NCAA Division III Individual Preview; Augsburg, Upper Iowa wrestlers lead top-ranked class

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Michael Carnes (USA Wrestling)
11/09/2001


The National Wrestling Coaches Association broke down the top eight wrestlers in each of the 10 weight classes in Division III, and Augsburg and Upper Iowa each had two wrestlers ranked at the top of their classes.    The Auggies start the year with defending champion Darin Betram ranked first at 125 pounds and national runner-up Nick Slack leading the way at 174 pounds.    Upper Iowa starts the year with Jesus Wilson on top at 133 pounds and Cliff Thompson ranked first at 197 pounds.    Four defending national champions start the year at No. 1 in their weight classes, including Betram, Lenny Baker of SUNY-Brockport (141), Garrett Kurth of Luther College (149) and Dan Weber of Wheaton College (165).    Here¹s a breakdown of the ones to watch for in each weight class:    125 Pounds  Darin Bertram of Augsburg leads a talented field in the lightest weight, coming off his 7-4 win over Anthony Conte of College of New Jersey in last year¹s finals.    Conte was listed in the preseason NWCA rankings, due mostly to the fact he will be out of action while recovering from knee surgery and isn¹t expected back until after the first of the year.    Returning All-Americans Jamie Taxted of Buena Vista, Carlos Restrepo of Ithaca and Vinny Pedalino of Western Maryland lead the field in this weight class. Pedalino is the only junior in the top four. King¹s College sophomore Mitch Marcks (7th) and St. John¹s junior Matt Vos (8th) are also ranked underclassmen in this weight.    Calvin Johnson of Springfield and Zach Audetat of Luther College are seniors ranked fifth and sixth, respectively.    133 Pounds  Jesus Wilson of Upper Iowa is the man to beat here, while last year¹s runner-up, Dan Flounders of College of New Jersey, looks to take that last step up the medal stand.    Four returning All-Americans are ranked in the preseason here, with Josh Habeck of Wisconsin-LaCrosse (3rd), Joe Havig of Wartburg (4th) and Bryan Miller of Augsburg (6th) in the top eight early on.     Ithaca senior Tom Hall is rated fifth in this weight class, with King¹s College sophomore Mike Griffith ranked seventh and Wisconsin-Stevens Point junior Brady Holtz rated eighth.    141 Pounds  Lenny Baker looks to defend his title at 141 this year, and the  SUNY-Brockport senior will start the year in the same place he ended last year.    Augsburg¹s Brad Fisher, who lost a 5-3 decision to Baker in the finals last year, is ranked second to start the season. Three other All-Americans hold down the 4-6 spots, with Brady Cudd of Wisconsin-LaCrosse, Mark Foresi of Trinity and Shawn Whyte of Waynesburg in behind third ranked Keith Polosky of Springfield. Tony Ganas of Wartburg and Jim Morgan of King¹s College round out the top eight.    149 Pounds  Garrett Kurth of Luther College won the national title here last year and will start the 2001-2002 season in that same position.    Andy Vogel of Messiah College, who was pinned by Kurth in the finals last year, is ranked second in the preseason, followed by returning All-Americans Mike Markovick of John Carroll University and Zak Kallai of Case Western Reserve.    Rounding out the top eight here are Rami Ratel of Montclair State, Rob Johnson of Western Maryland, Bill Holsinger of Muhlenberg and Tony Quance of Augsburg.    157 Pounds  Four returning All-Americans lead the pack here, led by Wilmington senior Jimmy Wallace, the bronze medalist here last year.    Matt Moscatello of College of New Jersey, Jesse Reyerson of Luther College and Troy Hall of Pacific fall in behind Wallace. Rounding out the top eight here are Kevin Bratland of Wartburg, Augsburg senior Jeremy Jierle, Wisconsin-Stevens Point¹s Nathan Preslaski and King¹s College junior Dave Shafer.    165 Pounds  Returning national champion Dan Weber of Wheaton College leads a solid field here to start the season.    Tony Abbot of Augsburg, Dan Anderson of Mount Union and James Henderson of College of New Jersey are also returning All-Americans who are rated two through four, respectively.    Also ranked here in the preseason are Jorge Borgen of Upper Iowa, Chris Nader of Case Western Reserve, Kevin Powell of Wartburg and Noah Seitel of Oswego State.    174 Pounds  Nick Slack of Augsburg is the only returning All-American at this weight class, and looks to improve on his runner-up finish of last year.    There is plenty of talent falling in behind Slack this year, led by Montclair State sophomore Alex Aliakseyanka and Cortland State senior Anthony Stewart.    Rounding out the rankings here are Ben Bly of Wisconsin-LaCrosse, Josh DeMarco of Ohio Northern, Andy Hull of Lycoming, Jim Hamilton of Wisconsin-Platteville and James Gilbert of Johnson and Wales.    184 Pounds  2001 bronze medalist Andy Kazik of Lawrence University gets the nod as the No. 1 wrestler here by the NWCA coaches. He leads a list of four returning All-Americans at the top of the rankings here.    Andy Povenski of Delaware Valley is followed by Sonny Alvarez of Wartburg and Jason Schlingman of King¹s College. Rounding out the top eight here are Bill Kopecky of the University of Chicago, Tony Wallace of RIT, Paul Cleary of Loras and Todd Carone of Montclair State.    197 Pounds  Three senior All-Americans return here, led by Cliff Thompson of Upper Iowa, who finished fourth at nationals last year.    Also returning at 197 pounds are Jarrod Martin of Mount St. Joseph¹s and  Kevin Rasmussen of Augsburg, who finished fifth and sixth, respectively, last year.    Rounding out the top eight are Yan White of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Chris McNally of Western Maryland, Anthony Viola of Cortland State, Bart George of Simpson and Corey Fleisher of Wilkes.    Heavyweight  This weight bracket could prove to be one of the more interesting brackets, with five returning All-Americans leading the rankings here. Runner-up Jamie Salazar of Manchester College gets the nod here over Wisconsin-LaCrosse senior Jason Ott, who was third at nationals. Eric Urdzik of John Carroll University, Leroy Gardner of Wartburg and Dax Doran of Buena Vista also return as All-Americans from last year.     Rounding out the field of ranked heavyweights are Marcelle Roberson of Springfield, Jon Small of Pacific and Tyler Cathey of Muhlenberg.