Lower Midwest Regional Preview - DIII (February 25th-26th, 2022)

 LOWER MIDWEST REGIONAL 

Multiple returning All Americans at nearly every weight, the Lower Midwest Regional proves itself to be one of the toughest qualifiers in NCAA Division III wrestling. 

125 lbs 

We got ourselves a fight at 125 lbs in the Lower Midwest Regional for NCAA DIII qualification. Four ranked wrestlers, including the 2021 NWCA Champion & NWCA runner up, all duking it out for a spot in the top 3. 

Alex Friddle of Coe, last year's NWCA champion, going to have quite the challenge just to make it out of the Regional, let alone to win a DIII title this season.  He's thus far dropped a 7-6 match to Nathan Rankin of Ozarks, and an 11-0 major decision to Shandon Akeo of Central.  He's 1-2 Vs Brady Kyner of Wartburg who he defeated for the NWCA title last season 6-5, but has lost to 6-3 & 9-3.   

Akeo who could very well take the #1 seed here, gives props to Hawaii as Rankin, likely to be our #2 gives his to Texas. Two states we usually don't see a whole lot of with representation in such a tournament.   

Tommy Russell of Millikin will also fight for a spot in the top 3 as well.

133 lbs 

 Three ranked wrestlers, 5 returning place-winners. It's about to get real at 133 lbs in the Lower Midwest Regional.  The saving grace for some of these guys is that I'm almost positive that Zach Thompson of Loras, 5th in the 2021 NWCA will not be competing. He hasn't wrestled a match all season (as of the time this was written) & I highly doubt he shows up to compete now.  That makes things a little easier, but not much. 

North Central's Robbie Precin, the 2021 NWCA runner-up, has earned the right to be called #1 seed,  but it'll be anything but a given.  Both Joe Pins of Wartburg (3rd in the 2021 NWCA) and Zac Blasioli of Millikin have given him decent matches.  Precin has defeated Pins three times, 8-5, 9-5 & 5-4.  He defeated Blasioli 3-2.  Against the other competition Precin has defeated Bryce Parke of Coe 9-4, Trevor Boryla of Augustana (IL) 12-5 & for what it's worth he owns a 10-1 victory over Thompson. 

Blasioli & Boryla are both former qualifiers, as Blasioli has defeated Boryla three out of the four times they have met. Among a strange 14-4 loss, he's defeated Boryla 4-2, 5-3 & 5-3.   

The other guy to watch for here is Gabriel Brandenburg of Ozarks, who owns a first period 2:40 fall over Parke.  

141 lbs 

This bracket is as interesting as it is tough.  We have Brock Henderson of Coe, 2021 NWCA champion.  He's defeated Jalen Schropp of Loras 6-3, yet lost to Jake Dado of Ozarks 3-2 & lost by fall to Javen Estrada of North Central.  

Estrada who I would say probably gets the #1 seed here, also has a 1:02 fall against Zayren Terukina of  Wartburg. 

On a personal level, I'd like to see Schropp who was 6th at the 2021 NWCA do well. Not sure of the relation, but Nick Schropp from Williamsburg is a guy that I grew up wrestling & playing baseball with as a kid. It's cool to see someone you know do well.  It'll be a tough road for him, as he's dropped 3-2 & 5-0 decisions to Terukina.  

Only three spots & five very talented guys going for them.  

149 lbs 

Another very tough, very competitive weight class.  Four of the top 10 wrestlers in DIII & only three of them get to go to the NCAA DIII tournament. This includes two NWCA All Americans from last season & five former qualifiers.  

Wartburg's Kristian Rumph, the NWCA runner-up last season looks to be our #1 seed.  Thus far against the competition his closest match has been 3-2 with Daniel Ruiz of Loras, who was 7th in the NWCA last season.  Rumpf has also defeated Alex Villar of North Central 10-4 & Robert Areyano of Central 6-1. 

Villar who could be our #2 seed, owns a 9-3 victory over Areyano & a 4-0 victory over Jordan Carson. 

Ruiz, owns an 8-4 decision over Areyano, who is a two time qualifier. 

Dixon owns a 6-4 victory over York. 

It'll be a tough road to the NCAA DIII tournament in this bracket. 

157 lbs 

It's every bit as tough and every bit as competitive at 157 lbs in the Lower Midwest Regional.  Here fighting for the three qualification spots we have two ranked wrestlers, 5 NWCA All Americans from last season, including the champion & all seven of these guys pictured have been to the national tournament at least once during their careers. If that don't take the cake, you tell me what does. 

Wartburg's David Hollingsworth has looked really good this season. Last year's NWCA champion, it still isn't quite what I would call a shoe-in.  9-4 victories over both Killian Perrigon of Cornell (IA) & Zeke Smith of Loras, he has a 20-7 major over Collin Quandt of Nebraska-Wesleyan.  What sticks out as concerning is a 10-8 sudden victory loss to Cole Cervantes of North Central & a very tight 9-8 victory over Zarik Anderson of Dubuque. 

Ranking suggest Smith who was 4th at the NWCA last season will be our #2 seed.  He own an 8-0 major decision over Quandt & a very impressive 15-0 technical fall over Cervantes. He also defeated Anderson 6-0.  What sticks out most though is a 3-2 loss to Perrigon. 

Will Perrigon be our #3 seed?  He was 5th in the NWCA tournament last season, as his other notable matches include a split with Quandt who he defeated 11-5, but was pinned by in 4:28. He defeated Millikin's Peter McCusker in that 5th place match 9-7. 

McCusker himself has split with Cervantes having both pinned one another at almost the exact same time.  He pinned Cervatnes in 5:33 & Cervantes pinned him at 5:34. 

Cervantes was 8th in the NWCA last season.  He's defeated Anderson twice by scores of 9-7 & 10-4. 

165 lbs 

The leader here is Millikin's Bradan Birt, a two time All American who was 6th at the 2019 NCAA DIII's & the 2021 NWCA champion last season.  He owns two technical falls over Cornell's Casey Allen, 20-3 & 19-0 as well as a 10-0 major decision over Gabe Fiser of Loras. 

Allen has split with Fiser, winning a 1-0 match and having lost a 10-3 match. Should make for an interesting probable semi-final.  Allen was 5th at the NWCA last year and Fiser was 4th. 

Look for Ozarks' Nadayambaje John & Dubque's Liam Corbett (a native of Hawaii, who qualified for the NWCA last season) to both fight for 3rd. 

174 lbs 

At 174 lbs in the Lower Midwest Regional we have three ranked wrestlers, three returning place-winners & five returning qualifiers.  Quite the challenge, as only three make it out & advance to the NCAA DIII tournament. 

I think we're looking at a possible final of Zane Mulder of Wartburg Vs Jacob Krakow Loras.  Mulder was the NWCA runner-up last season as Krakow, who also placed 8th at the 2019 NCAA DIII's, took 3rd.  In their one and only meeting thus far, Mulder won a tight 3-2 decision.  Mulder also owns a 6:18 fall over Joey Jens of North Central & Krakow's path to the finals looks to be pretty smooth as he owns a 17-2 technical fall over Jacob Sherzer of Cornell, a 14-6 major decision over Tristian Westphal of Coe & a 24-11 major decision over Shyler Langley of Simpson. 

Westphal was 8th at last year's NWCA.  He owns a 6-4 decision over Sherzer & he's split falls with Langley.  He wbf in 5:58 & he lbf in 4:10. 

Langley has defeated Sherzer twice by scores of 7-4 & 8-5. 

184 lbs 

We have two returning NWCA champions from last season in this bracket.  Kyle Briggs of Wartburg who won 174 lbs & Shane Liegel of Loras. Briggs was also 3rd at the 2019 NCAA DIII championships.  Thus far in two meetings,  Briggs has won rather decisively 9-5 & 14-4.  

The candidate for 3rd place here is Coe's Ryan Schott who was 6th in the NWCA last season.  There's a good chance he meets Liegel in the semi-finals, whom he has thus far dropped 6-2 & 9-5 matches to.   

Throw in a word for Millikin's Micah Downs, a qualifier last season as well.  Scott defeated downs via fall in 1:55. 

197 lbs 

North Central's Cody Baldridge leads the way at 197 lbs.  An NWCA champion last season, he owns a 20-8 major decision over Niles Ager of Millikin & a 5-2 victory over Kobe Woods of Wartburg. 

Speaking of Woods, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see him pull off an upset over Donovan Corn of Luther and to meet Baldridge in the finals. Despite the fact that he's unranked to Corn's #7 ranking & the fact that he DNP at the NWCA last season, whereas Corn placed 4th, over all he's 3-1 Vs the Norseman. Pinned in only 46 seconds, he owns a 14-0 major decision, a 2-1 decision & a 3-2 tiebreaker over Corn. 

Very confident our gold medal here goes to Baldridge, with Corn & Woods fighting it out for who gets silver & who gets bronze, with Ager waiting in the wings to possibly steal a spot. 

HWT 

This one is pretty exciting for me personally.  Kaleb Reeves went to the same high school I went to, Sigourney (small southeast Iowa community) & he is currently in route to be the best wrestler, collegiately speaking that my high school has ever produced.  While the Savages (my high school mascot) have wrestlers with better high school credentials, in the college ranks, Reeves is destined to come out the best.  Thus far we've only had three, two time All Americans (All in DIII) in Chris Hoffman who was 7th-5th for Coe in 88' & 89',  Mat McClenehan who was 7th & 3rd for NYU in 90' & 92 & Dave McLaughlin of William Penn (they were DIII at the time) who was 8th in 87' & 2nd in 88'.   

Reeves was 3rd in the NWCA last season & he has another year of eligibility after this year too.  What makes it even more exciting is that if he wins a national title, he'll be a wrestler who won a national title who never won a state title. He was 7-7-3 his last years of high school. 

No guarantees though.  He'll have to earn it.  Even though he has a 1:03 fall over Robby Bates of North Central, one of his closest matches has been with Rayan Reyes of Millikin who he defeated 4-2. 

Bates and Millikin have had some good tight matches themselves.   Thus far Bates has been able to get past Reyes in a 4-2 sudden victory & a 2-1 tiebreaker.


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I was really hoping to that I'd see both Schreiner & Huntingdon with qualification hopefuls, but I gotta call it like I see it. I don't.  Hope to in the future as it is so cool to see NCAA wrestling in both Texas & Alabama, but with all of the tough Iowa & Illinois schools, it is cool to see Ozarks holding their own as a small school from Arkansas.  

Central Regional Preview - DIII - (Feb 26th & 27th, 2022)

 CENTRAL REGIONAL 

Twenty teams, two days worth of wrestling & only three wrestlers per weight class make it to the NCAA DIII tournament.  Trying to decipher who exactly these three guys will be in each weight class isn't easy. There are a lot of good wrestlers in the Central Regional. Nevertheless, I took a stab at predicting.  Here's what I see going down. 

125 lbs 

Since transferring from Ohio State, Jacob Decatur has more or less had his way in DIII competing for Baldwin Wallace.  I believe his competition for a Central Regional title will be in Jack Stanley of Mount Union and Carlos Champagne of Wabash.  Decatur has already defeated both, with a 8-3 decision over Stanley and a 7-2 decision over Champagne. Champagne was an DIII All American in 2019, finishing 7th.  

133 lbs 

I think we're looking at a final between two former NCAA DIII qualifiers in John Carroll's Andrew Perelka & Mount Union's David Massey.  The last the two met, Massey walked away with a 6-2 victory. The battle for 3rd/Qualification I see being between Jaden Hinton of Baldwin Wallace & Blake McGee of Wabash.  McGee won the last meeting, 5-3. 

141 lbs 

An NCAA DIII champion in 2019, I think we're looking at our 2022 Central Regional Champion in Jordin James.  Per the competition, he owns victories of 14-5, 8-4 & 10-5 over Jarrod Brezovec of John Carroll, an 8-3 decision over Jacob Reed of Ohio Northern & a 17-5 major decision over Reese Wallis of Olivet. 

Brezovec a two-time NCAA DII qualifier owns a 2-0 decision over Wallis.  Wallis did qualify for the DIII's last season, but has a heck of a road ahead of him to do so again this season, as he also has two losses to Reed by scores of 2-0 & 3-1 sudden victory.   

Another possible top 3 place-winner/qualifier here is Wabash's Daniel Uribe who owns a 3-2 victory over Reed. 

149 lbs 

My guess would lead me to believe that one one end of the bracket we'll see a semi-final between Michael Petrella of Baldwin Wallace & Hunter Murphy of Olivet and on the other we'll see Alex Barr of Wabash and Chase Sumner of Ohio Northern.  Petrella and Murphy have yet to meet, whereas Barr an NCAA DIII qualifier in 2020 owns a 6-4 victory over Sumner, who was also an NCAA DIII qualifier in 2020.  For the record, Murphy was an NCAA DII qualifier last season. 

Either way, Petrella has himself a match, as he needed overtime to defeat Sumner 7-5 & he barely squeaked by Barr 1-0.   

Barr defeated Murphy by a score of 7-2. 

Either way you slice it, semi-final will be a tough hard fought win & the consolation final, with everything on the line, even tougher. 

157 lbs 

Stanley Bleich of Baldwin Wallace, Ryan Whitten of Otterbein & Jayce Kuehnlein of Alma have all made it to the NCAA DIII tournament before.  I think they all stand a good chance at making it again, although it wouldn't surprise me at all to see Luke Reicosky of John Carroll take a top three spot.  

Reicosky owns a 3-2 victory over Whitten & he barely lost to Bleich 4-3.   Bleich has 12-4 & 3-1 victories over Whitten, as the rest of the field will be meeting for the first time this tournament. 

165 lbs 

Very confident that one of our qualifiers & likely champion will be Kyle Hatch of Wabash. Anything can happen, but he does have an exceptionally high ranking & it took him all of 1:28 to pin Dalton Leightner of Baldwin Wallace.  

As to who our 2nd & 3rd place wrestlers will be? 

Patrick McGraw of John Carroll makes a case.  Two wins over Jordan Hardrick of Ohio Northern by scores of 6-4 & 7-5 as well as a 15-2 major over Leightner. He has a 6-3 loss to Dylan Briggs of Olivet. 

Hardrick, owns a 7-5 victory over Leightner & has a 6-1 loss to Briggs. 

Briggs has defeated Leightner twice by scores of 6-2 & 8-2. 

Leightner an NCAA DIII qualifier in 2020 has an impressive record on the season.  (As of the time this was written) 24 wins against only 7 losses. Problem is, 4 of those 7 losses are to in-region opponents.  It'll be tough for him to make it back to D3 Nationals. 

174 lbs 

One thing I'm sure of at 174 lbs in the Central Regional is that Cornell Beachem of Mount St Joseph is going to be making his third trip to the NCAA DIII's.  Who's going with him? Well if I had to guess, which is what I'm doing now, my $$'s on T.J. Rhamy of Heidelberg and Owen Guilford of Olivet. 

184 lbs 

I think this one might end up being a little more cut and dry.  I see a final between Lucas Salmon of Baldwin Wallace & Antonio McCloud of Mount St Joseph, who was a DIII All American in 2019 with an 8th place finish.  The battle for 3rd here ought to be real interesting. I'm predicting a consolation final of Joey Bradberry of Otterbein & Michael Jacobs of Adrian.  The two have split with Jacobs winning a 2-0 sudden victory and Bradberry winning a 4-3 match. Jacobs was an NCAA DIII qualifier last season. 

197 lbs 

Baldwin Wallace's Doug Byrne, an NCAA DIII qualifier in 2020 looks to be our forerunner for a Central Regional champion this year.  A likely opponent in the semi-finals will be Jack Heldt of Wabash, who Byrne has defeated 6-3.  I predict that He'll either meet Cash Thompson of Ohio Northern or Jarrod Setliff of Otterbein in the semi-finals. He's defeated Thompson twice by scores of 8-3 & 6-0.  He's defeated Setliff three times by a 14-2 major decision, a 47 second fall and a 9-4 decision.  Heldt has pinned Thompson in 4:30.  

As to Thompson and Setliff, which I believe should be our consolation final, Thompson pinned Setliff in 5:49 & Setliff defeated Thompson 7-3. 

HWT 

With his only loss on the season being to a DI opponent, Max Bishop shouldn't have much if any problem securing himself a Central Regional title.  It seems like it'd be a no brainer as to who Olivet is going to start here, but I'm still not for certain.  Donovan King has the ranking, but it was Dominick Wilson who finished 4th at the DIII's (NWCA's to be technical) last season.  Either guy Olivet puts in here, is a likely qualifier. 

Isaiah Espinoza  with 8th at least year's DIII's (NWCA's).  For what it's worth he has two victories, 3-1 and 3-2 over Wilson.  I believe he'll battle along with Jace Grossman of Heidelberg for a spot in the top three and a trip to the NCAA DIII tournament. 


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11 of the 20 teams qualifying at least one if not more wrestlers to the DIII tournament. Would like to have seen more, but a little over half is about expected. With so many teams & so few qualification spots, not every team is going to push some body on through.  

JT#1's Notes, Thoughts & Observations for Week 15 of Collegiate Wrestling (Feb 7-13, 2022)

 First off a huge apology for the lack of content on Johnnythompsonnum1 as of late. I had a whole heap of articles ready to be written when Wednesday night at work I started getting really dizzy with a debilitating headache. Got so bad I had to go home.  Got tested, COVID positive.  Thursday & Friday I was completely useless to the world.  Thought it was bad when my temperature got up to 101.8, but it was a whole other experience when it reached 102.7 on Friday.  Saturday I began to get back to normal as I did Sunday.  Today I still don't feel the best, but I'm COVID free and recovering.   So, hate excuses but that's your reasoning as to why this week was so bare.  Hopefully I can do some catching up for this week. 

Week 15! What a week! We're near the end of the season! 

Gotta do a little bragging on a guy from my alma mater. Kaleb Reeves of Coe, who wrestled for Sigourney (where I wrestled) recently broke the school record at Coe for number of pins in a career with a total of 62. Guy loves upper-body wrestling, spends a lot of time doing Greco, and it shows in his matches. You DO NOT want to go upper body with this guy. He's a pinning machine! 

99% of the time I stick to being a strictly collegiate wrestling website, but every now and again something happens at a different level of wrestling that I just have to speak about.  Another great thing has happened with Sigourney-Keota Savage wrestling. Reanah Utterback, who earlier this season became the Savages' first Girl's State Champion, just became the first girl to ever qualify for the Iowa High School State Championships from Sigourney.  If she is to place this weekend, she puts herself in line to eventually become the second wrestler in school history to place four times.  The other is Danny House who placed 4th-4th-5th-3rd between 1981 & 1984. 

You really start to see guys step it up a notch towards this time of year and one of those guys that did so this weekend was Cal State Bakersfield's Albert Urias.  Two smart sudden victory wins over Sam Wolf of Air Force & Tyler Eischens of Stanford. The win over Eischens in particularly is vital as we're nearing PAC-12 tournament time & seeding is essential in the war for qualification. 

Gawd only knows the battles that took place between the Moore brothers Josh & Scott when they were in high school & when they were both at Penn State at the same time. Now the two continue their brotherly rivalry as coaches as Lock Haven & Cleveland State locked horns this weekend. Pretty cool to see. 

Minnesota's Michial does it again! Another nice upset victory for the Golden Gopher as he upended #21 Gavin Hoffman of Ohio State 5-3. 

At the beginning of the year I would have put $$ on the 184 lbs ACC champion being either Trent Hidlay of North Carolina State or Hunter Bolen of Virginia Tech. I think there may be a new contender in town. North Carolina's Gavin Kane only has two losses on the season & both of those were at 174. Ever since moving up to 184, he has looked better than ever. A very controlled win over Wisconsin's Chris Weiler & dominating wins over both Virginia's Michael Battista and Pittsburgh's Gregg Harvey. This weekend he defeated Bolen 3-1 sudden victory. 

I applaud the effort I really do.  Flo, Iowa, Oklahoma State, + others put a lot of time, effort and hard work into this. It needs to be acknowledged and praised.  I hate to say anything negative at all, but it was disappointing that only a little over 12,000 people showed up to an arena that sits over 40,000.  I love events like this, but is 12,000 a number that justifies more?  I question if maybe wrestling should have looked into holding the event elsewhere.  Texas is a huge state & what scares me about this result is that it might get chalked up to, "just isn't popular in Texas" and I wonder if it's not so much Texas as it is WHERE in Texas.  12,000 people isn't a terrible number, but I was hoping to see a lot more.  As to the sentiment of growing wrestling, I question other places that such an event would be good to see. The 2015 NWCA All Star Classic was held in Atlanta, Georgia at Georgia Tech University & if memory serves me correct, we didn't quite have the attendance there we were hoping for either.  

I got into a discussion with Fanco earlier today & we discussed warmer climates for the NCAA's.  

My top suggestions were....

Simmons Bank Center in North Little Rock, Arkansas. Seats 18,000 people.  Could be hosted by Little Rock. 

KFC Yum Center in Louisville, Kentucky. Could be hosted by Bellarmine. Seats 22,090 people. 

PNC Arena  in Raleigh, North Carolina. Could be hosted by NC State.  Seats 21,000 people. 

Super Region VI Preview DII (Feb 26th, 2022)

 SUPER REGION VI 

Like the other five regions, Super Region VI is an absolute madhouse full of a ton of gifted & talented wrestlers all wanted to make a trip to the NCAA Division II tournament. It's amazing the journey one has to go through just to make it to the championships. 

125 lbs 

Four of the nation's top wrestlers and only three of them are going to the NCAA DII tournament.  UNK's Josh Portillo was runner-up at the 2019 NCAA DII's but had a nightmare of a tournament at last year's DII's failing to place. This year he is bound and determined to take what was last year's nightmare and turn it into this season's dream.  He's 2-1 Vs Adams State's Isaiah Delacerda, who was 7th at last year's DII's, owning a 13-5 major decision & a 9-7 decision Vs a loss by fall in 6:32.  He also owns a 6-2 decision over Cody Fatzinger of Western Colorado. 

Fatzinger is 1-2 against Delacerda himself having won a 9-5 decision, but having dropped a 7-5 decision and being pinned in 1:37.  

Dawson Collins of Colorado Mesa, who could be our #1 seed due to his ranking, is 2-1 Vs Fatzinger. A 7-5 decision & a 7:06 win via fall Vs a 9-7 decision. 

133 lbs 

Four wrestlers all ranked in the top 8, all capable of being NCAA DII All Americans this season, and only three of them get to go. Wesley Dawkins two time All American (2nd in 2019, 4th in 2021) leads the way.  While has a 5-3 loss to Adams State's Jonathan Andreatta he also owns a 31 second fall against him. He's also defeated Collin Metzgar of Colorado Mesa 10-5. He's pinned Patrick Allis of Western Colorado twice. 

Andreatta, one match from being a DII All American in 2019, has defeated Metzgar twice. Once by major decision 10-2 & by fall in 2:54.   He's dropped a 6-5 decision to Allis in the past. 

Metzgar has met with Allis a total of 5 times going 2-3 against him.  Winning by fall in 2:42, along with a 14-5 major decision, he has dropped an 8-5 decision, a 5-2 decision and an 8-6 sudden victory. 

141 lbs 

Again another extremely tough weight class. 5 ranked wrestlers, plus another in contention for a total of six extremely tough grapplers all looking for a spot in the top 3 in Super Region VI.  

Joshua Fuentes-Noriyo has an impressive 5-3 sudden victory over Nick James of UNK, but it should be noted that in 2:35 precisely, Western Colorado's Dean Noble once handed him a loss by fall. 

James who was 7th at last year's championships, owns a 15-9 victory over Noble, as well as both a 5-2 & a 10-8 sudden victory over Angel Flores of Adams State. 

Noble along with his fall over Fuentes-Noriyo, also owns a 15-8 victory over Cyruss Meeks of CSU-Pueblo, but has a 10-2 loss to Grayston DiBlasi of Colorado School of Mines. He split with Flores, ironically trading 13-5 major decisions. 

Flores owns a 9-7 sudden victory over DiBlasi & DiBlasi owns both a 1:46 fall as well as a 3-2 decision over Meeks. 

149 lbs 

UNK's Sam Turner, a four time NCAA DII qualifier who was 4th at last year's championships, 149 lbs is yet another war that will take place in Super Region VI.  All five of these guys have been NCAA DII qualifiers in the past & Turner is one of two All Americans. 

Vs The competition Turner is 1-2 Vs Noah Hermosillo of Adams State who was 6th in the nation last season.  Turner owns a 2-1 tiebreaker, whereas Hermosillo owns a 2:16 fall & a 7-5 sudden victory.  Vs Gavin Melendez (slippery finger above) of Colorado State Pueblo, Turner has won a 16-0 technical fall, an 8-0 major decision, a 5-1 decision and a 1-0 decision.  Turner also owns a 3-0 decision over Jason Hanenberg of Western Colorado. 

Hermosillo is 3-0 Vs Hanenbeg with two 3-2 wins & another by a score of 8-6. He defeated Melendez 3-2 & is 1-3 Vs Jonathan Trujillo of New Mexico Highlands.  This includes a 4-1 victory Vs losses of 14-2, 5-2 & 8-6. 

Hanenberg has split with Melendez winning a 4-0 decision & dropping one 5-1. He is 1-3 Vs Trujillo, owning a 5-0 decision Vs a 12-3 major decision and a 4-2 decision. 

Trujillo also owns a 4-3 victory over Melendez. 

The fight for a top 3 finish is real. 

157 lbs 

Logic & rationale are a little friendly to 157 lbs, at least on paper.  Josiah Rider of Adams State has been having himself a fine season that includes a 7-1 victory over Mason Boutain of San Francisco State & two falls of Ryan Wheeler of Colorado Mesa.  Wheeler could be the #2 seed, but will need to avoid a potential upset as he's already been pinned by Justin Davis of Colorado State Pueblo.    

The real culprit here could very well be Jacob Wasser of UNK. Now it's no secret to anyone that he hasn't been having the best season. As of the time this was written, matter of fact, he had a losing record. Yet you can't tell me that a guy that who took DII 7th in the nation last season & who has a region title under his belt won't be a threat to at least qualify this season.  If nothing else, I guarantee you he at least goes out and gives it Hell. 

165 lbs 

Pretty clear, cut and dry here at 165 lbs too.  Matthew Malcom of UNK, our likely Super Region VI champion has already defeated likely finals opponent Hunter Mullin of Western Colorado twice & rather convincingly may I had. Two 15-0 technical fall.  Mullin has defeated likely semi-final opponent Alex Holguin of Colorado Mesa twice by scores of 6-4 and 3-2.  

Now do I see Holguin in the third place spot? I think it's a strong possibility but I wouldn't count out Samuel Loera of Adams State either.  

174 lbs 
#5
Austin Eldredge 
UNK

I never want to appear lazy but I'm ok with appearing unsure. The only one in Super VI that I'm really sure about is UNK's Austin Eldredge who was fourth at last year's NCAA DII's.  Other than that, I think 2nd & 3rd place are up for grabs, I really do.  I'd like to think that Seth Latham of Colorado Mesa, a 2020 NCAA DII qualifier will be another, but I'm not sold. 

184 lbs 

Three ranked wrestlers, one returning DII All American, four returning NCAA DII qualifiers & another wrestler who competed in Division I until this season.  I'd call 184 lbs Super Region VI tough. 

One of the candidates for qualification and a top three finish is Colorado School Of Mines' Anderson Salisbury who finished 8th at the NCAA DII's last season.  He owns a 6-1 victory over Martin Verhaeghe of Fort Hays State & he's 2-2 with Nolan Krone of Colorado Mesa.  Salisbury has won 2-1 & 12-4 matches, whereas Krone has won 7-2 & 6-4 matches. 

Verhaeghe an NCAA DII qualifier in 2020 owns a 9-7 decision over Krone, but dropped a 3-1 decision to Billy Higgins of UNK, who competed for Northern Colorado up until this season. 

Krone was an NCAA DII qualifier in 2020, as was Logan Nelson of Simon Fraser. 

197 lbs 

Looking for a final between Colorado Mesa's Donald Negus & UNK's Hayden Prince.  Should be a good one as the last time these two met (as of the time this was written) Negus who was 5th at the 2021 NCAA DII tournament, won a high scoring 10-8 match.  Negus also owns three wins over Tereus Henry twice pinning him & a 7-0 decision.  Prince also owns a 7-0 decision over Henry.   

The battle for bronze here will be between Henry & Adams State's Hunter Tobiasson. 

HWT 

Whatever sanity we reestablished there for a while, you can now completely throw it out. Super Region VI HWT is absolutely insane. Six of the top 16 wrestlers in the entire DII nation are going to compete for a top three spot here, just to go to DII nationals! This includes two DII All Americans & four DII qualifiers.  The medals they're handing out for the awards better be made of real gold, real silver and real bronze, because at the end of the day, whoever is holding them, sure has earned them.   Just take a look at this field. 

Weston Hunt of Colorado School of Mines. Already a three time NCAA DII qualifier.  He dropped a close one to Lee Herrington of UNK 2-1.  He is 5-0 against Sammy Deseriere of Western Colorado winning major decisions of 11-2 & 13-5, with decisions of 4-3, 4-3 & 9-6.  He is 4-0 against Gavin Nye of Colorado State Pueblo.  A fall in 6:26, with very close matches of 3-1 sudden victory & two 3-2 decisions.  He's 2-1 Vs A.J. Cooper of Fort Hays State.  4-2 & 6-2 decisions Vs a 7-6 decision.  He's 2-0 Vs Mason Watt of Chadron State winning 4-2 & 7-4 decisions. 

Herrington who was 4th at the 2021 NCAA DII's, has went back and forth with pretty much everyone in the bracket.  With Deseriere he's won 17-6 & 14-6, having lost 5-4 & by fall in 6:28.  Vs Nye, he owns a 4:32 fall Vs a 3-2 loss.  Vs Cooper He's won by fall in 1:36 with 3-1 & 7-5 decisions Vs a loss by fall in 8:29, a 12-3 major decision and an 8-3 decision.  Vs Watt, looking at a 2:10 fall, a 10-4 & a 4-1 decision Vs a loss by fall at 6:59 & an 8-5 decision. 

Deseriere's been able to figure out Herrington a few times, but he hasn't had a whole lot of luck with the rest of the field.  He's 0-4 against Nye, dropping a 6-3 decision & 3 falls.  0-4 Vs Cooper, an 18-2 technical fall, a 10-2 major decision & 2-0 & 8-6 decisions.  A 9-3 loss to Watt & while he has pinned Taniela Feliciano-Takafura of Simon Fraser twice in the first period, their most recent match ended with TFT taking a 3-1 win in sudden victory. 

Nye, a NCAA DII qualifier in 2020, is 3-1 Vs Cooper.  Exchanging shoulders to the mat in 4:38 Vs 4:11, Nye has won decisions of 6-3 & 4-2.  It seemed for the longest time that he had Watt's # with a 3:19 fall, an 18-1 technical fall, a 15-6 major decision & a 7-3 decision. Yet in their most recent meeting Watt's won 6-3.  Nye also owns a 4-2 win over Fleiciano-Takafura. 

Cooper 5th at last year's NCAA DII's, also plays football for Fort Hays State.  Along with matches already mentioned he owns a 2:58 fall over Watt. 

Lastly Watt also owns two victories over Feliciano-Takafura 9-6 & 9-2. 

===  

That concludes my regional previews for NCAA DII.  I hope I have illustrated just how incredibly competitive and challenging it is for these guys to even call themselves NCAA qualifiers, let alone All Americans. 

SUPER REGION V DII Preview ( Feb 26th, 2022)

                        SUPER REGION V 


One of the most competitive regions in NCAA Division II wrestling, Region V is full of plenty of parity and plenty of circumstances where one guy won on one day and the other guy won on the other. It'll be an absolute war to place in the top 3. 

125 lbs 

2021 NCAA DII 3rd place All American Joe Arroyo of UW-Parkside, a favorite to win this year's DII title is the obvious favorite to win the Super Region V title at 125 lbs.  A 12-3 major decision over Jaden Verhagen of may, he has defeated St Cloud State's Paxton Creese twice by scores of 9-7 sudden victory and 6-3.   

Jaxson Rohman of Augustana (S.D.) will challenge Creese for a spot in the finals.  He has defeated Verhagen 6-2, but it should be noted as good of a season as the true freshman has had, he has shown himself to be susceptible to loss.  He dropped a 4-2 decision to Oscar Nellis of Minot State (who at the time this was written, had a losing record).  It's favorable to think that the three ranked wrestlers in this weight class will be the ones to go to the NCAA DII tournament, but it'll be anything but a given. 

133 lbs 

Two time NCAA DII All American Garrett Vos of St Cloud State looks to be the forerunner for the Super Region V title here.  6th in 2019 & 2nd last season he owns both an 18-4 & 8-1 decision over Jack Huffman of Augustana (S.D.) as well as a 17-1 technical fall over Kaden Anderlik of Upper Iowa. 

As we speak of Huffman, it is safe to assume that he'll be the starter for the Super Region V, but I'm not 100% sold. He is the one with the ranking, but Brandon Carroll would be a threat to qualification in his own right. An NCAA qualifier last season, although he has both an 11-6 & a 10-1 loss to Vos, he's also beaten Vos in the past too. A 16-8 major decision. 

Reece Barnhardt of Mary will most certainly be another contender for NCAA qualification status. A 13-1 major decision over Cole Jones of MSU-Moorhead, he's dropped decisions 8-3 to Vos & 4-3 to Huffman.   

As to Jones, the move up to 133 from 125 thus far has not been kind. Along with the losses already mentioned, he also has a 9-4 loss to Anderlik.  However, he was an All American in 2019 with a 7th place finish & he did qualify for last year's championships. 

141 lbs 

The Super Region V championship gold medal is spoken for I believe.  Last year's NCAA DII Runner-up Joseph Bianchini of St. Cloud State is currently the #1 ranked wrestler in the nation.  With a 5-1 victory over Tate Murty of Upper Iowa, the only note of possible concern is the Murty has taken him into sudden victory in the past. A 7-5 overtime match to be exact. 

Murty, who was 6th at last year's DII championships would be a safe bet for second place here, but definitely not a guarantee. Rich Kolton of Northern State owns a 12-6 victory over him, which leads me to believe that the race to a third place finish is going to be an all out slobberknocker. Cayden Henschel of UW-Parkside owns a 8-6 victory over Kolton, as Laken Boese of Mary owns an 8-3 victory over Henschel.  To make matters even simpler, Kolbe O'Rbien of MSU-Mankato owns a 15-7 victory over Boese. 

Good luck. 

149 lbs 

As of the time this was written, Garrett Aldrich of St Cloud State has not wrestling a match in 2021-2022.  It is safe to assume though that if he enters the Super Region V, he will be a contender.  An NCAA runner-up at last year's DII championships, it is not however a guarantee that he will win.  Ironically enough in three meetings with MSU-Mankato's Kyle Rathman, Aldrich went 1-2.  Rathman completely dominated with 7-0 & 8-0 shutout victories, yet "when it counted" at DII's, Aldrich was able to pull off a 6-4 decision.  Aldrich has also had some scares with Upper Iowa's Eric Faught, who he's defeated twice by scores of 5-4 and 3-2. 

Rathman has thus far finished 7th at the NCAA DII championships, he owns a 4-2 victory over Wyatt Turnquist of Northern State but has thus far had difficultly with Augustana's Keaten Schorr. While he has won a 3-1 decision against the Viking, he has also dropped a 3-1, as well as a 3-2 decision.    

Faught who was an NCAA DII qualifier himself last season, owns a 4-3 decision over Turnquist. 

157 lbs 

Not sure why Colby Njos of St Cloud State isn't currently in the rankings, but I'm sure there's a logical explanation for it.  The 2021 NCAA DII 3rd place finisher has a 9-7 victory over Chase Luensman of Upper Iowa & will most certainly fight for the Super Region V title at 157 lbs. 

Per ranking James Burks of Northern State looks to be another qualifier as he could very well have to face Brayden Huber of Mary whom he's had quite the feud with with.  Huber was 8th at last year's NCAA DII championships.  In five matches, Burks has won 8-5, 10-7 & a 4:29 fall whereas Huber has won 9-4 & 14-8 decisions.   Luensman for the record is a two time NCAA DII qualifier. 

165 lbs 

Two time NCAA DII qualifier Shane Gantz looks to be our champion here at 165 lbs in the Super Region V. He owns victories of Devon Donovan of St Cloud State 5-2 & Leo Mushinsky of Mary 11-3.  I'm 99.9% positive that come tournament time that Donovan will be the starter, but going to throw in a word for Jared Head regardless.  While Donovan has a 6-2 victory over head, want to point out Head's 3-2 victory over Mushinsky.   The other guy to look at here to possibly get a spot in the top 3 and qualify for nationals is Miles Fitzgerald of Augustana. For what it's worth he owns a 10-8 sudden victory over Head & more notable he owns a 3-2 tiebreaker over Mushinsky.  He took Donovan to a 3-2 decision. 

174 lbs 

If you looked up unfair in Webster's Dictionary, you might very well find 2022 174 lbs Super Region V.  Five of the nations best wrestlers, all ranked within the top 11 and only three of them get to go to DII nationals while the other two stay home.  There has been an argument for quite some time for DII to adapt a qualifier system similar to that of NCAA DI & the NAIA.  Need be convincing testimony? Rest the case here. 

MSU-Mankato's Trevor Turiff takes the lead here as he is (as of the time this was written) the highest ranked, who is a returning NCAA DII runner-up from last season.  While he does have a 3-2 loss to Cade Mueller of Augustana on his record, he's also beaten the Viking 5-3 & he's undefeated against the rest of the competition.   He owns a 7-4 victory over Dominic Murphy of St Cloud State and he owns four victories over Max Bruss of Mary.  These include a 19-6 major decision, a 9-5 decision, a 7-5 decision and a 5-4 decision.  

Mueller is 1-1 with Bruss (who himself was an NCAA DII qualifier last season). He defeated Bruss 5-4, but lost to him 3-0.  Mueller also owns a 4-3 victory over Murphy. 

To make matters even more complicated, Murphy owns an 8-7 victory over Bruss.  

Lastly in contention for a top 3 spot to secure a place at the national tournament, Job Ayala of UW-Parkside owns a 3-2 victory over Bruss, but lost by fall to Murphy in 2:33. 

Final analysis? Finishing top 3 here may not be AA status at the DII tournament but it might as well be. This is a TOUGH bracket & getting 1st, 2nd or 3rd here deserves all the praise it gets. 

184 lbs 

Seeding will determine quite a bit here, but I think as far as which three of the four end up going & which one ends up staying home, could very well be up in the air. 

Caden Steffen of SMSU looks good as far as his 5th place finish from last year's NCAA DII tournament. As of the time this was written, he split with Reece Woracheck owning a 5:15 fall over the Ranger & having lost to him 3-1 sudden victory.  He's 0-2 Vs William Pitzner of St. Cloud State, a NCAA DII qualifier last season himself, dropping 7-0 & 4-1 decisions.  Vs Kolby Kost of Augustana (S.D.) he owns three wins against one loss.  11-1 major decision, 13-6 decision & a 2:27 fall Vs a 12-4 major decision. 

Pitzner is 2-1 Vs Woracheck, all close matches having won two 2-0 decisions & having dropped a 1-0 decision.   Pitzner and Kost have both pinned one another in the first period. 

197 lbs 

Upper Iowa's Zac Ryg (as of the time this was written) has yet to wrestle a match in the 2021-2022 season. Yet it is certain that if he does enter the Super Region V, he will be a force to be reckoned with.  3rd at last year's NCAA DII tournament, he isn't flashy but he's gotten the job done against the competition.  A 3-1 win over Noah Ryan of St. Cloud State, a 3-2 win over Matt Kaylor of Mary and a 6-4 win over Dan Bishop of Augustana (S.D.) 

Even with Ryg absent, this is still going to be a very tough bracket. Ryan himself was 7th at last year's NCAA DII tournament.  He owns a 3-1 win over Rodsean Graham of UW-Parkside, a 6-3 win over Kaylor and a 3-1 win over Bishop. 

Rodsean has been able to defeat Kaylor 5-2, as well as Placide 3-2, but has struggled with Bishop dropping 4-2 and 4-3 decisions. 

Kaylor owns a 3:46 fall over Placide, and has split with Bishop, owning a 5-2 victory Vs a 3-1 sudden victory loss. 

HWT 

If you're looking for a guarantee in Super Region V, this is where you'll likely find it.  Kam Teacher of St. Cloud State (as of the time this was written) is undefeated with NCAA DII finishes thus far of runner up in 2018, third place in 2019 & Champion in 2021.  I will credit Steven Hajas of Augustana (S.D.) who was 3rd in last year's DII"s for always keeping it close.  He's thus far taken Teacher to 5-4 & 6-5 decisions.   However, it is not a given that Hajas will be Teacher's opponent in the finals.  While he has pinned Will Jordan of Minot State, Jordan also owns a 2-0 victory over him.  Gerardo James of Mary also kept it close with Hajas in a 5-4 loss. 

Darrell Mason of MSU-Mankato will also be in the hunt with a 5-3 victory over Jordan and a 15-6 major decision over James.   

Both Jordan and James were NCAA DII qualifiers in 2019.  They have split with one another, Jordan winning a 5-1 match and James winning a 3-2 match. 

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There's just not easy way about it.  Placing top 3 in any of these weight classes is mission that not even Dan Briggs would feel comfortable taking. The bright side is, I think every team in Super Region V stands a chance of at least qualifying one wrestler.  

My Last Match

 

February 14th, 2004, 18 years ago as it was, is to this day one of the most significant moments of my life. A day that runs through my head every day of my life.  I think about it all the time.  

It was the sectional tournament.  My final sectional tournament.  Thus far I had finished 6th-5th-4th & this was my final attempt to make it out of the tournament and qualify for districts.  By all means with a 5-4 & 11-10 loss the year before, I should have qualified as a junior too, but that's a story that's already been told.   

My first match I had Kyle Carpenter of Wapello, who would go on to qualify for Districts in 2005.  I was able to pin him in the first period. 

My semi-final match was against Daniel Garrett of Cardinal. An opponent I knew well.  In all my years of wrestling I can't say I was ever afraid of an opponent, but I was afraid of him. Matter of fact, I was scared to death of him. 

As a junior I had wrestled him in the consolation semi-finals at the Van Buren Classic.  I had shot in on him and without much trouble at all, he whipped me over onto my back and stuck me.  I don't know why I let this strike such a fear in me, but I did.  Like a Cobra that stares into the eyes of its next meal before it delivers the fatal blow of venom, Garrett struck a fear in me like no other. 

It made little sense.  In fact, it made no sense. The reality of the situation was that Garrett had caught me on a bad shot & pancaked me.  Yet, you couldn't convince me of that.  

Ty Bartholomew of Van Buren pinned him twice 
Greg Ford of Twin Cedars pinned him and then beat him 11-7
Brett Allison of Tri-County beat him 

I had a 13-9 victory over Bartholomew. I had a fall over Ford. I had a 14-4 victory over Allison.  My loss to Bartholomew was 11-9.  Allison pinned me twice, but in both matches I was winning at the time I was pinned.  I only wrestled Ford once.  

The second time I wrestled Garrett was again at the Van Buren Classic. This time for 3rd place.  I completely froze up and cowered.  I lost the match 6-1, allowing him two escapes and two take downs where I didn't even try and fight.  One was so pathetic that I should have been slapped after the match.  It was a simple snapdown where I immediately threw my arms at my sides to avoid the whip over from the year before.   

I regret that match. It's one of the only matches in my entire wrestling career I regret.  Yet, I don't regret it as much as I do the match I had with him at sectionals. 

I'll never get a second chance. I'll never get a do over.   Yet, I've been wishing for one for 18 years.   

They say that wrestling is 90% mental and while I don't know if that is always the case it certainly was that day.  

I've never been more nervous and worked up for a match in my life.  I've never felt more weak, tired and worn out for a match.  Garrett knew I was ripe for the Pickens as did his coach who was well aware of my fear.   

I lost that match 10-4.  All I could manage the entire time was an escape and a reversal towards the end of the 3rd period.  I came close to locking up a cradle, but time expired.   

It wasn't about qualifying for districts & having a shot at maybe qualifying for state.  It wasn't even about winning.  It's about the fact that I let Daniel Garrett of Cardinal beat me twice. Now he might have won both of those matches regardless, but he shouldn't have won them for the reasons he did.    

Now for anyone that thinks I'm trying to put him down, I'm not.  Garrett was a tough guy in his own right & I'll always say that. At Cardinal he ranks high in pins for both a season and a career.  I think he had close to 90 wins during his career. He was 3rd-3rd-2nd at the Van Buren Classic & I want to say he was 3rd-2nd-3rd at Sectionals.  No offense to him at all, I got a lot of respect for him. I just wish at the time I had enough respect for him to have given him 100%.  I wish he could have gotten me at my best.  Gotten me as I wrestled everyone else, fearless, intense and aggressive.  If I had wrestled everyone like I wrestled him, I'd have been lucky to have won a match. 

After I lost to Garrett, I went and hid in the class room at WACO high school that we had been given to dress in.  I laid down on a bench and just went numb. I questioned my entire life at the moment. I thought of all of the mornings I had gotten up to go run, lift weights and drill. I thought of the times when my Dad had wanted to take us on a fun vacation but I said I wanted to go to wrestling camp instead. I thought of all the fun times with friends I had sacrificed so I could freestyle and do summer wrestling practices instead. Had this all been a waste of my time?  

A short time later, Coach Kirby found me.  He came into the room. 

"YOu still got another match to wrestle." He said to me.  

I got up off the bench.  He patted me on the back as I walked out the room.  

Normally I was a pacer. I would pace back and forth, shaking out my arms and getting myself loose.  This time I just sat on the corner of the mat until it was my turn to wrestle.  

My opponent?  Brandon Ball of Columbus. 

The first period, I was the aggressor, but I couldn't score any points. Nothing was going through my head as it was completely blank. I hit a nice headlock on Ball, but we were out of bounds when I threw it, so no points. 

Then the first period was over and that's when one of Ball's coaches said something that brought me back to life.   

Coach Milder to be precise. A guy I've never liked and a guy who has never liked me.   

"Come on Brandon, What are you doing? This guy isn't any good. Let's go." 

I'm paraphrasing but it was something along those lines.  

Let's just say that it pissed me off. 

Second period began and as soon as it did, you can take proper technique and shove it, because I grabbed Ball by the head & had him flying through the air flat on his back with about 15 seconds. He fought hard as I squeezed and got the fall about 20 seconds later.  

My entire wrestling career, all 12 years of it, I never celebrated a win. I did that one. I winked at Coach Milder & then pointed at the section of Sigourney fans for all of their support.   

Ball would go on to be a two time state place-winner, taking 7th in 2006 & winning a state title in 2007. He was 4th in NCAA DIII in 2009 or 2010. 132-26 over all high school career.  Safe to say, I beat a really good kid that day. 

A million thoughts run through my head when I think of that day.  A million.  What I'd give to have that day over again. What I've give to have my entire high school wrestling career over again. 

I'm glad I won that match. I'm very happy I won that match.  Took 3rd in my final sectional. 

SUPER REGION IV DII Preview (Feb 26th, 2022)

 SUPER REGION IV 

Nearly every weight class in the Super Region IV has a wrestler ranked within the top 5 & those that don't is because wrestlers that would have otherwise been ranked within the top 5 didn't start wrestling until second semester.  Most have at least one returning NCAA DII All American, if not more. It's safe to say that Super Region IV is an extremely tough qualifier. 

125 lbs 

It's been quite the back and forth for Central Oklahoma's Paxton Rosen & McKendree's Christian Mejia.  At last year's Super Region IV, it was Rosen who took the title with a 4-0 decision, but it was Mejia who upended Rosen for 5th place at the NCAA Division II tournament.  No guarantee that it will be a rematch in the finals, as Mejia has had a back and forth affair with Maryville's Anthony Pisciotta as well. Mejia has won 12-7 & 9-7 decisions, whereas Pisciotta has won 5-3 & 7-5 decisions.  Even that plausible semi-final is not a guarantee as Pisciotta has shown susceptible to loss on more than one occasion.  Rosen's backup Studd Morris handed him an 8-5 defeat earlier this season & Kentucky Wesleyan's Nicholas Ornelas despite having a bit above .500 season also owns a 6-5 decision over Pisciotta.  

133 lbs

Feel pretty confident that one of our finalist here will be Tanner Cole of Central Oklahoma.  Feel pretty confident that he will take home a Super Region IV title.  Even though the 2021 NCAA DII 3rd place finisher does have a 3-2 loss to Lindenwood's Tanner Hitchcock, the last the two met, Cole won decisively 12-3.  Hitchcock who was 7th at last year's DII's will have his hands full in a likely semi-final with Breyden Bailey of Indianapolis.  Hitchcock defeated Bailey 3-1 sudden victory the last the two met. 

141 lbs 

If there be a more competitive weight class within all six Super Regions I don't know what it is. 141 lbs Super Region IV is absolutely bananas.  

Colby Smith of Lindenwood is about all that I'm sure of.  He's proven himself against everyone,  He's beaten Central Oklahoma's Nate Keim twice by scores of 4-1 & 9-1. He's beaten Drury's Peter Kuster twice by scores of 7-4 & 8-3. He's beaten McKendree's Devin Schwartzkopf twice 4-0 & once by fall in 6:26. He hasn't faced Maryville's Taylor Jokerst yet, but he does own a 6-0 victory over Indianapolis's Raymond Rioux. 

Keim and Kuster have one of the best feuds going on in collegiate wrestling period.  The two have met a total of 9 times! Keim owns 5-3, 4-2, & 4-3 decisions, whereas Kuster owns 4-2 sudden victory, 6-2, 5-2, 43, 2-1 and 5-3 decisions.   Keim has defeated Jokerst 3-2, whereas Kuster has defeated him 6-2 & twice by 5-0 decisions.  Keim has never wrestled Schwartzkopf whereas Schwartzkopf owns a 5-4 decision over Kuster. Kuster owns a 1-0 decision over Rioux.  

Now speaking of Schwartzkopf, he has yet to wrestle a match this season (as of the time this was written). Yet if he does show up he also has two victories 4-2 sudden victory and 6-4 over Jokerst. 

Did I mention that everyone here is a NCAA DII qualifier except for Rioux?  5/6 here are returning NCAA DII qualifiers.  Yeah, we're talking competitive.  Only 3 qualify this season. 

149 lbs 

Central Oklahoma's Brik Filippo is the favorite to win a title here, but regardless of whether he faces's Darick Lapaglia of Central Missouri or Logan Bailey of Indianapolis, he will have a tough match in the finals. He snuck by Lapaglia 2-1 & he snuck by Bailey 5-4.  He's defeated Jack Tangen of Lindenwood 6-1 & he owns two victories over Maryville's Tyler Stegall by scores of 4-0 & 11-3 major decision. 

For those of you that think Michigan's Stevan Micic & Iowa's Mike Kemerer have been around forever, note that Lapaglia was a DII All American in 2014!  

I'd give Tangen an outside shot of possibly making the finals, as he does own a 4-2 victory over Bailey. Ironically enough, Stegall owns a 6-5 decision over Tangen, but Bailey owns an 8-1 decision over Stegall.  Parity anyone? 

157 lbs 

Let's make it very clear that the only reason 2021 NCAA DII Runner-up Ronnie Gentile of Lindenwood isn't in the rankings (as of the time this was written) is because he didn't start wrestling until second semester.  So technically we're looking at what would otherwise me five ranked wrestlers at 157 lbs in Super Regon IV.  May I add that three of them are returning NCAA DII All Americans. 

Along with Gentile, Indianapolis' Dawson Combest was 4th at last year's NCAA DII championships & Tyler Lucas was 5th. 

As to seeding? Lucas owns a 1-0 victory over Gentile, but what may throw off that win a 3-1 loss to Central Missouri's John Ridle. Gentile on the other hand owns a 7-3 victory over Ridle, as well as a 4-3 victory over Combest. 

Ridle for the record also owns a 7-6 decision over Newman's Jace Fisher. 

No matter how you slice it, at least three of the nation's top 157 lbs'ers will not be going to the national tournament this season.  An incredibly tough weight class. 

165 lbs 

Another extremely tough weight class in Super Region IV will be 165 lbs.  Five of the nations top 16 wrestlers, with three returning NCAA DII qualifiers and two returning NCAA DII All Americans. 

Newman's Kameron Frame missed out on being an All American last season after placing 6th in 2019.  While he's dropped a 4-3 match to McKendree's Cory Peterson, he's defeated Lindenwood's Nathan Trepanier 3-1, Indianapolis' Jack Eiteljorge 2-0 & he's pinned Will Kuster of Drury in 2:40.   

Peterson 4th at the 2021 NCAA DII championships along with his victory over Frame, also owns a 4-3 decision over Trepanier, & two wins over Kuster via fall in 1:03 & an 11-8 decision.  He's split with Eiteljorge having won a 10-3 decision and lost an 8-6 decision. 

Trepanier has defeated Eiteljorge 6-1 & 6-3, but lost to him 4-3. 

The other wrestler who could possibly come in here and perhaps steal a spot might be Central Oklahoma's Hunter Jump.  He's thus far dropped two close matches to Kuster by scores of 5-2 & 7-4. 

174 lbs 

Lindenwood's Abner Romero a 2021 NCAA DII champion has not competed since 11-20-2022, thus explaining why he's currently out of the rankings.  It's safe to assume that if he does he stands a good shot at winning the Super Region IV title.  It doesn't escape me that Joshua Jones of McKendree once majored him 13-2, but in more recent meetings Romero has won 3-2 & 7-2 decisions. 

Jones who was 4th at last year's NCAA DII championships, should have a good semi-final with Indianapolis' Andrew Sams.  In three meetings thus far, Jones has won 4-1 & 7-3 decisions to Sams' 3-2 decision. 

With three returning All Americans it'd be a chore for Central Oklahoma's Kalin Walker to place within the top three, but don't count it out as a possibility.  He took Sams to a 4-3 decision. 

184 lbs 

Both 2021 NCAA DII champion Heath Gray of Central Oklahoma & 2021 NCAA DII 3rd place finisher Dan Filipek of McKendree didn't start wrestling until second semester, thus explain why they were not in the rankings at the time this was written.  It's a fairly safe assumption to think that Gray & Filipek will be our final, with Gray heavily favored.  Gray has defeated Filipek four times by scores of 8-1, 3-1, 3-1 & 4-1. He also owns a 12-7 victory over Gleason Mappes of Indianpolis.  Filipek has defeated Mappes three times by scores of 5-1, 13-5 & 3-2.  Mappes a two time NCAA DII qualifier in his own right, will have a challenge in getting back to the DII's this season.  Joel Williams of Maryville, his likely opponent in the third place match to qualify, defeated him earlier this season 6-3. 

197 lbs 

The case of qualification could end up being quite real at 197 lbs in Super Region IV. Safe bet to say that one of the qualifiers and likely champion will be 2021 NCAA DII runner-up Dalton Abney of Central Oklahoma . He's defeated Derek Blubaugh of Indianapolis twice by a score of 4-0 and once pinning him in 1:01. He also owns 5-1 & 8-0 victories over Ivan Balavage of Newman. 

Despite his high ranking Vs the fact that neither Balavage or Chase Stegall of Maryville are ranked (at the time this was written) Blubaugh has had very close matches with each.  He defeated Balavage 3-1 & he needed sudden victory to defeat Stegall 8-6.  Balavage has defeated Stegall twice by scores of 3-1.  

I think it's a logical conclusion to think that 2nd & 3rd places that qualify for the NCAA DII's & 4th with does not, are likely to be separated by a mere takedown, riding time or an escape. 

HWT 

These are the three gentlemen that I believe will be out HWT qualifiers out of Super Region IV.  Before I speak on behalf of  them, I want to give a shout out to Julian Ramirez, McKendree's backup heavyweight behind Ian Kuehl, one of the best backups in NCAA DII.  He himself owns a victory over Indianapolis' Cale Gray 8-7.  For the record, Logan Kvien, who competes at 197 for McKendree owns a 16-1 technical fall over Ryan Herman of Maryville, yet at 197 (at the time this was written) he's struggled with a losing record. (Herman also owns a 4-1 win over him). 

With that said, Kuehl has a 5-2 win over Gray and a 7-4 victory over Herman, easily setting up up to be the #1 seed.  The semi-final between Gray and Herman should prove to be good, with the loser likely to come back and take 3rd. 


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The top teams in Super Region IV are loaded with talent.  As noted I do think Kentucky Wesleyan does stand a chance at getting a qualifier through, but from where I sit it's going to be difficult for William Jewell or Ouachita Baptist to get anyone on through. William Jewell's entire starting lineup is freshmen, and it's difficult to succeed when your team is so inexperienced. With one sophomore, Ouachita Baptist is pretty much in the same position. Both will grow and improve as time comes. In such a tough Region, they'll have to.