InterMat Staff

Hi, this week I'll be filling in for Jake Herbert's blog. Jake got carpel tunnel from typing too much. School-related injuries can be a problem here at Northwestern. One of our freshmen, Andrew Nadhir, had to go to the hospital because he got a crayon stuck up his nose. However, we're a strong team and we don't let these little things break our spirit. Nadhir finished his graph and Jake has yet to miss a paper, although I think the carpel tunnel may be affecting his spelling abilities. So on to the subject of this blog, wrestling. Right now our team is ranked eighth according to most polls. But rankings are not our team's focus at all. Our focus is to find a way to win every match. Right now I am personally 27-1. I lost to Max Askren at the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals. I know I can beat him, but I need to work on improving my position. He is a very good wrestler, but he has some weaknesses that I can exploit. Something I need to keep in mind as the year winds down is that there is always something I can do to get better. I am confident that I can do this, every time I step on the mat I am confident I will win. I really hate losing. I hate giving anyone any room to say anything about me. I want to be perfect from every position … so my opponents know they're beat when they step out on the mat with me. I tell myself before every match that I am invincible and that nothing bad can happen to me. The truth is I don't have anything particularly special, I just believe in myself and continue to learn. I try to help me teammates understand this. If we do this we can go from a good team to a great team. Mike Tamillow (Photo/John Sachs)I think we are well on our way as a team. I can't really watch my teammates working in practice because I have to focus so much on what I can do to get better. I do keep up with all of them as much as possible. Every one of our wrestlers cares about wrestling and improving. Each of us has something to work on, even Jake and Ryan. As a leader, my job is to help the other wrestlers identify what they can do to be the best. I invite other wrestlers on my team to do the same to me. I will follow my teammates through a brick wall if that's what I need to do and I expect the same out of every one of them. As a team we took eighth at the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals … and lost our past two Big Ten dual meets to Illinois and Iowa. We were missing Ryan Lang for these duals, but we still expected more. As a team, I truly believe that our competitive advantage is that we care about everyone on our team. We are going into the end of the season with that focus; everyone is here to reach their goals. Coach Scherr got some banners for the wrestling room to help us stay focused toward the end of the season. My favorite one says "We can and we will" above, and then below says "work harder than we ever thought possible." Every time I read it I work a little harder. Mike Tamillow Past Entries: Entry 6 (1/10/07) Entry 5 (12/13/06) Entry 4 (11/29/06) Entry 3 (11/16/06) Entry 2 (11/1/06) Entry 1 (10/17/06)

COLUMBUS, Ohio -– Ohio State freshman wrestler Lance Palmer is a finalist for the 2005-06 Cleveland Outstanding High School Athlete Award, which will be presented at the fifth annual Greater Cleveland Sports Awards, created by The Greater Cleveland Sports Commission (GCSC), Jan. 29 at the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel, Grand Ballroom. Palmer, who has compiled a 17-10 record so far in his first collegiate season, was a four-time Ohio high school national champion from 2003-2006. During his senior campaign, Palmer helped lead St. Edward High School to its 10th-consecutive team title at the Ohio High School Athletic Association wrestling tournament at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio. A two-time Most Valuable Wrestler for the Eagles, Palmer compiled a high school career record of 146-6 and was considered the No. 1 recruit nationally by several wrestling media publications. The Greater Cleveland Sports Awards recognizes the top athletes in Cleveland's amateur and professional sports. Past emcees of the gala have included Bob Costas, Dan Patrick, Roy Firestone and Ahmad Rashad. Robin Roberts, co-anchor of Good Morning America will be the emcee for the event this year.

GREENSBORO, N.C. -– North Carolina's Drew Forshey was selected as the Atlantic Coast Conference Wrestler of the Week Monday after posting a pair of victories over the weekend, including the dual-deciding win against NC State Jan. 19. Forshey started the weekend picking up the decisive win in the final bout with the Wolfpack. With the Tar Heels trailing 14-13, the Hickory, N.C., native posted a 9-2 decision over the NC State's Taylor Cummings at 125 pounds to give North Carolina the 16-14 win and its first conference victory of the 2007 season. On Saturday, Forshey registered his second win of the weekend, downing Navy's Alex Usztics by a 2-1 decision. Forshey now stands at 13-7 overall, 8-2 in dual action and 2-0 in the ACC. The Tar Heels have now won three of the eight ACC Wrestler of the Week honors for the 2006-07 season. Heavyweight Spencer Nadolsky was honored Nov. 13 and Jan. 2. Forshey and the Tar Heels are back in action this weekend as they resume conference action with a pair of home dual. North Carolina will welcome Virginia to Chapel Hill at 7 p.m. Friday followed by Virginia Tech at 1 p.m. Saturday.

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- The wrestling team ended an incredible day Sunday with an unfamiliar result. After cruising through three duals at the Chippewa Challenge at Central Michigan University, the Mocs lost for the first time in 12 matches this season, dropping a 21-13 dual to the host Chippewas, ranked seventh nationally. UTC, now 11-1, gave up only six team points in its first three duals of the day. Two of which came on forfeits at the end of the dual. The Mocs, ranked as high as No. 17 nationally, crushed Gardner-Webb, 46-6, defeated Cal Poly, 34-6, and beat Eastern Illinois, 48-6 to win their school-record 11th straight match on the year. The streak breaks the mark set by the 1987-88 squad which won its first 10 matches. Against the highly-regarded Chippewas in the day's final session, UTC won four of the first five matches but lost the last five. Matt Keller at 133 pounds, Michael Keefe (141), Aaron Martin (149) and Jake Yost (157) each won their fourth match of the day in the dual with CMU. Yost's 8-4 decision over Andy Keller gave the Mocs a 13-3 lead. The Chippewas stormed back in the bottom half of the dual, using four decisions and a pin for the come-from-behind victory. The big blow came at 197 where Wynn Michalak pinned Kyle McKee in the first period to give CMU the lead for good. With UTC trailing 18-13 in the final match at heavyweight, Matt Koz put up a valiant challenge to nationally-ranked Bubba Gritter, falling in overtime, 3-1. In the win over Gardner-Webb, UTC received pins from Keller, Martin, Yost and T.J. Sayers (165), a technical fall from Javier Maldonado (125) and major decisions from Keefe and Lloyd Rogers (174). In the victory over Cal Poly, the Mocs used a tech fall by Keller and major decisions by Sayers and Josh Edmondson (184). It was more of the same against Eastern Illinois as Martin, Yost, Rogers and Kyle McKee (197) each recorded pins. Keller and Sayers were credited with tech falls, and Maldonado added a major decision. In the CMU-UTC match, Maldonado and Rogers lost their first dual matches of the season. The Mocs return to Southern Conference action this coming weekend, visiting UNC Greensboro Saturday and Appalachian State Sunday.

IRVING, Texas -- Oklahoma State's Johny Hendricks was named Big 12 Wrestler of the Week for his performance in duals against Iowa and Oregon, the conference office announced today. The senior from Edmond first defeated Iowa's fourth-ranked Mark Perry on Friday night. Hendricks scored a late takedown and then rode out the final period for a one-point victory. He backed it up with a fall against Oregon's Jake McCoy. Hendricks had scored nine takedowns before pinning McCoy in the third period. The previous week at the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals, Hendricks defeated his top competitors for the NCAA crown. He went through the gauntlet of Northern Iowa's No. 5 Nick Baima, No. 3 Perry, No. 7 Matt Pell of Missouri and Iowa State's No. 2 Travis Paulson. On the season Hendricks is 23-0 and he has won his last 45 straight matches dating back to the finals of the 2005 Reno Tournament of Champions.

Orange City, IA -- The Viking wrestling team traveled to Orange City, IA this past weekend to compete in the annual Northwestern Red Raider Invitational. The Vikings are the two-time defending team champions of the event. Although the Vikings fell short of repeating as team champions, one thing did remain the same. Dana College once again had one of its wrestlers named the tournament's outstanding wrestler. Terrence Almond (Pelham, GA) became the third Dana wrestler in a row to be named OW of the Red Raider. Almond dominated the competition eventually recording a fall over Augsburg's Quincy Osborn in the finals in 1:09 at 141 pounds. Osborn, formally of the University of Minnesota was a two-time Big Ten placer while with the Golden Gophers. Almond sets his season record at 33-1 and has five individual championships this season which a school record. The Vikings as a team finished in third place behind team champion and the No. 1 NCAA Division III ranked Augsburg College. Second place went to Dickinson State University. As a whole, the Vikes placed nine wrestlers out of twelve in the top six. Senior Craig Trampe (Ord, NE) finished fourth place at 125 pounds. Freshman Eric Graham (Kansas City, MO) defeated 2006 All-American Jon Gerhold of Missouri Valley twice to finish third place at 133 pounds. Sophomore Dan Pray (St. George, KS) and Junior Jason Bilinski (Pittsgrove, NJ) both placed fifth and sixth respectfully at 157 pounds. Freshman Bulla Tuzon (Wailuku, HI) defeated 2005 All-American Kevin Guinn of Waldorf College to finish in fifth place at 165 pounds. Junior Webster Farris (Nebraska City, NE) got some revenge by defeating Daniel Price of Missouri Valley for third place at 184 pounds. Price had recorded two victories over Farris prior. Junior Wade Jordan (Coulee City, WA) almost had the biggest upset of the day when he nearly defeated the No. 1 ranked and defending national champion Justin Schlect of Dickinson State in the semi-finals. Jordan turned Schlect twice for near-fall and was leading Schlect by one and with seconds remaining Jordan gave up the takedown losing 6-5. Jordan would injury default down to sixth place. Freshman Jesse Boggs (Deming, NM) finished out the day in fifth place at heavyweight. Some other Vikings were in action on Saturday at the Nebraska-Omaha Open 2. Two Viking wrestlers finished in third place. Brett Brandl (Madison, NE) capped his day off with a third place finish at 141 pounds. Armando Montoya (Las Vegas, NM) recorded two falls on the day to finish in third place at 285 pounds. The Vikings are back in action this Friday January 26th at 6:00 pm as they host GPAC and Region foe Northwestern College in Gardner-Hawks Center. Following the dual on Friday night, Dana College wrestling will present "Pack the House Night" as they host three-time defending NCAA Division II National Champion Nebraska-Omaha at 7:00 pm at Gardner-Hawks Center!

There is no wrestler that fans would like to see lose more than Oklahoma State's Johny Hendricks. And he knows it. He unites large crowds of wrestling fans to all cheer against him. And he loves it. He is the most hated athlete in a singlet. The villain of collegiate wrestling. Johny Hendricks (Photo/John Sachs)Hendricks plays the perfect part of a bad guy. He comes across as brash and smarmy. His wrestling bag of tricks includes shoves out of bounds and smirks to the crowd. He has also perfected the 'Hey ref my opponent is stalling look' that comes across as whiny. Against Minnesota this season in Minneapolis, the crowd booed him as he readjusted his headgear after going out of bounds. He then proceeded to snap his chinstrap in slow motion with a smile to bring on more. His physical resemblance to John Smith is eerie. He looks like a more physically perfect version of his mentor … like he was created in a lab to wreak havoc on collegiate wrestling. His wins against Muzaffar Abdurakhmanov and Ryan Churella at the NCAA Championships, along with his latest win against Iowa's Mark Perry on Friday night, have the undertones of scheming with the referee -- exactly what you would expect from a villainous character. They say that villains dress in an impeccable way with a style that deviates from the norm. Hendricks looks good in his Orange singlet, but has been seen wearing extremely ugly color clashing blue wrestling shoes. The point is that he is only playing the perfect part. He is exactly what collegiate wrestling needs. He is the villain to Ben Askren's sandy blond-haired hero. It is a bland story without him. It is like watching Indiana Jones find the treasures without being chased by the bad guys. In the case of collegiate wrestling, it is Askren pinning his way through stand-ins. On top of that, Hendricks wrestles the type of style that I want my son to model some day. He is aggressive and never stops. Leg attack after leg attack, he is relentless. His shots against Perry on Friday night were precise and fast. He seems to outwork his opponents to the point that he creates opportunities for himself. The way he wrestles back into a match when he is down points indicates that he never gives up or panics. He is the biggest "when it counts" wrestler in the country. A real gamer tells you he is going to win and then backs it up. He is a winner who has two individual NCAA championship rings and has been part of three national championship teams. Last year, Hendricks won his second individual national championship and was seventh in the Rev Wrestler of the Year award voting. He was behind Ben Askren, Cole Konrad, Nate Gallick, Les Sigman, Dustin Schlatter, and Shane Webster. Johny gets no love because of his reputation. Johny Hendricks (Photo/John Sachs)I personally voted for four other wrestlers ahead of Hendricks last year in the Rev Wrestler of the Year voting. I will not make the same mistake twice. If he remains undefeated and wins another national title, I will have no problem giving him the nod based on the depth of his weight class and the way he attacks his opponents. A showdown between Hendricks and Askren would be the ultimate in collegiate wrestling. The fan favorite vs. the wrestler everyone loves to hate. The match-up would spike casual fan interest in the sport and also be able to provide enough viewers to support a national TV audience. The opportunity for the match-up is on February 2 when the Missouri Tigers travel to Stillwater to face Oklahoma State. Speculation is that Askren will not be dropping down for the match since there is no real team advantage to do so. Missouri already trounced Oklahoma State, 27-15, with its lineup. There is also no good reason for Askren to drop extra weight and strength as the end of the season approaches. This is Johny Hendricks' opportunity. This is his chance to go from villain to anti-hero by moving up a weight to face everyone's hero Ben Askren on February 2. If he wins the match-up, he is on the fast track to Rev Wrestler of the Year and securing his legacy. If he loses, at least he had the guts to go for it and the respect of collegiate wrestling fans. Now, let's all root for the villain … (or at least for him to bump up a weight).

WAVERLY -- Five bonus point victories turned out to be the difference at Waverly-Shell Rock High School Sunday night, Jan. 21, as No. 2-ranked Wartburg picked up a 36-9 dual victory over No. 19-ranked UW-Stevens Point. The Knights, increasing their dual record to 14-1, got the ball rolling at 133, as junior 133-pounder Jake Helvey of Mitchellville proved his No. 3 national ranking with a 14-2 major decision over Jered Kern. Sophomore 141-pounder Zach McKray of Iowa City, sophomore 157-pounder Aaron Wernimont of Pocahontas and senior heavyweight Blake Gillis of Spencer also registered major decisions. Senior 165-pounder Jason Knipp of Gilbertville continued to impress with a technical fall in seven minutes over the Pointers' Josh Ison to raise his record to 5-1, while freshman 149-pounder Adam Weber of Waterloo took Mo Malone to his back for a pin with just one second remaining in their match. The Pointers, concluding an 0-2 day against IIAC competition after falling to No. 16-ranked Loras 21-19 earlier in Dubuque, received wins from 125-pounder Jake Calhoun and 197-pounder Tyler Wozniak. The Orange and Black resume a brief three-dual home campaign against Central in IIAC action Wednesday, Jan. 24, at 7:30 p.m. at the Waverly-Shell Rock High School gym. UW-SP, with a 9-7 record, returns home for non-league action against UW-Parkside Wednesday.

Fairfax, VA -- The sixth-ranked Hofstra wrestling team downed James Madison, George Mason and Drexel Saturday to sweep the two-day Colonial Athletic Association Duals at the George Mason Field House. The Pride (14-2-3), who posted victories over Old Dominion and Binghamton on Friday night, recorded a perfect 5-0 record in this year's CAA Duals and in the process boosted their conference match undefeated streak to 53 including 50 consecutive wins. In Saturday's opener against the Dukes of James Madison, the Pride captured eight of the 10 matches, including tech falls by junior Dave Tomasette (10-5) at 125, senior John Manarte (2-3) at 149, and senior James Strouse (27-2) at 157, to cruise to a 34-12 victory. Hofstra won the first five matches in the contest, building a 21-0 lead, before James Madison came back with a forfeit win and a win by fall by Ivan Lagares to close the deficit to 21-12. But Pride junior Joe Rovelli (22-4) won by forfeit at 184, senior Chris Weidman (19-5) posted a major decision at 197, and graduate-student Matt Pollock (10-17) tallied a 1-0 victory over Zack Winfrey to close out the match. The Pride's second match on Saturday against host George Mason was more of the same as Hofstra won eight of the 10 matches, including wins by fall by freshman Lou Ruggirello and senior Chris Weidman, to record a 34-9 victory over the Patriots. The Pride captured the first five matches to take a 20-0 lead before George Mason put some points on the scoreboard by way of a Hofstra forfeit at 165. Ruggirello (24-5) recorded his second pin of the CAA Duals and his sixth of the year with a fall in 1:30 over Will Powars in the second match at 133. Pride freshman Ryan Brown (6-3) tallied his second win of the Duals at 141 while senior John Manarte (3-3) posted his second win with a decision at 149. After Dan Cook's forfeit win for the Patriots, sophomore Alton Lucas (16-7) and junior Joe Rovelli (23-4) scored major decision wins at 174 and 184, respectively. Senior Chris Weidman (20-5) tallied his 20th win of the year with a pin of Harry Zander in 2:50. GMU's Ryan Kittrick edged Matt Pollock (10-18) in the match finale. The Pride's final match of the CAA Duals proved to be their toughest as the Drexel Dragons proved to be a challenging foe in a 26-15 Hofstra victory. Pride junior Dave Tomasette (12-5) posted his fifth victory of the CAA Duals with a 10-3 decision over Steve Mytech at 125. Freshman Lou Ruggirello (25-5) also posted his fifth win of the Duals with a pin of William Martin in 1:15 at 133 to boost the Pride lead to 9-0. Junior Charles Griffin (21-4) then tallied a tech fall (16-1) over Morgan Remillard. Drexel senior Mark Cartella cut the deficit to 14-3 with a 6-1 decision over John Manarte (3-4). But Pride senior James Strouse (29-2) took the points right back with a 7-5 decision over Ryan Hluschak at 157. Billy Haydt took a forfeit win at 165 and Nick Kozar recorded a 5-3 upset victory over Alton Lucas (16-8) in sudden victory to close the deficit to 17-12. But Hofstra junior Joe Rovelli (24-4) at 184, and senior Chris Weidman (21-5) at 197 tallied a tech fall and a major decision, respectively, to put the match out of reach. Both Rovelli and Weidman were members of Hofstra's five victory club this weekend along with Tomasette, Ruggirello and Strouse. Drexel's Chris Cowen defeated Matt Pollock to close out the contest. The Pride return to action this Friday, January 26 when they travel to Philadelphia to face #13 Pennsylvania at 7 p.m. Hofstra will then host #25 Lehigh, who upset #11 Cornell Friday night, on Sunday at the New York Athletic Club (59th Street and Central Park South in Manhattan) at 5 p.m.

DOVER, Del. -- Shawn Logue's major decision at 197 pounds proved to be the difference as Franklin & Marshall defeated Delaware State 25-25 in wrestling action on Sunday. Logue's second major of the year evened both his and Franklin & Marshall's season records at 4-4. Delaware State fell to 0-11-1 with the loss. Both teams forfeited a pair of weight classes with host Delaware State surrendering the first two bouts. Al Gianforti made it 18-0 in favor of F&M with a third period pin of Kyle Klinkenborg. Gianforti's first win by fall this season moves his record to 14-4. The Hornets got those six points in the following bout when Shacoi Berry pinned Steven Gregory (0-6) in the first period. The teams traded decisions at 157 and 165 pounds, followed by Franklin & Marshall forfeits at 174 and 184, making it a 21-21 match with two bouts to wrestle. Logue's 11-3 major decision gave the Diplomats a 25-21 lead. Delaware State's Shawn Nowrey was unable to match the points, edging out a 5-4 decision over the Diplomats' Christian Refakis (2-3). Now at .500 in dual meet competition, the Diplomats return to the mat next Saturday evening at James Madison University.

The top-ranked University of Minnesota wrestling team downed No. 10 Penn State, 31-12, in its Big Ten opener on Sunday at the Sports Pavilion. The Golden Gophers earned bonus points in four of the first five matches, including a pin by fifth-ranked Jayson Ness over No. 2 Mark McKnight in the marquee match of the day. Ness pulled off the upset in exciting fashion with the fall in 4:55. Senior heavyweight Cole Konrad capped off the dual with a 5-1 victory over No. 11 Aaron Anspach. With the win, Konrad now holds the record for the longest winning streak in school history at 59 matches, surpassing Tim Hartung, who set the previous record in 1999. With the win, the Gophers improved to 12-1 on the season overall, while the Nittany Lions have dropped their first two conference dual meets and sit at 9-4 overall on the year. Ness was forced to come from behind a couple of times against McKnight but took control of the match with a takedown 30 seconds into the second period. Ness rode McKnight the rest of the way before rolling him to his back to earn the dramatic pin with just five seconds remaining in the period and put the Gophers up 6-0. With the win, Ness improved to 25-3 on the season. The Nittany Lions got three points back with fourth-ranked Jake Strayer's 14-7 decision over Mike Thorn, but the middle of Minnesota's lineup followed with a typically dominating performance, earning bonus points in each of the next three matches. Manuel Rivera, who moved up to No. 2 in the rankings this week, started the rally with a 16-1 tech fall over unranked Bryan Heller. Rivera held a 4-1 lead after the first period before piling it on in the second, scoring an escape, a takedown and a pair of three-point near falls to extend his lead to 13-1. After starting down in the third, Rivera got the escape midway through the period and scored the decisive takedown with 27 seconds remaining. With the win, Rivera remained unbeaten on the season at 27-0. Top-ranked Dustin Schlatter also kept his unblemished record intact with a 15-4 major decision over Dan Vallimont. Schlatter went to work right away in the first period, scoring a takedown just over a minute into the match. A pair of near falls gave him a 7-1 lead after one. Vallimont went on the defensive in the second period, allowing just one takedown, but Schlatter added to his lead in the third with a pair of takedowns and got the bonus point for riding time. C.P. Schlatter, who re-entered the rankings at No. 3 this week after an impressive performance in his return last weekend at the National Duals, put the Gophers ahead 19-3 with a 14-4 major decision over Bubba Jenkins at 157. Leading just 5-3 entering the third period, Schlatter used a pair of takedowns and a two-point near fall in the third to earn the bonus points. Jeremy Larson extended Minnesota's lead to 22-3 with a 9-5 victory over Penn State's Dave Rella at 165. Larson trailed 2-1 after the opening period but took the lead in the second with a pair of takedowns, the last one coming as the horn sounded. Rella made things interesting with a takedown 23 seconds into the third, but Larson got the escape and held on for the victory to even his dual meet record at 6-6 this season. In a match-up between two ranked wrestlers at 174, Penn State's No. 7 James Yonushonis narrowly defeated No. 12 Gabriel Dretsch, 3-2. The match went scoreless in the first period and was tied 2-2 after the second, but after starting down in the third, Yonushonis scored the decisive point with an escape 27 seconds into the period. Second-ranked Roger Kish put the match away for the Gophers with a pin of Philip Bomberger at 184 pounds. Kish started down in the second period and quickly scored a reversal to put Bomberger on his back, earning the fall in 3:20. With the win, Kish improved to 21-1 on the season. True freshman Brent Eidenschink faced a tough test in third-ranked Phil Davis at 197 pounds, and the PSU wrestler put his talent and experience on display with a pin in 1:36. Davis scored a takedown 50 seconds into the match and worked Eidenchink to his back to earn the fall. In the final match of the day, No. 11 Aaron Anspach gave Konrad a fight, but nothing was going to prevent the senior from Freedom, Wis., from leaving his mark in the record books. The bout was scoreless after the first period, but Konrad took a 3-0 lead with an escape and takedown in the second. Anspach nearly took Konrad down in the third, but the big man countered to prevent any damage and added a takedown with under 30 seconds remaining to clinch the win. With the win, Konrad took sole possession of the longest winning streak in school history and has now won 88 of his last 89 matches. The Golden Gophers return to action next weekend by hosting a pair of dual meets at the Sports Pavilion, first with No. 15 Michigan on Friday night at 7 p.m. Purdue comes to town to face Minnesota on Sunday at 2 p.m. CSTV will air Friday night's match against the Wolverines on tape delay on Monday, Jan. 29 at 9 p.m. Sunday's match against the Boilermakers will be available live in the Gold Zone.

STILLWATER, Okla. -- Oklahoma State's fourth-ranked wrestling team had little trouble with Oregon as it won nine of 10 matches en route to a 34-3 victory on Sunday afternoon inside Gallagher-Iba Arena. OSU improved to 11-3 on the season, while Oregon dropped to 5-7 on the year. The Cowboys started with a six-point advantage when Oregon forfeited the starting weight at 174. OSU then quickly put the dual out of reach by winning the next five consecutive matches. The Cowboys were working on several major decisions, but could not get the final takedown. Jack Jensen won a 9-2 decision at 184, followed by an 11-6 decision by Jared Shelton. Jared Rosholt and Tyler Shinn both won tight matches before Coleman Scott finally got a major decision for the Cowboys. Scott turned Joey Lucas twice in the third period and won 12-1. Oregon got on the board at 141 where Justin Pearch defeated OSU's Ethan Kyle. The Cowboys closed out the dual in strong fashion with a victory by Newly McSpadden and a fall by Johny Hendricks. Hendricks had recorded nine takedowns before pinning Jake McCoy in the third period to extend his winning streak to 45 straight matches. Oklahoma State will hit the road next weekend when it travels to the state of Iowa to face Northern Iowa and Iowa State on Saturday and Sunday.

Champaign, Ill. -- The No. 16 Illinois wrestling team upset the No. 13 Indiana Hoosiers, 22-9, Sunday afternoon at Huff Hall. The Illini improve to 2-0 in the Big Ten and 5-0 overall. Junior Gabe Flores (16-0) and sophomore Mike Poeta (15-0) posted key victories and stayed perfect on the season. Illinois has now won 10-straight duals against Indiana and are 12-2 in head coach Mark Johnson's 15-year career. The dual started at 184 and saw #15 John Dergo drop a heartbreaker against #12 Mark Bennett, 8-6. In the second period, with Bennett ahead, 5-1, Dergo (Morris, Ill.) narrowed the margin by scoring a takedown, but Bennett countered with a late takedown to extend his lead to 7-3. In the third, Dergo cut the lead to two on an escape and a takedown, but the clock ran out before any more points could be awarded. At 197, Patrick Bond got the Illini on the board by outlasting Nathan Everhart, 6-1. Bond (Chesapeake, Va.) scored a takedown as time expired in the first to take the lead. He added an escape and a takedown in the second to put the match out of reach and collect the victory. Indiana, however, took a 6-3 lead in the dual after the HWT match when John Wise dropped a 7-3 decision against Josh Buuck. Illinois then logged six-straight wins to build a healthy lead in the dual. At 125, billed as one of the highlight matches of the day, #10 Gabe Flores outlasted #9 Angel Escobedo, 4-2. Flores (Madera, Calif.) took the early lead on a takedown late in the first period. In the third, Flores extended his lead on an escape, but Escobedo cut into it with a takedown. Flores countered with an escape as time expired to seal the win and hand the Hoosier redshirt-freshman his first dual-meet loss. 133 saw #9 Jimmy Kennedy pick up a gut-check win against #19 Andrae Hernandez, 5-4. Kennedy (Ingleside, Ill.) took the lead in the second period with a takedown, but Hernandez tied the match with a takedown of his own early in the third. Escobedo took the lead on a reversal with a minute left, but the Illinois true-freshman tied the match with a takedown. After a penalty point was awarded to Kennedy, time ran out before Escobedo could score. With Illinois leading the dual, 9-6, Senior All-American #12 Cassio Pero gave his team four more points when he disposed Nick Walpole, 12-3, in their 141-pound match. Already ahead 4-1 in the third, Pero (Chicago Heights, Ill.) electrified the crowd when he logged three takedowns en-route to the major decision. At 149, #12 Troy Tirapelle extended Illinois' lead when he upset #7 Matt Coughlin, 4-3. In the third, with the match tied at two, Tirapelle (Clovis, Calif.) took the lead on a late takedown. Coughlin escaped with time running out, only to see Tirapelle win by a point. In the main event of the afternoon, #1 Mike Poeta handed #7 Brandon Becker his first dual-meet loss of the season when he took a 7-3 decision at 157. With no scoring in the first period, Poeta (Highwood, Ill.) took an early lead in the second on a three-point nearfall. Coughlin countered, however, by scoring a reversal to cut the lead to one. In the third, Poeta exploded with a takedown and a two-point nearfall to put away the Hoosier two-time All-American. #14 Roger Smith-Bergsrud upset #11 Max Dean, 3-2, in their 165-pound bout. With the match tied at one in the third period, Smith-Bergsrud (Lake Bluff, Ill.) went ahead on a takedown. After a Dean escape, the Illinois sophomore fought off the Hoosier junior until time expired. At this point in the dual, Illinois was comfortably ahead 22-6. In the final match of the day, Trevor Perry edged Nick Guida, 6-5, in double overtime. The two 174-pounders traded takedowns and escapes in regulation to send the match into overtime. With no scoring in the sudden victory, the match entered the tie-break periods. Perry picked up two points on a penalty point and an escape in the first 30-second period. Guida (Allentown, Pa.) narrowed the margin on an escape but time ran out before he could take the lead. "Toughness was a big part of our plan today." Said head coach Mark Johnson. "We wanted to wrestle tough, put pressure on them and never let up. I'm pleased with how we took command of matches and how we never lost our composure." The Fighting Illini continue Big Ten action on Friday, Jan. 26 when they travel to East Lansing, Mich. and face No. 19 Michigan State. The dual starts at 7 p.m.

ROLLING MEADOWS, IL -- The Iowa wrestling team opened the 2007 Big Ten season with a 24-14 win over Northwestern Sunday at Rolling Meadows High School in Rolling Meadows, IL. The Hawkeyes improved to 10-2 overall, 1-0 in the Big Ten with the win, while Northwestern fell to 10-5, 0-2. The Wildcats jumped out to an 8-0 lead with wins at 197 and heavyweight to start the dual. Northwestern junior Mike Tamillow scored a 19-4 technical fall over redshirt freshman Rick Loera, who was inserted in the lineup after starter Dan Erekson suffered a shoulder injury at Oklahoma State Friday night. Northwestern junior Dustin Fox followed with his fourth career victory over Hawkeye junior Matt Fields - a 2-0 decision at heavyweight. Iowa responded with wins at the next seven bouts and 24 unanswered team points. Sophomore Charlie Falck started things at 125 with a 5-2 decision over Brandon Precin - avenging a loss at last week's N.W.C.A./Cliff Keen National Duals. Senior Mario Galanakis followed with a 6-1 win over Eric Metzler at 133. Junior Alex Tsirtsis scored his 60th career win with a 15-4 major decision over James Kohlberg at 141. Senior Alex Grunder (149) and junior Mark Perry (165) also recorded major decisions for Iowa with Grunder defeating Marty Gould (12-4) and Perry blanking his Blair Academy prep teammate Greg Hagel (10-0). Junior Ryan Morningstar (157) and senior Eric Luedke (174) scored decisions for the Hawkeyes. Luedke extended his winning streak to 17 matches with the win, improving to 19-1 in collegiate competition and 10-0 in dual matches. Northwestern scored its final points of the dual when Iowa forfeited the 184-pound match. Iowa (10-2, 1-0 Big Ten) will face Purdue (10-2, 0-2) Friday at 6 p.m. (CT) in West Lafayette, IN. The Hawkeyes will then head back to Iowa City to host undefeated Wisconsin (15-0, 1-0) in its Big Ten home opener Saturday at 7 p.m.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Ohio State wrestling team improved its record to 5-3 overall (1-0 Big Ten) after going 3-0 Sunday at the 18th annual Wendy's Big Classic Duals, hosted by Ashland University, in Ashland, Ohio. The Buckeyes defeated Ohio, 26-10, Appalachian State, 30-12 and Ashland, 25-15, in Kates Gymnasium. Six wrestlers in Will Livingston (125, Fr., Stillwater, N.J./Kittatinny Regional), T.J. Enright (133, Jr., Galloway, Ohio/Westland), J Jaggers (141, So., Northfield, Ohio/St. Peter Chanel) , Chris Vondruska (165, Sr., Lakewood, Ohio/Hofstra), Mike Pucillo (184, Fr., Cuyahoga, Ohio/Hofstra) and J.D. Bergman (197, Jr., Oak Harbor, Ohio/Oak Harbor) went 3-0 in their respective weight classes. The Scarlet and Gray returns to Big Ten dual action Jan. 26 when it travels to State College, Pa., to face Penn State at 7 p.m. in Rec Hall. The Buckeyes will host Indiana at 2 p.m. Jan. 28 in St. John Arena. Ohio State began the day against Ohio and won seven of 10 matches for the 26-10 victory. Livingston and Enright scored consecutive decisions to give the Buckeyes a 6-0 lead against the Bobcats. A forfeit by OU at 141 pounds and a major decision by freshman Lance Palmer (Lakewood, Ohio/St. Edwards) at 149 pounds increased the OSU lead to 16-0 before Ohio recorded a decision in the 157 class. Up 16-3, Vondruska, Pucillo and Bergman added wins in the second half of the dual, including a major decision by Pucillo, who remains undefeated at 13-0 on the season. In its first-ever meeting against Appalachian State, the Buckeyes again took seven of 10 bouts, including back-to-back pins by Pucillo and Bergman. Pucillo downed Dan Carrasco in 4:24 and Bergman dropped Brandon Brothers in 2:13. Vondruska, who has won 18 of his last 21 matches and leads the team with 20 wins, scored a 16-6 major decision, as did Enright and Jaggers, who earned a 15-4 and 15-2 major decision, respectively. OSU also received wins from Livingston and Jason Johnstone (So., Massillon, Ohio/Perry). Bergman scored his second fall of the day against Ashland's David Crowley in 2:51 in the final dual to help the Buckeyes increase their all-time series lead against the Eagles to 19-1-0. Livingston added a major decision and his third shutout on the day by blanking Ryan Belcher, 11-0, while Enright, Jaggers, Johnstone, Vondruska and Pucillo scored decisions.

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Winning its first home dual match of the season, the Big Red wrestling team won nine matches to seal a 38-4 victory over Arizona State Sunday afternoon in Newman Arena. The match was the last of the Big Red's Community Care Challenges with donations going to the Tompkins County Public Library. The crowd numbering 2,223 was witness to a high-energy match with Adam Frey and Steve Anceravage pinning their Sun Devil opponents, and Jordan Leen won the final match of the day by technical fall. The dual match started at 157 pounds, and the Big Red's Drake Hovis squared off against No. 6 Brian Stith. At 1:29 into the first period, Stith threw Hovis down onto the mat face first to earn two points. Five seconds later, Stith trapped Hovis and a pin looked to be inevitable; however, the Big Red wrestler refused to give up the fight and maneuvered so his opponent would only get three points for the nearfall. Hovis took back a point with an escape, but with one more takedown, the Sun Devil had a 7-1 lead after three minutes of wrestling. The second period started with Hovis in the down position, and Stith's clutches proved impossible for the Big Red grappler to get away from. With 27 left in the second period, Stith once again looked like he would pin Hovis, but for the second time, Stith was only able to secure the nearfall. The third period started with the wrestlers in the neutral position, but neither was able to gain the advantage until with 15 seconds left in the match, Stith earned the final takedown, and with 4:15 in riding time, won a 13-1 major decision over Hovis to give Arizona State a 4-0 lead. Next up for the Big Red was No. 10 Anceravage at 165 pounds. Anceravage would face sophomore Cameron Smith, who usually competes at 149 pounds. The Big Red wrestler worked to gain the upper hand over Smith for the first minute of the match, and at 1:57 Smith was called for stalling. With 1:21 left in the first period, Anceravage earned the first points of the match with a takedown. Anceravage twisted Smith into a position that proved to be lethal, and Anceravage pinned Smith at 2:17. No. 19 Joey Hooker and Alex Pavlenko wrestled at 174 pounds, and were scoreless until, with eight seconds left in the first period, Hooker earned two points with a takedown. In the second period, Hooker would once again put the only points on the scoreboard to lead, 5-0, after adding an opening escape and a takedown. The third period started with Pavlenko down on the mat, and the Sun Devil earned his first point with an escape. Hooker would make two more takedowns from which Pavlenko would escape, and Hooker earned three team points winning the 9-3 decision. At 184 pounds, Cornell's Luke Hogle would face Jake Cranford, and the two wrestlers were scoreless for the first-two periods. Hogle chose the down position to start the third period and earned the first point of the match making an escape. With 1:30 remaining in the bout, Hogle made a takedown, and 10 seconds later Cranford grabbed his only point of the match by escaping. With 2:07 in riding time, Hogle won a 4-1 decision. With the victory, Hogle notched his 50th career win for the Big Red. No. 4 Jerry Rinaldi wrestled against Jason Trulson at 197 pounds. After two periods, Rinaldi had a 5-0 lead with two takedowns and an escape. Trulson earned his first point in the third period when Rinaldi let him escape from his down position. Rinaldi would make one more takedown from which Trulson would escape, and with 2:40 in riding time, Rinaldi won an 8-2 decision. At heavyweight, the Big Red's Zach Hammond dueled Quinton Pruett to a scoreless first period. Pruett chose to start the second period down on the mat and earned the only point of the second with an escape. Hammond took the down position in the third and tied the match escaping to the neutral position. With 1:39 left in the match, Hammond took his first lead with a takedown. With 26 seconds left, Pruett came within a point after an escape, but Hammond sealed the win with another takedown. With 1:32 in riding time, Hammond won a 6-2 decision. The Big Red earned six more team points at 125 pounds when Mike Rodriguez won by forfeit. No. 3 Frey faced Angel Alegre at 133 pounds. The Big Red wrestler made quick work of Alegre quickly earning four points with a takedown and a nearfall. Frey improved his record to 10-0 when he pinned Alegre in 0:52 putting the Big Red up 30-4. Freshman Corey Manson wrestled at 141 pounds for the Big Red and went against the Sun Devils' Robert Galvan. Galvan took control early in the match making a quick takedown against Manson, but 21 seconds later, Manson escaped to the neutral position. Galvan earned two more points with another takedown, but Manson also took two making a reversal. Galvan made an escape to take a 5-3 lead after three minutes. Manson escaped from his initial down position in the second, but with a Galvan takedown was behind 7-4. Manson escaped with 1:01 left on the clock, and with six second left in the second period tied the match at seven with a takedown of his own. Galvan chose the down position to start the third, and with an escape, once again took the lead. With 1:18 left in the match, Manson went ahead by a point taking Galvin to the mat. With two seconds left, Galvan tied the match back up with an escape, but Manson won the decision, 10-9 with 1:27 in riding time. The last bout of the day was the Big Red's No. 4 Leen against Chris Remsen. Leen had an 8-2 lead after the first period with three takedowns and a nearfall, with Remsen's two points coming from escapes. Remsen chose to start the second period in the neutral position, and Leen earned the only points of second with a takedown to lead 10-2. Leen chose the down position in the third and earned three points with an escape and a takedown. Leen would take a 15-2 lead with another nearfall, but Remsen escaped a second later. With 35 seconds left in the match, Leen would earn another four points with a takedown and a nearfall to win a 19-3 tech fall in 6:15. With Leen's final five team points, the Big Red sealed the 38-4 victory. The Big Red will be off next weekend, but will be back in action Feb. 3 when it will wrestle Hofstra at the New York Athletic Club at 1 p.m. and at Columbia at 7 p.m.

LINCOLN, Neb. -– The third-ranked Iowa State wrestling team opened Big 12 action by defeating No. 20 Nebraska, 25-12, Saturday night in NU Coliseum. ISU took seven of 10 matches against the Huskers, two of which resulted in bonus points. Travis Paulson scored a major decision at 165-pounds and heavyweight David Zabriskie tallied a technical fall. Nick Fanthorpe closed out the dual with an upset of No. 8 Paul Donahoe at 125-pounds. With the win, Iowa State moves to 7-3 on the season and 1-0 in conference action. "NU Coliseum is always a tough place to wrestle because (Nebraska head coach Mark) Manning brings a tough squad," ISU head wrestling coach Cael Sanderson said. "We had to come in and wrestle well. Some of our guys wrestled fantastic matches. We are competing as a team and working hard." Travis Paulson, who grew up only 63 miles east of Lincoln in Council Bluffs, Iowa, scored a 9-1 major decision over Stephen Dwyer at 165-pounds in front of numerous friends and family. The major decision is the fifth of his senior campaign. Paulson, ranked third nationally, built a six-point lead over two periods using a takedown, a reversal and a two-point nearfall. He tallied a second takedown in the final period and added 2:03 worth of riding time en route to the victory. The All-American improves his record to 18-3 and is only four wins shy of reaching 100 career victories. At heavyweight, Zabriskie won his fourth straight match with a 17-1 technical fall over Tom Rice in 5:41. Zabriskie put on a dominating offensive performance blanking Rice with four takedowns and two three-point near falls. The only point the High Point, N.J., native surrendered was a late third-period escape. Zabriskie's 17 points is a season high for the redshirt freshman. His record currently stands at 16-6. Fanthorpe's takedown with five seconds remaining sealed a 6-3 upset of No. 8 Paul Donahoe at 125-pounds. Donahoe scored first with an escape in the second period, taking a 1-0 lead into the final two minutes of competition. Fanthorpe went up 2-1 on the Husker with a reversal, but let Donahoe escape, evening the score at 2-2. With less than a minute to go, Fanthorpe scored a takedown to go up 4-2. After a Donahoe escape, Fanthorpe secured the win with a takedown in the closing seconds. The Naperville, Ill., native pushes his season record to 17-7. "It was a fun match. I came in knowing he (Donahoe) was going to be tough competition," Fanthorpe said. "I stayed after him and knew that I had to wrestle well in order to win. I capitalized on the opportunities and stayed focused. Having the 125-pound match last forced me to make adjustments, but like coach says, nothing is perfect, so just go with the flow." Wrestling in his first dual meet as a Cyclone, redshirt freshman Laramie Shaffer opened the competition with a 9-6 decision of Mike Rowe at 133-pounds. Shaffer struck early on Rowe, taking a 4-1 lead to close out the first period of action. Rowe attempted to close in on the Winterset, Iowa, native, but was unable to to so as Shaffer took a 6-3 lead with a reversal in the third period. He clinched his first dual victory with another reversal midway through the final period. Trent Paulson, who also hails from Council Bluffs, Iowa, recorded a 9-3 decision over Chris Oliver at 157. With three takedowns and a reversal, the two-time All-American registered his 101st career victory as an ISU grappler. Paulson, ranked third nationally, is 16-4 in his senior campaign. Cyler Sanderson and Jake Varner also picked up victories for the Cyclones. Sanderson, ranked 14th, took a 12-8 decision over Robert Sanders at 149-pounds and now carries a 20-7 mark. At 184-pounds, the fifth-ranked Varner picked up his 19th victory in his rookie season by scoring a 10-2 major decision over Levi Wofford. Iowa State will return to Hilton Coliseum Jan. 26 playing host to Oklahoma at 7 p.m.

LARAMIE, Wyo. -- The University of Northern Iowa wrestling team improved to 2-0 in the Western Wrestling Conference with a 24-16 victory over the University of Wyoming on Saturday night in the UniWyo Sports Complex. UNI scored wins from Kyle Anson (133 lbs.), Moza Fay (157 lbs.), Nick Baima (165 lbs.), Alex Dolly (174 lbs.), Dallas Mitchell (184 lbs.) and Andrew Anderson (197 lbs.) to notch the win over the Cowboys. UNI head coach Brad Penrith said earning a pair of league wins on the opponents mat will go a long way toward helping the Panthers later this season. "It was good to go on the road and get two conference wins because that sets the mood for the West Regional later this season," Penrith said. "We've still got work to do but we can build off of this. It felt like tonight the guys had a little more zap to them than last night." UNI's next action Sat., Jan. 27 against the Oklahoma State Cowboys in the McLeod Center. The match will begin at 7 p.m.

NORMAN, Okla. -– The No. 9/12 University of Oklahoma wrestling team defeated the University of Oregon Ducks 29-10, Saturday night at the Howard McCasland Field House. The Sooners came out of the gates slow, losing the first three matches before Freshman Chad Terry sparked a seven match OU run. Terry defeated Ryan Dunn of Oregon at 149-pounds by a major decision, 5-2. After that victory the Sooners reeled off two-straight falls and a technical fall. Chris DeVilbiss pinned Kyle Bounds of Oregon in the first period of their 157-pound match. DeVilbiss put Bounds on his back at the 2:04 mark. Shane Seibert followed that up with a fall of his own at 165-pounds. Seibert registered his fall in the first period over Jake McCoy at the 1:20 mark. Joshua Weitzel shut out Ronnie Lee of Oregon at 174-pounds winning 16-0. Weitzel recorded his technical fall of Lee in the third period. The victory put the Sooners up 20-10. Josh Hinton recorded a decision over Brysen French at 184-pounds to continue the Sooners run. Hinton defeated French, 7-6. Joel Flaggert made easy work of Chris Robertson at 197-pounds. The Sooner senior won his fifth straight match as he recorded a decision of 9-3. Brad Farmer finished out the dual for Oklahoma as he defeated Chris Dearmon in the heavyweight match. Farmer won by a decision of 7-4. With the victory, the Sooners have now defeated the Ducks nine straight times. Oregon last defeated Oklahoma in 1980. Jack Spates pushed his career record against Oregon to 6-0. OU hits the road for two consecutive road duals as they take on the Cyclones of Iowa State next Friday, Jan. 26, at 7 p.m.

EDMOND -– Jason Leavitt and Jared Hess pulled off a pair of mild upsets to spark top-ranked Central Oklahoma to a 25-12 triumph over No. 6 Adams State Saturday afternoon at Hamilton Field House. The fifth-ranked Leavitt dominated from start to finish en route to a surprisingly easy 12-2 major decision over No. 3 Mike Gallegos at 157 pounds, while the seventh-rated Hess used a third-period takedown to overcome No. 5 Jared Deaguero 6-4 at 184. The Bronchos also got a third-period fall from 285 Josh LeadingFox and wins from 141 Kyle Evans and 149 Shea Timothy in addition to picking up a forfeit at 133. UCO improved to 11-3 and will stay home to host No. 7 Fort Hays State next Saturday night. "Jason and Jared had a couple of big wins that should really help them," UCO coach David James. "They both wrestled well and picked up wins we needed to have. I was disappointed with a couple of areas, but overall it was a good win for us." Leavitt won for the 15th time in 16 outings and improved to 23-5 with his rout. The Ponca City junior took control with a four-point move 40 seconds into the bout and added three takedowns the rest of the way while racking up over three minutes riding time to win going away. Hess picked up his 80th career win and moved to 20-3 on the season with his narrow victory. The Oklahoma City senior erased a 4-3 deficit on a takedown with 1:14 left in the match, then rode Deaguero the rest of the way to add a riding time point for the 6-4 win. LeadingFox picked up his team-leading ninth fall of the season at the 5:25 mark, piling up a 5-0 lead over Jeff Schossow before getting the pin. The unbeaten and top-ranked Evans had one of his closest matches of the season, using a first-period takedown to trim No. 8 Joey Deaguero 2-1, while Timothy scored a three-point near-fall in the final minute for a 4-2 win over Noomis Jones. Two of UCO's four losses were by a point, with eighth-ranked Heath Jolley dropping a tight 2-1 decision to No. 1 Casey Woodall at 197 and Tyler Zukerman losing a 4-3 match at 125 on Arsenia Barksdale's takedown with 12 seconds remaining.

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. -- The Limestone wrestlers picked up a 31-10 win over American International College on Saturday at the East Coast Duals, hosted by the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown. The Saints would lose to Pittsburg-Johnstown, the No. 5-ranked team in the country, 48-0. Shippensburg edged Limestone, 23-19, later in the day. Limestone returns to the Timken Center on Wednesday, January 24 to face Anderson at 7 p.m. The Timken Center will also play host to the Byrnes High School match versus East Side High School next Wednesday. The high school match is slated to start at 5 p.m.

Augustana got major decisions from 3 of its nationally-ranked wrestlers as the Vikings defeated St. Cloud State 27-12 in North Central Conference action Saturday afternoon at the Elmen Center. The Vikings, ranked No. 11 in the NCAA Division II Top 20 poll, improved to 5-3 overall and 1-0 in the NCC, while SCSU dropped to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in the NCC. Chris Trampe, Cody Henriksen and Nate Buys all earned major decisions in their matches, while the fourth nationally-ranked Viking, Austin Scarset, came close. The Vikings also picked up a forfeit win by Ray O'Connor at heavyweight. Trampe, ranked No. 7 at 125 pounds, got the Vikings off on the right foot with an 8-0 win over SCSU's Westy Hanson to give Augie a 4-0 lead. It was Trampe's team-high 20th win of the season. He is now 20-6 The Huskies then took a 9-4 lead with Nick Wasche decisioned Adam Schlee 5-1 at 133 pounds and Tim Whitley pinned Jordan Burmeister at 141 pounds. But Jarred McCarthy righted the Viking ship with an 11-5 win over Grant Johnson at 149 pounds. Next, Scarset, ranked No. 2 at 157 pounds, put Augustana in the lead for good with an 11-5 win over Adam Minnette. Aaron Haddorff made it 13-9 in Augie's favor with an 8-3 decision over Matt Steffenson before Henriksen, ranked sixth at 174 pounds, earned a 13-2 major decision over Neil Russell. The closest match of the afternoon came at 184 pounds where SCSU's Nick Wilkes edged Beau Severtson 4-3 in double overtime. Wilkes recorded a reversal with 37 seconds left in the final period to tie the score at 3-3. In the second overtime, Severtson could not escape from the down position in his 30-second session. Wilkes then escaped with 27 seconds left in his 30-second session and then fought off several late takedown attempts by Severtson to hold on for the win. Buys, ranked No. 3 at 197 pounds, put an exclamation point on the dual for Augustana with a 15-3 major decision over Jairo Sandoval. Buys led 7-1 after 1 period and 10-1 after 2 periods as he improved to 19-2. Augustana returns to the mat on Wednesday when the Vikings travel to Mitchell, S.D., to face Dakota Wesleyan in a 7 p.m. dual.

BLOOMSBURG -- The Bloomsburg University wrestling team won their first Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) match-up on the season with a 22-15 win over West Virginia on Saturday afternoon at the Nelson Field House. With a 15-1 lead 53 seconds into in the third period of the 125 pound match, Mike Sees (Northumberland/Shikellamy) pinned West Virginia's Scott Stuart to give Bloomsburg an early 6-0 advantage. At 133 pounds, Bloomsburg's Ricky Donald (Millville/Millville) scored on a takedown in the first period to go up 2-0. An escape in the second period from Donald pushed the score to 3-0. A scoreless third period gave Donald the win over West Virginia's Mark Anderson and pushed the team lead to 9-0. The Mountaineer's got on the board at 141 pounds with Brandon Rader winning a major decision (14-3) over the Huskies' Darren Kern (Millville/Millville). The loss narrowed the Bloomsburg lead to 9-4. At 149 pounds, Bloomsburg's Matt Moley (Phoenixville/Spring-Ford) picked up the win over David Jauregui. Moley went up 2-0 on a takedown in the first period and scored an escape in the second period to push the lead to 3-0. In the third, Jauregui got on the board with a takedown making it 3-2, however, Moley recorded an escape and a takedown to go up 6-2 with less than 30 seconds remaining. A last effort escape from Jauregui narrowed the lead to three points, but Moley closed out the match with the 6-3 decision that gave Bloomsburg a 12-4 lead. In the 157-pound bout, West Virginia's Zach Fryling defeated Dennis Bermudez (Saugerties, NY/Saugerties) 11-6. Fryling recorded four takedowns and a reverse to go up 8-4 in the first period. Bermudez narrowed the lead to 8-5 in the second period scoring on an escape, but Fryling took the match 11-6 narrowing the team score to 12-7, still in favor of the Huskies. Bloomsburg's Ricky Schmelyum (New Oxford/Bermudian Springs) won a major decision over Eric Connolly at 165 pounds to extend the Huskies' lead to 16-7. Schmelyum dominated the first period taking a 14-1 lead that included three nearfalls, and cruised to the 14-5 win. At 174 pounds, Bloomsburg's Andrew Jordan (Newark, DE/St. Marks) dropped a close 9-8 match to Kurt Brenner, making the team score 16-10 still in Bloomsburg's favor. In the first period, Jordan fell behind 4-2 after two takedowns from Brenner. The second period ended 6-4 with Brenner retaining the advantage. In the third, Jordan scored a takedown to narrow the lead to 7-6. An escape from Brenner pushed his lead to 8-6 but Jordan scored on a takedown to tie the match with less than 30 seconds remaining. However, a late escape from Brenner gave him the 9-8 win. In the 184-pound match, Nate Shirk (Middleburg/Middleburg) picked up a win for Bloomsburg, defeating Chance Litton 5-2. Shirk lead the entire match, picking up a takedown in the first and an escape in the second, before ending with a takedown in the third period to close out the match and extend the Huskies' lead to 19-10. P.J. DiStefano (Whitehall/Whitehall-Coplay) struck first in the 197-pound match taking down West Virginia's Jared Villers to go up 2-0, but Villers dominated the rest of the match winning by tech fall (21-4, 5:22). The victory pulled the Mountaineer's to wining four team points at 19-15. At heavyweight, Mike Spaid (Perkiomenville/Boyertown) sealed the Bloomsburg victory with a 3-2 win over Dustin Rogers. Spaid scored on a takedown in the first while Rogers added an escape to narrow the lead to 2-1. In the second, Spaid started down and escaped to go up 3-2. Rogers picked up an escape at the beginning of the third period but Spaid was able to hold on to the 3-2 win and Bloomsburg won the match by a score of 22-15. With the loss, West Virginia drops to 1-3 on the year with a 1-1 EWL record. The win improves Bloomsburg to 8-7 on the year, 1-1 in the EWL. The Huskies return to the mat on Saturday when they host the 2007 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championships at the Nelson Field House. Matches begin at 10:00 a.m.

PITTSBURGH -- The Panthers returned to the Fitzgerald Field House today for a dual meet against Air Force. Pitt (5-3, 1-0 EWL) never wrestled the Falcons (4-3, 0-0 WW) until today. The Panthers won the bout, 28-9. Pitt started off at 125 pounds as sophomore Brad Gentzle (Easton, Pa./Easton) faced Air Force's Zach Valdez. With seconds remaining in the first period, Gentzle got on the board with a takedown, giving him a 2-0 lead. The second period was scoreless, and at the beginning of the third, Valdez scored a point on an escape. He received a point for riding time to send the match into overtime. Gentzle scored on a takedown right away to win the bout, 4-2. Pitt took a three-point lead over the Falcons. In the 133-pound match, Pitt's No. 13 Drew Headlee (Waynesburg, Pa./Waynesburg) took on Stephen Makuka of Air Force. The two wrestled earlier this year at the Las Vegas Invitational where Headlee won a 14-3 major decision. Headlee got off to an early, 9-0 lead over Makuka, and three more back points toward the end of the first period gave him a 13-0 lead. A takedown in the second period gave Headlee the 15-0 technical fall at the 3:30 mark. Pitt moved ahead, 8-0. At 141 pounds, Joe Ciampoli (Altoona, Pa./Altoona) wrestled the Air Force's top wrestler, Jake Kriegbaum. Ciampoli scored on a takedown with under a minute left in the first period. Kriegbaum scored on a reversal to tie the bout up after one period. The two were scoreless in the second, but Kriegbaum had a reversal and a point for riding time in the third to give him the 5-2 decision. The Falcons now had three team points, but Pitt still remained in the lead with eight. Next up for the Panthers was Mark Generalovich (Pittsburgh, Pa./Thomas Jefferson) at 149 pounds against Air Force's Bridger Lord. In the first period, Lord scored two points on a takedown to take the lead. Lord picked up three more points in the second period, scoring on an escape and a takedown. A point for riding time in the third period gave Lord the 6-0 decision. The Falcons started to close in as Pitt held a close 8-6 lead. Pitt's No. 8 Matt Kocher (State College, Pa./State College) wrestled Air Force's Zach Lord at 157 pounds. In the first period, Kocher moved to a 4-0 lead, scoring on a takedown and a near fall. Lord came back with an escape to make the score 4-1 at the end of the first. Kocher had an escape in the second and score on a takedown with minutes to go, commanding a 7-1 lead heading into the final period. Kocher picked up four more points in the third and with riding time, won a 12-3 major decision. Pitt moved ahead, 12-6. Wrestling at 165 pounds, Pitt's Sean Richmond (Emmaus, Pa./Easton) faced Air Force's Duane Miller. Richmond pulled ahead to a 4-2 lead in the first period, scoring on two takedowns. In the second period, Richmond score on two more takedowns, holding Miller to two escapes for an 8-4 lead. Richmond took a 19-8 major decision in the final period to move Pitt ahead, 16-6. Pitt's No. 3 Keith Gavin (Factoryville, Pa./Lackawanna Trail) took on Air Force's Stephen Crozier at 174 pounds. Gavin moved to an early 5-0 lead, scoring on a takedown and a near fall. He moved to a 12-1 lead heading into the second period. Gavin had two more takedowns to win the technical fall, 17-2 at the 4:01 mark. The Panthers remained in the lead, 21-6. In at 184 pounds for the Panthers was Mike Heist (Orefield, Pa./Parkland) against Air Force's Jacob Devlin. The two were scoreless in the first period, and Devlin scored on an escape in the second to take a one-point lead. Heist tied it up with an escape early in the third period, but Devlin came back with a takedown for the 3-1 decision. Pitt stayed ahead, 21-9. At 197 pounds, Pitt's Eric Cassidy (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) wrestled Air Force's Jordan Tribble. Cassidy scored on a takedown in the first period for a 2-0 lead. A reversal and three back points early in the second period, moved him to a 7-0 lead. Cassidy scored four more and with a point for riding time, won a 12-0 major decision. The Panthers took a 25-9 lead. The final bout of the afternoon was between Pitt's Zach Sheaffer (Carlisle, Pa./Cumberland Valley) and Air Force's Anthony Stegeman. Sheaffer scored on a takedown in the first for a two-point lead, and Stegeman came back with an escape. The two were scoreless in the second period. Sheaffer had an escape early in the third to take a two-point lead. A takedown moved him to a 5-1 lead. With a point for riding time, Sheaffer won, 6-2. Pitt picked up the dual meet win, 28-9.

RTP, N.C. -- The 22nd-ranked Navy wrestling team (8-4) extended its winning streak to four in a row after defeating North Carolina and N.C. State Saturday in a pair of dual matches. The Mids beat North Carolina, 25-9, in an early afternoon match in Chapel Hill before traveling a half hour down the road to Raleigh where Navy captured a 23-16 victory over the Wolfpack. "We came up with some big wins today," said Navy head coach Bruce Burnett. "I thought we looked a little flat-footed in some of our matches and we weren't as sharp as what we should be right now. That said, we had some solid performances by several of our guys, in particular Joe Baker, Matt Stolpinski, Antonio Miranda and Ed Prendergast. We made some mistakes, but I feel like we can work on those errors in practice this week and be ready to go for East Stroudsburg on Wednesday." Navy opened the North Carolina match with a 2-1 victory by John Jarred (Kansas City, Mo.) at 157 pounds. However, Carolina evened the score in the following match with No. 15 Keegan Mueller edging out Navy's Justin Jacobs (LeRoy, Mich.) at 165 pounds by a 2-1 count. Matt Stolpinski (Westfield, Mass.) and Antonio Miranda (Eugene, Ore.) earned bonus points for the Mids at 174 and 184 pounds, respectively. Stolpinski, who is ranked 10th in the country, recorded his third fall of the season, pinning Jake Forestiere in 1:52. Meanwhile, Miranda turned in his third-consecutive bonus-point win by posting a 20-6 major decision over Robert McCarthy to give Navy a 13-3 lead after four matches. In one of the most anticipated matches of the evening, ninth-ranked Ed Prendergast (St. Louis, Mo.) handed No. 8 Spencer Nadolsky a 7-3 loss. The match marked the third time the two have met this season. Prendergast defeated Nadolsky in the semifinals of the Nittany Lion Open before beating Bloomsburg's Mike Spaid for the title. Nadolsky, however, earned a 2-3 tie breaker over Prendergast at the Southern Scuffle where the Navy junior placed fourth. The Mids went on to win three of the final four matches to seal the win over the Tar Heels, including an exciting 5-3 victory by 11th-ranked Joe Baker (Poway, Calif.) over two-time All-American Evan Sola (ranked No. 10) at 133 pounds. "Joe really looked sharp in his match today," said Burnett. "He did a great job of controlling the pace of the match. He got the first and last takedowns of the match and looked impressive against a two-time All-American." Navy fell behind early in its match against N.C. State, dropping the first two matches at 157 and 165 pounds. Jarred lost a tough 5-3 decision to 19th-ranked Kody Hamrah at 157 pounds, while Jacobs also dropped a close decision, 8-4, to Obie Simpson. Stolpinski helped close the gap for the Midshipmen as he man-handled Jalil Dozier to record a five-point technical fall. The win by Stolpinski pushes his season win total to 28, while his 10 dual match wins equals his victory mark from a year ago. Miranda's major decision over Jeremy Colbert gave Navy its first lead of the day at 9-6. Miranda has earned wins by major decision in each of his last three matches and is 11-1 in major decisions this season. N.C. State held its ground, taking over the lead thanks to a major decision by 12th-ranked Ryan Goodman at 197 pounds over Navy's Matt Parsons (Dunkirk, Md.). The Midshipmen took the lead for good when Prendergast outlasted 17th-ranked Jainor Palma in the heavyweight matchup. Prendergast, who beat Palma just before the turn of the calendar year at the Southern Scuffle, was forced into overtime to earn the 3-1 victory. Following Prendergast's win, the Mids went on to win three of the final four matchups, including a 5-1 win by Joel Ahern (Herkimer, N.Y.) at 149 pounds over Joe Caramanica. The Mids return home to play host to EIWA foe East Stroudsburg on Wednesday. Action is set for 7:00 pm at Halsey Field House in Annapolis.