Joe Norton and Eric Keller knew something did not feel right.

The two veteran head coaches sat in a meeting room inside the then U.S. Cellular Center in 2020 as the NCAA conducted a pre-Division III national championship coaches meeting.

The whole vibe felt weird, but hope remained prevalent in the face of a world pandemic.

Less than 30 minutes after leaving that meeting room, hope vanished for Norton, North Central College’s head coach, and Keller, head coach at Wartburg College.

Within minutes of leaving that meeting, an email was circulated, and an announcement was made over the arena’s loudspeakers that the 2020 NCAA Division III wrestling championships were being canceled with the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging the country.

“I remember that (the meeting) very clearly,” Norton said. “We were back at the hotel. We pulled all five of our qualifiers into our hotel room and told them. It was pretty hard. It was one of the hardest things I had to do as a coach.”

Keller and his staff were commuting back to their team hotel when the message came.

“We honestly expected something was up,” Keller said of the meeting. “It was really odd. It was just really odd. The way they were talking … you could just tell there was something they weren’t or couldn’t say.

“We expected something was up when we left. It was so bizarre and really heartbreaking.”

A year later, the rug was ripped out from under Division III wrestlers for the second time when the NCAA called the championships two months before they were set to happen.

So, now, 48 hours until the first whistle blows Friday at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where that devastating news was delivered two years ago, Division III wrestlers across the country are ecstatic to be back at a championship event. 

“Feeling grateful that we are competing in a national championship event,” Keller said. “Who would’ve ever predicted you would get two years swept out from underneath you. I know for our guys we are not taking anything for granted. This is opportunity is special and they are fired up for it.

“I really think that is truthful for everyone who will participate this week.”

Keller’s Wartburg squad is one of four teams with seven qualifiers, the most in the field. The Knights are joined by Augsburg University, Baldwin Wallace University, and Wabash College. Wartburg’s seven qualifiers are all seeded fourth or better.

Norton, who has five qualifiers, including two #1 seeds in Robbie Precin at 133 and Cody Baldridge at 197, is not changing a thing from what the Cardinals did in 2020.

“I was telling our SID for our website preview that we are staying in the same hotel and taking the same minibus we took in 2020. We’re going to pull up to the arena and we are going to act as we’ve been in a two-year Twilight Zone and will be picking up where we left off.

“It is kind of a full-circle thing getting to come back to where we were supposed to compete two years ago.”

This will be the first championship since the 2019 version in Roanoke, Virginia, and many of the faces will be different.

Just 22 of the 180 qualifiers were in the field in 2019, with an additional Division II national qualifier and an NAIA national qualifier from 2019 also in the field.

There is one returning national champion in Mount Union’s Jordin James, who claimed the 133-pound crown in Roanoke.

There are nine other 2019 returning All-Americans. Wabash’s Carlos Champagne was seventh at 125. Brett Kaliner of Stevens Institute is the top seed at 149 and was third at that same weight. In that tournament, Kaliner beat this year’s second seed, Wartburg’s Kristian Rumph, 11-2, in the quarterfinals.

The top seed at 157, Kaidon Winters of Rochester Institute was fifth at 157. Millikin’s Braden Birt, the top seed at 165, was sixth in Roanoke at 157, and the third seed at 165, Kyle Hatch of Wabash was sixth at 165. In the seventh-place match at 174 in 2019, Chicago’s Ben Sarasin beat Loras College’s Jacob Krakow, 9-5.

Wartburg’s Kyle Briggs was third at 174, and Antonio McCloud was eighth at 197.

This weekend’s 184-pound field has six wrestlers who wrestled in the post-season in 2019, including former NAIA All-American Mahlic Sallah of Roanoke.

Division II

Expect another tight team race at the Chaifetz Center in St. Louis Friday and Saturday.

A year ago, St. Cloud State secured the national title on the tournament’s final match when Kameron Teacher won the heavyweight title match. Teacher’s win pushed St. Cloud State to 107 points — 1.5 more than second-place Nebraska-Kearney. 

St. Cloud State will have some work to do to make it four in a row. The Huskies qualified just seven wrestlers, while the Lopers qualified nine. Four teams – Central Oklahoma, Augustana (S.D.), Gannon, and West Liberty each qualified eight.

Breaking down the field

125:  The top-three finishers return highlighted by defending champion Cole Laya of West Liberty. UNC-Pembroke’s Nicholas Daggett is seeded fifth after taking second last year, and Joe Arroyo of UW-Parkside, third last year is seeded seventh. Paxton Rosen of Central Oklahoma, sixth in 2021, is the #2 seed, and three-time All-American and 2019 runner-up Josh Portillo of Nebraska-Kearney is seeded sixth. Finally, McKendree’s Christian Mejia, fifth in 2021, is seeded fourth.

133: In the first five pigtail or first-round matches in the tournament, defending national runner-up Garrett Vos, the seven seed, will face Lindenwood’s Tanner Hitchcock in a pigtail match. Central Oklahoma’s Tanner Cole is the top seed after finishing third last year, and Wesley Dawkins of Nebraska-Kearney, fourth in 2021, is the second seed.

141: In a pigtail match, second-seeded Branson Proudlock of Findlay, seventh in 2021, will face Upper Iowa’s Tate Murty, sixth a year ago. St. Cloud State’s Joey Bianchini, second last year, is the top seed. Four other returning All-Americans are in the field – Christian Small of King, Colby Smith of Lindenwood, Nick James of Nebraska-Kearney, and defending 133-pound national champion Tyler Warner of West Liberty.

149: Last season’s 141-pound champion Isiah Royal of Newberry is the top seed. Three other All-Americans return – Adams State’s Noah Hermosillo, Nebraska-Kearney’S Sam Turner, and Ashland’s Carson Speelman. Central Oklahoma’s Brik Filippo is the two seed.

157: Two-time junior college All-American Anthony Herrera of St. Cloud State has earned the top seed. John Ridle of Central Missouri, a transfer from Gardner Webb, is the two seed. Adams State’s Josiah Rider, who started his career at North Carolina State, is the three seed. All-Americans Nick Young of Gannon, Braydon Huber of Mary, Ty Lucas of Central Oklahoma, Baltazar Gonzalez of American International, and Dawson Combest of Indianapolis are also in the field.

165: Four-time All-American and 2019 157-pound national champion Matt Malcolm of Nebraska-Kearney is the top-seed. Shane Gantz of UW-Parkside is the second seed. Malcolm beat Gantz, 5-3, in last year’s quarterfinals. Returning All-American John Dean of Belmont Abbey, who Malcolm beat in the fifth-place match last year is the three seed.

174: Six All-Americans return at this weight – top-seeded Austin Eldredge of Nebraska-Kearney was fourth at 184 in 2021. Daniel Beemer of Ashland, Brock Biddle of Pitt-Johnstown, Trevor Turrif of Minnesota State, Andrew Sams of Indianapolis, and Josh Jones of McKendree are also in the field. Augustana’s Cade Mueller is the two seed.

184: Five returning All-Americans are back, including defending champion Heath Gray of Central Oklahoma, who is the two seed. The man he beat in last year’s final, Conner Craig of West Liberty, is the top seed. Gray’s lone loss this season is to third seed Billy Higgins of Nebraska-Kearney. Anderson Salisbury of the Colorado School of Mines, Caden Steffen of Southwest Minnesota State and Dan Filipek of McKendree are the other three returning A-A’s.

197: Undefeated Dalton Abney of Central Oklahoma is the top seed one year after he finished second. Returning All-Americans Noah Ryan of St. Cloud State, also undefeated, and Donald Negus of Colorado Mesa are also back in the field. Negus is unseeded.

HWT: 2019 national champion Andrew Dunn of Kutztown is the top seed. He is unbeaten in 20 matches. The second seed Darrell Mason of Minnesota State, an NJCAA national runner-up in 2020, is also undefeated. That just kicks off the heavyweight field. Defending national champion Kameron Teacher is the four seed. National runner-up Weston Hunt of the Colorado School of Mines is unseeded. Then on the top half of the bracket, returning All-Americans Steve Hajas of Augustana, third last year, but unseeded this time will face Francesco Borsellino of West Liberty, seventh last year, in a first-round match. The winner has a potential meeting with Dunn in the quarters.

Grand View Reigns Again In NAIA

Recapping NAIA championships: Grand View University captured its 10th title in 11 years in Wichita over the weekend as the Vikings dominated. Four the fourth time in school history and fourth time in NAIA history, Grand View scored more than 200 points with a winning tally of 206.5. The Vikings all-time best championship total came in 2017 when they scored 234.5 points.

Over the two-day event, the Vikings recorded 11 falls, four technical falls and nine major decisions. Grand View opened the tournament by winning its first 20 matches and put 10 wrestlers into the finals.

Grand View had six finalists with Esco Walker at 125, Israel Casarez at 157 and Casey Randles at 174. Marty Margolis at 165, Ben Lee at 184 and Greg Hagan at 285 took second.

In the history column, Grand View’s Justin Portillo became the first five-time NAIA All-American by taking third at 125, while Isaac Bartel of Montana-Northern matched that feat when he took second at 197.

Other champions were Connor Gimson, of Indiana Tech, who won his second straight at 133. Doane’s Baterdene Boldmaa won his third NAIA championship at 141, Denver Stonecheck of Life won at 149, Cole Smith of Cumberland at 165, Eric Vermillion of Indiana Tech repeated at 174, Zane Lanham of Life took the 197 crown and Gage Braun of Southeastern won at 285.