Made up of teams from the Northeast Regional, the Southeast Regional, & the Central Regional, Regional Four features 20 teams in total, including #9 Baldwin Wallace, #11 Ohio Northern, #21 Ferrum & #23 Roanoke. Once again, as I have for Regions One, Two & Three, my goal today is to try and narrow it down to who has the most legitimate shot are earning gold, silver & bronze in each weight class.
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| 125 |
23-3 on the season, and a two-time Southeast Regional champion with D3 All American finishes of 6th & 5th, Mason Barrett is a favorite to make the finals here at Regional four. He'll have his hands full with Zach Beckner of Ferrum, who defeated the Panther upended the Cougar earlier this season by a score of 6-0. As to who takes up the other spot in the three that will qualify from 125 lbs? I'm not sure if it'll be Isiac Paulino or Josh Noble, but who the Maroons send this weekend, I say Roanoke has a qualifier.
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| 133 |
Not sure who will take bronze here, but I feel very confident in relations to gold & silver. Jaden Hinton was 3rd-2nd-1st in the Central Regional & I doubt he settles for anything less than another gold medal this weekend. Jonah Paulino, 23-3 on the year, is his likely finals opponent.
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| 141 |
I've heard NCAA DIII coaches say over the years that in some ways these Regional tournaments can be tougher than the actual national tournament itself. I don't disagree with that. I mean look at this tournament. Now I know in this sport we never say never, but let's put our romantic utopia aside for a second, and be real. Who stands a snowball's chance in Hell of getting past these three oustanding talents this weekend? We have Jacob Reed, 29-0 this season. A multiple time Central Regional champion, with NCAA DIII All American finishes of 3rd-3rd-2nd. We're talking about arguably the best wrestler in D3 wrestling today who has yet to win an NCAA D3 title.
Then we also have Josh Wilson, who DID win the NCAA DII title last year, OVER Reed!
We're not done yet either! 3rd in the Southeast Regional last year & 3rd in the D3 nation, we also have Mark Samuel! 21-2 on the season. Seeing how Samuel is 0-5 against Wilson overall, I don't see him overcoming the Pride or the Polar Bear to make the finals. At the same time, no one is stopping him from ruling the consolation bracket.
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| 149 |
Again, not 100% positive on who I see in the third-place spot, but I am pretty confident that we're going to see a President Vs a General in a finale of Washington ands. And Jefferson or And Lee? That is the question. Taylor Smith has wrestled a considerably less amount of matches this year than what he did last year. 47-7, a Southeast Regional champion & R12 in the D3 nation, he's currently 11-1. Evan Lindner 22-3 on the season, was an NCAA DIII qualifier last year with a 3rd place finish in the Southeast Regional.
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| 157 |
Five tough kids & only three of them are headed to Providence. That means two tough kids are staying home & don't automatically think for a fact that rankings are going to determine this. Yes, the 1st place gold spot is spoken for. Michael Petrella a three-time Central Regional champion & 2nd-1st-1st in the D3 nation is going to win this bracket this tournament. 32-0 on the year & 143-3 on the year, you can take that one to the bank.
However, both silver & bronze are up for grabs. Rankings suggest Jayden Jones & Andrew McDougal who are both very worth candidates. Jones owns a 4-3 decision over McDougal and was one match shy of NCAA DIII qualification last year. McDougal is 19-5 on the season, 7th in the Southeast Regional last year.
With that noted, keep an eye on President Casey Smith. He's 17-1 this season, his only loss is to Petrella. Also watch out for Anthony Taylor. Among his 18 wins this season, he's majored McDougal in the past by a 10-2 decision. He's also an NCAA DIII qualifier from last season with a Southeast Regional finish of 3rd.
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| 165 |
21-3 on the season & a Southeast Regional runner-up last season, a favorite to win the first ever Regional 4 165 lbs title will be David Red. Here to challenge him for the title will be Andrew Supers, with a 29-4 record. Supers was 3rd at last year's Central Regional. As to who takes bronze? My pick is going to be General Mark Troni, who has thus far finished 7th & 5th in the Southeast Regional. He wins 22 wins this season.
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| 174 |
The three I see heading to Providence from Regional Four at 174 lbs, are Xavier Preston, Carter Lloyd & Dylan Weaver. Preston owns 31 victories this season & was 3rd in the Southeast Regional last season. Lloyd was also an NCAA DIII qualifier last year, placing 3rd in the Central Regional. Dylan Weaver has came close to NCAA DIII qualification the past two seasons in a row with 5th & 4th place finishes in the Southeast Regional.
35 wins on the season & a two-time Southeast Regional runner-up, I have a feeling it's going to be Waynesburg, party time, excellent by the end of Regional Four for Jesse Orbin. I also see Vincenzo Corvetto & Remington Bauer as our other two qualifiers picking up silver & bronze medals.
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| 197 |
I couldn't narrow it down to three here at 197. Too much talent in the bracket to do that. Unfortunately, one of these outstanding wrestlers is going to end up in JT#1's, "Best NCAA DIII wrestlers not to qualify 2025" list. Sucks, but that's how things are.
L.P.V. should receive the *1 seed I would think based on ranking. The Maroon was a Southeast Regional runner-up last season & one match shy of D3 All American honors. Bryce McCloskey, an NCAA DIII qualifier in his own right, was 3rd at last year's Central Regional. Then we have Joey Petrella, who you know is itching to join his brother in Providence. 18-1 on the season, Petrella owns a 4-1 decision over McCloskey & he also owns a 2-0 decision over Gavin Layman.
Layman, the one of the four without a ranking, is going to have to pull off some upsets if he wants to return to the NCAA DIII championships. Believe me, the Polar Bear is more than capable. A two-time Central Regional runner-up, among his 25 wins on the season, a 2-1 tiebreaker over McCloskey.
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| HWT |
26-1 on the season, 5th in the D3 nation & a Central Regional champion last year, our champion here is a strong bet on RayShawn Dixon. Looking to capture that runner-up honor will be Myles Johnson of Ohio Northern. 30-3 on the season, he owns both a 17-4 & 14-6 major decision over Steve Marra. Marra, who I consider to be a good candidate for the bronze, owns a 1:05 fall over Johnson.
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