InterMat Staff

Defending NCAA champion Spencer Lee won by major decision at 125 pounds (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The Iowa-Iowa State rivalry used to be the best in college wrestling. But for the past decade and a half it hasn't been much of a rivalry. The Hawkeyes had won 14 straight duals over the Cyclones entering Saturday's matchup and hadn't lost to ISU since 2004. The rivalry is back on now. The No. 23 Cyclones threw a huge scare into the fourth-ranked Hawkeyes by winning four of the first six matches and nearly pulling off a dramatic finish in the final bout. But Iowa recovered, bolstered by a last-second comeback win by Jacob Warner, to escape with a 19-18 win over ISU before 9,751 fans Saturday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa dodged a huge bullet when ISU's Austin Gomez threw No. 10 Austin DeSanto to his back late in their 133-pound match and nearly scored a pin. DeSanto fought off his back before the No. 14 Gomez, a highly touted freshman, prevailed 14-9. A Gomez pin would've given ISU the victory in the dual meet. "I think a lot of coaches get out of the frying pan and just move on," said Iowa coach Tom Brands. "But I can tell you there is no feeling of relief up here. We need to shape up and move forward in a lot more ways than just one." Each team won five matches in the closely contested dual meet. "I thought we fought hard. You don't like losing and we let one slip by," ISU coach Kevin Dresser said. "We came in to win -- we talked about it all week. We came up short, but I loved the fight of the 10 guys that we put out there. That's what we preach and that's what we coach. We also preach winning. We didn't win, so there's a part of me that's not going to sleep very well tonight. I'm excited about this team and the direction Iowa State is heading." Warner trailed 4-3 late in his 197-pound bout against three-time All-American and Iowa native Willie Miklus. But Warner scored a dramatic last-second reversal to earn a 5-4 win over the Missouri transfer as the raucous Carver crowd erupted. "I thought I wrestled all right," said Warner, who made his collegiate debut. "I think there is more I could have done at the end of the match. At the end of the day I got it done. It was a little too close for comfort, but I'll watch some film and move forward." Top-ranked Sam Stoll won 5-1 over Gannon Gremmel (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) Top-ranked teammates Sam Stoll (285) and Spencer Lee (125) followed with wins to give Iowa a 19-15 lead entering the final bout. Lee won by major decision, piling up 11 first-period points before beating Alex Mackall 13-4. Stoll wasn't expected to wrestle as he is still not 100 percent physically, but with the Hawkeyes trailing that changed. And he made his season debut. "I had no intentions on going, but it's hard not to when we are losing a big dual like that," Stoll said. "I ran out there and Tom met me in the middle. He said, 'I don't want this, you're not going.' I told him it was my last 'State Week' and he gave me a good slap in the face and I went." Iowa State (1-1) is a team that clearly is much-improved under second-year head coach Kevin Dresser. The unranked Cyclones rallied for wins in the dual's first two matches as ISU grabbed an early 6-0 lead. Ian Parker of Iowa State kicked off the dual by rallying from a 4-1 third-period deficit to stun No. 16 Max Murin 5-4 at 141 pounds. Parker spun behind Murin in the final seconds to complete the comeback. No. 12 Jarrett Degen of Iowa State then came from behind to score a 7-4 win over No. 11 Pat Lugo at 149. The match was tied 4-4 at the end of regulation before neither wrestler scored in sudden victory. The tall, lanky Degen then rode Lugo out in the first 30-second tiebreaker before scoring an escape and takedown to clinch the victory. "Our guys train hard and they're tough," Dresser said. "When you do that, you can win close matches. Those guys came out and won two big matches for us to start the dual." No. 13 Kaleb Young of Iowa followed by taking control early in an 8-3 win over Chase Straw at 157. Fourth-ranked Alex Marinelli of Iowa followed with a fall at 165 to ignite the packed house at Carver. Marinelli rolled up eight quick points on his way to overpowering Brady Jennings with a second-period fall. "Every single dual meet, I try to get bonus points for my team, whether it's a major, a tech or a pin," Marinelli said. "I knew this dual meet would be electric and that I had to have bonus points. Every week, I try to pin my guy and last week it didn't happen. This week it did and I'm pretty pumped about it." Iowa freshman Myles Wilson came out strong and led 4-3 before having to default his match after being injured against Marcus Coleman of Iowa State at 174 pounds. Wilson was in the lineup after two-time All-American Michael Kemerer was lost for the season at 174 with a knee injury. ISU took a 15-9 lead in the dual when unranked Sam Colbray knocked off No. 11 Cash Wilcke 7-6 at 184 pounds. Iowa has now won 30 of its last 31 duals against ISU, but the gap between teams clearly has narrowed with the strong Cyclone performance Saturday. It was the first time in 83 meetings the dual was decided by a single point, but that one point favored the Hawkeyes. Losing third period leads didn't sit well with the Iowa head coach. "We have to be better in the third period," Brands said. "We're moving forward and have another one coming to town. Lehigh is going to see this and chomp at the bit. We have to regather and I have to make sure we are communicating with these guys. There is a lot of communication that needs to happen with several people." Results: 141: Ian Parker (ISU) dec. No. 16 Max Murin (IA), 5-4 149: No. 12 Jarrett Degen (ISU) dec. No. 11 Pat Lugo (IA), 7-4 TB1 157: No. 13 Kaleb Young (IA) dec. Chase Straw (ISU), 8-3 165: No. 4 Alex Marinelli (IA) pinned Brady Jennings (ISU), 4:45 174: Marcus Coleman (ISU) injury default Myles Wilson (IA) 184: Sam Colbray (ISU) dec. No. 11 Cash Wilcke (IA), 7-6 197: No. 11 Jacob Warner (IA) dec. No. 5 Willie Miklus (ISU), 5-4 285: No. 1 Sam Stoll (IA) dec. Gannon Gremmel (ISU), 5-1 125: No. 1 Spencer Lee (IA) major dec. Alex Mackall (ISU), 13-4 133: No. 14 Austin Gomez (ISU) dec. No. 10 Austin DeSanto (IA), 14-9 Craig Sesker has written about wrestling for more than three decades. He's covered three Olympic Games and is a two-time national wrestling writer of the year.

Note: InterMat ranking listed, not tournament seed. 125: 1st: No. 2 Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) dec. No. 3 Ronnie Bresser (Oregon State), 6-4 SV 3rd: No. 5 Sean Russell (Minnesota) dec. Brent Fleetwood (North Dakota State), 4-0 5th: No. 17 Drew Mattin (Michigan) dec. No. 12 Travis Piotrowski (Illinois), 3-2 7th: No. 9 Zeke Moisey (Nebraska) dec. No. 15 Devin Schroder (Purdue), 4-3 133: 1st: No. 3 Nick Suriano (Rutgers) maj. dec. No. 13 Micky Phillippi (Pittsburgh), 11-3 3rd: No. 5 Luke Pletcher (Ohio State) dec. No. 7 Ethan Lizak (Minnesota), 5-4 5th: No. 9 John Erneste dec. No. 11 Montorie Bridges (Wyoming), 10-4 7th: No. 15 Chas Tucker (Cornell) by medical forfeit over No. 19 Cam Sykora (North Dakota State) 141: 1st: No. 2 Joey McKenna (Ohio State) dec. No. 3 Jaydin Eierman (Missouri), 6-2 3rd: No. 20 Kanen Storr (Michigan) dec. No. 18 Dom Demas (Oklahoma), 5-2 5th: No. 8 Josh Alber (Northern Iowa) by medical forfeit over No. 7 Michael Carr (Illinois) 7th: Sam Krivus (Virginia) dec. Sam Turner (Wyoming), 5-3 149: 1st: No. 2 Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) dec. No. 3 Micah Jordan (Ohio State), 14-10 3rd: No. 9 Austin O'Connor (North Carolina) by injury default over No. 8 Brock Zacherl (Clarion) 5th: No. 7 Mitch Finesilver (Duke) dec. No. 19 Josh Heil (Campbell University), 9-4 7th: No. 6 Max Thomsen (Northern Iowa) dec. Jared Prince (Navy), 12-6 157: 1st: No. 5 Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) dec. Griffin Parriott (Purdue), 8-2 3rd: No. 3 Tyler Berger (Nebraska) dec. No. 7 Ke-Shawn Hayes (Ohio State) 5th: No. 8 Taleb Rahmani (Pittsburgh) dec. No. 6 Kennedy Monday (North Carolina), 9-2 7th: Eric Barone (Illinois) dec. No. 19 Hunter Willits (Oregon State), 4-0 165: 1st: No. 10 Isaiah White (Nebraska) dec. No. 14 Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech), 2-0 3rd: No. 15 Demetrius Romero (Utah Valley) dec. No. 5 Logan Massa (Michigan), 9-6 5th: No. 6 Branson Ashworth (Wyoming) by medical forfeit over No. 9 Bryce Steiert (Northern Iowa) 7th: No. 13 Connor Flynn (Missouri) dec. No. 12 Joey Gunther (Illinois), 4-0 174: 1st: No. 3 Myles Amine (Michigan) dec. No. 4 Daniel Lewis (Missouri), 10-7 3rd: No. 9 Taylor Lujan (Northern Iowa) by medical forfeit over No. 11 Mikey Labriola (Nebraska) 5th: Spencer Carey (Navy) by medical forfeit over No. 13 Dylan Lydy (Purdue) 7th: No. 20 Devin Skatzka (Minnesota) dec. No. 18 Kimball Bastian (Utah Valley), 9-4 184: 1st: No. 1 Myles Martin (Ohio State) dec. No. 3 Taylor Venz (Nebraska), 11-5 3rd: No. 10 Drew Foster (Northern Iowa) dec. No. 5 Zack Zavatsky (Virginia Tech), 9-5 5th: No. 18 Lou DePrez (Binghamton) dec. No. 9 Max Dean (Cornell), 5-3 SV 7th: No. 13 Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) maj. dec. Will Schany (Virginia), 14-3 197: 1st: No. 3 Kollin Moore (Ohio State) dec. Eric Schultz (Nebraska), 8-3 3rd: Jay Aiello (Virginia) dec. No. 8 Nathan Traxler (Stanford), 4-2 5th: No. 13 Christian Brunner (Purdue) by medical forfeit over Greg Bulsak (Clarion) 7th: No. 14 Tom Sleigh (Virginia Tech) by medical forfeit over Tanner Orndorff (Utah Valley) 285: 1st: No. 2 Gable Steveson (Minnesota) maj. dec. No. 16 Tate Orndorff (Utah Valley), 12-4 3rd: No. 20 Zach Elam (Missouri) dec. Demetrius Thomas (Pittsburgh), 3-1 SV 5th: No. 13 Cory Daniel (North Carolina) by medical forfeit over Chase Singletary (Ohio State 7th: Brian Andrews (Wyoming) by medical forfeit over No. 15 Joey Goodhart (Drexel)

DAVIDSON, N.C. -- The VMI wrestling team won both of its matches Saturday afternoon at Davidson College, opening the day with a 20-19 victory over Sacred Heart University and finishing with a 29-13 win over Davidson in a Southern Conference contest. Four Keydets, Hunter Starner, Dominick Gallo, Neal Richards and Chris Beck, won both of their matches. Starner (133) won his match against SHU by pin to put VMI ahead 6-3 against Sacred Heart. Gallo scored a major decision (11-0) at 141, and a win by Darren Ostrander at 157 put the Keydets ahead 13-8. Richards had a 14-5 major decision at 174 and Chris Beck had a hard-fought sudden-victory overtime win over Connor Fredricks at 197 to give VMI a 20-16 cushion. Tre Momon nearly scored a win at 285, but lost just 3-2, to allow the Keydets hang on for the 20-19 team victory. The Keydets won the first three matches against Davidson in the Southern Conference opener for both teams. Clifton Conway, Starner and Gallo each posted victories to get the action going, including a pin fall win by Conway at 125. Jakob Kennedy won by forfeit at 165, Richards pinned his opponent at 174 and Beck had a technical fall win (19-3) to end the scoring for VMI. "We didn't look our best in the first match, but our guys found a way to get a gritty win," said head coach Jim Gibson. "As a coach that's something to be proud of. Everyone responded well and we finished off the day with a great team effort against Davidson." The Keydets (2-4) travel to New York next weekend for three dual matches. VMI 20, SHU 19 125: Ryan Burns (SHU) dec. over Clifton Conway (VMI) 11-10; SHU 3-0 133: Hunter Starner (VMI) fall over Anthony Petrillo (SHU), (7:41); VMI 6-3 141: Dominick Gallo (VMI) maj. dec. over Seth Brown (SHU); 11-0; VMI 10-3 149: Gerard Daly (SHU) tech. fall over Jerrod Hunziker (VMI), 16-1, (2:00); VMI 10-8 157: Darren Ostrander (VMI) dec. over Mason Rambarose (SHU), 8-3; VMI 13-8 165: Brandon Levesque (SHU) maj. dec. over Jakob Kennedy (VMI), 20-8; VMI 13-12 174: Neal Richards (VMI) maj. dec. over Anthony Falbo (SHU), 14-5; VMI 17-12 184: Kyle Davis (SHU) maj. dec. over Max Gallahan (VMI), 12-2; VMI 17-16 197: Chris Beck (VMI) dec. over Connor Fredricks (SHU), SV2; VMI 20-16 HWT: Dante DelBonis (SHU) dec. over Tre Momon (VMI), 3-2; VMI 20-19 VMI 29, Davidson 13 125: Clifton Conway (VMI) fall over Zamir Ode (DC); (2:45), VMI 6-0 133: Hunter Starner (VMI) dec. over Kyle Gorant (DC), 9-4; VMI 9-0 141: Dominick Gallo (VMI) dec. over Caleb Ziebell (DC), 9-2; VMI 12-0 149: Aidan Conroy (DC) dec. over Jerrod Hunziker (VMI), 3-0; VMI 12-3 157: Tony Palumbo (DC) dec. Darren Ostrander (VMI), 5-2, VMI 12-6 165: Jakob Kennedy (VMI) winner by forfeit; VMI 18-6 174: Neal Richards (VMI) fall over Erik Eva (DC), (1:21); VMI 24-6 184: Conor Fenn (DC) maj. dec. over Max Gallahan (VMI), 9-0; VMI 24-10 197: Chris Beck (VMI) tech. fall over Finlay Holston (DC), 19-3, (7:00); VMI 29-10 HWT: Mitchell Trigg (DC) dec. over Tre Momon (VMI), 3-0; VMI 29-13

Kollin Moore advanced to the finals at 197 pounds (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) LAS VEGAS -- Ohio State leads the team race at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational after advancing four wrestlers to the finals. Buckeye All-Americans Myles Martin (184) and Kollin Moore (197) will look to repeat as champions in Las Vegas. Ohio State's other finalists are Joey McKenna (141) and Micah Jordan (149). Missouri sits in second place and has two wrestlers in the finals, while Nebraska is currently in third place and has three finalists. Two unseeded wrestlers reached the finals, Griffin Parriott (Purdue) at 157 pounds and Eric Schultz (Nebraska) at 197 pounds. Tonight's final round -- which includes championship and third-place matches -- is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. PT. Semifinal results Note: InterMat ranking is listed, not tournament seed. 125: No. 2 Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) dec. Brent Fleetwood (North Dakota State), 9-3 No. 3 Ronnie Bresser (Oregon State) dec. No. 5 Sean Russell (Minnesota), 2-1 133: No. 3 Nick Suriano (Rutgers) dec. No. 9 John Erneste (Missouri), 3-2 No. 13 Micky Phillippi (Pittsburgh) dec. No. 5 Luke Pletcher (Ohio State), 2-1 141: No. 2 Joey McKenna (Ohio State) dec. No. 8 Josh Alber (Northern Iowa), 8-1 No. 3 Jaydin Eierman (Missouri) dec. No. 7 Mike Carr (Illinois), 5-2 149: No. 2 Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) maj. dec. No. 7 Mitch Finesilver (Duke), 12-4 No. 3 Micah Jordan (Ohio State) maj. dec. No. 8 Brock Zacherl (Clarion), 19-6 157: Griffin Parriott (Purdue) dec. No. 8 Taleb Rahmani (Pittsburgh), 5-3 No. 5 Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) maj. dec. No. 6 Kennedy Monday (North Carolina), 9-1 165: No. 10 Isaiah White (Nebraska) dec. No. 5 Logan Massa (Michigan), 6-2 No. 14 Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) dec. No. 9 Bryce Steiert (Northern Iowa), 2-0 174: No. 3 Myles Amine (Michigan) dec. No. 11 Mikey Labriola (Nebraska), 5-1 No. 4 Daniel Lewis (Missouri) pinned No. 9 Taylor Lujan (Northern Iowa), 1:54 184: No. 1 Myles Martin (Ohio State) maj. dec. No. 9 Max Dean (Cornell), 17-7 No. 3 Taylor Venz (Nebraska) dec. No. 10 Drew Foster (Northern Iowa), 11-8 197: No. 3 Kollin Moore (Ohio State) maj. dec. No. 13 Christian Brunner (Purdue), 22-11 Eric Schultz (Nebraska) dec. Greg Bulsak (Clarion), 8-6 285: No. 2 Gable Steveson (Minnesota) dec. No. 13 Cory Daniel (North Carolina), 9-3 No. 16 Tate Orndorff (Utah Valley) dec. Chase Singletary (Ohio State), 8-2

Jordan Oliver throws Zain Retherford (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- David Taylor and Kyle Dake served as team captains. J'den Cox sang the national anthem. The three reigning U.S. world freestyle champions were all here, but none of them wrestled when the American Wrestling League made its debut Friday night at the U.S. Cellular Center. Even without those stars competing, the night still featured a strong 10-match card with numerous NCAA champions before a vocal crowd of around 800 fans in eastern Iowa. Team Taylor won 7 of 10 matches (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) Team Taylor won 7 of 10 matches in the AWL dual that awarded prize money to the athletes. Each of the AWL participants collected $2,500 to wrestle in the freestyle wrestling event, which was streamed on Trackwrestling.com. The winners picked up an additional $5,000. The final match of the night came between two top-level wrestlers at 65 kilograms. Jordan Oliver came out strong with a blast double-leg takedown that set the tone for a wild match with 2017 World Team member Zain Retherford. Oliver hit a big throw to build a big lead at the end of the first period before earning a 13-11 win over Retherford, a two-time Hodge Trophy winner. "I just needed to get to my positions and put some points on the board," Oliver said. "This is just a steppingstone for me. I want to win worlds. Zain is a great competitor and I love scrapping against him." The night's most anticipated matchup came at 61 kilograms where past Hawkeye NCAA champions Tony Ramos and Cory Clark squared off. Clark powered to an 8-0 win in a match where Ramos was unable to generate any offense. Cory Clark gets interviewed after defeating Tony Ramos (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) "It was a lot of fun out there and the fans were really awesome," Clark said. "I really like this event. It was fun to wrestle in it and I've enjoyed watching some of the other wrestling. It's nice having an opportunity to make some money and wrestle in an environment like this." The fans erupted when past Hawkeye All-American Sam Brooks rallied from a 4-0 deficit to down Nick Heflin 11-4 at 86 kilograms. Brooks came on strong with a huge second period to prevail as the fans went wild. A fired-up Brooks pounded his chest after earning the win. Sam Brooks with Thomas Gilman (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) "I loved the crowd support here -- it was awesome," Brooks said. "I love the idea of wrestling in an event like this. This is just the beginning. Hopefully, this is a steppingstone for younger wrestlers who can hopefully make a lot of money in this sport." Past Iowa State national champion Kyven Gadson earned a hard-fought 5-3 win over Jacob Kasper at 97 kilograms. Gadson was off to the hospital right after his match with his wife about to deliver a baby girl to their family. "I loved competing here and having an opportunity to wrestle close to home," Gadson said. "Wrestling in an event like this is awesome. It's great having an opportunity to win some prize money. And the fans were awesome. The crowd was great." Alex Dieringer scored a pair of takedowns to earn a 4-2 win over Isaiah Martinez in a battle of wrestlers who combined to win five NCAA titles. "It was a good, tough match," Dieringer said. "He's a good opponent and I knew I had to get it going early. It was fun having a chance to wrestle here in front of these fans." James Green picked up a 10-0 technical fall over Brandon Sorensen (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) James Green was the lone 2018 World Team member who competed Friday. Green, a two-time world medalist, started the night with a decisive 10-0 win over past Hawkeye All-American Brandon Sorensen at 70 kilograms. "It's exciting to have a chance to wrestle here at this event," Green said. "I had a disappointing performance at the World Championships and I was anxious to get back out on the mat to compete again. It's great having an opportunity to wrestle in an event like this and put on a show for the fans. And it's great to have a chance to win some prize money in the process." NCAA champion Mike Macchiavello overpowered veteran Deron Winn 8-0 at 92 kilograms. Winn, competing less than a week after winning a mixed martial arts fight, took his shoes off and retired from wrestling following the match. "I want to thank all of the fans for all of their support," Winn said. "I've had a great run in wrestling and now it's time to focus on MMA full-time." Nico Megaludis topped Frank Perrelli (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) Past Penn State national champion Nico Megaludis came on strong late in the match to down Frank Perrelli 7-2 at 57 kilograms. None of the seven U.S. freestylers who medaled last month in Budapest took part in the professional league debut. No announcements have been made about any future AWL events. Results: 70 kg: James Green (Team Dake) tech. fall Brandon Sorensen (Team Taylor), 10-0 74 kg: Tommy Gantt (Team Taylor) dec. Richie Lewis (Team Dake), 7-2 79 kg: Alex Dieringer (Team Taylor) dec. Isaiah Martinez (Team Dake), 4-2 86 kg: Sam Brooks (Team Taylor) dec. Nick Heflin (Team Dake), 11-4 92 kg: Mike Macchiavello (Team Taylor) dec. Deron Winn (Team Dake), 8-0 97 kg: Kyven Gadson (Team Taylor) dec. Jacob Kasper (Team Dake), 5-3 125 kg: Dom Bradley (Team Dake) dec. Zach Rey (Team Taylor), 3-2 57 kg: Nico Megaludis (Team Taylor) dec. Frank Perrelli (Team Dake), 7-2 61 kg: Cory Clark (Team Taylor) dec. Tony Ramos (Team Dake), 8-0 65 kg: Jordan Oliver (Team Dake) dec. Zain Retherford (Team Taylor), 13-11 Craig Sesker has written about wrestling for more than three decades. He's covered three Olympic Games and is a two-time national wrestling writer of the year.

BOONE, N.C. -- The Ohio wrestling team (1-1) earned its first dual win of the 2018-19 season, defeating host Appalachian State (2-3), 25-16, tonight at Varsity Gymnasium. The Mountaineers began the match by taking a 6-0 lead courtesy of a pin by junior Cary Miller at the 285-pound weight class. The Bobcats retaliated with victories in the next three weight classes to take a 16-6 advantage. Redshirt junior Shakur Laney (Canal Winchester, Ohio) earned a 19-5 major decision win over redshirt freshman Andy Richard at 125, cutting Appalachian State's lead to two. Redshirt sophomore Mario Guillen (Perrysburg, Ohio) followed by pinning sophomore Codi Russell in 5:19 at 133, putting the Bobcats in front. Redshirt freshman Kyran Hagan (Eureka, Mo.) gave Ohio two-straight pins, defeating senior Irvin Enriquez by fall in 2:50 at 141. Appalachian State cut Ohio's lead to 16-9 after redshirt freshman Jonathan Millner earned a 7-4 decision win at 149. Redshirt junior Zac Carson (Akron, Ohio) put the Bobcats back up by 10 points courtesy of a 13-9 decision victory over senior Angel Najar at 157, but senior Michael Elliott made it a seven-point match again with an 8-5 decision at 165. Ohio sealed its first dual meet victory of the year with wins at 174 and 184, however, as redshirt sophomore Joe Terry (Pickerington, Ohio) edged sophomore Thomas Flitz in an 8-7 decision and junior Hunter Yeargan (Willard, Mo.) came away with a 3-1 sudden victory decision over sophomore Alan Clothier. Ohio will head to Ames, Iowa, for its third dual meet of 2018-19 to match up against Iowa State on Dec. 16. Results: 285: Cary Miller (Appalachian State) def. Devin King (Ohio), fall, 4:32 (6-0) 125: Shakur Laney (Ohio) def. Andy Richard (Appalachian State), 19-5 maj. dec. (6-4) 133: Mario Guillen (Ohio) def. Codi Russell (Appalachian State), fall, 5:19 (6-10) 141: Kyran Hagan (Ohio) def. Irvin Enriquez (Appalachian State), fall, 2:50 (6-16) 149: Jonathan Millner (Appalachian State) def. Alec Hagan (Ohio), 7-4 dec. (9-16) 157: Zac Carson (Ohio) def. Angel Najar (Appalachian State), 13-9 dec. (9-19) 165: Michael Elliott (Appalachian State) def. Colt Yinger (Ohio), 8-5 dec. (12-19) 174: Joe Terry (Ohio) def. Thomas Flitz (Appalachian State), 8-7 dec. (12-22) 184: Hunter Yeargan (Ohio) def. Alan Clothier (Appalachian State), 3-1 dec., SV-1 (12-25) 197: Randall Diabe (Appalachian State) def. Nathan Hall (Ohio), 12-4 maj. dec. (16-25)

Myles Martin is one of six semifinalists for Ohio State (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) LAS VEGAS -- The Ohio State Buckeyes are in a strong position to claim their third straight title at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational after going 6-for-6 in the quarterfinals on Friday night. Ohio State compiled a 26-6 record on the opening day and totaled 88 points. Reaching the semifinals for the Buckeyes were Luke Pletcher (133), Joey McKenna (141), Micah Jordan (149), Myles Martin (184), Kollin Moore (197) and Chase Singletary (285). The Buckeyes lead the team race by 10.5 points over Missouri. Nebraska, Northern Iowa, and Michigan sit in third, fourth and fifth place respectively. Nine of the 10 No. 1 seeds advanced to the semifinals. The lone top seed to fall prior to the semifinals was Tyler Berger (Nebraska) at 157 pounds. He was defeated by Griffin Parriott (Purdue) in sudden victory, 4-2, in the quarterfinals. Action resumes on Saturday at 9 a.m. PT with the semifinals set for 10 a.m. PT. Team standings (top 10) 1. Ohio State 88 2. Missouri 77.5 3. Nebraska 64.5 4. Northern Iowa 62 5. Michigan 48.5 6. Pittsburgh 48 7. North Carolina 47 8. Minnesota 46.5 9. Purdue 45 10. Rutgers 42.5 Quarterfinal results Note: InterMat ranking is listed, not tournament seed. 125: No. 2 Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) dec. No. 17 Drew Mattin (Michigan), 5-2 Brent Fleetwood (North Dakota State) dec. No. 9 Zeke Moisey (Nebraska), 10-3 No. 5 Sean Russell (Minnesota) dec. No. 12 Travis Piotrowski (Illinois), 2-0 No. 3 Ronnie Bresser (Oregon State) maj. dec. No. 15 Devin Schroder (Purdue), 12-2 133: No. 3 Nick Suriano (Rutgers) dec. No. 16 Korbin Myers (Virginia Tech), 7-2 No. 9 John Erneste (Missouri) pinned Noah Gonser (Campbell), 1:15 No. 13 Micky Phillippi (Pittsburgh) dec. No. 7 Ethan Lizak (Minnesota), 4-0 No. 5 Luke Pletcher (Ohio State) dec. No. 15 Chas Tucker (Cornell), 4-3 141: No. 2 Joey McKenna (Ohio State) dec. No. 18 Dom Demas (Oklahoma), 8-3 No. 8 Josh Alber (Northern Iowa) dec. No. 9 Nicholas Gil (Navy), 2-1 TB2 No. 7 Mike Carr (Illinois) maj. dec. Sam Turner (Wyoming), 14-3 No. 3 Jaydin Eierman (Missouri) dec. No. 20 Kanen Storr (Michigan), 3-2 149: No. 2 Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) tech. fall Alec Opsal (Air Force), 18-2 No. 7 Mitch Finesilver (Duke) dec, No. 6 Max Thomsen (Northern Iowa), 3-2 No. 8 Brock Zacherl (Clarion) dec. No. 4 Grant Leeth (Missouri), 3-2 No. 3 Micah Jordan (Ohio State) dec. No. 9 Austin O'Connor (North Carolina), 7-3 157: Griffin Parriott (Purdue) dec. No. 3 Tyler Berger (Nebraska), 4-2 SV No. 8 Taleb Rahmani (Pittsburgh) maj. dec. Eric Barone (Illinois), 12-4 No. 6 Kennedy Monday (North Carolina) dec. No. 16 John Van Brill (Rutgers), 11-4 No. 5 Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) maj. dec. No. 19 Hunter Willits (Oregon State), 11-2 165: No. 5 Logan Massa (Michigan) tech. fall No. 15 Demetrius Romero (Utah Valley), 18-0 No. 10 Isaiah White (Nebraska) dec. No. 12 Joey Gunther (Illinois), 7-3 No. 9 Bryce Steiert (Northern Iowa) dec. No. 13 Connor Flynn (Missouri), 6-3 No. 14 Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) dec. No. 6 Branson Ashworth (Wyoming), 3-1 174: No. 3 Myles Amine (Michigan) dec. No. 19 Matt Finesilver (Duke), 11-5 No. 11 Mikey Labriola (Nebraska) dec. Spencer Carey (Navy), 6-2 No. 9 Taylor Lujan (Northern Iowa) dec. No. 16 Brandon Womack (Cornell), 16-9 No. 4 Daniel Lewis (Missouri) pinned No. 20 Devin Skatzka (Minnesota), 2:27 184: No. 1 Myles Martin (Ohio State) maj. dec. No. 18 Lou DePrez (Binghamton), 13-3 No. 9 Max Dean (Cornell) maj. dec. No. 8 Chip Ness (North Carolina), 10-0 No. 10 Drew Foster (Northern Iowa) dec. No. 5 Zack Zavatsky (Virginia Tech), 9-6 No. 3 Taylor Venz (Nebraska) pinned No. 13 Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh), 5:29 197: No. 3 Kollin Moore (Ohio State) dec. No. 20 Ben Honis (Cornell), 7-2 No. 13 Christian Brunner (Purdue) dec. Tanner Orndorff (Utah Valley), 7-3 Greg Bulsak (Clarion) dec. No. 14 Tom Sleigh (Virginia Tech), 8-1 Eric Schultz (Nebraska) dec. Jay Aiello (Virginia), 3-2 285: No. 2 Gable Steveson (Minnesota) maj. dec. No. 19 A.J. Nevills (Fresno State), 15-6 No. 13 Cory Daniel (North Carolina) dec. Jake Boyd (Oklahoma), 3-0 No. 16 Tate Orndorff (Utah Valley) dec. Brian Andrews (Wyoming), 6-2 Chase Singletary (Ohio State) pinned Matt Stencel (Central Michigan), 4:33

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. -- The Bald Eagles won the first four bouts of the night and raced out to a big lead thanks to bonus points in three of those four wins and the No. 17 Lock Haven University wrestling team (1-0, 1-0 EWL) never looked back as the Bald Eagles opened Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) action tonight with a dominating 28-10 win over visiting George Mason (2-1, 1-1 EWL). In all, Lock Haven won seven of 10 bouts, much to the delight of the sell-out crowd of 2,503. Luke Werner (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty), Dalton Rohrbaugh (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove), Kyle Shoop (Boiling Springs, Pa./Boiling Springs), Jonathan Ross (Dillsburg, Pa./Northern York). Jared Siegrist (Manheim, Pa./Manheim Central), Corey Hazel (Spring Mills, Pa./Penns Valley) and Luke McGonigal (Clearfield, Pa./Clearfield) all won for the Bald Eagles. The Bald Eagles posted bonus points in three matches and all three came within the first four bouts of the night as LHU certainly looked energized by the loud, standing-room only crowd. Werner (125) and Shoop (141) both posted tech falls and Ross sent the home crowd into a frenzy with a thrilling pin at 149 pounds. The LHU victory was also bolstered by wins from the true-freshmen duo of Rohrbaugh (133) and McGonigal (197). Werner energized the building from the opening whistle at 125 pounds and he cruised by Talha Farooq on the way to an 18-1 tech fall (6:23). The win put Lock Haven up 5-0 and three more wins had the Bald Eagles up 19-0 after the first four bouts. Rohrbaugh cruised to an 8-3 win over Mel Ortiz at 133 and extended the Lock Haven lead to 8-0. Shoop picked up LHU's second tech fall in three bouts and pushed the Bald Eagle lead to 13-0. Shoop downed Julio Alegria 16-0 in just 1:40 at 141 pounds. The quick tech fall marked the 30th of Shoop's career and left him just two away from tying the school record for career tech falls (32). Ross kept the momentum going and secured a pin at 149 at the 4:29 mark of his match with George Mason's talented Tejon Anthony. George Mason picked up wins at 157 and 165 to get on the board. Following a Patriot win at 165, their second straight, Lock Haven held a 19-7 lead after six bouts. Siegrist tilted the dual back in Lock Haven's favor and won 4-2 over Phil Stolfi at 174. At 184, No. 17th ranked Hazel used four first-period takedowns and downed Paul Pierce 9-6. The back-to-back decisions by Siegrist (174) and Hazel (184) extended Lock Haven's lead to 25-7. McGonigal rounded out the Bald Eagle winners with a dominating 10-4 win over Eli Spencer at 197. McGonigal's victory, Lock Haven's seventh of the night, pushed the LHU lead to 28-7. George Mason took the final bout of the night in a battle of two of the nation's top-10 285-pounders, but LHU's early dominance paved the way to the 28-10 EWL victory. The nationally-ranked Bald Eagles will return to action on Saturday, December 8 at the 2018-19 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships. Results: 125: Luke Werner (LHU) tech fall Talha Farooq (GMU) 18-1 (6:23) / LHU leads 5-0 133: Dalton Rohrbaugh (LHU) dec. Mel Ortiz (GMU) 8-3 / LHU leads 8-0 141: Kyle Shoop (LHU) tech fall Julio Alegria (GMU) 16-0 (1:40) / LHU leads 13-0 149: Jonathan Ross (LHU) pinned Tejon Anthony (GMU) 4:29 / LHU leads 19-0 157: Kolby Ho (GMU) major dec. #17 Alex Klucker (LHU) 11-3 / LHU leads 19-4 165: Neil Schuster (GMU) dec. Collin Glorioso (LHU) 2-0 / LHU leads 19-7 174: Jared Siegrist (LHU) dec. Phil Stolfi (GMU) 4-2 / LHU leads 22-7 184: #17 Corey Hazel (LHU) dec. Paul Pierce (GMU) 9-6 / LHU leads 25-7 197: Luke McGonigal (LHU) dec. Eli Spencer (GMU) 10-4 / LHU leads 28-7 285: #10 Matt Voss (GMU) dec. #9 Thomas Haines (LHU) 5-2 / LHU wins 28-10

Chris Ayres understands the mystique of Leeman-Turner Arena better than most. He's won there as a wrestler, and he's lost there as a coach. Yet there he stood, with the biggest win of his 13-year coaching career in the balance, at total ease while his guy trailed. Why? Because his guy was Patrick Brucki. Minutes after classmate Dale Tiongson pulled out a victory he'll remember for a lifetime, Brucki put the finishing touches on Princeton's biggest team win in decades. The 7th-ranked 197-pounder remained undefeated with a 7-4 win over 15th-ranked Jake Jakobsen to clinch Princeton's first road win ever at Lehigh. It was also the first Princeton victory in this series since 1968 (Lehigh leads it 54-6-1 at this point), and it was the first Top-10 win since Ayres came from the Mountain Hawks coaching staff to try and build something special at Princeton. "I was proud of every single guy," Ayres said afterwards. "Even when we lost, we wrestled our best matches. Quincy Monday was great. Marshall Keller was great. They just all wrestled like men. "I live for these moments where the program makes the big jump," Ayres added. "I think about everybody who has put time, effort and finances into this program. I've always felt like I had a great support group, and I feel like I work for them. It's an amazing moment for sure." Though it began with a pair of ranked wins early, the moment really began to take shape when Tiongson took the mat against the 11th-ranked wrestler in the nation, Cole Walter. Tiongson led 3-2 in the third period, one in which he was the aggressor throughout, when he fended off a shot and circled behind Walter for a critical takedown in a 5-3 win. "Dale's match was especially awesome," Ayres said. "I told the guys before the match that you have to attack more than them. They fed off each other. I told Dale he had to have composure, and I could see at one point when he was all-in. He smelled blood in the third, and he took advantage of it. There's a moment it clicked for him, and it just changes you as a wrestler." That win, combined with technical falls for both #14 Patrick Glory and #1 Matthew Kolodzik, gave Princeton a 13-10 lead with four matches to go. Freshman Travis Stefanik, a former state champion from the Lehigh Valley area (Nazareth High), pushed #7 Jordan Kutler throughout, though a late takedown sealed a 5-0 Lehigh win to even the match again. Junior Kevin Parker, who gave a hint of a potential breakout season when he won the Tiger Open earlier this month, put Princeton on the brink of a major upset with a technical fall at 184, and then Brucki took the mat against 15th-ranked Jake Jakobsen. Brucki trailed 1-0 after he was called for hitting Jakobsen in the face, but he responded with a trio of takedowns in the final two periods to ignite a celebration within both the team and among those who dreamed of bringing Princeton back into the Top 25 — a dream that should be realized next week. Princeton is now 2-2, with its two losses coming on the road to #3 Iowa and #11 Wisconsin, the latter of which came down to the final match. The Tigers will try for another Top-15 road win next week when they travel to #13 Virginia Tech; the Tigers will also face Virginia over the weekend. Results: 125 – #14 Patrick Glory (Princeton) tech fall Luke Resnick (Lehigh) 17-2, 5:08 133 – Brandon Paetzell (Lehigh) major dec. Jonathan Gomez (Princeton) 16-8 141 – Ryan Pomrinca (Lehigh) dec. Marshall Keller (Princeton) 8-7 149 – #1 Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton) tech fall Jimmy Hoffman (Lehigh) 17-1, 6:03 157 – Josh Humphreys (Lehigh) dec. Quincy Monday (Princeton) 5-4 165 – Dale Tiongson (Princeton) dec. #11 Cole Walter (Lehigh) 5-3 174 – #7 Jordan Kutler (Lehigh) dec. Travis Stefanik (Princeton) 5-0 184 – Kevin Parker (Princeton) tech fall Chase Gallik (Lehigh) 23-8, 5:12 197 – #7 Patrick Brucki (Princeton) dec. #15 Jake Jakobsen (Lehigh) 7-4 285 – #6 Jordan Wood (Lehigh) Fall Obinna Ajah (Princeton) 1:24

NORFOLK, Va. -- The No. 7 NC State wrestling team brought home a hard-fought 16-15 win at Old Dominion Friday Night. Both teams won five bouts on the day, but NC State scored a major decision at 133 pounds as the lone bonus point win. With ODU up 12-10 with three bouts left, NC State earned decisions at 184 and 197 pounds to take the lead for good. ODU started the dual with a 9-4 decision by No. 19 Michael McGee over R-Fr. Zurich Storm. The Pack's first win of the night was a bonus point win by No. 4 Tariq Wilson, as he recorded a 12-4 major decision with a takedown in the final 15 seconds. R-Sr. Jamal Morris scored a 7-2 decision over No. 10 Sa'Derian Perry, a 2018 All-American. Morris scored a takedown in the first with a cradle and got a four-point near fall. He finished the match with over 3:00 of ride time. ODU got back-to-back wins at 149 and 157 pounds. Kenan Carter defeated R-Fr. A.J. Leitten 10-8 with a third period takedown the difference. In a top-10 showdown, No. 9 Larry Early got a 4-2 win over No. 2 R-So. Hayden Hidlay. ODU held a 9-7 lead at the intermission. A 4-3 decision by No. 19 R-So. Thomas Bullard at 165 pounds gave the Pack the 10-9 lead with four bouts left. The Monrachs once again took the lead, as Sheldon Wright scored a 4-2 OT win over No. 19 R-So. Daniel Bullard. The Pack took the lead after 184 pounds, as No. 6 R-So. Nick Reenan came away with a 3-0 decision. R-Sr. Malik McDonald made it back-to-back wins, as three first-period takedowns led to an 11-5 win. ODU closed out the dual with a 2-0 win at heavyweight. Up Next: The Wolfpack will return to home action on Tuesday, Dec. 4 at 7 PM against Appalachian State. Results: 125: No. 19 Michael McGee (ODU) dec. Zurich Storm; 9-4 – 0-3 133: No. 4 Tariq Wilson (NCSU) major dec. Kilian Cardinale; 12-4 – 4-3 141: Jamal Morris (NCSU) dec. No. 10 Sa'Derian Perry; 7-2 – 7-3 149: Kenan Carter (ODU) dec. A.J. Leitten; 10-8 – 7-6 157: No. 9 Larry Early (ODU) dec. No. 2 Hayden Hidlay; 4-2 – 7-9 165: No. 19 Thomas Bullard (NCSU) dec. Shane Jones; 4-3 – 10-9 174: Sheldon Wright (ODU) dec. No. 17 Daniel Bullard; 2-4 (SV1) – 10-12 184: No. 6 Nick Reenan (NCSU) dec. Antonio Agee; 3-0 – 13-12 197: Malik McDonald (NCSU) dec. Timothy Young; 11-5 – 16-12 285: Williams Hillard (ODU) dec. Deonte Wilson; 2-0 – 16-15

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Indiana wrestling team won their home opener with a 20-14 victory over Northern Illinois on Friday at University Gym. Key Moments • After Northern Illinois struck first with a decision to build a 3-0 lead in the match, Indiana got wins by decision from Garett Pepple and Cole Weaver to go up 6-3. • Indiana led 12-6, but a technical fall brought them within one at 12-11. • Norman Conley provided the Hoosiers with four points with a major decision to go up 16-11. • A major decision by Jake Kleimola put the Hoosiers up 20-11 and clinched the match for Indiana. Notes • The Hoosiers improve to 2-1 on the season. Northern Illinois falls to 0-2. • #15 ranked at 141 Cole Weaver competed in his first dual match of the season. • Pepple picked up his ninth win of the season and leads the Hoosiers in dual point differential at +6. • Jake Danishek and Bryce Martin each won their ninth match of the season. • Kleimola won his seventh match of the season and picked up his second major decision. IU Head Coach Angel Escobedo "We had a good crowd and the atmosphere was great. The guys were excited to go out there and compete in front of our home fans. I thought our upperclassmen responded well tonight. We still have work to do, but it was good to go out there and get the win." Results: 125: Bryce West (NIU) dec. Elijah Oliver (IU) 11-7 NIU 3, IU 0 133: Garrett Pepple (IU) dec. Alijah Jeffrey (NIU) 7-1 IU 3, NIU 3 141: #15 Cole Weaver (IU) dec. Anthony Cheloni (NIU) 3-0 IU 6, NIU 3 149: McCoy Kent (NIU) dec. Breydon Bailey (IU) 11-4 IU 6, NIU 6 157: Jake Danishek (IU) dec. Mason Kauffman (NIU) 4-1 IU 9, NIU 6 165: Bryce Martin (IU) dec. Kenny Moore (NIU) 5-3 IU 12, NIU 6 174: Brit Wilson (NIU) TF Jake Hinz (IU) 22-7/7:15 IU 12, NIU 11 184: Norman Conley (IU) maj. dec. Will Feldkamp 10-2 IU 16, NIU 11 197: Jake Kleimola (IU) maj. dec. Ross Sealby 12-3 IU 20, NIU 11 285: Caleb Gossett (NIU) dec. Rudy Streck 3-0 IU 20, NIU 14 Up Next Up next the Hoosiers go on the road to start Big Ten play. Indiana will take on Michigan State on Dec. 7 and battle Michigan on Dec. 9.

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- No. 1 Penn State (2-0, 0-0 B1G) made its first-ever visit to Bucknell (2-2) for a dual meet and dominated the homestanding Bison in sold out Sojka Pavilion. The Nittany Lions won nine of ten bouts, including three pins, to roll to a 42-3 victory in Lewisburg, Pa. The dual was wrestled in front of a sellout crowd of 4,279 in Bucknell's Sojka Pavilion. The crowd is the largest wrestling crowd in Bucknell history and the third largest in Sojka Pavilion history. The dual began at 125 where Lion sophomore Devin Schnupp (Lititz, Pa.) picked up his first dual win as a Nittany Lion. Schnupp used two takedowns, including a late one, to post a 5-2 win over Bucknell's Geo Barzona to give Penn State a lead it would never relinquish. True freshman Roman Bravo-Young (Tucson, Ariz.) stayed hot at 133, rolling to a 21-7 major over David Campbell. Sophomore Nick Lee (Evansville, Ind.), ranked No. 4 at 141, was also impressive, posting a 15-5 major over Bucknell's Matthew Kalonia. Red-shirt freshman Brady Berge (Mantorville, Minn.), ranked No. 13 at 149, made his Penn State dual meet debut, picking up a strong victory. Berge dominated Joey Schiele, posting a 25-10 technical fall at the 6:21 mark to put Penn State up 16-0 after four bouts. Senior Jason Nolf (Yatesboro, Pa.), ranked No. 1 at 157, stayed perfect on the year with a second period pin over BU's Zach Hartman. Nolf's pin at the 3:49 mark gave Penn State a 22-0 lead heading into intermission. With top-ranked Vincenzo Joseph (Pittsburgh, Pa.) not feeling well, sophomore157-pounder Bo Pipher (Paonia, Colo.) moved up to 165 for the Lions. Pipher was strong in the match but could not overcome BU's D.J. Hollingshead, who put Bucknell on the board with a 10-5 win. Junior Mark Hall (Apple Valley, Minn.), ranked No. 2 at 174, put on a takedown clinic on his way to a 20-7 major decision over Nick Stephani with over 3:00 in riding time. Senior Shakur Rasheed (Coram, N.Y.), ranked No. 4 at 184, notched his fifth takedown of the year, picking up the fast fall over Kyle Inlander at the 0:31 mark. Senior Bo Nickal (Allen, Texas), ranked No. 1 at 197, continued to dominate his new weight. Nickal rolled up seven takedowns to post a 16-6 major decision over Drew Phipps, giving the Lions a 36-3 lead. Senior Anthony Cassar (Rocky Hill, N.J.), ranked No. 5 at 285, closed out the dual with a fast fall of his own, pinning Brandon Stokes in just 0:32. Cassar's pin allowed the Nittany Lions to walk away with a with a resounding 42-3 win. The Nittany Lions posted a lopsided 51-3 takedown advantage. Penn State has now won 47 straight dual meets dating back to the end of the 2014-15 season. Penn State is now 2-0 overall while Bucknell falls to 2-2. The Nittany Lions host No. 10 Lehigh on Sunday, Dec. 2, in sold out Rec Hall. The match-up will air live nationally on the Big Ten Network and begins at 1:30 p.m. Penn State Fans are encouraged to follow Penn State wrestling via twitter at @pennstateWREST, on Penn State Wrestling's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pennstatewrestling and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/pennstatewrest. This is PENN STATE. WRESTLING lives here. Results: 125: Devin Schnupp PSU dec. Geo Barzona BU, 5-2 3-0 133: Roman Bravo-Young PSU maj. Dec. David Campbell BU, 21-7 7-0 141: #4 Nick Lee PSU maj. Dec. Matthew Kalonia BU, 15-5 11-0 149: #13 Brady Berge PSU tech fall Joey Schiele BU, 25-10 (6:21) 16-0 157: #1 Jason Nolf PSU pinned Zach Hartman BU, WBF (3:49) 22-0 165: D.J. Hollingshead BU dec. Bo Pipher PSU, 10-5 22-3 174: #2 Mark Hall PSU maj. dec. Nick Stephani BU, 20-7 26-3 184: #4 Shakur Rasheed PSU pinned Kyle Inlander BU, WBF (0:310 32-3 197: #1 Bo Nickal PSU maj. dec. Drew Phipps BU, 16-6 36-3 285: #5 Anthony Cassar PSU pinned Brandon Stokes BU, WBF (0:32) 42-3 Attendance: 4,279 (new Bucknell wrestling record) Records: Penn State 2-0; Bucknell 2-2 Up Next for Penn State: home vs. #10 Lehigh, Sunday, Dec. 2, 1:30 p.m. in Rec Hall BOUT-BY-BOUT: 125: Sophomore Devin Schnupp (Lititz, Pa.) took on Bucknell's Geo Barzona at 125. Schnupp and Barzona battled in the middle off the mat for the opening minute before Schnupp took an early lead with a takedown at the 1:45 mark. Barzona escaped to a 2-1 score and action continued on the Bison logo in the middle of the mat. Schnupp continued to shoot, connecting on a low single. But Barzona was able to force a scramble that ended in a stalemate with :40 left in the opening period. Trailing by one, Barzona chose down to start the second period. Schnupp was able to control the action from the top position for :30 before Barzona escaped to a 2-2 tie. Schnupp was also hit with a first stall warning during the Barzona escape. Schnupp countered a slight Barzona shot to keep the bout tied 2-2 as the clock moved below :30. Barzona tried to turn a late shot into a takedown but Schnupp fought it off to head into the third period tied 2-2. Schnupp chose down to start the third period and quickly escaped to a 3-2 lead. He then turned into Barzona and forced a scramble in front of the Penn State corner with a low shot. Barzona nearly scored but Schnupp was able to return to neutral and the bout continued to the 1:00 mark with Schnupp leading 3-2. Schnupp nearly locked up a cradle on the edge of the mat but Barzona was able to work his way out of bounds to force a reset with :35 on the clock. Schnupp continued to shoot, using a low single to bring Barzona down for a bout clinching takedown and a 5-2 win. 133: True freshman Roman Bravo-Young (Tucson, Ariz.) faced off against David Campbell at 133. Bravo-Young attacked quickly, taking the Bucknell wrestler down for an early 2-0 lead just :20 into the bout. The Lion freshman the controlled the action from then let Campbell loose and worked his way to a second takedown and a 4-1 lead with 1:00 left in the opening period. Bravo-Young closed out a dominant first period with one more takedown and led 6-2 with 2:06 in time after one period. Campbell chose down to start the second period and Bravo-Young cut him loose to a 6-3 score. The Lion freshman quickly tacked on two more takedowns to up his lead to 10-4 with 1:16 left in the middle period. Bravo-Young added one more takedown with :18 left to lead 12-5 with nearly 3:00 in riding time after two periods. He chose down to start the third period and quickly escaped to a 13-5 lead and the poured on the offense. Bravo-Young added another takedown and then fought off a solid Campbell shot with :50 left, forcing a scramble in front of the Bucknell corner that ended with a Penn State takedown. He would add one final takedown and 3:06 in riding time to roll to a 21-7 major decision. 141: Sophomore Nick Lee (Evansville, Ind.), ranked No. 4 at 141, met Matthew Kalonia. Lee scored twice in the opening minute, bolting out to an early 4-1 lead on Kalonia. He cut Kalonia loose again, worked on his feet for a few moments and blew through a strong shot for a third takedown and a 6-2 lead with 1:10 left in the opening period. Lee carried that lead into the second stanza, along with 2:17 in riding time. Lee chose down to start the second period and escaped to a 7-2 lead. He then notched his fourth takedown and began working on a strong ride with 1:00 on the clock. He picked up a point on a second Kalonia stall, all while working for a chance to turn the Bison for back points. Kalonia fought off the tilt long enough to kill the clock and Lee led 10-2 with 3:06 in time after two. Kalonia chose down to start the third period and escaped to a 10-3 score. But Lee continued to pour on the offense. The Lion sophomore used a quick low shot to take Kalonia down for a 12-3 lead. He then cut him loose at the 1:05 mark and took him down again quickly to lead 14-4 with over 4:00 in riding time. Lee 149: Redshirt freshman Brady Berge (Mantorville, Minn.), ranked No. 13 at 149, met Bucknell's Joey Schiele. Berge wasted no time opening up a big lead, notching two quick takedowns in his Penn State dual debut to open up an early 4-1 lead in just 1:00 of action. Berge then worked his riding time edge up to 1:25 before cutting Schiele loose, only to take him down quickly to lead 6-2 with :55 left in the opening period. Berge picked up a penalty point and added one more takedown to lead 9-3 with 2:15 riding time after one period. Berge chose down to start the second period and quickly escaped to a 10-3 lead. He rolled up two fast takedowns and led 14-4 with 1:00 on the clock. Berge continued to press Schiele, forcing the Bison to the edge of the mat. Berge led 14-5 with 2:45 riding time after two and cut Schiele to start the third period. He turned quickly into a takedown, cut Schiele again, and took him down an eighth time to lead 18-7 with 1:25 on the clock. He took Schiele down a total of 11 times on his way to a 25-10 technical fall at the 6:21 mark. 157: Senior Jason Nolf (Yatesboro, Pa.), ranked No. 1 at 157, met Bucknell freshman Zach Hartman. Nolf put on an offensive show early, rolling up three takedowns in the opening minute-plus to lead 5-2 before the midway point of the first period. Hartman countered with a takedown that cut Nolf's lead to 6-5. Nolf then escaped to a 7-5 lead with :45 left to wrestle in the opening period. Leading 7-5, Nolf chose down to start the second period. Hartman was able to keep Nolf down for :30 before the Lion escaped to an 8-5 lead. Nolf fought off a quick Hartman shot, quickly gained control of the Bison's shoulders and, from a standing position, turned him to his back on the mat for a pin. Nolf got the fall at the 3:49 mark, his fifth of the year. 165: With top-ranked Vincenzo Joseph (Pittsburgh, Pa.) not feeling well, sophomore Bo Pipher (Paonia, Colo.) moved up to 165 and took on Bison senior D.J. Hollingshead. Pipher scored quickly, taking Hollingshead down for an early 2-0 lead. But the Bison reversed Pipher to briefly tie the bout before Pipher escaped to a 3-2 lead, all within the first :45 of the opening stanza. The duo battled evenly for the next minute-plus with neither man finding an opening. Leading 3-2 after the opening period, Pipher chose down to start the second stanza and escaped at the :55 mark. Pipher's escape gave the Lion a 4-2 lead. Hollingshead had 1:04 in riding time but picked up a stall in the process. Trailing 4-2, Hollingshead chose down to start the third period, needing a quick escape. Pipher was able to control the Bison until the 1:52 mark before he escaped to a 4-3 Pipher lead, with the riding time point erased. Pipher fought off a high Hollingshead shot at the 1:20 mark, but the Bison was able to work his way to the two points and a 5-4 lead with :45 on the clock. Pipher escaped to a 5-5 tie but Hollingshead had 1:04 of riding time, all with :27 left in the bout. Pipher battled for a late takedown to grab the win, but Hollingshead was able to hold off the Lion, adding a late four-point move to post a hard-fought 10-5 win. 174: Junior Mark Hall (Apple Valley, Minn.), ranked No. 2 at 174, met Bucknell's Nick Stephani. Hall opened up an early 2-1 lead with a quick takedown in the opening period. He controlled the action in the middle of the mat, stepping away from a slight Stephani shot, using an underhook and adding a second takedown with :40 left in the period. Leading 4-1 with over 1:00 in riding time after one, Hall chose down to start the second period and quickly escaped to a 5-1 lead. Hall bulled his way to a third takedown at the 1:05 mark, cut Stephani loose and then added a fourth takedown with :30 left. Not content, Hall picked up fifth takedown and rode Stephani out to lead 11-3 with 2:04 in riding time after two periods. Stephani chose down to start the third period and Hall cut him loose to an 11-4 score. The Lion junior notched another takedown off a scramble, cut Stephani loose and went on to roll to a 20-7 major decision with 3:06 in riding time. 184: Senior Shakur Rasheed (Coram, N.Y.), ranked No. 4 at 184, battled Bucknell junior Kyle Inlander. Rasheed made quick work of the Bison grappler. He took Inlander down in the opening seconds and then wrapped up a cradle for the fall at the 0:31 mark. The pin was Rasheed's fifth of the year. 197: Senior Bo Nickal (Allen, Texas), ranked No. 1 at 197, took on Bison junior Drew Phipps. Nickal and Phipps battled evenly for the opening seconds, but the Lion senior's relentless offense resulted in a takedown and an early 2-1 lead. Nickal picked up a second takedown at the 1:00 mark and then rode Phipps out to lead 4-1 with 1:44 in riding time after one period. Leading by three, Nickal chose down to start the second period and quickly escaped to a 5-1 lead. He quickly defended a Phipps shot, stepped back from a low double and worked his way into control of the Bison's shoulders. Nickal worked his way around for a takedown and a 7-1 lead with :50 left in the middle stanza. He rode Phipps out and led 7-1 with 2:22 in time after two. Phipps chose down to start the third period and Nickal cut him loose to a 7-2 score. He turned a solid high single into a takedown and then cut Phipps loose to a 9-3 score. Nickal added two more takedowns to up his lead to 13-4 with the clinched riding time point with :18 left to wrestle. He added one final takedown and, with riding time, posted a 16-6 major decision. 285: Senior Anthony Cassar (Rocky Hill, N.J.), ranked No. 5 at 285, met Bucknell's Brandon Stokes. The Lion senior put an exclamation point on the dual meet by taking the Bison big man down quickly, turning him to his back and picking up Penn State's third fall of the dual. Cassar got the pin in just 0:32 to put a capstone on Penn State's dual victory.

No. 5 Logan Massa of Michigan advanced to the quarterfinals at 165 pounds (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) LAS VEGAS -- The quarterfinal matchups are set at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Tonight's session -- which includes quarterfinals and consolation matches -- is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. PT. Note: InterMat ranking is listed, not tournament seed. 125: No. 2 Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) vs. No. 17 Drew Mattin (Michigan) No. 9 Zeke Moisey (Nebraska) vs. Brent Fleetwood (North Dakota State) No. 5 Sean Russell (Minnesota) vs. No. 12 Travis Piotrowski (Illinois) No. 3 Ronnie Bresser (Oregon State) vs. No. 15 Devin Schroder (Purdue) 133: No. 3 Nick Suriano (Rutgers) vs. No. 16 Korbin Myers (Virginia Tech) No. 9 John Erneste (Missouri) vs. Noah Gonser (Campbell) No. 7 Ethan Lizak (Minnesota) vs. No. 13 Micky Phillippi (Pittsburgh) No. 5 Luke Pletcher (Ohio State) vs. No. 15 Chas Tucker (Cornell) 141: No. 2 Joey McKenna (Ohio State) vs. No. 18 Dom Demas (Oklahoma) No. 8 Josh Alber (Northern Iowa) vs. No. 9 Nicholas (Gil Navy) No. 7 Mike Carr (Illinois) vs. Sam Turner (Wyoming) No. 3 Jaydin Eierman (Missouri) vs. No. 20 Kanen Storr (Michigan) 149: No. 2 Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) vs. Alec Opsal (Air Force) No. 6 Max Thomsen (Northern Iowa) vs. No. 7 Mitch Finesilver (Duke) No. 4 Grant Leeth (Missouri) vs. No. 8 Brock Zacherl (Clarion) No. 3 Micah Jordan (Ohio State) vs. No. 9 Austin O'Connor (North Carolina) 157: No. 3 Tyler Berger (Nebraska) vs. Griffin Parriott (Purdue) No. 8 Taleb Rahmani (Pittsburgh) vs. Eric Barone (Illinois) No. 6 Kennedy Monday (North Carolina) vs. No. 16 John Van Brill (Rutgers) No. 5 Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) vs. No. 19 Hunter Willits (Oregon State) 165: No. 5 Logan Massa (Michigan) vs. No. 15 Demetrius Romero (Utah Valley) No. 10 Isaiah White (Nebraska) vs. No. 12 Joey Gunther (Illinois) No. 9 Bryce Steiert (Northern Iowa) vs. No. 13 Connor Flynn (Missouri) No. 6 Branson Ashworth (Wyoming) vs. No. 14 Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) 174: No. 3 Myles Amine (Michigan) vs. No. 19 Matt Finesilver (Duke) No. 11 Mikey Labriola (Nebraska) vs. Spencer Carey (Navy) No. 9 Taylor Lujan (Northern Iowa) vs. No. 16 Brandon Womack (Cornell) No. 4 Daniel Lewis (Missouri) vs. No. 20 Devin Skatzka (Minnesota) 184: No. 1 Myles Martin (Ohio State) vs. No. 18 Lou DePrez (Binghamton) No. 8 Chip Ness (North Carolina) vs. No. 9 Max Dean (Cornell) No. 5 Zack Zavatsky (Virginia Tech) vs. No. 10 Drew Foster (Northern Iowa) No. 3 Taylor Venz (Nebraska) vs. No. 13 Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) 197: No. 3 Kollin Moore (Ohio State) vs. No. 20 Ben Honis (Cornell) No. 13 Christian Brunner (Purdue) vs. Tanner Orndorff (Utah Valley) No. 14 Tom Sleigh (Virginia Tech) vs. Greg Bulsak (Clarion) Eric Schultz (Nebraska) vs. Jay Aiello (Virginia) 285: No. 2 Gable Steveson (Minnesota) vs. No. 19 A.J. Nevills (Fresno State) No. 13 Cory Daniel (North Carolina) vs. Jake Boyd (Oklahoma) No. 16 Tate Orndorff (Utah Valley) vs. Brian Andrews (Wyoming) Chase Singletary (Ohio State) vs. Matt Stencel (Central Michigan)

Link: Brackets Live Blog Cliff Keen Las Vegas InvitationalÂ

Got a fan of the great Dan Gable on your holiday gift list? Place your bid on your choice of any of a handful of items signed by the legendary wrestler and coach. The National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum is offering five truly unique items, available for online bidding via eBay, just in time for holiday gift-giving. What could be easier? These gifts will win the hearts of your Gable fanatic. And... all proceeds from these auctions directly benefit the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum, a not-for-profit organization committed to advancing the sport of wrestling, located in Waterloo, Iowa, Gable's hometown. Get in on the bidding now. Auctions end Thursday, Dec. 6 at approximately 1 p.m. Central; each item's bid deadline may be different, so be sure to check the deadline for the item(s) of interest to you. Signed "Dan Gable: Competitor Supreme" poster True Gable fanatics would be thrilled to pin this item to their wall: a vintage poster for the wrestling documentary "Dan Gable: Competitor Supreme" which features the Iowa wrestling team in action. This vintage poster is signed by ALL of the iconic wrestlers featured in the documentary, including Dan Gable, Tom and Terry Brands, Troy and Terry Steiner, Tom Ryan (now Ohio State head coach) and many more. To bid on this poster, click here. Signed "Iowa: The State of Wrestling" poster The perfect gift for the fan whose wrestling roots are deep in the state of Iowa... the new "Iowa: The State of Wrestling" poster. This one-of-a-kind 24" x 36" poster celebrates Iowa's rich wrestling tradition with images of ten Iowa coaching legends. Everyone featured on the poster has signed it ... with the exception of Mike Duroe, who passed away shortly after the poster was created. Dan Gable, one of Duroe's best friends, signed the poster by Duroe's image with a special note. To bid on this poster, click here. Signed Dan Gable action figure As a coach and wrestler, Dan Gable was a rare talent... just like this alternate edition of a Dan Gable action figure. Only 100 of this version of the Gable action figures were created ... and this one -- No. 72 out of 100 -- -is the only one numbered in gold. To bid on the action figure, click here. Signed GQ featuring Dan Gable Surprised to learn Dan Gable was once featured inside GQ? So was he; he didn't remember being featured in the men's fashion magazine. Gable was highlighted in the June 1984 issue of "Gentleman's Quarterly" with his college wrestling coach, Harold Nichols, of Iowa State. To bid on the magazine, click here. The original Gable Munich Helles lager print template When Single Speed Brewery of Waterloo, Iowa crafted the new Gable Munich Helles Lager, it had two rules: it had to be good ... and it had to be gold. This is the original (and one and only) print template when Single Speed Brewery created the can for the lager. We've also thrown in the first empty can pulled off the line for the Gable Museum. Cheers! To bid on this item, click here. Questions? Contact the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum at (319) 233-0745 or dgmstaff@nwhof.org. Good luck!

The Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational takes place this weekend with more than 30 teams from around the country sending wrestlers to the premier first-semester tournament of the season. Over the past 20 years the significance of the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational has remained constant. When I was in college (1999-2004) we would have wrestle-offs to see who would and would not attend the tournament, though it's fair to say that most of those wishing to attend (myself included) had ulterior motivates for wanting to go out west. For me it was not only to see what the fuss was about, but also to fly on a plane, something I'd only done once as a child with only a vague recollection. For others it was poker, gambling and nightlife. Despite the ancillary reasons one may want to wrestle at the CKLV tournament, the competition was always instructive as to where your summer training had placed you in the current season. Going out west meant (and still means) wrestling against Pac-12 opponents you may otherwise not see. Even East Coast schools who compete in select pockets will attend the CKLV, which allows other regional teams to see a broad swath of opponents and styles. Now that the tournament is live streamed, the CKLV this year will also be the first tournament for many fans to see some of the big conferences compete, including the Big Ten, ACC, Pac-12, Big 12, and the EIWA. I know that I'll use the tournament as my first opportunity to jump headlong into the season's matchups, micro-dramas and maybe even participate in some light betting. Hope everyone enjoys the wrestling. Remember that one-hundred percent of the kids you see on the mat can't wait to hit the casino. To your questions … Q: Any idea what kind of crowd AWL I will draw on Friday night? Have you heard much about ticket sales? Are you taking Zain Retherford or Jordan Oliver? -- Mike C. Foley: No idea on ticket sales or online signups for the livestream. Will be interested to see who shows up to watch these American guys wrestle. We all want this to work! As for Zain and Jordan, I see Zain as the two-point favorite. He's been battling in the Penn State room and seems to be hyper-focused on competing. He's a recent World Team member and at only 23 years old could become a mainstay of the USA program for the next several years. At 28, Jordan is a bit older, but even after a one-year suspension (that kind of lasted two years), he's still hungry for a seat at the table. I'm not underestimating his ability to make an impact, I just think that Zain can be a very physical wrestler for anyone to face, especially someone with even a touch of ring rust. How this plays out on the mat is anyone's guess, but I'll go with Oliver scoring the first takedown, then Zain, then a few step outs for Zain who then shoots late, kills the clock and comes away with a two-point victory. But when a guy of Jordan's talent is motivated you can't count him out of any match. No matter who shows up in Cedar Rapids or buys online, I can tell you that I'll be watching. Q: So, suppose I have enough bankroll to set up a 95-kilogram (catch weight) match between J'den Cox and Abdulrashid Sadulaev at Beat the Streets next year. Who wins? Methinks Cox could win, say, 3 or 4 times out of 10? -- Irv O. Foley: If you got that type of dosh you should give Beat the Streets a ring. I'm sure they'd love to pick up that phone call! I think you're a little high at 35 percent. While Cox can give Sadulaev trouble with his defense, you are underestimating the Russian's mat intelligence. There is a lot that can happen inside a 30-foot circle, but more often than not it's Sadulaev dictating pace, direction and offensive scoring opportunities. In a match against Cox he would know about the flexibility and likely get him on the back foot early and press him to the edge, take shots and get back to his feet. I'd be happy to take the step out points against a guy like that, and I think that's a game plan Sadulaev could execute. What could Cox's plan be for dealing with that forward pressure? Right now he tends to plant his feet and use the overhook side to whip opponents out of bounds. Is he doing that to Sadulaev? I'd be skeptical he could pull it off with any efficacy. In the semifinals he gave up a takedown to Alireza Karimimachiani when he wasn't able to overhook. But yes, I would watch! Pay up! Q: What potential matchup are you most excited about in Vegas this weekend? -- Mike C. Foley: The 125-pound weight class and seeing how Louie Hayes does. With so much international wrestling in my life, I have admittedly less time to watch all the collegiate action. However, when I do it's to focus on how my Hoos are doing in major tournaments. I think that Hayes has a real chance to break out this season and with four other wrestlers in the top 10 competing in Vegas I think he'll have the type of challenge necessary to prepare him for the rest of the season and NCAAs in March. Q: I saw the video of Frank Chamizo and Aaron Pico training together. It was fun to watch. I know in an August mailbag you wrote that you don't think Pico will make a run at the 2020 Olympics. Has your opinion changed at all? Or do you think the Pico wrestling ship has sailed? -- Mike C. Foley: Awesome! I shot and edited that video, which means I also spoke to Aaron for a bit during and after the training session. I learned that Pico DOES want to compete for the 2020 Olympic team, but that would be dependent on how he's feeling in 9-12 months. His desire to compete comes with several caveats. If he's the Bellator champion (and I think he will be), training for the Open and the Olympic Team Trials will be difficult due to paying promotional commitments. He'd also have to look at relocating, finding training partners and getting out on the international circuit. What I will say is the "thing" that Pico has on the wrestling mat has NOT disappeared. He lost the Olympic spot in the third match via criteria to Frank Molinaro. That was a weird style matchup for Pico and he lacked the power to fight through some of the positions, but Frank won't be the threat in 2020 and Pico has (in his own words) gotten "twice as strong the last two years." Zain, JO and Logan Stieber are all standing in his way, but from what I just watched with Pico training against Chamizo and Lavion Mayes there is absolutely no doubt that he could win the spot, and with less wrestling-only preparation than any other wrestler in the sport. Iowa and Iowa State wrestlers shake hands after the Hawkeyes won 35-6 in Ames last season (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) Q: Iowa won every contested match against Iowa State last season. ISU's only win was a forfeit. Do you think the Cyclones will be competitive against Iowa on Saturday? I'm especially looking forward to the Austin DeSanto vs. Austin Gomez match at 133 pounds. -- Mike C. Foley: The Battle for Austin should be an interesting match, but I don't see Gomez dealing well with the DeSanto heat. I know he's taken some well-deserved jabs for past behavior, but I'm guessing with those issues squared away and a modest improvement in conditioning and focused training DeSanto will be a wrecking ball all season. Won't Willie Miklus be favored over Jacob Warner? That'll be a great match. Also, Pat Lugo and Jarrett Degen could be a solid W for Iowa State. With Kemerer out of the lineup, Iowa State could conceivably snag four matches, but it's more likely an 8-2 match score. MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME Good humor Link: 2018-2019 NCAA Wrestling All Ear Team Frank Molinaro vs. Aaron Pico (third match) Preview of the Iowa vs. Iowa State Q: Something a bit different to hit you with today. Here is a study of wrestlers trying to make spots on the Canadian World teams (that study which there is a link to is from 1979). Thoughts? Hope you all are doing well. Thanks for the work you do in getting wrestling news out to the masses! -- Aaron S. Foley: The part of this study that immediately stuck out to me was the definition of open-skill and closed skill sport. "… open-skill activities like wrestling, badminton and hockey are those in which skills are primarily executed in an ever-changing, interactive environment. Therefore, in open-skill activities, the athlete attempts to develop a repertoire of patterns that match particular environmental stimuli that are encountered during the execution of that skill (e.g., performing a back-hand swing in response to a serve). In contrast, closed skills, such as gymnastics, high-jumping, and diving, are defined as occurring when the environmental surroundings remain constant." That is a brilliant description of what separates the sporting community. Certainly, there are a number of ways that we can differentiate between sports, but this grouping of open and closed skills is informative and useful. As for the study itself, I'll leave it for interested readers to dissect and discuss, but I did appreciate that the researchers were able to note that more international tournaments were a predictor of the confidence of an athlete. And that confidence, combined with the elimination of other psychological approaches, was likely most effective in creating improved outcomes for elite wrestlers. Q: I was looking at the Big Ten schedules and noticed that Penn State, Michigan, and Ohio State all wrestle a dual against each other. Iowa does not wrestle any of them in a dual. How does something like this happen? These are marquee matchups and Iowa does not see any of them. They wrestle Oklahoma State and that is great. What about Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan? -- Greg B. Foley: Iowa doesn't make its Big Ten schedule and is aligned with certain schools through the Big Ten East and the Big Ten West. The East features Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State. The West features Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Nebraska. The schools are allowed to schedule themselves independent of their divisional requirements, but that is the discretion of the coaches and athletic directors. Q: Do you see Anthony Cassar as USA's top contender for the 97-kilogram spot and THE guy to dethrone Kyle Snyder? -- Dan C. Foley: Woah, that's quite a LEAP in expectations in that Cassar was 16-2 last season as a backup! Snyder loses one match and all of a sudden Penn State fans smell blood in the water. I guess that if you want to get VERY optimistic you could point to his pretty steep trajectory in high school and what looks like an All-American senior season to say he could emerge as a top contender … at 125 kilograms … in 2024. Q: Is Mason Smith still at ASU? Thanks! -- Steven H. Foley: He has left the program and is back in Michigan. End note A very special thanks to Tom Brands and his family for this kind gift for my daughter Quinn! Please note that this is how my daughter lives her life: lounge position, sweatpants tucked into socks, drink at the ready.

BLOOMSBURG, Pa. -- The George Mason wrestling team earned a win in its Eastern Wrestling League opener with a 24-11 victory over Bloomsburg on Thursday at the Nelson Field House in Bloomsburg, Pa. Mason won seven of the 10 bouts on the night to improve to 2-0 on the season. After the Huskies took an early lead with a major decision at 125 pounds, Mason freshman Mel Ortiz won in a tiebreaker, 5-4, over Lewis Williams at 133 pounds. The score was tied 2-2 heading into the third period before Ortiz took the lead with an escape point. After Ortiz was whistled for stalling with 20 seconds left, the match went to overtime, before Ortiz secured the victory. Bloomsburg increased its match score advantage to 7-3 with a decision at 141 pounds. The Patriots then earned victories in the next four bouts, three with bonus points, to take control of the match with a 15-7 lead. At 149 pounds, redshirt senior Tejon Anthony picked up a 16-4 major decision over Grant Bond. Anthony led 8-4 after two periods and recorded five takedowns in the match. Freshman Kolby Ho followed with a 14-5 major decision against Nate Newberry at 157 pounds, while redshirt junior Colston DiBlasi notched a 15-4 major decision over Alex Carida at 165 pounds. At 174 pounds, junior Philip Stolfi recorded an 8-6 win in sudden victory. Stolfi secured a takedown in the final seconds of the third period to send the match to overtime, where he scored a takedown with 35 seconds left for the victory. After the Huskies picked up a major decision at 184 pounds, the Patriots finished the night with decisions at 197 and 285 pounds. Mason redshirt junior Eli Spencer outlasted Klye Murphy for a 6-4 decision and redshirt senior Matthew Voss registered a 5-2 decision over Bruce Graeber. Voss improved to 10-0 on the season. Spencer led 2-0 heading into the third period. After Murphy tied the match with an escape and reversal, Spencer scored two takedowns to pick up the win. Voss took the lead in his match with a takedown and near fall with a minute remaining in the first period. He added an escape point in the second period to earn the victory. The Patriots will remain on the road and are back in action when they take on Lock Haven on Friday at 7 p.m. at Thomas Fieldhouse. Results: 125 | Willy Gerard (Bloomsburg) major decision over Talha Farooq (Mason), 16-7 | 4-0 Bloomsburg 133 | Mel Ortiz (Mason) decision over Lewis Williams (Bloomsburg), TB-1, 5-4 | 4-3 Bloomsburg 141 | Aaron Coleman (Bloomsburg) decision over Julio Alegria (Mason), 8-5 | 7-3 Bloomsburg 149 | Tejon Anthony (Mason) major decision over Grant Bond (Bloomsburg), 16-4 | 7-7 157 | Kolby Ho (Mason) major decision over Nate Newberry (Bloomsburg), 14-5 | 11-7 Mason 165 | Colston DiBlasi (Mason) major decision over Alex Carida (Bloomsburg), 15-4 | 15-7 Mason 174 | Philip Stolfi (Mason) decision over Anthony Vetrano (Bloomsburg), SV-1 8-6 | 18-7 Mason 184 | Trevor Allard (Bloomsburg) major decision over Paul Pierce (Mason), 12-4 | 18-11 Mason 197 | Eli Spencer (Mason) decision over Kyle Murphy (Bloomsburg), 6-4 | 21-11 Mason 285 | Matthew Voss (Mason) decision over Bruce Graeber (Bloomsburg), 5-2 | 24-11 Mason

Michigan's Myles Amine topped Missouri's Daniel Lewis for third place at the NCAAs (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The first major tournament of the college wrestling season takes place this weekend. Many ranked teams, including No. 2 Ohio State, No. 6 Michigan, No. 7 Minnesota and No. 8 Missouri, will head to the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, which takes place Friday and Saturday. However, there are still some key matches taking place as part of dual meets. The following is a preview of the featured match in every weight class this weekend. Note: Potential match at Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational is denoted with asterisk (*). 125: No. 6 Louie Hayes (Virginia) vs. No. 12 Travis Piotrowski (Illinois)* Hayes is undefeated on the season and holding down a spot in the top 10. However, he has only wrestled three matches on the season. His last action came in Virginia's dual against Wyoming where he defeated Cole Verner via a 10-2 major decision. This will be Hayes' first tournament action since falling against Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) in the blood round last season. Piotrowski is another ranked wrestler who has not seen much action. In fact, Piotrowski is yet to wrestle this season, but he is registered for this tournament. Last season, he went 2-2 at the NCAA tournament, but scored victories over No. 17 Drew Mattin (Michigan) and Brian Courtney (Arizona State). If Hayes is right and not battling weight issues, he should be able to defeat Piotrowski. However, Piotrowski is long for 125 pounds, and that can be a wildcard. On top of that, he has been through the Big Ten ringer, so he is more than prepared for this type of match. Hayes is the favorite, but the result of this match will tell fans a lot about his prospects this season. Prediction: Hayes (Virginia) dec. Piotrowski (Illinois) 133: No. 14 Austin Gomez (Iowa State) vs. No. 10 Austin DeSanto (Iowa) Even though Gomez has started his collegiate wrestling career with 12 straight wins, eight as a redshirt and four to start this season, he remains somewhat unknown. He has yet to face any really tough competition, but he certainly has the pedigree. Gomez was one of the few recruits from Kevin Jackson's last recruiting class to stick with the Cyclones after Kevin Dresser became head coach. The former Junior freestyle national champion will get his first real test in an Iowa State singlet here. DeSanto transferred to Iowa in the offseason to fill an obvious need at 133 pounds. So far, he has won all four of his matches in a Hawkeye singlet. Naysayers will look at his one-point match against Tim Rooney (Kent State) and say that perhaps he is not living up to expectations. However, the winner of this match appears to be well positioned to make a run at All-American status this season. The result of this match will likely tell us a lot about both wrestlers. DeSanto comes in as the favorite since he already has a season of collegiate wrestling under his belt, and his motor is an undeniable asset. This will be Gomez's toughest folkstyle match in at least two years. If he can pull it off, he might be a contender this year at 133 pounds. Prediction: DeSanto (Iowa) dec. Gomez (Iowa State) 141: No. 2 Joey McKenna (Ohio State) vs. No. 3 Jaydin Eierman (Missouri)* These two are expected to have a lot to say about who ends up in the NCAA finals at 141 pounds, and they have a history. Last season, the two faced off in the third-place match after both fell in the semifinals. McKenna won that match via a 7-2 score. However, the previous year, Eierman majored McKenna 8-0 in the blood round and prevent him from becoming an All-American. Both wrestlers are undefeated on the season. McKenna needed to pull out a 3-2 victory over No. 9 Nicholas Gil (Navy) in his first action of the season. Eierman's toughest test so far was a 12-10 decision over No. 7 Mike Carr (Illinois). The Missouri wrestler also pinned returning All-American No. 10 Sa'Derian Perry (Old Dominion). This match represents a pretty sizable divergence in style. McKenna likes to slow matches down and control positions. Eierman can explode at any minute and catch opponents on their back. In their last meeting McKenna's style won out, and he seems to have perfected that style in the interim. Prediction: McKenna (Ohio State) dec. Eierman (Missouri) 149: No. 2 Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) vs. No. 3 Micah Jordan (Ohio State)* Ashnault missed last season due to injury, but he is back this year for his delayed senior season. He has started things off with a bang as he has put together five falls and one technical fall in his six matches this season. In his last action, he pinned Ryan Burkert (Hofstra) in the second period. Ashnault has previously defeated the likes of Cole Martin (Wisconsin), Luke Pletcher (Ohio State) and No. 1 Matt Kolodzik (Princeton). Jordan is looking to make noise at 149 this season after spending last season up at 157. So far, he has won all seven of his match with two falls and two technical falls. In his last match, Jordan picked up his biggest win of the season as he majored No. 10 Josh Maruca (Arizona State). Ashnault is a bit of an unknown at 149 pounds this season. He is coming off missing an entire year, and prior to this year his entire career had come at 141. Jordan has looked very impressive down at 149 pounds so far this season, and he should be considered the favorite. However, Ashnault should be his toughest test so far this season. Prediction: Jordan (Ohio State) dec. Ashnault (Rutgers) 157: No. 3 Tyler Berger (Nebraska) vs. No. 8 Taleb Rahmani (Pittsburgh)* This will be Berger's first tournament action of the season. So far, the returning All-American has gone 5-0 in dual matches. In his last match, he scored a 14-1 major decision over Dewey Krueger (Wyoming). Last season, Berger finished third at the NCAA tournament behind only No. 2 Hayden Hidlay (NC State) and No.1 Jason Nolf (Penn State). Rahmani has gotten off to a strong start to this season with a pair of bonus point victories. First he knocked off Wyatt Gerl (CSU Bakersfield) with a major decision and then returned and decked Pat Schoenfelder (Northern Iowa). Last season, Rahmani qualified for the NCAA tournament, but he went 1-2 and failed to place. His draw did him no favors as his losses came against the number-one seed Hidlay and the second-seeded Joey Lavallee (Missouri). Rahmani might surprise some people this season, but Berger will most likely end up being a bridge too far. The Nebraska wrestler has lost only match against a non-Big-Ten opponent since December of last year. That opponent ended up winning the national title at this weight. Prediction: Berger (Nebraska) dec. Rahmani (Pittsburgh) 165: No. 6 Logan Massa (Michigan) vs. No. 10 Isaiah White (Nebraska)* After struggling with injuries last season, Massa is looking to get back on track this season. He already has a ranked win on the season. In his second match of the season, Massa defeated No. 11 Cole Walter (Lehigh). In his first season for Michigan, Massa placed third in the NCAA tournament, but last season he failed to place after qualifying. White came closer to All-American status last season than Massa, but he still fell in the blood round. However, unlike Massa, he has struggled to start the year. He has gone only 1-3 with losses coming against No. 20 Ebed Jarrell (Drexel), No. 2 Evan Wick (Wisconsin) and No.6 Branson Ashworth (Wyoming). Massa and White wrestled once last season. It was a low-scoring match that Massa ended up winning 3-1 in sudden victory. The Michigan wrestler clearly was not at his best last season, and he still found a way to score the takedown in overtime. White desperately needs a win and some momentum, but he will likely not find it against Massa. Prediction: Massa (Michigan) dec. White (Nebraska) 174: No. 3 Myles Amine (Michigan) vs. No. 4 Daniel Lewis (Missouri)* Amine established himself as the third best wrestler at 174 pounds last season, but he needed overtime to do it. Amine and Lewis met in the third-place match of the NCAA tournament. The bout was tied at two each at the end of regulation, and Amine pulled it out in sudden victory. The Michigan wrestler took some losses last season, but over the last two months of the season he only dropped matches against No. 2 Mark Hall (Penn State) and No. 1 Zahid Valencia (Arizona State). Lewis entered the NCAA tournament undefeated and fell against Hall and Amine. So far this season, both wrestlers are undefeated. It will always be an interesting match when these two run into each other. Both wrestlers are somewhat conservative on the feet and look to score points from the top position. Just like their NCAA tournament match, this one will likely be decided by who can score the takedown with the match on the line. Prediction: Amine (Michigan) dec. Lewis (Missouri) 184: No. 20 Jelani Embree (Michigan) vs. No. 3 Taylor Venz (Nebraska)* Embree went 15-2 last year during his redshirt season with his only two losses coming against No. 6 Nick Reenan (NC State) and No. 14 Dakota Greer (Oklahoma State). So far this season, Embree has gone 5-1. In his last match, he scored an 8-3 decision over Andrew Price (Lehigh). Going into last season, there were probably not a lot of people who thought Venz would break through and finish fourth the NCAA tournament. However, this season he is not sneaking up on anybody. He has started his sophomore season with an undefeated 5-0 record including a fall over Owen Brooks (Drexel). In his last match, he scored a 7-1 decision over Carless Looney (Wyoming). Embree has looked solid so far during his brief collegiate wrestling career. However, in the few occasions he has stepped up against highly ranked opposition, he has struggled. Venz is a legitimate contender at this weight, and he should be able to take this match. His ability to turn from the top is real difference maker, and that might play a role in this match. Prediction: Venz (Nebraska) dec. Embree (Michigan) 197: No. 3 Kollin Moore (Ohio State) vs. No. 8 Nathan Traxler (Stanford)* The tournament will be the first action of the college season for Moore. He had been kept out of the lineup in preparation for the U23 World Championships. Moore wrapped up that freestyle tournament with a silver medal, and now he is ready to concentrate on college wrestling. Last season, he was one of the favorites to take the title at 197 pounds, but he ended up dropping a pair of matches against No. 2 Kyle Conel (Kent State) and finishing fourth. Traxler's redshirt freshman season was tough at times, but he still pulled off a 19-12 record and qualified to for the NCAA tournament. He entered this season ranked and has looked the part so far. Traxler has gone 6-1 with two falls and two technical falls. His lone loss on the season came against No. 7 Patrick Brucki (Princeton) at the Princeton Open. Moore is a clear favorite going into this match. However, the bout should be a good early season test for the returning All-American. His performance in this match and the rest of the tournament could set the tone for his season. Prediction: Moore (Ohio State) maj. dec. Traxler (Stanford) 285: No. 5 Anthony Cassar (Penn State) vs. No. 6 Jordan Wood (Lehigh) After taking a commanding 7-2 victory over teammate and returning All-American Nick Nevills at the Keystone Classic, it looks like Cassar could the guy at heavyweight going forward for Penn State. The former 197-pound wrestler also defeated NCAA qualifier No. 15 Joey Goodhart (Drexel) via major decision in that tournament. Wood came up one match short of All-American status last year as he defaulted out against No. 4 Youssif Hemida (Maryland) in the blood round. This year, the former Junior World Team member has gone 4-0, which includes a victory over No. 16 Tate Orndorff (Utah Valley) at the Journeymen Collegiate Classic. Cassar is still a bit of an unknown at heavyweight. However, his talent and ability is likely to shine through as the season progresses. Wood is a skilled and accomplished heavyweight, but he is on the smaller end of the scale. Cassar's struggles might appear against larger heavyweights, but against wrestlers of Wood's size, he should be able to prevail. Prediction: Cassar (Penn State) dec. Wood (Lehigh)

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- The Michigan State wrestling team continued its strong start to the 2018-19 campaign on Wednesday, November 28, defeating Buffalo by a final score of 23-12 in the first dual meet of the season. MSU won six bouts, three of which earned the Spartans bonus points. Michigan State started the evening strong as sophomore Rayvon Foley remained undefeated on the season by earning a 10-2 major decision over Kyle Akins. Foley, who is currently ranked No. 10 at 125 pounds by InterMat, previously defeated Akins, 8-6, in the Spartans' dual against the Bulls last season. Redshirt senior Anthony Tutolo was narrowly defeated by Derek Spann at 133 pounds despite a lopsided 11-5 tally. The bout between Tutolo and Spann was tied at 5-5 heading into the final 30 seconds, but a takedown and a four-point near fall secured victory for Buffalo with just 16 seconds left in the third period. MSU rattled off a pair of wins at 141 and 149 pounds to take a 10-3 lead over the Bulls. Redshirt sophomore Alex Hrisopoulos and redshirt freshman Jaden Enriquez earned decisions over John Arceri and Jason Eztevez respectively. Enriquez scored a takedown on Estevez with 18 seconds left in the third period to earn three points for the Spartans. Buffalo claimed victory at 157 to narrow Michigan State's lead to 10-6, but the Spartans bounced back in a big way by winning at 165, 174 and 184. Redshirt junior Logan Ritchie secured three points for MSU by scoring four points in the third period of his 9-5 defeat of Noah Grover. At 174, redshirt sophomore Drew Hughes got the crowed on its feet by pinning Jake Lanning in 32 seconds. Redshirt freshman Cameron Caffey secured more bonus points for Michigan State being earning a major decision (14-3) over Logan Rill at 184. Caffey, who entered Wednesday's dual ranked No. 15 by InterMat, continued his unbeaten start to the season at 9-0. Buffalo rounded out the dual by earning points at 197 and 285. Results: 125: Rayvon Foley (MSU) major dec. Kyle Akins (UB), 10-2; MSU leads, 4-0 133: Derek Spann (UB) dec. Anthony Tutolo (MSU), 11-5; MSU leads, 4-3 141: Alex Hrisopoulos (MSU) dec. John Arceri (UB), 7-3; MSU leads, 7-3 149: Jaden Enriquez (MSU) dec. Jason Estevez (UB), 7-6; MSU leads, 10-3 157: Alex Smythe (UB) dec. Jake Tucker (MSU), 5-4; MSU leads, 10-6 165: Logan Ritchie (MSU) dec. Noah Grover (UB), 9-5; MSU leads, 13-6 174: Drew Hughes (MSU) fall (:32) Jake Lanning (UB); MSU leads, 19-6 184: Cameron Caffey (MSU) major dec. Logan Rill (UB), 12-4; MSU leads, 23-6 197: Sam Schuyler (UB) dec. Nick May (MSU), 8-2; MSU leads, 23-9 285: Jake Gunnig (UB) dec. Christian Rebottaro (MSU), 7-4; MSU leads, 23-12

STILLWATER, Okla. -- The National Wrestling Hall of Fame announced on Wednesday that United States Military Academy graduate and former U.S. Army 1st Lieutenant Steve Cannon will be honored as the organization's Outstanding American for 2019. The Hall of Fame's Outstanding American award is presented to those individuals who have used the disciplines of wrestling to launch notable careers in other walks of life, such as science and technology, business and industry, government and the military, and the arts and humanities. Cannon joins Distinguished Members Carl Adams, Rich Lorenzo, Brandon Paulson and Townsend Saunders, Meritorious Official David Errett, Order of Merit recipient Dr. David Curby and Medal of Courage recipient James McCloughan, who were announced on October 29. The Class of 2019 will be inducted at the 43rd Annual Honors Weekend on May 31-June 1, 2019 in Stillwater, Oklahoma. For more information on Honors Weekend, please telephone (405) 377-5243. "Steve Cannon epitomizes what the honor of Outstanding American symbolizes to our Hall of Fame, sport and nation," said Lee Roy Smith, Executive Director of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. "He has distinguished his life by example and is the type of role model we can hope future generations will seek to emulate." Cannon was captain of both the football and wrestling teams at Ramapo High School in Wyckoff, New Jersey, earning All-State honors in football and All-County honors in wrestling. He lettered two years in wrestling at the United States Military Academy and scored a perfect score on every Army Physical Fitness Test for four years. Leading into his senior year, he was selected to lead Cadet Basic Training and later earned the position of Cadet Regimental Commander for 4th Regiment, placing 1,000 cadets under Cannon's leadership. Cannon, who graduated with honors and received his bachelor's degree in economics from West Point, passed U.S. Army Ranger School and officer training before being assigned to the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment along the West German-Czech border. He was on the border when the Cold War ended in 1989. After completing his military service, Cannon returned to the United States in 1991 and began his career in the automotive industry as the assistant to the President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz North America, the same CEO role he would attain nearly 20 years later. He moved to Germany and became the first American to join a team tasked with the design, development, production and launch of the M Class, which would be the first Mercedes-Benz series to be manufactured in the United States. He then led a team that chose Tuscaloosa, Alabama, as the manufacturing site. After the successful launch of the M Class, Cannon became director of marketing for debis Financial Services and later left Mercedes-Benz to serve as principal for The Richards Group, the largest independent full-service advertising agency in the United States. Cannon returned to Mercedes-Benz USA in 2007 as chief marketing officer and he and his team moved the brand into some of the most prestigious platforms in sports, including The Masters, The U.S. Open tennis tournament and the PGA Championship. In 2011, Cannon was named CEO of Mercedes-Benz USA, becoming only the second American to lead the company. Under his leadership, Mercedes-Benz USA experienced double-digit growth and for the first time in the company's history achieved a No. 1 ranking in customer satisfaction by the American Customer Satisfaction Index. He also oversaw the relocation of Mercedes-Benz USA's headquarters from New Jersey to metro Atlanta. He was named CEO of AMB Group, LLC, which is the parent company of Arthur M. Blank's for-profit businesses in December of 2015 and began his duties in February of 2016. Cannon oversees all business operations of the National Football League's Atlanta Falcons; Atlanta United of Major League Soccer; Mercedes-Benz Stadium, a multi-purpose retractable roof stadium that is home of the Falcons and United; and retailer PGA TOUR Superstore. He is also on the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation's board of directors. Opened in 2017, Mercedes-Benz Stadium has played host to sports and entertainment events of every kind and will be in the world spotlight as host of the Super Bowl in 2019 and the NCAA Men's Final Four in 2020. MBS was previously the site of the College Football Playoff Championship game in 2018 and is the first professional sports stadium in North America to achieve LEED Platinum Certification by the United States Green Building Council. Mercedes-Benz Stadium has the lowest concessions prices in professional sports and boasts a top overall ranking in the NFL and MLS voice of the fan surveys for quality, variety, speed of service and value. The MBS Food & Beverage Experience was honored as Sports Breakthrough of the Year by Sports Business Journal in 2018 and several professional and collegiate teams and venues across the country have since followed its lead with dramatic food and beverage pricing adjustments. Cannon and members of his West Point's Class of 1986 founded the Johnny Mac Soldiers Fund in 2014. What began as a small effort to help one fallen classmate's family has grown into an organization that has raised more than $17 million. The organization honors military service and sacrifice by providing scholarships to veterans and military family members, particularly children of our nation's fallen and disabled. A tireless champion of America's armed forces and their families, Cannon also serves on the national board of directors for TAPS (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors) and has led efforts to make the Atlanta Falcons' military outreach efforts the benchmark in the NFL. In 2018, Cannon and Falcons coach Dan Quinn led the first NFL team-directed USO Tour, visiting soldiers at various bases throughout Iraq and Kuwait. National Wrestling Hall of Fame & Museum America's shrine to the sport of wrestling, the National Wrestling Hall of Fame & Museum was founded as a nonprofit organization in 1976 to honor the sport of wrestling, preserve its history, recognize extraordinary individual achievements, and inspire future generations. The National Wrestling Hall of Fame has museums in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and Waterloo, Iowa. The Stillwater, Oklahoma, location reopened in June 2016 following a $3.8 million renovation and now features interactive exhibits and electronic kiosks, as well as the opportunity to watch NCAA Championship matches from the 1930s to present day. It also has the John T. Vaughan Hall of Honors where the greatest names in wrestling are recognized, including iconic granite plaques presented to Distinguished Members since the Hall of Fame opened in 1976. The museum has the largest collection of wrestling artifacts and memorabilia in the world, including the most collegiate and Olympic wrestling uniforms. Wrestling truly is for everyone and the diversity and accessibility of the sport continues to be highlighted through exhibits featuring females, African Americans, Native Americans, and Latino Americans. There is also a library featuring historical documents, including NCAA guides and results, as well as books on the sport. For more information about the Hall of Fame, please visit www.NWHOF.org.

Eighteen months after his death, former University of Wisconsin-Parkside wrestling coach Jim Koch will be honored with the unveiling of a newly upgraded wrestling room named in his honor as the program's founding coach. The newly renovated Jim Koch Wrestling Center will be dedicated at a public ceremony this Friday, Nov. 30 at 6:30 p.m. at UW-Parkside's Sports and Activities Center. Students, athletes, and others within the community are invited to attend free of charge, but are encouraged to register in advance online. A reception, featuring a cash bar consisting of beer, wine and soda as well as light appetizers, will take place outside the Jim Koch Wrestling Center starting at 6:15 p.m. The newly upgraded wrestling room will now feature a custom-built subfloor and new, custom-fitted wrestling mats. In addition, there will be a new visual history of the UW-Parkside Rangers wrestling program, including new displays which will recognize the long and storied program history, including national champions, All-Americans, Academic All-Americans, and team successes, along with a new plaque honoring coach Jim Koch's accomplishments, and new signage identifying the room. "The Jim Koch Wrestling Center is a first-class facility that will have both an immediate and lasting impact on our program," UW-Parkside head wrestling coach Corey VanGroll told InterMat. "I really believe that we now have arguably one of the best rooms in the entire country." "Our alumni, supporters, and family of Coach Koch's raised $100,000 to make this project a reality." Director of Athletics Andrew Gavin will kick off the dedication ceremony at 6:30 p.m., followed by coach VanGroll, who will share details about the new facility. In addition, redshirt senior wrestler James Lehman, Dan Koch, Donna Namath and Chancellor Deborah Ford will share their thoughts on the Jim Koch Wrestling Center throughout the evening. Koch, the first ever coach of the UW-Parkside wrestling program, was at the helm for 41 years before retirement in 2011, making him the longest-tenured collegiate wrestling coach in Wisconsin state history. He died at the age of 69 in March 2017 after he was struck by a car during a morning run in St. Louis during the 2017 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. By any measure, Koch's time on campus was successful. He coached 128 NCAA Division II All-Americans, oversaw 68 national tournament appearances and coached 14 individual national champions. Koch's teams finished the season in the top 10 in the national rankings 23 times, as he posted an overall dual meet record of 277-168-8. Ten times he was named Wisconsin/Midwest Regional Coach of the Year, and in 1971, he was named Amateur Wrestling News Collegiate Rookie Coach of the Year. In addition, Koch served as president of both the NAIA and NCAA Division II National Wrestling Coaches Association. Parkside hosted the national tournament three times during Koch's tenure. Koch also earned enshrinement in four wrestling Hall of Fames: the NCAA Division II, the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics), the District 14 NAIA and the George Martin Wisconsin Wrestling. In 2003, he was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. University of Wisconsin-Parkside is a four-year public university located in southeast Wisconsin, between Racine and Kenosha in Somers, Wis. The school has an enrollment of approximately 4,700 students. UW-Parkside sports teams -- including the wrestling program -- compete in NCAA Division II.

Two top wrestlers from Ohio's Elyria High School -- ranked No. 16 in the nation by InterMat -- have been dismissed for the year, the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram reported Tuesday. Both wrestlers -- Jordan Crace and Farouq Muhammed -- are seniors who had transferred to Elyria from other Ohio high schools, and recently signed college letters of intent with NCAA Division I wrestling programs. Elyria athletic director Heather Beck confirmed to the Chronicle that both athletes will not wrestle for the Elyria Pioneers and head coach Erik Burnett this season, but would not disclose why they were dismissed from the team. Jordan Crace, InterMat's No. 5 wrestler in the nation at 145 pounds, had transferred from Graham High School in St. Paris, Ohio (the No. 26 program in InterMat's national rankings). He sat out part of his junior year to become eligible to wrestle at Elyria as a senior this season. Crace won the 120-pound Ohio state champion in Division II as a sophomore, having placed third at 106 at state as a freshman. Crace also finished as a Walsh Jesuit Ironman finalist at 126 pounds in 2017. After transferring to Elyria, Crace was a two-time All-American this summer -- placing sixth at the nationals in Fargo, N.D., and going 7-0 at the Junior freestyle national duals -- and placed third last month at the preseason Super 32 tournament in North Carolina. Crace recently signed his National Letter of Intent to wrestle for Michigan State University next year. Farouq Muhammed competed for two years at Shaker Heights High School in the eastern Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights before transferring to Elyria and sitting out the first half of last season as a junior. Muhammed placed sixth at 145 pounds in the Ohio Division I state tournament as a freshman with the Shaker Heights Red Raiders. Since enrolling at Elyria last season, Muhammed placed fourth in the state at 152 pounds, had a third and a pair of fifth-place finishes during national Greco-Roman competition and won a Greater Cleveland Conference championship. Just before Thanksgiving, Muhammed signed his letter of intent to wrestle for Lock Haven University in Pennsylvania. Both Crace and Muhammed could still compete this season as both attended Elyria on open enrollment. The Ohio High School Athletic Association has a one-time exemption to its transfer rule that allows athletes to compete without penalty if they transfer back to a school located within their home district. Elyria High School is a public high school located in the city of Elyria, approximately 30 minutes west of Cleveland. Elyria High serves grades 9-12. It has an enrollment of approximately 2,100 students.

Ohio State's Myles Martin won a title in Las Vegas last year and is pre-seeded No. 1 (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The pre-seeds have been released for the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, which takes place Friday and Saturday at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Note: Final seeds are subject to change following weigh-ins on Friday. InterMat ranking is listed to the right. 125: 1. Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) -- No. 2 2. Ronnie Bresser (Oregon State) -- No. 3 3. Sean Russell (Minnesota) -- No. 5 4. Louie Hayes (Virginia) -- No. 6 5. Zeke Moisey (Nebraska) -- No. 9 6. Travis Piotrowski (Illinois) -- No. 12 7. Devin Schroder (Purdue) -- No. 15 8. Drew Mattin (Michigan) -- No. 17 9. Gabe Townsell (Stanford) -- No. 20 10. Jay Schwarm (Northern Iowa) -- NR 11. Cole Verner (Wyoming) -- NR 133: 1. Stevan Micic (Michigan) -- No. 2 2. Nick Suriano (Rutgers) -- No. 3 3. Luke Pletcher (Ohio State) -- No. 5 4. Ethan Lizak (Minnesota) -- No. 7 5. John Erneste (Missouri) -- No. 9 6. Montorie Bridges (Wyoming) -- No. 11 7. Micky Phillippi (Pittsburgh) -- No. 13 8. Chas Tucker (Cornell) -- No. 15 9. Korbin Myers (Virginia Tech) -- No. 16 10. Dylan Duncan (Illinois) -- No. 17 11. Ben Thornton (Purdue) -- No. 18 12. Cam Sykora (North Dakota State) -- No. 19 13. Colin Valdiviez (Northwestern) -- NR 14. Sean Nickell CSU Bakersfield -- NR 141: 1. Joey McKenna (Ohio State) -- No. 2 2. Jaydin Eierman (Missouri) -- No. 3 3. Mike Carr (Illinois) -- No. 7 4. Josh Alber (Northern Iowa) -- No. 8 5. Nicholas Gil (Navy) -- No. 9 6. Matt Findlay (Utah Valley) -- No. 12 7. Chad Red (Nebraska) -- No. 13 8. Dom Demas (Oklahoma) -- No. 18 9. Nate Limmex (Purdue) -- No. 19 10. Kanen Storr (Michigan) -- No. 20 11. Yahya Thomas (Northwestern) -- No. NR 149: 1. Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) -- No. 2 2. Micah Jordan (Ohio State) -- No. 3 3. Grant Leeth (Missouri) -- No. 4 4. Max Thomsen (Northern Iowa) -- No. 6 5. Mitch Finesilver (Duke) -- No. 7 6. Brock Zacherl (Clarion) -- No. 8 7. Austin O'Connor (North Carolina) -- No. 9 8. Tommy Thorn (Minnesota) -- No. 17 9. Ryan Blees (Virginia Tech) -- No. 16 10. Josh Heil (Campbell) -- No. 19 11. Russell Rohlfing (CSU Bakersfield) -- No. NR 12. Jared Prince (Navy) -- No. NR 157: 1. Tyler Berger (Nebraska) -- No. 3 2. Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) -- No. 5 3. Kennedy Monday (North Carolina) -- No. 6 4. Ke-Shawn Hayes (Ohio State) -- No. 7 5. Taleb Rahmani (Pittsburgh) -- No. 8 6. John Van Brill (Rutgers) -- No. 16 7. Hunter Willits (Oregon State) -- No. 19 8. Griffin Parriott (Purdue) -- No. NR 165: 1. Logan Massa (Michigan) -- No. 5 2. Branson Ashworth (Wyoming) -- No. 6 3. Bryce Steiert (Northern Iowa) -- No. 9 4. Isaiah White (Nebraska) -- No. 10 5. Joey Gunther (Illinois) -- No. 12 6. Connor Flynn (Missouri) -- No. 13 7. Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) -- No. 14 8. Demetrius Romero (Utah Valley) -- No. 15 9. Andrew Fogarty (North Dakota State) -- No. 16 10. Jonathan Viruet (Brown) -- No. 17 11. Cam Coy (Virginia) -- No. 18 12. Jake Wentzel (Pittsburgh) -- No. NR 174: 1. Myles Amine (Michigan) -- No. 3 2. Daniel Lewis (Missouri) -- No. 4 3. David McFadden (Virginia Tech) -- No. 5 4. Taylor Lujan (Northern Iowa) -- No. 9 5. Mikey Labriola (Nebraska) -- No. 11 6. Dylan Lydy (Purdue) -- No. 13 7. Johnny Sebastian (Northwestern) -- No. 14 8. Brandon Womack (Cornell) -- No. 16 9. Kimball Bastian (Utah Valley) -- No. 18 10. Matt Finesilver (Duke) -- No. 19 11. Devin Skatzka (Minnesota) -- No. 20 184: 1. Myles Martin (Ohio State) -- No. 1 2. Taylor Venz (Nebraska) -- No. 3 3. Zack Zavatsky (Virginia Tech) -- No. 5 4. Chip Ness (North Carolina) -- No. 8 5. Max Dean (Cornell) -- No. 9 6. Drew Foster (Northern Iowa) -- No. 10 7. Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh) -- No. 13 8. C.J. LaFragola (Brown) -- No. 16 9. Lou DePrez (Binghamton) -- No. 18 10. Jelani Embree (Michigan) -- No. 20 197: 1. Kollin Moore (Ohio State) -- No. 3 2. Nathan Traxler (Stanford) -- No. 8 3. Corey Griego (Oregon State) -- No. 9 4. Stephen Loiseau (Drexel) -- No. 10 5. Christian Brunner (Purdue) -- No. 13 6. Tom Sleigh (Virginia Tech) -- No. 14 7. Jackson Striggow (Michigan) -- No. 16 8. Jake Woodley (Oklahoma) -- No. 17 9. Ben Honis (Cornell) -- No. 20 10. Eric Schultz (Nebraska) -- No. NR 11. Zach Chakonis (Northwestern) -- No. NR 285: 1. Gable Steveson (Minnesota) -- No. 2 2. Conan Jennings (Northwestern) -- No. 11 3. Jeramy Sweany (Cornell) -- No. 12 4. Cory Daniel (North Carolina) -- No. 13 5. Joey Goodhart (Drexel) -- No. 15 6. Tate Orndorff (Utah Valley) -- No. 16 7. Matt Stencel (Central Michigan) -- No. 17 8. A.J. Nevills (Fresno State) -- No. 19 9. Zach Elam (Missouri) -- No. 20

Bob Darrah, successful Hall of Fame wrestling coach in Iowa at three high schools and at Simpson College despite never having wrestled in high school or college, passed away Monday, Nov. 26 at his home in Indianola, Iowa. He was 89. Bob DarrahRobert L. Darrah was born in Chariton, Iowa, the son of Glenn and Murine Darrah. Chariton High School did not have a wrestling program, nor did Westmar College in LeMars, Iowa where Darrah attended from 1958 to 1962. It's difficult to sum up Darrah's incredibly successful three-decade coaching career in approximately 100 words, but the Indianola (Iowa) Chamber of Commerce website did a pretty good job in April 2018: "Coach Bob Darrah never wrestled in high school or college, but in coaching over 30 years of high school wrestling his teams won 95 percent of their matches. Coach Darrah's teams compiled a dual meet record of 340-17-2. That career winning percentage is the best for Iowa high school wrestling coaches. Few coaches in any sport can claim this level of success over three decades and at three different high schools. "After coaching at Morning Sun, Urbandale, and Dowling high schools, Darrah was recruited to the collegiate level by the administration and boosters of Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. At Simpson, he coached men's wrestling, and took on women's golf." The Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame in Cresco -- which honors wrestlers, coaches and officials with ties to the sport in the state of Iowa -- described Darrah as "a self-taught, self-made, outstanding and successful wrestling coach." Darrah started his career as a wrestling coach at Morning Sun in 1962, where, as a first-time mat mentor, led his wrestlers to a 50-3 record in five seasons, never losing a home meet. In 1967, he moved to Urbandale, where in two seasons, his wrestlers won 21, lost 2, and tied once. In 1969, Darrah arrived at Dowling Catholic High School in Des Moines, where he coached for two decades. His dual meet record at Dowling was 268 wins, 12 losses and one tie. Darrah coached 169 state qualifiers including at least 12 Iowa state champion wrestlers. His team won four state team titles and three state dual team titles. After 30 seasons of coaching high school in Iowa, Darrah took his coaching talent to Simpson College south of Des Moines. In five seasons, he led the Simpson wrestlers to an impressive 86-25-1 overall record until his retirement. Darrah also coached women's golf at the college. What made Darrah so successful -- and respected -- as a wrestling coach? "Number one, he's a tremendous motivator," Ron Gray, long-time assistant and eventual replacement at Dowling, told wrestling writer Dan McCool for his 2011 book on the Iowa state wrestling tournament, "Reach for the Stars." "He'd get you to do anything. You'd run through a brick wall for him. The second thing was it was an advantage that he didn't wrestle because, as a wrestler, sometimes I think maybe we can't do this, maybe this won't work. He never had that attitude. He didn't have the limitations that being a wrestler would necessarily impose on you in your thought process." Beyond Darrah's coaching accomplishments, his wrestling resume is impressive. Among his many honors: 1988 Amateur Wrestling High School Coach of the Year, 1978 Iowa High School Coach of the Year, 1986 Iowa High School Hall of Fame, 1989 National High School Athletic Association High School Coach of the Year, 1990 Westmar College Hall of Fame, 1991 Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame, and, in 2006, induction into the Glen BIrand Wrestling Hall of Fame of Iowa at the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum. In addition, Darrah owns the distinction of having at least two wrestling rooms named in his honor: at Dowling, and at Simpson College. If that weren't enough, Bob Darrah shared his story in the 2017 book "Bobby D: It's Not the Destination, It's the Journey. Ready? Wrestle!" by the legendary coach. Visitation for Robert L. Darrah will take place 4 to 8 p.m., Friday, November 30, 2018 at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, 210 R63 Hwy in Indianola. A Celebration of Life Service will be held at a later date following the wrestling season, date and time to be determined. Memorials may be sent to Coach Bob Darrah Endowment Fund for Tuition Assistance at Dowling Catholic High School, 1400 Buffalo Road, West Des Moines, IA 50265.

Fred Feeney (Photo/Deanne Moore) Fred Feeney, a wrestling official from Ohio, joins The MatBoss Podcast to talk about wrestling rules. About MatBoss: Created by coaches for coaches, MatBoss for iPad® integrates wrestling stats directly into the video you record for each match, completely replacing the need for labor-intensive pencil and paper scoring systems. It's the wrestling stats app our sport has been waiting for. Focus on coaching, not busy work Improve through video analysis Make data an advantage Eliminate scoring errors Increase exposure Become a digital coach For more information, visit MatBossApp.com. Follow MatBoss on Twitter and subscribe to the show @MatBossApp | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Spreaker | Google Play Music | RSS