Division III NWCA National Duals Preview

NWCA Cliff Keen Multi-Divisional National Duals

Jan. 12-13 • Prairie Capital Convention Center • Springfield, Ill.

Division III Tournament

Division III National Duals Bracket

The following is a closer look at first-round match-ups, including potential head-to-head meetings of ranked wrestlers.

First-Round Match-ups on Jan. 12:

9 a.m. Matches

No. 1 Wartburg College vs. No. 16 Johns Hopkins

The defending NWCA National Duals and NCAA champions, from Waverly, Ia., feature a ranked wrestler at all ten weight classes, while Johns Hopkins, from Baltimore, Md., will send just one ranked wrestler to Springfield, top-ranked Paul Bewak who should face Wartburg’s No. 2 Gilberto Camacho at 125 pounds.

Wartburg’s other ranked wrestlers include Kenny Anderson (No. 1 at 133), Thomas Microcha (No. 4 at 141), Kodie Silvestri (No. 2 at 149), Cole Welter (No. 4 at 157), Landon Williams (No. 1 at 165), Dylan Azinger (No. 3 at 174), Sam Upah (No. 7 at 184), Puna Soriano (No. 6 at 197), and Ryan Fank (No. 5 at Hwt).

No. 8 Coe College vs. No. 9 Ithaca College

There is just one weight class which features a ranked wrestler for both of these schools from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Ithaca, N.Y. That will be at 174 pounds, where Ithaca’s No. 2-ranked Jules Doliscar should meet Coe’s No. 5 Ethan Ball.

Meanwhile, Coe has three more ranked wrestler according to the Jan. 7 rankings: McThomas Sewara (No. 10 at 165), Donnie Horner (No. 7 at 197) and Alex Burkle (No. 3 at Hwt).

Ithaca’s other ranked wrestlers include Ricardo Gomez (No. 5 at 125), Alex Gomez (No. 7 at 133) and Derek Brennon (No. 3 at 157).

No. 5 Centenary College vs. No. 12 Luther College

There will be no meetings between ranked wrestlers between these schools from New Jersey and Iowa.

Centenary has three ranked wrestlers: Chris Burdge (No. 2 at 157), Kevin Durfresne (No. 7 at 174) and Joe Zitone (No. 6 at Hwt).

Luther features two ranked men: Evan Obert (No. 10 at 133) and Trent Flegel (No. 5 at 197).

No. 4 Augsburg College vs. No. 13 Springfield College

Augsburg, the Minneapolis-based school which has won the National Duals in the past, features five ranked wrestlers, including at 165 pounds where Springfield also brings a ranked competitor to the ma. Augsburg’s No. 6 Tom Teigen will probably meet Springfield’s No. 8 Derrick Longo.

Otherwise, Augsburg will send four other ranked wrestlers to the Duals: Mike Fuenffinger (No. 4 at 125), Toosaporn Suparat (No. 5 at 133), Will Keeter (No. 6 at 149) and Chad Johnson (No. 1 at Hwt).

Springfield’s only other rated wrestler is Joe Grippi (No. 3 at 141).

11 a.m. Matches

No. 3 SUNY Cortland vs. No. 14 Johnson & Wales

Only the New York-based school will feature ranked wrestlers in this potential team mis-match: Brian Bistis (No. 9 at 141), Bobby Dierna (No. 3 at 149), Troy Sterling (No. 5 at 157), Lou Puca (No. 8 at 174), Tyler Beckwith (No. 4 at 184), and Jared Myhrberg (No. 1 at 197).

The Rhode Island school is 4-2 on the season with three wins coming in a Quad which was held in Providence on Dec. 8 and one of those losses came against Division I Brown University on Jan. 5.

No. 6 Wisconsin-La Crosse vs. No. 11 University of Dubuque

In this battle of programs which lie close to either side of the Mississippi River, La Crosse features four ranked wrestlers: Adam Sheley (No. 2 at 141), J.R. Lewis (No. 8 at 157), Eric Twohey (No. 5 at 184) and William Mayer (No. 2 at Hwt). Only Lewis will face a ranked wrestler from Dubuque in No. 6 Ryan Warcynski.

No. 7 Olivet College vs. No. 10 Wisconsin-Whitewater

There are five ranked wrestlers in this dual but no head-to-head meetings.

The Michigan school has three rated wrestlers: Gage Pederson (No. 7 at 149), James Myers (No. 9 at 165) and Logan Renas (No. 8 at 197).

The Wisconsin college has two ranked wrestlers in Grant Sutter (No. 2 at 133) and Jake Fredrickson (No. 7 at 141).

No. 2 Elhhurst College vs. No. 15 Wesleyan University

The second-ranked school from Chicago will send five wrestlers down to the state’s capital city: Miguel Venecia (No. 6 at 125), Dalton Bullard (No. 4 at 133), Ryan Early (No. 6 at 141), Mike Benefiel  (No. 6 at 174) and Joe Rau (No. 1 at 184), who recently reached the quarterfinals of the Midlands tournament.

The school from Middletown, Conn., does not feature any ranked wrestlers and is 3-3 on the season.