InterMat Staff

Highlighted by 6 major decisions and 1 pin, the Augustana wrestling team dominated the University of Sioux Falls 45-0 in front of 942 fans Wednesday night at the Elmen Center. Augustana, ranked 10th in the NCAA Division II Top 20 Poll, controlled all 8 matches that were contested. The Vikings (3-0) did not allow a takedown and surrendered just 1 reversal the entire night. Cody Henriksen earned the only pin of the dual. Henriksen, ranked fifth in the country, pinned Derrick Pomranky in 3:38 to improve to 8-4 on the season. The featured match of the night came at 165 pounds where Augie's Austin Scarset moved up a weight class to take on USF's Brett Jarman. Scarset, who is ranked No. 3 in the nation at 157 pounds, used 8 takedowns and 2 escapes to go along with a riding time point to earn a 19-9 major decision. Jarman did manage to score a reversal early in the match for USF's only offensive points of the dual. Also picking up major decisions for the Vikings were Chris Trampe at 125 pounds, Jordan Burmeister at 141 pounds, Aaron Haddorff at 157 pounds, Nate Buys at 197 pounds and Ray O'Connor at Heavyweight. Beau Severtson recorded Augustana's other contested victory by defeating Brock Nelson 9-4 in the 184-pound match. Augie's Adam Schlee (133 pounds) and Brandon Kruger (149 pounds) each won by forfeit. The Vikings are now off until January 3 when they entertain Augsburg in a 7 p.m. dual at the Elmen Center. Augsburg is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation in the Division III poll.

The nationally ranked Luther wrestling team had a bit of a scare this evening in Indianola, as they posted a 27-21 victory over Simpson College this evening. The Norse, ranked 4th in the nation, needed a pin by Alec Bonander (197) to secure the victory. The Storm began the night 6-0 because the Norse were open at 125. Luther's Zach Bartlett (133) posted a major decision over Matt Koch, giving Luther its first points of the evening. A pin by three-time All-American Matt Pyle (149), followed by a pin by 2006 national qualifier Nate Van Dyke (165), and a tech fall by A J Gregg (174), gave the Norse what looked like a comfortable 21-12 lead. Simpson's Garrett Kiley pulled the Storm to within thee points (21-18) after pinning Scott Jennings at 184. Following Bonander's decisive victory, Allyn Plattner lost a hard fought battle at 285 (9-6). The win gives the Norse an overall record of 3-0, 1-0 in the IIAC. Simpson is now 1-2 overall, 0-2 in league competition. Luther's next varsity action will be in Orlando, Fla., when it will host the first annual Gator Duals on Dec. 16.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestler Matt Keller was named the Southern Conference Wrestler of the Week, the league office announced Wednesday. Keller went undefeated in five matches this past weekend to claim the 133-pound bracket at the prestigious Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. It was his second career regular-season tournament title at UTC, also earning first place at last year's Reno Tournament of Champions. The senior from McDonald, Tenn., scored major decisions over Matt Bradley of Rider and Cory Van Bauer of Wyoming. He defeated Columbia's Matt DeLorenzo and Buffalo's Mark Budd. His win in the title match was a 9-7 overtime decision over last year's 133-pound NCAA Champion, Matt Valenti of the University of Pennsylvania. Keller's performance helped the Mocs to an eighth-place team finish in Las Vegas. Keller's national ranking improved from No. 5 to No. 2 this week in both the Wrestling International Newsmagazine and NWCA/Intermat collegiate wrestling polls. It is the highest national ranking for a UTC wrestler in at least 10 years. He was ranked fifth and sixth respectively by both agencies last week.

Hempstead, NY --Chris Bevilacqua, a two-time All-American at Penn State University in the 1980s, and co-founder of College Sports Television (CSTV), will be the guest speaker at the 2006-07 Hofstra Wrestling Dinner this Saturday, December 9 at the Hofstra University Club in David S. Mack Hall at 6:30 p.m. In addition, Hofstra Head Wrestling Coach Tom Shifflet and Penn State Head Wrestling Coach Troy Sunderland will talk about their teams leading up to Sunday's Pride-Nittany Lion match at the Mack Sports Complex at 1 p.m. Bevilacqua, a leading sports television and marketing executive for the past 20 years, joined SCP Worldwide in August, 2006. He currently serves as a partner for the company whose holdings include the St. Louis Blues, the Scottrade Center, Major League Soccer's Real Salt Lake, as well as Running Subway, a New York based entertainment production company. In 1999, Mr. Bevilacqua approached then partners and co-founders Brian Bedol and Steve Greenberg with an idea for a network featuring all college sports all the time and, soon thereafter, the CSTV: College Sports Television concept was born. Under his stewardship, CSTV became the leading digital and cable programming network dedicated to college and amateur sports developing a "multiple platform" concept that incorporated nearly 250 websites and broadband services for more than 13,000 events annually that helped to revolutionize program distribution. Launched on April, 7 2003 CSTV was acquired by the CBS Corporation in January of 2006 for $325 Million. Prior to co-founding CSTV, Mr. Bevilacqua served as director, global negotiations and league affairs at Nike, Inc., negotiating sponsorship, television and licensing partnerships with professional league offices, including the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, MLS and the WNBA as well as professional sports teams among the likes of the Dallas Cowboys, Oakland Raiders, Boston Celtics and Detroit Red Wings. Mr. Bevilacqua also was responsible for helping Nike to establish it's leadership position in college sports through broad based partnerships with many NCAA Division I schools such as Florida, Michigan, USC, Penn State, Kentucky, Florida State, St. John's, etc, as well as international governing bodies including the USSF, IIHF, USATF and the USOC. The deals totaled over $1 billion in commitments and included the landmark deal to put the ubiquitous 'swoosh' insignia on all Dallas Cowboy uniforms. Prior to Nike, Bevilacqua served as director, corporate sponsorships for The Baseball Network (TBN), a revolutionary and groundbreaking joint venture between Major League Baseball (MLB) and the NBC and ABC television networks. At TBN, he helped develop and launch the network's sales and marketing department and secured advertisers such as Anheuser Busch, General Motors, MCI, Nike, Reebok, Texaco and Gatorade. Earlier, Bevilacqua was a manager of sports programming for NBC Sports where he worked on several high-profile program acquisitions including the NFL, MLB, NBA, Olympics and college sports. Before joining NBC Sports, he was an independent sports TV producer during which time he was honored with an Emmy Award for his work as an associate producer of the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea. A native of Massapequa, NY, Bevilacqua holds a B.S. in marketing from The Pennsylvania State University. Bevilacqua was an NCAA All-American wrestler in 1984 and 1984, a three-time (1984-86) Eastern Wrestling League champion, team captain for the Nittany Lions, and also captured a gold medal at the 1983 United States Espoir Wrestling Championships. Chris is also the son the of former Hofstra Head Wrestling Coach Al Bevilacqua, who coached the Pride from 1977 through 1980. Tickets for the dinner are priced at $100 each and can be reserved by calling Mark Cox at 516-463-6144.

Fresno, CA -- With the strength and sure footed nature of their namesake, the Fresno City Rams have carved out a mountain top position to defend this weekend at the California Community College State Wrestling Championships. Fresno City has been on a season-long run, winning every tournament and dual meet they've entered. During last weekend's North Regionals their starting line-up placed in the top 4 at all 10 weight classes. A strong field of contenders stands poised, eager to make sure the Rams are battle-ready, and not distracted by the view from the top. Going into the tournament, the top 5 teams are: #1) Fresno City, #2) Santa Ana, #3) Cerritos, #4) Sierra and #5) Santa Rosa. Santa Ana must make the best of their highly ranked lightweights if they are to have any chance to take the state title. Fresno City College plays host to this year's tournament with action beginning Friday at 10 a.m. and continuing through Saturday, until all 10 Champions are crowned. 125 lbs: Chauncey Phillips, Sierra and Ivan Sanchez, Santa Ana are the favorites to reach the finals. Sanchez may have the tougher road with the experienced Kyle Crouch, Fresno City his likely quarter final opponent and an improving Taylor McCorriston, Santa Rosa likely to be there in the semi-finals. Jason Carrillo, Cerritos matches up well versus Phillips in size and strength and will make Chauncey earn his spot in the finals. 133 lbs: Carlos Alaniz, Cerritos and Gabe Aguilar, Santa Ana are the clear favorites at 133. They met last weekend at the South Regionals with Alaniz wining by fall. Eddy Ngo, West Valley, Ethan Hall, Palomar and Cody Gibson, Bakersfield are all wrestling their best of the season coming into the State Meet. 141 lbs: What once looked like a run away effort by Modesto's Jordan Keckler has turned into a 4-man race for the crown. Leland Gridley, Sierra, Joe Serrato, Santa Ana, and Edgar Mercado, Fresno City have all had big victories in the last month and are all legitimate contenders. Serrato, Keckler and Mercado are all on the same half of the bracket, giving Gridley the clearer path to the finals. 149 lbs: Alfonso Sanchez, Fresno City is one of the dominant wrestlers in California. Alfonso is undefeated for the season and has won 7 individual tournament titles. Henry Kofa, Lassen has emerged as a legitimate challenger and should meet the talented Orlando Barragan from Santa Ana in the semi-finals. Joe Barajas, Palomar and Travis Wood, Sierra should make up the quarter final with the winner moving on to face Sanchez. 157 lbs: No one has taken control of this weight class and the top 4 wrestlers are interchangeable. Sinai Pezzat, Fresno City has been the most consistent wrestler this season but JD Thrall, Sacramento City, Devin Velasquez, Santa Ana and Matt Giffin, of Sierra have all won tournaments. Jeff Bridges, Shasta had a surprise 2nd place finish in the North Regionals and deserves attention. 165 lbs: Glenn Shaw, Palomar and Nick Bardsley, Fresno City have won all the individual tournament titles this season and are the favorites to make the finals here. Bardsley's half of the bracket has some possible tough challenges from Michael Williams, Cuesta and Jack Porter from Cerritos, while Shaw will have to take care of the quick and dangerous Tony Moser from Lassen. 174 lbs: California's other undefeated wrestler, Kyle Griffin of Santa Rosa has dominated this weight class. The #2, #3 and #4 state ranked wrestlers on other side of the bracket. #3 Tom Eaton, Santa Ana should meet #4 Marcus Garcia of West Hills in the quarters with the winner meeting #2 Shaun Ceremello of Fresno City in the semis. 184 lbs: Easily the deepest weight class of the tournament is 184. Tim Hawkins, Mt San Antonio is the favorite, but he will have to make his way through a group of wrestlers that are quick, strong, and can rack up points in a hurry. Cory Compton, Sacramento City is a quality terminator. Louie Audelo, Cerritos is great on his feet, and Marques Gales of Santa Rosa is one of the better tilt artists. That is just the upper half of the bracket. Steven Urquizo, Fresno City and Jason Carrasco, from Bakersfield are the likely semi-finalists from the lower half of the bracket. Anyone who loses focus here, even for a second, will have to pay the price. 197 lbs: This weight class has had a lot of different looks this season beyond the much tattooed Jayson Collard, Santa Rosa and Ryan Silvera, Mt. San Antonio. Jerred Dixon of Sacramento City enters the tournament ranked 2nd in State but must fight his way through a tough quarter against either Norman Nail, West Hills or Al Kinslow of Cerritos just to likely face Silvera in the semi-finals. 285 lbs: Erik Nye, Sierra often wins his matches quicker than you can say – Erik Nye. Josh Marquez from Bakersfield should be Nye's semi-final opponent. The other half of the bracket is very competitive, but look for Brandon Doran of Cerritos to emerge and meet Nye in the state finals.

J Robinson (Minnesota Head Coach) On Gabe Dretsch's victory "We were favored in three, they were favored in three, and there were four kind of tossups, and that was one of the tossups. We had to win that one. Dretsch lost to him last year, beat him once, and also beat him in Omaha this year, so it gave him some confidence. I think that helped a lot." On having the No. 1-ranked heavyweight in the country "Heavyweight is one of the neatest things to have because it's always the clincher weight … and it's where you can get extra points. And then when you have the best guy in the country there, at least going into the last match, every time you've got a shot to win. That's a big deal confidence wise with the team. Even if you give up a couple along the way, in the end you've got (Cole) Konrad. And the beauty about Konrad is that he's a competitor. He wants it come down to him … and that's the sign of a great competitor. 'Give me the ball. Pass it to me. Let me be the guy who gets the win.' You feel good when you have Konrad there." On whether or not he was surprised by the outcome at 197 pounds "Yeah, I think that first five-point move made all the difference. They actually wrestled in the junior college national finals two years ago. I think that five-point move made all the difference. If you take that away it's a completely different match. I think it's more of a tossup match. I would like to see them wrestle again. I think this was only Yura's third, fourth, or fifth match this year, so he has a long way to go. But he's showed some good things this year so far." On the next meeting with Oklahoma State "We won't be at full strength, but we'll have CP (Schlatter) back by the Nationals Duals. They'll have (Nathan) Morgan and we'll have CP back. It will be a battle again." On whether or not Mack Reiter will be back for the National Duals "Probably not. Reiter will probably be back at the end of January. That's what we're shooting for." On Dustin Schlatter's performance "You always count on Dustin. Dustin is a guy who can score points … that's what's great. In a dual meet like this every point is important. Whether it's one point or two points, Dustin has the ability to score a lot, not necessarily pin guys, but he can get a lot of points and a lot of tech falls, and that makes a difference. In fact, when you look at the match, everybody expects Dustin to win, but I was impressed with the way he wrestled, the intensity, the emotion he wrestled with. He wrestled hard. He went out there to wrestle, instead of hanging around. He wrestled hard." On freshmen Jason Ness and Mike Thorn "I told the guys, Ness is a great example of the way we want our guys to wrestle. You get down behind two points, it doesn't make any difference ... you come back. I think Ness kind of summed that up tonight. And even Thorn, he wrestled hard the whole time. That's what we want out of our guys. I told them before, two things that are important, wrestle with emotion and a lot of intensity. You can make a lot of mistakes and go a long way in life if you just have those two things." On Manuel Rivera not facing Nathan Morgan "It's a match-up that we would have liked to have seen. But you have to remember, it's just December 6. It's a long season. We have three more months left. This is just the start. It's good for wrestling because it will get a lot of people talking. There will be people on the forum tomorrow talking about what ifs. What if Morgan was there? What if CP was there? And that's good … because what you want is people talking about wrestling. So when you have something like this, it's good." On whether there was any doubt that Dustin Schlatter would wrestle last season "No, we decided to wrestle him way before. Actually, he came up and spent the summer with CP and trained with him to get ready to wrestle his freshman year. We kind of knew that we needed him for the team. And we knew how good he was and that he could compete right away. Dustin prepared for the year. He's a pretty exceptional athlete. He's laid back. He has a really good demeanor about him that helps him in wrestling. It keeps the pressure off him." On the importance of Jeremy Larson not getting pinned by Johny Hendricks "That's the beauty of wrestling. A lot of people talk about it being an individual sport, but when you get in a dual meet like this, every point is important. So Jeremy not getting pinned is a difference of two points … and it could have come down to that if some things had fallen differently. So all those things are important. And the other thing about it is … when a guy fights that hard, as Larson did, it helps Dretsch when he walks out onto the mat, too… he gets fired up. When you see a little bit of sacrifice or intensity before you, it tends to get you going. Even though you lose, it's important the way you lose. Like Thorn, even though he lost, he was battling the whole time." On the game plan against Brandon Mason "Mason is really good on top. The game plan was to take him down in the first period … because once you take him down, then when he gets on top it doesn't make any difference … because he gets on top, riding point, and then he tries to get away. That's how he wins a lot of his matches. When you take him down, you usually beat him. So that's the game plan not only with us, but pretty much with everybody in the country against Mason." On what he learned about his team "We got beat by Hofstra because we weren't ready. We've been talking about it … and we had a lot of different practices last week. With our intensity and our focus, we realized we weren't there. It was a good team effort. It wasn't great. We had highs and lows. Some guys wrestled really good … and some guys didn't. But it's good to get back on the right footing." On Iowa State "It's going to be a good match. Same thing with Oklahoma State. Great match-ups at a lot of weights. I haven't looked that far ahead yet. But it's a probably 6-4 or 5-5 match. So it's the same thing all over on Friday night."

The No. 3 University of Minnesota wrestling team sent an early season statement Wednesday night with a 21-15 victory over top-ranked Oklahoma State. The Golden Gophers won three of the final four matches of the night to put the Cowboys away. Minnesota has now won eight of the last 11 meetings between the two storied programs. The Gophers snapped a streak of eight consecutive duals between the two teams in which the home team was on the losing end. The Maroon and Gold earned its first victory over the Cowboys at home since a 23-16 victory on Feb. 5, 1994. Jayson Ness got things started for the Gophers with a 6-3 decision over OSU's Tyler Shinn. Ness fell behind midway through the first period after a Shinn takedown, but he came back to tie the match in the second. Ness scored a takedown at 0:55 of the third and earned the bonus point for time advantage to earn the victory. The Cowboys took a 4-3 lead in the next match after Coleman Scott defeated Mike Thorn by way of major decision, but it was the only lead they would see, as the Gophers stormed back with a major decision and tech fall in the next two matches. The marquee match-up between No. 5 Manuel Rivera and No. 3 Nathan Morgan did not occur, as Morgan did not make the trip to Minneapolis. Rivera took advantage of the lesser caliber wrestler OSU sent to the mat with a 13-3 major decision over Ethan Kyle. Top-ranked sophomore Dustin Schlatter followed with his third consecutive shutout, a 15-0 tech fall over Ryan Freeman at 149 pounds. Schlatter scored a takedown just 17 seconds into the match and had three near falls in the first period. Much of the same followed in the second, as he scored another early takedown and earned five back points to end the match at 1:06 of the second period. Oklahoma State staged a rally to get back into the match, with major decisions at 157 and 165, but a courageous effort by Jeremy Larson against OSU's top-ranked Johny Hendricks prevented the Cowboys from seeing the lead. With the match tied at 12 following two OSU major decisions, junior Gabriel Dretsch turned the momentum in Minnesota's favor with an emotional victory over No. 8 Brandon Mason. Dretsch scored a takedown lat in the first period and was awarded another point in the second after Mason was warned for stalling twice. Dretsch looked to the crowd of 4,926 fans that packed into the Sports Pavilion for the extra burst of energy, and he was able to prevent Mason from scoring in the third to come away with the 3-1 decision. Second-ranked Roger Kish gave the crowd more to cheer about with an exciting 13-7 victory over Jack Jensen in the following match. Kish scored two takedowns in each period en route to the win. The crowd was perhaps its loudest of the night following one of Kish's shots in the third in which he rode Jensen off the mat. Kish fed off the crowd, pumping both arms in the air, and he utilized that energy to finish off Jensen. Oklahoma State cut Minnesota's lead to three after Jared Shelton earned a 9-2 decision over sophomore transfer Yura Malamura, but there was no need to panic as top-ranked heavyweight Cole Konrad stepped onto the mat to face Jared Rosholt. A first period takedown was all Konrad would need to put the Cowboys away, though Rosholt gave him a tough match. With one big victory in hand, the Gophers will face another tough test on Friday night when they travel to No. 7 Iowa State to face the Cyclones at 8 p.m. Live video of Friday's match will be available in the Gold Zone, the premium content site for Golden Gopher athletics, via the Clone Zone, ISU's premium site. A replay of tonight's match against Oklahoma State will be available in the Gold Zone following Fox Sports North's tape-delayed broadcast of the match on Monday, Dec. 11 at 7 p.m.

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. -– Senior Seth Martin (Selinsgrove, Pa./Selinsgrove) has been named Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Wrestler of the Week for his efforts in the week ending Dec. 3. This is the first PSAC honor for Martin and the second for the Lock Haven University wrestling squad (2-1, 1-0 EWL). Martin won the title at 157 in the Nittany Lion Open. He started off the tournament with a first-period pin, then racked up wins by scores of 9-1, 5-1, 10-1, and 5-2. His opponent in the finals was Penn State's Nathan Galloway, who Martin had decisioned 6-3 the week before in the Mat-Town Tournament finals. This time Martin defeated Galloway 2-0. There was no scoring in the first period, and Martin tallied an escape in the second. Then he started on top in the third period and rode Galloway out for the win. Martin and the rest of the Bald Eagles are back in action Sunday, Dec. 10 at 2 p.m. when they travel to No. 12 Edinboro University (6-1, 0-0 EWL).

WEST POINT, N.Y. –- Seven Black Knights won bouts as the Army wrestling team defeated East Stroudsburg, 25-12, Tuesday evening in its 2006 home debut at Christl Arena. The Black Knights, who have won two straight matches, improve to 2-1 on the season, while the Warriors fall to 0-2. It marked the second straight EIWA victory for Army, which downed Bucknell two weeks ago. The match started at 125 pounds and sophomore Whitt Dunning earned a 13-2 major decision verdict versus Steve Gambino. After falling behind, 2-0, Dunning reeled off 13 unanswered points on the strength of two takedowns and a pair of near falls. Freshman Matthew Kyler gave Army a 7-0 advantage in the team scoring after taking a 6-0 decision from Matt Swallow. Kyler parlayed a pair of takedowns into the shutout victory. East Stroudsburg cut Army's advantage to 7-3 when Sean Carr defeated Austin Milster, 11-5, at 141 pounds. The Black Knights regained their seven-point cushion, however, as sophomore Brian Rowan got past Alex Bimes, 8-3, in the 149-pound bout. The three-point decision gave Army a 10-3 lead. Daniel Geib increased Army's advantage to 13-3 as the sophomore seized an 8-2 decision versus Ben Bishop at 157 pounds. Geib accumulated two takedowns and scored a key reversal in the third period to take control of the bout. Army's streak of wins continued in the 165-pound bout, where sophomore John Drew earned a hard-fought 4-2 decision. Drew trailed, 2-1, after the first period, but he was able to come from behind to earn the victory and put the Black Knights in front, 16-3. East Stroudsburg pulled to within 16-12 after Shane Mallory defeated Ryan Mergen, 5-2, at 174 pounds, and David Williams pinned Richard Starks in 2:34 at 184 pounds. Mallory led the 174-pound bout, 2-1, heading into the third period, but Mergen knotted the score at 2-2 following an escape. Mallory pulled out the win when he took Mergen to the mat in the final 10 seconds. At 184 pounds, Williams scored a pair of takedowns before finally recording the pin near the conclusion of the first period. Senior co-captain Connor Sanders was credited with a win via forfeit at 197 pounds to clinch the match for Army. The six-point decision gave the Black Knights a 22-12 lead with just one bout remaining. Nathan Thobaben closed out the scoring for Army, registering a 2-0 decision over Charles Deighton in the heavyweight bout. Army head coach Chuck Barbee was pleased with the performance of his improving squad. "I was really happy to get the win," remarked Barbee. "The guys wrestled hard. I don't think it was our best performance, but they showed some fight out there and got the job done. "Matt Kyler keeps putting forth workmanlike performances out there, added Barbee. "He felt a little rusty after wrestling seven matches on Sunday, but he fought it out and beat a pretty tough competitor. Whitt Dunning did a nice job in his bout. He racked up quite a few points in the third period and got a good major decision for us." Army is idle now until January, when the Black Knights begin the second half of their season against Franklin & Marshall on Jan. 4 at 7 p.m. at Christl Arena. The time off will give Barbee time to reevaluate his team. "It's good to have the break now," mentioned Barbee. "We have to reassess (the team) and look at our starting lineup. We have a lot of improvement to make between now and January. I think we've made some good headway, and we've identified some weaknesses that we need to address."

LANCASTER, Pa. -- The Bucknell wrestling team stretched its streak of duals victories to four as the Orange and Blue downed Franklin & Marshall, 31-6, on Tuesday evening. With the win, the Bison moved to 6-5, (2-1 EIWA), while the Diplomats dropped to 2-1 (0-1 EIWA). Greg Hart (Bedminster, N.J./Bernards) started things off with a 3-0 win over Jake Bucha at 125 pounds to give Bucknell a 3-0 lead. David Marble (Harpursville, N.Y./Harpursville Area) followed at 133 and extended the advantage to 6-0 by defeating Austin Reed, 7-0. Al Gianforti cut the deficit in half for Franklin & Marshall, bringing the score to 6-3 with his 5-2 win over Zach Galligan (Boonville, N.Y./Adirondack) at 141, however, the Bison responded by collecting bonus points in the next two bouts. Michael Guttilla (Ingomar, Pa./Blair Academy) posted a technical fall against Steve Gregory, 22-5, at 149 and then Brantley Hooks (Spartansburg, S.C./James F. Byrnes) recorded a 9-1 major decision over Andrew Smith in the 157 matchup to stretch Bucknell's lead to 15-3. Andy Rendos (Brockway, Pa./Brockway Area), who moved up to 17th in the national rankings this week, followed with a 8-4 victory over Justin Herbert at 165 to improve his record to 13-3 overall on the year (9-2 duals) and 174-pounder Shane Riccio (Warren, N.J./Watchung Hills) clinched the Bison win with his 15-6 major decision over James Schulz. George Mann (Orange, Ohio/Orange) and Eric Lapotsky (Mount Carmel, Pa./Mount Carmel Area) both contributed points for the Orange and Blue as well, at 184 and 197, respectively. Lapotsky won by fall over Shawn Logue in 2:24, bringing his pins total for the season to eight. The Bison will break for final exams and will be back in action on Sunday, Dec. 17, when the squad will travel to Bloomsburg, Pa., to take on Bloomsburg at 9 a.m. and Delaware State at 1 p.m.

Blair, NE -- Dana College, the 2006 NAIA National Champions and head coach Richard Fergola announced the early signing of three prep stars to national letters of intent for the 2007-08 season. The Vikings have compiled a three-peat of top five Non-Division I recruiting classes since 2004. Dana has claimed the No. 4, No. 1 and No. 2 recruiting classes as ranked by Wrestling USA magazine. The 2007-08 class is off to a great start. Keaton Taylor (Silver Lake, KS), Matt Mueller (Malcolm, NE), and Kendall Burke (Raymore, MO) have committed to the Viking wrestling program. "These three young men epitomize what we are looking for in a student-athlete," said head coach, Richard Fergola. Keaton Taylor comes from a storied program at Silver Lake High School in Silver Lake, KS. Taylor recently won a state championship in football for the Eagles and will now vie for an individual state wrestling title in Class 3-2-1A. Taylor is a three-time state place-winner for Head Coach Harry Lamar and the Eagles, placing 4th, 6th and 4th respectively. Taylor most importantly carries over a 3.5 G.P.A. Taylor will compete at 133 or 141 for the Vikings. Matt Mueller is a native Nebraskan competing out of Malcolm High School in Malcolm, NE. Mueller is a Nebraska state qualifier, but is yet another high academic student/athlete with a perfect 4.0 G.P.A. Mueller will major in Sports Management at Dana College and compete at 157. Finally, hailing from Ray-Pec High School in Peculiar, MO is Kendall Burke. Burke is another two sport athlete that was part of a state championship football team this season and will be looking for his third individual state wrestling title claiming the championship in 2006 and 2005. Burke is currently ranked No. 19 among the nation's top seniors as rated by Wrestling USA magazine and is a Top 200 recruit as rated by Intermat. Burke will compete at 149 or 157 for the Vikings. "These three young men will add tremendous talent and work ethic to our institution as well as our wrestling program," said head coach Richard Fergola. I am very excited to have them become part of our program and look forward to outstanding things from them."

California Community College Individual and Team Rankings as of 12-5-2006: 125 1. Ivan Sanchez, Santa Ana 2. Chauncey Phillips, Sierra 3. Taylor McCorriston, Santa Rosa 4. Jason Carrillo, Cerritos 5. Kyle Crouch, Fresno City 6. Carl Riding, Victor Valley 7. Sammy Saunders, East LA 8. Albert Tapia, Sacramento City 133 1. Carlos Alaniz, Cerritos 2. Gabe Aguilar, Santa Ana 3. Eddy Ngo, West Valley 4. Mike Righi, Fresno City 5. Ethan Hall, Palomar 6. Cody Gibson, Bakersfield 7. Daymond Bland, Sacramento City 8. Mitch Schroder, Lassen 141 1. Joe Serrato, Santa Ana 2. Leland Gridley, Sierra 3. Edgar Mercado, Fresno City 4. Jordan Keckler, Modesto 5. Jonathon Ronny, Chabot 6. Bruce Wasserman, Bakersfield 7. Andrew Holmes, Cerritos 8. Tyson Knierin, Palomar 149 1. Alfonso Sanchez, Fresno City 2. Henry Kofa, Lassen 3. Orlando Barragan, Santa Ana 4. Joe Barajas, Palomar 5. Travis Wood, Sierra 6. Tony Ruiz, Cerritos 7. Eric Timson , Bakersfield 8. Ian Millan, Rio Hondo 157 1. Sinai Pezzat, Fresno City 2. Devin Velasquez, Santa Ana 3. JD Thrall, Sacramento City 4. Matt Giffin, Sierra 5. Jeff Bridges, Shasta 6. Steve Saenz, Rio Hondo 7. Emilio Rojas-Chaves, Cerritos 8. Stuart Cole, Palomar 165 1. Glenn Shaw, Palomar 2. Nick Bardsley, Fresno City 3. Jack Porter, Cerritos 4. Daniel Garay, Mt San Antonio 5. Michael Williams, Cuesta 6. Tony Moser, Lassen 7. Dan Barraza, Sierra 8. Josh Dixon, Sacramento City 174 1. Kyle Griffin, Santa Rosa 2. Shaun Ceremello, Fresno City 3. Tom Eaton, Santa Ana 4. Marcus Garcia, West Hills 5. Caleb Smith, Palomar 6. Ryan Sughrue, Modesto 7. Eric Gonzalez, Moorpark 8. Carlos Ordonez, Delta 184 1. Tim Hawkins, Mt San Antonio 2. Steven Urquizo, Fresno City 3. Jason Carasco, Bakersfield 4. Louie Audelo, Cerritos 5. Marques Gales, Santa Rosa 6. Mike Leslie, Sierra 7. Cory Compton, Sacramento City 8. Shaane Miller, Lassen 197 1. Jayson Collard, Santa Rosa 2. Jerred Dixon, Sacramento City 3. Ryan Silvera, Mt San Antonio 4. Todd Molesworth, Moorpark 5. Joe Rameriz, Modesto 6. Norman Nail, West Hills 7. Kellen Desmond, Palomar 8. Al Kinslow, Cerritos 285 1. Erik Nye, Sierra 2. Brandon Doran, Cerritos 3. Josh Marquez, Bakersfield 4. Tyler Porras, Santa Ana 5. Steve Franklin, Santa Rosa 6. Victor Leyva, Fresno City 7. Matt Klimek, Palomar 8. Nick Thompson, Sacramento City Team 1. Fresno 2. Santa Ana 3. Cerritos 4. Sierra 5. Santa Rosa 6. Palomar 7. Bakersfield 8. Sacramento City 9. Mt San Antonio 10. Lassen 11. Modesto

Welcome back everyone. I hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving. Here at Dana, us wrestlers were welcomed back by a 6:00 weigh-in on Monday morning. Luckily everyone's weight looked good, so we headed to the gym and got to work. We followed the morning workout routine Monday through Wednesday. These workouts were aimed at improving foot speed, agility, and explosiveness through plyometrics and agility drills. Afternoon practice began slowly as we reviewed technique and worked our way out of the Thanksgiving rut. Practice picked up in the middle of the week, and we finished well. Following our Friday workout, we packed up and headed to Indianola, Iowa to wrestle in the Simpson Invitational. We arrived in Indianola after two long hours in the vans. We then had team meeting and weight checks. As we woke and checked our weight the next morning, we had a couple guys a little over and some guys (like me) were up to one pound under weight. Everything was seemingly going okay until our first guy checked on the scales at Simpson. At this time we realized that the scales were extremely heavy and our entire team suited up and rushed to cut weight before the 7:00 a.m. weigh-ins. Luckily everything worked out and we made weight and were now ready to wrestle. Highlighting the day for us was the performances by Burke Barnes, Terrance Almond, and Wade Jordan. All three of these men went undefeated on the day and claimed Simpson titles. Although Burke and Terrance have created a winning history for themselves, this was Wade's first college tournament championship. By winning this tournament, Wade showed what all of us at Dana have known for a couple years -- that Wade will be a huge and special part of our program. As losses come early in a tournament, come a long day and a many matches to battle in the backside of the brackets. This is what many of us found on Saturday. After winning first round, I dropped a close decision in the quarterfinals. This set me up for an additional four-match battle to third place. However, I was not alone as Hawaiian native Bula Tuzon and freshman Eric Graham claimed a third place and senior captain Craig Trampe took home the silver. Additional medalists for the Vikings included Brett Brandl, Bryan Graham, Clinton Dale, Jason Bilinski, Josh Gobadapor, and Jesse Boggs. Along with the three titles and many medalists, Saturday also revealed something else to look forward to for Dana wrestling. True freshman Josh Gobadabor was not having his best day. Josh was sick and was battling with his stomach all day. Josh continued to wrestle and battle every match. As if sickness was not enough, Josh suffered a concussion in his last match and still maintained total desire to compete. Josh is not alone as we have a tough, talented freshman class that I am excited to watch mature into amazing competitors. On Monday, we had individual training sessions with our assigned coaches. During this time we worked on problems noticed by the coaching staff at Simpson. On Tuesday, we get ready for a 60-minute grind match in the afternoon. We are currently focused on our trip to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to take on Sioux Falls University Friday night. Our goal is total domination and to continue improving on our "hammerstyle" wrestling. Most of those not competing in Sioux Falls will head to brawl at the UNK open in Kearney on Saturday. That's all for me. Good luck to all heading into finals weeks! Train Hard, Webster Farris Past Entries: Entry 1 (11/21/06)

MINNEAPOLIS -- Winning nine of 10 matches, including two by pin, two technical falls and three major decisions, the Augsburg College wrestling team dominated in a 46-3 dual-meet victory over visiting Southwest Minnesota State University on Tuesday night at Augsburg's Si Melby Hall. The Auggies, ranked No. 1 in the latest NCAA Division III national rankings by the National Wrestling Coaches Association, needed just 64 minutes to complete the match, which included two forfeits. Augsburg claimed bonus-point victories in all nine of its wins on Tuesday. Augsburg is now 2-0 in dual meets, winning 19 of 20 matches in its two team victories this season. Southwest Minnesota State, an NCAA Division II team, is now 0-1 in dual meets this season. Against teams from Divisions II and III, Augsburg is now 209-16 since the 1989-90 season, losing just 11 matches to non-Division I opponents since the 1995-96 season. Augsburg has won nine Division III national titles in the last 16 seasons. Quincy Osborn (Jr., Grand Rapids, Minn.), ranked No. 3 nationally at 141 pounds, improved to 9-0 on the season with a 38-second pin of Ryan Reed (Jr., Flandreau, S.D.). Four of Osborn's nine wins have come by pin this season. Brian Fischer (Jr., Freedom, Wis.) had the other pin for the Auggies, a 2:43 match-ender against Tyler Johnson (So., Harrisburg, S.D.) at 174 pounds. As both wrestlers were on the mat, Fischer was able to trap Johnson on his back for the sudden pin, improving to 7-3 on the year. Robbie Gotreau (Jr., Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS), ranked No. 3 nationally at 184, needed just 2:35 to accumulate enough points for a 17-0, technical fall victory over Cody Chamblin (Jr., Flandreau, S.D.). Gotreau scored a takedown 11 seconds in to the match and scored four 3-point near-falls and a two-point near-fall, along with 2:24 of riding time. Gotreau is now 9-0 on the year. Jared Evans (Sr., Blue Earth, Minn./Blue Earth Area HS), ranked No. 4 nationally at 149 pounds, also scored a technical fall in improving to 6-0 on the season, a 16-0 win in 5:04 over Luke Giese (Fr., Slayton, Minn./Murray County Central HS). Evans collected two takedowns, a reversal and three 3-point near-falls to earn the early match-ender, along with 4:22 of riding time. Jeremy Anderson (Jr., Thief River Falls, Minn.), ranked No. 1 nationally at 157, improved to 8-0 on the season with a 13-0, major-decision win over Craig Draper-Johnson (Fr., LeRoy, Mich./Pine River HS). Andrew Neumann (Sr., Somerset, Wis.), ranked No. 6 nationally at heavyweight, scored a 10-0, major-decision win over David Marshall (Sr., Las Vegas, Nev./Cheyenne HS). Paul Bjorkstrand (So., Burnsville, Minn.) also claimed a major-decision win for the Auggies, with a 14-6 victory over Michel Barrie (Jr., Westbrook, Minn./Adrian HS) at 133. The lone win for Southwest Minnesota State came in the opening match of the evening, as Mustang 125-pounder Kurt Smith (Jr., Aurora, S.D./Brookings HS) rallied from a 6-4 deficit with a takedown and two-point near-fall in the final 17 seconds of the match to overcome a 2:39 riding time advantage for Augsburg's Jaime Rocha (So., Santa Maria, Calif./Righetti HS), claiming an 8-7 win. Augsburg splits its squad for two meets on Saturday (12/9) at 9 a.m. The Auggie varsity will compete at the St. Cloud State University Open, while the White Team (junior varsity) will compete at the Wartburg (Iowa) Dick Walker Invitational. Southwest Minnesota State will also compete at the St. Cloud State Open on Saturday.

THIS WEEK Iowa (3-0) will host Coe (5-0) and North Carolina State (2-3) Thursday in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Coe match will start at 6 p.m. and the North Carolina State match will start at 7:30 p.m. The #4 Hawkeyes will be hoping to get their 800th school win. Their current record is 798-209-30. The first 500 fans will receive an Iowa wrestling holiday ornament. TICKET INFORMATION Tickets purchased in advance are $8 for adults and $4 for youth/non-University of Iowa students. Tickets purchased at the door are $10 for adults and $5 for youth/non-University of Iowa students. For tickets, contact the University of Iowa Athletic Ticket Office at 1-800-424-2957, 319-335-9327 or www.hawkeyesports.com. ON THE AIR Radio - Steven Grace and two-time Hawkeye NCAA champion and four-time all-American Mark Ironside will call the action live on AM-800, KXIC. All dual meets, not including the NWCA National Duals, will be broadcast live, as will action from the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments. Audio broadcasts from all competitions will also be available online. To listen online, go to the wrestling schedule on www.hawkeyesports.com and click on the event. Broadcasts are available using the Hawkeye All-Access subscription ($6.95 per month or $49.95 per year) or the CSTV XXL Premium subscription ($99.95 per year). The Internet - Press releases, meet results, audio broadcasts and home dual livestats are available on the University of Iowa's website, www.hawkeyesports.com. To access the live home dual scoring, go to the wrestling schedule page, select the event and click on the Livestats link. Current staff and student-athlete head shots can be found at pics.hawkeyesports.com. COE KOHAWKS Coe is 6-0 and ranked 12th in the most recent Brute Division III team rankings. The Kohawks scored wins over Manchester (47-4), Wisconsin-Eau Claire (35-6), Lincoln Christian (60-0), Wisconsin-Platteville (27-9) and Lakeland (32-7) at the Lakeland Duals and at Central (56-0). The team also placed third at the Simpson Invite last weekend. Head Coach John Oostendorp has a 54-33-1 record in six years at Coe. He was a two-time all-American at Iowa, winning the 1992 Big Ten heavyweight title. Oostendorp lettered four years in wrestling (1990-93) and one in football (1992) for the Hawkeyes. He is assisted by Dustin Hinschberger, Marcus Kurtz, Eric Casey, Dustin Bliven, Jeremy Kulbartz and Bret Sharp. The Kohawks are led by senior Jared Creason, who is ranked fourth at 141 pounds and brings a 13-1 record to the dual. Senior Brian Clement is 13-2 at 125. NORTH CAROLINA STATE WOLFPACK North Carolina State is 2-3 with wins over Campbell (34-13) and Liberty (32-6), and losses to Wisconsin (29-9), Purdue (24-12) and Northwestern (37-9). Head Coach Carter Jordan is 21-16-1 in three seasons with the Wolfpack. He wrestled at North Carolina State from 1983-86. He is assisted by Tony Davis and Jerrod Sanders. Davis was an NCAA champion and two-time all-American at Northern Iowa (1999- 2000), while Sanders was an all-American at Oklahoma State University (2003). North Carolina State is led by senior heavyweight Jainor Palma, who is ranked 18th in the nation and is undefeated at 5-0. THE SERIES This will be the first meeting between Iowa and Coe. The Hawkeyes lead the series with North Carolina State, 2-0, winning both duals in Iowa City. Iowa won the first meeting, 40-6, in 1985, and the most recent, 37-7, in 1991. IOWA WRESTLING ON JEOPARDY! Former Hawkeye wrestlers Luke and Ty Eustice will be featured in a clue of the category "Iowa" Friday, December 8 on the TV game show Jeopardy! Jimmy McGuire and Kelly Miyahara of the Jeopardy! Clue Crew taped several clues featuring the Eustice brothers in August on the concourse level of Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Check your local listings for the channel and time Jeopardy! airs. PERRY TAKES ON THE COMPETITION In the last two weeks, Hawkeye junior 165-pounder Mark Perry has gone 3-1 against top 10 competition. Perry, who is ranked second in the nation, faced top-ranked Johny Hendricks of Oklahoma State Nov. 20 at the NWCA All-Star Dual in Dallas, TX. After losing a 3-1 decision to the defending NCAA Champion, Perry flew back to Iowa to join the Hawkeyes in their season opener at Northern Iowa the next day. Wrestling for the second time in two days, Perry defeated #5 Nick Baima, 3-0. On Nov. 25, Iowa hosted Arizona State and Perry scored an 8-4 decision over #9 Patrick Pitsch. He then scored a takedown in sudden victory to defeat #4 Travis Paulson, 6-4, setting the tone for Iowa's 24-6 win over intrastate rival Iowa State on Dec. 3. HAWKEYES ROUT IOWA STATE, 24-6 Iowa won eight of 10 matches, including six by two points or less, to defeat intrastate rival Iowa State, 24-6, Dec. 3 in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. A crowd of 13,732, the fifth-largest for a dual wrestling meet in Carver-Hawkeye Arena and the 11th-largest in school and NCAA history, turned out for the meet. Iowa improved to 3-0 on the season and bumped the Hawkeyes to a 7-4 lead in the Hy-Vee Cy-Hawk Series with the win. Iowa State fell to 2-1. "I'm going to give our guys credit," said Iowa Head Coach Tom Brands. "Mark Perry, Dan Erekson and Ryan Morningstar had some big wins for us. There is still a lot of wrestling to do this year, but we are taking small steps in the right direction." Perry, who is ranked second in the nation at 165, scored a takedown in sudden victory to beat fourth-ranked and undefeated Travis Paulson, 6-4. Erekson, an unranked sophomore, upset ninth-ranked and undefeated Kurt Backes, 11-9 at 197. In the final match of the dual, redshirt freshman and #15 Morningstar upset top-ranked and undefeated Trent Paulson, 3-2 at 157. Senior Eric Luedke (174-30th) and juniors Alex Tsirtsis (141-50th) and Matt Fields (Hwt.-45th) each picked up milestone victories. Iowa 24, Iowa State 6 165 - Mark Perry (I) dec. Travis Paulson (ISU), 6-4 SV-1 174 - Eric Luedke (I) dec. David Bertolino (ISU), 6-4 184 - Jake Varner (ISU) dec. Phillip Keddy (I), 6-2 197 - Dan Erekson (I) dec. Kurt Backes (ISU), 11-9 Hwt. - Matt Fields (I) dec. David Zabriskie (ISU), 6-5 125 - Charlie Falck (I) dec. Nick Fanthorpe (ISU), 6-5 133 - Mario Galanakis (I) dec. Nick Gallick (ISU), 6-1 141 - Alex Tsirtsis (I) dec. Mitch Mueller (ISU), 4-1 149 - Cyler Sanderson (ISU) dec. Alex Grunder (I), 9-8 157 - Ryan Morningstar (I) dec. Trent Paulson (ISU), 3-2 THREE HAWKEYES WIN UNI OPEN TITLES Iowa crowned three champions and tallied eight placewinners at the UNI Open in Cedar Falls Sunday. Redshirt freshmen Brent Metcalf (149) and Jay Borschel (174), and freshman Billy Murphy (133) each won individual titles, while sophomore Daniel Dennis (133) and redshirt freshman Dan LeClere (141) placed second. Dennis lost a 9-3 decision to Murphy, while LeClere lost an 8-6 decision in the third sudden victory period to Illinois all-American Cassio Pero. Iowa's other placewinners were senior Luke Magnani (125-4th), redshirt freshman Joe Slaton (133-4th), and freshman Jake Kerr (165-6th). HAWKEYES SIGN TWO Iowa signed two student-athletes to national letters of intent in the early signing period. Jordan Johnson of Bettendorf, IA and Brodie Ambrose of Eldridge, IA, are Tom Brands' first signings as Iowa's head coach. Johnson won the 2006 Class AA Illinois state heavyweight state title at Naperville North High School. He moved to Bettendorf, IA, and will be competing for Bettendorf High School this season. Ambrose placed third at 171 pounds at the 2006 Class 3A state tournament for North Scott Eldridge High School. He will compete at 189 pounds this season and is a projected 197-pounder for the Hawkeyes. Ambrose also is a 189-pound Fargo freestyle all-American. IOWA WRESTLING HISTORY Iowa's overall dual meet record is 798-209-30 (.784) in 95 seasons. The Hawkeyes have won 20 national titles, including nine of the last 16, and 31 Big Ten titles. Iowa's 47 NCAA Champions have won a total of 73 NCAA individual titles, crowning six three-time and 13 two-time champions. The Hawkeyes' 99 Big Ten Champions have won a total of 180 conference titles. There have been seven four-time, 18 three-time and 24 two-time Iowa winners. Iowa's 129 all-Americans have earned all-America status 263 times, including 16 four-time, 27 three-time and 32 two-time honorees. CARVER-HAWKEYE ARENA Carver-Hawkeye Arena has been the home of Iowa wrestling since 1983. The Hawkeyes are 152-15 (.910) in the arena, which includes a record 10 victories during the 1986 season. Iowa has recorded 16 undefeated seasons in the arena, with the most recent (8-0) occurring in 2002-03. The dual wrestling attendance record for Carver-Hawkeye Arena is 15,291, set when Iowa defeated Iowa State on February 22, 1992. The arena seats 15,500 for a dual wrestling meet. CHAMPIONSHIP EXPERIENCE The Hawkeye wrestling staff of Tom Brands, Dan Gable, Wes Hand, Doug Schwab and Mike Zadick earned a total of two Olympic gold medals, seven NCAA titles, 10 conference titles and 15 all-America honors. Their combined college career wrestling record is 605-84-2 (.877), including three undefeated seasons. OH BROTHER Seniors Ben and Brett Stedman from Sioux City, IA, are the lone set of brothers on the 2006-07 Hawkeye roster. There have been 10 sets of brothers to wrestle together in the Hawkeye varsity lineup since the 1950s. They are Don and Tom Huff (1961), Mark and Scott Trizzino (1981), Lenny, Larry and Jim Zalesky (1981-82), Ed and Lou Banach (1981-83), Marty and Lindley Kistler (1984-85), Jim and John Heffernan (1987), Tom and Terry Brands (1989-92), Troy and Terry Steiner (1991-93), Ryan and Randy Fulsaas (2001) and Luke and Ty Eustice (2003-04). The Stedman's are also the fifth set of twins to wrestle at Iowa. Ed and Lou Banach, Tom and Terry Brands, Troy and Terry Steiner and Randy and Ryan Fulsaas are the other four. NEXT COMPETITION Iowa will compete at the 44th annual Midlands Championships December 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.

Oklahoma State's wrestling team heads north to wrestle the third-ranked Minnesota Gophers on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Minneapolis. OSU leads the all-time series 16-9, but the recent history has been with Minnesota as the Gophers have won seven of the last 10 meetings, including twice last year. Minnesota defeated OSU in the finals of the National Duals, followed by a victory in the Ford Center in the ESPNU Doublesport Wrestling Invitational. The Cowboys had the last laugh as OSU bested the runner-up Gophers by nearly 40 points at the NCAA Championships. The Cowboys last victory came in Minneapolis in the 2004-05 season. OSU won that dual handily 28-10. The trend in the series has been for the road team as neither team has won at home since the 1996-97 season when OSU had a 26-10 triumph in Stillwater. The dual will be broadcast live on HOT 93.7 FM with Rex Holt and Roger Moore providing the commentary. Last Time Out Oklahoma State needed a decision by heavyweight Jared Rosholt to hold off ninth-ranked Oklahoma in the first Bedlam match of the year, 17-15. The two teams each won five matches with the difference being OSU's major decisions from juniors Coleman Scott and Nathan Morgan at 133 and 141, respectively. The swing match was at 184 where OSU's Jack Jensen met OU's Josh Hinton. OU could have all but clinched the dual with fifth-ranked Joel Flaggert waiting at 197. Jensen pushed the action and scored the first takedown and then enjoyed a second period ride to earn a decision and put the Cowboys back on top. Flaggert won by a decision at 197 to give OU a 15-14 lead in the dual heading into the heavyweight match. In the final match, Rosholt put on a tough ride in the second period, and he scored the only takedown in the third to clinch the dual with a 5-0 decision. Johny Hendricks also won his 100th career match at 165. Scouting the Gophers Minnesota was picked by many to end Oklahoma State's national title run this season, but after the top-ranked Gophers inexplicably lost to Hofstra, the Cowboys return to the top spot in the rankings and Minnesota comes in ranked third according to the NWCA/USA Today Coaches' Poll. Minnesota boasts a deep lineup with six guys ranked in the top 10. The Gophers have two other starters who would be ranked as high that are both out with injury. Defending national champions Dustin Schlatter and Cole Konrad lead the way for the 4-1 Gophers. Roger Kish is ranked second at 184 after a runner-up finish last season. Jayson Ness comes in ranked eighth at 125, Manuel Rivera is seventh at 141 and Gabriel Dretsch is eighth at 174. Last time vs. Minnesota The match once again came down to heavyweight with the dual tied at 16. Both Steve Mocco and Cole Konrad had an escape to send the match into overtime. In the sudden victory period, Mocco took a shot and Konrad spun behind for the dual clinching takedown. The Cowboys had key victories from Nathan Morgan over fifth-ranked Mack Reiter and Brandon Mason over 10th-ranked Gabe Dretsch to put OSU in a position to win the dual. It took a major decision from Jake Rosholt to tie the match and force a showdown at heavyweight. Konrad had the upper hand against Mocco for the second time in 2006. It was Minnesota's second straight victory over the Cowboys and seventh in 10 tries. Minnesota 19, Oklahoma State 16 Venue: Ford Center, Oklahoma City, Okla. Attendance: 4,110 125- #6 Coleman Scott (OSU) Dec. Travis Lang (UMN), 12-5 133- #3 Nathan Morgan (OSU) Dec. #5 Mack Reiter (UMN), 2-1 141- Manuel Rivera (UMN) Fall Justin Porter (OSU), 6:23 149- #1 Dustin Schlatter (UMN) MD #3 Zack Esposito (OSU), 11-2 157- #6 C.P. Schlatter (UMN) Dec. #16 Kevin Ward (OSU), 7-3 165- #1 Johny Hendricks (OSU) Dec. #7 Matt Nagel (UMN), 3-1 174- #11 Brandon Mason (OSU) Dec. #10 Gabriel Dretsch (UMN), 3-1 184- #7 Roger Kish (UMN) Dec. Rusty Blackmon (OSU), 5-1 197- #3 Jake Rosholt (OSU) MD Mitch Kuhlman (UMN), 14-2 285- #1 Cole Konrad (UMN) Dec. #2 Steve Mocco (OSU), 3-1 SV Gopher Bitten Oklahoma State has claimed the last four NCAA team titles and three of the last four NWCA National Duals titles. Over that four year span the Cowboys have compiled a 74-4 dual record. OSU has put together a 111-8 record since the 2000-01 season. Minnesota has been the one team that has been a thorn in the side for the Cowboys. Minnesota has handed OSU five of its eight losses since the 2000-01 season, and it has defeated the Cowboys three times during its current championship run, including twice last year. Hendricks Reaches the Century Mark Senior Johny Hendricks became the 26th member of the 100-win club when he defeated Oklahoma's Shane Seibert, 7-4, on Dec. 3, 2006. He is currently 7-0 on the season and boasts a career record of 100-12. He needs just eight victories to tie Kirk Mammen for 20th on the all-time wins list. Ryan Freeman Making the Most of the Opportunity Oklahoma State fans have been spoiled watching Zack Esposito at 149. Following Esposito's graduation, the Cowboys were set with junior B.J. Jackson, but fellow junior Ryan Freeman eyed an opening and dropped down to 149 to contend for the spot. After Jackson suffered a knee injury in his opening bout against California-Davis, Freeman was inserted into the lineup. He took advantage as he won his first match against Michigan State by an easy score of 10-4. Freeman lost to second-ranked Matt Storniolo by a 7-0 decision and he faces top-ranked Dustin Schlatter on Wednesday.

Columbia, Mo. –- Redshirt freshman Maxwell Askren (Hartland, Wis.) was named November's Big 12 Wrestler of the Month after knocking off three of the nation's top-five wrestlers as announced today by the league office. A perfect 10-0 on the season, Askren most recently collected his first Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational title at 197 pounds becoming Missouri's first freshman to take top honors at the prestigious event. Opening the season Nov. 16 against Ohio State, Askren, then ranked No. 12 in the nation, took down All-American and then No. 2 J.D. Bergman, 8-4. Adding to the wins list, Askren went 4-0 at the Missouri Open, Nov. 19, besting two-time All-American and then No. 4 Joel Flaggert of Oklahoma, 2-1. In his next outing of the campaign, Askren went 5-0 and finished first at the 25th annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational in Primm, Nev., Dec. 2. Ranked No. 3 in the country, Askren held off No. 2 Jerry Rinaldi of Cornell, 4-3, in the title match. Next up for the Tigers are back-to-back duals against Central Michigan (Dec. 9) and Michigan State (Dec. 10).

DURHAM, N.C. -– Addison Nuding has fit quite well into the role of student-athlete in his year-and-a-half at Duke. The native of Reading, Pa. received the Goldman Sachs Global Leaders Award in this his sophomore year. Nuding is majoring in International Comparative Studies and acquiring certificates in Markets and Management Studies and in Information Studies. The Goldman Sachs Global Leaders Program is an annual competition that aims to identify academic excellence and leadership potential in 100 of the most-accomplished second-year university students from around the world, including only 16 from the United States. Successful applicants are awarded $3,000 and earn the right to be called Goldman Sachs Global Leaders. Duke University is able to nominate five to 10 candidates who meet the eligibility criteria. The criteria for the applicants includes having distinguished themselves as leaders in their community or school, having a 3.4 or better in the final year of secondary school and the first year in college, being full-time students in their second year at Trinity College or the Pratt School of Engineering, be pursuing their first undergraduate degree, and demonstrating competency in spoken and written English. Nuding has not stopped there in his time at Duke. He spent six weeks in Berlin this past summer as part of the Duke Summer in Berlin. The two-course program offers various levels of German language study plus a range of English and German elective courses in an urban environment. Nuding took a German language course and a German Art History course. The Financial Aid Initiative is a university-wide effort to increase endowed funds for scholarships and graduated fellowships. The goal of the initiative is to raise $300 million over three to four years. Nuding has taken it upon himself to become involved in this organization because he believes strongly in Duke's financial aid program, and is thankful that he was able to attend Duke because of the donations of those who believe in it as well. The committee that Nuding serves on tries to create open communication between administration and students, ensure strong donor-recipient bonds, and encourage students to get involved in improving the financial aid program. In addition to those three programs, Nuding is also a member of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, the First-year Advisory Council, and the Last Day of Classes committee. He also works in the Iron Dukes' office as a student intern. On top of being a Duke student and all of his activities and achievements, Nuding somehow finds the time to wrestle for the Blue Devils. At the 157 pound weight class, Nuding has accumulated a 15-17 record in a little more than one full season, including four pins of his opponents in that time. He finished second in The Citadel Open as a freshman, and tied for second on the team that year with three pins. In high school wrestling, Nuding was a Wendy's High School Heisman winner and state runner-up as a senior. He was also a two-time all-state and all-county recipient, and accumulated 130 wins in four years.

State College, Pa. –- Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling fans will get a chance to pick up free 2006-07 wrestling schedule magnets when No. 7 Penn State hosts No. 24 Lehigh at 7 p.m. on Friday night. The first fans through the Rec Hall doors will get the magnets while supplies last. The key eastern wrestling clash will feature nine ranked wrestlers. Penn State features No. 7 Mark McKnight (McDonald, Pa.) at 125, No. 7 Jake Strayer (South Fork, Pa.) at 133, No. 2 James Yonushonis (Philipsburg, Pa.) at 174, No. 1 Phil Davis (Harrisburg, Pa.) at 197 and No. 11 Aaron Anspach (Columbia, Pa.) at HWT. Lehigh counters with No. 9 Trevor Chinn at 149, No. 19 David Helfrich at 174, No. 20 Matt Cassidy at 197 and No. 13 Paul Weibel at HWT. The two schools have met 94 times with Penn State holding a 59-32-3 edge in the series. The Nittany Lions won both duals vs. the Mountain Hawks last year and have won three of the last four battles. The match will also been seen live on WPSU-TV State College. CSTV national will replay the dual on Tuesday, December 12, at 8 p.m. Season tickets are on sale now. This year's season ticket prices are $24 for adults and $18 for students. Single dual prices are $5 per event for adults and $3 per event for youth. Contact the Penn State ticket office at 814-863-1000 or 800-833-5533 for more information or visit GoPSUsports.com.

It's been said that the only thing that can be expected is the unexpected. However, with weight classes becoming more settled, the biggest potential match-ups of the season from a national perspective are becoming clearer. The following are some highlights of what to watch for … Zach Kemmerer vs. Nick Nelson/Mario Mason/Luke Ashmore Weight: 140 Pounds Where: Ironman/Beast of the East With the possible exception of Corey Jantzen and Kirk Smith, no wrestler improved their stock as much as Kemmerer did in the past year. Coming off a fifth-place finish at state and a fourth-place finish at the Cadet Nationals, Kemmerer went unbeaten through Ironman, Beast of the East, the Pennsylvania state tournament (AAA division), and FILA Cadet Nationals. In the process, he went from a wrestler experts knew was underrated to one of the top seniors in the nation. Included in that great run were wins over Luke Ashmore, Kevin Lipp, Pat McLemore, and Max Shanaman. This year Kemmerer has continued to build his reputation with a brilliant performance at the Michigan State Open. The 17-year-old Kemmerer stepped into this tough collegiate open and showed he belonged -- placing fourth, which included a 2-1 win over future Penn teammate Cesar Grajales. Kemmerer also avenged a defeat from last year in the preseason against two-time Pennsylvania AAA state champ Mike Rappo and defeated Junior Nationals fourth-place finisher Ryan Cubberly. It is ironic, then, that Kemmerer could soon be in the unfamiliar position of needing to avenge two losses in the same day. His Ironman weight class will include both Mario Mason of Blair Academy and Nick Nelson of Shaler, PA. Mason defeated Kemmerer, 4-3, at the 2005 Cadet Freestyle Duals in the only match-up between the two that I am aware of. Mason then showed it wasn't a fluke by easily defeating two wrestlers at Cadet Nationals that defeated Kemmerer, as Mason steamrolled to the title and Kemmerer placed fourth. The second loss Kemmerer could have to avenge (depending on how the seeding formula comes out) would be against Nick Nelson. Nelson defeated Kemmerer at the 2005 Pennsylvania state tournament in the consolation semifinals by a 2-1 score. Nick Nelson remains a lightning rod of controversy in the national rankings. Some would ask, how can a wrestler with almost no Fargo resume and zero state titles be ranked No. 3 in the nation in a loaded weight class? The answer lies in the wrestlers Nelson has beaten. Luke Ashmore (Photo/Danielle Hobeika)Over the past two seasons Nelson has posted wins over three national champions: NHSCA Senior Nationals champ Bubba Jenkins, Junior Nationals champion Luke Ashmore, and FILA Cadet Nationals champ Kemmerer. Nelson has finished third and runner-up in arguably the toughest state tournament in the nation, with archrival Ashtin Primus winning the state title both years. Primus has now graduated, but it is anything but smooth sailing for him to win his first state title, as Kemmerer and Nelson appear to be on a collision course to meet in the Pennsylvania state tournament as well. The road doesn't get any easier for Kemmerer at Beast of the East- as he will be matched up against not only Mario Mason for the second consecutive tournament, but also cadet and junior national freestyle champion Luke Ashmore. Ironically, although Ashmore is more decorated than either Mason or Nelson, Kemmerer defeated him in their only meeting of which I am aware- by a score of 1-0, 3-2 at FILA Cadet Nationals in the spring of 2006. Kemmerer will have easily earned a place among the top three seniors in the nation should he post another unbeaten season. David Taylor vs. Logan Stieber Weight: 103 Pounds Where: Ironman David Taylor (Photo/Wyatt Schultz)In the long run, this could be the match that has the most lasting significance. David Taylor has completely dominated Fargo for the past two years, with only a fluke touch fall (as he was nearing a tech) in the 2005 Greco finals keeping him out of the exclusive group of four-time Cadet Nationals champions. Taylor won the Ironman and Beast of the East last year as a freshman, knocking off highly-rated wrestlers such as Fred Santaite, Boris Novachkov, and Ben Sergent. However, what was really impressive his freshman season is that Taylor won despite being a very small 103. Thinking about it this way: Taylor won Fargo at 91 pounds in the summer before his freshman year … and 98 pounds in the summer after. If we figure that he grew an equal amount throughout the year that would put his ideal weight class last season at around 95 pounds. In other words, as a percentage of size, Taylor's season was the equivalent of a 140 wrestling 152. Despite being so drastically undersized, Taylor earned the No. 2 ranking in the nation. A non-stop attacker with a highly creative style, Taylor overcame the size disadvantage by never letting up for an instant -- in any flurry, he always has one more move and seemingly limitless energy. Taylor is also perhaps the best wrestler in the nation from the top position regardless of grade or weight. This year, Taylor will be wrestling guys his own size- and is a year older and more experienced. In my view there isn't a wrestler in the nation who is within eight points of Taylor this season … with one huge exception. Logan Stieber (Photo/Wyatt Schultz)Logan Stieber, a freshman hailing from tiny Monroeville, Ohio, may be even better than Taylor. While Taylor is a technician, who fights for his wins and overwhelms opponents with his whirlwind pace, Stieber is a machine who simply destroys top opponents in all phases of the sport: power, speed, and technique. His matches against the nation's best have been laughable. In the Cadet Nationals finals against a very tough Chris Villalonga, Stieber piled up 14 unanswered points in less than three minutes of action. That would project to a score of 29-0 over a six-minute match. But the thing is -- it wasn't just that match. That's every match for Stieber, or should I say, every period of every match. Between FILA Cadet Nationals and Cadet Nationals, Stieber scored a tech (six-point advantage) or pin in every period of every match except one, when he beat the eventual third-place finisher 6-0, 4-1. This was the only point allowed by Stieber between the two national tournaments -- a run which saw Stieber outscore his opponents 101-1. Included in Stieber's great run was a 6-0, 6-0 win over Junior Nationals runner-up Jon Morrison. Almost invariable, these six-point techs happened seemingly in the blink of an eye. It's interesting to compare the dominance of Stieber at Cadet Nationals to that of the champions one weight above and one weight below him: Taylor (98-pound champ) and Jordan Oliver (112-pound champ who was the top-ranked 103 in the nation in 2006). Stieber wrestled 16 periods at Fargo and scored a tech or pin in 15 of those periods, for a tech/pin percentage of 94% (down from 100% at FILA Cadets). Taylor's tech/pin percentage was 64%, Oliver's 50%. While Stieber allowed only a single point, Taylor allowed three and Oliver allowed six. Obviously, these comparisons do not prove that Stieber is the superior wrestler to either Taylor or Oliver, but the fact that Stieber was substantially more dominant without having wrestled a high school season has to raise eyebrows. Sean Nemec vs. Jason Welch/Tim Darling/Colt Sponseller Weight: 160 Pounds Where: Ironman/Beast of the East/Medina Invitational Sean Nemec (Photo/Danielle Hobeika)With the possible exception of Kemmerer, no wrestler in the nation will face as much competition this year as Sean Nemec of Lakewood St. Edward. With Mike Benefiel apparently moving to 171, Nemec will likely be facing every three of the other four wrestlers ranked in the top five within a three week time span. Nemec vaulted from being another very good wrestler to star status by basically taking out the entire state of New Jersey in Fargo, more specifically: Darion Caldwell, Scott Winston, and Eric Medina. Like Kemmerer, should Nemec run the table this season with the competition he will face, it would be difficult to deny he deserves a spot among the top three wrestlers in the nation in all weights. It's interesting to note that Nemec was beaten 11-2 by Jason Welch of California in their last meeting (Fargo in 2005). Do not look for such a one-sided result should they meet at Ironman. Welch's wide-open style does provide an interesting contrast to Nemec's more methodical, workman-like approach. It should be noted that at press time, there was some confusion as to whether Jason Welch will be able to wrestle 160 at Ironman, as certification issue may push him to 171. Nemec should next face Tim Darling of Pennsylvania at the Beast of the East. Like Nemec, Darling has already won two state titles in the rugged Pennsylvania AAA Division. Darling presents an even greater style contrast with Nemec than Welch does. The funky Darling is a great at scoring off his opponents shots and very tough on the mat. Stylistically, Darling is similar to Nemec's archrival Travis Blasco of Blair Academy, though probably better in my view. Nemec's track against Darling was not good (though he did defeat him soundly at Ironman), so that may not bode well for Nemec. If Nemec can maintain the level he wrestled at in Fargo, however, that comparison is probably out the window. Finally, Nemec will face two-time Ohio state champion Colt Sponseller in what might be termed, "the Battle for Ohio." Sponseller was NHSCA Juniors champion and is a former Junior Nationals All-American. He was vaulted to superstar status in the Buckeye state, however, by his win over Josh Rohler in the state finals. Rohler actually was the No. 1 ranked 152 in the nation at the start of last year. However, Sponseller controlled the action by attacking every instant of possibly the most decisive 4-3 decision ever recorded. Sponseller and Nemec squared off at Medina their sophomore years with Nemec coming out a 3-1 victor. Frankly, I think Sponseller's style may be a better match-up for Nemec than either Welch or Darling. However, Sponseller has improved dramatically since his sophomore year, so he certainly cannot be counted out. Ironically, Sponseller and Nemec will be teammates at the Ohio State University for the next four years. As an aside -- should Jason Welch be forced to wrestle 171 due to the dreaded certification process, Welch versus three-time Illinois state champion Mike Benefiel at Ironman (and Junior Nationals All-American Brian Roddy, Cadet Nationals champion Andy Thomas, and Hunter Collins) would become one of the biggest match-ups of the year. Should Welch stay at 171 (seemingly unlikely), an even bigger match-up would be against Kirk Smith (the No. 2 senior in the nation) at the Reno Tournament of Champions. Other potential match-ups: Cody Gardner of Christiansburg and Jared Platt of Blair resume their great rivalry at Ironman and Beast. Jordan Blanton, a junior from, Illinois has never tasted defeat in his high school career, but three-time state champion Mike Benefiel will be at his weight class (171) this year. Benefiel started his career as a 112. Illinois fans are hoping that they meet up in an All-Star match. Another possible match-up could be FILA Cadet Nationals champion and two-time Cadet Greco-Roman champ Nate Moore versus former Cadet Nationals champion Tyler Clark at the Dvorak -- should they end up at the same weight.

DAVIDSON, N.C. and STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -— Duke (2-1) wrestled in two meets this past weekend: the Davidson Open on Saturday and the Penn State Open on Sunday. Redshirt sophomore Konrad Dudziak was the star of the weekend, as he won the inaugural Davidson Open as a heavyweight competitor. Sophomore Michael Degli Obizzi took third place at Davidson in the 149 pound weight class, and at Penn State Voris Tejada clinched fourth place at 149 pounds. On his way to victory Saturday at the 285 pound weight class, Dudziak defeated Ryan Hsu of UNC-Greensboro, Trey Moss off Limestone, and Jim Powers of Virginia Tech in his final three matches. It was Dudziak's second tournament championship this season, as he won the UNC-Pembroke Open at 285 pounds on Nov. 11. Degli Obizzi defeated Davidson's Scott Matthews in the quarterfinals at 149 pounds before losing to Virginia Military Institute's David Metzler, who eventually won the championship. Degli Obizzi came back to defeat Zach Martin of Appalachian St. in the third place match. Four other Duke wrestlers had a strong showing at Davidson, making it to the final eight or better in their respective weight classes. Freshman Chase Macer made it to the semifinals at 157 pounds after defeating Nick Raich of Gardner-Webb. Freshman Mat Koelling was able to make it to the quarterfinals in the 165 pound weight class before bowing out. Redshirt sophomore Turner Rooney beat Nick Niesieslowski of Anderson College in the quarterfinals before making his exit from the tournament. Sophomore Wade Van Sickle made it to the semifinals by downing Newberry College's Alonzo Henry. At Penn State on Sunday, Tejada led the way with a fourth place finish. He rattled off four consecutive victories before losing in the semifinals and then in the third place match. It was Tejada's third placing of fifth or higher this season. He also took third in The Citadel Open on Nov. 4 and placed fifth at the UPenn Invitational on Nov. 19. Redshirt junior Bryan Gibson and junior Wes Kuser had strong showings in the Penn State Open as well. Gibson went 3-2 at 133 pounds, and Kuser went 4-2 in the 141 pound weight class. Duke's next competition will be Wed., Dec. 20 at the Reno Tournament of Champions in Reno, Nev. It is an all day event, and is another open meet for the Blue Devils.

Buena Vista University wrestler Wade Hammen has been named the Iowa Conference Male Athlete of the Week. Hammen is a senior from Rockwell City, Iowa. Hammen went 4-1 in his first week of competition after joining the team following the Buena Vista football season and placed second in the heavyweight division at the University of Northern Iowa Open. In the Beavers' dual meet victory over Morningside College, he won by decision over Kiel Ploen, 8-4. At UNI, Hammen defeated Luther's Jake Mandrinich (8-1) then faced three straight Division I opponents. He won by decision over Northern Illinois' Dave Benner (3-2), won by default over Wisconsin's Kyle Massey, and lost to UNI's Tyler Rhodes (8-5), a 2006 NCAA qualifier, in the Championship match. This is the first time in his collegiate wrestling career that Hammen has earned this award. He and the rest of the Beavers will resume action on Saturday at the University of Dubuque Duals.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Senior Sam Alvarenga won seven consecutive matches to take the title at 149 lbs. while competing at the Nittany Lion Open on Sunday, hosted by Penn State. Alvarenga represented one of three placewinners for the Keydets on Sunday, as over 600 wrestlers competed in the ten weight classes at the event. Alvarenga (Springfield, Va./Thomas Edison) improved his overall record to 17-2 on the season with his march to the title, as his 95 career wins place him eighth on the career wins list. His run on Sunday began with a forfeit victory against Michigan State's Eddie Skowneski, while he advanced with a 3-0 decision over Braden Bair. Next up was an 11-6 decision over Liberty's Aaron Kelley, followed by a closely contested 3-2 win against Navy's Joel Ahern, giving Alvarenga a berth into the quarterfinals. In that match, extra time was needed before Alvarenga claimed a 3-1 win in sudden victory over Boston's Mike Roberts. In the semifinals, Alvarenga again posted a sudden victory win over Indiana's Kurt Kinser, this time by a 7-5 margin. The championship pitted Alvarenga against Penn State freshman Dan Vallimont, as the VMI senior took the title with a 10-5 victory. "Sam has really wrestled well ever since dropping that second match at the Keystone Classic a couple of weeks ago," said Trudgeon. "He has really turned it around since then. He's wrestling hungry and has become a lot more aggressive." Meanwhile, fellow senior Scott Buhman was wrestling his way to seventh place in the heavyweight division, running up a 6-2 record on the day to improve to 14-5 overall. After dropping a second round match to eventual third-place finisher Spencer Nadolsky of UNC, Buhman won four straight matches, including a pin in 3:16 against Michigan State's Alex Strachan and an 11-4 win against Columbia's Kevin Lester, before falling by a 6-4 margin to Liberty's Patrick Walker. Buhman then received a medical forfeit against Cleveland State's Rashard Goff to secure the seventh place showing. At 184 lbs., senior Corry Murray, competing in his first tournament of the season, posted a 4-2 first round decision over Duke's Dan Fox, before falling to eventual second-place finisher Brent Chriswell of Purdue. In the consolation bracket, Murray posted four straight victories, including a pair of 3-2 decisions as well as a 3-1 victory, before dropping his final two matches of the day to fall to eighth place. "Corry has probably practiced about a week or so of full matches, so he's still getting up to speed," said Trudgeon. "He's been going at it hard, and he's not quite back to 100% with that ankle, but we're hoping he will be soon. He pulled out a lot of close, hard-fought matches up there, which is great to see. Scott wrestled well enough to place and showed the aggressiveness that he lacked Friday night. As a team, I think that we're starting to put it together hopefully. I think that all of our guys will start feeding off of the success that our leaders had this weekend, as we look to have a big match this Friday (against Gardner-Webb). Hopefully we'll get a few of our guys back healthy, and there will be a lot of good, tight matches in that one." Other competitors for the Keydets included Brandon Franklin at 141 (0-1 record on the day), Tommy Cunningham (1-2) at 157, and Dustin McCabe (3-2) and Kyle Elgert (0-1) at 174. The Keydets return to action on Friday evening, as they compete in their second dual match of the season at Gardner-Webb at 7 p.m.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State wrestling assistant coaches Joe Heskett and Tommy Rowlands claimed titles at the Henri Deglane Challenge in Nice, France, and the American Airlines/New York AC Holiday International in New York, respectively, at the end of November. In his first season as the volunteer assistant coach for the Buckeyes, Heskett defeated 2000 Olympic silver medalist and 2006 Russian National Champion Arsen Gitinov in the championship match to win the gold medal at 74kg/163 pounds in the freestyle competition at the Nov. 24-25 tournament. For his efforts, Heskett was named TheMat.com Athlete of the Week for the week of Nov. 21. "I am in an ideal training environment with unbelievable support from the training staff," Heskett said. "The training here is no question the most intense and focused training I have done in my life and because of that I feel my strength and conditioning combined with my God-given wrestling talent can push me to the Olympic gold, which is the ultimate goal. I also want to thank my wife, Tara, and my two daughters, Olivia and Ava." Rowlands defended his freestyle title at 120kg/264.5 pounds at the New York Athletic Club Nov. 18-19, winning all four of his bouts, including defeating Michael Irving, 4-1 and 6-0, in the final. "I feel good about the fall tournaments," Rowlands said. "This is a stepping stone to the spring and summer." "Under the guidance of Tom Ryan and 2006 U.S. World Team head coach and OSU assistant coach Lou Rosselli, Tommy has been wrestling the best we have ever seen and has been training harder," Ross Thatcher, Ohio State director of operations and Rowlands' longtime training partner, said. "He has more enthusiasm for going to the Olympics." Ohio State head coach Tom Ryan believes Heskett and Rowlands' success is motivation for the Buckeye wrestling team this season. "Not only are they pursuing their Olympic dreams, their actions as leaders set the expectations for the current student-athletes," Ryan said. "It's all about excellence." Heskett and Rowlands train with The Buckeye Wrestling Club, an Ohio Regional Olympic Training Center at the Steelwood Athletic Training Facility, which also serves as the practice site for the Ohio State wrestling team. The mission of The Buckeye Wrestling Club includes producing various levels of champions, from the Ohio state high school tournament to national, world and Olympic level events. It is the goal of the center to fund an Olympic hopeful at each of the seven weight classes in freestyle competition within the next three years. Additionally, The Buckeye Wrestling Club seeks to expand the community support for the Ohio State wrestling program in its goal of winning a NCAA championship.

Two of the most storied programs in college wrestling will face off on Wednesday, Dec. 6 as the third-ranked Golden Gophers host No. 1 Oklahoma State at 7 p.m., at the Sports Pavilion. Minnesota began the year as the top-ranked team in the nation, but a season-opening loss to No. 11 Hofstra knocked the Gophers out of the top spot. The Maroon and Gold will look to regain the No. 1 ranking by beating the defending national champion Cowboys. The Gophers return eight starters and seven NCAA qualifiers from a team that finished second to Oklahoma State at last year's national meet. Minnesota is led by defending national champions Dustin Schlatter (149) and Cole Konrad (Hwt). The Cowboys lose a lot of firepower, with the graduation of three All-Americans and five NCAA qualifiers from last year's national championship team. OSU does return three other All-Americans, including two-time defending national champion Johny Hendricks (165). Minnesota's 21-14 victory over Oklahoma State in the championship match at the 2006 National Duals ended a streak of 30 consecutive victories for the Cowboys. The Gophers also defeated OSU, 19-16, in a dual meet in Stillwater, Okla., on Feb. 12. However, after the Gophers ended the regular season as the top-ranked team in the nation, OSU got the upper hand at the NCAA Championships by claiming its fourth straight national title. For tickets to Wednesday's match, click here, or call 1-800-UGOPHER. FSN North will air the meet on tape delay on Monday, Dec. 11 at 7 p.m. Highlights will be available on Gophersports.com following the match. The meet will be available in its entirety in the Gold Zone, the premium content site for Golden Gopher athletics, no earlier than 24 hours after the FSN broadcast on Dec. 11. NOTES TO KNOW Home Sweet Home Wednesday's match will be Minnesota's 2006-07 home opener. Since 1998, Minnesota holds a 48-13-0 (.787) record at home. The Golden Gophers have called the Sports Pavilion, Williams Arena, Target Center, the Xcel Energy Center, Rochester, Minn., and Jackson, Minn., home during that span. The Golden Gophers finished the 2005-06 season unbeaten at home (8-0) for the fifth time during J Robinson's tenure. The last time Minnesota finished perfect in its home schedule was in 2001-02 (8-0). The Golden Gophers were also perfect in 1998-99 (4-0) and 1993-94 (8-0). A Thorn In The Side Not many teams other than Minnesota can boast a lot of success against Oklahoma State in recent years. Since the 1999-2000 season, the Cowboys have compiled a 123-13-1 dual meet record (Minnesota is 118-25). During that span, the Golden Gophers have gone 7-3 against Oklahoma State, including handing OSU its last three dual meet defeats. Here are the 13 Cowboy losses in the last seven seasons: Oklahoma State Losses since 1999-2000 Year Opponent Score 99-00 Minnesota L 19-15 99-00 Minnesota L 16-15 99-00 Iowa State L 22-10 99-00 Iowa L 20-14 99-00 Mich. State L 21-10 00-01 Minnesota L 20-12 01-02 Minnesota L 21-12 01-02 Ohio State L 19-13 01-02 Iowa State L 25-20 03-04 Missouri L 21-17 03-04 Minnesota L 17-16 05-06 Minnesota L 21-14 05-06 Minnesota L 19-16 Tough to Defend Since 1998, neither Minnesota nor Oklahoma State has been successful in defending its home arena when facing each other. The last time either team was able to defend its home arena when the other was in town was a 26-10 OSU victory in Stillwater on Jan. 31, 1997. The last time the Gophers defeated the Cowboys at home was a 23-16 victory on Feb. 5, 1994. The Gophers will try to reverse that trend on Wednesday night. Here is a look at the last eight meetings between the two schools which have been contested at their home arenas: Date Host Result Feb. 12, 2006 OSU UM won 19-16 Dec. 5, 2004 UM OSU won 28-10 Feb. 22, 2004 OSU UM won 17-16 Jan. 3, 2003 UM OSU won 26-6 (at Target Center) Dec. 2, 2001 OSU UM won 21-12 Jan. 7, 2001 UM OSU won 25-12 Jan. 9, 2000 OSU UM won 19-15 Nov. 29, 1998 UM OSU won 21-17 *Does not include matches contested at neutral sites U.S. Navy SEALs and Minnesota Wrestling to Launch Unique Event In conjunction with Minnesota's wrestling match Oklahoma State, the U.S. Navy SEALs will be holding a unique event with an overriding goal of promoting physical fitness. The Navy SEALs will conduct a Trident Challenge on Sunday, Dec. 10 from 12 p.m.-5 p.m., at the University Aquatic Center and Field House. The Trident Challenge is an athletic competition consisting of running, push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups and a swim. The Navy SEALs have the military's most successful physical training program, and it's a training program they want to introduce nationally to coaches as an athletic standard of excellence. While only men can be Navy SEALs, the Trident Challenge is open to everyone, not just those interested in joining the military. The competition is an opportunity for civilian to put themselves to the test and see how they stack up against the Navy's best. Representatives from the Navy SEALs will be at the Minnesota-Oklahoma State wrestling match on Dec. 6 to answer questions and kick off the event.