InterMat Staff

This week's edition of "On the Mat" will feature Andy Hamilton and Tom Borrelli "On the Mat" is a weekly wrestling radio program that airs every Wednesday night. This week's broadcast can be heard live from 6-7 p.m. Central Standard Time. The Dan Gable International Wrestling Institute and Museum in Waterloo, Iowa, hosts the show. Borrelli is the current head wrestling coach at Central Michigan University. His Chippewa squad is currently ranked sixth by Intermat. In 1998, when his team placed fifth in the nation, W.I.N. Magazine and the National Wrestling Coaches Association named Borrelli its coach of the year. Hamilton currently covers wrestling for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. His articles have appeared in a variety of prominent wrestling publications including ESPN.com. Considered one of the best wrestling journalists in the nation, Hamilton was selected by the National Wrestling Media Association as their journalist of the year in 2003. "On the Mat" can be heard live on the Internet at www.kcnzam.com or locally in Northeast Iowa on 1650, The Fan. Feel free to e-mail radio@wrestlingmuseum.org with questions or comments about the show.

Minnesota wrestling's Jayson Ness has been named the Big Ten's Wrestler of the Week, the conference office announced today. Ness earned the honor after pinning his way to a 125-pound individual title in six matches at last weekend's Southern Scuffle in Greensboro, N.C. The sophomore led the defending national champions to a lopsided 50-point team victory at the annual tournament, the program's second Southern Scuffle team win in three years. Ranked third in the nation at 125 pounds, Ness' eye-popping weekend performance continued what has been an outstanding season for the Bloomington, Minn. native. Ness notched three of his six pins in less than two minutes before winning the championship bout over No. 13 Mike Sees of Bloomsburg University with a fall at the 5:58 mark. Ness currently boasts a perfect 19-0 record (already the 21st-longest win streak in Gopher history) and has collected 15 of those wins by way of fall. He is well on his way to establishing a new Minnesota single-season record for pins, and has already tied his career high set last year. Ness' current pin tally is already the seventh-highest total in program history, and he is on pace to shatter the all-time mark of 20 (set by current Gopher head assistant coach Marty Morgan in 1989-90). This is the third Big Ten Wrestler of the Week honor for Ness during his short career, as he earned the award twice last season en route to his first All-American finish at the 2007 NCAA Championships. The sophomore currently has a career record of 59-5, with 30 of those wins coming by way of fall – the 11th-highest total in Minnesota history. This is the first weekly honor for the defending national champions during the 2007-08 season. The Gophers will resume competition Jan. 12-13 as they look to defend their 2007 National Duals title in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The 2007 Southern Scuffle concluded this weekend with the University of Minnesota running away with the team championship. The Golden Gophers crowned four champions (Jayson Ness at 125, Mack Reiter at 133, Manny Rivera at 141, and C.P. Schlatter at 157). This season's Scuffle provided fans with plenty of entertainment and upsets. RevWrestling.com was in Greensboro and provides a list of 10 things wrestling fans can take away from the 2007 Southern Scuffle. 10. The ACC Conference is for real Yes, that's right you heard me, the Atlantic Coastal Conference that used to be viewed as one of the weaker conference in the nation has now become one of the strongest. Thanks to Steve Garland and Pat Santoro, the University of Virginia and the University of Maryland combined had five finalists at the Scuffle and several more place-winners. Combined with Maryland's upset victory over the University of Michigan at the Journeymen/Northeast Duals, and the ACC has two legitimate top 15 teams. Schools like UNC, NC State and Virginia Tech only make this conference stronger. Look for the ACC's number of allocated NCAA entries to increase in the next couple years. 9. Cornell is a mystery to the wrestling world Despite having four All-Americans last year and two finalists this year, the Big Red has all the talent in the world, but seems to continually come up short. This is a team that when healthy could compete with any team in the nation, but the keyword is when healthy. The Big Red had their freshmen sensation duo of Mack Lewnes (165) and Mike Grey (133) reach the finals, only to have three starters pull out of the tournament with injuries. Only time will tell whether the Big Red is a pretender or a contender for an NCAA crown. 8. Redshirting is not for everyone The trend toward letting true freshmen in the lineup is alive and well. In the past, only certain programs would let a wrestler right out of a high school compete for a starting spot. However, many high school seniors are competing and doing well in college opens, which begs the question, if a wrestler is good enough as a freshman, why red-shirt them? Look no further than the two finalists at the Scuffle, Kirk Smith of Boise State and Michael Chaires of Virginia. Chaires lost to fellow freshman Mack Lewnes in the finals, while Smith won the title at 184, defeating several nationally-ranked wrestlers. Although Smith competed unattached, it is rumored Boise State may put him into the lineup in the second part of the season, and why not … he is more than ready. 7. Jayson Ness is a pinner It was amazing to see the Golden Gopher dominate his weight class at the Scuffle. Ness had six falls with four of them coming in the first period. Ness was awarded the Most Falls Award and would have been a logical choice for Outstanding Wrestler if his teammate, Dustin Schlatter, were not upset in the finals. Ness has such leverage when riding and his half nelson is something fans have not seen since the days of Gene Mills. Although it is early, Ness will be one of the favorites at 125 pounds come March. 6. The Navy dilemma Ed Prendergast (Photo/Tech-Fall)Some universities have problems filling and training a quality heavyweight. The weight class is such a premium at the college level that teams will do anything they can to get one. Navy is the envy of every college program in that they have two heavyweights who could compete for a national crown in March. Who gets the spot? In yesterdays final, senior Ed Pendergast picked up the fall over junior Scott Steele in triple-overtime. Steele had won the first wrestle-off over Pendergast. The two have also flip-flopped in tournament placements at Reno. One thing is for sure, Navy coach Bruce Burnett has a problem every university wishes it had. 5. Mack Lewnes is the best freshman in the nation Lewnes is 22-1 on the season, and has won Reno and Scuffle, but what makes this freshman so tough is his ability to find ways to win. During the Scuffle, Lewnes was able to adapt his style for each of his matches. In the semi's against Jared King, Lewnes used great counter-offense, while in the finals against Michael Chaires of Virginia. Lewnes scored on a late flurry to win the title. Lewnes has yet to match up with anyone in the top 5, but National Duals will hopefully give this freshman a chance to prove doubters wrong. 4. Minnesota will finish the year No. 1 Despite falling early, the Golden Gophers are the best tournament team in the nation, and that's all that matters in March. The Gophers should have run away with the title last year, but stumbled in the later rounds. Even with "King Cole" Konrad gone, the Gophers can rely on the Schlatter brothers, Mack Reiter, Jayson Ness and Roger Kish to bring home Coach Robinson another NCAA title. Minnesota won the team title by 52 points over second-place finisher Edinboro … and that was without the help of two-time All-American Roger Kish, who would have definitely been a favorite at 184 pounds. The Gophers are a senior-led team and while their grasp on the national title may end in the future, it will not happen this season. 3. Most underrated wrestler at the Scuffle: Hudson Taylor The sophomore redshirt from Maryland dominated his weight class at the 2007 Scuffle after finishing third and fourth in the previous two trips to the Scuffle. Despite being ranked 10th, Taylor is highly underrated. He has tremendous quickness and is powerful with the legs. Taylor has some early-season losses, but with solid workout partners in the room, he should run through the ACC schedule and compete for a high All-American spot in March. 2. UNC Greensboro runs a first-class event Without getting into whether the Southern Scuffle is better than the Midlands, let me just applaud all the individuals who helped in making this tournament possible. Plenty of fan seating, easy to move around and see bouts, and the racecar parked next to the elevated mat was a nice touch as well. The Scuffle does not have the history that the Midlands does, but make no mistake … it definitely has the competition. In many weight classes, the Scuffle had the tougher bracket. If the Scuffle could draw another big school to its tournament, it could very well be on its way to surpassing the Midlands as the premier holiday college tournament. 1. Mike Roberts will contend for All-American status this season Roberts came into the tournament unseeded but still an accomplished wrestler. He won a Junior National championship in Fargo and was a conference champion last season, but now he can add something to his resume. Roberts wrestled a brilliant match against No. 2 Darrion Caldwell of NC State, slowing down the entertaining Caldwell and eventually converting a late double-leg shot into a fall to shock the crowd early Saturday morning. Roberts then won three straight hard fought bouts to reach the finals against Dustin Schlatter. Roberts went right after and attacked Schlatter scoring the bout's only takedown. The Boston University wrestler was then able to get out from Schlatter, something that does not occur often. He then was able to prevent Schlatter from scoring late in the third period to gain the tournament title and Most Outstanding Wrestler Award. Roberts does not deserve the No. 1 ranking at 149, because he has some losses that make you scratch your head, but he should appear on the radar screen now and look for him to carry this momentum into the later part of the season.

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Senior heavyweight Ed Prendergast (St. Louis, Mo.) was one of five Midshipmen to place at the 2007 Southern Scuffle, while the No. 21 Navy wrestling team captured ninth place at the two-day, 28-team tournament held at the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center in Greensboro, N.C. Led by four individual title winners, fourth-ranked Minnesota claimed the team title with 182 points. Fourteenth-ranked Edinboro was a distant second with 130.5 points, followed by Hofstra, who jumped from 10th to third in the final standings with 121 points. Cornell, meanwhile, just edged out Maryland for fourth place, 94-93.5. The Mids, who were tied for eighth heading into the final day of competition, finished the tournament with 79.5 points, five points behind eighth-place Boise State and five points in front of 10th-place Old Dominion, who plummeted from fourth after the opening day of action. "I think we could have done better in the tournament, but the reality of it is that it's a tough tournament and though we had some good performances, we need to be able to win a few of those close matches," said Navy head coach Bruce Burnett. "We had that little holiday break in there and some of the guys weren't quite in the condition they should have been in this weekend. Additionally, we didn't have our full complement of of wrestlers. Joel Ahern (157 pounds) and Tyler Moyer (197 pounds) both made the trip, but were unable to compete because of the flu. But in this sport, there are no excuses. "We use these tournaments as practice for what we will face in March at the conference and national tournaments. I'm anxious to get back into the wrestling room and work out the kinks." Navy sent six wrestlers into the championship bracket on Sunday and five of them came away place-winners. An additional three Mids, Casey Caldwell (Liberty, Ind.), Matt DeMichiel (Whitesboro, N.Y.) and Glenn Shober (Reading, Pa.), were just one match away from finishing among the top eight in their respective weight classes. For the third time this season, the heavyweight title bout matched up Navy's Prendergast and junior Scott Steele (Baltimore, Md.). Steele took the titles at Eastern Michigan and the Navy Classic, but it was Prendergast who got the best of Steele at the Scuffle. Prendergast defeated eighth-seeded Justin Dobies of North Carolina in the quarters before pinning 17th-ranked Joey Fendone of Edinboro in the semis. Meanwhile, Steele edged 16th-ranked Mike Spaid of Bloomsburg, 3-2, and cruised to a 19-1 victory over No. 9 Zach Hammond of Cornell to set up the finals match. Prendergast earned his second tournament title of the year by pinning Steele at 8:19. For Steele, it was just his third loss of the year. "Ed has really stepped it up as of late," said Burnett. "He and Scott (Steele) are really wrestling well for us right now and pushing one another to get better." A pair of Midshipmen, 133-pounder Joe Baker (Poway, Calif.) and 174-pounder Matt Stolpinski (Westfield, Mass.), earned fourth in their respective weight classes. Baker made his way to the semifinals after earning a one-point victory over Boise State's Andrew Hochstrasser in the opening match of the day. Baker, though, suffered a 6-2 setback against seventh-ranked Mack Reiter of Minnesota, cutting short his hopes of winning the title. While Reiter went on to win the championship bout, Baker regrouped and made another run in the consolation bracket. He defeated Kent State's Dan Mitcheff, seeded fourth, 8-5, but was tripped up by Hochstrasser in the rematch, 9-8. Stolpinski, meanwhile, followed the same pattern as Baker. Navy's team captain earned a 4-2 win over 18th-ranked Eric Decker of Virginia Tech in the quarterfinals, but was unable to get past 14th-ranked Alton Lucas of Hofstra in the semifinals. Lucas took the bout, 7-4, and went on to beat eighth-ranked Mike Letts from Maryland in the championship match. Stolpinski dropped to the consolation bracket where he earned a 7-5 win over Edinboro's Philip Moricone, ranked No. 12. However, 11th-ranked Steve Anceravage from Cornell kept Stolpinski out of the top three by defeating him, 5-3. Rookie 149-pounder Bryce Saddoris (Spring Creek, Nev.) was the final Navy wrestler to place on the afternoon, taking home seventh-place honors. Saddoris opened the tournament with a 3-0 record, but had much to think about when his head hit the pillow Saturday night. He knew he would have his hands full with his quarterfinals opponent, No. 1-ranked Dustin Schlatter from Minnesota. Schlatter took the match, 9-2, sending Saddoris to the consolation bracket, where he wrestled his way back into place-winner status. After defeating Ohio's Matt Reedy, 6-0, he dropped an 8-2 decision to Hofstra's Mitch Smith. Saddoris, though, went on to defeat Jeremy Doyle of Cal State Bakersfield, 10-5. Saddoris has now placed in four of the five tournaments in which he has competed, including three top-three finishes. The Midshipmen will be back in action next Saturday when they travel to Texas to take part in the Lone Star Duals. Navy opens the competition against No. 19 Oklahoma at 12:00 pm Central, followed by Columbia at 2:00 pm and No. 13 Wisconsin at 8:00 pm

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- The No. 22 Maryland wrestling finished in fifth place at the 2007 UNCG Southern Scuffle this weekend at the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center. The Terrapins were led by redshirt sophomore Hudson Taylor who won the individual title at 197 pounds while sophomore Mike Letts finished second at 174. Redshirt junior Josh Haines also placed, finishing eighth at 184 pounds. No. 1 Minnesota won the team title with 182 points while No. 14 Edinboro placed second with 130.5. No. 15 Hofstra (121) and No. 17 Cornell (94) also finished ahead of the Terps who accumulated 93.5 points in the tournament. Taylor advanced to the quarterfinals at 197 pounds on Saturday with three wins. On Sunday, he dominated his opposition. He advanced to the semifinals with a pin in the first period against Dennis Drury of North Carolina and won by major decision, 15-4, against Greensboro's Daren Burns, ranked No. 12 in the country in the weight class. In the final, Taylor faced Virginia's Brent Jones who he pinned with nine seconds left in the second to win the title. Letts easily got by his two opponents to advance to the quarterfinals at 174 pounds yesterday. His first win came on a 14-6 major decision and then he pinned his second opponent 40 seconds into the second period for the win. Letts started where he left off on Sunday, shutting out Tom Kocher of Lock Haven, 12-0, to advance to the semifinals. Letts then faced Cornell's Steve Anceravage, ranked No. 11 in the nation, and defeated him 5-1 to get to the finals. He then had to square off against No. 14 Alton Lucas of Hofstra and fell just short, losing 6-3 for the second place finish. Haines dominated his opposition in two matches on Saturday by a combined 13-1 to earn a spot in the quarterfinals at 184 pounds. He lost his first bout on Sunday against Kirk Smith of Boise State, 6-0, but bounced back in his first wrestleback by pinning Curtis Moore of VMI in the second period. Haines lost in the quarterfinals of the wrestlebacks and was unable to compete in seventh place match to finish eighth. Maryland, which is 7-3 in duals this season, returns to action on January 10 when it travels to the state capital to face No. 21 Navy in Annapolis.

GREENSBORO, North Carolina -- Boise State University placed three wrestlers in the top four of their respective weight classes, and the team finished eighth among 29 teams, at the 2007 Southern Scuffle. Adam Hall and Tyler Sherfey each finished third at 149 and 157 pounds, respectively, while Kurt Swartz placed fourth in the 165 pound weight class. Nate Lee also placed at the two-day tournament on the University of North Carolina, Greensboro campus finishing eighth at 174 pounds. The Broncos scored 84.5 points to finish just one and one-half points behind seventh placed Bloomsburg. Defending NCAA national champion University of Minnesota won the annual event with 182 points. Hall lost his semifinal match on Sunday (Dec. 30) morning to Dustin Schlatter of Minnesota, 7-3, to fall into the consolation bracket. The freshman then defeated Scott Ervin of Applachian State, 4-3, and Kaylen Baxter of Old Dominion, 6-5, to place third. Sherfey was also knocked out of the championship bracket on Sunday in the semifinal round when Gregor Gillespie of Edinboro won by a major decision, 17-2. Sherfey earned his third place finish when he handed Trevor Hall of Cal State Bakersfield a major decision defeat with an 11-2 scored, and then pinned Kody Hamray of North Carolina at the 1:45 mark of the match. Like Hall and Sherfey, Swartz also lost his semifinal match when Michael Chaires posted a 5-2 decision. Swartz won his first consolation match with a 12-3 major decision over Tyler Safratowich of Minnesota, before losing by fall to Jarrod King of Edinboro at the 1:11 mark to finish fourth. Lee, who was making his first appearance of the season due to an injury, won three straight consolation matches before dropping his final two matches to place eighth. In other Boise State wrestling news on Sunday, Bronco true freshman Kirk Smith, who was competing unattached, won the 184-pound weight class. Unseeded in the tournament, Smith won five straight matches including two against nationally ranked opponents. He handed 18th ranked Josh Haines of the University of Maryland a 6-0 defeat in the semifinals, and then posted a 1-0 decision over seventh ranked Rocco Caponi of the University of Virginia in the championship match. The Broncos are off from competition until Jan. 11 (Friday) when they begin a five-match road trip at Cal State Fullerton. The next home match for Boise State is Jan. 25 (Friday) against the University of Oregon.

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Junior Mike Roberts upset the top and third-ranked wrestlers in the country at 149 pounds to claim the title at the Southern Scuffle - one of the nation's premier tournaments - on Sunday at UNC-Greensboro. In the championship match, Roberts posted a 3-2 victory over previously undefeated and top-ranked Dustin Schlatter of Minnesota and went on to earn the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler award. Roberts, who opened his run with a 17-6 major decision against William Powell (App. St.) followed that up by pinning No. 3 Darrion Caldwell (N.C. State) in the closing seconds of their match on Saturday to advance to the round of 16. He reached the quarterfinals with a 9-3 triumph over Matthew Fittery (Lock Haven) before qualifying for the semifinals by posting a 5-3 victory against Joey Metzler of Old Dominion. Sixth-seeded Kaylen Baxter (Old Dominion) was the only wrestler in the way of a spot in the championship match, but Roberts came out on top, 9-6. In the title bout, Roberts earned a takedown against Schlatter in the opening minute of action. After cutting Schlatter free, Roberts continued to be aggressive but settled for the 2-1 lead after one. Each wrestler opened the next two periods (Roberts in the 2nd, Schlatter in the 3rd) with an escape and that would be the end of the scoring, as Roberts capped his unseeded run to the title. Other highlights for the Terriers, who finished in 19th place among the 29 participating teams, included three wins by senior Joey Whitaker in the 141-pound wrestlebacks and victories by freshman Alex Cournoyer (141) and junior Carlo Ferrandino (157). The Terriers will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 12, when they travel to Fairfield, Conn., for a 2 p.m dual against Sacred Heart.

GOhioCasts's Zeb Miller asks InterMat high school analyst Josh Lowe to break down all three divisions of the 2011 Ohio state tournament, which takes place Thursday through Saturday at the Jerome Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio. Division I (Part 1) Division I (Part 2) Division II Division III (Part 1) Division III (Part 2)

Greensboro, N.C. -- The Big Red wrestling team finished in fourth place with 94 points at the 2007 Southern Scuffle this weekend. Freshman Mack Lewnes won an individual title at 165 pounds while his classmate, Mike Grey finished in second at 133. Juniors Steve Anceravage (174) and Zach Hammond (HWT) finished in third and fourth, respectively. At 125 pounds, senior Mike Rodriguez started the day in the wrestlebacks where he lost, 5-4 to Lockhaven's John Trumbetti. Freshman Frank Perrelli began Sunday in the wrestlebacks as well, winning his first bout, 6-2, over UNC-Greensboro's Mitchell Johnson. He then faced Trumbetti, dropping a 5-3 decision. At 133, Grey defeated the No. 4 seed, Dan Mitcheff (Kent State), 5-3, in the quarterfinals. In his semifinal match, he met the No. 1 seed, Lou Ruggirello (Hofstra), who is ranked second nationally. Grey advanced to the finals winning a 3-1 decision. In the championship bout, he lost a close, 5-4, decision to the No. 2 seed Minnesota's Mack Reiter. In the quarterfinals at 141 pounds, sophomore Adam Frey was pinned by Kent State's Drew Lashaway. In the wrestlebacks, he met Edinboro's Gregor Gillespie, where he lost a 10-2 major decision ending his tournament. Drake Hovis won his first wrestleback match of the day, against Conover of Bloomsburg, 17-3, at 157 pounds. He then faced Lock Haven's Lanno, where he lost an 8-2 decision. At 165 pounds, Lewnes defeated Minnesota's Tyler Safratowich by a 10-5 decision in the quarterfinals. He advanced to the finals after winning, 5-2, against Edinboro's Jarrod King. Lewnes won the title by getting past Virginia's Michael Chaires, 3-2. Anceravage lost his quarterfinal match, 5-1, to Maryland's Mike Letts at 174 pounds. In the wrestlebacks, he defeated Minnesota's Gabe Dretsch, 7-4, before defeating the No. 1 seed, Matthew Stolpinski (Navy), 5-3, to capture third. At heavyweight, Hammond won his quarterfinal match against Ryan Hsu (UNC-Greensboro), 2-1, before losing in the semis to Navy's Scott Steele. In the wrestlebacks, he defeated Jamail Porter (Kent State), 3-2, but lost his third place match to Bloomsburg's Spaid. Also at heavyweight, Maciej Jochym lost in the wrestlebacks to Porter, 9-4. Cornell will next wrestle at Penn State in a dual match on Friday, Jan. 4, 2008. The match begins at 7 p.m.

EVANSTON, Ill.-- Senior Dustin Fox won a marathon final bout in the heavyweight division, which cemented ninth-ranked Northwestern's fifth-place finish at Midlands "45" in Welsh-Ryan Arena. Fox battled with Mike Faust from Hawk WC in the 285 lb. finals. The final match took two tiebreak sessions before the All-American took the title, 5-3, on a reversal. Fox beat out Iowa State's Dave Zabriskie 4-3 in the semifinals at 285 lbs. Sophomore Brandon Precin advanced to the final round by defeating Nick Simmons of Sunkist 1-0. Simmons was 24-1 all-time at the Midlands going into the match and had won three-consecutive championships. Precin's point came in the third period on a stall while he was riding Simmons. In the quarterfinals, Precin won with a pin at 2:30 over Akif Eren of Purdue. Precin finished with two pins on the tournament, which put him in a tie for third place for the most pins, his fasted coming in the quarters. The loss was the first of the year for the sophomore. Fellow NU All-American Mike Tamillow followed suit reaching the final round for the second-consecutive year, but was dispatched by American University's Josh Glenn. Tamillow faced Central Michigan's third seeded Wynn Michalak in the semifinals of the 197 lb. weight class. The senior defeated him by an 8-6 decision. At the 2006 Midlands, Fox finished second, while Tamillow took the title. Iowa won the Midlands with a team score of 185, beating out Iowa State, Central Michigan and Illinois. Just behind Northwestern was Pittsburgh, Tennessee-Chattanooga, Indiana, Purdue and Northern Illinois rounding out the top 10. Marty Gould took seventh place in the 149-lb. weight class after winning three matches in the wrestlebacks. Junior Dominic Marella got a medical forfeit for fifth place over Trevor Stewart in the evening session at 165 lbs. Marella fell in the semifinals to Mark Perry of Iowa in the championship round. Senior Nick Hayes also placed for the Wildcats at 174 lbs., as he fell to Lloyd Rogers of Tennessee-Chattanooga in the seventh place match, 9-8. NU freshman Mike Benefiel made it to the round of 16 at 174 lbs. and won two matches in the wrestlebacks before falling to Mike Miller of Central Michigan on Sunday. Seventh seeded Eric Metzler overcame multiple cuts to his face and head throughout the tournament to collect two wins, reaching the round of 16 at 133 lbs. Redshirt freshman Keith Sulzer also won two matches by decision to reach the round of 16 where he lost a lengthy double-tiebreaker match to second seeeded Zach Bailey of Oklahoma in the 141-lb. weight class. Top-ranked NU senior Ryan Lang bowed out of the tournament early in day one due to illness. The Wildcats next matches come at the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals on Jan. 12-13 in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Midlands Notes: Iowa's Mark Perry won the Ark Kraft Champion of Champions Award in the 165- lb. division on the strength of a pin in the semifinals against Marella and an 8-0 major decision over Iowa State's Jon Reader in the finals. Perry also took the Dan Gable Most Outstanding Wrestler Award, while earning 30 points for his team, which was an individual high for the tournament. Jesse Linczmaier of Northern Illinois earned the fastest fall of the tournament with a pin in 30 seconds against James Nakashima of Lincoln College in the 165-lb. wrestlebacks. Mark Perry earned hte most falls of the tournament with four in a total time of 8:10. His fastest came in just 42 seconds against Marella. Nick Simmons' loss to Precin was only the second of his career at Midlands after piling up 24 wins. He was a three-time defending champion coming into the 2007 tournament. New York Athletic Club's Jake Herbert took a loss in the finals at 184 lbs., which was his first ever Midlands loss in three years. Herbert won the title in both 2004 and in 2005. Iowa's victory placed the Midlands trophy back in the hands of the Big Ten for the 13th time in 14 years. Iowa State won last year, which was the first non-Big Ten victory since Arizona State's in 1989. Iowa has now won the Midlands Championships eight times since 1990. Of the 10 No. 1 seeds coming into the tournament, only four ended up living up to their seed and winning the championship. Illinois Mike Poeta (157 lbs.), Pittsburgh's Keith Gavin (174 lbs.), American's Josh Glenn (197 lbs.) and Northwestern's Dustin Fox (285 lbs.) all pulled off the feat.

Evanston, Ill. -- Keith Gavin added another plaudit to his already accomplished wrestling resume today as the Pitt Panthers wrestling team capped a weekend of record-breaking performances. The nation's No. 1-ranked wrestler at 174 pounds captured the Midlands Wrestling Championship crown tonight after earning a major decision over Iowa's Jay Borschel by a score of 13-4. The victory helped the Panthers to a sixth-place finish; the program's first top-10 and best team showing ever at the prestigious tournament. Gavin (Factoryville, Pa./Lackawanna Trail), who registered his 100th career victory earlier in the tournament, became Pitt's first Midlands champion since two-time NCAA champion Pat Santoro claimed back-to-back tournament titles in 1987 and 1988. Gavin now owns a perfect 17-0 record on the season, including an 11-0 mark in tournament competition. Matt Kocher (State College, Pa./State College) also made his way to the championship finals and picked up a second-place finish to help the Panthers in the team standings. The returning All-American gave No. 1-ranked Mike Poeta of Illinois all he could ask for in the championship bout of the 157-pound bracket. Kocher, the No. 3 seed, battled Poeta throughout the match, mustering two escapes in a very low scoring affair. The Illini grappler coupled a takedown with an escape of his own, however, and held on in the third period to secure the title by a count of 3-2. Along with his runner-up finish, Kocher grabbed his 100th career-tournament victory in yesterday's preliminary rounds, making him the first wrestler in Pitt history to accomplish the feat. Zach Sheaffer (Carlisle, Pa./Cumberland Valley), who entered the tournament as the No. 7-seeded heavyweight, met up with Central Michigan's Bubba Gritter in a showdown for fifth-place. Pitt's redshirt junior battled Gritter to a 2-2 deadlock after two periods before the Chippewa heavyweight used an escape and two takedowns to pull away in the final frame. For his efforts, Sheaffer garnered a sixth-place honor and continues to lead the team in victories this season with 23. Ryan Bosso (Pequea, Pa./Penn Manor) was the Panthers' fourth placewinner, taking seventh in the 125-pound bracket. He bested Tyler Mumbulo of the Peacock Wrestling Club by a count of 9-2 in the first session of today's action. It marked Bosso's best tournament finish as a collegian and raised his win total for the year to 15, which is fourth best on the team. The Panthers next match will come when they return home to Fitzgerald Field House on Friday, Jan. 6, to take on Duquesne and Franklin and Marshall in a three-team affair at noon.

EVANSTON, ILL. -- Junior All-American Mike Poeta won his second-straight 157-pound Midlands title Sunday night at the 45th Midlands Wrestling Championships. The top-ranked and seeded grappler posted a 3-2 decision over third-seeded Matt Kocher (Pitt) to move to 15-0 on the season. Poeta has been to the Midlands finals in each of his three years at Illinois. He also becomes the first Illini wrestler in the Mark Johnson era to win back-to-back Midlands titles. As a team, the Illini finished in fourth place with 100.0 points. Flores (Madera, Calif.) became the first Illini placewinner of the evening when top-seeded Nick Simmons (Sunkist) medically forfeited out of the tournament. The win gave the Illini senior his second trip to the medal stand in his career. He finished seventh as a redshirt-freshman. Kennedy (Ingleside, Ill.) also made his second trip to the medal stand with a fourth-place finish. Last year's runner-up at 133 fell to Nick Fanthorpe (Iowa St.), 4-1. At 157, after a scoreless first period, Poeta (Highwood, Ill.) took a 1-0 lead with an escape. Then, moments later, extended his advantage with a takedown. Kocher cut into the lead with an escape as the period came to a close. In the third, Kocher added another escape but Poeta fought him off to defend his title. "I'm not happy with how close the match was." Poeta said. "I wanted to come out there and dominate but Kocher's a good wrestler and he wasn't going to let me do that. I can't change my focus, though. I have to come out and dictate the flow of every match." At 174, sophomore John Dergo (Morris, Ill.) finished in sixth place after he dropped a 3-1 decision to Mike Miller (CMU). Earlier in the day, Roger Smith-Bergsrud (165) and John Wise (HWT) each won their seventh place matches. "This is a great accomplishment for Mike." Said head coach Mark Johnson. "To win this tournament two years in-a-row is a very hard thing to do. However, it is only another step in the ladder towards the NCAA tournament championship." The Illini are back in action on January 11, 2008 when they compete in the Virginia Duals in Hampton, Va.

EVANSTON, Ill. -- In a battle of the Jakes, it was Iowa State's Jake Varner who avenged his 2007 NCAA Championship loss to former Northwestern NCAA 184-pound champion Jake Herbert with a 3-1 sudden victory win Sunday at the Midlands Championships in Welsh-Ryan Arena. Cyclone Jon Reader finished as the 165-pound runner-up. Placing third for the Cyclones were Nick Fanthorpe and Cyler Sanderson at 133 and 157 pounds, respectively. Iowa State finished second in the team race with 139 points. Iowa took home the team trophy with 185 points. Central Michigan was third was 117.5 points and Illinois fourth with 100 points. "I thought overall we had a good tournament," Iowa State head coach Cael Sanderson said. "We won some big matches and lost some close ones. The important thing is we know what we have to do to get better and we will be working on those things." In the 184-pound battle, both wrestlers exploded from the first whistle with Herbert getting in the first shot. Varner fended it off and both wrestlers moved back to the center of the mat where the pair went at it head-to-head exchanging offensive blows. Herbert again took a shot, but Varner's countered and slammed Herbert to the mat, nearly pinning him. The move happened so fast, however, no points were scored. Both wrestlers recorded escapes to start the second and third periods, evening the score at 1-1. They remained locked in the center as regulation time expired. In sudden victory, a 30-second period of action, Varner wasted no time going hard into Herbert as he was heading towards the edge of the mat and got the takedown with only his toes in bounds for the win. "He is fun to wrestle," Varner said. "We have wrestled five times and he is strong and has good technique. I wasn't thinking about the NCAA match from last season. A win like this gives you confidence for the future. In overtime, he tried a hip toss and I countered it." Varner, who placed third at the Midlands tournament a year ago, becomes the 38th ISU grappler to earn a Midlands title. During the course of the tournament, the All-American tallied three victories by pin, pushing his tally for the season to four. He carries a spotless 11-0 record this season. The fifth-seeded Reader and second-seeded Mark Perry tangled for the first time, squaring off for the 165-pound title, with Perry scoring an 8-0 major decision over Reader. The Iowa wrestler struck with a takedown within the bout's first period for a 2-0 lead. Bypassing the opportunity to get on the board with an escape, Reader chose to start the second period from neutral, only to be taken down and have Perry find a way to score back points. Reader's redshirt freshman record stands at 15-2. The fourth-seeded Fanthorpe placed third at 133 pounds with a 4-1 decision over second-seeded Jim Kennedy of Illinois. Neither wrestler was able to get a shot in on the other during the opening three minutes of action. Starting the second stanza from the down position, Kennedy scored first with an escape for a 1-0 advantage. In the third period, Fanthorpe was able to get an escape of his own and quickly struck with a single leg and wrapped it up for a takedown and a 3-1 lead. The sophomore hailing from nearby Naperville, Ill., rode Kennedy hard throughout the rest of the period to give him an added point. Fanthorpe pushes his season mark to 16-2. "I would have liked to have been in the title match," Fanthorpe said. "This tournament gives you great experience. I wrestled some tough guys here and I will see some of them again this season. If I am able to take what I learned here and profit from it, it was all worth it." Sanderson, the second-seeded grappler at 157 pounds, surged throughout the third-place bout against fourth-seeded Brian Cobb (Roadrunner WC) with an 8-6 decision. The Cyclone took less than 10 seconds to score the first takedown and took Cobb down again in the final minute of the opening period for a 4-2 lead going into the second period. Cobb took the lead on a takedown at the five-second mark in the second stanza. Ranked fourth nationally, Sanderson escaped and notched his third takedown and held on for riding time to clinch the win. "I didn't wrestle as well as I wanted to, particularly in one match," Sanderson said. "I just want to get better. A loss shakes you up. Overall, it was an OK tournament." Heavyweight David Zabriskie placed fourth for Iowa State, David Bertolino finished fifth at 197 pounds and Mitch Mueller notched a sixth-place finish at 149 pounds. Iowa State will continue to compete on the road, traveling to Cedar Falls, Iowa, Jan. 12-13 to participate at the NWCA National Duals in the UNI-Dome. Wrestling action returns to Ames and Hilton Coliseum Jan. 18 as the Cyclones play host to Big 10 foe, Wisconsin at 7 p.m.

Iowa wins 19th Midlands title University of Iowa Sports Information The University of Iowa wrestling team crowned four individual champions en route to winning the 2007 Midlands team title Sunday night in Evanston, IL. The Hawkeyes won their 19th team title in school history and their first since 2002. Iowa scored 185 points to win the 45th annual tournament. Defending team champion Iowa State placed second with 139. The Hawkeyes went four-for-five in the finals with junior Mark Perry (165) and sophomores Joe Slaton (133), Dan LeClere (141) and Brent Metcalf (149) each winning individual titles. It was Perry's second career title and his fourth appearance in the finals. It was the first title for Slaton, LeClere and Metcalf. Slaton set the tone for Iowa in the finals with a 6-2 upset over top seed Franklin Gomez of Indiana to remain undefeated at 12-0. LeClere followed with a narrow 5-4 upset over second seed Zack Bailey of Oklahoma. Metcalf won Iowa's third straight title, racking up third-period points to beat fifth seed Jake Patascil of Purdue by an 18-5 major decision. Perry made Iowa four-for-four in the finals with his 8-0 major decision over fifth seed Jonathan Reader of Iowa State. Perry led the tournament field with four pins in a total time of 8:10. Sophomore Jay Borschel wrestled above his sixth seed, but could not pull the upset over top seed Keith Gavin of Pittsburgh and lost Iowa's final championship match, 13-4. Also placing for the Hawkeyes were seniors Alex Tsirtsis (141-3rd) and Matt Fields (Hwt.-8th), junior Charlie Falck (125-3rd), and sophomores Phillip Keddy (184-4th) and Ryan Morningstar (157-5th). Tsirtsis was wrestling as an unattached Hawkeye. Top-ranked Iowa (7-0) will return to Iowa City to host fifth-ranked Oklahoma State (5-1) Saturday at 7 p.m. in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The UI Athletics Ticket Office has already sold almost 7,000 tickets for the dual meet and encourages fans to purchase tickets in advance. Tickets purchased in advance are $8 for adults and $4 for youth. Prices increase to $10 for adults and $5 for youth on match night. Tickets can be purchased online at www.hawkeyesports.com, over the telephone at 1-800 IA-HAWKS, and at the UI Athletics Ticket Office in Carver-Hawkeye. The ticket office is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, but will be closed on New Year's Day. Minnesota wins Southern Scuffle with four champions University of Minnesota Sports Information The defending national champion Minnesota Golden Gopher wrestling team lived up to its billing Sunday at the 2007 Southern Scuffle in Greensboro, N.C. The Gophers ran away with the team title, topping runner-up Edinboro by over 50 points and crowned four individual champions: Jayson Ness, Mack Reiter, Manuel Rivera and C.P. Schlatter all finished first in their respective weight classes. The Gophers' main highlights on the event's second day easily belonged to third-ranked Ness (125 pounds) and Schlatter, currently ranked 10th at 157 pounds. Ness recorded pins in all six of his matches during the tournament, bumping his season total to 15. He appears on pace to shatter the Gophers' single season pin record of 20, set by current head assistant coach Marty Morgan in 1989-90. Ness has pinned all 12 opponents he has faced in tournament competition so far this season. C.P. Schlatter earned a form of family redemption in the 157-pound championship match on Sunday, defeating second-ranked Gregor Gillespie of Edinboro by a 5-2 decision. Gillespie was the national champion at 149 pounds last season and ended Dustin Schlatter's 65-match winning streak in the NCAA semifinals. Reiter cruised to a victory in the 133-pound bracket with a perfect 5-0 tournament record, including a hard-fought 5-4 win over Cornell's Mike Grey in the final. The senior picked up bonus points in three of five matches and won his first-ever Southern Scuffle title. Reiter missed the 2006 tournament due to an injury and finished second in 2005. Rivera, another Gopher senior enjoying a stellar season, entered the final 30 seconds of his championship match with third-ranked Charles Griffin of Hofstra down 3-2, but scored a reversal with just 10 seconds remaining to emerge with a dramatic 5-3 win. Rivera recorded three pins and a tech fall in six matches during the two-day tournament, improving his season record to 19-1 while picking up his second straight Southern Scuffle title. Top-ranked 149-pounder Dustin Schlatter was upset in the championship match by unranked Mike Roberts of Boston University, who went on to win the tournament's most outstanding wrestler award. Gophers Gabe Dretsch (fifth place at 174 pounds), Tyler Safratowich (fifth place at 165 pounds) and Yura Malamura (sixth at 197 pounds) also placed for the Gophers. Malamura won four straight matches after dropping down to the consolation bracket before losing to nationally-ranked Joseph Rovelli of Hofstra and Patrick Bradshaw of Edinboro to end his run. The Southern Scuffle marks the end of Minnesota's regular season tournament schedule, as the team enters the bulk of its dual meet slate with the 2008 NWCA National Duals Jan. 12-13. The Gophers won the event last year with a perfect 4-0 record, including a victory over then-No. 1 Missouri for the championship. The University of Northern Iowa will once again host the 2008 National Duals in Cedar Falls.

GREENSBORO, NC -- Pre-seeds for the 2007 Southern Scuffle were announced on Thursday evening. The tournament gets underway Saturday. Live results and pay-per-view video streaming will be available at SouthernScuffle.com. The pre-seeds are as follows: 125 1. Jayson Ness - Minnesota 2. David Tomasette - Hofstra 3. Mike Sees - Bloomsburg 4. Eric Morrill - Edinboro 5. Nicholas Bedelyon - Kent State 6. James Nicholson - Old Dominion 7. Justin Staylor - Virginia Tech 8. Drew Forshey - North Carolina 133 1. Lou Ruggirello - Hofstra 2. Mack Reiter - Minnesota 3. Eric Albright - Virginia 4. Dan Mitcheff - Kent State 5. Mike Grey - Cornell 6. Joe Baker - Navy 7. Jeff Hedges - UNCG 8. Ricky Deubel - Edinboro 9. Kyle Hutter - ODU 141 1. Charles Griffin - Hofstra 2. Manuel Rivera - Minnesota 3. Joe Caramanica - N. C. State 4. Adam Frey - Cornell 5. Drew Lashaway - Kent State 6. Ryan Williams - Old Dominion 7. Levi Jones - Boise State 8. Christopher Bencivenga - UNCG 9. Alex Krom - Maryland 149 1. Dustin Schlatter - Minnesota 2. Darrion Caldwell - N. C. State 3. Scott Ervin - Appalachian State 4. Eric Medina - Maryland 5. Kyle Fried - Binghamton 6. Adam Hall - Boise State 7. Kaylen Baxter - Old Dominion 8. Clint Sponseller - Kent State 9. Vincent Ramirez - North Carolina 10. Bryce Saddoris - Navy 157 1. Gregor Gillespie - Edinboro 2. Jordan Leen - Cornell 3. CP Schlatter - Minnesota 4. Tyler Sherfey - Boise State 5. Matt Moley - Bloomsburg 6. Kurt Gross - Kent State 7. Jon Bonilla-Bowman - Hofstra 8. Ben Fiacoo - North Carolina 165 1. Mack Lewnes - Cornell 2. Scott Glasser - Minnesota 3. Chris Brown - Old Dominion 4. Keegan Mueller - North Carolina 5. Jarrod King - Edinboro 6. Kur Swartz – Boise State 7. Michael Chaires - Virginia 8. Ryan Patrovich – Hofstra 174 1. Matthew Stolpinski - Navy 2. Mike Letts - Maryland 3. Steve Anceravage - Cornell 4. Gabe Dretsch - Minnesota 5. Alton Lucas - Hofstra 6. Philip Moricone - Edinboro 7. Josh Patterson - Binghamton 8. Eric Decker - Virginia Tech 9. Neal Martin - Appalachian State 184 1. Roger Kish - Minnesota 2. Rocco Caponi - Virginia 3. Josh Haines - Maryland 4. Ryan Goodman – NC State 5. Jesse Strawn - Old Dominion 6. Eric Chine - Kent State 7. Michael Moore - Cornell 8. Matt Parsons - Navy 197 1. Joseph Rovella - Hofstra 2. Hudson Taylor - Maryland 3. Daren Burns - UNCG 4. David Mendoza - Old Dominion 5. Brent Jones - Virginia 6. Patrick Bradshaw - Edinboro 7. Dennis Drury - North Carolina 285 1. Ed Prendergast - Navy 2. Zach Hammond - Cornell 3. Mike Spaid - Bloomsburg 4. Joey Fendone - Edinboro 5. Jermail Porter - Kent State 6. Scott Steele - Navy 7. Nick Smith – Boise State 8. Justin Dobies - North Carolina

TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Arizona State University wrestling team will play host to the ASU Alumni Golf Outing on Saturday, January 5, as part of alumni weekend. The outing, which will be held at ASU's Karsten Golf Course, will take place one day prior to the Sun Devil Duals inside Wells Fargo Arena on Sunday, January 6, at noon. The inaugural golf outing, which is open the public to compete, will begin with a shotgun start at 12:30 p.m. and will conclude with a fajita dinner served on the Sun Devil Patio at Karsten. The price for the event is $100.89 and includes greens fees, a golf cart, practice balls prior to the start of the event, an ASU Sparky Club Crest (bag tag) and dinner. To register for the four-person scramble, checks made payable to SUN ANGEL FOUNDATION (WRESTLING) can be sent to: ASU Wrestling Attn: Thom Ortiz PO Box 872505 Tempe, AZ 85287-2505 The next day, ASU will play host to Army, Grand Canyon and Penn in the Sun Devil Duals. The Sun Devils and Black Knights will meet at noon before a battle of Arizona takes place at 1:30 p.m. as ASU and the `Lopes of GCU meet on the mats for the first time. The day concludes at 3 p.m. with the Sun Devils facing the Quakers of Penn, led by former Sun Devil All-American Zeke Jones. Prior to the start of the duals, all wrestling alumni in attendance will be recognized at the center of the mats as part of Alumni Weekend. Head Coach Thom Ortiz and Penn's Jones will also join their fellow teammates and former coach Bobby Douglas on the mats later in the day as the program will honor the 20th anniversary of the 1988 NCAA Championship won by the Sun Devils. All members of that winning team are scheduled to be on hand for the celebration of the only team wrestling title won by a school west of Oklahoma in NCAA Division I history.

NORFOLK, Va. -- The 24th ranked ODU wrestling team returns to the mat a final time in 2007 to the annual Southern Scuffle tournament at UNC Greensboro this weekend. ODU has not wrestled since the first of December where they had two placewinners at the Las Vegas Invitational. The tournament boasts seven nationally ranked teams of the 24 attending, including the defending national champion Golden Gophers of Minnesota. The tournament will take place Saturday and Sunday in Greensboro, N.C. with weigh-ins beginning at 8:00 am. Nationally ranked teams in the 2007 Southern Scuffle field include #4 Minnesota, #14 Edinboro, #15 Hofstra, #17 Cornell, #21 Navy, #23 Maryland, and #24 Old Dominion. ODU will look for solid appearances from #11-ranked 141-pounder Ryan Williams (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) and #17-ranked 165-pounder Chris Brown (Chesapeake, Va.). Williams has placed in all three tournaments he's been in this season. Brown toppled the top wrestler in the nation earlier this season and will look to place in his third tournament. The Monarchs will also look to #20 Kaylen Baxter (149), David Mendoza (197) and Jesse Strawn (184) to make runs at the title in their respective weight classes. Baxter leads the team in wins with 16, Mendoza leads the team in technical falls with three and Strawn is tied for the team lead in major decisions with Brown with six. For more information on the tournament, go to www.uncgspartans.com. Fans can sign up for Spartan All-Access to watch all the action live from the tournament. Also, live stat updates are available throughout the tournament at www.SouthernScuffle.com.

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern University is set to host the 2007 Midlands Wrestling Championships, Dec. 29-30 at Welsh-Ryan Arena. This year marks the 45th installment of one of the most prestigious events in collegiate wrestling. The annual tournament attracts hundreds of the most talented wrestlers from around the country in a two-day, four-session double-elimination tournament. Founded by Northwestern's Ken Kraft, the Midlands Championships are held every December in Welsh-Ryan Arena. The tournament has historically brought together the very best in amateur wrestling, and has provided the springboard for 92 Olympic wrestlers. Last year's champion, Iowa State, returns to the site of its victory for another shot at the title. The Big Ten had previously dominated the tournament as Illinois won the previous three Midlands Championships, while Iowa and Minnesota combined to win the nine before that, dating back to 1990. Four top-10 teams are competing in Midlands "45," headlined by No. 1 Iowa, No. 2 Iowa State, No. 6 Central Michigan and No. 9 Northwestern, according to the latest release of rankings by the USA Today/InterMat/NWCA Division I Coaches Poll Individually, the Midlands host a plethora of individual talents searching for an NCAA Championship at season's end, including defending Midlands Champions: Angel Escobedo (Indiana) at 125 lbs., Nick Simmons (Michigan State) at 133 lbs., Ryan Lang (Northwestern) at 149 lbs., Mike Poeta (Illinois) at 157 lbs., Jake Herbert at 184 lbs., Mike Tamillow (Northwestern) at 197 lbs. and Tervel Dlagnev (Nebraska-Kearney) at heavyweight. "Midlands is one of the best events in college wrestling," Northwestern head wrestling coach Tim Cysewski said. "A Midlands championship, a Big Ten championship and an NCAA championship, that's the triple crown of college wrestling."

Over the years, the Midlands wrestling tournament has become a much-anticipated after-Christmas present for amateur wrestling fans. However, when the wraps were taken off the very first Midlands in suburban Chicago the last week of December 1963, the nation can be forgiven if it didn't immediately sit up and take notice. After all, the country was still reeling from the assassination of President John F. Kennedy one month earlier. The sports pages were dominated by coverage of the NFL national title game between the Chicago Bears and the New York Giants. (The first Super Bowl didn't take place until January 1967.) With all that was going on at the time, the 1963 Midlands got very little media attention. And it's hard to imagine that any of the participants, fans in the stands, or even the organizers could have dreamed that this Christmastime classic would become one of the longest-running and most prestigious events on the college wrestling calendar forty-five years later. The driving force behind a great idea Midlands founders from left to right: Bert Kraus, Jack Heiner, Dick Coldren, and Ken KraftThe idea of the Midlands was born on a long road trip in late December 1962. Ken Kraft, the head wrestling coach at Northwestern University at the time, was driving his team home from the annual Wilkes tournament. Somewhere on the road between Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and Evanston, Illinois, the idea struck coach Kraft: Why not have an end-of-year wrestling tournament closer to home, in the Chicago area? The Christmastime tradition now known as the Midlands first hit the mats in December 1963 at the YMCA in LaGrange, Illinois outside Chicago. The tournament was an immediate success by any measure, with a 132-man field in the first year, including seven individual national champions, and post-collegiate wrestlers preparing for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. In fact, the first event was so popular, it outgrew the Y that first year, finding a home at the nearby Lyons High School in LaGrange for the next eight years. In 1972, the Midlands moved to the Northwestern campus in Evanston, where it has been held every year since -- with one exception: in 1982, when the university's arena was being completely rebuilt, Harper College in suburban Palatine, Illinois hosted the tournament. Despite these various venues, the Midlands has remained a uniquely Chicago area institution for nearly a half-century. One of the original champs remembers Dennis McCabe remembers that first tournament as if it were yesterday. Denny, who wrestled at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, made history by being crowned the 190-pound champ at the very first Midlands in 1963. "First of all, it wasn't called the Midlands in the first year," recalls Denny in a 2002 interview with this writer for an article for the Amateur Wrestling Photos.com website. "It was called the West Suburban YMCA Open, and it truly was an 'open' where anyone could show up and compete. By contrast, I'd describe today's Midlands as being an 'open invited.'" "They had no idea how many wrestlers would show up that first year," according to Denny. "The gym at the Y wasn't much bigger than your typical high school gym, and, with three mats on the floor, there wasn't much room left over for the wrestlers and the spectators. It was wall-to-wall people. There really wasn't any room to work out or warm up. In fact, I remember having to almost fight my way through the crowd to get to my matches." When asked why the event was so popular in its first year, Denny McCabe says, "There had never been a holiday wrestling tournament in our part of the country." Denny McCabe with Dan Gable"The timing was great. For those of us from Illinois, it was a chance to compete while we were home for the holidays," according to the graduate of Maine East High School, which is not too far from the YMCA hosting that 1963 tournament. Yet another reason for the event's success right from the start: The University of Michigan's long-time, legendary coach Cliff Keen (yes, the same guy whose name is on the wrestling gear supplier) brought his Big Ten champion Wolverines to the inaugural event. The first Midlands champs To claim his 190-pound title at the 1963 Midlands, Denny McCabe wrestled four matches in that crowded Y gym … culminating with his 7-2 victory over Michigan's Joe Arcure in the finals. (Sadly, that Midlands title would be the highlight of Denny's 1963-64 college season. A knee injury prevented the SIU-Carbondale 190-pounder from competing at the 1964 NCAAs. However, after serving in Vietnam, Denny McCabe won the inter-service championship in 1967.) Larry Kristoff (left) won four consecutive Midlands titles In addition to Denny McCabe, SIU claimed three other champions at the 1963 Midlands: Terry Finn, who won the 126-pound crown by defeating Northwestern's Dave Kreider in the finals… Don Schneider, who beat Michigan's Bill Johanaeson in the 134-pound finals … and heavyweight Larry Kristoff, who claimed his first of four consecutive Midlands individual titles with his referee's decision over Moorhead State's Bob Billberg in the finals. (Kristoff went on to wrestle freestyle for the U.S. at the 1964 and 1968 Olympics.) The University of Michigan brought three individual titles back to Ann Arbor: Mike Palmisano defeated Stan Korona of Northern Illinois University to take the 118-pound crown … Cal Jenkins got the win over Lee Grubbs in the 142-pound finals … and team captain Rick Bay beat Northwestern's Stu Marshall in the 167-pound title bout. 1963 Midlands championsThe Big Ten conference could claim two more 1963 Midlands champs. In the 150-pound finals, Jerry Torrence of Northwestern defeated Dick Smith… while, at 158, Purdue's Dave Gibson earned the title with a win over Sam Ward. In the 177-pound finals, 30-year-old Roy Conrad of the Irving Park YMCA -- a graduate of Northern Illinois University, and 1960 NCAA champ at 177 -- got the victory over SIU's Don Millard. (Don't feel bad for Millard; he came back to win the 1964 NCAA title at 167 lbs.) Taking home team titles Despite SIU-Carbondale having four individual champs to Michigan's three, the Wolverines claimed the inaugural team title at the 1963 Midlands … and earned that honor again in 1964. The Midlands grew in stature and significance as additional colleges made it part of their schedules. Michigan State participated in its first Midlands in 1965, followed by the Iowa State Cyclones in 1966. By 1970, the University of Iowa Hawkeyes, and the Oklahoma State Cowboys had joined in on the action. From 1965 to 1973, two schools battled back and forth for the Midlands team title: Michigan State and Iowa State. In 1973, Oklahoma State rode off with the team championship. Starting in 1974, Iowa pretty much locked up the team title through the rest of the 70s and into the early 1980s. For the rest of the 80s, team championship honors went to Sunkist Kids, Arizona State and North Carolina various years. For a time in the early 1990s, there were no team titles awarded…but, once the team championship was resumed, the Hawkeyes laid claim to the honor for the rest of the decade. In the new millennium, team honors have gone to Iowa State, Minnesota, Illinois (with three straight from 2003-2005), and, most recently, Iowa in 2007. Midlands matmen with the "mostest" In all the years of the Midlands tournament, over 8,000 wrestlers have competed… yet only 295 have won individual titles. Some participants deserve special recognition: The "20 in 4 Club": One measure of elite status at the Midlands is for an individual wrestler to earn twenty wins in the first four years of competition at the event. Of the thousands of wrestlers who've stepped onto the mats at the Midlands, only sixteen have accomplished this feat. Dan Gable was the first, getting 20 wins at the 1966-1969 Midlands. Other members of the "20 in 4 Club" include John Bowlsby, Barry Davis, Andy Schwab, Cary Kolat, Joe Williams, Charlie Branch, Mark Ironside, Wes Hand, Jody Strittmatter, Doug Schwab, Yoshi Nakamura, Mitch Clark, Cael Sanderson, Joe Heskett, and Tommy Rowlands. At the 2007 Midlands, Iowa's Mark Perry came close to joining the "20 in 4 Club." The four-time finalist has tallied a total of eighteen wins. However, the 2007 Midlands was a special year for Perry; the Hawkeye 165-pounder won the Outstanding Wrestler award and all other individual honors except for Fastest Fall. No average Joe: In addition to being a member of the "20 in 4 Club", former Iowa Hawkeye wrestler and Chicago area native Joe Williams can also claim some other Midlands "mosts." He has the most wins of any Midlands competitor, with 55. Williams also has the most consecutive victories, with 51. What's more, he also has the most individual championships, with ten. Most outstanding: Each year since the 1964 Midlands, tournament referees and members of the media have declared one competitor to be the Outstanding Wrestler of that particular year. Among those who have won the award more than once: two-time winners Masaaki Hatta, Wade Schalles, Bruce Baumgartner, Cary Kolat and Joe Williams. However, one man earned OW honors an incredible five times in six appearances as a wrestler. His name is Dan Gable, and now the award bears his name. Most "durable": You can count on the fingers of two hands all the men who've wrestled at the Midlands over the course of three separate, consecutive decades. Competing at the Midlands in the 1960s, 70s and 80s: Russ Hellickson, Verlyn Strellner, Tom Minkel and Leo Kocher. Stepping onto the Midlands mats in the 70s, 80s and 90s: Fred McGaver, and Jim Zalesky… while Phil Rembert, John Fisher, and Kevin Vogel wrestled in the tournament in the 1980s, 90s and the new millennium: Roy Conrad (left) was the 177-pound champ at the very first MidlandsHigh school highs: Over the years, most of the competitors at the Midlands have been college wrestlers … with a few post-collegiate veterans sprinkled among the field. In the 45 years of the Midlands, only four high school mat stars have been invited to compete: Jimmy Carr and Cary Kolat (both Pennsylvania preps), Alex Tsirtsis (who wrestled at Griffith HS in Indiana), and, after considerable battles with the governing body of New York State high school athletics, Corey Jantzen of Shoreham-Wading River HS on Long Island who wrestled at the 2006 Midlands. At the other end of the age spectrum … At the 2002 Midlands -- the fortieth anniversary edition -- Randy Conrad took to the mats at age 42 … making him the eldest wrestler to compete in the history of the tournament. Interestingly, Randy is the nephew of Roy Conrad, the 177-pound champ at the very first Midlands. Pinning down some impressive honors: Like many tournaments, the Midlands maintains meticulous records on just about everything that can take place during an amateur wrestling event… especially pins. There's the Gorriaran Memorial Trophy that, each year, honors the one wrestler who gets the most pins in the least amount of time. Among the men who've earned this trophy twice: Dan Gable, Wade Schalles, Mike Lingenfelter, Tom Erikson, Royce Alger, and Stephen Neal. The Midlands record books also list the competitors with the most pins in their appearances over the years at the tournament. Mike Schmidlin takes the prize as the top fall guy, with 25 pins in all his Midlands appearances. Dan Gable got 22 pins, while Tom Erikson had 19. Erikson also claims the honor of getting the fastest fall in the history of the tournament. In 1991, he pinned an opponent in just eight seconds! From Midlands to the Olympics The Midlands was held at Harper College before finding its long-time home at Welsh-Ryan Arena (pictured)During the Midlands 45 -- held December 29-30, 2007 -- Midlands veterans who also competed in the Olympics were honored at a special banquet and presentation ceremony before the finals on Sunday evening the 30th. In the 45-year history of the Midlands, an incredible 92 individuals who had competed at the Christmastime classic went on to wrestle at the Olympics, representing five different nations. Of these, eighteen earned Olympic gold medals for the U.S.: Dan Gable, Ben Peterson, John Peterson, Randy Lewis, Bobby Weaver, Ed Banach, Lou Banach, Bruce Baumgartner, Steve Fraser, Dave Schultz, Mark Schultz, Kenny Monday, Kendall Cross, Tom Brands, Kevin Jackson, Rulon Gardner, Brandon Slay, and Cael Sanderson. In addition the gracious assistance of Denny McCabe and Ken Kraft, source material for this InterMat Rewind historical profile came from an article in the 2002 Midlands program, "1963: It Was A Very Good Year" by Tom Tomashek (as well as statistical charts in the 2002 and 2004 Midlands programs) … and from Mike Chapman's book "From Gotch to Gable: A History of Wrestling In Iowa."

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Penn State Nittany Lion wrestlers Brad Pataky (Clearfield, Pa.), who red-shirted last season and will seek an Olympic red-shirt this year, continues to build upon his freestyle successes. A starter for Penn State during the 2005-06 season as a true freshman, Pataky has been focused solely on class and freestyle wrestling over the course of the last two years. During the 2006-07 academic year, Pataky competed in five freestyle events. He went 5-2 at the prestigious Sunkist Open, garnering three pins along the way. He followed that up with a third place finish at the Guelph Open in Canada and then winning the Brockport Open in New York. The talented Clearfield native then went 3-1 at the Dave Schultz Memorial in February of 2007, getting all three wins with pins. In June of this past summer, Pataky competed at the World Team Trials and went 1-1. This year, Pataky has competed in two events, the Sunkist Open and the NYAC Open this past November. Pataky placed sixth at the Sunkist Open, competing at 55 kg (121 pounds). He followed that performance up with an outstanding fourth place finish at the NYAC Open. Pataky went 4-2 on his way to the consolation finals where he lost a close bout to former Penn State stand-out Adam Smith. Pataky's only other loss was a close 1-0, 1-0 decision to former Arizona State All-American Danny Felix. Along the way, Pataky grabbed a superb 4-3, 8-6 win over 2006 NCAA National Champion Joe Dubuque of Indiana. Pataky went 15-8 in 2005-06 as a true freshman, including a 6-2 mark in duals and a 2-1 record in Big Ten action.

THIS WEEK The top-ranked Iowa wrestling team (7-0) will compete at the 45th annual Midlands Championships - dubbed Midlands "45" - Saturday and Sunday (Dec. 29-30) in Evanston, IL. The two-day, four session double-elimination tournament will be held in Welsh-Ryan Arena on the Northwestern University campus. Former Olympians, who also competed at the Midlands, will be honored at the annual banquet, the March of Champions and will participate in the awards ceremonies. Former Midlands competitors have won a total of 19 Olympic gold medalists and hail from five different countries. Hawkeye Head Coach Tom Brands and former Head Coach Dan Gable are two of five Olympians who also won Midlands and NCAA titles. Bruce Baumgartner, Kenny Monday and the late Dave Schultz are the other three. MIDLANDS "45" TICKET INFORMATION Tickets can be purchased from the Northwestern University Athletic Ticket Office at (847) 491-2287. All-session passes are $48 for reserved theater-style seats, $36 for adult bleacher general admission and $30 for student bleacher general admission. EIGHT HAWKEYES EARN MIDLANDS "45" EARLY PRE-SEEDS Eight Iowa wrestlers have earned early pre-seeds for Midlands "45". Senior defending Big Ten and NCAA Champion Mark Perry is the top seed at 165 pounds. Perry won the 2004 title at 165 and is a three-time finalist at the tournament. Junior all-American Charlie Falck is seeded second at 125, while sophomore Brent Metcalf is third at 149. Iowa's other pre-seeds include senior Matt Fields (4th-Hwt.), and sophomores Jay Borschel (5th-174), Joe Slaton (6th-133), sophomore Ryan Morningstar (7th-157) and Phillip Keddy (8th-184). ON THE AIR Television - The Big Ten Network will air Sunday's finals live and will rebroadcast the show Dec. 31 at 6 p.m. and Jan. 1 at 4:30 p.m. (CT). The broadcast will be available on DIRECTV channel 220 and DISH Network Channel 439. Internet - Press releases, tournament brackets and touranment notes will be available on the Northwestern University website, www.nusports.com. Session results and recaps will be available on the University of Iowa website, www.hawkeyesports.com. Current Hawkeye staff and student-athlete head shots can be found at pics.hawkeyesports.com. MIDLANDS HISTORY AND HONORS Iowa has won the most team titles (18) in the 44 years of Midlands history. The Hawkeyes won their first team title in 1974, and proceded to win nine of the next 11 tournaments. Iowa also won team titles in 1990, 1992, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2002. Other team winners include Iowa State (8), Michigan State (3), Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club (3), Illinois (3), Michigan (2), Arizona State (1), Minnesota (1), North Carolina (1) and Oklahoma State (1). Team scores were not kept at four tournaments (1991, 1993, 1994, 1995.) Seven former Hawkeyes are enshrined in the Midlands Hall of Fame. They are Ed Banach, Chris Campbell, Steve Combs, Tim Cysewski, Barry Davis, Randy Lewis and Chuck Yagla. Former Hawkeye Heach Coach Dan Gable is also a Midlands Hall of Fame member. Former Hawkeye Joe Williams holds the most individual titles in Midlands history, winning 10. Other former Hawkeyes to win at least three titles are Tim Cysweski (5), Mark Ironside (4), Royce Alger (3), Ed Banach (3), Jim Heffernan (3), Randy Lewis (3) and Chuck Yagla (3). Several Hawkeyes also hold Midlands weight class records. Ironside has the most wins (27) at 141 pounds, and he and Cysewski hold the most titles (4 each) at that weight. Jim Heffernan holds the most titles (3) at 157, while Joe Williams holds the most wins (35) and titles (6) at 174. Pat Kennedy holds the fastest fall (11 seconds) at 165. Dan Gable holds the most titles (3) and falls (13) at 149 pounds. 2006 MIDLANDS REVIEW Iowa crowned one champion, two runners-up and four other placewinners at the 44th annual Midlands Championships in Evanston, IL. Iowa placed second in the team race, scoring 107 points. Iowa State won its first team title since 1981 with 154.5. Hawkeye senior 174-pounder Eric Luedke won his first Midlands title and picked up his 35th career victory, defeating Rider's Doug Umbehauer, 6-4, in the finals. Juniors Alex Tsirtsis and Mark Perry both placed second with second-seed Tsirtsis losing an 8-5 decision to top-seed Ryan Lang of Northwestern at 141 and top-seed Perry losing a 5-2 decision to second-seed Travis Paulson of Iowa State at 165. Also placing for the Hawkeyes were senior Mario Galanakis (8th-133), junior Matt Fields (6th-Hwt.), sophomore Charlie Falck (7th-125) and redshirt freshman Ryan Morningstar (7th-157). PERRY NAMED BIG TEN WRESTLER OF THE WEEK Iowa wrestler Mark Perry has been named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week, earning the honor for the second time in his career. He first earned the honor Feb. 9, 2005. Perry, who is ranked second nationally at 165 pounds, pinned both his opponents and helped Iowa pick up two dual wins Dec. 13 in Iowa City. He pinned third-ranked Moza Fay of Northern Iowa in 48 seconds to score his 80th career victory in the first match of the night. He then stuck Cornell College's Christian Coffey in 4:17 to score his 30th career pin. Perry needs 10 more falls to break into Iowa's all-time top-10 career leaders list. He is 5-1 this season, pinning five of his six opponents. Perry is the second Hawkeye this season to earn the weekly conference honor. Sophomore Joe Slaton was honored Dec. 12 for upsetting Nick Fanthorpe of Iowa State, 6-5, at 133 pounds in Ames Dec. 9. BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS TICKETS GO ON SALE Tickets for the 2008 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, to be held at the University of Minnesota's Williams Arena March 8-9 are now available. All-session tickets are $30 and may be purchased through gophersports.com, in person at the Minnesota athletics ticket office in Mariucci Arena or by calling 1-800-846-7437 or 612-624-8080. Single-session tickets, if available, will go on sale March 3. The 2008 Big Ten Wrestling Championships will feature a three-session format, with the Session 1 preliminary matches beginning at 11 a.m. on March 8. Session 2 will get underway at 6 p.m. that same day, and the Session 3 championship matches will start at noon March 9. Doors to Williams Arena open approximately one hour prior to the beginning of each session. Sessions 1 and 2 will feature four mats of action, while Session 3 will have live wrestling on three mats. The Williams Arena court will be extended to accommodate the four-mat setup. The Big Ten Network is scheduled to provide live coverage of Sunday's conference finals. LAST MEET The top-ranked Hawkeyes improved to 7-0 Dec. 13 with wins over Northern Iowa (40-3) and Cornell College (51-0). The Hawkeyes went 19-1 on the night, losing the first match on a last-second takedown. Iowa rebounded to score eight pins, six major decisions and two technical falls in the remaining 19 matches. Senior Matt Fields (Hwt.), junior Charlie Falck (125) and sophomores Joe Slaton (133) and Jay Borschel (174) all remain undefeated at 7-0 this season. Iowa recorded its 40th series win over Northern Iowa and its 20th win in Iowa City. Senior Mark Perry, who is ranked second at 165 pounds, pinned No. 3 Moza Fay in 48 seconds in the night's marquee matchup to pick up his 80th career win. Perry also pinned Cornell's Christian Coffey in 4:17 to score his 30th career pin. Sophomore Ryan Morningstar scored his 30th career win by pinning Panther Jarion Beets in sudden victory at 157. Iowa's win over Cornell was the first time the Hawkeyes scored more than 50 points since the 2003-04 season when they defeated Southwest State, 54-0. Falck recorded his 45th career win with a 12-2 major decision over Cornell's Chris Heilman, who is ranked second in Division III. Fields scored his 70th career win with a 4:57 pin over Josiah Payne. BIG TEN NETWORK SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED The Big Ten Network has released its 2007-08 wrestling schedule. Nine duals and the finals of the 2007 Midlands Championships and 2008 Big Ten Championships are scheduled to be aired on the network. Iowa will have two televised duals. The Iowa-Ohio State dual on Jan. 18 in Columbus will air same-day tape-delayed at 8:30 p.m. (CT) and the Iowa-Minnesota dual on Feb. 1 in Minneapolis will air live at 7 p.m. (CT). The Iowa-Oklahoma State dual on Jan. 5 was originally scheduled for a tape-delayed broadcast, but will not be aired due to the addition of the Iowa-Minnesota dual. IOWA WRESTLING HISTORY Iowa's overall dual meet record is 816-214-30 (.784) in 96 seasons. The Hawkeyes have won 20 national titles and 31 Big Ten titles. Iowa's 48 NCAA champions have won a total of 74 NCAA individual titles, crowning six three-time and 13 two-time champions. The Hawkeyes' 100 Big Ten champions have won a total of 181 conference titles. There have been seven four-time, 18 three-time and 24 two-time Iowa winners. Iowa's 130 all-Americans have earned all-America status 266 times, including 16 four-time, 28 three-time and 32 two-time honorees. FAMILY FOUR PACK AVAILABLE The University of Iowa is offering a Family Four Pack ticket package for the Iowa vs. Indiana dual on Feb. 15. The package includes four tickets, four hot dogs and four drinks for $30. Orders can be placed through the University of Iowa Athletic Ticket Office or at 1-800-464-2957, 319-335-9327 or www.hawkeyesports.com. JOHNSON COUNTY I-CLUB WRESTLING LUNCHEON The annual Johnson County I-Club wrestling luncheon will be held Jan. 4, 2008 at 11:45 a.m. at the First Avenue Club in Iowa City. Tickets for the event are $13 and must be purchased in advance. To purchase tickets, make a check payable to the Johnson County I-Club and mail to: Iowa Wrestling ATTN: Luncheon 223 Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, IA 52242 NEXT COMPETITION Top-ranked Iowa (7-0) will host fifth-ranked Oklahoma State (5-1) Jan. 5 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Match time is set for 7 p.m. The Cowboys have won the last eight meetings between the two teams and hold a 24-16-1 advantage in the series.

Des Moines, Iowa -- For the 7th consecutive year Takedownradio.com will broadcast the Midlands Tournament Live from Evanston, Illinois and Northwestern University. Starting at 9:05AM CST you can tune in to this broadcast free of charge courtesy of Northwestern University, Brute Adidas, Defense Soap and the rest of the family of TDR sponsors.

DURHAM, N.C. -- The Duke wrestling squad will compete for the first time in four weeks when they head to Greensboro, N.C., for the prestigious Southern Scuffle Tournament on Dec. 29 and 30 at the Greensboro Coliseum. 16 Blue Devils from nine weight classes will compete in the two-day tournament. Last year, the Blue Devils finished 26th out of 32 teams at the Southern Scuffle. Senior captain Kellan McKeon will represent Duke at 125 pounds. McKeon is 15-6 this season with three falls and two top-four finishes. He is 11-5 in tournaments this year. Duke will utilize two 141-pound wrestlers in Greensboro. Sophomore Spencer Jasper is 8-9 this season with three falls and a second-place finish at The Citadel Open on Nov. 4 in Charleston, S.C. Jasper's career record at Duke is 20-19. Freshman A.J. Guardado is 10-9 in his first season with two pins and a fourth-place finish at the Davidson Open on Dec. 1. Redshirt sophomore Michael Degli Obizzi will go at 149 pounds this weekend. Degli Obizzi is 15-4 this year, including a 13-1 mark in tournaments and titles at the UNC Pembroke Open on Nov. 10 and the Davidson Open. Degli Obizzi now boasts a 37-26 record as a Blue Devil. At 157 pounds, sophomores Voris Tejada and Jared Sernoffsky get the nod at the Southern Scuffle. Tejada has placed in the top five in three of Duke's four tournaments this season. He is off to a 19-7 mark this year and his career .717 winning percentage (38-15) currently ranks 16th all-time at Duke. Sernoffsky has placed in the top three in two meets this season and has a 12-4 mark with three pins. He is 20-10 in his two years as a Blue Devil. Junior captain Addison Nuding and redshirt junior Aaron Glover will handle the duties at 165 pounds. Nuding is 13-4 on the year with a second-place showing at Pembroke and a championship at Davidson under his belt. Glover took second place behind Nuding with four wins at the Davidson Open in his first action of the 2007-08 campaign. Redshirt sophomore Ben Wales and redshirt junior Turner Rooney will both compete for Duke at 174 pounds. Wales won The Citadel Open and now holds an 11-8 record this season with one fall. His overall record at Duke is 20-19. Rooney placed second at The Citadel, losing only to Wales at the meet, and has posted a 6-5 mark this year with one pin and a 20-17 all-time record. Duke's most dominating wrestler at any weight this year has been 184-pound redshirt sophomore captain John Barone, who won at Pembroke and Davidson and placed second at the East Stroudsburg Open on Nov. 17. Barone won a 12-6 decision over the then-No. 8 nationally ranked Marc Bennett of Indiana on Nov. 24. He was named the ACC's wrestler of the week on Nov. 27. Barone's 11-second pin of Mike Walsh of Limestone College on Dec. 1 was the fastest fall in Duke history, breaking an 18-year-old school record. He is 19-1 with six falls in 2007 and 54-17 overall as a Blue Devil, which is good for ninth place on Duke's all-time winning percentage list with a .761 clip. At 197 pounds, three Duke wrestlers will see action in Greensboro. Redshirt junior Dan Fox is 9-9 in this season with two pins. Redshirt freshman Robert Holbrook is 8-6 and earned a third-place finish at The Citadel Open. Redshirt junior captain Dan Tulley, who holds a 20-27 record at Duke, will take to the mats for the first time in 2007-08. At the heavyweight division will be redshirt sophomores Wade Van Sickle and Mike Tunick. Van Sickle has three top three finishes this season and has posted a 17-5 record with three falls this season. He is 39-29 overall as a Blue Devil. Tunick went 2-2 with two pins at the Davidson Open in his only competition of the season. Duke will next compete against Campbell, Gardner-Webb and Anderson College at the N.C. State Duals on Saturday, Jan. 5, beginning at 12 p.m. The Blue Devils first home meet, and only one in January, is Wednesday, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. versus N.C. State in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Mack Reiter, a senior 133-pounder for the University of Minnesota, will undoubtedly go down as one of the program's all-time greats. But the Gilbertville, Iowa native has had a rollercoaster ride of successes and disappointments throughout his collegiate career. His successes include winning Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors and being named Most Outstanding Wrestler at the Big Ten Championships in 2005, twice earning All-American honors (2005 and 2006), and being a part of a national championship team (2007). His disappointments include being disqualified for an illegal slam at the 2006 NCAA Championships, tearing his ACL, missing most of his junior season, and failing to place at the 2007 NCAA Championships. Mack ReiterReiter, who entered the season with the 12th highest career winning percentage in school history (.851), would like nothing more than to finish his senior campaign with an individual national title and a team national title. Entering the Southern Scuffle (December 29-30), Reiter carries a 6-1 record and is ranked No. 4 in the country at 133 pounds by RevWrestling.com. (Note: His record does not include the 6-0 exhibition loss to Lou Ruiggirello of Hofstra on Nov. 19 at the NWCA All-Star Classic.) RevWrestling.com recently caught up with Reiter and talked to him about how he ended up at Minnesota, the ups and downs of his career, how his ACL injury has affected him, what the team took away from the loss to Iowa State, what he expects to happen at 133 pounds next season for the Gophers, what he expects out of the team and himself this season, whether he plans to continue competing after the collegiate season, and much more. I'm going to go back a few years to your senior season of high school in 2003. You grew up a Hawkeye fan and were quoted in a story during the recruiting process as saying, "I think it would be tough to turn down Iowa, but if that's what's best, I don't know … picturing myself in Minnesota's uniform is a little hard. I can see myself in a Hawkeye uniform. I always have." Yet you signed with Minnesota and became the first blue-chip recruit from the state of Iowa to sign with the Gophers. Why did you choose Minnesota over Iowa? Reiter: To be honest, something just felt right about the whole situation at Minnesota. I loved the coaching staff. Minnesota had everything in place. I think more than anything else, I just needed a little bit of a change. I felt that if I went to Iowa that I would have just been hanging out with the same people I hung out with all my life. I thought up here at Minnesota that I would meet new people and have new coaches who could take me to the next level. I think that was my deciding factor. Your freshman season in the lineup, you turned in one of the best freshman seasons in school history, finishing the year with a 40-7 record, fourth place at the NCAA Championships, Big Ten Freshman of the Year, and Most Outstanding Wrestler at the Big Ten Championships after pinning Mark Jayne. Did you surprise even yourself by how much success you had so soon? Or did you expect to challenge for a national title right away? Reiter: In the back of my mind, I always wanted to win a national title right away. But I can't sit here and say there weren't doubts in my mind. I spent my life watching some of the guys that I would be wrestling, since they were a few years older than me. I was always in amazement at how good they are … guys like Travis Lee, who I watched in the Junior National finals. So, like I said, I can't sit here and say there weren't doubts in my mind. But as the season progressed, I was having success against some of them. My mindset started to change a little bit and I started to believe in myself a lot more. It seemed like your freshman season you were kind of the freshman underdog and surprised a lot of people. Coming back your sophomore season as the returning Big Ten Freshman of the Year and an All-American, was there added pressure to accomplish more than you did as a freshman? Reiter: I never really felt much pressure because I go out there to wrestle for me and my team. I don't wrestle for anybody else. The only pressure I felt was from my team. There was a little bit from my team because we were competing for a national title. We were close all year. We were ranked No. 1 after beating Oklahoma State, although we eventually fell short of winning a national title at the NCAAs. A little bit from that, but not much pressure from anywhere else, other than from myself and what I wanted to accomplish. My goal was to be a four-time Big Ten champ after my freshman year. Obviously, I fell short of that too. Mack Reiter was disqualified against Purdue's Chris Fleeger for an illegal slam in the 2006 NCAA quarterfinals (Photo/The Guillotine)In the NCAA quarterfinals of your sophomore season you wrestled against Purdue's Chris Fleeger. You were trailing 2-0 early in the match when you were called for an illegal slam and lost by disqualification. What were your thoughts on the way that whole situation played out? Reiter: Initially, I couldn't believe the slam was called. My intention was to do a leg slip … and try to slip him off because I knew there wasn't a lot of time left in the period. Now that I've gone back and watched the film, it does look a little more violent than what I intended it to be. I can understand now why the slam was called. I don't fault any referee decisions as far as the call goes. As far his choice to not continue the match, I can't say one way or another whether he was able to continue or not. He wrestled a great match five hours later against (Shawn) Bunch, so … I don't know. It was a tough thing to take and it has never gotten any easier. Last season, you tore your ACL in an early-season practice. How exactly did it happen? Reiter: I was just wrestling with Jayson Ness. It was right towards the end of practice when we were doing matches. We were in the 30-second overtime of the last match. I tried standing up and he went to bring me back down to the mat … and it was just an accident. My knee went one way and my body went the other way … and it tore it out. How did your injury affect you when you returned to the mat in February? Reiter: It was more of a mindset than anything. I think my knee was strong enough, but it was real hard to convince myself to trust it. I favored my other leg a lot. I wasn't aggressive as I should have been because in the back of my mind I was scared about what could happen with my knee and possibly re-injuring it. It was more of a mindset than anything. At the NCAA Championships last season, you lost in the quarterfinals to Matt Valenti of Penn, 4-0, and then you eventually lost again in the Round of 12 to Tyler McCormick of Missouri, 4-3. On the one hand your team had won the NCAA title. But on the other hand you came up short of your personal goals. Describe your emotions after the NCAA Championships. Reiter: My emotions were mixed. Not placing was really, really hard for me to take. I really struggled with it for quite a while. But I was so happy for my team. Being a part of a national championship team is something very few people ever get a chance to be a part of. It was a great feeling because we did something we set our minds to do … and we did it together, especially with the team race so close it was important that each and every one of us scored every point that we did. It was real hard for me as an individual to take. But as far as the team, I was extremely happy. You dropped a couple early-season matches (to Lou Ruggirello of Hofstra and Nick Fanthorpe of Iowa State). Were those losses more the result of you needing to make adjustments in your wrestling, the result of your health, or were those losses more the result of something going on mentally? Reiter: I think it's just early season. I'm not taking anything from those guys. They wrestled great matches. But I feel like when I possibly meet Ruggirello at the Southern Scuffle, and hopefully face Fanthorpe at the National Duals, I'll be a different wrestler. I think there were some things that were slowing me down a little bit earlier in the season. I had to keep my weight under control, but I have it under control completely right now. I feel great. I know now that I can wrestle seven minutes and not stop moving the entire time. That has always been my biggest asset … my conditioning and being able to outwork guys. Mack Reiter scored a comeback victory over Nebraska's Kenny Jordan on December 6 (Photo/The Guillotine)You mentioned keeping your weight under control. You have wrestled 133 throughout your entire career at Minnesota. Has it become much tougher to get down to 133 this season as opposed to past seasons? Would you be better suited at 141? Reiter: No, I don't believe that I would be better suited at 141. It's just a long process of getting it under control. Now that I have it under control, I can maintain my weight right around 140 and not have any problems. So I don't think I would be any better off at 141. Those guys are pretty big. I don't think I'm that big yet. What did the team take away from the loss at home to Iowa State on December 2? Reiter: Some of the guys on our team were just assuming that it was going to be given to us. There were situations where we definitely needed to work harder, myself included. We were not ready to wrestle in that dual. It was obvious. They were well prepared. They came out and wrestled us their style. We let them control the edge and slow the pace down. I don't think in a rematch that we are going to allow them to do that. We are prepared now to face a lot of the other teams that will probably wrestle that same style of wrestling. You showed a lot heart in your last-second victory over Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational champion Kenny Jordan of Nebraska on December 6. You seemed pretty fired up after the victory. How big was that win for you? Reiter: It just kind of showed me that I'm getting back to where I want to be. I'm still not there yet. I have a long ways to go. Those types of wins are my favorite, where you can catch a guy at the end and he's just so exhausted that he can hardly stand up. Those wins were a big part of my success my freshman season. I think that I need to get back to that. For me, it was almost like my freshman season was my best season for competing because I wore guys down. I may not have had the most ability, but I was able to win matches that way. Mack Reiter lost to Hofstra's Lou Ruggirello at the NWCA All-Star Classic on November 19 (Photo/Tony Rotundo)Are you still enjoying the sport as much you always have? Reiter: I think so. I love it. You get the chance to go out there and compete. The whole country is watching us, especially as defending national champs. We are in the spotlight a lot of the time. It's exciting to have everybody gunning for us. Iowa State comes up here and knocks us off. Now we have something to go prove. So it's really exciting from that standpoint. And I still haven't gotten my individual national title, so I have something to look forward to. I still have a chance to win my first individual national title. Hopefully in March I can accomplish that. Would anything less than an NCAA individual title and a team title be considered a disappointing season? Or do you not look at it like that? Reiter: I couldn't say a disappointing season. Yeah, obviously I want to win a title and I want my team to win a title, but I don't know if I would say a disappointing season, but it's clearly not what I would want. It's tough to say disappointing season because if I'm the runner-up in the country, it's a pretty special thing. But obviously I'm hoping to win a national title. You will finish your collegiate wrestling career in March. You have been successful in age-group events in the international styles of freestyle and Greco-Roman. Do you plan to continue to wrestle freesytle or Greco after your collegiate career is over? Or do you have aspirations of getting into coaching? Reiter: My plan right now is to wrestle Greco. Watching some of those guys in freestyle, I don't know that I have enough time between March and May to change my style to compete with some of the top guys in freestyle, so I think I'm going to try Greco. I wrestle a lot of upperbody when I wrestle collegiately. It's a real physical and demanding style. It's a tough style and I think I can excel in it. After that, I plan on coaching. I would like to coach here at Minnesota. Hopefully that works out. So do you plan to compete internationally at 132 pounds or 145.5 pounds? And do you plan on competing at the 2008 U.S. Nationals in Las Vegas? Reiter: I will compete at 132 pounds. Those 145.5 pounders would be really big. They would be throwing me around. Yeah, I plan to compete at the U.S. Nationals. Obviously, Minnesota loses a lot of firepower after this season. Who do you expect to take over at 133 next season? Do you see Jayson Ness moving up to 133? Or do you expect Mike Thorn or possibly Zach Sanders to be the starter at 133? Reiter: I think it's going to be a decision made by the coaches. But I don't see Ness having any problem moving up and succeeding … and then Sanders jumping in at 125. If Ness does stay at 125, I think Thorn is more than ready to compete. I wrestle him at least once a week. He wrestles hard. I think he will definitely be ready to step in next season. I see 133 as a strong weight class next season for us either way. Zach Sanders, who is redshirting, came to Minnesota with great high school credentials. How is he looking in the wrestling room? Do you wrestle with him much? Reiter: Yeah, I wrestle with him. He's tough and fights hard. That's all you can ask for out of a redshirt. He constantly wrestles hard and keeps improving. I'm excited to see him step out on the mat and actually compete next season. Please Note:This story also appears in the December 28 issue of The Guillotine. The Guillotine has been covering amateur wrestling in Minnesota since 1971. Its mission is to report and promote amateur wrestling at all levels -- from youth and high school wrestling to college and international level wrestling. For information on The Guillotine, Click HERE.

Lincoln -- Husker wrestler Vince Jones has been invited to compete in the 45th annual Midlands Championships on Dec. 29-30 at Northwestern University. Jones, a junior from Sicklerville, N.J., will compete in the 184-pound division. The tournament is a national invitational/open event for college teams, clubs and individuals. The event annually draws more than 350 of the country's top wrestlers. Sessions begin at 9:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Dec. 29, with the third session at noon on Dec. 30 and the finals at 7 p.m. The Big Ten Network will air the semifinals on tape delay at 6 p.m. and will provide live coverage of the finals, starting at 7 p.m. Jones, a returning national qualifier for the Huskers, made his debut this season at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Nov. 30-Dec. 1. Jones recorded three straight pins, his fastest in 29 seconds, to kick off the season. He is currently 6-4 on the year, including 1-1 in duals. His lone dual lose of the year came to second-ranked Roger Kish of Minnesota, 6-2. This will be a special year for the Midlands. In anticipation of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the tournament will honor all Midland competitors who have represented their countries in past Olympic Games. Those Olympians in attendance will be honored prior to the final session. Several former Husker greats will be honored, including Rulon Gardner, Brad Vering, Jim Scherr and Bill Scherr.