InterMat Staff

The brackets have been released for the 2017 Big 12 Wrestling Championships. The event takes place Saturday-Sunday at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla. Link: Brackets

Wyoming's Bryce Meredith earned a spot on Academic All-Big 12 Wrestling Team (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Sixty-two student-athletes have been named to the 2017 Academic All-Big 12 Wrestling Team. The team features 21 student-athletes from Conference member institutions Iowa State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and West Virginia, while student-athletes from the league's affiliate members in the sport -- Air Force, Northern Colorado, North Dakota State, South Dakota State, Utah Valley and Wyoming - total 41 selections. Forty-four student-athletes, including Clay Ream (North Dakota State) with a 4.00 grade point average, made the first team while 18 selections make up the second team. First team members consist of those who have maintained a 3.20 or better GPA while the second team selections hold a 3.00 to 3.19 GPA. To qualify, student-athletes must maintain a 3.00 GPA or higher either cumulative or the two previous semesters and must have participated in 60 percent of their team's scheduled contests. Freshmen and transfers are not eligible in their first year of academic residence. Senior student-athletes who have participated for a minimum of two years and meet all the criteria except percent of participation are also eligible. 2017 ACADEMIC ALL-BIG 12 WRESTLING TEAM FIRST TEAM (3.20-PLUS GPA; *INDICATES NOMINATED WITH A 4.00 GPA) Name, School Class Major Hometown Colston DiBlasi, Iowa State RFr. Mathematics and Pre-Business Kansas City, Mo. Gabe Moreno, Iowa State RFr. Psychology Urbandale, Iowa Carson Powell, Iowa State RFr. Kinesiology & Health Ankeny, Iowa Stone Drulman, Oklahoma Sr. English Allen, Texas Clark Glass, Oklahoma RSr. Biology Brandon, Fla. Brad Johnson, Oklahoma RSr. Arts & Sciences - Planned Programs Lockport, Ill. Ross Larson, Oklahoma RSr. Arts & Sciences - Planned Programs Ankeny, Iowa Christian Moody, Oklahoma RFr. Health and Exercise Science Collinsville, Okla. Jon Wayne Townsend, Oklahoma Sr. Human Relations Comanche, Okla. Luke Bean, Oklahoma State Sr. Master's of Business Administration Wichita, Kan. Nolan Boyd, Oklahoma State Sr. General Business Edmond, Okla. Landry Chappell, Oklahoma State Sr. Nutritional Sciences (Allied Health) Guthrie, Okla. Anthony Collica, Oklahoma State Sr. Physical Education (Teacher Education) Solon, Ohio Dean Heil, Oklahoma State Jr. Physical Education (Teacher Education) Brunswick, Ohio Jordan Rogers, Oklahoma State Sr. Nutritional Sciences (Allied Health) Spokane, Wash. Dylan Cottrell, West Virginia Sr. Communication Studies Spencer, W.Va. James Dekrone, West Virginia Sr. Multidisciplinary Studies Northport, N.Y. Ty Millward, West Virginia Jr. Management State College, Pa. Joseph Wheeling, West Virginia So. Civil Engineering Waterford, Pa. Parker Hines, Air Force Sr. Civil Engineering Ellsworth, Wisc. Dylan Hyder, Air Force Sr. Operations Research Yelm, Wash. Connor Hedash, Air Force Sr. Management Slatington, Pa. Zen Ikehara, Air Force Jr. Systems Engineering Wililani, Hawaii Anthony McHugh, Air Force Sr. Economics Lewis Center, Ohio Dylan Gabel, Northern Colorado RSo. Business: General Parker, Colo. Rico Montoya, Northern Colorado So. Human Services Las Vegas, N.M. Ben Polkowske, Northern Colorado RJr. Business: Finance Lajara, Colo. Cordell Eaton, North Dakota State RFr. Agricultural & Biosystems Engineering Long Grove, Iowa Mitch Friedman, North Dakota State RJr. Sport Management Oconto Falls, Wis. Clay Ream, North Dakota State* RJr. Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Wentzville, Mo. Ben Gillette, South Dakota State Sr. Biolgoy/Microbiology Redfield, S.D. David Kocer, South Dakota State Jr. Agriculture Science Wagner, S.D. Alex Macki, South Dakota State Jr. Wildlife and Fisheries Cambridge, Iowa Nate Rotert, South Dakota State Jr. Early Childhood Education Spearfish, S.D. Luke Zilverberg, South Dakota State Jr. Wildlife and Fisheries Belle Plaine, Minn. Kimball Bastian, Utah Valley RFr. Exercise Science & Outdoor Recreation Mapleton, Utah Grant LaMont, Utah Valley RFr. Business Management - International Business Mapleton, Utah Jarod Maynes, Utah Valley RJr. Accounting Liberty Lake, Wash. Tanner Orndorff, Utah Valley RFr. Computer Science Spokane, Wash. Bryce Meredith, Wyoming Jr. Management Cheyenne, Wyo. Tanner Miller, Wyoming Sr. Elementary Education Douglas, Wyo. Luke Paine, Wyoming Jr. Physiology Billings, Mont. Kyle Pope, Wyoming Jr. Communication Bakersfield, Calif. Brandon Tribble, Wyoming Sr. Communication Colorado Springs, Colo. SECOND TEAM (3.00-3.19 GPA) Name, School Class Major Hometown Kaid Brock, Oklahoma State RFr. Undeclared Stillwater, Okla. Jacob Smith, West Virginia RJr. Communication Studies Charleston, W.Va. Jerry McGinty, Air Force Sr. Management Colorado Springs, Colo. Anthony McLaughlin, Air Force So. Management Cleveland, Ohio Conor O'Hara, Air Force Sr. Management Farmingville, N.Y. Tyler McNutt, North Dakota State RSo. Architecture Saint Joseph, Mo. Josh Rodriguez, North Dakota State RSr. Sport Management Guadalupe, Calif. Timothy Box, Northern Colorado Grad English Bakersfield, Calif. Thomas Chisholm, Northern Colorado Sr. Recreation, Tourism & Hospitality Woodland Park, Colo. Tanner Davis, Northern Colorado RJr. SES: Exercise Science Spokane, Wash. Alex Kocer, South Dakota State Sr. Agricultural Business Wagner, S.D. Logan Peterson, South Dakota State So. History/Political Science Lake Lillian, Minn. Mitch Brown, Utah Valley RSo. Business Management - International Business Payson, Utah Dustin Dennison, Utah Valley RJr. Communication - Speech Communication Pleasant Grove, Utah Raider Lofthouse, Utah Valley RSo. Behavioral Science - Psychology Avon, Utah Trevor Willson, Utah Valley RSr. Communication - Public Relations Tucson, Ariz. Nate Shaw, Wyoming Sr. Public Administration Grad Program Bettendorf, Iowa Drew Templeman, Wyoming Sr. Communication Orting, Wash.

Grand View (Iowa) enters the championship looking for a sixth straight national title TOPEKA, Kan. -- (Schedule | Press Book) The 60th annual NAIA Wrestling National Article ImageChampionships, presented by USA Wrestling-Kansas, opens action Friday at the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka, Kan. The capital city of the Sunflower State hosts the national championships for the fourth-straight season. For the second-straight season, all matches at the national championships will be streamed live. Fans can find sessions I -- III on the NAIA Network (www.NAIANetwork.com) and on Trackwrestling via Trackcast. It's recommended that fans use the interactive bracket via the live scoring system on Trackwrestling to find their specific match. The title bouts (session IV) will be distributed on ESPN3. Automatic individual qualification for the 2017 NAIA Wrestling National Championships was achieved by a top three finish at one of the six National Qualifiers. The remainder of the 240-wrestler field was filled with at-large individuals. Each of the six qualifying groups received five wildcards, which were chosen by the group's coaches at a post-qualifier meeting. The other 30 individuals were determined by a national selection committee, which consisted of two representatives from each geographic area. Up to 15 nominations from each group were considered and voted upon by the group. To learn more about the 2017 NAIA Wrestling National Championships, click here. 2017 NAIA Wrestling National Championships Notes The NAIA Wrestling National Championships, presented by USA Wrestling-Kansas, occurs March 3 - 4 at the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka, Kan., for the fourth-straight year. In the 60-year history, the event has traveled to 19 states and 35 different host sites. With the 2017 championship, the capital city joins Sioux City, Iowa, as the longest consecutive host in NAIA wrestling history. Sioux City held the championship from 2005 - 2008. Prior to the 2014 championships, the event had visited the Sunflower State three times previously - 1992, 1990 and 1980 in Hays, Kan. The field consists of 240 individuals from 49 teams. Thirty-seven All-Americans from last year's event return to compete in 2017. There are six defending national champions in the field - Mitch Pawlak of Indiana Tech (133 pounds) (125-pound champion in 2016), Jacob Colon of Grand View (Iowa) (133 pounds), Victor Hughes of Baker (Kan.) (149 pounds), Blake Cooper of Warner Pacific (Ore.) (165 pounds), Michael Pixley of Grand View (184 pounds) and Dean Broghammer of Grand View (285 pounds). Pawlak and Tyler Cowger of Southern Oregon (149 pounds) are the most decorated wrestlers among the group, as both are three-time All-Americans. Both grapplers had their best performances last season, as Pawlak won the 125-pound weight class and Cowger finished second at 149 pounds. Prior to 2016, neither individual had claimed better than fifth place. Grand View (Iowa) enters the championship looking for a six-straight national title. If the Vikings claim the banner, they will become the only program in NAIA history to accomplish the feat and only the fourth program in collegiate wrestling history (NAIA, NCAA, NJCAA) to win six-consecutive titles. The other programs to do so are NCAA Division I Iowa (six-straight (1995-2000) and nine-straight (1978-86)), NCAA Division I Oklahoma State (seven-straight (1937-1949)) and NCAA Division II Cal Poly (seven-straight (1968-1974)). Grand View, Indiana Tech and Oklahoma City all bring a full roster of 12 individuals to Topeka. Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) is next with 11 wrestlers competing, followed by Bacone (Okla.), Concordia (Neb.) and Williams Baptist (Ark.), which all bring nine grapplers. There have been 19 programs to previously take home the team title. Former NAIA members Adams State (Colo.) and Central State (Okla.) each took home eight, the most in 58 years. Of the current NAIA programs, Montana State-Northern leads the way with six national championships, with the last coming in 2004. In the event's 60-year history, 115 institutions have had an individual finish atop the podium. Former NAIA member Simon Fraser (B.C.) boasts the most individual champions with 39, while Southern Oregon is second with 36, followed by Montana State-Northern with 30. In 2016, Grand View set a new national championship record with 210 team points. The previous mark was 193 points, which was originally set by Dana (Neb.) in 2006 and tied by the Vikings in 2014. The largest margin of victory in the team race came in 2014 with Grand View (Iowa) taking top honors by 108.5 points more than second-place Great Falls' (Mont.) 84.5 points. Conversely, Lock Haven State (Pa.) edged Bloomsburg State (Pa.) by one point in 1963, 61-60, for the closest team finish. Southern Oregon and Western Montana shared the team title with 94.5 points in 1994. It is the only time the championship has been shared.

NEW YORK -- Columbia University, together with the New York City Regional Training Center, announced on Thursday, March 2 the addition of Olympic gold medalist Kendall Cross and 2016 U.S. Olympic Women's Wrestling Coach Valentin Kalika to the Regional Training Center coaching staff. The Regional Training Center (RTC) is recognized under USA Wrestling, the governing body of wrestling within the United States Olympic Committee. The facility will be opened year-round and available to USA Wrestling member athletes who meet the designated criteria. The New York City RTC will operate as a partnership between Columbia, The Edge School of Wrestling (Hoboken, NJ) and USA Wrestling, helping to serve as a satellite location for athletes striving to compete in international styles on World and Olympic teams. With Kalika and Cross at the helm, Columbia's RTC will have an unparalleled coaching pedigree. A gold medalist, Kendall Cross is a two-time Olympian who stood at the top of the podium for the United States at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. The former three-time All-American and NCAA Champion for Oklahoma State has coached collegiately at North Carolina and Harvard before coming to New York City. "Obviously, my number one goal is to create and develop world-class wrestling opportunities in the New York City region," said Cross. "The region is laden with talent. I want these opportunities to lead young men and women to World and Olympic teams, and to build Columbia into one of the premier wrestling programs in the country. That said, I am even more excited to work individually, on a micro level, with young men and women in our sport. I'm motivated to take kids and understand their unique, individual talents and help them understand and use those talents to become wildly successful." Valentin Kalika coaching Helen Maroulis at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Valentin Kalika, a U.S. Olympic Coach this past summer at the 2016 Olympic Games, made history with Helen Maroulis, as she became the first female in the history of United States women's wrestling to win an Olympic gold medal. Additionally, Kalika is the personal coach of 2016 U.S. Olympian Elena Pirozhkova and coached 2013 Cadet World Champion Aaron Pico through 2016. He has worked as Coaches Education Coordinator for Beat the Streets Los Angeles and as a coach for the Titan Mercury Wrestling Club. Kalika has led U.S. male and female wrestlers on international tours to more than a dozen different countries. He was a Ukrainian national champion and a Soviet Union University champion in Greco-Roman, before later coaching the Ukrainian Junior World Team. Kalika was a national coach and club coach in Israel for three years before moving to the United States, where he continued his coaching career in a variety of roles. He brings more than 35 years of professional coaching experience, as well as a Master's Degree in Professional Coaching and Sports Education from Kiev Sports University, to New York City. "I am proud to coach and support the New York City RTC," said Kalika. "We will offer so many opportunities and exposures for women's wrestling and international wrestling. There is nothing like this anywhere in the United States; senior level men and women, both domestic and international, training alongside one another in a collegiate setting. We are proud to build a training environment and community of athletes and coaches and partners in New York, and I could not be more proud to be here." Zach Tanelli, the Andrew F. Barth Head Coach of Wrestling at Columbia, is excited about what the RTC will provide for the wrestling program at Columbia. "I am elated to announce the addition of Kendall and Valentin to the staff of the New York City RTC," said Tanelli. "They immediately elevate the learning environment we are working to create in our wrestling room. Their combined experience, both competitively and as coaches, rivals the best this country has to offer." "Part of my vision in coming to Columbia was to develop a highly operational Regional Training Center, expanding our dimension domestically and internationally," Tanelli continued. "Through the selflessness and passion of our alumni, as well as the support of our administration, we are able to make this happen." "New York City is the greatest city in the world and has the ability to attract not only elite high school talent, but also the highest senior level talent. I believe that a strong RTC portrays a commitment to our student-athletes, putting them in the best situation to become NCAA All-Americans and National Champions, and to earn spots on senior level teams to represent the United States at the World Championships and Olympic Games. They will accomplish this while attending an Ivy League university and receiving one of the best educations in the world." Columbia University's relationship to Olympic Wrestling runs deep. Three of the past six U.S. Team Leaders are Columbia College graduates: Andy Barth '83CC, David Barry '87CC and Kyra Tirana Barry '87CC. Their commitment to wrestling extends from the Olympic level through the collegiate level at Columbia, as well as to the local level where all three are intensely involved in bringing wrestling to under-served communities through the Beat the Streets organization.

ESPN Televises Second Round, Semifinals and Finals; ESPNU has First Round, Quarterfinals and Medal Round ESPN Streams Every Mat, Every Match for Fourth Consecutive Year; Off the Mat for Finals Jim Gibbons, Tim Johnson, and Anthony Robles Return to ESPN's TV Coverage; Billy Baldwin as Guest Analyst Unprecedented coverage of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships features three consecutive nights of prime-time coverage on ESPN for the first time beginning Thursday, March 16. Combined with ESPNU, all six sessions will be televised and ESPN will stream every mat, every match of the championship from Scottrade Center in St. Louis providing fans with unmatched coverage of the sport's pinnacle event. ESPN's Television and Digital Coverage ESPN's prime-time coverage begins with the second round Thursday, March 16, at 7 p.m. ET, the first time a session from the championships' first day has been televised on ESPN (previously has aired on ESPNU). As in years past, the semifinals and finals will air on ESPN on Friday, March 17, and Saturday, March 18, respectively, beginning at 8 p.m. both nights. ESPNU will carry all the championships' earlier sessions each day, beginning with the first round on March 16 (noon), continuing with the quarterfinals on March 17 (11 a.m.) and the concluding with the medal round on March 18 (11 a.m.) Throughout the entire three days, during all six sessions, ESPN3 streams every single mat and match, allowing fans to follow any wrestler and/or school. During the finals ESPN3 will once again offer Off the Mat -- a combination of live matches, highlights and interviews with newly crowned champions (more details below). ESPN's Coverage Highlights Television coverage will often show multiple mats at one time with a scroll of both individual results and team standings continuously updating fans in real time: ESPN's scroll will let fans know which matchups are coming up next on specific mats: On ESPN3, fans will be provided a menu of current matches, allowing them to choose which one to watch: For computer users, ESPN3 will once again offer multi-mat, simultaneous viewing allowing fans to watch up to four different mats at one time or substitute a video quadrant for real-time standings: Team standing will keep fans up-to-date in real time; standing page will be an option on ESPN3 Additional Coverage Highlights ESPN3 will have announcers stationed at each mat providing commentary for each specific feed to further enhance the streaming experience. ESPN will utilize still photography throughout the telecasts, capturing the event in a unique way. A look back at a full gallery from last year's event. Fans can follow the action on Twitter through @NCAAWrestling and join the conversation by tagging their tweets #NCAAWrestling Off the Mat - ESPN3 Special During Finals: ESPN3's Off the Mat during the Championship Finals (March 18 at 8 p.m.) will feature two of college wrestling's most decorated athletes - Jim Gibbons and Lee Kemp. The duo will provide viewers a unique perspective of the sport's ultimate finale, along with Kenney who will host. Billy Baldwin will also join the coverage. While also bringing viewers live action, the analysts -- unrestricted by television parameters -- will discuss each match from a tactical and mental standpoint, describing the wrestlers' thought process before, during, and after a finals match. Off the Mat will go behind the scenes, show medal ceremonies and feature an array of guests throughout the night, including newly crowned NCAA National Champions and their coaches. ESPN Analysts: Tim Johnson: The "voice of college wrestling" returns once again to ESPN's coverage, having been a part of it for more than a decade. Named the 2007 broadcaster of the year by the National Wrestling Media Association. His broadcasting and leadership roles in the sport of wrestling span more than 30 years, including being the director of wrestling for the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984. Inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as the recipient of the prestigious Order of Merit award honoring a lifetime of contributions to the sport of wrestling. Anthony Robles: Now in his sixth year as an ESPN analyst, the Arizona State graduate is a three-time All-American and a 2011 NCAA National Champion. Jim Gibbons: Gibbons is a former NCAA Wrestling Coach of the Year, three-time All-American, two-time Big Eight winner at Iowa State and later won an NCAA National Championship as the Cyclones head coach. He was inducted in the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2003. Lee Kemp: Won three NCAA National Championships as a wrestler at Wisconsin and three gold medals in the World Championships. He was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1990. Billy Baldwin: A former standout wrestler at Binghamton University turned actor, Baldwin will be a guest analyst throughout the three days for the second straight year. He was a leader in keeping the sport in the Olympic Games having joined USA Wrestling's Committee to Preserve Olympic Wrestling. Mike Couzens will call the action at the wrestling championships for the first time, handling all the prime-time sessions. The experienced ESPN commentator will be adding to his impressive resume, as he already calls numerous college football and basketball games. Shawn Kenney returns to the coverage and will handle the play-by-play for the earlier rounds each day. Quint Kessenich will be the reporter on the telecasts. For more information on the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships: http://www.ncaa.com/wrestling. Please Note: WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN and ESPN app will have links for individual mat feeds throughout the Championship Pictures used in this release are mock-ups and use fictitious names; they are not supposed to be factually accurate.

Seven of the eight NCAA Division I conference tournaments will take place this weekend. The lone Division I conference not competing this weekend is the Pac-12 Conference, which held its conference tournament on Sunday. Twenty-one wrestlers in the Pac-12 earned automatic berths to the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in St. Louis. This weekend 260 automatic berths will be up for grabs. Next week the final 49 spots qualifiers will be announced as at-large selections. Conference tournament weekend kicks off with the EIWA Championships on Friday at Bucknell University. The other six conference tournament this weekend will open on Saturday. Three conference tournaments conclude on Sunday: Big Ten, Big 12 and MAC. This weekend's action will not only help set the field for the NCAAs, but also have major implications on seeding in St. Louis. There are many anticipated matchups this weekend. Some will materialize, while others will not. Here are my most anticipated matchups in each conference. Big Ten: No. 3 Bo Jordan (Ohio State) vs. No. 5 Mark Hall (Penn State) at 174 Jordan and Hall will be the top two seeds at 174 pounds, and many are anticipating a finals showdown between the two on Sunday afternoon. Jordan, a two-time All-American, has been hampered by an injury all season. He saw limited action through the first few months of the season, wrestling only seven matches through December. On Jan. 27, Jordan faced Iowa's Alex Meyer -- his first ranked opponent this season -- and came away with a 3-2 win. He followed up that narrow victory with two wins before dropping a close match to Cornell's Brian Realbuto, which dropped him two spots in the rankings to No. 3. Hall, the nation's No. 1 recruit last year, was pulled out of redshirt after winning Southern Scuffle title. He took an early season loss and dropped his first match in the PSU lineup to Iowa's Alex Meyer at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, but otherwise has been dominating his competition and seems to be peaking at the right time. Hall, a Cadet and Junior world champion, comes into the Big Ten Championships with a 24-2 record, and has wins over the nation's No. 6, No. 9, No. 11, No. 13 and No. 15 wrestlers. OSU's Kaid Brock will look to avenge his only loss of the season to SDSU's Seth Gross (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) Big 12: No. 2 Seth Gross (South Dakota State) vs. No. 3 Kaid Brock (Oklahoma State) at 133 Gross and Brock have established themselves as NCAA title contenders at 133 pounds. Both are extremely technical, tactical and can scramble well. Both have just have a single blemish on their records. Gross is 27-1, with his lone coming to Nebraska's Eric Montoya in overtime at the Midlands Championships. Brock enters the Big 12 Championships with a 23-1 mark, with the one loss coming to Gross. In the first meeting between these two on Jan. 22 in Stillwater, Brock came out strong, getting a takedown off a body lock in the first minute of the match. Gross battled back, picking up an escape and takedown off a scramble to lead 3-2 after the first period. Gross rode Brock the entire second period. In the third period, Gross escaped to take a 4-2 lead. Brock, though, would score a takedown with a minute remaining, which made the score 4-4. However, an escape by Gross and riding time point would give the SDSU wrestler the 6-4 victory. EIWA: No. 4 Jordan Kutler (Lehigh) vs. No. 7 Dylan Palacio (Cornell) at 157 Kutler will enter the EIWA Championships as the top seed at 157 pounds, while Palacio is expected to get the No. 4 seed. That will set up a potential semifinal showdown on Saturday morning. Kutler, a redshirt freshman, has wrestled only 14 matches this season, but his body of work has been impressive. He has a 13-1 record, which includes victories over No. 5 Joey LaVallee of Missouri and No. 6 Joe Smith of Oklahoma State. Palacio, a returning All-American, has also seen limited action this season. He was not enrolled at Cornell during the first semester. When Palacio returned to Cornell in January he was competing at 165 pounds. He took an unexpected loss at 165 pounds to Brown's Jonathan Viruet. Palacio moved down to 157 pounds for the NWCA Division I National Duals against Ohio State and picked up a major decision against Anthony DeCarlo. UNI's Max Thomsen beat Missouri's Lavion Mayes on Feb. 12, but the two have split this season (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) MAC: No. 3 Lavion Mayes (Missouri) vs. No. 7 Max Thomsen (Northern Iowa) at 149 If this matchup happens, it will likely be in the finals on Sunday afternoon. Mayes, a two-time All-American, will enter the tournament as the top seed. The semifinal matchup on the bottom side of the bracket will likely pit Thomsen against Central Michigan's Justin Oliver, a returning All-American. Oliver defeated Thomsen 4-1 on Jan. 15. If a Mayes-Thomsen matchup does materialize on Sunday, it will be the third meeting between the two wrestlers this season. Mayes beat Thomsen 4-2 in the first meeting, which took place at the Southern Scuffle in the semifinals. The two met again on Feb. 12 in Cedar Falls, and Thomsen cruised to a 9-2 victory. ACC: No. 4 Ty Walz (Virginia Tech) vs. No. 5 Jacob Kasper (Duke) at 285 Walz and Kasper are both top five heavyweights with similar records. Walz is 20-2, while Kasper is 26-2. The two met on Jan. 29, and Kasper pulled away in the third period for a convincing -- and stunning -- 12-5 victory. Kasper has since taken a loss to Pitt's Ryan Solomon, a wrestler he will likely see again this weekend in semifinals on Saturday afternoon. If one of the top two seeds -- Walz or Kasper -- wins the ACC title, he could earn a top three seed at the NCAAs in St. Louis, which would more than likely land that wrestler on the opposite side of the bracket of Olympic champion Kyle Snyder of Ohio State. EWL: No. 11 Thomas Haines (Lock Haven) vs. No. 12 Billy Miller (Edinboro) at 285 Haines and Miller will be the top two seeds in the EWL heavyweight bracket, and both are likely to be seeded at the NCAAs in St. Louis. If the seeds hold and the two meet in the finals, it will mark the third meeting between the two wrestlers this season. Haines, a transfer from Ohio State, has won both meetings by the same score, 4-3. The Lock Haven heavyweight enters the tournament with a 29-4 mark, and has lost just twice since Nov. 27. Miller comes into the EWL tournament having won 11 of his last 12 matches. SoCon: No. 9 Denzel Dejournette (Appalachian State) vs. No. 10 Jared Johnson (Chattanooga) at 285 These two SoCon big men know each other very well. Last season they met three times, with Dejournette coming out on top in all three matches, including the finals of the SoCon Championships. Two of those three matches were two-point victories for Dejournette, while the other was a six-point win. This season they have met just once, on Feb. 5, with Dejournette winning 10-4. The Appalachian State heavyweight was recently named SoCon Wrestler of the Year, and comes into the tournament with a record of 23-5. Johnson takes a 23-6 record into the postseason.

State championship wrestling takes a turn towards the elite this weekend with medals being decided in the mega-power states of California and New Jersey, both of which also have single classifications. That is to say there is only one division, all the wrestlers in the state compete under one singular umbrella. Other state tournaments this weekend are in Florida, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, and the New England regional. Highlighting the weekend of championships across those seven states are 13 weight classes in which multiple nationally ranked wrestlers contend for a single gold medal. Furthermore, there are three weight classes in which four wrestlers are nationally ranked and another weights in which three wrestlers are ranked nationally. Justin Mejia celebrates after winning the Doc Buchanan Invitational title (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) California: 126 pounds The featured narrative of the upcoming weekend has to be the journey of No. 3 Justin Mejia (Clovis) towards a fourth state title. Should he be successful, Mejia would expand the club of four-time state champions in the Golden State from just one -- Darrell Vaquez (Bakersfield) from 1999 through 2002 -- to two. Just this past weekend in the Central Section masters tournament, Mejia had to survive a pair of narrow victories against nationally ranked opposition: a 4-3 semifinal victory in the ultimate tiebreaker against No. 9 Isaiah Perez (Dinbua), and a 3-2 finals victory over No. 19 Robert Garcia IV (Selma). Keep in mind, there are no guarantees for three-time California state champions seeking a fourth title. Just look back to five years ago when Nikko Villarreal (Gilroy) used a five-point move in the last 15 seconds of the bout to deny Alex Cisneros (Selma) a fourth state title, Cisneros was up 3-0 prior to the sequence. A fourth nationally ranked wrestler is also in this field, returning state runner-up Jaden Abas (Rancho Bernardo), who is positioned No. 18 nationally. At the state tournament last year, while competing at 120 pounds, Mejia beat Abas for the title with Garcia beating Perez in the consolation final. Based on the draw, Mejia is looking at a quarterfinal against three-time state placer Isaiah Palomino (Bellarmine Prep). The other quarter of the top half places Abas against two-time state placer Chase Zollmann (Poway) in a rematch of the San Diego masters final from the past weekend. Garcia is in the third quarter of the draw, where a quarterfinal against returning state placer Adam Velasquez (Pittman) is forecasted; however Palacio would have to clear the winner of an opening round bout between Elijah Palacio (Calvary Chapel) and returning state placer Izzak Olejnik (Bakersfield) to reach that point. On the surface, it appears that Perez down in the bottom quarter has the most manageable path to the semifinal round. New Jersey: 152 pounds This is one of two showdowns between returning state champions within the Garden state. No. 6 Stephan Glasgow (Bound Brook) won gold in this weight class last year and was second the weight below in 2015; while No. 7 Shane Griffith (Bergen Catholic) is a two-time state champion, last year at 138 pounds, and at 132 as a freshman in 2015. The third ranked wrestler is No. 18 Michael O'Malley (Hasbrouck Heights), runner-up last year at 145 and fifth as a freshman at 138 in 2015. Glasgow is the top seed, entering the tournament with a 31-1 record, that loss coming 2-1 to No. 2 Cameron Coy (Penn-Trafford) in the ultimate tiebreaker during the Powerade final. In that same tournament, he beat Griffith 3-2 in the semifinal round. Griffith enters as the second seed with a 32-2 record, also splitting matches this season against No. 13 Julian Ramirez (Blair Academy, N.J.), along with a 3-0 record against the third seeded O'Malley, who is 33-3 on the season. O'Malley is looking at a quarterfinal bout against returning state placer Avery DiNardi (Holy Cross), while it would come as a major shock if Griffith does not advance to a semifinal showdown with O'Malley. Glasgow has the clearer path to the final, with the most likely semifinal coming against a returning state qualifier, in either Dillon Taylor (St. Augustine Prep) or Robert Kanniard (Wall Township). New Jersey: 160 pounds The other showdown of returning state champions comes at 160 pounds, where three-time state placer Mekhi Lewis (Bound Brook) is the top seed over two-time state placer Kyle Cochran (Paramus). Lewis is undefeated on the season, while Cochran is 36-1 losing just to No. 4 Hunter Bolen (Christiansburg, Va.) 1-0 in the tiebreakers during the Beast of the East semifinal. Cochran enters the tournament ranked higher nationally at No. 5, as he was champion of the preseason Super 32 Challenge; while Lewis is No. 8 as he crashed down to sixth in that tournament after suffering an upset defeat in the semifinal. Also in this weight class is No. 19 Chris Foca (Bergen Catholic, N.J.), who qualified for state but missed out on placement last year as a freshman at 132 pounds. He did place fifth in the preseason Super 32 Challenge, but is seeded sixth with a 31-6 season record; the losses came at the Beast as he split against Jared Lough (Colonial Forge, Va.), the Powerade where he split against Trevell Timmons (Lockport, Ill.), in a dual meet against No. 10 Andrew Merola (Blair Academy, N.J.), and then an 0-3 record against Cochran. Lewis is looking at a semifinal against either returning state placer Michael Petite (Piscataway) or 2015 state placer Jake Maxwell (Buena Regional). The third seed in this weight is returning state runner-up A.J. Meyers (Toms River East), who lost to Matthew Garrity (Lacey Township) -- the eighth seed -- in this past weekend's regional tournament. Meyers draws Foca in the quarterfinal, while Griffith has a path from which he should reach the semifinal round. Minnesota: 145 pounds (AAA) Another weight class where there is a pair of state champions, as it's a collision between No. 12 Peyton Robb (Owatonna) and No. 13 Alex Lloyd (Shakopee). Robb is the undefeated top seed at 33-0, including a 4-3 at the time upset victory over Lloyd in the final of the Minnesota Christmas Tournament in mid-December; Robb is up four weight classes from last year. The second seed Lloyd won state in this weight class last year, while placing third at 120 pounds as an eighth grader in 2014; he is 39-1 on the season, having competed at 152 most of the time before dropping back down for the sectional tournament. There is a quarterfinal showdown between two-time placers Tyler Shilson (Centennial) and Nate Larson (Apple Valley) for the right to most likely face Lloyd in the bottom half semifinal; Shilson was second at state last year in the 138 pound weight class, while Larson was fourth at 113. A rematch of last year's consolation final at 138 pounds is likely in the quarterfinals in order to see who is likely to face Robb in the top semifinal, that match placers Teddy Pierce (St. Francis) against Austin Braun (Woodbury). Both Robb and Lloyd are Class of 2018 verbal commits to South Dakota State. New Jersey: 106 pounds Four nationally ranked wrestlers populate the opening weight class in the Garden State entering the state tournament. The lead in that group is returning state placer Dante Mininno (Gateway-Woodbury), who is undefeated on the season and the top seed, ranked No. 6 nationally. Two of the other three ranked wrestlers are in his half of the draw, No. 14 Dylan Cedeno (Fair Lawn) and No. 20 Sammy Alvarez (St. Joseph Montvale), who are the fifth and fourth seeds respectively. Cedeno's only loss of the season came in the region semifinal against Nicholas Denora (Passaic Valley), who is the eighth seed. Denora, who was then upset by seventh seed Nick Kayal (Bergen Catholic) in the region final, draws a round of 16 match against Cadet National double All-American Justin Bierdumpfel (Don Bosco Prep); the winner of which hits Mininno. Returning state qualifier Alvarez has just one loss on the season, that coming against No. 2 Kurt McHenry (St. Paul's, Md.) by a 5-1 score in the Escape the Rock final. No. 11 Anthony Clark (Delbarton) is the lone ranked wrestler in the bottom half of the draw, though he is the sixth seed coming. He would most likely have to face third seed Chase Mullarkey (Holy Cross) in the quarterfinal round, who was undefeated up until losing in the region final. The second seed is the undefeated Hunter Gutierrez (Lacey Township), who beat Mullarkey in the region final, while Kayal is the seven seed. California: 106 pounds It is tradition that the Golden State is extremely strong in the lightest weight classes, and this year is no exception. Four nationally ranked wrestlers anchor this opening weight class, led by a pair of returning state placers in No. 3 Antonio Lorenzo (Del Oro) and No. 12 Eddie Flores (Northview); Lorenzo placed seventh last year and was champion of the preseason Super 32 Challenge, while Flores took sixth at state. Flores also won the Southern Section masters title with a 7-2 win over No. 16 Jonathan Prata (Downey), who had beaten No. 17 Aaron Nagao (Esperanza) 8-4 in the semifinal. Flores is the top seed, and well positioned to make the semifinal. Nagao is the other ranked wrestler in his half of the draw, though a tough quarterfinal bout looms against Cole Reyes (Bakersfield Frontier), who was ranked nationally at some point earlier this season. Prata is looking at a quarterfinal date against Jacob Allen (Poway), who was a quarterfinalist last year in this state tournament weight class; while Lorenzo is looking at a battle against the talented freshman Giano Petrucelli (Clovis) in the quarterfinal round. California: 113 pounds The second weight class, which feels the after-effect of the opening weight class from the previous year, is also most excellent this year in California. In last year's 106 pound state final, it was Matthew Olguin (Buchanan) coming through with an (at the time) upset victory over Nico Aguilar (Gilroy), who would go on to win a Junior National freestyle title in the summer. The sophomore Olguin enters state ranked No. 2 nationally, Aguilar is ranked No. 15, while freshman phenom Jesse Vasquez (St. John Bosco) is ranked No. 5 in the country at this weight class. A nasty semifinal bout looms in the top half-bracket as Olguin and Aguilar are in that half of the draw. It would come as a shock if either did not reach that point. Vasquez is in the bottom half of the draw, and has a straight-forward road to a semifinal date with freshman Devin Murphy (Clovis North), presuming Murphy clears Brandon Paulson (Clovis) in a likely quarterfinal. Murphy did upset Aguilar 5-3 at the Doc Buchanan in early January. New Jersey: 113 pounds The Garden State also has a stellar second weight class this season, as it's a trio of ranked wrestlers present, all also within the top ten nationally. The top seed in this weight class is No. 9 Antonio Mininno (Gateway-Woodbury), a returning state qualifier in this weight class that placed fourth in the preseason Super 32 Challenge; he has an in-season win against returning state champion Joe Manchio (Seneca), while the lone blemish on a 37-1 record came up a weight class. Mininno is looking at a quarterfinal against a fellow undefeated wrestler, and also returning state qualifier, in Mitchell Polito (East Brunswick). The winner of that bout is the likely finalist. Ranked No. 10 nationally, Manchio is the second seed in this weight class, but with an absolutely brutal path. It starts with a likely round of 16 bout against returning state qualifier Kyle Kaiser (Paramus). The other round of 16 match in that quarter places returning state qualifier Victor Lopez (West Orange) against No. 4 in the country Robert Howard (Bergen Catholic), who is (bafflingly) the tenth seed; Howard has two losses on the season, one was an upset pin against No. 6 Gabe Tagg (Brecksville, Ohio) in the Beast semifinal and the other was in overtime up a weight class. The other quarter of the bottom half features 2015 state placer Richie Koehler (Christian Brothers Academy) and 35-1 sophomore Mark Montgomery (Roselle Park). Yet another extraordinarily lopsided draw. California: 145 pounds A rematch of last year's 138 pound state final looms here with No. 2 Navonte Demison (Bakersfield) and No. 17 Jacob Wright (Dinuba) dominating the class. Demison, who also was runner-up at state as a sophomore and third as a freshman, beat Wright in the Central section masters final this past weekend. The pair of wrestlers are in opposite half-brackets at the state tournament. Demison is looking at a likely state semifinal bout against two-time state placer Zander Silva (Alta Loma), while Wright is likely to face returning state placer Peyton Omania (De La Salle). Minnesota: 138 pounds (Class AAA) Jakob Bergeland (Centennial) had a pair of unexpected milestone tournaments in the 2016 calendar year, his state title at 132 pounds and the runner-up finish at the Super 32 Challenge in October. He enters the state tournament as the second seed and ranked No. 17 nationally. The top seed in this weight class is two-time state runner-up Tyler Eischens (Anoka), who is undefeated with a 42-0 record. Ranked No. 8 nationally, Eischens had a huge two week stretch in December where he beat Bergeland 4-2 in the Minnesota Christmas Tournament final and then upset No. 3 Austin Gomez (Glenbard North, Ill.) 11-4 on the first day of The Clash National Duals. It would come as a shock if this pair did not meet for state gold on Saturday night. New Jersey: 126 pounds The top seed in this weight class is No. 6 Nick Raimo (Hanover Park), a two-time Cadet National double champion who ran a total gauntlet to finish runner-up at last year's state tournament. His path to last year's final included three wins over wrestlers that joined him on the podium, including a pair that were also in the 2015 state finals (Ghione and Angelo). Within his half-bracket, there is just one other returning state placer, that would be fifth seed Daniel Percelay (DePaul Catholic). The second seed is No. 16 Shane Metzler (West Morris Central), a two-time state placer who lost 10-5 in overtime and 5-2 the last two weeks to Raimo in the district and region finals. The other returning state placer in his half-bracket is the third seed, two-time state medalist Carmen Ferrante (Bergen Catholic). It would be a significant surprise if Raimo and Metzler did not meet for a third straight weekend in the championship bout. Michigan: 189 pounds (Division I) Mercifully the pair of nationally ranked wrestlers are placed in opposite half-brackets. No. 18 Ryan Vasbinder (Grandville) is in the upper half, with No. 19 Brenden McRill (Davison) in the bottom half. A two-time state placer, Vasbinder finished third in the Super 32 Challenge up at 220 pounds; while McRill is a three-time state placer, including last year's state title. The pair of wrestlers met head-on in the semifinals at the Detroit Catholic Central Invitational in early January, Vasbinder winning on that occasion 3-2. Vasbinder did lose in the final, 3-2 to No. 3 (at 182) Jelani Embree (Warren Lincoln, Mich.); while McRill has an additional in-season loss, suffering a 3-0 defeat against No. 9 (at 195) Brandon Whitman (Dundee, Mich.) the following weekend. McRill is likely to face returning state placer Dylan Powers (Saline) in the semifinal, while Vasbinder is looking at returning state placer Andrew Spisz (Hartland). New Jersey: 170 pounds The pair of nationally ranked wrestlers is in opposite half-brackets. Two-time state placer Dominick Mandarino (Don Bosco Prep), ranked No. 18 nationally and third last year at 152 pounds, is the top seed. Ranked No. 9 nationally is Bryan McLaughlin (Woodbridge), who placed fourth last year at 160 pounds and was fourth in the Super 32 Challenge this pre-season. He is the third seed in this weight class, with his only loss on the season coming by fall to No. 2 Michael Labriola (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.) in the Beast semifinal. The likely semifinal opponent for Mandarino will be one of two returning state qualifiers, either Vince Concina (Cranford) or Aidan Monteverdi (Seton Hall Prep); Monteverdi beat Concina in the region semi last week before losing to McLaughlin in the final. That of course presumes Monteverdi clears undefeated freshman Shane Reitsma (Howell) in the round of 16. McLaughlin has a straight-forward path to the semifinal against most likely returning state placer Bill Janzer (Delsea Regional), who beat beat McLaughlin in last year's consolation final at 160 pounds. Janzer is 39-2 on the season, and is looking at a quarterfinal against 40-1 region champion Joey Schiele (Morris Hills).

Darian Cruz is one of four Lehigh wrestlers pre-seeded No. 1 (Photo/Juan Garcia) The consensus pre-seeds for the 2017 EIWA Tournament are shown below. All vote recipients are shown; seeding goes 8 deep unless coaches decide otherwise. Lehigh has the most No. 1 pre-seeds with four: Darian Cruz (125), Scott Parker (133), Laike Gardner (149) and Jordan Kutler (157). Defending champion Cornell has three No. 1 pre-seeds: Brandon Womack (165), Brian Realbuto (174) and Gabe Dean (184). The other No. 1 pre-seeds are Matt Kolodzik of Princeton (141), Tom Sleigh of Bucknell (197) and Joseph Goodhart of Drexel (285). Rank Wrestler, School Points 125: 1. Darian Cruz, Lehigh 112 2. Josh Terao, American 98 3. Tanner Shoap, Drexel 77 4. Noah Baughman, Cornell 76 5. Steven Bulzomi, Binghamton 58 6. Trey Chalifoux, Army West Point 42 7. Johnson Mai, Columbia 24 8. Jordan Gessner, Bucknell 14 9. Trey Keeley, Brown 3 133: 1. Scott Parker, Lehigh 112 2. Esteban Gomez-Rivera, American 92 3. Kevin Devoy, Drexel 87 4. Mark Grey, Cornell 68 5. Pat D'Arcy, Princeton 62 6. Austin Harry, Army 38 7. Jeffrey Ott, Harvard 18 8. Joey Gould, Bucknell 11 9. James Pawelski, Brown 6 9. Dan Martoccio, F&M 6 141: 1. Matt Kolodzik, Princeton 112 2. Randy Cruz, Lehigh 94 3. Tyler Smith, Bucknell 86 4. Jared Prince, Navy 72 5. Logan Everett, Army West Point 56 6. AJ Jaffe, Harvard 42 7. Will Koll, Cornell 25 8. Jacob Macalolooy, Columbia 11 9. Dylan Caruana, Binghamton 9 10. David Pearce, Drexel 1 149: 1. Laike Gardner, Lehigh 112 2. Jordan Laster, Princeton 95 3. Matt Cimato, Drexel 87 4. Jonathan Furnas, Cornell 64 5. Hunter Ladnier, Harvard 54 6. Joe Oliva, Pennsylvania 44 7. Parker Kropman, Binghamton 24 8. Michael Sprague, American 17.5 9. Corey Wilding, Navy 4 157: 1. Jordan Kutler, Lehigh 112 2. Russell Parsons, Army West Point 88 3. Victor Lopez, Bucknell 80 4. Dylan Palacio, Cornell 75 5. May Bethea, Pennsylvania 65 6. Mike D'Angelo, Princeton 42 7. Tom Page, American 14 8. Steven Galiardo, Brown 12 9. Laurence Kosoy, Columbia 11 10. Tristan Rifanburg, Binghamton 2 165: 1. Brandon Womack, Cornell 112 2. Cole Walter, Lehigh 98 3. Tyrel White, Columbia 81 4. Jonathan Viruet, Brown 71 5. Austin Rose, Drexel 51 6. Andrew Mendel, Army West Point 37 7. Brooks Martino, Pennsylvania 23 8. Drew Daniels, Navy 21 9. Rob King, F&M 5 174: 1. Brian Realburo, Cornell 112 2. Ryan Preisch, Lehigh 98 3. Casey Kent, Penn 83 4. Jadaen Bernstein, Navy 70 5. Josef Johnson, Harvard 53 6. Jon Schleifer, Princeton 46 7. Ben Harvey, Army West Point 22 8. Sage Heller, Hofstra 14 9. Ebed Jarrell, Drexel 3 10. DJ Hollingshead, Bucknell 1   184: 1. Gabe Dean, Cornell 112 2. Steven Schneider, Binghamton 98 3. Michael Coleman, Navy 76 4. Samson Imonode, Army West Point 67 5. Alex DeCiantis, Drexel 51 6. Christian LaFragola, Brown 32 7. Garrett Hoffman, Bucknell 31 8. Joe Heyob, Penn 28 9. Kyle Gentile, Lehigh 7 10. Anthony Mancini, F&M 1 197: 1. Tom Sleigh, Bucknell 109 2. Brett Harner, Princeton 101 3. Frank Mattiace, Penn 84 4. Steban Cervantes, Navy 65 5. Ben Honis, Cornell 61 6. Ben Haas, Lehigh 31 7. Jeric Kasunic, American 30 8. Mark Tracy, Binghamton 11 9. Joshua Murphy, Drexel 6 10. Rocco Caywood, Army West Point 4 285: 1. Joseph Goodhart, Drexel 101 2. Doug Vollaro, Lehigh 97 3. Garrett Ryan, Columbia 88 4. Ray O'Donnell, Princeton 77 5. Tyler Greene, Bucknell 45 6. Craig Scott, Cornell 38 7. Connor Calkins, Binghamton 36 8. Ian Butterbrodt, Brown 13 9. Trevor Smith, Army West Point 5 10. Nick Gajdzik, Harvard 3

Vito Pasone is pre-seeded No. 1 at 125 pounds The pre-seeds have been released for the SoCon Wrestling Championships, which take place on Saturday at McAlister Field House on the campus of The Citadel in Charleston, S.C. 125 (3 NCAA allocations) 1. Vito Pasone, Appalachian State 2. Alonzo Allen, Chattanooga 3. Freddie Rodriguez, SIUE 4. Nathan Kraisser, Campbell 5. Dalton Henderson, VMI 6. Landon LoAlbo, Gardner-Webb 7. Patrick Kearney, The Citadel 133 (1 NCAA allocation) 1. Chris Debien, Chattanooga 2. Colby Smith, Appalachian State 3. Jonathan Ryan, Campbell 4. John Muldoon, SIUE 5. Philip Anderson, Gardner-Webb 6. Michael Hulcher, VMI 7. Andrew Szalwinski, The Citadel 8. Dustin Runzo, Davidson 141 (1 NCAA allocation) 1. Josh Heil, Campbell 2. Chase Zemenak, Chattanooga 3. Irvin Enriquez, Appalachian State 4. Douglas Gudenburr, The Citadel 5. Trevor Feagans, SIUE 6. Ryan Hull, Gardner-Webb 7. John Reed, VMI 8. Hunter Costa, Davidson 149 (2 NCAA allocations) 1. Matt Zovitoski, Appalachian State 2. Ty Buckiso, The Citadel 3. John Fahy, SIUE 4. Chris Vassar, Gardner-Webb 5. Ben Barton, Campbell 6. Stevan Smith, VMI 7. Roman Boylen, Chattanooga 8. Aiden Conroy, Davidson 157 (2 NCAA allocations) 1. Aaron Walker, The Citadel 2. Austin Kraisser, Campbell 3. Neal Richards, VMI 4. Ryan Mosely, Gardner-Webb 5. Gavin Londoff, Appalachian State 6. Karsten Van Velsor, SIUE 7. Tony Palumbo, Davidson 8. Dylanger Potter, Chattanooga 165 (1 NCAA allocation) 1. Justin Lampe, Chattanooga 2. Tyler Marinelli, Gardner-Webb 3. Quentin Perez, Campbell 4. Forrest Prybysz, Appalachian State 5. Clayton Bass, SIUE 6. Cade Kiely, VMI 7. Ruston Hill II, The Citadel 8. Noah Satterfield, Davidson 174 (1 NCAA allocation) 1. Jake Residori, SIUE 2. Austin Trott, Gardner-Webb 3. Sean Mappes, Chattanooga 4. John Weiss, Campbell 5. Shabaka Johns, VMI 6. Conor Fenn, Davidson 7. Martin Duane, The Citadel 8. Angel Najar, Appalachian State 184 (3 NCAA allocations) 1. Ville Heino, Campbell 2. Bryce Carr, Chattanooga 3. Hunter Gamble, Gardner-Webb 4. David Peters-Logue, Appalachian State 5. Konner Pritchard, Davidson 6. Chris Beck, VMI 7. Jake Godinez, SIUE 8. Chandler Sambets, The Citadel 197 (1 NCAA allocation) 1. Sawyer Root, The Citadel 2. Jake Tindle, SIUE 3. Willie Bivens III, Campbell 4. Clay Dent, Chattanooga 5. Randall Diabe, Appalachian State 6. Kyle Ash, Gardner-Webb 7. Taylor Thomas, VMI 8. Ryan Devlin, Davidson 285 (3 NCAA allocations) 1. Denzel Dejournette, Appalachian State 2. Jere Heino, Campbell 3. Jared Johnson, Chattanooga 4. Jake McKiernan, SIUE 5. Boyce Cornwell, Gardner-Webb 6. Joe Bexley, The Citadel 7. Will Cooley, Davidson 8. Thomas Shea-Roop, VMI

INDIANAPOLIS -- The NCAA has released the updated standings for the 2017 NCAA Wrestling Awards that will be awarded in March at the respective Division I, II and III Wrestling Championships. Last weekend featured the Pac-12 Championships in Division I, super regionals in Division II and regional competition in Division III. The inaugural NCAA Wrestling Awards were presented at the 2012 wrestling championships. The three awards, given in each division, honor the Most Dominant Wrestler as well as the student-athletes that have accumulated the most falls and the most technical falls throughout the course of the regular and postseasons. For falls and tech falls to be counted they must come against opponents in the same division. Ties in the two categories are broken based on the aggregate time. In Division I, Penn State 149-pounder Zain Retherford keeps the top average with 5.47 team points per match in the race for the Most Dominant Wrestler, while teammate Jason Nolf is at 5.42 points at 157 pounds. Austin Goergen of 2015 and 2016 national champion St. Cloud State is the leader in Division II with an average of 5.11 points as a heavyweight, while Pittsburgh-Johnstown 157-pounder Cody Law is second with 4.79 points. Three-time national champion and the 2016 Division III Most Dominant Wrestler Riley Lefever of Wabash averages 5.58 team points per match to lead all divisions. The Most Dominant Wrestler standings are calculated by adding the total number of points awarded through match results and dividing that number by the total number of matches wrestled. Points per match are awarded as follows: Fall, forfeit, injury default or DQ = 6 points (-6 points for a loss) Tech falls = 5 points (-5 points for a loss) Major decision = 4 points (-4 points for a loss) Decision = 3 points (-3 points for a loss) This week's Most Dominant Wrestler standings are calculated with a 17-match minimum against wrestlers from the same division. Two-time Cornell national champion Gabe Dean and Rider 165-pounder Chad Walsh have 15 falls this season to lead Division I, with Dean holding the tiebreaker with a significant time advantage of 35:20 to 71:19. Tiffin heavyweight Garrett Gray and Western State 125-pounder Ronald Wardleigh each have 16 falls in Division II, with Gray holding the tiebreaker with an aggregate time of 42:53. Stephen Jarrell (Photo/Johnson & Wales Sports Information)Hunter Harris of Messiah has pulled ahead further in Division III with 30 falls this season at 133 pounds, five more than his nearest competitor. True freshman Jack Mueller of Virginia has led Division I in tech falls all season, but he was surpassed by Wisconsin heavyweight Connor Medbery with 11 tech falls, while Mueller and two-time national champion Isaiah Martinez of Illinois each have 10. Nic Goebel of Findlay has compiled 11 tech falls in Division II, while Nicholas Fiegener of California Baptist has nine. Stephen Jarrell of Johnson & Wales (Rhode Island) has 17 tech falls at 174 pounds to hold a lead of four over Ursinus 149-pounder Alex Kramer and Messiah 174-pounder Ben Swarr. Award Standings

The tide turns to March, and it's down to but a few states with competition remaining. Seven (mostly significant) "traditional" state tournaments are to be held this weekend, those in California, Florida, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New England, and New Jersey. A pair of states will crown dual team champions, Minnesota and Wisconsin. After this weekend, but two states will have in-season competition remaining. No. 2 Buchanan, No. 7 Clovis, No. 12 Poway, and No. 47 Gilroy will all compete in the California state tournament this Friday and Saturday at Rabobank Arena in Bakersfield. No. 3 St. Edward and No. 14 Elyria will compete in a district (state qualifying) tournament at Mentor (Ohio) this Friday and Saturday No. 4 Lake Highland Prep will compete in the Florida state tournament this Friday and Saturday at Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee No. 5 St. Paris Graham will compete in a district (state qualifying) tournament at Wilmington (Ohio) this Friday and Saturday No. 9 Bethlehem Catholic, No. 10 Nazareth, and No. 49 Northampton will compete in a regional (state qualifying) tournament at Bethlehem (Pa.) Liberty this Friday and Saturday No. 11 Bergen Catholic will compete in the New Jersey state tournament Friday through Sunday at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City No. 15 Detroit Catholic Central will compete in the Michigan state tournament tomorrow through Saturday at the Palace of Auburn Hills No. 16 Massillon Perry, No. 33 Wadsworth, and No. 37 Brecksville will compete in a district (state qualifying) tournament at North Canton (Ohio) Hoover this Friday and Saturday No. 18 Olentangy Liberty will compete in a district (state qualifying) tournament at Hilliard (Ohio) Darby this Friday and Saturday No. 22 Kiski Area will compete in the WPIAL (state qualifying) tournament at Canon-McMillan (Pa.) this Friday and Saturday No. 26 Kasson-Mantorville will compete in the Minnesota Class AA dual team state tournament tomorrow as well as the individual tournament Friday and Saturday at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul No. 28 Apple Valley and No. 43 Anoka will compete in the Minnesota Class AAA dual team state tournament tomorrow, while No. 29 Shakopee will join them for the individual tournament Friday and Saturday at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul No. 34 Mason will compete in a district (state qualifying) tournament at Kettering (Ohio) Fairmont this Friday and Saturday No. 50 Reynolds will compete in a regional (state qualifying) tournament at Sharon (Pa.) this Friday and Saturday Seasons completed: No. 1 Blair Academy (N.J.), No. 6 Malvern Prep (Pa.), No. 8 Wyoming Seminary (Pa.), No. 13 Tuttle (Okla.), No. 17 Allen (Texas), No. 19 Sand Springs (Okla.), No. 20 Pomona (Colo.), No. 21 Pueblo County (Colo.), No. 23 Lockport (Ill.), No. 24 Montini Catholic (Ill.), No. 25 Park Hill (Mo.), No. 27 Southeast Polk (Iowa), No. 30 Broken Arrow (Okla.), No. 31 Choctaw (Okla.), No. 32 Oak Park River Forest (Ill.), No. 35 Staley (Mo.), No. 36 Camden County (Ga.), No. 38 Chicago Mt. Carmel (Ill.), No. 39 Brownsburg (Ind.), No. 40 Fort Dodge (Iowa), No. 41 West Des Moines Valley (Iowa), No. 42 Long Beach (N.Y.), No. 44 Washington (Ill.), No. 45 Roseburg (Ore.), No. 46 New Hampton (Iowa), No. 48 Goddard (Kansas)

The Price of Legacy is now in production Perry, Oklahoma -- the hometown of medal-winning Olympic wrestlers Dan Hodge and Jack VanBebber, a high school wrestling program with arguably the most successful legacy in the nation, and the one-of-a-kind Perry Wrestling Monument Park dedicated earlier this year -- will find itself in the spotlight again as the subject of a new documentary, The Price of Legacy, now in production. "The Price of Legacy chronicles the exciting story of an incredible, small Oklahoma town called Perry and it is told through the words and tales of the incredible people who built it," according to Chance Leonard, the documentary's executive producer, and the driving force behind the Perry Wrestling Monument Park. "The documentary will focus on the people of Perry, people who through character, determination, work ethic and commitment have, beginning with the Oklahoma Land Run, created a thriving town with exceptional businesses and a 95-year wrestling dynasty. The film's main character is the town of Perry and the audience will see through the lens of the Perry (High School) wrestling program." That program has produced 163 Oklahoma state wrestling champions, dozens of NCAA champs, and two Olympic medalists -- Jack VanBebber, 1932 Olympic gold medalist, and Dan Hodge, silver medalist at the 1956 Olympics. Since 1961, Perry has never gone more than two years without winning a Team State Wrestling Title, and, in fact, owns the national record for the most wrestling team titles, with 40. "With the success of the Perry wrestling program, we've made every other Oklahoma high school wrestling program -- as well as college wrestling, and international wrestling -- better," Leonard told InterMat. "We want people to recognize how the skills of wrestling apply to other aspects of life. After all, we all must be champions, as we're all wrestling with life." With that in mind, The Price of Legacy documentary plans to show why Perry -- a small town of 5,000 in north-central Oklahoma -- has been so successful in wrestling, and in business ... by telling the stories of the people who make up the community. (Perry is home to the state's oldest restaurant, and the oldest, continuously-operating gas station ... and is headquarters for Charles Machine Works Inc. and its global brand Ditch Witch.) Perry Wrestling Monument Park The film also hopes to demonstrate what impact the Perry wrestling program's tradition of winning -- and accompanying high expectations -- have on Perry Maroon wrestlers, as well as local residents ... and how wrestling affected personal lives, professional careers and contributed to our society overall. When asked for the meaning behind the title of The Price of Legacy documentary, Chance Leonard responded, "We have all heard the saying that 'there is no purchase without a price.' Regarding Perry, Oklahoma, there is no doubt in my mind that Perry is the epitome of this truth. Beginning with the pioneering settlers who took part in the Oklahoma Land Run, this town has been a shining example of people paying the price to create a successful community and prestigious wrestling program. It's not easy to build a legacy and it is certainly not easy to keep; it requires deliberate sacrifice, perseverance and unwavering support." "The price of sustaining a legacy is critically important," said Leonard. "If you don't share that history and emphasize that legacy, a town will die." Filming is underway now, with a planned release date of October 2017 -- "to coincide with the start of wrestling season," according to Leonard, as well as the beginning of the film festival season. To learn more about The Price of Legacy, visit the documentary's official website.

BOONE, N.C. -- Appalachian State University senior heavyweight wrestler Denzel Dejournette (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds) earned the Southern Conference Wrestler of the Year honors after his performance in crucial and dramatic victories this season for the Mountaineers. Denzel DejournetteDejournette becomes just the fourth wrestler ever to be named SoCon Wrestler of the Year in consecutive years and the first since Appalachian's Travis Drake in 2001 and 2002. The senior helped the Mountaineers achieve one of its best seasons in program history, going 23-5 to go along with Appalachian's 13-3 record overall. Both Dejournette and App State went undefeated in SoCon play at 6-0 and 7-0, respectively. He had 10 bonus point victories and two seven-match win streaks on the season. Dejournette also earned a SoCon Wrestler of the Week nod from the conference, the sixth time in his career that the senior has won the weekly wrestling award. He is tied for third on the conference's all-time list in most times awarded the honor. Heading into the conference tournament, the Winston-Salem native ranks fifth on Appalachian's all-time win list with 106 victories. Dejournette also joined senior Vito Pasone (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./E.L. Meyers) in being one of the 10 all-Southern Conference selections for the 2016-17 season. The two fifth-year seniors were two of the seven wrestlers who received the maximum number of points in the voting process.

Coach Marlin Grahn The Hall of Fame Committee for the NCAA II Wrestling Coaches Association has announced that on Thursday evening March 9, 2017, eight individuals from the Portland State wrestling program will be inducted into the Division II Wrestling Hall of Fame. The induction will take place at the Sheraton Birmingham located at 2101 Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard North, Birmingham, Alabama, 35203. It will begin at 6:00 p.m. The 21st class of inductees consists of seven individuals inducted into the Wrestlers Category, and one individual inducted into the Coaches Category. The Hall of Famers that are being inducted include: Dan Russell, Wrestler, Portland State University from 1988-1991; Tony Champion, Wrestler, Portland State University from 1989-1992; James Sisson, Wrestler, Portland State University from 1989-1993; Anthony Amado, Wrestler, Portland State University from 1983-1986; Hiag Brown, Wrestler, Portland State University from 1987-1994; Travis West, Wrestler, Portland State University from 1988-1991; Broderick Lee, Wrestler, Portland State University from 1989-1992; and Marlin Grahn, Coach, Portland State University from 1984-2006. Travis West and Broderick Lee will be inducted posthumously. The Division II Wrestling Hall of Fame Ceremony will be held in conjunction with a reception for coaches and dignitaries on the Thursday evening preceding the start of the 55th Annual NCAA II National Wrestling Championships. Tickets for the reception can be reserved at a cost of $30.00 by emailing: Koch@uwp.edu. Deadline is Thursday, March 2. The NCAA II National Wrestling Championships were first held in 1963. For the first eleven years it was called the NCAA College Division Tournament. In 1974, when the NCAA started the divisional concept, approximately half of the College Division schools continued competing in the NCAA II Wrestling Championships and about half went into the NCAA III. Since 1963, 54 teams have been crowned National Champion and 544 individual National Championships have been awarded. The NCAA II Wrestling Coaches Association feels that it is important to honor the NCAA II coaches and wrestlers that have achieved greatness. These eight inductees will join the 128 inductees from the first twenty induction classes as Division II Wrestling Hall of Famers. Previous inductees to the NCAA II Wrestling Hall of Fame from Portland State include Rick Sanders, Chuck Seal and Masaru Yatabe, all inducted in 1996.

Malik Heinselman won a Junior freestyle title in Fargo last summer (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com) Two-time state champion Malik Heinselman (Castle View, Colo.) verbally committed to Ohio State as part of their 2018 class on Tuesday evening. He is also a two-time UWW Cadet National freestyle champion, competing on the world team at 42 and 46 kilograms the last two years. In addition, Heinselman is a three-time Fargo freestyle champion, winning gold as a Cadet at 88 and 94 pounds while earning gold at the Junior 100-pound weight class this past summer. Heinselman is currently ranked No. 1 nationally at 106 pounds, and is the No. 50 overall Class of 2018 prospect. He joins No. 17 Jaden Mattox (Central Crossing, Ohio) as part of the Buckeyes' 2018 recruiting class.

Patricio Lugo is one of five No. 1 seeds for Edinboro (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The pre-seeds have been announced for the EWL Championships. The event takes place on Saturday at Nelson Field House on the campus of Bloomsburg University. 125: 1. Sean Russell (Edinboro) 2. Jacob Gromacki (Clarion) 3. J.R. Wert (Rider) 4. Ibrahim Bunduka (George Mason) 133: 1. Korbin Myers (Edinboro) 2. DJ Fehlman (Lock Haven) 3. Anthony Cefolo (Rider) 4. Roshaun Cooley (Clarion) 5. Matt Noble (Bloomsburg) 141: 1. Brock Zacherl (Clarion) 2. Ronnie Perry (Lock Haven) 3. Tejon Anthony (George Mason) 4. Evan Cheek (Cleveland State) 149: 1. Patricio Lugo (Edinboro 2. Sahid Kargbo (George Mason) 3. Kyle Shoop (Lock Haven) 4. Jacob Keller (Clarion) 157: 1. B.J. Clagon (Rider) 2. Chase Delande (Edinboro) 3. Jonathan Ross (Lock Haven) 4. Kevin Laubach (Bloomsburg) 5. Matthew Raines (George Mason) 165: 1. Chad Walsh (Rider) 2. Austin Matthews (Edinboro) 3. Evan DeLong (Clarion) 4. Jared Siegrist (Lock Haven) 174: 1. Ty Schoffstall (Edinboro) 2. Adam Mackie (Lock Haven) 3. Dominic Rigous (Clarion) 4. Dean Sherry (Rider) 184: 1. Dakota Geer (Edinboro) 2. Michale Fagg-Daves (Rider) 3. Nick Corba (Cleveland State) 4. Scott Marmoll (Clarion) 197: 1. Ryan Wolfe (Rider) 2. Tristan Sponseller (Lock Haven) 3. Dustin Conti (Clarion) 4. Dylan Reynolds (Edinboro) 285: 1. Thomas Haines (Lock Haven) 2. Billy Miller (Edinboro) 3. Matthew Voss (George Mason) 4. Mauro Correnti (Rider)

Missouri's J'den Cox earned the No. 1 seed at 197 pounds (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The 2017 MAC Wrestling Championships will be held March 4-5 and hosted by the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Listed below is the pre-seeding for the MAC Wrestling Championship following today's conference call with all nine MAC head wrestling coaches. 125: 1. Shakur Laney, Ohio 2. Brent Fleetwood, Central Michigan 3. Kyle Akins, Buffalo 4. Noah Gonser, Eastern Michigan 5. Barlow McGhee, Missouri 6. Dylan Peters, Northern Iowa 7. Brock Hudkins, Northern Illinois 8/9. Cory Simpson, Kent State 8/9. Steve Simpson, Old Dominion 133: 1. Josh Alber, Northern Iowa 2. John Erneste, Missouri 3. Cameron Kelly, Ohio 4. Bryan Lantry, Buffalo 5. Corey Keener, Central Michigan 6. Anthony Tutolo, Kent State 7. Alex Madrigal, Old Dominion 8/9. Alijah Jeffery, Northern Illinois 8/9. Sa'Derian Perry, Eastern Michigan 141: 1. Jaydin Eierman, Missouri 2. Noah Forrider, Ohio 3. Mason Smith, Central Michigan 4. Kyle Springer, Eastern Michigan 5. Kevin Budock, Old Dominion 6. Angel Velasquez, Northern Illinois 7. Jason Estevez, Buffalo 8/9. Jake Hodges, Northern Iowa 8/9. Chance Driscol, Kent State 149: 1. Lavion Mayes, Missouri 2. Justin Oliver, Central Michigan 3. Max Thomsen, Northern Iowa 4. Steve Bleise, Northern Illinois 5. Michael Hayes, Old Dominion 6. Nick Barber, Eastern Michigan 7. Colt Cotten, Buffalo 8/9. Kade Kowalski, Ohio 8/9. Tim Rooney, Kent State 157: 1. Joey Lavallee, Missouri 2. Collin Heffernan, Central Michigan 3. Caden McWhirter, Northern Illinois 4. Casey Sparkman, Kent State 5. Cullen Cummings, Ohio 6. Zac Carson, Eastern Michigan 7. Larry Early, Old Dominion 8/9. Alex Smythe, Buffalo 8/9. Paden Moore, Northern Iowa 165: 1. Daniel Lewis, Missouri 2. Bryce Steiert, Northern Iowa 3. Seldon Wright, Old Dominion 4. Devan Marry, Eastern Michigan 5. Shaun'Qae McMurtry, Northern Illinois 6. Tyler Rill, Buffalo 7. Isaac Bast, Kent State 8/9. Logan Parks, Central Michigan 8/9. Zach Wilson, Ohio 174: 1. Taylor Lujan, Northern Iowa 2. CJ Brucki, Central Michigan 3. Trace Engelkes, Northern Illinois 4. Dylan Wisman, Missouri 5. Arsen Ashughyan, Ohio 6. Jerold Spohn, Kent State 7. Antonio Agee, Old Dominion 8/9. Muhamid McBryde, Buffalo 8/9. Jacob Davis, Eastern Michigan 184: 1. Drew Foster, Northern Iowa 2. Jack Dechow, Old Dominion 3. Jordan Ellingwood, Central Michigan 4. Brett Perry, Buffalo 5. Matt Lemanowicz, Missouri 6. Bryce Gorman, Northern Illinois 7. Kayne MacCallum, Eastern Michigan 8/9. Dontae McGee, Ohio 8/9. Shane Mast, Kent State 197: 1. J'den Cox, Missouri 2. Kevin Beazley, Old Dominion 3. Shawn Scott, Northern Illinois 4. Austin Severn, Central Michigan 5. Stephen Suglio, Kent State 6. Jacob Holschlag, Northern Iowa 7. Nate Rose, Buffalo 8/9. Derek Hillman, Eastern Michigan 8/9. Nate Hall, Ohio 285: 1. Zack Parker, Ohio 2. Austin Myers, Missouri 3. JJ Everard, Northern Iowa 4. Newton Smerchek, Central Michigan 5. Jake Gunning, Buffalo 6. Gage Hutchison, Eastern Michigan 7. Devin Nye, Kent State 8/9. Wil Hilliard, Old Dominion 8/9. Caleb Gossett, Northern Illinois

Geno Morelli (Photo/Juan Garcia) UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State Nittany Lion wrestler Geno Morelli (DuBois, Pa.) and Lindsay Agnew of Ohio State University have been chosen as the 2017 Wayne Duke Postgraduate Award recipients by the Indianapolis Big Ten Community Partnership. The award is an annual scholarship recognizing one male and one female Big Ten senior pursuing a postgraduate degree for achievements in academics, athletics, extracurricular activities and leadership. Morelli, who transfered to Penn State after two years at Pitt, was an All-ACC Academic Wrestling team member, First-Team National Wrestling All-Academic Winner, named to the Nittany All-Academic Team and a University of Pittsburgh Scholar-Athlete. The senior holds a 3.95 GPA in energy business and finance. Morelli has also been an Academic All-Big Ten selection and Morelli earned a starting position in the Nittany Lion lineup and helped the team to its 2016 NCAA Championship while being ranked as high as No. 10 nationally in his respective weight class. Morelli is 10-1 this year, including three pins, and will end his collegiate career with a 66-37 career record and eight pins. Morelli is the third Penn Stater to win the honor since its inception in 2008. Morelli has been involved in Penn State's summer wrestling camps and clinics, is a member of the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club and a representative for the University of Pittsburgh Student Athlete Advisory Committee. In his spare time, Morelli gives back to the community by volunteering with the KaBOOM Playground Project, which constructs playgrounds in low income areas, and with Penn State's Agriculture Progress day. Morelli is the third Penn State student to receive the Wayne Duke Postgraduate Award. Agnew completed her final soccer season this fall at Ohio State and will graduate in May with a degree in environmental and natural resources. Her focus is on environment, economy, development and sustainability with a minor in engineering sciences. With one semester left to complete, Agnew boasts a 3.86 cumulative GPA. In the fall, Agnew will be pursuing a master's in business administration to further her education in the business sector and to create connections with different corporations around the world. Agnew started all 23 matches of the season as assistant captain, tied for second in the Big Ten with seven assists and was named to the Big Ten All-Tournament Team. Originally from Kingston, Ontario, and now hailing from Dublin, Ohio, Agnew is heavily involved in Soles for the Souls, a nonprofit organization that distributes shoes, the Girls and Boys Club of Columbus, Second and Seven where she reads to second graders and Run the Race, an after school program that helps kids from the inner city of Columbus get outside and play. Agnew, who was selected in the second round of the 2017 National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) Draft by the Washington Spirit and currently is playing with the Canadian Senior National Team at the Algarve Cup in Portugal, is the second Wayne Duke Postgraduate Award recipient from Ohio State. Agnew and Morelli will be honored in Indianapolis during the Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament on Saturday, March 4, at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. In recognition of the Big Ten's leadership in fully integrating athletics into the academic mission of its member institutions, the Indianapolis Big Ten Community Partnership initiated the Wayne Duke Postgraduate Award in 2008. Each Big Ten institution was asked to nominate one male and one female student for 2017, with a $10,000 scholarship awarded to each winner. The Wayne Duke Postgraduate Award is named for the former Big Ten Conference commissioner who served from 1971 to 1989. While leading the Big Ten, Duke spent much of his time working to improve academic standards and graduation rates for students competing in conference athletics. The award is made possible by donations from local corporations and individuals supporting intercollegiate athletics. The Indianapolis Big Ten Community Partnership is comprised of the State of Indiana, City of Indianapolis, Indiana Sports Corp, Pacers Sports & Entertainment and Visit Indy. 2017 Wayne Duke Postgraduate Award Nominees: University of Illinois: Nicole Evans, softball; Thomas Gibbs, gymnastics Indiana University: Malia Fujisawa, field hockey; Derek Creviston, soccer University of Iowa: Serena Wanasek, swimming; Andrew Botto, gymnastics University of Maryland: Tayler Stiles, baseball University of Michigan: Eliza Stein, field hockey; Cameron Stitt, swimming and diving Michigan State University: Halle Peterson, volleyball; Edward Barksdale, football University of Minnesota: Joanna Hedstrom, basketball; Michael Kroells, wrestling University of Nebraska: Kadie Rolfzen, volleyball; Tim Lambert, wrestling Northwestern University: Kayla Morin, volleyball; Matthew Harris, football Ohio State University: Lindsay Agnew, soccer; Christian Blough, volleyball Penn State University: Casey Francis, swimming and diving; Geno Morelli, wrestling Purdue University: Fayette Adelaja, volleyball; Alexander Toetz, swimming and diving Rutgers University: Sarah Regn, field hockey; Patrick McCabe, lacrosse University of Wisconsin: Jenny Ryan, hockey; Connor Medbery, wrestling Previous Wayne Duke Postgraduate Award Recipients: 2016: Cody Rush, Nebraska, men's track and field; Lindsay Mable, Minnesota, women's gymnastics 2015: Campbell Sode, Rutgers, men's lacrosse; Jessica Plant, Minnesota, women's swimming 2014: Spencer Long, Nebraska, football; Emily Wong, Nebraska, women's gymnastics 2013: Sean Fisher, Nebraska, football; Katelyn White, Nebraska, women's cross country and track and field 2012: Miguel Pineda, Penn State, men's gymnastics; Margaux Farrell, Indiana, women's swimming 2011: Mike Torchia, Minnesota, men's cross country and track and field; Allie Smith, Purdue, women's swimming 2010: Mark Ison, Northwestern, football; Chelsea Davis, Ohio State, women's diving 2009: Drew Ratner, Northwestern, men's soccer; Lauren Mioton, Purdue, women's basketball 2008: Kevin Trulock, Indiana, football; Molly Crispell, Penn State, women's swimming About the Big Ten Conference: The Big Ten Conference is an association of world-class universities whose member institutions share a common mission of research, graduate, professional and undergraduate teaching and public service. Founded in 1896, the Big Ten has sustained a comprehensive set of shared practices and policies that enforce the priority of academics in the lives of students competing in intercollegiate athletics and emphasize the values of integrity, fairness and competitiveness. The broad-based programs of the 14 Big Ten institutions will provide over $200 million in direct financial support to more than 9,500 students for more than 11,000 participation opportunities on 350 teams in 42 different sports. The Big Ten sponsors 28 official conference sports, 14 for men and 14 for women, including the addition of men's ice hockey and men's and women's lacrosse since 2013. For more information, visit www.bigten.org. Indiana Sports Corp's mission is to create positive impact by hosting world-class sporting events which drive economic vitality, facilitate a vibrant community with civic pride, garner national and international media attention and create opportunities for our youth. A not-for-profit organization, Indiana Sports Corp was founded in 1979 as the nation's first sports commission. Our recent and upcoming schedule of events includes NCAA Men's and Women's Final Fours, Big Ten Football Championship Games through 2021, Big Ten Basketball Tournaments and much more. For more information, visit www.IndianaSportsCorp.org.

The Americans were embraced by fans in Iran (Photo/Justin Hoch) The cheers and chants began early in the first-round dual meet between the United States and Georgia. "U-S-A, U-S-A," a boisterous, packed house of 6,000 fans spelled out in unison. Fans rose to their feet again to start an even louder chant four matches later. "Jor-dan, Jor-dan," they called out as Olympic and world champion Jordan Burroughs took the mat. This kind of enthusiastic support isn't totally unheard of for an American wrestling team. But this didn't happen in the United States. It happened halfway around the world in a country considered anything but a close American ally. That didn't matter to the wrestling-mad fans in Kermanshah, Iran, who eagerly awaited and warmly welcomed the U.S. contingent with open arms for the Freestyle World Cup on Feb. 16-17. Hooman "Mo" Tavakolian, who moved to the U.S. from Iran when he was 8, served as the American Team Leader (Photo/Justin Hoch) "The Iranians were amazing, just amazing, the way they supported the Americans," said American Team Leader Hooman "Mo" Tavakolian, who moved to the U.S. from Iran when he was 8 years old. "They love wrestling and they love having the American wrestling team in Iran. It was an awesome environment for the U.S. athletes to compete in." Welcome to the world of international wrestling, a sport that transcends political and cultural barriers while truly bringing people of the world together. A trip that almost didn't happen because of U.S. travel bans and political unrest became a reality in large part because of the strong bond and relationship the U.S. and Iran have developed in the traditional Olympic sport of the wrestling. Wrestling is the national sport in the Islamic Republic of Iran and they love having strong American teams come to their country to compete. Iran has long been a wrestling powerhouse at the Olympic level. Iranian wrestling fans are very passionate and knowledgeable (Photo/Justin Hoch) The Iranian fans are some of the most passionate, hard-core and knowledgeable in any sport, and they loudly backed the U.S. in its first three wins of the World Cup, including a win over Russia. Tavakolian also served as a liaison and interpreter for the U.S. during the trip. With his involvement in bringing the U.S. and Iran together in wrestling, Tavakolian has become well-known in his native land. He has built a strong relationship with the wrestling federations from both countries. Fans in the stands held up a photo of Tavakolian during the World Cup. "It was a huge honor for them to recognize me," he said. "It is a privilege for me to be able to be involved in wrestling, and be able to help in any way that I can. I am very proud of my heritage." The USA-Russian dual was another example of how wrestling bridges gaps between nations despite political differences. "It was a good, hard-fought wrestling match," Tavakolian said. "The Iranian fans were very vocal, chanting 'U-S-A, U-S-A' during the dual with Russia. It was a great atmosphere." Fans take in the action at the World Cup (Photo/Justin Hoch) The U.S. advanced into a much-anticipated finals dual against Iran, which defeated the Americans 5-3 in an exciting, competitive meet. Horns blared, drums were pounded and chants went on throughout the dual as the raucous Iranian crowd cheered on their beloved wrestlers. The teams shook hands before and after the dual, and there was great sportsmanship and fellowship between Iran and U.S. during the match. The true ambassadors were the athletes, who were fierce competitors on the mat and respectful to each other off it. Even though he beat an Iranian, Burroughs was cheered again by fans from Iran after he earned a close win. The Iranians appreciate great wrestlers and they know Burroughs well after he beat wrestlers from Iran in the finals of the 2012 Olympics, as well as the 2011 and 2013 World Championships. Jordan Burroughs waves to the fans (Photo/Justin Hoch) Burroughs waved to acknowledge the cheering fans before slapping the hands of Iranian fans who leaned down over the railings from the first row of the stands after he came off the mat. Burroughs received the same type of "rock star treatment" on this trip that he did when the 2013 World Cup was staged in Iran. He is more recognized in Iran than in his home country. "In Iran, we are treated like heroes and that's really great to see," he said. "The fans here are tremendous. They love wrestling and we love to compete here." Kyle Snyder finishes a takedown against Russia (Photo/Justin Hoch) American Kyle Snyder, an Olympic and world champion, also received a warm welcome from the Iranian contingent even after he defeated a wrestler from Iran. "Every Iranian I have ever come in contact with has been extremely respectful and extremely polite," Snyder said. "The fans cheered for us and wanted to take selfies with us at the World Cup. They treated us great. The atmosphere was awesome to compete in. "This was the best tournament I have ever participated in, even better than the Olympics in Rio." The American contingent was treated "like kings" the entire time they were in Iran, Tavakolian said. The U.S. team departed for its trip to the World Cup on Feb. 12. The team flew together from Frankfurt, Germany to Iran and initially landed in Tehran at 1 a.m. local time on Feb. 13. Each member of the American delegation was presented with roses and then the group was taken to a VIP lounge while their luggage was transported for them. Hooman "Mo" Tavakolian with Tony Ramos (Photo/Justin Hoch) The American team then joined the Iranian national team on a chartered plane for a 45-minute flight to Kermanshah. "It is an old, historic city that is only about 165 miles east of Baghdad (Iraq)," Tavakolian said. "There was so much security around us and we had a police escort. I felt safer there than I do in New York City at times. They were going to make sure we were completely safe and we were. There was no hostility or any sign of any negativity toward the Americans. We felt very welcome the entire time we were there. Everyone was very nice and respectful. The Iranians were great hosts for us." After the event, the American team had an opportunity to sightsee in Tehran. They visited the Milad Tower, a beautiful landmark similar to the Space Needle in Seattle, that features spectacular views of the city of nine million people. "This was my fourth time going to Iran with an American group for wrestling, and this was by far my best experience," Tavakolian said. "We weren't even sure we were going to be able to go until the last minute because of the travel bans, but we managed to pull it off. It showed the kind of unity that can exist between people and countries. This went above and beyond a wrestling match." When the U.S. wrestling team competed in Iran in 1998, it marked the first time in nearly 20 years an American sports team had competed there. U.S. wrestlers have now competed in Iran on 16 occasions since the Iranian Revolution in 1979. David Taylor celebrates after pinning Olympic champion Hassan Yazdani Charati of Iran (Photo/Justin Hoch) Iranian teams also have wrestled in the U.S. numerous times, including the 2015 World Championships in Las Vegas and World Cup appearances in Los Angeles in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Tavakolian has played an integral role at many of those events. The words of former world leader Nelson Mandela, who was an athlete himself, inspire Tavakolian. In a 2000 speech, Mandela said: "Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair. "It is more powerful than government in breaking down racial barriers. It laughs in the face of all kinds of discrimination." Tavakolian said those are words he lives by. "Wrestling diplomacy is rolling up your sleeves and hitting the ground running," he said. "It's opening the channels of communications, and understanding the cultures, the political landscape and the challenges we face." Team USA poses for a photo after finishing second at the World Cup (Photo/Justin Hoch) The 2017 Freestyle World Cup certainly brought the world together for an important international sporting event, even in a time of political turmoil and unrest around the world. "It was just an incredible display of what the human spirit is all about," Tavakolian said. "Even with all of the differences we have and the obstacles we face, wrestling showed how well we can all get along and how powerful of a force athletics can be in bringing that about." Rasoul Khadem, president of the Iranian Wrestling Federation, wanted to make sure the U.S. was part of this event. "A World Cup without the Americans," Khadem said. "would not have been a real World Cup."

Virginia Tech's Joey Dance earned the No. 1 seed at 125 pounds (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) The brackets have been released for the 2017 ACC Wrestling Championships. The event takes place on Saturday at Reynolds Coliseum on the campus of North Carolina State University. Link: Brackets

DOVER, Del. -- Austin Marsden has been named Coach of the Year by the 2017 National Collegiate Open presented by X-Athletic. Marsden serves as the volunteer assistant coach for Army West Point. His athletes have recognized him as a key mentor throughout the season. Under Marsden's mentorship, two Black Knights were crowned National Collegiate Open Champions (Luke Weiland and Noah Stewart) and two additional athletes, Cael McCormick and Nigel Ruiz, also earned All-American honors. Weiland's and Stewart's victories mark only the second time in the nine-year history of the National Collegiate Open that Army West Point has crowned a champion. With this year's results, the Black Knights have also doubled their total all-time NCO All-Americans honors from four to eight.

Funeral services have been announced for Scott Marko, high school teacher and wrestling coach at Amery High School, and father of University of Minnesota freshman wrestler Hunter Marko. Scott MarkoScott Marko died of an apparent heart attack Monday morning after returning from the Wisconsin high school state wrestling championships in Madison. He was 43. Visitation for Scott Marko will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, March 1 at the Amery High School gymnasium, and for two hours prior to Thursday's funeral services at Alliance Church of the Valley in St. Croix Falls, Wis. A private family internment will be held at a later date. Marko was long-time wrestling coach and special education instructor at Amery High School in Amery, Wis., located near the Minnesota border, and northeast of Minneapolis-St. Paul. Prior to joining the staff at Amery High, Scott Marko wrestled at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. Students were informed of Marko's death Monday morning at school. Later that same morning, their parents received a recorded phone message from Amery Superintendent James Kuchta, which asked them to "please keep our school and community in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time." Kuchta added, "Trained staff have been available for students at all school buildings and will be available throughout the week. We are providing this information for you to assist your child as needed." Scott Marko leaves behind a wife, Brooke, and five children: Kole, Griffin, Zander, Abby, and Hunter, who is a freshman on the wrestling team at the University of Minnesota, in the 141-149-pound weight class. Hunter was a four-time Wisconsin state champion, wrestling for his father at Amery High. In a May 2013 profile of a then-15-year-old Hunter, Scott Marko told the St. Paul Pioneer Press, "When you have kids, you just hope they find an activity or sport they'll like. I'm not a dad who pushes. I'm along for the ride here. It's kind of mind-blowing to see how well he's done."

OSU's Anthony Collica is pre-seeded No. 1 (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) Pre-seeding for the 2017 Big 12 Wrestling Championship, set for March 4-5 at the BOK Center in Tulsa, are announced. Oklahoma State leads the way with six top-seeded wrestlers, while South Dakota State records two. North Dakota State and West Virginia both have one wrestler in the top spot. All ten schools will place a wrestler in each weight class. The seeds, as voted by the conference coaches and approved at the pre-championship coaches meeting on Friday, will compete over two days for 38 automatic qualifying bids to the NCAA Championship, as well as the 2017 Big 12 Championship team title. Oklahoma State's Dean Heil (141 pounds), Anthony Collica (149 pounds), Joe Smith (157 pounds), Chandler Rogers (165 pounds), Nolan Boyd (184 pounds) and Austin Shafer (heavyweight) lead the way as the No. 1 seeds for the Cowboys. Seth Gross (133 pounds) and David Kocer (174 pounds) slot in as the top seeds for the SDSU. NDSU's Josh Rodriguez (125 pounds), WVU's Jacob A. Smith (197 pounds) round out the top of the brackets for the conference. For more information on the Big 12 Wrestling Championship, visit Big12Sports.com. The first three sessions will be streamed exclusively on FloWrestling, with FSN broadcasting the championship rounds live. 125: 1. Josh Rodriguez (NDSU) 2. Nick Piccininni (OSU) 3. Drew Templeman (WYO) 4. Christian Moody (OU) 5. Kyle Larson (ISU) 6. Trey Andrews (UNC) 7. Ben Gillette (SDSU) 8. Mitch Brown (UVU) 9. Drew Romero (AF) 10. Devin Brown (WVU) 133: 1. Seth Gross (SDSU) 2. Kaid Brock (OSU) 3. Earl Hall (ISU) 4. Cam Sykora (NDSU) 7. Rico Montoya (UNC) 6. Cory Stainbrook (WVU) 7. Dylan Hyder (AF) 8. Jarod Maynes (UVU) 9. Trae Blackwell (OU) 10. Ronnie Stevens (WYO) 141: 1. Dean Heil (OSU) 2. Bryce Meredith (WYO) 3. Mike Longo (OU) 4. Timmy Box (UNC) 5. John Meeks (ISU) 6. Trevor Willson (UVU) 7. Joe Wheeling (WVU) 8. John Twomey (AF) 9. Taylor Nein (NDSU) 10. Henry Pohlomeyer (SDSU) 149: 1. Anthony Collica (OSU) 2. Alex Kocer (SDSU) 3. Davion Jeffries (OU) 4. Cole Mendenhall (WYO) 5. Grant LaMont (UVU) 6. Jerry McGinty (AFA) 7. Christian Monserrat (WVU) 8. Mitch Friedman (NDSU) 9. Ben Polkowske (UNC) 10. Gabe Moreno (ISU) 157: 1. Joe Smith (OSU) 2. Clay Ream (NDSU) 3. Clark Glass (OU) 4. Archie Colgan (WYO) 5. Alex Mossing (AF) 6. Colston Diblasi (ISU) 7. Logan Peterson (SDSU) 8. Raider Lofthouse (UVU) 9. Jimmy Fate (UNC) 10. Dayton Garrett (WVU) 165: 1. Chandler Rogers (OSU) 2. Dylan Cottrell (WVU) 3. Branson Ashworth (WYO) 4. Luke Zilverberg (SDSU) 5. Yoanse Mejias (OU) 6. Andrew Fogarty (NDSU) 7. Rickey Padilla (AF) 8. Keilan Torres (UNC) 9. Koy Wilkinson (UVU) 10. Logan Breitenback (ISU) 174: 1. David Kocer (SDSU) 2. Kyle Crutchmer (OSU) 3. Lelund Weatherspoon (ISU) 4. Kimball Bastian (UVU) 5. Matt Reed (OU) 6. Kyle Pope (WYO) 7. Michael Billingsley (AF) 8. Dylan Urbach (NDSU) 9. Dalton Robertson (UNC) 10. Ty Millward (WVU) 184: 1. Nolan Boyd (OSU) 2. Dylan Gabel (UNC) 3. Martin Mueller (SDSU) 4. Carson Powell (ISU) 5. Tyler McNutt (NDSU) 6. Parker VonEgidy (WVU) 7. Lucas Lovvorn (WYO) 8. Andrew Dixon (OU) 9. Zen Ikehara (AF) 10. Able Gomez (UVU) 197: 1. Jacob A. Smith (WVU) 2. Nate Rotert (SDSU) 3. Preston Weigel (OSU) 4. Anthony McLaughlin (AF) 5. Brad Johnson (OU) 6. Tanner Orndorff (UVU) 7. Cordell Eaton (NDSD) 8. Marcus Harrington (ISU) 9. Luke Paine (WYO) 10. Jamarcus Grant (UNC) 285: 1. Austin Shafer (OSU) 2. Ross Larson (OU) 3. Dustin Dennison (UVU) 4. Ben Tynan (NDSU) 5. Quean Smith (ISU) 6. Brandon Tribble (WYO) 7. Alex Macki (SDSU) 8. Kerry Powers (AF) 9. Jack Kuck (UNC) 10. Brandon Ngati (WVU)

The NCAA announced on Monday the 160 individuals who will compete in the DII Wrestling Championship as well as the brackets revealing who these individuals will compete against. The NCAA Division II Championships take place March 10-11 at the CrossPlex in Birmingham, Alabama. Link: Brackets

Jason Nolf defeated Joe Smith at the NWCA Division I National Duals (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) ROSEMONT, Ill. -- The Big Ten Conference announced the preliminary seeds for the 2017 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, which are set for March 4-5 at Assembly Hall on the campus of Indiana University. Six schools boast at least one top-seeded wrestler, with Ohio State and Penn State leading the way with three apiece. Penn State and Wisconsin will bring a seeded wrestler in each of the 10 weight classes, while Minnesota, Nebraska and Ohio State each boast a seeded grappler in nine classes. The pre-seeds, as voted on by the conference's coaches, rank the top eight wrestlers in five weight classes, along with all 14 starters in five weight classes due to the Big Ten receiving nine or more NCAA Championships qualifier allocations in those classes. Ohio State boasts three top-seeded wrestlers, with 133-pounder Nathan Tomasello, 174-pounder Bo Jordan and 285-pounder Kyle Snyder claiming the top spot in their weight classes. Penn State also holds three No. 1 seeds, with 149-pounder Zain Retherford, 157-pounder Jason Nolf and 184-pounder Bo Nickal earning top billing in their weight classes. The Fighting Illini's Isaiah Martinez (165), the Hawkeyes' Thomas Gilman (125), the Golden Gophers' Brett Pfarr (197) and the Scarlet Knights' Anthony Ashnault (141) round out the group of top-ranked grapplers. Six of this year's top seeds claimed titles at last year's Big Ten Championships, with Tomasello (125), Ashnault (133), Retherford (149), Martinez (157), Nickal (174) and Snyder (285) earning top honors a year ago. For more information on the 2017 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, visit the Big Ten Championships Central page on Indiana's website here. The complete list of Big Ten Championships pre-seeds can be found below. 125: 1. Thomas Gilman, IOWA 2. Nick Suriano, PSU 3. Tim Lambert, NEB 4. Ethan Lizak, MINN 5. Conor Youtsey, MICH 6. Johnny Jimenez, WIS 7. Elijah Oliver, IND 8. Jose Rodriguez, OSU 133: 1. Nathan Tomasello, OSU 2. Eric Montoya, NEB 3. Cory Clark, IOWA 4. Zane Richards, ILL 5. Stevan Micic, MICH 6. Billy Rappo, MD 7. Mitch McKee, MINN 8. Luke Welch, PUR 9. Scott Delvecchio, RU 10. Eli Stickley, WIS 11. Jason Ipsarides, NU 12. Austin Eicher, MSU 13. Garrett Pepple, IND 14. Triston Law, PSU 141: 1. Anthony Ashnault, RU 2. Jimmy Gulibon, PSU 3. Tommy Thorn, MINN 4. Colton McCrystal, NEB 5. Luke Pletcher, OSU 6. Topher Carton, IOWA 7. Javier Gasca III, MSU 8. Cole Martin, WIS 9. Salvator Profaci, MICH 10. Alec McKenna, NU 11. Cole Weaver, IND 12. Kyle Ayersman, PUR 13. Ryan Diehl, MD 14. Mousa Jodeh, ILL 149: 1. Zain Retherford, PSU 2. Brandon Sorensen, IOWA 3. Micah, Jordan, OSU 4. Alfred Bannister, MD 5. Kenny Theobald, RU 6. Andrew Crone, WIS 7. Eric Barone, ILL 8. Chris Perez, IND 157: 1. Jason Nolf, PSU 2. Michael Kemerer, IOWA 3. Tyler Berger, NEB 4. Jake Short, MINN 5. Kyle Langenderfer, ILL 6. Brian Murphy, MICH 7. John Van Brill, RU 8. Jake Danishek, IND 9. TJ Ruschell, WIS 10. Alex Griffin, PUR 11. Jake Ryan, OSU 12. Austin Thompson, MSU 13. Justin Alexander, MD 14. Ben Sullivan, NU 165: 1. Isaiah Martinez, ILL 2. Logan Massa, MICH 3. Isaac Jordan, WIS 4. Vincenzo Joseph, PSU 5. Joey Gunther, IOWA 6. Nick Wanzek, MINN 7. Dustin Williams, NEB 8. Drew Hughes, MSU 174: 1. Bo Jordan, OSU 2. Mark Hall, PSU 3. Zach Brunson, ILL 4. Myles Amine, MICH 5. Alex Meyer, IOWA 6. Jordan Pagano, RU 7. Jacob Morrissey, PUR 8. Devin Skatzka, IND 9. Micah Barnes, NEB 10. Chris Pfarr, MINN 11. Ryan Christensen, WIS 12. Drew Barnes, MSU 13. Josh Ugalde, MD 14. Braxton Cody, NU 184: 1. Bo Nickal, PSU 2. Sammy Brooks, IOWA 3. Nate Jackson, IND 4. Myles Martin, OSU 5. TJ Dudley, NEB 6. Emery Parker, ILL 7. Nick Gravina, RU 8. Hunter Ritter, WIS 9. Mitch Sliga, NU 10. Bobby Steveson, MINN 11. Tanner Lynde, PUR 12. Ernest Battaglia, MICH 13. Shwan Shadaia, MSU 14. Idris White, MD 197: 1. Brett Pfarr, MINN 2. Kollin Moore, OSU 3. Aaron Studebaker, NEB 4. Matt McCutcheon, PSU 5. Ricky Robertson, WIS 6. Jacob Berkowitz, NU 7. Cash Wilcke, IOWA 8. Christian Brunner, PUR 285: 1. Kyle Snyder, OSU 2. Connor Medbery, WIS 3. Nick Nevills, PSU 4. Michael Kroells, MINN 5. Collin Jensen, NEB 6. Brooks Black, ILL 7. Youssif Hemida, MD