InterMat Staff

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The Rutgers wrestling team defeated Brown University, 18-16, on Jan. 20, recording its fourth Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) victory of the season. The Scarlet Knights (5-3, 4-2 EIWA) split bouts with the Bears (1-5, 1-1 EIWA), but wins from Jack Barrett (Metuchen, N.J.), Jamie Lijo (Stanhope, N.J.) and Matt Pletcher (Eastampton, N.J.) sealed the conference win for RU. The match began at the 174-pound weight class where Mike Whalen (Lake Hiawatha, N.J.) got Rutgers off to a 3-0 lead with an 8-2 decision win over Chris Musser. After Brown won a major decision at 184 pounds to take a 4-3 edge, Lamar Brown (Red Bank, N.J.) won a 9-4 decision at 197 pounds, giving RU a 6-4 lead. In the next four bouts, the Scarlet Knights would drop consecutive decisions, giving Brown a 16-6 lead heading into the final three weight classes. At 149 pounds, Barrett won a 7-2 decision over Brown's Lenny Marandino, cutting the lead to 16-9. Lijo, who was leading in his bout at 157 pounds, posted a win over Savid Saadeh due to injury default. The six points cut the Bears' lead to one (16-15) before the final match. In the 165-pound bout, Pletcher won a tight 2-1 decision over Bran Crudden to lift the Scarlet Knights to the win. RU will host NYU, Boston University and Delaware State on Saturday, Jan. 27, at the College Avenue Gymnasium. Competition will begin at noon.

BUFFALO, N.Y. —- Columbia wrestlers won six consecutive individual titles, as the Lions won their first New York State Collegiate Championship, at the University of Buffalo. Columbia scored 167.5 points, 10.5 more than Army, which had won the last three state titles. The Lions had finished third four times since initially entering the Championships in 1980, but never higher. And although the 2007 team is ranked 24th nationally, there was cause for pessimism on the long ride up to Buffalo, as Columbia was missing at least four starters due to injury. But from the first round, it became apparent that the Lions would be a contender, with Army, Cornell, Buffalo, Ithaca and Nassau Community College, a national junior college power. "We've been wrestling very well, and I'm glad to see it continue," said Brendan Buckley, the Andrew F. Barth Head Coach of Wrestling. "I'm happy that we finally won the States." Although minus a 133-pounder after 18th-ranked Matt DeLorenzo was injured during the week, Columbia went into Saturday's wrestling at Alumni Arena with high hopes after advancing eight men to the semifinals. The hopes were justified after all eight won to advance to the finals. Four of the eight featured Columbia-Army pairings, heightening the tension for a head-to-head battle between the tourney's two leaders. It increased markedly when Cadets won the first two weight classes, at 125 and 133 pounds. Second-seeded Derek Francavilla carried Columbia's colors when he stepped onto the mat at 141 pounds against yet another Army matman, highly-rated first-year Matthew Kyler. Francavilla had won his first bout by technical fall, but barely pulled out an overtime win in the second. The bout was close for two periods, Kyler leading by 4-2, but he increased it to 7-2 in the third, and then hit a near fall with two seconds left for a 12-2 final. First-year Matt Dunn, wrestling at 149, took a 3-1 lead into the third period of his bout with Buffalo's Jason Hilliard. Hilliard scored five points in the final two-minute period while limiting Dunn to one, and won by 6-4. Seeking to stem the Cadet tide, sophomore Derek Sickles took the mat at 157 to face Army's Christian Snook. Sickles was wrestling in place of injured Devin Mesanko, but had compiled an 11-6 record this season and was awarded the first seed at 157; Snook was seeded third. Sickles' unorthodox style can catch opponents unawares, as it did when he hit a takedown and a reversal in the first period, which he led, 4-3. The Lion scored another two-point reversal in period two, followed by a three-point near fall off of a scramble. He netted another takedown and near fall in the third period, for a 14-4 major decision. Columbia had won its first individual title. Third-seeded Ricky Turk met Cornell's Mike Mackie, the fourth seed at 165, and the Lion wasted little time against Mackie, who had upset top-seeded Mike Ragusa of Buffalo. He scored two takedowns and a near fall in the first period to lead 6-2, and led 8-4 after two periods. Turk took the top position for the final period, and proceeded to ride Mackie the entire period, capturing an 8-4 victory. Columbia picked up some more points at the weight class when senior Dustin Tillman progressed through the consolations to finish fourth. The crowd cheered as Buffalo's Nate Rock trotted out for the 174-pound championship. Columbia All-American Matt Palmer, however, wasn't listening. Wrestling just his second collegiate competition of the season, Palmer took a 2-0 lad on a first-period takedown and never scored again. He didn't have to, though, as he held Rock scoreless in a taut battle belying the final score, 3-0 (counting riding time). Three individual titles down, three to go. Senior Justin Barent faced a powerful foe at 184 in Army's Scott Ferguson, the top seed. Ferguson and the third-seeded Barent wrestled cautiously in the first period, without scoring until Barent took him down with just two seconds to go. Ferguson drew within 2-1 on a second-period escape, only to see Justin's third-period escape raise the margin to 3-1. With both benches screaming encouragement, Ferguson tried again late in the third period, but the 14th-ranked Barent, who had won his semifinal bout by one point on an escape with five seconds to go, wouldn't yield. His 3-1 victory was his second tournament title of the season, following the Keystone Classic. Senior 197-pounder Kirk Davis had missed most of the season with an injury, but his replacement, junior Nick Sommerfeld, filled in beautifully, winning 10 of 15. Seeded first in the New York states, he had won his first two bouts by a pin and a major decision, but needed the riding time point to defeat Buffalo's Ricky Scott in the semifinals, 3-2. Sommerfeld faced a strong foe in Army senior Connor Sanders. As Army's final wrestler of the match, his would be the pivotal bout. Following a scoreless opening period, Sanders took a 1-0 lead into the third. Sommerfeld's escape tied it at 1-1, and his takedown with 1:10 to go put Nick up, 3-1. Down 3-2, Sanders struggled to escape. He finally did so, tying the bout at 3-3, but there were just five seconds to go, and Sommerfeld won on riding time, 4-3. Columbia had clinched the team title, but no one was leaving. They wanted to see Arkadiy Levitin, Hunter's huge undefeated heavyweight, whose 21-0 record ranked him second in the nation in Division III. The top-seeded Levitin had gone through the tournament draw with three wins, two by falls, but Columbia's Kevin Lester had also been successful. The first-year from Nampa, Idaho, won his first two bouts by regular decision, and then stunned Army's second-seeded Michael Sprigg with a 16-6 major decision, setting up the confrontation with Levitin. Heavyweight bouts generally are characterized by inaction, but not the Lester-Levitin encounter. The first period read more like a lightweight bout: Levitin takedown-Lester escape-Lester takedown-Levitin escape-Lester penalty point (Levitin runs off mat)-Levitin takedown-Lester escape. All in the first period! Tied at 5-5, Levitin escaped in the second period to assume a 6-5 lead. The Lion tied it at 6-6 on a third-period escape and the two fought on. With 1:50 to go in regulation, Levitin launched another attack, only to see Lester, amazingly quick for a 6-5, 235-pounder, counter it and gain the two-point takedown. Levitin came back again, escaping once more to trail 8-7, but pulled no closer as the bout ended with Lester on top, 8-7. and the crowd roaring. "Kevin has been improving every day," Brendan Buckley marveled. "We first began to see it when he wrestled UC Davis [in early January]. You see it in practice, you see it in matches." And so the 27-year drought ended, not quietly, but with the roaring of the crowd and the roar of the Lions. Six consecutive individual titles — for Brendan Buckley and his 24th-ranked Lions, that was yet another first. Columbia competes in aother milestone Sunday January 28, as vaunted Lehigh comes to Morningside Heights for only the second time ever. It's a 1 p.m. encounter.

Dominating … that is the one word that describes the Peacock wrestling team's performance last night in Dorman Gym. The home team took to the mat in their black uniforms and gave the Peacock faithful that packed the stands all that they wanted. Upper Iowa hosted the Wolves of Northern State in a Northern Sun Conference dual, both teams first conference dual of the season. The Peacocks won all ten matches; three by pinfall, one by technical fall, one by major decision, one by forfeit, three by decision, and a sudden victory in the second overtime of the final match which secured the shutout for the Peacocks, who won 45-0. Upper Iowa's dual record improved to 4-0 and Northern State's dual record fell to 1-6. The shutout victory is the fourth such result since Head Coach Heath Grimm took the reigns for the 2000-01 season. Upper Iowa defeated Knox College 54-0 and Illinois College 57-0 in Grimm's first season at the helm. Last season, 2005-06, the team faced UNC Pembroke at the National Duals and won 47-0. The dual began at 149 pounds. Upper Iowa's Andy Norton matched up against Dustin Bonn. Norton carried a 6-10 record in to the match with some hard luck losses as of late. The two wrestlers spent most of the first period feeling each other out, but a takedown by Norton just before the horn gave him a 2-0 lead going to the second period. The second period did not yield any points but Bonn had accumulated 1:49 of riding time. After two escapes by Bonn that sandwiched a Norton takedown, Norton led 4-2, but the Bonn still had a possible riding time point and so the match remained in question until Norton recorded his third takedown of the match and erased the riding time advantage. Norton won the match by decision 6-2. At 157 pounds, Travis Eggers (UIU) toed the line against Phillip Downs. Eggers supplied one of the more dominating performances with an immediate takedown and an overwhelming 2:52 in riding time to take a 2-0 lead after one period. In the second period Eggers again registered a takedown and worked hard to turn Downs over. Eggers succeeded and pinned Downs with 40 seconds left in the second period. After the pin, Upper Iowa took a 9-0 lead over Northern State. Mitch Norton (UIU), the reigning NSIC Wrestler of the Week and #4 NWCA ranked wrestler, took the mat against Shawn Lewis in the 165 pound match. Norton dominated the match registering a takedown and near fall in first period to lead 5-0. The second period featured an escape by each wrestler, but Norton tallied two more takedowns and two more near falls. The second near fall ended the match and Norton was awarded the Technical Fall at the 5:00 mark leading 16-1. In the 174 pound weight class, Brady Hakeman (UIU), the #8 NWCA ranked wrestler, continued Upper Iowa's brilliant performance in his match with Brunau Augustine. Brady came out on fire, and after an early takedown and two near falls, he ended the match with 1:11 on the clock in period one by pinning Augustine. Hakeman's pin and Phil Brushchuk's (UIU) win by forfeit at 184 pounds gave Upper Iowa a 26-0 lead over Northern State. At 197 pounds, Ryan Phillips (UIU) took on Todd Naasz in a very physical match. Phillips led 2-0 after the first period thanks to a late takedown. Phillips started the second period with an escape and another takedown, but Naasz escaped his grip late in the period. Naasz trailed 5-1 after his escape. Phillips stayed on the offensive in the third period and even though Naasz tallied three more escapes, Phillips registered a takedown after each of them. After Phillips' third and final takedown of the period, he earned a riding time point and won the match by major decision 12-4. In the heavyweight match, Dan Goodson (UIU) walked out to face Jared Little. Both wrestlers pushed each other around through the first period, but neither wrestler could gain an advantage. Little chose down to begin the second period and Goodson took advantage. Goodson recorded two near falls before finishing the match with a pin at the 0:42 mark in the second period. The victory gave Upper Iowa a 36-0 lead over Northern State. The match at 125 pounds featured two nationally ranked wrestlers on the mat. Tyler Mumbulo (UIU), NWCA #5, lined up against Chas Welch, NWCA #6. Mumbulo took control of the match in the first period with an early takedown and 1:51 of riding time to lead 2-0. Throughout the second period neither wrestler was able to gain an advantage on the other and the match moved to the final period with Welch trailing 2-0. Mumbulo began the third period with an escape and then held on to gain a riding time point and win by decision 4-0. Nate Naumann and Corbin Surat came to the mat for the 133 pound match. Early on Naumann looked good. He earned a takedown, a two-point near fall, and a three-point near fall, before giving up a reverse to Surat. Naumann led 7-2 after the first period and had accumulated 2:08 in riding time. Surat got caught by a second takedown in period two and trailed 9-2. Late in the third period Surat made a final charge and registered a near fall, but could not get the pin and Naumann was awarded a riding time point to win by decision 10-5. The final match of the night was at 141 pounds between John Gamble and Dave Schiley. Gamble entered the match looking to shake the results of his past few matches and come up with a victory for himself and the team. Gamble trailed 2-0 after Schiley recorded a takedown. Gamble countered early in the second period with a takedown of his own, but Schiley escaped and led 3-2 with 33 seconds of riding time in his pocket. Gamble was not able to score on any moves but did reverse the riding time advantage and held on to earn a riding time point and tie the match as the third period ended. In the first sudden victory overtime, one minute in length, neither wrestler was able to score a point and the match moved to a second overtime. In the second overtime, Schiley was able to earn an escape during the first 30 seconds, but Gamble found enough energy to get a reversal during the second 30 seconds and won the match 5-4. The result was a great ending to an awesome night for Peacock Wrestling, who won the dual 45-0. After the match, Grimm proudly said, "We were happy to be wrestling at home in front of our fans. They gave us some help with the last match. We greatly appreciate everyone's support. The guys looked extremely focused on the task at hand, which was to wrestle hard for a complete seven minutes. We were offensive and attacked when openings were present. We only gave up 1 takedown the entire dual meet. We got off to a good start in the NSIC. I am proud of all ten wrestlers and their approach to this dual meet." The Upper Iowa wrestling team's dual versus the University of Mary scheduled for tomorrow, Jan. 20th, has been cancelled and forfeited to Upper Iowa by Mary, who cited the inability to field a full team as the reason for the cancellation. Upper Iowa will return to action next Thursday, Jan. 25th at 6 p.m., at Waldorf College (Forest City, Iowa) in a non-conference showdown.

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. -- The Limestone wrestlers pounded the St. Andrews Knights, 41-11, in the first round of the East Coast Wrestling Duals hosted by the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown on Friday evening. Limestone's Matt Hall (Hamptonville, N.C.) picked up an 8-3 win over Kyle Craver in the 125-pound weight class. Matt Ross (Chicago, Ill.) won by forfeit in the 133-pound division, while Riley Pike (Alexander City, Ala.) pinned the Knights' Gabe Ortiz at 1:20 to win the 141-pound class. Dustin Baynes (Liberty Twp., Ohio) got an 11-1 major decision over SAPC's Bryan Seal, and Dusty Leutz (157 lbs./Naples, Fla.) won by forfeit. The Saints' Todd Neptune (174 lbs./New Concord, Ohio) pinned Will Harcum at 2:40, while Dan Scanlan (Leesburg, Va.) also got a pin over D.J. Chverchko at 0:52. Trey Moss (Red Bank, S.C.) won the heavyweight class with a 15-4 major decision against Charles Robinson. Limestone continues competition at the East Coast Duals tomorrow. At 9 a.m. the Saints wrestle AIC and will also take on the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown. Limestone will also wrestle Shippensburg at 3 p.m.

Dekalb, IL -- Northern Illinois gutted out a hard fought victory over a tough Ohio University team at the Convocation Center on Friday night. NIU was able come back and secure an 18-13 victory after starting the meet with a 0-7 deficit. NIU came back strong and the two teams battled back-and-fourth all night. The overall victory was not secured until the final match of the evening. The evening could not have started out much worse for the Huskies as the Bobcats took the first two matches of the night, including a major decision in the opening match. In the second match the Bobcats scored another decision to place the Huskies in a deep hole (0-7) that they were forced to fight their way out of. Mike Grimes, ranked as high as 7th nationally, came out with the intent of putting NIU back in the meet, and that's just what he did. Grimes came out of the shoot firing with a quick 2-point take down, but Tucker fired right back 2-point reversal to tie the match. After that, Grimes never looked back as he came up with another solid performance in a convincing 12-7 decision to push his overall record to 19-5 and narrow the gap to 7-3 OU. Trailing 7-3 NIU's Kalen Knull took the mat knowing that he had to win in order for the Huskies to have a chance. Knull delivered in a match the Huskies desperately needed. He was able to pull out a 3-2 victory in an extremely tight match that went into overtime. His hard fought win closed the gap to 7-6 just before intermission. NIU's Johnny Galloway, ranked as high as 10th nationally, needed big win to put the Huskies in the lead. In the match of the night Galloway took on 22-7 Jacob Isen. After a scoreless first period Ison claimed the lead in the second period with 1-point escape. Down 0-1 going into the third and final period Galloway went on the offensive with an escape followed by a quick takedown to take a 3-1 lead. Ison countered with another escape to close the gap to 3-2, when Galloway had another take down at the buzzer giving him a 5-2 win over Ison. The win gave the Huskies a slim 9-7 lead and gave Galloway an impressive 11-1 record this season. With victory still very much in doubt, Danny and Duke Burk came up with huge performances for NIU. Danny Burk took on 16-4 Antoine Love and proceeded to dominate the match from start to finish, earning an 8-3 decision. Then, his brother Duke Birk, ranked as highly as 16th nationally, dominated his opponent as well, en route to an 11-4 victory. Coach Dave Grant gave high praise to the Burk brothers after the meet, "The Burk's really got after it. We need all our wrestlers to take it to their opponents like the Duke's did tonight." With the score 15-7, NIU gained firm control of the meet and needed just one more win to secure an overall victory. But, OU was not done just yet. With their backs firmly against the wall, the Bobcats battled back with consecutive wins to make the score 15-13 going into the final match of the night. Luckily for the Huskies the final match of the night was in the hands of Pat Castillo, ranked as high as 20th nationally. Although the match ended with an 8-6 decision for Castillo, the outcome was never in doubt as Castillo controlled the match from start to finish to secure the Huskies 18-13 victory over the Bobcats. Coach Grant summed up the night best when he said, "Our opponents in the MAC aren't going to just rollover for us, every match is do or die." The Bobcats certainly didn't rollover for the Huskies and NIU, now 2-0 in the MAC, will certainly live to fight another day. NIU's next meet will be on the road against Kent State on Friday, January 26th at 7:05 EST.

LEXINGTON, VA – UNC Greensboro finished with three fall victories and two major decisions in its 29-13 win over Southern Conference rival VMI on Friday evening at the Thunderdome. The Spartans improve to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in conference competition. Junior Jeff Hedges gave UNCG the early 6-0 lead with a fall victory over Johnathan Pope in 2:12 at 125 lbs. VMI's Tyler Anthony put up three points for the Keydets after recording a 6-3 decision over Mitchell Johnson at 133 lbs. Junior Chris Bencivenga answered with his fourth consecutive major decision victory at 141. The Davie, FL product defeated VMI's Brandon Franklin 12-3 to put the Spartans up 10-3. The Keydets cut the Spartans' lead to one after taking two decision victories at 149 and 157 lbs. However, UNCG responded with two more fall victories to extend its lead to 22-9. Junior Mark Ring pinned John Burton in 3:46 for his third fall victory of the season at 165 lbs. Senior Joe Lowe followed with a fall victory in 5:49 over Kyle Elgert at 174 lbs. Freshman Scott Snyder, a Slatington, PA native, pulled off the 3-2 decision at 184 lbs. over VMI's Dustin McCabe in the final seconds of the third period to give UNCG the 25-9 advantage. VMI's Corry Murray tallied the 14-1 major decision over freshman Nick Clark at 197 lbs before senior Joe Sheffield grabbed another major decision win for the Spartans. The Killeen, TX native sealed the deal as he defeated Erik Olson 15-3 at 285 lbs. Hedges, Bencivenga and Lowe all improve to a perfect 5-0 in dual meets in their respective weight classes. The Spartans continues their Virginia road trip when they take on the University of Virginia in Charlottesville on Saturday at 1 pm

Augustana won 8 overall matches, including the final 6 bouts of the night to defeat Southwest Minnesota State 32-6 in a non-conference dual Friday night in Marshall, Minn. The Vikings, ranked No. 11 in the latest NCAA Division II poll, used a pin by Austin Scarset and 4 major decisions to propel them to the win an improve to 5-3 in dual action this season. The Mustangs dropped to 1-3. Scarset, ranked No. 2 in the nation at 157 pounds, wasted little time in pinning SMSU's Chris Fast in only 40 seconds. It was the only pin of the dual and gave the Vikings a 12-6 lead. Aaron Haddorff then picked up a major decision at 165 pounds. Following a decision by Cody Henriksen at 174 pounds, Beau Severtson (184), Nate Buys (197) and Ray O'Connor (Hwt) all recorded major decision victoies. Chris Trampe got the Vikings off to a good start, edging SMSU's Kurt Smith 7-6 at 125 pounds. Also winning was Jordan Burmeister, who earned a 10-6 win over Ryan Reed at 141 pounds. Augustana will be in action again on Saturday when the Vikings host St. Cloud State in a 2 p.m. dual at the Elmen Center. It will also be Parents Day.