On Jan. 30-31, Wheaton College will host the Pete Willson Wheaton Invitational which is shaping up to be one of the best in tournament history.  Initially a private college tournament hosting NCAA Division-I, II, III and NAIA institutions, the PWWI, over the last 20 years has transformed into a competition modeled after the NCAA tournament and has over 30 NCAA Division-III teams and one Division-II team.  The premier D-III tournament has been running since 1938 and is only outmatched in length by the NCAA D-I Tournament.
 
If teams are full strength and considering the latest NWCA and d3wrestle.com rankings, there are several possible matchups worth getting a good seat at King Arena on Friday and Saturday.  Winning by over 35 points in 2014, UW-Whitewater will try to repeat as team champion but will be challenged by a field with 10 teams ranked in the top 25 in the country.  UWW (2 NWCA, 2 d3wrestle.com), Messiah (3,8), Wabash (4,4), UW La Crosse (5,5), Mt. Union (8,7), John Carroll (13,NR), Alma (17,14), Baldwin Wallace (20,15), Ohio Northern (23,NR), Olivet (NR,24) and Heidelberg (25,26) are all entered into this year's field. 
 
In addition to a great team race, there are several possible matchups in every weight class that will have national significance.  Let the battle for the individual weight class championships begin....all rankings are from the latest NWCA poll and these are all probable matchups, as official entry doesn't happen until Friday.   It is incredible that there could be as many as 40 percent of the country's ranked wrestlers and five top-ranked individuals entered into the 2015 Pete Wilson Invitational.  Here is a brief look at the weight classes with special note that there are five number-one ranked individuals scheduled to wrestle at PWII.
 
125—The three top-ranked individuals are Lucas Malmberg (2, Messiah College), Jesse Gunter (3, Baldwin Wallace), and Nick Mancini (7, Mount Union).  You could also see 2014 NCAA qualifier Cole Ferguson (UW-Platteville), as well as returning placewinners from the tournament last year in Zach Denny (UWW) and Ronzel Darling (UW-Parkside).   Malmberg is the returning champion at this weight class where he beat Gunter in the finals.  Malmberg finished as NCAA runner-up and Gunter was third in the same tournament last year. 
 
133—This weight class features the returning Pete Willson champion and top-ranked wrestler in the country at this weight, Jerermy Border (1, Mt. Union).  The field is deep though and several ranked wrestlers will be looking to knock off Border.  Ronny Hauser (5, UWW), Sean Ambrocio (7, Concordia, WI), Dustin Weinmann (10, UW-La Crosse) are having great years with Ambrocio a returning All American from 125 in 2014 and Weinmann being a 2014 NCAA Qualifier.  2014 placewinners Joe Her (UW Parkside) and Brandon Preston (Trine) could add excitement.
 
141—This weight class features returning Pete Willson champion, returning NCAA Champion and the top-ranked wrestler in the country at this weight, Kaleb Loht (1, Messiah).  Even better, we could see the NCAA championship finals rematch with NCAA runner up Matt Adcock (10, UWW) as an entry.  This weight class also includes 2014 NCAA qualifiers Bryant Roby (Mt. Union), Logan Meister (Ferrum-schools first ever!), and Nathaniel Behnke (UW Eau Claire, All American 2013). UW-Stevens Point's Jared Kust (Shawano, WI/Shawano) has defeated both Adcock and Behnke already this season.
 
149—Dan Mirman (5) from John Carroll University looks to make it back-to-back championships.  He will face a stiff challenge from Elroy Perkin (4, UWW).  These two met two times in the NCAA tournament in 2014 with Mirman winning the quarterfinal matchup and Perkin winning the fifth-place match.  Also in contention for a title is Kasey Einerson (2, UW-La Crosse) who just suffered his first loss of the season to Perkin.  Nathan Segal (North Central) and Kyle Witgen (Olivet) are former PWWI placewinners. 
 
157—With the most returning All Americans, this is a very deep weight class this weekend with some quarterfinal matchups being ranked nationally.  There are the most returning All Americans in this weight class.   Reece LeFever (3, Wabash), Jon Garrison (5, Mt Union), Larry Cannon (8, Messiah) and Tom Gerszewski (10, UWW) are all nationally-ranked.  LeFever was fourth at the NCAA tournament, while Garrison was sixth in the same bracket.   Throw in Wheaton's All American Mark Savenok and this should have fireworks on Friday night! 
 
165—Another exciting weight making for an interesting Friday, the ranked wrestlers are Terner Gott (4, John Carroll), Matt Tuttle (5, Alma), Tyler Schneider (6, UW-La Crosse), Stephen Aiello (8, Wheaton) and David Shapiro (10, Baldwin Wallace).   In addition, this weight will have UW-Parkside's Nick Fishback who is ranked in the Division-II ranks and placed high in past PWWI.  Fishback may be a top seed but Gott and Tuttle have not lost in the current season and Wheaton's Aiello was seventh at the 2014 NCAA tournament.
 
174—Once again, nationally-ranked wrestlers will be meeting in the quarters on Friday night.  Connor LeFever (2, Wabash), Josh Thompsen (3, Messiah), Nick Allen (6, Olivet), Jamie Jakes (8, Alma), and Jordan Newman (10, UWW) are the five ranked wrestlers at this weight.  Allen, LeFever, Jakes and Thomsen were all 2014 NCAA Qualifiers.  Thomsen is a two-time All-American and Jakes was Alma College's first NCAA qualifier. 
 
184—You have probably noticed the LeFever name in the above analysis and the third member of that family comes in as returning NCAA Champion and top-ranked brother Riley.  Riley had an amazing undefeated freshman year for Wabash and fans will enjoy his style of wrestling.  Challenging for the top spot will be Richard Carlson (5, UW-La Crosse) and Ryan Aprahamian (8, UWW).  Former placers include Thomas Reyhons (Augustana), Richard Dowdly (Heidelberg) and Wheaton All-American Dan Olson. 
 
197—There are two former PWWI champions at this weight in Eric Twohey (5, UW-La Crosse) and Shane Siefert (1, UWW).  Twohey won the title last year at 184 and has moved up to challenge defending champion Siefert at this weight.  These two may be on a collision course unless someone in the field, including Jake Reuteler (9, Concordia, WI) can slow them down. 
 
285—Fans of the heavyweight class, the top-three ranked wrestlers in the country will enter and contend the rankings.  Cody Lovejoy (1, Ohio Northern) leads Division-III wrestling with 17 pins this season.  Also ranked in the weight are Mackenzie Green (2, Trine), Nino Majoy (3, Heidelberg) and Anthony Edgren (8, UWW).  Lovejoy, Green and Edgren are all past All-Americans and the winner of this weight class may be the next number one-ranked man!