AWN Preview & Predictions: NCAA Division II Championships

NCAA Division II Championships

For the last two seasons, Steve Costanzo’s St. Cloud State Huskies have been close. Very close. With senior leadership and a 47-match dual meet winning streak, the Huskies seem to have the right combination in order to bring home the school’s first national championship.

But last year, the depth of the field knocked down the Huskies to second. This year, the field is equally as deep, while defending Division II champion Nebraska-Kearney has added some extra pop to its lineup. brings a wealth of experience from the NAIA level as the Falcons and head coach Frank Romano are wrestling in their first Division II championship.

Newberry always brings a solid squad, as does Upper Iowa. Individually, there are 42 Division II All- Americans in the tournament, as well as a handful of Junior College national champions and NAIA champions.

Some quick math for you — over a quarter of the wrestlers in the tournament have been on the podium at a national collegiate championship at one point in their careers. There’s also a few Olympic Trials qualifiers in there as well. Seriously.

Birmingham, Ala., doesn’t come off as a mecca for championship wrestling, but the sport will get great exposure in the deep south, which is a plus for an area looking for high-level wrestling.

125 pounds Four returning All-Americans highlight the field, including returning champion Kyle McCrite of Grand Canyon. McCrite was second at the Super Region 4 championships, losing to Gerald Huff of Adams State and the draw doesn’t start off easy for the Loper. McCrite draws All-American David Demo of Minnesota State-Mankato in the opening round with the winner taking on either Super Region 2 champion Max Byrd of Ashland or Newberry’s Jeff Vesta. Also up top is a stellar first-round draw between St. Cloud State’s Eric Forde and Jesse Hillhouse of CSU-Pueblo. Hillhouse has beaten a number of Division I wrestlers this year and has previously won the NJCAA championships.

The winner of the Forde-Hillhouse match will see Super Region 1 champion Willie Bohince of Mercyhurst. Down low, All-Americans Garrett Evans of Ouachita Baptist and Ben Sergent of Findlay loom. Sergent could see Huff in the quarters, while Evans has a tough first-round match with Pitt-Johnstown’s Evan Link, the winner faces Super Region 3 champion Alex Johns of Indianapolis.

The Forde-Hillhouse match is crucial for the team title as St. Cloud State will need solid points from Forde, who is ranked second, while Hillhouse is ranked fourth. Both Forde and Hillhouse lost in the regionals, as did McCrite, which makes the top half of the bracket full of wrestlers looking to shake off their regional losses.

As with any prediction, they are never personal, so look for semi matchups between Forde and McCrite and Johns and Sergent on the bottom half with Johns and Forde making the final. The top half could very easily see Hillhouse beat Forde in the opening round and work through to reach the finals as well.

First Round Upset Watch: Jeff Vesta (Newberry) vs. Max Byrd (Ashland)

AWN Picks 1. Alex Johns (Indianapolis) 2. Eric Forde (St. Cloud State) 3. Jesse Hillhouse (CSU-Pueblo) 4. Ben Sergant (FIndlay) 5. Kyle McCrite (Grand Canyon) 6. Jeff Vesta (Newberry) 7. Evan Link (Pitt-Johnstown) 8. Willie Bohince (Mercyhurst)

133 pounds With the Division II tournament being predrawn based on regional finishes, it isn’t uncommon for two highly-ranked returning All-Americans to meet in the first round. Case in point is at 133 where last year’s runner-up Andy Pokorny of St. Cloud State will meet Dave Fogle in the opening round. Fogle was third last year at 125 pounds but was fourth in Super Region 1 and comes in with a 16-12 record. Pokorny should be the favorite to advance to take on Mike Labry of Ashland in the quarterfinals. Labry, a freshman, is 31-2 on the year who didn’t suffer his first defeat until February 8 against Notre Dame’s Marty Carlson. Also up on the top half is Carlson and All-American Justin Reinsma of Southwest Minnesota State. Reinsma draws Cameron Throckmorton of Shippensburg, a North Carolina transfer and Super Region 1 champion.

Down low, there’s a pair of All-Americans in Casy Rowell of Central Oklahoma and two-time defending champion Trevor Franklin of Upper Iowa. Franklin was second to Pokorny in the Super Region 3 tournament, while Rowell, fifth last year at 141 pounds, beat Labry in the finals of the Super Region 2 tournament. The winner of the Rowell-Franklin bout will hit the semis to face either Daniel DeShazer of Nebraska-Kearney, the Super Region 4 champion, or Mercyhurst’s Dylan D’Urso. Both wrestlers have been impressive this season.

Nothing super special about the AWN projected final, a rematch of last year’s championship bout between Pokorny and Franklin. This year, Pokorny has beaten Franklin two out of three times — once at the National Duals and once in the Super Region 3 championship final. Beating someone three out of four is tough.

Consolation bracket draws at this weight will be rugged.

First Round Upset Watch: Ross Benzel (Limestone) vs. Daniel DeShazer (Nebraska-Kearney)

AWN Picks 1. Andy Pokorny (St. Cloud State) 2. Trevor Franklin (Upper Iowa) 3. Mike Labry (Ashland) 4. Daniel DeShazer (Nebraska-Kearney) 5. Cameron Throckmorton (Shippensburg) 6. Dylan D’Urso (Mercyhurst) 7. Marty Carlson (Notre Dame College) 8. Casy Rowell (Central Oklahoma) 141 pounds Six returning All-Americans fill out the weight class and a lot of potential finalists coming out of the bottom half of the bracket. A quick look at the AWN projected bracket will see names crossed, re-crossed, scribbled and scratched out and most of them focusing on the bottom quadrant of the weight where three previous All-Americans are positioned out of the four wrestlers. That’s probably bad news for Central Oklahoma’s Trison Graham, the lone non-All-American in that quadrant. B.J. Young of Newberry is last year’s runner-up, while his first-round opponent is fourth-ranked Ryan Fillingame, the third-place finisher in 2011 from Adams State. The winner gets second-ranked Trevor Johnson of Mary who finished sixth a year ago. All that and there’s still 12 more qualifiers to discuss.

Up top is unbeaten and top-ranked Daniel Ownbey of UNC Pembroke. He was third last year and has been impressive all season long. Also up top in the bottom half are two All-Americans who will meet in the first round — Naveed Bagheri of San Francisco State and Evan Yenolevich of Kutztown. Bagheri was fifth in 2011 while Yenolevich was fourth a year ago at 133 pounds.

But still the focus remains on that bottom half, where it seems anything can be possible. Notre Dame’s Maurice “Mo” Miller might be the beneficiary, should he make the semis and get someone who is spent after two tough matches, although the quarterfinal winner of that quad will have at least a solid night’s sleep.

Minnesota State-Moorhead’s lone qualifier, Angel Vega, is trying to match his twin brother’s output at the national level. Anthony Vega placed fifth at 141 pounds in last week’s NAIA championships for Simpson University. Both wrestled for Dave Pacheco at Sac City College in before heading their separate ways to wrestle at four-year institutions.

First Round Upset Watch: None. Most of them will be toss-ups.

AWN Picks 1. Daniel Ownbey (UNC Pembroke) 2. Trevor Johnson (Mary) 3. Naveed Bagheri (San Francisco State) 4. Ryan Fillingame (Adams State) 5. Evan Yenloevich (Kutztown) 6. Maurice Miller (Notre Dame College) 7. B.J. Young (Newberry) 8. Brock Coutu (Nebraska-Kearney)

149 pounds Of the five previous All-Americans in the mix at 149 pounds, only one wrestler will not face an All- American in the first round. Returning runner-up John “Keegan” Hagerty will open up with James Martinez of Colorado Mesa (formerly Mesa State), while the other four All-Americans, including defending champion Raufeon Stots of Nebraska-Kearney will get tested immediately.

Up top, Jacob D. Horn of St. Cloud State was an All-American in 2011 and he’ll take on last year’s third- place winner Bobby Ward of Grand Canyon. Ward previously wrestled at N.C. State and Nassau Community College. Horn is going to be a vital cog in St. Cloud’s championship run. A win over Ward would put him in good position to pick up crucial placement points along the way. A loss would put him on a very tough road back to placing. The way the draw works out, we think Ward and Horn will meet more than once in this tournament. Down low, Stots will face Nate Herda, an All-American in 2010 from Augustana.

Second-ranked Jordan Basks of Central Oklahoma is on the top half along with Max Ortega of Adams State and Cameryn Brady of Indianapolis. Newberry’s Deral Brown won Super Region 1, but will meet Jonatan (spelled correctly) Rivera of Notre Dame College in the opening round. Rivera beat Brown at the National Duals. While Hagerty hasn’t had much success against Stots in his career, including last year in the finals, it’s one of those gut feelings. Sometimes the guy who isn’t supposed to win it all comes out and does. Hagerty is just as capable of doing such.

First Round Upset Watch: Jonatan Rivera (Notre Dame) vs. Deral Brown (Newberry)

AWN Picks 1. Keenan Hagerty (Maryville) 2. Jordan Basks (Central Oklahoma) 3. Raufeon Stots (Nebraska-Kearney) 4. Bobby Ward (Grand Canyon) 5. Nate Herda (Augustana) 6. Jacob D. Horn (St. Cloud State) 7. Cameryn Brady (Indianapolis) 8. Matt Ortega (Adams State)

157 pounds With four returning Division II All-Americans and a past NAIA champion in the weight, 157 is fairly evenly distributed, although the regional finishes have shaken up some draws, some more favorable than others.

One of those favorable draws belongs to UW-Parkside’s Dillon Bera, who comes in after qualifying fourth in Super Region 3. Bera is a three-time All-American and 2011 runner-up and will draw Super Region 1 champion Justin Pennock of UNC Pembroke in the opening round. While it might be an “upset” on paper, if Bera gets back to form, he should be in a good position to make a deep run at the championship.

In the bottom half of the top bracket, the quadrant is tough with 2010 NAIA champion Jeff Pelton of Notre Dame College, Chase White of Nebraska-Kearney, Clint Poster of St. Cloud State and returning All- American Braden Turner of East Stroudsburg all there. The winner coming out of that quadrant will potentially have Bera in the semis. The losers will quickly find themselves in a position to go 0-2.

Down low, Taylor Knapp of Newberry is a strong candidate for a finals berth, but he’ll have to get by 2011 All-American Cory Dauphin of Central Oklahoma. We like Upper Iowa’s Bryce Lumzy’s draw in the top half of the bottom bracket.

Overall, its again one of those hunches. Bera shakes off the near meltdown at regionals and reaches the finals again to face Knapp.

First Round Upset Watch: Dillon Bera (UW-Parkside) vs. Justin Pennock (UNC Pembroke)

AWN Picks 1. Dillon Bera (UW-Parkside) 2. Taylor Knapp (Newberry) 3. Clint Poster (St. Cloud State) 4. Bryce Lumzy (Upper Iowa) 5. Jeff Pelton (Notre Dame College) 6. Chase White (Nebraska-Kearney) 7. Cory Dauphin (Central Oklahoma) 8. Zach Vargo (Lake Erie)

165 pounds While 165 pounds might not have the star power the other weight classes up to this point possess, it’s still one of the most intriguing weights of the event. Before we can even get into the discussion about returning All-Americans, the focus must be on Notre Dame freshman Joey Davis. The Iceman, as he was known back in California, is 26-0 on the season with 10 of his wins coming over Division I competition. But that doesn’t make him the favorite, his dominance makes him the favorite. All-Americans Mason True of Findlay and Cody Quinn of Minnesota State-Mankato will be in the mix, but while True is the returning runner-up, Davis teched him in the Super Region 2 finals.

Davis should draw Quinn in the semifinals, while True and Newberry’s Blake Ridenour could meet up in the quarters, provided True gets past St. Cloud State’s Gabe Fogarty, who is a guy who could disrupt the entire top half of the bracket. In the bottom half of the top bracket sits Nebraska-Kearney’s Chase Nelson. Yes, the same Chase Nelson who wrestled at Oklahoma and previously won The Midlands. Nelson could meet up with Southwest Minnesota State’s Jake Begin in the quarters, which is a quality matchup.

Davis has been nothing short of amazing this year. That’s pretty much all that needs to be said.

First Round Upset Watch: Gabe Fogarty (St. Cloud State) vs. Mason True (Findlay)

AWN Picks 1. Joey Davis (Notre Dame College) 2. Chase Nelson (Nebraska-Kearney) 3. Blake Ridenour (Newberry) 4. Mason True (Findlay) 5. Gabe Fogarty (St. Cloud State) 6. Cody Quinn (Minnesota State-Mankato) 7. Wade Gobin (Upper Iowa) 8. Keith Ryan (Pitt-Johnstown)

174 pounds Some wrestling fans seem to think when a highly-ranked Division I athlete transfers to another Division, it’s almost assured they will dominate. Well, dominate is relative. Some might not know the depth or talent that exists in “lower” divisions. That being said, Nebraska-Kearney’s Patrick Martinez has emerged as a real threat to win the Division II title after transferring from Wyoming. But he’s not the only guy to consider.

Why? There’s a pretty good guy from UNC Pembroke and a regional champion from Western State who might have something to say about Martinez’s entry into Division II. Williams is the returning champion at 165 pounds and comes in 34-2, while Western State’s Elliot Copeland was third last year and beat Martinez in the Super Region 4 finals in overtime. There’s also NAIA champion Eric Burgey from Notre Dame College. Burgey won the NAIA last year for William Penn at 149 pounds, but had trouble staying down at the weight. The only opening came at 174 pounds. The tattooed Easton, Pa., native is one of the more entertaining wrestlers to watch, with what could be described as a goofy-footed stance and unorthodox setups. Burgey could see Copeland in the quarterfinals.

Super Region 1 champion Brendan McKeown is up top along with Upper Iowa’s Blake Sorensen and Central Oklahoma’s Kelly Henderson, who was sixth in 2011. Henderson should meet Martinez for a third time this year in the quarterfinals. Martinez has won both bouts (5-1, 4-3), but it’s one of the matches you’ll want to circle on your bracket.

It really is tough to call, but Martinez presence along with 197-pounder Romero Cotton, have made the Lopers real threats to the team title.

Williams will have to contend with Copeland in the semis (potentially) and Kyle Begin of Southwest Minnesota State in the quarterfinals.

First Round Upset Watch: Zach Benzio (Seton Hill) vs. Eric Burgey (Notre Dame College)

AWN Picks 1. Patrick Martinez (Nebraska-Kearney) 2. Mike Williams (UNC Pembroke) 3. Elliot Copeland (Western State) 4. Blake Sorensen (Upper Iowa) 5. Brendan McKeown (East Stroudsburg) 6. Eric Burgey (Notre Dame College) 7. Kelly Henderson (Central Oklahoma) 8. Kyle Begin (Southwest Minnesota State)

184 pounds By far the deepest of all the weights, 184 pounds boasts eight returning All-Americans including three wrestlers who have taken fourth during their careers and last year’s 174-pound runner-up Adam Walters of Findlay. At the top of that list is St. Cloud State’s Shamus O’Grady. The Minnesota native is the top- ranked wrestler coming into the tournament and is 36-1 overall and 27-0 against Division II competition. The other two wrestlers who have fourth-place finishes on their resume are Central Oklahoma’s Tanner Keck and Minnesota State-Mankato’s Aaron Norgren. Keck has taken 16 losses this year, while Norgren has seven. Five of the seven All-Americans are in the bottom half of the bracket, while Super Region 1 champion Travis McKillop (seventh at 174 last year) and O’Grady are up top with Walters.

All-Americans Dallas Smith of Ouachita Baptist and Mark Fiala of Nebraska-Kearney will meet in the opening round with the winner likely to face Norgren. Keck is in the top half of the bracket and has a very challenging first-round draw against Western State’s Kyle Piatt, the Super Region 4 champion. The winner will face All-American Mitch Schultz or Mitch Brown of Newberry.

This is one of those weights where you just like to sit back and watch it all play out, because there are some killer matchups. This should finally be O’Grady’s time to win it.

First Round Upset Watch: Mitch Brown (Newberry) vs. Mitch Schultz (Upper Iowa)

AWN Picks 1. Shamus O’Grady (St. Cloud State) 2. Mitch Schultz (Upper Iowa) 3. Travis McKillop (Pitt-Johnstown) 4. Aaron Norgren (Minnesota State-Mankato) 5. Kyle Piatt (Western State) 6. Mitch Brown (Newberry) 7. Dallas Smith (Ouachita Baptist) 8. Mark Fiala (Nebraska-Kearney)

197 pounds Three All-Americans are in the weight including a familiar face from Maryville. Literally hours after Matt Baker and his Nebraska-Omaha teammates won their third straight Division II team championship, the axe dropped on the Maverick program. While some UNO fans (and wrestling fans in general) would like to see the proverbial axe drop somewhere up in Omaha, Baker returned to the mats for coach Mike Denney at Maryville. It’s one of those feel-good stories. What makes it better is Baker is a real favorite to win after his Super Region 3 victory over Upper Iowa’s Carl Broghammer two weeks ago.

Broghammer was third in 2011 while Ashland’s Joseph Brandt was seventh. One of the key matchups will come in the quarters with Broghammer potentially facing Nebraska-Kearney’s Romero Cotton. Fans might remember Cotton from his stint at Nebraska and previously as a double Cadet Greco-Roman and freestyle champion in Fargo. He, along with Martinez, are two key additions (as mentioned above) that could make Nebraska-Kearney a spoiler for St. Cloud’s championship hopes. Notre Dame College’s Brandonn Johnson won Super Region 2. He’s looking to reach the podium after previously wrestling at Kent State.

Baker would be the feel-good story should he win, but there are a few wrestlers who should be in the discussion.

First Round Upset Watch: Jayd Docken (Augustana) vs. Joseph Brandt (Ashland)

AWN Picks 1. Matt Baker (Maryville) 2. Carl Broghammer (Upper Iowa) 3. Romero Cotton (Nebraska-Kearney) 4. Tanner Kriss (Fort Hays State) 5. Brandonn Johnsonn (Notre Dame College) 6. Jayd Docken (Augustana) 7. Vinny Campanile (Kutztown) 8. Joseph Brandt (Ashland)

285 pounds Sometimes you have to look at a bracket and say wow. This is one of those cases. Sure, there’s two-time returning heavyweight champion Matt Meuleners of Northern State and his rival Jake Kahnke of St. Cloud State, but there’s also the electrifying Tyrell Fortune of Grand Canyon, past NAIA champion Orlando Scales of Notre Dame College and All-American James Malechek of UW-Parkside.

But then there’s Greco-Roman Olympic Trials qualifier Niko Bogojevic of CSU-Pueblo and Canadian Junior World Team member Sunny Dhinsa of Simon Fraser. Want more? How about former high school national champion Ziad Haddad of Kutztown and Findlay’s Andrew Tumlin. Not convinced? There’s sixth- ranked Super Region 1 champion Michael Carpenter of West Liberty and Central Oklahoma’s Cody Dauphin.

The depth here is fantastic. The best first-round matchup puts Dhinsa against Malechek and Kahnke against Bogojevic.

Scales could see Dhinsa or Malecek in the quarterfinals, while Kahnke could see Haddad or Dauphin, who meet in the first round. Tumlin and Newberry’s Robert Wade is a solid first-round match.

Will it be Kahnke and Meuleners in the finals for the third straight year? Fortune might have something to say about that in the semifinals, but so would Haddad in the quarters.

These guys will get after it. Meuleners lost to Kahnke in the Super Region 3 finals, but that hadn’t stopped Meuleners from winning it twice before.

AWN Picks 1. Matt Meuleners (Northern State) 2. Jake Kahnke (St. Cloud State) 3. Tyrell Fortune (Grand Canyon) 4. Orlando Scales (Notre Dame College) 5. Sunny Dhinsa (Simon Fraser) 6. Andrew Tumlin (Findlay) 7. Ziad Haddad (Kutztown) 8. Robert Wade (Newberry)

Team Picks (based on points from picks above) 1. St. Cloud State 2. Nebraska-Kearney 3. Upper Iowa 4. Notre Dame College 5. Newberry