Men’s Central Region: 5 Burning Questions!

five fire

So it seems my counterpart on the women’s side has the first article out this fall which means I better get on my game. These newbies are excited to get things going and I will admit myself, that the fall brings a bit of giddiness with ITA tournaments just around the corner. The blog will be doing each region’s 5 burning questions as well as a preview of the ITA tournaments and recaps once they are all finished. I am looking forward to seeing what new freshmen are ready to burst on to the scene and what upperclassmen have put in the hard work over the summer. Without further ado, here are the five burning questions of the Central region:

1. Will Wash U jump back on the Final Four streak?

For those of you who don’t know, Wash U had a streak of 6 or 7 consecutive final four berths that came to an end this past season. I will be the first to admit that before Indoor Nationals last year, I was still unsure about the Bears and where they could go with big losses to graduation and freshmen playing high in the lineup. But as most of us have learned, never go against Coach Follmer. They proved to still be the top team in the region without much question with the only regular season loss coming to the hands of CMS. Unfortunately their work horse, MVP, freshman of the year, all-everything John Carswell came down with a horrible flu the day before the elite eight. By no means am I making an excuse for Wash U, but Carswell was a guaranteed point as he was undefeated in the regular season. The fact that he even played that day was miraculous. Either way, Trinity deserved the win and the streak was broken. With only graduating one senior from the singles lineup (Noack at #4) and bringing in a Top 3 recruiting class, Wash U looks to start a new streak. Barring any set backs, I think they will do it.

2. Can Case Western match the best season in program history?

Case Western had a banner year last year. A berth in the elite 8, a couple of All-Americans, and a national championship in doubles. Arguably the hardest working team in the country, the Spartans will have a lot to live up to this season. Interestingly enough, I think this year is very similar as it was last. They lost some key guys last year particularly in doubles (Gerber, Howe, Brunsting, Solove), but brought in some freshman to replace them as well as working within the program to bring in guys to fill big roles. This year is no different. They lose key guys with Klawitter (national champion doubles), Reinbold, and Healey. I think all three are big losses. Obviously any time you lose a national champion that will hurt. Reinbold was the emotional leader of the team and I can’t say enough good things about Healey. He was one of the best doubles players in the country his entire career. Case will look to do the same as previous years in replacing these guys, but it will be tough to do. Coach Todd brought in a deep recruiting class with five 3-stars. If one or two of them can turn out to be another Krimball or Drougas, this team will be dangerous once again. Freshman now sophomore James Fojtasek will play a vital role this season. He may be asked to step up and play 3 singles this season if the newbies don’t show they are ready to play at a higher spot in the lineup. One thing of note, Case lost a recruit after verbally committing. Brandon Yeoh would have been the best D3 recruit this year, but he ended up choosing an Ivy I believe. Either way, Case will always be a threat, but new doubles combinations will be in play and that can make all the difference.

3. Will Kenyon and Wisconsin-Whitewater bounce back from down years?

Both the above teams had down years in a relative sense. Kenyon had all sorts of drama with the Raz situation. There hasn’t been any real indication if he will return for his senior season, but at this point I think we have to assume he will not be with the team. The good news is they lost no one to graduation so they will have everyone back from the team they ended the season with. Last year they had some issues with doubles as well as the middle of the lineup (3-5 singles). One of two things needs to happen for the Lords to return to form from past years. Either the upperclassmen need to find their form again (Rosensteel, Huber, etc) or new freshmen need to fill the roles of weakness. The recruiting class was decent, but nothing amazing so it will be interesting to see the Lords performance this fall. As for the Warhawks, it was quite the roller coaster. Jake Humphreys had a break out year and backed it up over and over again. But his meteoric rise was matched by the huge decline of Ben Shkylar. An early season win over Chicago kept these guys in the rankings longer than they probably should have been, but a disappointing spring break trip killed their season. Whitewater is known for getting a ton out of the talent they have and they will have to do it again this year. A mediocre to below average recruiting class means they will need to step it up in order to stay in the national conversation. They lost two key seniors in Balkin and Klein. If you ask me, their success will 100% rely on Shklyar. I expect Humphreys to continue to play well, but for the team to succeed, they need another anchor and right now, they don’t have it.

4. Chicago?

I think that question is by far the best one yet. It isn’t “Will Chicago finally break out?” or “Will the talent they have finally produce?” It is simply Chicago? It seems year after year Chicago jumps into the conversation early in the season with questions of how good they should be based off the talent they have. This year is no different. We are always critical of Chicago and it is justifiable if you ask me. However, last year we may have been a bit too hard on the Maroons. Their early loss to Whitewater was terrible and cast a shadow on their season. But, they slowly climbed up the rankings near the end with wins over Cal Lu and a resurgent Depauw to end in the Top 20. This has to be the year where they are in the top 10 right? They lost no one to graduation returning their key top 3 in Sabada, Kranz, and Bhargava and bring in the top rated recruiting class in D3. The season will lie in the hands of the freshmen. They have four new studs on the roster (props to their SID for already having the website correct). Chicago really only needs two of the four to be impact players and they become extremely dangerous. If one of them plays in the top half of the lineup and another in the bottom half, Chicago will be extremely dangerous. If the lineup looks like Sabada, Freshman #1, Kranz, Freshman #2, Bhargava, Sun/Freshman #3 then talent wise, they will match up with any team out there (even Wash U). But this is Chicago we are talking about so who knows what will happen. That is putting a lot of weight on the newcomers and that is never a good thing, but I see Chicago finishing at least in the top 15. The bad news is that the UAA is absolutely ridiculous and gets tougher each season. Is it possible for 5 teams from the conference to make the national tourney? Wash U, Emory, Case, Carnegie, Chicago? I don’t think even the NESCAC can claim that. Chicago is like dating your best friend’s hot sister. So much build up to what could be, but disappointing in the end.

5. Any surprise teams out there?

With all the coverage provided now not only through the blog, but also with recruiting rankings, it is tough for a team to be a huge surprise and jump into the top 10 of the region without anyone knowing it will come, but it is still possible. Whether it was Eartham two years ago or Elmhurst (finished #12 in the region I believe), teams have shown they can at least begin to make a dent. Unfortunately I don’t think there are any teams at the moment that jump off the page. Denison and Depauw both lost their top two players to graduation and pretty much just replace them with new players in freshman or a transfer (Depauw). Coe returns their top two, but lost a bit in depth with graduation. I will mention that their long time head coach Erik Rodgers now is just the men’s coach which will only bode well for the program (see the rise of Case Western and decline of Depauw for reference to why this makes a difference). I won’t try and steal our new writer D3Regional and mention too many mid level teams that could be a surprise, but the NCAC’s depth could show up in the regional rankings a bit. I pegged Oberlin at the end of last season and Wittenberg has a ton of talent on campus, but half of them quit. With a new coach, if he can get them to all play, they will be a tough match. The team I haven’t discussed yet is Gustavus and I think they will once again be one that no one wants to play. They lost two monumental players in Luis Chu and Smith-Dennis, but had a strong recruiting class that hopefully could replace them. Mohaned Al-Houni (brother of Gustie Motasem) could make an immediate impact along with two sold three stars. I’ve got to give a shout out to another Entwistle joining the squad because I believe the dad is one of my biggest followers on twitter! Nothing like giving props to the fans. They are what drive the site.

Bonus Question: What #hashtag will be the best in the region?

Step up your game Central region! We need some great hashtags.

So there you have it. The five burning questions in the mind of D3Central. Don’t worry, I don’t always talk in the third person, but when I do, I drink Dos Equis. When am I going to start getting paid for this stuff….

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