INDIANAPOLIS  The NCAA Division II Men's Wrestling Championships get underway on Friday, March 14 with Dean Noble representing Western Colorado as he vies for a second consecutive All-American honor.

Noble is seeded sixth in the 149-pound bracket with a season record of 19-3 and a third-place finish at the NCAA DII Super Region VI Championships on March 1.

His opponent in the opening round will be unseeded John Carayiannis from Belmont Abbey (N.C.) College.  Carayiannis enters the tournament with a 17-2 record and as the Super Region II champion.

Noble began his 2024-25 season with 10 wins, surrendering his first defeat in the championship match at the Midwest Classic in December.

His only other losses during the season were in a dual to Chadron State's Torry Early, the Region VI runner-up, and in the Region VI semifinals to eventual region champion Nick James of Nebraska-Kearney. Both Early and James join Noble at nationals, James as the No. 4 seed in the bracket.

The first two rounds of the championship bracket get rolling with Friday's 8 a.m. MT start, with the winners of the second round advancing to Saturday morning's semifinal round.

The wrestleback bracket starts with the losers of the opening round back on the mat Friday night, then continuing on toward the 7th/8th-, 5th/6th- and 3rd/4th-place matches in Saturday morning's session.

Saturday night, beginning at 5 p.m. MT, are the 10 championship bouts on center mat at Corteva Coliseum in the Indiana State Fairgrounds.

The top eight places in each of the 10 weight classes earn All-American honors. Noble placed seventh in the 149 bracket at the 2024 DII championships.