InterMat Staff

Fairfax, Va. -- The George Mason University wrestling team defeated Virginia Military Institute, 16-15 in thrilling fashion but lost to Lock Haven, 22-14. Mason had strong efforts from redshirt senior captain Vince Rodriguez(133) redshirt senior captain Greg Flournoy(157) and redshirt freshman Matt Voss(HWT). With the two results, Mason moves to 8-13 on the season and 2-4 in the Eastern Wrestling League. The first dual of the night against EWL foe Lock Haven started out well for the Patriots, who led 7-0 after the first two matches. Redshirt sophomore Ibrahim Bunduka(125) was victorious by major decision 16-3 and Rodriguez followed up the act with an impressive 5-2 win by decision over the number 33 ranked wrestler in the country, Robert Rehm. After Rodriguez's victory, the four matches starting at 141 and ending at 165 were extremely close. In the first period of each of those four matches, not one point was scored by either team. Flournoy was the only Patriot to come out on top in those four matches, winning by decision, 6-1. Flournoy's win gave the Patriots a 10-6 advantage going into the final five matches of the dual. The lead would evaporate for Mason as the Bald Eagles took control. Even though the Patriots were not in a position to win the dual, Voss wrestled strong and was able to earn a victory by major decision in the final match of the dual, 11-3. Voss gained control of the match in the second period and refused to let his opponent gain any momentum the rest of the way. However, the Patriots would go down by the final score of, 22-14. In the next dual against VMI, the Patriots split their first four matches. Rodriguez won by decision, 4-1, capping off an undefeated night for the Fresno, Calif. native. Redshirt senior Blake Roulo(149) brought the Patriots level with the Keydets at 6, when he won by decision, 7-3. Flournoy followed up Roulo with a decision victory, 3-1. The Patriots then lost two matches in a row before redshirt junior Luke Ludke(184) turned in his best performance of the season. Ludke dominated VMI's Ben Wagner and earned a major decision victory, 11-3, which put the Patriots up by one, 13-12. After a tough loss by freshman Cameron Houston in overtime, the table was set for Voss to once again be the hero of a dual. Voss found himself down 1-0 after a VMI escape but the young Patriot produced a massive reversal to flip the script and take the lead, 2-1. Voss ended up losing a point due to his opponent's escape, but due to riding time, Voss won by decision 3-2 meaning the Patriots were victorious as well, 16-15. Mason will have little time to regroup for Senior day Feb. 21 against American University after two competitive and grueling duals. The Patriots final regular season dual will begin at 2:00 p.m. Sunday, at the RAC. Lock Haven 22, George Mason 14 125: Ibrahim Bunduka (George Mason) over Jake Field (Lock Haven) (MD 16-3) 133: Vince Rodriguez (George Mason) over Robert Rehm (Lock Haven) (Dec 5-2) 141: Cody Wheeler (Lock Haven) over Tejon Anthony (George Mason) (Dec 5-1) 149: Daniel Neff (Lock Haven) over Blake Roulo (George Mason) (Dec 3-2) 157: Gregory Flournoy (George Mason) over Aaron McKinney (Lock Haven) (Dec 6-1) 165: Cody Cordes (Lock Haven) over Patrick Davis (George Mason) (Dec 4-2) 174: Tyler Wood (Lock Haven) over Ryan Forrest (George Mason) (Dec 7-3) 184: Tristan Sponseller (Lock Haven) over Luke Ludke (George Mason) (TF 18-3 5:50) 197: Phil Sprenkle (Lock Haven) over Cameron Houston (George Mason) (TF 17-2 0:00) 285: Matt Voss (George Mason) over Brad Emerick (Lock Haven) (MD 11-3) George Mason 16, VMI 15 125: Dalton Henderson (Vmi) over Ibrahim Bunduka (George Mason) (Dec 4-3) 133: Vince Rodriguez (George Mason) over Dominick Gallo (Vmi) (Dec 4-1) 141: Darren Ostrander (Vmi) over Tejon Anthony (George Mason) (Dec 10-5) 149: Blake Roulo (George Mason) over Stevan Smith (Vmi) (Dec 7-3) 157: Gregory Flournoy (George Mason) over Neal Richards (Vmi) (Dec 3-1) 165: Shabaka Johns (Vmi) over Patrick Davis (George Mason) (Dec 9-2) 174: Mark Darr (Vmi) over Ryan Forrest (George Mason) (Dec 7-4) 184: Luke Ludke (George Mason) over Ben Wagner (Vmi) (MD 11-3) 197: Taylor Thomas (Vmi) over Cameron Houston (George Mason) (TB-1 7-5) 285: Matt Voss (George Mason) over Urayoan Garcia (Vmi) (Dec 3-2)

Virginia Tech won't be wrestling at the University of Iowa as part of the 2016 NWCA National Duals Championship Series this Monday, Feb. 22 ... and that has Hokies head wrestling coach Kevin Dresser accusing the Hawkeye coaching staff of conspiring with the National Wrestling Coaches Association to make sure North Carolina State was selected as Iowa's opponent instead of Dresser's team. Kevin Dresser coaches Joey Dance in the NCAAs against Iowa's Thomas Gilman (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)Dresser shared his anger with wrestling journalist and broadcaster Jason Bryant on the Inside Virginia Tech Wrestling podcast posted on Wednesday. For the first 15 minutes or so of the interview, Bryant and Dresser discussed Virginia Tech's 19-14 defeat of NC State in Raleigh on Friday, Feb. 12. Then the upcoming National Duals became the focus. "I think Virginia Tech should be wrestling in Iowa," said Dresser. "We're excited about wrestling Michigan. It's a quality program, and a tremendous honor. It will be a good war ..." Then Dresser shifted to what might have been: a Hokies vs. Hawkeyes battle. "The NWCA dropped the ball big-time. I've been a (NWCA Executive Director) Mike Moyer fan and to a degree I still am but I've lost a lot of respect for how this went down." "We should be in Iowa City. Nothing against NC State but the process was described one way and it never happened the way it was explained." In determining matchups for the 2016 National Duals Championship Series, the NWCA used the rankings from the USA Today/NWCA Division I Coaches Poll for Feb. 15, 2016. Penn State and Iowa took the top two spots in the rankings, with perfect records of 15-0 and 16-0, respectively. Oklahoma State was ranked third, with a 12-2 record. NC State was No. 4 with a 22-1 mark, followed by 15-2 Virginia Tech being ranked fifth (despite the outcome of their dual meet last Friday). Live blogger Britt Malinsky -- known on wrestling message boards as SetonHallPirate on TheMat.com forum -- posted this message on that website's discussion group: "There wasn't a vote, but there certainly was consensus. The vote was taken by the coaches on the NWCA/USA Today Coaches' Poll, and that vote had North Carolina State TWELVE POINTS ahead of Virginia Tech. (for those wondering, each coach votes 1-25, 25 points for first, 24 for second, 23 for third, and so on down to 1 for 25th) ..." Ranking methodology aside, Dresser maintains that he thinks the Hokie-Hawkeye matchup would have been more appealing to fans that the Wolfpack-Hawkeye dual that will take place this weekend. "I think most wrestling fans thought we should be wrestling Iowa ... Do Iowa fans want to see NC State wrestle? Iowa doesn't want to lose to us. This team had a chance to beat Iowa," said Dresser. "There's a lot of history between Iowa and Virginia Tech. Some other coaches have said Iowa wanted to avoid wrestling us ..." While there's considerable discussion as to whether the Hawkeyes were indeed trying to avoid taking on the Hokies, there's little disputing Dresser's comment regarding history between the mat programs of Iowa City and Blacksburg ... in a number of ways. For starters, Dresser is a native of Humboldt, Iowa (hometown to early 1900s professional wrestling legend Frank Gotch, whose fame and mass appeal helped launch amateur wrestling programs throughout the U.S.) who wrestled at University of Iowa, and in fact served as an assistant coach to Dan Gable. Mike Zadick in his first season on the Virginia Tech coaching staff (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Dresser isn't the only former Hawkeye mat star on the Virginia Tech coaching staff. Former Iowa wrestlers Mike Zadick and Derek St. John also coach the Hokies. Then there's the situation from a decade ago, where current Iowa head coach Tom Brands left the helm at Virginia Tech, taking with him some prize recruits, including Brent Metcalf, Jay Borschel, Joe Slaton and Dan LeClere. The mass departure put the Hokie wrestling program in jeopardy at the time ... but VT school administrators exacted a form of revenge by refusing to release these wrestlers from their scholarships, costing them a year of eligibility. A decade later, it appears there may still be some bad blood on the part of at least one of the head coaches of the two programs. By contrast, in response to Dresser's comments, Tom Brands said the following, as shared by Andy Hamilton on Twitter: "My memories of Kevin Dresser are that he won a national championship in 1986 right here at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. I was a junior in high school and that was my birthday present. That was a big deal for me. He was always someone I looked up to. When he was coaching high school, he was a great coach and he hired me to do clinics. If there is any controversy with the National Duals it's that Iowa should be wrestling Penn State for the national championship." Ohio State head coach Tom Ryan, a former Hawkeye wrestler, also got into the discussion with this message on Wednesday evening, shared in a separate article at the Saturday Night Ride blog: "Amazing this is still being discussed. A panel of 10 coaches rank coaches each week. On Valentine's Day eve from 5 p.m.-11 p.m., a committee got on a call to finalize dual match-ups. The committee voted that we would follow the protocol in the contract sent to teams. That stated that the final coaches poll would determine the big bowls and "common sense" could be used for lesser bowls. The rankings came in at 9 p.m. EST as follows: PSU, IA, OK ST, NC STATE and VTECH. The top bowls were then set, NC STATE to IOWA, OK STATE to PSU. Tough call as all sides have argument." Coach Ryan later responded directly to the Saturday Night Ride blog with this Tweet: "Who cares who coaches wanted to or didn't want to wrestle. Contract said final coach rank trumps all. So it did!" Whether the college wrestling community buys into Kevin Dresser's argument that the University of Iowa was afraid to wrestle Virginia Tech at the 2016 National Duals -- setting the stage for the Hawkeyes to face the NC State Wolfpack -- one thing is certain: the controversy certainly has stirred up considerable interest in the event ... which can't be bad for the sport.

BISMARCK, N.D. -- On a night where seniors took center stage, it was the underclassmen who stole the limelight as the University of Mary Wrestling team took on Northern State University. The Marauders (7-11, 2-5 NSIC) got ascending team points in the first four matches of the night as freshmen Josh Jensen, Tate Barnhardt, Rudy Guillen and Jakob Weisbrod powered U-Mary to an 18-0 team lead and eventually took the match at 33-13 over the Wolves (7-14, 1-6 NSIC), avenging the loss earlier in the season during the Marauder Duals. The seventh team win exceeds U-Mary's total wins in the past three seasons combined and the most since they went 6-5 in the 2011-12 season. Jensen got the ball rolling at 125 pounds against Ben Cauffman as the Marauder scored the only points of the bout through the first two periods with a pair of takedowns and a 4-0 lead going into the third. Cauffman chose neutral in the final period and took a penalty point after Jensen was hit with two stall warnings, but the Wolf couldn't find the winning combination as Jensen took home the 5-1 decision to get U-Mary on the board. Barnhardt followed that up with a dominant showing at 133 pounds against Carson Henry to keep the score in U-Mary's favor as Barnhardt notched three takedowns and a two-point nearfall through two periods for an 8-1 lead heading into the third. Barnhardt chose bottom in the third frame and scored the quick escape, fired off another takedown, and took the riding time point for the 12-2 major decision that put the Marauders up 7-0 early into the dual. Guillen went next at 141 pounds against C.J. Voegeli as the Marauder continued the strong start with a pair of takedowns, a two-point nearfall, and a four-point nearfall for a commanding 10-0 lead heading into the third. Voegeli took neutral in the final period but Guillen would not be denied as the Marauder fired off four straight takedowns, coupled with the riding time point, for a 19-3 victory by technical fall at 6:42 for the 12-0 team lead through three matches. Weisbrod carried his momentum from the spladle on Sunday and caught Matt Bettencourt at 149 pounds out of position early on with the inside trip and put the Wolf on his back with the pin at 1:11 to lock in the team win with an 18-0 lead through four matches. Northern State had a forfeit at the 174 and heavyweight bouts that would essentially give the Marauders a 30-0 lead with six matches in their favor. The remaining bout still took their time on the mat, though, as Dane Fischer took on Blake Perryman at 157 pounds with the Wolf taking the early lead at 4-1 with a pair of takedowns in the first period. Fischer fought back in the second frame with a couple takedowns of his home to stay hot on Perryman's heel at 6-5 heading into the third. Fischer kept the pressure up as Perryman chose bottom in the frame and scored a quick escape before Fischer recorded another takedown to knot the score at 7-7 with the riding time officially out of Perryman's hands. Perryman scored the quick escaped and Fischer fired off another takedown attempt in the waning seconds but fell just short and Perryman countered with his successful takedown attempt to seal the first win for Northern State with a 10-7 decision, putting the team score at 18-3. Paul Michaelson was the final Marauder to take a win in the dual as he faced Grant Steen at 165 pounds following the intermission. Both grapplers couldn't find an opening through the first two periods as Steen was issued a stall warning midway through the second, but Michaelson upped the ante in the third period as he scored the quick reversal after choosing bottom and followed up with an immediate four-point nearfall for a 6-0 lead late in the bout. Steen scored the escape and took Michaelson down to cut into his lead at 6-3, but Michaelson scored an escape of his own paired with another takedown to take the decision over Steen at 9-3 and putting the team score at 21-3. Dylan Mitzel took the forfeit at 174 pounds to move the score to 27-3 and Riley Nagel was the first senior to make an appearance as he moved up a weight class to 184 pounds to face David Murphy. Murphy's match was the deciding factor earlier in the season during the Marauder Duals and Nagel was tasked with making his Senior Night a success. Nagel held the early lead after a quick takedown put Murphy to the mat, but the Wolf reversed the position and scored the four-point nearfall to take the wind out of the Marauder's sails. Nagel went bottom in the second period and recorded the escape, but Murphy fired off another takedown and caught Nagel out of position to score the pin at the 4:38 mark that put the score at 27-9. Tom DeVito was the next senior to make an appearance as he took on No. 7 ranked Joe Gomez at 197 pounds, and Gomez demonstrated his national ranking early on with a pair of takedowns, and a penalty point after DeVito was flagged for stalling, for a 5-1 lead going into the second. Gomez took another penalty point in the second period before DeVito scored the escape, and Gomez eventually took the 15-4 major decision after another trio of takedowns in the final period to put the score at 27-13. Travis Smith was the last senior on the mat but was denied a bout in his final home dual as he took the forfeit to finalize the score at 33-13. The Marauders will wrap up their regular season on the road this Sunday as they take on Minnesota State University Moorhead on Sunday, February 21, to make up for the postponement earlier in the year. The dual will start at 2 PM. Results: 125: Josh Jensen (MARY) over Ben Cauffman (NOST) (Dec 5-1) 133: Tate Barnhardt (MARY) over Carson Henry (NOST) (MD 12-2) 141: Rudy Guillen (MARY) over Cody Voegeli (NOST) (TF 19-3 6:42) 149: Jakob Weisbrod (MARY) over Matt Bettencourt (NOST) (Fall 1:11) 157: Blake Perryman (NOST) over Dane Fischer (MARY) (Dec 10-7) 165: Paul Michaelson (MARY) over Grant Steen (NOST) (Dec 9-3) 174: Dylan Mitzel (MARY) over (NOST) (For.) 184: David Murphy (NOST) over Riley Nagel (MARY) (Fall 4:38) 197: Joe Gomez (NOST) over Tom DeVito (MARY) (MD 15-4) 285: Travis Smith (MARY) over (NOST) (For.)

LANCASTER, Pa. -- For the sixth consecutive year, the Rupp Cup will remain on Franklin & Marshall's campus as the Diplomats (5-12) downed Millersville (6-9) by a 25-13 score on Thursday evening at the Mayser Center. The win was F&M's second straight on the season and continued an unbeaten streak against the Marauders that now stretches back to 2011. For more information about the history of the Rupp Cup, click here. A forfeit from the Diplomats at 125 placed the home team in an early hole, before Scott Stevens put F&M's first points on the board with a takedown in the first overtime to seal a 2-0 decision at 133. Rick Durso followed with a a late first period pin (2:35) at 141 to put the Diplomats out in front by a 9-3 score. The fall was the 24th of Durso's career, which now ties him for fifth on the program's all-time list. A pair of takedowns from Jason Bing at 149 highlighted a narrow 6-3 decision, while Brandon Giovanetti (165) put the momentum back on F&M's side following a major decision from Millersville at 157. Giovanetti notched three takedowns in the opening period and held on for the 8-6 decision to make the team score 15-10 heading into 174. Josh Young dominated the next match, scoring a total of six takedowns in an impressive 16-5 major decision. Anthony Mancini tallied two escapes in the third to edge Millersville's Kyle Narber by a 5-4 score at 184 while Antonio Pelusi closed out the match with a 7-4 decision at 285. The Diplomats conclude the regular season by hosting conference opponent Sacred Heart on Saturday. The 8:00 p.m. contest will serve as senior day for F&M's seven-member class. Results: 125: Austin Camacci (MILL) over (F&M) (For.) 133: Scott Stevens (F&M) over Alex Baider (MILL) (SV-1 2-0) 141: Rick Durso (F&M) over Thomas Nulty (MILL) (Fall 2:35) 149: Jason Bing (F&M) over Nick Haegele (MILL) (Dec 6-3) 157: Douglas Mele (MILL) over Michael Marano (F&M) (MD 10-0) 165: Brandon Giovanetti (F&M) over Seth Decker (MILL) (Dec 8-6) 174: Joshua Young (F&M) over Nick Mancini (MILL) (MD 16-5) 184: Anthony Mancini (F&M) over Kyle Narber (MILL) (Dec 5-4) 197: Colton Dull (MILL) over Charles Kerkesner (F&M) (Dec 3-2) 285: Antonio Pelusi (F&M) over David Wuestner (MILL) (Dec 7-4)

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- Freshman 149-pounder Justin Oliver won his 12th-straight match Thursday evening as the Central Michigan wrestling team defeated non-conference Wisconsin, 18-11, in its home finale at McGuirk Arena. The Chippewas improve to 10-5 on the season. They go to Old Dominion (2 p.m.) on Sunday for their regular-season finale, a Mid-American Conference dual with the Monarchs, 5-12, 0-6. “I thought we wrestled pretty good tonight,” CMU coach Tom Borrelli said. “I felt like in a few weight classes we could have scored a few more points and been a little more aggressive but overall I though we wrestled well.” With the win, CMU finishes the season with a 3-1 record in dual meets against Big Ten opponents including a wins over Purdue and Michigan State. The Chippewas fell to Michigan. Purdue is ranked 23rd, the Wolverines are ranked eighth. Oliver, who is 25-4 on the season, is ranked as the No. 9 in the nation according to Intermatwrestle.com “Growing up and looking at the college rankings it was exciting for me,” Oliver said. “The first realization that I was ranked was pretty awesome, but I'm looking to get on the podium at the end of the season (NCAA Championships).” Oliver who spent the first part of the season as the backup to Colin Heffernan, who is ranked No.13 at 149 by Amateur Wrestling News. Oliver will start for CMU the rest of the way. “Me and Colin have a pretty good relationship and for the most part If I'm about to wrestle a kid he's familiar with he'll give me tip on what they do and their tendencies,” Oliver said. The Chippewas opened the duel with victories from Jordan Ellingwood (184) and Jackson Lewis (197). Lewis was one of four seniors wrestling his final match at McGuirk. All four, including Zach Horan (141), Luke Smith (157) and Mike Ottinger (174), won his respective match on Thursday. “They have meant a lot to this program,” Borrelli said. “Those guys have been starters for four years, they've won a lot of matches here and have been good representatives of the athletic department.” Sophomore Brent Fleetwood made his return to the lineup after missing the last four duals with an injury. He fell, 7-2, to Johnny Jimenez. I was happy to get Brent back out there even though he didn't win,” Borrelli said. “We needed to get him back out there and get him going before the MAC Tournament so that was a real positive. “I know he's not happy with the way he wrestled, but you can't take three weeks off with an injury and come back and be the same guy. It takes a little while.” CMU junior Corey Keener (133) dropped a nail biting 9-6 decision to the Badgers No. 12-ranked Ryan Taylor, an All-American in 2015. “I thought (Keener) wrestled really good even in a loss,” Borrelli said. “He was right there with him and that kid was really good, an All-American last year and won over 30 matches. Just a real quality wrestler.” The Chippewas won four of the final five weight classes to seal the win. Sunday's opponent, Old Dominion, defeated CMU, 22-9, last season in a dual at McGuirk. “There should be a lot of extra motivation from our guys,” Borrelli said. “ ou don't like getting embarrassed in your home arena and I feel like last year when the came here we got embarrassed.” Results: 125: Johnny Jimenez (UW) dec. Brent Fleetwood (CMU), 7-2 (6-6)
 133: Ryan Taylor (UW) dec. Corey Keener (CMU), 9-6 (9-6)
 141: Zach Horan (CMU) dec. Gabriel Grahek (UW), 4-2 (9-9)
 149: Justin Oliver (CMU) dec. Andrew Crone (UW), 9-4 (12-9)
 157: Luke Smith (CMU) dec. TJ Ruschell (UW), 5-3 (15-9)
 165: Rylan Lubeck (UW) dec. Jordan Atienza (CMU), 11-9 (15-11)* 
174: Mike Ottinger (CMU) dec. Ricky Robertson (UW), 6-3 (18-11) 
184: Jordan Ellingwood (CMU) dec. Ryan Christensen (UW), 4-1 (3-0) 
197: Jackson Lewis (CMU) dec. Nic Veling (UW), 7-3 (6-0) HWT: Brock Horwath (UW) dec. Newton Smerchek(CMU), 2-1 (TB-2) (6-3) 

*One point was deducted from Wisconsin's team total for a second bench warning during the 165 pound match. The meet started at 184 pounds.

PRINCETON, NJ -- The Broncs won five of 10 bouts to defeat cross-town rival Princeton Thursday evening in Dillon Gym. Rider has now won the last 16 meetings with Princeton, including an 18-15 victory last year when both teams also won five bouts. "We knew this was going to be tight, and so did Princeton," said Rider head coach Gary Taylor. "Fortunately we came out on top." The 1981-82 season is the last time Princeton defeated Rider. For Rider (11-9) senior Robert Deutsch (Cherry Hill, NJ/Eastern Regional), junior Ryan Wolfe (New Castle, Del./Caravel), senior Conor Brennan (Brick, NJ/Brick Twp.), sophomore B.J. Clagon (Toms River, NJ/Toms River South) and sophomore Chad Walsh (Cherry Hill, NJ/Camden Catholic) were winners. Deutsch (16-5) won by tech fall to cut the lead to 13-11. His extra points on the tech fall were the difference. "Sometimes when you try to pin a guy you spend all your time trying to get the pin and you don't get the secondary points you need," Taylor said. "Rob did a great job of getting the technical fall, what we needed there." Wolfe (16-4 in duals) defeated the seventh ranked wrestler in the nation, Brett Harner. "I have to give Coach (John) Hangey a lot of credit for that," Taylor said. "John worked hard with Ryan on a game plan and Wolfe stuck with that game plan. He got the one take down he needed, he wrestled hard the whole time, and it was a great match between two very good wrestlers. That was a great win and a good revenge win." Princeton's Harner had won 12 straight matches before Thursday, including a 3-1 decision over Wolfe at Midlands. "It was an extremely close match the first time they met," Taylor said. "We had to change up the game plan. The first time it looked like Harner had the better game plan. Tonight it looked like we had the better game plan and I give John all the credit. It was 100 percent right." Walsh (22-6) won 10-4 for the final score. "Chad thrives on that stuff," Taylor said. "I wouldn't rather have anybody else in that situation. He really responded to the situation and he beat a kid who is really good. The Princeton kid (Krop) has beaten some good wrestlers. It was a great win for a lot of different reasons. It was one of the better matches I've seen Chad wrestle all year." Clagon (16-9), ranked 20th in the nation, won to cut the lead to 16-14 with one bout remaining. Brennan (23-3), ranked ninth in the nation, won to give Rider a 3-0 lead. For Princeton (8-8) Jon Schleifer, ranked 16th in the nation, picked up his 20th win of the season to tie the score at 3-3. Rider travels to the University of Maryland Saturday for the final dual meet of the season. "We've got to be ready," Taylor said. "They are a BIG 10 school and we're looking forward to the challenge." Rider competes in the EWL Championships March 5 at Lock Haven. Results: 165 Conor Brennan-R dec. Judd Ziegler-P 8-3 3-0 174 Jon Schleifer-P dec. Curt Delia-R 7-4 3-3 184 Abram Ayala-P major dec. Michale Fagg-Daves-R 15-6 3-7 197 Ryan Wolfe-R dec. Brett Harner-P 3-2 6-7 Hwt Ray O'Donnell-P dec. Mauro Correnti-R 8-3 6-10 125 Pat D'Arcy-P dec. Zach Valcarce-R 5-0 6-13 133 Rob Deutsch-R tech fall Trey Aslanian-P 6:30 11-13 141 Jordan Laster-P dec. Paul Kirchner-R 5-2 11-16 149 B.J. Clagon-R dec. Mike D'Angelo-P 12-10 14-16 157 Chad Walsh-R dec. Adam Krop-P 10-4 17-16

FAIRFAX, Va. -- The Lock Haven University wrestling team won six bouts, including four of the last five and the Bald Eagles rallied past host George Mason 22-14 tonight in Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) action, wrapping up 2015-16 regular season. With the win, Lock Haven moves back to .500 and wraps up the season at 9-9 overall. The nine dual wins are the most since LHU won nine back in the 2007-08 season. It also marks Lock Haven's second straight 3-3 EWL finish. The Bald Eagles also remained unbeaten vs. George Mason (8-12, 2-4 EWL), improving to 10-0 all-time. Highlighting The Haven's victory was Dan Neff's (Quarryville, Pa./Solanco) 16th straight win and back-to-back tech falls from Tristan Sponseller (East Berlin, Pa./Bermudian Springs), and Phil Sprenkle (Seven Valleys, Pa./Dallastown). Lock Haven also got wins from Cody Wheeler (Towanda, Pa./Towanda), Cody Cordes (Edwardsville, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) and Tyler Wood (West Chester, Pa./West Chester-Rustin). George Mason jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead after picking up wins at 125 (major dec.) and 133. Wheeler put Lock Haven on the board and titled the momentum in the Bald Eagles favor with a 5-1 victory at 141. Neff made it two straight Haven victories as he grinded out a 3-2 win at 149. With the win, Neff, a returning All-American who is currently ranked No. 17 improved to 16-0 since returning to 149 pounds on December 17. George Mason picked up another win at 157 and led 10-6, but it was all Lock Haven from there as LHU won four of the last five bouts. Highlighting the Bald Eagle rally was the back-to-back tech falls from Sponseller and Sprenkle at 184 and 197. The Bald Eagles are set to host the 2016 EWL Championships on Saturday, March 5. Check www.GoLHU.com in the coming days for much more on the championship event. Results: 125: Ibrahim Banduka (GMU) major dec. Jake Field (LHU) 16-3; George Mason leads 4-0 133: Vince Rodriguez (GMU) dec. Bobby Rehm (LHU) 5-2; George Mason leads 7-0 141: Cody Wheeler (LHU) dec. Tejon Anthony (GMU) 5-1; George Mason leads 7-3 149: Dan Neff (LHU) dec. Blake Roulo (GMU) 3-2; George Mason leads 7-6 157: Gregory Flournoy (GMU) dec. Aaron McKinney (LHU) 6-1; George Mason leads 10-6 165: Cody Cordes (LHU) dec. Patrick Davis (GMU) 4-2; George Mason leads 10-9 174: Tyler Wood (LHU) dec. Ryan Forrest (GMU) 7-3; Lock Haven leads 12-10 184: Tristan Sponseller (LHU) tech fall Luke Ludke (GMU) 18-3 (5:50); Lock Haven leads 17-10 197: Phil Sprenkle (LHU) tech fall Cameron (GMU) 17-2 (7:00); Lock Haven leads 22-10 285: Matt Voss (GMU) major dec. Brad Emerick (LHU) 11-3; Lock Haven wins 22-14

Penn State freshman Jason Nolf defeated returning NCAA champion Isaiah Martinez of Illinois earlier this season (Photo/Darrell Hoemann, Fighting Illini Athletics)This Sunday, No. 1 Penn State and No. 5 Oklahoma State will face off in the NWCA National Duals Championship Series main event. The dual meet can be seen live on the Big Ten Network Sunday at 5 p.m. ET. The following is a weight-by-weight preview of the dual meet. The lineups are a prediction of each team's best squad. The predicted outcomes are based on a proprietary statistical model developed by StrikeScoreMMA.com called Wrestler's Pythagorean Expectation (WPE). The model has been previously used to predict the finals of the Midlands Championships, Oklahoma State vs. Missouri and Penn State vs. Ohio State. In those three instances, the model correctly predicted the winner in 92 percent of matches. The WPE for each competitor is list below in parentheses. 125: No. 4 Nico Megaludis, Penn State (90.15) vs. No. 6 Eddie Kilmara, Oklahoma State (90.10) Per the WPE, this should be one of the closer matches of the dual. However, the two met earlier this season in the finals of the Southern Scuffle. Megaludis took that bout via seven-point margin. He should be able to repeat that feat here. However, Oklahoma State will need Kilmara to pull the upset here to have a shot to win the dual Prediction: Megaludis (Penn State) dec. Kilmara (Oklahoma State) 133: No. 5 Jordan Conaway, Penn State (88.07) vs. Gary Wayne Harding, Oklahoma State (26.33) Harding has had a wild season. He began the year as the starter. He then lost the job when coach John Smith pulled the redshirt from Kaid Brock. After an injury to Brock, Harding got back in the lineup. He has performed better than his WPE would indicate as he has picked up recent victories over ranked wrestlers No. 17 Dom Forys (Pittsburgh) and No. 15 Zach Synon (Missouri). With that being said, Conaway will most likely put up some bonus points here. His only two losses this season have come against the No. 1 and No. 2-ranked wrestlers. This month alone he has picked up three wins, including an 8-2 decision over two-time All-American Mason Beckman. Prediction: Conaway (Penn State) maj. dec. Harding (Oklahoma State) 141: Jimmy Gulibon, Penn State (59.02) vs. No. 1 Dean Heil, Oklahoma State (92.74) The struggle has continued for Gulibon at the new weight class as he now finds himself unranked. Heil has evolved into the most consistent wrestler at 141 pounds. Heil should be able to take this one. Cowboy fans will be looking for bonus here, but Heil has only scored bonus points in four dual matches this season. Prediction: Heil (Oklahoma State) dec. Gulibon (Penn State) 149: No. 1 Zain Retherford, Penn State (98.60) vs. No. 12 Anthony Collica, Oklahoma State (86.47) This dual features two of the frontrunners for the Dan Hodge Trophy and Retherford is one. His dominance is reflected in his 98.60 WPE, which is one of the best scores in the nation. On top of that, he has been a bonus point machine for the Nittany Lions. Collica has had a solid season, but he will struggle to stay off his back against Retherford. Prediction: Retherford (Penn State) tech. fall Collica (Oklahoma State) 157: No. 1 Jason Nolf, Penn State (96.33) vs. Hester Lamons or Ryan Blees, Oklahoma State It looks like No. 8 Joe Smith has been ruled out for the dual meet, which takes away one of the more intriguing matches. Nolf and Smith faced off earlier this season in the finals of the Southern Scuffle with Nolf taking a 7-3 decision. In the bout, Smith appeared to pick up the pace late, but it was too little too late. Now, it will be either Lamons or Blees filling in for Smith. For the season, Nolf is still undefeated with 13 falls and 8 technical falls. This will be an uphill battle for either Cowboy wrestler. Prediction: Nolf (Penn State) tech. fall Lamons (Oklahoma State) 165: No. 17 Shakur Rasheed, Penn State (85.92) vs. No. 1 Alex Dieringer, Oklahoma State (98.62) Dieringer is the other frontrunner for the Hodge featured in this dual. Rasheed has surprised a lot of people and been ranked for much of the season. However, Dieringer is on another level. Look for bonus here from the returning NCAA champion. Prediction: Dieringer (Oklahoma State) tech. fall Rasheed (Penn State) 174: No. 1 Bo Nickal, Penn State (94.00) vs. Chandler Rogers, Oklahoma State (71.00) The Cowboy starter for most of the season No. 8 Kyle Crutchmer has been ruled out for this match. Rogers has stepped in as the replacement. He has had a solid season and even beat Crutchmer in the Southern Scuffle. In his last match, he scored a technical fall over Dylan Morris (Stanford). Since dropping his only match of the season to No. 11 Nate Jackson (Indiana), Nickal has won seven straight and picked up bonus in five of those bouts. During that stretch, he has defeated four ranked wrestlers. Prediction: Nickal (Penn State) tech. fall Rogers (Oklahoma State) 184: No. 6 Matt McCutcheon, Penn State (93.12) vs. No. 13 Nolan Boyd, Oklahoma State (84.17) Boyd might be a popular upset pick here. Since the Southern Scuffle he has put together an eight-match winning streak and picked up signature victories over No. 14 Willie Miklus (Missouri) and No. 1 Gabe Dean (Cornell). Boyd has actually defeated McCutcheon twice over the past two seasons. On top of that, this will be only McCutcheon's fourth match since injury defaulting against Illinois. The WPE numbers listed above are for the entire season. There is drastic difference if we include only matches following the Scuffle. McCutcheon falls to 57.11 while Boyd improves to 89.48. Boyd's current streak, McCutcheon's injury situation and their head-to-head history is too much to ignore. Prediction: Boyd (Oklahoma State) dec. McCutcheon (Penn State) 197: No. 1 Morgan McIntosh, Penn State (97.74) vs. Andrew Marsden (46.30) or Preston Weigel (50.93) Weigel has performed marginally better than Marsden this season and should get the nod here. However, it should not make much of a difference. McIntosh is undefeated on the season and comes into this bout after two technical falls and a fall in his last three bouts. Prediction: McIntosh (Penn State) maj. dec. Weigel (Oklahoma State) 285: No. 16 Nick Nevills, Penn State (62.31) vs. No. 5 Austin Marsden, Oklahoma State (93.11) Nevills returned last week from what was thought to be a season ending injuries. In his return bout, he fell to No. 14 Max Wessell (Lehigh). Nevills then defeated Dimitrus Renfroe (Michigan State). For the season, Marsden has only had trouble with two opponents. He lost to No. 1 Nick Gwiazdowski (NC State) by decision and picked up a pair of overtime victories over Nathan Butler (Stanford). Marsden should still be the favorite here, but with the return of Nevills the bout goes from almost sure bonus points to a likely decision. Prediction: Marsden (Oklahoma State) dec. Nevills (Penn State) Predicted Dual Meet Score: Penn State 26, Oklahoma State 14 Richard Mann currently runs the data-driven MMA blog StrikeScoreMMA.com.

None of us likes to lose. Some of us take it harder than others. It can be especially painful when it's someone you love who's on the losing end of a wrestling match ... and you feel your offspring has been disrespected in the process. Just ask Stacey Micheel, 40, of the tiny town of Dunning, Neb. who may have taken fatherly pride a bit too far. Micheel was arrested Saturday, Feb. 13 during the Nebraska District D-3 wrestling championships at Cambridge High School in south-central Nebraska. The Furnas County Sheriff's Office said Micheel assaulted a 17-year-old wrestler that had just competed against his son by slamming him to the ground in the hallway. The incident was reportedly witnessed by one individual, and captured on a school surveillance camera. Micheel told investigators the winning wrestler was "talking crap" about his son. Micheel was arrested and jailed for felony child abuse. In addition Micheel was also arrested for an outstanding warrant from Custer County. A Furnas County judge set bond in the amount of $7,500. Micheel has since paid the 10 percent bond and is out of jail. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Feb. 22. In Nebraska, child abuse is a Class 3A felony that is punishable by up to three years imprisonment, a $10,000 fine or both. The younger Micheel may have lost his match, but the Sandhills/Thedford High wrestler still managed to place third in the 126-pound weight class at Districts, which earned him a ticket to compete at the 2016 Nebraska high school state wrestling championships at CenturyLink Center in Omaha this weekend.

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Before a jam-packed gymnasium on Senior Night, the nationally-ranked Ithaca College wrestling team scored a 23-12 win over rival Cortland Wednesday to conclude the regular season. In a matchup of top-10 institutions, No. 9 Ithaca (16-5) improved to 16-4 in dual matches against Division III foes and handed No. 6 Cortland (12-3) its first dual meet loss in seven matches. "This is a huge win for us. We've been climbing the ladder little by little this year and this is just another step for us on our journey," said junior Carlos Toribio, who earned a 12-3 major decision win at 184 to improve to 25-7 this year. "This will motivate us and boost our confidence beating a nationally-ranked school like Cortland. We're stepping up our training and we're doing extra workouts twice a week. We do hard conditioning workouts which is really helping us step it up and that's making a difference for us. The team is peaking at the right time." Junior co-captain Jimmy Kaishian sparked the Bombers from the get-go, earning a pin over Andrew Roden in 5:43 at 125 pounds. After a scoreless first period, Kaishian used an escape and a takedown to take a 3-0 lead. Kaishian, ranked fifth in the country, added four points on a near-fall before pinning Roden 43 seconds into the final period to improve to 35-4 on the year, and 17-1 in duals. "Jimmy getting that pin in the first match was huge," said Toribio. "Jimmy always gets the job done and he always helps get us off to a strong start." Sophomore Bryan Israel, ranked fifth in the country, earned a 4-2 win at 133. After a first-period takedown gave him a 2-0 lead, Israel and Alex D'Angelo were knotted at two late in the third. But Israel prevailed thanks to an escape and a point on riding time to improve to 20-5. Ithaca's lead swelled to 12-0 after junior Nick Wahba earned a 4-3 win at 141. Trailing 3-1 late in his match with Derak Heyman, Wahba evened the match at three with a takedown and secured the win on riding time to complete the comeback. Wahba has won 21 of 21 matches in 2015-16. Senior Dan Pak took an early 2-0 lead at 149 on a first-period takedown, but suffered a 10-4 loss. Fellow senior Eamonn Gaffney also dropped a tough 11-4 decision at 157 to Bobby Dierna, ranked No. 1 in the country in his weight class. Sophomore Nick Velez then delivered a 10-2 major decision win at 165 to swing momentum back towards the Bombers. Velez scored two points on a takedown and four points for a near-fall for a 6-0 lead. Velez, ranked sixth in the country, tacked on a third-period takedown and scored a point for riding time to finish the scoring and earn his 29th win in 35 bouts. Facing No. 3 Lou Puca, sophomore Jaison White trailed 5-1 midway through the second before scoring two points on a takedown. White trailed 6-3 heading to the third but pulled within one on a takedown, but Puca scored a point on an escape to clinch the bout for Cortland. Toribio, the reigning Empire Collegiate Wrestling Conference (ECWC) Wrestler of the Week, scored a takedown 40 seconds into his match for a 2-0 lead, and added a second-period takedown for a 4-0 advantage. Toribio posted three third-period takedowns en route to a 12-3 major decision win, running his record to 25-7. Ithaca lost at 197, but at 285, junior Matt Booth used an early takedown in the first and a late takedown in the fourth to win 6-0 over Tyler Lilly. Before the match, the Bombers honored six seniors for their hard work and dedication to the program. The seniors are: Gaffney, Pak, Henry Beaman, Zack Conner, Jake Davenport, and Dan Glinko. Ithaca competes in the NCAA regionals Feb. 27 before competing in the NCAA championships March 11-12. The Bombers have competed in the Division III national championships 33 straight years, claiming championships in 1989, 1990, and 1994. Results: 125: Jimmy Kaishian (Ithaca) pins Andrew Roden (Cortland)in 5:43 133: Bryan Israel (Ithaca) wins 4-2 decision vs. Alex D'Angelo (Cortland 141: Nick Wahba (Ithaca) wins 4-3 decision vs. Derak Heyman (Cortland) 149: Austin Whitney (Cortland) wins 10-4 decision vs. Dan Pak (Ithaca) 157: Bobby Dierna (Cortland) wins 11-4 decision vs. Eamonn Gaffney (Ithaca) 165: Nick Velez (Ithaca) wins 10-2 major decision vs. Colin Barber (Cortland) 174: Lou Puca (Cortland) wins 7-5 decision vs. Jaison White (Ithaca) 184: Carlos Toribio (Ithaca) wins 12-3 major decision vs. Mike Beckwith (Cortland) 197: Joe Giaramita (Cortland) wins 17-4 major decision vs. Jake Ashcraft (Ithaca) 285: Matt Booth (Ithaca) wins 6-0 decision vs. Tyler Lilly (Cortland) -Note: Cortland deducted one team point.

NEWBERRY -- The Newberry Wolves won nine of 10 matches to take down the King Tornado 46-3 and put the wraps on an undefeated Eastern College Athletic Conference Division II Wrestling League championship in Eleazer Arena on Wednesday night. With four forfeits from the Tornado, Newberry didn't need many bonus points, but got them anyways, starting with No. 7 Trung Duong winning by major decision at 125 lbs. Jordan Simpson rolled to a win by technical fall at 133 lbs. and the Wolves were up 27-0 at the halftime intermission. Seniors Nick Lankford and Joe Pittman were honored for their contributions to the program at halftime. Lukas Gilmore won by major decision at 165 lbs. and Dennis Flores won a hard-fought decision at 174 lbs. Cody Brundage's win by fall in just 21 seconds was Newberry's final win of the night. With the conference championship, Newberry had six wrestlers go undefeated in conference action: Trung Duong at 125 lbs. - 6-0 Jordan Simpson at 133 lbs. - 5-0 Nick Lankford at 141 lbs. - 6-0 Lukas Gilmore at 165 lbs. - 6-0 Huston Evans at 184 lbs. - 6-0 Cody Brundage at 197 lbs. - 6-0 Newberry wraps up the regular season with a 17-2 dual mark, winning its 33rd consecutive home dual. The Wolves are next in action on Feb. 26-27 at the NCAA Division II Super Region II Tournament at the University of Indianapolis. Results: 125 - No. 7 Trung Duong (NBY) major decision Reed Jacks (KING) 11-2 (Newberry 4-0) 133 - Jordan Simpson (NBY) technical fall Frank Lopez (KING) 17-0 (Newberry 9-0) 141 - Nick Lankford (NBY) win by forfeit (Newberry 15-0) 149 - Zack Dobbins (NBY) win by forfeit (Newberry 21-0) 157 - Alex Rice (NBY) win by forfeit (Newberry 27-0) 165 - Lukas Gilmore (NBY) major decision Travis Edwards (KING) (Newberry 31-0) 174 - Dennis Flores (NBY) decision Kody Eichlin (KING) (Newberry 34-0) 184 - No. 3 Huston Evans (NBY) win by forfeit (Newberry 40-0) 197 - Cody Brundage (NBY) pinned Cody Davis (KING) (Newberry 46-0) 285 - Andrew Lutterloh (KING) decision Mike Kennedy (NBY) 5-4 (TB1) (Newberry 46-3)

Minot, N.D. -- The Northern State University wrestling team battled for the first NSIC victory of the season, with a 24-21 win over Minot State. The Wolves move to 7-13 overall and 1-6 in the league this season. The Wolves took a quick 12-0 lead after a forfeit at 125 pounds and a 59 second victory by fall for Carson Henry. Henry tallied six team points with the win over Colton Nichols. Minot State began to chip away at the NSU lead with a decision victory at 141 pounds. Tyler Stenberg added to the Northern lead defeating Cody Haugen in an 8-5 decision. The two were scoreless through the first three minutes of competition, however Stenberg grabbed the lead with a takedown in the second period. The NSU junior piled on the points in the third with an opening reversal, as well as a takedown and two point nearfall. The Beavers fought back at 157 pounds, with their second division victory over the night. Heading into the 165 pound match, the Wolves led 15-6. Another win at 165 pounds for Minot State, and an NSU forfeit at 174 pounds brought the team score to 15-15 with three matches remaining. David Murphy gave the Wolves led lead at 184 pounds, defeating Briley Crissler in a 7-4 decision. Murphy opened the match with a takedown in the first period, and added two more in the final four minutes of action. Crissler was able to notched four escapes in the match, however it was not enough to overcome the seven point deficit, including riding time. With the Wolves open at 285 pounds, it was up to junior Joe Gomez to bring home the first NSIC victory for Northern this season. Gomez took a 4-3 lead in the first period, and added three points to open the second. As the second period came to a close, Gomez took down Hunter Hart and recorded the team's second victory by fall in the dual at 4:36 in the match. His six points secured the team victory, as the Wolves defeated the Beavers 24-21. Northern returns to action tomorrow from the University of Mary in the NSIC season finale. The Wolves and the Marauders will face off at 7 p.m. from Bismarck. Results: 125: Ben Cauffman (NOST) over (MSND) (For.) 133: Carson Henry (NOST) over Colton Nichols (MSND) (Fall 0:59) 141: Tanner Crissler (MSND) over Matt Bettencourt (NOST) (Dec 5-­4) 149: Tyler Stenberg (NOST) over Cody Haugen (MSND) (Dec 8­-5) 157: Marcus Polak (MSND) overBlake Perryman (NOST) (Dec 13­-11) 165: Carlos Toledano (MSND) over Grant Steen (NOST)(Dec 4­-3) 174: Mason Courtright (MSND) over (NOST) (For.) 184: David Murphy (NOST) over Briley Crissler (MSND) (Dec 7-­4) 197: Joe Gomez (NOST) over Hunter Hart (MSND) (Fall 4:36) 285: Mitchell Eull (MSND) over (NOST) (For.)

WHEELING, W.Va. -- In the final home dual match, the No. 19 Wheeling Jesuit grapplers won seven bouts and defeated Gannon University, 25-14, Wednesday night. Dustin Warner started the Cardinals' night off in a big way with a fall in 2:03 in the 125-pound matchup over the Golden Knights' Korey Caudill. At 133, Nolan Whitely put the only other home match bonus points on the scoreboard in a 12-3 major decision for a 10-0 lead. WJU added five decision wins in the final eight matches for the 11-point victory. For the second year in a row, the young third-year WJU wrestling program set its dual win standard with its 11th win and improved to 11-6 on the year. All six Cardinals' losses were to nationally-ranked opponents. Gannon fell to 4-6. "It was good to get our 11th win. We needed to keep increasing that number and setting a new standard,"said WJU head coach Sean Doyle. "Gannon is always a good program. It is always nice to be that kind of a regional opponent in a dual match." Along with the two bounus-point WJU wins, Dominick Nania (149), Dean Meyer (174), Sawyer Leppla (184), Terrance Fanning (197) and Corey Siegfried (285) each won by decision. After a scoreless opening minute, Warner (22-5) took a shot on Caudill following a pause in the action. Less than a minute later, the 125-pound sophomore put his opponent in a cradle and recorded the pin in 2:03. "Warner has been off-and-on in dual matches and it was good to see him have a good night," noted Doyle. Fanning caught his coach's attention as well. The 197-pound Cardinals redshirt freshman shot in for the takedown and added a pair of back points to open a 4-0 lead on the Golden Knights' Lorenzo Maddox. Fanning (19-6) reversed the momentum on Maddox and scored a second-period takedown, before he went on for an 8-1 decision. "Terrance had a good win against a kid who had beaten him earlier in the season. He is progressing well as the season has gone along," Doyle pointed out. Whitely recorded his 24th victory of the year in his bout. The sophomore put the first two points on a lift takedown 24 seconds into the match and led 4-1 after a period. Whitely extended the margin to 7-2 in the second, before he scored a late third-period takedown and back points for the 12-3 major decision over Aaron Smith. Nania (24-6) kept his team-win race going with Whitely. The junior took down Ryan Kaminski 22 seconds into the match and built a 6-1 edge after three minutes. Kaminiski avoided the major decision, though, with an escape with eight seconds left for a 10-3 final. The two most exciting matches took place at 174 and 285. Dean Meyer was awarded a penalty point on a one-point stalling call of Gannon's Chris Matthews. The two 174-pounders went to one-minute overtime period where Meyer shot in on Matthews for the winning takedown only 10 seconds into the match for a 5-3 victory. At 285, the Golden Knights' Nigel Toussaint took down Siegfried with 22 seconds left in the third period to go ahead, 6-4. Siegfried never gave up and reversed Toussaint with two seconds left and added the match-winning two back points for the 8-6 decision. Sawyer Leppla scored a big 184-pound victory over 23-win Jake Stratton. Leppla escaped to start the second period and added a takedown with 1:09 left in the stanza for a 3-0 lead. Stratton posted his own escape to end the second period and had a second escape, but Leppla kept the advantage for the 4-2 upset decision. ​ WJU will have 12 days off, before it travels up to Erie, Pa. for the Super Region I Regional Tournament. The tournament is set for next Friday and Saturday, Feb. 26-27, at Mercyhurst University. Results: 125 - Dustin Warner (WJU) fall Korey Caudill (GU), 2:03 -- WJU 6-0 133 - Nolan Whitely (WJU) maj. dec. Aaron Smith, 12-3 -- WJU 10-0 141 - Zach Reges (GU) fall Damon Outward (WJU), 5:55 -- WJU 10-6 149 - Dominick Nania (WJU) dec. Ryan Kaminski (GU), 10-3 -- WJU 13-6 157 - Garret Smith (GU) tech fall Peyton Geary (WJU), 17-0 (4:54) -- WJU 13-11 165 - Nate Ross (GU) dec. Keegan Driscoll (WJU), 3-2 -- GU 14-13 174 - Dean Meyer (WJU) dec. Chris Matthews (GU), 5-3 OT -- WJU 16-14 184 - Sawyer Leppla (WJU) dec. Jake Stratton (GU), 4-2 -- WJU 19-14 197 - Terrance Fanning (WJU) dec. Lorenzo Maddox (GU), 8-1 -- WJU 22-14 285 - Corey Siegfried (WJU) dec. Nigel Toussaint (GU), 8-6 -- WJU 25-14

It's a huge weekend on the national high school docket with 18 states holding their individual bracket state tournaments. Most notable among them are Illinois, Iowa, and Indiana. Others include Alabama Arkansas, Colorado, Hawaii, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Washington. Also on the state championship docket are dual meet championships in Iowa and North Dakota both of those being held on the day preceding the beginning of the individual bracket tournament. No. 1 Red seeks to cap off an undefeated career Chad Red (New Palestine, Ind.) enters this weekend's state tournament ranked No. 1 in the nation at 132 pounds with a career scholastic record of 179-0. His resume also includes a Super 32 Challenge title, a FloNationals title, and a Fargo freestyle title. Barring some sort of cataclysm, Red will have a semifinal rematch with Elliott Molloy (Danville, Ind.), whom he beat 11-4 last year at that stage; Molloy has an 87-2 mark these last two seasons, the other loss coming by technical fall to Nick Lee last week. Assuming those three wins, Red will enter Saturday night's state final bout with a career mark of 182-0. The most likely opponent would be No. 4 Nick Lee (Evansville Mater Dei, Ind.), who has a career record of 81-1 entering the state tournament; the lone loss to Stevan Micic two years ago in the state semifinal as a freshman. Lee missed most of this season, but has been a ball of fire since return. His path to the state final should be a breeze except for a likely state semifinal with 2014 state placer Brendan Black (Hobart, Ind.). The 2015-16 high school match of the year would be this one at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, opponents with a combined career mark of 266-1 meeting for a singular state title. Other Hoosier State notables Two nationally ranked teams are among the primary contenders for the tournament title in single-class Indiana, No. 29 Brownsburg and No. 34 Warren Central. Leading the way with eight qualifying for state is Warren Central, while Brownsburg qualified seven for state along with defending state champion Penn and Portage. Those to qualify six were Evansville Mater Dei, Indianapolis Cathedral, and Yorktown; both Mater Dei and Cathedral lost a state qualifier at the semi-state level. In order to place at the state tournament, wrestlers must win their first match. That guarantees an eighth place finish; semifinalists are guaranteed a top four finish. Two weight brackets other than 132 also feature a pair of nationally ranked wrestlers. Returning state champion Blake Rypel (Indianapolis Cathedral) and returning state placer Andrew Davison (Chesterton) both enter the state tournament undefeated at 182 pounds; the pair of wrestlers are ranked No. 5 and No. 19 nationally, but have been placed in the same half-bracket. Two other state placers return in this weight class, Cameron Jones (Lawrence North) and David Eli (Elkhart Memorial), each placing seventh last year; they are both in the bottom quarter bracket of the draw, Eli a semi-state champ and Jones losing to Rypel in the semi-state final. The 220 pound weight class features all four semi-state champions having undefeated records, including nationally ranked wrestlers in No. 6 Kobe Woods (Penn) and No. 18 Mason Parris (Lawrenceburg). Woods is the defending state champion in this weight class, while Parris placed third last year at 182 as a freshman. Returning state fifth placer Gunnar Larson (Avon) is the other semi-state champion in the half-bracket with Woods, while returning state eighth placer Evan Ellis (Eastern) joins Parris as a state champion in the top half-bracket. Two other returning state placers are in this weight as well, both in the bottom half-bracket, fourth place finisher Sam Hipple (Carmel) and seventh place finisher Ryan Guhl (Indianapolis Cathedral). Hipple was runner-up to Parris at semi-state, while Guhl lost to Ellis; Hipple is in the quarter with Larson, while Guhl would hit Woods in the quarterfinal. Cael McCormick (Yorktown), undefeated and ranked No. 13 nationally at 152 pounds is going to have a pretty stern path if he is to win a state title after finishing 4th/6th/DNP in three previous tournaments. The likely quarterfinal is against returning state fourth place finisher Elijah Dunn (Indian Creek), while a semifinal date with returning state runner-up (and two-time state placer) Steven Lawrence (Portage) is likely in the offing. The semi-state champions in the other half-bracket are Trent Pruitt (Warren Central) and Andrew Herrin (Jennings County). No. 30 Southeast Polk vs. No. 31 West Des Moines Valley With No. 33 Fort Dodge (Iowa) deciding to tank their district dual meet tournament by wrestling reserves, a move that in my opinion is antithetical to the competitive spirit, the Iowa Class 3A (big-school) dual meet tournament is now a two-team battle. CIML rivals Southeast Polk and West Des Moines Valley will likely wage another chapter in their month-plus saga. The Rams, ranked 30th nationally, have swept the dual meet and individual tournament titles in two of the last three seasons (finishing 2nd in both during 2014). On the season, they beat West Des Moines Valley 34-23 (8-6 matches) on Jan. 16 in a dual meet; the Tigers responded with an individual bracket title at the Ed Winger Classic, 203-202, on January 23rd; the following Friday, Southeast Polk countered with a tournament title at the CIML meet, 233.5-196.5; and then this past Saturday, Southeast Polk won the district title ever so narrowly, 247-244.5 Southeast Polk opens the dual meet tournament on Wednesday with Clinton, who was not ranked in the most recent Class 3A top ten dual meet rankings by The Predicament; while West Des Moines Valley is matched against tenth-ranked Waverly-Shell Rock. The Rams are going to see either fifth-ranked Cedar Rapids Prairie or sixth-ranked Johnston; while the Tigers will face either fourth-ranked Dubuque Hempstead or unranked Indianola. In the regular season dual meet, Southeast Polk went "straight up" with the exception of a backup at 160 pounds (the starter qualified for state, however he would lose decisively against West Des Moines Valley in this weight class anyway). The Tigers also went "straight up" with the exception of a backup at 113 (the starter was third at the district, while Southeast Polk's starter was the champion at district). The results of said dual meet corresponded perfectly with the weight classes that each team placed higher in at the district tournament. The best chance for West Des Moines Valley to reverse the dual meet is some combination of lineup creativity, flipping the 152 match (Jones of Southeast Polk is 2-1 against Nicholson this year winning 5-4 and 8-6 but losing the middle meeting), and different outcomes related to bonus point accruals. Additional Hawkeye State highlights In the Class 3A individual bracket state tournament, the three nationally ranked teams (Southeast Polk, West Des Moines Valley, and Fort Dodge) each qualified nine to the state tournament. Lewis Central qualified the most to state in big-school with 11, but they are not even ranked top ten in the final tournament strength rankings from The Predicament; it should be noted they were the beneficiaries of a terrible district tournament. Each team has eight wrestlers ranked in the top ten of the final individual weight class rankings; Southeast Polk has two projected state champs and six projected (mid-to-high) state placers, West Des Moines Valley has three projected state champs and eight projected state placers (five mid-to-high), while Fort Dodge has three projected state champs and seven projected state placers (six mid-to-high). There is no showdown of multiple ranked wrestlers within the same state tournament weight class this year in Iowa. However, here are some notable weight classes with ranked wrestlers facing stern tests. No. 11 Aden Reeves (Albia) is in the lower half-bracket of the Class 2A 106 pound weight class. The top bracket features a potential semifinal match between undefeated wrestlers in Shea Ruffridge (Pocahontas) and Eric Faught (Clear Lake). No. 12 Alex Thomsen (Underwood) is undefeated entering his sophomore year state tournament already with 90 career wins, including a 5-4 win in last year's state quarterfinal over 2014 state champion Drew West (Highland Riverside). That quarterfinal defeat is the only loss in West's career to date, as he enters this week 148-1. Those two wrestlers are positioned to meet in the state final on Saturday night at 126 pounds in Class 1A Though No. 4 Carter Happel (Lisbon) is an extreme favorite at 145 pounds in Class 1A, this week should culminate some extraordinary milestones for the future Hawkeye. Heading into the state dual meet and individual tournaments, Happel has an unofficial win streak of 162 and seeks the 200th win of his remarkable career on Wednesday morning against just one loss. That loss came in the district dual meet tournament his freshman year. Saturday night's state final is most likely to be against either the undefeated Trent Johnson (Dike-New Hartford) or returning state runner-up Trey Brisker (Wilton); Johnson is also a two-time state placer, Brisker was runner-up to Happel last year at state and in the district this past weekend, those two meet opening round on Thursday. No. 7 Colton Clingenpeel (Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson) is undefeated for the season at 152 pounds and a two-time state placer in Class 3A. His de facto state final is the likely quarterfinal against two-time state placer Kyle Briggs (Cedar Rapids Jefferson), while the likely state final is against returning state placer Christian Foote (Pleasant Valley). Regretfully at 285 pounds, there is no "super state" concept as two of the nation's top five wrestlers in the weight class are prohibitive favorites in different classifications. Gannon Gremmel (Dubuque Hempstead) is 42-0 and positioned to get the state title that has eluded him in his career (2nd/5th/3rd), while fellow three-time state placer Carter Isley (Albia) is 37-0 and seeking a second state title in a third state finals appearance; Gremmel is in Class 3A, and Isley in Class 2A. Land of Lincoln, Land of Rematches Of the six weight classes in the Illinois Class 3A tournament (big-school) where multiple nationally ranked wrestlers are present, five of those involve wrestlers that competed in last weekend's sectional tournaments against one another. At 106 pounds, No. 12 Joey Melendez (Montini Catholic) beat No. 18 Hassan Johnson (Brother Rice) 2-0 in the sectional final. Johnson is in the upper half bracket paired with P.J. Ogunsanya (Oak Park River Forest) as a potential quarterfinal opponent, with Marcus Povlick (Plainfield North) -- the top rated wrestler in the weight class per Illinois Matmen -- as a semifinal opponent. It would be fair to say that Melendez is the clear favorite to clear the lower half-bracket. At 113 pounds, No. 2 Real Woods (Montini Catholic) beat No. 20 Louie Hayes (Carl Sandburg) for the second time in as many meetings on the season, 5-2 in the sectional final. Woods is looking at a likely semifinal match against Roberto Campos (Oak Park River Forest), while Hayes is most likely to face the winner of a quarterfinal battle involving returning state qualifiers in Charles Faber (Glenbard West) and Holden Heller (Deerfield). At 126 pounds, No. 4 Austin Gomez (Glenbard North) beat No. 17 Anthony Madrigal (Oak Park River Forest) 8-1 in the sectional final. However, a note of caution is that Gomez lost to Huskies' teammate Jason Renteria in the sectional final last year before upsetting him in the state final; though such a reversal in outcome is not likely this year. Two other returning state placers also squared off in another sectional final, Jacob Silzer (St. Rita) beat Jimmy Pawleski (Montini Catholic). Pawleski is likely to match up against Gomez in a state semifinal. Silzer has to clear David Rivera-Kohr (Evanston) in the quarterfinal round before a potential semifinal against either Madrigal or returning state qualifier Christian Kanzler (Fox Lake Grant). At 132 pounds, No. 5 Rudy Yates (Carl Sandburg) beat No. 7 Dylan Duncan (Montini Catholic) for the second time this season, 7-5 in the sectional semifinal round; in the final, Yates beat returning state runner-up Anthony Cheloni (Marmion Academy) for a second time as well on the season, 5-4. Yates is looking at most likely facing two-time state placer Gabe Townsell (Oak Park River Forest) in the semifinal, though he would have to possibly clear Miguel Romero (Prospect) -- a wrestler that scored an upset pin over Townsell last week -- in the quarterfinal. Down in the lower half, a Duncan vs. Cheloni semifinal is most likely, though Cheloni could have the 46-1 Danny Madonia (Conant) in the quarterfinal. Three ranked wrestlers at 182 pounds exited the same sectional and should have no problem finishing 1-2-3 at the state tournament. No. 13 Jack Jessen (Willowbrook) beat No. 20 Patrick Brucki (Carl Sandburg) 4-3 in the semifinal before losing 6-4 to No. 7 Nathan Traxler (Marmion Academy) in the final. Jessen was runner-up at state last year as a freshman, Brucki third last year as a sophomore, while Traxler won a title last year as a junior. Barring the weird, Traxler should be in the final with Jessen in a semifinal against either Brucki or the undefeated Matt Wroblewski (Prospect). Two nationally ranked wrestlers also reside in the Class 3A 152 pound weight class, No. 12 Trace Carello (Marmion Academy) and No. 17 Nick Foster (Belleville West), both wrestlers placing third at state last year. Carello won his sectional tournament, while Foster lost 3-1 in upset fashion to returning state placer Trevell Timmons (Lockport). The resulting draw is the following: Carello and Foster are slated to meet in a semifinal match, though Dylan Geick (Stevenson) is a very dangerous first round opponent for Foster, with Timmons and 2014 state runner-up Fernie Silva (Hononegah) as the likely lower-bracket semifinal. Rocky Mountain showdown The opening weight of the Class 5A (big-school) state tournament features a pair of ranked wrestlers in No. 15 Malik Heinselman (Castle View) and No. 20 Mosha Schwartz (Ponderosa). Heinselman is 40-1 with his only loss of the season coming 11-6 to Schwartz in the opening weekend of the season, though Heinselman has multiple off-season wins over Schwartz across styles. Schwartz is 40-6 on the season with the following tournament placements: 4th at the Ironman, champion at Reno TOC, 7th at Doc Buchanan, 4th at Top of the Rockies, and champion at Rocky Welton. Losses on the season are to the unranked Christian Nunez (St. John Bosco, Calif.), No. 12 Joey Melendez (Montini Catholic, Ill.), Matthew Olguin (Buchanan, Calif.), twice to Nathan Bonham (Pueblo County), and one to Andrew Lucero (Pueblo East); Bonham and Lucero are in opposite half-brackets of the Class 4A tournament at 106 in Colorado. Schwartz did avenge his loss to Lucero, and also has two wins over the third notable in this Class 5A weight class in Coltan Yapoujian (Pomona). Schwartz beat Yapoujian 3-2 in the Reno TOC semifinal and then 6-5 in the tiebreaker in the Top of the Rockies semifinal. Yapoujian is in the half-bracket with Heinselman, while Schwartz is more or less by himself. Results from all state tournaments so far View results from all the state tournaments here. Additions for this week: Dual: Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina Individual: Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Montana, and Utah Buckeye State showdowns Dual team championships were decided in Ohio on Sunday at St. John Arena in Columbus, Ohio. No. 3 St. Paris Graham cut through the Division II field like a knife through butter only losing four bouts across three dual meets. The highlight in that division was a "winner take all" last bout in the semifinal round between Wauseon and Steubenville; two unheralded wrestlers took to the mat with Wauseon leading 33-31, Alex Sosa (Wauseon) trailed 2-0 early in the second period before reversing his opponent to his back to secure the fall and a 39-31 victory. In Division III, the small school division, No. 25 Delta emerged as champion. The Panthers secured nine match victories in every single dual meet along the way. A couple of individual bouts highlighted the competition on the day. In Delta's first round match against Shadyside, it was a battle of two-time state placers as Greg Quinn (Shadyside) upset returning state champion Drew Mattin 5-3 at 120 pounds; also in the quarterfinal round, returning state placer Luke Sorboro (Rootstown) bumped up a weight class to beat projected state runner-up Kian Thompson (Oak Harbor) at 182 pounds, a match that proved crucial in Rootstown's 30-29 dual meet victory. In Division I, nationally ranked St. Edward and Elyria advanced to the championship match. St. Edward going a combined 23-5 in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, while Elyria only won eight matches in each of their dual meets. No. 7 St. Edward won the dual meet title 43-28 over No. 17 Elyria, as the Eagles won eight weight class. Key to the dual meet victory was the ability to secure maximum bonus points on many occasions as well as two crucial swing bouts. Entering the 160 pound bout, St. Edward led 25-13, but Elyria was just starting their back half strength. A battle of returning state placers saw Mikah Price (Elyria) taking on normal 152 pound wrestler Jack Conway. Early in the second period Price had a 10-6 lead, and got reversed to his back. Conway now leading 11-10 subsequently secured the fall in 3:38. If that wasn't enough damage to the Pioneers cause, then there was the 182 pound match where returning state placer J.T. Brown (Elyria) led Tyler Stepic 2-0 in the early part of the second period. Brown was trying to work a cradle, then in some order a shoulder injury occurred and he was reversed to his back; after an injury timeout, it was determined Brown was unable to continue. It was 31-16 going into 182, but 37-16 St. Edward going out of that bout to clinch the dual team state title. Pennsylvania Class 3A packs punch Six nationally ranked teams convened in Hershey for the dual team state tournament in Class 3A (big-school division). No. 6 Bethlehem Catholic and No. 10 Belle Vernon were paired in the bottom half of the bracket based on predetermined formula, so the de facto final was held in the semifinal. In each team's quarterfinal, they beat solid opposition; Bethlehem Catholic knocking off now No. 50 Central Dauphin 38-13 (10-4 mathces), Belle Vernon beating formerly ranked Council Rock South 46-18 (10-4 matches). In the upper half bracket, No. 21 Boyertown and No. 22 Nazareth were the advancing teams to the semifinal. Boyertown beat Canon-McMillan 37-20 (8-6 matches), while Nazareth escaped a barn-burner with No. 32 Kiski Area; the dual meet was tied 32-32 with the Blue Eagles winning on the criteria of most near-fall points scored. Kiski Area had a tough opening round battle with Cumberland Valley, needing wins in five of the last six bouts to split the matches at 7-7 and win 35-31. Bethlehem Catholic beat Belle Vernon Area 33-30, though the last two weight classes were given to Belle Vernon on forfeits once the match was clinched. Keys to the victory for the Hawks were a pair of one-point wins in the first three bouts of the dual meet, as they jumped out to a 16-0 advantage after 145-170 were wrestled. Belle Vernon then cut the deficit to 16-12 with a forfeit and two one point victories of their own. However, an overtime decision and a 2-0 decision at 285 and 106 started the five victory streak to clinch the dual meet for the Hawks. Boyertown came through with a 38-19 (9-5 matches) victory over Nazareth in its semifinal. The Bears went 4-1 in matches decided by three points or less, including consecutive wins at 113, 120, and 126 that turned a 24-13 dual meet score into a 38-13 rout with one match remaining. The championship match saw Bethlehem Catholic take home eleven weight class victories in a 37-12 victory over Boyertown. The first eight weight classes were all decided by decisions, with Bethlehm Catholic winning the first seven of those (the furthest margin was five points). After technical falls at 160 and 170 from Cole Karam and Michael Labriola officially put it out of reach, three of the last four bouts were two point or less affairs, with the Hawks winning two of those. On the consolation side of the tournament, Belle Vernon beat Kiski Area 36-26 and Nazareth 30-28 to take home the bronze medal despite missing two key starters (Derek Verkleeren and Michael Fine) on Saturday. Nazareth narrowly beat Central Dauphin 28-24 in its consolation semifinal, after Central Dauphin blew out Council Rock South 48-16 in the consolation quarterfinal.

This third week of February is arguably the busiest of the postseason calendar. The first major chunk of individual state tournaments is this weekend, while virtually everyone else is into their state tournament series. Below is the schedule of competitions for teams appearing in the Fab 50 during the week of February 17 through 23. No. 1 Blair Academy, N.J. -- compete in National Preps Regional Qualifier at Poly Prep (N.Y.) on Friday No. 2 Wyoming Seminary, Pa. -- compete in Pennsylvania Independent Schools state tournament at Malvern Prep (Pa.) on Friday and Saturday No. 3 St. Paris Graham, Ohio -- compete in sectional tournament, start of state series, at Tippecanoe (Ohio) on Friday and Saturday No. 4 Bergen Catholic, N.J. -- compete in district tournament, state of state series, at Leonia (N.J.) on Friday and Saturday No. 5 Buchanan, Calif. -- compete in Yosemite Valley divisional tournament, 2nd step of state series, at Clovis (Calif.) on Friday and Saturday No. 7 St. Edward, Ohio -- compete in sectional tournament, start of state series, at Westlake (Ohio) on Saturday No. 8 Oak Park River Forest, Ill. -- compete in Class AAA state tournament tomorrow through Saturday at State Farm Center in Champaign (Ill.) No. 9 Clovis, Calif. -- host Yosemite Valley divisional tournament, 2nd step of state series, on Friday and Saturday No. 11 Tuttle, Okla. -- host regional tournament, state qualifier, on Friday and Saturday No. 12 Lake Highland Prep, Fla. -- compete in district tournament, start of state series, at Bishop Moore (Fla.) on Saturday No. 13 Poway, Calif. -- compete in CIF tournament, state of state series, on Saturday at Westview (Calif.) No. 14 Mt. Carmel, Ill. -- compete in Class AA state tournament tomorrow through Saturday at State Farm Center in Champaign (Ill.) No. 15 Apple Valley, Minn. -- compete in section tournament, state qualifier, on Friday and Saturday at Eastview (Minn.) No. 16 Marmion Academy, Ill. -- compete in Class AAA state tournament tomorrow through Saturday at State Farm Center in Champaign (Ill.) No. 17 Carl Sandburg, Ill. -- compete in Class AAA state tournament tomorrow through Saturday at State Farm Center in Champaign (Ill.) No. 18 Elyria, Ohio -- compete in sectional tournament, start of state series, at Westlake (Ohio) on Saturday No. 19 St. Michael-Albertville, Minn. -- host section tournament, state qualifier, on Friday and Saturday No. 20 Washington, Ill. -- compete in Class AA state tournament tomorrow through Saturday at State Farm Center in Champaign (Ill.) No. 21 Boyertown, Pa. -- host Pac-10 Championships on Saturday No. 23 Malvern Prep, Pa. -- host the Pennsylvania Independent Schools state tournament on Friday and Saturday No. 25 Delta, Ohio -- compete in sectional tournament, start of state series, at Archbold (Ohio) on Friday and Saturday No. 26 Allen, Texas -- compete in Class 6A state tournament Friday and Saturday at Berry Center in Cypress (Texas) No. 27 Kasson-Mantorville, Minn. -- compete in section tournament (Class AA), state qualifier, at Mayo Civic Center in Rochester (Minn.) on Friday and Saturday No. 29 Brownsburg, Ind. -- compete in state tournament Friday and Saturday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis (Ind.) No. 30 Southeast Polk, Iowa -- compete in Class 3A state dual meet tournament today, state individual tournament tomorrow through Saturday; both at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines (Iowa) No. 31 West Des Moines Valley, Iowa -- compete in Class 3A state dual meet tournament today, state individual tournament tomorrow through Saturday; both at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines (Iowa) No. 33 Fort Dodge, Iowa -- compete in Class 3A state individual tournament tomorrow through Saturday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines (Iowa) No. 34 Warren Central, Ind. -- compete in state tournament Friday and Saturday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis (Ind.) No. 35 Pomona, Colo. -- compete in Class 5A state tournament tomorrow through Saturday at Pepsi Center in Denver (Colo.) No. 36 Anoka, Minn. -- compete in section tournament, state qualifier, at Elk River (Minn.) on Friday and Saturday No. 37 Park Hill, Mo. -- compete in Class 4 state tournament tomorrow through Saturday at Mizzou Arena in Columbia (Mo.) No. 38 Olentangy Liberty, Ohio -- compete in sectional tournament, state of state series, at Newark (Ohio) on Saturday No. 39 Platte County, Mo. -- compete in Class 3 state tournament tomorrow through Saturday at Mizzou Arena in Columbia (Mo.) No. 40 Pueblo County, Colo. -- compete in Class 4A state tournament tomorrow through Saturday at Pepsi Center in Denver (Colo.) No. 41 Montini Catholic, Ill. -- compete in Class AAA state tournament tomorrow through Saturday at State Farm Center in Champaign (Ill.) No. 43 Kenyon-Wanamingo, Minn. -- compete in section tournament (Class A), state qualifier, at Mayo Civic Center in Rochester (Minn.) on Friday and Saturday No. 45 Goddard (Kansas) -- compete in regional tournament, state qualifier, at Andover (Kansas) on Friday and Saturday No. 46 Lowell, Mich. -- compete in regional dual meet tournament, state qualifier, tonight at Sparta (Mich.); compete in the individual regional, state qualifier, on Saturday at Byron Center (Mich.) No. 47 Post Falls, Idaho -- compete in district tournament, state qualifier, at Lakeland (Idaho) on Friday and Saturday No. 48 Good Counsel, Md. -- compete in Maryland Independent Schools state tournament at McDonogh (Md.) on Friday and Saturday No. 49 Choctaw, Okla. -- compete in regional tournament, state qualifier, at Southmoore (Okla.) on Friday and Saturday No. 50 Central Dauphin, Pa. -- compete in sectional tournament, start of state series, at Central Dauphin (Pa.) East on Friday and Saturday Season Completed: No. 24 Archer (Ga.), No. 28 Camden County (Ga.) No competitions during the upcoming week: No. 6 Bethlehem Catholic (Pa.), No. 10 Belle Vernon (Pa.), No. 22 Nazareth (Pa.), No. 32 Kiski Area (Pa.), No. 42 Hilton (N.Y.), No. 44 Long Beach (N.Y.)

The United States will send a talented and experienced team to compete in the 2016 Pan American Wrestling Championships at the Dr. Pepper Arena in Frisco, Texas, Feb. 26-28. Teams from North, Central and South America will compete in the three Olympic disciplines, men's freestyle, women's freestyle and Greco-Roman at the Pan American Championships, an annual event featuring many top international wrestlers. 2012 Olympic champion Jordan Burroughs (Lincoln, Neb./Sunkist Kids/Nebraska RTC) and 2012 Olympic bronze medalists Clarissa Chun (Columbia, Mo./Sunkist Kids) and Coleman Scott (Chapel Hill, N.C./Sunkist Kids) headline the U.S. team, which features numerous past U.S. Olympic and World Team members. Burroughs will compete at 74 kg/163 lbs. in men's freestyle on Saturday, Feb. 27. Burroughs was the 2012 Olympic champion and has won three World Championships gold medals (2011, 2013, 2015). He was also a 2014 World bronze medalist. Burroughs won two NCAA titles and was a Hodge Trophy winner for Nebraska. Chun will compete at 48 kg/105.5 lbs. in women's freestyle on Friday, Feb. 26. She won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Games, and was also fifth at the 2008 Olympic Games. Chun was a World champion in 2008. Scott will compete at 61 kg/134 lbs. in men's freestyle on Saturday, Feb. 27. Scott won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Games. He was an NCAA champion at Oklahoma State and trained there until taking a coaching job at the University of North Carolina, where he now serves as head coach. The women's wrestling event will be held first on Friday, February 26. Along with Chun, the team features 2012 World champion, three-time World medalist and 2012 Olympian Elena Pirozhkova, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Titan Mercury WC) at 69 kg/152 lbs., 2005 World champion Iris Smith (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army WCAP) at 75 kg/165 lbs. and 2012 Olympian Kelsey Campbell (Tempe, Ariz./Sunkist Kids) at 58 kg/128 lbs. 2015 World bronze medalist Leigh Jaynes-Provisor (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army WCAP) will also compete at 60 kg/132 lbs. On Saturday, February 27, the men's freestyle division will be held. Joining Burroughs and Scott on the U.S. team is 2015 World bronze medalist James Green (Lincoln, Neb./Titan Mercury WC/Nebraska RTC) at 65 kg/143 lbs. There are two other past U.S. World Team members competing in men's freestyle, Angel Escobedo (Ames, Iowa/New York AC) at 57 kg/125.5 lbs. and Keith Gavin (Charlottesville, Va./Titan Mercury WC) at 86 kg/189 lbs. Also wrestling in men's freestyle is 2009 Junior World champion Dom Bradley, Blue Springs, Mo. (Sunkist Kids). The final day of the Pan American Championships is Sunday, February 28, featuring the Greco-Roman competition. The U.S. team will feature 2015 World Team member Patrick Martinez, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP) at 85 kg/187 lbs. and 2011 World Team member Cheney Haight (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) at 80 kg/174 lbs. Age-group World medalists on the team include 2014 University World silver medalist Patrick Smith (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnesota Storm) at 71 kg/156 lbs. and 2011 Junior World bronze medalist Toby Erickson (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) at 130 kg/286 lbs. Information on the international team rosters will be announced later this week. USA Wrestling is hosting two major international events in Frisco on consecutive weekends. On the following weekend, the Pan American Olympic Games Qualifier will be held at the Dr. Pepper Arena, March 4-6. This event serves as a major qualifier for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In total, 36 spots in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro are up for grabs. U.S. lineups for this event will be published shortly. Tickets for both events can be ordered at the same time. All-Session General Admission prices are $14.50 for a single day pass, $39.50 for a three-day pass and $59.50 for a six-day pass. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster. Please note that the three-day pass will be good for either the three days of the Pan American Championships or for the Pan American Olympic Qualifier, but cannot be used partially for one event and then the rest on the other. 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 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 CHAMPIONSHIPS At Frisco, Texas, Feb. 26-28 U.S. Women's freestyle roster (compete on Feb. 26) 48 kg/105.5 lbs. - Clarissa Chun, Columbia, Mo. (Sunkist Kids) 53 kg/116.5 lbs. – Michaela Hutchison, Lebanon, Ill. (Titan Mercury WC) 55 kg/121 lbs. - Sharon Jacobson, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP) 58 kg/128 lbs. - Kelsey Campbell, Tempe, Ariz. (Sunkist Kids) 60 kg/132 lbs. - Leigh Jaynes-Provisor, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP) 63 kg/138.75 lbs. -Amanda Hendey, San Gabriel, Calif. (Titan Mercury WC) 69 kg/152 lbs. – Elena Pirozhkova, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Titan Mercury WC) 75 kg/165 lbs. – Iris Smith, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP) National Women's Coach – Terry Steiner, Colorado Springs, Colo. Assistant National Women's Coach – Erin Tomeo, Colorado Springs, Colo. U.S. Men's freestyle roster (compete on Feb. 27) 57 kg/125.5 lbs. - Angel Escobedo, Ames, Iowa (New York AC) 61 kg/134 lbs.- Coleman Scott, Chapel Hill, N.C. (Sunkist Kids) 65 kg/143 lbs. - James Green, Lincoln, Neb. (Titan Mercury WC/Nebraska RTC) 70 kg/154 lbs. - Frank Molinaro, State College, Pa. (Nittany Lion WC) 74 kg/163 lbs - Jordan Burroughs, Lincoln, Neb. (Sunkist Kids/Nebraska RTC) 86 kg/189 lbs. - Keith Gavin, Charlottesville, Va. (Titan Mercury WC) 97 kg/213 lbs. - Scott Schiller, Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnesota Storm) 125 kg/275 lbs. - Dom Bradley, Blue Springs, Mo. (Sunkist Kids) Team Leader – Andy Barth, San Marino, Calif. National Freestyle Coach – Bruce Burnett, Colorado Springs, Colo. Assistant National Freestyle Coach – Bill Zadick, Colorado Springs, Colo. U.S. Greco-Roman roster (compete on Feb. 28) 59 kg/130 lbs. – Sam Jones, Folsom, La. (NYAC/NMU) 66 kg/145.5 lbs. – Alejandro Sancho, Miami, Fla. (NYAC/NMU) 71,kg/156 lbs. - Patrick Smith, Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnesota Storm) 75 kg/165 lbs. - Geordan Speiller, Oviedo, Fla. (Florida Jets) 80 kg/174 lbs. - Cheney Haight, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC) 85 kg/187 lbs. - Patrick Martinez, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP) 98 kg/215 lbs. - Jacob Kasper, Mansfield, Ohio (Roughhouse) 130 kg/286 lbs. - Toby Erickson, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC) National Greco-Roman Coach – Matt Lindland, Colorado Springs, Colo. Coach – David Beazley, Howell, Mich. Medical – Dr. Dan Clearfield, Fort Worth, Texas Medical – Dave Grossman, Bloomington, Ind. PAN-AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS At Frisco, Texas, Feb. 26-28 Friday, February 26 Women's Freestyle Wrestling (48kg, 53kg, 55kg, 58kg, 60kg, 63kg, 69kg and 75kg) 10:00 am - 3:00 pm - Qualification Rounds and Repechage 5:30 pm - 6:00 pm - Opening Ceremony 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm – Medal Match Finals Saturday, February 27 Men's Freestyle Wrestling (57kg, 61kg, 65kg, 70kg, 74kg, 86kg, 97kg, 125kg) 10:00 am - 3:00 pm - Qualification Rounds and Repechage 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm – Medal Match Finals Sunday, February 28 Greco-Roman Wrestling (59kg, 66kg, 71kg, 75kg, 80kg, 85kg, 98kg, 130kg) 10:00 am - 3:00 pm - Qualification Rounds and Repechage 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm – Medal Match Finals

This weekend college wrestling fans can watch all eight Big Ten wrestling teams competing in the NWCA National Duals across eight Big Ten campuses via BTN and BTN Plus on BTN2Go. Top-ranked Penn State will face No. 5 Oklahoma State on Sunday on BTN TV. Fans with BTN2Go can also watch live via this link. The other seven matches hosted by Big Ten teams will be available live via BTN Plus, which includes non-televised games and events available on BTN2Go with a purchase of a BTN Plus subscription. A subscription to BTN Plus on BTN2Go does not require a Big Ten Network TV subscription with a TV provider. Get more information and subscribe to BTN Plus subscription packages here. Check out NWCAonline.com for more info, too. Here is the full schedule on BTN2Go.com: Friday: No. 14 Iowa State at No. 17 Minnesota, 8:30 p.m. ET on BTN Plus Saturday: No. 10 Lehigh at No. 13 Rutgers, 8 p.m. ET on BTN Plus Sunday: No. 25 Appalachian State at Indiana, 1 p.m. ET on BTN Plus No. 3 Virginia Tech at No. 7 Michigan, 2 p.m. ET on BTN Plus No. 6 Missouri at No. 9 Nebraska, 3 p.m. ET on BTN Plus No. 5 Oklahoma State at No. 1 Penn State, 5 p.m. ET on BTN & BTN2Go Monday: Edinboro at 8 Ohio State, 7 p.m. ET on BTN Plus 4 NC State at 2 Iowa, 8 p.m. ET on BTN Plus

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. In the Division I Most Dominant Wrestler standings, Penn State freshman Jason Nolf leads with an average of 5.13 points per match at 157 pounds, which is .04 ahead of 149-pound teammate Zain Retherford. Heavyweight Joe Stolfi of Bucknell is also in the running for the award with an average of 5.06 points per match. Pittsburgh-Johnstown 184-pounder Travis McKillop leads Division II with an average of 5.33 points, which is well ahead of Romero Cotton of Nebraska-Kearney with 4.94 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 5.74 points. Heavyweight Donald Longendyke is second with an average of 5.48 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 matches wrestled. Points per match are awarded as follows and based on a minimum of 16 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) Navy 197-pounder Michael Woulfe leads Division I with 14 falls this season, while teammate Mathew Miller is second with 12 at 184 pounds. Ronald Wardleigh of Western State is the leader in Division II with 13 falls at 125 pounds, followed closely by McKillop with 12. Three wrestlers have compiled an impressive 18 falls in Division III this season. AJ Kowal of Stevens Institute of Technology holds the national lead by aggregate time (38:43) over Lefever (49:57) and Josh Thomson of Messiah (54:56) by more than 11 minutes. Isaiah Martinez of Illinois has surpassed his winning total from last season with 12 tech falls this season at 157 pounds to hold the Division I lead. Francis Mizia of Mercyhurst maintains his lead in Division II with eight tech falls at 165 pounds, while Maryville (Missouri) 197-pounder Ryan Beltz and Seton Hill 141-pounder Joseph Alessandro each have seven. Division III also has a three-way tie in the tech fall standings. Michael Fleck, a 125-pounder from Wilkes, holds the national lead by aggregate time (48:09) over Springfield 149-pounder Zach Joseph (58:02) and Messiah 125-pounder Lucas Malmberg (65:13), as each has earned 11 tech falls this season.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Rutgers wrestling announced Tuesday its 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 19 dual against Drexel at the College Ave. Gym has been canceled. The cancelation comes after the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) announced No. 13 Rutgers will host No. 7 Lehigh Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Rutgers Athletic Center as part of NWCA National Duals Championship Series. Due to the cancelation, Rutgers wrestling season ticket holders will have two options; fans can either credit those funds toward 2016-17 tickets, or allocate the ticket price as a donation to the Rutgers wrestling program. Season ticket holders should contact their ticket rep regarding which option they want to pursue. Season ticket holders are unable to exchange their Drexel tickets for Saturday's Lehigh match. The National Duals Championship Series is an event coordinated by the NWCA and consequently, all tickets will be sold on a first-come first-serve basis. Tickets to the Rutgers vs. Lehigh match are now available for purchase through the Rutgers Ticket Office. The cost of admission follows the same pricing scale as RAC matches during the 2015-16 season. However, since the match is an NWCA event, student tickets are $1 each. To purchase tickets, fans can call 1-866-445-GORU or go online.

Joe Rau of the Minnesota Storm is an Olympic hopeful in Greco-Roman at 98 kilos. He was a U.S. World Team member in 2014 at 80 kilos, and this past December won title at the U.S. Nationals at 98 kilos. Rau, an Illinois native, competed collegiately at Elmhurst College and was a three-time All-American and NCAA Division III champion as a senior in 2013. InterMat caught up with Rau. You recently earned a silver medal at the Grand Prix Zagreb Open in Zagreb, Croatia. What did you take away from that event? Joe Rau gets his hands locked on his opponent at the U.S. World Team Trials (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)Rau: It was a fun experience. I actually went to the tournament last year and won it at 80 kilos. So all of the Croatians sure thought it was funny that I was at 98 kilos this year. You know it is a smaller tournament, but a lot of tough competition still. Last year I wrestled some studs, wrestling the Belarusian who was silver medalist in the world in the finals. This year was kind of the same. I only had seven guys in my bracket, I believe, but it was some tough competition still. I started off with a comeback win against a pretty tough Hungarian. Then I had a rematch with a tough Polish guy and beat him at the last second again in the semis and then I lost to a big Czech Republic wrestler who is usually at 85 kilos in the finals. I lost 6-4. I blew a 4-0 lead which I was pretty upset about, but I got something out of it. From a technical standpoint I need to work more on clearing underhooks and repummeling. From a mental strategical standpoint, never stop working to score. It's something I already know, but tend to forget sometimes when I'm tired and in the lead. What does your competition schedule look like leading up to the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in April? Rau: After competing in the Hungarian Grand Prix I come home, take a week off the mats, and then head to pre-Pan Ams camp at the OTC in Colorado Springs. At the end of the camp I will go to Texas to wrestle in the Pan American Olympic qualifier at the start of March. I have to finish in the top two at that tournament to qualify the U.S. for the Olympics at my weight class. So that is the main focus right now. Trials won't really matter until we get all of our weight classes qualified. Being the No. 1 guy in the U.S. won't qualify you for the Olympics unless someone at your weight class took top five in the previous World Championships at your weight class or a top-two finish at the Pan American Olympic qualifier. 75 kilos and 130 kilos are the only U.S. Greco weight classes qualified so far. Joe Rau executed a throw on Caylor Williams at the U.S. Nationals (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)You have notched two wins over returning World team member Caylor Williams since November. What has been the key to beating Williams? Rau: Well, I really think something that has been key has just been focusing on my own wrestling, not as much my weight or anyone else. Trying to get back to what makes me good. And trying to become technically better at Greco, which has definitely been a process. You grew up in Illinois and wrestled collegiately in your home state at Elmhurst. What brought you to Minnesota? Rau: Yeah and that was amazing. I had a great experience there at Elmhurst. And I cherish all my time in Illinois with my family and friends. What brought me to Minnesota was initially Jim Moulsoff, the head wrestling coach at Augsburg College. He approached me at the NCAA tournament my senior year knowing that I was looking to continue my wrestling career post-collegiately. He told me about the Minnesota Training Center and about what Coach Chandler, Brandon Paulson, and Jordan Holm had going on out there. One phone call and one visit to Minnesota later I was a part of the Minnesota Storm. It has been quite a ride since then. What's the better Greco-Roman wrestling state, Minnesota or Illinois? Rau: You are going to kill me for saying it, but when it comes to high school Greco, Illinois is better hands down. We have the recent Fargo and National Duals titles to prove that. Now college and senior level is a different story. Several Minnesota Storm Greco-Roman wrestlers are ranked in the top 10 in their respective weight classes. How would you describe the training environment for Greco-Roman wrestlers at the Minnesota Training Center? Rau: We are a pretty close group of teammates and we have a lot of fun, something rare, I think, at this level. Most of us have been around for the whole Olympic quad or at least most of it. The coaches are awesome. Brandon Paulson and Dan Chandler know their stuff. Coach Mike Houck has been coming in a lot lately as well, which has been great. Coach David Zuniga has jumped in the room and showed some stuff too, which has been a great addition. Minnesota has a lot of wrestling greats just in our backyard so I think we are powerful in our tradition and our numbers. Jake Clark returned to competition after a three-year layoff and won a national title in December at 85 kilos. He's back training with the Minnesota Storm. What's it like having Clark in Minnesota? Rau: Jake Clark is the man. Great dude and a great wrestler. It is really good to have him in the room. I think he has an unorthodox approach to wrestling and different stuff technically that he has mastered. It is not surprising to me that he won Senior Nationals, even with the three-year break. He has come in the room and wrestled with me ever since I joined the Storm whenever he was in town, and he's definitely still got it. He has never lost it. It's great having him back as a training partner. Joe Rau gets his hand raised after winning the U.S. Nationals title (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)You have been a Fargo champion, NCAA Division III national champion, University Nationals champion, U.S. Open champion, World Team Trials champion, and won international events. When you reflect on your wrestling career, what wrestling achievement means the most to you? Rau: That is really hard to answer. They all mean so much to me, all having their own crazy sub-journeys accumulating to make up my whole journey. When I look back at it, the craziest accomplishment of them all has been winning Fargo. I don't think a lot of that other stuff would have happened without winning Fargo. It was my first big breakthrough as a wrestler, and I proved to myself that day that I can be something. Steve Marianetti is best known in the wrestling world for pulling one of the biggest upsets in NCAA wrestling history when he beat Lincoln McIlravy in the NCAA finals in 1995. What was it like wrestling for Marianetti? Rau: Coach Marianetti is a legend. Wrestling for him was pretty amazing. He has a very different wrestling mind. Very analytical, very knowledgeable, and very laid back … something I always needed. I never knew it until I had a coach like that, but I respond way better to a laid back, positive, technically-driven coach. I don't always respond well to the big screamers who tend to only criticize negatively. It's hard being a coach. I know that from coaching myself. I am blown away more and more by his poise and knowledge of the sport the more I try to coach. He was a lot of fun to wrestle for, and he gave me a lot of control of my own career, yet was always there when I needed it. It was an empowering experience as a wrestler and a person. What has Mike Powell meant to your wrestling career? Rau: Just like Marianetti, Coach Powell changed me as a wrestler and as a human being forever. I always wanted it really bad and was constantly searching for ways to be successful, but until I met those guys it was somewhat aimless. Coach Powell taught me Greco-Roman wrestling, the sport that has taken me around the world. I'm forever grateful for that. He also taught me how to be more positive and to believe in myself. I think I was crippled by self-degradation and negativity as an athlete for most of my career … something that's hard to shake off even nowadays. He took me in as an outsider and taught me Greco in high school and then he continued to teach me things and mentor me throughout college and even now in my senior level career. You've performed stand-up comedy. Is that something you still plan to continue with? Rau: It's kind of a pipe dream, but I guess so. I don't always feel funny, and I'm not one of those guys who can be funny on command all of the time, but when I'm on a roll I think I can make anyone laugh. It is really hard to balance comedy and wrestling because the lifestyles kind of conflict with each other. Sitting at a bar or a comedy club until midnight or later waiting to tell some jokes doesn't mix well with the wrestling lifestyle of training and taking care of your body. I am kind of putting the performances on halt this Olympic year, but I am always writing and always joking around. Do you ever work wrestling into your stand-up comedy? Rau: Not really, but on wrestling trips and in practice I, of course, will joke around about wrestling a lot. I think it is a hard thing for non-wrestlers to relate to, but if you could effectively it has the potential for some hilarious jokes. I know Greg Warren does some funny wrestling stuff. Do you get more nervous before doing a stand-up comedy performance or before wrestling a match? Rau: They are both nerve-racking for me, but I think stand-up comedy. Wrestling is my world and even though I love comedy and like doing it, I haven't made it my world yet. I get really nervous with wrestling sometimes, but after wrestling in every tournament possible for the last 19 years, I think I am used to the atmosphere. I know how to perform under the pressure of a big tournament because I have put myself there over and over again. Plus, comedy isn't just going up and talking publicly to a bunch of people you don't know. You have to make them laugh. If you don't get laughs, it can be humiliating and kind of crushing. If you get laughs, it is just as rewarding as getting your hand raised. I think after many years of exposing myself to that, it will be just like wrestling. You have competed in several different countries. Where is your favorite place to compete outside of the United States? Rau: The traveling for me has been a dream come true in itself. I love going to new places. So I guess my favorite place to compete at is somewhere new. I love Europe a lot. I'm in Hungary for a tournament right now and it is definitely one of my favorite places. This is my fourth time wrestling in Hungary. Joe Rau was an NCAA champion and multiple-time All-American at Elmhurst College in IllinoisAs a high school wrestler you failed to place in the Illinois state tournament. At that point did you still believe you could be a national champion in college? Rau: I always had a little flame inside of me that believed that I could be a national champ, even through the hard times. I really put some logs and gasoline on that flame after winning Fargo and it hasn't gone out yet. You made the U.S. World team at 80 kilos. Now you're competing at 98 kilos. What are some of the differences between the two weight classes? Rau: Yeah, crazy, isn't it? I think stylistically there are some differences, most of which come to my advantage. Not as many guys at 98 make as many attempts to score. There aren't as many level changes and throws. So I am trying to bring that lighter guy feel to the big dogs and take it to them. Physically, I guess guys are stronger, but that doesn't make much of a difference for me. My body doesn't really like being this heavy, but I think that's just some growing pains. What are your wrestling goals for 2016? Rau: My goals are to be Hungarian Grand Prix champion, Pan Am Olympic qualifier champion, Olympian, Olympic medalist and Olympic champion. This story also appears in the February 12 issue of The Guillotine. The Guillotine has been covering wrestling in Minnesota since 1971. Its mission is to report and promote wrestling at all levels -- from youth and high school wrestling to college and international level wrestling. Subscribe to The Guillotine.

Former Ohio State wrestlers -- along with head wrestling coach Tom Ryan -- offered their remembrances of fellow all-time Buckeye mat great and mixed martial arts champ Kevin Randleman who died Thursday at age 44. Kevin RandlemanThe official Kevin Randleman website reported, "While traveling on business, Kevin became ill & unexpectedly passed due to complications from pneumonia. "Kevin leaves behind a wife and four extraordinary children to share his legacy with the world who mourns his passing." Funeral arrangements have not yet been made public. However, a GoFundMe page has been set up by a long-time friend to help provide for Randleman's family. Born in August 1971 in Sandusky, Ohio on Lake Erie between Cleveland and Toledo, Kevin Christopher Randleman was a two-sport athlete at Sandusky High School. The 1989 Sandusky graduate started all four years on the Blue Streak football team, and went 122-11 as a wrestler for Sandusky, culminating in a Division I state championship in 1989, according to the Sandusky Register . Randleman then headed south to Ohio State, where he was a three-time Big Ten champ at 177 pounds and a three-time NCAA finalist, winning back-to-back titles in 1992 and 1993, becoming the first two-time national wrestling champ in the long history of Buckeye wrestling. Randleman was welcomed into the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004. In a 2015 interview with the Sandusky Register, Randleman described how he ended up at Ohio State. "(Buckeye head wrestling coach) Russ Hellickson came to recruit me and said he wanted to build a championship team around me," Randleman said. "We didn't become one, but we were very close. Iowa at that time in particular was just so strong … it was just an honor. A black kid from Sandusky, Ohio, you just don't think you will get the opportunity to represent the school that in Ohio, is the only thing that walks." Ohio State head coach Tom Ryan knew Randleman as a Buckeye wrestler … because Ryan wrestled for Big Ten rival Iowa Hawkeyes in the same era. "I had a tremendous respect for him as a competitor," Ryan told the Sandusky Register. "Kevin was beating my teammates when I was at Iowa, and I was always very thankful that he wasn't in my weight and he was in theirs. He was a gentle soul and a tireless competitor." Later, Ryan got to know Randleman as a coach by speaking at camps put on for the non-profit Monster Wrestling Academy that Randleman was co-founder of in Las Vegas. "We were watching his old matches today, and so often after he would slam somebody, run them through the mat and pin them," Ryan said of Randleman. "But he always extended his hand and pulled the guy up. It was just the way he did things. He had a tremendous respect for the sport and the way he competed will always be revered. I got to see him every summer out in Vegas ... this is a very, very sad day." Others with connections to Ohio State wrestling shared their memories of Kevin Randleman on social media. Rex Holman, 1993 NCAA champ at 190 pounds, was Randleman's teammate while at Ohio State. "He was the perfect workout partner, perfect drill partner, perfect teammate to me," Holman wrote on Facebook. "I got two years with him. I am so thankful that he was there when I was disillusioned and disenchanted with college wrestling. Without him, I would not have won an NCAA title. For that I am forever thankful. "He was a leader. Charismatic. Electric. A great guy. His spirit was a cohesive blend of effort and purpose that was simply motivating to be around." J.D. Bergman, NCAA heavyweight finalist for Ohio State in 2011 and a native of Oak Harbor, Ohio not far from Randleman's hometown, posted this message on Facebook: "So sad to hear about the passing of Kevin Randleman yesterday!! He was an amazing person. One of the best athletes to ever wrestle. Hall of fame ‪#‎Buckeye‬‬ and ‪#‎UFC‬‬ fighter. Awesome with kids and a family man. He loved encouraging people and putting smiles on kids' faces. I've known him since I was in high school -- he was from Sandusky, OH. He will be missed for sure. Praying for his many friends and family." Tommy Rowlands, two-time NCAA heavyweight champ for the Buckeyes a decade ago, wrote, "Still can't believe Randleman is gone. I was a 10 year old central Ohio wrestler when he was the MAN. Put his jaw back in place himself!" -- referring to the time at the 1993 NCAAs when Randleman suffered a dislocated jaw that was not caused by a foul. Rather than forfeit and lose the opportunity to defend his title, Randleman put his jaw back in place, won the match and, eventually, his second national title. J Jaggers, like Randleman a two-time NCAA champ for Ohio State who is now an assistant coach at his college alma mater, shared this simple message on Twitter: "RIP Kevin Randleman....Buckeye legend and friend." Ohio State's Mike Pucillo, 184-pound champ at the 2008 NCAAs, shared this inspirational quote from the 1993 movie The Sandlot on Facebook: "'Remember kid, there's heroes, and there's legends. Heroes get remembered but legends never die, follow your heart kid, and you'll never go wrong.' Kevin Randleman may be gone, but legends never die! Rest easy. ‪#‎UFCHallofFame‬‬" After leaving Ohio State his senior year for academic issues, Randleman embarked on the next chapter of his athletic career -- in MMA. He had his introduction to pro MMA at Universal Vale Tudo 4 in November 1996; in less than three years, Randleman was competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC 19, March 1999). Later that year, he won the vacant UFC heavyweight title at UFC 23 in November 1999. Randleman lost that title one year later to Randy Couture -- a former Oklahoma State wrestler -- at UFC 28. He retired from MMA in 2011 with an overall record of 17-16. For many college wrestling fans, Kevin Randleman will always be thought of as a physical specimen who was incredibly strong -- and fast -- who would have to rank as one of the all-time great wrestlers in the nearly 100-year history of Ohio State wrestling. The Buckeye Hall of Fame wrestler whose banner hangs from the rafters at St. John Arena -- and his trophies and photos adorn the 60-year-old arena's concourses -- where he was honored with a video tribute Friday night before the Ohio State-Wisconsin dual meet. Randleman had strong feelings for his college alma mater, as evidenced in his 2015 interview with the Sandusky Register. "When I think of Ohio State, I think of the greatest university in the world," Randleman told his hometown newspaper last year. "I met and am friends with some of the greatest people I've ever known while I was there. A black kid from Sandusky, Ohio, you just don't think you will get the opportunity to represent the school that in Ohio, is the only thing that walks." Want to know more about Kevin Randleman's incredible Ohio State mat career? Check out Dan Vest's detailed tribute to Randleman's time as a Buckeye wrestler at LandGrantHolyLand.com.

MANHEIM, Pa. -- No. 1 Penn State, which finished the dual meet season 15-0 and 9-0 in the Big Ten to share the conference title with No. 2 Iowa, will host the championship match in the 2016 NWCA Division I National Championship Duals Series presented by the United States Marine Corps and Titan Mercury Wrestling Club. The top-ranked Nittany Lions, with four wrestlers ranked No. 1 in the country, will host Big 12 champion and No. 3 Oklahoma State on Sunday, Feb. 21 to highlight eight bowl-style dual meets in a new national duals format that features eight Big Ten teams as the hosts for six conference winners plus two wild card teams. No. 2 Iowa will host ACC runner-up and No. 4 North Carolina State at 7 p.m. CST, on Monday, Feb 22. The bowl series format kicks off 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 19 when Minnesota hosts Iowa State at Williams Arena. It continues 8 p.m. Saturday with Rutgers hosting EIWA champion Lehigh at the RAC. No. 3 Oklahoma State visits No. 1 Penn State 5 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 21 at Rec Hall in the championship match featuring the highest ranked Big Ten team against the highest ranked non-Big Ten team. Appalachian State, which picked up the Southern Conference's national championship bid from a three-way tie with Chattanooga and Gardner-Webb based on head-to-head results, visits Indiana 1 p.m. Sunday. Virginia Tech, the ACC champion, visits Michigan's Cliff Keen Arena 2 p.m. Sunday, and Missouri travels to Nebraska's Bob Devaney Sports Center at 2 p.m. CST Sunday to renew what had been a rivalry in the old Big 12. Edinboro, the EWL champion, heads to Ohio State for a 7 p.m. EST match at St. John Arena on Monday, Feb. 22, and No. 4 North Carolina State visits No. 1 Iowa at Carver-Hawkeye Arena 7 p.m., CST the same evening. The NWCA's initial plan called for a one-day, eight dual format at the eight sites, but site availability and other factors forces the host teams to juggle the dates. The Pac-12 champion was originally slated to appear, but the conference tournament is a week earlier than other conference's tournaments. The timetable did not work, so the conference withdrew, opening the door for a second highly-ranked wild card team, which turned out to be Iowa State thanks to a win over Virginia Tech. The tournament committee also sought to avoid rematches while trying to incorporate regional opportunities for the fan bases of the participating teams. Friday - February 19 Iowa State at Minnesota - 7:30 p.m. Williams Arena Saturday - February 20 Lehigh at Rutgers - 8 p.m. EST - RAC Sunday - February 21 Oklahoma State at Penn State - 5 p.m. - Rec Hall Virginia Tech at Michigan - 2 p.m. - Cliff Keen Arena Appalachian State at Indiana - 1 p.m. EST - University Gym Missouri at Nebraska - 2 p.m. CST - Bob Devaney Sports Center Monday - February 22 Edinboro at Ohio State - 7 p.m. - St. John Arena North Carolina State at Iowa - 7 p.m. CST - Carver Hawkeye Arena THE HOSTS RUTGERS (15-5, 5-4) Head coach: Scott Goodale The much-improved Scarlet Knights finished the regular season on Sunday with a 24-15 win over No. 23 Purdue. Rutgers is led by No. 5 Anthony Ashnault (141), who finished eighth at the NCAA championships last season, and No. 8 Anthony Perrotti (165). "To finish 5-4 in the conference, it was important to us," Goodale said. "We went from 2-7 [in 2014-15] to 5-4 and I still think we let two slip away. It was a good conference run and we'll be ready for the Big Ten Tournament." Sunday, Feb. 21: No. 1 PENN STATE (15-0, 9-0) Head coach: Cael Sanderson The Nittany Lions finished the season as the top-ranked team in the country (15-0, 9-0 Big Ten) and shared the Big Ten title with the also unbeaten Iowa Hawkeyes (16-0, 9-0). Penn State's lineup features a powerhouse lineup that includes four No. 1 wrestlers: Zain Retherford (149), Jason Nolf (157), Bo Nickal (174) and Morgan McIntosh (197), along with No. 4 Nico Megaludis (125), No. 5 Jordan Conaway (133) and No. 6 Matt McCutcheon. INDIANA (6-6, 3-6) Head coach: Duane Goldman This marks the Hoosiers' first-ever selection into the National Duals. Indiana's lineup includes 11th-ranked Nate Jackson (174) and 19th-ranked Elijah Oliver (125). "It's nice that we got selected to take part in this series," Goldman said. "I hope that we can get out there and compete a littler harder, regardless of what happens, and get back to what got us here in the first place. For us, that was being feisty and competitive, and we just need to get back on track." MICHIGAN (13-2, 8-1) Head coach: Joe McFarland Michigan closed out the season on Feb. 12 with a big win over Purdue. The Wolverine lineup includes No. 2 Dominic Abounader (184), No. 4 Adam Coon (285), and a pair of sixth-ranked wrestlers in Alec Pantaleo (149) and Max Huntley (197). Michigan has won three straight, including victories over ranked opponents in Rutgers and Purdue, since a tough loss to Big Ten co-champion Penn State NEBRASKA (10-5, 5-4) Head coach: Mark Manning The Cornhuskers also boast a strong lineup with nine of their wrestlers ranked in the Top 20, led by No. 9 T.J. Dudley (184) and No. 10 Tim Lambert (125). Nebraska last four of its last six matches against killer competition. The Cornhuskers bounced back from losing three straight matches to powerhouses in Penn State, Ohio State and Iowa before putting up a win over No. 12 Illinois on Feb. 5. Following a loss to North Carolina State, Nebraska closed out the regular season with a 29-6 win over Northwestern. MONDAY, FEB. 22 No. 2 IOWA (16-0, 9-0) Head coach: Tom Brands The Hawkeyes, like Penn State, finished the regular season and the Big Ten undefeated, but under the new "bowl" type format of the national duals with the Big Ten acting as host schools, will not wrestle off against the Nittany Lions. Iowa is an opponent's nightmare with the team putting up 50 points four times this season. The Hawkeyes are led by a pair of No. 2s in Thomas Gilman (125) and Brandon Sorensen (149), a pair of No. 3s in Cory Clark (133) and Nathan Burak (197), and a pair of No. 7s in Sammy Brooks (184) and Sam Stoll (285). OHIO STATE (10-3, 7-2) Head coach: Tom Ryan The Buckeyes proved to be a solid Top 10 team this season. They are led by No. 2 Bo Jordan (165), who suffered his only loss of the season on Friday to his cousin, Isaac Jordan of Wisconsin. Ohio State also features No. 2 Kyle Snyder (285), No. 4 Micah Jordan (Bo's younger brother at 141), No. 10 Johnni DiJulius (133) and the always dangerous Hunter Stieber, a two-time All-American. MINNESOTA (9-8, 5-4) Head coach: J Robinson Minnesota finished a disappointing Big Ten season on Feb. 12 with a loss to Illinois, but still had one match remaining at Iowa State on Feb. 19 before hosting its national duals meet. The Golden Gophers top wrestlers include No. 3 Brett Pfarr (197), No. 6 Tommy Thorn (141) and No. 9 Michael Kroelis (285). THE CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS: OKLAHOMA STATE (11-2, Big 12, 8-0) Head coach: John Smith The Cowboys' only losses came at the hands of No. 2 Iowa in the season opener, and No. 3 North Carolina State on Dec. 6. Oklahoma State is led by returning NCAA champion and No. 1 Alex Dieringer (165), as well as All-Americans in No. 1 Dean Heil (141), No. 5 Austin Marsden (285) and No. 6 Eddie Klimara (125). MISSOURI (13-2, 8-0 Mid American Conference) Head coach: Brian Smith Missouri chalked up a baker's dozen wins with the Tigers only losses coming at the hands of Oklahoma State and North Carolina State, with the latter rebounding from its first loss of the season on Feb 12 for a single-point win on Feb. 14. Missouri is 6-2 against the Top 25 this season and led by No. 2 J'den Cox (197), No. 3 Lavion Mayes (149), No. 4 Daniel Lewis (165), No. 5 Blaise Butler (174), and No. 6 Matt Manley (141). LEHIGH (13-2, 8-0 Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association). Head coach: Pat Santoro The Mountain Hawks went undefeated in the EIWA, including a win over nine-time conference champion Cornell, to claim their spot in the national duals. The Mountain Hawks feature returning All-Americans in Darian Cruz (125), Mason Beckman (133), Mitch Minotti (157), and runner-up Nathaniel Brown (184). EDINORO (8-8, 6-0 Eastern Wrestling League) Head coach: Tim Flynn The Fighting Scots finished unbeaten in a competitive EWL. Edinboro is led by senior Vic Avery (2015 third NCAA at 184), senior Casey Fuller (165), sophomore Austin Matthews (157) and freshman Patricio Lugo (149). Edinboro ended the regular season going 3-3 in its last six matches, and 0-3 in the last three with losses to Virginia Tech, Central Michigan and Kent State. VIRGINIA TECH (15-2, 5-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) Head coach: Kevin Dresser The Hokies captured the won the ACC with a stunning 19-14 win over North Carolina State in Raleigh on Feb. 12 that knocked the Wolfpack from the ranks of the unbeaten. Virginia Tech is led by No. 3 Joey Dance (125), No. 7 Solomon Chishko (141), No. 4 Nick Brascetta (157), No 11 David McFandden (165), No. 6 Zack Zavatsky, No. 7 Jared Haught (197) and No. 3 Ty Walz (285). APPALACHIAN STATE (11-4, 6-1 Southern Conference) Head Coach: JohnMark Bentley The Mountaineers clinched a share of the SoCon title with Chattanooga and Gardner-Webb but advanced to the national duals series by virtue of most votes in the USA Today/NWCA Coaches Poll. "Obviously, I am tickled to death that we won a Southern Conference Championship," Bentley said. "It's a big deal for our program and our school, so we are very proud of that. Hopefully, we can keep building and finish this year strong." The Mountaineers are led by No. 5 Denzel Dejournette (285), a 24-2 junior, junior Vito Pasone (125), sophomore Nick Kee (174) and sophomore Forrest Przybysz. WILD CARDS NORTH CAROLINA STATE (22-1, 4-1 ACC) Head coach: Pat Popolizio North Carolina State went 21-0 before losing its first match of the season on Feb. 12 in a 19-14 defeat at the hands of ACC foe Virginia Tech to finish second in the conference, but rallied on Feb. 14 for an 18-17 win over Missouri in the final bout of the match when two-time NCAA heavyweight champion Nick Gwiazdowski earned a technical fall over James Romero. The Wolfpack are led by by the unbeaten and top-ranked Gwiazdowski (285), along with No. 3 Kevin Jack (141), No. 4 Tommy Gantt (157), No. 6 Max Rohskopf (165), No. 17 Pete Renda (184) and No. 15 Mike Boykin. IOWA STATE (10-5, 2-2) Head coach: Kevin Jackson Iowa State ended the season with three straight dual meet wins to earn the second wild card berth in qualifying for the national duals series. The Cyclone lineup includes three ranked wrestlers in senior Earl Hall (133), senior Tanner Weatherman (165) and junior Lelund Weatherman at 174.

Corvallis, Ore. -- The Oregon State wrestling team improved to 5-1 in its last six duals and posted its first shutout since 2013 on Sunday with a 36-0 victory over Air Force at Gill Coliseum. Senior Seth Thomas (pictured, 165) won by pin, and Joey Palmer (133), Corey Griego (184) and Amarveer Dhesi (hwt.) each prevailed by major decision as the Beavers (10-6) earned six bonus points and concluded their nonconference schedule with an 8-4 record. OSU coach Jim Zalesky said the Beavers did a good job of fighting through any lethargy that understandably might follow their emotional 24-12 upset of No. 7 Oklahoma in their previous dual. “I told our guys, ‘Those guys are at the Academy for a reason, they are fighters. We have to be ready for a fight, or you'll find yourself in a fight.' “I think for the most part we did a pretty good job. There were a couple matches that went back and forth but we finished them off.” The shutout was OSU's first since a 50-0 victory over Cal Poly on Feb. 8, 2013, a span of 51 matches. Ronnie Bresser (125), Jack Hathaway (141), Joey Delgado (141), Abraham Rodriguez (157) and Tyler Chay (174) also won their matches and earned three team points. “We're wrestling well. I like our effort,” Zalesky said. “We have to sharpen up on some things, and nothing is easy from here on out. We will have to fight for everything. “Now we need some good training time. We've had so many meets we really haven't had good training time,” as OSU has wrestled seven duals in a span of 17 days after Sunday. “We have a good week to train” before next Sunday's regular-season finale with Boise State, “and then another week until Pac-12s.” OSU closes the regular season with the annual Border War against the Broncos, set for 11 a.m. Feb. 21 at Gill Coliseum. It will be televised by Pac-12 Networks. The Pac-12 Championships are Feb. 27, at Arizona State. For more information on the Oregon State wrestling team, follow the club's official Twitter account at Twitter.com/OSU_Wrestling or by Facebook at Facebook.com/OregonStateWrestling. Results: 197: Cody Crawford (OSU) dec. Parker Hines (AFA), 8-5 Hwt.: Amarveer Dhesi (OSU) maj. dec. Marcus Malecek (AFA), 18-6 125: Ronnie Bresser (OSU) dec. Isaac Jimenez (AFA), 4-1 133: Joey Palmer (OSU) maj. dec. John Twomey (AFA), 14-4 141: Jack Hathaway (OSU) dec. Dylan Hyder (AFA), 5-3 149: Joey Delgado (OSU) dec. Jerry McGinty (AFA), 6-1 157: Abraham Rodriguez (OSU) dec. Zach Stepan (AFA, 12-10 165: Seth Thomas (OSU) pinned Michael Billingsley (AFA), 5:30 174: Tyler Chay (OSU) dec. Adam Jackson (AFA), 3-1 184: Corey Griego (OSU) maj. dec. Willie Baker (AFA), 10-2

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. -- The Drexel wrestling team earned a 26-9 victory over EIWA opponent Hofstra on the road on Sunday evening. The Dragons took seven matches on their way to securing their ninth dual win of the season. The dual started off at 197 as Joshua Murphy earned a 3-2 win over Hofstra's Omar Haddad. In the heavyweight match, Hofstra tied the team score up at 3-3 after Mike Hughes took a 7-3 decision from Joey Goodhart. However, Drexel would take the lead again as Zack Fuentes edged Bryan Damon, 2-1 at 125 and then David Pearce received a forfeit at 133 to extend the Dragons' advantage to 12-3. At 141, Kevin Devoy Jr. picked up a 6-3 victory over Hofstra's Jamel Hudson and then in the 149 match No. 12 Matthew Cimato earned a 5-1 win over Kyle Krasavage. While Mike Comunale lost a decision to Jahlani Callender at 157, Austin Rose came up next with a second period technical fall over Bobby Fehr to give Drexel a 23-6 lead. Hofstra was able to take the 174 match to cut Drexel's lead to 23-9, but a 7-3 win from Stephen Loiseau at 184 capped of the Dragons' night and solidified the victory. With the win Drexel improves to 9-7 overall and 5-3 in EIWA action, while Hofstra moves to 5-11, 1-5 EIWA. The Dragons return to action on Friday, Feb. 19 as they travel to face Rutgers at 6 p.m. Results: 197: Joshua Murphy (DU) DEC Omar Haddad, 3-2 285: Mike Hughes (HOF) DEC Joey Goodhart (DU), 7-3 125: Zack Fuentes (DU) DEC Bryan Damon (HOF), 2-1 133: David Pearce (DU) wins by forfeit 141: Kevin Devoy Jr. (DU) DEC Jamel Hudson (HOF), 6-3 149: No. 12 Matthew Cimato (DU) DEC Kyle Krasavage (HOF), 5-1 157: Jahlani Callender (HOF) DEC Mike Comunale (DU), 7-0 165: Austin Rose (DU) TF Bobby Fehr (HOF), 15-0 @3:13 174: Frank Affronti (HOF) DEC Zachary Spira (DU), 6-0 184: Stephen Loiseau (DU) DEC Cory Damiana (HOF), 7-3