InterMat Staff

David Taylor finished his career with a record of 134-3 (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine) Less than one week after completing his college career by winning the 165-pound title at the 2014 NCAAs, Penn State's David Taylor has been named 2014 InterMat Wrestler of the Year, the amateur wrestling website announced on Friday. 2014 InterMat Wrestler of the Year 1st-5th-Place Votes: 9-7-5-3-1 Total Votes/(First-Place Votes) 1. David Taylor, Penn State 90 (10) 2. Logan Stieber, Ohio State 48 3. Ed Ruth Penn State 47 4. Chris Perry, Oklahoma State 29 5. J'den Cox, Missouri 8 6. Alex Dieringer, Oklahoma State 6 7. Nick Gwiazdowski, NC State 5 T8. Joey Davis, Notre Dame 4 T8. Jesse Delgado, Illinois 4 T8. Tony Ramos, Iowa 4 11. Victoria Anthony, Simon Fraser 3 T12. Devin Carter, Virginia Tech 1 T12. Andrew Howe, Oklahoma 1This award, presented each year since 2006 to the best college wrestler in all divisions, is based on the balloting of writers and executives at InterMatWrestle.com. Taylor was the unanimous choice of InterMat voters, receiving all 10 first-place ballots for a total of 90 votes. Ohio State's Logan Stieber -- 2014 NCAA 141-pound champ -- placed second in the balloting, with 48 points. Just one point behind the Buckeye was Taylor's teammate Ed Ruth -- 2014 NCAA 184-pound champ, and 2012 InterMat Wrestler of the Year -- with 47 votes. Oklahoma State's Chris Perry -- who successfully defended his 174-pound title -- placed fourth overall in the voting, with 29 votes. Known by his Twitter name @magicman_psu, Taylor has achieved on-the-mat greatness throughout his high school and college career. Taylor was a four-time Ohio state champ at St. Paris Graham High who then headed east to Penn State, where he crafted one of the all-time great records in more than a century of Nittany Lion wrestling. In his senior season, Taylor compiled a flawless 34-0 record, with 16 pins, eight technical falls, and eight major-decision victories. He concluded his final year as a Nittany Lion by winning his fourth Big Ten title, and his second NCAA title, shutting out Oklahoma State's Tyler Caldwell to win the 165 crown at the 2014 NCAAs to go with his championship won in 2012. In addition, Taylor was named the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler, along with Most Dominant Wrestler honors for the 2014 season. Taylor concluded his Penn State career with a 134-3 record, putting bonus points on the board in 125 of those wins. Wrestler of the Year Winners 2014: David Taylor, Penn State 2013: Kyle Dake, Cornell 2012: Ed Ruth, Penn State 2011: Jordan Burroughs, Nebraska 2010: Jayson Ness, Minnesota 2009: Jake Herbert, Northwestern 2008: Brent Metcalf, Iowa 2007: Ben Askren, Missouri 2006: Ben Askren, Missouri"There is an argument that no wrestler has done more for a program than what David Taylor has done for Penn State," said InterMat senior writer T.R. Foley. "Ed Ruth has won more titles and Cael Sanderson is a once-in-a-cosmos talent, but at the crux of it all has been 'The Magic Man.' He's dealt with the pressures of collegiate stardom with grace, confidence and a genuine appreciation for the sport. "There are times he's fallen short and times he's triumphed, but through it all Taylor has maintained a positive approach to the sport he cherishes. No, this isn't a lifetime achievement award, but it needs to be written. As a fan, as a member of the wrestling community: Thank you, David Taylor. It's been a blast watching you wrestle, and best of luck at the next level." In the coming days, InterMat will also announce its Freshman of the Year and Coach of the Year honorees.

Logan Stieber stepped off the mat Saturday night in Oklahoma City as one of only four men to have won three straight NCAA titles and still be in pursuit of a fourth. It's an incredible individual accomplishment that's worthy of celebration and long-winded odes to Stieber's psychological and physical makeup. The boy can flat out roll and there is no hyperbole in any description of his toughness. That's exactly why Ohio State's athletic director Gene Smith deserved every penny of the $18,000 he was awarded for Stieber's victory. Non sequitur? Exactly. Logan Stieber's NCAA title put $18k in Gene Smith's pocket (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Stiebergate gained notoriety in the mainstream media largely because all of the NCAA's lecherous business practices are under increased scrutiny across the country. Northwestern football players are unionizing, Ed O'Bannon has cracked the NCAA's grip on images and rights, and the fabric and old-timey mysticism of amateurism is fraying at the edges. Meanwhile a young wrestler with battered ears and missing a tooth wins an NCAA title, but only the AD gets a pay bump? I agree with the argument that the athletic director of a Division I institution is in charge of making mega-moves that influence the wins and losses of a team. The job of the athletic director is to hire the correct coach, create an "environment that breeds success" and raise some tax-free dollars from well-to-do suburban alumni. That's their job, and like the CEO of a major company the AD is only judged by output. In the case of the CEO that's stock price and profit, and for the AD that's wins, losses and number of NCAA sanctions levied in a single year. The only real difference between the CEO and the AD is that the CEO must pay his employees for their labor before he can ever benefit from his strategy. The AD just employees their overseers. Stiebergate struck a funny-bone with fans because it corrupted the suspended reality many fans and supporters had created when analyzing the NCAA and its arguments for the validity of amateurism. Until Stieber the popular belief was that Coach is God and that he can replace any one unit and get the same results. If the AD is worth his chedda' then he hires good coaches who in turn recruit good players. "Remember, Son! No one athlete is bigger than the team!" Coach Tom Ryan might've been instrumental in Stieber's success, but his leadership then should have guided the team to an NCAA title. If the Buckeyes win the 2015 NCAA title you can see how Smith would be incentivized. He was GENIUS for keeping Tom Ryan, right? But is he responsible for the actions of a single wrestler? What did Smith have to do with anything that happened Saturday night? Nada. Zip. Zilch. The direct actions of an unpaid 23-year-old earned a professional man an $18,000 bump in pay. It's filthy, and I need to shower. Logan Stieber is an individual athlete who has bled for his three NCAA titles. He has stood up in the middle of 20,000 people wearing nothing but a thin piece of gray, shiny lycra and asked the nation to throw out their best. He's been triumphant three times, and yet it was Smith, tucked away somewhere watching basketball who checked his bank account's mobile app and noticed the window. Direct Deposit: NCAA Championship, Logan Stieber, $18,000.00 Wonder if Smith ever looked into using their transfer function on his Chase account? I'm sure Logan wouldn't mind replacing the tooth he lost in pursuit of Smith's blood money with some more substantial. But then again, you can't buy a bagel for a kid who's lost his father so looks like it's one less tooth until graduation. To your questions ... Q: 1. Instant replay is used way too much. 2. Overtime needs to change. Rideouts are no fun and I don't necessarily see riding a guy for 11 seconds versus 9 seconds as a victory. 3. Stalling is getting out of hand. It's not one person or one team. Everybody does it. They need to start hitting guys for stalling and doing it right away. Am I just exaggerating these problems or does everybody notice them? What do you think? -- Ryan R. Foley: These are concerns that I'm hearing again and again and again, by fans, wrestlers and coaches. Instant replay was bad last year, but reached a new level of momentum-crushing terribleness this past weekend in OKC. There were three, yes THREE, reviews issued in the first two minutes of the 125-pound match between Jesse Delgado and Nahshon Garrett. Yes, there was rolling around, but at no time was there evidence that Delgado did anything but fight his normal fight. The logic of the Cornell coaching staff seemed to be that if they had the challenges they might as well use them early. A single takedown could mean the momentum and the match. The only problem is that they used two and with the additional referee challenge in a three-minute first period which suddenly gobbled up 10 minutes of real world time. It feels like the older brother who pushes the RESET button every time you scored first in Super Tecmo Bowl. The review system is supposed to not interfere with the pace of the wrestling, but in this situation it completely changed the composition of the match. Other coaches this past weekend seemed to use the challenge as an injury timeout without the consequences. Some even used it at the end of the match when a call was clear, hoping that somewhere in the video replay will be something that could cause sufficient doubt. It's a Hail Mary, but wrestlers aren't known for quitting. We're still fighting Title IX, aren't we? Maybe the coaches should recognize that the tournament success rate was only 8.5 percent, or 4 out of 47 challenges issued. Those are terrible odds, and odds that make me think there should be fewer and an in-match limitation on the number of calls allowed to be challenged. New rules need to reflect the increase in calls or else next year we can suspect more challenges and more in-match dithering. Like the NFL, a simple rule has been mutated to the point where more rules need to be implemented in order to avoid corruption. Maybe it's better to simply eliminate the review? As you pointed out the ride-time criteria has changed the entire ethos of wrestling. What was once a battle for domination has become the ability to get up by a fraction of differential and then try to game the referees into not being able to call stalling. It's not as much fun for the wrestlers or the fans. Q: You often suggest takedown-only tournaments as an exciting alternative that will drive fan demand. Based on the NCAA Championships I'm not so sure. Isn't there just as much of a possibility that the fans are turned off by wrestlers who never engage their opponents and only respond with counters and funk (e.g. Delgado)? I think the solution has to involve awarding points for initiating offense. Obviously, it introduces subjectivity but it's clearly what the fans want to see. Thoughts? -- Bryan R. Foley: I don't see takedown-only events as taking the place of American folkstyle, freestyle or even Greco-Roman. In my grand vision I think takedown-only tournaments would be an addition to our current offering that would allow higher levels of participation and increase the fun-quotient among part-time competitors. Also, the rules would be based in the touching of either the elbow, knee or hip to the ground -- all of which would eliminate the new jiu-jitsu scrambles that popped up this year. Takedown-only should be part of a fair-like experience that welcomes any and all takers. There could be a national champion and with work a nice little subculture of athletes could emerge. There are a million places to take this variety of the sport, but it'll take hard work and some solid salesmanship. The real question is whether or not AD Gene Smith would agree to help us manage the project. For a fee, of course, it's always about that skrilla! Q: I heard Columbia endowed their second assistant position and now their entire staff is funded (genius, btw). Upon learning the news that Boston had an endowment, were any additional safeguards put in place there? -- Frank C. Foley: The safeguard is that they've raised a $6 million endowment and bring in more than $100k a year. When it comes down to it they don't cost Columbia a dime and with a coach like Carl Fronhofer and freakazoids like Steve Santos they are doing enough on the mat to keep the administration happy. No word on if the AD gets paid for every endowment the program raises, but I bet Super AD Smith gets a 20 percent finder's fee! Q: Lots of fan response to your last mailbag bemoaning the lack of offense. Last year, FILA finally woke up after the IOC tried to drop wrestling from the Olympics. FILA changed the freestyle and Greco-Roman rules to make the sport more exciting for the spectators. Thank you, Nenad Lalovic! Who in college wrestling is going to stand up and be the one to lead the charge to make the college sport more exciting for its spectators and save it from extinction? -- JM Foley: The problem with NCAA wrestling is that there is no centralized body to make all these changes, whereas with FILA, for better or worse, there is an executive committee and a bureau to help make decisions. We know about the NCAA committee that makes recommendations and the referees who influence the manner in which rules are interpreted, but the flow of information between those committees and the leadership needed to direct change is fairly opaque. I have no idea who comes up with a full rule change and who directs when calls need to be improved. There are guesses, but I'm mostly left wondering who holds the power (outside of the ADs of course). The NCAA wrestling tournament was a bit more exciting than I expected, but there were still some awfully boring matches. Much of that can be blamed on the rideouts, which have incentivized wrestlers to slow the pace and play for overtime. Referees haven't been calling stalling nearly enough and the four-point stance is about to kill the sport, or I'm about to kill the four-point stance. Though the committee has proven as susceptible to criticism as AD Smith, it's the referees who also NEED to call more stalling from top and possibly even appeal to have the riding time point eliminated altogether. To be clear, the riding time point was established as a passive means for an in-match tiebreaker and prevent extra overtimes. Then, in 2002, guys like Jesse Jantzen started with the half-ride tilts, which eventually morphed into aggressive SADDLING like we saw with J.P. O'Connor. Soon the ride-time point wasn't a difference maker in a high-scoring match. It was a third of all points in a low-scoring snoozefest. I also think we should ask AD Smith if he has any ideas. It's possible we'll have to pay for that type of gold-assured input, but my god it's worth it. He's led Logan Stieber to three NCAA championships! No more #snoreride. #instalegend Q: With all the recent complaints regarding the rideout and the Delgado-style wrestling (see last week's mailbag), how's this proposal? Folkstyle adopts the one-point pushout. I think you'd see a lot less overtime, a lot less double overtime, and a lot less stalling. For example, under the current rules, in the Big Ten finals Delgado ran to the edge of the mat in the third overtime. Megaludis pushes him out; give Mega a point. Match over. This doesn't solve riding or stalling, but I think limits stalling and overtime. Thoughts? -- Mark K. Foley: I love the pushout rule. Again, college wrestling's mysterious overseers did get together to try and solve the lack of scoring. Their solutions have been the flash takedown and an increase to the size of the mat. The idea was that the action never stops, but if there is a boundary that lacks consequence it will always be a matter of getting to the edge. As they could before, defensive wrestlers can force action to the edge of the mat and wait to shoot or defend, only now they can score from ridiculous positions like front head cradles. Pushouts make sense to common fans and wrestle-heads alike. Instead of everything is in, making everything out and award points for getting your opponent to breach that zone. There are sure to be plenty of consequences, but I guarantee there would be less backpedaling at the end of match and way, way fewer ties. The matches would also go faster because wrestling would happen in the middle of the mat with the clock running. For those of you who think this is just like sumo, it's not. But if it were ... AWESOME. Have you seen sumo? It's the biggest sport of the world's second-largest economy! Still, lighter weight wrestlers in 30-foot circles shouldn't let someone push them around the mat. They should be able to stand their ground. And when someone is pushing in too hard they are met with pass-bys and shucks. For every move there is a countermove, for every offensive strategy, a better defense. The new mats are too big and the risks are too high. Too many heavyweights are going to double overtime and too many small guys are in their three-point stances. Incentivize action. Don't try to democratize the sport by making every surface imaginable up for competition. Limit the competition surface and make the guys do what they've been training to do since their AD inspired them to greatness: wrestle. MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME They might be out-of-touch with their stance on amateurism, but this is one heck of a video. Well done, Oz. Fun 26-minute episode of Wrestling TV that recaps the action from the Men's Freestyle World Cup and gives the full Iran vs. Russia match. To quote every college girl in America, "I just can't handle ..." Q: This is for those who did not watch the World Cup. You missed out. A lot of fuss has been made lately about the lack of action at the college level (rightly so). If you're sick of boring matches then you better have tuned in to the World Cup. There were many great matches (not just those the good ol USA wrestled) and I was on the edge of my seat for the Iran vs. USA dual. The skill level and the increased action has made the international style a great product. Time to buy in folks. -- Erik B. Foley: Exactly. See the above video for confirmation! Q: What's your opinion on Mike Evans' possible defensive fall against Chris Perry in the NCAA semifinals? Regardless, how can refs catch the defensive falls more effectively (for example, the refs blew the call when Matt Brown had, in my opinion, a defensive fall against Chris Perry in the PSU-OSU dual)? -- Mark K. Was it a fall?Foley: I think that it's as much about calling it evenly as it is "catching" the defensive fall. Was Perry stuck? Almost certainly. Was he OK to not get called? Sure. That's the nature of a defensive fall, there has to be another extra heartbeat for the referee to call it in any match, much less one of that magnitude. To be more effective there needs to be a better technical understanding of what is and is not control from the funk position. We've gotten way too lost in our interpretations of the rules. Things like dropping to a single leg need to be called immediate escapes. When someone rolls around overtop and they get caught for more than a few swipes of the leg it's time to start calling backpoints and looking for the fall. What's going on out there is as much jiu-jitsu as it is wrestling, and when the ankles and knees start getting locked up the idea of control is lost. Let me check with Gene Smith and get back to you with some ideas. You don't happen to have a few extra buck(eyes) laying around do you? COMMENT(S) OF THE WEEK By Jeff N. I am sure some of this is already on your mind or you've already ran it down. My thoughts on the effect of seeding out to 16 vs. only seeding 12. Many predicted that there would be less unseeded guys to place. Double check my math but only comparing to last year: 2013: 8 unseeded All-Americans 2014: 6 unseeded All-Americans 13-16 seeds that placed in 2014: 6 In theory if they hadn't seeded out to 16, there would've been 12 unseeded All-Americans. My take: it is irrelevant. The fact that the seeding "system" is not only inconsistent but arbitrary makes all the nonsense revolving around it "much ado about nothing." It affects matchups only. If you can't beat them all then you shouldn't be crowned the champ. If you need a select path to win it, then you really don't deserve to win. Bottom line is champions get it done and All-Americans earn their spots as well. By Dave C. I've been following wrestling for years. At the Big Tens I was very disappointed in the amount of stalling I saw in most all the matches. My opinion? It's killing the sport. I thought the officials were going to be more aggressive than during the dual meet season but there was only a slight dial-up in warnings. I don't recall any stalling points being handed out. Maybe there were one or two cases. I think it would really improve the sport if they instituted two changes. Like international competition, they should have pushouts be one point to the aggressor. And officials absolutely have to hand out more stalling calls, not just warnings but awarding points to the aggressor, and if necessary in the waning seconds of a match. When fans are literally screaming at officials, it's frustrating that in many cases the fans see what the referees apparently don't. What are your thoughts on this? Also, fleeing the mat to avoid a takedown should not be a warning, it should be a point awarded to the opponent.

ESPN's record-setting coverage of the 2014 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships -- first-time live telecasts of all six sessions and individual cameras across all mats on ESPN3 -- generated significant audiences across television and digital platforms. The four telecasts on ESPNU and two on ESPN (Thursday, March 20 to Saturday, March 22) combined to reach 8.6 million people, a 39% increase over last year (8.6 million vs. 6.2 million). The 20-hours of television coverage averaged 253,000 viewers. ESPN's expanded digital coverage on ESPN3, which included the debut of Off the Mat -- a special during the championship finals -- in addition to individual mat cameras, generated 12.8 million minutes consumed on ESPN3 and WatchESPN, a 1% increase over the 2013 championship. WatchESPN is accessible online at WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app and streamed on televisions through Xbox 360, Xbox One, Apple TV and Roku. Oklahoma's Tulsa and Oklahoma City were the two highest-rated metered markets, respectively, for ESPN's combined semifinal and final telecasts. Minneapolis was third followed by Pittsburgh, Birmingham, Greensboro, Jacksonville, Nashville, Philadelphia, and Greenville. ESPN began covering the NCAA Wrestling Division I Championships in 1980. Live telecasts of the championship finals began in 2004 and preliminary round telecasts began in 2005. Since 2011, ESPN has provided live coverage of all six sessions on ESPN3.

Eric Keller and Tony Ramos will go "On the Mat" this Wednesday, March 26. “On the Mat" is a presentation of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum. The show can be heard live on the Internet at 1650thefan.com or locally in Northeast Iowa each Wednesday from 5 to 6 p.m. CT on AM 1650, The Fan. A podcast of the show is available on theopenmat.com. E-mail dgmstaff@nwhof.org with any questions or comments. Keller is the head wrestling coach at Wartburg College. His team won the 2014 NCAA Division III wrestling tournament. Ramos is a senior at the University of Iowa. He won the 2014 NCAA Division I wrestling tournament at 133 pounds.

Kyle Snyder, the nation's No. 1 wrestling recruit, has spent his senior season at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. He won a Junior World title last summer at 96 kilos and has his sights set on repeating as a Junior World champion this summer in Zagreb, Croatia. Snyder compiled a high school record of 179-0 and has won virtually all the major high school-age wrestling events. The Maryland native signed with Ohio State and is expected to be an immediate impact wrestler for the NCAA title-contending Buckeyes. InterMat recently caught up with the 18-year-old Snyder. How much longer will you be at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs? Snyder: I'm going to here until after the Trials, and then in June I'll kind of be back and forth between Columbus and here. You recently competed in the Dapper Dan Wrestling Classic. Was it difficult transitioning from freestyle to folkstyle for that event? Snyder: Not really. I prepared for it. I spent some time getting off bottom and working on some top stuff. I spent most of the time during the match on my feet, and that's pretty much freestyle wrestling. It wasn't too big of a change. Obviously, I feel a little bit more comfortable right now with freestyle than folkstyle, but it wasn't too hard. Kyle Snyder won the FILA Junior World Trials in Stillwater (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)What has your experience been like at the Olympic Training Center? Snyder: The experience has been great. Being at the OTC has allowed me to partake in all the National Team and World Team camps that are here in Colorado Springs, so I get to work out with the best guys at my weight class and the weight classes around me. Also, I got to go on a few overseas trips and work out with the best guys in the world at my weight class and the weight classes around me. Overall, just being here and wrestling with the other residents I've learned things now that I probably would have had to wait until I got to college to figure out. There are certain positions that I normally wouldn't be put in if I was wrestling high schoolers ... that I get put into wrestling these senior level guys out here and I get to figure them out and correct it. I'm kind of a year ahead of where I would be if I stayed in Maryland and wrestled the high schoolers. Why is Ohio State the best fit for you? Snyder: First of all, I love the coaches there. Coach Ryan, Jaggers, Rosselli, and Thatcher, it's a great staff. I got to know them really well and I like what they are about. One of the biggest reasons why I chose Ohio State is because of the regional training center there, and the guys that they're going to have there while I'm going to be competing for Ohio State. They had five of the seven guys on the World Team, and they had everybody from 84 kilos up ... with Gavin, Bergman, and Dlagnev. I get to work out with those guys while they're competing for the United States. It's going to be a pretty easy transition from when I'm done competing in college to competing internationally because they have that regional training center set up. I also think that with the guys that we have there right now we're going to be a title threat next year, and I believe we're going to win it next year. So the plan is definitely to wrestle next season as a true freshman at Ohio State? Snyder: Yeah, I'll wrestle at 197 pounds. Did you attend the NCAAs in Oklahoma City? Snyder: Yeah, I did. What did you think of the Buckeyes' performance? Snyder: Obviously, I was pretty happy that Logan won his third title, and that Heflin made it to the finals. I thought Heflin could have won that match if he was a little more offensive, but J'den wrestled a solid tournament and a solid match in the finals to get it done. I was pretty happy with how everybody wrestled. I think Nick Tavanello had a really good tournament making it to the round of 12. That was great for him. I thought Kenny Courts could have been an All-American and should have been an All-American, but Ophir Bernstein of Brown is pretty tough. I thought Johnni DiJulius and Nicky Roberts wrestled pretty well, and I know Mark Martin has been battling that knee injury, so that kind of limited his wrestling. But overall I was pretty happy with how they competed. It seemed like they were wrestling well when they needed to at the tournament. Kyle Snyder has won titles at many of the nation's premier high school wrestling events, including the Walsh Ironman (Photo/Rob Preston)You have had some battles with J'den Cox over the years. Did Cox winning the NCAA title as a true freshman give you confidence to know that you can compete for a title immediately? Snyder: I had confidence at the beginning of this year that next year I would be able to come in and contend for a national title as a freshman. Two of the guys I train with a lot here, Dustin Kilgore and Jon Reader, have both won NCAA titles. They talk to me and give me positive reinforcement about how I'm wrestling and have made me feel like I can step in and win it. J'den winning it this year obviously makes me feel like I should be in the title hunt. Two members of your Junior World Team, Jason Tsirtsis and Alex Dieringer, won NCAA titles this season. Was that satisfying for you? Snyder: Yeah, it was awesome. Jason was actually my roommate at the training camp, and I got to know Alex pretty well throughout the training camp too. It was really great to see them win and have success. Before the tournament started I thought both of them were going to win it. It's great to get to know somebody and start to care about them, and then watch them win a national title. It's pretty awesome. How does the environment at the NCAAs compare with the environment at the Junior Worlds? Snyder: They're different. There's definitely a lot more people at the NCAAs. I feel like international wrestling is more laid back. Everybody cares about winning and everybody wants to win, but it's a different atmosphere. I think the level of competition is pretty similar. Kyle SnyderLast summer you were able to win a Junior World title. How much confidence has that given you? Snyder: A lot of confidence. But before I wrestled in the Junior Worlds I thought that I was going to win it. So when I did win it I wasn't really surprised about how I competed. I think that's part of the reason why I won it, because I knew I could. Other people that I look up to told me that I could. I just believed in myself and believed in what they told me, and made it happen. I want to make it happen again this year. But it has definitely given me a lot of confidence internationally knowing that I've competed against the best juniors in the world and have had success against them. You mentioned that you want to win another Junior World title. Do you plan to focus on the FILA Junior events this spring and summer? Or do you also plan to also compete in senior level events? Snyder: I'm going to wrestle in the FILA Juniors and the FILA Junior World Team Trials again this year and hopefully make the team and hopefully win again. But next year in 2015 I think I'm going to start competing at the Open and Trials on the senior level and try to make the World Team. Olympic gold medalist Jake Varner recently returned to training freestyle after a layoff. Have you trained with Varner? Snyder: Yeah, I actually got to wrestle with Varner at camp at NCAAs. That was the first time I have wrestled with him. Does it excite you to know that you're going to have an Olympic champion in your weight class domestically to help push you to a higher level? Snyder: Absolutely. Jake Varner and J.D. Bergman are both really tough guys. I've gotten the opportunity to wrestle with J.D. a lot because he trains at Ohio State. You're going to feel pretty good about making the team if you beat a gold medalist from the last Olympics, and be pretty confident in how you're going to wrestle at the Worlds or Olympics if you're wrestling someone that tough just to make the team. Kyle Snyder was InterMat High School Wrestler of the Year(Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)The international weight classes changed. Now there is a 97-kilo weight class, which is 213 pounds. Will it be a challenge to be big enough for that weight class, but also small enough to compete at 197 pounds in college? Snyder: No, not really. I weigh about 220 pounds right now just walking around. I think during the college season I'll be able to steady myself around 206 pounds, just change my diet up a little a bit. I've never had a problem getting bigger and putting muscle on my body. That extra two pounds really doesn't make too big of a difference. Cadet World champion Aaron Pico made the decision not to wrestle in high school or college and instead focus strictly on freestyle. Did you ever considering going that route? Snyder: No, I never considered that route. My first goal was to be an NCAA champion, and then I started to learn about international wrestling and the Olympics a little bit later. Ever since I was a little kid I would watch the NCAAs on TV and I just thought it would be awesome to wrestle in front of that many people and win a national title. The team aspect of NCAAs is also pretty cool. I just couldn't give up the experience of wrestling at the NCAAs and wrestling in front of sold-out crowds, whether it be at Ohio State, Iowa, or Penn State, that's just a lot of fun. We're seeing more and more young wrestlers in the U.S. achieve at a higher level than ever before. You and Aaron Pico both won World titles last summer. There were two freshman NCAA champions and 12 freshman All-Americans this year. Why do you think wrestlers in the U.S. now more than ever are able to get to such a high level at such a young age? Snyder: There are more regional training centers and more opportunities for guys like me, Pico, Cox, Tsirtsis, and others to get into a college room early and train at the regional training center and make the FILA Junior World Team or make the FILA Cadet World Team, and compete internationally at a young age and build up that confidence that when you walk into the NCAAs that you're going to win it.

The NHSCA grade level national tournaments will be held this coming Friday through Sunday in Virginia Beach, Va. It is the 25th edition of the senior event, which started in 1990; while the underclass grade level events (freshman, sophomore, and junior) are closing in on their 10th editions. Some new features for this year's events are the compressed schedule, with all four divisions of high school -- along with the middle school -- competing on Friday through Sunday. Wrestling will start at 9 a.m. Eastern Time on each day, with the medal matches on Sunday evening. The freshman and sophomore matches start at 5 p.m. The junior and senior events will start at 7 p.m. In addition, matches will be of fuller length this year. All championship bracket and medal round matches will be three two-minute periods, while consolation bouts have a one minute period followed by two 1.5-minute periods. In addition, the collegiate out of bounds rules will be in effect at the Senior Nationals event. Weight classes are scratch-plus three pounds. The following represents a breakdown of key wrestlers in the Senior Nationals competition by weight class. 106: Always a small participant weight class. However, there are a few notable wrestlers, led by state placer Isaac Blackburn (Del Oro, Calif.), who was runner-up at the Southwest Kickoff Classic. Others to watch include a pair of state champions in Brandon Cunningham (Pratville, Ala.), a Junior Greco-Roman All-American, and Larry Hankins (Princess Anne, Va.) 113: A trio of multiple-time state champions lead the field in this weight class -- Drew Turner (Parkland, N.C.), Alonzo Allen (Rockdale County, Ga.), and Casey Coulter (Grants Pass, Ore.). Others to watch include FILA Junior freestyle All-American Michael Beck (River Hill, Md.), New York state placers Joe Calderone (Walt Whitman) and John Twomey (St. Anthony's), as well as New England runner-up Cameron Kelly (Franklin, Mass.) 120: Leading the way in this weight class is 2013 state champion Mason Pengilly (Porterville, Calif.), who is also a two-time FloNationals placer and 2012 Junior freestyle All-American. Pengilly is ranked No. 15 up at 126 pounds nationally. Notable challengers include two-time state third placer Tyrone Klump (Nazareth, Pa.) as well as a trio of state runners-up in Michael Russo (St. Peter's Prep, N.J.), Brendan Gould (Davenport Assumption, Iowa), and Forrest Gloguski (Fairfield, Ind.) 126: A pair of top 75 overall seniors leads the field in this weight class, Ryan Millhoff (Collins Hill, Ga.) and Isaiah Locsin (Gilroy, Calif.). Millhof won the NHSCA Junior Nationals last year, is a three-time state champion, and a two-time Super 32 champion; while Locsin was a state finalist in each of his first three high school seasons, state champion as a sophomore, but was ruled ineligible this season due to transfer. Others meriting attention include Kevin Jack (Danbury, Ct.), a two-time Super 32 placer and two-time New England champion, who is ranked No. 17 nationally in this weight class; two-time state champions William Olivas (Sunnyside, Ariz.), Jacob Grigg (East Gaston, N.C.), Mitch Finesilver (Cherry Creek, Colo.), and Troy Gregor (Hickory, N.C.); along with 2013 state champion Luis Gonzalez (Don Bosco Prep, N.J.) 132: Two nationally ranked wrestlers anchor the field in this weight class, No. 12 Chase Zemenak (Nazareth, Pa.) and No. 19 Dusty Hone (Cedar City, Utah). Other notable wrestlers include state champion Ian Brown (Hanover, Pa.); Bryce Meredith (Cheyenne Central, Wyo.), a two-time Junior freestyle All-American; Sean Fausz (Campbell County, Ky.), a FILA Cadet freestyle champion; Christian Monserrat (Methuen, Mass.), a two-time New England champion; Josh Reyes (Parkrose, Ore.), a Junior Greco-Roman All-American; two-time state finalist John Kenyon (Lewiston, Idaho); and state champion Eric Clarke (Davenport Assumption, Iowa). 138: Four-time state placer Ryan Skonieczny (Akron SVSM, Ohio) and NHSCA Junior champion Clay Walker (Eastside, S.C.) lead the way in this weight class. Others to watch include a pair of New England runners-up in Jonathan Carrera (Milton, Mass.) and Quinn Merrigan (Canton, Mass.); New York state runners-up Laken Cook (Central Valley Academy) and Said Kakharmanov (New Utrecht); Jalen Palmer (Delaware Valley, Pa.), a two-time state placer and NHSCA Junior All-American; along with two-time National Prep placer Brandon Walker (Woodberry Forest, Va.) 145: A pair of top 70 overall senior recruits leads the way in this field. Three-time state champion Nikko Villarreal (Gilroy, Calif.) is ranked No. 8 in this weight class and No. 44 in the Class of 2014; while 2013 state champion, and NHSCA Junior Nationals champion, Renaldo Rodriguez-Spencer (Cheektowaga, N.Y.) is ranked No. 67 in the Class of 2014. Rodriguez-Spencer missed his state tournament series this year due to injury. Others to watch include Junior Greco-Roman All-American and three-time state champion Brandon Ashworth (Spanish Fork, Utah); another three-time state champion in Jake Spengler (Lake Highland Prep, Fla.); a trio of state runners-up in Beau Minnick (Clyde, Ohio), Robert Penichet (Christopher Columbus, Fla.), and Brendan Colbert (North Hagerstown, Md.); as well as returning NHSCA Junior All-Americans in Willie Davis (Woodbridge, Del.) and Nolan Viens (Bellows Falls, Vt.) Paul Fox (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)152: Paul Fox (Gilroy, Calif.), a four-time state placer and state champion this year, leads this field as the No. 13 ranked wrestler nationally in this weight class. Others to watch include returning NHSCA Junior All-American Maaziah Bethea (Trenton Central, N.J.), who is a three-time state placer; Iowa state champions Travis Willers (Pleasant Valley) and Danny Bush (Davenport Assumption); another three-time state placer in Tyler Silverthorn (General Brown, N.Y.); as well as three other state-level runners-up in Dominic Latora (Portage Central, Mich.), Richard Viruet (Springfield Central, Mass.), and Justus Weaver (Battlefield, Va.). A pair of Ohio natives meriting attention is two-time state placer Jairod James (Bedford) and Logan Day (Archbold); Day placed third in the Preseason Nationals at 145 pounds. 160: Two nationally ranked wrestlers lead the way in this weight class -- Burke Paddock (Warsaw, N.Y.), who is ranked No. 17 at 170 pounds, as well as No. 12 Brandon Womack (Scottsboro, Ala.). Two other highly notable contenders include two-time state champion Levi Berry (Norman North, Okla.), who placed fourth at NHSCA Juniors last year; along with state runner-up Dakota Juarez (Grand Haven, Mich.), who placed fourth at the FloNationals last year. 170: A pair of high quality wrestlers, both of whom are two-time state finalists, leads the way in this weight class. Nathan Marek (Southmoore, Okla.) was a state champion in 2012 and finished runner-up at the NHSCA Junior Nationals, while Steve Schneider (Macarthur, N.Y.) was a state champion this past year. Two additional in this weight class were state champions and placed at the Super 32 Challenge, Seth Williams (Tiffin Columbian, Ohio) and Dylan Peters-Logue (Orange, N.C.). Additional notables in a pretty deep weight class include two-time state champion Austin Repp (Pacific, Mo.) and Cale Wilson (Sallisaw, Okla.); New England champion Brad Drover (North Andover, Mass.); along with state runners-up Antavian Leary (Ocean Lakes, Va.) and Jimmy Sandlin (Carlisle, Ohio), who both were NHSCA Junior All-Americans last year. 182: No. 4 Nick Fiegener (Folsom, Calif.) is the clear favorite in this weight class. The battle for second and third place should be interesting to follow in this weight class, and is led by two-time state champion Aaron Adkins (Akron SVSM, Ohio). Additional notables include two-time state placer Johnny Beltran (Servite, Calif.); NHSCA Junior runner-up Malik McDonald (South View, N.C.); state champions Mark Tracy (Sachem East, N.Y.), Cody Delk (Sheridan, Wyo.), and Dalton Kuenzel (Union, Mo.); NHSCA Junior All-Americans Matthew Lybarger (Mt. Vernon, Ohio), Austin Price (Mt. Anthony, Vt.), and Nick Weldon (Clay-Chalkville, Ala.); state runners-up Daniel Smith (South Jefferson, N.Y.) and Luis Peguero (Robinson, Fla.); along with state placers in Skyler Gonzalez (Rocklin, Calif.) and Nicolino Sevi (Nazareth, Pa.) 195: Three nationally ranked wrestlers headline the field in this weight class, No. 6 Marcus Harrington (Waterloo West, Iowa), No. 15 Reggie Williams (Johnson City, N.Y.), and No. 20 Tristan Sponseller (Bermudian Springs, Pa.). The other primary contender is state champion Ian Baker (La Costa Canyon, Calif.), who was champion at NHSCA Juniors last year. Additional names to watch include two-time state champions Josh Latham (Chickasaw, Okla.), Matthew Olauson (Queen Anne's, Md.); as well as Super 32 placers Cory Damiana (Lower Cape May, N.J.) and Wood Mancuso (West Carteret, N.C.) 220: A pair of nationally ranked wrestlers from the Peach State leads the way in this field, No. 3 Chance McClure (Commerce) and No. 19 Matthew Moore (Apalachee). McClure is the strong favorite, as he was also a Junior National double All-American, including Greco-Roman champion at 195 pounds. Also meriting attention are state champion Ryan Wolcott (Waverly, N.Y.), who placed fourth at NHSCA Juniors last year; two-time state champion Cory Daniel (River Hill, Md.), a Junior Greco-Roman All-American; state placer Jake Gunning (Bethlehem Liberty, Pa.), who was fifth at the Super 32; three-time Super 32 placer Trent Allen (South Brunswick, N.C.), who was runner-up at NHSCA Juniors last year; as well as additional two-time state champions in Lucas Damm (ACGC, Minn.) and Terrance Fanning (Preston, W. Va.) 285: A pair of nationally ranked wrestlers that met in last year's NHSCA Junior final lead the way in this weight class, No. 13 Jesse Webb (Mt. Anthony, Vt.) and James O'Hagan (Seaford, N.Y.). Others to watch include two-time state champions M.J. Couzan (Archer, Ga.) and Patton Gossett (White Knoll, S.C.), along with Super 32 placers Daniel Leon (North Miami, Fla.) and Dakota Bell (North Wilkes, N.C.) Below is a listing of the top three wrestlers in my opinion for the NHSCA Junior, Sophomore, and Freshman Nationals based on weight class registrations. Junior Nationals 106: Jabari Moody (Rich Central, Ill.), Jarrett Reisenbechler (Jackson, Mo.), Logan Grass (Huntington, W.Va.) 113: No. 17 L.J. Bentley (St. Edward, Ohio), Jake Newhouse (Massillon Perry, Ohio), Kyle Quinn (Wantagh, N.Y.) 120: Jordan Allen (Huntington, W.Va.), Michael Russo (Jackson Liberty, N.J.), Steve Simpson (St. Mary's Ryken, Md.) 126: Richard Montoya (Robertson, N.M.), Mike D'Angelo (Commack, N.Y.), Fred Green (Orting, Wash.) 132: No. 13 Dylan Lucas (Brandon, Fla.), Andrew Shomers (Lewiston Porter, N.Y.), Grant Aycox (Archer, Ga.) 138: No. 18 Max Thomsen (Union, Iowa), Bryce Parson (Lewiston, Idaho), Patricio Lugo (South Dade, Fla.) 145: No. 20 Ralphy Tovar (Poway, Calif.), Neal Richards (Matoaca, Va.), Tristan Rifanburg (Norwich, N.Y.) 152: No. 18 Corbin Allen (Hanover, Va.), Isaiah Crosby (South Dade, Fla.), Cody Hughes (Marshwood, Me.) 160: Josh Ugalde (Bound Brook, N.J.), Colt Doyle (Gilroy, Calif.), Kollin Moore (Norwayne, Ohio) 170: Ben Schram (Bellbrook, Ohio), Austin Flores (Clovis North, Calif.), Johnny Garcia (Danbury, Conn.) 182: No. 15 Dylan Wisman (Millbrook, Va.), Cash Wilcke (OA-BCIG, Iowa), Chance Cooper (Timberland, Mo.) 195: Tevis Barlett (Cheyenne East, Wyo.), Nathaniel Rose (Eagle Academy, N.Y.), Christopher Favoroso (Jensen Beach, Fla.) 220: No. 7 Austin Myers (Campbell County, Ky.), No. 17 Kenneth Brinson (Marist, Ga.), Ian Butterbrodt (St. John's Prep, Mass.) 285: Ryan Monk (Dallas, Pa.), Andrew Pacheco (Warren Hills, N.J.), Adam Olsen (Highpoint Central, N.C.) Sophomore Nationals 106: Danny Vega (Ironwood Ridge, Ariz.), Joey Prata (St. Christopher's, Va.), Matteo DeVincenzo (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) 113: Derek Spann (Adirondack, N.Y.), Josh McClure (Fulton, Mo.), Frankie Bruno (Brandon, Fla.) 120: No. 4/113 Kyle Norstrem (Brandon, Fla.), Jake Spiess (Delta, Ohio), Durbin Lloren (Buchanan, Calif.) 126: Chris Diaz (Archer, Ga.), Kellen Devlin (Amherst, N.Y.), Kris Lindemann (Howell, N.J.) 132: Chris Mauriello (Haupage, N.Y.), Jarrett Degen (Belgrade, Mt.), Will Verallis (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.) 138: Kevin Budock (Good Counsel, Md.), Peter Tedesco (Belmont Hill, Mass.), Dakota Gardner (Fredonia, N.Y.) 145: Thomas Bullard (Archer, Ga.), Abner Romero (Buchanan, Calif.), Jared Hill (Clovis, Calif.) 152: Daniel Bullard (Archer, Ga.), Elliott Pedigo (Grundy, Va.), Colten Carlson (Willmar, Minn.) 160: No. 15 Chris Weiler (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.), Austin Bell (Belle Vernon, Pa.), Jackson Drum (Northern Calvert, Md.) 170: Bridger Barker (Corona del Sol, Ariz.), Alan Clothier (Lawrence, Kan.), Garrett Hoffman (Montoursville, Pa.) 182: Blake Rypel (Indianapolis Cathedral, Ind.), Antonio Agee (Hayfield, Va.), Christian Araneo (Ward Mellville, N.Y.) 195: Matt Correnti (Holy Spirit, N.J.), Drew Phipps (Norwin, Pa.), Jakobe Walker (Southmoore, Okla.) 220: Oswaru Odighizuwa (David Douglas, Ore.), Jacob Lill (Archer, Ga.),Devon Richards (Delta, Ohio) 285: Jake Beistel (Southmoreland, Pa.), Dante Jiovenetta (Coral Shores, Fla.), Josh Burger (Aurora, Ohio) Freshman Nationals 106: Drew Mattin (Delta, Ohio), Brian Courtney (Athens, Pa.), Breyden Bailey (Indianapolis Cathedral, Ind.) 113: Jake Brindley (Lake Highland Prep, Fla.), Hunter Dusold (Locust Valley, N.Y.), Christian Miller (Plainview, Neb.) 120: Francisco Valdes (Miami Southwest, Fla.), Quentin Hovis (Seton Catholic, Ariz.), Josh Wyland (Benedictine College, Va.) 126: Jaden Enriquez (Mission Oak, Calif.), Quinn Devaney (McDonogh, Md.), Hunter Richard (Holland Patent, N.Y.) 132: Ty Lucas (Brandon, Fla.), Jacob Hart (Independence, W.Va.), Sam Colvin (Southside, Ala.) 138: Max Wohlabaugh (Bishop Moore, Fla.), Dominick Demas (Dublin Coffman, Ohio), Mike Labriola (Bethlehem Catholic, Pa.) 145: Jarod Verkleeren (Belle Vernon, Pa.), Britt Wilson (Mexico, Mo.), Nick Bushey (Peru, N.Y.) 152: Jesse Beverly (Delta, Ohio), Anthony Falbo (Newtown, Conn.), Noah Adams (Independence, W.Va.) 160: Caleb Little (Jefferson, Ga.), Bunmi Smith (Camden County, Ga.), Ryan Forero (Don Bosco Prep, N.J.) 170: Chase Singletary (Palmetto Ridge, Fla.), Zane Black (Bishop McDevitt, Pa.), Casey Cornett (Simon Kenton, Ky.) 182: Justin Allman (Parkersburg South, W.Va.), Tristen Tonte (Perry Meridian, Ind.), Joe Marcano (Brandon, Fla.) 195: Quinn Miller (Archer, Ga.), Jeffrey Allen (Amherst County, Va.), Cole Nye (Bishop McDevitt, Pa.) 220: Sammy Evans (Alcoa, Tenn.), Nick Mosco (Jesuit, Fla.), Joshua Lonca (Bunker Hill, N.C.) 285: Nick Boykin (Riverdale, Tenn.), Brody Gregory (Hixson, Tenn.), Evan Childs (Central Dauphin, Pa.)

Five NCAA champions are considered finalists to win the WIN Magazine/C.H. Dan Hodge Trophy, presented by ASICS. All had only one loss or fewer during the season. Fans will once again have the chance to officially vote for the 2014 WIN Magazine/C.H. Dan Hodge Trophy, presented by ASICS. Fan votes are due by Friday, March 28 at 5 p.m., CST. Only 1 vote per person. Fan voting accounts for 2 of the 45 official votes. Vote now! For those using social media to promote the vote, the primary hashtag is #TheHodge Please find the below criteria for selecting the Hodge winner as the most dominant collegiate wrestler. They are the same as in years past. Hodge Trophy Selection Criteria: 1. Record 2. Number of Pins 3. Dominance 4. Quality of Competition 5. Past Credentials 6. Sportsmanship/Citizenship 7. Heart The order of Hodge Trophy finalists are listed by lightest to heaviest weight classes. 141 pounds: Logan Stieber, Ohio State The junior from Monroeville, Ohio, became Ohio State's first three-time NCAA champion when he scored a 10-1 major decision against Virginia Tech's Devin Carter in Oklahoma City. The Buckeye, who won his first two NCAA titles at 133 pounds, ended his season with a 35-1 record. His bonus-point victories included 12 pins, 12 technical falls and seven major decisions. Stieber's only loss came against Penn State's Zain Retherford in December in State College, Pa. Stieber's career record is 100-6. 157 pounds: Alex Dieringer, Oklahoma State The sophomore from Port Washington, Wisc., earned his second All-American honor and first national championship with a 13-4 major decision against Minnesota's Dylan Ness in Oklahoma City. The Cowboy finished 37-1 this past season, which included 13 pins, six technical falls and three major decisions. Dieringer's only loss came against Iowa's Derek St. John, 2-1, on Jan. 10 in Iowa City. Dieringer's career record at OSU is 72-4. 165 pounds: David Taylor, Penn State The senior from St. Paris, Ohio, earned his second NCAA championship when the Nittany Lion defeated Oklahoma State's Tyler Caldwell, 6-0, in Oklahoma City. The four-time All-American also won an NCAA title in 2012 against Lehigh's Brandon Hatchett and finished second nationally in both 2011 and 2013. Taylor finished his senior season with a 39-0 record. That included 19 pins, eight technical falls and nine major decisions. Taylor's career record at Penn State is 139-3. 174 pounds: Chris Perry, Oklahoma State The senior from Stillwater, Okla., captured his second straight NCAA championship by defeating Oklahoma's Andrew Howe, 4-0, in Oklahoma City. Perry, who also finished third in 2012 and defeated Penn State's Matt Brown in the 2013 national championship, finished the season with a 35-1 record. His bonus-point victories included six pins, four technical falls and eight major decisions. Perry's only loss this season was against Howe, 4-2, on Dec. 1 in Norman, Okla. Perry's career record at OSU was 127-11. 184 pounds: Ed Ruth, Penn State The senior from Harrisburg, Pa., became Penn State's first three-time national champion when he defeated Maryland's Jimmy Sheptock, 7-2, in Oklahoma City. Ruth, who finished third nationally in 2011, also won championships against Stanford's Nick Amuchastegui in 2012 and Lehigh's Robert Hamlin in 2013. Ruth finished 39-1 this past season with 12 pins, 10 technical falls and 11 major decisions. Ruth's only loss this winter came against Cornell's Gabe Dean, 7-4, in the finals of the Southern Scuffle on Jan. 2. Ruth's career record at Penn State is 141-3. To see a complete listing of this season's matches for each guy, go to the NWCA's site at the link below, and set the filters up to provide the Top 10 in wins for a respective weight class, then click on the Hodge finalist's name. All-Star meet results ARE NOT included on their official record, however the committee has taken them into consideration in past years. http://www.nwcaonline.com/nwcaonline/results/ColScorebook/TeamStatReports.aspx

INDIANAPOLIS -- The NCAA handed out the 2014 NCAA Most Dominant Wrestler Awards, in addition to awards for the most falls and tech falls within Divisions I, II and III at NCAA Wrestling Championships over the last two weeks. The awards only take into account matches between wrestlers from the same division. The Most Dominant Wrestler standings are calculated by adding the total number of points awarded through match results and dividing that number by the total number of matches wrestled. Points awarded per match are as follows: Fall, forfeit, injury default or DQ = 6 points (-6 points for a loss) Tech falls = 5 points (-5 points for a loss) Major decision = 4 points (-4 points for a loss) Decision = 3 points (-3 points for a loss) A minimum of 18 matches were required to be eligible for the Most Dominant Wrestler Award. Athletes redshirting the 2014 season were not eligible for any of the awards. At the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Okla., Penn State’s David Taylor earned the Most Dominant Wrestler Award after finishing the season undefeated (34-0) on the way to the 165-pound national championship. Taylor had three pins and a major decision before shutting out, 6-0, Tyler Caldwell of Oklahoma State in the final. Taylor finished the season with an average of 5.0909 points, which was the highest average across all divisions. Taylor Walsh (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)Taylor Walsh of Indiana earned the award for most pins in a tight race that came down to time against Bucknell heavyweight Joe Stolfi. Both wrestlers finished the season with 22 pins, but Walsh’s combined time of 65:09 at 157 pounds was 51 seconds faster than Stolfi. Walsh earned a pin against Alex Hudson of Chattanooga in 2:19 in the first round in Oklahoma City to clinch the award. Ohio State 141-pounder Logan Stieber won his third consecutive national championship in Oklahoma City, in addition to taking the award for most tech falls with 11 in 2013-14, tied for the most across divisions. He earned his 11th tech fall of the season in the second round of the tournament with a 17-1 decision in 4:52 over Anthony Collica of Oklahoma State. Joey Davis of Notre Dame (Ohio) completed a 39-0 season to win the 174-pound national title and earn the Most Dominant Wrestler Award at the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships in Cleveland, Ohio. Davis picked up pins in the first two rounds on the way to a season average of 4.4211 as the Falcons claimed the team national championship. Zachary Bennett of Pittsburgh-Johnstown (197 pounds) and heavyweight Austin Goergen of St. Cloud State both finished the season with 14 pins, but Bennett took the award with a combined time of 28:09, 16 minutes faster than Goergen. Bennett pinned Joe Grisko of Newberry in 1:57 in the first round for his 14th pin of the season. The Division II awards were rounded out by Lake Erie 133-pounder Austin Gillihan taking the prize for most tech falls with eight, one more than his two closest competitors. Cedar Rapids, Iowa, hosted the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships where Wisconsin-Oshkosh 157-pounder Nazar Kulchytskyy earned the Most Dominant Wrestler Award with an even average of five points. He pinned the No. 2 seed, Dimitri Boyer of Coe, in the final for his third national championship to finish with a 42-2 season and 143-5 career record. The most falls in Division III were also the most across divisions as Augustana (Illinois) 184-pounder Thomas Reyhons took the award with 25 of his 35 wins this season coming via pin. Wisconsin-Whitewater 197-pounder Shane Siefert tied for the all-division lead as his 11 tech falls took the award in Division III, three more than the next highest total in the division. Siefert finished the season as the runner-up at 197 pounds with a record of 41-5. A complete listing of the final NCAA Wrestling Awards standings can be found below.

Surprisingly, the UFC won't have any shows over the next two weekends. Filling the void, Bellator and World Series of Fighting both have offerings coming up. WSOF has a couple of high profile UFC castaways on display (Palhares and Okami), while Bellator has middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko defending his belt. Richard and John preview both fight cards, reminisce about the IFL, and discuss the finer points of cable television bills. Do you want to listen to a past episode? Access archives.

There is no denying that wrestling talent at the high school level is better than ever. The U.S. has produced four Cadet or Junior World champions in men's freestyle since 2011. This year there were 12 freshman All-Americans at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Oklahoma City. Two of those 12 freshmen, Jason Tsirtsis (Northwestern) and J'den Cox (Missouri), won NCAA titles. The wrestlers on this list might not be old enough to legally drink alcohol yet, but they are old enough to win NCAA titles and World gold medals. Here is a look at the 10 best 20-and-under wrestlers in the U.S. Aaron Pico Aaron Pico won a gold medal this past weekend in BulgariaPico, a high school sophomore, is the youngest wrestler on this list, but his wrestling resume is arguably the best on the list. Pico became a Cadet World champion last summer at 63 kilos after cruising through U.S. age group events. In November he dominated Russian Alibeggadzhi Emeev, who is ranked in the top 10 in the world, and this past weekend defeated Cadet World champion Abdulmuslim Mukhuddinov of Azerbaijan en route to winning the Petko Sirakov-Ivan Iliev Junior Wrestling Championships. His decision to forgo high school and college wrestling took many people by surprise, but Pico is a once in a generation type of talent who seems destined for international wrestling greatness and possibly MMA superstardom. Kyle Snyder Snyder, like Pico, became a World champion last summer. However, Snyder's World gold came at the Junior level, while Pico earned his at the Cadet level. Snyder became the youngest Junior World champion from the U.S. in 20 years. Named InterMat's High School Wrestler of the Year in 2013, Snyder has won virtually everything there is to win for a high school-age wrestler, including FILA Junior Nationals, Walsh Ironman, Super 32 Challenge, and Fargo titles. After going 179-0 as a high school wrestler in Maryland through his junior season, surrendering only one takedown in those three seasons, Snyder spent this past season at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. He will be heading to Columbus to wrestle for Ohio State and is expected to make an immediate impact for Tom Ryan's Buckeyes. Alex Dieringer Alex Dieringer defeated Dylan Ness to win an NCAA title (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)Dieringer is the oldest wrestler grade-wise on this list, but doesn't turn 21 until this summer. He has been spectacular in two seasons in Oklahoma State's lineup, winning an NCAA title this season and finishing third last season as a redshirt freshman. His NCAA title this season came at 157 pounds, but he has already made it known that he will be moving up to 165 pounds next season with teammate Tyler Caldwell graduating. Dieringer, like many on this list, has been extremely successful in all three styles of wrestling. He was a nine-time All-American while in high school and multiple-time Fargo champion. This past summer he earned a silver medal at the Junior World Championships. Jason Tsirtsis Tsirtsis became Northwestern's first freshman NCAA champion when he claimed the title at 149 pounds this past Saturday. He has been an age group star on the national level since he was a little boy. In 2012 he was InterMat's High School Wrestler of the year, finishing his prep career with a 176-2 record and four state titles. As accomplished as Tsirtsis is in folkstyle, his best style -- and preferred style -- is freestyle. He had a win over Darrion Caldwell in freestyle while still in high school. Tsirtsis was a member of the U.S. Junior World Team this past summer and competed in the Junior World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria. J'den Cox J'den Cox celebrates after winning his NCAA title in Oklahoma City (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)Cox's talents were on display this past week in Oklahoma City as he won the NCAA title at 197 pounds as a true freshman at Missouri. He finished the season with a 37-2 record and became just the 12th wrestler ever to win an NCAA title as a true freshman. As a high school wrestler, Cox was a four-time state champion in Missouri with a career record of 195-3. All three of his high school losses came as a freshman. Cox split matches with Kyle Snyder (also on this list) in Fargo in 2012, with Cox winning in freestyle and Snyder winning in Greco-Roman. Adam Coon It would be shortsighted to omit Coon from this list based strictly on his disappointing NCAA postseason performance. He absolutely belongs. He might not have found a spot on the NCAA podium this season as a true freshman, but he certainty established himself as one of the nation's elite NCAA heavyweights, beating three 2014 All-Americans, including NCAA champion Nick Gwiazdowski of North Carolina State and two-time NCAA champion Tony Nelson of Minnesota. Coon was a 2011 Cadet World champion in freestyle. With top training partners and coaches at his disposal in Ann Arbor, the future looks bright for Coon. Chance Marsteller Marsteller, a Pennsylvania native, was a household name in wrestling circles before he even stepped foot on a high school wrestling mat. He won a match at a college open tournament as an eighth-grader. Marsteller chose to stay at his hometown high school, Kennard-Dale, a non-traditional wrestling power, and put together one of the most dominant prep careers ever in wrestling-rich Pennsylvania. In mid-March, Marsteller capped off his high school wrestling career with a fourth state championship and finished with a perfect 166-0 record. He became only the sixth high school wrestler ever to finish undefeated in Pennsylvania and joined an elite group that includes Cary Kolat -- a wrestler Marsteller is most often compared to. He initially committed to Penn State, but changed his mind during the recruiting process and signed with Oklahoma State. Zain Retherford Zain Retherford defeated Joey Lazor in the NCAA quarters (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Retherford, a true freshman at Penn State, was a key component in the Nittany Lions' run to their fourth straight NCAA championship. He sent shock waves through the college wrestling world when he defeated Logan Stieber of Ohio State in a dual meet in December. Retherford came to State College with a strong wrestling pedigree (130-3 record, No. 3 overall recruit by InterMat) and was able to even exceed the lofty expectations placed on him. He ended the season with a fifth-place finish at the NCAAs, with his only losses this season coming to Stieber and Edinboro's Mitchell Port. A lot has been made of Retherford's top game in folkstyle -- and for good reason, but he is also a tremendous freestyle wrestler. He won a Cadet World title in 2012. Bo Jordan Jordan, a redshirt at Ohio State, comes from an impressive family lineage of wrestlers. His father Jeff is the head wrestling coach at St. Paris Graham and a two-time All-American. His uncle Jim Jordan was an NCAA champion, while his cousins Ben Jordan and Isaac Jordan have been All-Americans at Wisconsin. Bo's younger brother Micah won his fourth state championship this season, while his youngest brother Rocky is one of the nation's top middle school wrestlers. Bo finished his high school career in 2013 as a four-time state champion and the nation's No. 1 recruit by InterMat. This past season he was undefeated in open tournaments as a redshirt at Ohio State, finishing 23-0 with 11 pins, four technical falls, and five major decisions. Bo Jordan and Kyle Snyder will team with the Stieber bros. and help bolster a Buckeye lineup that is expected to challenge for an NCAA championship in 2015. Gabe Dean Gabe Dean reached the NCAA semis before losing to Ed Ruth (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)Dean has had a meteoric rise as a wrestler. The Cornell freshman struggled in open tournament competition last season while grayshirting. He went 0-2 at the Buffalo Open and at one point even contemplated walking away from the sport. But with a tireless work ethic, stable of talented workout partners, and top-flight coaching at Cornell, Dean transformed himself into a contender for an NCAA title in his first season in the Big Red lineup. Like Retherford, Dean shocked the college wrestling world by defeating a college wrestling great. That signature win came over Ed Ruth in the finals of the Southern Scuffle, which snapped the Penn State wrestler's 84-match win streak. Ruth, though, would come back to defeat Dean in the NCAA semifinals, but the Cornell freshman wrestled back to third place. Though he has not competed in many USA Wrestling freestyle events, it's hard to envision him not being a successful freestyle wrestler if he chooses to go that route.

The National Wrestling Media Association, founded in 1989 as a member group of journalists, photographers and media specialists, announced its 2013-14 award winners at its annual meeting at the 2014 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Oklahoma City, Okla. Here are this year's winners: Division I SID of the Year: Bryan Johnston, Virginia Tech Johnston, the Associate Director of Athletic Communications at Virginia Tech has been an active publicist for a number of Hokie sports, but he's been able to develop and promote wrestling through the last three head coaches via releases, social media and weekly press operations. Johnston, a graduate of the University of South Carolina, started with Virginia Tech in 1999 and has been the media contact for wrestling since 2000. Small College SID of the Year: Tom Nelson, St. Cloud State University Nelson has worked at St. Cloud State University since 1996 and has been one of the top media relations professionals for the Husky wrestling program. Combined with the school's social media resources, Nelson has provided fans and the media complete and quick information regarding wrestling. An active member of CoSIDA, Nelson sits on that group's Site Selection Committee. He has served as a media coordinator at numerous USA Hockey Player Development Camps and has been the media stewart for the MSHSL Class AA baseball tournament since 1997. Journalist of the Year: Joe Kania, The Star-Ledger/NJ.com Joe Kania is in his second year covering wrestling for The Star-Ledger in the ultra competitive high school wrestling beat in the Garden State. Kania, a graduate of Bloomsburg University, started Garden State Wrestling prior to working at The Star-Ledger. In addition to beat coverage, Kania does on-camera videos, broadcasting, rankings and video production. Kania is a native of Westfield, N.J. Broadcaster of the Year: Mark Bader, Flowrestling Originally starting with Flocasts under the PureFight brand, Missouri graduate Mark Bader has been actively working broadcasts nationwide since 2008. Bader wrestled at 125-pounds for the Tigers and provides an entertaining and excitable brand of commentary. He's traveled the nation and the world for Flo and is one of the most recognizable figures in the wrestling media. Photographer of the Year: Mark Beshey (The Guillotine) Long the source for wrestling news in Minnesota, The Guillotine also brings wrestling fans in the North Star State fantastic photos provided by Mark Beshey. Mark's brother Jeff owns the publication and Mark Beshey has been present at hundreds of college and high school wrestling events in Minnesota and nationwide. Publication of the Year: The Predicament (Iowa) Founded in 1970, The Predicament has been the source for wrestling news in Iowa at the college and high school level for over 40 years. Currently run by Jim Thompson and Wyatt Schultz, the print publication also supplements its content with online news as well as rankings, results and news for all levels of wrestling in Iowa, from kids tournaments to senior-level freestyle and Greco-Roman. This is the second time The Predicament has won the award. It previously won in 1998-99. Website of the Year: Trackwrestling.com One of the biggest innovations in wrestling in the last decade as been the implementation of Trackwrestling into the sport's landscape. Founded by Justin Tritz in Wisconsin as a means to simplify state tournament seeding, Trackwrestling has handled some of the biggest wrestling tournaments in the country and has even integrated matside electronic scoring, scoreclocks and seamless integration with live video streams to provide fans and the media up-to-the-second live updates on college wrestling events. Combined with the NWCA Scorebook, Trackwrestling has been utilized by the NCAA at the last several championships in all divisions as well as the official results software of USA Wrestling. New Media Specialist: Richard Immel, USA Wrestling A native of Oklahoma and a former Sooner wrestler, Richard Immel is in his second year at USA Wrestling and in his short time in Colorado Springs, Colo., he's continued to evalvate the company's social media reach as well as implemented weekly Google Hangouts with international and college teams and personalities. Immel also provides audio commentary and video streaming support for USA Wrestling events. In addition to the specialized awards, the NWMA also honored two of its members with the Jay Hammond Memorial Special Recognition Award. The award is named for the late Jay Hammond, who passed away earlier this year. The award is given for outstanding work in the effort to educate and enhance the sport of wrestling through media. This year's honorees are Tim "T.R." Foley and Jamie Moffatt. Both authored books in the past year detailing the fight for the inclusion of wrestling in the Olympic Games. Foley's book, Full Circle, is a photographic timeline of the events that started when the IOC announced wrestling would be dropped from the Olympic program. With photos from Foley and Tony Rotundo, this full-color book gives an illustrated path of wrestling's return to the Olympic Games. Moffatt's book, co-written by Craig Sesker of USA Wrestling was titled Saving Wrestling: The Inside Story of the Sport's Epic Fight, broke down some of the inner workings of FILA and detailed the power struggle at the top and what changes happened in order for wrestling to return to the Olympic Games. Filled with inside information, the book educated the wrestling community on what really went on behind closed doors and who the players were behind the sport's potential demise and it's rise back to the Olympic program.

125: 1st: Jesse Delgado (Illinois) dec. Nahshon Garrett (Cornell), 3-2 3rd: Nico Megaludis (Penn State) dec. Joey Dance (Virginia Tech), 6-1 5th: Cory Clark (Iowa) dec. Dylan Peters (Northern Iowa), 8-1 7th: Darian Cruz (Lehigh) dec. Earl Hall (Iowa State), 2-1 TB2 133: 1st: Tony Ramos (Iowa) dec. Tyler Graff (Wisconsin), 3-1 3rd: Joe Colon (Northern Iowa) dec. A.J. Schopp (Edinboro), 1-0 5th: David Thorn (Minnesota) dec. Mason Beckman (Lehigh), 5-3 7th: Joe Roth (Central Michigan) dec. Cody Brewer (Oklahoma), 8-6 141: 1st: Logan Stieber (Ohio State) maj. dec. Devin Carter (Virginia Tech), 10-1 3rd: Mitchell Port (Edinboro) maj. dec. Evan Henderson (North Carolina), 9-1 5th: Zain Retherford (Penn State) by medical forfeit over Joey Lazor (Northern Iowa) 7th: Steve Dutton (Michigan) dec. Richard Durso (Franklin & Marshall), 6-5 149: 1st: Jason Tsirtsis (Northwestern) dec. Josh Kindig (Oklahoma State), 3-1 SV 3rd: Eric Grajales (Michigan) dec. David Habat (Edinboro), 4-2 5th: Drake Houdashelt (Missouri) dec. Mitch Minotti (Lehigh), 3-0 7th: James English (Penn State) dec. Kendric Maple (Oklahoma), 2-1 TB 157: 1st: Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) maj. dec. Dylan Ness (Minnesota), 13-4 3rd: James Green (Nebraska) maj. dec. Ian Miller (Kent St.), 13-1 5th: Derek St. John (Iowa) by medical forfeit over Brian Realbuto (Cornell) 7th: Isaac Jordan (Wisconsin) dec. Anthony Perrotti (Rutgers), 2-0 165: 1st: David Taylor (Penn State) dec. Tyler Caldwell (Oklahoma State), 6-0 3rd: Steven Monk (North Dakota State) pinned Nick Sulzer (Virginia), 5:26 5th: Michael Moreno (Iowa State) dec. Turtogtokh Luvsandorj (Citadel), 9-3 7th: Danny Zilverberg (Minnesota) dec. Pierce Harger (Northwestern), 6-2 174: 1st: Chris Perry (Oklahoma State) dec. Andrew Howe (Oklahoma), 4-0 3rd: Logan Storley (Minnesota) dec. Robert Kokesh (Nebraska), 3-1 TB 5th: Matt Brown (Penn St.) dec. Michael Evans (Iowa), 6-3 7th: Tyler Wilps (Pittsburgh) dec. Bryce Hammond (CSU Bakersfield), 4-2 184: 1st: Ed Ruth (Penn State) dec. Jimmy Sheptock (Maryland), 7-2 3rd: Gabe Dean (Cornell) dec. Jack Dechow (Old Dominion), 5-4 5th: Kevin Steinhaus (Minnesota) tech. fall Lorenzo Thomas (Penn), 18-2 7th: Jake Swartz (Boise State) dec. Ophir Bernstein (Brown), 6-1 197: 1st: J'den Cox (Missouri) dec. Nick Heflin (Ohio State), 2-1 3rd: Scott Schiller (Minnesota) dec. Kyven Gadson (Iowa State), 9-6 5th: Conner Hartmann (Duke) by medical forfeit over Chris Penny (Virginia Tech) 7th: Morgan McIntosh (Penn State) dec. Nathan Burak (Iowa), 3-1 285: 1st: Nick Gwiazdowski (North Carolina State) dec. Tony Nelson (Minnesota), 4-2 3rd: Mike McMullan (Northwestern) dec. Bobby Telford (Iowa), 3-1 5th: Mike McClure (Michigan St.) dec. Adam Chalfant (Indiana), 3-2 7th: Jeremy Johnson (Ohio) dec. Austin Marsden (Oklahoma State), 4-2

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- Bryce Hammond (RSo., Bakersfield, Calif., Bakersfield HS) finished the NCAA Championships with an eighth place finish and All-American honors. Hammond won four consecutive matchups in the consolation bracket including wins against two ranked opponents. The redshirt sophomore eventually fell to the No. 5 ranked wrestler, Matt Brown of Penn State, and landed in the seventh place match against No. 7 Tyler Wilps of Pitt. Hammond came out of the gate with a quick takedown for a two-point lead, but an escape and two stall warnings tied the match at 2-2. Wilps got a takedown late in the match to take a 4-2 lead and he would hold on to it as Hammond could not mount a comeback. With the eighth place finish, Hammond earned All-American honors for himself and Bakersfield, the program's first since 2010.

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- Northwestern wrestler Jason Tsirtsis (Crown Point, Ind.) became the first freshman in school history to win an NCAA wrestling championship. Fittingly, it took three straight overtime victories to take home the crown. Tsirtsis (32-3) claimed NU’s first individual NCAA title since 2009 (Jake Herbert 184 lbs) with a 3-1 OT win over Oklahoma State No. 11 seed Joshua Kindig. He’s the Wildcats first national champion in the 149 lbs. weight class. Northwestern finished No. 9 in the nation with 46.0 points. It’s the Wildcats second top ten finish in the last three years under head coach Drew Pariano. The ‘Cats produced three All-Americans, with Pierce Harger (165 lbs.) and three-time NCAA finalist Mike McMullan (285) joining Tsirtsis. “I don't think it's hit me yet that I'm an NCAA champ. I get to keep that claim for the rest of my life. It's what you work for as a wrestler ever since you set your goals as a little kid,” Tsirtsis said. “So being out on that center stage, I don't think the big aspect of importance really hit me. I don't think it still has. But I think that's a good thing. I went out there, I was confident, and I wasn't worried about it being NCAA Finals. I was just focused on winning that match and wrestling tough.” Pariano has now coached three NCAA champions, while Tsirtsis is the first under Pariano’s tenure leading the program. As an assistant coach, Pariano was instrumental working and coaching with NCAA champs Dustin Fox (2008) and Jake Herbert (2007, 2009). With Tsirtsis winning the 149 lbs. title, heavyweight McMullan finished No. 3 and first time All-American Harger finished No. 8 at 165 lbs. The freshman’s win over Kindig (24-9) was Tsirtsis’ third straight decision he’d need to pull out in overtime. After a scoreless first period, Kindig scored first with an escape after starting down in the second period. Tsirtsis tied things up to start the third at 1-1. He held a small 0:36 riding time advantage, but the match reached overtime after a stalling warning. In the extra session, Tsirtsis controlled Kindig and was able to grab both of the Cowboy’s ankles to score a two-point takedown and secure the 3-1 OT win. Tsirtsis reached the NCAA Championship title bout after winning two consecutive overtime matches. He defeated top-seeded Drake Houdashelt of Missouri in the semifinals and No. 4 seed Kendric Maple of host school Oklahoma in the quarterfinals, both 2-1 decisions in overtime. “Jason is bar none the hardest working individual I’ve ever been around,” Wildcats three-time All-American and NCAA finalist Mike McMullan said during the NCAA Championships. “He’s never satisfied. He’s always the last one to leave the room, always putting in the extra work.”

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- Twelfth-seeded junior All-American wrestler Ophir Bernstein (Allen, Texas) finished in eighth place in the 184-pound weight class after falling 6-1 against sixth-seeded Jacob Swartz of Boise State at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at Chesapeake Energy Arena on Saturday. Bernstein became the fourth All-American in Brown wrestling history and the first since Tivon Abel in 1998 when he went 1-2 yesterday. He finishes the season with 36 wins, just one win shy of the Brown single season record set by Steve Thoma in 1991-92. Swartz earned the only points of the first period on a takedown, spinning behind Bernstein to take a 2-0 lead. Bernstein battled Swartz's early underhook to a stalemate and then got in tight with scissors across the body, only to be met with a whistle and reset that led to a Swartz takedown. The Boise State All-American secured a tight armbar and Bernstein struggled to elevate his hips, leading to lots of riding time for Swartz and a late stalling call. Bernstein chose the bottom to start the second and separated the hands for an escape to make the score 2-1. He followed with a low single that Swartz blocked and countered with another spinning takedown similar to his first period shot. Swartz laid a knee into Bernstein's forearm and looked for the tilt, cashing in on a point from a stalling call to lead 5-1 after two periods. A neutral start to the third period allowed Swartz to wrestle conservatively and use his riding time for a final point in the 6-1 decision. Bernstein completes the season with a 36-11 record, while first-year Head Coach Todd Beckerman mentored an All-American in his inaugural season at the helm of the Bears.

Oklahoma City, Okla. -- Turtogtokh Luvsandorj closed out his illustrious Citadel wrestling career on Saturday by taking sixth place at 165 pounds to become the Bulldogs' fourth All-American in program history at the 2014 NCAA Championship held in the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Okla. Turtogtokh with Rob Hjerling The redshirt senior joins an elite group consisting of Ugi Khishignyam (2013 - Fourth Place), Odie Delaney (2013 – Seventh Place) and Dan Thompson (2006 - Seventh Place) as the only four Bulldogs to earn All-American status in the programs storied history. "I am very happy for Turtogtokh and I'm very proud of him as he has worked very hard and put in an indescribable amount of preparation," said Head Coach Rob Hjerling. "He gave himself an opportunity to win every match, and it was very nice to see all of the hard work pay off." The sixth-place finish is the second-best in Citadel history as the Mongolia native closed out his career with a school record 134 wins, including 39 this season. In his four seasons, Luvsandorj earned two Southern Conference titles, made four trips to the NCAA tournament and was tabbed as the league's wrestler of the year twice. "This was another historic weekend for The Citadel wrestling program, and Turtogtokh has been instrumental in setting a new standard for our program," added Hjerling. "Our guys come out here expecting to make things happen. They compete. They believe." Luvsandorj topped three seeded wrestlers en route to his sixth-place finish – No. 6 Corey Mock (Chattanooga), No. 7 Pierce Harger (Northwestern) and No. 9 Joseph Booth (Hofstra). Following exciting wins over Booth and Harger last night, Luvsandorj put himself in a position to finish as high as third place heading into the final day of the tournament. Luvsandorj opened the morning session with a hard-fought bout against No. 4 Steven Monk of North Dakota State, but was unable to come out on top as the Bison grappler earned the 5-3 win to drop Luvsandorj to the fifth place bout. In that match, the Bulldog wrestler was pitted against No. 8 Mike Moreno of Iowa State. Luvsandorj topped the Cyclone wrestler earlier this season in an overtime tilt at the Southern Scuffle, but was unable to do the same today. Down 2-1 in the second period, Moreno scored an escape followed by a takedown and three-point near fall to gain control of the match and collect a 9-3 decision. Aaron Walker, Matt Frisch and Marshall Haas are all expected to return next season, while Ugi Khishignyam finished his Bulldog career with 64 wins through two seasons and won two SoCon titles at 141 pounds. "The three younger guys learned a lot this weekend and they are leaving here as better wrestlers and are more prepared mentally for next season," said Hjerling. "Having two sophomores and a freshman out here getting that kind of experience is priceless. They have standards to live up to and records to shoot for and try to break. "This was a great team experience, not just some individual accomplishments. We have a great group of guys returning and there's no reason why we shouldn't raise our expectations for next year," finished Hjerling. QUOTES BY HEAD COACH ROB HJERLING ON UGI, FRISCH, HAAS and WALKER For Ugi: "It was a very tough tournament for Ugi, but nothing can take away from what he has done for our program. Our team was better this year because of the example he set in the room and in the way that he handled adversity." "When Ugi's tournament was over, he was there for the rest of the team helping them prepare for their competition." "Ugi has also been instrumental in taking this program to another level. He was the inspiration for Turtogtokh and the other national qualifiers." For Frisch: "Matt picked up a great win and gained some more invaluable experience. He improved from last season and from last year's NCAA tournament." "He is always working to get better and he should have a breakout season next year." For Walker: "Aaron also earned a good win out here. He got hurt. It happens. He toughed it out but it was a little too much." "This was a good season for Aaron and this tournament was a good experience for him. We could see him getting better all year long. He's real tough and I'm sure that he is already thinking about next year." For Haas: "Marshall might have gotten the most out of this experience because he stepped up huge at the Southern Conference, and was able to come out here and see what it takes to advance at the NCAA Championships. I know that Marshall will build on this."

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- Virginia Tech junior Devin Carter fell in the championship bout of the 2014 NCAA Wrestling Championships Saturday night inside Chesapeake Energy Arena, falling 10-1 to second-seeded and two-time national champion Logan Stieber of Ohio State University. Stieber controlled the pace of the match, getting four takedowns, an escape and a point for riding time to take the crown. “That’s a top-tier guy,” Carter said. “Even if you know what’s coming like I did, he hits it anyway. It’s just unfortunate.” Carter, the No. 4 seed at 141 pounds, won his first four matches of the tournament to reach the finals and become the first Virginia Tech wrestler in program history to advance to the championship bout. “Obviously, it’s disappointing to get to the NCAA Championships and then to the NCAA finals and to lose,” head coach Kevin Dresser said. “It’s a dream that every serious wrestler has and that’s Devin’s dream. Fortunately, he gets another crack at it when he can get the proper amount of training. We could have been in tip-top shape and maybe still lost that match. But it would have been a heck of a match and it would have been a war. Being the third day in a row of a tournament, he just didn’t have the training or the stamina to stay with the guy. That’s an elite level guy, not only in our country, but in the whole world. To try to compete with that guy with one-fifth of the training everybody else has had in the nation is pretty much a tall order, but Devin Carter keeps amazing us.” The Christiansburg, Va., native tore a hamstring in December and had surgery, but returned to the mat just three months later. He won an ACC title earlier in March and finished his season with a 18-1 record, earning his second All-America medal. “Just like anything else, it gets sore,” Carter said. “It’s gets sore a lot easier. It gets sensitive to the touch and stuff like that. Yesterday, I had to just push through it. Today it felt a lot better and I got to rest it all day. I just didn’t perform. I’m going to take a few weeks off and actually heal up to 100 percent. This will definitely fuel the fire.” “I know Devin is a really, really tough individual,” Stieber said. “I knew he had to be really tough to make it through that injury. So felt good to get through my offense and ride hard. And my defense was great, and I just kept getting after him.” Overall, Virginia Tech finished with 49.0 points and alone in eighth place for its second straight national top-10 finish. The points and placement are both program highs, topping last year’s 43.5 points and a tie for 10th place. Tech also crowned three All-Americans in Carter, Joey Dance and Chris Penn, giving the Hokies seven in the last two seasons. “Eight of the nine guys that qualified scored points for us this weekend to get us into eighth place,” Dresser said. “It’s a step for the program and it continues to be steps. I know we have a lot of hungry guys next year who sure want to be better than eighth. Right now, I take my hat off to these guys. They are the best team in Virginia Tech wrestling history and I told them that in the motel room before we came over.”

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- Edinboro wrapped up wrestling in the NCAA Division I National Championships at the Chesapeake Energy Arena on Saturday morning, with Mitchell Port taking third place at 141 lbs. and A.J. Schopp and Dave Habat finishing fourth at 133 and 149 lbs., respectively. It was another strong showing for the Fighting Scots, as the trio won four of six matches against some of the top wrestlers in the country. Dubbed Edinboro's Murderer's Row by the ESPN announcing crew, their strong showing likely has Edinboro finishing fifth at Nationals, the best showing in school history. The 1997 and 2009 teams finished sixth. Head coach Tim Flynn has now produced 33 All-Americans, with Port and Schopp joining the group of two-time All-Americans and Habat stepping on the stand for the first time. Mitchell Port defeated Zain Retherford on Saturday morning (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)Port was the only Fighting Scot to win both of his matches on Saturday. The number one seed at 141 lbs., he took on third-seeded Zain Retherford of Penn State in his first match. Following a scoreless first period, Port grabbed the lead with an escape at 1:26 of the second, getting out against the PSU freshman who is already known as one of the best wrestlers in the top position. Retherford would knot the score at 1-1 with an escape at 1:21 of the third. The match would go through an overtime period and two 30-second tiebreaker periods without a score. Port almost tilted Retherford in the second 30-second period, then had to hold on Retherford nearly escaped. They went to a second one-minute overtime session, and Port came up with the winning takedown with 32 seconds remaining. He spun around a takedown attempt by Retherford for the 3-1 win in the second tiebreaker. That moved Port into the third place match and a rematch with North Carolina's Evan Henderson. The ninth seed had denied Port a shot at the national championship with a 5-3 upset in the quarterfinals, but this time it was all Port. He grabbed a 4-1 lead after one period, then reversed Henderson in the second period for a 6-1 advantage. In the third Port started with an escape and added another takedown for a 9-1 major decision. Port concludes his junior season with a 32-1 record and enters his final season with a 96-15 career ledger. He now has a second place finish in 2013 and a third in 2014 to his credit. Schopp faced Minnesota's David Thorn in his consolation semifinal match at 133 lbs. The redshirt junior dominated the seventh seed, posting a 12-4 major decision. He jumped out to fast start with a takedown with just over a minute left in the first period, tilting Thorn for two points and then three points at the end of the period for a 7-0 advantage. Schopp added three more back points in the second period after starting on top. Thorn would record a pair of takedowns in the third. The third place match turned out being what many thought would be tonight's championship bout, with the second-seeded Schopp squaring off against top-seeded Joe Colon of Northern Iowa. Colon had handed Schopp his lone loss prior to Nationals, winning 3-0 at the Midlands Championships. It turned out to be another low scoring affair, as the only point came in the second period. After Schopp chose the top, Colon would escape 12 seconds into the period in what would turn out to be the only point in a 1-0 decision. Colon chose neutral to start the third period and Schopp was unable to take him down. Schopp finishes his third season with a 35-3 record, with two losses to Colon and the third to Iowa's Tony Ramos, who will wrestle for the 133 lb. championship tonight after defeating Schopp in the semifinals. He enters his senior campaign with a 107-14 career record and has now finished fourth twice at Nationals. That is good for 20th in career victories. Habat made an impressive run as the eighth seed. After losing his second match to Michigan's Eric Grajales, he battled back to win five straight matches, including a 5-4 upset of top-seeded Drake Houdashelt of Missouri. The day before he won over the number two seed Nick Dardanes of Minnesota. Habat opened the scoring against Houdashelt with a takedown at the 2:22 mark, with an escape making it 2-1 after one period. The two traded reversals, with a stalling point against Habat making it 4-4 after two periods. Habat came up with the winning point with an escape with 1:28 left. He moved on to face Grajales in the third place match. After a wild 15-10 decision in the first meeting, Grajales ended up winning a 4-2 decision over Habat in the third place match. Habat fell behind 2-0 after one period, and the only point in the second period was a Grajales escape. Habat closed it to 3-2 with a reversal 40 seconds into the third period. He was unable to tilt Grajales and finally had to cut him with 38 seconds left. He came close to a takedown in the final ten seconds near the edge of the mat. Habat ends the year at 32-6 and now has a 98-24 career as a first-time All-American.

Anthony Perrotti became Scott Goodale's first All-American at Rutgers (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- Redshirt sophomore 157-pounder Anthony Perrotti (Roseland, N.J.) achieved All-America status Saturday to become the first Scarlet Knight to reach the NCAA Championships podium since 2002. He dropped his seventh place bout, 2-0, against No. 5 Isaac Jordan (Wisconsin), ending the tournament in eighth place. Following a scoreless first period, Jordan quickly escaped in the second to take a 1-0 lead. Perrotti looked for an escape in the third to tie things up, but Jordan rode him through the period to seal a 2-0 win with 1:45 of riding time. Despite the loss, Perrotti is the first All-American under head coach Scott Goodale and the 9th in Rutgers history. He achieved the 10th All-American status in school history with the win, as 142-pounder Anthony Surage (1980, 83) was a two-time All-American – the only grappler in RU history to achieve that feat.

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- Franklin & Marshall's No. 12 Richard Durso wrapped up his run at the NCAA D1 Wrestling Championships on Saturday afternoon with a 6-5 decision loss against Michigan's No. 13 Stephen Dutton III in the seventh-place title match. Durso finished the tournament in eighth-place, making him an All-American for the first time in his career and giving the program its first All-America honor since 1981. Richard Durso knocked off No. 5 Chris Mecate in the second round (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Durso (38-5) wrapped up action at the NCAA Tournament with a 3-3 record, beginning with a 5-2 decision victory over Maryland's Shyhiem Brown in the first round on Thursday. In the evening, Durso advanced to the quarterfinals for the second-straight year after pulling off an upset victory over the bracket's no. 5 seed, Old Dominion's Chris Mecate, with a narrow 3-2 decision in the second round. Virginia Tech's No. 4 Devin Carter slipped past Durso in the quarterfinals with a 4-3 decision after recording a takedown with less than 40 seconds remaining in the third, but Durso responded in resounding fashion in the wrestlebacks. Against No. 15 Anthony Collica of Oklahoma State in the fourth round of consolations, F&M's junior grappler dominated throughout for the 13-2 major decision to become the program's first All-American since Craig Blackman in 1981. In the battle for seventh place against Michigan's Dutton, F&M's junior 141-pounder opened with a takedown on the edge of the circle just 45 seconds into the first to take the 2-0 lead. Dutton countered with an escape nearly a minute later to pull within one, however Durso managed to enter the second with 1:10 of riding time. Durso chose down to start the second and quickly scored two off a reversal just 15 seconds in to capture the 4-1 lead. After riding out Dutton throughout the remainder of the period, Durso locked up the riding time point heading into the final stanza with his three-point lead. Michigan's grappler chose neutral to start the third and picked up a takedown 30 seconds in, before following up with three nearfall points to pull ahead by two at 6-4. With the riding time point in hand, Durso fought hard to register an escape, which would have tied the bout, but was unable to do so as Dutton held on for the 6-5 victory. Durso's 38 wins on the season place second on the program's all-time list, a record he currently holds after registering 39 during his sophomore campaign.

Related: Coverage Section OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- On Saturday night, David Taylor and Ed Ruth said their farewells to college wrestling, and did so grand fashion. The Penn State seniors both won NCAA titles and led the Nittany Lions to their fourth straight NCAA title at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Oklahoma City, Okla. David Taylor celebrates after winning his second NCAA title (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)"Anyone that's watched David Taylor or Ed Ruth wrestle is an instant wrestling fan," said Penn State coach Cael Sanderson. "Those guys are fun to watch. Their motion, it's non-stop. They're fluid and they're tough. They wrestle with passion and fire. They're fun to watch. You need heroes and you guys like that to build the sport, and they've done that" Taylor and Ruth finished their college wrestling careers with a combined record of 270-6, five individual NCAA titles, and four NCAA team titles. Penn State trailed Minnesota by 2.5 points heading into the finals. Both teams had two finalists. The Nittany Lions, with Taylor and Ruth, won both their finals matches, while the Gophers lost both their finals matches, which gave Penn State the team title. The Nittany Lions finished with 109.5 points, 5.5 points in front of runner-up Minnesota. Oklahoma State finished third with 96.5 points. Iowa (78.5) and Edinboro (62) rounded out the top five teams. "Our kids really did a fantastic job today," said Sanderson. "We knew we had our hands full. Minnesota, they were killin' it. All of our All-Americans won their last match, and that's a big deal. It makes it easier as a coach when your guys win their last match." Ed Ruth gets his hand raised after defeating Jimmy Sheptock in the NCAA finals (Photo/Larry Slater)Ruth faced previously unbeaten Jimmy Sheptock of Maryland in the finals, and cruised to a 7-2 victory. He scored a takedown off a leg attack 15 seconds into the match and added another takedown late in the period to lead 4-1 heading into the second period. Sheptock chose down in the second period and was ridden out the entire period by Ruth. The Nittany Lion senior picked up a reversal in the third period and added a riding-time point to win by five. "I never really have a game plan," said Ruth of his mindset going into the match. "As soon as the guy steps on the line and I step on the line, the first thing I'm thinking about is taking 10, 20 shots until I get to his legs. In my head I don't like to believe people can fend me off." With the title, Ruth becomes the first three-time NCAA champion in Penn State wrestling history. "There's a lot of respected wrestlers who came through Penn State," said Ruth. "I see them every time they come through the room and I'm like, 'wow.' It makes me proud to be one of those guys." Taylor won his second NCAA title and became the first Penn State wrestler ever to make four NCAA finals appearances. He was also named Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament. Taylor controlled his finals opponent Tyler Caldwell of Oklahoma State from start to finish, winning 6-0. Taylor picked up a takedown in each of the first two periods, and added an escape and riding time point for the shutout victory. "I guess when I think about my Penn State career, I think tonight will be something I'll remember for a really long time," said Taylor. Taylor's focus will now shift from his college wrestling career to his international wrestling career. Last year Taylor finished runner-up at the U.S. Open to Olympic champion Jordan Burroughs, and earned a spot on the U.S. National Team after his performance at the U.S. World Team Trials last summer. "I can vividly remember telling my dad when I was 8 years old I wanted to be a four-time state champ, four-time national champ, and Olympic champion. I fell a little bit short of the second goal. The Olympic champion is something I'm looking forward to now." Ohio State's Logan Stieber (141) joined Ruth as a three-time NCAA champion, while two others wrestlers, Illinois' Jesse Delgado (125) and Chris Perry (174) joined Taylor in the club of two-time NCAA champions. Stieber dominated Virginia Tech's Devin Carter in the finals, 10-1. He had a takedown in the first period, added another takedown in the second period, and then blew the match up with two more takedowns in the final period. His first two NCAA titles came at 133 pounds before moving up to 141 pounds this season to claim his third NCAA title. With one season remaining at Ohio State, Stieber now has an opportunity to become just fourth four-time NCAA Division I champion, joining Pat Smith (Oklahoma State), Cael Sanderson (Iowa State), and Kyle Dake (Cornell). "I'll treat No. 4 training-wise like I treated No. 1, 2, and 3," said Stieber. "I'm always calm. I always try to be relaxed. My coaches will have me ready. I'll be ready to go when next season comes around." Stieber took a loss in mid-December to Penn State's Zain Retherford, but came back to defeat the Nittany Lion true freshman in the Big Ten finals and NCAA semifinals. It wasn't a loss he took lightly, but he gained something in the process. "I definitely learned a lot," said Stieber. "Losing sucks. I would never, ever want to lose, but it helped me out a lot. So the undefeated season and chance at the Hodge, that diminished, but who cares? At the end of the day I'm here right now and happy." Delgado edged Cornell's Nahshon Garrett, 3-2, to capture his second straight NCAA title at 125 pounds. The match was filled with action despite the low score. In the first period Garrett was in deep multiple times on leg attacks, but Delgado was able to scramble out of danger. Delgado took control of the match in second period, escaping and adding a takedown late in the period to lead 3-0. Garrett, with over a minute of riding time, chose neutral to start the third period. Delgado eventually gave up a stall point, but Garrett was unable to score offensively and would come up a point short after getting the additional point for riding. Jesse Delgado and Nahshon Garrett get into a scramble (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)"I think it's always hard repeating (as NCAA champion), but they both presented their challenges," Delgado said when comparing his two titles. "He threw me off in the match a little bit. He controlled the match again. (Nico) Megaludis controlled the match last year. But I came out with a win." Delgado has been coached by Mark Perry his entire wrestling. Perry, who serves as the associate head wrestling coach at Illinois, recruited Delgado to Cal Poly when he was coaching there. Delgado then followed Perry to Illinois when he joined the coaching staff in Champagne. It's a relationship that's deeper than athlete-coach. "He's like family," Delgado said of Perry. "He's changed my life completely. It's more than a coach. It's a mentor. It's a brother. It's a friend. It's someone I'm going to have the rest of my life. It's family." Interestingly, Mark's younger brother Chris Perry of Oklahoma State joined Delgado as a two-time NCAA champion on the same night. Chris Perry rides Andrew Howe (Photo/Larry Slater)Perry, one of four Oklahoma State wrestlers to reach the finals, topped Bedlam rival Andrew Howe of Oklahoma, 4-0. After a scoreless first period, Perry started in the second period in the down position and escaped within five seconds to go up 1-0. Then 50 seconds into the period Perry shot a high crotch and converted it for a takedown to go up 3-0. He then rode out Howe for the remainder of the period to gain over a minute of riding time. Howe elected to start in the neutral position in the third period, but neither wrestler was able to score and Perry finished with a shutout victory. "I haven't beaten a guy like an Andrew Howe quality in an NCAA finals or an NCAA tournament," said Perry. "That's the best guy I've ever wrestled in an NCAA tournament hand downs, one of the best competitors I've ever competed against, counting even guys overseas. He's a tough dude, man. I have so much respect for Andrew." Perry was one of two NCAA champions for Oklahoma State. The other was Alex Dieringer, who claimed his title with a 13-4 victory over three-time All-American Dylan Ness of Minnesota. Dieringer started quickly, picking up a takedown and a tilt for three nearfall points to go up 5-0 in the first period. He added another takedown in the second period and led 8-1 heading into the final period. Ness continued to battle, but Dieringer stayed solid and continued to add to his lead to pick up the major decision. "Winning on that big stage, there's really nothing better," said Dieringer. "I've been working so hard in the room doing extra works outs, all that. So to know it all paid off, it's a great feeling." Dieringer, only a sophomore, has two seasons remaining and says he has his sights set on winning three NCAA titles in his college wrestling career, but plans to change weight classes next season. "I'm a big 57-pounder," said Dieringer. "It's been hard on my body. I'm going to get big, real big, and I'm going to be 65 next year, so I'm excited." Two freshmen, Northwestern's Jason Tsirtsis (149) and Missouri's J'den Cox (197), captured NCAA titles. Tsirtsis, a Big Ten champion who entered the tournament seeded fifth, needed sudden victory to defeat surprise finalist Josh Kindig of Oklahoma State, 3-1. The wrestles traded escapes in the second and third periods, but neither wrestler was able to score offensively in regulation. Tsirtsis was able to score the only takedown of the match in the sudden victory period. He becomes Northwestern's first freshman NCAA champion ever. "I don't think it's hit me yet that I'm an NCAA champ," said Tsirtsis, who finished the season with a 34-3 record. "I get to keep that claim for the rest of my life. It's what you work for as a wrestler ever since you set your goals as a little kid." Tsirtsis' NCAA championship helped catapult Northwestern to ninth in the final team standings. J'den Cox became just the 14th true freshman to win an NCAA title (Photo/Larry Slater)Cox entered the tournament seeded No. 2 and battled No. 1 Nick Heflin of Ohio State in the finals. Cox had several scoring attempts in the first period, but was unable to score and the first period ended 0-0. The two wrestlers traded escapes in the final two periods to make the score 1-1 in the final period. With 30 seconds left, after repeated attempts from Cox, Heflin was called for stalling for the second time and the Missouri freshman was awarded a point. That point from to be the difference in the match as Cox held on for the one-point victory. "My goal is to be a four-time national champion, and this is the beginning," said Cox. "This was probably going to be one of the hardest ones just because it was trying to get the train started." Iowa senior Tony Ramos took another step up on the NCAA podium and won an NCAA title with a 3-1 tiebreaker victory over longtime Big Ten rival Tyler Graff of Wisconsin. Ramos was third as a sophomore and runner-up as a junior. Ramos and Graff traded escapes in the second and third periods, and the match went to sudden victory tied 1-1. Neither wrestler was able to score in the sudden victory. Ramos started the tiebreaker period in the down position, and Graff was able to ride out the Hawkeye senior for the entire 30 seconds. Then Ramos took the top position needing a rideout to stay alive. But Ramos wasn't looking to just stay alive. Instead he was able to score two nearfall points when Graff tried to roll, which won him the match. "I knew he liked to roll," said Ramos. "As soon as he hit that roll I was just finding some way to score." After the victory, Ramos ran off the mat and leaped into the stands to celebrate with his family. "I wanted to see them as quick as I could," said Ramos. Nick Gwiazdowski jumps into his coach Pat Popolizio's arms after winning the NCAA title (Photo/Larry Slater)North Carolina State's Nick Gwiazdowski won the NCAA title, knocking off two-time NCAA champion Tony Nelson of Minnesota, 4-2. The first period was scoreless. Gwiazdowski took the down position in the second period, and Nelson was able to ride him the entire period and gain two minutes of riding time. Gwiazdowski gave Nelson an escape in the third period to go down 1-0 on the scoreboard. The North Carolina State heavyweight then found his offense, scoring a takedown on Nelson 30 seconds into the period to go up 2-1, although Nelson had the riding time advantage. Nelson took an injury timeout after the takedown, which gave Gwiazdowski the choice of positions. He chose to resume the match in the neutral position, and secured another takedown off a leg attack with 20 seconds left to secure the win. "I knew I could get to that shot, I just didn't pull the trigger in the beginning periods," said Gwiazdowski. "I just went after it." The second-seeded Gwiazdowski was the lone non-Big Ten heavyweight seeded in the top seven of the tournament. He is NC State's sixth wrestler ever to win a national title. Gwiazdowski started his college career at Binghamton, where he earned All-American honors as a true freshman in 2012. After his coach at Binghamton Pat Popolizio was hired as North Carolina's State coach, Gwiazdowski followed him to Raleigh. He redshirted last season. "The people that cared about me when I left Binghamton, even at Binghamton other students and friends, they knew what I was going for. I was going to win a national title somewhere." Team Standings: 1. Penn State 109.5 2. Minnesota 104 3. Oklahoma State 96.5 4. Iowa 78.5 5. Edinboro 62 6. Ohio St. 57 7. Cornell 53 8. Virginia Tech 49 9. Northwestern 46 10. Oklahoma 45 Finals Results: 174: No. 1 Chris Perry (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 2 Andrew Howe (Oklahoma), 4-0 184: No. 2 Ed Ruth (Penn State) dec. No. 1 Jimmy Sheptock (Maryland), 7-2 197: No. 2 J'den Cox (Missouri) dec. No. 1 Nick Heflin (Ohio State), 2-1 285: No. 2 Nick Gwiazdowski (North Carolina State) dec. No. 1 Tony Nelson (Minnesota), 4-2 125: No. 1 Jesse Delgado (Illinois) dec. No. 2 Nahshon Garrett (Cornell), 3-2 133: No. 3 Tony Ramos (Iowa) dec. No. 5 Tyler Graff (Wisconsin), 3-1 141: No. 2 Logan Stieber (Ohio State) maj. dec. No. 4 Devin Carter (Virginia Tech), 10-1 149: No. 5 Jason Tsirtsis (Northwestern) dec. No. 11 Josh Kindig (Oklahoma State), 3-1 SV 157: No. 3 Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) maj. dec. No. 9 Dylan Ness (Minnesota), 13-4 165: No. 1 David Taylor (Penn State) dec. No. 2 Tyler Caldwell (Oklahoma State), 6-0

1. Penn St. 109.5 2. Minnesota 104.0 3. Oklahoma St. 96.5 4. Iowa 78.5 5. Edinboro 62.0 6. Ohio St. 57.0 7. Cornell 53.0 8. Virginia Tech 49.0 9. Northwestern 46.0 10. Oklahoma 45.0 11. Nebraska 43.5 12. Iowa St. 42.0 13. Illinois 41.0 14. Missouri 40.5 15. UNI 40.0 16. Wisconsin 36.0 17. Michigan 35.0 18. Lehigh 29.5 19. North Carolina St. 24.0 20. Maryland 21.0 21. North Dakota St. 20.5 22. Pittsburgh 20.0 23. Old Dominion 18.5 23. Virginia 18.5 25. Boise State 15.5 25. Indiana 15.5 25. North Carolina 15.5 28. Oregon St. 14.5 29. Duke 13.5 29. Kent St. 13.5 31. Citadel 13.0 32. Michigan St. 12.5 33. Central Mich. 12.0 34. Rutgers 11.5 35. Ohio 10.5 36. Penn 10.0 37. Rider 9.5 38. Bloomsburg 8.0 39. Purdue 7.5 40. Clarion 7.0 40. Hofstra 7.0 40. Navy 7.0 40. Stanford 7.0 44. Frank. & Marsh. 6.5 45. Boston U. 6.0 46. Brown 5.5 47. CSU Bakersfield 5.0 47. Eastern Mich. 5.0 49. Binghamton 4.5 50. Army 4.0 51. Chattanooga 3.5 51. Columbia 3.5 53. Bucknell 3.0 53. Northern Ill. 3.0 53. Wyoming 3.0 56. American 2.5 56. Lock Haven 2.5 58. Air Force 2.0 58. Arizona St. 2.0 58. Harvard 2.0 61. Gardner-Webb 1.5 61. West Virginia 1.5 63. Cal Poly 1.0 64. Princeton 0.5 64. Utah Valley 0.5 66. Appalachian St. 0.0 66. Buffalo 0.0 66. Campbell 0.0 66. Davidson 0.0 66. Drexel 0.0 66. SIU Edwardsville 0.0 66. South Dakota St. 0.0

174: No. 1 Chris Perry (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 2 Andrew Howe (Oklahoma), 4-0 184: No. 2 Ed Ruth (Penn State) dec. No. 1 Jimmy Sheptock (Maryland), 7-2 197: No. 2 J'den Cox (Missouri) dec. No. 1 Nick Heflin (Ohio State), 2-1 285: No. 2 Nick Gwiazdowski (North Carolina State) dec. No. 1 Tony Nelson (Minnesota), 4-2 125: No. 1 Jesse Delgado (Illinois) dec. No. 2 Nahshon Garrett (Cornell), 3-2 133: No. 3 Tony Ramos (Iowa) dec. No. 5 Tyler Graff (Wisconsin), 3-1 141: No. 2 Logan Stieber (Ohio State) maj. dec. No. 4 Devin Carter (Virginia Tech), 10-1 149: No. 5 Jason Tsirtsis (Northwestern) dec. No. 11 Josh Kindig (Oklahoma State), 3-1 SV 157: No. 3 Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) maj. dec. No. 9 Dylan Ness (Minnesota) , 13-4 165: No. 1 David Taylor (Penn State) dec. No. 2 Tyler Caldwell (Oklahoma State), 6-0

Logan Storley came back to finish third for Minnesota (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine) OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- Minnesota had a strong Session V performance on Saturday and surpassed Penn State for the team lead at the 2014 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. The Gophers lead the Nittany Lions by 2.5 points heading into tonight's finals. Two Gopher wrestlers, Logan Storley (174) and Scott Schiller (197), won two matches on Saturday to place third. Storley's third-place finish came over Robert Kokesh (Nebraska), a longtime friend from South Dakota. Schiller notched his second win over Kyven Gadson (Iowa State). David Thorn (133) and Kevin Steinhaus (184) both lost their consolation semifinal matches, but came back to finish fifth. Danny Zilverberg (165) claimed seventh place. "We come together as a team before every round, just like a dual," said Storley, a three-time All-American. "We can do great things as a dual team. Now we need to do it as a tournament team and score bonus." Two-time NCAA runner-up Nico Megaludis turned in a third-place performance with two wins on Saturday. Nittany Lion wrestlers Zain Retherford (141) and Matt Brown (174) finished fifth, while James English (149) and Morgan McIntosh (197) earned seventh-place finishes. English, a senior, stepped in Penn State's lineup for the first time in his career late this season after battling injuries throughout his college wresetling career. "It was great to go out with a win, my last match ever," said English. "I'm just glad I never stopped fighting, after six years I was finally able to make it here and just go out and score some points for my team there at the end." Oklahoma State remains in third place after Austin Marsden fell in the seventh-place match to Ohio's Jeremy Johnson, 4-2. The Cowboys are 16.5 points out of first place, but have four finalists. Iowa remains in fourth place. Edinboro jumped climbed a spot from sixth place to fifth place after a third-place finish from Mitchell Port (141), and fourth-place finishes from A.J. Schopp (133) and David Habat (149). The finals get underway at 7 p.m. CT. The finals will open with the match at 174 pounds between Oklahoma State's Chris Perry and Oklahoma's Andrew Howe, and close with the match at 165 pounds between Penn State's David Taylor and Oklahoma State's Tyler Caldwell. Team Standings (Top 10) 1. Minnesota 104 2. Penn State 101.5 3. Oklahoma St. 87.5 4. Iowa 74.5 5. Edinboro 62 6. Cornell 53 7. Ohio St. 52 8. Virginia Tech 49 9. Oklahoma 45 10. Nebraska 43.5 Medal Match Results 125: 3rd: Nico Megaludis (Penn State) dec. Joey Dance (Virginia Tech), 6-1 5th: Cory Clark (Iowa) dec. Dylan Peters (Northern Iowa), 8-1 7th: Darian Cruz (Lehigh) dec. Earl Hall (Iowa State), 2-1 TB2 133: 3rd: Joe Colon (Northern Iowa) dec. A.J. Schopp (Edinboro), 1-0 5th: David Thorn (Minnesota) dec. Mason Beckman (Lehigh), 5-3 7th: Joe Roth (Central Michigan) dec. Cody Brewer (Oklahoma), 8-6 141: 3rd: Mitchell Port (Edinboro) maj. dec. Evan Henderson (North Carolina), 9-1 5th: Zain Retherford (Penn State) by medical forfeit over Joey Lazor (Northern Iowa) 7th: Steve Dutton (Michigan) dec. Richard Durso (Franklin & Marshall), 6-5 149: 3rd: Eric Grajales (Michigan) dec. David Habat (Edinboro), 4-2 5th: Drake Houdashelt (Missouri) dec. Mitch Minotti (Lehigh), 3-0 7th: James English (Penn State) dec. Kendric Maple (Oklahoma), 2-1 TB 157: 3rd: James Green (Nebraska) maj. dec. Ian Miller (Kent St.), 13-1 5th: Derek St. John (Iowa) by medical forfeit over Brian Realbuto (Cornell) 7th: Isaac Jordan (Wisconsin) dec. Anthony Perrotti (Rutgers), 2-0 165: 3rd: Steven Monk (North Dakota State ) pinned Nick Sulzer (Virginia), 5:26 5th: Michael Moreno (Iowa State) dec. Turtogtokh Luvsandorj (Citadel), 9-3 7th: Danny Zilverberg (Minnesota) dec. Pierce Harger (Northwestern), 6-2 174: 3rd: Logan Storley (Minnesota) dec. Robert Kokesh (Nebraska), 3-1 TB 5th: Matt Brown (Penn St.) dec. Michael Evans (Iowa), 6-3 7th: Tyler Wilps (Pittsburgh) dec. Bryce Hammond (CSU Bakersfield), 4-2 184: 3rd: Gabe Dean (Cornell) dec. Jack Dechow (Old Dominion), 5-4 5th: Kevin Steinhaus (Minnesota) tech. fall Lorenzo Thomas (Penn), 18-2 7th: Jake Swartz (Boise State) dec. Ophir Bernstein (Brown), 6-1 197: 3rd: Scott Schiller (Minnesota) dec. Kyven Gadson (Iowa State), 9-6 5th: Conner Hartmann (Duke) by medical forfeit over Chris Penny (Virginia Tech) 7th: Morgan McIntosh (Penn State) dec. Nathan Burak (Iowa), 3-1 285: 3rd: Mike McMullan (Northwestern) dec. Bobby Telford (Iowa), 3-1 5th: Mike McClure (Michigan St.) dec. Adam Chalfant (Indiana), 3-2 7th:Jeremy Johnson (Ohio) dec. Austin Marsden (Oklahoma State), 4-2

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- In a Division I wrestling season filled with uncertainty, it's fitting that the final day of the season is filled with uncertainty. Three teams are separated by a mere 3.5 points and remain in the hunt for the national championship at the 2014 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Oklahoma City, Okla. Three-time defending NCAA champion Penn State holds a half-point lead over Minnesota, 91 to 90.5. Both teams have two wrestlers in the finals and seven All-Americans. Oklahoma State sits in third place with 87. 5. The Cowboys have the most finalists, four, and five All-Americans total. Penn State seniors David Taylor (165) and Ed Ruth (184) both advanced to the finals. Taylor and Ruth have played integral parts in each of the Nittany Lions' three consecutive NCAA titles. Now the duo has a chance at both individual and team glory one last time on Saturday night. "They're clutch," Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said of Taylor and Ruth. "That's what they love to do. They want it. It's even more fun when the team race is a battle. Tomorrow will be a great opportunity for them to go out and do it again." David Taylor won by major decision over Steve Monk in the semifinals (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)Taylor advanced to the finals with a 13-5 major decision victory over North Dakota State's Steve Monk. He opened up the scoring early with two first-period takedowns and two nearfall points. He added a reversal in the second period, and two more takedowns in the third period. Taylor will face a familiar opponent in the finals, Oklahoma State's Tyler Caldwell. The two wrestlers have met twice this season and once last season. Caldwell, a four-time All-American, is the only wrestler to avoid giving up bonus points against Taylor in a match this season. Taylor defeated Caldwell 5-2 in their last meeting on Feb. 16. "Tyler is obviously a very tough opponent," said Taylor, who is making his fourth NCAA finals appearance. "He's strong. He's hard to score on. He's done a pretty good job of limiting my offense. They have a good game plan. It comes down to me getting my offense going on my feet. He wants a close match. Obviously, I want a match that's not so close." Ed Ruth won the rubber meeting with Gabe Dean in the semifinals (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)Ruth punched his ticket to the finals by defeating Cornell's Gabe Dean, 5-3, in the rubber match between the two wrestlers this season. Ruth jumped out early with a takedown and led 2-1 after one period. He was able to ride Dean the entire second period. Ruth earned an escape point early in the third period to go up 3-1. Dean added a late takedown, but Ruth held on for the 5-3 victory. "He's a solid wrestler on his feet," Ruth said of Dean. "He keeps pushing, attacking. Even when he's tired he's pushing into me. I'm not really used to that. When someone does that it makes the match more exciting for both of us. Ruth now has a chance to become Penn State's first-ever three-time NCAA champion if he can get past undefeated Jimmy Sheptock of Maryland in the finals. "I try not to think about that too much," said Ruth. "History writes itself as long as you keep doing what you're supposed to do." Minnesota's two finalists, Dylan Ness (157) and Tony Nelson (285), are making return trips to the finals. Ness was an NCAA runner-up two seasons ago as a freshman. Last season he finished fourth. Nelson is the two-time defending NCAA champion at heavyweight. Dylan Ness came from behind to defeat Ian Miller in the semifinals (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)Ness entered the tournament seeded No. 9 after an up-and-down season. He pinned No. 1 James Green of Nebraska in the quarterfinals on Friday morning. In the semifinals he came from behind to defeat No. 4 Ian Miller of Kent State, 6-4. Ness trailed 4-3 in the final minute of the match before getting a late takedown and additional point for riding time to gain the victory. "He was in defensive mode," said Ness. "I think he was on his heels. He was just trying to run out the clock and maybe just not wrestling. I kept wrestling. I was able to hit that pick, drive forward, and get the takedown and win." Ness' finals opponent is Oklahoma's State Alex Dieringer, who advanced with a 7-4 victory over Cornell freshman Brian Realbuto. Ness and Dieringer have a history. They have faced each other in USA Wrestling national age group events, including Fargo, and in college. Dieringer defeated Ness in sudden victory earlier this season. "We have wrestled each other a lot and we know each other pretty well," said Ness. Tony Nelson topped Big Ten rival Bobby Telford in the semifinals (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)Nelson topped Big Ten rival Bobby Telford of Iowa in the semifinals, 4-2. The match was scoreless after one period. Nelson picked up an escape and takedown in the second period to go up 3-0. Telford escaped in the third and added another point off a stalling call. But Nelson would tack on a riding time point to earn a two-point victory. Nelson will face No. 2 Nick Gwiazdowski of North Carolina State in the finals. The two have met several times in both college and freestyle. Nelson won their only meeting this season, but Gwiazdowski notched two wins over Nelson at the U.S. World Team Trials last summer in freestyle. "He's another one of those athletic and agile heavyweights," said Nelson. "He's going to look to score points. I've got to be ready for his leg attacks. If I'm able to counter those, or even get re-shots off those, that's going to be crucial to winning that match." Nelson, like Ruth, has a chance to become his program's first three-time NCAA champion. "Just to be able to have the opportunity to make history, it's something that you really can't say you've done much in your life," said Nelson. "I feel honored and grateful to be in this position." Two-time NCAA champion Logan Stieber of Ohio State defeated Penn State's Zain Retherford, 7-3, to advance to the finals. He picked up two first-period takedowns, added another takedown in the second period, and rode Retherford for most of the third period. Stieber was quick to give credit to his coaches and training partners for his success. "I have the best coaches and best training partners at Ohio State. I couldn't ask for a better situation. They're getting me better every day." His finals opponent is Virginia Tech's Devin Carter, who returned to competition at the ACC Championships after being out three months with a torn hamstring. Stieber is not surprised Carter was able to navigate his way to the finals. "He's a really tough kid, a really strong kid," said Stieber. "To see him do that is amazing. It doesn't really surprise me too much that he's in the finals." Top-seeded Jesse Delgado of Illinois is back in the NCAA finals at 125 pounds. The returning NCAA champion earned a 9-6 victory over Dylan Peters of Northern Iowa in the semifinals. He now faces Cornell's Nahshon Garrett for the second time this season. Delgado defeated Garrett 6-2 at the Grapple at the Garden in New York on Dec. 1. Chris Perry edged Mike Evans 3-2 in the semifinals (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)The NCAA finals match at 174 pounds is a battle of NCAA champions and Bedlam rivals, Chris Perry of Oklahoma State and Andrew Howe of Oklahoma. Perry won a tight battle in the semifinals over Iowa's Mike Evans, 3-2, in tiebreaker. Howe controlled Minnesota's Logan Storley in a 6-3 victory. Howe and Perry have split matches this season, with Perry winning the most recent meeting two weeks ago in the finals of the Big 12 Championships. The most recent meeting was filled with controversy and Perry feels like he has something to prove on Saturday night despite winning the most recent meeting. "People believe this guy is way better than me," Perry said of Howe. "They think I stole one in Norman. I want to go out tomorrow and prove that I can beat him twice." Perry likes where the team stands heading into Saturday with four wrestling in the NCAA finals. "I want to win this team title," said Perry. "We came here believing we could." Perry's teammate Josh Kindig (149), seeded No. 11, is the lowest seeded wrestler to reach the NCAA finals. He upended Midlands champion Mitch Minotti of Lehigh, 5-2, in the semifinals. Kindig will face freshman Jason Tsirtsis of Northwestern in the finals. Freshman Jason Tsirtsis edged top-seeded Drake Houdashelt in the semifinals (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)Tsirtsis, a Big Ten champion, has been on a roll. On Friday he knocked off NCAA champion Kendric Maple of Oklahoma in the quarterfinals before edging top-seeded Drake Houdashelt of Missouri in the semifinals. Tsirtsis is one of two freshmen in the NCAA finals, along with Missouri's J'den Cox at 197 pounds. The second-seeded Cox earned his spot in the finals with a 4-1 victory over Virginia Tech's Chris Penny. He will now face top-seeded Nick Heflin Ohio State. The NCAA finals match at 133 pounds is a classic Big Ten rivalry between Iowa's Tony Ramos and Wisconsin's Tyler Graff. Both reached the finals by defeating wrestlers seeded higher. Ramos used a five-point move late to win 5-1 over Edinboro's A.J. Schopp, avenging a loss from earlier in the season. Graff took out top-seeded Joe Colon of Northern Iowa, 6-4. Ramos and Graff have met several times throughout their careers, with Ramos having the upper hand in the rivalry. He edged Graff 2-1 in the Big Ten finals two weeks ago. "I'm ready Saturday night," said Ramos. "That's it. I've got one more match to go. I've been counting them down. I came here with five and now I have one left." Team Standings (Top 10) 1. Penn State 91 2. Minnesota 90.5 3. Oklahoma State 87.5 4. Iowa 67 5. Ohio State 52 6. Edinboro 48.5 7. Cornell 46.5 8. Virginia Tech 45.5 9. Oklahoma 45 10. Illinois 37 Semifinal Results 125: No. 1 Jesse Delgado (Illinois) dec. No. 5 Dylan Peters (Northern Iowa), 9-6 No. 2 Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) dec. No. 3 Nico Megaludis (Penn State), 6-4 133: No. 5 Tyler Graff (Wisconsin) dec. No. 1 Joe Colon (Northern Iowa), 6-4 No. 3 Tony Ramos (Iowa) dec. No. 2 A.J. Schopp (Edinboro), 5-1 141: No. 4 Devin Carter (Virginia Tech) maj. dec. No. 9 Evan Henderson (North Carolina), 12-3 No. 2 Logan Stieber (Ohio State) dec. No. 3 Zain Retherford (Penn State), 7-3 149: No. 5 Jason Tsirtsis (Northwestern) dec. No. 1 Drake Houdashelt (Missouri), 2-1 TB No. 11 Josh Kindig (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 15 Mitch Minotti (Lehigh), 5-2 157: No. 9 Dylan Ness (Minnesota) dec. No. 4 Ian Miller (Kent State), 6-4 No. 3 Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 7 Brian Realbuto (Cornell), 7-4 165: No. 1 David Taylor (Penn State) maj. dec. No. 4 Steve Monk (North Dakota State), 13-5 No. 2 Tyler Caldwell (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 3 Nick Sulzer (Virginia), 5-0 174: No. 1 Chris Perry (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 4 Mike Evans (Iowa), 3-2 TB No. 2 Andrew Howe (Oklahoma) dec. No. 6 Logan Storley (Minnesota), 6-3 184: No. 1 Jimmy Sheptock (Maryland) dec. No. 13 Jack Dechow (Old Dominion), 3-2 No. 2 Ed Ruth (Penn State) dec. No. 3 Gabe Dean (Cornell), 5-3 197: No. 1 Nick Heflin (Ohio State) dec. No. 4 Scott Schiller (Minnesota), 2-1 TB No. 2 J'den Cox (Missouri) dec. No. 14 Chris Penny (Virginia Tech), 4-1 285: No. 1 Tony Nelson (Minnesota) dec. No. 5 Bobby Telford (Iowa), 4-2 No. 2 Nick Gwiazdowski (North Carolina State) dec. No. 3 Adam Chalfant (Indiana), 5-4