CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Wrestlers of the American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) embark on the Five Flags Center in Dubuque, Iowa Friday, February 25 and Saturday, February 26 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 Alliant Energy Powerhouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa for the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships. The American Rivers Conference and Cedar Rapids Tourism are hosting the 2022 National Championships in Cedar Rapids Friday, March 11 and Saturday, March 12. Visit the Championship site (linked above) for more information and get your tickets today!
The 18-team region consists of Augustana (Ill.),
Buena Vista,
No. 13 Central,
No. 3 Coe, Cornell,
Dubuque, Fontbonne (Mo.), Huntingdon,
No. 2 Loras,
Luther, No. 12 Millikin,
Nebraska Wesleyan, No. 8 North Central (Ill.), Schreiner (Texas),
Simpson, University of the Ozarks,
No. 1 Wartburg, and Westminster. The teams in bold represent the nine schools from the American Rivers Conference and the rankings come from the February 19th National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) dual-team rankings release.
In 2020, the last time the Lower Midwest Regional was held, Loras College captured the program’s first-ever NCAA Division III Regional Championship. Wartburg College captured the A-R-C title this year for the 29
th time in the last 30 seasons, and 39
th time in program history. With the top three teams in the country being at the Lower Midwest Regional, Wartburg, Loras, and Coe will battle for the region’s top spot.
Twenty-eight wrestlers among the 18 schools are ranked in the national top-10. Of those 28, 21 are from the American Rivers Conference. The rankings also display 22 returning All-Americans, and 10 prior national tournament qualifiers. Of the returning All-Americans, 17 are from the A-R-C, as are six of the 10 returning qualifiers.
Wartburg leads the way with six returning All-Americans, all represented in the national rankings – No. 2/2
Brady Kyner (Sr., 125lbs.), No. 2/3
Joe Pins (So., 133lbs.), No. 2/2
Kris Rumph (Jr., 149lbs.), No. 2/4
David Hollingsworth (Jr., 157lbs.), No. 2/2
Zane Mulder (So., 174lbs.), and No. 1/1
Kyle Briggs (Sr., 184lbs.). Rumph qualified for the NCAAs in 2019 and 2020, finishing 1-2 at 133lbs. in 2019. Briggs was a third-place finisher at 174lbs. in 2019 and qualified for the national tournament in 2020 before it was canceled due to Covid-19. Joining the ranked individuals from above are No. 4/5
Zayren Terukina (Jr., 141lbs.) and No. 9/11
Kobe Woods (Sr., 197lbs.).
Coe currently has six wrestlers ranked in the top-10 – No. 9/7
Alex Friddle (Jr., 125lbs.), No. 9/9
Bryce Parke (Fr., 133lbs.), No. 9/9
Tristin Westphal (Jr., 174lbs.), No. 9/8
Ryan Schott (Sr., 184lbs.), No. 8/10
Mathieu Arsenault (Fr., 197lbs.), and No. 2/2
Kaleb Reeves (Sr., 285lbs.). Of the Kohawks’ six ranked wrestlers, four are returning All-Americans.
The Duhawks have four wrestlers represented in the national rankings – No. 9/7
Daniel Ruiz (Sr., 149lbs.), No. 6/5
Zeke Smith (Jr., 157lbs.), No. 5/5
Jacob Krakow (Sr., 174lbs.) and No. 2/2
Shane Liegel (Jr., 184lbs.). All four of them are returning All-Americans, while three are returning national qualifiers. Ruiz finished second at 149lbs. in the Lower Midwest Regional in 2020, qualifying him for the NCAAs. Krakow earned All-America honors in 2019 with an eighth-place finish at the national tournament. He also qualified for the 2020 NCAAs before the pandemic shut it down. Liegel qualified for the 2020 NCAAs at 184lbs. as a freshman with an impressive record of 26-4.
Central has two wrestlers represented in the national rankings, No. 7/4
Shandon Akeo (5
th year, 125lbs.) and No. 10/6
Rob Areyano (Sr., 149lbs.). Areyano is a returning national qualifier, securing a third-place finish at 149lbs. at the Lower Midwest Regional in 2020.
Luther’s
Donovan Corn (Jr., 197lbs.), currently ranked No. 6/6, will fight for a trip to the national championships.
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
Friday, February 25, 2022
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
Saturday, February 26, 2022
10:00 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/3
rd/5
th/7
th place matches
Nationally Ranked Wrestlers
*Bolded/Italics = Returning All-Americans |
| Click Here for Full NWCA Individual Rankings |
Click Here for Full InterMat Individual Rankings |
| 125 lbs. |
125 lbs. |
| No. 2 Brady Kyner, Wartburg (Sr.) |
No. 2 Brady Kyner, Wartburg (Sr.) |
| No. 6 Nathan Rankin, University of the Ozarks (Sr.) - 2018 and 2020 Qualifier @ 125 |
No. 4 Shandon Akeo, Central (5th year) |
| No. 7 Shandon Akeo, Central (5th year) |
No. 5 Nathan Rankin, University of the Ozarks (Sr.) - 2018 and 2020 Qualifier @ 125 |
| No. 9 Alex Friddle, Coe (Jr.) |
No. 7 Alex Friddle, Coe (Jr.) |
| 133 lbs. |
133 lbs. |
| No. 1 Robbie Precin, North Central (Jr.) - 2020 Qualifier @ 125 |
No. 1 Robbie Precin, North Central (Jr.) - 2020 Qualifier @ 125 |
| No. 2 Joe Pins, Wartburg (So.) |
No. 3 Joe Pins, Wartburg (So.) |
| No. 9 Bryce Parke, Coe (Fr.) |
No. 9 Bryce Parke, Coe (Fr.) |
| 141 lbs |
141 lbs. |
| No. 3 Javen Estrada, North Central (Fr.) |
No. 3 Javen Estrada, North Central (Fr.) |
| No. 4 Zayren Terukina, Wartburg (Jr.) |
No. 5 Zayren Terukina, Wartburg (Jr.) |
| 149 lbs. |
149 lbs. |
| No. 2 Kris Rumph, Wartburg (Jr.) - 2019 and 2020 Qualifier @ 133 |
No. 2 Kris Rumph, Wartburg (Jr.) - 2019 and 2020 Qualifier @ 133 |
| No. 5 Alex Villar, North Central (So.) |
No. 5 Alex Villar, North Central (So.) |
| No. 9 Daniel Ruiz, Loras (Sr.) - 2020 Qualifier @ 149 |
No. 6 Rob Areyano, Central (Sr.) - 2020 Qualifier @ 149 |
| No. 10 Rob Areyano, Central (Sr.) - 2020 Qualifier @ 149 |
No. 7 Daniel Ruiz, Loras (Sr.) - 2020 Qualifier @ 149 |
| 157 lbs. |
157 lbs. |
| No. 2 David Hollingsworth, Wartburg (Jr.) |
No. 4 David Hollingsworth, Wartburg (Jr.) |
| No. 6 Zeke Smith, Loras (Jr.) |
No. 5 Zeke Smith, Loras (Jr.) |
| 165 lbs. |
165 lbs. |
| No. 2 Bradan Birt, Millikin (Sr.) - 7th (2018 @ 149), 6th (2019 @ 157), 2020 Qualifier @ 165 |
No. 1 Bradan Birt, Millikin (Sr.) - 7th (2018 @ 149), 6th (2019 @ 157), 2020 Qualifier @ 165 |
| No. 11 Casey Allen, Cornell (Sr.) |
No. 9 Casey Allen, Cornell (Sr.) |
| 174 lbs. |
174 lbs. |
| No. 2 Zane Mulder, Wartburg (So.) |
No. 2 Zane Mulder, Wartburg (So.) |
| No. 5 Jacob Krakow, Loras (Sr.) - 8th (2019 @ 174), 2020 Qualifier @ 174 |
No. 5 Jacob Krakow, Loras (Sr.) - 8th (2019 @ 174), 2020 Qualifier @ 174 |
| No. 9 Tristin Westphal, Coe (Jr.) |
No. 9 Tristin Westphal, Coe (Jr.) |
| 184 lbs. |
184 lbs. |
| No. 1 Kyle Briggs, Wartburg (Sr.) - 3rd (2019 @ 174), 2020 Qualifier @ 184 |
No. 1 Kyle Briggs, Wartburg (Sr.) - 3rd (2019 @ 174), 2020 Qualifier @ 184 |
| No. 2 Shane Liegel, Loras (Jr.) - 2020 Qualifier @ 184 |
No. 2 Shane Liegel, Loras (Jr.) - 2020 Qualifier @ 184 |
| No. 9 Ryan Schott, Coe (Sr.) |
No. 8 Ryan Schott, Coe (Sr.) |
| 197 lbs. |
197 lbs. |
| No. 2 Cody Baldridge, North Central (Sr.) - 2019 and 2020 Qualifier @ 184 |
No. 2 Cody Baldridge, North Central (Sr.) - 2019 and 2020 Qualifier @ 184 |
| No. 6 Donovan Corn, Luther (Jr.) |
No. 6 Donovan Corn, Luther (Jr.) |
| No. 8 Mathieu Arsenault, Coe (Fr.) |
No. 10 Mathieu Arsenault, Coe (Fr.) |
| No. 9 Kobe Woods, Wartburg (Sr.) |
No. 11 Kobe Woods, Wartburg (Sr.) |
| 285 lbs. |
285 lbs. |
| No. 2 Kaleb Reeves, Coe (Sr.) |
No. 2 Kaleb Reeves, Coe (Sr.) |
