InterMat Staff

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. -- The Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) has announced the preliminary seeds for the 2016 Championships (Saturday, March 5). The 2016 EWL Championships are set for Saturday, March 5 at Lock Haven University. The championship bracket will be available tomorrow (Friday) evening at www.GoLHU.com. Link: EWL Championship Central 125: 1. Sean Russell - Edinboro 2. Ibrahim Banduka - George Mason 3. Jake Field - Lock Haven 4. John Martin - Cleveland State 133: 1. Rob Deutsch - Rider 2. Vince Rodriquez - George Mason 3. Bobby Rehm - Lock Haven 4. Andy Schutz - Bloomsburg 141: 1. Brock Zacherl - Clarion 2. Mike Carlone - Cleveland State 3. Paul Kirchner - Rider 4. Tejon Anthony - George Mason 149: 1. Dan Neff - Lock Haven 2. Patricio Lugo - Edinboro 3. BJ Clagon - Rider 4. Nick Montgomery - Cleveland State 157: 1. Chad Walsh - Rider 2. Austin Matthews - Edinboro 3. Greg Flournoy - George Mason 4. Aaron McKinney - Lock Haven 165: 1. Conor Brennan - Rider 2. Casey Fuller - Edinboro 3. Evan Delong - Clarion 4. Cody Cordes - Lock Haven 174: 1. Michael Pavesko - Clarion 2. Patrick Jennings - Edinboro 3. Gabe Stark - Cleveland State 4. Tyler Wood - Lock Haven 184: 1. Vic Avery - Edinboro 2. Tristan Sponseller - Lock Haven 3. Mike Fagg-Daves - Rider 4. Dominic Rigous - Clarion 197: 1. Ryan Wolfe - Rider 2. Sam Wheeler - Cleveland State 3. Phil Sprenkle - Lock Haven 4. Vince Pickett - Edinboro 285: 1. Billy Miller - Edinboro 2. Riley Shaw - Cleveland State 3. Mauro Correnti - Rider 4. Matt Voss - George Mason

The seeds for the SoCon Wrestling Championships have been released. The event will be contested at UNC Asheville's Kimmel Arena in Asheville, N.C., on Saturday, March 5. The SoCon has 13 allocations for the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. 125 (1 NCAA allocation): 1. Vito Pasone, Appalachian State 2. Cortez Starkes, Gardner-Webb 3. Dalton Henderson, VMI 4. Alonzo Allen, Chattanooga 5. Collin Stewart, Campbell 6. Patrick Kearney, The Citadel 7. Freddie Rodriguez, SIUE 8. Zamir Ode, Davidson 133 (1 NCAA allocation): 1. Nathan Kraisser, Campbell 2. Tyler Ziegler, Gardner-Webb 3. Irvin Enriquez, Appalachian State 4. Dakota Leach, SIUE 5. Dominick Gallo, VMI 6. Cody Hill, Chattanooga 7. Dustin Runzo, Davidson 8. Caleb Smith, The Citadel 141 (1 NCAA allocation): 1. Michael Longo, Appalachian State 2. Mike Pongracz, Chattanooga 3. Ty Buckiso, The Citadel 4. Luke Stewart, Campbell 5. John Muldoon, SIUE 6. Ryan Hull, Gardner-Webb 7. Hunter Starner, VMI 8. Billy McClelland, Davidson 149 (1 NCAA allocation): 1. Chris Vassar, Gardner-Webb 2. John Fahy, SIUE 3. Chase Zemenak, Chattanooga 4. Matt Frisch, The Citadel 5. Matt Zovistoski, Appalachian State 6. Emmitt Kelly, VMI 7. Kaleb Warner, Campbell 8. Aidan Conroy, Davidson 157 (2 NCAA allocations): 1. Aaron Walker, The Citadel 2. Kamaal Shakur, Chattanooga 3. Neal Richards, VMI 4. Ryan Mosley, Gardner-Webb 5. David Peters-Logue, Appalachian State 6. Erik Travers, SIUE 7. Tony Palumbo, Davidson 8. Quintin Perez, Campbell 165 (1 NCAA allocation): 1. Austin Trott, Gardner-Webb 2. Forrest Przybysz, Appalachian State 3. Paul Duggan, Campbell 4. Dustin Lampe, Chattanooga 5. Nate Higgins, SIUE 6. Shabaka Johns, VMI 7. Adam Flatt, Davidson 8. Daniel Smith, The Citadel 174 (1 NCAA allocation): 1. Nick Kee, Appalachian State 2. Sean Mappes, Chattanooga 3. Brett Stein, Gardner-Webb 4. Connor McMahon, SIUE 5. Mark Darr, VMI 6. Tim Knipl, The Citadel 7. Alex Vosburgh, Campbell 8. Nathaniel Powers, Davidson 184 (1 NCAA allocation): 1. John Lampe, Chattanooga 2. Hunter Gamble, Gardner-Webb 3. Ville Heino, Campbell 4. Derek Nagel, SIUE 5. Taylor Jackson, Appalachian State 6. Derek Thurman, VMI 7. Sawyer Root, The Citadel 8. Konner Pritchard, Davidson 197 (1 NCAA allocation): 1. Scottie Boykin, Chattanooga 2. Marshall Haas, The Citadel 3. Jake Tindle, SIUE 4. Gray Jones, Gardner-Webb 5. Randall Diabe, Appalachian State 6. Austin McNeil, Campbell 7. Taylor Thomas, VMI 8. Ryan Devlin, Davidson 285 (3 NCAA allocations): 1. Denzel Dejournette, Appalachian State 2. Jared Johnson, Chattanooga 3. Boyce Cornwell, Gardner-Webb 4. Joe Bexley, The Citadel 5. Chris Johnson, SIUE 6. Jere Heino, Campbell 7. Urayoan Garcia, VMI 8. Will Cooley, Davidson

INDIANAPOLIS -- The NCAA has released the updated standings for the 2016 NCAA Wrestling Awards that will be awarded in March at the respective Division I, II and III Wrestling Championships. 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 towards a student-athletes total they must come against opponents in the same division. Ties in the two categories are broken based on the aggregate time. Most Division I schools took last week off to prepare for conference tournaments taking place this weekend leading to no changes in the standings. Division II and III wrestlers competed in regional action last weekend to qualify for national championship competition March 11-12. The NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships take place in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, while the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships return to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. For tickets to either championship, visit http://www.ncaa.com/tickets. Pittsburgh-Johnstown 184-pounder Travis McKillop leads Division II with an average of 4.95 team points per match, followed by heavyweight Garrett Grey of Tiffin with 4.81 points. The 2014-15 NCAA Division III Most Dominant Wrestler is well on his way to earning the award for the second year in a row as Wabash 184-pounder Riley Lefever has an average of 5.73 points. Heavyweight Donald Longendyke is second with an average of 5.46 points for Augsburg. 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 matchs wrestled. Team points per match are awarded as follows and based on a minimum of 17 matches in the division. * 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) Central Oklahoma 141-pounder Joshua Ailey is the new leader in Division II with 14 falls, but three wrestlers are on his heels with 13 falls. AJ Kowal of Stevens Institute of Technology holds the national lead with 21 falls this season in Division III, while Lefever and Josh Thomson of Messiah (57:28) each have 20 falls. Martin Ramirez of Adams State and Francis Mizia of Mercyhurst both have nine tech falls in Division II. Ramirez holds the tiebreaker in aggregate time (28:07-34:15) over Mizia, while two more wrestlers have earned eight tech falls. Michael Fleck, a 125-pounder from Wilkes, holds the national lead in Division III with 13 tech falls, one ahead of College at Brockport 184-pounder Jeff Palmeri.

Nick Suriano (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)Yet another prominent state tournament on the docket this weekend is the one held at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. The single-class New Jersey state tournament is always one full of fireworks, interesting results, and high-level wrestling. This weekend's "star of stars" will be Nick Suriano (Bergen Catholic), who is ranked No. 1 in the country at 126 pounds and seeks to finish his career as a four-time undefeated state champion. The "team of teams" in New Jersey is Bergen Catholic, which is ranked No. 4 in the nation and features five returning state champions; Suriano, No. 16 Gerard Angelo (120), No. 4 Shane Griffith (138), No. 10 Joe Grello (170), and No. 6 Kevin Mulligan (195). Angelo is not favored, but the other four are. The following is a weight-by-weight look at the tournament in the Garden State, which starts Friday evening and concludes on Sunday afternoon. 106: Super 32 Challenge runner-up JoJo Aragona (Pope John) is ranked No. 2 nationally, while Michael Kelly (St. Peter's Prep) is ranked No. 16. Those two wrestlers do feature in opposite halves. Aragona is joined in the top half, but opposite quarter, by fellow undefeated Joe Manchio (Seneca); while Beast of the East placer Kyle Kaiser (Paramus) is a possible quarterfinal opponent. In the lower-half, Kelly is joined by undefeated sophomore Joe Heilmann (South Plainfield), who is in the other quarter. 113: Three nationally ranked wrestlers feature in this weight class, led by No. 3 Sebastian Rivera (Christian Brothers), the Super 32 Challenge champion and two-time state fifth place medalist. No. 5 Patrick Glory (Delbarton) was runner-up to Rivera at the Super 32 this fall and runner-up to Angelo at state last year; while No. 10 Jonathan Tropea (St. Joseph Montvale) placed third at state last year and is a two-time medalist. Glory is in the easier half, with returning medalist Carmen Ferrante (Bergen Catholic) as a possible semifinal opponent; while Tropea and Rivera should meet in the lower half-bracket semifinal. 120: Angelo won state last year at 106 pounds as a freshman while competing for Hanover Park, but has since moved on to Bergen Catholic. The highest ranked wrestler in this weight class competes for Hanover Park, freshman Nick Raimo, ranked No. 3 nationally. Also nationally ranked in this weight class are last year's 113 pound finalists, champion Brandon Cray (Steinert) and runner-up Gianni Ghione (Brick Memorial); Cray is No. 10 and Ghione No. 17. Bracket wise, Cray is opposite of the other three, but not bereft of talent in his half; returning state placer Joe Casey (Bound Brook) is a possible quarterfinal opponent, with either undefeated returning state placer Shane Metzler (West Morris Central) or returning state placer Richie Koehler (Christian Brothers) awaiting in the semifinal. It's a total fiasco in the lower half-bracket. Angelo has a relative free ride to the semifinal, while the lower quarter is a circus. Raimo and Ghione both have opening round byes and are slated to meet in the round of 16, with that winner looking at a quarterfinal collision with returning state medalist Trace Kinner (Kingsway Regional). All that subject to Kinner being healthy enough to compete, which would force a re-draw. 126: Last year's state final at 120 was between the pair of 2014 state champions in Suriano and No. 9 Ty Agaisse (Delbarton), Suriano won that one obviously; the pair wrestled in a dual meet one month ago, with Suriano winning 9-2. They are obviously anchoring opposite halves of the draw. Within Suriano's half-bracket, but in the opposite quarter, is undefeated returning state medalist Kyle DiNapoli (Voorhees) as well as returning state medalist Troy Stanich (Roxbury). Returning state medalist John Burger (New Milford) is a possible quarterfinal opponent for Agaisse, with returning medalists Quinn Kinner (Kingsway Regional) and Garrett O'Shea (Butler) in the bottom-most quarter of the draw. 132: No nationally ranked wrestlers are here, but that doesn't mean no talent. Two-time state third place medalist Alec Kelly (St. Peter's Prep) is in the top quarter of the draw with returning state placer Sam Schneider (Emerson-Park Ridge) as a possible quarterfinal opponent. Two-time state medalist and Junior freestyle All-American Nick Farro (Delbarton) is in the other top half-bracket quarter along with undefeated two-time state placer Zack Firestone (Clearview Regional); Firestone is likely to face Wilfredo Gil (Ramapo), whose only loss on the season as in the regional final, in the round of 16. Freshman Chris Foca (Bergen Catholic), champion at the Beast of the East, is the lower half-bracket with either undefeated 2014 state medalist Chris Wolf (Haddon Township) or returning state medalist Owen McClave (Toms River South) awaiting in the quarterfinal. The bottom most quarter features two-time state placer Brandon Paetzell (Phillipsburg). 138: Returning state champion Shane Griffith (Bergen Catholic) is ranked No. 4 nationally, while returning state medalist and Flo Nationals placer Michael Van Brill (Clearview Regional) is No. 18 in the country. Each anchors a half-bracket. Griffith seems clean to the semis, where it's a likely match with 2014 state medalist Kris Lindemann (Howell). Van Brill should also be well to advance to the semifinal, where he is likely to face either two-time state placer Mark McCormick (Camden Catholic) or undefeated Nicholas Maher (WWP South). 145: Two-time state medalist Mekhi Lewis (Bound Brook), third last year as a sophomore, is ranked No. 15 nationally and anchors the top half-bracket. His biggest challenge is likely to be in the semifinal against returning state placer Mohammed Farhan (Clifton), presuming Farhan can clear the undefeated Tyler Gazaway (New Providence) in the quarterfinal bout. Returning state medalist Michael O'Malley (Hasbrouck Heights), who has an undefeated sophomore season to date, is favored from the bottom half. 152: Returning state runner-up Stephan Glasgow (Bound Brook) is ranked No. 9 nationally and the favorite in this weight class. The path won't be easy, as it could include a quarterfinal against presently undefeated Steve Bonsall (Newark Academy) before a possible semifinal against returning state medalist Dominick Mandarino (Don Bosco Prep). The lower half-bracket is led by two-time state medalist Alex Sebahie (Paramus), who has a rather manageable path to the final. 160: No. 5 Kyle Bierdumpfel (Don Bosco) is the defending state champion and after a fourth finals appearance. He is prohibitively favored to do so, with a state title to consummate an undefeated senior season. Undefeated senior Craig Roumes (Roxbury) leads the half-bracket opposite of Bierdumpfel, but it is a far from easy one, starting with a round of 16 bout against most likely returning state medalist Kyle Cochran (Paramus). In the other quarter of the lower half (i.e. opposite of Bierdumpfel) is returning state medalist Tyler Mullen (North Valley Old Tappan). 170: Nationally ranked wrestlers in No. 10 Joe Grello (Bergen Catholic) and No. 13 Brett Donner (Wall Township) lead each half of this bracket. Grello was state champion last year after placing eighth the year before, while Donner was third in 2014 before a disappointing DNP last year. In other quarter bracket of Grello's half, it is returning state medalist Jala'a Darwish (Passaic Valley) and Junior National freestyle All-American Spencer Carey (DePaul Catholic). Returning state placers Anthony Oliveri (Hanover Park) and Daniel Kilroy (Wayne Hills) could meet in the bottom most quarterfinal to feed into Donner in the semifinal. 182: Again, zero nationally ranked wrestlers does not mean zero talent. Powerade champion Brandon Kui (DePaul Catholic), eighth at state last year as a sophomore, is the top seed here (which puts him in the upper quarter of the top half-bracket). Dominic Maniero (Queen of Peace) is the only other returning medalist in that half. In the bottom half-bracket, freshman sensation Josh McKenzie (Bergen Catholic) and Luke Drugac (Morris Knolls) are a likely quarterfinal, while a pair of returning seventh place medalists in Kyle Murphy (Bridgewarter-Raritan) and Niko Capello (Cranford) are the other likely quarterfinal; Murphy is undefeated on the season. 195: Two nationally ranked wrestlers reside in this weight class, No. 6 Kevin Mulligan (Bergen Catholic) and No. 16 Dean Drugac (Morris Knolls). Each was a Junior National freestyle All-American this past summer, while Mulligan has the state title to his credit with Drugac seeking his first state medal. Mulligan's top half is bereft of state medalists, though he could see two one-loss wrestlers before the reaching the final in Van Miller (Bridgewater-Raritan) and Sean O'Malley (Hasbrouck Heights). Drugac is looking at a likely semifinal clash with returning state medalist Joseph McKenzie (Wall Township). 220: Three-time state medalist Matt Correnti (Holy Cross) is ranked No. 3 nationally and seeking state gold after falling one match short last year. He has been absolutely dominant this year, losing zero matches with only four making it a full six minutes. Returning state medalist Scott Lavelle (DePaul Catholic) is a possible semifinal opponent. The bottom half-bracket is anchored by returning state medalist Robert Melise (Phillipsburg). 285: Only the third weight in this state tournament without a ranked wrestler, but it's also not one bereft of talent. Returning state fifth place finisher Anthony Porcaro (Sayreville) is the top seed, but has been thrown into a potentially dangerous quarterfinal bout against Eric Chakonis (Don Bosco Prep). No other state medalist resides in the Porcaro half of the draw. Down in the lower half, returning state runner-up Nick Rivera (Brick Memorial) is the anchor figure, his only loss of the season coming against Chakonis in late December. However, his path isn't easy, as it could include a round of 16 bout against returning state medalist Joe Longobardi (River Dell), and a quarterfinal against the undefeated Keith Swartley (Cinnaminson). The lower quarter favorite is Kyle Nothnagel (Phillipsburg), who was excellent last year up to the state tournament, but failed to place.

As the story has been in the Golden State all season, look for a shootout between top 10 in the country squads Buchanan and Clovis for the title. Throughout the season No. 5 Buchanan has beaten neighbor and rival No. 9 Clovis in all common competitions: Zinkin Classic, Doc Buchanan Invitational, dual meet, TRAC tournament, and Yosemite Valley. However, Clovis came home with the title at last weekend's Central Section Masters event. Seth Nevills (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)It was not for the lack of performance from Buchanan, and the Bears qualified 13 to the state tournament via nine Masters finalists, including five champions. Clovis countered by qualifying the whole roster to state and winning five titles of their own, plus seven others placing in the top four. However, it is probably advantage Clovis at the state tournament this Friday and Saturday in Bakersfield, as the Cougars feature four clear state title favorites: No. 2 Justin Mejia (120), No. 7 Josh Hokit (182), No. 12 A.J. Nevills (195), and No. 7 Seth Nevills (285). Mejia and Seth Nevills are returning state champions, while Hokit and A.J. Nevills placed second last year. Buchanan counters with two nationally ranked wrestlers in No. 19 Matthew Olguin (106) and No. 11 Durbin Lloren (132); Lloren is favored to repeat as state champion. A third nationally ranked team is in this tournament field with No. 13 Poway; however, the Titans are lacking for "high-end" talent. They only return three state placers, none of them finishing top three last year: Chase Zollman (113), Brandon Kier (126), D.J. Garcia (152), and Chris Bailey (195). The team best positioned to finish third in the state tournament standings is San Marino, who has three state tournament favorites in No. 12 Julian Flores (138), No. 5 Zander Wick (145), and No. 4 Evan Wick (152); the Titans have a fourth potential high placer in Zander Silva (126). The following represents a look at weight classes with nationally ranked contestants. 106: No. 3 Nico Aguilar (Gilroy) is the dominant force in this weight, as he is actually a full-sized competitior, something that was not the case last year. The other nationally ranked wrestler is No. 19 Matthew Olguin (Buchanan), who occupies a position in the other half-bracket. The first notable hurdle for Aguilar is likely to be a quarterfinal against Central Section runner-up Brandon Betancourt (Clovis); with a potential semifinal against either Jacob Allen (Poway), Super 32 placer Christian Nunez (St. John Bosco), or Eric Rivera (Clovis North). The first notable obstacle for Olguin comes in a likely quarterfinal against multi-time Fargo All-American Izzak Olejnik (Bakersfield). 120: No. 2 Justin Mejia (Clovis) is a heavy favorite to take home a third state title, which would move him one step away from being the rarest of four-time state champions in California. Most notable challenge in Mejia's path to the final would be a potential semifinal against 2014 state runner-up Robert Garcia (Selma), who has been in-and-out of the national rankings this season. The other half-bracket features freshman Jaden Abas (Bakersfield Frontier), who upset Garcia last week during his runner-up finish to Mejia, along with state placers Isaiah Perez (Dinuba) and Richard Casillas (Northview). 132: No. 11 Durbin Lloren (Buchanan) is the defending national champion and deserved weight class favorite; though No. 17 Alex Felix (Gilroy), third at state in this same weight last year as a freshman, is also present. The most probable semifinal opponent for Lloren is Scott Kiyono (Poway); while Felix is looking at a possible quarterfinal against returning state placer Curtis Booth (Folsom), before another state placer in Trence Gillem (Helix) looms as a potential semifinal opponent. 138: The unfortunate injury to returning state runner-up Jaden Enriquez (Mission Oak) shrinks this to a two-horse race between No. 12 Julian Flores (San Marino) and No. 13 Navonte Demison (Bakersfield); Flores a returning state champion, while Demison was second at state last year. Obstacles for Flores most likely start in the quarterfinal round against Dylan Martinez (Clovis) before a potential semifinal against Jacob Wright (Dinuba), though each should be cleared. For Demison, returning state placer Kenny Jones (Lassen) awaits in the semifinal, presuming Joel Romero (Buchanan) doesn't upset Jones in the quarterfinal. 145: Returning state runner-up Zander Wick (San Marino) is ranked No. 5 in the nation, and the clear favorite in this weight class. Buchanan is hoping to see Greg Gaxiola, a returning state placer, reach the semifinal against Wick. In what is a rather wide open lower half, Ruben Garcia (Selma) might be the favorite to clear to the final. 152: A pair of nationally ranked wrestlers dot this weight class, No. 4 Evan Wick (San Marino) and No. 5 Luke Troy (Martin Luther King). They were teammates last year at San Marino, Wick placing fourth at 138, while Troy was third in this weight class. Wick has won both meetings against Troy season to date. In Wick's half of the draw, Clovis is hoping to see Brandon Martino through to the semifinal. Troy should clear to a rematch with Wick bereft of real challenge. 160: A pair of ranked wrestlers also appear in this weight class, three-time state placer and returning runner-up Justin Thomas (Calvary Chapel) and two-time state placer Abner Romero (Buchanan); Thoms is ranked No. 9 with Romero ranked No. 17. Thomas could see returning state placer Sam Loera (Bakersfield) in the quarterfinal round, with Jason Bergquist (Folsom) as a semifinal opponent. In the lower half-bracket, Romero is looking at a likely quarterfinal against returning state placer Brandon Claiborne (Oak Ridge) before a possible semifinal against another returning state placer in Beau Colombini (Windsor). 170: Two nationally ranked wrestlers also appear in this weight class, with No. 14 Anthony Mantanona (Palm Desert) having gotten the better of No. 15 Jeremy Thomas (Calvary Chapel) in the Southern Section final. These wrestlers met in the consolation final last year at 145 pounds in the state tournament, Thomas winning that bout. Mantanona has three-time state qualifier Antonio Gutierrez (Bakersfield) as a round of 32 opponent, but then should advance manageably to the semifinal round against either state placer Nikko Chapman (Inderkum) or Cade Belshay (Buchanan). The lower half-bracket features Thomas likely having to face Ruger Wyneken (Clovis) in the round of 16 before a potential semifinal against Dominic Ducharme (Windsor), a returning state placer. 182: The back-end hammers for Clovis start in this weight class with No. 7 Josh Hokit, who was state runner-up last year at 170, and the favorite to win gold in this weight class before moving on to Drexel University next year. Standing in his way includes a semi-challenging quarterfinal against Nathan Tausch (Poway) and a possible semifinal against returning state placer Roman Romero (McNair). The upper-bracket is anchored by returning state placer Chasen Blair (Rancho Bernardo), who was ranked very early in the season. If Buchanan could see Anthony Montalvo into that semifinal against Blair, it would be big for them in the team perspective. 195: No. 12 A.J. Nevills (Clovis) is a returning state runner-up and favorite to take home gold this season before going on to Penn State. He anchors the lower half-bracket, one that could include a semifinal bout against returning state placer Danny Salas (St. John Bosco). The upper half-bracket is led by Poway's highest returning state placer in Chris Bailey. 220: No. 18 Jesus Madrigal (Oak Hills) placed sixth at state last year in this weight class, which makes him only the third highest returning state placer; however, he is the top ranked wrestler in the state this season. He does face a dangerous round of 32 bout against Tyler Collier (Clovis), who gets to bang against both Nevills brothers and Hokit in the room every day. Returning state runner-up Bevan Brandt (Bullard) is in the other quarter of the top half-bracket that Madrigal anchors. The lower half-bracket features Darryl Aiello (De La Salle), who placed third at state last year. Aiello is looking at a round of 16 bout against Christian Ayala (Pacifica), a fellow Junior National freestyle All-American this past summer. Buchanan would hope to see Zack Levatino advance to the semi against either Aiello or Ayala. 285: No. 7 Seth Nevills (Clovis) won state last year at 220 as a freshman, so he is darn good, and happens to be favored to win this state weight class. Anchoring the lower half-bracket, returning state placer Gavin Nye (Corning) is a possible semifinal opponent. In the upper half-bracket, it's a potential semifinal between Jarrod Snyder (Bakersfield Frontier) and Christian Rebottaro (Monte Vista Christian).

Some of the nation's best talent will be taking to the mats of the Jerome Schottenstein Center on the Ohio State campus this weekend. Five of the teams are nationally ranked, with over 25 wrestlers in the 672 person field appearing in the national rankings. The 24 defending and/or previous state champions are the most in one tournament within at least the last 10 years. Hunter Ladnier (Photo/Rob Preston)Division I Even with three nationally ranked teams, it is rather likely that No. 7 St. Edward will comfortably win the state championship. It would be a 30th individual state tournament title for the Eagles, all from 1978 going forward, also an 18th title in the last 20 years. They qualified a division-high 11 wrestlers for the state tournament led by state champion Allan Hart (126) and a pair of nationally ranked returning state runners-up in No. 9 Hunter Ladnier (138) and No. 9 Jared Campbell (220). Other cogs for St. Edward include impact freshmen Bryce Andonian (106) and Sam Dover (132), returning state placer Jack Conway (152), and returning state qualifier Matt Kazimir (113). Three teams qualified eight to the state tournament, including No. 38 Olentangy Liberty. The Patriots are led by two-time state champion Kyle Lawson (160), who is ranked No. 12 nationally; returning state runner-up Brakan Mead (106), the favorite for a state title; and freshman sensation Connor Brady (132). Also to note are returning state qualifiers Jordan Rosselli (120), Zach Furnas (126), and Trey Grenier (145); as well as district champion Trevor Lawson (170). Also qualifying eight were Brecksville and Cincinnati Moeller. Three teams qualified seven to the state tournament, including No. 20 Elyria, state dual meet runners-up. The Pioneers are led by two nationally ranked defending state champions, No. 4 Ben Darmstadt (195) and No. 3 Kevin Vough (285). Other state title contenders include returning state placers Brandon Fenton (113) and J.T. Brown (182); also with state experience is returning placer Mikah Price (152). They suffered significant setbacks at the district tournament last week when returning state qualifier Josh Breeding (120) and returning state placer Nico O'Dor (152) failed to advance to the state tournament. Also qualifying seven were Central Crossing and Massillon Perry. Three weight classes have the potential to feature nationally ranked wrestlers facing one another. The battle of defending state champions at 145 pounds, No. 2 David Carr (Massillon Perry) and No. 8 Dominick Demas (Dublin Coffman); a rematch of last year's 195-pound final between No. 4 Matt Stencel (Oregon Clay) and No. 9 Jared Campbell (St. Edward), Stencel won that final by major decision last year and scored a first period pin in the Ironman semifinal before Campbell scored the 4-1 upset in last week's district final; and then a clash of undefeated wrestlers at 285 pounds between No. 3 Kevin Vough (Elyria) and No. 12 Kameron Teacher (Central Crossing). The other major collision comes at 126 pounds. Defending state champion Allan Hart (St. Edward) and 2014 state champion Alex Mackall (Walsh Jesuit), ranked No. 18 nationally, are projected to meet in the semifinal round. Three-time state medalist Mario Guillen (Perrysburg), who placed third the last two years, beat Hart 1-0 in the district final and looms in the opposite half of the draw. Division II We are now into year 16 of the "Graham Dynasty" in the Buckeye State's medium-school division. The Falcons, ranked No. 3 nationally, are prohibitive favorites to win their 16th straight state title at the individual tournament, and 17th in 19 years. Not since 2001 has the margin between first and second been within 30 points, and seven times the margin has been over 100 points. Last year was the 6th time that St. Paris Graham scored over 200 points at the state tournament, the other five coming from 2007-2011. Last year's national title team scored 250 points, second most in the history of the state tournament (St. Paris Graham had 282 points in 2009, which was David Taylor's senior year). This year's team will almost assuredly be over 200 points, the question is how much over that mark. The Falcons are led by returning three returning state champions, all of whom are nationally ranked: No. 12 Mitch Moore (126), No. 8 Brent Moore (138), and No. 2 Alex Marinelli (160); two other wrestlers are returning as state runners-up, Justin Stickley (120) and No. 13 Rocky Jordan. Also of note are impact freshman Jordan Crace (106) as well as returning state third place medalists Ryan Thomas (132) and Garrett Jordan (160). In all, St. Paris Graham qualified a state tournament high 13 wrestlers. Among teams in the race for second are Lake Catholic, team state semifinalists who qualified eight for state; 2014 state runner-up Claymont, who qualified seven; team state semifinalist Steubenville and Canfield, who qualified six each; along with team state runner-up Wauseon, who only qualified four to state but have three potential top three finishers. The division also features the two wrestlers in Ohio this year seeking to win their fourth state title, Tyler Warner (Claymont) and Alex Marinelli (St. Paris Graham). Warner, ranked No. 7 nationally at 120 pounds, is in a weight class that features seven other returning/previous state placers; however, it would be a clear upset for any of them to beat Warner. His path could involve facing a returning state medalist at each stage. Though four other returning state placers are competing in Marinelli's weight class, to call any of them a threat would be inaccurate. Last year his state title run involved three technical falls and a pin, and for his state tournament career, nine matches have ended in pin or technical fall; only the 9-8 championship match his sophomore year was truly close. The future Hawkeye is likely to end his career with exactly 200 career wins, against just four losses, and a consecutive match win streak at 137. There is, however, one absolute barn-burner of a potential final in this division. That comes at 126 pounds with two-time state runner-up Tariq Wilson (Steubenville) possibly to face returning state champion Mitch Moore (St. Paris Graham). Wilson, ranked No. 10 nationally, was champion at the Walsh Ironman while Moore placed third. However, the wrestlers did not face off. When the wrestlers did meet in a high leverage situation, it came in the match to place at the Super 32 Challenge four months ago; Wilson held a good sized lead before Moore rallied back, and was about to take the lead before securing the fall. This likely final should not be one to miss. Division III Delta, who is ranked No. 25 nationally, has won the team state title now four years running. However, in the previous three individual state tournaments, the Panthers were champions in 2014 with runner-up finishes sandwiching that title. They qualified eight wrestlers to state, led by returning state champions Drew Mattin (120), No. 18 Jake Spiess (132), and Chance Veller (285). Also present are returning state runners-up in Dustin Marteney (138) and Jesse Beverly (152), along with two-time state placer Devin Richard (220) and impact freshman Cole Mattin (106). Also with eight state qualifiers in the small-school division are Mechanicsburg and Oak Harbor, both were team state participants with Mechanicsburg placing second. Those Indians are led by two-time state champion Kaleb Romero (160), who is ranked No. 11 nationally; also to note are returning state placers Tyler Wetzel (113), Alex Rhine (120), Tanner Smith (138), and Wade Smiddy (145). The Rockets of Oak Harbor in previous years have competed in Division II and return Dylan Mansor (132), Rhett Petersen (145), and Brandon Garber (285) with previous state tournament experience; also expected to place rather high are Bruce Hrynciw (120) and Kian Thompson (182). Joining Mechanicsburg and Oak Harbor in the race for second behind Delta, or having a puncher's chance for the title should Delta slip, is Dayton Christian. The Warriors qualified six wrestlers to state led by two-time state champion Logan Lacure (145), who is ranked No. 10 nationally. Also returning as a state champion is Tommy Hoskins (113), who is ranked No. 16 nationally despite an overtime loss in the district final. Others qualifiers include returning state runner-up Nick Vestal (152), state placer Ronnie Pietro (106), now two-time qualifier Josh Clary (126), and Henry Danishek (138) who upset a two-time state placer in the district quarterfinal. The most notable finals matches should come at 113, 138, and 152. Hoskins would likely see the undefeated junior Greg Quinn (Shadyside), who has already placed twice at state, and secured an upset victory over Drew Mattin in the team state tournament; there is a potential team state finals rematch between Smith and Marteney at 138, one that Smith won in overtime last month; and then there is a potential battle between returning state runners-up in Marteney and Vestal.

This week on Takedown ... Segment 1: Oregon State captures fifth consecutive conference title on Saturday. Segment 2: NCAA has announced the qualifier allocations for the Division I Championships in New York. The NCAA also released individual award standings in all three divisions. Northeastern Oklahoma A&M took home the NJCAA team title Saturday Pan American Olympic Qualifier. Jim Raschke is one of seven individuals who will be welcomed into the Minnesota National Wrestling Hall of Fame this April. Two headline bouts featuring former college wrestlers have been scheduled for Bellator 154. Segment 3: Kevin Dresser, Tom Ryan, Pat Popolizio, Brian Smith and J Robinson weigh in on NWCA Bowl Championships. Andrew Long Segment 4: Associate Director of Communications for the Big 12 Conference Bob Burda. Technique of the week Takedown Shop Super Sunday Singlet Winner

FRESNO, Calif. -- Fresno State officially announced Tuesday it will be integrating two new sports into its intercollegiate athletics programs. The Bulldogs will be adding wrestling and women's water polo as the 20th and 21st NCAA Division I sanctioned sports under the Department of Athletics' umbrella. The Department of Athletics will immediately begin a national search to hire the head coaches for both programs. "We are really excited to add women's water polo and wrestling, providing young men and women the opportunity right here in the heart of the Valley to continue playing the sport that they love while getting their education close to home," Director of Athletics Jim Bartko said. "Wrestling has such a rich tradition here in the Valley and water polo makes perfect sense in the footprint of our Athletics structure and with our premiere Aquatics venue. We look forward to incorporating these two sports into our University community while remaining focused on our continued commitment to gender equity and Title IX." Fresno State has raised necessary funds to support both programs over the course of its first three seasons. "The generous support from the wrestling community, the tremendous support we receive from the University and our fundraising efforts is what made these additions possible," Bartko added. "It was very important to us to incorporate these sports the right way to set them up for success, and we feel that we have done just that." The move to bring wrestling back was initiated by President Joseph I. Castro in fall 2013 when he asked the Department of Athletics to explore the possibility. "I am ecstatic that we are officially moving forward with reinstating wrestling and adding women's water polo. We have taken the time to adequately prepare for the new programs and to do the fundraising necessary for them to succeed," said Castro. "It's a bold move to add two new sports, but they will provide great opportunities for student-athletes at Fresno State and tremendous enjoyment by Bulldog fans throughout the Valley and beyond. This is additional evidence that our academic and athletics programs are rising together." The timeline for the sport additions is as follows: March 2016 - Head coaching positions posted April-June 2016 - Announce hiring's of head coaches for both programs July 2016 - Hiring of assistant coaches Summer 2016 - Recruitment of student-athletes begins November 2016 - Early signing period; recruits can sign National Letters of Intent to join Bulldog programs August 2017 - Student-athletes of the two sports arrive on campus Winter 2017-18 - Wrestling program begins competition Spring 2018 - Women's water polo begins competition Conference affiliation will be forthcoming. Fresno State has wheels in motion to support the infrastructure of both programs. The wrestling program, which will compete in the Save Mart Center, will have coaches' offices, a locker room and a mat room in the North Gym. The women's water polo program will hold competitions in the Aquatics Center, which will also house the coaches' offices. The team's locker room will be located in the North Gym Annex, which is directly adjacent to the Aquatics Center (in the same building that houses the women's swimming and diving locker room). The sports will be the first additions to Bulldog Athletics since the women's lacrosse program began competition during the 2008-09 school-year, the same year the women's swimming and diving program was restored after being dropped in 2004. For wrestling, this marks its return at Fresno State. The program was dropped from the University umbrella as an NCAA Division I competing program on June 15, 2006. Wrestling at Fresno State dates back to 1962 when it competed as an NCAA Division II program. In 1969 it made the move to Division I and won 11 team conference championships, had 14 top 25 finishes, three individuals that combined to win six national championships and 33 All-Americans. The introduction of the women's water polo program is the first of its kind for that sport at Fresno State.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The 2016 MAC Wrestling Championships will be held March 5-6 and hosted by Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Mich. Listed below is the pre-seeding for this weekends Championships following today's conference call with all nine MAC head wrestling coaches. 125: 1- Dylan Peters, Northern Iowa 2- Barlow McGhee, Missouri 3- Brent Fleetwood, Central Michigan 4- Shakur Laney, Ohio 5- Brandon Jeske, Old Dominion 6- Kyle Akins, Buffalo 7- Alijah Jeffery, Northern Illinois 8/9- Armando Tores, Eastern Michigan 8/9- Del Vinas, Kent State 133: 1- Mack McGuire, Kent State 2- Zach Synon, Missouri 3- Cameron Kelly, Ohio 4- Corey Keener, Central Michigan 5- Josh Alber, Northern Iowa 6- Emilio Saavedra, Old Dominion 7- Austin Eicher, Northern Illinois 8/9- Shayne Wireman, Eastern Michigan 8/9- Bryan Lantry, Buffalo 141: 1- Matt Manley, Missouri 2- Chris Mecate, Old Dominion 3- Steve Bleise, Northern Illinois 4- Zach Horan, Central Michigan 5- Trevor Jauch, Northern Iowa 6- Anthony Tutolo, Kent State 7- Kyle Springer, Eastern Michigan 8/9- Noah Forrider, Ohio 8/9- Brandon Lapi, Buffalo 149: 1- Lavion Mayes, Missouri 2- Justin Oliver, Central Michigan 3- Alexander Richardson, Old Dominion 4- Mike DePalma, Kent State 5- Nick Barber, Eastern Michigan 6- Gabe Morse, Northern Illinois 7- Colt Cotton, Buffalo 8/9- Cullen Cummings, Ohio 8/9- Adam Perrin, Northern Iowa 157: 1- Ian Miller, Kent State 2- Luke Smith, Central Michigan 3- Bryce Steiert, Northern Iowa 4- Spartak Chino, Ohio 5- Le'Roy Barnes, Missouri 6- Andrew Morse, Northern Illinois 7- Devan Marry, Eastern Michigan 8/9- Alex Smythe, Buffalo 8/9- Devin Geoghegan, Old Dominion 165: 1- Daniel Lewis, Missouri 2- Cooper Moore, Northern Iowa 3- Austin Reese, Ohio 4- Tyler Buckwalter, Kent State 5- Seldon Wright, Old Dominion 6- Dakota Juarez, Eastern Michigan 7- Shaun'Qae McMurtry, Northern Illinois 8/9- Rrok Ndokaj, Buffalo 8/9- Colin Heffernan, Central Michigan 174: 1- Mike Ottinger, Central Michigan 2- Blaise Butler, Missouri 3- Cody Walters, Ohio 4- Trace Engelkes, Northern Illinois 5- Jacob Davis, Eastern Michigan 6- Jeriod James, Kent State 7- Muhamid McBryde, Buffalo 8/9- Kyle Lux, Northern Iowa 8/9- Jared Swan, Old Dominion 184: 1- Willie Miklus, Missouri 2- Jack Dechow, Old Dominion 3- Andrew Romanchik, Ohio 4- Jordan Ellingwood, Central Michigan 5- Cole Baxter, Kent State 6- Derek Hillman, Eastern Michigan 7- Drew Foster, Northern Iowa 8/9- Joe Ariola, Buffalo 8/9- Quinton Rosser, Northern Illinois 197: 1- J'den Cox, Missouri 2- Kyle Conel, Kent State 3- Phil Wellington, Ohio 4- Shawn Scott, Northern Illinois 5- Anthony Abro, Eastern Michigan 6- Jackson Lewis, Central Michigan 7- James Benjamin, Buffalo 8/9- Cody Krumweide, Northern Iowa 8/9- Terrell Forbes, Old Dominion 285: 1- Blaize Cabell, Northern Iowa 2- Gage Hutchison, Eastern Michigan 3- Jake Gunning, Buffalo 4- Newton Smerchek, Central Michigan 5- Austin Coburn, Old Dominion 6- Arthur Bunce, Northern Illinois 7- Devin Nye, Kent State 8/9- Jesse Webb, Ohio 8/9- Cody Johnston, Missouri

No. 2 Oklahoma State will enter the postseason without one of its returning All-Americans. Kyle Crutchmer battles Missouri's Blaise Butler on Jan. 22 (Photo/Mark Lundy, Lutte-Lens.com)On Tuesday morning, All-American Kyle Crutchmer announced via Twitter that he will not be competing in the postseason due to injury. "I found out two weeks ago that I need surgery on my right foot," wrote Crutchmer. "I broke it in two places. I have trained on it for two weeks now in pain. This morning I have made my decision to go ahead and get surgery next week and therefore I'm going to miss junior season. Thanks for the support from my friends and family as this is a difficult time for me. I am excited to see what my future holds. GO COWBOYS." Crutchmer finishes his junior season with a 15-4 record. He was ranked No. 8 at 174 pounds in the latest InterMat rankings. Chandler Rogers will replace Crutchmer in the Oklahoma State lineup at 174 pounds. Rogers, a redshirt freshman, has compiled a 24-6 record this season. He notched a win over North Carolina's Ethan Ramos, who was ranked No. 2 at the time, in his last outing on Feb. 19.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- For the first time in association history, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) will deliver the final bouts of the 2016 NAIA Wrestling National Championships, presented by USA Wrestling-Kansas, on ESPN3. The 10 matches will begin at 8 p.m. EST/7 p.m. CST on Saturday, March 5. The coverage takes place at the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka, Kan. To view the entire championships schedule, click here. "The association has had a great partnership with ESPN, and we're excited to expand that relationship into the sport of wrestling," said Jim Carr, NAIA President and CEO. "ESPN3 will put our wrestling championships in more homes than ever before, which is great exposure for our student-athletes and institutions. I also want to thank our host partner Visit Topeka for helping make this happen. Each year in Topeka, the organizing committee has worked hard to raise the quality of the student-athlete experience. This is a great example of the many things they've done." ESPN3 is ESPN's live multi-screen sports network, a destination that delivers thousands of exclusive sports events annually. It is accessible on computers, smartphones, tablets and connected devices through WatchESPN. The network is currently available to 99 million homes at no additional cost to fans who receive their high-speed Internet connection or video subscription from an affiliated service provider. The network is also available at no cost to approximately 21 million U.S. college students and U.S.-based military personnel via computers, smartphones and tablets connected to on-campus educational and on-base military broadband and Wi-Fi networks. This past fall, ESPN3 carried the 2015 NAIA Volleyball National Championship and 2015 NAIA Football National Championship. Additionally, the semifinals and finals of the Division II Women's Basketball National Championship and the finals of the Division II Men's Basketball National Championship, Division I Women's Basketball National Championship, and Buffalo-Funds NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship will be on ESPN3. Future coverage on the ESPN networks will be announced at a later date. About ESPN3 • List of ESPN3 service providers (high speed internet) | Click Here. • List of ESPN3 service providers (video) | Click Here. • You may also download the WatchESPN app for iOS, Android and Kindle Fire smartphones and tablets.

Links: Brackets | Event Website GREENSBORO, N.C.-- The Atlantic Coast Conference announced Tuesday the individual seeds and competition brackets for the 2016 ACC Wrestling Championship, which will be held this Sunday at the University of Virginia's John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Va. The Championship begins at 11 a.m. on Sunday with first-round action, continues with the semifinals at 1 p.m., consolation semifinals at 3:30 p.m. and the consolation finals matches at 5:30 p.m. The Championship concludes with championship finals matches which begin at 7 p.m. ESPN3 will air live all of the matches of the 62nd Annual ACC Wrestling Championship, streaming action from both mats in the preliminary rounds. The brackets and seeds are subject to change, as coaches can make changes in their lineups until 5 p.m. on Saturday. NC State, ranked second nationally this week, led all schools with four wrestlers selected as No. 1 seeds in their weight classes, led by two-time national champion Nick Gwiazdowski (285), but also including Kevin Jack (141), Thomas Gantt (157) and Max Rohskopf (165). Virginia Tech, which is ranked third nationally, and North Carolina, which is ranked 14th, each had two top seeds, followed by Duke and Virginia with one each. Virginia Tech, which had Joey Dance (125) and Zack Zavatsky (184) named as No. 1 seeds, also led all schools with five wrestlers tabbed as No. 2 seeds in their weight classes. The Hokies led all teams with seven wrestlers seeded first or second, followed by NC State (6), Duke (3), North Carolina (2), Virginia (1) and Pitt (1). North Carolina's top seeded wrestlers included Evan Henderson (149) and Ethan Ramos (174). Virginia had George DiCamillo (133) and Duke had Conner Hartmann (197) also named as the top-seeded wrestlers in their respective weight classes. 125: 1. Joey Dance, Virginia Tech 2. Sean Fausz, NC State 3. LJ Bentley, Pitt 4. Nick Herrmann, Virginia 5. Thayer Atkins, Duke 6. Anthony Bosco, North Carolina 133: 1. George DiCamillo, Virginia 2. Dom Forys, Pitt 3. Dennis Gustafson, Virginia Tech 4. Jamal Morris, NC State 5. James Szymanski, North Carolina 141: 1. Kevin Jack, NC State 2. Solomon Chishko, Virginia Tech 3. Joey Ward, North Carolina 4. Zach Finesilver, Duke 5. Nick Zanetta, Pitt 6. Justin Van Hoose, Virginia 149: 1. Evan Henderson, North Carolina 2. Mitch Finesilver, Duke 3. Sal Mastriani, Virginia Tech 4. Beau Donahue, NC State 5. Chris Yankowich, Virginia 6. Robert Lee, Pitt 157: 1. Tommy Gantt, NC State 2. Nick Brascetta, Virginia Tech 3. Andrew Atkinson, Virginia 4. Connor Bass, Duke 5. Robert Henderson, North Carolina 6. Ronnie Garbinsky, Pitt 165: 1. Max Rohskopf, NC State 2. Jake Faust, Duke 3. John Michael Staudenmeyer, North Carolina 4. Cody Wiercioch, Pitt 5. David McFadden, Virginia Tech 6. Garrett Peppelman, Virginia 174: 1. Ethan Ramos, North Carolina 2. Zach Epperly, Virginia Tech 3. TeShan Campbell, Pitt 4. Nick Hall, NC State 5. Tyler Askey, Virginia 6. Alec Schenk, Duke 184: 1. Zack Zavatsky, Virginia Tech 2. Pete Renda, NC State 3. Alex Utley, North Carolina 4. Will Schany, Virginia 5. Trey Adamson, Duke 6. Donovan McAfee, Pitt 197: 1. Conner Hartmann, Duke 2. Jared Haught, Virginia Tech 3. Zach Nye, Virginia 4. Michael Boykin, NC State 5. Chip Ness, North Carolina 6. Nick Bonaccorsi, Pitt 285: 1. Nick Gwiazdowski, NC State 2. Ty Walz, Virginia Tech 3. Ryan Solomon, Pitt 4. Patrick Gillen, Virginia 5. Brendan Walsh, Duke 6. Cory Daniel, North Carolina

This past weekend in Minnesota, it was a tale of two tournaments for Apple Valley. In Thursday's dual team tournament, the No. 15 Eagles upended No. 19 St. Michael-Albertville 31-26 for an 11th straight state title. (These two teams did share the title in 2013 after the final dual meet was tied.) Through 10 weight classes, St. Michael-Albertville held a 21-20 lead despite only winning four bouts. Those wins came through a pin from No. 8 Patrick McKee (106), a pin from No. 5 Mitch McKee (138), a pin from No. 13 Jake Allar (152), and a 4-2 decision from Garrett Ailts (170). The McKee's and Allar pinned weak links in the Apple Valley lineup, while Ailts beat Tony Watts in a battle of state alternates (Watts bumping up from 160). Apple Valley countered with a 3-2 win from Nate Larson (113), a 17-3 major decision from Sebas Swiggum (120), a 7-3 decision from Kyle Rathman (126), a 9-1 major decision from Devin Roberts (138), a 3-1 decision from Jalen Thul (145), and an 8-3 decision from Brock Morgan (160). Larson earned his victory in a battle of state placers against Zach Nygaard, Rathman earned his in a battle of state qualifiers against Zach Dehmer, state alternate Roberts beat state qualifier Cody Schoen, state placer Thul bumped up a weight to beat state qualifier Wyatt Bice, while state placer Morgan bumped up a weight class to beat state qualifier Donie Leuer. Mark Hall celebrates after pinning Lucas Jeske in the state team competition (Photo/The Guillotine)The key moment in the dual meet came at 182 pounds, where Apple Valley presented Mark Hall, the nation's top wrestler at 170 pounds. St. Michael-Albertville chose to send out No. 10 Lucas Jeske, instead of bumping him off of Hall. It was a baffling strategy, though one theory would be that Jeske could hold Hall to a decision or major decision to set up the dual meet's end game. It ended up being an unmitigated disaster for the Knights. Hall scored the pin at 1:56, and when Jeske threw his head-gear after the match, there was a team point deduction to boot. The dual meet score was now 26-20 in favor of Apple Valley, Apple Valley won its seventh match, and would also have criteria in case of a tie (even before considering a possible eighth win). With Gable Steveson, the nation's top overall sophomore, still to wrestle - St. Michael-Albertville needed a total miracle. Another "interesting" move was to send out reserve wrestler Max Jensen at 195 against Prince Hyemang, a state qualifier at 182 pounds. That meant state placer Evan Ronsen would have to be used against Steveson. Jensen did get a 4-3 decision victory to cut the deficit to 26-23. However, Apple Valley then sent Steveson out at 220, where he got the match-clinching 20-4 technical fall over Ronsen. In the dual meet's final match, Evan Foster (state runner-up to Steveson) earned a 3-2 decision over state qualifier Tanyi Besong. The following two days were the individual bracket tournament, where in Class AAA, St. Michael-Albertville won the unofficial points race over Apple Valley. The lone state titles for the team state champion Eagles were earned by No. 1 Mark Hall (170) and No. 1 Gable Steveson (220). It was a sixth individual state tournament title for Hall (to go along with his six team titles), the first ever to accomplish this feat in Minnesota. Hall earned pins in his opening two bouts, followed by technical falls by scores of 15-0 and 16-1. Four others placed for Apple Valley: Brock Morgan (152) finished as runner-up, Sebas Swiggum (120) earned third, Nate Larson (113) placed fourth, and Jalen Thul (138) placed fifth. No. 13 Jake Allar (152) was one of three state champions for St. Michael-Albertville (Photo/The Guillotine)The individuals from St. Michael-Albertville were the standouts in the big-school division as five were in the state finals bout. Winning titles were No. 8 Patrick McKee (106), No. 5 Mitch McKee (138), and No. 13 Jake Allar (152). Patrick beat a pair of state ranked wrestler to earn his title, 5-3 over No. 18 Israel Navarro (Wilmar) in the semifinal and 9-4 over No. 4 Aaron Cashman (Mound Westonka) in the state final; Mitch had a pin and a technical fall sandwiched around two major decisions; while Allar beat Morgan 3-0 for his title. Finishing as runners-up for the Knights were No. 10 Lucas Jeske (182) and Evan Foster (220). Returning state champion Jeske lost by 12-3 major decision to 2013 state champion Taylor Venz (Farmington), an opponent he had beaten 6-4 in a dual meet two months earlier; while Foster lost by technical fall to Steveson. Other placers for St. Michael-Albertville were Evan Ronsen (195) in fifth and Zach Nygaard (113) in sixth. Farmington, Owatonna, and Shakopee also had multiple champions in Class AAA. Victor Gliva (113) joined Venz as state champion for Farmington; Peyton Robb (120) was a repeat champion while Brandon Moen (195) improved upon two previous third place finishes for Owatonna; and Brent Jones (126) won a third state title with Alex Lloyd (145) winning his first for Shakopee. Also winning a state title was No. 20 Andrew Piehl (Rogers) at 285. Watch Mark Hall win his sixth individual state championship ...

Andrew Long was dismissed from the Grand View University wrestling team for violating terms of the pact he signed with the Des Moines school when he enrolled last summer, an Iowa TV station reported Monday. The news came just one day after the same station -- WOI-TV, the ABC affiliate in Des Moines -- broadcast a positive 8.5 minute feature story on how the former Iowa State and Penn State NCAA All-American wrestler who had served time in Pennsylvania for sexually assaulting the mother of a fellow student had seemingly gotten his life together, and just days before the GVU Vikings will compete at the 2016 NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) Wrestling Championships with the goal of winning their fifth straight team title this coming weekend. Elias Johnson, morning anchor and reporter for the profile shown on Sunday, Feb. 28 -- and himself a former wrestler at Iowa Central Community College and Arizona State -- reported the story Monday afternoon on Twitter, stating, "Breaking: GVU Head Coach Nick Mitchell confirms @weareiowa5news Andrew Long dismissed after violating code of conduct policy over weekend" then followed a few minutes later with this tweet: "Andrew Long dismissed for drinking alcohol over the weekend. Not arrested, but violated code of conduct policy he signed to enroll at GVU." Shortly before Johnson's tweet, Des Moines Register wrestling writer Andy Hamilton shared quotes from Long's former coach on Twitter, saying, "He violated his contract and basically it's a situation where if it were a normal student it probably wouldn't have been a big deal, probably nothing that he even would've been reprimanded for but his situation wasn't normal, so we had to let him go." Andrew Long won a Midlands title at 141 pounds, and picked up the Champion of Champions award as voted by the other champions and the Dan Gable Outstanding Wrestler awardMitchell said Long was honest about what happened, according to Hamilton. Last July, Mitchell sought assurances from Long that he was remorseful for his past run-ins with the law, had made lifestyle changes, and was willing to be held accountable. Beyond that, Mitchell wanted the former Cyclone/Nittany Lion wrestler to sign a contract that spelled out guidelines that Long must follow as a student-athlete at Grand View, complying with all requirements of his five-year probation (including no alcohol) which was part of his sentence after agreeing to a plea of aggravated indecent assault in Pennsylvania for an August 2011 incident in which a 55-year-old mother of a Penn State student awoke in her son's apartment to find Long in bed with her. (Long did not know the victim nor her son, nor did he remember the incident. Long was sentenced to 1-2 years at the local county jail, and served nine months. As part of his plea, he agreed to seven years of no alcohol consumption, and must register as a sex offender the rest of his life.) Long's life on and off the mat was one of extreme contrasts. On the mat, the Creston, Iowa native crafted a career of impressive accomplishments, including being a three-time Iowa high school state champ. Long launched his collegiate career at Iowa State, where he made it to the 125-pound finals at the 2010 NCAA Division I championships, losing to Iowa's Matt McDonough. Later that summer, after a couple run-ins with Ames, Iowa police, Long was dismissed from the Cyclone wrestling program, and enrolled at Penn State. As a Nittany Lion wrestling for head coach Cael Sanderson, Long won the 133-pound crown at the 2011 Big Ten conference championships, then, two weeks later, placed third in that weight class at the 2011 NCAAs. However, the incident with the Penn State student's mother took place in late August of that year. In his time as a Grand View Viking, Andrew Long -- now a junior -- was undefeated and ranked No. 1 at 149 pounds. In late December, Long won the 141-pound title at the 2015 Ken Kraft Midlands tournament at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., and became the first NAIA wrestler to be crowned champ at the prestigious post-Christmas event since 2003. Long was also named Outstanding Wrestler and Champion of Champions at the Midlands. According to its website, Grand View is a private, not-for-profit liberal arts university, affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It has an enrollment of approximately 2,200 students. To watch the WOI-TV 8.5 minute feature on Andrew Long, click here.

The NCAA released brackets for the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships, which will be held at Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, S.D., March 11-12. Link: NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships Brackets

ROSEMONT, Ill. -- The Big Ten Conference announced the preliminary seeds for the 2016 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, which are set for March 5-6 at Iowa. Five schools boast at least one top-seeded wrestler, with Penn State leading the way with four. Nebraska and Penn State will bring a seeded wrestler in each of the 10 weight classes, while Iowa, Ohio State and Rutgers 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 eight weight classes, along with all 14 starters in two weight classes due to the Big Ten receiving nine or more NCAA Championships qualifier allocations in those classes. Penn State holds four No. 1 seeds, with 149-pounder Zain Retherford, 157-pounder Jason Nolf, 174-pounder Bo Nickal and 197-pounder Morgan McIntosh earning top billing in their weight classes. Michigan boasts two top-seeded grapplers in Dom Abounader (184) and Adam Coon (285), while Ohio State received top seeds in Nathan Tomasello (125) and Micah Jordan (141). The Fighting Illini's Zane Richards (133) and Badgers' Isaac Jordan (165) round out the group of top-ranked grapplers. Three of this year's top seeds claimed titles at last year's Big Ten Championships, with Tomasello (125), I. Jordan (165) and Abounader (184) earning conference crowns last season. This season, three freshman earned No. 1 seeds entering the championships, including M. Jordan, Nickal and Nolf. For more information on the 2016 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, visit the Big Ten Championships Central page on Iowa's website here. The complete list of Big Ten Championships pre-seeds can be found below. 125: 1. Nathan Tomasello, OSU 2. Thomas Gilman, IOWA 3. Nico Megaludis, PSU 4. Tim Lambert, NEB 5. Elijah Oliver, IND 6. Johnny Jimenez, WIS 7. Conor Youtsey, MICH 8. Sean McCabe, RU 133: 1. Zane Richards, ILL 2. Cory Clark, IOWA 3. Jordan Conaway, PSU 4. Geoff Alexander, MD 5. Eric Montoya, NEB 6. Ryan Taylor, WIS 7. Johnni DiJulius, OSU 8. Rossi Bruno, MICH 9. Dom Malone, NU 10. Anthony Giraldo, RU 11. Luke Welch, PUR 12. Garth Yenter, MSU 13. Alonzo Shepherd, IND 14. Sam Brancale, MINN 141: 1. Micah Jordan, OSU 2. Tommy Thorn, MINN 3. Anthony Ashnault, RU 4. Jameson Oster, NU 5. Javier Gasca III, MSU 6. Anthony Abidin, NEB 7. Danny Sabatello, PUR 8. Jimmy Gulibon, PSU 149: 1. Zain Retherford, PSU 2. Brandon Sorensen, IOWA 3. Jake Sueflohn, NEB 4. Jason Tsirtsis, NU 5. Alec Pantaleo, MICH 6. Alex Griffin, PUR 7. Andrew Crone, WIS 8. Jake Short, MINN 157: 1. Jason Nolf, PSU 2. Isaiah Martinez, ILL 3. Richie Lewis, RU 4. Jake Ryan, OSU 5. Edwin Cooper, Jr., IOWA 6. Brian Murphy, MICH 7. Tyler Berger, NEB 8. Lou Mascola, MD 165: 1. Isaac Jordan, WIS 2. Bo Jordan, OSU 3. Steven Rodrigues, ILL 4. Anthony Perrotti, RU 5. Chad Welch, PUR 6. Austin Wilson, NEB 7. Geno Morelli, PSU 8. Patrick Rhoads, IOWA 174: 1. Bo Nickal, PSU 2. Alex Meyer, IOWA 3. Zach Brunson, ILL 4. Myles Martin, OSU 5. Nathan Jackson, IND 6. Micah Barnes, NEB 7. Nick Wanzek, MINN 8. Ricky Robertson, WIS 9. Phil Bakuckas, RU 10. Mitch Sliga, NU 11. Aaron Calderon, MICH 12. Josh Snook, MD 13. Shane Shadaia, MSU 14. Andrew Hoselton, PUR 184: 1. Dom Abounader, MICH 2. Matt McCutcheon, PSU 3. Sam Brooks, IOWA 4. TJ Dudley, NEB 5. Nick Gravina, RU 6. Kenny Courts, OSU 7. Jeff Koepke, ILL 8. Ryan Christensen, WIS 197: 1. Morgan McIntosh, PSU 2. Brett Pfarr, MINN 3. Nathan Burak, IOWA 4. Max Huntley, MICH 5. Aaron Studebaker, NEB 6. Mark Martin, OSU 7. Hayden Hrymack, RU 8. Jacob Cooper, MSU 285: 1. Adam Coon, MICH 2. Kyle Snyder, OSU 3. Sam Stoll, IOWA 4. Billy Smith, RU 5. Michael Kroells, MINN 6. Collin Jensen, NEB 7. Brooks Black, ILL 8. Nick Nevills, PSU

The United States will send a talented and motivated wrestling team to compete in the 2016 Pan American Olympic Games Qualifer at the Dr. Pepper Arena in Frisco, Texas, March 4-6. Teams from North, Central and South America will compete in the three Olympic disciplines, men's freestyle, women's freestyle and Greco-Roman. This event serves as a major qualifier for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The top two place winners in each of the 18 Olympic weight classes will qualify their nation to compete at the Olympic Games. In total, 36 spots in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro are up for grabs. The United States has qualified wrestlers for five weight classes for the Olympic Games so far. Therefore, the USA will enter athletes and seek to qualify at the other 13 weight classes in Pan American Olympic Games Qualifier, four in men's freestyle, four in Greco-Roman and five in women's freestyle. The women's wrestling event will be held first on Friday, March 4, and five U.S. women will wrestle. Two-time World bronze medalist Alyssa Lampe (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) will compete at 48 kg/105.5 lbs. She is joined by three teammates from the 2015 U.S. World Team, Whitney Conder (Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP) at 53 kg/116.5 lbs., Alli Ragan (Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC) at 58 kg/128 lbs. and Erin Clodgo (Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids) at 63 kg/138.75 lbs. The women's team will feature a Texas native, Tamyra Mensah (Katy, Texas/Titan Mercury WC) at 69 kg/152 lbs. She was a two-time Texas girls state high school champion at Morgan Ranch High School, and won a WCWA college national title for Wayland Baptist University. On Saturday, March 5, the men's freestyle division will be held, with four U.S. athletes entered. Team USA will be led by a native Texan, two-time World bronze medalist and 2012 Olympian Tervel Dlagnev, at 125 kg/275 lbs. Dlagnev was a two-time Texas state high school medalist for Arlington High School. He won two NCAA Div. II titles for Nebraska-Kearney and has been one of the world's best heavyweights for many years. Also on the mat for Team USA is 2009 World silver medalist and 2012 Olympian Jake Herbert (Ann Arbor, Mich./New York AC/Cliff Keen WC) at 86 kg/189 lbs. Herbert won two NCAA titles for Northwestern and was a Hodge Trophy winner. The other two freestyle stars were NCAA champions at the Univ. of Iowa, Tony Ramos (Iowa City, Iowa/Titan Mercury WC/Hawkeye WC) at 57 kg/125.5 lbs. and Brent Metcalf (Iowa City, Iowa/New York AC/Hawkeye WC) at 65 kg/143 lbs. Metcalf, a two-time NCAA champion and Hodge Trophy winner, has been on four U.S. World Teams, while Ramos has been on two U.S. World Teams. The final day of the Pan American Championships is Sunday, March 6, featuring the Greco-Roman competition. The USA will enter four athletes. Three-time U.S. World Team member Jordan Holm (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnesota Storm) is scheduled to compete at 85 kg/187 lbs. Wrestling at 59 kg/130 lbs. is 2008 Olympian Ildar Hafizov (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army WCAP). 2014 U.S. World Team member Joe Rau (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnesota Storm) will wrestle at 98 kg/213 lbs. Also scheduled to compete is RaVaughn Perkins (Omaha, Neb./New York AC) at 66 kg/145.5 lbs., winner of the recent Dave Schultz Memorial International. The weight classes already qualified for the USA are 74 kg in men's freestyle, 97 kg in men's freestyle, 75 kg in Greco-Roman, 130 kg in Greco-Roman and 75 kg in women's freestyle. Team USA will not have entries at those five weights at the Pan American Olympic Games Qualifier. Updates on the international team rosters will be announced later this week. This will be the second major international wrestling event in Frisco on consecutive weekends. This past weekend, the Pan American Championships, the annual continental wrestling championships, were held at the Dr. Pepper Arena, Feb. 26-28. The United States won the team title in all three Olympic disciplines. Included were 11 gold medals, three silver medals and seven bronze medals won by U.S. athletes. The final schedule for the Pan American Olympic Games Qualifier has been published. On all three days, there will be a 10:00 a.m. session with Qualification Rounds and Repechage, and a 5:00 p.m. session with the Medal Match Finals. The schedule for Friday, March 4 is slightly different than previously posted, as an Opening Ceremony has been removed, meaning the finals will start 30 minutes earlier than had been announced. All-Session General Admission prices are $14.50 for a single day pass and $39.50 for a three-day pass. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster. Click here for direct link for tickets through Ticketmaster. http://www.ticketmaster.com/venue/99156?tm_link=edp_Venue_See_All_Events For more information, please visit the Pan American Championships and Pan American Olympic Games Qualifier website at: http://usawevents.sportngin.com/panams The event will be broadcast live on Flowrestling. Media seeking more information and to receive credentials to cover either or both events should contact Gary Abbott of USA Wrestling at gabbott@usawrestling.org PAN AMERICAN OLYMPIC GAMES QUALIFIER At Frisco, Texas, March 4-6 U.S. women's freestyle roster (to compete on March 4) 48 kg/105.5 lbs - Alyssa Lampe, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids) 53 kg/116.5 lbs. - Whitney Conder, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP) 58 kg/128 lbs. - Alli Ragan, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC) 63 kg/138.75 lbs. - Erin Clodgo, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids) 69 kg/152 lbs. - Tamyra Mensah, Katy, Texas (Titan Mercury WC) Team Leader - Kyra Barry, New York, N.Y. National Women's Coach - Terry Steiner, Colorado Springs, Colo. Coach - Maxim Molonov, Colorado Springs, Colo. U.S. men's freestyle roster (to compete on March 5) 57 kg/125.5 lbs. - Tony Ramos, Iowa City, Iowa (Titan Mercury WC/Hawkeye WC) 65 kg/143 lbs. - Brent Metcalf, Iowa City, Iowa (New York AC/Hawkeye WC) 86 kg/189 lbs. - Jake Herbert, Ann Arbor, Mich. (New York AC/Cliff Keen WC) 125 kg/275 lbs. - Tervel Dlagnev, Columbus, Ohio (Sunkist Kids/Ohio RTC) National Freestyle Coach - Bruce Burnett, Colorado Springs, Colo. Assistant National Freestyle Coach - Bill Zadick, Colorado Springs, Colo. Assistant National Freestyle Coach - Brandon Slay, Colorado Springs, Colo. U.S. Greco-Roman roster (to compete on March 6) 59 kg/130 lbs. - Ildar Hafizov, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP) 66 kg/145.5 lbs. - RaVaughn Perkins, Omaha, Neb. (New York AC) 85 kg/187 lbs. - Jordan Holm, Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnesota Storm) 98 kg/213 lbs. - Joe Rau, Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnesota Storm) Team Leader - Kiki Kelley, Minneapolis, Minn. National Greco-Roman Coach - Matt Lindland, Colorado Springs, Colo. Assistant National Greco-Roman Coach - Momir Petkovic, Colorado Springs, Colo. Coach - Dan Chandler, Minneapolis, Minn. Medical - Dr. Jason Holm, Stateline, Nev. Medical - Randy Boswell, Newman Lake, Wash. Massage Therapist - Amy Murry PAN-AMERICAN OLYMPIC GAMES QUALIFIER SCHEDULE (all are Central Time) At Frisco, Texas, March 4-6 Friday March 4 Women's Freestyle Wrestling (48kg, 53kg, 58kg, 63kg, 69kg and 75kg) 10:00 am - 2:00 pm - Qualification Rounds and Repechage 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm - Medal Match Finals Saturday, March 5 Men's Freestyle Wrestling (57kg, 65kg, 74kg, 86kg, 97kg, 125kg) 10:00 am - 2:00 pm - Qualification Rounds and Repechage 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm - Medal Match Finals Sunday March 6 Greco-Roman Wrestling (59kg, 66kg, 75kg, 85kg, 98kg, 130kg) 10:00 am - 2:00 pm - Qualification Rounds and Repechage 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm - Medal Match Finals

With a dominating performance at the National Prep Championships this past weekend on the campus of Lehigh University, No. 1 Blair Academy (N.J.) made a compelling closing argument to retain its position atop the national rankings when the final rankings are done in a couple of weeks. Seven wrestlers won their weight class in a tournament field that featured three other nationally ranked teams: No. 2 Wyoming Seminary (Pa.), No. 23 Malvern Prep (Pa.), and No. 49 Good Counsel (Md.) Blair Academy (Photo/Juan Garcia)Epitomizing the type of tournament, it was for Blair Academy was the out of his mind performance from sophomore Andrew Merola to win the 145-pound weight class. In the quarterfinal, he beat tournament favorite Eric Hong (Kiski Prep, Pa.) 2-1 in the ultimate tiebreaker; Hong is ranked No. 6 nationally. Then after surviving a semifinal bout against now three-time National Prep placer Sam Martino (McDonogh, Md.), 2-1 in the tiebreaker, it was a 4-3 tiebreaker victory in the championship over No. 18 Leonard Merkin (Poly Prep, N.Y.) Six other Buccaneers grapplers won their weight class: No. 13 Michael Colaiocco at 106 pounds, No. 13 Chris Cannon at 113, No. 8 Requir van der Merwe at 132, No. 14 Ryan Karoly at 160, No. 5 Brandon Dallavia at 170, and No. 3 Chase Singletary at 195. Singletary scored a 3-2 championship match victory over No. 1 Nick Reenan (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.), a second victory over Reenan this season. Another close match dagger to the Wyoming Seminary heart came in the 220-pound semifinal where Nick Mosco beat No. 16 Will Hilliard 3-2; Mosco would lose in the final, but Hilliard would lose his consolation semi and finish in fifth. Joining Mosco as runners-up were Zach Sherman at 126 and Neil Putnam at 285; Putnam had a key 2-1 tiebreaker victory over Beast of the East champion Mansur Abdul-Malik (St. Vincent Pallotti, Md.) in the semifinal. Other Blair Academy placers were Mike Madara taking fifth at 120, John Manning earning sixth at 152, and Shane Brackup taking eighth at 285. Wyoming Seminary, with its four champions and 288 points, were second to the 322 points of Blair Academy. The Blue Knights placed 12 overall wrestlers in the tournament, led by championships won by No. 17 Jack Davis at 120 pounds, Patrick Munn at 138, No. 1 Mason Manville at 152, and re-classified senior Michael Rogers at 285. Joining Reenan as runners-up were Benny Baker at 113, Trent Olson at 132, and No. 12 Christian Dietrich at 182. Joining Hilliard in fifth were Justin Hoyle at 106 and Jake Riegel at 126; while Will Verallis placed sixth at 160, losing all three of his matches by two points or less. Seth Janney (Photo/Juan Garcia)Third place in the tournament was earned by Malvern Prep, who placed nine wrestlers to score 197 points. The Friars were led by weight class championships from No. 9 Michael Beard at 182 and No. 15 Seth Janney at 220; Beard beat Dietrich by a 3-0 score in the final. Shane Hanson-Ashworth was runner-up at 106 pounds, while third place finishes were earned by Nick Lattanze at 126, Matt Lattanze at 160, and No. 17 Rashon Lusane at 195. Other placers earned fourth, seventh, and eight. The other weight class champion at National Preps was Jack Mueller (Trinity Christian Academy, Texas), who earned the title at 126 pounds.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- The nationally-ranked Ithaca College wrestling team had its sights set on winning an NCAA Northeast Regional championship, and the Bombers walked away from Sunday's competition as two-time defending regional champions after six student-athletes qualified for the NCAA championships. Ithaca, ranked fifth in the country by D3wrestle.com and eighth in the country by the National Wrestling Coaches' Association (NWCA) scored 144 points to edge Roger Williams by 7.5 points for the team title. A wrestler needed to place in the top three in the weight class to qualify for the NCAA championships, and the following Bombers will make the trip to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, March 11 and 12 for the Division III championships: junior Nick Velez (won the 165-pound weight class), sophomore Bryan Israel (second at 133), junior Carlos Toribio (second at 184), senior Dan Glinko (second at 285), junior Jimmy Kaishian (third at 125), and junior Nick Wahba (third at 141). Longtime Bomber head coach Marty Nichols was honored as the Coach of the Year, and assistant coach Seth Ecker earned Assistant Coach of the Year honors. On day two of the Northeast Regionals, hosted by Springfield College, the Bombers capped their strong showing with 10 regional place winners on their way to the championship. Sophomore Jaison White (174) and freshman Jake Ashcraft (197) placed fifth in their weight classes, while seniors Dan Pak (149) and Eamonn Gaffney (157) placed sixth. Velez beat out Roger Williams' Alec Golner by a 4-0 decision to earn the title at 165. The junior won against Justin Marsh from Worcester Polytechnic 10-2 in the semifinals to earn his spot at the national tournament. It is Velez' second straight trip to the NCAA tournament. Israel secured his first NCAA appearance at Ithaca thanks to a 10-2 major decision win over Joseph Ferinde (Johnson & Wales). He fought hard in the championship bout against Tyler Keane (Springfield) before falling 4-3. Toribio handed Joe Albina (Roger Williams) an 8-0 major decision setback in the semifinals but dropped a 9-2 decision to No. 1 Christop Chorzepa in the finals. This will be Toribio's first trip to the NCAA championships. Glinko will also be making his first trip to the NCAA championships thanks to a 5-1 victory over Martin Strenk (Williams) in the semifinals. Glink lost to Jake Benedict (Springfield) 6-3 in the championship bout. For the third straight year, Kaishian will be heading to the NCAA tournament, but it wasn't easy for Ithaca's co-captain. After losing his first match Saturday, Kaishian had to wrestle his way through the consolation bracket to have a shot at a repeat NCAA appearance. Kaishian won all five of his matches, including a 7-3 decision over Matt Morris (Williams) to cement his third straight NCAA appearance. Wahba suffered an 8-3 loss in the semifinals, but bounced back with a 4-2 decision of Richard Dennison (Oneonta) and a 6-4 win over Derak Heyman (Cortland) to place third and earn his first-ever trip to the NCAA championships. The Bombers have competed in the Division III national championships 33 straight years, claiming championships in 1989, 1990, and 1994. Two individuals earned All-American honors at NCAA's in 2015 as Ithaca has produced 20 All-Americans since 2010, and 107 in the proud history of Ithaca wrestling.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- The Maryville wrestling team won the Central Super Regional with a team score of 151.5 as all 10 Saints wrestlers advanced to the 2016 NCAA Division II National Championships. The Saints won two weight classifications, and Mike Denney earned the Central Regional Coach of the Year award. After winning the regional in Sioux Falls, S.D., the Saints will return in two weeks for the national championships March 11-12 held at the Denny Sanford Premier Center. Nate Rodriguez claimed the title at 141 with two more decisions to cap his run. He posted a 7-2 decision in the semifinals and posted a 3-0 shutout of Blake Clevenger to win the championship. Zeb Wahle recorded a 4-1 win in the semifinals to reach the championship match. There, he downed Clayton Jennisen with a 3-1 decision to win the 174 weight class and claim Maryville's second individual regional title. At 125, Jaret Singh fell to top-seed Brett Velasquez but won the consolation semis by a 9-2 decision. He capped his day with a 2-1 win in the third-place match over Danny Swan. Dakota Bauer won his semifinal bout at 133 with a 5-3 decision but dropped the title match to top-seed Blake Bosch. Keenan Hagerty advanced to the title match with a 13-2 major over Tyler Stenberg. However, in the championship match, he was narrowly edged 5-4 in tiebreak No. 1 to finish in second place. In the 157 classification, Greg Hegarty dropped a 2-1 decision to undefeated Terrel Wilbourn. Hegarty won his consolation semi match 9-4 and took third place after an injury default. Dimitri Willis dropped his 165 semifinal match to No. 1 Clint Poster but rebounded to win his next consolation match by a 3-2 count. Willis claimed third place with a 14-10 victory over Qiante Wagner. At 184, Nick Burghardt had to wrestle his way through the consolation bracket but eventually took third place. He won his consolation semifinal with a 12-2 major, then defeated Scott VanDeLoo 3-1 in sudden victory to advance. Ryan Beltz began his day in the 197 semifinals with a 12-3 major decision over Dillon Archer to reach the finals. However, he was sidelined with an injury late in the championship match versus Joe Gomez to finish as runner up. In the heavyweights, Donnell Walker dropped his semifinal match 5-2 but he recovered to take his consolation semifinal by a 5-1 score. In the third-place match, Walker beat Coltyn Pease 3-2 for the victory.

The No. 2 St. Cloud State University wrestling team claimed four individual championships and placed second as a team at the 2016 NCAA Division II Super 3 Regional, which wrapped up action at the Elmen Center in Sioux Falls, S.D. on Sunday, Feb. 28. The Huskies were led by senior Clint Poster, who won the title at 165-pounds and was also named the NCAA Division II Super 3 Regional's Most Outstanding Wrestler. The Huskies completed the two-day tournament with 145.5 points, while Maryville won the title with 151.5 points. The complete team results are listed below: Maryville 151.5 St. Cloud State 145.5 Upper Iowa 97.0 McKendree 79.0 Minnesota State 78.5 Lindenwood 74.0 Southwest Minnesota State 39.5 Northern State 37.5 Augustana 36.0 Ouachita Baptist 25.5 Minnesota State Moorhead 25.0 Mary 23.5 Central Missouri 12.0 Truman State 9.0 Minot State 2.5 SCSU individuals to gain first place finishes in the regional include Brett Velasquez at 125-pounds, Jay Hildreth at 149-pounds, Clint Poster at 165-pounds and Austin Goergen at 285-pounds. The Huskies will also send seven wrestlers to the NCAA finals on March 11-12. At 125-pounds, redshirt freshman Brett Velasquez brought home a regional crown with his 11-9 victory over Maleek Williams of Upper Iowa in the title bout. Velasquez started his day in the semi's with a 5-4 victory over Maryville's Jared Singh. In the 133-pound bracket, Jared Oftedahl made a deep run in the wrestlebacks on Feb. 28. He opened the day with a 3:54 fall against Tate Barnhardt of Mary. He then lost by a fall to Matt Paulus of Upper Iowa in the consolation semi's. In the fourth place bracket, Oftedahl ended his tournament with a 1:14 fall against Hunter Haralason of Lindenwood. At 141-pounds, Matt Nelson started his day with an 8-3 win over Brandon Charbonneau of Augustana in the wrestlebacks. He continued his day with a 5-4 win over Alphonso Vruno of Minnesota State. In the third place match, Nelson lost a 20-8 decision against Darren Wynn of McKendree. No. 5 Jay Hildreth enjoyed a strong showing at the regional with a first place finish at 149-pounds. Hildreth started his day in the bracket semi's with a 2-1 win over Mech Spraggins of McKendree. In the title bout, Hildreth brought home the gold with a 5-4 victory over Maryville's John Hagerty. Clint Poster won his second consecutive regional title, and his first title at 165-pounds, with a huge 17-0 tech fall win at 5:59 over Lindenwood's No. 8 Kyle Jolas. He opened the day on Sunday with a 13-1 victory over No. 5 Dimitri Willis of Maryville. Poster now owns a 39-1 record this season. He posted a fall, a major decision win, an injury default win and a tech fall win at the regional. Poster will now advance to nationals for the fourth consecutive season. At 174-pounds, Clayton Jennissen gained his ticket to the nationals with a second place finish. He opened the day with a 3-2 win over No. 7 Adam Cooling of Minnesota State. In the title bout, Jennissen lost a 3-1 match against No. 2 ranked Zeb Wahle of Maryville. In action at 184-pounds, SCSU's No. 8 Uthman Rabiu placed second and also gained a ticket to the upcoming NCAA finals. He started his day with a 5-3 OT win over O'Dell Lee and then lost a 4-2 showdown in the title bout against No. 4 Aero Amo of Augustana. At 197-pounds, V.J. Giulio opened his day on Feb. 28 with a 5-3 loss to Northern State's Joe Gomez. In the wrestlebacks, Giulio then lost a 3-2 decision to Ryan Parmley of Upper Iowa. In the fourth place bracket, Giulio finished with a :46 fall against Minnesota State's Darick Vancura. To end the tournament, SCSU's No. 5 Austin Goergen brought home another regional crown with a 3-0 victory over Malcom Allen of Minnesota State in the title bout. Goergen started his day with a key 5-2 victory over Maryville's No. 6 Donnell Walker. Goergen now owns a 36-1 record this season and will be making his third trip to the NCAA nationals. The defending NCAA Division II champions, St. Cloud State will bring seven wrestlers to the upcoming NCAA finals on March 11-12 in Sioux Falls, S.D. The list of wrestlers headed to the NCAA finals includes Velasquez (125), Nelson (141), Hildreth (149), Poster (165), Jennissen (174), Rabiu (184) and Goergen (285).

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. -- The No. 4 Falcons of Messiah College won their third straight Mideast Regional team title with four champions and seven wrestlers that qualified for the NCAA Championships on Mar. 11-12 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The Falcons accumulated 139.5 points, 29.5 more points than runner-up finisher Baldwin Wallace. 125: No. 1 Lucas Malmberg defeated No. 9 Jacob Spearman from Washington & Jefferson by a tight 5-2 decision in the semifinal bout. Spearman struck first with a takedown on the edge of the match and took an early 2-0 lead. Next, Malmberg earned a quick escape and shot a double leg takedown for two more points. Leading 3-2, Malmberg tallied another escape and finished the second period with a 4-2 advantage. Spearman chose down in the third period and Malmberg rode Spearman for the entire period for the 5-2 decision with riding time. Malmberg captured his third straight Mideast Region title with a second period fall over Asher Kramer of Brockport. Malmberg had an early 4-1 lead when he lifted Kramer and put I a turk for four back points. In the second period, Malmberg locked up a three quarter nelson and earned the fall. 157: No. 7 Larry Cannon lost by fall to Brett Beltz of Thiel in the semifinals during the first period. Beltz scored the first and only takedown of the match from a scramble position. Cannon was coming around for a reversal when Beltz captured Cannon's head and turned him with a headlock for the fall. In his consolation semifinal match, Cannon made quick work of Blake Dixon from John Carroll with a fall in 1:44. Cannon earned third place at 157 pounds with a 5-3 decision over Ian Evans of Scranton. Cannon tallied a first period takedown off a double leg attack and headed into the second period with a 2-1 lead. Cannon held a 3-1 lead late into the third period when Evans reversed Cannon. Cannon had riding time so Evans let Cannon escape and looked for a takedown. Cannon successfully held off Evans late comeback for third place and a bid to the national championships. 165: Jeff Hojnacki grinded out a tough 9-6 decision in the semifinals over Anthony Arroyo of Baldwin Wallace. Hojnacki scored the first takedown of the match off a single leg attack. Shortly after, Hojnack locked up a cradle and turned Arroyo for two back points. Arroyo responded with an escape but Hojnacki capitalized with another takedown. Arroyo tallied two takedowns late in the match but Hojnacki held him off for the 9-6 victory. Jeff Hojnacki won a Mideast Region crown with a 10-4 decision over No. 2 Nolan Barger of Lycoming. Barger scored the first takedown of the match, but Hojnacki capitalized with a reversal at the end of the first period. Hojnacki chose down to start the second period and quickly escaped. Next, Hojnacki tallied another takedown to pull ahead of Barger 5-2. Barger took injury time which led to Hojnacki getting his choice on where he wanted to start. Hojnacki chose the down position and Barger started with an optional start. Barger hit a cement mixer for two back points and Hojnacki quickly escaped. During the third period Hojnacki led 8-4 when he secured another takedown for the 10-4 victory. 174: No. 5 Ben Swarr dominated Troy Semour of Oswego State by a 12-1 major decision in the semifinal bout. Swarr quickly took an early lead with a takedown and locked up a tilt for four points for a 6-0 advantage. Swarr used multiple escapes, takedown, and riding time for the 12-1 major decision victory. No. 5 Ben Swarr dropped a tight 7-6 decision to No. 8 Garret Chase of Baldwin Wallace and finished second in the Mideast Region. Chase tallied the first takedown of the match with a single leg at the edge of the mat and Swarr quickly escaped. During the second period, Swarr reversed Chase but Chase quickly escaped and tied the match at three. The third period started with an escape from chase and a takedown by Swarr. Chase responded with an escape of his own and another single leg takedown at the edge of the mat that decided the match. 184: No. 3 Josh Thomson handled Rocco Hladney of Elizabethtown with a 10-3 decision in the semifinal bout. Thomson tallied a plethora of takedowns and limited Hladney to only escapes. Thomson won his third regional title with a 6-2 decision over Dillen Decker of Heidelberg. Thomson accumulated two takedowns, an escape, and riding time for the comfortable victory. 197: No. 8 Kyle Koser lost by fall to Tyler Maclellan of Baldwin Wallace in the third period during the semifinals. Koser scored the held a comfortable 4-1 lead in the third down when he reacted to a snap down attempt by Maclellan and pulled his head up a little too high. Maclellan took advantage by throwing a headlock and pinned Koser for the upset. Koser dominated John Short of York College by a 17-0 technical fall in the second period during his consolation semifinal match. Koser used multiple takedowns and a couple tilts to rack up his 17 points. Kyle Koser won his third place bout by medical forfeit over No. 10 Daniel Smith of Oswego State. 1285: Jason Wright dominated No. 7 Cole Tristram of Brockport in the semifinals with a fall in the third period. During the first period Wright secured a takedown to Tristram's back and collected two near fall points. Wright led 4-1 late in the second period when he scored a takedown with ten seconds left and extended his lead to 6-1. Finally, Wright perfected a double leg takedown right to Tristram's back and secured the third period fall. Wright won his first Mideast Regional championship with a 5-0 decision over Will Porter of John Carroll. Wright scored a takedown in the first period and used an escape and two stalling points to pull ahead 5-0. Next, Wright tallied a takedown in the third period and accumulated riding time for the 7-0 major decision.

The 5th-ranked Nebraska-Kearney wrestling team qualified eight individuals for the NCAA Championships after winning Super Regional IV (West) Saturday in Gunnison, Colo. The two-day meet, hosted by Western Colorado State, featured 14 schools. The top four finishers in each weight class advances to the NCAA's, held March 11-12 in Sioux Falls, S.D. Racking up 144.50 points, UNK had three first place finishers in seniors Devin Aguirre (165 lbs.) and Daniel DeShazer (133 lbs.) and junior Destin McCauley (149 lbs.). California Baptist (112.5) and Western State (87.0) came in second and third, respectively, in the team race. Coming in second for the Lopers were seniors Connor Bolling (125 lbs.) and Romero Cotton (197 lbs.) and sophomores Calvin Ochs (174 lbs.) and Keith Surber (141 lbs.). Also heading to Sioux Falls will be senior Chase White, who placed third at 157 pounds. Redshirt freshman Zach Stodden (Broomfield, Colo.) was hoping to punch his NCAA ticket at 184 pounds be he dropped third and true fourth place matches. He ends his first regional with a 2-3 mark. In all seven first place matches, UNK scored first. DeShazer (Wichita, Kan.) was up 4-0 just 23 seconds into his match against Chadron State's Taylor Summers. Eventually ahead 10-4, DeShazer pinned Summers with nine seconds left to improve to 33-5. He also wins a rare fourth regional title. McCauley (North Sioux City, S.D.) tallied eight of his nine points in the first period, recording two takedowns and picking up four near-fall points. Central Oklahoma's Spencer Rutherford managed only two escapes in a 9-2 decision. At 165 pounds, Aguirre (Ponca City, Okla.) had a tougher road, using a takedown with 10 seconds left in the second to get past California Baptist's Nolan Kistler, 3-1. Like McCauley, he'll try and become a two-time All-American in a couple of weeks. Both Bolling (Central City) and Surber (O'Fallon, Ill.) had 2-0 leads but ended up falling 7-2. This will be the second straight NCAA meet for both. In his first NCAA regional, Ochs (Hoxie, Kan.) was poised for a thrilling 13-11 victory over Western's Austin Harris. However, a video review wiped off a last second Ochs reversal and Harris managed a quick takedown in sudden victory to win at 174 pounds. Cotton (Hutchinson, Kan.) was seemingly in control of sixth-ranked Paul Wilson of Colorado School of Mines at 197 pounds. He used two takedowns in the first minute and then recorded another to lead 7-3. However, Wilson scored the next seven points and then managed a fall at 5:33. Cotton is still going to the NCAA's for a fourth year in a row and hopes to join DeShazer as a three-time national champion. Finally, White (Lincoln) will be in his third meet after a tough overtime win over Western State's Ian Steen. Just seconds into the sudden victory period, White took Steen down for a 3-1 win. The brackets for the NCAA's will be released this week.

Indianapolis, Ind. -- With four wrestlers winning their respective weight classes and two more finishing in third, the University of Wisconsin-Parkside wrestling team claimed the overall team title at the Division II Midwest Super Regional. Redshirt-freshman, Pernevlon Sheppard (141-pounds) won his first two matches by technical fall (18-0) and major decision (13-3), and that led to a semi-final matchup against the nationally ranked No. 3 wrestler, Bryce Killian from King University. Sheppard edged out the No. 1 seed, 11-10, winning the match with riding time. In the weight class finals, Pernevlon had 1-0 lead after the first two rounds, but closed out the match 3-2 claiming the first Championship of the day for the Rangers. In the 165-pound weight class, Nick Fishback walked into the division championship match with three wins including a tech fall and a major decision. The finals featured two nationally ranked wrestlers, Fishback ranked third and Matt Vandermeer ranked seventh from Lake Erie College. The match was tied 0-0 after the first round. Vandermeer started on top in the second round and took a 1:01 edge in riding time before Fishback took the lead with a one-point escape. Fishback started the third round on top, and he rode Vandermeer the entire two minutes to secure the 1-0 victory. Fishback will now head back to the NCAA Division II Championships for the second year in a row; last year he earned All-American honors at the event. Nick Becker (174-pounds) walked into the Super Regionals undefeated at 33-0, and he walked out of the event with four additional wins each by major decision. Becker is ranked first in the nation, and he went head-to-head against the fourth ranked Blaze Shade of UNC-Pembroke in the championship match winning 9-1. In his first two matches, Montrail Johnson (184-pounds) made short work of his competition winning the first match by major decision (14-2) and he pinned his second opponent at 4:14 in the match. The weight class finals saw No. 3 ranked Huston Evans of Newberry College up against Parkside's Johnson ranked No. 7 in the nation. After being accused of stalling while tied 0-0 in the second round, Johnson wasted no time collecting four points with a near fall, and went on to win the championship 5-1. The first Ranger to punch their ticket to the NCAA Championships was 125-pounder, Ronzel Darling. After winning his first match 5-3, Ronzel dropped his next match 3-2, to fifth ranked Josh Kieffer of University of Indianapolis. On the consolation side of the bracket, Darling won his next match by pin fall (5:39). In the third place match, Ronzel found himself trailing 6-5 in the third round, but managed to get a two-point takedown with less than ten seconds left in the match, winning 7-6 and securing his place at nationals. Joseph Her (133-pounds) started off the Regional Championship going 3-1 in his first four matches, including two major decision wins and advancing to the third place match. There Her was going up against eighth ranked, Derrick Nelson of Coker College. Her won his third place match 6-4 with a late third round takedown. UW-Parkside earned its first Regional Championship in team history with an overall score of 121 points. Second place Ashland University finished with 106.5 points and Newberry College took third with 97 points. At the event, Sheppard earned the Freshman of the Year award, and coach Gregg Lewis was named Regional Coach of the Year. The six qualifying Rangers will head to Sioux Falls, SD for the NCAA Division II Championships, which begin on March 11.

The Wabash wrestling team embodied the spirit of the College's "Wabash Always Fights" motto at the NCAA Division III Midwest Wrestling Regional Saturday, overcoming some difficult losses early in the day to claim the team title and qualify six individuals for the national championship meet. The team title is the fifth regional title in school history. The others came in 1981, 1982, 1983, and 2005. Qualifying for the NCAA Championships were Devin Broukal (133), Michael Venezia (141), Nick Bova (157), Connor Brummett (165), Ethan Farmer (174), and Riley Lefever (184). The Little Giants struggled early with only five guys advancing past the quarterfinal round. "During the quarterfinals and early in the semifinals, we had some bad losses, and the guys could have easily quit on us," said Little Giant head coach Brian Anderson. "But they didn't. They were facing some major adversity but stepped up to the challenge to get the job done." At 157 pounds, Nick Bova was the first Little Giant to punch his ticket on the day by pulling off a thrilling overtime victory in his semifinal match against Brandon Arteaga from Wisconsin-Whitewater. To reach the semifinals, Bova recorded falls at the 2:18 mark of his opening round match against Kevin Papak from Olivet and at the 6:45 mark of his quarterfinal match against Clayton Davidson of Ohio Northern. In the championship bout, Bova faced off against North Central's Josh Tardy. After trading escapes in the second and third periods, the match went to overtime. In the second overtime, Bova secured two escapes to win 3-1. "After two years of getting fifth place here, it was pretty awesome to finally get out of here." Bova said. "I'm really looking forward to getting out there on the national level in a couple weeks and wrestle the best I can to get on the podium." The second Little Giant to earn a trip to nationals was senior Ethan Farmer at 174 pounds. Farmer recorded a fall 1:58 into his first round match against John Cooper from Adrian. In his quarterfinal match, Farmer defeated Shawn Brewer from Alma by a 5-2 score. Farmer advanced by defeating Chicago's Paul Papoutsis in the semifinals by major decision 10-2. Farmer recorded two takedowns and put Papoutsis to his back for a four-point nearfall to build up an 8-1 lead by the end of the first period and cruised from there. In the championship match, Farmer lost 3-1 to Tyler Schneider from Wisconsin-La Crosse on a late takedown. "It's great to get back to nationals," Farmer said. "I'm disappointed that I lost to Schneider in the finals, but I'm going to watch the film to see what I need to work on the next two weeks. But, honestly, I'm really more excited for the team right now. Getting six guys through and winning a regional championship is a great accomplishment." The last Little Giant to lock up an NCAA bid in the semifinal round was two-time defending national champion Riley Lefever at 184 pounds. Lefever received a first round bye before pinning Trent Hullett from Alma 1:34 into his quarterfinal bout. Lefever moved through the bracket with a quick pin 1:02 into his semifinal match against James Davis from Adrian. In the championship match, Lefever settled for a 19-3 technical fall at the 4:16 mark to claim his third consecutive regional title. "The individual title was great, but, for me, it was all about the team title," Lefever said. "Last year we got third at the NCAA's but couldn't win the regional title. Hopefully, we can ride the momentum from winning today and get the national team title here in a couple of weeks." Devin Broukal was the first of three Little Giants to secure a spot at the NCAA tournament by placing third. Broukal kicked off his day with a 12-4 major decision over Austin Eldred from Adrian. In his quarterfinal match, Broukal defeated Olivet's Jared Brickley by a 5-1 score. After dropping a close 8-4 match in the semifinals to Wisconsin-La Crosse' Dustin Weinmann, Broukal defeated Kalib Jackson from Manchester by an 11-2 major decision in the consolation semifinals to reach the third place match before clinching his second straight trip to nationals with a dominating 17-2 technical fall over Nick Koch from Wisconsin-Whitewater. "I'm just really excited to make it back to nationals," said Broukal. "I feel like if I do a better job managing my weight the next two weeks, I'll feel a lot better going into the tournament, which will set me up for a strong performance." In a weight class that featured four of the top six ranked wrestlers in the nation and one other returning All-American, Michael Venezia weathered the storm and came away with one of the three coveted national qualifying spots at 141 pounds. Venezia began his day with an 18-0 technical fall in only 2:28 over Aaron Ward from Adrian. He then dropped a tough 5-2 match in the quarterfinals to Cody See from Wisconsin-La Crosse before recording a 14-0 major decision over Eric Wales from Wheaton. In the consolation quarterfinals, Venezia pinned Chase Wilson of Manchester in 1:00 to reach the consolation semifinals, where he recorded a 7-3 decision over Curtis Blackwell from Olivet. In the third place match, Venezia wrestled seventh-ranked Jared Kust of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Near the end of the first period, Venezia defended a shot by Kust and locked up a cradle for a six point move. After building up a 6-0 lead, Venezia cruised to a 6-2 victory and his first berth in the NCAA tournament. "It's pretty surreal," Venezia said. "I had to get through some very tough guys today. Being a national qualifier is a good feeling, but it doesn't end there. I've got to put in a couple more good weeks of practice to make it to the top at nationals." If there was one wrestler that personified the Wabash Always Fights motto the best, it was Connor Brummett at 165 pounds. Brummett began his day with a gutsy 4-3 win over Tyler Grimsley from Olivet. In his quarterfinal match, Brummett dropped an 11-7 decision to eventual champion Logan Hermsen of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. In his first consolation match, Brummett was taken down to his back and trailed Kyler Deeter of Ohio Northern 9-3 at the end of the first period. Brummet clawed his way back into the match with four takedowns and an escape before winning the match with a riding time point to get the final score of 13-12. In his consolation quarterfinal match, he fought off Derek Weinmann from Wisconsin-La Crosse to win 7-6. Brummett fought off numerous deep shots from his opponent, Eric Kirkman from North Central, in the semifinals just to keep the match tied and get into overtime. In overtime, Brummett hit a slick dump for a takedown to win 3-1 and move on to the third place match. He controlled that finals bout from beginning to end against Frank Aiello from Wheaton for a 9-5 win and a berth in the NCAA championships. "It feels good right now," said Brummett. "Making it out of here today has me feeling really good going into the NCAA meet now. I feel like I can go out there and make some noise, and I'm really looking forward to it." Two other Little Giant wrestlers placed on the day, as well. At 149 pounds, Tim Locksmith made it to the semifinals before dropping two straight matches. He received a medical forfeit for fifth place. At 197 pounds, Brett Thumm finished in sixth place. He won two matches in the consolation bracket to get to the placement rounds. "I was really proud of the way that Tim and Brett battled back even after they knew this was their last tournament," Anderson said. "They fought until the very end." Robbie Carter (125 pounds0 won a pair of matches on the day, and heavyweight Paul Snyder won a match as well. Wabash won the team title with a score of 117.5 points, finishing 16 points ahead of runner-up Wisconsin-La Crosse. Broukal, Venezia, Bova, Brummett, Farmer, and Lefever will take the mats on Friday, March 11 at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in the first day of competition at nationals.