NCAA DIVISION III WEST REGIONAL PAGE -- CLICK HERE

MINNEAPOLIS -- Thirty wrestlers will have their tickets punched to the NCAA Division III National Championships through qualifications at Saturday's NCAA Division III West Regional tournament, to be held at Augsburg College's Si Melby Hall.

Wrestlers form 12 colleges from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Oregon will compete at the West Regional, one of six regionals throughout the country this weekend that will determine the field that will compete at the NCAA Division III National Championships, to be held March 15-16 at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The top three finishers in each of the 10 weight classes will qualify from the West Regional to the national championships.

Action will begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday at Si Melby Hall. There will be live results and a CoverItLive blog available all day during the regional, and the semifinals and the championship/third-place matches will be aired on live video webcasts.

There are three nationally ranked teams -- No. 18 Saint John's (Minn.), No. 20 Augsburg (Minn.) and No. 21 Concordia-Moorhead (Minn.) -- and nine individually ranked wrestlers in the field.

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Here is a preview of the field for this year's regional. Information is provided by the regional teams' sports information directors and/or the Augsburg sports information department.

Augsburg (Minn.)
Eleven-time NCAA Division III national champion Augsburg has won the last 10 Great Lakes Regional titles in a row, and coach Mark Matzek's squad will attempt to keep the winning streak alive in the West Regional.

Leading the way will be defending national champion and top-ranked heavyweight Chad Johnson, a junior who enters the tournament with a 30-1 record. Johnson is 98-13 in his three seasons at Augsburg, including a 62-2 record the last two seasons – with the only two losses coming to the two-time defending national champion and two-time defending national runner-up in Division II.

Augsburg has four top-seeded wrestlers in Saturday's field – Johnson, 197-pounder Matt Hechsel (sophomore, 28-9), 125-pounder Mike Fuenffinger (sophomore, 22-5) and 141-pounder Tom Kuehn (sophomore, 21-15). Johnson and Fuenffinger competed at last year's national tournament, as did senior Josh Kohler (23-11, 174 pounds). Tossaporn “Boyd” Suparat (senior, 25-11) should also contend at 133 pounds.

Also aiming for national tournament berths will be 149-pounder Rashad Kennedy (sophomore, 18-15), 165-pounder Justin Bowland (junior, 16-16), 184-pounder Noel Sweeney (junior, 6-9) and 157-pounder Kurt Knutsen (sophomore, 9-20).

Concordia-Moorhead (Minn.)
Concordia-Moorhead enters the 2013 West Regional meet ranked 21st in the latest NWCA Division III poll. The Cobbers capped their dual-meet season by edging No. 18 St. John's and finishing with an 8-5 overall record.

Concordia has two wrestlers ranked in the top 10 of the individual weight classes. Senior All-American Tom Bouressa is the No.4 wrestler at 285 and Jake Long is No. 10 at 149. Bouressa enters the regional meet with a 21-3 record and has won 15 of his last 16 matches. Long is 14-8 and has claimed victories in eight of his last 10 bouts.

The other top wrestlers for Clay and Matt Nagel's squad include Nathan Schmitz, Josten Coleman and Kevin Fynboh. Schmitz, who earned All-American honors last season, was sidelined with an injury until the middle of January has gone 7-1 since the start of February and is one of the favorites at 197. Coleman leads the team in wins this season. He has a 23-9 record at 165 and has won five of his last six matches heading into the regional. Fynboh is 18-12 on the year and had several top finishes in the multi-team invites during the year.  

Concordia-Wisconsin
Concordia University Wisconsin's wrestling team has had success during the 2012-13 season under first-year head coach Corey VanGroll. The Falcons are 8-6 in dual matches and recently won the Northern Wrestling Association Tournament with five wrestlers earning titles.

Sophomores Sean Ambrocio (San Antonio, Texas) and Greg Sanders (San Antonio, Texas) who are a combined 62-7 this season, including eight first-place titles, lead CUW. Sophomore Casey Kenealy (Hartford, Wis.) is wrestling well as of late, winning nine of his last 11 matches. Sophomore Jake Reuteler (New Berlin, Wis.) has won his last six bouts, while senior Shawn Flom (Random Lake, Wis.) won six of his last eight matches.

Lakeland (Wis.)
Lakeland College finished second in the Northern Wrestling Association Tournament, as Concordia (Wis.) snapped the Muskies' five-year string of conference championships. The Muskies finished with a 5-4 record in dual meets this season, including 2-1 in NWA duals.

First-Year Eddie Terres finished as the NWA champion at 184 pounds, and teammate Marcus McCauley was named the conference's Freshman of the Year. Five other Lakeland wrestlers finished as runner-ups in their classes for conference titles. McCauley (141), Matt Weber (157) and Jeremy Kroeger (197) all have 20-plus wins this season. The Muskies have had at least one NCAA Division III national qualifier each of the last five years, including Ryan Renon, who advanced at 165 pounds last year as a senior.

Maranatha Baptist (Wis.)
Maranatha Baptist Bible College will have six wrestlers competing in the field, including three juniors, a sophomore and two first-year competitors. Junior Warren Richard enters the tournament with a 7-10 record at 149 pounds, while first-year James Warren has a 5-13 record at 141.  MBBC placed fifth at the Northern Wrestling Association tournament.

Milwaukee School of Engineering (Wis.)
MSOE will have nine wrestlers competing in the regional field, including four lower-weight wrestlers who have 15-plus wins. Sophomore Luke Gaeth has a 23-6 record at 125 pounds, senior Austin Binish has a 19-6 record at 133, senior Matthew Ostovich has a 15-14 record at 141 and junior Dallas Schurg has a 21-10 record at 149.

MSOE placed third at the Northern Wrestling Association Championships, with Ostovich and Schurg joining sophomore Nick Miceli (133) in claiming individual titles. Gaeth and Binish placed second in their weight classes.

Pacific (Ore.)
Pacific enters the West Regional championship with high expectations after a season of significant growth. The Boxers finished the year with a 6-9 dual meet record, their most dual victories since 2004-05. The ledger includes victories over three of four teams in December's Wartburg Desert Duals, including a 19-18 win over then No. 28 ranked Loras. The Boxers also claimed a 27-18 win in January over No. 2 (NAIA) ranked Southern Oregon.

The Boxers are led by junior Caleb Malychewski, who will compete at 184 pounds after placing fourth at last year's regional in the 174-pound class.  Malychewski owns a 28-7 record and was ranked No. 9 in the weight class in the Feb. 13 NWCA Division III individual rankings. Sophomore Eric Harder is 23-11 at 133 pounds and was ranked No. 10 nationally in the Feb. 13 NWCA poll. Other Pacific wrestlers to watch include sophomore Ryan Baxter, who placed sixth in last year's regional at 141 pounds, and junior Bruce Balcita, who enters with a 19-11 record at 165 pounds.

Saint John's (Minn.)
Saint John's finished second at last year's NCAA regional and returns two national qualifiers. Senior Mitch Hagen leads a Johnnie squad that hopes to match or exceed last year's total of five national qualifiers. Hagen is currently ranked fourth nationally at 184 pounds and touts a 13-4 record. Senior Chris Stevermer qualified for the national tournament at 157 pounds last year but made the cut down to 149 since February this season. He has a 13-5 record.

Junior Nick Schuler suffered a high-ankle injury days before the last year's regional where he was seeded second at 165 pounds. He is currently 14-1 on the season and has a 41-9 record over the past two years. First-Year Josh Willaert leads the team in both wins (17-3) and pins (6) at 174 pounds.

St. Olaf (Minn.)
St. Olaf will enter this weekend's regional with five wrestlers claiming 13-plus wins, led by junior James Roach at 174 pounds, who has a 26-10 record. Senior Jacob Bohler has a 17-4 record at 157, while first-year Zach Gibson has a 16-13 record at 275. Sophomore Wesley Azariah has a 14-13 record at 125, and sophomore Carl Elmer has a 13-8 record at 149.

Wisconsin-Eau Claire
UW-Eau Claire will have eight wrestlers competing in the field, with three first-years, a sophomore and four juniors. Six wrestlers have 10-plus wins this season, led by first-year wrestler Nathaniel Behnke at 141, who has a 36-11 record. Junior Matt Rieckhoff has a 22-12 record this season at 184, after earning All-WIAC second-team honors this season. He has a 58-44 record in his three-season career for the Blugolds.

Junior Luke Ortscheid has 14 wins at 197, first-year Zach Sirny has 12 wins at 125, junior Steve Fisher has 11 wins at 149, and sophomore Brandon Stradel has 10 wins at 157.

Wisconsin-Oshkosh
UW-Oshkosh is led by junior Nazar Kulchytskyy, the 2012 NCAA Division III champion at 157 pounds. Wrestling at 165 pounds this year, Kulchytskyy owns a 33-1 record with 20 pins. He leads the nation in pins and points per match (5.44).

Other Titans hoping to contend are sophomore Tom Dahlke and junior Dan Schiferl. The 174-pound Schiferl is 13-4 with nine pins. Dahlke holds a 15-10 record at 157 pounds. UW-Oshkosh placed 14th at the NCAA Division III Championship last season for its best finish in 30 years.

Wisconsin-Platteville
Wisconsin-Platteville has seven wrestlers with double-digit win totals entering Saturday's regional, led by first-year 125-pounder Cole Ferguson, who has a 24-10 record. Ferguson earned second-team All-WIAC honors this season.

Three Pioneers have 15 wins -- first-year 157-pounder Mike Uliana, first-year 174-pounder Randy Wade and senior 197-pounder Joe Graziano. First-year 133-pounder Mason Bohm has 12 wins, and sophomore 141-pounder Tyler Henken has 11 wins.