InterMat Staff

The international wrestling federation FILA has announced the draw for the pool competition at the 2014 Freestyle World Cup, set for the Forum, presented by Chase, in Inglewood, Calif., March 15-16. The World Cup is the annual international dual meet championships, and will feature the top 10 men 's freestyle wrestling teams in the world. The random draw was conducted at the FILA Bureau meeting held in Rome, Italy on Friday, February 28. The top two teams from the 2013 Freestyle World Cup, Iran and Russia, were automatically placed in different pools. Pool A will feature returning World Cup champion Iran, host United States, India, Armenia and Turkey. The teams in Pool A had the following placements at the 2013 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary: Iran (1st), United States (5th), India (6th), Armenia (9th, tie) and Turkey (9th, tie). Pool B will feature returning World Cup runner-up Russia, Georgia, Ukraine, Mongolia and Japan. The teams in Pool B had the following placements at the 2013 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary: Russia (2nd), Georgia (3rd), Ukraine (4th), Mongolia (7th, tie) and Japan (14th). The World Cup field is split into two pools of five nations, with each team competing against the other four teams in its pool. The winning teams of each pool will compete for first place; second place in each pool will compete for third place; third place in each pool will compete for fifth place; fourth place in each pool will compete for seventh place and fifth place in each pool will compete for ninth place. Based upon the draw, the local organizing committee for the Freestyle World Cup has finalized the pool pairings for each session at the 2014 Freestyle World Cup. There are two competition sessions each day of the Freestyle World Cup On Saturday, March 15, Session I runs from 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Highlights of this session include the first two matches for host Team USA in Pool A, who will face Armenia and India. Returning champion Iran has its first match against Armenia. In Pool B, last year 's runner-up Russia has its first two bouts, going against Mongolia and Ukraine. Worldwide interest will be on the match between Russia and Ukraine at 2:00 p.m., with these nations in the news at this time. Session II on Saturday begins with the Opening Ceremony at 5:00 p.m. Competition begins at 5:30 p.m. and is scheduled to run through 9:30 p.m. Pool A competition comes first, and returning champion Iran has two matches. The two bouts at 6:30 p.m. will receive international attention due to international rivalries as host USA battles Iran, as well as the Turkey vs. Armenia match. In Pool B, Team Georgia will have two tough tests, facing Mongolia and Ukraine. Sunday, March 16 starts with Session III, scheduled from 11:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. The pool competition will be concluded in the first two hours of the session with two matches in each pool. The top three teams in last year 's World Cup, Iran, Russia and the United States, all have matches early in this session. Also scheduled for Session III are the fifth-place, seventh-place and ninth-place finals bouts. Session IV will conclude the competition, with the third-place match at 5:00 p.m. and the first-place Championship Match at 6:00 p.m. Awards ceremonies will follow the first-place match. Tickets are now available via Ticketmaster, through http://www.ticketmaster.com/, www.fabulousforum.com, and The Forum Box Office. The phone number for Ticketmaster is 800-745-3000. The discounted All-Session tickets for the two-day event will be available for a limited time, and at three price levels: General Admission (Sections 201-211 and 225-236) for $50 face value Preferred Seating (in the 100 levels) for $130 face value VIP (100 levels center mat) for $270 face value. All Ticketmaster purchases are subject to a convenience fee. For more information on the Freestyle World Cup, visit www.wrestlingworldcup.com FREESTYLE WORLD CUP at the Forum, presented by Chase, Inglewood, Calif., March 15-16 Competition Schedule Saturday, March 15 Session I 11:00 a.m. USA vs. Armenia; India vs. Turkey 12:00 noon USA vs. India; Iran vs. Armenia 1:00 p.m. Georgia vs. Japan, Mongolia vs. Russia 2:00 p.m. Japan vs. Mongolia; Ukraine vs. Russia 5:00 p.m. Opening Ceremonies Session II 5:30 p.m. Iran vs. Turkey; Armenia vs. India 6:30 p.m. USA vs. Iran; Turkey vs. Armenia 7:30 p.m. Mongolia vs. Georgia; Japan vs. Ukraine 8:30 p.m. Georgia vs. Ukraine; Russia vs. Japan Sunday, March 16 Session III 11:00 a.m. Iran vs. India, USA vs. Turkey 12:00 noon Russia vs. Georgia; Ukraine vs. Mongolia 1:30 p.m. Seventh-place match and Ninth-place match 2:30 p.m. Fifth-place match Session IV 5:00 p.m. Third-place match 6:00 p.m. First-place match and Award Ceremonies ABOUT USA WRESTLING USA Wrestling is the National Governing Body for the Sport of Wrestling in the United States and, as such, is its representative to the United States Olympic Committee and the International Wrestling Federation FILA. Simply, USA Wrestling is the central organization that coordinates amateur wrestling programs in the nation and works to create interest and participation in these programs. Its president is James Ravannack, and its Executive Director is Rich Bender. ABOUT FILA FILA, the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles, is the global governing body of the sport of wrestling. It works to promote the sport and facilitate the activities of its 177 national federations from around the world. It is based in Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Mid-American Conference wrestling coaches announced the seeding for all ten weight classes for the 2014 MAC Wrestling Championships on March 8-9. The 2014 MAC Wrestling Championships will be hosted by Kent State University. This year, Northern Iowa enters the MAC Wrestling Championship ranked No. 5 in the country and is the only undefeated wrestling program in the nation with a 13-0 record. Northern Iowa also was selected in the latest MAC Wrestling Coaches Rankings as the top MAC wrestling program, followed by No. 9 Missouri. Last year, Missouri ended Central Michigan's eleven-year run as Conference Tournament Champions. Missouri finished with 136 points, followed by second-place Central Michigan (88 points) and third-place Northern Iowa (83 points). 125: 1. Dylan Peters, Northern Iowa 2. Jared Germaine, Eastern Michigan 3. Brandon Jeske, Old Dominion 4. Corey Keener, Central Michigan 5. Barlow McGhee, Missouri 6. KeVon Powell, Ohio 7. Max Soria, Buffalo Alfredo Gray, Kent State Nick Harrison, Northern Illinois 133: 1. Joe Colon, Northern Iowa 2. Joe Roth, Central Michigan 3. Vinnie Pizzuto, Eastern Michigan 4. Mack McGuire, Kent State 5. Matt Manley, Missouri 6. Nick Smith, Northern Illinois 7. Kagan Squire, Ohio Michael Hayes, Old Dominion Justin Farmer, Buffalo 141: 1. Chris Mecate, Old Dominion 2. Zach Horan, Central Michigan 3. Joey Lazor, Northern Iowa 4. Lavion Mayes, Missouri 5. Tyler Small, Kent State 6. Noah Forrider, Ohio 7. Nick Flannery, Buffalo Tyler Argue, Northern Illinois Michael Shaw, Eastern Michigan 149: 1. Tywan Claxton, Ohio 2. Drake Houdashelt, Missouri 3. Michael DePalma, Kent State 4. Alexander Richardson, Old Dominion 5. Robert Jillard, Northern Illinois 6. Tyler Patten, Northern Iowa 7. Scott Mattingly, Central Michigan Nick Barber, Eastern Michigan Ryan Todora, Buffalo 157: 1. Ian Miller, Kent State 2. Luke Smith, Central Michigan 3. Joey Lavallee, Missouri 4. Tristan Warner, Old Dominion 5. Spartak Chino, Ohio 6. Brandon Zeerip, Eastern Michigan 7. Jarrett Jensen, Northern Iowa Andrew Morse, Northern Illinois Wally Maziarz, Buffalo 165: 1. Cooper Moore, Northern Iowa 2. Zach Toal, Missouri 3. Harrison Hightower, Ohio 4. Nick Becker, Central Michigan 5. Tyler Buckwalter, Kent State 6. Devin Geoghegan, Old Dominion 7. Shaun'qae McMurtry, Northern Illinois Jimmy Klosz, Eastern Michigan Jake Campana, Buffalo 174: 1. Billy Curling, Old Dominion 2. Mike Ottinger, Central Michigan 3. Cody Walters, Ohio 4. Cody Caldwell, Northern Iowa 5. Caleb Marsh, Kent State 6. Jacob Davis, Eastern Michigan 7. Mikey England, Missouri Matt Mougin, Northern Illinois Rrok Ndokaj, Buffalo 184: 1. Ryan Loder, Northern Iowa 2. John Eblen, Missouri 3. Jack Dechow, Old Dominion 4. Phillip Joseph, Eastern Michigan 5. Tony Lock, Buffalo 6. Craig Kelliher, Central Michigan 7. Caleb Busson, Northern Illinois Ryan Garringer, Ohio Cory Campbell, Kent State 197: 1. Phil Wellington, Ohio 2. J'den Cox, Missouri 3. Shawn Scott, Northern Illinois 4. Cole Baxter, Kent State 5. Nick Whitenburg, Eastern Michigan 6. Kevin Beazley, Old Dominion 7. Jackson Lewis, Central Michigan Angelo Malvestuto, Buffalo Jared Bartel, Northern Iowa 285: 1. Jeremy Johnson, Ohio 2. Devin Mellon, Missouri 3. Jared Torrence, Northern Illinois 4. Blaize Cabell, Northern Iowa 5. Khodor Hoballah, Eastern Michigan 6. Matt Tourdot, Old Dominion 7. Mimmo Lytle, Kent State Adam Robinson, Central Michigan James Benjamin, Buffalo

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The 2014 NAIA Wrestling National Championships preliminary brackets have been released, the national office announced Tuesday. Session one action inside the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka, Kan., is scheduled to get underway Friday at 10 a.m. CST. The 57th annual event will consist of four sessions, concluding Saturday with the championship finals starting at 7 p.m. Preliminary brackets are subject to change and are not considered official until the conclusion of team registration on Thursday. Official brackets will be released Thursday by 9 p.m. CST on NAIA.org. There will be 210 wrestlers representing 39 institutions taking to the mat, including six defending national champions and 43 returning All-Americans NeuLion, the NAIA’s official video streaming company of 17 select NAIA National Championship events, will be broadcasting the title bouts (Session IV) of the 2014 NAIA Wrestling National Championships on March 8. Packages can be purchased for $9.95. Brackets | Live Streaming Schedule | Rankings

The brackets have been released for the 2014 NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships, which take place March 14-15 in Cleveland, Ohio. See below for the participants and brackets. Brackets | Participants by School | Rankings

ROSEMONT Ill. -- The Big Ten Conference announced the preliminary seeds for the 2014 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, which are set for March 8-9 on the campus of the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wis. Five schools boast at least one top-seeded wrestler, with Penn State leading the way with five. Iowa, Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State will bring a seeded wrestler in each of the 10 weight classes, while Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin each boast a seeded grappler in nine classes. The pre-seeds, as voted on by the conference’s coaches, rank the top eight wrestlers in five weight classes, along with all 12 starters in five weight classes due to the Big Ten receiving eight or more NCAA Championships qualifier allocations in those classes. Each team enters the championships with a seeded wrestler in the 133-, 157-, 165-, 197- and 285-pound weight classes. Penn State holds five No. 1 seeds, with 125-pounder Nico Megaludis, 141-pounder Zain Retherford, 165-pounder David Taylor, 184-pounder Ed Ruth and 197-pounder Morgan McIntosh earning top billing in their weight classes. Nebraska brings two top-seeded grapplers into the championships, while Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin each hold one top-ranked wrestler. The Hawkeyes’ Tony Ramos (133), Wolverines’ Adam Coon (285) and Badgers’ Isaac Jordan (157) have each earned No. 1 seeds, while the Huskers’ Jake Sueflohn (149) and Robert Kokesh (174) round out the group of top-ranked grapplers. Four of this year’s top seeds advanced to the final of their weight class at last year’s Big Ten Championships, including two who took home titles. Ruth and Taylor each won their third conference crowns a season ago and aim to become just the 12th and 13th four-time winners in Big Ten history. Ramos and Sueflohn both advanced to the championship finale in their respective weight classes last year. This season, three freshmen earned No. 1 seeds entering the championships, including Coon, Jordan and Retherford. For more information on the 2014 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, visit the Big Ten Championships Central page on Wisconsin’s website. The complete list of Big Ten Championships pre-seeds can be found below. 125: 1. Nico Megaludis (Penn State) 2. Jesse Delgado (Illinois) 3. Cory Clark (Iowa) 4. Ryan Taylor (Wisconsin) 5. Conor Youtsey (Michigan) 6. Tim Lambert (Nebraska) 7. Camden Eppert (Purdue) 8. Nick Roberts (Ohio State) 133: 1. Tony Ramos (Iowa) 2. Tyler Graff (Wisconsin) 3. David Thorn (Minnesota) 4. Cashe Quiroga (Purdue) 5. Zane Richards (Illinois) 6. Johnni DiJulius (Ohio State) 7. Jimmy Gulibon (Penn State) 8. Rossi Bruno (Michigan) 9. Shawn Nagel (Nebraska) 10. Dom Malone (Northwestern) 11. Joe Duca (Indiana) 12. Garth Yenter (Michigan State) 141: 1. Zain Retherford (Penn State) 2. Logan Stieber (Ohio State) 3. Chris Dardanes (Minnesota) 4. Stephen Dutton (Michigan) 5. Josh Dziewa (Iowa) 6. Steven Rodrigues (Illinois) 7. Danny Sabatello (Purdue) 8. Jessie Thielke (Wisconsin) 149: 1. Jake Sueflohn (Nebraska) 2. Nick Dardanes (Minnesota) 3. Jason Tsirtsis (Northwestern) 4. Brody Grothus (Iowa) 5. Eric Grajales (Michigan) 6. Ian Paddock (Ohio State) 7. James English (Penn State) 8. Brandon Nelsen (Purdue) 157: 1. Isaac Jordan (Wisconsin) 2. James Green (Nebraska) 3. Dylan Ness (Minnesota) 4. Derek St. John (Iowa) 5. Dylan Alton (Penn State) 6. Taylor Walsh (Indiana) 7. Zac Brunson (Illinois) 8. Brian Murphy (Michigan) 9. Alex Griffin (Purdue) 10. Ben Sullivan (Northwestern) 11. Randy Languis (Ohio State) 12. Roger Wildmo (Michigan State) 165: 1. David Taylor (Penn State) 2. Nick Moore (Iowa) 3. Pierce Harger (Northwestern) 4. Dan Yates (Michigan) 5. Jackson Morse (Illinois) 6. Danny Zilverberg (Minnesota) 7. Ryan LeBlanc (Indiana) 8. Austin Wilson (Nebraska) 9. Pat Robinson (Purdue) 10. Joe Grandominico (Ohio State) 11. Bobby Nash (Michigan State) 12. Ben Cox (Wisconsin) 174: 1. Robert Kokesh (Nebraska) 2. Matt Brown (Penn State) 3. Mike Evans (Iowa) 4. Logan Storley (Minnesota) 5. Tony Dallago (Illinois) 6. Mark Martin (Ohio State) 7. Scott Liegel (Wisconsin) 8. Collin Zeerip (Michigan) 184: 1. Ed Ruth (Penn State) 2. Kevin Steinhaus (Minnesota) 3. Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa) 4. TJ Dudley (Nebraska) 5. Domenic Abounader (Michigan) 6. Kenny Courts (Ohio State) 7. Jackson Hein (Wisconsin) 8. John Rizqallah (Michigan State) 197: 1. Morgan McIntosh (Penn State) 2. Nick Heflin (Ohio State) 3. Scott Schiller (Minnesota) 4. Braden Atwood (Purdue) 5. Nathan Burak (Iowa) 6. Mario Gonzalez (Illinois) 7. Alex Polizzi (Northwestern) 8. Timmy McCall (Wisconsin) 9. Nick McDiarmid (Michigan State) 10. Caleb Kolb (Nebraska) 11. Chris Heald (Michigan) 12. Garret Goldman (Indiana) 285: 1. Adam Coon (Michigan) 2. Adam Chalfant (Indiana) 3. Mike McMullan (Northwestern) 4. Bobby Telford (Iowa) 5. Tony Nelson (Minnesota) 6. Mike McClure (Michigan State) 7. Connor Medbery (Wisconsin) 8. Jon Gingrich (Penn State) 9. Collin Jensen (Nebraska) 10. Nick Tavanello (Ohio State) 11. Alex White (Purdue) 12. Chris Lopez (Illinois)

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- When all was said and done at the end of Saturday night at the Ohio (OHSAA) State Wrestling Individual Tournament, there were no surprises in the team races as all three nationally ranked Fab 50 teams cruised to a state titles. Massillon Perry in Division I after years of being runner-up to power St. Ed's, Perry flexed its muscles putting seven in the finals after a perfect semifinal round. St. Paris Graham won a record 14th straight state title in Division II with four individual champions along with a runner-up and four other placers. Graham passed St. Ed's' record of 13 straight team state titles that they won from 1997-2009. Division III saw Delta win the state title in relatively easy fashion. Delta won it on the depth of the entire team as they did not have a single state champion this year. All three of these teams won the dual team state tournament as well this year. Micah Jordan won by pin in the state finalsMicah Jordan made history as he became a four-time state champion joining the likes of his brother Bo, dad Jeff and uncle Jim. The Jordan family is wrestling royalty at its finest in the state of Ohio and nationally. Micah made quick work this weekend with three pins and one technical fall. Jordan used brute strength to stack his finals opponent for the first-period pin. The Jordan family -- between Jim, Jeff, Ben, Isaac, Bo and Micah -- have 22 state titles, the most by any family in the nation. Micah will now join his brother next year at Ohio State. Don't worry fans there is one more Jordan on the way, Rocky, now an eighth-grader, will be sure to leave his mark next year in the lineup. Adding to Graham's riches this year in the finals was Eli Stickley, who broke through for his first state title with a dominating 9-0 major decision over Tariq Wilson of Steubenville. At 138 it was the freshman sensation Kyle Lawson of Saint Paris Graham, who was able to use the cow catcher to secure the second-period pin to capture his first state title. Returning state champion Alex Marinelli, ranked No. 11 nationally, was able to hold off Kordell Ford of Hillsboro, 9-8, for his second straight state title. Jordan wasn't the only four-time state champ tonight. Jacob Danishek of Dayton Christian, ranked No. 2 nationally, picked up his fourth state title. He got a big scare in his finals match as he was put to his back and almost pinned in the first period. Danishek fought off and was able to tie it to end the first at 5-5. After an escape by Zack Ladich of Roostown, a scrambled ensued until Danishek was able to secure the takedown and add back points for safe measure. Danishek will take his talents next year to Indiana University. The toughest bracket in the state tournament belonged to Division I 120 pounds where we saw multiple-time Fargo All-Americans and returning state placers do battle. Nationally ranked Austin Assad of Brecksville's bid for a state title was derailed when Jake Newhouse of Massillon Perry knocked him off in the quarterfinals Friday morning, 8-7. Instead taking home the state title on the strength of his takedown power was sophomore Alex Mackall of Walsh Jesuit as he defeated Newhouse. Next year will be no easier as all the state placers return from this meat grinder of a weight class. Very rarely do you get two state champions in the same weight class, let alone three state champions in the same weight class. In Division II 126 pounds we had three state champions in that weight class: Anthony Tutolo of Mentor Lake Catholic, Eli Seipel of St. Paris Graham and Cameron Kelly of Bellbrook. Again sticking with the theme of upsets in the quarterfinals, Seipel was upset in the tiebreaker, losing 5-4 to Devin Rodgers of Springfield Northwestern. Seipel did rebound to take third, defeating Rodgers in the placement match. However the weight class belonged to Tutolo as he was able to rack up multiple takedowns in the finals over Kelly to collect his second state title at 126 pounds. No. 12 Hayden Lee knocked off No. 4 Jose RodriguezThe only match of the night between nationally ranked wrestlers in the finals happened at the Division I 113-pound weight class. No. 4-ranked and returning state champion Jose Rodriguez of Massillon Perry took on No. 12 Hayden Lee of Marysville. These two had met earlier in the year at the Top Gun tournament right after Rodriguez returned from injury. Lee defeated him 3-0 in that meet. This time Lee struck first again as he secured a takedown. Rodriguez kept the pressure on Lee, but Lee was able to get a takedown late in the third to defeat Rodriguez again this time 5-2. Massillon Perry had seven state finalists this year and came away with three champions. David Bavery, a state champion in 2012, returned to the top this year as he came up with a sudden victory 3-1 decision over Josh Parrett in the finals. Bavery was able to capitalize on a scramble to come out on top in the overtime period for his second state title. Joining Bavery on top of the podium was Casey Sparkman at 152 pounds, who outlasted scrappy sophomore Ben Darmstadt, 11-8. Tony Dailey rebounded after losing in the district finals to defeat A.J. Kowal of Cincinnati Princeton, 6-5. Dailey was able to get a third-period takedown that was the difference in a match that was full of back-and-forth action.

STANFORD, Calif. -- The Stanford wrestling team crowned four individual champions, the most in school history, on its way to a second-place finish (134.0 points) at the 2014 Pac-12 Wrestling Championships, Sunday, at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif. Five Cardinal wrestlers earned automatic berths to the NCAA Championships, tying for the most in school history. Senior 197 pounder Dan Scherer knocked-off ninth-ranked Taylor Meeks of Oregon State in the finals, 4-2 in sudden victory, and was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler. It is the first conference championship for the St. Louis, Mo., native, who is 20-4 on the year. “With it tied up going into overtime, I felt I was dictating the match the whole time,” said Scherer. “I could feel him breaking down and getting tired towards the end there. Meeks is really good with his hips, so you’ve got to pick your shots and get in clean when you can.” Redshirt senior Ryan Mango, ranked No. 9 at 133 pounds, became Stanford’s fifth two-time conference champion, defeating 17th-ranked Devon Lotito of Cal Poly 5-2. A two-time All-American, Mango also won a Pac-12 Championship at 125 pounds in 2012 as he moves to 27-3 on the year. He joins Jeff Bradley (1985, 1986), Dave Lee (1985, 1986), Tanner Gardner (2007, 2008) and Nick Amuchastegui (2010, 2012) as repeat champions. Sophomore Evan Silver became Stanford’s 16th conference champion with an 8-6 decision over Rami Haddidian of Boise State at 125 pounds. The Chevy Chase, Md., native, who finished as the Pac-12 runner-up as a redshirt freshman in 2013, improves to 23-4 on the season. Redshirt freshman Jim Wilson secured the 165-pound title with a convincing 5-1 decision over Arizona State’s Nick Rex. Wilson becomes the first Cardinal freshman to win a conference championship since Jimmy Aguirre in 1993. Wilson registered a major decision over Cal Poly’s Travis Berridge in the first round and a 12-4 major decision against Oregon State’s Toney Chay in the semifinals to move to 33-6 on the year. His 33 wins are the third-most by a freshman in school history. “It is just an absolute thrill to win a championship,” said Wilson. “Thinking about all the work that we put in during the season, running at 5:30 in the morning, all of our training, and all of our drilling. In the end it paid off.” Senior Kyle Meyer finished third at 174 pounds, and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. Meyer defeated Boise State’s Austin Dewey, 9-4, in the third-place bout. He is having his most successful season with the Cardinal, moving to 26-11 overall. Redshirt freshman heavyweight Josh Marchok also finished in the top half of his bracket. The Schaumburg, Ill., native pinned Cal Poly’s Spencer Empey in 1:30 to place third in the conference. It marked his fifth fall of the season. Oregon State won the team title with 155.5 points, crowning three champions while three other Beavers finished as the runner-ups. Stanford’s second-place finish is the highest under sixth-year head coach Jason Borrelli, and ties for the best in school history. It is just the third time the Cardinal has finished as the runner-up and the first since 2008. Mango has now qualified for the NCAA Championships for the fourth time in his career. Scherer and Silver are both two-time NCAA qualifiers, while Meyer and Wilson will make their first appearances. Stanford will head to the NCAA Championships in Oklahoma City, Okla., March 20-22 to close out its 2013-14 season.

WILKES-BARRE -- The No. 8 Wilkes University wrestling team saw two wrestlers win titles and six qualify for the NCAA Championships as the Colonels captured their first East Regional championship held at King's College Sunday afternoon. Mark Hartenstine (Easton, PA/Easton) (149) and Kris Krawchuk (Slatington, PA/Northern Lehigh) (157) each earned championships at the event, while Myzar Mendoza (Westminster, MD/Winters Mill) finished second at 133, Kyle Diesel (Westtown, NY/Minisink Valley) third at 174, Eric Bach (Newton, NJ/Kittatiny) third at 197 and William Fletcher (Ottsville, PA/Palisades) third at 285. To qualify for the NCAA Tournament, a wrestler must finish in the top three of his weight class. The six qualifications is the most under head coach Jon Laudenslager and the most since the Colonels sent five wrestlers to NCAA's in 2009 when the squad won the Metropolitan Championship. Wilkes captured its first team title at the regionals finishing with 106.5 total points, one point higher than second place Ursinus College (105.5). Delaware Valley finished third with 102.5 points. Hartenstine, the fourth ranked wrestler in the country at 149-pounds, claimed the title with a 6-0 decision over Dylan Thorsen of TCNJ. With the win, Hartenstine moved to 35-1 overall and will make his second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament after finishing second last year at the regional event. Hartenstine cruised through the bracket pinning Brian Walsh of Scranton in the first round before a 4-0 win over Mason Goretsas of Muhlenberg. Hartenstine then faced his stiffest competition of the day in Delaware Valley's Vinny Fava in the semifinals where he pushed through with a 3-2 decision victory on his way to the championship bout. Krawchuk showed why he is the returning national finalist at 157-pounds claiming the title with a decisive 7-3 win over Delaware Valley's Emmanuel Ajagbe in the finals. Krawchuk went technical fall, 4-2 decision, 5-4 decision to reach the finals. He will make his second straight strip to the NCAA's (finished second at the East Regional last year) looking to becoming a back-to-back All-American and a return trip to the championship bout. Mendoza was the first Colonel to wrestle in the finals settling for second when he fell 12-5 in the championship bout to No. 5 Ryan O'Boyle. Mendoza rolled through to the finals with an 8-5, and 6-0 decision wins in the quarterfinal and semifinals. Mendoza will make his first trip to the NCAA Tournament in his final year at Wilkes. At 174-pounds, Diesel pinned his way to the NCAA Championships using a fall in 2:27 over Ron Tassoni in the third place bout. After falling 3-2 to eventual champion No. 7 Zach Zotollo of TCNJ in the semifinals, Diesel was on a mission in the consolation bracket to secure third place. He scored a 2-0 decision over Chris Amro of NYU before the claiming the NCAA qualification via fall. Bach became the fifth Wilkes wrestler to qualify for the NCAA's taking third at 197 with a 6-4 decision over Chris Silakoski of Scranton. Bach used two decision wins (8-2 and 4-0) before a 1:58 fall to reach the third place bout. It marked the first time Bach qualified for the championship event in his three years at Wilkes. Fletcher concluded the six Wilkes qualifiers grabbing third place and his second straight NCAA trip with a 5-4 decision over Paul Kopczynski. He reached the third place bout with a 7-2 decision, pin (5:19) and 6-4 decision all in the consolation bracket. Guesseppe Rea (Stroudsburg, PA/Stroudsburg) finished fifth at 125-pounds using a 9-2 win over Ursinus' Christopher Donaldson in the fifth place bout. Rea began the day with a major decision over Wayne Yuan of NYU before posting a 6-3 decision in the quarterfinals against Rob Murray. Rea dropped a 5-2 decision in the semifinals to eventual champion Paul Bewak of Johns Hopkins. Hartenstine, Krawchuk, Mendoza, Diesel, Bach, and Fletcher will compete for a chance at All-American status March 15-16 at the NCAA Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. Outstanding Wrestler: Chris Burdge, Centenary Coach of the Year: Bill Racich, Ursinus Assistant Coach of the Year: Mitch Marcks, Wilkes

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. -- The No. 1 ranked Notre Dame College wrestling team produced a dominant display to win the NCAA Division II Super Region I Wrestling Tournament on Sunday afternoon. Four Falcons claimed individual titles and five further Falcons secured top three finishes to advance to the NCAA Division II National Tournament in Cleveland, March 14-15. NDC finished with 115.5 points, ahead of No.11 Pitt-Johnstown who finished with 90.5 points. No.7 Mercyhurst University finished in third place with 83 points and No.16 Kutztown University rounded put the top four with 55 points. Maurice Miller at 141 pounds and Joey Davis at 174 pounds claimed regional titles for the second year in a row. Jonatan Rivera at 157 pounds and Eric Burgey at 165 pounds each claimed their first regional titles. Maurice Miller was impressive at 141 pounds recording a 4-1 decision victory in the semifinals and a 7-4 decision victory in the final. Miller was a fourth place finisher at last years National Tournament and will look to become a two time All-American at this years tournament. Joey Davis continued his perfect collegiate career with two more victories to move to 35-0 this season and 65-0 in his career. Davis recorded a 15-3 major decision victory in his semifinal before winning his final 8-5. Jonatan Rivera, who finished fourth at last years regional tournament, produced two solid wins on day two to claim the title at 157 pounds. Rivera won his semifinal 3-1 and then won his final 3-2. Eric Burgey claimed the title at 165 pounds with a 302 victory in the semifinal followed by a 7-3 victory in the final. Burgey won the National title at 174 pounds last year and will look to repeat that feat at 165 pounds in Cleveland. In addition to the four title the Falcons also secured four second place finishes with Marty Carlson (133 pounds), Andrew Bannister (149 pounds), Garrett Lineberger (184 pounds) and Brandonn Johnson (197 pounds) all reaching the finals in their weight class. Senior Brian Hauser qualified for his first NCAA DII National Tournament, having just missed out last year, finishing in third place at 125 pounds. Hauser is a Brush High school graduate and will wrestle for a National title in his hmetown of Cleveland, March 14-15. "We had a really good tournament," said Head Wrestling Coach Frank Romano. "We wrestled well on our feet and it was great to get nine out of ten guys through to the National Tournament. The semifinal round was key for us, as only the top-three from each weight class qualified, we managed to get eight through to finals. We will now start to prepare for the National Tournament and look forward to wrestling in front of our hometown fans."

Related: Results | Photos PALO ALTO, Calif. -- The Oregon State wrestling team won its third consecutive Pac-12 Championship, with three wrestlers claiming individual titles on Sunday evening. Joey Delgado was one of three champions for Oregon State (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)While all 10 Beaver wrestlers tallied top-three finishes, Joey Delgado (141), Scott Sakaguchi (149), and RJ Pena (157) each collect individual Pac-12 titles. Joe Latham (174), Meeks (197), and Dhesi (HWT) second-place finishes, and Pat Rollins (125), Joey Palmer (133), Toney Chay (165), and Austin Morehead (184) end the day with third-place finishes. Automatic NCAA Berths: Palmer (133) earned a third place finish with a win over CSU Bakersfield’s Mendoza. The Pac-12 was allotted three seeds at the 133 lb. weight class, meaning Palmer earns an automatic berth to nationals. Delgado (141) won his first individual Pac-12 Championship, giving him an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. As a conference champion, he will be seeded high going into nationals. Sakaguchi (149) won his second individual Pac-12 title, earning him an automatic bid to NCAA’s. Sakaguchi has been ranked all year and with this latest triumph, he will see a high seeding. Pena (157) collected his second Pac-12 Championship, giving him an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. With one of the best records in the country and a conference title under his belt, Pena will be one of the top seeds in his weight class. Latham (174) tallied a second-place finish after falling to CSU Bakersfield’s Hammond. The Pac-12 was allotted three seeds for the 174 lb. weight class, meaning that Latham’s second-place finish earns him an automatic bid to the show. Meeks (197) finished the tournament with a second-place mark, after being defeated by Stanford’s Scherer. The Pac-12 was given two allotments at the 197 lb. weight class, giving Meeks an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. Dhesi (HWT), a true freshman, earned his way to the NCAA Tournament with a second-place finish behind Boise State’s J.T. Felix. With two allotments for the Pac-12 at HWT, Dhesi will round out the group of automatic bids. As Rollins, Chay and Morehead earned third-place finishes at Pac-12’s, they add to their resumes when the D1 Wrestling Association determines the 40 at-large bids. Those will be released March 12. Team Standings: Oregon State: 155.5 Stanford: 134.0 Boise State: 128.5 Arizona State: 111.0 CSU Bakersfield: 109.5 Cal Poly: 74.5

STILLWATER, Okla. -- Oklahoma State wrestling closed out its dual season with a 43-6 win over American. The dual was highlighted by wins from the four starting Cowboy seniors, three of which were falls. Altogether, the Cowboys earned five bonus-point victories with four falls and a major decision. "It's what you like to see at the end of the year," coach John Smith said. "Those are always big bonus points for us during tournaments, and it's the postseason for us now. Falls, tech-falls and major decisions are what it's all about from here on out." Taking to the mat for the final time in Gallagher-Iba Arena was Jon Morrison (133), Tyler Caldwell (165), Chris Perry (174) and Blake Rosholt (197). The Cowboys secured the first six points of the day when the Eagles forfeited the bout at 125 pounds. Fourth-ranked Morrison finished his time in Gallagher-Iba with a 9-3 decision over Esteban Gomez-Rivera of American. The Cowboy finishes the regular season 23-1. "I couldn't have picked a better school to come wrestle for, and I feel so lucky that I got to wrestle in front of such great fans and all my friends that I've made here over the past five years," Morrison said. "So many great wrestlers came before me here and there will be a lot of great wrestlers after me here, so it's an honor to be part of that Cowboy tradition." At 141 pounds, true freshman and No. 17 Anthony Collica finished his first dual season as a Cowboy with an 8-3 win over AU's Spencer Slishman. Josh Kindig, ranked 9th at 149 pounds, earned the first fall of the day, sticking Cole Moseley in 3:25. The lone loss for the Pokes came at 157 pounds, where Colton Thomas stepped into the lineup for the Pokes and faced John Boyle. Caldwell had the fastest fall of the day, pinning Cristian Mayasa in 1:54. The Sooner-turned-Cowboy finished the 2013-14 regular season, 22-3, with three falls. "It's been a good experience, but I still have two big tournaments left. To me, it wasn't really about finishing up my career," Caldwell said. "It has been a great two years here. The fans have been great, and we're looking to finish it off right in the next three weeks." Stillwater, Okla., native Chris Perry earned his final win of the regular season in the form of a 4:36 fall over Keithen Cast. The defending 174-pound national champion went 34-1 inside the walls of GIA during his time at OSU. "It's always good to get a pin at this time of the year. I feel like this is my time of the year," Perry said. "I woke up knowing it was March yesterday, and if you're a wrestler, that's an exciting time. This is the time that I would get excited about since I was little kid. Something I've always wanted to do was finish my career out the right way; only losing once ever in Gallagher is nice for me. The fans are great here, and I've loved every minute of it and I wouldn't trade it for the world." Redshirt freshman Nolan Boyd added four points to the team score with his 10-1 major decision over Jason Grimes. The win was Boyd's 28th of the year and his sixth major decision. At 197 pounds, Blake Rosholt made his final appearance in Gallagher-Iba after sitting out much of the season due to injury. Rosholt finished out his dual season with a bang, defeating Brett Dempsey by fall in 2:48. "It's awesome to go out like that," Rosholt said. "It's awesome to just think that I've been here with some of my best friends like Chris and Tyler the last couple of years, and Jon and all these guys in my class. To come out and put on a good show for the last dual of our career in Gallagher-Iba, it was great." The dual was finished out with a 4-3 decision from Austin Marsden over Blake Herrin to secure the 11th dual victory for the Pokes this season. The Cowboys begin postseason action on March 8 in Norman, Okla., as they look for their 46th conference championship title. "We are now solely focused on postseason play now," Smith said. "I think it's about individual performances and the team will take care of itself if the individual performances take care of themselves." Results: 125: No. 13 Eddie Klimara (OSU) wins by forfeit 133: No. 4 Jon Morrison (OSU) dec. Esteban Gomez-Rivera (AU), 9-3 141: No. 17 Anthony Collica (OSU) dec. Spencer Slishman (AU), 8-3 149: No. 9 Josh Kindig (OSU) fall Cole Moseley (AU), 3:25 157: John Boyle (AU) fall Colton Thomas (OSU), 3:13 165: No. 5 Tyler Caldwell (OSU) fall Cristian Mayasa (AU), 1:54 174: No. 2 Chris Perry (OSU) fall Keithen Cast (AU), 4:36 184: Nolan Boyd (OSU) MD Jason Grimes (AU), 10-1 197: Blake Rosholt (OSU) fall Brett Dempsey (AU), 2:48 285: No. 15 Austin Marsden (OSU) dec. Blake Herrin (AU), 4-3

Related: Results | All-Americans | Team Standings SPOKANE, Wash. -- Although the Northeastern Oklahoma A&M (NEO) Golden Norsemen were in their first year as a newly reinstated program and came into the NJCAA National Wrestling Championships ranked No. 2, they would lead the tournament from wire-to-wire. NEO wrestlers and staffIn the Spokane Convention Center over the past two days, the Golden Norsemen, led by head coach Joe Renfro, had eight wrestlers in the quarterfinals and led top-ranked Clackamas 42 to 34.5, and Northwest (Wyoming) had 32 points. After the quarters, Renfro and his squad from Northeastern Oklahoma A&M pushed five wrestlers into the semifinals and widened their lead. In the semifinals NEO would win four of five matches, putting four Golden Norsemen in the finals and elevating their point total to 150 points, 26 points more than Northwest (Wyoming), who has 124 points. The No. 4 Trappers moved ahead of top-ranked Clackamas after the semifinals. After the semifinals and medal rounds, NEO maintained a twenty-five point lead with four finalists. Northwest Wyoming had 140 points and three finalists. At the end of the semifinals, and prior to the semifinal consolation matches, NEO would win four of five bouts starting at 125 pounds, where Josh Walker (NEO) won by decision over Matthew Nguyen (SW Oregon), 4-2. Michael Williams (NEO) would punch his ticket to the finals with a 5-3 decision over Matt Gay of SW Oregon. The Golden Norse's Zack Dobbins would keep the string of wins going at 149 with a 5-1 victory over Tyler Nation of Iowa Western. At 174, Joe Renfro's Norse would go 4-for-4 as Payne Hatter picked up bonus points with a major decision over Brandon Sorenson of Iowa Lakes, 14-2. Looking to go 5-for-5 in the semifinals, Evan McGee would take Malcolm Allen (Iowa Central) to over-time before falling by 3-1, sudden victory-1. Freddie RodriguezGoing onto the finals, NEO had the NJCAA title locked up, and there wasn't much room for movement with any of the top 15 teams. With their comfortable lead, NEO was looking for individual titles, but almost ended up being a team that would win a national title without an individual champion. In the finals at 125 pounds, Freddie Rodriguez (Iowa Lakes) won by decision over Josh Walker (Northeastern Oklahoma A&M), 6-1. NEO would not fare any better at their next two weights as Zac Loveless (Northwest College) won by major decision over Michael Williams (NEO), 9-0, at 141 pounds. Nosomy Pozo (North Iowa) also won by major decision over Zack Dobbins (NEO), 18-6, at 149 pounds. NEO's last chance for an individual champion came at 174 pounds, and the Golden Norse would get their wish as Payne Hatter (NEO) won by decision over Jared Johnson (Colby), 6-3 In other finals matches, C.J. Palmer (Clackamas) won the 133-pound title with a 4-0 decision over John Dillon (Mercyhurst). Yoanse Mejias at 157 pounds would give North Iowa their second titlist as he would win by decision over Richie Lewis (Iowa Central), 7-3. At 165, Diorian Coleman of Northwest would stop Colby's Calvin Ochs with a 3-1 decision. Back-to-back pins at 184 pounds and 197 pounds would add some great excitement at the NJCAA tournament. Adrian Salas (Clackamas) pinned Matt Hurford (Ellsworth) in three minutes at 184 pounds. At 197 pounds, V.J. Giulio (North Idaho) only needed 1:29 to pin Jon Wixom (Northwest). In the final match of the night, DeQuence Goodman (Lincoln) earned a 4-3 decision over Malcolm Allen (Iowa Central) at heavyweight. Tournament awards included NJCAA Wrestling Man of the Year went to Bob Purcell of Minnesota West. The NJCAA Academic Team of the Year award went to Highline, with a team GPA of 3.49. The newly elected NJCAA Wrestling Hall of Fame inductees included Jose Medina, former Triton College and University of Nebraska at Omaha wrestler; Matt Lindland, former Clackamas Community College and University of Nebraska wrestler and Olympic athlete; former North Idaho College and Montana State University Northern wrestler; and Pat Whitcomb, former North Idaho College, Oklahoma University, and Western Montana wrestler and four-time NJCAA championship head coach at NIC. NEO coachesV.J. Giulio, the 197-pound champion from North Idaho College, was named the Ernest Gould Outstanding Wrestler. The Bruce Traphagen Fall Award went to Iowa Westerns's 285-pound Chris Schleuger. The Joseph Rockenbach Sportsmanship Award recipient was Zach Loveless, Northwest College. Coaches of the Year awards went to Randy Rager, Rochester Community and Technical College, Non-Scholarship Division, and to Joe Renfro, Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, scholarship division. Finals Results: 125: No. 8 Freddie Rodriguez (Iowa Lakes) dec. No. 1 Josh Walker (NEO), 6-1 133: No. 1 C.J. Palmer (Clackamas) dec. John Dillon (Mercyhurst), 4-0 141: No. 3 Zac Loveless (Northwest) maj. dec. No. 5 Michael Williams (NEO), 9-0 149: No. 9 Nosomy Pozo (NIACC) maj. dec. No. 12 Zack Dobbins (NEO), 18-6 157: No. 3 Yoanse Mejias (NIACC) dec. Richie Lewis (Iowa Central), 7-3 165: No. 5 Diorian Coleman (Northwest) dec. No. 6 Calvin Ochs (Colby), 3-1 174: No. 1 Payne Hatter (NEO) dec. No. 6 Jared Johnson (Colby), 6-3 184: No. 1 Adrian Salas (Clackamas) pinned No. 2 Matt Hurford (Ellsworth), 3:00 197: No. 3 V.J. Giulio (North Idaho) pinned No. 9 Jon Wixom (Northwest), 1:29 285: No. 1 DeQuence Goodman (Lincoln) dec. No. 6 Malcolm Allen (Iowa Central), 4-3 Final Team Standings: 1. Northeastern Oklahoma A&M 169 2. Northwest 149 3. Clackamas 139 4. Colby 84.5 5. Neosho County 83 6. North Idaho 72 7. Iowa Central 66 8. Ellsworth 65.5 9. Muskegon 62 10. NIACC 60 11. RCTC 52.5 12. Iowa Lakes 51.5 13. Iowa Western 51 14. Lincoln 50 15. Southwestern Oregon 45 16. Harper 43.5 17. Darton 39.5 18. Labette 29.5 19. Mercyhurst 27.5 19. Spartanburg Methodist 27.5 21. Niagara County 24 22. Northwest Kansas Tech 23 23. Jamestown 22.5 24. Gloucester 22 25. Ridgewater 19.5 26. Nassau 19 27. Northland 15 28. Itasca 14.5 29. Highline 12.5 30. Springfield Tech 12 31. Waubonsee 10.5 32. Bergen 9.5 32. Pratt 9.5 34. Western Wyoming 9 35. Triton 7.5 36. Middlesex 6 37. SUNY Sullivan 5 38. Minnesota West 0 38. Wentworth 0

The brackets have been released for the 2014 Pac-12 Wrestling Championships, which take place Sunday at Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto, Calif. View Brackets

Grand Canyon won the National Collegiate Wrestling Association Regional in St. George, Utah Saturday, advancing all 11 of its wrestlers to the NCWA Championships in Allen, Tex., March 13-15. Ranked No. 1 in the NCWA and winners of the NCWA Collegiate Cup (dual tournament) last month, the Antelopes won 10 of 11 weight classes and had one runner-up finish in the tournament hosted by Dixie State College. AJ Salazar (125), Lino Estrada (133), Zach Zehner (141), Mike Hamel (149), Bryant Wood (157), Juan Carlos Maynes (165), Martin Fabbian (174), Austin Gaun (184), Marcus Haughian (197) and Peter Anguiano (285) all went 2-0 on the day and won titles. Hamel was named the tournament's most outstanding wrestler. Nate Zobott was runner-up in the 235-class. GCU scored 220 points. BYU was second with 97. Dixie State had 95. Along with winning the Cup, GCU picked up 24 points to be attributed to the NCWA Championships in Allen. "We have to get ready for a big step up in competition for the nationals," said GCU coach R.C. LaHaye. "We will have to do that to win a national title." Grand Canyon is ineligible, due to the four-year transitioning period from moving from Division II to Division I, to compete in NCAA Championships. The NCWA provides post season opportunities to programs in similar situations and those colleges and universities that don't have programs at the NCAA level.

Related: Results TIFFIN, Ohio -- The No. 14 UIndy Wrestling team won its program-first NCAA Division II regional championship Saturday, behind three individual Regional titles and eight total placers. In addition to the three Regional winners, seven total Greyhounds punched their tickets to the NCAA Division II National Championships, matching the most ever to make the national meet by a UIndy wrestling team. In recognition of his team's accomplishments, Head Coach Jason Warthan was named Super Region 2 Coach of the Year at the conclusion of the meet. Representing UIndy at the 2014 NCAA Division II National Championships will be Alex Johns (125), Josh Kieffer (133), Justin Kieffer (141), Cameryn Brady (149), Sheldon Struble (157), Jeff Weiss (165) and Evan Wooding (285). Of these wrestlers, Justin, Brady and Weiss earned Regional Championships in their brackets, with the three titles marking the most ever won by UIndy at the Regional meet. In addition, Josh took home a runner-up finish at 133, with Johns and Wooding winning third-place titles. Struble took fifth place at 157, while Taylor Scott finished just outside of the National qualification in sixth place at 197. Justin Kieffer (24-4) took home his first career Regional Championship at 141 behind a 2-0 day. He will make his second Nationals apppearance, after also qualifying a year ago. In his semifinal match, Justin pinned Newberry's No. 3 BJ Young in 4:23, and followed with a 4-1 decision over No. 6 Daniel Owenby of North Carolina-Pembroke in the 141 final match. No. 7 Cameryn Brady (33-1) will also make his second NCAA Division II National Championship appearance, after finishing seventh as an All-American at 149 a season ago. Brady defeated Maryville's Joey Moorhouse 7-1 in his semifinal match, and bested No. 8 Kyle Williams of McKendree 7-1 in the finals to take his first NCAA Regional title. At 165, No. 6 Jeff Weiss (29-6) defeated Maryville's No. 8 Dimitri Willis for the second time in two weeks, taking an 8-2 decision in his semifinal match. He then defeated No. 7 Nick Haferkamp of McKendree in the finals, 8-7, to take his first NCAA Regional title and make his first trip to Nationals. The senior won his 100th career match with the victory over Haferkamp, becoming just the 12th Greyhound in program history to reach the 100-win milestone. Josh Kieffer (15-5) opened the day with a 5-4 win over Anderson's Zak Hale in the semifinals, but fell to No. 2 Michael Labry of Ashland in the final, 9-3 to take second place in the 133 bracket. With the finish, Josh will make his second appearance at the national meet, where he was an All-American at 125 two seasons ago with a sixth place finish. At 125, No. 4 Johns (27-3) lost a hard-fought overtime battle to Findlay's Ben Sergent in the semifinals, 7-4, but rebounded with a 2-0 win over Belmont Abbey's Patrick Mestrez in the consolation semifinals to earn a place in the third place match. Johns closed out his tournament with a 5-1 win over Maryville's Brandon Oshiro to take third and make his third trip to the national meet, where he was an All-American with a fifth place finish at 125 a season ago. Wooding (27-8) won three matches on day two en route to the third place title at 285. He opened the day with an 8-0 major decision over Limestone's Devin Pommerenke, and followed with a 6-2 victory in the consolation semifinals over UNC-Pembroke's No. 6 Chris Giddens, avenging a regular-season loss. The senior then avenged another regular-season loss with a 3-2 win over No. 7 Matt Wade of Newberry, with the victory also good for his 100th in a Greyhound singlet, becoming the 13th to the win total after Weiss. Wooding will make his second trip to nationals for UIndy, after also making the NCAA meet a season ago. Freshman Sheldon Struble (15-16) will make his first nationals appearance, after taking fifth at 157. Struble pinned Limestone's Norman Manning in 3:45 to open his day two, but followed with a loss to Taylor Knapp of newberry in the consolation semis, 4-1. He punched his ticket to his first nationals with an injury default win in the fifth place match. Taylor Scott (16-10) took sixth at the meet in the 197 bracket, closing out his UIndy career. Seniors Shelby Mappes (19-12) and George Lopez (10-16) also closed out their Greyhound careers at the meet. The seven national qualifiers will face off with the nation's best at the 2014 NCAA Division II National Championships March 14-15 in Cleveland.

Related: Results KEARNEY, Neb. -- The second-ranked Nebraska-Kearney wrestling team won the 2014 NCAA Central Regional and qualified six individuals for nationals Saturday afternoon in Edmond, Okla. UNK, two-time defending national champions, tallied 106.5 points to beat 8th-ranked Lindenwood (199.5), 3rd-ranked St. Cloud State (99), 15th-ranked Fort Hays State (89), 17th-ranked Ouachita Baptist, Ark. (85) and 4th-ranked Central Oklahoma (83) in a very competitive 17-team race. The Central Region, arguably the nation's toughest, sends the top five finishers in each weight class to the NCAA Championships March 14-15 in Cleveland. With so much competition, the teams beat each other up the past two days. Lindenwood (seven) has the most national qualifiers followed by the Lopers and SCSU with six a piece and then four schools (Hays, UCO, OBU and Upper Iowa) each with five. Three other regionals are being held around the country this weekend; there's a good chance No. 1 College of Notre Dame (Ohio), No. 5 Newberry, S.C. and several others will have seven or more national qualifiers. Defending national champion Daniel DeShazer (133 lbs.), defending national runner up Romero Cotton (197 lbs.) and senior Patrick Martinez (174 lbs.) won their respective weight classes with senior Mark Fiala (184 lbs.) coming in second. Also heading to Cleveland will be seniors Brock Coutu (141 lbs.) and Brock Smith (165 lbs.), who each finished fourth. After sophomore Connor Bolling (125 lbs.) was eliminated yesterday, three more Lopers saw their 2013-14 seasons come to an end today. Senior Kelsey Empting (285 lbs.) and sophomore Chase White (157 lbs.) lost in consolation third round matches with redshirt freshman Destin McCauley (149 lbs.) falling in the fifth place bout, one win shy of a nationals trip. Martinez (Hemet, Calif.), ranked fourth nationally, is 21-1 after going 5-0 this weekend. Having two majors and a tech fall, he beat Josh Rodriguez of Hays, 4-2, to earn his first regional title. Two classes higher, the top-ranked Cotton (Hutchinson, Kans.) had a showdown with 2nd-ranked Carl Broghammer of Upper Iowa in the 197 lbs. finals. In a de facto national championship match, Cotton managed to win by a 5-3 score, giving Broghammer just his third defeat in 41 matches. Now 19-3, Cotton slipped past 7th-ranked Tanner Kriss of Hays, 4-3, in the semis. Fiala (Seward) upset the third and fourth ranked individuals at 184 lbs. but couldn't get past Jon Inman of Hays in the finals, 7-3. He is now 32-15 on the year and tied with Bolling for the team lead in wins. Ranked No. 1 thanks to the only two wins over UCO's Chris Watson this year, Smith (Gering) fell to Watson in the 165 lbs. semis, 7-4. After a key win over a St. Cloud wrestler, he lost to Central Missouri's Ty Loethen, 9-7, for third place. Falls were the order of the day for Coutu (Griswold, Conn.). He secured a trip to nationals with a 1:41 pin of UIU's Jordan Roths but both of his setbacks came by fall, the last being to OBU's Josh Myers in the third place match. McCauley (No. Sioux City, S.D.) reached the 149 lbs. semis but lost to the second, fourth and fifth ranked wrestlers in the country in succession. One of those setbacks came in sudden victory, 5-3, to Lindenwood's Terrel Wilbourn. Finally, DeShazer (Wichita) won a rematch of last year's 133 lbs. national title match with SCSU's Andy Pokorny and then defeated 7th-ranked Josh Rodriguez of OBU to win. SCSU heavyweight Austin Goergen won the Most Falls, Least Time Award (three/3:04) with UCM 149-pounder Frank Cagnina named the M.O.W.

Related: Results DUBUQUE, Iowa -- The No. 1 ranked Wartburg wrestling team won its second consecutive NCAA Regional Championship with 157 team points. Senior Kenny Anderson (Billerica, Mass.) was named the tournament's outstanding wrestler. Anderson avenged his loss against Jimmy Gotto at the Iowa Conference Championship dual with his win in the semifinals. He later avenged his loss against Evan Obert with a 6-3 decision to defend his regional title. "I think the pressure was more on (my opponents) as they knew I was hungry in those rematches," said Anderson. "For me, revenge was motivation." Anderson returns to the National Championships as the two-time defending National Champion. "Going into nationals, I know I have a bulls eye on my back," he said. "This is my last tournament of my career and I will do whatever I can to win the title." Seniors Gilberto Camacho (Fresno, Calif.), Anderson, Cole Welter (Gilbertville) and Landon Williams (Davenport) defend their regional title. Welter wrestled at 157 and Williams at 165 last year. Senior Ryan Fank (Independence) won the rematch of the regional title final against Loras' James Buss. "Our goal today was to have every guy qualify for the National Championships," said head coach, Eric Keller. "I am real proud of how everyone did and in no way disappointed we didn't get all ten guys in. "This (today) is the best we've wrestled all season from top to bottom in our lineup," he continued. "Even with the regional title, all of the guys are still hungry and know they need to improve on some things for nationals." Keller saw the old Anderson in action in his matches today. "Kenny thrives under pressure and he wrestled like the old Kenny today." Anderson returned to the lineup second semester and has battled some injuries in his return. Freshman Connor Campo won his first regional title with his 3-1 decision in overtime. "You'd never realize Campo is a freshman by how he approaches everything," commented Keller. "He's poised in his approach and focused." Puna Soriano repeated as regional runner-up. Other Notes: -Camacho increased his winning streak to 13 -Williams has a team-best 37 wins and increased his winning streak to 16. -Williams remains undefeated against DIII opponents. -He has 131 career wins which is tied for seventh on the program's all-time win list. -Williams extended his margin as the program's all-time leader in tech falls and has 28 in his career. -Soriano surpassed the 30-win mark for the season in his quarterfinal win. -Fank increased his lead as the program's all-time leader in pins. -Fank has a team-best 16 wins by fall. -Wartburg qualified nine competitors for the NCAA National Championships. The Knights had qualified all ten for the last four straight years (2010-2013).

Related: Results CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. -- The Warhawks will send a group of six wrestlers to the NCAA Division III Championships set for March 14-15 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. UW-Whitewater's team total of 130 bested the competition by 22 points for their second consecutive regional title. Three Warhawks won their weight classes, two were runners-up and another took third in the NCAA Midwest Regional hosted by Wabash College Saturday to advance. The top three in each weight class advance to the national championships. Jimmy Nehls (Downers Grove, IL/North) went 3-0 after a first round bye to win the 133 pound weight class. Nehls, the number two seed in the regional and ranked seventh in the NWCA, opened with a major decision over Stevens Point's Lance Fabry, 15-1. In his second match of the day, Nehls topped Miguel Venecia of Elmhurst 3-2 to advance to the championship. Nehls topped La Crosse's Dustin Weinmann 6-2 in the title bout to earn the team's first individual regional title of the day. He advances to nationals with a 22-5 record. The next individual champ for Whitewater came in the 165 pound weight class. Cedric Gibson (Plainfield, IL/Plainfield North), the number one seed, won all three of his matches Saturday to improve to 22-5. He opened with a 9-3 decision over Logan Hermsen of Stevens Point followed by a 6-3 decision over Tyler Schneider of La Crosse. Gibson overpowered Wabash's Josh Sampson to win by major decision, 14-3, in the title bout to repeat as regional champ. Top seeded Shane Siefert (Mundelein, IL/Carmel) notched his second straight regional title at 197 pounds after going 4-0 Saturday. He won three of his four bouts by fall, including the championship match. Siefert opened with a pin of Michael Conner (Trine) in 2:28 and stopped the clock in 1:58 with a pin over Mario Palmisano of Chicago in his second match of the day. A 5-0 decision over Mike Minske of La Crosse sent Siefert back to the championship. He recorded the fall in 2:31 over the number two seed, Elmhurst's Danny Balderas to improve to 37-4 this season and take the team lead in pins with 10 this season. Matt Adcock (Bloomingdale, IL/Lake Park), the number two seed in the 141 pound weight class, was the regional runner-up Saturday. He opened with a pin of Wesley Cummings (Trine) in 2:22 followed by a 6-3 decision of James Spangler (Elmhurst). A 10-2 major decision over North Central's Andrew Rodawold sent Adcock into the title bout where he fell to top seeded Justin Holm of Olivet 5-3. Adcock is 26-9 this season heading into the final competition of the season. Top seeded Anthony Edgren (New Lisbon/New Lisbon) was upset by the number two seed, Jacob Minske of La Crosse, 5-2 in the championship match at 285 pounds to finish second in the regional. Edgren won his first three matches of the day opening with a technical fall over Alma's Eric Mason. A 3-0 decision over Dustin Kult of Manchester was followed by a 5-3 overtime decision over Trine's Mackenzie Green to send Edgren into the title bout. Edgren is 28-7 this season and is ranked fifth in the NWCA. Elroy Perkin (Greenfield/Whitnall) punched his ticket to nationals with a 16-0 technical fall in 5:46 over John Roycraft of Stevens Point to finish third in the 149 pound weight class. Edgren, the number three seed won by fall in 5:33 over Chicago's Jacob Smith to open Saturday. He followed with a major decision, 10-0 over North Central's Nathan Segal. Perkin fell to the number two seed, Gage Pederson of Olivet 7-4 in a semifinal matchup. He came back with an 8-0 major decision over Nick Bova (Wabash) to advance into the battle for third. Perkin will head to nationals with a 26-9 record after going 4-1 in the regional. Zac Denny (Machesney Park, IL/Harlem) narrowly missed advancing to the national championships at 125 pounds. As the number two seed, Denny opened with a bye followed by a decision over Point's Ryan Osse, 7-2. Tommy Poynter (Wabash), the third seed, upset Denny in a semifinal match 12-6. Denny advanced in the wrestleback to the battle for third but fell to fifth seed Nicolas Santos (North Central) 3-2. Denny ends the season 29-14. Andrew Pettit (Hoffman Estates, IL/Hoffman Estates) and Ryan Aprahamian (Mukwonago/Mukwonago) each went 2-2 Saturday to finish fifth in the 174 and 184 pound weight classes respectively. Cam Loomis (River Falls/River Falls) represented UW-Whitewater in the 157 pound weight class going 0-2 in the regional tournament. Team scores were: UW-W 130, UW-La Crosse 108, Wabash 106, Olivet 97.5, Elmhurst 74.5, UW-Stevens Point 65.5, North Central 57, Wheaton 55, Alma 40, Trine 27, Chicago 14 and Manchester 5.

Related: Results MINNEAPOLIS -- Qualifying eight individuals to national tournament competition, including four regional champions, the Augsburg College wrestling team claimed an NCAA regional title for the 12th straight year, winning the NCAA Division III West Regional tournament, held on Saturday at Augsburg's Si Melby Hall. Augsburg, ranked No. 6 in the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association Division III national poll, won the regional title with 148.0 points, topping No. 5-ranked Concordia-Moorhead's 136.5 points. No. 21-ranked Saint John's was third with 92.0 points, and Wisconsin-Oshkosh was fourth with 72.5 points. The Auggies have won each NCAA regional it has participated in since going to regional qualifiers in 2003. Augsburg qualified eight individuals to compete at the NCAA Division III National Championships, to be held March 14-15 at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The eight qualifiers were the most of any school in the regional. Concordia-Moorhead qualified seven individuals to nationals, while Concordia-Wisconsin and St. Olaf had three qualifiers each. Saint John's, Wisconsin-Oshkosh and Wisconsin-Eau Claire had two qualifiers each, and Wisconsin-Platteville, Pacific (Ore.) and the Milwaukee School of Engineering each had a qualifier. "It was a great day for the Auggies. Coming together this past month, after some serious setbacks midseason, shows a tremendous amount of character of the young men on this team," said Augsburg Head Coach Mark Matzek. "Our slogan for the year is 'Pursue, Persist, Persevere.' We lived up to that slogan today. I am extremely proud of every person associated with this effort. We can have Sunday to celebrate, and we will be back Monday in full training force to pursue a trophy at the NCAAs." Two-time defending heavyweight national champion Chad Johnson (SR, Ferryville, Wis./De Soto HS) will get a chance to pursue his third straight crown, as he earned his third straight regional title with four victories, including pins in his first two matches. The top-ranked heavyweight nationally, Johnson topped No. 3-ranked Cody Kasprick of Concordia-Moorhead 5-3 in the title match on Saturday, improving to 31-1 on the season. A three-time All-American, Johnson earned his fourth straight trip to the national tournament, improving to 136-14 on his career. Johnson has not lost to a Division III wrestler since his first season at Augsburg, and is now 104-3 since the beginning of his sophomore campaign. 030114fuenfinger Mike Fuenffinger (JR, Hibbing, Minn.) qualified for the national tournament for the third straight year, winning the regional crown for the first time at 125 pounds. He opened his tournament run with a first-period pin, then scored two major-decision wins, including a 10-2, championship-match win over Sean Ambrocio of Concordia-Wisconsin. Fuenffinger will have the opportunity to earn All-American honors for the second time in his career, after finishing seventh at 125 pounds last season. He is 30-3 on the year and 73-20 in his three seasons at Augsburg. Justin Bowland (SR, Foley, Minn.) will compete at the national tournament for the second time, after winning the 165-pound title at the regional. After opening his tournament run with a major-decision win, he had to rally with a takedown in the closing seconds of regulation and another in sudden-victory overtime to score an 8-6 win in the quarterfinals. He then scored two more wins, including a 10-2, major-decision win over Peter Kootstra of MSOE in the finals, to win the regional crown. Bowland is now 25-14 on the season and 70-58 in his Auggie career. Chad Bartschenfeld (JR, Amery, Wis.) earned a trip to the national tournament for the first time, after winning the regional crown at 133 pounds. He opened his tournament with a pin and a technical fall, then won twice more, including an 8-3 triumph in the finals over Concordia-Wisconsin's Marcus Lubner. Bartschenfeld is 22-13 this season and 44-32 in his career. Two Auggies finished in second place in their weight classes, both earning their second berths in the national tournament after injuries curtailed their seasons last year. Will Keeter (JR, Twin Falls, Idaho), who finished third nationally at 141 in 2012, finished second at Saturday's regional at 149 pounds, improving to 27-15 this season and 96-44 in his Auggie career. Tommy Teigen (JR, Ham Lake, Minn./Meadow Creek Christian HS), a national qualifier at 165 in 2012, finished second at 184 pounds on Saturday, improving to 19-12 on the year and 62-36 in his career. Matt Hechsel (JR, Apple Valley, Minn.), a seventh-place national finisher at 197 last season, will return to the national tournament after placing third at 197 in Saturday's regional. Hechsel, the No. 5-ranked 197-pounder nationally, was upset 3-2 in the semifinals, but rallied back with two wins, including a 14-1, major-decision triumph in the third-place match, to improve to 30-6 on the season and 84-35 in his career. Marcus Hamer (FY, Kimball, Minn.) qualified for the national tournament for the first time with a third-place finish at 141 pounds, rallying from a semifinal loss with a 17-2, technical-fall win and an 8-1 win in the third-place match. He is now 24-13 this season. Two Auggies saw their seasons end in the regional. Rashad Kennedy (JR, Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Henry Sibley HS) finished fifth at 157 pounds, finishing his season at 22-17, and Tyrell Martin (JR, Eagan, Minn./Henry Sibley HS) finished sixth at 174 pounds, finishing his season at 17-14. Jim Moulsoff, in his seventh year as an Augsburg assistant coach, was named West Region Assistant Coach of the Year by his regional coaching peers.

SPOKANE, Wash. -- After the first two preliminary rounds and consolation wrestlebacks, there is a separation beginning between the men and the boys at the NJCAA national wrestling tournament held in the Spokane Convention Center in Washington. Team Standings (Top Ten): 1. Northeastern Oklahoma A & M 42.0 2. Clackamas Community College 34.5 3. Northwest College 32.0 4. Colby Community College 24.0 4. Iowa Central Community College 24.0 6. North Idaho College 20.0 7. Rochester Community & Technical College 19.0 8. Ellsworth Community College 18.0 9. Harper College 16.0 9. Iowa Lakes Community College 16.0 9. Neosho County Community College 16.0 Second-ranked NEO tops the team race heading into the quarterfinals with 42 points and also has the most quarterfinalists with eight. The top-ranked Cougars pushed seven wrestlers into the quarters and trail NEO by 7.5 points with a total of 34.5 team points. Fourth-ranked Northwest College (Wyo.) is close behind Clackamas with six quarterfinalists and 32 team points, and Iowa Central and Colby are tied for fourth with 24 points, 28 points off the lead pace. However, The Tritons behind the guidance of coach Luke Moffitt have five quarterfinalists to Colby's four. Also with five quarterfinalist is host school, third-ranked NIC with 20 points. Tenth-ranked RCTC is in seventh with three quarterfinalists and 19 points. There is a three-way tie for ninth with Harper, Iowa Lakes, and Neosho. Both Iowa Lakes and Neosho have two quarterfinalists, while Harper was unable to put a wrestler into the quarters. Look for Lincoln College and Muskegon College to make a move into the top ten after being tied for 13th after the prelims. Both Lincoln and Muskegon have 15 team points and four wrestlers in the quarterfinals. Look for the top six teams to make a good surge after the quarterfinals, which will be key for the top two teams in NEO and Clackamas as they will go head-to-head in three-of-ten quarterfinal matches. The tournament is far from over, but the three head-to-head match ups could go a long way in determining who will come away with the NJCAA crown. The Cougars and Golden Norse match up at 141, 149, and 184. NEO and Clackamas already had a head-to-head match at 125 pounds during the second round of the prelims where No. 1 Josh Walker defeated No. 4 Stevan Knoblauch of Clackamas, 4-3, while the rest of the 125-pound matches were either falls (5) or major decisions (2). NEO also goes head-to-head with NW Wyoming and North Idaho in two other quarterfinals. No doubt, if NEO can answer the call in the quarters, the title could be in the grasp of the reinstated Golden Norse, and coach Joe Renfro could be looking at a three-peat with two different teams. The Golden Norse and Cougars quarterfinal clashes begin at 141 pounds, where No. 5 Michal Williams is coming off two tough wins against NIC and Nassau, and he will meet CCC's Robbie Rizzolino, ranked eighth. The winner of this quarter will not have an easy path to the final as that wrestler will most likely meet top ranked Peter Steward from Iowa Western. At 149, second-ranked Kenny Martin of Clackamas with two falls on the day will match up with No. 12 Zack Dobbins of NEO, who had a 3-1 win in the second round. Two falls have guided No. 5 Caleb Cotter of NEO to the quarters where he will meet top ranked CCC's 184-pounder Adrian Sales, who beat Harpers Romanelli, 7-1. On paper, the nod would have to go to CCC in two of the three quarters, but as many wrestlers, coaches and fans know, you don't win matches on paper, you win them on the mat. Other notable quarterfinal matches with team implications include NEO top ranked 125-pounder Josh Walker who will take on the Yellowjacket of RCTC Dakota Trom, who is ranked sixth. Neosho and CCC 133-pound quarterfinal match which will pit No. 1 vs No. 2 where top- ranked C.J. Palmer for the Cougars will meet Neosho's Lamuel Johnson who both reached the quarters with falls. North Iowa ACC's third-ranked Yoanse Mejias will match up with NEO's Mark Hobsons, ranked fifth. 5:25 minutes of work at 165 pounds has put unranked Casey Powell of NEO in the quarters with Diorian Coleman of NW Wyoming, who needed overtime to pin Guillaume of Ellsworth in the second round. The Golden Norse put another top-ranked wrestler, Payne Hatter (174), into the quarters to face NIC's seventh-ranked Derrick Booth. Steve Kelly and the Trojans of NIACC placed a second top-ranked wrestler in the quarters with Chakhein Chapman to face the Cougars second-ranked Ihoghama Odighizuma of Clackamas at 197 pounds. Top-ranked Peter Stewart from Iowa Western will match up with seventh-ranked Matt Gay of SW Oregon at 141 pounds. 157 pounds features another top-ranked wrestler Eleazar DeLuca of Clackamas, who will meet up with Harper's Greg Jacquez, who has two falls in 4:05 minutes of work to reach the quarters. Finally, 285 will see a top two matchup as No. 1-ranked Dequence Goodman of Lincoln College will tussle with Niagara's second-ranked El Shada VanHoesen. The quarters will be a huge round for the top six teams looking to define themselves as the title contender, as well as a chance for some of the top twenty to place in the hardware range. The following is a recap of the second-round prelim matches: 125: Round 2 Champ Alfredo Rodriguez (Iowa Lakes Community College) 29-8 pinned Quintni Noel (Darton College) 10-17 (Fall 4:09) Champ. Round 2 - Cody Vichi (Northwest College) 4-0 pinned Leslie Williams (Lincoln College) 1-2 (Fall 2:21) Champ. Round 2 - Eric Velez (Niagara County Community College) 2-0 pinned Tim Prescott (Neosho County Community College) 18-7 (Fall 2:27) Champ. Round 2 - Da`Wayne Robertson (Ellsworth Commuity College) 35-12 pinned Andres Tereza (Highline Community College) 3-3 (Fall 3:44) Champ. Round 2 - Dakota Trom (Rochester Commuity & Technical College) 18-1 maj. dec. Brandon Walz (Waubonsee College) 2-1 (MD 16-7) Champ. Round 2 - Josh Walker (Northeastern Oklahoma A & M) 5-0 dec. Stevan Knoblauch (Clackamas Community College) 26-10 (Dec 4-3) Champ. Round 2 - Matthew Nguyen (Southwestern Oregon Community College) 3-1 pinned Jake Bellis (Harper College) 1-1 (Fall 4:20) Champ. Round 2 - Nate Smith (Iowa Central Community College) 26-18 maj. dec. Etai Yonah (Gloucester Community College) 16-15 (MD 12-4) 133: Round 2 Champ Champ. Round 2 - Zachary Cooper (Muskegon College) 2-0 dec. Bryce Weatherston (North Idaho College) 13-10 (Dec 5-4) Champ. Round 2 - John Dillon (Mercyhurst) 2-0 maj. dec. Sebastian Nehls (Colby Community College) 4-2 (MD 11-3) Champ. Round 2 - Davion Caston (Darton College) 13-2 pinned Josh Ailey (Northeastern Oklahoma A & M) 3-2 (Fall 5:00) Champ. Round 2 - Ben Jorgensen (Northwest College) 4-1 dec. Eric Franklin (Ellsworth Commuity College) 21-11 (Dec 5-2) Champ. Round 2 - Cary J Palmer (Clackamas Community College) 25-2 pinned Label Lewis (Rochester Commuity & Technical College) 36-11 (Fall 3:34) Champ. Round 2 - Lemuel Johnson (Neosho County Community College) 26-5 pinned Nicholas Arroyo (Springfield Tech Community College) 1-2 (Fall 0:52) Champ. Round 2 - Jake Nicholson (Jamestown Community College) 2-0 dec. Darrell Pampkin (Iowa Central Community College) 16-12 (Dec 5-3) Champ. Round 2 - Jameel Carter (Triton College) 9-8 dec. Lucas Garza (Southwestern Oregon Community College) 2-4 (Dec 7-4) 141: Round 2 Champ Champ. Round 2 - Robbie Rizzolino (Clackamas Community College) 24-8 won in tie breaker - 1 over Blake Tisza (Harper College) 0-1 (TB-1 2-1) Champ. Round 2 - Michael Williams (Northeastern Oklahoma A & M) 5-0 maj. dec. Vincent Turano (Nassau Community College) 8-13 (MD 10-2) Champ. Round 2 - Peter Stewart (Iowa Western) 31-6 pinned Travis McDowell (Gloucester Community College) 23-8 (Fall 5:56) Champ. Round 2 - Matt Gay (Southwestern Oregon Community College) 4-1 dec. Kyle Mulcahy (Jamestown Community College) 1-1 (Dec 12-7) Champ. Round 2 - Zac Loveless (Northwest College) 5-0 pinned Cody Stenberg (Muskegon College) 0-1 (Fall 3:56) Champ. Round 2 - Zach Wright (Darton College) 16-6 maj. dec. Teddie Harvey (Iowa Central Community College) 14-16 (MD 12-2) Champ. Round 2 - Ronald Wells (Colby Community College) 4-1 dec. Marcus Popp (Niagara County Community College) 0-2 (Dec 8-1) Champ. Round 2 - Joe Munos (Rochester Commuity & Technical College) 20-1 won by tech fall over Enoch McCottrell (Lincoln College) 0-1 (TF-1.5 6:26 (20-3)) 149: Round 2 Champ Champ. Round 2 - Tyler Stenberg (Muskegon College) 2-0 won in sudden victory - 1 over Kevin Strong (Niagara County Community College) 0-1 (SV-1 12-10) Champ. Round 2 - Daniel Pak (Gloucester Community College) 34-3 maj. dec. Matt Meyer (Ridgewater College) 36-18 (MD 10-1) Champ. Round 2 - Nosomy Pozo (North Iowa Area Community College) 22-3 dec. Jeff McCormick (Northwest College) 2-1 (Dec 7-1) Champ. Round 2 - Elijah Davis (Northwest Kansas Tech) 4-1 maj. dec. Darius Henry (Triton College) 10-8 (MD 15-2) Champ. Round 2 - Blake Santi (Harper College) 2-0 won by tech fall over Jordan Palanca (Mercyhurst) 1-1 (TF-1.5 2:45 (16-0)) Champ. Round 2 - Tyler Nation (Iowa Western) 23-15 dec. DeAndre Johnson (Spartanburg Methodist College) 21-6 (Dec 5-3) Champ. Round 2 - Zack Dobbins (Northeastern Oklahoma A & M) 5-0 dec. Alexis Blanco (Nassau Community College) 7-5 (Dec 3-1) Champ. Round 2 - Kenny Martin (Clackamas Community College) 25-10 pinned Steve Orlic (Bergen Community College) 0-1 (Fall 1:16) 157: Round 2 Champ Champ. Round 2 - Yoanse Mejias (North Iowa Area Community College) 34-2 dec. NIco Moreno (North Idaho College) 28-13 (Dec 11-6) Champ. Round 2 - Mark Hobson (Northeastern Oklahoma A & M) 5-0 pinned Alex Contini (Waubonsee College) 1-1 (Fall 4:03) Champ. Round 2 - Eleazar DeLuca (Clackamas Community College) 31-5 dec. Anthony Smith (Darton College) 12-8 (Dec 4-3) Champ. Round 2 - Greg Jacquez (Harper College) 2-0 pinned Mike Southwick (Jamestown Community College) 0-1 (Fall 2:40) Champ. Round 2 - Richie Lewis (Iowa Central Community College) 18-5 pinned Tyler Bruce (Niagara County Community College) 0-1 (Fall 3:24) Champ. Round 2 - Kyle Wade (Nassau Community College) 16-5 won in tie breaker - 1 over Andrew Orr (Southwestern Oregon Community College) 3-2 (TB-1 6-5) Champ. Round 2 - Konnor Kriss (Colby Community College) 3-1 dec. Luke Dunn (Lincoln College) 0-1 (Dec 11-5) Champ. Round 2 - Dixon Richins (Western Wyoming College) 4-1 dec. Anthony Cimorosi (Ellsworth Commuity College) 12-6 (Dec 6-3) 165: Round 2 Champ Champ. Round 2 - Tyler McLean (North Idaho College) 20-7 dec. Jordan Engen (Northland Commuity & Technical College) 14-9 (Dec 7-4) Champ. Round 2 - O`shea Smith-Traylor (Neosho County Community College) 22-6 dec. Adam DeJesus (Nassau Community College) 9-8 (Dec 9-6) Champ. Round 2 - Calvin Ochs (Colby Community College) 4-1 dec. Timothy Vargo (Mercyhurst) 0-1 (Dec 11-5) Champ. Round 2 - Ryan Niven (Iowa Central Community College) 21-11 dec. Lukas Gilmore (Muskegon College) 1-1 (Dec 9-2) Champ. Round 2 - Diorian Coleman (Northwest College) 3-1 pinned Ritchie Guillaume (Ellsworth Commuity College) 18-2 (Fall 7:30) Champ. Round 2 - Casey Powell (Northeastern Oklahoma A & M) 5-0 pinned Anthony Dawson (Gloucester Community College) 14-9 (Fall 2:29) Champ. Round 2 - David Frazier (Lincoln College) 2-0 dec. Bryce Carr (Northwest Kansas Tech) 2-3 (Dec 8-6) Champ. Round 2 - Kyle Bateman (Clackamas Community College) 25-16 dec. Chris Nevinger (Niagara County Community College) 1-1 (Dec 7-2) 174: Round 2 Champ Champ. Round 2 - Garrett Miller (Rochester Commuity & Technical College) 24-7 pinned Shane Currey (Niagara County Community College) 1-1 (Fall 1:54) Champ. Round 2 - Cody Carson (Pratt Community College) 5-1 dec. Jake Meehan (Iowa Central Community College) 5-11 (Dec 2-1) Champ. Round 2 - Jared Johnson (Colby Community College) 3-1 dec. Nick Moore (Gloucester Community College) 19-7 (Dec 13-6) Champ. Round 2 - Joseph Sika (Muskegon College) 2-0 maj. dec. Warren Elky (Springfield Tech Community College) 0-1 (MD 10-1) Champ. Round 2 - Derrick Booth (North Idaho College) 23-15 dec. Alexander Svetz (Mercyhurst) 0-1 (Dec 5-3) Champ. Round 2 - Payne Hatter (Northeastern Oklahoma A & M) 4-0 pinned Mikey Ayala (Southwestern Oregon Community College) 3-2 (Fall 5:14) Champ. Round 2 - Archie Williams (Lincoln College) 2-0 dec. Tyler White (Clackamas Community College) 16-12 (Dec 9-8) Champ. Round 2 - Brandon Sorenson (Iowa Lakes Community College) 31-9 pinned Anthony Saulle (Darton College) 4-4 (Fall 4:11) 184: Round 2 Champ Champ. Round 2 - Austin Warren (Neosho County Community College) 19-15 dec. Deon Edmonds (SUNY Sullivan) 15-12 (Dec 5-2) Champ. Round 2 - Brandon Riggins (Springfield Tech Community College) 2-0 dec. Kolbjorn Skaflestad (Southwestern Oregon Community College) 4-2 (Dec 11-7) Champ. Round 2 - Caleb Cotter (Northeastern Oklahoma A & M) 4-0 pinned Craig Williams (Northland Commuity & Technical College) 12-10 (Fall 1:00) Champ. Round 2 - Adrian Salas (Clackamas Community College) 21-7 dec. Michael Romanelli (Harper College) 0-1 (Dec 7-1) Champ. Round 2 - Jonathen Dennis (North Idaho College) 3-2 dec. Dakota Downs (Lincoln College) 0-1 (Dec 7-1) Champ. Round 2 - Matt Hurford (Ellsworth Commuity College) 31-4 dec. Cedrick Stephens (Niagara County Community College) 1-1 (Dec 11-5) Champ. Round 2 - Miles Nixon (Northwest College) 5-0 pinned Jamar Henry (Mercyhurst) 1-1 (Fall 2:10) Champ. Round 2 - Tyler White (Labette Community College) 3-1 pinned Dominic Bejarano (Northwest Kansas Tech) 1-1 (Fall 4:57) 197: Round 2 Champ Champ. Round 2 - Bryce Fisher (Iowa Central Community College) 24-7 won in sudden victory - 1 over James Jones (Colby Community College) 1-1 (SV-1 5-3) Champ. Round 2 - Vj Giulio (North Idaho College) 34-5 pinned Michael Amaro (Bergen Community College) 1-1 (Fall 3:35) Champ. Round 2 - Stephon Rudicil (Lincoln College) 2-0 dec. Kojo Boado (Mercyhurst) 1-1 (Dec 3-2) Champ. Round 2 - Tyler Cormier (Highline Community College) 4-2 dec. Cylas Dorety (Gloucester Community College) 0-1 (Dec 8-3) Champ. Round 2 - Shakheim Chapman (North Iowa Area Community College) 22-3 won by tech fall over Mike Vettori (Middlesex Community College) 0-1 (TF-1.5 4:49 (16-0)) Champ. Round 2 - Ihoghama Odighizuwa (Clackamas Community College) 26-7 won by tech fall over Max Antone (Niagara County Community College) 0-1 (TF-1.5 7:00 (15-0)) Champ. Round 2 - Jonathan Wixom (Northwest College) 3-1 dec. Shelby Krout (Northeastern Oklahoma A & M) 3-1 (Dec 8-6) Champ. Round 2 - Donavan Fouchey (Muskegon College) 2-0 dec. Josh Vaughan (Rochester Commuity & Technical College) 9-4 (Dec 2-0) 285: Round 2 Champ Champ. Round 2 - Evan McGee (Northeastern Oklahoma A & M) 5-0 dec. Chris Schleuger (Iowa Western) 5-4 (Dec 7-3) Champ. Round 2 - John Griswold (Spartanburg Methodist College) 22-2 dec. Lavontay Cobb (Harper College) 1-1 (Dec 8-3) Champ. Round 2 - Malcolm Allen (Iowa Central Community College) 28-7 dec. Shawn Chamberlain (Muskegon College) 1-1 (Dec 10-4) Champ. Round 2 - Michael Henry (Highline Community College) 3-1 pinned Alex Stockton (North Iowa Area Community College) 1-1 (Fall 4:26) Champ. Round 2 - El Shadai VanHoesen (Niagara County Community College) 2-0 dec. Devanti Ragland (Colby Community College) 3-2 (Dec 8-1) Champ. Round 2 - Dequence Goodman (Lincoln College) 2-0 maj. dec. Zane Petersen (Ridgewater College) 28-9 (MD 14-4) Champ. Round 2 - Taylor Kornoely (North Idaho College) 31-10 dec. Jesse Rowlen (Darton College) 4-11 (Dec 8-2) Champ. Round 2 - Alex Yeager (Itasca Community College) 12-2 pinned Sebastian Sanchez (Northwest Kansas Tech) 4-2 (Fall 4:57)

SPOKANE, Wash. -- Right off the bat during the first preliminary round at the 2014 NJCAA Wrestling Championships we have a match up at 141 pounds with implications for the top teams battling for the title. No. 2 Terrance McKinney (North Idaho) versus No. 5 Michael Williams (NEO) and third-ranked Zac Loveless (NW Wyoming) against 11th-ranked Mike Stewart (Ellsworth). The fourth and fifth-ranked wrestlers at 149 pounds will also clash first round with Josh Romero of Highline taking on Tyler Stenberg of Muskegon. Second-ranked Ben Goodwin Minnesota West will face Jarred Johnson of Colby at 174. Also during the first round at 174, fifth-ranked Thomas Daniels of NIACC draws local favorite Derrick Booth of NIC. Another local wrestler at 285, eighth-ranked Brandon Johnson of Clackamas will grapple with No. 9 Lavontae Cobb of Harper. During the second preliminary round there is also a series of key matchups with both individual and team title implications. Granted, upsets happen and NJCAA wrestling is one of the most difficult division to rank and seed, but if the ranking are true to form, some of the top second-round preliminary matchups include: 125: No. 3 Cody Vichi NW of Wyoming vs. Leslie Williams of Lincoln, and a No. 1 vs No. 4 in the prelims with definite title implications when No. 1 Josh Walker of NEO vs. No. 4 Stevan Knoblauch of Clackamas, and No. 7 Mathew Nguyen of SW Oregon goes against No. 9 Jake Bells of Harper. A pair of matchups at 133 during the second round pit No. 2 Lemuel Johnson of Neosho vs. No. 7 Ian Clevenger of Southern Methodist and No. 3 Zachary Cooper of Muskegon vs NIC's Bryce Weatherspoon. No. 3 Zac Loveless of NW Wyoming will tango Muskegon's No. 6 Cody Stenberg, and No. 8 Robbie Rizzolino of Clackamas vs. Blake Tisza of Harper, all at 141. Jeff McCormick of NW Wyoming was ranked second at 157, but has since dropped to 149 and in not ranked in the most recent NJCAA poll. However, you may see Jeff McCormick of NW Wyoming and No. 1 Jeremy Golding of North Idaho battle in the finals for the title at 149 as they are on opposite sides of the bracket. Until that time, McCormick of NW will wrestle No. 9 Nosomy Pozo of NIACC second round. A 157-pound prelim matchup is possible with No. 3 Yoanse Mejias of NIACC vs. another NIC Cardinal, Nico Moreno, ranked sixth. 165 pounds has the possibility of four matchups of ranked wrestlers during the second prelim round. The possible 165 battles include No. 2 Ritchie Guillaume of Ellsworth vs. NW's Diorian Coleman, ranked fifth, No. 4 O'Shea Smith-Traylor of Neosho vs. No. 10 Adam Dejesus of Nassau, No. 7 Sha-Keno Jenkins of NIACC vs. No. 11 Kyle Bateman for the Cougars, and No. 8 Jordan Engen of Northland against another NIC wrestler Tyler McLean of North Idaho, ranked 11th. 184 has the last second round matchup with ranked wrestlers to include top-ranked Adrian Salas of Clackamas and Mike Romaneli of Harper. A quarterfinal update of matchups will follow.

As fans, you were really into sending questions this week. That's awesome, and to compensate for the number of topics and questions in this week's bag (a new record) I will be truncating my opening to keep this monster under 3,500 words. If you haven't already, now is a good time to pick up a copy of Full Circle. I'll also have copies at the ACC tournament, World Cup, and the NCAA tournament. To your (many) questions ... Q: Check out the finals of a German club league Bundesliga Ringen. Would be sweet to see some of our clubs have duals like this. -- @DanieloElliot Foley: Agreed that it would be nice to see this level of involvement at the club level. We have a growing interest in Olympic style of wrestling so what's keeping us from this environment? First, there is no substantial folkstyle wrestling form in Germany that draws from the Greco-Roman competitions. Unlike America's wildly popular NCAA tournament, the Bundesliga isn't built into the schools. Across the world athletics is separated from academics, allowing the focus of athletes to mature at their own pace. Guys like Aaron Pico aren't asked about school, because frankly there is no tie between the two. The lack of a competitive folkstyle and the separation of priorities means that the clubs can bring students up from the grassroots level and promote their Bundesliga and international competitions for decades. The transience of the American collegiate system (and with some high school stars) means that there is a dispersion of interest. To get mega-passion the athletes need to be raised in the same club colors they compete in later in life. Take Chance Marstellar as an example. He grows up competing for a local club in Western PA and sticks with that SAME club throughout his entire career. Locals love him and locals buy tickets to events. Instead, he's now headed to Oklahoma State and being boo'ed at events. Bundesliga matures wrestlers through the ranks, but they also have a league that promotes dual matches and the idea that one region is better than the other. If you watch the video you can see all the trappings of an international soccer match with scarves, T-shirts and event sponsors. That's huge in creating income for the clubs. Overall, the American system is too transient, leaving the club system to only mature after-college, which for many of our top athletes is not the college where they trained, leaving only fledgling local loyalties. The American system is great for many reasons, but creating an atmosphere for dual meets and club leagues is not one of them. From reader Tom S., who provides some clarification: In Germany sports are different and all those wrestling clubs in the Bundesliga probably also have soccer teams. That's how things work there. All the big football teams are non-profit sports clubs and sponsor other sports. Bayern Munich also sponsors chess, handball, basketball, gymnastics, bowling, and table tennis in addition to soccer. There are 1,100 active athletes in which soccer is a minority. It just happens to be what they are most well known for and are reigning champions of Europe. In that sense Bayern Munich and German clubs are closer to university athletic department than a US wrestling club. It would be like if the Chicago Bears weren't a for-profit corporation with and owner and had a wrestling team, chess team, football team, squash team, baseball team, basketball team. It's like that in some other countries too. For instance Boca Juniors, the biggest soccer club in Argentina, also has a wrestling program. So there are scarfs like at soccer matches because the club probably plays soccer too and sell scarfs for that not necessarily related to regionalism related to club wrestling. Q: Over the past, say, 25 years, which wrestlers had the greatest potential to make the U.S National Team (and even perhaps medal internationally), but chose to not compete for a spot? -- Ron M. Foley: The first name that popped into my head was Cole Konrad. He was large enough and successful enough at Minnesota to make a serious impact at the international level. He chose MMA, but had he been a lifer on the mats I think he could have challenged Tervel for a spot on the squad. The other name that kept popping up was Bryan Snyder. I'm sure that like most guys he did is time giving it a go, but I don't know that he ever made a full commitment. Looking at Snyder wrestling with Burroughs and what he was able to do in college leaves me thinking he could have been the guy. But all the same, he now helps coach the guy (Burroughs), which for a thoughtful and intelligent guy like Snyder might be even more fulfilling. Q: Many are interested in the developing story at 141 pounds that will likely culminate in at least one more match (probably two) between Zain Retherford and Logan Stieber. Currently, it seems as though those two are ranked No. 2 and No. 3 in the different rankings, with Mitchell Port ranked No. 1. I recently realized that I never truly understood how the seeds at NCAAs are chosen in situations such as this where there are so many moving parts. Port is undefeated and finished second in the weight year prior, but hasn't proven himself against two-time champ Stieber, who is up a weight class, or undefeated Retherford who is a freshman. I am sure that many think that Port should have to face one of them to reach an NCAA final this year. Is there any chance that something can happen at Big Ten's that will allow for this? It doesn't seem right that Stieber and Retherford should potentially need to wrestle each other three times to reach an NCAA final, when Port could reach the finals without facing the best competitors in the weight class all season. -- Gabe W. Foley: The best way to get Stieber and Port to face Port at the NCAA tournament is to have one of them lose a match, or two, at the Big Ten tournament. Losses drive seeding at the NCAA tournament, since previous year's finishes mean nothing to the ranking committee. Though Port is undefeated without having wrestled either Stieber or Retherford, it's not as though he's ducked them throughout the season. Wrestling outside of the Big Ten and Big 12 can have advantages in helping wrestlers earn higher seeds without having to face other top guys, but don't expect everyone to run to fringe conferences to pad their records. The Big Ten and Big 12 are rewarded with more bids and often times wrestle the toughest schedules, both of which protect wrestlers should they fail at their conference tournament. That level of security isn't always available to top-level talent outside these conferences (I'm excluding undefeated wrestlers who would be pulled in by their RPI during the at-large selection process.) Just take a look at this year's allocations. Penn State true freshman Zain Retherford enters the postseason undefeated (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)Your question also seems to imply that Port somehow doesn't rate as dominant as the No. 2 and No. 3 wrestlers. Maybe he is better? Retherford is one of the most focused freshman I've ever seen wrestle, but there is criticism that his riding style will be scrutinized and penalized at the NCAA tournament. Stieber, like Maple, is changing weights, which means he's changing his entire field of competition. His previous accomplishments are impressive, but he has to earn his standing at 141 pounds, just like he did at 133 pounds. Maybe Port won't win the NCAA tournament, but he has earned the right to be the top-ranked guy in the country. However ... If Retherford finishes the Big Ten tournament with another win over Stieber, the ranking committee will likely use strength of schedule to determine the top-ranked undefeated wrestler. In that case it seems that it would favor Retherford since it's safe to assume his Big Ten schedule was more difficult than Port's. This happened Ed Ruth's sophomore season. He'd been defeated by Nick Amuchastegui in the 2011 NCAA semifinals, but both were undefeated heading into 2012 NCAA tournament. Even though Amuchastegui had the only common win and was undefeated, the nod went to Ruth who had wrestled a stronger schedule. Q: How much does a resident athlete at the OTC in Colorado Springs make a year? Assuming there is a salary, is it different by sport? -- Brian Foley: The No. 1 at each weight makes $1,000 per a-month, guaranteed for eight months, and if they compete enough during the year they earn the entire 12 months. The No. 2 makes $600 per month and the No. 3 makes $250 per month. A question to fans: should USA Wrestling pay the same amount of stipend to wrestlers at non-Olympic weights 61 kilos and 70 kilos? Q: Why doesn't a program like Iowa attend the National Collegiate Open? It seems like all of the Division programs are in the East and Iowa surely has the money to send guys. You would think the guys in practice every day that aren't wrestling in Carver Hawkeye would want to be there. -- John M. Foley: You make a good point, and I'm not sure of the rationalization. Some wrestlers are burnt out by the end of the season, or are limping through the last few weeks in support of NCAA-bound teammates. Five months is a long, long time to be in the room and though you'd think an extra week shouldn't hurt, most wrestlers opt to get off the ride. Some coaches may want their guys to attend the conference tournament in support of their team. However, the tournament is increasing in competitiveness, as are the numbers. This year's event is sold out and I'd expect continued expansion of the brackets. It's a great idea that should make money for the hosts and support the development of our collegiate wrestlers. Here is the list of top contenders. Q: Is this National Duals proposal splitting the sport in two? Are the coaches at odds as much as the fans? Or are the fans going overboard while coaches are having a civil discussion? It seems like most coaches are open to the change but a few coaches are opposed or undecided and the fans default to whatever may help their program. Are people being selfish in this process? Or are people really giving it thought and trying to do what is best for the sport as a whole? -- J. Martin Foley: The National Duals argument has quickly turned from "great discussion!" into "Mom and Dad are fighting." For many in the wrestling community it's getting a little awkward. I do agree that the debate is dividing our sport into two camps, but that has more to do with our hardwiring as it does the merits of the argument. A simple mention of "dual meet," seems to breathe oxygen into the emotional fire pit of this ongoing discussion. By nature wrestlers are emotional, stubborn and conservative -- making a fundamental change to the season makes the National Duals discussion ripe for emotional pushback. As for motivation, I don't think many in the argument are being selfish, in fact I think most coaches and fans involved in the debate want what is best for the sport. Change is a painful process. Members of the wrestling community have sense the rapid growth and popularity of the sport as an opportunity to expand the sport's reach. Some don't think the sport is ready for that expansion, and others think it would dilute the tradition. All arguments, feelings and rationales are correct, because there is no way to know how it plays out until it's underway. Save a few die-hard fans, I think most wrestling fans just want enjoy best version of the sport. MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME Rob Koll Talks Program Building (11:05) Q: I've been hearing a lot lately about getting rid of the singlet because it hurts the sport. What I don't get is that if it's hurting the sport so bad, why haven't any teams switched to a spandex uniform. It's legal, below is the verbiage straight from the NCAA rulebook. Nobody is stopping teams from doing making the switch. "1.12.1.2 Spandex/lycra. The shirt shall be a T-shirt style form-fitted, sleeveless or short-sleeved and shall not cover or extend beyond the elbow. In addition, the length of the shirt must be longer than the torso to prevent the shirt from becoming untucked. The shirt shall remain tucked into the shorts at all times during competition. The shorts shall be form- fitting with a minimum 4-inch inseam and shall not extend beyond the top of the knees. (See Illustration No. 4.)" -- Jason R. Foley: The issue isn't just with covering a wrestler's arms, but in creating less bulge in the shorts. Any changes made would be to both the top and the bottom. Those improvements are meant to facilitate a growth of the sport at the youth level and increase sales of merchandise. For only the second time in twenty-three years I am going to miss the NCAAs this year. What method(s) are the best to watch it at home? I am going to take a day and a half off of work to watch them. Suggestions? Picking up ESPN 3 for the weekend? -- Steven H. Foley: If you can't get to the computer and are checking on your mobile phone for updates, then nothing is better than the InterMat live blog. Also be sure to check out our session previews and recaps. For live coverage ESPN has expanded their offerings in 2014 which now includes every match of the tournament. Here is the release from ESPN. Q: With all of the new ideas being thrown around in order to make wrestling more mainstream and spectator relevant (National Duals, new singlets/uniforms, scoring changes), why not make the NCAAs more like the basketball tournament and rank/seed every wrestler. I suppose I don't understand why the committee has ranked 12 wrestlers (16 now), then essentially picks out of a hat the remaining qualifiers to make the brackets. The NCAA now has their RPI rankings, which in addition to the coaches panel and other criteria to determine the seeds and at-large bids. Why not use all of this information to its full potential? -- Chris C. Foley: Winner, winner. That they don't seed the remaining wrestlers is confounding. They have the stats in front of them, and past the last seeded guy there isn't much need for intense committee oversight. Though there isn't a lot to separate No. 14 from No. 18, it would be a nice exercise to see how it would turn out. Maybe someone could use the final RPI to make brackets after conference in which everyone was seeded by RPI? My only argument against seeding of each the 330 wrestler is that in updating the event I'd be forced to use everyone's seed in the agate. That would be taxing. Q: Could not disagree more with the National Duals being part of the championship. You constantly say "have to grow" and "status quo" is killing the sport but you never show proof of how they will make the sport grow. Where if your proof? Here are a few questions for you. How will the sport grow by having the Duals part of the championship? Will ESPN want to air them? Will the Big Ten Network stop showing big duals during the regular season since they won't matter? What will happen to the Edinboro's of the world? Will fans not care about regular season duals? And if so, why should AD's? -- Tim J. Foley: You qualify for the postseason by doing well in your conference dual meets. Win and you are in. Every dual meet now matters MORE, not less. As for proof, the same amount exists for saying that an NCAA-run dual meet championships will be a failure. None. Missing from this conversation is the recognition that if the NCAA dual meet championships fail, then the old system could be returned. This isn't a decision that will be written in the great books. It's just a new idea that deserves a proper discussion and vetting. Why not take the chance at creating a more mainstream product to help our viability within athletic programs? If the new system works then we can all say "Awesome!" and go on to complain about something else. If the new system fails, then "At least we tried." Q: Who in your opinion has the best signature takedown/move/pinning combination in college wrestling this season? I ask this because we have seen a lot of great action and exciting individual wrestlers this season. Who has the best big move and who has the most dominant move this season? I'll throw out some of my favorites and obvious ones. Logan Stieber -- bar arm/half Nelson, Ed "The Truth" Ruth -- cross face cradle, Dylan Ness -- elevator (by far the biggest!), Johnni DiJulius (JDJ) -- dump, Jon Morrison -- blast double. -- Curtis H. Foley: Dylan Ness! Little room for debate. He's on a new planet with his fall-back-cement-job thingy. It's hell for other wrestlers to prepare for because its execution is so unique. Plenty of people say that certain special wrestlers can hit a move from "anywhere" but I've never seen that in action with more consistency and against higher-level competitors than with Dylan Ness. I'm genuinely wowed. Q: Blair had its 33-year streak of National Prep titles broken by Wyoming Seminary. I competed in the era when no one would ever imagine Blair would lose National Preps. But I noticed there was no story on InterMat or TheMat.com. Why so little coverage? -- David B. Foley: You sent this question before the release of Josh Lowe's weekly column, which covered the tournament and the upset. We also put out a few press clippings about the streak being broken. Still, I can see why you would say it merits a feature piece. I agree that Blair's streak being snapped was impressive, and that Wyoming Seminary deserves recognition for their accomplishment and a great season. Congrats to their program! COMMENTS OF THE WEEK By John L. I was at Ohio State and the crowd wasn't great. The paid gate was 2,500. There was some excellent wrestling for sure. I like your statement where you cannot compare these duals to what the NCAA event would look like. Also, if you look at the stands at the NFL Pro Bowl, you wouldn't expect the NFL playoffs or Super Bowl would be as successful. Or how about the stands at the East-West Shrine game compared to the BCS game? The Scuffle with many more teams participating and the Virginia Duals don't draw as well as the Ohio event. I have to believe the NCAA and ESPN know about bit more about marketing than a well-intended coach. By Greg D. I have solutions to both the freestyle and folkstyle problem with one overlapping change. For freestyle, reduce the size of the wrestling area in overtime. Since pushouts are already allowed as a scoring option, reducing the mat size with an additional painted circle should allow for more aggressive hand fighting and attacks. (Similar to college football starting at the 25-yard line.) Also, make the two-minute overtime period be sudden death. For folkstyle, add the pushout as a one-point scoring option in overtime only. Freestyle has already implemented it, so it should not be an issue to include into folkstyle. smaller inner circle as mentioned above. I do not like the suggestion for changing riding time to include a one-count or near fall points. This only adds back subjectivity by allowing the refs to decide if something is exposure. The more we can have the wrestlers decide the outcome vs. refs or criteria, the better. By R. Griffin Bet you never hear this: We need a better National Duals. With UNI finishing undefeated, it shows just how awesome duals can be. Consider their final matchup vs. Old Dominion, where they only won four matches, but three of their wins were pins and they still won the meet. We all know Penn State will win any tournament-style determination of best team, but are they impenetrable to a team dual? Clearly not. So how about this. Keep everything the same. Except, two weeks after the NCAA tournament, host a 15-team National Duals tournament. With 15 teams, no true contender is left out (no offense to your No. 16 Virginia). A key benefit is that wrestlers won't sacrifice their rankings by wrestling aggressively. They will truly wrestle to win as opposed to "not to lose" to preserve their NCAA tournament ranking. The team that won at NCAAs gets the first-round bye. Throw in a 5-10 pound allowance. Wrestlers can only bump up in weight and not down. Call it the NCAA Team Championships. We'd get some fantastic matches. Andrew Howe vs. Chris Perry normally = Defense. Pretend now that Andrew Howe must major Chris Perry, how fun would that be? Even watching hapless freshmen try their best not to get pinned against the likes of Tony Ramos and Dylan Ness would be a blast. Some of the best matches I have ever seen came out of the state-level team duals tournaments (like Illinois), many of which use this format. What do you say?

St. Cloud State wrestler Austin Goergen is one of the nation's top heavyweights in Division II as a redshirt freshman. A native of Caledonia, Minn., Goergen won two state championships and reached the state finals three times as a high school wrestler. Last season Goergen redshirted. He enters this postseason with a 27-4 record and ranked No. 2 in the nation at heavyweight. InterMat recently caught up with Goergen. Austin Goergen earned a pin against Minnesota State (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)You have won 27 of 31 matches this season and have not lost to a Division II wrestler. Did you envision that you would have this kind of success as a freshman? Goergen: To tell you the truth, no, not really. At the beginning of the season we have goal sheets. Every time I do them I set my goals really high. I just want to keep going and going and going until I achieve those goals. You lead your team in pins with 14. How important is pinning to you? Goergen: It's awesome. I just want to go out there and dominate my opponent and get six points for the team. I love just getting out there, getting it done, and getting off the mat. Getting pins is really important to me. You are ranked No. 2 at heavyweight in the latest NCAA Division II college wrestling rankings. Do you pay much attention to rankings? Goergen: No, I don't. My dad has a quote that I use all the time. He says, "Anybody can be beaten on any given day." I just go by that quote every time I step out on the mat. The No. 1-ranked heavyweight in Division II is Ziad Haddad of Kutztown, who finished fourth in the nation last season. He split matches at the NCAAs last season with your former teammate Jake Kahnke. Have you watched much film on Haddad? Goergen: No. I was actually going to have a chance to wrestle him at the National Duals, but I guess either he didn't want to wrestle or it was a coaching decision. They sent out their backup and I won by tech. fall. I'm really looking forward to getting a chance to wrestle him. What did your redshirt season do for you in terms of development? Goergen: I think it really developed me as a college athlete because hopping right from high school to college, it's a whole different thing. My goal last year was to get 30-some matches as a redshirt. I think that's a great thing to do … and it helped me out a lot. As a team you're currently ranked third behind Notre Dame College and the University of Nebraska-Kearney. What does the team need to do to get to where you want to be? Goergen: I'm not worried one bit about our team. I have faith in all of our guys. I think just one thing that is going to get us to the top is going out there and setting the pace. No one trains as hard as we do. No one can match our tempo on the mat. It just comes down to how bad every kid wants it. If you're losing, how bad do you want to dig down deep and come back and win a match? Or how bad do you want to expand your lead if you're winning? Heart is a big thing in wrestling. Steve CostanzoYour coach Steve Costanzo has been a proven winner in the college wrestling ranks. He won a national championship as a coach at the NAIA level, and has helped make St. Cloud State one of the top Division II wrestling programs. What's his coaching style like? Goergen: Steve is a great guy. I just want to give a big thanks out to him. He does everything right. He pushes us when we need to be pushed. Our motto here is, "Be a life champion." Steve is just great. He supports every kid on the team. I have full faith in whatever he says. You won two state championships before losing in the state finals as a senior. What did that loss in the state finals as a senior do to you? Goergen: That loss just made me want to wrestle in college more. I was never content. After I got beat I always wanted more. I never want to end a season on a loss. I knew if I got a chance to wrestle in college that I was going to set my goals high to see what I could accomplish. You said in high school even after you committed to St. Cloud State that you were still hoping to wrestle at the University of Minnesota. Has that changed in the two years since you arrived at St. Cloud State? Goergen: Yes, it has. I'm very happy where I'm at here at St. Cloud State. I just want to say thanks to my assistant coach Brady Wilson. I don't think there's anyone in the country that has a better practice partner than I do here. He pushes me day in and day out. With the University of Minnesota, they have Nelson and Kroells there. So if I was there I would have to compete for a spot. Right now I'm having a strong season and hoping to do more. I just have my goals set here and hopefully I can achieve them. Austin Goergen heads into the postseason ranked No. 2 (Photo/SCSU Sports Information)So you don't anticipate looking at any other Division I schools? Goergen: Probably not. I guess it all depends on how I do. What's it going to take for you to finish on top of the podium in March? Goergen: For me to finish on top I just have to keep doing what I'm doing. I have to keep working out with Brady Wilson every day. I have to get myself to a whole new level. I know I'm not there, so I have to keep training harder and harder each day I walk into that room, and hopefully in the end everything will work out and I'll come out on top. What are your long-term goals for wrestling? Where do you want to go with this sport? Goergen: I want to be a coach, and maybe even coach at the college level. I told my dad when I was 13 that I wanted to make it to the Olympics, so that's going to be one of my goals that I'm going to try to achieve. This story also appears in the Feb. 21 issue of The Guillotine. The Guillotine has been covering wrestling in Minnesota since 1971. 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The setting is Spokane, Washington, the place is the Spokane Convention Center, and the cast includes coach Josh Rhoden and the Clackamas Community College Cougars seeking to regain the NJCAA national title, the year, 2011! Now, jump into your vintage 1983 stainless steel DeLorean, and set the date to Feb. 28, 2014, and head "back to the future! To the NJCAA National Wrestling Championships." As you land you discover that Coach Rhoden has positioned his Clackamas team to regain the title the Cougars last held when the JUCO nationals were held in Spokane, with his team again ranked as the top team in the nation with 10-of-10 national qualifiers and the favorite to win the NJCAA title. Coming off a third-place finish at nationals last season, and an NWCA National Dual title in January, Coach Rhoden and the Cougar wrestlers have not finished lower than eighth place at the NJCAA National Championships including the 2011 NJCAA national championship. Under the guidance of seventh-year head coach Josh Rhoden, the program has produced four national champions, 35 All-Americans and 50 Academic All-Americans. Chasing the Cougars are two coaches who have made a lot of NJCAA history and who both can claim to be defending the 2013 title. At last year's NJCAA championship, one Cardinal team of Labette, directed by coach Joe Renfroe, had a goal to repeat as JUCO champions, while the Cardinals of North Idaho, under the tutelage of coach Pat Whitcomb looked to regain the title that had eluded them for the past ten years. As a result of a 120-120 tie, both coaches and teams walked away with their goal of an NJCAA championship. In NJCAA Wrestling Championship history, only four times, dating back to 1960, has the tournament crowned co-champions. Northeastern J.C. of Sterling, Co., and Joliet J.C., of Illinois were the first teams to end in a tie back in 1964. In 1995, the second tie happened thirty-one years later when Garden City (Kan.) and Lassen College (Calif.) shared the titled. Prior to the 2013 championships, the third and most recent tie happened in 1998, between Lassen College (CA) and North Idaho College. It is interesting to note that that Pat Whitcomb was also part of the team tie in 1998. Whitcomb joins coach Rex Branum (Lassen) as the only two coaches in NJCAA history to have tied twice for the NJCAA title. The history that Whitcomb would like is to up NIC's record to 15 national titles with a repeat, while Renfro would like to have a title that would set several records and history. If the NEO Golden Norse are able to win the title, this would give the reinstated program a national title, Refro would have three-peated as a coach with two different teams, Labette and NEO, which has not been done in the history of NJCAA wrestling. The Golden Norsemen are ranked second, wrestling the first year as a reinstated program, had nine first-place finishers and one runner-up at the West Central Regional. As a result, NEO rolled up 160 team points and finished 35.5 points ahead of second-place Colby (Kan.) Community College ranked 11th. Ninth-ranked Neosho County (Kan.) Community College was third with 103 points, and the Golden Norsemen send all ten wrestlers to nationals. Earning a second straight trip to the national tournament are Josh Walker, Payne Hatter and Shelby Krout. All three qualified for Golden Norse coach Joe Renfro while at Labette. Walker finished third at 125, Hatter was fourth at 174, and Krout was a qualifier at the 2013 meet. With the No. 1, No. 3, and No. 4 nationally ranked teams, the Western Region was billed as the toughest regional in the NJCAA. Top-ranked Clackamas had six tournament finalists and all 10 Cougars finishing in the top three at their respective weight classes to qualify for nationals. The team was led by 133-pounder Cary Palmer and 157-pounder Eleazar DeLuca each of whom won their respective weight classes. No. 3 North Idaho and No. 4 Northwest College would each qualify all ten wrestlers to Spokane. Five Trappers emerged as champions and all 10 qualified for nationals for coach Jim Zeigler and Northwest (Wyo.). "This is one of the most intense tournaments and events I've had in 20 years," the coach said. Northwest finished second in the team standings with 134 points, just behind No. 1 Clackamas's 137.5, despite placing the most champions of any team, beating Clackamas 4-0 in final bouts and finishing ahead of the Cougars in seven of 10 weight classes. Jeff McCormick highlighted the action-packed day by taking down the No. 1 and No. 2-ranked wrestlers in the nation to win the 149-pound title. A wrestler at 157 pounds all season, McCormick dropped to 149 after losing weight during his recovery from an appendectomy. McCormick was seeded fourth in the bracket and faced top-ranked Jeremy Golding of North Idaho in the semifinals after receiving a bye in the first round. McCormick, a redshirt freshman, controlled the pace of the match on his way to a 3-2 decision victory. Sophomore Cody Vichi, who was out three weeks with an injured hand, also made his return for the Trappers. The third-ranked Vichi pinned Southwest Oregon's Mathew Nguyen at 5:39 of the finals to claim the 125-pound title. "I thought Cody looked like a World champion," Zeigler said. Sophomore Zac Loveless took the 141-pound title, but only after battling No. 8 Robbie Rizzolino of Clackamas in an epic seven-period final bout. Loveless, ranked third at 141, was down 4-1 after the first period but fought back to close the gap 4-3 after two. Another takedown gave Loveless a brief 5-4 lead but Rizzolino scored an escape in time to send the match into overtime. After three scoreless overtime periods Loveless finally tripped up Rizzolino by the ankle and scored the match winning takedown. Cole McArthur went 3-0 on his way to the 174-pound title. The ninth-ranked McArthur shut out his opponents in the first two rounds (5-0 then 3-0) before downing Clackamas' Tyler White 8-6 in the finals. Miles Nixon topped the 184-pound bracket with a 3-0 record. His final bout versus No. 1 Adrian Salas of Clackamas was stopped due to a Salas injury at 2:28. Sophomore Diorian Coleman (ranked fifth) narrowly lost the 165-pound title when he dropped the final bout 3-2 to No. 11 Tyler McLean of North Idaho. Jon Wixom took down the No. 2-ranked Ihoughama Odighizuwa of Clackamas in the 197-pound semifinals but lost a 16-4 major decision to No. 3 V.J. Giulio of North Idaho in the finals. McCormick received the Outstanding Wrestler award and Zeigler was named the West District Coach of the Year. Standing in the path of NIC, NEO, CCC and Northwest are legitimate title contenders Muskegon (Mich.) and Lincoln (Ill.) colleges. Another team with ten qualifiers and a team who have won seven national title, including five straight, and is also a title threat, is Iowa Central of Ft. Dodge, Iowa. The-fifth ranked Muskegon wrestling team finished second in the Central District/National Qualifier tournament at Triton College in River Grove, Ill. The Jayhawks qualified nine of the 10 weight classes for the national tournament. Lincoln College edged MCC by four points for the title, with six champions and ten qualifiers. "While we fell short of our goal to come in here and win the district, we are still in a good position to perform well at the national tournament," said Coach Brunger. "We have qualified nine wrestlers and all of them will be major point scorers for us at nationals." The team had an outstanding semifinal round sending nine wrestlers into the championship match and one into the consolation round, building a 22-point team lead. Unfortunately, only freshman Zack Cooper (Whitehall, Mich./Whitehall) at 133 won a match in the last round, and the lead evaporated. The Central Region final team scores were: Lincoln, 99.5, MCC 95.5, Harper College 83.5, Triton College 29.5, and Waubonsee College 14. Ellsworth Community College was the higher ranked team and favored to win the North Central District, but the Tritons captured the regional championship and advanced nine of 10 wrestlers to the national tournament. The Panthers would have to settle for second place and nine national qualifiers. On winning the title, Iowa Central head coach Luke Moffitt stated, "We always seem to peak at the right time. They didn't announce the team scores for a while, and we knew we would be in the running. When they did announce it we were four points ahead and our guys feed off of that." This is just the icing on the cake. Iowa Central (150) out distanced themselves from runner-up Ellsworth (138) and third-place finisher Rochester (133), grabbing three individual regional championships. Moffitt was also named Regional Coach of the Year. Darrell Pampkin (133), Bryce Fisher (197) and Malcolm Allen (285) were all regional champions. "Our champions wrestled really well,'' Moffitt said. "Bryce had a tough weight with a returning All-American in the finals. Pampkin was wrestling a kid that they split matches on the season and he pulled it out in crunch time. "Malcolm continued his dominance. He hasn't lost to a junior college kid all year.'' Ellsworth, Neosho, Rochester, and Colby will also battle for team hardware in Spokane. In one of the most surprising regionals, Darton State College shocked NJCAA wrestling as the Cavaliers took their first-ever Eastern District II Championship title, at Darton, and head wrestling coach James Hicks became Darton's first to win Eastern District II Coach of Year. The Cavaliers went into the tournament ranked No. 30 in the nation, and hit the mats against higher ranked schools from the Northeast Coast, where wrestling has historically been stronger than the programs south of the Mason-Dixon line. Apparently, no one told that to the Cavaliers. "I knew that if we wrestled well, we could win it," Hicks said. His team performed exceptionally well. The Cavaliers' 197-pounder was injured prior to the tournament, so Darton was unable to compete in that weight class. The Cavaliers had to get the win by scoring extra points in the nine other weight divisions by way of pins, tech falls and major decisions. "When you're dominating matches, you get bonus points," Hicks said. "That was the key to us winning with nine guys." Darton scored 94.5 team points. Nassau scored 87 to finish second, and Glouchester Community College scored 78.5 to finish third. Darton's Davion Caston (125), Quitni Noel (133), and 141-pounder Zach Wright all finished as region champs winning the first three individual title on the day. Their performances paved the way for the middle and upper weights. 133-pounder Quitni Noel stated, "A lot of the schools underestimate us (Darton). I went into this with the mindset of this is my last year, you know, I got to win." Noel and teammates Caston, Wright, Orlando Nwade, Anthony Smith, Matt Carroll, Anthony Saulle and Jesse Rowland all qualified for the National Championship tournament. In the East Region II, Niagara wrestling receives their 19th regional title. 149-pound Kevin Strong received Region Most Outstanding Wrestler and head coach Keith Maute received Region Coach of the Year. Niagara had six regional champions and 10 total qualifiers for the national tournament. The Thunderwolves qualifiers were regional champions 125 Eric Velez, 141 Marcus Popp, 149 Kevin Strong, 157 Tyler Bruce, 197 Max Antone, and 285 El-Shaddal Gilmore-VanHosen. Their national qualifiers included 133 Cody Carbery,165 Chris Nevinger, 174 Shane Currey, and 164 Cedrick Stephens. With ten qualifiers, Niagara could also challenge for one of the top-four team trophies. The Mercyhurst North East wrestling team crowned three champions and had four runner-up finishes in the Easter District II Championships hosted by Niagara County Community College. The Saints finished second overall in the team race to a tough NCCC team. John Dillon (Boardman, Ohio), Tim Vargo (Union City, Pa.) and Alexander Svetz (North East, Pa.) each claimed individual championships. Dillon brought home the Saints' first title of the night in the 133-pound weight class with a 7-5 decision over Jake Nicholson of Jamestown Community College. At 165 pounds, Vargo had a dominant 11-4 win over top-seeded and former three-time New York ctate champ Chris Nevinger of NCCC. Svetz followed up in the same fashion at the 174-pound weight class with a 10-0 major decision of Niagara's Shane Curry. Finishing second for the Saints were 149-pounder Jordan Palanca (Blairstown, N.J.), 157-pound Cole Shirey (Mayport, Pa.), 184-pounder Jamar Henry (Greenville, Pa.) and 197-pounder Kojo Boadu (Meade, Pa.). Lorenzo Maddox (Baltimore, Md.) received a wild card bid for his third-place finish at 285. "It's great having it in the Spokane area because the Greater Spokane League is such a hotbed of talent," Whitcomb said. "It brings that national attention back to the Northwest and gets those little kids in the stands, hopefully not just to wrestle but to go to college." That's the long-term goal. The action begins at 9:15 a.m. Friday with the Parade of All Teams. The first matches will begin at 9:30 a.m. Saturday's matches will begin at 10:30 a.m. with the championship finals beginning at 6:45 p.m. The tournament includes 257 wrestlers from 39 teams.

INDIANAPOLIS -- The NCAA has announced the qualifier allocations for the 2014 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships as listed in the chart below. Each qualifying tournament was awarded spots per weight class based on current year data. Each wrestler was measured on the following: Division I winning percentage at the weight class; rating percentage index (RPI); and coaches ranking. For each wrestler that reached the threshold in at least two of the three categories, his qualifying tournament was awarded a qualifying spot in that weight class. Each qualifying tournament, with automatic qualifying status, was awarded a minimum of one wrestler per weight class, which will go to the tournament champion, even if they did not have any wrestlers reach at least two of the three thresholds. NCAA tournament spots for each qualifying event will be awarded at the tournament based solely on place-finish. After all of the qualifying events have concluded, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will meet in-person to select the remaining 40 at-large qualifiers, which will be announced on March 12. All weight classes will consist of 33 wrestlers. The at-large selections will be made based on the following criteria: head-to-head competition; qualifying event placement; quality wins; results against common opponents; winning percentage; RPI; coaches ranking and the number of matches contested at that weight class. The complete listing of the 33 wrestlers in each weight class for the final coaches’ panel rankings, as well as the second RPI for the 2013-14 season can be found by logging on to NCAA.com. The 2014 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships return to Oklahoma City March 20-22 at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. New ticket and hospitality options are still available, visit NCAA.com/Wrestling to purchase. A full description of the entire selection process in the 2014 Division I Wrestling Championships Pre-Championships Manual which is available at NCAA.org.