InterMat Staff

Joe Betterman2005 was the year that Joe Betterman really made a name for himself in the wrestling world. Let's look at the highlights: Joe won the 55 kg/121-pound Greco-Roman title at the Dave Schultz Memorial Invitational … and, in October, beat veteran Lindsey Durlacher to win the 2005 Sunkist Kids 55 kg championship. He also earned a place on the U.S. National Team. Very impressive, especially for a 21-year-old who is still in college … and, unlike most of his competitors, only took up wrestling as a freshman in high school. Giving it a Go in Chicago Joe was born on July 12, 1984 in Chicago. He grew up near one of the Windy City's great sports landmarks, Wrigley Field. As a freshman at Lakeview High, he played football … weighing in at just 72 pounds. One of the assistant football coaches suggested he go out for the wrestling team. That first year was rough for Joe. Being considerably lighter than most of his opponents in the lightest weight class -- 103 pounds in Illinois at the time -- Joe confesses, "I did not win any regular-season matches outright during my freshman year. I got some victories because of forfeits because the other team didn't have a guy in my weight class." Joe embarked on a program to make himself a better wrestler. He competed in track and cross country to work on his conditioning. And he wrestled in freestyle and Greco-Roman events in the off-season, placing in Greco competition at the U.S. Cadet Nationals in Fargo. All this work -- and the fact that he put on some solid weight -- made a remarkable difference for his sophomore year at Lakeview, where he compiled a 36-12 record. The improvement continued. By his junior year, Joe had qualified for the Illinois High School State Wrestling Tournament, and earned fifth in Greco at Fargo. Joe capped off his mat career at Lakeview with a sixth-place finish at the Illinois State Championships. When asked if taking up wrestling later than most of his competitors caused problems for him, Joe responded, "Most of my opponents started really young -- some of them before they even started school. I was at a disadvantage at first in high school but not any more." Preparation for the Mat World -- and the Real World Joe Betterman is now six hours north of Chicago, enrolled at Northern Michigan University in Marquette in the Upper Peninsula … and a participant in the U.S. Olympic Education Center (USOEC) Greco-Roman Wrestling Program. Joe is enrolled in NMU's criminal justice program. "I would like a career working in the FBI or forensic science," says Joe. "It's something I've always wanted to do." Joe Betterman is on track to graduate from Northern Michigan University in 2007 (photo by John Sachs).To accommodate his Greco-Roman wrestling training, Joe is on a five-year academic plan, taking twelve class hours a semester with the goal of graduating in 2007. Joe describes a typical day: "Practice starts at 6:45 each morning, then I go to class. Then there's practice again at three." On Wednesdays and Saturdays, there's only one practice session … with no practice on Sunday. The USOEC Greco-Roman Wrestling Program was started in August 1999 with just eight athletes. Today, there are twenty-three wrestlers including Joe Betterman … all full-time students at NMU. The program has come a long way in the past six years. At the 2005 World Team Trials in Ames, Iowa, four USOEC wrestlers earned a place on the U.S. National Team. Joe Betterman was one of the four. (The others: Harry Lester, Adam Wheeler, and Willie Madison.) Heading up the program since 2002 is Ivan Ivanov, a 136.5-pound silver medalist at the 1994 Greco-Roman World Championships who placed fifth at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta competing for his native Bulgaria. Before coming to Michigan, Ivanov served as coach at the Treehouse Athletic Club in Salt Lake City for three years. Assisting Ivanov is Jim Gruenwald, two-time Olympian in Greco-Roman competition. The USOEC Web site features this quote from head coach Ivanov: "Our goal is to recruit the most talented juniors in the U.S. for our program. We have excellent training and educational facilities, good food, resources for travel, and solid support from USA Wrestling. When you put it all together, the USOEC program has all the tools needed to develop Olympic wrestlers." It's probably safe to say that Joe agrees with his coach. When asked about his participation in the USOEC Greco-Roman Wrestling Program, Joe says, "It's an incredible facility. It's all focused on Greco. I get expert coaching, and the opportunity to work out with the best Greco wrestlers in the country." A Memorable Dave Schultz Memorial Joe Betterman's ongoing development as a Greco-Roman wrestler mirrors that of the USOEC. Among his early accomplishments: 2003-04 FILA Junior Nationals champion… sixth at the 2004 U.S. Nationals … second at the New York Athletic Club Christmas International Open… and 2004-05 University Nationals champ. 2005 got off to a great start for Joe. At the Dave Schultz Memorial Invitational in February, he took on some of the best wrestlers in the world – "I didn't wrestle a single American" says Joe -- and proved to be the better man, winning the 55 kg title. Joe recounts some of the high points of the tournament in Colorado Springs: "In my semifinals match against Sweden (Niklas Lovkvist), I got a takedown in the last eight seconds to win the match." "In the finals against the Belarussian (Aliaksei Shaipak) -- who had beat Lindsey Durlacher in the semifinals -- I won the match with a headlock in the last ten seconds." It was a come-from-behind win. Joe lost the first period to Shaipak 1-0. In the second, Joe used a front-headlock throw to win the period 3-3. In the third, Joe employed the headlock again to win the period 4-1 -- and the match. In a published interview at the Dave Schultz tournament, Joe said, "Last year I took fifth here. This year I was first, and placed ahead of people ranked ahead of me. The Belarussian beat me at the Kit Carson International last week. It was good to come in and get a win from him. You can't give up. My coaches all tell me to never give up. If you are losing, you have to try anything in the last few seconds." Kissed by Success at the Sunkist Kids After the high of winning the Dave Schultz, Joe placed fifth at the U.S. Nationals, and third at the U.S. World Team Trials. But the 2005 Sunkist Kids/ASU International Open in October made up for those mid-year disappointments. In the semifinals, Joe easily handled Duane Martin of the U.S. Army 7-0, 6-1 to move into the finals … where he faced Lindsey Durlacher, the top-ranked U.S. Greco wrestler in the 55 kg weight class who won the 2005 World Team Trials. But Joe Betterman prevailed over the 31-year-old defending Sunkist Kids champ 2-1, 6-2 to take the Sunkist title -- the first time Joe had defeated Durlacher. "The reverse body lift is really good for me," says Joe. "That's how I beat Lindsey." Joe Betterman defeated Lindsey Durlacher at the Sunkist Kids/ASU International Open.In November, Betterman and Durlacher faced each other again, this time at the New York Athletic Club's Holiday Championships. In the rematch of the two NYAC wrestlers, Durlacher got revenge, winning the 55 kg title 3-1, 1-1. It was the second straight year that Joe placed second at the NYAC end-of-year event. A Wider World Beckons Joe considers himself blessed to be a part of the USOEC Greco-Roman Wrestling program. "I get a full scholarship for my college education to prepare me for life after wrestling," says Joe. "I've also gained the opportunity to see the world -- places like Bulgaria, France, Turkey, Poland, London." "Getting to train overseas is very helpful," Joe adds, "I've come to see that European wrestlers tend to be more technical, while U.S. wrestlers are usually in better condition." What are Joe's wrestling goals? "I want to make the world team, and I want to compete in the 2008 Olympics, and maybe in Olympics beyond that," says Joe. "I hope to have a long career in wrestling. Many guys ten years older than me are still competing, still winning." Looks like the FBI might just have to wait for its Betterman.

Team 1. Cal Poly 2. Arizona St. 3. Oregon St. 4. Boise St. 5. Oregon 6. UC Davis 7. Cal State Bakersfield 8. Stanford 9. Cal State Fullerton 10. Portland St. Individual 125 Pounds 1. Jeremy Mendoza (Arizona St.) 2. Chad Mendes (Cal Poly) 3. Tanner Gardner (Stanford) 4. Eric Stevenson (Oregon St.) 5. Marcos Orozco (UC Davis) 6. Brandon Zoteway (Cal State Bakersfield) 133 Pounds 1. Scott Jorgensen (Boise St.) 2. Darrell Vasquez (Cal Poly) 3. Justin Pearch (Oregon) 4. Omar Gaitan (UC Davis) 5. TJ Dillashaw (Cal State Fullerton) 6. Tommy Vargas (Cal State Bakersfield) 141 Pounds 1. Derek Moore (UC Davis) 2. Steve Esparza (Cal Poly) 3. Jeremy Larson (Oregon St.) 4. Skyler Woods (Oregon) 5. Tommy Owen (Boise St.) 6. Matt Schumm /Jeremy Doyle (Cal State Bakersfield) 149 Pounds 1. Tyler Sherfey (Boise St.) 2. Pat Payne (Arizona St.) 3. Anthony Baza (Cal State Bakersfield) 4. Jeff Owens (Cal Poly) 5. Josh Zupancic (Stanford ) 6. Orlando Perez (Oregon St.) 157 Pounds 1. Brian Stith (Arizona St.) 2. Scott Loescher (Stanford) 3. Tony Hook (Oregon St.) 4. Shawn Reilly (Cal State Fullerton) 5. Ryan Williams (Cal Poly) 6. Dustin Noack (UC Davis) 165 Pounds 1. Joey Bracamonte (Oregon) 2. Pat Pitsch (Arizona St.) 3. Brian Busby (Cal State Bakersfield) 4. Frank Richmond (UC Davis) 5. Ray Blake (Stanford) 6. Risto Marttinen (Cal State Fullerton) 174 Pounds 1. Jeremy Larson (Oregon St.) 2. Chet McBee (Oregon) 3. Christian Arellano (Cal State Bakersfield) 4. Ken Cook (UC Davis) 5. Ian Murphy/Ryan Budd (Cal State Fullerton) 6. Yuri Kalika (Cal Poly) 184 Pounds 1. Shane Webster (Oregon) 2. Ryan Halsey (Cal Poly) 3. Jesse Taylor (Cal State Fullerton) 4. KC Walsh (Boise St.) 5. Ryan Hagen (Stanford) 6. Tyler Bernacchi (UC Davis) 197 Pounds 1. Ryan Bader (Arizona St.) 2. Casey Phelps (Boise St.) 3. Matt Monteiro (Cal Poly) 4. Dan Pitsch (Oregon St.) 5. Elliot Kelly (UC Davis) 6. Chris Chambers (Cal State Fullerton) Heavyweight 1. Cain Velasquez (Arizona St.) 2. Andy Patrick (Boise St.) 3. Ty Watterson (Oregon St.) 4. Eric Parker (Cal State Bakersfield) 5. Arturo Basulto (Cal Poly) 6. Chris Dearmon (Oregon)

TEMPE, Ariz. -- For the second tournament in a row, the No. 18 Arizona State University wrestling team (3-2, 1-0 Pac-10) heads to Nevada for competition, this time taking part in the 2005 Reno Tournament of Champions to be held Sunday, December 18, at the Reno Livestock Event Center in Reno, Nev. The event will serve as the final action of 2005 and the final individual tournament until the 2006 Pac-10 Championships later in the season. THE INVITED Twenty-seven teams, including five ranked in the Top 25 of the latest NWCA/USA Today Division I rankings, will be on hand Sunday at the 2005 Reno Tournament of Champions. Three-time defending national champion and top-ranked Oklahoma State will join No. 9 Central Michigan, No. 12 Penn State, No. 15 Northwestern and No. 18 Arizona State in the field that has a strong mix of all divisions of collegiate wrestling. Eight of the 10 teams that currently make up the Pac-10 Conference will send competitors to the mat, including ASU, Boise State, Cal State Bakersfield, Cal State Fullerton, Portland State, Stanford, UC Davis and Oregon (the two member institutions not competing are Cal Poly and Oregon State). TOUGH INDIVIDUALS With several top teams headed to the event, several wrestlers ranked in the national Top 20 will be on the mats this weekend. The 133, 157, 174 and 197 weight classes each boast six wrestlers holding Top 20 ranks while the weight class with the least representation is 184 with two. Brian Stith, ranked No. 8 this week, is the highest ranked entrant in the 157 class while both No. 11 Patrick Pitsch (165) and No. 4 Cain Velasquez (285) are the second-highest in their respective divisions. Overall, five wrestlers ranked No. 1 in the nation will be on hand to compete in the tournament. LOOKING BACK: RENO 2004 Last year in Reno, the Sun Devils finished second to eventual national champion Oklahoma State, 163.5-103.0, and was seven points ahead of third-place Fresno State's 96.0 points. Six Sun Devils placed in the Top 6 with Brian Stith (157), C.B. Dollaway (184) and Cain Velasquez (285) each falling in the finals of their respective weight classes to finish second overall. Ryan Bader (197) took third, Patrick Williams (149) was fourth and Patrick Pitsch (165) finished sixth to round out the placers for Arizona State. RENO HISTORY Arizona State will compete in the Reno Tournament of Champions for the sixth year in a row and will look to keep alive its streak of Top 3 finishes as it has place either second or third each of the five previous years. The Sun Devils were runners-up to Oklahoma State in 200, 2003 and 2004 while finishing third in 2001 behind Missouri and OSU and third in 2002 behind OSU and Edinboro. THE LINEUP Here are the Sun Devils that have entered into the 2005 Reno Tournament of Champions this weekend at the Reno Livestock Events Center: Jeremy Mendoza (125), Adam Hickey (133), Jason Robbins (141), Pat Payne (149), Brian Stith (157), Kevin Gaughan (157), Patrick Pitsch (165), Jamie Robbins (174), Alex Pavlenko (174), Jason Trulson (184), Ryan Bader (197) and Cain Velasquez (285). Each team is allowed to enter up to 13 athletes in the tournament with the Sun Devils sending 12 to compete. MR. 100 Heading into his senior season, Ryan Bader stood 88-34 in his career with the Sun Devils. So far this season, Bader has compiled an 11-2 record to bring his career mark to 99-36, leaving him one victory shy of 100 career wins. If he can win one bout in his hometown this weekend, he will become the 21st Sun Devil to reach the century mark. The last ASU wrestler to reach the milestone mark of 100 victories was current assistant coach Eric Larkin, who finished his career with 123 victories, tying him for the sixth-most wins in school history. CLOSING IN Ryan Bader's chase for 100 victories is not the only place in the record books he is nearing in on. Following the first five duals of the season, Bader is 4-1 and has improved his career dual record to 41-19 overall. His win total ties him for the 19th-most in program history with John Ginther, who went 41-10-3 from 1985-89. With at least 13 duals remaining on the schedule in 2006, Bader could reach the Top 10 in dual victories, needing just 10 more wins to tie for 10th overall. Joining him in this chase is another senior, Jeremy Mendoza. After going 5-0 in duals so far this season, Mendoza improved to 31-15 overall in his dual meet career and will need 10 more on the season to crack into the Top 20. INSIDE TRACK Each week throught the 2005-06 season, Sun Devil Assistant Coach Aaron Simpson will provide an inside look at the team as he submits journal entries to thesundevils.com. Visit the wrestling page on the official athletic web site of Arizona State Athletics to see what Coach Simpson has to say about a previous meet, the team's preparations and other interesting facts and stories about the Sun Devils. VELASQUEZ DOMINATING AGAIN Senior heavyweight Cain Velasquez has proved why he is a threat to win the NCAA title this season as he has opened his final collegiate campaign with a dominating 14-1 record. So far this season, his lone loss came in a 6-1 decision loss to No. 3 Greg Wagner of Michigan in the finals of the Las Vegas Invitational. If the Reno Tournament of Champions goes according to national rankings, Velasquez could meet two-time defending national champion Steve Mocco of Oklahoma State in the finals. That meeting would be the second in a row at the tournament as Mocco won 6-1 last year, one of only five losses for the Sun Devils' big man. FIVE IN DOUBLE DIGITS Through two tournaments and five duals, five members of the starting line up have secured at least 11 victories or more so far in 2005 and will look to add to that this weekend in Reno. Both Patrick Pitsch (165) and Cain Velasquez (285) lead the team with 14 victories on the season with 14-3 and 14-1 records, respectively, while Jeremy Mendoza (125), Pat Payne (149) and Ryan Bader (197) have compiled 11-1, 11-6 and 11-2 records, respectively. BRINGING THE PAYNE Pat Payne has waited a long time to get out on the mats for the Sun Devils and, following a slow start in tournament action, has really shown his talents recently. After redshirting two years ago then sitting out all of last year with an injury, Payne currently stands 11-6 on the season following a big showing in Las Vegas. Payne, who entered the tournament with a 4-4 record with two losses in sudden victory overtime, got off on the wrong foot in Vegas as he dropped a tough 3-1 decision in the first round. Relegated to the consolation bracket, Payne reeled off six victories in a row, including four without allowing a point to be scored on him, as he marched through the wrestle backs to finish fifth. Of his six losses this season, four were by two points or less. TOUGH TIME For the second dual in a row, the Sun Devils took to the mats to face a Top 8 nationally ranked team and, unfortunately for ASU, dropped a dual decision, this time falling to No. 5 Iowa, 26-13. ASU, who also fell at No. 8 Lehigh, 29-7, will also face several other Top 25 teams this season, including No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 6 Minnesota, No. 7 Iowa State and No. 21 Cal Poly. Also, the Sun Devils have a chance to face other top ranked teams while competing in the NWCA National Duals. LIGHTING UP THE SCOREBOARD Of the 30 bouts contested at the Portland State Duals, 17 victories recorded by ASU wrestlers earned bonus points in the team race. Combined, the Sun Devils won five bouts by fall (six points), three by technical fall (five points), seven by major decision (four points) and two by injury default or forfeit (six points). Conversely, only two bouts were won in a dual with No. 8 Lehigh with one victory ending in a major decision for Cain Velasquez. THE FALL GUY Last year, Patrick Pitsch went 24-15 in his first season of action for the Sun Devils. In those 39 bouts, Pitsch did not pin an opponent. In his first match of the 2005-06 season, Pitsch collected his first pin as he defeated Marshall Cook with the fall at 5:42. His pin was one of five recorded by ASU wrestlers at the PSU Duals the first weekend of the season. THE FALL GUY - PART II Patrick Pitsch may have recorded the first fall of his collegiate career earlier this season, but several Sun Devils have made pinning their opponents a habit this season. So far, 13 falls have been recorded by Arizona State grapplers with five coming from Cain Velasquez (285) and another three from the opposite end of the weight class spectrum, Jeremy Mendoza (125). Velasquez, who took over the team lead from Mendoza, pinned his first three opponents at the Las Vegas Invitational en route to the finals and second place showing. PAC PLACEMENTS Stanford, the host of the 2006 Pac-10 Championships, released updated rankings for the conference December 12 with six Sun Devils holding positions in the Top 6 and the team sitting second in the team rankings behind Cal Poly. Jeremy Mendoza (125), Brian Stith (157), Ryan Bader (197) and Cain Velasquez (285) are each ranked No. 1 in their respective weight classes while Pat Payne (149) and Patrick Pitsch (165) each sit second. This week's rankings mark the first time this season Payne has been in the Top 6 as well as the first time both John Espinoza (133) and C.B. Dollaway (184) have not been ranked. Both unranked wrestlers are expected back in the line up in January. DEFENDING CHAMPS Arizona State won the 2005 Pac-10 Wrestling Championships to not only capture its second crown in three years, but also the 15th in the history of the program. Brian Stith (157) upset Matt Gentry of Stanford, the defending Pac-10 and NCAA champion, to win his weight class and earn Outstanding Wrestler of the Championships. Cain Velasquez (heavyweight) also secured a title, the first of his career, before being named as the Pac-10 Wrestler of the Year. C.B. Dollaway (184) and Ryan Bader (197) each advanced to the finals of their respective weight classes before placing second. Thom Ortiz was selected Coach of the Year after leading the team to its 15th Pac-10 title. RETURNING ALL-AMERICANS Arizona State has three All-Americans returning to its lineup this season, including a pair of first-time honorees from a year ago. Last year, Brian Stith earned his first national accolade by placing sixth at 157 pounds while Cain Velasquez took fifth in the heavyweight division to earn his first honor. Ryan Bader is the Sun Devils' third All-American returning after earning the acclaim in his sophomore campaign of 2003-04. LAST TIME OUT The Sun Devils got off to a slow start before making a late charge and finishing fifth overall at the 2005 Cliff Keen/Las Vegas Invitational December 2-3 at the Cashman Center in Las Vegas. Jeremy Mendoza (125) and Cain Velasquez (285) each advanced to the finals of their respective weight classes before finishing second overall to lead the Sun Devils as five total Arizona State representatives placed in the event. Also placing for the Sun Devils were Pat Payne (149) in fifth, Patrick Pitsch (165) in fourth and Ryan Bader (197) in third. NEXT TIME OUT Following the holiday break, the Sun Devils will return to dual action on the road as they travel to Minneapolis, Minn., for a January 4 showdown with the Golden Gophers of Minnesota. The Big Ten powers are ranked No. 5 in the NWCA/USA Today Coaches' Poll and are 7-0 on the year. Four days later, the Sun Devils play host to the Sun Devil Duals with conference foe UC Davis and No. 7 Iowa State, led by former ASU head coach Bobby Douglas, coming to Wells Fargo Arena.

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Thanks to an unblemished record at the Dec. 4 Nittany Lion Open, North Carolina junior heavyweight Spencer Nadolsky was named Co-Atlantic Coast Conference Wrestler of the Week Monday. Currently ranked No. 14 by InterMat, Nadolsky went 5-0 and placed first at Penn State's Nittany Lion Open to run his season record to 19-2 and claim his first individual title at Carolina. The Holland, Mich., native opened with a pin of Paul Burser of Edinboro in 5:31 and followed with a 6-0 decision over Jeff Barker of Buffalo in the second round. Nadolsky then posted an 11-0 major decision over Joe Farina of Penn State and a 3-2 win over Virginia Tech's Mike Faust in the semifinals. Nadolsky followed with his second pin of the day in the final, a defeat of Navy's Ed Prendergast in 2:35. He leads the Tar Heels with nine pins on the season. Nadolsky, who shares this week's honor with NC State's Ryan Goodman, is the second Tar Heel to earn the league's weekly accolade this season. Redshirt freshman Vincent Ramirez claimed the honor Nov. 28. Nadolsky, Ramirez and the Tar Heels return to action Sunday at the Clairon Duals.

Hempstead, NY -- Six Hofstra wrestlers posted double-victories, including two wins by fall by senior Mike Patrovich, as the 20th-ranked Pride recorded a 33-12 victory over Harvard and a 36-9 victory over Columbia in dual matches at the Hofstra Arena Sunday night. Hofstra improves to 2-1-1 on the season while both the Crimson and the Lions fall to 0-1. Patrovich, ranked seventh at 174-pounds, improved to 13-1 on the season with a fall over Harvard's Wesley Walker in 6:20 and a fall over Columbia's sixth-ranked junior Matt Palmer in 6:46. Hofstra sophomore Charles Griffin (12-2) made his dual match debut this season with a tech fall over Harvard's Thomas Picarsic and a win by fall over Columbia's Steve Sutton in 3:42. Pride sophomore Joe Rovelli (14-3) posted major decision victories wrestling up a class at 197 over Harvard's Jon Butler and Columbia's Orrin Kleinhenz. Hofstra juniors James Strouse (14-5), who is ranked 19th at 157, and unranked Chris Vondruska (13-3), at 165-pounds, each posted a decision and a major decision. Junior John Manarte, who also wrestled up a class at 149, posted two decisions to improve to 11-5 on the season. The Pride will return to action on Monday, January 2 when they host the second-ranked Wolverines of the University of Michigan at Hofstra Arena at 7 p.m..

The National Wrestling Hall of Fame & Museum has announced the selection of the Class of 2006 Distinguished Members to be inducted at its annual Honors Weekend Banquet and Induction Ceremony June 3, 2006 in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The event will mark the 30th anniversary Class of the Hall of Fame & Museum. Four wrestling greats will be added as Distinguished Members in 2006. They are: · Terry Brands of Colorado Springs, Colo. · Josiah Henson of Tulsa, Okla. · Tricia Saunders of Phoenix, Ariz. · Pat Smith of Stillwater, Okla. This historic group of inductees includes the first woman chosen as a Distinguished Member. In addition, all three of the other inductees are brothers of wrestling greats who have already been inducted as Distinguished Members. Included is the first four-time NCAA Div. I champion in wrestling history (Smith), a four-time World champion and wrestling pioneer (Saunders), a two-time World champion and Olympic medalist (Brands) and an Olympic medalist and Olympic referee (Henson). The Hall of Fame's Board of Governors approved these selections at its semi-annual meeting held in Las Vegas on December 1, 2005. "I want to thank our Board of Governors and the various screening and selection committees involved in the six-month process that determines our honorees for induction. This is another exceptional class of inductees whose merits transcend our sport," said Lee Roy Smith, Executive Director of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame & Museum. Brands will join twin brother Tom Brands as a Distinguished Member. He was a World champion in freestyle wrestling in 1993 and 1995, and captured an Olympic bronze medal at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. Brands won World Cup and Pan American Games titles. He was a three-time finalist and two-time NCAA champion for the Univ. of Iowa. Brands currently works as USA Wrestling's National Freestyle Resident Coach. Henson's older brother Stanley Henson is a Distinguished Member. Henson won a bronze medal in freestyle wrestling at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland. He went on to be a respected international wrestling official, becoming the first American to officiate at the Olympics in the 1956 Games in Melbourne, Australia. Henson was a long-time leader in U.S. wrestling and the Olympic movement. He was an undefeated wrestler and two-time EIWA champion for the U.S. Naval Academy. Saunders becomes the first woman inducted as a Distinguished Member. She won four World gold medals and a World silver medal in women's freestyle wrestling, and completed her freestyle wrestling career without ever having lost to an American opponent. Saunders was the first U.S. wrestler to win a World gold medal in women's wrestling. She also served as the coach of the 2004 U.S. Olympic team in women's wrestling, the first time that the sport was in the Olympic Games. Saunders is considered a pioneer in the development of women's wrestling. Smith will join his older brother, John Smith, as a Distinguished Member. He became the first wrestler in history to win four NCAA Div. I national titles, competing for Oklahoma State Univ. He won his historic fourth NCAA title at the 1994 NCAA Championships held in Chapel Hill, N.C. Smith was a member of two Oklahoma State teams that won NCAA team titles. Along with brothers Lee Roy and John, the Smiths became the first set of three brothers to claim NCAA titles. He won four conference titles, and holds the Oklahoma State record for consecutive matches without a loss. Smith placed second in the 1996 U.S. Olympic Trials behind three-time Olympian Kenny Monday. He serves on the coaching staff at Oklahoma State, which has won three straight NCAA team titles. Complete biographies of the inductees will be posted each day this week on TheMat.com (www.themat.com), with Brands on Tuesday, Henson on Wednesday, Saunders on Thursday and Smith on Friday. Additional honorees will be selected and announced in January in the categories of Outstanding American, Order of Merit, Medal of Courage, and Outstanding Official.

Columbia, Mo. -- Continuing their successful opening to the season, the No. 13 Missouri wrestling team defeated Ohio State 25-13, Sunday, Dec. 11, in front of 625 spectators at the Hearnes Center. Wrestling to a draw through the first four minutes of action at 133 pounds, sophomore Tyler McCormick (Leawood, Kan.) ended the stalemate by escaping Reece Humphrey's hold with 31 seconds left in the second period. Building a lead, McCormick took down Humphrey with 12 seconds left in the period to earn a 3-0 advantage heading into the third. Able to hold on for the victory, McCormick's 3-0 decision gave Missouri a 9-0 lead after Ohio State forfeited the 125-pound bout. Following his brother's victory with an impressive bout, senior Chris McCormick (Leawood, Kan.) stretched Missouri's lead to 12 by earning a 9-6 decision over T. J. Enright at 141 pounds. After Enright opened the scoring with a takedown at 2:37, McCormick roared back to take the lead by making an escape, a takedown and a three-point nearfall and earn a 6-2 lead heading into the second period. Fighting off a spirited comeback by Enright, McCormick tallied three more escapes before time ran out to record the victory. After Ohio State earned victories at 149 and 157 pounds, junior Matt Pell (Luxemburg, Wis.) wasted no time establishing a lead at 165 pounds, posting three takedowns in the first period to open a 6-2 lead over Nathaniel Augustson. Ranked No. 4 in the nation, Pell increased his lead in the second period to 11-2, then finished the match with a three-point nearfall and 5:18 of riding time to post a 15-2 major decision. Wasting no time after Pell's match, junior Ben Askren (Hartland, Wis.) pinned Charlie Clark in just 39 seconds. The career falls record holder at Missouri, Askren's cradle was the 50th pin he's recorded in a Tiger singlet. Continuing the Tigers streak with one of the most exciting matches of the afternoon, redshirt freshman Raymond Jordan (New Bern, N.C.) fought off a spirited attempt by Blake Maurer to earn an 8-6 decision, stretching the Tigers lead to 25-6. After a takedown by Maurer tied the score midway through the third period, Jordan's escape gave him the advantage and 1:27 of riding time accounted for the final points of the bout. "We wrestled well today, but there are still some things we can improve on," Head Coach Brian Smith said. "We scored a lot of early points in a couple of matches but allowed our opponents to get back into the bout, which shows that we need to wrestle hard for the full seven minutes. Tyler McCormick had one of the best matches of the day, wrestling to his strengths and beating an opponent that scored seven points against him at the Las Vegas Invitational last week." The Tigers are back in dual action next week, traveling east to wrestle Pittsburgh and West Virginia Dec. 19-20. Missouri comes back to the Hearnes Center Jan. 6 against Eastern Illinois.

MOUNT PLEASANT -- Michigan scored three consecutive wins late in the match to pull away in a 22-14 dual match win over No. 9 Central Michigan University on Sunday before 1,846 fans in Rose Arena. The loss snaps CMU's 19-match home winning streak. The teams split the first six pairings and the score was knotted at 10 before the second-ranked Wolverines strung together three straight victories to build an insurmountable lead. Ryan Churella, ranked third in this week's USA Today/NWCA/InterMat poll, pinned CMU's Justin Petrone at 165 to start the run. Nick Roy and Tyrel Todd then posted decisions over Brandon Sinnott (7-6) and Christian Sinnott (3-2), respectively, to boost the Michigan lead to 22-10. No. 3 Greg Wagner's 4-1 decision over No. 13 Bubba Gritter at heavyweight opened the match and gave Michigan an early 3-0 lead. A decision by Matt Steintrager at 125 and major decision by Jason Borrelli at 133, however, put the Chippewas in front, 7-3. Borrelli tallied seven third-period points, and earned the riding time point, for his major. Michigan evened the score on a major decision by Josh Churella at 141 and took the lead, 10-7, when No. 5 Eric Tannenbaum earned a 10-5 decision over No. 6 Mark DiSalvo. Eric Neil knotted the score for the third time when he rallied for a 6-4 decision at 157. Neil scored a takedown with 20 seconds left in the third period to seal the win. Michigan put the match out of reach with one-point decisions at 174 and 184. Riding time provided the decisive point in Roy's 7-6 victory, while Todd withstood a late flurry from Christian Sinnott to hang on for a 3-2 win. CMU will take this week off for final exams before competing in the Reno Tournament of Champions in

The fifth-ranked Golden Gopher wrestling team (7-0-0) won seven of 10 matches en route to a 27-11 victory against No. 19 Nebraska on Sunday afternoon at the Sports Pavilion. Sophomore Gabriel Dretsch upset No. 5 Jacob Klein at 174 pounds to propel Minnesota to the win. The Cornhuskers entered the match unbeaten at 3-0 after upsetting second- ranked Michigan on Friday. Minnesota jumped ahead early and never looked back as redshirt freshman Travis Lang opened the match with a pin in 3:34 against Paul Donahoe at 125 pounds. With a 5-2 lead, Donahoe started the second period on the bottom. Lang earned the fall just 34 seconds later. Lang won his second straight match after getting his first career start on Friday against Iowa State. The Golden Gophers increased the lead to 9-0 as third-ranked Mack Reiter defeated Patrick Aleksanyan, 5-0. Reiter could not get any offense going as Aleksanyan was penalized for stalling three times in the match. Reiter remained unbeaten on the year with an 11-0 record. After Dominick Moyer earned Nebraska's first win with a 10-2 major decision against Charles Lloyd at 141, true freshman Dustin Schlatter answered with a 14-4 major decision against Nebraska's Robert Sanders at 149 pounds. Schlatter collected his first takedown just six seconds into the match and never looked back as he improved to 16-1 on the year. Sophomore C.P. Schlatter followed with a 12-5 decision against Chris Oliver at 157 pounds. Schlatter fell behind after an Oliver takedown, but tied the match immediately with a first period reversal. With the match tied at two, Schlatter took control of the bout with four third-period takedowns. Schlatter is now 16-2 on the year, including a perfect 7-0 mark in dual meets. Following intermission, Nebraska's Marc Harwood upset No. 4 Matt Nagel, 3-2, at 165 pounds. Harwood used a first-period takedown and a third-period escape to hand Nagel his third straight loss. The win cut the Golden Gopher lead to 16-7. Harwood is a sophomore from Lakefield, Minn. Dretsch put to rest any hope of a Cornhusker comeback with a dominating 12-4 major decision against Klein at 174 pounds. Dretsch held a 6-1 advantage in the first period after a pair of takedowns and a near fall. Klein was unable to muster any offense in the match as he lost for the first time this year. Dretsch improved to 6-1 in the dual meet season. Sophomore Roger Kish gave Minnesota more breathing room with an 11-5 decision against Brandon Browne at 184 pounds. Kish opened the second period with a reversal to take a commanding 6-1 lead. After third-ranked B.J. Padden gave Nebraska its final victory with a 16-6 major decision against Justin Bronson at 197 pounds, second-ranked Cole Konrad closed out the dual with a 16-5 major decision against 20th-ranked Jon May at heavyweight. Konrad improved to 13-0 on the year and has now won 42 of his last 43 matches. May is a Hutchinson, Minn., native. "From Friday to today, I thought our team stepped it up another notch," head coach J Robinson said. "We're continuing to get better and better with each match. Travis (Lang) gave us a boost at the beginning. On paper, it's a match he's not supposed to win, but to his credit he went out there and got the pin. That seemed to change the whole dynamic of the match." The Golden Gophers are off until Dec. 29 when they travel to Greensboro, N.C., for the Southern Scuffle.

This weekend's Walsh Ironman Tournament at Walsh Jesuit kicked off the wrestling season with a bang to say the least. With all the highly ranked wrestlers there, the one thing that was established was that rankings meant little. Upsets were plentiful. The great thing about a tournament like this is that because bragging rights were what was on the line, not a state title, or national title, you saw more wrestlers really getting after it rather than wrestling not to lose. The following is a weight-by-weight recap of the highlights of the past weekend: 103 -- David Taylor used a third period takedown to prevail over Boris Novachkov of California in a battle of Cadet Nationals champion versus Junior Nationals champion. However, the real drama came in Taylor's semifinal win over Cadet Nationals runner-up Ben Sergent. Sergent opened that bout with a quick takedown and then added an escape in the second to extend his lead to 3-0 going into the third. David Taylor of St. Paris Graham (Ohio) is the No. 1-ranked freshman in the Rev High School Power Rankings (photo by Jon Malinowski).That's when Taylor turned it up a notch. After a quickly escaping and immediately scoring a takedown, Taylor kicked Sergent out, to trail 4-3 with about a minute remaining. Taylor was soon in on what appeared to be a routine takedown, albeit the go-ahead takedown. However, instead of settling for two points, Taylor converted his takedown into what might be described as a standing half nelson against the much taller Sergent. For a moment, it looked like a freshman mistake -- but Taylor exploded into the move and put Sergent onto his back, for a final tally of 8-4. Sergent also came out on the wrong end of a great consolation semifinal bout against Danny Genetin of Massillon Perry. Leading and controlling the entire match, Sergent was overly aggressive in attempting a "barrel roll," and Genetin opportunistically stepped over him for the fall. Genetin would go on to take third with a fall over tough Steve Mitcheff 112 -- It happens at big tournaments without fail. There is one wrestler who the "buzz" is about all weekend long. You hear numerous fans in the bleachers talking about that one amazing wrestler. At the Ironman, that wrestler was the superb freshman from Lakewood St. Edward's, Collin Palmer. Palmer started his Saturday with a 10-1 win over two-time Cadet National Freestyle champion Anthony Valles. He followed that up with an 11-0 shellacking of defending Ironman champion Jayk Cobbs of Great Bridge. He had not allowed an offensive point. Suffice it to say that he was considered a lock by the crowd. Nikko Triggas of California completely dominated the competition at the Walsh Ironman (photo by Jon Malinowski).Perhaps no one noticed that in the other semifinal, powerful Nikko Triggas of California had just demolished Pennsylvania AAA state champ Chris Sheetz by a score of 14-3. In their final, Palmer gave up an early takedown. Seemingly trying to regain his invincible status, he then tried an unnecessarily risky move from the bottom and wound up giving up two back-points. Triggas then powered his way to a cradle and scored two more back-points. At this point, it seemed that the wheels came off for the freshman phenom from St. Ed's. Trying to make up points, he made increasingly risky attempts at a reversal -- and Triggas had an answer for each, wracking up several more near falls. The final tally was a shocking 13-2. In the end, it was the junior from California who served notice that he is the real deal. Look for Palmer to rebound at Beast of the East next week. 119 -- In what was perhaps the most dissatisfying final of the night, Aaron Hart of St. Paris Graham was awarded a highly-unpopular penalty point at the buzzer to prevail, 2-1, against Boris Novachkov, the same score he beat another California star, Caleb Flores, by in the semifinals. In the end, little was settled except that the top four guys at this weight- Hart, Novachkov, Mele (who lost 4-3 to Novachkov), and Flores were all about even. 125 -- No one can dispute that Lakewood St. Ed's Keith Sulzer knows how to win. Sulzer trailed the entire match with No. 1-seeded Ian Moser in the semis, but scored a late takedown to pull out a 4-3 win. He then seemed to be outwrestled in his finals bout with Ben Jordan of St. Paris Graham, but in the end it was Sulzer who got his hand raised with a 2-1 victory. However, it was the sophomore Jordan who was the real story of the tournament at this weight. The son of former four-time state champion, two-time NCAA champion, and Ohio state representative Jim Jordan, the younger Jordan has mastered the same head inside single that his dad was noted for (he used to refer to it as the "angle knee drop" as I recall from wrestling camps as a youth). He showed an ability to penetrate the defenses of top upperclassman on his feet at will. First, he handled Cadet Nationals champion Kellen Russell of Blair Academy by a score of 9-3. Next, he scored the only two takedowns of the bout to beat a tough Quentin Keyes of Walsh Jesuit 5-3. In his final, trailing 2-1 going into the third period, his coach (his uncle Jeff Jordan) advised him to choose neutral. Perhaps Coach Jordan did not feel confident that his wrestler could escape from Sulzer, but against as solid a defensive wrestler as he was facing, it seemed like a strategic error. Young Jordan was never quite able to finish his single against the crafty Sulzer -- but look for big things from this young wrestler in the future. Frishkorn pinned FILA Cadet Nationals champion Coby Boyd of St. Paris Graham in the quarterfinals, but lost to Californian Billy Murphy in the Walsh Ironman finals.130 -- In a final of two of the highest ranked wrestlers in the Rev Power Rankings, Billy Murphy scored the only takedown against Jordan Frishkorn of Great Bridge to prevail, 3-2, in a final that was frankly somewhat disappointing. The real fireworks in this weight came in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds. First, after a scoreless first period, Frishkorn stuck FILA Cadet Nationals champion Coby Boyd of St. Paris Graham. Boyd had previously pinned another elite Ohio sophomore, Chase Skonieczny of Walsh Jesuit, in the first period of their second round match-up. Murphy's match-up with former Ohio state champion Adam Kriwinsky (who was defeated in the finals by Jordan last year) was perhaps the best match of the day. Through the first two periods, Murphy looked like a hammer, scoring four takedowns and physically dominating to take an 8-4 lead late in the second period. At that point, Murphy got sloppy trying to extend his lead to 10-4, and instead Kriwinsky capitalized, scoring the takedown to cut the lead to 8-6. At this point there was a huge momentum shift -- as Kriwinsky seemed to realize he was not out of his league after all- and Murphy started wrestling not to lose. The final score was Murphy hanging on for a 10-9 win. Kriwinsky later knocked off Boyd 5-4 to serve notice that his match with Murphy was not an aberration. However, he lost for third against Skonieczny (who Boyd had pinned). 135 -- Upper Perkiomen junior Zack Kemmerer, who has yet to place higher than fifth in the Pennsylvania State Tournament, knocked off three former Ohio state champions en route to the title. First, he knocked off Shawn Harris of St.Edward's with a late takedown in a 3-1 bout that was probably his toughest of the tournament. He then handled Pat McLemore by a score of 9-4. In the finals, he scored the only two takedowns in a 5-3 win over Kevin Lipp, the NHSCA Juniors Nationals champion. Junior National Freestyle All-American Max Shanaman was upset by Brian Martin of Montini and then beaten by McLemore. He then avenged his loss to Martin for fifth. Harris seemed to have shot his energy in his war with Kemmerer and was eliminated in the next round. 140 -- Outstanding Wrestler Matt Dunn was perhaps the biggest story of the tournament. Dunn first rallied to defeat Cadet National Freestyle champion Mario Mason in overtime in a superb quarterfinal bout. After defeating Matt Lerer in the semis, he was pitted against three-time state champion Lance Palmer of St. Ed's. This was probably the best bout of the finals. Dunn led 3-0 going into the third period after a Palmer attempt at a granby-type maneuver landed him on his back. Palmer quickly took Dunn down and turned him with his wicked power half for two back-points for a 4-3 lead. With about thirty seconds to go, Palmer broke down Dunn and threw the legs in. The match appeared to be over as Dunn was flat on his stomach and Palmer working, or at least appearing to work for a power-half. And then the ref called a stalemate. With fifteen seconds to go, Dunn was given a fresh start. Whether this was the appropriate call or not, he made the most of his opportunity, and when Palmer tried to suck him back into a crab ride, Dunn reversed him to his back for the 7-4 win. Lest you think this was a fluke, remember that Dunn was within ten seconds of beating Adam Frey at last year's Ironman. Clearly, the kid is for real. 145 -- In one of the most impressive finals performances of the night, junior Sean Nemec of Lakewood St. Edward's dominated Travis Blasco of Blair, 6-2. Nemec scored all three takedowns with solid leg attacks and yielded just two escapes. This was a reversal of their match from the previous season, when Blasco defeated Nemec in the deciding match of the Blair/St. Ed's dual meet. Freshman Andrew Clement of Christianburg parlayed his funky style to a fourth place finish. Expect to hear his name a lot in the future. 152 -- Junior Eric Medina of Blair Academy was perhaps the most impressive wrestler of the tournament. In his semifinal, he went up against Jason Welch of California, the No. 1-rated sophomore in the Rev Power Rankings in the most anticipated semifinal of the day. Welch is very good on his feet with a funky style. However, at least on this day, Medina had an answer for everything Welch attempted. Medina took Welch down numerous times in scrambles, often to his back, and was approaching a technical fall when he finally stuck Welch. In the finals, Medina powered his way to a 9-6 win over Josh Rohler which was not nearly as close as the score. Rohler looked uncharacteristically sluggish. 160 -- The final was a dead-even struggle between two of the nation's best 160's, David Rella and Mac Lewnes. Adding to the drama was the fact that the tournament was held at Rella's home school, Walsh Jesuit. In the end, Lewnes spoiled the occasion with an 8-7 victory. Three-time state champion Matt Epperly of Christianburg finished a disappointing fifth place. 171 -- Unseeded Eric Cameron of Cincinnati Moeller established himself as one of the best 171's in the nation. First, he took out No. 1-seeded Ian Heinisch by a 12-6 score. He then shellacked Andrew Hoffer of Christianburg, 10-1, in the semis. His finals match with Brian Roddy of Lakewood St. Edward was one of the best of the night. Cameron scored the go-ahead escape to take a 10-9 lead with about 20 seconds left, forcing Roddy to try an unsuccessful desperation headlock, for a 12-9 final. Probably the best kid in this weight was Rob Waltko of North Allegheny. Waltko dominated the entire bout with Roddy, only to get cradled and pinned in the third period. He then came back and took third, winning by technical fall over tough sophomore Cody Mangrum, who had lost to Roddy, 8-5, in their semifinals, for third. 189 -- The unheralded John Weakley of Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy in Ohio put on a takedown clinic against highly-rated David Green of Oviedo in the finals, prevailing 14-5. As explosive as they come, look for big things from this junior. 215 -- Junior Cody Gardner of Christianburg cemented his claim to being the best 215 in the country by demolishing all comers, including a 14-4 finals win over Garrett Goebel in the finals. Goebel is only a sophomore and has a great future ahead of him. Hwt -- Oviedo's No. 1-ranked heavyweight, Kenny Lester, did not disappoint. Lester scored four first-period falls in five matches, including the finals, en route to the title. Look for Sophomore John Hiles of Columbus St. Francis DeSales to become a household name in wrestling circles. Hiles suffered a one-point loss to Matt Richardson in the second round but stormed back for third, avenging his loss to Richardson and handling state champion/Cadet Nationals runner-up Cameron Wade by a score of 8-4. Teams -- The race between St. Ed's and Blair was tight as expected. It came down to the 152-pound final between Blair Academy's Eric Medina and Josh Rohler. A Rohler win would have meant a tie for first place. However, Medina took it to Rohler and Blair maintained their status as the No. 1 team in the nation for now. A newcomer to the status to the elite teams in the nation is ever-improving Christianburg, Virginia. A public school, Christianburg finished fourth place. They will be even better next year as they only graduate three seniors. In summary, those who are close to the Ironman should make the trip to see some of the finest high school wrestling in the nation. This year's tournament was better than ever!

CORVALLIS, Ore. -- Ty Watterson's win at heavyweight - which wasn't assured until the final seconds - gave Oregon State a 20-18 win over Oregon in Pacific-10 wrestling Friday night at Gill Coliseum. In both of OSU's duals this season, Watterson has given the Beavers (2-0 overall, 1-0 Pacific-10) the victory in the night's final match. "I think anybody that does that, they get a little more glory and they really don't deserve it," said Watterson, whose major decision at 18th-ranked Hofstra had given the Beavers an 18-17 win in November. "I know that the team has done the work to get us in there close, and hopefully I can come out with the win and win the meet for the team." The win before 1,437 fans in the Civil War, presented by Northwest Dodge Dealers, gives the Beavers a 102-24-4 record against the Ducks (0-1, 0-1) in a series dating back to 1915. OSU's next action will be Dec. 17 at the Nebraska Duals, when OSU takes on Nebraska and Dana. The Beavers won six of the night's 10 matches and got major decisions from 125-pounder Eric Stevenson and Derek Kipperberg, who was wrestling up a weight in the absence of an injured 157-pounder Tony Hook. But Friday's dual wound up being more of a nail-biter than seemed likely as the 197-pound match got underway with Oregon State leading 17-12. OSU 197-pounder Dan Pitsch, ranked 20th in the nation by Amateur Wrestling News, had jumped to a 4-1 lead over Oregon's Shaun Dee in the first period but Pitsch rolled through a takedown and Dee caught him in an awkward position, pinning him in 2:00 to put Oregon up 18-17. "We were talking about that right before - ‘All right, we're up by five, maybe we'll be up by eight or nine, and then it turned around totally and we were down by a point going into it. So that definitely was a shock to the system," Watterson said. Said OSU head coach Joe Wells: "It was a little more exciting than I anticipated." Watterson, ranked 17th in the National Wrestling Coaches Association/InterMat poll and 16th by Amateur Wrestling News, then was taken down by the Ducks' Chris Dearmon midway through the first period. Watterson responded with an escape and a takedown by the end of the period, though, and a scoreless second period kept it 3-2 in Watterson's favor going into the third period. Watterson escaped to start the period, fought off several attacks by Dearmon, and then recorded a takedown and two-point near fall in the final 20 seconds to wrap up an 8-2 win. Watterson improved to 10-3 this season. Stevenson got OSU started with an 11-3 major decision over Beau Malia, improving to 13-3 this season. OSU 133-pounder Bobby Pfennigs also missed the meet due to injury and Oregon's Justin Pearch, ranked 15th nationally by AWN, evened the team score by beating Jake Gonzales - who was wrestling up a weight - 20-7 at 133. The next three matches seemingly put Oregon State in control. OSU 141-pounder Kyle Larson beat Skyler Woods 8-2, Beaver 149-pounder Orlando Perez blanked Stewart Bogart 5-0 and Kipperberg shut out Cyle Hartzell 8-0. Kipperberg, a junior college transfer, improved to 6-2 this season as he got his first taste of the Civil War. "It's awesome," he said. "I loved every minute of it - I can't wait to get back there on their home turf and do it again." Kipperberg had known since early in the week that he might be required to move up to 157 for a night to replace Hook, who is ranked 17th nationally by both NWCA/IM and AWN. "I wanted to be as prepared as I could," Kipperberg said. "Tony Hook has huge shoes to fill - he's an unbelievable wrestler." That run of three straight wins gave OSU enough of a cushion to withstand Dee's pin and major decisions by Oregon 165-pounder Joey Bracamonte and 184-pounder Shane Webster, both of whom are ranked eighth by NWCA/IM and seventh by AWN. OSU also picked up a victory from 174-pounder Jeremy Larson. "I was really inspired by Orlando Perez and Derek Kipperberg in the first half of the meet," OSU head coach Joe Wells said. "And Eric Stevenson did a nice job getting control, he really set the tone and got everybody fired up. It could have been a close match and he dominated. "And I was very inspired by Ty. He was shooting, he took the risk and he came back and took the risk again and made it work. That's what it's about - getting better and learning from your mistake. I was pleased with how we wrestled."

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Indiana wrestling team opened dual action on Dec. 10, hosting the Hoosier Duals at Assembly Hall on the campus of Indiana University. The Hoosiers grappled to a commanding victory over Eastern Illinois and Gardner-Webb by scores of 36-3 and 37-3, respectively, to kick off the season 2-0. "It was a great chance to get back on the mat," head coach Duane Goldman said. "I was pleased with our performance and it gets us started off on a good foot." The Hoosiers dropped only two bouts on the day to dominate the Hoosier Dual competition. As a team, IU posted three pins, three technical falls, three major decisions, one forfeit and 11 decisions. Defending national champion and top-rated Joe Dubuque remained unbeaten on the year posting two wins. Senior Dubuque first pinned Cortney Robert of Gardner-Webb in his first bout of the morning followed by a victory by forfeit against Eastern Illinois. Dubuque is 6-0 on the season. At 133, sophomore Andrae Hernandez saw action in his first dual meet bouts of his career, going 2-0 on the day. IU first-year starter posted a technical fall against Eastern Illinois' Tony Metzger, 23-6, after taking the close decision against Josh Pniewski (Gardner-Webb), 5-4. Hernandez stands at 10-2 on the season. Senior Nick Spatola (141) started slow in his first bout against A.J. Renteria (EIU) before running away with a victory, posting a technical fall, 18-2. Spatola followed the performance with a decision over Casey Carrino (Gardner-Webb), 8-2. The Cincinnati, Ohio native stands at 7-5 on the season. Junior Matt Cooper (149) fell to Daniel Elliot of Gardner-Webb, 3-2, in a close battle, but rebounded in his next match to claim a sudden victory win against Chris Smith (EIU), 4-1. On the season, Cooper holds an 8-2 record. At 157, All-American Brandon Becker continues to return to his NCAA form from a year ago, this time disposing of Eastern Illinois' Tyler Williams by fall at the 0:32 mark. The IU sophomore then took a commanding 6-0 decision over Adam Glaser (Gardner-Webb). On the season, Becker remains unbeaten with a record of 5-0. In an impressive start to the dual season, NCAA qualifier Max Dean (165) posted a fall and major decision in his two bouts of the Hoosier Duals. Against Andy Mangiaguerra (EIU), Dean cruised to a major, 22-9, victory before pinning Dave Pelsang (Gardner-Webb) at the 5:03 mark to complete the performance. Sophomore Dean improved to 7-3 on the season with the effort. Facing a tough competitor in Eastern Illinois' Kenny Robertson, sophomore Marc Bennett (174) battled to a 4-1 loss to the 11th-ranked grappler in the country. Bennett kept with one of the nations best through two periods before Robertson sealed the deal in the third. However, Bennett did not walk away empty-handed, defeating Chad Davis (Gardner-Webb) by a decision of 7-4. Bennett's performance moved him to 5-4 on the season. Starting at the 184-pound division, sophomore Justin Curran (184) went 2-0 defeating Greg Perz and Brandon Beach in consecutive bouts. Against Perz, Curran used a combination of defense and offense to overcome the Panther grappler, 10-8. In a much heated battle, Curran needed extra periods, three to be exact, to seal the win against Davis (Gardner-Webb), 7-4. Curran is currently 9-2 on the young season. Two-time NCAA qualifier Brady Richardson (197) went undefeated on the day to extend his senior-season record to 11-2. Richardson opened the day with a decision over Terron Williams of Eastern Illinois, before grappling to a major decision over Brent Blackwell (Gardner-Webb), 13-5. Rounding out the Hoosier competitors at 285, sophomore Dave Herman looked sharp against Danny Perez (EIU), taking the match 5-2. Herman seemed to just be warming up, following the low scoring bout with a major decision over Brandon Schweitzer, 12-3. Herman improved to 14-4 on the season. The Hoosiers return to action on Sunday, Dec. 18, at the FITE Duals at Rich East High School in Park Forrest, Ill. Action is set to get underway at 11 a.m.

Fresno, Calif. -- Using an above-weight pin from Charles Jones and a late technical fall from Garrett Spooner, the Bulldogs opened their season in positive fashion on Saturday, winning their first dual of the year over Wyoming 24-18. The Bulldogs made a strong comeback after falling behind early, and used big points on the way to the win, as all but one of their wins was by major decision or better. The Bulldogs started out in a hole early though, as Kyle Dye made a pin on sophomore Lucas Anderson at 149 pounds, giving Wyoming an early 6-0 lead. The Bulldogs cut into that lead in the next match, as Andrew Meredith made a close match into a third period rout, making two takedowns on Mike White and recording a near fall to grab a 13-5 major decision. Making a tactical decision, the Fresno State coaching staff decided to take a double forfeit at 165 pounds and have Charles Jones take on 174-pound Dan Barrone one class above his. The decision paid off, as Jones responded with his first pin of the year exactly two minutes into the match. Another six points followed as Greg Gifford accepted a forfeit at 184 pounds, staking the Bulldogs to a 16-6 lead. Wyoming made a comeback though, taking the next two matches to cut the lead to one at 16-15. True freshman Cory Borges made the most of his first opportunity to wrestle for the Bulldogs in the next match, though, defeating Cody Grant to give the Bulldogs a four point lead. Sean Carlson's bid to upset Wyoming's Tyson Shatto at 133 pounds fell just short, as the sophomore was able to bring Shatto into overtime but lost 6-4, keeping Wyoming within reach at 19-18 going into the final match of the day. Senior Garrett Spooner slammed the door shut on the Cowboys, though, putting in a dominating perfomance against Shay Lawrence, ending the match with a 15-0 technical fall. The Bulldogs' next home dual is scheduled for January 11 when Fresno State hosts Boise State and Menlo College in the North Gym. Fresno State 24, Wyoming 18 December 10, 2005 149 - Kyle Dye (WYO) fall Lucas Anderson (FS), 5:56 157 - Andrew Meredith (FS) m.d. Mike White (WYO), 13-5 165 - Double Forfeit 174 - Charles Jones (FS) fall Dan Barrone (WYO), 2:00 184 - Greg Gifford (FS) accepts forfeit 197 - Malcolm Havens (WYO) fall Miguel Rodriguez (FS), 4:44 HWT - Dusty Hoffschneider (WYO) dec. Cody Parker (FS), 4-3 125 - Cory Borges (FS) dec. Cody Grant (WYO), 7-3 133 - Tyson Shatto (WYO) dec. Sean Carlson (FS) 6-4 OT (:14) 141 - Garrett Spooner (FS) t.f. Shay Lawrence (WYO) 15-0 (4:57)

OREM, Utah -- Utah Valley State had control for most of the match but 18th ranked (Div. II) Western State came back to win the final four matches of the evening to top the Wolverines 22-16. Wolverine senior, 19th ranked Erkin Tadzhimetov opened the match up with a quick pin of Tate Lowe at 133 pounds and the two teams traded matches all the way until Western's Kipp Cullin beat Dallin Norton in the HWT match to give the Mountaineers their first lead at 19-16. Marques Bravo then beat the Wolverines' Talon Vickers in a seesaw battle in the final match of the night, 9-8, to keep Western on top. "I'm very disappointed. As a team we just didn't do anything," said Utah Valley State coach Cody Sanderson. "They're a good team. They have some really good talent. Give them a lot of credit they just came out and out-fought us. They out-fought us in almost every match." At 165 Utah Valley's Mark South avenged two losses earlier in the season to Western's Larry Wilbanks, winning 4-1. "Mark South fought," said Sanderson. "That guy has beaten him twice. I was very happy with him." Justin Rawle picked up a win in the 149 pound match over Neil Samples 2-1, while Ivan Bigney topped Dillon Waggoner by major decision 12-2. Tadzhimetov's win improves his season record to 10-2 overall and 2-0 in duals. "He came and and he knew that this was a tough match and that bonus points could make the difference," said Sanderson. "He knew exactly what he needed to do and he went out there and he did it." Next weekend the Wolverines travel to Reno for the Reno Tournament of Champions on December 18th. Their next home dual won't be until January 16th when they host Northern Colorado.

State College, Pa. –– The No. 13 Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team crushed No. 25 Penn in the Palestra today, claiming its second straight road dual match in as many days. Head coach Troy Sunderland's crew improves to 5-2 with the win while Penn falls to 0-1. Penn State won eight of ten bouts in the dual. The match started at 157, where Nittany Lion Nathan Galloway (State College, Pa.) took on Penn's Gene Zannetti. An exciting first period ended with Galloway up 2-1. Zannetti chose down to start the second and quickly escaped to tie the match at 2-2, which is how the period ended. Galloway, ranked No. 16 nationally, chose down to start the third but was ridden by Zannetti long enough for Zannetti to earn a riding time edge. Galloway escaped with just :12 left, avoiding a loss and sending the match to sudden victory at 3-3. After a scoreless minute, the match went to a tiebreaker. Galloway scored an escape in the second tiebreaker period to claim a 4-3 win, giving PSU the early lead. Galloway 4-3 on the year, including a 2-2 mark in four overtime matches. True freshman David Erwin (Urbana, Ohio), who won his dual debut last night vs. Navy, faced Penn sophomore Jeff Zannetti at 165. Erwin scored the first take down halfway through the first period and dominated the first period to take a 5-2 lead after one. Zannetti would post the only point of the second with an escape and the match went to the third with Erwin leading 5-3. Erwin countered a Zannetti single leg attempt to score a fall in the third and ended up with a 9-4 win, putting Penn State up 6-0. Erwin improved to 12-2 with the victory. Eighth-ranked James Yonushonis (Philipsburg, Pa.) scored a thrilling 6-5 win over Penn's Lior Zamir at 174. The hard-working junior was taken down by Zamir near the end of the first period and found himself down 2-0 at the end of one, plus facing a :50 riding time deficit. Yonushonis chose down to start the second period but could not escape until :08 remained and was down 2-1 heading into the third. The Nittany Lion cut Zamir loose to start the third in order to quickly score a take down, tying the score at 3-3. With a RT edge that could not be overcome, the Nittany Lion junior cut Zamir loose again. After Yonushonis got a point from a second Zamir stall, he scored a takedown with :30 left to go up 6-4 (or 6-5 with the Penn RT edge). Riding Zamir out for the remainder of the period, Yonushonis claimed a thrilling 6-5 come from behind win. He improved to 7-0 with the win and put Penn State up 9-0 in the dual. Red-shirt freshman Neil Bretz (Carlisle, Pa.) stepped in at 184 to face Penn's Dustin Wiles, a senior. A defensive first period resulted in two Bretz stall calls and a 1-0 Wiles lead. Bretz scored an escape to start the second period to tie the match and scored a take down shortly thereafter to go up 3-1. A Wiles escape would send the match to the third with Bretz up 3-2. Wiles would tie the bout early with an escape and follow with a take down to take a 5-3 lead. After a Bretz escape, Wiles would hold Bretz's offense in check to escape with a 7-4 win, cutting the Nittany Lion lead to 9-3. Bretz fell to 1-5 with the loss. Nittany Lion Phil Davis (Harrisburg, Pa.), ranked No. 6 in the nation, faced Penn senior Paul Valekei in a marquee match at 197. Davis, who missed last night's Navy match due to a class conflict, scored the first take down of the bout 1:45 into the first period and ride Valekei out. Valekei chose down to start the second, but Davis would ride him for the entire second period. Davis amassed an insurmountable 3:25 RT edge heading into the third period. Up 2-0 plus a RT point to begin the third, Davis chose down and was cut loose by Valekei immediately. The Nittany Lion sophomore would score another take down and coast to a convincing 6-0 win. Davis stayed undefeated at 6-0 with the win and put Penn State up 12-3. Junior Aaron Anspach (Columbia, Pa.) scored the first take down at HWT in his battle with Penn's Jayson Bowlsby early in the first period. He would dominate the first period with the Quaker freshman to take a commanding 6-2 lead heading into the second period. Anspach would continue his strong performance in the second, trading take downs and escapes to increase his lead to 10-5 with just two minutes to wrestle. Anspach chose bottom to start the third and quickly escaped, followed that with another take down and would go on to post a convincing 18-7 major decision, getting the bonus point and putting Penn State up 16-3. Anspach evened his mark at 7-7 with the win. Back to the top of the line-up, undefeated Nittany Lion Tim Haas (Camp Hill, Pa.) took to the mat at 125 to face Penn's Andrew Gold. Gold scored a take down early in the first to take a 2-0 lead. Haas would reverse Gold and nearly took him to his back before action was stopped with a potentially dangerous hold. The first period would end in a 2-2 tie. Gold, down to start the second, could not escape Haas' strength with the Nittany Lion riding Gold for the entire second period. Haas chose down to begin the third and, after being ridden for more than a minute, would reverse Gold again to take a 4-2 lead with riding time. Haas would go on to post a 5-2 win and improve to 8-0 with the victory. Another marquee match-up took place at 133 where undefeated Nittany Lion freshman Jake Strayer (South Fork, Pa.), ranked No. 19 nationally, faced Penn's Matt Valenti, ranked No. 6. Strayer scored the first take down of the match early in the first period. Valenti, a senior with a 12-1 mark coming in, escaped to tighten the bout at 2-1, which is how the first ended. Valenti chose down to start the second but could not escape before Strayer amassed a riding time edge of 1:07. The bout entered the third period tied 2-2 but with Strayer holding a 1:07 riding time edge. Strayer had the choice to start the third and chose down and nearly gave up near fall points. Fighting Valenti off but losing his RT edge, Strayer escaped with just :50 left to take a 3-2 lead. Strayer would fight off another Valenti offensive effort as time expired to post a thrilling 3-2 win over No. 6 Valenti. Strayer upped his mark to 6-0 and put Penn State up 22-3. Senior DeWitt Driscoll (Connellsville, Pa.), ranked No. 15 in the country, beat Penn's Cesar Grajales at 141. The duo battled through a scoreless first period. Grajales chose down to start the second. Driscoll would score two near fall points while riding Grajales for the entire period to take a 3-0 lead after two. Driscoll took down to start the final period and escaped early, only to be taken down seconds later. A Driscoll escape put the Nittany Lion up 4-2 plus a RT advantage. Driscoll would score a late take down and post an impressive 7-2 victory. Driscoll improved to 5-2 with the win. With the dual match decided, freshman Jason Lapham (West Chazy, N.Y.) stepped in for senior James Woodall at 149 to face Penn's Matt Dragon. Dragon scored the early take down in the first and would add on a three-point near fall. Dragon would take that 5-0 lead plus a 2:01 RT edge into the second period. Lapham chose neutral to start the second but would be taken down to fall behind 7-0. Dragon would continue to dictate action in the bout and went on to post a 9-2 win. Lapham fell to 5-5 with the loss. "We just wrestled very well," said Sunderland. "We've got kids weighing in, traveling, getting ready for finals and I think the guys adjusted real well to all of this. Our kids responded well. I'm proud of my guys. They out-wrestled and out-hustled Penn tonight. The kids did a tremendous job. I think, going back to how we lost the two Big Ten duals close, we did the things we needed to do at the end of matches to win this weekend." "Strayer's win was outstanding," Sunderland continued. "But in his mind, it's not an upset. It's just the next step for him as he works towards his goals in March. Now, as a team, we have to focus on finals. The guys have to get all the rest they need, they'll get some individual work and, if we have time, we'll get in a team practice. But this tournament coming up is exciting and competitive and we need to be ready. It will be good to see how we stack up against the competition out there." The Nittany Lions won 16 of their 20 bouts in the duals vs. Navy on Friday and Penn on Saturday. Penn State will now take part in the Reno Tournament of Champions next Sunday, Dec. 18, in Reno, Nev. The scored team tournament features a number of the nation's best teams, including Penn State and No. 1 Oklahoma State. The Nittany Lions return to dual match action on Jan. 6 with a contest at No. 10 Lehigh at 7 p.m. before returning to Rec Hall for a home dual with No. 11 Cornell on Sunday, Jan. 8. The home dual begins at 1 p.m. Single match tickets can be purchased by visiting the BJC Ticket Center of by calling 814-865-5555 or 800-863-3336. Prices are $5 for adults and $3 for youth and senior citizens.

MADISON, Wis. -- The 11th-ranked Wisconsin wrestling team defeated No. 21 Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa Saturday to remain undefeated in dual competition. Both teams won five matches in a thrilling dual with the Badgers edging the Panthers, 19-16. Wisconsin is now 4-0 (1-0 Big Ten Conference)while Northern Iowa drops to 0-2. The Badgers were led by their tri-captains, Tom Clum (Arvada, Colo.), Kelly Flaherty (Big Lake, Minn.), and Tyler Turner (Spring Valley Wis.). The trio earned a total of 10 team points for UW, including the match determining pin by Flaherty at 174 lbs. Wisconsin took the first two matches to jump out to a 6-0 lead. Making his dual debut was Justin Peterson (Comstock, Wis.) at 184 lbs. The redshirt freshman defeated Dan Dunning, 9-5. Fellow redshirt freshman Dallas Herbst earned a win at 197 lbs. over Andrew Anderson, 8-3, improving his record to 9-4 overall. UNI would answer with two wins of their own at heavyweight and 125 lbs. Senior Lee Kraemer (DeForest, Wis.) fell to Tyler Rhodes, 14-1, giving the Panthers a major decision win. At 125 lbs., Badger junior Collin Cudd (River Falls, Wis.) was unable to hang on against Seth Wright, losing 13-8. Senior Tom Clum would respond with an 8-2 decision over Chris Helgeson to put Wisconsin in the lead, 9-7. The match was No. 2 Clum's first of the season, having battled an injury earlier this year. UW would split the next two matches at 141 lbs. and 149 lbs., respectively. UNI's C.J. Ettelson defeated Ed Gutnik, 3-0 to regain the lead 10-9. However, Tyler Turner notched a major decision win over Justin Swafford, 10-2, to put the Badgers up 13-10. From there, UNI would earn two more victories, and take the lead. Chris Bitetto defeated Craig Henning (Chippewa Falls, Wis.) at 157 lbs., 8-5, followed by Nick Baima taking down Jake Donar (Cuba City, Wis.), 3-0 at 165 lbs. UNI now led 16-13 with one match remaining. Senior Kelly Flaherty, who has seen limited action this season due to injury, faced Curt Zinnel at 174 lbs. Flaherty dominated the match, leading 7-0 after the first period. With 12 seconds remaining in the second period, he pinned Zinnel, earning six team points and the dual win. Wisconsin returns home on Sunday to host Northern Illinois at the Field House. It is the first home dual for the Badgers, with match time set for 2 p.m. Wrestling fans who are unable to make the home dual are reminded that live video streaming on uwbadgers.com will be available. Click the Audio/Video link on the left side of the main page. When the stream is available the video button will be activated.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- The Broncs won six of 10 bouts to defeat Maryland Saturday. The victory was career win number 300 for Rider head coach Gary Taylor. "I think this validates his mark in wrestling," said Rider assistant coach John Hangey. "It is a pretty lofty milestone. Not many can be that successful. This is a major milestone." Taylor, in his 28th season at Rider, now owns a record of 300-161-3. "I have the utmost respect for him for what he has done," said Hangey, "through hard work and discipline. This shows the character he has instilled in this program." Senior Chris Marold (Mendham) won by fall to seal the victory. Marold was almost pinned before he scored a reversal and fall. If Marold had been pinned, Rider would have lost the match by one point. "Marold is very good at countering," said Taylor, "and it is a good thing too because he was in trouble and we needed that win to win the match." "He had me cradled, on my back, and he was getting back points," said Marold. "I was losing 5-4, but I felt comfortable that I wasn't going to get pinned. I was able to reverse him and pin him." "Anytime you hit 100, 200 or now 300 wins it means something," said Taylor. "I guess it is a milestone that not many reach. It means I've been around a long time. I just wish it had come sooner in my career. I don't like to lose." "I knew we needed one more win to lock up the 300th for coach," said Marold. "I wanted to do that. 300 wins is a great milestone in wrestling, and he deserves it. Coach Taylor is such a great guy and a great coach who would do anything for you. He's very devoted to the team and the program." Sophomore T. J. Morrison (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cedar Cliff) won by fall to give Rider a 10-0 lead. Freshman Doug Umbehauer (Shamong, N.J./Lenape) led off with a major decision, and sophomore Ryan Smith (Olmsted Falls, Ohio/Olmsted Falls) won to give Rider a 13-3 lead. Junior Ryan Cunningham (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West) won to give Rider a 19-10 lead. Rider is now off for exams and the holidays, and competes again December 28 at the Southern Scuffle, hosted by UNC Greensboro.

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Four Spartans tallied their first dual-meet victories of the season as the 17th-ranked Michigan State wrestling team (1-1 overall, 0-0 Big Ten) rolled against Cleveland State, 33-9, Saturday, Dec. 10 at Jenison Field House. Seniors Darren McKnight, Jeff Clemens and Max Lossen as well as sophomore Bryan Harney all notched their initial dual-meet wins of the 2005-06 campaign. "In order for us to be as successful as we want to be as a team, our team really has to be aggressive and use our strength and power," head coach Tom Minkel said. "We are still lacking in some areas, but overall we did better tonight with that, especially in the last five matches. Darren McKnight is really our leader in that department." The dual kicked off at 184 pounds, where Cleveland State's Ron Howard claimed the decision against sophomore Joe Williams, 6-1. The match was 1-0 in Williams' favor heading into the third, but Howard scored an escape, a takedown and three near-fall points in the final frame. Clemens put the Spartans on top at 197 pounds, dominating J.T. Miller in a 15-0 technical-fall victory. Clemens tallied a takedown in the first and the third periods, and accumulated 10 near-fall points over the course of the first two periods. The win improves Clemens' record to 8-6 on the season, and gives him two technical falls and two shutouts for the 2005-06 season. Lossen also won his eighth match of the season and first dual-meet match with a 4-2 decision over Rashard Goff at 285 pounds. Tied at two with less than 30 seconds remaining, Lossen notched the match-clinching takedown in dramatic fashion, giving MSU the 8-3 lead in the dual. At 125 pounds, Nick Simmons continued his tear through the 2005-06 season, improving to 13-0 with a fall at 3:45 against Jayrl Hunt. Simmons outscored Hunt 11-0 in the first period before putting the freshman to his back for the final time early in the second. The fall was Simmons' fifth of the season and 38th of his career, putting him fifth on the all-time MSU falls list. Next up Eli Blazeoff, who sits fourth with 40 career falls. Wrestling in his first dual of the season, Ryan Froese dropped the 133-pound match, 6-1, to David Armstrong. Froese led 1-0 heading into the third, but gave up a reversal and three back points in the final two minutes. Andy Simmons registered his team-leading seventh major decision of the year at 141 pounds, upending Mike Hurley, 9-1. Simmons improved to 16-1 on the year by tallying a takedown in each period, along with points for an escape and riding time in the third. At 149 pounds, McKnight notched his 12th win of the year by injury default against No. 8 Ryan Hurley. McKnight scored a takedown early in the first, injuring Hurley's already ailing knee in the process. McKnight's first win of the dual-meet season extended State's commanding lead over the Vikings to 18 points. Despite another late comeback by Tony Greathouse at 157 pounds, the junior from Mason, Mich., dropped the decision to Victer Crenshaw, 8-5. Greathouse fell behind 5-0 early in the first period and could not overcome the deficit. Harney became the fourth Spartan to get their first dual-meet win of the season, as he defeated Josh Ging, 6-1. Harney only led 1-0 heading into the third, but caught Ging in a cradle and received three near-fall points. The decision improved Harney's record to 4-4 on the year. The Green and White finished strong behind R.J. Boudro, who notched his 10th victory and second fall of the season against Chuck Koz. Boudro made short work of the freshman Viking, notching the fall at 1:42 of the first period. The Spartans will take a two-and-a-half week break before heading to the Midlands Championships in Evanston, Ill., on Dec. 29-30. State's next dual meet is not until Jan. 20, when they travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Panthers. 184- Ron Howard dec. Joe Williams 6-1 CSU, 3-0 197- Jeff Clemens tech. fall J.T. Miller 15-0, 7:00 MSU, 5-3 285- Max Lossen dec. Rashard Goff 4-2 MSU, 8-3 125- Nick Simmons fall Jayrl Hunt Fall, 3:35 MSU, 14-3 133- David Armstrong dec. Ryan Froese 6-1 MSU, 14-6 141- Andy Simmons maj. dec. Mike Hurley 9-1 MSU, 18-6 149- Darren McKnight dec. Ryan Hurley Inj. Def. MSU, 24-6 157- Victer Crenshaw dec. Tony Greathouse 8-5 MSU, 24-9 165- Bryan Harney dec. Josh Ging 6-1 MSU, 27-9 174- R.J. Boudro fall Chuck Koz Fall, 1:42 MSU, 33-9

State College, Pa. -- The No. 13 Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team throttled No. 23 Navy 28-6 in its first road dual of the year. Head coach Troy Sunderland's team won the first seven bouts and eight of ten on its way to its fourth dual match win of the year (4-2). The loss was Navy's first (4-1). The match started at 125, where sophomore Tim Haas (Camp Hill, Pa.) downed Navy's Alex Usztics. Haas trailed 3-2 after one but, after Usztics chose down to start the second, rode the Midshipmen for the entire second period to work up a huge riding time edge. Haas would use a reversal in the third period plus the riding time edge to claim a 5-4 win and put Penn State up 3-0. Haas improved to 7-0 with the win. Freshman Jake Strayer (South Fork, Pa.), ranked No. 19 in the nation, took on Navy's Brad Canterbury at 133. Canterbury, a junior, took an early 2-0 lead after a period with a take down in the first. An escape for Canterbury gave him a 3-0 lead before Strayer quickly took him down to cut the lead to 3-2. Strayer rode Canterbury out in the second and trailed 3-2 heading into the third. Strayer quickly escaped from the down position in the third to tie the match and followed with a quick take down to go up 5-3. Strayer would nearly pin Canterbury as the match ended and posted an impressive 9-3 win. Strayer stayed undefeated at 5-0 with the victory. Up 6-0, Penn State sent No. 15 DeWitt Driscoll (Connellsville, Pa.) up against Navy's Brandon Beasley at 141. Driscoll took Beasley down almost immediately for an early 2-0 lead. Driscoll, in control throughout the first period, pinned Beasley at 2:35 for three bonus points and a 12-0 lead. Driscoll improved to 4-2 with the win. In the evening's feature match, Penn State's James Woodall (St. Dupont, Pa.), ranked No. 10 at 149, faced Navy's John Cox, who entered the match 19-3 and ranked No. 14 nationally. Woodall scored the first take down early in the first, followed it with another and got three near fall points to go up 7-1midway through the first. Woodall extended his lead to 9-2 heading into the second and would dominate the match on his way to an outstanding 12-3 major decision. Woodall upped his mark to 3-2 with the major. No. 16 Nathan Galloway (State College, Pa.) scored a 3-1 sudden victory decision over Adam Borchetti of Navy at 157. Penn State's junior and Navy's senior wrestled to a scoreless tie after one. Galloway chose down to start the second and escaped :45 second into the period and would lead 1-0 after two. Borchetti, down to start the third, quickly escaped to tie the bout early in the third. Galloway nearly took down Borchetti as the third period ended but the senior fought it off to send the match to sudden victory. Borchetti nearly took Galloway down to start the extra period but scored on a clinical ankle pick to post the 3-1 sudden victory and put Penn State up 19-0. Galloway evened his mark at 3-3 with the decision. True freshman David Erwin (Urbana, Ohio) made his collegiate debut against Navy's John Jarred, a junior. Erwin entered the dual with a 10-2 record, but all were unattached. Erwin won the title at 165 at the Nittany Lion Open last Sunday. Erwin scored a late takedown to lead 2-0 after one. He would ride Jarred, who chose down, for the entire second period. The third period began with Erwin taking down and quickly escaping for a 3-0 lead. He followed it up with a strong take down and would go on to post an impressive 7-1 win. Erwin is now 11-2 overall on the year. Penn State's James Yonushonis (Philipsburg, Pa.), ranked No. 8 nationally, took on Navy's Matt Stolpinski. Yonushonis entered the match undefeated at 5-0 and stayed that way with an impressive xxx win. After a scoreless first period, the junior from Philipsburg chose down to start the second, quickly escaped for a 1-0 lead, which is how the second would end. Stolpinski chose down to begin the third. Yonushonis would ride Stolpinski for a 1:15 riding time edge before cutting Stolpinski loose. Tied 1-1 on the board but with a big riding time edge, Yonushonis would hold on for a hard-fought 2-1 victory. Yonushonis is a perfect 6-0 this season. Navy's Jonny Kane scored the first two points at 184 on Penn State's Neil Bretz (Carlisle, Pa.) and led 2-1 after one on the Nittany Lion freshman. Kane and Bretz would trade take downs and escapes with Bretz cutting the lead to as little as three in the third. But Kane would score a late take down and post a solid 19-12 victory to help Navy avoid the shutout. Bretz fell to 1-4 on the year. Penn State's All-American 197-pounder Phil Davis (Harrisburg, Pa.) did not wrestle at Navy due to a class that he could not miss, so junior A.J. Cummins (Lititz, Pa.) took to the mat for the first time of the year to face Navy's Andrew Adams. The duo wrestled to a scoreless tie after one, with Adams choosing down to start the second and escaping quickly. Down 1-0 to start the third, Cummins chose down and escaped :47 into the third to tie the match 1-1. With just one second left in the match, Cummins took Adams down to grab a thrilling 3-1 win and put Penn State up 28-3. Cummins is now 1-0. The final bout of the evening pitted No. 9 Tanner Garrett to face Penn State's Aaron Anspach (Columbia, Pa.). Garrett entered the match 20-1 overall and downed Anspach 3-1 in sudden victory in last Sunday's Nittany Lion Open. Tonight's dual was just as close with neither heavyweight managing a take down through the first five minutes of wrestling. Anspach's second period escape had him up 1-0 heading into the third but with a stall warning in the bank. Garrett escaped early in the third and Anspach was called for a stall a bit later, putting Garrett up 2-1. Garrett would take Anspach down with :30 left to wrestle to secure a hard fought 6-2 win. Anspach fell to 6-7 on the season. "With the strength of Navy's team in the upper weights, I was very happy with how well Tim and Jake came out and got us on top early," Sunderland said. "I think DeWitt really sent a message at 141 and then Woodall at 149 really came out strong and put us in control." "The biggest surprise for us was 149," continued Sunderland. "I expected it to be a battle but Woodall looked so strong. When he got those back points, he put some space between himself and his opponent and that really helped us. I was also very pleased with Cummins. A.J. has worked tremendously hard his whole time here at Penn State. Whatever we need from him he does and it's great for him to get a win. All the matches tonight were tough. There were no gimmies." The Nittany Lions are 4-2 overall and head to Philadelphia tomorrow for a 6:30 p.m. dual at No. 25 Penn. The Quakers will be taking part in their first dual of the year.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Bonus points made the difference as the No. 2-ranked University of Michigan wrestling team dropped a 18-16 decision to No. 14 Nebraska in its home opener Friday night (Dec. 9) in front of 1,103 fans at Cliff Keen Arena. The two teams evenly split matches at five apiece, but with two early bonus wins the Huskers squeaked out the upset victory. With a couple key figures missing from the starting lineup, the Wolverines could not recover from an early nine-point deficit as Nebraska earned wins in three of the opening four weight classes, including two with extra points. The Huskers' Paul Donahoe and Patrick Aleksanyan earned a technical fall and major decision at 125 and 133 pounds, respectively, to put NU ahead for good in the match. Junior/sophomores Josh Churella (Northville, Mich./Novi HS) and Eric Tannenbaum (Naperville, Ill./North HS) cut the Husker advantage to just two points at the midway point of the dual with back-to-back victories at 141 and 149 pounds, respectively. Churella controlled the early two frames of his match against the Huskers' Dominick Moyer, tallying a first-period takedown and quick second-period reversal to build a 4-1 advantage with substanial riding time. Starting the third frame in the down postion, the Wolverine could not get away for the escape, giving him the final 5-1 advantage with the point for riding time. Tannenbaum put on a takedown clinic against Robert Sanders at 149 pounds, scoring seven times from his feet, including four in the opening period. Tannenbaum added 3:16 in riding time to earn the 16-6 major decision, narrowing Nebraska's advantage to 12-10. Tannenbaum's major decision would be the only bonus points for the Wolverines in the contest as fifth-year senior captain Ryan Churella (Northville, Mich./Novi HS) and sophomore/freshman Tyrel Todd (Bozeman, Mont./Bozeman HS) tallied decisions at 165 and 184 pounds, respectively. Churella scored three takedowns and a third-period reversal en route to a 9-4 decision against the Huskers' Marc Harwood. The Wolverine captain nearly collected a fall in the closing seconds of the first period, locking in a near-side cradle and rolling Harwood to his back just as time expired. Squaring off against Brandon Browne in the evening's closing match, Todd battled back from an early first-period deficit to score three takedowns in the final two and half minutes and earn the 9-7 victory. Fifth-year senior captain Greg Wagner (Fort Wayne, Ind./Snider HS) was the lone Wolverine to win in the opening four matches, defeating 18th-ranked Jon May 8-2. Wagner scored a pair of takedowns and a second-period reversal and accumulated 2:18 in riding time while allowing May only a pair of escapes. Senior/junior Nick Roy (Wall, N.J./Wall HS) went to the wire against fourth-ranked Jacob Klein in the 174-pound bout but lost on riding time in a 2-1 final. With no score after two periods, Klein took the first lead after a quick escape in the third but stalled through much of the frame to elicit a pair of calls, awarding Roy a point late in the frame. The Husker's 1:53 in riding time advantage, which he earned by riding out Roy in the second period, proved the tiebreaker at match's end, all but locking up Nebraska's team win with just one bout remaining. The Wolverines will wrestle their final dual meet of the calendar year on Sunday (Dec. 11) when they travel north to Mount Pleasant, Mich., to square off against No. 9-ranked Central Michigan. The contest is slated for a 2 p.m. start at the Chippewas' Rose Arena.

STILLWATER, Okla. -- Rusty Blackmon pulled out a last second victory over 11th-ranked Justin Dyer to spark top-ranked Oklahoma State (3-0) to a 23-12 victory over Bedlam rival Oklahoma (1-1-1) in front of 7,988 fans inside Gallagher-Iba Arena. With Oklahoma leading 12-11 after the 174-pound match, Blackmon took Dyer down and put him on his back for a five-point move turning a defeat into a 6-3 decision for the Cowboys. "He (Justin Dyer) is a tough kid," Blackmon said afterward. "I am just trying to keep myself on an even keel. I do not want to get too up or too down after a loss. It is one win and we still have a long time until March. "I do not know what to say about that last 20 seconds. I just started wrestling and did not think too much. Dyer is a tough kid, he is strong and a solid wrestler. The dual started at 125 with a battle of All-Americans between Sam Hazewinkel and Coleman Scott. Hazewinkel scored two first period takedowns to carry him to victory and help OU put the first match in the books. The two teams traded the next seven matches with OSU getting major decisions from Nathan Morgan at 133 and Zack Esposito at 149. The Sooners received a big spark from freshman Will Rowe. Rowe trailed in the third period, 3-1, and scored two takedowns in the final 44 seconds to send the match into overtime tied at five. Rowe forced the action in the sudden victory period and got the takedown to win the match 7-5 and turn the momentum in favor of OU. Oklahoma tried to carry that into the 165-pound match, but top-ranked Johny Hendricks was too strong for Jarrod King. Hendricks pulled out the 5-0 decision to put OSU back on top in the dual, 11-9. OU regained the lead at 174 when the experienced Wes Roberts took down OSU freshman Brandon Mason twice and came away with a 5-3 decision. The Cowboys seized the momentum at 184 after Blackmon's victory. The crowd rose to its feet in the closing seconds while Blackmon was searching for a pin. Blackmon settled for an upset decision, but Steve Mocco closed the dual with the fall the crowd was looking for. "It did not seem like we got a click going," head coach John Smith said. "There is no question Rusty (Blackkmon) had a nice win for us at 184 to get some momentum going to send Jake (Rosholt) out with in a tough bout and to finish up with Steve (Mocco). "I am pleased to win. The score could be that again, but I want to see more out there and we did not give that tonight. I thought we wrestled a little bit tight." After top-ranked Jake Rosholt came away with a decision over second-ranked Joel Flaggert, Mocco got the crowd excited again by pinning fifth-ranked Jake Hager in 3:41. Oklahoma State will take a week off for finals before traveling to Reno, Nev. on Dec. 18 for the Reno Tournament of Champions and to Boise, Idaho on Dec. 20 for a dual with Boise State.

MINNEAPOLIS -- The fifth-ranked Golden Gopher wrestling team improved to 6-0 with a 21-13 victory against No. 7 Iowa State (3-2) on Friday night at Williams Arena. Minnesota snapped a four-match losing streak vs. the Cyclones. Sophomore C.P. Schlatter provided the biggest win of the night with a 5-4 upset of second-ranked Trent Paulson at 157 pounds. Minnesota won six of 10 matches. Iowa State jumped out to a 4-0 lead behind second-ranked Nate Gallick's 15-5 major decision against sophomore Manuel Rivera at 141 pounds. Gallick jumped ahead 8-3 in the first period thanks in part to four takedowns. Gallick improved to 10-0 on the season. Minnesota turned the tide behind the Schlatter brothers. Freshman Dustin Schlatter made his debut in front of the Golden Gopher crowd a memorable one with a dominating 19-6 major decision against Aron Scott at 149 pounds. Schlatter is now 15-1 in his first season with the Maroon and Gold. Ranked eighth in the nation, C.P. Schlatter followed with his upset of Paulson. Schlatter took a 2-0 lead just 30 seconds into the match with a takedown off a scramble in the middle of the mat. After Paulson tied the match at two with a second-period escape, Schlatter regained the lead with a takedown with 50 seconds to go in the period. In the third, Schlatter scored an early escape to take a 5-3 lead. He was later penalized a point for stalling, but Paulson finished the match without scoring an offensive point. Trailing 7-4, Iowa State responded with a 3-1 decision for sixth-ranked Travis Paulson over No. 4 Matt Nagel at 165 pounds. Paulson avenged a 2-1 loss in the All-American round at last year's NCAA Championship. Following a scoreless first period, Paulson took a 2-1 lead with a takedown as time expired in the second period. Paulson added an escape in the third period and held off Nagel for the victory. Minnesota's Gabriel Dretsch won 8-4 over Iowa State's David Bertolino (photo courtesy of TheGuillotine.com).Minnesota took a 10-7 lead into intermission as 14th-ranked Gabriel Dretsch defeated David Bertolino, 8-4, at 174 pounds. Dretsch took a 2-0 lead just 10 seconds into the match and held a 2-1 lead after the first period. In the third period with Dretsch leading 3-1, Bertolino tied the match with a takedown, but Dretsch scored the immediate reversal to regain control of the match at 5-3. He added two more points late in the third to put the match away. The Cyclones started strong in the second half of the match behind wins from fifth-ranked Kurt Backes at 184 and Joe Curran at 197. At 184 pounds, sixth-ranked Roger Kish tied the match at three with a third-period takedown, but Backes responded with a reversal to take a 5-3 lead en route to a 6-3 win. Curran had a 13-pound weight advantage over Minnesota sophomore Mitch Kuhlman at 197 pounds and used it to claim a 4-1 win. The match was scoreless until the third period when Curran took control with a reversal. With 30 seconds to go, Kuhlman cut the lead to 2-1 with an escape, but was unable to complete the comeback. Kuhlman was wrestling just his fourth career match at 197 pounds after entering the year as a 174-pounder. Cole Konrad of Minnesota defeated Richard Schopf of Iowa State, 19-6 (photo courtesy of TheGuillotine.com).Trailing 13-10, Minnesota closed out the match with three straight victories. Second- ranked Cole Konrad steamrolled Richard Schopf at heavyweight. Konrad tallied four first- period takedowns in a 19-6 major decision. He is now 12-0 on the year with wins in 41 of his last 42 matches. With the match tied at 13, redshirt freshman Travis Lang made his first career start at 125 pounds a memorable one. With the match scoreless after the first period, Iowa State's Ben Hanisch rode Lang for nearly the entire second period. Lang then shocked Hanisch with a reversal with just five seconds to go. Leading 2-0, Lang added a pair of third-period near falls to earn an 8-0 major decision. With a seemingly insurmountable 18-13 lead and with third-ranked Mack Reiter taking to the mat at 133 pounds, Jesse Sundell nearly stole a victory for the Cyclones. Leading comfortably throughout, Reiter held a 7-2 advantage late in the second period. After attempting to roll Sundell for the second time, Reiter slipped and found himself on his back just seconds away from being pinned. Sundell was unable to claim the fall, but managed to tie the match at seven with the reversal and back points. Reiter regrouped in the third and gained a 14-8 decision. He is now 10-0 on the year. "We're a young team, but we're continuing to grow," head coach J Robinson said. "We haven't been able to beat them in a while so to win like this in front of our home crowd is encouraging. I thought C.P. gave us some early momentum and Travis gave us a big lift at the end. This victory can only help us down the road." The Golden Gophers return to action on Sunday when they host No. 19 Nebraska at the Sports Pavilion. The match will begin at 2 p.m. A live video webcast will be available at TheWrestlingMall.com. #7 Iowa State, #5 Minnesota Dec. 9, 2005 Williams Arena 141 -- Nate Gallick (ISU) maj. dec. Manuel Rivera (MN), 15-5 149 -- Dustin Schlatter (MN) maj. dec. Aron Scott (ISU), 19-6 157 -- C.P. Schlatter (MN) dec. Trent Paulson (ISU), 5-4 165 -- Travis Paulson (ISU) dec. Matt Nagel (MN), 3-1 174 -- Gabriel Dretsch (MN) dec. David Bertolino (ISU), 8-4 184 -- Kurt Backes (ISU) dec. Roger Kish (MN), 6-3 197 -- Joe Curran (ISU) dec. Mitch Kuhlman (MN), 4-1 Hwt -- Cole Konrad (MN) maj. dec. Richard Schopf (ISU), 19-6 125 -- Travis Lang (MN) maj. dec. Ben Hanisch (ISU), 8 -0 133 -- Mack Reiter (MN) dec. Jesse Sundell (ISU), 14-8

LAURINBURG, NC -- St. Andrews Presbyterian College Athletic Director Howard Reichner has announced the addition of intercollegiate men's wrestling to the college's list of NCAA Division II sponsored sports beginning in the fall of 2006. "We at the St. Andrews Athletics Department are dedicated to providing the greatest opportunity to the greatest number of student athletes," said Reichner. "Wrestling is a major high school sport and a growing collegiate one as well. A large number of high school wrestlers come from this region and we hope the addition of wrestling at St. Andrews will serve their interest and needs." Reichner is currently looking for the Knights first Head Wrestling Coach. The inaugural coach will be brought in the spring of '06 to start recruiting for the 2006/2007 season. "We have received some very impressive resumes from interested coaches and will begin interviews after the Christmas holidays. We hope to have our new wrestling coach on board after the first of the year and will be recruiting our student wrestlers for next fall," explained Reichner. "Adding a wrestling program at St. Andrews is another example of our student focus and evidence of our commitment to provide our students with meaningful opportunities to be engaged in campus activities and participate in intercollegiate athletics," added St. Andrews President John Deegan, Jr. "Wrestlers are among some of the most disciplined of athletes, both on the mat and in the classroom, and at St. Andrews we celebrate scholar-athletes. This latest addition to our athletics program is one more step in the process of growing our College in the right direction." Wrestling will add approximately 30 student-athletes to St. Andrews, who will compete in 10 different weight classes. The Knights will participate in both dual matches and tournaments during each NCAA winter season. The Knights will start with no conference affiliation but will be affiliated with the East Region of NCAA Division II. Wrestling is an expanding sport in D-II that now has over 40 schools participating. Other local Division II wrestling teams in North and South Carolina include UNC Pembroke, Belmont Abbey, Anderson, Limestone, and Newberry. If you are interested in being a member of the inaugural team, please contact Admissions at 1-800-763-0198. St. Andrews is a four-year, liberal arts institution located in Laurinburg, North Carolina. SAPC has an increasing enrollment that is currently around 700 students and now offers 18 NCAA Division II sports.

Junior Craig Trampe (Ord, Neb.) got the bad weather started at 125 pounds with an 8-0 major decision over Tony Hager. Junior Shawn Tsutsumi (Kaneohe, Hawaii) followed with a 7-0 decision over Brooke Irlmeier at 133 pounds. Senior and two-time All-American Jason Lozier (Omaha, Neb.) claimed an 8-5 victory over Cole Christensen. Junior and two-time All-American Terrence Almond (Pelham, Ga.) picked up bonus points for the Vikings by recording a fall over Ben Hektoen in fifty three seconds. Senior and 2005 All-American Ben Henderson (Federal Way, Wash.) revenged a previous loss in 2004 to Kellen Delaney, by defeating him 3-1. Senior and two-time Academic All-American Trent Leichleiter (Harvard, Neb.) dominated the match in the riding position to score a 5-2 victory at 165 pounds. Senior and 2005 Academic All-American Marshall Marquardt (Altoona, Iowa) defeated No. 7 ranked Cody Downing by fall at 1:56. Willie Parks (Garden Grove, Calif.) dominated Matt Jorgenson with massive leg attacks and recorded a technical fall, 19-4. Senior and three-time All-American Blair Alderman's (Spokane, Wash) awesome display of takedowns made quick work of Chris Downing. Alderman recorded a technical fall, 23-7. Dana's only loss was at heavyweight. Redshirt-freshman, Zach Loberg (North Bend, Neb.) stepped in at heavyweight despite competing at 197 this year. Loberg lost by fall to two-time NCAA Division III All-American and No. 5 ranked, Brent Christensen. The Dana College Vikings are now 4-0 in dual competition and will be competing at the University of Kearney Open on Saturday. Dana 37, Simpson 6 125-Craig Trampe DC major dec Tony Hager SC 8-0 133 Shawn Tsutsumi DC dec Brooke Irlmeier SC 7-0 141-Jason Lozier DC dec Cole Christensen SC 8-5 149- Terrence Almond DC winner by fall Ben Hektoen :53 157-Ben Henderson DC dec Kellen Delaney 3-1 165- Trent Leichleiter DC dec Byran Llewellyn SC 5-2 174-Marshall Marquardt DC winner by fall Cody Downing SC 1:56 184-Willie Parks DC technical fall Matt Jorgenson SC 19-4 197-Blair Alderman DC technical fall Chris Dowing SC 23-7 Hwt-Brett Christensen SC winner by fall Zach Loberg SC 6:55

EAST STROUDSBURG -- Angelo Borzio, head wrestling coach at East Stroudsburg University, has decided to step down at the end of the season. "I am proud of the success we have had at East Stroudsburg University during my 10-year tenure as the assistant and head wrestling coach," Borzio said. "I regret that I will not have the chance to coach these young men after this season, but I am looking forward to new opportunities." Continuous improvement has been Borzio's goal and he has taken big steps towards accomplishing that goal. During Borzio's tenure, the Warriors have beaten the likes of North Carolina State, Army, Rutgers, Drexel and Columbia and continued to do well in team tournaments.