2020 Central Region Preview
2020 Central Regional
Friday & Saturday
February 28-29, 2020
Adrian College
Tournament Homepage | Live Results
Teams (18): Adrian, Alma, Baldwin Wallace, Case Western Reserve, Defiance, Heidelberg, John Carroll, Manchester, Mount St. Joseph, Mount Union, Muskingum, Ohio Northern, Ohio Wesleyan, Olivet, Otterbein, Trine, Wabash, Wilmington
Returning 2019 All-Americans: Carlos Champagne (Wabash, 125, 7th), Jordin James (Mount Union, 133, 1st), Charles Nash (Baldwin Wallace, 133, 4th), Brendan Ladd (Alma, 141, 7th), Cooper (Alma, 149, 5th), Luke Hernandez (Mount Union, 149, 8th), Antwon Pugh (Mount Union, 157, 2nd), Kyle Hatch (Wabash, 165, 6th), Darden Schurg (Wabash, 174, 1st), Dylan Roth (Heidelberg, 184, 6th), Zeckary Lehman (Baldwin Wallace, 197, 7th), Antonio McCloud (Mount St. Joseph, 197, 8th), Drew Kasper (Otterbein, 285, 5th)
Returning 2019 Qualifiers (current weights listed): Champagne (Wabash, 125), Nash (Baldwin Wallace, 133), Doster (Wabash, 133), James (Mount Union, 141), Ladd (Alma, 141), Napier (Manchester, 141), Brezovec (John Carroll, 141), Cooper (Alma, 149), Hernandez (Mount Union, 149), Pugh (Mount Union, 157), Gross (John Carroll, 157), Hatch (Wabash, 165), Schurg (Wabash, 174), Kinjorski (Olivet, 174), Roth (Heidelberg, 184), McCloud (Mount St. Joseph, 184), Pingel (Adrian, 197), Lehman (Baldwin Wallace, 197), Trevor Piggott (Olivet, 197), Kasper (Otterbein, 285)
Wabash, Baldwin Wallace, and Mount Union finished in the top three spots here last season, and they appear in the current team rankings in the same order at #4, #6, and #12. All three have a shot coming away with a victory this weekend in Michigan. Wabash and Mount Union each return three 2019 All-Americans and a defending champ, while Baldwin Wallace has a pair. Olivet (#19) and John Carroll (#21) also bring strong teams to the event and feature multiple returning qualifiers.
The region features four wrestlers ranked first in the final NWCA Coaches rankings in Champagne (125), Hatch (165), Beachem (174), and Kasper (285). That list does not include returning NCAA champs James (141) and Schurg (174) along with returning runner-up Pugh (157). There is a lot of top end firepower in this region with at least one returning All-American at every weight.