Lander Tops NCAA Division II Super Region II Men’s Wrestling Preseason Poll
GREENWOOD, S.C. – The NCAA Division II Super Region II men’s wrestling preseason rankings were released on Tuesday and Lander topped the rankings with 102 total points.
Eleven of the 14 Conference Carolinas institutions make up Super Region II in men’s wrestling and 10 programs received points in the poll which are based off of how many wrestlers each program has ranked in their individual weight classes. The poll was voted on by league head coaches.
Among all programs, seven teams had five or more wrestlers ranked, six teams had seven or more wrestlers ranked and Lander was the lone program with a wrestler ranked in all 10 weight classes.
Newberry was second in the poll with 66 points followed by Mount Olive (60), UNC Pembroke (60) and King (59) to round out the top five.
Lander had six wrestlers ranked No. 1 in their respective weight classes, as James Joplin, Elijah Lusk, Zeth Brower, David Hunsberger, Anthony Yacovetti and Juan Edmond-Holmes ranked No. 1 at 125, 133, 149, 165, 197 and 285, respectively. Belmont Abbey had two wrestlers ranked No. 1 in their weight class, with John Carayianis (141) and Max Kiel (157) leading the way for the Crusaders. Calan Staub of Mount Olive (174) and ZeBrandon Gant of Newberry (184) each ranked No.1 in their respective weight classes to round out the individual honorees.
The complete poll is available here.