InterMat Staff

We are just two days away from the opening match at the 2015 Defense Soap & Flips Wrestling Southern Scuffle. The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s McKenzie Arena is transforming into a premier wrestling venue and teams are starting to arrive in the Scenic City. TheSouthernScuffle.com has already broken down all 10 brackets with its #LetsScuffle previews, and things really get cranking with today’s release of the preseeds. Penn State and Oklahoma State lead the way with 11 each, while Missouri is next with 10. Cornell, Nebraska and Virginia each have seven. “When you look at the depth of this tournament, it shows why it is one of the best events in wrestling,” stated UTC head coach Heath Eslinger. “Anytime you have All-Americans filling in the No. 3, four and five spots, you know it is a deep tournament.” The Cowboys have three No. 1s, led by NCAA Champion Alex Dieringer at 165. NCAA runner-up Josh Kindig is atop to the 149 bracket, while fourth-ranked Austin Marsden is No. 1 at heavyweight. Cornell has a pair of top seeds in defending Scuffle champs in Nahshon Garrett at 125 and Gabe Dean at 184. Garrett was an NCAA finalist last season, while Dean was an All-American. Missouri’s returning NCAA Champ J’Den Cox is No. 1 at 197 while the Tigers’ Lavion Mayes is No. 1 at 141. Nebraska’s three-time All-American James Green leads the way at 157. The Huskers’ top-ranked Robert Kokesh is No. 1 at 174. Penn State is represented by last year’s Scuffle finalist Jimmy Gulibon at 133. The host Mocs have four seeded in the tournament. Senior Sean Boyle is No. 11 at 125 and Senior Nick Soto is No. 6 at 133. Soto finished fourth at 133 last season and was second as a freshman in 2012. Senior Shawn Greevy is No. 12 at 149, while junior John Lampe is No. 12 at 184. “This tournament is a lot like nationals where being seeded puts you in a good position,” added Eslinger. “Soto and Boyle have been ranked all season, while Greevy and Lampe are benefitting from some strong results in recent weeks.” The 2015 Defense Soap and Flips Wrestling Southern Scuffle takes place at the McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Jan. 1-2. For tickets, local attractions and hotel information, visit TheSouthernScuffle.com. Flowrestling and Trackwrestling provide complete coverage of the event through live video and live scoring. Links for both are on TheSouthernScuffle.com. Once again, the official hashtag of the Southern Scuffle is #LetsScuffle. Last year, the tournament trended nationally on social media. Be sure to use the #LetsScuffle hashtag when tweeting about the 2015 tournament. 125: 1. Nahshon Garrett- Cornell 2. Alan Waters- Missouri 3. Jordan Conaway- Penn State 4. Tyler Cox- Wyoming 5. Darian Cruz- Lehigh 6. Eddie Klimara- Oklahoma State 7. Evan Silver- Stanford 8. Trey Andrews- Northern Colorado 9. Tim Lambert- Nebraska 10. Max Soria- Buffalo 11. Sean Boyle- Chattanooga 12. Dalton Macri- Unattached 133: 1. Jimmy Gulibon- Penn State 2. Mason Beckman- Lehigh 3. Rossi Bruno- Michigan 4. George DiCamillo- Virginia 5. Earl Hall- Iowa State 6. Nick Soto- Chattanooga 7. Mark Grey- Cornell 8. Mackenzie McGuire- Kent State 9. Kevin Devoy- Drexel 10. Matt Manley- Missouri 11. Troy Heilmann- North Carolina 12. Gary Wayne Harding- Oklahoma State 141: 1. Lavion Mayes- Missouri 2. Zach Horan- Central Michigan 3. Geo Martinez- Boise State 4. Joe Spisak- Virginia 5. Joey Ward- North Carolina 6. Anthony Abidin- Nebraska 7. Randy Cruz- Lehigh 8. Dean Heil- Oklahoma State 9. Tyler Small- Kent State 10. Dante Rodriguez- Iowa State 11. David Pearce- Drexel 12. Brandon Gambucci- Duke 149: 1. Josh Kindig- Oklahoma State 2. Drake Houdashelt- Missouri 3. Dyllan Cottrell- Appalachian State 4. Gus Sako- Virginia 5. Alec Pantelo- Michigan 6. Gabe Moreno- Iowa State 7. Edgar Bright - Pittsburgh 8. Zach Beitz- Penn State 9. Michael DePalma- Kent State 10. Luke Frey- Penn State 11. Mike Racciato- Pittsburgh 12. Shawn Greevy - Chattanooga 157: 1. James Green- Nebraska 2. Ian Miller- Kent State 3. Brian Realbuto- Cornell 4. Mitch Minotti- Lehigh 5. Dylan Alton- Penn State 6. Joseph LaValle- Missouri 7. Russell Parson- Army 8. Anthony Collica- Oklahoma State 9. Steven Hernandez- Boise State 10. Brian Murphy- Michigan 11. Tommy Gantt- North Carolina State 12. Immanuel Kerr-Brown- Duke 165: 1. Alex Dieringer- Oklahoma State 2. Nick Sulzer- Virginia 3. Dylan Palacio- Cornell 4. Jim Wilson- Stanford 5. Peyton Walsh- Navy 6. Mike England- Missouri 7. Austin Trott- Gardner Webb 8. Austin Wilson- Nebraska 9. Dakota Friesth- Wyoming 10. Chandler Smith- Army 11. Elton Ramos- North Carolina 12. Chandler Rogers- Oklahoma State 174: 1. Robert Kokesh- Nebraska 2. Matt Brown- Penn State 3. Tyler Wilps- Pittsburgh 4. Tanner Weatherman- Iowa State 5. John Eblen- Missouri 6. Andy McCulley- Wyoming 7. Jordan Rogers- Oklahoma State 8. Keaton Subjeck- Stanford 9. Brian Crutchmer- Oklahoma State 10. John Staudenmayer- North Carolina 11. Bo NIckal- Penn State 12. George Pickett- Cornell 184: 1. Gabe Dean- Cornell 2. Max Thomusseit- Pittsburgh 3. Nate Brown- Lehigh 4. Willie Miklus- Missouri 5. Nolan Boyd- Oklahoma State 6. Matt McCutcheon- Penn State 7. Ben Stroh- Wyoming 8. Dominic Abounader- Michigan 9. Timothy Dudley- Nebraska 10. Jacob Kasper- Duke 11. James Suvak- Virginia 12. John Lampe - Chattanooga 197: 1. J'den Cox- Missouri 2. Kyven Gadson- Iowa State 3. Conner Hartmann- Duke 4. Morgan McIntosh- Penn State 5. Max Huntley- Michigan 6. Nick Bonaccorsi- Pittsburgh 7. Elliot RIddick- Lehigh 8. Shane Woods- Wyoming 9. Zach Nye- Virginia 10. Jace Bennett- Cornell 11. Bryce Barnes- Army 12. Cole Baxter- Kent State 285: 1. Austin Marsden- Oklahoma State 2. Jimmy Lawson- Penn State 3. Adam Coon- Michigan 4. Denzel Dejournette- Appalachian State 5. Riley Shaw- Cleveland State 6. Jon Gingrich- Penn State 7. Devin Mellon- Missouri 8. Collin Jensen- Nebraska 9. Nathan Butler- Stanford 10. Josh Marchok- Stanford 11. Tanner Harms- Wyoming 12. Ethan Hayes- Virginia

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Two sessions into the 52nd annual Midlands Championships, the ninth-ranked Fighting Illini are in second place with 90 points, trailing only Iowa's 110.5 points. Zane Richards (133), Steven Rodrigues (141), Isaiah Martinez (157), Jackson Morse (165), Zac Brunson (174) and Jeff Koepke (197) all advanced to the semifinals in their respective weight classes. Brock Ervin (141) and Nikko Reyes (184) are still alive in the consolation brackets. At 133 pounds, Richards entered the day as the fourth seeded wrestler in the weight class. Richards received an opening round bye before pinning Old Dominion's Michael Hayes in his first bout of the day. Richards then defeated Ian Nickell of CSU Bakersfield, 8-4, to advance to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinal match, Richards earned a 12-1 major decision over Maryland's Geoffrey Alexander to advance to tomorrow's semifinals. Richards will open Tuesday's action by facing top-seeded A.J. Schopp of Edinboro. In the 141-pound weight class, Rodrigues began Monday's action by pinning Carter McElhany of Air Force. He then earned a 10-8 win over Eastern Michigan's Kyle Springer in sudden victory to stay alive in the winners' bracket. Rodrigues made sure his next match was not as close as the previous one, defeating Jeff Canfora of Penn with a 12-3 major decision to advance to the quarterfinals. In his quarterfinal bout, Rodrigues defeated Iowa's Jeff Dziewa 3-1, punching his ticket for tomorrow's semifinals. The sixth-seed entering the tournament, Rodrigues will face second-seeded Devin Carter of Virginia Tech in his first match on Tuesday. The top-seed at 157 pounds, Martinez received a first-round bye before earning an 18-2 technical fall against Indiana's Luke Blanton. Martinez advanced to the quarterfinal bout after Austin Eads of Old Dominion was forced to stop competing due to injury. In his quarterfinal match, Martinez faced Brandon Zeerip of Eastern Michigan, earning a 24-10 major decision to advance to the semifinals. Martinez will face Iowa's Mike Kelly in tomorrow's opening session. Morse, the fourth-seed in the 165-pound weight class, advanced to tomorrow's semifinal by earning four wins on Monday. He began his day with a 16-0 technical fall victory over Justin Samora of Adams State. In the second round, Morse defeated Eastern Michigan's Devan Marry, 5-0. A 7-1 decision over Northern Illinois' Shaun'Qae McMurty gave Morse a spot in the quarterfinals, where he defeated Jimmie Schuessler from Grand View to advance to the semifinals. Brunson had a bye in the first round before earning a 19-4 technical fall over Lehigh's Garett Stehley in round two. In his next bout, Brunson defeated Edinboro's Patrick Jennings, 3-0, to advance to the quarterfinals. In his quarterfinal bout, Brunson beat Frank Cousin of Wisconsin, 11-3, to advance to tomorrow's semifinals. Brunson, the second-seed at 174 pounds, will begin action tomorrow by facing Johnny Sebastian of Northwestern. At 197 pounds, Koepke made it six Illini in the semifinals after finishing Monday with a flawless record. He opened the day with a bye before earning a 12-4 major decision over Parker Hines of Air Force. A 5-3 win over North Dakota State's Thomas Petersen punched Koepke's ticket to the quarterfinals. In his final bout of the day, Koepke earned a 3-1 win over Ruben Franklin of CSU Bakersfield in sudden victory. The 10th-seed entering the tournament, Koepke will face Timmy McCall of Wisconsin in tomorrow's semifinal match. Session three (consolation rounds, semifinals and seventh-place matches) begins tomorrow at noon, while the final session (championships, third-place matches and fifth-place matches) will take place at 7 p.m. CT. The Big Ten Network will air the final session live.

EVANSTON, Ill. -- The University of Iowa wrestling team posted a 10-1 record in the quarterfinals of the Midlands Championships on Monday night. The Hawkeyes have individual title hopes at nine weights, including a pair of semifinalists at 149 pounds, and hold the lead with 110.5-points in the team race. Iowa sits in first place with 110.5 points. Illinois is a distant second with 89.5 points, followed by Northwestern (85.0), Edinboro (59.5), and Virginia Tech (54.5). The Hawkeyes won nine matches where they were favored, with an upset from number five seed Mike Kelly at 157 over the number five-seed Chad Walsh of Rider, 7-4. Steven Rodrigues (Illinois) upset Iowa's Josh Dziewa, 3-1 in the quarterfinals. Dziewa is the No. 3 seed at 141. This is the second year in a row the Hawkeyes advanced 10 wrestlers from quarterfinals onto the semifinal matches. Of the 10 to advance, eight were the first to score in their quarterfinal match-ups. Of those 10 winners, there were only four takedowns recorded against the Hawkeyes. Defending champions Thomas Gilman (125) and Mike Evans (174) move on to the semifinals, Gilman in his third appearance at the Midlands and Evans in his fourth. Gilman advanced over Ethan Lizak of Minnesota, wrestling unattached, with an 11-4 decision. Evans solidified another trip to the semifinals with a major decision, 9-0, win over the eight-seed Chad Welch from Purdue. No. 3 seed Cory Clark (133) and No. 2 seed Bobby Telford (285) both recorded falls in their quarterfinal matches. Clark pinned No.6 Danny Sabatello (Purdue) at 2:11 and Telford put No. 10 Garrett Ryan (Columbia) on his back at 2:51. Clark and Telford have placed at the Midlands in their previous two appearances. Clark took fourth in 2012 and sixth in 2013, while Telford placed second in both 2011 and 2013. Junior Brody Grothus advanced to the semifinal match at 149 after a 5-2 decision over the No. 5 seed from Penn, C.J. Cobb. Grothus placed fourth at the 51st Midlands Championships last season. Second-seeded Nick Moore was taken down by the No.7 seed Adam Fierro at the beginning of the match, but quickly recovered with an escape and a takedown in the second period to take the victory in a 4-3 decision. Michael Kelly (157) recorded a 7-4 decision over #4 Chad Walsh (Rider) and Sammy Brooks (184) used 12-3 major decision against #6 Ophir Bernstein (Brown) to continue into the semifinal matches. Nathan Burak, wrestling unattached and seeded number one at 197, went into the second period with no score, but collected an escape and subsequent takedown to tally three points. The match ended in a 3-1 decision in Burak's favor, advancing the junior to the semifinals. Session III of the Midlands Championships is set to begin at 12 p.m. (CT) Tuesday. Updated team standings and complete tournament brackets are available throughout the tournament at nusports.com and on trackwrestling.com.

125: No. 4 Thomas Gilman (Iowa) vs. Stevan Micic (Northwestern) No. 6 Joey Dance (Virginia Tech) vs. No. 14 Josh Rodriguez (North Dakota State) 133: No. 1 A.J. Schopp (Edinboro) vs. No. 7 Zane Richards (Illinois) No. 4 Cory Clark (Iowa) vs. Jarrod Garnett (LVAC) 141: No. 2 Mitchell Port (Edinboro) vs. No. 9 Chris Mecate (Old Dominion) No. 3 Devin Carter (Virginia Tech) vs. Steven Rodrigues (Illinois) 149: No. 1 Jason Tsirtsis (Northwestern) vs. Brody Grothus (Iowa) No. 3 Dave Habat (Edinboro) vs. No. 10 Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) 157: No. 9 Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) vs. Mike Kelly (Iowa) No. 14 Cody Pack (South Dakota State) vs. No. 18 Justin Staudenmayer (Brown) 165: No. 4 Taylor Walsh (Indiana) vs. No. 12 Jackson Morse (Illinois) No. 7 Nick Moore (Iowa) vs. No. 8 Pierce Harger (Northwestern) 174: No. 2 Mike Evans (Iowa) vs. Brock Gutches (Southern Oregon) No. 9 Zac Brunson (Illinois) vs. Johnny Sebastian (Northwestern) 184: No. 2 Lorenzo Thomas (Penn) vs. No. 10 Hayden Zillmer (North Dakota State) No. 4 Jack Dechow (Old Dominion) vs. No. 8 Sam Brooks (Iowa) 197: No. 6 Nathan Burak (Iowa) vs. James Fox (Harvard) No. 14 Timmy McCall (Wisconsin) vs. Jeff Koepke (Illinois) 285: No. 1 Michael McMullan (Northwestern) vs. No. 7 Ty Walz (Virginia Tech) No. 3 Bobby Telford (Iowa) vs. No. 5 Connor Medbery (Wisconsin)

125: No. 4 Thomas Gilman (Iowa) dec. Ethan Lizak (Minnesota), 11-4 Stevan Micic (Northwestern) maj. dec. Kory Mines (Edinboro), 13-1 No. 14 Josh Rodriguez (North Dakota State) dec. Billy Watterson (Brown), 6-1 No. 6 Joey Dance (Virginia Tech) maj. dec. Lucas Malmberg (Messiah), 16-6 133: No. 1 A.J. Schopp (Edinboro) pinned No. 16 Ryan Taylor (Wisconsin), 3:59 No. 7 Zane Richards (Illinois) maj. dec. No. 11 Geoffrey Alexander (Maryland), 12-1 No. 4 Cory Clark (Iowa) pinned No. 17 Danny Sabatello (Purdue), 2:12 Jarrod Garnett (LVAC) dec. No. 19 Kevin Norstrem (Virginia Tech), 3-1 141: No. 2 Mitchell Port (Edinboro) maj. dec. Michael Shaw (Eastern Michigan), 11-3 No. 9 Chris Mecate (Old Dominion) dec. No. 16 Todd Preston (Harvard), 2-0 Steven Rodrigues (Illinois) dec. No. 6 Josh Dziewa (Iowa), 3-1 No. 3 Devin Carter (Virginia Tech) maj. dec. Shyhiem Brown (Maryland), 17-9 149: No. 1 Jason Tsirtsis (Northwestern) dec. B.J. Clagon (Rider), 2-1 TB Brody Grothus (Iowa) dec. No. 11 C.J. Cobb (Penn), 5-2 No. 10 Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) dec. Seth Lange (Minnesota), 9-6 No. 3 Dave Habat (Edinboro) maj. dec. No. 16 Sal Mastriani (Virginia Tech), 14-4 157: No. 9 Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) maj. dec. Brandon Zeerip (Eastern Michigan), 24-10 Mike Kelly (Iowa) dec. Chad Walsh (Rider), 7-4 No. 18 Justin Staudenmayer (Brown) dec. Reece Lefever (Wabash) No. 14 Cody Pack (South Dakota State) dec. Doug Welch (Purdue), 9-4 165: No. 4 Taylor Walsh (Indiana) dec. Jonathan Schleifer (Princeton), 3-0 No. 12 Jackson Morse (Illinois) maj. dec. Jimmie Schuessler (Grand View), 13-1 No. 8 Pierce Harger (Northwestern) dec. No. 14 Tristan Warner (Old Dominion), 5-0 No. 7 Nick Moore (Iowa) dec. No. 16 Adam Fierro (CSU Bakersfield), 4-3 174: No. 2 Mike Evans (Iowa) maj. dec. Chad Welch (Purdue), 9-0 Brock Gutches (Southern Oregon) dec. No. 19 Nate Jackson (Indiana), 4-2 Johnny Sebastian (Northwestern) maj. dec. Josh Snook (Maryland), 11-2 No. 9 Zac Brunson (Illinois) maj. dec. Frank Cousins (Wisconsin), 11-3 184: No. 2 Lorenzo Thomas (Penn) dec. No. 14 Vic Avery (Edinboro), 5-3 SV No. 10 Hayden Zillmer (North Dakota State) dec. No. 18 Ricky Robertson (Wisconsin), 4-3 TB1 No. 8 Sam Brooks (Iowa) maj. dec. No. 13 Ophir Bernstein (Brown), 12-3 No. 4 Jack Dechow (Old Dominion) dec. Austin Gabel (Virginia Tech), 3-1 197: No. 6 Nathan Burak (Iowa) dec. No. 20 Jared Haught (Virginia Tech), 3-1 James Fox (Harvard) dec. Shawn Scott (Northern Illinois), 14-7 No. 14 Timmy McCall (Wisconsin) dec. No. 10 Abe Ayala (Princeton), 3-2 Jeff Koepke (Illinois) dec. Ruben Franklin (CSU Bakersfield), 3-1 SV 285: No. 1 Michael McMullan (Northwestern) by medical forfeit over Nicholas Gajdzik (Harvard) No. 7 Ty Walz (Virginia Tech) dec. No. 13 Evan Knutson (North Dakota State), 4-3 TB1 No. 5 Connor Medbery (Wisconsin) pinned Dawson Peck (Maryland), 3:28 No. 3 Bobby Telford (Iowa) pinned Garrett Ryan (Columbia), 2:52

Related: Results Live Blog Midlands Championships

The 48th annual Powerade Christmas Wrestling Tournament features a record 48 teams in the field. The event will be held on Monday and Tuesday at Canon-McMillan High School, which is south of Pittsburgh. The first day of competition will set up the semifinals on the front side, while the last consolation round will reduce the field down to 16 wrestlers. The medal matches (third/fifth/seventh) are slated for 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday evening, with first place matches set for 7:30 p.m. ET. No. 8 Franklin Regional, Pa. is the defending tournament champion, and one of five nationally ranked teams in the field. The Panthers are joined by two other top ten teams, both of which are newcomers, No. 6 Archer (Ga.) and No. 10 Buchanan (Calif.). The other two nationally ranked teams are relatively local squads, No. 33 Belle Vernon and No. 36 Greater Latrobe. Top-ranked Spencer Lee (Franklin Regional) is after his second straight Powerade title (Photo/Rob Preston) Six wrestlers will seek to defend titles earned from the 2013 edition of the Powerade: No. 6 Devon Brown (Franklin Regional, Pa.) at 113 pounds, No. 1 Spencer Lee (Franklin Regional, Pa.) at 120, No. 2 Luke Pletcher (Greater Latrobe, Pa.) at 132, No. 1 Michael Kemerer (Franklin Regional, Pa.) at 145, No. 4 Josh Shields (Franklin Regional, Pa.) at 160, and Omar Haddad (Parkland, Pa.) at 220. Lee, Pletcher, and Kemerer are three of the seven wrestlers in this field ranked either first or second in the country at their weight class. The 132-pound weight class features the top two ranked wrestlers in the country, No. 1 A.C. Headlee (Waynesburg, Pa.) and No. 2 Luke Pletcher. Also ranked first nationally is Sam Krivus (Hempfield Area, Pa.) at 138, while Gavin Teasdale (Jefferson Morgan, Pa.) and Vincenzo Joseph (Pittsburgh Central Catholic, Pa.) are ranked second at 106 and 152 respectively. Below is a weight-by-weight overview of the field. 106: Freshman sensation Gavin Teasdale (Jefferson Morgan, Pa.), ranked No. 2 nationally in this weight class and also overall for the Class of 2018, is the top seed in the weight class. He is also the clear favorite, as the only nationally ranked wrestler present. Some non-freshmen to note are returning state placer Aaron Burkett (Chestnut Ridge, Pa.) and state qualifier Alan Diltz (Benton, Pa.). Freshmen to note in addition to Teasdale include Logan Macri (Canon-McMillan, Pa.), Patrick Glory (Delbarton, N.J.), and Job Chishko (Penn Trafford, Pa.) 113: Devin Brown (Franklin Regional, Pa.), ranked No. 6 nationally, is the top seed and clear favorite to repeat as Powerade champion. Others in the weight class include National Prep placer Daniel Planta (St. Paul's, Md.) along with state qualifiers Charlie Lenox (Eric McDowell, Pa.) and Cole Manley (Altoona, Pa.) 120: Spencer Lee (Franklin Regional, Pa.) is arguably best high school wrestler in the country, and the favorite to take home the title in this weight class, which would be a second Powerade title in as many years for the sophomore. Two other nationally ranked wrestlers occupy the second and third seeds, No. 14 Tyler Agaisse (Delbarton, N.J.) and No. 8 Alex Mackall (Walsh Jesuit, Ohio). Others to note in this weight class include state champions Logan Grass (Huntington, W.Va.) and Kyson Levin (Pleasant Grove, Utah), state runner-up Kennedy Monday (Arlington Martin, Texas), state placers Vinny Artigues (Archer, Ga.) and Trey Chalifoux (Father Ryan, Tenn.), as well as state qualifiers Brendan Howard (Jefferson Morgan, Pa.) and Conner Ziegler (Moeller, Ohio) 126: Gus Solomon (Franklin Regional, Pa.), ranked No. 9 nationally, will enter the Powerade as an un-seeded wrestler. I feel sorry for the first seed that he hits, whomever it is. Other primary contenders along with Solomon are the second seed Ethan McCoy (Greater Latrobe, Pa.), a National Prep runner-up in 2013; three-time National Prep placer Ryan Friedman (St. Paul's, Md.), the fourth seed; and two-time state placer Durbin Lloren (Buchanan, Calif.), the fifth seed. The top seed in the weight class is returning state placer Jacob Lizak (Parkland, Pa.), while the third seed is another returning state placer in Taylor Ortz (Brookville, Pa.). Joining Solomon as non-seeded wrestlers to watch are returning state placers Mike Stuart (Benton, Pa.) and Seth Hogue (Reynolds, Pa.), along with high profile freshman Justin McCoy (Chestnut Ridge, Pa.) 132: The top two wrestlers in the country are on a crash course to the final in this weight class, for what could be their first of likely many meetings this season. Two-time state and Powerade schampion Luke Pletcher (Greater Latrobe, Pa.), ranked second nationally, is the first seed; while tops in the nation A.C. Headlee (Waynesburg, Pa.) is seeded second. Also in the mix in this weight class is the third seed George Phllippi (Derry Area, Pa.), who is ranked No. 6 nationally. Beyond those three, and seeded fourth through eighth are three-time state champion Jordan Allen (Huntington, W.Va.), though he has struggled this season; two-time state runner-up Chris Diaz (Archer, Ga.); two-time state champion Ben Anderson (Pleasant Grove, Utah), who did place at the Ironman; two-time state champion Nic Campbell (Strasburg, Va.); and state champion Eli King (Father Ryan, Tenn.). An additional wrestler to watch is Matt Oblock (Canon-McMillan, Pa.); though not seeded, he did place at the Ironman earlier this month. 138: This weight sets up for yet another showdown between No. 1 Sam Krivus (Hempfield Area, Pa.) and No. 9 Cameron Coy (Penn Trafford, Pa.). The 2013 state champ Krivus beat the 2014 state champ Coy in the finals at the King of the Mountain, so this could be the second of many meetings on the season. Those seeking to spoil this finals showdown, as unlikely as that seems, include: state champions Grant Aycox (Archer, Ga.) and Dylanger Potter (Arlington Martin, Texas), three-time state placer Tyler Vath (Saegertown, Pa.), along with two-time state placer Jacoby Ward (Cincinnati Moeller, Ohio). 145: Three of the nation's top seven wrestlers populate this weight class; however, their seeds are first (No. 1 Michael Kemerer of Franklin Regional, Pa.), fourth (Hayden Hidlay of Mifflin County, Pa.) and seventh (Jared Verkleeren of Belle Vernon, Pa.). Two-time state champion Hunter Dean (Strasburg, Va.) is the second seed, though he quite frankly is but a bit player in this weight class. Seeded third is Beast of the East champion Travis Vasquez (Delbarton, N.J.), a returning state placer. Two-time National Prep runner-up Kevin Budock (Good Counsel, Md.) is seeded fifth, while state champion Jose Taylor (Arlington Martin, Texas) is the seven seed. Given the quality of depth in this weight class, it'll be hard for unseeded wrestlers to make "noise." However, two-time state qualifier and NHSCA Junior All-American Kyler Hansen (Buchanan, Calif.) is just the type of wrestler to do it. Also unseeded, and probably better than a couple of seeds, is two-time state placer Nick Monico (Saegertown, Pa.) 152: This is another deep weight class with three of the nation's top eleven wrestlers manning the top three seed lines. No. 2 Vincenzo Joseph (Pittsburgh Central Catholic, Pa.) is the top seed, and is followed on the ladder by No. 7 Josh Maruca (Franklin Regional, Pa.) and No. 11 Jake Wentzel (South Park, Pa.). Something interesting to note if it should come to a Maruca vs. Wentzel semifinal is that Wentzel has wins over Maruca the last two years at the Super 32 Challenge. Returning state placers Conner Francis (Buchanan, Calif.) and Joseph Tavoso (Delbarton, N.J.), who also placed at the Super 32 Challenge this fall, occupy the fourth and sixth seed lines. 160: The top four seeds in this weight class are all nationally ranked, and are seeded in order of their weight class ranking: No. 4 Josh Shields (Franklin Regional, Pa.), No. 14 Thomas Bullard (Archer, Ga.), No. 15 Cole Walter (Mifflinburg, Pa.), and then No. 20 D.J. Hollingshead (Altoona, Pa.). Returning Powerade runner-up Devin Austin (Penn Trafford, Pa.), but who failed to make the state tournament at season's end, is the fifth seed; state champion Trapper Hays (Parkersburg, W.Va.) is the six seed; with state placer Paul Dunn (Bethel Park, Pa.) the eight seed. Non-seeded wrestlers to watch include state placer Jimmy Miller (Brookville, Pa.) and Abner Romero (Buchanan, Calif.), Flo Nationals placer Tony Palumbo (Pittsburgh Central Catholic, Pa.), and freshman sensation Cody Mulligan (Saegertown, Pa.) 170: No. 16 Daniel Bullard (Archer, Ga.) is the lone nationally ranked wrestler in this weight class, and enters the tournament as the top seed. Other seeded wrestlers to note include state champion Dontae McGee (Farragut Academy, Fla.), Super 32 placer Austin Bell (Belle Vernon, Pa.), state placer Jake Shaffer (Greater Latrobe, Pa.), and 2013 state placer Brendan Burnham (Pine Richland, Pa.) 182: Returning state runner-up Kellan Stout (Mt. Lebanon, Pa.), ranked No. 11 nationally, is the top seed in this weight class and its clear favorite. In what is not one of the tournament's deeper weights, the most notable threat to Stout is two-time state qualifier Josh Colello (Cedar Cliff, Pa.) 195: A pair of nationally ranked wrestlers feature in this weight class as the first and third seeds, No. 14 Dylan Reynolds (Saegertown, Pa.) is the top seed, and a two-time state placer, along with winning the Walsh Ironman earlier this month; while No. 19 Drew Phipps (Norwin, Pa.) placed fourth at state last year, and has placed fourth at the Super 32 each of the last two years. Seeded in between them is National Prep placer Kevin Snyder (Good Counsel, Md.), who did place at the Super 32 this fall. Others to watch include state qualifiers Young Woo An (Buchanan, Calif.) and Garrett Reinwald (Fort LeBoeuf, Pa.) 220: In a weight class with no nationally ranked wrestler, defending Powerade champion Omar Haddad (Parkland, Pa.), who also placed at state this past season, is the top seed. Other contenders include two-time state placer Robert Enmon (Farragut Academy, Fla.), state runner-up Quinn Miller (Archer, Ga.), state placers Fred Mantsch (Hempfield Area, Pa.) and Jacob Robb (Kittanning, Pa.), National Prep placer Nick Miller (Good Counsel, Md.), along with state qualifier Dylan Davis (Greater Latrobe, Pa.) and Kai Dill (Buchanan, Calif.). Another wrestler to watch in this weight class is Walsh Ironman placer Jack Meyer (Cincinnati Moeller, Ohio). 285: Neither of the back two weight classes in this tournament have a nationally ranked wrestler. The top seed though in this weight class is returning state and Super 32 third place finisher Alan Beattie (Burrell, Pa.). Notable challengers include state champion Jacob Lill (Archer, Ga.), state placers Zeynul Zaynullayev (Mt. Lebanon, Pa.) and Gene Ringer (Reynolds, Pa.), along with Joe Hensley (Cincinnati Moeller, Ohio).

Ned Shuck, a native of Mapleton, Minnesota, is in his first season as head wrestling coach at UW-Whitewater. His Warhawks are currently ranked No. 1 in Division III. Shuck wrestled collegiately at the University of Iowa before entering the coaching ranks. Prior to taking over at UW-Whitewater, Shuck served as head wrestling coach at Heidelberg University in Tiffin, Ohio, for three seasons, where he led the program to consecutive Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) championships. He was selected OAC Coach of the Year last season. Prior to his stint at Heidelberg, Shuck was an assistant coach at Augsburg College. InterMat recently went one-on-one with Shuck. You coached three seasons at Heidelberg and then were hired by UW-Whitewater in August. What has been the biggest change going from Heidelberg to UW-Whitewater? Shuck: Heidelberg is a private school. Whitewater is a state school. So with that comes different procedures. There's just a little different way a state system is run compared to a private system. In terms of wrestling, there isn't a whole lot of change, other than the clientele. We definitely have an extremely talented team right now. At Heidelberg we felt like were building to get to that. I'm coming into a pretty unique situation. I don't think a lot of coaches experience what I have. Usually coaches come in and say they're rebuilding. For me it's like, we're going to try not mess this up because we have a real talented team. Ned Shuck is in his first season as UW-Whiteater's coach (Photo/Michael McLoone, UW-Whitewater Athletics)Was it difficult getting your team to buy in to your coaching philosophies and style? Shuck: I wouldn't say it was difficult. What really helped in that whole process is that these guys are serious about winning a national championship. When you have a team that really wants to win and knows it's going to take and hard work in order to do that, I think you're willing to be stretched a little bit compared to a team that doesn't have those expectations. I have been really impressed with how they have been able to respond to my coaching style, the way we run the room. I challenge them in some ways off the mat that maybe they haven't been challenged before, and so far they have been stepping up and doing a real good job. When you see wrestlers come into college as freshmen, where do they struggle the most? Shuck: I think the easy answer to that is top and bottom. But for me it's more fundamentals. Fundamentals sometimes go by the wayside. I see our guys struggling sometimes with positions they had success in during their high school careers. For me it's about teaching them to keep what they do really well -- we wouldn't want to change everything -- but how to use it and still have the fundamental aspect in the picture. For me I think that's the biggest thing I see ... Just not an understanding of fundamental positions sometimes. You wrestled collegiately at the University of Iowa. How has that experience helped you as a coach? Shuck: I don't even know how to quantify it. It's ridiculous. I just think about all the coaches I had there ... Tom Brands, Dan Gable, Jim Zalesky, Lincoln McIlravy, Bill Zadick, Mike Zadick. I don't know how I could have replaced that. Not to mention all the multiple-time national champions we had. You're just surrounded on a daily basis with some of the wrestling minds in the country and world ... You can't help but get better and understand the sport even more and what it takes to win at a high level. I think I understand that. I know how to train and peak athletes. I think that's some of the stuff I picked up from them in observation. When I coached in high school I used to go down and watch Iowa train for the Big Tens and nationals, just do little things like that ... be a student of the sport. Watching them wrestle now I still pick up from them. It's exponential. It will continue to be because things I learn as a coach stem from that background and philosophy. When you look back on your own competitive career as a wrestler, do you have any regrets? Shuck: I had goals that I obviously didn't achieve. I wouldn't consider myself to be a successful college wrestler by any means, and that's disappointing. It's not something I talk about a lot. It's hard to talk about because I didn't reach my goals. In terms of regrets, I really believe that I was one of the hardest working guys there, even at Iowa. I was a guy that was putting in a lot of time, a lot of effort, a lot of energy, listening to coaches, doing those things ... even when you do those things, wrestling is a great sport in that there are no guarantees. Just because you do everything right, it doesn't mean it's going to happen. It wasn't in God's plan for me. So I don't know if regrets is the right word. I have a lot of disappointments for sure. All that stuff has helped me get to where I am now in my coaching career. Hopefully the guys I work with now don't have to experience the disappointment that I did. Ned Shuck served as head wrestling coach at Heidelberg for three seasons prior to arriving at UW-Whitewater (Photo/Kyle Youngblood)Having spent time in Division I as a wrestler and now Division III as a coach, what do you see as the biggest difference between Division I and Division III wrestling? Shuck: I think just the intensity level. I'm not saying Division III isn't as intense. That's not what I'm saying. I think just the intensity of your lifestyle is different in Division I. There are a lot of little things, but that's what comes to mind. The UW-Whitewater roster is comprised mostly of Wisconsin and Illinois natives. Do you expect that trend to continue? Shuck: I think maybe initially that will continue. Obviously, we would like to expand a little bit with recruiting. Having my ties to Minnesota, we would like to get in there a little bit, and having a little background in Iowa I think we can get in there too. There are a lot of opportunities with schools in the Midwest, so sometimes it's tough to get kids to travel. When you look at the Midwest, Whitewater is head and shoulders above the other schools cost-wise. It's really affordable, especially compared to the private schools. When you look at everything the school offers, it's worth it to travel and be a part of a championship program. I think kids will start to see that. So I think in the near future we'll start seeing states that haven't been represented on our roster be represented. Your 197-pounder Shane Siefert is a two-time All-American and currently ranked No. 1 in the nation. What's going to be the key for him to finish on top of the podium in March? Shuck: Shane is a really talented kid. He definitely has what it takes to win it. I think for him the key is staying hungry for it ... not being satisfied, remembering what it felt like to lose in the last second in the national finals. That's not a good feeling. If he can remember that I don't think there will be any issues. If he can remember that and help keep him motivated to keep training hard and living a disciplined life, then he's going to be in good place in March. So that's what we're shooting for. UW-Whitewater won the Messiah Petrofes Invitational earlier this season. (Photo/Messiah College Sports Information)When you look at your lineup, is your team better built for dual meets or tournaments? Shuck: That's a little tough to say. We have been able to have a lot of success in our dual meets. The National Duals will be a good measure for that. Obviously, we feel really confident in both. We feel tournament-wise we have some guys that can go really deep into a tournament and score a lot of points, not just advancement points but also bonus points along the way. In dual meets I think we have the same potential in terms of scoring bonus points, and sometimes that's going to be the big difference. Your program is currently ranked No. 1 in Division III. Do you feel added pressure because of that No. 1 ranking? Shuck: I enjoy it. Last year we had six national championships here at Whitewater ... men's and women's basketball, wheelchair basketball, gymnastics, football and baseball. So when I'm rubbing shoulders amongst my colleagues here, they're all shooting to win national championships, and they've done it. For me I enjoy that as opposed to looking at it negatively and saying, 'Oh man, they're expecting me to win. What's going to happen if we don't win?' I expect to win. Our team expects to win. Everybody expects to win. I like everybody being on the same page that way. For a long time the Division III wrestling landscape has been dominated by Wartburg and Augsburg. The programs have won every national wrestling title in Division III since 1995. That's so long that there are a lot of people that don't think any other program can win it. How do you overcome that challenge of getting past the 'Burgs? Shuck: It is a challenge. Any time you're the first it's kind of cool. We feel like we're going to be the first to break that trend. Those programs have done such a great job consistently through the years that is a tough feat to do. We know that past performances don't guarantee future performances. We're excited for that challenge. It's something our guys look to. We can't get too wrapped up in it. We can't control what they're doing. We can't control how they're training. We just need to take care of us, and that's going to give us the best chance to beat Augsburg and Wartburg for the first time in a long time. Have you thought about what it's going to take to finish with a national title this season in terms of All-Americans and national finalists or champions? Shuck: One of things I just focus on is what each kid needs. We need everybody. It's not just the 10 guys who are starters ... It's everybody fighting. You never know what's going to happen. We could have an injury and then someone has to step up. So you're looking at every kid in the room ... What does this kid need to do to become an All-American? So that's kind of my focus, instead of looking at it like we need five All-Americans, at least two of them need to be champs. I'm not necessarily a numbers guy who looks at like that. I'm sure there are a lot of people that are really good at that. It would probably take me a long time to figure it out, so maybe that's why I don't focus on it too much. We just try to focus on how to get each kid to where they need to be. This story also appears in the December 26 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.

Late December is always a heavy time of the wrestling season. Lots of tournaments involving elite teams with elite wrestlers battling it out for supremacy. So, let's take a look at what happened this past weekend, and what is coming up between Christmas and the New Year. Short-handed Blair still wins 15th straight Beast of the East title Despite being without the services of No. 7 Charles Tucker (132), No. 3 Mason Manville (160), and No. 7 Brandon Dallavia (170), No. 3 Blair Academy, N.J. had more than enough to win yet another Beast of the East title. The Buccaneers scored 203 points, led by the pair of titles won by No. 3 Matthew Kolodzik (138) and No. 3 Jordan Kutler (152). Seven other wrestlers earned a placement finish. Runner-up honors went to Bethlehem Catholic, Pa. with a very impressive tournament in their own right. The Hawks were led by weight class champions No. 12 Luke Karam (126) and No. 5 Andrew Dunn (220); Karam was unranked headed into the tournament, and earned Oustanding Wrestler honors with his performance, while Dunn moved up six spots in the rankings after his title. Three other wrestlers earned placement finishes, as they scored 152 points. They moved up eight spots in the Fab50 to No. 14 nationally. Impressive performances at the Beast of the East from Pennridge, Pa. and DePaul Catholic, N.J. earned them debut appearances in the Fab50 for 2014-15 at No. 48 and No. 44 respectively. Link: Results Short-handed OPRF still shines at the tough Rex Whitlach Even absent three starters -- No. 4 Larry Early (145), returning state placer Gabe Townsell (126), and state qualifier Allen Stallings (220) -- No. 2 in the nation Oak Park River Forest, Ill. still had a sizzling performance at the Rex Whitlach Invitational hosted by Hinsdale Central, Ill. The Huskies had five champions and five third place finishers on the way to 294 points and a tournament championship. Winning titles were No. 4 Jason Renteria (113), No. 16 Alex Madrigal (120), No. 1 Isaiah White (152), No. 17 Matthew Rundell (160), and No. 6 Kamal Bey; admittedly the replacement 145 for OPRF was among the third place finishers. Runner-up in the tournament with 243 points was Carl Sandburg, Ill. The Eagles jumped into the Fab50 this week at No. 42 on the strength of this performance. They were anchored by Rudy Yates (126), who was their sole champion. Three other wrestlers each finished second and third -- Louie Hayes (106), Brian Krasowski (170), and Patrick Brucki (182) were runners-up; while Robbie Precin (113), Tom Slattery (160), and Cole Bateman (195) finished third. Thirteen wrestlers in all placed, which was joint most with OPRF in the tournament. Third in the standings was No. 9 Montini Catholic, Ill. with 208 points. The Broncos were led by four weight class champions -- No. 10 (at 126) Dylan Duncan up at 132 pounds, No. 9 (at 138) Vincent Turk up at 145, No. 5 Xavier Montalvo at 182, and Real Woods at 106. The title won by Woods came with victories over nationally ranked Anthony Madrigal (Oak Park River Forest) in the semifinal and previously nationally ranked Louie Hayes (Carl Sandburg) in the final; as a result, Woods is now ranked No. 19 nationally. Runner-up finishes for Montini Catholic came from Jimmy Pawleski at 126 and No. 17 (at 152) Luke Fortuna up at 160. No. 1 Michael Johnson is still absent from the lineup at 285 pounds. Link: Results Pair of Ohio tournaments to provide stern tests While the Walsh Ironman is considered the best in-season tournament in the whole country, a pair of traditional tournaments held between Christmas and New Year's Day hold the position as "best of the rest" for in-season competition in Ohio. Five of Ohio's six Fab50 teams will be at these two tournaments. On a year-to-year basis, schools in these two tournaments produce more than one-third of the wrestlers who qualify for the OHSAA state wrestling tournament. The Medina Invitational celebrates its 40th edition on Saturday and Sunday. Its field is anchored by No. 20 St. Edward and No. 22 Massillon Perry. Additional credentialed teams in the field are Claymont and Richmond (Mich.), who both finished as state runners-up last year, along with state champion Detroit Catholic Central (Mich.). Schools in the field possess the following nationally ranked wrestlers: 113: No. 10 Jaden Mattox (Grove City Central Crossing), No. 18 Noah Baughman (Wadsworth), No. 20 Allan Hart (St. Edward) 120: No. 13 Tyler Warner (Claymont) 126: No. 13 Jose Rodriguez (Massillon Perry) 152: No. 6 Myles Amine (Detroit Catholic Central, Mich.) 160: No. 9 Devin Skatzka (Richmond, Mich.) 182: No. 12 Kollin Moore (Norwayne) The Brecksville Holiday Invitatonal celebrates its 54th edition on Monday and Tuesday. Three nationally ranked teams are in the field -- No. 32 Delta, No. 37 Brecksville, and No. 43 Elyria. Three other credentialed teams in the field all finished as state runners-up last year: Davison (Mich.), Dayton Christian, and Perrysburg. Schools in the field possess the following nationally ranked wrestlers: 106: No. 9 Drew Mattin (Delta) 113: No. 16 Tommy Hoskins (Dayton Christian) 120: No. 12 Devin Schroder (Grand Rapids Catholic Central, Mich.) 126: No. 8 Austin Assad (Brecksville) 132: No. 10 Lincoln Olson (Davison, Mich.) 138: No. 6 Nate Limmex (Grand Rapids Catholic Central, Mich.), No. 19 Richie Screptock (Oregon Clay) 145: No. 13 Wade Hodges (Wauseon) 152: No. 20 Kade Kowalski (Tri-Valley) 182: No. 7 Ben Darmstadt (Elyria) 195: No. 15 Matt Stencel (Oregon Clay) 285: No. 5 Kevin Vough (Elyria), No. 11 Cale Bonner (Perrysburg) Apple Valley outlasts challengers to take home Minnesota Christmas Tournament title Though the three teams immediately behind in the standings had more overall placers, it was No. 17 Apple Valley, Minn. which came up with the tournament championship. The Eagles scored 188 points on the strength of six placers, all of whom finished in the top four. They were anchored by weight class titles earned by Kyle Rathman (113), No. 1 Mark Hall (170), and No. 19 Gable Steveson (220). Finishing as runner-up was Bobby Steveson (195), who lost to Lance Benick (Totino Grace, Minn.) by 3-2 decision in the final; Benick moved up from No. 3 to No. 1 with that victory, while Steveson dropped to No. 2 from No. 1. Runner-up in the standings was No. 26 St. Michael-Albertville, Minn. with 170-1/2 points, led by a tournament high eight placers. However, the Knights only had two finalists -- No. 2 Mitch McKee (126) finished first, while Jordan Joseph (182) earned second. Other placers finished third, fourth, fifth (two wrestlers), seventh, and eighth. Finishing third in the tournament was No. 39 Kaukauna, Wis. with 164 points. The Ghosts were led by a pair of weight class champions in Tres Leon (132) and No. 16 Robert Lee (138), along with five other placers -- those wrestlers finishing third, fourth, seventh (two wrestlers), and eighth. In addition to the Steveson/Benick final, at least four other finals at the Christmas Tournament featured the top-ranked wrestler from two different Minnesota state tournament classifications going against one another. At 145 pounds, No. 6 Griffin Parriott (New Prague) defeated No. 12 James Pleski (St. Francis) 3-1; No. 13 Andrew Fogarty (Scott West) upended Paden Moore (Jackson County Central) 5-3 in overtime at 160; No. 1 Mark Hall (Apple Valley) beat No. 17 Luke Norland (Jackson County Central) by 11-2 major decision at 170; while No. 4 Keegan Moore (Jackson County Central) earned a 3-2 victory over Jordan Joseph (St. Michael-Albertville) at 182. Link: Results Archer repeats as KC Stampede champions There are people out there who cast aspersions when they see a Georgia team ranked inside the top ten of the country. However, for a second straight year, Archer traveled to the Kansas City Stampede and stood out on top of a 40-team field that included four other nationally ranked teams and a slew of nationally ranked individuals. The sixth-ranked Tigers scored 593 points, led by five top three finishers, three others that placed fifth (best possible finish for a loser prior to the semifinal), and had three others make the upper-bracket (top 16). Elliott Lee (220) was the lone champion for Archer, No. 16 Daniel Bullard (170) and Jacob Lill (285) finished as runners-up, with Grant Aycox (138) and No. 14 Thomas Bullard (160) finishing third. The team was without star sophomore Quinn Miller at 195 pounds, as the NHSCA Freshman Nationals champion transitions back from football. The next four teams in the standings were No. 21 Neosho, Mo. (536), No. 13 Stillwater, Okla. (515-1/2), No. 23 Tuttle, Okla. (451-1/2), and No. 24 Bettendorf (432-1/2). Even though Kyler Rea was the lone finalist for Neosho, runner-up at 138 pounds, the Wildcats' squad depth and balance ruled the day. Thirteen wrestlers advanced to the upper bracket (most in the tournament), with eight in total earning a top eight position (joint most); those top eight placements were a pair in fourth, a pair in fifth, a pair in sixth, and one in eighth to augment the runner-up from Rea. The three titles won by Stillwater wrestlers No. 3 Kaid Brock (132), No. 6 Joe Smith (160), and Tyler Dieringer (182) was most in the tournament. However, the Pioneers only had six other upper-bracket wrestlers, all finishing in the top nine: No. 8 Tristan Moran (145) in third, one in fifth, one in seventh, two in eighth, and one in ninth. Bettendorf had a tournament-high five finalists, Jack Wagner (113) and No. 2 Fredy Stroker (145) won titles; while Jacob Schwarm (120), Jacob Woodard (152), and No. 10 Dayton Racer (160) earned runner-up finishes. However, the Bulldogs were hurt by only having two other wrestlers make it to the upper-bracket. A highlight individual performance came from Colston DiBlasi (Park Hill, Mo.) at 170 pounds, as he won the weight class with a pair of victories over nationally ranked wrestlers in the semifinal and final; a pin at 3:53 over No. 15 Isaiah Patton (Dowling Catholic, Iowa), which was his sixth of the tournament and first not in the first period, before a 4-2 decision over No. 16 Daniel Bullard (Archer, Ga.) in the final. DiBlasi jumps into the rankings at No. 14 nationally this week. Link: Results Blair Academy gauntlet continues with dual meet at St. Peter's Prep After competing at the Walsh Jesuit Ironman and Beast of the East, which are the nation's two best in-season tournaments, the last two weekends -- No. 3 Blair Academy, N.J. travels to No. 19 St. Peter's Prep, N.J.) for a dual meet on Saturday. The following weekends feature a home dual meet against No. 1 St. Paris Graham (Ohio), a trip to Oklahoma for the Geary Invitational, multiple dual meets against ranked teams from New Jersey, a dual meet at No. 20 St. Edward (Ohio), and three top 25 opponents in a quad at No. 12 Bergen Catholic (N.J.) Below are the projected lineups for Saturday's matchup 106: Matthew Vinci (Blair) vs. Michael Simonetti (St. Peter's Prep) 113: Zach Sherman vs. No. 19 Alec Kelly -- Kelly beat Sherman 8-4 for third place at the Beast of the East 120: Require van der Merwe vs. Matthew Russo -- van der Merwe was third at National Preps last year 126: Andrew Monahan/Andrew Merola vs. Nicholas Santos -- if Merola is the starter, he's one of the better freshmen nationally; while Santos was a state alternate last year as a freshman 132: No. 7 Charles Tucker vs. Sonny Simonetti -- Tucker was a Junior National freestyle runner-up; Simonetti did not make the state tournament last year, but placed seventh at the Beast 138: No. 3 Matthew Kolodzik vs. Connor Burkert -- Kolodzik won the Beast of the East last weekend, after finishing second the previous two years; Burkert is a two-time state placer, but failed to place at the Beast this past weekend 145: Michael Monica vs. Ryan Burkert -- Monica beat two-time state placer Burkert by 2-1 score in the quarterfinals at the Beast, and Burkert lost his next match to not place in the tournament 152: No. 3 Jordan Kutler vs. Manny Ramirez -- Kutler, a Junior National freestyle All-American, won the Beast of the East; while state qualifier Ramirez was two matches from placement 160: No. 3 Mason Manville vs. Stephen Kellner -- Manville is a two-time National Prep runner-up, Kellner has yet to make a state tournament; Kellner failed to place at the Beast, while Manville's backup did 170: No. 7 Brandon Dallavia vs. Dan Sblendorio -- Dallavia was a Cadet National freestyle champion this summer 182: No. 13 Chase Singletary vs. Luke Leonard -- Singletary placed third at the Beast of the East, while Leonard went two-and-out 195: Neil Putnam vs. Dean Helstowski -- Putnam is a National Prep placer, while Helstowski qualified for state last season 220: No. 11 David Showunmi vs. No. 12 Christian Colucci -- Showunmi upended Colucci by 3-2 decision in the third place match at the Beast of the East 285: forfeit vs. Jose Palomino -- Palomino placed eighth at state in 2013 Poway repeats as champion at Reno TOC For the second straight year, No. 15 Poway, Calif. earned the title at the Reno Tournament of Champions in impressive fashion. Winning weight class titles for the Titans were No. 20 Colt Doyle (170) and Liam Sorahan, while Andrew Tausch (182) earned a runner-up finish after an upset victory over nationally ranked Jacob Armstrong (Salem Hills, Utah) in the quarterfinal round. Five additional wrestlers placed for Poway (two in 4th, one in 6th, two in 7th), which amassed 209 points. Finishing as runner-up was No. 38 Mesa Mountain View, Ariz. with 168 points. They had five podium finishers, led by the runner-up finish of Blake Monty (152). Other placers took third, seventh, and a pair in eighth. Third in the team standings was No. 31 Crook County, Ore. with 167 points, and they did it without their best wrestler -- FloNationals placer Collbran Meeker (160) in the lineup. Leading their four medalists were a pair of runner-up finishes coming from Gunner Roberts (195) and Trevor Rasmussen 285); additional wrestlers placed sixth and seventh. Among the highlight weight class winners were No. 3 Roman Bravo-Young (Sunnsyide, Ariz.) at 106 pounds, No. 11 Ian Timmins (Wooster, Nev.) at 113, No. 14 Taylor LaMont (Maple Mountain, Utah) at 126, No. 12 Richard Montoya (Robertson, N.M.) at 132, No. 15 Alex Rich (Crescent Valley, Ore.) at 138, and No. 18 Bryce Parson (Lewiston, Idaho) at 145. Link: Brackets Link: Team Scores Bethlehem Holiday Classic No. 4 Wyoming Seminary, Pa. will be after a repeat title at the Bethlehem Holiday Classic hosted by Liberty High School in the Lehigh Valley. The 26-team field features another pair of nationally ranked teams in No. 28 Phillipsburg, N.J. and No. 48 Pennridge, Pa. Other notables in the field include perennial Lehigh Valley powers Nazareth and Northampton, as well as past Pennsylvania Class AAA state champion Central Dauphin. Link: Event Website Quick hitters No. 5 Clovis, Calif. traveled to No. 10 Buchanan, Calif. for the Zinkin Classic this past weekend, and it was those two teams battling it out nip-and-tuck for the championship. The visiting Cougars ended up with 330-1/2 points to the host Bears' 307. Clovis starters won eight weight class titles, one Clovis backup won a weight class title, while the other five weights were won by Buchanan starters. The dual meet between the two teams at the end of next month should be very interesting. Even absent No. 14 Lucas Warren at 220 pounds, No. 18 Marmion Academy, Ill. won the Dvorak Invitational earlier this week by thirty points over Glenbard North, Ill. (221.5 to 191.5). The Cadets were led by weight class champions Riley DeMoss (170) and No. 8 Nathan Traxler (182). Eight additional wrestlers earned placement finishes, including four taking third place -- Jake Polka (126), A.J. Jaffe (132), Michael Callahan (145), and Trace Carello (160). Other highlight Dvorak champions were No. 13 Zack Donathan (Mason, Ohio) at 106, No. 5 Austin Gomez (Glenbard North, Ill.) at 113, No. 19 Austin O'Connor (St. Rita, Ill.) at 132, and No. 7 Andrew Marsden (Crystal Lake Central, Ill.) at 195. Newcomers to the Fab50 this week include No. 42 Carl Sandburg (Ill.), No. 44 DePaul Catholic (N.J.), and No. 48 Pennridge, Pa. due to their performances noted earlier in the column this past weekend. Joining them as debutants are No. 45 Brighton, Mich. and No. 50 Post Falls, Idaho; Brighton beat previously ranked Dundee, Mich. 38-22 eight days ago, while Post Falls won the Tri-State Invitational this past weekend. To check out where all the Fab50 teams compete over the next two weekends, click here. Powerade An event specific preview for the prestigious Powerade Christmas Wrestling Tournament will be posted over the weekend. Five nationally ranked teams are among the record number 48 teams taking part in the event to be held at Canon-McMillan, which is south of Pittsburgh. Those ranked teams are No. 6 Archer (Ga.), No. 8 Franklin Regional (Pa.), No. 10 Buchanan (Calif.), No. 33 Belle Vernon (Pa.), and No. 36 Greater Latrobe (Pa.). In addition four top ranked wrestlers in their weight class are slated to compete: Spencer Lee (Franklin Regional, Pa.) at 120 pounds, A.C. Headlee (Waynesburg, Pa.) at 132, Sam Krivus (Hempfield Area, Pa.) at 138, and Michael Kemerer (Franklin Regional, Pa.) at 145.

EVANSTON, Ill. -- The Midlands Tournament Committee announced the pre-seeds for the 52nd Ken Kraft Midlands Championships on Wednesday. The annual event will feature many of the nation's top wrestlers at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Monday, Dec. 29 and Tuesday, Dec. 30. Tickets to the event are available now online at NUSports.com or by calling 888-GO-PURPLE. Fans are encouraged to join the conversation via social media by using the hashtag #Midlands52. The contenders list does not represent the final seeds and is subject to change. Final brackets will be released on Dec. 28. 125: 1 Jesse Delgado, Illinois 2. Thomas Gilman, Iowa 3. Joey Dance, Virginia Tech 4. Darian Cruz, Lehigh (Unattached) 5. Josh Martinez, Air Force 6. Josh Rodriguez, North Dakota State 7. Brandon Jeske, Old Dominion 8. Kory Mines, Edinboro 9. Shayne Wireman, Eastern Michigan 10. Barlow McGee, Missouri (Unattached) 11. Stevan Micic, Northwestern (Unattached) 12. Ryak Finch, Grand View Lucas Malmberg, Messiah College 133: 1. AJ Schopp, Edinboro 2. Cory Clark, Iowa 3. Jarrod Garnett, Lehigh Valley Athletic Club 4. Zane Richards, Illinois 5. Geoffrey Alexander, Maryland 6. Ryan Taylor, Wisconsin 7. Danny Sabatello, Purdue 8. Kevin Norstrem, Virginia Tech 9. Robert Deutsch, Rider 10. Caleb Richardson, Penn 11. Ian Nickell, CSU Bakersfield 12. TBD based on entries Dominick Malone, Northwestern Josh Alber, Northern Iowa (Unattached) 141: 1. Mitchell Port, Edinboro 2. Devin Carter, Virginia Tech 3. Richard Durso, Franklin & Marshall (Unattached) 4. Josh Dziewa, Iowa 5. Chris Mecate, Old Dominion 6. Todd Preston, Harvard 7. Shyheim Brown, Maryland 8. Mitch Bengsten, North Dakota State 9. Stephen Rodriquez, Illinois 10. Alex Kocer, South Dakota State 11. Joey McKenna, Lehigh Valley Athletic Club 12. Brandon Wright, Grand View Jesse Thielke, Wisconsin Nick Lawrence, Purdue Jordan Laster, Princeton Chuck Zeisloft, Rider Jameson Oster, Northwestern Alfred Bannister, Maryland 149: 1. Jason Tsirtsis, Northwestern 2. David Habat, Edinboro 3. Brody Grothus, Iowa 4. Lenny Richardson, Old Dominion 5. Adam Krop, Princeton 6. CJ Cobb, Penn 7. BJ Clagon, Rider 8. Brandon Sorensen, Iowa 9. Laike Gardner, Lehigh (Unattached) 10. Ryan Lubeck, Wisconsin 11. Sal Mastriani, Virginia Tech 12. Kyle Langenderfer, Illinois Kevin Birmingham, Davidson Nick Barber, Eastern Michigan Gustavo Martinez, Grand View 157: 1. Isaiah Martinez, Illinois 2. Cody Pack, South Dakota State 3. Markus Scheidel, Columbia 4. Justin Staudenmayer, Brown 5. Mike Kelly, Iowa 6. Chad Welsh, Rider 7. Brandon Zeerip, Eastern Michigan 8. Doug Welch, Purdue 9. Edwin Cooper, Iowa 10. Andrew Morse, Northern Illinois 11/12. TBD based on entries 165: 1. Isaac Jordan, Wisconsin 2. Taylor Walsh, Indiana 3. Nick Moore, Iowa 4. Pierce Harger, Northwestern 5. Jackson Morse, Illinois 6. Nestor Taffur (Unattached) 7. Tristan Warner, Old Dominion 8. Adam Fierro, CSU Bakersfield 9. Jesse Stafford, Air Force 10. Jon Schleifer, Princeton 11. Connor Brennan, Rider 12. Pat Robinson, Purdue Pat Smith, Minnesota Connor McMahon, SIU-Edwardsville 174: 1. Mike Evans, Iowa 2. Zac Brunson, Illinois 3. Zach Epperly, Virginia Tech 4. Bryce Hammond, CSU Bakersfield 5. Kurtis Julson, North Dakota State 6. Alex Meyer, Iowa 7. Brock Gutches, Southern Oregon 8. Nate Jackson, Indiana 9. Burke Paddock, Iowa 10. John Sebastian, Northwestern (Unattached) 11. Chad Welch, Purdue 12. Connor Lefever, Wabash 184: 1. Lorenzo Thomas, Penn 2. Jack Dechow, Old Dominion 3. Sammy Brooks, Iowa 4. Hayden Zillmer, North Dakota State 5. Ophir Bernstein, Brown 6. Vic Avery, Edinboro 7. Nikko Reyes, Illinois 8. Ricky Robertson, Wisconsin 9. Austin Gabel, Virginia Tech 10. Clint Morrison, Rider 11. Brett Harner, Princeton 12. Zach Hernandez, Columbia Patrick Kissel, Purdue Riley Lefever, Wabash 197: 1. Nathan Burak, Iowa (Unattached) 2. Alex Polizzi, Northwestern 3. Abram Ayala, Princeton 4. Braden Atwood, Purdue 5. Nathan Rotert, South Dakota State 6. Timmy McCall, Wisconin 7. Joe Rau, Minnesota Storm 8. Jared Haught, Virginia Tech 9. Lucas Sheridan, Indiana 10. James Fox, Harvard 11. Vince Pickett, Edinboro 12. Shawn Scott, Northern Illinois Kevin Beazley, Old Dominion Anthony Abro, Eastern Michigan Shane Siefert, UW Whitewater Frank Mattiace, Penn (Unattached) Canaan Bethea, Penn 285: 1. Mike McMullan, Northwestern 2. Bobby Telford, Iowa 3. Connor Medbery, Wisconsin 4. Ty Walz, Virginia Tech 5. Evan Knutson, North Dakota State 6. Tyler Deuel, Binghamton 7. Jacob Henderson, Old Dominion 8. J.J. Everard, South Dakota State 9. Ray O'Donnell, Princeton 10. David Ng, Harvard 11. Garrett Ryan, Columbia 12. Brooks Black, Illinois Marcus Malechek, Air Force

Below is a schedule of competitions for the Fab 50 teams over the next ten days ... No. 1 St. Paris Graham, Ohio -- GMVWA Tournament at Wright State University (12/27 & 12/28), dual meet at No. 3 Blair Academy, N.J. (1/3) No. 2 Oak Park River Forest, Ill. -- The Clash National Wrestling Duals in Rochester, Minn. (1/2 & 1/3) No. 3 Blair Academy, N.J. -- dual meet at No. 12 St. Peter's Prep, N.J. with St. Anthony's, N.Y. (12/27); dual meet vs. No. 1 St. Paris Graham, Ohio and Smyrna, Del. (1/3) No. 4 Wyoming Seminary, Pa. -- Bethlehem (Liberty) Holiday Wrestling Classic (12/28 & 12/29); Prep Slam VII at Holy Innocents in Atlanta, Ga. (1/2 & 1/3) No. 6 Archer, Ga. -- Powerade Christmas Wrestling Tournament at Canon-McMillan, Pa. (12/29 & 12/30); host Archer Invitational (1/2 & 1/3) No. 7 Southeast Polk, Iowa -- Cheesehead Invitational at Kaukauna, Wis. (1/2 & 1/3) No. 8 Franklin Regional, Pa. -- Powerade Christmas Wrestling Tournament at Canon-McMillan, Pa. (12/29 & 12/30); dual meet at Kiski Area, Pa. (1/3) No. 9 Montini Catholic, Ill. -- Cheesehead Invitational at Kaukauna, Wis. (1/2 & 1/3) No. 10 Buchanan, Calif. -- Powerade Christmas Wrestling Tournament at Canon-McMillan, Pa. (12/29 & 12/30) No. 12 Bergen Catholic, N.J. -- dual meet at Hanover Park, N.J. (12/27); Bergen County Coaches Association Tournament (12/29 & 12/30); dual meet at Brick Memorial, N.J.) (1/3) No. 13 Stillwater, Okla. -- dual meet vs. Blackwell, Okla. (1/6) No. 14 Bethlehem Catholic, Pa. -- host Christmas City Tournament (12/27 & 12/28); travel to Easton (Pa.) Invitational on 1/3 No. 15 Poway, Calif. -- Valencia Tournament of Champions at Cerritos College (1/2 & 1/3) No. 16 Lowell, Mich. -- Detroit Catholic Central (Mich.) Invitational on 1/3 No. 17 Apple Valley, Minn. -- The Clash National Wrestling Duals in Rochester, Minn. (1/2 & 1/3) No. 18 Marmion Academy, Ill. -- dual meets vs. Metea Valley, Brother Rice, and Bishop McNamara (12/27); The Clash National Wrestling Duals in Rochester, Minn. (1/2 & 1/3) No. 19 St. Peter's Prep, N.J. -- dual meet vs. No. 1 Blair Academy, N.J. and St. Anthony's, N.Y. (12/27); The Clash National Wrestling Duals in Rochester, Minn. (1/2 & 1/3) No. 20 St. Edward, Ohio -- Medina (Ohio) Invitational Tournament on 12/27 & 12/28; Cheesehead Invitational at Kaukauna, Wis. (1/2 & 1/3) No. 21 Neosho, Mo. -- Red Schmitt Invitational at Granite City, Ill. (12/29 & 12/30) No. 22 Massillon Perry, Ohio -- Medina (Ohio) Invitational Tournament on 12/27 & 12/28 No. 24 Bettendorf, Iowa -- The Clash National Wrestling Duals in Rochester, Minn. (1/2 & 1/3) No. 25 Bound Brook, N.J. -- dual meet against St. Joseph's (12/27); The Clash National Wrestling Duals in Rochester, Minn. (1/2 & 1/3) No. 26 St. Michael-Albertville, Minn. -- The Clash National Wrestling Duals in Rochester, Minn. (1/2 & 1/3) No. 27 Bakersfield, Calif. -- Coast Classic in Santa Cruz, Calif. (12/29 & 12/30); double dual at De LaSalle, Calif. against Gilroy, Calif. and either De La Salle or Folsom, Calif. No. 28 Phillipsburg, N.J. -- Bethlehem (Liberty, Pa.) Holiday Wrestling Classic on 12/28 & 12/29; dual meet vs. West Morris Central, N.J. (1/2); dual meet at Northampton, Pa. (1/3); dual meet at North Hunterdon, N.J. (1/5) No. 29 Evansville Mater Dei, Ind. -- host Mater Dei Holiday Classic (12/29 & 12/30); IHSWCA Duals at Yorktown, Ind. (1/3) No. 30 Don Bosco Prep, N.J. -- Bergen County Coaches Association Tournament (12/29 & 12/30); dual meet vs. Camden Catholic, N.J. (1/2) No. 31 Crook County, Ore. -- Rollie Lane Invitational in Nampa, Idaho (1/2 & 1/3) No. 32 Delta, Ohio -- Brecksville (Ohio) Holiday Invitational Tournament on 12/29 & 12/30 No. 33 Belle Vernon, Pa. -- Powerade Christmas Wrestling Tournament at Canon-McMillan, Pa. (12/29 & 12/30); dual meet vs. Ringgold, Pa. (1/2) No. 34 Cumberland Valley, Pa. -- dual meet at Boyertown, Pa. (12/27); host Cumberland Valley Winter Duals (1/3) No. 35 South Dade, Fla. -- Knockout Christmas Classic at Osceola, Fla. (12/29 & 12/30) No. 36 Greater Latrobe, Pa. -- Powerade Christmas Wrestling Tournament at Canon-McMillan, Pa. (12/29 & 12/30); dual meet vs. Norwin, Pa. (1/2) No. 37 Brecksville, Ohio -- host Brecksville Holiday Invitational Tournament (12/29 & 12/30) No. 38 Mesa Mountain View, Ariz. -- Cheesehead Invitational at Kaukauna, Wis. (1/2 & 1/3) No. 39 Kaukauna, Wis. -- host Cheesehead Invitational (1/2 & 1/3) No. 40 McDonogh, Md. -- host McDonogh Holiday Duals (12/30) No. 41 Union, Iowa -- The Clash National Wrestling Duals in Rochester, Minn. (1/2 & 1/3) No. 42 Carl Sandburg, Ill. -- The Clash National Wrestling Duals in Rochester, Minn. (1/2 & 1/3) No. 43 Elyria, Ohio -- Brecksville (Ohio) Holiday Invitational Tournament on 12/29 & 12/30; Mentor (Ohio) Duals on 1/3 No. 44 DePaul Catholic, N.J. -- Mustang Classic at Brick Memorial, N.J. (12/27) No. 45 Brighton, Mich. -- Detroit Catholic Central (Mich.) Invitational on 1/3 No. 46 Shakopee, Minn. -- The Clash National Wrestling Duals in Rochester, Minn. (1/2 & 1/3) No. 47 St. Johns, Mich. -- Goodrich (Mich.) Tournament of Champions on 12/30 No. 48 Pennridge, Pa. - Bethlehem (Liberty) Holiday Wrestling Classic (12/28 & 12/29); Rockyard Duals at Council Rock North, Pa. (1/3) No. 49 Brandon, Fla. -- Southeast Duals (1/2 & 1/3) No. 50 Post Falls, Idaho -- triangular meet at Borah, Idaho with Eagle, Idaho (1/1); Rollie Lane Invitational (Nampa, Idaho) on 1/2 & 1/3

First day pairings for The Clash XIII - National High School Wrestling Duals were released on Monday evening. The 32-team event includes ten teams that are ranked nationally within the Fab 50 as of last week (12/17/14). Day one of the competition features four eight-team brackets from which each team will wrestle three times. Then, on the second day, teams will compete in round-robin pools with the other schools finishing in the same bracket position. The event takes place in Rochester, Minn. on January 2nd and 3rd. Bracket "A" (1) No. 2 Oak Park River Forest, Ill. vs. (8) Pleasant Valley, Iowa (4) Simley, Minn. vs. (5) Minneota, Minn. (3) No. 48 Shakopee, Minn. vs. (6) Wasatch, Utah (2) No. 41 Union, Iowa vs. (7) Kenyon-Wanamingo, Minn. Bracket "B" (1) No. 12 St. Peter's Prep, Minn. vs. (8) Parkston, S.D. (4) No. 42 Marist, Ill. vs. (5) Vacaville, Calif. (3) Carl Sandburg, Ill. vs. (6) Grand Island, Neb. (2) No. 26 St. Michael-Albertville, Minn. vs. (7) Totino-Grace, Minn. Bracket "C" (1) No. 16 Apple Valley, Minn. vs. (8) Fox Lake Grant, Ill. (4) Glenbard North, Ill. vs. (5) Prior Lake, Minn. (3) Mediapolis, Iowa vs. (6) Jefferson, Ga. (2) No. 25 Bound Brook, N.J. vs. (7) Jackson County Central, Minn. Bracket "D" (1) No. 17 Marmion Academy, Ill. vs. (8) LCWM, Minn. (4) Hastings, Minn. vs. (5) Cedar Rapids Jefferson, Iowa (3) Hononegah, Ill. vs. (6) Anoka, Minn. (2) No. 24 Bettendorf, Iowa vs. (7) Adrian, Minn. Bracket "B" and "D" are being contested on Friday 1/2 at 9AM, 11AM, and 1PM Central Time; while Brackets "A" and "C" will be contested at 4PM, 6PM, and 8PM. On Saturday 1/3, pools with 5th through 8th place teams on Friday will be in the morning session, while those for 1st through 4th place teams will be in the evening session.

RENO, Nev. -- Stanford redshirt sophomore Jim Wilson captured the 165-pound title, while a school record seven Cardinal finished in the top 5, Sunday, at the Reno Tournament of Champions in Reno, Nev. As a team, Stanford finished tied for second with Oregon State with 102.5 points. Wyoming won the team championship with 134 points. The Cardinal's second-place finish marks a program best, while its three finalists were also a school record. Wilson, ranked 13th nationally, picks up his first tournament win of the season after finishing as the runner-up at the Roadrunner Open and taking third at the Keystone Classic in November. He recorded five wins on Sunday to improve to 15-3 overall. Redshirt junior Evan Silver, who is No. 12 in the nation, was the runner-up at 125 pounds. He won four matches, including an 8-5 decision over No. 13 Ronnie Bresser of Oregon State before falling to ninth-ranked Tyler Cox of Wyoming, 3-1. He is now 8-1 on the year. True freshman Isaiah Locsin also took second on Sunday. He went 4-1 with two falls in the tournament to improve to 6-3 overall. He fell to Oklahoma State’s Dean Heil, 12-6, in the finals. Placing third in the tournament were 157-pounder Maxwell Hvolbek and heavyweight Nathan Butler. Hvolbek, who is now 11-6, was 5-1 overall and posted a major decision over 16th-ranked Sparty Chino of Ohio in the third-place match. Butler also turned in a 5-1 record in the tournament, including a 3-0 decision over No. 16 Tanner Harms of Wyoming and a 3-1 sudden victory over teammate Josh Marchok in the third-place bout. Marchok, a redshirt sophomore heavyweight, finished fourth after falling to Butler in the third-place match. He also reached the semifinals by defeating Harms, 4-3, before dropping a major decision to Oklahoma’s Zach Merrill. Marchok is now 8-4 on the season. Redshirt senior Garrett Schaner was the final Cardinal to place in the tournament, securing fifth place at 149 pounds. He was 5-2 in the tournament, posting two major decisions and edging freshman teammate Paul Fox, 11-10. He fell to Oregon State’s Jordan Henrickson in the consolation bracket before winning by medical forfeit over Boise State’s Josh Reyes. Up next, Stanford travels to Chattanooga, Tenn., to bring in the New Year at the Southern Scuffle, Jan. 1-2.

NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The Bucknell wrestling team completed an impressive 3-0 weekend with a pair of victories Sunday at the Grapple at the Garden in New York City. The Bison opened the day with an easy 33-6 win over Davidson and followed that with a 25-15 victory over EIWA foe Hofstra. Bucknell (3-1, 1-0 EIWA) opened the weekend Saturday with a 20-16 home win over No. 10 Virginia. Victor Lopez (149), Robert Schlitt (165), Tyler Lyster (197) and Joe Stolfi (285) each won two bouts on Sunday, while Paul Petrov (125) earned a pair of forfeits. Stolfi now has a team-high 16 victories this season, while his pin of Davidson’s Ed Isola was the 39th of his career. Bucknell won eight of the 10 bouts against Davidson (3-7) and earned bonus points in five of them. Petrov (forfeit) and Stolfi (fall) earned six points each, while Lopez, Logan Kerin (157) and Schlitt posted major decisions to help the Bison win the first meeting in the series with the Wildcats. The nightcap against second-year EIWA member Hofstra (3-5), which defeated Maryland earlier in the day, was closer. In fact, the Bison needed wins in four of the final five bouts to overcome a 12-9 deficit. Petrov’s forfeit, a pin by Schlitt and a major decision by freshman Tom Sleigh provided valuable bonus points for Bucknell, which has won three straight matches for the first time since February 2011. The third annual Grapple at the Garden took place at Madison Square Garden and featured 14 of the top college wrestling teams in the country. This was Bucknell’s second appearance at the prestigious event, following a loss to Iowa in 2012. The Bison will now be idle until a Jan. 4 dual match at Michigan State, the alma mater of Bucknell head coach Dan Wirnsberger. Match 1: Bucknell 33, Davidson 6 125: Paul Petrov (B) wins by forfeit 133: Grim Gonzalez (B) dec. Anthony Elias (D), 6-1. 141: Collin Boylan (B) dec. James McCord (D), 6-1. 149: Victor Lopez (B) maj. dec. Kevin Birmingham (D), 13-0. 157: Logan Kerin (B) maj. dec. Alex Palinsky (D), 15-6. 165: Robert Schlitt (B) maj. dec. Patrick Devlin (D), 14-4. 174: Nathaniel Powers (D) dec. Rory Bonner (B), 9-6. 184: Scott Patrick (D) dec. Tom Sleigh (B), 9-6. 197: Tyler Lyster (B) dec. Ian Solcz (D), 3-0. 285: Joe Stolfi (B) pinned Ed Isola (D), 2:07. Match 2: Bucknell 25, Hofstra 15 125: Paul Petrov (B) wins by forfeit 133: Kyle Krasavage (H) dec. Grim Gonzalez (B), 12-5. 141: Jamel Hudson (H) pinned Collin Boylan (B), 1:39. 149: Victor Lopez (B) dec. Cody Ruggirello (H), 3-2. 157: Jahlani Callender (H) dec. Rustin Barrick (B), 3-2. 165: Robert Schlitt (B) pinned Nick Terdick (H), 1:16. 174: Frank Affronti (H) dec. Rory Bonner (B), 2-1. 184: Tom Sleigh (B) maj. dec. Jermaine John (H), 11-0. 197: Tyler Lyster (B) dec. Mike Oxley (H), 3-0. 285: Joe Stolfi (B) dec. Mike Hughes (H), 9-3.

Reno, Nev. -- Oregon State junior 133-pounder Joey Palmer won the lone individual title and the Beavers tied Stanford for second place behind Wyoming on Sunday at the Reno Tournament of Champions. Palmer went 5-0 for the 17th-ranked Beavers to take home the top prize in his weight class. He defeated Jade Rauser of Utah Valley State 6-4 in sudden victory in the title bout. Seniors Alex Elder (157) and Taylor Meeks (184) and redshirt freshman Cody Crawford (197) went 4-1 and placed second. Redshirt freshman Jordan Henrickson (149) placed third and junior Seth Thomas (165) and redshirt freshman Jack Hathaway (133) took fifth. Freshman Ronnie Bresser (125) placed sixth after an injury kept him out of the consolation rounds following a loss in the semifinals. The Beavers finished just behind Wyoming; final team scores were not available. The teams meet again in Laramie on Feb. 13, 2015. OSU (3-0, 2-0 Pac-12) will compete at the Aloha Open in Honolulu on Dec. 30 before taking a short break. It resumes Pac-12 action on Jan. 10 with a home dual against Stanford. For more on the wrestling team, follow the club’s official Twitter account at Twitter.com/OSU_Wrestling or by Facebook at Facebook.com/OregonStateWrestling.

RENO, Nev. -- For only the second time in program history, the University of Wyoming wrestling program won the team title in the Reno Tournament of Champions on Sunday. Thanks to seven place-winners, Wyoming racked up 134 points to outdistance Stanford and Oregon State, each of which tallied 102.5 points. UW's other team title in the event came in 2010. "I told the guys in a tournament, every coach evaluates it the same way - you look at the good and bad," UW head coach Mark Branch said. "I will say I was surprised at our margin of victory. I thought we were competing enough to be in it, but after seeing the final scores, you just see how tough of a tournament it was. "We're really excited to end the semester this way. We wanted to come in and compete and it's a good victory for our team." Senior Tyler Cox made it three-straight RTOC crowns, helping the Pokes to their first-place finish. He went 5-0 and upended 12th-ranked Evan Silver of Stanford in the title bout, 3-1. He now has 101 victories, good for No. 14 in UW history in career wins. Senior Shane Woods earned his first Reno crown after going 5-0 with three major decisions at 197 pounds. "They both wrestled very smart and they managed their matches well," Branch said of Cox and Woods. "They weren't blowing guys out of the water, but they were very much in control. Every weight had some good kids. All the winners had to really earn it." At 165 pounds, senior Dakota Friesth was 4-1 to finish second. He placed third in 2013. Senior Andy McCulley ended up second at 174 pounds, finishing as the runner-up for the third-straight season. He dropped a 3-1 decision to No. 10 Cody Walters of Ohio, surrendering a takedown with less than 30 seconds left. Other standouts for UW included sophomores Benjamin Stroh and Jake Elliott. Stroh was third at 184 pounds, going 5-1 with two falls. He placed after winning the event in 2013. Elliott placed fourth at 149 pounds, winning six bouts with one major decision. Junior Tanner Harms was 5-2, including two pins, at heavyweight to place fifth. The Pokes have a bit of a break before the next competition, as they'll travel to Chattanooga, Tenn., for the two-day Southern Scuffle tournament. Action begins Jan. 1 and runs through Jan. 2.

RENO, Nev. – Oklahoma State’s wrestling team finished fourth at the Reno Tournament of Champions on Sunday with three wrestlers taking home individual tournament titles and sophomore Nolan Boyd taking home the Outstanding Wrestler honor. “I think overall with 23 guys wrestling, you have good, bad and ugly,” coach John Smith said. “I felt like the way we ended with three champs and the way we won those matches really gave me a good feeling. We had some guys help themselves this weekend. I was a little disappointed that we didn’t place at 197 pounds and we had three guys in the weight class. There’s a lot more good than bad and we’ll take it for now.” Making it to the finals and earning titles was Dean Heil (141), Anthony Collica (157) and Nolan Boyd (184). Heil handled each of his opponents leading up to the finals, giving up only 3-4 points per match. He faced Isaiah Locsin of Stanford in the 141-pound final, where Locsin struck first with two takedowns, but Heil only allowed the Cardinal two more points throughout the match as he took control of the bout. By the end of the first period, Heil notched two takedowns of his own to lead, 6-5, entering the second period. The Cowboy notched two more takedowns, an escape and a riding time to take the title at 141 pounds, 12-6. “I didn't open the match up the way I wanted,” Heil said. “But once I got my first takedown I knew he couldn't hang with me on my feet. It was a good win. I’m glad I toughed it out through the injury, but I shouldn't be giving up takedowns like that, especially two of them.” At 157 pounds, 16th-ranked Collica tallied a major decision and a technical fall, respectively, to start off the tournament. Collica went head-to-head with Alex Elder of Oregon State in the finals. Elder went on the board first with a quick takedown in the first. The two battled it out to the end of regulation, where the score was tied, 4-4. With no takedown scored in the sudden victory period, the match went to two 30-second tiebreaker periods. Elder started on bottom first and scored an escape in nine seconds, but Collica scored a takedown in the final seconds of the period to take a 6-5 advantage into the second half of the tiebreaker. Collica got the escape and held off Elder to earn the 157-pound title, 7-5. “I was in a tough match,” Collica said. “I had to stay focused and try to tough it out to get the win.” Boyd earned his way to the finals with two falls, one of which came over No. 19 Ben Stroh of Wyoming. Boyd, the No. 2 seed, faced top-seeded and fifth-ranked Taylor Meeks of Oregon State in the finals. The Cowboy snatched a quick takedown in the first period and rode out the Beaver for more than 2:50. Boyd reversed Meeks to start the second and kept dominating from there, tallying two additional takedowns and a riding time point to win, 9-3. “I’m glad I got the win,” Boyd said. “I just can’t be happy with it. This wasn’t my end goal. I have bigger ones. I need to use this as a stepping stone.” Four other Cowboys placed, including fourth-place finishes from Gary Wayne Harding (133), Davey Dolan (141) and Jordan Rogers (174). True freshman Mike Magaldo finished fifth at 141 pounds. Also representing the Cowboys was Austin Miller and Connor Cline (125), Kyle Garcia and Brian Crutchmer (133), Dusty Hone (141), Michael Martin, Tyler Mann and Jonce Blaylock (149), Chris Koo (157), Chandler Rogers and Ryan Blees (165), Jordan Rogers (174), Luke Bean and Preston Weigel (197) and Ethan Driver (285). Oklahoma State returns to action on Jan. 1-2, when the squad competes at the Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, Tenn.

NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Rob Koll became the ninth coach in Cornell athletics history to reach 250 career wins in their sport by sweeping two duals at the Grapple at the Garden on Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden. The Big Red rallied from an early deficit for a 23-14 win over No. 12 Edinboro, then won the first nine matches en route to a 35-4 triumph over Northern Iowa. The Big Red improved to 6-0 on the season. Nahshon Garrett defeated Kory Mines (Photo/Juan Garcia)Nahshon Garrett controlled his match against Kory Mines, but needing two takedowns in the final 45 seconds to pick up the major, could only pick up one in the final 15 seconds. AJ Schopp and Mitchell Port put Edinboro in position to win the dual with dominant wins at 133 and 141. Schopp scored 12 points on turns in the second period after it looked as though Bricker Dixon was the aggressor on their feet in the first. Schopp continued to rack up points to earn five points. Port then pinned Ryan Dunphy a minute into the second period to totally steal momentum and gave the Fighting Scots an 11-3 lead in the dual. In the feature match of the morning, No. 3 Dave Habat was able to use a locking hands call against No. 6 Chris Villalonga and a late reversal to rally for a 5-3 victory. Cornell got itself back into the match thanks to a late Craig Eifert takedown that gave him a 6-4 victory over Kasey Davis and was squarely back in it after Dylan Palacio dominated in his first match back in 2014, using takedown after takedown to get into the winner's circle with a 13-4 triumph over Casey Fuller. Duke Pickett tied the dual at 14-14 with a major decision victory at 174 pounds, taking a 13-2 win over Zach Towers to lead him into a big matchup for Gabe Dean against Vic Avery at 184. Dean, who dropped two matches at the Las Vegas Invitational and had been defeated twice in his career by Avery, got back to his winning ways with a takedown in sudden victory for the 6-4 decision. Dean extended Cornell's match win streak to four and gave the Big Red its first lead in the dual since 125. Cornell ended the dual with six consecutive victories, with Jace Bennett shutting out Vince Pickett, 5-0, at 197 and Jacob Aiken-Phillips holding on for a 9-8 victory over Warren Bosch at heavyweight. The second dual had none of the drama of the first, as the Big Red won its first nine bouts en route to a 35-4 victory over perennial power Northern Iowa. The highlight was a top 10 matchup for Nahshon Garrett, who controlled the match throughout on his way to a 6-2 victory over No. 6 Dylan Peters. Gabe Dean continued to get back on track with a second period fall over Cody Caldwell, and Nick Arujau earned a tech fall at 141 over Jake Hodges, running the score up to 15-0 in the second period. The Big Red had clinched the dual after Duke Pickett's 4-1 win over Curt Maas, handing Koll his 250th victory. #3 Cornell 23, #12 Edinboro 14 125: #2 Nahshon Garrett (C) won by decision over Kory Mines (E), 8-1 133: #1 AJ Schopp (E) won by tech fall over Bricker Dixon (C), 17-0 141: #2 Mitchell Port (E) won by fall over Ryan Dunphy (C), 4:05 149: #3 Dave Habat (E) won by decision over #6 Chris Villalonga, 5-3 157: Craig Eifert (C) won by decision over Kasey Davis (E), 6-4 165: #6 Dylan Palacio (C) won by major decision over Casey Fuller (E), 13-4 174: Duke Pickett (C) won by major decision over Zach Towers (E), 13-2 184: #7 Gabe Dean (C) won by decision over #14 Vic Avery (E), 6-4 (sv1) 197: #18 Jace Bennett (C) won by decision over Vince Pickett (E), 5-0 285: Jacob Aiken-Phillips (C) won by decision over Warren Bosch (E), 9-8 Cornell 35, Northern Iowa 4 125: #2 Nahshon Garrett won by decision over #6 Dylan Peters (UNI), 6-2 133: Bricker Dixon (C) won by decision over Leighton Gaul (UNI), 8-2 141: Nick Arujau (C) won by tech fall over Jake Hodges (UNI), 15-0 149: #6 Chris Villalonga (C) won by decision over Gunnar Wolfensperger (UNI), 4-0 157: Craig Eifert (C) won by decision over Jarrett Jensen (UNI), 6-4 165: #6 Dylan Palacio (C) won by forfeit 174: Duke Pickett (C) won by decision over Curt Maas (UNI), 4-1 184: #7 Gabe Dean (C) won by fall over Cody Caldwell (UNI), 4:00 197: #18 Jace Bennett (C) won by decision over Basil Minto (UNI), 7-0 285: Blaize Cabell (UNI) won by major decision over Jacob Aiken-Phillips (C), 15-5

Live Blog Grapple at the Garden

Grapple at the Garden returns to Madison Square Garden this Sunday. The third annual event features elementary school, middle school high school and college wrestling. Also at the event a collection of fighters and international level grapplers will represent Team Joe Warren and Team Renzo Gracie in a dual meet. In the main two bouts, U.S. wrestlers Tervel Dlagnev and Kyle Dake will face off against highly ranked international opposition for Global Wrestling Championship titles. The following matches will be available on pay per view Rollie Peterkin vs. Stephen Abas Abas retired from competitive wrestling in 2008, but he has competed sporadically in these types of events. The three-time NCAA champion at Fresno State holds a silver medal that he won at the 2004 Olympic Games. Abas does hold a 3-0 record as a professional MMA fighter, but he has mostly settled into a coaching role at this point. Peterkin wrestled collegiately at the University of Pennsylvania. He qualified for the NCAA tournament three times but was never able to achieve All-American status. Peterkin recently left a career on Wall Street to embark on an MMA run (you can read his blog about it here). He holds a 3-0 record as a professional with all his bouts coming under the Inka FC banner. Despite being mostly retired, Abas will still bring skill, experience and athletic advantages to the mat. This match will be pretty much one sided. Joe Warren vs. Scott Jorgensen Warren's MMA career appeared to nearing the end after back-to-back losses. However, since then, he has won five fights in a row and claimed the Bellator bantamweight title. Before ever fighting, Warren won the Pan American Championships, World Cup and World Championships in Greco-Roman. While mostly known for his MMA career that saw him fight for the first ever UFC bantamweight title, Jorgensen made some noise of the mats as well. During his career at Boise State, he claimed three Pac-10 titles and continued to work with the team after graduation. This match offers a rare Bellator vs. UFC opportunity. These two are actually friends and have trained together in the past. On paper Warren is the more accomplished wrestler. Plus, he seems to have taken less of a physical toll over the course of his career. Warren should prevail, but do not be shocked by a close affair between competitors who know each other quite well. Shawn Bunch vs. Damacio Page Bunch continued wrestling after his two-time All American career at Edinboro. He wrestled extensively on the international circuit and represented the U.S. at the 2009 World Championships. In 2012, Bunch signed with Bellator. So far, he has gone 3-1 in the promotion. Page wrestled collegiately at Cerritos College. He has been fighting professionally since 2005. He went 3-1 under the WEC banner between 2008-2009. The Greg Jackson protege recently got back on track with three-straight victories for Legacy FC. Over the course of his MMA career, Page has struggled against better wrestlers. On the mats, Bunch will be a clear favorite. He should have very little trouble getting into his offense. This one might end with a fall. Jordan Oliver vs. Frank Molinaro Oliver finished his career at Oklahoma State with a pair of NCAA titles and four All-American seasons. He has now staked a claim as a regular on the 65 kilos freestyle Olympic ladder. In 2014, he came up short of making the U.S. world team as he fell in the trials finale to Brent Metcalf. Molinaro wrestled for Cael Sanderson at Penn State. He finished his career with an undefeated season and a national title his senior year. Like Oliver, he has dedicated himself to securing a spot on the 2016 Olympic team. Earlier this year, he won the Dave Schultz Memorial International. These two narrowly missed wrestling at both the U.S. Open and World Team Trials. Oliver has to be the favorite here. His hyper-offensive style translates much better to freestyle than the grinding domination of Molinaro. However, this will most likely not be the last time these two face off. Gray Maynard vs. Ozzy Dugulubgov Before transitioning to MMA, Maynard was a three-time All-American at Michigan State. He was also teammates with fellow UFC fighter Rashad Evans. The former lightweight title challenger seems determined to return to his wrestling roots as he recently competed in the Flo Premiere League as well. Despite being from the North Caucasus region like Khabib Nurmagomedov and Rustam Khailbov, Dugulubgov is not a wrestler. He comes from mostly a taekwondo background. He signed with World Series of Fighting in 2013 and has gone 3-1 for the promotion. However, his lone defeat under the WSOF banner came against former Boise State wrestler Jonathan Nunez. That is probably not a good sign here. Maynard has not looked his best during recent fights. However, those defeats are mostly about his ability to take a punch at this point in his career. Maynard looked great beating fellow fighter Dennis Bermudez 18-9 at FPL. He should be equally dominant here. Brennan Ward vs. Igor Gracie Ward was a Division III All-American for Johnson & Wales University. In 2013, he won an eight-man Bellator tournament to earn a shot at then-middleweight Alexander Shlemenko, but he was unable to claim the belt. Overall, he holds a 9-3 MMA record. Renzo Gracie's cousin is a two-time medalist at the Mundials (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championships). He has also won medals at the Brazilian Nationals and Pan American Championships. Gracie is 5-4 as an MMA fighter having fought for Strikeforce, Bellator and WSOF. Gracie has struggle in MMA when facing physically imposing opposition. Ward should be able to close the distance and control this match in the clinch. Darryl Christian vs. Gregor Gracie Christian was a two-time U.S. National Champion in Greco-Roman. He wrestled collegiately for the now defunct University of Oregon team. He is still active as a wrestling trainer for MMA fighters such as B.J. Penn. Gracie competed extensively in BJJ at the lower belt levels. Since moving up to the black belt level, he did win a bronze medal at the 2009 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships. In MMA, he has competed in One FC and WSOF and amassed a 7-4 record. Obviously Gracie is much more of a grappler than a wrestler. However, he has shown off rather impressive takedowns in some of his submission matches. Plus, age will almost certainly be a factor for Christian. Expect Gracie to pull off a mild upset here. Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal vs. Rolles Gracie Lawal was a regular on the Olympic ladder before transitioning to MMA. On the mats, he was a four-time U.S. National Champion. In 2010, Lawal upset Gegard Mousasi for the Strikeforce light heavyweight title. He currently competes for Bellator and is coming off back-to-back victories. Gracie finished second at the 2007 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships. He is also a three-time Pan American Champion. The UFC veteran holds an 8-3 record in MMA. He recently fought Karol Bedorf for the KSW heavyweight title, but he could not wrestle the belt away. This one might turn into one of the most lopsided scores of the night. Lawal is an extremely accomplished and skilled wrestler. Gracie might be able to hold his own early, but eventually the onslaught will overtake him. Lawal seems to finally be rounding back into top form after a series of devastating injuries. Predicted Final Dual Score: Team Warren 6 over Team Gracie 2 Global Wrestling Championships Freestyle International Heavyweight Title Tervel Dlagnev (c) vs. Khadzhimurat Gatsalov Dlagnev has been a regular on U.S. world teams for years. During his collegiate days, he was a two-time Division II All-American at Nebraska Kearney. On the international level, he has won a pair of bronzes at the World Championships. He recently defeated Tyrell Fortune for the Inaugural GWC heavyweight championship. Gatsalov is five-time world champion for Russia. He won his first four titles at 96 kilos before moving up to heavyweight. He also took gold at the 2004 Olympics. He has recently been helping former opponent and U.S. Olympian Daniel Cormier prepare for his UFC title bout with Jon Jones. Gatsalov defeated Cormier at the 2004 games. Both wrestlers finished with bronze medals at the 2014 World Championships. As previously stated Gatsalov has been in the states, so he is away from his normal training camp. Dlagnev will be the bigger wrestler. Expect the American to hold onto his belt with an upset of the former world champ. Global Wrestling Championships Greco-Roman Welterweight Title Kyle Dake vs. Arsen Julfalakyan Arsen Julfalakyan won a Greco-Roman World title in 2013 (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Dake will compete in Greco-Roman on the senior level for the first time. He was a member of the 2008 junior world team. Collegiately at Cornell, Dake become one of only three men to capture four NCAA Division I titles. Following his senior season, he was awarded the Dan Hodge Trophy. Julfalakyan had already won three world medals for Armenia before finally breaking through winning the 2014 World Championships. He had also previously taken silver at the 2012 Olympics. In the 2014 finale, he bested Neven Zugaj of Croatia. Stepping up against a reigning world champion in a foreign style is daring but probably not the smartest thing in the world. Dake shows good stance and base on the feet, but Greco nearly a different sport. Look for Julfalakyan to send the New York fans home unhappy.

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- Redshirt freshman Newton Smerchek pinned Northern Illinois' Arthur Bunce just 1:06 into the heavyweight match, securing Central Michigan a 21-12 dual meet victory over the visiting Huskies on Saturday afternoon in McGuirk Arena. "Newton has been a pinner all his life," said CMU head coach Tom Borrelli. "He is trying to learn to be more of a tactician or learn how to win a match by points or a close match. But he has always been a pinner." CMU took six of the 10 matches and its four losses came by only a combined 11 points. "We are trying to learn how to win," said Borrelli. "It's good to win because we are real young. For a lot of these guys, it's their first experiences at this. That was an important victory." It's not going to be easy for us this year, but I think we are getting better. I am encouraged by some things I see." CMU set an aggressive tone by jumping out to early leads in most of the matches, something with which Borrelli was pleased. But holding that edge is an aspect that needs improvement. "In spots (I liked our aggression). I felt like we were the aggressor most of time. We were on guys legs. We are just not real good at finishing yet. We aren't strong enough. Our kids just aren't well developed enough yet." Zach Horan, CMU's lone active nationally-ranked wrestler, remained undefeated in MAC competition, downing NIU's Tyler Argue, 8-3, at 141 pounds. He moved to 5-2 overall for the season. Freshman 133-pounder Carter Ballinger, making his first appearance in a dual meet after building a 6-3 mark in tournament competition, clinched CMU's first win of day, topping Danny Carlson, 10-5. At 174, Jordan Ellingwood notched a late come-from-behind win. Down 4-3 but with over a minute of riding time accrued, the redshirt freshman escaped with just seconds remaining in the third period to claim the 5-4 victory and three points for CMU. The team win also secured a 2-0 start to the MAC season for the Chippewas. "It's where we want to be," said Borrelli. "We are heading into a break on a positive note." The Chippewas will be back in action after the New Year, taking part in the annual Southern Scuffle on Jan. 1-2. Hosted by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, 12 of the nation's top 25 teams will participate in the prestigious two-day event. CMU returns to dual meet and MAC competition on January 10 at Ohio. Results: 125: Derek Elmore (NIU) dec. Brent Fleetwood (CMU), 1-0; NIU, 3-0 133: Carter Ballinger (CMU) dec. Danny Carlson (NIU), 10-5; CMU-NIU, 3-3 141: Zach Horan (CMU) dec. Tyler Argue (NIU), 8-3; CMU, 6-3 149: Colin Heffernan (CMU) dec. Gabe Morse, 5-2; CMU, 9-3 157: Andrew Morse (NIU) dec. Malcolm Martin (CMU), 12-10 (SV); CMU, 9-6 165: Shaun'Quae McMurtry (NIU) dec. Jordan Wohlfert (CMU), 8-4; CMU-NIU, 9-9 174: Jordan Ellingwood (CMU) dec. Trace Engelkes (NIU), 5-4; CMU, 12-9 184: CJ Brucki (CMU) dec. Quinton Rosser (NIU), 9-4; CMU, 15-9 197: Shawn Scott (NIU) dec. Jackson Lewis (CMU), 6-3; CMU, 15-12 285: Newton Smerchek (CMU) fall Arthur Bunce (NIU), 1:06; CMU, 21-12

NORFOLK, Va. -- 19th-ranked Old Dominion Wrestling defeated the University of Tennessee Chattanooga Saturday afternoon by a score of 25-12. The Monarchs are now 3-2 in dual action on the season. In the first match of the day, No. 11 Tristan Warner (165lbs) won with a pin in just 1:30 over Garrett Alexander, earning six points for the Monarchs. Warner is now 9-0 on the year and has won all four of his dual matches by major decision or pin. No. 3 Jack Dechow (184lbs) won his matchup against John Lampe in sudden victory. At the end of the first period, Dechow was down 2-1 and chose to start down. He quickly escaped Lampe’s hold to tie the score at 2-2 going into the third period. Lampe chose down to start the third and escaped Dechow’s grasp. Dechow quickly took down Lampe for two points to only have Lampe escape to bring the score four all at the end of three periods going into sudden victory. In sudden victory, Dechow got hold of Lampe for a takedown to win the match. No. 16 Brandon Jeske recorded the second fall of the day, taking down No. 19 Sean Boyle in 5:58. Jeske was awarded one point early in the first period due to a technical violation on Boyle. Boyle took the lead in the second with a reversal (2-1) and took that advantage into the third period. Boyle was hit with an illegal motion call, which tied the score at 2-2 in the final period. Jeske took the lead back with a reversal (4-2) and recorded the pin at 5:58. He is now 3-2 on the season. At the 149 lbs. matchup, No. 10 Lenny Richardson won in a major decision scoring 14 points to one against No. 16 Shawn Greevy. Richardson started the match with a takedown and a two-point nearfall, but Greevy escaped to knot the score at 4-1 at the end of the first period. Richardson continued to shine, starting the second period with a three-point nearfall (7-1) and another two-point nearfall to end the second with a 9-1 advantage. In the final seconds of the third period, Richardson recorded a takedown and third two-point nearfall to secure the 14-1 major decision victory. No. 9 Chris Mecate had a strong showing, winning by a 4-0 decision over Mike Pongracz. He started the match with a takedown, just seconds into the first period, followed by a two-point nearfall to hold a 4-0 advantage going into the second period. No one scored in the second and third periods, as Mecate held on to the 4-0 decision. TC Warner claimed a 2-1 decision over Austin Sams in the final match of the day to secure the 25-12 win for ODU. The first and second periods proved to be scoreless, but Warner racked up 1:54 of riding time in the second period. Warner recorded an escape in the third and with his riding time, he claimed the 2-1 decision. The Monarchs will return to the mat on Dec. 29, as they travel to Evanston, Ill. to participate in the Midlands Championships. For an in depth look to everything Monarchs Wrestling, make sure to follow the team on Facebook, Twitter (@ODUWrestling) and YouTube and on ODUsports.com. Fans can join in on the conversation by using the hashtag #ODUWREST Results 165 – No. 11 Tristan Warner (ODU) over Garrett Alexander (UTC) (Fall 1:30) 174 – Levi Clemons (UTC) over Austin Coburn (ODU) (Dec 3-1) 184 – Jack Dechow (ODU) over John Lampe (UTC) (SV-1; 6-4) 197 – Scottie Boykin (UTC) over Kevin Beazley (ODU) (Dec 8-6) HWT – Jared Johnson (UTC) over Jacob Henderson (ODU) (Dec 2-0) 125 – Brandon Jeske (ODU) over Sean Boyle (UTC) (Fall 5:58) 133 – Nick Soto (UTC) over Michael Hayes (ODU) (Dec 8-3) 141 – Chris Mecate (ODU) over Mike Pongracz (UTC) (Dec 4-0) 149 – Lenny Richardson (ODU) over Shawn Greevy (UTC) (MD 14-1) 157 – TC Warner (ODU) over Austin Sams (UTC) (Dec 2-1)

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bucknell wrestling team won its final four bouts to come back from a 16-7 deficit to upset No. 10 Virginia by a 20-16 margin Saturday afternoon at Davis Gym. It was the first home match of the year for the Bison, who defeated a ranked opponent for the second straight year. The win marked Bucknell’s first victory over a top-10 opponent since the program was reinstated prior to the 2006-07 season and it was its third win against a ranked foe over that time span, joining a 2007 win over No. 24 Columbia and last November’s upset of No. 22 Lehigh. It was an impressive showing for the Bison as Virginia entered the day with a 5-1 record and had four ranked grapplers in its lineup. Bucknell, which had two ranked wrestlers, evened its record at 1-1 as it was competing in its first dual since early November at Pittsburgh. “174, 184 and 197 won us the dual,” commented Bison head coach Dan Wirnsberger following the win. “We found a way to win the tough points that we weren’t winning a few weeks ago. It is good to see the development and progress.” Bucknell entered the 174-pound bout trailing 16-7, but an impressive 7-2 decision by Rory Bonner over Greg Bacci started the comeback. Bonner led 4-2 late in the third period and proceeded to score a three-point near fall at the buzzer. Freshman Tom Sleigh scored all three of his points in a 3-1 decision in the final period against Tyler Askey at 184 pounds. The score was tied 1-1 entering the final 20 seconds when Sleigh scored a controversial takedown by barely keeping Askey in bounds. Sleigh improved to 13-8 on the season with the tight victory. “We like the effort we get from Tom,” said Wirnsberger. “He always gives max effort. This year hasn’t yet gone the way he wants it to, but his consistency and perseverance paid off today and he won the tough points.” Senior co-captain Tyler Lyster then tied the score at 16-16 with a thrilling overtime victory at 197 pounds. The score was tied 1-1 after a relatively uneventful regulation against 16th-ranked Zach Nye. After a scoreless sudden-victory period, Lyster scored a reversal and two-point near fall that brought the crowd to its feet in the first tiebreaker. Nye followed with a reversal of his own in the next tiebreaker, but Lyster held him off for the 5-3 victory as he posted his second career win over a ranked opponent. Two-time NCAA qualifier Joe Stolfi clinched the victory for the Bison with an 11-1 major decision over Collin Campbell at 285 pounds. “It is such a good feeling to go into the last match and not have the anxiety I feel earlier,” noted Wirnsberger about his confidence in Stolfi, who is now 14-5 this year and 76-34 in his career. Bucknell’s other victories came from Paul Petrov by major decision at 125 pounds and Rustin Barrick by decision at 157 pounds. Saturday’s match began a busy weekend for the Bison, who will compete at the Grapple at the Garden on Sunday. They will face Davidson (10 a.m.) and Hofstra (12 p.m.) at Madison Square Garden. “Every match matters and it is really important we keep focused heading into tomorrow,” said Wirnsberger. Results: 125: No. 16 Paul Petrov (B) maj. dec. Will Mason (V), 12-4. 133: No. 10 George DiCamillo (V) dec. Grim Gonzalez (B), 13-7. 141: No. 14 Joe Spisak (V) dec. Collin Boylan (B), 8-2. 149: Gus Sako (V) pinned Victor Lopez (B), 1:23. 157: Rustin Barrick (B) dec. Andrew Atkinson (V), 7-3. 165: No. 2 Nick Sulzer (V) maj. dec. Robert Schlitt (B), 18-6. 174: Rory Bonner (B) dec. Greg Bacci (V), 7-2. 184: Tom Sleigh (B) dec. Tyler Askey (V), 3-1. 197: Tyler Lyster (B) dec. No. 16 Zach Nye (V), 5-3 (tb1) 285: No. 19 Joe Stolfi (B) dec. Collin Campbell (V), 11-1.

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- No. 5 Mizzou wrestling improved to 12-0 this season after sweeping a trio of duals Friday afternoon at Mizzou Arena. The 12-0 record to begin the 2014-15 season marks the best start during head coach Brian Smith's tenure in Columbia, Mo., topping the 11-0 start to the 2008-09 season. The Tigers began the day with a 26-14 win over MAC opponent Kent State, and followed up with comfortable wins over South Dakota State, 31-6 and SIUE, 39-10. Mizzou's toughest dual Friday came against the Kent State Golden Flashes. Redshirt senior Alan Water set the tone early for the Tigers, claiming a 16-0 tech. fall over Drew Dickson. Mizzou's first win over a ranked opponent came via redshirt senior Drake Houdashelt, as he dominated No. 19 Michael DePalma for a 16-0 tech. fall win. After dropping the 165 pound matchup, redshirt senior Mikey England helped bring the momentum back to Mizzou's side with a big fall (3:51) over No. 13 Caleb Marsh. The Tigers wouldn't let go of the momentum thereafter and walked away with the 26-14 dual victory. The final two matchups of the day against South Dakota State and SIUE were controlled early and often. Against the Jackrabbits, sophomores Joey Lavallee and J'den Cox tallied wins against ranked foes with a 4-2 decision over No. 13 Cody Pack and 7-4 decision over No. 15 Nate Rosert, respectively. Finally, against the SIUE Cougars, Mizzou dominated with victories in six-of-eight matches. Waters, redshirt junior Le'Roy Barnes, redshirt senior Ty Prazma, and Cox all recorded pins in their respective matches. Up next for the Tigers is a trip to Chattanooga, Tenn. from Jan. 1-2 for the 2015 Southern Scuffle. Mizzou's next dual takes place in Ithaca, N.Y. on Jan. 10 for a Top-5 showdown against No. 3 Cornell. Match-By-Match Results vs. Kent State 125: No. 3 Alan Waters (Mizzou) over Drew Dickson (Kent State) via Tech. Fall, 16-0 133: No. 14 Mackenzie McGuire (Kent State) over No. 20 Matt Manley (Mizzou) via Dec., 3-0 141: No. 8 Lavion Mayes (Mizzou) over Tyler Small (Kent State) via Dec., 5-2 149: No. 4 Drake Houdashelt (Mizzou) over No. 19 Michael DePalma (Kent State) via Tech. Fall, 16-0 157: No. 3 Ian Miller (Kent State) over No. 11 Joey Lavallee (Mizzou) via Dec., 3-1 (SV1) 165: Tyler Buckwalter (Kent State) over Cody Johnston (Mizzou) via Dec., 9-7 174: Mikey England (Mizzou) over No. 13 Caleb Marsh (Kent State) via Fall 3:51 184: No. 9 Willie Miklus (Mizzou) over Cory Campbell (Kent State) via Major Decision, 21-7 197: No. 3 J'den Cox (Mizzou) over Cole Baxter (Kent State) via Decision, 9-3 HWT: Mimmo Lytle (Kent State) over (Mizzou) via Forfeit Match-By-Match Results vs. South Dakota State 125: No. 3 Alan Waters (Mizzou) over Isaac Andrade (SDSU) via Dec., 8-2 133: No. 20 Matt Manley (Mizzou) over Brance Simms (SDSU) via Dec., 6-2 141: No. 8 Lavion Mayes (Mizzou) over Alex Kocer (SDSU) via Dec., 9-8 149: No. 4 Drake Houdashelt (Mizzou) over Colin Holler (SDSU) via Dec., 10-3 157: No. 11 Joey Lavallee (Mizzou) over No. 13 Cody Pack (SDSU) via Dec., 4-2 (TB2) 165: Cody Johnston (Mizzou) over John Nething II (SDSU) via Dec., 7-1 174: Mikey England (Mizzou) over David Kocer (SDSU) via Major Decision, 12-2 184: No. 9 Willie Miklus over (Mizzou) Brady Ayers (SDSU) via Inj. 2:59 197: No. 3 J'den Cox (Mizzou) over No. 15 Nate Rotert (SDSU) via Dec., 7-4 HWT: J.J. Everard (SDSU) over (Mizzou) via Forfeit Match-By-Match Results vs. SIUE 125: No. 3 Alan Waters (Mizzou) over Kenny Baldridge (SIUE) via Fall, 0:57 133: Zach Synon (Mizzou) over Patrick Myers (SIUE) via Dec., 2-0 141: Le'Roy Barnes (Mizzou) over John Petrov (SIUE) via Fall, 2:44 149: No. 4 Drake Houdashelt (Mizzou) over Karsten Van Velsor (SIUE) via Tech. Fall, 16-0 157: No. 11 Joey Lavallee (Mizzou) over Erik Travers (SIUE) via Dec., 10-3 165: Ty Prazma (Mizzou) over Clayton Bass (SIUE) via Fall, 1:16 174: Jake Residori (SIUE) over Matt Lemanowicz (Mizzou) via Major Decision, 12-2 184: Johnny Eblen (Mizzou) over Jake Tindle (SIUE) via Major Decision, 15-4 197: No. 3 J'den Cox (Mizzou) over Matt McClimens via Fall, 3:20 HWT: Chris Johnson (SIUE) over (Mizzou) via Forfeit Check-in to MUTigers.com for the latest information on all things Mizzou wrestling. You can also find the Tigers on social media, by liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter (@MizzouWrestling).

Clarion, Pa. -- Clarion's Michael Pavasko, Daniel Sutherland, Ryan Darch and Evan Daley swept the final four bouts, rallying the Golden Eagles from a 19-4 deficit to defeat Bloomsburg by criteria decision 20-19 at Waldo S. Tippin Gymnasium on Friday night. Clarion raised its record to 1-8 overall and 1-2 in the EWL, while Bloomsburg dropped to 0-3 overall and 0-1 in the EWL. The win was also the first collegiate victory for new head coach Keith Ferraro. The dual meet finished in a 19-19 tie after Clarion heavyweight Evan Daley decisioned Dominic Carafagno 6-1. The NCAA Dual Meet tie breaker was called into action. The match was decided on criteria 3, which includes match points scored by both teams in all bouts, excluding pins. Clarion won the tie breaker 42-41. Trailing 19-4 after 165-pounds, Clarion started its winning comeback at 174 when junior Michael Pavasko came out and got the crowd involved right away. Waving to the crowd to get some noise started, he notched three quick takedowns and then cradled Casey Bearden and pinned him at 2:08 to bring the Eagle fans to their feet and Clarion to within 19-10. Daniel Sutherland kept the comeback going with a gritty 6-1 win over Brad Miccio at 184. Sutherland had a takedown in both the second and third periods to pace his win. Ryan Darch OT- Win at 197 Ryan Darch had the big win of the night, toping Michael Mirra 6-4 in sudden death overtime. Darch controlled the pace, and his early third period takedown gave him a 3-1 lead. Mirra scored a counter takedown with about 40-seconds left and Darch escaped to tie the match 4-4. Off the whistle in overtime Darch shot a quick double leg and scored the winning takedown (6-4), putting the Eagles in position to win. Daley opened the bout at 285 with a takedown and led 2-1 after the first period. Dominic Carafagno was called twice for stalling in the second period giving Daley another point, and then was called twice for stalling in the third period for two additional points. Carafagno, normally a 197-pounder, was trying to keep the match close. Daley had riding time, giving him the extra point and a 6-1 victory, which also proved to be the dual meet winning point. Clarion junior Hunter Jones won the opening bout at 125-pounds, posting a 12-1 major decision over Elliott Zackoski. He had two takedowns and three near falls to pace the win. After losses at 133, 141 and 149, Clarion's Evan DeLong lost a tough 8-6 sudden death overtime bout to Matt Hammerstone at 157. With Slade Horner out of the lineup at 165, backup Kyle Braddock lost 13-6 to Kurt Meske at 165 giving the Huskies a 19-4 lead. Setting up the Clarion comeback. CLARION NOTES: The Golden Eagles will participate in the Lock Haven Invitational on Dec. 29 …. The next dual meet will be against Ohio University on January 8 at Tippin Gym – 7pm. CLARION 20 BLOOMSBURG 19 125- Hunter Jones (CL) maj. Dec. Elliott Zackoski (BL) 12-1 133- Andy Schutz (BL) maj. Dec. Joel Rosko (CL) 11-0 141- Tanner Cahill (BL) wbf Sam Sherlock (CL) 5:26 149- Kevin Laubach (BL) dec. Brodie Zacherl (CL) 2-0 157- Matt Hammerstone (BL) dec. Evan DeLong (CL) 8-6 sv 165- Kurt Meske (BL) dec Kyle Braddock (CL) 13-6 174- Michael PAvasko (CL) wbf Casey Bearden (BL) 2:08 184- Daniel Sutherland (CL) dec. Brad Miccio (BL) 6-1 197- Ryan Darch (CL) dec. Michael Mirra (BL) 6-4 sv 285- Evan Daley (CL) dec. Dominic Carafagno (BL) 6-1