InterMat Staff

Eastern Michigan University will officially open "The Rock", its new Dean L. Rockwell wrestling facility in a dedication ceremony on Saturday, January 21 at 10:30 a.m. in Warner/Bowen Fieldhouse. The ceremony will honor EMU Hall of Famer Dean Rockwell as well as Eastern's 24 former All-American wrestlers. The ceremony precedes the noon triple-dual meets against Eastern Illinois, Duquesne, and Olivet. The ceremony includes a light brunch and ALL SUPPORTERS OF EMU WRESTLING ARE INVITED. The new facility is located in a remodeled portion of Warner Gymnasium and includes a new wrestling room that features two full mats with 18 workout circles, as well as an equipped cardiovascular and training area. The facility also includes a new suite of coaches offices adjacent to the practice room. Later this year, new locker room facilities will also be added. The facility will be known as "The Rock" in honor of Dean Rockwell, who passed away late last year. A sculpture honoring Rockwell and EMU Wrestling's All-Americans, many of whom will attend the ceremony, will be unveiled outside the room at 11:00 a.m. For complete details and a biography of Dean Rockwell, visit the EMU Wrestling web site at http://www.emich.edu/public/wrestling/windex.html

Opponent: Northern Colorado Location: Orem, Utah (Activity Center) Date: Monday, January 16th Time: 7:00pm MST What's on Tap ... Utah Valley State will compete in its 8th dual in 10 days when Northern Colorado comes to town on Monday, ending the Wolverines' busiest stretch of the season. UV is coming into the dual with a 2-6 record having won two of its last three matches. The team had a successful trip to Oregon last week when they beat Portland State on Wednesday before splitting two matches at the Oregon Classic on Friday. The opened the classic with a win over Division-III Pacific before falling to Oregon. Before the trip Utah Valley State was 0-5 in duals on the season, having wrestled three Division-I Top 20 teams and two Division-II Top 20 teams, including 3rd ranked Oklahoma. About Northern Colorado ... The Wolverines and Bears have met four times in duals prior to Monday's matchup, with UNC winning three out of four. Utah Valley won the first meeting ever between the two schools on January 31, 2004 but have lost three in a row including a 27-12 defeat last season in Orem. The two will meet in UV's final match of the season as well, a dual on February 23rd in Greeley, Colorado. Northern Colorado is currently 2-2 on the season after splitting its four matches at the Lone Star Duals on January 7th. Both schools boast ranked wrestlers. Utah Valley State's Erkin Tadzhimetov is currently ranked 20th nationally at 133 pounds by Amateur Wrestling News while UNC sophomore Reece Hopkin is ranked 20th at 197 pounds in the InterMat/NWCA Rankings. Up Next ... Utah Valley State will wrestle at the Cowboy Duals at the University of Wyoming on Saturday, January 21st.

WEST POINT, N.Y. -- Frank Baughan, Brian Rowan and Jon Anderson each notched a major decision victory, and nine Black Knights won bouts as Army's wrestling team snapped a four-match winless streak in impressive fashion by defeating visiting Rutgers, 30-3, Sunday afternoon at Christl Arena. The Black Knights, who dented the win column for the first time since downing East Stroudsburg, 27-7, on Dec. 7, improve to 3-3-2 (3-0-0 EIWA). Rutgers, meanwhile, falls to 7-3 (3-3) on the season. "It's good to be back home after a tough road trip to Oklahoma and Texas," said Army head coach Chuck Barbee. "The guys really bounced back well against a tough and well-coached team. We challenged our guys a lot this week and they came out with a vengeance. They stepped it up and they really showed us something this afternoon." William Simpson began the match with a 5-3 sudden victory decision over Ryan Jablonski at 125 pounds. Simpson jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a quick takedown, and he took that two-point advantage into the second period. Following a scoreless second stanza, Jablonski scored three points on a near fall late in the third to assume a 3-2 lead. Simpson earned a point for riding time to force the extra session. He then scored the bout-winning takedown midway through the sudden victory period to earn his 15th win of the season. In the 133-pound bout, Baughan had little trouble with Kellen Bradley as the Black Knight junior claimed a 10-2 major decision. Baughan jumped out of the gates with a pair of takedowns and a near fall to seize a 7-2 lead after the first period and he never looked back en route to the victory. Baughan's triumph extended the Black Knights' edge to 7-0 in the team score. After Lief Gilsdorf dropped a 9-2 decision to Steve Adamcsic at 141 pounds, Army's Patrick Simpson regained the Black Knights' seven-point lead with a 6-0 decision over Mike Ferrara at 149 pounds. Simpson, who is now a team-best 17-5 on the year, registered a takedown and a near fall in the first period and rode that momentum throughout the remainder of the match. Rowan kept the ball rolling Army's way with a 13-3 major decision versus Jamie Lijo in the 157-pound bout. Rowan, a freshman from Langhorne, Pa., used a combination of three takedowns and two near falls to pick up the victory. Anderson breezed past Matt Pletcher at 165 pounds as the Virginia Beach, Va., product captured a 14-4 major decision. Leading 4-1 after two periods, Anderson exploded with four takedowns in the third stanza to earn his third major decision of the year. Anderson's win gave the Black Knights a commanding 18-3 lead through six bouts. Army's domination continued in the 174-pound match as Chad Marzec scored a 4-1 decision over Michael Whalen. It was the first dual match victory of the season for Marzec, who leveled his overall record at 6-6 on the year. Black Knight senior Luke Calvert clinched the match for Army with a 3-1 decision at 184 pounds. The Broken Arrow, Okla., native, who has won three straight bouts and eight of his last nine matches, gave Army an insurmountable 24-3 lead with just two bouts remaining. With the bout all-square at 1-1 and time about to expire, Calvert produced a crucial takedown with just seven seconds remaining in the final period to lock up the win. Senior Charles Martin turned in a workmanlike effort in the 197-pound match versus Lamar Brown and eventually took a 4-1 decision to up Army's lead to 27-3 going into the heavyweight bout. Martin remained perfect on the season in dual matches (2-0), while upping his overall record to 10-6. Freshman Michael Sprigg added the exclamation point with a 3-1 sudden victory decision over Mike D'Amico in the heavyweight bout. After wrestling to a 1-1 standstill after regulation time, Sprigg took D'Amico down to the mat near the conclusion of the sudden victory period. Army has won seven of the last 10 meetings versus Rutgers and the Black Knights lead the all-time series, 27-8-1. Army Defeats Merchant Marine, 45-9 WEST POINT, N.Y. - Luke Calvert, Austin Milster and Michael Sprigg earned wins by fall and Charles Martin secured a technical fall in his bout as Army's wrestling team rolled past Merchant Marine, 45-9, Sunday evening at West Point's Christl Arena. Army, who downed Rutgers earlier in the day, upped its record to 4-3-2 on the season, while Merchant Marine falls to 2-6 this year. With Army leading 12-6, Milster began Army's 33-3 run by pinning Seth Ching in 6 minutes 59 seconds in the 149-pound contest. It was the first dual match victory of the year for Milster, who improved his overall record to 10-6 on the year. Army was awarded a win by forfeit in the 157-pound bout, and the Black Knights held a 24-6 lead halfway through the match. Senior Jon Anderson produced a 12-2 major decision over Troy McGuiness at 165 pounds as Army continued to cruise. Anderson, who improved to 12-3 overall and 5-0 in dual matches with the win, came up with five takedowns during his dominating performance. Nate Van de Venter temporarily halted Army's momentum with a 3-2 decision over Jon Mathias in a hard-fought battle in the 174-pound bout. Calvert pinned Matt Jones in 6:19 in the 184-pound bout. The senior thoroughly dominated his competition, piling up seven takedowns prior to the pin. Martin followed with an effort that was just as dominant as the senior scored a 16-1 technical fall versus Eric Rohan at 197 pounds. Martin jumped all over Rohan, accumulating three near falls and a takedown in the first period. Leading 11-0 after the first stanza, Martin finished the job early in the second period with another takedown and a fourth near fall. Michael Sprigg closed out Army's lopsided victory with a win by fall in 1:29 in the heavyweight bout. Army grabbed a quick 12-0 lead as the match began with Merchant Marine forfeiting the 125- and 133-pound bouts. Merchant Marine got on the scoreboard when Danny Song pinned Lief Gilsdorf in 3:24 at 141 pounds. That was as close as the Mariners would get, however. The Black Knights return to action Jan. 21-22 when they travel to Oswego, N.Y., to compete at the 37th annual New York State Championships. Army is the two-time defending champion at this event, which begins Friday (Jan. 21) at 9 a.m.

Cole Konrad pinned two-time NCAA Champion Steve Mocco to give the second-ranked Golden Gopher wrestling team (12-0-0) a 21-14 upset of top-ranked Oklahoma State in the finals at the National Duals. Konrad ended Mocco's 85-match winning streak, while the Golden Gophers snapped the Cowboys' 30-match winning streak. Oklahoma State began its streak following a 17-16 loss to Minnesota on Feb. 22, 2004. The Golden Gophers won their fourth National Duals title and its first since 2002. Last year, Minnesota placed third. Konrad earned his first official win over Mocco. He defeated the OSU wrestler earlier this year in an exhibition match at the NWCA/Marines All-Star Classic. Last year, Mocco defeated Konrad three times, including an overtime decision in the NCAA Championship final. With Minnesota leading 15-14, the heavyweight match started slow. The two wresters traded escapes in the second and third periods, but 26 seconds into the third, Konrad got Mocco in a body lock and used an inside trip to send him to his back. He recorded the pin in 5:34. Konrad would be named the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler. Konrad's win capped a memorable dual for Minnesota. The Golden Gophers fell behind early as the Cowboys took a 7-0 lead. At 125 pounds, Coleman Scott earned an 11-0 decision against Travis Lang. Things looked bleak for the Golden Gophers following the 133-pound match as sixth- ranked Nathan Morgan held on for a 6-4 win over fourth-ranked Mack Reiter. Reiter trailed 5-1 in the third period, but got back into the match with a takedown to cut the lead to one. Unfortunately, time ran out as Reiter fell to 19-2 on the year. A momentum swing came in the form of sophomore Manuel Rivera. The unranked wrestler upset sixth-ranked Daniel Frishkorn at 141 pounds by a 9-4 decision. Rivera trailed 4-1 after the first period, but turned things around in the second. Rivera got in on an ankle pick and forced Frishkorn to his back. The takedown and near fall gave him a 7-4 lead. It was Rivera's second win this season over Frishkorn. Things got better from there as true freshman Dustin Schlatter knocked off his third top- five ranked wrestler on the weekend. He upset defending NCAA Champion Zack Esposito in an entertaining 8-7 match. Trailing 7-5, Esposito tied the match with a third-period reversal. Schlatter would claim the win though as he earned a point for the escape. Schlatter is now 26-1 on the year. His older brother, C.P., followed with a 2-0 decision against 11th-ranked Kevin Ward at 157 pounds. Ward had beaten Schlatter twice ealier this season. Schlatter rode Ward the entire second period which earned him the bonus point. The Schlatter brothers have combined to go 21-2 this year in duals. Trailing 9-7, the Cowboys regained the team lead as fourth-ranked Johny Hendricks defeated No. 9 Matt Nagel, 8-3, at 165 pounds. Hendricks avenged an earlier loss to Nagel. Esposito broke the match open with a late takedown in the first period. The Golden Gophers climbed back in front for good with three wins in the final four matches. Eighth-ranked Gabriel Dretsch gave Minnesota a 12-10 lead with a 3-1 decision over ninth-ranked Brandon Mason at 174 pounds. Dretsch's third-period takedown proved to be the difference. The lead increased to 15-10 after seventh-ranked Roger Kish earned a 7-3 decision against Brent Parkey. Kish took an early 2-0 lead with a takedown and increased the lead to 5-1 in the second period. The Cowboys won at 197 pounds to set up the heavyweight classic. Two-time NCAA Champion Jake Rosholt collected a 13-5 major decision against Minnesota's Mitch Kuhlman at 197 pounds. The win made the score 15-14 with one match to go. "We told our guys that they had to wrestle with emotion," head coach J Robinson said. "We started slow, but Manuel (Rivera) got us back in the match. Cole (Konrad) went out there with great focus. There's not a guy in the nation that works harder than Cole. Anyone that has watched him in the practice room every week wouldn't be surprised by the result today." Minnesota now returns home to open its Big Ten season. The Golden Gophers will host Northwestern on Friday night at the Sports Pavilion. Minnesota will host Iowa in the annual Border Brawl at Williams Arena on Sunday afternoon. Fans wanting to see the Minnesota-Oklahoma State dual can tune into College Sports Television (CSTV) on Jan. 19.

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- The 100th win of Ben Wissel's career highlighted Purdue's victory on the mat over Cal State-Bakersfield, 25-16, in the Icardo Center on the CSUB campus. The win for the Boilermakers competes the non-conference portion of the 2005-06 schedule, with Purdue posting an 8-3 dual record. One year ago, the Boilermakers were 8-12 overall in dual action, 6-6 in non-conference duals. Purdue head coach Jessie Reyes had a sweet homecoming to Bakersfield, as the Boilermaker coach was a two-time national champion while wrestling for the Roadrunners in the 1980s. Reyes is now 2-3 vs. his alma mater, and has won the last two meetings between the schools. Wissel, a senior out of Richmond, Ind., become the 11th Boilermaker grappler to reach the century mark in wins with a 27-12 technical fall over Brandon Ceremello. The 184-pounder joins an elite list of of former Boilermaker wrestlers, a list comprised of Ryan Lange (130 wins), Scott Hinkel (127), Tony Vaughn (115), Dave Walter (111), Frank Laccone (110), Tim Dernlan (104), Joe Lilovich (102), Joe Urso (102), Matt Lindley (101) and Tim McClellan (100). The dual between the Boilermakers and Roadrunners began at heavyweight with a CSUB victory, but Purdue would climb back to a 9-3 team lead after the next three matches. Brandon Tucker's 6-5 decision over Brandon Zoetewey evened the team score at 3-3, setting up a showdown between 133-pounders Chris Fleeger and Tommy Vargas. Vargas, the 2005 Midlands Championships champion, entered the dual ranked 15th in the nation. After a scoreless first period, Fleeger chose bottom to start the second and scored the escape 13 seconds into the stanza for a 1-0 lead. With Vargas choosing a neutral starting position for the third, Fleeger expanded his lead to 3-0 with a takedown 29 seconds in, then road Vargas for the remainder of the period for the riding time point and a 4-0 win. At 141, Jason Cook scored first period takedown and a second stanza two-point nearfall to post a 6-4 win over Matt Schumm. CSUB stormed back into the lead wih wins at 149, 157 and 165, including a major decision at 149 by Anthony Baza and a pin at 165 by Brian Busby. The three wins gave the Roadrunners a 16-9 lead heading into the 174 pound match. Nick Corpe and nationally-ranked Christian Arellano took the mat at 174, and Arellano grabbed an early lead with a takedown just over one minute into the match. Corpe's escape at 1:45 drew the Boilermaker to within one at 2-1, a score that would hold through the end of the period. Arellano escaped to start the third period to take a 3-1 lead, but as the two wrestlers battled near the edge of the mat, Arellano pulled up lame with what appeared to be an injury to his left shoulder. Unable to continue in the match, Corpe was awarded the win by injury default, scoring six team points and tying the score at 16-16. Wissel's match was never really in doubt, as the Boilermaker scored a takedown in the first 13 seconds of the match and went on to score 11 more takedowns during the bout. The double-digit takedown performance was the third of the year for Wissel, whose 340 career takedowns ties him with Alex Coriano (1993-1996) at fourth on the Purdue career list. Wissel also has 122 takedowns this season, the sixth-most in a Purdue season, and is ranked fifth in the nation with a 24-2 record. The dual ended in grand fashion for the Boilermakers as 197-pounder Nathan Moore registered his team-leading sixth pin of the season, a stick of Colton Nichols at the 3:31 of the match. The Boilermakers open the Big Ten dual season next Friday, January 20, in Champaign vs. the Fighting Illini of Illinois. Purdue is next at home on Jan. 22 vs. Indiana.

BUFFALO, NY -- For the second straight match, senior Harold Sherrell (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) posted an upset win over a nationally-ranked competitor, but for the second straight meet, the University at Buffalo lost a narrow decision, this time falling to Southern Conference power UNC-Greensboro, 22-20, in front of 400 fans at Alumni Arena on Sunday afternoon. The upperweight upperclassmen played a pivotal role in the meet for the Bulls (5-3 overall), as the senior trio of Garrett Hicks (Chautauqua, NY/Chautauqua Lake) (184 pounds), Kyle Cerminara (Lewiston, NY/Lewiston-Porter) (197 pounds) and Sherrell (heavyweight) posted 13 team points after the team had fallen behind 22-7. Junior Mark Budd (Orrville, OH/Orrville) registered Buffalo's first team points of the meet, as he posted his sixth straight win to set a career high with his 24th win against WrestlingReport.com's 24th-ranked Chris Bencivenga. Budd's six-point second period outburst paced the win. The Spartans (6-1 overall), however, jumped out to a 15-4 lead, as Justin Walp earned a forfeit at 125 pounds, NWCA/InterMat/NWMA's 18th-ranked Kevin Artis earned a fall at 141 pounds and Cody Harrington won a narrow 7-6 decision at 149 pounds. Junior John Cummings (Bay Shore, NY/Bay Shore) posted his sixth straight win with a 5-2 decision against Nathan Berryman at 157 pounds, improving to 15-10 on the season. Cummings took advantage of a first period reversal to turn the tide of the match after falling behind 2-0, bringing Buffalo to within eight at 15-7. The Spartans retook the momentum at 165 pounds, as Mark Ring posted an 8-0 decision over sophomore Mickey Moran (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler Area), who was ranked 26th in the latest WrestlingReport.com poll, giving UNC-Greensboro a 19-7 lead. Moran was hampered by cramps throughout the match, helping Ring to three takedowns. Joe Lowe posted a huge win at 174 pounds, taking a 9-3 decision to give the Spartans a 22-7 lead. Hicks ignited the comeback, providing some senior leadership by posting a 10-2 major decision over 2005 New York State High School Champion Kane Smith, as he posted a 3-point near fall in the third period to clinch the four team points. After Cerminara won by forfeit, the UNC-Greensboro lead was closed to 22-17, senior Sherrell closed the match with his second win over a ranked wrestler in as many matches, as he won a 5-2 decision against NWCA/InterMat/NWMA's 12th-ranked Tyler Shovlin in the meet's finale. The Bulls will look to avenge its second place finish at the New York State Collegiate Championships as they travel to SUNY Oswego for the two-day championships starting Friday at 12:00 pm.

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- For the second day in a row, the No. 18 Arizona State University wrestling team took on No. 9 Missouri at the 2006 NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals and, just as in the first meeting, needed a fall from heavyweight Cain Velasquez to pull out a victory inside the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa. That is exactly what the Sun Devils received as they tied the Tigers on the scoreboard, 21-21, but won on criteria (most near falls recorded) to place seventh in the national event and improve to 7-6 overall on the season. This year's event marked the 14th time the Sun Devils have competed in the tournament and raised their overall record to 32-29. ASU has placed among the Top 8 in nine of their appearances and finished seventh for the fifth time overall. The last time the Sun Devils placed in the tournament was the 2003 event in Columbus, Ohio, where they opened the tournament by defeating Missouri in the first round before finishing seventh. No. 6 Jeremy Mendoza (Sr., Temecula, Calif.) got the Sun Devils on the board first as he recorded a 4-1 decision over No. 18 Austin DeVoe at 125 to stake his squad to an early 3-0 lead. But, just as they did Saturday, the Tigers took the team lead with wins at 133 and 141 as Adam Hickey (So., Mayfield, Ohio) dropped a 10-3 decision to No. 16 Tyler McCormick before Elias Johnson (Jr., Manson, Iowa) was pinned by No. 19 Chris McCormick at 4:27. Trailing 9-3, the Sun Devils needed wins and received two in a row at 149 and 157. In the first bout, Pat Payne (So., Poway, Calif.) picked up a 4-0 decision before No. 7 Brian Stith (Jr., Hampton, Va.) scored an 11-4 decision over Michael Chandler to tie the score at nine. Just as ASU tied the team score, the Tigers again took control as they won the next three bouts to put the Sun Devils on their heels. At 165, No. 11 Patrick Pitsch (So., Spanaway, Wash.) put up a tough fight, but No. 4 Matt Pell scored a 4-1 victory before No. 1 Ben Askren pinned Jamie Robbins (Jr., Mesa, Ariz.) in 3:49 at 174. UM's final win came at 184 as No. 8 C.B. Dollaway (Sr., Mt. Gilead, Ohio) dropped his second bout in a row, this time being edged by No. 17 Raymond Jordan, 3-2, to put the Tigers ahead, 21-9. But the Sun Devils would not go quietly as wins by fall in the last two bouts would tie the team score and force the decision to be based upon criteria factors. No. 14 Ryan Bader (Sr., Reno, Nev.) kept his team alive as he scored a fall over Joey Garrity with one second remaining in the bout, picking up six team points with the fall at 6:59. No. 4 Velasquez (Sr., Yuma, Ariz.) then picked up his second fall of the weekend over Sean Connole, this time at 5:38, to tie the score at 21. After looking through the individual bout statistics, it was determined that ASU was the winner as its wrestlers scored more near fall points. Only one bout featured near fall points being scored and those came during the 197 bout when Bader took his foe down for the third time in the first period and picked up two near fall points in the process. The Sun Devils return home next weekend as they face a pair of Pac-10 foes as the Oregon schools invade Wells Fargo Arena. ASU first faces Oregon State at 7 p.m. Friday before closing out the weekend with a 6:30 p.m. dual with Oregon Sunday evening.

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The Big Red wrestling team, competing without three-time All-American and tri-captain Dustin Manotti, who is out with an injury suffered against Lock Haven last weekend, went 1-2 at the National Duals on Saturday. Cornell opened the day with a stiff test against No. 3 Oklahoma and stayed with the Sooners but eventually fell 19-15. In the wrestleback bracket, the Big Red topped Northern Iowa 19-15 before falling to Michigan 31-10 to be eliminated. Cornell now has a 2-4 dual meet record. The match with Oklahoma opened with a bout that all eyes were on - Cornell's No. 5 Troy Nickerson against Oklahoma's No. 2 Sam Hazewinkel. Nickerson would lost his first match of the season, falling to Hazewinkel, 2-0. Oklahoma won four of the first five bouts, with the only Big Red victory going to Mike Mormile at 133 pounds. The Big Red then came roaring back into contention with four straight wins. Steve Anceravage (165), Dan Miracola (174), Joe Mazzurco (184) and Jerry Rinaldi (197) each took decisions, bringing the Big Red to within one. Oklahoma's Jake Hager put the match away with a 7-1 win over Cornell's Jim March. In the consolation bracket, the Big Red eliminated host team Northern Iowa, 19-15. Nickerson and Mormile each picked up decisions in the first two bouts. Mike Reish defeated Colby Goetsch 3-2 at 149 pounds. Miracola, Mazzurco and Rinaldi each picked up their second wins of the day with Mazzurco and Rinaldi winning by major decision. The win over Northern Iowa set up a rematch of the Big Red's dual meet opener, when Cornell fell to Michigan 24-13. Nickerson won again, defeating Mike Watts 14-4 for the bonus win, but Mormile was handed his first loss of the day, falling 10-4 to Mark Moos. Michigan won the next five bouts, taking a commanding lead. Mazzurco got the Big Red back in the win column, beating Tyrel Todd, 5-3. Rinaldi won as well, beating Willie Breyer, 4-2. The Big Red will return home to take on EIWA rival and eleventh-ranked Lehigh on Sunday, Jan. 22 at 1 p.m. at Newman Arena.

Cedar Falls, Iowa -- Facing a familiar opponent in the seventh-place dual, the eighth-seeded Tigers turned the tables on the Sun Devis, who knocked Missouri into the consolation bracket Saturday morning. Receiving big victories at 141 and 184 pounds, No. 9 Missouri tied No. 18 Arizona State 21-21 to finish in eighth place, losing a tiebreaker of most nearfalls. The National Duals field included eight of the top ten teams in the country, and featured 15 teams among the 16 that took to the mats Jan. 14-15. Sophomore Tyler McCormick (Leawood, Kan.) picked up Missouri's first dual points with his fourth victory of the tournament at 133 pounds, beating Adam Hickey 10-3. Ranked No. 16, McCormick picked up two points with 1:06 left in the first period, then added another on an escape early in the second frame. Quickly taking the offensive, McCormick caught Hickey's ankle twice to take a 7-1 lead into the final two-minute set, in which each wrestler scored two points. Competing at 141 pounds, redshirt freshman Marcus Hoehn (Farmington, Mo.) picked up three bonus points for the Tigers, pinning Elias Johnson in 4:27. Taking down his opponent three times through the first four minutes, Hoehn stayed with a takedown and forced Johnson to his back, stopping the match before regulation time expired. Once again taking to center mat against No. 11 Patrick Pitsch, No. 4 Matt Pell quickly scored two points in the first 30 seconds, nearly accomplishing a neutral pin during the takedown. Pell, a junior from Luxemburg, Wis, traded escapes with Pitsch throughout the rest of the match, adding an extra point for 3:09 of riding time to earn a 4-1 decision. Opening his match aggressively, junior Ben Askren (Hartland, Wis.) took down Alex Pavlenko five times in the first period to build a 10-5 lead. Choosing down to start the second period, the No. 1 ranked Askren escaped Pavlenko's hold, then resumed his offensive onslaught with a takedown 10 seconds later. Trapping Pavlenko's shoulders on the mat, Askren picked up his 23rd fall of the season in 3:49 The holder of two upset victories in the first day of competition at the National Duals, redshirt freshman Raymond Jordan (New Bern, N.C) stepped into battle with No. 8 C.B. Dolloway, fighting to a draw through the first three minutes of the bout. After escaping Dolloway's hold early in the second period, Jordan scored on a takedown, heading into the final frame ahead 3-1. Fighting off several takedown attempts by Dolloway as time wound down, No. 17 Jordan completed a superb weekend with his third upset, 3-2 over the No. 8 competitor at 184 pounds. Missouri next competes against No. 1 Oklahoma State at home in the Hearnes Center Jan. 22. Aired live on College Sports Television, network channel 610 for Columbia residents, the bout begins at 2 p.m. CST.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- After going 2-0 on the first day of the Virginia Duals as the No. 6 seed, the Ohio State wrestling team (3-5; 0-0 Big Ten) posted a 0-2 record on the second day of competition at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Va. Ohio State met four Top 20 wrestlers en route to a 23-15 loss to No. 25 Penn in semifinal action. OSU then met North Carolina in the consolation semifinals and dropped a 28-13 decision. No. 15 Indiana won the Virginia duals after beating Penn, 18-15. After Buckeye Nathan Costello (125) (Sr., Maple Heights, Ohio/Maple Heights) lost 10-4 to the Quakers' Mike Silengo and Reece Humphrey (133) (Fr., Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) gave up an 11-3 major decision to No. 9 Matt Valenti, T.J. Enright (So., Galloway, Ohio/Westland) scored OSU's first three points, taking a 3-1 decision from Penn's Cesar Grajales at 141. No. 7 J Jaggers (Fr., Northfield, Ohio/St. Peter Chanel) followed with a second-period pin (53 seconds) of 16-th ranked Matt Dragon at 149 to give the Buckeyes a 9-7 lead. However, Ohio State was unable to overcome Penn the rest of the way. Steve Wolery (Jr., Cincinnati, Ohio/Lakota West) lost to No. 19 Gene Zannetti, 5-0, at 157 and No. 16th-ranked Steve Sommer (Sr., West Carrollton, Ohio/Dayton Carroll) dropped an 11-5 decision to Lior Zamir at 165. Nathaniel Augustson (Sr., Rio Rancho, N.M./Rio Rancho) was downed by Matt Herrington, 14-6, at 174 and Alex Picazo (Jr., Columbus, Ohio/Grandview) lost to No. 16 Dustin Wiles, 7-2, at 184. With Corey Morrison (Fr., Shaker Heights, Ohio/Shaker Heights) falling, 6-4, to Paul Velekei at 197, Penn increased its lead, 23-9, and forfeited the heavyweight match-up. The Buckeyes' six points from the forfeit resulted in the final tally. Ohio State's 13 points vs. North Carolina was courtesy of wins from R. Humphrey, Jaggers, Sommer and Augustson. R. Humphrey notched his second major decision of the duals after tallying a 13-5 win over Jared Royer and Jaggers won a close 7-5 decision vs. Chris Ramos. Sommer and Augustson scored back-to-back wins with Sommer defeating Garrett Atkinson, 14-8, and Augustson beating Alex Maciag, 7-6. Costello was up first for the Buckeyes against the Tar Heels and suffered a fall in a 1:13 to Bobby Shaw. Enright lost just his third dual of the year, 4-3, to Vincent Ramirez. Brian Baglio pinned Wolery in 2:06 and Picazo fell to Justin Dobies, 6-2. Morrison was the final wrestler for the Buckeyes and lost to David Dashiell, 14-6. Nail, who was slated to compete at heavyweight, was forced to injury default. Nail went 1-1 on the day after not competing in either of the duals on day two. Wolery saw his first dual meet action of the season vs. Penn and North Carolina and Nail, along with teammate Jaggers, suffered their first dual losses of the year at the Virginia Duals. Both wrestlers, and teammate R. Humphrey, own the Top 3 Buckeye dual records. Jaggers and Nail are 7-1, while R. Humphrey is 6-2. Ohio State will open its Big Ten schedule on the road vs. Indiana. The Buckeyes and Hoosiers will match-up at 7 p.m. Jan. 20 at the University Gym in Bloomington, Ind.

HAMPTON, Va. -- Fifth-seeded North Carolina won three of four matches Saturday to place fourth at the Virginia Duals at Hampton Coliseum. The Tar Heels won their first three bouts but lost to No. 4 seed Chattanooga for the second time in two days in the third-place match Saturday night. Carolina is now 12-3 on the season. The Tar Heels ran off three straight wins - 37-3 over Rider, 20-18 over ACC rival Virginia and 28-13 over No. 6 seed Ohio State - before dropping a 24-13 bout to Chattanooga in the third-place bout. Junior heavyweight Spencer Nadolsky went 4-0 Saturday to improve to a team-best 30-2 on the season. Junior David Dashiell was also unbeaten on the day, as he went 3-0, but the Tar Heels forfeited at 197 to Chattanooga in the third-place bout. Redshirt freshman Vincent Ramirez was 2-0 on the day at 141, but Carolina forfeited in the weight class to both Virginia and Chattanooga. Carolina was 3-1 at 165 pounds, as senior Garrett Atkinson went 1-1 on the day, and junior Deon Barrett was 2-0 versus Virginia and Chattanooga. Sophomore Justin Dobies was also 3-1 on the day at 184 pounds, as was junior Bobby Shaw at 125. The Tar Heels cruised against Rider in their first bout of the day, collecting wins in nine of the 10 bouts. Ramirez and Nadolsky each posted pins in the match. In the second match of the day, Carolina fell behind early, but won four of the final bouts in the match to edge the rival Cavaliers, 20-18. The Tar Heels remained alive thanks to their win over Ohio State, which was highlighted by pins for Shaw and junior Brian Baglio at 157. Dashiell also picked up a big major decision win at 197. In the third-place bout with Chattanooga, Carolina won four bouts, including Nadolsky's 30th win of the season at heavyweight. Carolina returns to action Friday, Jan. 20 against NC State at 7:30 p.m. at Carmichael Auditorium.

COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. -- Caleb Seufert (Gaithersburg, MD/Northwest), Mike Pattanite (Tabernacle, NJ/Holy Cross), Andrew Goldstein (Easton, PA/Easton), and Josh Kaplan (Canton, CT/Canton) each had third place finishes to pace Gettysburg's fifth-place finish at the Ursinus Brute/Adidas Invitational on Saturday. Pattanite, wresting at 285 lbs., went 4-1 during the tournament. His highlights included pinning John Russo of Roger Williams in the third-place match and a technical fall over Dan Wilmer of Ursinus. Goldstein's three tournament wins in the 149 weight class came by pinning Morgan Hoffman of Ursinus and beating Ryan Trees of King's and Nick Ryan of Oneonta by major decisions. Kaplan, wresting in the 165 weight class, recorded two falls on the day. He pinned James Woods of Roger Williams in 6:32 and Oneonta's Ryan Higgins in 6:48. Wresting at 157 pounds, Seufert won two one-point matches on the way to his third-place finish. He defeated Dallas Fill of Roger Williams, 6-5, and Centenary's Greg Tierney, 8-7, in the third-place match. John Leinberger (Great Falls, VA/Langley) went 2-2 during the tournament and achieved a fourth-place finish. James Stevenson (Wyncote, PA/Cheltenham) finished the day with a 3-2 record, including a pin of Mike Mariano (King's) in 2:37. Gettysburg returns to action Tuesday at home hosting York and King's. Matches begin at 5 p.m. Team Scores 1. Oneonta (O) 104, 2. Ursinus (U) 93, 3. Roger Williams (RW) 88, 4. New York University (NYU) 68, 5. Gettysburg (G) 56, 6. King's (K) 45, 7. Wesleyan (W) 44, 8. Centenary (C) 39.

ATHERTON -- Helped by senior 157-pounder Kyle Bickford's 3-0 slate, the No. 8 Menlo College men's wrestling team earned victories against NCAA Division II University of Indianapolis and Division III Montclair State (N.J.) to complete Saturday's Menlo Duals at 2-1. A 6-4 decision by senior heavyweight Ben Flores in the final bout of the first dual gave Menlo a 21-18 win against No. 20 University of Indianapolis to open the day. The Oaks fell to the University of Great Falls (Mont.), ranked second nationally by the NAIA, 25-16, before finishing the competition with a 33-12 defeat of Montclair. In other duals, Great Falls (3-0) opened the day with 34-10 defeat of Montclair (0-3) while in round No. 2, Indianapolis (1-2) rode four falls to a 37-12 defeat of Montclair. Great Falls closed competition with a 24-18 win against Indianapolis. Beginning with freshman Mike Rodriguez's 7-3 defeat of Jimmy Nichols at 125 pounds, Menlo never trailed Indianapolis in the opening dual. Shane Perkey gave the Greyhounds a brief 3-3 tie with a 6-4 decision against the Oaks' Alfonso Paez at 133 before Menlo's Pablo Sanchez, ranked sixth at 133 pounds, pinned Indianapolis' Danny Norman at 2:44. Joe Garcia fell to Indianapolis' Charlie Pingleton, 9-5, at 149. Bickford won his match at 157, 7-3, before Robert Davis earned a fall against the Greyhounds' Aaron Brooks at 2:25 to give Menlo an 18-6 advantage. Indianapolis, however, rallied with three successive victories to knot the match, 18-18, before Flores, the NAIA's second-rated heavyweight, decided the dual. In the second dual, Sanchez's fall of Great Falls' Jason Harrington at 1:40 and Garcia's 3-0 decision against Spencer Griffiths gave the Oaks a brief 9-3 lead against the Argonauts. Great Falls, however, captured five of the final seven matches and wins by Bickford (dec. 8-4) and Jesse Vasquez (maj. dec. 16-8) at 184 couldn't lift the Oaks to the upset. Menlo rebounded in the final round, however, snaring eight bout wins from Montclair. Highlighting the effort was Bickford, who became Menlo's lone undefeated wrestler with a 13-4 decision against the Red Hawks' Steve Bradley and the recently-eligible Jon Sanchez, who pinned Mark D'Elia at 184 in 4:24.

CEDAR FALLS -- You couldn't write a better script than the one that unfolded at the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa. In the Division I championship match, it was top-seeded Oklahoma State vs. second-seeded Minnesota. Two national wrestling powers. Two schools that have won the last five NCAA team titles, wrestling in a seesaw battle, where every point scored was crucial, and would eventually come down to match between the top-two heavyweights in the land. Steve MoccoWhen Minnesota's Cole Konrad and Oklahoma State's Steve Mocco stepped on the mat with the Gophers leading the Cowboys, 15-14, and the National Duals title on the line, it was a fitting ending to an NWCA/Cliff Keen National Dual classic. Konrad and Mocco battled to a scoreless first period. The two behemoths traded escapes in the second and third periods. But less than thirty seconds into the final period, Konrad secured a body lock and executed a beautiful inside trip to put Mocco to his back for the pin. For his efforts, Konrad was named Most Outstanding Wrestler in Division I. Freshman Phenom With the exception of Konrad, Minnesota's talented freshman Dustin Schlatter had perhaps the biggest win of the dual against Oklahoma State, when he defeated defending NCAA champion Zack Esposito, 8-7. Dustin SchlatterIn addition to his victory over Esposito (which he called the biggest win of his career), the 19-year-old Schlatter also defeated No. 3 John Masa of Hofstra and No. 5 Mark DiSalvo of Central Michigan. By defeating DiSalvo, he avenged his only loss of the season. Schlatter is currently 26-1 on the season. "I just came into this thing as a heavy underdog," said Schlatter. "I seem to perform well when I'm put in that situation. We've been training really hard as a team, especially over Christmas break, and I think it's really paying off." Sigman and Co. Win Second Straight Title In Division II, top-ranked Nebraska-Omaha won its second straight title by defeating Minnesota State-Mankato in the finals, 20-10. Les Sigman (photo by Johnnie Johnson)Nebraska-Omaha won the first five matches of the dual to take a 15-0 lead. Three-time NCAA heavyweight champion Les Sigman closed out the dual with a 5-1 victory over Tim Kraemer. He was named Outstanding Wrestler in Division II. Sigman is currently 9-0 on the season -- and has won tournament titles at the Kaufman-Brand Open and Midlands Championships against Division I competition. According to Nebraska-Omaha coach Mike Denney, Sigman is still undecided about whether or not he'll wrestle freestyle after his collegiate career is over. "We're not sure yet if he'll wrestle freestyle. He hasn't wrestled a lot of freestyle. There's an adjustment there. You know, he might try it. He wants to finish strong, and we'll see after the season." Some Things Never Change In Division III, Wartburg and Augsburg have traded national titles since 1995 -- and have met in the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals finals every year since 2002. This year, however, according to the seeds, it wasn't supposed to happen. Augsburg was seeded third, behind No. 1 Wartburg and No. 2 UW-La Crosse. But Augsburg defeated UW-La Crosse, 21-15, in the semifinals to face their arch rival in the finals. Wartburg made a statement in the finals by blasting Augsburg, 29-6. With the victory, Wartburg is 17-0 on the season and ranked No. 1 in the country. "We just wrestled really tough," said heavyweight Blake Giills, who closed out the dual with a 16-0 technical fall over Andrew Neumann. "We had two guys who won by seven points, so we could have gotten a few more majors. As a whole, we wrestled tough. It's not over yet. We still have nationals. But I'm happy for today, anyway. According to Gillis, it's never tough to get up for a match against the Auggies. "Augsburg, that's our rival. It's been that way forever. It's probably going to be that way forever. This whole week in practice, that's all we were thinking about, Augsburg, Augsburg, Augsburg." The two teams will meet again on Feb. 1 in Waverly, Iowa. Gillis, who is ranked sixth nationally in the RevWrestling.com All-Division Rankings at heavyweight (and No. 1 in Division III), believes this could be a very special Wartburg team. "If everybody does what they should, and we're capable of, this could be one of the best Wartburg teams ever." Amazingly, Wartburg lost only four individual matches all weekend. NAIA Action Dana College, who entered the event seeded third, claimed the NAIA title over fifth-seeded University of the Cumberlands, 22-13. Cumberlands won three of the first four matches to open the dual, but Dana won five of the remaining six matches -- and picked up a big pin at 174 by two-time NCAA qualifier Marshall Marquardt. Labette Wins NJCAA Title The Labette Cardinals, the reining junior college national champions, won the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals title by defeating top-seeded Northwest Wyoming in the finals, 18-16. Championships Finals Results: Division I: Minnesota 21, Oklahoma State 14 125 -- Coleman Scott (OSU) maj. dec. Travis Lang (MN), 11-0 133 -- Nathan Morgan (OSU) dec. Mack Reiter (MN), 6-4 141 -- Manuel Rivera (MN) dec. Daniel Frishkorn (OSU, 9-4 149 -- Dustin Schlatter dec. Zack Esposito (OSU), 8-7 157 -- C.P. Schlatter (MN) dec. Kevin Ward (OSU), 2-0 165 -- Johny Hendricks (OSU) dec. Matt Nagel (MN), 8-3 174 -- Gabriel Dretsch (MN) dec. Brandon Mason (OSU), 3-1 184 -- Roger Kish (MN) dec. Brent Parkey (OSU), 7 -3 197 -- Jake Rosholt (OSU) maj. dec. Mitch Kuhlman (MN), 13-5 Hwt -- Cole Konrad (MN) pinned Steve Mocco (OSU), 5:26 Division II: Nebraska-Omaha 20, Minnesota State-Mankato 10 125 -- Cody Garcia (Neb-Omaha) dec. Nick Smith (MSU), 6-1 133 -- Dan Hilario (Neb-Omaha) dec. Jeff Pfaffinger (MSU), 3-2 141 -- Mitch Waite (Neb-Omaha) dec. Zach Stevens (MSU), 9-3 149 -- Shane Unger (Neb-Omaha) dec. Travis Puig (MSU), 8-7 157 -- Patrick Allibone (Neb-Omaha) dec. Matt Bitz (MSU), 1-0 165 -- Andy Pickar (MSU) dec. Ross Tapin (Neb-Omaha), 9-7 174 -- JD Naig (Neb-Omaha) dec. Tim Matheson (MSU), 9-3 184 -- John Koons (MSU) dec. Nate Oviatt (Neb-Omaha), 11-0 197 -- Ben Janike (MSU) dec. Nick Edmonds (Neb-Omaha), 5-0 Hwt -- Les Sigman (Neb-Omaha) dec. Tim Kraemer (MSU), 5-1 Division III: Wartburg 29, Augsburg 6 125 -- Tyler Hubbard (WAR) dec. Seth Flodeen (AUG), 12-5 133 -- Zach McKray (WAR) dec. Ben Moss (AUG), 8-1 141 -- Dustin Hinschberger (WAR) maj. dec. Josh Hansen (AUG), 12-2 149 -- Jacob Naig (WAR) dec. Jared Evans (AUG), 3-0 157 -- Jeremy Anderson (AUG) dec. Justin Hanson (WAR), 7-4 165 -- Ryan Valek (AUG) dec. Dustin Bliven (WAR), 8-6 174 -- Scott Kaufmann (WAR) maj. dec. Robbie Gotreau (AUG), 17-5 184 -- Akeem Carter (WAR) dec. Brad Tupa (AUG), 6-3 197 -- T.J. Miller (WAR) maj. dec. Wally O'Connor (AUG), 13-0 Hwt -- Blake Gillis (WAR) tech. fall. Andrew Neumann (AUG), 16-0, 5:00 NAIA: Dana 22, Cumberlands 13 125 -- Craig Trampe (Dana) dec. Delrico Choates (Cumb), 3-2 133 -- Mikeal Brooks (Cumb) dec. Sonny Silva (Dana), 10-9 141 -- Bradley Cooper (Cumb) dec. Terrence Almond (Dana), 12-3 149 -- Dustin Center (Cumb) dec. Jason Lozier (Dana), 6-2 157 -- Ben Henderson (Dana) dec. Tommy Hutchinson (Cumb), 9-6 165 -- Trent Leichleiter (Dana) dec. Nathanal Jolly (Cumb), 5-2 174 -- Marshall Marquardt (Dana) pinned Todd Allen (Cumb), 1:59 184 -- Nick Wilkes (Dana) maj. dec. Matt Reis (Cumb), 9-1 197 -- Eric Flinchum (Cumb) dec. Willie Parks (Dana), 12-6 Hwt -- Blair Alderman (Dana) dec. Matt Bishop (Cumb), 5-3 NJCAA: Labette 18, Northwest Wyoming 16 125 -- Tim Elliott (Lab) pinned Kalen Wilson (NW), 6:34 133 -- Josh Baldridge (Lab) dec. Eric Tapia (NW), 9-6 141 -- Ross Montour (NW) maj. dec. Cavin Cooper (Lab), 15-3 149 -- Cody Moulton (NW) dec. Cory Allison (Lab), 4-3 157 -- Luke Elmore (Lab) dec. Eric Coxbill (NW), 3-1 165 -- Christopher Riding (NW) dec. Alvin Metcalf (Lab), 9-4 174 -- Julius Rios (NW) dec. Tommy McCarty (Lab), 5-3 184 -- Alex Saunders (Lab) dec. Shawn Vincent (NW), 10-8 197 -- Elijah Martinez (Lab) dec. Avery Rodgers (NW), 4-3 Hwt -- Spencer Bowles (NW) dec. Willie Weber (Lab), 8-3 Final Brackets: Division I Bracket Division II Bracket Division III Bracket NAIA Bracket NJCAA Bracket Related Article: NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals Day-One Recap

ATHENS, Ohio -- With pins by Larry Reichard at 197 pounds and Ryan Knapp at 174, the Ohio wrestling team defeated North Carolina State 25-13 Saturday evening in the Convocation Center. Brian Cesear gave the Bobcats an early 4-0 lead with an 11-2 major decision over Jeremy Colbert at 184 pounds. The junior from Amherst, Ohio, leads the team with 14 wins this season against eight losses. Ohio (5-4) jumped out to a 10-0 lead after Reichard pinned Josh Collins in the next match. The redshirt freshman from New Albany, Ohio, completely dominated the contest and was leading 13-0 when the pin occurred with 30 seconds remaining in the second period. "Getting off to that start was huge for us," said Bobcat head coach Joel Greenlee, who improved his career coaching record to 94-64-4 over eight and a half seasons at Ohio. "Reichard has really stepped up since (starter Nick) Terbay has been hurt. We've got two guys at that weight who are awfully tough so that's a good situation to have." At heavyweight, junior Marcus Adelman (Alliance, Ohio) lost a close match to the Wolfpack's Jainor Palma. A two-point reversal by Palma late in the second period proved to be the contest's only points. The Bobcats answered back, though, with three straight wins. Junior 125-pounder Caleb Metcalf (Waterville, Ohio) managed an escape at the very beginning of the third period to squeak out a 1-0 decision over NC State's Jeremy Hartrum to start the Ohio run. Terry Jackson (Uhrichsville, Ohio) followed with an impressive 4-0 shutout of Wolfpack 133-pounder Garrett Cummings. The redshirt freshman recorded a takedown 35 seconds into the match, scored an escape early in the second period and earned a point for riding time to pull out his sixth career victory and improve his dual record to 4-0. In his first match since moving up a weight, Albert Madsen won a 6-2 decision over NC State's Jalil Dozier at 141. The redshirt freshman from Strongsville, Ohio, managed two escapes and two takedowns to come back from an early 2-0 deficit. With the Bobcats leading 19-3 with just four matches left, the Wolfpack began to close the gap with wins at 149 and 157 pounds. True freshman Mike Grandominico (Delaware, Ohio) was leading the 157-pound match 6-5 with 25 seconds remaining but allowed two takedowns at the end- the last coming with just four seconds on the clock - in a 9-7 loss. NC State (6-3) closed the gap to just six points with a 10-2 major decision by Obie Simpson over Ohio's Kent Smith (Bowling Green, Ohio) at 165 pounds. The Bobcat true freshman gave up a takedown on the edge of the mat with just one second remaining to award the bonus point. Leading 19-13 with just one match remaining, Ohio could not afford a pin in the 174-pound match. With the intensity of the 500-plus crowd at a fever pitch, Bobcat sophomore Ryan Knapp (McConnelsville, Ohio) battled Wolfpack 174-pounder Rick Brownlee all over the mat. After escaping from a dangerous position early, Knapp recorded two takedowns and a three-point near-fall to go up 7-1 after the first period. Just 10 ticks into the second period, Knapp took Brownlee down and then pinned him seven seconds later, securing the victory for Ohio. "Knapp has a tendency to get out of control so the last thing I told him was to stay under control," said Greenlee. "Halfway through the first period, I knew somebody was going to get pinned but I wasn't sure who it was going to be. But Knapp kept in control and did a great job." The Bobcats will host their second dual meet of the season this Friday, Jan. 20, against Mid-American Conference rival Northern Illinois. Ohio will square off against the nationally ranked Huskies at 7 p.m. in The Convo. The squad will then travel to Ashland, Ohio, on Jan. 22 for the Wendy's Duals, where they will face Cleveland State at 10 a.m., Lock Haven at 2 p.m. and Ashland at 4 p.m. Ohio 25, NC State 13 184 - Brian Cesear (Ohio) major dec. Jeremy Colbert, 11-2 197 - Larry Reichard (Ohio) fall Josh Collins, 4:30 HWT - Jainor Palma (NC State) dec. Marcus Adelman, 2-0 125 - Caleb Metcalf (Ohio) dec. Jeremy Hartrum, 1-0 133 - Terry Jackson (Ohio) dec. Garrett Cummings, 4-0 141 - Albert Madsen (Ohio) dec. Jalil Dozier, 6-2 149 - Joe Caramanica (NC State) dec. Aaron Gomoll, 6-1 157 - Bryant Reams (NC State) dec. Mike Grandominico, 9-7 165 - Obie Simpson (NC State) major dec. Kent Smith, 10-2 174 - Ryan Knapp (Ohio) fall Rick Brownlee, 4:17

Providence, RI -- The Brown wrestling team (3-3) opened up the home portion of its 2006 schedule on Saturday at the Pizzitola Center, hosting Boston University and American University. The Bears came away with a split, defeating the Terriers 21-16, after falling to the Eagles 25-12 earlier in the day. American also took a 27-18 win over Boston University. Sophomore Leo Saniuk went 2-0 on the day at 197 lbs. with a 5-1 win over American's Tyler Flatt and a 10-1 win against BU's Elijah Videl. Sophomore Levon Mock's 17-0 win over Orey Hall at 285 lbs. helped secure the victory over the Terriers. Freshman John Triggas pinned BU's Bryan Matsurra to give the Bears a 6-0 lead in the first match at 133 lbs. The Terriers followed with two straight wins before senior Mike Savino won at 157 lbs. to give Brown a 9-6 edge. BU went on to score ten points in the next three matches to take a 16-9 lead before Saniuk came through with his major decision victory over Videl. Trailing 16-13, Mock pushed Brown ahead by two, 18-16, with ihs five point victory. Sophomore Jeff Schell ensured the win with a 7-0 victory at 125 lbs. American took seven of ten matches from the Bears to earn its 13 point win. The Eagles recorded three pins to push past BU. Brown will continue action at Rutgers next Saturday. American 25, Brown 12 125-Matt Morkel (American) dec. Jeff Schell (Brown), 3-0 133-Jordan Kipp (American) dec. Dan Appello (Brown), 8-3 141-Mark Savino (Brown) FOR 149-Tom Kniezewski (American) dec. Shawn Cully (Brown), 3-2 157-Rudy Rueda (American) dec. Mike Savino (Brown), 4-3 165-Muzaffar Abdurakhmanov (American) major dec. Lenny Marandino (Brown), 17-4 174-Shawn Kitchner (Brown) dec. Anthony Fuschino (American), 9-2 184-Josh Glenn (American) WBF Branden Stearns (Brown), 6:55 197-Leo Sanuik (Brown) dec. Tyler Flatt (American), 5-1 HWT-Adam LoPiccolo (American) dec. Levon Mock (Brown), 8-1 Brown 21, Boston University 16 125-Jeff Schell (Brown) dec. Josh Statum (BU), 7-0 133-John Triggas (Brown) WBF Bryan Matsurra (BU), 1:30 141-Joe Whitaker (BU) dec. Mark Savino (Brown), 6-4 149-Mike Roberts (BU) dec. Mike Ashton (Brown), 5-3 157-Mike Savino (Brown) dec. Justin Blumenthal (BU), 5-2 165-Zach Johns (BU) dec. Shawn Kitchner (Brown), 7-3 174-Chris Tripp (BU) major dec. Matt Gevelinger (Brown), 15-5 184-Tom Sforza (BU) dec. Branden Stearns (Brown), 9-3 197-Leo Saniuk (Brown) major dec. Elijah Videl (BU), 10-1 HWT-Levon Mock (Brown) TP5 Orey Hall (BU),17-0, 3:12 American 27, Boston University 18 125- Matt Morkel (American) dec. Bryan Matsurra (BU), 8-3 133-Bith (American) FOR 141- Carlo Ferrandino (BU) FOR 149- Tom Kniezewski (American) dec Mike Roberts (BU), 8-2 157- Justin Blumenthal (BU) dec. Christopher Stout (American), 6-3 165- Zach Johns (BU) dec Rudy Rueda (American), 5-0 174- Muzaffar Abdurakhmanov (American) WBF Chris Tripp (BU) , 1:33 184- Josh Glenn (American) WBF Elijah Videl (BU), (BU), 1:59 197- Tom Sforza (BU) dec. Dwayne Hash-Barberis (American), 12-6 HWT- Adam LoPiccolo (American) WBF Orey Hall (BU), 0:30

The Eastern Michigan University Eagles split their two matches at the Cleveland State Duals Saturday . The Eagles lost to host Cleveland State (4-2) in the opening match 29-12 and then came back to defeat Slippery Rock( 19-15. Eastern (2-5) were again by #17 ranked true freshman Sean Clair (22-8) at 125 pounds. Clair defeated Daryl Hunt 5-4 to give the Eagles a 3-0 lead against Cleveland State but it was all Viking from that point. Eastern did not score again until freshman Josh Lewis pinned Anthony Mestek in their 174 pound match. Junior Tony Lyssiotis, who also won both of his matches Saturday, started out with a 7-2 win over Ishmal Williams at 197 pounds but that was the last scoring by EMU and Cleveland State (4-2) cruised to a 29-12 victory. The Eagles were much stronger against Slippery Rock (4-7), winning 6 of the 10 matches. Clair shut out Chris Clarke 5-0 and ran his season record to 24-8. Captain Phillip Plowman scored the second shutout in a row when he beat Sal Lascari 7-0 at 133. After Nick Conklin lost at 141 pounds, #20 ranked junior Jermaine Thompson had a 16-4 major decision win over Sal Baglio and Captain Chad Roush decision Gerald Christian 6-3 to extend the EMU lead in the meet to 13-4. Slippery Rock came back however and won the next three matches, including one technical fall and one major decision, to take a 15-13 lead into the last two matches. Lyssiotis then stepped up with his second win of the say, defeating Andrew Joseph 6-0 to give Eastern a 16-15 lead heading into the heavyweights. In the deciding match oif the meet, EMU's true freshman Jake Wood scored his second victory in as many week with an exciting 8-7 win over Matt Burkholder to clinch the Eagle victory 19-15. The other scheduled team, West Liberty State, cancelled due to health concerns. For complete results, go to the EMU web site at http://www.emich.edu/public/wrestling/windex.html

BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- The Pitt Panthers traveled to eastern Pennsylvania this weekend to take on the Lehigh Mountain Hawks in one of the team's most anticipated matches of the season. After some solid victories for both teams in the first six matches, the Mountain Hawks pulled ahead in the final four bouts for a 28-9 victory. Head Coach Rande Stottlemyer felt the team's effort was better in this match, and he was particularly happy with the performances from Mike Ciotti, Ronald Tarquinio, Joey Ecklof and Justin Nestor. Three of those wrestlers put Pitt on the scoreboard, and Tarquinio, despite a tough loss at 141 pounds, fought hard against the No.2-ranked wrestler, Cory Cooperman. Lehigh took an early lead at 125 pounds after Matt Fisk won a 17-0 tech fall over Pitt's Brad Gentzle (Easton, Pa./Easton) at the 6:12 mark. Lehigh was winning 5-0 going into the 133 bout. Senior Mike Ciotti (Latrobe, Pa./Greater Latrobe) was able to earn three points for the Panthers after a 7-1 decision over Lehigh's John Stout. At 141 pounds, the matchup between Pitt's Ronald Tarquinio (McDonald, Pa./West Allegheny) and Lehigh's Cooperman was the most anticipated bout of the evening. The two went head-to-head earlier this season at the Southern Scuffle where they took the championship match into overtime. Cooperman won that match, 3-2. Tarquinio, again, fought hard in this second matchup, this time losing by a narrow 5-3 decision. Cooperman's victory put Lehigh ahead 8-3. In front of a hometown crowd, freshman Joey Ecklof (Northampton, Pa./Northampton) earned his third dual victory of the season after a 8-3 decision over Lehigh's Trevor Chinn. Ecklof narrowed the scoring gap, adding another three points for Pitt. Another Lehigh Valley local, Sean Richmond (Emmaus, Pa./Easton) faced a tough bout at 157 pounds where he was up against Lehigh's No.11 Derek Zinck. Zinck scored another victory for the Mountain Hawks with a 15-6 major decision, keeping Lehigh in the lead 12-6. Justin Nestor (Transfer, Pa./Reynolds) earned another victory for the Panthers at 165 pounds with a 6-0 shutout over Lehigh's Dave Nakasone. Nestor is now 4-2 in dual wins for the season, moving up in the Pitt record books with 108 career victories. The Mountain Hawks dominated the final four bouts of the evening. Pitt's Nick Padezan (Irwin, Pa./Penn Trafford) faced No.12 Travis Frick at 174 pounds, where he lost by an 11-3 major decision. At 184, Lehigh's Dave Helfrich won a 5-2 decision over Pitt freshman Kyle Deliere (Cecil, Pa./Canon-McMillan), and at 197 pounds, No. 16 Matt Cassidy won a close 2-1 decision over the Panthers' Mike Heist (Orefield, Pa./Parkland). In the final bout of the evening, Lehigh worked off their momentum as heavyweight Paul Weibel pinned Pitt's Lou Thomas (Parkersburg, W.Va./Parkersburg) at the 6:27 mark to give Lehigh the 28-9 victory. The Pitt vs. Lehigh matchup was televised on Fox College Sports Atlantic, and will air locally for Panther fans on FSN Pittsburgh. The re-broadcast is scheduled for noon on Sunday, January 22. The Panthers (2-4, 0-1 EWL) return to Pittsburgh next weekend for a 7:30 p.m. matchup against Michigan State on Friday, January 20.

Fresno, Calif. -- The fourth-ranked University of Illinois wrestling team improved to 3-0 on the season as they defeated Fresno State 37-3 in main event odf tonight's three-team dual. Earlier in the day, the Illini dismantled San Francisco State in their dual, 44-0. The loud crowd at the Save Mart Cener was not only rooting for their home team, but for Alex and Troy Tirapelle and Gabe Flores who all won championships for nearby Clovis High School. The Illini were looking to duplicate the fast start they had in the first session, instead, they got the opposite. Gabe Flores (Madera, Calif.) needed riding riding time to win his match against Sean Carlson, 5-4. However, Cassio Pero's (Chicago Heights, Ill.) 7-2 decision over Garrett Spooner along with Troy Tirapelle's (Clovis, Calif.) pin of Dustin Rocha in 4:15 put the Illini back on the right path and in command of the dual. With senior All-American Alex Tirapelle's (Clovis, Calif.) 7-2 manhandling of Charles Jones, the three local wrestlers were unbeaten in their homecoming. Mike Poeta (Highwood, Ill.) and Donny Reynolds (Frankfort, Ill.) also added big points to the Illini's team score. The two starters won in their 165 and 174 pound matches by forfeit. Senior All-American Pete Friedl (Orland Park, Ill.) was too much for Greg Gifford to handle as Friedl scored every period en route to a 12-6 decision. With the 197 pound match tied at 2-2 at the beginning of the third period, Tyrone Byrd (Clinton, Ill.) scored 5 quick points on an escape, a takedown, and a two-point near-fall to win his match against Brandon Halsey. Illinois' season dual shutout was finally snapped as heavyweight Matt Weight (Batavia, Ill.) dropped a close and controversial decision to Cody Parker, 3-2. In the first period, Weight was called for fleeing the mat and a point was given to Parker--much to the disagreement of the Illini supporters. Then, in the closing seconds of the third period, Weight tried to put a few shots together but the buzzer sounded before he could score. That was the only bump in the road for the Illini. In his125 pound match, senior All-American Kyle Ott (Huber Heights, Ohio), helped the Illini finish strong as he won by major decision over Cory Borges 14-4. Ott exploded out of the gates and quickly scored on two takedowns and a two point near-fall. Ott controlled the frenzied pace of the match and only let Borges score on escape points. The Illini travel to Palo Alto, Calif. to face Stanford on Sunday. Mat time is 11 a.m. CST. The team opens the Big Ten season at home against Purdue on Jan. 20

BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- The No. 11-ranked Lehigh wrestling team won six of the last eight matches to overcome an early deficit and hand the 21st-ranked Midshipmen just their second dual loss of the year, 20-12, in front of 1,672 fans on Saturday afternoon. Navy, which had won five straight duals entering the contest, fell to 9-1 overall while Lehigh improves to 8-4-1. The loss signaled the end of a grueling stretch for the Mids, having wrestled six dual meets in a seven-day span. "It was a competitive dual, but when you go into a tough place to wrestle against a good team and a noisy crowd, you have to be at the top of your game, and we weren't today. We made mistakes that get magnified against good teams and Lehigh took advantage," said Navy head coach Bruce Burnett. "We had to go in today and take it away from them and we couldn't do it." Navy jumped out to an early 6-0 lead after two weight classes, thanks to the two heaviest weights. Senior Chris Pogue (Chesapeake, Va.), who has made the transition from 184 pounds to 197 pounds, rather seemlessly, scored an impressive 5-3 triumph over 16th-ranked Matt Cassidy in the meet's first match of the day. Following at heavyweight, Tanner Garrett (Tulsa, Okla.) was equally as impressive, tallying an 11-5 victory over Paul Weibel, who has been in and out of the national rankings this year. The win, which improved Garrett's record to 32-2 overall and was his 32nd straight dual-meet victory, gave Navy a 6-0 cushion. Lehigh rallied by winning the next three matches. At 125 pounds, Matt Fisk blanked Alex Usztics (Dauphin, Pa.), 4-0, to trim the team margin to 6-3. Lehigh's John Stout spoiled freshman Joe Baker's (Poway, Calif.) return to the lineup after missing over a year with a shoulder injury, 9-3. And at 141, No. 3-ranked Cory Cooperman was too strong, defeating Spencer Manley by major decision, 15-5. The three victories gave Lehigh a 10-6 lead after five matches. Burnett was happy to see Baker in the lineup, but the freshman ran out of gas late in the match. "He wanted to wrestle today, which was earlier than we thought he'd be able to," said Burnett. "He looked good the first period, but just ran out of gas late in the match.His conditioning will get better with time." John Cox (Grand Haven, Mich.), ranked 19th in the country, scored a big 5-4 decision over 16th-ranked Matt Ciasulli to keep Navy in the match, but at 157 pounds, 11th-ranked Derek Zinck returned the favor with a 14-6 major-decision victory over John Jarred for a 14-9 Lehigh lead. At 165 pounds, Craig Dziewiatkowski (Aurora, Ill.) gave Navy some hope with an 11-6 decision over Dave Nakasone. However, at 174 pounds, 18th-ranked Travis Frick edged Matt Stolpinski, 9-6, and at 184 pounds, David Helfrich defeated Matt Parsons, 7-1, to complete the match. Parsons was wrestling for Jonny Kane (Portland, Maine), who "broke out" the night before and failed the skin check before the match. Kane had defeated Helfrich is last year's dual, 13-4. "We fought hard, but just didn't get it done today. We were expecting to win, so that is disappointing," said Burnett. "We have things to fix and we'll improve and be ready for North Carolina and North Carolina State in two weeks." The win was Lehigh's sixth in a row in the series, dating back to the 1999-2000 season.Under Burnett, the Mids are 0-6 against Lehigh, but 23-1 against the other teams in the league. Navy will be off next week, before hosting North Carolina and North Carolina State at Halsey Field House on Saturday, Jan. 28, beginning at 1:00 p.m. For ticket information, call 1-800-US4-NAVY. #11 Lehigh 20, #21 Navy 12 TEAM SCORE 197: Chris Pogue (N) dec. #16 Matt Cassidy, 5-3 N, 3-0 HWT: #7 Tanner Garrett (N) dec. Paul Weibel, 11-5 N, 6-0 125: Matt Fisk (L) dec. Alex Usztics, 4-0 N, 6-3 133: John Stout (L) dec. Joe Baker, 9-3 T, 6-6 141: #3 Cory Cooperman (L) mdec. Spencer Manley, 15-5 L, 10-6 149: #19 John Cox (N) dec. #16 Matt Ciasulli, 5-4 L, 10-9 157: #11 Derek Zinck (L) mdec. John Jarred, 14-6 L, 14-9 165: Craig Dziewiatkowski (N) dec. Dave Nakasone, 11-6 L, 14-12 174: #18 Travis Frick (L) dec. Matt Solpinski, 9-6 L, 17-12 184: Dave Helfrich (L) dec. Matt Parsons, 7-1 L, 20-12

CEDAR FALLS -- The NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals kicked off on Saturday morning at the UNI Dome on the campus of Northern Iowa University in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Seventy-one teams across five divisions of wrestling (Division I, Division II, Division III, NAIA, and NJCAA) are competing this weekend. Defending Champions Roll Oklahoma State (Division I), Nebraska-Omaha (Division II), and Augsburg (Division III) each back to defend their NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals titles, breezed through their day one duals to advance to tomorrow's semifinals. Oklahoma State, the three-time defending NCAA champions, dominated Kent State in the opening round, 37-6, and then, perhaps more impressively, won their quarterfinal match, 38-3, over Arizona State. The Cowboys finished the day having won 17 of their 20 individual matches. Top-seeded Nebraska-Omaha blasted Fort Hayes State, 24-9, in the opening round. In the quarterfinals, national champions J.D. Naig (165) and Les Sigman (Hwt) recorded pins, which helped propel the Mavericks to a 28-11 victory over eighth-seeded Augustana (South Dakota). Nebraska-Omaha head coach Mike Denney was pleased with his team's overall performance, but also had high praise for his opponents. "These are our first duals of the season," said Denney. "We've wrestled all tournaments up until this point, so we're still kind of adjusting to the dual meet kind of thing. But I'll tell you what, that's one of the best Fort Hayes teams I've seen them have in the 27 years I've been coaching. They have a nice squad. They really do. They performed well against us. And then with Augustana, I don't know how they got seeded eighth. They were second in the nation last year. They returned a bunch of their guys, so we had two tough teams right off the bat." The Mavericks will now face fifth-seeded Central Oklahoma in semifinals. Central Oklahoma defeated fourth-seeded Nebraska-Kearney, 22-11, in the quarterfinals. "I was a little bit surprised (that Central Oklahoma won)," said Denney. "I didn't get a chance to see the match. So I don't know if Nebraska-Kearney was missing somebody or what happened. But it should be a good match-up tomorrow." Augsburg, who entered the event seeded third (behind No. 1 Wartburg and No. 2 UW-La Crosse) crushed their first two opponents. In the first round, the Auggies defeated Augustana (Illinois), 38-3, and then defeated sixth-seeded Cornell (Iowa), 36-3. Augsburg will now take on UW-La Crosse in the semifinals in a battle of Division III heavyweights. Surprise! Nebraska has been the biggest surprise of this year's event. The Huskers, who came in unseeded (and currently ranked 17th in the country by RevWrestling.com), first upset fourth-seeded Iowa, 24-13, in the opening round on the strength of two pins to open the dual and also scored two upsets up top. Paul Donahoe (125) and Patrick Aleksanyan (133) recorded pins, while Jacob Klein (174) and Vince Jones (184) beat a pair of Hawkeyes ranked in the top four in the nation. Klein, a 2004 All-American, defeated No. 3 Mark Perry, 4-3. Jones, a true freshman in his first match out of redshirt, stunned Bradley, 4-3. The Cornhuskers proved their win over Iowa was no fluke by knocking off fourth-seeded Michigan (for the second time this season), 24-16, to advance to the semifinals. So what's their reward for reaching the semifinals? A meeting with top-ranked Oklahoma State on Sunday at 11 a.m. CST. He's Human Troy Nickerson of Cornell has been one of the most talked about freshman in recent years… and for good reason. He entered the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals with an 18-0 record and ranked fifth in the country by RevWrestling.com. But on Saturday afternoon, Nickerson suffered the first setback of his collegiate career, a 3-0 loss to two-time All-American Sam Hazewinkel of Oklahoma. The two wrestlers battled to a scoreless first period. Hazewinkel began the period in the down position and after Nickerson threw in the legs, the Sooner was able to secure a reversal to go up 2-0. Nickerson chose to start the third period in the neutral position, but was unable to put any points on the scoreboard. Hazewinkel added an additional point for riding time. Sam Hazewinkel"I felt like I wrestled real good, real smart," said Hazewinkel. "I wish that I would have done a little more. I didn't attack as much as I wanted to. But it's a win against a great kid, so I'm not upset." Hazewinkel said that he spent a little bit of time preparing for Nickerson, but didn't want to dwell on the match-up. "I heard something last year that I've been trying to do," said Hazewinkel. "It said, when all you do is watch other people, or all you do is watch your mistakes, than that's what you work on, instead of looking at what you do right. So I was just trying to think about what I do right, rather than what he does." Best Freshman? While a case could certainly be made for Nickerson as the nation's top freshman, an equally strong case could be made for Minnesota's Dustin Schlatter, who shutout two-time All-American and third-ranked Jon Masa of Hofstra, 5-0, in the opening round. In his second match today, Schlatter won by major decision over Iowa State's Jason Knipp, 19-7. The former four-time Ohio state champion now boasts a 24-1 record -- with his only loss coming to Mark DiSalvo of Central Michigan at the Northeast Duals. Interestingly, Schlatter will get another crack at DiSalvo, also an Ohio native, when Minnesota wrestles against Central Michigan in the semifinals at 11 a.m. CST. Domination Continues With his four wins (two technical falls and two pins) on Saturday, top-ranked Ben Askren of Missouri (174) ran his season record to 30-0 with 22 pins and six technical falls. Missouri finished the day with a 2-2 record. What a Difference Four Years Can Make Nate Baker was the starting 165-pounder as a freshman for National Duals champion Minnesota in 2002. Now, after being out of the sport for four years, he is back wrestling in this event, but this time for Minnesota-Moorhead (Division II). Baker won both of his matches today, but his team finished a disappointing 0-2. Note: Division I, Division II, Division III ,and NAIA semifinal matches will take place at 11:00 a.m. CST. The finals will take place at 3:00 p.m. NJCAA semifinals took place on Saturday night, with the finals set to take place on Sunday at 5:00 p.m. CST. Semifinal Pairings: Division I: No. 1 Oklahoma State vs. Nebraska No. 2 Minnesota vs. No. 6 Central Michigan Division II: No. 1 Nebraska-Omaha vs. No. 5 Central Oklahoma No. 2 Minnesota State-Mankato vs. No. 6 Ashland Division III: No. 1 Wartburg vs. No. 4 Luther No. 2 Wisconsin-La Crosse vs. No. 3 Augsburg NAIA: No. 1 Lindenwood vs. No. 5 Cumberlands No. 3 Dana vs. No. 7 Missouri Valley Updated Results: Division I Brackets Division II Brackets Division III Brackets NAIA Brackets NJCAA Brackets

With the 2006 NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals set to begin on Saturday in Cedar Falls, Iowa, there are five questions that I would like answered this weekend… 1. Who is the nation's top freshman? Troy NickersonIt has truly been an amazing season for freshmen. Troy Nickerson of Cornell, a true freshman, is currently 18-0 and ranked No. 5 in the country at 125 pounds. The most impressive thing about Nickerson, though, is the ease in which he is winning his matches. Of his 18 wins, seven have come by pin and six by major decision. He'll get his first major test in the first round match-up against Oklahoma's Sam Hazewinkel, who has placed third at the NCAA Championships the past two seasons. Dustin Schlatter of Minnesota, also a true freshman, is 22-1 this season -- with his lone loss coming to No. 5 Mark DiSalvo of Central Michigan. Like Nickerson, Schlatter will have his hands full in his opening round match-up against No. 3 Jon Masa of Hofstra. Steve Luke of Michigan, a redshirt freshman, has a 7-2 record and won the prestigious Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational in December, which included a win over Alex Tirapelle of Illinois. If Both Michigan and Iowa win their opening round matches, Luke will see NCAA runner-up Joe Johnston in the second round. Redshirt freshman Brandon Mason of Oklahoma State comes in with a 13-5 record at 174, but is coming off a bad 13-0 loss to Mark Perry of Iowa. Mason could potentially meet top-ranked Ben Askren of Missouri in the second round (if the Tigers can get by Arizona State). Obviously, since not all of the top freshmen in the country will be in Cedar Falls this weekend, it wouldn't be fair to use this event as an accurate indicator of who "the best" freshman is, but it should prove to be a good measuring stick for the four freshmen mentioned above. Other freshmen who have made an impact this season include Gregor Gillespie of Edinboro, Mike Poeta of Illinois, and J Jaggers of Ohio State. 2. Is Jon Masa ready to challenge for a national title? Masa, a senior 149-pounder for Hofstra, was granted a one semester Olympic waiver by the NCAA in late November. The Puerto Rico native is a two-time All-American with an abundance of talent. When he's "on," he's one of the best wrestlers in the country -- regardless of weight class. But other times, he wrestles as if he is bored, or merely going through the motions. Case in point, last season he lost to Jeff Harrison of Northern Iowa, 13-4. Admittedly, Harrison was a solid wrestler, but never an All-American, and not someone who Masa should have lost to by nine points! He also lost to non-All-Americans Rayes Gonzalez of Boston and Jeff Owens of Cal Poly. As further of evidence of his inconsistency, he lost to Dustin Manotti of Cornell last season, 6-4 and 16-3. There is no question that Manotti, a three-time All-American, is a very good wrestler, but how can someone as talented as Masa lose by 13 points? Not only did he go on to avenge that loss to Manotti (at the NCAA Championships), but he beat him 11-3! He then proceeded to beat a tough Eric Tannenbaum, 8-1, to finish third at the NCAA Championships. He has been victorious in his only two matches sine returning to the Pride lineup (he did, in Masa-like fashion, lose some matches he shouldn't have while wrestling unattached earlier this season). But in his first match back, he defeated Tannenbaum, 13-4. Now the question is whether or not he can avoid letdown and challenge for the national title. He'll see super frosh Dustin Schlatter of Minnesota in the first round -- in what should be a very intiguing match-up. 3. Who is the front-runner in Division I for the coveted Dan Hodge Trophy presented by WIN Magazine? As I see it right now, looking strictly at Division I, there are five wrestlers who could win this award this season. Those wrestlers include Ben Askren of Missouri (174), Nate Gallick of Iowa State (141), Cole Konrad of Minnesota (Hwt), Ryan Churella of Michigan (165), and Steve Mocco of Oklahoma State (Hwt). Askren, in my opinion, is without question the front-runner for this award right now. He has completely dominated everyone he has faced this season. He is 26-0 with 20 pins. With his next victory, he will break his own school record for consecutive wins, a mark that he set last season. However, he has yet to meet the No. 2 and No. 3-ranked wrestlers in his weight class, Jake Herbert of Northwestern and Mark of Perry of Iowa, respectively, but could potentially face them this weekend. Gallick is a world-class freestyler who has yet to reach his collegiate wrestling goals. The Arizona native, who has placed fifth and second at the NCAA Championships, is currently 19-0 this season with a Midlands title and a victory over his nemesis, Teyon Ware of Oklahoma, at the NWCA All-Star Classic. Konrad is 20-0 this season. More importantly, though, he toppled "The Bear", Steve Mocco of Oklahoma State, for the first time in his career at the NWCA All-Star Classic. Ryan ChurellaChurella has quietly positioned himself as a legitimate contender for the Hodge. He currently boasts an 11-0 record, which includes five pins, two-technical falls, and three major decisions. Entering this season, Churella was ranked third in the country at 165 -- behind two NCAA champions -- Troy Letters of Lehigh and Johny Hendricks of Oklahoma State. But both have already lost this season (Hendricks was pinned by Joe Bracamonte of Oregon, but defeated Letters). If everything goes as expected, Churella will face Hendricks in the semifinals, who he lost to in last year's NCAA semifinals. Mocco, last year's Hodge winner, remains undefeated (not counting his exhibition loss to Konrad) at 11-0. If he is able to run the table the rest of the way, without losing to Konrad, he could become the second wrestler (after Cael Sanderson) to win multiple Hodge Trophies. 4. Will wrestling fans show up to a premier collegiate event in a hotbed wrestling state? Wrestling fans often complain about the lack of national coverage the sport receives. I'll admit, I've often complained about it myself. But until we (as wrestling fans) fill up arenas and give the national media outlets (like ESPN) a reason to care about our sport, it will continue to be an afterthought to people outside the wrestling community. Matt Krumrie of TheWrestlingMall.com wrote a very interesting article in December entitled, "Wrestling fans, where are you? Disappointing attendance bad for the sport." The article took a look at the poor attendance figures throughout the country this season. In 2002, Minnesota wrestled against Iowa at the Target Center and drew a record-setting 15,646 fans. This season, Iowa was hoping to shatter that record in a home dual against Oklahoma State last Saturday night. It didn't happen. In fact, the dual drew just over half (8,157) of their goal. It will be interesting to see how well this weekend's event draws in wrestling-rich Iowa. 5. Who, if anyone, can give Oklahoma State the best run for their money at the NCAA Championships? Being that this event is a dual meet format, and the NCAA Championships use a tournament format, the National Duals aren't the best indicator of what will happen in March. Some teams, like Michigan and Cornell, appear to be much better tournament teams than dual meet teams because of the strength of their top individuals. However, this event will allow each of the top teams to showcase their talent against other top teams. The only team ranked in the top five that will not be in Cedar Falls is No. 3 Illinois. Every single dual meet that will take place this weekend will have great individual match-ups. At the conclusion of this event, we'll have a pretty good idea of how great the Michigan middleweights are -- and whether or not they might be able to score enough points to at least challenge the Cowboys. We'll have a pretty good idea as to whether or not the Schlatter brothers, Dustin and CP, can beat highly-ranked wrestlers and challenge for national titles, which would give the Gophers a huge boost. And we'll have a pretty good idea as to whether or not Oklahoma has the overall depth (outside of their top two wrestlers, Sam Hazewinkel and Teyon Ware) to be a threat at the NCAA Championships.

BAKERSFIELD, California – A major decision victory by K.C. Walsh in the final match of the evening propelled the Boise State University wrestling team to a 20-19 win over Cal State Bakersfield in the Broncos first Pac-10 Conference dual of the 2005-06 season Thursday (Jan. 12) night. Boise State improves its overall dual record on the year to 4-1. With the Broncos trailing 19-16 heading into the 184 pound match, Boise State needed at least a win by decision from Walsh to tie the dual. But the senior from Tacoma, Washington, stepped it up a notch posting 16-6 major decision over Brandon Ceremello for four team points and a one-point Bronco victory. Starting with six team points from Casey Phelps when Cal State Bakersfield had to forfeit the match at 197 pounds, Boise State held the lead throughout most of the evening building its margin to as many as nine points at 12-3 after four matches. After an 11-0 major decision win by Ben Cherrington at 157 pounds, Boise State led 16-10 before the host Roadrunners won two straight matches with a major decision and a technical fall (five team points) to take a 19-16 lead heading into the final match. Walsh controlled the final match jumping out to a 10-3 lead at the end of the first period, before extending it to 16-5 at the end of two. Ceremello scored the only point of the third period after Walsh, in the down position for the entire period, was twice warned for stalling. It's now on to southern California for the Broncos on Friday (Jan. 13) for another Pac-10 dual at Cal State Fullerton. Boise State completes its four-day swing through California on Saturday (Jan. 14) with duals against Purdue University and Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. Following are complete results from the match Boise State 20, Cal State Bakersfield 19 197 – Casey Phelps (BSU) wins by forfeit HWT – Eric Parker (CSUB) dec. Andy Patrick (BSU) 5-2 125 – Cory Fish (BSU) dec. Brandon Zoetewey (CSUB) 4-1 133 – Scott Jorgensen (BSU) dec. Tommy Vargas (CSUB) 4-1 141 – Matt Schumm (CSUB) major dec. Jordan Brock (BSU) 9-0 149 – Anthony Baza (CSUB) dec. Tyler Sherfey (BSU) 9-6 157 – Ben Cherrington (BSU) major dec. Drew East (CSUB) 11-0 165 – Briah Busby (CSUB) major dec. Lex Case (BSU) 9-0 174 – Christian Arellano (CSUB) tech fall Ben Gilliland (BSU) 17-0 184 – K.C. Walsh (BSU) major dec. Brandon Ceremello (CSUB) 16-6

The Adams State College Grizzly wrestling team found that out the hard way as arch-rival Western State College overcame an apparent 12-6 deficit to win the final five matches en-route to a 26-9 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference dual victory over the visiting Grizzlies on Thursday night in the Mountaineers' Paul W. Wright Gymnasium. The victory allowed the nation's 17th-ranked Mountaineers to remain perfect in duals. Western, which scored three bonus point wins, is now 7-0 overall and 2-0 in RMAC action. ASC, ranked ninth in the nation, was competing in a dual for the first time this season. Leading 9-6 at the intermission, the Grizzlies were about to go up 12-6 with their fourth straight win. With ASC senior Dave Welanko (Clarkston, Mich.) holding a 3-2 lead late in the third period, the Mountaineers flipped the momentum 180 degrees as Mountaineer redshirt freshman Tate Lowe, a late replacement for nationally ranked Camille DuPont, scored the winning takedown with just four seconds left in the 149-pound match knotting the dual at 9. The Mountaineers then used the suddenly-energized crowd as WSC's Zach Lee pinned ASC senior Scott Cleve (Escondido, Calif.) just 16 seconds into the second period of the 157-pound match giving Western State a 15-9 lead and all the momentum in the world. Larry Wilbanks and Charlie Pipher then posted 13-5 major decision wins at 165 and 174 pounds, respectively, to clinch the dual before Dillon Waggonner scored a 7-2 win in the 184-pound finale giving the Mountaineers their third straight win in the series. Winners of 11 of the last 12 in the series, the Mountaineers have not dropped a home dual against ASC since Jan. 13, 1994. Welanko, who rejoined the team this week after a 2-year hiatus, scored the opening takedown and took a 3-1 lead in the second period. Lowe then closed the gap to 3-2 with a takedown early in the third period. Looking like he was going to hold off the Mountaineer, Welanko nearly got out of trouble. However, Lowe spun around to take the crowd-energizing 4-3 win. Lowe's momentum carried over to the 157-pound match. In the first period, Lee had taken a 7-1 lead with the throw and nearly pinned Cleve before settling for a 3-point near fall and another takedown later in the period. Using a nearly identical throw as he did in the first period, Lee improved to 12-4 while giving the Mountaineers a 15-9 lead. Wilbanks then scored a 13-5 major decision win over Dusty Vaughn, a replacement for nationally-ranked Evan Copeland (Las Cruces, N.M.), in the 165-pound bout. Vaughn, now 2-3 on the year, was wrestling in a dual for the first time in his ASC career just over an hour away from his hometown of Montrose The wrestlers were scoreless in the first period before Wilbanks went ahead 7-2 with a wild flurry early in the second. Vaughn answered with a reversal to close the gap to 7-4 before a second 2-point near fall early in the third gave Wilbanks a 9-4 edge. He then went up 11-5 with a third-period takedown before accumulating 87 seconds of riding time to give the Mountaineers a bonus point. Pipher then scored five takedowns en-route to his win over James Reynolds (Monte Vista, Colo.) ranked seventh in the nation. Dillon Waggonner then closed out the dual with a 7-2 win over Josh Vialpando (Walsenburg, Colo.) at 184 pounds. The Grizzlies had gone into the intermission with full control of the momentum and a 9-6 lead thanks to wins by senior Rob McCabe (Nucla, Colo.), sophomore Raymond Dunning (Nashville, Tenn.) and junior Brian Pitts (Rio Rancho, N.M.), all former All-Americans. McCabe, ranked eighth in the nation at 125 pounds, put ASC on the board in the third match of the night as he overcame a 4-3 third period deficit to post a 7-4 win over WSC's Eddie Lopez. McCabe, now 10-8, scored a takedown a minute in before riding out Lopez for the rest of the first period. Lopez then came back to cut the deficit to 3-2 with a second period takedown after a McCabe escape before the Mountaineer took the lead with a takedown from the neutral position in the third. However, McCabe tied the match just a few seconds later before scoring a bout-clinching takedown midway through the third stanza. McCabe then rode Lopez out while scoring a riding time point. Dunning, named RMAC Wrestler of the Week earlier in the day, then evened things up at 6 with a convincing 6-0 win over Marques Bravo, a returning national qualifier. After a scoreless first period, the 133-pound Dunning scored an early second period reversal and near fall before riding Bravo for the rest of the match accumulating 3 ½ minutes of riding time. Dunning, now ranked second in the nation, has won five straight bouts while improving to 13-5. Pitts then gave ASC a 9-6 lead with a 9-4 win over Western State's Chirs Freije at 141 pounds. Pitts led 3-1 in the second before Freije tied things up with a late takedown. However, Pitts got out at the buzzer giving him a 4-3 lead. Freije was able to tie things up with an early escape before a final-minute takedown and ensuing turn allowed Pitts to claim the win, his third straight and fifth in his last six. The Mountaineers had taken the early lead and momentum as 197-pound junior Cody Mumma scored the first takedown in the waning seconds of the first period against ASC junior Casey Woodall (Morenci, Ariz.) before the wrestlers traded escapes in the second and third periods. Mumma then scored another takedown midway through the period to wrap up the 5-2 win. Kipp Cullin kept things going for the Mountaineers as he scored a first-period takedown en-route to a defensive 3-2 win over Grizzly senior Heath Soderstrom (Englewood, Colo.) to give WSC a 6-0 lead. The Grizzlies now return home to Plachy Hall for their next five duals, starting Saturday evening at 6 o'clock against Division I Air Force. The Mountaineers will meet Air Force, currently 2-0 in duals, on Friday night in Colorado Springs. Visit ASCGrizzlies.com for the latest news and info on Adams State College Athletics.

The Eastern Michigan University Eagles travel to Cleveland Saturday to face three opponents in the Cleveland State Duals. The Eagles will take on host Cleveland State in the opening match at noon, followed by West Liberty and then Slippery Rock.. The Eagles are 1-4 this season coming off a tough loss to #11 Lehigh last Sunday. Eastern will be led by #17 ranked freshman Sean Clair (22-8) at 125 and #20 ranked junior Jermaine Thompson (7-2) at 149. Captain Phillip Plowman has returned to the lineup at 133 after an injury and looked sharp against Lehigh. Cleveland State is 2-2 following a recent big victory over Ohio State and then a 27-8 loss to Kent State. The Vikings are led by senior Ron Howard (16-6) who is ranked #18 at 184 and the opening meet of the day should be a real teat for both Eastern and Cleveland State. Slippery Rock is 4-5. Their strength is in the upper middle weights where they are led by senior Jason Cardillo (21-9)at 165 and sophomore Jerimiah Frederick (18-12)at 174. West Liberty is a Division II West Virginia school. The Hilltoppers are led by junior Tommy Clark who is ranked #5 nationally in Division II at 174 pounds.