Kulchytskyy, Schiferl Primed For NCAA Championship
Nazar Kulchytskyy (Jr. • Sosnivka, Ukraine) and Dan Schiferl (Jr. • Stoughton) will wrestle at the NCAA Division III Championship on Friday and Saturday (March 15-16) in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Kulchytskyy aims for his second national title after winning the 157-pound crown last year. He is seeded second at 165 pounds and will face Luther College's Garret Bonte (19-9) in his first match. If Kulchytskyy wins, he meets either Derrick Longo (29-5) of Springfield or Owen Vernon (18-4) of Centenary in the quarterfinal round.
Longo finished third in this weight class during 2012. The top seed is Wartburg College's Landon Williams (26-1), who won the 165-pound title last season.
This year, Kulchytskyy holds a 40-1 record while topping the nation with 22 pins. He is currently on a 35-match win streak that dates back to Nov. 27. Kulchytskyy's career record of 97-3 puts him within reach of 100 victories.
Schiferl is the sixth seed at 174 pounds. His first-round opponent will be either Augustana's Matt Burns (32-10) or Messiah's Ben Kramer (24-11). If Schiferl wins his bout, he matches up with SUNY-Cortland's Lou Puca (24-4) or Delaware Valley's Dallas Winston (19-12). The top seed is Ohio Northern's Kyle Kwiat (37-3).
Last season, Schiferl posted a 1-2 record at the NCAA Division III Championship. He lost his opening match, 9-4, before earning a pin (1:03) and then suffering a one-point defeat (3-2).
Schiferl has 12 pins in his 24 matches this year (20-4 record). He was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the West Regional on March 2. Schiferl owns a 60-32 record with 25 pins over the last three years.
Wartburg College (Iowa) has captured seven of the past 10 team championships. Following top-ranked Wartburg in the national poll is #2 UW-Whitewater, #3 Elmhurst College (Ill.), #4 SUNY-Cortland and #5 Ithaca College (N.Y.).
UW-Oshkosh is ranked 14th in the NCAA Division III. The Titans finished 14th at last season's national meet for their best finish in 30 years.