2016 NCAA Champion – Riley Lefever, Wabash
Central 1 | Justin Kreiter | Luther |
Central 2 | Christos Giatras | Augustana |
Central 3 | Bryan Levsen | Wartburg |
East 1 | Blaise Benderoth | NYU |
East 2 | Doug Hamann | TCNJ |
East 3 | Patrick Rooney | Merchant Marine |
Mideast 1 | Jordan Bushey | Oswego |
Mideast 2 | Ryan Shank | Waynesburg |
Mideast 3 | Derek Beitz | Messiah |
Midwest 1 | Jordan Newman | Whitewater |
Midwest 2 | Jared Fekete | Wheaton |
Midwest 3 | Trent Hullett | Alma |
Northeast 1 | Christopher Chorzepa | Williams |
Northeast 2 | Michael Gallagher | Rhode Island |
Northeast 3 | Deuly Espinal | Cortland |
West 1 | Owen Webster | Augsburg |
West 2 | Grant Wedepohl | Platteville |
West 3 | Luke Dodd | St. John’s |
After dominating the weight for three years, Riley Lefever has moved to 197, giving the other guys at this weight a chance for a championship. Owen Webster, Augsburg’s top seed at this weight, never had to deal with Lefever since he is a freshman. He came in as the #40 overall recruit and has lived up to his reputation. He has scored bonus points in a vast majority of his matches and has gone undefeated against DIII. His top competition looks to be two time All-American Christopher Chorzepa of Williams who has one loss (to Webster) this year, Jordan Newman of Whitewater, a 2015 All-American who is undefeated against DIII competition, Jordan Bushey of Oswego, an undefeated freshman, and Justin Kreiter of Luther, the highest returning placewinner at the weight.
Patrick Rooney of Merchant Marine comes in unseeded but has a win over Ben Swarr, the defending champion and top seed at 174 lbs. in an early season tournament. Doug Hamann of TCNJ came into the postseason with a 4-3 record but defeated Rooney on his way to the regional final. He was 8th at 174 last season. Blaise Benderoth, the East Region champ, began the year at 165, suffered an injury that kept him out two montsh, and then came back at 184 where he now sits at the 7th seed.