Augsburg College is hosting the 2010 NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional wrestling tournament on Saturday, Feb. 20 at Si Melby Hall in Minneapolis. Action starts at 9 a.m., as wrestlers from 15 schools from the Midwest and West attempt to qualify individuals for the NCAA Division III National Championships, to be held March 5-6 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

A total of 28 wrestlers -- the champions and second-place finishers in each weight class, along with eight at-large finishers -- will qualify to compete at the national tournament from the Great Lakes Regional.

This Saturday's regional could be one of the most competitive in recent years. Five of the 15 teams are ranked in the top 20 in the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III national rankings -- No. 1 Augsburg (Minn.), No. 7 Concordia-Moorhead (Minn.), No. 9 St. John's (Minn.), No. 10 North Central (Ill.) and No. 18 Elmhurst (Ill.) -- and 24 wrestlers are ranked among the top 10 wrestlers nationally in their weight classes.

There are nationally-ranked wrestlers in every weight class at the regional. The lower weight classes will be very interesting, as there are three nationally-ranked wrestlers at both 125 and 133, and at 141, four of the top five-ranked wrestlers (No. 2 Minga Batsukh of St. John's, No. 3 John Starzyk of North Central, No. 4 Ben Anderson of Concordia-Moorhead, and No. 5 Jafari Vanier of Augsburg) will be competing at Si Melby Hall. There are also three nationally-ranked wrestlers at heavyweight in the regional.

Action will begin at 9 a.m., with final rounds slated to begin at approximately 4:15 p.m. Augsburg will provide a video webcast of the championship and true-second matches.

Team previews (supplied by participating SIDs and/or college athletic pages):

Ten-time Division III national champion Augsburg enters the Great Lakes Regional as the No. 1-ranked team nationally, coming off a season where it went 12-0 in dual meets, including two wins over traditional rival and defending national champion Wartburg (Iowa), while winning the title at the NWCA Division III National Duals in January. The Auggies, who have won each of the seven Great Lakes Regionals since joining the region in 2003, are coming off of last year's second-place national finish.

Augsburg has the most ranked wrestlers of any of the teams entering the regional, with eight, including top-ranked 197-pounder Jared Massey (JR, Circle Pines, Minn./Centennial HS). Last year's national titlist at 197, Massey is 21-0 with 14 bonus-point wins (eight pins, four major decisions, two technical falls), and is 52-1 in his two seasons as an Auggie.

Zach Molitor (JR, Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti HS), who finished sixth last year at 174, enters the regional ranked No. 2 in his weight class with a 22-3 record. Also ranked No. 2 is Tony Valek (SO, Belle Plaine, Minn./Scott West) at 149, moving up a weight class after qualifying for the national tournament at 141 last season.

Paul Bjorkstrand (SR, Burnsville, Minn.) returned to the Augsburg lineup after a year's absence and is ranked No. 4 nationally at 133, with a 31-7 record. Jafari Vanier (SR, Minneapolis, Minn./Bloomington Kennedy HS) returned to the Augsburg lineup after a two-season absence. A two-time national runner-up at 133, he is currently ranked No. 5 at 141. Ranked No. 7 are 157-pounder Jason Adams (SR, Coon Rapids, Minn.) and 165-pounder Orlando Ponce (JR, Hialeah, Fla./Hialeah-Miami Lakes HS), and ranked No. 8 is heavyweight Andy Witzel (SR, Fulda, Minn.).

Augustana (Ill.) is experiencing an upward surge in its program under third-year coach Eric Juergens. The Vikings are coming off a third-place finish at the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin tournament, where they had two runners-up -- 133-pounder Steve Poffenberger (FY, Paw Paw, Mich./Allegan HS) and 174-pounder Alex Vavra (FY, Dowling, Mich./Gull Lake HS). The Vikings also had seven third-place finishers at the CCIW championships. Since 2007, the Vikings have improved their CCIW placing from fifth to third in both 2009 and 2010.

The University of Chicago (Ill.) enters the 2010 Great Lakes Regional fresh off of their second straight University Athletic Association championship. The Maroons are led by 197-pounder Troy Carlson (SR, Cary, Ill./Cary-Grove HS), who brings a 28-3 record with individual titles at the Concordia (Wis.) Open as well as the Al Hanke Invitational. Carlson started his career at 157 and has since moved up in class each year. Carlson is ranked No. 4 in the latest Division III national poll.

Other Maroons trying to make it to Cedar Rapids include heavyweight Ryan Hatten (SR, Florissant, Mo./McCleur North HS), who has a record of 12-10 with a fifth-place finish at the Al Hanke Invitational. Sophomore 125-pounder Jimmy Schoettle (SO, Indianapolis, Ind./Perry Meridian HS) was 12-9 during the year and finished third at the Concordia (Wis.) Open. James Layton (FY, Chesterfield, Mo./DeSmet Jesuit HS) looks to make noise right away in the 149-pound weight class. His 16-8 record during the year has given him some confidence going into this weekend.

Concordia-Moorhead (Minn.) has shown dramatic improvement over the last two seasons under head coach Clay Nagel, and enter the regional ranked No. 7 in the latest Division III national poll, with four nationally-ranked individuals.

Defending 184-pound national runner-up Phil Moenkedick (JR, Perham, Minn.) is 22-2, and is ranked No. 4 in his weight class. Sixteen of Moenkedick's 22 wins are bonus-point wins (11 pins, five major decisions). Also ranked No. 4 nationally is 141-pounder Ben Anderson (JR, Frazee, Minn.), a national tournament qualifier from last season who enters this weekend at 27-4.

Daron Hohbein (SO, Mandan, N.D.) is ranked No. 6 nationally at 125 for the Cobbers, and his 13-4 record includes five falls and two major decisions. Justin Berns (JR, Perham, Minn.) is ranked No 9 at 149, with a 27-3 record that includes 14 bonus-point wins (six pins, five technical falls, three major decisions). Nate Schmitz (FY, Perham, Minn.) has a team-best 28 wins (28-10) entering this weekend, one of seven Cobbers who have 20 or more wins this season.

Concordia-Wisconsin, coming off a third-place finish at the Northern Wrestling Association tournament, will attempt to qualify an individual to the national meet for the second straight year. CUW is led by Marcus Lubner (FY, Fredonia, Wis.), who is coming off a conference championship at 125. Lubner will bring a 14-12 record into the regional.

Other CUW wrestlers that are also expected to contend in the regional include: Josh Nord (JR, Oconomowoc, Wis., 16-18 at 174), Aaron Bergen (SR, St. Charles, Mo., 10-13 at 184), Travis Pagel (SR, Madison, Wis., 10-13 at heavyweight), Kurt Kemnitz (SO, West Allis, Wis.,15-19 at 133), David Tuomi (FY, Melrose Park, Ill.,10-16 at 141), and Josh Plate (SR, Brillion, Wis., 7-5 at 149). Nord and Bergen are coming off runner-up finishes at the conference meet. The Falcon wrestlers will be without their leading pinner, freshman Steve Taylor (16-14 at 149), who suffered a season-ending injury last week. Taylor set the CUW season pin mark two weeks ago with 13 on the year.

Elmhurst (Ill.) has finished among the top five teams at the Great Lakes Regional each of the last five seasons, and is coming off of last year's seventh-place national finish. Under eighth-year head coach Steve Marianetti, the Bluejays enter the regional ranked No. 18 in the latest national polls. The Bluejays placed second at the CCIW tournament on Feb. 11, with six wrestlers earning conference titles.

The Bluejays are led by defending 125-pound national champion Jake Oster (SR, Lockport, Ill.), who won the title last year with a perfect 27-0 record. Battling an injury this season, he is 9-4 with five pins and two major decisions. He is ranked No. 3 nationally in his weight class.

Heavyweight Mark Corsello (JR, Park Ridge, Ill.) was named the CCIW's Most Outstanding Wrestler after winning his third straight conference title at the league meet. The top-ranked wrestler nationally at heavyweight, Corsello enters the regional at 24-0 with seven pins and six major decisions.

Charlie Curran (SR, Arlington Heights, Ill.) won the CCIW crown at 149 for the Bluejays, as did Dan Hamilton (JR, Homewood, Ill.) at 157, Jack Lewis (FY, Algonquin, Ill.) at 165 and Joe Rau (FY, Chicago, Ill.) at 197. Ryan Earley (FY, Wheaton, Ill.) placed second at 141 at the CCIW meet.

Knox (Ill.) enters this Saturday's regional after finishing fourth at the Northern Wrestling Association tournament. Overall, the Prairie Fire had three third-place finishers -- Charlie Deutsch (SO, Buffalo Grove, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson HS, 125), Casey Spencer (FY, Benton, Ill., 157) and Danny Stafford (JR, Galesburg, Ill.,165). The Prairie Fire competed at the NWA tournament without their best wrestler, 133-pounder Edel Vaca (JR, Chicago, Ill./Thomas Kelly HS). Vaca placed fourth for the Prairie Fire at the Al Hanke Invitational on Jan. 16.

Lakeland (Wis.) has been riddled by injuries in the 2009-10 season, but has been very good recently due to the return of a number of starters. The Muskies (7-9 in dual meets) dominated the Northern Wrestling Association tournament, taking individual championships in eight of the 10 weight classes and placing 16 wrestlers in the top four of their respective brackets. The team title was the third in a row for the Muskies.

Heavyweight Adam Sutter (SR, Gladstone, Mich.), a 2008-09 All-American, leads the way for the Muskies. Sutter, who is fifth in the latest national rankings, captured his third consecutive NWA title and finished third at the Pete Willson-Wheaton Invitational on Jan. 29-30. Senior 165-pound captain Jake Frias (SR, Oak Lawn, Ill./H.L. Richards HS) leads the team in wins and has titles at the NWA Tournament and the MSOE Invite (Dec. 5).

At last year's Great Lakes Regional, five Muskies placed in the top six of their individual weight classes, including two returners. Sutter placed third and received a wild-card bid to the national tournament, while 149-pounder Isaac Roberson (JR, Chicago, Ill./Oak Lawn HS) finished sixth. Roberson, a junior, won this year's NWA Tournament by defeating 2008-09 national qualifier Virgil Pope of MSOE by a 5-3 overtime decision in the finals.

Maranatha Baptist (Wis.) has a young lineup, with seven first-year competitors on its 11-wrestler roster under first-year head coach Andy Peterson. Maranatha placed fifth at the Northern Wrestling Association tournament.

The Milwaukee School of Engineering (Wis.) finished fourth at the Northern Wrestling Association tournament. Key wrestlers for the Raiders include 149-pounder Virgil Pope (JR, Janesville, Wis./Clinton HS), a national tournament qualifier from last season, and 184-pounder Matt Olsen (SR, Algonquin, Ill./Jacobs HS), who earned honorable-mention status in the D3wrestling.com national poll earlier this season. Pope was the first MSOE wrestler since All-American Matt Schoenherr to make the trip to nationals since 2004.

North Central (Ill.), ranked No. 10 nationally, dominated the competition to claim the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin title on Feb. 11. All 10 Cardinals reached the final round and four won conference titles.

The Cardinals have four nationally-ranked wrestlers, led by No. 2-ranked Nathan Fitzenreider (FY, Winfield, Ill./Wheaton North HS), who is 31-3 with six pins, nine major decisions and two technical falls. Two-time All-American and three-time national qualifier Gabe Youel (SR, Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake Central HS) is 28-3 this season and currently ranked No. 3 at 184 pounds. Johnny Starzyk (SO, Crest Hill, Ill.) is 11-2 and ranked No. 3 at 141, and Joe Norton (SR, Carol Stream, Ill./Montini HS) is ranked No. 10 at 125, with a 22-5 record.

Fitzenreider and Youel won titles for the Cardinals at the CCIW championships, along with Andrew Zobac (SO, Canton, Ill.) at 141 and Cowan Brown (SR, Richton Park, Ill./Rich Central HS) at 174. Zobac is 21-10 on the season, while Brown is 23-6.

Pacific (Ore.) will aim to improve on what was a disappointing 15th-place finish in the 2009 regional tournament with a young lineup. Andrew Wolfe (SR, Milwaukie, Ore.) enters the meet with a team-best 14 victories at 133 pounds. He won two matches at last year's tournament. Nathan Shay (SR, Gresham, Ore.) enters with 12 victories at 165 pounds, while Kody Kramer (JR, Oroville, Wash.) has amassed 10 victories at 149 pounds.

Pacific will also put stock in a pair of talented first-year wrestlers. Seth Honl (FY, Scappoose, Ore.) has 13 victories at 141 pounds, with 12 of those wins coming since Jan. 1. Ken Hyland (FY, Medford, Ore.) enters with 12 victories at 157 pounds.

Three St. John's (Minn.) wrestlers hope to repeat their performances at last year's Great Lakes Regional, while seven others aim to take the next step. SJU has qualified two or more wrestlers to the NCAA championships 19 of the last 20 seasons.

Two defending regional champions return in Mogi Baatar (SR, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia/St. Benedict's Prep, N.J., HS) at 133 and Minga Batsukh (JR, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia/St. Benedict's Prep, N.J., HS) at 141. Baatar is currently ranked No. 6 in the nation with an 18-7 record and is looking to earn his fourth consecutive trip to nationals. He finished seventh nationally at 125 in 2008. Batsukh, meanwhile, is ranked No. 2 nationally with a 10-1 record and will attempt to make his third trip to nationals; a berth that will allow him to defend his national title.

Matt Baarson (JR, Brooklyn Park, Minn./Champlin Park HS) will try to earn his second consecutive bid to nationals, following his third-place performance in the 157-pound weight class at the regional last year. He leads SJU with a 21-2 record and is ranked No. 6 nationally. Matt Pfarr (SO, Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson HS), who is ranked No. 5 at 174, will make his Great Lakes Regional debut. He is currently 11-5 on the year.

Tony Willaert (JR, North Mankato, Minn./Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial HS) finished fourth in the 197-pound weight class at last year's regional, but will be at heavyweight in 2010. He posted a 15-4 major decision over then-No. 1 Dan Laurent (Wis.-La Crosse) at heavyweight earlier this season.

St. Olaf (Minn.), under fifth-year head coach Sean Ahrar, has a young roster, with 18 first-year wrestlers or sophomores on its 23-wrestler lineup. The Oles' last competition came on Jan. 30 at the Grand View (Iowa) Open, with Ryan Timmerman (SO, St. Peter, Minn.) placing fifth at 133 with a 4-2 mark.

Wheaton (Ill.) is coming off a fourth-place finish at the CCIW championships. Justin Marble (JR, Forest Grove, Ore.) had the top finish for the Thunder, placing second at 184 pounds. Marble is 33-8 on the season, having finished second at tournaments five times this season. Matthew Cordell (SO, Poulsbo, Wash.) placed third at 157 at the CCIW meet. Caleb Cardenas (SO, Dulzura, Calif.) placed fourth for the Thunder at 133 and is 17-16 on the season.