InterMat Staff

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With the conference tournaments coming this weekend there isn't much to do but embrace the spectacle and enjoy the storylines as they unfold. Wrestling fans who align with schools will feel jubilation and disappointment throughout the weekend as the underdogs find upsets and the favorites tumble. The media attention given to the sport has increased significantly over the past few years. Where I was watching bootlegged Iowa Public Television dual meets on VHS in 2000, the wrestling fan today can watch on their computer, iPad and even phone. So sign up for some premium services, join the online discussions and have a tremendous weekend filled with watching the world's best athletes compete in the oldest and greatest sport. Q: Cousins Bo Jordan and Isaac Jordan could meet in the Big Ten finals on Sunday. If they do meet, who are you picking? -- Mike C. Wisconsin's Isaac Jordan has a 19-2 record this season Foley: I choose the Jordans. I choose the Jordan family gene pool. Goodness can that little slice of Ohio scrap, or what. How much of their talent is learned and how much just exists in their DNA? The Gracie family may claim jiu-jitsu dominance, but anyone familiar with the sport knows that theirs is now mostly just a marketing scheme (and plenty of willingness to assume maternal naming structure when beneficial). Increasingly, it seems like the Jordans are becoming a defensible first family of wrestling. Not only did the last generation get it done on the mat, but they have raised children who love to compete and do a damn fine job of winning. But in the end I think I'll choose Isaac. Not sure why, don't know that there is a defensible reason to choosing either. I just dig on the name! Q: What's your take on Nike investing more in wrestling with the sponsorship of the Hawkeye Wrestling Club? -- Mike C. Foley: Massive move. This mimics what we see in other international sports, where the club is the driving force behind athletics around the world. Those clubs are supported by sponsors (many of them local), which is how they travel and host events. Nike coming back to the wrestling scene should push more competitiveness among the brands to provide services and cash to clubs. What does Nike see in the sport? I'd imagine they see a chance to tap their loyal fan base within wrestling -- the same business model that has helped Flips Wrestling and other wrestling-centric brands (no pun intended) turn a profit. With a major brand on board with the sport, arguably the most influential, the funding of all clubs may soon experience an upturn. Overall, I'm happy for the Hawkeye Wrestling Club and hopeful for the sport at large. Q: What do u think about the Tennessee state tourney being wrestled at a venue with a dirt floor, uneven mats, no showers and no warm-up area? -- @codylcleveland Foley: The American South is struggling to get their wrestling act together in 2015. First the VHSL shortens an already ridiculous Virginia state wrestling tournament, and next Tennessee apparently held their state tournament in a poorly lit, exceptionally dirty barn. I looked for the photos that I'd glanced past on Twitter this week, but was unable to find them. Needless to say the tournament was hosted in conditions not on par with how athletes in 2015 should be treated. Maybe the worst offense is that the tournament was dirty AND there was nowhere for athletes to shower. In the age of pernicious skin diseases and 1-800-LAWYERS, not maintaining a health-conscience facility is a large financial liability to the state high school association. Another issue is that there was no place for the athletes to warm up before their matches. How this is allowed to happen defies description. The Tennessee athletic association should be held accountable. Unfortunately if they are anything like that in Virginia that will act, and almost certainly be, above the law. MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME New deal for the Hawkeyes Trailer for the Women's Wrestling World Cup Big Move of the Week Q: With Logan Stieber graduating, who do you think will be the biggest star in college wrestling next season? -- Mike C. Foley: That will depend on who wins the NCAA championship this season. Right now J'den Cox of Missouri and Jason Tsirtsis of Northwestern would be heading into their junior seasons as two-time NCAA champions. Should that happen it would be tough to argue with other wrestlers gaining more attention. However, no matter how he does in 2015 the nation is ready to embrace Kyle Snyder, much like they did David Taylor. Snyder has received more than six years of hype and in a media age his friendliness off the mat and success on the mat have made him a highly marketable star. If Isaiah Martinez completes his freshman season undefeated and hoisting the NCAA trophy ... then he very well could become the toast of 2016 in Madison Square Garden. Q: When will we see the new freestyle and Greco-Roman uniforms? -- Luca M. from Italy Foley: I suspect we could see them as early as the end of 2015. There will be plenty of testing both in tournaments and with audiences. There is no particular rush and given the importance of the change nobody wishes to speed up the process for false deadlines. Q: Any chance the NCAA adds a light heavyweight weight class that would reflect what high school wrestling did by adding a 220-pound weight class? It seems there is no easy transition weight class for top 220-pounders in high school to go to in college. They're either a very small heavyweight or they have to cut 23 pounds to get to 197. Something like a 210 or 225-pound weight class in college would be interesting. -- Ryan P. Foley: Absolutely zero chance. College wrestling would benefit from fewer weight classes, not more. More concentration of talent would help shorten dual meets, bolster competitiveness and provide teams ample opportunity to fill out their lineups. No more forfeits and a better chance (not worse) for Johnny High School to earn a college scholarship. Think of Olympic wrestling, which has argued for more men's weight classes. Until a country sends a wrestler in all 18 weight classes to the Olympics there is no over-concentration of talent. Yes, we all know about 74 kilos in men's freestyle with Burroughs, Howe, Dake and Taylor, but one weight class in one country doesn't support the argument for adding two more Olympic weight classes worldwide. College wrestling is in a battle for resources. Better to prune the fat than to lose all the meat. Q: In your opinion, what are some of the greatest mismatches that we have seen in the NCAA finals in the last 15 years? Criteria would be the skill level differential, not necessarily the score or a pin. For example, I wouldn't consider Bubba Jenkins vs. David Taylor or Dustin Kilgore vs. Clayton Foster mismatches even though both of those matches ended in pins. An example of the type of mismatch I'm thinking of is David Taylor vs. Brandon Hatchett. -- Gil S. Foley: Mitch Clark vs. Vertus Jones didn't read on paper like a mismatch, but within a minute it was obvious that Jones had no answer for Clark's top game. That was the first time, though not the last, where I felt a cringe of embarrassment for the opponent. Readers: What are some of your favorites? Comment below. Q: Would you have disqualified Thomas Gilman for the slam on Alan Waters? The match was chippy (Waters got his shots in too), but that slam was blatant with intent to injure, even though waters was OK. Maybe at the least they should have lost a team point. There is no need for that behavior. -- Nick D. Foley: Gone. In jiu-jitsu you are tossed without a moment's hesitation. If you pulled that bullshit in the room you'd have your arms ripped off and be kicked out, possibly for good. Wrestling does a TERRIBLE job of self-policing. Yes, we complain with the best, but when kids act out they need to be put in their place. That it's an institute for learning and coaches aren't able to discipline like they could in a private club is noted, but there should have been a much more significant punishment for that type of action. I like Gilman and don't mind some chippyness, but all the energy poured into displaying that type of bravado would be better spent learning how to get out of legs. Q: Did you see Mark Schultz is selling a bunch of stuff on eBay? What are your thoughts? -- Mike C. Foley: I don't know why he would want to sell his belongings, but I can imagine that he either wants psychological separation from the events of Foxcatcher (post-movie and post-book). He may also be hard up for cash and wants to cash out on the popularity of the film and his book. If so, I think that can be a sad reminder of how much wrestling can take from some individuals. Regardless of your personal thoughts on Mark, it would be troubling to see someone with so much talent be left without a safety net deserving of the inspiration he provided millions of wrestlers. RANT OF THE WEEK By Nick D. For those people that don't like freestyle, you need to embrace it. I never wrestled past high school, my brother wrestled in the Big Ten. We went to London for the Olympics in 2012. It was one of the all-time experiences I have ever had, and that was under the old "3 separate matches" rules (Jake Herbert got screwed -- just saying). If you think that Iowa and Minnesota fans are intense, go to an international wrestling match and listen to the Iranians, Azerbaijanis, Russians, etc. They are crazy. It's not even political. Iranians actually cheered for Americans when we wrestled the Russians because it affected the mythical team title and overall medal count. Seriously, everyone should do themselves a favor and either go to the World Championships or the World Cup in 2015. They are both in the States.

Many premier matchups between highly ranked wrestlers will take place at the eight NCAA Division I conference tournaments this weekend. The Big Ten has by far the most ranked wrestlers with 80, followed by the EIWA with 27. Let's examine five intriguing weight classes in the Big Ten Championships and five intriguing weight classes from conferences outside of the Big Ten. Big Ten Championships 174 at Big Ten Championships Penn State's Matt Brown and Iowa's Mike Evans met last month and could meet again in the Big Ten semifinals on Saturday night (Photo/Bill Ennis)Ranked wrestlers (9): No. 1 Robert Kokesh (Nebraska), No. 2 Matt Brown (Penn State), No. 3 Mike Evans (Iowa), No. 4 Logan Storley (Minnesota), No. 10 Zac Brunson (Illinois), No. 13 Taylor Massa (Michigan), No. 15 Mark Martin (Ohio State), No. 18 Chad Welch (Purdue) and No. 19 Nate Jackson (Indiana) Commentary: We might as well call the 174-pound weight class at the Big Tens a mini NCAA tournament since it includes the top four wrestlers in the country and nine of the top 20. The top four -- Kokesh, Brown, Evans and Storley -- know each other inside and out. These four multiple-time All-Americans are about as evenly matched as you can get and have traded wins over the past three seasons. Kokesh is the lone wrestler in the weight class without a blemish on his record this season, but has not faced Evans or Storley this season. He did edge Brown 3-2 at the Southern Scuffle. 157 at Big Ten Championships Ranked wrestlers (8): No. 1 Isaiah Martinez (Illinois), No. 2 Dylan Ness (Minnesota), No. 3 James Green (Nebraska), No. 8 Brian Murphy (Michigan), No. 9 Doug Welch (Purdue), No. 10 Anthony Perrotti (Rutgers), No. 13 Josh Demas (Ohio State) and No. 15 Mike Kelly (Iowa) Commentary: Like 174 pounds, 157 pounds is very top-heavy in the Big Ten. It includes the nation's top three wrestlers: Martinez, Ness and Green. Coming into this season most expected Ness and Green to meet in the Big Ten finals and possibly the NCAA finals. However, the freshman Martinez had other ideas. He comes into his first postseason undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the nation. Martinez has been crushing his competition all season. Against Big Ten competition, Martinez won eight of his matches by major decision or greater, including five technical falls and two pins. He already notched a win over Green, but has not yet faced Ness. If the seeds hold, Ness and Green will meet in the Big Ten semifinals for the second straight year. Green beat Ness last year at the Big Tens, but Ness has won the last two meetings. 285 at Big Ten Championships Ranked wrestlers (10): No. 2 Connor Medbery (Wisconsin), No. 3 Mike McMullan (Northwestern), No. 4 Bobby Telford (Iowa), No. 6 Adam Coon (Michigan), No. 7 Jimmy Lawson (Penn State), No. 10 Spencer Myers (Maryland), No. 12 Nick Tavanello (Ohio State), No. 14 Michael Kroells (Minnesota), No. 15 Billy Smith (Rutgers) and No. 17 Collin Jensen (Nebraska) Northwestern's Mike McMullan and Iowa's Bobby Telford have split two matches this season (Photo/Mark Lundy)Commentary: The Big Ten heavyweight division may not have the nation's top-ranked heavyweight (Nick Gwiazdowski of North Carolina State), but it's certainly one of the deepest and toughest weight classes this weekend. Of the nation's top 20 heavyweights, 10 are Big Ten heavyweights. Another sign that it's a deep weight class: Maryland's Spencer Myers, a past All-American, was pre-seeded seventh. Four of the nation's top six heavyweights will be in Columbus this weekend. Both McMullan and Telford have been ranked No. 1 this season, and Coon was the top-ranked heavyweight for a time last season. However, it's Wisconsin's Medbery who earned the top seed by entering the postseason with a 25-1 record and wins over McMullan and Coon. 197 at Big Ten Championships Ranked wrestlers (9): No. 3 Kyle Snyder (Ohio State), No. 4 Morgan McIntosh (Penn State), No. 5 Scott Schiller (Minnesota), No. 6 Nathan Burak (Iowa), No. 8 Max Huntley (Michigan), No. 13 Aaron Studebaker (Nebraska), No. 14 Timmy McCall (Wisconsin), No. 15 Braden Atwood (Purdue) and No. 18 Alex Polizzi (Northwestern) Commentary: Four of the nation's top six 197-pounders are in the Big Ten. Three of those wrestlers, McIntosh, Schiller, and Burak, are returning All-Americans, and the other is the top-seeded Snyder. The Buckeye freshman dropped a match to Kyven Gadson of Iowa State at the Southern Scuffle and took a loss to Burak, but otherwise has been perfect this season. McIntosh comes in with a 24-2 record, with his losses coming to No. 1 J'den Cox of Missouri and Snyder. Schiller has lost to both Snyder and McIntosh, but notched a win over Burak. Michigan's Huntley has been competitive with the top four and will be looking to play the role of spoiler. 133 at Big Ten Championships Ranked wrestlers (11): No. 1 Chris Dardanes (Minnesota), No. 3 Ryan Taylor (Wisconsin), No. 6 Jimmy Gulibon (Penn State), No. 7 Cory Clark (Iowa), No. 8 Zane Richards (Illinois), No. 9 Rossi Bruno (Michigan), No. 11 Johnni DiJulius (Ohio State), No. 12 Danny Sabatello (Purdue), No. 15 Eric Montoya (Nebraska), No. 17 Scott DelVecchio (Rutgers) and No. 19 Dominick Malone (Northwestern) Commentary: No conference tournament weight class has more ranked wrestlers (11) than 133 pounds in the Big Ten. Undefeated Chris Dardanes of Minnesota enters as the favorite, but he's far from a sure thing to finish on top of the heap in this deep weight class. Wisconsin's Taylor might be the hottest wrestler in the Big Ten, and arguably the country. His last loss came to Edinboro's A.J. Schopp at the Midlands. Taylor went 9-0 in Big Ten competition, with all nine of those wins being bonus-point victories. Gulibon, Clark, Richards, Bruno, DiJulius and Sabatello have all registered big wins this season, but have not shown the consistency of Dardanes and Taylor. Other Championships Virginia's Blaise Butler defeated Minnesota's Logan Storley (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)174 at ACC Championships Ranked wrestlers (3): No. 6 Blaise Butler (Virginia), No. 7 Zach Epperly (Virginia Tech) and No. 8 Tyler Wilps (Pitt) Commentary: While many of the elite 174-pounders come from the Big Ten, the ACC has three strong All-American candidates in Butler, Epperly and Wilps. Butler defeated Minnesota's Storley at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, and Epperly topped Penn State's Brown in a dual meet. Wilps, a returning All-American, is pre-seeded No. 1 and has a win over Butler, but took a loss to Epperly. Butler and Epperly will likely battle in the ACC semifinals, with the winner getting Wilps in the finals. Butler is 2-0 against Epperly this season, with both meetings ending with a 3-2 score. 184 at EIWA Championships Ranked wrestlers (3): No. 1 Gabe Dean (Cornell), No. 3 Nathaniel Brown (Lehigh) and No. 7 Lorenzo Thomas (Penn) Commentary: This weight class includes three of the nation's top 184-pounders, including No. 1-ranked Dean. The Cornell sophomore had a disappointing performance this season in Las Vegas, where he dropped two matches, but otherwise has looked like the man to beat all season long. Brown, who will be wrestling at home this weekend, has only lost this season to the No. 1 and No. 2-ranked wrestlers in the nation, Dean (twice) and Pitt's Max Thomusseit (twice). Thomas, a returning All-American, enters this weekend with a 22-4 record, but recently took a surprise loss to Princeton's Brett Harner, which dropped the Penn All-American to the fourth seed and places him one same side of the EIWA bracket as Dean. This weight class also includes returning All-American Ophir Bernstein, who comes into this weekend's competition with a 25-12 record. 133 at Big 12 Championships Ranked wrestlers (2): No. 4 Earl Hall (Iowa State) and No. 5 Cody Brewer (Oklahoma) Commentary: Hall and Brewer are both All-Americans and are expected to meet for the second time this season this weekend. Hall pinned Brewer in the first period in a dual meet held in Norman earlier this season. It was Brewer's second match back from injury and remains his only loss on the season. Hall, a 125-pounder last season, enters this weekend with a 24-5 record, while Brewer is 15-1. Alex Dieringer is undefeated and looking for his second straight NCAA title (Photo/Jim Bowen)165 at Big 12 Championships Ranked wrestlers (2): No. 1 Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) and No. 2 Michael Moreno (Iowa State) Commentary: While the Big 12 brackets are small (four wrestlers), the 165-pound bracket will likely feature a No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown. The top-ranked Dieringer is a perfect 26-0 this season and in the discussion for InterMat Wrestler of the Year. Of his 26 wins, 23 have been bonus-point victories, including the last 11. Dieringer earned a 13-3 major decision over the two-time All-American Moreno on Jan. 25 in a dual meet in Ames. Moreno will be on his home mat again this weekend at the Big 12 Championships. 125 at West Regional/WWC Ranked wrestlers (4): No. 12 Tyler Cox (Wyoming), No. 14 Josh Martinez (Air Force), No. 15 Chasen Tolbert (Utah Valley) and No. 16 Josh Rodriguez (North Dakota State) Commentary: This weight class earned five NCAA tournament allocations. It's conceivable that the WWC could have four seeded wrestlers at 125 pounds in St. Louis later this month. Cox, Martinez, Tolbert and Rodriguez have put together similar productive seasons and all four will be in the hunt to win the conference title this weekend in Fargo. Rodriguez was pre-seeded No. 1, but has lost two of his last three matches. However, Rodriguez does have wins this season over both Cox and Martinez. Cox, an All-American, has beaten Tolbert and Nebraska's Tim Lambert twice. Martinez, a sixth seed at the NCAAs last season, is 19-3 this season, with losses to Cornell's Nahshon Garrett, Ohio State's Nathan Tomasello and Rodriguez. Tolbert has a recent win over Rodriguez, but has lost to both Martinez and Cox. Another wrestler to keep an eye on in this weight class is Northern Colorado's Trey Andrews. Andrews has a record of 18-9 and was ranked earlier this season.

The 2015 Big Ten Wrestling Championships are set for this Saturday and Sunday, March 7-8, at St. John Arena on the campus of Ohio State University. The event gets underway at 10 a.m. ET on Saturday, with the preliminary, quarterfinal, semifinal and wrestleback matches taking place in Session I and II. Consolation semifinals and seventh-place matches get underway at 1 p.m. on Sunday, while first-, third- and fifth-place matches begin at 3 p.m. BTN will provide live streaming coverage of Sessions I, II and III, while the championship rounds will be carried live on the network. Penn State enters the championships looking for its fifth-straight Big Ten title, after earning crowns in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. Last season, Penn State earned 140.5 team points, followed by Iowa and Minnesota with 135 and 118.5 points, respectively. Iowa leads all Big Ten schools with 34 team titles and 195 individual crowns. Five wrestlers that took home Big Ten titles last season return to this year’s championships, with Illinois’ Jesse Delgado (125), Ohio State’s Logan Stieber (141), Northwestern’s Jason Tsirtsis (149) and Nebraska’s James Green (157) and Robert Kokesh (174) each earning crowns at last year’s event. Six schools boast at least one top-seeded wrestler, with Iowa and Ohio State leading the way with three each. For Iowa, 125-pounder Thomas Gilman, 149-pounder Brandon Sorensen and 184-pounder Sam Brooks earned top billing in their weight classes, while Ohio State’s Logan Stieber (141), Bo Jordan (165) and Kyle Snyder (197) enter the championships as the top seed. The Illini’s Isaiah Martinez (157), Gophers’ Chris Dardanes (133), Huskers’ Robert Kokesh (174) and Badgers’ Connor Medbery (285) round out the group of top-ranked grapplers. Ten Big Ten teams enter the championships ranked in the USA Today/NWCA/AWN Division I Coaches Poll, with conference squads claiming three of the top five spots. Iowa leads the way at No. 2, followed by No. 4 Minnesota, No. 5 Ohio State, No. 7 Penn State, No. 11 Nebraska, No. 12 Illinois, No. 14 Michigan, No. 15 Wisconsin, No. 21 Rutgers and No. 23 Purdue. CHAMPIONSHIPS INFORMATION Date: March 7-8, 2015 Site: Ohio State University St. John Arena SCHEDULE OF EVENTS (ET) Saturday, March 7 9 a.m. - Doors open to the public 10 a.m. - Session I begins (first round, quarterfinals) Fans clear arena at conclusion of Session I 5 p.m. - Doors open to the public 6 p.m. - Session II begins (semifinals, wrestlebacks) Sunday, March 8 Noon - Doors open to the public 1 p.m. - Session III begins (consolation semifinals, seventh-place matches) 3 p.m. - Session IV begins (first-, third-, fifth-place matches) TELEVISION COVERAGE All four sessions will be broadcast live on BTN or streamed online. Sessions I, II and III wil be streamed on BTN Plus, while the championship, third-, and fifth-place matches will air live on BTN at 3 p.m. on Sunday. TICKET INFORMATION Ticket Information: All-Session Tickets - Reserved Seating, $40 All-Session Tickets - Adult General Admission, $36 All-Session Tickets - Youth General Admission, $24 Sessions 1 & 2 - Reserved Seating, $18 Sessions 1 & 2 - Adult General Admission, $15 Sessions 1 & 2 - Student General Admission, $12 Sessions 3 & 4 - Reserved Seating, $22 Sessions 3 & 4 - Adult General Admission, $18 Sessions 3 & 4 - Student General Admission, $15

TOPEKA, Kan. -- The 58th annual NAIA Wrestling National Championships, presented by Blue Chip Wrestling, open action Friday at the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka, Kan. The two-day, four-session event brings 211 wrestlers to the Sunflower state. Championship bouts are scheduled to start at 7 p.m. CST on Saturday. Official brackets for the 10 weight classes will be announced Thursday by 9 p.m. Saturday's championship bouts will be video-streamed live on www.NAIANetwork.com, the NAIA's official video-streaming platform, powered by Stretch Internet. For more information, including registration information, click here. Automatic individual qualification for the 2015 NAIA Wrestling National Championships was achieved by a top four finish at one of the Qualifying Group Tournaments. At-large selections were determined by the total number of participants entered into all qualifying groups. A percentage of the total participants per qualifying group was established by dividing the number of entries per grouping by the overall total to ensure that the 50 at-large places were allocated appropriately across the four groups. At the conclusion of the national qualifiers, there was a selection committee meeting to determine the at-large bids for each group. The NAIA's National Administrative Council Executive Committee voted to expand the field by one individual, for one-year, following an appeal from the NAIA-Wrestling Coaches Association. Grand View enters the championship searching for a fourth-straight national title. If the Vikings claim the banner, they will join former member Central State (Okla.) (1984 – 1987) as the only programs in NAIA history to win four in-a-row. Grand View won the Central Qualifier for the fifth-consecutive season with 218 points -- 93 points more than second-place Missouri Valley. The Vikings bring one of the largest teams to Topeka with 12 individuals, including three ranked atop their respective weight class in the final regular season edition of the NAIA Wrestling Coaches' Top 20 Poll – Ryak Finch (125), Brandon Wright (141) and Dallas Houchins (157). In addition to Grand View, four other programs had double-digit individuals qualify -- Concordia (Neb.) (10), Great Falls (Mont.) (12), Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) (10) and Southern Oregon (11). Individually, six grapplers among the 40 returning All-Americans come to the capital city looking to defend their 2014 title – Finch, Bryce Shoemaker (133) of Baker (Kan.), Wright, Jake Williams (149) of Cumberland (Tenn.), Joe Cozart (157) of Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) and Brock Gutches (174) of Southern Oregon. Gutches (27-3) is looking to become one of the most successful wrestlers in NAIA history. The 174 pounder is a three-time defending national champion and with a title this season will earn four championships, which has only been done six times previously. The most recent individual to win fourth-straight was Turk Lords of Montana State-Northern (1998-2001). Outside of Gutches, one could argue that Finch (19-0) at 125 pounds has been one of the most dominant grapplers among all 10 weight classes. The senior from Reading, Ariz., has not lost a match since joining the Grand View wrestling program at the start of the 2013-14 season – a run of 48-straight. In the event's 58-year history, 110 institutions have had an individual finish atop the podium. Former NAIA member Simon Fraser (B.C.) boasts the most individual champions with 40, while Southern Oregon is second with 33, followed by Montana State-Northern with 30. There have been 19 programs to previously take home the team title. Former NAIA members Adams State (Colo.) and Central State (Okla.) each took home eight, the most in 58 years. Of the current NAIA programs, Montana State-Northern leads the way with six national championships, with the last coming in 2004. Twenty-three of the 44 teams in the 2015 national championships have never had an individual earn an individual championship. Topeka is hosting the national championships for the second-consecutive year. Overall, the event has traveled to 19 states and 35 different host sites. Tickets to the NAIA Wrestling National Championships can be purchased at the Kansas Expocentre box office or online at Ticketmaster.com.

Rider University’s Alumni Gymnasium will be the site of the 40th Annual Eastern Wrestling League Championship Tournament Saturday, March 7. The EWL Tournament gets underway at 10am Saturday with the Quarterfinals. The First Round of Consolations are 1pm. The Semifinals at 3pm. The Second Round of Consolations are 5pm. The Finals are 7:30pm. The doors to Alumni Gym open at 9am. Tickets can be purchased at the door or through TicketLeap using the link here: https://riderathletics.ticketleap.com/ewl-championship-tournament/dates/Mar-07-2015_at_0900AM Below are the pre-seeds for the EWL Championships at Rider Univerity as determined by the pre seed committee. We will finalize the seeds Friday night at the coaches meeting.

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Host Pitt and regular season ACC Champion Virginia Tech both garnered three of the No. 1 seeds for the 2015 Atlantic Coast Conference Wrestling Tournament, which will be held this Sunday at the Petersen Events Center on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pa. The seeds were determined by a vote of the six ACC head coaches. The brackets and seedings are subject to change until 5:30 p.m. on Saturday. Pitt Panthers who earned top seeds included sophomore Mikey Racciato (Pen Argyl, Pa.) at 149 pounds, and senior Tyler Wilps (Oakdale, Pa.) at 174 pounds and Max Thomusseit (St. Paris, Ohio) at 184 pounds. Virginia Tech, also the defending ACC Wrestling Champion, saw sophomore Joey Dance (Christiansburg, Va.) at 125 pounds, senior Devin Carter (Christiansburg, Va.) at 141 pounds and junior Nick Brascetta (St. Paris, Ohio) at 157 pounds earn No. 1 seeds. Also earning top seeds in their weight classes were Virginia sophomore George DiCamillo (Highland Heights, Ohio) at 133 pounds, North Carolina freshman Ethan Ramos (Hawthorne, N.J.) at 165, Duke junior Conner Hartmann (Port Orchard, Wash.) at 197 and NC State junior Nick Gwiazdowski (Delanson, N.Y.) at 285 pounds. Carter, Wilps, Hartmann and Gwiazdowski are looking to defend their ACC titles they won last year when the Championship was held in Blacksburg, Va. Gwiazdowski, who is also the defending national champion, enters this year’s Championship having won 48 consecutive matches. The 2015 ACC Wrestling Championship Seeds: 125: 1. Joey Dance, Virginia Tech 2. Joe DeAngelo, NC State 3. Nick Herrman, Virginia 4. Dom Forys, Pitt 5. Thayer Atkins, Duke 6. Cody Karns, North Carolina 133: 1. George DiCamillo, Virginia 2. Trey Heilmann, North Carolina 3. Kevin Norstrem, Virginia Tech 4. Bryce Meredith, NC State 5. Nick Zanetta, Pitt 6. Mitch Finesilver, Duke 141: 1. Devin Carter, Virginia Tech 2. Joey Ward, North Carolina 3. Kevin Jack, NC State 4. Joe Spisak, Virginia 5. Evan Botwin, Duke 6. Ben Ross, Pitt 149: 1. Mikey Racciato, Pitt 2. Sal Mastriani, Virginia Tech 3. Christian Barber, North Carolina 4. Marcus Cain, Duke 5. Beau Donahue, NC State 6. T.J. Miller, Virginia 157: 1. Nick Brascetta, Virginia Tech 2. Immanuel Kerr-Brown, Duke 3. Andrew Atkinson, Virginia 4. Ronnie Garbinsky, Pitt 5. Chris Mears, North Carolina 6. Chad Pyke, NC State 165: 1. Ethan Ramos, North Carolina 2. Nick Sulver, Virginia 3. Chad Strube, Virginia Tech 4. Jake Faust, Duke 5. Max Rohskopf, NC State 6. Troy Reaghard, Pitt 174: 1. Tyler Wilps, Pitt 2. Blaise Butler, Virginia 3. Zach Epperly, Virginia Tech 4. John Michael Staudenmayer, North Carolina 5. Pete Renda, NC State 6. Trey Adamson, Duke 184: 1. Max Thomusseit, Pitt 2. Jacob Kasper, Duke 3. Nicky Hall, NC State 4. Tyler Askey, Virginia 5. Scott Marmoll, North Carolina 6. Tae Leary, Virginia Tech 197: 1. Conner Hartmann, Duke 2. Zach Nye, Virginia 3. Jared Haught, Virginia Tech 4. Michael Boykin, NC State 5. Chip Ness, North Carolina 6. Nick Bonaccorsi, Pitt 285: 1. Nick Gwaizdowski, NC State 2. Ty Walz, Virginia Tech 3. Ryan Solomon, Pitt 4. Patrick Gillen, Virginia 5. Frank Abbondanza, North Carolina 6. Brendan Walsh, Duke Tickets for the one day championship are on sale now. Admission to the Petersen Events Center is $10 for adults and $5 for both youth 12-and-under and senior citizens. All tickets are general admission and can be purchased online, calling 800-643-PITT (7488), or visiting the Panthers Ticket Office located in the lobby of the Petersen Events Center. Tickets will also be available at the door on the day of the event. The ACC Wrestling Championship begins at 11 a.m. and the gates will open at 10 a.m.

This coming weekend and the past weekend are going to be the heaviest in terms of quality and quantity of state tournaments during the 2014-15 wrestling season. Thirteen "states" held their tournaments last weekend, with seven slated to be completed this weekend. Those on the docket for this weekend include: Michigan and Pennsylvania (Thursday through Saturday) California, Hawaii, Maryland, and New England Regional (Friday and Saturday) New Jersey (Friday through Sunday) Also on the schedule this weekend is the Wisconsin dual meet tournament on Friday and Saturday. The highlights of last weekend start in the upper reaches of the Fab 50 national team rankings. Oak Park River Forest makes last statement for No. 1 position Current holders of the top ranking, Oak Park River Forest closed out their season with the Class 3A state dual meet title to cement an undefeated dual meet season. They beat another pair of nationally ranked teams on Saturday, 46-18 over No. 32 Marmion Academy in the quarterfinal and 39-16 over No. 19 Carl Sandburg in the final. In between the Huskies upended Lockport by a score of 51-21. On the day, they went 29-13 over the individual matchups, while wrestling some reserves over the course of the dual meets. The other dual meet involving ranked teams came in the semifinal round, when Carl Sandburg beat No. 22 Glenbard North 34-24. Carl Sandburg won nine of the first 12 weight classes, before taking indifference forfeits with the match out of reach. The Eagles won all five matches decided by two points or less, which was the difference in the dual meet. Over the course of the 2014-15 season, Oak Park River Forest went 8-0 in dual meets against teams presently in the Fab50 rankings. Blair Academy regains National Prep title, avenges dual meet defeat After being unseated as National Prep champions last seasons, Blair Academy (N.J.) outlasted Wyoming Seminary (Pa.) to regain the crown this past weekend at Lehigh University. Led by eight finalists, including four champions, the Buccaneers scored 283 points to the 269.5 earned by the Blue Knights. Winning National Prep titles for Blair Academy were No. 12 Chaz Tucker (132), No. 2 Matthew Kolodzik (138), No. 3 Jordan Kutler (152), and No. 8 David Showunmi (220); runners-up included No. 18 Zach Sherman (113), Requir van der Merwe (120), No. 9 Brandon Dallavia (160), and No. 14 Chase Singletary (182). Despite not winning the tournament, the Blue Knights had a tournament-high five champions: Will Moss (106), No. 6 Jack Mueller (120), No. 8 Chris Weiler (160), No. 7 Nick Reenan (170), and Mike Rogers (285). However, they just had one other finalist, that being Trent Olson (126). Each team had 12 overall placers. As a result, the two teams flip positions in the Fab50 national rankings; Blair Academy is now ranked No. 3, while Wyoming Seminary drops back to No. 4 in the country. Nation's best state tournament features multiple ranked wrestler showdowns Tomorrow afternoon in Hershey, the Pennsylvania Class 3A state tournament will commence. It is unequivocally the single best state tournament classification in the nation, both in terms of top end talent and quality depth. The finals in this event will be held Saturday evening. Six weight classes feature two or more nationally ranked wrestlers, including four of the top eleven at 152 pounds, and three of the top nine at 152 pounds. All but one weight class (106 pounds) will feature at least one nationally ranked wrestler in the field, while four of the nation's top ranked wrestlers in their respective weight class are present in this field. The following is an overview of the brackets with multiple nationally ranked wrestlers 113: Returning state champion Devin Brown (Franklin Regional) is ranked No. 6 nationally; however, he has drawn into the "champ-champ" quarterfinal against No. 20 Austin DeSanto (Exeter). Since there are five regionals that qualify four wrestlers each in Class 3A, one quarter of the draw has two regional champions present. Whomever wins that quarterfinal most likely will face returning state runner-up Dan Moran (Northampton) in the semifinal. 132: No. 3 Luke Pletcher (Greater Latrobe) and No. 5 A.C. Headlee (Waynesburg) are looking at a likely rematch of this past weekend's WPIAL final on Saturday night. The junior Pletcher has already won a pair of state titles, and saw his close to 110 match winning streak come to an end this past weekend, losing 1-1 to Headlee in an ultimate tiebreaker rideout; prior to that, Pletcher's last losses came in the second weekend of high school career (he was competing at 113, when he would go onto win the 106 pound state title that year). Headlee's lone loss this season is to Class 2A favorite George Phillippi, an opponent that Pletcher has beaten twice this season. 138: Another pair of WPIAL wrestlers, No. 1 Sam Krivus (Hempfield) and No. 5 Cameron Coy (Penn Trafford) are looking at a Saturday night collision. Krivus won state two years ago, and is 5-0 vs. returning state champion Coy this season (6-0 for his career). The last four meets between the future University of Virginia teammates -- Krivus has signed with the Cavaliers, while the sophomore Coy has already given them a verbal commit -- have been decided by a single point (including 2-1 and 4-3 meetings the last two weeks). 145: Four nationally ranked wrestlers are present here, but are confined to the upper and lower quarter-brackets of the draw. Three-time state runner-up Michael Kemerer (Franklin Regional) is ranked No. 1 in the nation, but is in the "champ-champ" quarter drawn with No. 5 Hayden Hidlay (Mifflin County); the wrestlers met in the Powerade final, a match that Kemerer won by 5-2 decision. In the bottom quarter, it is No. 4 Patrick Duggan (Cumberland Valley) in quest of his first state finals berth and No. 11 Jared Verkleeren (Belle Vernon); Verkleeren was pinned in the WPIAL final this past weekend by Kemerer. 152: Returning state champion Vincenzo Joseph (Pittsburgh Central Catholic) is ranked No. 2 in the nation, and has drawn the "champ-champ" quarter, with a fellow nationally ranked wrestler -- No. 9 Kaleb Young (Punxsatawney) -- in the other quarter bracket of the upper half. No. 7 Josh Maruca (Franklin Regional), who lost by 15-5 major decision to Joseph in the WPIAL final, should be theoretically clear in the lower half bracket -- though Michael Labriola (Bethlehem Catholic) is a possible semifinal opponent. 285: No. 17 Bo Spiller (Solanco) drew the "champ-champ" quarter, with fellow returning state placer Ryan Monk (Dallas) awaiting as a potential semifinal match. In the other half of the draw, it is No. 7 Andrew Dunn (Bethlehem Catholic) by his relative lonesome. New Jersey with some pretty robust competition of its own The single class New Jersey state tournament, to be held Friday through Sunday at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, has half of the weight classes with multiple nationally ranked wrestlers. In all, there are 10 weight classes with at least one nationally ranked wrestler, for a total of 18 competitors in all. The following is an analysis of the weight classes with multiple ranked wrestlers: 106: Returning state placer Jonathan Tropea (St. Joseph Montvale) is ranked No. 7 in the nation. However, his draw is not exactly kind, as a quarterfinal bout against Patrick Glory (Delbarton) -- ranked No. 16 nationally -- is looming. The third ranked wrestler in this weight class is undefeated freshman Quinn Kinner (Kingsway Regional), ranked No. 11 nationally, and he is looking at a possible semifinal against Super 32 placer Shane Metzler (West Morris Central). 113: Both nationally ranked wrestlers are in the lower half bracket, with a likely semifinal meeting looming; No. 12 Sebastian Rivera (Christian Brothers) placed fifth at state, while No. 13 Brandon Cray (Hamilton East) placed fourth. The upper half-bracket features a likely semifinal between returning state placers Alec Kelly (St. Peter's Prep) and Garrett O'Shea (Morris Knolls). 120: Two defending state champions are present in this weight class. However, one is the freak of nature Nick Suriano (Bergen Catholic), ranked second nationally and undefeated for his career headed into his junior year state tournament. The other is No. 17 Ty Agaisse (Delbarton), who is pretty good in his own right, but the fellow junior is a level below Suriano. 126: Two-time state champion Anthony Cefolo (Hanover Park) is ranked No. 5 in the nation, while two-time state placer Ryan Pomrinca (North Hunterdon) is No. 13. Those two wrestlers occupy opposite half brackets of the draw. Cefolo got a rather unkind draw for a returning champ with two-time state placer, and a fellow Junior freestyle All-American, Peter Lipari (Bergen Catholic) as a likely quarterfinal opponent. This upper-half of the draw also features two-time state placer Michael Russo (Jackson Liberty) and past state placer A.J. Vindici (Randolph). The lower half-bracket has Pomrinca slated for a likely quarterfinal against past state placer Matthew Noble (DePaul Catholic), with returning state runner-up Patrick D'Arcy (Holy Spirit) as a possible semifinal opponent. 132: Two-time state champion Craig de la Cruz (Summit) and the undefeated Sal Profaci (Monroe) are ranked No. 16 and No. 17 in the country respectively, but both are in the top half-bracket of this state tournament weight class. Returning state placer Nick Farro (Delbarton) is in the lower half-bracket. 170: One of the tournament's more anticipated individual matchups comes in this weight class, with the likely Sunday afternoon state final showdown between No. 9 Josh Ugalde (Bound Brook) and No. 11 Brett Donner (Wall Township). Ugalde was a state runner-up last year, and placed third in the Super 32 at 160 this fall; while Donner placed third at state, and was a Super 32 runner-up in this weight class. Ugalde's road is littered with traps, including a potential second round bout with returning state placer Kyle Wojtaszek (Brick Township); and then a possible semifinal match against two-time state placer Zach Hertling (Ocean Township). Donner is in the bottom half of the draw, where the likely semifinal is against returning state placer Joe Grello (Bergen Catholic). 195: Two undefeated wrestlers are the clear anchors in this weight class, No. 4 Matthew Correnti (Holy Cross) and No. 16 Tyree Sutton (Keansburg). Correnti placed third at state last year in this weight class, and is a two-time state placer, while Sutton was sixth in this weight class. The wrestlers met in last year's consolation semifinal, which was a 3-2 win for Correnti. Broken Arrow reverses dual meet final, wins individual title over Stillwater The four events that this pair of teams competed in together this year ended up split at two-apiece. Broken Arrow won both individual bracket events, the Geary Invitational and this past weekend's Class 6A state tournament; while Stillwater earned victories in both dual meets, one in late January and the state final two weekends ago. Broken Arrow scored 146 points on the strength of nine placers, including six finalists and four state champions: No. 11 Markus Simmons (126), Paden Bailey (152), Christian Kaser (160), and Steven Allen (195). Runner-up finishes came from No. 6 Davion Jeffries (138) and Skyler Haynes (182), Isaiah Page (170) placed third, while Tyler Lawley (106) and Trenton Lieurance (285) earned fourth. Stillwater was runner-up with 125 points, led by seven placers, five finalists, and three state champions. Winning titles for the Pioneers were No. 1 Kaid Brock (132), No. 5 Joe Smith (170), and Jordan Dieringer (182); runner-up finishes came from Andrew Nieman (113) and Tristan Moran (145), with Christian Bahl (160) placing third and Mason Mefford (152) finishing in fourth place. As a result, the teams flip positions in this week's Fab 50 team rankings; Broken Arrow is No. 13, while Stillwater is No. 14. Apple Valley pins their way to a perfect 10 Gable Steveson bumped up to heavyweight and earned a pin in under a minute to propel Apple Valley to its 10th straight state championship (Photo/The Guillotine)In a dual meet where half the matches ended in a pin, it was a last match pin from nationally ranked freshman Gable Steveson that won the state championship for No. 17 Apple Valley this past Thursday over No. 21 St. Michael-Albertville. Steveson bumped up to heavyweight and scored a pin in under a minute to clinch the Eagles 10th straight state title -- this one coming by a 36-30 final score. The dual meet featured six lead changes and two tie scores after the opening match. All the lead changes and one of the ties came at the end of the matches from 138-220 pounds. Halfway through the dual meet, it was 16-15 in favor of Apple Valley, after a 17-7 major decision by Brock Morgan at 145 pounds. Morgan's victory turned around the first of just two leads for St. Michael-Albertville on the evening, which came after a third period pin from Jake Allar at 138 pounds. After Morgan's victory, it was a pin from Lucas Jeske to provide the Knights with their biggest lead of the evening at 21-16. However, Andrew Walock responded with a 4-3 decision victory for Apple Valley at 160 pounds to cut the deficit down to two points. Then, it was No. 1 in the nation Mark Hall scoring a pin in 1:02 to give Apple Valley a 25-21 lead. Fellow nationally ranked wrestler Jordan Joseph countered with a pin in 2:30 to regain the lead for St. Michael-Albertville at 27-25. No. 2 in the nation Bobby Steveson countered with a technical fall midway through the third period to regain the lead for the Eagles at 30-27. A 5-2 decision victory from Jake Briggs at 220 for St. Michael-Albertville set up the winner-take-all bout at 285 pounds. Golden accomplishments in California No. 5 Clovis enters the state tournament this Friday and Saturday in Bakersfield as favorites to make it a California state tournament record fifth consecutive state title. The Cougars have qualified their full team of 14 wrestlers into the 40-man weight class brackets this weekend. Primary challengers will include No. 6 Buchanan and No. 12 Poway. The sixth-ranked Bears join the Cougars in having their full lineup present, while the Titans have 13 qualified to the state tournament. In addition to the team showdown, some of the nation's best individuals will be favored to take home weight class gold, most notably the trio of stars from St. John Bosco. Cade Olivas is rated as the nation's top overall freshman, and is No. 1 in the nation at 106 pounds; Anthony Valencia is the nation's top overall senior, and is No. 2 at 170; while Zahid Valencia is ranked No. 1 at 182. Three weight classes feature multiple nationally ranked wrestlers. The opening weight class has both Olivas and No. 4 Randon Miranda (Quartz Hill). Another pair is present at 138 pounds with No. 9 McCoy Kent (Enochs) and No. 17 Wyatt Wyckoff (Paradise); while three are present at 145 in No. 17 Ralphy Tovar (Poway), No. 19 Zander Wick (San Marino), and No. 20 Jeremy Thomas (Santiago Corona). Five other nationally ranked wrestlers populate the weight class brackets: No. 2 Justin Mejia (Clovis) at 113, No. 9 Durbin Lloren (Buchanan) at 120, No. 2 Israel Saavedra (Modesto) at 132, No. 17 Colt Doyle (Poway) at 160, and No. 17 Ritchie Brandt (Liberty-Madera).

Postseason activity, whether it is in the dual meet or individual format, has concluded in some parts of the country and continues in other parts. The following is the schedule of competition for Fab 50 teams during the upcoming week. No. 2 St. Paris Graham, Ohio -- compete in Division II district tournament at Chillicothe Southeastern on Friday and Saturday No. 5 Clovis, Calif. -- compete in state tournament on Friday and Saturday at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield No. 6 Buchanan, Calif. -- compete in state tournament on Friday and Saturday at Rabobank Arena in Baksersfield No. 7 Franklin Regional, Pa. -- compete in the Class 3A state tournament tomorrow (3/5) through Saturday at the GIANT Center in Hershey No. 10 Bethlehem Catholic, Pa. -- compete in the Class 3A state tournament tomorrow (3/5) through Saturday at the GIANT Center in Hershey No. 11 Bergen Catholic, N.J. -- compete in state tournament on Friday through Sunday at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City No. 12 Poway, Calif. -- compete in state tournament on Friday and Saturday at Rabobank Arena in Baksersfield No. 13 Stillwater, Okla. -- compete in Class 6A state tournament at State Fairgrounds Arena in Oklahoma City on Friday and Saturday No. 14 Broken Arrow, Okla. -- compete in Class 6A state tournament at State Fairgrounds Arena in Oklahoma City on Friday and Saturday No. 15 St. Edward, Ohio -- compete in Division I district tournament on Friday and Saturday at Cleveland State No. 24 Massillon Perry, Ohio -- compete in Division I district tournament on Friday and Saturday at Mentor No. 25 Lowell, Mich. -- compete in Division 2 state tournament tomorrow (3/5) through Saturday in the Palace at Auburn Hills No. 26 Brecksville, Ohio -- compete in Division I district tournament on Friday and Saturday at Mentor No. 28 Don Bosco Prep, N.J. -- compete in state tournament on Friday through Sunday at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City No. 29 Delta, Ohio -- compete in Division III district tournament at Fostoria on Friday and Saturday No. 30 Cumberland Valley, Pa. -- compete in the Class 3A state tournament tomorrow (3/5) through Saturday at the GIANT Center in Hershey No. 33 South Dade, Fla. -- compete in Class 3A regional tournament at Miami Reagan on Friday and Saturday No. 34 DePaul Catholic, N.J. -- compete in state tournament on Friday through Sunday at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City No. 35 Dayton Christian, Ohio -- compete in Division III district tournament at Hobart Arena in Troy on Friday and Saturday No. 36 Greater Latrobe, Pa. -- compete in the Class 3A state tournament tomorrow (3/5) through Saturday at the GIANT Center in Hershey No. 37 Belle Vernon, Pa. -- compete in the Class 3A state tournament tomorrow (3/5) through Saturday at the GIANT Center in Hershey No. 38 St. Peter’s Prep, N.J. -- compete in state tournament on Friday through Sunday at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City No. 40 Phillipsburg, N.J. -- compete in state tournament on Friday through Sunday at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City No. 41 Elyria, Ohio -- compete in Division I district tournament at Cleveland State on Friday and Saturday No. 42 Bound Brook, N.J. -- compete in state tournament on Friday through Sunday at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City No. 43 Kaukauna, Wis. -- compete in Division 1 state dual meet tournament on Friday and Saturday at the University of Wisconsin No. 45 Brighton, Mich. -- compete in Division 1 state tournament tomorrow (2/5) through Saturday in the Palace at Auburn Hills No. 47 Delbarton, N.J. -- compete in state tournament on Friday through Sunday at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City No. 50 Brandon, Fla. -- host Class 2A regional tournament on Friday and Saturday Season completed: No. 1 Oak Park River Forest (Ill.), No. 3 Blair Academy (N.J.), No. 4 Wyoming Seminary (Pa.), No. 8 Southeast Polk (Iowa), No. 9 Archer (Ga.), No. 13 Broken Arrow (Okla.), No. 14 Stillwater (Okla.), No. 16 Montini Catholic (Ill.), No. 17 Apple Valley (Minn.), No. 18 Neosho (Mo.), No. 19 Carl Sandburg (Ill.), No. 20 Bettendorf (Iowa), No. 21 St. Michael-Albertville (Minn.), No. 22 Glenbard North (Ill.), No. 23 Tuttle (Okla.), No. 27 Crook County (Ore.), No. 31 Mesa Mountain View (Ga.), No. 32 Marmion Academy (Ill.), No. 39 Minisink Valley (N.Y.), No. 44 Monroe Woodbury (N.Y.), No. 46 Penn (Ind.), No. 48 Colonial Forge (Va.), and No. 49 Evansville Mater Dei (Ind.)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The 2015 MAC Wrestling Championships will be held March 7-8 and hosted by the University of Missouri in Columbia, Mo. Listed below is the pre-seeding for this weekend's Championships following today's conference call with all head wrestling coaches. 125: 1. Alan Waters, Missouri 2. Dylan Peters, Northern Iowa 3. Brandon Jeske, Old Dominion 4. Derek Elmore, Northern Illinois 5. Brent Fleetwood, Central Michigan 6. Del Vinas, Kent State 7. Zak Hassan, Ohio 8. Shayne Wireman, Eastern Michigan 133: 1. Zach Synon, Missouri 2. Tyler Keselring, Central Michigan 3. Vincent Pizzuto, Eastern Michigan 4. Mack McGuire, Kent State 5. Kagan Squire, Ohio 6. Leighton Gaul, Northern Iowa 7. Michael Hayes, Old Dominion 8. Jordan Northrup, Northern Illinois 141: 1. Zach Horan, Central Michigan 2. Lavion Mayes, Missouri 3. Chris Mecate, Old Dominion 4. Tyler Small, Kent State 5. Jake Hodges, Northern Iowa 6. Tyler Argue, Northern Illinois 7. Mike Shaw, Eastern Michigan 8. Joel Shump, Ohio 149: 1. Drake Houdashelt, Missouri 2. Alexander Richardson, Old Dominion 3. Colin Heffernan, Central Michigan 4. Tywan Claxton, Ohio 5. Nick Barber, Eastern Michigan 6. Mike Depalma, Kent State 7. Gunnar Wolfensperger, Northern Iowa 8. Austin Culton, Northern Illinois 157: 1. Ian Miller, Kent State 2. Joey Lavallee, Missouri 3. Jarrett Jensen, Northern Iowa 4. Cody LeCount, Central Michigan 5. Brandon Zeerip, Eastern Michigan 6. Andrew Morse, Northern Illinois 7. Sparty Chino, Ohio 8. TC Warner, Old Dominion 165: 1. Tristan Warner, Old Dominion 2. Cooper Moore, Northern Iowa 3. Harrison Hightower, Ohio 4. Jordan Wohlfert, Central Michigan 5. Mikey England, Missouri 6. Tyler Buckwalter, Kent State 7. Shaun'Qae McMurtry, Northern Illinois 8. Devan Marry, Eastern Michigan 174: 1. Johnny Eblen, Missouri 2. Cody Walters, Ohio 3. Jordan Ellingwood, Central Michigan 4. Caleb Marsh, Kent State 5. Trace Engelkes, Northern Illinois 6. Austin Coburn, Old Dominion 7. Curt Maas, Northern Iowa 8. Kayne MacCallum, Eastern Michigan 184: 1. Willie Miklus, Missouri 2. Jack Dechow, Old Dominion 3. Jerald Spohn, Kent State 4. Andrew Romanchik, Ohio 5. Austin Severn, Central Michigan 6. Cody Caldwell, Northern Iowa 7. Quinton Rosser, Northern Illinois 8. Mike Curby, Eastern Michigan 197: 1. J'Den Cox, Missouri 2. Phil Wellington, Ohio 3. Anthony Abro, Eastern Michigan 4. Basil Minto, Northern Iowa 5. Shawn Scott, Northern Illinois 6. Kevin Beazley, Old Dominion 7. Cole Baxter, Kent State 8. Jackson Lewis, Central Michigan 285: 1. Blaize Cabell, Northern Iowa 2. Devin Mellon, Missouri 3. Mimmo Lytle, Kent State 4. Jake Henderson, Old Dominion 5. Gage Hutchison, Eastern Michigan 6. Adam Robinson, Central Michigan 7. Jesse Webb, Ohio 8. Arthur Bunce, Northern Illinois

Ten weight classes has been a fixture of NCAA college wrestling for more than 60 years, starting with the NCAA wrestling championships in 1952 ... then expanded beyond the NCAAs in 1970 to include dual meets and tournaments. In other words, ten weight classes is what most of us have always known. However, some fans have argued that it would be smart to expand to eleven weight classes ... with a number of these proponents pushing for a new weight somewhere between today's 197 and 285 pound classes -- say, 220-230 pounds -- for a number of reasons, most notably, to expand opportunities for today's larger athletes, especially football players. Conversely, other wrestling fans argue that now is not the time to add a weight class ... but, rather, slim down to nine weights at the college level. These fans say that with a number of forfeits at dual meets at 125, perhaps that lightest weight class could be eliminated, with other weight classes reconfigured to accommodate heftier wrestlers. Then again, others might argue: today's ten weight classes have been a staple of every NCAA college wrestling event for 45 years -- and for NCAA championships for nearly 65 years -- so why change now. InterMat thought now might be time to grapple with this weighty issue ... by presenting arguments for and against expanding from ten to eleven weight classes in college, as well as exploring the contrary idea of reducing to nine weights. These seemingly conflicting ideas have been a point of discussion in online wrestling forums and wherever college mat fans gather. First, let's provide some perspective, by taking a look at some historical issues that might have some implications in any discussion in reconfiguring college wrestling weight classes. Weight Class History 101 The National Collegiate Athletic Association hosted its first national college wrestling championship at Iowa State in 1928. For the first two years, the NCAA wrestling championships had just seven weight classes: 115, 125, 135, 145, 158, 175 pounds, and heavyweight (which, until the 1980s, was actually called "unlimited" with no top weight limit). In the years from 1930 to World War II, the number of weight classes at NCAA championships fluctuated between seven and eight. In the years that had eight weight classes, the rejiggering was in the middle weights, changing the 158-pound weight class down to 155, and inserting a new weight, 165, while maintaining the previous range from 115 to unlimited through the 1942 NCAAs. There were no NCAA wrestling championships from 1943 through 1945 because most college-age men were serving in the military or support functions during World War II. In the years immediately after the conclusion of the war, the NCAA continued to have eight weight classes, but made adjustments in the lower weights. The new weight-class structure: 121, 128, 136, 145, 155, 155, 165, 175 and heavyweight. In 1952, the NCAA adopted a ten-weight class structure for its national mat championships, expanding to include brackets at 115, 123, 130, 137, 147, 157, 167, 177, 191 and heavyweight. (For most other college wrestling events such as dual meets, tournaments and conference championships, there was no competition at 115 or 191 pounds.) In 1970, the NCAA tinkered with its ten weight classes to make them 118, 126, 134, 142, 150, 158, 167, 177, 190 and heavyweight ... with these now being incorporated at all college wrestling events, not just at the NCAA championships. In the past 45 years, the NCAA weight-class structure has remained fairly consistent, with two notable changes. In 1987, the NCAA changed what had been the unlimited weight class -- better known as heavyweight -- to impose a 275-pound upper limit, which was increased to 285 a decade later. In 1999, today's weight class structure was implemented, with competition at 125, 133, 141, 149, 157, 165, 177, 184, 197, and 285 pounds. Another old-school element: "Weight-shifting" These days, most college wrestling programs have a designated starter in each of the ten weight classes. Barring injury, once you've earned your role as the 141-pound starter, for example, you pretty much wrestle all your matches at that weight. However, in decades past, there wasn't that degree of stability or certainty for even the best wrestlers. Frequent wrestle-offs and coach strategizing meant that wrestlers at many programs were expected to be flexible in terms of what weight class they competed in for a given event. Weekly wrestle-offs -- called "ranking matches" at some schools -- were used to determine who would have the honor of, say, wrestling at 141 that weekend. The wrestler who lost the 141 wrestle-off then might challenge for the next weight class up or down. For schools blessed with an abundance of mat talent, this could cause its own set of problems. For instance, during the 1961 season, Oklahoma State -- arguably the pre-eminent program of that era -- had four great upper-middleweights in Bruce Campbell, Ronnie Clinton, Bob Johnson and Phil Kinyon. This quartet of Cowboys would battle it out in frequent ranking matches to determine who would be the starters during the regular season at 157, 167 and 177 pounds. Things had a way of sorting themselves out; all four earned All-American honors at the 1961 NCAAs, with Kinyon and Johnson winning titles at 157 and 177 pounds, respectively, while Campbell was runner-up at 167, and Clinton placing third at 191 (back then, a weight class only wrestled at the NCAAs). Gary KurdelmeierWhat's more, years ago, coaches were known to shake up their lineups, depending on specific needs for a particular dual meet or tournament. It was not uncommon for college wrestlers of the past to compete at various weights during the season. Here's a specific example I uncovered in researching the mat career of Gary Kurdelmeier for an InterMat profile. Kurdelmeier, 177-pound Big Ten and NCAA champ for the University of Iowa in the late 1950s who went on to become the successful head coach of the Hawkeyes in the 1970s, had only a handful of losses in college. Two of those were to Oklahoma's Dan Hodge, who was undefeated as a Sooner, pinning 80% of his opponents ... but two other losses for Kurdelmeier were to two NCAA heavyweight champs of the era -- Gordon Roesler of Oklahoma, and Illinois' Bob Norman. In those two matches, the muscular Kurdelmeier was essentially "thrown to the wolves," presumably with the thought that he would be less likely to be pinned than his upper-weight teammates who usually wrestled heavyweight ... thus possibly helping Iowa win those dual meets. Let's be clear: Kurdelmeier taking on fellow 177-pounders one week, then tussling with guys who were 40-50 pounds heavier (Roesler and Norman were "lighter" heavyweights in the 218-230-pound range) was not a situation unique to Kurdelmeier or the Iowa Hawkeyes in the late 1950s. Having wrestlers compete at various weight classes throughout the season -- or consistently wrestling in one weight class for dual meets, then competing in a completely different weight class at the NCAAs -- was fairly common at most schools for much of college wrestling history ... and it wasn't always the coach's doing. There are reports of wrestlers at tournament weigh-ins waiting to see which weight class a feared opponent would be wrestling ... then choosing a different bracket to avoid the possibility to having to meet that man on the mat. At the opposite extreme, there's the case of Larry Owings at the 1970 NCAAs. The University of Washington sophomore dropped two weight classes from what he had wrestled during the regular season, telling Chicago reporters -- and a sportscaster for ABC Wide World of Sports, which would be showing the finals on a tape-delay basis -- that he had made the move with the expectation of defeating then unbeaten Dan Gable of Iowa State. In that case, Owings' extreme weight-class change was his own decision which earned him a place in the history books for his role in what most mat historians consider to be the greatest upset in college wrestling. These issues of wrestlers changing weights during the season -- sometimes, week to week, whether because of wrestle-offs, or coach's strategy, or a wrestler's own decision to avoid or seek out a particular opponent -- have largely gone away. Rules and attitudes were upended nearly two decades ago after the deaths of three college wrestlers while taking extreme measures to make weight. Can college use high school weight classes as a model? Some individuals who are seeking an additional weight class in college cite the present weight-class structure used in high school competition as a possible model in terms of an increase in the number of weight classes ... and an increase in the actual weights which make up weight classes used in most states for wrestling in secondary schools. A quick survey of historical records in a number of states that would be considered "wrestling hotbeds" indicate a progression in number of weight classes, as well as the actual "poundage" in each weight class since most states launched state wrestling championships in the 1930s and 40s. Back then, the lightest weight class in most of the states surveyed was 95 pounds ... with a few states having an 85-pound weight class 70-80 years ago. At the top end of the scale, so to speak, the two heftiest weight classes of that era in most states were 175 pounds and what was called heavyweight ... though, for a time in Ohio, the top weight class was 186 pounds. In the era around World War II, most of the states surveyed had nine or ten weight classes contested at their state wrestling championships. In more recent times, the National Federation of State High School Associations has made some adjustments to its weight classes, presumably with the idea of providing more opportunities for student-athletes to compete in wrestling ... and to accommodate students who have grown heftier over the years. In 2002, the NFHS expanded the number of classes from 13 to today's 14 by making the 215-pound weight class mandatory. In addition, to accommodate the increasing size/weight of young people over the years, the NFHS has reconfigured its weight-class structure. For instance, in 2011, the NFHS bumped up the lightest weight class from 103 pounds to 106. The official weight classes for high school competition are now 106, 113, 120, 126, 132, 138, 145, 152, 160, 170, 182, 195, 220 and 285. According to the organization's announcement of the new weight-class structure for high schools, "Three middle weight classes -- 145, 152 and 160 -- were retained, although they are 7-8-9 in order now rather than 8-9-10. The largest weight class (285 pounds) remains unchanged as well." These changes weren't made on a whim, or gut instinct, but careful analysis, according to the 2011 NFHS announcement. "The change in weight classes resulted from a three-to-four year process utilizing data from the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Optimal Performance Calculator," said Dale Pleimann, chair of the NFHS Wrestling Rules Committee and former assistant executive director of the Missouri State High School Activities Association. "The rules committee was able to analyze data from almost 200,000 wrestlers across the country, with the goal to create weight classes that have approximately seven percent of the wrestlers in each weight class." In other words, as close as an equal number of wrestlers in each weight class. Despite analysis of the data, there appears to be plenty of anecdotal evidence that, for some high schools, there may be too many weight classes ... or, perhaps, one too many at the lighter end of the scale. Hardly a week goes by that there are reports of forfeits at high school dual meets, especially in lighter weight classes. That may be because young athletes are bigger than their fathers and grandfathers, thanks to more weight training, more effective workouts, and better nutritional guidance ... an idea borne out from weight classes being revised upwards at both the high school and collegiate level over a number of decades. How big were the big men of college wrestling? It's probably safe to say that most fans in favor of adding an eleventh weight class to college wrestling seek to add an upper weight -- somewhere between the present 197 pounds and heavyweight (285), perhaps at 220 or 230 pounds. Is there any historical evidence to back up this thinking? When the NCAA put an upper weight limit on what had been the unlimited weight class nearly thirty years ago, it would be easy to imagine that today's younger fans would assume that the heavyweight class of years past was overpopulated with mammoth-sized men. Looking at the actual weights of NCAA Division I heavyweight champs in the pre-1987 era, this does not appear to be the case. Prior to the 275/285 top weight limit, only a handful of NCAA heavyweight champs tipped the scales at more than 300 pounds; two titlewinners -- Iowa State's Chris Taylor in the early 1970s, and North Carolina State's Tab Thacker in the mid-1980s -- weighed in at more than 400 pounds. That said, there were some matches where one opponent was half the weight of his rival ... which seemed contrary to the notion of the inherit fairness of amateur wrestling in that it pits athletes of similar size and weight. In past research, this writer has uncovered the actual reported weights for NCAA D1 heavyweight champs from two different eras: 1928-1960, and those crowned since 2000. In the era prior to 1960, most titlewinners in what was then called "unlimited" were, by today's standards, not all that heavy. Actual weights of the best big men of college wrestling from 55-85 years ago ranged from 190 pounds (Indiana's Charles McDaniel, two-time heavyweight champ in the 1930s) on up to four champs who tipped the scales at 240-245 pounds. The one exception was Ohio State's George Bollas, 1946 NCAA heavyweight champ, who dwarfed most other old-school heavyweight champs. As the first supersized heavyweight, the big Buckeye Bollas, known as "The Dreadnaught" (as in "giant ship") and "The Zebra Kid" (for the stretch marks on his body), weighed 325 pounds. Fast forward to the 21st century. The heavyweight champs crowned since 2000 would appear to fall into two distinct categories. There are those who tipped the scales in the upper range of the weight class -- between 260 and 285 pounds -- including Brock Lesnar, John Lockhart, Steve Mocco, Cole Konrad, Dustin Fox, and Zach Rey ... and those who weighed in somewhat lighter, in the 220-245 pound range, including Tommy Rowlands, Mark Ellis, David Zabriskie, Tony Nelson, and Nick Gwiazdowski. Those who argue for an additional weight class between 197 and 285 could make their case by citing these names as an indicator that there's plenty of championship-quality talent at both 220 (or so) and at 285. Reasons for adding a weight class in college Fans who are in favor of increasing the number of weight classes in NCAA college wrestling from today's ten up to eleven cite various reasons. Here are some of them. Opening opportunities for more student-athletes to compete There may well be student-athletes of a certain size -- those just north of 200 pounds, but well shy of the top limit of 285 pounds -- who would want to wrestle in college, but feel they might be at a distinct disadvantage to take to the mat against opponents who may outweigh them by 50-85 pounds. This may be especially true for wrestlers who have competed at 220 in high school, and may not want to cut weight down to 197, or bulk up to be more evenly matched against the biggest of the big boys of college wrestling. Some proponents of inserting a new weight class between today's 197 and 285 cite a specific group of student-athletes who may find new opportunities for participating in college wrestling if there were a weight class at 220 pounds (or similar): football players. There may be hundreds or thousands of agile gridiron stars who would love to participate in a winter sport once football season is over ... but again feel that they can't cut down or bulk up to today's existing two top weight classes in collegiate wrestling. It's interesting to note that at least three participants at Super Bowl XLIX -- Josh Kline of the New England Patriots, and R.J. Sweezy and Justin Britt of the Seattle Seahawks -- each won a state wrestling title as heavyweights in high school, in addition to playing football. Despite their prep on-the-mat accomplishments, when they went off to college, all three hung up their headgear but held onto their football helmets, choosing not to wrestle beyond high school. Realize that each of these three high school grapplers/gridiron heroes chose colleges that offer Division I wrestling in addition to football: Kline, a graduate of Mason High School in Ohio, went to Kent State ... Britt, a Missouri state mat champ from Lebanon High, played football for the Mizzou Tigers ... and Sweezy, who wrestled at Mooresville High in North Carolina, was a member of the North Carolina State Wolfpack football team. In researching these three Super Bowl athletes for a photo-feature for the news service College Wrestling Examiner, I was not able to find out their actual high school weights ... other than a reference that Sweezy typically gave up 50 pounds on his high school mat rivals. (Today, each of these NFL stars weighs in between 295-325 pounds.) Continuing the football-and-wrestling discussion ... some who have recommended adding a new weight class in the 220-235-pound range would also seek to bump up the top weight limit for heavyweights up to 300 pounds ... opening the door for some of the truly big men of college football to consider bringing that size, athletic talent -- not to mention celebrity and name recognition as football stars -- to the wrestling mat. A matter of fairness Tab ThackerThe present situation where it's possible to have an 80-plus pound difference in weight between two wrestlers in the heavyweight class would seem to go against one of the basic tenets of wrestling: pitting two similarly-sized athletes who must rely on skill and strategy to win, not a distinct weight advantage. The days of one heavyweight tipping the scales at twice the weight of an opponent in the same weight class -- as shown in the classic early 1980s photo of 218-pound Lou Banach of Iowa tangling with 450-pound Tab Thacker of North Carolina State -- are history, thanks to installing a top weight limit. That said, it's still possible to have a sizable weight difference. (By the way, Banach pinned Thacker in the quarterfinals of the 1982 NCAAs.) This was borne out in 2010, when the NCAA did something unusual at the time: it made available the actual initial weigh-in weights for the 33 wrestlers competing in the 285-pound weight class. The NCAA reported that the actual weights ranged from 223.6 pounds for Nathan Everhart of Indiana University, all the way up to 270.4 pounds for Christian Brantley of University of Northern Iowa. That's a nearly 48-pound differential between Everhart and Brantley. (Three other wrestlers weighed in within two pounds of Brantley ... yet all weighed 15 pounds or less than the top limit of 285.) While the range between lightest and heftiest of the heavyweights at the 2010 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships was nearly 50 pounds, the difference in weight between the two heavyweight finalists in 2010 was hardly worth noting. According to the NCAA, the 2010 heavyweight champ, David Zabriskie of Iowa State, tipped the scales at 228.2 pounds, while his finals rival, Oklahoma State's Jared Rosholt, weighed in at 229.8... a mere 1 1/2-pound differential. So, in this case, the two Big 12 big men vying for the 2010 heavyweight crown were very evenly matched, weight-wise. And ... 55 pounds lighter than the top limit. Others have already added a lower-upper weight class We already mentioned that the National Federation of State High School Associations had mandated the addition of a 220-pound weight class for high school wrestling. At least one non-NCAA collegiate athletic association -- the NCWA (National Collegiate Wrestling Association) -- has added a 235-pound weight class for its member wrestling programs. One could argue that if adding a weight class at 220 or 235 has worked in high school and at least one college wrestling organization, why wouldn't it work in the three NCAA divisions? Eleven weight classes = a tidier tiebreaker These days, with ten weight classes, it's all too easy for a typical college dual meet to end with the team scores all knotted up after each team has won five matches ... thus having to rely on criteria to determine the winning team, a point of frustration for many wrestlers, coaches and fans. Some who argue for adding an eleventh weight class point out that it would be nearly impossible for a dual meet to end in a tie ... thus eliminating the need for determining a winner based on some seemingly obscure criteria. On a similar note ... some proponents of an eleventh weight class have said that, assuming there would be no change in the number of wrestlers eligible to compete at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships -- 330 -- that, with a revision, each of the eleven weight classes would have a neat-and-tidy 30 wrestlers, not 33 as today, which then requires pigtail matches and byes to even things out, so to speak. Arguments for reducing to nine weight classes Others within the wrestling community argue that some of the benefits of adding a weight class could be achieved by eliminating a weight class ... and moving from ten down to nine. For example, the tiebreaker argument would work here (though it's more of a challenge to divide 330 wrestlers at the NCAA Division I championships into nine weight classes and not come up with a remainder). One could argue that nine weight classes is a bit closer to the six weight classes in each wrestling group (Greco-Roman, men's freestyle, women's freestyle) in international competition. And, more than one person has pointed out that, in today's environment with shrinking budgets and uncertainty generated by NCAA autonomy, if anything, college wrestling programs should be looking at solutions to reduce costs and preserve their place on college sports rosters, rather than propose potentially costly expansions such as adding an eleventh weight class. At bare minimum, nine weight classes might be a more prudent use of limited resources. Or ... reconfigure today's ten weight classes Perhaps another solution might be to stick with the present ten weight-class system, but reconfigure it so that it can answer some of the issues raised by those proposing an increase to eleven weight classes. A trio of options was proposed at TheMat.com college forum. One would be to rejigger today's weight classes to add a light-heavyweight weight -- for example, 125 pounds, 133, 141, 150, 160, 172, 184, 197, 220 and heavyweight. Or, consider eliminating the 125-pound weight class, transferring it to 220 or 230. Yet another: Keep the existing weight classes, but increase the light-heavyweight weight class from 197 up to 220. A weighty matter, worth careful consideration Any proposal to take a new look at the existing weight-class structure in NCAA college wrestling -- whether to add an eleventh weight class, reduce to nine, or reconfigure the existing ten weight classes -- is worth considering ... and should not be immediately dismissed with a "we've done it this way for decades, why change now?" That said, any decision to make revisions must be thoroughly researched and based on analytical analysis (as it appears to have been done when the NFHS added a fourteenth weight class earlier this decade), and that all segments of the wrestling community -- athletes, coaches, fans and officials -- be involved in the discussion.

ROSEMONT, Ill. -- The Big Ten Conference announced the preliminary seeds for the 2015 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, which are set for March 7-8 at Ohio State. Six schools boast at least one top-seeded wrestler, with Iowa and Ohio State leading the way with three each. Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio State and Penn State will bring a seeded wrestler in each of the 10 weight classes, while Illinois, Northwestern, Purdue, Rutgers and Wisconsin each boast a seeded grappler in nine classes. The pre-seeds, as voted on by the conference’s coaches, rank the top eight wrestlers in two weight classes, along with all 14 starters in eight weight classes due to the Big Ten receiving eight or more NCAA Championships qualifier allocations in those classes. Iowa holds three No. 1 seeds, with 125-pounder Thomas Gilman, 149-pounder Brandon Sorensen and 184-pounder Sam Brooks earning top billing in their weight classes. Ohio State boasts three top-seeded grapplers in Logan Stieber (141), Bo Jordan (165) and Kyle Snyder (197). The Illini’s Isaiah Martinez (157), Gophers’ Chris Dardanes (133), Huskers’ Robert Kokesh (174) and Badgers’ Connor Medbery (285) round out the group of top-ranked grapplers. Two of this year’s top seeds claimed titles at last year’s Big Ten Championships, with Kokesh (174) and Stieber (141) earning conference crowns last season. This season, four freshmen earned No. 1 seeds entering the championships, including Martinez, Sorensen, Jordan and Snyder. For more information on the 2015 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, visit the Big Ten Championships Central page on Ohio State’s website HERE. The complete list of Big Ten Championships pre-seeds can be found below. 125: 1. Thomas Gilman, IOWA 2. Jesse Delgado, ILL 3. Nathan Tomasello, OSU 4. Tim Lambert, NEB 5. Jordan Conaway, PSU 6. Conor Youtsey, MICH 7. Garrison White, NU 8. Luke Welch, PUR 133: 1. Chris Dardanes, MINN 2. Ryan Taylor, WIS 3. Jimmy Gulibon, PSU 4. Johnni DiJulius, OSU 5. Cory Clark, IOWA 6. Zane Richards, ILL 7. Danny Sabatello, PUR 8. Rossi Bruno, MICH 9. Eric Montoya, NEB 10. Scott Delvecchio, RU 11. Geoff Alexander, MD 12. Dom Malone, NU 13. Garth Yenter, MSU 14. Alonzo Shepherd, IND 141: 1. Logan Stieber, OSU 2. Nick Dardanes, MINN 3. Anthony Abidin, NEB 4. Steven Rodrigues, ILL 5. Anthony Ashnault, RU 6. Josh Dziewa, IOWA 7. Jameson Oster, NU 8. Nick Lawrence, PUR 9. Kade Moss, PSU 10. George Fisher, MICH 11. Javier Gasca III, MSU 12. Shyhiem Brown, MD 13. Jessie Thielke, WIS 14. Sean Brown, IND 149: 1. Brandon Sorensen, IOWA 2. Jason Tsirtsis, NU 3. Hunter Stieber, OSU 4. Ken Theobold, RU 5. Alec Pantaleo, MICH 6. Zack Beitz, PSU 7. Justin Arthur, NEB 8. Rylan Lubeck, WIS 157: 1. Isaiah Martinez, ILL 2. Dylan Ness, MINN 3. James Green, NEB 4. Brian Murphy, MICH 5. Doug Welch, PUR 6. Josh Demas, OSU 7. Mike Kelly, IOWA 8. Anthony Perrotti, RU 9. Luke Frey, PSU 10. Louis Mascola, MD 11. Luke Blanton, IND 12. TJ Ruschell, WIS 13. Ben Sullivan, NU 14. Travis Curley, MSU 165: 1. Bo Jordan, OSU 2. Isaac Jordan, WIS 3. Taylor Walsh, IND 4. Pierce Harger, NU 5. Jackson Morse, ILL 6. Garett Hammond, PSU 7. Nick Moore, IOWA 8. Nick Wanzek, MINN 9. Austin Wilson, NEB 10. Pat Robinson, PUR 11. Nick Visicaro, RU 12. Garrett Sutton, MICH 13. Roger Wildmo, MSU 14. Justin Alexander, MD 174: 1. Robert Kokesh, NEB 2. Matt Brown, PSU 3. Mike Evans, IOWA 4. Logan Storley, MINN 5. Zach Brunson, ILL 6. Mark Martin, OSU 7. Chad Welch, PUR 8. Frank Cousins, WIS 9. Taylor Massa, MICH 10. Nathan Jackson, IND 11. Josh Snook, MD 12.Phil Bakuckas, RU 13. Nick Proctor, MSU 184: 1. Sam Brooks, IOWA 2. Dom Abounader, MICH 3. Ricky Robertson, WIS 4. Brett Pfarr, MINN 5. Kenny Courts, OSU 6. TJ Dudley, NEB 7. Nikko Reyes, ILL 8. Matt McCutcheon, PSU 9. John Rizqallah, MSU 10. Patrick Kissel, PUR 11. Anthony Pafumi, RU 12. Mitch Sliga, NU 13. Matt Irick, IND 14. Tony Gardner, MD 197: 1. Kyle Snyder, OSU 2. Morgan McIntosh, PSU 3. Scott Schiller, MINN 4. Nathan Burak, IOWA 5. Aaron Studebaker, NEB 6. Max Huntley, MICH 7. Alex Polizzi, NU 8. Timmy McCall, WIS 9. Braden Atwood, PUR 10. Nick McDiarmid, MSU 11. Jeff Koepke, ILL 12. Hayden Hrymack, RU 13. Rob Fitzgerald, MD 14. Luke Sheridan, IND 285: 1. Connor Medbery, WIS 2. Adam Coon, MICH 3. Mike McMullan, NU 4. Bobby Telford, IOWA 5. Jimmy Lawson, PSU 6. Michael Kroells, MINN 7. Spencer Myers, MD 8. Billy Smith, RU 9. Nick Tavanello, OSU 10. Brooks Black, ILL 11. Collin Jensen, NEB 12. Chris Nash, MSU 13. Garret Goldman, IND 14. Gelen Robinson, PUR

DES MOINES -- NIACC's Nosomy Pozo and Yoanse Mejias made history Saturday night. Pozo and Mejias both claimed their second NJCAA national titles to become the second and third two-time national champions in school history. Pozo (31-6) and Mejias (34-4) join Joe Hatchett, who won 190-pound titles in 1970 and 1971. Mejias accumulated a record of 69-6 at NIACC and Pozo was 56-9. NIACC placed third in the team standings with 113 points. Iowa Central was the national champion with 158.5 points and Clackamas was second with 131.5 points. It is the highest finish for the Trojans since they won the national title in 1973. NIACC coach Steve Kelly's previous highest finish was a 10th place finish a year ago. Pozo pinned Iowa Western's Oscar Ramirez in 6 minutes, 44 seconds to claim the 149-pound national title. It was the second win this season for Pozo over Ramirez. Pozo gained a 17-1 technical fall over Ramirez in a dual meet in Mason City on Jan. 17. Mejias edged Clackamas' Eleazor DeLuca 4-3 in the 157-pound final. Mejias trailed 3-2 and recorded a takedown with eight seconds left in the match. The Clackamas coaches challenged the call and after looking at the video the takedown was given to Mejias. Mejias rode out DeLuca for the final eight seconds to claim his second straight title. Mejias and DeLuca split two matches in the 2013-14 season. DeLuca beat Mejias 4-1 at the 2014 national duals and Mejias stopped DeLuca 7-4 in the 2014 national semifinals. In the 141-pound final, NIACC's Jake Marlin (25-6) dropped a 5-3 decision to Iowa Central's Jason Alfau. Marlin and Alfau split their first two matches this season. Alfau topped Marlin 11-9 in a dual meet on Jan. 30 and Marlin beat Alfau 10-5 in the North Central district title match.

WEST LIBERTY, W.Va -- The 2015 NCAA Wrestling Super Region 1 Championships brought together the top wrestlers in the Division II East Region, and when all the dust had settled after two days of action, NDC was on top of the competition. The Falcons finished first at the Super Region 1 Championships with a combined team score of 133 points, beating Mercyhurst (126 points) and Kutztown (92.5) to take the East Region title. This marks the third straight year that the Falcons have been crowned East Region Champions. With their success at the Super Region 1 Championships, nine different Falcons earned berths to the upcoming NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships in St. Louis, Missouri on March 13-14. In order to qualify for the National Tournament, you must finish in the top four of your region. The Falcons had eight wrestlers place in the top four of their bracket, thus earning eight automatic bids. However, Garrett Linton (197 pounds) also earned a berth to Nationals as an alternate, in case of sickness or injury to one of the qualifying wrestlers. Furthermore, Joey Davis, who won the 174 pound bracket by going 4-0, was named Most Valuable Wrestler of the entire tournament. "It was a really good day for us," said head coach Frank Romano. "Everyone fought as hard as they could, everyone battled, everyone contributed and scored team points. It was a total team effort. Now we have to prepare for the National Tournament."

The No. 2 ranked Maryville wrestling team defeated a loaded field to claim the team title at the NCAA Super Region 3 in Mankato, Minn. The Saints amassed 114 team points to edge top-ranked St. Cloud State's total of 109 points. Maryville had one champion, eight placers and advanced seven wrestlers to the national championship March 13-14 to be hosted by the Saints at Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis. "It was an outstanding performance by our team to win the toughest Super Regional in the nation," head coach Mike Denney said. "We are proud of our team because it was a total team effort and qualified seven of our guys for the national tournament in two weeks at Chaifetz Arena. We are pleased to be able to win an NCAA Regional championship for Maryville University." Zeb Wahle claimed Maryville's title at 174 as he posted an 8-2 decision in the semifinals, then recorded a 7-5 win in the title bout against Jacob Begin of Southwest Minnesota State. Dakota Bauer recorded a 3-2 win in the 133 semifinals before he was downed in the finals by Nate Rodriguez of Ouachita Baptist and finished in second place. At 141, James Krischke dropped his semifinal match but won the consolation semifinals match. However, he was narrowly defeated by a 2-0 score in the third-place contest. In the "true fourth" match, Alphonso Vruno edged Krischke by a 4-3 count to advance to the national finals. Keenan Hagerty recorded a fall at the 6:07 mark of his semifinal match to reach the 149 finals. Going against defending national champion Frank Cagnina of Central Missouri, Hagerty was outpointed by a 12-8 count to finish as runner-up. At 157, Greg Hegarty lost by the slimmest of margins 1-0 in the semifinals but rebounded for a 10-6 sudden victory in the consolation semis. He continued his run with a 10-1 major over Josh Ballard of McKendree to win the third-place contest. Dimitri Willis lost his 165 semifinal match 6-4 in sudden victory but rallied for a 4-3 win in the consolation semifinals. He was downed in the third-place contest and finished in fourth place and continued on to the national championship. Nick Burghardt was shaded 1-0 in the 184 semifinals but recovered with a big 11-1 major in the consolation semis. He then posted an 8-5 victory over John McArdle of Lindenwood to take the third-place bout. In the 197-weight class, Ryan Beltz romped in his semifinal contest by a 17-8 score over VJ Giulio of St. Cloud State but was toppled by Julian Smith of McKendree in the championship match. Jaret Singh had his day end at 125 when he was edged 5-2 in the third round of the consolation round. In the heavyweights, Morgan Denson dropped his final match 5-1 in the consolation second round. Reaching the national championship at Chaifetz Arena for the Saints are: Dakota Bauer (133), Keenan Hagerty (149), Greg Hegarty (157), Dimitri Willis (165), Zeb Wahle (174), Nick Burghardt (184), Ryan Beltz (197).

MINNEAPOLIS -- Qualifying individuals in all 10 weight classes to the national championships, the Augsburg College wrestling team claimed an NCAA regional title for the 13th straight year, winning the NCAA Division III West Regional crown on Saturday at Si Melby Hall. HOW IT HAPPENED • Augsburg won the 11-team regional with 179 points, the fourth-most points Augsburg has scored in NCAA regional competition. Augsburg has won the team title in its NCAA regional every year since starting regional competition in the 2002-03 season. • It is the first time Augsburg has qualified wrestlers to the national tournament in all 10 weight classes since the 2006-07 season and fourth time the Auggies have had 10 qualifiers since the 2002-03 season (2002-03, 2004-05, 2006-07, 2014-15). Augsburg has had seven or more national tournament qualifiers in 12 of the last 13 seasons. • Augsburg, the No. 4-ranked team in the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III national rankings, swept the post-tournament awards, as 125-pounder Mike Fuenffinger (SR, Hibbing, Minn.) was named the tournament's outstanding wrestler, head coach Jim Moulsoff was named the West Region Coach of the Year and assistant coach Tony Valek was named West Region Assistant Coach of the Year. • Augsburg had one of its best final rounds in its regional history, winning all 10 bouts -- six championship matches and four third-place matches. The six regional titlists are the most for the Auggies since winning seven crowns in the 2009-10 season. Augsburg has earned six or more individual titlists in seven of its 13 regional competitions. 9701• Fuenffinger, the defending national champion at 125 pounds, won all three of his matches by bonus-point margins, with two pins and a 15-4, major-decision win in the championship match, to improve to 29-1 on the season. The top-ranked wrestler at 125 in the NWCA Division III national rankings all season long, Fuenffinger has now won 26 straight matches. Of his 29 wins, 22 are bonus-point victories (eight pins, four technical falls, 10 major decisions). • A two-time All-American, Fuenffinger qualified for his fourth straight national tournament. In addition to his national title in 2014, he finished seventh nationally at 125 pounds in 2013. Fuenffinger is now 106-21 in his Auggie career. 9709• Donny Longendyke (SO, Vadnais Heights, Minn./White Bear Lake HS), the No. 3-ranked heavyweight nationally, won all four of his matches by first-period pin on Saturday, including a 1:47 pin in the title match, to qualify for the national tournament. • A transfer from Division I Nebraska, Longendyke has an NCAA record of 27-0 entering the national tournament and a 39-2 overall record, having won 31 straight matches. He has recorded six straight pins and 21 on the season. Of his 39 wins, 30 are bonus-point victories (21 pins, two technical falls, eight major decisions). He is now 79-23 in his collegiate career with 44 pins. 9705• Matt Hechsel (SR, Apple Valley, Minn.), ranked No. 7 nationally at 197, claimed the regional title, winning all three of his matches on the day. He had two first-period pins to reach the finals, and in the championship match, he avenged an earlier loss to No. 9-ranked Ryan Michaelis of Saint John's with a 7-3 triumph in the championship match. • Hechsel qualified for his third straight national tournament, after finishing seventh nationally at 197 last season. He is now 27-9 on the season, with 17 bonus-point victories (10 pins, two technical falls, five major decisions), and 113-46 in his Auggie career. 9707• Will Keeter (SR, Twin Falls, Idaho) won all three of his matches by pin to claim the regional title at 149 pounds. He opened with a first-period pin, then claimed two third-period pins, including a 5:55 win in the championship match, to improve to 30-11 on the season. He now has eight pins on the season, part of his 15 bonus-point triumphs (eight pins, three technical falls, four major decisions). • Keeter has now qualified for three national tournaments, including a third-place finish at 141 pounds in the 2011-12 campaign. Keeter is 126-57 in his Auggie career. 9713• Tommy Teigen (SR, Ham Lake, Minn./Meadow Creek Christian HS) stormed through his 184-pound weight class, with three pins and a technical fall, to claim the regional crown. He recorded a 3:49 pin in the championship match to improve to 26-9 on the season. He now has 13 pins, to go along with a technical fall and three major decisions, on the year. • Teigen qualified for his third national tournament in his career, having previously qualified in 2014 (184) and 2012 (165). He is now 89-47 on his career with 28 pins. 9711• Tyrell Martin (SR, Eagan, Minn./Henry Sibley HS) qualified for his first NCAA national tournament with a sweep of his three matches to win the title at 174 pounds. In the championship match, Martin trailed 4-3 to Concordia-Moorhead's No. 3-ranked Sebastian Gardner late, but scored a takedown in the final seconds to secure a 5-4 victory. • A two-time NJCAA national tournament qualifier when he was at Ridgewater Community College (2012 and 2013), Martin is now 18-4 on the season and 69-45 in his collegiate career. • At 133, Augsburg's No. 10-ranked Chad Bartschenfeld (SR, Amery, Wis.) qualified for his second straight national tournament, finishing third. Bartschenfeld went 3-1 on the day, with two major decisions, to improve to 27-11 on the season and 72-45 in his career. • Marcus Hamer (SO, Kimball, Minn.) also qualified for his second straight national tournament at 141, ralling from an opening loss with four straight wins, including a pin and technical fall, to finish third. Hamer is now 28-18 on the season and 52-33 in his career. • Eric Hensel (JR, Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville South HS) qualified for his first NCAA national tournament, rallying from an early deficit with three straight pins, including an 18-second pin in his second match, to finish third at 165. A transfer from Clackamas (Oregon) Community College, Hensel is now 18-12 on the season and 34-24 in his career. • Gable Frandsen (FY, Ellsworth, Wis.) earned his first trip to the national tournament with a third-place finish at 157, going 3-1 on the day with a pin. Frandsen is now 18-12 on the season with six pins. UP NEXT • Winners of 11 national championships since 1991, Augsburg will compete at the NCAA Division III National Championships, which will be held March 13-14 at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pa.

The No. 2 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater wrestling team won its third consecutive championship Saturday at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Ind. The Warhawks will send seven wrestlers to the NCAA Division III Championship, which is scheduled for March 13-14 in Hershey, Pa. The top three placers in each weight class qualified for the national tournament. Senior Trevor Pruett (West Bend/West Bend East) and junior Matt Adcock (Bloomingdale, IL/Lake Park) claimed individual regional titles at 133 and 141 pounds, respectively. Senior Anthony Edgren (New Lisbon/New Lisbon), juniors Tom Gerszewski (Crystal Lake, IL/Crystal Lake South), Shane Siefert (Mundelein, IL/Carmel) and sophomore Jordan Newman (Blaine, MN/St. John's Military Academy) posted runner-up finishes and will also compete against the nation's best. Senior Elroy Perkin (Greenfield/Whitnall) punched the final ticket to nationals at 149 pounds, overcoming a quarterfinal loss by winning four straight matches to place third. UW-Whitewater finished with 133.5 points to edge third-ranked Wabash, which totaled 116. Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference rival UW-La Crosse, which entered the weekend ranked fifth, placed third with 113.5. Pruett, who finished third at the WIAC Championships, earned two straight major decisions to reach the final, including an 11-3 victory over WIAC champion Martino Balsiger of UW-La Crosse. Pruett edged Trine's Brandon Preston in the title bout by a 4-3 overtime decision. Adcock, ranked eighth by the National Wrestling Coaches Association and seventh by d3wrestle.com, was also dominant en route to the final, earning a technical fall and major decision to set up a rematch of the conference semifinals against UW-La Crosse's Cody See. In the fourth overtime of the final, Adcock avenged the loss and was crowned regional champion with a 4-2 triumph by sudden victory. He will make his second straight NCAA appearance. At 157, Gerszewski picked up two decisions to set up a showdown against the nation's consensus No. 2 wrestler, Reece Lefever of Wabash. The WIAC champion never led in the final, but earned his first trip to the national tournament. Newman, ranked fourth by the NWCA and third by d3wrestle.com at 174, sealed his NCAA bid with his second win of the season against No. 7/6 Jamie Jakes of Alma (Mich.). He was forced to default in the final due to injury, but will make his first national appearance. Siefert, slotted fourth by the NWCA and second by d3wrestle.com at 197, will make his third consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament and seek his third All-America honor. He dropped a WIAC championship final rematch against UW-La Crosse's Cody See in Saturday's final by an 8-4 decision. At 285, Edgren, ranked No. 7/8 nationally, downed North Central's Dylan Mahler, ranked 10th by d3wrestle.com, in a 4-2 decision by sudden victory in the semifinals to earn his third trip to the national tournament. In the final, he was edged 2-0 by No. 2/3 Mack Green of Trine (Ind.). Perkin finished third for the second straight year, topping off his trip through the consolation side of the bracket with a 5-2 decision over No. 6/8 Kasey Einerson of UW-La Crosse. It was Perkin's third victory over Einerson in 2014-15. Sophomore Zac Denny (Machesney Park, IL/Harlem) placed fourth for the second straight year at 125 pounds. Senior Ryan Aprahamian (Mukwonago/Mukwonago), ranked 10th by the NWCA, fell in the semifinals at 184 against No. 1/1 Riley Lefever of Wabash, and placed fifth with a 3-2 record for the day. At 165, freshman Connor Price (Muskego, Wis./Muskego) finished fifth.

CORVALLIS, Ore. -- Jim Wilson and Nathan Butler won individual titles as the Stanford wrestling team finished third overall with 100.0 points, Sunday, at the Pac-12 Championships at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis, Oregon. The host Oregon State Beavers (139.5) won their fourth straight team title, while Arizona State (107.0) took second. Stanford secured four spots in the finals, including defending Pac-12 champions Evan Silver (125 pounds) and Wilson (165 pounds). Wrestling in their first conference tournament, redshirt freshmen Connor Schram (133 pounds) and Butler (285 pounds) also reached the finals. Wilson had a bye in the first round and advanced to the championship with a 9-3 decision against Arizona State’s Jacen Petersen in the semifinals. Wilson will take on Oregon State’s Seth Thomas, who upset third-seeded Adam Fierro (CSU Bakersfield) and second-seed Chris Castillo (Boise State). Wilson became just the sixth two-time conference champion in program history after Thomas medically forfeited the finals. Wilson moves to 30-4 on the year and has also automatically qualified for the NCAA championships, March 19-21 in St. Louis, Missouri. Butler dominated Cal Poly’s Nick Johnson, 10-2, in the semifinals to meet Arizona State’s Chace Eskam in the finals. There, Butler took a 1-0 lead into the third period and managed a takedown with less than 30 seconds left while also tacking on riding time for a 4-1 decision over Eskam. Butler, who is just the fourth Cardinal freshman to win a conference title, moves to 28-7 on the year and automatically qualifies for the NCAA championships. Silver earned his spot in the finals with a 12-3 major decision over Yoshi Funakoshi of Cal Poly and an injury default by Boise State’s Carson Kuhn. The redshirt junior improves to 16-8 overall on the year and is looking to qualify for nationals for the third consecutive year. He will take on Oregon State’s Ronnie Bresser in the finals. Silver came up short at winning his second straight conference title. He dropped a 6-3 decision to Bresser in the championship. He then fell 6-3 to Arizona State's Ares Carpio in a true second place match, missing out on one of the conference's automatic qualifying spots for NCAAs. Schram, who earned a bye in the opening round, posted a 6-3 decision over CSU Bakersfield’s Ian Nickell at 133 pounds. The redshirt freshman, who is now 18-2 overall, will face Oregon State’s Jack Hathaway in the championship. In the finals, Schram fell to Hathaway 4-0. There was no score after the first and then Hathaway rode Schram out in the second. He registered an escape in the third and a late takedown to secure the win for the Beavers. Schram’s second-place finish secures him an automatic qualifying spot for the NCAA Championships. Stanford's Garrett Schaner and Zach Nevills finished in third place at 149 and 184 pounds, respectively. After Schaner dropped a 4-2 decision to eventual champion Christian Pagdilao of Arizona State, he secured a 7-4 decision over Boise State's Jake Velarde and a 9-6 decision against Coleman Hammond of CSU Bakersfield to claim third. Schaner then found himself wrestling Oregon State's Abraham Rodriguez in a true second place match which went down to the wire, but Schaner pulled out the 8-7 decision and a spot in the NCAA finals. The fifth-year senior will be making his first appearance in the national tournament. Nevills fell 6-2 to Arizona State's Blake Stauffer, the eventual champion, in the semifinals. In the consolation semifinals, Nevills posted a 6-2 decision over Austin Dewey of Boise State. He then came out with a 3-2 overtime decision against CSU Bakerfield's Season Pollock to take third. Nevills also wrestled in a true second place against Oregon State's Taylor Meeks. Mekks came away with true second victory, 5-0, over Nevills. Redshirt freshman Keaton Subjeck (174 pounds) and true freshman Mason Pengilly (141 pounds) finished fifth for the Cardinal, while Maxwell Hvolbek (157 pounds) and Garet Krohn (197 pounds) took sixth. Hvolbek was injured in his semifinal match and medically forfeited the remiander of the tournament.

CORVALLIS, Ore. -- Arizona State wrestling’s redshirt freshman Christian Pagdilao and redshirt junior Blake Stauffer won titles at 149 pounds and 184 pounds, respectively, propelling the Sun Devils to a second-place finish on Sunday at the 2015 Pac-12 Championships at Gill Coliseum. In the team race, the Sun Devils earned 107 points for second place behind defending champion Oregon State, who amassed 139.5 points. ASU improved on last year’s fourth-place finish, and this is the highest finish for the Sun Devils since they won the 2006 team title. “There are some mixed feelings, since you always want to see all your athletes win and all your athletes get bids to the NCAA meet,” head coach Zeke Jones said. “Some guys fell on the sword today, which is always tough, but there were definitely a lot of positives with a pair of Pac-12 titles and our best finish since 2006. It shows we’re moving in the right direction. We’re not where we want to be yet, but when you look at our future, you expect the freshmen to perform just as well as the veterans, and Christian Pagdilao met that expectation for us today. He wrestled tough in the finals and was really determined to win that bout. It was great for Blake Stauffer to win his first title, and now we have to keep him on track for NCAAs.” Pagdilao claimed ASU’s first individual title since Anthony Robles (125) and Jake Meredith (184) in 2011 as he defeated Oregon State’s Abraham Rodriguez in a 7-4 decision in the 149-pound final bout. Rodriguez was the only 149-pounder Pagdilao hadn’t wrestled against during the dual match season. In his first-round bout, the Redlands, Calif., native defeated Cal Poly’s Blake Kastl with the same score he used in the dual match on Feb. 16, 2-0, and then defeated Stanford’s Garrett Schaner, 4-2, in the semifinals. He is ASU’s first conference champion at 149 pounds since Erik Larkin won the title in 2003. Stauffer earned the second Pac-12 title of the night as he defeated Oregon State’s Taylor Meeks for the third time this season, this time with a 3-1 decision. As he extended his win streak to 24 straight bouts, Stauffer pinned CSUB’s Sean Pollock in 1:33 in the first round, and then took down Stanford’s Zach Nevills in a 6-3 decision in the semifinals. Both Pagdilao and Stauffer earned automatic bids to compete at the 2015 NCAA Wrestling Championships, March 19-21, in St. Louis, Mo. Three more Sun Devils earned automatic bids to the national meet, junior Ares Carpio (125), junior Matt Kraus (141), and sophomore Oliver Pierce (157). Carpio placed third before taking part in the bout for true second place, where he defeated Stanford’s Evan Silver in a 7-3 decision, good for the 40th win of his career. Carpio started the day dropping an 8-3 decision to eventual champion Ronnie Bresser of Oregon State, and then rebounded to defeat Cal Poly’s Yoshi Funakoshi in a 5-3 decision. Carpio then went on to pin CSUB’s Sergio Mendez in 1:29 in the third/fourth place bout. Kraus went 3-1 on the day, starting off with an 8-2 win over Mason Pengilly of Stanford, and then a 9-2 win over Cal Poly’s Colton Schilling. In the finals, Kraus dropped a 6-3 decision to Geo Martinez of Boise State, and then defeated Oregon State’s Devin Reynolds in a 5-2 decision to secure the qualification to the national meet. With three bids to NCAAs up for grabs at 157 pounds, Pierce rebounded from dropping a 5-4 decision to Oregon State’s Alex Elder by pinning CSUB’s Spencer Hill in 1:42. In the third/fourth place bout, Pierce secured a bid by defeating Cal Poly’s Colt Shorts, 2-1, in tiebreaker action. Redshirt senior Chace Eskam went 1-1 on the day, finishing as the runner-up at heavyweight, defeating Oregon State’s Nate Keeve, 3-2 in tiebreaker action in the semifinals, and then fell to Stanford’s Nathan Butler in the finals, 4-1. Also Sunday, Eskam was honored as the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Also for the Sun Devils, sophomore Judson Preskitt placed fourth at 133 pounds, as did junior Ray Waters at 174 pounds, and redshirt junior Josh DaSilveira at 197 pounds. Freshman Jacen Petersen also placed sixth at 165 pounds. “Overall we showed good effort, competed hard 95 percent of the time, and it’s a good move in the right direction for our program,” Jones said. “We’ve got five guys that we know for sure are going to St. Louis, and there’s a chance we’ll get a couple at-large bids, but we won’t know that until the second week of March. Now it’s time for us to head back to Tempe and get ready for what’s next.” The NCAA will announce the remaining 70 at-large qualifiers for the NCAA Championships on Wednesday, March 11. Quotes: Redshirt junior Blake Stauffer – Pac-12 Champion, 184 Pounds “It was good to finally get the conference title under my belt after taking second the past two years. I didn’t try to let anything get into my head, I knew going out there what I had to do was what I’ve been doing all year, and today I was successful.” Redshirt freshman Christian Pagdilao – Pac-12 Champion, 149 Pounds “I’m feeling really good right now. I came into this weekend knowing I had to keep the pressure up, score more points, and dominate in every fashion, and I think I did a fairly decent job. I’ve got a couple things to work on these next couple weeks, but I’m just ready to compete at the NCAA Championships.” Junior Ares Carpio – Earned bid to NCAA Championships at 125 pounds “I’m feeling good, obviously, knowing that I’m going to the NCAA Championship. It’s been a while, but I’m finally punching my ticket, so I’m really excited. I didn’t know what the allocations were for bids, so I just went into today trying to do my best, and all my hard work paid off.” Junior Matt Kraus – Earned bid to NCAA Championships at 141 pounds “I’m feeling good, this is my first time going to the NCAA Championships, so that’s obviously a positive. Today was a good day, but there’s still a lot more work to be done these next couple weeks. Of course I’m going to enjoy tonight, but Monday morning is back to business.” Redshirt Senior Chace Eskam – Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year “It’s a great honor to get this award. A big part of being a student athlete is, of course, being a scholar, keeping your grades up. I felt like I wrestled hard, and I would have liked to win the final bout, but I left it all out on the mat.” Final Team Standings 1. Oregon State -- 139.5 2. Arizona State -- 107.0 3. Stanford -- 100.0 4. Boise State -- 85.5 5. CSU Bakersfield -- 81.0 6. Cal Poly -- 77.0

An inspired Oregon State wrestling team built an insurmountable lead heading into the championship round and cruised to its fourth consecutive Pacific-12 Conference wrestling crown on Sunday at Gill Coliseum. Oregon State (Photo/(Photo/Dave Nishitani, OSU Athletics)The Beavers led wire-to-wire and outscored runner-up Arizona State 139.5-107 for the sixth conference title in coach Jim Zalesky’s nine seasons as their coach. They also qualified seven individuals for the NCAA Championships, set for March 19-21 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. “We competed hard and we competed well,” Zalesky said. “We only had two guys who were at Pac-12’s last year, we had [eight] new guys and you never know how they are going to react to that situation. They did a great job.” Freshman Ronnie Bresser (125), redshirt freshman Jack Hathaway (133), seniors Alex Elder (157), senior Joe Latham (174) and redshirt freshman Cody Crawford (197) all captured their first conference titles, and the resulting NCAA berths. Latham was also named the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the championships. Seeded fourth at 174, he won three straight matches to capture the title, defeating the No. 1 and No. 3 seeds in the process. “That’s great,” Zalesky said. “That’s the best he’s wrestled all year. He saved it for this tournament, and this is the time to do it. “He’s been close. Today he wrestled seven minutes hard the whole time,” and earned a repeat trip to NCAAs. Two others advanced by taking second, giving the Beavers seven NCAA qualifiers overall. Fifth-seeded Seth Thomas (165) placed second after withdrawing from the title bout with a knee injury after knocking off the second- and third-seeded opponents in his first two matches. His NCAA berth was safe because he defeated both third-place finalists en route to the finals. “We knew he was going to go to NCAAs, so we said, let’s not get it worse,” Zalesky said. Senior 184-pounder Taylor Meeks defeated Stanford’s Zach Nevills 5-0 in the true second-place match after losing the title match. They faced off because they did not meet during Meek’s path to the championship match. An All-American in 2013, Meeks has now qualified for four consecutive NCAAs. The Beavers went 16-2 in the first two rounds and wrestlebacks and took a commanding 122.5-97 lead over Arizona State heading into the championship round. They won 24 of 31 matches overall and 24 of 30 not counting Thomas’ medical forfeit. Several of the wins that advanced Beavers to the championship bouts were last-second thrillers. At 165 pounds, Thomas maintained control over No. 2-seeded Chris Castillo of Boise State to preserve a 4-3 semifinal victory. The fifth-seeded Thomas pinned No. 3 seed Adam Fierro of CSU Bakersfield in the first round. At 174 pounds, Latham got a takedown just before the buzzer to edge No. 1-seeded Ray Waters of Arizona State, 9-8, to earn a finals berth. At 197, Crawford took down Boise State’s Cody Dixon in the closing seconds for a 5-4 comeback win and a ticket to the finals, where he pinned his way to St. Louis. “Those matches gave us huge momentum,” Zalesky said. Total attendance was 4,229: 1,961 for the morning session and 2,268 for the championship round. Chase Eskom of ASU was named the Pac-12’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year. No one had more than one pin so Boise State’s Dixon won the award for the quickest fall, 21 seconds. Stanford (100) took third, followed by Boise State (85.5), CSU Bakersfield (81) and Cal Poly (77).

The seeds have been released for the 2015 Pac-12 Wrestling Championships. The event takes place tomorrow (Sunday) at Gill Coliseum on the campus of Oregon State University. 125: 1.Ronnie Bresser, OSU. 2. Carson Kuhn, BSU. 3. Evan Silver, Stanford. 4. Ares Carpio, ASU. 5. Sergio Mendez, CSUB. 6. Yoshi Funakoshi, Cal Poly. 133: 1. Jack Hathaway, OSU. 2. Connor Schram, Stanford. 3. Ian Nickell, CSUB. 4. Jason De La Cruz, Cal Poly. 5. Michael Cook, BSU. 6. Judson Preskitt, ASU. 141: 1. Geo Martinez, BSU. 2. Matt Kraus, ASU. 3. Colt Schilling, Cal Poly. 4. Devin Reynolds. OSU. 5. Timmy Box, CSUB. 6. Mason Pengilly, Stanford. 149: 1. Christian Pagdilao, ASU. 2.Abraham Rodriguez, OSU. 3.Cole Hammond, CSUB. 4. Garrett Schaner, Stanford. 5. Blake Kastl, Cal Poly. 6. Jake Velarde, BSU. 157: 1. Alex Elder, OSU. 2. Steven Hernandez, BSU. 3. Max Hvolbek, Stanford. 4. Oliver Pierce, ASU. 5. Colt Shorts, Cal Poly. 6. Spencer Hill, CSUB. 165: 1. Jim Wilson, Stanford. 2. Chris Castillo, BSU. 3. Adam Fierro, CSUB. 4. Travis Berridge, Cal Poly. 5. Seth Thomas, OSU. 6. Jacen Peterson, ASU. 174: 1. Ray Waters, ASU. 2. Keaton Subject, Stanford. 3. Dom Kastl, Cal Poly. 4. Joe Latham, OSU. 5. Holden Packard, BSU. 6. Jesus Ambriz, CSUB. 184: 1. Blake Stauffer, ASU. 2. Taylor Meeks, OSU. 3. Nick Fiegener, Cal Poly. 4. Zach Nevills, Stanford. 5. Austin Dewey, BSU. 6. Sean Pollock, CSUB. 197: 1. Cody Crawford, OSU. 2. Josh DeSilveria, ASU. 3. Matt Williams, CSUB. 4. J.T. Goodwin, Cal Poly.5. Cody Dixon, BSU. 6. Garrett Krohn, Stanford. 285: 1. Nathan Butler, Stanford. 2. Chace Eskam, ASU. 3. Nate Keeve, OSU. 4. Nick Johnson, Cal Poly. 5. Galen Edmo, BSU.

Sympathies go out to the family and friends of Clarion wrestler Nick Gavazzi who died this week in a motor vehicle accident. Link Well, Missouri has made a liar out of this year's Iowa-heavy prognosticators. Winners of the 2015 NWCA National Duals, Missouri upset favorite Iowa 18-12 in Sunday's finals, and in doing so also challenged the popular perception that the Hawkeyes would walk away with the team title in St. Louis. Though Iowa is likely the favorite to win the NCAA tournament, it's obvious that teams like Missouri, Ohio State and Minnesota have the talent to challenge the Hawkeyes and nip at their heels throughout the three-day tournament. Though the upset matters as a stand-alone event, the big question coming out of a drama-filled weekend of pushing, flapping and shooshing is how anyone could mount a substantial argument against the National Duals and their impact on the future of college wrestling. I was in Tehran covering the Greco-Roman World Cup and despite the poor Internet and time difference, the buzz around the National Duals was so loud online that results and storylines were easy to follow even when flying back through timelines of other journalists. Upsets in the first round and a lineup packed with schools with broad name recognition to both wrestling fans and those outside the sport. That's media gold and a way to drive attention and viewership in your product. While there are years in which selling wrestling to major publications is easier than others (Kyle Dake vs. David Taylor), the stories wanted by the press tend to start with colleges -- something that every sports reader can know with ease. Cornell is Ivy League. Iowa is a dominant power. Penn State has Cael Sanderson as coach. These are pretty basic items that maybe half the sports world knows heading into March. That's why the Missouri-Iowa upset became a story with resonance in and out of the wrestling community. Because it was Missouri -- the school, the colors, the everything -- who performed this upset feat, not an individual with a more difficult back story. School successes and failures are easier to follow for fans and therefore are preferred by the media. Overall, the National Duals format has a ways to go before it can be the most meaningful competition of the NCAA season. Much of the discussion of duals will center on scheduling and how the competitions might impact the proven money-making NCAA tournament, but the writing is on the mats -- in a rapidly changing athletics environment money and interest are necessary for survival. To your questions ... Q: Missouri coach Brian Smith wrestled collegiately at Michigan State. Any chance we could ever see him replace Tom Minkel in East Lansing? -- Mike C. Foley: Absolutely. The Missouri wrestling team is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation in the dual meet rankings, something that nobody would have predicted even with the Askren brothers in town. After 20-plus years of hard work Coach Smith has a contender. Brian Smith (Photo/Clayton Hotze)So why leave? Well, maybe he wouldn't (there is no opening as of now), but the argument for why he would is the same for why college basketball coaches love to take over dynasty programs that are in the dumps. First there is the challenge of the turnaround, which can be a confidence building exercise in and of itself, but also there is an institutional and professional admiration that is extended to coaches who perform such turnarounds. Next, there is the idea that Michigan State, competing in the Big Ten, has a better chance of winning the national title and that they'd have more institutional support at-the-ready. Finally, he may want a change and to take over at an alma mater he loves (if he does). Who knows if he'd apply, but taking Missouri to No.1 in the nation is a huge feather in his coaching cap and should he want another challenge, either in the Big Ten, Pac 12 or the ACC, there aren't many athletic directors who wouldn't give Coach Smith an interview. Q: What do you make of the debacle with the VHSL? -- John T. Foley: To clarify for those who don't know the back story: Last week during the Virginia state wrestling tournament the VHSL was facing pressure from schools to reduce risk during an impending snowstorm. The tournament was meant to run Friday and Saturday, but with the storm the VHSL chose to make it a one-day tournament with no first-round wrestlebacks. With everything squeezed into a single day of wrestling the finals were late at night and had no public awards ceremony. The wrestlers were given their medals behind the bleachers. Sooo ... Bing. Boom. Out. Wrestling started late and ended around 10 p.m. No pomp and very little time for celebration. The VHSL was embattled well before this decision. Last year the organization decided to create additional state tournaments and classifications (to help with football) and forced wrestling to an eight-man bracket. This was of course strange, not only that there were eight state champions in a state that used to have three, but also that half as may wrestlers qualified. The resulting chaos of last week's decision has been horrible publicity for the VHSL, and for good reason. Though there is always room for caution their actions seemed rushed and in part ruined the wrestling seasons of many young high school students. With no seeding at the state tournament the two best wrestlers might've met in the first round and left the loser out in the cold (literally) with no medal. With all the money being spent by individuals and families on the athletic careers of their sons and daughters, this type of slight could be perceived as irreparable. The VHSL, like many amateur athletic organizations, seems to operate outside the jurisdiction of any larger authority, which for parents causes even more heartache since there is nowhere to point their frustration. Wrestlers deserve the opportunity to compete in the fully bracketed tournament they were promised at the beginning of the season. Would they have played only three quarters of a football game? Of course not. The VHSL should make a public apology and look to make serious changes to the way they govern individual sports. Q: United World Wrestling is doing a lot better than FILA. Still a ways to go, though. How is Arena coming along? What are some of the features we can look forward to once it goes live? This has a lot of potential for our sport. -- Dan L. Foley: Arena is cruising right along! The major improvement is that we can now have up-to-the-minute results embedded on the site as the tournament is happening. The results will come in an easy-to-read format that is fan friendly and allows for better use by the media. The United World Wrestling site has been updated and is now filled with photos, videos, results and stories. The big events now have their own pages where users can find the live stream for the event, important matches and even same-day highlights. That multimedia can be a painful process when trying to navigate the troubles of hosting events in places like Iran or Cuba or Myanmar, but the structure is being created. Those are all kinks that can be ironed out over time, but it's important to understand that for wrestling to be grown worldwide, it's vital for a variety of countries to host tournaments. Of course not every tournament will be covered the same. There is a range of competitions on the calendar, but each of the United World Wrestling branded competitions (Continental Championships, World Cups, World Championships) will have the full available treatment. Video is also now being treated as a priority. Wrestling deserves to be in front of the fans. Though we started with 12k Facebook fans in February 2013, the growth has been immense. For example, more than 1.8 million people saw the United World Wrestling page last week during the Greco-Roman World Cup. Those are insane numbers for no Facebook advertising and only 220k Facebook fans. The content is perfect for sharing and the passion of the fans ignites a ton of outside interest over platforms like Facebook and Twitter. The media operation will continue to expand, but that will take time and money and of course demand patience from the wrestling community. MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME Best match of the 2015 Greco-Roman World Cup Ben Askren takes on the culture of the Iowa wrestling culture's love for "He's STALLING, ref." Post by Ben Askren. Link: What's bugging Andy, support Iowa wrestling Link: Wrestler invents fire extinguisher that uses sound Link: Utah gymnastics sets record attendance Link: Save Bishop Eustace wrestling Q: Which freshman has a better chance to finish this season as an undefeated NCAA champion, Isaiah Martinez or Bo Jordan? -- Mike C. Foley: Isaiah Martinez is just not being threatened and that makes me think that he's on the level of Cael Sanderson as a freshman. The tough part about being an undefeated four-time NCAA champion is winning every match, and that's especially true the first two years when hiccups are much more common. Given his desire to score a lot of points and wrestle to the pin, I think that Martinez will be the favorite heading into Big Tens, and if he makes it through THAT weekend unscathed then he can likely make it through the NCAA tournament without a blemish. Either way, it's exciting and special to have two undefeated freshmen near the top of the college rankings and heading into the NCAA tournament capable of joining recent greats in making history. Rant of the Week By Patrick S. What happened to respect in wrestling? Where did silent intensity go? Why does it seem like there are multiple incidents of disrespectful behavior in every dual that I watch? I'm so sick of people writing off childish post-whistle behavior by saying something to the effect of: "Well if you don't want any intensity go watch figure skating!" The extracurricular activity and constant showboating are simply embarrassing. You're representing your school, coaching staff, and teammates poorly. If you're not mature enough to compete without standing over your opponent and flexing after every win or without taunting the opposing crowd after a hard fought victory, then good luck getting along in life after sports. In my opinion, these kinds of shenanigans add nothing to the sport. They don't add entertainment value. I don't watch wrestling for the soap opera angle of who's mad at who or to see student-athletes play dirty. I want to see guys compete in the actual sport that they're supposed to be participating in and I want to see them do so in an intense and mutually respectful manner. Do you know what does add entertainment value? Takedowns. Throws. Pinning combinations. Exciting wrestling offers entertainment value. Do you want to put on a show for the crowd? Go after your opponent for seven minutes and quit it with the cheap "boxing weigh-in stare down" style dramatics. It's tired. It's played out. You're not a badass because you shushed a crowd or you cheap-shotted an opponent. You're a child. Your effort inside the circle should speak for itself every time. If you have to punctuate it with antics, you're doing something wrong.

INDIANAPOLIS -- The NCAA has announced the qualifier allocations for the 2015 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships as listed in the chart below. Each qualifying tournament was awarded spots per weight class based on current year data. Each wrestler was measured on the following: Division I winning percentage at the weight class, rating percentage index (RPI) and coaches ranking. For each wrestler that reached the threshold in at least two of the three categories, his qualifying tournament was awarded a qualifying spot in that weight class. Each qualifying tournament, with automatic qualifying status, was awarded a minimum of one wrestler per weight class, which will go to the tournament champion, even if they did not have any wrestlers reach at least two of the three thresholds. NCAA tournament spots for each qualifying event will be awarded at the tournament based solely on place-finish. After all of the qualifying events have concluded, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will meet in-person to select the remaining 70 at-large qualifiers, which will be announced on March 11. All weight classes will consist of 33 wrestlers. The at-large selections will be made based on the following criteria: head-to-head competition, qualifying event placement, quality wins, results against common opponents, winning percentage, RPI, coaches ranking and the number of matches contested at that weight class.