Delaware Valley College, ranked fifth in Division III, will look to capture the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional title for the fourth consecutive year and do so on its home mat as the Aggies host the one-day event on Saturday, February 20.
A total of 10 teams will compete for 16 berths (10 weight-class champions and 6 wild-card selections) to the NCAA Division III Championships, which will be held at U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on March 5 and 6.
Delaware Valley, which has run away with the team title in each of its three years at the regional, finished the 2009-10 dual meet campaign with a 13-2 record. Its only setbacks were to two of the four teams ranked ahead of them in the latest Division III poll - second-ranked (then fifth) Wartburg College and third-ranked Coe College.
Only one other team at the regional is in the national poll as Trine University (13-9) is ranked 19th. The rest of the regional field is Case Western Reserve University (OH), Manchester College (IN), The College of Mt. St. Joseph (OH), Olivet College (MI), Thiel College (PA), Wabash College (IN), Washington & Jefferson College (PA) and Waynesburg University (PA).
Here’s a look at each of the 10 weight classes (based on probable lineups submitted by the schools):
125 Pounds
2009 regional champion: Chris Sheetz, Delaware Valley
Returning placewinners (top six): Zach Cecchetti, Washington & Jefferson (3rd)
2010 nationally-ranked wrestlers: None
Cecchetti heads the weight class as the sophomore placed third at last year’s regional. He boasts a 20-11 record on the current campaign. Freshman Alex Crown of Waynesburg has the best winning percentage with a 23-6 mark while Josh Boyer of Wabash (21-20) and Cody Stewart of Mount St. Joseph (20-21) have notched 20 or more wins. Another wrestler to watch is Delaware Valley senior Terrance Clendenin (4-2), who is a former Division I national qualifier during his time at Lehigh University.
133 Pounds
2009 regional champion: Brandon Clemmer, Delaware Valley
Returning placewinners (top six): Nick Garber, Waynesburg (1st at 141 pounds), Corey Brown, Thiel (2nd), Adam Wilson, Olivet (4th)
2010 nationally-ranked wrestlers: Garber (10th at 141)
The weight class became very interesting as Garber is expected to move down a weight class from 141 where he won the regional title and advanced to the NCAA Championships last year. The junior is 21-4 this season and ranked 10th nationally at 141 in the latest coaches’ poll.
Brown was the 2009 runner-up at 133 and received a wild-card berth to the NCAA Championships, where he earned All-American honors with a sixth-place showing. The sophomore is 13-6 on the current campaign. Wilson, a junior, placed fourth in the bracket last year and has won 20 of 30 matches this season.
141 Pounds
2009 regional champion: Nick Garber, Waynesburg
Returning placewinners (top six): Eric Meyer, Mount St. Joseph (3rd)
2010 nationally-ranked wrestlers: Vince Tucker, Olivet (7th), Jake Strausbaugh (9th)
The weight class boasted a trio of nationally-ranked wrestlers before Garber’s move to 133, but it’s still loaded with five grapplers who have 27 or more wins to their credit. Tucker, a junior, is 27-2 and ranked seventh while Strausbaugh’s impressive rookie campaign has him 37-9 and ranked ninth.
Senior Eric Meyer of Mount St. Joseph took third last season and brings a 28-11 record to the regional while another senior, Thomas Pompei of Trine is 26-12 and took third at 133 pounds back in 2008. Delaware Valley sophomore Zak Andrews is 30-13 with 21 pins on the season.
149 Pounds
2009 regional champion: Drew Gardella, Case Western Reserve
Returning placewinners (top six): Isaac Dukes, Case Western Reserve (2nd at 157 pounds)
2010 nationally-ranked wrestlers: Emmanuel Ajagbe, Delaware Valley (8th), Dukes (10th)
One of two weight classes with multiple, nationally-ranked wrestlers, it’s headed by eighth-ranked Ajagbe and 10th-ranked Dukes. Ajagbe, a freshman, is 25-6 on the season while Dukes, a sophomore, is 32-2. Dukes placed second at 157 pounds a season ago and earned a wild-card berth to the NCAA Championships.
Two other wrestlers to watch in this weight class are a pair of freshman in Mount St. Joseph’s Tommy Fehring (31-13) and Trine’s Elias Larson (31-10).
157 Pounds
2009 regional champion: Jason Brew, Olivet
Returning placewinners (top six): Bryan Massong, Mount St. Joseph (3rd), Greg Hogan, Thiel (4th)
2010 nationally-ranked wrestlers: Jesse Harrington, Delaware Valley (1st)
Harrington, a 2008 runner-up and national qualifier at 149 pounds, missed all of last season with an injury. The junior has come back strong and has held the number one rankings for most of the campaign. He has won 19 of 23 matches with some very impressive victories on his resume.
Massong and Hogan battled it out in last year’s consolation finals with Massong coming out on top. Masson, a junior, is 28-4 this season while Hogan, a senior, is 8-8.
165 Pounds
2009 regional champion: Tyler Goble, Rose-Hulman Institute
Returning placewinners (top six): Justin Barowski, Delaware Valley (3rd), Alec Miller, Thiel (3rd at 149 pounds), Tim Pope, Mount St. Joseph (4th), Jim Neal, Olivet (5th)
2010 nationally-ranked wrestlers: None
The weight class is an interesting one because it has four wrestlers who placed in the top six at last year’s regional, but only five of the 10 expected competitors hold winning records this season. Barowski, a senior, is 20-5 and coming off a third-place showing last year while Miller placed third at 149 as a freshman and is currently 17-7 in the higher weight. Pope, a sophomore, is 15-16 after finishing fourth a season ago while Neal, a junior, holds an 11-11 mark after a fifth-place showing in 2009. George Markou of Trine has the most wins in the bracket as the sophomore is 28-12.
174 Pounds
2009 regional champion: Rocky Mantella, Delaware Valley
Returning placewinners (top six): Greg Rhoads, Wabash (5th)
2010 nationally-ranked wrestlers: None
Just four of the 10 probable competitors claim winning records heading into the tournament. One of those is Rhoads as the sophomore holds a 27-12 mark. He is also the lone returning placewinner with his fifth-place showing last year. Junior transfer Dan Daddino of Delaware Valley (26-11) and sophomore Ryan Pieper of Trine (23-16) could challenge for the crown.
184 Pounds
2009 regional champion: Mike Wilcox, Delaware Valley
Returning placewinners (top six): Corbin Semple, Waynesburg (1st at 197 pounds), Nick Kraus, Trine (3rd at 174 pounds), Bryan Hugo, Wabash (4th)
2010 nationally-ranked wrestlers: Semple (9th)
It could come down to a pair of wrestlers who were in different brackets last year in Semple and Kraus. Semple was the 197-pound champion and national qualifier last season and he moved down for his junior campaign. He has won 24 of 29 matches and is ranked ninth nationally.
Meanwhile, Kraus was the 2008 runner-up at 174 pounds and took third at the same weight last season. The senior is 31-11 on the current campaign. Don’t count out Wabash’s Bryan Hugo as the senior is the only other wrestler in the weight class with a winning mark (18-17) and placed fourth in 2009.
197 Pounds
2009 regional champion: Corbin Semple, Waynesburg
Returning placewinners (top six): Martin Porter, Delaware Valley (2nd), Michael Burke, Wabash (3rd), Alex Fleet, Trine (5th)
2010 nationally-ranked wrestlers: None
Semple’s move to 184 pounds has opened up this weight class, which features a trio of veteran wrestlers who placed in the top five last season. Porter (27-7) wrestled a good portion of the year at 184 and was ranked 10th nationally before the senior chose to move back up to 197. He was the runner-up last year and placed sixth back in 2007.
Burke is also a senior and he has won 21 of 26 matches this season. He placed third a season ago and was sixth in the 184-pound bracket in ’08. Fleet (25-11) is a two-time regional placewinner as finished third in 2008 and fifth last season.
285 Pounds
2009 regional champion: Kyle Bilquist, Delaware Valley
Returning placewinners (top six): Bilquist (1st), Taylor Potts, Washington & Jefferson (5th), Kraig Smith, Thiel (6th)
2010 nationally-ranked wrestlers: Bilquist (2nd)
The two-time defending regional champion and a three-time national qualifier (second place and a wild-card pick in 2007), Bilquist is the most decorated wrestler in any weight class of the tournament. He has earned All-American honors in each of the last two years as he placed fifth in 2008 and improved one spot to fourth last year. Bilquist, who recently became Delaware Valley’s all-time leader in victories with 123 (123-18), currently holds a 24-3 record and the number two ranking in Division III.
Potts (12-6) and Smith (14-10) are both sophomores who placed fifth and sixth respectively in their rookie campaigns. Two other wrestlers to watch are Wabash senior Rob Arnett and Mount St. Joseph junior Sean Jameson. Arnett has tallied a 29-15 mark this year and placed fifth in the weight class two seasons ago, while Jameson has 27 wins in 34 matches.