InterMat Staff

The weather is getting cold in Nebraska and that means that wrestling season is under way. We opened up our dual season on Oct. 17, when we wrestled Oklahoma City University. It was nice to get back into Gardner-Hawks (Dana's home gym) and wrestle in front of the home crowd. Coach Fergola and some other wrestlers set up an awesome entry for us as the gym lights went out and highlights from last year's national championship season projected on the gym wall. Apparently the new introduction worked as we rolled to a 45-6 victory over the Stars. Although the dual was over, many of us headed right back to work to get off weight for our 7 a.m. weigh-in for the Kaufman-Brand Open in Omaha the next morning. On the following day, we made the 20-minute trip to the Sapp Fieldhouse in Omaha. Following weigh-ins and warm-ups we began arguably the toughest tournament of our season. Although many of our records suffered that day, we gained valuable experience against some of the best guys in the country and many guys are finding their groove. Two Dana wrestlers had already found their groove by the start of the tournament. Freshman Brian Graham suffered only one loss as he brought home a second place medal. Graham also defeated two of the top recruited seniors of 2006 on his journey to the finals of the amateur division. Junior Burke Barnes also had a stellar day. Burke, wrestling in the elite division, mixed it up with some of the best college wrestling has to offer. After dropping a 5-2 decision to Mario Galanakis from the University of Iowa, Burke battled back and placed an outstanding fifth Webster FarrisOur practice room has been overcome by an old, but familiar intensity over the past few weeks. As we began the season reviewing a lot of technique, we are now getting after it. Although technique is still a part of practice we have elevated our level of drilling tremendously and practice moves at a quick pace. Coach Fergola and his staff are challenging us with some new conditioning techniques and of course, still killing us with some of the old stand-byes. A new implementation to our practice and program is our individual session time. A few weeks back, the wrestlers were divided up and assigned to different coaches. Each coach has six to seven wrestlers under his radar. The primary function of this division occurs one day per week (usually Monday or Tuesday) when practice consists of our team warm-up and the remainder of the time we are split into our groups. At this time, the coaches focus on their six or seven guys, and our responsibility is to problem-solve and work with our respective coach. I feel this is a great idea as I have already benefited from getting more one-on-one time with my coach Jimmy Rollins. We arrived for practice on Monday (Nov. 20) and Coach Fergola notified us that we would be off until our two-a-days begin on Monday (Nov.27). However, that doesn't mean the Dana College wrestlers won't be at it over break, as we were given strict orders pertaining to our weight. Although the consequences weren't specified for not maintaining weight, I feel sorry for the person who doesn't. Anyway, I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving! Drive safely and eat some for us grapplers. Train Hard, Webster Farris

Last season ended with Wartburg running away with the national championship in impressive style. The College of New Jersey saw the Knights amass an impressive team total of 145.5 en route to drubbing the competition. With their losses to graduation, however, we don't see the Knights repeating as national champions. In fact, this year many of the top teams such as Wartburg, Augsburg (third) and UW-La Crosse (runner-up) will find the going tougher than in the past. That being said, these three teams are still the elite of Division III college wrestling and should still represent the top three at nationals. The big question is which one will take it all? Let's have a look. Wartburg Knights: With the graduation of studs such as Dustin Hinschberger (champ), Tyler Hubbard (champ), Akeem Carter (runner-up), Scott Kaufman (runner-up) and Dustin Bliven (third), Wartburg coach Jim Miller and the Knights from Waverly are definitely in "rebuilding" mode. Of course, rebuilding for Wartburg would be an enviable position for 99% of Division III programs, so Wartburg should have a solid year, with a top-three national finish. Outlook: Losing such talent is an obstacle for Wartburg, but they still have a wealth of talent returning, with four All-Americans dotting the lineup. Zach McKray (So.), who took eighth at 133 last season, appears to be moving up to 141 for this campaign. He will be followed by Jacob Naig (Sr.) at 149. Naig was an NCAA finalist, losing a tough battle to UW-La Crosse's Jake Larsen. At 197, the Knights have All-American TJ Miller (Jr.), Coach Miller's son, who took fourth. Heavyweight Blake Gillis (Sr.), one of the top heavies in any college division, appeared to have graduated La Crosse heavy Ryan Allen's number last year. Gillis defeated Allen twice during the year. At nationals, however, he came up short, losing to Allen in OT. Gillis will anchor the Wartburg team on his path towards glory this season. Blake Gillis (Photo/Johnnie Johnson)The rest of the team is less decorated, but still talented. 125 does seem to be a question mark for the Knights. The contenders at this weight are seasoned. Kyle Blood is a senior, Nate Behrendsen and Robert Struthers are juniors, and Ben McCorriston is a sophomore. Having this much experience at this weight is unusual for a college team … and this wealth should lend to the starter being battle-tested. Wartburg will look to Jacob Helvey to take McKray's opening at 133. show that the Knights have a quality 157-pounder in freshman Aaron Wernimon Wernimont, who took fourth place at the though Harold Nichols open, losing to UW-La Crosse All-American Ross Needham, 3-1. Apart from 125, 165 and 174 are the biggest unknown quantities in the Wartburg lineup. Who will take the place of third-place finisher Dustin Bliven? Will it be senior Dustin Cooper or sophomore Justin Hanson? Cooper seems to have the early season nod, as he competed at the Harold Nichols. At 174, sophomore Dan Schulte will look to match some of the success of his predecessor, Kaufman. The talented Romeo Djoumessi, a sophomore, who has had a nice early season, will be trying to fill the big shoes left by Carter at 184. UW-La Crosse Eagles: Of the bridesmaids of Division III wrestling, UW-La Crosse has been a contender, but left just on the outside looking in, since former coach Nate Skaar took over. Now, new coach Dave Malecek will look to match and, hopefully for those in Wisconsin, succeed Skaar's success with the Eagles. He has some nice talent from last year to work with, but will the rest of the team step up and take the Eagles to the next level: A Championship? Outlook: Last season's second-place finish marked the end of one of UW-La Crosse's most successful seasons. Bettering Augsburg in itself showed how solid of a team they had. Graduation hurts, though, and no one feels it more than the Eagles (well, perhaps Wartburg). Replacing four-time national champion Ryan Allen at heavyweight will be nearly impossible to do, and the graduation of semi-surprise national champion Jake Larsen at 149 dents the team as well. Add to the losses the definite surprise finalist Jim Swanson (197) and you get the picture. The Eagles do return four All-Americans from last season. Let's just say that the middle-to-upper section of their lineup is solid. Ross Needham (Sr., 35-12), who took third at 157, will be looking to find his way into the finals this year. Another senior, Scott Dorn (165, 28-16) will be looking to better his eighth-place finish. Junior Josh Chelf (32-6) and senior Jason Lulloff (40-6) look to reach the top of their weights, 174 and 184, respectively. At 125, sophomore Patt Parrillo (13-12) will start the Eagles off. Another sophomore, Kevin Barber at 133, who was 12-16 last season, should have an improved season after a dissatisfying freshman campaign. Mike Rohowetz, the starter last year at 141, has graduated, leaving a void at this weight. Also, as mentioned, 149 is open for UW-La Crosse as well. Possible replacements at these weights are sophomores Ben Kreuzer (6-8), Jay Milz (7-4) and Eric Seppelt (8-12), along with incoming freshman Levi Price. Quite distinct from the four weights that follow, 125-149 are concerns from Coach Malecek and the Eagles. The upper weights will feature Tim Winker (Jr., 22-13) at 197 and Kent Anderson and Dan Laurent -- who are a combined 7-1 early in the season, at heavyweight. Augsburg Auggies: The 06-07 season should be an intriguing one for the Auggies. They did have some losses, but, at least early in the season, it seems as though these losses will affect them less than their major rivals. Coach Jeff Swenson has done an admirable job of reloading their lineup. In fact, choosing which talent will represent Augsburg at each weight class is an enviable task for the veteran coach. Jeff Swenson (Photo/Johnnie Johnson)Outlook: Augsburg is presumably disappointed with their third-place national finish. Although they had some individual success stories, overall the team didn't end up where they wanted to be. Gone for the Auggies are three-time All-American Ryan Valek (165) and two-time All-American Brad Tupa at 184. Returning for Augsburg is runner-up Jafari Vanier at 133. Vanier (Jr., 19-3) had a breakout year, and would like to go one step higher on the podium in '07. Another finalist making his return is Jeremy Anderson (Jr., 44-3), who fell to Joe Pflug of Heidelberg in last year's championship match. Senior Jared Evans will also be in the lineup for Augsburg. Evans finished fourth last year with a 38-8 record. Robbie Gotreau (Jr., 44-9), who also placed fourth, will be back to fill the 174 slot for Augsburg. Any excitement you might hear coming from Auggie-land might be as a result of this year's influx of University of Minnesota transfers (you may recall that Anderson and, in years past, Marcus LeVesseur came from the Gophers). The most heralded recruit must be junior Quincy Osborn at 141. Osborn, who finished fifth place in the Big Ten Championships in 2005, immediately gives the Auggies a high-All-American threat at this weight. Also from across the river is sophomore Willie Holst. Holst, who had a 10-5 record with the Gophers, should be able to step in nicely for Augsburg at either 157 or 165. Wally O'Connor (Jr., 25-16) is the likely starter at 197, with returning national qualifier Andrew Neumann (Sr., 25-10) anchoring the team at heavyweight. The two biggest questions for Augsburg are at 125 and 184. They are questions for different reasons, however. At 125, the question is: who to choose? Will they go with sophomore Paul Bjorkstrand, who had a 24-12 record last season? Or perhaps junior college transfer Jamie Rocha, who just won a co-championship at the Auggie-Brute-Adidas Open? 184 presents a different dilemma for Augsburg. Will 174 All-American Gotreau move up and take this spot, leaving 174 to Brian Fischer, who just took runner-up at the Auggie Open? These are major questions for Augsburg, but, overall, the team is looking solid from top to bottom. Dave MitchellLuther Norse: The "other" Division III wrestling power in Iowa is Luther. Coach Dave Mitchell has smelled national success in his tenure as the Norse leader, and this year looks to be no different. He has a tremendous core of talent with which to build the team around, and is looking to find support from the rest of the weights to bring home a national title. With the 'burgs and UW-La Crosse to contend with, he'd better have some serious talent up his sleeve. Let's take a look at their lineup. Outlook: The Norse lost national champion Mike Lopez (133) to graduation, along starter Lon Welsh (174). These holes will be tough to fill, but look for the returning veterans to do so, and with success. The team will be again be built around their 2005 national champion, Matt Pyle (Sr., 149), who had a tough national tournament in a loaded weight class. Pyle did compile a 26-8 record and finished a respectable fifth at season-end. Another high ALL-AMERICAN in the Luther lineup is Nate Hansen (Sr.), who ended up 24-13 and fourth at nationals. John Miller, Luther's sophomore heavyweight, finished in eighth place, which culminated his successful 26-15 season. The last of the national qualifiers to return is sophomore Alec Bonander, who went 2-2 in last year's national tournament. Finding a replacement for Lopez will be a chore for Coach Mitchell. Early on, it looks like sophomore Zach Bartlett, who is 3-1 so far this season, will be up for the challenge. At 141, junior Travis Grawin (2-2 this season, 19-17 last) is the likely starter. Junior Nate Van Dyke (15-12) appears to have the 165 spot secured. He's 5-1 so far this season. 157 will feature a senior, Ben Kissling, who was 5-10. 174 and 184 should feature veteran AJ Gregg (Jr., 22-13) at 174 and sophomore Nic Barclay, who has had a rough start to this season, starting an inauspicious 0-3. If some of the more questionable weights can make strides during the season, chalk up the Norse for another top-five national finish. York Spartans: York finished last season at fifth place nationally. Three of the team's four national qualifiers return this year -- all of them seniors. This is the good news for coach Tom Kessler. The bad news is that he lost a national champion in Duane Bastress (184). Also, apart from the aforementioned trio, he will be fielding a young team. The Spartan roster is littered with freshmen and sophomores, all hoping to make their mark on the Division III wrestling map. Outlook: Senior All-Americans Jerry Bowne (fifth at 165, 33-3), and Tim Bohlman (sixth at 149, 20-7) lead the way for York. They are joined by senior Matt Chrzanarski at 197 (17-3), who was 2-2 in at the tournament. At 125, Kyle Flickinger (So., 28-10) will be getting things started for the Spartans. There's a veritable log-jam at 133, where no less than four freshmen and two sophomores will be battling for the vacant spot. From this group, only Dan Sechrist saw action, with a record of 0-2. This weight, along with 141, should be a major area of focus for coach Kessler. At 141, junior Alex Binder will compete with two freshmen, Mathias Smyser and Mike Gouveia for the starting nod. The middle weights look to be strong for York, as All-American's Bohlman and Bowne compete at 149 and 165, respectively. Sandwiched between them at 157 should junior Brian Alwine, who sported a 10-6 record. 174 looks to be vacated, as last year's starter, Steve Johnston (12-16) moves up to try and fill Bastress' big shoes at 184. This leaves Jimmy Harris (Jr.) to battle sophomore Chris Monticchio and freshmen Mike Tubbs and Dennis Conklin for the 174 spot. After Chrzanarski at 197, the Spartans hope that junior heavyweight Luke Panizzi (18-13) will make national-level noise anchoring the team. Best of the Rest Heidelberg Knights: Coach Jason Miller has Heidelberg poised to take on the "big boys" this season. After placing sixth at the NCAA Championships, the Knights hope to step up another wrung of the national ladder this year. The team can look to leadership from 157-pound national champion Joe Pflug (24-2). Pflug and senior All-American Tim Maxworthy (sixth at 165, 27-8) will lead Heidelberg as they look to become one of the "big boys". SUNY-Brockport Golden Eagles: Don Murray, who has coached the Golden Eagles for 37 years, led the team to a sixth-place finish at last season's championships. Annual top-ten contenders, this team could turn some heads come March. The team boasts two returning All-Americans in senior Don Ooton (149, eighth, 19-8) and junior Shaheim Bradshaw (157, sixth, 16-7), and a strong All-American contender for 07 in senior national qualifier Rob Vaccaro (18-9). Add junior 184-pounder Brett Giehl (13-8), and you have the nucleus of a strong squad indeed. Wilkes Colonels: Coming off of a 12th place team finish, Wilkes would seem to have their work cut out for them. Hold that thought, however, as they return two All-American's in sophomore Felipe Queiroz (125, sixth, 26-9) and senior Brandon Kelly (197, third, 25-5). Fourth-year coach Jon Laudenslager also has 133-pounder sophomore Josh Pauling, who went 20-8, 141-pounder Adam Penberthy (Jr., 27-11) and sophomore Erik Smith, who had a 20-14 record at 149 pounds. It would not be surprising to see them sneak into the top six at nationals. Biggest Leapers of the Year Johnson & Wales Wildcats: Coach Lonnie Morris, in his 10th season, has led this small Rhode Island school to respectability amongst the Division III wrestling world. With junior All-American Steve Martell, along with classmate Brandon McDonough, and senior Matt Smith leading the way, look for the Wildcats to take the big step from respectability (2fifth in last year's tournament) to prominence, perhaps in the top 10. UW-Platteville Pioneers: Our Cinderella team for the 06-07 season is UW-Platteville. Last season's team finished in 36th place, but this season's team has serious talent. Led by three national qualifiers, senior Zach Chambers at 141 (28-8), sophomore Ryan Higgins at 149 (31-8), and senior Ryan Rozek at heavyweight (29-14), the Pioneers will be a force to be reckoned with. They also return 133-pounder Dan Droessler (20-12) and 165-pounder Justin Seichter (19-13) to help them make their run. Predictions for 2006-2007 1. Augsburg 2. Wartburg 3. UW-La Crosse 4. Luther 5. Wilkes

State College, Pa. -– The NWCA All-Star Classic, which took place Monday night in Dallas, will be shown on tape delay nationally on CSTV. Fans can see Nittany Lion senior James Yonushonis (Philipsburg, Pa.) in his thrilling win in the prestigious event. Yonushonis, ranked No. 3 at 174, came back form a 3-0 deficit to beat No. 2 Matt Herrington of Penn 5-4. The first replay will be at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 22, with another run taking place at 1 p.m. the same night. CSTV will air the complete meet four more times as well: Sun., Nov. 26 at 3 p.m.; Mon., Nov. 27 at 4 a.m.; Tue., Nov. 28 at 6 a.m. and Wed., Nov. 29 at 8 p.m.

COLUMBUS, Ohio –- Ohio State wrestling head coach Tom Ryan announced the signing of five student-athletes to the Buckeye squad for the 2007-08 season Tuesday. Sean Nemec, Colton Sponseller, Bo Touris, Nikko Triggas and John Weakley will join the team next season. "As a staff, we are honored each of these young men have chosen to pursue their academic and athletic goals at Ohio State University," Ryan said. "Each of these young men have won at the highest level with class and hard work. Our staff is looking forward to helping them build upon their successes in every aspect of their lives." Nemec, who hails from Lakewood, Ohio, and attended St. Edwards High School, is considered by many the top wrestling recruit in Ohio. Entering his senior year at St. Edwards, Nemec is ranked as high as first in the nation at 152 pounds in the wrestling publication Amateur Wrestling News and second by Wrestling International Newsmagazine. Nemec is a two-time high school state champion, three-time finalist and the 2004 Cadet freestyle national champion. Nemec also is a two-time junior national freestyle All-American, finishing third at 152 pounds in 2006 and sixth at 145 pounds in 2005. Sponseller, a student at West Holmes High School in Millersburg, Ohio, is a two-time high school state champion. Wrestling at 160 pounds, Sponseller also is the 2006 NHSCA Junior National Champion. Currently ranked as high as fourth in W.I.N. Magazine's preseason rankings, Sponseller was a seventh-place finisher in the 2005 freestyle competition. Touris is a native from West Chester, Ohio, and attended Lakota West High School. Wrestling at 112 pounds in 2005, Touris was an Ohio high school state division I district qualifier and finished the season with a 36-6 record. In 2006, Touris returned to 103 pounds after wrestling at that weight his freshman year, and finished third in the Ohio high school state championships, capping a 46-1 season. Touris also was the Ohio Cadet Greco Roman and Freestyle state champion in 2005. Touris, a Fargo Nationals Cadet Greco Roman National champion, also finished second at the FILA nationals in Cadet Greco Roman competition. Touris was ranked as high as fifth at 103 pounds in W.I.N Magazine and ninth at 112 pounds in W.I.N. Magazine. Triggas hails from Moraga, Calif., where he attended Campolindo High School and wrestles at 119 pounds. Triggas was the North Coast section champion his freshman, sophomore and junior years. He is the third freshman at any weight in the history of Campolindo to become state champion and is on track to become the second wrestler at Campolindo to win four sectional championships. A three-time state qualifier, Triggas finished third his sophomore year with a 51-3 record and was state champion his junior year, compiling 51-2 mark. Triggas also was the 2005 and 2006 Cadet Greco Roman Champion and finished third in freestyle competition in 2005 with a 19-1 record. Weakley is from Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, and prepped at Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy, where he wrestles at 189 pounds. Weakly is a three-time All-American, three-time conference champion, two-time district champion and two-time sectional champion. Weakly has been ranked No. 1 in all divisions and is the No. 2-ranked senior in Ohio according to ohiowrestling.net after winning PAC-7 Wrestler of the Year last season. Weakly's freestyle and Greco Roman credentials include becoming a three-time All-American, three-time freestyle state champion, three-time Greco Roman state champion and the Greco Roman Junior National runner-up in 2006.

Kearney, Neb. –- Nebraska-Kearney junior wrestler Tervel Dlagnev finished off a stellar weekend by winning an exhibition match last night at the NWCA (National Wrestling Coaches) All-Star Classic in Dallas, Texas. The event, presented by the U.S. Marine Corps, drew around 2,500 to the Dallas Convention Center. The event was carried by CSTV (College Sports Television). The tournament pairs some of the best NCAA Division I wrestlers at all 10 weight classes. Six exhibition matches were held prior to the start of the meet. Ranked No. 1 in NCAA Division II, Dlagnev took on the top ranked individual in NCAA Division III in Blake Gillis of Wartburg College (Iowa). Dlagnev jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first period and eventually won 7-5. Gillis cut the score to 6-5 with a late takedown in the third period but Dlagnev fought off another shot to secure the win. This was a homecoming for Dlagnev as he hails from nearby Arlington, Texas. This past Saturday, Dlagnev moved to 8-0 as he placed first in the Elite Division at the Kaufman-Brand Open in Omaha. In winning his second straight tournament, Dlagnev beat Iowa's Matt Fields and Oklahoma State's Jared Rosholt, both by 3-2 scores. Fields and Rosholt are both ranked in the top 12 in NCAA Division I. Dlagnev and a few other Lopers will compete in the Oklahoma Open this Saturday in Norman.

JOHNSTOWN, PA -- Head Coach Pat Pecora and the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown wrestling program has signed 2006 Pennsylvania State Champion Nikko Leitzel (130 lbs.) from Ridgway High School and 2006 Pennsylvania State Runner-Up Matt Moore (152 lbs.) from Blairsville High School during the NCAA early signing period. "We're extremely excited about Nikko and Matt," Coach Pecora said about his recruits. "I have known these kids since they were in grade school. Both are quality young men with outstanding achievements, both on the mat and in the classroom. Nikko and Matt are two of the top pinners in Pennsylvania. They are going to be a lot fun to coach," Coach Pecora said. Leitzel (Ridgway, Pa.), the top-ranked wrestler in Pennsylvania at 145 lbs. entering the 2006-07 season, posted a 40-0 record on his way to winning the PA State Championship at 130 lbs. a year ago. Leitzel ranked second among Pennsylvania high school wrestlers in pins in 2005-06 by pinning 69.4% of his opponents. Leitzel was named the Outstanding Wrestler at last year's district tournament and won the Regional title. In his first three seasons at Ridgway High School, Leitzel has a 110-12 overall record with 63 falls. He is a three-time PA State qualifier and a two-time place winner (Champion in 2006 and fourth in 2005). In addition, Leitzel has won two District titles and placed second in 2005. Also in 2005, Leitzel was a Caded All-American in Freestyle Wrestling at 140 lbs. Moore (Blairsville, Pa.) enters his senior season as the top-ranked wrestler at 160 lbs.. He is a two-time PA State Place winner (fifth in 2004 and second in 2006). Moore posted a 38-2 overall record with 22 falls as a junior. His 62.2% pin percentage ranked him fourth among Pennsylvania high school wrestlers. Moore was also his district and regional champion last season. Moore also claimed the Freestyle and Roman Greco School Boy National Championships in 2006. He represented Team Pennsylvania in the Brutte School Showcase following his junior season.

For the first time in four years, the Wisconsin wrestling team is 8-0 to start the season. It is the Badgers best start to a campaign since 2002-03 when they also won their first eight dual matches. The undefeated mark is an improvement from last season, when UW was 6-2 eight dual meets into the year. This past weekend the Badgers swept the competition in the Inaugural ACC/Big Ten Clash at the Carmichael Auditorium in Chapel Hill, N.C. UW defeated N.C. State 29-9 in the first match, followed by Virginia 30-7 and North Carolina 35-9. No. 10 Northwestern and Purdue also registered perfect on the day, giving the Big Ten conference the Clash Cup. UW also went unbeaten at the Northwestern Duals Nov. 12 in Evanston, Ill. The Badgers cruised past Division II Indianapolis 43-0, followed by a 29-7 victory over Navy and a win over Division II Cumberland 53-0. The Badgers kicked off the 2006-07 season by going 2-0 in their double-dual match against Dubuque and UW-Oshkosh Nov. 3 at the KI Convention Center in Green Bay, Wis. Wisconsin rolled by Dubuque 49-0 before defeating UW Oshkosh 40-3. Wisconsin has never lost a season opener under head coach Barry Davis. Wisconsin is next in action at the prestigious Cliff Keen Invitational, Dec. 1-2 in Las Vegas, Nev. However, the Badgers will not be in dual competition until Dec. 8 when they host Northern Iowa at the UW Field House in the first home match of the year.

A Columbia Blue wave overflowed its banks and swept down the middle of the main floor at The Palestra Sunday evening, engulfing at least one and often two mats set up for the medal round of the Keystone Classic, one of the East's top early-season tournaments The middle mat featured each weight class's championship bout, with the side mats hosting the third and fifth-place contests for that weight, and as the eye scanned from one end of the floor to the other, at times it took in Columbia Blue on almost every mat. Lions placed in every weight class they entered, sometimes with multiple placewinners, as Columbia took top honors in the highly-rated tournament, outscoring the host school, 149-136, with Rider and American University tying for third with 105 points. It was Columbia wrestling's first tournament team title since winning the Coast Guard Academy Invitational in December, 1997. "I'm glad the guys got to experience this," Andrew F. Barth Head Coach of Wrestling Brendan Buckley said. "It was a strong way to kick off the season." Senior Justin Barent (Worland, Wyo.) and sophomore Derek Francavilla (Scotch Plains, N.J.) took highest honors, finishing first in their weight classes. First-year Matt Dunn (Transfer, Pa.) was second, while four Lions — junior Brandon Kinney (Haslett, Mich.) at 125, senior Matt DeLorenzo (Wantagh, N.Y.) at 133, senior Ricky Turk (Crestline, Calif.) at 165, and senior Kirk Davis (Pismo Beach, Calif.) at 197 — finished third. Senior Devin Mesanko (Toms River, N.J.) was fourth and another trio captured fifth places, including juniors Jed Wade (Wasilla, Alaska) and Nick Sommerfeld (Transfer, Pa.), and sophomore Derek Sickles (Rutherford, N.J.). Team scores weren't announced during the tournament, but when Columbia's coaches learned that the Lions were among four contenders for the title, entering the final medal round, Buckley called the entire team together. "Wrestling is an individual sport," he said later, "but I appealed to them as a team. I told the guys who were wrestling in that round that they couldn't settle for a lower score when extra effort would earn a higher one, and more team points. They had to be aggressive at all times, because we had a chance to win a major tournament title. Even the guys who weren't wrestling, I told them to cheer and root their teammates on." Brandon Kinney, the successor to standout Jeff Sato, began the championship round promisingly, defeating fifth-seeded Jason Borshoff of American, 3-1 in overtime. Kinney was seeded second. Matt DeLorenzo then posted another third with an 8-7 squeaker over Bryan Gibson of Duke. DeLorenzo had contributed to a mood of gloom that settled over the Lions after the day's opening round, when he lost to Terreyl Williams of Appalachian State, 4-3, after receiving the top seed. Derek Francavilla was making his first collegiate appearance in more than a year, after taking a leave of absence from school in 2005-06, but showed no effects from the layoff. The unseeded Francavilla beat the third seed, Mark Savino of Brown, 6-2 in the first round, then pinned 6th-seeded Brandon Franklin of Virginia Military Institute in 5:06. Francavilla posted a 12-4 major decision over Lenny Calhoun of Mercyhurst College, who had upset the second seed, to reach the championship match. There he scored early and maintained control virtually the entire bout in blanking 5th-seeded Kyle Borshoff of American, 4-0. Similarly unseeded at 149, Matt Dunn, a high school All-American who twice was Pennsylvania state champion, permitted just two points in beating men from Boston U. and VMI. Wrestling with great toughness, Dunn then edged top-seeded Mike Kessler of Rider, an NCAA qualifier, 3-2, setting up a championship bout with 2nd-seeded Scott Ervin of Appalachian State, another national-level wrestler. Dunn, unfortunately, gave up early and late points in losing, 16-4. Two New Jerseyans, Mesanko and Sickles, fought back through the consolation round to earn fourth and fifth places. The third-seeded Mesanko led Mercyhurst's Andy Lamancusa, 8-7 with eight seconds to go, only to see Lamancusa hit a 5-point move in those final eight seconds for a 12-8 triumph and third place. Sickles was knocked out of the championship bracket by Penn All-American Matt Dragon, but came back, earning fifth on an 8-4 defeat of American's Jimmy Pepper. Two more Lions took the mats at 165. Ricky Turk, jumping two weight classes from his usual 149, was ousted in the quarterfinals by the eventual champion, but came back with a major decision and a pin in advancing to the third-place bout, where he defeated top-seeded Zach Shanaman of Penn, 5-4, earning the win with nearly two minutes of riding time. Dustin Tillman was sixth at the same weight. There was no Columbia Blue on the mats at 174 — senior All-American Matt Palmer will not compete until the second semester — but Justin Barent gave Columbia its second tournament title at 184. The senior had not practiced in two weeks due to injuries, and at times did not look sharp. The top-seeded Barent won his first two bouts, including a 16-6 major decision. In the semifinals, he rallied from a 4-2 deficit to tie his bout with 5th-seeded Thomas Shovlin of Penn, sending it into overtime, then won it with a takedown in OT. He edged another Penn wrestler, 3rd-seeded Colin Hitschler, 4-3 in the final. Rider's T.J. Morrison won the 197-pound class over a Penn matman, but all the action for Columbia fans was on the side mats. Kirk Davis, returning from a season-and-a-half of inactivity, reached the third-place bout by edging teammate Nick Sommerfeld. The 4th-seeded Davis capped his tournament by snapping Brown's Larry Otsuka into a headlock, and pinning him in one minute. It earned Davis the tourney's fastest pin award. Sommerfeld matched Davis when he gained fifth place by pinning Penn's Matt Dwyer in 4:22. "That's what I was talking about," Buckley noted. "We really needed those points." Two years ago, Jed Wade had experienced an unsatisfying rookie season at 197 pounds. He moved up to heavyweight last season, but missed the entire year with an injury. Finally taking the mats in the upper weight class, Wade was happy to show his stuff. He recorded a win and a pin in the consolation bracket to reach the fifth-place bout, where he surprised the taller and larger Peter Reid of Rider, 6-2. Brendan Buckley was pleased. "When you lose some bouts early, when your top seed [DeLorenzo] loses, your whole team can panic," the coach said. "But no one lost his composure, no one panicked. Even though this was our first competition and most of the other schools had wrestled earlier this season, we showed skill and emotion. We may have been a little rusty, but we shook it off. We actually wrestled better as the tournament went on." And the Columbia Blue wave continued to roll.

Blair, NE -- The Dana College Vikings kicked off their home dual competition on Friday night hosting new NAIA program Oklahoma City University. The Vikings made quick work of the Stars by starting off their season with a 1-0 record by defeating OCU by a score of 45-6, only dropping one match. Recording victories for the Head Coach Richard Fergola were seniors Craig Trampe (Ord, NE) at 125 winning by fall, Shawn Tsutsumi (Kaneohe, HI) by major decision at 141, Terrence Almond (Pelham, GA) by fall at 149, juniors Burke Barnes (Lake Stevens, WA) claimed a fall at 133, Jason Bilinski (Pittsgrove, NJ) by forfeit at 157, Webster Farris (Nebraska City, NE) by decision at 184, Wade Jordan (Coulee City, WA) by technical fall at 197. Red-shirt freshman Bulla Tuzon (Wailuku, HI) and Jesse Boggs (Deming, NM) both claimed victories at 165 and heavyweight. Following the dual on Friday night, the Vikings headed to nearby Omaha for the annual Kaufman-Brand Open. Considered the toughest college open tournament in the country, the Kaufman-Brand was host to all five national championship teams from 2006. The Vikings finished the day with two place-winners. In the Elite Division, junior Burke Barnes (Lake Stevens, WA) finished 5th at 133 with victories over Josh Baldridge of Labette Community College 5-4, Eric Sanders of North Dakota State 5-3, Chad Vandiver of Northern Illinois by fall and Patrick Aleksanyn of Nebraska by fall. In the Amateur Division, freshman Brian Graham (Kansas City, MO) reached the finals at 141 placing second. Graham recorded victories over Lance Thompson of Oklahoma State by fall, Mike Ryan of Northern Illinois by fall, Derek Coorough of the University of Iowa by a score of 8-4, Luke Satern of Buena Vista University by default and losing to Iowa State's T.J. Sebolt by a score 12-8 in the finals. The Vikings will begin competition after the Thanksgiving Break at the Simpson Invitational in Indianola, IA on Saturday December 2 at 9:00 am.

STILLWATER, Okla. -- Oklahoma State head wrestling coach John Smith will be one of seven Oklahoma celebrities to represent Oklahoma in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York. The float is called "Oklahoma Rising" and Smith will be on it along with World Series hero Joe Carter, Olympic gymnasts Bart Conner and Nadia Comaneci, basketball great Wayman Tisdale, BMX legend Matt Hoffman and gospel singer Sandi Patty. Patty will sing Oklahoma's centennial anthem also titled "Oklahoma Rising." The song was co-written by a pair of Oklahomans, Jimmy Webb and Vince Gill. The float is part of Oklahoma's centennial celebration commemorating 100 years of statehood. Smith won six consecutive world championships, including two Olympic gold medals. He has led his alma mater to the last four NCAA team titles.

OMAHA, NE -- Three Hawkeyes won individual titles and 12 placed at the Kaufman-Brand Open in Omaha, NE, Saturday. The annual season opener featured approximately 650 wrestlers from 42 teams, making it the largest single-day collegiate meet in the nation. Redshirt freshman Brent Metcalf won the 149-pound elite division title, while freshman Billy Murphy (133) and sophomore Dan Erekson (197) won titles in the amateur division. Metcalf pinned his first two opponents and scored three decisions en route to the title, defeating former Hawkeye Todd Meneely of Nebraska-Omaha, 7-3, in the finals. Murphy went 6-0 on the day, scoring a 6-4 win over Hawkeye sophomore Daniel Dennis in the finals. Erekson went 4-0 on the day, defeating Nebraska-Kearney's Kelsey Empting, 3-0, in the finals. Iowa also had four runners-up in the tournament in redshirt freshman Phillip Keddy (184), junior Matt Fields (Hwt.), Dennis (133) and redshirt freshmen Rick Loera (184). In the elite division finals, Keddy lost a 5-3 decision in the first sudden victory period to Duke Burk of Northern Illinois, while Fields lost a 3-2 decision to Tervel Dlagnev of Nebraska-Kearney. Loera lost a 9-1 major decision to Oklahoma State's Cody Hill in the amateur division finals. Iowa's other placewinners were seniors Mario Galanakis (133-3rd) and Eric Luedke (174-3rd), junior Alex Tsirtsis (141-3rd), and redshirt freshmen Joe Slaton (133-4th), Dan LeClere (141-5th) and Ryan Morningstar (157-4th) in the elite division, and true freshmen Aaron Janssen (165-5th) in the amateur division. Junior Mark Perry will represent the Hawkeyes at the 41st annual NWCA All-Star Dual Monday night in Dallas, TX. The annual meet will start at 7 p.m. in the Dallas Convention Center and Arena. Perry, who is ranked second in the country at 165 pounds, is scheduled to face top-ranked Johny Hendricks of Oklahoma State. Hendricks placed second at the Kaufman-Brand Open, losing a medical forfeit to Northern Iowa's Nick Baima. Perry has an 0-3 career mark against Hendricks. Perry will rejoin the team Tuesday to open the 2006-07 dual meet season at Northern Iowa. Match time is set for 7 p.m. and it will be the Panther's first wrestling meet in the new McLeod Center. The Hawkeyes will also host Arizona State Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Lock Haven, Pa. –- November 19, 2006 – In a battle of two of the nation's top wrestling teams, No. 8 Penn State dominated No. 13 Edinboro 27-9 in the premier match at the 2006 Pennsylvania Duals. Both teams entered the dual 2-0 after two easy wins to open up the event, held at Lock Haven University. Penn State downed Clarion and Pitt-Johnstown while the ‘Boro beat Millersville and Lehigh. Sophomore Mark Friend's (Libertyville, Ill.) stunning defensive pin of No. 4 Deonte Penn at 165 pounds turned out to be the turning point in the dual. Junior Mark McKnight (McDonald, Pa.), ranked No. 11, got Penn State off to a hot and fast start with a 14-6 major over Edinboro's Eric Morrill at 125. McKnight grabbed an early takedown to go up 2-1 with :35 riding time a minute in. Three more takedowns, including a fourth as the period ended, put the Penn State 125-pounder up 8-3. Morrill chose down to start the second and quickly escaped, only to be taken down again by McKnight. The two-time national qualifier continued to dominate the bout and worked up a 12-6 lead after two. McKnight chose down to start the final period and quickly escaped to a 13-6 lead with a 2:02 riding time edge. He would carry that lead until the end and, with the riding time point, post an important 14-6 win to put Penn State up 4-0 to start the dual. At 133, No. 8 Jake Strayer (South Fork, Pa.) met Edinboro's Ricky Deubel. Strayer came away with a solid 8-2 win. The sophomore Nittany Lion got the first takedown just twenty seconds in and proceeded to ride Deubel out for the rest of the period, working hard on top to the tune of a 2:40 riding time edge. Strayer, up 2-0, chose down to begin the second and quickly escaped to a 3-0 lead. Strayer got a second takedown a minute into the second to go up 5-0. Strong again on top, Strayer rode Deubel out to lead 5-0 with a 3:38 riding time edge into the final period. Deubel chose down to start the third and finally posted his escape to cut Strayer's lead to 5-1. With bonus points promising to be at a premium in the evenly matched dual, Strayer notched another takedown and quickly cut Deubel loose to lead 7-2 with :40 left. Deubel managed to hold off Strayer's late shots to negate any major victory. Still, Strayer's 8-2 win gave Penn State an early 7-0 lead. Senior Bryan Heller (Fair Haven, N.J.) met Fighting Scot freshman Daryl Cocozzo at 141 in one of the dual's key bouts. Heller got the first takedown of the bout to lead 2-1 with a minute gone (after a Cocozzo escape). He would take that lead into the second period. Cocozzo chose down to begin the second, a decision that did not work out in his favor. Heller was strong on top, riding the ‘Boro freshman for the entire period to carry a 2-1 lead into the final period with a 2:10 riding time edge. Heller chose down to being the third period and escaped to a 3-1 lead. Heller notched the decisive takedown with just :52 seconds left, jumping up 5-1 and cementing his riding time point. He would ride Cocozzo out until the bout's end to post a 6-1 decision. The win moved Penn State up 10-0. At 149, Nittany Lion red-shirt freshman Dan Vallimont (Lake Hopatcong, N.J.) took the mat against No. 3 Gregor Gillespie of Edinboro, a returning sophomore All-American. Gillespie got the first takedown to lead 2-0 at the 2:09 mark and rode Vallimont out. Up 2-0, Gillespie chose top to start the second period. Vallimont, already facing a 2:09 riding time deficit, could not break free of Gillespie as the Fighting Scot All-American rode him out once again. Vallimont, down 2-0 and already giving up a riding time point, chose neutral to start the third. The talented Lion freshmen nearly tied it with a takedown, but Gillespie held firm and held Vallimont at bay. Gillespie quickly answered with a takedown to go up 4-0. The Scot would ride Vallimont out and post an impressive and hard fought 5-0 win over Vallimont. The loss cut PSU's lead to 10-3. At 157, senior Nathan Galloway (State College, Pa.), ranked No. 11 at 157, looked to rebound from a tough Wrestle-Offs against No. 17 Matt Hill of Edinboro. Galloway, who was coming off a third place performance at the ESU Open the night before, dropped a heart-breaking sudden victory decision in the only bout featuring two ranked grapplers. Neither wrestle could muster any points with Hill posting the best chance late, only to be countered by a stellar move by Galloway as time wound down. Tied 0-0 after one, Hill chose down to begin the second. Galloway rode Hill for :39 second but did pick up one stall warning in the process. Hill's escape gave the Fighting Scot a 1-0 lead. The escape was the only scoring of the second. Galloway chose down to start the third escaped to a tie with 1:03 left to wrestle. Once again, neither wrestler scored on the other and the key bout went to a sudden victory period tied 1-1. Hill, however, would quickly grab the win with a takedown and two back points to win 5-1 SV. With the loss, Penn State led only 10-6. Edinboro sent No. 4 Penn to the mat at 165 against Nittany Lion sophomore Friend. Penn, another returning All-American for Edinboro, got the first take down of the match at the 2:34 mark to post an early 2-0 lead. Penn rode Friend out for the remainder of the first to lead 2-0 with a 2:33 riding time edge. Penn chose down to begin the second and reversed Friend to go up 4-0 with a minute left in the second. The score would hold through the rest of the period and Friend, down 4-0 and facing a 2:38 riding time deficit, chose down to start the final period. Penn, trying to get a major in the books, worked hard to turn Friend to his back but in the process, Friend shifted his weight, reached back and recorded a stunning touch fall at the 6:00 mark. The major upset put Penn State up 16-6. At 174, No. 3 James Yonushonis (Philipsburg, Pa.) faced talented Edinboro sophomore Phil Moricone at 174. Moricone entered the bout with a 9-2 mark. Yonushonis got the first takedown of the bout, going up 2-0 as the period ended. The Nittany Lion All-American chose down to start the second and quickly escaped to a 3-0 lead. He carried that lead into the third, where Moricone chose down to start and quickly escaped to cut the lead to 3-1. Yonushonis, the aggressor in the bout, continued to push the tempo and added another takedown with :25 left to ice yet another workmanlike victory. The 5-1 win gave the Nittany Lions a 19-6 victory. Sophomore Phil Bomberger (Port Royal, Pa.) met No. 3 Alex Clemsen of Edinboro at 184. Clemson the third Fighting Scot to carry a top four ranking with him, found the early footing tough against the talented Nittany Lion sophomore. Bomberger battled the Fighting Scot senior tough through the first period, battling to a 0-0 tie. Clemsen chose down to begin the third period and was nearly turned to his back before escaping to a 1-0 lead. Clemsen scored the first takedown at the 1:34 mark to up his lead to 3-0. Bomberger escaped to a 3-1 deficit, which is how the second period ended. Bomberger chose down to start the third period and escaped to a 3-2 deficit with 1:52 to wrestle. Clemson notched a decisive takedown with :33 left to lead 5-2 and cement a hard fought 6-2 victory. The EU win cut Penn State's lead to 19-9. At 197, top-ranked Phil Davis (Harrisburg, Pa.) clinched the dual match victory with a technical fall of senior Jim Gibson of Edinboro. Davis got the first takedown at the 1:37 mark and turned it into back points to take a 5-0 lead into the second period. Davis also held a 1:43 riding time edge and chose down to begin the second period. After a quick escape to a 6-0 lead, Davis quickly notched another takedown to lead 8-0. The Nittany Lion All-American added a total of five more back points to lead 13-0 with under a minute left. With a technical fall in the offing, Davis continued his clinic from the top position and controlled the action through the end of the period. Gibson chose neutral to start the third, trailing 13-0. A final takedown gave Davis a 15-0 technical fall at the 5:32 mark and clinched the team win, putting Penn State up 24-9. Senior Aaron Anspach (Columbia, Md.) met Edinboro's Joe Fendone at heavyweight in the final bout of the dual. Anspach opened up an early lead with a solid takedown on the edge of the mat. After a Fendone escape cut the lead to 2-1, the duo battled evenly throughout the remainder of the period. Fendone chose down to start the second and escaped to tie the score at 2-2. But Anspach answered with another takedown on the edge of the mat to take a 4-3 lead after another Fendone escape. Yet another takedown on the edge put the Nittany Lion co-captain up 6-3 with 1:07 left. This time, Anspach rode the Fighting Scot out to carry an impressive 6-3 lead with 1:58 in riding time into the final period. Anspach chose neutral to start the final period and quickly took Fendone to the mat for an 8-3 lead. A locked hands call against Anspach gave Fendone a point, but Anspach still led 8-4 with a riding time edge. Fendone, however reversed out and cut the lead to 8-6 with 1:33 to wrestle. Fendone continued to ride Anspach and work for back points but the Nittany Lion senior would hold strong to claim an impressive and hard-fought 8-6 win. The victory gave Penn State a superb 27-9 win. Penn State moves to 3-0 with the win while Edinboro falls to 5-1. The Lions won seven of the ten bouts and grabbed six bonus points to none for Edinboro. With the duals over, head coach Troy Sunderland will take Davis and Yonushonis to Dallas, Tex., for Monday night's NWCA All-Star Classic. Action in the all-star exhibition can be heard live on TakedownRadio.com beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern. Penn State will host the Nittany Lion Open on Sunday, Dec. 3, beginning at 8:30 a.m. Tickets for the event can be purchased at the Rec Hall door the day of the event and season ticket holders get in for free. Penn State's next dual will be a home battle with No. 21 Lehigh on Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. in Rec Hall. 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.

OMAHA, Neb. –- Oklahoma State's wrestling team had a total of 12 wrestlers place in the Kaufman/Brand Open on Saturday, with Neil Erisman and Cody Hill winning titles in the Amateur Bracket. Coleman Scott and Johny Hendricks both forfeited their finals match to rest for the NWCA All-Star Classic on Monday in Dallas. Nathan Morgan also defaulted out and finished sixth when he learned he would be a late addition to the classic. Tyler Shinn earned a fifth-place finish at 125. Jack Jensen, Brent Parkey and Jared Rosholt all earned fourth-place finishes in the bottom three weights in the elite bracket. In the amateur bracket, the Cowboys had four freshman place. Ben Ashmore had three falls and a major decision before falling in the finals to Matt Vacanti of Nebraska. Jordan Frishkorn suffered an early loss to Iowa's Daniel Dennis, but rallied to reach the consolation finals where he took fourth. Erisman had a fall and two major decisions, and he defeated Northern Illinois' Josh Terrell by a comfortable 7-1 decision. Hill advanced to the finals where he defeated Iowa's Rick Loera by a major decision. Scott, Hendricks and Morgan will be in action on Monday night at the Dallas Convention Center in the NWCA All-Star Classic. The rest of the Cowboy squad will return to the mat on Dec. 3 against Bedlam rival Oklahoma in Norman.

Columbia, Mo. -- Three days removed from Missouri's season opening dual win over No. 10 Ohio State, four members of the third-ranked Tiger wrestling team earned individual titles at the sixth annual Missouri Open in the Hearnes Fieldhouse. Five of Missouri's wrestlers competed in the Championship finals of the Open Division and nine earned top-six finishes in the Open and Freshman/Sophomore Divisions combined. A total of 1, 432 fans were on hand for the all-day event. A perfect 3-0 on the day at 174 pounds, earning all three wins by fall, senior defending National Champion Ben Askren (Hartland, Wis.) has recorded 121 wins on his career and now holds 55 consecutive victories, the nation's longest active win streak. Askren now stands 10 wins shy of the Missouri career win record (131) set by 2006 Hall of Fame Inductee Wes Roper between 1978 and 1982. Forced to compete against teammate and All-American senior Matt Pell (Luxemburg, Wis.) the two were deemed co-champions of the 174 pound class. With the wins, Askren, Pell became the first Tigers in the history of the Open to earn back-to-back titles. Pell also was 3-0 on the day recording consecutive falls in his first two matches and landing a 5-3 decision over 16th-ranked Josh Weitzel (Oklahoma) to advance to the championship finals. Competing at 184 pounds, sophomore Raymond Jordan (New Bern, N.C.) won all four of his bouts by major decision, with the largest margin of victory coming in his opening match against Kyle Jones of Meramec, 20-6. Jordan is now one of three wrestlers to earn consecutive titles at the Missouri Open. (Askren and Pell became the first Missouri wrestlers to do so purely because 174 pounds competes prior to 184 pounds). Ninth-ranked freshman Maxwell Askren (Hartland, Wis.), who bested No. 2 J.D. Bergman (Ohio State) Thursday night, took down another top-five wrestler when he knocked off No. 4 Joel Flaggert of Oklahoma, 2-1. Askren was 4-0 with wins over Steve Doeschot (Truman State, major decision, 15-2), Eddie Hernandez (Missouri Valley College, fall, 4:04), Patrick Bond (Illinois, Decision, 7-4) and Flaggert. Missouri sophomore Michael Chandler (High Ridge, Mo.) finished the day in second place at 157 pounds after falling to seventh-ranked Michael Poeta of Illinois, 10-4. Prior to his match with Poeta, Chandler advanced through the championship bracket with three wins by decision. "It's been a long day of wrestling, but overall I was pleased with how the team competed," Head Coach Brian Smith said. "This was a great opportunity to really see what the team is made of and it gave our fans in the community a chance to see 35 of our wrestlers in action." As a team, Missouri tallied 18 falls in the Open Division with nine individuals contributing to the count. Freshman Ashtin Primus (South Connelsville, Penn.) recorded the most falls of any Missouri wrestler, with four on the day. Primus finished the 141-pound bracket in third place after besting teammate Amond Prater (Marietta, Ga.) in a hard-fought 7-6 decision. Up next for the Tigers, Missouri will travel to the 25th annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational beginning Friday, Dec. 1 in Primm, Nev. The two-day event will feature over 10 of the nation's top-25 wrestling programs. REMINDER: Monday MatChat with Missouri All-American Matt Pell will begin tomorrow, Nov. 20 at 2:30 p.m. (CT). Please log on to mutigers.com for more information.

Holding onto a slim 6-5 in the middle of the third period of the 149-pound final at the Fullerton Open, Cal State Fullerton's Morgan Atkinson knew he needed another takedown to secure victory against highly-touted freshman Cyler Sanderson of Iowa State. Atkinson did get the score and won the match 8-6. The takedown he used for the victory? An ankle pick -- a move famously employed by his opponent's brother and coach who was sitting in the opposite corner. Morgan Atkinson defeated Cyler Sanderson, 8-6 (Photo/John Sachs)"That's my favorite move as well," said Atkinson. "I pretty much tried learning it from Cael, which is cool, but there's definitely a little bit of irony there." The 149-pound Titan junior was happy to win on his home mat, but also just to see the tournament increase in stature. "If this tournament gets any bigger, it'll have to be two days. We see the same California competition, like, every other weekend. It's nice to see some big teams come out here. We don't have the money or funding to go out there." Titan head coach Dan Hicks (who also coached heavyweight Wade Sauer to a title) was quick to point out that the event actually hasn't increased in size, but rather in the caliber of the competitors. "Since I've been here, we've had eight mats," Hicks said. "The last four years, it's been around 300-325 wrestlers. We had 310 today. What has changed is the quality coming in. We got a lot of JC's here with some of the No. 1 kids in the nation. We had Iowa State. That's huge. Purdue sent some kids. So the word's getting out that it's a good early-season tournament." Travis Paulson defeated Pat Pitsch, 3-2 (Photo/John Sachs).The visiting Cyclones crowned three champions and had six finalists. At 165 pounds, Travis Paulson won a solid 3-2 bout over Arizona State's Pat Pitsch. The difference being a powerful takedown near the edge in the third period. At 184 pounds, redshirt freshman Jake Varner was impressive with a 5-0 shutout victory over Cal Poly's Yuri Kalika. At 197 pounds, Cyclone Kurt Backes broke a 5-5 tie with a pin over Cal Poly's Matt Montiero at the end of the second period. The most crowd-pleasing bout of the night was at 174, which featured non-stop scrambling and points between Iowa State's David Bertolino and Nathaniel Augustson, former wrestler and now assistant coach at Embry-Riddle. Augustson led throughout and came out on top 14-12. It is noteworthy that although their team has been officially discontinued by the administration, several wrestlers from Fresno State traveled to the event and competed. Their points were good enough for a 19th place finish. It was the first time Iowa State has attended the event and although their presence does much to show support for California college wrestling, first-year coach Cael Sanderson said the decision to add the event to their schedule was strictly about checking out West Coast opponents early in the season. "We wanted to get out here and look at some different faces," Sanderson said. "California wrestling is outstanding. There's no two ways about it. One of our guys who won the tournament is from California (184-pound Jake Varner). Anything we can do to help is great, but we came out for the great competition, really." Fullerton Open Brackets

The National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) announced on Saturday that 141-pounder Nathan Morgan of Oklahoma State will be replacing Andy Simmons of Michigan State at the 41st NWCA All-Star Classic presented by the United States Marine Corps on Monday night in Dallas, Texas. Morgan will face No. 1 Ryan Lang of Northwestern. Morgan, a returning All-American, is currently ranked No. 3 in the country at 141 pounds by RevWrestling.com. He has split a pair of duals this season. On Sunday, Morgan was defeated by No. 6 Derek Moore of UC-Davis, 5-2. However, he came back Thursday to defeat Simmons (who he is replacing at the NWCA All-Star Classic), 8-4, in Stillwater. On Saturday, Morgan reached the semifinals of the Kaufman-Brand Open before defaulting out of the compeititon.

ANNAPOLIS, MD. -- The Navy wrestling team picked up four of the 10 individual crowns and had 13 placewinners to claim its third-consecutive Navy Classic title Saturday afternoon at Halsey Field House in Annapolis. The Mids narrowly defeated Bloomsburg, 148.5-141.5, to win their home classic for the 15th time. "For this time of the year, I'm pretty pleased," said Navy seventh-year head coach Bruce Burnett. "We have some holes in the lineup that we need to fix, but we have the talent to get it done. "We've won this tournament now three years in a row which is impressive. It's a tough tournament and we had a great overall team effort today. We were missing our top two guys at 133 pounds, so we needed to get some points to fill that void. One guy can't carry the load, so I was pleased with the ability of some of our wrestlers to step up to the challenge." Senior John Cox (Grand Haven, Mich.) earned his third-consecutive Navy Classic title at 149 pounds by edging Bloomsburg's Matt Moley. Moley held the advantage nearly the entire match before Cox, ranked seventh in the country, was credited with two points for a takedown in the final period to earn the victory. Teammate Joel Ahern (Herkimer, N.Y.) earned third-place recognition with his major decision (12-2) over Rutgers' Jack Barrett. Ahern lost to Barrett in the quarterfinals, 3-1, but the two were paired back up in the wrestlebacks. Ahern jumped out early on Barrett, posting a two-point takedown and a three-point near fall in the opening period. He stretched his lead to 11-1 with the same sequence of moves by the end of the second period. Pushing his record to 12-1 on the year, junior Matt Stolpinski (Westfield, Mass.) earned an 11-6 win over Binghamton freshman Josh Patterson to win back-to-back Navy Classic titles at 174 pounds. Stolpinski got off to a slow start after taking a finger in the eye in the early minutes. However, the 2006 NCAA Tournament qualifier took a 4-2 lead at the end of the first period on a reversal and never looked back. Seeded third at 184 pounds, senior Antonio Miranda (Eugene, Ore.) upset top-seeded Nate Shirk of Bloomsburg in the title bout, 9-4. Miranda, who won last year's individual title at 197 pounds, scored the first takedown. Though Shirk knotted the score with back-to-back escapes, Miranda's takedown early in the second period was enough to shift the momentum Navy's way. Teammate Matt Parsons (Dunkirk, Md.) picked up third-place recognition at 184 pounds by posting a 5-1 win over 20th-ranked Chance Litton of West Virginia. The two met in the second round with Parsons earning a 6-4 advantage to move on and it was Parsons who again got the best of Litton in the third-place match. Navy's final title win of the evening was at the heavyweight division where junior Ed Prendergast (St. Louis, Mo.) scored the winning points with under a minute remaining in regulation over 19th-ranked Mike Spaid of Bloomsburg. Prendergast scored the early takedown, but Spaid knotted the score with a pair of escapes. With 49 seconds remaining in the match, Prendergast took a 3-2 lead with an escape and with just two ticks left on the clock, he scored a two-point takedown for the final 5-2 decision. Team captain John Jarred (Kansas City, Mo.) picked up a second-place finish at 157 pounds, dropping a tough 4-3 decision to West Virginia's Zac Fryling, the top-seeded wrestler in the weight class. With the match knotted at two apiece, Fryling's takedown in the opening period helped lead him to the title. Navy also received outstanding efforts from senior Alex Usztics (Dauphin, Pa.) who defeated teammate Matt Pagan (Carteret, N.J.), 8-1, for third place. Senior Brad Canterbury (Blue Bell, Pa.) earned a 7-5 win at 141 pounds to place third, while sophomores Jason Coyne (Trafford, Pa.) (165 lbs), Tyler Moyer (Bremerton, Wash.) (197 lbs) and Scott Steele (Towson, Md.) (HWT) finished fourth in their respective weight classes, while second-year wrestler Philip Neese placed fifth at 197 pounds. The Midshipmen will be back in action Dec. 1 when they play host to Rutgers in a dual meet beginning at 7:00 pm at Macdonough Hall.

FULLERTON, Calif. –- Iowa State crowned three champions at the Fullerton Open hosted by Cal-State Fullerton Saturday. Travis Paulson, Jake Varner and Kurt Backes each earned their second title in as many tournaments on the season. Cyler Sanderson, Mitch Mueller and David Bertolino finished runners-up in their respective weight classes. Two-time All-American Travis Paulson recorded four decisions and a technical fall en route to the 165-pound title. In the title match, Paulson scored a 3-2 decision over Arizona State's Pat Pitsch. The senior is unbeaten on the season at 9-0. Redshirt freshman, Jake Varner, cruised to the 184-pound title as he pinned two of his opponents in less than two minutes. Varner has accumulated six pins thus far in the season and remains unbeaten at 8-0. At 197-pounds, Kurt Backes opened with a 15-0 technical fall and won the next two matches by default. Backes pinned Matt Montiero in 3:56, claiming the title. Backes is also unbeaten on the season at 8-0. Finishing second at 141-pounds by a score of 1-0 was redshirt freshman Mitch Mueller. Muller finished second to UC Davis' Derek Moore. Mueller won three matches by decision (8-6, 7-1, 8-6) and another with a 17-5 major decision. Cyler Sanderson took second-place at 149-pounds. Sanderson scored two major decisions and pinned his other two opponents. He met Cal State Fullerton's Moran Atkinson in the championship match and fell by an 8-6 decision. Junior David Bertolino finished runner-up at 174-pounds. In his opening bout, Bertolino won with a 4:46 pin over Cal State Fullerton's Ryan Budd and then took an 11-3 major decision. In the semi-finals, Bertolino met fellow Iowa State wrestler, Grant Turner, and emerged with an 8-6 decision. Bertolino suffered a 14-12 loss to Nathaniel Augustson in the championship bout. Turner rebounded to take third place by scoring a 7-3 decision over Jeff Prentice of UC Davis. Also placing third for Iowa State were Nick Gallick (133) and David Zabriskie (HWT). Laramie Shaffer placed fourth at 133-pounds. The Cyclones will resume dual meet action Nov. 26 as they play host to Arizona State at 2 p.m. in Hilton Coliseum. OMAHA, Neb. -– Cyclone wrestlers competed in two divisions at the Kaufman-Brand Open hosted by Nebraska-Omaha Saturday. Mike Somsky was the top finisher for Iowa State in the elite division, while true freshman T.J. Sebolt took top honors wrestling unattached at 141-pounds in the amateur division. Somsky, a senior at 165-pounds, won his opening bout with a 4-3 decision, but then suffered a loss in the second bout. Battling through wrestlebacks, Somsky tallied five wins, including a 13-5 major decision. In the third place bout, Somsky faced Northern Illinois' Johnny Galloway, but fell by a 7-2 decision. Also wrestling in the elite division of the tournament was true freshman Jonathan Reader. Reader, who was wrestling unattached, took fifth place at 165-pounds. In his first bout, Reader recorded a major decision over Iowa's Ben Stedman. Reader then fell to two-time NCAA champion Johny Hendricks of Oklahoma State. In wrestlebacks the Davison, Mich., native registered two more wins before pinning Truman State's Black Peterson in 1:34. Sebolt wrestled unattached in the amateur division and took the 141-title with a 12-8 decision over Brian Graham of Dana. Prior to the championship bout, Sebolt worked through the bracket with five decisions, including victories over Iowa's Travis Blasco (11-8) and Quinten Fuentes (3-1) of Oklahoma State. Also placing for ISU in the amateur division was redshirt freshman Chris Pursel at 184 pounds. Pursel registered three victories and placed sixth. The Cyclones will resume dual meet action Nov. 26 as they play host to Arizona State at 2 p.m. in Hilton Coliseum.

ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Big Red wrestling team won the Body Bar Invitational for the second year in a row on Saturday by a slim margin of one point ahead of No. 7 Michigan. Three Cornell wrestlers won individual titles in their weight classes. Jordan Leen took the 149 title, Jerry Rinaldi (197), and Zach Hammond took home the title at 285. In the 133 weight class, Nick Bridge started the day in the No. 3 seed. He opened with a match against Maryland's Jon Kohler winning, 15-2. Moving on to Drexel's Billy Martin, Bridge pinned his opponent in 1:58. In the semifinals, he was paired up against the No. 2 seed Army's Matt Kyler. Kyler pinned Bridge in 5:33. Bridge took fifth place once again beating Martin by 16-4. Keith Dickey wrestled for the Big Red at 141. He took on Kent State's Clint Sponseller and picked up a 9-2 victory. In his next match he faced Sacred Heart's Cory Dunn winning, 6-0. In the semi-final round, Dickey fell to Maryland's Charlie Pinto at 4:52. Dickey took home third place after beating Old Dominion's Williams, 4-2. Jordan Leen worked his way through the 149 bracket of the Body Bar. He picked up a win in the opening round and pinned Sacred Heart's Sean Eagan in 2:42. He won the title after defeating Michigan's No. 1 seed Josh Churella in the finals. In the 165 weight class, the Big Red's Steve Anceravage pinned Old Dominion's Nick Pullano in 0:55. He made his way through to the finals but lost a one point decision to Michigan's Eric Tannenbaum, 3-2. Mike Mackie opened his day by pinning Army's Bob Heigtchew in 2:06. He lost to Sacred Heart's Sherwood Fendryk, but won his fifth place bout against Pittsburgh's Sean Richmond. At 184, Luke Hogle lost his opening match 8-2, but then wrestled his way through the consolation rounds. He beat Pittsburgh's Matt Darnell, 11-0, and next pinned Drexel's Justin Terhune in 6:26. Hogle took fourth after Army's Scott Ferguson defeated him 13-2. No. 1 seeded Jerry Rinaldi had a bye in the opening round, and pinned his first opponent in 2:42. In the semi-finals he beat Michigan's Nick Roy, 2-1. Rinaldi took the title defeating his second Wolverine of the day, Casey White, 8-2. Zach Hammond, seeded No. 4, opened his day by pinning his first opponent in 1:02. He wrestled his way to an 8-2 win over Kent State's Willie Leonard. Hammond next took on No. 1 seed Payam Zarrinpour and pulled out a narrow 8-7 victory. In the finals, Zach Hammond took home the heavyweight title giving the Big Red its team victory by beating No. 2 seeded Jermail Porter 10-3. The Big Red is at home again next weekend when it will wrestle against the Big Ten's Ohio State. The match begins at 2:00 in Newman Arena.

Fullerton, Calif. -- Eleven Stanford wrestlers picked up wins today at the Cal Open hosted by Cal State Fullerton. Junior Josh Zupancic led the way for the Cardinal, earning his first title of the season at 157 pounds. Overall, Stanford wrestlers picked up 33 wins in the event, including four pins. Zupancic notched five consecutive wins on his way to the 157-pound title, finishing the day with a 5-4 decision over Cal Poly's Chase Pami. The junior now boasts a 12-2 record this season, and has posted six straight wins. True freshmen Justin Paulsen and Lucas Espericueta saw their first collegiate action at 133 pounds and 149 pounds, respectively, and each collected four wins. Espericueta also earned his first collegiate win by fall, pinning Nick Cordoza of Mt. Sac. JC in 4:45. Three Cardinal wrestlers came within just one match of placing, as Brian Perry, Luke Feist and Zack Giesen each reached the consolation semifinals. "Overall, our guys wrestled hard," said Head Coach Kerry McCoy. "We just weren't sharp today. I'm happy with the progress were making though. We`re getting better every time we come out. These next two weeks give us an opportunity to train and get better for Las Vegas."

Jayson Ness, Manuel Rivera, C.P. Schlatter, Gabriel Dretsch and Scott Glasser earned titles at the Kaufman-Brand Open on the campus of the University of Nebraska-Omaha on Saturday. Ness, Rivera, Schlatter and Dretsch each won their respective weight classes in the Elite Division (over 20), while Glasser brought home first place in the Amateur Division (20-and-under). Tyler Safratowich, Mike Thorn, Joe Nord and Brent Eidenschink also placed for the Golden Gophers in the largest single-day collegiate meet in the country. A redshirt freshman from Bloomington, Minn., Ness captured the 125-pound title in convincing fashion with two major decisions included among his four wins. Ness began the day with a15-3 major decision over Nick Ramirez of Wyoming and ended with a 12-2 major over North Dakota State's Eric Hoffman in the finals. Rivera, Schlatter and Dretsch all remained perfect on the season with their titles. Rivera had one major decision on the day and defeated Nebraska's Dominick Moyer, 6-4, in the 141-pound championship match. Schlatter cruised through the first two rounds of the tournament with a tech fall and a major decision and claimed the 157-pound crown with a 3-2 victory over Northern Iowa's Moza Fay in the finals. Dretsch posted four straight decisions, culminating with a 3-1 win over Nebraska's Brandon Browne in the sudden victory period in the 174-pound finals. Glasser brought home his second trophy in as many tournaments to start his Gopher career, using a pin and two major decisions to claim the 165-pound crown in the Amateur Division. He took home the title with a 3-1 decision over UNO's Ross Taplin in the finals. With a 6-2 record on the day, Tyler Safratowich claimed fifth placed at 157 pounds in the Elite Division, and three true freshman reached the podium in the Amateur Division for Minnesota. Mike Thorn placed third at 133 pounds in his Golden Gopher debut, defeating Oklahoma State's Jordan Friskhorn in his final match of the day. Joe Nord won five of six matches on the day to take third place at heavyweight, and Brent Eidenschink took fourth at 197 pounds with a 4-2 record. The Golden Gophers will open the dual meet season next weekend at the Northeast Duals in Albany, N.Y. Two Minnesota wrestlers, Dustin Schlatter and Roger Kish, will compete in the NWCA All-Star Classic, an exhibition event that attempts to pit the top two wrestlers at each respective weight class in a dual meet format, on Monday night in Dallas. A live webcast of the event will be available on LiveSportsVideo.com, with coverage beginning at 5 p.m.

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Led by three individual champions, the No. 7-ranked University of Michigan wrestling team claimed second place in its return to the Body Bar Invitational on Saturday (Nov. 18) at Cornell's Newman Arena. The Wolverines (114 points) finished one point behind team winner and host Cornell. Senior/junior Eric Tannenbaum (Naperville, Ill./North HS) and junior/sophomores Steve Luke (Massillon, Ohio/Perry HS) and Tyrel Todd (Bozeman, Mont./Bozeman HS) each tallied perfect records to capture the individual crowns at 165, 174 and 184 pounds, respectively, while U-M boasted six finalists and nine total placewinners. Ranked as the top seed at 184 pounds, Todd dominated the competition with back-to-back first-period pins in the preliminary rounds before scoring a 10-2 major decision over Army's Kent State's Eric Chine in the championship bout. Todd boasted four takedowns, including two in the first period, and accumulated nearly three minutes of riding time to claim his first tournament crown in two years. In his first tournament action since bumping up to 165 pounds, Tannenbaum continued to roll through the competition, posting a perfect 3-0 mark to capture the individual title -- his first tournament crown in two years. Tannenbaum, the No. 1 seed, outscored the competition 26-8, tallying a pair of lopsided victories before squeezing past Cornell's Steve Anceravage 3-2 in the final. The Wolverine used a first-period takedown and held in to claim the victory and push his season mark to an undefeated 4-0. Luke remained perfect on the season with four straight wins en route to the 174-pound title, his second individual crown in three weeks after claiming the top prize at the EMU Open in his first action of the season. Top-seeded Luke picked up a major decision in the preliminary round and battled to three straight decision wins, including a 6-4 overtime victory against Pittsburgh's second-seeded Keith Gavin in the final. Luke rallied from an early deficit to force the match into extra time and used a double-leg takedown to end it. Michigan also recorded a runner-up performances by senior/juniors Josh Churella (Northville, Mich./Novi HS) and Jeff Marsh (Dexter, Mich./Dexter HS) and junior/sophomore Casey White (Commerce, Mich./Walled Lake Central HS). All three Wolverines suffered decision losses in the championship round. Top-seeded Churella compiled a 3-1 mark against the 149-pound field with all three wins earning extra points. The Wolverine junior tallied a fall and two major decisions, including a dominant 14-3 win over Sacred Heart's fifth-seeded Chris Davis, before narrowly falling to No. 2 seed Jordan Leed of Cornell. Marsh, seeded fourth at 157 pounds, also scored a pair of bonus victories in the preliminary rounds and hung a 6-3 upset on Pittsburgh's Matt Kocher, ranked fourth in the nation by the NWCA, in the semifinals before suffering an 8-2 loss by Drexel's third-seeded Ryan Hluschak. White, the third seed, cruised into the 197-pound final after outscoring the opposition 21-2, including an 8-2 upset against second-seeded Hudson Taylor of Maryland. He fell 5-1 against Cornell's top-seeded Jerry Rinaldi in the final. The Wolverines placed multiple wrestlers at a pair of weight classes as fifth-year seniors Rob Sulaver (Dearborn, Mich./Dearborn HS) and Nick Roy (Wall, N.J./Wall HS) earned top-five finishes at 157 and 197 pounds, respectively, with a combined 8-3 record. Roy, unseeded in the tournament after bumping up to 197 just last weekend, posted a 4-1 record against seeded competition, including a 6-4 decision against Maryland's Taylor in the consolation final. The Wolverines will continue early-season action in two weeks at the 25th annual Cliff Keen Invitational on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 1-2, in Primm, Nev. Competition is slated to begin with pigtail rounds on Friday at 9 a.m. PST at the Star of the Desert Arena. U-M returns to the prestigious tournament as the two-time defending team champion.

St. Cloud State University junior Nick Wilkes and sophomore Neil Russell and freshman Russell Smith wrestled their way to victory at the Concordia College Cobber Open in Moorhead on November 18. Wilkes won top honors at 197-pounds and Russell shared top honors with Smith at 174-pounds at the tournament. Wilkes had two pins including one over Justin Schlect of Dickinson State at 5:50 in the championship match. Wilkes was 4-0 at the tournament. Russell won a 7-0 decision over Concordia's Theo Gagner in the semi-finals to advance, while he posted a 2-0 record at the meet. Smith was 3-0 at the meet, and he gained a 17-5 win over Bob Seger of Morningside in the semi's. Also placing in the top five from SCSU was sophomore Sonny Silva (5th, 133), first year Tim Whitley (5th, 141), junior Matt Steffenson (5th, 165), and junior Jairo Sandoval (5th, 184). The Huskies will return to action on December 3, as they travel to Cedar Falls, Iowa, to wrestle in the Northern Iowa Open.

GOLDEN, Colo. -– Oregon State won four meets to win the Jack Hancock Duals Invitational on Saturday, and the victories pushed the Beavers to the 900 mark in all-time dual meet wins in a wrestling history dating back to the 1909 season. OSU heavyweight Ty Watterson recorded three pins as he kept his record perfect this season, and also remaining unbeaten for the Beavers were 125-pounder Jake Gonzales, 133-pounder Bobby Pfennigs, 141-pounder Kyle Larson, 149-pounder Derek Kipperberg and 174-pounder Jeremy Larson. The Beavers (5-0 overall, 1-0 Pacific-10) captured the tournament championship with a 25-12 win over Western State, which is ranked No. 7 nationally in NCAA Division II; that gave Oregon State an all-time record of 900-286-26 in dual meets. "That's something," OSU head coach Jim Zalesky said of being just the third NCAA Division I school to reach 900 dual wins. "Not many schools can say that. Nine-hundred and still building – I hope we get a lot more wins this year and in the future." To reach the finals, OSU beat Division I squads Utah Valley State 49-0 and Eastern Michigan 28-9 in pool competition, then topped Chadron State, another Division II school that received votes in the national poll, 46-3 in the semifinals at Steinhauer Fieldhouse. Chadron State beat host Colorado School of Mines 30-15 for third place in the 13-team event. "It was a pretty good day," Zalesky said. "I thought we wrestled well overall. It was also good that we saw the things we need to work on. We had success, but we saw things we need to get better at." Against Western State, the Beavers led just 16-12 with two matches to go but got a decision from 197-pounder Travis Gardner to secure the victory and then a pin from Watterson to wrap it up. "Western State battled us hard," Zalesky said. "They tried to slow us down in some matches and they kept some matches close – that's where we saw what we have to work on. They wrestled hard and gave us a match, and that's what you want to have." Watterson, ranked seventh nationally in the National Wrestling Coaches Association poll and eighth by Amateur Wrestling News, improved to 5-0 this season with his three pins and a forfeit victory on Saturday. All four times he's wrestled this season, Watterson has pinned his opponent and three of those have come in the first period. "That's a good way to go," Zalesky said. "Ty is wrestling well, attacking, and being tough on top, and sometimes being tough on top is what it comes to in big tournaments." Watterson now has 20 pins in his career, moving the senior into a tie for 27th place on OSU's list of all-time leaders. With a 59-19 career record, he's eight wins from moving onto the Beavers' all-time top 50 in career wins. Jeremy Larson, ranked 19th nationally in the NWCA poll and 12th by AWN, had one pin and three major decisions on Saturday to also improve to 5-0 this season. In his four matches that haven't ended in a pin, the senior has averaged over 17 points per match this season. "Jeremy is wrestling hard and going on offense a lot, and that's what we've been preaching," Zalesky said. "He's been attacking and wearing guys out. All of our seniors wrestled well today, wrestled very tough." Besides Watterson and Larson, Pfennigs picked up two pins and two decisions and Kipperberg won four decisions. Gonzales, a sophomore, had a pin, a major decision, a decision and a forfeit for his four victories; Kyle Larson, a junior, earned a pin, a major decision and two decisions. The Beavers recorded six pins against Chadron State, getting falls from Gonzales, Pfennigs and Kyle Larson to start the meet and then from sophomore 184-pounder Kyle Bressler, Gardner and Watterson to finish the meet. That was the most pins in a meet for OSU since it also recorded six in a 42-9 win over Cal Poly on Dec. 14, 1998. Oregon State's win over Utah Valley State included four pins, by Pfennigs, Jeremy Larson, Bressler and Gardner. The 49-0 margin of victory over UVSC was the Beavers' biggest since a 49-0 win over Portland State on Jan. 9, 2004. OSU had one pin in its victories over Eastern Michigan and Western State. In its five dual meets this season, the Beavers have recorded 17 pins. "This was good for today, but our next competition is a step up," said Zalesky, whose team returns to action at the prestigious Cliff Keen Las Vegas Collegiate on Dec. 1-2. "We've got two weeks to go get to work and get better." Oregon State's next home meet will be Dec. 8 against Oregon in the season's first Civil War, presented by Northwest Dodge Dealers.

Madison, Wis. -- For the first time in four years, the Wisconsin wrestling team is 8-0 after sweeping the competition in the Inaugural ACC/Big Ten Clash at the Carmichael Auditorium in Chapel Hill, N.C. The Badgers defeated N.C. State 29-9 in the first match, followed by Virginia 30-7 and North Carolina 35-9. No. 10 Northwestern and Purdue also registered perfect on the day, giving the Big Ten conference the Clash Cup. UW opened the tournament against N.C. State. The Badgers came out with an 8-0 lead after a win by Collin Cudd (River Falls, Wis.) at 125 lbs. and a tech fall victory by Zach Tanelli (Milburn, N.J.) at 133 lbs. However, the Wolfpack would answer with wins at 141 lbs. and 165 lbs., bringing the score to 14-6. The Badgers went on to win three consecutive matches, first at 174 lbs. where Matt Maciag (Sussex, N.J.) defeated Rick Brownlee, 6-3. The bout at 184 lbs. featured No. 18 Jeremy Colbert of N.C. State and true-freshman Trevor Brandvold (River Falls, Wis.) of Wisconsin. Brandvold, who was competing in his first collegiate meet, proved worthy of the spot, pinning Colbert at 4:13. No. 10 Dallas Herbst (Winneconne, Wis.) followed Brandvold's lead with his fifth pin of the year, taking down Mark Jahad at 1:52. Although they fell in the heavyweight match, the Badgers went on to win the dual 29-9. The Virginia dual was all Wisconsin in the first five bouts, including the battle at 133 lbs. between No. 17 Tanelli and No. 20 Eric Albright. Tanelli edged out the Cavalier 7-6 to remain unbeaten this year. Virginia got on the board at 165 lbs. after Damian Johnson earned a major decision over Jake Donar (Cuba City, Wis.). The Cavaliers forfeited the match at 174 lbs., but notched a win at 184 lbs. as No. 12 Rocco Caponi defeated Brandvold 3-2. Nevertheless, Wisconsin would earn major decision victories in the final two bouts to win the match 30-7. Wisconsin faced host North Carolina in the final dual of the tournament. UNC earned a win at 125 lbs. as Cudd fell to Drew Forshey 4-3. Yet, UW would bounce back and take the next four matches, including a pin at 157 lbs. by Craig Henning (Chippewa Falls, Wis.). Although they fell at 165 lbs. and heavyweight, the Badgers went on to earn their eighth win of the season against North Carolina 35-9