InterMat Staff

I'll be toasting to a year of your health and safety and to the growth of our sport at the local and international level. As you know, 2013 was a watershed year for our sport, but through all the stress you crazy people kept working hard and never stopped believing in your passion. I appreciate your dedication and am once again proud to consider myself a member of your community. To your questions ... Q: See link. I heard about this through word of mouth, the emotional and physical abuse by Coach Waller at Lock Haven. What I want to know ... Is this the way that all Division I coaches are? I would suspect not. Maybe all coaches are different and use different means to motivate, but abuse to me isn't the right way. In your experience, how are most Division I coaches wired, especially those at the top of the sport? Are they screamers? Are they talkers? What do they do to motivate? -- Beau E. Foley: Abuse isn't a word with a lot of flexibility. Wrestling coaches who tend toward physical or emotional abuse should seek some counseling and find a new career. I know that many readers think of their coaching days and toughness of their leaders with fondness and nostalgia, but that type of leadership has failed with modern athletes. Professors at educational institutions around the world have studied the science of learning ... and none have concluded that slapping, screaming and bullying athletes is more productive than thoughtful leadership with predictable and fair outcomes for action. In the article you linked, the complaint most often forwarded by the wrestlers was that Coach Waller's discipline came as a surprise, and his choices were often unpredictable and biased. Wrestlers were slapped, pushed and shoved, but equally as harmful was that they were asked to wrestle off an extra time or made to feel inadequate after failed weight cuts. Ultimately the athletes rebelled and spoke to the administration about the abuses and their frustration. Waller is out and replaced by Scott Moore. (I did not contact Coach Moore for background information.) Today's top coaches are tasked with creating environments where there are no threats of physical abuse and the rumors of favorites and personal vendettas are removed. Cael suspended Ed Ruth just as he would a backup with a similar track record of offenses. It appeared to those watching from a distance that Cael didn't react to the shock of the event with more harshness, or less than was outlined in the preseason manuals. That type of calculation meant that the rest of the organization saw that their actions would be managed without prejudice. That builds trust and understanding between the coaches and the wrestlers. I don't know for certain that Cael abides, without fault, to his system. However, in assuming that he has, it's easy to see how predictable outcomes for bad and subpar behavior allows him more time to focus on teaching techniques, scouting film and making adjustments. That's the stuff that makes a good coach great. The nostalgia for the whistle-wearing middle school coach who convicted you of being a "lower than whale turd" for trivial failures, has no worth in modern day scholastic athletics. In need of 24/7 support kids have outflanked parents and teachers. Tommy and Suzy don't need your emotional support when navigating the difficulties of failure. Students today have several options for their meaningless validations. They can hop online and post a "poor me" status on Facebook and feel their failures dissipate in moments. They can hop on Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram to relieve that sinking feeling. Young athletes today don't need to work harder and suffer through hours of introspection to discover what needs to be changed in order to live up to a coach's ideals about winning and proper behavior. They hit some keys and in moments feel better. Today's coaches either adapt to that reality, or they disappear. There are still screamers, but they're being lost not only to administrative oversight, but their own frustrations. Coaches leave the business because they can no longer connect with anger. It takes a more delicate approach. The punching, the slapping, the needless abuses -- they're antiquated. The modern athlete likes a Twitter-savvy coach who understands their frustrations and validates their emotions. Sure, every coach will still retain their method, but very few, if any, of the top coaches keeps yelling as anything but an infrequent, predictable reminder of why you don't want to break the rules. Overall, the simple rule is that the modern wrestler won't compete for a coach that treats them with rudeness, much less one who throws them into a stationary bike. Q: It seems to be overlooked that the Boston wrestling program had an endowment. Orin Smiley ('56) named the program in his estate. I read the amount was just shy of $1 million, which was used to fund scholarships. It would seem that now that the program is dropped the university will "absorb" those funds. If this is true, words cannot describe the underhanded low-life action of the athletic department. But unfortunately it should serve as a wakeup call to current programs. All endowments need to have some type of language written in, that if the university ever decides to drop the program, that the those funds cannot be used by the athletic department, rather redirected to other areas of the university to protect that "nest egg." I guess no one really thought that a university would do such a horrible thing, but your general thoughts on this? You coached at Columbia. The head coach and first assistant position are endowed. Is there anything there to protect that alumni contribution? -- Frank C. Foley: I really thought that endowments could not be taken back by the school, but after a few phone calls it sounds like donors can't always write program security into the agreement. Columbia does have a few endowed coaching positions, but those seem to be based on gentlemen's agreements between the donors and the athletic directors. Of course, with AD's changing more frequently, it's tough to know how long those agreements will last. I agree that cutting the wrestling program at Boston was and is a form of larceny. They are taking money they know was meant for for one thing and not fulfilling their original agreement. Seems like the current administration is treating Boston Athletics like it would an investment property -- tearing out the favorites of previous owners and replacing it with something that they believe will increase the value of their product. New Balance's investment makes everything even more suspect. Boston AD Mike Lynch doesn't care or maybe even realize that he's just adding to a culture of education that is less about opportunity and diversity and more about cash. He wants to be part of big collegiate sports and to him cutting wrestling was another step in that direction -- a new kitchen even though the old one was just fine. If the New Balance situation proves to be what some have rumored then Lynch took from Trev Alberts' management playbook and showed cowardice and a lack of no vision. Lynch took the easy way. He quit. He ran. He backed down. Even if wrestling isn't reinstated at Boston that Lynch's reductive approach to education and athletics costs him the illustrious career he thought mortgaging the careers of thirty wrestlers was going to buy him. UPDATE: Boston Globe article has several people on record denying any relationships between the New Balance donation and the elimination of wrestling. Lynch also states that the monies received is substantially less than $800k ... http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2013/12/27/wrestling-program-grapples-with-realities-extinction/szkon64EJSPcoLB0QkpfrJ/story.html MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME Weidman v. Silva II: Chris Weidman might be the nicest human on the planet, and now the baddest. The Art of Learning Q: Can Division I college wrestling have a better schedule? The season is very, very long. J Rob has pushed for more dual meets and I think I read a while back that Cael would like to see wrestling become a single-semester sport. The NCAA wrestling tournament also gets overshadowed by basketball. I see room for improvement. What are your thoughts? -- Mike T. Foley: Schedule changes are something that need to be considered by the NCAA Championships before the city bidding process is made official. Right now we are locked into 2018, making 2018-2019 season the earliest a change could be made by the NCAA. I agree that the season is much too long. Unlike basketball, wrestling requires several of the same individuals to compete several times a week. Though the matches can range in quantity and quality, the amount of time spent managing weight and warming up is much more than that experienced by other sports. Less quantifiable, but more substantial is the emotional toll that five months of competition can have on a young wrestler. The student-athletes shouldn't be forced to saddle semesters. It's an inelegant schedule that was allowed to grow and take root, but falls apart when considering the health of the student-athlete, and the possible financial benefits of moving the competition date away from NCAA basketball. It would be interesting to find out what incentive the NCAA would have in making the change. Assuming they sell out an 18k seat arena for three days, the NCAA is making the maximum amount of money per championship. There is less residual media, but would there be a noticeable amount more if we moved the championships to December or April? ESPN's package with the NCAA has already been purchased and though several million dollars in revenue would speak to the sport's power, we aren't yet making that much in viewership. I think the argument should be made around the physical and psychological health of the athletes. Wrestlers shouldn't be forced to sacrifice Thanksgiving and Christmas for a sport that could very easily slide forward or back a few months. Who makes that argument? I don't know, but if done well and with consistency I think it could affect positive change. Logan Stieber battling Anthony Abidin in Las Vegas (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Q: I know you don't rank the kids, but I feel sorry for Mitchell Port and Zain Retherford. I think Zain poked the bear and Logan Stieber's going to give his head a shake and tell himself EVERYONE is gunning for me so I have to go back to my old ways and get MEAN. When Logan sees his name as third in the nation ... look out. That match was awesome. I mean, wow. Zain is the real deal, PERIOD. He looked like he was coached well and had a plan, but Logan did not seem right He looked off -- like his head was in a different place. What did you think? -- Paul L. Foley: I think we are experiencing a season of parity! I don't think for a second that In-Zain will repeat his performance and beat Logie Bear at Big Tens or NCAAs, but I love that his earlier win launched Edinboro's Mitchell Port into the top spot -- a place he could easily remain the rest of the season. That means that a guy who beat the world's No. 1 wrestler might be No. 2 at the NCAA tournament. Go figure! Your question got me thinking about all the matchups at the 2014 NCAA Tournament ... Whoa. Q: When you first started talking about how "the singlet is dead," I was one-hundred percent opposed to this idea. At the time, the idea of taking away the singlet made no sense to me, as the wrestling singlet is the only uniform that I have known as a wrestler. However, this past year marks my second year as the head wrestling coach at a low-income school just outside of Atlanta, Ga. While trying to recruit young men and women to come and toe the line in my wrestling room, the same question kept coming up over and over again, "Am I going to have to wear those tights?" Overall, I would say that I have had over 100 wrestlers come and show interest in the wrestling team between my two years here. However, between last year's final numbers and this year's projections, I will be looking at less than 25 wrestlers who have completed a season. Of those seventy-five percent that did not complete a season, I would estimate that over half of those kids quit because they refused to wear a singlet. So with that being said, I see now that evolving from the singlet to a rash guard and fight shorts could have a profound impact on the number of kids who decide to give wrestling a try, and will have nothing but a positive impact on the sport that we live and breathe. My question to you is about the timeline of this happening. Let's pretend that right now, at this moment, every single athletic director of every high school around the nation agreed to get rid of the singlet. How long do you think it would take to implement this uniform change? Keep in mind schools such as mine where funding is almost impossible to come by, and we JUST raised enough money for new singlets. So it would be a huge undertaking to raise money for more uniforms. -- Kent W. Foley: First, let us all learn from the NBA and Mark Cuban. Assuming a design is already in progress, I think test products could be in place by the start of the 2014 summer leagues, with selected programs and athletic associations using the uniforms by the 2015-2016 wrestling season. The goal would be to have every athletic association in America approve the design for the start of the 2016-2017 wrestling season. The first piece of progress that needs to take place is that somebody who likes lots and lots of money decides to put forth the effort and design a two-piece, non-bulgy wrestling uniform. Not the doublet, and not a bunch of cotton. The outfit will need to be high-quality, intelligently designed athletic wear. Shorts and T-shirts are an improvement, but whatever replaces the singlet will need to be more advanced and made of material with more stretch than cotton, but less shine and tension than spandex. Shorts will need to be baggy enough to not show the crotch, but tight enough to ensure there won't be too many snares. Once the product is launched, it will only take a few months for coaches eager to draw in more athletes to see a rapid increase in enrollment and the people who made the product to take their first daily dive into a vault of gold coins. COMMENT OF THE WEEK By Jan Nice mailbag today. Glad you are safe. As I am an American & world history teacher I am interested in hearing about your experience in South Sudan. We begin our colonialism unit in January. On another note, attached you will find a pic of my fifth/sixth grade wrestling team. In my school district we built an "autumn wrestling league." The boys in the pic are wearing their wrestling uniforms. This is their competition apparel. Fight shorts and Dri-FIT shirts. They loved it! All 180 kids in the "league" wore a variation of the outfit. Thought you'd like to know someone was trying to change the singlet situation. The kid in the front was our only outlier. Have a good holiday. InterMat senior writer T.R. Foley answers reader questions about NCAA wrestling, international wrestling, recruiting, or anything loosely related to wrestling. Questions can be sent to Foley's email account or Twitter. Do you want to read a past mailbag? Access archives.

The best regular season tournament in the best state for wrestling comes to Canon McMillan High School just south of Pittsburgh this Friday and Saturday. The 46-team field includes over 100 wrestlers that competed in their respective state tournaments last year, as well as 22 nationally ranked wrestlers and a pair of Fab 50 teams. Chance Marsteller (Photo/Rob Preston)Leading the teams at the POWERade Christmas Wrestling Tournament are No. 10 Franklin Regional, Pa., and No. 45 Greater Latrobe, Pa. This year's field features a pair of wrestlers ranked first in the country: Spencer Lee (Franklin Regional, Pa.) at 113 pounds and Chance Marsteller (Kennard Dale, Pa.) at 170; along with four others ranked second nationally: Luke Pletcher (Greater Latrobe, Pa.) at 120 pounds, Sam Krivus (Hempfield Area, Pa.) at 132, Jason Nolf (Kittanning, Pa.) at 145, and Thomas Haines (Solanco, Pa.) at 285. The tournament's toughest weight is the 120-pound weight class, which features five nationally ranked wrestlers, including four of the nation's top eight in the weight class. Ranked second in the country is defending POWERade champion Pletcher, who won the 106 pound title in this tournament and in the PIAA Class AAA state tournament last year. He has victories in the last two months over those other ranked wrestlers: beating No. 3 Sean Russell (Collins Hill, Ga.) in overtime in the Super 32 Challenge semifinal; defeating No. 4 Ethan Lizak (Parkland, Pa.), who has won state in Class AAA the last two years, in the tiebreaker two weekends ago at the King of the Mountain; and upending No. 8 George Phillippi (Derry Area, Pa.), who won state in Class AA last year as a freshman, in the Super 32 Challenge final. The additional nationally ranked wrestler in this weight class is No. 11 Jake Gromacki (Erie Cathedral Prep, Pa.), a three-time Class AAA state placer and twice a FloNationals placer. The other three seeded wrestlers in this weight class are Cadet freestyle All-American Alex Mackall (Walsh Jesuit, Ohio), two-time state champion Jordan Allen (Huntington, W.Va.), and two-time National Prep top three finisher Ryan Friedman (St. Paul's, Md.). A dangerous unseeded wrestler is junior Ricky Cavallo (Hempfield, Pa.), who has already placed twice in this tournament. Based on seeds, the quarterfinals in order of bracket position would be: Lizak vs. Friedman, Phillippi vs. Mackall (a Super 32 quarterfinals rematch), Allen vs. Pletcher, and Gromacki vs. Russell. Two other weight classes in this tournament have three nationally ranked wrestlers: 132 and 138 pounds. The 132-pound weight class is led by national No. 2 Sam Krivus (Hempfield Area, Pa.), a two-time Super 32 Challenge champion who also has PIAA Class AAA and FloNationals titles in the 2013 calendar year. He is the weight class's top seed; while fellow PIAA Class AAA state champion Tyler Smith (Franklin Regional, Pa.), ranked No. 7 nationally and a Junior freestyle All-American, is the second seed. Freshman sensation Cameron Coy (Penn Trafford, Pa.), ranked No. 19 nationally, enters the tournament unseeded. Others to watch in the 132 pound weight class include two-time state finalist Bryan Ramey (Eastern View, Va.), state placer Nolan Whitely (Walsh Jesuit, Ohio), and National Prep champion Jack Mutchnik (St. Paul's, Md.). These wrestlers are seeded fifth through seventh respectively. The 138 pound weight class is led by national No. 3 Michael Kemerer -- a three-time Super 32 Challenge finalist (2011 champion), two-time POWERade finalist (2011 champion), and two-time state runner-up. He is the top seed in the weight class, with the next two seeds being No. 13 Vincenzo Joseph (Pittsburgh Central Catholic, Pa.) and No. 7 Brock Zacherl (Brookville, Pa.). Joseph was POWERade champion in 2011, joined Kemerer as a Junior freestyle All-American this past summer, and is a two-time state placer; while Zacherl is a two-time state placer and was a Super 32 Challenge runner-up this fall. The next three seeds in this weight class are dangerous wrestlers as well: Ryan Skonieczny (Akron SVSM, Ohio), a three-time state placer and state runner-up last year; Michael Kostandaras (Walsh Jesuit, Ohio), a two-time state placer; and Jake Adcock (Pope, Ga.), a 2012 state champion and Cadet National double All-American this past summer. Not seeded in this weight class is Hayden Hidlay (Mifflin County, Pa.), who was a Cadet National double runner-up this past summer after qualifying for state at 113 in Class AAA as a freshman. The only additional weight class with multiple nationally ranked wrestlers comes at 126 pounds, which is led by No. 3 Ryan Millhof (Collins Hill, Ga.) and No. 10 Dalton Macri (Canon McMillan, Pa.). Macri is the top seed, while two-time Super 32 Challenge champion Millhof is the second seed. The other key challenger in this weight would be state placer A.C. Headlee (Waynesburg, Pa.), the weight class's third seed. Every other weight class except 220 pounds features one nationally ranked wrestler: No. 4 Devin Brown (Franklin Regional, Pa.) at 106, No. 1 Spencer Lee (Kennard Dale, Pa.) at 113, No. 2 Jason Nolf (Kittanning, Pa.) at 145, No. 12 Josh Shields (Franklin Regional, Pa.) at 152, No. 17 Dom Scalise (Greater Latrobe, Pa.) at 160, No. 1 Chance Marsteller (Kennard Dale, Pa.) at 170, No. 5 Zack Zavatsky (Greater Latrobe, Pa.) at 182, No. 3 Chip Ness (Buford, Ga.) at 195, and No. 2 Thomas Haines (Solanco, Pa.) at 285. All of those wrestlers but for Scalise are the top seeds in their weight class, while Scalise is seeded fifth at 160 pounds (Jake Henson of Pope, Ga., is seeded first). Lee, Nolf, Marsteller, Zavatsky, and Ness all won Super 32 Challenge titles this past year, while Haines was champion in 2011.

OPRF dominates Rex Whitlach Invite, but still a mixed bag Despite earning an 80-plus point victory (320.5 to 237) at the Rex Whitlach Invitational hosted by Hinsdale Central, Ill. this past weekend, No. 2 Oak Park River Forest, Ill. could not feel fully satisfied with the result. The runner-up Montini Catholic squad, ranked No. 6 nationally, earned victories in three of the five head-on championship finals matches between the two squads. The Broncos got victories from Chris Garcia (145), No. 12 Xavier Montalvo (160), and No. 16 Edgar Ruano (220); while the Huskies had wins from No. 7 Jason Renteria (106) and No. 8 Isaiah White (138). However, Oak Park River Forest did end up with five champions, a tournament high, with those additional top of the podium finishes coming from Gabe Townsell (120), No. 10 Davonte Mahomes (195), and Andre Lee (195); while Montini Catholic did not get another tournament champion. Additional nationally ranked wrestlers to win weight class titles were No. 6 Rudy Yates (113) of Brother Rice, No. 2 Bryce Brill (152) of Mt. Carmel, and No. 4 Brian Allen (285) of Hinsdale Central. In the championship final, Allen earned a 4-3 overtime victory over fellow nationally ranked opponent Adarios Jones of Moline. That came after a 2-1 tiebreaker victory in the semifinal round for Jones over Michael Johson, Jr. of Montini Catholic; Jones moves up to No. 7 nationally, while Johnson drops to No. 9. Rounding out the weight class champions were Alec McKenna (126) of New Trier, Jake Tucker (132) of Mt. Carmel, and Jimmy Mickens (182) of Mt. Carmel. Results Dvorak to feature preeminent teams in Illinois The 30 team field (28 from Illinois, along with single entries from Ohio and Wisconsin), scheduled for Friday and Saturday, is led by a trio of Fab 50 squads, No. 6 Montini Catholic, No. 18 Marist, and No. 30 Marmion Academy. Additional teams to watch include Dakota, which is ranked No. 1 in Class 1A (small-school) by Illinois Matmen; as well as top ten teams from Class 3A in Edwardsville, Hononegah, Glenbard North, Libertyville, and Lockport. The field features 13 nationally ranked wrestlers expected to compete in eleven weight classes. This includes a likely showdown between three-time state champions at 132 pounds, as No. 7 at 126 Josh Alber (Dakota) plans on bumping up one weight class to face No. 1 Jered Cortez (Glenbard North), presuming each wrestler advances to that point. The other weight class with multiple nationally ranked wrestlers is at 113 pounds, where No. 10 Anthony Bosco (Marmion Academy) and No. 11 Michael Cullen (Cary Grove) are expected to compete. Additional nationally ranked wrestlers are No. 20 Austin Gomez (Glenbard North) at 106 pounds, No. 16 Brian Rossi (Lockport) at 120, No. 16 Johnny Jimenez (Marmion Academy) at 126, No. 19 Vincent Turk (Montini Catholic) at 138, No. 2 Bryce Brill (Mt. Carmel) at 152, No. 12 Xavier Montalvo (Montini Catholic) at 160, No. 13 Tyler Johnson (Lockport) at 195, No. 16 Edgar Ruano (Montini Catholic) at 220, and No. 9 Michael Johnson, Jr. (Montini Catholic) at 285. Archer stands on top of 40-team Kansas City Stampede field Even in the midst of horrendous weather that came through the Kansas City, Mo. area on Saturday afternoon, the two-day Stampede was completed. When all was said and done, it was Archer, Ga. finishing on top of the standings with 557.5 points led by a trio of runner-up finishes from Vinny Artigues (106), Daniel Bullard (160), and M.J. Couzan (285). The Tigers had four other top five finishes, with three more earning ninth place; as a result, they move up to No. 15 nationally, all the way from No. 34. Second place in the team standings went to No. 16 Stillwater, Okla., with 497.5 points, as the Pioneers were led by three finalists: championships were won by No. 9 Joe Smith (152) and No. 6 Chandler Rogers (170), while No. 14 Kaid Brock (132) placed second. Five additional wrestlers placed between fifth and ninth, one in each of the positions. Despite missing a nationally ranked wrestler in No. 16 Paxton Rosen (106) and two other starters who were likely to finish top two in their preliminary pool, No. 11 Edmond North, Okla. was still able to muster a fourth place finish with 418 points. The primary drivers for the Huskies were five wrestlers in the back half of the lineup, all of whom finished within the top three: No. 4 Derek White (195) and No. 12 Andrew Dixon (220) won their weight classes, No. 13 Lance Dixon (170) placed second, while Zach Walton (160) and No. 11 Joel Dixon (182) placed third. Fab 50 members No. 32 Tuttle, Okla. and No. 33 Bettendorf, Iowa finished third and fifth in the tournament with 444 and 404.5 points respectively. Additional nationally ranked wrestlers to win weight class titles were No. 6 Matt Schmitt (106) of Platte County, Mo.; No. 4 Daton Fix (113) of Sand Springs, Okla.; No. 3 Sean Russell (120) of Collins Hill, Ga.; No. 2 Ke-Shawn Hayes (126) and No. 20 Will Erneste (132) of Park Hill, Mo.; No. 2 Fredy Stroker (138) of Bettendorf, Iowa; No. 8 Grant Leeth (145) of Kearney, Mo.; No. 7 Daniel Lewis (160) of Blue Springs, Mo.; No. 1 Bo Nickal (182) of Allen, Texas; and Bailey Sutko (285) of Staley, Mo. Results Apple Valley dominates the Minnesota Christmas Tournament No. 4 Apple Valley certainly made a statement to all of Gopher State that their position as not being THE elite team in the state of Minnesota was a one-year thing. At this past weekend's Minnesota Christmas Tournament in Rochester, they lapped the field placing 12 total wrestlers, with seven finalists and scored 292.5 points. Champions for the Eagles were No. 5 Seth Gross (138), No. 14 Dayton Racer (152), and No. 3 Mark Hall (170). Runner-up finishes came from Kyle Rathman (106), Gannon Volk (126), No. 16 Bobby Steveson (182), and Paul Cheney (220). With a second-place finish in the tournament, though it was more than 100 points back of first place, West Fargo, N.D., jumped into the Fab50 at No. 42 nationally. The Packers scored 179 points on the strength of nine total placers, even though only three finished inside the top three of their weight class. Leading the way was a second place finish by Jordan Shearer (132), with third place finishes coming from Jared Franek (106) and Weston Dobler (160). Additional nationally ranked wrestlers to win weight class titles included No. 15 Hunter Marko (113) of Amery, Wis.; No. 4 Tommy Thorn (126) of St. Michael-Albertville; No. 20 Brady Berge (145) of Kasson-Mantorville; No. 1 Ryan Blees (160) of Bismarck, N.D., though it was a much tighter match than expected in the final, as Andrew Fogarty of Scott West held him to a 7-6 decision victory; No. 14 Keegan Moore (182) of Jackson County Central, who moved up five spots in the rankings after a 5-3 victory over Steveson in the championship match; No. 1 Lance Benick (195) of Totino-Grace; and No. 3 Sam Stoll (285) of Kasson-Mantorville. The other notable champion was Griffin Parriott of New Prague, who won the 132-pound weight class. Parriott upended two-time state champion Maolu Woiwor of Apple Valley by 4-2 overtime decision in the semifinal before defeating Jordan Shearer, 3-2, in the final. Shearer was previously nationally ranked. Results Brecksville Holiday Invitational takes place on Sunday, Monday Come Sunday morning, and going through Monday evening, a very deep field of wrestlers will assemble in Brecksville, Ohio for the 53rd annual Brecksville Holiday Invitational Tournament. From the field of 46 teams, approximately 110 wrestlers with state tournament experience -- including 11 who are nationally ranked -- are expected to be a part of the tournament. The leading teams in the field are defending tournament champions in No. 27 Brecksville, as well as No. 19 Davison, Mich. Other teams to watch include Delta, Dayton Christian, Perrysburg, and Grand Rapids Catholic Central, Mich. Two weights in the tournament have a pair of nationally ranked wrestlers. No. 9 Rocco Caywood (Perrysburg) and No. 15 Jordan Cooks (Davison, Mich.) are slated to compete at 182 pounds, while No. 14 Patrick Garren (Bishop Ready) and No. 17 Billy Miller (Perry) are slated at 285 pounds. Additional nationally ranked wrestlers include No. 12 Austin Assad (Brecksville) at 120 pounds, No. 15 Anthony Tutolo (Lake Catholic) at 126, No. 16 Nate Limmex (Grand Rapids Catholic Central, Mich.) at 132, No. 15 Justin Oliver (Davison, Mich.) at 138, No. 19 Alex Mossing (Toledo Central Catholic) at 145, No. 3 Jacob Danishek (Dayton Christian) at 152, and No. 15 Tegray Scales (Colerain) at 195. National No. 1 Blair Academy starts stern dual meet slate After decisive tournament titles in the nation's two best in-season tournaments, the Walsh Jesuit Ironman and the Beast of the East, No. 1 Blair Academy, N.J. now starts its dual meet season. It will be a stern schedule of dual meets with at least seven Fab 50 teams on the docket, and it starts on Saturday when the Buccaneers play host to No. 20 St. Peter's Prep, N.J., at 2 p.m. Below are the projected lineups: 106: Zach Sherman (Blair Academy) vs. Alec Kelly (St. Peter's Prep) Sherman was third in Florida last year as an eighth grader, and placed eighth at the Beast of the East; while Kelly was a match away from placing at state last year, and placed third at the Beast. 113: Requir van der Merwe (Blair Academy) vs. Nicholas Santos (St. Peter's Prep) Van der Merwe qualified for New Jersey state last year and placed eighth at the Beast; while the freshman Santos went 4-2, and was one match away from placing at the Beast. 120: No. 18 Chaz Tucker (Blair Academy) vs. Michael Russo (St. Peter's Prep) Tucker was a National Prep champion last year, and placed sixth at the Beast; while Russo placed sixth at the state tournament last year, and eighth at the Beast. 126: No. 6 Matthew Kolodzik (Blair Academy) vs. Isaiah McGowan (St. Peter's Prep) Kolodzik is a three-time finalist at the Ironman, including his title this season, and is a two-time runner-up at the Beast; while McGowan went 0-2 at the Beast this weekend. 132: Jordan Kutler (Blair Academy) vs. Sonny Simonetti (St. Peter's Prep) Kutler was a National Prep champion in 2012, placed fifth at the Ironman, and was a match away from placing at the Beast; while the junior Simonetti went 3-2 at the Beast. 138: No. 1 Joey McKenna (Blair Academy) vs. Connor Burkert (St. Peter's Prep) McKenna is a three-time National Prep champion, and pulled off an Ironman/Beast double this season; while Burkert placed seventh at state last year and sixth at the Beast. McKenna pinned Burkert in 1:56 at the Beast. 145: Walker Dempsey (Blair Academy) vs. Ryan Burkert (St. Peter's Prep) Dempsey was a National Prep runner-up last year, and placed fourth at the Beast; while Burkert placed eighth at state last year, and was one match away from placing at the Beast. Dempsey beat Burkert 7-5 at the Beast. 152: No. 8 Mason Manville (Blair Academy) vs. Manny Ramirez (St. Peter's Prep) Manville was runner-up at National Preps last year, and won a title at the Beast last weekend; while Ramirez was one match away from placing at the Beast. 160: No. 2 Dylan Milonas (Blair Academy) vs. Stephen Kellner (St. Peter's Prep) Milonas is a two-time National Prep runner-up, and earned a second Ironman/Beast double in three seasons; while Kellner went 0-2 at the Beast. 170: No. 17 Brandon Dallavia (Blair Academy) vs. Luke Leonard/Dean Helstowski (St. Peter's Prep) Dallavia was a Cadet freestyle All-American this summer, and placed at both the Ironman and Beast; while projected starter Helstowski is an well-credentialed freshman, but did not compete at the Beast. 182: Nick DiNapoli (Blair Academy) vs. Jordan Fox/Christian Colucci (St. Peter's Prep) DiNapoli went 1-2 at the Beast; while St. Peter's Prep will start one of two accomplished wrestlers. Fox did not wrestle at the Beast, but placed sixth at state last year; while Colucci was a match away from placing at state last year, and a match away from placing at the Beast at 195 pounds. 195: David Showunmi (Blair Academy) vs. Fox/Colucci (St. Peter's Prep) Showunmi placed sixth at National Preps last year, and finished sixth at the Beast; this includes a 3-1 win over Colucci in the consolation round of 12. 220: Neil Putnam (Blair Academy) vs. Armond Cox (St. Peter's Prep) Putnam was a runner-up in the state of Hawaii last year, and placed seventh at the Beast; while Cox did not compete at the Beast, but was one match from placing at state last year. 285: Will Cooley (Blair Academy) vs. Jose Palomino (St. Peter's Prep) Cooley placed eighth at the Beast, while Palomino placed eighth at state last year but was one match away from placing at the Beast. Other highlights of last weekend No. 1 Blair Academy, N.J., made it fourteen consecutive titles at the Beast of the East, while No. 5 Zeke Moisey (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.) earned Outstanding Wrestler honors after winning the 126 pound weight class. Recap and Results No. 34 Poway, Calif., moved up eight sports after winning the Reno Tournament of Champions. The most notable match result came at 145 pounds, where Tyler Berger (Crook County, Idaho) upended future Nebraska teammate Hayden Tuma (Centennial, Idaho) 2-0 on the way to the title; these wrestlers are now ranked 4th and 5th at that weight class. Recap and Results No. 18 Marist, Ill., upended No. 30 Marmion Academy, Ill., 37-22, as part of a quad meet hosted by Marist on Saturday. Also in the quad meet, it was a battle of three-time state champions as No. 7 Josh Alber (Dakota, Ill.) upended Johnny Jimenez (Marmion Academy) 3-1 in overtime. After a dominant title at the Tri-State Invitational at North Idaho College, Kuna, Idaho jumps into the Fab 50 in the No. 50 position. On Sunday as part of the Agon II event, Lowell upended Davison 34-33 in a battle of top Michigan squads. The teams split the fourteen matches. Davison dropped one spot to No. 19, while Lowell jumps three positions to No. 23. No. 5 Clovis, Calif., dominated the Zinkin Classic at Buchanan High School near Fresno, as they won the event by almost 100 points. The Cougars had finalists in ten weight classes, and produced five champions: Khristian Olivas (132), Brody Brand (170), A.J. Nevills (195), Matt Weiss (220), and No. 1 Nick Nevills (285). Horrendous weather in the Hawkeye State caused some chaos with the Battle of Waterloo. However, it did not impact the performance from No. 36 Waverly-Shell Rock, Iowa, as the Go-Hawks won all six matches by 30 or more points. Additional notes for the week ahead A separate event-specific preview for the POWERade Christmas Wrestling Tournament was posted today. Two top-ranked wrestlers in the country and four ranked second nationally anchor the field individually, while No. 10 Franklin Regional, Pa., and No. 45 Greater Latrobe, Pa., are the top squads in the tournament that will happen on Friday and Saturday. No. 3 St. Paris Graham, Ohio and No. 15 Archer, Ga., headline the over 50-team field slated to compete in the GMVWA Wrestling Tournament, which will take place on Friday and Saturday at the Nutter Center near Dayton, Ohio. No. 4 Apple Valley, Minn., and No. 42 West Fargo, N.D., anchor the almost 70-team Rumble on the Red field. The event takes place Friday and Saturday at the FargoDome. No. 5 Clovis, No. 39 Gilroy, and No. 48 Vacaville headline the field of approximately 80 teams slated to compete at the California Coast Wrestling Classic on Friday and Saturday at Aptos H.S. No. 7 Bergen Catholic and No. 31 Don Bosco Prep headline the teams competing at the Bergen County Coaches Association Tournament in New Jersey on Saturday and Sunday. No. 9 Massillon Perry, No. 17 Detroit Catholic Central (Mich.), No. 21 St. Edward, and No. 38 Claymont lead the field of about 40 teams slated to compete at the Medina Invitational Tournament on Friday and Saturday in Medina, Ohio. No. 29 Robinson, Va., travels to the Manheim Lions Holiday Tournament hosted by Manheim Central, Pa. on Friday and Saturday. Easton has the status of being perennial champions in this event; however, it is a wide open tournament this year. Joining Easton and Robinson, Va. as contenders are Kiski Area and North Allegheny.

Veronica Carlson

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern head coach Drew Pariano and Director of the Ken Kraft Midlands Tim Cysewski announced the pre-seeds for the 51st Ken Kraft Midlands Championships, featuring some of the nation's top wrestlers. The list is subject to change. Brackets will be released on Dec. 28. 125: 1. Jesse Delgado, Illinois 2. Jarrod Garnett, Bison Wrestling Club 3. Cory Clark, Iowa 4. Thomas Gilman, Iowa 5. Dylan Peters, Northern Iowa 6. Nate Tomasello, Ohio State UNATT 7. Ryan Taylor, Wisconsin 8. Rob Deutsch, Rider 9. Kory Mines, Edinboro 10. Joey Dance, Virginia Tech 11. Conor Youtsey, Michigan 12. Jared Germaine, Eastern Michigan 133: 1. AJ Schopp, Edinboro 2. Tony Ramos, Iowa 3. Mason Beckman, Lehigh 4. Joe Colon, Northern Iowa 5. Tyler Graff, Wisconsin 6. Alan Waters, Missouri UNATT 7. Zane Richards, Illinois 8. Geoffrey Alexander, Maryland UNATT 9. Jose Mendoza, CSU Bakersfield 10. Rossi Bruno, Michigan 11. Dom Malone, Northwestern 12. Devon Lotito, Cal Poly 141: 1. Mitchell Port, Edinboro 2. Richard Durso, Franklin & Marshall 3. Adam Krop, Princeton 4. Shyheim Brown, Maryland 5. Matt Bystol, Columbia 6. Laike Gardner, Lehigh 7. Josh Dziewa, Iowa 8. Todd Preston, Harvard 9. Joey Lazor, Northern Iowa 10. Ethan Raley , Indiana 11. Pat Greco, Northwestern 12. Ryan Fillingame, Adams State 149: 1. Jason Tsirtsis, Northwestern 2. Darrion Caldwell, RAW 241 3. David Habat, Edinboro 4. Zach Neibert, Virginia Tech 5. Eric Grajales, Michigan 6. Caleb Ervin, Illinois 7. Mitch Minotti, Lehigh 8. Mike Kelly, Iowa 9. Jake Short, Minnesota, UNATT 10. Gabe Morse, Northern Illinois 11. Blake Roulo, George Mason UNATT 12. Brandon Nelson, Purdue 157: 1. Derek St. John, Iowa 2. Taylor Walsh, Indiana 3. Joey Napoli, Lehigh 4. Isaac Jordan, Wisconsin 5. Nick Brascetta, Virginia Tech UNATT 6. Brian Murphy, Michigan 7. Zach Brunson, Illinois 8. Andrew Morse, Northern Illinois 9. Markus Scheidel, Columbia 10. John Greisheimer, Edinboro 165: 1. Nick Moore, Iowa 2. Taylor Massa, Michigan UNATT 3. Steven Monk, North Dakota State 4. Dan Yates, Michigan 5. Jackson Morse, Illinois 6. Cooper Moore, Northern Iowa 7. Brock Gutches, Southern Oregon 8. Ramon Santiago, Rider 9. Pierce Harger, Northwestern 10. Bo Jordan, Ohio State UNATT 11. Ryan LeBlanc, Indiana 12. Nazar Kulchytskyy, UW-Oshkosh 174: 1. Mike Evans, Iowa 2. Lee Munster, Northwestern 3. Hayden Zillmer, North Dakota State 4. Elliot Riddick, Lehigh 5. Bryce Hammond, CSU Bakersfield 6. Cody Caldwell, Northern Iowa 7. Dominic Kastl, Cal Poly 8. Tony Dallago, Illinois 9. Austin Gabel, Virginia Tech 10. Landon Williams, Wartburg College 11. Scott Liegel, Wisconsin 12. Matt Mougin, Northern Illinois 184: 1. Ethen Lofthouse, Iowa 2. Jimmy Sheptock, Maryland 3. Ryan Loder, Northern Iowa 4. Jake Swartz, Boise State 5. Vic Avery, Edinboro 6. Nate Brown, Lehigh UNATT 7. Ophir Bernstein, Brown 8. Jackson Hein, Wisconsin 9. Nick Vetterlein, Virginia Tech 10. Nikko Reyes, Illinois 11. Sam Brooks, Iowa 12. Dominic Abounader, Michigan 197: 1. Mario Gonzalez, Illinois 2. Christian Boley, Maryland 3. Nathan Burak, Iowa 4. Alex Polizzi, Northwestern 5. Chris Penny, Virginia Tech 6. Braden Atwood, Purdue 7. Nick Whitenburg, Eastern Michigan 8. Joe Rau, Minnesota Storm 9. John Bolich, Lehigh 10. Donald McNeil, Rider 11. James Fox, Harvard 12. Shane Siefert, UW Whitewater 285: 1. Mike McMullan, Northwestern 2. Bobby Telford, Iowa 3. Spencer Myers, Maryland 4. Adam Coon, Michigan 5. J.T. Felix, Boise State 6. Connor Medbery, Wisconsin 7. Adam Chalfant, Indiana 8. Eric Thompson, Grand View (Team name correction) 9. Chad Johnson, Augsburg 10. Adam Fager, Utah Valley 11. Ty Walz, Virginia Tech 12. Ernest James, Edinboro

Related: Results RENO, Nev. -- Jake Sueflohn (149), James Green (157) and Robert Kokesh (174) each won their respective weight division titles to lead Nebraska to the team championship at the Reno Tournament of Champions on Sunday. The Huskers finished with 159 points, which was 56 ahead of second-place Wyoming. North Carolina finished third with 97 points. After Sueflohn took a first-round bye, he won back-to-back major decisions before capping his perfect day with three consecutive decisions. He won the championship match by a 7-1 margin over The Citadel’s Matt Frisch. Sueflohn, the No. 6 wrestler in InterMat’s rankings, improves to 18-3 on the season. Green pinned three of his five opponents in Reno, while adding a technical fall and one decision. He took down Andy McCulley of Wyoming in the championship bout, 9-5. Green, the No. 4 wrestler by InterMat, moves to 18-0 and earns his third tournament title of the season. He won the Warren Williamson/Daktronics Open and Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational titles as well. Kokesh capped his performance with a 3-1 decision over Southern Oregon’s Brock Gutches in the finals. Kokesh added a decision in his opening bout, but earned two pins and two major decision in his other matches. His quickest pin came in the third round in a time of 1:02. Kokesh improves to 20-1 this season. Tim Lambert (125) and Austin Wilson (165) each made it to the finals in their respective weight classes, but ultimately took runner-up honors. Lambert went 4-1 with a major decision before falling to Wyoming’s Tyler Cox in the finals by a 4-3 margin. Wilson opened with back-to-back technical falls before a major decision in the third round. He lost to Corey Mock of Tennessee-Chattanooga, 9-1, in the championship match. At 141 pounds, Anthony Abidin earned a third-place finish, winning a 13-0 major decision over CSU-Bakersfield’s Ian Nickell in his final match. Abidin registered two pins on his way to the semifinals before falling by an 8-3 decision to Joey Ward. Abidin won two matches in the consolation bracket following his lone loss of the day. Spencer Johnson (197) and Collin Jensen (HWT) each finished fifth. Johnson dropped a 3-1 decision to Reuben Franklin of CSU-Bakersfield in his first match of the day, but reeled off five consecutive victories before suffering his second loss. He defeated Upper Iowa’s Carl Broghammer by injury default in the fifth-place match. Jensen pinned his first opponent, but lost in the second round. In the consolation bracket, he won five matches, two of which were by fall. His final victory was a pin in 5:37 over Wayne Purnell of West Virginia. Colton McCrystal (133), Ben Morgan (133), Brandon Wilbourn (165), McCoy Newberg (174), TJ Dudley (184) and Aaron Studebaker (197) also competed at the Reno Tournament of Champions for the Huskers. Nebraska returns to dual competition on Jan. 3 when the Huskers host Wyoming at the Devaney Center. The dual starts at 7 p.m., and will be available on the Big Ten Digital Network. NU’s next Big Ten matchup is Jan. 10 against Indiana. The Huskers and Hoosiers are set for a 7 p.m. start at the Devaney Center, with video streaming on BTDN.

NEWARK, Del. -- No. 1 Blair Academy, N.J., won their 14th consecutive Beast of the East title by almost 100 points. Zeke Moisey (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.) won was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler. Team Standings : 1. No. 1 Blair Academy, N.J. 272.0 2. No. 9 Bergen Catholic, N.J. 164.5 3. No. 7 Wyoming Seminary, Pa. 163.0 4. No. 50 McDonogh, Md. 126.0 5. Nazareth, Pa. 123.5 6. No. 8 Massillon Perry, Ohio 121.5 7. No. 24 Bethlehem Catholic, Pa. 112.5 8. Central Dauphin, Pa. 108.0 9. No. 19 Brecksville, Ohio 104.0 10. Cumberland Valley, Pa. 102.5 11. No. 20 St Peter's Prep, N.J. 101.5 12. No. 47 Boyertown, Pa. 95.0 12. Delbarton, N.J. 95.0 14. No. 23 Don Bosco Prep, N.J. 85.5 15. No. 29 Robinson, Va. 83.5 Outstanding Wrestler: Zeke Moisey (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.) champion at 126 pounds *also earned the most team points award (34.5 points) Medal Match Results: 106: 1st: No. 5 Ty Agaisse (Delbarton, N.J.) dec. Joey Prata (St. Christopher's Va.), 7-3 3rd: Alec Kelly (St. Peter's Prep, N.J.) dec. Nick Lattanze (Malvern Prep, Pa.), 6-1 5th: Jonathan Tropea (St. Joseph Montvale, N.J.) dec. Chris Cuccolo (St. Benedict's Prep, N.J.), 3-0 7th: Aaron Rump (Chambersburg, Pa.) dec. Zach Sherman (Blair Academy, N.J.), 1-0 113: 1st: No. 2 Nick Suriano (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) maj. dec. Luke Karam (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.), 11-1 3rd: Tyshawn White (Central Dauphin, Pa.) dec. Patrick D'Arcy (Holy Spirit, N.J.), 4-3 5th: T.K. Megonigal (McDonogh, Md.) dec. Connor Sheehan (Solanco, Pa.), 1-0 7th: Adam Whitesell (Good Counsel, Md.) dec. Requir van der Merwe (Blair Academy, N.J.), 3-1 120: 1st: No. 7 Scott Parker (Pennridge, Pa.) dec. No. 10 Brent Fleetwood (Smyrna, Del.), 5-1 3rd: No. 13 Austin Assad (Brecksville, Ohio) dec. Steven Simpson (St. Mary's Ryken, Md.), 7-1 5th: Eric Hong (Georgetown Prep, Md.) dec. No. 15 Charles Tucker (Blair Academy, N.J.), 1-0 7th: Anthony Cefolo (Hanover Park, Va.) dec. Michael Kelly (St. Peter's Prep, N.J.), 2-1, tiebreaker 126: 1st: No. 5 Zeke Moisey (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.) dec. No. 2 Matthew Kolodzik (Blair Academy, N.J.), 7-4 3rd: A.C. Headlee (Waynesburg, Pa.) dec. Ben Ross (Pennridge, Pa.), 4-3 5th: Peter Lipari (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) dec. David Bavery (Massillon Perry, Ohio), 3-1 7th: Hunter Bolen (Christiansburg, Va.) dec. Brandon Olsen (Indian River, Va.), 3-0 132: 1st: No. 5 Anthony Giraldo (North Bergen, N.J.) dec. No. 13 Coy Ozias (Christiansburg, Va.), 5-0 3rd: No. 15 at 126 Anthony Tutolo (Lake Catholic, Ohio) dec. Zach Elvin (Central Dauphin, Pa.), 3-1 5th: No. 17 Chase Zemenak (Nazareth, Pa.) dec. Kevin Budock (Good Counsel, Md.), 4-3, ultimate tiebreaker 7th: Zach Valley (Northampton, Pa.) dec. Christian Innarella (Delbarton, N.J.), 1-0 138: 1st: No. 1 Joey McKenna (Blair Academy, N.J.) dec. Cortlandt Schuyler (Manheim Township, Pa.), 9-2 3rd: Clay Walker (Eastside, S.C.) dec. Michael Sprague (Georgetown Prep, Md.), 4-3 5th: Alex Wolfe (Cumberland Valley, Pa.) dec. Connor Burkert (St. Peter's Prep, N.J.), 7-3 7th: Travis Vasquez (Delbarton, N.J.) maj. dec. Peter Tedesco (Belmont Hill, Mass.), 8-0 145: 1st: No. 7 Alfred Bannister (Bishop McNamara, Md.) dec. No. 10 at 138 Patrick Duggan (Cumberland Valley, Pa.), 3-2 3rd: No. 14 at 138 David McFadden (DePaul Catholic, N.J.) dec. Walker Dempsey (Blair Academy, N.J.), 5-2 5th: Cameron Harrell (McDonogh, Md.) dec. Max Good (Cedar Cliff, Pa.), 4-3 7th: Willie Davis (Woodbridge, Del.) over No. 19 Neal Richards (Matoaca, Va.) by forfeit 152: 1st: No. 9 Mason Manville (Blair Academy, N.J.) dec. No. 11 Nick Reenan (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.), 3-1 3rd: No. 17 Casey Sparkman (Massillon Perry, Ohio) dec. Tyler Tarsi (Nazareth, Pa.), 6-3 5th: Toby Hague (McDonogh, Md.) pinned Justus Weaver (Battlefield, Va.), 2:34 7th: Joseph Grello (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) dec. Mikey Springer (Norristown, Pa.), 3-1 160: 1st: No. 5 Dylan Milonas (Blair Academy, N.J.) dec. No. 4 T.C. Warner (Cumberland Valley, Pa.), 5-3 3rd: No. 17 Logan Breitenbach (Archbishop Spalding, Md.) dec. No. 20 Chris Weiler (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.), 6-3 5th: Taylor Misuna (Grassfield, Va.) over Zak DePasquale (Robinson, Va.) by forfeit 7th: Jordan Pagano (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) dec. Kyle Gentile (Pennridge, Pa.), 2-0 170: 1st: No. 6 Myles Martin (McDonogh, Md.) dec. No. 2 at 160 Garrett Peppelman (Central Dauphin, Pa.), 3-2 3rd: No. 8 Josh Llopez (St. Mary's Ryken, Md.) dec. Brandon Dallavia (Blair Academy, N.J.), 6-2 5th: No. 17 Luke Farinaro (Don Bosco Prep, N.J.) dec. Josef Johnson (Delbarton, N.J.), 5-0 7th: No. 10 at 160 Ryan Preisch (Milton, Pa.) dec. Isaac Bast (Massillon Perry, Ohio), 7-0 182: 1st: No. 2 Johnny Sebastian (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) maj. dec. No. 20 Joey Balboni (David Brearley, N.J.), 13-5 3rd: Dylan Wisman (Millbrook, Va.) dec. Cole DePasquale (Robinson, Va.), 1-0 5th: Nicolino Sevi (Nazareth, Pa.) dec. Nick DePalma (DePaul Catholic, Pa.), 6-4 7th: Clay Conway (Sussex Central, Del.) pinned Josh Colello (Cedar Cliff, Pa.), 0:46 195: 1st: L.J. Barlow (Haverford Prep, Pa.) dec. Matt Correnti (Holy Cross, N.J.), 6-5, ultimate tiebreaker 3rd: No. 17 Hunter Ritter (John Carroll, Md.) dec. Daniel Hawkins (Mt. St. Joseph's, Md.), 5-3 5th: Josh Murphy (Brecksivlle, Ohio) dec. David Showunmi (Blair Academy, N.J.), 5-2 7th: Jordan Wertz (Boyertown, Pa.) dec. Desmond Johnson (Chestnut Hill Academy, Pa.), 4-0 220: 1st: No. 8 Jordan Wood (Boyertown, Pa.) maj. dec. No. 6 Zack Chakonis (Don Bosco Prep, N.J.), 10-1 3rd: Matthew Doggett (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.) dec. Stefano Millin (Massillon Perry, Ohio), 3-2 5th: Antonio Pelusi (LaSalle, Pa.) dec. Bo Spiller (Solanco, Pa.), 3-2, ultimate tiebreaker 7th: Neil Putnam (Blair Academy, N.J.) dec. Thomas Ott (Cape Henelopen, Del.), 4-2 285: 1st: No. 2 Thomas Haines (Solanco, Pa.) maj. dec. Kevin Wilkens (St. Joseph Montvale, N.J.), 12-1 3rd: Jake Scanlan (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.) dec. Zack Parker (Caesar Rodney, Del.), 3-2 5th: Andrew Dunn (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.) dec. Wyatt Cook (McDonogh, Md.), 6-4 7th: Jake Pinkston (Robinson, Va.) dec. Will Cooley (Blair Academy, N.J.), 7-2

The pairings have been released for the The Clash XII, which takes place Jan. 3-4 at the UCR Regional Sports Center in Rochester, Minn. Below is a look at the pairings in each of the four brackets. Bracket A (competes on Friday 1/3 at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. CT) (1) No. 2 Oak Park River Forest, Ill. vs. (8) Adrian, Minn. (5) West Fargo, N.D. vs. (4) Mediapolis, Iowa (3) No. 37 Vacaville, Calif. vs. Totino-Grace, Minn. (7) Parkston, S.D. vs. No. 27 Bettendorf, Iowa Bracket B (Friday 1/3 at 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m.) (1) No. 4 Apple Valley, Minn. vs. (8) Thompson, Ala. (5) Jackson County Central, Minn. vs. (4) Glenbard North, Ill. (3) No. 40 Timberland, Mo. vs. (6) Kasson-Mantorville, Minn. (7) Mason City, Iowa vs. (2) No. 20 St. Peter's Prep, N.J. Bracket C (Friday 1/3 at 4 p.m., 6 p.m., 8 p.m. CT) (1) No. 9 Bergen Catholic, N.J. vs. (8) New Prague, Minn. (5) Skutt Catholic, Neb. vs. (4) Hononegah, Ill. (3) St. Michael-Albertville, Minn. vs. (6) Alburnett, Iowa (7) Bay Port, Wis. vs. (2) No. 17 Marist, Ill. Bracket D (Friday 1/3 at 4 p.m., 6 p.m., 8 p.m.) (1) No. 12 Cincinnati Moeller, Ohio vs. (8) Woodbury Central, Iowa (5) Grand Island, Neb. vs. (4) Hastings, Minn. (3) Prior Lake, Minn. vs. (6) Carl Sandburg, Ill. (7) Independence, Iowa vs. (2) No. 13 Bound Brook, N.J. First-round winners in each bracket finish 1st-4th, while losers finish 5th-8th, with each team competing in three dual meets on Friday. Then on Saturday, teams will compete in a round-robin of three dual meets against the squads that finished in the same position they did in the other three pools. 5th-8th compete at 9 a.m./11 a.m./1 p.m. CT, 1st-4th compete at 4 p.m./6 p.m./8 p.m.

NEWARK, Del. -- Blair Academy leads after Day 1 at the Beast of the East. The quarterfinals are set. Team Standings: 1. No. 1 Blair Academy, N.J. 121 (12 quarterfinalists/1 consolation) 2. No. 7 Wyoming Seminary, Pa. 99 (5/4) 3. No. 9 Bergen Catholic, N.J. 92.5 (3/6) 4. Nazareth, Pa. 88.5 (2/4) 5. Massillon Perry, Ohio 78.5 (5/3) 6. No. 19 Brecksville, Ohio 78 (2/3) 7. No. 20 St. Peter's Prep, N.J. 69.5 (2/6) 8. No. 47 Boyertown, Pa. 64 (1/4) 9. No. 50 McDonogh, Md. 63 (4/2) 10. No. 24 Bethlehem Catholic, Pa. 61.5 (3/1) Other Fab 50 teams: 13. No. 23 Don Bosco Prep, N.J. 58.5 (3/2), 14) No. 29 Robinson, Va. 57.5 (3/1) Quarterfinal Pairings: 106: No. 5 Ty Agaisse (Delbarton, N.J.) vs. Thomas Genetin (Massillon Perry, Ohio) Alec Kelly (St. Peter's Prep, N.J.) vs. Nick Lattanze (Malvern Prep, Pa.) Zach Sherman (Blair Academy, N.J.) vs. Chris Cuccolo (St. Benedict's Prep, N.J.) Dan Moran (Northampton, Pa.) vs. Joey Prata (St. Christopher's, Va.) 113: No. 2 Nick Surano (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) vs. Logan Havrich (Cape Henry Collegiate, Va.) Tyshawn White (Central Dauphin, Pa.) vs. Patrick D'Arcy (Holy Spirit, N.J.) Luke Karam (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.) vs. No. 20 Trent Olson (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.) T.K. Megonigal (McDonogh, Md.) vs. Connor Sheehan (Solanco, Pa.) 120: No. 10 Brent Fleetwood (Smyrna, Del.) vs. Austin Smith (John Carroll, Md.) Anthony Cefolo (Hanover Park, N.J.) vs. No. 15 Chaz Tucker (Blair Academy, NJ.) No. 7 Scott Parker (Pennridge, Pa.) vs. No. 11 Luis Gonzalez (Don Bosco Prep, N.J.) Steven Simpson (St. Mary's Ryken, Md.) vs. No. 13 Austin Assad (Brecksville, Ohio) 126: No. 2 Matthew Kolodzik (Blair Academy, N.J.) vs. Sean Button (Kellam, Va.) Hunter Bolen (Christiansburg, Va.) vs. A.C. Headlee (Waynesburg, Pa.) David Bavery (Massillon Perry, Ohio) vs. Ben Ross (Pennridge, Pa.) Brandon Olsen (Indian River, Va.) vs. No. 5 Zeke Moisey (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.) 132: No. 5 Anthony Giraldo (North Bergen, N.J.) vs. Jordan Kutler (Blair Academy, N.J.) Jack Mutchnik (St. Paul's, Md.) vs. No. 15 at 126 Anthony Tutolo (Lake Catholic, Ohio) Zach Valley (Northampton, Pa.) vs. Kevin Budock (Good Counsel, Md.) No. 17 Chase Zemenak (Nazareth, Pa.) vs. No. 13 Coy Ozias (Christiansburg, Va.) 138: No. 1 Joey McKenna (Blair Academy, N.J.) vs. Matt Raines (Fauquier, Va.) Connor Burkert (St. Peter's Prep, N.J.) vs. Travis Vasquez (Delbarton, N.J.) Michael Sprague (Georgetown Prep, Md.) vs. Alex Wolfe (Cumberland Valley, Pa.) Peter Tedesco (Belmont Hill, Mass.) vs. Cortlandt Schuyler (Manheim Township, Pa.) 145: No. 7 Alfred Bannister (Bishop McNamara, Md.) vs. Garrett Tingen (Fauquier, Va.) Walker Dempsey (Blair Academy, N.J.) vs. No. 14 at 138 David McFadden (DePaul Catholic, N.J.) No. 19 Neal Richards (Matoaca, Va.) vs. Cameron Harrell (McDonogh, Md.) Max Good (Cedar Cliff, Pa.) vs. No. 10 at 138 Patrick Duggan (Cumberland Valley, Pa.) 152: No. 9 Mason Manville (Blair Academy, N.J.) vs. Dorian Giantonio (Christiansburg, Va.) A.J. Pedro (Phillips Exeter Academy, N.H.) vs. No. 17 Casey Sparkman (Massillon Perry, Ohio) No. 14 Zach Hertling (Ocean Township, N.J.) vs. Justus Weaver (Battlefield, Va.) Mikey Springer (Norristown, Pa.) vs. No. 11 Nick Reenan (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.) 160: No. 4 T.C. Warner (Cumberland Valley, Pa.) vs. Chris Almony (John Carroll, Md.) No. 17 Logan Breitenbach (Archbishop Spalding, Md.) vs. Zak DePasquale (Robinson, Va.) Taylor Misuna (Grassfield, Va.) vs. No. 20 Chris Weiler (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.) Jordan Pagano (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) vs. No. 5 Dylan Milonas (Blair Academy, N.J.) 170: No. 2 at 160 Garrett Peppelman (Central Dauphin, Pa.) vs. Connor Wagh (St. Paul's, Md.) Isaac Bast (Massillon Perry, Ohio) vs. No. 17 Luke Farinaro (Don Bosco Prep, N.J.) No. 8 Josh Llopez (St. Mary's Ryken, Md.) vs. Brandon Dallavia (Blair Academy, N.J.) No. 10 at 160 Ryan Preisch (Milton, Pa.) vs. No. 6 Myles Martin (McDonogh, Md.) 182: No. 2 Johnny Sebastian (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) vs. Clay Conaway (Sussex Central, Del.) Nicolino Sevi (Nazareth, Pa.) vs. Dylan Wisman (Millbrook, Va.) Cole DePasquale (Robinson, Va.) vs. Nick DePalma (DePaul Catholic, N.J.) Josh Colello (Cedar Cliff, Pa.) vs. No. 20 Joey Balboni (David Brearley, N.J.) 195: Daniel Hawkins (Mt. St. Joseph's, Md.) vs. Desmond Johnson (Chestunt Hill, Pa.) No. 17 Hunter Ritter (John Carroll, Md.) vs. L.J. Barlow (Haverford Prep, Pa.) David Showunmi (Blair Academy, N.J.) vs. Matt Correnti (Holy Cross, N.J.) Kevin Snyder (Good Counsel, Md.) vs. Josh Murphy (Brecksville, Ohio) 220: No. 6 Zach Chakonis (Don Bosco Prep, N.J.) vs. Neil Putnam (Blair Academy, N.J.) Bo Spiller (Solanco, Pa.) vs. Steffano Millin (Massillon Perry, Ohio) Antonio Pelusi (LaSalle, Pa.) vs. Thomas Ott (Cape Henelopen, Del.) Matthew Doggett (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.) vs. No. 8 Jordan Wood (Boyertown, Pa.) 285: No. 2 Thomas Haines (Solanco, Pa.) vs. Wyatt Cook (McDonogh, Md.) Will Cooley (Blair Academy, N.J.) vs. Jake Scanlan (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.) Jake Pinkston (Robinson, Va.) vs. Zack Parker (Caesar Rodney, Del.) Andrew Dunn (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.) vs. Kevin Wilkens (St. Joseph Montvale, N.J.)

RENO, Nev. -- After losing the team title very late in the championship finals last year, No. 42 Poway, Calif., entered this year's edition of the Reno Tournament of Champions hungry to regain the title they had won in 2011. Even though they trailed until midway through the championship semifinal and consolation quarterfinal round, the Titans ended up earning that title without doubt. They placed a tournament-high eight wrestlers, which does not include two additional backups who earned a top-eight finish, on the way to scoring 211 points. Poway was led by the weight class title won by Sergio Enloe at 138 pounds, a runner-up finish from No. 19 at 138 Ralphy Tovar in the 145 pound class, the third-place finish from Colt Doyle at 160, and a fourth place finish from Cody Doyle at 152. Second place team honors went to Pleasant Grove, Utah, which scored 196.5 points. They were led by now two-time Reno TOC champion Zach Dawe, who won the 285 pound weight class with four falls and then an injury default during the third period of his championship bout. Three additional wrestlers earned a placement finish: Nelson Jones (106) was fourth, Kyson Levin (113) finished runner-up, and T.J. Wind (170) was eighth. Third in the standings went to No. 49 Centennial, Idaho, which was led by the weight class title won by No. 6 Jon-Jay Chavez at 160 pounds. The Patriots had five placer-winners in all, including two other top three finishers: Logan Blackwood was second at 220 and No. 4 Hayden Tuma was third at 145. Tuma was upended in the semifinal round by future University of Nebraska teammate Tyler Berger of Crook County, Ore. by a 2-0 score. Berger, who entered the weekend ranked No. 10 up a weight at 152 pounds, then won the tournament with a 4-3 championship final victory over Tovar. That performance anchored a fifth place finish for his Crook County team, which had three other scoring place-winners and 147.5 points in all. Team Standings: 1. No. 42 Poway, Calif. 211 (8 placers) 2. Pleasant Grove, Utah 196.5 (4) 3. No. 49 Centennial, Idaho 174 (5) 4. Mountain View, Ariz. 155.5 (4) 5. Crook County, Ore. 147.5 (4) 6. No. 37 Vacaville, Calif. 143 (3) 7. Pomona, Colo. 134 (3) 8. No. 39 Maple Mountain, Utah 129 (4) 9. Phillipsburg, N.J. 124.5 (3) 10. Cibola, Calif. 122 (4) Finals Results: 106: Tomas Gutierrez (Pomona, Colo.) dec. Ian Timmins (Wooster, Nev.), 8-7 113: Joey Cisneros (Redwood, Calif.) tech. fall Kyson Levin (Pleasant Grove, Utah), 19-4 120: No. 20 Sean Cannon (Green Valley, Nev.) dec. No. 15 at 113 Gionn Peralta (Vacaville, Calif.), 3-1 126: William Olivas (Sunnyside, Ariz.) dec. Boo Lewallen (Yukon, Okla.), 6-2 132: Dusty Hone (Cedar, Utah) dec. Cub Yeager (Locust Grove, Okla.), 5-4 138: Sergio Enloe (Poway, Calif.) dec. Wyatt Sheets (Stillwell, Okla.), 6-2 145: No. 10 at 152 Tyler Berger (Crook County, Ore.) dec. No. 19 at 138 Ralphy Tovar (Poway, Calif.), 4-3 152: Dajour Reese (Chandler, Ariz.) dec. Spencer Heywood (Wasatch, Utah), 5-3 160: No. 6 Jon-Jay Chavez (Centennial, Idaho) dec. Jacob Armstrong (Spanish Fork, Utah), 3-0 170: No. 7 Kimball Bastian (Maple Mountain, Utah) dec. Jake Kocsis (Phillipsburg, N.J.), 7-2 182: Dylan Gabel (Ponderosa, Colo.) dec. Erik Wilson (Fernley, Nev.), 4-0 195: No. 18 Tevis Bartlett (Cheyenne East, Wyo.) dec. Ian Baker (La Costa Canyon, Calif.), 5-2 220: No. 5 at 195 Jeramy Sweany (Vacaville, Calif.) dec. Logan Blackwood (Centennial, Idaho), 7-1 285: Zach Dawe (Pleasant Grove, Utah) by injury default over Chance Eskam (Carlsbad, Calif.)

Lewisburg, Pa. -- The No. 12 University of Pittsburgh wrestling team (4-1) used five bonus point wins to cruise to a 30-12 victory over Bucknell (2-4) this evening at Davis Gym. After the Bison took the first match of the night at 125, Pitt responded by winning the next four bouts with two major decisions, a decision and a fall to build a 17-3 lead. Shelton Mack started the run with a 12-2 major decision over Grimm Gonzalez at 133 pounds. Mack started the match quickly by earning a quick takedown and tilting Gonzalez for three back points to take a 5-0 lead. Following a Gonzalez escape, Mack went back on the offensive and registered another two point takedown to take a 7-2 lead into the second. Mack rode Gonzalez out in the second and was able to secure the major with a point for locking hands, an escape and a takedown in the third. Edgar Bright followed up the Mack win by pickiing up his second major decision victory of the season with a 12-2 win over Connor Lapresi. Bright was on Lapresi from the get-go earning the match’s first takedown less than 10 seconds in. From there, Bright added three more takedowns, an escape and a bonus point for riding time to get the win. The matchup at 149 pounds featured a pair of wrestlers noted for their scrambling ability and the showdown lived up to its billing as Mikey Racciato and Victor Lopez exchanged multiple reversals and takedowns in a fast paced, back-and-forth, bout. In the end, Racciato came out on top with an 11-9 decision to give the Panthers an 11-3 lead. At 157 pounds, Cole Sheptock picked up Pitt’s first fall of the evening over Brenan McAllister. Sheptock earned a 2-0 lead in the first off a nice high single. McAllister started on top in the second but Sheptock was able to escape quickly and get in on a double which he converted and turned into a bar which led to the fall at 4:45. After Bucknell picked up a decision at 165 pounds, Tyler Wilps picked up the Panthers’ third major decision victory of the night with a 10-2 win over Joey Krulock to push Pitt’s lead to 21-6. Eric Nutter, regularly a 157 pounder, bumped up to 184 pounds for the dual and rewarded the Panthers with an exciting victory by fall. Nutter and Tyler Greene went scoreless in the first before Greene started on the top in the second. Nutter, giving up nearly 25 pounds, earned an escape to take a 1-0 lead. The two wrestlers then exchanged shots near the edge which resulted in Nutter winding up on top and Greene’s shoulders on the mat off of a scramble for a pin at 4:28. Nick Bonnacorsi picked up the final win of the night for Pitt with a 4-2 decision over Tyler Lyster at 197 pounds before Bucknell won the heavyweight bout to end the night with a score of 30-12. The Panthers will return to action on Jan. 1 when they compete in the Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, Tenn. Results: 125: Paul Petrov (B) dec. No. 11 Anthony Zanetta (P), 8-7; Bucknell leads, 3-0 133: No. 12 Shelton Mack (P) m. dec. Grimm Gonzalez (B), 12-2; Pitt leads, 4-3 141: Edgar Bright (P) m. dec. Connor Lapresi (B), 12-2; Pitt leads, 8-3 149: Mikey Racciato (P) dec. Victor Lopez (B), 11-9; Pitt leads, 11-3 157: Cole Sheptock (P) pins Brenan McAllister (B), 4:45; Pitt leads, 17-3 165: Rustin Barrick (B) dec. Geno Morelli (P), 3-2; Pitt leads, 17-6 174: No. 7 Tyler Wilps (P) m. dec. Joey Krulock (B), 10-2; Pitt leads, 21-6 184: Eric Nutter (P) pins Tyler Greene (B), 4:28; Pitt leads, 27-6 197: Nick Bonaccorsi (P) dec. Tyler Lyster (B), 4-2; Pitt leads, 30-6 285: No. 17 Joe Stolfi (B) pins Mike Gregory (P), 0:40; Pitt wins, 30-12

DeKalb, Ill. -- Central Michigan extended its Mid-American Conference dual winning streak to seven with a dominant victory over Northern Illinois Saturday, 25-6. The Chippewas (6-4, 2-0 MAC) claimed eight of the 10 matches Saturday, including a 12-3 major decision by junior 174-pounder Mike Ottinger. Ottinger led 2-0 after the first period with a takedown and after escaping to start the second period, recorded another takedown to build a 5-0 lead. The junior posted three more takedowns in the third period to claim the major decision and improve to 13-2 in his first season at 174 pounds. The Chippewas won the first seven matches of the dual to secure the victory, including wins by their trio of ranked lightweights No. 10 Corey Keener (125), No. 11 Joe Roth (133) and No. 10 Zach Horan (141). Senior Scott Mattingly continued the winning ways at 149 pounds despite falling behind early to Gabe Morse. Mattingly trailed 3-1 after a takedown in the first and an escape in the second by More, but earned a takedown late in the second period and escaped to start the third to claim a 4-3 decision. Sophomore Lucas Smith shutout Andrew Morse at 157 pounds, 5-0, and reshirt freshman Nick Becker earned an 8-4 decision over Shaun'Qae McMurty to extend the CMU lead to 18-0 before Ottinger's major decison. Sophomore Jackson Lewis posted the Maroon and Gold's final victory of the night at 197 pounds with a 3-2 decision over Shawn Scott. Lewis trailed 1-0 with under 30 seconds remaining in the match but was able to escape Scott's grasp with 20 seconds remaining and earned a takedown with just nine seconds left to earn the win. CMU is off from dual action until Saturday, Jan. 11 when it will travel to Northern Iowa. The Chippewas will be back in action on Wednesday, Jan. 1 when they travel to the Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, Tenn. Results: 125: #10 Corey Keener (CMU) dec. Braun Marquez (NIU), 8-4; CMU, 3-0 133: #11 Joe Roth (CMU) dec. Nick Smith (NIU), 18-15; CMU, 6-0 141: #10 Zach Horan (CMU) dec. Kevin Fanta (NIU), 3-1; CMU, 9-0 149: Scott Mattingly (CMU) dec. Gabe Morse (NIU), 4-3; CMU, 12-0 157: Lucas Smith (CMU) dec. Andrew Morse (NIU), 5-0; CMU, 15-0 165: Nick Becker (CMU) dec. Shaun’Qae McMurtry (NIU), 8-4; CMU, 18-0 174: #11 Mike Ottinger (CMU) maj. dec. Matt Mougin (NIU), 12-3; CMU, 22-0 184: Caleb Busson (NIU) dec. Craig Kelliher (CMU), 3-2 (OT); CMU, 22-3 197: Jackson Lewis (CMU) dec. Shawn Scott (NIU), 3-2; CMU, 25-6 285: Jared Torrence (NIU) dec. Adam Robinson (CMU), 4-1 (OT); CMU, 28-6

David Taylor won by major decision at 165 (Photo/Bob Mayeri) The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team, under the direction of head coach Cael Sanderson, trekked to Iowa City, Iowa, for a non-conference dual meet with Big Ten rival Iowa. Penn State won the dual, wrestled in front of almost 14,000 fans in Iowa's Carver-Hawkeye Arena while a snow storm rolled into Iowa City, 24-12, winning seven of ten bouts. Nico Megaludis earned a 4-1 victory (Photo/Bob Mayeri)The dual meet began at 125, where Nittany Lion junior Nico Megaludis (Murrysville, Pa.), ranked No. 3, got Penn State off to a hot start with a sound 4-1 win over Iowa's Thomas Gilman at 125. Red-shirt freshman Jimmy Gulibon (Latrobe, Pa.), ranked No. 15 at 133, battled No.3 Tony Ramos into the third period before Ramos got the fall at the 5:22 mark. True freshman Zain Retherford (Benton, Pa.), now ranked No. 2 at 141, used a third period takedown and a long ride out to post a strong 4-2 win over No. 9 Josh Dziewa to tie the bout at 6-6. At 149, red-shirt freshman Zack Beitz (Mifflintown, Pa.) silenced the Carver-Hawkeye crowd with a swift five-point throw as his bout ended, breaking a 1-1 tie as he went on to down Iowa's Michael Kelly 6-1, putting Penn State up 9-6. Senior James Vollrath (Richboro, Pa.) battled top-ranked and defending national champion Derek St. John tough at 157 before dropping a 10-4 decision, sending the dual into halftime tied 9-9. Senior David Taylor (St. Paris, Ohio), ranked No. 1 at 165, gave Penn State a 13-9 lead after intermission with a dominating 12-3 major over No. 4 Nick Moore. Taylor rolled up 4:13 in riding time to post the win. Junior Matt Brown (West Valley City, Utah), ranked No. 3 at 174, then controlled No. 6 Mike Evans with a third period ride out. That, combined with a first period takedown gave the Lion All-American an impressive 4-1 win, putting Penn State up 16-9. Morgan McIntosh won 16-4 (Photo/Bob Mayeri)Senior Ed Ruth (Harrisburg, Pa.), ranked No. 1 at 184, then took care of No. 2 Ethan Lofthouse, rolling to a 12- 4 major with 2:21 in riding time. . Sophomore Morgan McIntosh (Santa Ana, Calif.), ranked No. 3 at 197, then clinched the dual meet win with a dominating 16-4 major over Hawkeye Sam Brooks, putting Penn State up 20-9. Junior Jimmy Lawson (Tom's River, N.J.), ranked No. 12 at 285, nearly pulled off the upset of the night with a third period reversal of No. 3 Bobby Telford. But the Hawkeye was able to reverse Lawson as the final seconds wound down and escaped with a 3-2 win, dealing Lawson his first loss of the season, making the dual final at 24-12 Penn State. Penn State improves to 7-0, 1-0 in the Big Ten (the dual was a non-conference match-up). Iowa falls to 6-1, 0-0 Big Ten. Taylor and Ruth continue to climb the Penn State career charts. Taylor is now 112-3, tied for 15th all-time at Penn State. 105 of his 112 wins are for bonus points as well. He now has 54 dual meet wins, tied for 9th all-time. Ruth moves to 114-2 overall, tied for 13th all-time at Penn State. The dual win marks Penn State's first victory in Carver-Hawkeye Arena since a 21-12 win on Feb. 3, 2006. The Lions won the takedown battle 18-10 and notched three majors on their way to victory. Penn State was without the services of No. 7 Andrew Alton (Mill Hall, Pa.) at 149 and No. 5 Dylan Alton (Mill Hall, Pa.) at 157. The twins are slated for a late December return after off-season surgeries. The Lions will head to Chattanooga, Tenn., for New Year's Day once again as Sanderson's crew will look for its fourth straight Southern Scuffle crown. The 2014 Southern Scuffle, hosted by UT-Chattanooga, takes place on Jan. 1-2, 2014. Penn State's next home dual is set for Sunday, Jan. 12, when the Lions welcome Purdue to Rec Hall for a 2 p.m. showdown. With the full season of Rec Hall duals sold out prior to the start of the campaign, a very limited number of standing room only tickets are available to a few of the remaining Rec Hall duals. People may purchase tickets by calling 1-800-NITTANY or by visiting the Penn State Athletics ticket office located in the BJC. Fans are encouraged to follow Penn State wrestling via twitter at www.twitter.com/pennstateWREST and on Penn State Wrestling's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pennstatewrestling. The 2013-14 Penn State Wrestling season is presented by The Family Clothesline. Results: 125: #3 Nico Megaludis PSU dec. Thomas Gilman IOWA, 4-1 / 3-0 133: #3 Tony Ramos IOWA pinned #15 Jimmy Gulibon PSU, WBF (5:22) / 3-6 141: #2 Zain Retherford PSU dec. #9 Josh Dziewa IOWA, 4-2 / 6-6 149: Zack Beitz PSU dec. Michael Kelly IOWA, 6-1 / 9-6 157: #1 Derek St. John IOWA dec. James Vollrath PSU , 10-4 / 9-9 165: #1 David Taylor PSU maj. dec. #4 Nick Moore, 12-3 / 13-9 174: #3 Matt Brown PSU dec. #6 Mike Evans IOWA, 4-1 / 16-9 184: #1 Ed Ruth PSU maj. dec. #2 Ethan Lofthouse IOWA, 12-4 / 20-9 197: #3 Morgan McIntosh PSU maj. dec. Sam Brooks IOWA, 16-4 / 24-9 285: #3 Bobby Telford IOWA dec. #12 Jimmy Lawson PSU, 3-2 / 24-12 Attendance: 13,747 Records: Penn State 7-0, 1-0 B1G (non-conference dual); Iowa 6-1, 0-0 B1G Up Next for Penn State: at Southern Scuffle, Chattanooga, Tenn., Jan. 1-2, 2014 BOUT-BY-BOUT: 125: Junior Nico Megaludis (Murrysville, Pa.), ranked No. 3 at 125, took on Thomas Gilman at 125. The duo battled evenly for more than half of the opening stanza. Megaludis patiently worked for an opening to score, but Gilman was able to hold off the Lion's early offensive efforts and the match moved to the second period tied 0-0. Megaludis chose down to start the second period and quickly escaped to a 1-0 lead. He then turned into Gilman and began working in on his attack. Gilman got in on a single leg, forcing Megaludis to duck under and grab the Hawkeye's ankle, causing a stalemate at the 1:00 mark. Megaludis then got in on a single right off the reset and steadily worked his way to a takedown and a 3-0 lead with :40 on the clock. The two-time All-American then put together a strong ride, forcing Gilman to the mat and maintaining control for the remainder of the period. The short ride out gave the Lion a 3-0 lead after two. Gilman chose down to start the third period and Megaludis kept control long enough to work his riding time over 1:00. Megaludis maintained control until Gilman escaped at the 1:02 mark. With a riding time point almost assured, Megaludis fought off a Gilman shot, then began working for another takedown. Gilman shot low and Megaludis forced a scramble the killed the clock. The Lion got the riding time point and grabbed the 4-1 win. 133: Red-shirt freshman Jimmy Gulibon (Latrobe, Pa.), ranked No. 15 nationally, faced off against No. 3 Tony Ramos at 133. The Lion freshman battled the fifth-year season evenly until Ramos got a takedown midway through the first period to take a 2-1 lead. Gulibon escaped quickly, cutting the lead to 2-1 and action resumed in the middle of the mat. Gulibon got called for stalling and then the Hawkeye quickly notched two more takedowns to lead 6-2 with :25 on the clock. A short ride out gave Ramos a 6-2 lead with nearly 1:00 in time after one. Gulibon chose down to start the second period and quickly escaped to a 6-3 deficit. Ramos picked up another takedown at the :45 mark, got another point on a stall and then led 8-4 after Gulibon escaped. Ramos chose neutral to start the third period, picked up another point on a stall and then caught Gulibon's shoulders. The Hawkeye got the fall at the 5:22 mark and put Iowa up 6-3. 141: True freshman Zain Retherford (Benton, Pa.), ranked No. 2 at 141, met Iowa junior Josh Dziewa, ranked No. 9. Dziewa came out hot, got behind Retherford and took an early 2-0 lead with a takedown. The Lion freshman steadily worked his way to an escaped and 2-1 deficit at the 1:33 mark, with Dziewa having :43 in riding time. Retherford worked in on a single leg but Dziewa was able to fight off the move with :20 left and carry the 2-1 lead into the second period. Retherford chose down to start the second period and quickly escaped to a 2-2 tie with Retherford having :50 in time. After a stalemate at the 1:31 mark, the Lion true freshman continued to shoot at Dziewa's left leg, forcing the Hawkeye into defense for the next minute. Retherford could not break through Dziewa's defense and the bout moved to the third period tied 2-2. Dziewa chose neutral to start the third period, avoiding Retherford's ride. Retherford got in on Dziewa's right leg off the whistle and steadily worked his way to a takedown and a 4-2 lead with 1:30 on the clock. The Lion freshman then began working strong in the top position. The Lion forced Dziewa to his stomach and continued to dominate the action on top. With less than :30 left on the clock, Retherford worked himself into a position to maintain control for the rest of the bout and walked away with a 4-2 win. 149: Red-shirt freshman Zack Beitz (Mifflintown, Pa.) took on Hawkeye junior Michael Kelly at 149. Beitz quickly got in on Kelly's right ankle but the Hawkeye was able to force a stalemate and action resumed in the center circle with 2:25 on the clock. The duo then battled evenly, with each wrestler taking quick shots. Neither man could finish off a move, however and the clock wound down below :30. Kelly stepped away from one final Beitz shot and the bout moved to the second tied 0-0. Kelly chose down to start the second period and steadily worked his way to an escaped and a 1-0 lead. Beitz fought off a solid high shot by Kelly as the Hawkeye looked to control his shoulders. Action moved out of bounds and reset was called at the :58 mark. Beitz continued to shoot low on Kelly, nearly catching his left ankle twice. But Kelly was able to fight off the moves and Beitz trailed 1-0 after two. Beitz chose down to start the third period and quickly escaped. He then gained control of Kelly's left ankle but Kelly was able to force the action out of bounds and the bout resumed in the center circle tied 1-1 at the 1:13 mark. Beitz continued to shoot and Kelly continued to counter as the clock hit :30. Beitz then hit Kelly with a five point throw, forcing Kelly to the mat, getting the takedown and three near fall points as the bout ended. The swift and stunning move gave the Lion freshman a 6-1 win and put Penn State up 9-6. 157: Nittany Lion senior James Vollrath (Richboro, Pa.) took on top-ranked Derek St. John at 157. Vollrath and the returning national champion battled evenly for more than half the opening period with neither wrestler finding an opening to score. Vollrath gained control of St. John's left thigh at the 1:00 mark but St. John countered, forcing a stalemate with :47 on the clock and the bout still tied 0-0. The bout moved into the second period scoreless and St. John chose down to start the middle stanza. He quickly escaped to a 1-0 lead and then worked a quick shot into the bout's first takedown to lead 3-0 with just over 1:00 on the clock. Vollrath escaped to a 3-1 deficit and action resumed in the center circle. With :20 on the clock, St. John worked his way behind Vollrath and after a short scramble, got another takedown to lead 5-1 after two periods. Vollrath chose down to start the final period but could not break free of St. John's ride until the Hawkeye had over 1:00 in riding time. Trailing 5-2, Vollrath got hit for stalling at the :45 mark then got taken down quickly to trail 7-3 at the :30 mark. St. John added one more takedown and, with 1:24 in riding time, posted the 10-4 win after a late Vollrath escape. The decision sent the bout into intermission tied 9-9. 165: Lion senior David Taylor (St. Paris, Ohio), ranked No. 1 at 165, faced off with No. 4 Nick Moore. Taylor came out of the gates hot, quickly catching Moore's right ankle and notching a takedown less than :20 into the bout. Moore escaped, only to get taken down just seconds later, giving Taylor a 4-1 lead at the 2:15 mark. Taylor began working Moore for a chance to turn him, but the Hawkeye was able to keep from being turned and a stalemate was called with 1:21 on the clock with Taylor still in control Taylor cut Moore loose off the reset and then bulled through a Moore shot, countering for his own takedown and a 6-2 lead with :50 left in the opening period. Taylor rode Moore out and entered the third period with a 6-2 lead and 2:34 in time. Moore chose down to start the second period and escaped to a 6-3 Taylor lead. After a minute in the middle of the mat, Taylor worked Moore to the side, stepped behind him and added another takedown to lead 8-3 after a ride out. With the riding time secured and up 8-3, Taylor chose down to start the third period. A quick escape gave the Lion an 9-3 lead. A quick takedown gave the Lion senior an 11-3 lead at the 1:15 mark. Taylor forced Moore into a stall warning at the :55 mark as he began working for a turning combination. Moore was able to stay parallel and keep from being turned. Taylor's dominating 12-3 major with 4:21 in time put Penn State up 13-9. 174: Penn State junior Matt Brown (West Valley City, Utah), ranked No. 3, met No. 6 Mike Evans in a key battle at 174. Brown wasted no time taking control of the bout, blowing through a high double to take an early 2-1 lead with 2:31 on the clock. The duo then battled evenly after the early flourish, with the score holding steady at 2-1 as the clock worked itself to under a minute. Brown continued to try and set up his offense while Evans was able to defend the Lion's shots. Brown nearly added a second takedown but Evans was able to fight it off and Brown led 2-1 after one period. Brown chose down to start the second period and steadily worked his way to a 3-1 lead with 1:22 on the clock. Brown shot off a reset and Evans was able to block off the effort. The Hawkeye then shot with Brown fighting off the move and the score remained 3-1 in Brown's favor with :45 left in the second. Brown forced Evans into a first stall warning and kept up the pressure for the rest of the period. Trailing 3-1, Evans took down to start the third. Brown made him pay for the decision, putting together a very strong ride as he maintained control for well over a minute and built up a minute-plus in riding time. With :30 on the clock, Brown continued to hold the Hawkeye down. Brown was able to hang on to Evans as the clock hit zeroes and post the 4-1 win with 1:40 in riding time. The victory put Penn State up 16-9. 184: Senior Ed Ruth (Harrisburg, Pa.), ranked No. 1 at 184, met No. 2 Ethan Lofthouse in a highly anticipated match-up. Ruth came out quickly, shooting in and gaining control of Lofthouse's leg. But the Hawkeye was able to counter, nearly turning the Lion to his back in a mad scramble in the middle of the mat. Ruth worked his way out of trouble and a stalemate was called with 1:48 on the clock. Penn State head coach Cael Sanderson then called for a review of an early Ruth takedown and won the appeal. The call gave Ruth a 2-1 lead and the bout was reset at the 2:45 mark. After Lofthouse escaped, Ruth quickly picked up a second takedown and led 4-2 with 1:36 left in a long opening period. Lofthouse fought off another quick Ruth shot but the Lion was relentless, using another high single to take a 6-3 lead with :40 on the clock. Ruth chose down to start the second period and quickly escaped to a 7-3 lead. Ruth forced Lofthouse into a stall warning and then blew through a quick high double to take a 9-3 lead. Ruth then rode Lofthouse out to lead 9-3 after two with over 1:00 in time. Lofthouse chose down to start the third period and worked his way to an escape and a 9-4 lead. Lofthouse shot low but Ruth countered and worked his way out of trouble with 1:15 on the clock. The Lion All-American then used a solid low double to take an 11-4 lead with :50 left to wrestle, clinching the riding time point in the process. Ruth then broke Lofthouse down after a reset and then rode the Hawkeye out to secure the major decision with 2:21 in riding time. The 12-4 major put Penn State up 20-9. 197: Nittany Lion sophomore Morgan McIntosh (Santa Ana, Calif.), ranked No. 3 at 197, met Iowa's Sam Brooks. McIntosh exploded off the whistle, gaining control of Brooks' arm, rolling him over his shoulder and nearly picking up the early pin. Brooks was able to fight off the pin but the five point move gave McIntosh the early 5-1 lead after Brooks escaped. McIntosh worked his way in on a nice low single, getting the takedown to lead 7-1 at the :50 mark. McIntosh picked up three more near fall points after locking up a cradle late in the period and led 10-1 after one. Brooks chose down to start the third period and escaped to a 10-2 score. McIntosh was relentless, however, blowing through a double leg to lead 12-3 after cutting Brooks loose. The Lion sophomore added one more takedown to lead 14-4 after two periods. McIntosh chose down to start the third period and steadily worked his way to an escaped and a 15-4 lead. McIntosh worked his way into control of Brook's right leg but the Hawkeye was able to counter the shot and force a stalemate at the :20 mark. 285: Junior Jimmy Lawson (Tom's River, N.J.), ranked No. 12 at heavyweight, met Hawkeye Bobby Telford, who was ranked No. 3. The duo battled evenly for the entire first period, with neither man finding an opening as offense was hard to come by in the early going. Telford chose down to start the second period and quickly escaped to a 1-0 lead. Like the first period, neither wrestler could find any offense and the bout moved to the third period with Lawson down by one. Lawson chose down to start the third period and, after a bit of work, moved behind Telford for a reversal and a 2-1 lead with :40 left. Lawson worked to keep control of the Telford but the Hawkeye was able to return the favor, working his way to a reversal of his own. Lawson worked the final seconds for a tying escape but Telford was able to keep control long enough the buzzer to sound, allowing the third-ranked Hawkeye to escape with a hard fought 3-2 win.

EDINBORO, Pa. -- Thanks to wins in seven of ten matches, including a fall by top-ranked Mitchell Port, the Edinboro wrestling team, ranked sixth by InterMat and 15th in the latest USA Today/NWCA/AWN Coaches Poll, handed 25th-ranked Rider a 27-9 defeat to hand Tim Flynn his 175th victory as Edinboro’s head coach. The Fighting Scots improved to 2-2 overall and 2-0 in the Eastern Wrestling League. Rider, one of two new members of the EWL along with George Mason, is now 5-2 and 1-1 in the EWL. Flynn took over as head coach of the Fighting Scots in 1997-98, and has compiled a 175-67-5 record. He is in his 17th season as Edinboro’s head coach. The match got underway at 125 lbs. with the only matchup of the day between ranked wrestlers. Kory Mines came in ranked 17th by Amateur Wrestling News and 18th by InterMat, while Robert Deutsch is ranked 18th by AWN. The two traded escapes in the second and third periods and went to overtime tied at 1-1. Deutsch would register the lone takedown on his lone shot of the match with five seconds left for the 3-1 decision. Mines fell to 10-3 while Deutsch is 9-2. Edinboro would run off wins in the next four matches to take a commanding 17-3 lead. A.J. Schopp, ranked second by InterMat and third by AWN, improved to 13-0 with an 8-2 decision over Chuck Zeisloft. The redshirt junior led just 3-2 after two periods before taking control in the third period with a takedown and two more points for stalling, along with a riding time point. Schopp boosted his career record to 85-11. Mitchell Port, who moved up to number one in the country this week at 141 lbs., was tied at 4-4 late in the first period with Rider’s Paul Kirchner before taking a 6-4 lead with a takedown as the period ended. He opened the second period with an escape, then boosted the margin to 9-4 with a takedown. Moments later he ended the match by fall at 3:44. The redshirt junior is now 9-0 with six falls and improved to 73-14 for his career. Dave Habat, ranked seventh by AWN and eighth by InterMat, also picked up bonus points at 149 lbs. with a 10-2 major decision over Curt Delia. It was another match that was close early. Following a scoreless first period, Habat used an escape and takedown for a 3-0 lead after two periods. He used three third-period takedowns to pull away and improve to 14-1 on the year and 80-19 for his career. Johnny Greisheimer built Edinboro’s lead to 17-3 with a 16-3 major decision over Wayne Stinson at 157 lbs. The senior, now 8-5 and with 77 career wins, took a big early lead with a takedowns and six near fall points for an 8-0 advantage after one period. Rider snapped Edinboro’s run with a victory at 165 lbs., as Ramon Santiago, the Collegiate Athletic Association champion a year ago, held off Kasey Burnett-Davis with a 9-4 decision. Santiago, ranked 12th by InterMat and 15th by AWN, trailed 3-2 after one, and the only scoring in the second was a Santiago reversal to give the Bronc a 4-3 lead. He added two takedowns in the third to improve to 8-3, while Burnett-Davis is now 8-3. The Broncs narrowed the gap to 17-9 thanks a 5-2 decision by Connor Brennan (9-4) over Patrick Jennings (5-3) at 174 lbs. Edinboro closed out the match with three straight victories. Vic Avery, ranked eighth by AWN and 10th by InterMat at 184 lbs., won a 15-5 major decision over Jeff McElwee. The redshirt sophomore would record six takedowns to boost his record to 4-1. Vince Pickett followed with an impressive 5-1 decision over 2013 national qualifier Donald mcNeill at 197 lbs. Pickett took a 2-0 lead after one period, then used a second period reversal for a 4-1 advantage. He ended with 4:18 in riding time while improving to 8-3. Ernest James need an extra minute to capture a 3-1 decision in sudden victory over Greg Velasco at heavyweight. Now 9-3, James won his 80th career match thanks to a takedown with 13 seconds left in the extra period. Edinboro will return to action on December 29-30, competing in the Midlands Championships. Results: 125 lbs. -- Robert Deutsch (RU) dec. #18 Kory Mines (EU), 3-1 sv 0-3 133 lbs. -- #2 A.J. Schopp (EU) dec. Chuck Zeisloft (RU), 8-2 3-3 141 lbs. -- #1 Mitchell Port (EU) fall over Paul Kirchner (RU), 3:44 9-3 149 lbs. -- #8 Dave Habat (EU) maj. dec. Curt Delia (RU), 10-2 13-3 157 lbs. -- Johnny Greisheimer (EU) maj. dec. Wayne Stinson (RU), 16-3 17-3 165 lbs. -- #12 Ramon Santiago (RU) dec. Kasey Burnett-Davis (EU), 9-4 17-6 174 lbs. -- Connor Brennan (RU) dec. Patrick Jennings (EU), 5-2 17-9 184 lbs. -- Vic Avery (EU) maj. dec. Jeff McElwee (RU), 15-5 21-9 197 lbs. -- Vince Pickett (EU) dec. Donald McNeil (RU), 5-1 24-9 Hwt. -- Ernest James (EU) dec. Greg Velasco (RU), 3-1 sv 27-9

Corvallis, Ore. -- The No 22/24 Oregon State wrestling team topped No. 36 Wyoming 26-12 in front of Beaver Nation on Friday night. The Beavers claimed victories in seven of the 10 bouts, including major decisions from Joey Delgado and Scott Sakaguchi. The Cowboys jumped out to an early start as Wyoming’s Tyler Cox recorded a technical fall over Oregon State’s Pat Rollins (125), giving them a five point lead. Oregon State then responded with four straight wins. Drew Van Anrooy (133) claimed six points for the Beavers after Wyoming’s Drew Templeman forfeited the match. At 141, Delgado tallied a 10-2 major decision over Cole Mendenhall, extending the Beaver’s lead to five. Sakaguchi (149) kept the momentum going and recorded an 11-1 major decision over Wyoming’s Brandon Richardson, bringing the score to 14-5. At 157, RJ Pena tallied another three points for the Beavs, defeating Andy McCulley by a 4-3 decision. The Cowboys bounced back at 165 when Dakota Friesth narrowly topped Oregon State’s Alex Elder by a 6-5 decision. Oregon State then retaliated with a win at 174 as Joe Latham claimed a 3-1 sudden victory decision over Brent Havlik. Wyoming’s Benjamin Stroh collected another four points for the Cowboys after defeating Oregon State’s Brian Engdahl by a 15-3 major decision, bringing the score to 20-12 heading into the final two bouts. The Beavers finished the match strong and collected the final two wins to clutch a 26-12 victory. Oregon State’s Taylor Meeks (197) tallied a 6-0 decision over Wyoming’s Shane Woods, followed by Amarveer Dhesi (HWT) who topped Leland Pfeifer 9-4 for his first win in front of Beaver Nation. With this victory, Oregon State moves to 4-3 on the season. The Beavers head to Nevada on Sunday to compete in the Reno Tournament of Champions. Follow tournament updates and check results at www.trackwrestling.com or http://rtoc.net/. Scott Sakaguchi on the preparation for the win… “It’s the time now where we concentrate just on wrestling. We had a real good week at training, I felt, up and down the lineup. I feel like it helped a lot and it showed, really, today.” On recording the win tonight… “That’s all it takes, just turning one thing around and it starts a snowball effect; it starts rolling. Hopefully this is what it takes. We got the win tonight and we’ll keep rolling with it from here.” Head Coach Jim Zalesky on the win… “I think our guys looked a little sluggish but they pushed through it… It was a better win and they wrestled hard and they did what they had to do to win.” On Scott Sakaguchi’s performance… “I talked to him and said hey you’ve got to get that first take down. A lot of times it’s been taking him a while to get the first take down, but it seems like when he gets his first take down then he opens up a lot more… He did that today and things opened up for him.” On Amarveer Dhesi’s first win in front of Beaver Nation… “Sometimes, when you haven’t won, you start thinking about the wrong things; it’s a mental thing. Sometimes getting over that hump, getting that first win at home is all it takes.” Results: 125: Tyler Cox tech fall Pat Rollins, 15-0 (OSU 0, UW 5) 133: Drew Van Anrooy forfeit Drew Templeman (OSU 6, UW 5) 141: Joey Delgado major decision Cole Mendenhall, 10-2 (OSU 10, UW 5) 149: Scott Sakaguchi major decision, Brandon Richardson, 11-1 (OSU 14, UW 5) 157: RJ Pena decision Andy McCulley, 4-3, (OSU 17, UW 5) 165: Dakota Friesth decision Alex Elder, 6-5, (OSU 17, UW 8) 174: Joe Latham decision Brent Havlik, 3-1 OT (OSU 20, UW 8) 184: Benjamin Stroh major decision Brian Engdahl, 15-3 (OSU 20, UW 12) 197: Taylor Meeks decision Shane Woods, 6-0 (OSU 23, UW 12) HWT: Amarveer Dhesi decision Leland Pfeifer, 9-4 (OSU 26, UW 12)

For the second time in less than a week, the Chattanooga Mocs took on a ranked team away from home. After just missing a big win against No. 12 Purdue on Sunday, the UTC wrestlers were not about to let one get away at No. 15 Stanford tonight. Fuel by one of the biggest individual wins in school history, Chattanooga (6-4, 1-0 SoCon) posted a 25-13 victory over the Cardinal (8-3, 1-0 Pac-12) in Palo Alto, Calif., tonight. Junior Nick Soto looked like his old self with a dominating 15-8 win over Ryan Mango, the No. 1 ranked 133-pounder in the nation. “We had one of these coming,” stated head coach Heath Eslinger. “I am not any more proud of our team tonight than I was on Sunday, it just feels better getting the win. We competed hard then and we competed hard tonight. Tonight, things went our way and we were able to get over the hump.” Soto was a top-10 wrestler at 133 as a freshman, but dropped down to 125 last season. He has been out of the national spotlight since halfway through his sophomore year, but made a statement with tonight’s win. Chattanooga was down 4-0 after giving up a major decision at 133. Soto came out quickly in the opening three minutes, scoring two takedowns and taking a 5-3 lead. He went up 10-3 after another takedown and back points in the second. He nearly gave it all away in the third, getting caught on his back and barely avoiding the pin. However, he escaped and scored another takedown before the final horn. This was the third win over a top-5 opponent in his career, but the first since his freshman season. “When he gets on guys early, he is dangerous,” stated Eslinger. “He was huge for us tonight. It set the tone for the rest of the match.” That win ignited the Mocs, who went on to take the next six matches. Freshman Michael Pongracz moved up to 141 first his first dual action. He scored a 9-0 major decision over Tommy Pawleski, who was competing up two weight classes, to give Chattanooga a 7-4 lead. Stanford could only score on escapes and penalties in the next three matches. Junior Shaun Greevy defeated Matt Garelli 7-1 at 149, followed by senior Alex Hudson’s 8-1 decision over Brett Baumbach at 157. Junior Corey Mock, ranked No. 7 at 165, put his 12-0 record up against No. 14 Jim Wilson and his 15-0 mark. Mock battled an illness throughout the day, but was able to avoid getting taken down for the 12th time this season. He was up 3-1 late in the third when he was penalized for stalling. Wilson nearly scored a takedown at the buzzer, but Mock fought him off for the 4-2 win. It was Mock’s fourth win over a ranked opponent this season. Rewind back to Sunday when the Mocs were tied with Purdue 15-15 with just the 174 match left to decide the outcome. Junior Levi Clemons gave up a first period pin and the Boilermakers came away with a 21-15 win. Tonight, Clemons continued his tear with his second-straight fall since that loss, making the match dormie with a 22-4 lead. Clemons had just given up back points to Kyle Meyer and was trailing 6-0 in the second period when he escaped and went on the offensive. He quickly put Meyer on his back and scored his third pin of the season. Sophomore John Lampe secured the win with his 7-6 decision over Thomas Kimbrell at 184. Stanford won the last two bouts for the final 25-13 score. This was the second time in the last three seasons Chattanooga has posted a win over a ranked Stanford team. The Mocs defeated No. 12 Stanford 22-15 in Maclellan Gym on Nov. 20, 2011. This was the biggest road wins for the Mocs since a 28-13 win at No. 13 Ohio State on Dec. 17, 2006. Chattanooga will now head Reno, Nev., for Sunday’s Reno Tournament of Champions. This is the final action before the holiday break. UTC will again host the 2014 Southern Scuffle, presented by Defense Soap and Flips Wrestling, on Jan. 1-2. Tickets are on sale now on GoMocs.com. Results: 125: #13 Evan Silver (S) maj. dec. Campbell Lewis (C), 15-3 133: Nick Soto (C) dec. #1 Ryan Mango (S), 15-8 141: Mike Pongracz (C) maj. dec. Tommy Pawelski (S), 9-0 149: Shawn Greevy (C) dec. Matt Garelli (S), 7-1 157: Alex Hudson (C) dec. Bret Baumbach (S), 8-1 165: #7 Corey Mock (C) dec. #14 Jim Wilson (S), 4-2 174: Levi Clemons (C) fall Kyle Meyer (S), 4:27 184: John Lampe (C) dec. Thomas Kimbrell (S), 7-6 197: Dan Scherer (S) dec. Scottie Boykin (C), 6-0 285: Josh Marchok (S) fall Kevin Malone (C), 3:54

Top-ranked Penn State defeated No. 3 Iowa, 24-12, on Saturday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. Read the live blog replay. Results: 125: No. 3 Nico Megaludis (PSU) vs. No. 4 Thomas Gilman (Iowa), 4-1 133: No. 3 Tony Ramos (Iowa) pinned No. 15 Jimmy Gulibon (PSU), 5:22 141: No. 2 Zain Retherford (PSU) dec. No. 9 Josh Dziewa (Iowa), 4-2 149: Zack Beitz (PSU) dec. Michael Kelly (Iowa), 6-1 157: No. 1 Derek St. John (Iowa) dec. James Vollrath (PSU), 10-4 165: No. 1 David Taylor (PSU) maj. dec. No. 4 Nick Moore (Iowa), 12-3 174: No. 3 Matt Brown (PSU) dec. No. 6 Mike Evans (Iowa), 4-1 184: No. 1 Ed Ruth (PSU) maj. dec. No. 2 Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa), 12-4 197: No. 3 Morgan McIntosh (PSU) maj. dec. Sammy Brooks (Iowa), 16-4 285: No. 3 Bobby Telford (Iowa) dec. No. 12 Jimmy Lawson (PSU), 3-2 Penn State at Iowa

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. -- The 16th-ranked Colorado Mesa wrestling team won eight of the ten matches en route to a 36-9 win over the visiting Bethany College Swedes on Thursday night in Brownson Arena. The Swedes came into the dual ranked 13th in the NAIA National poll with seven of their ten wrestlers ranked in the top six in the NAIA Individual Rankings. The Mavericks got pins out of Jonathon Stelling (133,) Daniel Salazar (141,) and Trevor Donarski (157.) Donarski's pin came 24 seconds into the match and gave Colorado Mesa a 21-3 lead in the dual. James Martinez picked up a 4-1 win over Courtney Strauss at 149 pounds. The junior from Rifle had a 4-0 lead after the first period and held on for the final two periods only surrendering a riding time point in the win. Martinez improved to 8-1 on the season. Eighth ranked Chester Granard improved to 7-0 on the season after winning his bout over Matthew Atwood by technical fall, 16-1. Granard scored five points in first two periods before tallying six in the final period. Jordan Passehl picked up a 5-1 win over Zach Anderson in the 285 pound bout. Passehl, ranked eighth in the most recent NWCA National Rankings, pushed his record to a team-high 11-4 this season. The Mavericks improved their season dual record to 3-1 on the season and will return to the mat on January 2 when they battle Embry-Riddle in Prescott, Ariz. 125 Quenton Harrison (BC) dec Erick Vargas (CMU) 4-3 133 Jonathon Stelling (CMU) pins James Lohman (BC)4:25 141 Daniel Salazar (CMU) pins Colt Rogers (BC) 6:40 149 #3 James Martinez (CMU) dec Courtney Strauss (BC) 4-1 157 Trevor Donarski (CMU) pins Jonathon Blackwell (BC) 0:24 165 Jessie Hoffschneider (CMU) maj dec Jordon Ward (BC) 15-3 174 #8 Chester Granard (CMU) tech fall Matthew Atwood (BC) 17-1 184 Scott Verner (CMU) dec Spencer Wilson (BC) 8-4 197 Taylor Baird (BC) pins Paco Retana (CMU) 2:00 285 #8 Jordan Passehl (CMU) dec Zach Anderson (BC) 5-1

ERIE, Pa. -- The Mercyhurst University wrestling team opened up PSAC action on Thursday night at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center with a 34-12 victory over Seton Hill. With the win, the tenth-ranked Lakers (No. 2 in Super Region I) improved to 5-0 and 1-0 in the PSAC. Seton Hill dropped to 2-3 and 0-1 in the PSAC. The Griffins led the dual 12-10 after the opening five matches, but the Lakers outscored Seton Hill 24-0 over the final five to remain unbeaten on the season. Redshirt sophomore Angelo Bortoluzzi secured the victory with a win via fall at 184 pounds, eliminating any thoughts of a Seton Hill upset. The dual meet started at 125 pounds with redshirt junior Ryan Bohince picking up the win by forfeit and a 6-0 lead for the Lakers. Bohince moved to 8-5 on the season. At 133 pounds, redshirt sophomore Kody Young squared off against Andy Schutz. Schutz struck first with a takedown, but Young quickly escaped and answered with a takedown of his own. However, while Young was riding from the top position, a scramble ensued and Schutz picked up a defensive fall at the 2:00 minute mark to even the team score at 6-6. The Lakers then sent out sophomore Dylan D'Urso at 141 pounds to take on AJ Fisher. D'Urso secured a takedown and three nearfall points in the first period. He then added an escape in the second, another takedown in the third and a riding time point to earn a 9-0 technical fall victory. D'Urso improved to 12-2 on the season, scoring bonus points in 11 of those bouts. The win put the Lakers back on top 10-6. However, the Griffins would take the next two bouts by decision to jump ahead of the Lakers, 12-10. At 149 pounds, sophomore Joey Miller took on Kevin Laubach and dropped a tough 4-2 decision. Laubach used two takedowns to secure the victory. The 157-pound bout featured two talented freshmen in Mercyhurst's Francis Mizia and Seton Hill's Zach Voytek. The first period ended scoreless with each wrestler fending off shots from their counterpart. They traded escapes in the second and third period before Voytek struck late in the match with the winning takedown. The Lakers took over from there. Redshirt senior and team captain Clint Schaefer didn't waste any time at 165 pounds against Brett Smith. He got to work right away with a takedown and a three nearfall points in the first period. He added two more takedowns on his way to an 11-2 major decision, regaining a two-point lead for the Lakers at 14-12. With the win, Schaefer improved to 11-3 on the season. At 174 pounds, redshirt sophomore August Mizia picked up a 15-0 technical fall in 3:15 over Tyler Mohlhenrich to give the Lakers a 19-12 lead. Mizia used two takedowns and four sets of nearfall points to secure the victory. Mizia moved to 10-2 on the season. Bortoluzzi then secured the victory at 184 pounds, improving his record to 6-7 with a fall over Tyler Dombrowski at 1:48. Bortoluzzi used two first period takedowns before locking up a cradle and securing his third fall of the season. The win put the Lakers ahead 25-12 with only two bouts left. Redshirt sophomore Brian Beattie took to the mats at 197 pounds against Morris Lawson. Beattie improved to 7-4 on the season with a 5-0 victory. He used a takedown, reversal, and a riding time point to put the Lakers ahead 28-12. Freshman Andrew Welton closed out the dual in the heavyweight bout, needing only 33 seconds to pin Seton Hill's Ryan Simonica for the final margin. The pin was Welton's fifth on the season, which leads the team. He also improved his record to 10-3 on the season. Mercyhurst will be off until after the New Year when they travel to San Francisco, California to take on San Francisco State and Menlo College on January 3. Results: 125 – Ryan Bohince (Mercyhurst) won by forfeit 133 – Andrew Schutz (Seton Hill) won by fall (2:00) over Kody Young (Mercyhurst) 141 – Dylan D'Urso (Mercyhurst) won by major decision (9-0) over AJ Fisher (Seton Hill) 149 – Kevin Laubach (Seton Hill) won by decision (4-2) over Joey Miller (Mercyhurst) 157 – Zach Voytek (Seton Hill) won by decision (3-1) over Francis Mizia (Mercyhurst) 165 – Clint Schaefer (Mercyhurst) won by major decision (11-2) over Brett Smith (Seton Hill) 174 – August Mizia (Mercyhurst) won by technical fall (15-0) 3:15 over Tyler Mohlhernrich (Seton Hill) 184 – Angelo Bortoluzzi (Mercyhurst) won by fall (1:48) over Tyler Dombrowski (Seton Hill) 197 – Brian Beattie (Mercyhurst) won by decision (5-0) over Morris Lawson (Seton Hill) 285 – Andrew Welton (Mercyhurst) won by fall (0:33) over Ryan Simonica (Seton Hill)

The American University wrestling team picked up its first dual meet win of the season, defeating George Mason, 26-10, on Thursday night in Fairfax, Va. "The team showed a lot of heart tonight," said Head Coach Teague Moore. "It's always hard to get back in action after nearly two weeks off and finals, but our team fought hard and the tight matches went our way." American opened the dual with back-to-back victories at 125 and 133 lbs. No. 15 David Terao posted a 15-2 major decision over Bill Prochniewski in the first bout and Esteban Gomez-Rivera followed with 4-3 decision over the Patriots' Vince Rodriguez. George Mason registered the next win but Cole Moseley earned a 4-3 decision over James Hunsberger at 149 lbs. Marcos Peralta picked up a 4-0 decision at 165 lbs. and Keithen Cast notched a 11-2 major decision over Zachary Martinez in the next match. No. 9 Daniel Mitchell and Blake Herrin closed out the dual with wins for the Eagles. Mitchell recorded his fastest fall of the season, pinning Matt Meadows in 2:56. Herrin secured the dual meet win with a 6-3 decision over Jacob Kettler. American opens the new year in Chattanooga, Tenn. at the Southern Scuffle on Wednesday, January 1 and Thursday, January 2. Results: 125: #15 David Terao (AU) major dec. Bill Prochniewski (GMU), 15-2; American leads, 4-0 133: Esteban Gomez-Rivera (AU) dec. Vince Rodriguez (GMU), 4-3; American leads, 7-0 141: Sahid Kargbo (GMU) major dec. Tom Page (AU), 16-4; American leads, 7-4 149: Cole Moseley (AU) dec. James Hunsberger (GMU), 4-3; American leads, 10-4 157: Gregory Flournoy (GMU) dec. John Boyle (AU), 8-3; American leads, 10-7 165: Marcos Peralta (AU) dec. Matthew Stull (GMU), 4-0; American leads, 13-7 174: Keithen Cast (AU) major dec. Zachary Martinez (GMU), 11-2; American leads, 17-7 184: Ryan Hembury (GMU) dec. Jason Grimes (AU), 3-2; American leads, 17-10 197: #9 Daniel Mitchell (AU) fall Matt Meadows (GMU), 2:56; American leads, 23-10 HWT: Blake Herrin (AU) dec. Jacob Kettler (GMU), 6-3; American leads, 26-10

Related: Results The second annual Minnesota Storm Holiday Cup concludes today with competition in men's freestyle and women's Greco-Roman. Watch the action on the live video streams.

The 21st edition of the Beast of the East will be this Saturday and Sunday from the Bob Carpenter Center on the campus of the University of Delaware in Newark. Wrestling starts both days at 8:30 a.m. ET. Competition on Saturday will set up the championship quarterfinals and leave a total of 16 wrestlers remaining in the field for Day 2. The quarterfinals, semifinals, and all consolation up to the medal matches will take place in the first part of Sunday's competition, with matches for first through eighth place starting at 3:15 p.m. ET. A live pay-per-view broadcast of the quarterfinals, semifinals, and championship final is being available by NSide Wrestling and can be found here. Bracket results and updates can be found here. No. 1 Blair Academy, N.J., is the prohibitive favorite to take home a 14th consecutive championship at the Beast of the East, which would be their 18th in all. The Buccaneers will be joined by ten other nationally ranked teams in this prestigious field: No. 7 Wyoming Seminary, Pa., No. 8 Massillon Perry, Ohio, No. 9 Bergen Catholic, N.J., No. 19 Brecksville, Ohio, No. 20 St. Peter's Prep, N.J., No. 23 Don Bosco Prep, N.J., No. 24 Bethlehem Catholic, Pa., No. 29 Robinson, Va., No. 47 Boyertown, Pa., and No. 50 McDonogh, Md. Based on registered participants, and the preliminary seeds, 41 nationally ranked wrestlers are slated to compete in the tournament this weekend. Joey McKenna (Blair Academy, N.J.) at 138 pounds is the lone top-ranked wrestler, while there are five wrestlers ranked second nationally in the tournament: Nick Suriano (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) at 113, Matthew Kolodzik (Blair Academy, N.J.) at 126, Garrett Peppelman (Central Dauphin, Pa.) up a weight class at 170, Johnny Sebastian (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) at 182, and Thomas Haines (Solanco, Pa.) at 285 pounds. Four wrestlers will be seeking to defend their championships from last year: Suriano, No. 10 Brent Fleetwood (Smyrna, Del.) at 120, No. 7 Alfred Bannister (Bishop McNamara, Md.) at 138, and Peppelman; while two others, McKenna and No. 5 Dylan Milonas (Blair Academy, N.J.) at 160 will be seeking to regain titles won in December 2011. The following is a brief summary of the field in each weight class. 106: The top seed is No. 5 Ty Agaisse (Delbarton, N.J.), who placed seventh at state last year and third in the Super 32 in October. No other nationally ranked wrestlers are featured in the weight class, though it does include five wrestlers who earned All-American status this past summer in Fargo including second seed Joey Prata (St. Christopher's, Va.) 113: Suriano is the top seed in this weight class, and was an undefeated state champion last year in New Jersey. He is also a two-time finalist at the Super 32 Challenge, winning that tournament last year before his freshman season. He is a strong favorite in a weight class featuring just one other nationally ranked wrestler in sixth seed Trent Olson (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.), who is ranked No. 20 in the country. Pennsylvania state runners-up Connor Sheehan (Solanco) and Luke Karam (Bethlehem Catholic) hold the second and third seeds. Injury to a pair of nationally ranked wrestlers in Jose Rodriguez (Massillon Perry, Ohio) and Kyle Bierdumpfel (Don Bosco Prep, N.J.) make this weight class more barren than it would otherwise be. 120: Defending Beast champion Fleetwood will have a tough path in order to earn a repeat championship. There are five other nationally ranked wrestlers in this weight bracket; however, four of them are in the other half of the draw. The lone ranked wrestler in his half is the fourth seed Chaz Tucker (Blair Academy, N.J.), who is ranked No. 15 nationally and an opponent that Kolodzik beat 8-7 in the semifinal round this past week. Seeds 2, 3, 6, and 7 are all nationally ranked, in order: No. 7 Scott Parker (Pennridge, Pa.), returning Beast runner-up No. 13 Austin Assad (Brecksville, Ohio), No. 18 Micah Hight (Caesar Rodney, Del.), and No. 11 Luis Gonzalez (Don Bosco Prep, N.J.). The fifth seed in this weight is Anthony Cefolo (Hanover Park,N.J.), who won a state title in 2012 and was a Junior Greco-Roman All-American and Super 32 Challenge placer this off-season. 126: The two nationally ranked wrestlers in this weight have finished as runners-up in past editions of the Beast of the East. Kolodzik, ranked No. 2 nationally, was runner-up last year and is coming off of a Walsh Ironman title last week; while No. 5 Zeke Moisey (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.) was runner-up at this tournament in 2010 and 2011, but missed last year's event due to injury. These wrestlers are the top two seeds in the weight class. Three other returning placers at the Beast of the East are in the weight class: third-seeded David Bavery (Massillon Perry, Ohio), fourth-seeded A.C. Headlee (Waynesburg, Pa.), and seventh-seeded Brandon Olsen (Indian River, Va.) 132: A quartet of nationally ranked wrestlers is in this weight bracket, including the top two seeds in No. 5 Anthony Giraldo (North Bergen, N.J.) and No. 13 Coy Ozias (Christainsburg, Va.). Joining them as nationally ranked wrestlers are fourth seed Anthony Tutolo (Lake Catholic, Ohio), who is No. 15 at 126 pounds; and No. 17 Chase Zemenak (Nazareth, Pa.), who is the seventh seed. Additional returning place-winners in this tournament are Zach Valley (Northampton, Pa.), the tournament's third seed, and seventh seed Christian Innarella (Delbarton, N.J.). National Prep champion Jack Mutchnik (St. Paul's, Md.) is the fifth seed. 138: McKenna, the nation's top ranked wrestler in this weight class, is the lone nationally ranked wrestler in the field. The next two seeds are returning Beast placers in Corland Schuyler (Manheim Township, Pa.) and Clay Walker (Eastside, S.C.) 145: Defending tournament champion, and last year's Most Outstanding Wrestler Alfred Bannister (Bishop McNamara, Md.) is ranked No. 7 nationally and the tournament's top seed. He is joined by three other nationally ranked wrestlers in this weight class, who are also the second through fourth seeds: No. 10 at 138 Patrick Duggan (Cumberland Valley, Pa.), No. 19 Neal Richards (Matoaca, Va.), and No. 14 at 138 David McFadden (DePaul Catholic, N.J.). The next two seeds are National Prep runner-up Walker Dempsey (Blair Academy, N.J.) and two-time Maryland public schools state champion Cameron Harrell (McDonogh, Md.) 152: Five nationally ranked wrestlers are featured in this weight class, and they hold down the top five seeds. That group is led by No. 9 Mason Manville (Blair Academy, N.J.), who was runner-up in this tournament last year. Rounding out the top five seeds are No. 11 Nick Reenan (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.), No. 12 Jack Bass (Robinson, Va.), No. 14 Zach Hertling (Ocean Township, N.J.), and No. 17 Casey Sparkman (Massillon Perry, Ohio). Other notables include sixth seed Toby Hague (McDonogh, Md.), a three-time National Prep placer, and returning Beast of the East placer Chase McDaniel (Cave Spring, Va.), who is seeded eighth. 160: Likewise, it is five nationally ranked wrestlers in this weight class. The top three seeds in this weight are all nationally ranked: No. 4 T.C. Warner (Cumberland Valley, Pa.), 2011 Beast of the East champion Dylan Milonas, and No. 12 Tony Dailey (Massillon Perry, Ohio). The other nationally ranked wrestlers are seeded sixth and seventh, which mean ranked vs. ranked battles in the quarterfinals: No. 17 Logan Breitenbach (Archbishop Spalding, Md.) is the sixth seed, while No. 20 Chris Weiler (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.) is the seventh seed. Seeded fourth and fifth are state champion Taylor Misuna (Grassfield, Va.) and returning Beast of the East placer Zak DePasquale (Robinson, Va.) 170: Likewise, it is a quintet of nationally ranked wrestlers in this weight class. That group is led by defending tournament champion Peppelman as the top seed. The next two seeds are No. 6 Myles Martin (McDonogh, Md.) and No. 8 Josh Llopez (St. Mary's Ryken, Md.); those wrestlers met in the semifinals last year at 160 with Martin winning 1-0, before Martin lost 3-2 in the final to Peppelman. No. 17 Luke Farinaro (Don Bosco Prep, N.J.) is the tournament's fourth seed, while No. 10 at 160 Ryan Preisch (Milton, Pa.) is seeded seventh. Ironman placers Isaac Bast (Massillon Perry, Ohio) and Brandon Dallavia (Blair Academy, N.J.) hold down the fifth and sixth seeds respectively, with Super 32 Challenge placer Bobby Fehr (Northampton, Pa.) holding down the eighth seed. 182: The nation's second-ranked wrestler Sebastian, a two-time New Jersey state champion, holds down the top seed. The weight class's other nationally ranked wrestler, No. 20 Joey Balboni (David Brearley, N.J.) is the second seed. Additionally in this weight class is Dylan Wisman (Millbrook, Va.), the tournament's third seed who placed fourth in both styles this summer in Fargo at the Junior Nationals. 195: The lone nationally ranked wrestler in this weight class is No. 17 Hunter Ritter (John Carroll, Md.); however, the National Prep third place finisher and Cadet Nationals double All-American (Greco-Roman champ) is seeded fifth. The top seed is Daniel Hawkins (Mt. St. Joseph, Md.), a returning Beast of the East placer, who is a two-time Junior Greco-Roman All-American; second seed is Josh Murphy (Brecksville, Ohio), a Junior freestyle All-American; third seed is returning Beast of the East placer David Showunmi (Blair Academy, N.J.); while two-time National Prep placer L.J. Barlow (Haverford Prep, Pa.) is the fourth seed. Other notables in this weight class include Cadet freestyle All-American Matt Correnti (Holy Cross, N.J.), who is the sixth seed; and state champion Anthony Mancini (Salesanium, Del.), the seventh seed. 220: A pair of nationally ranked underclassmen features in this weight class, No. 6 Zach Chakonis (Don Bosco Prep, N.J.) -- last year's runner-up at this weight class -- and No. 8 Jordan Wood (Boyertown, Pa.). Returning Beast of the East placers Antonio Pelusi (LaSalle, Pa.), Stefano Millin (Massillon Perry, Ohio) and Jake Anderson (Malvern Prep, Pa.) are the third through fifth seeds respectively. 285: Thomas Haines (Solanco), a three-time state champion ranked No. 2 in the country, is the lone ranked wrestler in this weight class at the Beast of the East. He is obviously the top seed. Returning Beast of the East placers Kevin Wilkins (St. Joseph Montvale, N.J.) and Jake Pinkston (Robinson, Va.) are the next two seeds, with two-time Junior National freestyle All-American Jake Scanlan (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.) the fourth seed. Super 32 Challenge placer Andrew Dunn (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.) is not listed as a seed.

On Tuesday morning I was evacuated from Juba, South Sudan by Special Forces operating with the Unites States Air Force. The evacuation was in response to violence between rival factions of the Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA) -- the country's main military force. When the violence began Sunday night it was reported that a recently sacked vice president was attempting to manage a coup. As the hours passed and stories started to emerge it was evident that the factions weren't being made along party lines, but tribal. I was in Juba hosting a two-part "Wrestling for Peace" tournament through my non-profit Wrestling Roots Foundation and our partner the John Fetzer Institute. Fetzer, whose mission it is to promote "love and forgiveness" through sports, science, education and other fields, was our primary source of financial support. The first tournament was completed last Saturday and by all accounts was s success. We had more than 8k fans show up to Juba Stadium, including fans and athletes from more than a dozen tribes. In the moment, the tournament was a snapshot into the country's hope to evolve from tribe-focused difference, to South Sudanese nationalism and cultural similarity. There is much more to write out about what happened in Juba, but for now it's too fresh to detail with competency or care. (I'm writing this on the plane ride home to the states.) This was a major diplomatic event that requires vigilance in retelling. However, one thing is certain: We're lucky to have a blue passport that reads United States of America. As the Air Force landed their C-130's and used their Special Forces unit to set up a perimeter in the tall grass surrounding the runway, there were others in Juba -- those dedicated to promoting peace, love and forgiveness -- who were stuck inside a city in the grip of violence, death and insecurity. My friends lost members of their family and have seen their homes hit by tank fire, RPG's and the spray of bullets from AK-47's. I was carried out unharmed by our Armed Forces, and for that I'm fortunate and grateful. I'll bring you much more about our friends, the tournament and the violence in Juba over the next several weeks. Until then, please keep South Sudan in your thoughts. More than most any place on the planet, the people there are in need of a Christmas miracle. To your questions ... Q: When I was a kid it was always fun to see a growing field of old and young talent at the Midlands. Why do you think not as many older wrestlers are entering? -- Eric L. Foley: Wrestling hurts! You may remember that I gave this tournament another chance in 2011 and was handily defeated in two of three matches by wrestlers who were in much better shape. Conditioning is a large component of being a successful collegiate wrestler, and if you're like me and of modest talent, but not training, stepping onto a mat with a 20-year-old who is four months sober, wrestling six-times a week and lifting every other day, will likely end with a darkening glimpse of the rafters. Thought there is some great talent showing at this year's event. Your question reminds me that we need to find a more democratic and inviting form of wrestling for our former wrestlers with the physical and mental want to compete. As always, I think it's a takedown-only style that we see across the world. This extends wrestling from a sport with a primary age focus of 10-22, into one that is for 10-45. Wrestling is fun. We just have to learn to relax the focus on mega-conditioning for the old farts like myself who don't mind a few minutes of sparring, but can't absorb four seven-minute matches on a Saturday. Q: You recently answered a question about coaches who are "program builders." I'll take it a step further. Which current wrestler (NCAA or National Team pool) will be a future coaching superstar? In other words, who will be the next Cael Sanderson or John Smith? David Taylor? Kyle Dake? Jordan Burroughs? -- DZ Foley: You mentioned the greatest freestyle wrestler in American history and the greatest collegiate wrestler in American history, leaving me to think that the next great coach will need a similar background. Jordan Burroughs, who is undefeated through 67 matches and owns three World titles, is starting to fit into that schematic. He's engaging which is helpful, and from what I know of him as a person and a wrestler he's a hard worker and polite. He's my second choice. My top choice might be Kyle Dake, if only because he's seen Rob Koll do it firsthand and is one of the most popular, and fiercely-competitive wrestlers in the world. Though it would be a big cut, it's conceivable that Dake could make a World team at 70 kilos and later challenge Burroughs again for 74 kilos. That would give him the international street cred, but he's already secured an argument for GOAT after his recent 4-4-4 at the collegiate level. Q: An interesting article about the demise of BU wrestling. I wrestled for Coach Adams years ago and have a lot of respect for the man. I also accepted your premise that he just did not do enough to show the administration that the program is still relevant. This article, however, takes a different and interesting spin on events, speculating that the program being dropped had more to do with corporate sponsorship and the promotion of lacrosse. Now if Coach Adams was more of an innovator and marketer it likely would never have come to where things are today. If you have time and are interested, please take a read as I would be interested in your thoughts. -- Jordan B Foley: I'm hesitant to absolve Boston University and its alumni for not creating a more profitable and exciting program at Boston. The components were/are there and if there was more vigilance much of what is transpiring never would have occurred. That aside, the idea that Boston would sell off wrestling in favor of a shoe contract for their new lacrosse program is infuriating. The main rub is that the school won't come out and admit that there was a calculus for creating the decision to drop wrestling, that had been influenced by the New Balance cash. Was it illegal? Doubtful. Immoral? Welcome to the NCAA. Lacrosse is a rapidly growing sport in the Northeast, where this is a high concentration of wealth and a population of mothers and fathers keeping their kids off the football field to avoid head traumas. Lacrosse is a more controlled sport with less physicality. Lacrosse is also a culture, and with the long hair and bro-isms comes a mini-economy of gear sales, clothing companies and shoes. Lacrosse is easy to commoditize and thus is more attractive to the school. Wrestling still hasn't figured out how to profit from its culture. We are a lower to middle income sport, but the problem really stems from traditionalism and an unwillingness to adapt. Boston wrestling can't be blamed for that cultural failure, but parallels can be seen in the pre-decision apathy of the alumni and coaching staff in wanting to create new revenue, or excitement about the program. Q: Did you know the BU-Penn State match at BU was a sellout and the largest crowd ever to witness any sporting event (including basketball) at Case Gym? -- Pat D. Foley: That is a great 'did you know!' Despite my tough feelings on the matter, I do hope we can see Boston take the mats for the 2014-2015 season and beyond. MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME Link: South Sudan: On the brink of collapse? Q: As an advocate for women's wrestling I wanted to thank you for all of the coverage and work that you do for the future of the sport. I also believe that the women's side is the future for wrestling. I know of a coach that is trying to build a women's program smack dab in the middle of Pennsylvania, and maybe you have heard of him. His name is Terry Fike. He coaches a women's club team at Lock Haven University. It's called Women's Wrestling Project. Terry has a Facebook page for this and a website. -- Beau E. Foley: I'm going to send Terry an email. This is a great step forward and indicative of a culture that is starting, albeit slowly, to accept that women are wrestlers, too! It's still my opinion that when the wrestling community embraces the participation of women, we'll see a rapid rise in participation and some support for our men's programs that often don't have a companion sport to keep them off the radar of Title IX lawyers. Pennsylvania is the right place to focus these developments. Coaches, parents, friends and family have all grown up with the sport and respect the winners within -- male or female. Kyle Dake and David Taylor's rivalry, which started when they were young, has continued on after college wrestling (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Q: What are or were some the great individual rivalries in the sport? I ask because last year there was a lot of hype around David Taylor and Kyle Dake but as great and strategic as those matches were, they ended in Dake victories. It's looking like Howe and Dake might be a pretty good in the coming years but I think we will see in time. But are there some really good true rivalries? -- Marcus R. Foley: The Taylor-Dake rivalry was an organic phenomenon that won't be repeated again soon, but here are some that might reach that level, or have the ingredients. I realize most of these are just the top two wrestlers, but they are all competitive matchups that could heat up in the second half of the year due to proximity, name ID or past history. 125: Jesse Delgado (Illinois) vs. Nico Megaludis (Penn State) 133: Tony Ramos (Iowa) vs. A.J. Schopp (Edinboro) 141: Zain Retherford (Penn State) vs. Logan Stieber (Ohio State) 149: None. Weight class is too wide open. 157: Derek St. John (Iowa) vs. Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) 165: None. Taylor is too dominant. 174: Chis Perry (Oklahoma State) vs. Andrew Howe (Oklahoma) 184: None. Ruth is too dominant. 197: Taylor Meeks (Oregon State) vs. Scott Shiller (Minnesota) 285: Mike McMullan (Northwestern) vs. Tony Nelson (Minnesota) Q: What are the current NCAA uniform guidelines regarding wearing a singlet in competition? I am guessing that a team would be prohibited from wearing fight shorts for a dual meet, but could a wrestler wear fight shorts while competing at Midlands? How about an open preseason tournament? -- Matt T. Foley: Wrestlers are still able to wear a doublet, which is spandex shorts and a spandex rash guard. However, I think that just makes for more material rather than a more conservative look. Midlands doesn't allow fight shorts, and I haven't heard of any preseason tourneys that are allowing this sensible solution to our sport's uniform crisis. COMMENT OF THE WEEK By RT I was fortunate to attend the Cliff Keen in Lost Wages, Nevada. There were some great matches. My top five performances: 1. Robert Kokesh giving Andrew Howe all he could handle. 2. Daniel Mitchell taking down Taylor Meeks. 3. Johnni DiJulius handling Joe Colon and then pinning Cody Brewer. 4. Brian Realbuto giving James Green all he could handle. 5. Logan Stieber's two-minute tech fall in the finals. My biggest disappointments: 1. Devin Carter's season-ending injury, mainly for Carter himself but also for the fans that were anticipating a Stieber-Carter final. 2. The often classless behavior of some members of a Big Ten program's coaching staff. During many of this team's matches I watched, certain coaches were consistently whining about calls, stepping onto the mat during matches, seemingly trying to intimidate opposing coaches, and confronting the referees. I understand passion from coaches (my college coach was an NCAA champ and he would be often be on the floor next to the mat during our matches -- literally wrestling them with us!) However, he had class and would argue only egregious calls. One of the many great qualities of wrestling (and especially wrestling as a character builder for kids) is the ZERO tolerance for the kind of punkish behavior we see on football fields and during other sports. I know the rules of sportsmanship for wrestlers but am curious about the rules for coaches? Seems to me it would have been appropriate for the Cliff Keen refs to reprimand certain coaches for their inappropriate behavior. InterMat senior writer T.R. Foley answers reader questions about NCAA wrestling, international wrestling, recruiting, or anything loosely related to wrestling. Questions can be sent to Foley's email account or Twitter. Do you want to read a past mailbag? Access archives.

BOONE, N.C. -- The NC State wrestling team returned to action Thursday night, capturing a pair of dual wins at Boone, N.C. The Wolfpack (7-1) downed Cleveland State 35-3, then defeated Appalachian State 28-6. The Pack started the evening with a 35-3 win over Cleveland State. NC State won nine of the 10 matches, including four bonus point wins. Redshirt sophomore Nick Gwiazdowski (285) and freshman Max Rohskopf (157) both recorded pins, while redshirt senior KaRonne Jones (197) posted a 22-9 major decision as did freshman Chris Wilkes (133) with his 20-6 win. NC State picked up a second win by defeating host Appalachian State 28-6. The Mountaineers picked up a win at 125 pounds to start, but the Pack's Chris Wilkes (133) and Sam Speno both posted their second wins of the day to give the Pack a 6-3 lead. After another Mountaineer victory at 149, NC State closed out the match with six straight wins highlighted by Gwiazdowski's second pin at 285 and Jones' second major decision at 197. The Pack will return to action Jan. 1, competing in the prestigious Southern Scuffle. NC State 35, Cleveland State 3 125: Marshall Brown (NCSU) dec. John Martin; 4-3 133: Chris Wilkes (NCSU) major decision Dan King; 20-6 141: Sam Speno (NCSU) dec. Mike Carlone; 9-4 149: R.J. LaBeef (CSU) dec. Cohl Fulk; 10-7 157: Max Rohskopf (NCSU) fall Nick Montgomery; 3:47 165: Dylan Ceravalo (NCSU) dec. Matt Donohoe; 11-6 174: Pete Renda (NCSU) dec. Nick Corba; 2-0 184: Michael Macchiavello (NCSU) dec. Xavier Dye; 9-7 197: KaRonne Jones (NCSU) major decision Ray Stone; 22-9 285: Nick Gwiazdowski (NCSU) fall Riley Shaw; 4:05 NC State 28, Appalachian State 6 125: Dominic Parisi (ASU) dec. Micah Perez; 7-3 133: Chris Wilkes (NCSU) dec. Chris Johnson; 6-2 141: Sam Speno (NCSU) dec. Jake Smith; 3-0 149: Dylan Cottrell (ASU) dec. Brian Hamann; 13-11 157: Tommy Gantt (NCSU) dec. Nick Hall; 9-6 165: Nijel Jones (NCSU) dec. Zach Strickland; 6-1 174: Pete Renda (NCSU) dec. Colin Hedash; 3-2 184: Shayne Brady (NCSU) dec. Nick Vetell; 2-1 197: KaRonne Jones (NCSU) major decision Kacee Hutchinson; 11-2 285: Nick Gwiazdowski (NCSU) fall Denzel Dejournette; 2:05

KENT, Ohio -- After taking a 15-3 lead at the halfway mark, the No. 9 Ohio State wrestling team maintained its impressive performance and defeated Kent State, 27-6, Thursday night at the M.A.C. Center. With the win, the Buckeyes improve to 5-1 overall. The match vs. the Golden Flashes served as Ohio State’s final event of 2013. The Buckeyes will resume action Jan. 10 at Wisconsin, while their first home match of 2014 in St. John Arena is against Nebraska at 7 p.m. Jan. 24. Redshirt freshman and 125 pounder Nick Roberts, polled No. 19 in the nation propelled Ohio State to a 5-0 lead after he shut out Del Vinas, 16-0. After two periods, Roberts took a commanding 9-0 lead over Vinas and added a pair of takedowns, back points and escape en route to his 19th win of the season. Johnni DiJulius, the sixth-ranked 133-pounder in the nation, edged No. 19 Mack McGuire, 3-1, in the first tiebreaker. After a scoreless first period, DiJulius chose bottom and escaped to take a 1-0 lead. However, McGuire managed to accrue 1:17 of riding time to send the bout into overtime. As time expired in the extra session and both wrestlers still scoreless, McGuire chose top. It was not long after, DiJulius scored a reversal for a 3-1 lead and after preventing McGuire from escaping won his 16th match of the season. With the Buckeyes winning, 8-0, redshirt junior and No. 3 Logan Stieber lifted Ohio State to a 12-0 advantage after recording a 10-0 major decision against No. 18 Tyler Small in the 141-pound match up. After owning a 9-0 lead heading into the third period, an escape in the third by Stieber gave the Buckeye his 10th win, all bonus point victories, of the season. Up next, at 149 pounds, senior and No. 20 Ian Paddock was an 11-6 winner over 26th-ranked Mike DePalma. Paddock jumped out to a 5-0 lead after the first period on a takedown and 3-point nearfall. However, a trio of takedowns by DePalma in the second period cut Paddock’s lead to one at 7-6. Entering the final period with a 9-6 lead, Paddock sealed his 17th win of the season with a final takedown. The Golden Flashes were able to get on the board behind No. 8 Ian Miller’s 11-4 win over redshirt junior Randy Languis in the 157-pound bout. After a brief intermission, Kent State won its second-consecutive match of the evening when Tyler Buckwalter defeated Joe Grandominico, 9-5, at 165 pounds. Ohio State answered the back-to-back setbacks with four consecutive victories from 174 pounds to heavyweight. In the 174-pound match up, Mark Martin beat No. 20 Caleb Marsh, 4-2. The Buckeye sophomore scored a takedown in the final seconds of the match to break a 2-2 tie and recorded his 17th win of the season. Not to be outdone, redshirt sophomore Kenny Courts, who is ranked 12th in the nation, won a dramatic 11-10 match vs. No. 17 Sam Wheeler. Up, 7-4, to start the third period, Courts gave up a reversal before escaping, putting the score at 8-6 in Courts’ favor. Wheeler tied the score on a takedown, but Courts escaped, holding on to a slim 9-8 advantage. Courts then scored a takedown, but Wheeler followed with a reversal, however it was not enough as Courts added his 18th victory of the season. Fifth-ranked Nick Heflin was a 3-2 winner over Cole Baxter at 197 pounds. The Buckeye senior scored the winning takedown in the third period after both wrestlers were tied at one each. With Heflin up 3-1, Baxter scored an escape, but that was all he could managed. The win served as Heflin’s 10th of the season. Nick Tavanello’s 3-1 victory over Mimmo Lytle wrapped up the Buckeyes’ successful evening. After a scoreless first period, Tavanello chose bottom and escaped and with 10 seconds left in the period scored a takedown for a 3-0 lead. Lytle scored an escape in the third, but could not add any additional points as Tavanello won his 16th match of the season. Results: 125: No. 19 Nick Roberts (OSU) tech. fall Del Vinas (KSU), 16-0 133: No. 6 Johnni DiJulius (OSU) dec. No. 19 Mack McGuire (KSU), 3-1 TB 141: No. 3 Logan Stieber (OSU) maj. dec. Tyler Small (KSU), 10-0 149: No. 20 Ian Paddock (OSU) dec. Mike DePalma (KSU), 11-6 157: No. 8 Ian Miller (KSU) dec. Randy Languis (OSU), 11-4 165: Tyler Buckwalter (KSU) dec. Joe Grandominico (OSU), 9-5 174: Mark Martin (OSU) dec. No. 20 Caleb Marsh (KSU), 4-2 184: No. 12 Kenny Courts (OSU) dec. No. 17 Sam Wheeler (KSU), 11-10 197: No. 5 Nick Heflin (OSU) dec. Cole Baxter (KSU), 3-2 285: Nick Tavanello (OSU) dec. Mimmo Lytle (KSU), 3-1