InterMat Staff

All times ET Wednesday, Jan. 1 9 a.m. Championship Round of 64 Noon Championship Round of 32/1st Round of Consolations 3 p.m. 2nd Round of Consolations 5:45 p.m. Championship Round of 16/3rd Round of Consolations Thursday, Jan. 2 9 a.m. Championship Quarterfinals 11:30 a.m. Consolation Round 5 12:30 pm. Consolation Round 6 1:30 p.m. Championship Semifinals/Consolation Quarterfinals 3:30 p.m. Consolation Semifinals 7 p.m. Championship Finals/Medal Matches

The pre-seeds have been released for the 2014 Southern Scuffle, which takes place Wednesday and Thursday in Chattanooga, Tenn. InterMat is providing a live blog throughout the two-day event for fans to follow the action and interact. 125: 1. Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) 2. Nico Megaludis (Penn State) 3. Josh Martinez (Air Force) 4. Corey Keener (Central Michigan) 5. David Terao (American) 6. Anthony Zanetta (Pittsburgh) 7. Nathan Kraisser (North Carolina) 8. Evan Silver (Stanford) 9. Earl Hall (Iowa State) 10. Eddie Klimara (Oklahoma State) 11. Jerome Robinson (Old Dominion) 12. Paul Petrov (Bucknell) 133: 1. Jon Morrison (Oklahoma State) 2. Ryan Mango (Stanford) 3. David Thorn (Minnesota) 4. Joe Roth (Central Michigan) 5. Shelton Mack (Pittsburgh) 6. Nick Soto (Chattanooga) 7. Jimmy Gulibon (Penn State) 8. Mack McGuire (Kent State) 9. Colton Rasche (Navy) 10. Jamel Hudson (Hofstra) 11. Joe Martinez (Virginia) 12. Jordan Conaway (Penn State) 141: 1. Chris Dardanes (Minnesota) 2. Zain Retherford (Penn State) 3. Evan Henderson (North Carolina) 4. Mike Nevinger (Cornell) 5. K. Undrakhbayar (Citadel) 6. Chris Mecate (Old Dominion) 7. Zach Horan (Central Michigan) 8. Luke Vaith (Hofstra) 9. Anthony Collica (Oklahoma State) 10. Edgar Bright (Pittsburgh) 11. Lavion Mayes (Missouri) 12. Joe Spisak (Virginia) 149: 1. Nick Dardanes (Minnesota) 2. Drake Houdashelt (Missouri) 3. Josh Kindig (Oklahoma State) 4. Chris Villalonga (Cornell) 5. Scott Sakaguchi (Oregon State) 6. Gus Sako (Virginia) 7. Dyllan Cottrell (Appalachian State) 8. Ray Borja (Navy) 9. Matthew Frisch (Citadel) 10. Luke Frey (Penn State) 11. Alex Johnson (Navy) 12. Cody Ruggierello (Hofstra) 157: 1. Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) 2. Dylan Ness (Minnesota) 3. Kyle Bradley (Missouri) 4. Brian Realbuto (Cornell) 5. R.J. Pena (Oregon State) 6. Ian Miller (Kent State) 7. Nestor Taffur (Boston) 8. Tristan Warner (Old Dominion) 9. James Vollrath (Penn State) 10. Thomas Gantt (North Carolina State) 11. Raamiah Bathea (Penn) 12. Alex Hudson (Chattanooga) 165: 1. David Taylor (Penn State) 2. Tyler Caldwell (Oklahoma State) 3. Nick Sulzer (Virginia) 4. Michael Moreno (Iowa State) 5. Corey Mock (Chattanooga) 6. Zach Toal (Missouri) 7. Turtogtokh Luvsandorj (Citadel) 8. Danny Zilverberg (Minnesota) 9. Casey Kent (Penn) 10. Dylan Palacio (Cornell) 11. Joe Booth (Hofstra) 12. Jim Wilson (Stanford) 174: 1. Chris Perry (Oklahoma State) 2. Matt Brown (Penn State) 3. Logan Storley (Minnesota) 4. Tyler Wilps (Pittsburgh) 5. Stephen Doty (Virginia) 6. Mike Ottinger (Central Michigan) 7. Mathew Miller (Navy) 8. Tanner Weatherman (Iowa State) 9. Kevin Radford (Arizona State) 10. Lelund Weatherspoon (Iowa State) 11. Mike England (Missouri) 12. Joe Latham (Oregon State) 184: 1. Ed Ruth (Penn State) 2. Kevin Steinhaus (Minnesota) 3. Gabe Dean (Cornell) 4. Max Thomusseit (Pittsburgh) 5. John Eblen (Missouri) 6. Lorenzo Thomas (Penn) 7. Boaz Beard (Iowa State) 8. Jon Fausey (Virginia) 9. Sam Wheeler (Kent State) 10. Blake Stauffer (Arizona State) 11. Nolan Boyd (Oklahoma State) 12. Brett Pfarr (Minnesota) 197: 1. Scott Schiller (Minnesota) 2. Kyven Gadson (Iowa State) 3. Morgan McIntosh (Penn State) 4. Daniel Mitchell (American) 5. Taylor Meeks (Oregon State) 6. Phillip Wellington (Ohio) 7. J'den Cox (Missouri) 8. Brandon Palik (Drexel) 9. Blake Rosholt (Oklahoma State) 10. Francis Mattiace (Penn) 11. Conner Hartmann (Duke) 12. Zach Nye (Virginia) 285: 1. Tony Nelson (Minnesota) 2. Nick Gwiazdowski (North Carolina State) 3. Jeremy Johnson (Ohio) 4. Jimmy Lawson (Penn State) 5. Austin Marsden (Oklahoma State) 6. Joe Stolfi (Bucknell) 7. Amar Dhesi (Oregon State) 8. Blake Herrin (American) 9. Josh Marchok (Stanford) 10. Jonathan Gingrich (Penn State) 11. Devon Mellon (Missouri) 12. P.J. Tasser (Pittsburgh)

Links: Brackets | Schedule Southern Scuffle

EVANSTON, Ill. -- North Dakota State's Steven Monk earned the school's first individual title at the prestigious Midlands Championships hosted by Northwestern University on Monday night, claiming a 4-2 decision over No. 4-ranked Nick Moore of Iowa in the 165-pound championship match. Monk improved to 16-1 this season and 114-23 in his career – a mark that ranks him second in school history in wins. Monk placed fourth at Midlands in each of the past two seasons. "This is another stepping stone for Steve," said NDSU head coach Roger Kish. "He'll be the first one to tell you that he has bigger plans and a lot of his goals are down the road in March." Monk registered a 7-2 decision over fifth-seeded Cooper Moore of Northern Iowa in the semifinals. Moore is the only wrestler to defeat Monk this season, but Monk swung the season series to 2-1 in his favor with his second win over Moore on Monday. NDSU sophomore Hayden Zillmer went 4-0 on Monday in the consolation bracket to earn a third-place finish at 174 pounds, making him the second-highest Midlands finisher in school history behind Monk. Zillmer won by decision in all four matches, with the final two of the day coming in overtime periods, to finish the tournament with a 6-1 record. Zillmer avenged his only defeat with a 2-1 decision over Southern Oregon's Brock Gutches in the tiebreaker period to take third place. Bison junior Kurtis Julson placed seventh at 184 pounds. Julson pinned Michigan's Domenic Abounader in his first match on Monday before dropping a 2-1 decision to No. 7 seed Sam Brooks of Iowa in the first tiebreaker period. Julson took seventh place by virtue of a medical forfeit over eighth-ranked Vic Avery of Edinboro. NDSU placed 11th as a team with 54 points. NDSU will travel to California later this week for duals at Cal Poly on Jan. 4 and CSU Bakersfield on Jan. 6.

EVANSTON, Ill. – Mitch Minotti became the first Lehigh freshman wrestler to win an undergraduate Midlands title as he captured the 149 pound title Monday night as the Mountain Hawks wrapped up action at the 51st Ken Kraft Midlands Championship at Northwestern's Welsh-Ryan Arena. Minotti came from behind twice to defeat Eric Grajales of Michigan 5-4 in the tiebreakers, becoming Lehigh's fifth undergraduate Midlands champion while capturing the school's sixth title. After advancing to the finals with a 2-0 win over Blake Ruolo of George Mason, the No. 6 seed Minotti took on the fifth-seeded Grajales for the title. Grajales opened the scoring with a cradle on the edge for a takedown and built up 1:25 of advantage time before Minotti escaped to make the score 2-1 after one period. In the second, Minotti chose neutral and secured a late takedown to take a 3-2 lead into the third. Grajales chose bottom in the third and escaped to tie the match at 3-3. Minotti got in on a deep shot late in the third but no points were awarded and the match went to sudden victory. Following a scoreless sudden victory period, Minotti was down for the first 30 second tiebreak period but Grajales managed to ride out. In the second half of the tiebreak Grajales escaped to go in front 4-3 but Minotti grabbed an ankle after a single leg shot and finished the takedown with eight seconds remaining to win 5-4. "It's a great feeling, especially getting revenge on a guy that beat me last year in this same tournament," Minotti said after his triumph. "The coaches always preach about scoring as many points as you can and scoring late in periods. I knew that's what they were thinking and that's what was going through my head. I just made something work. "He found a way," added Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro. "You have to keep wrestling as long as there's time on the clock. He needed to score quickly and that's what he did." Lehigh wrestlers have now won titles in three of the last four Midlands Championships as Minotti joined Robert Hamlin (2011) and Zack Rey (2010) as recent Midlands champs. Minotti was one of four Lehigh wrestlers to place in the top eight in their respective weight classes, along with sophomores Mason Beckman (133) and John Bolich (197) and junior Nathaniel Brown (184), who competed unattached. As a team, Lehigh finished in ninth place with 60.5 points. Brown was Lehigh's other semifinalist in Monday's morning session but he fell 5-3 in sudden victory to Maryland's Jimmy Sheptock, the eventual champion at 184. The No. 3 seed at 184 Brown wrestled back to defeat post graduate Keegan Mueller, and then dominated Brown's Ophir Bernstein in the third place match, winning by technical fall 17-2 in 7:00. The No. 9 seed at 197, Bolich scored a first period takedown that proved to be the difference in a 3-2 win over sixth seed Chris Penny of Virginia Tech which guaranteed his first Midlands medal. Following an injury default and a medical forfeit, Bolich found himself wrestling for third place but came up on the short end of a 3-1 decision against Iowa's Nathan Burak and had to settle for fourth. Beckman placed at 133 for the second straight year, coming in fifth this year after placing fourth last year. He earned a spot in the top eight with a 7-3 decision over Cashe Quiroga of Purdue, then defeated Devon Lotito of Cal Poly to guarantee himself top six. Beckman fell to top seed A.J. Schopp of Edinboro 5-0 in the consolation semifinals in a rematch of the NWCA All-Star Classic exhibition, won by Beckman 5-1. In the fifth place match, Beckman avenged a semifinal loss to Alan Waters of Missouri with a 5-2 tiebreaker win. Beckman built a 1:10 riding time advantage to force overtime at 1-1 then mustered a pair of escapes in the first half of the tiebreaker (after a Waters injury timeout) and added an insurance takedown in the second half. Of the five Mountain Hawks who advanced to Monday, only freshman Elliot Riddick failed to place. Riddick dropped a 5-3 sudden victory decision to Iowa's Alex Meyer in what was his fourth overtime match in five Midlands bouts. Riddick opened the scoring with a low double leg takedown late in the first period, but with a late 3-1 lead was taken down in the final 15 seconds of regulation. In the sudden victory period, Meyer countered a Riddick shot for the winning score after just 14 seconds. "I'm pleased with the finishes we had," Santoro said. "Winning three of our last four was good, but we need more guys in championship finals and more guys wrestling tonight. We saw a lot better fight overall today, but we still have some issues we need to work on when we get back. We need to fight all the time. We can't have these letdowns in these big matches. That's the difference between being an All-American and not being an All-American. Iowa rolled to the team title with a Midlans record 187.5 points. Northern Iowa's Joe Colon was named both the Art Kraft Champion of Champions and the Dan Gable Outstanding Wrestler. The Mountain Hawks will return to action on Sunday January 12, when they travel to EIWA rival Cornell for a 2 p.m. dual. The match will be broadcast on WLVR-FM (91.3) and WLVR.org. Lehigh's next home will be Friday January 17 against Navy inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall.

EVANSTON, Ill. -- The Fighting Illini placed fourth at the 2013 Midlands Championships after totaling 83 points, just one less point than third-place Michigan. Five Illini placed in the top-eight, as Steven Rodrigues (141) finished second, Jesse Delgado (125) placed third, Mario Gonzalez (197) finished sixth, Zac Brunson (157) placed seventh, and Christopher Lopez (HWT) finished in eighth place. Iowa took the team title with a tournament-record 187.5 points and crowned three champions. "This weekend really took a toll on us physically," said head coach Jim Heffernan. "We were battling everything from injuries to the flu throughout the tournament. After getting upset in the semifinals, Jesse Delgado did a very good job of fighting back and getting third place. Steven Rodrigues had a great run getting to the finals and wrestled well. We had to withdraw Jackson Morse and Mario Gonzalez on the second day due to injuries, and that really hurt out team point total. We need to use the next couple weeks to get healthy and get some solid training in to get ready for Big Ten season." Rodrigues started the day with with a 4-3 decision over No. 7 Josh Dziewa to advance to the championship match, where he squared off against top-seeded Mitchell Port of Edinboro. Port, currently the top-ranked 141-pounder in the country by Intermat, controlled the first period, taking a 5-0 lead after a takedown and three-point near fall. Rodrigues held the 2013 national runner-up to three points in the second period, making the score 8-0 going into the third. Rodrigues started the final period in the down position and scored his first point of the match with an early escape. After another takedown by Port, Rodrigues responded with an escape to make the final score 11-2. Rodrigues, who entered the tournament unseeded, defeated four seeded opponents to get to the championship match. Delgado began the day with a 3-1 loss to fourth-seeded Thomas Gilman of Iowa, his first loss of the season, to move into the consolation bracket. In the consolation semifinals, the reigning NCAA and Big Ten champion defeated Sean Boyle of Michigan in a 12-3 major decision to advance to the third-place match. Delgado began the match by taking down No. 5 Dylan Peters (Northern Iowa), but Peters scrambled out for the escape. After another takedown, Peters responded with a reversal, but Delgado was able to escape before the end of the period, making the score 5-3 after one. Delgado began the second period in the down position and managed to escape early, while Peters did the same in period three, making the final score 6-5. Gonzalez lost his first matchup of the day to No. 4 Braden Atwood due to an injury default. The top-seeded 197-pounder suffered an injury shortly into the first period of the semifinals, but attempted to continue after a short timeout. After being taken down less than a minute later, Gonzalez was unable to continue and moved to the consolation bracket. The Aurora, Ill., native was unable to compete in the next two consolation matches, and ended up finishing in sixth place. Fifth-seeded Brunson suffered a loss to Chad Ryan of Columbia in the first session, but won three consolation matches to advance to the consolation quarterfinals, where he was defeated by teammate Isaiah Martinez. In the seventh-place match, Brunson squared off against Ryan once again, this time coming away with a tech. fall victory to place seventh. Lopez's eighth-place finish is a career best, while unattached wrestler Isaiah Martinez placed fourth in his collegiate debut.

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Freshman Adam Coon (Fowlerville, Mich./Fowlerville HS) kept his unbeaten season alive, capturing the heavyweight title to headline the No. 19-ranked University of Michigan wrestling team's performance at the 51st annual Midlands Championships on Monday (Dec. 30) at Welsh-Ryan Arena. With Coon's victory, the Wolverines jumped into third place in the final team standings behind six individual placewinners. Coon, seeded third, knocked off Iowa's top-seeded -- and third-ranked -- Bobby Telford, 3-2, on an incredible third-period takedown. The Wolverine wrestler shot in on a double leg late in the frame, but Telford countered, locking up a tight cradle. After several precarious moments, Coon ducked under, coming around top to score. Telford escaped to narrow the score but could not get off a quality shot. Coon also scored while locked in a cradle in the semifinals, where he defeated Maryland's second-seeded Spencer Myers, 4-1. The Wolverine freshman improved to 19-0 in his collegiate career. It is the best start for a Michigan true freshman in program history. Fifth-year senior Eric Grajales (Brandon, Fla./Brandon HS) lost a 5-4 overtime heartbreaker to Lehigh's sixth-seeded Mitch Minotti, giving up a low single leg in the waning seconds of the first tiebreaker. Grajales, seeded fifth, struck first with a first-period cradle, but ran out of mat room to turn Minotti. The Mountain Hawk wrestler evened it up with a takedown late in the second before Grajales escaped to even the score. Grajales rode out the first 30-second frame and escaped quickly in the second to have the match in hand before the winning Minotti takedown. Grajales knocked off Northwestern's top-seeded Jason Tsirtsis, 6-3, in the semifinal round, rallying from an early first-period deficit with an arm drag and two-point tilt in the second. He added an escape in the third and just missed on a riding-time point, ending the match with 56 seconds time advantage. Sophomore Taylor Massa (St. John, Mich./St. John HS), competing unattached at 165 pounds, bounced back from a controversial semifinal loss to earn back-to-back consolation matches and claim third place. Massa defeated Northwestern's seventh-seeded Pierce Harger, 5-3, in the placing bout, overcoming an early deficit with a first-period arm drag and 3:25 in riding time. Massa sacrificed an early lead in a 4-3 semifinal loss to Iowa's second-seeded Nick Moore. The Wolverine put Moore on his back out of a late scramble in the first but settled only for the takedown. The wrestlers traded escapes in the second and third before Massa was called for a second stall warning and Moore finished on a single leg in the waning seconds to steal the match. The Wolverines placed three at the lowerweights as fifth-year senior Sean Boyle (Lowell, Mass./Blair Academy) and sophomore/freshman Conor Youtsey (Parma, Mich./Mason HS) claimed fifth and eighth at 125 pounds, respectively, and sophomore Rossi Bruno (Brandon, Fla./Brandon HS) took eighth at 133 pounds. Boyle went 3-1 on the day, earning extra points with a pair of bonus victories, to register his first Midlands placing performance. He opened the day with back-to-back wrestleback wins, including a dominant 9-0 major decision over Brown's Billy Watterson -- on two takedowns, a three-point tilt and 3:03 riding time -- in his first morning match, before falling to Illinois' defending NCAA champion Jesse Delgado in the consolation semifinals. He accepted a forfeit victory in the fifth-place match. Youtsey and Bruno both opened the day with falls to secure placing performances before dropping consecutive matches to similarly settle for eighth place. Youtsey pinned Maryland's Billy Rappo, using a head-and-arm to reverse the Terrapin to his back at 3:31. Bruno stuck Rider's Chuck Zeisloft out of a wild scramble late in the first period, initiating the flurry with a single-leg shot before putting Zeisloft on his back at 2:57. Senior/junior Collin Zeerip (Fremont, Mich./Hesperia HS) and freshman Domenic Abounader (Gates Mills, Ohio/St. Edward HS) were eliminated one match shy of placing at 174 and 184 pounds, respectively, after dropping their morning wrestleback matches. Abounader was beating North Dakota State's 12th-seeded Kurt Julson, 3-0 with riding time, midway through the second period when he was headlocked and pinned at 4:15. The Wolverines will resume dual-meet competition on Sunday (Jan. 5), hosting Maryland at 2 p.m. at Cliff Keen Arena. The Terrapins, who will join the Big Ten Conference next season, took sixth place at Midlands.

EVANSTON, Ill. -- UNI wrestler Joe Colon knocked off the nation’s top two wrestlers and led the Panthers to a fifth-place finish at the 51st Ken Kraft Midlands Championships. Colon dominated the championship match, pinning No. 2 Tony Ramos of Iowa in 2 minutes, 37 seconds. Colon is the only wrestler to pin Ramos in his college career. “He beat three highly ranked guys. He showed he could find a way to win. He needs to build on it,” said head coach Doug Schwab. “He’s going to have to do that at the national tournament. He was the same tonight as he always is. He just wants to go and wrestle guys and attack his opponent.” Colon struck first with a takedown early in the match, but he wasn’t able to keep Ramos down. Ramos earned an escape about midway through the first. However, Colon countered with a takedown that put Ramos directly to his back, giving him the fall. Colon is UNI’s highest finisher at the prestigious competition since Nick Baima won the 165-pound weight class in 2005. Dylan Peters earned two falls early in the second day of competition to become the team leader in pins - 12 total - and keep his chances alive for a third-place finish in the 133-pound weight class. However, top-ranked Jesse Delgado of Illinois stood in his way. Delgado got a takedown early, but Peters earned an escape and reversal to close the gap, 4-3. Delgado got an escape to extend his lead 5-3 after the first period. An early escape in the second period put Delgado ahead 6-3. Peters escaped in the third to keep Delgado within two points. Despite earning a point for stalling, Peters eventually fell 6-5 to Delgado. “Peters is close with all the top guys in the country,” said Schwab. “There are just some small finishing touches. He isn’t happy with where he is at. We get a great effort from him every time. We just have some small things to tweak.” Cooper Moore earned his fourth major decision, beating Josh Houldsworth of Columbia, 8-0, to take fifth place. “He wrestled really well,” said Schwab. “He was aggressive, and he attacked. It was like a flip that switched. He’s been wrestling well all season, but there was a different look in his eye. We have to keep him with that attitude.” Moore fell to 165-pound top seed Steven Monk of North Dakota State to start the second day of competition. Moore beat Monk early in the season to earn his national ranking, but Monk has won by decision in their last two meetings. Moore’s loss to No. 13 Pierce Harger of Northwestern bumped him out of contention for third. “It’s a mixed bag anything you have a tournament,” said Schwab. “We need to have more guys go out and lay it on the line. Colon is laying it on the line. He is ready to go toe to toe with anyone. “We have to dig in and put more in. It has to burn you. It’s only January, but the clock is ticking, and we have to make some gain. But we have some guys we can rally around, too.” MORE PANTHER RESULTS Four other Panthers got knocked out of medal rounds on the second day of competition. Returning NCAA qualifier Levi Wolfensperger lost to No. 10 Devon Lotito of Cal Poly in the 133-pound weight class. In addition to pinning Moore, Harger of Northwestern earned a fall against Curt Maas in the 165-pound weight class. Basil Minto and Blaize Cabell also lost their opening matches of the day in the 197-pound and 285-pound weight classes, respectively. NEXT UP UNI will be on the road this weekend and face two Mid-American Conference foes. The Panthers face Buffalo Jan. 4 and Eastern Michigan Jan. 5. On Jan. 11, the team hosts Central Michigan at 7 p.m. Fans are encouraged to buy tickets early, as fans were turned away at the first home dual because of limited seating. To purchase tickets, go online at UNIPanthers.com or call (319) 273-4849.

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Jimmy Sheptock and Christian Boley took home titles at the 51st Ken Kraft Midlands Championships at Northwestern University Monday night. Sheptock took down Iowa’s Ethen Lofthouse to win the 184-pound title, while Boley ran past Braden Atwood of Purdue to claim the crown at 197 pounds. The pair’s wins propelled the Terps to an overall team finish of sixth, with a total of 68.5 points. The double titles were the Terps’ first at the Midlands since 2009, when Alex Krom took home the title at 141 pounds. Maryland has never had two champions at a single Midlands Championships. "Today was a great day for our program," head coach Kerry McCoy said. "Jimmy and Christian did a great job. Spencer wrestled well and overall, our guys did a good job. We are really close to being a top team and in March, we'll be there." In the 184-pound title bout, Sheptock and Lofthouse wrestled methodically for all three periods, with neither competitor registering much offense. Lofthouse notched an escape in the second period, with Sheptock returning the favor in the third. With the score tied 1-1, the match entered the sudden death period. The Terrapin senior was able to bring Lofthouse down with a single leg shot, adjust to the Lofthouse's roll-through, and secure the winning takedown and a 3-1 win. Sheptock’s victory over Lofthouse was his fourth over a ranked opponent this season and third over a top-10 foe. The All-American’s best previous finish at the Midlands came last year when he came in fifth. Boley continued his recent strong run of form, coming back to defeat the fourth-seeded Atwood. Down 3-1 in the second period, The New York native used an explosive move to register a takedown and near fall in quick succession. A third round takedown sealed the title for Boley, who won by a final score of 9-5. Earlier in the day, Spencer Myers dropped his semifinal match to Michigan’s Adam Coon, 4-1, before placing sixth overall at the tournament. The junior also finished sixth at the 2011 Midlands. Maryland’s team finish tied for its highest in all-time at the tournament. The Terps also took home a sixth place finish in 2009. The Terps return to the mat in dual action on the road against Michigan. Action is scheduled to being at 2:30 p.m. on Jan. 5.

EVANSTON, Ill. -- The Edinboro wrestling team matched its best finish ever at the 51st Ken Kraft Midlands Championships and Mitchell Port became the first Fighting Scot to take home first place since 2011 as the second day of competition concluded on Monday. Iowa ran away with first place, totaling 187.5 points, with Edinboro capturing second place with 102.5 points. Michigan finished third in the 47-team field at Northwestern's Welsh-Ryan Arena. Edinboro had five wrestlers medal, led by Port's first place showing at 141 lbs. The redshirt junior became the Boro's first titlist since Chris Honeycutt won at 197 lbs. in 2011. Port, the number one seed and ranked number one nationally, improved to 14-0 with an 11-2 major decision over Illinois' Steven Rodrigues in the finals. A year ago Port finished fifth. The Fighting Scots added third place finishes by A.J. Schopp at 133 lbs. and Johnny Greisheimer at 157 lbs., while Ernest James took home fifth place at heavyweight and Vic Avery was eighth at 184 lbs. The national runner-up at 141 lbs. a year ago, Port dominated the final against Rodrigues, who came in unseeded but had upset four seeds to reach the finals. He would record the first of three takedowns less than 20 seconds into the match, and with just over a minute remaining picked up three back points for a 5-0 lead. An escape and takedown late in the period boosted the lead to 8-0 after two periods. Rodrigues would get on the board with an escape, but Port added another takedown midway through the third period and owned over three minutes in riding time. Schopp, meanwhile, overcame a 3-0 loss to fourth-seeded Joe Colon of Northern Iowa in the semifinals to win two more matches and take home third place at 133 lbs. He had placed fifth the previous two years. Colon would go on to record a first period pin over second-seeded Tony Ramos of Iowa in the finals. Ranked number one by InterMat and the top seed, Schopp won a 5-0 decision over Mason Beckman of Lehigh in the consolation semifinals. The victory over the third-seeded Beckman avenged an earlier loss to Beckman in the NWCA All-Star Classic. The redshirt junior then overcame another nemesis in the third place match, prevailing 3-0 over Wisconsin's Tyler Graff, the fifth seed. A year earlier Graff had defeated Schopp in the Midlands Championships and in the NCAA's. Schopp is now 18-1. Greisheimer, the number eight seed, turned in some of the best wrestling of his career the last two days. The fifth-year senior won six of seven matches, with his lone loss to top-ranked Derek St. John of Iowa, who went on to win the Midlands crown. Greisheimer upset second-seeded Nick Brascetta of Virginia Tech in the consolation semifinals, winning by fall at 4:42, before winning a 9-6 decision against Isaiah Martinez of Illinois in the third place match. He is now 14-6. James, another fifth-year senior, came in as the tenth seed at heavyweight and would boost his season record to 14-5 while capturing fifth place. He was another Fighting Scot to exact some revenge. He would advance in the consolation round with a fall over ninth-seeded Ty Walz of Virginia Tech at 3:27, after previously losing to Walz in the early-season dual. James eventually won a medical forfeit over Spence Myers of Maryland, the number two seed. Avery may have finished higher but the redshirt sophomore forfeited his final two bouts in the consolation quarterfinals and seventh place match with an injury. He had previously missed a month with an ankle injury early in the year. He is now 7-2.

Related: Blog Replay | Final Results EVANSTON, Ill. -- The University of Iowa wrestling team won three individual titles and scored a tournament-record 187.5 points to win the 51st annual Midlands Championships on Monday night. Thomas Gilman (125), Derek St. John (157), and Mike Evans (174) each won their first career Midlands titles as the Hawkeyes won their record 23rd Midlands team championship. Iowa placed 14 wrestlers in the top eight, including 10 inside the top three. Gilman scored takedowns in the first and second periods to defeat defending Midlands Champion Jarrod Garnett, 6-1, in the 125-pound finals. St. John used three takedowns and a reversal to defeat Indiana's Taylor Walsh, 9-3, at 157. St. John extended his winning streak to a career-best 24 matches, and stopped Walsh's streak of consecutive falls at 15. Evans built a 5-0 lead before closing the 174-pound finals with a half-nelson at 2:15. Evans pinned three opponents and scored two major decisions en route to the tournament title. The Hawkeyes' 187.5 team points broke their previous record of 185, set in 2007. Edinboro placed a distant second with 102.5 points, and Michigan (84), Illinois (83), and Northern Iowa (70.5) rounded out the top five. Tony Ramos (133), Nick Moore (165), Ethen Lofthouse (174), and Bobby Telford (285) each finished runner-up at their respective weight class. Josh Dziewa won a 3-1 decision in the 141-pound third-place match, and Brandon Sorensen topped Brody Grothus, 4-2, for third place at 149. Nathan Burak placed third at 197, and Sammy Brooks (184) and Cory Clark (125) each placed sixth. Iowa returns to action Jan. 3 at Purdue. The Hawkeyes host Michigan State at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Jan. 4 at 7 p.m. (CT). Visit hawkeyesports.com or call the UI Athletic Ticket Office (800-IA-HAWKS) for ticket information.

125: Thomas Gilman (Iowa) dec. Jarrod Garnett (Bison WC), 6-1 133: No. 7 Joe Colon (Northern Iowa) pinned No. 2 Tony Ramos (Iowa), 2:37 141: No. 1 Mitchell Port (Edinboro) maj. dec. Steven Rodrigues (Illinois), 11-2 149: No. 18 Mitch Minotti (Lehigh) dec. No. 13 Eric Grajales (Michigan), 5-4 TB 157: No. 1 Derek St. John (Iowa) dec. No. 7 Taylor Walsh (Indiana), 9-3 165: No. 5 Steven Monk (North Dakota State) dec. No. 4 Nick Moore (Iowa), 4-2 174: No. 6 Mike Evans (Iowa) pinned Shane Hughes (Columbia), 2:14 184: No. 3 Jimmy Sheptock (Maryland) dec. No. 2 Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa), 3-1 SV 197: No. 11 Christian Boley (Maryland) dec. No. 19 Braden Atwood (Purdue), 9-5 295: No. 4 Adam Coon (Michigan) dec. No. 3 Bobby Telford (Iowa), 3-2

The finals of the Midlands Championships will take place at 8 p.m. CT and will be aired live on the Big Ten Network. 125: Thomas Gilman (Iowa) vs. Jarrod Garnett (Bison WC) 133: No. 2 Tony Ramos (Iowa) vs. No. 7 Joe Colon (Northern Iowa) 141: No. 1 Mitchell Port (Edinboro) vs. Steven Rodrigues (Illinois) 149: No. 13 Eric Grajales (Michigan) vs. No. 18 Mitch Minotti (Lehigh) 157: No. 1 Derek St. John (Iowa) vs. No. 7 Taylor Walsh (Indiana) 165: No. 4 Nick Moore (Iowa) vs. No. 5 Steven Monk (North Dakota State) 174: No. 6 Mike Evans (Iowa) vs. Shane Hughes (Columbia) 184: No. 2 Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa) vs. No. 3 Jimmy Sheptock (Maryland) 197: No. 11 Christian Boley (Maryland) vs. No. 19 Braden Atwood (Purdue) 295: No. 3 Bobby Telford (Iowa) vs. No. 4 Adam Coon (Michigan)

125: Thomas Gilman (Iowa) dec. No. 1 Jesse Delgado (Illinois), 3-1 Jarrod Garnett (Bison WC) dec. No. 4 Cory Clark (Iowa), 10-8 SV 133: No. 7 Joe Colon (Northern Iowa) dec. No. 1 A.J. Schopp (Edinboro), 3-0 No. 2 Tony Ramos (Iowa) dec. Alan Waters (Missouri), 5-0 141: No. 1 Mitchell Port (Edinboro) pinned Pat Greco (Northwestern), 6:53 Steven Rodrigues (Illinois) dec. No. 9 Josh Dziewa (Iowa), 4-3 149: No. 13 Eric Grajales (Michigan) dec. No. 2 Jason Tsirtsis (Northwestern), 6-3 No. 18 Mitch Minotti (Lehigh) dec. Blake Roulo (George Mason), 2-0 157: No. 1 Derek St. John (Iowa) dec. No. 9 Isaac Jordan (Wisconsin), 5-3 SV No. 7 Taylor Walsh (Indiana) pinned Nick Brascetta (Virginia Tech), 1:58 165: No. 5 Steven Monk (North Dakota State) dec. No. 14 Cooper Moore (Northern Iowa), 7-2 No. 4 Nick Moore (Iowa) dec. Taylor Massa (Michigan), 4-3 174: No. 6 Mike Evans (Iowa) maj. dec. Zach Epperly (Virginia Tech), 10-1 Shane Hughes (Columbia) dec. Brock Gutches (Southern Oregon), 5-3 184: No. 2 Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa) dec. No. 14 Ophir Bernstein (Brown), 8-2 No. 3 Jimmy Sheptock (Maryland) dec. Nathaniel Brown (Lehigh), 5-3 SV 197: No. 19 Braden Atwood (Purdue) by injury default over No. 7 Mario Gonzalez (Illinois) No. 11 Christian Boley (Maryland) dec. No. 10 Nathan Burak (Iowa), 3-2 285: No. 3 Bobby Telford (Iowa) dec. No. 6 J.T. Felix (Boise State), 4-2 No. 4 Adam Coon (Michigan) dec. No. 7 Spencer Myers (Maryland), 4-1

125: No. 1 Jesse Delgado (Illinois) vs. Thomas Gilman (Iowa) No. 4 Cory Clark (Iowa) vs. Jarrod Garnett (Bison WC) 133: No. 1 A.J. Schopp (Edinboro) vs. No. 7 Joe Colon (Northern Iowa) No. 2 Tony Ramos (Iowa) vs. Alan Waters (Missouri) 141: No. 1 Mitchell Port (Edinboro) vs. Pat Greco (Northwestern) No. 9 Josh Dziewa (Iowa) vs. Steven Rodrigues (Illinois) 149: No. 2 Jason Tsirtsis (Northwestern) vs. No. 13 Eric Grajales (Michigan) No. 18 Mitch Minotti (Lehigh) vs. Blake Roulo (George Mason) 157: No. 1 Derek St. John (Iowa) vs. No. 9 Isaac Jordan (Wisconsin) No. 7 Taylor Walsh (Indiana) vs. Nick Brascetta (Virginia Tech) 165: No. 5 Steven Monk (North Dakota State) vs. No. 14 Cooper Moore (Northern Iowa) No. 4 Nick Moore (Iowa) vs. Taylor Massa (Michigan) 174: No. 6 Mike Evans (Iowa) vs. Zach Epperly (Virginia Tech) Brock Gutches (Southern Oregon) vs. Shane Hughes (Columbia) 184: No. 2 Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa) vs. No. 14 Ophir Bernstein (Brown) No. 3 Jimmy Sheptock (Maryland) vs. Nathaniel Brown (Lehigh) 197: No. 7 Mario Gonzalez (Illinois) vs. No. 19 Braden Atwood (Purdue) No. 10 Nathan Burak (Iowa) vs. No. 11 Christian Boley (Maryland) 285: No. 3 Bobby Telford (Iowa) vs. No. 6 J.T. Felix (Boise State) No. 4 Adam Coon (Michigan) vs. No. 7 Spencer Myers (Maryland)

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State Nittany Lion wrestlers Andrew Alton (Mill Hall, Pa.) and Dylan Alton (Mill Hall, Pa.) made their season debuts today at the Wilkes Open, competing at the open event after off-season surgeries delayed their season starts. The twin brothers, ranked No. 7 at 149 and No. 5 at 157 respectively, combined to go 5-0 before taking medical forfeits as planned. Wrestling in their first live action in almost nine months and after off-season shoulder surgery, the duo fared very well. Andrew went 3-0 at 149, including a technical fall and a fall before medically forfeiting out of the tournament as previously planned. Dylan posted a 2-0 mark at 157 including a pin before taking medical forfeits as planned as well. The wins do count towards each man's season records and so the tandem heads into the New Year with 3-0 and 2-0 marks respectively. The Lions will head to Chattanooga, Tenn., for New Year's Day once again as Sanderson's crew will look for its fourth straight Southern Scuffle crown. The 2014 Southern Scuffle, hosted by UT-Chattanooga, takes place on Jan. 1-2, 2014. At this time, the participation of the Alton brothers in the Scuffle is doubtful. Penn State's next home dual is set for Sunday, Jan. 12, when the Lions welcome Purdue to Rec Hall for a 2 p.m. showdown. 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.

Midlands Championships

EVANSTON, Ill. -- The Big Ten Network will air the finals of the 51st Ken Kraft Midlands Championship live at 8:00 p.m. CT. The 51st Ken Kraft Midlands Championships first session begins at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 29, followed by the second session at 7:00 p.m. The action continues Monday with the third session, semifinals, consolation matches and seventh place matches at noon. Fans are encouraged to use the hashtag #Midlands51 to join the conversation on social media.

I'll be toasting to a year of your health and safety and to the growth of our sport at the local and international level. As you know, 2013 was a watershed year for our sport, but through all the stress you crazy people kept working hard and never stopped believing in your passion. I appreciate your dedication and am once again proud to consider myself a member of your community. To your questions ... Q: See link. I heard about this through word of mouth, the emotional and physical abuse by Coach Waller at Lock Haven. What I want to know ... Is this the way that all Division I coaches are? I would suspect not. Maybe all coaches are different and use different means to motivate, but abuse to me isn't the right way. In your experience, how are most Division I coaches wired, especially those at the top of the sport? Are they screamers? Are they talkers? What do they do to motivate? -- Beau E. Foley: Abuse isn't a word with a lot of flexibility. Wrestling coaches who tend toward physical or emotional abuse should seek some counseling and find a new career. I know that many readers think of their coaching days and toughness of their leaders with fondness and nostalgia, but that type of leadership has failed with modern athletes. Professors at educational institutions around the world have studied the science of learning ... and none have concluded that slapping, screaming and bullying athletes is more productive than thoughtful leadership with predictable and fair outcomes for action. In the article you linked, the complaint most often forwarded by the wrestlers was that Coach Waller's discipline came as a surprise, and his choices were often unpredictable and biased. Wrestlers were slapped, pushed and shoved, but equally as harmful was that they were asked to wrestle off an extra time or made to feel inadequate after failed weight cuts. Ultimately the athletes rebelled and spoke to the administration about the abuses and their frustration. Waller is out and replaced by Scott Moore. (I did not contact Coach Moore for background information.) Today's top coaches are tasked with creating environments where there are no threats of physical abuse and the rumors of favorites and personal vendettas are removed. Cael suspended Ed Ruth just as he would a backup with a similar track record of offenses. It appeared to those watching from a distance that Cael didn't react to the shock of the event with more harshness, or less than was outlined in the preseason manuals. That type of calculation meant that the rest of the organization saw that their actions would be managed without prejudice. That builds trust and understanding between the coaches and the wrestlers. I don't know for certain that Cael abides, without fault, to his system. However, in assuming that he has, it's easy to see how predictable outcomes for bad and subpar behavior allows him more time to focus on teaching techniques, scouting film and making adjustments. That's the stuff that makes a good coach great. The nostalgia for the whistle-wearing middle school coach who convicted you of being a "lower than whale turd" for trivial failures, has no worth in modern day scholastic athletics. In need of 24/7 support kids have outflanked parents and teachers. Tommy and Suzy don't need your emotional support when navigating the difficulties of failure. Students today have several options for their meaningless validations. They can hop online and post a "poor me" status on Facebook and feel their failures dissipate in moments. They can hop on Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram to relieve that sinking feeling. Young athletes today don't need to work harder and suffer through hours of introspection to discover what needs to be changed in order to live up to a coach's ideals about winning and proper behavior. They hit some keys and in moments feel better. Today's coaches either adapt to that reality, or they disappear. There are still screamers, but they're being lost not only to administrative oversight, but their own frustrations. Coaches leave the business because they can no longer connect with anger. It takes a more delicate approach. The punching, the slapping, the needless abuses -- they're antiquated. The modern athlete likes a Twitter-savvy coach who understands their frustrations and validates their emotions. Sure, every coach will still retain their method, but very few, if any, of the top coaches keeps yelling as anything but an infrequent, predictable reminder of why you don't want to break the rules. Overall, the simple rule is that the modern wrestler won't compete for a coach that treats them with rudeness, much less one who throws them into a stationary bike. Q: It seems to be overlooked that the Boston wrestling program had an endowment. Orin Smiley ('56) named the program in his estate. I read the amount was just shy of $1 million, which was used to fund scholarships. It would seem that now that the program is dropped the university will "absorb" those funds. If this is true, words cannot describe the underhanded low-life action of the athletic department. But unfortunately it should serve as a wakeup call to current programs. All endowments need to have some type of language written in, that if the university ever decides to drop the program, that the those funds cannot be used by the athletic department, rather redirected to other areas of the university to protect that "nest egg." I guess no one really thought that a university would do such a horrible thing, but your general thoughts on this? You coached at Columbia. The head coach and first assistant position are endowed. Is there anything there to protect that alumni contribution? -- Frank C. Foley: I really thought that endowments could not be taken back by the school, but after a few phone calls it sounds like donors can't always write program security into the agreement. Columbia does have a few endowed coaching positions, but those seem to be based on gentlemen's agreements between the donors and the athletic directors. Of course, with AD's changing more frequently, it's tough to know how long those agreements will last. I agree that cutting the wrestling program at Boston was and is a form of larceny. They are taking money they know was meant for for one thing and not fulfilling their original agreement. Seems like the current administration is treating Boston Athletics like it would an investment property -- tearing out the favorites of previous owners and replacing it with something that they believe will increase the value of their product. New Balance's investment makes everything even more suspect. Boston AD Mike Lynch doesn't care or maybe even realize that he's just adding to a culture of education that is less about opportunity and diversity and more about cash. He wants to be part of big collegiate sports and to him cutting wrestling was another step in that direction -- a new kitchen even though the old one was just fine. If the New Balance situation proves to be what some have rumored then Lynch took from Trev Alberts' management playbook and showed cowardice and a lack of no vision. Lynch took the easy way. He quit. He ran. He backed down. Even if wrestling isn't reinstated at Boston that Lynch's reductive approach to education and athletics costs him the illustrious career he thought mortgaging the careers of thirty wrestlers was going to buy him. UPDATE: Boston Globe article has several people on record denying any relationships between the New Balance donation and the elimination of wrestling. Lynch also states that the monies received is substantially less than $800k ... http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2013/12/27/wrestling-program-grapples-with-realities-extinction/szkon64EJSPcoLB0QkpfrJ/story.html MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME Weidman v. Silva II: Chris Weidman might be the nicest human on the planet, and now the baddest. The Art of Learning Q: Can Division I college wrestling have a better schedule? The season is very, very long. J Rob has pushed for more dual meets and I think I read a while back that Cael would like to see wrestling become a single-semester sport. The NCAA wrestling tournament also gets overshadowed by basketball. I see room for improvement. What are your thoughts? -- Mike T. Foley: Schedule changes are something that need to be considered by the NCAA Championships before the city bidding process is made official. Right now we are locked into 2018, making 2018-2019 season the earliest a change could be made by the NCAA. I agree that the season is much too long. Unlike basketball, wrestling requires several of the same individuals to compete several times a week. Though the matches can range in quantity and quality, the amount of time spent managing weight and warming up is much more than that experienced by other sports. Less quantifiable, but more substantial is the emotional toll that five months of competition can have on a young wrestler. The student-athletes shouldn't be forced to saddle semesters. It's an inelegant schedule that was allowed to grow and take root, but falls apart when considering the health of the student-athlete, and the possible financial benefits of moving the competition date away from NCAA basketball. It would be interesting to find out what incentive the NCAA would have in making the change. Assuming they sell out an 18k seat arena for three days, the NCAA is making the maximum amount of money per championship. There is less residual media, but would there be a noticeable amount more if we moved the championships to December or April? ESPN's package with the NCAA has already been purchased and though several million dollars in revenue would speak to the sport's power, we aren't yet making that much in viewership. I think the argument should be made around the physical and psychological health of the athletes. Wrestlers shouldn't be forced to sacrifice Thanksgiving and Christmas for a sport that could very easily slide forward or back a few months. Who makes that argument? I don't know, but if done well and with consistency I think it could affect positive change. Logan Stieber battling Anthony Abidin in Las Vegas (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Q: I know you don't rank the kids, but I feel sorry for Mitchell Port and Zain Retherford. I think Zain poked the bear and Logan Stieber's going to give his head a shake and tell himself EVERYONE is gunning for me so I have to go back to my old ways and get MEAN. When Logan sees his name as third in the nation ... look out. That match was awesome. I mean, wow. Zain is the real deal, PERIOD. He looked like he was coached well and had a plan, but Logan did not seem right He looked off -- like his head was in a different place. What did you think? -- Paul L. Foley: I think we are experiencing a season of parity! I don't think for a second that In-Zain will repeat his performance and beat Logie Bear at Big Tens or NCAAs, but I love that his earlier win launched Edinboro's Mitchell Port into the top spot -- a place he could easily remain the rest of the season. That means that a guy who beat the world's No. 1 wrestler might be No. 2 at the NCAA tournament. Go figure! Your question got me thinking about all the matchups at the 2014 NCAA Tournament ... Whoa. Q: When you first started talking about how "the singlet is dead," I was one-hundred percent opposed to this idea. At the time, the idea of taking away the singlet made no sense to me, as the wrestling singlet is the only uniform that I have known as a wrestler. However, this past year marks my second year as the head wrestling coach at a low-income school just outside of Atlanta, Ga. While trying to recruit young men and women to come and toe the line in my wrestling room, the same question kept coming up over and over again, "Am I going to have to wear those tights?" Overall, I would say that I have had over 100 wrestlers come and show interest in the wrestling team between my two years here. However, between last year's final numbers and this year's projections, I will be looking at less than 25 wrestlers who have completed a season. Of those seventy-five percent that did not complete a season, I would estimate that over half of those kids quit because they refused to wear a singlet. So with that being said, I see now that evolving from the singlet to a rash guard and fight shorts could have a profound impact on the number of kids who decide to give wrestling a try, and will have nothing but a positive impact on the sport that we live and breathe. My question to you is about the timeline of this happening. Let's pretend that right now, at this moment, every single athletic director of every high school around the nation agreed to get rid of the singlet. How long do you think it would take to implement this uniform change? Keep in mind schools such as mine where funding is almost impossible to come by, and we JUST raised enough money for new singlets. So it would be a huge undertaking to raise money for more uniforms. -- Kent W. Foley: First, let us all learn from the NBA and Mark Cuban. Assuming a design is already in progress, I think test products could be in place by the start of the 2014 summer leagues, with selected programs and athletic associations using the uniforms by the 2015-2016 wrestling season. The goal would be to have every athletic association in America approve the design for the start of the 2016-2017 wrestling season. The first piece of progress that needs to take place is that somebody who likes lots and lots of money decides to put forth the effort and design a two-piece, non-bulgy wrestling uniform. Not the doublet, and not a bunch of cotton. The outfit will need to be high-quality, intelligently designed athletic wear. Shorts and T-shirts are an improvement, but whatever replaces the singlet will need to be more advanced and made of material with more stretch than cotton, but less shine and tension than spandex. Shorts will need to be baggy enough to not show the crotch, but tight enough to ensure there won't be too many snares. Once the product is launched, it will only take a few months for coaches eager to draw in more athletes to see a rapid increase in enrollment and the people who made the product to take their first daily dive into a vault of gold coins. COMMENT OF THE WEEK By Jan Nice mailbag today. Glad you are safe. As I am an American & world history teacher I am interested in hearing about your experience in South Sudan. We begin our colonialism unit in January. On another note, attached you will find a pic of my fifth/sixth grade wrestling team. In my school district we built an "autumn wrestling league." The boys in the pic are wearing their wrestling uniforms. This is their competition apparel. Fight shorts and Dri-FIT shirts. They loved it! All 180 kids in the "league" wore a variation of the outfit. Thought you'd like to know someone was trying to change the singlet situation. The kid in the front was our only outlier. Have a good holiday. InterMat senior writer T.R. Foley answers reader questions about NCAA wrestling, international wrestling, recruiting, or anything loosely related to wrestling. Questions can be sent to Foley's email account or Twitter. Do you want to read a past mailbag? Access archives.

The best regular season tournament in the best state for wrestling comes to Canon McMillan High School just south of Pittsburgh this Friday and Saturday. The 46-team field includes over 100 wrestlers that competed in their respective state tournaments last year, as well as 22 nationally ranked wrestlers and a pair of Fab 50 teams. Chance Marsteller (Photo/Rob Preston)Leading the teams at the POWERade Christmas Wrestling Tournament are No. 10 Franklin Regional, Pa., and No. 45 Greater Latrobe, Pa. This year's field features a pair of wrestlers ranked first in the country: Spencer Lee (Franklin Regional, Pa.) at 113 pounds and Chance Marsteller (Kennard Dale, Pa.) at 170; along with four others ranked second nationally: Luke Pletcher (Greater Latrobe, Pa.) at 120 pounds, Sam Krivus (Hempfield Area, Pa.) at 132, Jason Nolf (Kittanning, Pa.) at 145, and Thomas Haines (Solanco, Pa.) at 285. The tournament's toughest weight is the 120-pound weight class, which features five nationally ranked wrestlers, including four of the nation's top eight in the weight class. Ranked second in the country is defending POWERade champion Pletcher, who won the 106 pound title in this tournament and in the PIAA Class AAA state tournament last year. He has victories in the last two months over those other ranked wrestlers: beating No. 3 Sean Russell (Collins Hill, Ga.) in overtime in the Super 32 Challenge semifinal; defeating No. 4 Ethan Lizak (Parkland, Pa.), who has won state in Class AAA the last two years, in the tiebreaker two weekends ago at the King of the Mountain; and upending No. 8 George Phillippi (Derry Area, Pa.), who won state in Class AA last year as a freshman, in the Super 32 Challenge final. The additional nationally ranked wrestler in this weight class is No. 11 Jake Gromacki (Erie Cathedral Prep, Pa.), a three-time Class AAA state placer and twice a FloNationals placer. The other three seeded wrestlers in this weight class are Cadet freestyle All-American Alex Mackall (Walsh Jesuit, Ohio), two-time state champion Jordan Allen (Huntington, W.Va.), and two-time National Prep top three finisher Ryan Friedman (St. Paul's, Md.). A dangerous unseeded wrestler is junior Ricky Cavallo (Hempfield, Pa.), who has already placed twice in this tournament. Based on seeds, the quarterfinals in order of bracket position would be: Lizak vs. Friedman, Phillippi vs. Mackall (a Super 32 quarterfinals rematch), Allen vs. Pletcher, and Gromacki vs. Russell. Two other weight classes in this tournament have three nationally ranked wrestlers: 132 and 138 pounds. The 132-pound weight class is led by national No. 2 Sam Krivus (Hempfield Area, Pa.), a two-time Super 32 Challenge champion who also has PIAA Class AAA and FloNationals titles in the 2013 calendar year. He is the weight class's top seed; while fellow PIAA Class AAA state champion Tyler Smith (Franklin Regional, Pa.), ranked No. 7 nationally and a Junior freestyle All-American, is the second seed. Freshman sensation Cameron Coy (Penn Trafford, Pa.), ranked No. 19 nationally, enters the tournament unseeded. Others to watch in the 132 pound weight class include two-time state finalist Bryan Ramey (Eastern View, Va.), state placer Nolan Whitely (Walsh Jesuit, Ohio), and National Prep champion Jack Mutchnik (St. Paul's, Md.). These wrestlers are seeded fifth through seventh respectively. The 138 pound weight class is led by national No. 3 Michael Kemerer -- a three-time Super 32 Challenge finalist (2011 champion), two-time POWERade finalist (2011 champion), and two-time state runner-up. He is the top seed in the weight class, with the next two seeds being No. 13 Vincenzo Joseph (Pittsburgh Central Catholic, Pa.) and No. 7 Brock Zacherl (Brookville, Pa.). Joseph was POWERade champion in 2011, joined Kemerer as a Junior freestyle All-American this past summer, and is a two-time state placer; while Zacherl is a two-time state placer and was a Super 32 Challenge runner-up this fall. The next three seeds in this weight class are dangerous wrestlers as well: Ryan Skonieczny (Akron SVSM, Ohio), a three-time state placer and state runner-up last year; Michael Kostandaras (Walsh Jesuit, Ohio), a two-time state placer; and Jake Adcock (Pope, Ga.), a 2012 state champion and Cadet National double All-American this past summer. Not seeded in this weight class is Hayden Hidlay (Mifflin County, Pa.), who was a Cadet National double runner-up this past summer after qualifying for state at 113 in Class AAA as a freshman. The only additional weight class with multiple nationally ranked wrestlers comes at 126 pounds, which is led by No. 3 Ryan Millhof (Collins Hill, Ga.) and No. 10 Dalton Macri (Canon McMillan, Pa.). Macri is the top seed, while two-time Super 32 Challenge champion Millhof is the second seed. The other key challenger in this weight would be state placer A.C. Headlee (Waynesburg, Pa.), the weight class's third seed. Every other weight class except 220 pounds features one nationally ranked wrestler: No. 4 Devin Brown (Franklin Regional, Pa.) at 106, No. 1 Spencer Lee (Kennard Dale, Pa.) at 113, No. 2 Jason Nolf (Kittanning, Pa.) at 145, No. 12 Josh Shields (Franklin Regional, Pa.) at 152, No. 17 Dom Scalise (Greater Latrobe, Pa.) at 160, No. 1 Chance Marsteller (Kennard Dale, Pa.) at 170, No. 5 Zack Zavatsky (Greater Latrobe, Pa.) at 182, No. 3 Chip Ness (Buford, Ga.) at 195, and No. 2 Thomas Haines (Solanco, Pa.) at 285. All of those wrestlers but for Scalise are the top seeds in their weight class, while Scalise is seeded fifth at 160 pounds (Jake Henson of Pope, Ga., is seeded first). Lee, Nolf, Marsteller, Zavatsky, and Ness all won Super 32 Challenge titles this past year, while Haines was champion in 2011.

OPRF dominates Rex Whitlach Invite, but still a mixed bag Despite earning an 80-plus point victory (320.5 to 237) at the Rex Whitlach Invitational hosted by Hinsdale Central, Ill. this past weekend, No. 2 Oak Park River Forest, Ill. could not feel fully satisfied with the result. The runner-up Montini Catholic squad, ranked No. 6 nationally, earned victories in three of the five head-on championship finals matches between the two squads. The Broncos got victories from Chris Garcia (145), No. 12 Xavier Montalvo (160), and No. 16 Edgar Ruano (220); while the Huskies had wins from No. 7 Jason Renteria (106) and No. 8 Isaiah White (138). However, Oak Park River Forest did end up with five champions, a tournament high, with those additional top of the podium finishes coming from Gabe Townsell (120), No. 10 Davonte Mahomes (195), and Andre Lee (195); while Montini Catholic did not get another tournament champion. Additional nationally ranked wrestlers to win weight class titles were No. 6 Rudy Yates (113) of Brother Rice, No. 2 Bryce Brill (152) of Mt. Carmel, and No. 4 Brian Allen (285) of Hinsdale Central. In the championship final, Allen earned a 4-3 overtime victory over fellow nationally ranked opponent Adarios Jones of Moline. That came after a 2-1 tiebreaker victory in the semifinal round for Jones over Michael Johson, Jr. of Montini Catholic; Jones moves up to No. 7 nationally, while Johnson drops to No. 9. Rounding out the weight class champions were Alec McKenna (126) of New Trier, Jake Tucker (132) of Mt. Carmel, and Jimmy Mickens (182) of Mt. Carmel. Results Dvorak to feature preeminent teams in Illinois The 30 team field (28 from Illinois, along with single entries from Ohio and Wisconsin), scheduled for Friday and Saturday, is led by a trio of Fab 50 squads, No. 6 Montini Catholic, No. 18 Marist, and No. 30 Marmion Academy. Additional teams to watch include Dakota, which is ranked No. 1 in Class 1A (small-school) by Illinois Matmen; as well as top ten teams from Class 3A in Edwardsville, Hononegah, Glenbard North, Libertyville, and Lockport. The field features 13 nationally ranked wrestlers expected to compete in eleven weight classes. This includes a likely showdown between three-time state champions at 132 pounds, as No. 7 at 126 Josh Alber (Dakota) plans on bumping up one weight class to face No. 1 Jered Cortez (Glenbard North), presuming each wrestler advances to that point. The other weight class with multiple nationally ranked wrestlers is at 113 pounds, where No. 10 Anthony Bosco (Marmion Academy) and No. 11 Michael Cullen (Cary Grove) are expected to compete. Additional nationally ranked wrestlers are No. 20 Austin Gomez (Glenbard North) at 106 pounds, No. 16 Brian Rossi (Lockport) at 120, No. 16 Johnny Jimenez (Marmion Academy) at 126, No. 19 Vincent Turk (Montini Catholic) at 138, No. 2 Bryce Brill (Mt. Carmel) at 152, No. 12 Xavier Montalvo (Montini Catholic) at 160, No. 13 Tyler Johnson (Lockport) at 195, No. 16 Edgar Ruano (Montini Catholic) at 220, and No. 9 Michael Johnson, Jr. (Montini Catholic) at 285. Archer stands on top of 40-team Kansas City Stampede field Even in the midst of horrendous weather that came through the Kansas City, Mo. area on Saturday afternoon, the two-day Stampede was completed. When all was said and done, it was Archer, Ga. finishing on top of the standings with 557.5 points led by a trio of runner-up finishes from Vinny Artigues (106), Daniel Bullard (160), and M.J. Couzan (285). The Tigers had four other top five finishes, with three more earning ninth place; as a result, they move up to No. 15 nationally, all the way from No. 34. Second place in the team standings went to No. 16 Stillwater, Okla., with 497.5 points, as the Pioneers were led by three finalists: championships were won by No. 9 Joe Smith (152) and No. 6 Chandler Rogers (170), while No. 14 Kaid Brock (132) placed second. Five additional wrestlers placed between fifth and ninth, one in each of the positions. Despite missing a nationally ranked wrestler in No. 16 Paxton Rosen (106) and two other starters who were likely to finish top two in their preliminary pool, No. 11 Edmond North, Okla. was still able to muster a fourth place finish with 418 points. The primary drivers for the Huskies were five wrestlers in the back half of the lineup, all of whom finished within the top three: No. 4 Derek White (195) and No. 12 Andrew Dixon (220) won their weight classes, No. 13 Lance Dixon (170) placed second, while Zach Walton (160) and No. 11 Joel Dixon (182) placed third. Fab 50 members No. 32 Tuttle, Okla. and No. 33 Bettendorf, Iowa finished third and fifth in the tournament with 444 and 404.5 points respectively. Additional nationally ranked wrestlers to win weight class titles were No. 6 Matt Schmitt (106) of Platte County, Mo.; No. 4 Daton Fix (113) of Sand Springs, Okla.; No. 3 Sean Russell (120) of Collins Hill, Ga.; No. 2 Ke-Shawn Hayes (126) and No. 20 Will Erneste (132) of Park Hill, Mo.; No. 2 Fredy Stroker (138) of Bettendorf, Iowa; No. 8 Grant Leeth (145) of Kearney, Mo.; No. 7 Daniel Lewis (160) of Blue Springs, Mo.; No. 1 Bo Nickal (182) of Allen, Texas; and Bailey Sutko (285) of Staley, Mo. Results Apple Valley dominates the Minnesota Christmas Tournament No. 4 Apple Valley certainly made a statement to all of Gopher State that their position as not being THE elite team in the state of Minnesota was a one-year thing. At this past weekend's Minnesota Christmas Tournament in Rochester, they lapped the field placing 12 total wrestlers, with seven finalists and scored 292.5 points. Champions for the Eagles were No. 5 Seth Gross (138), No. 14 Dayton Racer (152), and No. 3 Mark Hall (170). Runner-up finishes came from Kyle Rathman (106), Gannon Volk (126), No. 16 Bobby Steveson (182), and Paul Cheney (220). With a second-place finish in the tournament, though it was more than 100 points back of first place, West Fargo, N.D., jumped into the Fab50 at No. 42 nationally. The Packers scored 179 points on the strength of nine total placers, even though only three finished inside the top three of their weight class. Leading the way was a second place finish by Jordan Shearer (132), with third place finishes coming from Jared Franek (106) and Weston Dobler (160). Additional nationally ranked wrestlers to win weight class titles included No. 15 Hunter Marko (113) of Amery, Wis.; No. 4 Tommy Thorn (126) of St. Michael-Albertville; No. 20 Brady Berge (145) of Kasson-Mantorville; No. 1 Ryan Blees (160) of Bismarck, N.D., though it was a much tighter match than expected in the final, as Andrew Fogarty of Scott West held him to a 7-6 decision victory; No. 14 Keegan Moore (182) of Jackson County Central, who moved up five spots in the rankings after a 5-3 victory over Steveson in the championship match; No. 1 Lance Benick (195) of Totino-Grace; and No. 3 Sam Stoll (285) of Kasson-Mantorville. The other notable champion was Griffin Parriott of New Prague, who won the 132-pound weight class. Parriott upended two-time state champion Maolu Woiwor of Apple Valley by 4-2 overtime decision in the semifinal before defeating Jordan Shearer, 3-2, in the final. Shearer was previously nationally ranked. Results Brecksville Holiday Invitational takes place on Sunday, Monday Come Sunday morning, and going through Monday evening, a very deep field of wrestlers will assemble in Brecksville, Ohio for the 53rd annual Brecksville Holiday Invitational Tournament. From the field of 46 teams, approximately 110 wrestlers with state tournament experience -- including 11 who are nationally ranked -- are expected to be a part of the tournament. The leading teams in the field are defending tournament champions in No. 27 Brecksville, as well as No. 19 Davison, Mich. Other teams to watch include Delta, Dayton Christian, Perrysburg, and Grand Rapids Catholic Central, Mich. Two weights in the tournament have a pair of nationally ranked wrestlers. No. 9 Rocco Caywood (Perrysburg) and No. 15 Jordan Cooks (Davison, Mich.) are slated to compete at 182 pounds, while No. 14 Patrick Garren (Bishop Ready) and No. 17 Billy Miller (Perry) are slated at 285 pounds. Additional nationally ranked wrestlers include No. 12 Austin Assad (Brecksville) at 120 pounds, No. 15 Anthony Tutolo (Lake Catholic) at 126, No. 16 Nate Limmex (Grand Rapids Catholic Central, Mich.) at 132, No. 15 Justin Oliver (Davison, Mich.) at 138, No. 19 Alex Mossing (Toledo Central Catholic) at 145, No. 3 Jacob Danishek (Dayton Christian) at 152, and No. 15 Tegray Scales (Colerain) at 195. National No. 1 Blair Academy starts stern dual meet slate After decisive tournament titles in the nation's two best in-season tournaments, the Walsh Jesuit Ironman and the Beast of the East, No. 1 Blair Academy, N.J. now starts its dual meet season. It will be a stern schedule of dual meets with at least seven Fab 50 teams on the docket, and it starts on Saturday when the Buccaneers play host to No. 20 St. Peter's Prep, N.J., at 2 p.m. Below are the projected lineups: 106: Zach Sherman (Blair Academy) vs. Alec Kelly (St. Peter's Prep) Sherman was third in Florida last year as an eighth grader, and placed eighth at the Beast of the East; while Kelly was a match away from placing at state last year, and placed third at the Beast. 113: Requir van der Merwe (Blair Academy) vs. Nicholas Santos (St. Peter's Prep) Van der Merwe qualified for New Jersey state last year and placed eighth at the Beast; while the freshman Santos went 4-2, and was one match away from placing at the Beast. 120: No. 18 Chaz Tucker (Blair Academy) vs. Michael Russo (St. Peter's Prep) Tucker was a National Prep champion last year, and placed sixth at the Beast; while Russo placed sixth at the state tournament last year, and eighth at the Beast. 126: No. 6 Matthew Kolodzik (Blair Academy) vs. Isaiah McGowan (St. Peter's Prep) Kolodzik is a three-time finalist at the Ironman, including his title this season, and is a two-time runner-up at the Beast; while McGowan went 0-2 at the Beast this weekend. 132: Jordan Kutler (Blair Academy) vs. Sonny Simonetti (St. Peter's Prep) Kutler was a National Prep champion in 2012, placed fifth at the Ironman, and was a match away from placing at the Beast; while the junior Simonetti went 3-2 at the Beast. 138: No. 1 Joey McKenna (Blair Academy) vs. Connor Burkert (St. Peter's Prep) McKenna is a three-time National Prep champion, and pulled off an Ironman/Beast double this season; while Burkert placed seventh at state last year and sixth at the Beast. McKenna pinned Burkert in 1:56 at the Beast. 145: Walker Dempsey (Blair Academy) vs. Ryan Burkert (St. Peter's Prep) Dempsey was a National Prep runner-up last year, and placed fourth at the Beast; while Burkert placed eighth at state last year, and was one match away from placing at the Beast. Dempsey beat Burkert 7-5 at the Beast. 152: No. 8 Mason Manville (Blair Academy) vs. Manny Ramirez (St. Peter's Prep) Manville was runner-up at National Preps last year, and won a title at the Beast last weekend; while Ramirez was one match away from placing at the Beast. 160: No. 2 Dylan Milonas (Blair Academy) vs. Stephen Kellner (St. Peter's Prep) Milonas is a two-time National Prep runner-up, and earned a second Ironman/Beast double in three seasons; while Kellner went 0-2 at the Beast. 170: No. 17 Brandon Dallavia (Blair Academy) vs. Luke Leonard/Dean Helstowski (St. Peter's Prep) Dallavia was a Cadet freestyle All-American this summer, and placed at both the Ironman and Beast; while projected starter Helstowski is an well-credentialed freshman, but did not compete at the Beast. 182: Nick DiNapoli (Blair Academy) vs. Jordan Fox/Christian Colucci (St. Peter's Prep) DiNapoli went 1-2 at the Beast; while St. Peter's Prep will start one of two accomplished wrestlers. Fox did not wrestle at the Beast, but placed sixth at state last year; while Colucci was a match away from placing at state last year, and a match away from placing at the Beast at 195 pounds. 195: David Showunmi (Blair Academy) vs. Fox/Colucci (St. Peter's Prep) Showunmi placed sixth at National Preps last year, and finished sixth at the Beast; this includes a 3-1 win over Colucci in the consolation round of 12. 220: Neil Putnam (Blair Academy) vs. Armond Cox (St. Peter's Prep) Putnam was a runner-up in the state of Hawaii last year, and placed seventh at the Beast; while Cox did not compete at the Beast, but was one match from placing at state last year. 285: Will Cooley (Blair Academy) vs. Jose Palomino (St. Peter's Prep) Cooley placed eighth at the Beast, while Palomino placed eighth at state last year but was one match away from placing at the Beast. Other highlights of last weekend No. 1 Blair Academy, N.J., made it fourteen consecutive titles at the Beast of the East, while No. 5 Zeke Moisey (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.) earned Outstanding Wrestler honors after winning the 126 pound weight class. Recap and Results No. 34 Poway, Calif., moved up eight sports after winning the Reno Tournament of Champions. The most notable match result came at 145 pounds, where Tyler Berger (Crook County, Idaho) upended future Nebraska teammate Hayden Tuma (Centennial, Idaho) 2-0 on the way to the title; these wrestlers are now ranked 4th and 5th at that weight class. Recap and Results No. 18 Marist, Ill., upended No. 30 Marmion Academy, Ill., 37-22, as part of a quad meet hosted by Marist on Saturday. Also in the quad meet, it was a battle of three-time state champions as No. 7 Josh Alber (Dakota, Ill.) upended Johnny Jimenez (Marmion Academy) 3-1 in overtime. After a dominant title at the Tri-State Invitational at North Idaho College, Kuna, Idaho jumps into the Fab 50 in the No. 50 position. On Sunday as part of the Agon II event, Lowell upended Davison 34-33 in a battle of top Michigan squads. The teams split the fourteen matches. Davison dropped one spot to No. 19, while Lowell jumps three positions to No. 23. No. 5 Clovis, Calif., dominated the Zinkin Classic at Buchanan High School near Fresno, as they won the event by almost 100 points. The Cougars had finalists in ten weight classes, and produced five champions: Khristian Olivas (132), Brody Brand (170), A.J. Nevills (195), Matt Weiss (220), and No. 1 Nick Nevills (285). Horrendous weather in the Hawkeye State caused some chaos with the Battle of Waterloo. However, it did not impact the performance from No. 36 Waverly-Shell Rock, Iowa, as the Go-Hawks won all six matches by 30 or more points. Additional notes for the week ahead A separate event-specific preview for the POWERade Christmas Wrestling Tournament was posted today. Two top-ranked wrestlers in the country and four ranked second nationally anchor the field individually, while No. 10 Franklin Regional, Pa., and No. 45 Greater Latrobe, Pa., are the top squads in the tournament that will happen on Friday and Saturday. No. 3 St. Paris Graham, Ohio and No. 15 Archer, Ga., headline the over 50-team field slated to compete in the GMVWA Wrestling Tournament, which will take place on Friday and Saturday at the Nutter Center near Dayton, Ohio. No. 4 Apple Valley, Minn., and No. 42 West Fargo, N.D., anchor the almost 70-team Rumble on the Red field. The event takes place Friday and Saturday at the FargoDome. No. 5 Clovis, No. 39 Gilroy, and No. 48 Vacaville headline the field of approximately 80 teams slated to compete at the California Coast Wrestling Classic on Friday and Saturday at Aptos H.S. No. 7 Bergen Catholic and No. 31 Don Bosco Prep headline the teams competing at the Bergen County Coaches Association Tournament in New Jersey on Saturday and Sunday. No. 9 Massillon Perry, No. 17 Detroit Catholic Central (Mich.), No. 21 St. Edward, and No. 38 Claymont lead the field of about 40 teams slated to compete at the Medina Invitational Tournament on Friday and Saturday in Medina, Ohio. No. 29 Robinson, Va., travels to the Manheim Lions Holiday Tournament hosted by Manheim Central, Pa. on Friday and Saturday. Easton has the status of being perennial champions in this event; however, it is a wide open tournament this year. Joining Easton and Robinson, Va. as contenders are Kiski Area and North Allegheny.

Veronica Carlson

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern head coach Drew Pariano and Director of the Ken Kraft Midlands Tim Cysewski announced the pre-seeds for the 51st Ken Kraft Midlands Championships, featuring some of the nation's top wrestlers. The list is subject to change. Brackets will be released on Dec. 28. 125: 1. Jesse Delgado, Illinois 2. Jarrod Garnett, Bison Wrestling Club 3. Cory Clark, Iowa 4. Thomas Gilman, Iowa 5. Dylan Peters, Northern Iowa 6. Nate Tomasello, Ohio State UNATT 7. Ryan Taylor, Wisconsin 8. Rob Deutsch, Rider 9. Kory Mines, Edinboro 10. Joey Dance, Virginia Tech 11. Conor Youtsey, Michigan 12. Jared Germaine, Eastern Michigan 133: 1. AJ Schopp, Edinboro 2. Tony Ramos, Iowa 3. Mason Beckman, Lehigh 4. Joe Colon, Northern Iowa 5. Tyler Graff, Wisconsin 6. Alan Waters, Missouri UNATT 7. Zane Richards, Illinois 8. Geoffrey Alexander, Maryland UNATT 9. Jose Mendoza, CSU Bakersfield 10. Rossi Bruno, Michigan 11. Dom Malone, Northwestern 12. Devon Lotito, Cal Poly 141: 1. Mitchell Port, Edinboro 2. Richard Durso, Franklin & Marshall 3. Adam Krop, Princeton 4. Shyheim Brown, Maryland 5. Matt Bystol, Columbia 6. Laike Gardner, Lehigh 7. Josh Dziewa, Iowa 8. Todd Preston, Harvard 9. Joey Lazor, Northern Iowa 10. Ethan Raley , Indiana 11. Pat Greco, Northwestern 12. Ryan Fillingame, Adams State 149: 1. Jason Tsirtsis, Northwestern 2. Darrion Caldwell, RAW 241 3. David Habat, Edinboro 4. Zach Neibert, Virginia Tech 5. Eric Grajales, Michigan 6. Caleb Ervin, Illinois 7. Mitch Minotti, Lehigh 8. Mike Kelly, Iowa 9. Jake Short, Minnesota, UNATT 10. Gabe Morse, Northern Illinois 11. Blake Roulo, George Mason UNATT 12. Brandon Nelson, Purdue 157: 1. Derek St. John, Iowa 2. Taylor Walsh, Indiana 3. Joey Napoli, Lehigh 4. Isaac Jordan, Wisconsin 5. Nick Brascetta, Virginia Tech UNATT 6. Brian Murphy, Michigan 7. Zach Brunson, Illinois 8. Andrew Morse, Northern Illinois 9. Markus Scheidel, Columbia 10. John Greisheimer, Edinboro 165: 1. Nick Moore, Iowa 2. Taylor Massa, Michigan UNATT 3. Steven Monk, North Dakota State 4. Dan Yates, Michigan 5. Jackson Morse, Illinois 6. Cooper Moore, Northern Iowa 7. Brock Gutches, Southern Oregon 8. Ramon Santiago, Rider 9. Pierce Harger, Northwestern 10. Bo Jordan, Ohio State UNATT 11. Ryan LeBlanc, Indiana 12. Nazar Kulchytskyy, UW-Oshkosh 174: 1. Mike Evans, Iowa 2. Lee Munster, Northwestern 3. Hayden Zillmer, North Dakota State 4. Elliot Riddick, Lehigh 5. Bryce Hammond, CSU Bakersfield 6. Cody Caldwell, Northern Iowa 7. Dominic Kastl, Cal Poly 8. Tony Dallago, Illinois 9. Austin Gabel, Virginia Tech 10. Landon Williams, Wartburg College 11. Scott Liegel, Wisconsin 12. Matt Mougin, Northern Illinois 184: 1. Ethen Lofthouse, Iowa 2. Jimmy Sheptock, Maryland 3. Ryan Loder, Northern Iowa 4. Jake Swartz, Boise State 5. Vic Avery, Edinboro 6. Nate Brown, Lehigh UNATT 7. Ophir Bernstein, Brown 8. Jackson Hein, Wisconsin 9. Nick Vetterlein, Virginia Tech 10. Nikko Reyes, Illinois 11. Sam Brooks, Iowa 12. Dominic Abounader, Michigan 197: 1. Mario Gonzalez, Illinois 2. Christian Boley, Maryland 3. Nathan Burak, Iowa 4. Alex Polizzi, Northwestern 5. Chris Penny, Virginia Tech 6. Braden Atwood, Purdue 7. Nick Whitenburg, Eastern Michigan 8. Joe Rau, Minnesota Storm 9. John Bolich, Lehigh 10. Donald McNeil, Rider 11. James Fox, Harvard 12. Shane Siefert, UW Whitewater 285: 1. Mike McMullan, Northwestern 2. Bobby Telford, Iowa 3. Spencer Myers, Maryland 4. Adam Coon, Michigan 5. J.T. Felix, Boise State 6. Connor Medbery, Wisconsin 7. Adam Chalfant, Indiana 8. Eric Thompson, Grand View (Team name correction) 9. Chad Johnson, Augsburg 10. Adam Fager, Utah Valley 11. Ty Walz, Virginia Tech 12. Ernest James, Edinboro

Related: Results RENO, Nev. -- Jake Sueflohn (149), James Green (157) and Robert Kokesh (174) each won their respective weight division titles to lead Nebraska to the team championship at the Reno Tournament of Champions on Sunday. The Huskers finished with 159 points, which was 56 ahead of second-place Wyoming. North Carolina finished third with 97 points. After Sueflohn took a first-round bye, he won back-to-back major decisions before capping his perfect day with three consecutive decisions. He won the championship match by a 7-1 margin over The Citadel’s Matt Frisch. Sueflohn, the No. 6 wrestler in InterMat’s rankings, improves to 18-3 on the season. Green pinned three of his five opponents in Reno, while adding a technical fall and one decision. He took down Andy McCulley of Wyoming in the championship bout, 9-5. Green, the No. 4 wrestler by InterMat, moves to 18-0 and earns his third tournament title of the season. He won the Warren Williamson/Daktronics Open and Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational titles as well. Kokesh capped his performance with a 3-1 decision over Southern Oregon’s Brock Gutches in the finals. Kokesh added a decision in his opening bout, but earned two pins and two major decision in his other matches. His quickest pin came in the third round in a time of 1:02. Kokesh improves to 20-1 this season. Tim Lambert (125) and Austin Wilson (165) each made it to the finals in their respective weight classes, but ultimately took runner-up honors. Lambert went 4-1 with a major decision before falling to Wyoming’s Tyler Cox in the finals by a 4-3 margin. Wilson opened with back-to-back technical falls before a major decision in the third round. He lost to Corey Mock of Tennessee-Chattanooga, 9-1, in the championship match. At 141 pounds, Anthony Abidin earned a third-place finish, winning a 13-0 major decision over CSU-Bakersfield’s Ian Nickell in his final match. Abidin registered two pins on his way to the semifinals before falling by an 8-3 decision to Joey Ward. Abidin won two matches in the consolation bracket following his lone loss of the day. Spencer Johnson (197) and Collin Jensen (HWT) each finished fifth. Johnson dropped a 3-1 decision to Reuben Franklin of CSU-Bakersfield in his first match of the day, but reeled off five consecutive victories before suffering his second loss. He defeated Upper Iowa’s Carl Broghammer by injury default in the fifth-place match. Jensen pinned his first opponent, but lost in the second round. In the consolation bracket, he won five matches, two of which were by fall. His final victory was a pin in 5:37 over Wayne Purnell of West Virginia. Colton McCrystal (133), Ben Morgan (133), Brandon Wilbourn (165), McCoy Newberg (174), TJ Dudley (184) and Aaron Studebaker (197) also competed at the Reno Tournament of Champions for the Huskers. Nebraska returns to dual competition on Jan. 3 when the Huskers host Wyoming at the Devaney Center. The dual starts at 7 p.m., and will be available on the Big Ten Digital Network. NU’s next Big Ten matchup is Jan. 10 against Indiana. The Huskers and Hoosiers are set for a 7 p.m. start at the Devaney Center, with video streaming on BTDN.

NEWARK, Del. -- No. 1 Blair Academy, N.J., won their 14th consecutive Beast of the East title by almost 100 points. Zeke Moisey (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.) won was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler. Team Standings : 1. No. 1 Blair Academy, N.J. 272.0 2. No. 9 Bergen Catholic, N.J. 164.5 3. No. 7 Wyoming Seminary, Pa. 163.0 4. No. 50 McDonogh, Md. 126.0 5. Nazareth, Pa. 123.5 6. No. 8 Massillon Perry, Ohio 121.5 7. No. 24 Bethlehem Catholic, Pa. 112.5 8. Central Dauphin, Pa. 108.0 9. No. 19 Brecksville, Ohio 104.0 10. Cumberland Valley, Pa. 102.5 11. No. 20 St Peter's Prep, N.J. 101.5 12. No. 47 Boyertown, Pa. 95.0 12. Delbarton, N.J. 95.0 14. No. 23 Don Bosco Prep, N.J. 85.5 15. No. 29 Robinson, Va. 83.5 Outstanding Wrestler: Zeke Moisey (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.) champion at 126 pounds *also earned the most team points award (34.5 points) Medal Match Results: 106: 1st: No. 5 Ty Agaisse (Delbarton, N.J.) dec. Joey Prata (St. Christopher's Va.), 7-3 3rd: Alec Kelly (St. Peter's Prep, N.J.) dec. Nick Lattanze (Malvern Prep, Pa.), 6-1 5th: Jonathan Tropea (St. Joseph Montvale, N.J.) dec. Chris Cuccolo (St. Benedict's Prep, N.J.), 3-0 7th: Aaron Rump (Chambersburg, Pa.) dec. Zach Sherman (Blair Academy, N.J.), 1-0 113: 1st: No. 2 Nick Suriano (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) maj. dec. Luke Karam (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.), 11-1 3rd: Tyshawn White (Central Dauphin, Pa.) dec. Patrick D'Arcy (Holy Spirit, N.J.), 4-3 5th: T.K. Megonigal (McDonogh, Md.) dec. Connor Sheehan (Solanco, Pa.), 1-0 7th: Adam Whitesell (Good Counsel, Md.) dec. Requir van der Merwe (Blair Academy, N.J.), 3-1 120: 1st: No. 7 Scott Parker (Pennridge, Pa.) dec. No. 10 Brent Fleetwood (Smyrna, Del.), 5-1 3rd: No. 13 Austin Assad (Brecksville, Ohio) dec. Steven Simpson (St. Mary's Ryken, Md.), 7-1 5th: Eric Hong (Georgetown Prep, Md.) dec. No. 15 Charles Tucker (Blair Academy, N.J.), 1-0 7th: Anthony Cefolo (Hanover Park, Va.) dec. Michael Kelly (St. Peter's Prep, N.J.), 2-1, tiebreaker 126: 1st: No. 5 Zeke Moisey (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.) dec. No. 2 Matthew Kolodzik (Blair Academy, N.J.), 7-4 3rd: A.C. Headlee (Waynesburg, Pa.) dec. Ben Ross (Pennridge, Pa.), 4-3 5th: Peter Lipari (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) dec. David Bavery (Massillon Perry, Ohio), 3-1 7th: Hunter Bolen (Christiansburg, Va.) dec. Brandon Olsen (Indian River, Va.), 3-0 132: 1st: No. 5 Anthony Giraldo (North Bergen, N.J.) dec. No. 13 Coy Ozias (Christiansburg, Va.), 5-0 3rd: No. 15 at 126 Anthony Tutolo (Lake Catholic, Ohio) dec. Zach Elvin (Central Dauphin, Pa.), 3-1 5th: No. 17 Chase Zemenak (Nazareth, Pa.) dec. Kevin Budock (Good Counsel, Md.), 4-3, ultimate tiebreaker 7th: Zach Valley (Northampton, Pa.) dec. Christian Innarella (Delbarton, N.J.), 1-0 138: 1st: No. 1 Joey McKenna (Blair Academy, N.J.) dec. Cortlandt Schuyler (Manheim Township, Pa.), 9-2 3rd: Clay Walker (Eastside, S.C.) dec. Michael Sprague (Georgetown Prep, Md.), 4-3 5th: Alex Wolfe (Cumberland Valley, Pa.) dec. Connor Burkert (St. Peter's Prep, N.J.), 7-3 7th: Travis Vasquez (Delbarton, N.J.) maj. dec. Peter Tedesco (Belmont Hill, Mass.), 8-0 145: 1st: No. 7 Alfred Bannister (Bishop McNamara, Md.) dec. No. 10 at 138 Patrick Duggan (Cumberland Valley, Pa.), 3-2 3rd: No. 14 at 138 David McFadden (DePaul Catholic, N.J.) dec. Walker Dempsey (Blair Academy, N.J.), 5-2 5th: Cameron Harrell (McDonogh, Md.) dec. Max Good (Cedar Cliff, Pa.), 4-3 7th: Willie Davis (Woodbridge, Del.) over No. 19 Neal Richards (Matoaca, Va.) by forfeit 152: 1st: No. 9 Mason Manville (Blair Academy, N.J.) dec. No. 11 Nick Reenan (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.), 3-1 3rd: No. 17 Casey Sparkman (Massillon Perry, Ohio) dec. Tyler Tarsi (Nazareth, Pa.), 6-3 5th: Toby Hague (McDonogh, Md.) pinned Justus Weaver (Battlefield, Va.), 2:34 7th: Joseph Grello (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) dec. Mikey Springer (Norristown, Pa.), 3-1 160: 1st: No. 5 Dylan Milonas (Blair Academy, N.J.) dec. No. 4 T.C. Warner (Cumberland Valley, Pa.), 5-3 3rd: No. 17 Logan Breitenbach (Archbishop Spalding, Md.) dec. No. 20 Chris Weiler (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.), 6-3 5th: Taylor Misuna (Grassfield, Va.) over Zak DePasquale (Robinson, Va.) by forfeit 7th: Jordan Pagano (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) dec. Kyle Gentile (Pennridge, Pa.), 2-0 170: 1st: No. 6 Myles Martin (McDonogh, Md.) dec. No. 2 at 160 Garrett Peppelman (Central Dauphin, Pa.), 3-2 3rd: No. 8 Josh Llopez (St. Mary's Ryken, Md.) dec. Brandon Dallavia (Blair Academy, N.J.), 6-2 5th: No. 17 Luke Farinaro (Don Bosco Prep, N.J.) dec. Josef Johnson (Delbarton, N.J.), 5-0 7th: No. 10 at 160 Ryan Preisch (Milton, Pa.) dec. Isaac Bast (Massillon Perry, Ohio), 7-0 182: 1st: No. 2 Johnny Sebastian (Bergen Catholic, N.J.) maj. dec. No. 20 Joey Balboni (David Brearley, N.J.), 13-5 3rd: Dylan Wisman (Millbrook, Va.) dec. Cole DePasquale (Robinson, Va.), 1-0 5th: Nicolino Sevi (Nazareth, Pa.) dec. Nick DePalma (DePaul Catholic, Pa.), 6-4 7th: Clay Conway (Sussex Central, Del.) pinned Josh Colello (Cedar Cliff, Pa.), 0:46 195: 1st: L.J. Barlow (Haverford Prep, Pa.) dec. Matt Correnti (Holy Cross, N.J.), 6-5, ultimate tiebreaker 3rd: No. 17 Hunter Ritter (John Carroll, Md.) dec. Daniel Hawkins (Mt. St. Joseph's, Md.), 5-3 5th: Josh Murphy (Brecksivlle, Ohio) dec. David Showunmi (Blair Academy, N.J.), 5-2 7th: Jordan Wertz (Boyertown, Pa.) dec. Desmond Johnson (Chestnut Hill Academy, Pa.), 4-0 220: 1st: No. 8 Jordan Wood (Boyertown, Pa.) maj. dec. No. 6 Zack Chakonis (Don Bosco Prep, N.J.), 10-1 3rd: Matthew Doggett (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.) dec. Stefano Millin (Massillon Perry, Ohio), 3-2 5th: Antonio Pelusi (LaSalle, Pa.) dec. Bo Spiller (Solanco, Pa.), 3-2, ultimate tiebreaker 7th: Neil Putnam (Blair Academy, N.J.) dec. Thomas Ott (Cape Henelopen, Del.), 4-2 285: 1st: No. 2 Thomas Haines (Solanco, Pa.) maj. dec. Kevin Wilkens (St. Joseph Montvale, N.J.), 12-1 3rd: Jake Scanlan (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.) dec. Zack Parker (Caesar Rodney, Del.), 3-2 5th: Andrew Dunn (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.) dec. Wyatt Cook (McDonogh, Md.), 6-4 7th: Jake Pinkston (Robinson, Va.) dec. Will Cooley (Blair Academy, N.J.), 7-2