Preview: St. Cloud State and Notre Dame College expected to battle it out for NCAA Div. II team title, March 9-10

When: March 9-10

Where: US Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

How to watch: Trackwrestling.com

Rankings: Click here

Brackets: Click here

The team favorite: It could be a close team race as St. Cloud State leads Notre Dame College in the pre-championship rankings by four projected tournament points. The two squads have traded NCAA team championship performances the last four years, with defending champions Notre Dame also winning in 2014 while St. Cloud State claimed the crown in 2015 and 2016.

In the individual rankings, St. Cloud State is the only program to have 10 ranked wrestlers, including James Pleski, who is No. 1 at 149 pounds. Notre Dame has seven in the top-12, highlighted by No. 1 Kameron Teacher at heavyweight and Nos. 2 Ivan McClay at 125, Taylor Misuna at 149 and Fernie Silva at 157.

Speaking of individual rankings: Nine schools account for the 10 No. 1 wrestlers. In addition to St. Cloud State and Notre Dame, there are No. 1 guys representing Wisconsin-Parkside (Airk Furseth at 133 and Nick Becker at 174), Central Oklahoma (Eli Hale at 125), McKendree (Darren Wynn at 141), Pitt-Johnstown (Cody Law at 157), Ashland (Bret Romanzak at 165), CSU-Pueblo (JaVaughn Perkins at 184) and Shippensburg (Evan Ramos at 197).

Returning NCAA D2 champions: There are four returning national champions in the field, including two-time national champion Becker at 174, 2017 winner McClay at 125 and 2016 champs Wynn at 141 and Brett Velasquez of St. Cloud State at 125.

Becker is the only multiple-time NCAA D2 champion in the field. Since transferring from Central Michigan, Becker has been undefeated in his last two seasons.

Wynn took second in 2017 and Velasquez produced a third-place finish.

McClay, Wynn and Becker are all seniors, while Velasquez is a junior. He won his title as a freshman.

Returning runners-up: There are three wrestlers in the field that aim to reach the top of the podium after previously putting together runner-up finishes.

Teacher was second to Tiffin’s Garrett Gray last season at heavyweight, while Nick Fiegener of Cal Baptist came up short at 184 pounds to Garrett Lineberger of Notre Dame. Nick Crume from Indianapolis, who took third last year, made an appearance in the 2016 NCAA finals at 133 pounds.

Best weight: There are three real title threats at 125 pounds with two past national champions (McClay and Velasquez) in the mix and an undefeated newcomer ranked in the No. 1 spot (Hale).

Hale is a senior at Central Oklahoma, who transferred from Division I power Oklahoma State for his final collegiate run. Since coming onto the D2 scene, Hale has racked up a 20-0 perfect record and has defeated defending champ McClay this season.

Hale and McClay are on the top side of the bracket, setting up for an interesting semifinal, while Velasquez is on the bottom side.

National Duals champs: St. Cloud State proved to be a huge force as a dual team, handily taking the NWCA National Duals crown at the Division II level. The Huskies outscored their competition, 140-18, in the two-day event, which was held in Indianapolis in early January. St. Cloud State put up a 41-0 showing in the tournament finals. Overall on the season, the Huskies went undefeated, stringing together a 19-0 dual record.

2017 team results (top-five):
1. Notre Dame College – 103.5
2. St. Cloud State – 67
3. Cal Baptist – 56.5
4. Nebraska-Kearney – 55.5
5. McKendree – 47.5

2017 individual champions:
125 – Ivan McClay (Notre Dame College)
133 – Michael Labry (Ashland)
141 – Nate Rodriguez (Maryville)
149 – Keith Surber (Nebraska-Kearney)
157 – DeAndre Johnson (Limestone)
165 – Isaiah White (Notre Dame College)
174 – Nick Becker (Wisconsin-Parkside)
184 – Garrett Lineberger (Notre Dame College)
197 – Jacob Waste (Cal Baptist)
285 – Garrett Gray (Tiffin)