InterMat Staff

MILLERSVILLE, Pa. -- Millersville University Director of Athletics Miles Gallagher has named Chris Yentzer as the wrestling team's interim head coach effective immediately. Yentzer is in his third season as the Marauders' assistant coach. Prior to joining the Millersville coaching staff, Yentzer served two seasons as the coach at Central York High School. He was a collegiate wrestler at Pitt-Johnstown, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 2007. A national search for the wrestling program's head coach will be conducted at the conclusion of the 2016-17 season.

Nick Purler and Mark Manning will be the guests on this week's edition of the On the Mat wrestling broadcast on Wednesday, Jan. 4. Nick Purler is from Purler Wrestling Academy, which describes itself as “an open enrollment, year-round program dedicated to providing athletes ages 8-18 and any skill level (one year wrestling experience required) the tools they need to accomplish their goals.” Mark Manning has served as head wrestling coach at University of Nebraska-Lincoln for 16 years. On the Mat is a presentation of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum. The show can be heard live on the Internet at 1650thefan.com or locally in Northeast Iowa each Wednesday at 5 p.m. Central on AM 1650, The Fan. A podcast of the show is available on mattalkonline.com.

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Spencer Empey's 2-0 decision in the final bout lifted the Cal Poly wrestling team to a 19-18 victory over West Virginia in a non-conference dual meet Tuesday afternoon in the Mott Athletics Center. By evening their dual meet record at 4-4, Coach Jon Sioredas' Mustangs have won more matches than any Cal Poly team since the 2011-12 season. West Virginia, ranked No. 22 in tournament polls but unranked in dual meet polls, fell to 0-6. After a scoreless first period, Empey rode out the second period to build up riding time, then tallied an early escape in the third period for the dual meet-clinching victory. Cal Poly's only points in the first four bouts was a fall by Colton Schilling at 141. Schilling scored a takedown and two-point near-fall early, then secured his seventh fall of the year a minute later with 1:11 to go in the opening period. Schilling is now 11-6 on the year and five of his last six wins this season are by fall. The other was by technical fall. Trailing 10-6, Cal Poly battled back with a major decision by Colt Shorts at 157 and decisions by Xavier Johnson and Mitch Woods to set the stage for the final two bouts, leading 16-15. At 197, Jacob A. Smith, ranked No. 7, built a 5-0 lead and held on for an 8-3 decision over Mustang J.T. Goodwin, giving West Virginia, coached by former Mustang assistant Sammie Henson, an 18-16 advantage. Empey improved to 12-10 on the year with his 2-0 decision over Brandon Ngati at heavyweight. Ranked No. 19 at 157, Shorts scored four takedowns, a two-point near-fall and a reversal en route to an 11-3 major decision over Dayton Garrett. Shorts' final takedown with 15 seconds to go gave him enough points and riding time for the major, lifting his mark for the year to 16-8. That extra team point proved to be the difference in the outcome of the dual meet. Johnson earned a 3-1 decision over Ty Millward at 174. Millward was penalized twice for stalling and Johnson tallied an escape midway through the final period to clinch the win, evening his record for the year at 4-4. Woods edged Parker VonEdgy 8-7 thanks to a 2-minute, 1-second advantage in riding time. Woods tallied two reversals, an escape and a two-point near fall and rode out the final period for the win and a 7-5 mark for the season. Cal Poly returns to action Sunday with a 1 p.m. PST Pac-12 Conference dual meet at Arizona State. Results: 125: Devin Brown (WV) maj. dec. David Gonzalez (CP) 12-4 133: Cory Stainbrook (WV) dec. Yoshito Funakoshi (CP) 7-4 141: Colton Schilling (CP) pinned Joe Wheeling (wV) 1:49 149: Christian Monserrat (WV) dec. Joshy Cortez (CP) 6-1 157: Colt Shorts (CP) maj. dec. Dayton Garrett (WV) 11-3 165: Dylan Cottrell (WV) tech. fall Luke Wilson (CP) 19-4 (6:33) 174: Xavier Johnson (CP) dec. Ty Millward (WV) 3-1 184: Mitch Woods (CP) dec. Parker VonEdgy (wV) 8-7 197: Jacob A. Smith (WV) dec. J.T. Goodwin (CP) 8-3

FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- A look at history will show the five team champions at the NWCA's Multi-Divisional National Duals presented by the United States Marine Corps and Theraworx have combined to win 20 team dual titles since 2011. A look at the future might show 80 more opinions on how to stop the flood of hardware that's headed to schools like Notre Dame College, Wartburg, Grand View, Clackamas and King University. Brackets, Results & Live Streaming: Men's Divisions | Women's Division Ticket and Event Information: NWCA Multi-Divisional National Duals Eighty-five total teams will take to the mats on Thursday at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, as the National Wrestling Coaches Association will kick off the NWCA Multi-Divisional National Duals presented by the United States Marines Corps and Theraworx hosted by NUWAY. Simply put, it's Mat Mayhem. "This is a collection and celebration of college wrestling and the growth we've seen throughout the non-Division I ranks," said NWCA Executive Director Mike Moyer. "We have 85 different teams, but if you look at the foundations of those 85, we'll see 51 percent of them have started since 2001. On the women's side, 12 of the 15 teams were started in the last 10 years. In the NAIA, 12 of the 16 teams are newer programs. Half of our Division II teams are also new. This event is just as much about the growth of wrestling as it is the actual competition." Teams still come for the competition, because while returning champions Wartburg, Grand View and King are still ranked No. 1 in their respective divisions, the field of 85 contains 69 nationally ranked teams. "We're also pleased to see great wrestling companies with a vested interest not only in the health of our sport but the safety of our athletes coming together to support this tremendous and massive event," said Moyer. "We're welcoming Bats-Toi with its revolutionary headgear, Sterilaser, a new UV Light technology to disinfect mats and Spartan Races, which can challenge even the toughest athletes. We again welcome longtime supporters Wrestlers in Business Network, Pittsburgh Trophy, Resilite, Rice Lake and EZ Flex Mats to one of college wrestling's largest events." In Division II, Notre Dame College is the returning champions, but the Falcons missed out on doubling up with an NCAA team championship last March. That NCAA championship went to St. Cloud State, which won its second title in a row. Notre Dame College and coach Frank Romano saw his team defeat two-time champion St. Cloud State 21-15 in the finals in 2016. For the Falcons to repeat, they'll have to go through St. Cloud State again. Coach Steve Costanzo and his Huskies come in as the top seed and looks to win the school's third NWCA National Duals title. The Huskies claimed back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013 as part of a Division II record win streak of 54 dual wins in a row. That streak ended at the 2014 National Duals at the hands of Notre Dame College, which won its first Division II crown that same season. St. Cloud State opens with San Francisco State, While Notre Dame College faces Indianapolis. Third-seeded Maryville, the 2015 champions, open up with Newberry, while fourth-seeded Nebraska-Kearney gets rolling with Tiffin. Other first-round bouts are: Pitt-Johnstown vs. McKendree, Wisconsin-Parkside vs. Upper Iowa, Wheeling Jesuit vs. Findlay and Mercyhurst vs. CSU-Pueblo. In Division III, Wartburg has remained the dominant force at the National Duals. The Knights have won 10 titles all-time and are seeking a seventh straight dual championship. Last season, coach Eric Keller's squad knocked off Wabash 28-12 in the finals. Division III, the largest section of college wrestling with over 100 programs also has the largest field. With 22 teams in the mix, there are six first-round duals to determine a full field of 16. Ithaca and coach Marty Nichols is the second seed, followed by third-seeded Augsburg and fourth-seeded Johnson & Wales. The top four seeds as well as No. 5 Wabash and No. 6 Concordia-Moorhead will receive first-round byes. Millikin will face Wheaton in an opening round dual with the winner facing Wartburg. Wisconsin-Oshkosh and Olivet will wrestle an opening round dual with the winner facing Wabash, while The College of New Jersey and Concordia (Wis.) will square off to see who faces Johnson & Wales on the top side of the bracket. On the bottom half, the North Central-Springfield winner will face Augsburg, the Ferrum-Alma winner will face Concordia-Moorhead, while the Augustana (Ill.)-Mount Union winner will face Ithaca. The Baldwin Wallace-NYU dual and the Coe-Wisconsin-Whitewater duals are already set for the round of 16. In the NAIA, Grand View has bullied its way to the last five NAIA National Duals championships and the last five NAIA National Championships. Coach Nick Mitchell's squad shows no signs of stopping as the Vikings will bring six top-ranked wrestlers into Fort Wayne, including national champions Jacob Colon (133), Michael Pixley (184) and Dean Broghammer (285). Second-seeded Indiana Tech fell to Grand View 33-15 in the championship final last season. One team to watch for is third-seeded Williams Baptist. The Walnut Ridge, Arkansas school is seeded third and has rapidly ascended the NAIA rankings and coach Kerry Regner's squad could be poised for a breakout team performance. Grand View will open with Doane with the winner facing the winner of the Missouri-Valley Campbellsville dual. Southern Oregon and Cumberland University face off with the winner facing either fourth-seeded Oklahoma City or Baker. On the bottom half, Indiana Tech opens with Lindenwood-Belleville, while Williams Baptist faces Northwestern College of Iowa. Life will face Midland and Wayland Baptist faces Concordia (Neb.) in the final opening-round dual. Always entertaining, the NJCAA field is headed up by Northeastern Oklahoma A&M. The Golden Norsemen have won two NJCAA national championships in the program's first three seasons, but the National Duals title has eluded coach Joe Renfro. The squad was second last season to returning champion Clackamas and third in 2014. NEO will open with Northwest Kansas Tech in the first round. A powerful quartet of Iowa schools enter the tournament seeded second through fifth. Iowa Central, which last won the National Duals title in 2012, will come in as the second seed and face Colby in the first round. Third-seeded Iowa Western kicks off its tournament with Lincoln College of Illinois, while Ellsworth starts off with Muskegon. Fifth-seeded Iowa Lakes opens with Harper. Clackamas is the sixth seed and will face Barton, a first-year program out of Kansas, while No. 7. Northwest (Wyo.) will face Nassau in the opening round. No. 8 Niagara will produce another New York vs. Wyoming matchup as Thunderwolves will face Western Wyoming. King University will look to win its fourth straight WCWA National Duals championship. The Tornado lead the 15-team field and coach Jason Moorman's squad comes in No. 1. They'll have to wait until Thursday night before seeing any action as they have a bye prior to facing the winner of the Missouri Valley-Life dual. King also boasts four top-ranked wrestlers, including 2016 Olympian Haley Augello. Oklahoma City, a traditional power now under the guise of first-year head coach Matt Stevens, is seeded second. The Stars open with Adrian in the first round with the winner facing the winner of the Missouri Baptist-Jamestown dual. McKendree, seeded third, opens up with Lindenwood-Belleville and the winner of that dual facing either No. 6 Wayland Baptist or Emmanuel. Up top, No. 4 Campbellsville will open up with Ferrum College, while No. 5 University of the Cumberlands will entertain Southern Oregon.

This past year, the wrestling community said goodbye to a number of individuals who had wrestled or coached. Some were still competing or had remained involved in the sport up until recently, while others had stepped away from the mat long ago. In 2016, InterMat honored at least three dozen of these contributors to the sport with long-form tributes. Here is a compilation of concise versions of those tributes, arranged by category. Current wrestlers In 2016, InterMat paid tribute to a trio of active wrestlers who died that year. Andrew Esquivel, MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) wrestling team captain who was about to enter his senior year, was struck and killed by a SUV driven by an off-duty New York City police officer in Brooklyn in July. He was 21. That same month, Lane Dickeson, a redshirt freshman wrestler at Notre Dame College of Ohio and two-time Tennessee high school state championships medalist, lost his life in a single-vehicle crash at age 19. In December, Ryan Estrada, a heavyweight wrestler at Saline High School in Michigan, was found unresponsive in the school's locker room before practice and died at the hospital the next day. Collegiate champs Kevin RandlemanThe college wrestling community said goodbye to a handful of NCAA wrestling champions of the past. In February, Kevin Randleman, 177-pound NCAA champ in 1992 and 1993 for Ohio State who later became an UFC heavyweight champion in 1999, passed away. Arnold Plaza, Hispanic mat pioneer and one of the most accomplished wrestlers in Purdue history as a two-time NCAA champ and four-time Big Ten titlewinner in the late 1940s, died on April 1 in Phoenix, Arizona at age 90. The same week, Sherwyn Thorson, University of Iowa's first NCAA heavyweight champ (1962) who also made a name for himself on the college and pro gridiron, lost a long battle with cancer at 75. In late April, Morris Johnson, 1984 NCAA Division II heavyweight champ at San Francisco State who later went on to coach at his alma mater, passed away. Roger Weigel, 1971 NCAA Division I wrestling champion for Oregon State at 134 pounds and three-time Pac-8 champ, also died in late April. Former college mat stars The past year saw the passing of a number of former college wrestlers, from athletes of recent memory, to those whose time on the mat was decades ago. Among the wrestlers of the past decade or so who died in 2016: Jimmy Vollrath, who wrestled for Penn State at 157 pounds from 2009-2014, died in December from Ewing's sarcoma, a rare form of cancer ... Cody Gardner, 28, former Virginia Tech and Ohio State wrestler, whose body was discovered Dec. 2 at a home in southwest Virginia ... Tom Patterson, 23, former Briar Cliff University wrestler and volunteer coach for the Sioux City, Iowa school, went missing in the Missouri River after going in to rescue a friend during Labor Day weekend and whose body was found downstream ten days later ... Brandon McDonough, 30, state champion wrestler in Iowa who went on to earn All-American honors in NCAA Division III at Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island ... Matt Keller, 33, four-time Tennessee high school state champion wrestler who went on to compete at University of Nebraska-Lincoln then earn All-American honors at University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, was shot to death by a homeowner in Marion County, Tennessee in mid-September ... Ziad Kharbush, 26, who had been a starter for Brown University for two years, died from complications of Type 1 diabetes in May ... Garrett Scott, three-time Pennsylvania state champ and former Penn State and Edinboro University wrestler, died in Michigan in February ... Chad Sindoni, 26, former Edinboro University wrestler, Pennsylvania high school state finalist, and high school teacher and coach, died in a traffic accident in New York State in January ... the same month, Jared Platt, who had wrestled at Blair Academy and Penn State, competed in mixed martial arts, and coached, died at age 26 after having been diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer last fall ... and Justin Chrzanowski, 28, former University of Michigan wrestler-turned-actor, died in early January. College wrestlers of the past who departed this year included James "Jimbo" Elrod, 62, upper-weight wrestler and football star at the University of Oklahoma in the early 1970s, was killed in a single-vehicle wreck on I-44 in his native Oklahoma in late December ... Anthony Bellai, a New York state champion wrestler, national junior college champ, and NCAA qualifier for the Oklahoma Sooners who went on to serve as a high school instructor and wrestling coach, died in his home in upstate New York in September at age 51 ... Duane Waters, 75, a wrestler at Iowa State Teachers College (now University of Northern Iowa) in the early 1960s who was active in the sport before and after college, passed away after complications from a stroke in September, while another UNI wrestler, Bill Donnelly, who wrestled for the Panthers in the late 1970s, lost his battle with colon cancer at age 57 ... Don Buzzard, Iowa high school state champ, then Iowa State NCAA wrestling finalist, died in April at age 69 ... and Bob Hartman, 84, first wrestler to earn NCAA All-American honors for Columbia University (in 1951) who went on to share his mat expertise as a collegiate coach, passed away March 15. College coaches In 2016, InterMat reported on the deaths of some retired college wrestling coaches. Dan Hinkel, who served as head wrestling coach at Pennsylvania's Kutztown University twice -- first from 1965 to 1972, then from 1989 to 1996 -- died in early October. Ron Finley, former Oregon State wrestler, 1964 U.S. Olympic team member and long-time (28 years) head wrestling coach at the now-defunct University of Oregon wrestling program, died in early July after a sustained cancer battle at age 75. Jim Kinyon, Oklahoma State wrestler who started his coaching career at high schools in Oklahoma, then coached at Colorado State University until the program's demise, passed away in February at age 80. In January, Chris Ford, 83, former Ohio State head wrestling coach from 1976-86, died while on a hunting trip with one of his sons. High school coaches A number of past and current high school wrestling coaches passed away in 2016. Just after Christmas, John Brown, West Virginia state champion wrestler, Mt. Vernon High School (Ohio) wrestling coach and mat official, died in a car crash in West Virginia at age 53. Maynard Aungst, two-time Pennsylvania state wrestling champion for Lock Haven High School in the late 1950s who went on coach at high schools in New York State, died in December at 76. September saw the passing of at least three coaches: Art Steves, 80, head coach at Pennsylvania's Fort LeBoeuf High from 1963-1989 who coached 23 District 10 champions and three state champs (despite never having been a wrestler) ... Alex Tetzloff, 21, assistant wrestling coach at Perkins High School in Sandusky, Ohio, died in an ATV accident in Indiana ... and Sam Lovello, Pennsylvania high school wrestling coach who accumulated over 500 wins in 39 seasons at Brandywine Heights and Wilson High schools, died at age 69. Bill "Red" Schmitt, wrestling coach at Illinois' Granite City High School just outside St. Louis from 1950-1985 -- eventually accumulating 1,400 wins -- passed away in August at 94. The same month, Bob Boesen, whose 50+ year wrestling coaching career at Sacred Heart and Columbus High schools in Waterloo, Iowa through the 2016 season, died at age 83. International This past year, InterMat wrote of the passing of two international wrestling competitors under unusual -- and tragic -- circumstances. In November, Reem Magdy, 16-year-old medal-winning women's freestyle wrestler for Egypt, died in what at first appeared to be a hit-and-run incident ... but investigators later alleged that her father, Magdy Kaboria -- himself a champion wrestler of the past -- had repeatedly beaten his daughter which led to her death. This summer, the body of Adlan Varayev, former wrestler and coach, was found weeks after he fell off a cliff and into a river while posing for a photo. Varayev, who won the silver medal in men's freestyle at 74 kilograms/163 pounds for the Soviet Union at the 1988 Seoul Olympics (having lost to USA's Kenny Monday in the gold-medal match), later became vice-president of the Russian Wrestling Federation. He was 54. Former wrestlers who died in service to their communities InterMat reported on two matmen of the past who died while on duty in their chosen careers as patrolmen in 2016. Des Moines police Sgt. Anthony "Tony" Beminio, who won the heavyweight title at the Iowa high school state championships for Iowa City West High School in 1996, was one of two officers killed in separate "ambush-style" shootings the same evening allegedly by the same man in the Des Moines area in early November ... while New Jersey state trooper Sean Cullen, 31, who wrestled at Cinnaminson High School in New Jersey and then at Pennsylvania's Lycoming College, was struck and killed helping to direct traffic around an accident scene on I-295 in Deptford in March.

Oklahoma State wrestlers prepare to compete at the Grapple on the Gridiron (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) From cheeseburgers to clothing to shampoo, any brand executive will tell you that to get more people to try your product, you have to get that product in front of more new people. The same goes for college wrestling. If college wresting wants to thrive and grow instead of stagnate and die it needs to increase its fan base. That's a fact. To do that the sport needs to get fresh eyeballs. The current model is woefully inadequate for that. Right now fans have dual matches streamed live online and sometimes on the Big Ten Network. Fans have the big tournaments streamed live online. If they're lucky the finals will air on a network, such as the Big Ten does with the Midlands. And fans have the NCAA Championships streamed and aired on an ESPN channel. That might get someone who is channel surfing to check it out, but it's not going to bring new folks to the sport in the numbers needed. The one event that brought 42-thousand plus fans, many of them not the college wrestling-faithful, was the Grapple on the Gridiron in Iowa City in November of 2015. Iowa and Oklahoma State held a dual meet in Kinnick Stadium that brought in a record number of fans. It was done in conjunction with the Iowa versus Minnesota football game that night. The teams treated tailgaters, who were there anyway and might not ever watch college wrestling, to an exciting match in a unique environment. So to build on that model and take the concept to the next level, let's have a college wrestling dual as part of college bowl game festivities in a warm weather city or even a domed stadium. Tom Brands coaching at the Grapple on the Gridiron (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) Iowa head wrestling coach Tom Brands is the architect of the Grapple on the Gridiron. He likes the idea of college wrestling at bowl games, but with a few caveats. Brands said we need to put an exciting product on the mat and "right now our product is not good enough to do that." He suggests we need rules that reward a scoring mentality and that won't happen until those rules are driven by coaches and referees. Right now there is not one voting referee on the rules committee, they are all ad hoc, non-voting members, according to Brands. His other must-have ingredient for success is a motivated and local event administration. "One that is connected to the community, that is well-placed and well-organized. Not one made up of volunteers who are half in," said Brands. Then there's the cost. Brands didn't put an exact number on the Grapple, but said it was in the tens of thousands, but they had a sponsor who offset much of the cost. Putting the state of the rules aside (I disagree with Brands a little here and think certain teams will put on an exciting event even with the current rules, but that might just be my wrestling fan-colored glasses), would a bowl committee even be interested in the idea? A source intimately involved with bowl activity and preparation, who didn't want to be named because he was not speaking in an official capacity, said yes. But he said it would have to be the right Bowl Committee. According to the source, "There's too much going on in larger bowls. They don't need another sport. But for some of the smaller bowls it could be an additional part of the entertainment so fans get more bang for their buck." He also mentioned cost as a potential drawback, but agreed that "underwriting happens all the time" and that it could be seen as a sponsorship opportunity. With 40 bowl games to choose from this is something to make a particular bowl game unique. Here's an example of how it might work. This year the Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl featured Army and North Texas. Army won 38-31 in overtime. It was held in the Cotton Bowl at Fair Park in Dallas. It was played on Dec. 27, aired on ESPN and drew a crowd of just over 39,000 people. Game time was at noon ET. On the afternoon before the game the No. 1 and No. 2-ranked dual teams in the nation could battle it out in the stadium. According to InterMat's latest dual team rankings that would be Oklahoma State and Iowa. Ironically, a rematch of the Grapple. Logistically it would take a crack grounds crew to reset the field, but my source says they can turn around a stadium in six or seven hours. Think about it, between the Dallas locals, the Army fans and the North Texas fans that might be thousands of new eyeballs for the sport and that's thousands more than college wrestling is getting now.

Mark Hall won the Southern Scuffle title at 174 (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) While the Nittany Lion wrestling team preps for its Big Ten opening dual road swing this weekend, six Penn Staters took part in the Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, Tenn. True freshman Mark Hall (Apple Valley, Minn.), red-shirting and wrestling unattached, dominated a loaded field to win the 174-pound title. Hall went 5-0 with two pins and a major to claim the crown. He opened up the tournament with a pin of The Citadel's Martin Duane in the first round. He then majored Oklahoma State's Jordan Rogers, 12-4, in the second round. In the quarterfinals, Hall faced top-seed Casey Kent of Penn, who was ranked No. 3 nationally. Hall took care of Kent with a dominating 9-4 win to move into the semifinals. He pinned Lehigh's Ryan Preisch, ranked No. 15 nationally, at the 6:29 mark and advanced to the championship round where he took on Oklahoma State's Kyle Crutchmer. Crutchmer entered the tournament ranked No. 6. Hall dominated the Cowboy grappler, opening up an early 6-0 lead before rolling to a 10-3 victory. Junior Kade Moss (South Jordan, Utah) picked up a win at 141 while red-shirt freshman Kellan Stout (Pittsburgh, Pa.) grabbed a victory at 197. Senior Caleb Livingston (Drexel Hill, Pa.), red-shirt freshman Dominic Giannangeli (Murrysville, Pa.) and red-shirt freshman Gary Dinmore (Skillman, N.J.) all competed as well. The Nittany Lions head into the Big Ten dual slate 4-0 on the year and have won 21 straight duals dating back to the end of the 2014-15 campaign. The Nittany Lions were scheduled to compete at the Reno Tournament of Champions in Reno, Nev., on Dec. 18 but weather prevented Penn State from travelling to the event. The squad has not wrestled since Dec. 11. Penn State will open up Big Ten dual meet action on Friday and Sunday, Jan. 6-8, 2017, on the road. The Nittany Lions visit Minnesota on Friday, Jan. 6, at 8 p.m. Eastern and Nebraska on Sunday, Jan. 8, at 3 p.m. Eastern. Penn State's next home dual is set for Friday, Jan. 13, when Rutgers invades Rec Hall for a 7 p.m. Big Ten dual. All Rec Hall dual meets are sold out, but a very limited number of Standing Room Only tickets can be purchased by calling 1-800-NITTANY. Penn State Fans are encouraged to follow Penn State wrestling via twitter at @pennstateWREST, on Penn State Wrestling's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pennstatewrestling and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/pennstatewrest. The 2016-17 Penn State wrestling season is presented by The Family Clothesline. This is PENN STATE. WRESTLING lives here.

J'den Cox defeated Brett Pfarr to win the Southern Scuffle title at 197 pounds (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) 125: 1st: Ethan Lizak (Minnesota) maj. dec. No. 11 Jack Mueller (Virginia), 10-2 3rd: No. 6 Darian Cruz (Lehigh) dec. No. 10 Sean Russell (Edinboro), 2-1 5th: Gabe Townsell (Stanford) dec. No. 12 Nick Piccininni (Oklahoma State), 4-3 7th: No. 13 Nathan Kraisser (Campbell) dec. No. 7 Barlow McGhee (Missouri), 1-0 133: 1st: No. 5 Kaid Brock (Oklahoma State) by default over No. 12 Scott Parker (Lehigh) 3rd: No. 16 Josh Alber (Northern Iowa) dec. No. 13 Kevin Devoy (Drexel), 7-4 5th: John Erneste (Missouri) maj. dec. No. 18 Mitchell Mckee (Minnesota), 9-0 7th: Korbin Myers (Edinboro) dec. Colby Smith (Appalachian St), 7-4 141: 1st: No. 1 Dean Heil (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 8 Joey Ward (North Carolina), 3-1 3rd: No. 2 Joey McKenna (Stanford) pinned No. 10 George Dicamillo (Virginia), 1:06 5th: Jaydin Eierman (Missouri) by default over Tristan Moran (Oklahoma State) 7th: Tommy Thorn (Minnesota) dec. Zach Synon (Missouri), 6-0 149: 1st: No. 3 Anthony Collica (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 4 Lavion Mayes (Missouri), 7-6 3rd: No. 15 Max Thomsen (Northern Iowa) dec. No. 7 Patricio Lugo (Edinboro), 3-1 5th: No. 9 Laike Gardner (Lehigh) dec. No. 17 Matt Cimato (Drexel), 6-2 7th: No. 19 Matthew Zovistoski (Appalachian State) dec. Nick Montgomery (Cleveland St), 8-3 157: 1st: No. 9 Jordan Kutler (Lehigh) dec. No. 3 Joe Smith (Oklahoma State), 7-1 3rd: No. 6 Joey Lavallee (Missouri) dec. No. 18 Andrew Atkinson (Virginia), 9-5 5th: No. 10 Jake Short (Minnesota) dec. Taylor Simaz (Cornell), 6-2 7th: Mitch Finesilver (Duke) dec. Chase Delande (Edinboro), 7-3 165: 1st: No. 10 Chandler Rogers (Oklahoma State) pinned No. 4 Daniel Lewis (Missouri), 1:18 3rd: No. 13 Bryce Steiert (Northern Iowa) dec. No. 13 (at 174) Nick Wanzek (Minnesota), 5-3 5th: Cole Walter (Lehigh) dec. Keilan Torres (Northern Colorado), 5-2 7th: Chad Pyke (North Carolina St) pinned Drew Longo (Lehigh), 3:19 174: 1st: Mark Hall (Penn State) dec. No. 6 Kyle Crutchmer (Oklahoma State), 10-3 3rd: No. 14 Ryan Preisch (Lehigh) dec. No. 8 Ethan Ramos (North Carolina), 14-7 5th: No. 3 Casey Kent (Penn) maj. dec. Connor Bass (Duke), 12-2 7th: No. 10 Taylor Lujan (Northern Iowa) dec. No. 17 Jadaen Bernstein (Navy), 16-9 184: 1st: No. 1 Gabe Dean (Cornell) dec. No. 6 Nolan Boyd (Oklahoma State), 7-2 3rd: Bryce Carr (Chattanooga) dec. Dakota Geer (Edinboro), 5-2 5th: No. 8 Hunter Gamble (Gardner Webb) by medical forfeit over No. 15 Drew Foster (Northern Iowa) 7th: No. 17 Chip Ness (North Carolina) dec. Dylan Gabel (Northern Colorado), 3-2 197: 1st: No. 1 J'den Cox (Missouri) dec. No. 2 Brett Pfarr (Minnesota), 6-4 3rd: No. 5 Preston Weigel (Oklahoma State) dec. Derek White (Oklahoma State), 1-0 5th: No. 16 Frank Mattiace (Penn) dec. Owen Scott (Cornell), 4-3 7th: Ben Honis (Cornell) maj. dec. Ben Darmstadt (Finger Lakes Prep), 14-5 285: 1st: No. 17 Jacob Kasper (Duke) dec. No. 6 Michael Kroells (Minnesota), 5-3 3rd: No. 11 Austin Schafer (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 9 Nathan Butler (Stanford), 5-2 5th: Mike Hughes (Hofstra) dec. No. 12 Jared Johnson (Chattanooga), 4-3 7th: No. 19 Billy Miller (Edinboro) dec. No. 8 Denzel Dejournette (Appalachian St), 7-3

Chandler Rogers celebrates after getting a pin in the Southern Scuffle finals (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- Four members of the Oklahoma State wrestling team took home individual titles at the Southern Scuffle Monday night, leading the Cowboys to the program's first team title at the event behind a tournament record 198 points. Oklahoma State finished 72 points ahead of second-place Missouri to shatter the tournament record for margin of victory as well. "I think (our performance) was good," head coach John Smith said. "I'm obviously pleased with the effort. I think it definitely showed us some areas we're struggling a little bit in. Of course, that big deficit you like to see. You did that in the quarterfinals and the semifinals. I think the one thing that we've got to take from here is that the couple of teams that we need to challenge for national championships may not have been here. Those are the things you keep an eye on. You don't want to pat yourself on the back too much, but be motivated by a good performance and a good team effort." Cowboys Kaid Brock, Dean Heil, Anthony Collica and Chandler Rogers each took home individual championships to set a program record for titles won at the Scuffle. Eight other Cowboys placed at the event. Brock picked up the first of three-straight titles for the Cowboys, winning by injury default over second-seeded Scott Parker of Lehigh. Brock seemed to be in control after the first period, leading 4-1 after a pair of takedowns to open the match; however, Parker narrowed the gap in the final frame scoring a two-point nearfall to tie the match at four. Parker was injured as Brock was escaping. After a 3-1 decision in his semifinal match earlier in the day, 141-pounder Dean Heil gutted out yet another tough win in his final match over North Carolina's Joey Ward. Heading into the home stretch of the third tied at one, Heil nearly took Ward to his back with seven seconds left. The reigning NCAA Champion settled for two with the takedown that would give Heil his second Southern Scuffle championship. With the win, he becomes the fifth Cowboy to win multiple Southern Scuffle titles. "This tournament was good for me because nothing was going right for me," Heil said. "I wasn't wrestling the way I (have all year). It means a lot to me that I can have all these things happen to me during my match and still come out on top. This tournament has great competition." Anthony Collica recorded a thrilling 7-6 decision in his final match against fourth-ranked Lavion Mayes of Missouri at 149. Collica recorded the first two takedowns of the match, snatching a 5-1 lead in the second before Mayes reversed to cut the lead to two before the end of the period. That set up a wild final frame, as Mayes quickly escaped to narrow the Cowboy senior's advantage to 5-4. The Tiger took the lead with a double-leg takedown, but Collica escaped in the final 30 seconds to take the match with the riding time point. Mayes wasn't the only ranked Tiger to go down Monday night, as Chandler Rogers clinched the fourth Cowboys individual title of the evening at 165 pounds with a first-period pin of fourth-ranked Daniel Lewis. Rogers appeared to be in trouble early in the match, as Lewis converted on a takedown about a minute into the match. Rogers didn't panic, as he reversed Lewis onto his back for the fall in 1:18. "You've just got to stick to the game plan," Rogers said. "You can't freak out when things don't go your way. The coaches told me that whatever happens, just keep the pace up and make it hard on them, so I made it hard." Senior 184-pounder Nolan Boyd put up a solid effort in his final against top-ranked Gabe Dean of Cornell, as he dropped a 7-2 decision that got away from him late in the match. Boyd had an impressive weekend overall, going 3-1 with two of those wins coming with bonus points. Sophomore Joe Smith finished second at 157 pounds after a tough, 7-1 loss to Lehigh's Jordan Kutler in his final match. Smith finished his second event of the season with a 4-1 overall record. Kyle Crutchmer finished second at 174 with a 4-1 overall mark as well, coming up short to unattached Penn State wrestler Mark Hall. Cowboys Preston Weigel and Derek White finished third and fourth, respectively, at 197 pounds after facing each other in the third-place match. Weigel took that match in a 1-0 decision. Redshirt freshman Nick Piccininni finished sixth at 125 pounds after dropping a 4-3 decision to Stanford's Gabe Townsell. Tristan Moran finished sixth as well, losing his match by injury default in the second period. The Cowboys will hit the mat again on Jan. 15 when they play host to third-ranked Iowa at Gallagher-Iba Arena at 2 p.m. Tickets are available at okstate.com/tickets.

125: No. 11 Jack Mueller (Virginia) pinned Gabe Townsell (Stanford), 1:50 Ethan Lizak (Minnesota) maj. dec. No. 12 Nick Piccininni (Oklahoma State), 15-5 133: No. 5 Kaid Brock (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 18 Mitchell McKee (Minnesota), 10-7 No. 12 Scott Parker (Lehigh) pinned No. 16 Josh Alber (UNI), 6:22 141: No. 1 Dean Heil (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 10 George DiCamillo (Virginia), 3-1 No. 8 Joey Ward (UNC) dec. No. 2 Joey McKenna (Stanford), 7-1 SV 149: No. 4 Lavion Mayes (Missouri) dec. No. 15 Max Thomsen (UNI), 4-2 No. 3 Anthony Collica (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 7 Pat Lugo (Edinboro), 6-1 157: No. 3 Joe Smith (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 18 Andrew Atkinson (Virginia), 5-4 No. 9 Jordan Kutler (Lehigh) dec. No. 6 Joey LaVallee (Missouri), 3-1 165: No. 4 Daniel Lewis (Missouri) dec. No. 13 Bryce Steiert (UNI), 7-2 No. 10 Chandler Rogers (Oklahoma State) pinned Keilan Torres (Northern Colorado), 4:21 174: Mark Hall (Penn State) pinned No. 14 Ryan Preisch (Lehigh), 6:29 No. 6 Kyle Crutchmer (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 8 Ethan Ramos (UNC) 184: No. 1 Gabe Dean (Cornell) pinned No. 18 Hunter Gamble (Gardner-Webb), 4:36 No. 6 Nolan Boyd (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 15 Drew Foster (UNI), 10-5 197: No. 1 J'den Cox (Missouri) maj. dec. No. 16 Frank Mattiace (Penn), 11-2 No. 2 Brett Pfarr (Minnesota) dec. No. 5 Preston Weigel (Oklahoma State), 7-2 285: No. 17 Jacob Kasper (Duke) dec. No. 11 Austin Schafer (Oklahoma State), 10-3 No. 6 Michael Kroells (Minnesota) dec. No. 9 Nathan Butler (Stanford), 6-2

J'den Cox advanced to the semifinals of the Southern Scuffle (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- Bonus points in three of six quarterfinals bouts helped No. 5 Mizzou Wrestling elevate from fifth place following the opening session, to second place at the end of the first day of the Southern Scuffle on Sunday at the McKenzie Arena. In all, four Tiger wrestlers advanced to the quarterfinals and four more are still in contention on the backside of the bracket as the Tigers sit in second place, trailing only No. 1 Oklahoma State. The Cowboys took a commanding lead after the first day, scoring 116 points, while the Tigers are second with 70.5 points. Two-and-a-half points separate the Tigers and Minnesota, who is currently in fifth place. Lehigh is in third with 69.5 points, while Northern Iowa is in fourth with 68.5 points and the Gophers in fifth with 68 points. With wins in their quarterfinal matches, redshirt sophomore 165-pounder Daniel Lewis (Blue Springs, Mo.), senior 197-pounder J'den Cox (Columbia, Mo.), redshirt senior 149-pounder Lavion Mayes (Mascoutah, Ill.) and redshirt junior 157-pounder Joey Lavallee (Reno, Nev.) all advanced to Monday's semifinals. Lewis and Mayes scored falls to advance to the semis, while Cox registered a technical fall and Lavallee a decision victory. The fall for Lewis capped a highly impressive 3-0 day for Lewis, who did not see the third period in his three matches. The Tiger sophomore pinned Elliott Raiford (Appalachian State) in his opening match at 2:40, before recorded a 16-0 technical fall in 3:12 over Devin Kane (North Carolina), and a fall over Drew Longo (Lehigh) at 1:09. Cox scored bonus points in all three of his matches as well, scoring technical falls in his first and third matches, with a win by major decision in between. With the tree wins, Cox has 120 career wins and moves ahead of Kenny Burleson for the ninth-most wins in program history. The two technical falls are his 18th and 19th of his career, which ranks second in program history. Mayes snuck by in his first two matches, winning 3-1 and 4-1, before pinning Ty Buckiso (Citadel) at 1:13 to advance to the semis. Lavallee earned three decision victories on the day, including a 7-0 win over Chase Delande (Edinboro), to improve to improve to 14-0 on the season. On the backside of the bracket, redshirt junior 125-pounder Barlow McGhee (Rock Island, Ill.), redshirt sophomore 133-pounder John Erneste (Kansas City, Mo.), redshirt freshman 141-pounder Jaydin Eierman (Columbia, Mo.) and redshirt senior 141-pounder Zach Synon (Cary, Ill.) are all still alive and will wrestle for third place on Monday. McGhee earned decision wins in his first two matches before falling to No. 11 Nick Piccininni (Oklahoma State), 7-4, in the quarterfinals. Erneste recorded a fall in his first match and a decision win in his second before falling to No. 5 Kaid Brook (Oklahoma State), 14-5, in the quarterfinals. Eierman went 4-1 on the day, falling to No. 5 George DiCamillo (Virginia) in the round of 16 before recording two wins on the backside to advance to Monday's session. The Tiger freshman recorded two technical falls on the day in his first event at 141 pounds. Synon went 3-1 on the day, recording two major decisions and a decision win over highly-ranked prospect out of high school, AC Headlee (North Carolina), 4-3, in his final bout. Redshirt freshman 174-pounder Dylan Wisman (Winchester, Va.) and redshirt freshman heavyweight Austin Myers (Alexandria, Ky.) each scored bonus points on the backside to aid Mizzou's ascension to second place. Wisman scored a fall over Drew Hall (Utah Valley), while Myers scored a four-point near-fall as time ran out to earn a 12-4 major decision over JJ Everard (Northern Iowa). Mizzou's eight wrestlers who are still in contention will wrestle tomorrow, beginning with a consolation round at 10 a.m. (ET). The Southern Scuffle championship finals and medal matches are slated to begin at 7 p.m. (ET). FloWrestling will continue to provide coverage of the tournament. For all the latest on Mizzou Wrestling, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (MizzouWrestling). Team Scores after Day One (Top 10) 1. Oklahoma State 116 2. Mizzou 70.5 3. Lehigh 69.5 4. Northern Iowa 68.5 5. Minnesota 68 6. Virginia 46.5 7. Stanford 44.5 8. North Carolina 43.5 9. Cornell 36.5 10. Edinboro 33

Dean Heil advanced to the semifinals of Southern Scuffle (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- All 10 Oklahoma State wrestling starters advanced to the semifinals of the Southern Scuffle Sunday evening. Along with the 10 still competing in the championship bracket, five are still alive in the consolation bracket at their respective weights. The Cowboys hold a commanding lead in the team race as well, as Oklahoma State currently holds 116 team points heading into the event's second and final day. That total puts the Cowboys nearly 46 points ahead of second-place Missouri. "I think we all had to grind through a lot of matches today that maybe my guys weren't prepared for," head coach John Smith said. "I think they thought it was going to be a little bit easier. It's nice to grind through matches and get your hand raised, and I think just about every one of them did. It's definitely not the style I'm looking for at this time, but we just need to focus on separating the scores and not wrestling down to our opponent." The Cowboy starters combined to go 30-0 overall on Sunday. After the round of 32, 17 Pokes were still alive in the championship bracket. Of those 17, 14 would advance to the championship quarterfinals. Redshirt freshman Nick Piccininni gutted out three decisions in his first day in Chattanooga to remain in the hunt at 125 pounds going into Monday's semifinals. Seeded sixth, Piccininni opened the day with a 7-2 decision over Virginia's Louie Hayes. Following a 10-3 win over Chattanooga's Fabian Gutierrez in the round of 16, the Cowboy posted perhaps the most impressive win of his young career in a 7-4 decision over third-seeded and seventh-ranked Barlow McGhee of Missouri. Piccininni is set to match up with Minnesota's Ethan Lizak in the semifinals tomorrow. Top seeded 133-pounder Kaid Brock rolled through his first three matches of the week, recording decisions over Virginia's Micky Phillipi and Edinboro's Anthony Rivera to advance to the quarterfinals. In the quarters, Brock survived an early scare from Missouri's John Erneste, as the pair traded scores in the first two minutes of the match. Brock would pull away shortly after, however, securing his spot in the semifinals in a 14-5 major decision. Brock will face No. 5 seed Mitchell McKee of Minnesota on Sunday. Reigning national champion at 141 pounds Dean Heil opened his day strong, posting a 17-1 technical fall over Gardner Webb's Ryan Hull in the round of 32. The remainder of Heil's day was not so easy, as the Cowboy dug deep to pull out a pair of narrow, one-point decisions over North Carolina's AC Headlee and Minnesota's Tommy Thorn. Heil's opponents took multiple good shots, but it was his defense that carried him into the semifinals, where he will face off with fifth-seeded George DiCamillo of Virginia tomorrow. Anthony Collica continued the momentum from his monstrous pin in the Cowboys' last dual against Cornell, as the senior recorded two of his three wins by way of major decision to move into the semifianls. The other victory came by injury default over Duke's Michael Monica in the first period. The 157-pound bracket's top seed Joe Smith was impressive Sunday in his second appearance since rejoining the Cowboy lineup earlier this month. Smith opened with an 11-3 major decision over Appalachian State's Angel Nahar in the round of 32 before preceding to post decisions over Air Force's Dane Robbins and No. 8 seed Mitch Finesilver of Duke. Seeded No. 3 at 165 pounds, redshirt sophomore Chandler Rogers advanced to the semis with two of his three wins coming with bonus points. Rogers opened with a 13-5 major decision over North Carolina's Jack Clark before a 17-2 technical fall over Gardner Webb's Tyler Marinelli in the round of 16. Rogers would finish off his day with a narrow, 3-2 decision over Lehigh's Cole Walter. Kyle Crutchmer had an impressive sudden victory win over seventh-seeded Jadaen Bernstein of Navy in the quarterfinals that would lock him into tomorrow's semifinal matchup against No. 3 seed Ethan Ramos of North Carolina. Tied at two at the end of regulation, Crutchmer notched the decisive takedown in under 30 seconds to seal the win, adding to a major decision over Edinboro's Ty Schoffstall and a decision over Minnesota's Brandon Krone earlier in the day. Nolan Boyd, the second seed at 184 pounds, only wrestled two matches Sunday, but made the most of both by recording a pair of bonus point victories. Boyd received a bye into the round of 16, where he notched an 18-4 major decision over Chattanooga's Dominic Lampe. In the quarterfinals, Boyd was dominant from start to finish, posting a technical fall with riding time that would send him to the semis to face Northern Iowa's Drew Foster. Redshirt sophomore Preston Weigel earned a hard-fought win over Cornell's Jake Anderson in the quarterfinals in which the Cowboy trailed for much of the match. Anderson chose down to start the third with Weigel trailing, 2-0. Weigel not only held on for the duration of the period, but turned Anderson twice to seize control of the match, which he took, 5-2. Heavyweight Austin Schafer proved himself worthy of the bracket's No. 1 seed Sunday, recording four bonus point victories, including a fall, two major decisions and a tech fall, to cruise into the semifinals. This season, Schafer has made the most of the opportunities he's been given, leading all starters with eight bonus point wins. He'll face fifth-seeded Jacob Kasper of Duke in the semi tomorrow. Five Cowboys remain alive in the tournament's backdraw after Tristan Moran (141), Boo Lewallen (141), Davey Dolan (157) and Derek White (197) each came up short in their quarterfinal matches. Meanwhile, Eli Hale has won his way through the 125-pound consolation bracket after falling in the round of 16 on Sunday. Moran and Lewallen both had impressive days, despite both being topped by higher-seeded opponents in their final matches of the evening. Moran went 2-1, recording a major decision and a second-period fall in his first two matches before dropping his quarterfinal match against Virginia's George DiCamillo in a 9-4 decision. Lewallen went 2-1 as well on the day, letting his quarterfinal match against No. 3 seed Joey Ward get away from him late. Dolan also had a nice day, picking up a couple of wins including the highlight 9-6 decision over No. 3 seed and 19th-ranked May Bethea of Penn in the round of 16. Derek White went 2-1 before coming up short in a 10-4 decision to No. 2 Brett Pfarr of Minnesota. Action at the Southern Scuffle is set to get back underway on Monday at 10 a.m. ET. Watch all of the matches live on FloWrestling.org with a subscription, or follow live stats here.

125: Gabe Townsell (Stanford) dec. No. 13 Nathan Kraisser (Campbell), 6-5 No. 11 Jack Mueller (Virginia) dec. No. 10 Sean Russell (Edinboro), 6-2 No. 12 Nick Piccininni (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 7 Barlow McGhee (Missouri), 7-4 Ethan Lizak (Minnesota) maj. dec. No. 6 Darian Cruz (Lehigh), 8-0 133: No. 5 Kaid Brock (Oklahoma State) maj. dec. John Erneste (Missouri), 14-5 No. 18 Mitchell McKee (Minnesota) dec. No. 17 Mark Grey (Cornell), 7-1 TB No. 16 Josh Alber (UNI) dec. No. 13 Kevin Devoy (Drexel), 8-4 No. 12 Scott Parker (Lehigh) dec. Colby Smith (Appalachian State), 12-8 141: No. 1 Dean Heil (Oklahoma State) dec. Tommy Thorn (Minnesota), 2-1 No. 10 George DiCamillo (UVA) dec. Tristan Moran (Oklahoma State), 9-4 No. 8 Joey Ward (UNC) dec. Boo Lewallen (Oklahoma State), 8-6 No. 2 Joey McKenna (Stanford) dec. Jared Prince (Navy), 7-3 149: No. 4 Lavion Mayes (Missouri) pinned Ty Buckiso (Citadel), 1:13 No. 15 Max Thomsen (UNI) dec. No. 9 Laike Gardner (Lehigh), 6-4 No. 7 Pat Lugo (Edinboro) dec. No. 17 Matt Cimato (Drexel), 3-2 No. 3 Anthony Collica (Oklahoma State) maj. dec. Nick Montgomery (Cleveland State), 14-6 157: No. 3 Joe Smith (Oklahoma State) dec. Mitch Finesilver (Duke), 3-2 No. 18 Andrew Atkinson (UVA) maj. dec. No. 10 Jake Short (Minnesota), 14-4 No. 9 Jordan Kutler (Lehigh) dec. Davey Dolan (Oklahoma State), 5-1 No. 6 Joey Lavallee (Missouri) dec. Chase Delande (Edinboro), 7-0 165: No. 4 Daniel Lewis (Missouri) pinned Drew Longo (Lehigh), 1:09 No. 13 Bryce Steiert (UNI) dec. No. 13 (at 174) Nick Wanzek (Minnesota), 6-4 No. 10 Chandler Rogers (Oklahoma State) dec. Cole Walter (Lehigh), 3-2 Keilan Torres (Northern Colorado) dec. Chad Pyke (NC State), 3-2 174: Mark Hall (Penn State) dec. No. 3 Casey Kent (Penn), 9-4 No. 14 Ryan Preisch (Lehigh) maj. dec. No. 10 Taylor Lujan (UNI), 14-6 No. 8 Ethan Ramos (UNC) dec. Connor Bass (Duke), 11-5 No. 6 Kyle Crutchmer (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 17 Jadaen Bernstein (Navy), 4-2 184: No. 1 Gabe Dean (Cornell) maj. dec. Dakota Geer (Edinboro), 16-6 No. 18 Hunter Gamble (Gardner-Webb) dec. No. 17 Chip Ness (UNC), 8-5 No. 15 Drew Foster (UNI) dec. Bryce Carr (Chattanooga), 6-4 No. 6 Nolan Boyd (Oklahoma State) tech. fall Dylan Gabel (Northern Colorado), 18-3 197: No. 1 J'den Cox (Missouri) tech. fall Owen Scott (Cornell), 22-7 No. 16 Frank Mattiace (Penn) maj. dec. Ben Darmstadt (Finger Lakes Prep), 14-5 No. 5 Preston Weigel (Oklahoma State) dec. Jake Anderson (Cornell), 5-2 No. 2 Brett Pfarr (Minnesota) dec. Derek White (Oklahoma State), 10-4 285: No. 11 Austin Schafer (Oklahoma State) maj. dec. Joey Goodhart (Drexel), 8-0 No. 17 Jacob Kasper (Duke) dec. No. 8 Denzel Dejournette (Appalachian State), 9-7 No. 9 Nathan Butler (Stanford) dec. No. 12 Jared Johnson (Chattanooga), 3-2 No. 6 Michael Kroells (Minnesota) dec. No. 19 Billy Miller (Edinboro), 10-8

Live Blog Southern Scuffle

The two days of competition at The Clash XV - National High School Wrestling Duals came to a conclusion on Saturday night from Rochester, Minn. Over the course of three dual meets on Friday and three more on Saturday, the following wrestlers went undefeated, while competing in either five or six bouts. NOTE: wrestlers are listed at the lowest weight in which they competed during the event 106 pounds: Christian Goin (Washington, Ill.), Zack Kvavle (Corona del Sol, Ariz.), Sam Latona (Thompson, Ala.), Jacob Lindsey (Providence Catholic, Ill.), Angelo Rini (St. Edward, Ohio) 113: Jeron Matson (Kenyon-Wanamingo, Minn.), P.J. Ogunsanya (Oak Park River Forest, Ill.), Lincoln Turman (Pierre, S.D.) 120: No. 12 (at 113) Matthew Olguin (Buchanan, Calif.), No. 19 Dack Punke (Washington, Ill.), Patrick Ramirez (De La Salle, Calif.), William Turman (Pierre, S.D.) 126: Gabe Hixenbaugh (Thompson, Ala.), Ethan Leake (Buchanan, Calif.) 132: Jake Gliva (Simley, Minn.), Gavin Ignaszewski (Albert Lea, Minn.), Bradley Kish (Kenyon-Wanamingo, Minn.), Adam McSorley (Hastings, Minn.), No. 7 Jason Renteria (Oak Park River Forest, Ill.), No. 3 (at 126) Joey Silva (Lake Highland Prep, Fla.) 138: Tyler Eischens (Anoka, Minn.), Quayin Short (Simley, Minn.) 145: Garrett Aldrich (Albert Lea, Minn.), Abe Assad (Glenbard North, Ill.), Nate Larson (Apple Valley, Minn.), No. 18 Peyton Robb (Owatonna, Minn.), Lawrence Saenz (Vacaville, Calif.) 152: Vincent Dolce (Corona del Sol, Ariz.), Calvin Germinaro (Anoka, Calif.) 160: No. 14 (at 152) Jake Brindley (Lake Highland Prep, Fla.), Owen Brown (Commerce, Ga.), Brandon Konecny (Corona del Sol, Ariz.), No. 3 Layne van Anrooy (Roseburg, Ore.) 170: No. 2 (at 160) Jake Allar (St. Michael-Albertville, Minn.), Jonathan Hackett (De La Salle, Calif.), Kenny O'Neil (Prior Lake, Minn.), Devin Winston (Park Hill, Mo.) 182: Austin Harris (Roseburg, Ore.), No. 13 (at 195) Brandon Moen (Owatonna, Minn.), No. 6 (at 170) Bryce Rogers (Lake Highland Prep, Fla.) 195: No. 9 Jacob Raschka (Pewaukee, Wis.), No. 1 Jacob Warner (Washington, Ill.) 220: Knox Allen (Commerce, Ga.), No. 14 Darryl Aiello (De La Salle, Calif.), Cade Belshay (Buchanan, Calif.), No. 5 Jared Campbell (St. Edward, Ohio), Chris Middlebrooks (Oak Park River Forest, Ill.), Jace Punke (Washington, Ill.) 285: Blaze Beltran (Pewaukee, Wis.), Jake Levengood (Vacaville, Calif.), No. 1 Gable Steveson (Apple Valley, Minn.)

The brackets have been released for the Southern Scuffle, which takes place Sunday and Monday in Chattanooga, Tennessee. InterMat will be providing a live blog throughout the competition for fans to follow the action and interact. Link: Brackets

While the 50-team field at the 50th edition of the Powerade Wrestling Tournament featured six nationally ranked teams, it was the individual stars who dominated the show at Canon-McMillan High School just south of Pittsburgh on Thursday and Friday. Out of the fourteen weight class champions, eleven were nationally ranked, including eight that are ranked within the top four nationally. A pair of wrestlers ranked first in the country earned their third Powerade gold medals on Friday night, with each remaining undefeated during their high school career. Gavin Teasdale (Jefferson Morgan) won the 120 pound weight class title with a 10-4 decision over Logan Macri (Canon-McMillan), who had upset No. 5 Beau Bartlett (Wyoming Seminary) 3-2 in the semifinal round. Spencer Lee (Franklin Regional) won the 126 class with a 9-0 finals major decision over No. 17 Jack Davis (Wyoming Seminary). Three others ranked second nationally earned championships on Friday evening as well. Kurt McHenry (St. Paul's, Md.) took the title at 106 pounds with two technical falls and two major decisions leading up to a 9-3 finals decision over Darren Miller (Kiski Area). Jarod Verkleeren (Hempfield Area) won his first title at this tournament with a 2-1 victory in the final over No. 9 (at 152) Frankie Gissendanner (Penfield, N.Y.). Cameron Coy (Penn Trafford) stood on top of the podium after a 2-1 victory over No. 5 Stephan Glasgow (Bound Brook, N.J.) in the 152 pound final, Glasgow had beaten No. 8 Shane Griffith (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) 3-2 in the semifinal. The other three top four ranked wrestlers to earn titles were No. 4 Trent Hidlay (Mifflin County) at 170 pounds, No. 3 Nino Bonaccorsi (Bethel Park) at 182, and No. 4 Noah Adams (Independence, W.V.) at 220. Adams beat Josiah Jones (Bishop McCort) 2-1 in the final, after Jones had upset No. 7 Francis Duggan (Cedar Cliff) 3-1 in the semifinal round. Another trio of nationally ranked wrestlers also won championships at the tournament: No. 12 Cole Matthews (Reynolds) at 138 pounds, No. 7 Mekhi Lewis (Bound Brook, N.J.) at 160, and No. 8 Jake Woodley (North Allegheny) at 195. Matthews beat No. 17 Josh Humphreys (St. Alban's, W.Va.) 5-4 in the finals bout; Lewis beat Zach Hartman (Belle Vernon Area) 11-5, after Hartman upset No. 10 Trevell Timmons (Lockport, Ill.) with a 2-2 ultimate tiebreak rideout victory in the semifinal; and Woodley upended No. 4 Gavin Hoffman (Montoursville) 5-2 in the final, after Hoffman beat No. 14 Cole Nye (Bishop McDevitt) 10-2 in the semifinal. In terms of the team dynamic, it was No. 13 Wyoming Seminary taking home the team title with 161 points on the strength of seven placers, anchored by the weight class title earned by Jake Riegel (132). Runner-up in the tournament were No. 40 Kiski Area with 129 points on the strength of five placers, led by runner-up Darren Miller (106). Third place went to No. 19 Lockport, Ill. with 128 points on the strength of five placers, led by runner-up Ronald Tucker, Jr. (285). No. 9 Bergen Catholic, N.J. only earned 90 points to finish in tenth place, but was missing three nationally ranked wrestlers in No. 6 Robert Howard (113), No. 15 Gerard Angelo (138), and No. 20 Josh McKenzie (195); Howard and Angelo placed top three at the Beast, while McKenzie missed that season-opening event. The other two ranked teams in the event finished tied for seventh with 96 points, No. 42 St. Paul's (Md.) and No. 44 North Allegheny. St. Paul's placed three wrestlers, led by the title from McHenry, but were missing three-time National Prep placer Daniel Planta (126); while North Allegheny placed four, anchored by the title from Woodley. Rounding out the weight class champions were freshman phenom Sam Hillegas (North Hills), who dropped down to 113 pounds for the first time in this event, and Super 32 champion Brandon Furman (Canon-McMillan) at 285.

Four nationally ranked teams, close to 15 nationally ranked individuals, plus many more strong teams and accomplished individuals came to Brecksville (Ohio) to compete in its annual Invitational Holiday Tournament. After two days of wrestling, three teams finished within twelve points at the top of the team standings in a battle that came down to the penultimate match of the finals session. Eventually winning the tournament was No. 15 Elyria, which had eight wrestlers place, and amassed 188 points. The Pioneers were led by tournament champions J.T. Brown (182) and No. 10 Kevin Vough (285), with Brown's win in the final coming by 10-4 decision over returning state champion Kaden Russell (St. Ignatius). They also overcame the absence of state champion Brandon Fenton (120), Super 32 placer Tristan Brady (160), and state qualifier Brendan Price (170). Other placers included Dylan Shawver (113) finishing second, Mick Burnett (106) and Josh Breeding (126) in fifth, Cameron King (195) taking seventh, along with Matt Zuckerman (120) and Drew Butera (152) placing eight. Shawver beat three state placers on the way to his runner-up finish, which included a 9-7 win in the quarterfinal over No. 7 Gabe Tagg (Brecksville). Second in the standings was Mechanicsburg, which finally had all of its lineup components in place and performed most impressively. The Indians placed six wrestlers, including five within the top three. Anchoring their effort was their lone champion, No. 1 Kaleb Romero (170), who had two pins, three major decisions, and a technical fall in the tournament. Runner-up finishes came from Tyler Wetzel (126), Alex Rhine (132), and Colt Yinger (152); Yinger fell 4-3 in the tiebreaker in the second to last championship match, a match that if he won gives Mechanicsburg a tie of the team title. Other placers were Tanner Smith (145) in third and Dylan Hartley (285) in fifth. An impressive third place finish came from No. 10 Olentangy Liberty, which placed seven wrestlers despite missing two-to-three key components in state placer Trey Grenier (145), state runner-up Trevor Lawson (170), and Ironman placer Cole Fitzpatrick (182). The Patriots were led by their tournament champion Brakan Mead (113), along with runner-up finishes coming from Jordan Rosselli (120) and No. 4 Kyle Lawson (160). Other placement finishes on the way to a 176.5 point performance came from No. 9 Connor Brady (152) finishing third, Blake Saito (106) taking fourth, Carson Kharchilava (145) in fifth, and Zach Furnas (132) earning seventh. The tournament's Outstanding Wrestler was No. 8 Georgio Poullas (Canfield), champion at 160 pounds, who upended three-time state chamion Kyle Lawson 6-3 in a battle of returning state champions and top ten in the nation talent. Other matches in the tournament for the Ironman champion Poullas were won by technical fall, 7-1 decision, pin, and major decision. In the other finals showdown involving nationally ranked talent, No. 5 Lucas Byrd (LaSalle) avenged an Ironman finals defeat to No. 4 Julian Tagg (Brecksville) with an 8-4 victory on Friday evening in the 106 pound match. Byrd scored a pair of first period takedowns, Tagg had a takedown in the third period, while Byrd scored a takedown very late in the third to close it out. Byrd also had victories in the tournament over Ironman placer Mick Burnett (Elyria) 3-1 in the quarterfinal and a 7-1 semifinal victory over No. 17 Jake Canitano (Solon), while Tagg beat No. 9 Jacob Decatur (CVCA) 3-2 in the semifinal. One additional match of ranked wrestlers took place during the tournament, and it came in the 126 pound semifinal match, where No. 8 Jordan Decatur (CVCA) beat No. 12 Drew Mattin (Delta) 11-4 in the semifinal round. That result also denied Mattin the chance to win a fourth title in this event, something that just four have done in the 56-year history of the event. Decatur won his finals match 9-4 over Wetzel. The host school Brecksville, which is ranked No. 29 nationally, placed fourth in the tournament with 163 points. The Bees placed six wrestlers led by runner-up Julian Tagg (106); Gabe Tagg (113) placed third, Jason Bronstrup (145) and Andrew Perelka (120) placed fourth, Marco Regalbuto (132) placed fifth, and Nolan Wochna (126) finished seventh. No. 47 Lowell (Mich.) placed sixth in the event with 138.5 points, as the Red Arrows placed five on the podium. Freshman Austin Boone (132) placed third, Dave Kruse (182) and Elijah Boulton (220) took fourth, Avery Mutschler (138) earned sixth, while Austin Engle (170) finished eighth. Fifth in the standings was Cincinnati Elder with 158 points, led by tournament champion Antonio McCloud (220). Other placers for the Panthers included Ti'Ric Evans (160) and Alec Moore-Nash (285) earning third, Connor Craig (152) taking seventh, and Jake Meredieth (138) finishing eighth. Rounding out the weight class champions were three-time state placer Greg Quinn (Shadyside) at 120 pounds; two-time state placer Jarrod Brezovec (Aurora) at 132; No. 18 Corey Shie (LaSalle) at 138; state champion Kevon Freeman (Lake Catholic) at 145; state placer Jake Marsh (Marysville) at 152, who beat nationally ranked Brady 6-5 in the semifinal; and No. 7 Brandon Whitman (Dundee, Mich.) at 195.

Brandon Sorensen won the Midlands title at 149 pounds (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) 125: 1st: Thomas Gilman (Iowa) maj. dec. Tim Lambert (Nebraska), 13-4 3rd: Josh Terao (American) by medical forfeit over Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) 5th: Shakur Laney (Ohio) dec. Lucas Malmberg (Messiah), 9-3 7th: Johnny Jimenez (Wisconsin) dec. Christian Moody (Oklahoma), 12-9 133: 1st: Eric Montoya (Nebraska) dec. Zane Richards (Illinois), 6-4 3rd: Seth Gross (South Dakota State) maj. dec. Earl Hall (Iowa State), 13-1 5th: Jamal Morris (NC State) dec. Scott Delvecchio (Rutgers), 7-5 7th: Cameron Kelly (Ohio) dec. Eli Stickley (Wisconsin), 5-3 141: 1st: Kevin Jack (NC State) dec. Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton), 1-0 3rd: Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) tech. fall Chad Red (Nebraska), 17-0 5th: Kanen Storr (Iowa State) dec. Russell Rohlfing (CSU Bakersfield), 7-5 7th: Christopher Carton (Iowa) dec. Nick Zanetta (Pittsburgh), 4-1 149: 1st: Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) dec. Justin Oliver (Central Michigan), 7-1 3rd: Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) dec. Davion Jeffries (Oklahoma), 6-2 5th: Sam Speno (NC State) by injury default over Joey Delgado (Oregon State) 7th: Anthony Giraldo (Rutgers) dec. Alfred Bannister (Maryland), 4-3 157: 1st: Michael Kemerer (Iowa) dec. Tyler Berger (Nebraska), 6-5 TB2 3rd: Joshua Shields (Arizona State) maj. dec. Evan Wick (Wisconsin), 8-0 5th: Jason Tsirtis (Arizona State) dec. Colin Heffernan (Central Michigan), 3-2 7th: Alex Griffin (Purdue) dec. John Van Brill (Rutgers), 5-1 165: 1st: Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) dec. Chad Walsh (Rider), 10-6 3rd: Anthony Valencia (Arizona State) pinned Alex Marinelli (Iowa), 2:41 5th: Kaleb Young (Iowa) dec. Lorenzo De La Riva (CSU Bakersfield), 9-4 7th: Clark Glass (Oklahoma) dec. Andrew Fogarty (North Dakota State), 6-4 174: 1st: Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) maj. dec. Lelund Weatherspoon (Iowa State), 11-2 3rd: Zac Brunson (Illinois) dec. Alex Meyer (Iowa), 9-5 5th: Devin Skatzka (Indiana) dec. Ryan Christensen (Wisconsin), 9-2 7th: Jordan Pagano (Rutgers) maj. dec. Josef Johnson (Harvard), 15-2 184: 1st: Timothy Dudley (Nebraska) dec. Jack Dechow (Old Dominion), 4-2 3rd: Samuel Brooks (Iowa) dec. Nathan Jackson (Indiana), 10-5 5th: Pete Renda (NC State) by medical forfeit over Nicholas Gravina (Rutgers) 7th: Michael Macchiavello (NC State) by medical forfeit over Myles Martin (Ohio State) 197: 1st: Aaron Studebaker (Nebraska) dec. Nate Rotert (South Dakota State), 4-1 3rd: Shawn Scott (Northern Illinois) dec. Ricky Robertson (Wisconsin), 2-1 TB 5th: Ryan Wolfe (Rider) by medical forfeit over Kevin Beazley (Old Dominion) 7th: Matt Williams (CSU Bakersfield) dec. Jacob Berkowitz (Northwestern), 11-6 285: 1st: Tanner Hall (Arizona State) dec. Jordan Wood (Lehigh), 4-1 3rd: Samuel Stoll (Iowa) pinned Gage Hutchison (Eastern Michigan), 4:45 5th: Collin Jensen (Nebraska) won by medical forfeit over Connor Medbery (Wisconsin) 7th: Cody Crawford (Oregon State) dec. Conan Jennings (Northwestern), 1-0

Thomas Gilman won the Midlands title at 125 pounds (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) EVANSTON, Illinois -- The University of Iowa wrestling team won three individual titles and scored a team total of 150.5 points to win the 54th annual Midlands Championships on Friday at Welsh-Ryan Arena. In the team point race, Iowa was followed by Nebraska (135.5), Arizona State (106.5), Rutgers (93), Illinois (83), and NC State (78). "The team title is important, but three champions, two third-place finishes, having two true freshmen place, and having nine placers overall, that's what's important," said UI head wrestling coach Tom Brands. The Hawkeyes crowned three champions, including Thomas Gilman (125), Brandon Sorensen (149), and Michael Kemerer (157). Gilman and Sorensen defended their respective titles. Top- seeded Gilman took the 125 title for the third time in four years at the Midlands Championships. He won titles in 2013 and 2015, and finished second in 2014. Gilman gathered his fifth bonus-point win of the tournament with a major decision over second-seeded Tim Lambert (Nebraska), 13-4, in the finals. He was voted "Champion of Champions" by his fellow first-place finishers and was awarded the "Dan Gable Most Outstanding Wrestler" of the weekend. Gilman closes the 54th Midlands Championships with an overall tournament record of 20-3. "It's not about the win, it's how you win," Gilman said. "I can win. I can win against anyone, but it's how I beat those guys that matters… if I'm doing the right things, I'm trying to get the most out of myself all the time and if I get the most out of myself the team race will take care of itself." Sorensen, seeded No. 1 at 149, earned his second consecutive Midlands championship after defeating the No. 2 seed Justin Oliver (Central Michigan) in sudden victory. At the end of regulation, the wrestlers were tied at one, but Sorensen put together a takedown and four-point nearfall sequence in overtime to defend his title. Redshirt freshman Kemerer earned his title at 157 pounds in exciting fashion against top-seeded Tyler Berger (Nebraska). The wrestlers battled through two sudden victory overtimes, exchanging escapes and official reviews with Kemerer prevailing in a 6-5 decision. The No 2 seed tallied a 6-0 record in the tournament and improved on last year's fifth-place finish. "Sometimes during the breaks they were taking away my points, sometimes they were taking away his points, but I just had to clear my mind quickly and get ready to wrestle," Kemerer said. "Ultimately going out there and attacking quick is the best way to do it". Iowa closed out the Midlands Championships with two third-place finishes, as fourth-seeded Sammy Brooks (184) and third-seeded Sam Stoll (285) each won their consolation finals matches. Brooks gathered his second third-place finish in four years after defeating fifth-seeded Nathan Jackson (Indiana) 10-5, while Stoll pinned Gage Hutchinson (Eastern Michigan) in 4:44 to place third for the second straight year. Freshman Alex Marinelli, wrestling unattached at 165, and senior Alex Meyer, seeded second at 174, both collected fourth-place finishes in their respective weight classes. Marinelli was pinned by his fourth-seeded opponent, Arizona State's Anthony Valencia, while Meyer fell to Illinois' Zac Brunson, 9-5. Kaleb Young, wrestling unattached, placed fifth in his Midlands debut with a 9-4 decision over Lorenzo De La Riva of CSU Bakersfield. Young went 5-2 at the tournament and is 19-5 overall this season. Iowa returns to action Friday, Jan. 6 at Michigan. Action is set to begin at 6 p.m. (CT) in Ann Arbor. "We've got to be ready to go," Brands said. "We've got to be ready for a team, going into Cliff Keen Arena, that's going to do what they can to derail us."

125: No. 1 Thomas Gilman (Iowa) dec. No. 15 Josh Terao (American), 8-6 No. 8 Tim Lambert (Nebraska) dec. Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern), 8-2 133: No. 2 Zane Richards (Illinois) maj. dec. Jamal Morris (NC State), 18-5 No. 4 Eric Montoya (Nebraska) dec. No. 6 Seth Gross (South Dakota State), 2-0 SV 141: No. 3 Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton) dec. Chad Red (Nebraska), 5-3 SV No. 5 Kevin Jack (NC State) dec. No. 6 Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers), 3-2 149: No. 2 Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) maj. dec. No. 13 Sam Speno (NC State), 10-2 No. 6 Justin Oliver (Central Michigan) pinned No. 18 Joey Delgado (Oregon State), 2:52 157: No. 5 Tyler Berger (Nebraska) dec. No. 12 Colin Heffernan (Central Michigan), 8-3 No. 4 Michael Kemerer (Iowa) maj. dec. Jason Tsirtsis (Arizona State), 11-2 165: No. 1 Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) maj. dec. No. 12 Anthony Valencia (Arizona State), 10-1 No. 9 Chad Walsh (Rider) maj. dec. Lorenzo De La Riva (CSU Bakersfield), 15-5 174: No. 4 Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) dec. No. 12 Zac Brunson (Illinois), 8-3 No. 9 Lelund Weatherspoon (Iowa State) dec. No. 7 Alex Meyer (Iowa), 9-7 184: No. 3 T.J. Dudley (Nebraska) dec. No. 9 Nate Jackson (Indiana), 10-6 No. 10 Jack Dechow (Old Dominion) dec. No. 11 Nicholas Gravina (Rutgers), 4-2 SV 197: No. 4 Nate Rotert (South Dakota State) by medical forfeit over No. 10 Kevin Beazley (Old Dominion) No. 8 Aaron Studebaker (Nebraska) dec. No. 12 Ryan Wolfe (Rider), 3-1 285: Jordan Wood (Lehigh) by medical forfeit over No. 2 Connor Medbery (Wisconsin) No. 4 Tanner Hall (Arizona State) dec. No. 5 Sam Stoll (Iowa), 2-1

The Midlands Championships started yesterday (Thursday) and I couldn't help but be transported back to my own experiences with the tournament and how they impacted my future in the sport of wrestling. I was first sent to Midlands my junior year as an attempt to see if I had indeed made the progress my early season results were indicating. There was a tight race for the starting position and since I'd only been a walk-on the tournament was a litmus test as to my actual out-of-room competitive status. The tournament was a moderate success with a low placement and a nice win or two against ranked opponents. My style was still developing and being forced to try it against some of the biggest names in the country was certainly instructive in refining some of the details. I'm certain that my experience has been repeated for hundreds of wrestlers over the course of the tournament's 50-plus years, which is a valuable line of connectivity in our sport. There are plenty of ways to improve the product of our sport through singlet change and better promotion, but I still enjoy the subtle traditions like Midlands. There aren't many (if any) locations in wrestling with an institutional history tied to the sport and wrestlers from every corner of the country. The NCAA tournament moves every year and big programs like Iowa don't/could never be expected to compete against every team in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The shared memories are what makes Midlands unique. Almost all of us have been as a coach, athlete, parent or fan. We've cursed the cold, battled the traffic and sat on uncomfortable wooden bleachers. Division I, II and III have all attended the tournament, as do washed-up former wrestlers and those looking to prep for the World Championships. The Midlands tournament has been both a crucible by which our athletes must prove themselves worthy and a mecca where we return year after year to pay homage to our sport's past. I'm sorry to be missing the show in-person, but happy as ever to know that time (and constant change) haven't taken from wrestling its most shared and sacred experiences. To your questions … Q: Is Patrick Downey of Iowa State injured? I have not seen him in the Cyclone lineup and noticed he is not entered in Midlands. -- Jason H. Foley: Downey injured his rib in November at the Harold Nichols Open. He has not competed since then, and is being held out of the Midlands for precautionary reasons. Gabe Dean gets his hand raised after a victory at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) Q: Do you see Gabe Dean contending for a spot on the World Team at 86 kilograms in 2017? Or do you see him as being a couple years away from challenging? -- Mike C. Foley: I tweeted this after the Cornell wrestler bested Ed Ruth at the Southern Scuffle in early 2014: While I've since come to know more of Dean's style and ability through his NCAA success, I'd be hesitant to think he could match wrestling wits with the likes of David Taylor or J'den Cox on the freestyle mat. Cox is too crafty an opponent and Taylor too seasoned for either to have Dean surprise them during the U.S. Open, or outpace their field at the World Team Trials. Could he be a contender in 2018? Maybe 2019? Certainly. Q: Do you think we will ever see amateur MMA in the Olympics? There already is an amateur World Championship. Why or why not? -- Gregg Y. Foley: FILA, the once international governing body of wrestling, had an active amateur MMA organization under its umbrella for several years. However that effort was ended after President Lalovic took over and renamed the organization United World Wrestling, as the IOC requested that the sport not be given a platform. Also, United World Wrestling is first and foremost a wrestling organization, which makes the promotion and support of striking sports somewhat outside its core directive. There is a Pankration federation associated with United World Wrestling. Though the sport allows some body strikes, it dates back to the ancient Olympic Games and has maintained a passionate following for more than 100 years. Q: Will Mark Hall make the finals of the Southern Scuffle? His weight class (174 pounds) includes Casey Kent, Brian Realbuto, Kyle Crutchmer, Ethan Ramos and some other really solid wrestlers. -- Mike C. Foley: We are essentially seeing Mark Hall face his first established competition. Assuming that he's been growing in the Penn State wrestling room (a solid assumption) we should be prepared for him to be the equivalent of an All-American candidate for the 2017 NCAA tournament. That as my base assumption I think it's likely that Hall comes away with third place or better at the Scuffle. Having watched a lot of him on the international scene I've consistently been impressed with his positioning and scoring ability from neutral. However, I have to balance that with another known truth, which is -- freshmen are typically terrible from the bottom position. Outside chance to win. Likely to be third or better. Q: Michigan announced that Domenic Abounader is redshirting this season. How is that possible? He competed in a dual against Virginia in November. -- David D. Foley: From the Michigan press release, "Abounader, a two-year team captain, was a perfect 5-0 through the Wolverines' first two events of the season, winning the EMU Open 184-pound title and clinching U-M's home opener against Virginia, but will have season-ending surgery. A three-time NCAA qualifier, Abounader captured a Big Ten title as a sophomore (2015) and owns a 69-23 career record, including an impressive 31-8 mark in dual meets." Abounader has applied for a medical hardship, which allows him to utilize his unused redshirt season. In certain cases we see medical hardship applied to sixth-year candidates, but its most commonly used in situations such as Abounader, where an athlete who hasn't redshirted becomes injured midway through the season. The qualifications for a medical redshirt: 1. Not having competed past the halfway point of the season. 2. Having not wrestled in more than 20 percent of the scheduled dates. 3. Have a legitimate season-ending injury. From the outside I don't see any reason he wouldn't receive his hardship and redshirt. Q: Were you surprised that Bob Patnesky made the decision to leave Davidson to become head wrestling coach at Penn State Behrend? What went into that decision? -- Mike C. Foley: No. Pennsylvania is a great place to test your coaching talents. Not having to convince a group of recruits to attend a VERY expensive university far away from wrestling hotbeds is likely not as exciting as sitting square in the middle of wrestling country and recruiting to a commuter school. There is nothing to say that he'll be successful at Behrend, but I'm certainly excited for him to face that challenge and further his coaching career. Q: What do you think of the season Luke Pletcher is having? How far do you think he will go this season? -- Gregg Y. Foley: Ohio State's Luke Pletcher has been on a tear in 2016. The true freshman was in redshirt for the start of the season and earned his first nine wins at 133 pounds before debuting at 141 pounds against Missouri and picking up a 6-4 win over Zach Synon. Yesterday he reached the quarterfinals of Midlands before losing 9-3 to Princeton's Matthew Kolodzik. We'll see how Pletcher bounces back today. The 141-pound weight class is pretty open with only Dean Heil and Joey McKenna seemingly a lock for All-American status in 2016-17. Also of note is that Pletcher isn't some fluke. He understands how to win. He's a three-time state champion from Pennsylvania and owns a win at Who's Number One over Cadet world champion Yianni Diakomihalis. He also gets to train with world champion and four-time NCAA champion Logan Stieber. Q: Who wins tonight: Ronda Rousey or Amanda Nunes? -- Mike C. Foley: Ronda. She seems like a psychological mess at the moment, but I think that Nunes will have some trouble defending Rousey's armbar once they hit the mat. Nunes is a better all-around fighter, but until the women's bantamweight division matures the one-move wonders like Ronda will always have more than a "puncher's chance."

Brandon Sorensen is one of five Hawkeyes to advance to the semifinals (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) EVANSTON, Illinois -- The University of Iowa advanced five wrestlers to the semifinal round of the Midlands Championship on Thursday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The Hawkeyes went 5-4 during quarterfinal competition with both top-seeded wrestlers, Thomas Gilman (125) and Brandon Sorensen (149), recording bonus-point wins. Iowa leads the team race with 85.5 points, followed by Nebraska (78.5), Rutgers (64.5), Arizona State (62.5), Illinois (58.5), and NC State (55). Gilman, a two-time and defending Midlands champion, continued to rack up bonus points for the Hawkeyes, delivering a 23-7 technical fall over eighth-seeded Lucas Malmberg (Messiah). It is Gilman's sixth tech fall of the season and 12th consecutive win overall. Sorensen, the defending champion at 149, secured his place in the semifinals with a 12-4 major decision over Ryan Deakin (unat. Northwestern). The win cements Sorensen as the ninth Hawkeye included in the prestigious 20-in-4 club, an honor for those wrestlers who achieve 20 or more wins at the Midlands Championships over four years. At 157, second-seeded Michael Kemerer continued his drive towards the championships with an 11-2 major decision over Purdue's Alex Griffin. The win was Kemerer's third bonus-point win of the day and secured him a place in the semifinals facing third-seeded Jason Tsirtsis (unat. Arizona State). Alex Meyer earned his second Midlands semifinal berth in as many years after tallying an 11-2 victory over Harvard's Josef Johnson. He is set to face No. 3 seed Lelund Weatherspoon (Iowa State) for the second time this season. Meyer defeated Weatherspoon a 5-3 on Dec. 10 and is 2-0 all-time against the Cyclone. Third-seeded Sam Stoll advanced to his second consecutive semifinals appearance after posting a 6-2 decision over No. 6 seed Ross Larson (Oklahoma). Topher Carton (141), Kaleb Young (165), Alex Marinelli (165), and Sammy Brooks (184) dropped quarterfinal matches and will compete Friday in the consolation round. Phillip Laux (133), Joey Gunther (165), and Cash Wilcke (184) lost consolation matches Thursday night and were eliminated from the tournament. Session III of the Midlands Championships is set to begin at 12 p.m. (CT) Friday. Updated team standings and complete tournament brackets are available throughout the tournament at nusports.com and on trackwrestling.com.

Services have been announced for John Brown, state champion wrestler, wrestling coach and mat official, who died in a car crash in West Virginia Wednesday. He was 53. John BrownVisitation for Jonathan Brown will take place Saturday, Dec. 31 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Vineyard Church in Mt. Vernon, Ohio, the community where he taught and coached. A funeral service will immediately follow calling hours, according to fellow wrestling official Fred Feeney. Brown was alone in his car Wednesday at about 9 a.m. when he hit a patch of black ice, lost control, and hit a residence near Bentree, West Virginia, approximately 40 miles southeast of Charleston. The Clay County, West Virginia native was pronounced dead at the scene, the Nicholas County Sheriff's Department reported. Brown joined the teaching staff at Mount Vernon High School just north of Columbus in 1994. He was the chair of the math department, and served as the school's wrestling coach for more than two dozen years. Brown was named AAU National Wrestling Coach of the Year in 2013. In addition, he was voted Coach of the Year in the Capital Conference in Ohio 10 times. Feeney told InterMat of Brown's numerous accomplishments as a coach, mentoring 34 state qualifiers, 15 state placers, four state finalists, two collegiate All Americans, and a collegiate national champion. He guided Mt. Vernon to fourth place at the Ohio high school state wrestling championships in 2006. In addition, Brown served as AAU Junior Olympic director for 20 years. Brown had served as a wrestling referee for the past two seasons. "I remember the day he was hired and the day we walked in for our first practice with the new Coach," Michael Nicholas Lybarger told the Mount Vernon News. "Needless to say, he changed the program around instantly and made the wrestling team the most dominant and successful sport at MVHS for 20 years." Prior to coming to Mount Vernon, Brown was head wrestling coach at Toledo Central Catholic High School. Before becoming an instructor, coach and mat official, Brown was a 1981 graduate of Clay County High where he was a two-time West Virginia state wrestling champion. He continued his education in the Mountaineer State, attending West Liberty University. Brown is survived by his wife, Jennifer, who is a first-grade teacher for Columbia Elementary School in the Mount Vernon School District. He also is survived by two daughters, Haley and Lexi, who is a student at West Virginia University.

ODU's Jack Dechow defeated returning NCAA champion Myles Martin of Ohio State (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com) InterMat ranking indicated, not tournament seed 125: No. 1 Thomas Gilman (Iowa) tech. fall Lucas Malmberg (Messiah), 23-7 No. 15 Josh Terao (American) dec. Christian Moody (Oklahoma), 11-4 Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) dec. No. 17 Shakur Laney (Ohio), 10-8 No. 8 Tim Lambert (Nebraska) dec. Brent Fleetwood (Central Michigan), 6-4 TB 133: No. 2 Zane Richards (Illinois) dec. Bryan Lantry (Buffalo), 7-3 Jamal Morris (NC State) maj. dec. Luke Karam (Lehigh), 9-1 No. 6 Seth Gross (South Dakota State) maj. dec. Billy Rappo (Maryland), 11-3 No. 4 Eric Montoya (Nebraska) dec. Cameron Kelly (Ohio), 7-0 141: No. 3 Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton) dec. Luke Pletcher (Ohio State), 9-3 Chad Red (Nebraska) dec. Jack Hathaway (Oregon State), 3-2 No. 6 Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) tech. fall Russell Rohlfing (CSU Bakersfield), 18-1 No. 5 Kevin Jack (NC State) dec. Christopher Carton (Iowa), 8-3 149: No. 2 Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) maj. dec. Ryan Deakin (Northwestern), 12-4 No. 13 Sam Speno (NC State) dec. No. 10 Steve Bleise (Northern Illinois), 7-2 No. 18 Joey Delgado (Oregon State) dec. Anthony Giraldo (Rutgers), 3-2 No. 6 Justin Oliver (Central Michigan) pinned No. 14 Kenny Theobald (Rutgers), 6:00 157: No. 5 Tyler Berger (Nebraska) dec. No. 20 Josh Shields (Arizona State), 3-1 No. 12 Colin Heffernan (Central Michigan) dec. John Van Brill (Rutgers), 4-3 Jason Tsirtsis (Arizona State) dec. T.J. Ruschell (Wisconsin), 5-2 No. 4 Michael Kemerer (Iowa) maj. dec. Alex Griffin (Purdue), 11-2 165: No. 1 Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) maj. dec. Alex Marinelli (Iowa), 14-5 No. 12 Anthony Valencia (Arizona State) maj. dec. Brian Hamann (NC State), 9-1 Lorenzo De La Riva (CSU Bakersfield) dec. Kaleb Young (Iowa), 10-8 No. 9 Chad Walsh (Rider) dec. Tyrel White (Columbia), 13-7 174: No. 4 Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) maj. dec. Micah Barnes (Nebraska), 12-4 No. 12 Zac Brunson (Illinois) dec. No. 18 David Kocer (South Dakota State), 4-3 No. 9 Lelund Weatherspoon (Iowa State) dec. Austin Dewey (Boise State), 3-2 No. 7 Alex Meyer (Iowa) maj. dec. Josef Johnson (Harvard), 11-2 184: No. 3 T.J. Dudley (Nebraska) maj. dec. Emory Parker (Illinois), 14-1 No. 9 Nate Jackson (Indiana) dec. No. 8 Samuel Brooks (Iowa), 3-1 No. 11 Nicholas Gravina (Rutgers) dec. Pete Renda (NC State), 8-2 No. 10 Jack Dechow (Old Dominion) dec. No. 5 Myles Martin (Ohio State), 7-4 197: No. 4 Nate Rotert (South Dakota State) dec. Mason Reinhardt (Wisconsin), 6-0 No. 10 Kevin Beazley (Old Dominion) dec. No. 9 Brett Harner (Princeton), 5-2 No. 8 Aaron Studebaker (Nebraska) dec. No. 11 Shawn Scott (Northern Illinois), 3-0 No. 12 Ryan Wolfe (Rider) dec. Riley Lefever (Wabash), 5-4 285: No. 2 Connor Medbery (Wisconsin) pinned Michael Boykin (NC State), 3:36 Jordan Wood (Lehigh) dec. No. 16 Collin Jensen (Nebraska), 5-3 No. 5 Sam Stoll (Iowa) dec. No. 14 Ross Larson (Oklahoma), 6-2 No. 4 Tanner Hall (Arizona State) dec. Conan Jennings (Northwestern), 3-1