The road to La Crosse begins Thursday as Division III wrestlers look to earn spots at the NCAA championships set for March 15-16.

All six regionals will span over two days as the top three finishers at each weight qualify for the championships.

The Lower Midwest region will start things off Thursday at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and will conclude Friday.

The Northeast Region at Worcester Polytechnic Institute will be Saturday and Sunday as will be the Upper Midwest Region in Plover, Wisconsin, while the Central at Ohio Northern, Mideast at Rochester Institute, and Southeast at Lycoming College all start Friday and conclude Saturday.

The NCAA championships will be hosted in La Crosse for the fourth time since 2011. La Crosse was designated as the tournament host for the 2021 event, which was canceled.  

The Convention and Event Center underwent a multi-million dollar renovation leading up to the 2021 event and seats up to 8,000 fans.

A Quick Glance At The Field

Seven returning national champions are back – Joziah Fry of Johnson & Wales at 125, Robbie Precin of North Central College at 133, Sam Stuhl of Augsburg University at 141, Michael Petrella of Baldwin Wallace at 149, Nolan Hertel of Wisconsin-La Crosse at 157, Zane Mulder of Wartburg College at 184 and Massoma Endene of Wartburg at 197.

Augsburg is the defending team champion after rolling to a 34.5-point win over Wartburg, 101 to 66.5 in Roanoke, Virginia last March in a tournament that saw second through fifth separated by 5 ½ points.

The Auggies return six all-Americans – Stuhl, Charlie Stuhl at 149, Cooper Willis at 165, Seth Goetzinger at 174, Bentley Schwanebeck-Ostermann at 184 and Tyler Kim at heavyweight.

Schwanebeck-Ostermann and Kim are both three-time All-Americans.

In the latest Flowrestling Division III rankings, Wartburg is #1 with 106 points, followed by Augsburg (104.5), UW-La Crosse (76.5) and North Central (63.5). 

The top-ranked individuals at each weight are Fry at 125, Precin at 133, Jacob Reed of Ohio Northern at 141, Petrella at 149, Hertel at 157, Matt Lackman of Alvernia at 165, Mulder at 174, Schwanebeck-Ostermann at 184, Endene at 197 and Carl DiGiorgio of Coast Guard at 285.

Regional Notes

Lower Midwest

Three of the seven returning champions are in Cedar Rapids, including Precin, who recently won his fifth CCIW conference crown.

Precin enters the tournament on an 83-match win streak, the longest active streak in college wrestling and tied with Stephen Neal for 24th-longest in history.

Mulder and Endene are also in this field, and North Central’s Javen Estrada was also in the 149-pound finals last March.

Wartburg and North Central are ranked #1 and #4 in the country.

Two weights to watch are 125 where there are three ranked wrestlers – NCC’s Christian Guzman at #2, Brady Koontz of Dubuque at #4 and James Levy of Wartburg at #6, although it could be Brett Birchman at 125 for the Knights. He wrestled against both Augsburg and Loras in the final weeks.

The 125 field from this region produced three All-Americans last March.

At 285 there are also three ranked wrestlers – Robby Bates of NCC, Luther College’s Walter West and Wartburg’s Mitchell Williamson.

Northeast Region

Fifth-ranked Coast Guard and #10 Johnson & Wales highlight this field.

Fry is the headline name. He spent most of the season at 133 before making the move down to 125. Castleton’s #10 Gavin Bradley should give him a good go if the two meet in the finals.

In addition to Fry, there are seven other returning All-Americans – Coy Spooner of Coast Guard, who lost in the 197 final to Endene, 10-6, and has had an interesting storyline this winter.

Spooner was diagnosed with Stage 3 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma last May. The senior captain and regimental commander did not wrestle during the fall, but is 11-0 since returning. 

The other returning All-Americans are Cooper Pontelandolfo of NYU who has dropped from 165 to 157, DiGiorgio at 285, James Rodriguez of Castleton, Dylan Harr of JWU and Jake Craig of Southern Maine.

Central Region

Petrella has scored bonus points in 32 of his 34 victories this fall is the undisputed favorite at 149. His Baldwin Wallace teammate Jacob Decatur is a two-time finalist, having won at 125 in 2022 and finishing second last year. He is ranked fifth at 125.

Ohio Northern’s Reed was third last year, and this region also has returning all-Americans in Chase Baczek of Wabash, Donovan King of Olivet, Doug Byrne of Baldwin Wallace, fifth at 197 last year, but at 285, and Jaden Hinton of Baldwin Wallace.

Mideast Region

This is the only field without a Top Ten tournament team.

The College of New Jersey at 17 and Centenary at 19 are the two highest-ranked squads.

Returning all-Americans include Nicholas Sacco of TCNJ, Charlie Grygas of Oswego, Thomas Monn of McDaniel, and Joey Lamparelli and Anson Dewar of Muhlenberg. Additionally, Michael Conklin of TCNJ was an all-American in 2022.

Sacco at 165 and Grygas at 174 were both semifinalists last March.

Upper Midwest

This regional has some heavy hitters with Augsburg, La Crosse and Eau Claire all ranked in the top 10, and Whitewater usually has a flock of contenders.

Two champs and three national finalists highlight the individual field – Stuhl and Hertel, and Jared Stricker of Eau Claire lost in the 174 final to Mulder. He has lost just twice this year, both to Division I wrestlers.

Four weights — 149, 157, 165 and 197 — have three ranked wrestlers, and there are five weights — 149, 157, 174, 197 and 285 that could feature a final with two wrestlers ranked fifth or better.  

The interesting story line at this region is Eau Claire’s Izzy Balsiger. In 2013 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Balsiger was an All-American, taking fourth at 125 for Wisconsin-La Crosse.

In a story from Eau Claire’s Leader Telegram, Balsiger said he got caught up in social life and got sidetracked and left college. Ten years later, he accepted an offer from UWEC coach Tim Fager to join his program. At 31 years old, Balsiger has posted a 9-2 record this winter.

Southeast Region

Matt Lackman of Alvernia, who lost in last year’s finals to his brother Nathan, highlights this field. His only loss the past two seasons has been to Nathan in last year’s final.

The 141 field is the best weight, with three returning All-Americans – Josh Wilson of Greensboro, Josiah Gehr of Messiah (2022) and Luke Kowalski of Gettysburg. Interestingly enough, all those AA performances came at 133.

This region also has an interesting story in Ferrum College’s Zach Beckner. Beckner was a finalist the last time the championships were held in La Crosse in 2017, but after seven years off he is back on the roster.