InterMat Staff

Evanston, Ill. -- Keith Gavin added another plaudit to his already accomplished wrestling resume today as the Pitt Panthers wrestling team capped a weekend of record-breaking performances. The nation's No. 1-ranked wrestler at 174 pounds captured the Midlands Wrestling Championship crown tonight after earning a major decision over Iowa's Jay Borschel by a score of 13-4. The victory helped the Panthers to a sixth-place finish; the program's first top-10 and best team showing ever at the prestigious tournament. Gavin (Factoryville, Pa./Lackawanna Trail), who registered his 100th career victory earlier in the tournament, became Pitt's first Midlands champion since two-time NCAA champion Pat Santoro claimed back-to-back tournament titles in 1987 and 1988. Gavin now owns a perfect 17-0 record on the season, including an 11-0 mark in tournament competition. Matt Kocher (State College, Pa./State College) also made his way to the championship finals and picked up a second-place finish to help the Panthers in the team standings. The returning All-American gave No. 1-ranked Mike Poeta of Illinois all he could ask for in the championship bout of the 157-pound bracket. Kocher, the No. 3 seed, battled Poeta throughout the match, mustering two escapes in a very low scoring affair. The Illini grappler coupled a takedown with an escape of his own, however, and held on in the third period to secure the title by a count of 3-2. Along with his runner-up finish, Kocher grabbed his 100th career-tournament victory in yesterday's preliminary rounds, making him the first wrestler in Pitt history to accomplish the feat. Zach Sheaffer (Carlisle, Pa./Cumberland Valley), who entered the tournament as the No. 7-seeded heavyweight, met up with Central Michigan's Bubba Gritter in a showdown for fifth-place. Pitt's redshirt junior battled Gritter to a 2-2 deadlock after two periods before the Chippewa heavyweight used an escape and two takedowns to pull away in the final frame. For his efforts, Sheaffer garnered a sixth-place honor and continues to lead the team in victories this season with 23. Ryan Bosso (Pequea, Pa./Penn Manor) was the Panthers' fourth placewinner, taking seventh in the 125-pound bracket. He bested Tyler Mumbulo of the Peacock Wrestling Club by a count of 9-2 in the first session of today's action. It marked Bosso's best tournament finish as a collegian and raised his win total for the year to 15, which is fourth best on the team. The Panthers next match will come when they return home to Fitzgerald Field House on Friday, Jan. 6, to take on Duquesne and Franklin and Marshall in a three-team affair at noon.

EVANSTON, ILL. -- Junior All-American Mike Poeta won his second-straight 157-pound Midlands title Sunday night at the 45th Midlands Wrestling Championships. The top-ranked and seeded grappler posted a 3-2 decision over third-seeded Matt Kocher (Pitt) to move to 15-0 on the season. Poeta has been to the Midlands finals in each of his three years at Illinois. He also becomes the first Illini wrestler in the Mark Johnson era to win back-to-back Midlands titles. As a team, the Illini finished in fourth place with 100.0 points. Flores (Madera, Calif.) became the first Illini placewinner of the evening when top-seeded Nick Simmons (Sunkist) medically forfeited out of the tournament. The win gave the Illini senior his second trip to the medal stand in his career. He finished seventh as a redshirt-freshman. Kennedy (Ingleside, Ill.) also made his second trip to the medal stand with a fourth-place finish. Last year's runner-up at 133 fell to Nick Fanthorpe (Iowa St.), 4-1. At 157, after a scoreless first period, Poeta (Highwood, Ill.) took a 1-0 lead with an escape. Then, moments later, extended his advantage with a takedown. Kocher cut into the lead with an escape as the period came to a close. In the third, Kocher added another escape but Poeta fought him off to defend his title. "I'm not happy with how close the match was." Poeta said. "I wanted to come out there and dominate but Kocher's a good wrestler and he wasn't going to let me do that. I can't change my focus, though. I have to come out and dictate the flow of every match." At 174, sophomore John Dergo (Morris, Ill.) finished in sixth place after he dropped a 3-1 decision to Mike Miller (CMU). Earlier in the day, Roger Smith-Bergsrud (165) and John Wise (HWT) each won their seventh place matches. "This is a great accomplishment for Mike." Said head coach Mark Johnson. "To win this tournament two years in-a-row is a very hard thing to do. However, it is only another step in the ladder towards the NCAA tournament championship." The Illini are back in action on January 11, 2008 when they compete in the Virginia Duals in Hampton, Va.

EVANSTON, Ill. -- In a battle of the Jakes, it was Iowa State's Jake Varner who avenged his 2007 NCAA Championship loss to former Northwestern NCAA 184-pound champion Jake Herbert with a 3-1 sudden victory win Sunday at the Midlands Championships in Welsh-Ryan Arena. Cyclone Jon Reader finished as the 165-pound runner-up. Placing third for the Cyclones were Nick Fanthorpe and Cyler Sanderson at 133 and 157 pounds, respectively. Iowa State finished second in the team race with 139 points. Iowa took home the team trophy with 185 points. Central Michigan was third was 117.5 points and Illinois fourth with 100 points. "I thought overall we had a good tournament," Iowa State head coach Cael Sanderson said. "We won some big matches and lost some close ones. The important thing is we know what we have to do to get better and we will be working on those things." In the 184-pound battle, both wrestlers exploded from the first whistle with Herbert getting in the first shot. Varner fended it off and both wrestlers moved back to the center of the mat where the pair went at it head-to-head exchanging offensive blows. Herbert again took a shot, but Varner's countered and slammed Herbert to the mat, nearly pinning him. The move happened so fast, however, no points were scored. Both wrestlers recorded escapes to start the second and third periods, evening the score at 1-1. They remained locked in the center as regulation time expired. In sudden victory, a 30-second period of action, Varner wasted no time going hard into Herbert as he was heading towards the edge of the mat and got the takedown with only his toes in bounds for the win. "He is fun to wrestle," Varner said. "We have wrestled five times and he is strong and has good technique. I wasn't thinking about the NCAA match from last season. A win like this gives you confidence for the future. In overtime, he tried a hip toss and I countered it." Varner, who placed third at the Midlands tournament a year ago, becomes the 38th ISU grappler to earn a Midlands title. During the course of the tournament, the All-American tallied three victories by pin, pushing his tally for the season to four. He carries a spotless 11-0 record this season. The fifth-seeded Reader and second-seeded Mark Perry tangled for the first time, squaring off for the 165-pound title, with Perry scoring an 8-0 major decision over Reader. The Iowa wrestler struck with a takedown within the bout's first period for a 2-0 lead. Bypassing the opportunity to get on the board with an escape, Reader chose to start the second period from neutral, only to be taken down and have Perry find a way to score back points. Reader's redshirt freshman record stands at 15-2. The fourth-seeded Fanthorpe placed third at 133 pounds with a 4-1 decision over second-seeded Jim Kennedy of Illinois. Neither wrestler was able to get a shot in on the other during the opening three minutes of action. Starting the second stanza from the down position, Kennedy scored first with an escape for a 1-0 advantage. In the third period, Fanthorpe was able to get an escape of his own and quickly struck with a single leg and wrapped it up for a takedown and a 3-1 lead. The sophomore hailing from nearby Naperville, Ill., rode Kennedy hard throughout the rest of the period to give him an added point. Fanthorpe pushes his season mark to 16-2. "I would have liked to have been in the title match," Fanthorpe said. "This tournament gives you great experience. I wrestled some tough guys here and I will see some of them again this season. If I am able to take what I learned here and profit from it, it was all worth it." Sanderson, the second-seeded grappler at 157 pounds, surged throughout the third-place bout against fourth-seeded Brian Cobb (Roadrunner WC) with an 8-6 decision. The Cyclone took less than 10 seconds to score the first takedown and took Cobb down again in the final minute of the opening period for a 4-2 lead going into the second period. Cobb took the lead on a takedown at the five-second mark in the second stanza. Ranked fourth nationally, Sanderson escaped and notched his third takedown and held on for riding time to clinch the win. "I didn't wrestle as well as I wanted to, particularly in one match," Sanderson said. "I just want to get better. A loss shakes you up. Overall, it was an OK tournament." Heavyweight David Zabriskie placed fourth for Iowa State, David Bertolino finished fifth at 197 pounds and Mitch Mueller notched a sixth-place finish at 149 pounds. Iowa State will continue to compete on the road, traveling to Cedar Falls, Iowa, Jan. 12-13 to participate at the NWCA National Duals in the UNI-Dome. Wrestling action returns to Ames and Hilton Coliseum Jan. 18 as the Cyclones play host to Big 10 foe, Wisconsin at 7 p.m.

Iowa wins 19th Midlands title University of Iowa Sports Information The University of Iowa wrestling team crowned four individual champions en route to winning the 2007 Midlands team title Sunday night in Evanston, IL. The Hawkeyes won their 19th team title in school history and their first since 2002. Iowa scored 185 points to win the 45th annual tournament. Defending team champion Iowa State placed second with 139. The Hawkeyes went four-for-five in the finals with junior Mark Perry (165) and sophomores Joe Slaton (133), Dan LeClere (141) and Brent Metcalf (149) each winning individual titles. It was Perry's second career title and his fourth appearance in the finals. It was the first title for Slaton, LeClere and Metcalf. Slaton set the tone for Iowa in the finals with a 6-2 upset over top seed Franklin Gomez of Indiana to remain undefeated at 12-0. LeClere followed with a narrow 5-4 upset over second seed Zack Bailey of Oklahoma. Metcalf won Iowa's third straight title, racking up third-period points to beat fifth seed Jake Patascil of Purdue by an 18-5 major decision. Perry made Iowa four-for-four in the finals with his 8-0 major decision over fifth seed Jonathan Reader of Iowa State. Perry led the tournament field with four pins in a total time of 8:10. Sophomore Jay Borschel wrestled above his sixth seed, but could not pull the upset over top seed Keith Gavin of Pittsburgh and lost Iowa's final championship match, 13-4. Also placing for the Hawkeyes were seniors Alex Tsirtsis (141-3rd) and Matt Fields (Hwt.-8th), junior Charlie Falck (125-3rd), and sophomores Phillip Keddy (184-4th) and Ryan Morningstar (157-5th). Tsirtsis was wrestling as an unattached Hawkeye. Top-ranked Iowa (7-0) will return to Iowa City to host fifth-ranked Oklahoma State (5-1) Saturday at 7 p.m. in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The UI Athletics Ticket Office has already sold almost 7,000 tickets for the dual meet and encourages fans to purchase tickets in advance. Tickets purchased in advance are $8 for adults and $4 for youth. Prices increase to $10 for adults and $5 for youth on match night. Tickets can be purchased online at www.hawkeyesports.com, over the telephone at 1-800 IA-HAWKS, and at the UI Athletics Ticket Office in Carver-Hawkeye. The ticket office is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, but will be closed on New Year's Day. Minnesota wins Southern Scuffle with four champions University of Minnesota Sports Information The defending national champion Minnesota Golden Gopher wrestling team lived up to its billing Sunday at the 2007 Southern Scuffle in Greensboro, N.C. The Gophers ran away with the team title, topping runner-up Edinboro by over 50 points and crowned four individual champions: Jayson Ness, Mack Reiter, Manuel Rivera and C.P. Schlatter all finished first in their respective weight classes. The Gophers' main highlights on the event's second day easily belonged to third-ranked Ness (125 pounds) and Schlatter, currently ranked 10th at 157 pounds. Ness recorded pins in all six of his matches during the tournament, bumping his season total to 15. He appears on pace to shatter the Gophers' single season pin record of 20, set by current head assistant coach Marty Morgan in 1989-90. Ness has pinned all 12 opponents he has faced in tournament competition so far this season. C.P. Schlatter earned a form of family redemption in the 157-pound championship match on Sunday, defeating second-ranked Gregor Gillespie of Edinboro by a 5-2 decision. Gillespie was the national champion at 149 pounds last season and ended Dustin Schlatter's 65-match winning streak in the NCAA semifinals. Reiter cruised to a victory in the 133-pound bracket with a perfect 5-0 tournament record, including a hard-fought 5-4 win over Cornell's Mike Grey in the final. The senior picked up bonus points in three of five matches and won his first-ever Southern Scuffle title. Reiter missed the 2006 tournament due to an injury and finished second in 2005. Rivera, another Gopher senior enjoying a stellar season, entered the final 30 seconds of his championship match with third-ranked Charles Griffin of Hofstra down 3-2, but scored a reversal with just 10 seconds remaining to emerge with a dramatic 5-3 win. Rivera recorded three pins and a tech fall in six matches during the two-day tournament, improving his season record to 19-1 while picking up his second straight Southern Scuffle title. Top-ranked 149-pounder Dustin Schlatter was upset in the championship match by unranked Mike Roberts of Boston University, who went on to win the tournament's most outstanding wrestler award. Gophers Gabe Dretsch (fifth place at 174 pounds), Tyler Safratowich (fifth place at 165 pounds) and Yura Malamura (sixth at 197 pounds) also placed for the Gophers. Malamura won four straight matches after dropping down to the consolation bracket before losing to nationally-ranked Joseph Rovelli of Hofstra and Patrick Bradshaw of Edinboro to end his run. The Southern Scuffle marks the end of Minnesota's regular season tournament schedule, as the team enters the bulk of its dual meet slate with the 2008 NWCA National Duals Jan. 12-13. The Gophers won the event last year with a perfect 4-0 record, including a victory over then-No. 1 Missouri for the championship. The University of Northern Iowa will once again host the 2008 National Duals in Cedar Falls.

GREENSBORO, NC -- Pre-seeds for the 2007 Southern Scuffle were announced on Thursday evening. The tournament gets underway Saturday. Live results and pay-per-view video streaming will be available at SouthernScuffle.com. The pre-seeds are as follows: 125 1. Jayson Ness - Minnesota 2. David Tomasette - Hofstra 3. Mike Sees - Bloomsburg 4. Eric Morrill - Edinboro 5. Nicholas Bedelyon - Kent State 6. James Nicholson - Old Dominion 7. Justin Staylor - Virginia Tech 8. Drew Forshey - North Carolina 133 1. Lou Ruggirello - Hofstra 2. Mack Reiter - Minnesota 3. Eric Albright - Virginia 4. Dan Mitcheff - Kent State 5. Mike Grey - Cornell 6. Joe Baker - Navy 7. Jeff Hedges - UNCG 8. Ricky Deubel - Edinboro 9. Kyle Hutter - ODU 141 1. Charles Griffin - Hofstra 2. Manuel Rivera - Minnesota 3. Joe Caramanica - N. C. State 4. Adam Frey - Cornell 5. Drew Lashaway - Kent State 6. Ryan Williams - Old Dominion 7. Levi Jones - Boise State 8. Christopher Bencivenga - UNCG 9. Alex Krom - Maryland 149 1. Dustin Schlatter - Minnesota 2. Darrion Caldwell - N. C. State 3. Scott Ervin - Appalachian State 4. Eric Medina - Maryland 5. Kyle Fried - Binghamton 6. Adam Hall - Boise State 7. Kaylen Baxter - Old Dominion 8. Clint Sponseller - Kent State 9. Vincent Ramirez - North Carolina 10. Bryce Saddoris - Navy 157 1. Gregor Gillespie - Edinboro 2. Jordan Leen - Cornell 3. CP Schlatter - Minnesota 4. Tyler Sherfey - Boise State 5. Matt Moley - Bloomsburg 6. Kurt Gross - Kent State 7. Jon Bonilla-Bowman - Hofstra 8. Ben Fiacoo - North Carolina 165 1. Mack Lewnes - Cornell 2. Scott Glasser - Minnesota 3. Chris Brown - Old Dominion 4. Keegan Mueller - North Carolina 5. Jarrod King - Edinboro 6. Kur Swartz – Boise State 7. Michael Chaires - Virginia 8. Ryan Patrovich – Hofstra 174 1. Matthew Stolpinski - Navy 2. Mike Letts - Maryland 3. Steve Anceravage - Cornell 4. Gabe Dretsch - Minnesota 5. Alton Lucas - Hofstra 6. Philip Moricone - Edinboro 7. Josh Patterson - Binghamton 8. Eric Decker - Virginia Tech 9. Neal Martin - Appalachian State 184 1. Roger Kish - Minnesota 2. Rocco Caponi - Virginia 3. Josh Haines - Maryland 4. Ryan Goodman – NC State 5. Jesse Strawn - Old Dominion 6. Eric Chine - Kent State 7. Michael Moore - Cornell 8. Matt Parsons - Navy 197 1. Joseph Rovella - Hofstra 2. Hudson Taylor - Maryland 3. Daren Burns - UNCG 4. David Mendoza - Old Dominion 5. Brent Jones - Virginia 6. Patrick Bradshaw - Edinboro 7. Dennis Drury - North Carolina 285 1. Ed Prendergast - Navy 2. Zach Hammond - Cornell 3. Mike Spaid - Bloomsburg 4. Joey Fendone - Edinboro 5. Jermail Porter - Kent State 6. Scott Steele - Navy 7. Nick Smith – Boise State 8. Justin Dobies - North Carolina

TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Arizona State University wrestling team will play host to the ASU Alumni Golf Outing on Saturday, January 5, as part of alumni weekend. The outing, which will be held at ASU's Karsten Golf Course, will take place one day prior to the Sun Devil Duals inside Wells Fargo Arena on Sunday, January 6, at noon. The inaugural golf outing, which is open the public to compete, will begin with a shotgun start at 12:30 p.m. and will conclude with a fajita dinner served on the Sun Devil Patio at Karsten. The price for the event is $100.89 and includes greens fees, a golf cart, practice balls prior to the start of the event, an ASU Sparky Club Crest (bag tag) and dinner. To register for the four-person scramble, checks made payable to SUN ANGEL FOUNDATION (WRESTLING) can be sent to: ASU Wrestling Attn: Thom Ortiz PO Box 872505 Tempe, AZ 85287-2505 The next day, ASU will play host to Army, Grand Canyon and Penn in the Sun Devil Duals. The Sun Devils and Black Knights will meet at noon before a battle of Arizona takes place at 1:30 p.m. as ASU and the `Lopes of GCU meet on the mats for the first time. The day concludes at 3 p.m. with the Sun Devils facing the Quakers of Penn, led by former Sun Devil All-American Zeke Jones. Prior to the start of the duals, all wrestling alumni in attendance will be recognized at the center of the mats as part of Alumni Weekend. Head Coach Thom Ortiz and Penn's Jones will also join their fellow teammates and former coach Bobby Douglas on the mats later in the day as the program will honor the 20th anniversary of the 1988 NCAA Championship won by the Sun Devils. All members of that winning team are scheduled to be on hand for the celebration of the only team wrestling title won by a school west of Oklahoma in NCAA Division I history.

NORFOLK, Va. -- The 24th ranked ODU wrestling team returns to the mat a final time in 2007 to the annual Southern Scuffle tournament at UNC Greensboro this weekend. ODU has not wrestled since the first of December where they had two placewinners at the Las Vegas Invitational. The tournament boasts seven nationally ranked teams of the 24 attending, including the defending national champion Golden Gophers of Minnesota. The tournament will take place Saturday and Sunday in Greensboro, N.C. with weigh-ins beginning at 8:00 am. Nationally ranked teams in the 2007 Southern Scuffle field include #4 Minnesota, #14 Edinboro, #15 Hofstra, #17 Cornell, #21 Navy, #23 Maryland, and #24 Old Dominion. ODU will look for solid appearances from #11-ranked 141-pounder Ryan Williams (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) and #17-ranked 165-pounder Chris Brown (Chesapeake, Va.). Williams has placed in all three tournaments he's been in this season. Brown toppled the top wrestler in the nation earlier this season and will look to place in his third tournament. The Monarchs will also look to #20 Kaylen Baxter (149), David Mendoza (197) and Jesse Strawn (184) to make runs at the title in their respective weight classes. Baxter leads the team in wins with 16, Mendoza leads the team in technical falls with three and Strawn is tied for the team lead in major decisions with Brown with six. For more information on the tournament, go to www.uncgspartans.com. Fans can sign up for Spartan All-Access to watch all the action live from the tournament. Also, live stat updates are available throughout the tournament at www.SouthernScuffle.com.

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern University is set to host the 2007 Midlands Wrestling Championships, Dec. 29-30 at Welsh-Ryan Arena. This year marks the 45th installment of one of the most prestigious events in collegiate wrestling. The annual tournament attracts hundreds of the most talented wrestlers from around the country in a two-day, four-session double-elimination tournament. Founded by Northwestern's Ken Kraft, the Midlands Championships are held every December in Welsh-Ryan Arena. The tournament has historically brought together the very best in amateur wrestling, and has provided the springboard for 92 Olympic wrestlers. Last year's champion, Iowa State, returns to the site of its victory for another shot at the title. The Big Ten had previously dominated the tournament as Illinois won the previous three Midlands Championships, while Iowa and Minnesota combined to win the nine before that, dating back to 1990. Four top-10 teams are competing in Midlands "45," headlined by No. 1 Iowa, No. 2 Iowa State, No. 6 Central Michigan and No. 9 Northwestern, according to the latest release of rankings by the USA Today/InterMat/NWCA Division I Coaches Poll Individually, the Midlands host a plethora of individual talents searching for an NCAA Championship at season's end, including defending Midlands Champions: Angel Escobedo (Indiana) at 125 lbs., Nick Simmons (Michigan State) at 133 lbs., Ryan Lang (Northwestern) at 149 lbs., Mike Poeta (Illinois) at 157 lbs., Jake Herbert at 184 lbs., Mike Tamillow (Northwestern) at 197 lbs. and Tervel Dlagnev (Nebraska-Kearney) at heavyweight. "Midlands is one of the best events in college wrestling," Northwestern head wrestling coach Tim Cysewski said. "A Midlands championship, a Big Ten championship and an NCAA championship, that's the triple crown of college wrestling."

Over the years, the Midlands wrestling tournament has become a much-anticipated after-Christmas present for amateur wrestling fans. However, when the wraps were taken off the very first Midlands in suburban Chicago the last week of December 1963, the nation can be forgiven if it didn't immediately sit up and take notice. After all, the country was still reeling from the assassination of President John F. Kennedy one month earlier. The sports pages were dominated by coverage of the NFL national title game between the Chicago Bears and the New York Giants. (The first Super Bowl didn't take place until January 1967.) With all that was going on at the time, the 1963 Midlands got very little media attention. And it's hard to imagine that any of the participants, fans in the stands, or even the organizers could have dreamed that this Christmastime classic would become one of the longest-running and most prestigious events on the college wrestling calendar forty-five years later. The driving force behind a great idea Midlands founders from left to right: Bert Kraus, Jack Heiner, Dick Coldren, and Ken KraftThe idea of the Midlands was born on a long road trip in late December 1962. Ken Kraft, the head wrestling coach at Northwestern University at the time, was driving his team home from the annual Wilkes tournament. Somewhere on the road between Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and Evanston, Illinois, the idea struck coach Kraft: Why not have an end-of-year wrestling tournament closer to home, in the Chicago area? The Christmastime tradition now known as the Midlands first hit the mats in December 1963 at the YMCA in LaGrange, Illinois outside Chicago. The tournament was an immediate success by any measure, with a 132-man field in the first year, including seven individual national champions, and post-collegiate wrestlers preparing for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. In fact, the first event was so popular, it outgrew the Y that first year, finding a home at the nearby Lyons High School in LaGrange for the next eight years. In 1972, the Midlands moved to the Northwestern campus in Evanston, where it has been held every year since -- with one exception: in 1982, when the university's arena was being completely rebuilt, Harper College in suburban Palatine, Illinois hosted the tournament. Despite these various venues, the Midlands has remained a uniquely Chicago area institution for nearly a half-century. One of the original champs remembers Dennis McCabe remembers that first tournament as if it were yesterday. Denny, who wrestled at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, made history by being crowned the 190-pound champ at the very first Midlands in 1963. "First of all, it wasn't called the Midlands in the first year," recalls Denny in a 2002 interview with this writer for an article for the Amateur Wrestling Photos.com website. "It was called the West Suburban YMCA Open, and it truly was an 'open' where anyone could show up and compete. By contrast, I'd describe today's Midlands as being an 'open invited.'" "They had no idea how many wrestlers would show up that first year," according to Denny. "The gym at the Y wasn't much bigger than your typical high school gym, and, with three mats on the floor, there wasn't much room left over for the wrestlers and the spectators. It was wall-to-wall people. There really wasn't any room to work out or warm up. In fact, I remember having to almost fight my way through the crowd to get to my matches." When asked why the event was so popular in its first year, Denny McCabe says, "There had never been a holiday wrestling tournament in our part of the country." Denny McCabe with Dan Gable"The timing was great. For those of us from Illinois, it was a chance to compete while we were home for the holidays," according to the graduate of Maine East High School, which is not too far from the YMCA hosting that 1963 tournament. Yet another reason for the event's success right from the start: The University of Michigan's long-time, legendary coach Cliff Keen (yes, the same guy whose name is on the wrestling gear supplier) brought his Big Ten champion Wolverines to the inaugural event. The first Midlands champs To claim his 190-pound title at the 1963 Midlands, Denny McCabe wrestled four matches in that crowded Y gym … culminating with his 7-2 victory over Michigan's Joe Arcure in the finals. (Sadly, that Midlands title would be the highlight of Denny's 1963-64 college season. A knee injury prevented the SIU-Carbondale 190-pounder from competing at the 1964 NCAAs. However, after serving in Vietnam, Denny McCabe won the inter-service championship in 1967.) Larry Kristoff (left) won four consecutive Midlands titles In addition to Denny McCabe, SIU claimed three other champions at the 1963 Midlands: Terry Finn, who won the 126-pound crown by defeating Northwestern's Dave Kreider in the finals… Don Schneider, who beat Michigan's Bill Johanaeson in the 134-pound finals … and heavyweight Larry Kristoff, who claimed his first of four consecutive Midlands individual titles with his referee's decision over Moorhead State's Bob Billberg in the finals. (Kristoff went on to wrestle freestyle for the U.S. at the 1964 and 1968 Olympics.) The University of Michigan brought three individual titles back to Ann Arbor: Mike Palmisano defeated Stan Korona of Northern Illinois University to take the 118-pound crown … Cal Jenkins got the win over Lee Grubbs in the 142-pound finals … and team captain Rick Bay beat Northwestern's Stu Marshall in the 167-pound title bout. 1963 Midlands championsThe Big Ten conference could claim two more 1963 Midlands champs. In the 150-pound finals, Jerry Torrence of Northwestern defeated Dick Smith… while, at 158, Purdue's Dave Gibson earned the title with a win over Sam Ward. In the 177-pound finals, 30-year-old Roy Conrad of the Irving Park YMCA -- a graduate of Northern Illinois University, and 1960 NCAA champ at 177 -- got the victory over SIU's Don Millard. (Don't feel bad for Millard; he came back to win the 1964 NCAA title at 167 lbs.) Taking home team titles Despite SIU-Carbondale having four individual champs to Michigan's three, the Wolverines claimed the inaugural team title at the 1963 Midlands … and earned that honor again in 1964. The Midlands grew in stature and significance as additional colleges made it part of their schedules. Michigan State participated in its first Midlands in 1965, followed by the Iowa State Cyclones in 1966. By 1970, the University of Iowa Hawkeyes, and the Oklahoma State Cowboys had joined in on the action. From 1965 to 1973, two schools battled back and forth for the Midlands team title: Michigan State and Iowa State. In 1973, Oklahoma State rode off with the team championship. Starting in 1974, Iowa pretty much locked up the team title through the rest of the 70s and into the early 1980s. For the rest of the 80s, team championship honors went to Sunkist Kids, Arizona State and North Carolina various years. For a time in the early 1990s, there were no team titles awarded…but, once the team championship was resumed, the Hawkeyes laid claim to the honor for the rest of the decade. In the new millennium, team honors have gone to Iowa State, Minnesota, Illinois (with three straight from 2003-2005), and, most recently, Iowa in 2007. Midlands matmen with the "mostest" In all the years of the Midlands tournament, over 8,000 wrestlers have competed… yet only 295 have won individual titles. Some participants deserve special recognition: The "20 in 4 Club": One measure of elite status at the Midlands is for an individual wrestler to earn twenty wins in the first four years of competition at the event. Of the thousands of wrestlers who've stepped onto the mats at the Midlands, only sixteen have accomplished this feat. Dan Gable was the first, getting 20 wins at the 1966-1969 Midlands. Other members of the "20 in 4 Club" include John Bowlsby, Barry Davis, Andy Schwab, Cary Kolat, Joe Williams, Charlie Branch, Mark Ironside, Wes Hand, Jody Strittmatter, Doug Schwab, Yoshi Nakamura, Mitch Clark, Cael Sanderson, Joe Heskett, and Tommy Rowlands. At the 2007 Midlands, Iowa's Mark Perry came close to joining the "20 in 4 Club." The four-time finalist has tallied a total of eighteen wins. However, the 2007 Midlands was a special year for Perry; the Hawkeye 165-pounder won the Outstanding Wrestler award and all other individual honors except for Fastest Fall. No average Joe: In addition to being a member of the "20 in 4 Club", former Iowa Hawkeye wrestler and Chicago area native Joe Williams can also claim some other Midlands "mosts." He has the most wins of any Midlands competitor, with 55. Williams also has the most consecutive victories, with 51. What's more, he also has the most individual championships, with ten. Most outstanding: Each year since the 1964 Midlands, tournament referees and members of the media have declared one competitor to be the Outstanding Wrestler of that particular year. Among those who have won the award more than once: two-time winners Masaaki Hatta, Wade Schalles, Bruce Baumgartner, Cary Kolat and Joe Williams. However, one man earned OW honors an incredible five times in six appearances as a wrestler. His name is Dan Gable, and now the award bears his name. Most "durable": You can count on the fingers of two hands all the men who've wrestled at the Midlands over the course of three separate, consecutive decades. Competing at the Midlands in the 1960s, 70s and 80s: Russ Hellickson, Verlyn Strellner, Tom Minkel and Leo Kocher. Stepping onto the Midlands mats in the 70s, 80s and 90s: Fred McGaver, and Jim Zalesky… while Phil Rembert, John Fisher, and Kevin Vogel wrestled in the tournament in the 1980s, 90s and the new millennium: Roy Conrad (left) was the 177-pound champ at the very first MidlandsHigh school highs: Over the years, most of the competitors at the Midlands have been college wrestlers … with a few post-collegiate veterans sprinkled among the field. In the 45 years of the Midlands, only four high school mat stars have been invited to compete: Jimmy Carr and Cary Kolat (both Pennsylvania preps), Alex Tsirtsis (who wrestled at Griffith HS in Indiana), and, after considerable battles with the governing body of New York State high school athletics, Corey Jantzen of Shoreham-Wading River HS on Long Island who wrestled at the 2006 Midlands. At the other end of the age spectrum … At the 2002 Midlands -- the fortieth anniversary edition -- Randy Conrad took to the mats at age 42 … making him the eldest wrestler to compete in the history of the tournament. Interestingly, Randy is the nephew of Roy Conrad, the 177-pound champ at the very first Midlands. Pinning down some impressive honors: Like many tournaments, the Midlands maintains meticulous records on just about everything that can take place during an amateur wrestling event… especially pins. There's the Gorriaran Memorial Trophy that, each year, honors the one wrestler who gets the most pins in the least amount of time. Among the men who've earned this trophy twice: Dan Gable, Wade Schalles, Mike Lingenfelter, Tom Erikson, Royce Alger, and Stephen Neal. The Midlands record books also list the competitors with the most pins in their appearances over the years at the tournament. Mike Schmidlin takes the prize as the top fall guy, with 25 pins in all his Midlands appearances. Dan Gable got 22 pins, while Tom Erikson had 19. Erikson also claims the honor of getting the fastest fall in the history of the tournament. In 1991, he pinned an opponent in just eight seconds! From Midlands to the Olympics The Midlands was held at Harper College before finding its long-time home at Welsh-Ryan Arena (pictured)During the Midlands 45 -- held December 29-30, 2007 -- Midlands veterans who also competed in the Olympics were honored at a special banquet and presentation ceremony before the finals on Sunday evening the 30th. In the 45-year history of the Midlands, an incredible 92 individuals who had competed at the Christmastime classic went on to wrestle at the Olympics, representing five different nations. Of these, eighteen earned Olympic gold medals for the U.S.: Dan Gable, Ben Peterson, John Peterson, Randy Lewis, Bobby Weaver, Ed Banach, Lou Banach, Bruce Baumgartner, Steve Fraser, Dave Schultz, Mark Schultz, Kenny Monday, Kendall Cross, Tom Brands, Kevin Jackson, Rulon Gardner, Brandon Slay, and Cael Sanderson. In addition the gracious assistance of Denny McCabe and Ken Kraft, source material for this InterMat Rewind historical profile came from an article in the 2002 Midlands program, "1963: It Was A Very Good Year" by Tom Tomashek (as well as statistical charts in the 2002 and 2004 Midlands programs) … and from Mike Chapman's book "From Gotch to Gable: A History of Wrestling In Iowa."

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Penn State Nittany Lion wrestlers Brad Pataky (Clearfield, Pa.), who red-shirted last season and will seek an Olympic red-shirt this year, continues to build upon his freestyle successes. A starter for Penn State during the 2005-06 season as a true freshman, Pataky has been focused solely on class and freestyle wrestling over the course of the last two years. During the 2006-07 academic year, Pataky competed in five freestyle events. He went 5-2 at the prestigious Sunkist Open, garnering three pins along the way. He followed that up with a third place finish at the Guelph Open in Canada and then winning the Brockport Open in New York. The talented Clearfield native then went 3-1 at the Dave Schultz Memorial in February of 2007, getting all three wins with pins. In June of this past summer, Pataky competed at the World Team Trials and went 1-1. This year, Pataky has competed in two events, the Sunkist Open and the NYAC Open this past November. Pataky placed sixth at the Sunkist Open, competing at 55 kg (121 pounds). He followed that performance up with an outstanding fourth place finish at the NYAC Open. Pataky went 4-2 on his way to the consolation finals where he lost a close bout to former Penn State stand-out Adam Smith. Pataky's only other loss was a close 1-0, 1-0 decision to former Arizona State All-American Danny Felix. Along the way, Pataky grabbed a superb 4-3, 8-6 win over 2006 NCAA National Champion Joe Dubuque of Indiana. Pataky went 15-8 in 2005-06 as a true freshman, including a 6-2 mark in duals and a 2-1 record in Big Ten action.

THIS WEEK The top-ranked Iowa wrestling team (7-0) will compete at the 45th annual Midlands Championships - dubbed Midlands "45" - Saturday and Sunday (Dec. 29-30) in Evanston, IL. The two-day, four session double-elimination tournament will be held in Welsh-Ryan Arena on the Northwestern University campus. Former Olympians, who also competed at the Midlands, will be honored at the annual banquet, the March of Champions and will participate in the awards ceremonies. Former Midlands competitors have won a total of 19 Olympic gold medalists and hail from five different countries. Hawkeye Head Coach Tom Brands and former Head Coach Dan Gable are two of five Olympians who also won Midlands and NCAA titles. Bruce Baumgartner, Kenny Monday and the late Dave Schultz are the other three. MIDLANDS "45" TICKET INFORMATION Tickets can be purchased from the Northwestern University Athletic Ticket Office at (847) 491-2287. All-session passes are $48 for reserved theater-style seats, $36 for adult bleacher general admission and $30 for student bleacher general admission. EIGHT HAWKEYES EARN MIDLANDS "45" EARLY PRE-SEEDS Eight Iowa wrestlers have earned early pre-seeds for Midlands "45". Senior defending Big Ten and NCAA Champion Mark Perry is the top seed at 165 pounds. Perry won the 2004 title at 165 and is a three-time finalist at the tournament. Junior all-American Charlie Falck is seeded second at 125, while sophomore Brent Metcalf is third at 149. Iowa's other pre-seeds include senior Matt Fields (4th-Hwt.), and sophomores Jay Borschel (5th-174), Joe Slaton (6th-133), sophomore Ryan Morningstar (7th-157) and Phillip Keddy (8th-184). ON THE AIR Television - The Big Ten Network will air Sunday's finals live and will rebroadcast the show Dec. 31 at 6 p.m. and Jan. 1 at 4:30 p.m. (CT). The broadcast will be available on DIRECTV channel 220 and DISH Network Channel 439. Internet - Press releases, tournament brackets and touranment notes will be available on the Northwestern University website, www.nusports.com. Session results and recaps will be available on the University of Iowa website, www.hawkeyesports.com. Current Hawkeye staff and student-athlete head shots can be found at pics.hawkeyesports.com. MIDLANDS HISTORY AND HONORS Iowa has won the most team titles (18) in the 44 years of Midlands history. The Hawkeyes won their first team title in 1974, and proceded to win nine of the next 11 tournaments. Iowa also won team titles in 1990, 1992, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2002. Other team winners include Iowa State (8), Michigan State (3), Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club (3), Illinois (3), Michigan (2), Arizona State (1), Minnesota (1), North Carolina (1) and Oklahoma State (1). Team scores were not kept at four tournaments (1991, 1993, 1994, 1995.) Seven former Hawkeyes are enshrined in the Midlands Hall of Fame. They are Ed Banach, Chris Campbell, Steve Combs, Tim Cysewski, Barry Davis, Randy Lewis and Chuck Yagla. Former Hawkeye Heach Coach Dan Gable is also a Midlands Hall of Fame member. Former Hawkeye Joe Williams holds the most individual titles in Midlands history, winning 10. Other former Hawkeyes to win at least three titles are Tim Cysweski (5), Mark Ironside (4), Royce Alger (3), Ed Banach (3), Jim Heffernan (3), Randy Lewis (3) and Chuck Yagla (3). Several Hawkeyes also hold Midlands weight class records. Ironside has the most wins (27) at 141 pounds, and he and Cysewski hold the most titles (4 each) at that weight. Jim Heffernan holds the most titles (3) at 157, while Joe Williams holds the most wins (35) and titles (6) at 174. Pat Kennedy holds the fastest fall (11 seconds) at 165. Dan Gable holds the most titles (3) and falls (13) at 149 pounds. 2006 MIDLANDS REVIEW Iowa crowned one champion, two runners-up and four other placewinners at the 44th annual Midlands Championships in Evanston, IL. Iowa placed second in the team race, scoring 107 points. Iowa State won its first team title since 1981 with 154.5. Hawkeye senior 174-pounder Eric Luedke won his first Midlands title and picked up his 35th career victory, defeating Rider's Doug Umbehauer, 6-4, in the finals. Juniors Alex Tsirtsis and Mark Perry both placed second with second-seed Tsirtsis losing an 8-5 decision to top-seed Ryan Lang of Northwestern at 141 and top-seed Perry losing a 5-2 decision to second-seed Travis Paulson of Iowa State at 165. Also placing for the Hawkeyes were senior Mario Galanakis (8th-133), junior Matt Fields (6th-Hwt.), sophomore Charlie Falck (7th-125) and redshirt freshman Ryan Morningstar (7th-157). PERRY NAMED BIG TEN WRESTLER OF THE WEEK Iowa wrestler Mark Perry has been named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week, earning the honor for the second time in his career. He first earned the honor Feb. 9, 2005. Perry, who is ranked second nationally at 165 pounds, pinned both his opponents and helped Iowa pick up two dual wins Dec. 13 in Iowa City. He pinned third-ranked Moza Fay of Northern Iowa in 48 seconds to score his 80th career victory in the first match of the night. He then stuck Cornell College's Christian Coffey in 4:17 to score his 30th career pin. Perry needs 10 more falls to break into Iowa's all-time top-10 career leaders list. He is 5-1 this season, pinning five of his six opponents. Perry is the second Hawkeye this season to earn the weekly conference honor. Sophomore Joe Slaton was honored Dec. 12 for upsetting Nick Fanthorpe of Iowa State, 6-5, at 133 pounds in Ames Dec. 9. BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS TICKETS GO ON SALE Tickets for the 2008 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, to be held at the University of Minnesota's Williams Arena March 8-9 are now available. All-session tickets are $30 and may be purchased through gophersports.com, in person at the Minnesota athletics ticket office in Mariucci Arena or by calling 1-800-846-7437 or 612-624-8080. Single-session tickets, if available, will go on sale March 3. The 2008 Big Ten Wrestling Championships will feature a three-session format, with the Session 1 preliminary matches beginning at 11 a.m. on March 8. Session 2 will get underway at 6 p.m. that same day, and the Session 3 championship matches will start at noon March 9. Doors to Williams Arena open approximately one hour prior to the beginning of each session. Sessions 1 and 2 will feature four mats of action, while Session 3 will have live wrestling on three mats. The Williams Arena court will be extended to accommodate the four-mat setup. The Big Ten Network is scheduled to provide live coverage of Sunday's conference finals. LAST MEET The top-ranked Hawkeyes improved to 7-0 Dec. 13 with wins over Northern Iowa (40-3) and Cornell College (51-0). The Hawkeyes went 19-1 on the night, losing the first match on a last-second takedown. Iowa rebounded to score eight pins, six major decisions and two technical falls in the remaining 19 matches. Senior Matt Fields (Hwt.), junior Charlie Falck (125) and sophomores Joe Slaton (133) and Jay Borschel (174) all remain undefeated at 7-0 this season. Iowa recorded its 40th series win over Northern Iowa and its 20th win in Iowa City. Senior Mark Perry, who is ranked second at 165 pounds, pinned No. 3 Moza Fay in 48 seconds in the night's marquee matchup to pick up his 80th career win. Perry also pinned Cornell's Christian Coffey in 4:17 to score his 30th career pin. Sophomore Ryan Morningstar scored his 30th career win by pinning Panther Jarion Beets in sudden victory at 157. Iowa's win over Cornell was the first time the Hawkeyes scored more than 50 points since the 2003-04 season when they defeated Southwest State, 54-0. Falck recorded his 45th career win with a 12-2 major decision over Cornell's Chris Heilman, who is ranked second in Division III. Fields scored his 70th career win with a 4:57 pin over Josiah Payne. BIG TEN NETWORK SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED The Big Ten Network has released its 2007-08 wrestling schedule. Nine duals and the finals of the 2007 Midlands Championships and 2008 Big Ten Championships are scheduled to be aired on the network. Iowa will have two televised duals. The Iowa-Ohio State dual on Jan. 18 in Columbus will air same-day tape-delayed at 8:30 p.m. (CT) and the Iowa-Minnesota dual on Feb. 1 in Minneapolis will air live at 7 p.m. (CT). The Iowa-Oklahoma State dual on Jan. 5 was originally scheduled for a tape-delayed broadcast, but will not be aired due to the addition of the Iowa-Minnesota dual. IOWA WRESTLING HISTORY Iowa's overall dual meet record is 816-214-30 (.784) in 96 seasons. The Hawkeyes have won 20 national titles and 31 Big Ten titles. Iowa's 48 NCAA champions have won a total of 74 NCAA individual titles, crowning six three-time and 13 two-time champions. The Hawkeyes' 100 Big Ten champions have won a total of 181 conference titles. There have been seven four-time, 18 three-time and 24 two-time Iowa winners. Iowa's 130 all-Americans have earned all-America status 266 times, including 16 four-time, 28 three-time and 32 two-time honorees. FAMILY FOUR PACK AVAILABLE The University of Iowa is offering a Family Four Pack ticket package for the Iowa vs. Indiana dual on Feb. 15. The package includes four tickets, four hot dogs and four drinks for $30. Orders can be placed through the University of Iowa Athletic Ticket Office or at 1-800-464-2957, 319-335-9327 or www.hawkeyesports.com. JOHNSON COUNTY I-CLUB WRESTLING LUNCHEON The annual Johnson County I-Club wrestling luncheon will be held Jan. 4, 2008 at 11:45 a.m. at the First Avenue Club in Iowa City. Tickets for the event are $13 and must be purchased in advance. To purchase tickets, make a check payable to the Johnson County I-Club and mail to: Iowa Wrestling ATTN: Luncheon 223 Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, IA 52242 NEXT COMPETITION Top-ranked Iowa (7-0) will host fifth-ranked Oklahoma State (5-1) Jan. 5 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Match time is set for 7 p.m. The Cowboys have won the last eight meetings between the two teams and hold a 24-16-1 advantage in the series.

Des Moines, Iowa -- For the 7th consecutive year Takedownradio.com will broadcast the Midlands Tournament Live from Evanston, Illinois and Northwestern University. Starting at 9:05AM CST you can tune in to this broadcast free of charge courtesy of Northwestern University, Brute Adidas, Defense Soap and the rest of the family of TDR sponsors.

DURHAM, N.C. -- The Duke wrestling squad will compete for the first time in four weeks when they head to Greensboro, N.C., for the prestigious Southern Scuffle Tournament on Dec. 29 and 30 at the Greensboro Coliseum. 16 Blue Devils from nine weight classes will compete in the two-day tournament. Last year, the Blue Devils finished 26th out of 32 teams at the Southern Scuffle. Senior captain Kellan McKeon will represent Duke at 125 pounds. McKeon is 15-6 this season with three falls and two top-four finishes. He is 11-5 in tournaments this year. Duke will utilize two 141-pound wrestlers in Greensboro. Sophomore Spencer Jasper is 8-9 this season with three falls and a second-place finish at The Citadel Open on Nov. 4 in Charleston, S.C. Jasper's career record at Duke is 20-19. Freshman A.J. Guardado is 10-9 in his first season with two pins and a fourth-place finish at the Davidson Open on Dec. 1. Redshirt sophomore Michael Degli Obizzi will go at 149 pounds this weekend. Degli Obizzi is 15-4 this year, including a 13-1 mark in tournaments and titles at the UNC Pembroke Open on Nov. 10 and the Davidson Open. Degli Obizzi now boasts a 37-26 record as a Blue Devil. At 157 pounds, sophomores Voris Tejada and Jared Sernoffsky get the nod at the Southern Scuffle. Tejada has placed in the top five in three of Duke's four tournaments this season. He is off to a 19-7 mark this year and his career .717 winning percentage (38-15) currently ranks 16th all-time at Duke. Sernoffsky has placed in the top three in two meets this season and has a 12-4 mark with three pins. He is 20-10 in his two years as a Blue Devil. Junior captain Addison Nuding and redshirt junior Aaron Glover will handle the duties at 165 pounds. Nuding is 13-4 on the year with a second-place showing at Pembroke and a championship at Davidson under his belt. Glover took second place behind Nuding with four wins at the Davidson Open in his first action of the 2007-08 campaign. Redshirt sophomore Ben Wales and redshirt junior Turner Rooney will both compete for Duke at 174 pounds. Wales won The Citadel Open and now holds an 11-8 record this season with one fall. His overall record at Duke is 20-19. Rooney placed second at The Citadel, losing only to Wales at the meet, and has posted a 6-5 mark this year with one pin and a 20-17 all-time record. Duke's most dominating wrestler at any weight this year has been 184-pound redshirt sophomore captain John Barone, who won at Pembroke and Davidson and placed second at the East Stroudsburg Open on Nov. 17. Barone won a 12-6 decision over the then-No. 8 nationally ranked Marc Bennett of Indiana on Nov. 24. He was named the ACC's wrestler of the week on Nov. 27. Barone's 11-second pin of Mike Walsh of Limestone College on Dec. 1 was the fastest fall in Duke history, breaking an 18-year-old school record. He is 19-1 with six falls in 2007 and 54-17 overall as a Blue Devil, which is good for ninth place on Duke's all-time winning percentage list with a .761 clip. At 197 pounds, three Duke wrestlers will see action in Greensboro. Redshirt junior Dan Fox is 9-9 in this season with two pins. Redshirt freshman Robert Holbrook is 8-6 and earned a third-place finish at The Citadel Open. Redshirt junior captain Dan Tulley, who holds a 20-27 record at Duke, will take to the mats for the first time in 2007-08. At the heavyweight division will be redshirt sophomores Wade Van Sickle and Mike Tunick. Van Sickle has three top three finishes this season and has posted a 17-5 record with three falls this season. He is 39-29 overall as a Blue Devil. Tunick went 2-2 with two pins at the Davidson Open in his only competition of the season. Duke will next compete against Campbell, Gardner-Webb and Anderson College at the N.C. State Duals on Saturday, Jan. 5, beginning at 12 p.m. The Blue Devils first home meet, and only one in January, is Wednesday, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. versus N.C. State in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Mack Reiter, a senior 133-pounder for the University of Minnesota, will undoubtedly go down as one of the program's all-time greats. But the Gilbertville, Iowa native has had a rollercoaster ride of successes and disappointments throughout his collegiate career. His successes include winning Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors and being named Most Outstanding Wrestler at the Big Ten Championships in 2005, twice earning All-American honors (2005 and 2006), and being a part of a national championship team (2007). His disappointments include being disqualified for an illegal slam at the 2006 NCAA Championships, tearing his ACL, missing most of his junior season, and failing to place at the 2007 NCAA Championships. Mack ReiterReiter, who entered the season with the 12th highest career winning percentage in school history (.851), would like nothing more than to finish his senior campaign with an individual national title and a team national title. Entering the Southern Scuffle (December 29-30), Reiter carries a 6-1 record and is ranked No. 4 in the country at 133 pounds by RevWrestling.com. (Note: His record does not include the 6-0 exhibition loss to Lou Ruiggirello of Hofstra on Nov. 19 at the NWCA All-Star Classic.) RevWrestling.com recently caught up with Reiter and talked to him about how he ended up at Minnesota, the ups and downs of his career, how his ACL injury has affected him, what the team took away from the loss to Iowa State, what he expects to happen at 133 pounds next season for the Gophers, what he expects out of the team and himself this season, whether he plans to continue competing after the collegiate season, and much more. I'm going to go back a few years to your senior season of high school in 2003. You grew up a Hawkeye fan and were quoted in a story during the recruiting process as saying, "I think it would be tough to turn down Iowa, but if that's what's best, I don't know … picturing myself in Minnesota's uniform is a little hard. I can see myself in a Hawkeye uniform. I always have." Yet you signed with Minnesota and became the first blue-chip recruit from the state of Iowa to sign with the Gophers. Why did you choose Minnesota over Iowa? Reiter: To be honest, something just felt right about the whole situation at Minnesota. I loved the coaching staff. Minnesota had everything in place. I think more than anything else, I just needed a little bit of a change. I felt that if I went to Iowa that I would have just been hanging out with the same people I hung out with all my life. I thought up here at Minnesota that I would meet new people and have new coaches who could take me to the next level. I think that was my deciding factor. Your freshman season in the lineup, you turned in one of the best freshman seasons in school history, finishing the year with a 40-7 record, fourth place at the NCAA Championships, Big Ten Freshman of the Year, and Most Outstanding Wrestler at the Big Ten Championships after pinning Mark Jayne. Did you surprise even yourself by how much success you had so soon? Or did you expect to challenge for a national title right away? Reiter: In the back of my mind, I always wanted to win a national title right away. But I can't sit here and say there weren't doubts in my mind. I spent my life watching some of the guys that I would be wrestling, since they were a few years older than me. I was always in amazement at how good they are … guys like Travis Lee, who I watched in the Junior National finals. So, like I said, I can't sit here and say there weren't doubts in my mind. But as the season progressed, I was having success against some of them. My mindset started to change a little bit and I started to believe in myself a lot more. It seemed like your freshman season you were kind of the freshman underdog and surprised a lot of people. Coming back your sophomore season as the returning Big Ten Freshman of the Year and an All-American, was there added pressure to accomplish more than you did as a freshman? Reiter: I never really felt much pressure because I go out there to wrestle for me and my team. I don't wrestle for anybody else. The only pressure I felt was from my team. There was a little bit from my team because we were competing for a national title. We were close all year. We were ranked No. 1 after beating Oklahoma State, although we eventually fell short of winning a national title at the NCAAs. A little bit from that, but not much pressure from anywhere else, other than from myself and what I wanted to accomplish. My goal was to be a four-time Big Ten champ after my freshman year. Obviously, I fell short of that too. Mack Reiter was disqualified against Purdue's Chris Fleeger for an illegal slam in the 2006 NCAA quarterfinals (Photo/The Guillotine)In the NCAA quarterfinals of your sophomore season you wrestled against Purdue's Chris Fleeger. You were trailing 2-0 early in the match when you were called for an illegal slam and lost by disqualification. What were your thoughts on the way that whole situation played out? Reiter: Initially, I couldn't believe the slam was called. My intention was to do a leg slip … and try to slip him off because I knew there wasn't a lot of time left in the period. Now that I've gone back and watched the film, it does look a little more violent than what I intended it to be. I can understand now why the slam was called. I don't fault any referee decisions as far as the call goes. As far his choice to not continue the match, I can't say one way or another whether he was able to continue or not. He wrestled a great match five hours later against (Shawn) Bunch, so … I don't know. It was a tough thing to take and it has never gotten any easier. Last season, you tore your ACL in an early-season practice. How exactly did it happen? Reiter: I was just wrestling with Jayson Ness. It was right towards the end of practice when we were doing matches. We were in the 30-second overtime of the last match. I tried standing up and he went to bring me back down to the mat … and it was just an accident. My knee went one way and my body went the other way … and it tore it out. How did your injury affect you when you returned to the mat in February? Reiter: It was more of a mindset than anything. I think my knee was strong enough, but it was real hard to convince myself to trust it. I favored my other leg a lot. I wasn't aggressive as I should have been because in the back of my mind I was scared about what could happen with my knee and possibly re-injuring it. It was more of a mindset than anything. At the NCAA Championships last season, you lost in the quarterfinals to Matt Valenti of Penn, 4-0, and then you eventually lost again in the Round of 12 to Tyler McCormick of Missouri, 4-3. On the one hand your team had won the NCAA title. But on the other hand you came up short of your personal goals. Describe your emotions after the NCAA Championships. Reiter: My emotions were mixed. Not placing was really, really hard for me to take. I really struggled with it for quite a while. But I was so happy for my team. Being a part of a national championship team is something very few people ever get a chance to be a part of. It was a great feeling because we did something we set our minds to do … and we did it together, especially with the team race so close it was important that each and every one of us scored every point that we did. It was real hard for me as an individual to take. But as far as the team, I was extremely happy. You dropped a couple early-season matches (to Lou Ruggirello of Hofstra and Nick Fanthorpe of Iowa State). Were those losses more the result of you needing to make adjustments in your wrestling, the result of your health, or were those losses more the result of something going on mentally? Reiter: I think it's just early season. I'm not taking anything from those guys. They wrestled great matches. But I feel like when I possibly meet Ruggirello at the Southern Scuffle, and hopefully face Fanthorpe at the National Duals, I'll be a different wrestler. I think there were some things that were slowing me down a little bit earlier in the season. I had to keep my weight under control, but I have it under control completely right now. I feel great. I know now that I can wrestle seven minutes and not stop moving the entire time. That has always been my biggest asset … my conditioning and being able to outwork guys. Mack Reiter scored a comeback victory over Nebraska's Kenny Jordan on December 6 (Photo/The Guillotine)You mentioned keeping your weight under control. You have wrestled 133 throughout your entire career at Minnesota. Has it become much tougher to get down to 133 this season as opposed to past seasons? Would you be better suited at 141? Reiter: No, I don't believe that I would be better suited at 141. It's just a long process of getting it under control. Now that I have it under control, I can maintain my weight right around 140 and not have any problems. So I don't think I would be any better off at 141. Those guys are pretty big. I don't think I'm that big yet. What did the team take away from the loss at home to Iowa State on December 2? Reiter: Some of the guys on our team were just assuming that it was going to be given to us. There were situations where we definitely needed to work harder, myself included. We were not ready to wrestle in that dual. It was obvious. They were well prepared. They came out and wrestled us their style. We let them control the edge and slow the pace down. I don't think in a rematch that we are going to allow them to do that. We are prepared now to face a lot of the other teams that will probably wrestle that same style of wrestling. You showed a lot heart in your last-second victory over Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational champion Kenny Jordan of Nebraska on December 6. You seemed pretty fired up after the victory. How big was that win for you? Reiter: It just kind of showed me that I'm getting back to where I want to be. I'm still not there yet. I have a long ways to go. Those types of wins are my favorite, where you can catch a guy at the end and he's just so exhausted that he can hardly stand up. Those wins were a big part of my success my freshman season. I think that I need to get back to that. For me, it was almost like my freshman season was my best season for competing because I wore guys down. I may not have had the most ability, but I was able to win matches that way. Mack Reiter lost to Hofstra's Lou Ruggirello at the NWCA All-Star Classic on November 19 (Photo/Tony Rotundo)Are you still enjoying the sport as much you always have? Reiter: I think so. I love it. You get the chance to go out there and compete. The whole country is watching us, especially as defending national champs. We are in the spotlight a lot of the time. It's exciting to have everybody gunning for us. Iowa State comes up here and knocks us off. Now we have something to go prove. So it's really exciting from that standpoint. And I still haven't gotten my individual national title, so I have something to look forward to. I still have a chance to win my first individual national title. Hopefully in March I can accomplish that. Would anything less than an NCAA individual title and a team title be considered a disappointing season? Or do you not look at it like that? Reiter: I couldn't say a disappointing season. Yeah, obviously I want to win a title and I want my team to win a title, but I don't know if I would say a disappointing season, but it's clearly not what I would want. It's tough to say disappointing season because if I'm the runner-up in the country, it's a pretty special thing. But obviously I'm hoping to win a national title. You will finish your collegiate wrestling career in March. You have been successful in age-group events in the international styles of freestyle and Greco-Roman. Do you plan to continue to wrestle freesytle or Greco after your collegiate career is over? Or do you have aspirations of getting into coaching? Reiter: My plan right now is to wrestle Greco. Watching some of those guys in freestyle, I don't know that I have enough time between March and May to change my style to compete with some of the top guys in freestyle, so I think I'm going to try Greco. I wrestle a lot of upperbody when I wrestle collegiately. It's a real physical and demanding style. It's a tough style and I think I can excel in it. After that, I plan on coaching. I would like to coach here at Minnesota. Hopefully that works out. So do you plan to compete internationally at 132 pounds or 145.5 pounds? And do you plan on competing at the 2008 U.S. Nationals in Las Vegas? Reiter: I will compete at 132 pounds. Those 145.5 pounders would be really big. They would be throwing me around. Yeah, I plan to compete at the U.S. Nationals. Obviously, Minnesota loses a lot of firepower after this season. Who do you expect to take over at 133 next season? Do you see Jayson Ness moving up to 133? Or do you expect Mike Thorn or possibly Zach Sanders to be the starter at 133? Reiter: I think it's going to be a decision made by the coaches. But I don't see Ness having any problem moving up and succeeding … and then Sanders jumping in at 125. If Ness does stay at 125, I think Thorn is more than ready to compete. I wrestle him at least once a week. He wrestles hard. I think he will definitely be ready to step in next season. I see 133 as a strong weight class next season for us either way. Zach Sanders, who is redshirting, came to Minnesota with great high school credentials. How is he looking in the wrestling room? Do you wrestle with him much? Reiter: Yeah, I wrestle with him. He's tough and fights hard. That's all you can ask for out of a redshirt. He constantly wrestles hard and keeps improving. I'm excited to see him step out on the mat and actually compete next season. Please Note:This story also appears in the December 28 issue of The Guillotine. The Guillotine has been covering amateur wrestling in Minnesota since 1971. Its mission is to report and promote amateur wrestling at all levels -- from youth and high school wrestling to college and international level wrestling. For information on The Guillotine, Click HERE.

Lincoln -- Husker wrestler Vince Jones has been invited to compete in the 45th annual Midlands Championships on Dec. 29-30 at Northwestern University. Jones, a junior from Sicklerville, N.J., will compete in the 184-pound division. The tournament is a national invitational/open event for college teams, clubs and individuals. The event annually draws more than 350 of the country's top wrestlers. Sessions begin at 9:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Dec. 29, with the third session at noon on Dec. 30 and the finals at 7 p.m. The Big Ten Network will air the semifinals on tape delay at 6 p.m. and will provide live coverage of the finals, starting at 7 p.m. Jones, a returning national qualifier for the Huskers, made his debut this season at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Nov. 30-Dec. 1. Jones recorded three straight pins, his fastest in 29 seconds, to kick off the season. He is currently 6-4 on the year, including 1-1 in duals. His lone dual lose of the year came to second-ranked Roger Kish of Minnesota, 6-2. This will be a special year for the Midlands. In anticipation of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the tournament will honor all Midland competitors who have represented their countries in past Olympic Games. Those Olympians in attendance will be honored prior to the final session. Several former Husker greats will be honored, including Rulon Gardner, Brad Vering, Jim Scherr and Bill Scherr.

EVANSTON, Ill. -- From Oklahoma to Minnesota to North Carolina, Illinois natives are dominating the college-wrestling scene. With more than 200 wrestlers from the state of Illinois now populating the country's wrestling teams, Illinois has become a state to reckon with as far as high school wrestling goes. A total of 30 wrestlers from University of Illinois' roster are homegrown, while at Northwestern, 12 student-athletes decided to stay in state for college. Among those wrestlers are former state champions, NCAA All-Americans and 2008 NCAA Championship contenders. At Illinois, there are none better than Mike Poeta and Jimmy Kennedy. Poeta brought home two state championships in high school and did not slow down once he became an Illini wrestler. As a redshirt freshman, he won the Missouri Open and finished the year 9-1 in open competition. From there, he qualified for the NCAA Championships, finished 7-1 in the Big Ten and placed second at the Midlands. His sophomore season, Poeta wrestled to an 18-0 start to the season, holding the No. 1 spot in the nation for nine-straight weeks before sustaining his first loss of the season to C.P. Schlatter (Minnesota) in the semifinals at Big Tens. A title at the 44th annual Midlands Championships also highlighted his season. This season, Poeta has gotten off to an unbeaten start in the first month of the season and holds the No. 1 ranking yet again. On Dec. 5, he was named the Big Ten Wrestler of the Week. As a true freshman in 2006-07, Kennedy qualified for the NCAA Championships with a season record of 29-7 and a No. 9 ranking at 133 lbs. At his first Midlands Championships, he placed second with his only loss coming to top-ranked Nick Simmons of Michigan State. In his four years of high school, he averaged less than one defeat a year. With his 187-3 career record, he won the state title as a sophomore and senior, finished second as a freshman and third as a junior while breaking the state takedown record in 2006. This year, Kennedy is ranked eighth in the nation and has been a force among the 133-lb. weight class. Illinois high school legend Mike Benefiel had his choice of schools to pick from, ranging from Minnesota, Iowa State, Wisconsin, Virginia Tech, Nebraska and Michigan. Benefiel chose to stay in his home state and picked Northwestern. The freshman now holds multiple high school records with a 200-4 career mark, which he ended on a 123-match win streak. He became just the ninth person in Illinois state history to win the state wrestling title all four years of high school with titles at 119 lbs., 140 lbs., 152 lbs. and 171 lbs. and holds the record for wins in a high school career. Last season, the Aurora native beat out Sean Bormet, his wrestling club coach, by going undefeated in his senior year and breaking Bormet's record for most wins in a season. Teammate Brandon Precin, in his sophomore season, is quickly elevating himself to new heights as well. With a 16-0 record to begin the 2007-08 campaign, he is on a fast track to qualify for the NCAA Championships for a second-straight season and can add to his renowned status in state as well. In high school, Precin was a two-time Illinois state champion with a career record of 186-6. With the continued influx of Illinois talent like Poeta, Kennedy, Precin, Benefiel and others such as Northwestern's Mike Tamillow, schools around the Big Ten and throughout the country stand to benefit from the state's continued success in the coming years.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team will be featured in at least three live televised duals this year as the Big Ten Network and local affiliates WPSU-TV and WHVL-TV will all air one match in the upcoming weeks. The Big Ten Network recently announced that Penn State's home conference dual with Michigan State will be broadcast to a national audience live on Feb. 15. The dual had initially been changed to a 5 p.m. start, but scheduling changes with the BTN have allowed the match to be switched back to its original 7 p.m. start time. Penn State's Jan. 4 home dual with Eastern rival Cornell will be televised live on WPSU-TV, Penn State's PBS affiliate. Action in Rec Hall begins at 7 p.m. as No. 3 Penn State hosts No. 17 Cornell in what should be a hotly contested dual. The event will also serve as a celebration of Penn State's first ever dual match, a meeting with Cornell 100 years ago. WPSU-TV serves a large statewide audience from Clarion to Williamsport and includes parts of southern New York and northern Maryland. In addition, WHVL-TV, State College's new local television station, will follow Penn State to nearby Lock Haven University to televise Penn State's Feb. 23 road dual at Lock Haven live as well. In order to accommodate the live telecast, the dual has been moved back to an 8 p.m. start (instead of the original 7:30 p.m. start). WHVL-TV is serving a growing audience in the Centre Region and can be seen on seven regional cable systems. Check www.whvl.com for a complete list of local affiliates and channels. The Nittany Lions, 4-0 overall, are currently ranked No. 3 in the country and will next meet No. 17 Cornell on Jan. 4 in Rec Hall. The dual will start at 7 p.m. All Penn State duals can be heard locally on WBLF AM (970) and WKVA (920 AM). Tickets for all regular season duals are on sale now at the athletic department ticket office in the Bryce Jordan Center. Single-dual tickets are $5 for adults and seniors and $3 for students 18 and under. Penn State students with a proper student ID are admitted free! Fans can call 814-863-1000 or 800-833-5533 to order single-dual tickets.

STILLWATER, Okla. -- Augsburg College alumnus Dr. James Mastro '73, a pioneer in athletics for the blind, will receive the Medal of Courage award from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in ceremonies May 30-31, 2008, it was announced this week. Mastro, who has been totally blind since age 18, was a member of the Augsburg wrestling team from 1968-73, earning All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors twice and winning the conference title at 177 pounds as a senior in 1973. Despite his visual impairment, he shined as an amateur wrestler. He competed as a member of the U.S. team at the World University Games in 1973, while earning bronze medals at international competitions three times. In 1976, he became the first blind athlete to be a member of an Olympic team, when he was an alternate on the U.S. Greco-Roman wrestling team at the Montreal Olympics. Mastro competed in seven Paralympics (Olympic competition for disabled athletes), becoming the first Paralympic athlete ever to medal in four different sports. He earned 10 medals (five gold, three silver, two bronze) while competing in wrestling, judo, track and field and goalball (an on-court team sport designed for blind athletes). He has also earned 17 international medals in other competitions, including the gold medal at the 1995 World Judo Championships for the Blind. In 1996, he was named as the flag-bearer for the United States team at the Paralympics opening ceremonies in Atlanta, Ga. In 1995, Mastro was named Blind Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Olympic Committee, and he was inducted into the Augsburg Athletic Hall of Fame in 1997. He is also a past president of the National Beep Baseball Association and served on the board of directors of the United States Association of Blind Athletes. A professor of professional education and physical education at Bemidji State University, Mastro has also been a pioneer in education. He was the first student with a visual impairment to earn a Ph.D. in physical education in the United States, when he earned his doctorate, with an emphasis in adapted and developmental physical education, from Texas Woman's University. He taught at the University of Minnesota before moving to Bemidji State. He has authored or co-authored 47 published articles and performed 26 national and international presentations on adapted and developmental physical education for state and national organizations, as well as athletes with disabilities. Ceremonies for the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum Class of 2008 will be held on May 30-31, 2008 in Stillwater, Okla. Four individuals will receive Distinguished Member induction into the Hall of Fame: Ricky Bonomo of Harrisburg, Pa., Mike Houck of Victoria, Minn., the late Wayne Martin of Tulsa, Okla., and Bobby Weaver of Easton, Pa. Houck and Weaver made their mark within international wrestling. Weaver was a gold medalist in freestyle wrestling at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Calif. and was a 1979 World silver medalist. Houck was the first U.S. wrestler to win a gold medal at the World Greco-Roman Championships with his historic victory at the 1985 World Championships in Kolbatn, Norway. Bonomo and Martin were among the best collegiate wrestlers of their eras, both winning three NCAA individual titles during their illustrious careers. Bonomo captured three NCAA titles for Bloomsburg University (Pa., 1985-87). Martin was a three-time NCAA champion for the University of Oklahoma (1934-36), also winning the Outstanding Wrestler at the 1936 NCAA Championships. Additional honorees to be inducted during the 2008 Honors Weekend will be: Outstanding American recipient Dan T. Cathy of Atlanta, Ga.; Order of Merit recipient Richard Small of Tulsa, Okla.; and Lifetime Achievement for Officials award recipient Jerry Wager of Las Vegas, Nev.

What's the smartest route from Annapolis, Maryland to Ithaca, New York? For Cornell University freshman wrestler Mack Lewnes, the journey included a side trip to Colorado Springs for a year at the Olympic Training Center. Mack LewnesThe "detour" has already paid big dividends. "(Mack's) transition from high school to college was smoothed considerably by being in Colorado Springs," according to Cornell's head coach Rob Koll. Now Mack Lewnes is putting that experience to work for the Big Red. The 165-pound freshman starter is currently ranked eleventh in RevWrestling.com's rankings, and, as of this writing, is fresh off winning the title at the 2007 Reno Tournament of Champions. Prep success in Maryland Before Colorado Springs and Cornell, Mack Lewnes spent his entire life in Annapolis, the state capitol of Maryland, and home to the United States Naval Academy. He took up wrestling at age six, enrolled in the Maryland Junior League. For the Lewnes, wrestling was very much a family affair. "My dad (Charlie) wrestled at the University of Oklahoma," Mack discloses. "I followed my older brother Sam (now an Oklahoma State Cowboy) into the Naval Academy (wrestling) program. I really looked up to him." This program was also the start of Mack's exposure to high-quality, name-brand coaching talent. The Navy Junior Wrestling program was coached by Division I All-Americans Wayne Hicks and Kelly Ward. Mack Lewnes attended high school at Mt. St. Joseph in Baltimore, where he compiled an outstanding 187-13 mat career record, and was a four-time Maryland state champ. "My coaches Dan Youngblood and Jay Braunstein took me to the next level," says Mack. When asked about what he considered to be the high points of his prep wrestling career beyond winning the private school state title each of his four years, Mack immediately mentioned his first big tournament, the Beast of the East, where he was crowned champion as a sophomore. He was also a two-time Powerade champion, claimed a title at the Walsh Ironman, and won championships at the Dapper Dan Classic and Dream Team events. "I really wanted to test myself against guys from Pennsylvania and Ohio because they are among the best in the country," says the Mt. St. Joseph wrestling alum. Mack's considerable high school successes weren't limited to the wrestling mat. He ranked in the top fifteen percent in his class, and graduated with a perfect grade point average. Rocky Mountain highs While in high school, Mack Lewnes committed to the wrestling program at Cornell University. However, before taking a single class at the Ivy League school in Ithaca, New York, Mack was able to spend a year at the U.S. Olympic Training Center (OTC) in Colorado Springs, thanks to the efforts of Cornell coach Rob Koll. Mack Lewnes spent time at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs (Photo/Lindsey Mechalik & Patrick Shanahan)"Being at the Olympic Training Center allowed me to get bigger, get stronger," says Mack "Working with the other wrestlers and coaches Terry Brands and Kevin Jackson really helped me with technique. I'm so lucky to have been coached by these guys." "I'd like to think I helped the other wrestlers, too, in our workouts. I'm a real scrapper." While in Colorado, Mack didn't spend all his time in the wrestling practice room at the OTC. He also took classes at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. "The experience really helped me develop my time-management skills," according to the Cornell freshman. "The Olympic Training Center offers a tremendous experience," according to coach Koll. "Being out there is very humbling. But the transition from high school to college is usually humbling for wrestlers … Mack came in here ready to contribute and compete." Wrestling for the Big Red As a first-year starter at Cornell, Mack Lewnes is already making positive contributions to the Big Red wrestling program. In the first dual meet of the season hosting the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Mack pinned the Badgers' Jake Donar at 4:37, contributing six points to the team score. At the Body Bar Invitational held at Cornell, Mack dominated the 165-pound weight class. He secured falls against Drexel's Dave Woodall and Maryland's Mike McGill to find himself in the finals against familiar foe Jake Donar. This time, Mack got a 17-5 major decision over the Wisconsin wrestler. Cornell coach Rob Koll calls Mack Lewnes' lone loss this season "a blip in the road" (Photo/Lindsey Mechalik & Patrick Shanahan)Mack Lewnes got off to an impressive start at the Nittany Lion Open at Penn State. He pinned Duquesne's Ryan Sula in the opening round … earned a 11-0 major decision over Matt Moore of the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown … then racked up a second fall of the tournament, putting King College's Javonte Ashford's shoulders to the mat at 1:33. However, Mack lost a close 4-3 decision to Marcus Effner of Cleveland State, and took a medical forfeit for the rest of his matches. "It was a blip in the road," is how coach Koll describes what happened to Mack Lewnes at Penn State tournament. "It was a wake-up call -- that he needs to be a bit more aggressive all the time out there." Koll quickly follows up, "(Mack's) a coach's dream come true. You don't have to motivate him. He loves practice … He's always got a smile on his face. His positive attitude helps motivate the entire room." Mack Lewnes returns the compliment. "I'm lucky to have Coach Koll, Cory Cooperman, Tyler Baier and volunteer assistant coach Damion Hahn. I'm surrounded by awesome coaches and wrestlers. Every day I get to work out with guys like Jordan Leen and Steve Anceravage." Mack apparently gained from what happened at the Nittany Lion Open. More recently, at the 2007 Reno Tournament of Champions in mid-December, the Annapolis native brought home the 165-pound title. Seeded third, Mack pinned Trevor Adkisson of Oklahoma City University in the first round … followed up by two major decisions (10-1 over Liberty's Chad Porter, and 17-4 over Oregon's Zack Frasier). In the semifinals, Mack got an 8-3 decision over Oklahoma City University's second-seeded Jake Dieffenback. Mack won the title with a 5-2 victory over the fourth seed, Trevor Stewart of Central Michigan. Most accommodating Mack Lewnes' winning smile and competitive spirit will serve him well in his chosen career, the hospitality industry. Mack is enrolled in Cornell's College of Hotel Administration, which coach Koll describes as being "the world's best. It attracts the top students, and is incredibly competitive." "It's a very time-consuming program," Rob Koll adds. "Hotel school is very tough," Mack concurs. "All my classes are in the hotel school … There are four-hour culinary classes. My Financial Accounting class has five hours of homework, but it's all relevant, very realistic… " "There are practicum courses where you have hands-on experience in working in a restaurant or a hotel," says the Cornell wrestler who grew up in the hospitality industry. (His family has been in the restaurant business in Annapolis since 1928, currently owning what Mack describes as an "upscale, white-tablecloth steakhouse.") "Perhaps the toughest for me was working housekeeping in a hotel." Checking into the future Ask Mack Lewnes about his goals and he responds, "I take things one at a time, and wrestle each match the best I can, mentally and physically. I plan to wrestle my best, as hard as I can." Mack Lewnes recently won the Reno Tournament of Champions (Photo/Tech-Fall.com)"Right now, I'm concentrating on folkstyle, but I want to wrestle internationally in summer and after college." As someone who has been blessed with top-flight coaches his entire wrestling career -- and appreciates their contributions in terms of instruction and motivation -- Mack Lewnes may seem like a natural to someday be a coach himself. "Coaching? I haven't really thought about it," says Mack. "I want to stay focused on my wrestling and academics right now." In the meantime, wrestling fans seeking exciting action in the 165-pound weight class will find Cornell's Mack Lewnes most accommodating.

KENT -- Riding a four-match win streak, Kent State head wrestling coach Jim Andrassy received some additional good news – his team is about to get stronger. After sitting out the first several events due to eligibility issues, the Golden Flashes (4-1) will have their strength bolstered with the return of two-time MAC Champion and two-time NCAA qualifier Kurt Gross at the 157-pound weight class. Gross, along with transfer Obie Simpson at 165 pounds, will be eligible to compete for Kent State at the Southern Scuffle in Greensboro Dec. 29-30. Gross is a three-year letter-winner from North Royalton and has won back-to-back MAC championships at 157 pounds. He has been ranked in several polls this season – including the MAC preseason #1 – despite not having wrestled attached to KSU in 2007-08. Gross has registered at least 21 victories in each of the past three seasons. He was a state champion for Parma Padua Franciscan High, posting a 34-1 record his senior season. Simpson, who has been competing for Kent State at open tournaments, will likely assume the starting role at 165. Before arriving in Kent, Simpson was a two-year starter at North Carolina State. He went 15-13 as a freshman in Raleigh, claiming third place honors at the ACC Tournament. He was part of NC State's 2007 ACC title team. He was also a member of two Illinois High Scholl State Championship teams. "We feel we have a pretty good team right now," Andrassy explained. "The addition of Kurt and Obie just makes us that much tougher and really strengthens the middle part of our line-up." Kent State has placed third and fourth at the Oklahoma Gold and Body Bar tournaments, respectively. The Flashes have four dual meet wins with the lone setback coming at the hands of Michigan in Ann Arbor Dec. 7. Following the Southern Scuffle, the Flashes will entertain in-state rival Ohio State for the home opener Jan. 4. KSU has defeated the Buckeyes in each of the past two seasons.

PARK RIDGE, IL -- Iowa wrestler Mark Perry has been named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week, earning the honor for the second time in his career. He first earned the honor Feb. 9, 2005. Perry, who is ranked second nationally at 165 pounds, pinned both his opponents and helped Iowa pick up two dual wins Dec. 13 in Iowa City. He pinned third-ranked Moza Fay of Northern Iowa in 48 seconds to score his 80th career victory in the first match of the night. He then stuck Cornell College's Christian Coffey in 4:17 to score his 30th career pin. Perry needs 10 more falls to break into Iowa's top-10 all-time career leaders list. He is 5-1 this season, pinning all five of his wins. Perry is the second Hawkeye this season to earn the weekly conference honor. Sophomore Joe Slaton was honored Dec. 12 for upsetting Nick Fanthorpe of Iowa State, 6-5, at 133 pounds in Ames Dec. 9. Top-ranked Iowa (7-0) will resume competition Dec. 29-30, at the 45th annual Midlands Championships in Evanston, IL.

Pittsburgh, Pa. -- In a contest between two undefeated teams, the eighth-ranked Missouri wrestling team held off No. 19 Pittsburgh (5-1), 23-17, in the Fitzgerald Field House improving to 4-0 on the season. Sophomore Maxwell Askren (Hartland, Wis.) helped seal the Tiger victory with a 17-2 win by technical fall over Dave Crowell at 197 pounds, while two Tigers wrestled up one weight class in an effort to hold off No. 1 ranked Keith Gavin at 174 pounds. "It's been a long trip," Head Coach Brian Smith said. "Our guys our tired and run down, but even though a few moved up a weight class, we still found a way to pull through for the win. I think that says a lot for our team." With the win, Missouri improves to 4-0 against the Panthers and brings its perfect record back to Columbia for a home-opening dual, Friday, Jan. 4, against Bucknell beginning at 7 p.m. (CT) in the Hearnes Center. Missouri's win marks the second straight dual in which the Tigers put a stop to their opponents run at a perfect record. Last Saturday, the Tigers took down No. 10 Chattanooga, 24-10, in Tennessee. Rebounding from his loss at UTC, 11th-ranked redshirt freshman Tony Pescaglia (Columbia, Mo.) managed a 13-0 major decision over Brad Gentzle of Pittsburgh. Dominating his opponent, Pescaglia rattled off 13 unanswered points, with each grappler hit with either a caution of stall call. Redshirt freshman Willie Saxton (Rayland, Ohio), made his first career start in the Tiger lineup. Battling with Drew Headlee, Saxton was taken down in the first period, but cut the Panther's lead in half with an escape. Saxton tied the bout at two in the second, but was taken down before the end of the period. In the end, Headlee came through with eight points, including one for riding time, for the 12-4 win. Senior Josh Wagner (Milton, Wis.) came up with the fourth straight bonus point victory of the night, pinning Joey Ecklof in 3:45. With the win, Wagner, ranked 15th in the nation at 149 pounds, recorded his 70th career victory. Junior Michael Chandler (High Ridge, Mo.) and sophomore Nicholas Marable (Colliervielle, Tenn.) each moved up one weight class from their usual starting position. Chandler, ranked 13th in the nation at 157 pounds, shutout Ethan Headlee, 9-0, and scored four of his nine points by reversal. Taking his chances with Gavin, Marable scored first in the bout with a takedown but allowed Gavin an escape which he followed with a takedown of his own. The second period opened with Marable down by deferral. His escape was the only point scored in the two minute period and sent the grapplers tied at three heading into the third period. Gavin came up with an escape and a takedown to win the bout, 7-3. "Nick looked good tonight," Smith said. "He did a really nice job against the No. 1 wrestler in the nation. We were very pleased with how he stepped up to the challenge." Junior Raymond Jordan (New Bern, N.C.) improved to 12-1 on the season after besting Dave Sullivan, 13-4, at 184 pounds. Jordan's win gave the Tigers a four point lead, which Askren added his five points to for a nine point advantage heading into the heavyweight bout. The Tigers will take a few days off over the holidays before returning to the mat against Bucknell on Jan. 4.

CLARION, Pa. -- It took a pair of gut-wrenching winning streaks and a double overtime epic for the Flashes to earn the program's fifth win over Clarion in 17 tries. Back-to-back emotional wins by Drew Lashaway and Clint Sponseller got the good guys off and running at Clarion University Wednesday night. Lashaway trailed late in the third period against Sal Lascari, but a flurry of late action gave him a big 6-5 win. Sponseller fell behind Hadley Harrison 6-4 with inside of a minute remaining in regulation, but a reversal and headlock turned the score around, making Sponseller a 9-6 winner, and forging Kent State in front, 6-0. "That was a good start for us, especially with how defensive I thought we wrestled," head coach Jim Andrassy said. "We got a little frustrated but we held on and fought hard." However, any momentum Kent State might have gathered with the pair of wins quickly evaporated when the Eagles rallied to win the next two. At 157, Travis Uncapher knocked off Patrick Lanham 7-2 and then Clarion tied things up with a 3-0 win at 165. David Cox notched the shutout of Sli Bostelman, 3-0 as the teams were now even at 6-6. In the 174-pound bout, Chris Estep snapped a seven-period scoreless streak for KSU with a third period reversal of Mario Morelli. Protecting a precarious 2-1 lead, Estep allowed a perimeter reversal with 0:17 remaining to suffer a heart-breaking 3-2 decision. It gave Kent State its first deficit since the Michigan dual Dec. 7. Kent State quelled the uprising in the person of Eric Chine at 184. Despite being the third straight Flashes wrestler to be held scoreless in the first two periods, Chine's three-spot in the third frame erased a 1-0 deficit. He held on for a 3-2 win. The offensive drought continued with Michael Blackwell at 197. Trailing 1-0 into the third, he needed just three seconds to tie Jamie Luckett with an escape. With neither competitor showing any desire to shoot, the bout remained tied 1-1 into overtime. In the bonus session, the lack of offense continued, sending the match into the tiebreaker. Luckett won the toss, was warned for stalling between periods and was never able to break free of Blackwell's grip. Needing only an escape to win, Blackwell took down. With seven seconds gone by, Blackwell rolled Luckett for the reversal, and simply rode him out for the mind-boggling 3-1 win. "We have varying styles," Blackwell said. "He is real heavy-handed and tried to keep me from doing anything. They (Clarion) videotaped us last week and his coaches told him to slow me down. All I knew was I was better conditioned and after the first shot I knew I'd have to win it with conditioning." "It came down to shape, it's never going to be a conditioning thing for Michael, it's always about his confidence," Andrassy added. With a 12-9 advantage, Kent State put its fortunes into the good hands of returning NCAA qualifier Jermail Porter. Perhaps growing ever tired of the lack of first and second period points, Porter tallied a pair of takedowns in the first period to build a 4-1 lead. The next two periods were simply more of the same as Porter rolled to the 8-2 decision. The Flashes' three-match win streak was then lengthened at 125 as Nic Bedelyon twice rallied from behind against Jay Ivanco and then suddenly secured a dramatic fall with 47 seconds remaining in the second stanza. The action concluded with another solid performance by Dan Mitcheff. The undefeated junior rolled up more than four minutes of advantage time and cruised to a 6-1 win over Rob LaBrake. The decision added to Kent State's lead and gave the Flashes a 24-9 win. "Our guys are tired, and that was my intent. With the five days off before the Southern Scuffle I wanted to burn them out with practices and tonight's meet. This isn't a bad time to be tired, but I was pleased with the outcome," Andrassy said. Kent State will take a Christmas recess from action before heading south for the always-tough Southern Scuffle. The Flashes will see national champion Minnesota and many other top teams and individuals at the Greensboro Coliseum in North Carolina. The tournament will be held on Dec. 29 and 30.

Columbia, Mo. -- The eighth-ranked Missouri wrestling team will put its perfect 3-0 record on the line when the Tigers take on No. 19 Pittsburgh, also undefeated (5-0), Wednesday, Dec. 19, at 6 p.m. (CT) in Fitzgerald Field House. The dual will be available to view online at www.ewlwrestling.com. Coming off of a 24-10 win over No. 10 Chattanooga, in which Missouri broke up the Mocs then-perfect season, Wednesday night's dual will be the Tiger's final meeting of the 2007 calendar year. Missouri owns a 3-0 record in the all-time series with Pittsburgh with the Wednesday evening meeting marking the third straight season in which the teams have competed against one another. Missouri enters its fourth dual of the season with nine wrestlers ranked among the top-25 of their respective weight class. Senior 133 pound grappler Tyler McCormick (Leawood, Kan.) holds the highest Tiger ranking at second in the nation. After a five-week absence from the mat, McCormick made his return Saturday evening besting Steve Hromada of UTC, 6-1, for his second win of the season and 72nd of his career. Pittsburgh's No. 1 ranked 174 pound grappler Keith Gavin is expected to wrestle Missouri's James Williamson (Blue Springs, Mo.) or Joey Garrity (Orion, Ill.). Gavin, currently 11-0 on the season, finished second at the 2006 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships after suffering a 4-3 loss to two-time Tiger National Champion, Ben Askren. Thirteenth-ranked Michael Chandler (High Ridge, Mo.) is expected to square off with No. 6 Matt Kocher in the Fitzgerald Field House. Chandler lost a one point, 4-3, decision to Kocher in last season's Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Chandler went on to finish the two-day event in sixth, while Kocher claimed a fourth-place finish. This season, Chandler has lost only three bouts, all coming to top-ranked opponents including then-second-ranked Craig Henning of Wisconsin. Two familiar opponents will once again meet in the heavyweight division. Missouri sophomore and 12th-ranked Mark Ellis (Peculiar, Mo.) and Pittsburgh's No. 15 Zach Sheaffer will battle for the second time of the season. Ellis holds the 1-0 advantage over the Panther wrestler after pinning him in 49 seconds at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, Dec. 1.

HEMPSTEAD, NY -- Hofstra University Head Wrestling Coach Tom Shifflet today announced that Paul Snyder, a two-time Pennsylvania State Championships placer, has signed a National Letter of Intent to attend and wrestle at the University beginning in September 2008. Snyder, a native of Greensburg, Pennsylvania and a senior at Mt. Pleasant Area High School outside of Pittsburgh, is currently the top-rated heavyweight high school wrestler in Pennsylvania, and is ranked the 10th-best scholastic heavyweight in the country as ranked by Wrestling International Newsmagazine (W.I.N.). "We are excited about signing a student-athlete of Paul's caliber," Shifflet said. "He is talented, tough and aggressive, and still has great potential as a championship-caliber college wrestler." Snyder posted a 43-6 record and placed third at the Pennsylvania High School State Championships in 2007 as a junior. The 6'0", 265-pound senior also placed seventh in the state championships as a sophomore in 2006 recording a 44-7 record. The Vikings of Mt. Pleasant placed third in the Pennsylvania Championships in 2006 and were fourth in 2005. The Hofstra Pride, ranked 14th in the country with a 3-3 dual match record, return to action on December 29-30 when they compete in the 28-team Southern Scuffle in Greensboro, North Carolina.