An 18 team Regional that mainly features teams from the former Northeast Regional, Regional One is a tough NCAA DIII qualifier that will have some great wrestling to determine our top three place-winners/qualifiers per weight class. Featuring #3 Johnson & Wales, #7 Castleton, #10 Southern Maine & #14 United States Coast Guard Academy, the first ever "Regional One" will be hosted by Wesleyan.
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| 125 |
34-0 on the year, well over 100 career wins & already a two-time DIII champion, our first ever Regional One gold medal is all but spoken for. Joziah Fry is looking to become a rare four time Regional champion, and furthermore one of the best 125 lbs'er the D3 wrestling world has ever seen. I don't see anyone standing in his way.
I believe Gavin Bradley, who has had Regional finishes thus far of 3rd & 2nd, is a very strong candidate for the silver medal here. I wouldn't call him a shoe-in, but I would call the probability of last year's D3 7th place finisher very well.
The question here, is who will be our bronze medalist? I final D3 qualifier from the first ever Regional One? Fred Luchs has some odd losses, but he also has some very notable wins. One match shy of NCAA D3 qualification last year, he owns both an 8-3 decision over Nikko Beato & a 5-1 decision over Chris Hong. An 8-5 s.v. over Tanner Thatcher, he also gave Bradley a very competitive 5-4 match.
Thatcher owns wins over Chris Hong & Beato, as Beato who was 7th in Regional's past, also owns a win over him. Chris Hong owns a 4-2 decision over Beato. We're going to have some hellaciously good consolation semi-finals & then we're gonna have a freakin' war in the consolation final.
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| 133 |
The top 3 wrestlers in the D3 nation, and they're all in the same Regional. Does anyone else even stand a chance? A Regional champion last year & last year's NCAA DIII champion, Chase Randall has looked unstoppable thus far this season. 18-0 on the year, he's collected 9 techs, 5 falls & 3 major decisions. 17/18 matches have ended in bonus. Jake Craig, who was 4th in the D3 nation back in 2023, has regional finishes of 2nd & 3rd thus far. He has 13-2 major decision loss to Ty Trickle that sticks out like a sore thumb, but I can't see the Husky having an off day here. Peyton Ellis, a very likely candidate for D3 freshman of the year is currently 25-1 on the season.
I mean it's not impossible. I've seen more unbelievable things happen in this sport the 32 years I've been watching it. Yet, I'm pretty confident these will be the three we see heading to Providence, Rhode Island for the national tournament.
I include Trevor Cortright in this write-up to illustrate how insane qualifying for the D3 national tournament can be. There are some very good wrestlers who won't be going to nationals this year, and Cortright may very well be among them. 19-2 on the season, he was a match shy of qualifying last year. Anyone that hangs a D3 wrestler's status on whether he makes it to the national tournament or not, clearly has no clue about this level of wrestling.
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| 141 |
This is a freakin' tough weight class. Take note that is could be even T-O-U-G-H-E-R. NCAA DIII isn't the NAIA. You don't get to have two wrestlers per weight class competing for qualification. You only get one wrestler per weight class, and no admission necessary, I don't have to be told, I already know other coaches are thankful that Jake Eckerle won't be competing in this bracket. To give you an idea of just how good Eckerle is? He just recently defeated teammate Cam Soda 4-1 s.v. & he also owns a 6-5 win over Bobur Berdiyorov! Enough about Eckerle. Let's talk about who WILL be here & contending for those top 3 spots.
Edinboro transfer Cam Soda, has had himself one heck of a good season. 19-2, this includes a 5-1 tiebreaker victory over James Rodriguez, a three-time NCAA DIII qualifier looking for his fourth qualification & his third All American honor (8-7-R12). The Spartan has shown perhaps the most pertinacity I have ever seen in a wrestler. Thrice, he's came back through the consolations to earn that Regional bronze medal & punch his ticket to the national tournament. For whatever it is worth, he owns a 4-1 win over Eckerle.
Uzbekistan native Bobur Berdiyorov, 21-3, was a regional runner-up last year & one match shy of D3 All American honors. I'd suspect we'll see a great semi-between him and Rodriguez.
I tell you who worries me here. Who has stricken fear into my heart of possibly stealing a spot from one of the ranked wrestlers. Hayden Myers & I'll tell you why. First and foremost, this tournament is being held at Wesleyan. Some of you don't think things like this make a difference, but I think that if Coach Black can pack a gym full of screaming fans, that little extra something can make a difference. Secondly of all, Myers was a match, a single point away from being an NCAA DIII qualifier last year. A 4-3 loss to Rodriguez.
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| 149 |
3rd-5th-3rd thus far the Regional & 6th in the D3 nation, Colby Frost looks to become a four-time Regional place-winner, a three-time NCAA DIII qualifier & a two-time NCAA DIII All American. He should have the *1 seed coming in this tournament, but will have challenge from both Hayden Brown & Nate Fitt. Thus far Frost has defeated Fitt on three occasions. A 2:44 fall, a 21-7 major decision & an 8-5 decision. Fitt, a Regional champion last year, does own an 8-5 decision over him. Hayden Brown, an NCAA DIII 3rd place All American in 2023, is currently 30-1 on the season.
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| 157 |
If you haven't had an opportunity to watch Peter Kane in action, please do so. This guy is unreal. Very good, and seems to get out of situations that you would swear there were no way out of. My all-time favorite television show is MacGyver, and I suppose in many ways, Peter Kane is the MacGyver of D3 wrestling! 3rd & 2nd thus far in his Regional competitions, he stands a good shot at winning his first in his first Regional One. 7th & 2nd thus far in the D3 nation, I also think he's a strong candidate to win gold there too.
Likely finals opponent Nate Camiscioli has given Kane some scares though. A 4-1 match, there more recent match was a very tight 2-1 decision. Camiscioli was 3rd in the Regional last year. Here's something that I'll note about Camiscioli incase it becomes an issue this tournament. He had a really bad slump towards the end of December beginning of January. Didn't last real long & he seems to be very, very over it now. I say this though, because in wondering who might be our bronze medalist here, Jake Woodburn took Camiscioli into sudden victory, before ultimately dropping a 6-3 match.
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| 165 |
Hosting the first ever Regional One tournament are the Cardinals going to crown a champion? They sure stand a really good shot here at 165 lbs. 5th in Regional competition last season, C.J. Shea is currently 31-1 on the year & that one loss is to a 174 lbs'er. With that said, Jack Richardson, a match shy of qualification last year, did beat Shea in '23-'24 by an 8-5 s.v. decision.
Jacob DeGuire is still ranked #11 at 174 lbs, but as of January 10th, he's been competing at 165 lbs & I can't see any reason why he'd suddenly bump back up to 174 for this tournament. We're talking about a wrestler that was 3rd in the D3 nation back in 2023 & he gave Shea a tough 4-3 match here not too long ago.
Are there other tough wrestlers in this bracket? You betcha. Jashon Holmes, Chase Anestis, ect. I'm well aware & I don't rule out plausible upset. However my job is to try and determine gold, silver, bronze, and I feel confident in my three selections.
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| U.R. Fisher Stites Williams 174 |
As far as I'm concerned 174 lbs is absolute chaos. A lot of parity in this weight class within Regional 1 & A beat B, B beat C, C beat A, can make a person's head spin. I think for the most part gold, silver, bronze, it is a rather free-for-all. With that said, I do think one of our top three here will be Fisher Stites of Williams. The freshman has looked downright impressive a times this season. A 10-2 major over DeGuire when DeGuire was still at 174 really sticks out.
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| 184 |
A Regional champion last year & 4th in the D3 nation, I'm pretty sure at 25-1 our first ever Regional One champ at 184 lbs will be Sampson Wilkins. You know what else is really cool? Myles Leonard has been 5th & 4th in Regional competition thus far. In other words, "So close", "right there" as they say to NCAA DIII qualification. He's 22-1 on the season. His only loss? A 4-1 decision to Wilkins.
Our best candidate for a bronze medal? Hell, I'll do him better than that. Freshman Jamie Evarts is 23-6 on the season. He has losses to both Wilkins & Leonard, but his loss to Wilkins was a tight 6-4 decision. Wilkins obviously favorite for gold, Leonard for silver, Evarts for bronze, I still call this a three man race for the title.
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| 197 |
Something isn't right here. I'm missing something, and I can't figure it out. Dylan Harr is a two time Regional runner-up & furthermore he's a two-time D3 All American (4th & 5th). It makes absolutely no sense at all why he's not ranked. A redshirt type deal? That doesn't make any sense to me either. He's wrestled in 11 duals thus far in '24-'25. Not enough matches? Other guys with a handful of matches are ranked, why wouldn't he be? Harr not being ranked has puzzled me for a long time. I don't know what to make of it. I'll tell you what it means if he's here or if he's not though.
If here, you can chalk up Harr as another Q for NCAA DIII tournament host Johnson & Wales, and heavy firepower as they look to earn a top 4 team trophy is a tournament they're not likely to host again for quite some time.
If not here, this bodes very well for our other three qualifier candidates.
Matt Kelly 6th in Regional competition is looking pretty tough this season. 18-2 on the year, a nice 10-3 decision over Spencer Fetrow.
Speaking of Fetrow, he's been 6th & 4th thus far in Regional competition. Owns an 8-2 decision over Aris Dashiell.
Dashiell another hope for the Cardinals to gain another Q in their hosting of the tournament.
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| HWT |
A similar situation to what we have at 141 lbs. Again, some be thankful that this isn't the NAIA, and teams can only have one wrestler per weight class. Abbas Abdulraham illustrates not only how tough it can be to make a lineup in D3 wrestling, but also much depth there can be on some of these teams. Abbas Abdulraham was 5th in Regional competition last year. He owns a 4-3 decision over Carl DiGiorgio & both a 6-3 dec & a 19-3 tech over Mason Sprinkel.
With that said...
21-4 on the season, Abdulraham's teammate Evan day looks to take the *1 seed here. He owns a 4-1 decision over Adolfo Betancur. DiGiorgio, 19-2 has been 2nd & 1st thus far in Regional competition & even of more note, 7th & 3rd in the D3 nation. He owns an 8-4 decision over Day.
Betancur was 3rd in Regional competition last year & one match shy of a D3 All American medal.
Where does this leave Sprinkel? An opportunity to be the most talked about wrestler in Regional One, that's where. Why not? The guy has 99 career wins. He's going to hit a milestone this tournament and earn number 100. Why not do himself one better? He's been 5th & 6th thus far in Regional competition & if he doesn't make it out this tournament, he's one of the best to never do so at the HWT division. 23 wins so far this year, and 19 of them are via fall! Reminds me a lot of the late Gary Albright of Nebraska. A three-time All American for the Huskers & a two-time winner of the Gorriaran award. Like Sprinkel, Albright didn't have a Lou Ferrigno/Incredible Hulk physique, but man was he deceptively strong. Sprinkel has one heck of a task ahead of himself if he's going to upend any of the ranked wrestlers ahead of him, but if anyone at HWT in Regional One can, he can.
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