InterMat Staff

GREENSBORO, NC -- The UNC Greensboro wrestling squad will have not one, but two opponents to beat on Tuesday as they travel to Lynchburg, VA to take on the Liberty Flames and the George Mason Patriots. The Spartans will begin with a 7:30pm match against the Flames followed by the Patriots at 9pm. The action will take place in the Vines Center. All three teams were on the mats this past weekend. UNCG (8-5, 3-1 SoCon) shorted Virginia Tech with a 20-18 victory in Blacksburg, VA on Sunday afternoon. That same day, Liberty (10-9-1) won the East Regional Duals with victories over Duquesne (38-3), Gardner-Webb (34-6), Delaware State (39-15), and Millersville (38-10). George Mason finished the weekend off with a loss as they were topped by No. 22 Old Dominion, 32-12. This marks just the second time the Spartans and the Flames have met in dual competition. Last year, UNCG came out on top with a 24-9 victory to close out the regular season. George Mason holds a 2-1 dual advantage over the Spartans. The Patriots won the first two meetings, but the Spartans were the victory last season coming away with a 21-16 win. The Spartans will have a week to rest before they host Duke on February 20 for their final home match of the season. Action is set to get underway at 7pm in Fleming Gymnasium. For more news on UNCG wrestling, ticket prices, a complete season schedule, and all other Spartan athletic information log onto www.UNCGSpartans.com.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Head Coach Duane Goldman earned the 200th win of his coaching career Sunday afternoon. Indiana University topped the Michigan State Spartans, 23-9. The match began with the 125-bout and yet another win for Angel Escobedo. The Griffith, Indiana native improved to a perfect 22-0 on the year, downing Michigan State's Joel Murphy, 14-4. After a Spartan decision in the 133-pound weight class, the Hoosiers ripped off four consecutive wins. The run began with Scott Kelly grabbing a 3-2 decision and concluded when Matt Coughlin arose victorious in the 165-bout contest, 7-4. Sandwiched in between those two wins were Kurt Kinser's Big Ten-high 27th win and a dominating performance by Brandon Becker in a 15-2 major decision. Becker tallied near-fall points three times in the first period, jumping out to a 10-0 lead. Michigan State then closed the gap to 17-6 with a decision in the 174-pound match. Senior Marc Bennett responded with a decision for IU in the following match, however. Nate Everhart ended the match by nabbing three more points for Indiana, recording a 7-4 decision in the heavyweight match.

STILLWATER, Okla. -- Oklahoma State senior 133-pounder Coleman Scott is this week's Big 12 Wrestler of the Week, the conference office announced today. Scott claimed wins over a pair of top-10 opponents last week to lead the Cowboys to victories over two teams that were both ranked No. 1 at one point of this season when he handed No. 7 Nick Fanthorpe of Iowa State a 6-2 defeat as part of OSU's 16-15 win over the No. 9 Cyclones last Friday, then came back to beat No. 5 Mack Reiter of Minnesota by a convincing 8-2 decision as part of the Cowboys' 18-14 win over the No. 4 Gophers on Sunday. Including those two wins, Scott has won 18 consecutive matches, highlighted by five wins over top-10 opposition. Four of Scott's last six wins have come over opponents ranked in the top 10 nationally. On the year, the three-time All-American owns a 24-2 record to go with a 15-1 mark in duals. For all of the success that Scott has achieved in his career, this is the first time he has been honored as the Big 12 Wrestler of the Week. He joins teammate Jake Dieffenbach as Cowboys to have earned the honor this season, as Dieffenbach secured the recognition the week of Dec. 3-9. Scott's honor marks the 29th time an Oklahoma State wrestler has been recognized as Big 12 Wrestler of the Week since the conference formed in 1996-97. The Cowboys are on the road this week, competing at Oregon on Feb. 8 and at UC Davis on Feb. 10.

Fullerton, Calif. -- Devin Velasquez won a pair of decisions at 157 pounds and Ian Murphy and Ryan Budd registered pins Sunday afternoon as Cal State Fullerton won a pair of dual wrestling matches over Cal State Bakersfield (21-14) and Menlo College (31-6). Murphy's pin at 184 pounds of Troy Goodban helped the Titans jump out to a 12-0 lead over the Roadrunners in the Pac-10 match. Morgan Atkinson's decision at 149 clinched the win which lifted Fullerton to 8-5 overall and 6-1 in the Pac-10. Seniors Murphy and Atkinson were both making their final Titan Gym appearances. Fullerton won eight of 10 matches to easily beat the Oaks to go to 9-5 despite using the second string except for Velasquez at 157. Between these matches, Bakersfield beat Menlo, 21-12.

STILLWATER, Okla. -- No. 3 Oklahoma State picked up its third win over a top-10 team and its seventh win over a ranked opponent this year when it defeated No. 4 Minnesota, 18-14 Sunday at Gallagher-Iba Arena. The most important win of the dual for the Cowboys was Jack Jensen's upset of No. 5 Roger Kish. Jensen recorded a takedown with 16 seconds remaining in sudden victory overtime to win a key 5-3 decision that made the difference for the Cowboys. With the Gophers holding a 14-9 advantage in team scoring, Jensen's upset win changed the complexion of the dual. 197-pounder Clayton Foster followed with a 4-1 win over Justin Bronson to give the Cowboys a 15-14 lead in the dual heading into the final bout, which heavyweight Jared Rosholt won by a 4-2 decision over Ben Berhow. Top-ranked 125-pounder Jayson Ness of Minnesota started the dual with an 18-5 major decision win over OSU's Tyler Shinn, but the Cowboys came back to win a pair of showcase matches at 133 and 141 as top-ranked Coleman Scott handed No. 5 Mack Reiter an 8-2 defeat and No. 2 Nathan Morgan followed with a 6-4 decision over No. 3 Manuel Rivera. An 8-3 win by Ryan Freeman over Luke Mellmer at 149 pounds followed to provide the Cowboys with a 9-4 lead in the dual. The Golden Gophers responded with three straight victories, one a major decision from No. 6 C.P. Schlatter over Neil Erisman and two upsets at 165 pounds and 174 pounds that put them on top 14-9. That was where Minnesota stayed, however, as Oklahoma State won the last three matches to win the dual.

SYRACUSE, New York -- Live Sports Video, in alliance with USA Wrestling and World Sports Chicago, presents its second annual live web cast of the Chicago Cup on Tuesday, Feb. 5, at 7 p.m. CST. Enjoy this event, set to take place at the Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Ill., from anywhere in the world using your computer. The Chicago Cup will provide top-level wrestling for American athletes as they continue preparations for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Every wrestling and sport fan should watch this event to support the true essence of American pride and changing technologies. "We continue to reach wrestling fans with some of the greatest wrestling on this planet, due to our fantastic sponsorship of Feldmeier Equipment," says Michael Raite of LiveSportsVideo.com. To see the event LIVE, you can watch the Chicago Cup web cast at: www.LiveSportsVideo.com and Click "Chicago Cup Banner" on home page. Sign in early to not miss out on any of the wrestling action. The event will feature a dual meet between the 2007 World champion U.S. Greco-Roman team and a powerful team from Bulgaria that includes three individual World champions. Team USA will feature local Chicago stars Lindsey Durlacher and T.C. Dantzler. The U.S. women's freestyle team takes on Poland in the four Olympic weight classes. Area-local Mary Kelly competes at 48kg/105.5 lbs and wrestled in the inaugural 2007 Chicago Cup. She will also take part in the 2008 Chicago Cup as a member of the U.S. women's freestyle team. An exhibition freestyle match featuring NCAA champion Jake Herbert, from host Northwestern University, will also be highlighted. For those who can not see the live web cast as it happens, it will also be archived on LiveSportsVideo.com starting one-hour after the event end (around 10pm CST), so it can be watched On-Demand at any time. Robert Feldmeier, the CEO of Feldmeier Equipment, has supported wrestling for over 50 years. His success in business of world-wide installations of processing equipment in the dairy, beverage, food and pharmaceutical industiries started on the wrestling mat. Thank you wrestling fans for watching the best sports network dedicated to delivering sports you love. Live Sports Video would like wrestling fans to spread the word with hopes of bringing this web cast to 100,000 viewers. Tell all wrestling fans to go to www.LiveSportsVideo.com at 7 pm CST, Tuesday, Feb. 5, to watch this free Chicago Cup web cast LIVE as it happens. Find out more information about this event visit www.livesportsvideo.com and click on Chicago Cup Banner on center of homepage, or go to www.worldsportchicago.org.

WAVERLY, Iowa. -- Winning eight of 10 individual bouts, including a technical fall and two major decisions, Wartburg College (Iowa) scored a 28-9 dual-meet victory over visiting Augsburg College in a meeting of the top two ranked teams in NCAA Division III wrestling on Saturday night at Levick Arena at the Wartburg-Waverly Sports and Wellness Center. Wartburg, the defending national runner-up and current top-ranked team in the National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III national rankings, improved to 21-0 on the season in dual meets. Augsburg, the defending national champion and winners of 10 of the last 17 national titles, is now 9-2 on the season. Against teams from Divisions II and III, Augsburg is now 227-19 since the 1989-90 season, losing just 14 matches to non-Division I opponents since the 1995-96 season. Against strictly Division III opponents, Augsburg is 234-22 since the 1979-80 season and 158-12 since the 1989-90 season. The Auggies' lone victories came from No. 4-ranked Travis Lang (JR, Bismarck, N.D.) at 133 pounds and George Lynaugh (SR, Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley HS) at 174. Lang claimed a first-period pin of No. 3-ranked Jacob Helvey, while Lynaugh scored a 12-8 win over Wartburg's No. 10-ranked Craig Kreman. Lang rebounded from an early takedown by Helvey, claiming an escape, takedown and pin at the 2:22 mark. Lynaugh collected a takedown, three-point near-fall and two escapes to build a 7-3 lead after two periods, en route to the 12-8 win with a takedown, two escapes and a riding-time bonus point in the third period. Wartburg claimed three bonus-point victories -- a third-period, 17-0 technical-fall by top-ranked Jacob Naig at 149 over Augsburg's Jason Adams (So., Coon Rapids, Minn.); a 13-4 major-decision by top-ranked Aaron Wernimont at 157 over Augsburg's Beau Hansen (FY, Albert Lea, Minn.); and a 10-0 major-decision by top-ranked T.J. Miller over Augsburg's Wallace O'Connor (SR, Oshkosh, Wis./Oshkosh West HS) at 197. In the two other meetings of ranked wrestlers, Wartburg's No. 6-ranked Robert Struthers scored a 7-5 win over No. 4-ranked Seth Flodeen (JR, Cannon Falls, Minn.) at 125, and Wartburg's top-ranked Romeo Djoumessi scored a 6-4 win over No. 6-ranked Robbie Gotreau (SR, Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS) at 184. Tied at 3-3 after two periods, Struthers scored an escape and takedown to take a 6-3 lead, and rebounded from a Flodeen reversal with an escape in the last second of the match. At 184, Djoumessi used two takedowns and two third-period escapes to hold off Gotreau's upset bid. At 141, No. 3-ranked Zac McKray scored a 6-2 win over Augsburg's Lucas Murray (FY, Anoka, Minn.); Wartburg's No. 10-ranked Justin Hanson scored a 6-2 win over Brandon Klukow (JR, Albert Lea, Minn.) at 165, and No. 3-ranked Brian Borchers used a second-period escape and riding-time bonus point to score a 2-0 win over Augsburg's Andy Witzel (SO, Fulda, Minn.) at heavyweight. Also on Saturday, the Augsburg White Team (junior varsity) finished in third place at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Invitational at the McPhee Phy Ed Center in Eau Claire, Wis. Paul Bjorkstrand (JR, Burnsville, Minn., 133 pounds) and Zach Hansen (SO, Albert Lea, Minn., 157) won individual championships for the Auggies, while Jake Saatzer (FY, Mound, Minn./Mound-Westonka HS) finished second at 141 and Freddy Vigil (SO, Bakersfield, Calif./South HS) finished third at 125. Augsburg returns to action next Saturday (2/9) at 9 a.m., at the St. John's University North Country Open in Collegeville, Minn.

ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Big Red wrestling team strong-armed Hofstra in front of a sold out crowd to win at 28-14 dual match on Saturday night. Over one thousand fans cheered on No. 18 Cornell who won 7-of-10 matches against the No. 12 Pride, snapping Hofstra's six-match win-streak. The Big Red picked up bonus points in three matches with heavyweight Zach Hammond and freshman DJ Meagher (149) both pinning their opponents, while junior Jordan Leen won a 12-4 major decision at 157 pounds. With the match starting at 197 pounds, the Big Red's Taylor Moore faced No. 8 Joe Rovelli. Rovelli racked up the points in the second and third periods to win a 15-0 technical fall, giving Hofstra an early 5-0 lead over the Big Red. No. 12 ranked Zach Hammond faced Hofstra's Tom Daddino in the heavyweight bout. The two wrestled to a tie in the first period with three points apiece. Hammond chose to start the second period from the down position but was unable to escape Daddino's clutches during the two minute period. Daddino took a 4-3 lead in the third escaping Hammond after 57 seconds. With 16 seconds left in the match, Hammond caught Daddino quickly pinning the Pride wrestler to earn six team points for the Big Red. Senior Mike Rodriguez hit the mat next for the Big Red at 125 pounds, facing No. 13 Dave Tomasette. The two wrestled to a close first period, but the Pride wrestler pulled away in the second and third to win an 11-5 decision giving Hofstra back its team lead. At 133 pounds, No. 2 Mike Grey took on No. 6 Lou Ruggirello. Grey took a two point lead with a takedown with 45 seconds left in the first period, and Ruggirello was unable to escape Grey's clutches. Grey started the second period from the down position and grabbed two point reversal with 20 seconds left in the period. Ruggirello earned his only point of the match with an escape in the third giving Grey a 4-1 win. With the three point victory, Cornell regained a 9-8 advantage. The Big Red had to forfeit its match at 141 pounds over No. 5 Charles Griffen. The Pride earned six points with the forfeit to take a 14-9 lead into the intermission. At 149 pounds, freshman DJ Meagher faced Hofstra's Jeff Rotella. Meagher took down Rotella 10 seconds into the period, but nearly a minute later Rotella tied up the match with a reversal. At 1:19, Meagher regained the advantage with a reversal of his own. The Big Red wrestler nearly maneuvered Rotella on to his back, but with time running out in the period, earned three points for a nearfall. Meagher had choice in the second period and remained in the top position looking to pin Rotella. Meagher continued to dominate the match and earned the win by fall in 4:27. Returning All-American Jordan Leen wrestled against Johnny Bonilla-Bowman at 157 pounds. Leen grabbed the lead within 20 seconds and never looked back winning a 12-4 major decision over the Pride wrestler. Leen's four points increased the Big Red's lead to19-14. Fourth ranked Mack Lewnes faced Ryan Patrovich at 165 pounds. The two grapplers were scoreless in the first period until Lewnes earned two points with a takedown with 10 seconds left on the clock. Lewnes lengthened his lead to three escaping Patrovich within 10 seconds in the second period. The Pride wrestler scored his only point of the match with an escape in the third, and Lewnes walked away with a 3-1 win. At 174 pounds, No. 10 ranked junior Steve Anceravage took on No. 5 Alton Lucas. Lucas held a 2-1 advantage after the first period with Lucas making a takedown and Anceravage earning an escape. Anceravage tied up the match at two points apiece in the second with an escape from his initial down position. Lucas started the third down on the mat and regained his lead with an escape at 1:49. Both wrestlers were unable to score and with less than six seconds left in the match, the two were at a stalemate and headed to center mat at the neutral position. With seconds ticking away Lucas looked to be the winner, but with less than a second left in the match, Anceravage stunned the Pride wrestler with a takedown to win, 4-3. Cornell increased its lead to 25-14 securing its team victory. All-American Josh Arnone returned to the mat at 184 pounds for the first time this season after taking off the fall semester due to injury. The Big Red wrestler earned two points with a takedown at 1:05 of the first period, and racked up riding time against the Pride's Justin Danz. Arnone increased his lead to five in the second period with an escape and a takedown. Danz escaped Arnone in the third period at 1:19, but Arnone regained control with a takedown less than 20 seconds later. With riding time secured, and a 7-1 lead, Arnone let Danz up looking to win a major decision. Danz evaded Arnone's clutches, but the Big Red wrestler won an 8-2 decision in his first match of the season. The Big Red will return to action next weekend as it opens it Ivy season, playing host to Columbia. The Big Red will take on the Lions on Saturday, Feb. 9 at 1 p.m. at the Friedman Wrestling Center. Cornell will also wrestle against Wagner at 3 p.m.

Lincoln -- The second-ranked Nebraska wrestling team racked up three bonus-point wins and two sudden victories to propel the Huskers past No. 11 Missouri, 22-13, in front of 3,252 fans at the Coliseum on Saturday. Nebraska improves to 11-2 on the year and 2-0 in the Big 12, while the Tigers drop to 7-3-1 and 0-1-1 in the conference. Junior Paul Donahoe once again led the way for NU as he broke a 7-7 tie with his 19-3 technical-fall victory at 125 pounds over Missouri's John Olanowski. Donahoe scored a three-point nearfall halfway into the first period as he went on to accumulate three nearfalls and five takedowns in the match. Donahoe improves to 14-4 in his career at home duals. Clinching the match for the Huskers was sophomore Jordan Burroughs at 149 pounds. Burroughs' 15-7 major decision put Nebraska up 22-7 with two matches left. Burroughs defeated No. 16 Josh Wagner with six takedowns. The major decision is Burroughs' tenth of the year. Rounding out the bonus-point wins for NU was junior Brandon Browne, who earned a 14-5 major decision over Brock Wittmeyer at 174 pounds. Browne earned three takedowns in the second period to cruise to the win as he leads the Huskers with 25 wins on the season. The Huskers picked up two tight wins as both Kenny Jordan (133) and Mike Rowe (141) collected sudden victories. Jordan took a 1-1 tie into the extra period against Tyler McCormick before his takedown with 50 seconds left won the match 3-1. Rowe entered the extra stanza tied at two, but took just 17 second to beat Marcus Hoehn. Senior Jon May scored one of the biggest upsets of the evening as he defeated No. 11 Mark Ellis 3-2. May entered the third period up 1-0, but a quick escape by Ellis tied the match. May battled back with a takedown with 35 seconds left to earn the win. The Husker grapplers host their final home dual of the season on Sunday, Feb. 10 against the No. 17 Oklahoma Sooners.

BLOOMSBURG -- The Bloomsburg University wrestling team defeated Clarion 22-15 in Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) action on Friday night. 125- Seventh ranked Mike Sees (Northumberland/Shikellamy) got the Huskies off to a fast start with a 16-5 major decision victory over Jay Ivanco. Sees recorded his first takedown early in the first period of the match and never looked back from there, as he recorded five more takedowns in the bout. 133- Jason Guffey (Muncy/Warrior Run) gave the Huskies an 8-0 lead with a dominating 11-2 major decision victory over Rob LaBrake. LaBrake took an early advantage in the match with a takedown to take a 2-0 lead. Guffey came back to knot up the match at two with consecutive escape points. From there, Guffey dominated the match, recording nine consecutive points to earn the win. 141- Clarion's Sal Lascari put the Golden Eagles on the board with a 3-1 victory over Bloomsburg's Darren Kern (Pennsburg/Upper Perkiomenville). After a scoreless first period, Lascari earned an escape point early in the second to take the lead. He would hold that lead for the rest of the second period and eventually took a 3-0 lead after a takedown. Kern cut the deficit to 3-1 after an escape point with a minute left in the match, but Lascari would hang on in that final minute to earn the win. 149- George Hickman (Castle Hayne, NC/Riverside) increased the Bloomsburg lead to 11-3 after a come from behind 5-3 win over Hadley Harrison. Harrison jumped out to a 3-0 lead with a takedown with 35 seconds left in the first, but Hickman would come back with an escape point late in the first, then another in the second to make the score 3-2 late in the second. Hickman then took the lead with a takedown with 45 seconds left in the second and held on to that lead the entire third period to clinch the win. 157- 19th ranked Matt Moley (Phoenixville/Spring-Ford) built on the Bloomsburg lead with a 6-2 win over Travis Uncapher. Moley took a 2-0 lead with 35 seconds left in the first, then recorded another takedown 10 seconds later that made the lead 4-1. Moley then put the match away with another takedown with one minute left in the third period to improve his record on the year to 25-6. 165- Rickey Schmelyun (New Oxford/Bermudian Springs) took control his match from the start against Dominic Ross eventually earning a 10-3 major decision win. Schmelyun recorded his first takedown with 32 seconds left in the first and would proceed to have four more takedowns throughout the course of the match. 174- Mario Morelli put Clarion back on the board with a 3-2 win over Brian Shaw (Holidaysburg/Holidaysburg). After a scoreless first period, Morelli recorded the first point of the match in the second with an escape. Then in the third, Morelli scored a takedown to make the score 3-0 with 35 seconds left. Shaw tried to comeback after picking up a takedown with 12 seconds left that made the score 3-2, but Morelli would hang on in the final moments of the match to pick up the win. 184- For the first time in the match, Clarion picked up back-to-back victories after Scott Joseph defeated Jesse Hasseman (Franklin, IN/Franklin) 5-4. Hasseman took the lead early in the first with an escape, then in the second made the score 2-0 with another escape point. Joseph would the knot the score up at two with a takedown with 42 seconds left in the second. After Hasseman took the lead at 3-2 with a point in riding time, Joseph recorded an escape point to start the third, then had a takedown with 1:15 left in the period to take a 5-3 lead. Hasseman would record an escape point with one minute left to make it 5-4, but Joseph would hold on the remainder of the match to take the win. 197- Jamie Luckett put the Golden Eagles right back in the match after pinning Bloomsburg's Eric Shaw (Holidaysburg/Holidaysburg) in the second overtime period. After a scoreless first period, Luckett picked up a point early in the second on an escape and would hold a 1-0 lead until Shaw picked up an escape point of his own in the third. After both wrestlers failed to score a point in the first overtime period, Lukett recorded a pin in the opening moments of the second overtime period to take the win. HWT- Ninth-ranked Mike Spaid (Perkiomenville/Boyertown) sealed up the match for the Huskies with a dominating 12-3 major decision victory over Roman Husam. Spaid set the tempo for the match early after recording a takedown with 2:15 left in the first. From there, Spaid would go on to control the match, as he recorded four more takedowns in the match. The victory improves Bloomsburg's record on the year to 4-6-1, 1-3 in the EWL while Clarion falls to 8-10, 0-4 in the EWL. The Huskies return to action Saturday when they host Cleveland State at 1:00 p.m.

Head Coach Pat Pecora's #8-ranked Mountain Cat wrestling team opened up a 12-0 lead en route to an impressive, 23-13, win at #11 Ashland (OH) University, Friday night. Pitt Johnstown, which improved to 13-5, won six of the ten bouts, including a technical fall by #2 Mike Corcetti (Export, Pa.) at 184 lbs. Derrek Bosso (125 lbs.) (Pequea, Pa.) opened the match with a tight, 4-3, win over Brandon Davis, and Brandon Reasy (New Enterprise, Pa.), the nation's #1-ranked wrestler at 133 lbs., won by forfeit. The Mountain Cats increased the lead to 12-0 with #7 Shane Valko's (Windber, Pa.), 5-3, decision over Kyle Karanga at 141 lbs. The Eagles battled their way back into the match with back-to-back wins at 149 lbs. and 157 lbs. Marcus Gordon scored a 12-4 major decision over Ryan McIntyre (Claysburg, Pa.) at 149 lbs., and #4 Muhammad Abdur-Rahman defeated Mazen Kholi (Allentown, Pa.), 7-2, at 157 lbs. to cut the Mountain Cat lead to, 12-7. However, Pitt Johnstown responded with three straight victories to seal the match. Kyle Keane (165 lbs.) (Clearfield, Pa.) and Albert Miles (174 lbs.) (Canonsburg, Pa.) both won by decision, and Corcetti scored a technical fall over Jordan Job at 6:00 to give the Mountain Cats a, 23-7, lead. With the match out of reach, Ashland's #3-ranked Josh Ohl won a 7-2 decision over Patrick Walsh (Leesport, Pa.) at 197 lbs., before the Eagles' Ray Kent set the final score at, 23-13, with a 3-2 win over Nathan Tomporoski (Natrona Heights, Pa.) at heavyweight. With the loss, Ashland dropped to 7-7 on the season. The Mountain Cats wrap-up a weekend trip to Ohio at #15 University of Findlay (OH) on Saturday. Pitt Johnstown will host its next home match on Wednesday, February 13, when West Liberty State (WV) College visits the Sports Center at 7:00 p.m.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Fifth-year senior Jeff Marsh (Dexter, Mich./Dexter HS) knocked off the nation's top-ranked 157-pounder, Mike Poeta, to highlight the No. 6-ranked University of Michigan wrestling team's 22-16 victory over No. 15 Illinois on Friday evening (Feb. 1) in front of 651 fans at Cliff Keen Arena. The Wolverines trailed by 10 points after the opening two weight classes but rallied back with six straight wins at the middleweights. Marsh set the pace throughout the entire 157-pound contest and used a four-point move early in the second and a strong finish in the third to ice his 9-6 upset victory and hand Poeta his first loss of the season. Marsh shot in deep on a single leg off the opening whistle, but it was Poeta who scored first, converting on the subsequent counter to take the initial advantage. After Poeta picked up a quick escape in the second, Marsh dove in on low single, and, as Illini wrestler tried to counter, he wrapped an arm around Poeta's neck and forced him to his back for an additional two points. Poeta neutralized the score with a low single of his own midway through the final frame, but Marsh cut free just seconds later to preserve his lead and, with Poeta flurrying late, countered a throw attempt in the final five seconds to add another takedown and put his team in control of the dual meet. The Wolverines fell behind early in the contest after giving up bonus points in the 125- and 133-pound matches, but freshman Kellen Russell (High Bridge, N.J./Blair Academy) initiated the U-M rally with a hard-fought 4-3 decision over 11th-ranked Ryan Prater at 141 pounds. Russell, ranked fourth, secured the initial lead with a single-leg takedown early in the opening frame and nearly built up riding-time advantage before Prater escaped midway through the period. The Illini wrestler rode Russell for the entirety of the second and evened the score midway through the third with another escape, but Russell stayed on the offensive and retook the lead in the final 30 seconds of the match after shooting in on a double leg and coming out on top of the ensuing scramble on the mat. After Prater pulled within one point with a quick escape, Russell fought off a couple deep shots late to hang on for the win. The U-M rookie leads the Wolverines this season with 23 wins. Fifth-year senior Josh Churella (Northville, Mich./Novi HS) earned his second pin in as many matches at 149 pounds, sticking Grant Paswall at the 4:39 mark to pull the Michigan team within one point on the scoreboard. Churella, ranked eighth, controlled the match from start to finish, gaining the early lead on a double leg late in the first period before adding another midway through the second. Churella rode tough on top after the second takedown and accumulated his riding-time advantage. After Paswall picked up a second stalling call on bottom, Churella turned him with a leg turk, and, when the Illini tried to come up to counter, he covered to push Paswall straight to his back. Churella already owns a career-high five falls this season. Michigan came out of the intermission with its first -- and final -- lead of the evening after Marsh's win at 157 and carried its momentum through the next three bouts to seal up the conference win. Fifth-year senior Eric Tannenbaum (Naperville, Ill./North HS) needed only a second-period escape to earn a 1-0 decision over Roger Smith-Bergsrud at 165 pounds. Tannenbaum, ranked third, pushed the action throughout the match but was unable to score off of a handful of shots and tie-ups. The Wolverine has not lost a Big Ten dual in 12 straight matches, dating back to the 2005-06 season. Senior/juniors Steve Luke (Massillon, Ohio/Perry HS) and Tyrel Todd (Bozeman, Mont./Bozeman HS) claimed decisive back-to-back wins at 174 and 184 pounds to put the dual out of reach for Illinois. Luke, ranked fourth, finished on takedowns in the first and second periods against 17th-ranked John Dergo, countering a front headlock on his first score before adding a low single late in the middle frame. The Wolverine wrestler earned a quick escape in the final period to preserve his riding time -- he ended with 1:06 -- and claim a 6-2 victory. Todd, ranked second at 184 pounds, put on a takedown clinic in the subsequent match, using a mix of singles, doubles, lifts and dumps to score seven takedowns against Ben Friedl. Todd added three back points late in the first period after taking Friedl straight to his back on a single leg and was pursuing the technical fall late in the match when he slipped up and allowed Friedl to take him down. The Wolverine captain had to settle with the 21-9 major decision and extended his winning streak to 20 consecutive matches. Todd has claimed bonus points in 12 of his last 15 matches. Illinois won the final two bouts at 197 pounds and heavyweight but was unable to overcome the Wolverines' advantage as sophomore/freshmen Eddie Phillips (Woodland, Mich./Lakewood HS) and Chad Bleske (Washington, Mich./Romeo HS) held a pair of ranked Illini opponents to decision victories. The Wolverines (15-4, 2-1 Big Ten) will kick off a four-meet road swing next weekend for a pair of Big Ten duals. U-M will head to State College, Pa., face Penn State on Friday (Feb. 8) at 7 p.m. before wrapping up the weekend in Columbus, Ohio with a 4 p.m. meeting against Ohio State.

NORMAN, Okla. -- In the previous two weeks Oklahoma was unable to recover from early deficits in the losses to then-No. 13 Wisconsin and No. 9 Iowa State. Tonight, the No. 17 Sooners (12-3, 0-2 in Big 12) found themselves in a similar position, falling behind 9-0 after the opening two matches. But unlike the last two defeats, Oklahoma stormed back by posting 31 unanswered points, whipping Arizona State (9-5) by a 31-9 final on alumni night at the Howard McCasland Field House in Norman. "We showed a lot of toughness and fight to come back and dominate the way we did," head coach Jack Spates said. "I am proud of the aggressiveness our team displayed tonight after falling behind 9-0." Filling in for the injured 141 pound Zack Bailey, Nolan Spring used an escape and a riding time point in the third period to edge Chris Drouin, 6-4. The win would spark the Sooners to eight straight victories. No. 13 Will Rowe was the next Sooner to record a win at 149 pounds, posting a 14-4 major decision over Jerrad Trulson. The victory put Oklahoma within two points, 9-7. Chad Terry, ranked 20th, put OU on top for the first time on the evening, 11-9, with a commanding 15-7 major decision over Alex Pavlenko at 157 pounds. Terry scored six takedowns and a reversal in the win. Max Dean then used two takedowns to record a 5-2 decision over Patrick Pitsch at 165 pounds, and Jeff James took the victory at 174 pounds with a 12-4 major decision over Rick Renzi. No. 7 Joshua Weitzel, coming off his lone defeat of the season last week versus Iowa State, pinned No. 14 Brent Chriswell to give the Sooners a 24-9 team lead. The fall gave Weitzel his fifth of the season. No. 5 Joel Flaggert then scored a 16-6 major decision over Thor Moen with six takedowns and a nearfall at 197 pounds, and Nathan Fernandez broke a two match losing skid to win a 2-0 decision at heavyweight over Quinton Pruett. "Nathan is constantly improving and has taken some of the best wrestlers in the country down to the wire," Spates said. "He had a lot of heart and toughness in his match tonight to get the win." The Sun Devils opened the match at 125 pounds with No. 14 Anthony Robles recording a fall over Joey Fio in the first period, giving ASU a 6-0 advantage. Todd Schavrien extended Arizona State's lead to 9-0 by posting a 7-2 decision over 133 pound J.R. Roman. The victory would be ASU's last of the evening. The Sooners resume Big 12 conference competition next weekend as they hit the road to Columbia, Mo., and Lincoln, Neb. OU will dual the Missouri Tigers, ranked 12th, on Friday, Feb. 8, and the No. 2 Nebraska Cornhuskers on Sunday, Feb. 10.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- With a slim 16-13 lead heading into the final match, the seventh-ranked Ohio State wrestling team was able to edge out No. 16 Indiana, 20-13, Friday night courtesy of a 13-0 major decision win by redshirt-sophomore Mike Pucillo in the concluding bout at University Gym in Bloomington, Ind. The win improves the Buckeyes to 15-3 overall and 3-1 in the Big Ten, while the Hoosiers drop to 11-5 and 0-3 in the league. Trailing 13-10 after the 157-pound match, true-freshman Colt Sponseller (165) and senior Alex Picazo (174) garnered wins to help set up the OSU victory. Sponseller, who is ranked 13th in the nation, recorded his 13th win of the season to maintain his perfect record after recording a 7-3 decision over 12th-ranked Matt Coughlin. The win by Sponseller evened the score at 13-all, but Picazo soon launched the Buckeyes into the lead (16-13) with his 8-2 decision over Trevor Perry. The third-ranked Pucillo was next at 184 pounds and his 13-0 major decision sealed the Ohio State win. The evening started at 197 pounds, with Buckeye and true-freshman John Weakley and Hoosier Joe Fagiano facing off. Fagiano gave Indiana an early 3-0 advantage after defeating Weakley by a close 6-5 margin. Senior heavyweight and second-ranked J.D. Bergman tied the score, 3-3, when he decisioned Nate Everhart, 8-3. With the win, Bergman now has 118 career wins, which ties him for 11th on the OSU career victories list. Indiana quickly regained the lead at 125 pounds thanks to No. 2 Angel Escobedo's, 10-1 major decision over Buckeye rookie Nikko Triggas. The Hoosiers increased their advantage after the 133 match by another three points after redshirt-sophomore and 14th-ranked Reece Humphrey lost, 5-4, in overtime to No. 12 Andrae Hernandez. Down 10-3, redshirt-junior and 10th-ranked J Jaggers, who was named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week Wednesday, cut the Hoosier lead by four when he posted an 18-6 major decision over Scott Kelly at 141 pounds. Sophomore Lance Palmer, who is ranked fifth in the nation, pulled the Buckeyes even (10-10) after earning a 6-0 decision against Kurt Kinser at 149 pounds. The Buckeyes then fell behind, 13-10, when Jason Johnstone dropped a 6-2 decision to eighth-ranked Brandon Becker. However, Ohio State won the next three matches to gain the lead for the first time and eventually wrap up the win. Ohio State remains in the state of Indiana for its dual against Purdue at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Intercollegiate Athletic Facility in West Lafayette.

The No. 13 Wisconsin wrestling team returned home Friday night and captured a 26-12 victory over Michigan State in front of 763 fans at the UW Field House. The Badgers improve to 11-2-1 overall and 2-1-0 in the Big Ten while the Spartans fall to 3-8-0, 0-3-0. Wisconsin won six bouts and had two pins in the victory. The match began at 165 lbs. and UW senior Jake Donar matched up against MSU's Rex Kendle. Both grapplers wrestled to a scoreless first period and Kendle led after the second, 2-1 with a two –point reversal. Kendle ultimately won the bout and scored another point off riding time to capture a 3-1 decision and put the Spartans on the board first, 3-0. The Badgers quickly responded though with a win of their own at 174 lbs. Senior Dan Clum suited up again at 174 lbs. and pinned MSU's John Murphy in 6:24. Clum got out to a 2-0 lead in the first and Murphy tied the score with a takedown in the second but Clum captured the six team points with the pin in the third period. Michigan State came right back and knotted the score at six with a win at 184 lbs. Wisconsin's No. 15 Trevor Brandvold met MSU's Nick Palmieri and fell in a 7-2 decision. That was the closest Michigan State would get for the remainder of the match as Wisconsin won the next three bouts. Junior Dallas Herbst, ranked No. 4 at 197 lbs., met MSU's No. 15 Joe Williams. The Spartan grappler jumped out to a 2-0 lead with 26 seconds remaining in the first period. Herbst came back though and scored five points in the second to take the 5-2 lead. In the third period, Williams scored a reversal to put the score at 5-4 but Herbst responded with an escape with 42 seconds remaining. Williams had a point of riding time but Herbst hung on for the 6-5 win and put the Badgers up, 9-6. With the win, Herbst extended his winning streak to nine matches. At heavyweight, No. 12 junior Kyle Massey had six nearfall points and two takedowns in a 14-2 major decision win over MSU's Alan O'Donnell. No. 18 senior Collin Cudd expanded on the Badgers' lead and captured a 9-2 decision over MSU's Joel Trombly. With the Badgers up 16-6, the bout went into one of the key matches of the night at 133 lbs. UW junior Zach Tanelli, ranked No. 11, met the fourth-ranked Franklin Gomez from MSU. Gomez struck first in the bout with a takedown and had one more before the first period was over to take a 4-2 lead. Tanelli would score two more points in the second off of escapes but Gomez captured the 7-4 win and put the score at 16-9. UW sophomore Kyle Ruschell then recorded the Badgers' second pin of the night at 141 lbs. He matched up against MSU's Micah Carter and had a 2-0 lead before pinning Carter in 3:51 and securing the Badger victory. It was Ruschell's sixth pin of the season and he also extended his winning streak to 11 matches and is still a perfect 14-0 in dual action. Badger freshman Kendall Vogel faced Eddie Skowneski at 149 lbs. and wrestled a tough bout. Vogel got out to a 2-1 lead in the first period but Skowneski would even the score at two in the second with an escape. Despite the tie as time expired, Skowneski captured the match, 3-2 with 1:09 of riding time. Finally, at 157 lbs., No. 4 senior Craig Henning met MSU's John Fulger. Henning scored 10 points in the first period and never looked back in the 13-0 major decision victory. The Badgers continue their home stand Sunday when they host Big Ten rival, Iowa, who is ranked No. 1 in the country. Match time is set for 1 p.m. inside the UW Field House. Sunday is also UW Student Day and Youth Day. Students receive free admission with UW ID and there is also free admission for those 18 and under.

EVANSTON, Ill. -- The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team, under the guidance of head coach Troy Sunderland, rallied from a big early deficit to post a thrilling 18-15 win at Northwestern today. No. 8 Penn State split the bouts 5-5 with No. 10 Northwestern, but senior co-captain Tim Haas (Camp Hill, Pa.) provided the bonus points with a pin at 133 to spur the Nittany Lions on to victory. Haas, who has steadily worked his way back from an injury that cost him the first semester of action, pinned Northwestern's Eric Metzler at the 3:25 mark to turn a stunning early 9-0 deficit into a closer 9-6 bout. The fall did not just close the gap with the wildcats, it proved to be the difference in the bout as it accounted for the evening's only bonus points. With the dual beginning at 197, Northwestern bolted out to an early lead thanks to an upset loss by Nittany Lion All-American Phil Davis (Harrisburg, Pa.) and losses at HWT and 125. Davis was upset by No. 3 Mike Tamillow 6-1. No. 1 Derek Fox posted a tough 5-2 win over No. 15 John Laboranti (Pittston, Pa.) of Penn State and senior Mark McKnight (McDonald, Pa.), ranked No. 10 at 125, nearly upset No. 5 Brandon Precin but fell, 4-3, in a double tie-breaker. After Haas' pin, Nittany Lion All-American Jake Strayer (South Fork, Pa.) once again seemed to have a fall early in the bout but did not get the call and suffered an upset loss at 141. That loss put NU up 12-6. From that point, the Nittany Lions went on a roll to win four of the last five bouts and grab the victory. Sophomore Bubba Jenkins (Virginia Beach, Va.), ranked No. 5, nearly pinned No. 4 Ryan Lang and came away with an 11-8 win at 149; No. 2 Dan Vallimont (Lake Hopatcong, N.J.) moved to 21-0 with an 8-4 win at 157; and Dave Rella (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio) upset No. 20 Dominic Marella 6-5 at 165 in another key battle. Rella's win put Penn State up 15-12. At 174, No. 12 Nick Hayes got a hard-fought 7-4 win over No. 16 David Erwin (Urbana, Ohio) to tie the score with one bout left. Nittany Lion junior Phil Bomberger (Port Royal, Pa.), ranked No. 13 at 184, dominated Northwestern's Adil Kolovic, 14-7, to seal the 18-15 win. The Nittany Lions are now 10-4 overall, 2-2 in the Big Ten. Northwestern moves to 5-6, 0-2 in conference action. The Lions visit No. 15 Illinois on Sunday at 2 p.m. (Eastern) in yet another road dual. Penn State's next action at home will be at home when No. 6 Michigan comes to Rec Hall on Friday, Feb. 8, for a 7 p.m. dual. 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 or season tickets. All Penn State duals will be broadcast locally on WBLF 970 AM and WKVA 920 AM and streamed live at www.GoPSUsports.com. All home duals will feature a live video webcast and live scoring at www.GoPSUsports.com as well.

DEKALB, Ill. -- The University of Northern Iowa wrestling team was not going to settle for a tie this time against Northern Illinois. The Panthers used a fall from Moza Fay and major decisions from C.J. Ettelson, Andy O'Loughlin and Andrew Anderson to tally a 24-13 dual win over the Huskies. No. 25-ranked UNI improved to 4-5-1 on the season, while Northern Illinois dropped to 8-6 on the year. UNI now holds a commanding 21-1-5 lead in the all-time series, despite settling for ties in 2006 (16-16) and 2007 (17-17) when the teams met on the mat. The dual began at 133 pounds where Northern Illinois' Pat Castillo scored a 21-9 win over UNI's Josh Baldridge (Haysville, Kan.). Castillo is ranked No. 10 in the nation and is a two-time national qualifier. The Panthers dented the scoreboard twice with pair of wins from the Ettelson brothers of Hudson, Iowa. C.J. scored a major decision at 141 pounds with a 15-7 victory over Tristen DeShazer. Charlie then followed with a decisive 7-1 win at 149 pounds over NIU's Kalen Knull. C.J. trailed early in his match with DeShazer but used two tilts, a takedown and a reversal to take a commanding 14-3 lead late in the match. DeShazer countered with a four-point move in the final 15 seconds of the match, but Ettelson hung on for the eight-point major decision. Charlie held a commanding 6-0 lead midway through the third period before he allowed an escape, while looking for another major decision. However, Charlie could not get a takedown in the final seconds and had to settle for a 7-1 decision over Knull. Charlie's win gave UNI a 7-4 lead in the dual. NIU knotted the dual at 7-7 after 157 pounds behind a 6-3 win from Bryan O'Conner over UNI's Tyson Reiner (Mitchell, S.D.). Reiner trailed 3-2 in the third period, but O'Conner scored a takedown and added a riding time point to secure the three-point win. UNI junior Moza Fay (Anamosa, Iowa) notched his team-high sixth pin of the season at 165 pounds to put the Panthers on top, 13-7. Fay scored his fall in the second period at the 4:40 mark against NIU's Anthony Victor. No. 13-ranked Duke Burk tallied a 5-1 victory over UNI's Alex Dolly (Mishawaka, Ind.) at 174 pounds. Dolly and Burk were locked in a 1-1 battle with 40 seconds left in the third period, when Burk scrambled for a takedown and two-point nearfall to take the match. UNI redshirt freshman Andy O'Loughlin (Independence, Iowa) took the initiative at 184 pounds against NIU's Brad Dieckhaus. O'Loughlin scored a takedown and a two-point nearfall 1:15 into their match. O'Loughlin then added a second takedown later in the first stanza to take a commanding 6-1 advantage. O'Loughlin increased the lead to 8-2 with another takedown in the second period. O'Loughlin opened the third period with his fourth takedown of the match and added his fifth takedown in the closing seconds. The Panther 184-pounder added a riding time point for the 13-3 major decision, which gave the Panthers a 17-10 lead in the dual. After watching O'Loughlin score early and often at 184 pounds, UNI 197-pounder Andrew Anderson followed his lead and scored a takedown only 10 seconds into his match and then notched another two-pointer at the close of the period to take a 4-1 lead against NIU's Jake Smith. Anderson began the second period with a reversal and added two more takedowns to take a commanding 10-3 lead. Anderson finished off Smith with a 13-5 major decision. Anderson's win also gave UNI a 21-10 lead in the dual. NIU's Dave Benner scored a 6-3 win over UNI's Dustin Bauman (Stratford, Wis.) at heavyweight. UNI redshirt freshman Caleb Flores (Rosemead, Calif.) finished off the dual with an 8-7 victory over NIU's T.J. Wunnicke at 125 pounds. The Panthers will be in action next Sunday (Feb. 10) against South Dakota State in a Western Wresting Conference dual. UNI and SDSU will take to the mat in the McLeod Center at 2 p.m.

The top-ranked Iowa wrestling team defeated #3/#4 Minnesota, 20-13, Friday night in Williams Arena. The Hawkeyes (15-1, 4-0 Big Ten) handed the Golden Gophers (11-4, 2-1) their first Big Ten dual loss of the season. Iowa won six bouts, including two upsets, in their eighth straight win. The dual started at 125 with a highly anticipated match between #1 Jayson Ness of Minnesota and #3 Charlie Falck of Iowa. Ness entered the dual with a 26-0 record and on a 27-match winning streak, while Falck brought an undefeated 15-0 dual mark and his own 12-match winning streak to the mat. Falck scored the first takedown of the match, but Ness scored 14 unanswered points to post a 14-2 major decision and snap Falck's streak and perfect dual record. Ness is now 4-0 against Falck in collegiate competition. Iowa responded with wins at the next three weights to build an 11-4 lead. Sophomore Joe Slaton posted a 8-3 win over senior and Gilbertville, IA, native Mack Reiter at 133. Sophomore Dan LeClere, who is ranked ninth or 10th in the nation depending on the poll, scored a takedown in the first sudden victory period to upset #3 Manuel Rivera, 9-7 at 141. Sophomore Brent Metcalf was supposed to be part of another big match as he and Minnesota junior Dustin Schlatter are ranked first or second in the nation at 149, depending on the poll. Metcalf instead faced freshman Luke Mellmer, who has filled in for Schlatter since late December due to injury. The Hawkeye sophomore scored a 20-5 match-ending technical fall in 6:17, collecting his 20th season and career win, and extending his winning streak to 17 matches. Minnesota scored decisions at 157 and 165 to tighten the team score at 11-10, but an 8-3 win by sophomore Jay Borschel at 174 and sophomore Phillip Keddy's 6-2 upset over #5 Roger Kish at 184 gave Iowa a 17-10 lead. Keddy, who is ranked eighth in the nation, scored his 30th career win in the match. Minnesota scored a decision at 197 to keep the team win within reach, but Hawkeye senior Matt Fields shut down the Golden Gophers with a 7-3 win over Ben Berhow at heavyweight. The Hawkeyes will round out the Big Ten weekend roadtrip Sunday when they face #13/#15 Wisconsin (11-2-1, 2-1 Big Ten) at 1 p.m. at the UW Field House in Madison. Wisconsin beat Michigan State (26-12) earlier tonight in Madison. Iowa edges Wisconsin The top-ranked University of Iowa wrestling team used bonus points to defeat #13/#15 Wisconsin, 22-20, Sunday afternoon at Madison, WI. Each team won five matches, but the Hawkeyes used pins from sophomores Brent Metcalf (149) and Phillip Keddy (184) and a major decision by sophomore Jay Borschel (174) to win their ninth-straight dual. Head Coach Tom Brands picked up his 30th win at Iowa and his 10th win in the Big Ten, as Iowa improved to 16-1, 5-0 Big Ten. Wisconsin fell to 11-3-1, 2-2. "This showed some weakness - it's good to see this," said Brands. "We can do better, that's for sure. Those five wins were big ones for us, and bonus points won us the dual. (Iowa's five winners) did what they were supposed to do." Iowa opened the dual with back-to-back decisions from junior Charlie Falck (125) and sophomore Joe Slaton (133). Wisconsin put its first points on the board at 141 when #7 Kyle Ruschell scored seven points in the third period to beat Hawkeye sophomore Dan LeClere, 8-0. Metcalf extended Iowa's lead to 12-4 with his 4:02 pin of Trevor Bowers at 149. Wisconsin fought back within one (12-11) on Craig Henning's 2-1 win over Ryan Morningstar at 157 and Jake Donar's 13-1 major decision over redshirt freshman Aaron Janssen at 165. Borschel and Keddy's bonus point wins gave the Hawkeyes a 22-11 lead, but the Badgers weren't finished. Wisconsin scored a pin of its own at 197 and junior heavyweight Kyle Massey upset Hawkeye senior Matt Fields, 6-5, in the afternoon's final bout. Slaton, Metcalf and Borschel remain undefeated at 5-0 in Big Ten duals, while Slaton and Borschel picked up their 20th season and career victories. Metcalf extended his winning streak to 18 matches and picked up his seventh pin of the year. Iowa will return to the road next week with a non-conference road trip out west. The Hawkeyes will face Arizona State (9-5, 3-4 Pac 10) Feb. 8 at Copper Canyon High School in Glendale, AZ, at 8:30 p.m. (CT). Iowa will then face Boise State (8-1, 7-1 Pac 10) Feb. 10 at 1 p.m. (CT) at Taco Bell Arena in Boise, ID.

Storm Lake, Iowa -- Buena Vista Director of Athletics, Jan Travis, has announced that current assistant wrestling coach, Sevond Cole, will be promoted to head coach following the conclusion of this season. Cole will replace Mark Schwab who announced his resignation on Tuesday, effective May 31, 2008. "I feel Sevond is an excellent choice," Travis said. "He's served as an assistant with the program under two great mentors (Mark Schwab and Al Baxter), and I have the confidence that he can take over the program and carry on the strong BVU wrestling tradition." Cole returned this season for his second stint with the Beaver wrestling program after having served as an assistant under Baxter from 2001-06. He spent last season as a volunteer wrestling coach, as well as a middle school science instructor, in the Griswold School District. "Having been part of the wrestling program for more than a decade, you can imagine how excited I am to have the opportunity to continue the strong wrestling tradition that we have here at Buena Vista," Cole stated. "I feel blessed to have worked with two amazing coaches in my years as an assistant coach - most recently Mark Schwab and Al Baxter before that. I have learned a lot from both coaches and will continue to hold the bar high for BVU wrestling." Prior to joining the BVU staff in 2001, Cole was a two-time All-American for Baxter and the Beavers (1999 and 2000) at 174 pounds. He also captured a conference championship in 1999, while also being tabbed a Scholar All-American in 2000. "I personally believe Sevond will do a great job" Schwab noted. A few reasons that come to mind are that he truly cares about BVU, he was a 2-time All-American here, and a graduate always personalizes the roots that run deep in your efforts to bring out the best in the athletes and a program. He is not looking for something else. This is what he wants - a "dream job" so to speak. I also think that what he learned from Coach Baxter, and hopefully myself, has prepared him to run a top flight program." "Needless to say, we are thrilled that Coach Cole has agreed to become our new head coach," said BVU President Fred Moore. "He was an outstanding student-athlete in every sense of the word and has contributed mightily as an assistant coach. He is the perfect person to lead our program into the future."

EAST STROUDSBURG -- Senior Dave Williams pinned Millersville's Ray Bennett in the final match of the night to lift East Stroudsburg University to a 24-19 win over the Marauders on Tuesday night at Koehler Fieldhouse. The Warriors entered the 184-pound bout facing a 19-8 deficit, but knew that they would earn six points for a forfeit at heavyweight. Sophomore Shane Mallory won a 12-3 major decision over Steve Funk at 184, making the score 19-12 going into the 197-pound match-up between Williams and Bennett. Bennett had an early takedown, but Williams quickly escaped. Williams scored his takedown at the 1:05 mark in the first period, and seconds later the match was over with the fall coming with 58 seconds left in the period. ESU pulled within 19-18 with the pin, and Chris Birchler picked up the forfeit at 285 to improve to 19-6 on the year and take the victory. Millersville built its 19-8 lead on the strength of three straight decisions from 149 through 165 and a quick fall from Jeremy Brooks at 174. John Andel opened the match at 125 pounds with a 14-5 major decision for the Marauders. Junior Matt Swallow used a big second period to post a 17-2 technical fall over Matt Leggett at 133 pounds to give ESU a 5-4 advantage. At 141, senior Sean Carr earned a 7-3 decision against Mike Greck in a rematch of their consolation bout at the PSAC Championships in December, which Carr won 3-2. ESU improves to 3-8 in dual competition this season and will travel to Delaware Valley for a 7 p.m. start on Friday.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Jim Tressel, Ohio State football head coach, will serve as honorary coach of the Buckeye wrestling team's match vs. Michigan at 4 p.m. Feb. 10 in St. John Arena, Tom Ryan, head coach of the Ohio State wrestling team, announced Wednesday. Jim Tressel"I'm excited about the honor of being with the wrestling Buckeyes," Tressel said. "There is no team I cherish competing with more than Michigan, because the two programs are great schools, with two of the nation's top programs, made up of some of the finest performers in the world in their rugged sport. It means a packed house, making noise from start to finish, creating memories for themselves and their fans for a lifetime." Throughout the 2007-08 home schedule, the Buckeyes have named an honorary coach to sit on the Buckeye bench. Joining Tressel as an honorary coach vs. Michigan is president and CEO of The Dispatch, Mike Curtain. Tressel and Ohio State men's basketball head coach Thad Matta and women's basketball head coach Jim Foster currently have a combined 20-1 record against Michigan. In seven seasons, Tressel is 6-1 vs. the Wolverines. Matta owns a 6-0 ledger in three years leading the Buckeyes and Foster has an 8-0 mark in six seasons at Ohio State.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- J Jaggers, a junior on the seventh-ranked Ohio State wrestling team, was named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week the conference announced Wednesday. This is Jaggers' first-career weekly honor. A 2007 All-American at 141 pounds, Jaggers (16-5) lifted the Buckeyes to a 22-19 victory over No. 8 Penn State last Friday in St. John Arena. With the Buckeyes down three (19-16) with one bout remaining, Jaggers (Northfield, Ohio) pinned fifth-ranked Jake Strayer in 3:25 to seal the win. Ohio State trailed throughout the evening, but took its first and only lead for the win after Jaggers' pin. It was Jaggers' second victory of the season over Strayer as he also defeated the Nittany Lion, 6-4, at the National Duals Jan. 13. Strayer was No. 2 in the nation at the time. The win by Jaggers marked the sixth time this season he has beaten a Top 20 wrestler. Of his six wins over a ranked grappler, three have come via fall. Ohio State (14-3; 2-1 Big Ten) will hit the road for three-consecutive matches beginning Friday at 7 p.m. at Indiana. The Buckeyes then will face Purdue at 1 p.m. Sunday in West Lafayette, Ind. The three-match road swing concludes at 7 p.m. at Michigan State in East Lansing.

Baldwin City, KS -- The NIACC Trojans traveled to Baldwin City, KS on Tuesday January 29th to take on the Pratt Community College Beavers in a neutral location. The dual meet was hosted by Baker University, a current NAIA college trying to start wrestling. This college dual meet between NIACC and Pratt served as a boost to show the popularity of college wrestling in the area. A huge turnout despite the weather, saw the No. 5 rated NIACC Trojans down Pratt Community College 38-3. NIACC only lost one match in the contest with Jordan Bartoszek falling to two-time Kansas State champion Tommy Edgemon 8-4. It would be all NIACC for the remainder of the evening. Cody Hogan scored 20 points en route to a technical fall over Pratt's Kyle Beebe. T.J. Moen, Albert White and Glenn Rhees would all win their matches by major decision. Aaron Hancock claimed a narrow 1-0 decision over Zach Hentzen, while brother Tyler Hancock would be down 5-0 early and come back to win by fall in the first period over Jake Thomas. Brad Theilen would receive a forfeit at 197 and heavyweight Beau Tudor was winning by a score of 3-1 when Matt Mock had to injury default. "We wrestled very well against Pratt. I was very proud of our preparation and execution during these matches," stated head wrestling coach Richard Fergola. The NIACC wrestling team will travel to Palatine, IL on Saturday February 2 for the Harper Duals where they will take on Harper, Triton and Lincoln Community Colleges starting at 9:00 am.

Utah Valley State's Ben Kjar has been named the Western Wrestling Conference's Wrestler of the Week as announced by league officials. Kjar, a 125-pound freshman from Centerville, Utah (Viewmont HS), was a perfect 5-0 last week and improved to 3-0 in WWC conference duals with a 10-4 decision of Air Force's Zach Valdez. Kjar was 4-0 at the Tracy Borah Duals on Saturday, with two wins by fall, one by major decision and one, over Western State's Eddie Lopez, in a 4-3 decision. Kjar's win against Air Force gave him 31 wins on the season, setting a Utah Valley single-season record. The Western Wrestling Conference is comprised of seven schools including the Air Force Academy, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, Northern Iowa, South Dakota State, Utah Valley State and Wyoming. Others nominated: Air Force: Anthony Stegeman North Dakota State - Adam Aho Northern Colorado - Devan Lewis South Dakota State - Ryan Meyer

To redshirt, or not to redshirt? That's the question confronting college freshmen wrestlers and their coaches. It often seems "automatic" that a wrestler new to college takes advantage of the redshirt option his first year, to get acclimatized to the rigorous demands of the classroom, wrestling room and top-level collegiate wrestling match action. Yet, some freshmen forego their redshirt, and dive right into official competition … either because they want to save the redshirt year for an Olympic quest down the road, or because there's a hole in the program's line-up just waiting to be filled by the first-year student. For freshman Kirk Smith at Boise State University, it was a matter of testing the waters … and deciding on his own that, after a few weeks of wrestling unattached with considerable success, he was ready to officially compete as the 184-pound starter for the Broncos. From Idaho to Greensboro to national attention As of this writing, Kirk Smith is 19-1 in his first year of college competition, with his most recent matches against Pac-10 rivals Oregon (where he won by forfeit) and Oregon State (a 12-6 decision over Kyle Bressler) the last weekend in January. His only loss to date was against Iowa's Phil Keddy at the Kaufman-Brand Open in mid-November. This record has him ranked No. 8 at 184 pounds by RevWrestling.com. Even though he had been successfully competing throughout the fall as an unattached wrestler, Kirk Smith really caught the attention of college wrestling fans across the nation with his performance at the 2007 Southern Scuffle. Kirk SmithThe Idaho native went to the post-Christmas tournament hosted by the University of North Carolina-Greensboro unattached -- "In fact, he paid his own way," according to Boise State head coach Greg Randall. Kirk Smith was more than unattached -- he was also unseeded. In his first match at the Southern Scuffle, he upset seventh-seeded Matthew Parsons of Navy 10-4 … then got a 10-3 victory over Matt Ryan (a student a Virginia Tech, competing unattached). In the quarterfinals, Kirk shut out the second-seeded Josh Haines of Maryland 6-0. Next match, he got a 6-4 semifinals win over NC State's Ryan Goodman, seeded third in the tournament. In the finals, Kirk edged top-seeded Rocco Caponi of Virginia 1-0 to claim the 184-pound crown at the Scuffle. The official Web site of at least one Division I college program described Kirk's championship as "the biggest upset of the Southern Scuffle." Making that upset -- and the title -- even sweeter: Not only had Kirk Smith knocked off the top three seeds at the Southern Scuffle, he had defeated two nationally-ranked wrestlers along the way. (Haines was ranked eighteenth in the nation, while Caponi was ranked seventh.) After the Scuffle, taking off the redshirt Here's how Greg Randall describes the issue of whether Kirk Smith would take advantage of the redshirt as a freshman: "He wrestled in open tournaments unattached to see if he was ready. We didn't want to put him in the lineup too soon." In a published interview with the Boise State Arbiter student newspaper, Kirk Smith is quoted as saying, "I went around (competing) under the Bronco Wrestling Club, which allowed me to go to open tournaments. I still wrestled big-name guys and kind of used that as a landmark to see if I wanted to come out." Coach Randall: "After winning the Scuffle, he wanted to compete for the team. We talked it over. He then went home, discussed with his parents, and, a few hours later, told us." Kirk Smith: "When the coaches asked me, I said, 'You know what I want to do.'" Greg Randall has led Boise State to four top three team finishes at the Pac-10 Championships and two top 25 finishes at the NCAA Championships.Coach Randall: "It worked out incredibly well for us. Our previous 184-pounder (sophomore Matt Casperson) moved up to 197. It's made our team that much stronger in both weights." In his first official match after stripping off the redshirt designation, Kirk Smith went up against the number one wrestler in the Pac-10, Ian Murphy of Cal State Fullerton. The newest Boise State Bronco won the bout 3-2. "It was pretty nerve-wracking," Kirk told the Boise State Arbiter. "But I've been in bigger and tougher matches. It was still nerve-wracking, it was my first match with a Bronco singlet on. You always remember your first match." The wrestling Smiths Kirk Smith may not actually remember his very first match, since it was probably at a very early age. After all, he grew up in a household of wrestlers. "My dad wrestled at Wilkes (College) in Pennsylvania," discloses the Boise State starter. "He grew up in the east, then he and mom moved out to Idaho, where I was born. He coached at my club when I was a kid, then helped out at my middle school, too." "He went with me to the Kaufman-Brand. He was in my corner, which meant a lot to me." In addition to a father with a mat background, Kirk's two older brothers are wrestlers, too. One of his brothers, Nick, wrestles heavyweight for the Broncos; eldest brother Erik is a veteran of the Boise State wrestling program. "We'd all be laying on the floor in the living room, watching TV," says Kirk. "The three sons would take on dad during the commercials. Or it would be dad and me versus the two older brothers." "I was so much smaller than they were when I was a kid," continues Kirk. "I was something of a late bloomer. It was good to grow bigger and be able to get back at my brothers." All that at-home wrestling experience helped pave the way to success as a youngster on actual wrestling mats. "I wrestled freestyle �til middle school," according to Kirk. "It was only in middle school that I started folkstyle." A star at Centennial … and beyond Kirk Smith's wrestling career really took off at Centennial High School in Boise. Coached by Collin Robertson (a Boise State wrestler who won the Pac-10 conference title at 149 pounds in 2002), Kirk was a four-time finalist at the Idaho state tournament, winning the state title twice -- his junior and senior years. While at Centennial, Kirk earned fifteen All-American awards, including four national championships. Just before starting his senior year, he earned the gold medal at the FILA Junior National Championships -- what he labels as "my biggest accomplishment. A couple close friends also won, which made it much more memorable." In his final year of high school, Kirk Smith was considered to be one of the top prep wrestlers in the country, and the top-ranked grappler at 171 pounds. He was also named to the national high school Dream Team his senior year. Kirk Smith also demonstrated excellence off the mat as well. He earned an incredible 3.8 grade point average in high school. Right at home in Boise With his impressive wrestling and academic credentials, it's little wonder that a number of top college programs tried to lure Kirk Smith away from his home state of Idaho. Kirk Smith"I watched my brothers go through the recruiting process," says Kirk. "I saw that some schools don't look out for the student." "I had known the folks at Boise State for a long time, especially (assistant coach) Chris Owens … I knew that I could trust the coaches and the program. I feel you have to believe in the coaches and the program, and have complete trust in them." "I got to talk to my brother Nick when he was at Virginia," Kirk continues. (Nick transferred from the University of Virginia to Boise State after the 2005-06 season.) He talked about the good things about being away, but also talked about homesickness and the challenges of being a long way from home. It was good to talk to him and others, and get their thoughts." In sharing his perspective on recruiting Kirk Smith, coach Greg Randall says, "We went up against some big-time programs, including Minnesota … We were thrilled when he verbally committed to us." "Getting to see my parents each week, having Sunday dinner with them, you can't beat that," says Kirk. A matter of style When asked to describe his wrestling style for his interview, Kirk Smith responds, "It depends on how a guy wants to wrestle me. If he wants to handfight, I can do that …" Greg Randall"You can't always use the same style to go up against a guy -- you have to switch things up." Ask Coach Randall about Kirk Smith's wrestling style, and he says, "He's very strong for his age. Very seasoned, very consistent. Not flashy, not unorthodox. Tough to take down. Tough on top." "We're working with him to work on scoring �- to get more takedowns, more scoring holds." "He always leads his match. He has never had to come from behind." In terms of attitude, Kirk Smith says, "I think of myself as hardnosed, getting after the guy, wrestling tough against the opponent." Greg Randall cites additional attitudinal attributes: "He's a consistent trainer year �round. Works out every day. Mature beyond his age. Weight is solid, never an issue. Loves to wrestle, loves to work out. His attitude rubs off on everybody in the room." "He also works hard in the classroom. In his first semester here, he got a 3.0." What's next Ask Kirk Smith what the highlight of his first year in college, and he responds without hesitation, "No highlights yet. The season's far from over. I've got to fulfill my goals of winning the Pac-10 conference title, and the nationals." "I'm no different than any other wrestler," Kirk continues. "I want to be the best I can be. I want to win the nationals multiple times." "I'd like to wrestle worldwide, and get back into freestyle. But it has to be in the cards. I'll wait and see." Beyond his on-the-mat career, the Exercise Science major says, "I would like to be a coach. I'm learning how the human body works, and how to help an athlete bring out the best." When asked about what makes a good coach, Kirk says, "Know when to be hard, but also know when to be a friend. To know your wrestlers in and outside the room -- where they need to be, what they need to work on, their mental process. Never be satisfied with what you've done." Kirk Smith is excited about the future -- not just his own, but also that of the Boise State Broncos. "We're going to open some eyes in the next couple years." Judging from the buzz generated among college wrestling fans across the nation since winning the 184-pound title at the 2007 Southern Scuffle, it's safe to say that Kirk Smith has already opened some eyes.