Kulchytskyy, Schiferl Seeded High For NCAA Championship

UW-Oshkosh's Nazar Kulchytskyy goes for a third title and Dan Schiferl his first All-America award at the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championship this weekend in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Competition begins at 11 a.m. on Friday (March 14) and 10 a.m. on Saturday (March 15) at the U.S. Cellular Center.

Kulchytskyy is the only NCAA champion in UW-Oshkosh history. He captured the 157-pound title in 2012 and the 165-pound crown last season. Kulchytskyy owns a career record of 137-5 (66 pins), including a 36-2 mark (20 pins) this year.

In the 157-pound bracket, Kulchytskyy is the top seed. He faces Kristopher Krawchuk (15-6) of Wilkes University (Pa.). Krawchuk finished second at the 2013 national meet.

If Kulchytskyy wins his opening match, he will take on Josh Etzel (29-3) of Washington & Jefferson College (Pa.).

Schiferl placed ninth at last season's NCAA Division III Championship. The 174-pounder holds a career record of 91-39 (32 pins), including 29-4 (seven pins) this year.

The third-seeded Schiferl starts against Nicholas Allen (24-8) of Olivet College (Mich.). If Schiferl wins, he will meet the winner between Conner Lefever (26-3) of Wabash College (Ind.) and Carlos Toribio (24-6) of Ithaca College (N.Y.).

Title matches are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. on Saturday.

Last season, UW-Oshkosh placed 17th in the team standings with 20 points. Wartburg College (Iowa) tallied 103 points to win the title, while Elmhurst College (Ill.) took second with 82 and UW-Whitewater third with 78.

By Jon Feyen