Brackets released for the 2014 NCAA DIII National Wrestling Championships

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The brackets for the 2014 NCAA Division III National Wrestling Championships March 14-15 at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, have been released. Four of the five Olivet College wrestlers competing at the national championships have received a seed.

Senior Justin Holm (Battle Creek/Harper Creek) received the highest seed of the four Comets, No. 4 at 141 pounds. Seniors Gage Pederson (Hastings) and Jeff Holm (Battle Creek/Harper Creek) are both seeded No. 5 at 149 and 184 pounds, respectively. Senior Robbie Bidlingmaier (Chesterfield Twp./Anchor Bay), who competed at the national championships in 2012, earned the No. 6 seed at 125 pounds.

In the first round, Justin Holm will face Marcus Hamer from Augsburg (Minn.) College. Pederson will wrestle Elroy Perkin from University of Wis.-Whitewater. Jeff Holm will compete against David Dibenedetto from Washington & Jefferson (Pa.) College. Bidlingmaier will wrestle Nicolas Santos from North Central (Ill.) College, who he beat in the semifinals of the 2014 NCAA DIII Midwest Regional.

Also competing for the Comets will be junior Nick Allen (Scottville/Mason County Central). Unseeded at 174 pounds, he will face No. 3 seed Dan Schiferl from University of Wis.-Oshkosh in his opening match.

Olivet is one of 11 schools to qualify at least five wrestlers for the national championships. Wartburg (Iowa) College has the most with nine. Augsburg has eight, followed by Concordia University-Moorhead (Minn.) with seven. Six schools each have six qualifiers. Messiah (Pa.) College also has five wrestlers competing.

The Comets were ranked No. 4 in the final National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Dual Match rankings. That is believed to be the highest ranking ever in school history.

Fans will be able to follow all of the action from the tournament via live results and video on the NCAA.com website.