After a down-to-the-wire team battle at the Division III NCAA Championships last March, early indications are the title chase will be tight once again during the 2024-25 season.
Augsburg University matched Wartburg College with its 15th national title and second straight, finishing with 95 points — just 7.5 ahead of the second-place Knights. It was just the third time since 2000 that the winning team scored fewer than 100 points.
Teams to Watch
There should not be much change here at the top until something is proven different.
With eight wrestlers listed in the first set of Flowrestling Division III rankings, Augsburg opened the season in the #1 spot. The Auggies return a pair of two-time All-Americans in Cooper Willis (165) and Seth Goetzinger (174) as well as All-Americans Charlie Stuhl (149), Blake Jagodzinske (157) and Parker Venz (197).
The Auggies also bring back national qualifiers Wyatt Kaczrowski (125) and Chance Suddeth (133).
Wartburg — paced by two-time national champion Massoma Endene and returning All-Americans Kyler Romero (fifth at 141) and Charlie Dojan (third at 149) as of mid-November — checks in at #2. The Knights also have past NCAA qualifiers Nathan Fuller (165), Kasey Ross (184) and Mitchell Williamson (285) in the fold.
UW-La Crosse returns three national runner-up wrestlers in Tyler Goebel (149), Noah Leisgang (165) and Michael Douglas (285) and one other All-American, Ben Kawczynski at 197.
The Eagles have won eight straight Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles.
Led by returning national champion and two-time finalist Jared Stricker, the UW-Eau Claire BluGolds also return All-Americans Naill Schoenfelder and Zach Sato and national qualifier Izzy Balsiger.
Johnson & Wales has national champion Joziah Fry, and 2023 All-American Hayden Brown, who missed all of last year with an injury, while adding a highly touted freshman Peyton Ellis and Edinboro transfer Cameron Soda.
Coast Guard and Alvernia are two other teams to watch.
Wrestlers To Watch
This list has bookends starting with two-time NCAA 125-pound champion Joziah Fry of Johnson & Wales and ending with Wartburg College two-time national champion Massoma Endene at 197.
Fry owns a 69-1 mark and has never lost to a Division III wrestler.
Endene, who entered the transfer portal and went to Division I Wisconsin before transferring back to Wartburg, wrestled at the U23 World Championships and is coming off a dominating 12-1 win over Division II national champ Derek Blubaugh at the NWCA All-Star Classic.
But those two aren’t the only champs returning. Chase Randall of Coast Guard returns to defend his 133-pound crown and two-time national finalist and defending 174-pound champion Jared Stricker of UW Eau Claire is also back.
Looking to move up a step on the podium are seven returning national runner-up finishers — Christian Guzman of North Central (125), Jaden Hinton of Baldwin Wallace (133), Jacob Reed of Ohio Northern (141), Tyler Goebel of La Crosse (149), Peter Kane of Williams (157), Matthew Lackman of Alvernia (second at 165 in 2023), Tyler Goebel of La Crosse (165) and Michael Douglas of La Crosse (285).
Newcomers And Familiar Faces
At the Division III level, it’s hard to learn until after first semester who may be impactful as a newcomer on a team’s roster.
Here is a short list that will grow large by the end of the season:
Peyton Ellis and Cameron Soda (Johnson & Wales): Soda is off to an 11-0 start after transferring to Edinboro, while Ellis, who hails from the same high school as Fry, is coming off a high school career in which he went 115-0 and won four Rhode Island state titles.
Matthew Randolph (Augsburg): Randolph, a four-time Minnesota high school state finalist is off to a strong start for the Auggies. Max Borton, a Ursinus transfer, will also give Augsburg a lift.
Nathan Lackman (Alvernia): This name should be familiar. In 2023, Lackman won his second Division III national title for Rhode Island College by beating his younger brother, Matthew, in sudden victory for the 165 crown. After a year off, Lackman joins the Alvernia roster as a graduate student. He is off to an 8-1 start and is ranked second at 174 behind Stricker.
Dates To Circle
Dec. 14: North Central College Invitational will host UWL, UWEC, Wabash, Coe College and Baldwin Wallace.
Dec. 21: East Coast Duals: Johnson & Wales will host Baldwin Wallace, VTSU Castleton and Wabash at the Wildcat Center
Jan. 10-11: NWCA Multi-Divisional National Duals at the UNI-Dome, Cedar Falls, Iowa
Jan. 25: Wisconsin La Crosse at Augsburg
Jan. 30: Augsburg at Wartburg
March 14-15: NCAA Championships at the Amica Mutual Pavilion, Providence, R.I.
