NWCA National Dual Regionals Begin This Weekend

For the first time in 16 years, the annual NWCA National Duals will return to Carver-Hawkeye in Iowa City on Feb. 21-22 … and the top-ranked Hawkeyes will most likely have the top seed. But in a year when five or six teams legitimately could make a run at a National Duals and/or NCAA team title, there’s sure to be a lot of team-race drama at the Duals. But before a total of eight schools advance to this year’s event, they must first win a regional match-up this weekend, Feb. 14-15.

The following is a closer look at these regional duals that includes the top-four rated programs in WIN’s current dual-team rankings: No. 1 Iowa, No. 2 Missouri, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Minnesota as well as No. 6 Cornell and No. 9 Illinois.

Region 1: Drexel (7-10) at No. 6 Cornell (14-1) 

Date and Time: 2/15/2015 – 2 pm EST

Venue: Newman Arena

Preview: While this appears to be a team mismatch, the Dragons — scheduled to meet Hofstra on Feb. 13 — do feature a ranked wrestler in sophomore Kevin DeVoy (17^th at 133 pounds). Cornell, which captured a 13^th-straight Ivy League championship, enters the Duals with an eight-match winning streak. The Big Red’s only loss came on Jan. 10 against Missouri, 27-9.

Region 2: No. 3 Ohio State (12-3) at No. 18 Edinboro (13-4)

Date and Time: 2/15/2015 – 1 pm EST

Venue: McComb Field House

Preview: The Buckeyes enter the Regionals with an eight-match winning streak, which began with a 22-15 home dual win over Penn State and most recently included a 22-13 home win against Minnesota. The winning streak started after Ohio State lost consecutive matches against Missouri (20-19) and Iowa (18-14). The Fighting Scots have won their last five duals after finishing fourth at the Virginia Duals, where Edinboro defeated Chattanooga and West Virginia, but lost to Virginia and Old Dominion.

Match-ups of Ranked Wrestlers:

125 — #7 Nathan Tomasello (OSU) vs. #16 Kory Mines

133 — #10 Johnni DiJulius (OSU) vs. #2 A.J. Schopp

141 — #1 Logan Stieber (OSU) vs. #2 Mitchell Port

149 — #6 Hunter Stieber (OSU) vs. No. 2 David Habat

Region 3: George Mason (8-9) at No. 14 Lehigh (12-4)

Date and Time: 2/14/2015 – 7 pm EST

Venue: Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall

Preview: The Diplomats, coming off consecutive wins over Binghamton and Bloomsburg, do not feature any ranked wrestlers, but do feature a pair of wrestlers with at least 20 wins: 157-pound Greg Flournoy and heavyweight Jake Kettler. The MountainHawks defeated both Harvard and Brown last Sunday after losing in a home meet against Cornell on Jan. 25. While 157-pound Mitch Minotti, ranked 20^th, should get the toughest match, the highest-ranked Lehigh wrestler is Nathaniel Brown, ranked fifth at 184.

Region 4: Oklahoma (6-9) at Chattanooga (11-5)

Date and Time: 2/15/2015 – 2 pm CST

Venue: Maclellan Gym

Preview: One year after the Sooners finished 11-5 overall and fourth in last year’s National Duals, OU is struggling this season and have lost four straight duals before this Regional matchup, including most recently a 25-9 setback to Bedlam-rival Oklahoma State. The Mocs most recently clinched a share of the Southern Conference regular-season championship with a 19-17 victory over Appalachian State.

Matchup of Ranked Wrestlers:

133 — #8 Cody Brewer (Oklahoma) vs. #15 Nick Soto

Region 5: Kent State (7-12) at No. 9 Illinois (12-4)

Date and Time: 2/15/2015 – 1 pm CST

Venue: Huff Hall

Preview: The Golden Flashes lost five of six duals before they were scheduled to host Northern Illinois Friday night before traveling to Champaign. The Illini, which defeated Kent State, 24-13, in last year’s National Duals, have won their last four duals, including most recently a 20-15 victory against Wisconsin. This streak began after the Illini lost three straight against Iowa, Minnesota and Nebraska.

Matchup of Ranked Wrestlers:

133 — #19 Mack McGuire (KSU) vs. #7 Zane Richards

157 — #6 Ian Miller (KSU) vs. #2 Isaiah Martinez

Region 6: No. 17 Virginia (10-5) at No. 1 Iowa (13-0)

Date and Time: 2/15/2015 – 1 pm CST

Venue: Carver Hawkeye Arena 

Preview: The Cavaliers have lost three of their final five bouts and they were all nail-biters: a pair of setbacks to Virginia Tech (16-15 in the finals of the Virginia Duals and 18-16 two weeks later) and most recently a 17-16 setback against North Carolina. But Virginia did defeat both Edinboro and Pitt once the calendar turned to January. The undefeated Hawkeyes, who scheduled to face Michigan at home on Feb. 13, are coming off two impressive road wins: 22-15 over Minnesota on Jan. 30, and 18-12 over Penn State on Feb. 8.

Matchup of Ranked Wrestlers:

133 — #13 George DiCamillo (Va.) vs. #6 Cory Clark

141 — #17 Joe Spisak (Va.) vs. #8 Josh Dziewa

149 — #19 Gus Sako (Va.) vs. #3 Brandon Sorensen

165 — #3 Nick Sulzer (Va.) vs. #13 Nick Moore

174 — #6 Blaise Butler (Va.) vs. #3 Mike Evans

197 — #16 Zach Nye (Va.) vs. #6 Nathan Burak

Region 7: American (7-10) at No. 2 Missouri (20-0)

Date and Time: 2/15/2015 – 12 noon CST

Venue: Hearnes Center

Preview: The strength of the Eagles, who won two of final three duals, are the Terao brothers — David (125) and Josh (133) — who are from Honolulu, Hawaii. The undefeated Tigers are enjoying the school’s finest regular season, especially after clinching this year’s Mid-American Conference regular-season championship. Among the Tigers’ most impressive wins came on the road: 20-19 at Ohio State and 27-9 at Cornell.

Matchup of Ranked Wrestlers:

125 — #17 David Terao (American) vs. #2 Alan Waters

Region 8: No. 4 Minnesota (11-2) at No. 20 No Dakota St. (8-3)

Date and Time: 2/15/2015 – 2 pm CST

Venue: Benton Bunker Fieldhouse

Preview: The Gophers, who won a third consecutive National Duals title last February, were ranked No. 1 much of this season until dropping consecutive duals to Iowa (23-12 on Jan. 30) and Ohio State (22-13 on Feb. 6). Among Minnesota’s biggest wins were a pair of one-point victories over Illinois (20-19) and Penn State (17-16).

Matchup of Ranked Wrestlers:

184 — #13 Brett Pfarr (Minn.) vs. #10 Hayden Zillmer