InterMat Staff

BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team, ranked No. 5 nationally, put together a dominating performance in shutting out home standing Lehigh 33-0 in its first road dual of the year. The Lions, under the guidance of veteran head coach Troy Sunderland, silenced a superb Stabler Arena crowd, winning all ten bouts. Penn State junior Phil Bomberger (Port Royale, Pa.), ranked No. 19 at 184, posted the dual's marquee win with a 9-5 win over No. 17 David Craig of Lehigh. The bout utilized an NWCA promoted shuffled bout order that was chosen alternately by each head coach with fan input. All six of Penn State's ranked wrestlers won, sparked by Bomberger's victory at 184. No. 6 Mark McKnight (McDonald, Pa.) got things started with a major decision at 125 and the Nittany Lions never looked back. Heavyweight John Laboranti (Pittston, Pa.) got his first dual match win as a Nittany Lion with a 12-5 victory at HWT and freshman Mike Eagen (Wharton, N.J.) got his first Penn State dual match victory with a come-from behind 4-3 win at 133. No. 1 Phil Davis (Harrisburg, Pa.) posted a technical fall at 197 for Penn State's most lop-sided victory. The Nittany Lions won the battle of takedowns by a whopping 26-4 margin and got the bouts only three bonus points (McKnight's major and Davis' tech fall). The victory is Penn State's first shut-out since posting a 41-0 win over Rider in last year's Virginia Duals. The shut-out of intra-state rival Lehigh is the second in the long history of this Eastern wrestling rivalry. Penn State also shut out the Mountain Hawks 39-0 on Feb. 13, 1993, in a dual also wrestled in Bethlehem. The Nittany Lions are off to a 3-0 start by a combined score of 95-14 and have won 26 of the 30 bouts wrestled. Things will get markedly tougher for Penn State (3-0) as the Nittany Lions will trek to Stillwater, Okla., to face No. 3 Oklahoma State on Sunday at 3 p.m. Eastern (2 p.m. Central). This weekend's action can be heard live locally on WBLF AM (970) and WKVA (920 AM). The Nittany Lions' next home dual is Jan. 4 when Penn State welcomes No. 16 Cornell to Rec Hall 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 tickets. BOUT-BY-BOUT: 125: Nittany Lion senior Mark McKnight (McDonald, Pa.) took on Lehigh's Mitch Berger in the dual's first bout. McKnight, ranked No. 6 nationally, got on top early, lifting Berger on the edge of the mat and putting him to his back for a two-point takedown and two back points just under a minute into the bout. Berger escaped at the 1:30 mark to cut McKnight's lead to 4-1. McKnight countered a Berger shot at the :30 mark and turned it into a 6-1 lead. A strong ride out to end the period sent McKnight into the second stanza with a 6-1 lead and 1:25 in riding time. McKnight chose bottom to begin the second period and quickly escaped to a 7-1 lead. The senior added a third takedown to up his lead to 9-1. Berger would escape for a point before the period ended. Trailing 9-2, Berger chose down to begin third period and was allowed up to a 9-3 deficit. Looking for bonus points, McKnight quickly took Berger down to up his lead to 11-3. After nearly taking Berger to his back, McKnight allowed his foe up after a restart and then added a fifth takedown to open up a 13-4 lead with just :35 left. The Lion senior cut Berger loose again and quickly nearly added a sixth takedown. Still, the riding time point gave McKnight a 14-5 win and a major decision to give Penn State an early 4-0 lead. 174: Penn State's David Erwin (Urbana, Ohio) carried a 15-1 overall record into his bout with Lehigh freshman Alex Caruso in the dual's second bout. Caruso got in on Erwin's left leg right out of the blocks, but the Nittany Lion sophomore fought the move off and forced a reset thirty seconds into the bout. Caruso was the aggressor early on and forced Erwin into an early stall warning. Still, the Mountain Hawk freshman continued to get in low on Erwin, but each time the Lion sophomore fought through the moves and sent the bout to the second period in a scoreless tie. Caruso chose down to start the middle stanza and escaped after a :30 Erwin ride. Caruso got the first takedown with :20 left in the period but Erwin reversed the Mountain Hawk just before the buzzer sounded to cut the Lehigh lead to 3-2 heading into the third. Erwin chose down to begin the final period and escaped to a 3-3 tie. Erwin picked his offense up in the third period, taking a number of shots but not managing to finish on any of them. Still, his pressure forced the bout into a sudden victory period. Erwin nearly stuck the Mountain Hawk :30 into the extra period but Caruso scrambled out. Still, Erwin continued through the scramble to get winning takedown midway through the extra period. The 5-3 (sv) win put Penn State up 7-0. HWT: Nittany Lion head coach Troy Sunderland chose heavyweight as the next weight, allowing junior John Laboranti (Pittston, Pa.) to make his Nittany Lion dual match debut, meeting Lehigh's Justin Allen. Laboranti got his first dual takedown with a solid double-leg takedown at the 1:21 mark, taking an early 2-1 lead. The Nittany Lion junior added a second takedown to up his lead to 4-1 with :40 left to wrestle. Laboranti rode Allen out to take a 4-1 lead into the second period. Allen chose down to begin the middle period and quickly escaped to a 4-2 deficit. Laboranti used a nice lower single to get his third takedown and let the Mountain Hawk big man up as he began working for a major decision or more. Allen managed to fight off numerous Laboranti shots to keep the score close, 6-3, heading into the third period. Laboranti chose down to begin the third period and escaped to a 7-3 lead. Forcing Allen back to the edge of the mat, Allen got hit with a stall warning and Laboranti finished a fine double leg to take a 9-4 lead (after an Allen escape) with :45 left. Laboranti added one more takedown for a 12-5 win, putting Penn State up 10-0 and giving Laboranti his first Nittany Lion dual match win. 149: Lehigh head coach Greg Stroebel chose the next weight, sending Penn State sophomore Bubba Jenkins (Virginia Beach, Va.), ranked No. 4 nationally, to the mat against Mountain Hawk senior Trevor Chinn at 149. Jenkins wasted no time, getting a double-leg take down just ten seconds in to take an early 2-1 lead. The Nittany Lion true sophomore set the offensive tone throughout the first period, keeping the Mountain Hawk junior on his heels throughout the first three minutes. Chinn's defense kept the bout close early, with Jenkins leading 2-1 after one period. Chinn chose down to begin the second period and escaped to a 2-2 tie. But Jenkins quickly took the lead again with a swift ankle pick on the edge of the mat with 1:24 left, leading 4-3 after the Chinn escape. While Chinn kept things close with his solid defense, the Mountain Hawk had no scoring opportunities and Jenkins carried that one point lead into the final period. Jenkins chose down to start the final stanza and quickly escaped to a 5-3 lead. Chinn got in on Jenkins' right knee for his first real scoring shot, but Jenkins fought off the Lehigh junior to keep his two point lead. Neither wrestler broke through for any scoring as the bout's final seconds ticked away. Jenkins did give up a stall point but the sophomore hung on for a 5-4 win, giving Penn State a 13-0 lead after four bouts. 197: Penn State senior Phil Davis (Harrisburg, Pa.), now carrying a No. 1 national ranking at 197, met Lehigh's Alex Iacocca. The three-time All-American quickly opened up a 2-0 lead just :30 into the bout and began looking for an early pin. Davis turned Iacocca for two back points, allowed him back to his stomach and began working to turn him again. Up 4-0 with 1:00 left, Davis finished his cradle and turned Iacocca for a three-point near fall and led 7-0 with :38 left. Davis added two more near fall points as the first period ended and led 9-0 after the first stanza. Davis chose down to begin the second and quickly escaped to a 10-0 lead. The Harrisburg-native finished a solid double leg on the edge of the mat to lead 12-0. Davis got two near fall points, was surprisingly reserved by Iacocca but then reversed the Mountain Hawk wrestlers again to lead 16-2. Iacocca chose down to begin the final period. Another cradle led to back points that nearly led to a pin but did lead to three back points and a 19-2 technical fall at the 6:19 mark. The five team points gave the Nittany Lions an 18-0 lead. 165: Penn State sophomore Dave Rella (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio) met Lehigh's Mike Galante in the next bout as each coach continued to choose the order in the unusual format. Rella got the match-ups first takedown a minute in and took an early 2-1 lead on Galante used a nice hip toss as the period ended, taking a 3-2 lead into the middle stanza. Rella actually did well to avoid giving up any back points and kept the Mountain Hawk within striking distance. Galante chose bottom to start the second period and escaped to a 4-2 lead. After a reset with :50 left, Rella finished off a solid takedown to tie the bout at 4-4. Galante escaped to lead 5-4 with :20 left and carried that one point lead into the final period. Rella chose down to begin the final period. Galante put together a strong ride, however, and ate away all of Rella's riding time edge. Rella escaped to tie the bout at 5-5 with 1:10 left to wrestle and began looking for the winning takedown. The third period ended with no further scoring, sending a second bout to a sudden victory period. Galante tried another throw, only this time Rella was ready for the move and the Nittany Lion sophomore tossed the Mountain Hawk to his back for a five point move (two point takedown and three near fall points). The swift offensive flurry gave Rella a thrilling 10-5 (sv) win and put Penn State up 21-0. 141: Junior All-American Jake Strayer (South Fork, Pa.) carried a No. 3 national ranking into his bout with Lehigh's Jeff Santo. Strayer quickly opened up a 2-0 lead with a takedown at the 2:44 mark and built up a 1:58 riding time advantage before Santo escaped. Trailing by one, Santo chose down to begin the second period. Continuing his dominance on top, Strayer turned Santo to his back and picked up a two-point near fall to up his lead to 4-1. Santo, however, reversed Strayer before the period ended, nearly picking up back points in the process. The move cut Strayer's lead to 4-3 heading into the final period, although Strayer had over 3:00 in riding time to guarantee the extra point. The Lion All-American chose down to begin the third period and Strayer escaped to a 5-3 lead and quickly took the Lehigh senior down to up his lead to 7-4 (after cutting Santo loose). Santo got his first takedown to cut into the Nittany Lion's lead but that would be all the scoring the bout would see as Strayer posted an 8-6 win. The victory put Penn State up 24-0 and clinched the dual meet victory. 184: In the only bout featuring two ranked wrestlers, Penn State junior Phil Bomberger (Port Royal, Pa.) put his No. 19 ranking to the test against No. 17 David Craig of Lehigh at 184. The two ranked grapplers spent the first half of the first period looking for openings. Craig took a shot with :10 left, but Bomberger countered and threw the ranked Lehigh grappler to his back for a five point move, nearly pinning Craig in the process. Leading 5-0, Bomberger chose down to begin the second stanza. A scramble as Bomberger looked to escaped resulted in a locked hand call on Craig. Bomberger then escaped after the reset and led 7-0 with 1:05 left in the second period. Not looking to rest on the lead, Bomberger shot quick off a reset and nearly got another takedown, but a Craig fought off the effort and forced a reset. Down by seven, Craig chose down to start the final period. Bomberger tried to turn Craig right off the whistle, but the Lehigh grappler reversed the Nittany Lion to cut Bomberger's lead to 7-2. Bomberger got called for two stall warnings, giving up a point but still leading 7-3. Craig, however, locked up a riding time point with his strong work on top. Another Bomberger stall cut the lead 7-4 but as time expired, the Nittany Lion junior put the exclamation point on a superb win over No. 17 Craig with a reversal. Craig's riding time point made the final 9-5, but the decision for Bomberger put Penn State up 27-0. 133: Penn State freshman Mike Eagen (Wharton, N.J.) took on Lehigh's Kevin Vinh at 133. Eagen and Vinh traded scoring opportunities throughout the first period, with neither wrestler breaking through. Eagen had a takedown waved off at the :40 mark, nearly taking a lead on the Lehigh junior. Tied 0-0, Eagen chose bottom to start the second period. Vinh was called for an illegal hold, giving Eagen a brief one point lead. But Vinh turned Eagen to his back for a two-point near fall, however Eagen nearly pinned Vinh in the process. Vinh rode Eagen out for the entire period and carried a 2-1 lead with 2:00 in riding time into the final period. Vinh chose top to start the final period and put forth another strong ride. Eagen got his escape with :55 left to tie the bout at 2-2, but Vinh had clinched the riding time point. Eagen took Vinh down to take a 4-2 lead with :40 seconds left, however and nearly turned Vinh to his back for near fall points. Still, Eagen remained strong on top to close out the period and grab a 4-3 victory, keeping Penn State's shut-out hopes intact and upping the PSU lead to 30-0. 157: Tenth-ranked Nittany Lion Dan Vallimont (Lake Hopatcong, N.J.) took on Lehigh senior Dave Nakasone at 157 in the dual's final bout. Vallimont got on top early with a quick takedown and added a second at the 1:22 mark to move up 4-1. The Nittany Lion sophomore was strong on top, riding Nakasone out to carry that lead and 1:26 in riding time into the final period. Nakasone chose down to start the second and escaped to a 4-2 deficit. Nakasone got in on Vallimont's left knee but could not finish the move as the Nittany Lion sophomore deftly fought off the attempt. Vallimont then answered with his own shot and turned it into a 6-2 lead with the solid takedown. Up 6-2, Vallimont chose down to start the dual's final period and quickly escaped to a 7-2 lead. Nakasone got a takedown with :52 left to cut into Vallimont's lead. But a quick escape moved Vallimont up 8-4 and a swift takedown following that escape gave the Lion sophomore a 10-4 lead (with a guaranteed riding time point). Vallimont would ride Nakasone out and post a convincing 11-4 decision, giving Penn State the 33-0 shut-out.

It's not about how you start, but how you finish. The Golden Gopher wrestling team (4-1, 0-0) proved this to be true Thursday night as they dropped the first two matches only to come back and win six of the remaining eight matches to defeat Nebraska (2-1, 0-0) 25-13 at the Sports Pavilion. This marks to second season in a row where Minnesota has dropped its first dual of the year, only to bounce back and win the next. Minnesota has not lost back-to-back home duals since January 28-30, 2005. In a dual where many matches were decided in the last 30 seconds, Minnesota found a way to prevail out a match-up of two nationally-ranked squads. The turning point of the dual was fifth-ranked Mack Reiter's last-second win over Nebraska's No. 12 Kenny Jordan, giving Minnesota its first lead of the night at the 133 pound match (the meet began at 197 pounds). After losing two matches early, including an early heartbreaker for redshirt freshman heavyweight Ben Berhow, Minnesota pulled away for the comfortable victory. Minnesota is now 46-17-0 against the Cornhuskers all-time. After Craig Brester defeated Justin Bronson 11-1 at 197 pounds to open the meet, Minnesota found themselves in an early 4-0 hole. Unfortunately, Berhow was turned away in the final seconds to fall by one point to the No. 14 Jon May, a Hutchinson, Minn. native, to put Nebraska ahead 7-0. The night's most highly-anticipated match never took place. Defending national champion and top-ranked Paul Donahue did not make the trip north for Nebraska due to an injury suffered last week. Minnesota's No. 3 Jayson Ness earned six team points for the victory by forfeit. At 133 pounds, Jordan started things off quick for Nebraska, taking down Reiter within the first nine seconds. Despite being shaken up by the initial impact, both wrestlers continued their aggressive style as Reiter struggled to escape from the ride of Nebraska's Jordan. For all but the first nine seconds of the first period, Reiter found himself failing to break out of Jordan's grasp as the Cornhusker accumulated 2:51 riding time. While Reiter was able to wipe out a minute of riding time in the second period, the gap increased as Jordan earned an escape to push the score to 3-0. This didn't last in the third, however, as Reiter was able to take down Jordan 15 seconds into the period, bringing the score to 3-2 and eating away at Jordan's riding time. After a Jordan escape, the two locked up again, continuing to struggle for position, but it was a stalling call against Jordan that swung momentum in Reiter's favor. A Reiter takedown with just three seconds remaining in the match brought the crowd to its feet, giving Reiter the edge 5-4 and Minnesota the lead in the dual at 9-7. Other highlights on the night for Minnesota were the performances of No. 2 Manny Rivera and top-ranked Dustin Schlatter, as each picked up wins to add to their undefeated seasons. Rivera's performance was an offensive showcase, as he came out fighting with a takedown on Nebraska's Robert Sanders halfway through the first period to give him the early lead. A late escape for Sanders cut into Rivera's advantage, but that wouldn't last as Rivera reversed the Nebraska ride and gained another three points on a nearfall that he would sustain through the final 30 seconds of the period. The third period belonged to Rivera, as he thwarted Jordan's escape attempt with a quick takedown and proceeded to cruise from there, with another takedown and nearfall to ultimately give him the 15-3 major decision. Schlatter's match, on the other hand, was a gritty battle with No. 6 Jordan Burroughs. Despite a lockup to start the match, Schlatter found himself in control from the beginning. After an early second period escape gave him a 1-0 lead, Schlatter came out in the third period looking to pull ahead. As the stalemate continued, Burroughs finally put a point on the board with an escape with slightly over a minute left in the third. Despite a last-minute effort by Burroughs to take down the elusive Schlatter, riding time advantage gave Minnesota the win, 2-1, and make the final score 25-13 in favor of the Gophers. Minnesota travels to the West Coast Saturday for two dual meets. They will take on Cal State Fullerton and Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo beginning at 7 p.m. CST (5 p.m. Pacific). After several weeks off for the holiday break, Minnesota will return to action at the National Duals in Cedar Rapids, Iowa Jan 12-13. The Gophers come back home on January 20 when they host South Dakota State at 2:00 pm in the Sport Pavilion.

The #5-ranked Mountain Cat wrestlers improved to 2-0 on the season and secured their top ranking in the East Region with an impressive, 25-9, victory at Shippensburg University, Wednesday night. Pitt Johnstown fell behind, 9-6, after five bouts, but rallied to win then next five matches and secure the victory. Pitt Johnstown opened the match with decision wins by #5 Derrek Bosso (125 lbs.) (Pequea, Pa.) and #3 Brandon Reasy (133 lbs.) (New Enterprise, Pa.). Shippensburg battled back with three consecutive decisions, including a 9-4 victory by #2 Steve Fittery over Mountain Cat #7-ranked Shane Valko (Windber, Pa.) at 141 lbs. Trailing 9-6 after the 157-lb bout, Pitt Johnstown came roaring back. Kyle Keane (Clearfield, Pa.) got things started with a 9-3 win over Jake Wilson at 165 lbs., and #7 Albert Miles (Canonsburg, Pa.) followed with a 4-2 double overtime victory over Chirs Barrick at 174 lbs. to give the Mountain Cats a 12-9 lead. Three-time All-American and #3-ranked Mike Corcetti (184 lbs.) (Export, Pa.) scored a 15-3 major decision to increase the lead to 16-9, before red-shirt freshman Patrick Walsh (197 lbs.) (Leesport, Pa.) pinned Peter Grodziak at 4:13. Pitt Johnstown then finished the match with a 2-1 overtime win by Nathan Tomporoski (Natrona Heights, Pa.) at heavyweight. With the loss, the Red Raiders fell to 1-1 on the season. The Mountain Cats travel to the Lock Haven University Duals on December 16 and to the Wilkes University Open on December 29. Pitt Johnstown's next home match will take place on Saturday, January 5, at 1:00 p.m. when East Region rival Kutztown University visits the Sports Center.

America's Wrestling Radio Talk Show travels back to our Home based Brute Adidas studios in Des Moines for a much needed catch up program. We've been on the road at America's college wrestling programs the past many weeks and return in time for this weekend's Sold Out Iowa V. Iowa State meet. Joining me in studio: Jeff Murphy, Steve Foster and Matt Kaldenberg. There's a lot going on in wrestling along side this monster event that we must talk about. Listen 9 AM to 11 AM CST Saturdays at Takedownradio.com Special Programming note This program will be filmed and will air on Thematchannel.com and Mat-Magazine.com for the first time. Our scheduled guests on the show include: Cael Sanderson- Head Coach Iowa State University. Sanderson is his second year as the head wrestling coach at Iowa State University. As an athlete, Sanderson won four NCAA titles for Iowa State University and compiled a career record of 159-0. He is the only Division I wrestler to win four NCAA titles and complete his college career undefeated. Sanderson also won a gold medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Iowa and Iowa State will face each other in a dual meet on December 9th at 2 p.m. in Ames. Jarad Swint-Head Coach of Cumberland University of Tenn. Swint enters his fifth season as the head coach of the Bulldog wrestling program. Since being at Cumberland, he has produced five All-Americans, one National Champion and nine Daktronics NAIA Scholar Athletes. In 2004, the Bulldogs led the nation in Daktronics NAIA Scholar Athletes with four. The 2006 recruiting class was ranked 12th by USA Wrestling among non-Division I recruiting classes. At the 2006, NCAA I Nationals, Swint was awarded the NWCA Bob Bubb Coaching Excellence Award for qualities and characteristics as a role model and mentor for developing young student athletes. In December 2006, Cumberland University broke ground on a $154,000, 4,800-square-foot building for which Swint established the foundation through his diligent fundraising work. Dale Bonsall- A 1957 graduate, of Collingswood where he compiled a modest 39-16-2 record and finished third in South Jersey his senior year under Hall of Famer Sam Coursen, Bonsall went to West Chester University where he was 38-14-1 and fourth in the Pennsylvania State College Conference championships his senior year. Bonsall, who was co-captain of his senior teams in high school and college, has been involved in wrestling for over 40 years. Following graduation from WCU in ‘61, Bonsall coached seven years in the Haverford (PA) School District, with five of those seven teams undefeated. He was an assistant coach at West Chester University for 17 years, helping produce one All-American and three East Coast Conference championships. He was head coach at West Chester in 1987 before the university dropped the sport. Loves wooden Boats. Coached at Fox Catcher. William K. Bauer- Author of Wrestling: A Boy's First Book, available through Amazon.com joins us to discuss this great little book. It's perfect for the first time reader and adult reading to a little wrestler. Jamie Moffatt- Author of Wrestler's at the Trials, available through WrestlersAtTheTrials.com. This great historical look at the trials is a must have for all wrestling fans and historians. Wrestler in Pa as a kid and then at Cornell University in College. Jay Hammond- Author of the History of Collegiate Wrestling, possibly the most comprehensive compilation of collegiate statistics and facts since the beginning of collegiate wrestling in 1903. Available at WrestlingHallOfFame.org Takedownradio.com, KXNO.com, Matchannel.com, Mat-magazine.com are our web partners. Wrestlers and MMA competitors join us each and every week. You should too! TDR is available LIVE, Archived and Pod Cast as well. Visit Takedownradio.com for more details. Thanks for listening!

EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. -- Army senior captain Fernando Martinez registered one of eight Black Knight victories en route to a 30-6 dual meet win at East Stroudsburg, Tuesday night, in Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) action. Ranked 15th in the latest NWCA poll at 125 pounds, Martinez notched an 8-0 major victory over Matthew Benedetti to improve to 18-1 this season, including a flawless 6-0 mark in dual meet competition. It was one of three major decisions captured by Army (4-2, 3-0 EIWA) on the evening as a pair of freshmen also scored bonus points for the Black Knights. Casey Thome defeated Alex Bimes, 10-1, at 149, while Dean Gaier picked up a 17-9 win over Shane Mallory in the 174-pound bout. Thome's upped his season record to 14-5, while Gaier improved to 9-8. "I was especially impressed with the way Dean competed tonight," said Army head coach Chuck Barbee. "He wrestled with a lot of poise and determination and took it to a pretty tough kid in the third period to earn the victory." Junior Whitt Dunning ran his record to 14-7 this season with a 7-4 decision over Matt Swallow at 133, while sophomore Chris Grill also picked up a decision with a 10-6 victory over Kyle Heselpoth at 157. Junior John Drew took down Joe Schick in overtime to pick up a 4-2 victory at 165, while Scott Ferguson defeated Dave Williams, 8-3, at 184 to seal the Black Knight victory in their final competition of 2007. Drew's record stands at 2-7, while Ferguson improved to 8-2. The only two Army setbacks on the evening were sophomore Matt Kyler, who lost to Sean Carr, 7-4, at 141 pounds, and senior heavyweight Nathan Thobaban, who dropped a 5-3 decision. Kyler's season record is 18-5, while Thobaben is the owner of a 16-8 mark this year. "Overall, I thought it was a good ending to a solid first semester for us," continued Barbee. "Wednesday night meets on the road are always a bit tougher, especially after a long weekend of competition like we had on Sunday at Penn State. Throw school work and being on the road again into the mix and it makes things even a little more challenging. I thought the guys responded well and took care of business." After a month break for final exams and the holidays, Army will return to action on Sunday, January 6, at the Sun Devil Duals in Tempe, Ariz.

A wrestling-centric baby boom has visited Charlottesville, but instead of mixing together scrappy boys and girls, the stork's basket will be filled exclusively with double-X chromosomes and pink-tinted bonnets. Scott Moore and Steve GarlandThe University of Virginia coaching staff will welcome five daughters over the next five months: head coach Steve Garland (November), volunteer assistant Jim Stance (December), Club Coach Jim Harshaw (January), associate head coach Scott Moore (February), and assistant Alex Clemsen (March). "This is nuts!" said Garland. "It's crazy enough we are all having kids, but all girls? All during the season? I know we're lucky, but it's super weird." Before taking out the calculator to adjust for the improbability of hiring a staff of soon-to-be fathers -- and the impossibly eerie timing of the pregnancies (November-March) -- know that the odds of five randomly selected couples each ending up with girls is only about 3.5 percent, or one out of every 28 attempts. Super weird, indeed. For those familiar with U.Va.'s current baby situation it's difficult not to mention a "wrestler's curse" -- a metaphorical shorthand for recognizing that instead of siring men to uphold the masculine tradition of aggression and discipline in wrestling, a seemingly disproportionate number of former wrestlers have daughters. Virginia's current baby boom seems to lend anecdotal credibility to the argument of a curse. "Every wrestler dreams about having a little guy and getting him into wrestling," Moore said. "When you love the sport, you just want to share it with your son." Alex ClemsenWhile every pregnancy and birth is exciting, the real test of professional and personal balance rest with Moore and Clemsen, who, along with full-time coaching responsibilities, are both expecting their first child (Stanec is also expecting his first, but works part-time as he finishes his Ph.D. in electrical engineering. Harshaw has two boys and recently founded a sports marketing firm.) Moore said that while he was happy to find out his wife was pregnant with a healthy girl; he'd been indulging in the idea of having a boy. Garland understands the initial disappointment. He wanted a boy when expecting the birth of his first child in 2006. He eventually came to realize how fortunate he was that his wife English gave birth to a baby girl: he was saved from turning into some terrible derivation of an over-protective, screaming wrestling dad. "It's a tough sport, and I'm pretty fortunate that I can separate my home life from my life on the mat, "Garland said. "I'm having a tea party and baking fake cakes with my daughter one night and then first thing in the morning I'm in the wrestling room leading extra technique sessions and getting my skull beat in," he said. "The home stuff is the best part of my day." Moore says he wants a similar type of professional and personal harmony. Steve and English Garland with Sarah"I've watched him care for his kids and his wrestlers. It's gonna be tough, but Garland's has the kind of balance I want to pull off." Only four months from the due date the energy of the event is starting to enliven an already-frisky Moore. Not ready to bake fake cakes, he's preparing for his daughter by assembling new furniture, baby proofing the house, and building extra storage cabinets. All the preparation is necessary because Moore and Clemsen are staring down due dates that coincide with the ACC and NCAA tournaments. While his assistants will certainly be focused on peaking their athletes for the end of the year competitions, Garland said nothing would keep them from being at the hospital on delivery day. "Wrestlers think that making All-American or winning a national championship is the happiest you can ever be. But when you have a kid the whole game changes -- nothing is more important or makes you happier than raising a family," Garland said. "There are plenty of wrestling tournaments." The Cavalier team seems equally excited and optimistic about the impact five infant girls will have on the organization. Sophomore co-captain Chris Henrich said he expects the coaches to take time to be with their families, but that there will be an enormous upside to watching the staff raise their daughters. "We're a young team and they're a young staff so I think we relate," Henrich said. "The coaches are a big part of our lives and the team is excited to welcome a new part of the family during the year. They work their butts off to get us ready for the season. That's not going to change because they have a kid … or five." Scott and Sherry Moore"The guys have been handling everything well," Garland said. "You can see how much it warms up a room when my one daughter is around. Can you imagine what it's gonna be like with five of 'em?" While it's difficult to imagine five coaches from same team having five daughters in the same season, the made-for-TV movie script wasn't certain until late last week when Moore and his wife Sherry received the results of her ultra sound. Moore said he was anxious about stepping into the starring role of hero (or heel) -- and apparently for good reason. "I'm pretty sure Clemsen would've punched me in the face if I was having a boy," Moore said. While there's humor in watching old competitors or teammates ready for the birth of a daughter -- a communal, good-natured ribbing indicating just how much everyone understands that gender is secondary to health and happiness. With growing families full of baby girls (and thus, no inner-staff fistfights) Virginia wrestling's single-gender baby boom definitely looks more like a pink-bowed blessing than any kind of curse.

MARSHALL, Minn. -- Winning six of the seven matches wrestled and taking advantage of three forfeits, the Augsburg College wrestling team claimed a 41-3 victory over Southwest Minnesota State in a wrestling dual meet on Tuesday night at the SMSU P.E. Gym. Augsburg, defending NCAA Division III national champions, is ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Division III national poll (National Wrestling Coaches Association). Augsburg leads the all-time series with Division II Southwest Minnesota State by a 21-3 margin, a series that dates to the 1984-85 season. Augsburg has now won 20 straight meets between the two schools dating to the 1988-89 season. Against teams from Divisions II and III, Augsburg is now 220-17 since the 1989-90 season, losing just 12 matches to non-Division I opponents since the 1995-96 season. Augsburg has won 10 Division III national titles in the last 17 seasons. Augsburg used several young wrestlers in Tuesday's match, with seven first-year and sophomore wrestlers in the lineup. Augsburg scored four bonus-point victories -- a technical fall and three major decisions -- among its six match victories. Augsburg also gained 18 team points on forfeits at 125, 141 and heavyweight. Beau Hansen (FY, Albert Lea, Minn.) improved to 8-0 on the season with a 17-0, technical-fall victory at 157 pounds. At 133, Paul Bjorkstrand (JR, Burnsville, Minn.) picked up a 14-3, major-decision victory, Lucas Murray (FY, Anoka, Minn.) improved to 9-1 on the season with an 8-0, major-decision win, and Brandon Klukow (JR, Albert Lea, Minn.) improved to 8-2 with a 9-0, major-decision victory. Also scoring wins for the Auggies were Garrett Long (SO, Cedar, Minn./St. Francis HS) with an 8-6 win at 184, and Kris Krier (SO, Woodbury, Minn.) with a 9-6 win at 197. SMSU's lone win came at 174, as Greg Frank claimed an 11-9 victory over Augsburg's Brian Fischer (SR, Freedom, Wis.). Both teams will compete on Saturday (12/8) at the St. Cloud State Open. Augsburg will also send members of its White Team (junior varsity) to the Dick Walker Invitational at Wartburg (Iowa) on Saturday.

HEMPSTEAD, NY -- Hofstra senior Charles Griffin has been named the CAA Co-Wrestler of the Week for all competition ending Sunday, December 3, the Colonial Athletic Association announced. Griffin, a native of Reading, Pennsylvania, posted a 6-1 record to capture third place in the 141-pound weight class at the Cliff Keen-Las Vegas Invitational last weekend. He had a seven-match winning streak snapped in the CKLV semifinals, dropping a 6-2 decision to 13th-seed Kellen Russell from Michigan. Griffin, who was the number two wrestler in the country in his weight class, bounced back with a 3-1 victory over Old Dominion's #17 Ryan Williams, and a 6-4 decision over #14 Joe Caramanica from North Carolina State. Griffin, who defeated then-#2 Nathan Morgan from Oklahoma State on November 24, is now 10-2 on the season and will be going after his 100th career victory when the Pride entertain Harvard at the David S. Mack Sports Complex at 1 p.m. Sunday. Ryan Hluschak (Slatington, PA/Northern Lehigh), a senior 157-pounder from Drexel University, shares the CAA Wrestler of the Week award with Griffin. He is currently ranked in the top seven in the nation, won the Bearcat Open and placed second in the Cornell Body Bar Invitational to begin the season 9-1. This week's CAA Rookie of the Week award was also shared. Anwar Goeres (Holley, N.Y./John C. Birdelbough) from Binghamton, began his collegiate career by pinning the 14th-ranked 141-pounder in the nation in a dual meet with Iowa State. A transfer from Lock Haven, Goeres collected two more pins and a major decision at the Northeast Duals to begin the year 8-2. CayleByers (Chugiak, Alaska/Chugiak) from George Mason began his career with a 13-1 record, including a fall and two major decisions, and is 3-0 in duals. Byers won his 197 weight class at the Citadel Open and the Navy Classic and finished runner-up at the Pembroke Classic.

On the heels of the station's first-ever wrestling event broadcast, Big Ten Network officials announced the remainder of their 2007-08 wrestling television schedule Wednesday. The first-year network will televise the Big Ten Championships, Midlands Classic and nine dual meets, including Minnesota's Feb. 8 match-up with Northwestern in Chicago. The start time for that match has been changed to 6:30 p.m. CST. The network will have a live telecast on six consecutive Fridays in January and February beginning with Iowa at Ohio State dual meet on January 18. "The Big Ten is the nation's most powerful wrestling conference and there is a strong following for the sport in Big Ten Country," Big Ten Network president Mark Silverman said. "We look forward to bringing the best of college wrestling to a national audience." Last Sunday, the BTN's first foray into wrestling featured a live broadcast of No. 1 Minnesota's showdown with No. 2 Iowa State at Williams Arena, an 18-13 victory for the Cyclones. The network will return to Minneapolis March 9 to televise the finals of the Big Ten Championships from Williams Arena. Additional live regular season telecasts include: Wisconsin-Indiana at 5 p.m. ET on January 25, Illinois-Michigan at 6 p.m. ET on February 1, Michigan State-Penn State at 5 p.m. ET on February 15, Purdue-Illinois at 6 p.m. ET on February 22 and Michigan State-Michigan at noon ET on February 24. Nine of the conference's 11 teams are ranked in the current NWCA/Intermat/USA Today top 25 poll, including No. 2 Minnesota, No. 4 Iowa, No. 5 Penn State, No. 7 Michigan, No. 9 Northwestern, No. 10 Wisconsin, No. 13 Ohio State, No. 17 Indiana and No. 18 Illinois. Currently, the Big Ten Network is available in Minnesota on DirecTV (channel 220) and Dish Network (channel 439). 2007-2008 WRESTLING SCHEDULE ON THE BIG TEN NETWORK Air Date Time Event Sunday, Dec. 30 6:00pm CST Midlands Classic Consolation Finals (delayed) Sunday, Jan. 6 5:00pm CST #3 Oklahoma State #4 at Iowa (delayed) Friday, Jan. 18 5:00pm CST #4 Iowa at #16 Ohio State (LIVE) Friday, Jan. 25 4:00pm CST #9 Wisconsin at #17 Indiana (LIVE) Friday, Feb. 1 5:00pm CST #18 Illinois at #10 Michigan (LIVE) Friday, Feb. 8 6:30pm CST #1 Minnesota at #5 Northwestern (LIVE) Friday, Feb. 15 4:00pm CST Michigan State at #6 Penn State (LIVE) Friday, Feb. 22 5:00pm CST Purdue at #18 Illinois (LIVE) Sunday, Feb. 24 11:00am CST Michigan State at #10 Michigan (LIVE) Sunday, March 9 TBA Big Ten Championships (LIVE)

This weekend at Walsh Jesuit High School in Ohio, one of the top high school tournaments in the nation, the Walsh Ironman, will take place. RevWrestling.com has provided a breakdown of each weight class, the favorites, the ones you may not know, and of course the upsets. 103 Pounds: One of the more exciting classes usually, but will definitely not match to the huge final that occurred here last between Logan Stieber of Monroeville (Ohio) and David Taylor of St. Paris Graham (Ohio). Traditionally a wide open weight class, this year there is a clear favorite in Hunter Stieber the freshman out of Monroeville (Ohio). The favorites: Hunter Stieber of Monroeville (Ohio), Sam Brody Montini of Catholic (Illinois), Devin Carter of Christiansburg (Virginia), and Gus Sako of St. Edwards (Ohio). The ones you may not know: Evan Silver of Blair Academy (New Jersey), Chris Mears of Bishop Lynch (Texas), Johnni DiJulius of Walsh Jesuit (Ohio), and Courtland Hacker of Broomfield (Colorado). Predicted Final: Stieber over Silver 112 Pounds: This weight class is shaping up to be one of the deepest in the tournament. Everyone is chasing David Taylor, the junior out of St. Paris Graham. Can anyone close the gap? The favorites: David Taylor of St. Paris Graham (Ohio), Steve Mitcheff of Elyria (Ohio), Sam White of Massilon Perry (Ohio), and Jamie Clark of St. Edwards (Ohio). The ones you may not know: Sean Boyle of Blair Academy (New Jersey), Shane Gentry of Colonial Forge (Virginia), Cam Tessari of Monroeville (Ohio), and Chris Keech of Caesar Rodney (Delaware). Predicted Final: Boyle over White 119 Pounds: The exciting continues at 119 with again many notable names. Look for many quality matchups early in the tournament. The favorites: Logan Stieber of Monroeville (Ohio), Ben Sergent of Troy Christian (Ohio), Michael Garafalo of Colonial Forge (Virginia), and David Klingsham of Brentwood Liberty (California). The ones you may not know: Derek Steeley of Broken Arrow (Oklahoma), Zach Neibert of St. Paris Graham (Ohio), Travis McKillop of Burrell (Pennsylvania), and Tony Buxton of Blair Academy (New Jersey). Predicted Final: Stieber over Garafalo 125 Pounds: This weight class is like many others have several nationally ranked wrestlers. Leading the pack is defending Ironman and First-Team Asics All American Tony Ramos. He will definitely have a long road in defending his crown this year. The favorites: Tony Ramos of Glenbard North (Illinois), Chris Villalonga of Blair Academy (New Jersey), Dan Genetin of Massillon Perry (Ohio), and Andrew Williams of Tabb (Virginia). The ones you may not know: Caleb Vallotton of Palo Cedro Foothill (California), Drew Partain of Broken Arrow (Oklahoma), Riley Adamson of Bishop Lynch (Texas), and Cody Kelly of Reynolds (Pennsylvania). Predicted Final: Ramos over Villalonga 130 Pounds: The first of several weight classes with no major front runners. There are more than seven wrestlers capable of winning this championship, and do not be surprised if several upsets occur early. The favorites: Anthony Valles of Blair Academy (New Jersey), Brian Stephens of St.Paris Graham (Ohio), Brad Squire of Wadsworth (Ohio) and Ian Squires of Colonial Forge (Virginia). The ones you may not know: Andrew Grabfelder of Germantown Academy (Pennsylvania), Troy Silver of Bishop Lynch (Texas), Jake Gregerson of Montini Catholic (Illinois), and David Yost of Fauquier (Virginia). Predicted Final: Squire over Valles 135 Pounds: What else can you say about this weight class but WOW!!!! Getting to the finals will definitely not be easy, but if St. Edwards' Collin Palmer and Canon McMillan's Collin Johnston can reach the finals, fans will certainly be in for a treat. The favorites: Collin Palmer of St.Edwards (Ohio), Collin Johnston of Canon McMillan (Pennsylvania), Daniel Kolodzik of Miami Valley (Ohio), and Matt Bryan of Broken Arrow (Oklahoma). The ones you may not know: Jacob Earp of Watagua (NC), Joe Pantaleo of Colonial Forge (Virginia), Austin Ormsbee of Blair Academy (New Jersey), and Trey Adamson of Bishop Lynch (Texas). Predicted Final: Palmer over Johnston 140 Pounds: Like 130, this weight class is truly wide open and any wrestler who gets during the tournament we can expect to see in the finals. The favorites: Dak Adamson of Bishop Lynch (Texas), Neil Birt of St.Edwards (Ohio), Richard Spicel of Brunswick (Ohio) and Jordan Shields of Burrell (Pennsylvania). The ones you may not know: John Guzzo of Blair Academy (New Jersey), Drew Squires of Colonial Forge (Virginia), Matt Stephens of St. Paris Graham (Ohio), and Isiah Meade of Caesar Rodney (Delaware). Predicted Final: Adamson over Shields 145 Pounds: Rev's No. 1 high school wrestler Mario Mason of Blair Academy looks to defend his Ironman crown, but the road is not easy as 145 has turned out to be one of the deeper weight classes in the tournament. The favorites: Mario Mason Blair Academy (New Jersey), Ben Jordan of St. Paris Graham (Ohio), David Habat of St. Ignatius (Ohio) and Richie Dehenz of Palmetto Ridge (Florida). The ones you may not know: Tanner Eitel of Bishop Lynch (Texas), Vince Ramos of Glenbard North (Illinois), Jon Burns of Cardinal Gibbons (North Carolina), and Zach Toal of Troy Christian (Ohio). Predicted Final: Mason over Jordan 152 Pounds: This is one weight class you do not want to miss. While Coby Boyd and Alex Meade are the front-runners, the quarters and semifinals of this weight class should be outstanding. The favorites: Alex Meade of Caesar Rodney (Delaware), Coby Boyd of St.Paris Graham (Ohio), Brandon Rolnick, of Lawrenceville Prep (New Jersey), and Zac Cibula of Luxemburg-Casco (Wisconsin). The ones you may not know: David Rios of Liberty-Brentwood (California), Jesse Shanaman of Blair Academy (New Jersey), Zack Mastro of Palmetto Ridge (Florida), and Cory Casady of Broomfield (Colorado). Predicted Final: Boyd over Meade 160 Pounds: Eric Cubberly, Riley Kilroy and Josh Condon lead the charge in this weight class where after them, the rest of the place finishers are really up for grabs. The favorites: Eric Cubberly of Pemberville Eastwood (Ohio), Riley Kilroy of Padua Franciscan (Ohio), Sam Rakes of Christiansburg (Virginia), and Josh Condon of Harrison (Georgia). The ones you may not know: Trey Edmunds of Damonte Ranch (NV), Jared King of Great Bridge (Virginia), Todd Koch of Caesar Rodney (Delaware), and Kyle McPeek of Parkersburg (West Virginia). Predicted Final: Cubberly over Condon 171 Pounds: Leading the charge at 171 is Brian Roddy of St. Edwards, who is looking for his first Ironman crown. Roddy figures to get a challenge from several contenders including Blair Academy's Corey Peltier who he faced twice last year. The favorites: Brian Roddy of St. Edwards (Ohio), Corey Peltier of Blair Academy (New Jersey), Zac Thomusseit of St. Paris Graham (Ohio), and Keith Witt of Oak Harbor (Ohio). The ones you may not know: Chris Phillips Monroeville (Ohio), Oscar Huntley Colonial Forge (Virginia), Justin Armstrong Bishop Lynch (Texas), and Noah Budi of Kaukauna (Wisconsin). Predicted Final: Roddy over Peltier 189 Pounds: Two names lead the pack here Cody Magrum of Oak Harbor and Joe Budi of Kaukauna. Like always, the upper-weights are always up in the air, fans do not be surprised if we see a few upsets along the way. The favorites: Cody Magrum of Oak Harbor (Ohio), Joe Budi of Kaukauna (Wisconsin), Max Huntley of Colonial Forge (Virginia) and Jermey Foster of Pemberville Eastwood (Ohio). The ones you may not know: Nick Lloyd of Luxemburg-Casco (Wisconsin), Ryan Neilsse of Elyria (Ohio), and Dan Grimes of Montini Catholic (Illinois). Predicted Final: Magrum over Budi 215 Pounds: This is another totally wide open weight class. Matt Fisher appears to be the favorite, but there are a lot of relative unknowns here. The favorites: Matt Fisher of Sandusky Perkins (Ohio), Trever Spude of Luxemburg-Casco (Wisconsin), and Matt Lindamood of Parkersburg (West Virginia). The ones you may not know: Jake Hanley of Bishop Lynch (Texas), Mike Green of St. Edwards (Ohio), and Nick Zissimos of Broomfield (Colorado). Predicted Final: Fisher over Lindamood 285 Pounds: In this class there appears to be a drop off after the top two seeds: Garret Goebel of Montini Catholic and Adam Walls of St. Paris Graham. The favorites: Garret Goebel of Montini Catholic (Illinois) and Adam Walls of St. Paris Graham (Ohio). The ones you may not know: Kyle Hanson of Blair Academy (New Jersey), Zach Nolan of Parkersburg (West Virginia), and Nick Cook of Fauquier (Virginia). Predicted Final: Goebel over Walls Team Championship: Look for Blair Academy on the strength of strong performances by its freshman class to hold off the challenge from St. Paris Graham. Keep an eye on Bishop Lynch who definitely has their most balanced team in quite some time.

This week's edition of "On the Mat" will feature Tom Brands and Cael Sanderson. "On the Mat" is a weekly wrestling radio program that airs every Wednesday night. This week's broadcast can be heard live from 5-6 p.m. Central Standard Time. The Dan Gable International Wrestling Institute and Museum in Waterloo, Iowa, hosts the show. Brands is in his second year as the head wrestling coach at the University of Iowa. As an athlete, Brands won three NCAA titles for the University of Iowa and compiled a career college record of 158-7-2. He also won a World title in 1993 and an Olympic title in 1996. Brands is one of only two wrestlers to ever win three NCAA titles, an Olympic title, and a World title. Sanderson is his second year as the head wrestling coach at Iowa State University. As an athlete, Sanderson won four NCAA titles for Iowa State University and compiled a career record of 159-0. He is the only Division I wrestler to win four NCAA titles and complete his college career undefeated. Sanderson also won a gold medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Iowa and Iowa State will face each other in a dual meet on December 9th at 2 p.m. in Ames. W.I.N. Magazine editor Mike Finn will be on the program for his bi-weekly segment. He will review several key wrestling events, including Iowa State's victory over Minnesota, the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, and the Bedlam dual meet between Oklahoma State and Oklahoma.

Lincoln -- The Big 12 Conference announced Monday that Husker sophomore Kenny Jordan has been named the Big 12 Wrestler of the Month for November. Jordan, a Frankfort, Ill., native, went a perfect 6-0 at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational in Las Vegas last weekend. Jordan, competing at 133 pounds, racked up three bonus-point victories to start the tournament. He recorded a 15-0 technical fall over Jerome Greco of Columbia in the opening round, followed that with a pin of Old Dominion's Kyle Hutter in 3:51 and notched a 13-2 major decision over Rick Rappo of Penn. Jordan's last three wins in the tournament included a 7-6 decision over Reece Humphrey of Ohio State and a 7-0 decision over Cal State-Fullerton's T.J. Dillashaw in the finals. His performance helped propel the Huskers to a fourth-place team finish. The national junior college champion at 133 pounds last year, Jordan is 8-0 on the season with two pins, one technical fall and one major decision.

AMES, Iowa -- Iowa State officials announced Monday evening that the Dec. 9 wrestling showdown between Iowa State (expected to be ranked No. 1 this week) and third-rated Iowa has sold out. "One of the great rivalries in college athletics, especially in our state, will be contested in front of a sold-out crowd," Iowa State Director of Athletics Jamie Pollard said. At the request of Coach Cael Sanderson prior to the 2006-07 season, Iowa State made several changes to Hilton's configuration for wrestling meets. The changes were made to allow the fans to be closer to the mat, creating a much better environment for the wrestlers and spectators. The new configuration also contributed to an increase in the number of season tickets (1,310) sold this year, more than double the number sold prior to Sanderson being named head coach. The set-up provides for a capacity of 9,000 for wrestling events in Hilton Coliseum. "Coach Sanderson believes the best way to market his wrestling program is to create a demand that exceeds supply," Pollard said. "I appreciate Cael's desires to create a demand for his product and it has clearly worked." Iowa State wrestling fans, who want to watch the nation's top-rated wrestling program, can still purchase tickets for home dates vs. Wisconsin (Jan. 18), Oregon State (Feb. 8), Missouri (Feb. 17) and Nebraska (Feb. 24). Sunday's match will be televised live by Iowa Public Television and web cast to members of the Clone Zone on cyclones.com.

Stillwater, Okla. -- Third-ranked Oklahoma State continued its dominance in the Bedlam wrestling series with a 21-9 victory over No. 21 Oklahoma Sunday. A crowd of 4,144 watched the Cowboys jump out to a 9-0 lead and never look back en route to their 19th consecutive win over Oklahoma. The Cowboys are now 26-0-1 in the last 27 Bedlam duals and gained a 100-win edge in the all-time series with Oklahoma by upping their advantage in the all-time series to 124-24-9. Freshman Ben Ashmore opened his Bedlam career with an impressive 6-0 win over Joey Fio. Ashmore picked up takedowns in the first and third periods and tacked on 2:47 riding time to give the Cowboys a quick 3-0 lead. The Cowboys picked up decisions from seniors Coleman Scott and Nathan Morgan, who were wrestling in their final home Bedlam dual. Scott scored a narrow 1-0 victory over OU 133-pounder Brian Shelton, while Morgan cruised to a 9-4 decision over 15th-ranked Sooner 141-pounder Zack Bailey. "I want more. I understand what this team needs to do to be successful and we didn't do enough today," Oklahoma State coach John Smith said. "The positive we can take from this, other than winning, is that we got some takedowns when we needed to get them." OU jumped on the board at 149 pounds with Will Rowe's 10-4 decision over Quinten Fuentes. Late in the third period Rowe looked to be headed towards a major decision, but Fuentes scored a late escape and takedown to hold the Sooners to three team points. The next three matches essentially put the dual away as the Cowboys picked up three straight wins to stretch the lead to 18-3. Newly McSpadden started the run with a solid performance in a 6-1 decision over Chad Terry. Following a scoreless first period, McSpadden exploded with takedowns in each of the last two periods and picked up 1:39 riding time. Senior transfer and 165-pounder Jake Dieffenbach was another Cowboy to earn a victory in his first Bedlam match, claiming a hard-fought 3-2 victory over No. 16 Max Dean with a second period takedown being the difference in the match. "I haven't wrestled in front of that many people, so that got the nerves out of me real quickly," Dieffenbach said. "(Dean) is a guy who likes to slow down the match and work on your head and I feel like I wrestled at his pace. I didn't do what I wanted, but it's still good to get a win." "This was a good win for Jake Dieffenbach," Smith said. "He got more aggressive in the second period. Make no mistake, his opponent was a top-10 guy who is a quality opponent." Fifth-ranked Brandon Mason pushed the Cowboy lead to 15 with a 5-0 decision over Jeff James at 174 pounds. Mason picked up two takedowns and an escape in the victory. The Sooners finally jumped back on the board when 11th-ranked 184-pounder Josh Weitzel outlasted Cowboy freshman Cody Hill, 3-2. Hill was the aggressor all match, but Weitzel rode him out the entire third period and his 1:17 riding time proved to be the difference. At 197, true OSU freshman Clayton Foster had a third period rally fall just short against ninth-ranked Joel Flaggert, ultimately falling, 12-10. Foster trailed, 8-4 after two periods and after a wild third period, nearly took Flaggert down in the final seconds to send the match into overtime. The Cowboys closed out the dual with a 6-3 decision by 10th-ranked Jared Rosholt at heavyweight over No. 20 Nathan Fernandez. Rosholt picked up two takedowns in the third period to secure the win and tacked on 1:11 riding time to give the Cowboys a 21-9 final score. "We want to outscore our opponents late," Smith said. "If you outscore your opponent in the third period, you'll come out on the winning end a lot of the time." The Cowboys return to action next Sunday, December 9 when they host No. 6 Penn State. "It was good to get this win today, but we've got to get ready for maybe the best team Penn State has ever had," Smith said.

The top-ranked and defending national champion Minnesota Golden Gopher wrestling team dropped a hard-fought 18-13 decision to No. 2 Iowa State Sunday afternoon at Williams Arena. The Gophers led until the 197-pound and heavyweight matches and lost for the first time in their last 24 meets despite suffering only six takedowns all afternoon. It was Minnesota's first loss to Iowa State in their last four meetings and their first home loss since Feb. 5, 2005. Nick Fanthorpe defeated Mack Reiter (Photo/The Guillotine)The meet, which featured the top two finishers at last year's national championships, was expected to be close, but Minnesota (3-1) lost three pivotal matches as they dropped their first dual meet of the season to the Cyclones (6-0). Third-ranked Mack Reiter was edged out at 133 pounds by No. 8 Nick Fanthorpe 3-1 and No. 4 C.P. Schlatter was upset 3-2 by No. 10 Cyler Sanderson by a thin 3-2 margin. In the premier match of the afternoon, top-ranked 184-pound Jake Varner of the Cyclones successfully contained the Gophers' No. 2 Roger Kish, earning a 3-0 decision. The meet began at 125 pounds, and sophomore Jayson Ness continued his torrid start to in 2007-08 with a 10-0 major decision over Mark Kist of ISU. Ness scored takedowns in the first two periods and scored three points on stall warnings by Kist, also accumulating 1:52 of riding time for the bonus point. Ness is now 10-0 this season with eight pins and one major decision. A third-period reversal by Fanthorpe gave Reiter his first loss of the season at 133 pounds. After a scoreless first period, the Gopher senior and two-time All-American jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a second-period escape, but Fanthorpe's dramatic reversal at the 1:42 mark in the third proved to be the difference in an otherwise-uneventful match. Fanthorpe also picked up the bonus riding time point. Reiter is now 2-1 in dual meets this season. At 141 pounds, Manuel Rivera stayed perfect on the season with a 7-4 win over ISU's Nick Gallick. The pair spent the first three minutes gauging each other before Rivera (now 11-0 on the year) took a 2-1 lead partway through the second with a takedown. Two more third-period takedowns and a bonus point for riding time allowed Rivera to give the Gophers a 7-3 lead three matches into the match. No. 1 Dustin Schlatter nearly picked up a much-needed major decision in his match against No. 16 Mitch Mueller, but had to settle for three points as he won 8-1 at 149 pounds. The two-time All-American had already built up 2:39 of riding time after just one period and brought a 4-1 lead into the final stanza, but Meuller was able to limit Schlatter to three third-period points (one escape and one takedown) to make the final tally 8-1. Schlatter remains undefeated this season (8-0, 4-0 in duals) and has lost just twice in 90 collegiate dual matches. The Gophers brought a 10-3 lead into the 157-pound match, only to have No. 10 Cyler Sanderson (younger brother of legendary ISU head coach Cael Sanderson) pull off the upset. After yet another scoreless first period, the evenly-matched pair remained tied 1-1 after a Schlatter escape to open the third period. Sanderson's quick takedown 55 seconds into the third period gave him a 3-1 lead, as Schlatter (7-1) could not muster any offense in the final minute and dropped his first match of the season. Fourteenth-ranked redshirt freshman Scott Glasser was overpowered by No. 7 Jon Reader at 165 pounds, falling 6-1. Glasser was unable to generate much offensively and suffered 3:12 of riding time at the hands of Reader, dropping his first dual matchup of the season. After two straight losses, senior Gabe Dretsch appeared to get the Gophers back on track with a 9-2 decision over the Cyclones' Aron Scott at 174 pounds. Dretsch, who entered the meet ranked sixth nationally, built up a 6-0 lead after two periods by accumulating an escape, two takedowns and a penalty point. But with Scott's only goal seemingly to avoid allowing big points (the first-period penalty was called for fleeing the mat), Dretsch came up just one point shy of gaining a major decision. Dretsch held an 8-1 lead and to have a major decision in hand until Scott picked up an escape with only 18 seconds remaining in the match. The bonus point for riding time (1:33 in favor of Dretsch) made the final score 9-2. The highly-anticipated 184-pound match proved to be a low-scoring affair, as Jake Varner defeated Roger Kish for the third straight time, including last year's NCAA semifinals and the 2007 NWCA All-Star Classic in November (Photo/The Guillotine).The highly-anticipated 184-pound match proved to be a low-scoring affair, as Varner defeated Kish for the third straight time (including last year's NCAA semifinals and the 2007 All-Star Classic in November). Kish brought the crowd to its feet near the end of the first period as he narrowly missed a takedown in what proved to be a scoreless first period. But Varner was able to notch all three of his points in the second period as all of Kish's shooting attempts were rebuffed by his ISU rival. Varner now leads the all-time series between the two 3-2, including exhibition matches. The pair could meet again during January's National Duals. Minnesota held a slim 13-12 lead heading into the final two matches of the afternoon, needing an upset at either weight class to avoid the defeat. Justin Bronson battled No. 18 David Bertolino at 197 pounds, suffering only one takedown, but dropped a close 4-0 decision. With the Gophers trailing 15-13 entering the final match of the afternoon, the announced crow of 4,357 got to its feet to encourage heavyweight Ben Berhow as he took on No. 5 David Zabriske. Berhow appeared to be on the verge of a takedown on two separate occasions during the first period, only to come up short both times. Zabriske was able to pick up takedowns in all three periods and added an escape to emerge with a 7-2 victory. Berhow is now 4-4 on the year, including 1-1 in dual meets thus far. Gopher heavyweights are now a combined 1-3 in five dual meets this season. Sunday's meet was televised live by the Big Ten Network, the first wrestling event on the new station this season. The 2008 Big Ten Championships, held at Williams Arena March 8-9, are also scheduled to be televised. The Gophers will have little time to dwell on Sunday's loss as they host No. 14 Nebraska Thursday evening in the Sports Pavilion in Minneapolis. The Gophers are 45-17 all-time against the Cornhuskers, including a 32-6 win in Lincoln last season. That meet will begin at 7:00 p.m. Rev Audio: Rev Audio: Cyler Sanderson Rev Audio: Cody Sanderson Rev Audio: J Robinson Scoring Summary: 125: No. 3 Jayson Ness (MN) major decision Mark Kist (ISU) 10-0 Kist warned for stalling. Ness scored a single leg takedown and led 2-0 after the first period. Ness chose down. Kist rode for 40 seconds before Ness escaped. Ness awarded a stalling point. Ness scored a double-leg takedown near the end of the second period. Kist chose down in the third. Stall point to Ness. Ness awarded two stalling points. With 1:52 riding time, Ness wins 10-0. 133: No. 8 Nick Fanthorpe (ISU) decision No. 3 Mack Reiter (MN) 3-1 Scoreless first period. Reiter chose down. Reiter out in eight seconds. Reiter led 1-0 after the second. Fanthorpe chose down to start the third. Fanthorpe reversal. With 1:35 riding time Fanthorpe wins 3-1. 141: No. 6 Manny Rivera (MN) decision No. 16 Nick Gallick (ISU) 7-3 Scoreless first period. Rivera chose down and escaped in five seconds. Double-leg takedown for Rivera. Rivera chose neutral and scored a quick double-leg takedown. Gallick warned for stalling. Rivera warned for stalling. Gallick escaped. Ankle-pick takedown for Rivera. Rivera cut him loose. With 2:08 riding time, Rivera wins 7-3. 149: No. 1 Dustin Schlatter (MN) decision No. 16 Mitch Meuller (ISU) 8-1 Spin-around takedown for Schlatter. Schlatter got an arm-bar but couldn't quite turn. Meuller warned for stalling. Schlatter led 2-0 after the first. Meuller chose neutral. Single-leg takedown for Schlatter. Meuller escape. Schlatter led 4-1 after the second period. Schlatter chose down and escaped in eight seconds. Meuller in on a single but Schlatter fought it off. Blood time for Meuller. Takedown on the edge at the buzzer for Schlatter. Schlatter won 8-1 with 2:49 riding time. 157: No. 10 Cyler Sanderson (ISU) decision No. 4 C.P. Schlatter (MN) 3-2 Scramble at the end of the first period but no scoring. Sanderson chose down and escaped in eleven seconds. Sanderson led 1-0 after the second period. Schlatter chose down and escaped in three seconds. Tied at 1-1. Sanderson in on a single-leg, after a scramble Sanderson gets the two points. Schlatter escaped with :52 left and trailed 3-2. Sanderson wins 3-2. 165: No. 7 Jon Reader (ISU) decision No. 13 Scott Glasser (MN) 6-1 Reader in on a single leg - scramble - Reader takedown. Reader led 2-0 after the first period. Reader chose down. After :30 Reader reversed. Glasser warned for stalling. Reader led 4-0 after the second period. Glasser chose down. Stall point for Reader. Glasser escape. Reader won 6-1 with 3:12 riding time. 174: No. 6 Gabe Dretsch (MN) decision Aron Scott (ISU) 9-2 Dretsch in on a lift single leg. Scott called for fleeing the mat - one point for Dretsch. Another lift single for Dretsch - off the mat - no takedown. Takedown for Dretsch. Dretsch led 3-0 after the first period. Dretsch chose down and escaped in five seconds. Scot warned for stalling. Single-to-a double leg takedown for Dretsch. Dretsch led 6-0 after the second period. Scot chose down. Dretsch cut Scot loose for an escape. Double leg takedown for Dretsch. Scot escaped when Dretsch tried to turn him. Dretsch won 9-2 with 1:33 riding time. 184: No. 1 Jake Varner (ISU) decision No. 2 Roger Kish (MN) 3-0 Scoreless first period. Varner chosed down and escaped in six seconds. Varner scored a takedown off a Kish single leg attempt. Varner led 3-0 after the second period. Kish chose neutral. Varner won 3-0. 197: No. 18 David Bertolino (ISU) decision Justin Bronson (MN) 4-0 Bertolino takedown halfway into the first period. Bertolino chose down to start the second period. Bertolino escape. Bertolino led 3-0 after the second period. Bronson chose down. Bertolino got high and Bronson nearly got a reversal, but it was called a stalemate. With 3:06 riding time Bertolino won 4-0. Hwt: No. 5 David Zabrinski (ISU) decision Ben Berhow (MN) 7-2 Zabrinski takedown. Berhow escape. Zabrinski led 2-1 after the first period. Zabrinski chose down. Zabrinski escaped after 1:00. Zabrinski scored a single leg takedown. Zabrinski led 5-1 after the second period. Berhow chose down and escaped in :15. Zabrinski scored a single leg takedown. Zabrinski won 7-2.

VESTAL, N.Y. -- Binghamton wrestling has signed four high school athletes to National Letters of Intent, head coach Pat Popolizio announced Thursday. Set to join BU's program in 2008-09 are Donnie Vinson (Whitney Point, N.Y.), Nate Scheidel (Caledonia, N.Y.), Carl Korpi (Miller Place, N.Y.) and Drew Bloss (Cornwall, N.Y.). "This is our best recruiting class," Popolizio said. Heading the class is Vinson from nearby Whitney Point. Vinson was a New York State runnerup, and a Cadet Freestyle National Champion. As a junior, he went 38-3. He is a five-time ASICS All American, and was ranked the No. 62 recruit in the nation by Intermat. Vinson is expected to compete at 149 pounds. Scheidel is a two-time state placewinner who went 45-1 last season. He took third at the state championship twice, and is a three-time ASICS All-American. A top 250 recruit according to Intermat, Scheidel will likely compete at 184. "Getting two recruits of this caliber shows just how much progress we have made," Popolizio said. "We got the best local athlete and a blue chipper from New York - two of our main focuses." Korpi placed fourth at the NHSCA Junior Nationals last spring, and will compete at 197. Bloss, a Section I champion, is also signed at 125.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- Lehigh opened up the EIWA dual season by winning seven of ten bouts in a 24-13 win over Rutgers Friday night inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. The Mountain Hawks earned six wins by decisions and a quick pin from sophomore Mike Galante to win their third straight dual and improve to 3-4 on the season. Rutgers falls to 0-2 with the setback. "To go 7-3 in bouts against this team (Rutgers) is pretty good," said Lehigh coach Greg Strobel. "I was concerned it might be 5-5 or even 6-4 in their favor. We wanted to go out and get bonus points and Galante gave us those, and we also got six other wins in workmanlike fashion." The dual began at 285 and sophomore Justin Allen gave the Mountain Hawks an early lead. A second period reversal and a pair of third period takedowns gave Allen a 7-4 win over D.J. Russo. Rutgers took six big points back at 125, where Ryan Fikslin trailed Lehigh freshman Mitch Berger 4-0 after two periods. Berger chose bottom for the third, but Fikslin was able to turn Berger and scored a fall at the 5:37 mark. Junior Kevin Vinh tied the dual at six with a 5-2 win over Dan Hilt, avenging a loss to Hilt last season. The Scarlet Knights would regain the lead however; as No. 19 Steve Adamcsik scored an early five point move and went on to earn a 13-4 major decision over senior Jeff Santo. Down 10-6 after four bouts, Lehigh reeled off five straight wins to take control of the dual. At 149, Trevor Chinn scored second and third period takedowns to defeat Spencer Kent 6-2. Dave Nakasone gave Lehigh the lead at 12-10 with a 5-2 win over Chris Norrell at 157. Galante delivered the excitement, even if he was on the mat for barely thirty seconds, as he hit a cement job on Matt Rigoglioso and was able to secure a fall in 23 seconds, the fastest Lehigh fall so far this season and Galante's second pin of the year. Freshman Alex Caruso and sophomore David Craig completed the run, as Caruso won a 6-3 decision over Mike Whalen at 174, and Craig followed with a 4-0 blanking of Keith Dobish. The final bout of the night went to the Scarlet Knights, with Lamar Brown winning 14-7 over Alex Iacocca, but Iacocca did score his second takedown of the bout in the final seconds to avoid yielding the major decision. The Mountain Hawks will return to the mats on Sunday when they will hit the road for a pair of duals. Lehigh will travel to No. 24 Maryland at 2 p.m. and then head to Washington for an EIWA match-up with American at 6 p.m. Both duals will be broadcast online at Lehighsports.com with streaming audio powered by Yahoo! Sports.

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bucknell wrestling squad collected its first two duals victories of the season as the Orange and Blue defeated George Mason, 23-20, and blanked Millersville, 37-0, in its home opener on Saturday afternoon in Davis Gym. Following the day's action, the Bison are now 2-4 on the year, while the Patriots move to 2-1 and the Marauders fall to 0-2. Bucknell started off strong against George Mason, registering wins in the first four bouts. Beginning at 125, sophomore Greg Hart (Bedminster, N.J./Bernards) posted a 4-1 decision over Denny Herndon, classmate David Marble (Harpursville, N.Y./Harpursville Central) followed up with a 9-3 victory at 133, while sophomore Luke Chohany (Duncannon, Pa./Susquenita) and freshman Kevin LeValley (Hugo, Colo./Limon) notched major decisions to give the Bison a 14-0 advantage. Chohany, the 141-pounder for the Orange and Blue, downed Brandon Bucher, 10-2, and LeValley recorded a 10-2 win over Aaron Keeton in the 149-pound bout. The Patriots put their first points on the board with an 11-3 major decision by Frankie McLaughlin over sophomore Brantley Hooks (Spartanburg, S.C./James F. Byrnes) at 157, but Bucknell answered with a major decision of its own in the next match as 165-pounder Andy Rendos (Brockway, Pa./Brockway Area) was victorious over Tyler Tisdell by a 14-4 margin. A pin by George Mason in the 174-pound match-up brought the Patriots within striking distance at 18-10, with three bouts remaining. However, freshman David Thompson (West Liberty, Ohio/Graham Local) clinched the Bison victory with a 15-0 technical fall against Bill Widener at 184. George Mason went on to record wins at 197 and 285 to bring the final score to 23-20. In its 37-0 rout of Millersville, Bucknell registered five wins for bonus points, highlighted by Hart's pin against John Andel 4:44 into the 125-pound match, which gave the Bison a 6-0 start. Four additional members of the Orange and Blue posted major decisions. Marble was victorious by the score of 20-10 over Mark Stockdill at 133, LeValley defeated Cody Becker 9-1 at 149, Rendos won 14-3 over David Morey at 165 and David Thompson downed Steve Funk, 13-4, at 184. Also contributing points for the Bison were 141-pounder Chohany with a 3-2 win against Michael Greck, freshman Ryan Ochalek (Oil City, Pa./Oil City) with a 6-0 decision over Phil Santee at 157, sophomore Shane Riccio (Warren, N.J./Watchung Hills) with a 9-5 victory versus Jeremy Brooks at 174, freshman Charlie Wonsettler (Scenery Hill, Pa./Bentworth) with a 6-4 win in the 197-pound bout against Keith McDonald and heavyweight George Hingson (Moon Township, Pa./Moon Area) with a 6-3 decision over Raymond Bennett. Bucknell will continue its homestand with an EIWA dual on Tuesday, Dec. 4, as the Bison will take on Franklin & Marshall at 7:30 p.m. in Davis Gym.

The No. 10 Wisconsin wrestling team (4-0 overall, 0-0 Big Ten Conference) competed against some of the top teams in the country Saturday at the 26th annual Cliff Keen Invite in Las Vegas, Nev. The Badgers placed fifth out of 50 teams, scoring 107.5 points. Michigan captured the team title by scoring 127.5 points and Missouri was just 2.5 points behind at 125.0 points for second place. Ohio State finished third with 121.0 points and Nebraska placed fourth with 112.5 points. Nine Badger grapplers competed at the Cliff Keen Invite and the team was led by a first place finish from junior Dallas Herbst at the 197 lbs. division. Herbst went undefeated at the invite, winning all five matches. Four of his wins were by pins with the fifth coming as a major decision victory. In the finals, Herbst, who was seeded second, faced the No. 1 seed, Max Askren from Missouri and in the final seconds, pinned him at 6:47. Herbst improves to 13-0 on the season and now has 40 career falls, which is seven away from Lee Kemp's record of 47. Five other Wisconsin wrestlers placed in their respective weight classes. Senior Craig Henning finished third overall at 157 lbs. In the third place match, he faced Pittsburgh's Matt Kocher and captured a 4-2 decision. Before the third place bout though, Henning had a rematch against Big Ten Conference foe Mike Poeta from Illinois in the semi finals. Poeta defeated Henning at the National Wrestling Coaches Association All-Star Classic back on Nov. 19 and the Illini grappler won again, 6-1 on Saturday. Before the bout with Poeta, Henning won four straight and finished the invite 5-1. Junior Kyle Massey also captured a third place finish at heavyweight. Massey won six straight to make it to the quarterfinal match against Tervel Dlagnev from Nebraska-Kearney. Massey lost a close 3-1 decision but came back to defeat John Wise from Illinois in the third place match, 9-2. Sophomore Kyle Ruschell also placed for the Badgers, finishing fifth at 141 lbs. He dropped his first match of the invite but also won three straight to advance to the semifinals where he faced Ohio State's Jeff Jaggers. Jaggers, who was seeded second defeated Ruschell with a pin in 3:20 but Ruschell prevailed 5-3 in the fifth-place match against Ryan Williams from Old Dominion. Junior Zach Tanelli went 5-2 at the invite and finished seventh overall at 133 lbs. He opened with a major decision win (13-1) over Virginia Tech's Nick Murray but then dropped his next match, 4-2 to Hofstra's Louie Ruggirello. Tanelli then went on to win three-straight to make it into the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, Tanelli faced North Carolina-Greensboro's Jeff Hedges and dropped a close 6-5 decision. Tanelli then met Navy's Joe Baker in the seventh place match and win by a 5-2 score. Sophomore Trevor Brandvold also finished seventh at 184 lbs. Brandvold finished the invite 5-2 which included a tight 4-3 decision over Penn's Lior Zamir in the seventh place bout. At 125 lbs., senior Collin Cudd won three-straight during the wrestleback rounds but then dropped his first match of the year against Nikko Triggas from Ohio State by an 8-3 score. Cudd finished the invite 3-2. At 165 lbs., senior Jake Donar won his first match 5-1 against Jason Coyne from Navy but had an early exit from the invite after dropping his next two matches. Junior Justin Peterson won his first three matches of the day at 174 lbs. before falling 6-4 to Penn's Scott Giffin. Peterson had one more bout in the round of 32 and dropped another close 8-6 decision to Virginia Tech's Eric Decker. The Badgers return to dual action next weekend with a match at Northern Iowa on Friday, Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. and then open the Big Ten season in Columbus, Ohio at 6:30 Monday, Dec. 10 against No. 16 Ohio State. Select Badgers were to compete at tomorrow's Northern Iowa Open but the event has been cancelled due to the weather.

LAS VEGAS -- Second-seeded and third-ranked Mike Poeta earned his first Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational title Saturday with a 4-3 win over top-seeded and top-ranked Gregor Gillespie of Edinboro. He also was named Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament. Heavyweight John Wise finished fourth for Illinois to cap a sixth-place finish at the Las Vegas Convention Center. "That was a big win for Mike," Illinois coach Mark Johnson said. "We needed him to do that. "As a team, it was tough because we didn't have a full squad. We left one starter at home and had to pull two others out of the tournament (because of injuries). If you put those guys where they should've been, we would've done much better." Poeta got a takedown with 1:34 remaining in the first period, but Gillespie escaped to cut Poeta's lead to 2-1. In the second period, Poeta started down and was unable to escape as Gillespie rode him out. In the third, Gillespie started down and scored an escape to grab a 3-2 lead, plus the riding time he had accumulated in the second period. But Poeta started a scramble and scored a takedown before riding him out for the 4-3 win. It is the sixth win of his career over a higher-ranked opponent. "I have to give (Gillespie) a ton of respect," Poeta said. "Winning a tournament like this is a bonus because the only thing everybody cares about is the national tournament. To beat tough wrestlers like Gregor and (Wisconsin's) Craig Henning, that's a great confidence boost." Wise struggled in his match against Wisconsin's ninth-seeded and 16th-ranked Kyle Massey, dropping a 9-2 decision. The Illini return to action next Saturday with their first home meet, hosting Findlay and McKendree College at Huff Hall at noon.

Sophomore 149-pounder Darrion Caldwell defeated his third top-10 opponent in a week's time Saturday, his second in a span a few hours, to win the individual 149-pound championship at the 2007 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Caldwell, ranked No. 6 in the latest NCWA coaches poll, won the championship with an 8-6 decision over third-ranked J.P. O'Connor of Harvard. Earlier in the day, Caldwell routed second-ranked Josh Churella of Michigan with a 12-3 major decision. Caldwell rolled through the tournament's first three rounds on Friday, pinning Sean Flynn of College of New Jersey in 74 seconds, than winning a 4-1 decision over No. 19 Cesar Grajales of Penn and a 4-2 decision over Ryan Etherton of Nebraska-Kearney. Caldwell is now 13-1 for the 2007-08 season with seven pins and five victories over ranked opponents. Meanwhile, junior 141-pounder Joe Caramanica finished fourth in his weight class after dropping a 6-4 decision to fourth-ranked Charles Griffin of Hofstra. Caramanica, who lost in the second round of the tournament on Friday, worked his way through the wrestlebacks by winning five bouts in a little more than 24 hours, including a 6-4 decision over No. 11 Kyle Ruschell of Wisconsin. With his fourth-place finish, Caramanica is now 10-3 on the season with two pins and three wins over ranked opponents. NC State now will take most of the next month off from competition, then will return to action December 28-29 at the Southern Scuffle in Greensboro.

Las Vegas, NV -- Seniors Charles Griffin and Dave Tomasette placed third and fourth, respectively, and sophomore Lou Ruggirello was fifth to lead the Hofstra Pride to a 10th place finish at the 26th annual Cliff Keen-Las Vegas Invitational at the Las Vegas Convention Center Saturday night. The Pride finished with 61 points in the 50-team field. Michigan captured the team title with 127.5 points followed by Missouri with 125 and Ohio State with 121. Griffin, the number three-ranked wrestler in the country and the top-seed in the Invitational, dropped a 6-2 decision to 13th-seed Kellen Russell from Michigan in the semifinals Saturday afternoon. He then defeated conference foe Ryan Williams from Old Dominion, 3-1 in sudden victory to advance to the third-place match against North Carolina State's Joe Caramanica. In that match, Griffin posted a 6-4 victory to post his highest-ever finish at the CKLV Invitational. Griffin was 6-1 in the tournament to improve to 10-2 on the year. Tomasette posted a 3-1 record on Saturday to place fourth in the Invitational. After losing in the quarterfinals Friday night, Tomasette recorded a 9-2 victory over Tony Mustari from Northern Colorado, defeated Brandon Kinney from Columbia, 6-5, and won by default over top-seed Paul Donahoe from Nebraska to reach the third place match. In that match, Tomasette faced sixth-seed Rollie Peterkin from Penn for the second time in the tournament after a 9-5 loss in the quarterfinals. The score was closer but the result was the same as Peterkin notched a 4-3 victory on the riding time point. Tomasette was 5-2 in the tournament to improve to 9-3 on the year. In action during the afternoon session, sophomore Lou Ruggirello placed fifth at 133 pounds. The top-ranked wrestler in the country opened the day with a victory by default over Raymond Dunning from Adams State. He then posted a 4-2 victory over the third-seeded Zach Tanelli from Wisconsin before being pinned, in overtime, at 7:53. Ruggirello then edged Jeff Hedges from UNC-Greensboro, 5-4, in the third place match. Ruggirello is now 12-2 on the year. Sophomore Jonny Bonilla-Bowman fell one round short of placing in the top eight with a 12-8 loss to seventh-seeded Zac Fryling from West Virginia. The transfer from Virginia Tech posted a 3-2 record at the Invitational to improve to 3-4 on the season. Freshman Ryan Patrovich also fell one round short of placing Saturday afternoon with a 6-5 loss to Kurt Swatz from Boise State. Patrovich recorded a 4-2 mark at the Invitational to improve to 6-5 on the year. The Pride will host the Crimson of Harvard next Sunday, December 9 at the David S. Mack Sports Complex. Match time is 1 p.m. Tickets for the Harvard match as well as all remaining Pride home matches are still available. To purchase tickets click on the online tickets link on the homepage or call the Hofstra Athletic Ticket Office at (516) HOF-TIXX.

Las Vegas, Nev. -- A pair of Jordans led the Huskers to a fourth-place team finish on Saturday at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational in Las Vegas. Six of the nine Nebraska wrestlers competing finished in the top six, but NU was led by sophomores Kenny Jordan and Jordan Burroughs. Kenny Jordan, competing at 133 pounds, went a perfect 6-0 at Las Vegas to improve to 8-0 on the season. He racked up three bonus-point victories to start the tournament and ended with three straight decisions, including a 7-0 win over T.J. Dillashaw of Cal State-Fullerton in the finals. Meanwhile, Burroughs went 6-1 to earn third place at 149 pounds and run his season record to 15-2. Burroughs lost a 6-5 decision to Lance Palmer of Ohio State in the quarterfinals on the first day, but rebounded in the consolation bracket to earn a rematch with Palmer. It was another tight match, but Burroughs prevailed 2-1 in double overtime to earn third. Fellow sophomore Stephen Dwyer finished fifth with a 5-2 record. Dwyer finished the second day with a 3-1 decision over Jarrod King of Edinboro. Junior Brandon Browne earned a third-place finish after notching a 7-1 record. Browne opened competition with three-straight major decision wins, but lost 5-2 in the quarterfinals to John Dergo of Illinois. Browne wrestled his way through the consolation bracket and ended the second day with a 6-4 decision over Edinboro's Phil Moricone to finish third. Junior Vince Jones was impressive in his first action of the season. He opened the tournament with three straight pins, all in under a minute. Jones finished sixth with a 5-3 record, but two of those losses where to Louis Caputo of Harvard and all three were by two points. This is the second consecutive year that Nebraska has finished fourth as a team, while Michigan won the team title this year. Nebraska racked up 112.5 points this year, compared to just 94 last year. The non-varsity wrestlers competed at the Bob Smith Open in Hays, Kan., hosted by Fort Hays State. Freshman Tucker Lane continued an impressive start to his career winning all four of his matches and finishing first in the heavyweight division. Sophomore Levi Wofford claimed fourth at 184 pounds. The Huskers return to the mat on Thursday to face the defending NCAA champion Minnesota Golden Gophers in Minneapolis at 7 p.m.

Las Vegas, Nev. -- After two straight fourth place finishes at the event, Tanner Gardner made his final trip to the Las Vegas Invitational count. The senior won all five of his matches to improve to 17-0 on the year, and topped Missouri's Tony Pescaglia in the championship bout to claim his third tournament title of the year. Gardner, who three matches to advance to the semifinals yesterday, began the day with an 11-0 major decision over No. 16 Rollie Peterkin of Penn to advance to the championship bout. The two-time All-American then bested Pescaglia, 9-7, to win his third tournament title in as many tries. Facing a field that included ten of the nation's top 25 125-pounders, Gardner came out on top, improving his record to an unblemished 17-0. At 157 pounds, senior Josh Zupancic dropped a decision to No. 12 Mike Chandler of Missouri this morning, falling just one match short of placing. Stanford's next competition is set for Dec. 19, when the team will head back to Nevada for the annual Reno Tournament of Champions.

Las Vegas, Nev. -- The seventh-ranked Missouri wrestling team fell three points shy of defending its Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational Title, finishing second (125) to No. 10 Michigan (127.5). Sophomore heavyweight Mark Ellis (Peculiar, Mo.) earned Missouri's second consecutive Gorarrian Award honor for most falls in the tournament. Last season Ben Askren was the recipient. Seven Tiger grapplers finished among the top eight of their respective weight class with three, redshirt freshman Tony Pescaglia (125, Columbia, Mo.), sophomore Nicholas Marable (165, Collierville, Tenn.) and sophomore Maxwell Askren (197, Hartland, Wis.) advancing to the championship finals of their weight class. Pescaglia was the first Tiger to compete in the championship finals of the prestigious two-day event. After winning by default to No. 1 Paul Donahoe of Nebraska in the semi-finals, Pescaglia suffered a 9-7 loss to fourth-ranked Tanner Garnder of Stanford and finished second. Pescaglia wrapped up the tournament with a 5-1 record that included wins over No. 6 Collin Cudd of Wisconsin and No. 11 Gabe Flores of Illinois becoming the first Missouri wrestler in over five years to advance to the finals of the 125 pound bracket. Pescaglia's top-eight showing also marks the third straight season that a Missouri redshirt freshman advanced to and competed in the championship finals. Next in the finals was Marable at 165 pounds. After recording five straight wins, eighth-ranked Marable dropped a 7-4 decision to current No. 1 ranked Eric Tannembaum of Michigan. Tannenbaum, a 2007 All-American, gave Marable his first loss on the year and only the ninth loss of his still young Tiger career. After pinning three of his first four opponents at the tournament, Askren himself was pinned in the title round. Wrestling eighth-ranked Dallas Herbst of Wisconsin, Askren was stuck with 13 seconds remaining in the match. Improving on his sixth place showing from one year ago, junior Raymond Jordan (New Bern, N.C.) captured third after besting Rider's Doug Umbehauer in the 184 pound medal round. Jordan, ranked fifth in the nation, held off Umbehauer for the second time of the year to improve to 10-1 on the campaign. Competing in Missouri's season-opening dual, Nov. 9, Jordan won by technical fall, 22-7. Finishing sixth at 157 pounds, junior Michael Chandler (High Ridge, Mo.) was one of seven Tigers to finish among the top eight of his weight class. Chandler battled through the consolation bracket after suffering a 4-3 loss to No. 20 Tyler Sherfey of Boise State in his second bout of Saturday's action. Rattling off three straight wins by decision, Chandler lost to second-ranked Craig Henning of Wisconsin but rebounded with a 6-1 win by decision over Jeff Marsh of Michigan. In the end, Chandler was shut out by Sherfey, 6-0, to finish the day in sixth. Two Tigers, junior Marcus Hoehn (Farmington, Mo.) and Ellis finished seventh in their respective brackets. Hoehn, wrestling at 141 pounds, finished the two-day tournament with a 6-2 record. Holding off Boise State's Levi Jones, 6-3, Hoehn earned his first Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational top-eight honor. Hoehn's only losses of the tournament came to ranked opponents, No. 4 Jeff Jaggers of Ohio State and No. 14 Joe Caramanica of North Carolina State. Wrestling at heavyweight, Ellis earned his seventh place finish by pinning Pittsburgh's Zach Schaeffer in 49 seconds. The fall was Ellis' fourth of the two-day tournament and his fastest on the season. The Tigers will compete in their third dual of the season when they take on Tennessee Chattanooga, Sunday, Dec. 16 at Noon (CT). Missouri closes outs the 2007 calendar year with a Dec. 19 road dual with Pittsburgh.