Central Oklahoma, Lander among top contenders for NCAA DII Nationals title in Wichita, Kan., March 15-16

NCAA DII National Championship brackets

Full list of NCAA DII National Qualifiers

The NCAA DII National Championships are slated for March 15-16 in Wichita, Kansas. The event begins at 11 a.m. ET each day inside Hartman Arena, with finals scheduled for 8 p.m. ET Saturday. Eighteen individuals qualify at each weight for a total of 180 national qualifiers slated to compete.

In the last set of rankings prior to the NCAA tournament, defending champion Central Oklahoma led the group with 99 points and eight individuals ranked. The Bronchos are coming off of one of their best seasons and are seeking the 17^th national title in program history, and ninth in the Division II era.

No. 2 Lander will send nine to the tournament. St. Cloud State, ranked third, is a tough contender and has won five of the last eight team titles, will send eight, along with No. 4 Nebraska-Kearney, No. 5 McKendree, No. 24 Gannon and Central Oklahoma.

Qualifying seven athletes was No. 7 Wisconsin-Parkside, and No. 4 West Liberty, No. 8 Augustana and No. 8 Pitt-Johnstown will see six compete in Wichita.

There are seven returning national champions in the mix this weekend: Gavin Quiocho (133 pounds, Glenville State), Zackary Donathan (141 pounds, Tiffin), Nick Novak (157 pounds, St. Cloud State), Chase Luensman (165 pounds, Upper Iowa), Ty McGeary (184 pounds, West Liberty), Dalton Abney (197 pounds, Central Oklahoma) and Shawn Streck (285 pounds, Central Oklahoma). Abney is the only athlete that has the chance to win a third title and holds a career record of 86-6.

Along with seven returning champions, there are also four returning national runners-up in Jaxson Rohman (125 pounds, Augustana), Quentrevion Campbell (133 pounds, Chadron State), Christian Small (149 pounds, Lake Erie) and Derek Blubaugh (197 pounds, UIndy).

The No. 1 seeds at this year’s tournament are James Joplin of Lander (125), Gabe Hixenbaugh of Montevallo (133), Donathan of Tiffin (141), Small of Lake Erie (149), Novak of St. Cloud State (157), David Hunsberger of Lander (165), Scott Joll of UNC Pembroke (174), McGeary of West Liberty (184), Abney of Central Oklahoma (197) and Francesco Borsellino of West Liberty (285).

Region team champions coming into nationals were Gannon (Region I), Lander (Region II), Ashland (Region III), Central Oklahoma (Region IV), St. Cloud State (Region V) and Nebraska-Kearney (Region VI).

The two-day event will be held at Hartman Arena in Park City, Kansas, just north of Wichita, Kansas. Sessions begin at 11 a.m. each day, and the participants will wrestle through the quarterfinals on the first day of action. The event will be broadcast live on FloWrestling.

NCAA DII National Championships

At Harman Arena, Park City, Kansas, March 15-16

All times are in ET

Friday, March 15

11 a.m. | Preliminaries and First Round

6 p.m. | Quarterfinals and first-and-second round consolations

Saturday, March 16

11 a.m. | Semifinals, wrestle backs (seventh-, fifth-, and third-place matches)

8 p.m. | Championship finals