InterMat Staff

The Lindenwood wrestling team repeated as NAIA National Dual Champions on Sunday. The first-ranked Lions defeated seventh-ranked Dickinson State by a 26-15 score in the semifinals, and then edged second-ranked Great Falls by a 19-18 margin in the championship match. The Lions lightweights led the team to their third all-time dual title. In Sunday's matches, Lindenwood won the first four weight classes to jump out to a big lead, and then it held on late for the wins. Against Dickinson State, Ryan Moyer pinned his opponent at 149 pounds to open up an 18-0 lead. Other wins in that span came from Richey Zuniga, Ray Stephens and John Lloyd. Matt Cauley added a major decision at 165 pounds and Lance Shunia iced the match with a major decision at the heavyweight position. In the championship match, both Lindenwood and Great Falls won five matches, including one by a pin. The difference was a major decision that Cauley earned by one point. The Lions pin came from Stephens, and the other decision wins were from Zuniga, Lloyd and Moyer. Zuniga, Stephens, Moyer and Cauley all finished the tournament with 4-0 records. Cauley was especially dominant with two technical fall victories and two major decisions wins. Moyer had two pins, and Zuniga and Stephens each had one pin on the weekend. Lindenwood hopes the national dual championship foreshadows another repeat title in March. The previous two times the Lions won the duals title, they also won the NAIA National Championship.

CEDAR FALLS -- The setting was the same, but the participants changed to some extent in the Sunday, Jan. 13 championship round of the NWCA/Cliff Keen Division III National Duals. Top-ranked Wartburg, competing in front of a large crowd inside the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls for the third straight year of the tournament, earned its seventh straight visit to the finals of the tournament after a 35-3 win over No. 4-ranked Delaware Valley College of Pennsylvania. However, a seventh consecutive showdown with perennial rival Augsburg College of Minneapolis, Minn., for the title was washed away after third-ranked UW-La Crosse stopped the Auggies 22-12 in the other semifinal. Head coach Jim Miller's program recorded its fourth Division III National Duals title in seven years with a 25-8 win over the Eagles. "Any time you win a national championship of any kind, it's a special deal," he said. "We needed to have this kind of weekend. You never want to take a step back at this time of the year. "While the dual scores were impressive, we weren't perfect," he added. "Every guy who wrestled this weekend has something they need to work on. It will just continue to get tougher from here on out. We expect that." The lower weights got the championship match started on the right foot. Senior Robert Struthers of Emmetsburg, senior 133-pounder Jacob Helvey of Mitchellville, junior 141-pounder Zach McKray of Iowa City, junior 149-pounder Jacob Naig of Emmetsburg, and junior 157-pounder Aaron Wernimont of Pocahontas each recorded decisions for a 15-0 lead. UW-La Crosse rallied back within 15-8 after top-ranked 165-pounder Tim Palmer and top-ranked 174-pounder Josh Chelf reeled off successive major decisions. Wartburg, upping its record to 14-0 and running its consecutive dual win streak to 22, rebounded with a decision from junior 184-pounder Romeo Djoumessi of Waverly, a major decision from senior 197-pounder T.J. Miller of Cedar Falls, and a decision from senior heavyweight Brian Borchers of Holstein. Sunday's competition opened with much of the same results for the Orange and Black. The Knights dropped the opening match against fourth-ranked Delaware Valley but roared back with four bonus-point wins, including falls from sophomore 174-pounder Dustin Jaeger of Manchester and Borchers. Saturday Wartburg blanked the opposition on day one of the 2008 NWCA/Cliff Keen Division III National Duals Jan. 12. The Knights, behind six pins, upended UW-Oshkosh 52-0 in the opening round and came right back with a resounding 47-0 win over Olivet College of Michigan in the quarterfinals. Head coach Jim Miller's team added four falls against the Comets. Wartburg resumes its IIAC dual schedule Thursday, Jan. 17, with a 7 p.m. dual at Central College in Pella. The Knights return to Levick Arena in the Wartburg-Waverly Sports and Wellness Center for a 7 p.m. start against perennial league rival Luther Saturday, Jan. 19.

Cedar Falls, Iowa --- The fourth-ranked Minnesota State wrestling squad defeated North Central Conference rival Nebraska-Omaha in the finals of the NWCA National duals Sunday, 19-17, to claim the NWCA National Duals Championships. The Mavericks defeated two of the nation's top-four teams en route to the title. In the championship match, MSU won the first three weight classes and jumped out to a 13-0 lead as sixth-ranked Nick Smith (Yankton, S.D.)won by a 9-3 decision over Matt Rein at 125-pounds, John Putman (Oak Lawn, Ill.) pulled at 10-2 major decision win over Mario Morgan and seventh-ranked Travis Elg (Mountain Lake, Minn.) upset fifth-ranked Yasjim Bribieseca with a pin at the 4:04 mark. Nebraska-Omaha, ranked second nationally, mounted a comeback by winning five of six matches between 149 and 197 pounds and held a 17-16 lead going into the final match between heavyweights second-ranked Brady Wilson (Faribault, Minn.) and seventh-ranked Tony Lewis. The match was forced into a overtime period as the two battled to a 1-1 tie at the end of regulation. Wilson earned a takedown in the overtime period to propel the MSU the championship. In the championship semifinals, MSU jumped out early against the top-ranked team in the nation as Nick Smith gave the Mavericks a 6-0 lead with an early pin over Mike Abril in the first period at the 1:59 mark. Nebraska-Kearney answered back with nine straight points to grab the a 9-6 lead but freshman 149-pounder Tommy Abbott (Wilmington, Del.) answered back with a decision win over eighth-ranked Ryan Etherton to tie the match at 9-9 going into two key matchups between ranked opponents. At 157-pounds, the Mavericks top-ranked senior Jason Rhoten grabbed the lead back for the Mavericks which they would not relinquish as he defeated second-ranked Joe Ellenberger, 4-3. At 165 pounds second-ranked Andy Pickar added to the lead with a hard-earned 2-1 decision win over fourth-ranked Taylor May. The Mavericks would hold on for a 25-15 win to move to the finals. In the second round, the Mavericks were able to defeat #6 Pittsburgh-Johnstown, 24-13, with two wins in the match were Maverick wrestlers were able to win matches over higher-ranked opponents. At 125-pounds sixth-ranked Nick Smith (Yankton, S.D.) was able to defeat third-ranked Derrick Bosso by a major decision and seventh-ranked Travis Elg (Mountain Lake, Minn.) won by decision over sixth-ranked Shane Valko. In the opening round the Mavericks squared up against #12 Chadron State and were able to win eight of ten matches on the way to a 34-9 win. Only loses came in the 197-pound match as top-ranked Josh Majerus was able to pin Tom Block and Willy Jones was able to upset third-ranked Tim Matheson, 9-2. Minnesota State (10-0-1)returns to action Friday when it hosts the University of Mary at 7 p.m.

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- Quick pins by Jon Reader and Jake Varner propelled third-seeded Iowa State past eighth-seeded Northwestern 26-16 Sunday in the UNI-Dome for seventh-place honors at the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals. The Cyclones split with the Wildcats, with each team winning five bouts, but bonus points proved to be the deciding factor. ISU's dual record improves to 10-3 heading into the core of the schedule. "Overall I thought we wrestled well," Iowa State head coach Cael Sanderson said. "We are working on getting better individually with our eye on March. The move up a weight for several of our wrestlers this season is paying off and making our guys better. We expect to be in the fight in March." Iowa State wrestled in the seventh-place match after the first day of competition saw ISU lose its opening dual to Hofstra 19-18 on criteria. The Cyclones battled back through the consolation bracket, wrestling in three duals over a six-hour period, defeating Northern Iowa (31-3) and fourth-seeded Central Michigan (24-6) before falling to top-seeded Penn State (22-16). Reader, the nation's sixth-ranked grappler at 165 pounds, took only 15 seconds to stick Northwestern's Dominic Marella. The fall is the one of the quickest in Iowa State wrestling history and is the fourth of Reader's redshirt freshman campaign. The school record for quickest pin is six seconds by Mike Land versus Mike Vilolao of FIU in 1976. "I've had some quick pins in high school and before that but I don't know if I've had any that quick," Reader said. "It was fast." In five bouts this weekend, the Davison, Mich., native notched two major decisions, a technical fall and the pin. He has amassed 14 victories resulting in bonus points and carries a 21-2 record. Varner registered his seventh win by fall this season with a 2:17 stick of Adil Kolovic at 184 pounds. It only took the All-American 30 seconds to take Kolovic down and work to get a three-point near fall. Thirty seconds later, Varner got the pin. The sophomore from Bakersfield, Calif., holds a record of 16-0. Cyler Sanderson tallied a 12-3 major decision over Kyle Bertin. To notch his sixth major of the year and third of the tournament, Sanderson used four takedowns and a two-point nearfall. Currently ranked fifth at 157 pounds, the sophomore hailing from Heber City, Utah, holds a 21-2 record. Nick Gallick (15-9) decisioned James Kohlberg 11-4 at 141 pounds and Nick Fanthorpe (20-3) received a forfeit at 133 pounds. Iowa State returns back to Hilton Coliseum Friday night to take on No. 12/15 Wisconsin at 7 p.m. The dual will not be televised. Live stats will be available at cyclones.com.

Winning seven of 10 weight classes, the 11th-ranked Ohio State wrestling team knocked off No. 1 Penn State, 24-11, Sunday in the fifth-place matchup of the 2008 NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals presented by CSG Sports Coatings at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The Buckeyes recorded a 4-1 mark at the National Duals and improve their overall record to 13-2. The 4-1 ledger by Ohio State served as its best performance at the National Duals since posting a 3-1 record in 2002 and is its first four-win outing since 1992 (4-1). After dropping its preliminary match to No. 5 and fourth-seed Central Michigan, 19-16, the Scarlet and Gray rebounded with wins over West Virginia (29-9), No. 12 Hofstra (25-16) and No. 9 Northwestern (19-17). The Buckeyes' victory over their Big Ten Conference counterpart was head coach Tom Ryan's 130th-career win. In two seasons at Ohio State, Ryan has compiled a 21-9 record. Prior to his tenure with the Buckeyes, Ryan was the head coach at Hofstra and tallied a 109-82 mark. Ohio State faced seven ranked Penn State wrestlers and of those recorded four victories. At 125 pounds, true freshman Nikko Triggas served No. 7 Mark McKnight his first loss of the season with a 10-3 decision. For redshirt-junior and 10th-ranked J Jaggers, a 6-4 victory over second-ranked Jake Strayer at 141 pounds was a personal triumph. Not to be outdone, sophomore and 10th-ranked Lance Palmer recorded an upset of his own at 149 pounds, downing No. 4 Bubba Jenkins, 10-7. It was Jenkins' first loss of the year. Finally, at 184 pounds, redshirt-sophomore and fifth-ranked Mike Pucillo, who was the lone Buckeye to go undefeated (5-0) at the event, notched a 16-0 technical fall over No. 14 Phil Bomberger. With the Buckeyes up 12-0 following wins by Triggas, Jaggers, Palmer and an 8-3 decision over Tim Haas by redshirt-sophomore Reece Humphrey, Penn State avoided the shutout after 10th-ranked Dan Vallimont decisioned redshirt-junior Jason Johnstone, 4-1 at 157 pounds. However, true-freshman Colt Sponseller recorded his fourth-consecutive win at 165 pounds at the National Duals thanks to a 9-5 decision over Dave Rella. The Nittany Lions cut four points off the Buckeye lead after 17th-ranked Dave Erwin beat Alex Picazo, 10-2. Pucillo went on to replace those four points, plus one, after the technical fall against Bomberger. Second-ranked Phil Davis defeated true-freshman John Weakley, 10-2, but senior heavyweight and No. 2 J.D. Bergman ended the Buckeyes' day on a high note with a 12-3 major decision against John Laboranti. Ohio State will entertain No. 2 Iowa in conference action at 7 p.m. Friday in St. John Arena. The Buckeyes will make their debut on the Big Ten Network on a tape delay basis at 9:30 p.m. later that evening. Ohio State students with a valid BuckID will be admitted to the match for free. The match also is a White Out. Fans are encouraged to wear white and the first 3,000 in attendance will receive rally towels courtesy of Nationwide. Across the Olentangy River, the Buckeye men's hockey team also will make its first appearance on the BTN live at 7:05 p.m. Friday against Central Collegiate Hockey Association rival Michigan State in Value City Arena.

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The No. 7 University of Michigan wrestling team split a pair of second-day contests to claim third place at the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals Sunday (Jan. 13) at Northern Iowa's UNI Dome. The Wolverines defeated No. 6 Minnesota 23-16 in the consolation dual after falling to No. 2 Iowa 23-13 in the morning semifinal round. With the performance, Michigan matched the program's best finish at the annual dual tournament. U-M rallied from an early 10-point deficit to defeat the Gophers, winning six of the final eight matches to lock up the victory after the 197-pound bout. Michigan earned bonus points in three matches, including a second-period fall in the 149-pound match. Rebounding from a pair of first-day losses, freshman Kellen Russell (High Bridge, N.J./Blair Academy) keyed the U-M comeback with his second of two strong performances on the day. Facing the Gophers' fourth-ranked Manuel Rivera in the 141-pound contest, Russell controlled the first and second periods to build an early advantage and hang on for a 10-7 decision. The Wolverine wrestler, ranked No. 1, struck quickly, scoring on driving single leg just 19 seconds into the match and rode out the majority of the frame, earning two back points off a tilt. But, with just seconds remaining, he gave up a double leg on the edge to narrow his lead to just one. Russell earned his escape point in the second and shot in immediately after squaring off to add another takedown before riding out the period. Rivera scored a pair of takedowns in the third, but Russell stayed ahead with two escapes and 2:17 in riding time to improve to 20-2 on the season. The teams swapped the next two matches but gained considerable ground as fifth-year senior Josh Churella (Northville, Mich./Novi HS) secured his third fall of the season at 149 pounds, pinning Luke Mellmer at the 3:45 mark. The Wolverine, ranked seventh, dominated the opening frame, scoring a quick takedown before using a leg turk to turn Mellmer three times for nine back points. Starting the second period on top, Churella threw the legs in, scooped the Gopher's head and used a half to lay him flat and pick up six team points. Minnesota responded, however, as sixth-ranked C.P. Schlatter scored on a low single late in the first period en route to a 3-2 decision against fifth-year senior Jeff Marsh (Dexter, Mich./Dexter HS). The Wolverines claimed back-to-back decisions at 165 and 174 pounds to take their first and last lead in the dual meet. Fifth-year senior Eric Tannenbaum (Naperville, Ill./North HS), ranked No. 1 at 165, rebounded from his first loss of the season in the morning semifinals with a 6-3 victory over the Gophers' Jeremy Larson, connecting on three takedowns, including two in the first period, to improve to 19-1 on the season. Senior/junior Steve Luke (Massillon, Ohio/Perry HS) similarly responded to his semifinal loss with a 5-3 decision over 10th-ranked Gabriel Dretcsh in the subsequent bout. Luke, ranked second, broke open the contest with a double leg late in the second and countered a Dretsch shot in the third to add another. Senior/junior Tyrel Todd (Bozeman, Mont./Bozeman HS), who now owns the Wolverines' longest winning streak at 16 straight matches, picked up bonus points at 184 pounds with a 17-4 major decision over Brandon Sitch. After taking an early lead on an outside single, the Wolverine, ranked fourth, initiated a game of catch-and-release with four takedowns in the second and another in the third. He added two points on an imminent near-fall call late in the match to claim his ninth bonus victory in 10 matches. Sophomore/freshman Anthony Biondo (Clinton Twp., Mich./Chippewa Valley HS) closed out the Wolverines' team scoring with his second major decision of the day, shutting out Mitch Kuhlman 10-0 at 197 pounds. Biondo earned a takedown in each period -- two off of double legs -- and locked up a cradle to add two back points in the third. Michigan was unable to claim the close matches against the Hawkeyes in the morning semifinal round and gave up a pair of upsets as Iowa took seven individual matches, including five of the first six, to win 23-13. The Wolverines earned bonus points at 141 and 197 pounds but could not overcome the early deficit as their 11-match winning streak came to an end. After losing a pair of major decisions in the opening two matches, Russell put the Wolverines back into contention with the second pin of his career against 11th-ranked Dan LeClere, rallying from an early deficit to stick the Hawkeye at the 4:45 mark. Russell trailed 4-1 entering the second period after giving up a pair of early takedowns, but, with just 24 seconds remaining in the middle frame, he converted on a single-leg shot, finishing with a double on the edge to even the score. On the restart, LeClere tried to scramble out from bottom with a switch, but Russell covered and used a chin whip to force him to his back and earn a quick call from the official. Todd won a battle at 184 pounds but needed only a first-period takedown to hold on for a 3-2 decision over 11th-ranked Phil Keddy. The Wolverine connected on a double leg on the edge midway through the opening frame, and, after the wrestlers traded escape points, he fought off a couple Keddy shots in the third, including a deep double leg in the closing seconds. Biondo controlled the 197-pound contest from start to finish en route to an 8-0 major decision over Chad Beatty and claim the Wolverines' third and final victory against the Hawkeyes After a scoreless first period, Biondo broke open the second, picking up a quick reversal before using a spadle for three back points midway through the period. The U-M wrestler added another takedown in the final frame and nearly put Beatty on his back but had to settle for the major after riding time. It was the Hawkeyes four straight decisions at the middleweights, which they won by just a combined 10 points, that ices their team victory. Third-ranked Brent Metcalf claimed a 4-2 decision against Churella at 149 pounds, countering a third-period double-leg attempt to score the winning takedown late in the match. At 157, Marsh struck first against 19th-ranked Ryan Morningstar, converting on an outside single midway through the opening period, but the Hawkeye reversed him late in the frame and added a third-period escape to win 3-2. Iowa earned back-to-back upsets at 165 and 174 pounds as Tannenbaum fell to second-ranked Mark Perry 4-1 and Luke lost 3-2 on a third-period takedown to 11th-ranked Jay Borschel. Perry struck midway through the opening period to take the only advantage he would need against Tannenbaum, fighting for a single leg on the edge of the mat. The Wolverine got off a couple deep shots of his own, but Perry was able to whizzer and neutralize each attack. Tannenbaum picked up his only point in the third after Perry was hit with his second stalling call. Luke had several deep single-leg shots of his own but was unable to finish on six different opportunities. Borschel, conversely, finished on his only shot of the match -- a single leg midway through the third -- to deal Luke his second loss of the season. The Wolverines will travel to Mount Pleasant, Mich., on Sunday (Jan. 20) to face intrastate rival Central Michigan in its final non-conference dual of the season. The meet is slated for a 2 p.m. start at Rose Arena.

The Iowa wrestling squad won its first team title at the 2008 NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals since 1996 when it defeated unseeded Nebraska, 24-6, in the tournament finals Sunday afternoon at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls. Sophomore Brent Metcalf (149) was named the tournament's Division I Outstanding Wrestler. The second-seed Hawkeyes defeated Cornell (32-2), Missouri (27-9) and Michigan (23-13) en route to the finals and their fourth national duals team title in school history. Iowa went 32-8 over the course of the tournament and improved to 11-1 on the season. Nebraska fell to 9-2, and was only the second unseeded team in the 19-year history of the tournament to advance to the finals. The two-day tournament boasted an attendance total of 15,746. The Hawkeyes jumped out to a 15-0 lead against the Cornhuskers, winning the first five matches by decision. Junior Charlie Falck started things off by upsetting top-ranked and defending NCAA Champion Paul Donahoe, 3-2, at 125. It was Falck's 55th career victory and his ninth-straight win. He remains undefeated at 12-0 in dual matches this season. Sophomores Joe Slaton (133), Dan LeClere (141), Brent Metcalf (149) and Ryan Morningstar (157) kept the Iowa momentum going with their decisions. Metcalf picked up his 13th straight victory, while Morningstar scored his 40th career win. Nebraska put its first points on the board when Stephen Dwyer scored an 8-6 decision over redshirt freshman Aaron Janssen at 165. Janssen, who was filling in for injured starter Mark Perry, came back from a 4-0 second period deficit, but could not pull off the win in his first dual appearance. Hawkeye sophomores Jay Borschel (174) and Phillip Keddy (184) responded with wins of their own to seal the victory for Iowa. Borschel avenged an earlier season loss to Nebraska's Brandon Browne with a 9-4 win, and Keddy dominated Vince Jones to win 8-1. The Cornhuskers won their second match of the dual when Craig Brester beat sophomore Chad Beatty, 4-0, at 197. Beatty, who went 1-2 at the tournament, wrestled two weight classes higher than he did at the Midlands Championships two weeks ago. Iowa senior Matt Fields closed out the dual with a 1-0 win over Jon May at heavyweight. Fields improved to 16-2 in collegiate matches and 12-0 in duals with the win. Iowa (11-1) will open the 2007-08 Big Ten dual season next weekend. The Hawkeyes will travel to Ohio State (13-2, 1-0 Big Ten) Friday to face the Buckeyes at 6 p.m. (CT) in St. John Arena. The Big Ten Network will air a taped-delay broadcast of the dual at 8:30 p.m. The Hawkeyes will then return home to host Penn State (8-2) Sunday at 2 p.m. in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. There will be a free kids wrestling clinic prior to the Penn State dual. Children from kindergarten through eighth grade can join members of the Iowa coaching staff on the mat at Carver-Hawkeye Arena to learn some fundamental techniques. The clinic will begin at Noon.

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- Boise State University dominated Cal State Bakersfield in Pac-10 Conference wrestling Saturday (Jan. 12) night as the Broncos won nine of 10 matches to post a 35-6 win over the Roadrunners. The Broncos only loss came at 157 pounds when Boise State had to forfeit the match. Ranked No. 25 in this week's USA Today/InterMat/NWCA poll, Boise State evens its Pac-10 record at 1-1 on the season and is now 2-1 in overall dual matches this season. Cal State Bakersfield falls to 1-1 overall and 0-1 in the Pac-10. Matt Casperson got the Broncos off to a fast start in the first match of the dual when he pinned Garth Wara at the 3:48 mark of the 197-pound match for a quick 6-0 lead. Following wins by decision at heavyweight (Nick Smith) and 125 pounds (Alan Bartelli), and a major decision victory by Cory Fish at 133 pounds, Cam Jones pushed the Bronco lead to 22-0 when he pinned Elijah Nacita at the 5:44 mark of the 141-pound match. Adam Hall, ranked 12th at 149 pounds, handed Jeremy Doyle a 5-1 defeat before the host Roadrunners scored their only team points of the night in the forfeit at 157 pounds. The Broncos ended the dual with a Kurt Swartz and Kirk Smith winning by decision at 165 and 184 pounds, respectively, and Nate Lee posting an 18-7 major decision over Jason Points at 174 pounds. Boise State completes its three-day road trip through California on Sunday at Cal Poly. Following are complete results in the order they were wrestled.

FAIRFAX, Va. -- It was a successful Saturday afternoon at the Fieldhouse for the George Mason wrestling program as the team scored a pair of dominating dual meet victories. The Patriots were never seriously tested in defeating Campbell by 26 and VMI by 17 points. The Patriots won their first conference dual meet of the season in dominating fashion, defeating Campbell by a final score of 38-12. The Camels only won two matches during the entire meet, one by forfeit. Senior Joe Coughlin (133 pounds), freshman Greg Scott (165 pounds) and freshman Cayle Byers (197 pounds) all earned their victories by fall. Brian Wright earned a major decision at 125 pounds, while Brandon Bucher and Randy Oates won by technical fall at 149 and 174 pounds, respectively. The success carried over into Mason's second meet of the afternoon, as the Patriots immediately seized control by winning the first five matches to take a commanding 19-0 lead before VMI won its first match with a fall by Jayme Gordon at 165 pounds. After the loss, Mason rebounded by winning the next three matches before forfeiting at the heavyweight class to take a 29-12 win in the team scoring. In the opening meet of the day, VMI downed Campbell by a final score of 21-14. The Keydets scored big at the 165-pound weight class, earning six points when Jayme Gordon pinned Chris Mazzatta at 5:49. George Mason returns to the mat next weekend when it hosts the CAA Duals at the Fieldhouse on Jan. 18-19. All nine CAA wrestling programs will be in action at the two-day event.

NORMAN, Okla -- The No. 18 ranked Sooners defeated Michigan State and No. 20 Pittsburgh in a double-dual Saturday afternoon at the Howard McCasland Field House in Norman. The Sooners extended their record to 10-1 on the year, the 13th straight season of 10 or more wins under head coach Jack Spates. OU easily took down the Spartans by a final of 29-7 in the first match, but needed its undefeated senior leaders in Joshua Weitzel and Joel Flaggert to step up late in the second match to prevail, 17-15. "I am extremely proud of our guys," Spates said. "We were taken down to the wire versus Pittsburgh and our team showed a lot of character, a lot of fight to pick up the win." In match one versus MSU, 125-pound Joey Fio was quick out of the gate for the Sooners by recording a 15-6 major decision over Spartan Joel Trombly. Michigan State's No. 3 ranked Franklin Gomez evened the match at four with a 9-1 major decision over 133-pound Brian Shelton. Zack Bailey dominated the 141 pound bout by recording a 17-0 technical fall over MSU's Micah Carter. Junior Will Rowe defeated Tim Hammer by a 18-9 major decision at 149 pounds, and Chad Terry extended the Sooner lead to 16-4 by defeating 157-pound John Fulger in a 7-2 decision. Max Dean then recorded a 15-5 major decision over Rex Kendle in the 165 pound bout. Nick Palmieri put the Spartans back on the board with a win over 174 pound Jeff James, 4-1. Weitzel, Flaggert and Nathan Fernandez closed the match with decisions in the 184, 197 and heavyweight bouts to give Oklahoma the victory. Both the Sooners and Pittsburgh struggled to keep a lead in the last dual of the day. OU eventually took advantage of its senior leaders to pick up win number 10 win on the season. To begin the dual, Fio was awarded a riding point at the conclusion of the match to edge Boss, 3-2. Pittsburgh then picked up two victories with Conroy defeating 133-pounder J.R. Roman, 8-3, and Headlee topping Bailey by a final of 2-0. Rowe, now with a 10-0 dual record, surged the Sooners back into the lead, 7-6, with a dominating 11-1 major decision over Ciampoli. Spartan Matt Kocher defeated Terry by a final of 2-1 to regain the team lead, 9-7. Dean outlasted Pitt's Richards by a 3-1 final to take back the lead for Oklahoma, 10-9. OU's James then fought No. 1 Gavin down to the final period, but fell short by a final of 9-5. It was then up to Oklahoma's dominant tandem in Weitzel and Flaggert to put the Sooners ahead for good. Weitzel, blanked Sullivan, 5-0, and Flaggert recorded a 12-2 major decision over Crowell to give OU a 17-12 edge. Both Sooners own a 10-0 dual record on the season. OU prevailed in the match 17-15 after heavyweight Fernandez dropped the last bout, 2-0. Pittsburgh (8-2) went 1-1 on the day after topping Michigan State (3-5) in the first match of the day by a final of 21-14. "Our guys learned a great lesson today," Spates said. "We found out that if we battle hard and stay aggressive, good things happen." The Sooners will return to the Howard McCasland Field House next Friday, Jan. 18 for a dual versus another Top 20 team in No. 16 Tennessee-Chattanooga at 7 p.m. Doors will open to the public at 6 p.m. and admission is free. The first 500 fans entering the match will receive an OU team picture. A drawing will also be held, with the winner taking home a 26-inch flat screen television. Sooner wrestlers will also take part in an autograph session for fans at the conclusion of the dual.

HAMPTON, Va. -- No. 17 Illinois wrestled well but came up just short against No. 3 and top-seeded Oklahoma State in the championship match of the Virginia Duals, dropping a 21-12 decision. The Illini advanced to the title match with a 26-12 win against No. 23 Old Dominion earlier in the afternoon. No. 1 Mike Poeta (157) and No. 14 Patrick Bond each capped perfect weekends with wins against the Cowboys, moving Poeta to 19-0 on the season and tying his perfect start to last season, while Bond is 14-3. No. 13 Gabe Flores finished a strong day with a decisive 6-1 victory over OSU's Ben Ashmore at 125, and No. 9 Jimmy Kennedy nearly pulled off an upset of top-ranked Coleman Scott at 133, but lost a 3-2 decision. Ryan Prater lost his first match of the weekend, getting pinned in 4:33 by No. 6 Nathan Morgan, but Grant Paswall scored an 8-5 decision at 149. Poeta then topped #13 Newly McSpadden, 8-2, to tie the dual at 9-9. But OSU rattled off three consecutive wins at 165, 174 and 184. No. 15 Roger Smith-Bergsrud dropped a tough 3-2 decision to No. 5 Jake Dieffenbach, No. 16 John Dergo fell, 4-2, to No. 4 Brandon Mason, and Ben Friedl lost a 7-1 decision to Jack Jensen. No. 14 Patrick Bond capped a perfect weekend in his home state with a thrilling 6-5 win over Clayton Foster, cutting the deficit to 18-12. But No. 7 OSU heavyweight Jared Rosholt earned a 6-3 decision over No. 16 John Wise to cap the Cowboys' dual victory. Earlier in the afternoon against Old Dominion, Flores started strong with a 4-1 win over No. 17 James Nicholson then Kennedy posted a 7-2 victory that gave the Illini an early 6-0 advantage. Prater (141) followed with his third win of the weekend and second-straight against a ranked opponent, dispatching No. 13 Ryan Williams by a 10-6 score. After ODU got on the board with No. 18 Kaylen Baxter's pin of Paswall at 149, Poeta improved to 18-0 on the season with a 14-6 major decision and a 13-6 Illini lead. The Monarchs got within four points of Illinois when No. 20 Chris Brown earned a 7-2 decision over 15th-ranked Roger Smith-Bergsrud at 165, but No. 16 John Dergo gave the Illini some breathing room with his 12-2 dismantling of Nick Pullano. Redshirt-freshman Ben Friedl dropped a tough 6-5 decision at 184, but No. 14 Patrick Bond defeated David Mendoza by injury default and No. 16 John Wise finished off the dual meet victory with a 6-1 win over Roy Dragon III.

HAMPTON, Va. -- The No. 3 Oklahoma State wrestling team (10-1 overall) capped an unblemished run to the Virginia Duals title by picking up a 20-13 win over Pennsylvania in the semifinals and a 21-12 win over No. 17 Illinois in the championship Saturday at the Hampton Coliseum. OSU senior 141-pounder Nathan Morgan picked up a key win for the Cowboys when he pinned Illinois' Ryan Prater at the 4:33 mark to help lift OSU to victory. Morgan, known more for his proficiency as a technician than his ability to pin opponents, had only four pins in his career entering Saturday. He was the only Cowboy to earn bonus points against the Illini. "It seemed like all weekend it was a slugfest just trying to get comfortable," Head Coach John Smith said. "It was almost like we had a hangover from last week. This wasn't the same team that went into Iowa." Fellow senior Coleman Scott was a winner against Illinois to cap a perfect 4-0 weekend, as he notched a 3-2 win over No. 9 Jimmy Kennedy. The nation's top-ranked wrestler at 133 pounds, Scott now has two wins over top-10 opponents this year and three victories over ranked opponents. He wasn't the only Cowboy to taste victory over a ranked Illinois wrestler Saturday, as Jake Dieffenbach was a 3-2 winner over No. 15 Roger Smith-Bergsrud at 165 pounds, Brandon Mason was a 4-2 winner over No. 16 John Dergo at 174 pounds and Jared Rosholt was a 6-3 winner over No. 16 John Wise at heavyweight. Suiting up for the Cowboys for the first time this year at the Virginia Duals, 184-pounder Jack Jensen was impressive, picking up bonus points in both of his matches Friday and following that performance up by claiming a 7-1 win over Illinois' Ben Friedl Saturday. "Jack Jensen looked alive out there," Smith said. "Not that he wrestled people that he'll have to face to be an All-American, but he scored at key times when he needed to." No. 13 Newly McSpadden had a chance to pick up a big win at 157 pounds when he faced off against No. 1 Mike Poeta of Illinois, but Poeta controlled the match to the tune of an 8-2 victory. Scott, Morgan, McSpadden, Dieffenbach, Mason and Rosholt were all winners as the Pokes claimed a 20-13 win over Pennsylvania in the semifinal round. The Cowboys return to action at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 19 when they travel to Columbia, Mo., to face No. 8 Missouri

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.g {text-indent:3px;padding-right:3px;overflow:hidden;white-space:nowrap;letter-spacing:0;word-spacing:0;background-color:#FFFFFF; z-index:1;border-top:0px none;border-left:0px none;border-bottom:1px solid #CCC;border-right:1px solid #CCC;} .dn{display:none} .chip{background-image:url('http://www.google.com/images/spreadsheets/chip.gif'); background-repeat:no-repeat; background-position:top right;} .s1{background-color:#800000;font-family:Arial;font-size:80.0%;font-weight:bold;font-style:normal;color:#ffff00;text-decoration:none;text-align:left;vertical-align:bottom;white-space:normal;overflow:hidden;text-indent:0px;padding-left:3px;border-right:1px solid #CCC;border-bottom:1px solid #CCC;} .s0{background-color:#c0c0c0;font-family:Arial;font-size:80.0%;font-weight:bold;font-style:normal;color:#000000;text-decoration:none;text-align:left;vertical-align:bottom;white-space:normal;overflow:hidden;text-indent:0px;padding-left:3px;border-right:1px solid #CCC;border-bottom:1px solid #CCC;} .s8{background-color:white;font-family:Arial;font-size:80.0%;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:bottom;white-space:normal;overflow:hidden;text-indent:0px;padding-left:3px;border-right:1px solid #CCC;border-bottom:1px solid #CCC;} .s6{background-color:white;font-family:Arial;font-size:80.0%;font-weight:bold;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:bottom;white-space:normal;overflow:hidden;text-indent:0px;padding-left:3px;border-right:1px solid #CCC;border-bottom:1px solid #CCC;} .s5{background-color:white;font-family:Arial;font-size:80.0%;font-weight:bold;font-style:normal;color:#000000;text-decoration:none;text-align:left;vertical-align:bottom;white-space:normal;overflow:hidden;text-indent:0px;padding-left:3px;border-right:1px solid #CCC;border-bottom:1px solid #CCC;} .s4{background-color:white;font-family:Arial;font-size:80.0%;font-weight:bold;font-style:normal;color:#000000;text-decoration:none;text-align:left;vertical-align:bottom;white-space:normal;overflow:hidden;text-indent:0px;padding-left:3px;border-right:1px solid #CCC;border-bottom:1px solid #CCC;} .s2{background-color:#ff0000;font-family:Arial;font-size:80.0%;font-weight:bold;font-style:normal;color:#ffffff;text-decoration:none;text-align:left;vertical-align:bottom;white-space:normal;overflow:hidden;text-indent:0px;padding-left:3px;border-right:1px solid #CCC;border-bottom:1px solid #CCC;} .s3{background-color:#c0c0c0;font-family:Arial;font-size:80.0%;font-weight:bold;font-style:normal;color:#000000;text-decoration:none;text-align:left;vertical-align:bottom;white-space:normal;overflow:hidden;text-indent:0px;padding-left:3px;border-right:1px solid #CCC;border-bottom:1px solid #CCC;} .s7{background-color:white;font-family:Arial;font-size:100.0%;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:bottom;white-space:normal;overflow:hidden;text-indent:0px;padding-left:3px;border-right:1px solid #CCC;border-bottom:1px solid #CCC;} Weight ClassMinnesotaNebraskaPredictionMatch Points125Jayson NessPaul DonahoeNess, DecisionMinnesota + 3133Mack ReiterKenny JordanReiter, Decision Minnesota +3141Manny RiveraMike RoweRivera, Decision Minnesota +3149Jake MellmerJordan BurroughsBurroughs, Major Decision Nebraska + 4157CP SchlatterChris OliverSchlatter, Decision Minnesota +3165Tyler SafratowichStephen DwyerDwyer, Decision Nebraska +3174Gabe DretschBrandon BrowneDretsch, DecisionMinnesota +3184Roger KishVince JonesKish, DecisionMinnesota +3197Justin BronsonCraig BresterBrester, Major DecisionNebraska +4HwtYura MalamuraJon MayMay, DecisionNebraska +3Predicted Score:Minnesota 18-14

Minnesota defeats West Virginia, Central Michigan University of Minnesota Sports Information The defending national champion Minnesota Golden Gopher wrestling team stayed alive in the 2008 NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals, defeating both West Virginia and No. 5 Central Michigan Saturday in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The sixth-ranked Gophers (seeded fifth this weekend) rolled over the Mountaineers 32-9 in their first round match-up before squeaking by the Chippewas 20-16 in Saturday afternoon's second round. Minnesota, which is the two-time defending team champion in the annual 16-team Division I portion of the tournament, won 13 of 20 bouts in their first two duals and advances to face No. 10 Nebraska in Sunday's semifinal. The Gophers have won their past 10 National Duals meets dating back to 2006 and are attempting to become just the second team in the 18-year history of the event to win three titles in a row (Oklahoma State won three in a row from 2003-05). Minnesota's first meet of the tournament began bright and early at 9 a.m. against the unranked Mountaineers of West Virginia. One-hundred twenty-five pound sophomore Jayson Ness, sitting on a consecutive pins streak of six (tied for third-longest in school history) saw his streak come to an end but still gave the Gophers a 6-0 lead with a win by injury default. Seniors Mack Reiter (an 18-1 tech fall decision) and Manny Rivera (a pin in 4:48) followed Ness with victories of their own and gave the Gophers a commanding 17-0 lead in the dual. Two-time All-American Dustin Schlatter was held out of this weekend's competition due to injury, and his replacement (freshman Luke Mellmer) suffered a defeat before No. 6 C.P. Schlatter emerged with a win in the only match between ranked wrestlers in the dual. Schlatter scored a takedown with 30 seconds remaining to gain a 4-1 win over No. 17 Zac Fryling of WVU, giving Minnesota a 20-3 lead. 2007 NCAA qualifier Tyler Safratowich filled in for the injured No. 18 Scott Glasser at 165 pounds and won handily, a 6-2 decision. After a pin from No. 10 Gabe Dretsch at 174 pounds and losses by Brandon Sitch (filling in for second-ranked Roger Kish at 184) and Justin Bronson (197 pounds), the Gophers' newest heavyweight – former 197-pound sophomore Yura Malamura – scored an impressive upset victory over No. 13 Dustin Rogers of West Virginia. Despite giving up a significant weight advantage to the ranked heavyweight, Malamura used superior speed and quickness to emerge the 7-5 victor. The Gophers' next opponent, the fourth-seeded Chippewas, proved a much more difficult test. Despite a Kish loss at 184 pounds, the Gophers prevailed behind an important Dretsch upset of No. 3 Brandon Sinnott at 174 pounds. Minnesota is now 9-0 all-time against Central Michigan in dual meets, including 5-0 in National Duals competition. Ness improved his season record to 21-0 with yet another opening-meet victory at 125 pounds, topping No. 14 Luke Smith of CMU 8-2. The Gophers' lightweight dominance continued at 133 and 141 pounds, with Reiter and Rivera picking up their second wins of the weekend. Reiter picked up a bonus point with a 10-1 major decision over Conor Beebe, and Rivera defeated No. 16 Eric Kruger 7-5 to put the Gophers up 10-0 in the dual. After Mellmer was quickly pinned in the 149-pound match (making the score 10-6), C.P. Schlatter and Safratowich go the Gophers back on track. Schlatter trounced Tyler Grayson 8-2 to make the team score 13-6 in favor of Minnesota, and Safratowich picked up four more team points with a 13-5 major decision win of his own, setting up Dretsch's heroics. With a 17-6 lead entering the final four matches of the dual, Minnesota needed an individual victory in at least one to ensure a team win. Dretsch (who entered the weekend ranked 10th at 174 pounds) was up to the task and controlled the country's third-ranked wrestler for most of the match en route to a 6-3 win. The victory was Dretsch's third over a ranked opponent this season as Sinnott becomes is the highest-ranked wrestler Dretsch has defeated in 144 career matches. Kish, who had not competed in a meet or tournament in over a month due to injury, played it safe in his match with No. 3 Christian Sinnott but lost a tight 3-2 decision. It was just the second loss of the season for Kish (following a 3-1 defeat by No. 1 Jake Varner on Dec. 2) as he dropped to 8-2 on the season. With a 20-9 lead entering the final two matches of the meet, the Gophers simply needed to avoid being pinned twice to win the dual. Bronson accomplished just that at 197 pounds, lasting the entire seven minutes despite a 17-4 major decision loss. Malamura battled against the much-heavier No. 8 Bubba Gritter at heavyweight but closed out the meet with an 8-3 loss. The Gophers now advance to face the upstart Cornhuskers, a team many experts believed to be a tournament favorite despite entering the event unseeded. The Gophers' early-season victory over Nebraska was actually much closer than the final score (25-13 in favor of Minnesota) would suggest – the Cornhuskers won four of the eight matches in which they did not forfeit. The Gophers enjoy a 46-17 edge in the all-time series with Nebraska, with one of those wins (a 30-9 victory in 2001) coming at the National Duals. After missing the two teams' early-season match-up due to an injury, the Huskers have regained the services of 2007 125-pound national champ Paul Donahoe, setting up a potentially memorable match-up with Ness Sunday morning. The pair have met three times in their careers thus far – Ness won twice in 2006-07, but Donanhoe was a 5-2 winner at the 2007 NWCA All-Star Classic last November. If the Gophers can advance past the Cornhuskers, they would face the winner of Iowa and Michigan in the championship at 3 p.m. Gophersports.com will be on hand to provide match-by-match updates, and fans can also follow the action live via LiveSportsVideo.com and TakedownRadio.com. The NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals features 86 teams (including Divisions I through III, NAIA and NJCAA) and over 1,400 wrestlers on 18 mats of continuous competition. The University of Northern Iowa is hosting the event for the third straight year at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls. Nebraska upsets Penn State University of Nebraska Sports Information The tenth-ranked Husker wrestling team snatched six matches from Penn State to earn a 19-13 upset of the No. 1 Nittany Lions in the second round of the Nationals Duals on Saturday. The win improves Nebraska to 8-1 in duals this season and now pits NU against No. 6 Minnesota in the semifinals tomorrow at 11 a.m. Yet another young Husker stepped up for Nebraska as sophomore Mike Rowe made his season debut at 141 pounds and recorded a 6-4 win over No. 2 Jake Strayer. Rowe jumped on Strayer early by earning the first takedown, but a collision between Strayer's teeth and Rowe's forehead in the second period slowed Rowe down. Rowe battled blood throughout the rest of the match, but scored a reversal with a minute left in the final period to retake the lead and win. Junior Paul Donahoe notched the Huskers' only bonus-point victory in a tightly contested dual as he earned a 13-4 major decision over No. 7 Mark McKnight at 125 pounds. Donahoe entered the third period up just two but recorded three takedowns and an escape in the final stanza to widen the gap. Donahoe's two victories on Saturday were both over ranked opponents and improved him to 10-0 on the season and 7-0 in duals. The Huskers' four other wins were all by decision as each team only had one bonus-point victory. Sophomore Kenny Jordan recorded his second win of the day at 133 with a 2-0 win over Tim Haas, while fellow sophomore Stephen Dwyer also went 2-0 on the day at 165. Dwyer notched a 5-3 win over Dave Rella, before junior Brandon Browne won 5-4 over No. 17 Dave Erwin at 174. Junior Vince Jones clinched a Husker victory with his 10-5 decision over No. 14 Philip Bomberger at 184. Jones win put the Huskers up 19-6 with two matches left. The Huskers will look for revenge against Minnesota in the semifinals tomorrow at 11 a.m. The Golden Gophers earned a 25-13 dual win over NU on Dec. 6 in Minneapolis, but the Huskers forfeited two weights to give Minnesota 12 easy points. Iowa goes 17-3 in individual matches on Day 1 University of Iowa Sports Information The Iowa wrestling team handed Missouri its first loss of the season Saturday afternoon, beating the Tigers, 27-9, in the quarterfinals of the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals in Cedar Falls. Hawkeye Head Coach Tom Brands picked up his 40th career victory and Iowa improved to 9-1 this season with the win. Iowa will face sixth-seeded Michigan (12-1) in the tournament semifinals Sunday at 11 a.m. in the UNI-Dome. Fifth-seed Minnesota (8-1) and unseeded Nebraska (8-1) will meet in the other semifinal. Iowa, the second seed at the tournament, jumped out to a 24-0 lead against seventh-seed Missouri, winning the first seven weights. Junior Charlie Falck started things off with a 19-7 major decision over Tony Pescaglia at 125 pounds. Falck remains undefeated at 10-0 in dual competition, and is 15-1 in collegiate matches this season. Sophomore Joe Slaton (133) and Dan LeClere (141) followed with decisions, and sophomore Brent Metcalf picked up a 12-4 major decision over Josh Wagner at 149. It was Metcalf's 11th straight win and his second bonus-point victory of the day as he improved to 14-1. Sophomore Ryan Morningstar kept the Iowa momentum going with a 5-4 win over Michael Chandler at 157 and senior Mark Perry escaped in the tiebreak period to beat fourth-ranked Nick Marable, 3-2 in overtime. Sophomore Jay Borschel was one of seven Hawkeyes to score two wins on the day with a 13-2 major decision over Brock Wittmeyer at 174. Missouri put its first points on the scoreboard at 184, when Raymond Jordan scored a 3-2 win over Phillip Keddy. Tiger Max Askren followed with a 3:24 pin over Iowa's Rick Loera at 197. But Hawkeye senior Matt Fields put an end to Missouri's scoring run with a late takedown to defeat Mark Ellis, 5-4, at heavyweight. Fields improved to 14-2 on the season and 10-0 in dual competition. Iowa, who defeated unseeded Cornell, 32-3 in the tournament's opening round, went 17-3 on the day. Michigan posted first day wins over unseeded Northern Iowa (30-6) and Hofstra (19-15). The Wolverines are led by top-ranked Kellen Russell (141) and Eric Tannenbaum (165), and second-ranked Steve Luke (174). Tannenbaum and Luke went 2-0 on the day, while Russell went 0-2. The probable match-up of Tannenbaum and Hawkeye senior Mark Perry will be a rematch of the 2007 Big Ten Championship finals, which Perry won 5-2. Tannenbaum won the other previous meeting between the two, 6-2 in sudden victory at the 2007 dual in Ann Arbor. The Iowa-Michigan match will be broadcast live on AM800-KXIC and www.hawkeyesports.com. Live results and updated brackets are available at www.intermatwrestle.com and www.unipanthers.com. Iowa Public Television will air a two-hour taped-delay broadcast of the semifinals at 1 p.m. Rev Audio: Rev Audio: J Robinson (Minnesota) Rev Audio: Mark Manning (Nebraska) Rev Audio: Kenny Jordan (Nebraska) Rev Audio: Tom Brands (Iowa) Rev Audio: Brent Metcalf (Iowa)

The defending national champion Minnesota Golden Gophers will seek their third consecutive team title at the 2008 NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals this Saturday and Sunday (Jan. 12-13) in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The sixth-ranked Golden Gophers are seeded fifth in 16-team event and their first round match-up will come against unranked West Virginia on Saturday morning at 9 a.m. All matches for the 2008 National Duals will take place at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The University of Northern Iowa will be hosting the event for the third consecutive year. The 2008 National Duals will feature 11 of the nation's top 12 teams, with 15 of the 16 participants ranked nationally in the latest USA Today/NWCA/InterMat poll. Undefeated and No. 1 Penn State enters the weekend as the top seed, while No. 2 Iowa (#2), No. 4 Iowa State (#3) and No. 5 Central Michigan (#4) round out the top five seeds. Gopher sophomore Jayson Ness has a chance to make history this weekend. The undefeated 125-pounder (19-0 this season) has pinned 15 opponents this season and six in a row. The Gopher streak for most consecutive pins is eight (set by Tim Hartung in '97) and the single-season pin record is 20, set by current Gopher head assistant coach Marty Morgan in 1989-90. The 2006-07 All-American is currently ranked third in the nation at 125 pounds. West Virginia, Minnesota's first-round opponent, is the only unranked team in this year's National Duals. The two teams have only met up twice in Minnesota's 98-year program history, with both of those meets coming in National Duals competition. The Gophers were 33-3 winners in the quarterfinals at the 1998 National Duals (en route to their first-ever team title) and also emerged a 20-15 victor in the quarterfinals at the 2003 National Duals. A win against West Virginia could force a meeting with the Central Michigan Chippewas at 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon. The Gophers have not lost to the Chippewas in eight meets all-time, including four National Duals match-ups. The 2007-08 Golden Gophers have already faced two teams that will be participating in this weekend's event. Minnesota dropped a tough 18-13 decision against then-No. 2 Iowa State on Dec. 2 and topped then-No. 7 Nebraska by a score of 25-13 on Dec. 6 at the Sports Pavilion. Minnesota has won its last eight straight meets at the annual event. The Gophers defeated then-No. 1 Oklahoma State 21-14 in the 2006 final and also upset then-No. 1 Missouri 20-14 last year. The Gophers have won five National Duals titles since the 1996-97 season, with additional titles coming in 2002, 2001 and 1998. The Gophers dropped to No. 6 in the latest USA Today/NWCA/InterMat poll after Oklahoma State defeated top-ranked Iowa on Jan. 2. Minnesota regained their top ranking in the latest W.I.N. Magazine national poll, and also stayed No. 1 in W.I.N. Magazine's "TPI" (Tournament Power Index) rankings. Eight Minnesota individuals (Ness, Mack Reiter, Dustin Schlatter, Manuel Rivera, C.P. Schlatter, Scott Glasser, Gabe Dretsch and Roger Kish) are ranked in the top-20 of their respective weight classes. After the National Duals, the Gophers will host a home dual meet with South Dakota State Jan. 20 at the Sports Pavilion. Minnesota's most highly anticipated dual meet of the season will come on Friday, Feb. 1 against the No. 2 Iowa Hawkeyes at Williams Arena.

The Brute Adidas mobile studios of Takedown Wrestling Radio's will again be broadcasting the NWCA National Duals starting at 9:06 AM CST Saturday morning. Join Steve Foster, J. Carl Guymon, Scott Casber, Grant Turner, Chole Casber and Adam Haselhuhn for the color, interviews and play by play of this historic event. This year, we will partner with Live Sports Video and marry our audio with LSV's state of the art video on demand. Checkout LSV for semi finals and championship rounds. This is proving to be an exciting year in College Wrestling.

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. -- The Rutgers wrestling team, under the guidance of first-year head coach Scott Goodale, defeated EIWA conference foe East Stroudsburg 24-12 Thursday night at the College Ave. Gym in New Brunswick, N.J. The Scarlet Knights (3-4, 2-1) have won two in a row and three of their last four after starting the season 0-3. ESU (1-7, 1-2) dropped its seventh match of the season. "We really like wrestling at the College Ave. Gym," said Goodale. "I am very excited with how the kids are performing. They are wrestling very well, especially in the third period, and that was big for us tonight." The two teams traded the first two bouts with Chris Norrell (Phillipsburg, N.J.) winning at 157-pounds 8-5 and Matt Pletcher (Eastampton, N.J.) falling 5-4 at 165-pounds. Mike Whalen (Lake Hiawatha, N.J.) then won the 174-pound contest 17-2 for the technical fall, giving the Scarlet Knights an 8-3 team advantage. In the most exciting bout of the evening, Keith Dobish (Lodi, N.J.) came from behind to defeat the Warriors' Shane Mallory 11-9 in overtime. Dobish was down 9-7 with under 10 seconds in the third period before he put Mallory to the ground, tying the bout. Then with 20 seconds left in the first overtime, Dobish again got the takedown to pick up the victory for the Scarlet Knights. "Keith's come-from-behind win was huge for us," said Goodale. "His victory is just one example of how our kids are wrestling the right way. They never give up and that is what makes them winners." East Stroudsburg forfeited the 197-pound match to give Rutgers a 17-3 team lead. After Karim Mahmoud (Wallington, N.J.) fell 6-5 in the heavyweight bout, Ryan Jablonski (Norristown, Pa.) picked up three points for the Scarlet Knights at 125-pounds, winning 8-3 over Matthew Benedetti. At 133-pounds, Senior Dan Hilt (Manalapan, N.J.) looked to be headed to overtime tied 1-1 late in the third period, but a takedown by ESU's Matt Swallow with no time on the clock gave the Warriors the victory. With Rutgers up 20-9, victory became assured even though Reggie Parker (Upper Marlboro, Md.) fell 3-1 in the 141-pound contest. Jack Barrett (Metuchen, N.J.) finished off the scoring with a 9-0 major decision victory at 149 pounds. The Scarlet Knights look to build on their winning streak on Sunday, Jan. 13, when they take on Army and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) at West Point, N.Y., starting at 2:00 p.m. "We are excited to face Army and USMMA," said Goodale. "This will be a good indication of where we are as a program. I expect that we will wrestle extremely well on Sunday."

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The No. 21 Maryland wrestling team did what it had not done in 22 years by beating No. 22 Navy in Annapolis, 21-18, in front of a capacity crowd of 1,025 at Halsey Field House. The Terrapins opened with a pair of victories and sophomore Hudson Taylor recorded his 12th pin of the season en route to the win. Maryland, which never trailed in the dual, beat the Midshipmen for the first time since 1997. The highly-anticipated dual featuring the intrastate nationally ranked opponents started at 157 with freshman Brian Letters taking a 6-2 decision. Letters recorded a pair of takedowns in the first period but Spencer Manley also got loose of his grasp twice for a 4-2 Maryland lead. Manley chose down in the second and recorded the escape 20 seconds in to make it 4-3, but Letters earned an escape, a takedown, and got the bonus point for riding time in the third for the 6-2 win. Senior Ryan Kennett added to the lead with another Terp decision making it 6-0. Kennett had not wrestled in a dual since November 11, but he battled Matt DeMichiel to a 3-3 tie in the first period. DeMichiel took a 4-3 lead heading into the third with an escape in the second. However, Kennett scored all of the points in the final frame, including a three-point near fall with 10 seconds left to take the 10-4 win. The biggest match of the night came at 174 pounds with sophomore Mike Letts, ranked No. 7 in the country, facing No. 9 Matt Stolpinski. Letts started out strong, overpowering Stolpinski with four takedowns in the first period and a half to build an 8-5 lead. Stolpinski scored a takedown as time ran out in the second to make it 8-7. Letts started down in the third and escaped quickly to get the lead to two points. The two tussled for positioning and Stolpinksi eventually earned the tying takedown. He then parlayed that into a pin as he caught Letts off guard to tie the dual at 6-6. Junior Josh Haines, ranked No. 18 at 184 pounds, got things back on track for Maryland with a 5-2 decision. He picked up a takedown in the first and a reversal in the second then tacked on the riding time for the win. Taylor, ranked No. 8 at 197 pounds, continued his dominance with a quick pin of Tyler Moyer in 59 seconds to give the Terps a 15-6 lead. Twelve of his 19 wins this year have come by fall. No. 3 Ed Prendergast responded emphatically in the next match at heavyweight, matching Taylor's pin with his own in 14 seconds to make it 15-12. Maryland and Navy traded decisions at 125 and 133 with sophomore Brendan Byrne taking the win at 125 pounds. He secured the victory with a pair of takedowns, an escape, and the riding time bonus for a 6-2 win. The only points he allowed were a pair of escapes. The Terps held an 18-15 lead with two matches to go. Senior Charlie Pinto came back from his injury to wrestle for the first time since November 17 at 141 pounds and picked up the clinching victory. After a scoreless first, Glenn Shober got on the board first by choosing down in the second and getting the escape. Pinto responded with the only takedown of the period, though, to take a 2-1 lead into the final period. Two more takedowns in the third secured the win for Pinto, 8-2, making the team score 21-15. Navy would win at 149, but had to get the fall to force a tie. Bryce Saddoris could only come away with a 7-3 decision. The Terps (8-3) are back in action on Sunday, January 13 when they travel to Chapel Hill for their ACC opener against North Carolina. That match is scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ACC Select.

PORTLAND, Ore. -- The University of Northern Colorado wrestling team defeated Portland State 41-6 at the Peter W. Stott Center Wednesday evening. The Bears move to 2-4 in dual action this season, while the Vikings fall to 1-5. Northern Colorado won six of the eight contested weight classes, and won forfeits at 125 and 133 pounds. Both junior Daniel Prater (149-pounds) and freshman Patrick Carey (197-pounds) won by pins. Prater pinned Alan Dickey in 6:10, while Carey pinned Keena Washington in 5:57. Senior heavyweight Reece Hopkin, ranked 20th in the latest NWCA/InterMat rankings, won by technical fall over Zack Smith, 18-1. The other three bouts were all major decisions for the Bears, with senior 141-pounder Richard Lohr winning 10-1 over Camrun Arkills, freshman Justin Gaethje posting a major decision at 157-pounds over Brady Garner, 18-9 and junior Devan Lewis at 165-pounds winning 14-3 over Jordan Toney. The Bears return to the mat on Friday evening at Oregon. The Ducks are 9-5 this season and 0-3 in Pac-10 Conference action.

NORMAN, Okla. -- The No. 18 ranked Oklahoma Sooners look to post another 10-win season under head coach Jack Spates with two victories this weekend in a double-dual versus Michigan State and No. 20 Pittsburgh. The Sooner, Spartans and Panthers will collide at the Howard McCasland Field House in Norman beginning at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 12, 2008. A 10-win season would mark the 13th straight year under Spates in which the team has reached the double-digit total. "This weekend is going to match three historic traditions against one another," Spates said. "Fans should anticipate seeing some great competition. All three teams have numerous wrestlers ranked nationally and it should be an extremely competitive afternoon." Michigan State and Pittsburgh will dual at 2 p.m., followed by Michigan State versus Oklahoma at 4 p.m. The Sooners and the Panthers will square off in the last match of the day at 6 p.m. The Sooners are coming off of an impressive performance at the Lonestar Duals in Arlington, Texas, last weekend. OU dominated No. 22-ranked Navy by a final team score of 28-6. OU also defeated Cal-State Fullerton (27-6) and North Carolina (27-6). In the latest rankings, Oklahoma boasts six wrestlers in the Top 20. Sophomore Brian Shelton enters the rankings for the first week in the 133-pound weight class at No. 18. Zack Bailey is ranked No. 12 at 141 pounds, Will Rowe is No. 8 at 149 pounds, Max Dean is ranked No. 14 at 165 pounds, Joshua Weitzel is No. 7 at 184 pounds and two-time All-American Joel Flaggert is ranked No. 5 at 197 pounds. Pittsburgh landed three in this week's rankings. Matt Kocher is No. 4 at 157 pounds, Keith Gavin is No. 1 at 174 pounds and Zach Sheaffer is No. 11 in the heavyweight division. Michigan State has 133-pound Franklin Gomez ranked No. 3, as well as Joe Williams ranked No. 18 at 197 pounds. "We want to encourage the fans to come out and support the Sooners," Spates said. "This team is continuing to improve and we look forward to a great opportunity this weekend in Norman." Doors will open at 1 p.m. and admission is free to the public. The first 500 fans arriving to the match will receive an OU wrestling rally towel.

WASHINGTON -- The American University wrestling team returned home to Bender Arena Wednesday afternoon and had its way with Franklin & Marshall, defeating the Diplomats 36-11. Four Eagles tallied bonus points including Christopher Stout's win by pinfall as AU won eight of 10 weight classes. The meet started at 125 lbs. where Jasen Borshoff earned a hard-fought 2-0 decision over Jake Bucha. Borshoff's only points came in the third period when he escaped from his down starting position and was awarded a bonus point at the end of the match for riding time accrued in the second period. Franklin & Marshall did not wrestle at 133 lbs., forfeiting instead to Matt Mariacher. Kyle Borshoff wrestled Akio Aida at 141 lbs. and earned AU's first bonus points victory with a 28-11 technical fall. K. Borshoff built up a 24-11 lead with several takedowns in the first period and ended the match at the 3:17 mark with an escape and takedown off the second period's opening whistle. F&M's first team points came at 149 lbs. where Al Gianforti tech-falled Nick Pitas, 21-5, at the 5:58 mark. The Eagles got back on top with a Christopher Stout win by fall over Anthony Bongarzone at 157 lbs. Stout earned the fall 1:17 into the third period after leading the entire way. At the time of the fall Stout held a comfortable lead, 12-5. No. 10 Mike Cannon earned AU's second-consecutive bonus points win with a second round tech-fall over Andrew Smith, 26-10. Cannon began a steady stream of takedowns just 18 seconds into the match and stopped the clock with his final maneuver at the 4:23 mark and a bonus point for riding time. The Diplomats earned their second and final victory of the day when No. 20 Justin Herbert pinned Jonathon Powell just 34 seconds after the opening whistle. Andy Semple was quick to turn things around for AU as he registered a 6-4 decision over Dan Canfield at 184 lbs. in the next match. Semple took a 3-0 lead into the final frame after a first period takedown and second period escape. Semple outlasted Canfield in the third after the visitor scored two takedowns and added a riding time bonus point for good measure. F&M did not weigh in at 197 lbs., choosing to forfeit the points to Brooks Keefer. The nation's No. 1 wrestler at 197 lbs., Josh Glenn, moved up to the heavyweight class because of the Dips forfeit at 197 lbs. and closed out the meet with a 13-2 major decision over Nico Somer. Glenn earned two sets of back points in the first period after an early takedown and before the start of the second period had already accumulated 1:24 of riding time. Somer's only points came in the second period off a takedown but Glenn quickly reversed and finished out the frame in control. Glenn scored an escape and takedown in the final period and with 3:13 of riding time built up moved the final score to 13-2. The Eagles will be in action again this Friday, Jan. 11, as they travel to Columbia for a 6 p.m. showdown. AU will turn right around after the meet and head back to D.C. to take on Navy Saturday, Jan. 12, inside of Bender at 7 p.m.

DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke built an early 10-6 lead, but NC State won the last seven matches to hand the Blue Devils a 27-10 loss in the ACC dual-match opener for both teams. NC State evened its dual-match record at 5-5, while Duke fell to 4-5. Darrion Caldwell, ranked No. 9 nationally at 149 pounds, got the Wolfpack off to a fast start, literally, pinning Duke's Mike Bell in 58 seconds. The pin was Caldwell's 12th of the season and the 22nd of his career, tying him with Mike Lombardo (1985-88) for seventh place in NC State history for career pins. Caldwell improved to 20-3 on the season, matching his season total for victories from a year ago. Duke took the next three matches. Voris Tejada earned a 6-0 decision at 157 pounds against Ray Ward. Tejada improved to 23-9 overall in 2007-08. At 165 pounds, Addison Nuding had a big second period and won a 10-0 major decision over Jalil Dozier. Nuding, 20-6 on the year, gave the Blue Devils a 7-6 lead in team points. Aaron Glover used a takedown with 11 seconds left in the match at 174 pounds to win a tense 6-5 decision over Randy Goodman and give Duke a 10-6 lead in the team scoring. And that was the last victory of the evening for Duke. Ryan Goodman, a two-time ACC champion, defeated the Blue Devils's winningest wrestler, John Barone, by a 9-5 decision. Goodman rallied late to win the bout, which was tied 5-5 after two periods. Goodman, who missed all of November while playing football, improved to 11-4. Barone is now 24-4. Junior Mark Jahad won a 13-2 major decision over Duke's Robert Holbrook at 197, giving the team lead back to the Wolfpack at 13-10. Another close match pitted Duke's redshirt sophomore Mike Tunick and the Wolfpack's Bobby Isola at heavyweight. The first period was scoreless, but Isola wound up with a 10-4 decision to put the Wolfpack up 16-10. At 125 pounds, NC State's Taylor Cummings overcame a late lead by Duke's Kellon McKeon and took a 4-2 decision. Cummings, the defending conference champion, lifted his season mark to 15-8 with the win. At 133, freshman Darius Little took an 11-6 decision over Bryan Gibson with a strong final period. And eighth-ranked Joe Caramanica won the 141-pound bout by technical fall over A.J. Guardado. Caramanica wrapped up the tech fall by a 17-1 score with 41 seconds left in the bout. NC State returns to action on Saturday, January 12, at Liberty for a 7 p.m. match.

University of Michigan All-American Steve Luke has posted a 16-1 record this season and is currently No. 2 in the country at 174 pounds by RevWrestling.com. The only blemish on his record this season is a 3-2 tiebreaker loss to No. 1-ranked Keith Gavin of Pittsburgh in the finals of the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Luke was recently named the Outstanding Wrestler at the Lone Star Duals after posting a 3-0 record with three pins. Steve LukeThe junior from Massillon, Ohio placed sixth at the 2007 NCAA Championships after losing in the opening round. He is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree. RevWrestling.com recently caught up with Luke and asked him about being overlooked on a team with five wrestlers ranked in the top five, what he needs to do to avoid the opening round upset loss at the NCAA's again, his thoughts on high school freshman phenom Chris Phillips, what the Wolverines need to do to bring home the NCAA title this season, and much more. It seems that you have been one of the most overlooked wrestlers on a team with five wrestlers ranked in the top five nationally. You are 16-1 this season. You are a tiebreaker loss away from being undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the country, yet you are rarely mentioned when people talk about the best overall wrestlers in the country. Does the fact that you are a bit overlooked bother you at all? Luke: No. To be honest, I don't pay attention to it. I have a really demanding class schedule. I just go to class, study all the time, and go to practice. I don't pay attention to the forums. I don't even know that I am overlooked. I could care less. There are a lot more important things. You have had some ups and downs throughout your collegiate wrestling career at Michigan. As a freshman, you won the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational at 157 pounds with a victory over NCAA runner-up Alex Tirapelle of Illinois. But then you went 0-2 at the NCAA Championships and failed to place. When you reflect back on your freshman season, what goes through your mind? Steve LukeLuke: That was a rough year for me. It was the first year I was traveling a lot. It was tough making weight a lot at 157. I stuck with it. A few times that year I started feeling sorry for myself. I started to get sick of wrestling. But now that I'm up at 174 … the team is doing well, I'm doing well, so life is a lot better. Yeah, my freshman year was rough, but it's not a big deal. I got back on track. The next season you bumped up two weight classes from 157 to 174, which is quite a jump in collegiate wrestling. Compare and contrast the two weight classes from a styles standpoint. And what was the biggest adjustment you had to make to compete at 174? Luke: The 174-pounders are stronger, obviously. I lifted hard and got bigger, so I feel like I'm just as strong as any 174-pounder in the country. The 157-pounders are a lot quicker. The matches are a lot more fast-paced. At 174 pounds, the wrestling is more defensive, where you look for your shots. I still feel like since I bumped up two weight classes, my quickness and agility hasn't changed. It's question that I have to ask, even though it's a question you probably prefer to not hear. You are one of the top wrestlers in the country, but last season you were upset in the opening round of the NCAA Championships for the second straight time. What happened? Luke: I don't know … I guess that I just have to be more mentally prepared and not so nervous. It's the NCAA Championships. That stuff happens all the time. Unfortunately, it happened to me two years in a row. I think the same thing happened to JD Bergman (Ohio State). I know JD pretty well since we are both from Ohio. I guess it's just us Ohio kids who do that. Sean BormetYou have wrestled some great wrestlers over your high school and college career. Who is the toughest wrestler you have ever wrestled with, including in the practice room? Luke: The one who beat me the worst is Sean Bormet, who runs Overtime Wrestling Club. He's a little older than me and more experienced. There are different ways to say who is the toughest. If you are asking who is the toughest, like most physical and strongest, it would either be my high school coach, Brian Dolph, or our 184-pounder, Tyrel Todd. But if you are asking who took me down the most and beat me the worst, it would be Sean Bormet. In high school, you wrestled on the same team as Dustin Schlatter at Massillon Perry. As a freshman at the University of Minnesota, Schlatter seemed to be a scoring machine when he won his NCAA title at 149 pounds. However, the past two seasons, he has wrestled many close, low-scoring matches. From your perspective, what's the difference between Dustin Schlatter as a freshman and Dustin Schlatter as a junior? Luke: He's still winning matches. It doesn't really matter whether you beat people by 10 points or whether you beat people by one point. It's still winning the match. I think his freshman year, he went out there just wanting to prove himself and do well. People kind of overlooked him. That weight class was pretty stacked. It had (Zack) Esposito, Eric (Tannenbaum), (Jon) Masa, and a bunch of other guys. He really worked hard in the offseason. I think he trained at Minnesota that whole summer to get ready. Now, I don't know. He's been wrestling for a while. Maybe it's just wearing on him and he's not liking the sport as much. I actually just hung out with him over break, but we didn't really talk wrestling. We just hung out. This season, a high school freshman from Monroeville, Ohio named Chris Phillips won the Walsh Ironman at 171 pounds. Having wrestled in that event, put into perspective how tough it is for a freshman upperweight to win the Walsh Ironman. Luke: That's amazing. His weight class was pretty stacked, too, with Brian Roddy and Zac Thomusseit. That kid is just tough. I heard about him this past summer when he wrestled at Cadets. One my friends coached the Cadet team, so he was telling me about him. I didn't realize how good he was. That kid is definitely going to be something special. He's already one of the top high school wrestlers in the country at 171. Once he gets to college, I don't expect him to falter. He could be a factor in college by his junior or senior year of high school. I watched him on the Internet. He's really strong and built. His re-shots are unbelievable. Steve LukeHandicap the 174-pound weight class. In your opinion, who are the top three or four wrestlers who pose the biggest threat to you winning the national title this season? Luke: Like I said, I don't pay attention to that stuff. I don't even know what the rankings are right now. Keith Gavin always seems to step up at the right time. He's an unorthodox wrestler. He's hard to score on. He always wins the close matches. I don't know … the 174-pound weight class is a pretty uniform weight class. From about 1 to 15, everyone is so close. The kid from Central Michigan (Brandon Sinnott) is pretty tough. The Hofstra kid, Alton Lucas, has been wrestling really well this year. This weekend you will be competing in the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals. Michigan enters the event as the No. 6 seed. How much emphasis do you put on this event from a team standpoint? Luke: Well, it's a different atmosphere wrestling dual meet tournaments as opposed to individual tournaments. I mean, last year we went 0-2 at the National Duals, but then placed seventh at the NCAA's. We are all going to be wrestling top ranked guys because all the teams have top ranked guys and stacked lineups. Individually, everybody just has to focus on themselves. I think we can compete with any team. I think our dual meet team is pretty good, but I think our tournament team is better than our dual meet team. I think there is a big emphasis since we are wrestling the top teams, but it doesn't make or break a season. March Churella Sr. was added to the coaching staff this season. What has he brought to the program this season? Luke: He is really motivating. His philosophy on wrestling is unbelievable. He's the best technician. The way he is able to explain moves and the way he is able tot motivate me has really helped this year. We all talk about in the locker room and stuff. I think he has been a huge asset to our team this year. He runs some of the practices. Whenever he runs the practices, I just feel more pressure for some reason to work harder and do better. He'll bring different things to practices. Sometimes when the same coaches are running it, it's the same thing over and over. But then he'll come in and bring in a little twist. It's fun not doing the same thing every day. At this point in the season, it looks as though Michigan has five potential NCAA finalists with you, Kellen Russell (141), Josh Churella (149), Eric Tannenbaum (165), and Tyrel Todd (184). In your opinion, what is going to take to bring home the NCAA team title in St. Louis? Steve LukeLuke: Kellen, Josh, Eric, Tyrel, and I will have to perform our best at the end, plus get bonus points. We're all capable of placing in the top four. We're all capable of winning it too. But you never know what is going to happen at the NCAA's. But if we all place in the top four and get bonus points … and then we have guys like (Jeff) Marsh step in, qualify, and win some matches. (Anthony) Biondo, our 197-pounder, has been wrestling really well. Our 125 and 133-pounders, (Michael) Watts and (Chris) Diehl, have been picking it up. As long as we can get these guys there and scoring points, it would be big. If we can get guys like Watts and Diehl to get there and win a few matches, that would really help the team. Last year, we had five guys go and five guys place, but we had nobody else scoring points, while other teams had like eight or nine guys going and four guys placing. If we can all place high and get some bonus points along the way, we should do pretty well.

LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ -- Hofstra junior wrestler Alton Lucas, who captured the 174-pound title at the Southern Scuffle and split a pair of matches against ranked opponents this past Sunday, has been named the Colonial Athletic Association Wrestler of the Week for all competition from December 18 through January 7. Lucas, a West Babylon, NY native, won his first 11 matches of the season including five at the Southern Scuffle to win the 174-pound weight class. On his way to the title, he posted victories over the sixth, seventh and eighth ranked wrestlers in the country. This past Sunday, Lucas suffered his first loss of the season, dropping a 3-1 decision in sudden victory to third-ranked Brandon Sinnott from Central Michigan. He bounced back with a 5-3 victory over #12 Phil Moricone from Edinboro. Lucas, who is now 12-1 on the season, is ranked third in the W.I.N. Poll and sixth in the Intermat Poll. He shares the CAA Wrestler of the Week Boston University's Mike Roberts, who captured the 149-pound title and was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the Southern Scuffle.