Let's have a look.
Wartburg Knights: With the graduation of studs such as Dustin Hinschberger (champ), Tyler Hubbard (champ), Akeem Carter (runner-up), Scott Kaufman (runner-up) and Dustin Bliven (third), Wartburg coach Jim Miller and the Knights from Waverly are definitely in "rebuilding" mode. Of course, rebuilding for Wartburg would be an enviable position for 99% of Division III programs, so Wartburg should have a solid year, with a top-three national finish.
Outlook: Losing such talent is an obstacle for Wartburg, but they still have a wealth of talent returning, with four All-Americans dotting the lineup. Zach McKray (So.), who took eighth at 133 last season, appears to be moving up to 141 for this campaign. He will be followed by Jacob Naig (Sr.) at 149. Naig was an NCAA finalist, losing a tough battle to UW-La Crosse's Jake Larsen. At 197, the Knights have All-American TJ Miller (Jr.), Coach Miller's son, who took fourth. Heavyweight Blake Gillis (Sr.), one of the top heavies in any college division, appeared to have graduated La Crosse heavy Ryan Allen's number last year. Gillis defeated Allen twice during the year. At nationals, however, he came up short, losing to Allen in OT. Gillis will anchor the Wartburg team on his path towards glory this season.
Blake Gillis (Photo/Johnnie Johnson)Apart from 125, 165 and 174 are the biggest unknown quantities in the Wartburg lineup. Who will take the place of third-place finisher Dustin Bliven? Will it be senior Dustin Cooper or sophomore Justin Hanson? Cooper seems to have the early season nod, as he competed at the Harold Nichols. At 174, sophomore Dan Schulte will look to match some of the success of his predecessor, Kaufman. The talented Romeo Djoumessi, a sophomore, who has had a nice early season, will be trying to fill the big shoes left by Carter at 184.
UW-La Crosse Eagles: Of the bridesmaids of Division III wrestling, UW-La Crosse has been a contender, but left just on the outside looking in, since former coach Nate Skaar took over. Now, new coach Dave Malecek will look to match and, hopefully for those in Wisconsin, succeed Skaar's success with the Eagles. He has some nice talent from last year to work with, but will the rest of the team step up and take the Eagles to the next level: A Championship?
Outlook: Last season's second-place finish marked the end of one of UW-La Crosse's most successful seasons. Bettering Augsburg in itself showed how solid of a team they had. Graduation hurts, though, and no one feels it more than the Eagles (well, perhaps Wartburg). Replacing four-time national champion Ryan Allen at heavyweight will be nearly impossible to do, and the graduation of semi-surprise national champion Jake Larsen at 149 dents the team as well. Add to the losses the definite surprise finalist Jim Swanson (197) and you get the picture. The Eagles do return four All-Americans from last season. Let's just say that the middle-to-upper section of their lineup is solid. Ross Needham (Sr., 35-12), who took third at 157, will be looking to find his way into the finals this year. Another senior, Scott Dorn (165, 28-16) will be looking to better his eighth-place finish. Junior Josh Chelf (32-6) and senior Jason Lulloff (40-6) look to reach the top of their weights, 174 and 184, respectively. At 125, sophomore Patt Parrillo (13-12) will start the Eagles off. Another sophomore, Kevin Barber at 133, who was 12-16 last season, should have an improved season after a dissatisfying freshman campaign. Mike Rohowetz, the starter last year at 141, has graduated, leaving a void at this weight. Also, as mentioned, 149 is open for UW-La Crosse as well. Possible replacements at these weights are sophomores Ben Kreuzer (6-8), Jay Milz (7-4) and Eric Seppelt (8-12), along with incoming freshman Levi Price. Quite distinct from the four weights that follow, 125-149 are concerns from Coach Malecek and the Eagles. The upper weights will feature Tim Winker (Jr., 22-13) at 197 and Kent Anderson and Dan Laurent -- who are a combined 7-1 early in the season, at heavyweight.
Augsburg Auggies: The 06-07 season should be an intriguing one for the Auggies. They did have some losses, but, at least early in the season, it seems as though these losses will affect them less than their major rivals. Coach Jeff Swenson has done an admirable job of reloading their lineup. In fact, choosing which talent will represent Augsburg at each weight class is an enviable task for the veteran coach.
Jeff Swenson (Photo/Johnnie Johnson)Robbie Gotreau (Jr., 44-9), who also placed fourth, will be back to fill the 174 slot for Augsburg. Any excitement you might hear coming from Auggie-land might be as a result of this year's influx of University of Minnesota transfers (you may recall that Anderson and, in years past, Marcus LeVesseur came from the Gophers). The most heralded recruit must be junior Quincy Osborn at 141. Osborn, who finished fifth place in the Big Ten Championships in 2005, immediately gives the Auggies a high-All-American threat at this weight. Also from across the river is sophomore Willie Holst. Holst, who had a 10-5 record with the Gophers, should be able to step in nicely for Augsburg at either 157 or 165. Wally O'Connor (Jr., 25-16) is the likely starter at 197, with returning national qualifier Andrew Neumann (Sr., 25-10) anchoring the team at heavyweight.
The two biggest questions for Augsburg are at 125 and 184. They are questions for different reasons, however. At 125, the question is: who to choose? Will they go with sophomore Paul Bjorkstrand, who had a 24-12 record last season? Or perhaps junior college transfer Jamie Rocha, who just won a co-championship at the Auggie-Brute-Adidas Open? 184 presents a different dilemma for Augsburg. Will 174 All-American Gotreau move up and take this spot, leaving 174 to Brian Fischer, who just took runner-up at the Auggie Open? These are major questions for Augsburg, but, overall, the team is looking solid from top to bottom.
Dave MitchellOutlook: The Norse lost national champion Mike Lopez (133) to graduation, along starter Lon Welsh (174). These holes will be tough to fill, but look for the returning veterans to do so, and with success. The team will be again be built around their 2005 national champion, Matt Pyle (Sr., 149), who had a tough national tournament in a loaded weight class. Pyle did compile a 26-8 record and finished a respectable fifth at season-end. Another high ALL-AMERICAN in the Luther lineup is Nate Hansen (Sr.), who ended up 24-13 and fourth at nationals. John Miller, Luther's sophomore heavyweight, finished in eighth place, which culminated his successful 26-15 season. The last of the national qualifiers to return is sophomore Alec Bonander, who went 2-2 in last year's national tournament.
Finding a replacement for Lopez will be a chore for Coach Mitchell. Early on, it looks like sophomore Zach Bartlett, who is 3-1 so far this season, will be up for the challenge. At 141, junior Travis Grawin (2-2 this season, 19-17 last) is the likely starter. Junior Nate Van Dyke (15-12) appears to have the 165 spot secured. He's 5-1 so far this season. 157 will feature a senior, Ben Kissling, who was 5-10. 174 and 184 should feature veteran AJ Gregg (Jr., 22-13) at 174 and sophomore Nic Barclay, who has had a rough start to this season, starting an inauspicious 0-3. If some of the more questionable weights can make strides during the season, chalk up the Norse for another top-five national finish.
York Spartans: York finished last season at fifth place nationally. Three of the team's four national qualifiers return this year -- all of them seniors. This is the good news for coach Tom Kessler. The bad news is that he lost a national champion in Duane Bastress (184). Also, apart from the aforementioned trio, he will be fielding a young team. The Spartan roster is littered with freshmen and sophomores, all hoping to make their mark on the Division III wrestling map.
Outlook: Senior All-Americans Jerry Bowne (fifth at 165, 33-3), and Tim Bohlman (sixth at 149, 20-7) lead the way for York. They are joined by senior Matt Chrzanarski at 197 (17-3), who was 2-2 in at the tournament. At 125, Kyle Flickinger (So., 28-10) will be getting things started for the Spartans. There's a veritable log-jam at 133, where no less than four freshmen and two sophomores will be battling for the vacant spot. From this group, only Dan Sechrist saw action, with a record of 0-2. This weight, along with 141, should be a major area of focus for coach Kessler. At 141, junior Alex Binder will compete with two freshmen, Mathias Smyser and Mike Gouveia for the starting nod. The middle weights look to be strong for York, as All-American's Bohlman and Bowne compete at 149 and 165, respectively. Sandwiched between them at 157 should junior Brian Alwine, who sported a 10-6 record. 174 looks to be vacated, as last year's starter, Steve Johnston (12-16) moves up to try and fill Bastress' big shoes at 184. This leaves Jimmy Harris (Jr.) to battle sophomore Chris Monticchio and freshmen Mike Tubbs and Dennis Conklin for the 174 spot. After Chrzanarski at 197, the Spartans hope that junior heavyweight Luke Panizzi (18-13) will make national-level noise anchoring the team.
Best of the Rest
Heidelberg Knights: Coach Jason Miller has Heidelberg poised to take on the "big boys" this season. After placing sixth at the NCAA Championships, the Knights hope to step up another wrung of the national ladder this year. The team can look to leadership from 157-pound national champion Joe Pflug (24-2). Pflug and senior All-American Tim Maxworthy (sixth at 165, 27-8) will lead Heidelberg as they look to become one of the "big boys".
Wilkes Colonels: Coming off of a 12th place team finish, Wilkes would seem to have their work cut out for them. Hold that thought, however, as they return two All-American's in sophomore Felipe Queiroz (125, sixth, 26-9) and senior Brandon Kelly (197, third, 25-5). Fourth-year coach Jon Laudenslager also has 133-pounder sophomore Josh Pauling, who went 20-8, 141-pounder Adam Penberthy (Jr., 27-11) and sophomore Erik Smith, who had a 20-14 record at 149 pounds. It would not be surprising to see them sneak into the top six at nationals.
Biggest Leapers of the Year
Johnson & Wales Wildcats: Coach Lonnie Morris, in his 10th season, has led this small Rhode Island school to respectability amongst the Division III wrestling world. With junior All-American Steve Martell, along with classmate Brandon McDonough, and senior Matt Smith leading the way, look for the Wildcats to take the big step from respectability (2fifth in last year's tournament) to prominence, perhaps in the top 10.
UW-Platteville Pioneers: Our Cinderella team for the 06-07 season is UW-Platteville. Last season's team finished in 36th place, but this season's team has serious talent. Led by three national qualifiers, senior Zach Chambers at 141 (28-8), sophomore Ryan Higgins at 149 (31-8), and senior Ryan Rozek at heavyweight (29-14), the Pioneers will be a force to be reckoned with. They also return 133-pounder Dan Droessler (20-12) and 165-pounder Justin Seichter (19-13) to help them make their run.
Predictions for 2006-2007
1. Augsburg
2. Wartburg
3. UW-La Crosse
4. Luther
5. Wilkes
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