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Lance Benick scores nearfall points (Photo/Don Stoner, Augsburg University) ROANOKE, Va. -- Claiming seven All-Americans, including six in national title contention, the Augsburg University wrestling team took a commanding lead at the NCAA Division III National Championships on Friday at the Berglund Center. Augsburg leads with 71.5 points, outpacing second-place Loras (Iowa) by 29 points. THE BASICS TOP 10 TEAM SCORES AFTER FRIDAY'S ACTION: 1. Augsburg (Minn.) 71.5; 2. Loras (Iowa) 42.5; 3. Wartburg (Iowa) 36.5; 4. Ithaca (N.Y.) 34.0; 5t. Johnson & Wales (R.I.) 33.5; 5t. Mount Union (Ohio) 33.5; 7. Wisconsin-Whitewater 33.0; 8. Wabash (Ind.) 30.0; 9. Millikin (Ill.) 26.0; 10. College of New Jersey 25.0. LOCATION: Berglund Center, Roanoke, Va. HOW IT HAPPENED • Twelve-time Division III national champion Augsburg dominated in its first day of competition at the national tournament, winning 15 of 20 matches with six pins and four major decisions. With 71.5 points, the Auggies hold a 29-point lead over second-place Loras (Iowa), which has 42.5 points. Defending national champion Wartburg (Iowa) has 36.5 points, and six teams are within four points of each other for fourth place. • It marks the 13th time that Augsburg has recorded seven or more All-Americans in its NCAA national tournament history, and the first time since its last national title in 2015. • Defending 165-pound national champion Lucas Jeske (JR, St. Michael, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville HS) extended his winning streak to 29 straight matches with two convincing wins on the day, including a 1:02 pin of Austin Whitney of Ithaca (N.Y.) in the quarterfinals, to earn his third All-America honor. Jeske converted an impressive throw into his fifth pin of the season and 35th of his career. With a 10-2 major decision over Sam Gross of John Carroll (Ohio) earlier in the day, Jeske is now 19-0 this season and 84-9 in his career. • David Flynn (JR, Jordan, Minn./Jordan HS (Scott West)) claimed his second All-America honor at 141 pounds with a pin and decision, improving to 26-5 on the season and 99-30 in his collegiate career (71-16 at Augsburg). After claiming a 3:41 pin of Jordan Napier of Manchester (Ind.) in his opening match, No. 8-seed Flynn broke a 4-4 tie with the top seed, Troy Stanich of Stevens Tech (N.Y.), with an escape with 1:03 left in his quarterfinal match, then after an video challenge overturned a takedown with 35 seconds left, he scored a takedown with 10 seconds left to score a 7-4 win to advance to Saturday's semifinals. • Ryan Epps (JR, Cannon Falls, Minn./Cannon Falls HS), the defending national champion at 157, improved to 36-3 on the season with two victories -- a 5-1 decision over JT Beirne of The College of New Jersey in his opener and a 2-0 win over Keone Derain of Elmhurst (Ill.) in the quarterfinals. Claiming an escape in the second period, Epps was able to ride Derain for the entire third period to pick up the riding time bonus point. Epps, the No. 2 seed in the field at 157, is now 110-11 in his career and earned his second career All-America honor. • At 197, No. 3 seed Lance Benick (SO, Scandia, Minn./Totino-Grace HS) scored two wins by major decision to earn his first career All-America honor. After a 14-4 win over Gage Gladysz of Thiel (Pa.) in his opener, he used a strong third period to claim his second win over Michael DiNardo of Johnson & Wales (R.I.) of the season, a 14-2 quarterfinal triumph. Leading 5-1 after a pair of second-period takedowns, Benick countered a DiNardo throw attempt with one of his own, putting DiNardo to his back for a takedown and four-point near-fall. Another takedown and 1:08 riding time gave Benick the convincing win, as he improved to 27-3 on the season. • Victor Gliva (JR, Farmington, Minn./Farmington HS), seeded No. 3 at 125 pounds, needed overtime to gain his second All-America honor, but made the most of the extra session, scoring a takedown with 34 seconds left and converting it into a four-point near-fall for a 7-1 quarterfinal victory over Peter Del Gallo of Southern Maine. Combined with a 1:14 pin of Samuel Braswell of Averett (Va.) in his opener, Gliva is now 27-5 on the season and 88-20 in his career, as a three-time national tournament qualifier. • At 149, Alex Wilson (SR, Oak Grove, Minn./St. Francis HS) earned his second career All-America honor with a 4-3 victory over Sean Sax of Westminster (Mo.) in the quarterfinals. He claimed two takedowns in the first period, then held on in the third period after Sax scored a two-point near-fall in the final minute. Combined with a 6-3 win over Luke Hernandez of Mount Union (Ohio) in his opener, Wilson is now 36-5 on the season and 129-36 in his career. • Tanner Vassar (JR, Maple Lake, Minn./Maple Lake HS) rallied for his second All-America honor in the 174-pound wrestlebacks. After a 10-4 win over Jacob Krakow of Loras (Iowa) in his opener, Vassar dropped an 8-4 decision to defending national champion Jairod James of Mount Union (Ohio) in the quarterfinals. But Vassar bounced back with a strong 9-1 major decision over Jordan Juliano of Centenary (N.J.), converting three takedowns and 2:32 of riding time to improve to 24-7 on the season and 91-27 in his career. • Senior Sam Bennyhoff (SR, Mound, Minn./Mound-Westonka HS) saw his collegiate career end in the evening session with a pair of losses. After a 5:34 pin of Russell Benson of Delaware Valley (Pa.) in his opening match, Bennyhoff fell victim to a second-period takedown and four-point near-fall combination by Ben Vosters of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in the quarterfinals, as Vosters eventually turned a 6-1 deficit into a 13-6 victory. In the wrestlebacks, Bennyhoff stayed close with Levin Englman of Ferrum (Va.), but could not overcome a third-period reversal and takedown in a 9-7 loss. Last year's national runner-up at 133 and a four-time national tournament qualifier, Bennyhoff finished his senior season at 25-6 this season and his career at 118-28. • Solomon Nielsen (SO, Luverne, Minn./Luverne HS) scored two dramatic pins in the opening round, but dropped two matches in the evening session to end his season at 28-9 in his first national tournament appearance. He suffered a 9-3 defeat at the hands of top-seed Dylan Roth of Heidelberg (Ohio) in the quarterfinals, then was eliminated with a 7-5 wrestleback loss to Kyle Peisker of Chicago (Ill.). Nielsen trailed 4-0 in the second period and mounted a late comeback with two takedowns in the final 1:24, but could not overcome 2:52 of riding time by Peisker. Nielsen scored a 6:29 pin of Tevin Bailey of Dubuque (Iowa) in a pigtail match, and a 6:50 pin of Jake Paulson of Penn State-Behrend (Pa.) in his first-round match earlier in the day. UP NEXT • Action will resume on Saturday (3/9) at 10 a.m. (Central time) with championship semifinals, consolation action and matches for third, fifth and seventh places. National championship matches will begin at 6 p.m. (Central time).

Garret Vos celebrates after a win (Photo/SCSU Athletics) The St. Cloud State University wrestling team finished the first day of action at the 2019 NCAA Division II championships with a number one ranking. The Huskies posted 56.5 team points, while Wheeling Jesuit is in second place with 50.0 points, McKendree is third with 48.0 and Notre Dame (OH) is fourth at 46.5. The NCAA Division II championships will wrap up with day two of competition on Saturday, March 9 at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland, Ohio. The Huskies currently have three wrestlers who are still alive in the championship bracket with Brett Velasquez at 125-pounds, Kolton Eischens at 174-pounds and Vince Dietz at 197-pounds. SCSU also has four wrestlers alive in the consolation round bracket including Garrett Vos at 133-pounds, James Pleski at 149-pounds, Jake Barzowksi at 157-pounds and Devin FitzPatrick at 165-pounds. Two Huskies were eliminated from competition on the first day - Travis Swanson at 141-pounds and Chance Helmick at 184-pounds. At 125-pounds, Brett Velasquez scored two victories to improve his season record to 22-3. The wins helped him earn All-America status for the fourth consecutive season and he will be looking to return to the top spot on the podium after winning an NCAA DII national title in 2016 for the Huskies. Velasquez will meet up with Josh Portillo of UN-Kearney in the semi's. See below for the complete results of all the SCSU matches. At 133-pounds, Garrett Vos battled back with two wins in the consolation rounds after falling in the quarterfinals. This marks the first time that Vos has earned All-America status as a Husky. At 141-pounds, Travis Swanson scored an 8-6 win in first round over Jonathan Miller of UNC-Pembroke before losing his next two matches. He finished his senior year at SCSU with a 25-6 record. At 149-pounds, James Pleski put in plenty of overtime in his first day of action at the NCAA tourney. He scored an OT victory in his first round match and followed that with a 3-2 tie breaker loss in the quarterfinals. To cap his day, Pleski stayed alive in the consolation bracket with a 5-3 sudden victory decision over Kaleb Warner of UNC-Pembroke. This marks Pleski's third All-America award during his career at SCSU. At 157-pounds, Jake Barzowski gained All-America status for the first time with a 2-1 record on day one. He won his first round match with a fall and then added a 7-6 win in the consolation bracket over George McGuire of Gannon. At 165-pounds, Devin FitzPatrick was another first time All-American for the Huskies with a 2-1 record on day one. He ended his first day with a convincing pin fall against Jason Buhr of Colorado Mesa at 2:05. Kolton Eischens moved into the NCAA semi's at 174-pounds with a pair of wins for the Huskies on day one. This also allowed him to gain All-America status for the second consecutive season at SCSU. He is slated to meet Connor Craig of Wheeling Jesuit on Mar. 9 in the semi's. At 184-pounds, Chance Helmick went 2-2 on the day with a win in the pig tail bracket to start the day followed by another victory in the first round matches. He was eliminated after a loss in the quarterfinals and one in the wrestlebacks. He ends his year with a 16-2 record. In action at 197-pounds, Dietz advanced to the semifinals with a pair of wins. In the first round, Dietz gained a 10-2 major decision of Khalil Gipson of Adams State and finished the day with extra points on a pin at 6:56 over Nick Baumler of Upper Iowa. This marks Dietz' second All-America award as a Husky and he will face Clayton Wahlstrom of Augustana in the semi's on March 9. Action will begin at the NCAA DII championships at 9:00 a.m. CT on March 9.

VESTAL, N.Y. -- A tight four-team race has emerged at the 115th EIWA Championships, which kicked off Friday at Binghamton's Events Center. The Mountain Hawks rode a bonus-point filled first round to the early lead and placed six wrestlers into the semifinals to take a three-point lead into day two. Lehigh has 85 points with nine of its 10 entrants still alive, while Princeton and Cornell are tied for second with 82. Army West Point is not far behind with 78 points. "This is exactly what we thought would happen," Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro said. "We knew it could be a three or four team race. The scores aren't going to matter until tomorrow night anyway, but we need to take care of business on our own tomorrow. The falls were really important because we didn't get a lot of bonus points this year," Santoro continued. "Maybe it was a product of our schedule. It was good to get them today. We obviously needed them in this race. Tomorrow, we just need to find ways to win and push through and get as many guys to the NCAA Tournament as possible." Two Mountain Hawks secured automatic qualification to the NCAA Championships, freshman Josh Humphreys (157) and senior Ryan Preisch (184). Lehigh went 9-1 in Friday morning's championship round of 16 and racked up 15 bonus points behind six falls, one win by disqualification and one major decision. Humphreys has come out strong in his first tournament with two pins in two matches. He needed just 59 seconds to pin Chris Mauriello of Hofstra with a half nelson in round one, and then decked Penn's Joe Oliva in 2:51 in the quarterfinals. Next up for Humphreys will be Princeton freshman Quincy Monday, who Humphreys edged 5-4 in the dual meet between Lehigh and Princeton in late November. Preisch also posted a pair of bonus wins on day one to qualify for the semifinals and punch his fourth consecutive trip to NCAAs. He opened with a first period pin of Penn's Robert Ng and then took care of sixth-seeded Tanner Harvey of American in a 16-5 major decision. He will face No. 2 seed Lou DePrez of Binghamton in the semifinals. At 133, sophomore Brandon Paetzell got things going for the Mountain Hawks in both sessions, picking up two wins by major decision, over Bucknell's Geo Barzona and Columbia's Matt Kazimir, to reach the semifinals in his first tournament. He will face No. 2 seed Josh Terao of American, looking to avenge a loss by decision to the Eagle in January. Senior Cortlandt Schuyler started Lehigh's pin parade, using a headlock to earn a 54 second fall over Bucknell's Matthew Kolonia in round one. He broke open a tight, high-scoring match with Drexel's Parker Kropman with an early six-point move in the third period to win 16-10. He will face Penn's No. 2 seed Anthony Artalona in the semifinals, looking to avenge an overtime loss two weeks ago. Both of Lehigh's top-seeded wrestlers, Jordan Kutler at 174, and Jordan Wood at 285, also made the semifinals at their respective weight classes. Kutler won his first match when Sacred Heart's Anthony Falbo was disqualified after five stalling calls. He then moved into the semifinals with a 9-4 decision over Hofstra's Ricky Stamm. He will next face Navy's Spencer Carey. Wood began his day with a first period pin of Bucknell's Brandon Stokes and then won a 13-2 major decision over Binghamton's Joe Doyle. He will face Army's Ben Sullivan in the semifinals. Three other Mountain Hawks rebounded from quarterfinal losses to stay alive heading into day two. All three wrestlers are guaranteed a top eight finish. Junior Ryan Pomrinca dropped an 11-minute heartbreaker against Army's Corey Shie in the quarters, with 25 seconds of riding time the difference in a 3-3, tb2, riding time victory for the Black Knight. Pomrinca came back to win a major decision over Bucknell's Noah Levett to advance to day two. He will face Princeton's Marshall Keller in the consolation quarterfinals. Senior Gordon Wolf gave Lehigh a first period pin in his first match, but dropped a 16-13 final to Army's Cael McCormick in the quarterfinals. Wolf battled back to beat Penn's Evan DeLuise 7-3 to earn a date with Cornell's Andrew Berreyesa Saturday morning. Sophomore Jake Jakobsen also began his day with a pin, then dropped a 5-1 final to Cornell's Ben Honis in the only bout matching a Mountain Hawk against a Big Red wrestler. Jakobsen earned a win by injury default in his second round consolation match and will now face Army's No. 3 seed Rocco Caywood Saturday with the winner earning automatic NCAA qualification. The only Lehigh wrestler eliminated on day one was freshman Luke Resnick, who went 1-2 at 125. Resnick rode out the third period and scored four near fall points to rally past Harvard's Nolan Hellickson in the first round consolations, but dropped two matches on late third period takedowns. Resnick finishes his freshman campaign at 4-17. "It's a typical tournament with a lot of good things, but some bad ones," Santoro said. "It's like a wedding and a funeral. One minute you're excited. One minute you're down. Tomorrow's a really big day. The team scores are really close. It's going to be a battle and we're going to have to wrestle really well tomorrow. We don't get these matches back so we have to make the most of them." The 115th EIWA Championships conclude Saturday from Events Center. Session three, featuring the championship semifinals and two rounds of consolations, begins at 10 a.m. while the final session with bouts for first, third and fifth place will begin at 3 p.m. Video for the entire tournament is available on FloWrestling.org while Lehigh will offer audio of the finals session on Fox Sports Radio 1230 and 1320 and LVFoxSports.com. The 2018-19 Lehigh wrestling season is presented by the Historic Hotel Bethlehem. Top 6 teams: 1. Lehigh 85 2. Cornell 82 2. Princeton 82 4. Army 78 5. Navy 54 6. Binghamton 45.5

NORFOLK, Va. -- Fifth-ranked Mizzou Wrestling is in first place at the Mid-American Conference Wrestling Championships after sending six of 10 wrestlers to the finals after day one of competition Friday at the Ted Constant Convocation Center on the campus of Old Dominion. Mizzou has 127.5 total team points, well ahead of second-place Buffalo (94.5). Advancing to tomorrow's finals are: RS senior John Erneste - 133 RS junior Jaydin Eierman - 141 Freshman Brock Mauller - 149 Freshman Jarrett Jacques - 157 RS senior Daniel Lewis - 174 RS junior Dylan Wisman - 184 "Those six wrestled really well," head coach Brian Smith said. "They did what they had to in order to get some wins, and got bonus points in a bunch of them. Dyaln Wisman didn't get flustered in a match where he was down and had some close calls, and battled back to dominate a match. Daniel (Lewis) did Daniel things. John (Erneste) not only found a way to win, but got a pin in the third period. We lost some tough, tough semifinal matches at the buzzer - two of them in the final seconds of the third period. Frustrating. But we'll be back tomorrow." In the first session, Mizzou was dominant as it sent all 10 wrestlers to the semifinals with a perfect 10-0 mark in the first round. Of the 10 wins, seven came via a bonus-point wins with three pins, three technical falls and a major decision at heavyweight. Mizzou's seven No. 1 seeds combined for those six of the bonus point wins, including pins from John Erneste (133), Connor Flynn (165) and Daniel Lewis (174). The trio needed a combined 2:38 to register the three pins. In the semis, Mizzou won six of 10 bouts and will have a chance to win championships at 133, 141, 149, 157, 174 and 184 tomorrow. Mizzou was close to sending nine of 10 to the finals, but last-second third-period losses by Flynn (165), Wyatt Koelling (197) and an OT loss at heavyweight by freshman Zach Elam prohibited that from happening. The finals will begin Saturday at 1 p.m. (CT) on ESPN3. Mizzou will look to win its eighth consecutive conference tournament title, dating back to its final year in the Big 12. It would be Mizzou's seventh straight MAC title and of course its seventh overall, which would be fifth-most in league history. Notes: With 127.5 points on day one, Mizzou already has more team points than 64 of the previous 68 MAC champions. RS junior Connor Flynn picked up his first pin of the season in the quarterfinal round, needing just 41 seconds to pin Central Michigan's Bret Fedewa. RS senior John Erneste earned a pin in his opening-round bout, matching his career high for pins in a season with nine. He added another in the semis to reset his single season career-high total at 10. Mizzou sent all 10 wrestlers into the semifinals, going a perfect 10-0 in the opening round. As a team, Mizzou averaged 8.15 of a 9.0 possible team points per bout in the opening round. RS senior Daniel Lewis extended his personal win streak to 15 bouts, earning 10 pins during that stretch. Heading into tomorrow's finals, Lewis has a chance to become just the eighth four-time MAC Champion in league history and first since Mizzou's J'den Cox did so in 2017. Jaydin Eierman and John Erneste are both looking to become three-time MAC Champions Saturday after going 2-0 Friday. Mizzou has two true freshmen in the MAC finals - Brock Mauller (149) and Jarret Jacques (157). Freshman Brock Mauller advanced to the finals with a 7-1 semifinal win and went 2-0 on the day. He now has 27 wins in his true freshman campaign, the most for a Mizzou freshman grappler since J'den Cox had 38 in 2013-14. Mauller's only two losses of the season have come to the same wrestler.

125: Michael McGee (Old Dominion) dec. Dack Punke (Missouri), 7-1 Drew Hildebrandt (Central Michigan) dec. Bryce West (Northern Illinois), 6-2 133: John Erneste (Missouri) pinned Tim Rooney (Kent State), 5:56 Derek Spann (Buffalo) dec. Mario Guillen (Ohio), 6-4 141: Jaydin Eierman (Missouri) pinned Sa'Derian Perry (Old Dominion), 3:00 Bryan Lantry (Buffalo) dec. Cory Simpson (Kent State), 4-0 149: Brock Mauller (Missouri) dec. Tyshawn Williams (SIU Edwardsville), 7-1 Kevin Budock (Old Dominion) dec. Alec Hagan (Ohio), 4-3 TB2 157: Larry Early (Old Dominion) dec. Logan Parks (Central Michigan), 3-1 Jarrett Jacques (Missouri) dec. Alex Smythe (Buffalo), 10-3 165: Colt Yinger (Ohio) dec. Connor Flynn (Missouri), 5-4 Troy Keller (Buffalo) dec. Nate Higgins (SIU Edwardsville), 5-2 174: Daniel Lewis (Missouri) pinned Collin Lieber (Central Michigan), 3:00 Brit Wilson (Northern Illinois) maj. dec. Luke Drugac (Old Dominion), 12-4 184: Dylan Wisman (Missouri) pinned Jordan Atienza (Central Michigan), 6:07 Andrew McNally (Kent State) dec. Antonio Agee (Old Dominion), 5-3 197: Timothy Young (Old Dominion) dec. Wyatt Koelling (Missouri), 3-1 Brett Perry (Buffalo) dec. Christian DuLaney (SIU Edwardsville), 8-3 285: Matt Stencel (Central Michigan) pinned Caleb Gossett (Northern Illinois), 1:52 Colton McKiernan (SIU Edwardsville) pinned Zach Elam (Missouri), 7:30 SV

125: Vito Arujau (Cornell) tech. fall Jakob Campbell (Bucknell), 19-1 6:24 Trey Chalifoux (Army) dec. Audey Ashkar (Binghamton), 8-4 Carmen Ferrante (Penn) dec. Antonio Mininno (Drexel), 6-2 Patrick Glory (Princeton) pinned Gage Curry (American), 4:22 133: Chas Tucker (Cornell) dec. Doug Zapf (Penn), 5-2 Lane Peters (Army) dec. Casey Cobb (Navy), 3-2 Brandon Paetzell (Lehigh) maj. dec. Matt Kazimir (Columbia), 12-4 Josh Terao (American) pinned Zack Trampe (Binghamton), 4:07 141: Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) tech. fall Wil Gil (F&M), 18-3 4:53 Anthony Sparacio (Binghamton) dec. Jack Mutchnik (American), 3-1 Corey Shie (Army) dec. Ryan Pomrinca (Lehigh), 3-3 TB2 Nicholas Gil (Navy) maj. dec. Marshall Keller (Princeton), 10-0 149: Matt Kolodzik (Princeton) pinned Holden Heller (Hofstra), 2:01 Jared Prince (Navy) dec. P.J. Ogunsanya (Army), 1-0 Cortlandt Schuyler (Lehigh) dec. Parker Kropman (Drexel), 16-10 Anthony Artalona (Penn) dec. Jonathan Furnas (Cornell), 3-1 SV 157: Zach Hartman (Lehigh) dec. Kizhan Clarke (American), 3-0 Lucas Weiland (Army) dec. Christian Labrie (Brown), 10-8 SV Quincy Monday (Princeton) pinned Hunter Ladnier (Harvard), 1:43 Josh Humphreys (Lehigh) pinned Joe Oliva (Penn), 2:51 165: Ebed Jarrell (Drexel) maj. dec. Andrew Berreyesa (Cornell), 10-0 Cael McCormick (Navy) dec. Gordon Wolf (Lehigh), 16-13 Tanner Skidgel (Navy) dec. Laurence Kosoy (Columbia), 3-0 Lenny Merkin (Princeton) dec. Jon Viruet (Brown), 9-7 SV 174: Jordan Kutler (Lehigh) dec. Ricky Stamm (Hofstra), 9-4 Spencer Carey (Navy) dec. Vincent DePrez (Binghamton), 7-3 Travis Stefanik (Princeton) dec. Ben Harvey (Army), 11-7 Brandon Womack (Cornell) pinned Bryan McLaughlin (Drexel), 3:45 184: Max Dean (Cornell) pinned Kyle Inlander (Bucknell), 1:10 C.J. LaFragola (Brown) dec. Noah Stewart (Army), 2-1 TB2 Ryan Preisch (Lehigh) maj. dec. Tanner Harvey (American), 16-5 Louie DePrez (Binghamton) dec. Brian Bonino (Columbia), 6-2 197: Patrick Brucki (Princeton) dec. Nezar Haddad (Hofstra), 8-3 Stephen Loiseau (Drexel) dec. Josh Roetman (Navy), 4-2 Drew Phipps (Bucknell) dec. Rocco Caywood (Army), 3-1 Ben Honis (Cornell) dec. John Jakobsen (Lehigh), 5-1 285: Jordan Wood (Lehigh) maj. dec. Joe Doyle (Binghamton), 13-2 Ben Sullivan (Army) dec. Niko Camacho (Army), 5-1 Ian Butterbrodt (Brown) dec. Jeramy Sweany (Cornell), 5-4 Antonio Pelusi (F&M) dec. Joey Goodhart (Drexel), 3-2

The brackets have been released for the 2019 Pac-12 Wrestling Championships. The event takes place on Saturday at Wells Fargo, Arena in Tempe, Ariz. Link: Brackets

125: Michael McGee (Old Dominion) tech. fall Gage Datlovsky (SIU Edwardsville), 18-0 Dack Punke (Missouri) dec. Kyle Akins (Buffalo), 4-1 Bryce West (Northern Illinois) pinned Shakur Laney (Ohio), 3:12 Drew Hildebrandt (Central Michigan) pinned Jacob Ferri (Kent State), 2:09 133: John Erneste (Missouri) pinned Austin Macias (SIU Edwardsville), 0:57 Tim Rooney (Kent State) pinned Alijah Jeffery (Northern Illinois), 5:57 Derek Spann (Buffalo) maj. dec. Trevon Majette (Old Dominion), 11-2 Mario Guillen (Ohio) dec. Deven Perez (Central Michigan), 5-2 141: Jaydin Eierman (Missouri) tech. fall Lucas Bernal (SIU Edwardsville), 19-3 Sa'Derian Perry (Old Dominion) dec. Andrew Marten (Central Michigan), 6-1 Bryan Lantry (Buffalo) maj. dec. Drew West (Northern Illinois), 16-2 Cory Simpson (Kent State) pinned Cameron Kelly (Ohio), 0:25 149: Brock Mauller (Missouri) tech. fall Jason Estevez (Buffalo), 17-0 Tyshawn Williams (SIU Edwardsville) dec. McCoy Kent (Northern Illinois), 7-4 Alec Hagan (Ohio) dec. Kody Komara (Kent State), 5-4 Kevin Budock (Old Dominion) dec. Dresden Simon (Central Michigan), 6-3 TB1 157: Larry Early (Old Dominion) tech. fall Richard Jackson (Kent State), 19-2 Logan Parks (Central Michigan) dec. Justin Ruffin (SIU Edwardsville), 8-1 Alex Smythe (Buffalo) dec. Zac Carson (Ohio), 3-1 SV1 Jarrett Jacques (Missouri) dec. Mason Kauffman (Northern Illinois), 2-1 165: Connor Flynn (Missouri) pinned Bret Fedewa (Central Michigan), 0:41 Colt Yinger (Ohio) dec. Isaac Bast (Kent State), 3-2 Nate Higgins (SIU Edwardsville) dec. Kenny Moore (Northern Illinois) SV-1 7-5 Troy Keller (Buffalo) dec. Shane Jones (Old Dominion), 9-2 174: Daniel Lewis (Missouri) pinned Logan Stanley (Ohio), 1:00 Collin Lieber (Central Michigan) dec. Kade Byland (Kent State), 5-0 Luke Drugac (Old Dominion) dec. Jake Lanning (Buffalo), 6-5 Brit Wilson (Northern Illinois) dec. Kevin Gschwendtner (SIU Edwardsville), 6-1 184: Dylan Wisman (Missouri) tech. fall Logan Rill (Buffalo), 20-4 Jordan Atienza (Central Michigan) tech. fall Will Feldkamp (Northern Illinois), 17-0 Andrew McNally (Kent State) pinned Sergio Villalobos (SIU Edwardsville), 1:54 Antonio Agee (Old Dominion) dec. Hunter Yeargan (Ohio), 2-1 TB1 197: Wyatt Koelling (Missouri) dec. Max Ihry (Northern Illinois), 6-2 Timothy Young (Old Dominion) dec. Landon Pelham (Central Michigan), 13-7 Brett Perry (Buffalo) maj. dec. Derek Hillman (Ohio), 17-6 Christian DuLaney (SIU Edwardsville) maj. dec. Shane Mast (Kent State), 16-4 285: Matt Stencel (Central Michigan) dec. Zack Parker (Ohio), 3-2 Caleb Gossett (Northern Illinois) maj. dec. William Hilliard (Old Dominion), 13-2 Colton McKiernan (SIU Edwardsville) dec. Jake Gunning (Buffalo), 5-3 Zach Elam (Missouri) maj. dec. Spencer Berthold (Kent State), 12-0

ROANOKE, Va. -- With one of its most dominating single-round performances in recent history, the Augsburg University wrestling team opened the NCAA Division III National Championships with wins in all 10 of its bouts, taking a 5.5-point advantage over second-place Johnson and Wales University (R.I.) on Friday morning at the Berglund Center. THE BASICS TOP 10 TEAM SCORES AFTER ROUND 1: 1. Augsburg (Minn.) 22.0; 2. Johnson & Wales (R.I.) 16.5; 3. Loras (Iowa) 13.5; 4. Wartburg (Iowa) 10.0; 5. Ithaca (N.Y.) 9.5; 6. Wabash (Ind.) 8.5; 7. College of New Jersey 7.5; 8t. Millikin (Ill.) 7.0; 8t. Wisconsin-Whitewater 7.0; 10. Mount Union (Ohio) 6.5. LOCATION: Berglund Center, Roanoke, Va. HOW IT HAPPENED • All nine Augsburg wrestlers won their opening matches in the first round, scoring five pins and two major decisions among the team's 10 victories. Augsburg has 22.0 points after the first round, ahead of second-place Johnson & Wales' 16.5 points. Both Augsburg and JWU qualified nine wrestlers, but JWU had one competitor eliminated and only have five remaining in championship contention. • Solomon Nielsen (SO, Luverne, Minn./Luverne HS) made his national tournament debut in dramatic fashion at 184 pounds, scoring a pair of come-from-behind wins by third-period pin -- a 6:29 pin of Tevin Bailey of Dubuque (Iowa) in a pigtail match, and a 6:50 pin of Jake Paulson of Penn State-Behrend (Pa.) in a first-round match. Bailey led 7-1 halfway through the second period, but Nielsen came back with three takedowns, the last one a drive that put Bailey on his back for a pin with 41 seconds left in the match. Against Paulson, Nielsen trailed 1-0 after two periods, but claimed a takedown, converted a driving takedown with 24 seconds left and with 10 seconds left, got his second pin of the day to improve to 28-7 on the season. • Competing in his fourth national tournament, 133-pounder Sam Bennyhoff (SR, Mound, Minn./Mound-Westonka HS) built a dominating 13-0 lead in the third period, before eventually claiming a 5:34 pin of Russell Benson of Delaware Valley (Pa.) in his opening match. Last year's national runner-up at 133, Bennyhoff is now 25-4 this season and 118-26 in his career. He claimed his 34th career pin and sixth this season. • Victor Gliva (JR, Farmington, Minn./Farmington HS), seeded No. 3 at 125 pounds, opened the tournament with a 1:14 pin of Samuel Braswell of Averett (Va.), scoring a single-leg takedown at the 2:17 mark and working it into a pin 31 seconds later. Gliva, an eighth-place national finisher in 2017 making his third national tournament appearance, is now 26-5 on the season with eight pins. • David Flynn (JR, Jordan, Minn./Jordan HS (Scott West)), opened his third national tournament appearance with a second-period pin over Jordan Napier of Manchester (Ind.) at 3:41. Leading 3-0 in the second period, Flynn worked an aggressive upper-body move to claim his 12th pin of the season, improving to 25-5 on the season and 98-30 in his collegiate career (70-16 at Augsburg). • Defending 165-pound national champion Lucas Jeske (JR, St. Michael, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville HS) extended his winning streak to 28 straight matches with a 10-2 major decision over Sam Gross of John Carroll (Ohio). He used four takedowns and 3:46 of riding time to dominate his match, improving to 18-0 on the season. • Lance Benick (SO, Scandia, Minn./Totino-Grace HS), the No. 3-seed at 197 pounds, also had a very strong performance in his national tournament debut, scoring a 14-4 major decision over Gage Gladysz of Thiel (Pa.). He built a 4-2 lead after one period, then used a four-point near-fall in the second period to break open the match, eventually building 2:53 of riding time in the win to improve to 26-3 on the year. • Ryan Epps (JR, Cannon Falls, Minn./Cannon Falls HS), the defending national champion at 157, improved to 34-3 on the season with another solid performance, a 5-1 win over JT Beirne of The College of New Jersey. Epps led 2-1 after one period, then rode Beirne for the entire second period to eventually build 3:13 of riding time in the win. Epps, the No. 2 seed in the field at 157, is now 110-11 in his career. • At 149, Alex Wilson (SR, Oak Grove, Minn./St. Francis HS) used a strong third period to score a 6-3 win over Luke Hernandez of Mount Union (Ohio) in his opener. Tied 3-3 to start the third period, Hernandez chose an "optional start," giving Wilson an escape point. But Hernandez was unable to get a takedown on Wilson, and Wilson turned the tables with a takedown of his own with 14 seconds left in the match to improve to 35-5 on the season and 128-36 in his career in his second national tournament. • Tanner Vassar (JR, Maple Lake, Minn./Maple Lake HS), competing in his second national tournament, had an impressive performance in a 10-4 win over Jacob Krakow of Loras (Iowa) to open the meet. Vassar scored two takedowns in the first period, another in the second and another in the third to claim the win, improving to 23-7 on the season and 90-27 in his career. UP NEXT • The second session of the national tournament starts at 5 p.m. (Central time) on Friday. The session, known as the "All-American round," eliminates the field to eight wrestlers in each class, who earn All-American honors.

The brackets have been released for the 2019 Big Ten Wrestling Championships. The event takes place Saturday-Sunday at Williams Arena in Minneapolis, Minn. Link: Brackets

A Twitter List by InterMat

Wrestling is underway at the 2019 EIWA Championships at Binghamton University. Session 1 includes the championship first round and the first round of wrestlebacks. Session 2 -- beginning at 6 p.m. ET -- includes the championship quarterfinals and the second round of wrestlebacks. Binghamton is the 19th different school to host the EIWA Championship tournament, which began in 1905 at the University of Pennsylvania. The tournament concludes tomorrow with Session 3, beginning at 10 a.m. (championship semifinals/wrestleback quarterfinals, wrestleback semifinals, and seventh-place matches), and Session 4, beginning at 3 p.m. (first, third, and fifth-place matches). Link: EIWA Championships Twitter Updates

Link: Results A Twitter List by InterMat

The NCAA conference tournaments are this weekend with 286 of the 330 NCAA qualifiers being allocated by the outcome of those tournaments. The remaining 44 will be divvied out next week based on the total number of allocations in each weight class to balance each out for a total of 33. The qualification system hasn't always been this neat. In the past 10-15 years the NCAA has implemented several changes, the first being a move away from what was known as "historical data" based on the previous 1, 2, and 5-year performances of each conference.The system was wildly unfair and limited the growth of smaller conferences who couldn't attract wrestlers (or coaches) based on the inability to directly control one's destiny. Not only that, but the conferences were allowed to choose wild cards based on who they believed would help them most at the NCAA tournament. That motivation led to a lot of backroom dealing and horse trading, none of which was transparent or healthy for the sport.Careers were lost to a very bad system. But there was change, which shows that as cumbersome an operation the NCAA leads, the push for improvements from the outside can sometimes come to pass. There is still no NCAA dual meet national championship, but there is a process and there is interest. The NCAA has the ability to make it happen. Good luck to all the athletes competing this weekend for a ticket to nationals and a chance to call themselves conference champion. Safe travels as well to the families, fans, coaches, and athletes who are trekking far and wide to see their favorite wrestlers step on the mat. To your questions … Q: Biggest upset you see at a conference tournament this weekend? I'm calling Shakur Rasheed over Myles Martin at the Big Ten Championships, although it's hard to call it a huge upset when Rasheed is ranked second in the nation and undefeated. -- Mike C. Foley: No way. Myles Martin won't be upset by Shakur Rasheed or anyone else. And good catch. It wouldn't really be a huge upset. Virginia's Louie Hayes is pre-seeded No. 5 at the ACC Championships at 133 pounds (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) I'm going with the 'Hoos. Louie Hayes to make the 133-pound finals at the ACC Championships and claim the gold medal. Q: When will tickets for the 2020 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Minneapolis go on sale? -- Tom G. Foley: They tend to go on sale before, or just following, the final session of the previous year's NCAA Championships. The event will be hosted at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, so I'm assuming more than 20K tickets will be available, but there will be somewhat less than the maximum capacity of 66K-plus. Wouldn't it be interesting if the NCAA and the stadium worked hard to try and set the Guinness Book of World Records for most fans to watch a (non-football/basketball) intercollegiate athletic event? Or, even just the record for wrestling? Q: How does the future of freestyle wrestling benefit from seeing elite guys take hard half shots and run guys off the mat? Casual sports fans recognize dominance when they see it. It's hard to get excited by pushing guys around. It's why sumo wrestling has never caught on worldwide. Do we need to see more creativity in the rules? Limited number of pushout points awarded? DQs for getting pushed out too much? OT if there are no TDs, nor turns in regulation? -- Jared H. Foley: I appreciate this aggressive hot take about freestyle wrestling and there being too many "hard half shots!" As you may know I watch a lot of freestyle wrestling, and it has never occurred to me that many of these athletes are simply pushing anyone around. Greco-Roman? Maybe. Freestyle? Too dynamic for a pushout-only system of success. To wit, when I have seen athletes push the action to the edge of the mat, it's often because their opponent is stalling and thus should lose a point or decide to fight back to the center. In many of the matches I watch, athletes who push too hard often get head snapped into short offense, head pinched for four, or put themselves at an equal risk for going out of bounds. Sorry! Love a hot take, but the numbers also don't support the sumo thesis. Offensive scoring is way up over the past few years and has continued to climb. Long explanation shortened for a busy mailbag: Freestyle rules won't change anytime in the foreseeable future and that's because they are David Hasselhoff types of rad. Also … sumo is INSANELY POPULAR in Japan and the fact you used it as an example means it did succeed in becoming a worldwide phenomenon! Q: Can you think of any reason not to move the NCAA wrestling season back a month? It would still fall in the spring semester and we could have our own stage rather than trying to compete with the NCAA basketball tournament. -- Matt B. Foley: No, I don't see any reason not to move the season. Make it a one-semester sport. Start in January and end in late April. Logical, profitable and better for the student-athletes. The only reason it won't be slotted that way is there are still too many stakeholders who profit from the current calendar and don't want to risk the change. Same for why there is no NCAA-sanctioned dual meet national championship. Q: With the conference championships set to start soon, and the NCAAs right behind them, who are your all-time individual greats, at each individual weight, 125 pounds through heavyweight? I know some weight classes aren't around anymore, so please use your artistic creativity for the likes of Dan Gable and company in slotting them if necessary. Thanks. I'm looking forward to seeing what roster you come up, with of all-time greats at each weight class. Semper Fi! -- Rick B. Foley: 125: Stephen Abas (Fresno State) 133: Eric Guerrero (Oklahoma State) 141: Logan Stieber (Ohio State) 149: Zain Retherford (Penn State) 157: Pat Smith (Oklahoma State) 165: Joe Williams (Iowa) 174: Chris Pendleton (Oklahoma State) 184: Cael Sanderson (Iowa State) 197: J'den Cox (Missouri) 285: Kyle Snyder (Ohio State) DH: Kyle Dake (Cornell) MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME Here are some of the first videos coming from our recent production in India. Hope you enjoy and find them informative! Sakshi Malik is a massive star in India. Find out why! Hanuman is considered the god most closely associated with wrestling. Check out this short piece on Lord Hanuman and Bajrang Punia. All the action from the Dan Kolov is right here. Q: That stoppage in the Robbie-Lawler Ben Askren fight was bullshit. Hard not to like Lawler. Did you see his reaction after the fight was stopped? Do you think there will be a rematch? If not, where does each go from here? -- Mike C. Foley: I remember rolling with a very average (maybe below average) blue belt just after I received my purple belt in 2013 (or so). This kid was a total spaz and I was trying to play nice, but at some point I went in on a shot and turned the corner, but instead of sprawling or whizzering he put me in a schoolyard headlock like what you saw last Saturday from Ben Askren. I reacted the wrong way and there it was, I was being Bulldog choked to death. I'd never seen the move, much less felt it applied, and I'd certainly never learned the counter. Askren had a tight grip and from what I could see of the angle and pressure, there really wasn't a solid out for Lawler, except maybe getting his left shoulder back in front of Ben's belly and turning his chin in. To do that I think Lawler would have to his feet to the cage and/or closer to Ben's. Either way he was stuck and in a lot of pain. I don't believe he was out, but I also saw that arm go limpish for a second so I see both sides. Super-dumb position to end up in, but that's what Ben does, he puts you into positions that he knows and he knows you don't know. No rematch. They'll move Ben onto Darren Till, who is just as heavy a striker as Lawler, but has questionable wrestling. We'll see! Q: What do you make of the recent rise in showboating/dance celebration after winning? Chandler Rogers' dance after Iowa I thought was a joke. Another I saw from Wisconsin. They don't allow this in football. There is a difference between being fired up for a big win, and that. Did you see the video of Wisconsin after the Ben Askren win that was posted on their RTC twitter page? I was absolutely shocked that someone, sounds like a kid who taped it, would post a video where "f$&k yeah" is clearly screamed (by my count) four times. And post it on the RTC page. Some college administrators have taken control of the social media pages if the schools name is attached, and after seeing this, who can blame them? I guess it all comes down to the coach in the end. My dad had a saying, "What you permit, you promote." -- John G. Foley: First, this question is basically The Simpsons' "OLD MAN YELLS AT CLOUD" GIF. However, I agree that the dancing should be moderated to maybe not include the crotch thrusting and chopping towards the groin. I don't like singlets as it is and sexualizing the sport, or your dance while in a singlet, seems crude. The Badger RTC coach is Ben Askren so I can see why these guys were so excited. You probably went to college and remember what it was like to be in a room during some type of large scale celebration. Everyone tries to make more noise than the other guy, or look funnier. Just part of the game. Few curse words don't really get to me all that much. Man, you are bah-humbuggin' Wisconsin. Can't oblige that much hate. Also, little known fact, Milwaukee is the city of my birth. Overall, let the kids dance as they wish so long as it's not in the face of their opponent. The sport should be fun, but it should also remain respectful. That line is always shifting, which leaves it up to interpretation by each fan, coach and athlete, but in general "be cool, man." Q: This weekend in Virginia: NCAA Division III Championships, ACC Championships, EWL Championships and MAC Championships. If champions in each of those events formed a team and entered a dual meet tournament, what would the top four team finishes be? -- Mike C. Foley: 1. ACC 2. MAC 3. NCAA Division III 4. EWL Q: Thoughts on EWL teams joining the MAC? -- Mike C. Foley: While there is a lot of talk around the size of the new MAC (15 programs), my biggest want for this merger is to help generate more interest in the PSAC programs that haven't garnered as much attention as they deserve. The size of the conference should mean that a profitable mixture of TV markets could draw some good dollars for streaming and other deals. Missouri, Central Michigan, Lock Haven, Cleveland State, and the other 11 schools will enjoy increased national exposure and the smaller schools will now have an opportunity to have consistent high-level competition. Good move. Q: How does USA Wrestling decide which wrestlers are sent abroad to compete in a Ranking Series Tournament? Why weren't Kyle Dake and David Taylor entered in the Dan Kolov tournament? -- JVM Foley: National team members are given the right of first refusal from starter down to the No. 3 on the ladder. Individuals who are hurt, committed elsewhere, or simply don't want to compete are not bound by any rules to attend these tournaments. After checking with the national team, the USA Wrestling coaching staff decides who else to bring, though their decision-making tree isn't known to me. Not sure about Dake or Taylor. Remember that there are still two more Ranking Series tournaments, continentals, and Final X matches to consider in the very near future. Q: Seth Gross is in the transfer portal. Where do you think he ends up? I'm predicting Wisconsin (Coach Bono) or Minnesota (home state, brother will be at Augsburg), but wondering if you have heard any rumblings? -- Mike C. Foley: See Daniel Cormier's tweet below.

Lonnie Morris coaching at the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships MANHEIM, Pa. -- A night before his team starts its quest for a national championship, Johnson & Wales University wrestling head coach Lonnie Morris received his sport's highest honor. The 26-year Wildcat mat boss was named the National Wrestling Coaches Association National Coach of the Year, presented by Defense Soap. "We are pleased to recognize this year's National Coach of the Year recipient, Lonnie Morris and want to thank him for providing a quality experience for his student-athletes and for being an outstanding role model to our sport," said NWCA Executive Director, Mike Moyer. Johnson & Wales had a program-best nine wrestlers qualify for the NCAA Championships, March 8-9, in Roanoke, Va. The Wildcats made history by becoming the first New England school to send nine wrestlers and set an NCAA Northeast Regional record by scoring 187 points. It was JWU's third regional title in a row. This season the Wildcats have a 23-4 dual meet record that includes the first win over Wartburg College at the NWCA National Duals. Johnson & Wales was the first New England team to make the finals of the NWCA Division III Multi-National Duals. The regional championship was JWU's fourth tournament title of the year to go along with the Roger Williams Invitational, New Standard Invitational and New England Dual Meet Championships. After dominating the competition over the weekend, Morris earned the meet's Coach of the Year Award and Brian Allen was named Assistant Coach of the Year. A native Rhode Islander, giving back to the wrestling community is also very important to Morris. He and his team are very active in the community service field with over 200 hours spent helping Beat the Streets Providence and conducting many clinics at clubs and high schools throughout the northeast. Lonnie Morris appeared on Episode 4 of The MatBoss Podcast.

Alonzo Allen earned the all-conference spot at 125 pounds (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com) SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- VMI's 174-pounder Neal Richards has been named the Southern Conference Wrestler of the Year and Chattanooga's 149-pounder Tanner Smith has been named the league's Freshman of the Year as determined by a vote of the conference's eight head coaches, the league office announced Wednesday. The coaches, who were not allowed to vote for their own wrestlers, also selected 10-member all-conference and all-freshman teams. Appalachian State paced all-conference field with three selection and named two to the all-freshman team. Campbell and Chattanooga came in second, having two each named to the all-conference team while Chattanooga had three named to the all-freshman team. The Citadel boasts one to the all-conference team and three to the all-freshman team. Gardner-Webb and VMI, with one member named to the all-conference team each, rounded out the team. Randall Diabe (197) is currently ranked No. 18 nationally, finishing the year with a 24-5 overall record, 14-1 dual record and a perfect 5-0 conference record. He is joined on this year's all-conference team by Alan Clothier (184) and Cary Miller (HWT). Miller posted an overall 21-11 record and a perfect 6-0 Southern Conference record. Clothier only dropped one match in SoCon action to bring his final regular season record to 18-13 overall and 5-1 in the conference while recording a pin. The Mountaineer's are represented on this year's all-freshman team by Jonathan Millner (149) and Anthony Brito (141). This year's wrestler of the year, Neal Richards (174), is ranked No. 18 nationally, finishing the year with a 27-3 overall record and a perfect 7-0 SoCon and 17-0 dual record with thirteen pins. The redshirt junior hasn't lost a match since November and is coming into the tournament with a 19-match win streak. He was named wrestler of the week four times as well as wrestler of the months twice-the first time ever for a Keydet. Richards was also named to this year's all-conference team in the 174 pounds weight-class category. VMI finished the regular season fourth overall with a conference record of 3-3. The Mocs of Chattanooga are represented on this year's all-conference team by last season's 125-pound individual champion, Alonzo Allen. He posted a 22-7 record with a conference record of 4-0 and a dual's record of 7-3. Teammate Chris Debien (141) joins him on the all-conference team with a record of 22-11 overall and 6-0 perfect conference record with four pins. A true freshman from New Carlisle, Ohio, Chattanooga's Tanner Smith claims this year's freshman of the year award. He went 9-6 overall, 4-2 in the conference and 6-4 in duals with two pins on the season. He is joined on the all-freshman team by teammates Ryan Resnick (157), and Drew Nicholson (165). Tyler Marinelli (165) is the lone Runnin' Bulldog on the all-conference squad with an overall record of 16-2 and a perfect 6-0 in the conference. Gardner-Webb finished the regular season with a conference record of 1-5. The Camels have representation on this year's all-conference by Josh Heil (149). Heil finished the 2018-19 season with a 21-7 overall record and a perfect duals and conference record while recording three pins. Campbell finished the regular season tied for regular season champions with a 5-1 conference record. At 157, Rian Burris represents The Citadel on the all-conference team, boasting a regular season 23-15 overall record. The Bulldogs have representation of three on the all-freshman team with Dazjon Castro (165), Kyle Kretzer (174) and Chon Porter (149). Six of the 10 all-conference picks -- Allen, Gonser, Debien, Heil, Marinelli, Richards and Miller - earned the maximum number of points in the voting process. The SoCon Wrestling Championship takes place Saturday, March 10, in Boone, North Carolina. Doors to Holmes Convention Center open at 9 a.m. First-round matches are set to begin at 10 a.m., with finals slated to start at 7 p.m. 2018-19 Wrestler of the Year Neal Richards, 197, VMI 2018-19 Freshman of the Year Tanner Smith, 149, Chattanooga 2018-19 All-Southern Conference Team 125: Alonzo Allen, Chattanooga 133: Noah Gonser,, Campbell 141: Chris Debien,, Chattanooga 149: Josh Heil, Campbell 157: Rian Burris, The Citadel 165: Tyler Marinelli,, Gardner-Webb 174: Neal Richards, VMI 184: Alan Clothier, Appalachian State 197: Randall Diabe, Appalachian State 285: Cary Miller, Appalachian State 2018-19 Freshman Team Anthony Brito, 141, Appalachian State Jonathan Millner, 149, Appalachian State Dazjon Castro, 165, The Citadel Kyle Kretzer, 174, The Citadel Chon Porter, 149, The Citadel Drew Nicholson, 165, Chattanooga Ryan Resnick, 157, Chattanooga Tanner Smith, 149, Chattanooga Kyle Gorant, 133, Davidson Mitchell Trigg, HWT, Davidson

The Wartburg College Knights are still the kings of Division III wrestling. Wartburg has walked away with the gold trophy for small colleges the past three years in early March. Can the Knights make it four in a row? They certainly will have a legitimate shot when the NCAA Division III Championships are contested Friday and Saturday at the Berglund Center in Roanoke, Va. Wartburg's push for another crown is one of many storylines to follow entering this year's event. The Knights have won a record 14 national titles, including seven of the last eight. Wartburg has qualified seven wrestlers and is led by a pair of returning national champions in senior Cross Cannone and sophomore Brock Rathbun. Cannone is the No. 1 seed at 157 pounds and has won his last 61 matches. He won NCAAs in 2018 at 149 after placing second the year before at 141. Cannone is a strong, physical and aggressive wrestler who is a difficult matchup for anyone. Rathbun is the No. 3 seed at 133. He has a career record of 50-9, including a 25-4 mark this season. Rathbun came on strong late in the season and won a regional title. Wartburg also has seeded wrestlers in Kyle Briggs, No. 3 at 174; Kris Rumph, No. 4 at 149; Brady Kyner, No. 7 at 125; Brady Fritz, No. 7 at 141 and unseeded Bowen Wileman at heavyweight. Augsburg was ranked No. 1 nationally before dropping a home dual meet against Wartburg late in the season. The last time a team other than Augsburg or Wartburg won the team title in Division III was when Ithaca College captured the 1994 championship. Augsburg's Lucas Jeske, ranked No. 1, battles Wartburg's Michael Ross (Photo/David Peterson) Augsburg returns a pair of national champions in juniors Lucas Jeske and Ryan Epps. Jeske was named outstanding wrestler at the 2018 national tournament and he is unbeaten this season. Jeske is seeded No. 1 at 165 pounds. Epps captured his 2018 national title in dramatic fashion, scoring a takedown in overtime to edge Wartburg's Logan Thomsen 3-1 in the 157-pound finals. Epps is the No. 2 seed in a loaded 157 class topped by Cannone, who defeated Epps 8-4 in the dual. Augsburg also returns a national finalist in No. 2 seed Sam Bennyhoff at 133. Bennyhoff avenged his national finals loss to Rathbun in the dual. The two standouts could meet again in the NCAA semifinals in a match that could play a huge role in the team race. The Auggies also have a potential champion at 197 with No. 3 seed Lance Benick, who is 25-3. Benick transferred to Augsburg last year from Arizona State. One team with the potential to end the string of titles by the Burgs is Johnson & Wales, a squad that qualified a New England record nine wrestlers for nationals. The Wildcats feature plenty of firepower with their bonus point potential. Johnson & Wales has a lineup that includes numerous wrestlers who can end a match at any point with a quick fall. Jay Albis made history for the Johnson & Wales wrestling program last season. He became the school's first national champion in any sport. Albis is back at 125 pounds and is the No. 1 seed with a 35-4 record. The Wildcats upset Wartburg at the National Duals this season before falling to Augsburg in the finals. Johnson & Wales also set a Northeast Regional record by scoring 187 points. Eighth-ranked Loras had an excellent showing in the same regional with Wartburg and matched the Knights with seven national qualifiers. The Duhawks are led by coach T.J. Miller, a past Wartburg national champion under his father Jim Miller. Returning runner-up Guy Patron of Loras is the No. 2 seed at 197 with a 18-2 record. Patron placed third at nationals two years ago. Ithaca's Ben Brisman also is back after winning the 141-pound national title as a sophomore. He is 21-1 this season and seeded second in the tournament. Sixth-ranked Ithaca has six qualifiers as does No. 4 Wabash. Mount Union's Jairod James is another wrestler who will look to repeat as a national champion. He is seeded second at 174 with a 33-4 record. Waynesburg's Jake Evans also returns to defend his national title at heavyweight. He is 46-2 this season and will be seeded third. Evans provided one of the more compelling stories in collegiate wrestling last season by winning an NCAA Division III crown at age 28. This shapes up to be an outstanding tournament. Wartburg, with seven qualifiers, has little margin for error. The Knights certainly are capable with plenty of scoring potential among their strong list of qualifiers. Augsburg looks like the best bet to end its rival's run of consecutive team titles. The Auggies have won 12 national titles since 1991 and could be in position to do it again. It may come down to bonus points and that's where Johnson & Wales could make a run at the top spot with its ability to accumulate pins. This is always a highly competitive event with compelling drama and this year promises to be no exception. It will be exciting to see how it plays out this weekend in Virginia.

Neal Richards is the top seed at 174 pounds (Photo/VMI Athletics) SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Seeding for the 2019 Southern Conference Wrestling Championship has been released, the league office announced Tuesday afternoon. Two of last year's SoCon individual champions will be back in the fields this year, defending titles in their respective weight classes. Chattanooga's Alonzo Allen looks to defend his 125-pound title while Appalachian State's Irvin Enriquez looks to defend his title in the 141-pound weight class. The SoCon was allocated 13 spots in the NCAA Championships, with the 149, 174 and 197-pound weight classes being awarded two each. This year's championship is hosted by Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina at the Holmes Convocation Center, on Sunday, March 10. Doors will open at 9 a.m., with competition scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Seeds 125 (1 NCAA allocation) 1. Alonzo Allen, Chattanooga 2. Korbin Meink, Campbell 3. DeAndre Swinson-Barr, Appalachian State 4. Derek Shockey, VMI 133 (1 NCAA allocation) 1. Noah Gosner, Campbell 2. Codi Russell, Appalachian State 3. Kyle Gorant, Davidson 4. Brandon Bright, Gardner-Webb 5. Jake Huffine, Chattanooga 6. Charles Kearney, The Citadel 7. Cliff Conway, VMI 141 (1 NCAA allocation) 1. Chris Debien, Chattanooga 2. Nathan Boston, Campbell 3. Irvin Enriquez, Appalachian State 4. Dom Gallo, VMI 5. Blake Mulkey, Gardner-Webb 6. Caleb Zibell, Davidson 7. Keegan Connolly 149 (2 NCAA allocations) 1. Joshua Heil, Campbell 2. Matthew Zovistoski, Appalachian State 3. Tanner Smith, Chattanooga 4. Selwyn Porter, The Citadel 5. Will Baldwin, Davidson 6. Chase McKinney, Gardner-Webb 7. Zach Schmitt, VMI 157 ( 1 NCAA allocation) 1. Benjamin Barton, Campbell 2. Rian Burris, The Citadel 3. Tanner Smith, Chattanooga 4. Angel Najar, Appalachian State 5. Evan Schenk, Gardner-Webb 6. Tony Palumbo, Davidson 7. Darren Ostrander, VMI 165 (1 NCAA allocation) 1. Tyler Marinelli, Gardner-Webb 2. Michael Elliott, Appalachian State 3. Drew Nicholson, Chattanooga 4. Dazjon Casto, The Citadel 5. Cameron Pine, Campbell 6. Hunter Costa, Davidson 7. Luke Niksic, VMI 174 (2 NCAA allocations) 1. Neal Richards, VMI 2. Andrew Morgan, Campbell 3. Thomas Flitz, Appalachian State 4. Kyle Homet, Gardner-Webb 5. Hunter Fortner, Chattanooga 6. Noah Satterfield, Davidson 7. Kyle Kretzer, The Citadel 184 (1 NCAA allocations) 1. Alan Clothier, Appalachian State 2. Chris Kober, Campbell 3. Dominic Lampe, Chattanooga 4. Conor Fenn, Davidson 5. Max Gallahan, VMI 6. Martin Duane, The Citadel 7. Christian Salter, Gardner-Webb 197 (2 NCAA allocations) 1. Randall Diabe, Appalachian State 2. Sawyer Root, The Citadel 3. Anthony Perrine, Gardner-Webb 4. Rod Jones, Chattanooga 5. Austin McNeil, Campbell 6. Chris Beck, VMI 7. Finaly Holston, Davidson 285 (1 NCAA allocation) 1. Cary Miller, Appalachian State 2. Connor Tolley, Chattanooga 3. Odgerel Batkhishig, Campbell 4. Michael McAleavey, The Citadel 5. Trey Momon, VMI 6. Jack Trautman, Gardner-Webb

Missouri's Daniel Lewis is currently ranked No. 2 at 174 pounds (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The 2019 MAC Wrestling Championships will be held March 8-9 and hosted by Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va. Listed below is the pre-seeding for the MAC Wrestling Championship following today's conference call with all eight MAC head wrestling coaches. 125: 1. Michael McGee, Old Dominion 2. Drew Hildebrandt, Central Michigan 3. Shakur Laney, Ohio 4. Dack Punke, Missouri 5. Kyle Akins, Buffalo 6. Bryce West, Northern Illinois 7. Jake Ferri, Kent State 8. Gage Datlovsky, SIU Edwardsville 133: 1. John Erneste, Missouri 2. Mario Guillen, Ohio 3. Derek Spann, Buffalo 4. Alijah Jeffery, Northern Illinois 5. Tim Rooney, Kent State 6. Trevor Majette, Old Dominion 7. Devin Perez, Central Michigan 8. Austin Macias, SIU Edwardsville 141: 1. Jaydin Eierman, Missouri 2. Cameron Kelly, Ohio 3. Bryan Lantry, Buffalo 4. Sa'Derian Perry, Old Dominion 5. Drew Marten, Central Michigan 6. Drew West, Northern Illinois 7. Cory Simpson, Kent State 8. Lucas Bernal, SIU Edwardsville 149: 1. Brock Mauller, Missouri 2. Kevin Budock, Old Dominion 3. Alec Hagan, Ohio 4. Tyshawn Williams, SIU Edwardsville 5. McCoy Kent, Northern Illinois 6. Kody Komora, Kent State 7. Dresden Simon, Central Michigan 8. Jason Estevez, Buffalo 157: 1. Larry Early, Old Dominion 2. Jarrett Jacques, Missouri 3. Zac Carson, Ohio 4. Justin Ruffin, SIU Edwardsville 5. Logan Parks, Central Michigan 6. Alex Smythe, Buffalo 7. Mason Kauffman, Northern Illinois 8. Richard Jackson, Kent State 165: 1. Connor Flynn, Missouri 2. Troy Keller, Buffalo 3. Kenny Moore, Northern Illinois 4. Colt Yinger, Ohio 5. Isaac Bast, Kent State 6. Nate Higgins, SIU Edwardsville 7. Shane Jones, Old Dominion 8. Bret Fedewa, Central Michigan 174: 1. Daniel Lewis, Missouri 2. Brit Wilson, Northern Illinois 3. Jake Lanning, Buffalo 4. Collin Lieber, Central Michigan 5. Kade Byland, Kent State 6. Luke Drugac, Old Dominion 7. Kevin Gschwendtner, SIU Edwardsville 8. Logan Stanley, Ohio 184: 1. Dylan Wisman, Missouri 2. Antonio Agee, Old Dominion 3. Andrew McNally, Kent State 4. Jordan Atienza, Central Michigan 5. Will Feldkamp, Northern Illinois 6. Sergio Villalobos, SIU Edwardsville 7. Hunter Yeargan, Ohio 8. Logan Rill, Buffalo 197: 1. Wyatt Koelling, Missouri 2. Christian Dulaney, SIU Edwardsville 3. Brett Perry, Buffalo 4. Tim Young, Old Dominion 5. Landon Pelham, Central Michigan 6. Derek Hillman, Ohio 7. Shane Mast, Kent State 8. Max Ihry, Northern Illinois 285: 1. Matt Stencel, Central Michigan 2. Zach Elam, Missouri 3. Jake Gunning, Buffalo 4. Will Hilliard, Old Dominion 5. Caleb Gossett, Northern Illinois 6. Colton McKiernan, SIU Edwardsville 7. Spencer Berthold, Kent State 8. Zack Parker, Ohio

Mark Cody (Photo/Oklahoma Athletics) The Upstate New York Chapter of National Wrestling Hall of Fame has announced its honorees for its Class of 2019. These new inductees, to be welcomed this September, include seven Lifetime Service Award recipients, as well as the recipient of the Outstanding American Award, and the Stanbro Media Award honoree. Those who will be presented with Upstate New York Chapter's Lifetime Service Award this fall include Mark Cody, head wrestling coach at Presbyterian College who made a name for himself at the helm of the American University and Oklahoma University mat programs; Paul Cummings, Valley Central High School; Steve Dalberth, New York High Rules Interpreter and wrestling official; Tim Jenks, Greene Central School; Pete Rao, college wrestling official; Anthony Servidone, Section II's Columbia High School; and Brian Tompkins, Section I's Sleepy Hollow High School. In addition, Rear Admiral Donald P. Quinn will receive the Outstanding American Award ... while Michael Carey will get the Stanbro Media Award for promoting wrestling in Section IX and throughout New York State. The Class of 2019 awards will be presented in a special induction ceremony on Sunday, September 22, 2019 at the Double Tree Hotel in East Syracuse, N.Y. Additional information on the honorees and the awards presentation will be released at a later date. In the meantime, questions may be directed to Carl Koenig, President of Upstate New York Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, at (607) 244-8422 or carlkoenig@stny.rr.com.

Joe Smith wrestling Mark Hall in the finals of the Southern Scuffle (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com) Nowadays, wrestle-off results at the college level barely get mentioned beyond the wrestling room … or on a team's website. So it's something of a "big deal" when that kind of match generates actual news stories. Then again, this wrestle-off took place at Oklahoma State, featuring two combatants from the same high school. And it saw a guy who hadn't wrestled this season at 165 pounds defeat a senior All-American at that weight. And, if that weren't enough, the winner happens to be the son of the Cowboys' head coach. Redshirt junior Joe Smith, son of John Smith, legendary Oklahoma State wrestler and coach, defeated Chandler Rogers, redshirt senior, in a best-of-three series of "ranking matches" inside the wrestling room at the storied Gallagher-Iba Arena Monday night … ensuring that the younger Smith would be representing the Cowboys at 165 pounds in postseason competition this month. It was a battle of two-time NCAA All-Americans. Smith, who redshirted last season, placed fourth as a sophomore and seventh as a true freshman at the 2016 NCAAs … both at 157 pounds. Rogers finished eighth and fifth the last two seasons at 165 pounds. Both are mat alums of Stillwater High School in the hometown of Oklahoma State who tallied a total of seven Oklahoma state titles -- three for Smith, four for Chandler. In the first match, Joe Smith scored a first-period takedown which ultimately led to a 3-2 win. An hour later, Smith racked up a series of three takedowns to come out on top 7-4. Roger Moore, long-time Stillwater-based wrestling writer, was in the Oklahoma State wrestling room for the Smith-Rogers wrestle-off. Here's how he described the situation in a story on TheMat.com: "Finding the right place and time to determine the lineup has not been easy. And having to make a difficult decision … nobody was cheering or celebrating much Monday night … " As Moore explained, the ranking match was necessary because of "a logjam in the middle weights for the Cowboys." "This hasn't been easy," John Smith told Moore. "Having guys injured, missing January, brought about a tough situation. It comes down to whoever wants it more." Joe Smith will wrestle at 165 for Oklahoma State at the 2019 Big 12 Wrestling Championships this weekend in Tulsa. Meanwhile, Chandler Rogers has concluded his Cowboy mat career with a 94-25 record.

Matthew Kolodzik is seeded No. 1 at 149 pounds (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) The pre-seeds for the 2019 EIWA Championships at Binghamton University have been determined. Here are the weight-by-weight results. All wrestlers who received votes are shown. 125: 1. Vitali Arujau Cornell 2. Patrick Glory Princeton 3. Carmen Ferrante Penn 4. Trey Chalifoux Army West Point 5. Audey Ashkar Binghamton 6. Dylan Ryder Hofstra 7. Gage Curry American 8. Trey Keeley Brown 9. Jakob Campbell Bucknell 10. Joe Manchio Columbia 11. Jacob Allen Navy 133: 1. Chas Tucker Cornell 2. Josh Terao American 3. Brandon Paetzell Lehigh 4. Casey Cobb Navy 5. Lane Peters Army West Point 6. Zack Trampe Binghamton 6. Matt Kazimir Columbia 8. Doug Zapf Penn 9. Lukus Stricker Harvard 10. Chandler Olson Drexel 11. Jacob Martin Hofstra 12. David Campbell Bucknell 141: 1. Yianni Diakomihalis Cornell 2. Nicholas Gil Navy 3. Ryan Pomrinca Lehigh 4. Jack Mutchnik American 5. Anthony Sparacio Binghamton 6. Corey Shie Army West Point 7. Marshall Keller Princeton 8. Wil Gil F&M 9. Theo Powers Brown 9. AJ Vindici Penn 11. Danny Fongaro Columbia 12. Ryan Friedman Harvard 12. Garrett Lambert Hofstra 149: 1. Matt Kolodzik Princeton 2. Anthony Artalona Penn 3. Cortlandt Schuyler Lehigh 3. Jared Prince Navy 5. Michael Sprague American 6. Parker Kropman Drexel 7. Jonathan Furnas Cornell 8. Cole Corrigan Columbia 9. Holden Heller Hofstra 10. Frank Garcia Binghamton 11. Matthew Kolonia Bucknell 11. Brock Wilson Harvard 157: 1. Zach Hartman Bucknell 2. Josh Humphreys Lehigh 3. Quincy Monday Princeton 4. Lucas Weiland Army West Point 4. Dan Reed Columbia 6. Adam Santoro Cornell 6. Hunter Ladnier Harvard 8. Kizhan Clarke American 9. Evan Barczak Drexel 10. Joe Oliva Penn 11. Emmett LiCastri F&M 165: 1. Ebed Jarrell Drexel 2. Jon Viruet Brown 3. Tanner Skidgel Navy 4. Cael McCormick Army West Point 5. Gordon Wolf Lehigh 6. Laurence Kosoy Columbia 7. Andrew Berreyesa Cornell 8. Brandon Levesque Sacred Heart 9. DJ Hollingshead Bucknell 10. Leonard Merkin Princeton 11. Tyler Tarsi Harvard 12. Evan DeLuise Penn 174: 1. Jordan Kutler Lehigh 2. Brandon Womack Cornell 3. Ben Harvey Army West Point 4. Spencer Carey Navy 5. Vincent DePrez Binghamton 5. Travis Stefanik Princeton 7. Frankie Guida Bucknell 8. Max Elling Columbia 8. Ricky Stamm Hofstra 10. Bryan McLaughlin Drexel 11. AJ Pedro Brown 11. Anthony Falbo Sacred Heart 13 Joshua Kim Harvard 184: 1. Max Dean Cornell 2. Lou DePrez Binghamton 3. Ryan Preisch Lehigh 4. CJ LaFragola Brown 5. Noah Stewart Army West Point 6. Tanner Harvey American 7. Kevin Parker Princeton 8. Kyle Inlander Bucknell 9. Anthony Cable Navy 10. Brian Bonino Columbia 11. Anthony Walters Drexel 11. Kyle Davis Sacred Heart 197: 1. Patrick Brucki Princeton 2. Ben Honis Cornell 3. Rocco Caywood Army West Point 4. Stephen Loiseau Drexel 5. Josh Roetman Navy 6. Drew Phipps Bucknell 7. John Jakobsen Lehigh 8. Philip Robilotto F&M 9. Nezar Haddad Hofstra 10. Anthony DePrez Binghamton 10. Tucker Ziegler Brown 285: 1. Jordan Wood Lehigh 2. Joey Goodhart Drexel 3. Jeramy Sweany Cornell 4. Ben Sullivan Army West Point 5. Niko Camacho American 6. Ian Butterbrodt Brown 6. Antonio Pelusi F&M 8. Joe Doyle Binghamton 9. Omar Haddad Hofstra 10. Daniel Herman Columbia 10. Thomas Ott Navy 12. Ben Goldin Penn The coaches will meet Thursday afternoon at Binghamton to review the pre-seeds and make adjustments. The seeds will remain preliminary until locked in at weigh-ins on Friday morning. Eight to ten wrestlers will be seeded in each weight class.