InterMat Staff

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team remained unbeaten on the year, pinning its way to a 42-3 win at Michigan State Friday night. Head coach Cael Sanderson's crew recorded four falls in the Big Ten road win. The dual began at 157, where junior All-American Dylan Alton (Mill Hall, Pa.), ranked No. 4 at 157, stayed unbeaten with a solid 8-3 win over Roger Wildmo. All-American David Taylor (St. Paris, Ohio), ranked No. 1 at 165, remained unbeaten as well with a first period pin of Bobby Nash. Taylor got the fall at the 1:53 mark, his 11th of the season and the 48th of his career. All-American Matt Brown (West Valley City, Utah), ranked No. 3 at 174, then dominated Spartan Nick Kaczanowski, rolling to an 18-3 technical fall at the 7:00 mark, including 4:48 in riding time. All-American Ed Ruth (Harrisburg, Pa.), ranked No. 2 at 184, matched Taylor with a first period pin of his own, getting a quick pin over John Rizqallah at the 0:38 mark. Sophomore Morgan McIntosh (Santa Ana, Calif.), ranked No. 3 at 197, continued Penn State's pin-parade, locking up a second period cradle to pin Nick McDiarmid at the 4:23 mark. The win sent Penn State into intermission with a 26-0 lead. Junior Nick Ruggear (Oxford, Pa.) got the nod at 285 and led into the third period over No. 7 Mike McClure. But McClure rallied late for the 5-1 decision, putting the Spartans on the board. At 125, Nittany Lion Jordan Conaway stepped in for second-ranked Nico Megaludis (Murrysville, Pa.). Megaludis did not make the weekend trip after being sick all week. Conaway, a national qualifier last year at 133, dominated MSU's Brenan Lyon, posting a 15-4 major decision. Red-shirt freshman Jimmy Gulibon (Latrobe, Pa.), ranked No. 16 at 133, followed with strong performance of his own in a 10-3 decision with over 2:00 in riding time. Undefeated true freshman Zain Retherford (Benton, Pa.), ranked No. 2 at 141, stayed unbeaten, pinning Brian Gibbs at the 4:42 mark. Junior Andrew Alton (Mill Hall, Pa.) took to the mat at 149 and closed out a dominant Penn State performance with a 9-5 victory over Spartan Nick Trimble. Penn State posted a lop-sided 23-2 edge in takedown and notched four pins, the most in a dual this year for the Nittany Lions. Taylor improved to 22-0 with the win, including 11 pins, six tech falls and five majors. His 48 pins are just five shy of Penn State's all-time record of 53. He is 122-3 all-time and is now eighth on Penn State's all-time wins list. Taylor also improved to 30-0 all-time in Big Ten duals and 51-0 all-time against Big Ten competition. Ruth is 21-1 with eight pins, seven tech falls and six majors. His 43 career pins is third all-time at Penn State. Ruth is 123-3 all-time at Penn State and is tied for sixth on the Lions' all-time wins list. He, like Taylor, is unbeaten against Big Ten foes, sporting a 30-0 Big Ten dual meet mark and a 52-0 mark all-time against Big Ten competition. Retherford remained unbeaten and moved to 22-0 with four pins, two tech falls and seven majors. Dylan Alton improved to 14-0 on the year with three pins and a major. Brown moved to 22-1 with six pins, three techs and seven majors and McIntosh improved to 21-2 with four pins and nine majors. Andrew Alton moved to 8-0 as well. Penn State moves to 12-0 on the year, 6-0 in Big Ten action, while Michigan State falls to 5-9, 0-6 B1G. The Nittany Lions visit Michigan on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 2. The Lions and Wolverines tangle at 3:30 p.m. live on the Big Ten Network in a match where the winner will clinch at least a share of the Big Ten regular season title. With the full season of Rec Hall duals sold out prior to the start of the campaign, a very limited number of standing room only tickets are available to a few of the remaining Rec Hall duals. People may purchase tickets by calling 1-800-NITTANY or by visiting the Penn State Athletics ticket office located in the BJC. Fans are encouraged to follow Penn State wrestling via twitter at www.twitter.com/pennstateWREST and on Penn State Wrestling's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pennstatewrestling. The 2013-14 Penn State Wrestling season is presented by The Family Clothesline. Results: 157: #4 Dylan Alton PSU dec. Roger Wildmo MSU, 8-3 -- 3-0 165: #1 David Taylor PSU pinned Bobby Nash MSU, WBF (1:53) -- 9-0 174: #3 Matt Brown PSU tech fall Nick Kaczanowski MSU, 18-3 (TF; 7:00) -- 14-0 184: #2 Ed Ruth PSU pinned John Rizqallah MSU, WBF (0:38) -- 20-0 197: #7 Morgan McIntosh PSU pinned Nick McDiarmid MSU, WBF (4:23) -- 26-0 285: #7 Mike McClure MSU dec. Nick Ruggear PSU, 5-1 -- 26-3 125: Jordan Conaway PSU maj. dec. Brenan Lyon MSU, 15-4 -- 30-3 133: #16 Jimmy Gulibon PSU dec. Garth Yenter MSU, 10-3 -- 33-3 141: #2 Zain Retherford PSU pinned Brian Gibbs MSU, WBF (4:42) -- 39-3 149: Andrew Alton PSU dec. Nick Trimble MSU, 9-5 -- 42-3 Attendance: 662 Records: Penn State 12-0, 6-0 B1G; Michigan State 5-9, 0-6 B1G Up Next for Penn State: at Michigan, Sunday, Feb. 2, 3:30 p.m. BOUT-BY-BOUT: 157: Junior Dylan Alton (Mill Hall, Pa.), ranked No. 4 at 157, faced off against Michigan State's Roger Wildmo. Alton scored quickly, taking Wildmo down at the 2:30 mark and maintaining control for :26 seconds. The Nittany Lion junior then battled Wildmo evenly for the rest of the period and carried the 2-1 lead into the middle stanza. Wildmo chose down to start the second period and quickly escaped to a 2-2 tie. Alton scored again, working around shoulder control for a takedown and a 4-2 lead with 1:25 on the clock. Alton maintained control long enough to work his riding time up to 1:02 before Wildmo escaped to a 4-3 score. Steadily working on his offense, Alton used a solid double leg to take Wildmo down on the edge of the mat with under :10 left and, after a short ride out, led 6-3 with 1:17 in time after two. Alton chose down to start the third period and escaped quickly to a 7-3 lead. Alton worked in on a high single and worked for a final takedown but Wildmo was able to kill the clock on the scramble. Alton posted the 8-3 win with 1:11 in riding time. 165: Top-ranked David Taylor (St. Paris, Ohio), unbeaten at 165, met MSU senior Bobby Nash at 165. Taylor scored quickly with a takedown just :06 into the bout. He let Nash loose and began working his offense again. Another quick takedown with shoulder control had Taylor taking Nash to his back for a five-point move and a 7-1 lead. Taylor cut Nash loose again and then quickly locked up a cradle on his next move, turning Nash to his back and getting the fall at the 1:53 mark. The pin was Taylor's 11th this season and the 48th of his career. 174: Junior Matt Brown (West Valley City, Utah), ranked No. 3 at 174, battled Spartan Nick Kaczanowski. Brown scored first, using a single leg to take a 2-1 lead and building up :27 in riding time before the Spartan escaped. The Lion junior quickly added a second takedown and led 4-1 with 1:30 left. Brown then built up over 2:00 in riding time with a bullish ride out to lead 4-1 with 2:09 in time after one. Brown chose down to start the second period and quickly escaped to a 5-1 lead. Brown added two quick takedowns and after the second wrapped up a cradle for three near fall points and a 12-2 lead after two. Kaczanowski chose down to start the final period and Brown already had the riding time point clinched. Brown steadily worked his way into another cradle, locking up the Spartan for three more back points and a 15-2 lead with :47 left on the clock. The Spartan escaped only to be taken down once more and the final takedown, plus the riding time point, gave Brown the 18-3 tech fall at the 7:00 mark with 4:48 riding time. 184: Second-ranked Ed Ruth (Harrisburg, Pa.) met Spartan junior John Rizqallah at 184. Ruth, like his teammates before him, scored quickly, taking Rizqallah down and immediately working in on a cradle. He locked Rizqallah up, turned him to his back and got the shoulders flat for a quick pin at the 0:38 mark. The pin was Ruth's eighth this year and the 43rd of his career. 197: Sophomore Morgan McIntosh (Santa Ana, Calif.), ranked No. 7 at 197, took on MSU's Nick McDiarmid. The duo battled evenly for the bulk of the first period with each McIntosh looking to set the tempo and McDiarmid holding steady on defense. With the first three minutes passing scoreless, McIntosh chose down to start the second period and quickly reversed McDiarmid to take a 2-0 lead just over :10 into the stanza. The Lion sophomore maintained control for over a minute before locking up a cradle. McIntosh adjusted once and got McDiarmid's shoulders flat for the fall at the 4:23 mark. 285: Junior Nick Ruggear (Oxford, Pa.) took to the mat at 285 to face No. 7 Mike McClure. Ruggear was making his season dual meet debut. Ruggear battled McClure evenly for the first minute-plus, staying solid on his feet and keeping the action in the center of the mat. Neither man found an offensive opening during the entirety of the opening period and action moved to the second tied 0-0. Ruggear chose down to start the second period and quickly escaped to a 1-0 lead. McClure shot low on a single but Ruggear was able to block off the move, step back and maintain his 1-0 lead at the :50 mark. Ruggear maintained his 1-0 lead into the third period. McClure chose down to start the third and, like Ruggear, quickly escaped, tying the match at 1-1. Ruggear was called for stalling and then countered a McClure shot, creating a scramble that ended with a McClure takedown and a 3-1 Spartan lead with 1:07 on the clock. A second Ruggear stall gave McClure a 4-1 lead and, with the ride-out and 1:10 riding time, McClure was able to post the 5-1 win. 125: Sophomore Jordan Conaway (Abbottstown, Pa.) stepped in at 125 for second-ranked Nico Megaludis (Murrysville, Pa.), who did not make the weekend trip due to sickness. Conaway took on Spartan senior Brenan Lyon at 125. Conaway wasted no time working in on a takedown, but Lyon was able to force a stalemate and keep the bout scoreless early. Conaway was relentless, however, working his way to a takedown and a 2-0 lead at the 1:40 mark. Conaway cut Lyon loose at the 1:00 mark and quickly took the Spartan down for a 4-1 lead. He then rode Lyon out and led 4-1 with 1:23 in time after one. Conaway chose down to start the second and quickly reversed Lyon for a 6-1 lead. The Lion sophomore put together another dominating ride, controlling the action and forcing Lyon into a stall warning before cutting him loose to a 6-2 score. Conaway fought off a late Lyon shot and rode that lead into the third period. Lyon chose down to start the third period and Conaway clinched the riding time point before turning Lyon for two near fall points. Leading 8-2, Conaway cut Lyon loose, looking for bonus points. Conaway blew through a high double, lifting Lyon off the mat and working him down for a takedown and a 10-4 lead with :24 left. Needing one more takedown to get a major, Conaway used a quick duck-under for the final takedown, turned him for two near fall points and with 3:09 in time, posted the 15-4 major. 133: Red-shirt freshman Jimmy Gulibon (Latrobe, Pa.), ranked No. 16 at 133, met MSU freshman Garth Yenter. Gulibon scored quickly notching a takedown in just :07 to lead 2-0 early. The Lion freshman put together a strong ride, building up 1:37 in time before cutting Yenter loose to a 2-1 score. Gulibon countered a slight Yenter shot, worked his way into control of a single leg and finished off the move with just :02 left for a 4-1 lead after the opening period. Gulibon chose down to start the second period and began looking for a chance to reverse the Spartan. Gulibon was steady on his mission and got the reversal with :45 left in the period to lead 6-1. He then controlled the action from the top position, keeping Yenter flat for the final seconds to lead 6-1 with 1:20 in time after two. Yenter chose down to start the third period but Gulibon once again controlled the action. With the riding time point clinched, Gulibon cut Yenter loose and began looking for a chance to score. Gulibon connected on a quick single, picked up the takedown and cut him loose with :09 left. Yenter was able to keep from giving up another takedown and Gulibon posted the strong 10-3 win with 2:15 in riding time. 141: True freshman Zain Retherford (Benton, Pa.), unbeaten and ranked No. 2 nationally at 141, battled Michigan State's Brian Gibbs. The duo battled evenly for the bulk of the first period until Retherford broke through for a takedown and a 2-0 lead with :27 on the clock. Retherford rode the Spartan out and led 2-0 after a short ride out. The Lion freshman chose down to start the second stanza and quickly reversed Gibbs to up his lead to 4-0. He turned Gibbs for two back points and reset himself with :32 on the clock. 149: Junior Andrew Alton (Mill Hall, Pa.) got the call at 149 and met Spartan Nick Trimble, who was second on the MSU roster with 18 wins coming into the match. The Lion junior gained control of Trimble's left ankle and worked his way for a takedown and a 2-0 lead just over a minute into the period. He then lifted Trimble off the mat and turned him to his back for two near fall points and a 4-0 lead. Trimble escaped with :35 on the clock to cut the lead to 4-1 after the opening three minutes. Alton chose down to start the second period but could not break free of a strong Trimble ride right away. The Lion junior broke out at the 1:00 mark and led 5-1. Alton used a fast low single to trip Trimble to the mat for another takedown and a 7-1 lead with :30 on the clock. Alton rode Trimble out to lead 7-1 with :42 in time after two. Trimble chose down to start the third, escaped, and was quickly taken down again by Alton. Alton cut Trimble loose and shot low, but Trimble countered for his own takedown to cut Alton's lead to 9-5. Trimble worked feverishly over the next minute to try and get back points but Alton was strong on defense and posted a 9-5 win to give Penn State the 42-3 dual meet victory.

The Ivan Yariguin Golden Grand Prix is known as the "toughest wrestling tournament in the world," and last week the tournament lived up to the hype with what I would argue is the most exciting wrestling the sport has ever seen. Some of that was the open nature of Russian wrestlers, and some of that was due to new rules. Whatever the reason, the tournament was three days of wrestling excitement. While in Krasnoyarsk to cover the tournament I was able to watch a few kids practice, spend time with wrestling golden boy Aaron Pico, and take deep swigs of Russian wrestling culture. There is plenty to note about Siberia. The bitter cold, surprisingly positive attitude of the inhabitants and frustration of Cyrillic all come to mind, but nothing made a larger impression on me than the relationships between coach and wrestler. We have the relationships between coach and wrestler wrong. We have it way, way wrong. First, let's jump back to last January. I was in India to write a piece on traditional Indian wrestling and gleefully donned my superhero shorts for the cameras and participated in a local tournament. It was fun and to repay my hosts for their efforts in helping me with my story I showed up to their akhara (wrestling gym) and showed their freestyle wrestlers some moves. Nothing incredible, just some tricky finishes and a crotch lift. In Indian tradition the guru (wrestling coach) who runs the akhara is given an amazing amount of deference by the wrestlers. They are the wrestler's everything. The guru at the gym asked the boys to all line up. Snap, done. He asks them to do 1000 pushups. They would stay all night. A total and complete level of obedience and more importantly, respect. To show that respect the athletes are to touch the feet of their guru upon seeing him. That's a far bend, so the tradition is now for wrestlers to simply tap below the knee of the guru. They do this with consistency. After showing moves, the wrestlers showed me the same respect. I was flattered, but at the time it was just a tiny anecdote for the notebook. Fast forward to April and I'm back in Delhi to cover the Asian Championships. I see a half-dozen of the wrestlers I met in January and they all hustle over to me and touch below my knee. A brief sign of respect. Maybe I didn't warrant it as much as their guru, but in their mind I showed them moves and I was known as a coach and to them that meant respect. Back to Siberia. The Russian system functions on a series of independent club programs. Each club has several coaches, and early on in a wrestlers development they will attach themselves to a coach. The coach will lead that wrestler their entire career. For Yariguin it was Dimitri Mindiashvili whose wrestling school in Krasnoyarsk was where the Siberian giant first learned to wrestle. Later it was the Saitiev brothers who joined Mindiashvili's club and heaped praise on their coach for his efforts and sacrifice. The kids in the Russian system are attached to their coaches, but unlike what we see in America where the credit is often given solely to the wrestler. In Russia the coach is often given much of the credit, and is considered the person to receive respect. The wrestler serves the will of his coach and will show graciousness in giving them much -- if not all -- the credit. In America you couldn't name me the coach most responsible for each NCAA champion's rise. The American system is segregated into a growth by school. The kids club coach hands the wrestler off to the high school coach, who then hands them off to the college coach, and maybe over to the national team coach. That's our system, it won't change, but the ethos of respect that is so prevalent in the Russian system could survive if we teach our wrestlers to be a touch more humble about who is responsible for their winnings. Coach Valentin Kalika and Aaron PicoAaron Pico is a good example of someone who eschews the traditional American system in favor of the Russian. His coach Valentin Kalika is the man who makes his success possible. Trust me, I've been around a lot of coaches and there are very few I've ever met who cares more for his athletes that Kalika. He's traveling the world teaching Pico how to wrestle. He gets video of EVERYTHING and spends inordinate amounts of time perfecting Pico's techniques. Kalika believes that Pico will be an Olympic champion and World champion. That's THEIR goal, and to be honest after spending time with Pico and Kalika that is a goal I think will be achieved in due time. Pico is still young and the American media (looks at self) has done a great job of making his success a story of physical genius and aptitude at a young age, but that's not the correct story. Pico is mature, focused and wildly talented, but it's Kalika, the Mindiashveli to Pico's Yariguin, who is the driving force behind his rise in talent level. He deserves much of the praise. Pico is his creation. As the Yariguin tournament opened the crowd was treated to a highlight film of Yariguin that was almost primarily about his relationship with Mindiashveli. As the program ended the crowd gave the coach a raucous standing ovation. We may never reach the point where our coaches receive the praise, but we should. The good coaches, the ones who are dedicated and teach moves rather than berate their kids like broke football coaches, deserve reverence for their patience and their expertise. Showing our youth wrestlers that expertise and success isn't a result of their own divine powers, but a result of the hard work their coaches put into their careers would teach them all to be a bite more humble and respectful when accepting accolades for their achievements. I'm likely in the minority, but I think there are more than a few coaches in America who deserve attention, respect and adoration on par with what is being given their athletes. They deserve something in return for their efforts. It doesn't have to be a car, or a house, or a book about their incredible coaching career. It can be something modest and subtle, a tap on the knee, a mention in the papers. It's about time we balance out the celebrity scale in wrestling and realize that it's not just the wrestlers who win championships, but the coaches as well. From Brian Smith at Mizzou to Jody Strittmatter at Young Guns, there are some coaches who deserve much more praise and adoration from fans, wrestlers and parents. To your questions ... Q: I feel that Cael Sanderson is not promoting the sport of wrestling in PA. He holds the home matches in Rec Hall that holds about 6,600 people. As a wrestling fan I feel the more people you can expose the sport to the better. Cael is cheating the people of PA and the wrestling world. What do you think? -- Frank B. Foley: The man was on a box of Wheaties! Bite your non-Olympic-gold-medalist tongue. That man is a saint! Sounds like you might be most interested in seeing Cael driving up the attendance records in Pennsylvania. He fills the 6,600 existing seats, but your question is why hasn't he moved arenas to increase ticket sales. First, don't be greedy. Second, there are several real advantages to wrestling in front of a sellout crowd. In addition to atmosphere, sellout crowds look great to the administration. For fans, the packed arena also creates a velvet-rope effect that drives up demand for attendance, which in turn generates higher ticket prices and revenue for the athletics department. Donors will also give more if they believe their money will get them preferred seating. Penn State isn't alone in their approach. Cornell could seat a few more people if they took more matches out of the Friedman Center, but they don't because of these, and other, added benefits. Bumping up to the higher seating capacity might work for a few matches, but you also risk losing the packed house advantage you enjoy and instead risk the echo effect. Coach Cael does a lot for the sport, and though it's appealing to bring the crowds over to the bigger stadium on a full-time basis, they just aren't there yet. Q: Coach Tom Ryan, Tommy Rowlands, and Coach Sanderson had a discussion on Twitter this week regarding the impact on in-season dual meets. To sum it up, Coach Ryan said dual meets don't really matter in regards to the post-season tournament, while Coach Sanderson said he felt each match is important based on seeding. Both sides have valid points, but I don't know if I like the idea that dual meets aren't taken as seriously by all coaches. As a fan, I want to see the best possible matchups, even if the team score isn't close. A marquee match between top wrestlers can make up for an otherwise so-so dual. How do you feel about the subject? -- Curt H. Foley: Though I recently came to accept the National Duals on principal, Terry Brands quickly challenged me on the details of the proposal and how it would be implemented. For me, all dual meets are subject to the pending question of the duals proposal, so this challenge affects my thoughts on current dual meets. Tom Ryan is correct. The current system doesn't value dual meets enough to consider them can't-lose events. If Ohio State wrestles backups and drops a dual meet to Purdue there is almost no repercussion on the team's chances to do well at the NCAA tournament. Coach Ryan can still qualify his thoroughbreds and walk away with their individual points at the NCAA tournament. The Purdue loss now means nothing. Fans understand that only certain dual meets matter to their program. Let's assume that I am a fan of the Virginia Cavaliers and I watch their progress this year. If the Cavaliers need to finish first or second in ACC dual meets to travel on to the NCAA team championships, I take great care to follow every single match of the season. As of now I catch the match updates on Twitter and watch the VT match, but in a world where every point matters and Coach Garland is even more cued into results, I'm watching every leg attack from each of their dual meets. No match is insignificant, which means fans WILL tune in. In some ways the potential of the dual team format reminds me of English Premier League. Though teams can't be demoted to different leagues, the idea that every point in every match matters keeps these teams focused, and the sport growing, through every match of the season. It is much too risky to take a match off, because the points you could acquire might prevent you from being relegated at the end of the season, or can help you win the cup. Every match is a match for the title. But Coach Brands is also correct. There are lots of details, many that I and others haven't fully sussed out, that need to be discussed and amended. We need to be careful with how we treat the NCAA Individual tournament, while also looking for opportunities to grow the sport. Q: Wondering if you might weigh in on the whole Agon/Ben Askren calling out Kyle Dake. It seems to be an obsession ... unless it's all some grand pro-rasslin' type scheme to generate more publicity for the organization. -- Ted M. Foley: Askren is one of the organization's founding members and still very popular among wrestling fans. Kyle Dake is one of the most talked-about wrestlers in the country. The calculation must be that at some point, with enough prodding and money laid out on the table, that Dake will accept the challenge and wrestle Askren. That's the calculation. Will it happen? I don't have any insight, but that fact that we're talking about this -- that I'm writing about this -- proves that Askren knows how to generate publicity. And that's not such a bad thing. Q: For the past several years, I get a bunch of wrestling fans together at a local sports bar to watch the NCAA Division I wrestling finals on TV. The trick is to get as many pumpkin pushing fans interested in what we are watching and of course to have a few. Each year we do a confidence pick for each weight class and top five team finish. Winner gets the traveling trophy. Any thoughts on how to make our individual bracket and team race challenge more interesting? -- Nick J. Foley: First, I fully endorse your celebration of libations during the NCAA wrestling tournament. A few cups of draught beer and a discussion of alternatives for singlets is an excellent at-the-bar remedy for the crushing boredom of a March Saturday night. There are several systems in play, all of which are complicated and difficult to describe online. We have a system where we are able to choose eight wrestlers at each weight class, and place them in order. We earn a variety of points for various tasks and keep them on an Excel spreadsheet. The scoring/rules: 3 points per AA 5 per correct position 8 per correct champ 5 per non-seeded AA Maybe this would help? Here at InterMat we also have a fun pick 'em contest that is free. Be sure to join that as well! Q: I just saw that Matt Lester (AA at OU) is going to grad school and wrestling his last semester at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, who is in their second year on a full Division I schedule. Having a guy like that around, who's been to the dance and been an AA before, could really help the confidence of a program going through that transition. Is there anyone else that you can think of that has recently transferred/been ineligible/coming off injury that we will see in the second half of the season who could make the podium (besides the Altons)? -- Sean M. Foley: Citadel's returning 141-pound All-American Undrakhbayar will be back in the lineup after a prolonged spat with the NCAA regarding eligibility. There is no use in hashing out the details, but trust me that Ugi was not treated with the type of respect he deserved. As for now, it doesn't matter. He's back in the lineup for the Bulldogs and joining Turtogotkh in a senior campaign that could end with two All-American finishes. Yariguin Highlights Q: I'm looking forward to seeing the freestyle season get under way, probably more so than the NCAAs, with the Ivan Yariguin Memorial getting started today, and regarded by many as the most prestigious tournament in the world. Why do you think it is that the U.S. is only sending one guy? Is the tournament too early in the season for our guys? Is it a strategic move on the part of the U.S.? Do you think it shows a lack of excitement on part of the U.S. team? I would think that winning gold at this tournament would be a quite an accomplishment. Would have liked to been following a big group of guys. -- Scott M. Foley: The tournament was awesome and like you I'm totally psyched for freestyle. One of the nice things about the Yariguin were the new rules. Eliminating the three-point move simplified the scoring and made it much less subjective. Wrestlers can no longer end a match with two scoring maneuvers from their feet to the back, which helps create insane scrambles instead of tight wrestling. Finally, the ten-point differential (with four-point moves) is a more accurate representation of technical superiority. Metcalf did well, but dropped a match to Romanov who he'd beaten twice previously. Bummer, but he will learn from the technical mistakes he made and improve. Don't tell anyone, but he's a very nice guy. Enjoyable company. The Americans had planned to send 4-6 guys but a variety of last-minute issues kept the guys from heading over. Maybe most entertaining was the rejection of one wrestler's Russian visa based on the condition of his passport! Keep an eye out for American competitors at next weekend's Golden Grand Prix of Paris and the following week's tourney in Istanbul. The big dogs are all coming out to play. Q: Did you and Brian Muir have a falling out, or has he gone in hiding to avoid some bookie by the name of Joey Knuckles? These are my two theories as to why there hasn't been a Back Points podcast in some time. Am I at least on the right track? -- Curt H. Foley: We both love doing the Back Points Podcast, but with my travel schedule and Muir committed to growing his hair, we haven't been able to do a weekly show this year. You're right to assume that he was attacked by a bookie named Joey Knuckles as I've never known anyone to be so bad at something for which they hold so much talent. Muir can make the best lines in the business, but when it comes down to choosing sides he's like an ATM for the opposition. The man pays my rent. Despite our time away from the set, I think we are going to do a big show for the conference tournament and another show for the NCAAs. Will keep you updated! COMMENT(S) OF THE WEEK By Chuck P. I was a bit surprised that Henry T., in his question about the four most dominant high school wrestlers, didn't include Ty Moore of North Allegheny High School in Pennsylvania. Moore was a four-time state champ and was easily as dominant -- or more -- than Kolat. If memory serves, his only loss was a DQ for an illegal slam over another swell wrestler named Tim Queen. Moore never achieved a great deal in college, but his high school record was remarkable. By James R. I was reading your column on InterMat, and thought I would mention that Dick Hutton was NCAA heavyweight champ in 1947, seeded No. 1. I looked in my History of College Wrestling by Jairus K. Hammond and they said in 1947 five freshmen won titles. Dick Hutton won titles in 1947, 1948 and 1950, losing on a referee's decision by the tiniest margin to Verne Gagne in 1949. Bill Nelson and Lowell Lang won three titles and were both injured during the 1948 seasons. Joe Scarpello placed four times, winning two titles and Dickie Hauser only won that one title in 1947 never recovering from an auto accident in 1948. Another note would be that freshmen were eligible to compete during the 1952 NCAA wrestling season also, but no freshman won a title that year, and they went back to having freshmen ineligible to compete in the season for 1953 and later.

BALDWIN CITY, Kan. -- The No. 19 ranked Baker University wrestling team sent its seniors off right with a 47-0 win over Central Baptist College on Thursday night inside the Collins Center and featured three victories by pin. Senior Alan Callahan won the first match of the night in an open 125-pound bout and earned six points for Baker. Then senior AJ Gassman earned a pin in 6:30 over CBC's Antonio Rivera in the 133-pound bout. Drew Harbinson earned a hard fought 6-0 decision over Travic Shelnutt in the 141- pound class and then Connor Middleton earned an open win in the 149-pound class. Aaron Seybold had the most impressive bout of the night with a pin of Austin Gonzlaez in the 157-pound match in just 14 seconds. Jakob Price followed that up with a pin in the 165-pound class over Matthew McKenna in just 1:30 and Bryant Guillen earned six points for Baker in a 174-pound open class. John Hambleton then won by major decision, 13-3, over Joel Deere in the 184-class. Senior Michael Faison had the crowd pumped with his 197-pound win over Ricky Tate, 3-0 and Beau Bennett closed things out with a 3-2 decision victory over John Lopez in the heavyweight match.

MOORHEAD, Minn. -- Driven by the strength of three pins, No.6-ranked Concordia beat Dickinson State 29-18 to set a school record for dual-meet wins in a single season. The Cobbers are now 13-4 on the season which breaks the old record of 12 victories set back in 2009-10. Concordia received pin falls from Jake Long, Jake Krogstad and Cody Kasprick to earn the 11-point victory. The Cobbers won the first two bouts of the night and then Long and Krogstad staked CC to a 23-3 lead. The Blue Hawks made the dual interesting by winning three straight matches to cut the lead to 23-18 but then Kasprick closed out the night with a pin fall at 285. The Cobbers won six of the 10 bouts against Dickinson State and five of those were of the "bonus point" variety. In addition to the three pins on the night, Concordia also registered a pair of major decisions. Gabe Foltz and No.5-ranked Jacoby Bergeron won back-to-back matches to start the night. Foltz fought through a bloody nose in his entire match at 125. He trailed 3-2 midway through the third period and then came up with a late takedown to earn a 4-3 victory. Bergeron controlled his match at 133 the entire three periods and claimed a 20-7 major decision win. The win improves Bergeron's record to 22-7 on the season. He leads the Cobbers in wins. Long wasted little time to come up with his pin at 149. He brought his opponent to the mat in the first 15 seconds and then put his shoulder on the mat at the 52-second mark. Long is now 20-7 on the year and is the fourth CC wrestler to reach the 20-win plateau. Kyle LeDuc had a major decision sandwiched between the pins by Long and Krogstad. LeDuc blanked his foe 10-0 to grab his 21st win of the season. Krogstad, who was wrestling in his first match since the middle of December, pinned his opponent at 2:55 to pick up his fourth pin of the season. After the Blue Hawks rattled off three straight wins to bring the deficit down to five points and keep the team outcome in the balance, Kasprick gave up the first two points in his bout at 285 and then exerted his will before finally gaining the pin at 6:30. It was Kasprick's third straight victory by pin and ups his season mark to 19-9. Concordia will step away from dual-meet competition to compete at the North Country Open hosted by St. John's on Saturday, Feb. 1 beginning at 9 a.m. Results: 125 – Gabe Foltz (CC) dec. Deshun Haynes (DSU); 4-3 (Concordia 3-0) 133 – Jacoby Bergeron (CC) maj. dec. Cade Coles (DSU); 20-7 (Concordia 7-0) 141 – Seth Ehlang (DSU) dec. Yonas Gebreab (CC); 7-6 (Concordia 7-3) 149 – Jake Long (CC) pin fall Garrrett Traylor (DSU); 0:52 (Concordia 13-3) 157 – Kyle LeDuc (CC) maj. dec. Sean Elkins (DSU); 10-0 (Concordia 17-3) 165 – Jake Krogstad (CC) pin fall Jon Morales (DSU); 2:55 (Concordia 23-3) 174 – Jon Solano (DSU) pin fall Jackson Barber (CC); 4:01 (Concordia 23-9) 184 – Lane Oversen (DSU) dec. Chris Harrison (CC); 10-8 (Concordia 23-12) 197 – Jesse Hellinger (DSU) pin fall Delson Saintal (CC); 2:45 (Concordia 23-18) 285 – Cody Kasprick (CC) pin fall Brian Klevis (DSU); 6:30 (Concordia 29-18) Match Notes: - Concordia is ranked 6th in the latest NWCA Division III poll. - #6 Concordia is now 13-4 in dual meets this season. - The 13 wins is a school record for most dual-meet wins in a season. - Dickinson State is now 5-9 in dual meets this season. - Concordia won 6 of the 10 individual bouts. - Concordia won 3 bouts by pin fall, 2 by major decision and 1 by decision. - Dickinson State won 2 bouts by pin fall and 2 by decision. - No.5-ranked Jacoby Bergeron from Concordia is now 22-7 on the year. - No.7-ranked Jake Long from Concordia is now 20-7 on the season - No.4-ranked Cody Kasprick from Concordia is now 19-9.

ALFRED, N.Y. -- Six Lycoming College wrestlers earned bonus points, including three freshmen winning by pin, to lead it to its 10th win of the season with a 44-0 rout of Alfred State in an Empire Collegiate Wrestling Conference dual at the Orvis Activities Center on Thursday night, Jan. 30. The Warriors (10-7 overall) reached 10 dual meet wins for the first time since 2011 and pitched its third shutout of the season. Freshman Seth Lansberry (Klingerstown, Pa./Line Mountain) picked up his 28th win of the year with a pin of Cody Marriott at the 3:25 mark in the 149-pound match. Freshman Nolan Barger (Clearfield, Pa./Clearfield Area) won his 22nd match in the 157-pound match, putting Codie Nichols to the mat at the 6:04 mark and Skylar Ebner (Muncy, Pa./Muncy) capped the freshman run with a pin of Matthew Sowers in 42 seconds in the 197-pound bout. Senior Zack Finn (East Rochester, N.Y./East Rochester) picked up a 9-1 major decision against Jason Charlette at 133 pounds and sophomore Matt Neff (Sunbury, Pa./Shikellamy) also won with an 11-1 major decision against Josh Lord at 174. Lycoming also won four bouts by decision, as sophomore Jake Witmer (Sunbury, Pa./Shikellamy) (125), junior Brian Watkins (Bear Gap, Pa./Southern Columbia) (165), senior Greg Wetzel (Pleasant Valley, N.Y./Arlington) and junior Matt Bloom (Frenchtown, N.J./Delaware Valley) (285) each picked up wins. Alfred State fell to 2-8 overall. The Warriors get back on the mat on Sunday, Feb. 2, when they head to King's (Pa.) for a 2 p.m. dual meet. Results: 125 Jake Witmer, LYCO, dec. Austin Keough, ASC, 7-1 133 Zachary Finn, LYCO, maj. dec. Jason Charlette, ASC, 9-1 141 Caleb Willey, LYCO, forf. 149 Seth Lansberry, LYCO, pinned Cody Marriott, ASC, 3:25 157 Nolan Barger, LYCO, pinned Codie Nichols, ASC, 6:04 165 Brian Watkins, LYCO, dec. Konnor Kremer, ASC, 9-4 174 Matthew Neff, LYCO, maj. dec. Josh Lord, ASC, 11-1 184 Greg Wetzel, LYCO, dec. Conner Fox, ASC, 11-8 197 Skylar Ebner, LYCO, pinned Matthew Sowers, ASC, 0:42 285 Matthew Bloom, LYCO, dec. Quasar Hampton, ASC, 3-0

NEWBERRY -- The No. 3 Newberry Wolves saw the King Tornado close to within six points at the halfway point of Thursday night's dual but powered their way to a 30-9 win thanks to three late major decisions. Newberry moves to 16-1 in duals on the season and establishes a new program record with its 12th home win of the year. The Wolves next host Shorter on Thursday, Feburary 6. King falls to 4-4 and travels to Alderson Broaddus this Saturday. The Wolves started off the match at a 6-0 advantage thanks to Travis Laxton's (Live Oak, Fla.) win by forfeit at 125 lbs. Trung Duong (Lynchburg, Va.) added to his impressive freshman season with a come-from-behind 7-6 decision over D'Marcus Spencer at 133 lbs. and B.J. Young (Jackson, N.J.) took a 7-2 decision at 141 lbs. to give Newberry a 12-0 lead. King took two bouts with a fall at 149 lbs. and a decision at 157 lbs. to make it 12-6 at halftime. Blake Ridenour (Maryville, Tenn.) earned a 7-2 decision at 165 lbs. to start a big Newberry run. Three straight major decisions started with Joe Pittman (Forsyth, Ga.) at 174 lbs. with a 15-4 win over Jordan Reece. Jared Holliday (Burlington, N.J.) cruised to an 18-7 major at 184 lbs. and Joey Grisko (Gloucester Township, N.J.) got a late takedown to earn a 9-1 major decision at 197 lbs. No. 2 Matt Wade (Easton, Md.) capped off a great night in Eleazer Arena with a 3-1 decision at heavyweight.

Wichita, Kan. -- The Central Missouri wrestling team won their sixth dual of the season over Newman University in Wichita, Kan. on Thursday. The final score of the dual was 42-6. Eric Mateo, Frank Cagnina, and Todd Brier all recorded pins in the match. Malacai Collins won UCM (6-4, 1-2 MIAA) the first points of the dual with an 8-3 decision win over Dustin Reed. After falling in the next match, Mateo and Cagnina each earned six for the Mules with pins in under three minutes, taking the Mule's lead to 15-3. Mateo pinned Wyatt Wade at 2:02, while Cagnina beat Zach Duwe at 2:41. The Mules allowed Newman (0-8, 0-4 HC) to earn three more points to make the score 15-6, before finishing the match with five straight wins. Mike Boyd won by decision over Michael Kubik with a score of 2-1, this is Boyd's second win over Kubik this season. Brier was the final member of the UCM squad to wrestle, he pinned Steven Cooksley at 1:20. Ty Loethen, Josh Ploof, and Jacob Clark each earned six team points for a win by forfeit. Next week the Mules will finish the 2013-2014 season on the road, first with a dual against Fort Hays State in Hays, Kan. Next the Mules will travel to Kearney, Neb. to take on No.4 Nebraska Kearney. Results: 125 – Malacai Collins (UCM) dec. Dustin Reed (NU) 8-3, UCM 3-0 133 – Kris Workman (NU) dec. Andrew Robinson (UCM) 10-3, 3-3 141 – Eric Mateo (UCM) wbf Wyatt Wade (NU) 2:02, UCM 9-3 149 – Frank Cagnina (UCM) wbf Zach Duwe (NU) 2:41, UCM 15-3 157 – Colton Duhr (NU) dec. Zeb Spicer (UCM) 7-0, UCM 15-6 165 – Ty Loethen (UCM) won by forfeit, UCM 21-6 174 – Mike Boyd (UCM) dec. Michael Kubik (NU) 2-1, UCM 24-6 184 – Josh Ploof (UCM) won by forfeit, UCM 30-6 197 – Todd Brier (UCM) wbf Steven Cooksley (NU) 1:20, UCM 36-6 285 – Jacob Clark (UCM) won by forfeit, UCM 42-6

ANDERSON, S.C. -- The Cobra wrestling team picked up its ninth dual match victory of the season on Thursday (Jan. 30) night with a 28-17 win over Anderson University. Coker fell behind early, dropping matches at the 125 and 133-pound divisions. Thanks to back-to-back pins by Walker Barfield at the 141-pound division and Kevin Thompson at the 149-pound division the Cobras took a 12-7 lead. Trojan victories at the 157 and the 165-pound divisions put Anderson up 14-12. Zach Dicus regained the Coker lead, 16-14, with a major decision at the 174-pound division. An Anderson win at the 184-pound division gave the Trojans a one-point advantage, 17-16. However, the lead was short lived as Robert Parland secured the Cobra victory with a pin at the 197-pound division. A forfeit win by Austin Akins at the 285-pound division gave Coker the 28-17 victory. The Cobras will return to action on Feb. 8 when they travel to Newberry College for the Newberry Open. Results: 125: Cory Monteforte (AU) maj. dec. Gavin Perkins (COKER), 13-3 (AU 4-0) 133: Zak Hale (AU) dec. Charlie Huff (COKER), 8-7 (AU 7-0) 141: Walker Barfield (COKER) pinned Keenan Simmons (AU) 2:56 (AU 7-6) 149: Kevin Thompson (COKER) pinned Jared Greer (AU), 3:50 (COKER 12-7) 157: Zane Newton (AU) dec. Derek Rothermel (COKER), 5-4 (COKER 12-10) 165: Ian Harper (AU) maj. dec. Phillip Burrows (COKER) 12-0 (AU 14-12) 174: Zach Dicus (COKER) maj. dec. Eric DeAngelis (AU), 11-0 (COKER 16-14) 184: Taylor Dorsett dec. Jacob Ralph (COKER), 10-4 (AU 17-16) 197: Robert Parland pinned Robert Johnson (AU), 4:45 (COKER 22-17) 285: Austin Akins (COKER) won by forfeit (COKER 28-17)

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- No. 17 Augustana recorded four bonus-point victories on the way to a 41-3 victory over Northern State in the Vikings' final home dual of the season. Augustana improves their overall record to 11-4 with a 4-1 mark in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference competition while the Wolves fall to 3-8, 0-4 in the NSIC. Northern State left the 125-, 184-, and 197-pound weight classes open giving the Vikings an 18-point cushion entering the first bout. Morgan Engbrecht wasted no time expanding that lead with his second tech fall of the season, reaching an 18-2 lead at 6:21. Augustana held an 11-0 lead after two bouts and Northern State scored their only points of the night when Ian Muirhead won an 8-2 decision over Jacob Anderson at 141 pounds. Shawn Hatlestad pushed the Vikings lead to 14-3 with a 9-2 decision at 149 pounds. Hatlestad was on pace for a major decision victory, but NSU's Beau Voegeli scored a two-point reversal late in the third period. Bradyn Neises added three more points for the Vikings with a 4-2 win at 157 pounds. After a first-period takedown, Nesies scored on a reversal in the second period to secure his eighth victory of the year. Tim Weber expanded the Viking lead to 21-3 after the intermission with his first major decision win of the year, a 10-2 win at 165 pounds. Drake Fanslau equaled Weber's major decision at 174 pounds. Fanslau led by four in the third period then scored a takedown and three-point nearfall, registering enough points for a major decision. After Fanslau's win and Sean Derry and Jayd Docken being awarded forfeit wins at 184- and 197-pound victories, respective, the Vikings led 38-3. Michael Lowman put the finishing touches on the blowout win with a 12-2 major decision win at 285 pounds. Lowman nearly earned his fifth pin of the season early in the bout, but still registered a three-point nearfall on the way to his first major decision. Augustana now head to the road for their final three bouts, beginning with No. 4 St. Cloud State on Feb. 7. Results: 125: No. 4 TJ North wins by forfeit over OPEN; Augustana 6-0 133: Morgan Engbrecht wins by tech fall (6:21) over Cody Voegeli; Augustana 11-0 141: Ian Muirhead wins by decision (8-2) over Jacob Anderson; Augustana 11-3 149: Shawn Hatlestad wins by decision (8-2) over Beau Voegeli; Augustana 14-3 157: Bradyn Neises wins by decision (4-2) over Sean Havlovic; Augustana 17-3 165: Tim Weber wins by major decision (10-2) over Blake Lundgren; Augustana 21-3 174: Drake Fanslau wins by major decision (11-2) over Anthony Navarro; Augustana 25-3 184: Sean Derry wins by forfeit over OPEN; Augustana 31-3 197: No. 5 Jayd Docken wins by forfeit over OPEN; Augustana 37-3 285: Michael Lowman wins by major decision (12-2) over Anthony Reurink; Augustana 41-3

NORMAN, Okla. -- In its last home dual of the season, the sixth-ranked Oklahoma wrestling team (8-2 overall, 2-0 Big 12) fell to No. 10 Missouri (6-1 overall, 3-1 MAC) by a score of 18-15 Thursday night inside McCasland Field House. The Tigers claimed six of the night's 10 matches en route to the win. OU head coach Mark Cody credited Missouri for wrestling well and entering the contest with a good plan. He added he thought the Sooners competed with some anxiety and fear. "Sometimes you get into these big matches and those insecurities will surface, and I've been in this situation before where you have to shake those anxieties before tournament time," Cody stated. "I think this group can do it and that we have a lot of guys who can score a lot of points at the end of the year." Registering victories for the Sooners in the match that saw five lead changes were No. 8 Cody Brewer, No. 18 Justin DeAngelis, Clark Glass and No. 1 Andrew Howe. At 133 pounds, Brewer dominated Missouri redshirt freshman Matt Manley, taking the bout by an 18-3 technical fall. Brewer registered four takedowns, a reversal, a two-point nearfall and a three-point nearfall in the victory. He also took the riding time point with 3:06. DeAngelis fought to a 5-3 decision at 157 pounds of freshman Joey Lavallee to increase OU's deficit to one point at 9-8. With a 6-2 decision in the 165-pound match, Glass gave the Sooners their first lead of the night by a score of 11-9. Howe, who wrestled at 184 pounds instead of his usual weight class of 174 due to Danny Chaid being ill, won by a 22-9 major decision of sophomore Cody Johnston. Howe had nine takedowns in the bout. The Sooners dropped matches at 125, 141, 149, 174, 197 and 285 pounds. The dual began at 125 pounds, where freshman Sean Williams fell to freshman Barlow McGhee by decision, 3-1. Williams replaced redshirt senior and seventh-ranked Jarrod Patterson, who is recovering from an injury. At 141 pounds, Missouri's Lavion Mayes topped No. 15 Nick Lester by decision. 6-4. The 149-pound match featured the No. 1 and No. 2 wrestlers in Missouri's Drake Houdashelt and OU's Kendric Maple, respectively. The bout was close throughout, but Houdashelt eventually defeated Maple by a 3-2 decision. Missouri's 18th-ranked Mikey England won by a 6-1 decision of OU's Derek Geiges at 174 pounds, while No. 6 J'den Cox of the Tigers downed No. 3 Travis Rutt by decision, 6-1. The dual was tied at 15 entering the heavyweight division, where Devin Mellon beat No. 16 Ross Larson by decision, 6-0, to seal the victory for Missouri. Even though some of the Sooners' usual starters were not in the lineup, Cody said the team has no excuses. "If everybody is here and everyone is firing on the right cylinders, we're going to be great," Cody explained. "With a couple of guys out in a meet like this, it makes things tough, but we have no excuses. Even if half of my lineup isn't out there, we still have to be able to step up with that we put out on the mat because everybody is trained that way." Prior to the start of the contest, OU's senior class of Patterson, Lester, Maple, Geiges, Howe, Rutt and Chase Gordon were recognized as part of Senior Night. The Sooners hit the road for two Big 12 battles next week as they face West Virginia on Thursday, Feb. 6, at 6 p.m. CT and No. 9 Oklahoma State on Sunday, Feb. 9, at 2 p.m. CT. On March 8, the Sooners host the Big 12 Championship inside McCasland Field House. Limited tickets are still available online or by calling the OU Athletics Ticket Office at (405) 325-2424 or toll-free at (800) 456-GoOU. Results: 125: Barlow McGhee dec. Sean Williams (OU), 3-1 133: No. 8 Cody Brewer (OU) tech. fall. Matt Manley (Missouri), 18-3 141: Lavion Mayes dec. No. 15 Nick Lester (OU), 6-4 149: No. 1 Drake Houdashelt (Missouri) dec. No. 2 Kendric Maple (OU), 3-2 157: No. 18 Justin DeAngelis (OU) dec. Joey Lavallee (Missouri), 5-3 165: Clark Glass (OU) dec. Jordan Gagliano (Missouri), 6-2 174: No. 18 Mikey England (Missouri) dec. Derek Geiges (OU), 6-1 184: Andrew Howe (OU) maj. dec. Cody Johnston (Missouri), 22-9 197: No. 6 J'den Cox (Missouri) dec. No. 3 Travis Rutt (OU), 6-1 285: Devin Mellon (Missouri) dec. No. 16 Ross Larson (OU), 6-0 *Individual rankings from InterMat as of Jan. 28, 2014

San Luis Obispo, Calif. -- The No. 22 Oregon State wrestling team topped Cal Poly 22-12 Thursday afternoon in its first outdoor meet. With rain throughout the morning in San Luis Obispo, it was unsure if the match could actually be held outdoors. The California sunshine came through in the end, though, and the meet took place in the plaza of the University Union. The meet started at 165 lbs. and Oregon State’s Toney Chay defeated Travis Berridge by a 12-9 decision, giving the Beavers an early 3-0 lead. Moving to 174, Cal Poly’s Dominic Kastl claimed the next three points of the match with a 6-4 decision over Joe Latham, bringing the score to 3-3. Austin Morehead (184) got things back on track for the Beavs with a 17-12 decision over Sean Dougherty. Oregon State’s Taylor Meeks followed that performance with a pin in just 1:54 over Cal Poly’s Nicolas Johnson, bringing the score to 12-3. The Mustangs got back on the board at heavyweight as Spencer Empey topped Mick Dougharity by an 8-3 decision. Cal Poly claimed the next two bouts as Britain Longmire topped Pat Rollins 4-2, while Devon Lotito defeated Drew Van Anrooy by a 5-0 decision. Heading into the final three bouts, the score was tied at 12. The Beavers ended the meet on a high note by taking the final three bouts. At 141, Oregon State’s Joey Delgado tallied a 17-4 major decision over Victor Trujillo, earning four more points for the Beavs. Oregon State’s Scott Sakaguchi (149) collected three points for the Beavs with a 3-2 decision over Kyle Chene, followed by Jordan Henrickson (157), who defeated Cal Poly’s Luke McDonald by a 7-3 decision. The Beavers claimed a 22-12 victory, moving them to 9-5 on the season, and 3-0 in Pac-12 competition. The Beavers next travel to Boise State to take on the Broncos in their fourth Pac-12 match of the season. Results: 165: Toney Chay decision Travis Berridge, 12-9 (OSU 3, CP 0) 174: Dominic Kastl decision Joe Latham, 6-4 (OSU 3, CP 3) 184: Austin Morehead decision Sean Dougherty, 17-12 (OSU 6, CP 3) 197: Taylor Meeks fall Nicolas Johnson, 1:54 (OSU 12, CP 3) HWT: Spencer Empey decision Mick Dougharity, 8-3 (OSU 12, CP 6) 125: Britain Longmire decision Pat Rollins, 4-2 OT (OSU 12, CP 9) 133: Devon Lotito decision Drew Van Anrooy, 5-0 (OSU 12, CP 12) 141: Joey Delgado major decision Victor Trujillo, 17-4 (OSU 16, CP 12) 149: Scott Sakaguchi decision Kyle Chene, 3-2 (OSU 19, CP 12) 157: Jordan Henrickson decision Luke McDonald, 7-3 (OSU 22, CP 12)

GREENVILLE, Pa. -- The Thiel wrestling team won eight-of-10 bouts, four of which came with bonus points, to claim a 35-6 win over the Washington and Jefferson College Presidents in Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) action Wednesday. Thiel (12-6, 1-0) picked up the first win of the night at 149 pounds, as freshman Chris Nuss (West Homestead, Pa/Central Catholic) improved to 21-10 on the year with a 12-2 win by major decision over Timothy Keblash to stake Thiel to a 4-0 lead. W&J (1-1, 0-1) fired back, picking up it's first win of the night at 157 pounds, but sophomore Brandon Collins (Hadley, Pa./Commodore Perry) made returning All-American Josh Etzel work for the victory. Etzel scored two points on a reversal, while Collins answered with an escape to cut the deficit to 2-1. Unfortunately for Thiel and Collins, Etzel added a riding point to score the 3-1 victory. The Tomcats rattled off seven points over the next two bouts to put the match out of reach. Junior Sean Byham (Saegertown, Pa./Saegertown) gave the home team an 8-3 lead with 9-0 major decision victory at 165. Fellow junior and returning All-American Jordan Powell (Hadley, Pa./Commodore Perry) followed with a 9-4 decision over Sonnieboy Blanco at 174. Trailing 11-3, the Presidents picked up an overtime decision at 184 to get to within five (11-6). However, those were the last points the Tomcats allowed to its opponent, sweeping the final five weights of the night. Junior Jacob Lowry (Smithfield, Pa./Albert Gallatin) improved to 24-0 on the year by sticking Nick Kumburis at the 1:03 mark. Sophomore heavyweight Shawn Reynolds (Cambridge Springs, Pa./Cambridge Springs) one-upped Lowry by pinning his opponent some 19 seconds into the match. Freshmen Trevor Wood (Bentleyville, Pa./Bentworth) (133) and Robert Ritschard (Oley, Pa./Oley Valley) (141) each added decisions to close out the match for Thiel. The Tomcats are back in action on Friday, as they travel down I-79 to take on their PAC rival, the Waynesburg Yellow Jackets, at 7 p.m. Results: 125- Vince Vahaly (Bentleyville, Pa./Bentworth) (THI) wins by forfeit 133- Daniel Pommerer (W&J) vs. Trevor Wood (Bentleyville, Pa./Bentworth) (THI)- Wood (THI) wins by decision, 4-3 141- Alex Powell (W&J) vs. Robert Ritschard (Oley, Pa./Oley Valley) (THI)- Ritschard (THI) wins by decision, 3-2 149- Timothy Keblash (W&J) vs. Chris Nuss (West Homestead, Pa/Central Catholic) (THI)- Nuss (THI) wins by major decision, 12-2 157- Josh Etzel (W&J) vs. Brandon Collins (Hadley, Pa./Commodore Perry) (THI)- Etzel (W&J) wins by decision, 3-1 165- Declan Haggerty (W&J) vs. Sean Byham (Saegertown, Pa./Saegertown) (THI)- Byham (THI) wins by major decision, 9-0 174- Sonnieboy Blanco (W&J) vs. Jordan Powell (Hadley, Pa./Commodore Perry) (THI)- Powell (THI) wins by decision 9-4 184- David Dibenedetto (W&J) vs. Jerrold Roosa (Randolph, N.Y./Randolph Central) (THI)- Dibenedetto (W&J) wins by decision in OT, 8-6 197- Nick Kumburis (W&J) vs. Jacob Lowry (Smithfield, Pa./Albert Gallatin) (THI)- Lowry (THI) wins by pinfall, 1:03 285- Brian Brust (W&J) vs. Shawn Reynolds (Cambridge Springs, Pa./Cambridge Springs) (THI)- Reynolds (THI) wins by pinfall, 0:19

HASTINGS -- The Hastings College wrestling team picked up its first win of the season defeating Doane 27-19 on Wednesday night at Kiewit Gymnasium. This was the first Hastings College varsity event held in Kiewit since Dec. 2, 2007 when the men and women's basketball teams took on Mount Marty. Grant Harrill got the Broncos off to a solid start at 197 defeating Kyle Hoffman by a 9-3 decision. After a forfeit and a loss by Pedro Garcia at 285 the Broncos then took control of the match over the first year program. The Broncos ran off five staight wins as Aaron Tarin (133) and Cameron Mettenbrink (157) picked up wins by decision while Alec Chanthapatheth (141), Blake Fruchtl (149) and Connor Blanco (165) picked up wins by pin. With the win, Hastings improves to 1-7 (1-3) on the year and will be back in action Saturday Feb. 1 taking part in the Briar Cliff Open with the first match set for 9:00 a.m. in Sioux, City, IA. Results: 197 Grant Harrill (Hastings (Neb.) won by decision over Kyle Hoffman (Doane College) 9-3. 3.00 0 285 Sheldon Garcia (Doane College) won by decision over Pedro Garcia (Hastings (Neb.) 8-2. 0 3.00 125 Jesse Marek (Doane College) won by forfeit over Unknown (Unattached) . 0 6.00 133 Aaron Tarin (Hastings (Neb.) won by decision over Derrick Hoffman (Doane College) 9-6. 3.00 0 141 Alec Chanthapatheth (Hastings (Neb.) won by pin over Jonathan Larsen (Doane College) 1:53. 6.00 0 149 Blake Fruchtl (Hastings (Neb.) won by pin over Ray Feigenbutz (Doane College) 1:17. 6.00 0 157 Cameron Mettenbrink (Hastings (Neb.) won by decision over Marcus Aleman (Doane College) 7-3. 3.00 0 165 Connor Blanco (Hastings (Neb.) won by pin over Zachary Schut (Doane College) 6:29. 6.00 0 174 Austin Borne (Doane College) won by major decision over Tim Rice (Hastings (Neb.) 14-6. 0 4.00 184 Chandler Knight (Doane College) won by pin over Joel Hernandez (Hastings (Neb.) 1:33. 0 6.00

DURHAM, N.C. -- The Duke University wrestling team turned in a dominating performance as the Blue Devils posted a 38-9 victory over Virginia Military Institute this evening in non-conference dual action. The Blue Devils scored bonus points in six of the eight bouts it won on the evening, including getting three pins. The win is Duke’s fifth in the past six seasons against the Keydets and put the Blue Devils at 5-8 in duals this season. VMI falls to 3-12 overall. “I felt like it was a great performance,” said head coach Glen Lanham. “I felt like the guys wrestled well. We’ve been telling them all week to go after their offense and attack and I felt like we did that tonight. It was a good start to the week. We have two tough duals coming up with Drexel and Rider so we have to be ready for those. I felt like it was a good start.” Duke kicked off the evening with redshirt freshman Evan Botwin garnering a 15-0 technical fall over Caleb Yost at 133 pounds. Botwin consistently turned Yost as the back points added up as the Blue Devil 133-pounder ended the match with 45 seconds remain in in the second period. The technical fall was the first of the Chestnut Hill, Pa. native’s career. The firsts continued to come for Duke with Xaviel Ramos grabbing six points with his first career pin in a tight 2-2 match early in the third period. Even at 2-2 heading into the third period, VMI’s Emmitt Kelly chose bottom in hopes he could get the winning escape point. Ramos, however, had other ideas as the rookie put Kelly on his back with 1:19 remaining to get the fall. A solid 6-0 decision by freshman Connor Bass at 149 pounds gave Duke the 14-6 lead after four matches and redshirt junior Immanuel Kerr-Brown quickly made it 18-6 with a second consecutive major decision at 157 pounds. Bass picked up his seventh win and third dual victory, while Kerr-Brown notched his team-best 17th win of the year. Redshirt sophomore Trey Adamson had the fastest bout of the night, pinning Jake Koch in just 1:01 for his second fall of the year and seventh of his career. His 13th win of the year, Duke’s 174-pounder is 8-4 in duals this season. At 184 pounds, rookie Jacob Kasper gave Duke five more points with a 21-5 technical fall of Hardy Hendren. After getting off to a slow start, the Lexington, Ohio native scored seven points in the final 30 seconds to take control of the match 11-3 after three minutes. He built upon his lead in the second and ultimately ended the match with a takedown with 1:15 remaining. Redshirt sophomore Conner Hartmann continued the trend with the third pin of the night for the Blue Devils. With a 7-0 lead after one period, Hartmann continued to wear down Andrew Embree en route to the fall with 30 seconds left in the third period. The win was the 13th of the year for the 197-pounder and puts him at 8-4 in duals this season. Rounding out Duke’s lineup for the night was senior Brian Self at heavyweight. Returning to the lineup from injury, Self suffered a tough 3-2 decision to VMI’s wins leader Juan Adams after what appeared to be an escape in the third period came up just short and allowed Adams to ride out the match for the bonus point and one-point victory. Duke continues its non-conference action at Rider and at Drexel this weekend. The duals are set for 1 and 7 p.m., respectively. Results: 125 – Dalton Henderson (VMI) won by forfeit; Team Score: Duke 0, VMI 6 133 – Evan Botwin (Duke) tech fall Caleb Yost (VMI), 15-0; TS: 5-6 141 – Xaviel Ramos (Duke) fall Emmitt Kelly (VMI), 5:41; TS: 11-6 149 – Connor Bass (Duke) decision Shabaka Jones (VMI), 6-0; TS: 14-6 157 – Immanuel Kerr-Brown (Duke) major decision Edward Gottwald (VMI), 14-0; TS: 18-6 165 – Marcus Cain (Duke) decision Mark Darr (VMI), 3-0; TS: 21-6 174 – Trey Adamson (Duke) fall Jake Koch (VMI) 1:01; TS: 27-6 184 – Jacob Kasper (Duke) technical fall Hardy Hendren (VMI) 21-5; TS: 32-6 197 – Conner Hartmann (Duke) fall Andrew Embree (VMI), 6:30; TS: 38-6 285 – Juan Adams (VMI) decision Brian Self (Duke), 3-2; TS: 38-9

Senior Dan Palmerino (Amsterdam, NY/Amsterdam) pinned his opponent in 1:10 of the first period in the 141 pound match to give The College at Brockport Wrestling team, ranked No. 14 in the country, an early lead and the Golden Eagles cruised to a 35-9 victory Wednesday night at the Jim and John Vlogianitis Gymnasium in Brockport. The win for Brockport (3-0) guaranteed another season of at least a .500 record extending the streak to 51 consecutive years. Only Iowa State has a longer active streak in the history of college wrestling at any level. Senior Matt Ellis (Rochester, NY/Greece Arcadia) started the match and senior night with an impressive 21-8 major decision victory at 125 pounds giving the Golden Eagles the early 4-0 lead. RIT (3-7) came back at 133 pounds with a pin in the second period at 3:27 to take a 6-4 lead in the match. Palmerino answered quickly with a takedown and pin in the first 1:10 of his match at 141 pounds as Brockport regained the lead 10-6 and did not trail again for the rest of the match. Sophomore Jordan Dyer (Chenango Forks, NY/Chenango Forks) posed an 11-4 decision and Lewis Cucchiara (Rochester, NY/Gates-Chili) followed with a 12-6 decision at 157 pounds for the Golden Eagles. Freshman Roy Daniels (Spencerport, NY/Olentangy (OH)) was awarded a forfeit victory at 165 pounds as Brockport took a 22-6 lead. RIT won another decision at 174 pounds with an 8-5 decision but Brockport won the final three bouts of the night as senior Sebastian Randazzo (Syosset, NY/Syosset) scored a 7-2 decision in his season debut, senior Paul Glover (Rochester, NY/Spencerport) was a 14-4 major decision winner and sophomore Cole Tristram (Newton Falls, NY/Clifton-Fine) earned a second-round pin in 4:32 for the final margin of victory.

BALTIMORE, MD -- The Johns Hopkins wrestling team earned three wins by fall and won eight of 10 bouts to roll past visiting Gettysburg, 43-6, in Centennial Conference action at Goldfarb Gymnasium on Wednesday night. The Blue Jays picked up their fourth straight victory and improve to 6-3 overall and 3-0 in the Centennial Conference, while the Bullets slip to 3-12 overall and 0-3 in the CC. Johns Hopkins has now won seven straight and nine of the last 11 against the Bullets. A first-period pin by third-ranked Paul Bewak at 125 and a forfeit win for senior Ray Yagloski at 133 staked the Blue Jays to a quick 12-0 lead before Gettysburg senior Matt Spano responded with an 8-3 decision against Evan Krumheuer at 141 to slice the deficit to 12-3. Any hopes for a Gettysburg comeback were dashed over the next three weight classes as senior 149 Duncan Crystal (forfeit), junior 157 Christian Salera (major decision) and junior 165 Welles Sakmar (decision) all posted victories to extend the lead to 25-3. Pat Thomas added an 8-6 victory over Jared Forman at 174 for the Bullets, but Kyle Spangler added another win by forfeit for the Blue Jays at 184 and Evan Johnson and Joey Tilson posted wins by fall at 197 and 285, respectively, to close out the match. Johns Hopkins will return to action on Saturday, February 1 when the Blue Jays welcome 20th-ranked Ursinus and 29th-ranked Stevens to Goldfarb Gymnasium for a pair of Centennial Conference duals. Action starts at 11 am with Ursinus taking on Stevens, before the Blue Jays meet Stevens (12:30 pm) and Ursinus (2 pm). Results: 125 – Paul Bewak (J) pinned Holt Johnson (G) (1:50) 133 – Ray Yagloski (J) win by forfeit 141 – Matt Spano (G) dec. Evan Krumheuer (J), 8-3 149 – Duncan Crystal (J) win by forfeit 157 – Christian Salera (J) maj. dec, Matt Capobianco (G), 9-1 165 – Welles Sakmar (J) dec. Tyler Cunningham (G), 5-0 174 – Pat Thomas (G) dec. Jared Forman (J), 8-6 184 – Kyle Spangler (J) win by forfeit 197 - Evan Johnson (J) pinned Mike Sheehan (G) (3:19) 285 – Joey Tilson (J) pinned Camden Stoops (G) (6:20) Exhibition Match 285: Nick Diunizio (G) pinned Ellis Flannery (J) (2:55)

Kearney, Neb. -- Senior Brock Smith recorded a major decision at 165 pounds and the 2nd-ranked Nebraska-Kearney wrestling team won three other matches by a single point to edge Lindenwood, 19-18, Wednesday night in St. Charles, Mo. The Lopers improve to 12-3 (3-0) while the Lions fall to 3-2 (2-2). Last week, LWU fell to 5th-ranked Central Oklahoma by a similar 19-18 score. Lindenwood started off the night with an upset win at 125 lbs. as senior Marco Tamayo got by 7th-ranked Connor Bolling, 3-2. The Lions tried to move ahead 6-0 but top-ranked Daniel DeShazer (Wichita, Kans.) managed a 3-2 win over former Loper Matt Katusin at 133 lbs. After a first period fall by junior Kyle Webb at 141 lbs., UNK won the next four classes, three by decision (3-1, 2-1 and 6-2). Smith (Gering), now ranked fifth at 165 lbs., tacked on an extra team point as he majored Rutgers transfer Morgan Fitzgerald, 14-6, to give UNK a 16-9 lead. However, Lindenwood quickly cut into that advantage with a second period fall at 184 lbs. Top-ranked Romero Cotton (Hutchinson, Kans.) helped UNK regain the momentum with a 3-2 win over junior Kenny Breaux. Finally, at 285 lbs., eighth-ranked Steven Butler beat Oklahoma senior Kelsey Empting by, fittingly, a 2-1 score. Kearney stays on the road to face Truman in Kirksville, Mo., Friday night. Results: 125 – Marco Tamayo (LU) won by decision over Connor Bolling (UNK) 6-4 133 – Daniel Deshazer (UNK) won by decision over Matt Katusin (LU) 3-2 141 – Kyle Webb (LU) won by pin over Brock Coutu (UNK) 1:14 149 – Destin McCauley (UNK) won by decision over Terrel Wilbourn (LU) 3-1 157 – Chase White (UNK) won by decision over Derrick Weller (LU) 2-1 165 – Brock Smith (UNK) won by major decision over Morgan Fitzgerald (LU) 14-6 174 – Patrick Martinez (UNK) won by decision over Luke Roth (LU) 6-2 184 – John McArdle (LU) won by pin over Mark Fiala (UNK) 3:30 197 – Romero Cotton (UNK) won by decision over Kenny Breaux (LU) 3-2 285 – Steven Butler (LU) won by decision over Kelsey Empting (UNK) 2-1

ERIE, Pa. -- The ninth-ranked Mercyhurst University wrestling team blanked both Alderson-Broaddus and Mercyhurst North East on Wednesday afternoon at the Mercyhurst Tri-Meet from the Mercyhurst Athletic Center. The Lakers defeated the Battlers 53-0 in the first match and then shutout the Saints 50-0 in the nightcap. Mercyhurst has now seven in a row and improved to 13-1 overall on the season. Earlier in the day, Mercyhurst moved up three spots in the national rankings and into the top ten for the first time this season. The Lakers moved from 12th to ninth with sophomore Dylan D'Urso remaining seventh in the country at 141 pounds. In the opening dual of the afternoon, Alderson-Broaddus edged Mercyhurst North East by a 21-19 final. The Lakers squared off with the Battlers in the squad's first action of the day. Alderson-Broaddus, a first-year program, forfeited three matches to give Mercyhurst 18 points without even breaking a sweat. Redshirt junior Ryan Bohince started the day with a pin of Cody Buchanan just 1:34 into the 125-pound match to give the hosts a 6-0 lead. Redshirt sophomore Kody Young followed with a major decision win at 133 and sophomore Joey Miller earned an 11-5 win at 141 to give the Lakers a 13-0 advantage. After redshirt sophomore Jeremy Landowski earned a forfeit win at 149, redshirt freshman Francis Mizia needed just 1:57 to earn a 16-0 technical fall victory over David Williams at 157. Pins by redshirt senior Clint Schaefer at 165 and freshman Dakota DesLauriers at 184, a technical fall by redshirt sophomore August Mizia at 174, and back-to-back forfeit wins by redshirt sophomore Brian Beattie at 197 and freshman Andrew Welton at heavyweight provided the final margin. In the nightcap, head coach Mike Wehler mixed-and-matched grapplers to pick up another shutout win over Mercyhurst North East. Seniors T.J. Stanton and Ian Abplanalp started the night with back-to-back victories in the lightweight bouts. Stanton earned a 7-6 decision over the Saints' Corey Billingham and Abplanalp followed with a pin of Jamel Avery with 29 seconds left in the first period. D'Urso earned a forfeit win at 141 pounds for his 20th win of the season. Landowski, ranked #1 in the Super Region I rankings, needed just 39 seconds to pin Jordan Palanca in the 149-pound bout. The Lakers got pins from Schaefer and Welton, a forfeit win from Francis Mizia, and technical fall win from August Mizia, and two decisions from redshirt sophomore Angelo Bortoluzzi and sophomore Anthony Confessore to close out the evening. Mercyhurst will return to conference action on Saturday, February 1 when it hosts Shippensburg University at the Mercyhurst Athletic Center. Start time is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Mercyhurst 53, Alderson-Broaddus 0 125 Ryan Bohince (Mercyhurst) won by pin over Cody Buchanan (Alderson-Broaddus University) 1:34 133 Kody Young (Mercyhurst) won by major decision over Jason West (Alderson-Broaddus University) 8-0 141 Joey Miller (Mercyhurst) won by decision over Samuel Jones (Alderson-Broaddus University) 11-5 149 Jeremy Landowski (Mercyhurst) won by forfeit 157 Francis Mizia (Mercyhurst) won by tech fall over David Williams (Alderson-Broaddus University) 1:57 16-0 165 Clint Schaefer (Mercyhurst) won by pin over Keith Stednitz (Alderson-Broaddus University) 1:55 174 August Mizia (Mercyhurst) won by tech fall over Davis Solak (Alderson-Broaddus University) 4:47 16-0 184 Dakota DesLauriers (Mercyhurst) won by pin over Garrett Onderko (Alderson-Broaddus University) 3:33 197 Brian Beattie (Mercyhurst) won by forfeit 285 Andrew Welton (Mercyhurst) won by forfeit Mercyhurst 50, Mercyhurst North East 0 125 T.J. Stanton (Mercyhurst) won by decision over Corey Billingham (Mercyhurst NorthEast) 7-6 133 Ian Abplanalp (Mercyhurst) won by pin over Jamel Avery (Mercyhurst NorthEast) 2:31 141 Dylan D'Urso (Mercyhurst) won by forfeit 149 Jeremy Landowski (Mercyhurst) won by pin over Jordan Palanca (Mercyhurst NorthEast) 0:39 157 Francis Mizia (Mercyhurst) won by forfeit 165 Clint Schaefer (Mercyhurst) won by pin over Timothy Vargo (Mercyhurst NorthEast) 4:32 174 August Mizia (Mercyhurst) won by tech fall over Alexander Svetz (Mercyhurst NorthEast) 4:57 16-1 184 Angelo Bortoluzzi (Mercyhurst) won by decision over Jamar Henry (Mercyhurst NorthEast) 6-0 197 Anthony Confessore (Mercyhurst) won by decision over Kojo Boadu (Mercyhurst NorthEast) 7-0 285 Andrew Welton (Mercyhurst) won by pin over Lorenzo Maddox (Mercyhurst NorthEast) 0:33

EDMOND -- No. 5-ranked Central Oklahoma took eight of 10 matches and picked up four bonus-point wins to cruise past Central Missouri 31-6 Wednesday night at Hamilton Field House in a Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association mismatch. It was the 20th straight home win for the Bronchos, who improved to 10-4 on the season and 4-1 in the league while stretching their series lead over the Mules to 36-0. "Overall I saw a lot of good things and we had a few guys take some positive steps," head coach David James said. "I thought we were aggressive on our feet for the most part and we picked up some good wins, but there's still a lot of things we need to clean up." UCO held a big 22-2 advantage in takedowns and got bonus wins from Casy Rowell, Cory Dauphin, Chris Watson and Cody Dauphin. The fifth-ranked Rowell had six takedowns and four near-falls in an overwhelming 22-6 technical fall at 133 pounds, while Cory Dauphin and Watson earned back-to-back major decisions. Dauphin claimed his 100th career win with a 15-2 rout at 157 as the defending national champion and top-rated senior rolled up four takedowns, two near-falls and nearly five minutes riding time. It was Dauphin's 40th consecutive victory. Watson scored three takedowns in a dominating 9-0 shutout at 165, improving the No. 1-ranked junior's record to 25-1 on the season. Cody Dauphin ended the night in emphatic fashion with a 29-second fall at heavyweight, taking Jacob Clark down 17 seconds into the match and getting the pin 12 seconds later. The Bronchos also got wins from 125 Josh Breece, 141 Dustin Reed, 184 Znick Ferrell and 197 Garrett Henshaw. Breece's takedown with two seconds left in the second period was the difference in a 3-1 victory, while Reed had a pair of takedowns and nearly three minutes riding time in a gritty 6-1 triumph. Ferrell prevailed 5-2 on the strength of two first-period takedowns and Henshaw had an identical two-takedown opening period start in a 6-2 win. The Mules claimed the feature bout of the night at 149 where third-ranked Frank Cagnina topped No. 1 Jordan Basks 10-4 to avenge two earlier losses to the UCO senior, who fell to 29-2 The Bronchos hit the road for two duals in Colorado this weekend, traveling to Colorado State-Pueblo Friday night and Adams State Saturday afternoon. Results: 125 – Josh Breece, UCO, dec. Malacai Collins, 3-1. 133 – Casy Rowell, UCO, tech. fall Andrew Robinson, 22-6 (3:39). 141 – Dustin Reed, UCO, dec. Eric Mateo, 6-1. 149 – Frank Cagnina, UCM, dec. Jordan Basks, 10-4. 157 – Cory Dauphin, UCO, major dec. Brennan Johnson, 15-2. 165 – Chris Watson, UCO, major dec. Josh Thomson, 9-0. 174 – Ty Loethen, UCM, dec. Zach Aylor, 1-0. 184 – Znick Ferrell, UCO, dec. Josh Ploof, 5-2. 197 – Garrett Henshaw, UCO, dec. Todd Brier, 6-2. Hvy – Cody Dauphin, UCO, pinned Jacob Clark, 0:29.

The mid-point of the 2013-14 scholastic season has come and gone, and much has happened in the high school wrestling landscape. This includes the development of Aaron Pico no longer being part of the scholastic wrestling pool. Pico is going to focus exclusively on an international wrestling career, and then move onto mixed martial arts. Since he is no longer wrestling scholastically, or in college, Pico will no longer be evaluated in the grade rankings. Apple Valley's Mark Hall is now the No. 1-ranked sophomore (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)As a result, Mark Hall moves into the No. 1 slot for the Class of 2016. The other four No. 1 positions remain unchanged: Kyle Snyder (Good Counsel, Md./USOTC) leads the 2014 group, Lance Benick (Totino Grace, Minn.) is best in the 2015 class, Spencer Lee (Franklin Regional, Pa.) is tops among the Class of 2017, while Cade Olivas (California) is the top junior high wrestler. A notable mover in the senior class is Dylan Milonas (Blair Academy, N.J.), who is now No. 18 after winning titles at the Ironman and Beast of the East. An additional positive mover in that group is Zeke Moisey (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.) up to No. 21 after winning titles at both the Beast of the East and the Escape the Rock Tournament. Among juniors the notable mover is Ke-Shawn Hayes (Park Hill, Mo.), who is now No. 4 overall after winning titles at both the Walsh Ironman and Kansas City Stampede. A newcomer to the junior high top 15 is Theorius Robinson (Colorado), who won a title at the Tulsa Nationals earlier this month. InterMat Platinum is required to view all the rankings. Class of 2014 | Class of 2015 | Class of 2016 | Class of 2017 | Class of 2018+ Sneak Peek Below is a sneak peek at the top wrestlers in each grade. Class of 2014 (Top Ten): 1. Kyle Snyder (Good Counsel, Md.) 2. Chance Marsteller (Kennard Dale, Pa.) 3. Bryce Brill (Mount Carmel, Ill.) 4. Nick Nevills (Clovis, Calif.) 5. Bo Nickal (Allen, Texas) 6. Micah Jordan (St. Paris Graham, Ohio) 7. Jason Nolf ( Kittanning, Pa.) 8. Joey McKenna (Blair Academy, N.J.) 9. Thomas Haines (Solanco, Pa.) 10. Sam Stoll (Kasson-Mantorville, Minn.) Class of 2015 (Top Five): 1. Lance Benick (Totino-Grace, Minn.) 2. Logan Massa (St. Johns, Mich.) 3. Anthony Valencia (St. John Bosco, Calif.) 4. Ke-Shawn Hayes (Park Hill, Mo.) 5. Myles Martin (McDonogh, Md.) Class of 2016 (Top Five): 1. Mark Hall (Apple Valley, Minn.) 2. Mason Manville (Blair Academy, N.J.) 3. Alex Marinelli (St. Paris Graham, Ohio) 4. Luke Pletcher (Greater Latrobe, Pa.) 5. Nick Suriano (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) Class of 2017 (Top Five): 1. Spencer Lee (Franklin Regional, Pa.) 2. Brady Berge (Kasson-Mantorville, Minn.) 3. Nick Lee (Evansville Mater Dei, Ind.) 4. Yianni Diakomihalis (Hilton, N.Y.) 5. Daton Fix (Sand Springs, Okla.) Class of 2018+ (Top Five): 1. Cade Olivas (California) 2. Ryan Thomas (Ohio) 3. Gavin Teasdale (Pennsylvania) 4. Rocky Jordan (Ohio) 5. Jack Jessen (Illinois)

The UFC's pay-per-view card on Super Bowl weekend is usually one of the biggest MMA shows of the year, and with two title fights on the card, Saturday's show fits the bill. Once John starts paying attention (sorry, the Thunder vs. Heat game was distracting), he and Richard break down the action. Renan Barao should get past Uriah Faber for a second time to keep his bantamweight belt. Featherweight king Jose Aldo, on the other hand, might have a trickier match against Ricardo Lamas. Do you want to listen to a past episode? Access archives.

Tom Ryan and Chris Bono will go "On the Mat" this Wednesday, Jan. 29. "On the Mat" is a presentation of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum. The show can be heard live on the Internet at 1650thefan.com or locally in Northeast Iowa each Wednesday from 5 to 6 p.m. CT on AM 1650, The Fan. A podcast of the show is available on theopenmat.com. E-mail dgmstaff@nwhof.org with any questions or comments. Ryan is the head wrestling coach at Ohio State. He was a two-time All-American for the University of Iowa. Bono is the head wrestling coach at South Dakota State. He was an NCAA champion for Iowa State in 1996.

After winning the Kansas Cup over the weekend, by .5 of a point, the Bethany College Wrestling team hosted York College Tuesday, Jan. 28. The Swedes did just enough to escape the night with a win. The 16th-ranked Swedes defeated the 11th-ranked Panthers 19-18. "Though we came away with a win against a quality team, thanks in part to our depth, we didn't perform at the level we need to in order to be where we want to be at the end of the season," said Assistant Coach Cody Garcia. "Consistency is a trait of a great team and we are still striving to get there. The guys have wrestled well over the last month and I believe they are made of the right stuff and will respond with a solid performance next Wednesday against in-state rival Baker." To see complete results from the dual, click here. The Swedes return to action Wednesday, February 5 at home in the Baker Dual at 7 P.M. The night will also be the Wrestling teams Senior Night. Results: 125: Double Forfeit 133: Freshman Ty Kolterman lost by pin to Marcus Banducci. (York 6-0) 141: Freshman Dane Edwards won by forfeit. (Tie 6-6) 149: Junior Courtney Strauss won by decision over Brian Magno. (Bethany 9-6) 157: Freshman Jonathan Blackwell won by forfeit. (Bethany 15-6) 165: Junior Jordon Ward lost by decision to Aaron Lopez. (Bethany15-9) 174: Freshman Zach Eaton won by major decision over Joe Madison. (Bethany 19-9) 184: Freshman Trevor Whittaker lost by decision to Quentin Becker. (Bethany 19-12) 197: Junior Taylor Baird lost in tie breaker 1 to Logan Paul Eickhoff. (Bethany 19-15) 285: Junior Zach Anderson lost by decision to Saia Lotulelei. (Bethany 19-18)

BALDWIN CITY, Kan. -- The No. 19 ranked Baker University wrestling team rolled to a 36-18 home dual victory over Hannibal-LaGrange University on Tuesday night inside the Collins Center. The dual began with 125-pound Alan Calahan defeating Hannibal-LaGrange's Brady Sloup by a 5-2 decision. Then two-time 2013-14 HAAC Wrestler of the Week Bryce Shoemaker came up in the 133-pound dual and rolled to a pin of Caleb McElfresh in just 58 seconds. Then Baker earned six points from an open spot in the 141-pound dual, as Drew Harbinson earned the points and the Wildcats earned six more points in Open duals in the 149-pound and 157-pound classes. Baker's first loss of the dual came when 165-pound Trevor Sutton lost via a pin to HLG's Bryce Alexander. Hannibal-LaGrange then earned 12 total points in open victories in the 174-pound and 184-pound duals. BU's Michael Faison had an impressive 11-9 win over Konner Braughton in the 197-pound dual and Beau Bennett finished off the night with a pin of Mike Wright in 3:59. Baker returns home to take on Central Baptist in a dual this coming Thursday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. Thursday is also Senior Night for the Wildcats. Results: 125 Alan Callahan (Baker (Kan.) won by decision over Brady Sloup (Hannibal-LaGrange (MO) 5-2. 3.00 0 133 Bryce Shoemaker (Baker (Kan.) won by pin over Caleb McElfresh (Hannibal-LaGrange (MO) 0:58. 6.00 0 141 Drew Harbinson (Baker (Kan.) won by forfeit over Unknown (Unattached) . 6.00 0 149 Nathan Garcia (Baker (Kan.) won by forfeit over Unknown (Unattached) . 6.00 0 157 Nick Haugen (Baker (Kan.) won by forfeit over Unknown (Unattached) . 6.00 0 165 Bryce Alexandar (Hannibal-LaGrange (MO) won by pin over Trevor Sutton (Baker (Kan.) 1:07. 0 6.00 174 Grant Godfrey (Hannibal-LaGrange (MO) won by forfeit over Unknown (Unattached) . 0 6.00 184 Dan Capp (Hannibal-LaGrange (MO) won by forfeit over Unknown (Unattached) . 0 6.00 197 Michael Faison (Baker (Kan.) won by decision over Konner Braughton (Hannibal-LaGrange (MO) 10-9. 3.00 0 285 Beau Bennett (Baker (Kan.) won by pin over Mike Wright (Hannibal-LaGrange (MO) 5:00. 6.00 0

COLUMBIA, Ky. -- The sixth-ranked Lindsey Wilson College Wrestling team defeated No. 5 Campbellsville (Ky.) Tuesday night 23-9 inside a packed Biggers Sports Center. Lindsey Wilson improves to 7-4 in duals this season while Campbellsville falls to 22-5. Campbellsville took an early lead after third-ranked Cody Steiner won by decision10-8 over sixth-ranked Myron Bradbury at the 125 class to go up 3-0. No. 15 Keaton Thomas would answer for Lindsey Wilson at 133 with an upset 6-5 decision over fourth-ranked Tyler Alsip to tie the dual 3-3. The win would help jumpstart a Blue Raider run that saw Lindsey Wilson grapplers win the next four matches. Third-ranked Wismit Moinius won by a 6-1 decision over seventh-ranked Colby Rinehart at 141 to give Lindsey Wilson their first lead of the day at 6-3. The Blue Raiders would hold that lead for the remainder of the dual. Eighth-ranked Isaac Thomas took a 9-5 win at 149 over Brandon Westerman, who ranks No. 2 at the 141 weight class. Top-ranked Joe Cozart then won by major decision 17-7 over sixth-ranked Shawn McGhee at the 157 class to extend the Blue Raider lead to 13-3. In another upset win, No. 14 Mitchell Judkins defeated No. 11 Treyvontay Rhodes at the 165 class 3-0. The Tigers would get their second win after No. 11 Travis McIntosh won by decision over Erick Gomez 7-2 at 174. Jameel Bryant would answer for the Blue Raiders with an 8-0 major decision over Kyle Sweedman at the 184 class, giving Lindsey Wilson a 20-6 lead with just two weight classes left. Making his Blue Raider debut, Jahwon Akui won in a close 3-2 decision over No. 12 Nate Knauf at the 197 class. Ameer Daniels would fall in the heavyweight class 3-2 to Justin McDaniel, ending the dual 23-9 in favor of Lindsey Wilson. The Blue Raiders return to the mat when they host the University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) Friday night at 7 p.m. CT in Biggers Sports Center. Results: 125 No. 3 Cody Steiner (CU) won by decision over No. 6 Myron Bradbury (LWC) 10-8 133 No. 15 Keaton Thomas (LWC) won by decision over No. 4 Tyler Alsip (CU) 6-5 141 No. 3 Wismit Moinius (LWC) won by decision over No. 7 Colby Rinehart (CU) 6-1 149 No. 8 Isaac Thomas (LWC) won by decision over No. 2 (at 141) Brandon Westerman (CU) 9-5 157 No. 1 Joe Cozart (LWC) won by major decision over No. 6 Shawn McGhee (CU) 17-7 165 No. 14 Mitchell Judkins (LWC) won by decision over No. 11 Treyvontay Rhodes (CU) 3-0 174 No. 11 Travis McIntosh (CU) won by decision over Erick Gomez (LWC) 7-2 184 No. 1 Jameel Bryant (LWC) won by major decision over Kyle Sweedman (CU) 8-0 197 Jahwon Akui (LWC) won by decision over No. 12 Nate Knauf (CU) 3-2 285 Justin McDaniel (CU) won by decision over Ameer Daniels (LWC) 3-2