Complete Rankings (PDF)
EAST STROUDSBURG - East Stroudsburg University redshirt seniors
Brendan McKeown (5th at 174 pounds) and
Braden Turner (8th at 157) will begin the 2013-14 season with national rankings in the NCAA Division II Wrestling Coaches Association preseason poll, which was released Wednesday.
Both wrestlers are ranked in the preseason poll for the second straight season and have earned All-America honors in their careers at ESU.
McKeown (Scotia, N.Y./Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) was sixth at 174 pounds last year to gain All-America status. He is the returning Super Region 1 champion and the region's Outstanding Wrestler, going 23-4 including a 17-match winning streak from January 9 through March 8.
McKeown opened at No. 6 last year and moved to No. 5 in December before missing a month due to injury. He re-entered the rankings at No. 4 entering the NCAA DII Championships after upsetting three-time regional champion and returning 165-pound national champion Mike Williams (UNC-Pembroke) with a 3-2 decision in the regional final.
McKeown, also a Capital One Academic All-American, has a career record of 59-32 with seven falls, five technical falls and 12 major decisions. He sports a dual record of 26-12.
He starts the year ranked No. 2 in the region with the addition of Notre Dame (Ohio), which has the returning DII national champion in Eric Burgey.
Turner (Bath/Northampton) was nationally-ranked throughout the 2012-13 season and was No. 4 in the preseason poll. He was a national qualifier for the second straight year after earning All-America honors with a sixth-place finish at the 2012 NCAA Championships.
Turner is ranked No. 1 in the region to open the season. He had a 20-8 overall record and 13-2 dual record, and is 46-24 overall and 25-9 in duals in his first two seasons at ESU after transferring from Rutgers.
Two years ago, he was the Super Region 1 runner-up at 157 after entering as the No. 6 seed, then wrestled his way onto the All-America podium.
ESU has two other wrestlers in the coaches' regional poll in sophomore
Tyson Searer (2nd at 197), also a returning national qualifier, and redshirt junior
Luke DeLuise (5th at 184).
The Warriors begin the season with the 47th Annual ESU Open on Sunday, November 17 at Koehler Fieldhouse.
157
1. Cory Dauphin, Central Oklahoma
2. Zach Vargo, Lake Erie (Ohio)
3. Clint Poster, St. Cloud State (Minn.)
4. Chase White, Nebraska-Kearney
5. John Crowley, Colorado Mines
6. Taylor Knapp, Newberry (S.C.)
7. Ray Hall, Colorado-Pueblo
8. Braden Turner, ESU
174
1. Eric Burgey, Notre Dame (Ohio)
2. Blake Sorensen, Upper Iowa
3. Elliott Copeland, Western State
4. Patrick Martinez, Nebraska-Kearney
5. Brendan McKeown, ESU
6. John McArdle, Lindenwood (Mo.)
7. Kyle Begin, Southwest Minnesota
8. Chester Granard, Colorado Mesa
