2012 NCAA GREAT LAKES REGIONAL PAGE
LIVE RESULTS/BRACKETS (TRACKWRESTLING.COM)
LIVE VIDEO OF SEMIFINALS/FINALS/TRUE FOURTH MATCHES

MINNEAPOLIS -- With 34 coveted spots in the NCAA Division III National Championships at stake, the 2012 NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional wrestling tournament should feature plenty of action and excitement. The national championships qualifying tournament will be held this Saturday, starting at 9 a.m. at Augsburg College's Si Melby Hall.

The top three finishers in each of the 10 weight classes at regional will qualify for the national championships, to be held March 9-10 in La Crosse, Wis. In addition, two “at-large” qualifiers will be selected, along with two additional qualifiers among the final 10 nationwide selected to complete the 170-wrestler national tournament bracket (making sure each weight class at the national tournament has at least 16 wrestlers in it).

This year, four regional teams are ranked in the top 30 in the Feb. 21 National Wrestling Coaches Association national poll – No. 4 Augsburg (Minn.), No. 8 St. John's (Minn.), No. 14 Elmhurst (Ill.) and No. 20 Concordia-Moorhead (Minn.) – along with 14 wrestlers individually ranked nationally. The regional will feature four top-ranked wrestlers – 125-pounder Nathan Fitzenreider of North Central (Ill.), 149-pounder Tony Valek of Augsburg, 157-pounder Orlando Ponce of Augsburg and heavyweight Chad Johnson of Augsburg.

There are nationally ranked wrestlers featured in nine of the 10 weight classes in the regional, including two weight classes with three nationally-ranked wrestlers each – 141 (No. 4 Andrew Zobac of North Central, No. 5 Will Keeter of Augsburg and No. 6 Ryan Timmerman of St. Olaf) and 197 (No. 2 Dustin Baxter of St. John's, No. 5 Nathan Schmitz of Concordia-Moorhead and No. 6 Brad Baus of Augsburg).

There will be live results from the regional throughout the day, via the TrackWrestling.com website. Also, the semifinal matches and final/true-fourth matches will also feature live video webcasts.

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Here is a team-by-team preview for the regional, supplied by the region's sports information directors.

Augsburg (Minn.)
Augsburg will attempt to win its 10th straight Great Lakes Regional title this Saturday. Augsburg has won each of the Great Lakes Regional titles since joining the region in 2003. The Auggies enter this Saturday's event with five nationally ranked wrestlers, including three top-ranked individuals – 149-pounder Tony Valek, 157-pounder Orlando Ponce and heavyweight Chad Johnson. Two more Auggies are also ranked nationally – No. 5 Will Keeter at 141 and No. 6 Brad Baus at 197.

Both two-time national runners-up and three-time national tournament qualifiers, Valek and Ponce are the lone wrestlers in the regional field with unbeaten records. Valek is 25-0 with 22 bonus-point wins (11 pins, two technical falls, nine major decisions). Fifteen of his last 16 matches have been bonus-point wins. Ponce is 16-0, with his last win a 9-4 triumph over No. 2-ranked Nazar Kulchytskyy of Wisconsin-Oshkosh on Feb. 10.

Keeter enters his second regional tournament with a 24-6 record, including a pin, two technical falls and nine major decisions. Baus is 23-9 with a team-high 17 pins – including nine pins in 2:00 or less. Boyd Suparat has a 17-9 record at 133 pounds, including pins in his last two victories entering the regional.

Three Auggies will be competing in their first regional tournament on Saturday – 125-pounder Mike Fuenffinger, 165-pounder Tommy Teigen and 174-pounder Josh Kohler. Fuenffinger, who transferred to Augsburg at the semester break after spending the fall 2011 semester training in Greco-Roman wrestling at the U.S. Olympic Education Center at Northern Michigan, is 11-6. Teigen is 21-11 with five pins, while Kohler is 26-15 with five pins to his credit.

Augustana (Ill.)
The Augustana wrestling team has enjoyed one of its most successful seasons in years in 2011-12. The Vikings of fifth year head coach Eric Juergens flirted with top 30 national rankings in the NWCA polls throughout the year. They finished the season with an 11-4 dual meet record and all four losses came at the hands of nationally ranked opponents.

Also, the Vikings produced Co-Most Outstanding Wrestlers in the CCIW with Alberto Quiros and Jordan Richardson. Along with junior Matt Burns, each won individual weight classes at the CCIW meet on Thursday, February 9 in the Carver Center. Quiros won at 149, Burns at 165 and Richardson at 174. The Vikings recorded their highest finish in the CCIW wrestling championship since 2004 by placing second in the team standings.

Quiros, the second seed at 149, upped his record to 34-8 this season with a pair of victories. He defeated Eric Oyster of North Central in the semi-finals by a score of 8-5 and then topped number one seed Ryan Earley of Elmhurst 6-5 in the final. At 165, Burns, now 23-14 this season, knocked off top-seeded Mike Ryan of Elmhurst 7-2 in the semifinals before claiming the title with an impressive 16-5 win over Devin Milheim of North Central. Richardson's championship at 174 came as the result of a semifinal pin of North Central's Andrew Hiller at the 6:00 mark and an 8-1 win over Elmhurst's Danny Balderas in the final. The two wins improve his record to 32-7 this season.

The improvement in the Vikings' program under the direction of head coach Eric Juergens continues to show. The first year that Juergens took over the team went 2-9 in dual meets and placed fourth in the CCIW tournament with just 34.5 points. This year the Vikings finished with an 11-4 dual meet record and scored 77 points en route to the second place team finish. The three individual champions are the most crowned by Augustana since three Vikings won in 2006.

Chicago (Ill.)
Four Maroons, including Rookie of the Year Mario Palmisano, won individual titles as the Maroons claimed second place at the 2012 University Athletic Association Championship on Feb. 11. Joining the 197-pound Palmisano as league title holders were sophomore 125-pounder Jake Schramm, freshman 133-pounder Will Long, and freshman 157-pounder Devon Range.

Other key performers for the Maroons include junior 165-pounder James Layton, who stands at 18-4 on the season, sophomore heavyweight Jeff Tyburski, the 2010 UAA Rookie of the Year, and freshman 174-pounder Ryley Hankenson.

Chicago, which finished eighth at the Great Lakes Regional a year ago, posted an 8-6 mark in dual matches during the regular season. Head Coach Leo Kocher is in his 34th season with the Maroons.

Concordia-Moorhead (Minn.)
No.20-ranked Concordia-Moorhead will be one of the most grateful teams at this year's NCAA Great Lakes Regional. That's because the Cobbers have endured the most grueling dual meet, and multiple-team invite, regular season in program history.

Concordia is coming off a regular season where they wrestled against 10 teams that were ranked in the top 20 of the nation in either NCAA Division II or III. The Cobbers posted a 7-11 record in dual matches, but have improved by leaps and bounds since the start of the season.

Individually, the Cobbers will be led by junior Nate Schmitz and senior Daron Hohbein, both of whom are ranked in the top 10 in the nation. Schmitz enters the regional ranked fifth at 197 and has a team-best 24 wins. Hohbein is ranked fifth at 133 and has battled through a fierce regular-season schedule to post a 12-5 record. Both athletes earned spots at the NCAA national meet last year.

Concordia-Wisconsin
After a third place finish at the Northern Wrestling Association Championships last weekend, the Concordia University Wisconsin wrestling team will travel to Minneapolis, Minn., this weekend to compete at the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional on Saturday.

Leading the Falcons will be 141-pound freshman Greg Sanders who carries a sparkling 36-4 record into the Regional. Sanders earned his first NWA title last weekend, and was voted Freshman Of The Year by the association.

Junior captain and 133-pounder Marcus Lubner picked up his third straight association title with an overtime win in the NWA finals last weekend. After being out with an injury in January, Lubner has rattled off five straight wins in February, and will take a 17-5 record into this weekend. Lubner placed sixth at NCAA Regionals last year.

Taking a 27-14 record into the Regional is 125-pound freshman Sean Ambrocio who won his first NWA title last weekend with a major decision win in the finals. Ambrocio is undefeated, 5-0, in February.

Elmhurst (Ill.)
Champions of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin for the second straight year, the Elmhurst College wrestling team is currently ranked 14th in the latest NWCA Division III poll.

The Bluejays have compiled a 12-4 dual meet record on the season. The Bluejays are led by returning All-American Joe Rau at 184 pounds. Rau has been ranked third in his weight class since the start of the season and brings a 26-3 record into this weekend's regional. Rau has not lost to a Division III opponent this season, with all three of his losses coming at Northwestern University's prestigious Midlands Tournament where he placed sixth.

Danny Balderas (19-5 at 174 pounds), Ryan Earley (19-4 at 149 pounds), Brian Brooks (19-6 at 285 pounds) and Dalton Bullard (15-7 at 133 pounds) all have won over 15 matches in their respective weight classes.

Knox (Ill.)
Knox College wrestling coach Tony Islas about the Prairie Fire's season going into the regional: "Knox College wrestling has a had a year of peaks and valleys and is looking forward to the peaks at this year's regional.  There have been several standout performances from a number of wrestlers like seniors Alex Faulkner (184) and James Wagner (HWT) throughout the season. We are excited to see those successes continue for them and everyone, hopefully into the post season.  This is going to be one of the largest graduating classes for the Prairie Fire and we look forward to those seniors finishing up their final season strong. "

Lakeland (Wis.)
After winning a share of its fifth-straight Northern Wrestling Association title, the Lakeland College wrestling team heads to Minneapolis, Minn., on Feb. 25 to participate in the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional, hosted by Augsburg College.

The Muskies finished ninth in the regional last year and sent their fourth straight grappler to the national tournament. Lakeland will depend on senior Robby Frias and junior Ryan Renon to lead Lakeland to its fifth-straight national qualifier. Frias is coming off a prolific showing at the NWA Tournament where he took the title in the 149-pound weight class and was named Outstanding Wrestler of the Year. The Oak Lawn, Ill., native has tallied a 27-11 record and hopes to finish of his senior year as a national qualifier.

Renon has had a dominant season in the 165-pound weight class and hopes to add All-American to his impressive wrestling resume. The grappler won his third consecutive NWA title at 165 and has tallied a remarkable 24-4 mark this season. The Wrightstown, Wis., native is 10th among Division III wrestlers in technical falls as he's recorded six. He has been ranked as high as No. 7 in both D3wrestle.com and the National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III Brute - Adidas individual rankings. Renon finished fourth at the Great Lakes Regional last year and will be on the attack for a top-two finish in Minneapolis this year.

Also returning to the regional for the Muskies are senior Miguel Luis (157), junior Joel Frias (141) and sophomores Grant Franson (125), Brent Steudel (157) and Tom Phalin (285). Luis and Franson are coming off second-place finishes at the NWA Tournament and look to make noise in the 157 and 125 weight classes, respectively.

Freshmen Eduardo Orihuela (133), Juan Diaz (141), Jake Maechtle (149), Logan Gueths (165), Matt Weber (157), Vince Cardarelle (184) and David Galarno (174) will make their first appearance at the Great Lakes Regional. Galarno earned his first NWA title at 174 as part of a solid debut to his collegiate career. The New Holstein, Wis., native recorded seven straight wins, including six straight pins at the North Central College Invite on Dec. 10 to finish third on the day.

Maranatha Baptist (Wis.)
Sophomore 174-pounder Josiah Brendemuehl class leads the team with an 8-9 overall record.  After starting the season with two losses, Brendemuehl has gone 8-7, pinning one of his opponents, Vincent Cardarelle (Lakeland) on Jan. 7. Five of his losses were decided by 2 points or less. He also posted a 12-2 decision against Kyle Perea of MSOE on Feb. 18 at the Northern Wrestling Association tournament.

Sophomore 141-pounder Ricky Warren (Ohlman, Ill.) has posted four wins this season in his weight class. In a win over Joel Frias (Lakeland), Warren posted a 5-2 decision, while also defeating Alejandro Varela, and Jason Lafavor of Knox College by respective scores of 5-4, and 3-0. Warren is now 4-13, totaling the second most wins on the team.

Milwaukee School of Engineering (Wis.)
The lineup for MSOE includes three players who won Northern Wrestling Association conference titles in 2012. Junior Caleb Staub (184) and sophomores Marcus Rokosh (197) and Dallas Schurg (157) each won NWA titles. NCAA wild card qualifier senior Jake Narveson, NWA 2012 runner up and 2011champion will also look to leave at mark at the regional tourney. Before the conference tournament, Narveson had 18 wins (at 149 pounds) in 2011-12 and missed a month of the season with an injury.

During the 2011-12 season, Narveson in addition to freshman Luke Gaeth (125 pounds) and junior Matt Ostovich (141 pounds) have been mentioned in the D3wrestle.com national rankings. The Raiders are 8-5 in duals including 2-0 in the conference duals. In addition to beating Lakeland and Concordia-Wisconsin (twice), MSOE took down UW-Eau Claire and UW-Platteville. The Raiders have seven players with 20 or more wins this season. Ostovich, Gaeth and junior Josh Wengerter (149 pounds) each have 23 wins this year. One behind those there is Austin Karls (285 pounds) with 22. Junior Austin Binish (133 pounds), freshman Peter Kootstra and Staub all have garnered 20 wins.

The Raiders finished third at the Al Hanke Invitational out of 11 teams in Elmhurst, Ill. back in January and placed fourth at the MSOE Invitational in December which had 11 teams as well. Karls placed second at the event hosted by MSOE.

North Central (Ill.)
North Central comes into the regional with a record of 5-10, 2-1 (College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin). The injury-plagued Cardinals placed fourth at the CCIW Championships with Joby Bodi claiming the lone individual title. Junior Nathan Fitzenreider comes in ranked first nationally at 125 pounds with a record of 27-4. Andrew Zobac comes in ranked fourth nationally at 141 pounds compiling a record of 27-5.

Pacific (Ore.)
Pacific continues the process of rebuilding the wrestling program under fourth-year head coach Severin Walsh. The Boxers entered the season with 21 on the roster, the most the program has seen in over five years.

At a competitive disadvantage because of geography (Pacific has the only NCAA Division III program west of the Rocky Mountains), the Great Lakes Regional will be just the second time all season that the Boxers will face Division III competition. Pacific enters the regional with a 3-9 dual meet record against a combination of top-ranked Division III, NAIA and junior college programs.

Sophomore Caleb Malychewski stands Pacific's best chance at placing. A 20-match winner for the Boxers, Malychewski spent most of the season wrestling at 184 pounds before ending the season at his natural weight of 174 pounds. Freshman Ryan Baxter also looks to contend in the 141-pound bracket after going 13-11 in his first collegiate season.

St. John's (Minn.)
Saint John's returns three of last year's school-record seven national tournament entrants, all of which were All-Americans, in seniors Dustin Baxter (197), Chad Henle (133) and Matt Pfarr (174).

Senior Dustin Baxter (197) is a three-time national entrant (2008, 2009, 2011) and a 2-time All-American (2009, 2011) at 184 pounds. He is currently 23-1 on the year; his only loss was a 6-5 decision to Scott Schiller of Division I Minnesota. The top-ranked wrestler at 184 before moving up to 197 this season, he is currently ranked second in both the D3wrestle.com and NWCA rankings.

Senior Matt Pfarr (174) is 17-7 on the year, boasting only one Division III loss at 174, suffered to Olivet's (Mich.) Trevor Tyler (11-8), ranked seventh (NWCA) nationally, at the NWCA National Duals. He is ranked seventh (D3wrestle.com) and eighth (NWCA).  Senior Chad Henle (133) has a 17-9 record, earning All-America honors with a seventh-place finish last year. 

Junior Mitch Hagen (184) has a 19-5 record and ranked fifth in the NWCA. His late takedown attempt was turned into two points in a 4-1 loss to third-ranked Josef Rau of Elmhurst (Ill.) at the National Duals. He started the Citrus Invitational with an eye-opening 20-5 technical fall against the top seed, Royal Brettrager, of Liberty (Va.), a Division I national qualifier from a year ago, and he defeated Upper Iowa's Mitchell Schultz, the top-ranked wrestler in Division II, 7-2 in the championship bout.

Junior Nick Schuler (165) is unranked despite a 26-6 record. Twenty of his 26 victories are bonus-point wins, including nine pins (seven major decisions and four technical falls). He is a junior academically, but a sophomore in regard to varsity eligibility (he missed his freshman/2009-10 season due to a shoulder injury).

Junior Chris Stevermer (157) is 22-9 on the season, having won five of his last seven matches since National Duals (including two major decisions and a pin). He has stepped in for an injured Brandon Seppelt. Sophomore Ryan Arne (149) is 20-8 on the year, having won four of his last five matches since cutting down to 149 from 157. He lost to top-ranked Orlando Ponce of Augsburg, 13-9, in his last match at 157. He defeated Isaac Dukes (2-time All-American, National Champion in 2010) of Case Western Reserve (Ohio) 8-4 at the Citrus Invitational.

St. Olaf (Minn.)
St. Olaf will be led at the regional by 141-pounder Ryan Timmerman, ranked No. 6 nationally in his weight class with a 25-4 record. He finished third last season at 141 at the national championships, earning All-American honors.

James Roach has had a strong season at 174, with a 27-9 record entering the regionals. Wesley Azariah is 15-12 at 125, Carl Elmer is 15-10 at 149, Jacob Bohler is 17-12 at 157, Andrew Rudd is 14-7 at 184 and Joseph Schlueter is 14-9 at 197.

Wheaton (Ill.)
Former U.S. Olympian Jim Gruenwald is in his third year as the head coach for the Wheaton College wrestling team in 2011-12. The Thunder had a 5-7 record in dual meets this season. The team's leader in victories is junior Darren Faber, who has compiled a 29-6 record at 197 pounds this year and has won four tournaments this year (Wisconsin-Stevens Point Open, Knox Invitational, Manchester Spartan Mat Classic, CCIW Championship).

Freshman Mark Savenok owns a record of 17-3 this year at 149 pounds, with tournament wins at the Wisconsin-Stevens Point Open and the MSOE Invitational. Other lineup starters include senior Caleb Cardenas (22-19 at 133 pounds), sophomore Matt McCrary (21-19 at 174 pounds) and freshman Peter Huang (10-7 at 157/165 pounds).