Cedar Rapids, Iowa -- Wrestlers of the American Rivers Conference embark on the Five Flags Center in Dubuque Iowa Saturday, February 29 and Sunday, March 1 for the Lower Midwest Regional, each wrestlers' opportunity to punch their ticket to the NCAA Division III Championships.

The regional serves as the NCAA's qualifier for the National Championships, with the top three wrestlers at each weight advancing. One-hundred and eighty qualifiers will emerge from this weekend's six regionals to line up inside the U.S. Cellular for the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships. The American Rivers Conference and Cedar Rapids Tourism are hosting the 2020 National Championships in Cedar Rapids, Iowa Friday, March 13 and Saturday, March 14. Visit the Championship site (linked above) for more information and get your tickets today!

The 18-team region consists of Augustana (Ill.), Buena Vista, Central, No. 5 Coe, Cornell, No.25 Dubuque, Fontbonne, Huntingdon, No.1 Loras, No.20 Luther,  MacMurray, Millikin, Nebraska Wesleyan, No.14 North Central (Ill.), Simpson, University of the Ozarks, No.2 Wartburg,  and Westminster. The teams in bold represent the nine schools from the American Rivers Conference and the rankings come from the February 24th National Wrestling Coaches Association dual-team rankings release (NWCA).

Wartburg College captured their seventh consecutive Regional Championship last year but Loras College will look to mix up the team standings in 2020, just as they did in the American Rivers Conference (A-R-C), having snapped Wartburg's 220 consecutive conference dual win streak on February 14, 2020. As the fifth-ranked team in Division III, Coe College will also battle for the region's top spot. 

Twenty-five wrestlers among the 18 schools are ranked in the national top-10. Of those 25, 16 are from the American Rivers Conference. The rankings also display nine returning All-Americans, and six prior national tournament qualifiers. Of the returning All-Americans, eight are from the A-R-C, as are three of the six returning qualifiers. 

Loras leads the way with five returning All Americans, all represented in the national rankings - No.4/4 Clint Limbeck (Sr., 141lbs.), No.4/2 Brandon Murray (Sr., 157lbs.), No.4/2 Eddie Smith (Sr., 165lbs.), No.4/5 Jacob Krakow (Jr., 174lbs.), and No.1 Guy Patron Jr. (Sr., 197lbs.). Lembeck finished third at 141lbs. in 2019 and qualified for the national tournament in 2017. Murray was a fourth-place finisher at 157lbs. a season ago, as was Smith at 165lbs. Krakow garnered All-American honors in 2019 with an eighth place finish at 174lbs. First-year 184-pounder, Shane Liegel is also nationally ranked (No.8/7). Patron Jr., a three-time All-American for the Duahwks finished sixth a season ago. The 197-pounder claimed National Runner-up accolades in 2018 and took thrid as a freshman in 2017. 

Wartburg currently has eight wrestlers ranked in the top-10 - No.7/8 Brady Kyner (Jr., 125lbs.), No.1/1 Kristian Rumph (So., 133lbs.), No.5/6 Brady Fritz (So., 141lbs.), No.10 Martin Sandoval (Sr., 157lbs.), No.2/NR Max Forsyth (Sr., 165lbs.), No.2/2 Kyle Briggs (Jr., 184lbs.), No.3/4 Kobe Woods (Jr. 197lbs.), and No.8/NR Jordan Brandon (Jr., 285lbs.). Of the Knights' eight ranked wrestlers, two are returning All-Americans. Briggs took home a third place finish a season ago at 174lbs. and Fritz earned sixth at 141lbs. Kyner and Rumph both qualified for the national tournament in 2019 but did not reach the awards stand. 

The Kohawks have three wrestlers represented in the national rankings, led by No.2/2 Taylor Mehmen (Sr., 197lbs.). Mehmen garnered All-American honors in 2019 with a fifth place finish at 197lbs. Also ranked for Coe is No.NR/9 Tristin Westphal (Fr., 174lbs.) and No.NR/6 Kaleb Reeves (So., 285lbs.). 

Central's Dan Radcliffe (Sr., 141lbs.), currently ranked No.10/5, will fight for a return to the national championships after having qualified in 2017.

University of Dubuque heavyweight, No.NR/9 Darryl Aiello (Jr.) rounds out the A-R-C's ranked wrestlers.  

Additionally, the tournament will feature four returning All-Americans that are not represented in the most recent national rankings. Returning All-Americans not currently ranked include - Josh Edel, Coe (Sr., 184lbs.), Cole Erickson, Coe (Sr., 157lbs.), Eron Haynes, Nebraska Wesleyan (So., 133lbs.), and Brock Rathbun, Wartburg (Jr., 149lbs.). Edel took eighth in the 184lbs. bracket at last year's NCAA championships, while Erickson took third at 157lbs. in 2018 and sixth at 149lbs. in 2017. Haynes was an eighth place finisher at 125lbs. in 2019. Rathbun climbed to the top of the podium in 2018 as the 133lbs. National Champion. He also qualified for the national tournament in 2019 at 133lbs.  

For a full list of ranked wrestlers competing in the Lower Midwest Regional, and those who are returning All-Americans/Qualifiers, view the table below. 

Schedule of Events
Saturday Feb 29, 2020
12:00 p.m.                  Doors open for spectators
1:00 p.m.                    Preliminary & First Round
3:00 p.m.                    Championship Quarterfinals & Consolation First & Second Round
                                   
Sunday Mar 1, 2020
10:15 a.m.                  Doors open for Spectators
11:00 a.m.                  Championship Semifinal & Consolation Third Round                               
1:00 p.m.                    Consolation Semifinals
2:30 p.m.                    Championship/3rd/5th/7th place matches
 

Nationally Ranked Wrestlers *Bolded/Italics = Returning All-Americans
Click Here for full NWCA Individual Rankings	Click Here for full d3wrestle.com Individual Rankings
125 lbs.	125 lbs.
No.3 Robbie Precin, North Central (Fr.)	No.3 Robbie Precin, North Central (Fr.)
No.7 Brady Kyner, Wartburg (Jr.) - 2019 Qualifier	No.8 Brady Kyner, Wartburg (Jr.) - 2019 Qualifier
133 lbs.	133 lbs.
No.1 Kristian Rumph, Wartburg (So.) - 2019 Qualifier @ 149	No.1 Kristian Rumph, Wartburg (So.) - 2019 Qualifier @ 149
141 lbs.	141 lbs.
No.4 Clint Lembeck, Loras (Sr.) - 3rd (2019 @ 141), 2017 Qualifier	No.4 Clint Lembeck, Loras (Sr.) - 3rd (2019 @ 141), 2017 Qualifier
No.5 Brady Fritz, Wartburg (So.) - 6th (2019 @ 141)	No.5 Dan Radcliffe, Central (Sr.) - 2017 Qualifier @ 141
No.10 Dan Radcliffe, Central (Sr.) - 2017 Qualifier @ 141	No.6 Brady Fritz, Wartburg (So.) - 6th (2019 @ 141)
149 lbs.	149 lbs.
No.7 Sean Sax, Westminster (So.) - 2019 Qualifier @149	No.6 Sean Sax, Westminster (So.) - 2019 Qualifier @149
157 lbs.	157 lbs.
No.4 Brandon Murray, Loras (Sr.) - 4th (2019 @ 157)	No.2 Brandon Murray, Loras (Sr.) - 4th (2019 @ 157)
No.10 Martine Sandoval, Wartburg (Sr.)
165 lbs.	165 lbs.
No.2 Max Forsyth, Wartburg (Sr.)	No.2 Eddie Smith, Loras (Sr.) - 4th (2019 @ 165)
No.4 Eddie Smith, Loras (Sr.) - 4th (2019 @ 165)	No.5 Bradan Brit (Jr.) - 6th (2019 @157), 7th (2018 @ 149)
No.6 Bradan Brit (Jr.) - 6th (2019 @157), 7th (2018 @ 149)
174 lbs.	174 lbs.
No.4 Jacob Krakow, Loras (Jr.) - 8th (2019 @ 174)	No.5 Jacob Krakow, Loras (Jr.) - 8th (2019 @ 174)
	No.9 Tristin Westphal, Coe (Fr.)
184 lbs.	184 lbs.
No.2 Kyle Briggs, Wartburg (Jr.) - 3rd (2019 @ 174)	No.2 Kyle Briggs, Wartburg (Jr.) - 3rd (2019 @ 174)
No.5 Cody Baldridge, North Central (So.) - 2019 Qualifier @ 184	No.7 Shane Liegel, Loras (Fr.)
No.8 Shane Liegel, Loras (Fr.)	No.8 Cody Baldridge, North Central (So.) - 2019 Qualifier @ 184
197 lbs.	197 lbs.
No.1 Guy Patron Jr., Loras (Sr.) - 6th (2019 @ 197), 2nd (2018 @ 197), 3rd (2017 @ 197)	No.1 Guy Patron Jr., Loras (Sr.) - 6th (2019 @ 197), 2nd (2018 @ 197), 3rd (2017 @ 197)
No.2 Taylor Mehmen, Coe (Sr.) - 5th (2019 @ 197)	No.2 Taylor Mehmen, Coe (Sr.) - 5th (2019 @ 197)
No.3 Kobe Woods, Wartburg (Jr.)	No.4 Kobe Woods, Wartburg (Jr.)
	No.7 Ben Bergen, North Central (Jr.)
285 lbs.	285 lbs.
No.2 Jerhett Lee, Ozarks (Sr.) - 2019 Qualifier @ 285	No.2 Jerhett Lee, Ozarks (Sr.) - 2019 Qualifier @ 285
No.8 Jordan Brandon, Wartburg (Jr.)	No.6 Kaleb Reeves, Coe (So.)
	No.9 Darryl Aiello, Dubuque (Jr.)

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