InterMat Staff

ALLEN, TEXAS -- California Baptist established a lead with its strength in the lighter weights, then held off McKendree in a thrilling race of All-American one-upmanship as the Lancers won their second National Collegiate Wrestling Association Championships here. The Lancers totaled nine All-Americans out of their 13 qualifiers, and each made the difference in their 145.5 points that edged McKendree’s six All-Americans and 137 points. Fittingly, the tournament results came down to the heavyweight match, where CBU’s Zach Merrill sealed the title with a 3-0 win over Ross Janney of McKendree. That ended a rush of points for both squads that saw each team score All-American (top eight) finishes in five of the last six weight classes. McKendree had the higher finishes during the impressive run, but the Lancers’ three additional All-Americans earlier in the tournament were the difference. Liberty took third not far behind with 130.5 points, and Lindenwood-St. Charles was fourth at 128.5. Grand Valley State was an underdog leader on the first day, and closed the tournament in fifth place with 92.5 points and with five All-Americans. Cal Baptist, last year’s runner-up behind Notre Dame College, scored a double-dip at 141 pounds when Bradford Gerl won the national title at 141 pounds, and Miguel Gallegos took eighth. That followed a string of wins in the lightweights that saw Taylor Hall take fourth at 125 pounds and Dakota Thayer take third at 133 that pushed the Lancers to the top of the standings following Friday’s semifinals. CBU started another scoring spree in the finals rounds at 165 when Anthony Ballinger took seventh, followed by similar finishes from Kenneth Tribble at 174 and Paul Head at 184. David Dill took fifth at 197 to set up the deciding heavyweight match. McKendree, which placed ninth last year, kept pace on the final day with high finishes in a spree of their own, but could not make up the difference. Brendan Murphy put McKendree in first place for a spell when he won the national title at 133. But the Bearcats hit a lull in the middle weights that allowed Cal Baptist to regain the lead. McKendree’s run began at 165, where Nic Haferkamp took fifth. Isaiah Gonzalez placed third at 174, and Luis Alba fourth at 184 as the Bearcats matched Cal Baptist’s All-American finishes. Julian Smith earned the Bearcats’ second national title of the day at 197 pounds, just before Janney settled for second in the heavyweight title match. Liberty scored seven All-Americans, along with a national title from Andrew Wilson at 235 pounds. The Flames entered the tournament tied with the most qualifiers with 17, but did not have the depth to keep up with CBU. Still, six of the Lancers’ seven All-Americans placed in the top four – Marcus Miller (2nd, 157), Robert Clymer (3rd, 165), Keyshaun Ward (4th, 174), Royal Brettrager (3rd, 184) and Aaron Thompson (2nd, 197). Lindenwood-St. Charles had the lead in the team standings on Friday, based on the success of its middleweights. Derrick Weller finished as the national champion at 149 pounds, and Luke Roth took home the 165 title. Craig Chiles was second at 141 in a double-dip effort with Jacob Janes, who placed fifth. Matthew Greene placed fifth at 174 pounds, but was the last of the Lions to have an All-American finish. Blayne Shockley took third, Brendan Caldwell was fourth, and Cullen Halpin eighth among the other Lindenwood All-Americans. MIT stole the show in the Division II race, garnering 50.5 points behind a national champion and another third-place finish. The Engineers placed 12th in the overall tournament scoring. Sam Shames won the 125-pound title with an 11-6 win in the title match. Ryan Madson finished off his four-time All-American career in fourth place at 157. South Carolina’s three-headed beast of Mike Ahearn (165), Ben Brummel (184) and Ike Okoli (285) finished second in the Division II standings. Brummel was the national title, and Okoli ended up fifth. Ahearn had to give up an injury default to McKendree’s Haverkamp in the quarterfinals. Haverkamp would up fifth. Among the other national champions, Santiago Martinez of Central Florida won the national title at 157, and Larry Lanier of Lindenwood-Belleville took the 174 trophy. In the women’s division, Southwestern Oregon Community College ran away with a second straight national title, earning 139 points to more than double Lindenwood-Belleville’s 64.5. The NCWWA had its deepest field of teams in the five years the national tournament has been held. NCWA FINALS MATCH RESULTS 125 lbs. – Sam Shames, MIT, def. Brenden Campbell, U.S. Naval Academy Prep, 11-6 133 lbs. – Brendan Murphy, McKendree, def. Chris Caton, U.S. Air Force Academy Prep, 8-5 141 lbs. – Bradford Gerl, California Baptist, def. Craig Chiles, Lindenwood-St. Charles, by fall 1:44 149 lbs. – Derrick Weller, Lindenwood-St. Charles, def. Matt Vaughn, Central Florida, 5-0 157 lbs. – Santiago Martinez, Central Florida, def. Marcus Miller, Liberty, 2-1 165 lbs. – Luke Roth, Lindenwood-St. Charles, def. Tony Risaliti, U.S. Military Academy Prep, by fall 3:24 174 lbs. – Larry Lanier, Lindenwood-Belleville, def. Marvin Lawrence, Marion Military Inst., 5-3 184 lbs. – Ben Brummel, South Carolina, def. Terrance Smith, Marion Military Inst., 4-2 197 lbs. – Julian Smith, McKendree, def. Aaron Thompson, Liberty, 3-2 235 lbs. – Andrew Wilson, Liberty, def. Dustin Fullerton, Lindenwood-Belleville, 3-2 285 lbs. – Zach Merrill, California Baptist, def. Ross Janney, McKendree, 3-0 TEAM SCORES DIVISION I 1. California Baptist .............................145.5 2. McKendree ..........................................137 3. Liberty ..............................................130.5 4. Lindenwood - St. Charles ................128.5 5. Grand Valley State .............................92.5 6. U.S. Naval Academy Prep .................90.5 7. Lindenwood - Belleville .......................88 8. Central Florida ......................................87 9. Apprentice .............................................65 10. Mercer ..............................................60.5 11. Marion Military Inst..........................58.5 12. Md. - Baltimore County.......................50 13. U.S. Air Force Academy Prep ............48 14. Penn State - Dubois .............................36 15. U.S. Military Academy Prep ...............28 16. West Chester .......................................26 17. New Hampshire ...............................21.5 18. Middle Tennessee ............................20.5 19. North Florida .......................................20 20. Penn College .......................................19 21. Douglas College ..................................17 22. Wichita State .......................................14 23. Mott Community College .....................5 24. Penn State - Greater Allegheny ..........4.5 25. Penn State - New Kensington ...............4 26. Georgia Southern................................3.5 27t. Southern Virginia..................................3 27t. Williamson School................................3 29. East Tennessee State..............................2 30. Penn State - Mont Alto ......................1.5 DIVISION II 1. Massachusetts Inst. of Tech................50.5 2. South Carolina.......................................41 3. NW Missouri State .............................29.5 4. South Florida ......................................28.5 5. Central Washington ...........................23.5 6. Amherst ..............................................20.5 7t. Montana Western ..............................18.5 7t. Texas .................................................18.5 9t. Georgia .................................................18 9t. Stony Brook .........................................18 11. Massachusetts .................................17.5 12. Bridgewater .........................................17 13. Cincinnati .........................................16.5 14. Michigan .............................................13 15t. Illinois State .......................................11 15t. USC.....................................................11 15t. Wayne State........................................11 18. Sacramento State ..............................10.5 19. Rensselaer Poly. Inst. ............................9 20. Slippery Rock .....................................8.5 21t. Sam Houston State.............................7.5 21t. Western Washington..........................7.5 23. Alabama .............................................6.5 24. Florida Gulf Coast..................................6 25. East Carolina.......................................5.5 26t. Texas - Arlington .................................5 26t. Texas State............................................5 28. Pittsburgh ...........................................4.5 29. Toledo ...................................................4 30t. Florida A&M.....................................3.5 30t. Lafayette............................................3.5 30t. Northeastern.......................................3.5 30t. North Dakota .....................................3.5 34t. Texas A&M..........................................3 34t. Connecticut ..........................................3 36t. Bowling Green...................................2.5 36t. Eastern Washington...........................2.5 36t. Saginaw Valley State.........................2.5 36t. Tennessee Temple..............................2.5 40. William and Mary .................................1 41t. Evergreen State..................................0.5 41t. Dayton ...............................................0.5 43t. Ball State...............................................0 43t. San Jose State........................................0 43t. Florida ..................................................0 43t. Texas-Pan American ............................0 47. Tallahassee Community College...(-1.0) NCWWA WOMEN’S STANDINGS 1. SW Oregon CC....................................139 2. Lindenwood-Belleville.......................64.5 3. Florida A&M.........................................34 4. Massachusetts.....................................31.5 5. San Jose State.........................................31 6. West Chester..........................................25 7. Texas......................................................22 8. Connecticut............................................20 9. Kansas State.............................................7 10. South Florida..........................................6 11t. Eastern Washington..............................4 11t. Middle Tennessee.................................4 13. Texas State.............................................3 14t. Central Washington..............................0 14t. Winona State.........................................0

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- The Elmhurst wrestling team capped a record-breaking season with a second-place finish at the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships with two Bluejays winning individual national titles! Joe Rau (184 pounds) and Mike Benefiel (197 pounds) both won individual national titles in their respective weight class while five Bluejays earned All-America honors by placing among the top eight in their weight class, setting a single season record for Elmhurst. As a team, the Bluejays overcame a four-point deficit in the final session to take home second place with 82 points, edging Wisconsin-Whitewater by four points (78 points). Wartburg won the team title with 103 points. "Every year we set a goal of winning a conference championship and bringing home a team trophy from the NCAA Championships," said head coach Steve Marianetti. "To cap this season with a second-place national finish is just unbelievable. This team did an amazing job not just at the NCAA Championships, but all season long. I couldn't be any prouder of the way we competed." Rau, the top seed at 184 pounds, continued his dominance at the Championships, breezing in the finals by pinning Elizabethtown's Julian Meaney in just 52 seconds. Rau faced The College of New Jersey's Brian Broderick in the championship match and scored a quick takedown to jump in front. After a pair of escapes from Broderick, Rau was whistled for an illegal hold and trailed 3-2 after two periods. Rau quickly escaped at the start of the third period than stuck a takedown and built a riding time advantage to score the 6-3 win and cap his collegiate career with a national championship. "Since my first day at Elmhurst, I've wanted to win a national championship," said Rau. "The title had eluded me the past three years, but to finish my college career with a championship is an unbelievable feeling. Taking home a team trophy on top of this is fantastic. I've always been on good teams with great individuals, but this year we had an amazing team and it was great to see all the hard work we put in come together. with a team trophy. " Mike Benefiel celebrates his title at 197 pounds. Benefiel, seeded fourth at 197 pounds, rolled into the finals by with his third first-round pin of the Championships. Benefiel scored a takedown and immediate near fall points and then pinned Heidelburg's Andrew Lovins in 2:16 to advance to the finals. Facing second-seeded Alex Coolidge of Cornell College in the championship final, Benefiel struck for a quick takedown and led 2-0 after one period. Benefiel landed another takedown in the second period to go up 4-0 and tacked on a third takedown in the third period to earn a 7-3 victory. "To end my college career with a national championship is unbelievable," Benefiel said. "Winning a championship in your final collegiate match is a special feeling and being able to take home a team trophy is just the extra gravy on top." Benefiel also took home the NWCA award for Most Falls in the Least Amount of Time, totaling three pins in 5:56. Earlier in the day, three Bluejays closed out the season by competing in the consolation bracket. Ryan Earley closed out the Championships with a fourth-place finish at 141 pounds while Miguel Venecia finished fifth at 125 pounds and Dalton Bullard placed seventh at 133 pounds. Earley scored two quick wins to move into the third place match at 141 pounds. Earley, seeded second, opened the second day of the Championships with a 3-2 victory over sixth-seeded Ces Antista of Williams in the consolation bracket. Trailing 1-0 after two periods, Earley evened the match with an escape at the start of the third period. Earley grabbed hold of a leg and snuck behind for a takedown to grab a 3-1 lead and then held on for the one-point win. In the consolation semifinal, Earley scored a quick takedown and promptly pinned top-seeded Joseph Grippi of Springfield in 1:03. In the third place match against Warburg's Thomas Mirocha, Earley scored the first takedown to lead 2-0, but Mirocha gained an escape and a second-period reversal to go on top. Mirocha added an escape and a takedown to score a 6-2 win. Earley finished his career with the fourth-place finish and a 4-2 record at the Championships, capturing the first all-America honor of his career. At 125 pounds, Venecia defeated Augsburg's Mike Fuenffinger 9-5 to move into the consolation semifinals. Venecia hit a pair of takedowns and scored near fall points to score seven points in the opening period. He led 8-5 after two periods and tacked on an escape point in the third to earn the four-point win. In the consolation semifinals, Venecia dropped a 4-1 decision to fourth-seeded Gilberto Camacho to move into the fifth-place match. Venecia used a pair of takedowns against Ursinus' Christopher Donaldson to secure a 6-4 win and bring home a fifth-place finish. Venecia finished the Championships with a 4-2 record earning the first all-America honor of his career. After posting a 2-1 record on the opening day, Bullard dropped his fourth round consolation match to fall into the seventh-place contest. Bullard fell 6-4 to Springfield's Derek Adams in a closely contested contest. After a scoreless first period, three straight reversals in the second period left Bullard with a 4-2 lead. Adams used an escape at the end of the second period and another at the start of the third to knot the match at four. Adams hit a takedown with less than 30 seconds in the third period to earn the 6-4 win. In the seventh-place contest, Bullard avenged an early season loss by pinning Luther's Evan Obert in 1:12. Bullard closed out his career as a two-time All-American and finished the Championships with a 3-2 record. The Elmhurst coaching staff posses with the team's new hardware. In addition to the Bluejays taking home a team trophy, the Elmhurst coaching staff will be bringing some added hardware back to campus. Marianetti was named the NWCA Division III National Coach of the Year for the second time in his career. Assistant Coach John Jung was named the NWCA Division III Assistant Coach of the Year. Both awards are voted by on the head wrestling coaches at the NCAA Championships. Elmhurst closed the book on its most successful season to date. In addition to their second place national finish and five all-Americans, the Bluejays won their third straight CCIW Championship and finished the year with a 12-1 dual meet and were ranked second in the NWCA Division III national poll for the majority of the season. "We had just an incredible season from start to finish," said Marianetti. "We know that we're going to have to replace several senior for next year and work on developing our underclassmen, but in the meantime we're going to go home and enjoy this for a little while."

Related Content: Results CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- The top-ranked Wartburg wrestling team won its third-straight NCAA national championship for the first time in program history. The Orange and Black had 103 team points to claim the title. Elmhurst was second with 82, UW-Whitewater third with 78 and UW-LaCrosse took fourth with 56 points. "I'm just so elated," said co-head coach Jim Miller. "I'm elated for our program, for the college and for our Wartburg wrestling family." This also marked the tenth overall title for the program. The Knights have won five National titles in the last six years. This is the second three-peat in NCAA Division III wrestling as Augsburg first accomplished this in 2000, 2001 and 2002. The program has recorded over 100 points at the NCAA Championships for the last five straight years. Junior Kenny Anderson (Bilerica, Mass.) became a two-time National Champion with a 9-1 major decision against UW-Whitewater’s Grant Sutter. Anderson won the title at 125 pound title last year. Anderson ends the season undefeated (28-0) and has an overall winning string of 46 which dates back to the National Duals last year. “After I got that first takedown I said to myself, I got this. I felt him give up a little and knew I could do this.” Senior Kodie Silvestri (Franklin, N.J.) took second. Complete results: Kenny Anderson (WB) won by 9-1 major decision vs. Grant Sutter (UW-Whitewater) Greg Sanders (Concordia Wisconsin) won by 6-5 dec vs. Kodie Silvestri (WB). Sanders won on a reversal with 0:07 left.

Event: UFC 158: GSP vs. Diaz Venue: Bell Centre (Montreal, Canada) Date: March 16, 2013 In what has become one of the most anticipated fights in UFC history, welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre (23-2) defends his title at home against Stockton, Calif., street punk, Nick Diaz (26-8). Diaz is coming off a 1-year suspension from drug testing (marijuana metabolites), and a controversial five-round loss last February to Carlos Condit, who has since lost his challenge to GSP. Diaz was able to get this fight, passing Johny Hendricks in the process, by trash-talking and baiting the champion with relentless, piercing insults to the mild-mannered champion. And, it worked. St. Pierre has been effectively bothered by Diaz, and Nick will continue his taunting even inside the octagon. This is his one big chance in life to be special, and he intends to die trying … "Where you at, Georges?" I see the first minute of the fight being a Stockton slapfest, until GSP has had enough, at which point he will pin Diaz's blades to the mat with his patented double leg takedown. Then the champ will unleash his wicked elbows in a vicious ground-and-pound attack, until he has sliced open the challenger's face and covers him in his own blood. It will look ugly. But a wounded animal is a dangerous beast, and we rarely get to see Diaz's awesome ground game in desperation mode. Tonight you will see what Gracie jiu-jitsu is all about. From the bottom, Diaz will lock in a razor sharp triangle choke that shocks the world, and sends me to the winner's window. Take Diaz in a big upset at +400. Got it, homie! So where does that leave Okie State's welterweight Johny Hendrick's (14-1), who will fight Carlos Condit (28-6) in a restructured title elimination fight? Big Rigg has patiently been waiting for his title shot, destroying every challenger in his way, with first round KOs. Condit, "The Natural Born Killer," is a finisher. Only two of his 28 wins have been by a judge's decision! And, he has a balanced 13 wins by submission and 13 by knockouts. His game has very few holes in it. Hendricks has a challenge ahead! But Hendricks has rarely used his NCAA champion wrestling credentials to win in the UFC. He has been shocking the world with his powerful punching instead. I think he will once again try to end this quickly, but Condit is a stick and jab fighter, who darts in and out, scoring points and leaving his opponents frustrated. Unfortunately for him, Hendo will grab one of his kicks and pull him to the mat, where it will end with the referee pulling the cowboy off the killer in the second round. Lay the modest -130 on Hendricks as he wins by TKO. Johny will soon get his title shot! "You know what I'm sayin'?" If neither of the two fights above wins FON (Fight of the Night), then this one will … More welterweights tangle as Nate "The Great" Marquardt (32-11) is back in the UFC after two years away, and faces title contender Jake Ellenberger (28-6), another strong wrestler who wins by KOs instead (17 out of 28 wins). Marquardt has been fighting MMA for 14 years, with the first six being in Japan where he developed a strong kicking game in Pancrase. The former middleweight is back now as a welterweight, and he and his opponent are huge for their weight class. Both are top tier fighters. But, both these warriors are near the end of their careers, and both need a win to continue their pursuit of the belt. A loss won't be a pink slip, but the title dreams will soon be gone for the loser. That makes this a battle between two desperate fighters, and fireworks will be the result. I'll take the better "value" with Marquardt as the 'dog. He wins a close decision and cashes at +140. Middleweights Chris Camozzi (18-5) and Nick Ring (13-1) each have nice submission games and neither has ever been knocked out. So the stand-up game will be a setup for what may look like a wrestling match in a cage. Ring wins this a split decision at odds of -130. TUF TV stars, Colin "The Freak" Fletcher (8-2) and Mike Ricci (7-3), are lightweights both coming off losses in their UFC debuts. I'm not sure why this fight is on the main card? Fletcher has seven submission victories out of his eight wins. Ricci has four KOs on his resume. A contrast in styles makes this an interesting fight. I'll timidly go with Ricci at -300 to end this in the second round with another KO. Now let's take a quick look at the undercard … Another TUF TV fighter, 135-pounder T.J. Dillashaw (6-1) is an outrageous -700 favorite to defeat Japan's Issei Tamura (7-3), who is 1-1 in the octagon. On principle alone, I'll throw a dart on the big underdog. Take Tamura at +450 to surprise the fans with a first-round KO. Welterweight Rick Story (14-6) is the only man to have beaten Johny Hendricks (by close decision). But he has lost three of his last four fights, and another loss will most likely give him a pink slip. Desperate fighters are good fighters. Story at -400 beats newcomer, Quinn Mulhern (8-2), by unanimous decision. Darren Elkins (15-2) will be fighting a tough Canadian in Antonio Carvalho (15-5) at 145 pounds. Elkins has won four straight and is 5-1 in the UFC. He has just enough to get by Carvalho, and wins a close decision. You will lay 2 for 1 (-200) to find out. Former light heavyweight and middleweight, and now welterweight Patrick "The Predator" Cote (18-8) is a Canadian with an iron chin. He will need it against Bobby Voelker (24-8) who has 15 KOs on his resume. These two should stand toe-to-toe, throwing punches until one of them drops -- a real fan pleaser. Good night, Volker. Cote at -175 will be the last man standing. A loss will send him packing. Who's welterweight Jordan Mein (26-8)? He's been fighting professionally since he was 16 years old, losing to Canadian Rory McDonald in his MMA debut. And the fact that he has 34 fights at age 23 is amazing! He's on a pace to catch Dan Severn or Jeremy Horn, each with over 100 fights. His opponent Dan Miller (14-6) is the younger brother of Jim Miller, both submission masters and UFC veterans. Mein is steep at -300, but he may be the next best thing in a deep, deep division. Mein wins by decision. I will pass on George Roop (12-9) against Reuben Duran (8-4), and on Daron Cruickshank (12-2) against John Makdessi (10-2). Both fights are too close to call. So we have "action" on ten of the twelve fights tonight. Let's see how we do with our fictitious $1000 bankroll … Let's lay $100 to win $400 on Nick Diaz to upset GSP. Let's lay $169 to win $130 on Johny Hendrick and his patience. Let's lay $125 to win $175 on Marquardt's return to the UFC. Let's lay $91 to win $70 on Nick Ring. Let's lay $60 to win $20 on Mike Ricci. Let's lay $20 to win $90 on a Tamura dart throw. Let's lay $140 to win $ 35 on Rick "The Horror" Story. Let's lay $ 90 to win $ 30 on Jordan Mein. Let's lay $100 to win $50 on tough Darren Elkins. Let's lay $105 to win $60 on Patrick Cote. Let's pass on Makdessi/Cruickshank and Roop/Duran. In total we are risking $1000 to win $1060. Not bad. Don't forget to give some of your winnings to your local youth wrestling programs, where tomorrow's champions are born. Enjoy the fights. I know I will.

Fight Now TV Presents Takedown Wrestling in the Brute studios. Takedown Wrestling is proudly presented by Kemin, Inspired Molecular Solutions! This Saturday it's Takedown Wrestling Radio from 9 to 11 a.m. CT/ 10 AM to noon ET. Join Scott Casber, Steve Foster, Terry Cook, our own Jeff Murphy and Brad Johnson live from Des Moines, Iowa. The hit band -- The Last Ride will join us in studio to play their recent hit "Take You Down" They'll also be playing at the main stage at the Fan Fest at this year's NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. This week's guests: 9:03 Dane Ulrich, The Beast 9:15 Band plays hit song Take You Down 9:35 Heath Eslinger, Chattanooga head wrestling coach 9:50 Tyler Barkley, Max Muscle Sports Nutrition Update 10:00 Brian Smith, Missouri head wrestling coach 10:15 Rob Koll, Cornell head wrestling coach 10:30 Mark Branch, Wyoming head wrestling coach 10:35 Jeff Murphy, Kemin Report 10:50 Amy Ruble, Wildrose Casino and Resort

InterMat senior writer T.R. Foley answers reader questions about NCAA wrestling, international wrestling, recruiting, or anything loosely related to wrestling. You have until Thursday night every week to send questions to Foley's Twitter or email account. Do you want to read a past mailbag? Access archives. This is the last mailbag before the NCAA tournament. It was tempting to unleash a tirade about the IOC and Henry Cejudo's burgeoning MMA career, but instead I've chosen to focus on the excitement surrounding this year's NCAA wrestling tournament. Despite the Olympic setback we are a lucky group of fans. Forget your birthday, or the church group's annual whitewater rafting trip; the NCAA wrestling tournament is the most exciting and rewarding days of the year. We have the most-dedicated, hardest working and talents athletes in sports under one roof. "What about March Madness?" They have one bracket filled with a bunch of semi-professional dolts on commuter trains to the NBA. We have 10 brackets and Dustin Kilgore's mustache. There are only six days left before Sandy Stevens takes the mic and welcomes fans to #MarchMatness in Des Moines. In the meantime I suggest you re-up those InterMat Platinum subscriptions and get educated. We are in the early stages of Platinum Week, a 10-day marathon of expert research, opinions, and insights about the NCAA wrestling tournament that you simply can't afford to miss. We are running features you can't and won't find anywhere else on the Internet, and knowing how hard everyone here has worked to put it together, it'd be great to see an overwhelming response by readers. Do it. To your questions ... Q: If Hunter Stieber and Logan Stieber both win NCAA championships next weekend will they be the first siblings to win championships in the same year for the same team since ... ? -- Gregg Y. Foley: The wrestling world will melt if I get this wrong. I'm going with Terry and Tom Brands in 1990 and 1992. Tom also won in 1991 with a perfect 45-0 season record. (Terry and Troy Steiner and Ed and Lou Banach also won titles as brothers of the same school, but not in the same year. Terry Steiner got third in 1993, the year that Troy won it.) Dave and Mark Schultz became the first American brothers to win Olympic gold in the same year when they each won the 1984 Olympic Games. Joey Davis won the NCAA Division II title at 165 pounds (Photo/Simon Jimenez/Wrestlers Are Warriors)Q: This question has probably been asked numerous times, but why did Joey Davis choose Notre Dame College? He would easily be top five in Division I. Do he and fellow high school teammate Tank transfer to OSU in the next year? Not a knock on Notre Dame, but c'mon. I would love to see him and Massa. -- Chris H. Foley: No definitive plans on what Joey Davis is planning to do next year for college, but I assure you he won't be leaving Notre Dame College in Ohio with a degree. He's a tremendous talent and his absence at the D1 tourney might be an issue of something as simple as not filing proper NCAA paperwork, or needing to buff up some grades before getting into a big school like Ohio State. Though going to college to participate in school seems like a cinch, it sometimes takes much more than what it appears. Besides, maybe being so impressive at ND has boosted his value? Q: As a former Columbia assistant coach, what are your thoughts on the Lions' performance at the EIWA Championships this past weekend? Do you think the Columbia wrestlers who qualified for NCAAs have a chance to follow up with a strong showing in Des Moines? -- Mark R. Foley: Coach Fronhofer has been incredible at getting his team to perform when it matters most. Running a program in NYC is stupidly difficult, but Fron has managed to keep his men focused and ready to compete. He's headed for big things, and I hope for the sake of the Columbia wrestling family those big things happen in Morningside Heights. As a donating alumnus ($50 last week!), their success certainly makes me more interested in their program and the kids. They are a tough group of guys who faced top seeds in middle rounds and didn't just beat them, they won by major decisions, falls and five to six point decisions. These weren't flukish wins, just the result of hard-workers who believed in themselves at the right time of year. I think fans have overlooked Steve Santos as a legitimate All-American candidate. In watching his films it's obvious that he has all the qualities of an AA wrestler, even if he hasn't had a ton of exposure on the national stage. I expect him to place, and place high on Saturday. West and O'Hara have the talent to make deep runs while the other guys could win some matches and prepare themselves for next season. Q: I think what would be about the best to put in a booth for announcing wrestling would be an official that isn't working. I can't tell you how many matches I watch every year only to be so annoyed at the announcers for NOT KNOWING THE RULES!! They don't have to agree with the call, but they should know the rules. Put an official in the booth and if something happens at least it can be explained by the rules. It won't do a thing for judgment, but at least it could help explain things. -- Jeff S. Foley: The Mike Pereira of NCAA wrestling? Not a bad idea, especially if they had someone to consult for NCAA finals. In my announcing gig it was difficult to know why, when a wrestler drop to the ankle to kill time, the referee would sometimes call stalling and other times he'd call stalemate. Then there were times when a wrestler would get in on a tough kid, get put into a scramble and be working to finish, only to have the action stopped. I hope a referee could explain that, but the interpretations are vastly different from man to man. New rule: The only time I think there's a stalemate is when both wrestlers are stuck, or the advancing wrestler is stuffed and controlled and then gives up on continuation on his own volition. Finishing through the crotch and trying to step over the bottom foot takes time -- you are NOT supposed to see stalemates called from that position -- and yet it's happening all the time. So yeah, I think a referee in the booth might be a winning idea. But only if he's got great hair like Mike. Q: This was the first time since 2006 that the Hawkeyes did not have an individual champion in the Big Tens. What in your opinion are the biggest factors causing the "decline" of the Hawkeyes' dominance? -- Jimmie D. Foley: Bah! That's a loaded question, and I'm going to gingerly walk away before I blow up the comments section ... There are plenty of potential factors that can influence a team's performance. Were they ground down after the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals? Were they simply outmatched in the tight matches that they lost? Did they train through Big Tens with a focus on the NCAA tournament? Were they ill? About the only question that should worry Hawkeye fans is if Iowa style has been surpassed by the technique and multi-level attacks of Penn State (we need a pithy, catchy name for it). If Penn State's technical approach, which is also popular in Ithaca, becomes the new winning style then Hawkeye fans should be concerned. But I wouldn't start scribbling the eulogy yet. They might not win the NCAA tournament in 2013 or 2014, but they can certainly place in the top four and regroup for 2015. The Hawkeyes always come ready for a battle and I expect you'll be impressed with their performance in their home state. Q: My question is about NCAA Division I Wrestling Championship tickets ... in 2014. (I have a pair for Des Moines in my back pocket.) Typically, DI Championship tickets go on sale online exactly one year in advance, on the day the preceding tourney begins. That means tickets for the 2014 event in Oklahoma City should go on sale March 21, 2013. As I write this, that's only one week away. Yet I can find nothing online announcing ticket sales. I called Ticketmaster, the OU (host school) ticket office, and the OU wrestling folks, but nothing. As you may know, when they go on sale, they sell out in a few hours, or at least the portion released for sale will all be sold. Can you shed any light on ticket availability? -- Thomas Z. Foley: The only thing I know for certain is that there WILL be tickets for purchase in Iowa and online starting the day before this year's tournament. The grumblings about seats can't be answered because the venue for 2014 has already been chosen, but 2015-2018 is up for grabs and there could be a semi-permanent location selected. Check the NCAA.com site over the next few days and they'll give you the right link. MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME Even God's Fall Down RIWUS Highlight Film of Medved Tourney Cali Wrestling Q: Would you please supply us with details and an update concerning the injured wrestlers during the conference tournaments? Specifically, what happened to Robert Hamlin and Cole VonOhlen? In addition, I read a rumor that Logan Storley was ill during the Big 10 tournament. Can you provide any information on this topic? -- Scott V. Foley: Tough to report on these fellas and their injuries right before the NCAA tournament because I'd hate to throw off the gambling lines, or give opponents false hope. I know that CVO had a shoulder issue that some in the audience thought was pretty severe and that could affect him at NCAAs. The Vermonster has a hip issue that just flared up, but people around the program say it really wasn't a major issue and that they chose to rest him rather than risk a larger injury. No word on Storley, as it's not in the Minnesota character to say boo about an ailment to a wrestler who underperformed. However, I thought he looked a little sluggish on the mat. Q: When the heck was the last time Iowa didn't have a Big Ten champ? Chances of this at nationals? Are the Altons in trouble at nationals? I know Dylan Alton turned it on last year to finish third, but both have looked rather sluggish in the late second and third periods since returning from their suspension. Is Andrew Alton cutting a lot of weight? Or are they just not in postseason shape because of the suspension? Either way, any chance they miss AA status? -- Ryan P. 2006 ... Jim Zalesky's last season. You should be worried about the Alton bros. I think there is a great chance that on Friday night both Dylan and Andrew are on the outside of the AA round and hoping for the best. With the exception of Dylan's third place finish in 2012, there is little driving the thought that either of them will have a monster run in the championship rounds, though Dylan's position in the brackets is compelling. Otherwise, between suspensions, gassing out and a poor Big Ten tournament, the brother seem to be trending downwards. Maybe it was the suspension? Maybe something more? Who knows, brother. Who knows? Q: With the NCAAs right around the corner, do you think you could you give a quick breakdown on round-per-round scoring for the NCAA tournament, including bonus points? -- Randy B. Foley: Below is a breakdown. Advancement points Championship advancement is 1pt (*First-round winners earn 2pts, since pigtails essentially create a bye) Consolation round advancement is .5pt Method of victory points 2pt: Falls 1.5pt: Technical fall with back points 1pt: Major decision or tech fall without back points Placing points 1st place: 16 points 2nd place: 12 points 3rd place: 10 points 4th place: 9 points 5th place: 7 points 6th place: 6 points 7th place: 4 points 8th place: 3 points Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The nation's premier postseason all-star match happens this coming Sunday at Fitzgerald Fieldhouse on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh. In its 39th edition, the Dapper Dan Wrestling Classic features a team of all-star seniors from across the country facing a contingent from the Keystone State in the main event; while an undercard event features a group of seniors from the WPIAL (which is the district governing body in the Pittsburgh area) against another state/regional group (this year it is Virginia). The legacy of competitors in this event over the years is staggering. For 36 straight years (1977-2012), at least one of the NCAA Division I champions competed in the Dapper Dan Wrestling Classic. Additionally, at least three of those champions during 16 of the last 18 years (all but 1997 and 2010) competed in this event. This year's field features seven wrestlers ranked first in the country at their respective weight classes, and three matchups of the number one wrestler going up against the number two wrestler. An eighth wrestler would be ranked first in the country at his weight class, but for competing up a pair of weight classes during his state tournament for team purposes. Main Event: Pennsylvania All-Stars vs. USA All-Stars, 6 p.m. 145: No. 5 Mikey Racciato (Pen Argyl) vs. No. 1 Ben Whitford (St. Johns, Mich.) The Pitt-bound Racciato is a three-time state champion and four-time state placer, while University of Michigan signee Whitford finished his career as a four-time state champion. 113: No. 10 Zach Fuentes (Norristown) vs. No. 17 Paul Mascarenas (Cleveland, N.M.) Fuentes was a three-time state placer, including a runner-up finish this season, while Mascarenas was a four-time state champion and a Junior National freestyle champion at 106 pounds this past summer. 120: No. 3 Darian Cruz (Bethlehem Catholic) vs. No. 1 Nathan Tomasello (CVCA, Ohio) Cruz was twice a state champion and a three-time state placer after missing his freshman season due to injury, and was a Super 32 Challenge champion in October 2010. Tomasello won four state titles, the last three without losing a match, and has won Junior National freestyle titles the last two summers. These two wrestlers split matches during the 2010-11 time period, Cruz winning in the Super 32 Challenge final, and Tomasello winning the Ironman final for his first of three titles in that tournament. 285: No. 7 Aaron Bradley (Nazareth) vs. No. 2 Brooks Black (Blair Academy, N.J.) Bradley was a state finalist the last two years, earning gold last weekend in Hershey. Black is a three-time National Prep champion and four-time finalist, having also won titles at the Ironman and Beast of the East during the last three seasons. These wrestlers met in the Beast of the East final during the course of this season, Black earning a 2-1 overtime tiebreaker victory. 160: No. 14 Cody Law (Forest Hills) vs. No. 3 Isaiah Martinez (Lemoore, Calif.) Law has made state finals each of the last two seasons, winning gold last weekend, and finished fifth at both the FloNationals and Super 32 during the past off-season. Martinez is a four-time state placer and three-time state champion, and was champion at the FloNationals, Junior Nationals in freestyle, and Super 32 Challenge during the past off-season. 182: No. 1 Eric Morris (Wyoming Seminary) vs. No. 2 Domenic Abounader (St. Edward, Ohio) Morris is a four-time finalist at the National Prep Championships, having won titles during the last two seasons, while Abounader is a three-time state champion. These two wrestlers could have met in the Ironman during early December, but Abounader missed that event due to injury. Neither athlete lost a match that they contested during the course of this season. 132: No. 5 (at 126) Ryan Diehl (Trinity) vs. No. 3 Dean Heil (St. Edward, Ohio) This is a match of four-time state champions, Diehl winning his first two in West Virginia before earning gold the last two in Hershey; while Heil earned his all in Ohio's big-school division. Both also have a Super 32 Challenge title to their credit, Diehl winning his in 2011 (and finishing third this past year), while Heil won his this past October. 220: No. 1 (at 195) Ryan Solomon (Milton) vs. No. 2 (at 195) Frank Mattiace (Blair Academy, N.J.) Solomon is the second of three wrestlers competing in their future college gym during the main event, as the Pitt-bound wrestler was a four-time state placer, winning state titles during the last two seasons. He also was a double All-American in Fargo the past three summers, highlighted by a Junior National title in Greco-Roman this past summer. Mattiace, bound for Penn in the fall, is a three-time National Prep placer, and has won titles the past two seasons. 152: No. 8 Austin Matthews (Reynolds) vs. No. 1 Jake Short (Simley, Minn.) Matthews is a four-time state placer, having made state finals the past three years, and finally getting over the hump with Hershey gold this past weekend. He has also been a finalist the past three years at the NHSCA grade-level nationals, winning as a freshman and sophomore. Short is a four-time state champion, and has placed in Fargo freestyle the past four summers, the last two having come at the Junior National level. 126: No. 2 Connor Schram (Canon-McMillan) vs. No. 5 (at 138) Joey Dance (Christiansburg, Va.) Schram was a four-time state finalist and bookended his high school career with state championship gold. Dance won his fourth state title up at 138 pounds, though he won titles at the Super 32 Challenge, Ironman, and Beast of the East down this weight class. 195: No. 8 Jake Hart (Hampton) vs. No. 11 Broc Berge (Kasson-Mantorville, Minn.) Hart has made the state final the last two years, and avenged last year's loss against former number one Matt McCutcheon to win Hershey gold. He also placed fifth at the Super 32 Challenge this fall. Berge is a four-time state placer, winning titles as a sophomore and junior, and finished as runner-up at the Junior Nationals in freestyle this past summer. 138: No. 1 Zain Retherford (Benton) vs. No. 2 Anthony Ashnault (South Plainfield, N.J.) These two wrestlers had a series of three freestyle matches in about a month this past spring; Retherford won the first and third meetings (club duals and FILA Cadets), while Ashnault won the middle meeting (Northeast Regional). The wrestlers also met in the Super 32 Challenge in their sophomore (finals match) and junior (semifinal) seasons, with Ashnault winning both of those meetings. Retherford bookended his career with state championships, and has been dominant in the last calendar year with titles at the NHSCA Junior Nationals, FILA Cadet Freestyle Nationals, Junior National Freestyle Championships, FILA Cadet World Freestyle Championships, Walsh Ironman, and POWERade Tournament. This past weekend, Ashnault became the first wrestler ever in the Garden State to be an undefeated four-time state champion; while his off-season resume includes five All-American finishes in Fargo and two Super 32 Challenge titles. 170: No. 1 Cody Wiercioch (Canon-McMillan) vs. No. 3 Zach Beard (Tuttle, Okla.) Wiercioch earned his third state title this past weekend in four finals appearances, and is also a two-time Super 32 Challenge champion. He is the third of three wrestlers signed by Pitt competing in this main event. The Wyoming-bound Beard was a four-time state champion and won the Preseason Nationals this fall. Undercard: WPIAL All-Stars vs. Virginia All-Stars, 4 p.m. 113: Seth Carr (South Fayette) vs. Sean Badua (Osbourn Park) Carr was runner-up in the small-school (Class AA) state tournament this past weekend, while 2012 state champion Badua finished third in Virginia's big-school division this year. 120: Nate Reckner (South Side Beaver) vs. J.R. Wert (Christiansburg) Reckner was fourth in the Class AA state tournament, while Wert won his fourth state title (three for Christiansburg and one in Georgia). Wert competed at 132 this season, but did place fourth at the Super 32 Challenge in this weight class in October. 126: Tyler Walker (North Hills) vs. Gabe Lumpp (Christiansburg) Walker finished third in the big-school (Class AAA) state tournament, while Lumpp was a runner-up in Virginia's medium-school division. 132: Nick Zanetta (Keystone Oaks) vs. No. 9 Dennis Gustafson (Forest Park) Zanetta has finished as runner-up the last two years at the WPIAL, regional, and state tournaments to super-star wrestlers (Jimmy Gulibon last year and Jason Nolf this year). The Pitt-bound wrestler placed eighth at the FloNationals this past spring. Gustafson bookended his career with state titles, finished fifth in the Super 32 Challenge this fall, and was runner-up at the NHSCA Junior Nationals last spring. 138: Ethan Kenney (Connellsville) vs. No. 12 Andrew Atkinson (Liberty Christian Academy) Both wrestlers in this match competed at 132 pounds during their post-season tournaments. Kenney placed third at state, including a win over the eventual state champion in the WPIAL final, and is a three-time state placer in his career; while Atkinson finished runner-up at National Preps for the second time in a career that includes four state placements. 145: Phil Marra (Burrell) vs. Beau Donahue (Westfield) Marra placed fourth in Class AA this season, while Donahue is a three-time state champion in the big-school division, and has placed fourth the past two years at the NHSCA grade-level nationals. 152: Heath Coles (Norwin) vs. Sean Murphy (Colonial Forge) Coles placed fourth at state each of the last two seasons in Class AAA, while Murphy is also a two-time state placer in his state's big-school division and was eighth at the NHSCA Junior Nationals. 160: Zach Voytek (Greensburg-Salem) vs. Rory Renzi (Lake Braddock) Voytek is a two-time Class AAA state placer, fourth and seventh, while Renzi was a big-school state champion this past season. 170: Dustin Conti (Jefferson-Morgan) vs. No. 6 (at 182) Zach Epperly (Christiansburg) Conti placed twice in Class AA, while Epperly was a four-time state champion. During the course of his career, Epperly placed twice at the Super 32 (including fourth at 170 this year) and was fourth in Junior National freestyle this past summer. 182: Dakota DesLauriers (Burrell) vs. Ryland O'Brien (First Colonial) DesLauriers is a four-time Class AA state placer, who earned that elusive state title this past weekend. He also placed seventh in the Super 32 Challenge this past fall. O'Brien has made the state final each of the last two years, and was state champion this year. 195: No. 10 Matt McCutcheon (Kiski Area) vs. Corbin Ramos (Matoaca) McCutcheon placed three times in the Class AAA state tournament, making the finals each of the last two years, and won state as a junior. He also is a two-time Super 32 Challenge champion. His opponent, Ramos, was a big-school state champion this past season. 220: Garrett Vulcano (Chartiers-Houston) vs. Zach Roseberry (Brentsville) Both wrestlers in this match competed at 195 pounds during their respective state tournaments. Vulcano was state runner-up to Ryan Solomon, while Roseberry was state champion in the medium-school division and was a NHSCA Junior Nationals runner-up last spring. 285: Antonio Broglia (Canon-McMillan) vs. Justin Williams (Skyline) Broglia made his state tournament debut last weekend, and failed to place, though is third place finish at the Reno TOC was key in the Big Macs' title out at that event. His opponent, Williams, was state champion at 220 pounds in the medium-school division this season. Coverage of the Event Josh Lowe will be live at the event providing some degree of updates from both the undercard and main events on his twitter feed (@JoshMLowe). In addition, a recap will be posted on InterMat late Sunday evening or Monday morning.

Johny Hendricks has a 14-1 MMA record (Photo/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) Johny Hendricks is one win away from a UFC welterweight title shot. On Saturday the two-time NCAA champion from Oklahoma State faces the former No. 1 contender Carlos Condit at UFC 158. Condit is coming off a five-round decision loss to welterweight champion Georges St Pierre. Hendricks, who has been dreaming and preparing for four years to win the welterweight title, is coming off a pair of stunning first-round knockouts over top echelon welterweights Martin Kampmann and Jon Fitch. After his latest win, many pundits called Hendricks the No. 1 welterweight contender and next in line for the coveted title shot. The current champion GSP disagreed and went to Dana White and the UFC asking for Nick Diaz, thus leaving Hendricks out of the mix. Hendricks was kind enough to sit down with InterMat and answer a few questions about his career, his upcoming fight, and when he thinks he will be fighting for the title. What are your thoughts on not getting the next title fight and how the situation with GSP was handled? Hendricks: He's scared. There's no reason somebody should be above me (for the next title shot) and here GSP is calling somebody else out. Dana is trying to keep his champion happy, even if it's only for another fight. GSP used his pull and had Dana and the UFC give Diaz the shot instead of me. It sucks. You do everything right. You make all the steps, and then some other guy controls your future. I mean, one person did, GSP, he sort of screwed me over, the right person should be me, and it's not. For him to comment on that he thought I didn't beat Koscheck, who had their hand raised? You don't get to the top without being tough and GSP to say that I didn't beat or finish Koscheck? He goes the distance in almost every fight; I mean when does GSP finish anyone? Serra? B.J.? That's what ... four years ago? I am going to move on. I am training for another five-round fight, and I am going to get better. I'm not going to sit here and keep myself down and feel bad for myself. You mention that GSP is scared to fight you. Why do you believe he is scared to fight you? Hendricks: I have three things that worry GSP, his trainer, and his camp. I have the wrestling. I have the power. And I have a skill set that is unknown in my ground game. Mainly, I think GSP is ducking me because of my power and my wrestling. I will move my camp to Oklahoma State to fight GSP. For that fight, I would wrestle with these young guns. I also get to train my submission game with Marcello Garcia, so I can beat GSP on different levels, so he doesn't want to fight me. Can he take me down or hold me down, maybe I submit him? GSP doesn't want to fight me. It is what it is. You're obviously disappointed in how things played out, how do you avoid overlooking your next opponent, Carlos Condit? Hendricks: It sucks, but I am going to take this and get better, I move forward. I am going to get a win over Carlos Condit, and then he can't even keep me away from the belt. We say hey, we are fighting and training for the belt; we are training for GSP for the belt. So this guy (Condit) is keeping me away from my title shot, so this will be the hardest training camp I will ever had, I will train like this is the last training camp and last fight I will ever have, so I am going to show GSP how much better I got with another training camp focused on five championship rounds. I may even showcase my other skills. I don't know what's going to happen. I hope I get too. All I want to do is go out there and make sure I get my hand raised no matter what. Talk about your evolution in your striking game, mainly your hands. Hendricks: I am at the point where I can close my eyes and land my left. Everybody is scared of my left hand, so in turn, it makes my takedown easier. I like to feel people out in the first minute, like Kampman threw head kicks at me and not do anything stupid. I like watching people like (Lyoto) Machida, the way he moves in and out of danger, Anderson (Silva), whenever he plants his feet and head moving, it's amazing. So when I watched them, I mimicked them and made up my own style. I watched a lot of fighting movies, Kung Fu movies and tried those moves and things I saw. A while ago, we didn't have a striking coach, so Marc (Laimon) and I did a lot of work together. Then we brought in Steven Wright. He likes that I get ideas for different areas, and gives me free rein to experiment and he's right there to say whether something that would work or not work. He has been a big part of my success. What happens if GSP beats Diaz and then moves up in weight for a super fight with Anderson Silva? Hendricks: If I beat Carlos, I'd ask Anderson to not take the GSP fight. I want to beat the guy who is holding the title. I want to take the belt form the guy who has held it for three to four years. I would really enjoy doing that. I just want the belt, whoever has it but what makes it mean more than anything, is if I can beat GSP to do it. Otherwise I will move up to 185 and try to fight GSP at 185, if he does that again to me. In all seriousness, it's about getting the belt and that's the bottom line. I want the belt. Talk to me about cutting weight in MMA, your nutritionist Mike Dolce, and what's different now. You actually seem to be getting bigger? Hendricks: I am getting bigger, and I am eating so much more cleanly now more than ever before in my life. I hunt all the time. I eat hog or deer unless I go out to eat, then it's a burger or steak. I don't buy any store-bought meat. Also, I am able to lift weights. For a longtime to get down to 170 I ate one meal a day, wearing sweats two weeks out. My old wrestling sweat suits I used to wear all the time are now just collecting dust. Now I get to lift and eat what I want up to three weeks outside of my fight. Right now I am at 205, eating five meals a day. I'm lifting heavier weights. I'm only getting stronger. Dolce likes me to get bigger muscles because the bigger the muscles the more water they hold and the easier it is to suck it out. What are we going to see on Saturday when you fight Carlos Condit and afterwards if GSP defeats Diaz? Hendricks: I am going to go out there, fight a good fight, and get my hand raised no matter how it's done. Afterwards? I have something planned up my sleeve to call out GSP if we both win.

On Wednesday, after a long, drawn-out process of releasing the at-large selections for the 2013 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, the brackets and seeds were released shortly after 6 p.m. ET. As is the case every year, the NCAA Wrestling Committee made some blunders with the seeds. Logan Storley entered the Big Tens ranked No. 1 by InterMat (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)There wasn't a bigger seeing blunder than at 174 pounds, where Minnesota's Logan Storley was given the No. 6 seed. Storley's body of work this season should have landed him anywhere from No. 2 to No. 4. Giving Storley a No. 6 seed is unjustifiable. Yes, Storley had a disappointing Big Ten tournament, but let's look at the facts. Storley entered his conference tournament ranked No. 1 in the country for good reason. He had a tremendous regular season. Of the top eight seeds at 174 pounds, Storley pinned both the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, was 2-0 against the No. 3 seed, and also defeated the No. 4, No. 7, and No. 8 seeds. At the Big Tens, Storley dropped two close matches to highly ranked wrestlers. His first loss came to Michigan's Dan Yates, 3-2. Storley's loss on the backside of the bracket was an overtime loss to Ohio State All-American Nick Heflin, a wrestler he defeated 12-3 earlier this season. Those two close losses should not have landed him below four wrestlers he defeated during the regular season. What if Storley would have injury defaulted in the quarterfinals of the Big Tens? Would he have kept his No. 1 seed heading into the NCAAs? Clarion's James Fleming (157) and Lehigh's Robert Hamlin (184) both lost by injury default in their conference tournaments, yet neither wrestler took a hit because of it. Both earned top five seeds and were seeded ahead of wrestlers they would have faced in the conference finals. The NCAA Wrestling Committee is setting a dangerous precedent. Losing matches in the conference tournament will kill a wrestler's seed at the NCAAs, but sitting out matches won't. I'm not implying that Fleming or Hamlin sat out to protect a seed. I believe both were injured and unable to compete. But I believe there needs to be consequences for sitting out matches in the postseason regardless of the reason, especially if a top-ranked wrestler like Storley is going to get crucified for dropping a couple razor-thin matches to highly ranked opponents. Dom Bradley took a recent loss to Alan Gelogaev but still earned the No. 1 seed (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)The Logan Storley case indicates that recent results are more heavily weighted. But if that's true, how did Missouri's Dom Bradley receive the No. 1 seed at heavyweight? Bradley took a loss just over two weeks ago in the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals finals to Oklahoma State's Alan Geolgaev. Minnesota's Tony Nelson, the defending NCAA champion, has reeled off 12 straight victories, with one of those wins being a pin over Gelogaev. Bradley and Nelson both have one loss this season, and Nelson has more wins over wrestlers seeded in the top eight. Bradley did edge Nelson at the Southern Scuffle (Nelson's only loss) but shouldn't Bradley's recent loss to Gelogaev knock him down a slot or two? Other surprises At 125 pounds, Michigan's Sean Boyle failed to be seeded despite two recent wins over Ohio State's Nikko Triggas, who earned the 11th seed. At 133 pounds, Missouri's Nathan McCormick is seeded seventh, one spot ahead of Oklahoma State's Jon Morrison. The two wrestlers have wrestled four times this season, and split those four matches. However, Morrison won the most recent match 5-1 just two weeks ago. At 149 pounds, Missouri's Drake Houdashelt failed to earn a seed despite being red-hot heading into the NCAAs. The only wrestler to defeat Houdashelt over his last 14 matches is top-ranked Jordan Oliver of Oklahoma State. At 157 pounds, Iowa's Derek St. John earned the No. 2 seed despite two recent losses. St. John suffered a loss to Missouri's Kyle Bradley at the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals, and then just days ago lost in the Big Ten semifinals to Nebraska's James Green. He has gone 4-2 over his last six matches, with one of those losses coming to an unseeded wrestler. It seems as though St. John is getting a pass for losing at the Big Tens.

The NCAA brackets have been released and T.R. Foley is joined by InterMat's Mike Riordan for an in-depth discussion on the brackets and what the new format for the NCAA finals should mean for viewership numbers. Check out our Tumblr page at backpoints.tumblr.com. Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "back points" and pushing SUBSCRIBE. Do you want to listen to a past episode? Access archives.

It's the fight fans had been waiting for and then thought they wouldn't get ... but now they are ... or something. Anyway, UFC 158 will feature Georges St. Pierre defending his welterweight title against Nick Diaz, a fighter coming off of a loss but bolstered by his ability to talk trash and skip media gatherings. GSP has been questioned for his inability to finish fights, whereas Diaz gets plenty of fanfare for his go-forward-at-all-costs style. As a result, some people think the challenger can pull off the upset. Richard and John are not in that group. In the co-main event, supposed No. 1 contender Johnny Hendricks thought he'd be getting his title shot by now. Instead he gets the consolation prize, taking on former interim champ and recent challenger Carlos Condit in an intriguing clash of styles. Rounding out the show, the boys talk about the professionalism and integrity of a "fight" doctor that thinks he can diagnose people he's never examined. Do you want to listen to a past episode? Access archives.

125: 1. Alan Waters (Missouri) 2. Jesse Delgado (Illinois) 3. Matt McDonough (Iowa) 4. Nico Megaludis (Penn State) 5. Jarrod Garnett (Virginia Tech) 6. Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) 7. Nathan Kraisser (North Carolina) 8. Matt Snyder (Virginia) 9. Trent Sprenkle (North Dakota State) 10. Josh Martinez (Air Force) 11. Nikko Triggas (Ohio State) 12. Tyler Cox (Wyoming) 133: 1. Logan Stieber (Ohio State) 2. Tony Ramos (Iowa) 3. Tyler Graff (Wisconsin) 4. A.J. Schopp (Edinboro) 5. Chris Dardanes (Minnesota) 6. Nathan McCormick (Missouri) 7. Jon Morrison (Oklahoma State) 8. Cody Brewer (Oklahoma) 9. Levi Wolfensperger (Northern Iowa) 10. Scotti Sentes (Central Michigan) 11. George DiCamillo (Virginia) 12. Jordan Conaway (Penn State) 141: 1. Hunter Stieber (Ohio State) 2. Kendric Maple (Oklahoma) 3. Michael Mangrum (Oregon State) 4. Mitchell Port (Edinboro) 5. Evan Henderson (North Carolina) 6. K. Undrakhbayar (The Citadel) 7. Mark Ballweg (Iowa) 8. Nick Dardanes (Minnesota) 9. Richard Durso (Franklin & Marshall) 10. C.J. Cobb (Penn) 11. Mike Nevinger (Cornell) 12. Chris Mecate (Old Dominion) 149: 1. Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) 2. Jason Chamberlain (Boise State) 3. Donnie Vinson (Binghamton) 4. Cole VonOhlen (Air Force) 5. Steve Santos (Columbia) 6. Dylan Ness (Minnesota) 7. Scott Sakaguchi (Oregon State) 8. Nick Brascetta (Virginia Tech) 9. Jake Sueflohn (Nebraska) 10. Ivan Lopouchanski (Purdue) 11. Andrew Alton (Penn State) 12. Eric Grajales (Michigan) 157: 1. Jason Welch (Northwestern) 2. Derek St.John (Iowa) 3. Joey Napoli (Lehigh) 4. James Green (Nebraska) 5. James Fleming (Clarion) 6. Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) 7. Jesse Dong (Virginia Tech) 8. Dylan Alton (Penn State) 9. Frank Hickman (Bloomsburg) 10. R.J. Pena (Oregon State) 11. Walter Peppelman (Harvard) 12. Jedd Moore (Virginia) 165: 1. Kyle Dake (Cornell) 2. David Taylor (Penn State) 3. Peter Yates (Virginia Tech) 4. Tyler Caldwell (Oklahoma State) 5. Steven Monk (North Dakota State) 6. Bubby Graham (Oklahoma) 7. Conrad Polz (Illinois) 8. Nick Sulzer (Virginia) 9. Josh Veltre (Bloomsburg) 10. Nick Moore (Iowa) 11. Cody Yohn (Minnesota) 12. Taylor Massa (Michigan) 174: 1. Chris Perry (Oklahoma State) 2. Matt Brown (Penn State) 3. Mike Evans (Iowa) 4. Robert Kokesh (Nebraska) 5. Josh Asper (Maryland) 6. Logan Storley (Minnesota) 7. Jordan Blanton (Illinois) 8. Nick Heflin (Ohio State) 9. Nathaniel Brown (Lehigh) 10. Dan Yates (Michigan) 11. Blake Stauffer (Arizona State) 12. Matt Miller (Navy) 184: 1. Ed Ruth (Penn State) 2. Ben Bennett (Central Michigan) 3. Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) 4. Steve Bosak (Cornell) 5. Kevin Steinhaus (Minnesota) 6. Ryan Loder (Northern Iowa) 7. Jimmy Sheptock (Maryland) 8. Josh Ihnen (Nebraska) 9. Chris Chionuma (Oklahoma State) 10. Jake Swartz (Boise State) 11. Mike Larson (Missouri) 12. Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa) 197: 1. Dustin Kilgore (Kent State) 2. Quentin Wright (Penn State) 3. Matt Wilps (Pitt) 4. Alfonso Hernandez (Wyoming) 5. Taylor Meeks (Oregon State) 6. Kyven Gadson (Iowa State) 7. Nate Schiedel (Binghamton) 8. Micah Burak (Penn) 9. Jake Meredith (Arizona State) 10. Scott Schiller (Minnesota) 11. Blake Rosholt (Oklahoma State) 12. Brent Haynes (Missouri) 285: 1. Dom Bradley (Missouri) 2. Tony Nelson (Minnesota) 3. Alan Gelogaev (Oklahoma State) 4. Chad Hanke (Oregon State) 5. Mike McMullan (Northwestern) 6. Bobby Telford (Iowa) 7. Connor Medbery (Wisconsin) 8. Michael McClure (Michigan State) 9. Zac Thomusseit (Pitt) 10. Jarod Trice (Central Michigan) 11. J.T. Felix (Boise State) 12. Adam Chalfant (Indiana)

Minnesota 10 Missouri 10 Oklahoma State 10 Penn State 10 Virginia Tech 10 Iowa 9 Ohio State 9 Virginia 9 Central Michigan 8 Pittsburgh 8 Cornell 7 Illinois 7 Iowa State 7 Michigan 7 Oregon State 7 Rutgers 7 Wyoming 7 Bloomsburg 6 Kent State 6 Navy 6 Nebraska 6 Northwestern 6 Penn 6 Boise State 5 Chattanooga 5 Columbia 5 Edinboro 5 Indiana 5 Lehigh 5 Maryland 5 North Carolina 5 Ohio 5 Oklahoma 5 Purdue 5 Air Force 4 Arizona State 4 Army 4 Binghamton 4 Buffalo 4 Michigan State 4 North Dakota State 4 Northern Iowa 4 Old Dominion 4 Rider 4 American 3 Boston U. 3 Harvard 3 Hofstra 3 North Carolina State 3 Stanford 3 The Citadel 3 Utah Valley 3 Wisconsin 3 Appalachian State 2 Brown 2 Bucknell 2 Campbell 2 Clarion 2 Cleveland State 2 CSU Bakersfield 2 Drexel 2 Duke 2 Eastern Michigan 2 Lock Haven 2 Cal Poly 1 Davidson 1 Franklin & Marshall 1 Gardner-Webb 1 George Mason 1 Northern Illinois 1 South Dakota State 1 West Virginia 1 Northern Colorado 0 Princeton 0 Sacred Heart 0 Southern Illinois Edwardsville 0 VMI 0

Robert HamlinForty-four at-large selections for the 2013 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships were announced on Wednesday afternoon. The most notable name on the list is two-time All-American Robert Hamlin of Lehigh at 184 pounds. Hamilin, an NCAA runner-up 2011, failed to earn an automatic berth after injury defaulting in the semifinals of the EIWA Wrestling Championships. Missouri, Oklahoma State, and Virginia Tech picked up their 10th qualifiers, joining Penn State, Minnesota as teams with all 10 wrestlers qualified for the NCAAs, which take place March 21-23 in Des Moines, Iowa. View number of NCAA qualifiers by school. At-Large Selections 125: Christian Cullinan (Central Michigan) Rob Deutsch (Old Dominion) Eric Montoya (Campbell) Evan Silver (Stanford) 133: Vincent Dellafave (Rutgers) Mackenzie McGuire (Kent State) Jimmy Morris (Rider) Joey Ward (North Carolina) 133: Julian Feikert (Oklahoma State) Nick Hucke (Missouri) Ridge Kiley (Nebraska) Nathan Pennesi (West Virginia) 149: Tyler Bedelyon (Clarion) Donnie Corby (Central Michigan) Caleb Ervin (Illinois) Nick Lester (Oklahoma) Shane Welsh (Lehigh) 157: Spartacus Chino (Ohio) Tommy Churchard (Purdue) Andy McCulley (Wyoming) Taylor Walsh (Indiana) 165: Nijel Jones (North Carolina State) Corey Lear (Bucknell) Caleb Marsh (Kent State) Zach Toal (Missouri) 174: Craig Kelliher (Central Michigan) Lee Munster (Northwestern) Stephen West (Columbia) Sam Wheeler (Kent State) 184: Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) John Rizqallah (Michigan State) Luke Sheridan (Indiana) MacKain Stoll (North Dakota State) 197: Derrick Borlie (Virginia Tech) Connor Hartmann (Duke) Caleb Kolb (Nebraska) Alex Polizzi (Northwestern) Phillip Wellington (Ohio) 285: Matt Gibson (Iowa State) Steven Graziano (Penn) Ernest James (Edinboro) Jake Kettler (George Mason) Evan Knutson (North Dakota State) Billy Smith (Rutgers)

CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. -- Former All-Navy wrestling head coach and USA Women’s World Team assistant Lee Miracle has been named the first women’s wrestling coach at Campbellsville University. “I am extremely pleased to announce that Lee Miracle has accepted the position of head women’s wrestling coach at Campbellsville University. His experience in the sport, and his numerous contacts, should help him build a championship team in a short period of time,” said Rusty Hollingsworth, CU athletics director. Miracle first caught wind of the addition of a women’s wrestling program at CU while coaching the All-Navy Team at the Military World Championships last winter, and inquired about the job. “Starting a women’s program from scratch is a wonderful opportunity, and I’m blessed to have it. I get to build it the way I want, and I get to recruit the student-athletes that I want, and I think we’ll be successful in a fairly short period,” Miracle said. “The university sold itself just on the people. I’ve coached every level from club teams to all-star teams to the All-Navy Wrestling Team, but being a part of a women’s program has always been a big goal, so I’m excited … One of the biggest things about Campbellsville is the support of the administration. This is one of the rare places where I feel there is complete support for a program.” Miracle began his recruiting search immediately, gaining a verbal commitment for 2014 from his daughter Kayla, a junior at Culver Academy (Ind.), and has several “high-caliber” student-athletes already expressing interest in the program. Kayla Miracle is a 2012 silver medalist at the World Championships and became the first female wrestler to compete in the Indiana State Championships in 2012. “My phone has been blowing up,” Miracle said. “In my limited experience, if you can get a girl to come here on a visit, then that girl is going to come here and come to school. I loved it, and my daughter loved it. To quote Kayla, ‘I couldn’t find one thing wrong with the school,’ and she was looking.” Miracle’s first recruiting trip will be March 28-31 at the USA Wrestling Women’s Folk Style Nationals in Oklahoma City. His goal is to have a roster of 15 to 20 student-athletes for the 2013-2014 season, and hopes to plan to grow the roster to at least 25 members in 2014-15. A Navy veteran of more than 20 years, Miracle has also spent the last 20 years coaching wrestling at all levels. He joined the USA Women’s World Team in 2011 as a volunteer coach for the team’s trip to the world championships in Hungary and became assistant coach for the 2012 championships in Azerbaijan. He also coached both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling as head coach of the All-Navy Team since 2011, a team that features active Sailors within the Navy to compete at the Armed Forces tournament and Military World Championships. Wrestling runs in the Miracle family. A native of Sidney, Ohio, Miracle wrestled one year at Heidelberg College before joining the Navy. In addition to Kayla, his oldest son, Shawn, is a wrestler at Army, while his two youngest, Hope (10) and Cale (8), also are active youth wrestlers. In addition to his national coaching work, Miracle has also worked to begin youth organizations in Indiana and Washington D.C., most recently with the Hoosier Elite Academy in Bloomington, Ind. Campbellsville University women’s wrestling will become the university’s 25th intercollegiate sports program and will compete in the Women’s Collegiate Wrestling Association beginning in 2013-14. Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with more than 3,600 students offering 63 undergraduate options, 17 master’s degrees, five postgraduate areas and eight pre-professional programs. CU athletics competes in the Mid-South Conference of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA). CU is an NAIA Champions of Character Five Star Institution.

AMES, Iowa -- Iowa State University announced today that it has extended the contract of wrestling coach Kevin Jackson, the former Cyclone All-American and Olympic Gold Medalist, through 2015. "The progress that our young team made this year is exciting and very promising for the future," Director of Athletics Jamie Pollard said. "We look forward to continuing to assist Kevin and his staff in building a nationally competitive program that our fans and the institution expect." The Cyclones more than doubled their dual win total from 2012, rejoined the national rankings and placed second at last week's Big 12 Championship, good for the school's best conference finish in four years. Iowa State qualified six wrestlers automatically, and could qualify several more this week, for the 2013 NCAA Championships it will host March 21-23 in Des Moines. Iowa State's starting lineup this year included two seniors, one junior, four sophomores and three freshmen. Four of the underclassmen are nationally ranked. "Kevin's student-athletes have performed well in the classroom, been outstanding ambassadors for our athletics program and really enjoy wrestling for Kevin and his staff," Pollard said. In four years leading the Cyclones, Jackson has tutored three NCAA champions (Jake Varner, David Zabriskie and Jon Reader). Varner then went on to win an Olympic Gold medal last summer in London. Full terms of the contract will be available at a later date.

INDIANAPOLIS -- In conjunction with NCAA.com and the NCAA's social media platforms, the 330 student-athletes participating in 2013 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships will be announced on Wednesday, March 13. Beginning at 1 p.m. ET the list of 33 competitors in each weight class will be systematically rolled out as they are finalized by the NCAA Division I Wrestling Selection Committee. The unveiling will begin with the participants in the 125-pound weight class and will continue with each of the subsequent weight classes throughout the afternoon until the 33 Heavyweight participants have been released. Wrestling fans can log on to NCAA.com to find an up to the minute list of competitors in the championships field. In addition, fans with a Facebook account can track on the latest qualifiers by following the NCAA Wrestling Facebook page (Facebook.com/NCAAWrestling). Status updates linking to the list of qualifiers will be posted the minute the latest weight class has been finalized. Once all 330 participants have been released fans can log on to NCAA.com at 6 p.m. ET where the NCAA Division I Wrestling selection show will reveal the 12 seeded wrestlers in each weight class as well as all 170 first-round matchups. A direct link to the selection show can be found below: http://www.ncaa.com/live/player?vid=2013/786&date=2013/03/13 Following the selection show, complete brackets for the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships will be available on NCAA.com.

Penn State wins the Big Ten championship ... again. They've been the best big tournament team all year, and once again they show us why. They have too much firepower for their opposition to overcome, and their wrestlers usually seem to rise up to the most important occasions. In two weeks, I expect to write about the Nittany Lions' third straight national championship. Penn State has performed in March with such consistency over the last few years that their story is starting to become redundant. In this way, the team's performance resembles the wrestling career of head coach Cael Sanderson. Reporting on unceasing success becomes like reporting that on the persistent wetness of water. We must now look to other programs to create compelling storylines. I believe the most interesting narrative at the end of this college wrestling season begins with the premature report of the demise of the Iowa Hawkeyes' national title chances. This weekend, as Penn State propelled themselves to a championship with a perfect record in the finals, Iowa's four finalists went winless, failing to earn Iowa a Big Ten championship. In 2006, the last time Iowa failed to produce a Big Ten champion, the program had a new head coach on campus in the fall. I don't believe that Tom Brands will face a similar fate as his predecessor, nor should he; I simply mean to illustrate that going champion-less in the Big Ten makes for serious disapprobation among the Hawkeye nation. This is why Iowa's reemergence as a national title threat at next week's nationals will make for such thrilling theater. I think that even some Iowa faithful have begun to write off U of I's chances at nationals. This should not happen. Iowa still has five wrestlers very capable of winning national titles (that's right Bobby Telford, you are number five), and they have first-rate motivation from the Brands brothers. Most importantly, Iowa will be wrestling for the national championship in Iowa. I've been to nationals in St. Louis, and that environment is almost like a home meet for the Hawkeyes, I shudder to think about the amount of crowd support that will show up in black and gold in Des Moines. When Iowa suits up for nationals, they will have the vociferous power of thousands of Hawkeye fans at their back. Few sports are as impacted by the energy of the crowd more than wrestling. Ask the USA freestyle team recently back from Tehran. Penn State will probably hoist a national championship trophy the Saturday after next, but I predict that Iowa will make it a dogfight to the bitter end wrestling in their home state. A brief discussion of sportsmanship After a college wrestling match, rarely do we see much love between the opposing wrestlers. I do not have a problem with this. College wrestlers invest everything they have into winning, and after a loss they generally feel deprived of something very precious. The loser of a wrestling match should limit the desire for a prolonged love in with the other wrestler and his coaches. On the high school level, we sometimes see huggers who want to follow every win and loss with a warm embrace. I'm not a terribly big fan of this sort of after-match ritual. College rivals Chris Pendleton and Ben Aksren embrace after their NCAA finals match in 2005 (Photo/Danielle Hobeika)As coaches we encourage competitiveness in our athletes. We want to see disappointment and anger in their losses. The wrestler who hates losing the most will likely become the wrestler who loses the least. On the collegiate Division I level, wrestlers compete at a fever pitch, and losing can set off powder kegs of emotion. With this in mind, I think college wrestlers should show the discipline to follow two iron-clad rules of sportsmanship. First, win or lose, they should actually look their opponent in the eye, and actually shake their hand. This handshake doesn't have to last an eternity, it only needs to last an instant, but the simple act of a real handshake would mean a great deal to this sport. I understand the desire to get off the mat after a loss, but too often do we see the "slap and run" rather than a real shake. It wouldn't kill both wrestlers to take a second and actually shake each other's hands after a match. Second, I understand the anger and disgust which accompany losing, I also understand the need to physically act out on these emotions, but if a wrestler must act out, he should always do so away from the view of the crowd, and away from the view of cameras. Losing wrestlers ought to not engage in throwing headgear, kicking chairs, stomping off award podiums and throwing medals in garbage cans while in the area of competition. I understand the saying, "Show me a good loser, and I'll show you a loser," and I see the wisdom in it. However, having a tantrum in public is never a good look. Difficult as it may be sometimes, we ought to eliminate public displays from our athletes that seem petty and childish, if for no other reason that they might seem unsavory to prospective college wrestling fans who lack the perspective of the heart break that comes with losing an important wrestling match. We want the popularity of college wrestling to flourish, and following two simple sportsmanship rules can help with that. ACC: The tournament comes down to the wire, and Virginia Tech pulls it out for their first team ACC championship. With notable losses in other conferences, some ACC wrestlers should enjoy high seeds at NCAAs. Not bad for a conference that is redshirting arguably its two best wrestlers. EIWA: Cornell wins the team title again. Next year things may be different as Lehigh brings an impressive core of wrestlers out of redshirt, and the Big Red graduate two of their three EIWA champions. EWL: In its last year before departing for the ACC, Pitt wins the EWL once more. That makes three in a row for the Panthers in an EWL which features some tough teams. West Regional/WWC: Wyoming ends up in first here. I have a feeling that in a few years we will be talking about the Western Regional in much the same way we discuss the ACC. The West Regional features ambitious coaching, impressive recruiting, and a bunch of teams on the rise. CAA: Say what you want about Hofstra, but they are conference champions. Perhaps the incredibly tough regular season schedule paid off. My upset of the week came at this tournament in the 197-pound finals as Drexel's 19th-ranked Brandon Palik defeated Binghamton's fifth-ranked Nate Schiedel. SoCon: Chattanooga continues its SoCon dominance. The real interesting story here: Campbell earns the runner-up spot. Some fans may scoff at the significance of second place in the "lowly" SoCon, but this conference, for the most part, continues to get tougher from top to bottom, and second place is a real achievement for a program that was a mere rumor a few years ago. MAC: Missouri wins its first MAC title in its first year in the conference. Expect as many as four national finalists from this conference.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- For the first time since 2001, the Mid-American Conference has crowned a new champion. In their first year as an affiliate member of the Mid-American Conference, the Missouri Wrestling program blew through the eight-team field to its second conference championship in as many years. The Tigers ended with 136.0 team points, 48 more than the second place-Chippewas from Central Michigan. The squad had a substantial lead all day after it sent every starter to the semifinal round. Missouri's title ended an 11-year reign held by the Central Michigan as MAC Champions. Six Mizzou starters advanced to the championship round in their respective weight classes, four of which claimed conference titles, tying the record of four set last season at the 2012 Big 12 Championships. Nathan McCormick claimed the first individual title of his career despite being in the conference finals the past three seasons. Junior Alan Waters and sophomore Drake Houdashelt were Big 12 Champions last season at 125 and 157 pounds, respectively, and Dom Bradley added his second conference championship after winning at heavyweight in 2011. As he has done so well all season, No. 1 Alan Waters set the tone for the fourth-ranked Tigers Sunday. Waters met with Steve Mitcheff of Kent State in the 125-pound final after a pin over Derek Elmore (NIU) and a 17-2 technical fall over Max Soria (Buffalo) in the semifinals. After a scoreless first, the Mizzou junior got on the board with an escape 16 seconds into the second period. An illegal hold late in the second by Mitcheff increased the lead to 2-0 headed into the third. Waters added a takedown with 22 seconds left and took the match by decision 4-0. Waters' three wins on Sunday puts him at 97 career wins in just three seasons at Mizzou. Senior Nathan McCormick followed suit with an individual title of his own at 133 pounds. After a technical fall and a pin in the first two rounds, McCormick faced Levi Wolfensperger in the finals. The Tiger grappler had a takedown 45 seconds in and then added a tilt for a two-point nearfall to take a 4-0 lead after the first period. An escape and a takedown in the second increased the lead to seven, and then a riding time point for 3:02 of advantage put the victory into bonus point territory. The conference title is the Mizzou senior-captain's first of his career after finishing second at the Big 12's last season to No. 1 Jordan Oliver of Oklahoma State. At 149 pounds, Drake Houdashelt won his second conference title in as many years with a win over Blake Roulo of Buffalo. Houdashelt tallied seven points in the first frame via a takedown and a couple of near falls. After a scoreless second, he added five more and then a riding time point to win 13-0, his second major decision of the day. Missouri's sophomore has team-leading 12 wins by major decision this season. The Tigers fourth individual title came at heavyweight where redshirt senior defeated seventh-ranked Jarod Trice of Central Michigan. Trice and Bradley were scoreless after the first three minutes, and an escape for the Mizzou big-man just seconds into the second period gave him the lead. Bradley held tough in the third period on top and kept Trice from breaking through his grasp, allowing him to accumulate 1:28 of riding time before Trice could break free with 22 ticks remaining. With just seconds left, Bradley secured a double leg takedown and took the MAC title with a 4-1 decision. Bradley added three decisions on the day to give him a team-leading 23 on the year. His second win of the day, a 4-0 decision over Jared Torrence of Northern Illinois, was his 100th win during his tenure with the Black and Gold. Mizzou took second place at 157 and 197 pounds. Kyle Bradley fell to David Bonin of Northern Iowa in the finals by decision, 5-2. Bonin reversed Bradley with 1:14 remaining to take a 4-2 lead and control of the match. The victory gives Bonin a 2-1 advantage over Bradley this year, with Bradley's lone victory coming on January 27 at UNI by decision, 6-4. Brent Haynes fell the nation's top-ranked 197-pounder in Dustin Kilgore of Kent State by major decision, 17-5. Junior Zach Toal and seniors Nicholas Hucke, Todd Porter, and Mike Larson all advanced to the third place match in their respective weight classes after all ten starters won in the quarterfinals. Hucke defeated Central Michigan's Scott Mattingly for the second time on Sunday to take the third place medal, 7-4. A Hucke reversal with 1:36 left put the Tiger senior in the driver's seat. Porter, too, defeated Phillip Joseph of Eastern Michigan for the second time to take third, 7-2. Last year's Big 12 Champion Mike Larson defeated Casey Newburg (KSU) in the first sudden victory period for third place. A takedown 31 seconds in gave Larson the 3-1 victory after the two could only manage a couple of escapes in regulation. Larson fell to Intermat's No. 6-ranked Ryan Loder of Northern Iowa in the semifinals. At 165, Toal dropped his third place match to Kent State's Caleb Marsh, 4-1. Following the Conference Championship, the Tigers have already qualified eight of 10 starters. The remaining two, Hucke and Toal, have a chance to qualify through a wildcard selection. Last season Mizzou was the only program in the nation to qualify all 10 of its starters for the NCAA Championships. The final destination for the Tigers is Des Moines, Iowa, for the 2013 NCAA Championships. This year's Nationals will begin on Thursday, March 21 and continue through Saturday, March 23. The wildcard qualifiers will be announced this coming week, with the seedings and brackets to be released as well. Stay up-to-date with the No. 4-ranked and now 2013 Mid-American Conference Champion Tigers on Facebook and Twitter, and as always on MUTigers.com. TEAM RESULTS 1. Missouri: 136.0 2. Central Michigan: 88.0 3. Northern Iowa: 83.0 4. Kent State: 82.0 5. Northern Illinois: 63.5 5. Ohio: 63.5 7. Buffalo: 51.5 8. Eastern Michigan: 44.5

Top-ranked Penn State won its third straight Big Ten title, finishing 12 points ahead of Minnesota CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Last season Penn State's Matt Brown was hailed by many as the nation's best backup after a 27-2 season and runner-up finish at the Southern Scufffle. This season expectations have been high for the 22-year-old Brown, who is sandwiched between two returning NCAA champions, David Taylor and Ed Ruth, on a Nittany Lion team in search of its third straight NCAA title. Matt BrownAfter a rollercoaster regular season, Brown entered the 2013 Big Ten Wrestling Championships as the No. 5 seed in a weight class that included eight of the nation's top 11 wrestlers. Brown caught fire in his first postseason tournament, avenging two regular season loss on his way to winning the Big Ten title at 174 pounds on Sunday in Champaign, Ill. In the finals he defeated Iowa's Mike Evans, 7-3. Brown's title helped Penn State capture its third straight Big Ten title. The Nittany Lions finished 12 points in front of runner-up Minnesota. Also winning individual titles for the Nittany Lions were repeat winners David Taylor (165), Ed Ruth (184), and Quentin Wright (197). Taylor and Ruth lit up when talking about Brown's performance. "When you step in and fill a role in the Penn State lineup, you're expected to be the No. 1 guy in the country. He lost a couple matches. It's not that big of a deal. I'm really proud of Matt. He has had some ups and downs this year. To have the tournament he had was phenomenal, to get revenge against a couple of those guys." Added Ruth, "This is the Matt Brown that I know. I'm glad that everybody else got to see it too." Both Taylor and Ruth won their third conference titles. Taylor picked up bonus points in all three of his matches over the weekend. In the finals he won by major decision, 9-1, over Conrad Polz of Illinois. "I've always been a bonus point scorer," said Taylor. "Since I was a kid I've always wanted to beat guys by more than eight points. When I got into college I really embraced that role with Coach Sanderson. You just always focus on building leads and keeping it simple." Unlike last season, Taylor will not be the top seed at the NCAAs after losing two close matches to three-time NCAA champion Kyle Dake of Cornell. Still, despite the losses, Taylor doesn't see himself as the underdog in Des Moines. "In my mind I'm the favorite," said Taylor. "I'm the returning 165 champ. I won the Hodge last year. I'm the best guy in my weight class. I've just got to go out and do it." Ruth, who was named Big Ten Wrestler of the Year, earned his third Big Ten title with a 5-3 victory over Minnesota's Kevin Steinhaus in the finals, scoring a takedown in the first period and third period. With his three wins over the weekend, Ruth extended his win streak to 63. But he says it's not something he thinks about. "For me, even if it gets broken, it really doesn't matter," Ruth said of the streak. "I'm still going to be wrestling. Nothing is going to happen. The world isn't going to die tomorrow. The sun isn't going to go down and never come up. I kind of just take it as it's a 60-win streak and if a loss comes after it, it's just another loss. For Wright, ranked No. 2 nationally, it was his second Big Ten title. He topped Minnesota's Scott Schiller in the finals, 5-3, scoring a takedown in each of the final two periods. He will head to the NCAAs with perfect 27-0 record. Second-place Minnesota had a pair of champions in Dylan Ness (149) and Tony Nelson (285). Ness, who entered the tournament seeded third, used a whip-over from his back to pin Nebraska's Jake Sueflohn in the second period of their finals match at 149 pounds. According to Ness, the bigger the stage the better he performs. "I love big crowds," said Ness, an NCAA runner-up last season as a freshman. "They get me going. I feel less pressure when there are big crowds. I don't feel nervous at all. I'm just ready to go." Ness' only loss over his last 10 matches was a 6-4 defeat to top-ranked Jordan Oliver of Oklahoma State in the finals of the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals on Feb. 23 in Minneapolis. "It was important to me that I got to wrestle him before nationals just to get a little feel," said Ness. "It didn't end the way I wanted. But that weekend we ended up winning as a team. It was about the team that weekend, so I wasn't that down about it at the time." Nelson, a returning NCAA champion and the nation's top-ranked heavyweight, won his second straight Big Ten title with a 4-1 decision over Northwestern's Mike McMullan. Iowa finished third in the team standings after a disappointing 0-4 performance in the finals. The Hawkeyes led the team race after the first session after advancing nine to the semifinals. Ohio State wrestlers Logan Stieber and Hunter Stieber claimed Big Ten titles at 133 pounds and 141 poundsOhio State's Stieber brothers, Logan (133) and Hunter (141), won titles and helped the Buckeyes to a fourth-place finish. Logan Stieber, the returning NCAA champion at 133 pounds, won a hard-fought match in sudden victory, 3-1, over Iowa's Tony Ramos in a rematch of last year's Big Ten finals match. Both wrestlers entered the match undefeated. "I know he's really picked up his offense this year," Logan said of Ramos. "I knew I had to stop his offensive shots. I thought I did a pretty good job of containing his offense. I knew I had to score a takedown. I wanted to get one in regulation. I couldn't get one. But in overtime I was able to secure a takedown. Hunter Stieber, a returning All-American, earned his first Big Title with an 8-3 decision over Iowa's Mark Ballweg. He scored two takedowns in the first period and added another in the second period to pace him to the victory. Hunter said he fed off his brother's win. "I was so excited to go out there and wrestle that I had to calm down a little bit because I didn't want to use too much energy," said Hunter. "When he wins like that it's awesome." Jesse Delgado won the title at 125 poundsJesse Delgado of Illinois captured the Big Ten title with a convincing 10-4 finals victory over two-time NCAA champion Matt McDonough of Iowa. Delgado used lightning-quick leg attacks to score takedowns in each of the first two periods, and added two more in the final period. It marked Delgado's third win over McDonough over the past two seasons. "I'm a lot faster than he is," said Delgado. "He relies a lot on funk and countering guys. I'm not going to let that happen. Since I got to college he was the guy that I had to beat. That's two, almost three years of getting ready for this guy." Delgado and McDonough are expected to be the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds at the NCAAs, which could set up a showdown in the NCAA semifinals. "He's going to make adjustments for me," said Delgado. "He's not stopping me if I'm on my A-game. Bottom line." Northwestern's Jason Welch, ranked No. 1 nationally, pinned Nebraska's James Green to win the title at 157 pounds. Welch trailed 4-3 in the third period before turning Green and getting the pin. The win avenged Welch's only loss this season. Welch will be wrestling in his fourth and final NCAA tournament. "I'm trying to put less pressure on myself," said Welch. "I'm thinking about how it's my last time that I get to be able to compete. So I'm trying to be happy with small victories, not so hard on myself, and just enjoy my time out here while I can." Penn State coach Cael Sanderson and Minnesota coach J Robinson shared Big Ten Coach of the Year honors. Penn State's Ed Ruth was named Big Ten Wrestler of the Year. Connor Medbery earned Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors. Team Standings: 1. Penn State 151 2. Minnesota 139 3. Iowa 133.5 4. Ohio State 109.5 5. Illinois 85.5 6. Michigan 75 7. Nebraska 61 8. Northwestern 56 9. Purdue 38 10. Wisconsin 37 11. Indiana 30.5 12. Michigan State 22 Finals Results: 125: No. 4 Jesse Delgado (Illinois) dec. No. 2 Matt McDonough (Iowa), 10-4 133: No. 1 Logan Stieber (Ohio State) dec. No. 2 Tony Ramos (Iowa), 3-1 SV 141: No. 2 Hunter Stieber (Ohio State) dec. No. 9 Mark Ballweg (Iowa), 8-3 149: No. 6 Dylan Ness (Minnesota) pinned No. 10 Jake Sueflohn (Nebraska), 3:27 157: No. 1 Jason Welch (Northwestern) pinned No. 6 James Green (Nebraska), 6:38 165: No. 2 David Taylor (Penn State) dec. No. 8 Conrad Polz (Illinois), 9-1 174: No. 7 Matt Brown (Penn State) dec. No. 3 Mike Evans (Iowa), 7-3 184: No. 1 Ed Ruth (Penn State) dec. No. 5 Kevin Steinhaus (Minnesota), 5-3 197: No. 2 Quentin Wright (Penn State) dec. No. 8 Scott Schiller (Minnesota), 5-3 285: No. 1 Tony Nelson (Minnesota) dec. No. 9 Mike McMullan (Northwestern), 4-1

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- As Jesse Delgado sprinted through a hallway at Assembly Hall moments after a 6-3 victory over Penn State's Nico Megaludis in the 125-pound semifinals of the Big Ten Wrestling Championships on Saturday night, his cell phone went flying out of his hand and broke into pieces on the concrete floor. "At least I won," laughed the Illinois sophomore. Delgado was pinned earlier this season by Megaludis late in a match he was winning. "That's a guy I'm probably going to have two weeks from now if I make it to the NCAA finals," said Delgado. "I just need to stay offensive and attack everyone like that." Delgado will now face a familiar opponent in the finals: Iowa's Matt McDonough, a two-time NCAA champion and three-time NCAA finalist. Jesse DelgadoDelgado owns two wins over McDonough over the past two seasons. The most recent victory for Delgado was a 9-4 decision in Champaign on Feb. 8. "That's a bad style matchup for him, but I'm sure he's made adjustments," said Delgado of McDonough. "We're prepared for what we think he's got. I don't know if he's prepared for what we got." Delgado is one of two finalists for host Illinois, along with Conrad Polz (165), who reached finals by defeating Michigan's Taylor Massa 7-1. Two-time defending NCAA champion Penn State took over first place in the team standings after their four upperweights from 165 pounds to 197 pounds -- David Taylor, Matt Brown, Ed Ruth, and Quentin Wright -- advanced to the finals. "I really wasn't aware of the (team) scores," said Ruth, who advanced to his third straight Big Ten finals by defeating Iowa's Ethen Lofthouse, 10-1, in the semifinals at 184 pounds. "My teammates were. We had a chance to close the gap, so we kind of really jumped on it." Taylor, Ruth, and Wright were No. 1 seeds. Taylor was dominant in the semifinals at 165 pounds, winning 16-0 over Iowa's Nick Moore. He will face Polz in the finals. Wright eked out a 1-0 victory over Ohio State's Andrew Campolattano in the semifinals at 197 pounds to set up a finals match against Minnesota's Scott Schiller. Brown, seeded fifth, advanced to the finals at 174 pounds by topping Ohio State's Nick Heflin in the quarterfinals and Michigan's Dan Yates in the semifinals. Brown's run to the finals may have been a surprise to some, but not Ruth. "The Matt Brown that we're seeing right now, he was like that all year. He's a practice wrestler ... He's starting to step it up now. He's starting to become more the Matt Brown that I know. It just seemed like he went from 0 to 60 right away. That's something I actually expected from him." Brown will face Iowa's Mike Evans in the finals at 174 pounds. Evans advanced to the finals with a 6-0 shutout over Jordan Blanton of Illinois. Evans is one of four finalists for Iowa. The other three are McDonough (125), Tony Ramos (133), and Mark Ballweg (141). "We've got to be ready to battle," said Iowa coach Tom Brands. "It gets tougher if you're not going to wrestle. If you wrestle then it can get easier with effort. It's never easy, but you can sure make it easier on yourself with good effort." Ramos' road to the finals included victories over two past All-Americans: Cashe Quiroga of Purdue in the quarterfinals and Tyler Graff of Wisconsin in the semifinals. He will now face NCAA champion Logan Stieber of Ohio State in a rematch of last year's Big Ten finals. Both wrestlers are undefeated on the season. "I'm really excited for that one," said Ramos, who improved to 26-0 this season. "I can't wait to get that one going. My second match today I wasn't feeling too good ... I'll be ready to go tomorrow night." Stieber cruised to the finals with two pins, including a semifinal pin over 13th-ranked Jordan Conaway of Penn State. "I just want to get in and out," said Stieber. "If I can pin, I pin. If I have to win 3-2 or 1-0, I'll take that as well. When I get the pin it's awesome for the team and me." His thoughts on the finals showdown against Ramos? "It should be a fun match," said Stieber. "Iowa fans are crazy. They're going to be loud, so I'll probably get called for stalling right away by them ... But no, it's going to be fun. He's awesome. He's had an awesome year. I've had a great year so far. Hopefully it's a good match. Hopefully we put a lot of points up." Logan's younger brother Hunter Stieber advanced to the finals at 141 pounds with a 10-8 win in sudden victory over Purdue's Brandon Nelsen in the semifinals. Like older brother Logan, Hunter will face an Iowa Hawkeye in the finals, Mark Ballweg. National Duals champion Minnesota climbed to second place in the team standings after a strong semifinal round, and like Penn State and Iowa, advanced four wrestlers to the finals: Dylan Ness (149), Kevin Steinhaus (184), Scott Schiller (197), and Tony Nelson (285). The Gophers trail the Nittany Lions by 10.5 points heading into the final day. "We picked up the pace and we ended up in second," said Robinson. "That's not obviously where we want to be. But there's still a lot of wrestling left for tomorrow." Minnesota took a hit at 174 pounds when Logan Storley, the nation's top-ranked wrestler, lost twice on Saturday and will wrestle for seventh place on Sunday. "It's one of those deals ... You just have that bad day," said Robinson. "You've got to come back from it. He's going to end up wrestling for seventh and eighth. It doesn't stop what happens at the national tournament. I think that's the thing, where he's going to get seeded, you better still seed him because I don't think you want to draw him." Jake Sueflohn (141) and James Green (157) reached the finals for Nebraska. Both were seeded fourth. Sueflohn knocked off Penn State's Andrew Alton in the quarterfinals before defeating Ohio State's Ian Paddock in the semifinals. Green, a returning All-American, reached the finals by edging top-seeded Derek St. John of Iowa in the semifinals 5-4, avenging a loss from earlier this season. "I've got to finish the match out better," said Green. "But I was still trying to get my takedowns at the end. I've just got to finish those. This match was different from my other matches with him. I committed more on top. I got that riding time and it helped a lot." Northwestern, like Nebraska, advanced two wrestlers to the finals: Jason Welch (157) and Mike McMullan (285). Sunday's session gets underway at 11:30 CT, with the finals scheduled for 1:30 p.m. CT. Team Standings 1. Penn State 123 2. Minnesota 112.5 3. Iowa 109 4. Ohio State 92 5. Illinois 72.5 6. Michigan 61 7. Nebraska 52 8. Northwestern 50 9. Purdue 29 10. Indiana 26.5 11. Wisconsin 26 12. Michigan State 17 Semifinal Results 125: No. 2 Matt McDonough (Iowa) pinned No. 17 Sean Boyle (Michigan), 2:46 No. 4 Jesse Delgado (Illinois) dec. No. 3 Nico Megaludis (Penn State), 6-3 133: No. 1 Logan Stieber (Ohio State) pinned No. 13 Jordan Conaway (Penn State), 1:29 No. 2 Tony Ramos (Iowa) dec. No. 3 Tyler Graff (Wisconsin), 3-1 141: No. 2 Hunter Stieber (Ohio State) dec. Brandon Nelsen (Purdue), 10-8 SV No. 9 Mark Ballweg (Iowa) dec. No. 8 Nick Dardanes (Minnesota), 3-1 149: No. 10 Jake Sueflohn (Nebraska) dec. Ian Paddock (Ohio State), 11-5 No. 6 Dylan Ness (Minnesota) dec. Dan Osterman (Michigan State), 10-9 157: No. 6 James Green (Nebraska) dec. No. 2 Derek St. John (Iowa), 5-4 No. 1 Jason Welch (Northwestern) dec. Josh Demas (Ohio State), 2-0 165: No. 2 David Taylor (Penn State) tech. fall No. 13 Nick Moore (Iowa), 16-0 No. 8 Conrad Polz (Illinois) dec. No. 9 Taylor Massa (Michigan), 7-1 174: No. 7 Matt Brown (Penn State) dec. No. 11 Dan Yates (Michigan), 5-1 No. 3 Mike Evans (Iowa) dec. No. 9 Jordan Blanton (Illinois), 6-0 184: No. 1 Ed Ruth (Penn State) maj. dec. No. 14 Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa), 10-1 No. 5 Kevin Steinhaus (Minnesota) maj. dec. No. 8 Josh Ihnen (Nebraska), 10-2 197: No. 2 Quentin Wright (Penn State) dec. No. 13 Andrew Campolattano (Ohio State), 1-0 No. 8 Scott Schiller (Minnesota) dec. Nathan Burak (Iowa), 3-1 SV 285: No. 1 Tony Nelson (Minnesota) dec. No. 5 Bobby Telford (Iowa), 1-0 No. 9 Mike McMullan (Northwestern) dec. No. 11 Connor Medbery (Wisconsin), 5-4

The quest for four-straight NCAA West Regional team titles came down to the final matches Saturday in Laramie, as the University of Wyoming wrestling team battled hard to claim the team championship. In front of 1,155 fans in the Arena-Auditorium, UW clawed back from an 11-point Session I deficit and came alive in the finals to total 79 team points, three points better than second-place North Dakota State. The Cowboys, with all 10 wrestlers in the consolation and championship finals, won nine of 10 bouts, but got some assistance from Utah Valley's heavyweight to keep NDSU out of the team lead in the last scoring bout. The win marks four-consecutive West Regional victories for Wyoming and head coach Mark Branch. The event also served as the Western Wrestling Conference Championship. After Wyoming and North Dakota State, Utah Valley was third (70), Air Force was fourth and South Dakota State was fifth with 16.5 points. "That's what I've been waiting to see all year, for all 10 guys to wrestle with their heart and wrestle for each other," Branch said. "We needed to be close to perfect today to win. We spent most of the tournament in fourth place. Going into the last session, you're thinking we're in deep trouble but we're not mathematically eliminated. It was cool to see these guys come together and wrestle for each other and fight their tails off." Four Cowboys won their weight class, including senior McCade Ford at 141 pounds, senior L.J. Helbig at 174, sophomore Shane Woods at 184 and senior Alfonso Hernandez at 197, who won for the second-straight year. Two other UW grapplers are headed to nationals, including sophomore Brandon Richardson (third at 149) and sophomore Tyler Cox, who was third at 125. The six qualifiers represent the same total from 2011 and 2012. Nine Cowboys placed third or better in the event. "You can go up and down the lineup to find inspiring performances," Branch said. "Cox coming back after a tough first-round loss and getting a pin, McCade Ford fighting from the third seed to get first, Brandon Richardson fighting from a fifth seed to get third and qualify for nationals, L.J. Helbig, Shane Woods, Hernandez. It was a team effort and we've preached that all year long. For it to finally happen, it certainly was the right time." After all of the qualifying events have concluded, the NCAA?Division I Wrestling Committee will meet in person to select the remaining 40 at-large qualifiers, who will be announced on March 13. All weight classes will consist of 33 wrestlers for the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Championships will be March 21-23 in Des Moines, Iowa.

Birmingham, Ala. -- Senior Shamus O'Grady (Coon Rapids) won an NCAA Division II Individual Wrestling title with a 12-2 major decision over Dallas Smith of Ouachita Baptist at 184-pounds and the Huskies finished as the NCAA Division II National Runner-Up today at the 2013 NCAA Wrestling National Championships in Birmingham, Ala. In other championship matches tonight, seniors Andy Pokorny (Bennington, Neb.) and Jacob D. Horn (Ephrata, Wash.) placed second at their respective weights. As a team, the Huskies (104 points) finished as national runner-up for the third straight year behind the University of Nebraska-Kearney (108 points). This sets a new record for most points scored by the Huskies in a national tournament. O'Grady finishes the season with a 40-1 record, tying the school record for most wins in a season previously held by Tad Merritt. His collegiate career ends with four All-American honors and a 108-28 overall record. In the semi's, O'Grady competed in the day's marquee match-up against Travis McKillop of Pitt-Johnstown, who entered the match as D2's leader in the Most Dominating Wrestler charts in 2012-13. O'Grady advanced on the strength of a big 6-4 win over McKillop. O'Grady received notice as the tournament's most outstanding wrestler for his efforts in Birmingham. Pokorny at 133-pounds lost to Daniel DeShazer of Nebraska-Kearney by decision 7-5, and finished the season with a 24-3 record. Pokorny (24-3) advanced to the title bout with a major decision victory over Marty Carlson of Notre Dame College. Pokorny won the match by a 10-0 tally. This marks the second consecutive season that Pokorny has advanced to the championship bout at 133-pounds and it also marks the second consecutive season that he has gained All-America notice for the Huskies. Wrestling at 149-pounds Jacob D. Horn lost 4-3 to Raufeon Stots of Nebraska-Kearney. Horn is a two-time All-American and finished the season at 18-8. Horn punched his ticket to the championship round with a big 6-2 win over Jordan Basks of Central Oklahoma. The victory improved Horn's record to 18-8 and it also marks the second time that he has earned All-America honors for the Huskies. A three-time NCAA qualifer, Horn also gained All-America notice for SCSU in 2011. SCSU senior Jacob Kahnke completed his stellar career with the Huskies on March 9 with a third place finish at 285-pounds. A four-time All-American, Kahnke went 4-1 on the day after losing his second round match to Ziad Haddad of Kutztown by a 7-1 decision. In the consolation bracket, Kahnke rolled to the third place finish. He started with a key 6-3 win over James Malechek of UW-Parkside. Kahnke then charged back with a 4-1 win over Andrew Tumlin of Findlay and also earned a 6-2 win over Orlando Scales of Norte Dame College. Kahnke gained revenge for his earlier loss to Haddad by charting an impressive pin at 4:31 in the bout for third place. In his career at SCSU, Kahnke has gained two 2nd place finishes, a third place finish and a fourth place finish in NCAA tournament action. As a Husky, Kahnke notched 118 career wins and also charted a 23-1 record in 2012-13. Redshirt freshman Clint Poster capped an impressive rookie year with a fourth place finish at 157-pounds, which grants him All-America status. In the bout for third place, Poster lost an 8-3 match to Jeff Pelton of Notre Dame. Poster opened the day with a loss to Zach Vargo of Lake Erie (fall 2:07) in the semi's. In the consolation semi's Poster stayed alive with a 3-0 win over Chase White of UNK, which provided key team points for the Huskies. Poster capped his year with a 35-5 overall record. At 141-pounds, Matt Nelson finished his year with a fifth place finish at the NCAA tournament to earn his first All-America award at SCSU. In the semi's on March 9, Nelson lost a 14-10 match against Naveed Bagheri of San Francisco State. In the wrestlebacks, Nelson lost a 3-2 match to Maurice Miller of Notre Dame College and he chalked up the fifth place finish with a 10-2 major decision over Michel Hamel of Grand Canyon. Nelson ended his year at 22-9 for the Huskies. Gabe Fogarty capped an impressive rookie campaign with a seventh place finish for the Huskies at 165-pounds, which provides him with All-America honors for 2013. Fogarty opened the day with a 17-0 tech fall win over Robert Shade of North Carolina-Pembroke in the consolation round. In the third round of the consolation bracket, Fogarty lost a 9-0 major decision to Chris Watson of Central Oklahoma. His trip to Alabama was topped by a 14-5 major decision win over Justin Samora of Adams State in the bout for 7th place.

STILLWATER--Oklahoma State wrestling broke two Big 12 records en route to winning its 47th conference title on Saturday night in front of their home crowd at Gallagher-Iba Arena, crowning eight conference champions and scoring 118.5 team points. Iowa State finished in second place with 74 points followed by Oklahoma (58 points) and West Virginia (28 points). "It was a good day," coach John Smith said. "Over 20 matches, we got 12 bonus-point wins. Those are the type of things you like to see late in the season." In the semifinals, OSU sent nine of its 10 Cowboys to the championship match, carrying a comfortable 18.5 point team lead into the final session of the day. True freshman Eddie Klimara captured the first individual title for the Cowboys after defeating ISU's Ryak Finch by a 15-5 major decision. At 133 pounds, Jon Morrison earned a 6-2 decision over Cody Brewer of Oklahoma, giving him his first conference title. 141-pounder Julian Feikert finished the night in third place. Jordan Oliver earned his fourth-straight Big 12 title, pinning Max Mayfield (ISU) in 1:19. The senior 149-pounder was also named the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler. "It was a pretty great feeling," Oliver said. "I wanted to go out with a bang in my last collegiate match in Gallagher-Iba Arena. It's great to go out like that and get the fourth (Big 12) title, and give the fans what they wanted to see." Freshman Alex Dieringer, the Cowboys' 157-pounder, earned the fourth individual title of the night with an 11-3 major decision over OU's Matt Lester. Tyler Caldwell grabbed an escape in the second period of the 165-pound championship match to win a 1-0 nail biter over Bubby Graham of OU. Chris Perry shut out his opponent, ISU's Tanner Weatherman, taking the match, 8-0, to secure his second-consecutive conference title at 174 pounds. Entering the tournament as the No. 2 seed, Chris Chionuma upset No. 1 seed Boaz Beard of Iowa State, sneaking in a takedown with less than a minute left to win, 5-3. Blake Rosholt finished second at 197 pounds, dropping a 5-4 heartbreaker to Kyven Gadson (ISU). Heavyweight Alan Gelogaev took home the eighth and final individual tournament for the Cowboys in thrilling fashion as he pinned ISU's Matt Gibson in 58 seconds. Gelogaev snagged his first individual title. The Cowboys return to action when they travel to Des Moines, Iowa March 21-23 to compete at the NCAA Championships. Team Standings: Oklahoma State - 118.5 Iowa State - 74 Oklahoma - 58 West Virginia - 28

Edinboro, Pa. -- In its final contest in the Eastern Wrestling League (EWL), the University of Pittsburgh wrestling team captured its third-consecutive EWL Tournament title this evening at McComb Field House on the campus of Edinboro University. “It’s always good to come into this gym and come back as winners,” said head coach Rande Stottlemyer. “Winning a conference is great but this is a stepping stone to NCAAs which are two weeks away.” The Panthers crowned four individual champions – Nick Bonaccorsi (174), Max Thomusseit (184), Matt Wilps (197) and Zac Thomusseit (285) – and saw eight wrestlers earn automatic bids to the NCAA Championships. Additionally, Matt Wilps was named the EWL Tournament Outstanding Wrestler for the second consecutive season. Bonaccorsi was Pitt’s first champion on the evening. In his championship match against Chris Smith of Bloomsburg, Bonaccorsi stuck early and was dominant on top using 4:23 of riding time to win the EWL title at 174 pounds. Bonaccorsi scored a takedown 30 seconds into the first and rode out the period. In the second, Smith started down and was rode out by Bonaccorsi. In the third, Bonaccorsi earned a quick escape and kept Smith at bay to give Pitt its first EWL Champion of 2013. In his semifinal match, Bonaccorsi fell behind early against Patrick Jennnigs of Edinboro but kept his composure and earned a reversal to turn a 2-1 disadvantage to a 3-2 lead. From there Bonaccorsi used a takedown and a bonus point for riding time to take the 6-2 win and advance to the finals. Max Thomussiet followed up the momentum from the Bonaccorsi win by capturing the EWL Championship at 184 pounds. In the finals against Lock Haven’s Fred Garcia Thomusseit earned a dominant 9-1 major decision. Thomusseit was on the offensive early scoring an early takedown. In the second, Thomusseit scored a pair of takedowns to push his lead to 5-1. A three point near fall and a bonus point for riding time was enough to secure the major and give Thomusseit his first career EWL title. Thomusseit won his 184 pound semifinal match over Sam Shirey of Bloomsburg to secure an autobid to NCAAs. Thomusseit got off to a quick start with an early takedown and never looked back en route to a 10-2 major decision victory. In the championship match at 197 pounds, Matt Wilps scored a hard fought victory over Bloomsburg’s Richard Perry. After the two had a scoreless first, Wilps started the second down and scored a quick escape. Wilps pushed his lead to 3-0 on a high single. Perry was able to get back in the match with a quick reversal near the end of the period to make the score 3-2 going into the third. In the third, Wilps secured the 5-4 win thanks to a bonus point for riding time. The win was Wilps’ third EWL title. Wilps took his first bout over Lock Haven’s Phil Sprenkle by a 19-6 major to secure a place in the finals. Zac Thomusseit made quick work of Henry Turner in his first match pinning the Lock Haven heavyweight at 2:44 for his 11th pin of the season. In the finals, Thomusseit won a 6-3 decision over Bloomsburg’s Justin Grant. Thomusseit scored an early takedown and never looked back on his way to winning his second EWL title. Shelton Mack started out his championships at 133 pounds with a convincing 16-8 major decision over Cleveland State’s Mike Carlone. In the semifinals, Mack avenged an earlier loss to Bloomsburg’s Nick Wilcox with a 3-1 decision. After a scoreless first, Mack started down in the second and quickly earned an escape to take a 1-0 lead into the final period. Mack was able to tilt Wilcox for two near fall points to extend his lead to 3-0. Wilcox escaped but Mack kept him at bay for the remainder of the bout and secured a berth in the finals and a trip to Nationals. At 149 pounds, Ronnie Garbinsky started his tournament run with a second period fall over Cleveland State’s Mike Mencini. Garbinsky then faced Bloomsburg’s Josh Roosa for a chance to go to the finals. Roosa got off to a quick start scoring an early takedown. Garbinksy kept his composure and earned an escape to send the match into second at 2-1 in favor of Roosa. Garbinksy was able to tie the match with another escape in the second. The third period started out with a flurry of action. Starting down, Roosa earned a quick ecape but Garbinsky connected on a double to take a 4-3 lead before Rossa escaped again to tie the match 4-4. The two wrestlers exchanged shots for the remainder of the third with neither connecting and the match went into sudden victory. After neither wrestler could score in SV, the match went into rideouts with Roosa starting down. Garbinsky was able to quickly tilt Roosa on a choke over to get a pair of nearfall points en route to a ride out giving him a 6-4 lead. While Garbinsky could not escape during his time on bottom he kept Roosa from getting a tilt and was able to secure the win and his first trip to Nationals. Tyler Wilps used four takedowns, two escapes and a bonus point for over three minutes of riding time to take an 11-6 victory over Johnny Greisheimer of Edinboro. The victory over Greisheimer clinched Wilps’ first trip to NCAAs. After dropping his first bout sending him to the consolation brackets, Donnie Tasser needed to win a pair of matches, and finish in third, to clinch a trip to his second NCAA Championships. Tasser won his first match against Edinboro’s Michael Depalam in dominant fashion 5-0 to advance to the consolation finals. In the third place match, Tasser met up with Lock Haven’s Jacob Kemerer. After a scoreless first, Tasser started down in the second and earned an escape a mere four seconds into the period. Tasser then went on the offensive and connected on a takedown off a high single to push his lead to 3-0. In the third Kemerer chose a neutral start trying to get back into the match. Tasser continued his aggressive approach and was able to earn his trip to Nationals with a 3-0 decision. Derrick Nelson (sixth at 125) and Travis Shaffer (fifth at 141) rounded out the Panthers in action at the EWL Championships. “We’ve got a good crew,” Stottlemyer said. “They’ve sacrificed all year long. They were committed and that’s why we are where we’re at. We have some upperclassmen that led the way and a lot of people followed and that’s why we are where we are today.” Pitt will be back in action at the National Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa, beginning on Thursday, March 21.