MT. CARMEL, Ill. -- The pairings have been released for the NJCAA Midwest District tournament, also known as the Region 24 tournament, hosted by Lake Land College in Mattoon.
Wabash Valley (27-1) is the No. 1 seed in the nine-team tournament and will play at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, Mar. 5, against the winner of a Friday play-in game between No. 8 seed John A. Logan (8-17) and ninth-seed Lincoln Trail (3-24).
The WVC game is the first of four quarterfinal games to be played on Sunday. The second game, at 3 p.m., pits No. 4 seed Shawnee (16-8) against fifth-seeded Rend Lake (12-13).
In the evening session, second-seeded Vincennes (19-10) will meet No. 7 seed Olney Central (7-18) at 5 p.m., followed by No. 3 seed Southwestern (22-7) and sixth-seed Kaskaskia (17-13).
The semifinal games will be on Tuesday, Mar. 7, with games at 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. The championship game will be played on Thursday, Mar. 9 beginning at 7 p.m.
The winner of the Midwest District tournament receives an automatic bid to the NJCAA national tournament in Lubbock, Texas. Wabash Valley is seeking its' seventh consecutive District championship.
The national tournament is a 24-team, single-elimination affair. Sixteen of the teams receive automatic invites by winning district championships, with the other eight slots going to at-large selections. Some 13 of the 16 districts consist of teams from just one region, like the Midwest District and Region 24. That is why those two names for the tournament are often used interchangeably.