. How much more time I'd put into it & how overwhelmed and exhausted I would be. I fell in love with D2, D3 & NAIA wrestling the past three seasons, & I'm begging to fall in love with NJCAA. I'm not sure if I'll be able to dedicate as much time to wrestling next season, as I have a lot of huge, positive changes coming my way in the next 6 to 12 months, that may end up taking up a lot of my time.
What does all of this have to do with Stefan Major? Well, truth is, Johnnythompsonnum1 runs on a budget that would LOVE to be able to afford a shoe-string. In '22-'23, I thought maybe I could fundraise so that I could improve my coverage. So that I could get out and do more for wrestling, especially at the smaller levels. All in all I ended up getting about $75 on the year. About 15 people donated, including Stefan Major.
In a preview I wrote that Major was going to have a tough match in his own practice room against teammate Joel Martsinovsky. Major didn't like me saying that. He let me know, and he donated a whole $0.01 to Johnnythompsonnum1. I've called him Stefan "Abe Lincoln" Major ever since.
I didn't let any of that keep me from covering him the past two years. I wrote about Major a lot & watched him compete. A three time Southeast Regional champion, he had All American finishes of 7th-5th-8th at the NCAA Division III championships. Truth to be known, he really should have been wrestling in the 5th place match, as I feel like he got hosed on a couple of calls in the consolation quarter-finals. He was also a three time Middle Atlantic Conference champ, having finished 2nd as a freshman. Tough kid, one who stuck to the basics & had a mean arm bar series.
I hope in the years to come, Major will look back on his career & maybe spend a day looking himself up on the internet. See how many articles he's featured in and how often he was written about. Flo? Intermat? Theopenmat? Other than D3wrestle & D3nation, the answer is the Portillo Brothers & Johnnythompsonnum1. I know many see it as conceited and arrogant, but every once in a while you do need to toot your own horn & sell yourself. The major outlets are 90 to 95% NCAA DI. There's reasons for that & I could even defend them on their choice to be so. Yet the truth of the matter is there is so little coverage for DII, DIII & NAIA, and one of the main sources for coverage is JT#1. Do I wish I could do better, get out and do more? You betcha. I play the lottery twice a month & you & I both already know one of the things I'd do if I were to win the jackpot. I once had a stray dog I was trying to feed bite my hand. I was kinda ticked off at first, but I let my anger go and I continued to try and feed the dog. After a while the dog realized what I was doing & took the food. It's no different here. D3 wrestling is the dog, as is D2 & NAIA, and as of late NJCAA. It's not the first time I got bit & it won't be the last.
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| Joe Chapman USCGA |
I don't know if the United States Coast Guard Academy gets all the credit it deserves for all of the vast improvements that have been made over the years. I think Chase Randall winning an NCAA DIII title will help draw attention, but the Bears have done so much more. Chapman really stepped it up this season, going 22-5 & earning a 2nd place finish at the Northeast Regional.
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| Dejon Glaster Millikin |
What a standout final season for Dejon Glaster of Millikin. 8th in the Lower Midwest Regional a year ago, he took a strong 3rd place showing this season & turned it into a 6th place finish at the NCAA DIII championships. 27-7 on the year.
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| Colby Morris Waynesburg |
After a standout season last year, that saw him finish 2nd at the Southeast Regional & R12 at the NCAA Division III championships, I really thought that Colby Morris would make a run at All American honors this year. It's really a shame that the qualification process can't figure out a way to encompass the entire season, because had Morris made the championships, I still believe he'd have been a contender for a top 8 showing. Unfortunately he had a disappointing Regional, where he finished 6th & slice it anyway you want, only the top three qualify. 34-3 on the season, he did win another Presidents Athletic Conference title.
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