InterMat Staff

AUBURN HILLS, MI -- Hawkeye junior Mark Perry won his first NCAA title Saturday night at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, MI. The 165-pounder defeated top-seed Oklahoma State senior Johny Hendricks, 4-3, in the finals. He is Iowa's first NCAA champion since Cliff Moore in 2004, and the Hawkeyes' 48th national champion in school history. Perry, who had an 0-6 career record against Hendricks, was down 2-0 before scoring a reversal and nearfall points late in the match to build a 4-2 lead. Hendricks escaped with six second left in the match, but Perry held on for the 4-3 victory. Perry ends the season with a 28-4 record. "Everyone knows how much this means to each individual," explained Perry. "I think it's a little extra special, I think, for me growing up with my dad as a college coach since I was six years old. I saw my dad's first national champion at Nebraska and that's been my life goal; it's the most important thing in my life. It's a sigh relief finally to win it after coming so close the past two years. It's huge for me." Iowa placed eighth in the team race with 57 points. Minnesota won the team title with 98.0 points, and Iowa State finished second with 88.5. "This is big for the program," said Iowa Head Coach Tom Brands. "It's very important; it's a big step for the program. When you're building and rebuilding, it's a huge step in the right direction."

AUBURN HILLS, Calif. -- Senior Derek Moore realized a life-long dream on Saturday night as he became the first ever UC Davis student-athlete to capture an NCAA national championship as he earned a 17-2 technical fall at 5:41 over No. 1 seed and previously undefeated Ryan Lang of Northwestern in the 141-pound championship match live on ESPN in front of an NCAA wrestling record crowd of 17,780 at the Palace of Auburn Hills. With five wins, one by fall and one by technical fall, Moore was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament to cap the historical night. Moore's win gives the Aggies a school-record point total of 29, which gives them a three-way tie for 22nd. The victory also makes Moore the only UC Davis wrestler to ever go undefeated in a season as he finished the year at 24-0. Minnesota won the team title with 98 points while Iowa State finished second with 88.5. "It's such a relief and a dream come true," said Moore. "It wasn't even in my wildest dreams that I thought I could earn a technical fall in the national championship match. It's a great way to end my collegiate career." Lang started the match with a takedown from a low leg attack. Much like last night, Moore earned a reversal with 1:39 left in the period to tie the match at 2-2. After Lang deferred to start the second period, Moore chose bottom and scored another reversal to go up 4-2. Moore then scored a two straight three-point near falls to close out the period. Another take down to start the third period followed by a two-point near fall and three-point near fall off a tilt ended the match with 1:29 remaining as Moore earned the technical fall. With the win, Moore becomes the first national champion from a California school at the 141-pound division since the NCAA reclassified the weight divisions in 1999. He also becomes the first UC Davis wrestler to earn All-American, a natinal championship and the Most Oustanding Wrestler. Lang was the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the nation all season, and a two-time All-American and Big Ten champion. "I haven't seen Lang wrestle all season except for about a minute or two the other day," said Moore. "He was really strong and got me quick at the start of the match, but he was riding deep and I was able to reverse him and use my funky style to roll him a few times." "Anytime you can crack that barrier and win a national title... it's just incredible," said head coach Lennie Zaleskey. "He (Moore) is one of the best competitors I've ever seen and he's got a heart to be the best. I hope this sends the message to those wrestlers in California that you don't have to leave the state to wrestle at a high level." Overall at nationals, the Aggies compiled school-record totals of 10 wins and 29 points. UC Davis was the top placing team from the Pac-10 Conference with 28.5 points as they had the only national finalist.

Just 33 miles from his hometown of Davison, Mich., sophomore Paul Donahoe became the ninth Nebraska wrestler to win a national championship as he defeated Oklahoma's Sam Hazewinkel in overtime, 3-1, in the finals at 125 pounds in the 2007 NCAA Championships at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Mich., on Saturday night. The Huskers finished 16th in the team race with 34.5 team points. "This is like a dream," Donahoe said. "I just want to thank all my coaches, all my high school teammates, my college teammates, my workout partners, my family, my dad and my grandma; my mom. I'm just thankful to everyone who believed in me." Donahoe scored a takedown in the sudden victory period to defeat Hazewinkel for the first time in his career. Hazewinkel had beaten Donahoe in their three previous meetings, including in the Big 12 finals, when Hazewinkel won by a 12-3 major decision. After a scoreless first period, Hazewinkel took an early 1-0 lead 18 seconds into the second period with an escape. Donahoe tied the match with an escape 30 seconds into the third period, and the match remained tied at the end of three periods. Donahoe becomes the second NU national champion under Mark Manning and the second 125-pound national champion for the Huskers. Jason Powell, Nebraska's last national champion, won the 125-pound title in 2004. Donahoe is also just the second sophomore to win a national championship. Tolly Thompson, a three-time All-American and the school record-holder for most wins in a career, won the 1995 heavyweight national championship as a sophomore.

Day 3 concludes with a thriller of a finals There's nothing like a thrilling conclusion to a novel or a movie to deliver a feeling that you've gotten your money's worth. The 2007 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships delivered more thrills and spills than a car chase in an action movie, with a number of upsets along the road to the title matches. Add in an exciting race to the team title, and truly exciting title bouts Saturday night with more twists and turns than a mountain road, and this collegiate championship will be long remembered as one of the best. After a back-and-forth battle between the University of Minnesota and Iowa State for the team title, the Golden Gophers crossed the finish line with 98 team points. The Cyclones were hot on their tail with 88.5. Missouri had a tremendous showing, placing third with 80 points. Northwestern, once viewed among the bottom performers in the Big Ten, tallied 71.5 points… while Oklahoma State, which had taken the team title four straight years, came in fifth with 69 points. Rounding out the top ten at the end of Saturday night: Michigan placed sixth with 62 points… Hofstra had 60.5… and Iowa, with 57 points, came in eighth � reportedly the Hawkeyes' worst standing since the early 1970s. Edinboro placed ninth with 56 points, with tenth place going to Ohio State with 54.5 points. It was Minnesota's third team title in the new millennium, having also won the honors in 2001 and 2002. In mapping out the route to the finals, let's look at what happened earlier in the day… Session 5: Championship Consolations Here are the wrestlers who earned All-American honors Saturday in the championship consolation rounds. 125: � Third Place: Top-seeded Troy Nickerson of Cornell shut out Angel Escobel, the seventh seed for the Indiana Hoosiers, 3-0. Nickerson is now a two-time All-American. � Fifth Place: Minnesota's fourth-seeded Jayson Ness pinned Lock Haven's Obe Blanc (seeded ninth) at 1:00. Ness' pin gave Minnesota much-needed bonus points in the team title race. � Seventh Place: Third-seeded Tanner Gardner of Stanford pinned Iowa's Charlie Falck, the fifth seed, at 2:41. Gardner is a repeat All-American, having placed eighth last year. 133: � Third Place: Top-seeded Nick Simmons of Michigan State got an 8-0 major decision over Tennessee-Chattanooga's no. 5 Matt Keller. Simmons completes his career as a Spartan as a four-time All-American. � Fifth Place: Cal Poly's no. 6 Darrell Vasquez defeated Tyler McCormick of Missouri (seeded eighth) by the score of 7-4. Vasquez becomes a two-time All-American, having finished fourth at the 2004 NCAAs. � Seventh Place: In a battle of unseeded wrestlers, Penn State's Jake Strayer pinned Andrae Hernandez of Indiana at 2:38. 141: � Third Place: In something of an upset, no. 11 Charles Griffin of Hofstra defeated Oklahoma State's third-seeded Nathan Morgan, 6-2. � Fifth Place: One of the Cinderella stories through much of the 2007 NCAAs, Rider University's unseeded Don Fisch pinned Brandon Rader of West Virginia (seeded seventh) at 4:42. Fisch had knocked off four ranked opponents in his three days at Auburn Hills. � Seventh Place: Two unseeded wrestlers who went at it for the second time at this tournament: J. Jaggers of Ohio State beat Harvard's Max Meltzer 7-1. In their first-round match-up, the Buckeye beat the Crimson wrestler 11-5. 149: � Third Place: Two former Ohio high school superstars vied for third place. Top-seeded Dustin Schlatter of Minnesota defeated Ohio State's no. 10 Lance Palmer 1-0. � Fifth Place: Harvard's sixth-seeded J.P. O'Connor beat unseeded Tyler Turner of Wisconsin, 6-4. � Seventh Place: Unseeded Matt Coughlin of Indiana got an 11-6 victory over Cornell's no. 4 Jordan Leen. 157: � Third Place: Fifth-seeded Mike Poeta of Illinois defeated Hofstra's no. 3 James Strouse, 2-1, TB1. � Fifth Place: Matt Kocher, the eleventh seed for Pittsburgh, exceeded expectations by edging out Minnesota's no. 4 C.P. Schlatter 2-1. � Seventh Place: Yet another match-up featuring unseeded wrestlers, with Stanford's Josh Zupancic coming out on top of Ryan Hluschak of Drexel, 11-10, TB1. 165: � Third Place: Missouri's Matt Pell, seeded ninth, pinned no. 3 Eric Tannenbaum of Michigan at 3:15. Pell was a pinning machine, securing four pins in the tournament, three of them in the wrestlebacks. � Fifth Place: Fourth-seeded Travis Paulson of Iowa State got a 5-4 victory over Hofstra's Mike Patrovich, who had been seeded sixth. Paulson had been behind 5-3 when he scored a takedown with less than 20 seconds remaining. � Seventh Place: In the second pin in this weight class, no. 7 Deonte Penn of Edinboro put unseeded Central Michigan wrestler Mike Miller's shoulders to the mat at 4:55. 174: � Third Place: Iowa's Eric Luedke, seeded fifth, defeated Navy's no. 8 Matt Stolpinsky, 3-2. � Fifth Place: Unseeded Brandon Mason ended an incredible tournament with a 1-0 upset win over Michigan's third-seeded Steve Luke. � Seventh Place: Battling back from a first-round loss, no. 7 Brandon Sinnott of Central Michigan got a 7-3 victory over Columbia's no. 9 Matt Palmer. 184: � Third Place: Minnesota's second-seeded Roger Kish defeated no. 7 Alex Clemsen of Edinboro 3-2. Kish, a native of Michigan, is now a two-time All-American. � Fifth Place: Avenging a regular-season loss �- and thrilling the host-school fans � Michigan's no. 4 Tyrel Todd pinned third-ranked freshman Mike Pucillo of Ohio State at 4:34. � Seventh Place: In a battle of the Ivies, tenth-seeded Louis Caputo of Harvard shut out Cornell's unseeded Josh Arnone, 2-0. 197: � Third Place: In an upset, no. 11 Chris Weidman of Hofstra defeated Ohio State's J.D. Bergman, 9-4. Weidman becomes a two-time All-American; Bergman was attempting to become the first wrestler in NCAA history to wrestle back to third place after a first-round loss in two different tournaments. � Fifth Place: Fourth seed Phil Davis of Penn State scored a 9-4 victory over Cornell's Jerry Rinaldi, seeded fifth. Davis, runner-up last year, ended his career as a three-time All-American. He had defeated Rinaldi twice in the tournament. � Seventh Place: Northwestern's Mike Tamillow, seeded third, defeated Big Ten rival Nick Roy, Michigan's unseeded wrestler, 7-3. Hwt: � Third Place: Northwestern's Dustin Fox, seeded fourth, got a 3-1 win over no. 5 Ty Watterson of Oregon State. � Fifth Place: Bubba Gritter, the third-seeded big man for Central Michigan, defeated no. 12 Wade Sauer of Cal State Fullerton, 9-6. � Seventh Place: Iranian-born Payam Zarrinpour, the unseeded wrestler from Sacred Heart, beat Bloomsburg's no. 9 Michael Spaid, 11-8. Zarrinpour became Sacred Heart's first Division I All-American athlete in any sport. The team race BEFORE the finals… As of Saturday afternoon � before the finals -- it looked as if Minnesota and Iowa State were locked in a drag race for the team title. By the end of the championship consolation matches that determine third through eighth places, the Golden Gophers had pulled ahead of the Cyclones in the team standings, with 92 points to Iowa State's 84.5. Missouri was in third place in the team race with 76 points, with Oklahoma State in fourth with 69. Northwestern had 67.5 points for fifth place, while host school Michigan had 62. Rounding out the top ten as of Saturday afternoon: Hofstra with 60.5, Ohio State with 57.5, Penn State with 54, and Iowa in tenth place with 53. Among the top ten teams, here are how many finalists each school has: � 1. Minnesota: 1 finalist (Cole Konrad) � 2. Iowa State: 3 finalists (Trent Paulson, Jake Varner, Kurt Backes) � 3. Missouri: 1 finalist (Ben Askren) � 4. Oklahoma State: 2 finalists (Coleman Scott, Johny Hendricks) � 5. Northwestern: 2 finalists (Ryan Lang, Jake Herbert) � 6. Michigan: 1 finalist (Josh Churella) � 9. Penn State: 1 finalist (Aaron Anspach) � 10. Iowa: 1 finalist (Mark Perry) Session 6: The Finals 125: Two Big 12 rivals who had wrestled at the conference championships two weeks earlier met up again -- Oklahoma senior Sam Hazewinkel vs. junior Paul Donahoe from Nebraska. There was no scoring in the first period. In the second, Hazewinkel escaped to make the score 1-0. In the third, Donahoe, who is originally from Davison, Michigan, scored the escape to tie it up 1-1 in regulation. In overtime, the Cornhusker then got the takedown to secure the 3-1 sudden victory… reversing the outcome from the Big 12 championships. In a post-match press conference, when asked how it feels to defeat someone he's never beaten before, the newly crowned champ Paul Donahoe said, "Hazewinkel beat me 10-3 or 11-3, but I knew that wasn't a good match I wrestled. I'm so happy now." 133: Defending champ Matt Valenti of Penn brought a 32-4 record to his finals match against Oklahoma State's Coleman Scott. The Cowboy scored first with a takedown, followed by one from Valenti to knot the score at 2-2 at the end of the first period. In the second, Valenti accumulates 1:40 in riding time. In the third, Valenti chooses down, Scott cuts him loose. With riding time, the final score is 4-2… with the Quaker claiming his second consecutive national championship. Asked to compare this title win to his in 2006, Valenti replied, "It's just as sweet this year. A national title is a national title. The second is nice, just as nice as the first and it's just a great feeling." 141: In a battle of the undefeateds, top-seeded Ryan Lang of Northwestern brought a 28-0 against UC Davis second-seed Derek Moore (22-0) in the finals. Lang got a takedown right away, with Moore getting the reversal to tie it up 2-2 in the first period. Moore scored a reversal early in second period to make it 4-2; Moore got Lang on his back but the Wildcat got out of the predicament… but not before the California wrestler scored three back points. Moments later, the Aggie put Lang into a cradle to get another three points, making the score 10-2 at the end of the second. In the third, Lang chose neutral; Moore got two takedowns plus snapped down the Northwestern wrestler for two more points. Yet another takedown made it 14-2… with a third set of three additional back points to make the final score a 17-2 technical fall at 5:31. A totally dominating performance by Derek Moore. In talking about winning the title on a technical fall, Moore said, "It was maybe (in) my wildest dreams. It's just crazy to be able to get on top of that guy and be able to turn him and turn him. At every point I was just building and building. It's just insane being here." 149: This match-up featured home crowd favorite Josh Churella of nearby Northfield, Michigan who competed at the University of Michigan like his older brother Ryan and his dad Mark (a three-time NCAA champ in the late 1970s). The junior Wolverine brought in a 30-4 record, while his opponent, freshman Gregor Gillespie of Edinboro, had a 32-2 record. In the first period, there was plenty of action, with hand fighting and takedown attempts, but no score. In the second period, Churella took bottom, got a reversal to make it 1-0 with the home crowd cheering "Let's go Blue." Gillespie tried a handful of shots, but no other scoring in the period. In the third, Gillespie took down, tried to roll out…and eventually escaped to tie up score 1-1. No other scoring in regulation, sending the bout into overtime. Lots of activity, but the move that mattered: the Fighting Scot got the takedown with approximately 15 seconds left to win 3-1 in sudden victory. "I had quite a bit of confidence coming in," said Gillespie, a native of upstate New York. "Coach always tells me �believe in yourself.' I try to do that as much as possible and I know he believes in me as well. That really helped out." 157: Trent Paulson was one of three Iowa State wrestlers to find himself in the finals. The Cyclone senior brought a 29-4 record to the 2007 NCAAs. His opponent, Craig Henning of the University of Wisconsin, is a junior with a 30-3 record. Not a whole lot of action in this battle of the Midwest, until Henning scored a takedown. Trent scored an escape, making it 2-1 at the end of the first. Henning choose bottom, eventually escaped. Paulson got an injury timeout. When action resumed, the Cyclone kept trying leg shots but the Badger countered. Second period ended with score 3-1. Paulson got a quick escape to make it 3-2. With 1:42, Paulson scored a takedown to take the 5-2 lead. With less than 15 seconds left, Paulson got another takedown, then released Henning to make the score 6-5 Iowa State. "He's really funky," said Trent Paulson of his finals rival. "I knew he was a really good scrambler so I didn't want to take the chance on getting the scramble and giving up the reversal. I wanted to wrestle on my feet and score points there, especially after being taken down right away. I didn't want it to come down to riding time." 165: This may have been the most anticipated bout of the evening, if not the tournament: Johny Hendricks vs. Mark Perry. Hendricks, the two-time champ from Oklahoma State had a perfect 37-0 record, with a 56-match win streak… and a knack for stirring up bitter feelings in many wrestling fans. Perry, a junior with blood ties to Oklahoma State coach John Smith, had a 26-4 overall record… but more importantly, had wrestled the controversial Cowboy a handful of times in his college career, always coming out on the losing end. Until the 2007 NCAA finals There was no scoring in first period… nor any in the second, but Hendricks built up two minutes of riding time. In the third period, Hendricks took the bottom position, got a reversal to make it 2-0. Perry rolled out to tie it 2-2. Then, while the Iowan was riding, he turned Hendricks for 2 nearfall points to erase the Cowboy's riding time. Hendricks got an escape near the end of the match, but it wasn't enough. Perry got the 4-3 upset � his first victory over his long-time nemesis. In an interview after winning the 165-pound title, Mark Perry said, "I saw my dad's first national championship at Nebraska and that's been my life goal. It's the most important thing in my life. It's a relief to finally win it after coming so close the two past years. It's huge for me." 174: Ben Askren wanted to end his college career a winner. The defending champ from Missouri carried in an incredible 85-match win streak… and a reputation for being unbeatable. His rival for the title: second-seeded Keith Gavin of Pittsburgh. All season, Askren had complained of opponents who backed away from a fight. The Tiger got what he asked for; Gavin started immediately with a near double-leg but the two went off the mat. A few seconds later, the Pitt Panther got the takedown; Askren immediately escaped, making the score 2-1 at end of first. Gavin chose top, let Askren free to tie it up 2-2. Shockingly, Askren failed to score any offensive points in two periods, and, in fact, was called for stalling. In the third period, the champ made up for that scoring drought with a takedown and three back points to make the score 7-2. With riding time, Ben Askren won 8-2 … but the match was closer than indicated by the score When asked about being behind and indicating to Missouri head coach Brian Smith that he was OK, Askren replied, "I know I have a big gas tank and if I don't score big early I can always fall back on my conditioning. I heard him starting to breathe really hard and I knew I was going to get him sooner of rlater." 184: Many fans were salivating at the idea of a title bout between the two top seeds, Jake Herbert and Roger Kish. But Jake Varner of Iowa State had other plans, and knocked the Minnesotan out of title contention in the semifinals. The Cyclone freshman -- a two-time California high school state champ � carried in a 29-6 record to the finals… along with considerable pressure to secure a win, and boost his team into first place. Herbert, a junior at Northwestern, put a 30-0 record on the line. Varner was the aggressor right off the bat, going for the takedown. However, Herbert scored the first takedown to make the score 2-0 at the end of the first period. In the second, with the Iowa Stater taking top, Herbert escaped and immediately followed that with another takedown to rack up a 5-0 lead. Herbert was assessed one point for fleeing the mat, making the score 5-1 at the conclusion of the second. No actual scoring in the third, so, with over three minutes of riding time, the Wildcat got the 6-1 victory … helping Northwestern secure fourth place in the team race. Asked if this title vindicated his loss to Ben Askren in the 2006 finals, Herbert said, "Yes and no. It's never really going to erase that loss. I can't ever be a three-time national champ. All I can look forward to is keeping my streak alive and winning it again next year for the Wildcats." 197: Second-seeded Josh Glenn of American University faced off against Iowa State senior Kurt Backes in the finals. Glenn scored a takedown, making it 2-0. Backes escaped to close the first period with a 2-1 score. In the second, the American wrestler escaped, but the Cyclone got a takedown to tie the score at 3-3. Backes escapes to go ahead, but Glenn's riding time makes it 4-4. Glenn got another takedown for a 6-4 score. Referee Fred Ambrose � in his last match of his long career � conferred with other officials, and gave Backes an escape point. Upon review, however, Backes' escape and Glenn's last takedown were erased from the scoreboard, knotting the score back to 4-4 at the end of regulation. Just 12 seconds into overtime, Glenn brings Backes to the mat, making the final score 6-4… and avenging a loss to the Cyclone at the 2006 Midlands. Considering that loss, Josh Glenn.said immediately after winning the title, "I didn't approach it any differently than any other match. I stayed with the fundamentals that worked for me. I stayed solid and just kept attacking." Hwt: In a rematch of the 2007 Big Ten heavyweight title bout of just two weeks ago, defending champ Cole Konrad took on Penn State's Aaron Anspach. "King" Cole not only put his title on the line, but also a perfect 33-0 record and a 75-match winning streak in the last match of his college career, while the challenger Anspach, a junior, had a 21-3 record. The two titans of the Big Ten had faced each other twice in the 2006-2007 season, once in a dual meet which ended in a 5-1 decision for the massive Minnesotan, and at the conference championships, where the Nittany Lion was flattened at 2:20. Early in the bout, Konrad got an inside trip, putting Anspach on his back in a pinning predicament. The champ pressed his 285-pound body on top of the considerably lighter Penn Stater, and got the fall at 1:56 to claim his second title… joining Tim Hartung and Damion Hahn as the only Minnesota wrestlers to win two NCAA championships. "I was warming up, thinking that I was going to have to get the pin (to ensure Minnesota winning the team title) so that's the way I wrestled out there," said Konrad. "I was looking for a fall." Still perfect … Six of the twenty finalists entered the Palace of Auburn Hills on Saturday night with undefeated records. Of these, four left the arena still perfect: Derek Moore, Ben Askren, Jake Herbert, and Cole Konrad.

Did Cyclones blow Gophers off highway to team title? Over the long course of the 2006-2007 college wrestling season, most fans assumed that Minnesota had a green light leading to the team title at the 2007 NCAA Division I Championships. However, at the end of Day 2, it looks like the Golden Gophers' title hopes may have been blown off course by the Iowa State Cyclones. On Friday night, after the completion of Session Four, the team led by first-year head coach Cael Sanderson led the team race with 83.5 points, with Minnesota in hot pursuit with 80 points. In third place was Missouri, with 69.5, followed by Oklahoma State -- the team title winners for the past four years -- with 62.5 points. Right on the Cowboys' bumper is Northwestern, with 62 points for fifth place. Rounding out the top ten teams: host school Michigan has 55.5 points … Penn State takes seventh with 50 … Iowa has 48.5 … Hofstra is in ninth place with 48 … and Ohio State has 36.5 The road ahead to the team title looks to be slightly smoother for Iowa State than it does for Minnesota. The Cyclones have three wrestlers in the finals -- Trent Paulson, Jake Varner and Kurt Backes -- and one still alive in the consolation brackets, while the Gophers have just one finalist -- Cole Konrad -- and four in contention in the conseys. Right now, it looks likely that the winning team will be one located on I-35. The question is… will it be the school in the Twin Cities, or the one in Ames? Session 3: Quarterfinals By the time the championship matches were concluded about 2 p.m., it was interesting to see how many wrestlers had made it into the semifinals for each team. Minnesota -- which led the team standings at the end of the first day of competition -- had four Golden Gophers made it into the semifinals round (Jayson Ness, Dustin Schlatter, Roger Kish, and Cole Konrad). Iowa State also had four semifinalists: the Paulson twins, Jake Varner, and Kurt Backes … as did 2006 team champs Oklahoma State (Coleman Scott, Nathan Morgan, Johny Hendricks, and Brandon Mason.) Hofstra had three Pride wrestlers in the semis: Mike Patrovich, James Stouse, and Chris Weidman. Iowa had two (Eric Luedke and Mark Perry), and Missouri had one -- Ben Askren. 125: Top-seeded Sam Hazewinkel of Oklahoma got a 16-4 major decision over No. 9 Obe Blanc of Lock Haven, and Nebraska's No. 6 Paul Donohoe upset No. 3 Tanner Gardner of Stanford 8-3. There were a couple of shut-outs: No. 2 Troy Nickerson of Cornell beat Indiana's No. 7 Angel Escobel 2-0, while Minnesota's No. 4 Jayson Ness got a 3-0 victory over Iowa's No. 5 Charlie Falck. 133: Two more shut-outs in this weight class: Michigan State's No. 1 Nick Simmons got a 3-0 win over No. 9 Jimmy Kennedy of Illinois, while No. 2 Matt Valenti of Penn held Minnesota's No. 7 Mack Reiter a 4-0 loss. Oklahoma State's Coleman Scott, seeded fourth, got a 6-4 SV win over Tennessee-Chattanooga's No. 5 Matt Keller; No. 5 Darryl Vasquez of Cal Poly beat unseeded Penn State wrestler Jake Strayer 8-3. 141: In one of the bigger upsets of the third session, unseeded Don Fisch of Rider got a decisive 9-4 victory over Minnesota's No. 4 Manny Rivera. Another major match: Top-seeded Ryan Lang of Northwestern pinned unseeded Darrion Caldwell of North Carolina State at 2:29. UC Davis' No. 2 Derek Moore beat Tennessee-Chattanooga's unseeded Michael Keefe, while third-seeded Nathan Morgan of Oklahoma State defeated Hofstra's No. 11 Charles Griffin 6-4. 149: Top-seeded Dustin Schlatter of Minnesota got a 6-3 win over unseeded Wisconsin Badger 6-3, while hometown hero Josh Churella, seeded third for Michigan, beat No. 6 J.P. O'Connor of Harvard 8-5. Edinboro's No. 5 Gregor Gillespie topped fourth-seeded Jordan Leen of Cornell 6-2, and Ohio State's No. 10 Lance Palmer edged unseeded Matt Coughlin of Indiana 2-1. 157: Two closely contested bouts ended in upsets in this weight class: No. 7 Craig Henning of Wisconsin, who got a 3-2 victory over Arizona State's second-seeded Brian Stith while No. 5 Mike Poeta of Illinois edged No. 4 C.P. Schlatter of Minnesota 5-4. Iowa State's top-seeded Trent Paulson edged unseeded Josh Zupaniak of Cornell 3-2, while Hofstra's No. 3 James Strouse topped No. 11 Matt Kocher of Pittsburgh 5-3. 165: The surprise of this class: Hofstra's No. 6 Mike Patrovich edged No. 3 Eric Tannenbaum of Michigan by the score of 3-2. In a Big 12 battle, number-one seed Johny Hendricks of Oklahoma State got a 10-2 victory over No. 9 Matt Pell of Missouri, while Iowa State's No. 4 Travis Paulson got a 5-1 win over No. 5 Nick Baima of Northern Iowa. Second-seeded Mark Perry of Iowa defeated Edinboro's No. 7 Deonte Penn, 6-5. 174: Not too much of a surprise here: Top-seeded Missouri Tiger Ben Askren pinned Columbia's No. 9 Matt Palmer at 4:42. Second-seeded Keith Gavin of Pittsburgh topped Pennsylvania's Matt Herrington, 9-5. There were two shut-outs: No. 5 Eric Luedke of Iowa got a 5-0 win over American University's unseeded Rudy Rueda, and Oklahoma State's unseeded Brandon Mason defeated No. 11 Jeremy Larson of Oregon State, 6-0. 184: The top two seeds seemed to be on a collision course: Northwestern's No. 1 Jake Herbert scored at will on No. 9 Christian Sinnott of Central Michigan, 11-1, while No. 2 Roger Kish of Minnesota got a 9-5 victory over Edinboro's No. 7 Alex Clemsen. Iowa State's Jake Varner, ranked sixth, pinned unseeded Josh Arnone of Cornell at 1:54. Another home crowd favorite, No. 4 Tyrel Todd of Michigan, came out on top of Missouri's No. 5 Raymond Jordan by the score of 7-4. 197: A pin and a couple close matches highlight this weight class. American University's second-seeded Josh Glenn put Nebraska No. 7 Craig Brester's shoulders to the mat at 6:36. In an upset, No. 11 Chris Weidman of Hofstra surprised third-ranked Mike Tamillow of Northwestern with a 9-8 decision, while No. 9 Kurt Backes of Iowa State edged unseeded Nick Roy of Michigan, 4-3. Penn State's fourth seed Phil Davis got a 6-3 win over Cornell's No. 5 Jerry Rinaldi. Hwt: Defending champ Cole Konrad continued on a tear for Minnesota with a commanding 16-4 victory over No. 9 Mike Spaid of Bloomsburg, while Penn State second seed Aaron Anspach edged out Sacred Heart's Payam Zarrinpour, 5-4. The two Dustins still in title contention in the weight class didn't fare so well. In a slight upset, No. 5 Ty Watterson of Oregon State topped Northwestern's fourth-ranked Dustin Fox, 3-1, and No. 3 Bubba Gritter of Central Michigan defeated West Virginia's unseeded Dustin Rogers by the same score. Session 4: Semifinals On Friday evening, the drive toward ten individual champions which had started with 330 wrestlers on Thursday morning had been whittled down to 40 athletes. Here's what happened in the two matches in each weight class to determine who would face off in the finals Saturday evening. 125: For the finals, it will be two Big 12 rivals: Oklahoma senior Sam Hazewinkel -- a three-time third placer -- taking on Paul Donohoe from Nebraska. Hazewinkel dominated Minnesota freshman Jayson Ness 10-0 … while the sixth-seeded Cornhusker edged out Cornell's second-seeded -- 2006 runner-up -- Troy Nickerson, 2-1. When asked in an interview after the semifinals about how his past NCAA experience may help him in the 2007 finals, Hazewinkel replied, "(It'll help me) to always be offensive; when I start being defensive, I do my worst… in this tournament, the guy who makes the least mistakes wins." Donohoe said of his finals rival, "Sam is a great competitor. Last year I wrestled him in the quarterfinals and he beat me, 5-0. But the match was really close and he scored two points at the very end." 133: The title match will feature Matt Valenti vs. Coleman Scott. Valenti, the University of Pennsylvania senior, defending champ and top seed, won his match with a 4-2 victory over sixth-seeded Darryl Vasquez of Cal Poly. Oklahoma State junior Scott, seeded fourth, upset top-seeded Nick Simmons of Michigan State, 4-3, in the semifinals. When asked if his experience in last year's finals would help this year, Valenti replied, "It will definitely help in some sense. But at the same time, it's a different match… The only thing I'm going to take from that is that I want to do better this year than I did last year." "I've seen him once," said Scott of his finals opponent. "At the beginning of the year I wasn't wrestling my best and he ended up beating me by a couple points. I'm going to be ready here tomorrow night and just go out and wrestle like I know how, don't hold anything back, nothing to lose." 141: In a battle between number one and number two seeds, Ryan Lang will tangle with Derek Moore in the finals. The top-seeded Northwestern Wildcat ended unseeded Don Fisch's Cinderella story, edging the Rider wrestler 3-2. Second-seeded Moore of UC Davis got a 6-2 victory over Oklahoma State's No. 3 Nathan Morgan. Here's what Lang said of Moore: "He's good on top, he is real long and strong. It's going to be a hard match." "My career has come to this tournament, now undefeated in the national finals," said Moore. "I still don't believe it. It hasn't hit me yet." 149: In the title match, it'll be Josh Churella vs. Gregor Gillespie. In a Big Ten semifinals match-up, Churella, the third seeded man from Michigan, defeated No. 10 Lance Palmer, the Ohio State true freshman, by the score of 5-2. Representing Edinboro will be the fifth-seeded Gillespie, who knocked off the defending champ, top-seeded Dustin Schlatter of Minnesota, 3-2. 157: The two wrestlers seeking the title here held their semifinals opponents scoreless. Iowa State senior Trent Paulson, the top seed, shut out Illinois' No. 5 Mike Poeta, 4-0 … while Craig Henning, the Wisconsin junior seeded seventh in the tournament, eeked out a 1-0 win over third-seeded James Strouse of Hofstra. "It's been my goal even when I was a little kid," said Paulson. "I always wanted to be a national champion. To make it to the finals is a dream come true. I have just one more match." 165: Hendricks vs. Perry in the finals -- need we say more? These two have a considerable history, having battled each other seemingly countless times, with Johny Hendricks always coming out on top. The defending champ and top seed from Oklahoma State edged out Big 12 rival Travis Paulson, the fourth seed from Iowa State, 2-1. Iowa's Mark Perry, seeded second, was taken into overtime by Mike Patrovich… but the Hawkeye got win, 6-4, TB. When asked about his ongoing rivalry with Perry, Hendricks replied, "When we step on the mat, he don't like me and I don't like him. That's just the way it is. Off the mat, I try to be nice to everybody. I try to be, you know, the person that I am off the mat. I want to be that way. And I'll be nice to him until I step on the mat. But as soon as I step on the mat, we're enemies. That's just the way it has to be." "I'm going out to accomplish a goal I've had since I was six," said Perry in his interview after the semifinals. "I've lost to (Hendricks) I don't know how many times. I'm going to say, five, six, seven, eight, in my whole life and I've never beaten him… I'm not scared of him one bit. I'm not intimidated by him, and I'm going out to win. I don't care how many times he's beaten me. This is probably the last time I'll probably get a shot at it, so this is the one that means the most to me." 174: Does the Panther have a prayer against the Tiger? The defending champ and top-seeded Ben Askren of the Missouri Tigers is wrapping up a stellar collegiate career. Will he continue his win streak… or will the second-seeded Pitt Panther Keith Gavin rewrite history? Askren got an 8-3 win over Eric Luedke, the fifth-ranked Iowa Hawkeye… while Gavin edged out Oklahoma State's Brandon Mason, 4-3. Here's what the challenger Gavin said of the champ Askren: "The first two times I wrestled him, I changed my style because I bought into the hype thinking he was superior to everyone. I changed it, according to what I think would beat him and it didn't work, so obviously I'm just going to do what I need to do." "He's going to wrestle," said the undefeated senior from Missouri. "You know what, he might get pinned like he did twice earlier this year, but he's going to give it a swinging chance. He might get me on my back, who knows, at least he's going to try. I know he's going to try." 184: So much for the much-anticipated rematch of the 2007 Big Ten 184 finals. Instead, everything's Jake for the 184 finals… which is bad news for Roger Kish. The muscular Minnesotan, seeded second, lost in the semifinals to redshirt freshman Jake Varner of Iowa State (the sixth seed), 4-2 SV 1 … while top-seeded Jake Herbert, a junior from Northwestern, got a 13-4 major decision over Michigan's Todd Tyrel. "I know he's tough," said Varner of Herbert. "I haven't faced him in college yet. I wrestled him in freestyle right before my freshman year at Ohio State. He beat me once and I beat him twice. But he's tough. It's going to be a tough match." When asked about his "history" with the Cyclone freshman, Herbert replied, "Some people will let that get to them, but Jake looks like he's got it all together. He is a good kid. He works hard. He's got a great coach. It's just another wrestling match. If you can block everything out, it doesn't matter." 197: It'll be a battle of the No. two and nine seeded seniors in the finals. Second-seeded Josh Glenn of American University got his second fall in a row, pinning Hofstra's Chris Weidman, the No. 11 seed, at 4:27. Iowa State's ninth-seeded Kurt Backes got the 5-4 upset victory over Penn State's No. 4 Phil Davis, who was runner-up in this weight class at the 2006 NCAAs. Backes and Glenn wrestled each other at the 2006 Midlands. Here's the Cyclone senior's assessment of his finals rival: "He's a tough wrestler. He's pretty funky. I've faced many people like him. I'm excited for it." "It's going to be a fun match," said Glenn of his Iowa State opponent. "He is the only person I've lost to this year, so I'm looking at having another shot and it's going to be a great match." Hwt: This will be a rematch of the 2007 Big Ten heavyweight title bout of just two weeks ago. Cole Konrad, the defending NCAA and Big Ten champ and top-seeded big man from Minnesota, squeaked by with a 2-1 win over Oregon State's Ty Watterson, seeded fourth… while second-seeded Aaron Anspach from Penn State beat Central Michigan's No. 3 Bubba Gritter, 5-3. Referring to his loss two weeks ago at the Big Ten finals to Konrad, Anspach said, "Obviously I'm not going to do what I did last time. That didn't work too well. I'm going to wrestle a smart match with him. He's obviously a great wrestler, and I'm just going to try to give it my all." "It's going to be a battle," according to the two-time NCAA heavyweight champ. "I don't care what it was last time. It's a national final. They'll be going all out." The relentless pursuit of perfection … Interestingly, of the twenty finalists, seven of them bring undefeated records to the finals at the Palace of Auburn Hills: Sam Hazewinkel, Ryan Lang, Derek Moore, Johny Hendricks, Ben Askren, Jake Herbert, and Cole Konrad. The question is: After Saturday night, who will motor out of Motown still perfect?

Motoring through Day 1 For most of the top-seeded wrestlers at the 2007 NCAA Division I Championships at the Palace of Auburn Hills outside Detroit, the first day of competition was akin to motoring along a smooth stretch of open highway with the cruise control on. However, a number of seeds found a rocky road of bumps and unexpected turns … with at least one ending up completely in the ditch, unable to complete his expected journey to the championship. That wrestler who ran off the road was Max Askren, freshman phenom of the University of Missouri Tigers, seeded first at 197 pounds, who lost his first match of the day, knocking him into the wrestleback bracket. The journey got even rougher in Session 2, where Max lost to unseeded Eric Lapotsky of Bucknell, 5-2, ending the possibility of All-American status. Session 1: Rocky roads for some seeded stars A No. 1 seed crashes big time. Top seeded Missouri 197-pounder Max Askren was the largest casualty of the first session, losing to unseeded Brandon Halsey of Cal State Bakersfield, 5-4. Max is the younger brother of defending 174-pound champ senior Ben Askren, also seeded first. Losing the freshman sensation so early will undoubtedly hurt the Tigers in the team standings. Two No. 3 seeds knocked out. In the 133-pound weight class, unseeded Nick Gallick scored two falls in the first session, the first being Gardner-Webb's Rob Tate at 4:22. But more significant was the Cyclone's upset pin of third-seeded Adam Frey of Cornell at 2:41. Frey had scored first, and, in fact had turned Gallick to get the near fall. However, the Iowa Stater reversed the Cornell freshman to his back, securing the pin. At 174, No. 3 Steve Luke of host school Michigan lost to unseeded Brandon Mason of Oklahoma State, 2-1. Other seeds get run over by unseeded wrestlers. Among the less stunning upsets of the first session: At 125, Drexel's Steve Mytych shut out No. 12 Matthew Eveleth of University of Pennsylvania, 5-0, and Bloomsburg's Michael Sees decisive 9-4 victory over tenth-seeded Iowa State freshman Nick Fanthorpe. In addition to the Gallick-pins-Frey stunner, in the 133-pound weight class, Wisconsin's Zach Tanelli topped No. 11 Drew Headlee of Pittsburgh, 7-4, TB1, and Joe Baker of Navy beat No. 10 Evan Sola of North Carolina, 5-1. At 141, No. 9 Ken Hashimoto of Northern Colorado was pinned in 28 seconds by North Carolina State's Darrion Caldwell, while tenth-ranked Kyle Ruschell of Wisconsin lost a 12-10 decision to Tennessee-Chattanooga's Michael Keefe. In the 149-pound weight class, No. 9 Morgan Atkinson of Cal State Fullerton lost to Wisconsin's Tyler Tanner, 8-4. The 157-pound class saw one mild upset: No. 8 Seth Martin of Lock Haven lost on an 8-4 decision to Stanford's Josh Zupancic. At 165, there were three upsets. Eighth-seeded Anceverage of Cornell lost to Minnesota's Tyler Safratowich, 8-4. Arizona State's No. 11 Pat Pitsch came out on the losing end of a 6-4 decision to Central Michigan's Mike Miller. Maryland's Jason Kiessling edged Northern Illinois' twelfth-seeded Johnny Galloway, 4-3. In addition to the previously mentioned Mason-Luke surprise, the 174 weight class saw some lesser upsets, including Northwestern's unseeded Nick Hayes edging Navy's No. 8 Matthew Stolpinski, 6-5, TB1. At 184, in an intrastate matchup, Northern Illinois' Ryan Burk edged No. 11 John Dergo of Illinois, 4-3. There were a couple mild surprises among the big men. Sacred Heart heavyweight Payam Zarrinpour got a decisive 12-3 win over tenth-seeded Cody Parker of Cal Poly, while No. 11 Spencer Nadolsky of North Carolina lost to West Virginia's Dustin Rogers, 3-1, SV 1. Session 2: For most seeds, cruising towards the title With the exception of Max Askren, most of the seeded wrestlers rode through their Thursday afternoon/evening matches without incident. Among the highlights in each weight class: 125: The top ten seeds continue their journey towards a title, with Cornell's second-seeded Troy Nickerson and Minnesota's No. 4 Jayson Ness getting pins, with Iowa's Charlie Falck (seeded fifth) getting a 15-0 tech fall in 7:00, and No. 1 Sam Hazewinkel of Oklahoma and unseeded Mark McKnight of Penn State getting major decisions. 133: All ten of the top seeds were still in the title hunt as of the end of Thursday. 141: Second-seeded Derek Moore of UC-Davis and unseeded Darrion Caldwell of North Carolina State both won their Thursday evening bouts by pin; Minnesota's No. 4 Manny Rivera, No. 6 Alex Tsirtsis of Iowa, and Michigan State's No. 8 Andy Simmons -- all Big Ten men -- earned major decisions. 149: Missouri's unseeded Josh Wagner got the only pin in this class Thursday night; hometown favorite Josh Churella of Michigan (seeded third), No. 7 Scott Erwin of Appalachia State, Ohio State's tenth-seeded Lance Palmer, and No. 12 Dan Vallimont of Penn State got major decisions. 157: Three fall guys -- top-seeded Trent Paulson of Iowa State, No. 7 Craig Henning of Wisconsin, and unseeded Nathan Galloway, formerly of Penn State but now at Rider -- all put their opponents' shoulders to the mat. Major decisions were won by Minnesota's No. 4 C.P. Schlatter, No. 6 Brandon Becker of Indiana, No. 10 Moza Fay of Northern Iowa, and Penn State's unseeded Bubba Jenkins. 165: Three Big 12 wrestlers -- Oklahoma State top-seeded Johny Hendricks, fourth-ranked Trent Paulson of Iowa State, and Missouri's No. 9 Matt Pell -- all won their Thursday night matches by fall … while two unseeded wrestlers got major decisions: Purdue's Justin Fraga, and Andrew Rendos of Bucknell. 174: Unlike his younger brother, defending champ Ben Askren was seemingly on autopilot, getting a win by pin, as did two wrestlers from the Keystone state: second-seed Keith Gavin of Pittsburgh and No. 10 Matt Herrington of Penn. 184: In this weight class, there were two pins (Navy's unseeded Antonio Miranda, and Ohio State's No. 3 Mike Pucillo)… and a string of major decisions, including No. 1 Jake Herbert of Northwestern, No. 2 Roger Kish of Minnesota, No. 4 Tyrel Todd of Michigan, No. 8 Joe Rovelli of Hofstra, and Lehigh's unseeded David Craig. Harvard's No. 10 Louis Caputo got a 17-2 tech fall at 5:53. 197: Among those who won by pin: Hofstra's No. 11 Chris Weidman, No. 12 Dallas Herbst of Wisconsin, and unseeded Hudson Taylor of Maryland. Earning a win by major decision: No. 7 Craig Brester of Nebraska Lincoln, and Kurt Backes, seeded ninth for Iowa State. Heavyweight: Navy's sixth-seeded Ed Pendergrast sunk his opponent with a fall; No. 2 Aaron Anspach of Penn State, Central Michigan's No. 3 Bubba Gritter, and unseeded Payam Zarrinpour of Sacred Heart all scored major decisions.

An interview with: COACH J ROBINSON COACH CAEL SANDERSON COACH BRIAN SMITH COACH JOHN SMITH COACH JOE McFARLAND JOHN CARVALHO: I'll introduce each of the coaches, and we'll ask them to make an opening statement. First, we'll introduce Joe McFarland, eight years head coach at University of Michigan, host school. COACH JOE McFARLAND: Thank you. Nice to be here. The day has finally arrived or the weekend has finally arrived, I should say. This all started back a number of years ago. I got a phone call out of the blue from Dave Beachnau from the Detroit sports commission. He was interested in hosting the NCAA championships. I'll be honest with you, I was pleasantly surprised because I just thought it would be instantly I thought it would be a great idea. Wow, bringing the NCAA championships to the state of Michigan. I know what a special event it is for all of us wrestling fans. It's real nice to have it here and showcase it in the state of Michigan. We're real excited to be hosting this event. I can honestly say just from what I've seen so far over the years, the Detroit Sports Commission, the people in the palace, our administration, is very excited about hosting this event. I know we're going to do a great job. Thank you. JOHN CARVALHO: Next we have Cael Sanderson, first year head coach at Iowa State, Big 12 champions, four time individual NCAA champion. COACH CAEL SANDERSON: Well, it's good to be here. We're real excited as a team, just looking forward to a great tournament. It's going to be a lot of fun. JOHN CARVALHO: Next we have Brian Smith, head coach of the third ranked University of Missouri team. COACH BRIAN SMITH: Real excited to be here. This is my first time getting up here at the table with the coaches for this meeting. I know I have a team that's real excited to come back. We came to Michigan earlier in the year to wrestle some duels. Now we're here in March when it counts. Have a good group of kids. JOHN CARVALHO: John Smith, head coach of our fourth time defending national champion Oklahoma State University. COACH JOHN SMITH: I'm not sure why I'm here. I think our points projection is seventh, so I think I'm taking somebody's spot. When they recommend you be here, you have to come. It's been a challenging year for us, no question. Nothing that hasn't surprised me. I do believe that our team's probably wrestled its best the last couple outings. That's exciting for me. I don't know what that means. I just know that you hope your team's wrestling at their very best at the end. I think we've got that from our team. Although we finished third in the Big 12, I felt like we closed the gap a little bit there. We're going to have to do a lot more this week if we have an opportunity at No. 5. JOHN CARVALHO: Finally we have J. Robinson, head coach at University of Minnesota for 20 years, two national championships. COACH J. ROBINSON: I think for a lot of us this is the culmination of a long year. It gets exciting, exciting for our kids, exciting for our fans because it's a culmination, it's the end. Everybody wants to do well. Our team seems to be getting better and better as we go through the year. We've been trying to focus on some different things as opposed to we were here last year and we're hoping to be ready to wrestle. That's where we want to be. The kids are really focused, they're excited, they've got a lot of emotion right now. We're just looking forward to getting this thing started. JOHN CARVALHO: We'll take your questions. Q. Cael, you've been here four times as a player, first year as a coach. How is it different as a coach as opposed to as a player? COACH CAEL SANDERSON: Well, there's a lot of big differences just because not just trying to control myself, we're trying to get a team ready here. That's what any athlete going to a coach would say. It's been a real good transition for me. I've got an excellent staff that I have a lot of confidence in. They've done a phenomenal job with the team this year. Put us in a position where we can we're going to have to have a great tournament to contend for a championship, but we're here and we're excited for this opportunity. Q. J., you entered last year as kind of the No. 1 team in the country, as well. You finished second to Oklahoma State. What has been the mentality this year heading into the same situation as the favorite again? How have you kind of talked with the guys and prepared them for this heading in as No. 1 again? COACH J. ROBINSON: Well, I think every team you have, it grows and changes from year to year. Last year we had a lot of sophomores. They've never had that kind of pressure on them. They had a great year. They came here with high expectations and things didn't go right. We adjusted some things in our training. But they've grown up. They're a year more confident. They're a year more focused. You bring a lot of experience back that makes a big difference. They've been here before. They came up short. They know what it's like to come up short. I think they're coming with a different focus this year, based upon what happened last year. Q. Brian, last several years your Missouri Tigers have been improving seems like every year. How do you feel your team is prepared to make a run at the title this year? COACH BRIAN SMITH: I just think it's their attitude. It's a great group of young guys that just believe in themselves. They have great work ethics. They started a week after the Nationals. They met together as a team and decided they want to make a run for it. They've worked really hard at that. We've had a great season. But we're going to find out how great it's going to end. They're excited about this weekend. They've looked forward to it. We'll see. But there's a lot of talent in there, too. We've progressed as a program because we've been able to bring in better and better talent. Q. John, regarding your unseeded guys, the draws they got, looks like they probably have the toughest among any team here. What were your thoughts when you saw that, and how do you deal with those guys the next couple days? COACH JOHN SMITH: I probably shouldn't say what I thought right away (laughter). But other than that, you know, I think your first reaction is, did somebody handpick 'em? You know that didn't occur. Your second reaction is, hey, when you're unseeded, that's where you can fall. This is the time you wrestle your best. Regardless of whether it's against the No. 1 ranked heavyweight in the country or who it is. This is the time to wrestle your very best. It is what it is. When you're unseeded, you don't know where you're going to fall. Who's to say you're not as good as him. We've had often in the past guys take over seeds, make a big difference and win championships. For us, that's what's going to have to take place. First round is very important. Could be very, very tough. But regardless of what happens, there's nobody out of that tournament yet. You know, it's been a little process of how I felt about it. But in the end it is about wrestling everybody. You going to have to go through somebody pretty tough. Q. Coach McFarland, the duel standpoint, you didn't have the most impressive record, but you come in with five really good wrestlers. What is your expectation of those guys and the top 5 and top 10? COACH JOE McFARLAND: No question, I can't hide the fact we didn't have the kind of season we wanted to, duel meet season anyway. We've been sort of talking about this all along. Obviously with it being in our backyard we're hoping that's going to be a benefit. I've got five quality guys here. I have four guys seeded in the top four. We need to have a great tournament. Want to make a little noise here and finish up there among the best teams in the country, and I think we can do that if we have the kind of tournament we're hoping for. The guys seem to be excited for. I've only had one guy that's wrestled in this arena before, that being Josh Churella, who won three straight titles in here. That might make him feel a little comfortable. Maybe not. I don't know. I think we're going to have a lot of Michigan fans here. Hopefully we can give them something to get excited about. Last year I felt in Oklahoma City, I think Oklahoma State really caught fire, and those guys fed off that. As a coach, you'd kind of like that happens to us. Still have to wait and see. But our guys are going to have to make our breaks, because the competition's real stiff. We just have to get out and get after it and take it match by match. That's the one things we've been talking about. Q. Brian, someone asked a question of the wrestlers, Cole Konrad, Johny Hendricks and Askren, you guys are the dominant guys and Hendricks and Conrad demurred. But Ben said pretty much it would take an Act of God for him to lose this tournament. Where do you stand on that? Is it good to get people excited right off the bat, or would you rather have them play it cool? COACH BRIAN SMITH: Ben has a lot of confidence (laughter). I knew that when I was recruiting him. When I was recruiting him, when I went to his house when I was recruiting him, he had a picture of Mohammed Ali on the wall. He said, That's my idol. I think he believes in himself so much, but he's always backed it up. It's not something like he'd do anything bad. I think he believes in himself so much, that's what's coming out of it. I don't foresee it as a bad thing, I just think he's very confident of himself. Q. Cael, did you guys do anything as a coaching staff with six new faces in the line in terms of preparing them for this pressure, the length of this tournament, coming in as the No. 2 team differently than you would have done for a more veteran group? COACH CAEL SANDERSON: Well, I think, you know, with six freshmen, we cater to each individual, at least we tried to, to help each one of them prepare. I think with our schedule, wrestling the best teams in the country over and over again, they've seen the best guys in the country, the best teams. I think that's great preparation. I think we trained 'em. I think we're ready. Now it's just a matter of going out there and taking a swing at it, seeing what we can do. We've got six freshmen, only three guys ranked to be All Americans. We're going to have to go in there fighting to compete, but that's the plan. Q. J., CP Schlatter seems to be wrestling his best, not just this year, but perhaps the time he's been at Minnesota. Why is that? Is he feeding off his brother? Is he healthy? COACH J. ROBINSON: It's probably a combination of all those things. But I think probably a part of it is disappointment last year. He changed some things from his freshman to sophomore year, won the Big 10. He came here and he didn't get what he wanted. I think it's been a burning thing for him. We changed some things with him, very specific for him. They're working very well right now to where he is, his focus. I think it's, like everything, as Cael said, you cater to the individual. He needs some specific things. We've done some things coaching wise that I think really helped to bring him along that way. JOHN CARVALHO: Thank you very much.

An interview with: BEN ASKREN NICK SIMMONS JOSH CHURELLA JOHNY HENDRICKS COLE KONRAD SAM HAZEWINKEL JOHN CARVALHO: I'll ask each athlete to make a brief opening statement about their excitement to be here at the NCAA championships. We'll start with Sam. SAM HAZEWINKEL: I'm excited to be here. It's the senior year. I have a little bit of senioritis, being happy to be done. Getting excited about winning a title this year. I've had three thirds. Something about it being your last year, you're excited about coming in to win. I'm excited. JOHN CARVALHO: Nick Simmons, three time Big 10 champion from Michigan State. NICK SIMMONS: For me, it's really exciting especially being in our backyard you know. Just came down this morning, see the venue. I'm just excited to get it going and hopefully walk away with it this year. JOHN CARVALHO: Josh Churella, NCAA All American and team captain for University of Michigan host school. JOSH CHURELLA: Like Nick said, real excited, especially to be back here in our hometown. It's where we both wrestled in our high school state championships. Feel real comfortable. Just good to have your family and friends supporting you here. Just kind of a motivator. Happy to be here, pretty excited about it. JOHN CARVALHO: Ben Askren, defending NCAA champion at 174 pounds, Big 12 champion from Missouri. BEN ASKREN: Also really excited to be here. I definitely will be sad when it is over because it's my last NCAA championship, something that I really enjoyed a lot while I've been here. Also very excited about the team race and everything else that's going to go on this week. JOHN CARVALHO: Next, Johny Hendricks, two time defending NCAA champion at 165 pounds from Oklahoma State. JOHNY HENDRICKS: Just like everybody else is saying, I'm excited to be here definitely in Michigan. Excited with any NCAA tournament. Last tournament of the year. Everything boils down to this tournament. To be able to walk in with the No. 1 seed, coming in here with the goal to win it, can't get much better than that. Finished last year on top hopefully, and we'll see how it goes. JOHN CARVALHO: Thank you. Cole Konrad, three time Big 10 champion from Minnesota, defending champion at 285 pounds. COLE KONRAD: Not sure what the question was (laughter). JOHN CARVALHO: I apologize. Just a brief opening statement about coming to the NCAAs. COLE KONRAD: Yeah, just like these guys, excited to be here. Last tournament for a lot of us guys, for college anyway. It's exciting. Tournament's always exciting, never know what's going to happen, so... JOHN CARVALHO: We'll turn it over for questions. Q. Ben, Johny and Cole, can either of you three guys be stopped in this tournament? BEN ASKREN: Like I said all year, I don't really plan on being stopped. I definitely have it in my mind that there's no way anyone in this tournament can beat me, barring serious injury, which I also don't feel like will happen. I take pretty good care of myself. The answer to that would be no. JOHNY HENDRICKS: I think anything can happen in this tournament. You know, whenever you step on each time you got to make sure that that guy wants to beat you just as bad as you want to beat him. So that's what's great about this tournament. You're getting the best out of everybody. Each match you step out there, you got to make sure you're your best or you're going to be going for third or fourth. Anything can happen. That's why I love this tournament. You have to wrestle your hardest every match and come out. COLE KONRAD: I agree with Johny. You have to be ready to go every match. Anything can happen here. I'm not going to make bold statements like Ben (laughter). Yeah, you just got to be ready to go every time you step out there. I think if all of us step up, focused, ready to go, no, I don't think anyone can beat us. But that mental edge you have to have when you walk out there. Q. Johny, the last time you were in the NCAAs, a lot of people from Michigan were probably not happy to see you win. What kind words do you have for the fans of Michigan? JOHNY HENDRICKS: It's last year. I want to look positive on this year. Yeah, it happened the way that it happened. I really can't get into it, you know. But it did happen the way that it did. I won. But, you know, coming in here, wrestling in Michigan, I think it's going to be great. I think that a lot of people are going to be wanting to see me fall and also wanting to see me win. I don't know which group they're in. I just want to come out here and wrestle my best and give the fans what I've always given them. Q. Nick, you alluded at the beginning of the press conference, talking about like Sam wrestling the last couple years. What are your feelings about not being in the same weight class this year? Were you looking forward to wrestling him this year? Are you happy you don't have to face him again? NICK SIMMONS: I always like wrestling Sam. He's a great competitor. It shows where you both are at. We're both going to train after this and everything else, there's, Olympics and so forth. Now I can just root for him this year. Now we now we both have a chance to win it. Q. Question for Sam. You were out a bit this season with an injury. Can you talk about that and what kind of effect that's had on your season? Obviously you came back at the Big 12 tournament. SAM HAZEWINKEL: Yeah, I think it's a blessing in disguise kind of thing. It's upsetting when you miss out on a duel season. That's where a lot of the fun part of the season is, getting to do the duels. It's only one match. You don't have the same kind of wear and tear. At the same time last couple years at NCAA, I've been going in just kind of worn down, sore and tired. I think this year I get to come in with lots of energy. The difference I feel is great. I got no complaints. Q. Cole, you have wrestled all season like a team that is hell bent on winning the national championship. What has to happen the next three days for you to finish the deal? COLE KONRAD: Man, we just can't overlook anyone. It's an individual tournament obviously, but everyone's just got to step up and wrestle their potential. We overlooked a team at the beginning of the season and it burnt us. None of us have forgot about it. We're focused coming in here. We're going to be looking for a lot of bonus points. If we can do that, hopefully we can spread the lead on some of these other teams. Q. Ben, what has this year been like for you? The team has been fun to be a part of. You were ranked No. 1 for a while. You're defending champ. What has this senior season been like for you? BEN ASKREN: The team has had its ups and downs. We had a lot of ups in the beginning of the season, a few down at the end of the season. We're back on the upswing. I think we had a great Big 12 tournament, even though we didn't win. Everyone wrestled well, always had a few calls not going our way. Could have been us champs and Iowa State second, it was that close. The senior season for me individually has been a lot of fun. Like a farewell trip. We traveled tons, going to Vegas, Michigan. It's been fun everywhere I went. I've had a good time doing all the interviews. It's just been a blast. Couldn't ask for more. Q. (No microphone) BEN ASKREN: I hope I get their best shot. I wouldn't want anything less than their best. You guys may have seen me this year. I get frustrated when people try to lay on their bellies and not try to get pinned. That's people not giving me their best. I expect nothing less than people's best this weekend and I'll be more than ready for it. Q. Josh, you're from a family of tradition, not just Michigan but the NCAA. Can you talk to me about your father and brothers, what it's been like for your family? JOSH CHURELLA: Yeah, it's really been a pretty good experience for all of us. I've watched the tapes and stuff of my dad. It kind of motivates you, influences you growing up and stuff like that. Yeah, it's just been a good thing being able to wrestle with my brother for three years in college and stuff like that. Just a motivator really 'cause I haven't really had the success I've been striving for. Hope for change this year out, so... Q. Johny, everyone has been talking about Minnesota winning this thing, being favored and everything. You guys won the last four. Should people be counting you guys out of the team race at all, or are they overlooking you guys? JOHNY HENDRICKS: Yeah, they're overlooking us. We were 15 points behind Missouri and Iowa State last week at Big 12. We finished, what, a point and a half behind Missouri, two points behind three points, something like that, behind Iowa State. A lot of our guys stepped up and wrestled really good. They had to. We needed 'em to, and that's what they did. That's what we need this weekend, as well. They're very excited. They've worked out as hard as they could, and their mind is where it needs to be. That's all you can ask for at this point. When the tournament starts tomorrow, that's a different story, you know, because anything can happen. Like I told 'em, I'm going to tell y'all, each match you got to step out there and wrestle your best and act like that's going to be your last match because it may be. Q. Ben, do you think the comments you made is going to help motivate your opponents during this tournament? BEN ASKREN: Like I said, I would hope it would motivate them because I want their best. Actually I usually get when I motivate them like that I usually get more than their best. The more fired up they are, the more likely they will be to make a mistake. Any mistake they make will be capitalized on. Q. Nick, you're the No. 1 seed here. You're favored to probably win the title at 133. It's just you and your brother. You don't have any other teammates here. How hard is that to compete in this tournament without sort of a team presence? NICK SIMMONS: I mean, it's hard, you know. We expected more to come out through the Nationals. But I got my brother there. Like I said, we're close. I know a lot of fans from back home are going to be here. I know for the most part my whole team is going to be here anyway watching through the tournament, whatever days they can make it down. Me and Andy are pretty close anyways. We live together and everything else. We always support each other, help each other through everything. So, I mean, it's really unfortunate we didn't have anyone else make it here. But me and Andy push each other. We're always there for each other. That's about all we need. JOHN CARVALHO: I want to thank our student athletes for taking the time for interviews.

EVANSTON, Ill. -- After winning three titles and placing six wrestlers at the Big Ten Championships, the Wildcats head to Auburn Hills, Mich., for the NCAA Wrestling Championships. First-round action gets underway Thursday and Saturday night's finals will be televised live by ESPN. Jake Herbert (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) and Ryan Lang (North Royalton, Ohio/St. Edward) both earned No. 1 seeds. "We've been focusing on this competition all year," head coach Tim Cysewski said. "How you finish at the NCAA Championships is what you are judged on, not rankings or dual meet records." The 'Cats will be led by a trio of Big Ten champions in Lang at 141 lbs., Herbert at 184 and third-seeded Mike Tamillow (Oak Park, Ill./Fenwick) at 197. They will be joined by fourth-seeded heavyweight Dustin Fox (Galion, Ohio/Galion), junior Nick Hayes (Council Bluffs, Iowa/Lewis Central) at 174 lbs. and true freshman Brandon Precin (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg) at 125. The 'Cats enter the tournament battle-tested, having posted a combined 60-23 mark against NCAA qualifiers. Northwestern captured three titles at the 2007 Big Ten Championships as Lang, Herbert and Tamillow all reigned supreme in their respective weight classes. Herbert's title was his second while Lang and Tamillow won their first Big Ten championships. Herbert was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler as Northwestern finished sixth with 84 points. NU qualified six wrestlers for the NCAA Championships as Fox finished third at heavyweight and Precin and Hayes finished seventh at 125 and 174 lbs., respectively. Precin enters the championships with a 31-13 record at 125 lbs. The freshman fell in his first two matches of the Big Ten Championships, but pinned Ohio State's Will Livingston -- his eighth fall of the season -- to capture seventh place and a berth in the NCAA Championships. He owns a 7-7 record against NCAA qualifiers with key wins over Iowa's fifth-seeded Charlie Falck, Penn State's Mark McKnight and Central Michigan's Luke Smith. "He has over 30 wins at a very tough weight class," Cysewski said. "He has been doing great all year and there no reason why he can't place this weekend." Top-seeded Lang is a perfect 25-0 and captured his first-career conference title at the Big Ten Championships. Six of his wins have come against wrestlers in the tournament field with two wins over Iowa's sixth-seeded Alex Tsirtsis. Lang finished fourth at last year's championships. "Ryan missed a few weeks with an injury, but it hasn't slowed him down at all," Cysewski said. "He is healthy and wrestling well." Hayes sits at 20-13 on the year at 174 lbs. and has posted a 6-10 mark against NCAA qualifiers. "He is a veteran at 174 and that is a weight where he can be in the mix," Cysewski said. "Nick has experience and I'd like to think he can be an All-American also." Top-seeded Herbert is 27-0 and earned his second-career Big Ten title. Twelve of the junior's 27 wins have come against wrestlers in this year's field. He has wins over No. 2 seed Roger Kish of Minnesota, No. 3 seed Mike Pucillo of Ohio State and No. 4 seed Tyrel Todd of Michigan. He has also downed No. 11 seed John Dergo of Illinois and Virginia's 12th-seeded Rocco Caponi. "Jake has been ranked No. 1 all year and if he wrestles well like he has all season, he should be a national champion," Cysewski said. "He still needs to take the tournament one match at a time." At 197 lbs., Tamillow, NU's third Big Ten champion, enters the tournament as the No. 3 seed. He owns a 34-3 record and topped Ohio State's sixth-seeded J.D. Bergman to win his conference crown. The junior is 15-3 against the field and has recorded multiple wins over Central Michigan's 10th-seeded Wynn Michalak and also downed Wisconsin's 12th-seeded Dallas Herbst. "He has been very solid down the stretch," Cysewski said. "He is a high seed, but needs to wrestle well to do get the results he's looking for." Fourth-seeded Fox rounds out Northwestern's contingent. The junior owns a 28-4 record at heavyweight and finished third at this year's Big Ten Championships. Fox is 14-3 against the field with key wins over Central Michigan's third-seeded Bubba Gritter, No. 6 seed Ed Prendergast of Navy, Iowa's seventh-seeded Matt Fields and North Carolina's 11th-seeded Spencer Nadolsky. "Dustin has the ability to wrestle to a great finish at heavyweight," Cysewski said. "We would love nothing more than to see him get a shot at Minnesota's Konrad in the semifinals." While the tournament begins Thursday morning, Northwestern's six wrestlers will not be in action until the evening session, which begins at 5:30 p.m. For updated schedules and brackets, visit ncaasports.com.

Takedown Wrestling Radio along with theMat.com and IntermatWrestle.com will provide complete and total wall to wall coverage of this years championships brought to you in part by Sunflower Wrestling Supply. This broadcast, as always, will be free of charge courtesy of our sponsors. We look forward to hearing from you in the chat room during the championships. Join TDR regulars Scott Casber, Steve Foster, J. Carl Guymon and Ryan Lang for these LIVE broadcasts. Our Broadcast schedule is below: NCAA Division I Championships of Collegiate Wrestling LIVE from Auburn Hills, Michigan March 15-17, 2007 Thursday, March 15 11 a.m. to approx 2 pm -- Session 1 6:30 p.m. -- Session 2 Friday, March 16 11 a.m. to approx 2 pm -- Quarters 7 p.m. -- Semifinals Saturday, March 17 10 a.m. to approx 2 pm -- Medal Matches 8 p.m. -- Finals

KEARNEY, Neb. -- J.D. Naig won his third straight national title and Todd Meneely his first Saturday night, pushing the Mavericks into third place in the NCAA Division II wrestling tournament at the Health and Sports Center. Central Oklahoma captured the team title, followed by the host school, Nebraska-Kearney. Naig finished his season at 42-7 and his career at 140-26, fourth-best all-time at UNO, with a dominating 13-1 win over Michael Jackson of Indianapolis in the 174-pound title bout. It was the second straight year that Naig defeated Jackson in the championship match. Naig, who was third as a freshman, also won the 165-pound title as a sophomore. Naig is just the third three-time national champion in school history, following Roy Washington in 1968-70 and Les Sigman, 2003-06. Meneely scored a first-period takedown and then grinded out a 3-2 victory at 149 pounds over Carson Newman sophomore Mike Rogers. Meneely finished the year 35-3. The Mavericks, fourth entering the Saturday night finals, moved past Minnesota State, Mankato in the team standings with Naig's win. UNO 184-pounder Austin Boehm, the first true freshman to wrestle for the school in a championship match, lost his final bout to Jared Deaguero of Adams State, 9-1. Earlier in the day, redshirt freshman Siim Bribieseca, UNO's fourth All-American in the tournament, suffered a knee injury and defaulted, finishing eighth.

Evans caps off perfect season Kyle Evans capped a perfect season with the perfect combination -- individual and team national championships. The Central Oklahoma junior became the first wrestler in school history to complete an unbeaten season at the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships here Saturday night, routing Shippensburg's Steve Fittery 7-1 to capture the 141-pound title and finish 39-0 as the No. 3-ranked Bronchos wrapped up their 15th team championship. Evans was UCO's lone winner in five finals matches, with 125 Tyler Zukerman, 133 Jared Henning, 157 Jason Leavitt and 285 Josh LeadingFox all finishing as runner-up. The Bronchos also got a third-place showing from 184 Jared Hess, while 149 Shea Timothy was fourth and 197 Heath Jolley fifth. UCO ended with 124.5 points in winning its seventh Division II crown, including a runaway triumph in 1995 the last time the tournament was held in Kearney. Tournament host and top-ranked Nebraska-Kearney was second with 108.5 points, followed by No. 4 Nebraska-Omaha (67.5) and No. 2 Minnesota State-Mankato (63). Evans, ranked No. 1 all season after finishing as the national runner-up last year, completed his unblemished season with a dominating finals performance. The Edmond junior had takedowns in the first and third periods, a reverse in the second and a riding time point to easily dispatch Fittery and finish with a 33-4 scoring advantage in four tournament wins. "I thought about being undefeated a lot during the regular season and it was starting to get to me," said Evans, now 93-18 for his career and the winner of 61 of his last 63 bouts. "But once we got to the regionals and nationals it was a whole different season and I didn't think about it. The team got closer and I started thinking of the team goal and not individual ones." "It's a great feeling and I couldn't be more proud of my team and what they accomplished," said 25th-year head coach David James, who has led UCO to 12 of its 15 national titles and was named Division II Coach of the Year for the fourth time. "We came ready to wrestle and everybody went out and laid it on the line. We got contributions from all 10 guys and they were just determined to get the job done." Three of UCO's four other finalists all lost close matches. Zukerman, the true freshman from Lawton who upset the Nos. 2, 4 and 8 ranked wrestlers en route to the finals, fell to top-rated Trevor Charboneau of Nebraska-Kearney 5-2. Zukerman trailed 3-2 in the final 15 seconds of the match when Charboneau countered his takedown attempt and instead got the clinching takedown. The unranked Henning had wins over Nos. 1, 2 and 6 in making the finals –- including the last two national champions at the weight –- before dropping a tough 1-0 decision to Kutztown's No. 4 Joe Kemmerer. The only scoring was Kemmerer's third-period escape, with Henning unable to come up with a winning takedown in the final minute. Top-rated Tony Guerra of Findlay -- the champion at 149 last year -- trimmed No. 3 Leavitt 2-1 in the overtime tiebreaker. Leavitt nearly got the winning takedown at the end of the one-minute sudden victory period, but he couldn't' escape in the second 30-second tiebreaker after Guerra got loose with 10 seconds left in the first one. LeadingFox fell behind 4-2 in the first period to No. 1 Tervel Dlagnev, then was caught and pinned early in the second stanza while trying to roll through and get a reverse. KEARNEY, Neb. (March10) – No. 3-ranked Central Oklahoma pushed five individuals into the finals and added three other top-five placers to wrap up its 15th national wrestling championship here Saturday afternoon at the Health and Sports Center. Central Oklahoma wraps up NCAA title It's the seventh NCAA Division II title for the Bronchos, who also won here in 1995. UCO will go into tonight's championship finals with an insurmountable 22-point lead over top-ranked and tournament host Nebraska-Kearney (120.5-98.5), with No. 2 Minnesota State-Mankato (59) third and No. 4 Nebraska-Omaha (58.5) fourth. Tyler Zukerman at 125 pounds and Jared Henning at 133 opened Saturday morning's semifinal round with their third straight upset wins to once again spark the Bronchos, with UCO also moving 141 Kyle Evans, 157 Jason Leavitt and 285 Josh LeadingFox into the finals. Jared Hess added a third-place finish at 184, while 149 Shea Timothy was fourth and 197 Heath Jolley fifth. "It's a great feeling and I couldn't be more proud of my team," said 25th-year head coach David James, who has led UCO to 12 of its 15 national titles. "We came ready to wrestle and everybody went out and laid it on the line. We won some big matches early in every round and that gave us great momentum." Zukerman exploded for 10 third-period points to score a stunning 10-2 major decision over No. 2 Arsenia Barksdale of Adams State. The Lawton freshman broke a 1-1 tie with a takedown midway through the final stanza, added a pair of near-falls to extend the lead to 8-1 and then followed a Barksdale escape with a takedown at the buzzer to earn the bonus-point win. Henning continued his amazing tournament with a 6-4 upset of No. 2 Andy Uhl of Findlay, avenging a loss in the Midwest Regional two weeks ago. Henning used a takedown with one second left in the first period to take a 4-1 lead and he made that hold up, barely fending off Uhl's last-second takedown try to end the match. Evans had his closest call of an unbeaten season in a 4-2 sudden-victory win over West Liberty State's Doug Sura. Evans gave up just his fourth takedown of the season in falling behind 2-0 in the first 30 seconds of the match, cut the deficit to 2-1 with an escape and tied it with a third-period escape to force overtime. The Edmond junior then pulled out the tense win on a takedown with just three seconds left in the one-minute sudden-victory period to improve to 38-0. Leavitt knocked off No. 2 Brad Becker of Wisconsin-Parkside, last year's 149-pound national champion, with a tough 4-3 triumph. Leavitt's first-period takedown was the difference in the match as the Ponca City junior fought off Becker in the final 30 seconds to secure the win. LeadingFox was in control all the way in a 6-0 shutout of Shippensburg's Jason Groller. The Pawnee senior took a 2-0 lead with a first-period takedown, controlled Groller the entire second period and added an escape and takedown in the final stanza. Timothy dropped an 8-2 semifinal decision to No. 2 Todd Meneely of Nebraska-Omaha, while Hess fell to No. 2 Jared Deaguero of Adams State 6-1. Timothy and Hess both bounced back with consolation wins, with Hess topping No. 1-rated Mike Corcetti of Pittsburgh-Johnstown 3-2 to take third while Timothy dropped his consolation finals bout. Jolley had a second-period fall in his first consolation match Saturday morning and then came back from a semifinal loss to upend top-rated Casey Woodall of Adams State 3-2 in the overtime tiebreaker.

KEARNEY, Neb. -- The Adams State College wrestling team is hoping that seven is a lucky number as the Grizzlies enter the 2007 NCAA Division II National Championships, which begin Friday morning in the University of Nebraska-Kearney's Health & Sports Center. The Grizzlies have qualified seven wrestlers for the tournament and are ranked seventh in the final NCAA Division II National Wrestling Coaches Association Poll, released last week. Coach Jason Ramstetter and his squad will be in search of a fifth straight top-10 finish in the tournament and with some minimal breaks, the Grizzlies could easily find themselves with a podium finish for the first time in their NCAA Division II era (1993-Present) history. Four members of the Grizzly contingent have previous national championship experience. Juniors Evan Copeland (Las Cruces, N.M.) and Jared Deaguero (Commerce City, Colo.) and senior Casey Woodall (Morenci, Ariz.) have all earned All-America honors, which go to the top eight finishers at each weight class, at previous national championships. Senior 174-pound James Reynolds (Monte Vista, Colo.) will also be gunning to end his career with All-America honors in this his third national championship experience. The Grizzlies also have three redshirt freshmen making the trip in 125-pound Arsenia Barksdale (Norfolk, Va.), 141-pound Joey Deaguero (Commerce City, Colo.) and 157-pound Mike Gallegos (Alamosa, Colo.). First round action begins at 11 a.m. (CST), Friday. The championship quarterfinals and initial consolation rounds commence at 6 p.m. (CST) that evening. With the field of 160 wrestlers -16 in each weight class - trimmed in half by the end of the night, the tournament, featuring championship semifinals and placing matches, will resume at 10 a.m. (CST) on Saturday. The championship finals, which follow a parade of All-Americans, will commence at 7 p.m. (CST). Those championship finals will be televised by a variety of sports networks around the country. Local viewers can catch the coverage on a tape-delay basis on Altitude Sports & Entertainment at 9:30 p.m. MST. Fans can also catch the NCAA Productions broadcast live via the internet at www.ncaasports.com/dii. In looking at the national rankings, Woodall, Jared Deaguero and Barksdale have the best chances to win individual national titles. Woodall, a returning All-American at 197 pounds, has been ranked first in his weight class during the entire season and is riding a 15-match winning streak. Sporting a 26-8 record overall, Woodall has only been beaten once by a Division II opponent this year. That man is the top-ranked heavyweight Tervel Dlagnev of the host Lopers, favored to win the national title. Woodall, who also qualified for the national championships at 184 pounds as a sophomore in 2004 before redshirting in 2004-05, finished eighth at last year's national championships in Findlay, Ohio. He will face Newberry (S.C.) College's Kelly Anundson in the first round and could face Augustana (S.D.) College's Nate Buys, ranked fourth in the nation, in the quarterfinals. Woodall defeated Anundson by an 11-4 score in the semifinals of the Midwest Classic, which Woodall won, back in January. Barksdale is also quite hot winning 13 of his last 15 matches and comes into the national tournament ranked second at 125 pounds. Named as the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's Freshman of the Year after a runner-up performance at the West Regional/RMAC Championships on Feb. 25, Barksdale has only lost two matches while wearing a Grizzly uniform. Those setbacks were both to Nebraska-Kearney's top-ranked Trevor Charboneau. Barksdale is 23-5 overall this year, but a solid 14-2 while representing the Grizzlies during the spring semester. He will face Augustana's Chris Trampe, ranked seventh nationally, in the first round. Jared Deaguero is also ranked second in the nation at 184 pounds. He is 15-5 on the year and is coming off a title at the West Regional/RMAC Championships. Deaguero joined the Grizzly squad mid-year after a long-hiatus from collegiate wrestling. Deaguero will be making his second career trip to the national tournament. He also went in 2003 while at the University of Northern Colorado and came home with a fourth place finish and All-America honors in the 165-pound bracket. Copeland is making his third national tournament appearance at 165 pounds. He finished third as a redshirt freshman before failing to place after an injury plagued sophomore season. In 2006-07, Copeland has posted a 27-11 record. He finished fourth at the West Regional/RMAC Championships after surviving a true-fourth place challenge match to punch his ticket to Kearney, where he was victorious over Nebraska-Kearney's Taylor May on Feb. 10. Because of his fourth place finish, Copeland has a tough road ahead and will face Kutztown (Pa.) University's Kevin Kalbach in the first round. Kalbach is 15-3 on the year and won the East Regional title. He is tabbed seventh in the nation. Copeland will then face Ashland's Eric Lakia or Upper Iowa's Mitch Norton, ranked third, in his second match. Lakia, who medically forfeited to Copeland in the consolation bracket at the Midwest Classic, was nationally-ranked earlier in the year. Reynolds holds a 22-13 record coming into the national tournament and finished a career-best second at the West Regional/RMAC Championships. He will face Minnesota State-Moorhead's Tyler Tubbs in the first round and is guaranteed to face a nationally-ranked opponent in his second match. Potential opponents are fourth-ranked Michael Jackson of Indianapolis or seventh-ranked Quinn Tolbert of Newberry. Reynolds fell to Jackson by an 8-7 count in the quarterfinals of the Midwest Classic but beat Tolbert 4-2 to claim third place in that tournament. Although they are inexperienced, when compared to some of their teammates, Joey Deaguero and Gallegos have the potential to fare quite well. Deaguero, 30-13 this season, leads the team in wins and finished third at the West Regional/RMAC Championships. Taking a physical beating in that tournament, Deaguero battled back to claim a national tournament spot and will now face Mercyhurst's (Pa.) J.J. Zanetta, ranked seventh in the nation, in his first round match. Top-ranked Kyle Evans of Central Oklahoma, a perfect 35-0 on the year, looms as a potential quarterfinal opponent. Gallegos dropped out of the national rankings after a fourth place finish at the West Regional/RMAC Championships but still comes into nationals with a fine 20-7 record. He also appears to have a tough draw and will face the nation's top-ranked Antonio Guerra of Findlay (Ohio). Guerra, the defending national champion at 149 pounds, edged Gallegos by a 6-4 score in the Midwest Classic Championship, the first tournament that Gallegos was in a Grizzly uniform for. The Grizzlies have qualified 26 wrestlers for the national tournament in the last three years alone and had five wrestlers, including Woodall, earn All-America honors last year. The Grizzlies finished ninth in the team standings.

Two individuals and the Wartburg College 2006-07 wrestling team earned academic honors from the National Wrestling Coaches Association Friday night, March 2. Senior heavyweight Brian Borchers of Holstein and sophomore 141-pounder Zach McKray of Iowa City were named to the NWCA's Scholar All-American squads. Borchers, a math/computer science double major, and McKray, an exploring major, mark the 15th consecutive year that the Knights have had at least one wrestler on the NWCA Scholar All-American list. Wartburg was ranked No. 13 on the NWCA's Division III top 20 scholar team list. The Knights' cumulative GPA of 3.266 was just 18-hundredths of a point out of the top 10. Case Western Reserve University of Cleveland, Ohio, was first with a 3.580 team GPA.

The nation's newest Division I wrestling conference -- the Western Wrestling Conference (WWC) -- will be represented by 19 individuals at the 2007 NCAA Wrestling Championships on March 15-17 in Auburn Hills, Mich. The WWC was formed in April 2006 and this will mark the first appearance on the national stage for the new wrestling league. The WWC 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. Utah Valley State is ineligible for NCAA Championship competition until the 2009-2010 season, because of its transition from NJCAA to NCAA Division I athletics. "We're extremely pleased with the representation institutions from the WWC will have at the national tournament," Air Force's Deputy Director of Athletics Colonel William Walker said. "Our teams competed admirably at the NCAA West Regional, and I'm confident they'll open some eyes around the country next week. We can't wait." The University of Northern Iowa will send six individuals to the championships. Competing for the Panthers at the national tournament will be 133-pounder Kyle Anson (Iowa City, Iowa), 141-pounder C.J. Ettelson (Hudson, Iowa), 157-pounder Moza Fay (Anamosa, Iowa), 165-pounder Nick Baima (Glen Ellyn, Ill.), 174-pounder Alex Dolly (Mishawaka, Ind.) and 197-pounder Andrew Anderson (Sioux City, Iowa). The University of Northern Colorado will send five individuals to the NCAA Championships in its first year of Division I championship eligibility for its wrestling program. The Bears will have 125-pounder Tony Mustari (Greeley, Colo.), 141-pounder Kenny Hashimoto (Thornton, Colo.), 157-pounder Luke Salazar (Brighton, Colo.), 184-pounder Shawn Vincent (Evanston, Wyo.) and heavyweight Reece Hopkin (Kersey, Colo.). The University of Wyoming will be represented by four individuals at the NCAA Championships. The Cowboys will send 125-pounder Nick Ramirez (Albuquerque, N.M.), 133-pounder Cory VomBaur (Vancouver, Wash.), 149-pounder Carter Downing (Woodruff, Utah) and 197-pounder Sam Wendland (Bozeman, Mont.). North Dakota State University will send three individuals to the NCAA Championships. It is the first time NDSU will send individuals to the NCAA Championships since moving up to Division I status. The Bison will be represented by 125-pounder Eric Hoffman (Davenport, Iowa), 149-pounder Ryan Adams (Coon Rapids, Minn.) and 197-pounder Jacob Bryce (Minnewaska, Minn.). South Dakota State will send one individual to the NCAA Championships in its first year of eligibility for the Division I championships for its wrestling program. The Jackrabbits will be represented by 165-pounder Ryan Meyer (Parkston, S.D.).

It's the weekend before the big dance and I for one am very excited to say the least. This year may not have any more importance than years gone by, but clearly the current is shifting, changing. The powers in the sport are evolving. If you haven't purchased your tickets to Detroit, please do so. Join me and witness the World's greatest athletes. It will be incredible! Tom Carr, Guest Co-Host Asst HD Ch at Central College in Pella, Iowa. This team is looking for a new head coach. Is that you? Let's talk to Tom Carr and find out what qualities a successful candidate will posses. 9:05: Randy Couture, five-time UFC heavyweight champion (Sponsored by CL-ONE Energy Drink). In what will be forever known as one of the greatest night in mixed martial arts history, 43-year-old Randy "The Natural" Couture came out of retirement to dominate Tim "The Maine-iac" Sylvia for five rounds to become the three time heavyweight champion of the world and the first fighter in UFC history to become a five-time champion between two weight divisions. 9:20: Brian Smith, Head Coach of Missouri Tigers, Finished No. 2 in the Big 12's, ranked in the top five in the country. How do you prepare for the biggest stage of them all? 9:40: Ben Askren, Recently won third career Big 12 wrestling title at 174 lbs. Having a great time on the road to a repeat. 10:05: Tom Shifflet, Hofstra's Head Coach, victorious after winning the CAA Championships, has a stable full of horses ready to run in Detroit. Tune in to find out more. 10:20: Tom Ortiz, Head Coach AZ State joins us to talk about the year and the future for the Sun Devil program. 10:40: Heath Grimm, Head Coach Upper Iowa joins us live from his Division II Championships.

USA Wrestling has named Rochester, N.Y. as the host for the 2007 U.S. Beach Wrestling National Championships and World Team Trials, set for July 6-8. The bid was awarded to the Monroe County Sports Commission. The competition will be held on Charlotte Beach, which is located on Lake Ontario in Rochester. Held alongside the USA Wrestling Beach Wrestling Nationals will be two other major sports events, the American Power Boat Association's Toyota Water Jam and the New York Beach Volleyball Championships. The competition will serve as the qualifying event for the U.S. team that will compete in the World Beach Wrestling Championships in Antalya, Turkey, Sept. 7-9. The United States placed second in the 2006 World Beach Wrestling Championships in the men's division and third in the women's division, and had three individual World medalists. "Sports have a significant economic impact in our community and we are proud to be selected as the host of the 2007 Beach National Championships. We look forward to welcoming the athletes, officials, and families to our community to experience a special weekend at Ontario Beach Park," said Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks. "USA Wrestling is pleased to award the 2007 U.S. Beach National Wrestling Championships to Rochester, N.Y. and look forward to presenting an outstanding event," said Pete Isais, USA Wrestling National Events Director. "The Rochester community has proven its ability to organize sports competitions, and has been very successful with USA Wrestling events. We are also very excited with the opportunity to showcase Beach Wrestling alongside other popular summer sports activities." In addition to the Beach Wrestling Nationals, the APBA jet-ski competition and the beach volleyball tournament, there will be other community activities held during the weekend. The second annual Ontario Beach Sports and Music Festival will be held in the city, with numerous entertainment opportunities. "We did this last year and it came off very well," said J.B. Shares of Nova Event Management, who works with the Ontario Beach Sports and Music Festival. "There was a huge turnout. The Toyota Water Jam Series is a big success. We have run volleyball events in Rochester for 20 years, and the beach volleyball tournament was successful. This year, we will have a DJ Jam on the beach and along the boardwalk. There will be bands at the after-party. We hope to have a break dance competition on the boardwalk. We will continually add more things as we move forward." Serving as event director for the U.S. Beach Wrestling National Championships and World Team Trials will be Don Murray, the head wrestling coach at SUNY-Brockport. Murray has served many years as event director for successful USA Wrestling competitions, including the annual Northeast Regional Championships as well as a number of Regional Olympic Trials competitions. "This is great for Rochester and the local wrestling community," said Murray. "It will be fun for the citizens of this region to see this exciting wrestling competition at the beach. It will also be an outstanding opportunity for local wrestlers to compete in a national tournament held in their area. It is tremendous to have another national event coming to Rochester. It shows the outstanding job that the Monroe County Sports Commission has done attracting major national events to our area." Beach Wrestling was added as a new style of international wrestling, starting in 2005. The first World Beach Wrestling Championships was held in 2006. Athletes compete on sand, in a style that features takedowns within a ring. The sport has been growing in popularity across the nation. This will be the second year that USA Wrestling has hosted a national championship event in Beach Wrestling. The first U.S. Beach Wrestling National Championships was held at the Hilton Singer Island Waterfront Resort in Riviera Beach, Fla., August 19, 2006. A flier with specific details on the U.S. Beach Wrestling National Championships and World Team Trials will be published shortly. There will be both men's divisions and women's division at this tournament. In addition to the Senior competition, there will also be national championship events in Beach Wrestling on the Veterans, Junior, Cadet and Kids levels. For the U.S. Beach National Championships in all age divisions, weight classes will be determined after weigh-ins. The World Team Trials, which will determine the U.S. team for the World Championships, will be held in the weight classes recognized by FILA, the international wrestling federation. The weight classes for men are Under 85 kg/187.25 lbs. and Over 85 kg/187.25 lbs. and the weight classes for women are Under 70 kg/154 lbs. and Over 70 kg/154 lbs. The medalists in each weight class at the U.S. Beach National Championships on the Senior level will qualify to compete at the World Team Trials, which will be held immediately following the completion of the Beach Nationals competition. Wrestlers and their families are encouraged to mark their calendar for July 6-8, and plan to attend a great weekend of wrestling action and outdoor fun in Rochester, N.Y. Information regarding the U.S. National Beach Wrestling Championships, Ontario Beach Sports and Music Festival and the other activities during the weekend will be updated regularly at: http://www.monroecountysports.org About the Monroe County Sports Commission The Monroe County Sports Commission (MCSC) is a private, non-profit, 501c(3) corporation whose goal is to bring organized sporting events of all kinds for all ages to Rochester, New York. MCSC actively solicits amateur championships, sports-related clinics and conventions. MCSC and the Greater Rochester Visitors Association work together to assure that your visit will be a memorable one. Our experience in event planning, sponsorships, public relations and hospitality services can help make your event a complete success.

One could call Jamill Kelly a bit of a late bloomer in the sport of wrestling. As a high school wrestler, he was never a state champion. He placed fourth at the California State Championships. As a Division I wrestler at Oklahoma State, he was never an All-American at the NCAA Championships. But Kelly went on to have great success in freestyle wrestling. He placed fifth or higher at the U.S. Nationals in Las Vegas from 2001-2003. He earned a silver medal at the 2003 Pan American Games. Most notably, though, Kelly earned a silver medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Jamill KellyKelly is now in his first season as an assistant coach at Harvard. Prior to coming to Harvard, he coached the Cowboy Wrestling Club, which he founded in 2001. RevWrestling.com caught up with Kelly and asked him about his rapid rise in the international style of wrestling, whether he plans to compete again, what makes John Smith successful as a coach, the expectations at Oklahoma State, and what he expects out of Harvard at the NCAA Championships in Auburn Hills, Michigan. You grew up in California, went to college at Oklahoma State, and now you're out East at Harvard. What do you consider home? Kelly: That's a good question. I still consider California home. I was there longer than I was any other place. I guess that I can kind of say that I was California-born and Oklahoma-bred. I don't know what I'm going to say for my final part. I would always call California home, though. But I probably made most of my friends … and spent most of my adult life in becoming a better person in Oklahoma. You went on to win a silver medal at the 2004 Olympic Games. Some hardcore collegiate fans have a hard time understanding how you could go from never earning All-American status to being the second best wrestler in the world in your weight class. How do you explain your rapid rise in those three or four years following your collegiate career? Kelly: Mainly it was confidence. Wrestling is so mental. In college, I didn't have the mentality that I should have had to be competitive and be a national champion. What people don't realize is the matches I was losing in college, I was losing like 3-2 and 2-1. I was competitive in every match that I wrestled. I had victories over guys like Michael Lightner of Oklahoma, who was a four-time All-American and NCAA champ. And some other guys as well. I just couldn't get over that hump mentally that had me believing that I could beat those guys on a consistent basis. That was something that I was finally able to get over in freestyle. Do you think your wrestling style was better suited for freestyle? Kelly: Honestly, I think I was a lot calmer in freestyle. I had a lot more confidence in it. But the main thing was really just believing in myself. Believing that I'm better than these guys, that I can beat these guys. Instead of just going out there and wrestling not to lose … rather than wrestling to win. I think that was my biggest problem in college. I was only a fourth-place finisher at the state tournament in California. Guys like Eric Guerrero and Stephen Abas, who were in school when I was in school, you know, they were three-time state champs and Junior National champs. When I got in the room at Oklahoma State, I was kind of in awe of some of the guys around me because of what they had accomplished. I assumed that since I hadn't accomplished the things that they had accomplished, that they were better than me. That was something that kind of held me back in college. Say I was wrestling a guy from Iowa, who was a returning All-American or NCAA champ, I would assume he was better than me because of what he had accomplished. For the most part, I was beaten before the match. I wasn't giving myself a chance to win. Did you have a conversation with John Smith after your collegiate career was over about continuing in freestyle? Kelly: No, it was kind of weird. My whole decision to go freestyle was totally by chance. I had no intentions to continue to wrestle. There was no reason for me to believe that I could be successful in freestyle and make an Olympic team, considering that I couldn't even All-American in college. Coach Smith was the Olympic coach in 2000 … and I was doing wrestling camps in the summer. We were on our way to Reno, Nevada. We had to stop in Colorado Springs for a training camp he had to attend. I ended up working out with Cary Kolat while we were there. College kids come in during those national team training camps … and the national team guys kind of grab college guys or whatever. I didn't think anything of it. I went to do my camp in Reno … I got back to Stillwater. Teague Moore, who is a good friend of Cary Kolat, gave me a call and said that Cary wanted to work out with me … and asked if I would be interested in coming to West Virginia to train and stay for a week. Jamill KellyAt the time, I still didn't know what I was going to do with my life, so I was like, 'Yeah, sure, I'll go.' I was actually kind of nervous and scared because I had only heard and seen him wrestle … and I wasn't in shape. I went out there and the workouts went well. He liked the way we drilled. We just kind of clicked. I was a good workout partner for him, I guess, so he decided to take me to Sydney as his training partner. That whole experience is what made me decide to give it a chance. I got a chance to workout with him, Terry Brands, and Lincoln McIlravy. I was really doing well with them … and was also learning a lot. I only started wrestling when I was a freshman in high school, so I was still learning a lot about wrestling. That right there propelled me to keep wrestling. Once Coach Smith saw me in that arena, he started really pushing and promoting me, saying, 'Hey, you could be successful in this. This may be your niche.' He just kept pushing me in that direction. Who was the toughest competitor you ever faced here in the United States? Kelly: I would say McIlravy. He brought so many things to the table. It was so hard to really try to scout him … or have a game plan against him because he was so unorthodox in the way he wrestled. He was strong. He was flexible. He just posed so many different problems. He was by far the most difficult. After you earned a silver medal at the Olympic Games, you said, "I think this might be time to end this chapter. I don't want to be defined by just wrestling. There are other things I'd like to do." You stopped competing at what some would consider the prime of your career. It seems like wrestlers have a hard time staying retired. Lincoln McIlravy came out of retirement, Melvin Douglas a few years ago, and most recently Kendall Cross. Is there a chance that you would ever consider competing again? Kelly: You know, I've gone back and forth. I've thought about it a couple times. The competitive nature in you just makes you want to keep competing. The last two World champions at my weight class, in 05 and 06, I beat both of them the last time I wrestled them. So, it kind of makes you think that you're right there. The main reason I decided to stop wrestling was that I just wasn't having any fun anymore. It was becoming a mental strain on me. I wasn't looking forward to practices. I wasn't looking forward to training camps. Wrestling is too hard of a sport. When it starts getting like that, it's time to walk away. I started to thinking back to the reason I did stop wrestling … and realized that it's just time for me to move on … and look at other things. I saw some pictures on your Web site of you at the Olympic Games with various athletes from other sports. What's your most memorable moment in Athens, non-wrestling related? Jamill Kelly with Tennis star Andy Roddick at the 2004 Olympics in AthensKelly: Probably at the opening ceremony. Before all the athletes go out with their countries, we kind of sit in a holding area with every country. I was just kind of standing on the rail, looking around. Larry Brown came up and started talking to me, asking me what sport I did. I told him that I went to Oklahoma State … and of course, he coached at Kansas. We ended up having a 45-minute conversation. I was kind of in awe … of course, I knew he was … but he had no idea who I was. It shows what the Olympics is all about, just bringing people together. I was picking his brain, asking him different questions. And he was actually asking me a lot of wrestling questions … and knew a lot about wrestling. He talked about how much he respected the sport of wrestling. Just that experience … being able to walk out with all the best athletes in the country and being able to represent your country, there's no better feeling than that. Your alma mater, Oklahoma State, is having a bit of a down season by its standards. John Smith was recently quoted as saying that (at least on paper) it does not sound like a team that appears to be challenging for a national championship. Do you think John Smith and the Oklahoma State fans are ever satisfied with anything but a national title? Kelly: Definitely not. I think that's why schools like Iowa, Minnesota, and Oklahoma State have such a high standard … and why they have had so much success. That's all they will settle for. When a kid comes into the room, that's what he has to have on his mind. Ten national champions is the goal that I'm sure all three schools have every year. Of course, that will probably never happen, but that's the goal that each school is going to set. I think that bar is what separates those higher tier schools from the rest of the country. They train for that … and for the most part, they all believe that. That was one thing that was so good for me. Coach Smith never let me settle for anything. Even after I made the team in 03, he was like, 'You just made the team, but you still have to go win a medal.' That constant reminder that, 'Don't be satisfied until you reach the top' is something that constantly motivates teams like that. That pushes them toward the success that teams like Minnesota, Iowa, and Oklahoma State have. So, of course, unless it's a national championship, it will be a disappointment. They have some young guys who will hopefully step up at the end of this year … and definitely the next couple of years they'll put themselves right back in the picture for a national title. Is that what makes John Smith so successful, the fact that he's never satisfied with anything but being the best Jamill Kelly with John Smith and Kevin Jackson at the 2004 Olympics in AthensKelly: Among other things. When you have a coach that has been there, done that at such a high level, you have no other way but to respect him. What he tells you, you just believe it to be the gospel. I felt the same way with Kevin Jackson and Tom Brands, who also coached me during the Olympics. Anything they tell you, you take it to heart … and you don't just let it go over your head. Just for the fact that they've been there, you have total faith in them … that 'I'm going to go out and battle for this guy with everything I've got … because he's been there, done that' … I just want to wrestle as hard as I can. When you have a coach that you can wrestle hard for, that makes a big difference. When you come off the mat, and if you don't succeed, you feel somewhat disappointed that you let him down. You may not necessarily need to look at it like that, but it's just extra motivation when you have somebody in your corner … if you're finding it hard and struggling yourself, well, you know you want to win for your coach, you want to win for him. Does John Smith still wrestle with the guys in practice? Does he go live at all? Kelly: When I first got to school there, he wrestled with us a lot. He'll drill with the guys occasionally. The last time me and him wrestled was when I made the Olympic team. He kind of called me out, so we hooked it up a little bit. How did that go? Kelly: Um … I won. He probably won't admit to it. But, you know, I won. He was good at really getting the intensity out of me sometimes. You get with the guys in practice, a lot of them, you get to kind of have your way with them, and you know exactly what they're going to do. So, sometimes he would go with me, just because he knew how he could bring another level out of me. He came up to me, just a random day at practice, and was like, 'I know that I could have made the (Olympic) team in 96 and 2000. Now I'm going to see if I could have made the team in 2004. I kind of looked at him like, 'I can't believe you just said that to me.' But he knew that would get kind of a rise out of me and bring my intensity level up. Just little things like that, I think is what makes him a great coach. He knows how to bring that out in each individual. Did you wrestle with Tom Brands leading up to the Olympic Games? Kelly: Actually, I didn't. Before the Trials, I wrestled with Terry Brands. I did workout with him in previous years, but not leading up to the Olympics. You're now an assistant coach at Harvard. You qualified four wrestlers for the NCAA Championships. What are your expectations as a coach from a team standpoint? Kelly: Well, we have four guys who I think are all capable of earning All-American honors. Actually, all of them have shown in the past that they're capable of even potentially winning an NCAA championship. Robbie Preston lost a close, overtime match to Matt Valenti, who is the defending national champion. Max Meltzer lost a heartbreaker to Ryan Lang, who is ranked No. 1. JP O'Connor is right there in the mix as a freshman. And Louis Caputo, who was a Junior World team member last year, has also been right in the mix with all the top guys in the country. Our goal is definitely to have all four guys All-American, for sure, but we hope to have somebody on that center mat. When it's all said and done, how great can JP O'Connor be? Kelly: Really, the sky is the limit. He has a great work ethic. He's just a great kid. He does everything the right away. I think he'll turn a lot of heads, especially for people who haven't seen him wrestle. He's going to pose a lot of problems. We're really excited to see how he does next weekend. You're on staff at Harvard with Olympic hopeful Jesse Jantzen. What has it been like working with Jantzen? Do you serve as a training partner for him? Kelly: Yeah, we actually wrestle as much as we can. We're both, of course, helping the team out and getting the team ready. But sometimes we'll wrestle before practice. I'll just give him my view on certain things. It's been good so far. It was kind of soap opera, drama-filled thing when I first came. Since I used to workout with Zack Esposito and also coach Zack … and he beat Zack in the finals … so all that weird stuff like that … but, no … it's been good so far. Do you have aspirations of becoming a Division I head wrestling coach? Jamill KellyKelly: Like most young coaches, of course that would be my ultimate goal. But the nature of the sport, and the way it is, it's really difficult because jobs don't come around that often. I'm not opposed to looking at different options outside of wrestling. I'm also interested in possibly getting more involved with USA Wrestling and looking out for a coaching position at the Olympic Training Center. But for now, I'm happy at Harvard. I'm just going to keep learning and trying to be the best coach that I can be. Editor's Note: If you would like to learn more about Jamill Kelly, check out www.jamillkelly.com

LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ -- Mike Patrovich of Hofstra University is the Colonial Athletic Association Wrestler of the Week, and Louie Ruggirello of Hofstra is the CAA Rookie Wrestler of the Week, for all competition February 27-March 5. Patrovich, a senior from Islip, NY (Islip) who is ranked sixth in the nation, won his 165 pound weight class at the CAA Championships, and was named the tournament Most Outstanding Wrestler. Patrovich won by tech fall in the first round (20-5), won by fall in the semi-finals over the fourth seed, and defeated the second seed by tech fall (19-3) in the finals. For Patrovich, it was his third CAA Title. Ruggirello, a freshman from Walden, NY (Valley Central) who is ranked 18th in the nation, won his 133 pound weight class, the only freshman to do so. Ruggirello won by fall in the first round, won a major decision over the fifth seed in the semi-finals, and defeated the number two seed 6-4 in the finals. Patrovich and Ruggirello are two of seven Hofstra wrestlers to win CAA Titles, helping The Pride win its sixth straight CAA Team Championship.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Augsburg College wrestling head coach Jeff Swenson has announced on Tuesday that he is resigning his coaching post in order to focus on his responsibilities as the school's Assistant Dean for Athletics and Recreation. Swenson, a 1979 Augsburg graduate, has served as head coach of the Auggies for 25 seasons (1980-84, 1986-2007), building the squad into a national small-college wrestling powerhouse. Under Swenson's leadership, Augsburg has won a record-10 NCAA Division III national championships and produced a career dual-meet record of 321-44 (.879 winning percentage). Sam Barber, who has served as an assistant coach on Swenson's staff for six seasons, will take over head coaching duties for the Auggies. Barber has served as associate head coach for the last two seasons. A 1995 Upper Iowa University graduate, he served as head coach for the Peacocks in the 1999-2000 season. During his Augsburg tenure, Barber has been a part of three national championship squads and two national runner-up squads, and has coached 46 All-Americans and 13 individual national champions. He was named Division III Co-National Assistant Coach of the Year by the National Wrestling Coaches Association in 2006. In his role as Assistant Dean for Athletics and Recreation as a member of President Paul C. Pribbenow's staff, Swenson supervises the 18-sport Augsburg intercollegiate athletics program, the athletic facilities department, and the college's intramural athletic program. Swenson was named to the position on an interim basis in 2001, and his posting was made permanent in 2004. "I look forward to working with Coach Swenson in the years ahead as we partner to make Augsburg one of the finest examples of NCAA Division III athletics in the country -- a college that honors the connections between academics and athletics, that celebrates both sportsmanship and competition, and that helps our students to grow as individuals and teammates," Pribbenow said. "I can think of no one better than Jeff Swenson to lead us in this vision for intercollegiate athletics at Augsburg College. His track record speaks for itself. His love for the college is unparalleled. And he has the passion, commitment and skills to guide our athletics programs into a bright future." Last weekend, Augsburg won its 10th Division III national championship, claiming three individual champions and nine All-Americans in the national competition in Dubuque, Iowa. Swenson was named NWCA National Coach of the Year. It was the third year in the last four that Augsburg has had nine or more All-Americans. Swenson has been a member of the Augsburg community for more than 30 years -- as a student, coach and administrator. A national champion wrestler at Augsburg in his senior year of 1979 with a career record of 102-17, Swenson began his coaching career in his first year out of college, as an assistant coach on John Grygelko's Auggie staff. Grygelko retired in 1980, and Swenson was named head coach. Swenson said that two years ago, he made the decision that he would step down from his coaching post this year. He said that focusing on his role in athletic administration will help him in his goals to improve every aspect of Augsburg's athletic program among schools in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and NCAA Division III. "For me, this is a cause for celebration. It's not a sad day. It's a great day. I'm able to listen to my vocational calling and lead the entire athletic department without having the coaching demands," Swenson said. As an administrator, Swenson has led the Augsburg program through a period of unprecedented growth and improvement. This year, construction was completed on the new Kennedy Center addition to Si Melby Hall, which includes expanded classroom, meeting and locker room space, along with a new fitness facility and a new wrestling training facility. Two years ago, a new SprinTurf surface was installed at Edor Nelson Field, and a new seasonal air-supported dome was installed for the first time this year over the field. "I've been around Augsburg since the fall of 1975, over 30 years," Swenson said. "Augsburg has shaped me. Augsburg has made me who I am, and it's allowed me to pursue my passion to be a coach. Now, I have a greater passion to lead the entire athletic department as a full-time administrator. I've learned a lot about leading and coaching by being the head wrestling coach here for 25 years. That's going to help me as I lead Augsburg athletics into the future." Under Swenson's leadership, Augsburg has won 10 NCAA Division III wrestling national titles in the last 17 years, a championship total doubling that of any other Division III school. Augsburg is one of only three NCAA schools to have won 10 or more wrestling national titles (Oklahoma State has won 34 Division I team titles, while Iowa has won 20 Division I team titles). Augsburg has also finished second in Division III national competition seven times, and has finished among the top four teams in national competition the last 19 seasons in a row -- the only NCAA school in any division that can make that claim. During his tenure as Augsburg's head coach, Swenson has coached 158 All-Americans and 39 individual national champions. Since beginning its competition in the NCAA Division III national tournament in 1983 (Augsburg competed in the NAIA prior to 1983), Augsburg has won 38 Division III national titles, the most of any Division III school. Augsburg has had at least one All-American in national wrestling competition (NAIA and NCAA) every season since 1977, at least six All-Americans every year since 1996 and at least five All-Americans every year since 1989. Augsburg has also been a success in the classroom. Over the past 24 seasons, Augsburg has produced 100 NWCA Scholar All-Americans, the most of any college in any division in the nation. Augsburg had five Scholar All-Americans this season, has had at least three Scholar All-Americans every year since 1993, and has had 77 athletes honored since 1997. Augsburg has also had eight ESPN The Magazine Academic All-Americans in wrestling, as awarded by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Over the past 10 seasons the NWCA has awarded Division III academic team national championships, Augsburg has finished second three times and first once (1998-99). Augsburg finished 11th among Division III schools with a 3.283 team grade-point average. Swenson, whose teams also won 20 MIAC team titles, was named MIAC Coach of the Year 13 times and NWCA National Coach of the Year six times (1983, 1991, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2007). Swenson was inducted into the NCAA Division III Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame in 2005, the Minnesota Wrestling Coaches Association/David Bartelma Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Augsburg Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999. "I am proud to know Jeff Swenson and to be able to honor his remarkable career as our head wrestling coach at Augsburg," Pribbenow said. "He has accomplished great things with his wrestling teams -- 10 national championships, countless individual titles, team academic achievements and so on. But perhaps more than anything, I am proud of Jeff's commitment and passion for that individual student who needs the guidance, support and challenge to be the best he or she can be -- as an athlete, as a student, as a person. Jeff exemplifies what makes Augsburg the special and rare place that it is -- putting students first and helping them to grow to be successful, responsible and good people. "Jeff Swenson leaves a remarkable legacy as the Augsburg wrestling coach. He has built a program that will endure as a shining example of quality and achievement. Now he has made the remarkable decision to bring his skills and passion to bear on moving Augsburg's intercollegiate athletics programs to the next level of excellence. Surely there is no one better than Jeff to lead our athletics programs -- both to the benefit of our student-athletes and the reputation of the college."

EAST LANSING, MI -- Hawkeye junior Mark Perry won the 165-pound title at the Big Ten Championships Sunday in East Lansing, MI, defeating Michigan's Eric Tannenbaum, 5-2 in the finals. A three-time Big Ten finalist, Perry won his first conference title while handing Tannenbaum his first loss of the season. The Stillwater, OK, native is Iowa's first Big Ten champion since Cliff Moore in 2004. Iowa edged out a late charge by Penn State to place third with 91 points, and qualified eight wrestlers for the NCAA Championships, set for March 15-17 in Auburn Hills, MI. It is the 11th time in school history that the Hawkeyes have qualified eight competitors for the national meet. Minnesota won its second straight team title and its 10th in school history with 152 points. The Hawkeyes had their best showing of the tournament Sunday, going 9-3 and recording eight placewinners. Sophomore Charlie Falck placed second at 125, losing a 12-1 major decision to Minnesota's Jayson Ness in the finals. Iowa's other placewinners included junior Alex Tsirtsis (3rd-141), senior Eric Luedke (3rd-174), junior Matt Fields (4th-Hwt.), redshirt freshman Ryan Morningstar (5th-157), senior Mario Galanakis (7th-133) and redshirt freshman Phillip Keddy (7th-184).

Dubuque, IA -- With the success The College of New Jersey wrestling team achieved on the mat this season, it was fitting a member of the coaching staff also garnered accolades this past weekend at the 2007 NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships. Joe Pollard (Hamilton, NJ) received that honor as he was selected as the 2007 National Wrestling Coaches Association Assistant Coach of the Year rounding out a tremendous weekend for the Lions. Pollard, a four-year member of the coaching staff, played a key role under veteran head coach David Icenhower, Sr., as the team finished fifth at the national tournament with three All-Americans. The team also was recognized this past weekend for academics as the team was named to the NWCA Top 20 Scholar Teams as TCNJ's starters combined for a grade-point-average of 3.205. It was the first time TCNJ has earned that honor. The Lions also had one grappler named to the 2006-07 NWCA Division III Scholar All-America Team. During the regular season, the team compiled an impressive 19-1 record in dual meets and claimed the title at the 2007 Budd Whitehill Challenge Duals. The Lions also captured team title at the Ithaca College Invitational before winning the 2007 Metropolitan Conference Wrestling Championships leading up to the national event. Pollard joined the Lion program in the fall of 2003 after graduating from nearby Rider University, where he competed for the NCAA Division I Broncs. A place winner at the Prep Nationals as a student at the Peddie School, Pollard was a New Jersey State qualifier. A two-time first-team All-County selection, he was also a three-time County Champion and earned Most Outstanding Wrestler honors at the Mercer County tournament. Pollard is currently in his second year as an English teacher at Hamilton West High School.

Knox College junior heavyweight Jaran Rutledge, from Mundelein, Illinois (Carmel High School), became the school's first All-American wrestler by placing third at the NCAA Division III Championships Saturday night. After losing his opening-round match, Rutledge won four consecutive matches, including two straight over seeded opponents. After a heart-breaking 3-2 first-round loss to the seventh seed Friday, Rutledge earned a bye in the opening round of the consolation draw. Later that afternoon, he defeated Ryan Bowers, from Heidelberg College, 8-5 to secure All-American honors. The top eight in each weight class earn All-American recognition. Saturday in the consolation quarterfinals, Rutledge defeated Wade Hammen, from Buena Vista University, 3-2 in overtime. Rutledge then defeated the draw's second seed, Arkadiy Levitin from Hunter College, 4-3 in dramatic fashion in the consolation semifinals. Trailing 3-2, Rutledge scored a takedown as the clock expired to earn the 4-3 decision. Levitin entered nationals with a 36-1 record. In the third-place match, Rutledge ended his season in spectacular fashion, pinning fifth seed Trevor Hiffa (Oneonta State) in 4:01. Thanks to his efforts, Knox placed 25th in the nation. Sixth-three Division III schools were represented at the championships. Besides becoming the first Knox College wrestling All-American, Rutledge was the first Knox wrestler to compete at the National Wrestling Championships in 27 years. Tom MacMillan was the last Knox wrestler to reach nationals. He did so as a sophomore in 1979 and again as a junior in 1980. MacMillan lost in the first round both times. Rutledge qualified for nationals by winning the individual heavyweight championship at the Great Lakes Regional on February 17. Rutledge, a five-time Knox College Prairie Fire Performer of the Week, finished with a 36-5 record and won individual titles at the Central College Invitational and the Northern Wrestling Association Tournament to go along with his regional championship this season. Rutledge was an alternate qualifier for last year's national tournament after a third-place showing at regionals. More information on the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships, including complete results, is available at http://depts.loras.edu/sports/2007ncaawrestling/index.html. Founded in 1837, Knox is a national liberal arts college in Galesburg, Illinois, with students from 46 states and 50 nations. Knox's 'Old Main' is a National Historic Landmark and the only building remaining from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates.

Des Moines, Iowa -- The 2007 Border Brawl All-Star Dual between the top seniors from Iowa pitted against the top seniors from Nebraska is all set for this Friday March 9th at Dana College in Blair, NE. Action will begin at 7:00 PM in Gardner-Hawks Center. 2007 will mark the second year of the event in which about 750 people were in attendance for the first year. This year looks to be a much bigger event. The 2007 Border Brawl will be highlighted by 17 nationally ranked wrestlers as rated by Wrestling USA magazine. There are total of 22 wrestlers that claimed state championships this year, but a combined total of 35 state titles among all of them. There are also 5 National championships and many, many All-American honors highlighted as well. Three matches on the evening will be match-ups of the undefeated. Trenton Washington of Boystown High School in Omaha, NE will take his 35-0 record and put it against West Delaware-Manchester's (IA) Zach McCool's 40-0 mark. Omaha North's DeVaughan Perkins finished his season record of 30-0 and career record of 86-0 and laying it on the line against 42-0 Andrew Sorensen of Forest City, IA. Lastly, Howell's (NE) Chad Brester completed his senior season 39-0 and will take on Ryan Helenthal of Keokuk (IA) who completed a 43-0 season. Seventeen matches will highlight the evening which will be broadcast live via Takedown Wrestling Radio at http://www.intermatwrestle.com/takedownradio/home2.aspx and just click "listen live"! Scott Casber and Steve Foster will bring you all of the action live starting around 6:30 PM. In addition to the wrestling action, there will be live interviews with the athletes, coaches and hosts. To reserve your tickets today, complete the online reservation form at http://www.dana.edu/wrestling/brawl_reservations.html and payment form on the confirmation page. Tickets purchased in advance are $8. Tickets purchased at the door are $10. Reserved tickets will be held in your name at the "will call" window. For more information, call Tyler Mohr at 402-426-7290.

Pre-NCAA Championship Quotes: Head Coach John Smith On the season up until the NCAA Championships "It was an uphill battle and I would not want it any other way. This is one that is going to have to be earned. Heading into the (NCAA Championships) we are probably going to have three guys with seeds and five others without seeds. That does not sound like a team that appears to be challenging for a national championship. I will say we wrestled our best at the Big 12 Championships. There were a couple of individuals who did not wrestle their best, but as a team I felt like we had our best performance as we were one match away from winning the championship. We just have to prepare everybody to understand for us to be successful that we will have to earn it the hard way by upsetting people. We have to be motivated to handle any situation that may occur." On the NCAA Championships "We have a number of guys who have to win. I see it really similar, outside of Minnesota, that there are a lot of teams in the same situation like us, but might be a little ahead of us. As far as the number of guys seeded in the tournament, Minnesota is definitely a notch above everyone. You control your destiny in this tournament and that is what I am preaching this week." "Regardless of what has happened throughout the season, I think it has taken a lot of work for this team to keep it together and keeping faith in what we are trying to accomplish. Ultimately, it was not me who did that, it was them who did that. They did some things right through the year, as far as some of the losses, this is the first team to lose five dual meets in a while. It is something that does not really bother me because dual meets do not mean a whole lot to me, except obviously victories." "In recuperating and coming back, I liked the way we fought through some adversity and the way we wrestled (at the Big 12 Championships). I think there was a time in the season where it could have got really ugly for us, but we were able to fight back after National Duals and move forward, which has been an important time this season." On what he tells the four wrestlers who are making their first trip "I tell them that it is another tournament, and it is no different than any other tournament. This is a time where you wrestle your very best. You have tried to wrestle your hardest before, but this is a time where you have to do your best. That is what we have to get out of them. We cannot use this season as gaining experience because we need guys who are unseeded doing something for us. If you do not do something, nobody is going to turn on you. Great thinks have happened to us at the end of a few seasons because we embrace the NCAA Championships. That is what this team has to do." Junior Coleman Scott On winning a national title "Last year, I was disappointed losing in the first round and having to wrestle my way back. This year, I have been training hard to win the title. I feel that I can do it. I know I was going to let the team down, and did not want to finish without being All-American. I did not want to go another year with that in my head knowing that I did not earn that status. I was upset with myself, but I did what I could by helping the team win a national championship. I have to start off a lot better this year (at the championships)." Senior Johny Hendricks On winning matches "I knew that if I moved my feet that I would win (the Big 12 finals against Travis Paulson). You have to go into a match confident knowing that you are going to win. If you do not, you will struggle. Before each match, I have to sit there and know whatever happens I have to pull it out. That is the way I have been wrestling. It will be a whole different mindset going into the NCAA Championships. I have to go in knowing that nothing is going to happen because I am going to make sure everything is going to happen the way I want it to." Junior Jack Jensen On qualifying for the NCAA Championships "I expected to qualify for the NCAA Championships because you can't expect not to go. I have the ticket from the finals last year, and wrote on it 'you need to be here." On the makeup of the team "I think our team was coming into its own in the last half of the season. We have a closer team now than we did at the beginning of the season. Everybody is different, and we are not those guys from the last couple of years. We all do different things." Sophomore Newly McSpadden On helping the team win "Qualifying for the NCAA Championships is not only important to me, but also for the team. I am ready to head to Detroit to help the team win a national title. With it being my first appearance at the championships, the major thing I have concentrated on is that anything can happen. It does not matter what happened in the past as it is a different scenario. As long as you make it to the championships, anything can happen. Hopefully, it works out for the best." Sophomore Brandon Mason On the key to scoring points at Nationals "I know if I wrestle hard against guys like I did against (Ben) Askren in Stillwater, I will have the opportunity of beating anyone. Over the past two seasons, I have wrestled everyone in my weight class so I feel that I will be ready to go. It is important for all of us to do well because our coaches and teammates are counting on us to score. Say we have the opportunity of getting a major decision, those extra points will be huge for us." Freshman Jared Rosholt On what to wrestle for at the NCAA Championships "Everyone is going to wrestle for one another so we can bring the national championship back to Stillwater. Your not just wrestling for your team, you are wrestling for you school, fans and your family. When you wrestle for all of them, I feel that it gives you more motivation in your match." Junior Nathan Morgan On what he needs to do to be successful at the NCAA Championships "I feel that I have trained different and I have a different mentality. I feel tougher this year. I have been able to focus a lot better on things, including the different styles people tried to wrestle me with. I just have to go out there and push myself. I will be ready to go. I have to go out there and be relaxed and have fun." Freshman Tyler Shinn On adapting to college wrestling "I say for the first few months of this season, things were tough. But as of late, my body has gotten used to everything. I need to wrestle my best. The way I feel right now, I have always wrestled good. I have to be confident. Obviously, this is a whole different level than the high school level. In college, you feel that your opponent puts a lot more pressure on you than those who you wrestled against in high school."