NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships Breakdown

Breaking down this weekend's NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids.

Top qualifiers

10 — St. Cloud State (Minn.)

7 — McKendree (Ill.), Notre Dame (Ohio), Pittsburgh-Johnstown (Pa.)

6 — Cal Baptist, Upper Iowa, Wisconsin-Parkside

5 — Adams State (Colo.), Ashland (Ohio), Minnesota State-Mankato, Nebraska-Kearney

Upper Iowa qualifiers

Maleek Williams (125)

Josh Walker (133)

Damian Penichet (149)

Dalton Hahn (184)

Nick Baumler (197)

Logan Hopp (Hwt.)

Top-ranked wrestlers (InterMat)

125 — Eli Hale, Central Oklahoma

133 — Airk Furseth, UW-Parkside

141 — Darren Wynn, McKendree

149 — James Pleski, St. Cloud State

157 — Cody Law, Pitt-Johnstown

165 — Bret Romanzak, Ashland

174 — Nick Becker, UW-Parkside;

184 — JaVaughn Perkins, CSU-Pueblo

197 — Evan Ramos, Shippensburg

Hwt. — Kameron Teacher, Notre Dame

NWCA top 10 teams

1. St. Cloud State

2. Notre Dame (Ohio)

3. Cal Baptist

4. McKendree

5. Ashland

6. Pitt-Johnstown

7. Nebraska-Kearney

8. (tie) Upper Iowa and Minnesota State-Mankato

10. (tie) Central Oklahoma and Indianapolis

Returning national champions

Ivan McClay, Notre Dame (125)

Brett Velasquez, St. Cloud State (125)

Darren Wynn, McKendree (141)

Nick Becker, UW-Parkside (174)

Unbeaten wrestlers

Eli Hale, Central Oklahoma (20-0 at 125)

Darren Wynn, McKendree (26-0 at 141)

Nick Becker, UW-Parkside (20-0 at 174)

Dakota Deslauriers, Mercyhurst (10-0 at 184)

Jordan Murphy, Ashland (22-0 at 184)

Champion predictions

125 — Brett Velasquez, St. Cloud State

133 — Josh Walker, Upper Iowa

141 — Darren Wynn, McKendree

149 — Taylor Misuna, Notre Dame

157 — Cody Law, Pitt-Johnstown

165 — Bret Romanzak, Ashland

174 — Nick Becker, UW-Parkside

184 — JaVaughn Perkins, CSU-Pueblo

197 — Vince Dietz, St. Cloud State

Hwt. — Kameron Teacher, Notre Dame

Team predictions

1. St. Cloud State

2. Notre Dame

3. UW-Parkside.

l Comments: (319) 368-8679; kj.pilcher@thegazette.com