InterMat Staff

Wyatt Wriedt gets his hand raised after winning the national title at heavyweight (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com) CORALVILLE, Iowa -- The No. 9-ranked Loras College wrestling team completed the 2021 season on a high note at the 2021 NWCA Division III Wrestling Championships, earning a program-record nine All-Americans as well as crowning two national champions in Shane Liegel at 184 pounds and Wyatt Wriedt at 285 pounds. Taking place over a two-day period, the Duhawks sent a grappler in all ten weights. At 125 pounds, ninth-seeded Jared Hensley outperformed his seed by placing seventh. After a bye in the first round, Hensley avenged an earlier loss to eighth seed Dylan McChesney of Simpson College in the Round of 16, defeating McChesney by major decision. After a setback against No. 1 seed Samuel Braswell, Hensley rebounded by winning his blood round match against Brock Davis of Westminster College to claim All-America honors. Coming in as the twelfth seed, Perry, Iowa native Zach Thompson turned in a strong performance at 133 pounds. Thompson cruised to the quarterfinals and upset fourth-seed Charlie Pickell of Augsburg University in the final seconds of the 133 lbs. quarterfinal bout. Thompson recorded a hard-earned decision victory over Greensboro College's Joshua Wilson to score a fifth-place finish and All-America honors. Wrestling in his first national tournament in the purple and gold and seeded third Jalen Schropp rebounded from an early loss to gain All-America honors at 141 lbs. In the blood round, Schropp defeated eighth-ranked Brandon Gross of Augsburg by 8-3 decision to become an All-American as a freshman. Schropp, a native of Williamsburg, Iowa, had his tournament culminate in a sixth-place finish. Following in his brother Eddie Smith's '20 footsteps, Zeke Smith ended his first national tournament in fourth place at 149 pounds. Smith, who had a bye to start the tournament, defeated Rob Cleary of New Jersey City University and Adrian College's Noah Nieman to clinch an All-American trophy. After a setback in the semifinals, Smith rebounded with a decision over Messiah College's Garret Cornell, ending up as the fourth-place finisher at 149 lbs. Moving up a weight from last year, Daniel Ruiz competed in a number of hard-fought matches at 157 lbs., recording a seventh place finish in a tough weight class. Ruiz started his tournament with victories over Ferrum College's Christian Hite and the United States Coast Guard Academies (USCGA) Anthony Ulaszek to gain a spot in the quarterfinals. After a setback, Ruiz rebounded and gutted out two victories to earn All-American honors and seventh place finish. Sophomore and Virginia native Gabe Fiser turned in magical tournament run at 165 lbs. that included a number of upsets and a quadruple overtime victory in the quarterfinals. After scoring an upset win over fifth seed Rafael Roman of North Central College, Fiser matched up with fourth-seed Zarik Anderson of the University of Dubuque. A back-and-forth, action packed bout needed four overtime periods to claim the winner with Fiser seeing his hand raised to become an All-American. Fiser concluded his first national tournament with a fourth-place finish. Marengo, Iowa native Jacob Krakow collected his third All-America honor at 174 lbs. Krakow cruised to the semifinals by collecting two major decisions and one decision victory. A setback in the semifinals didn't distract Krakow from the next best thing, which was earning a third-place medal against Zachary Wells of Olivet College. Krakow displayed a mix of technical skills and the heart of a champion by rebounding on the back side of the bracket to finish in third. Sophomore Shane Liegel left Coralville, Iowa as the best wrestler in his weight class by being crowned the 184-pound champion. Liegel, who became the first Duhawk champion since James Buss in 2014, cruised the semifinals by collecting a fall, technical fall and decision to face off against familiar foe (6) Ira Kuehn of Luther. After being tied at two points apiece in the third period, Liegel sunk in a deep arm bar to pin Kuehn at the 5:35 mark. In the finals, Liegel toed the line against top-seeded Paul Detwiler of USCGA and proved the seeding committee wrong by churning out a decision against the top-ranked Detwiler, bringing the Duhawk faithful to their feet as he became a national champion. In the final match of the tournament, sixth-seeded Wyatt Wriedt had his run in the 285-pound weight class culminate in a national title. Wriedt started his journey with two decisions to reach the quarterfinals. Going against conference foe and third-seeded Kaleb Reeves of Coe College, Wriedt avenged a previous loss in 2021 to reach the semifinals. A decision victory over No.2-seed Dominick Wilson of Olivet College meant a matchup with eighth seed Tyler Kim of Augsburg in the finals. In a back-and-forth affair, Wriedt used a late takedown against Kim to become the second national champion of 2021 for the Duhawks which becomes a program first. In addition to a program record nine All-Americans and two national champions, the Duhawks compiled a dual record of 6-4 including dual victories over ranked opponents during the shortened 2021 season. The Duhawks will return all ten starters for the 2021-22 season.

David Hollingsworth won the national title at 157 pounds (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com) CORALVILLE, Iowa -- The top-ranked Wartburg wrestling team concluded competition at the NWCA Division III National Championships on Saturday, March 13 at the Xtream Arena with one third-place finish, four national runner-ups, two national champions and eight All-Americans. Junior David Hollingsworth and senior Kyle Briggs highlighted the tournament with national championships at 157 pounds and 174 pounds. Briggs ran through the first four rounds when he pinned all of his opponents and then won by major decision in the finals. Brady Kyner, Kris Rumph, Brady Fritz and Zane Mulder all finished in second in their respected weight class. After falling in his quarterfinal match, Joe Pins swept the consolation bracket and earned a third place spot on the podium. During day two, the Knights went 11-6 with four pins, one technical fall and two major decisions. The Orange & Black concluded the weekend with an overall record of 40-11 with 17 pins, three technical falls and eight major decisions. Wartburg finished the year with a record of 9-1 overall and 8-0 in the American Rivers Conference.

Josh Gerke celebrates after winning the national title at 149 pounds (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com) CORALVILLE, Iowa -- After securing nine All-Americans on the opening day of the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Division III National Championships, Coe College's wrestling team continued a historic weekend on Saturday at Xtream Arena. The Kohawks' Alex Friddle, Brock Henderson and Josh Gerke topped the podium in their respective weight classes, giving Coe three NWCA national champions for the first time in program history. Coe had the most individual national champions of any team in the field as the A-R-C claimed 7-of-10 titles. Friddle, Brock Henderson, and Gerke were joined by teammate Brady Henderson as national finalists after Saturday's first session, setting the stage for the finals. Third-seeded Friddle (125 pounds) opened the evening against Wartburg's Brady Kyner, the fourth-seed, in their second matchup of 2021. Much like the first tilt, the Morris, Ill.-native dispatched Kyner in a tight match, using a late takedown to claim national champion status, 6-3. At 133 pounds, second-seeded Brock Henderson defeated top-seed Robbie Precin of North Central, 4-2. The North Linn prep did so in dramatic fashion, taking down Precin in overtime for a sudden victory and the Kohawks' second national title of the night. Coe's dominance at the lighter weights continued at 149 pounds as Gerke edged out Wartburg's Brady Fritz with a takedown in the final seconds after a wild scramble between both wrestlers. After a coaches' challenge from the Knights was unsuccessful, Gerke notched the 4-2 victory and topped the podium as a national champion. Brady Henderson had a solid two days at 157 pounds, advancing all the way to the national final. Henderson battled his opponent from Wartburg, David Hollingsworth, but was ultimately pinned at the 4:17 mark in the match.

St. Cloud State won its third consecutive NCAA Division II national championship (Photo/Thomas Breach) Link: Results ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- It was supposedly a down season for the St. Cloud State University wrestling team. The perennial power had supposedly taken a back seat. Despite completing a perfect season in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) play, the Huskies were ranked third in the final National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) rankings with just six wrestlers individuals ranked in the top-10. The University Nebraska-Kearney surged from third to first, with nine wrestlers nationally ranked in the final poll entering the Super Regional and NCAA Championship. In the words of Michael Jordan ... St. Cloud State took that personally. The Huskies proved just how dominant they are and put the naysayers to bed in the best way possible: by winning their third consecutive NCAA championship. After seeing the 2019-20 championship canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and falling behind 58-51.5 after the opening day of the 2020-21 competition, St. Cloud State outlasted Nebraska-Kearney, winning the national championship with 107 total points compared to the Lopers 105.5. The Huskies did everything they needed to in Saturday's morning session, as all seven wrestlers advanced to the championship round with wins in both the semifinal and consolation semifinal matches. In fact, four of those seven qualified for the championship bout, as Garrett Vos (Bonifacius, Minn. / Waconia), Joseph Bianchini (Elk Grove Village, Ill. / Immaculate Conception), Garrett Aldrich (Albert Lea, Minn. / Albert Lea) and Kameron Teacher (Grove City, Ohio / Central Crossings) advanced with wins in their semifinal matches. Colby Njos (Anoka, Minn. / Anoka) and Devin FitzPatrick (Mahtomedi, Minn. / Mahtomedi) advanced to wrestle in the third place match, while Noah Ryan (Mantorville, Minn. / Kasson-Mantorville) battled his way to the seventh place match after a first round loss on Friday. Right on St. Cloud State's heels, though, was Nebraska-Kearney, the No. 1 team in the nation that sent 10 wrestlers to the NCAA Championship. In fact, the two teams traded leads early and often during the opening session, with the Lopers holding a 100-96 lead after Saturday's opening session. St. Cloud State looked to close the gap with perfect performances in the third and seventh place matches. The Huskies did just that, starting with Njos in the 157 third place match. After earning his place with a tightly contested 4-3 win in the semis, the redshirt-freshman left no doubt about his standing in the nation, as he upended No. 2 seed Dawson Combest 5-2 to win the third place match. Immediately following Njos, FitzPatrick kept the good times rolling, as he defeated No. 8 Cory Peterson by fall in 2:16 to potentially close his collegiate career with a "W". Ryan closed the consolation finals with a pin win of his own, and he was nearly as quick as FitzPatrick. The junior downed Chris Groege at 2:17 in the first period to finish in seventh place at 197 pounds. Still, for all St. Cloud State's success, the team could not regain the lead from Nebraska-Kearney, as the Lopers did just enough to hold a slim 105-103 lead over the Huskies entering the championship bouts. However, St. Cloud State seemingly had nothing to fret, as the team had four different wrestlers competing in the finals matches Saturday evening. First up, at 133 pounds, was Vos, the No. 1 wrestler in the weight class for the entire 2020-21 season. The redshirt-junior had seemingly the toughest matchup of the night, as he was set to face No. 2 Tyler Warner, the defending national champion at 133 pounds. Despite a strong game plan, Vos was defeated by Warner 8-4 in the championship bout. Even with Vos' loss, the Huskies were feeling confident, with three more wrestlers in championship matches. In fact, the very next weight class featured a St. Cloud State wrestler, as Bianchini was battling Newberry's Isiah Royal for the national championship at 141. Despite falling into a 2-0 hole just seconds in, Bianchini battled his way back into the match, evening the score 2-2 and taking a 3-2 lead at the end of the first period. The sophomore, though, suffered a takedown late in the third, resulting in a 7-6 loss by decision for Bianchini. Down 105-103 with two championship matches to go, Aldrich came to the mat, hoping to clinch his team its third consecutive national title. The redshirt junior came up short, falling by 12-5 decision at the 149 weight class. In the end, it all came down to Teacher. The senior came to the mat relaxed and loose, ready to win the first individual title of his impeccable career. More importantly, though, Teacher was ready to win the championship for his team. Meer seconds into the match, the senior earned a key takedown against Colorado Mines' Weston Hunt, taking a 2-1 lead early in the first period. Teacher continued his aggressive style of play, containing Hunt and its hopes of upending the No. 1 ranked wrestler at 285. After earning an escape and another takedown, Teacher held the slimmest of leads, one point at 6-5, with a minute remaining in the third period. The seconds ticked away, far too slow for the St. Cloud State fanbase, but when the clock struck zero, Teacher was proclaimed the victor, as he clinched the national title for both himself and the Huskies with the 6-5 decision win. Thanks to Teacher's win, St. Cloud State outpaced Nebraska-Kearney 107-105.5 to win its third consecutive national title and five in the last seven total years. Perhaps more impressive is the fact that the Huskies have won five of the last six national titles, as the 2019-20 championship was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Teacher closed his season, and potentially career, with a perfect 13-0 season at 285-pounds. The senior additionally led the team in points scored at the national tournament, tallying 21.0 total over the course of the two day tournament. FitzPatrick tallied 18.0 points over the weekend thanks to his third place finish at the 165 pound weight class. The senior closed his season with a 13-2 record and will graduate from St. Cloud State as a three-time All-American. Vos, Bianchini and Aldrich all scored 16.0 points for the Huskies over the weekend, earning All-American honors with their second place finishes at their respective weight classes. Vos closes the season with an 11-1 record, while Bianchini closes with a 12-1 mark. Aldrich finishes the season with an 8-3 record at 149 pounds. Njos came seemingly out of nowhere to earn 12.0 points for St. Cloud State at the NCAA Championships, as the unseeded redshirt freshman finished third at 157 pounds. Njos closes the 2020-21 season with a 10-3 record and earns All-America honors for the first time in his career. Ryan earned All-America honors with his seventh place finish on Saturday and earned 8.0 points towards the team score. He closes the season with a 10-4 record, while Billy Pitzner's (Jefferson, Wis. / Milton) season came to a close at the national championships on Friday.

Link: Results CORALVILLE, Iowa -- The top-ranked Wartburg wrestling team concluded day one of the NWCA Division III National Wrestling Championships on Friday, March 12 inside the Xtream Arena, sending seven athletes into the semifinals while eight wrestlers remain alive in their respective weight class brackets. Eight Knights secured a spot on the podium with All-American status. Day one was highlighted with Brady Kyner, Kris Rumph, Brady Fritz, David Hollingsworth, Zane Mulder, Kyle Briggs and Jordon Brandon all going 3-0 to reach the semifinals. Joe Pins stayed alive in the consolation bracket after falling in quarterfinals and advanced to the second day. Cael Krueger bowed out of the tournament in his consolation round of eight #2 match as did Kobe Woods. Senior Briggs stole the show when he pinned all three of his opponents with times of 10 seconds, 16 seconds and 2:12. As a whole, the Knights posted some staggering numbers with a record of 29-5 including 13 pins, two technical falls and six major decisions.

Link: Results ST. LOUIS -- The top-ranked Nebraska-Kearney wrestling steam started and finished strong and leads after the first day of the 2021 NCAA Division II Championships in St. Louis The socially-distanced meet with limited attendance is being held at the America's Center Convention Complex. The second session runs Saturday from 12-5 p.m. with finals set for 7 p.m. Live results and a live video stream are available. UNK, the only school with 10 qualifiers in the 44-team field, secured nine All-Americans (top eight finish) by going 7-1 in the consolation/elimination round. Receiving four early byes the Lopers went 5-1 in round one but struggled in the quarterfinals before finishing the day on a high note. By winning its last seven matches UNK zoomed up the team standings to be at 58.0 points. Defending national champion St. Cloud State is second (51.5) with St. Louis-area schools Lindenwood (43.5) and McKendree (42.5) sitting in third and fourth, respectively. Headed to the semifinals again are Iowa senior Matt Malcom (165 lbs.) and Lincoln senior Wesley Dawkins (133 lbs.). Bouncing back from either a first or quarterfinal loss to be an All-American are Colorado senior Sam Turner (149 lbs.), Pennsylvania senior Jacob Wasser (157 lbs.), Kansas junior Austin Eldredge (184 lbs.), Kansas junior Terrell Garraway (174 lbs.), Kearney sophomore Lee Herrington (285 lbs.), Kearney redshirt freshman Nick James (141 lbs.), and Seward redshirt freshman Joseph Reimers (197 lbs.). UNK Wrestling UNK had eight All-Americans in 2007 (national runners up) and 2008 (national champs). To win that title in 2008 the Lopers had just two finalists but four third place finishers and two in eighth. Dawkins had an early takedown in his first-round match before sticking Logan Selga of North Carolina-Pembroke at the 3:00 minute mark. He then used two takedowns and a late escape to best sixth-seeded and previously unbeaten Jacob Dunlap of Gannon (Pa.), 5-1. Second-seed and unbeaten Tyler Warner of West Liberty (W.V.) is up next. Four classes higher Malcom was equally as dominant. He had four takedowns and riding time to major previously undefeated James Penfold of Lake Erie (Ohio), 11-3. The now four-time All-American then got by sixth-seed Shane Gantz of Wisconsin-Parkside, 5-3, thanks to building up riding time in the third and an early takedown in the second. Second-seed and nemesis Fred Green of Colorado Mesa awaits; Malcom has lost to him in each of the last two regional finals. In the afternoon consolation round, Herrington was up 6-0 when he pinned King's Cade Ridley at 3:00 with Turner having a fall at 2:04. Like Herrington he had already racked up a takedown and near fall points. Next, Garraway dominated the third period to beat eighth-seed Caleb Spears of Newberry (S.C.), 10-4, with James starting the big run of wins with a last second takedown of Ashland's Luke Wymer. James trailed 4-2 in the third with an escape getting him close before the late action. UNK's other freshman stepped as well as Reimers was rolling second-seeded Nick Mason of Tiffin, 8-3, before getting him on his back at 5:45 Finally, Eldredge scored four in the third to beat Gannon's Cam Page, 5-3, with Wasser leading his match against Mount Olive's Colby Teague the entire way, 7-3. Iowa senior Josh Portillo (125 lbs.) majored his first foe but lost each of his next two matches. The three-time All-American and two-time Elite 80 award winner is returning next season, taking advantage of a "free season."

JAMESTOWN, N.D. -- On Thursday evening the NAIA hosted a virtual National Championship Coaches Social. At the conclusion of the event, National Wrestling Coaches Association Executive Director Mike Moyer recognized the five finalists for the NAIA Women's National Coach of the Year and announced the winner as selected by their peers. The award is presented to the coach that has demonstrated outstanding effort throughout the season in developing and elevating their program on campus and in the community. The NWCA National Coach of the Year awards program is presented by Defense Soap, the official Hygiene partner of the NWCA. "In continuing our mission, Defense Soap is proud to partner with the NWCA, to keep wrestlers on the mat with our products and education in hygiene." Guy Sako, Founder and CEO of Defense Soap. Lee MiracleThe recipient of this year's NAIA Women's National Coach of the Year is Lee Miracle of Campbellsville University (KY). Coach Miracle is in his 8th season as head coach and his achievements this season include an 8-0 dual meet record capped by a regular-season Mid-South Conference championship, a 3rd MSC Individual Tournament title with seven finalists, five individual conference champions, and 12 athletes qualified for the NAIA Championships. His current roster is comprised of 43 wrestlers. "It's an honor to recognize Coach Lee Miracle as the National Coach of the Year," Said NWCA Executive Director Mike Moyer, NWCA. "What Lee has been able to build at Campbellsville is absolutely amazing. His athletes continue to simply find ways to win and can't ever be counted out. Good luck to him and his athletes this weekend as they compete for at the national championships." 2021 NAIA COACH OF THE YEAR AWARD FINALISTS KCAC - Daviaire Dickerson, Midland University KCAC - Shauna Kemp, University of Jamestown HAAC - Cody Garcia, Baker University MSC - Lee Miracle, Campbellsville University SAC - Kiiler Stephens, Wayland Baptist University ABOUT THE NWCA The National Wrestling Coaches Association, established in 1928, is a non-profit organization for the advancement of all levels of the sport of wrestling with primary emphasis on developing coaches who work in academic environments. The three core competencies of the NWCA are: Coaching Development, Student-Athlete Welfare, and the Promotion of Wrestling.

The NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships are only a week away and the constant buzzing you hear is the chatter of wrestlers, coaches, families and friends aglow about the reinstitution of the sport's most meaningful weekend. Like most of you I will not be in attendance. The ticket situation is grim and the press allocations seem difficult. Also, having just been in Rome for the Matteo Pellicone I'm smarter than to leave my family for another weekend. However, for those who are attending, I hope that there is some semblance of normalcy. There won't be loud cheers and pulsing crowds, but there still can be those unexpected conversations and light moments of connection that we've all been missing this past year. Wrestling is about community and the NCAA tournament is our annual gathering spot. I've covered this in previous years, but in the late 19th and early 20th century there was something called "March Meetings" where farmers from across Vermont, New Hampshire, and other states would gather to discuss how best to get their goods to market and utilize each other's resources to cut costs. Travel to the event would take several days, as would travel home, so the men and boys would stay for a week or so chatting and plotting. However, as men left alone are prone to do, they also consumed a gargantuan amount of alcohol and challenged each other to wrestling matches. The style of the day was Irish inspired collar-and-elbow so there were fun throws and plenty of pins. There was also gambling, fighting, and other crude side shows. As the meetings became more and more popular and necessary the extracurricular wrestling became a showcase for small communities to promote theirs as the toughest of local lots. Enter wrestling promotions! There were posters, nicknames, and costumes of sort, but from what is known, the matches did not seem to be rigged. In fact, it was the bragging rights many famers sought and not the extra cash for competition. Alas, all that is old is new again and this March as those who can migrate from their villages, towns, and cities they too will look to the center of the mat and see their representative taking battle for not much more than bragging rights. It's a simple sport and a simple concept, but it's fundamental to who we are and complaints about seeding and bracketing and COVID aside, it's our moment to connect, to cheer and to celebrate. To your questions … Gable Steveson is undefeated and seeded No. 1 at the NCAAs (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com) Q: Is Gable Steveson the Hodge frontrunner after what he did to Mason Parris in the Big Ten finals? -- Mike C. Foley: Yes and I think he's the frontrunner to represent the United States at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo. Q: Any takeaways on the NCAA tournament seeds/brackets? -- Mike C. Foley: Bracketology is a sub-market of the larger sports industrial complex. It's profitable, exciting, and ultimately pointless but there are few things that get more thumbs rattling than a bad seed or a good draw. The main takeaway is that there was a lot more parity among the conferences than I would have expected. The ACC is far better than its allotment and the Ivy-less EIWA was gifted a large number of spots. That's maybe not fair, but the NCAA did the best they could given COVID and the uncertain nature of the season. A positive side effect of the wacky allotments was that some non-traditional programs were able to earn qualifications, including Sacred Heart and the newbie program Little Rock. That's an incredible opportunity for those programs to lift their profile in their respective athletic departments and possibly fundraise for their future. MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME Day 3 Matteo Pellicone Highlights Vicky had a monster tournament Q: What did you think of the calls/refereeing in the Burroughs vs. Chamizo match at the Matteo Pelicone? -- Mike C. Foley: The call was always going to be difficult. Once Chamizo starts scrambling he's constantly changing his points of contact and simultaneously endangering his opponent in ways that most fans and referees don't see very often. I think that the initial exchange was just so complicated to understand in real time (and wasn't reviewed) that there was no way a referee and fans could agree on what they were seeing. Chamizo had three points of contact on the mat, but he also had Jordan's leg wrapped in his arm. The former is almost always a takedown. However, the latter prevents almost all takedowns from being called. Initially I thought it was a takedown and would have been called IF Chamizo hadn't made an explosive movement at the end of the exchange. If instead Chamizo had stalemated the position or they'd gone out of bounds together then Burroughs would have been given the exchange. As it was, the over-the-back throw was the difference maker. As we were flying back I had the opportunity to chat with referees who all believe it should have been reviewed. In their estimation it would have either been white paddled for points or Burroughs would have been given two points. But without the benefit of the review, it wasn't possible to change the call. To be fair to the coaching staff it was so early and the expectation was for a lot of points to be scored so it wasn't seen as the most critical exchange, as it later became after very little offense. I will say that Chamizo controlled the center and earned the passivity calls against Jordan. He set the tempo and walked Jordan back. He didn't take as many shots, but also remember that half shots aren't normally counted as heavily as control of the center.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Originally named an alternate for next week's 2021 NCAA Wrestling Championships, Utah Valley University sophomore Cameron Hunsaker has officially been named an injury replacement and will now also compete at nationals as UVU will now send four wrestlers to the NCAA Championships. Cameron HunsakerHe will join the two-time Big 12 champion and second-seeded senior Demetrius Romero at 174 pounds, the seventh-seeded junior Taylor LaMont at 125, and the redshirt freshman and No. 28 seed Ty Smith at 133 pounds. Hunsaker's seed and updated 149-pound bracket will be announced at a later time. Hunsaker will enter his first trip to the NCAA Championships off of a seventh-place finish in his weight class at the Big 12 Championships last week. He holds a 9-7 overall record on the year and is currently ranked 31st in the latest NCAA Coaches Panel Ranking. The NCAA previously released seeding and brackets for the rest of the field on Wednesday and the No. 2 seed that Romero was awarded is UVU's highest national seed in program history. LaMont's No. 7 seed also matches for the second highest seed, as he was previously also the No. 7 seed at 125 pounds during his freshman season in 2018. This marks the third time that both Romero and LaMont have qualified for nationals and the first for both Hunsaker and Smith. It is also the second time in program history that a UVU grappler has been named an injury replacement to compete at nationals, as former three-time NCAA qualifier Tanner Orndorff qualified that way in 2018. The four qualifiers marks the most qualifiers for Utah Valley since 2019 when the Wolverines sent a program best six that season. The 2021 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships will run Thursday to Saturday, March 18-20, at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis. All seven sessions of this year's championship event will be televised live on the ESPN Family of Networks.

Andrew Alirez withdrew from the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships (Photo/Anna-Lee Marie) GREELEY, Colo. -- Northern Colorado sophomore wrestler Andrew Alirez has withdrawn from the 2021 NCAA Championships. Alirez, who qualified as an at-large selection, will not compete at the championships due to an injury sustained in practice prior to the Big 12 Championships. "My heart breaks for Andrew. He had a tremendous fall and start to the season and was ready to compete for the NCAA title this season," said head coach Troy Nickerson. "We look forward to getting him back to 100%." The Greeley native is a two-time NCAA qualifier and will have a chance to be a five-time qualifier as the NCAA has already announced this year as a zero year. None of this year's wrestlers lose eligibility for competing in the 2021 season. Northern Colorado is still sending three wrestlers to the NCAA Championships in Mosha Schwartz (133), Jackson Hemauer (174) and Alan Clothier (184). All three automatically qualified for the NCAA Championship based on their finishes at the Big 12 Championships. The NCAA unveiled the 2021 NCAA Championship brackets on Wednesday.

Don Henry (Photo/Gannon Athletics) ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- On Thursday the National Wrestling Coaches Association announced the NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year and six finalists as selected by their peers. The award is presented to the coach that has demonstrated outstanding effort throughout the season in developing and elevating their program on campus and in the community. The NWCA National Coach of the Year awards program is presented by Defense Soap, the official Hygiene partner of the NWCA. "In continuing our mission, Defense Soap is proud to partner with the NWCA, to keep wrestlers on the mat with our products and education in hygiene." Guy Sako, Founder and CEO of Defense Soap. The recipient of this year's NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year is Don Henry of Gannon University (PA). Coach Henry is in his 37th year at Gannon and his achievements this season include capturing the program's first Super Regional championship with six individual champions and qualifying eight athletes for the NCAA Championships. He currently has 50 athletes on his roster. "On behalf of the NWCA and our Board of Directors it is my privilege to recognize Coach Don Henry of Gannon University as the National Coach of the Year," said Mike Moyer, NWCA Executive Director. "Don's long-lasting commitment to Gannon and his program is truly impressive and rarely seen. Congratulations to him and his team and good luck to them as they compete this weekend at the national championships." 2021 NCAA DIVISION II COACH OF THE YEAR AWARD FINALISTS Super Region 1 - Don Henry, Gannon University Super Region 2 - Cy Wainwright, Newberry College Super Region 3 - Danny Irwin, West Liberty University Super Region 4 - Todd Steidley, University of Central Oklahoma Super Region 5 - Rocky Burkett, Northern State University Super Region 6 - Dalton Jensen, University of Nebraska at Kearney ABOUT THE NWCA The National Wrestling Coaches Association, established in 1928, is a non-profit organization for the advancement of all levels of the sport of wrestling with primary emphasis on developing coaches who work in academic environments. The three core competencies of the NWCA are: Coaching Development, Student-Athlete Welfare, and the Promotion of Wrestling.

UNI's Parker Keckeisen is a MAC champion with an undefeated record (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) Freshmen have made huge impacts in recent years at the NCAA Wrestling Championships. And it definitely could happen again at this year's NCAA Championships in St. Louis. Freshmen have only had limited mat time during this pandemic shortened season, but a number of newcomers are capable of finishing high on the podium. A number of this year's top college freshmen have already excelled on the world stage at the age-group levels. That experience is so valuable and important when dealing with the pressure of the three-day NCAA tournament. There isn't quite the star power of recent freshman classes, but there are still some excellent wrestlers in this class. Carter Starocci defeated Nebraska's Mikey Labriola in the Big Ten semifinals (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com) 1. Carter Starocci (Penn State, 174) Starocci may be the best of Penn State's stable of standout freshmen. He has the potential to win it all and follow a path similar to Mark Hall for the Nittany Lions. Starocci looks to have a complete skill set. He's talented, skilled and wrestles hard. Look for him to battle top-seed Michael Kemerer of Iowa again and expect a great match if it happens. 2. Sam Latona (Virginia Tech, 125) Latona has had a fabulous first season for the Hokies. He secured the No. 2 seed at NCAAs after winning the ACC title. He has made significant gains this season and definitely has a shot to make the finals in a weight class that is led by heavily favored Spencer Lee of Iowa. Latona (10-0) is among numerous wrestlers battling for a title shot. 3. A.J. Ferrari (Oklahoma State, 197) Ferrari looked superb in being named Outstanding Wrestler after winning a Big 12 title. He's a driven and confident wrestler who will not back down from anybody. He is 15-1 and peaking at the right time. The 197 class is fairly wide-open and Ferrari is a guy who looks capable of excelling when the stakes are highest. It will be interesting to see how he fares. 4. Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa, 184) Keckeisen has continued UNI's strong tradition of standouts at 184 pounds, following in the footsteps of NCAA champion Drew Foster and four-time NCAA qualifier Taylor Lujan. Keckeisen earned a hard-fought 5-3 win over Wyoming's Tate Samuelson in the Big 12 finals. Keckeisen is 13-0 this season and is definitely capable of placing high in his first national tournament. ASU's Cohlton Schultz won a Pac-12 title (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) 5. Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State, 285) Schultz is another wrestler who has already wrestled in his share of big matches, He is a Cadet world champion and Junior world silver medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling who is expected to contend for a spot on the Olympic Team. Schultz is 12-0 in his first season with the Sun Devils, who have their sights set on earning a team trophy. 6. Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State, 285) Kerkvliet is another young standout who excelled at the age-group levels. He was a Cadet world champion and Junior world silver medalist. He will be a tough matchup for anyone he faces in a very deep heavyweight class. Kerkvliet finished fourth at Big Ten's, but his only losses were to wrestlers ranked second and third in the country. 7. Lucas Byrd (Illinois, 133) Byrd looked very good in the Big Ten tournament. He is a gritty, hard-nosed competitor. He lost a close battle to All-American Austin DeSanto of Iowa before coming back to place third. He defeated another top freshman, Northwestern's Chris Cannon, 7-1 in the match for third. Byrd takes an 11-2 record into the national tournament. 8. Keegan O'Toole (Missouri, 165) Missouri rolled to its 10th straight MAC team title and O'Toole was one of four champions for the Tigers. O'Toole has scored his share of bonus points and that could be key for a Missouri team that qualified all 10 wrestlers. O'Toole is a perfect 13-0 this season. 9. Chris Cannon (Northwestern, 133) Cannon has put together a solid season. He will take an 8-2 record into NCAAs after placing fourth in a loaded weight class at the Big Ten tournament. Cannon is someone who can put points on the scoreboard and is fun to watch compete. Missouri's Rocky Elman is 11-0 heading into the NCAAs (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) 10. Rocky Elam (Missouri, 197) The Tigers have another tough newcomer in Elam, a prized recruit who captured a MAC title. He's another big bonus point scorer for Missouri. Elam could be a factor in a 197 class that is fairly wide open. He has compiled an 11-0 record this season after bumping up a weight class. Other notable freshmen ... Jaden Abas (Stanford, 149) It's no surprise to see the talented Abas making a big impact. He will look to add to his family's impressive history of success in this tournament. He has compiled an 8-2 record in his first varsity season. He won a Pac-12 title and could make a big splash in St. Louis. John Poznanski (Rutgers 184) Poznanski made a huge impact during this shortened season. He went 7-2 at 184 with five wins over ranked opponents. He is peaking at the right time after an impressive third-place finish at Big Tens. He earned a No. 6 seed for the NCAA Championships.

USA Wrestling has released its expected schedule for the Olympic Team Trials - Wrestling, which is set for April 2-3, 2021, in Fort Worth, Texas, at Dickies Arena. Competition begins Friday at 10 a.m. CT with challenge tournament preliminary rounds and quarterfinals for all weights in all three Olympic styles. The semifinals and finals for the challenge brackets are set for Friday night beginning at 6:30 p.m. CT. Saturday afternoon's action will start at noon CT with consolation competition, concluding with third-place matches. Finally, starting at 6:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, the best-of-three finals series for each weight class will be contested. Tickets are still available HERE! USA Wrestling will update with the NBC broadcasting schedule when more information becomes available. OLYMPIC TEAM TRIALS - WRESTLING April 2-3, 2021 | Dickies Arena (Fort Worth, Texas) Competition schedule (U.S. Central Time) Friday, April 2 Session I - Challenge Tournament Preliminaries, Quarterfinals, Consolation Rd(s) (ALL STYLES AND WEIGHTS) *All Championship matches will wrestle prior to Consolation rd. 1 10:00 AM - 3:30PM Session II - Challenge Tournament Semifinals and Finals 6:30 PM - 10:00 PM Saturday, April 3 Session III - Challenge Tournament Consolation, 3rd Place, True 3rd IF NEEDED (ALL STYLES AND WEIGHTS) 12:00 PM - 4:00PM Session IV - Tournament FINAL: Best of 3 Series 6:30 PM - 10:00 PM

Penn State hosted the 2021 Big Ten Wrestling Championships (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com) The Big Ten Network's coverage of the 2021 wrestling season concluded with a record breaking 324,322 viewers for the final session of the 2021 Big Ten Wrestling Championships. Viewership reflected +29% growth from the previous record, set in 2020, and made it the most-watched wrestling championship broadcast in network history. Sunday's high-water mark followed BTN's first-ever Saturday broadcasts from the wrestling championships. Session 1 averaged over 140,000 viewers across four hours and peaked with 236,000 viewers. The session 2 semifinals earned over 222,000 viewers with a peak of 296,000 during the event. On Saturday night, another record was set as a special 30-minute edition of the Big Ten Network's original wrestling series, On The Mat, debuted. The story of Iowa's Spencer Lee delivered 146,000 viewers, which bested the previous On The Mat record of 103,000 viewers. In addition to the television audience, nearly 9 million minutes (8,869,665) of individual mats and consolation matches were streamed via Big Ten Network+ and the FOX Sports app. Digital consumption from the championship, driven primarily by YouTube, resulted in over 4.5 million minutes watched across multiple platforms. Wrestling remains the most-watched sport on the Big Ten Network YouTube page as illustrated with 3.8 million minutes watched over the weekend. Facebook (715,000 minutes watched) and Twitter (196,000 minutes watched) provided fans with additional opportunities to observe matches and highlights. The strong performance followed an exceptional regular season, where the average audience for a wrestling broadcast climbed to 150,262, up +23% from last season's 122,073 average. The continued ascension of regular season wrestling viewership is particularly notable in a year where multiple high-profile duals were canceled or postponed. BTN's digital and social platforms also flourished during the regular season. On The Mat, which produced 17 digital features and several television episodes this year, garnered over 178,000 views on YouTube. The latest installment of the show, telling the tragic story of Christian Miller and his impact on Nebraska wrestling, can be seen here. Additionally, the @B1GWrestling Instagram account, which was launched in January, grew 3200% during the course of the season leading to over two million views on the platform.

Pac-12 rivals Grant Willits and Real Woods will meet in the first round (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) This year's opening round at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships may be one of the most exciting in several years. There are many intriguing matchups happening in the opening session that should be happening in the second or even third session. The NCAA Wrestling Committee faced a tall order seeding 33 wrestlers in 10 weight classes in a shortened season. Seeding was all over the board this season. There were seeds -- and even weight classes -- that were seeded well. Conversely, there were head-scratching seeds, which caused a bracket chaos and brought about some interesting early matchups. Let's examine the best first-round matchup in each of the 10 weight classes. 125: No. 6 Jakob Camacho (NC State) vs. No. 27 Gage Curry (American) Camacho had a strong season, going 8-2, with both of his losses coming to second-seeded freshman Sam Latona of Virginia Tech. The NC State sophomore could see Latona for a third time this season in the semifinals but has a tough path to get there. He opens with American's Gage Curry, a four-time NCAA qualifier who had a late start to his season due to American University not competing in the regular season. Curry is a dangerous matchup for Latona. He went 31-9 last season and placed fourth at the EIWA Championships. This year, Curry improved on his conference tournament finish, placing third. While Camacho remains a strong favorite here, look for Curry to make it a competitive match. 133: No. 14 Zach Price (South Dakota State) vs. No. 19 Chance Rich (CSUB) Price made a big leap from last season, going from slightly under .500 and failing to qualify for the NCAAs to posting a 14-4 record and earning a No. 14 seed in St. Louis. He had a bit of a disappointing Big 12 tournament, losing in the opening round as the No. 3 seed to Oklahoma's Tony Madrigal. Price battled back to place fifth. Rich wrestled only two matches prior to the Pac-12 Championships, beating NCAA qualifier Paul Bianchi of Little Rock and losing to Stanford's Jason Miranda. Rich got on a little bit of a roll at the Big 12 Championships, first beating Bianchi for a second time before giving Arizona State's Michael McGee his first and only loss of the season. Rich was able to get two extra matches after the conference, scoring a pair of technical falls. He earned an at-large berth on Tuesday. These two wrestlers are evenly matched, and it should be a fun one to watch. 141: No. 12 Grant Willits (Oregon State) vs. No. 21 Real Woods (Stanford) This is a matchup most wrestling fans circled when the brackets were released Wednesday night. It's a rematch from the finals of the Pac-12 Championships. Woods, a third seed at the NCAAs last season as a freshman, missed the entire regular season in 2021. He entered the Pac-12 tournament as the third seed and, as expected, appeared a little rusty. He won a pair of tight 3-2 matches to reach the finals against Willits. In the finals, Willits pinned Woods to claim the Pac-12 title. Willits, a three-time NCAA qualifier, brings a 9-2 record into the NCAAs. These two wrestlers met twice last season, with Woods winning both matches by major decision. 149: No. 1 Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) vs. No. 32 Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado) The top-seeded Sasso will face a very tough first-round opponent in Alirez, a Senior Nationals freestyle champion (assuming Alirez gets past Greg Gaxiola of Hofstra in a pigtail match). Sasso enters the NCAAs undefeated (12-0) after claiming the Big Ten title. Northern Colorado's Alirez has battled injuries and injury defaulted at the conference tournament. The injury default loss is his only loss of the season. No matter how one looks at it, the fact that the NCAA Wrestling Committee seeded Alirez No. 32 in a field of 33 wrestlers is embarrassing. He might be the most talented wrestler in the bracket and he has to face the top-seeded wrestler in the first round. It remains to be seen how healthy Alirez will be in St. Louis, but this match could bring some fireworks in the opening session. Note: Alirez withdrew from the NCAAs after this article was published. 157: No. 6 Brayton Lee (Minnesota) vs. No. 27 Justin Ruffin (SIUE) Lee put together a strong season after moving up from 149 pounds. His only losses this season have come against the No. 1 and No. 5 seeds. Lee is coming off a strong third-place finish at the Big Ten Championships, with his lone defeat being a tiebreaker loss in the semifinals to Iowa's Kaleb Young. Ruffin, a three-time NCAA qualifier, won eight of his first nine matches this season. He was seeded third at the MAC Championships and opened with a victory before getting injured in his second match. He was forced to injury default in that match as well his next match. A healthy Ruffin could make it an interesting match. He's very skilled and has beaten some quality opponents throughout his career. But Ruffin does not appear to be healthy … and there is a chance he might not even take the mat in St. Louis. Note: Ruffin withdrew from the NCAAs after this article was published. 165: No. 10 Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 23 Joe Lee (Penn State) Wittlake looked to be on track to be the No. 2 seed at the NCAAs before getting upset in the Big 12 semifinals by North Dakota State's Luke Weber. He brings a 16-1 record to St. Louis. His No. 10 seed seems to be a major overreaction from the NCAA Wrestling Committee. Wittlake has a 44-3 record in his two seasons as Oklahoma State's 165-pound starter. Lee came into the season with high expectations after posting a 14-2 record last season as a redshirt. He has battled some inconsistency this season and enters the NCAAs with a 6-5 record. Lee was upset in the opening round of the Big Ten Championships by Maryland's Jonathan Spadafora and wound up eighth. Wittlake and Lee met last season in the consolation semifinals of the Southern Scuffle, with Wittlake taking the 8-4 victory. 174: No. 14 Hayden Hastings (Wyoming) vs. No. 19 Michael O'Malley (Drexel) Both these wrestlers have flown under the radar this season. Hastings, a three-time NCAA qualifier, won 13 of his first 14 matches this season, with the only during that span coming to Utah Valley's Demetrius Romero, who enters the NCAAs seeded No. 2. It looked as though Hastings and Romero would meet again in the Big 12 finals as the two entered the tournament as the top seeds. Hastings, though, fell in the semifinals to Northern Colorado's Jackson Hemauer and finished third. Drexel's O'Malley, a two-time NCAA qualifier, was undefeated heading into the EIWA Championships and earned the No. 1 seed. He reached the finals before losing a tight match (2-1) in the finals to Army West Point's Ben Pasiuk. This is a match that could go either way. 184: No. 4 Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) vs. No. 29 Samuel Colbray (Iowa State) Northern Iowa's Keckeisen, a two-time Wisconsin state champion, has been one of the most impressive freshmen in the nation this season. He brings an unblemished record of 13-0 into the NCAAs after winning a MAC title. Colbray, a three-time NCAA qualifier, enters the tournament with a 6-3 record. All three of his losses this season have come to higher seeds, with one being to Keckeisen, 4-3. In that match, Keckeisen scored a late takedown and rode out Colbray for the victory. Round 2 could be another tight battle. 197: No. 5 Jacob Warner (Iowa) vs. No. 28 Nick Reenan (NC State) Iowa's Warner was awarded the No. 5 seed for the second consecutive season. He placed seventh at the NCAAs in 2019 and was expected to finish on the podium again last season before the NCAA tournament was canceled. He is 8-2 this season, with his only losses coming to the top two seeds, No. 1 Myles Amine of Michigan and No. 2 Eric Schultz of Nebraska. Reenan, a three-time NCAA qualifier, split time with Isaac Trumble in NC State's lineup this season but secured the starting spot late in the season. He finished fourth at the ACC Championships and brings a 7-3 season mark into the NCAAs. Reenan is a talented competitor who has battled injuries throughout his college career. He reached Final X in 2018. Reenan has beaten Warner before (prior to college). This is a big match for team race. The Hawkeyes need Warner to make a run through the championship side of the bracket, while NC State is hoping Reenan can overperform as the No. 28 seed. 285: No. 9 Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) vs. No. 24 Michael McAleavey (Citadel) Kerkvliet, a multiple-time age-group world medalist and 2017 cadet world champion, was the nation's top recruit in the Class of 2019. Last season, Kerkvliet competed in open tournaments, compiling an 8-0 record. It looked as though he might be sidelined this season due to injury but was inserted into Penn State's lineup late in the season. Kerkvliet wrestled a couple matches prior to the Big Ten Championships, getting two pins against Maryland. He went on to finish fourth in a deep and talented weight class at the Big Tens. He notched victories over NCAA qualifiers Christian Lance of Nebraska and Trent Hillger of Wisconsin and took losses to Michigan's Mason Parris and Iowa's Tony Cassioppi. McAleavey comes into the NCAAs with a 15-1 record this season. Over half his wins this season have come by pin. He won the SoCon title with a 5-3 victory over Campbell's Taye Ghadiali, becoming the first Citadel wrestler to win a conference championship since 2015.

Iowa's Michael Kemerer is seeded No. 1 at 174 pounds (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com) 125: No. 1 Spencer Lee (Iowa) 7-0 No. 2 Sam Latona (Virginia Tech) 10-0 No. 3 Brandon Courtney (Arizona State) 11-0 No. 4 Drew Hildebrandt (Central Michigan) 10-0 No. 5 Brody Teske (Northern Iowa) 12-1 No. 6 Jakob Camacho (NC State) 8-2 No. 7 Taylor LaMont (Utah Valley) 9-1 No. 8 RayVon Foley (Michigan State) 8-4 No. 9 Devin Schroder (Purdue) 9-4 No. 10 Malik Heinselman (Ohio State) 10-3 No. 11 Dylan Ragusin (Michigan) 7-3 No. 12 Michael DeAugustino (Northwestern) 6-3 No. 13 Liam Cronin (Nebraska) 9-3 No. 14 Jaret Lane (Lehigh) 9-0 No. 15 Patrick McKee (Minnesota) 8-6 No. 16 Codi Russell (Appalachian State) 15-1 No. 17 Killian Cardinale (West Virginia) 12-4 No. 18 Noah Surtin (Missouri) 8-4 No. 19 Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) 7-5 No. 20 Jake Ferri (Kent State) 13-2 No. 21 Trevor Mastrogiovanni (Oklahoma State) 13-4 No. 22 Daniel Vega (South Dakota State) 14-6 No. 23 Robert Howard (Penn State) 5-4 No. 24 Fabian Gutierrez (Chattanooga) 14-3 No. 25 Logan Treaster (Navy) 11-2 No. 26 Jackson DiSario (Stanford) 7-3 No. 27 Gage Curry (American) 4-1 No. 28 Brandon Kaylor (Oregon State) 9-5 No. 29 Zurich Storm (Campbell) 8-5 No. 30 Micah Roes (Binghamton) 6-2 No. 31 Jonathan Tropea (Rider) 6-4 No. 32 Patrick McCormick (Virginia) 8-5 No. 33 Kysen Terukina (Iowa State) 8-5 133: No. 1 Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) 9-0 No. 2 Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) 9-0 No. 3 Korbin Myers (Virginia Tech) 8-0 No. 4 Austin DeSanto (Iowa) 7-1 No. 5 Micky Phillippi (Pittsburgh) 8-1 No. 6 Matt Schmitt (Missouri) 10-1 No. 7 Lucas Byrd (Illinois) 11-2 No. 8 Chris Cannon (Northwestern) 8-2 No. 9 Michael McGee (Arizona State) 8-1 No. 10 Louie Hayes (Virginia) 10-4 No. 11 Anthony Madrigal (Oklahoma) 6-9 No. 12 Jarrett Trombley (NC State) 7-4 No. 13 Zach Redding (Iowa State) 10-5 No. 14 Zach Price (South Dakota State) 14-4 No. 15 Mosha Schwartz (Northern Colorado) 6-4 No. 16 Devan Turner (Oregon State) 6-4 No. 17 Malyke Hines (Lehigh) 6-1 No. 18 Kyle Burwick (Wisconsin) 6-6 No. 19 Chance Rich (CSU Bakersfield) 5-2 No. 20 Ryan Sullivan (West Virginia) 7-3 No. 21 Jared Van Vleet (Air Force) 5-5 No. 22 Mario Guillen (Ohio) 8-3 No. 23 Boo Dryden (Minnesota) 7-7 No. 24 Richie Koehler (Rider) 9-2 No. 25 Jacob Rundell (Purdue) 6-7 No. 26 Darren Miller (Bucknell) 9-2 No. 27 Jacob Allen (Navy) 8-5 No. 28 Ty Smith (Utah Valley) 8-5 No. 29 Paul Bianchi (Little Rock) 10-4 No. 30 Jordan Hamdan (Michigan State) 6-6 No. 31 Sean Carter (Appalachian State) 14-6 No. 32 Cole Rhone (Bloomsburg) 5-2 No. 33 Bryce West (Northern Illinois) 10-5 141: No. 1 Jaydin Eierman (Iowa) 8-0 No. 2 Nick Lee (Penn State) 8-1 No. 3 Sebastian Rivera (Rutgers) 8-1 No. 4 Tariq Wilson (NC State) 9-0 No. 5 Dom Demas (Oklahoma) 13-1 No. 6 Allan Hart (Missouri) 13-1 No. 7 Ian Parker (Iowa State) 13-2 No. 8 Chad Red (Nebraska) 11-3 No. 9 Dresden Simon (Central Michigan) 9-1 No. 10 Zachary Sherman (North Carolina) 8-2 No. 11 Cody Trybus (Navy) 12-0 No. 12 Grant Willits (Oregon State) 9-2 No. 13 DJ Lloren (Fresno State) 11-1 No. 14 Dylan Duncan (Illinois) 7-4 No. 15 Clay Carlson (South Dakota State) 16-6 No. 16 Cole Matthews (Pittsburgh) 6-5 No. 17 McKenzie Bell (Rider) 7-3 No. 18 Parker Filius (Purdue) 7-7 No. 19 Lane Peters (Army West Point) 6-2 No. 20 Brian Courtney (Virginia) 9-4 No. 21 Real Woods (Stanford) 4-1 No. 22 Anthony Brito (Appalachian State) 17-3 No. 23 Saul Ervin (SIU Edwardsville) 10-5 No. 24 Connor McGonagle (Lehigh) 5-4 No. 25 Drew Mattin (Michigan) 4-6 No. 26 Colin Valdiviez (Northwestern) 4-8 No. 27 Angelo Martinoni (CSU Bakersfield) 4-1 No. 28 Marcos Polanco (Minnesota) 6-7 No. 29 Chase Zollmann (Wyoming) 12-6 No. 30 Dylan D'Emilio (Ohio State) 7-6 No. 31 Julian Flores (Drexel) 6-3 No. 32 Cayden Rooks (Indiana) 5-9 No. 33 Vinny Vespa (Hofstra) 4-5 149: No. 1 Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) 12-0 No. 2 Austin O`Connor (North Carolina) 8-0 No. 3 Brock Mauller (Missouri) 17-0 No. 4 Boo Lewallen (Oklahoma State) 16-1 No. 5 Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) 8-1 No. 6 Bryce Andonian (Virginia Tech) 8-2 No. 7 Jonathan Millner (Appalachian State) 13-1 No. 8 Jaden Abas (Stanford) 8-2 No. 9 Legend Lamer (Cal Poly) 11-1 No. 10 Mike Van Brill (Rutgers) 5-4 No. 11 Kanen Storr (Michigan) 7-4 No. 12 Max Murin (Iowa) 4-3 No. 13 Mitch Moore (Oklahoma) 9-5 No. 14 Michael Blockhus (Minnesota) 8-6 No. 15 Griffin Parriott (Purdue) 7-2 No. 16 PJ Ogunsanya (Army West Point) 9-0 No. 17 Kyle Parco (Fresno State) 14-1 No. 18 Jarrett Degen (Iowa State) 6-3 No. 19 Casey Cobb (Navy) 8-1 No. 20 Joshua Heil (Campbell) 7-2 No. 21 Graham Rooks (Indiana) 4-5 No. 22 Jimmy Hoffman (Lehigh) 4-4 No. 23 Tristan Lara (Northern Iowa) 6-6 No. 24 Luke Nichter (Drexel) 8-1 No. 25 Yahya Thomas (Northwestern) 8-5 No. 26 Anthony Cheloni (Northern Illinois) 10-3 No. 27 Josh Finesilver (Duke) 6-3 No. 28 Peyton Omania (Michigan State) 4-6 No. 29 Kody Komara (Kent State) 12-6 No. 30 Marcus Robinson (Cleveland State) 8-4 No. 31 Cory Crooks (Arizona State) 8-5 No. 32 Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado) 4-1 No. 33 Greg Gaxiola (Hofstra) 4-3 157: No. 1 Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) 6-0 No. 2 Hayden Hidlay (NC State) 9-0 No. 3 David Carr (Iowa State) 15-0 No. 4 Jesse Dellavecchia (Rider) 7-0 No. 5 Kaleb Young (Iowa) 5-1 No. 6 Brayton Lee (Minnesota) 10-3 No. 7 Jarrett Jacques (Missouri) 10-2 No. 8 Jared Franek (North Dakota State) 11-3 No. 9 Kendall Coleman (Purdue) 11-3 No. 10 Justin Thomas (Oklahoma) 11-4 No. 11 Jacori Teemer (Arizona State) 7-1 No. 12 Brady Berge (Penn State) 8-3 No. 13 Hunter Willits (Oregon State) 9-3 No. 14 Will Lewan (Michigan) 7-3 No. 15 Chase Saldate (Michigan State) 8-5 No. 16 Justin McCoy (Virginia) 9-2 No. 17 Requir van der Merwe (Stanford) 7-3 No. 18 Cade DeVos (South Dakota State) 13-9 No. 19 Holden Heller (Hofstra) 8-0 No. 20 Cody Bond (Appalachian State) 15-4 No. 21 Andrew Cerniglia (Navy) 8-1 No. 22 Benjamin Barton (Campbell) 10-2 No. 23 Jacob Wright (Wyoming) 16-4 No. 24 Nicholas Palumbo (Sacred Heart) 5-3 No. 25 Parker Kropman (Drexel) 6-2 No. 26 Johnny Lovett (Central Michigan) 8-3 No. 27 Justin Ruffin (SIU Edwardsville) 9-3 No. 28 Connor Brady (Virginia Tech) 7-5 No. 29 Caleb Licking (Nebraska) 5-6 No. 30 Joshua McClure (North Carolina) 5-5 No. 31 Markus Hartman (Army West Point) 5-2 No. 32 Michael Petite (Buffalo) 8-6 No. 33 Luca Frinzi (Lehigh) 4-3 165: No. 1 Alex Marinelli (Iowa) 5-0 No. 2 Anthony Valencia (Arizona State) 10-0 No. 3 Jake Wentzel (Pittsburgh) 9-1 No. 4 Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) 8-2 No. 5 Zach Hartman (Bucknell) 10-0 No. 6 Keegan O`Toole (Missouri) 13-0 No. 7 Ethan Smith (Ohio State) 11-2 No. 8 Shane Griffith (Stanford) 6-1 No. 9 Luke Weber (North Dakota State) 13-2 No. 10 Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State) 16-1 No. 11 Cameron Amine (Michigan) 9-2 No. 12 Jake Keating (Virginia) 10-3 No. 13 Tanner Skidgel (Navy) 11-2 No. 14 Peyton Robb (Nebraska) 9-5 No. 15 Dan Braunagel (Illinois) 7-2 No. 16 William Formato (Appalachian State) 17-2 No. 17 Thomas Bullard (NC State) 5-5 No. 18 Izzak Olejnik (Northern Illinois) 14-2 No. 19 Gerrit Nijenhuis (Purdue) 9-5 No. 20 Cole Moody (Wyoming) 13-5 No. 21 Peyton Hall (West Virginia) 13-4 No. 22 Kennedy Monday (North Carolina) 7-5 No. 23 Joe Lee (Penn State) 6-5 No. 24 Andrew Sparks (Minnesota) 9-4 No. 25 Jake Tucker (Michigan State) 5-7 No. 26 Andrew Nicholson (Chattanooga) 12-3 No. 27 Jake Silverstein (Rider) 9-3 No. 28 Rodrick Mosley (Gardner-Webb) 11-4 No. 29 Brian Meyer (Lehigh) 4-6 No. 30 Evan Barczak (Drexel) 6-3 No. 31 David Ferrante (Northwestern) 4-8 No. 32 Ricky Stamm (Hofstra) 7-2 No. 33 Austin Yant (Northern Iowa) 4-2 174: No. 1 Michael Kemerer (Iowa) 7-0 No. 2 Demetrius Romero (Utah Valley) 16-0 No. 3 Carter Starocci (Penn State) 8-2 No. 4 Mikey Labriola (Nebraska) 11-1 No. 5 Logan Massa (Michigan) 8-3 No. 6 Andrew McNally (Kent State) 10-1 No. 7 Kaleb Romero (Ohio State) 9-4 No. 8 Daniel Bullard (NC State) 8-1 No. 9 Donnell Washington (Indiana) 9-5 No. 10 Peyton Mocco (Missouri) 11-1 No. 11 Austin Murphy (Campbell) 12-0 No. 12 Bernie Truax (Cal Poly) 9-1 No. 13 Jackson Hemauer (Northern Colorado) 9-2 No. 14 Hayden Hastings (Wyoming) 15-2 No. 15 Thomas Flitz (Appalachian State) 16-3 No. 16 Clay Lautt (North Carolina) 5-3 No. 17 Benjamin Pasiuk (Army West Point) 5-0 No. 18 Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) 14-4 No. 19 Michael O`Malley (Drexel) 7-1 No. 20 Trenton Munoz (Arizona State) 5-2 No. 21 Jacob Oliver (Edinboro) 11-4 No. 22 Mason Kauffman (Northern Illinois) 13-4 No. 23 Anthony Mantanona (Oklahoma) 8-7 No. 24 Jake Allar (Minnesota) 7-6 No. 25 Cody Surratt (Air Force) 6-5 No. 26 Jackson Turley (Rutgers) 6-3 No. 27 Cody Howard (Virginia Tech) 5-5 No. 28 Timothy Fitzpatrick (American) 5-1 No. 29 Lance Runyon (Northern Iowa) 7-5 No. 30 Victor Marcelli (Virginia) 8-5 No. 31 Jake Logan (Lehigh) 4-6 No. 32 Drew Hughes (Michigan State) 3-7 No. 33 Jacob Nolan (Binghamton) 6-2 184: No. 1 Aaron Brooks (Penn State) 9-0 No. 2 Trent Hidlay (NC State) 6-1 No. 3 Lou Deprez (Binghamton) 7-0 No. 4 Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) 15-0 No. 5 Hunter Bolen (Virginia Tech) 9-1 No. 6 John Poznanski (Rutgers) 7-2 No. 7 Brit Wilson (Northern Illinois) 13-1 No. 8 Taylor Venz (Nebraska) 7-3 No. 9 Jeremiah Kent (Missouri) 9-1 No. 10 Tate Samuelson (Wyoming) 13-3 No. 11 Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State) 15-3 No. 12 Nelson Brands (Iowa) 7-4 No. 13 Christopher Weiler (Wisconsin) 6-4 No. 14 Caleb Hopkins (Campbell) 11-1 No. 15 Layne Malczewski (Michigan State) 9-4 No. 16 Max Lyon (Purdue) 7-6 No. 17 Owen Webster (Minnesota) 7-5 No. 18 Alan Clothier (Northern Colorado) 9-3 No. 19 Zach Braunagel (Illinois) 6-6 No. 20 David Key (Navy) 10-1 No. 21 Dominic Ducharme (CSU Bakersfield) 5-0 No. 22 Devin Kane (North Carolina) 8-3 No. 23 Charles Small (Hofstra) 7-2 No. 24 Rocky Jordan (Ohio State) 5-8 No. 25 Matthew Waddell (Chattanooga) 11-5 No. 26 DeAndre Nassar (Cleveland State) 9-3 No. 27 Taylor Brown (Army West Point) 6-4 No. 28 Dylan Ammerman (Lehigh) 3-2 No. 29 Samuel Colbray (Iowa State) 6-3 No. 30 Gregg Harvey (Pittsburgh) 6-6 No. 31 Ryan Reyes (Oregon State) 6-4 No. 32 Jhaquan Anderson (Gardner-Webb) 9-2 No. 33 Joe Accousti (Sacred Heart) 4-4 197: No. 1 Myles Amine (Michigan) 6-0 No. 2 Eric Schultz (Nebraska) 10-1 No. 3 Kordell Norfleet (Arizona State) 9-0 No. 4 AJ Ferrari (Oklahoma State) 15-1 No. 5 Jacob Warner (Iowa) 8-2 No. 6 Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) 9-1 No. 7 Rocky Elam (Missouri) 11-0 No. 8 Stephen Buchanan (Wyoming) 11-3 No. 9 Noah Adams (West Virginia) 13-3 No. 10 Cameron Caffey (Michigan State) 8-4 No. 11 Jay Aiello (Virginia) 9-2 No. 12 Lucas Davison (Northwestern) 7-3 No. 13 Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) 14-2 No. 14 Greg Bulsak (Clarion) 11-1 No. 15 Michael Beard (Penn State) 6-4 No. 16 Jake Jakobsen (Lehigh) 8-3 No. 17 JT Brown (Army West Point) 7-2 No. 18 Jacob Koser (Navy) 7-3 No. 19 Thomas Penola (Purdue) 10-4 No. 20 Max Shaw (North Carolina) 8-4 No. 21 Marcus Coleman (Iowa State) 7-4 No. 22 Chris Kober (Campbell) 6-0 No. 23 Bryan McLaughlin (Drexel) 6-2 No. 24 Benjamin Smith (Cleveland State) 5-4 No. 25 J.J Dixon (Oregon State) 7-4 No. 26 Jake Woodley (Oklahoma) 10-7 No. 27 Nick Stemmet (Stanford) 7-2 No. 28 Nick Reenan (NC State) 7-3 No. 29 Colin McCracken (Kent State) 8-5 No. 30 Trey Rogers (Hofstra) 6-3 No. 31 Owen Pentz (North Dakota State) 7-4 No. 32 Logan Andrew (Chattanooga) 10-6 No. 33 Billy Janzer (Rutgers) 3-5 285: No. 1 Gable Steveson (Minnesota) 12-0 No. 2 Mason Parris (Michigan) 8-1 No. 3 Matt Stencel (Central Michigan) 10-0 No. 4 Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) 12-0 No. 5 Tony Cassioppi (Iowa) 8-2 No. 6 Gannon Gremmel (Iowa State) 15-1 No. 7 Ethan Laird (Rider) 8-1 No. 8 Jordan Wood (Lehigh) 7-2 No. 9 Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State) 6-2 No. 10 Deonte Wilson (NC State) 9-0 No. 11 Zach Elam (Missouri) 10-4 No. 12 Christian Lance (Nebraska) 9-5 No. 13 Brian Andrews (Wyoming) 6-4 No. 14 Trent Hillger (Wisconsin) 6-4 No. 15 Carter Isley (Northern Iowa) 9-5 No. 16 Luke Luffman (Illinois) 8-5 No. 17 Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force) 13-3 No. 18 Hunter Catka (Virginia Tech) 9-2 No. 19 Josh Heindselman (Oklahoma) 10-5 No. 20 Quinn Miller (Virginia) 9-2 No. 21 Tate Orndorff (Ohio State) 7-8 No. 22 Brandon Metz (North Dakota State) 9-6 No. 23 Michael McAleavey (The Citadel) 15-1 No. 24 Johnathan Birchmeier (Navy) 7-2 No. 25 Nathan Traxler (Stanford) 6-2 No. 26 Sam Schuyler (Buffalo) 8-2 No. 27 Zachary Knighton-Ward (Hofstra) 7-3 No. 28 Jon Spaulding (Edinboro) 11-4 No. 29 Austin Harris (Oklahoma State) 9-6 No. 30 Joe Doyle (Binghamton) 2-2 No. 31 Andrew Gunning (North Carolina) 4-4 No. 32 Taye Ghadiali (Campbell) 7-5

The 2021 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships will take place St. Louis (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com The brackets have been released for the 2021 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. The event takes place March 18-20 in St. Louis. Link: Brackets

Iowa's Spencer Lee is seeded No. 1 at 125 pounds (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com) The NCAA has started revealing the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in each weight class for the 2021 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. The NCAA's selection show, which will unveil the complete list of seeds and brackets, is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET and can been be seen at NCAA.com. Below is a look at the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds revealed so far. Note: Refresh to see the latest updates.

A new wrestling coaching book called "A Coach's Manual: Everything You Need to be a Successful Coach" is now available for purchase at Championship Products. The book was written by longtime wrestling coach John Klessinger. To purchase the book, click here. Features & Benefits Master every aspect of the art of coaching and become the ultimate leader for your team! Learn the 21 concepts that John Klessinger learned in 21 years as a head wrestling coach Discover what it takes to succeed as a coach, both in your sport's competition and behind the scenes of your program Get the most out of your athletes by building a personal relationship with them and tailoring your communication approach to each athlete There is so much more to coaching than teaching an athlete how to shoot a jump shot, how to pin an opponent, or how to hand-off a baton when running a relay. That's why John Klessinger, with over 20 years of experience as a high school wrestling coach, decided to put together A Coach's Manual- Everything You Need To Be A Successful Coach. Inside, Coach Klessinger leaves no stone unturned addressing everything that coaches must consider when assisting or leading a program. He gives readers important questions to ask themselves as they develop their coaching abilities, plus examples from his own wrestling program that are sure to sound oh-so-familiar to anyone that's spent time as a coach. Whether you're just beginning as a coach or want to refresh your approach after years in charge, this book will give you the blueprint you need to find success with all aspects of your program and profession. Book excerpt SETTING THE EXAMPLE "You can't force your will on people. If you want them to act differently, you need to inspire them to change themselves." -Phil Jackson, 9X NBA Championship Coach As I said earlier, after three years as a head wrestling coach, I was frustrated and felt stuck. Three consecutive losing seasons. Honestly, it was four straight losing seasons as a head coach, including one year in North Carolina right after college. I contemplated quitting. Coaching was not rewarding for me, and losing didn't help matters. I did not walk into an established program, and I was naïve that showing up each day teaching wrestling moves was enough to win. I didn't know how to motivate athletes or get the best out of them. I lacked adequate knowledge of developing accountability and discipline. Like many young coaches, I knew a lot about the sport and little about coaching -- a big difference. After that third year, I decided that I was responsible for whether we win or lose. I had to first "set the example" for my team. I had to build our program like a carpenter building a house. We had to start from the ground up. First, create the foundation and then construct the frame of the house. It started with my own enthusiasm and belief in what we were doing. I had to teach them a strong work ethic. I did this by participating in most wrestling and conditioning drills for the next 7-8 years. If I wanted them to work hard, I had to show them how to do it. Next, I knew we needed to improve our daily attendance, out-of-season lifting and wrestling, and attitude to be successful. I made a decision that has changed my coaching career. I decided to be at every practice, no excuses, and no exceptions. I know now that leadership starts in the front, and I had to model it first for others to buy-in. I then changed our program's mindset and attitude. Part of that was changing my mindset and attitude. I studied and learned sports performance, personal development, and leadership. Today, I teach my athletes ways to improve their mindset to enhance their performance, starting the first practice. The building and construction of my program meant that I needed to be a model as a teacher, coach, citizen, father, and husband. It became a priority to live life and be the person I wanted my athletes to be. I had to "set the example" for them. Setting the example is doing all the right things first, then helping those around you do the same. Bear in mind; this wasn't only due to wanting a winning team. I was fed up on both a personal and professional level. Much of our success has been a by-product of me changing my mindset and attitude. Setting the Example in Action You already know the action steps I took to develop a winning program. It was a personal choice and no way a requirement to be successful. By doing the things I did, I developed a stronger rapport with my athletes. Completing workouts with them showed that I was willing to suffer alongside them. It still does, although it is becoming difficult to "keep up" as I get older. I used to drag them and show them they can do more than they think they are capable of. The reverse has become true these days. They drag and encourage me. Deciding to be the model for attendance has come with sacrifice. I have sacrificed time with my family to make sure I can be at every practice and workout. It is a conscious decision. One that I make each year to teach my athletes commitment and accountability. Again, I cannot expect others to do what I am not willing to do first. If I want them to be at every practice and workout, I have to be the one who demonstrates it first. Not everyone buys into 100% attendance. Coaching a winter sport comes with sick athletes and family events during Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's a battle at times, but our commitment level has improved tremendously over the years and certainly has contributed to our success each season. What can you do today? 1. What are some ways you can "set the example" for your athletes? Make a list. 2. What are some actions you can take to improve your program? 3. Gandhi said, "be the change you wish to see in others." How can you be the change for your athletes? What can you teach them by modeling? 4. Refer back to your mission statement. Why is it essential for you to set the example for your team?

Indiana's Nick South, who beat multiple NCAA qualifiers, failed to earn an at-large berth (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com) The 64 at-large selections for the 2021 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships were announced Tuesday. Overall, the NCAA Wrestling Committee did a nice job of ensuring the most deserving wrestlers received at-large selections. The selections were made busing the following criteria: head-to-head competition, quality wins (defined as wins against wrestlers already in the field), coaches ranking, results against common opponents, conference tournament placement and winning percentage. Subjective criteria, like past performance, could also be used, according to the NCAA. Let's examine 10 notable wrestlers -- one in each weight class -- who failed to qualify for NCAAs. 125: Cody Phippen (Air Force) Phippen, a sophomore, had a strong season, compiling a 12-4 record. Three of his four losses came against NCAA qualifiers (two to Oklahoma State's Trevor Mastrogiovanni and one to WVU's Killian Cardinale). He entered the Big 12 Championships seeded No. 6. After falling in the quarterfinals to Mastrogiovanni in sudden victory, Phippen rebounded with a victory before losing to Iowa State's Kysen Terukina. That loss is likely what kept him out of the tournament as Terukina received an at-large selection. 133: Haiden Drury (Fresno State) The true freshman from Washington had an up-and-down season, finishing with a 9-7 mark. His most notable win came on Feb. 6 when he defeated Northern Colorado's Mosha Schwartz, who was ranked No. 7 at the time. The two would meet again in the opening round of the Big 12 Championships, with Schwartz coming out on top this time, 7-2. Drury bounced back with a pair of wins in the consolation bracket before facing Schwartz for a third time this season in the consolation semifinals. Once again, Schwartz came out on top, 14-4, which sent Drury to the fifth-place match. He dropped that match to South Dakota's State's Zach Price, 8-1. 141: Sammy Hillegas (Virginia Tech) Hillegas, a true freshman from Pennsylvania, found himself on the outside looking in after a disappointing ACC tournament, where he went 0-2. He dropped his opening match at the ACCs to Pitt's Cole Matthews in tiebreaker. He then fell to Virginia's Brian Courtney, 7-2. Hillegas started his season 4-0 before going 1-5 over his last six matches to finish the season 5-5. All five of his losses came against NCAA qualifiers. Hillegas may have qualified for the NCAAs in a normal season, but with a loaded conference tournament weight class and limited schedule, he was unable to get the quality wins needed to earn a qualifying spot. NC State's Ed Scott had a win over three-time NCAA qualifier Josh Finesilver of Duke (Photo/NC State Athletics) 149: Ed Scott (North Carolina State) Scott stepped into NC State's lineup as a true freshman and had a productive season. He notched a win over three-time NCAA qualifier Josh Finesilver of Duke in his final match of the regular season. Scott entered the ACC tournament seeded third, one spot ahead of Finesilver. He opened his tournament by defeating Pitt's Mick Burnett. Scott then fell in the semifinals to Virginia Tech's Bryce Andonian, 11-6. He came back to beat Virginia's Denton Spencer before losing to Finesilver by major decision in the third-place match. 157: Wyatt Sheets (Oklahoma State) Sheets, a 2020 NCAA qualifier, had his most disappointing loss when it mattered most, which is ultimately what kept him out of the NCAA tournament. Seeded sixth at the Big 12 Championships, Sheets opened his tournament with a major decision. He then dropped his quarterfinal match to North Dakota State's Jared Franek, 7-5. Sheets was then paired with Alex Hornfeck of West Virginia in his first consolation match. The two met earlier in the season, with Sheets winning 8-2. This time it was Hornfeck who came out on top, 6-3. 165: Nick South (Indiana) One might wonder why a wrestler with a 5-8 record is included on this list. But dig a little deeper and you will see that all eight of his losses this season came against NCAA qualifiers. In addition, he had wins over NCAA qualifiers David Ferrante of Northwestern and Jake Tucker of Michigan State. Indiana head wrestling coach Angel Escobedo shared his frustration on Twitter after South was left off the list of at-large selections on Tuesday. 174: Jared Krattiger (Wisconsin) Krattiger, like the aforementioned South, had a losing record in the Big Ten (4-5), but all of his losses this season came against NCAA qualifiers. He posted a 2-0 record against NCAA qualifier Jake Allar of Minnesota, with one of those wins coming at the Big Ten Championships. 184: Michael Battista (Virginia) Battista looked like a solid bet to qualify for the NCAAs heading into the postseason. He took a 6-2 record to the ACC Championships and earned a No. 4 seed. The Virginia junior was edged in his first match by Pitt's Gregg Harvey, a wrestler he defeated earlier in the season. He then dropped his next match to UNC's Devin Kane, 8-3. Harvey, despite having a worse record, was selected over Battista for an at-large spot based on the higher conference finish and most recent head-to-head victory. 197: Gavin Hoffman (Ohio State) Hoffman, who beat out 2019 NCAA qualifier Chase Singletary to earn his spot in the Buckeye lineup, was seeded ninth at the Big Ten Championships in a weight class with six qualification spots. He started his tournament by beating eighth-seeded Matt Wroblewski of Illinois, avenging a loss from earlier in the season. He was then defeated in the quarterfinals by top-seeded Eric Schultz of Nebraska, 2-0. Hoffman met Billy Janzer of Rutgers in his first consolation match. The two met earlier in the season, with Hoffman winning that meeting 3-2. Janzer flipped the result at the Big Tens, taking a 3-2 victory, which eliminated Hoffman from the tournament. Janzer earned one of the six at-large selections at 197 pounds, while Hoffman was left out. 285: Colton McKiernan (SIU Edwardsville) McKiernan, a 2019 NCAA qualifier, started his season by winning six of his first seven matches, before losing narrowly -- in sudden victory -- to Missouri's Zach Elam in the final match of the regular season. He was seeded sixth at the MAC Championships, which pitted him against the third-seeded Elam in the quarterfinals. Elam took the match 5-1. McKierman battled back to win his next two matches before losing 3-0 to Edinboro's Jon Spaulding in the consolation quarterfinals.

Max Mejia (Photo/Augsburg Athletics) MINNEAPOLIS -- Augsburg University women's wrestling head coach Max Mejia has submitted his resignation, after leading the Auggie program for the past two seasons, the university announced on Tuesday. Mejia helped to launch the Auggie women's wrestling program in 2019, coaching the team through its first two seasons. The Auggies finished fifth at the 2021 National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championships (NCAA schools) on Saturday, the best finish among all NCAA Division III teams at the event. "I have appreciated my time here in the Augsburg Athletics Department," Mejia said. "It has been a blessing to be involved with a university with such a strong wrestling culture. It was special to be a part of the process that led to establishing the only women's wrestling program in the state of Minnesota." Mejia is scheduled to complete his coaching responsibilities on March 12, before relocating to Oregon to be with his fiance. A national search will begin immediately for Mejia's replacement, according to Augsburg Athletic Director Jeff Swenson. 2021 NCWWC Augsburg womens wrestling team photo"I want to thank Max for his leadership of the women's wrestling program," Swenson said. "Our dreams are being realized with starting a women's wrestling program just two years ago. Our numbers are strong and Max has given us a great foundation to build on. We wish Max the best in his future endeavors." In his two seasons at Augsburg, Mejia coached the Auggies to three top-10 national finishes, including this season's fifth-place finish at the 2021 NCWWC. Under his guidance, the Auggies won three individual national titles, earned 12 All-American honors and one NCWWC Outstanding Wrestler of the Meet honor. In just two short years, Mejia has led the Auggies to become one of the top collegiate women's wrestling programs in the country.

Stanford's Real Woods received an at-large berth at 141 pounds (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) INDIANAPOLIS -- The NCAA announced the 64 at-large selections for the 2021 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis. The at-large selections, listed in alphabetical order by weight class, join the 266 student-athletes that qualified through their conference tournament finishes over the last two weekends. The at-large selections were made by the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee using the following selection criteria: head-to-head competition, quality wins (defined as wins against wrestlers already in the field), coaches ranking, results against common opponents, conference tournament placement and winning percentage. The committee was also able to use subjective criteria such as, but not limited to, historical performance. Seeding and brackets for this year's event will be revealed tomorrow, March 10, during the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships Selection Show on NCAA.com at 6 p.m. ET. 125: Eric Barnett Wisconsin 7-5 Big Ten Liam Cronin Nebraska 9-3 Big Ten Fabian Gutierrez Chattanooga 14-3 SoCon Brandon Kaylor Oregon State 9-5 Pac 12 Micah Roes Binghamton 6-2 EIWA Zurich Storm Campbell 8-5 SoCon Kysen Terukina Iowa State 8-5 Big 12 133: Paul Bianchi Little Rock 10-4 Pac 12 Michael McGee Arizona State 8-1 Pac 12 Chance Rich CSU Bakersfield 5-2 Pac 12 Ty Smith Utah Valley 8-5 Big 12 Ryan Sullivan West Virginia 7-3 Big 12 Jared Van Vleet Air Force 5-5 Big 12 141: Brian Courtney Virginia 9-4 ACC Dylan D'Emilio Ohio State 7-6 Big Ten Marcos Polanco Minnesota 6-7 Big Ten Cayden Rooks Indiana 5-9 Big Ten Real Woods Stanford 4-1 Pac 12 Chase Zollmann Wyoming 12-6 Big 12 149: Andrew Alirez Northern Colorado 4-1 Big 12 Casey Cobb Navy 8-1 EIWA Cory Crooks Arizona State 8-5 Pac 12 Max Murin Iowa 4-3 Big Ten Peyton Omania Michigan State 4-6 Big Ten Yahya Thomas Northwestern 8-5 Big Ten 157: Benjamin Barton Campbell 10-2 SoCon Cade DeVos South Dakota State 13-9 Big 12 Markus Hartman Army West Point 5-2 EIWA Justin Ruffin SIU Edwardsville 9-3 MAC Requir van der Merwe Stanford 7-3 Pac 12 Jacob Wright Wyoming 16-4 Big 12 165: Dan Braunagel Illinois 7-2 Big Ten Alex Cramer Central Michigan 7-4 MAC William Formato Appalachian State 17-2 SoCon Mekhi Lewis Virginia Tech 8-2 ACC Kennedy Monday North Carolina 7-5 ACC Rodrick Mosley Gardner-Webb 11-4 SoCon Andrew Sparks Minnesota 9-4 Big Ten 174: Thomas Flitz Appalachian State 16-3 SoCon Mason Kauffman Northern Illinois 13-4 MAC Anthony Mantanona Oklahoma 8-7 Big 12 Victor Marcelli Virginia 8-5 ACC Lance Runyon Northern Iowa 7-5 Big 12 Cody Surratt Air Force 6-5 Big 12 Jackson Turley Rutgers 6-3 Big Ten 184: Jhaquan Anderson Gardner-Webb 9-2 SoCon Zach Braunagel Illinois 6-6 Big Ten Samuel Colbray Iowa State 6-3 Big 12 Gregg Harvey Pittsburgh 6-6 ACC Rocky Jordan Ohio State 5-8 Big Ten Ryan Reyes Oregon State 6-4 Pac 12 197: Logan Andrew Chattanooga 10-6 SoCon Billy Janzer Rutgers 3-5 Big Ten Colin McCracken Kent State 8-5 MAC Thomas Penola Purdue 10-4 Big Ten Owen Pentz North Dakota State 7-4 Big 12 Nick Reenan NC State 7-3 ACC Tanner Sloan South Dakota State 14-2 Big 12 285: Johnathan Birchmeier Navy 7-2 EIWA Austin Harris Oklahoma State 9-6 Big 12 Carter Isley Northern Iowa 9-5 Big 12 Luke Luffman Illinois 8-5 Big Ten Sam Schuyler Buffalo 8-2 MAC Jon Spaulding Edinboro 11-4 MAC

Iowa's Michael Kemerer defeated PSU's Carter Starocci to win the Big Ten title at 174 pounds (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com) The Big Ten tournament wrapped up on Sunday afternoon. The Iowa Hawkeyes won the team title with four individual champions. After this performance, they enter the NCAA tournament as the clear favorites. Richard Mann (@richardamann) and Clay Sauertieg (@ByCSauertieg) returned from hiatus to break down all of the matches from the finals. 0:00 - Open 3:59 - Spencer Lee vs. Devin Schroder 6:40 - Roman Bravo-Young vs. Austin DeSanto 11:22 - Jaydin Eierman vs. Nick Lee 17:30 - Sammy Sasso vs. Ridge Lovett 21:10 - Ryan Deakin vs. Kaleb Young 23:47 - Alex Marinelli vs. Ethan Smith 28:22 - Michael Kemerer vs. Carter Starocci 31:52 - Aaron Brooks vs. Taylor Venz 36:53 - Myles Amine vs. Eric Schultz 41:34 - Gable Steveson vs. Mason Parris 49:57 - Final thoughts

Sam Schmitz TIFFIN, Ohio -- On Saturday following the National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championships, the National Wrestling Coaches Association announced the winner of the NCAA Women's Defense Soap National Coach of the Year. NWCA Executive Director Mike Moyer presented Sam Schmitz of McKendree University with the award after he was selected by his peers for a second consecutive year. The award is presented to the coach that has demonstrated outstanding effort throughout the season in developing and elevating their program on campus and in the community. The NWCA National Coach of the Year awards program is presented by Defense Soap, the official Hygiene partner of the NWCA. "In continuing our mission, Defense Soap is proud to partner with the NWCA, to keep wrestlers on the mat with our products and education in hygiene." Guy Sako, Founder and CEO of Defense Soap. McKendree took home the team title for the second year in a row with 209 pts over second-place King University 171.5 pts. The Bearcats of McKendree also brought home 14 individual All-Americans with eight national finalists and six national champions. The NCWWC currently serves as the national championships for NCAA-affiliated women's programs until the sport receives championship status. "On behalf of the NWCA and our Board of Directors, it is an honor to recognize Coach Schmitz as our Defense Soap National Coach of the Year," said NWCA Executive Director Mike Moyer. "What Sam has been able to build and sustain at McKendree is nothing short of amazing. He truly is a wonderful ambassador for our sport and more specifically women's wrestling." ABOUT THE NWCA The National Wrestling Coaches Association, established in 1928, is a non-profit organization for the advancement of all levels of the sport of wrestling with primary emphasis on developing coaches who work in academic environments. The three core competencies of the NWCA are: Coaching Development, Student-Athlete Welfare, and the Promotion of Wrestling.

Adeline Gray after getting a victory at 2020 Senior Nationals (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com) Five-time world champion Adeline Gray penned a letter to women's wrestlers on International Women's Day. The letter was posted by Wrestle Like a Girl. To the girls on the mat, We see you. Your heart is brave. Your vision is wide. You thrive in challenging yourself. You like to make your own decisions. You feel natural in leading yourself in school, with your friends and family. Wrestling is a home, one where we challenge ourselves mentally, physically and emotionally. We set goals. We achieve them and we fall short. We win and we lose. We receive instruction and adapt. We learn grit, patience, self-acceptance, self-belief. We meet our feelings - ​happiness, excitement, frustration, sadness, anger, and we learn that moving through them keeps us moving forward. We learn who the right people are to put in our corner because we know they will support us, encourage us, and love us regardless of the outcome. We become disciplined by making choices that keep our health, academics, and training at a level of excellence. We come to know humility, sisterhood and a bond that is greater than what we have known before. And time goes on, we learn that we have become leaders. We have the confidence, critical thinking, and emotional resilience to reach our full potential in every part of our lives. Welcome home -- I'm proud to be your sister-in-wrestling and I stand-by watching you make HERstory. Adeline Gray Olympian and 5x World Champion