InterMat Staff

Johny Hendricks has a 14-1 MMA record (Photo/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) Johny Hendricks is one win away from a UFC welterweight title shot. On Saturday the two-time NCAA champion from Oklahoma State faces the former No. 1 contender Carlos Condit at UFC 158. Condit is coming off a five-round decision loss to welterweight champion Georges St Pierre. Hendricks, who has been dreaming and preparing for four years to win the welterweight title, is coming off a pair of stunning first-round knockouts over top echelon welterweights Martin Kampmann and Jon Fitch. After his latest win, many pundits called Hendricks the No. 1 welterweight contender and next in line for the coveted title shot. The current champion GSP disagreed and went to Dana White and the UFC asking for Nick Diaz, thus leaving Hendricks out of the mix. Hendricks was kind enough to sit down with InterMat and answer a few questions about his career, his upcoming fight, and when he thinks he will be fighting for the title. What are your thoughts on not getting the next title fight and how the situation with GSP was handled? Hendricks: He's scared. There's no reason somebody should be above me (for the next title shot) and here GSP is calling somebody else out. Dana is trying to keep his champion happy, even if it's only for another fight. GSP used his pull and had Dana and the UFC give Diaz the shot instead of me. It sucks. You do everything right. You make all the steps, and then some other guy controls your future. I mean, one person did, GSP, he sort of screwed me over, the right person should be me, and it's not. For him to comment on that he thought I didn't beat Koscheck, who had their hand raised? You don't get to the top without being tough and GSP to say that I didn't beat or finish Koscheck? He goes the distance in almost every fight; I mean when does GSP finish anyone? Serra? B.J.? That's what ... four years ago? I am going to move on. I am training for another five-round fight, and I am going to get better. I'm not going to sit here and keep myself down and feel bad for myself. You mention that GSP is scared to fight you. Why do you believe he is scared to fight you? Hendricks: I have three things that worry GSP, his trainer, and his camp. I have the wrestling. I have the power. And I have a skill set that is unknown in my ground game. Mainly, I think GSP is ducking me because of my power and my wrestling. I will move my camp to Oklahoma State to fight GSP. For that fight, I would wrestle with these young guns. I also get to train my submission game with Marcello Garcia, so I can beat GSP on different levels, so he doesn't want to fight me. Can he take me down or hold me down, maybe I submit him? GSP doesn't want to fight me. It is what it is. You're obviously disappointed in how things played out, how do you avoid overlooking your next opponent, Carlos Condit? Hendricks: It sucks, but I am going to take this and get better, I move forward. I am going to get a win over Carlos Condit, and then he can't even keep me away from the belt. We say hey, we are fighting and training for the belt; we are training for GSP for the belt. So this guy (Condit) is keeping me away from my title shot, so this will be the hardest training camp I will ever had, I will train like this is the last training camp and last fight I will ever have, so I am going to show GSP how much better I got with another training camp focused on five championship rounds. I may even showcase my other skills. I don't know what's going to happen. I hope I get too. All I want to do is go out there and make sure I get my hand raised no matter what. Talk about your evolution in your striking game, mainly your hands. Hendricks: I am at the point where I can close my eyes and land my left. Everybody is scared of my left hand, so in turn, it makes my takedown easier. I like to feel people out in the first minute, like Kampman threw head kicks at me and not do anything stupid. I like watching people like (Lyoto) Machida, the way he moves in and out of danger, Anderson (Silva), whenever he plants his feet and head moving, it's amazing. So when I watched them, I mimicked them and made up my own style. I watched a lot of fighting movies, Kung Fu movies and tried those moves and things I saw. A while ago, we didn't have a striking coach, so Marc (Laimon) and I did a lot of work together. Then we brought in Steven Wright. He likes that I get ideas for different areas, and gives me free rein to experiment and he's right there to say whether something that would work or not work. He has been a big part of my success. What happens if GSP beats Diaz and then moves up in weight for a super fight with Anderson Silva? Hendricks: If I beat Carlos, I'd ask Anderson to not take the GSP fight. I want to beat the guy who is holding the title. I want to take the belt form the guy who has held it for three to four years. I would really enjoy doing that. I just want the belt, whoever has it but what makes it mean more than anything, is if I can beat GSP to do it. Otherwise I will move up to 185 and try to fight GSP at 185, if he does that again to me. In all seriousness, it's about getting the belt and that's the bottom line. I want the belt. Talk to me about cutting weight in MMA, your nutritionist Mike Dolce, and what's different now. You actually seem to be getting bigger? Hendricks: I am getting bigger, and I am eating so much more cleanly now more than ever before in my life. I hunt all the time. I eat hog or deer unless I go out to eat, then it's a burger or steak. I don't buy any store-bought meat. Also, I am able to lift weights. For a longtime to get down to 170 I ate one meal a day, wearing sweats two weeks out. My old wrestling sweat suits I used to wear all the time are now just collecting dust. Now I get to lift and eat what I want up to three weeks outside of my fight. Right now I am at 205, eating five meals a day. I'm lifting heavier weights. I'm only getting stronger. Dolce likes me to get bigger muscles because the bigger the muscles the more water they hold and the easier it is to suck it out. What are we going to see on Saturday when you fight Carlos Condit and afterwards if GSP defeats Diaz? Hendricks: I am going to go out there, fight a good fight, and get my hand raised no matter how it's done. Afterwards? I have something planned up my sleeve to call out GSP if we both win.

On Wednesday, after a long, drawn-out process of releasing the at-large selections for the 2013 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, the brackets and seeds were released shortly after 6 p.m. ET. As is the case every year, the NCAA Wrestling Committee made some blunders with the seeds. Logan Storley entered the Big Tens ranked No. 1 by InterMat (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)There wasn't a bigger seeing blunder than at 174 pounds, where Minnesota's Logan Storley was given the No. 6 seed. Storley's body of work this season should have landed him anywhere from No. 2 to No. 4. Giving Storley a No. 6 seed is unjustifiable. Yes, Storley had a disappointing Big Ten tournament, but let's look at the facts. Storley entered his conference tournament ranked No. 1 in the country for good reason. He had a tremendous regular season. Of the top eight seeds at 174 pounds, Storley pinned both the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, was 2-0 against the No. 3 seed, and also defeated the No. 4, No. 7, and No. 8 seeds. At the Big Tens, Storley dropped two close matches to highly ranked wrestlers. His first loss came to Michigan's Dan Yates, 3-2. Storley's loss on the backside of the bracket was an overtime loss to Ohio State All-American Nick Heflin, a wrestler he defeated 12-3 earlier this season. Those two close losses should not have landed him below four wrestlers he defeated during the regular season. What if Storley would have injury defaulted in the quarterfinals of the Big Tens? Would he have kept his No. 1 seed heading into the NCAAs? Clarion's James Fleming (157) and Lehigh's Robert Hamlin (184) both lost by injury default in their conference tournaments, yet neither wrestler took a hit because of it. Both earned top five seeds and were seeded ahead of wrestlers they would have faced in the conference finals. The NCAA Wrestling Committee is setting a dangerous precedent. Losing matches in the conference tournament will kill a wrestler's seed at the NCAAs, but sitting out matches won't. I'm not implying that Fleming or Hamlin sat out to protect a seed. I believe both were injured and unable to compete. But I believe there needs to be consequences for sitting out matches in the postseason regardless of the reason, especially if a top-ranked wrestler like Storley is going to get crucified for dropping a couple razor-thin matches to highly ranked opponents. Dom Bradley took a recent loss to Alan Gelogaev but still earned the No. 1 seed (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)The Logan Storley case indicates that recent results are more heavily weighted. But if that's true, how did Missouri's Dom Bradley receive the No. 1 seed at heavyweight? Bradley took a loss just over two weeks ago in the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals finals to Oklahoma State's Alan Geolgaev. Minnesota's Tony Nelson, the defending NCAA champion, has reeled off 12 straight victories, with one of those wins being a pin over Gelogaev. Bradley and Nelson both have one loss this season, and Nelson has more wins over wrestlers seeded in the top eight. Bradley did edge Nelson at the Southern Scuffle (Nelson's only loss) but shouldn't Bradley's recent loss to Gelogaev knock him down a slot or two? Other surprises At 125 pounds, Michigan's Sean Boyle failed to be seeded despite two recent wins over Ohio State's Nikko Triggas, who earned the 11th seed. At 133 pounds, Missouri's Nathan McCormick is seeded seventh, one spot ahead of Oklahoma State's Jon Morrison. The two wrestlers have wrestled four times this season, and split those four matches. However, Morrison won the most recent match 5-1 just two weeks ago. At 149 pounds, Missouri's Drake Houdashelt failed to earn a seed despite being red-hot heading into the NCAAs. The only wrestler to defeat Houdashelt over his last 14 matches is top-ranked Jordan Oliver of Oklahoma State. At 157 pounds, Iowa's Derek St. John earned the No. 2 seed despite two recent losses. St. John suffered a loss to Missouri's Kyle Bradley at the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals, and then just days ago lost in the Big Ten semifinals to Nebraska's James Green. He has gone 4-2 over his last six matches, with one of those losses coming to an unseeded wrestler. It seems as though St. John is getting a pass for losing at the Big Tens.

The NCAA brackets have been released and T.R. Foley is joined by InterMat's Mike Riordan for an in-depth discussion on the brackets and what the new format for the NCAA finals should mean for viewership numbers. Check out our Tumblr page at backpoints.tumblr.com. Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "back points" and pushing SUBSCRIBE. Do you want to listen to a past episode? Access archives.

It's the fight fans had been waiting for and then thought they wouldn't get ... but now they are ... or something. Anyway, UFC 158 will feature Georges St. Pierre defending his welterweight title against Nick Diaz, a fighter coming off of a loss but bolstered by his ability to talk trash and skip media gatherings. GSP has been questioned for his inability to finish fights, whereas Diaz gets plenty of fanfare for his go-forward-at-all-costs style. As a result, some people think the challenger can pull off the upset. Richard and John are not in that group. In the co-main event, supposed No. 1 contender Johnny Hendricks thought he'd be getting his title shot by now. Instead he gets the consolation prize, taking on former interim champ and recent challenger Carlos Condit in an intriguing clash of styles. Rounding out the show, the boys talk about the professionalism and integrity of a "fight" doctor that thinks he can diagnose people he's never examined. Do you want to listen to a past episode? Access archives.

125: 1. Alan Waters (Missouri) 2. Jesse Delgado (Illinois) 3. Matt McDonough (Iowa) 4. Nico Megaludis (Penn State) 5. Jarrod Garnett (Virginia Tech) 6. Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) 7. Nathan Kraisser (North Carolina) 8. Matt Snyder (Virginia) 9. Trent Sprenkle (North Dakota State) 10. Josh Martinez (Air Force) 11. Nikko Triggas (Ohio State) 12. Tyler Cox (Wyoming) 133: 1. Logan Stieber (Ohio State) 2. Tony Ramos (Iowa) 3. Tyler Graff (Wisconsin) 4. A.J. Schopp (Edinboro) 5. Chris Dardanes (Minnesota) 6. Nathan McCormick (Missouri) 7. Jon Morrison (Oklahoma State) 8. Cody Brewer (Oklahoma) 9. Levi Wolfensperger (Northern Iowa) 10. Scotti Sentes (Central Michigan) 11. George DiCamillo (Virginia) 12. Jordan Conaway (Penn State) 141: 1. Hunter Stieber (Ohio State) 2. Kendric Maple (Oklahoma) 3. Michael Mangrum (Oregon State) 4. Mitchell Port (Edinboro) 5. Evan Henderson (North Carolina) 6. K. Undrakhbayar (The Citadel) 7. Mark Ballweg (Iowa) 8. Nick Dardanes (Minnesota) 9. Richard Durso (Franklin & Marshall) 10. C.J. Cobb (Penn) 11. Mike Nevinger (Cornell) 12. Chris Mecate (Old Dominion) 149: 1. Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) 2. Jason Chamberlain (Boise State) 3. Donnie Vinson (Binghamton) 4. Cole VonOhlen (Air Force) 5. Steve Santos (Columbia) 6. Dylan Ness (Minnesota) 7. Scott Sakaguchi (Oregon State) 8. Nick Brascetta (Virginia Tech) 9. Jake Sueflohn (Nebraska) 10. Ivan Lopouchanski (Purdue) 11. Andrew Alton (Penn State) 12. Eric Grajales (Michigan) 157: 1. Jason Welch (Northwestern) 2. Derek St.John (Iowa) 3. Joey Napoli (Lehigh) 4. James Green (Nebraska) 5. James Fleming (Clarion) 6. Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) 7. Jesse Dong (Virginia Tech) 8. Dylan Alton (Penn State) 9. Frank Hickman (Bloomsburg) 10. R.J. Pena (Oregon State) 11. Walter Peppelman (Harvard) 12. Jedd Moore (Virginia) 165: 1. Kyle Dake (Cornell) 2. David Taylor (Penn State) 3. Peter Yates (Virginia Tech) 4. Tyler Caldwell (Oklahoma State) 5. Steven Monk (North Dakota State) 6. Bubby Graham (Oklahoma) 7. Conrad Polz (Illinois) 8. Nick Sulzer (Virginia) 9. Josh Veltre (Bloomsburg) 10. Nick Moore (Iowa) 11. Cody Yohn (Minnesota) 12. Taylor Massa (Michigan) 174: 1. Chris Perry (Oklahoma State) 2. Matt Brown (Penn State) 3. Mike Evans (Iowa) 4. Robert Kokesh (Nebraska) 5. Josh Asper (Maryland) 6. Logan Storley (Minnesota) 7. Jordan Blanton (Illinois) 8. Nick Heflin (Ohio State) 9. Nathaniel Brown (Lehigh) 10. Dan Yates (Michigan) 11. Blake Stauffer (Arizona State) 12. Matt Miller (Navy) 184: 1. Ed Ruth (Penn State) 2. Ben Bennett (Central Michigan) 3. Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) 4. Steve Bosak (Cornell) 5. Kevin Steinhaus (Minnesota) 6. Ryan Loder (Northern Iowa) 7. Jimmy Sheptock (Maryland) 8. Josh Ihnen (Nebraska) 9. Chris Chionuma (Oklahoma State) 10. Jake Swartz (Boise State) 11. Mike Larson (Missouri) 12. Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa) 197: 1. Dustin Kilgore (Kent State) 2. Quentin Wright (Penn State) 3. Matt Wilps (Pitt) 4. Alfonso Hernandez (Wyoming) 5. Taylor Meeks (Oregon State) 6. Kyven Gadson (Iowa State) 7. Nate Schiedel (Binghamton) 8. Micah Burak (Penn) 9. Jake Meredith (Arizona State) 10. Scott Schiller (Minnesota) 11. Blake Rosholt (Oklahoma State) 12. Brent Haynes (Missouri) 285: 1. Dom Bradley (Missouri) 2. Tony Nelson (Minnesota) 3. Alan Gelogaev (Oklahoma State) 4. Chad Hanke (Oregon State) 5. Mike McMullan (Northwestern) 6. Bobby Telford (Iowa) 7. Connor Medbery (Wisconsin) 8. Michael McClure (Michigan State) 9. Zac Thomusseit (Pitt) 10. Jarod Trice (Central Michigan) 11. J.T. Felix (Boise State) 12. Adam Chalfant (Indiana)

Minnesota 10 Missouri 10 Oklahoma State 10 Penn State 10 Virginia Tech 10 Iowa 9 Ohio State 9 Virginia 9 Central Michigan 8 Pittsburgh 8 Cornell 7 Illinois 7 Iowa State 7 Michigan 7 Oregon State 7 Rutgers 7 Wyoming 7 Bloomsburg 6 Kent State 6 Navy 6 Nebraska 6 Northwestern 6 Penn 6 Boise State 5 Chattanooga 5 Columbia 5 Edinboro 5 Indiana 5 Lehigh 5 Maryland 5 North Carolina 5 Ohio 5 Oklahoma 5 Purdue 5 Air Force 4 Arizona State 4 Army 4 Binghamton 4 Buffalo 4 Michigan State 4 North Dakota State 4 Northern Iowa 4 Old Dominion 4 Rider 4 American 3 Boston U. 3 Harvard 3 Hofstra 3 North Carolina State 3 Stanford 3 The Citadel 3 Utah Valley 3 Wisconsin 3 Appalachian State 2 Brown 2 Bucknell 2 Campbell 2 Clarion 2 Cleveland State 2 CSU Bakersfield 2 Drexel 2 Duke 2 Eastern Michigan 2 Lock Haven 2 Cal Poly 1 Davidson 1 Franklin & Marshall 1 Gardner-Webb 1 George Mason 1 Northern Illinois 1 South Dakota State 1 West Virginia 1 Northern Colorado 0 Princeton 0 Sacred Heart 0 Southern Illinois Edwardsville 0 VMI 0

Robert HamlinForty-four at-large selections for the 2013 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships were announced on Wednesday afternoon. The most notable name on the list is two-time All-American Robert Hamlin of Lehigh at 184 pounds. Hamilin, an NCAA runner-up 2011, failed to earn an automatic berth after injury defaulting in the semifinals of the EIWA Wrestling Championships. Missouri, Oklahoma State, and Virginia Tech picked up their 10th qualifiers, joining Penn State, Minnesota as teams with all 10 wrestlers qualified for the NCAAs, which take place March 21-23 in Des Moines, Iowa. View number of NCAA qualifiers by school. At-Large Selections 125: Christian Cullinan (Central Michigan) Rob Deutsch (Old Dominion) Eric Montoya (Campbell) Evan Silver (Stanford) 133: Vincent Dellafave (Rutgers) Mackenzie McGuire (Kent State) Jimmy Morris (Rider) Joey Ward (North Carolina) 133: Julian Feikert (Oklahoma State) Nick Hucke (Missouri) Ridge Kiley (Nebraska) Nathan Pennesi (West Virginia) 149: Tyler Bedelyon (Clarion) Donnie Corby (Central Michigan) Caleb Ervin (Illinois) Nick Lester (Oklahoma) Shane Welsh (Lehigh) 157: Spartacus Chino (Ohio) Tommy Churchard (Purdue) Andy McCulley (Wyoming) Taylor Walsh (Indiana) 165: Nijel Jones (North Carolina State) Corey Lear (Bucknell) Caleb Marsh (Kent State) Zach Toal (Missouri) 174: Craig Kelliher (Central Michigan) Lee Munster (Northwestern) Stephen West (Columbia) Sam Wheeler (Kent State) 184: Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) John Rizqallah (Michigan State) Luke Sheridan (Indiana) MacKain Stoll (North Dakota State) 197: Derrick Borlie (Virginia Tech) Connor Hartmann (Duke) Caleb Kolb (Nebraska) Alex Polizzi (Northwestern) Phillip Wellington (Ohio) 285: Matt Gibson (Iowa State) Steven Graziano (Penn) Ernest James (Edinboro) Jake Kettler (George Mason) Evan Knutson (North Dakota State) Billy Smith (Rutgers)

CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. -- Former All-Navy wrestling head coach and USA Women’s World Team assistant Lee Miracle has been named the first women’s wrestling coach at Campbellsville University. “I am extremely pleased to announce that Lee Miracle has accepted the position of head women’s wrestling coach at Campbellsville University. His experience in the sport, and his numerous contacts, should help him build a championship team in a short period of time,” said Rusty Hollingsworth, CU athletics director. Miracle first caught wind of the addition of a women’s wrestling program at CU while coaching the All-Navy Team at the Military World Championships last winter, and inquired about the job. “Starting a women’s program from scratch is a wonderful opportunity, and I’m blessed to have it. I get to build it the way I want, and I get to recruit the student-athletes that I want, and I think we’ll be successful in a fairly short period,” Miracle said. “The university sold itself just on the people. I’ve coached every level from club teams to all-star teams to the All-Navy Wrestling Team, but being a part of a women’s program has always been a big goal, so I’m excited … One of the biggest things about Campbellsville is the support of the administration. This is one of the rare places where I feel there is complete support for a program.” Miracle began his recruiting search immediately, gaining a verbal commitment for 2014 from his daughter Kayla, a junior at Culver Academy (Ind.), and has several “high-caliber” student-athletes already expressing interest in the program. Kayla Miracle is a 2012 silver medalist at the World Championships and became the first female wrestler to compete in the Indiana State Championships in 2012. “My phone has been blowing up,” Miracle said. “In my limited experience, if you can get a girl to come here on a visit, then that girl is going to come here and come to school. I loved it, and my daughter loved it. To quote Kayla, ‘I couldn’t find one thing wrong with the school,’ and she was looking.” Miracle’s first recruiting trip will be March 28-31 at the USA Wrestling Women’s Folk Style Nationals in Oklahoma City. His goal is to have a roster of 15 to 20 student-athletes for the 2013-2014 season, and hopes to plan to grow the roster to at least 25 members in 2014-15. A Navy veteran of more than 20 years, Miracle has also spent the last 20 years coaching wrestling at all levels. He joined the USA Women’s World Team in 2011 as a volunteer coach for the team’s trip to the world championships in Hungary and became assistant coach for the 2012 championships in Azerbaijan. He also coached both freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling as head coach of the All-Navy Team since 2011, a team that features active Sailors within the Navy to compete at the Armed Forces tournament and Military World Championships. Wrestling runs in the Miracle family. A native of Sidney, Ohio, Miracle wrestled one year at Heidelberg College before joining the Navy. In addition to Kayla, his oldest son, Shawn, is a wrestler at Army, while his two youngest, Hope (10) and Cale (8), also are active youth wrestlers. In addition to his national coaching work, Miracle has also worked to begin youth organizations in Indiana and Washington D.C., most recently with the Hoosier Elite Academy in Bloomington, Ind. Campbellsville University women’s wrestling will become the university’s 25th intercollegiate sports program and will compete in the Women’s Collegiate Wrestling Association beginning in 2013-14. Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with more than 3,600 students offering 63 undergraduate options, 17 master’s degrees, five postgraduate areas and eight pre-professional programs. CU athletics competes in the Mid-South Conference of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA). CU is an NAIA Champions of Character Five Star Institution.

AMES, Iowa -- Iowa State University announced today that it has extended the contract of wrestling coach Kevin Jackson, the former Cyclone All-American and Olympic Gold Medalist, through 2015. "The progress that our young team made this year is exciting and very promising for the future," Director of Athletics Jamie Pollard said. "We look forward to continuing to assist Kevin and his staff in building a nationally competitive program that our fans and the institution expect." The Cyclones more than doubled their dual win total from 2012, rejoined the national rankings and placed second at last week's Big 12 Championship, good for the school's best conference finish in four years. Iowa State qualified six wrestlers automatically, and could qualify several more this week, for the 2013 NCAA Championships it will host March 21-23 in Des Moines. Iowa State's starting lineup this year included two seniors, one junior, four sophomores and three freshmen. Four of the underclassmen are nationally ranked. "Kevin's student-athletes have performed well in the classroom, been outstanding ambassadors for our athletics program and really enjoy wrestling for Kevin and his staff," Pollard said. In four years leading the Cyclones, Jackson has tutored three NCAA champions (Jake Varner, David Zabriskie and Jon Reader). Varner then went on to win an Olympic Gold medal last summer in London. Full terms of the contract will be available at a later date.

INDIANAPOLIS -- In conjunction with NCAA.com and the NCAA's social media platforms, the 330 student-athletes participating in 2013 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships will be announced on Wednesday, March 13. Beginning at 1 p.m. ET the list of 33 competitors in each weight class will be systematically rolled out as they are finalized by the NCAA Division I Wrestling Selection Committee. The unveiling will begin with the participants in the 125-pound weight class and will continue with each of the subsequent weight classes throughout the afternoon until the 33 Heavyweight participants have been released. Wrestling fans can log on to NCAA.com to find an up to the minute list of competitors in the championships field. In addition, fans with a Facebook account can track on the latest qualifiers by following the NCAA Wrestling Facebook page (Facebook.com/NCAAWrestling). Status updates linking to the list of qualifiers will be posted the minute the latest weight class has been finalized. Once all 330 participants have been released fans can log on to NCAA.com at 6 p.m. ET where the NCAA Division I Wrestling selection show will reveal the 12 seeded wrestlers in each weight class as well as all 170 first-round matchups. A direct link to the selection show can be found below: http://www.ncaa.com/live/player?vid=2013/786&date=2013/03/13 Following the selection show, complete brackets for the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships will be available on NCAA.com.

Penn State wins the Big Ten championship ... again. They've been the best big tournament team all year, and once again they show us why. They have too much firepower for their opposition to overcome, and their wrestlers usually seem to rise up to the most important occasions. In two weeks, I expect to write about the Nittany Lions' third straight national championship. Penn State has performed in March with such consistency over the last few years that their story is starting to become redundant. In this way, the team's performance resembles the wrestling career of head coach Cael Sanderson. Reporting on unceasing success becomes like reporting that on the persistent wetness of water. We must now look to other programs to create compelling storylines. I believe the most interesting narrative at the end of this college wrestling season begins with the premature report of the demise of the Iowa Hawkeyes' national title chances. This weekend, as Penn State propelled themselves to a championship with a perfect record in the finals, Iowa's four finalists went winless, failing to earn Iowa a Big Ten championship. In 2006, the last time Iowa failed to produce a Big Ten champion, the program had a new head coach on campus in the fall. I don't believe that Tom Brands will face a similar fate as his predecessor, nor should he; I simply mean to illustrate that going champion-less in the Big Ten makes for serious disapprobation among the Hawkeye nation. This is why Iowa's reemergence as a national title threat at next week's nationals will make for such thrilling theater. I think that even some Iowa faithful have begun to write off U of I's chances at nationals. This should not happen. Iowa still has five wrestlers very capable of winning national titles (that's right Bobby Telford, you are number five), and they have first-rate motivation from the Brands brothers. Most importantly, Iowa will be wrestling for the national championship in Iowa. I've been to nationals in St. Louis, and that environment is almost like a home meet for the Hawkeyes, I shudder to think about the amount of crowd support that will show up in black and gold in Des Moines. When Iowa suits up for nationals, they will have the vociferous power of thousands of Hawkeye fans at their back. Few sports are as impacted by the energy of the crowd more than wrestling. Ask the USA freestyle team recently back from Tehran. Penn State will probably hoist a national championship trophy the Saturday after next, but I predict that Iowa will make it a dogfight to the bitter end wrestling in their home state. A brief discussion of sportsmanship After a college wrestling match, rarely do we see much love between the opposing wrestlers. I do not have a problem with this. College wrestlers invest everything they have into winning, and after a loss they generally feel deprived of something very precious. The loser of a wrestling match should limit the desire for a prolonged love in with the other wrestler and his coaches. On the high school level, we sometimes see huggers who want to follow every win and loss with a warm embrace. I'm not a terribly big fan of this sort of after-match ritual. College rivals Chris Pendleton and Ben Aksren embrace after their NCAA finals match in 2005 (Photo/Danielle Hobeika)As coaches we encourage competitiveness in our athletes. We want to see disappointment and anger in their losses. The wrestler who hates losing the most will likely become the wrestler who loses the least. On the collegiate Division I level, wrestlers compete at a fever pitch, and losing can set off powder kegs of emotion. With this in mind, I think college wrestlers should show the discipline to follow two iron-clad rules of sportsmanship. First, win or lose, they should actually look their opponent in the eye, and actually shake their hand. This handshake doesn't have to last an eternity, it only needs to last an instant, but the simple act of a real handshake would mean a great deal to this sport. I understand the desire to get off the mat after a loss, but too often do we see the "slap and run" rather than a real shake. It wouldn't kill both wrestlers to take a second and actually shake each other's hands after a match. Second, I understand the anger and disgust which accompany losing, I also understand the need to physically act out on these emotions, but if a wrestler must act out, he should always do so away from the view of the crowd, and away from the view of cameras. Losing wrestlers ought to not engage in throwing headgear, kicking chairs, stomping off award podiums and throwing medals in garbage cans while in the area of competition. I understand the saying, "Show me a good loser, and I'll show you a loser," and I see the wisdom in it. However, having a tantrum in public is never a good look. Difficult as it may be sometimes, we ought to eliminate public displays from our athletes that seem petty and childish, if for no other reason that they might seem unsavory to prospective college wrestling fans who lack the perspective of the heart break that comes with losing an important wrestling match. We want the popularity of college wrestling to flourish, and following two simple sportsmanship rules can help with that. ACC: The tournament comes down to the wire, and Virginia Tech pulls it out for their first team ACC championship. With notable losses in other conferences, some ACC wrestlers should enjoy high seeds at NCAAs. Not bad for a conference that is redshirting arguably its two best wrestlers. EIWA: Cornell wins the team title again. Next year things may be different as Lehigh brings an impressive core of wrestlers out of redshirt, and the Big Red graduate two of their three EIWA champions. EWL: In its last year before departing for the ACC, Pitt wins the EWL once more. That makes three in a row for the Panthers in an EWL which features some tough teams. West Regional/WWC: Wyoming ends up in first here. I have a feeling that in a few years we will be talking about the Western Regional in much the same way we discuss the ACC. The West Regional features ambitious coaching, impressive recruiting, and a bunch of teams on the rise. CAA: Say what you want about Hofstra, but they are conference champions. Perhaps the incredibly tough regular season schedule paid off. My upset of the week came at this tournament in the 197-pound finals as Drexel's 19th-ranked Brandon Palik defeated Binghamton's fifth-ranked Nate Schiedel. SoCon: Chattanooga continues its SoCon dominance. The real interesting story here: Campbell earns the runner-up spot. Some fans may scoff at the significance of second place in the "lowly" SoCon, but this conference, for the most part, continues to get tougher from top to bottom, and second place is a real achievement for a program that was a mere rumor a few years ago. MAC: Missouri wins its first MAC title in its first year in the conference. Expect as many as four national finalists from this conference.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- For the first time since 2001, the Mid-American Conference has crowned a new champion. In their first year as an affiliate member of the Mid-American Conference, the Missouri Wrestling program blew through the eight-team field to its second conference championship in as many years. The Tigers ended with 136.0 team points, 48 more than the second place-Chippewas from Central Michigan. The squad had a substantial lead all day after it sent every starter to the semifinal round. Missouri's title ended an 11-year reign held by the Central Michigan as MAC Champions. Six Mizzou starters advanced to the championship round in their respective weight classes, four of which claimed conference titles, tying the record of four set last season at the 2012 Big 12 Championships. Nathan McCormick claimed the first individual title of his career despite being in the conference finals the past three seasons. Junior Alan Waters and sophomore Drake Houdashelt were Big 12 Champions last season at 125 and 157 pounds, respectively, and Dom Bradley added his second conference championship after winning at heavyweight in 2011. As he has done so well all season, No. 1 Alan Waters set the tone for the fourth-ranked Tigers Sunday. Waters met with Steve Mitcheff of Kent State in the 125-pound final after a pin over Derek Elmore (NIU) and a 17-2 technical fall over Max Soria (Buffalo) in the semifinals. After a scoreless first, the Mizzou junior got on the board with an escape 16 seconds into the second period. An illegal hold late in the second by Mitcheff increased the lead to 2-0 headed into the third. Waters added a takedown with 22 seconds left and took the match by decision 4-0. Waters' three wins on Sunday puts him at 97 career wins in just three seasons at Mizzou. Senior Nathan McCormick followed suit with an individual title of his own at 133 pounds. After a technical fall and a pin in the first two rounds, McCormick faced Levi Wolfensperger in the finals. The Tiger grappler had a takedown 45 seconds in and then added a tilt for a two-point nearfall to take a 4-0 lead after the first period. An escape and a takedown in the second increased the lead to seven, and then a riding time point for 3:02 of advantage put the victory into bonus point territory. The conference title is the Mizzou senior-captain's first of his career after finishing second at the Big 12's last season to No. 1 Jordan Oliver of Oklahoma State. At 149 pounds, Drake Houdashelt won his second conference title in as many years with a win over Blake Roulo of Buffalo. Houdashelt tallied seven points in the first frame via a takedown and a couple of near falls. After a scoreless second, he added five more and then a riding time point to win 13-0, his second major decision of the day. Missouri's sophomore has team-leading 12 wins by major decision this season. The Tigers fourth individual title came at heavyweight where redshirt senior defeated seventh-ranked Jarod Trice of Central Michigan. Trice and Bradley were scoreless after the first three minutes, and an escape for the Mizzou big-man just seconds into the second period gave him the lead. Bradley held tough in the third period on top and kept Trice from breaking through his grasp, allowing him to accumulate 1:28 of riding time before Trice could break free with 22 ticks remaining. With just seconds left, Bradley secured a double leg takedown and took the MAC title with a 4-1 decision. Bradley added three decisions on the day to give him a team-leading 23 on the year. His second win of the day, a 4-0 decision over Jared Torrence of Northern Illinois, was his 100th win during his tenure with the Black and Gold. Mizzou took second place at 157 and 197 pounds. Kyle Bradley fell to David Bonin of Northern Iowa in the finals by decision, 5-2. Bonin reversed Bradley with 1:14 remaining to take a 4-2 lead and control of the match. The victory gives Bonin a 2-1 advantage over Bradley this year, with Bradley's lone victory coming on January 27 at UNI by decision, 6-4. Brent Haynes fell the nation's top-ranked 197-pounder in Dustin Kilgore of Kent State by major decision, 17-5. Junior Zach Toal and seniors Nicholas Hucke, Todd Porter, and Mike Larson all advanced to the third place match in their respective weight classes after all ten starters won in the quarterfinals. Hucke defeated Central Michigan's Scott Mattingly for the second time on Sunday to take the third place medal, 7-4. A Hucke reversal with 1:36 left put the Tiger senior in the driver's seat. Porter, too, defeated Phillip Joseph of Eastern Michigan for the second time to take third, 7-2. Last year's Big 12 Champion Mike Larson defeated Casey Newburg (KSU) in the first sudden victory period for third place. A takedown 31 seconds in gave Larson the 3-1 victory after the two could only manage a couple of escapes in regulation. Larson fell to Intermat's No. 6-ranked Ryan Loder of Northern Iowa in the semifinals. At 165, Toal dropped his third place match to Kent State's Caleb Marsh, 4-1. Following the Conference Championship, the Tigers have already qualified eight of 10 starters. The remaining two, Hucke and Toal, have a chance to qualify through a wildcard selection. Last season Mizzou was the only program in the nation to qualify all 10 of its starters for the NCAA Championships. The final destination for the Tigers is Des Moines, Iowa, for the 2013 NCAA Championships. This year's Nationals will begin on Thursday, March 21 and continue through Saturday, March 23. The wildcard qualifiers will be announced this coming week, with the seedings and brackets to be released as well. Stay up-to-date with the No. 4-ranked and now 2013 Mid-American Conference Champion Tigers on Facebook and Twitter, and as always on MUTigers.com. TEAM RESULTS 1. Missouri: 136.0 2. Central Michigan: 88.0 3. Northern Iowa: 83.0 4. Kent State: 82.0 5. Northern Illinois: 63.5 5. Ohio: 63.5 7. Buffalo: 51.5 8. Eastern Michigan: 44.5

Top-ranked Penn State won its third straight Big Ten title, finishing 12 points ahead of Minnesota CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Last season Penn State's Matt Brown was hailed by many as the nation's best backup after a 27-2 season and runner-up finish at the Southern Scufffle. This season expectations have been high for the 22-year-old Brown, who is sandwiched between two returning NCAA champions, David Taylor and Ed Ruth, on a Nittany Lion team in search of its third straight NCAA title. Matt BrownAfter a rollercoaster regular season, Brown entered the 2013 Big Ten Wrestling Championships as the No. 5 seed in a weight class that included eight of the nation's top 11 wrestlers. Brown caught fire in his first postseason tournament, avenging two regular season loss on his way to winning the Big Ten title at 174 pounds on Sunday in Champaign, Ill. In the finals he defeated Iowa's Mike Evans, 7-3. Brown's title helped Penn State capture its third straight Big Ten title. The Nittany Lions finished 12 points in front of runner-up Minnesota. Also winning individual titles for the Nittany Lions were repeat winners David Taylor (165), Ed Ruth (184), and Quentin Wright (197). Taylor and Ruth lit up when talking about Brown's performance. "When you step in and fill a role in the Penn State lineup, you're expected to be the No. 1 guy in the country. He lost a couple matches. It's not that big of a deal. I'm really proud of Matt. He has had some ups and downs this year. To have the tournament he had was phenomenal, to get revenge against a couple of those guys." Added Ruth, "This is the Matt Brown that I know. I'm glad that everybody else got to see it too." Both Taylor and Ruth won their third conference titles. Taylor picked up bonus points in all three of his matches over the weekend. In the finals he won by major decision, 9-1, over Conrad Polz of Illinois. "I've always been a bonus point scorer," said Taylor. "Since I was a kid I've always wanted to beat guys by more than eight points. When I got into college I really embraced that role with Coach Sanderson. You just always focus on building leads and keeping it simple." Unlike last season, Taylor will not be the top seed at the NCAAs after losing two close matches to three-time NCAA champion Kyle Dake of Cornell. Still, despite the losses, Taylor doesn't see himself as the underdog in Des Moines. "In my mind I'm the favorite," said Taylor. "I'm the returning 165 champ. I won the Hodge last year. I'm the best guy in my weight class. I've just got to go out and do it." Ruth, who was named Big Ten Wrestler of the Year, earned his third Big Ten title with a 5-3 victory over Minnesota's Kevin Steinhaus in the finals, scoring a takedown in the first period and third period. With his three wins over the weekend, Ruth extended his win streak to 63. But he says it's not something he thinks about. "For me, even if it gets broken, it really doesn't matter," Ruth said of the streak. "I'm still going to be wrestling. Nothing is going to happen. The world isn't going to die tomorrow. The sun isn't going to go down and never come up. I kind of just take it as it's a 60-win streak and if a loss comes after it, it's just another loss. For Wright, ranked No. 2 nationally, it was his second Big Ten title. He topped Minnesota's Scott Schiller in the finals, 5-3, scoring a takedown in each of the final two periods. He will head to the NCAAs with perfect 27-0 record. Second-place Minnesota had a pair of champions in Dylan Ness (149) and Tony Nelson (285). Ness, who entered the tournament seeded third, used a whip-over from his back to pin Nebraska's Jake Sueflohn in the second period of their finals match at 149 pounds. According to Ness, the bigger the stage the better he performs. "I love big crowds," said Ness, an NCAA runner-up last season as a freshman. "They get me going. I feel less pressure when there are big crowds. I don't feel nervous at all. I'm just ready to go." Ness' only loss over his last 10 matches was a 6-4 defeat to top-ranked Jordan Oliver of Oklahoma State in the finals of the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals on Feb. 23 in Minneapolis. "It was important to me that I got to wrestle him before nationals just to get a little feel," said Ness. "It didn't end the way I wanted. But that weekend we ended up winning as a team. It was about the team that weekend, so I wasn't that down about it at the time." Nelson, a returning NCAA champion and the nation's top-ranked heavyweight, won his second straight Big Ten title with a 4-1 decision over Northwestern's Mike McMullan. Iowa finished third in the team standings after a disappointing 0-4 performance in the finals. The Hawkeyes led the team race after the first session after advancing nine to the semifinals. Ohio State wrestlers Logan Stieber and Hunter Stieber claimed Big Ten titles at 133 pounds and 141 poundsOhio State's Stieber brothers, Logan (133) and Hunter (141), won titles and helped the Buckeyes to a fourth-place finish. Logan Stieber, the returning NCAA champion at 133 pounds, won a hard-fought match in sudden victory, 3-1, over Iowa's Tony Ramos in a rematch of last year's Big Ten finals match. Both wrestlers entered the match undefeated. "I know he's really picked up his offense this year," Logan said of Ramos. "I knew I had to stop his offensive shots. I thought I did a pretty good job of containing his offense. I knew I had to score a takedown. I wanted to get one in regulation. I couldn't get one. But in overtime I was able to secure a takedown. Hunter Stieber, a returning All-American, earned his first Big Title with an 8-3 decision over Iowa's Mark Ballweg. He scored two takedowns in the first period and added another in the second period to pace him to the victory. Hunter said he fed off his brother's win. "I was so excited to go out there and wrestle that I had to calm down a little bit because I didn't want to use too much energy," said Hunter. "When he wins like that it's awesome." Jesse Delgado won the title at 125 poundsJesse Delgado of Illinois captured the Big Ten title with a convincing 10-4 finals victory over two-time NCAA champion Matt McDonough of Iowa. Delgado used lightning-quick leg attacks to score takedowns in each of the first two periods, and added two more in the final period. It marked Delgado's third win over McDonough over the past two seasons. "I'm a lot faster than he is," said Delgado. "He relies a lot on funk and countering guys. I'm not going to let that happen. Since I got to college he was the guy that I had to beat. That's two, almost three years of getting ready for this guy." Delgado and McDonough are expected to be the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds at the NCAAs, which could set up a showdown in the NCAA semifinals. "He's going to make adjustments for me," said Delgado. "He's not stopping me if I'm on my A-game. Bottom line." Northwestern's Jason Welch, ranked No. 1 nationally, pinned Nebraska's James Green to win the title at 157 pounds. Welch trailed 4-3 in the third period before turning Green and getting the pin. The win avenged Welch's only loss this season. Welch will be wrestling in his fourth and final NCAA tournament. "I'm trying to put less pressure on myself," said Welch. "I'm thinking about how it's my last time that I get to be able to compete. So I'm trying to be happy with small victories, not so hard on myself, and just enjoy my time out here while I can." Penn State coach Cael Sanderson and Minnesota coach J Robinson shared Big Ten Coach of the Year honors. Penn State's Ed Ruth was named Big Ten Wrestler of the Year. Connor Medbery earned Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors. Team Standings: 1. Penn State 151 2. Minnesota 139 3. Iowa 133.5 4. Ohio State 109.5 5. Illinois 85.5 6. Michigan 75 7. Nebraska 61 8. Northwestern 56 9. Purdue 38 10. Wisconsin 37 11. Indiana 30.5 12. Michigan State 22 Finals Results: 125: No. 4 Jesse Delgado (Illinois) dec. No. 2 Matt McDonough (Iowa), 10-4 133: No. 1 Logan Stieber (Ohio State) dec. No. 2 Tony Ramos (Iowa), 3-1 SV 141: No. 2 Hunter Stieber (Ohio State) dec. No. 9 Mark Ballweg (Iowa), 8-3 149: No. 6 Dylan Ness (Minnesota) pinned No. 10 Jake Sueflohn (Nebraska), 3:27 157: No. 1 Jason Welch (Northwestern) pinned No. 6 James Green (Nebraska), 6:38 165: No. 2 David Taylor (Penn State) dec. No. 8 Conrad Polz (Illinois), 9-1 174: No. 7 Matt Brown (Penn State) dec. No. 3 Mike Evans (Iowa), 7-3 184: No. 1 Ed Ruth (Penn State) dec. No. 5 Kevin Steinhaus (Minnesota), 5-3 197: No. 2 Quentin Wright (Penn State) dec. No. 8 Scott Schiller (Minnesota), 5-3 285: No. 1 Tony Nelson (Minnesota) dec. No. 9 Mike McMullan (Northwestern), 4-1

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- As Jesse Delgado sprinted through a hallway at Assembly Hall moments after a 6-3 victory over Penn State's Nico Megaludis in the 125-pound semifinals of the Big Ten Wrestling Championships on Saturday night, his cell phone went flying out of his hand and broke into pieces on the concrete floor. "At least I won," laughed the Illinois sophomore. Delgado was pinned earlier this season by Megaludis late in a match he was winning. "That's a guy I'm probably going to have two weeks from now if I make it to the NCAA finals," said Delgado. "I just need to stay offensive and attack everyone like that." Delgado will now face a familiar opponent in the finals: Iowa's Matt McDonough, a two-time NCAA champion and three-time NCAA finalist. Jesse DelgadoDelgado owns two wins over McDonough over the past two seasons. The most recent victory for Delgado was a 9-4 decision in Champaign on Feb. 8. "That's a bad style matchup for him, but I'm sure he's made adjustments," said Delgado of McDonough. "We're prepared for what we think he's got. I don't know if he's prepared for what we got." Delgado is one of two finalists for host Illinois, along with Conrad Polz (165), who reached finals by defeating Michigan's Taylor Massa 7-1. Two-time defending NCAA champion Penn State took over first place in the team standings after their four upperweights from 165 pounds to 197 pounds -- David Taylor, Matt Brown, Ed Ruth, and Quentin Wright -- advanced to the finals. "I really wasn't aware of the (team) scores," said Ruth, who advanced to his third straight Big Ten finals by defeating Iowa's Ethen Lofthouse, 10-1, in the semifinals at 184 pounds. "My teammates were. We had a chance to close the gap, so we kind of really jumped on it." Taylor, Ruth, and Wright were No. 1 seeds. Taylor was dominant in the semifinals at 165 pounds, winning 16-0 over Iowa's Nick Moore. He will face Polz in the finals. Wright eked out a 1-0 victory over Ohio State's Andrew Campolattano in the semifinals at 197 pounds to set up a finals match against Minnesota's Scott Schiller. Brown, seeded fifth, advanced to the finals at 174 pounds by topping Ohio State's Nick Heflin in the quarterfinals and Michigan's Dan Yates in the semifinals. Brown's run to the finals may have been a surprise to some, but not Ruth. "The Matt Brown that we're seeing right now, he was like that all year. He's a practice wrestler ... He's starting to step it up now. He's starting to become more the Matt Brown that I know. It just seemed like he went from 0 to 60 right away. That's something I actually expected from him." Brown will face Iowa's Mike Evans in the finals at 174 pounds. Evans advanced to the finals with a 6-0 shutout over Jordan Blanton of Illinois. Evans is one of four finalists for Iowa. The other three are McDonough (125), Tony Ramos (133), and Mark Ballweg (141). "We've got to be ready to battle," said Iowa coach Tom Brands. "It gets tougher if you're not going to wrestle. If you wrestle then it can get easier with effort. It's never easy, but you can sure make it easier on yourself with good effort." Ramos' road to the finals included victories over two past All-Americans: Cashe Quiroga of Purdue in the quarterfinals and Tyler Graff of Wisconsin in the semifinals. He will now face NCAA champion Logan Stieber of Ohio State in a rematch of last year's Big Ten finals. Both wrestlers are undefeated on the season. "I'm really excited for that one," said Ramos, who improved to 26-0 this season. "I can't wait to get that one going. My second match today I wasn't feeling too good ... I'll be ready to go tomorrow night." Stieber cruised to the finals with two pins, including a semifinal pin over 13th-ranked Jordan Conaway of Penn State. "I just want to get in and out," said Stieber. "If I can pin, I pin. If I have to win 3-2 or 1-0, I'll take that as well. When I get the pin it's awesome for the team and me." His thoughts on the finals showdown against Ramos? "It should be a fun match," said Stieber. "Iowa fans are crazy. They're going to be loud, so I'll probably get called for stalling right away by them ... But no, it's going to be fun. He's awesome. He's had an awesome year. I've had a great year so far. Hopefully it's a good match. Hopefully we put a lot of points up." Logan's younger brother Hunter Stieber advanced to the finals at 141 pounds with a 10-8 win in sudden victory over Purdue's Brandon Nelsen in the semifinals. Like older brother Logan, Hunter will face an Iowa Hawkeye in the finals, Mark Ballweg. National Duals champion Minnesota climbed to second place in the team standings after a strong semifinal round, and like Penn State and Iowa, advanced four wrestlers to the finals: Dylan Ness (149), Kevin Steinhaus (184), Scott Schiller (197), and Tony Nelson (285). The Gophers trail the Nittany Lions by 10.5 points heading into the final day. "We picked up the pace and we ended up in second," said Robinson. "That's not obviously where we want to be. But there's still a lot of wrestling left for tomorrow." Minnesota took a hit at 174 pounds when Logan Storley, the nation's top-ranked wrestler, lost twice on Saturday and will wrestle for seventh place on Sunday. "It's one of those deals ... You just have that bad day," said Robinson. "You've got to come back from it. He's going to end up wrestling for seventh and eighth. It doesn't stop what happens at the national tournament. I think that's the thing, where he's going to get seeded, you better still seed him because I don't think you want to draw him." Jake Sueflohn (141) and James Green (157) reached the finals for Nebraska. Both were seeded fourth. Sueflohn knocked off Penn State's Andrew Alton in the quarterfinals before defeating Ohio State's Ian Paddock in the semifinals. Green, a returning All-American, reached the finals by edging top-seeded Derek St. John of Iowa in the semifinals 5-4, avenging a loss from earlier this season. "I've got to finish the match out better," said Green. "But I was still trying to get my takedowns at the end. I've just got to finish those. This match was different from my other matches with him. I committed more on top. I got that riding time and it helped a lot." Northwestern, like Nebraska, advanced two wrestlers to the finals: Jason Welch (157) and Mike McMullan (285). Sunday's session gets underway at 11:30 CT, with the finals scheduled for 1:30 p.m. CT. Team Standings 1. Penn State 123 2. Minnesota 112.5 3. Iowa 109 4. Ohio State 92 5. Illinois 72.5 6. Michigan 61 7. Nebraska 52 8. Northwestern 50 9. Purdue 29 10. Indiana 26.5 11. Wisconsin 26 12. Michigan State 17 Semifinal Results 125: No. 2 Matt McDonough (Iowa) pinned No. 17 Sean Boyle (Michigan), 2:46 No. 4 Jesse Delgado (Illinois) dec. No. 3 Nico Megaludis (Penn State), 6-3 133: No. 1 Logan Stieber (Ohio State) pinned No. 13 Jordan Conaway (Penn State), 1:29 No. 2 Tony Ramos (Iowa) dec. No. 3 Tyler Graff (Wisconsin), 3-1 141: No. 2 Hunter Stieber (Ohio State) dec. Brandon Nelsen (Purdue), 10-8 SV No. 9 Mark Ballweg (Iowa) dec. No. 8 Nick Dardanes (Minnesota), 3-1 149: No. 10 Jake Sueflohn (Nebraska) dec. Ian Paddock (Ohio State), 11-5 No. 6 Dylan Ness (Minnesota) dec. Dan Osterman (Michigan State), 10-9 157: No. 6 James Green (Nebraska) dec. No. 2 Derek St. John (Iowa), 5-4 No. 1 Jason Welch (Northwestern) dec. Josh Demas (Ohio State), 2-0 165: No. 2 David Taylor (Penn State) tech. fall No. 13 Nick Moore (Iowa), 16-0 No. 8 Conrad Polz (Illinois) dec. No. 9 Taylor Massa (Michigan), 7-1 174: No. 7 Matt Brown (Penn State) dec. No. 11 Dan Yates (Michigan), 5-1 No. 3 Mike Evans (Iowa) dec. No. 9 Jordan Blanton (Illinois), 6-0 184: No. 1 Ed Ruth (Penn State) maj. dec. No. 14 Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa), 10-1 No. 5 Kevin Steinhaus (Minnesota) maj. dec. No. 8 Josh Ihnen (Nebraska), 10-2 197: No. 2 Quentin Wright (Penn State) dec. No. 13 Andrew Campolattano (Ohio State), 1-0 No. 8 Scott Schiller (Minnesota) dec. Nathan Burak (Iowa), 3-1 SV 285: No. 1 Tony Nelson (Minnesota) dec. No. 5 Bobby Telford (Iowa), 1-0 No. 9 Mike McMullan (Northwestern) dec. No. 11 Connor Medbery (Wisconsin), 5-4

The quest for four-straight NCAA West Regional team titles came down to the final matches Saturday in Laramie, as the University of Wyoming wrestling team battled hard to claim the team championship. In front of 1,155 fans in the Arena-Auditorium, UW clawed back from an 11-point Session I deficit and came alive in the finals to total 79 team points, three points better than second-place North Dakota State. The Cowboys, with all 10 wrestlers in the consolation and championship finals, won nine of 10 bouts, but got some assistance from Utah Valley's heavyweight to keep NDSU out of the team lead in the last scoring bout. The win marks four-consecutive West Regional victories for Wyoming and head coach Mark Branch. The event also served as the Western Wrestling Conference Championship. After Wyoming and North Dakota State, Utah Valley was third (70), Air Force was fourth and South Dakota State was fifth with 16.5 points. "That's what I've been waiting to see all year, for all 10 guys to wrestle with their heart and wrestle for each other," Branch said. "We needed to be close to perfect today to win. We spent most of the tournament in fourth place. Going into the last session, you're thinking we're in deep trouble but we're not mathematically eliminated. It was cool to see these guys come together and wrestle for each other and fight their tails off." Four Cowboys won their weight class, including senior McCade Ford at 141 pounds, senior L.J. Helbig at 174, sophomore Shane Woods at 184 and senior Alfonso Hernandez at 197, who won for the second-straight year. Two other UW grapplers are headed to nationals, including sophomore Brandon Richardson (third at 149) and sophomore Tyler Cox, who was third at 125. The six qualifiers represent the same total from 2011 and 2012. Nine Cowboys placed third or better in the event. "You can go up and down the lineup to find inspiring performances," Branch said. "Cox coming back after a tough first-round loss and getting a pin, McCade Ford fighting from the third seed to get first, Brandon Richardson fighting from a fifth seed to get third and qualify for nationals, L.J. Helbig, Shane Woods, Hernandez. It was a team effort and we've preached that all year long. For it to finally happen, it certainly was the right time." After all of the qualifying events have concluded, the NCAA?Division I Wrestling Committee will meet in person to select the remaining 40 at-large qualifiers, who will be announced on March 13. All weight classes will consist of 33 wrestlers for the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Championships will be March 21-23 in Des Moines, Iowa.

Birmingham, Ala. -- Senior Shamus O'Grady (Coon Rapids) won an NCAA Division II Individual Wrestling title with a 12-2 major decision over Dallas Smith of Ouachita Baptist at 184-pounds and the Huskies finished as the NCAA Division II National Runner-Up today at the 2013 NCAA Wrestling National Championships in Birmingham, Ala. In other championship matches tonight, seniors Andy Pokorny (Bennington, Neb.) and Jacob D. Horn (Ephrata, Wash.) placed second at their respective weights. As a team, the Huskies (104 points) finished as national runner-up for the third straight year behind the University of Nebraska-Kearney (108 points). This sets a new record for most points scored by the Huskies in a national tournament. O'Grady finishes the season with a 40-1 record, tying the school record for most wins in a season previously held by Tad Merritt. His collegiate career ends with four All-American honors and a 108-28 overall record. In the semi's, O'Grady competed in the day's marquee match-up against Travis McKillop of Pitt-Johnstown, who entered the match as D2's leader in the Most Dominating Wrestler charts in 2012-13. O'Grady advanced on the strength of a big 6-4 win over McKillop. O'Grady received notice as the tournament's most outstanding wrestler for his efforts in Birmingham. Pokorny at 133-pounds lost to Daniel DeShazer of Nebraska-Kearney by decision 7-5, and finished the season with a 24-3 record. Pokorny (24-3) advanced to the title bout with a major decision victory over Marty Carlson of Notre Dame College. Pokorny won the match by a 10-0 tally. This marks the second consecutive season that Pokorny has advanced to the championship bout at 133-pounds and it also marks the second consecutive season that he has gained All-America notice for the Huskies. Wrestling at 149-pounds Jacob D. Horn lost 4-3 to Raufeon Stots of Nebraska-Kearney. Horn is a two-time All-American and finished the season at 18-8. Horn punched his ticket to the championship round with a big 6-2 win over Jordan Basks of Central Oklahoma. The victory improved Horn's record to 18-8 and it also marks the second time that he has earned All-America honors for the Huskies. A three-time NCAA qualifer, Horn also gained All-America notice for SCSU in 2011. SCSU senior Jacob Kahnke completed his stellar career with the Huskies on March 9 with a third place finish at 285-pounds. A four-time All-American, Kahnke went 4-1 on the day after losing his second round match to Ziad Haddad of Kutztown by a 7-1 decision. In the consolation bracket, Kahnke rolled to the third place finish. He started with a key 6-3 win over James Malechek of UW-Parkside. Kahnke then charged back with a 4-1 win over Andrew Tumlin of Findlay and also earned a 6-2 win over Orlando Scales of Norte Dame College. Kahnke gained revenge for his earlier loss to Haddad by charting an impressive pin at 4:31 in the bout for third place. In his career at SCSU, Kahnke has gained two 2nd place finishes, a third place finish and a fourth place finish in NCAA tournament action. As a Husky, Kahnke notched 118 career wins and also charted a 23-1 record in 2012-13. Redshirt freshman Clint Poster capped an impressive rookie year with a fourth place finish at 157-pounds, which grants him All-America status. In the bout for third place, Poster lost an 8-3 match to Jeff Pelton of Notre Dame. Poster opened the day with a loss to Zach Vargo of Lake Erie (fall 2:07) in the semi's. In the consolation semi's Poster stayed alive with a 3-0 win over Chase White of UNK, which provided key team points for the Huskies. Poster capped his year with a 35-5 overall record. At 141-pounds, Matt Nelson finished his year with a fifth place finish at the NCAA tournament to earn his first All-America award at SCSU. In the semi's on March 9, Nelson lost a 14-10 match against Naveed Bagheri of San Francisco State. In the wrestlebacks, Nelson lost a 3-2 match to Maurice Miller of Notre Dame College and he chalked up the fifth place finish with a 10-2 major decision over Michel Hamel of Grand Canyon. Nelson ended his year at 22-9 for the Huskies. Gabe Fogarty capped an impressive rookie campaign with a seventh place finish for the Huskies at 165-pounds, which provides him with All-America honors for 2013. Fogarty opened the day with a 17-0 tech fall win over Robert Shade of North Carolina-Pembroke in the consolation round. In the third round of the consolation bracket, Fogarty lost a 9-0 major decision to Chris Watson of Central Oklahoma. His trip to Alabama was topped by a 14-5 major decision win over Justin Samora of Adams State in the bout for 7th place.

STILLWATER--Oklahoma State wrestling broke two Big 12 records en route to winning its 47th conference title on Saturday night in front of their home crowd at Gallagher-Iba Arena, crowning eight conference champions and scoring 118.5 team points. Iowa State finished in second place with 74 points followed by Oklahoma (58 points) and West Virginia (28 points). "It was a good day," coach John Smith said. "Over 20 matches, we got 12 bonus-point wins. Those are the type of things you like to see late in the season." In the semifinals, OSU sent nine of its 10 Cowboys to the championship match, carrying a comfortable 18.5 point team lead into the final session of the day. True freshman Eddie Klimara captured the first individual title for the Cowboys after defeating ISU's Ryak Finch by a 15-5 major decision. At 133 pounds, Jon Morrison earned a 6-2 decision over Cody Brewer of Oklahoma, giving him his first conference title. 141-pounder Julian Feikert finished the night in third place. Jordan Oliver earned his fourth-straight Big 12 title, pinning Max Mayfield (ISU) in 1:19. The senior 149-pounder was also named the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler. "It was a pretty great feeling," Oliver said. "I wanted to go out with a bang in my last collegiate match in Gallagher-Iba Arena. It's great to go out like that and get the fourth (Big 12) title, and give the fans what they wanted to see." Freshman Alex Dieringer, the Cowboys' 157-pounder, earned the fourth individual title of the night with an 11-3 major decision over OU's Matt Lester. Tyler Caldwell grabbed an escape in the second period of the 165-pound championship match to win a 1-0 nail biter over Bubby Graham of OU. Chris Perry shut out his opponent, ISU's Tanner Weatherman, taking the match, 8-0, to secure his second-consecutive conference title at 174 pounds. Entering the tournament as the No. 2 seed, Chris Chionuma upset No. 1 seed Boaz Beard of Iowa State, sneaking in a takedown with less than a minute left to win, 5-3. Blake Rosholt finished second at 197 pounds, dropping a 5-4 heartbreaker to Kyven Gadson (ISU). Heavyweight Alan Gelogaev took home the eighth and final individual tournament for the Cowboys in thrilling fashion as he pinned ISU's Matt Gibson in 58 seconds. Gelogaev snagged his first individual title. The Cowboys return to action when they travel to Des Moines, Iowa March 21-23 to compete at the NCAA Championships. Team Standings: Oklahoma State - 118.5 Iowa State - 74 Oklahoma - 58 West Virginia - 28

Edinboro, Pa. -- In its final contest in the Eastern Wrestling League (EWL), the University of Pittsburgh wrestling team captured its third-consecutive EWL Tournament title this evening at McComb Field House on the campus of Edinboro University. “It’s always good to come into this gym and come back as winners,” said head coach Rande Stottlemyer. “Winning a conference is great but this is a stepping stone to NCAAs which are two weeks away.” The Panthers crowned four individual champions – Nick Bonaccorsi (174), Max Thomusseit (184), Matt Wilps (197) and Zac Thomusseit (285) – and saw eight wrestlers earn automatic bids to the NCAA Championships. Additionally, Matt Wilps was named the EWL Tournament Outstanding Wrestler for the second consecutive season. Bonaccorsi was Pitt’s first champion on the evening. In his championship match against Chris Smith of Bloomsburg, Bonaccorsi stuck early and was dominant on top using 4:23 of riding time to win the EWL title at 174 pounds. Bonaccorsi scored a takedown 30 seconds into the first and rode out the period. In the second, Smith started down and was rode out by Bonaccorsi. In the third, Bonaccorsi earned a quick escape and kept Smith at bay to give Pitt its first EWL Champion of 2013. In his semifinal match, Bonaccorsi fell behind early against Patrick Jennnigs of Edinboro but kept his composure and earned a reversal to turn a 2-1 disadvantage to a 3-2 lead. From there Bonaccorsi used a takedown and a bonus point for riding time to take the 6-2 win and advance to the finals. Max Thomussiet followed up the momentum from the Bonaccorsi win by capturing the EWL Championship at 184 pounds. In the finals against Lock Haven’s Fred Garcia Thomusseit earned a dominant 9-1 major decision. Thomusseit was on the offensive early scoring an early takedown. In the second, Thomusseit scored a pair of takedowns to push his lead to 5-1. A three point near fall and a bonus point for riding time was enough to secure the major and give Thomusseit his first career EWL title. Thomusseit won his 184 pound semifinal match over Sam Shirey of Bloomsburg to secure an autobid to NCAAs. Thomusseit got off to a quick start with an early takedown and never looked back en route to a 10-2 major decision victory. In the championship match at 197 pounds, Matt Wilps scored a hard fought victory over Bloomsburg’s Richard Perry. After the two had a scoreless first, Wilps started the second down and scored a quick escape. Wilps pushed his lead to 3-0 on a high single. Perry was able to get back in the match with a quick reversal near the end of the period to make the score 3-2 going into the third. In the third, Wilps secured the 5-4 win thanks to a bonus point for riding time. The win was Wilps’ third EWL title. Wilps took his first bout over Lock Haven’s Phil Sprenkle by a 19-6 major to secure a place in the finals. Zac Thomusseit made quick work of Henry Turner in his first match pinning the Lock Haven heavyweight at 2:44 for his 11th pin of the season. In the finals, Thomusseit won a 6-3 decision over Bloomsburg’s Justin Grant. Thomusseit scored an early takedown and never looked back on his way to winning his second EWL title. Shelton Mack started out his championships at 133 pounds with a convincing 16-8 major decision over Cleveland State’s Mike Carlone. In the semifinals, Mack avenged an earlier loss to Bloomsburg’s Nick Wilcox with a 3-1 decision. After a scoreless first, Mack started down in the second and quickly earned an escape to take a 1-0 lead into the final period. Mack was able to tilt Wilcox for two near fall points to extend his lead to 3-0. Wilcox escaped but Mack kept him at bay for the remainder of the bout and secured a berth in the finals and a trip to Nationals. At 149 pounds, Ronnie Garbinsky started his tournament run with a second period fall over Cleveland State’s Mike Mencini. Garbinsky then faced Bloomsburg’s Josh Roosa for a chance to go to the finals. Roosa got off to a quick start scoring an early takedown. Garbinksy kept his composure and earned an escape to send the match into second at 2-1 in favor of Roosa. Garbinksy was able to tie the match with another escape in the second. The third period started out with a flurry of action. Starting down, Roosa earned a quick ecape but Garbinsky connected on a double to take a 4-3 lead before Rossa escaped again to tie the match 4-4. The two wrestlers exchanged shots for the remainder of the third with neither connecting and the match went into sudden victory. After neither wrestler could score in SV, the match went into rideouts with Roosa starting down. Garbinsky was able to quickly tilt Roosa on a choke over to get a pair of nearfall points en route to a ride out giving him a 6-4 lead. While Garbinsky could not escape during his time on bottom he kept Roosa from getting a tilt and was able to secure the win and his first trip to Nationals. Tyler Wilps used four takedowns, two escapes and a bonus point for over three minutes of riding time to take an 11-6 victory over Johnny Greisheimer of Edinboro. The victory over Greisheimer clinched Wilps’ first trip to NCAAs. After dropping his first bout sending him to the consolation brackets, Donnie Tasser needed to win a pair of matches, and finish in third, to clinch a trip to his second NCAA Championships. Tasser won his first match against Edinboro’s Michael Depalam in dominant fashion 5-0 to advance to the consolation finals. In the third place match, Tasser met up with Lock Haven’s Jacob Kemerer. After a scoreless first, Tasser started down in the second and earned an escape a mere four seconds into the period. Tasser then went on the offensive and connected on a takedown off a high single to push his lead to 3-0. In the third Kemerer chose a neutral start trying to get back into the match. Tasser continued his aggressive approach and was able to earn his trip to Nationals with a 3-0 decision. Derrick Nelson (sixth at 125) and Travis Shaffer (fifth at 141) rounded out the Panthers in action at the EWL Championships. “We’ve got a good crew,” Stottlemyer said. “They’ve sacrificed all year long. They were committed and that’s why we are where we’re at. We have some upperclassmen that led the way and a lot of people followed and that’s why we are where we are today.” Pitt will be back in action at the National Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa, beginning on Thursday, March 21.

BOSTON -- Hofstra crowned two individual champions, three NCAA qualifiers and captured its 11th CAA team title in its 12 years in the league at the 2013 Colonial Athletic Association Wrestling Championships at Boston University’s Case Gymnasium Saturday night. Seven-teams and 70 wrestlers competed for the CAA team crown and the 19 individual berths to the 2013 NCAA Championships at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, IA on March 21-23. Pride senior Steve Bonanno at 125 and junior Jamie Franco at 133 captured CAA individual titles. It was Bonanno’s second consecutive conference title after winning in 2012. It was Franco’s first CAA title. Bonanno will be making his fourth NCAA Championship appearance. Franco will be making his second NCAA Championship appearance after placing second in the CAA in 2012. Those two individuals plus junior Luke Vaith, who placed third at 141 pounds, have all qualified for the NCAA Championships. Vaith will also be making his second NCAA Championship appearance after winning the conference title in 2012. Bonanno, the number one seed at 125, defeated the second-seed Rob Deutsch from ODU, 3-2 in the title match. Bonanno, who recorded his 100th career victory in the semifinals, is now 17-10 on the season. Franco, the number four-seed, defeated the third seed Derek Steeley from Binghamton, 8-3 in the 133-pound title match after downing top-seed Scott Festejo from ODU in the semifinals, 3-2. Franco is 17-13 this season. Vaith (21-12), who is a beneficiary of the three CAA bids to the NCAA Championships at 141 pounds, defeated Rider’s Vinny Fava, 8-0 in the third-place match to become NCAA-bound. Sophomore Jermaine John (19-13), the number one seed at 174, fell to #2 seed Billy Curling from ODU in the title match in a weight-class with only one NCAA bid. John placed second. In addition to Vaith, sophomore Cody Ruggirello (6-16) placed 3rd at 149 pounds as did seniors Tyler Banks (9-5) at 157 and Taras Luzhnyy (5-16) at 184 pounds. Sophomore Nick Terdick (7-23) placed fourth at 165 pounds. Senior Tim Murphy at 197 and sophomore Zeal McGrew at 285 did not place. In the final team standings, the Pride topped the Bearcats of Binghamton and the Broncs of Rider, 67.5-54.0. It was Hofstra's second consecutive CAA championship since Binghamton broke the Pride's streak of eight straight CAA conference titles from 2002 through 2009. Hofstra also won the final conference title in the East Coast Wrestling Association (ECWA) in 2001. The CAA Championship is Hofstra mentor Rob Anspach's second as head wrestling coach of the Pride after taking over the program for the 2011-12 season.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- It all came down to one match for sixth-year senior David Marone. The heavyweight needed a win not only to clinch his first ACC title and a trip to the NCAA Championships but a win to lock up the team title for the Hokies. The Colorado native didn’t disappoint, rolling to an eight-point win to lift Virginia Tech to its first ACC Championship in wrestling Saturday at the Comcast Center on the campus of the University of Maryland. Tech trailed Virginia by 10 points heading to the finals and had six wrestlers in the finals to Virginia’s eight finalists, but Jarrod Garnett cut that lead in half quickly with a pin over UNC’s top-seeded Nathan Kraisser at 125 pounds. His pin set the tone as Tech finished with five titles and Garnett was rewarded with the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler Award. Trailing by five, UVa got its first title at 133 pounds to stretch the lead back to eight points. After Tech’s Zach Neibert lost in the finals, it set up three straight Tech-UVa matches in the finals. First, Nick Brascetta took care of Derek Valenti at 149 pounds and then Jesse Dong won his third ACC title with a win over Jedd Moore at 157 pounds to cut the lead to one. Pete Yates then won his second ACC title with a win over Nick Sulzer at 165 pounds to give the Hokies a one point win. Virginia still had four finalists left, but the first three each lost to a Maryland competitor to keep Tech’s lead at one point with one match left. Marone needed a win to grab the lone NCAA bid and seal the title, but he took all of the drama out of it early, taking down UVa’s Derek Papagianopoulos in the first period and then two more times to roll to the 8-0 major decision and send the Tech bench streming onto the mat in celebration. “Toughness prevailed tonight,” Virginia Tech head coach Kevin Dresser said. “Coming back when you have ZERO room for error is a credit to these 10 guys and my assistants. Great staff. Great team. ACC Champions!” The Hokies placed five wrestlers at the top of the podium as Garnett (125), Brascetta (149), Dong (157), Yates (165) and Marone (285) won titles. For Garnett and Dong, it was their third ACC titles while it was the second title for Brascetta and Yates. It was the first title for Marone, the sixth-year senior, but it couldn’t have come at a bigger moment. All 10 wrestlers placed for Tech, including eight in the top three. Additionally, nine wrestlers qualified for the NCAA Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. Derrick Borlie, who earned a spot for the league, didn’t finish in the top two so he must now wait to see if he gets one of the four wildcard spots at 197 pounds when they are announced on March 13. Before Saturday, Tech had never won the ACC title, finishing second twice (2006 and 2011). In the progran’s history, 13 different Hokie wrestlers have now won an ACC crown. Garnett becomes the fourth Tech wrestler to win M.O.W. honors, joining Jon Bonilla-Bowman (2007; co), Matt Epperly (2008) and Yates (2012) are the only Hokies to take home tournament Most Outstanding Wrestler honors. Virginia Tech’s previous conference tournament title came in 1998 when it won the Colonial Athletic Association crown. The team also won the title in 1993 and won seven Southern Conference titles (1955, 1956, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962 and 1963). The most NCAA qualifiers Tech has had in one trip to the Championships was eight back in 2009, but Tech will surpass that effort with at least nine this year, maybe 10. The NCAA Championships will take place March 21-23 in Des Moines, Iowa, at the Wells Fargo Arena. Team Standings: 1. Virginia Tech 95.5 2. Virginia 90.5 3. Maryland 48.5 4. North Carolina 45.0 5. NC State 30.0 6. Duke 26.0 Most Outstanding Wrestler: Jarrod Garnett (125 pounds), Virginia Tech

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling team captured its 27th Southern Conference Tournament in Lexington, Va., tonight. The Mocs put eight in the finals and won four individual titles on the way to their third-straight championship. Chattanooga took a 31-point lead into the finals and distanced itself even further from the field as the evening progressed. The Mocs finished with 102.5 points, 40 clear of second-place Campbell. The Citadel was third at 59.0. Head coach Heath Eslinger was named SoCon Coach of the Year for the second time in his four years at UTC after leading the Mocs to tonight's 40-point win and a perfect 7-0 SoCon dual record in the regular season. Title winners for Chattanooga were sophomore Nick Soto at 125, junior Alex Hudson at 149, senior Josh Condon at 165 and senior Niko Brown at 197. It could have been an even bigger win for UTC, considering three of the losses in the finals were by one point. Senior Dean Pavlou at 141, freshman John Lampe at 174 and senior Robert Prigmore at 184, all lost in the finals by the narrowest of margins. Sophomore Kevin Malone was the other runner-up for UTC at heavyweight. Soto (Spring Hill, Fla.) started the finals by capturing his second SoCon title. He dropped down from 133 to 125 this season and will return to the NCAAs after a 4-0 win over Campbell's Eric Montoya. After getting a first round bye, Soto improved his overall record to 26-6 with two wins today. Pavlou (Cleveland, Tenn.) almost pulled off a huge upset over No. 6 Ugi Khishignyam in the finals at 141. Seeded second this weekend, Pavlou had dropped two matches to top-seeded Khishignyam in the regular season. He lost 8-3 at the Hokie Open and 8-1 in the dual on Jan. 27. However, Pavlou kept the score much closer tonight. Khishignyam could only get one takedown in the opening period, and Pavlou quickly escaped to make the score 2-1. Pavlou tied it in the second period with an escape. He could not keep Khishignyam down in the third, giving up the escape for the 3-2 score. The SoCon was awarded two automatic bids at 125, 141 and 165, so Pavlou will advance to the NCAAs for the third time in his career. He has a career-best 24-12 record this season Hudson (Marietta, Ga.) continued his hot streak with three wins at 149 today. He scored bonus points in his first two matches before winning his first SoCon title with a 7-3 decision over Gardner-Webb's Ryan Medved. He will take an 11-match winning streak and a 15-5 overall record to the NCAA Championships. After winning the league at 157 as a sophomore in 2011, Condon (Powder Springs, Ga.) moved up to 165 and won his second SoCon title tonight. He scored pins in his first two matches and cruised to a 7-3 win in the finals over Appalachian State's Zach Strickland. Condon was a candidate for the tournament's most outstanding performer, but that honor went to Khishignyam who also had two pins. He improved to 12-5 with his 10th-straight win, including pins in seven of his last nine matches. Lampe (Fairdale, Ky.), the top seed at 174, took on Gardner-Webb's Hunter Gamble in the finals. Gamble was seeded sixth, but only gave up an escape to Lampe in regulation. Gamble went on to win the match 2-1 in overtime. Prigmore was also the top seed in a wide open 184-pound bracket. He faced Campbell's seventh-seeded James Cook in the finals. Prigmore gave up an escape and takedown in the second period that he could not overcome, dropping the match 3-2. Brown (Kissimmee, Fla.) adds on to an amazing season with a pair of wins tonight. He scored a 9-6 victory over Campbell's John Merickel to improve to 29-3 overall. He will make his second trip to the NCAAs after earning an at-large bid as a sophomore in 2011. Malone (Carrollton, Ohio) tried for the fifth time in his career to score a win over The Citadel's Odie Delaney in the heavyweight finals. Malone tied the match at 1-1 with an escape in the third period against the 14th-ranked Delaney, but gave up a late takedown for the 3-1 loss. He is a candidate for an at-large bid to the NCAAs with an 18-10n record against some tough competition. UTC will now have two weeks to prepare for the NCAA Championships on March 21-23 in Des Moines, Iowa. The Mocs will wait to hear if they get any at-large bids to the tournament. Team Standings: 1) Chattanooga - 102.5 2) Campbell - 62.5 3) The Citadel - 59.0 4) Gardner-Webb - 49.5 5) SIUE - 29.5 6) Appalachian State 27.0 7) Davidson - 25.5 8) VMI - 23.5

PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- The Big Red wrestling team made history on Saturday evening after winning its seventh-straight EIWA title. Nahshon Garrett (125), Kyle Dake (165) and Steve Bosak (184) all won titles at their respective weight classes. Dake was also named the Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament. Dake also won the Fletcher Award for earning the most team points in his career with 82.5 points. He also was awarded the Sheridan Award for having the most pins (2) in the championship bracket in 3:06. Cornell qualified seven wrestlers for the NCAA tournament. Mike Nevinger (141), Chris Villalonga (149), Jace Bennett (197) and Stryker Lane (HWT) will join the Big Red's trio of EIWA champions in Des Moines, Iowa. At 125 pounds, Garrett faced the No. 2 seed Mark Rappo of Penn in the finals. Garrett had two close calls in the first period that looked to be takedowns, but the referee waived them off. Rappo chose to start the second period down, but he was unable to escape. Garrett escaped in the third, but Rappo was awarded a point on Garrett's second stalling call. Garrett had over a minute of riding time, but secured his victory with a takedown and three backpoints. Garrett won the EIWA tournament with a 6-1 victory over Rappo. Dake faced Columbia's Josh Houldsworth in the finals at 165 pounds. Dake racked up takedowns throughout the match on his way to a 20-5 win by technical fall. Dake notched bonus points in all four of his matches during the weekend, including two pins, a tech fall and a major decision. At 184 pounds, Bosak took on Navy's Mason Bailey. Bosak nearly had a major decision over the No. 4 seeded wrestler, but won his first EIWA title with a dominating 7-1 decision. At 141 pounds, Nevinger opened the day with a 5-3 decision over Lehigh's Anthony Salupo in the consolation semifinals. Nevinger then faced Harvard's Steven Keith in the bout for third place. The two were scoreless after two periods. Nevinger escaped in the third period, but Keith racked up 1:01 in riding time. Nevinger sealed the win with a takedown at the edge of the mat, for a 3-0 victory. Sophomore Jace Bennett took on Lehigh's John Bolich at 197 pounds in the consolation semifinals. Bennet avenged a loss from earlier in the season with 10-2 major decision. The win qualified Bennett for his first NCAA tournament. Bennett continued to find success in the bout for third place with a 4-2 win over Army's Bryce Barnes. At 149 pounds, Villalonga won his consolation semifinal match by a 7-1 decision to qualify for his second NCAA tournament. Villalonga placed fourth after medically defaulting in the first period against Navy's Raymond Borja. Lane received an automatic qualifying spot for the NCAAs with a 8-7 win in the tiebreakers over the No.1 seed, William Smith of Rutgers. Lane placed fourth after dropping a 12-0 major decision to Bucknell's Joe Stolfi.

The Nebraska-Kearney wrestling team has defended its national title, scoring 108.0 points to edge St. Cloud State and Notre Dame College (Ohio) Saturday night at the NCAA Division II Championships in Birmingham, Ala. Click HERE for team scores and HERE for final brackets. The Lopers, who also placed first in 2008, entered the finals with 101.0 points, one point ahead of top-ranked St. Cloud State. UNK secured the team trophy when redshirt freshman Daniel DeShazer (133 lbs.) and senior Raufeon Stots (149 lbs.) each beat a St. Cloud wrestlers to win individual national crowns. Later, senior Chase Nelson (165 lbs.) and redshirt freshman Romero Cotton (197 lbs.) finished as national runners up. Kearney actually scored 109.0 points but was docked a point for team misconduct. Finishing with seven All-Americans, the Lopers came in just ahead of the SCSU Huskies (105.0) and the NDC Falcons (103.5), who were making their first trip to the NCAA's. Last year, Kearney scored 107.0 points with SCSU second (95.0). Ranked fourth, DeShazer (Wichita, Kans.) took on Bennington senior and former UNO Maverick and UNL Husker Andrew Pokorny, a second-ranked senior. Leading from start to finish, he tallied a takedown at 2:02 of the first period and added a second 30 seconds later. Up 5-2 after the second period, he recorded another takedown and then hung on for a 7-5 win. DeShazer ends his first year in Kearney at 33-8 (21-1 vs. D2 competition). Looking to join Brett Allgood, Ali Elias and Tervel Dlagnev as Lopers with two national titles, the top-ranked Stots (Houston, Texas) got a takedown about two minutes into his 149 lbs. final match against St. Cloud senior Jacob D. Horn. A second period takedown gave Stots a 4-3 lead heading into the final two minutes. Neither wrestler scored in the third period but the final 10 seconds provided a lot of action; Stots got close to a takedown and then Horn almost returned the favor. Stots finishes his senior year 34-4 (26-2 vs. D2 competition). The 165 lbs. title match was between the top-ranked Joey Davis of NDC and the second-ranked Nelson (Wichita, Kans.). Davis showed why he went unbeaten in his first collegiate season (30-0) as he had two powerful takedowns in the first period and added another in the second. Nelson managed three escapes and ends his one and only year in Kearney at 30-4 (21-2 vs. D2 competition). Finally at 197 lbs., Cotton (Hutchinson, Kans.) ran into former UNO Maverick Matt Baker, now a senior at Maryville U. in St. Louis. Ranked eighth nationally, Cotton grabbed the early lead on the top-ranked Baker (36-1) by getting a takedown at the 1:35 mark of the first period. However, Baker used two escapes to tie the match heading into the final period. After Cotton escaped early in the third, Baker used a takedown with a minute to go to grab his first lead. Cotton escaped to tie things up and then almost got a takedown with time winding down. However, the buzzer sounded and the match went into overtime tied at four. After neither wrestler scored in sudden victory, Baker rode out Cotton for 30 seconds. Baker then got an escape with 21 seconds left to pick up a 5-4 victory.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Richard Durso captured first place in the 141-pound bracket at the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) Championships on Saturday, becoming the first Franklin & Marshall wrestler to hold the top spot on the medal stand since 1994, and ninth overall. Seeded fifth, Durso defeated a higher-ranked opponent for the third match in a row with a 5-4 triumph by decision over third-seeded Charles Cobb of Pennsylvania in Saturday's championship round. Cobb grabbed the early 2-0 lead with a takedown at the 2:05 mark of period one, before Durso got on the board with an escape 10 seconds later. Trailing 2-1 heading into the second, Durso started on the bottom and evened the score at 2-2 with an escape at 1:35. The F&M sophomore then secured his first lead with a takedown with 16 seconds remaining to nab a 4-2 edge. In the third, Cobb started down and registered a reversal at 0:56 to knot things up at 4-4, but Durso tallied the bouts' final points with an escape nine seconds later. Clinging to a 5-4 advantage late in the final frame, Durso effectively held off Cobb as time winded down to bring home the gold. In addition to claiming the EIWA crown, Durso's three victories in this weekend's championships pushed his winning streak to 15-straight matches and propelled him to a record of 37-3 on the year, giving him the finest single-season mark in the history of the program. His 37 wins surpasses the previous record held by Brendan James '98, who compiled a 36-8 mark in 1997-98. The Diplomats concluded the championships with a total of 21.5 points, placing 13th in the 14-team field. Cornell won the team title with 142 points, followed by Navy (117.5) and Pennsylvania (110.5) in second and third, respectively. Durso will travel to the NCAA Championships from March 21-23 in Des Moines, Iowa.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Just days ago Ian Paddock was given the starting nod for Ohio State at 149 pounds, replacing All-American Cam Tessari. Now the Buckeye junior finds himself one win away from a berth in the Big Ten finals. Paddock, who opened the tournament with a bye, earned a 7-4 upset victory in the quarterfinals over top-seeded Eric Grajales of Michigan to advance to the semifinals later today. Paddock picked up the first takedown of the match and held a 2-1 lead after the first period. Paddock extended his lead to 4-1 after a reversal early in the second period. Grajales got back in the match with a reversal of his own to cut the deficit to 4-3. But Paddock responded with an escape and takedown to take a 7-3 lead into the final period. Grajales escaped early in the third period to cut the deficit to 7-4. But that's how it would end as neither was able to score the remainder of the period. Paddock will face Nebraska's Jake Sueflohn in the semifinals. Sueflohn, ranked 10th nationally, advanced to the semifinals with a 10-6 victory over 13th-ranked Andrew Alton of Penn State. Paddock wasn't the Buckeye to pull an upset in the opening session. Josh Demas upset All-American Dylan Alton of Penn State 5-1 in the quarterfinals at 157 pounds. The two battled to a 1-1 tie at the end of regulation. Demas won the match with a takedown and nearfall points in the second sudden victory period. Perhaps the biggest shocker of the session came at 174 pounds, where Michigan's Dan Yates upset the nation's top-ranked wrestler, Logan Storley of Minnesota, 3-2. Yates, ranked 11th nationally, picked up the only takedown of the match off a single leg in the first period. Iowa advanced nine wrestlers to the semifinals and leads the team race with 79 points after the first session. Iowa's semifinalists include Matt McDonough (125), Tony Ramos (133), Mark Ballweg (141), Derek St. John (157), Nick Moore (165), Mike Evans (174), Ethen Lofthouse (184), Nathan Burak (197), and Bobby Telford (285). Top-ranked and two-time defending national champion Penn State sits in second place, 17 points behind Iowa. The Nittany Lions have six wrestlers in the semifinals: Nico Megaludis (125), Jordan Conaway (133), David Taylor (165), Matt Brown (174), Ed Ruth (184), and Quentin Wright (197). Minnesota and Ohio State both have five semifinalists and sit in third and fourth respectively. Saturday's second session begins at 5 p.m. CT. Team Standings 1. Iowa 79 2. Penn State 62 3. Minnesota 49 4. Ohio State 47.5 5. Illinois 33 6. Michigan 32 7. Nebraska 26 8. Northwestern 22 9. Wisconsin 18.5 10. Michigan State 10 11. Purdue 9 12. Indiana 4 Quarterfinal Results 125: No. 2 Matt McDonough (Iowa) dec. Dom Malone (Northwestern), 5-4 No. 17 Sean Boyle (Michigan) dec. No. 12 Nikko Triggas (Ohio State), 4-2 No. 4 Jesse Delgado (Illinois) maj. dec. 19 Camden Eppert (Purdue), 10-2 No. 3 Nico Megaludis (Penn State) dec. No. 13 David Thorn (Minnesota), 4-2 133: No. 1 Logan Stieber (Ohio State) pinned Rossi Bruno (Michigan), 1:30 No. 13 Jordan Conaway (Penn State) dec. No. 10 Daryl Thomas (Illinois), 6-5 TB2 No. 3 Tyler Graff (Wisconsin) dec. No. 5 Chris Dardanes (Minnesota), 8-6 No. 2 Tony Ramos (Iowa) dec. No. 16 Cashe Quiroga (Purdue), 9-5 141: No. 2 Hunter Stieber (Ohio State) maj. dec. Camryn Jackson (Michigan), 10-2 Brandon Nelsen (Purdue) dec. Bryan Pearsall (Penn State), 2-1 No. 9 Mark Ballweg (Iowa) dec. Ridge Kiley (Nebraska), 6-1 No. 8 Nick Dardanes (Minnesota) dec. Pat Greco (Northwestern), 6-2 149: Ian Paddock (Ohio State) dec. No. 7 Eric Grajales (Michigan), 7-4 No. 10 Jake Sueflohn (Nebraska) dec. No. 13 Andrew Alton (Penn State), 10-6 No. 6 Dylan Ness (Minnesota) pinned Caleb Ervin (Illinois), 4:06 Dan Osterman (Michigan State) dec. No. 14 Ivan Lopouchanski (Purdue), 2-2 TB 157: No. 2 Derek St. John (Iowa) dec. David Zilverberg (Minnesota), 5-1 No. 6 James Green (Nebraska) maj. dec. No. 13 Taylor Walsh (Indiana), 15-5 Josh Demas (Ohio State) dec. No. 5 Dylan Alton (Penn State), 5-1 SV2 No. 1 Jason Welch (Northwestern) dec. Ryan Watts (Michigan State), 8-1 165: No. 2 David Taylor (Penn State) tech. fall Mark Martin (Ohio State), 20-5 (5:44) No. 13 Nick Moore (Iowa) dec. No. 14 Cody Yohn (Minnesota), 5-4 No. 9 Taylor Massa (Michigan) dec. No. 17 Pierce Harger (Northwestern), 6-2 No. 8 Conrad Polz (Illinois) dec. No. 18 Ryan LeBlanc (Indiana), 8-2 174: No. 11 Dan Yates (Michigan) dec. No. 1 Logan Storley (Minnesota), 3-2 No. 7 Matt Brown (Penn State) dec. No. 6 Nick Heflin (Ohio State), 7-1 No. 9 Jordan Blanton (Illinois) dec. No. 4 Robert Kokesh (Nebraska), 8-2 No. 3 Mike Evans (Iowa) maj. dec. Chad Welch (Purdue), 12-3 184: No. 1 Ed Ruth (Penn State) tech. fall No. 19 C.J. Magrum (Ohio State), 18-3 (5:58) No. 14 Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa) dec. No. 17 John Rizqallah (Michigan State), 2-1 No. 8 Josh Ihnen (Nebraska) dec. No. 18 Tony Dallago (Illinois), 7-5 No. 5 Kevin Steinhaus (Minnesota) tech. fall Luke Sheridan (Indiana), 16-1 (4:26) 197: No. 2 Quentin Wright (Penn State) pinned Max Huntley (Michigan), 1:20 No. 13 Andrew Campolattano (Ohio State) dec. No. 18 Braden Atwood (Purdue), 7-6 Nathan Burak (Iowa) dec. No. 15 Mario Gonzalez (Illinois), 2-1 No. 8 Scott Schiller (Minnesota) dec. No. 17 Jackson Hein (Wisconsin), 5-3 285: No. 1 Tony Nelson (Minnesota) dec. Ben Apland (Michigan), 4-0 No. 5 Bobby Telford (Iowa) dec. No. 6 Michael McClure (Michigan State), 4-0 No. 11 Connor Medbery (Wisconsin) dec. No. 13 Adam Chalfant (Indiana), 7-3 No. 9 Mike McMullan (Northwestern) dec. No. 12 Jimmy Lawson (Penn State), 6-4