InterMat Staff

Wow! It's been two weeks already and time for another entry. Time has been flying by so far this year, and I'm sure it will only get faster when January hits and we enter the home stretch of the season. I guess that is why people say you should cherish every moment of it, everyday, cause sooner than later, its done and over with. I believe that I am continually learning new things in wrestling. Be it new technique, training methods, or strategies, I am always learning. I think even the best wrestlers in the world would agree with me that they are still striving to learn new things as well, only to become even better at the sport they love. I bring this up because I recently competed in my first tournament of the year -- the Cliff Keen Invitational in Las Vegas, Nevada. Our team headed out there the Wednesday before the tournament because we were to dual Embry-Riddle and Montana-State Northern on Thursday, before the tournament gets started on Friday morning. The week was somewhat of a struggle, as it seemed the flu bug (or something close to it) was sweeping across our team. From one guy to the next, it seemed as if we were all affected somehow, but we all pushed through it, struggling at times, but pushing on nonetheless. We wrestled Embry-Riddle and got off to a very rocky start. We dropped the first three matches and were down a quick 12-0. Luckily, we picked it up in the end, winning six of the 10 total matches and winning the dual meet, 25-17. When were not very happy with our performance as a team, but I was feeling fairly well, getting a major decision over my guy and watching our 184-pound wrestler Willie Parks demolish the top-ranked guy, 14-7. After wrestling Embry-Riddle, we put it behind us and prepared for Montana State-Northern. This was a very big dual for us as a team, since Dana College has never beaten Montana State-Northern in a dual. We wanted to beat them bad and it showed. We won eight of the 10 matches, winning the dual meet by a score of 35-9. It was a big win for us, especially since we struggled a little against Embry Riddle, but we had to start thinking about the tournament ahead. Marshall MarquardtFriday morning finally arrived and things started off great for me, winning 8-3 over a guy from Cal-State Fullerton. The next match was a little different, however, as I was pinned by the wrestler from Cornell. It seemed as if there was nothing I could do. I was helpless. This was when I first started to realize I needed to change my style a bit. My next match was against a guy from Purdue, where I prevailed with a takedown in overtime. Finally, I lost to the guy from Division II Augustana -- and finished the tournament a disappointing 2-2. It was disappointing, but it might have been for the better. When I am wrestling, I don't ever really pay attention to other matches going on throughout the tournament, but I had the chance to after being eliminated. I watched many matches over the next day, and I was glad I got the opportunity. I picked up so many things, one which was just plain intensity. Some may say, "How can you not be intense on the mat?" But it's not like that. I think we are all intense when we step on the line and get ready to wrestle, but some of the guys I watched had another level of intensity I had just never seen before. It was awesome to watch, but even better to think that I could wrestle like that. I don't know why it took me five years to really "see" this, but I'm glad I did. I know now that I have to go into everything I do and train at this newfound intensity. It isn't something that you can just walk onto the mat and wrestle like that, because I am sure you would get pretty tired. You have to train your body for that intensity and be mentally ready for what lies ahead in every match. You have to go into that match knowing you won't get scored upon and that you will be the victor in the end. You really so have to "Train like a madman". I used to think this was just some crazy saying on a Brands brothers poster, but it's true. To be the best, you have to train with the utmost intensity, and have partners that will reciprocate that intensity. Until next time, keep getting better. Marshall Marquardt Past Entries: Entry 5 (11/23/05) Entry 4 (11/9/05) Entry 3 (10/26/05) Entry 2 (10/13/05) Entry 1 (10/1/05)

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestler Matt Keller was named the Southern Conference Wrestler of the Week for his performance at last week's Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, the SoCon Office announced Tuesday. Keller finished fourth in the 133-pound weight class, recording a 6-2 mark at the event. He scored a technical fall and a pin and notched victories over wrestlers from North Idaho, Missouri, Augustana, Utah Valley State, Michigan and Boise State. He had to default his third-place match against Darrell Vasquez of Cal Poly. Keller's performance led the Mocs to a 12th-place team finish. The McDonald, Tenn., native, currently ranked as high as No. 11 nationally, is a transfer from the University of Nebraska and was an NCAA Qualifier in 2005 for the Cornhuskers.

Top-ranked Cowboys to Host No. 3 Sooners in Bedlam Showdown Oklahoma State's top-ranked wrestling team will host the first installment of Bedlam when the third-ranked Oklahoma Sooners visit Gallagher-Iba Arena on Friday Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. The Cowboys come into the dual with a 2-0 record after defeating No. 10 Lehigh 31-6. OU is 1-0-1 after defeating Central Oklahoma in its opener, and tying Lehigh last week. The Cowboys own the all-time series edge with a 119-24-9 against their instate rival. OSU has won the last 14 meetings and has a 22 match unbeaten streak dating back to the 1995-96 season. The only blemish was a 16-16 tie back on Nov. 30, 1999 Scouting the Sooners Oklahoma has four returning All-Americans in its lineup. The Sooners are led by two-time national champion Teyon Ware at 141 pounds. Sam Hazewinkel finished third at 125, Joel Flaggert finished fourth at 197 and Matt Storniolo finished seventh at 149 last year helping OU to a third-place team finish. Oklahoma will be looking for some of its other wrestlers to step up this season like 184-pounder Justin Dyer and heavyweight Jake Hager who both garner top 10 national rankings. Battle at 184 Head coach John Smith continues to have a war on his hands at the 184-pound position. The 184-pound weight class is the only weight where coach Smith has yet to name a starter. Coach Smith is looking at all his wrestlers this season. Rusty Blackmon started the Lehigh dual after finishing second at the Oklahoma Open losing to Oklahoma's eighth-ranked Justin Dyer in the championship match. Jack Jensen wrestled the opener against Michigan State losing to No. 18 Joe Williams, 10-4. No starter has been announced yet for the Oklahoma match. Cowboys Winning Streak Alive After OSU dismantled Lehigh 31-6, its dual winning streak reached an astounding 23 wins in-a-row. OSU's last loss came to Minnesota in the final dual of the 2003-04 season inside Gallagher-Iba Arena. The Cowboys still have a ways to go before they match the school record of 76 matches. That streak covered 15 years from 1937 to 1951. The longest ubeaten streak in school history is 84. The Cowboys went 82-0-2 from 1959 to 1966.

Iowa State wrestling head coach Bobby Douglas announced the signing of three student-athletes to National Letters of Intent at the close of the Fall 2005 early signing period. Douglas signed two in-state recruits, T.J. Sebolt (Centerville, Iowa) and Mark Kist (Eagle Grove, Iowa). He also signed Jonathan Reader (Davison, Mich.). Reader, ranked 11th overall by Intermat, has a career record of 171-6. Reader was a teammate of Brent Metcalf, the nation's No. 1 recruit last year. Metcalf and Reader helped guide Davison to three Div. 1 Michigan state team titles. Reader is ranked No. 2 at 160 pounds in Amateur Wrestling News' high school rankings and head coach Roy Hall has Davison currently ranked 23rd in AWN's Prep 40 high school teams. Reader was the only high-school participant at the Harold Nichols Open in November when he wrestled unattached for Sunkist Kids. He finished runner-up to Iowa State's top-ranked Trent Paulson at 157 pounds. He is projected to wrestle at 157 or 165 pounds at Iowa State. Reader is a two-time high school Michigan state champion and three-time conference champion. He placed third in both freestyle and Greco-Roman at the 2005 FILA Junior Nationals in Fargo, N.D., where current Cyclone freshmen Mitch Mueller and Cyler Sanderson captured titles. He was the freestyle runner-up in 2003 and 2004 at Fargo and was fourth in 2003 in Greco-Roman. Reader is a two-time FILA Cadet National Champion in both freestyle and Greco-Roman and was chosen as the Most Outstanding Wrestler in 2005. He has compiled a 55-0 record the last three seasons (2003-05) at the Cadet National Duals. Sebolt, a three-time Iowa state champion, was a 2004 ASICS Tiger All-American first-team member selection at 103 pounds in a group that included Oklahoma State All-American Coleman Scott, Minnesota's Dustin Schlatter, Illinois' Mike Poeta, and Oklahoma State's Nathan Morgan, all of whom are nationally ranked. Sebolt was a 2005 Central Junior Regional Freestyle champion and a 2002 Freestyle All-American. In 2003, he was a Junior Freestyle national champion. Sebolt is ranked No. 1 in the Predicament's Preseason Class 2A Iowa high school rankings and is Intermat's No. 50 overall recruit. Sebolt is ranked fourth in AWN's high school rankings and has a career record of 151-1 at Centerville. He is projected to wrestle at 133 pounds for ISU. Kist, a two-time Iowa state champion at Eagle Grove, is ranked third at 112 pounds in AWN's high school rankings. Kist captured a title at the 2005 Junior Nationals in freestyle and is ranked No. 1 at 112 pounds in the Predicament's Preseason Class IA Iowa high school rankings. He is listed at No. 139 in Intermat's recruiting rankings and was undefeated at 42-0 in his junior season. Kist is projected to wrestle at 125 pounds for the Cyclones.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The No. 16 Indiana wrestling team opens dual action competition Dec. 10 in the Hoosier Duals at Assembly Hall. IU looks to continue its 2005-06 success after taking the Mat Town Invitational (11/26) team title in dominating fashion in its last outing. Indiana led the eight-team field by a 40.5 point margin over second-place Buffalo and Oregon. Defending national champion Joe Dubuque, All-American Brandon Becker and junior Matt Cooper each claimed individual titles to lead the Hoosier effort. Action gets underway at the Hoosier Duals as Indiana takes on Eastern Illinois and Cumberland and Gardner-Webb meet on the mat at 10 a.m. IU then takes on Gardner-Webb at noon and concludes the day against Cumberland at 2 p.m. Eastern Illinois is slated to face Cumberland at noon and finishes the invitational against Gardner-Webb at 2 p.m. For a complete recap of the Hoosier Duals, visit IUHOOSIERS.com upon the conclusion of each dual competition.

ATHENS, Ohio -- The Ohio wrestling team will return to dual action this Friday with a pair of head-to-head meets against East Stroudsburg and Slippery Rock at Morrow Field House in Slippery Rock, Pa. The Bobcats (3-1) will take on East Stroudsburg at 1:30 p.m. and then battle Slippery Rock at 3:00 p.m. The Warriors of East Stroudsburg are 1-1 in dual action heading into a Wednesday night meet against Army while The Rock is 1-3 going into a dual meet against Thiel on Wednesday. "I know Slippery Rock has improved a great deal over the past two years," said Ohio head coach Joel Greenlee about Friday's host. "I think they qualified four guys for the national tournament last year so it will be a good test for us. I expect us to wrestle hard and I really think it's two dual meets we can dominate." Complete match-by-match results for both duals will be posted on ohiobobcats.com as soon as they become available. Tentative lineup for Friday's duals: 125 Ohio - Caleb Metcalf (6-6) East Stroudsburg - Matt Swallow (6-3) Slippery Rock - Chris Clarke (3-7) 133 Ohio - Albert Madsen (5-3) East Stroudsburg - Nate Nauroth (6-2) Slippery Rock - Sal Lascari (6-6) 141 Ohio - Jim Fowler (0-0) or Frank Brown (1-3) East Stroudsburg - Alex Bimes (4-2) Slippery Rock - Zach Gill (1-5) 149 Ohio - Aaron Gomoll (5-5) East Stroudsburg - Sean Close (2-4) Slippery Rock - Shawn Baglio (3-3) Click Here 157 Ohio - Jake Frerichs (5-3) East Stroudsburg - Mark Smith (3-3) Slippery Rock - Garry Price (6-5) 165 Ohio - Vinny DiGiovanni (2-1) or Kent Smith (1-4) East Stroudsburg - Keith Smith (4-2) Slippery Rock - Jason Cardillo (8-5) 174 Ohio - Ryan Knapp (7-6) East Stroudsburg - Dave Sullivan (6-3) Slippery Rock - Jerimiah Frederick (9-4) 184 Ohio - Brian Cesear (8-4) East Stroudsburg - Sean McCracken (2-3) Slippery Rock - Charlie Pienaar (4-4) 197 Ohio - Nick Terbay (9-5) or Larry Reichard (3-3) East Stroudsburg - Charles Deighton (3-3) Slippery Rock - Andrew Joseph (4-4) HWT Ohio - Dave Campbell (0-2) East Stroudsburg - Adam Karasevicz (1-3) Slippery Rock - Matt Burkholder (3-3)

State College, Pa. -- The No. 13 Penn State Nittany Lion wrestlers (3-2, 0-2 Big Ten) will hit the road for the first time this year with dual matches at No. 23 Navy (4-0) and No. 25 Penn (0-0). The match at Navy is set for 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 9, while the dual with Penn is on Saturday, Dec. 10, at 6:30 p.m. Penn State is coming off a solid showing at the Nittany Lion Open on Sunday. Over 500 wrestlers packed Rec Hall for the 2005 Nittany Lion Open and in the end, ten talented individuals walked away with the coveted title of Nittany Lion Open Champion. Penn State claimed two individual titles in the tournament with two unattached Nittany Lions grabbing crowns at their respective weights. Head coach Troy Sunderland's squad posted over 40 wins in the tournament. Red-shirt junior Mark McKnight (McDonald, Pa.), wrestling unattached, won his first four matches at 125 to advance to the finals, where he downed Franklin Gomez of Michigan State (unattached), 6-4, to claim the crown. True freshman David Erwin (Urbana, Ohio), wrestling unattached, also won his first five at 165, including a pin of Davidson's Trevor Clavette in the semis. The title bout saw Erwin down Phil Bomberger (Port Royal, Pa.) with an 11-3 major to claim the championship. The Nittany Lions still sport four undefeated wrestlers in their line-up, plus No. ranked Eric Bradley (Plaistow, N.H.), who may see his first action of the year this coming weekend. Tim Haas (Camp Hill, Pa.) is 6-0 at 125, Jake Strayer (South Fork, Pa.) is 4-0 at 133, James Yonushonis (Philipsburg, Pa.) is 5-0 at 174 and Phil Davis (Harrisburg, Pa.) is 5-0 at 197. Navy comes in 4-0 after a solid showing here in Rec Hall's Nittany Lion Open and a dual win over Rutgers. Navy sports No. 14 John Cox at 149 and No. 9 Tanner Garrett at HWT. Penn comes in 0-0 in duals, but coming off a 10th place finish at the Cliff Keen Invitational. Penn is led by 133-pounder Matt Valenti, ranked No. 6 nationally. Penn State will return to action on Sunday, Dec. 18, at the Reno Tournament of Champions in Reno, Nev. The Nittany Lions next home dual is set for Jan. 8 vs. Cornell. Single match tickets can be purchased by visiting the BJC Ticket Center or by calling 814-865-5555 or 800-863-3336. Prices are $5 for adults and $3 for youth and senior citizens. POSSIBLE LINE-UPS - as of 12/5

Wartburg College seeks its 11th consecutive Dick Walker Invitational team title Saturday, Dec. 10, as 10 schools make up the field for the 33rd annual meet in the college's Physical Education Complex fieldhouse. Augsburg College of Minneapolis, Minn., Augustana College of Rock Island, Ill., UW-Whitewater, NCAA Division II Central Missouri State, Ellsworth and Iowa Central from the NJCAA and Iowa Conference rivals Coe, Cornell and Loras join the Knights in the meet. Action begins at 9 a.m. Complete results, updated at the end of each round, will be available through the official Dick Walker web site at http://www.go-knights.net/wrestling/dickwalker/. Three Knights are gunning for their third consecutive DW individual crown. Senior 141-pounder Dustin Hinschberger of Belle Plaine, senior 184-pounder Akeem Carter of Waterloo, and junior heavyweight Blake Gillis of Spencer are all in the hunt for the honor. Hinschberger defeated Garret Miyake of Pacific 5-3 in last year's title tilt, while Carter shared the top spot at 197 the past two seasons with teammates T.J. Miller of Cedar Falls and Ryan Phillips of Burlington. Gillis shared last year's title with teammate Brian Borchers of Holstein after winning it out-right in 2003. Wartburg crowned seven champions and one runner-up in 2004, leading to a 171.5-97 victory over Augustana in the team standings. Knights rewind - Freshman 133-pounder Zack McKray of Iowa City, freshman 174-pounder Jordan Graham of Mason City, and junior heavyweight Brian Borchers of Holstein each took home individual championships for No. 3-ranked Wartburg at the Simpson Storm Invitational Saturday, Dec. 3. The three titles lifted the Knights to a fifth-place team finish of 78 points. McKray, moving to 12-0 on the season and earning the Iowa Conference's Male Athlete of the Week award in the process, rolled up two falls, a major decision and a decision en route to his title. His championship match win came over Central Missouri State's Mike Hansen, ranked No. 3 in the recent National Wrestling Coaches Association/Brute-Adidas Division II individual rankings, by a 5-2 count. Graham, upping his season record to 8-1, posted a fall, two majors and a decision for his title, while Borchers, going to 7-1 on the year, took a fall, two decisions and a major decision to gain his championship. Freshman Romeo Djoumessi of Waverly added a runner-up effort at 184. Wartburg opened its 2005-06 Iowa Conference dual season with a 32-10 win over No. 7-ranked Loras Thursday, Dec. 1. The Knights, going to 5-0 on the year, took their 97th consecutive win in league competition behind three technical falls and one pin. Next up -- Wartburg hosts the third annual Desert Duals Monday, Dec. 19, at the Flamingo Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nev.

FILA, the international governing body for the sport of amateur wrestling, will introduce the Golden Grand Prix in 2006, a series of competitions in the three Olympic styles of wrestling that will award prize money to the top eight placewinners at each event. These events were added to provide wrestling fans, media and television with quality tournaments apart from the World and Continental Championships each year. According to the 2006 FILA Calendar, there will be three Golden Grand Prix events in men's freestyle and four in Greco-Roman and women's freestyle. The final event in all three styles will be the Golden Grand Prix Finale in Baku, Azerbaijan, June 24-25. According to FILA, the prior events will serve as qualifiers for the finale. The World champions and various continental champions from the previous year will automatically qualify for the finale if they did not participate in the qualification events. The Golden Grand Prix events are international tournaments that were already listed on the 2006 FILA Calendar. The events were chosen by FILA's Executive Committee and will be supervised by FILA. Only officials from the list of officials qualified for the World Championships and World Cup may officiate in the Golden Grand Prix. There will also be a 1 kg weight allowance for the qualification tournaments, but no weight allowance for the finale. FILA has set a minimum standard of prize money to the top eight placewinners, which breaks down as follows: Gold - $5,000 Silver - $4,000 Bronze - $3,000 5th Place - $1,000 7th Place - $750 8th Place - $750 For the qualification tournaments, FILA's Executive Committee will meet with the tournament organizers to determine if more money can be awarded. The first men's freestyle event, the Ivan Yarygin Memorial International in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, Jan. 27-29, will award $7,000 to the gold medalist and $2,000 to the bronze medalists. For more information on events on the 2006 FILA Calendar, visit www.FILA-wrestling.com. 2006 Men's Freestyle Golden Grand Prix Events Jan. 27-29 – Ivan Yarygin Memorial International (Krasnoyarsk, Russia) March 10-12 – Uzbekistan Cup of Independence (Tashkent, Uzbekistan) June 24-25 – Golden Grand Prix Finale (Baku, Azerbaijan) 2006 Greco-Roman Golden Grand Prix Events Feb. 24-26 – Vehbi Emre International (Izmir, Turkey) March 10-12 – Uzbekistan Cup of Independence (Tashkent, Uzbekistan) March 18-19 – Nikola Petrov International (Sofia, Bulgaria) June 24-25 – Golden Grand Prix Finale (Baku, Azerbaijan) 2006 Women's Freestyle Golden Grand Prix Events Feb. 10-12 – Gilbert Schaub Open (Tourcoing, France) Feb. 24-26 – Vehbi Emre International (Izmir, Turkey) March 3-5 – Klippan Ladies Open (Klippan, Sweden) June 24-25 – Golden Grand Prix Finale (Baku, Azerbaijan)

A great deal of noteworthy high school wrestling competition has already taken place by now. The Lock Haven Fall Classic and the ever-growing Super 32 Challenge were both loaded with tough competitors. Henry Cejudo, Mike Grey, Jon Reader, and Pat McCaffrey competed well against collegiate and post-collegiate competition. However, it is the Walsh Ironman that really christens the new season from a fans perspective. This year's tournament will not disappointment. The tournament contains not only marquee match-ups, but seemingly greater depth than ever before. The following analysis can serve as a wrestling fan's guide as to what to expect. David Taylor (photo by Wyatt Schultz)103 -- Even with two-time Cadet National Freestyle champion Anthony Valles of Blair Academy moving unexpectedly to 112, this remains one of the most interesting weights. The No. 1 seed is Boris Novachkov of California. Novachkov has won both styles in Fargo the last two years, for a total of four national titles. Ironically, he has yet to place in the loaded California State Tournament -- as he has been too small for 103. Now apparently grown into a full 103, or at least close, he will be a force to be reckoned with. However, it is the No. 3 seed, David Taylor, who generates the most interest in this weight. Taylor is ranked as the No. 1 freshman in the Rev Wrestling High School Power Rankings. Simply put, Taylor is a schoolboy legend. He racked up three Ohio junior high state titles without going the distance. He also triumphed at the Cadet National Freestyle Championships this past summer, again without going the distance. However, that was at 91 pounds -- and at this point, Taylor is clearly a very small 103. Perhaps as a result, he tasted his first folkstyle defeat in years, in double overtime, against Cadet National runner-up Ben Sergent, just last weekend. Taylor is on a collision course for a rematch with Sergent (the No. 2 seed) in the semifinals this weekend. However, Taylor will have to beat returning fourth place state finisher Alex Weaver -- who is probably the best 103 in Ohio's big-school division -- just to make it that far. Meanwhile, the No. 4 seed at this weight, Steve Mitcheff, is very good, as evidenced by him recently splitting two bouts with two-time Cadet National Greco champion Eric Grajales. RevWrestling.com.com Prediction: Taylor over Novachkov 112 -- The No. 1 seed might appear invincible at this weight. A sophomore, Valles has never tasted defeat in high school competition and is similarly undefeated in Fargo, winning two Cadet National titles. Not so fast. Valles won his most recent Cadet National title at 98 pounds (over Sergent), and was expected to be at 103 until this week. While he has apparently outgrown 103, the jump to 112 is huge and the bet here is that Valles will be a little undersized for this weight. The match to watch in the quarterfinals will be his donnybrook with Ohio super frosh Collin Palmer. Palmer, who is ranked as the No. 2 freshman in the Rev Wrestling Power Rankings, is the younger brother of three-time Ohio state champion Lance Palmer -- and is considered to be even better than Lance was at this point in his career. Meanwhile the other bracket will feature California's Nikko Triggas and Pennsylvania's Chris Sheetz. Triggas finished third in the always-loaded California State Tournament and third at the Cadet National Freestyle Championships. He will have a real fight on his hands in the quarterfinals, where he will likely face Ohio big-school state third place finisher Dante Rini. Sheetz was somewhat of an unexpected state champion in Pennsylvania's big-school division. RevWrestling.com Prediction: Palmer over Triggas Click here to read entire Walsh Ironman preview (Rev Gold)

A great deal of noteworthy high school wrestling competition has already taken place by now. The Lock Haven Fall Classic and the ever-growing Super 32 Challenge were both loaded with tough competitors. Henry Cejudo, Mike Grey, Jon Reader, and Pat McCaffrey competed well against collegiate and post-collegiate competition. However, it is the Walsh Ironman that really christens the new season from a fans perspective. This year's tournament will not disappointment. The tournament contains not only marquee match-ups, but seemingly greater depth than ever before. The following analysis can serve as a wrestling fan's guide as to what to expect. David Taylor (photo by Wyatt Schultz)103 -- Even with two-time Cadet National Freestyle champion Anthony Valles of Blair Academy moving unexpectedly to 112, this remains one of the most interesting weights. The No. 1 seed is Boris Novachkov of California. Novachkov has won both styles in Fargo the last two years, for a total of four national titles. Ironically, he has yet to place in the loaded California State Tournament -- as he has been too small for 103. Now apparently grown into a full 103, or at least close, he will be a force to be reckoned with. However, it is the No. 3 seed, David Taylor, who generates the most interest in this weight. Taylor is ranked as the No. 1 freshman in the Rev Wrestling High School Power Rankings. Simply put, Taylor is a schoolboy legend. He racked up three Ohio junior high state titles without going the distance. He also triumphed at the Cadet National Freestyle Championships this past summer, again without going the distance. However, that was at 91 pounds -- and at this point, Taylor is clearly a very small 103. Perhaps as a result, he tasted his first folkstyle defeat in years, in double overtime, against Cadet National runner-up Ben Sergent, just last weekend. Taylor is on a collision course for a rematch with Sergent (the No. 2 seed) in the semifinals this weekend. However, Taylor will have to beat returning fourth place state finisher Alex Weaver -- who is probably the best 103 in Ohio's big-school division -- just to make it that far. Meanwhile, the No. 4 seed at this weight, Steve Mitcheff, is very good, as evidenced by him recently splitting two bouts with two-time Cadet National Greco champion Eric Grajales. RevWrestling.com.com Prediction: Taylor over Novachkov 112 -- The No. 1 seed might appear invincible at this weight. A sophomore, Valles has never tasted defeat in high school competition and is similarly undefeated in Fargo, winning two Cadet National titles. Not so fast. Valles won his most recent Cadet National title at 98 pounds (over Sergent), and was expected to be at 103 until this week. While he has apparently outgrown 103, the jump to 112 is huge and the bet here is that Valles will be a little undersized for this weight. The match to watch in the quarterfinals will be his donnybrook with Ohio super frosh Collin Palmer. Palmer, who is ranked as the No. 2 freshman in the Rev Wrestling Power Rankings, is the younger brother of three-time Ohio state champion Lance Palmer -- and is considered to be even better than Lance was at this point in his career. Meanwhile the other bracket will feature California's Nikko Triggas and Pennsylvania's Chris Sheetz. Triggas finished third in the always-loaded California State Tournament and third at the Cadet National Freestyle Championships. He will have a real fight on his hands in the quarterfinals, where he will likely face Ohio big-school state third place finisher Dante Rini. Sheetz was somewhat of an unexpected state champion in Pennsylvania's big-school division. RevWrestling.com Prediction: Palmer over Triggas 119 -- This is perhaps the most wide-open weight in the tournament. While there is not one clear superstar as in many weights, this weight is so deep that Darrin Boing, who has placed third and fourth the last two years in the Ohio State Tournament, is only seeded No. 10. No. 1 seed Aaron Hart might take exception to the analysis that this weight lacks superstars. Hart is a former Ohio state champion, two-time Cadet Freestyle All-American, and most recently, Junior National Freestyle runner-up. However, he can be inconsistent, as evidenced by his six losses last season (though it should be noted that this was wrestling on Graham's treacherous schedule). His stiffest competition may in the semifinals, against three-time California State place winner and NHSCA Junior National third placer Caleb Flores. The other bracket features another third place finisher from that event, Levi Mele, as well as Felipe Novachkov, the older brother of Boris. Novachkov is a former Bulgarian Cadet Nationals champion who placed second in California last year to Senior Nationals champion Brian Moreno. RevWrestling.com Prediction: Hart over Novachkov 125 -- Like 119, this is a weight where any of the top eight stand a legitimate chance to win. No. 1 seed Ian Moser has placed as high as third at the Junior National Freestyle Championships. However, he faces a real test in the quarterfinals against Ben Jordan, who stunned Ohio wrestling fans by winning state as a freshman. Jordan is the son of four-time Ohio state champion, two-time NCAA champion, and current Ohio State Representative, Jim Jordan. The other bracket may be even more daunting, with defending Cadet National Freestyle champion Kellen Russell of Blair Academy and Keith Sulzer, who inexplicably was seeded sixth despite being a NHSCA Junior National champion and past Cadet Nationals runner-up. RevWrestling.com Prediction: Sulzer over Moser Jordan Frishkorn130 -- The match of the night will take place here as the top two competitors in the nation at this weight square off: Jordan Frishkorn and Billy Murphy. The Ironman Finals will be nothing new to Junior National Freestyle runner-up Frishkorn, as he has split two matches with Ohio's Cameron Doggett there over the past two years in the Ironman finals. This will be the first chance for many fans east of the golden state to see California's Billy Murphy -- and they will be in for a real treat. Murphy utilizes a whirlwind style that annihilated the competition last spring at NHSCA Juniors as well as at California States. He and Frishkorn split two bouts as sophomores. Cadet Nationals champion Alex Meade would have made this weight even more interesting but apparently his eligibility is doubtful at this time due to an early fall move to Christianburg H.S. in Virginia followed by a subsequent move back to Caesar Rodney, Delaware. RevWrestling.com Prediction: Murphy over Frishkorn 135 -- The dark horse here is No. 7 seed Zack Kemmerer of Upper Perkiomen, Pennsylvania. While Kemmerer has never placed higher than fifth in the Pennsylvania State Tournament, he defeated very-tough Pennsylvania state champion Ashtin Primus last season and was a one point loss to Mario Mason away from making the finals at Cadet Nationals. No. 1 seed Kevin Lipp won NHSCA Juniors last spring over the No. 6 seed Marcus Nelson. However, he will likely have to get past Junior National All-American Max Shanaman in the semifinals. Perhaps the most interesting competitor to watch will be former state champion Shawn Harris of Lakewood St. Edward's -- who is moving all the way up from 112 to 135. Harris is seeded second. RevWrestling.com Prediction: Kemmerer over Shanaman Mario Mason (photo by Wyatt Schultz)140 -- If there is one prediction that this writer feels confident in, it is that Blair Academy's Mario Mason will out-perform his inexplicable No. 7 seed. Rated as the No. 4 sophomore in the nation in the Rev Wrestling Power Rankings, Mason features as smooth of a counter-offense as any wrestler in the nation. However, he will face a true test in the quarterfinals in Pennsylvania's Matt Dunn. While he has not won state since he was a freshman (he was upset in the finals last year), Dunn took all-everything Adam Frey to the wire in last year's Ironman finals as Frey needed a takedown in the last ten seconds to come from behind. Should young Mason pass that test, he will face an ever stiffer challenge in Ohio's Lance Palmer. Palmer lost only one bout at Junior Nationals last summer, a one-point loss to Cyler Sanderson. Along with Mike Grey, he is probably the best mat wrestler in the nation -- and certainly, the most punishing, with a brutal power-half. RevWrestling.com Prediction: Palmer over Mason 145 -- This weight would have looked like a guaranteed rematch between Blair's Travis Blasco and Sean Nemec. Last season, these two Junior National Freestyle All-Americans squared off in the dual between their teams in the match-deciding last bout of the night. Nemec jumped out to an early lead before Blasco scored back points off a takedown to take control of the match and preserve Blair's status as the nation's top team. However, last week Blasco was defeated (for the second year in a row) by Matt Cathell of Ceaser Rodney, by a decisive 7-2 score. Cathell clearly has Blasco's number -- the bet here is that he will not have Nemec's. Perhaps the best match of the first night will be Cathell against Christianburg super frosh Andrew Clement. Clement had a superb preseason, finishing third at the Super 32 Challenge among other achievements, as is currently rated as the No. 5 freshman in the nation in the Rev Power Rankings. RevWrestling.com.com Prediction: Blasco over Nemec 152 -- A week ago, this appeared to be the marquee weight of the tournament. However, defending champion Mike Benefiel of Illinois has apparently broken his hand and will not be competing. Even still, this weight features Cadet National Freestyle champion Eric Medina, NHSCA Junior National champion Josh Rohler, and Junior National All-American Jason Welch of California. Medina is seeded No. 1 and Welch is seeded No. 4, meaning they are headed for a semifinal showdown. This should be the match to watch of that round as Medina is an outstanding mat wrestler whereas Welch is a spectacular takedown artist. Welch is rated as the No. 1 sophomore in the nation in the Rev Wrestling Power Rankings. However, Medina has already handled the previously No. 1 ranked junior, Tim Darling, at the Lock Haven Fall Classic, by a 7-3 score. A Welch-Rohler would also be interesting as Rohler has outstanding defense. RevWrestling.com Prediction: Welch over Rohler 160 -- Like 130, this is a weight that features a likely marquee match-up. Two-time Junior National Freestyle All-American David Rella may be the man to beat here after finishing third in Fargo last summer. However, No. 1 seed Mack Lewnes actually beat Rella last fall at the Beast of the East by a point. The No. 3 seed, Matt Epperly is a three-time state champion headed for Virginia Tech. The No. 4 seed is Junior National Greco-Roman champion Jesse Robbins of Florida. Robbins is perhaps the wildcard of this weight. While he failed to win state last spring, he defeated Rocky Cozart in Greco in Fargo and nearly defeated the mighty David Craig in a spring freestyle tournament. If he is on, Lewnes could be in trouble. No. 7 seed Brent Fiorito could also make some noise. Fiorito finished third in the Pennsylvania State Tournament last spring -- impressive considering the top two were Joey Eckloff and Donnie Jones. RevWrestling.com Prediction: Rella over Lewnes 171 -- Like 119 and 125, this is a weight with great depth but no clear favorite. The No. 1 seed, Ian Henisch, was runner-up at this tournament last fall and is a former Cadet National All-American. The No. 2 seed, Wenger, is a two-time state champion/and three-time finalist -- rare for an upper weight wrestler. Rob Waltko, a.k.a. "Superrob," is a former Cadet National Freestyle champion yet managed only the No. 3 seed, whereas fellow junior David Thompson, a former Cadet National Freestyle runner-up, was seeded fourth. RevWrestling.com.com would have picked Parkersburg super sophomore Andy Thomas, but he is not entered for reasons unknown at the time of this article. RevWresting.com Prediction: Walko over Henisch 189 -- This weight appears to be essentially a two-man showdown between Oveido, Florida state champion David Green and two-time state champion Cody Norman of Parkersburg, West Virginia. Norman is a rare upper weight three-time state finalist. Green seems to be rapidly improving, going from a non-state placer in 2004 to a Junior National Greco All-American in 2005. RevWrestling.com Prediction: Green over Norman 215 -- The nation's best 215, junior Cody Gardner of Parkersburg South, West Virginia, appears to be relatively unchallenged here. Gardner is already a two-time state champion and took third at the Junior National Freestyle Championships at this weight. Super sophomore Garrett Goebbel will battle Jared Platt of Blair Academy in a semifinal which will amount to a contest for second place. RevWrestling.com Prediction: Gardner over Goebbel 275 -- Kenny Lester of Oviedo has to be the favorite here. Widely regarded as the best heavyweight in the nation, Lester has been both a double Junior National All-American and a double Cadet All-American. However, Lester faces a formidable challenge in Ohio state champion/Cadet National Freestyle runner-up Cameron Wade. He would have faced an even stiffer challenge in two-time Cadet National Freestyle champion Ben Kuhar, but apparently Kuhar is lost for the season due to a knee injury sustained in football. RevWrestling.com Prediction: Lester over Wade Teams Outlook -- This year is perhaps the first in many years that serious whispers of Blair Academy's vulnerability are being heard. Just consider: from last year's team they have graduated: Senior national champ/double Junior Nationals champion Adam Frey, Senior Nationals runner-up/Junior National Freestyle runner-up Ross Gitomer, Junior National Freestyle champion Rollie Peterkin, and Junior National All-American Hudson Taylor. By contrast, St. Edward's really graduated no one noteworthy. However, then Ben Kuhar went down. It is probably safe to say that there was no single wrestler that would have been so hard to replace. They have gone from a guy who would have contended for a title to a complete unknown quantity at this weight. All other teams will be competing for third. Rev Wrestling.com Prediction: Blair Academy Stay Tuned for an Ironman wrap-up on Rev Wrestling.com on Sunday morning, Dec. 11.

EDINBORO, PA – Edinboro University senior Shawn Bunch (Leavenworth, KS/Leavenworth) has been named the Eastern Wrestling League Wrestler of the Week and the PSAC Wrestler of the Week for his performance in this past weekend's Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. This marks the second time an Edinboro wrestler has been chosen for the two awards, with Gregor Gillespie the previous recipient. Bunch maintained his undefeated record against a very strong field at 133 lbs. A total of 14 of InterMat's top 20 competed in the Las Vegas Invitational, led by Bunch, who is ranked number one. He won all six of his matches to improve to 16-0 for the season and 108-22 for his career. He is 16th in career wins, needing one to tie Tom Shifflet. A year ago Bunch finished third at the Las Vegas Invitational, losing to Travis Lee of Cornell in the semifinals. The two would later meet in the national championship bout, with Lee prevailing, 6-3. Bunch opened with a 17-0 technical fall (4:30) over Derek Pirner of South Dakota State. Next came a 16-3 major decision over Mike Obizzi Degli of Duke. In the round of 16 he was a 7-3 winner over Reece Humphrey of Ohio State. In the quarterfinals, Bunch faced #8 seed Matt Keller of Tennessee Chattanooga, ranked 13th by InterMat, and came away with a 9-7 win. He defeated Robbie Preston of Harvard, the fourth seed and ranked ninth, by a 6-5 decision thanks to a late takedown in the semifinals. In the finals, it was Bunch allowing just three escapes to Penn All-American Matt Valenti in a 5-3 win. Valenti was the third seed and ranked eighth. Edinboro returns to action this Friday, December 9, facing the University at Buffalo in the War at the Shore at the Erie Civic Center.

OREM, Utah -- Utah Valley State senior wrestler Erkin Tadzhimetov has been invited to compete in one of the nation's most prestigious wrestling tournaments later this month. The Midlands Wrestling Championship, held December 29-30 in Evanston, Illinois on the campus of Northwestern University, is an invitation only tournament that comprises some of the most talented amateur wrestlers in the country. Tadzhimetov, who is currently ranked 19th in the nation in the NWCA/InterMat poll at 133 lbs., lost his first two matches of the year last weekend at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational to opponents ranked higher than him. His first loss came to 9th ranked Robbie Preston of Harvard with his 2nd coming at the hands of #11 Matt Keller of UT-Chattanooga. The native of Uzbekistan holds a 9-2 record so far this season. "It's an honor just to be invited," said Utah Valley State coach Cody Sanderson. "It's just downright a tough tournament. It's great for Erkin to have the opportunity to compete at that level." Sanderson should know, having competed in the tournament as a wrestler at Iowa State and then winning it his first year out of college. "It's a huge stage for our program and will bring more recognition to what we're doing here," said Sanderson. "Every time we can put one of our athletes on that stage it's good for Utah Valley State wrestling." Illinois is the two-time defending team champion at the Midlands Championship, which will also contain one of the deepest team tournaments outside of the NCAA Championships and includes schools such as Iowa State, Iowa and Indiana.

THIS WEEK Iowa (2-0) will open its 2005-06 home dual meet schedule when it hosts Northern Iowa (0-1) Thursday night in Iowa City. The dual is set for 7 p.m. in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. ON THE AIR Radio -- Morrie Adams and four-time Hawkeye all-American Mark Ironside will call this season's action live on AM-800 KXIC. NORTHERN IOWA PANTHERS Northern Iowa is 0-1, losing 31-6 to Minnesota last week. Head Coach Brad Penrith has a 48-35 record in his sixth season with the Panthers. Penrith was an NCAA champion and three-time NCAA finalist, all-American and Big Ten champion at Iowa from 1986-88. The Panthers are led by seniors Chris Helgeson (133) and Chris Bitetto (157), junior Nick Baima (165) and sophomores C.J. Ettleson (141) and Alex Dolly (174). Helgeson is 13-6, placing third at the Harold Nichols Open and fourth at the UNI Open. Baima is 9-2, placing second at the Kaufman-Brand and Harold Nichols Opens. Ettelson is 11-4, placing second at UNI Open and fourth at the Harold Nichols Open. HAVEN'T WE MET? Here are past results of potential Iowa-Northern Iowa matchups: 141 Alex Tsirtsis (I) is 2-0 vs. C.J. Ettelson (UNI) Tsirtsis dec. Ettelson, 3-2, at 2004 Kaufman-Brand Open Tsirtsis maj. dec. Ettelson, 17-7, at 2004-05 dual 149 Ty Eustice (I) is 1-0 vs. Justin Swafford (UNI) Eustice dec. Swafford, 10-4, at 2005 Kaufman-Brand Open 157 Joe Johnston (I) is 2-0 vs. Chris Bitetto (UNI) Johnston maj. dec. Bitetto, 14-6, at 2002 UNI Open Johnston tech. fall Bitetto, 23-6 in 6:31, at 2004-05 dual 165 Eric Luedke (I) is 0-1 vs. Nick Baima (UNI) Baima dec. Luedke, 4-3, at 2005 Kaufman-Brand Open Hwt. Ryan Fuller (I) is 1-0 vs. Tyler Rhodes (UNI) Fuller dec. Rhodes, 4-2, at 2005 Kaufman-Brand Open Hwt. Matt Fields (I) is 1-0 vs. Tyler Rhodes (UNI) Fields dec. Rhodes, 3-1 SV-1, at 2005 UNI Open LAST MEETING Iowa improved to 2-1 with a 23-13 win over Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls last December 9. The Hawkeyes won six matches, and had five true freshmen compete in the dual. The Panthers fell to 0-2 on the season. Iowa opened the dual with wins from freshman Alex Tsirtsis (141) and juniors Ty Eustice (149) and Joe Johnston (157). Junior Paul Bradley (184) won his 40th career dual with a 16-6 major decision over Alex Dolly. Freshman Matt Fields scored a 10-1 major decision over Michael Shedek at heavyweight. Junior Mario Galanakis closed the dual with his 10-4 win over Patrick Sharp at 133. Iowa 23, Northern Iowa 13 141 - Alex Tsirtsis (I) maj. dec. C.J. Ettleson (NI), 17-7 149 - Ty Eustice (I) dec. Jeff Harrison (NI), 5-3 157 - Joe Johnston (I) tech. fall C. Bitetto (NI), 23-6 in 6:31 165 - Nick Baima (NI) dec. Oleg Polyatskiy (I), 3-0 174 - Eric Hauan (NI) dec. Luke Lofthouse (I), 6-5 184 - Paul Bradley (I) maj. dec. Alex Dolly (NI), 16-6 197 - Sean Stender (NI) maj. dec. Dane Pape (I), 13-5 Hwt. - Matt Fields (I) maj. dec. M. Shedek (NI), 10-1 125 - Chris Helgeson (NI) dec. Charlie Falck (I), 3-1 133 - Mario Galanakis (I) dec. P. Sharp (UNI), 10-4 THE SERIES Iowa leads the series, 37-8-2, and has won the last 29 meetings between the two teams. The Hawkeyes hold an 18-3-1 advantage in Iowa City. Iowa's last win in the series was 23-13 last season in Cedar Falls. Northern Iowa's last win in the series was 17-15 in Cedar Falls in 1974. HEAD COACH JIM ZALESKY Jim Zalesky is in his ninth season as head coach at the University of Iowa. He has a school and career record of 118-27 (.814). Named National Coach of the Year in 1998 and 1999, and Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2000 and 2004, he has led the Hawkeyes to three NCAA (1998-00) and three Big Ten titles (1998, 2000, 2004). Zalesky has coached 10 NCAA Champions, 20 Big Ten Champions and 40 all-Americans at Iowa. He was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in June 2004, the University of Iowa Letterman's Club Hall of Fame and the Iowa High School Athletic Association Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2002, and the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1994. A three-time national champion and one of Iowa's 15 four-time all-Americans, Zalesky was an assistant coach and head recruiter at Iowa under Dan Gable for seven seasons (1991-97). He was named Assistant Coach of the Year by the N.W.C.A. in 1992 and 1997. Undefeated as a junior and senior, Zalesky ended his career on an 89-match winning streak. LAST WEEK Iowa improved to 2-0 with a 20-15 win over Iowa State in Ames Friday night. A crowd of 6,682 saw the Hawkeyes record wins in six matches, including two by major decision, to hand Iowa State (3-1) its first dual loss of the season. The win also gave Iowa two points in the Hy-Vee Cy-Hawk Series. Iowa State currently leads the series, 5-2, with wins in women's soccer and football. The Hawkeyes jumped out to a 10-0 lead on wins by juniors Ryan Fuller (Hwt.) and Lucas Magnani (125) and true freshman Daniel Dennis (133). Iowa State got on the board with Nate Gallick's 4-1 win over sophomore Alex Tsirtsis at 141. Iowa senior Ty Eustice took Iowa into the intermission with a 6-3 win over Jason Knipp at 149. Eustice picked up his 90th career victory, and improved to 7-0 on the season. The Cyclones picked up two wins after the intermission, with Trent Paulson's 8-3 decision over senior Joe Johnston at 157 and Travis Paulson's 8-4 win over senior Cole Pape at 165. Hawkeye sophomore Mark Perry gave Iowa a boost with a 13-3 major decision at 174, and senior Paul Bradley sealed the Iowa win with an 8-5 victory over Kurt Backes at 184. Both wrestlers improve to 2-0 on the season, and Bradley is now 5-1 in his career against Backes. Cyclone true freshman Joe Curran won the last match of the night, pinning Iowa senior Adam Fellers in 6:14 at 197. On Sunday, junior Eric Luedke won the 165-pound title at the UNI Open. Luedke, who defeated Hawkeye junior Joe Uker, 7-2, in the finals, was one of Iowa's seven placewinners and 20 competitors at the annual tournament in Cedar Falls. Luedke transferred from Colby College in Colby, KS, and is in his first season with the Hawkeyes. Northern Iowa officials estimated over 350 wrestlers competed in the one-day tournament in the UNI Dome. Also placing for Iowa were junior Alex Grunder (149-5th), sophomore Matt Fields (Hwt.-2nd), and true freshmen Ryan Morningstar (157-6th), Chad Beatty (174-3rd) and Phillip Keddy (184-5th). Fields scored a major decision and three decisions, including one in sudden victory, before losing a 9-3 match in the finals to Les Sigmon, who was competing unattached. Morningstar, of Lisbon, IA, advanced to the quarterfinals before losing the last three matches of the day by medical forfeit. Beatty, from Wilton, IA, won six straight matches in the consolation bracket, including a 4:28 pin of Northern Iowa's Curt Zinnel in the finals, to place third. IOWA WRESTLING HISTORY Iowa's overall dual meet record is 786-202-30 (.787) in 94 seasons. The Hawkeyes have won 20 national titles, including nine of the last 15, and 31 Big Ten titles. Iowa's 47 NCAA Champions have won a total of 73 NCAA individual titles, crowning six three-time and 13 two-time champions. The Hawkeyes' 99 Big Ten Champions have won a total of 180 conference individual titles. There have been seven four-time, 18 three-time and 24 two-time Iowa winners. Iowa's 127 all-Americans have earned all-America status 258 times, including 16 four-time, 27 three-time and 29 two-time honorees. CARVER-HAWKEYE ARENA Carver-Hawkeye Arena has been the home for Iowa wrestling since 1983. The Hawkeyes have a record of 146-12 (.924) in the arena, which includes a record 10 victories during the 1986 season. Iowa has recorded 16 undefeated seasons in the arena, with the most recent (8-0) occurring in 2002-03. The dual wrestling attendance record for Carver-Hawkeye Arena is 15,291, set when Iowa defeated Iowa State on February 22, 1992. The arena seats 15,500 for a dual wrestling meet. PACK THE PLACE - BREAK THE RECORD The Hawkeyes will try to regain the dual meet national attendance record when they host defending NCAA champion and top-ranked Oklahoma State on January 7. Match time is set for 7:30 p.m. The current national attendance record of 15,646 was set February 1, 2002, when Iowa wrestled at Minnesota. IOWA TICKET INFORMATION Season tickets and single meet tickets for Iowa's seven home duals are on sale at the University of Iowa Athletic Ticket Office at 1-800-424-2957, 319-335-9327 or www.hawkeyesports.com. University of Iowa students will be admitted free of charge for all duals except Oklahoma State. Season Tickets - $56 - General Public; $49 - University Faculty & Staff Single-Match Tickets (Advance Purchase)* - $8 - Adults; $4 - Youth Single-Match Tickets (Gate Purchase)* - $10 - Adults; $5 - Youth Group Rates* - $4 - Per person with a group of 15 or more * Iowa vs. Oklahoma State tickets are $10 each. The group rate for the Iowa vs. Oklahoma State dual is $5 per person. CHAMPIONSHIP EXPERIENCE The Hawkeye wrestling staff of Jim Zalesky, Troy Steiner, Tim Hartung, Luke Eustice and Mike Zadick earned a total of six NCAA titles, 10 Big Ten titles and 15 all-America honors. Their combined college career wrestling record is 596-90-1 (.881), including four undefeated seasons. NEXT COMPETITION Iowa will compete at the 43rd annual Midlands Championships December 29-30 in Evanston, IL. All matches will be held in Welsh-Ryan Arena on the Northwestern University campus. All-session passes are $48 for reserved seats, $36 for adult bleacher seating and $30 for student bleacher seating. Tickets can be purchased from the Northwestern Athletic Ticket Office at (847) 491-2287. Session start times and individual session ticket prices are as follows: Session Time Day Tickets (R/AB/SB) Session I 9:30 a.m. Thursday NA/$8/$6 Session II 7 p.m. Thursday $11/$9/$7 Session III Noon Friday $13/$10/$8 Session IV 7 p.m. Friday $15/$12/$9 PROBABLE LINE-UPS Iowa Hawkeyes (2-0-0 Overall, 0-0-0 in Big Ten) Wt. Name Yr. Hometown (HS/Last School) Record 125 Trent Goodale Sr. Osage, IA (Osage) 4-3 OR Lucas Magnani Jr. Long Island, NY (St. Anthony's/Brown) 2-3 133 Daniel Dennis Fr. Ingleside, IL (Grant) 6-2 141 Alex Tsirtsis So. Griffith, IN (Griffith) 5-2 149 Ty Eustice Sr.. Blue Earth, MN (Blue Earth) 7-0 157 Joe Johnston Sr. Prairie Village, KS (Shawnee Mission E.) 5-3 165 Eric Luedke Jr. Colby, KS (Colby/Colby CC) 10-1 OR Cole Pape Sr. Maquoketa, IA (Maquoketa) 6-4 174 Mark Perry So. Stillwater, OK (Blair Academy, NJ) 2-0 184 Paul Bradley Sr. Tama, IA (South Tama) 2-0 197 Adam Fellers Sr. Fort Dodge, IA (Fort Dodge) 0-5 HWT Matt Fields So. Lowden, IA (North Cedar) 6-1 OR Ryan Fuller Jr. Lisbon, IA (Lisbon) 5-4 Northern Iowa Panthers (0-1-0 Overall) Wt. Name Yr. Hometown (Last School) Record 125 Seth Wright Jr. Payson, UT (Northwest Wyoming) 1-3 133 Chris Helgeson Sr. Lake Mills, IA (Lake Mills) 13-6 141 C.J. Ettelson So. Hudson, IA (Hudson) 11-4 149 Colby Geotsch So. Ankeny, IA (Ankeny) 4-7 OR Justin Swafford So. Mediapolis, IA (Mediapolis) 10-6 157 Chris Bitetto Sr. Hackensack, NJ (Lock Haven) 9-4 165 Nick Baima Jr. Glen Ellyn, IL (Glenbard West) 9-2 174 Alex Dolly So. Mishawaka, IN (Mishawaka) 6-3 OR Curt Zinnel Sr. Humboldt, IA (Iowa Central CC) 6-4 184 Dan Dunning So. Waterloo, IA (West) 6-6 OR De'Andre Nunn *Fr. New Lenox, IL (Providence Catholic) 7-6 197 Andrew Anderson *Fr. Sioux City, IA (East) 5-4 OR Jeff Knoll Jr. Frankfort, IL (Iowa Central CC) 4-6 HWT Tyler Rhodes Jr. Mountain View, WY (Mountain View) 9-5 * -- redshirt freshman

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Indiana wresting program earned national recognition by Wrestling International Newsmagazine for having one of the top recruiting classes announced the magazine in its December edition. IU's 2006 signees garnered 10th in the national poll, and the honor marks the second straight year head coach Duane Goldman has brought in a top-10 recruiting class. "We are really pleased and excited about this year's recruiting class," Goldman said. "These guys are going to fill a lot of needs that will be coming up in our program. and it's good to know we will be filling those positions with quality students as well as quality athletes. Being Indiana University, we want to draw the best wrestlers from the state. We feel that with this recruiting class we have accomplished that goal." W.I.N. is one of the oldest wrestling magazines in the country and is dedicated to the promotion and marketing of amateur wrestling. This year's national letter-of-intent signees include Nathan Everhart (Tinley Park, Ill./ Andrew), Kurt Kinser (Bloomington, Ind./ Bloomington South), Nick Walpole (Indianapolis, Ind./Perry Meridian), Alex Warren (Mooresville, Ind./ Mooresville) and Paul Young (Bloomington, Ind./ Bloomington South).

LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ -- It looks like the 174 pound weight class is going to be a strong one in the Colonial Athletic Association this season, as all three weekly award winners hail from that weight class this week. Mike Patrovich of Hofstra University, and Nick Kozar of Drexel University, are the CAA Wrestlers of the Week, and Doug Umbehauer of Rider University is the CAA Rookie of the Week, for all competition prior to December 5. Patrovich, a senior from Bohemia, NY (Islip), began the season 11-1 overall and 2-0 in duals. Currently ranked seventh in the nation by both InterMat and Amateur Wrestling News, Patrovich placed second at the prestigious Cliff Keen Invitational in Las Vegas. Patrovich compiled 11 consecutive victories before losing to the top ranked wrestler in the nation. In his 11 victories Patrovich had three major decisions and three tech falls. Kozar, a junior from Derry, PA (Derry Area), also won 11 of his first 12 bouts this year, with his only loss coming in the finals of the Cornell Invitational. Kozar also has three major decisions this year and is a perfect 8-0 in dual meets for the Dragons, including 4-0 in the CAA. Umbehauer, a freshman from Shamong, NJ (Lenape), won his weight class at both the Keystone Classic at Penn and the Mat Town USA Invitational at Lock Haven. Ranked 20th in he nation by Amateur Wrestling News, Umbehauer won eight of nine decisions this year, his only loss coming to a returning All-American.

Big thanks to the the Keen and Churella families for making our trip to Vegas successful and enjoyable. Their tournament is done with the wrestler in mind. Congratulations on another successful year! Join us for Saturdays show as Scott Mclin and I welcome -- Brian Smith -- head coach of the Tigers of Missouri -- big dual coming up with the Buckeyes of The Ohio State State University Andy Scott -- wrestled in HS and was paralyzed. Road to recovery full of financial pitfalls Heath McCoy -- author of "Pain and Passion: The Stampede Story Andrew Hipps -- wrestling and sports writer and general "wrestling guy in the know" Tim Brassfield -- director of the Oklahoma City All Sports Association Forrest Griffin -- UFC fighter. Forrest defeated Stephan Bonnar by unanimous decision to become the light heavyweight ultimate fighter in ULTIMATE FIGHTER SEASON I Sunday, December 11th -- Special TDR BroadcastLIVE from Columbus, Missouri -- as Brian Smith and the Tigers welcome Russ Hellickson and his Buckeyes of The Ohio State University. Join Steve Foster and Kenny Burleson for this broadcast free of charge at Takedownradio.com courtesy of the University of Missouri. This looks to be a great match-up. Missouri's Pell and Askren had great showings at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite and look to improve their record at home. Overall, Missouri finished a strong 3rd. The top 10 are posted below. The Ohio St. Buckeye's head to Columbia fully loaded as 174 lb Blake Mauer looks to be tough against Ben Askren and 133 lb Reece Humphrey will enjoy a rematch against Tyler McCormick. 149 lb J Jaggers is expected to see action for the Buckeyes as well. 10 Teams (Final) 1. MICHIGAN 145 2. Cornell 116 3. Missouri 102.5 4. Edinboro 101 5. Arizona State 92 6. Illinois 88.5 7. Cal Poly 76 8. West Virginia 74.5 9. Purdue 69.5 10. Penn 69

Mark Perry, a sophomore for the University of Iowa, has moved up from 165 to 174 pounds this season. Aside from that, not much else has changed for the returning All-American. He remains extremely confident in his abilities and won't be satisfied with anything but a national title -- something that eluded him last season after losing in the NCAA finals to Oklahoma State's Johny Hendricks. Mark Perry finished runner-up at 165 pounds last March at the NCAA Championships (photo by Johnnie Johnson).Perry has been held out much of the early part of the season as he recovers from a sprained MCL. He was originally slated to wrestle in the NWCA All-Star Classic in at Oklahoma State University on Nov. 21, but pulled out a week prior to the event as a precautionary measure. "I haven't been able to compete in the practice room during the last two, two and a half months," said Perry, who is ranked No. 2 in the country by RevWrestling.com behind Missouri's Ben Askren. "That's one of those things where you feel good after two weeks, come back, and all of a sudden a guy gets to your leg and it hurts again. It's still a little iffy, but it'll be fine. I just need to get some good training in." Perry made his season debut on Nov. 26 in Tempe, Arizona, picking up a second period pin against Arizona State's Alex Pavlenko. Last Friday night, in his second match of the season, Perry dominated David Bertolino of Iowa State, 13-3, as the Hawkeyes defeated the Cyclones, 20-15, in Ames, Iowa. Perry scored a takedown just 25 seconds into the match, and then proceeded to rack up six near-fall points in the first period (three two-pointers) to build an 8-0 lead, which helped propel him to an easy victory. While most wrestlers would have been satisfied with such a performance, especially in the early part of the season, the 21-year-old Perry clearly wasn't. "I didn't feel it was a good performance on my part," said Perry. "I thought that a couple of guys did a decent job, but I didn't feel like we competed like we should have, especially me. I could have easily tech falled that kid. I was up eight points in the first period. I kind of just stopped wrestling, instead of going for the technical fall or the fall. It was a little bit different for me because it was my first real test against a kid who is ranked in the top 15." Iowa coach Jim Zalesky, who is in his ninth season at the helm, believes that his sophomore standout needs to change his mindset. "I think the one thing that he has to realize is that he can go on his feet and be tough there too," said Zalesky. He's tough to take down. Sometimes I think he relies almost too much on mat wrestling, when he can go on his feet and open up on his feet." Perry's main workout partner during the off-season was Iowa assistant coach Tim Hartung. But his injury has prevented him from working out with Hartung, who won two NCAA titles for the University of Minnesota. "I haven't been able to workout with (Hartung) lately because of my knee," said Perry. "We haven't really worked out in a long time. The first time I practiced with him this last week, it was the first time in eight to 10 weeks because, honestly, he's good. He can get to my leg. If someone gets to my leg, it hurts. Even in my match (against Iowa State), I'm glad that I got a potentially dangerous call from Mike Allen. He probably shouldn't have called it potentially dangerous, but it was going to get close. My knee was hurt pretty badly in the first period and it kind of bothered me throughout the match." Perry believes that getting mat time is the most important thing for him right now. "Right now, I can go seven minutes with anybody, but I'm not up to the level where I want to be," said Perry. The thing is, once I get some good training in and get into the shape I need to be in, by the time the Midlands come around, I'll be ready to go." Mark Perry defeated David Bertolino of Iowa State, 13-3, last Friday night in Ames, Iowa (photo by Johnnie Johnson).The Midlands Wrestling Championships, which is one of the most prestigious events in collegiate wrestling, is set to take place Dec. 29-30 in Evanston, Illinois. If everything goes as expected, Perry will meet Northwestern's Jake Herbert -- the same wrestler he was scheduled to face at the NWCA All-Star Classic. Last season as a freshman, Herbert won a Midlands title and placed third at the NCAA Championships. "I'm really excited to wrestle Herbert," said Perry. "He's pretty big. He'll probably be a 184-pounder after this season. He's tough on top. He likes to roll around, which is good for me. That's one thing I think a lot of people underestimate, how much I can roll around. I hope these guys, like Askren, try to get in those scrambles with me. I'm sure they're thinking the same thing. I just feel like I'm going to come out on top. It should be an exciting match. Obviously, I have to first get ready for the dual against UNI (on Thursday), and then after that, get ready for Midlands." In the off-season, Perry lifted weights hard and got as high as 193 pounds. He now feels comfortable and confident in his new weight class. "I just feel that I'm faster than these guys," said Perry. "Last year, I felt so much weaker than everybody. I feel like I'm stronger than everybody that I wrestle now. I just have to get some good training in. Coach has held me out for the safety of my knee. It's still not where it needs to be. I'll probably wrestle some lighter guys to protect it and do a lot of cardiovascular training. I just need to get to where I need to be. I don't think anybody can beat me."

Iowa State's Jason Knipp captured the 149 pound title at the UNI Open Sunday in Cedar Falls while freshmen Mitch Mueller and Nick Fanthorpe placed fourth and fifth, respectively, at 141 and 125 pounds. Knipp, who finished third at the 2004 UNI Open, also captured his first Harold Nichols Open title in November. The junior from Waterloo is now 13-3 this season. "I was very pleased with this tournament," head coach Bobby Douglas said. "Our freshmen made tremendous strides and really impressed me." Knipp blazed through the 149 pound bracket, compiling a 5-0 record during the tournament. Seeded fifth, he upset the top-seeded Dave Espinosa from Missouri in the semifinals and beat Purdue's Mark Powell in the finals, 8-3. Mueller, an Iowa City native who finished third at the Harold Nichols Open, scored six wins in the tournament including two major decisions and defeated three different wrestlers from North Dakota State. The former Amateur Wrestling News All-American is now 15-5. Fanthorpe, who also finished third at the Harold Nichols Open, also scored two major decisions as he improved his season record to 9-5. The Naperville, Ill. native topped Wisconsin's Kyle Ruschell, 8-7, in the fifth-place match. Fanthorpe beat Iowa's Trent Goodale and Upper Iowa's Tyler Mumbulo earlier in the tournament. Freshmen Tyler Bjustrom and Laramie Shaffer registered their first pins in their ISU careers while Dallas and Dane Kuper also had falls.

CSU TO HOST 36th ANNUAL SCSU INVITATIONAL: The St. Cloud State wrestling team will welcome many of the nation's top collegiate wrestling programs to Halenbeck Hall's South Fieldhouse on Saturday, Dec. 10, when it hosts the 36th annual St. Cloud State Wrestling Invitational. The action will begin that day at 9 a.m. Teams slated to scheduled to compete include defending champion Augsburg, Dakota County Community College, Dickinson State University, Itasca C.C., Jamestown College, MSU-Mankato, Minnesota West C.C., Northern State University, Ridgewater C.C., Rochester C.C., Southwest Minnesota State University, St. Olaf College, St. John's University, University of Mary and St. Cloud State. For complete information on the tournament, please call 320-308-2996 or 308-2141. Results will be available at the SCSU website throughout the day at the following website http://www.stcloudstate.edu/athletics 2005-06 RESULTS: SCSU is 0-0 in dual meet competition this season. Last year, SCSU was 0-7 overall and 0-5 in the North Central Conference dual meet season. The Huskies placed sixth at the 2005 NCAA Division II North Regional, and also placed 30th at the 2005 NCAA Division II championships. HUSKIES AT UNI OPEN: Cedar Falls, Iowa - The St. Cloud State wrestling team competed at the annual University of Northern Iowa Open on Sunday, Dec. 4. The team was led by senior Nate Schut, who advanced to the quarterfinals at 165-pounds. In his first round at the UNI Open, Schut gained a fall at 5:35 over Ben Imdieke of North Dakota State. He followed that up with a 3-0 decision against Eastern Illinois' Kevin Knabijan. In the championship quarterfinals, Schut dropped a tough 5-0 match to #1 seed Eric Luedke of Iowa. In the wrestlebacks, Schut added a 5-3 win over Trevor Madsen of Luther and then lost in the wrestleback quarterfinals to Mark Lukaszewski of Illinois (fall at 3:59). Shane Tappe was also impressive at 149 for the Huskies. In first round action, Tappe gained a 5-1 win over Ben Kissling of Luther. In the second round, Tappe added a 2-1 win over Missouri's Nathan Hewitt. At 125-pounds, Nick Wasche posted a 1-2 record at UNI that included an 8-0 win over Minnesota's Daniel Jackson. At 133-pounds, Matt Jackson was 0-2 and Brent Johnson was 1-2 for the Huskies. Johnson posted a solid 11-7 win over Tony Metzger of Eastern Illinois in the wrestlebacks. In action at 141-pounds, Tom Messerli was 0-2, while Adam Hill was 0-2 at 174-pounds. Jairo Sandoval opened his day at UNI with a 5-2 win over Nate Mohr (unattached) at 174-pounds. He finished his run at UNI with a 1-2 record. The SCSU team was completed by Chad Emery, who compiled a 0-2 record at 197-pounds. HUSKY BITES: SCSU senior Nate Schut is back after posting a 1-2 record at the NCAA Division II championships in the 165-pound bracket. He was SCSU's lone national qualifier in 2004-05, and he helped the Huskies gain a 30th place finish at the NCAA championship last year...SCSU will begin dual meet action this year on Jan. 6, with a 6 p.m. home meet against Augustana College. As always, admission is free to all home dual meets this season in Halenbeck Hall.

UTC wrestler Michael Keefe was named Southern Conference Athlete of the Month for November, the league office announced Monday. Keefe, a junior, from Ringgold, Ga., went undefeated in November in seven matches with a technical fall and two major decisions. In the Mocs' season-opening tournament at the ACC/SoCon Mat Jam to open the 2005-06 season, Keefe posted wins over Duke (13-5 major), North Carolina (5-4) and conference rival Appalachian State (17-6 tech fall). Keefe, who entered the season ranked as high as No. 5 nationally, ended things in November ranked No. 4 in his weight class. He registered wins over Minnesota (10-5), Drexel (24-10 major) and Central Michigan (5-3) in the Northeast Duals. Athletes were honored from 12 sports including men's and women's cross country, men's and women's soccer, volleyball, football, offense and defense, men's and women's basketball, wrestling and men's and women's golf.

Pacifico Garcia, a senior at San Francisco State, is a national champion, but he isn't supposed to be. He was the kid who started high school and wasn't serious about anything. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do, where he wanted to go, or what he wanted to accomplish. He didn't win three California state titles like high school teammate Alex Tirapelle. In fact, he never won a state title (runner-up as a senior) and only placed once. He didn't wrestle freestyle or train year-round. Instead, he played baseball. He didn't get Division I offers from schools like Illinois, Fresno State, or Army, like his other high school teammates did. He and his coach had to seek out the colleges themselves. Pacifico GarciaThe Fresno, California native, who won the 149-pound NCAA title in Division II last March by defeating Minnesota State-Mankato's Jason Rhoten, has risen to the top of Division II wrestling through hard work, a love for the sport of wrestling, and a drive to be better than anyone else ever imagined. Garcia began wrestling when he was 10 years old. He went out for wrestling because at the time it was the only sport in which he could participate. He wasn't old enough to play football or other contact sports. Wrestling was his only option. "When I first started, I ended up beating a sixth grader, which really fired me up," recalled Garcia. "I was like, 'All right, let's do this.' I really enjoyed it, so I just kept on doing it." But if it wasn't for his high school wrestling coach, Steve Tirapelle, Garcia might not have accomplished as much as he has. The two entered Clovis High School the same year. Coach Tirapelle came to Clovis from its rival school, Buchanan, when Garcia was a freshman. "Pacifico told me a few years later, he said, 'Coach, we really didn't like you,' recalled Tirapelle. "I was like, no, no. He said, 'No, really, we hated you when you first came to Clovis.' And I was like, no, no, you didn't hate me. You just didn't know who I was. He said, 'No, you don't understand, we hated you. Our parents hated you. Everybody hated you.' I was kind of blown away by it." But soon, very soon, things changed. The wrestlers and parents bought into everything Tirapelle preached and coached. They loved him. When Garcia was competing in the lineup, Clovis dominated their section and placed in the top five at the state tournament three years in a row. The program became a factory for producing collegiate wrestlers. Most notably, though, were the coach's sons, Alex and Troy Tirapelle (the oldest brother, Adam, wrestled for Hiram Johnson and Buchanan), who both went on to wrestle at the University of Illinois. Garcia and Alex, who were the same year in school, became close friends on and off the mat. They wrestled together, ran together, and lifted weights together. "As far as Alex's leadership and his lifestyle, I tried to mimic it," said Garcia. "I knew that he was successful in school and in wrestling, so that's what I wanted. I wanted to be successful in both of those things too. Our relationship developed to the point where we became really good friends." Although Garcia wasn't one of the nation's top wrestlers (like Alex was), he still saw great success on the mat. As a junior, he qualified for the state tournament, but missed placing by one match. He was knocked out of the tournament after getting caught in a Peterson roll with 15 seconds left in the match, eventually losing in overtime. As a high school senior in 2001, Garcia entered the state tournament ranked seventh. He finished runner-up at 135 pounds in the one-class California State Tournament, losing in the state finals to Juan Mora, a wrestler he had previously beaten. "Before his finals match, I said, 'Whatever you do, don't let this kid inside leg trip you,'" recalled Tirapelle. "'That's his move. If he gets you there, you're in trouble.' Right away, in the beginning of the match, the kid inside leg tripped him and he got down by five, which really put him in a bad spot. I felt he was better than the kid. Not that the other kid wasn't good, he was a very good wrestler, but we had beaten him earlier in a close match. I think just walking out there in front of that many people, it kind of got to him a little bit. He got a little nervous. It's pretty hard to walk out there when you have never been on the victory stand before." Garcia, being a one-time state place winner, wasn't heavily recruited. "I got maybe a letter from Cal Poly and UC Davis because I showed some interest in them, so they showed some interest back," said Garcia. "But then it died out." It was a chance encounter at the Midlands Championships in Evanston, Illinois between San Francisco State head coach Lars Jensen and Tirapelle that would eventually bring Garcia to San Francisco State. Tirapelle thought that Garcia would be a perfect fit in the program. "Lars needed a guy," said Tirapelle. "I thought physically he would fit in there well. I thought he would have an impact right way. And I also thought he would have a good chance at succeeding in school." Pacifico GarciaSo Garcia made the three-hour drive to San Francisco State to visit the school. He liked the campus, liked the atmosphere, and made the decision to enroll in the fall of 2001. Garcia redshirted his first season at San Francisco State and wrestled two open tournaments at 141 pounds. He placed fourth at Southern Oregon and third at UC Davis. But according to Jensen, "He was going toe-to-toe with All-Americans in the practice room right off the bat." The next season as a redshirt freshman, Pacifico compiled a 20-20 record while wrestling at 141. It was a season of ups and downs. He would beat a good wrestler one week, then turn around and lose to a mediocre wrestler the next week. But he wrestled well when it mattered most and became an All-American by placing seventh at the NCAA Division II Championships. Garcia's sophomore year was marred by injuries and disappointments. "It was a long season," said Garcia of his sophomore campaign. "It was hard for me. I sprained my ankle pretty bad. Toward the end of the season, I was trying to keep my weight down. At 141, I was cutting a lot of weight. My ankle kept re-aggravating itself. It was a lot more than wrestling that was involved. As far as being one-hundred percent physically, mentally, and emotionally, I just wasn't there. And it showed." Garcia was shutout, 6-0, in the first round of the NCAA Division II Championships by defending national champion Merrick Meyer of Truman State. He then lost his first consolation match and was two and out. He made the decision to move up to wrestle 149 for his junior season. One of his teammates at the time, Donald Lockett, a two-time All-American (and now an assistant coach), moved up from 133 and took over at 141. Pacifico Garcia defeated Jason Rhoten of Minnesota State-Mankato to win the 149-pound NCAA title (photo by Johnnie Johnson) Garcia's national championship season wasn't perfect. In fact, it was far from it. He lost seven times. But he stayed injury free, always believed in his ability, and wrestled a great national tournament. He upset top-ranked Ryan King of Augustana, 9-4, in the semifinals, and then won narrowly over Rhoten in the finals, 2-1. He uses the words "boring" and "strategic" when describing his finals match, and believes he won the match because he "out-strategized" Rhoten. Now Garcia has his sights set on becoming only the second two-time NCAA champion at San Francisco State (Mauricio Wright won titles in 2002 and 2003). But a few setbacks have kept him off the mat so far this season. Earlier this season, he and one of his teammates clashed knees while wrestling in practice, which resulted in a contusion and kept him out of the Southern Oregon Open on Nov. 19. He made his season debut against Stanford on Nov. 22, but broke his nose in the first 30 seconds of the match. He is hoping to be back for the dual on Friday against UC Davis. One event in particular that he's looking forward to this season is the Midlands, which takes place in Evanston, Illinois on Dec. 29-30. It's considered one of the toughest collegiate tournaments in the country. For Garcia, it's a chance to test himself against top Division I wrestlers. Last season, he went 1-2 at the Midlands and failed to place. "I'm always thrilled to wrestle at the Midlands and see the best competition," said Garcia. "It's cool. The atmosphere is great. You get to wrestle the best guys in the country, so you get to push yourself and have the opportunity to be known, see where you stand, and figure what you need to work on. It really prepares us for the end of the year." Garcia is on track to graduate this spring with a degree in liberal studies. His immediate plans are to teach and coach wrestling at a school in California. His high school coach believes that he'll make a positive impact as a coach. "He'll be an excellent coach," said Tirapelle. "What a great kid he is. He has shown that if you have some desires and want to do things, you can do them. You can do a lot of things if you're willing to pay the price. He wasn't a student when he first started high school. He just didn't care for it that much. It wasn't that big of a deal. Other things were more important to him at the time. But he realized he could do certain things and still be good student. He'll have a tremendous impact. He's really good with kids. He's very conscientious and responsible. He'll be a great coach."

LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- The No. 3-ranked University of Michigan wrestling team crowned four individual champions en route to its second straight team title at the Cliff Keen Invitational on Saturday (Dec. 3) at the Cashman Center. Combining for 145 points through the two-day competition, the Wolverine dominated the 50-team field at the annual tournament, beating runner-up Cornell by 29 points. Matching last season's championship-round performance, all four Wolverine finalists won their respective matches. Fifth-year senior captains Ryan Churella (Northville, Mich./Novi HS) and Greg Wagner (Fort Wayne, Ind./Snider HS) repeated at 165 pounds and heavyweight, respectively, while junior/sophomore Josh Churella (Northville, Mich./Novi HS) and sophomore/freshman Steve Luke (Massilon, Ohio/Perry HS) each won in his first-ever Cliff Keen appearance, at 141 and 157 pounds, respectively. Scoring a fall in the closing seconds of the 141-pound final, Josh Churella, seeded third, kicked off Michigan's performance in the evening session with an explosive start. Churella trailed throughout the match as Cal-Davis' fourth-seeded Derek Moore scored the lone takedown of the first period and accumulated just over two minutes in riding time through the opening two frames. Churella scored a pair of reversals in the middle period, but Moore responded with a reversal of his own to lead 5-4 entering the final frame. After allowing Moore an escape with option start, Churella cut away at his advantage with a takedown midway through the period before giving up another escape on the restart. With about 20 seconds to go, Churella shot in deep on a single leg and got Moore wrapped up in a near-side cradle. The Wolverine wrestler rolled Moore to his back and, after a couple adjustments, got the pin to end the bout at 6:47. Luke went to the wire with Illinois' top-seeded Alex Tirapelle, also ranked No. 1 in the country at 157 pounds, needing 11 minutes to beat the two-time All-American on riding time after the second round of tiebreakers. With each wrestler earning his escape at the start of the second and third periods, the contest remained locked at 1-1 at the end of regulation. Luke and Tirapelle continued to match each other through the first round of tiebreakers and the second as the score bumped up to 2-2 and then 3-3. Luke's quick escape in the second tiebreaker proved crucial as an extra four seconds in riding time advantage became the deciding factor. Ryan Churella was named the tournament's outstanding wrestler after earning an 8-2 decision over Missouri's second-seeded Matt Pell to claim his second straight 165-pound title. The Wolverine captain controlled throughout the match, scoring a takedown in each frame and accumulating 3:15 in riding time while allowing Pell just a pair of escapes. During the morning session, Churella picked up a few extra points for the Wolverines with a fall, his second of the tournament, against Adams State's Evan Copeland in the semifinal round. Churella dominated from the opening whistle, scoring a pair of takedowns and three first-period back points before rolling Copeland up to end the bout at the 4:03 mark. Wagner capped the Wolverines' dominant final-round performance by edging out second-seeded Cain Velasquez of Arizona State 6-2 in the heavyweight final. Wagner earned takedowns in the first and second periods and added 1:23 in riding time to cruise to his second Cliff Keen individual crown. Like Churella, the U-M heavyweight added bonus points to Michigan's team score with a second-period fall against UNC Greensboro's fifth-seeded Tyler Shovlin in the semifinal round. In addition to the Maize and Blue's four finalists, junior/sophomore Eric Tannenbaum (Naperville, Ill./North HS) claimed fourth at 149 pounds after suffering a pair of tough second-day losses. The Wolverine fell 4-3 to Wisconsin's second-seeded Tyler Turner in the third-place bout after giving up a late takedown in the third period. The Wolverines will kick off the home portion of their 2005-06 slate next weekend when they host Nebraska on Friday (Dec. 9) for a 7 p.m. non-conference dual at Cliff Keen Arena. Two days later, U-M will head to Mount Pleasant, Mich., for its final dual of the calendar year, squaring off against intrastate rival Central Michigan at 2 p.m. Top 10 Teams (Final) 1. MICHIGAN 145 2. Cornell 116 3. Missouri 102.5 4. Edinboro 101 5. Arizona State 92 6. Illinois 88.5 7. Cal Poly 76 8. West Virginia 74.5 9. Purdue 69.5 10. Penn 69

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Both senior R.J. Boudro and junior All-American Andy Simmons posted 5-0 records en route to tournament titles as the Michigan State wrestling team competed at the Nittany Lion Open Sunday, Dec. 4, at Penn State University. Boudro won his first tournament of the season in impressive fashion, tallying a fall and four major decisions at 174 pounds. The Richmond, Mich., native outscored his opponents 52-13 to improve to 9-1 on the season. In the finals, Boudro defeated Virginia Tech's Jay Borschel, 13-5. Borschel had notched four falls in five matches to reach the finals. 141-pounder Andy Simmons was not to be outdone by his fellow captain, scoring four major decisions in five matches to improve to 14-1 on the year. Simmons gave up a combined 13 points as well, scoring 55 on the day. He won his finals match over Hofstra's Charles Griffin 11-1, and now sits second on the team in victories 14. Eight other Spartans placed, led by freshman Franklin Gomez who was runner-up at 125 pounds. Gomez went 4-1 on the day, losing a thrilling finals match with Penn State's Mark McKnight, 6-4. Gomez is now 12-3 on the season. Jeff Clemens had his best outing of the season on Sunday, claiming fourth at 197 pounds, while Tim Hammer matched his MSU Open performance, finishing fifth at 141 pounds. Eddie Skowneski at 149 pounds, Tony Greathouse at 157 pounds, Justin Mora at 165 pounds, Jeremy Bloom at 174 pounds and Max Lossen at 285 pounds all came away with seventh-place finishes. The Spartan wrestling team competes in two dual meets this week, as they face intrastate rival Central Michigan on Wednesday, Dec. 7, and host Cleveland State on Saturday, Dec. 10.

Dec. 3, 2005 -- The Bulldog wrestling team claimed the team title with three individual champions at the Simpson College Invitational on Saturday in Iowa. Blake Peterson, Gregg Nurrenbern and Matt Craig were the individual champions, while Dan Keller took home a third place and Dustin Teeman finished in fifth in his weight class. Peterson was the number two seed in the 165 bracket and beat out top seed Brian Daly of Augustana by an 8-0 score for the title. Nurrenbern cruised to his championship at 184 with two falls and two major decisions, while Craig came through as the third seed for a 7-1 victory in the title bout over Josh Porter of Central College in the 197 weight class. The Bulldogs scored 98 team points with the top placers in the tournament. Truman's three individual champions were the most of the 14 schools at the invitational. The Bulldogs edged out St. John's of Minnesota by a point and a half and Coe College by four and a half points. Truman will next be on the mats in Pershing Arena on Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs will host Simpson College and the Northwest Missouri State Wrestling Club at 3:00 p.m. in a triangular meet.