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Midwest Region Preview

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NCAA Wrestling Regional Logo

Midwest Region Championship | Event Website
Elmhurst College
Saturday, March 2nd, 9:00 AM

d3wrestle.com Rankings | NWCA Team Rankings

12 Teams – Full List

Ranked Teams: #2 Elmhurst, #4 Whitewater, #5 La Crosse, #9 Stevens Point, #12 Olivet, #29 Wabash

d3wrestle.com Top Ten Individuals (Returning AA in Bold)
125 – #9 Preston (Trine), #10 Balsiger (La Crosse)
133 – #2 Fitzenreider (North Central), #3 Bullard (Elmhurst)
141 –  #1 Sheley (La Crosse), #3 Earley (Elmhurst), #5 Fredricksen (Whitewater), #7 Kust (Stevens Point)
149 –  #7 Pederson (Olivet), #9 Strausbaugh (Wabash)
157 – #1 Larson (Trine), #5 Savenok (Wheaton), #10 Lefever (Wabash)
165 – #6 Schulte (Stevens Point), #7 Myers (Olivet)
174 – #5 Balderas (Elmhurst), #6 Conat (Stevens Point), #9 O’Brien (La Crosse), #10 Pieper (Trine)
184 – #1 Rau (Elmhurst), #8 Holm (Olivet), #10 Dunlap (Whitewater)
197 – #4 Benefiel (Elmhurst), #5 Wozniak (Stevens Point), #8 Siefert (Whitewater)
285 – #5 Mayer (La Crosse), #9 Edgren (Whitewater), #10 Robinson (Alma)

Lastly, we have the Midwest Region. It is definitely the toughest region of the six in 2013 with six ranked teams, four of which are in the top ten. Some of the tougher teams that could have been in the West Region are instead here, making this a great tournament. Elmhurst has put together a great season and will host the event. They have five ranked wrestlers and a few others just outside the rankings at weight where they could also qualify. Not far behind is WIAC champ Whitewater and their four ranked wrestlers and #4 ranked team. La Crosse comes in at #5 and will also challenge with their three returning All-Americans. Rounding out the top ten teams is Stevens Point with four ranked wrestlers of their own. #12 Olivet and #29 Wabash have some ranked wrestlers as well and round out the top teams.

Every weight class is tough, but a few stand out. 141 has the #1 ranked Sheley as well as #3 Earley, #5 Fredricksen, and #7 Kust. At least one of those guys will have his season end tomorrow. The same is true at 174 with #5 Balderas, #6 Conat, #9 O’Brien, and #10 Pieper. It does not get much easier after that, as there are four other weights with three top ten wrestlers and none with less than two. #1 ranked Larson of Trine is looking for his first title at 157 as is #1 Rau of Elmhurst at 184. #2 Fitzenreider and #3 Bullard could meet in the 133 final for what could also be an NCAA semifinal preview. Fitzenreider won 6-5 in their meeting just over a week ago.

Other intriguing entries include #7 Pederson of Olivet at 149 who has a win over #1 Silvestri this season, #4 Mike Benefiel of Elmhurst who could be rounding into the form that made him the #6 recruit in the country his senior year of high school, and #3 Earley of Elmhurst who has been outstanding (and undefeated) since dropping to 141 after last season at 149.

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14 COMMENTS

  5. At least it is top Three qualify: in the past many wrestlers would have to beat at least 1 returning all-american just to qualify, let alone all the ranked guys. at least most of the ranked guys have a chance. Should be a good Tourney.

  6. Venicia (125) was in the top 10 earlier this year and will definately be a contender for a spot!! Also the third spot at 165 is up for grabs, with Tuttle, Al-Ghoul, Huang and Becker all having a good shot at it.

  8. You guys are making way to big of a deal out of this new qualifying system. Yes the Midwest is tough and yes the West is too easy. All they need to do to even everything up is take a few teams from the midwest and put them in the West and they have it perfect. All the Easterners complaining there are too many teams in there regional dont understand that its not about quantity its about quality. I think they did a great job balancing all the regions just put a few from the midwest to the west.

  9. I happen to agree with the new format. So a few good wrestlers don’t get to Nationals. So what? The old format was doing nothing but surppressing the smaller wrestling states, and allowing the bigger ones like WI, IA, and MN get stronger. Ultimately, this format will be better for the sport. Bottom line, the purpose of the National Tournament is the crown a champion. The path is no different under the new format.

  11. There has to be a better solution for qualifying, this was a travesty for this regional. In this one regional alone, 7 top 10 nationally ranked kids didn’t qualify for nationals: kids ranked #5, #5, #5, #7, #7, #8, and #10. That’s huge.

    I don’t have a dog in the fight; I’m just a wrestling fan. This is bad for the national tournament. Those are kids that proved throughout the season to be legitimate title contenders or All-American caliber.

    What D1 is doing now seems to be the best method to ensure that nationals has the best wrestlers in it, and d3 (and d2 for that matter) need to attempt something similar. Find a way to make a wrestlers season count towards national at-large bid selection in addition to the regionals. For the regionals, the only way to get the most current, accurate assessment of the strength of a regional is to use a thorough ranking system.

    I agree that the former system had its issues, because national qualifier allotments were given based on the previous year, and then wildcards determined by coaches voting in back rooms. It was tough for those with lesser qualifier allotments to gain qualifiers.

    But I believe this is worse. Teams rise and fall, and the strength of regionals is always going to be problematic.

    Just my 2 cents

  12. I would like to comment on this statement “So a few good wrestlers don’t get to Nationals. So what?” Wow! What a statement! I guess I am just wondering how you would feel if you were the one sitting in the stands at Nationals watching guys wrestle that you have beaten before especially if you have beaten him a few times. With all the hard work and dedication that these guys put into wrestling I think they deserve better than a “SO WHAT”. Hopefully they will take a close look on how stacked this regional was compared to the West regional.

  13. Rankings don’t always mean something. Many of these guys got beat by unranked guys or beat by a ranked guy who was beat by an unranked guy. Almost all of these guys would have qualified if they just would have wrestled to their seed or beat a guy seeded lower than them in the tournament to get in for 3rd place. The seeds list for all the wrestlers in the explanation are what they were seeded in the Regional Qualifier. The numbers after each weight class is the national ranking of the wrestling wrestler.

    • 125 #5 Rice (Hunter, East, Metro) – Lost to Frankel of DV then Loss to Bewak of Johns Hopkins. Donaldson a #5 seed from Ursinus shuffled the seeds by knocking off Bewak
    • 133 #5 Herr (TCNJ, East, Metro) – Was not at the regional, Churchill was entered for TCNJ
    • 133 #6 Mendoza (Wilkes, East, Metro) – Lost to OBoyle McDaniel then loss to Yagloski Johns Hopkins. Yagloski a #5 seed shuffled the deck here by beating Mendoza
    • 133 #7 Steger (Loras, Central, Iowa) – Lost to Sokol of Dubuque. Then lost to Obert of Luther a #5 seed.
    • 141 #6 Black (MSJ, Mideast, Midwest) – Lost to Meaney Elizabethtown #4 seed. The lost to Gatz of York the #5 seed.
    • 141 #8 Bistis (Cortland, Northeast, Empire) – Lost to Giorgio of the Coast Guard #7 seed. Then lost to Tilbe WPI a #5 seed.
    • 149 #7 Pederson (Olivet, Midwest, Midwest) – Lost to Perkins of UW Whitewater a #4 seed. Then lost to Strausbaugh of Wabash a #2 seed. Strausbaugh was beat by Strobel of UW Stevens Point a #3 seed
    • 157 #5 Savenok (Wheaton, Midwest, Great Lakes) – Lost to Lewis of LaCrosse #5 seed. Then lost to Sarbacker of UW Whitewater a #2 seed. Sarbacker was beat by Simmons of Alma a #7 seed.
    • 157 #6 Brenon (Ithaca, Northeast, Empire) – Lost to Fisher of Oswego a #4 seed. Then lost to Biscaha of Springfield a #5 seed.
    • 157 #9 Jasinski (Ursinus, East, Centennial) – Lost to Krawchuk of Wilkes in the semis. Then loss to Yox of McDaniel a #5 seed in the wrestle backs
    • 165 #8 Rice (NYU, East, Centennial) – Lost in the semi to Darling of TCNJ. Then lost to Vernon of Centenary a #4 seed.
    • 174 #3 Dufresne (Centenary, East, Metro) – Lost to Zotollo of TCNJ a #4 seed. The lost to Winston of DV a #5 seed.
    • 174 #5 Balderas (Elmhurst, Midwest, Great Lakes) – Lost to Lefever of Wabash a #7 seed. Then lost to Barnes of Alma a #8 seed.
    • 184 #7 Beckwith (Cortland, Northeast, Empire) – Was not entered in the tournament. Will Parks wrestled at 184 for Cortland.
    • 184 #8 Holm (Olivet, Midwest, Midwest) – Lost to O’Neil of Wabash a #6 seed. The lost to Olsen of Wheaton a #5 seed.
    • 184 #9 Einerson (Dubuque, Central, Iowa) – Lost to Broll of BV. Then lost to Upah of Wartburg a #2 seed. Upah got beat earlier by Devibiss from Luther a #7 seed.
    • 197 #5 Wozniak (Stevens Point, Midwest, Wisconsin) – Lost to Seifert of UW Whitewater a #3 seed. Then lost to Benefiel of Elmhurst a #1 seed. Benefiel was beat by Faber of Wheaton a #4 seed.
    • 197 #10 Horner (Coe, Central, Iowa) – Lost to Coolidge from Cornell #1 seed. Then lost to Flegel of Luther #2 seed who was beat by Soriano of Wartburg #3 seed.
    • 285 #4 Burkle (Coe, Central, Iowa) – Lost to Fank of Wartburg the #3 seed. Then lost to Gaul of Cornell #5 seed.
    • 285 #10 Robinson (Alma, Midwest, Midwest) – Lost to Edgren of UW Whitewater a #2 seed. Then lost to Lewis of Elmhurst a #5 seed

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