InterMat Staff

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The Illinois wrestling team began the Big Ten season with a 29-10 victory over the Purdue Boilermakers in front of 1,069 fans to improve to 54-29-2 all time in the border battle. Seven of the ten Illini posted victories, including bonus points from Tony Dallago (184), B.J. Futrell (141) and Matt Nora (157). "It was a solid performance tonight," head coach Jim Heffernan said. "We started the dual in a good spot, winning the first four weights. We tell our guys everyday, if you wrestle hard, you have a chance to win every match and I think thats what a lot of them did tonight. Tony looked good and was pretty excited all week. Nice to start weekend with a win and gives our guys a few more days to heal. We need our guys to get healthy, its very critical." The dual started at 174 where No. 4 Jordan Blanton faced Chad Welch. Blanton notched his 16th victory of the season after moving past Welch by a 10-2 decision. At 184, No. 11 Tony Dallago got the Illini bonus points with his pin of Andy Wiseman in 1:25 to record his eighth of the season and push the Orange and Blue up 10-0. The Illini continued their success when 197-pounder Mario Gonzalez moved past No. 18 Braden Atwood by an 11-4 decision to give Gonzalez his seventh win of the season. Heavyweight Chris Lopez earned his first collegiate dual meet victory against Purdue's Alex White by a 4-3 decision to push the team score to 16-0. The Purdue Boilermakers got four points on the score board at 125 pounds as Camden Eppert moved past redshirt-freshman Dominic Olivieri by a 12-4 major decision. Purdue got three more points at 133 pounds after Logan Arlis dropped his bout 11-4 to Purdue's Danny Sabatello. The Boilermakers inched closer in the team score, but the Illini held the lead 16-7 with four bouts remaining. B.J. Futrell got the Illini back in action as he notched his 19th victory of the season as he majored Purdue's Brandon Nelsen 13-5 to push the team score to 20-7. At 157 pounds, Matt Nora wrestled Purdue's Tommy Churchard, a returning NCAA qualifier. Nora found himself down 3-0 in the second period but turned Churchard to his back and pinned the Boilermaker to record his 10th overall victory this season and third pin of the year. In the last bout of the night, senior Conrad Polz defeated Pat Robinson 10-3 to close out the Illini's 29-10 victory. "I knew Tommy was a tough competitor and it would be a close match," Nora said. "I had to listen to my coaches and wrestle hard for the entire seven minutes. I wasn't so much worried about the outcome, more so just trying to fill my role on the team. I knew if I competed to my best ability, good things would happen." The Illini will continue their Big Ten season next weekend when they travel to Nebraska on Friday, Jan. 18 and Minnesota on Monday, Jan. 21. Results: 174: #4 Jordan Blanton (ILL) dec. Chad Welch (PUR), 10-2 (3-0) 184: #11 Tony Dallago (ILL) pinned Andy Wiseman (PUR), 1:25 (10-0) 197: #5 Mario Gonzalez (ILL) dec. #18 Braden Atwood (PUR), 11-4 (13-0) HWT: Chris Lopez (ILL) dec. Alex White (PUR), 4-3 (16-0) 125: #18 Camden Eppert (PUR) major dec. Dominic Olivieri (ILL), 12-4 (16-4) 133: Danny Sabatello (PUR) dec. Logan Arlis (ILL), 11-4, (16-7) 141: #3 B.J. Futrell (ILL) major dec. Brandon Nelsen (PUR), 13-5 (20-7) 149: #12 Ivan Lopouchanski (PUR) dec. Caleb Ervin (ILL), 2-0 (20-10) 157: Matt Nora (ILL) pinned Tommy Churchard (PUR), 4:34 (26-10) 165: #7 Conrad Polz (ILL) dec. Pat Robinson (PUR), 10-3 (29-10)

InterMat senior writer T.R. Foley answers reader questions about NCAA wrestling, international wrestling, recruiting, or anything loosely related to wrestling. You have until Thursday night every week to send questions to Foley's Twitter or email account. Do you want to read a past mailbag? Access archives. This week Twitter earned another customer when NCAA oddsmaker Brian Muir opened up account as @MuirOrLess. The entendre should speak to the idea that he more or less gets you the odds you need to bet with your friends. The service is free and for podcast listeners (the ranks are swelling each week!) those numbers come in every Wednesday, which means you have ample time to sucker your friends into a terrible bet. Muir assures me that he'll post the lines for the Iowa vs. Oklahoma State dual on Twitter tomorrow. If you're so inclined to join another social network -- albeit one that you can enjoy voyeuristically and without handing over your high school graduation date -- then look up the InterMat family of Tweeters and read up on wrestling all day long via your mobile device. Last week's articles on Dake and Taylor took a lot of energy out of the wrestling world this week. We're all falling back into our pre-holiday routine and without the Magic Man and Kid Dynamite to talk about many of us have given up on wrestling for a few weeks. It's understandable, the NCAA wrestling season is far too long. We all reach our saturation point. But keep your hopes up for next month. We'll be well inside the conference dual meet schedule, with matches that impact seeding at the conference and national tournament start to materialize. And soon after that the most anticipated NCAA tournament in modern history. Stay tuned, mailbaggers. To your questions ... Q: Iowa vs. Oklahoma State. Who are you picking? -- Brandon H. Foley: Iowa. As podcast listeners know I recently acquired a renewed admiration for Hawkeye head wrestling coach Tom Brands. His post-match news press conference following his team's 11-point win over Ohio State was one for the archives. Not only did he admit to an ANGER MANAGEMENT!! problem, he blamed himself for the team's lack of performance. I know that 99 percent of our coaches look in the mirror when things go awry, but how many would self-diagnose a psychiatric issue? We live in a society where 80 percent of people who show up to a 9-5 office job bite their tongue once a day rather than risk a lawsuit for calling another human a dumbass or for smacking the office print boy for making your cup of coffee too weak. (What's the line on this percentage @MuirOrLess?) Brands is fresh air because he doesn't hold back his emotions. He's like Mike Tyson in that way, nothing inauthentic can pass through his lips. He's honest, and since I started to pay attention, it's become his most endearing quality. In fact, my objective 31-year-old self would send my weakling 18-year-old self to be coached by Brands, I'd have learned how to hand fight and wear yellow without becoming washed out. I know that you can't smack the copier kid, or stomp your boots when things don't go as planned, but there is a sincerity in holding true to your highest value. Brands' highest value is dominating, and when that eludes him or his team, he doesn't skank roll with his emotions, he plods forward and gets it dinged for stalling. Kids still want a slick-haired coach to coddle them and tell them that (insert university) will be the springboard to a beautiful wife, picket fence and job at a Fortune 500 company. I only see Brands telling me that I'd have to work my ass off and zip my lip, because "That's how you learn! ... That's how you get better!" I might poke fun at him on occasion (it's too easy), but I like me some Tom Brands. Iowa wins 17-16. Q: So I signed onto TrackWrestling.com the other day to keep up with things at the Southern Scuffle. I'm really excited to watch (in static red and blue animation) Alan Waters take on the Mega-Nico. But wait. I can't find Waters in the brackets. So I scroll through all the comments about President Obama on the Southern Scuffle blog and see that Waters is out for either grades or an injury (no one seemed to know which, but they all seemed to be pretty sure they hate President Obama). Fine, I think, I'll see what's going on with the Alton brothers. They're always fun to watch. But Holy Smokes, they've weighed in but are not wrestling! From what I find (after a Google search), they've been charged with assault!! (My theory: they've taken to pinning random strangers on the streets.) So, OK, at least I can watch Dake and Taylor go at it ... several days later on Flowrestling.com. Then, last Friday, I kick back with a beer and some popcorn, switch on BTN, ready to watch Tony Ramos attempt to stare down Logan Stieber. What the heck?!? Logan is sitting on the sidelines (looking just fine by the way) and poor Ramos is reduced to putting the stink-eye on some guy who looks like Henry from the comics. What the Sam Hill is going on here? What's the lowdown on all these guys and when will they be back on the mats? And, one more thing, why do I have to go so many different places to figure out what's going on in this sport? -- John G. Foley: I would normally trim a question of this length (cough, cough, rant, cough), but you're a nifty little writer. And you have a point. We here in the wrestling media are still very much in our adolescent phase. There are things that we want to do like the big boys covering the NFL, but budgets are small and therefore our time is limited. As you guys keep buying our services and frequenting the pages, we can make some extra money and send back to you with up-to-the-minute information. I'm sure we here at InterMat could be a faster and more flamboyant with the dispersal of information, but releasing that information has consequences and therefore can't be done without solid sourcing. For example, we might have heard from someone that Waters was out of the lineup because President Barack Obama had asked him to consult on a five star panel to discuss new crop-growing methods for farmers in Latvia. However, if we can't confirm that news with a coach, sports information director, and White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, then we can't publish the information. I'd love to be the guy to break the news that Logan Stieber is out 1-2 weeks so that he can complete the final requirements of his Eagle badge, but if I can't get Tom Ryan to confirm the details we are all left to wonder. In the future, if you email me as questions as they are occurring I can put in a few calls and then post the information in the mailbag. I do favor-based journalism and will seek out solid information on behalf of my readers. Why? I'm just that sweet. Q: What's the best wrestling clubs in the U.S.? -- @BrandonfrmNJ Foley: The best wrestling club in the nation is The Edge run by Ernie Monaco. I don't do second places because then I'm forced to do a third and fourth place, which would require me list all ten. To be honest, I don't know the high school clubs all that well. However, I can say that for more than 20 years The Edge has been pumping out megawatt superstars. And here's a little more information. Dave Esposito, one of the smartest wrestling minds I've ever been around, has a second location open in Hoboken, N.J. Along with a staff that includes former DI NCAA qualifier Brandon Kinney I'd expect to see some serious talent finding its way out of The Mile Squared over the next few years. Q: Majority of college "underachievers" are a result of early physical maturity? Man vs. boy? Or is there a better reason? -- @eclipsegut Foley: Recruits can fail for any number of reasons. Your question came after several wrestling pundits on Twitter chirped that we thought Kyle Snyder with be the Harlem Globetrotters of NCAA wrestling. It's always tough to predict how an all-world kid will react once he's in college. In my experience it's as much about psychology as it is talent. No college wrestling team should seek to have thirty No. 1 wrestlers. It's too many egos with no natural balance. Youth, middle school and high school teams breed role wrestlers and all-stars because the natural separation of talent in a pool of athletes occurs naturally and is reinforced in social circles being developed for the first time. There are bit players, role players, major players and the leader. Like a season of the Real World you can see the same cast in every season. However, because college wrestling is so competitive sometimes teams with huge superstars can't socially accommodate the egotistical needs of a talented newcomer. The role has already been cast and filled. You might best recognize this psychological theory in the cliché, "The town ain't big enough for the both of us." It's the lack of recognition by wrestlers and coaches that an athlete can't bear to be out of the spotlight that has ruined DOZENS of careers over the past ten years. (This problem is more prevalent in big men because their physical standing often makes them the most popular person at their entire school. Height matters, George Washington wasn't the best general of the 1770's, but he was just the tallest.) The other reason some all-stars don't work out is their personal inability to deal with defeat. You come from a state where you lost eight or nine times in four years and suddenly the backup two weights down is destroying you in practice. Wrestlers are a strong bunch, but we're very sensitive and it's that vulnerability which can sometimes translate into the cliché known as, "Screw this, I'm out." High school heroes and the inability to adapt to losing are the two big principals, but the third is technical deficiency from bottom. High school kids and first-year college wrestlers are just bad from bottom. When you can't get out from bottom it can use all types of frustrations, and many more losses than the pundits predicted. As for the physical disadvantages, it's certainly possible. It's not far fetched that it could impact these guys, but weightlifting is advanced even in high school and many of these bigger kids might not have MAN STRENGTH quite yet, but they can toss another human about with ease. YOU MUST READ THIS WEBSITE. http://www.outofedenwalk.com Any ideas on how we could do something similar for wrestling?

Steve Garland and Kevin DresserSteve Garland and Kevin Dresser are two of the most well-liked coaches in college wrestling. But the duo doesn't just share affability and a governor. Hired at the same time seven years ago, the pair has seen each other's their squads rise from the ranks of the also-rans into teams filled with All-American talent. On the eve of the Virginia Duals both coaches talked about winning the Commonwealth of Virginia, the direction of their program and much, much more. Coach Dresser and Coach Garland answered the folllowing questions by phone while traveling from their respective schools to the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Va. Where are you right now? Garland: We're passing through Richmond, which makes no sense because you and I keep dropping calls. Dresser: We just left Blacksburg and we're about four and half hours away, just have to take 81 North to 64 East. There's a few mountains between us and Hampton Who are the big performers for you guys right now, guys that might've impressed you during the first half of the season? Garland: Jedd Moore is wrestling just like you want him to at this time of year. He's won the Scuffle now, but probably the biggest niche is that he's a beast on top, where last year he wasn't a mat wrestler. It's good because he's falling back on old school grinding. That's gonna be the kicker, the deciding factor. We honestly believe he can be a national champion. When you get in on a shot it might be your only chance. He hadn't been finishing but he gets into those positions with Coach Leen and they have to figure 'em out. For whatever reason Jordan's really clicked with Jedd, and I think he works differently, but it's Coach Leen and whatever they're doing is working. I'm not gonna try to fix what ain't broken. Dresser: Nick Brascetta is coming along nicely. Obviously he had a big win against Donnie Vinson. But we have Binghamton in the first round so it's a "boom, boom" kinda thing and he has to prove it wasn't a fluke. I know it wasn't a fluke. Thing is he's one stupid injury timeout away from being undefeated. He dropped a match because there was a forced injury time against Cole VonOhlen early in the season. We don't change positions, Nick wins. What is the team's overall strength heading into Virginia Duals? Garland: Mat wrestling. We're really good from top and bottom. We pride ourselves on top, and our guys like to ride on top. Everybody likes to talk about how funky Snyder is, but he learned that leg series here. I think Sulzer is riding on top. Our goal is to end periods on top, to get that riding time point. You know the other thing is with the bottom we're really good at forcing reversals. Spisak Snyder, Fausey are all good there and Fausey will get big points. And my boy Doty does old school power switches and breaks off people's arms Dresser: We're real healthy right now. I think we have a great dual meet team and improving at the five weights where we aren't ranked in the top twelve. We're doing a lot of individual stuff with the guys this time of years. Confidence is such a big part of the games, and the 97 and heavyweight are coming from ACL and they're just getting back into it. Dong is still recovering from a major shoulder surgery, five staples. We just shot him up last year and dude couldn't even hold his arm up. He's getting better every week this year and though his shoulder is one-hundred percent, he still needs time to build back up. When you look at the preseason goals and what you can accomplish in March, are you feeling optimistic? What are some challenges? Garland: The injuries definitely hurt. I'm not gonna give you some bull about "next guy up," the injuries hurt and they hurt bad. I think it's always affected our program this time of season. Cool thing about that question is that I feel more confident about our guys. Not only am I pleased, I've actually improved our goals after watching what these guys are capable of doing on the mat. I've heard some people say that they wish they could have more injuries throughout the year so that they could've been fresh. So my hope is that we can get these guys through the injuries so they can be fresh and happy and just so, so hungry to get back on the mat for the last third of the season. Dresser: My preseason statement to everyone was that we are going to be the better team in 2013. We have those guys I mentioned coming off huge surgeries and a freshman in the lineup. Everybody knows that some of these guys can wrestle, but we got a lot of guys that can be OW on the team. But even knowing that I expected this I'm more optimistic now than I thought I'd be. Best things are ahead of us. Once we get into January and February we can do some big things with our season. Good tournament team. Why? Carries over to duals? Garland: I think we are a good tournament team. The Virginia Duals mimics the feel of a tournament. I told our guys last night that I want them to feed off that palpable energy. I remember wrestling Oklahoma a few years ago and it was a bloodbath. It was so intense every match. We tend to wrestle better in those situations and I'm hoping our guys will rise to that level. Dresser: I think we are in a good place right now. We as a program got through a lot of crap early on about not finishing the season strong at ACCs and NCAAs. But remember that the guys we were putting into the NCAA tournament were guys we brought up. They weren't blue chippers. Most guys go to nationals and underachieve before they overachieve. We were 11th at NCAAs then fourth at Midlands and then second. Good coaching is having good focus. Work ethic wins in high school and work ethic wins in college. Work ethic wins in business. The biggest thing to remember is that getting second at Midlands doesn't matter all that much. You can never get too high or too low. The emotional swings will break you. As the rivalry has increased it seems like you guys seem to get along more. When you look across the state (figuratively, of course) what are some of the things you admire about their program? Garland: I hope that there's a mutual respect. We got the jobs the same time, Kevin and I, and the respect started out of the season. Our recruiting classes in our first season were about the same, and we were right by each other for the first few seasons. Obviously they are doing something right by constantly, consistently bringing in great kids, from that first year until now. I was there the first year when we wrestled at Rumble on the River, and when we both got those teams they were a shadow of what they are now. No disrespect, but they were at a different level. Look at that dual meet roster from that match and look at the dual meets this weekend. From what we've done I've seen them mimic the same things. We aren't best buddies and we don't go out to dinners together, but I know what he's done is impressive. You hope that he and other coaches see the way you live your life, your belief and passion to see that you're more than just a wrestling coach by name. That's all you can really hope for. We both remember that first ACC meeting looking at each other and saying, "Man, we got a tough road to hoe," and then it was the next year and we're winning 18 matches and they won 20, and it was like, "Wow." Again I don't want to say that he thinks about me all the time, because I don't think he does, but we saw each other's successes and failures all very intimately. Dresser: I think that Steve's done a great job. We got hired at the same time. Look at where we were seven years ago and where they were seven years ago and see the difference. Do we want to wake up every morning and we beat the crap out of 'em when they're good? Yeah, it feels good! I've been around Virginia a long time and there ain't many years we were both in the top 15 in the country. I don't know if that's ever happened. I think it's great for the state to have quality teams. Traditionally, Virginia has done better at ACCs and NCAAs, while Virginia Teach has done better in dual meets. Last year Virginia Tech bested Virginia in the dual and NCAAs. What do you have to do to beat these guys each and every time? Garland: Oh man, I guess I could point to injuries, but they have them it as well. I took it on the chin this year because I felt like I didn't have my guys prepared enough. This year we just didn't wrestle well, flat out. I don't have a concrete answer except say that the time we wrestled them in Virginia in 2011 and it came down to heavyweight, we need to wrestle them with that kind of passion and intensity. Dresser: You don't walk around bragging about how you beat a .500 wrestler. It was nice to put a whooping on Virginia in the dual meet this year because we know that they're a good team. This isn't Iowa, but do you feel that there is a pride about being the best in Virginia? Garland: Well, I've been coach here for seven years and if you add in my time here as a student-athlete, I've been a Virginia resident a long time. I talked to my team yesterday. I told them that we represent the state, and we need to walk around with our heads up and our shoulders back. Seriously, it was my post-practice speech yesterday. I'm big about presence. I'm big about thinking about 'What am I here to do? Why am I here? You always hear the joke about A-Rod being the main character in the movie about himself. Well, I kinda believe in that, dude! I was a nobody but I used to walk around like I was bees knees and it helped me, you know. Our guys should do that, too. Dresser: I think that we recruit Virginia kids and it's nice to say you're the best guy in town. Obviously we aren't hanging our hat on what we do at the Virginia Duals, because our goals are focused on what goes down at nationals. When it comes to recruiting you both have different areas of focus. Explain. Garland: Kevin's old assistant coach is in their backyard. I mean shame on them if they're not getting those kids, right? They have a heck of a pipeline there. Daryl Weber is a great coach. The Jersey connection, I have no idea where that came from, except they have a North Jersey thing. We're Western and Central PA, but mostly Ohio. We like Ohio. Kids don't know squat about college. They know what they know and they know high school. So some kid in Pennsylvania hears Jon Fausey and Matt Snyder are on campus they like it more because they remember reading about them and watching them in the state finals. Dresser: Obviously, my relationships are strong at home. We might look like all-Virginia but we have some other states as well, including starters from Ohio, Delaware, and Georgia. I think we have a little bit of everything. But I do think my background as a high school coach helped me a little bit. I feel like I can make phone calls and get straight answers. I spent a lot of time in hospitality rooms those 18 years as a high school coach. As for Christiansburg, some of them lived there, some of the moved in. But guys like Zach Epperly, I mean I'd watch that kids drill in the basement since he was 4 or 5 years old. When I took over the program in 1996 I was really starting from scratch. So our goal was to get huge numbers out and we finally got 200 and 300 kids. We figured out ways for kids to get to national tournaments. I was happy when I got Daryl in 2000 because now he's doing great things with the program, too. Commonwealth trivia. Speed round. How many Presidents are from the state of Virginia? (Eight) Garland: Five. Dresser: I didn't study history. I went to Iowa and we didn't go to class in the 80s. We won a lot of national titles, though. Who is the most famous celebrity you can name from Virginia? Garland: "Touchdown" Tommy Jefferson and George Washington! Those guys were pretty big. Dresser: Do we have any celebrities from Virginia? One of the guys just told me someone from Glee. Oh, wait, someone else just said Bruce Smith. What was the Commonwealth's leading export in 2011? (Coal) Garland: Leading export? Tobacco. Dresser: Coal. Who is the biggest celebrity you can name from your school and their school? Garland: Virginia Tech: Josh Feldman! (Josh was the older brother to Zack Feldman, who wrestled at Virginia and was Garland's close friend). Virginia: I gotta go with my girl Katie Couric! Dresser: Tech has Mike Vick and Virginia has Heath Miller. All football for ya.'

Ten teams, including three inside the top twelve nationally, will join No. 14 Detroit Catholic, Mich., on Saturday for the DCC Super Duals. The prime attraction to the event will be matchups involving the hosts, those three other ranked teams (No. 2 St. Edward, Ohio, No. 7 Montini Catholic, Ill, and No. 12 St. Johns, Mich.), and perennial state power Davison. All five squads will compete against one another with the exception of Detroit Catholic Central not facing Davison and St. Johns; the Shamrocks beat Davison in a dual meet last month and are on a collision course to see them in next month's dual meet state final, while the hosts have a dual meet against St. Johns scheduled for a week from Friday at the University of Michigan, and beat them in a dual meet last month. Four of the other teams at the event reside among the top eleven teams in Michigan regardless of division per Michigan Grappler rankings from Jan. 7: Temperence Bedford, Dundee, Hudson, and Rochester. Rounding out the field are programs with histories of success in Clarkston, Mich., and Solon, Ohio. The three out of state teams in the DCC Super Duals field have to adapt to the weight classes in Michigan, which did not change with the NFHS rule change of the 2011-12 season, just as a team like Detroit Catholic Central does in their travels to Ohio. For this weekend, it most impacts St. Edward and Montini Catholic, as those two squads are the ones that will be in "high stakes" dual meets. In terms of the St. Edward lineup, it is most likely that Medina Invitational placer Hunter Ladnier will occupy the extra lighter weight (130/135). The impact for the upper half of the lineup is that Domenic Abounader (ranked No. 2 nationally at 182) slides up to 189, while projected state placers Gabe Dzuro, Parker Knapp, and Ralph Nichols share the back two weight classes (215 and 285). Looking at Montini Catholic, the Broncos will be able to eliminate the relative hole at 285 pounds by sliding three other upper-weights up one weight class: Jake Turk, 182 pound runner-up at the Cheesehead, moves up to 189; state qualifier Anthony Ferraro moves from 195 up to 220; and Edgar Ruano, Cheesehead champion at 220, moves up to 285. The extra lower weight, either 130 or 135, most likely gets filled in by junior Austin Pohlman. The following nationally ranked and/or otherwise notable wrestlers are slated to compete in this event: 103: L.J. Bentley (St. Edward), Robby Hamdan (Hudson), Ian Parker (St. Johns), Max Johnson (Davison) 112: Tommy Pawleski (Montini Catholic), Lincoln Olson (Davison), Isaac Dusseau (Hudson) 119: No. 17 Brandon Thompson (Solon), Mitch Rogaliner (Temperence Bedford), Vince Turk (Montini Catholic), Trevor Zdebski (Detroit Catholic Central), Justin Kim (Rochester) 125: No. 5 Zac Hall (St. Johns), Jordan Laster (Montini Catholic), Josh Wood (Rochester), Chance Driscoll (St. Edward), Brendan O'Connor (Dundee), Chris Wymer (Solon) 130: No. 6 Jacob Schmitt (St. Johns), No. 15 (at 126) Cole Weaver (Hudson), Myles Amine (Detroit Catholic Central) 135: No. 3 (at 132) Dean Heil (St. Edward), No. 13 (at 126) Ken Bade (Detroit Catholic Central), Jose Champagne (Montini Catholic), Matthew Miller (Davison), Mark Bozzo (St. Johns), J.D. Waters (Hudson) 140: No. 7 Logan Massa (St. Johns), No. 17 Colin Heffernan (St. Edward), Chris Garcia (Montini Catholic), Malik Amine (Detroit Catholic Central), Dominic Russ (Davison), Kaelan Richards (Rochester) 145: No. 1 Ben Whitford (St. Johns), No. 3 Edgar Bright (St. Edward), Michael Sepke (Montini Catholic), Doug Rojem (Dundee), Thomas Garty (Davison) 152: No. 6 Anthony Collica (Solon), No. 9 Markus Scheidel (St. Edward), Josh Pennell (St. Johns), Nick Vandermeer (Clarkston), Luke Fortuna (Montini Catholic), Aaron Morgan (Rochester) 160: Logan Marcicki (Detroit Catholic Central), Jordan Cooks (Davison), Xavier Montalvo (Montini Cahtolic), Todd Olson (Dundee), Brant Schafer (St. Johns), Dean Vettese (Rochester) 171: No. 18 Andrew Garcia (Detroit Catholic Central), Angus Arthur (St. Johns), Michael Maduko (Montini Catholic) 189: No. 2 (at 182) Domenic Abounader (St. Edward), No. 11 (at 195) Payne Hayden (St. Johns), Jake Turk (Montini Catholic), Chris Calvano (Clarkston), Teddy Warren (Dundee), Schwan Shadia (Rochester) 215: Gabe Dzuro/Parker Knapp (St. Edward), Brandon Sunday (Temperence Bedford), Anthony Ferraro (Montini Catholic), Jay Sroufe (Dundee) 285: Edgar Ruano (Montini Catholic), Ralph Nichols (St. Edward), Zach Rieger (Hudson), Robert Coe (Detroit Catholic Central), John Marogen (Dundee) Wrestling will start on Saturday at 10 a.m. ET. The two featured bouts of the opening round place No. 2 St. Edward against Davison and No. 7 Montini Catholic against No. 12 St. Johns. The second-ranked Eagles are favored in ten of fourteen weight classes, while the Montini/St. Johns dual has each squad favored in half the weight classes. In the second round, slated for approximately 11:45 a.m., No. 2 St. Edward battles No. 12 St. Johns, and No. 7 Montini Catholic is in dual meet action against No. 14 Detroit Catholic Central. The battle between the Eagles and Redwings features a boatload of dynamic individual matchups, three where both wrestlers are ranked, but the second ranked team in the nation is favored in eight weight classes. In the other featured dual of this session, Montini is favored in ten weight classes. This session of wrestling also features Solon against Bedford, which means a potential matchup of two-time state champions at 119 pounds, No. 17 Brandon Thompson against Mitch Rogaliner. The third round, slated for about 1:30 p.m., features No. 2 St. Edward against No. 7 Montini Catholic, and No. 12 St. Johns against Davison. Looking at those matches, St. Edward is favored in eight weight classes and St. Johns is favored in nine. Also in this set of matches, Detroit Catholic Central wrestles Hudson, which means a possible match between two-time state champions Ken Bade and Cole Weaver -- both of whom are nationally ranked -- if lineups are shifted to accommodate that. The pair of key dual meets in the fourth round, slated for 3:15 p.m., places No. 2 St. Edward against No. 14 Detroit Catholic Central and No. 7 Montini Catholic against Davison. Both higher ranked teams -- St. Edward and Montini Catholic -- are favored in ten weight classes against their opposition. Also in this round, St. Johns duals Solon, which means two mega-matches should lineups shift to accommodate: Brandon Thompson against Zac Hall, a battle of nationally ranked two-time state champions, and Anthony Collica against Ben Whitford, both Junior National freestyle champions. In last year's dual meet, Thompson upset Hall 4-3, while Whitford won 8-3 though it was 4-3 before a late four-point move. The fifth and final round of matches will involve only the Michigan teams, with no national level matches of note. For host Detroit Catholic Central -- ranked first in Division 1 -- it will be a match against Dundee, who is ranked first in Division 3. InterMat will be providing coverage of the event on Saturday during and after the event. Results will also be available throughout the day on Track Wrestling - direct link, http://www.trackwrestling.com/teamtournaments/VerifyPassword.jsp?tournamentId=99071

Gopher Athletics announced today that head wrestling coach J Robinson will not travel to Ohio State and Indiana for Minnesota’s dual meets this weekend due to a knee infection. The No. 4 Gophers are scheduled to take on No. 5 Ohio State on Friday in Columbus before traveling to Bloomington to face Indiana on Sunday. Robinson said he is very disappointed to be missing this weekend’s meets, but that he is looking forward to being back coaching the Gophers once the infection is cleared. Robinson is in his 27th season with the Gophers.

South Plainfield's Scott Delvecchio is ranked No. 7 nationally at 132 (Photo/Rob Preston) The Virginia Duals are a long-standing, historic event in the context of amateur wrestling. It was the event to introduce the team advancement concept to wrestling, the fore-runner to the NWCA National Duals in college and the many state associations that have state dual meet tournament champions. The first event in Hampton, Va., occurred all the way back in 1981 with just a National College division. High school teams were first included in the event in 1995 with the National High School Division, champion in that first year was Parkersburg South, W. Va. Two additional divisions were added for high school competition the next year -- an American High School Division that serves as a second tier with a mix of national, regional, and local teams; while the Black and Blue High School Division is a third tier with essentially a "local" field. Over the prior eighteen years, the National Division has featured many elite programs winning the title including the following teams in the last four events: Christiansburg, Va., St. Mark's, Del., Wyoming Seminary, Pa., and Canon McMillan, Pa. Other powers of their time to win titles were Northampton, Pa., Nazareth, Pa., and Great Bridge, Va. This year's event is likely to feature a first-time champion, as the following three Fab 50 teams anchor the National High School Division field: No. 26 South Plainfield, N.J., No. 32 McDonogh, Md., and No. 47 Colonial Forge, Va. These three teams are also the top seeds in the bracket. Other top eight seeds include Christiansburg, Va., Camden Catholic, N.J., Osceola, Fla., Timber Creek, N.J., and Nazareth, Pa. Championship first round matches start on Friday at 9 a.m. ET in the upper bracket and continue with lower bracket matches at 11 a.m. Quarterfinals and consolation first round matches will follow at 1 p.m. (upper bracket) and 3 p.m. (lower bracket). Wrestling will then continue on Saturday at 8 a.m. with a pair of matches involving squads that went 0-2, then at 10 a.m. with the consolation second round. The championship finals will kick-off at 2:00 p.m., two rounds of consolation at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., before the first and third place matches at 8:30 p.m. The following wrestlers in the National H.S. Division are nationally ranked: 106: No. 16 Ariel Dominguez (Osceola, Fla.) 120: No. 9 Coy Ozias (Christiansburg, Va.) 126: No. 1 Joey Dance (Christiansburg, Va.), No. 14 Corey Stasenko (South Plainfield, N.J.) 132: No. 7 Scott Delvecchio (South Plainfield, N.J.), No. 9 Dennis Gustafson (Forest Park, Va.) 138: No. 2 Anthony Ashnault (South Plainfield, N.J.) 145: No. 6 T.J. Miller (Camden Catholic, N.J.), No. 9 Fox Baldwin (Osceola, Fla.), No. 11 Troy Heilmann (South Plainfield, N.J.), No. 14 Jack Clark (McDonogh, Md.) 152: No. 12 Chad Walsh (Camden Catholic, N.J.) 160: No. 8 Myles Martin (McDonogh, Md.) 170: No. 3 Zach Epperly (Christiansburg, Va.) 285: No. 6 Aaron Bradley (Nazareth, Pa.) As far as the dual meet aspect of the event, South Plainfield is the strong favorite to clear the top half of the bracket and make a maiden appearance in the final after finishing third in two of the last three years. They draw Cave Spring, Va., in the first round before a date against either Ocean Lakes, Va., or Nazareth, Pa., in the quarterfinal. The Tigers should draw Camden Catholic, N.J., or Christiansburg, Va., in the semifinal -- neither of whom are realistic threats to poach an upset. Therefore, from an individual matchup perspective, one should hope for Camden Catholic to advance so fans get a Heilmann vs. Miller showdown that could be coming in the state semifinals (or final). The lower half of the draw is by all measures more competitive. McDonogh is the second seed and should upend Smithfield, Va. in the opening round and see either Forest Park, Va. or Timber Creek, N.J. in the second round. That seven/ten dual should be competitive, but neither team is realistically equipped to challenge McDonogh; therefore, the best individual matchup looms if Timber Creek wins: Jack Clark facing three-time state placer Brandon Keller at 145. In that third quarter, it should end up in a very interesting battle between Colonial Forge, Va., and Osceola, Fla., on Friday afternoon: presuming each clears their first round opposition, the Eagles against New Kent, Va., and the Kowboys against Arvada West, Colo. That is a dual meet which could go either way as Osceola has more guaranteed wins, but Colonial Forge has more balance in the lineup. Looking to the end game, one senses that a South Plainfield against McDonogh final looms, which would be a rematch of the third-place match from last year's tournament. South Plainfield won that match; however, it was close, and could have swung the other way if Jack Clark was not upset by Corey Stasenko. The easiest prediction to make is that South Plainfield wins; however, any one of four teams has a legit shot.

LANCASTER, Pa. -- Franklin & Marshall cruised to a 43-8 victory over visiting Gettysburg on Wednesday night at the Mayser Center. The Diplomats improve to 3-2 with the landslide win, while the Bullets drop to 4-6. F&M captured eight of the ten bouts, including the opening six matchups. The Diplomats recorded three pins, a major decision, and a sudden victory decision, while also benefitting from three forfeits by the Bullets. Aaron Moldoff opened the match at 125 with the Diplomats' first pin, taking down Holt Johnson in 1:53. Moldoff registered a takedown halfway through period one, and just seconds later finished off Johnson with his sixth win via fall of the season. Robert Ruiz (133) and Richard Durso (141) followed with wins by forfeit, while Andrew Murano gave F&M a 22-0 edge by handling Eddie Carroll with a 16-6 major decision. Murano took control of the bout from the get-go, delivering two takedowns in period one, one takedown in the second and reeling off four takedowns in the final period to earn the major decision. Eric Norgard added six points to the F&M total with a victory by forfeit at 157, before Colin Lahiff made it six straight Diplomat wins with a 4-2 sudden victory decision over Manny Markantone late in the first overtime. After three tight, low scoring periods, Lahiff and Markantone headed into overtime, with Lahiff coming out on top with a takedown with just three seconds left. Trailing 31-0, the Bullets avoided the shutout with back-to-back major decisions at 174 and 184, but the Diplomats responded with a pair of pins at the final two weights to close out the match. At 197, Isaiah Cromwell took down Marshall Puls by fall in 4:48, while Chuckie Kerkesner pinned Michael Sheehan at 285 in 5:37. Facing a 5-4 deficit in the latter stages of the second period, Cromwell turned what appeared to be a Puls takedown into one of his own, and pinned him shortly thereafter. Kerkesner methodically downed Sheehan as he grabbed the early lead with a trio of first period takedowns and never looked back en route to the pin. F&M wraps up the week with another home dual against Davidson on Friday at 7:30 p.m. Results: 125: Aaron Moldoff (F&M) def. Holt Johnson (GC) Pin 1:53 (6-0) 133: Robert Ruiz (F&M) won by forfeit (12-0) 141: Richard Durso (F&M) won by forfeit (18-0) 149: Andrew Murano (F&M) def. Eddie Carroll Major Dec. 16-6 (22-0) 157: Eric Norgard (F&M) won by forfeit (28-0) 165: Colin Lahiff (F&M) def. Manny Markantone (GC) SV1 4-2 (31-0) 174: Zach Thomson (GC) def. Colin Gironda (F&M) Major Dec. 8-0 (31-4) 184: Lukas Iorio (GC) def. Brad Bailey (F&M) Major Dec. 9-1 (31-8) 197: Isaiah Cromwell (F&M) def. Marshall Puls (GC) Pin 4:48 (37-8) 285: Chuckie Kerkesner (F&M) def. Michael Sheehan (GC) Pin 5:37 (43-8)

BUIES CREEK, N.C. -- After starting the 2012-13 season with five straight tournaments, the NC State wrestling team competed in its first dual meets of the season Wednesday night. The Pack got the season off to a 2-0 start, first defeated VMI 35-6 and then downing host Campbell 27-13 at Gore Arena in Buies Creek. In the Pack’s two victories, NC State collected two falls and eight major decisions in winning 16 of the 20 matches on the evening. NC State (2-0) started its evening winning nine of 10 matches in its 35-6 win over VMI (0-4) . The Pack recorded one fall and five major decision wins in its nine wins for six bonus point victories. The Pack got off to a fast start against VMI, winning its first four matches and jumping out to an 18-0 lead, with all four matches being controlled by NC State wrestlers from the start. The meet started at 149 pounds, with sophomore Thomas Gantt getting the scoring started with a fall at 2:36 and giving the Pack a quick 6-0 lead and a lead it would never surrender. The Pack then recorded three straight major decisions, and five in the next seven matches overall. 2012 NCAA qualified Matt Nereim recorded a 15-5 major decision at 157 pounds, then redshirt-freshman Mardel Gabriel jumped up one weight class to 165 pounds and brought home a 13-4 major decision, followed by freshman Patrick Davis’ 16-5 major decision win at 174 pounds to give the Pack an 18-0 lead. Redshirt-freshman Bret Peltier, at 184 pounds, suffered the Pack’s first set-back, getting pinned and VMI was on the board at 18-6. Sophomore Bill Cook got the Pack going again at 197 pounds, winning 7-4 to increase the Pack’s lead to 21-6. NC State then recorded back-to-back major decisions. Feshman Mike Kosoy earned a 12-2 major decision at 285 pounds, and then junior Joe DeAngelo made his Wolfpack debut with a 16-4 major decision at 125 pounds. The Pack closed out the win over VMI with freshman Sam Speno winning 8-3 at 133 pounds, and classmate Tyler Hunt also making his Wolfpack debut with a 8-2 win at 141 pounds. NC State and Campbell (2-5) also opened at 149 pounds, with NC State’s Gantt started the Pack off strong once again with his 15-6 major decision to give the Pack an early 4-0 lead. Nereim at 157 pounds also picked up his second win of the night, with a 6-4 win pushing the lead up to 7-0 after two bouts. Campbell got on the board with a major decision at 165 pounds over Gabriel, 14-4 to close the score to 7-4. The Pack answered with back-to-back wins. Davis also recorded his second win of the night at 174 pounds, a 15-5 major decisions. Junior Nijel Jones jumped up two weight classes to 184 pounds, and won 8-4 to push the Pack’s lead to 14-4 after five bouts. Campbell would record a fall at 197 pounds over State’s Cook and close the gap to 14-10. At 285 pounds, Kosoy continued the Pack’s winning ways with a 2-1 win in extra time. After no takedowns in overtime, Kosoy earned an escape to pick up three team points and push the lead up to 17-10. Campbell answered right back with a 4-3 win at 125 pounds over DeAngelo to bring the score to 17-13. Speno clinched the match for the Pack with a 14-3 major decision increasing the Pack’s lead to 21-13. NC State closed out the evening just as it start, with Hunt picking up a fall at 4:58 for the decisive score of 27-13. The Pack will return to action this Saturday, traveling to Gardner-Webb for a dual meet against the Bulldogs at 6:30 p.m. NCSU 35, VMI 6 149: Gantt (NCSU) pin Stewart; 2:36 157: Nereim (NCSU) MD Gottwald; 15-5 165: Gabriel (NCSU) MD Darr; 13-4 174: Jones (NCSU) MD Dommert; 16-5 184: Jones (VMI) pin Davis; 3:29 197: Cook (NCSU) dec. Garcia; 7-4 285: Kosoy (NCSU) MD LaPrade; 12-2 125: DeAngelo (NCSU) MD Herrera; 16-4 133: Speno (NCSU) dec. Onufruyenko; 8-3 141: Hunt (NCSU) dec. Goodsell; 8-2 NCSU 27, Campbell 13 149: Gantt (NCSU) MD Jorge; 15-6 157: Nereim (NCSU) dec. Rex; 6-4 165: Duggan (Cam) MD Gabriel; 14-4 174: Davis (NCSU) MD Cox; 15-5 184: Jones (NCSU) dec. McGiffen’ 8-4 197: Merickel (Cam) pin Cook; 1:04 285: Kosoy (NCSU) SV3 Nolan, 2-1 125: Montoya (Cam) dec. DeAngelo; 5-4 133: Speno (NCSU) MD Bidelspach; 14-3 141: Hunt (NCSU) pin Dahlstrom; 4:58

If you mapped out the journey of Mike Benefiel's college wrestling career, it might resemble the travel itinerary of a frequent flier ... or the globe-hopping path taken by contestants on the popular CBS series The Amazing Race. The Illinois native started at Northwestern ... then transferred to St. Louis Community College in Meramec, Missouri ... then headed west to Stillwater, Oklahoma, first to Northern Oklahoma College, then across town to Oklahoma State University. Last leg of the journey: back to his native Chicagoland, where, after sitting out from classes and wrestling for an entire year, Benefiel is now enrolled at Elmhurst College. By any measure, Mike Benefiel's journey is one of the most extensive of any collegiate wrestler, in terms of the number of schools ... number of years ... and miles traveled. This may be even more surprising for a young man whose high school credentials were as blue chip as any in recent memory. After all, Benefiel won four Illinois high school state titles, along with a number of national titles. A blue chip prep career Mike Benefiel grew up in Aurora, Illinois, about 45 minutes straight west of the Chicago Loop, and not too far from his new college home at Elmhurst College. Introduced to wrestling at age 6, Benefiel attended Montini Catholic, a suburban prep powerhouse, where he compiled a 200-4 record. In the 75 years of Illinois high school state championships, Benefiel became only the ninth individual to win a state title in each of his four years at Montini, bringing home championships at 119, 140, 152, and 171 pounds. Benefiel's prep-era accomplishments went well beyond the Land of Lincoln. He was crowned champ at the Walsh Ironman in 2004. That same year, Benefiel became a Cadet National freestyle champion in 2004, then won the 171-pound title in the Junior National freestyle competition in Fargo in 2007. Benefiel was also honored with the Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award, presented to the top high school senior in the nation who demonstrates excellence in wrestling, scholastic achievement, character, citizenship and community service. All these achievements did not go unnoticed by the national wrestling media. Benefiel had been named by InterMat as the top high school prospect at 160 pounds -- and sixth overall, when considering all weight classes. Starting college close to home When it was time to pick a college, Benefiel remained within the Chicago area, choosing Northwestern University. Competing unattached, Benefiel racked up a 19-4 record as a Wildcat wrestler. When asked about his time at the Big Ten school located in Evanston, Benefiel said, "While I was there, I really enjoyed wrestling. However, I failed two drug tests for marijuana use, and was released from the team." In 2009, Mike Benefiel won a University Nationals freestyle title (Photo/Kevin Schlosser, BuckeyeWrestling.com)Eager to continue his academic and wrestling careers -- and set the stage for transferring to another Division I school -- Benefiel headed south on I-55 to enroll at St. Louis Community College-Meramec. In a May 2009 interview with InterMat's Andrew Hipps -- conducted sixth months after Mike Benefiel's separation from Northwestern -- his father Dan said that his son had talked to a number of top Division I mat programs, including Oklahoma State, Minnesota, Iowa State, Nebraska, Missouri, Virginia Tech, Oregon State, and University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. After considering his options, Mike Benefiel said in the InterMat interview for this feature, "While at Meramec, I got in touch with John Smith and Eric Guerrero, who encouraged me to come to Oklahoma State." Two seasons in Stillwater Before stepping out onto the mat at the school that's the home of the Cowboys, Benefiel had to first enroll at Northern Oklahoma College, also in Stillwater ... all because of the complex transfer rules that are unique to each conference, and each school. Mike Benefiel won the Reno Tournament of Champions as a Cowboy during the 2009-10 college season (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Mike Benefiel spent two years at Oklahoma State, where he compiled an impressive 51-14 overall record, 22-7 in dual-meet competition. Eleven of his victories were by pin, 13 by major decision, and five were technical falls. Despite those stats, all was not happy for Benefiel as a Cowboy. When asked what challenges he faced at Oklahoma State, Benefiel listed a number of aspects, starting with his analysis of his on-the-mat performance. "I could feel the pressure of being at a big university in a big-time program, especially one like Oklahoma State," Benefiel disclosed. "I really tried to put aside expectations but, when it really counted, I failed, missing out on a Big 12 title, and just missing out on All-American." (Benefiel was a two-time runner-up at the conference championships, losing to Nebraska's Stephen Dwyer in the 174-pound finals at the 2010 Big 12s ... then, the following year, he fell to Iowa State's Jon Reader in the Big 12 title bout.) In 2010, Mike Benefiel lost in the NCAA quarterfinals to Virginia's Chris Henrich, 5-4, and was eventually eliminated from the competition in the round of 12 (Photo/Larry Slater)"At the end of the year, not achieving your goals is devastating." Benefiel also cited other aspects of life at Oklahoma State that were challenging. "I wasn't doing as well I should have been in the classroom," Benefiel continued. "I think being at Oklahoma State was a bit of a culture shock for me. Stillwater is so different than the area where I grew up." "Because I really wasn't happy with where I was, I was also still thinking about what happened at Northwestern, and having regrets about that." After spending the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons at Oklahoma State, Benefiel decided it was time to take a break from wrestling -- and from college. "I took the year off," said the four-time Illinois high school mat champ. "I wasn't doing very well in wrestling, or school-wise." Taking a break, back home "For the past year, I worked for my dad. He's a veterinarian ... I also volunteer coached a kids' program at an MMA (mixed martial arts) gym run by Carlton Gracie. He has four Chicago area locations." Benefiel described the responsibilities of each day, saying, "First thing in the morning, I'd open up dad's office, work there for the first part of the day, then coach in the afternoon. There was lots of responsibility involved in both jobs. People were counting on me to do my job at both places. It helped me grow up real quick." "When you go to school, if you miss a class, it hurts just you. If you miss work, you can hurt others." After nearly a year being away from a college campus, Mike Benefiel had a revelation. "Toward last spring, I decided that I wanted to finish up my degree, especially when I realized how close I was to finishing school." My brother and mother had both gone to Elmhurst (College)," Benefiel continued. "I knew Steve Marianetti. I gave him a call. Started to take some classes last summer, and, now, I'm a full-time student." "I've known Mike for a long time," said Marianetti, who has been head wrestling coach at Elmhurst College for the past dozen seasons, earning NCAA Division III Coach of the Year honors in 2007. "His brother Joey wrestled here. I had coached Mike at Team Illinois (the Illinois National Championship Junior Dual team, in 2006)." "I had known he had left Oklahoma State," added Marianetti, a three-time All-American wrestler at the University of Illinois who won the 150-pound title at the 1995 NCAAs. "In talking to him, I realized he had one year of wrestling eligibility left. In terms of academics, he's a senior." "We're all trying to leave a legacy," Marianetti continued. "Mike left a great legacy as a wrestler here in Illinois. I told him, 'This is your opportunity to add to that legacy. Let's conclude your career on a high note.'" At home at Elmhurst When asked how Mike Benefiel is doing so far in the young season, Marianetti responded, "He's had his share of hurdles to clear and adjustments to make. He came in a bit heavy. He really wanted to wrestle at 174. Per NCAA rules, he's had to slowly make his way back to 174." Steve MarianettiWhy 174? "We talked about what weight he would rather compete at," said the man at the helm of the Elmhurst Bluejay wrestling program. "He feels more confident there. It's where he's been for a number of years." "He hasn't done a ton of wrestling for us yet," Marianetti continued. "Right now, he's 5-1 (8-1 at the time of publication). The one loss was in a dual; he won the other dual match. His other matches had been at a tournament, the Concordia Open two weeks ago, where he wrestled aggressively." "In his one loss, he realized how tough Division III is," said Marianetti. "That loss woke him up in a positive way." Speaking of positives, Marianetti sees Benefiel as a positive influence on the entire Elmhurst wrestling squad. "He's a great example for the rest of the room. He's already serving as a mentor to some of the younger guys. He has a good work ethic, and a deep knowledge of the sport. He's in there helping to teach the young guys." Marianetti openly addressed the fact that Mike Benefiel attended four other schools before coming to Elmhurst. "Everybody has his own unique journey. Mike has had some struggles in the past, but he's one of the great wrestlers of our state. I told him, 'Let's finish off your wrestling career and have fun. Take the pressure away.'" "I'm definitely not a high-pressure coach." Marianetti, a four-time Academic All-American at Illinois, also commented on what he sees as Elmhurst's more favorable academic setting for Benefiel, saying, "The environment here is lower-key. We typically have about 15 students per class." Mike BenefielIn a separate interview, Benefiel echoed his new coach's sentiments. "After going through five years of other schools, I really appreciate Elmhurst College. Smaller schools like Elmhurst tend to have profs you can talk to, ask questions. They seem to be more approachable, more caring. It's a lot more intimate atmosphere." said Benefiel, who is now a history major. Benefiel added, "I really like coach Marianetti. He's so approachable." "His program is a lot less pressure-filled than in Division I. Here we have 7-8 workouts per week, compared to a dozen or more in D1." Benefiel's feeling of reduced pressure at Elmhurst goes beyond fewer workouts. "At Oklahoma State, it's all about how you perform," said the former Cowboy 174-pounder. "If you don't perform, you get replaced in the lineup. Here, it's all about getting back to the reasons why I love wrestling." "In Division I, you can easily lose the love of the sport," Benefiel continued. "Coach Marianetti has stressed, 'Go out there and have fun.'" "I think this is the kind of environment I need to conclude my college career." Interestingly, Elmhurst was not on Benefiel's radar back in high school. "Going into college, I wouldn't have thought of going to a Division III school," Benefiel continued. "I took a roundabout journey to get here." Steve Marianetti used similar language to describe how Mike Benefiel came to Elmhurst. "When we sat down and talked, I said, 'We don't judge the voyage by leaving port, but how we finish the voyage.'" Where will Mike Benefiel's voyage take him once he's graduated from Elmhurst in 2013? "I'm still thinking about that. I've thought a lot about going into coaching. I think I can break down technique and get through to others," said the wrestler who spent part of his year off teaching kids interested in MMA the fine points of the oldest and greatest sport. As for whether he might enter MMA competition, Benefiel responded, "I can't see myself doing that. I really enjoy the instruction, though, helping students see the interrelationships among the various martial arts." Whatever path he chooses, the knowledge and experience gained on Mike Benefiel's life journey so far should serve him well.

And then it was gone. Strikeforce burst onto the scene in 2006 and quickly emerged as a powerful regional show on the west coast, even setting the North American record for attendance with its Shamrock vs. Gracie debut card. The promotion appeared on NBC in 2008 and, after buying up EliteXC's assets, became a strong national show aiming to compete with the UFC. However, with the need for new investors to sustain its entertaining but costly model, Strikeforce ended up under the Zuffa banner. Before we knew it, the show's best talent gradually began migrating to the UFC, and suddenly a promotion known for putting on exciting, top-notch cards was struggling to hold an event. Fitting of its recent struggles, Strikeforce will hold a final show this Saturday; it was supposed to feature three title fights, but injuries and other planning snafus turned it into a card with one title fight and several odd mismatches. For one last time, Richard and John break down a Strikeforce card and look back at the promotion's history. Do you want to listen to a past episode? Access archives.

Brian Muir breaks down his best lines to date. Check him out on Twitter @muirorless. We cover what it will take to make big money at NCAAs and then careen into a pool of random wrestling stories, including Kyle Snyder to Ohio State. Also, a new Tom Brands soundbite. Win you live, lose you die! Do you want to listen to a past episode? Access archives.

Huskies and Eagles due to collide again in Illinois on Saturday No. 10 Oak Park River Forest, Ill., and No. 13 Carl Sandburg, Ill, -- the crème de la crème of the Illinois big-school division at present -- are in the same event yet again this coming Saturday, a dual meet tournament hosted by Carl Sandburg. The squads were in the same bracket tournament at Hinsdale Central last month with Oak Park River Forest winning by eight points, while at the Clash, Carl Sandburg finished fourth in the championship pool and Oak Park River Forest won the second place pool. Come Saturday, the squads should meet in the last dual meet of the day, presuming each is able to advance through a preliminary pool. The other six teams in the event are Antioch, Sycamore, Hononegah, New Trier, South Elgin, and Sycamore. Below is a projection of matchups for the Oak Park River Forest at Carl Sandburg final dual (Illinois Matmen ranking in Class 3A as of January 2nd is listed): 106: No. 6 Robert Campos (OPRF) vs. Christian Robertson (Carl Sandburg): Campos is ranked higher despite losing a head-on match, by 5-2 decision at the Rex Whitlach Invitational in mid-December. 113: Gabe Townsell vs. No. 9 Jim Pellegrino: The pair of wrestlers split matches at the Rex Whitlach Invitational, and Pellegrino qualified for state last year at 106 pounds. 120: No. 4 Matt Rundell vs. No. 12 Jake Vales: Rundell was runner-up at state in the 106 pound class last year, and beat Vales 6-0 at the Rex Whitlach Invitational. 126: No. 3 Isaiah White vs. Brian Krasowski: These two freshmen did not wrestle at the Rex Whitlach Invitational, though White was second and Krasowski fourth. 132: No. 2 Larry Early vs. Tom Slattery: Early finished third at state last year as a freshman, and earned a technical fall victory over fellow sophomore Slattery at the Rex Whitlach Invitational. 138: No. 12 Jake O'Mara vs. No. 8 John Pellegrino: Pellegrino has a 7-6 victory over O'Mara at the Rex Whitlach Invitational earlier this season to his credit. The junior from Carl Sandburg made state last year, while the senior O'Mara was a Junior Greco-Roman All-American this past summer. 145: No. 10 Johnny Gahagan vs. No. 11 Alante Walker: The pair of juniors wrestled in the Rex Whitlach final with Gahagan, who also was a state qualifier last year, earning a 13-3 major decision victory. 152: No. 10 Kamaal Bey vs. No. 4 Mitch Cook: Cook placed fourth at state last year and earned a 9-6 decision over Bey at the Rex Whitlach Invitational. 160: No. 1 Davonte Mahomes vs. No. 7 C.J. Brucki: Mahomes finished third at state and is ranked No. 18 nationally; also was champion at the Rex Whitlach Invitational while Brucki finished third. 170: Al Stallings vs. No. 1 Colin Holler: Holler is a three-time state placer and ranked No. 11 nationally, while Stallings enters high school with multiple IKWF titles but is still a freshman. 182: No. 2 Joe Ariola vs. Chris Pajak: Ariola was champion at the Rex Whitlach Invitational, and was a state qualifier last season. He also won the NUWAY Vegas event at 189 pounds. The senior Pajak has been in and out of the lineup across a couple of weights going 3-3 at the Clash. 195: No. 5 Andre Lee vs. No. 1 (at 182) Ricky Robertson: Though Robertson is ranked No. 3 nationally at 182 pounds, he is most likely to be in this weight class for the dual meet, as he was in winning the Rex Whitlach Invitational; along the way he beat the junior Lee 9-3. Lee happened to go 4-2 at the Clash. 220: Malik Brumant vs. No. 9 (at 195) Bill Gore: The senior Gore was a state qualifier last year, and is likely to bump into this class for the dual, while the junior Brumant is relatively unproven. 285: Adam Lempke vs. Nate Sonneveld: Neither team is strong here; OPRF has a sophomore with Carl Sandburg rostering a senior. A couple of other factors within this dual meet could be some lineup shifting done by either team in order to optimize matchups, as well as the possible return of a wrestlers from injury. Carl Sandburg will most likely remain without the presence of two-time state finalist Sebastian Pique in the 120/126 range; while Oak Park River Forest could get have junior Emonte Logan, a relative upgrade at 220, returning to the lineup. Major events from last weekend -- catch up time Three events from last weekend's docket were covered with separate content on InterMat, we'll give a brief discussion here. Keyed by a head-to-head victory at 285 pounds in the penultimate championship match on Saturday night, No. 8 Clovis, Calif. scored the tournament victory as hosts of the Doc Buchanan Invitational by two points (180-178) over No. 3 Wyoming Seminary, Pa. Also playing a role in that was the inability of No. 1 Eric Morris (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.) to compete in the 182 pound final due to injury, which gave Adrian Salas of Clovis an injury default victory. Using nine top seven finishes, including a title from No. 18 Nolan Hellickson at 106 pounds, No. 16 Southeast Polk, Iowa scored the tournament title at the Cheesehead Invitational with 593.5 points. Finishing second with three champions and nine top seven finishers of their own was No. 7 Montini Catholic, Ill. with 575 points despite missing state placer Mike Maduko in the lineup at 170 pounds. Jake Short (Simley, Minn.), who is ranked No. 1 nationally, earned Outstanding Wrestler honors with his 3-1 finals victory over No. 2 Brian Murphy (Glenbard North, Ill.) in the ultimate tiebreaker. Despite missing three of their normal starters, No. 1 Blair Academy, N.J. won nine of fourteen weight classes in a 37-25 victory over No. 11 St. Paris Graham, Ohio. Even though the squads feature an abundance of nationally ranked wrestlers, no weight class contested last Saturday featured a pair of wrestlers in the national rankings. Broken Arrow repeats as Geary Invitational Tournament champions No. 23 Broken Arrow, Okla., replicated the feat from last year, as they finished in first place at the 69th annual Geary Invitational Wrestling Tournament this past weekend. The Tigers were led by four champions and four other place-finishers in scoring 149 points. Those champions were Zack Edwards (132), Tanner Bailey (145), Paden Bailey (152), and Carlos Taylor (285). Other placers were Markus Simmons (120) taking third, Braxton Owens (138) in fourth, Brock Warren (182) finishing as runner-up, and Christian Vaverka (195) placing fifth. It was No. 30 Edmond North, Okla., finishing second with the same four champions that Broken Arrow had, but only seven other total placers in scoring 128-1/2 points. Champions for Edmond North were Derek White (170), No. 16 Lance Dixon (182), Joel Dixon (195), and No. 5 Andrew Dixon (220); while other placers included Cy Trindle (113) in third, Josh Armstrong (120) finishing fifth, and Josh Breece (126) earning second. The team with the most placers was Lawton McArthur, Okla. with nine in all. However, none were champions, and they finished third in the standings with 108-1/2 points. Their effort was led by runner-up finishes from Cole Powers (120) and No. 15 Ricky McCarty (160). Additional weight class champions included Montorie Bridge (Altus, Okla.) at 106 pounds, Markawae Sanders (Duncan, Okla.) at 113, Cub Yeager (Locust Grove, Okla.) at 120, Hayden Hansen (Norman North, Okla.) at 126, Alec Warren (Edmond Memorial, Okla.) at 138, and No. 5 Keilan Torres (Altus, Okla.) at 160. The highlight individual came at 160, where Torres upended McCarty by a 6-4 decision. Blair Academy to face another test on Saturday Come 6:00 p.m. ET at the NHSCA Final Four Festival of Wrestling in York, Pa., No. 1 Blair Academy, N.J. is schedule to compete against No. 3 Wyoming Seminary, Pa. There will be a live webcast of this dual meet, information available as the week moves on at http://www.nhsca.com. Each team will compete in other dual meets earlier in the day as part of the event. Among the other teams in the field are Don Bosco Prep, N.J., Robinson, Va., and Benton, Pa. Two top-ranked wrestlers in the nation are among the competitors here: Zain Retherford (Benton, Pa.) at 138 and Eric Morris (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.) at 182. The following represents a breakdown of possible matchups in the showcase dual meet, Blair Academy vs. Wyoming Seminary: 106: Matt Deehan (Blair Academy) vs. forfeit (Wyoming Seminary): Wyoming Seminary has not had a 106 pound wrestler in any of their competitions this year. 113: Chaz Tucker vs. Danny Boychuck: Both wrestlers were runners-up at the National Prep Championships last year, Tucker at 113 and Boychuck at 106. 120: No. 2 Matthew Kolodzik vs. Jeremy Schwartz: Kolodzik was a Cadet freestyle national champion last summer, won the POWERade right before New Year's, and was runner-up at the Ironman and Beast of the East; Schwartz has placed at the Beast and Super 32 in previous years. 126: No. 4 Joey McKenna vs. No. 18 Judson Preskitt: McKenna is a two-time National Prep champion, and was a Junior freestyle runner-up this past summer; Preskitt is a two-time National Prep placer and was runner-up at the Ironman this season. 132: Michael Monica vs. Tyler Ponte 138: No. 6 Mason Manville vs. Jesse Holton: Manville was runner-up at the Ironman, Beast of the East, and POWERade already this season; during the past off-season, he was a double finalist at the Cadet Nationals. 145: No. 12 Dylan Milonas vs. Jake Savoca: Milonas is a two-time National Prep runner-up, while Savoca placed fourth at the New England Regional Championships last year. 152: No. 5 Russ Parsons vs. Tyrel White: Parsons was a National Prep champion last year, while White finished fourth at National Preps. 160: Jack Wedholm vs. Chris Weiler: Wedholm placed at the Ironman, Beast of the East, and POWERade, while the freshman Weiler placed at Ironman and was a Cadet National double All-American this past summer. 170: Patrick Coover vs. Nicky Hall: Coover is a defending National Prep champion, while White has placed twice in the state of New York. 182: Addison Knepshield vs. No. 1 Eric Morris: Knepshield placed at the Ironman, Beast of the East, and POWERade, while Morris was an Ironman and Beast of the East champion. One wonders if Morris will be able to compete after having to default to injury prior to the start of the championship match at the Doc Buchanan Invitational. 195: No. 4 Frank Mattiace vs. Matt Doggett: Mattiace was a champion at National Preps last year, while Doggett finished eighth. 220: David Showunmi vs. No. 11 Garrett Ryan: Showunmi placed at the Ironman, Beast of the East, and POWERade, while Ryan was a double All-American at the Junior Nationals last summer. 285: No. 2 Brooks Black vs. No. 8 Michael Johnson, Jr.: This is a rematch of last year's National Prep Championships final as well as the Ironman final, both matches won by Black. Hermiston wins title at the Rollie Lane Continuing their traveling schedule, No. 41 Hermiston, Ore., won the championship at the Rollie Lane Invitational in Idaho by a narrow margin over No. 42 Pomona, Colo. as each squad placed eight wrestlers inside the top six. Hermiston was led by three champions: No. 13 Tyler Berger (138), Abraham Rodriguez (160), and Samuel Colbray (195); Isaac Aguilar (120) finished as runner-up; Caleb (220) and Jake (285) Batease finished third; while A.J. Garcia (113) and Beau Gleed (132) finished fifth. Pomona had a pair of champions -- Tomas Gutierrez (98) and Travis Torres (113) -- among their eight placers. Other medalists were Austin Marvel (138) and Archie Colgan (160) finishing third, while Josh Rosales (120), Lucas Vagher (126), Raymond Robledo (132), and Ethan Wright (152) each finished fifth. Rounding out the weight class champions were Cole Verner (Green River, Wyo.) at 106, Drake Foster (Post Falls, Idaho) at 120, Michael Cook (Kuna, Idaho) at 126, Bryce Parson (Lewiston, Idaho) at 132, No. 20 Joey Lavallee (Reno, Nev.) at 145, Kris McFarlane (Centennial, Idaho) at 152, Troy Richardson (Melba, Idaho) at 170, Austin Schaffer (Columbia, Idaho) at 182, Carson Purcell (Boise, Idaho) at 220, and Cole McGinnis (Gooding, Idaho) at 285. Most notable among the weight classes was 145 pounds, where Lavallee earned a 4-2 decision victory over Christian Pagdilao (Santiago Corona, Calif.) in the final. In their respective semifinal matches, Lavallee defeated three-time state champion Jared Johnshoy (Melba, Idaho) -- twice a Junior National All-American in Fargo -- by 7-3 score, and Pagdilao beat Reno TOC champion Jon-Jay Chavez Centennial, Idaho) by 7-6 decision. Clovis seeks to build upon Doc Buchanan Invitational title No. 8 Clovis, Calif. will not rest on their laurels after earning the title as hosts of the Doc Buchanan Invitational this past weekend. The Cougars will strap it back on the line at De LaSalle (Calif.) High School as part of a quad meet along with No. 45 Vacaville, Calif. and Gilroy, Calif. Key wrestlers for Clovis include Julian Gayton (113), Jonas Gayton (126), Jason Ladd (145), No. 20 Adrian Salas (182), Matt Weiss (195), and No. 3 Nick Nevills (285); notable wrestlers for Vacaville include Gionn Peralta (106/113), Kasey Klaus (120), Zach Dawson (152), Chris Lai (182), and Jeremy Sweany (195); and featured wrestlers for Gilroy include Jesse Vasquez (113), Victor Olmos (126), Paul Fox (138), and Nikko Villarreal (145). Major events this weekend -- look ahead These two additional events on the docket for this weekend will be covered in event-specific previews on InterMat during the week. No. 14 Detroit Catholic Central, Mich., will be hosting its annual Super Duals event on Saturday starting at 10:00 a.m. ET. Ten other teams will be participating, including three inside the top 12 of the Fab50: No. 2 St. Edward, Ohio, No. 7 Montini Catholic, Ill., and No. 12 St. Johns, Mich. It is extremely likely that there will be a first-time champion of the Virginia Duals in the National High School Division. Defending champion Canon-McMillan, Pa., is not entered in the event, and the lone previous champions in the field -- Christiansburg, Va. and Nazareth, Pa. -- do not rate among the favorites. The top three seeds are No. 26 South Plainfield, N.J., No. 32 McDonogh, Md., and No. 47 Colonial Forge, Va. Where are some of the remaining ranked teams this weekend? No. 17 Collinsville, Okla., and No. 37 Blue Springs, Mo., travel to Basheor, Kan., to be part of the Bobcat Classic on Friday and Saturday. No. 23 Broken Arrow, Okla., and No. 30 Edmond North, Okla., will be part of the Sapulpa Invitational on Friday and Saturday. No. 41 Bettendorf, Iowa will host archrival Davenport Assumption, Iowa in a dual meet on Thursday night. Rankings reminder Both the InterMat Fab50 national team rankings and the national individual weight class rankings were updated today.

Takedown Wrestling Media presented by Fight Now and Time Warner Cable announce they’ve reached a distribution agreement to air Takedown Wrestling and USA Wrestling Weekly on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel across upstate New York. The two shows cover college, Olympic and international wrestling and are scheduled to begin airing on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel beginning the week of January 14th throughout Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and the Capital Region/Hudson Valley. "All of us at Takedown Wrestling Media are excited to grow our partnership with Time Warner Cable SportsChannel to keep sports fans up to date on the world of wrestling. College and International styles alike will benefit from the distribution on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel in the upstate New York markets," said Scott Casber, Founder of Takedown Wrestling Media. Casber's views were mirrored by Time Warner Cable SportsChannel Sr. Director and General Manager Steve Arvan, who said, "We believe that the time is right to expand our wrestling coverage. We see the sport of wrestling as being under-served locally, and feel that by teaming with Takedown Media and USA Wrestling Weekly we can give Time Warner Cable SportsChannel grappling fans access to the finest worldwide wrestling coverage available." About Takedown Wrestling Media Takedown Wrestling Media was started 16 year ago as a single one-hour radio program broadcast from Clear Channel's KXNO studios in Des Moines. TDR added Internet distribution of its weekly audio format and over time broadcast live events as well. TDR TV was born as an addition to the radio program, initially available only on the Internet, but now available on a variety of different web sites and cable systems in the US and Europe. The edition of TWS January 14, 2013 represents the 50 million home mark for the wrestling news show. More information can be found at: Takedownradio.com About USA Wresting Weekly USA Wrestling Weekly was started in 2011 as a way to self promote the efforts of our US Wrestlers on the international level. Starting with Internet distribution, USAWW has been successful in growing its programming base with cable affiliates around the country. Host Scott Casber, well-known throughout the sports community, speaks to wrestling groups and promotes the sport wherever he can. More information can be found online at USA Wrestling's TheMat.com and the web portal TheMat.tv About Time Warner Cable Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) is among the largest providers of video, high?speed data and voice services in the United States, connecting more than 15 million customers to entertainment, information and each other. Time Warner Cable Business Class offers data, video and voice services to businesses of all sizes, cell tower backhaul services to wireless carriers and, through its NaviSite subsidiary, managed and outsourced information technology solutions and cloud services. Time Warner Cable Media, the advertising arm of Time Warner Cable, offers national, regional and local companies innovative advertising solutions. More information about the services of Time Warner Cable is available at www.twc.com, www.twcbc.com, www.navisite.com, and www.twcmedia.com.

Tournaments Tuesday, Jan. 1 - Wednesday, Jan. 2: Southern Scuffle The Alton-less Penn State Nittany Lions take first pretty comfortably over an impressive field, Number next to wrestler is InterMat ranking 125: Virginia's Matt Snyder offers a weird mix (and dangerous) mix of stuff. Megaludis simply offered too much crisp and clean technique in the finals. Good to see the Campbell Camels find the podium here. 1st: No. 2 Nico Megaludis (Penn State) 2nd: No. 8 Matt Snyder (Virginia) 3rd: No. 10 Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) 4th: Josh Martinez (Air Force) 5th: No. 13 Jerome Robinson (Old Dominion) 6th: Rob Deutsch (Old Dominion) 7th: Eric Montoya (Campbell) 8th: No. 20 David Terao (American) 133: Jon Morrison always has had the ability to be an NCAA finalist. I think that now he is just starting to believe in this ability. Morrison picks up clutch and pretty takedowns in the finals and semifinals to earn gold. 1st: No. 8 Jon Morrison (Oklahoma State) 2nd: No. 5 Christopher Dardanes (Minnesota) 3rd: No. 7 Nathan McCormick (Missouri) 4th: Jimmy Gulibon (Penn State) 5th: No. 15 George DiCamillo (Virginia) 6th: Zach Watson (Virginia) 7th: Mark Grey (Unattached) 8th: Jordan Thome (Army) 141: I'm broken hearted that "Ugi" Khishignyam falls in the finals here, but Mike Nevinger is a returning All-American, and Ugi still has tons of great moments ahead of him. ODU's Chris Mecate really impressed me with how tough he was. Fourth place in this field is nothing to sneeze at. I'd also like to take this chance to admire the impressive job Joe Heskett is doing at Army. The Black Knights landed in the top ten at this tournament and they did it relying on contributions from a good number of wrestlers. 1st: No. 9 Michael Nevinger (Cornell) 2nd-No. 4 Undrakhbayar Khishignyam (The Citadel) 3rd: No. 11 Nick Dardanes (Minnesota) 4th: Chris Mecate (Old Dominion) 5th: Connor Hanafee (Army) 6th: Julian Feikert (Oklahoma State) 7th: Dean Pavlou (Chattanooga) 8th: Bryan Pearsall (Penn State) 149: Wow, Jordan Oliver looks shockingly powerful for someone who was all the way down at 133 last year. I believe his move up to 149 will help him internationally and it appears to be helping him collegiately. Nothing is as fun as watching a well-fed JO. He's absolutely surgical on his feet and he was also having success cranking big 149 pounders into cradles both on the near and far side. There is a name for PSU's James English if he wrestles for most other Division I universities: All American candidate. Cole "Baron" Von Ohlen really took it to Dylan Ness in the semis. Afterward Ness defaulted to sixth place. I hope his injury issues are behind him. 1st: No. 1 Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) 2nd: No. 5 Cole VonOhlen (Air Force) 3rd: James English (Penn State) 4th: No. 18 Drake Houdashelt (Missouri) 5th: No. 17 Christopher Villalonga (Cornell) 6th: No. 2 Dylan Ness (Minnesota) 7th: Luke Frey (Penn State) 8th: Dustin Walraven (South Dakota State) 157: Huge win for Jedd Moore in the finals here. Jedd had been around for a long time and been through a ton to get where he is. I am dearly hoping that he can stand somewhere on an NCAA podium at the end of this year. 1st: No. 16 Jedd Moore (Virginia) 2nd: James Vollrath (Penn State) 3rd: No. 8 Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) 4th: Kyle Bradley (Missouri) 5th: Daniel Zilverberg (Minnesota) 6th: Spartak Chino (Ohio) 7th: Robert Burg (Navy) 8th: Matthew Frisch (The Citadel) 165: My question here is if Kyle Dake had the presence of mind to intentionally try to earn the rare standing reversal, or if he simply earned it in an effort to take Taylor to the mat in the third period? If it was intentional then Dake's wrestling IQ is truly something that needs to be marveled at. Oh, by the way, if anyone cares, I think the ref made the right calls at the end of this match and he deserves a ton of credit for performing properly in such a high-stress environment. Here's looking forward to Dake-Taylor Part 3 in the NCAA finals. Taylor once again demonstrated his superiority over everyone else in the 165-pound field with and impressive showing against Tyler Caldwell in the semis. 1st: No. 1 Kyle Dake (Cornell) 2nd: No. 2 David Taylor (Penn State) 3rd: No. 3 Tyler Caldwell (Oklahoma State) 4th: No. 7 Nick Sulzer (Virginia) 5th: No. 12 Zach Toal (Missouri) 6th: Zachary Strickland (Appalachian State) 7th: No. 10 Cody Yohn (Minnesota) 8th: Harrison Hightower (Ohio) 174: I really wanted to see Matt Brown vs. Chris Perry in the finals in the matchup of the two wrestlers in the country I'd least like to actually have to wrestle. But it wasn't to be as Logan Storley shows why he is one of the nation's most dangerous wrestlers from bottom as he pins Brown in the semis. Also, and I'm not looking this up, but I believe that Chris Perry has one loss since dropping to 174 in the middle of last season. Impressive. 1st: No. 1 Chris Perry (Oklahoma State) 2nd-No. 4 Logan Storley (Minnesota) 3rd: No. 3 Mathew Brown (Penn State) 4th: No. 16 Jon Fausey (Virginia) 5th: Todd Porter (Missouri) 6th: Blake Stauffer (Arizona State) 7th: Cody Walters (Ohio) 8th: Marshall Peppelman (Cornell) Ed Ruth is 25-0 this season (Photo/Bill Ennis)184: It appears that Ed Ruth isn't quite as devastating on top this year at 184 pounds, but he still isn't going to lose because nobody can beat him on their feet. Steve Bosak is an NCAA champ and is really, really hard to score on, but Ruth just does his thing where he sort of magically glides into deep and cleanly-finished shots. He makes it looks so danged easy. 1st: No. 1 Edward Ruth (Penn State) 2nd: No. 2 Steve Bosak (Cornell) 3rd: No. 3 Kevin Steinhaus (Minnesota) 4th: No. 10 Mike Larson (Missouri) 5th: No. 12 Chris Chionuma (Oklahoma State) 6th: No. 15 Kevin Radford (Arizona State) 7th: John Eblen (Missouri) 8th: Mason Bailey (Navy) 197: Quentin Wright is the most exciting wrestler in college wrestling. No other wrestler even attempts the moves that he pulls off. They wouldn't even think about it. A roll through banana split to pin Jake Meredith in the finals. Wow I will say that I am awfully impressed with Meredith, who look like he's going to be an All-American at this weight. Sometimes a move up in weight is all it takes. 1st: No. 3 Quentin Wright (Penn State) 2nd: No. 8 Jake Meredith (Arizona State) 3rd: No. 13 Brent Haynes (Missouri) 4th: Phillip Wellington (Ohio) 5th: No. 14 Scott Schiller (Minnesota) 6th: Conner Hartmann (Duke) 7th: Jace Bennett (Cornell) 8th: Joshua Mohr (Air Force) 285: Boring finals match aside, heavyweight at this tournament provided us with some seriously fun to watch and high scoring matches, as well as a loaded field. A fifth-place finish by Jeremy Johnson caps off a big tournament for the Ohio Bobcats, who came home with a bunch of hardware. Also, Jimmy Lawson keeps improving. He's going to be dangerous come March, and as I've said before, a few wins at NCAA from Lawson might be all PSU needs to make it three in a row. 1st: No. 2 Dom Bradley (Missouri) 2nd: No. 1 Tony Nelson (Minnesota) 3rd: Nick Gwiazdowski (North Carolina State) 4th: No. 3 Alan Gelogaev (Oklahoma State) 5th: No. 17 Jeremy Johnson (Ohio) 6th: No. 16 Andrew Delaney (The Citadel) 7th: No. 15 James Lawson (Penn State) 8th: No. 14 Levi Cooper (Arizona State) Dual Meets Sunday, Jan. 6: Appalachian State 28, SIU-Edwardsville 9 Arizona State 30, Stanford 6 Central Michigan 35, Bucknell 3 Columbia 28, Cal Poly 13 Robert Hamlin (Photo/Rob Preston)Cornell 20, Lehigh 13 Here's a cool result. The No. 1 165-pounder in the country bumps up to beat the No. 11 174-pounder: Kyle Dake beats Nate Brown 9-3. In an NCAA semifinal rematch, No. 5 Robert Hamlin beats No. 2 Steve Bosak 3-1, marking the rare week when a defending NCAA champ loses twice. CSU Bakersfield 22, Columbia 12 Edinboro 28, Buffalo 9 Illinois 29, Chattanooga 10 Iowa 29, Purdue 9 Lock Haven 19, West Virginia 15 Michigan State 28, Bucknell 11 Northern Illinois 26, Appalachian State 12 Northern Illinois 31, SIU-Edwardsville 13 Ohio State 33, Northwestern 6 At 174 pounds, second-ranked Nick Heflin rebounds from a loss two days earlier to down ninth-ranked Lee Munster in tiebreakers, 2-1. Penn 27, Arizona State 10 Penn 27, Stanford 6 Rutgers 21, Arizona State 12 Rutgers 33, Stanford 3 Virginia Tech 41, Duke 0 Wyoming 34, Cal Poly 6 Wyoming 20, CSU Bakersfield 12 Saturday, Jan. 5: Boise State 19, Oregon State 15 Third-ranked 149-pounder Jason Chamberlain of BSU beats ninth-ranked Scott Sakaguchi in overtime. At heavyweight, a high scoring affair as OSU's sixth-ranked Chad Hanke beats 10th-ranked J.T Felix, 11-6. Bloomsburg 22, Maryland 15 Nick Wilcox of Bloomsburg upsets 12th-ranked Terp Geoff Alexander, 6-3. Harvard 24, Rider 17 Oklahoma 19, Iowa State 15 141 pound top ranked Sooner Kendrick Maple blasts 15th-ranked Luke Goettl, 12-0. At 165, fourth-ranked Bubby Graham of OU beats 20th-ranked Michael Moreno, 6-4. Rider 24, Brown 9 Friday, Jan. 4: Drexel 25, Northern Colorado 10 George Mason 18, Northern Colorado 17 Iowa 22, Ohio State 9 NCAA champion Logan Stieber was not in the lineup for Ohio State. Matt McDonough of Iowa, ranked No. 1 at 125, bests the always tough 12th-ranked Nikko Triggas 10-5. Second-ranked 141-pound Buckeye Hunter Steiber defeats eighth-ranked Mark Ballweg, 6-4. At 149, No. 14 Cam Tessari of Ohio State edges No. 19 Mike Kelly of Iowa, 8-7. At 174, seventh-ranked Hawkeye Mike Evans gets back points on second-ranked Nick Heflin in overtime, wins 9-4. Ninth-ranked Ethen Lofthouse of Iowa wins by decision over 16th-ranked Kenny Courts of Ohio State, 5-3. At heavyweight, No. 13 Peter Capone of Ohio State upsets No. 4 Bobby Telford of Iowa in the final match of the dual meet. Purdue 26, Michigan State 10 Wyoming 20, Utah Valley 12 Thursday, Jan. 3: Rutgers 29, CSU Bakersfield 9

STILLWATER -- Former Oklahoma State wrestler and Ultimate Fighting Championship Hall of Famer Randy Couture will attend Sunday’s dual against Iowa and sign autographs for fans before the dual from 1:20-1:50 p.m. in the Pistol Pete lobby of Gallagher-Iba Arena. Couture was a three-time All-American for Oklahoma State from 1990-92 at 190 pounds. He put together an overall 113-42-3 collegiate record during his time as a Cowboy. In 1997, Couture made his professional fighting debut. He went on to win five UFC World Championships and in 2006, was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. Couture is also known for his roles in The Expendables and The Expendables 2, as well as other films. The No. 2 Cowboys will take on the No. 5 Hawkeyes at 2 p.m. on Sunday in Gallagher-Iba Arena.

The 39th annual Dapper Dan Wrestling Classic will be held on Sunday, March 17, 2013 at the Fitzgerald Field house on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pa. The event will feature an undercard bout including seniors from the WPIAL against those from the state of Virginia at 4:00 p.m., with the main event all-star match between top seniors from Pennsylvania and those from across the United States at 6:00 p.m. Further details concerning participants will be available in the coming weeks and months. For full details, visit www.wrestlingclassic.com.

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- In a season of firsts for Penn, another was crossed off the checklist with the program’s first-ever win over Arizona State in a dual as part of a sweep for Penn at the 2013 Stanford Duals. The Red and Blue, ranked No. 22 in the country, scored 27 points in each of its duals, finishing the day with a 27-10 win over the Sun Devils after a 27-6 win over Stanford to start the day. The win over Arizona State was the first in five tries, while the victory over Stanford improves Penn to a perfect 4-0 against the Cardinal all-time. The Red and Blue dominated early against both opponents, starting its day with four consecutive wins against Stanford. Geoffrey Bostany opened the afternoon with an 8-0 major decision, before No. 12 C.J. Cobb unleashed some serious fireworks at 141 pounds. Cobb scored ten takedowns in his match against Josh Lauderdale, adding two escapes and three nearfall points for an explosive 26-11 technical fall. Andrew Lenzi followed with two takedowns and a reversal on his way to his second win over Timmy Boone in a week – and third overall – by a 7-3 score. Troy Hernandez extended Penn’s lead to 15-0 with a 3-2 decision at 157 pounds. After a loss at 165, Penn rattled off three consecutive wins to clinch the dual. Ian Korb started the run with a 6-3 decision at 174 over Dylan Morris before Canaan Bethea added a 10-3 decision over Alan Yen. No. 7 Micah Burak returned to the mat for Penn after a six-week layoff due to injury and did not miss a beat, defeating Michael Sojka, 6-1. Following a loss in sudden victory at heavyweight, Mark Rappo sealed the convincing win with a 3-2 decision over Evan Silver. Immediately after the win over the Cardinal, Penn got to work on providing head coach Rob Eiter his first win over his alma mater. Eiter, a 1991 Arizona State grad, saw Bostany again provide a comfortable early margin with an 18-2 major decision over Ares Carpio. Bostany scored three takedowns in the first period, added a reversal and two sets of backpoints in the second, and secured the tech fall in the third with three more nearfall points. C.J. Cobb notched a 6-4 decision over Matt Krauss before Andrew Lenzi padded the lead via a 12-0 major decision to put Penn in front, 12-0, after three matches. Lenzi led, 8-0, after the first period via a takedown and six backpoints and cruised from there. After a loss at 157, Penn added six team points when Brad Wukie defeated Hans Rasmusson by injury default at 3:04. Wukie was ahead, 11-3, at the time of the default. Harrison Cook took No. 14 Blake Stauffer down early in their bout at 174, but Stauffer rallied for a 14-2 major decision to close the gap to 18-7 heading into crucial bouts. Penn won the two big bouts at the upper weights, Canaan Bethea pulling out a 5-4 decision over No. 15 Kevin Radford at 184. Bethea trailed, 2-1, after the first period, but rallied with an escape and a takedown in the second period. In the third, Radford reversed to tie the match, but a Bethea escape was the difference in Bethea’s biggest win to date. Burak had a test in his second match back, but knocked off No. 8 Jake Meredith, 5-2. Burak scored the only two takedowns in the match, and added 1:30 of riding time from a solid third-period ride to ensure his place atop the nation’ elite. Kyle Cowan came very close to breaking through against No. 14 Levi Cooper at heavyweight, but after a 1:41 ride in the second, which featured a few close calls for backpoints, Cooper was able to escape. In the third, the returning All-American survived a pair of Cowan quick starts from bottom position and was able to keep Cowan down for a 2-0 win. Mark Rappo closed out Penn’s day – and a win – with a 10-6 decision over Dalton Miller. Overall, Penn scored 41 takedowns during its two duals to just 12 conceded to its opponents. In terms of backpoints, Penn scored 29 nearfall points to just five allowed. The Quakers, 4-1 overall, return home to take on Iowa State Jan. 13 at 1 p.m. in The Palestra. #22 Penn def. Stanford, 27-6 133: Geoffrey Bostany (Penn) def. Alex Manley (Stanford), 8-0 Penn leads, 4-0 141: #12 C.J. Cobb (Penn) def. Josh Lauderdale (Stanford), 26-11 Penn leads, 9-0 149: Andrew Lenzi (Penn) def. Timmy Boone (Stanford), 7-3 Penn leads, 12-0 157: Troy Hernandez (Penn) def. Donovan Halpin (Stanford), 3-2 Penn leads, 15-0 165: Bret Baumbach (Stanford) def. Brad Wukie (Penn), 8-4 Penn leads, 15-3 174: Ian Korb (Penn) def. Dylan Morris (Stanford), 6-3 Penn leads, 18-3 184: Canaan Bethea (Penn) def. Alan Yen (Stanford), 10-3 Penn leads, 21-3 197: #7 Micah Burak (Penn) def. Michael Sojka (Stanford), 6-1 Penn leads, 24-3 285: Dan Scherer (Stanford) def. Steven Graziano (Penn), 3-1 (SV) Penn leads, 24-6 125: Mark Rappo (Penn) def. Evan Silver (Stanford), 3-2 Penn leads, 27-6 #22 Penn def. Arizona State, 27-10 133: Geoffrey Bostany (Penn) def. Ares Carpio (ASU), 18-2 Penn leads, 5-0 141: #12 C.J. Cobb (Penn) def. Matt Krauss (ASU), 6-4 Penn leads, 8-0 149: Andrew Lenzi (Penn) def. Nathan Hoffer (ASU), 12-0 Penn leads, 12-0 157: Joel Smith (ASU) def. Troy Hernandez (Penn), 6-1 Penn leads, 12-3 165: Brad Wukie (Penn) def. Hans Rasmusson (ASU), Injury Default (3:04) Penn leads, 18-3 174: #14 Blake Stauffer (ASU) def. Harrison Cook (Penn), 14-2 Penn leads, 18-7 184: Canaan Bethea (Penn) def. #15 Kevin Radford (ASU), 5-4 Penn leads, 21-7 197: #7 Micah Burak (Penn) def. #8 Jake Meredith (ASU), 5-2 Penn leads, 24-7 285: #14 Levi Cooper (ASU) def. Kyle Cowan (Penn), 2-0 Penn leads, 24-10 125: Mark Rappo (Penn) def. Dalton Miller (ASU), 10-6 Penn leads, 27-10

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Nineteen total match wins in the span of three duals powered the University of Wyoming wrestling team to an unbeaten mark in the Mustang Duals on Sunday. Wyoming (6-2 overall, 1-0 Western Wrestling Conference) went 3-0 versus San Francisco State, CSU Bakersfield and Cal Poly. The Cowboys defeated San Francisco State 22-17, CSU Bakersfield 20-12 and Cal Poly by a score of 34-6. Four Cowboys won all their matches, including sophomore Tyler Cox, senior L.J. Helbig, sophomore Shane Woods and senior Alfonso Hernandez. “Going 3-0 on the day is a good thing,” Wyoming head coach Mark Branch said. “But we definitely came out sluggish. We had a lot of guys who did fall into that trap. They came out and weren’t ready to wrestle. “We got ourselves in a tussle with San Francisco State and it was a wakeup call. I liked the way we finished: strong. We had some guys who looked the best they ever have – (junior) Kyle Komata, L.J. Helbig and Shane Woods. I was proud of Tyler Cox, who hurt his rib against Utah Valley (on Friday) and contemplated whether he could go or not. You have to learn to wrestle with it and I told him, ‘There’s no time like today.’ He has to learn how to deal with it. It helps push you into being mentally tougher. We needed him today.” Cox, a sophomore, tried his best to keep the Cowboys undefeated in the last dual of the day. He started the Cal Poly dual off with a 3-1 decision over Britain Longmire to give UW three team points and an early lead. Shortly after, sophomore Zach Zehner took on 19th-ranked Devon Lotito of Cal Poly, and suffered a 10-4 decision loss. That gave Cal Poly three points and tied things up. Kyle Komata, a 141-pounder, gave the Pokes the lead again with a 9-4 decision over Brandon Rocha, and UW led 6-3. But sophomore Brandon Richardson lost at 149 to Damien Arrendondo in a 5-3 decision, and Cal Poly tied things up at 6. Sophomore Andy McCulley gave the Pokes the lead for good when he pinned Kyle Chene in just 1:04 at 157 pounds. Wyoming led 12-6 after that, and wouldn’t allow another point. Sophomore Dakota Friesth beat Connor King in a 15-0 technical fall, good for five team points, and senior L.J. Helbig kept the momentum going with an 18-9 major decision over Paul Woodman. Wins from sophomore Shane Woods at 184 (8-0 major decision) and fourth-ranked senior Alfonso Hernandez at 197 by forfeit gave UW a 31-6 lead. Sophomore Leland Pfeifer won a 9-4 decision over Cal Poly’s J.T. Goodwin at heavyweight to cap things off, giving UW the 34-6 win. It was Pfeifer’s first win of the season. The Cowboys will return to the home mats for a matchup against 10th-ranked Oregon State on Sunday. Matches begin at 2 p.m. MT in the UniWyo Sports Complex. Wyoming 34, Cal Poly 6 125: Tyler Cox (UW) dec. Britain Longmire (CP), 3-1 / Wyoming 3, Cal Poly 0 133: Devon Lotito (CP) dec. Zach Zehner (UW), 10-4 / Wyoming 3, Cal Poly 3 141: Kyle Komata (UW) dec. Brandan Rocha (CP), 9-4 / Wyoming 6, Cal Poly 3 149: Damien Arredondo (CP) dec. Brandon Richardson (UW), 5-3 / Wyoming 6, Cal Poly 6 157: Andy McCulley (UW) fall (1:04) Kyle Chene (CP) / Wyoming 12, Cal Poly 6 165: Dakota Friesth (UW) tech. fall Connor King (CP), 16-0 / Wyoming 17, Cal Poly 6 174: L.J. Helbig (UW) maj. dec. Paul Woodman (CP), 19-9 / Wyoming 21, Cal Poly 6 184: Shane Woods (UW) maj. dec. Sean Dougherty (CP), 8-0 / Wyoming 25, Cal Poly 6 197: Alfonso Hernandez (UW) won by forfeit / Wyoming 31, Cal Poly 6 285: Leland Pfeifer (UW) dec. J.T. Goodwin (CP), 9-4 / Wyoming 34, Cal Poly 6 Wyoming 20, CSU Bakersfield 12 125: Tyler Cox (UW) dec. Miguel Comparan (CSUB), 4-1 / Wyoming 3, CSU Bakersfield 0 133: Ian Nickell (CSUB) dec. Zach Zehner (UW), 9-5 / Wyoming 3, CSU Bakersfield 3 141: Kyle Komata (UW) dec. Tyler Box (CSUB), 3-2 / Wyoming 6, CSU Bakersfield 3 149: Dalton Kelley (CSUB) dec. Brandon Richardson (UW), 8-6 / Wyoming 6, CSU Bakersfield 6 157: Adam Fierro (CSUB) dec. Andy McCulley (UW), 9-7 / CSU Bakersfield 9, Wyoming 6 165: Dakota Friesth (UW) dec. David Meza (CSUB), 6-1 / Wyoming 9, CSU Bakersfield 9 174: L.J. Helbig (UW) dec. Andrew Balch (CSUB), 5-1 / Wyoming 12, CSU Bakersfield 9 184: Shane Woods (UW) dec. Reuben Franklin (CSUB), 8-2 / Wyoming 15, CSU Bakersfield 9 197: Alfonso Hernandez (UW) tech. fall over Frankie Hurtado (CSUB), 17-1 / Wyoming 20, CSU Bakersfield 9 285: Sammy Cervantes (CSUB) dec. Leland Pfeifer (UW), 8-2 / Wyoming 20, CSU Bakersfield 12 Wyoming 22, San Francisco State 17 125: Tyler Cox (UW) dec. Marc Collier (SFS), 6-0 / Wyoming 3, San Francisco State 0 133: Isaiah Hurtado (SFS) maj. dec. Jake Eitzen (UW), 10-2 / San Francisco State 4, Wyoming 3 141: Navaeed Bagheri (SFS) maj. dec. McCade Ford (UW), 15-5 / San Francisco State 8, Wyoming 3 149: Conrad Snell (SFS) dec. Brandon Richardson (UW), 3-2 / San Francisco State 11, Wyoming 3 157: Andy McCulley (UW) fall (2:37) Vicente Aboytes (SFS) / San Francisco State 11, Wyoming 9 165: Isaiah Jimenez (SFS) dec. Dakota Friesth (UW), 4-3 / San Francisco State 14, Wyoming 9 174: L.J. Helbig (UW) maj. dec. AJ Simon (SFS), 11-2 / San Francisco State 14, Wyoming 13 184: Shane Woods (UW) maj. dec. Calvin Nicholls (SFS), 16-3 / Wyoming 17, San Francisco State 14 197: Alfonso Hernandez (UW) tech. fall over Thomas Martin (SFS), 20-3, 6:42 / Wyoming 22, San Francisco State 14 285: Richard Segovia (SFS) dec. Leland Pfeifer (UW), 7-5 / Wyoming 22, San Francisco State 17

WHEELING, W.Va. -- Wheeling Jesuit University announced plans to expand the athletic department to 20 NCAA Division II varsity athletic programs with the addition of men’s intercollegiate wrestling. “The athletic department plays a big role at Wheeling Jesuit, and we tend to excel in the classroom and in our chosen sport,” said Sancomb. “With a lot of hard work by the administration, we wanted to add an athletic program to make 20 NCAA Division II sports, and wrestling was the best choice for our University for many reasons.” WJU currently competes in 19 NCAA sponsored championships, 10 women’s and nine men’s, while supporting varsity rugby, ice hockey and cheerleading. The addition of Wrestling marks the third athletic program started in a three year span. Women’s lacrosse was incorporated in the 2011, and after an 18-year hiatus, WJU rugby returned in 2012 as a USA Rugby varsity sport. The Cardinals will now compete in 10 NCAA men’s championship segments with a combined 21 varsity programs. Wrestling will hit the mat in 2013-2014 academic year. Sancomb continued, “We did an extensive amount of research and found what great student-athletes are involved with wrestling, the large amount of wrestling prospects and our location which is in a great area for wrestling tradition. It is very important to have successful programs at our institution, which starts with great leadership. We know it takes time to build a successful program and we were very fortunate to hire Sean Doyle as our first head coach. He has great vision and leadership to start our new program and the ability to recruit top-level student-athletes that will excel in the classroom, on the mat, and in the WJU community. Sean has a very successful wrestling background. He had a great high school career at Buckeye Local High School. He was successful at the Division I level, wrestling for Cornell University where he was a member of two Ivy League championship teams. Sean began his coaching career in Wheeling with Wheeling Central High School where he led the Maroon Knights to a Top 15 ranking in West Virginia, and then, moved on to a great career at Wheeling Park High School. He earned OVAC coach of the year twice and was named West Virginia Coach of the Year in 2008.” “It is an honor, and with great pleasure to accept the position to start the wrestling program at Wheeling Jesuit,” said Doyle. “I would like to thank President Richard A. Beyer, Executive Vice President Fr. James Fleming, Vice President for Enrollment Management Larry Vallar and Director of Athletics Danny Sancomb for making this opportunity a reality.” “I’m ready to hit the ground running. Wheeling Jesuit has been built on a tradition of excellence which is a great partnership with the sport of wrestling because of the character, discipline, work ethic and leadership skills the sport demands,” said Doyle. “We will be able to identify student-athletes that fit the institution’s mission perfectly. I look forward to finding great student-athletes.” Doyle continued, “The recruiting process for the inaugural class starts immediately. We will begin locally. We want people to be excited and support WJU wrestling. In addition, we are in the middle of two powerhouse states for wrestling, Ohio and Pennsylvania, who are arguably two of the best in the country. We have the opportunity to attract great student-athletes, and there are only a few institutions who offer wrestling in West Virginia.” A global leader in academic excellence, undergraduate research and service learning, Wheeling Jesuit University is one of the 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States. Wheeling Jesuit has earned a place among America's Best Colleges by Forbes Magazine since its rankings began. Wheeling Jesuit has also been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a top regional university for the past 15 years. The University's 21 varsity sports include 20 men and women's NCAA Division II athletic teams and its USA Rugby Program. Jesuit teams have won 65 conference championships and boast 45-plus Academic All-Americans. The campus is home to the Robert C. Byrd National Technology Transfer Center, the Erma Ora Byrd Center for Educational Technologies, the NASA-sponsored Classroom of the Future, a Challenger Learning Center and the Clifford M. Lewis Appalachian Institute. For complete information, please visit www.wju.edu or call 1-800-624-6992.

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The University of Iowa wrestling team improved to 2-0 in conference duals with a 29-9 win over No. 21 Purdue today at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes won seven of 10 matches and outscored the Boilermakers in total takedowns, 35-4. "It was a good win and now we move forward," said head coach Tom Brands. "I was looking for energy on the mat and we saw some of that today. We need to keep it going." Iowa sent seven ranked wrestlers to the mat and won all seven. Tony Ramos (No.2, 133), Mark Ballweg (No. 8, 141), Nick Moore (No. 19, 165), Mike Evans (No. 7, 174) and Ethen Lofthouse (No. 9, 184) all put up bonus points for Iowa. Derek St. John (No. 1, 157) and Bobby Telford (No. 4, 285) both won by decision Evans put Chad Welch on his back in 4:52 to improve to 9-0 this season. Ballweg recorded his first technical fall of the year, totaling nine takedowns and three nearfall points to beat Brandon Nelson, 22-7. Ramos, Moore and Lofthouse all scored major decisions. Purdue (10-3, 1-1) held a brief 3-0 lead in the dual when No. 17 Camden Eppert topped Iowa's Matt Gurule at 125 pounds. Ramos and Ballweg quickly turned the score 9-3 in Iowa's favor, and after Purdue's Ivan Lopouchanski (No. 13, 149) edged out Brody Grothus, 10-9, St. John gave the Hawkeyes a 12-6 locker room lead with a 7-3 decision over No. 20 Tommy Churchard. The Hawkeyes (12-0, 2-0) extended their lead to 26-6 with three straight bonus point wins after the break. Purdue eventually got back on the board at 197 pounds when No. 17 Braden Atwood topped Nathan Burak, 4-1, but Telford ended the day with an Iowa victory by piling up 3:55 of riding time in a 4-1 win over Alex White at 285. The Hawkeyes return to the mat Jan. 13 when they face No. 2 Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla. Notes: Attendance was 6,043 ... Iowa has won the last 26 meetings against Purdue... Ramos (21-0), St. John (20-0) and Evans (13-0) preserved their undefeated records at Carver-Hawkeye Arena... Ballweg's victory was the 50th of his career. Results: 125 - #17 Camden Eppert (PU) dec. Matt Gurule (IA), 4-2; 3-0 133 - #2 Tony Ramos (IA) major dec. Danny Sabatello (PU), 13-4; 4-3 141 - #8 Mark Ballweg (IA) tech. fall Brandon Nelson (PU), 22-7; 9-3 149 - #13 Ivan Lopouchanski (PU) dec. Brody Grothus (IA), 10-9; 9-6 157 - #1 Derek St. John (IA) dec. #20 Tommy Churchard (PU), 7-3; 12-6 165 - #19 Nick Moore (IA) major dec. Pat Robinson (PU), 12-4; 16-6 174 - #7 Mike Evans (IA) pinned Chad Welch (PU), 4:52; 22-6 184 - #9 Ethen Lofthouse (IA) major dec. Andy Wiseman (PU), 16-5; 26-6 197 - #17 Braden Atwood (PU) dec. Nathan Burak (IA), 4-1; 26-9 285 - #4 Bobby Telford (IA) dec. Alex White (PU), 4-1; 29-9

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Behind eight wins, the fourth-ranked Ohio State wrestling team beat No. 15 Northwestern, 33-6, Sunday afternoon at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Ill. The Buckeyes improve to 7-1 overall, including a 1-1 record in the Big Ten and Northwestern drops to 4-3 overall and 0-2 in the conference. Ohio State returns to St. John Arena Jan. 11 to host No. 3 Minnesota at 7 p.m. Courtesy of a Nikko Triggas pin vs. No. 15 Dominick Malone in the 125-pound matchup, the Buckeyes quickly jumped out to a 6-0 lead. With his seventh fall of the season, Triggas, a senior from Moraga, Calif., has moved into sole possession of fourth place in the Ohio State records book for career falls with 44. Redshirt freshman Kyle Visconti earned his first-career varsity win Sunday at 133 pounds when he recorded a 6-5 decision over Garrison White to lift the Scarlet and Gray to a 9-0 lead. Owning a 4-3 lead in the third period, Visconti scored a takedown with 27 seconds left for a 6-3 advantage. An escape by Garrison with 18 seconds left was the last of the scoring and Visconti, a native of North Reading, Mass., was able to walk away with the victory. Two more wins by the Buckeyes at 141 and 149 pounds gave Ohio State a 15-0 lead against Northwestern. No. 2 and sophomore Hunter Stieber secured his 20th victory of the season to remain perfect thanks to a 10-5 decision vs. Pat Greco. Up 4-2 after the first period, Stieber extended his lead to 7-3 after the second and added a takedown and riding time (3:03) for the win. Classmate and 14th ranked Cam Tessari remained perfect on the weekend following his 8-3 decision over Dylan Marriot. After a scoreless first period, Tessari earned three back points and carried the 3-0 lead into the final period. An escape and takedown put Tessari up 6-0 and it wasn’t until the 46-second mark Marriot earned his first point of the match, an escape. A takedown with 18 seconds remaining by Marriot cut Tessari’s lead to three (6-3), but the Buckeye from Monroeville, Ohio, scored an escape three seconds later and with the riding time (2:06), garnered his ninth win of the season. Ohio State suffered losses at 157 and 165 pounds vs. ranked wrestlers, including No. 2 Jason Welch at 157 pounds. Redshirt sophomore Josh Demas dropped a close 4-1 decision, while Mark Martin was shutout by No. 15 Pierce Harger, 5-0. Redshirt junior and second ranked Nick Heflin returned Ohio State to the win column following his 2-1 victory against No. 9 Lee Munster in the 174-pound bout. For the second consecutive match, Heflin was forced into extra time. After escaping Munster in the first tiebreaker, Heflin was able to hold on to Munster for the next 30 seconds and earn his seventh win of the season. At 184 pounds, senior C.J. Magrum returned to the Buckeye starting lineup for the first time since Nov. 18 vs. Pittsburgh and made it count, pinning Marcus Shrewsbury in 4:42. Up next at 197 pounds, No. 9 Andrew Campolattano handed No. 16 Alex Polizzi a 10-4 loss. Up 7-3 at the end of the second period, Campolattano added a takedown and riding time (1:31) for the win. Peter Capone won his match via forfeit for the 33-6 final. Results: 125: No. 12 Nikko Triggas (OSU) pins No. 15 Dominick Malone (NU), 2:48 (OSU 6, NU 0) 133: Kyle Visconti (OSU) dec. Garrison White (NU), 6-5 (OSU 9, NU 0) 141: No. 2 Hunter Stieber (OSU) dec. Pat Greco (NU), 10-5 (OSU 12, NU 0) 149: No. 14 Cam Tessari (OSU) dec. Dylan Marriott (NU), 8-3 (OSU 15, NU 0) 157: No. 2 Jason Welch (NU) dec. Josh Demas (OSU), 4-1 (OSU 15, NU 3) 165: No. 15 Pierce Harger (NU) dec. Mark Martin (OSU), 5-0 (OSU 15, NU 6) 174: No. 2 Nick Heflin (OSU) dec. No. 9 Lee Munster (NU), 2-1 (TB1) (OSU 18, NU 6) 184: C.J. Magrum (OSU) pins Marcus Shrewsbury (NU), 4:42 (OSU 24, NU 6) 197: No. 9 Andrew Campolattano (OSU) dec. No. 16 Alex Polizzi (NU), 10-4 HWT: No. 13 Peter Capone (OSU) wins by forfeit

BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- The No. 7 Big Red wrestling team opened its 2013 dual season with a 20-13 win over Lehigh in Leeman-Turner Arena in Grace Hall. Cornell won six bouts and freshman Nahshon Garrett won by technical fall at 125 pounds. Senior Kyle Dake moved up to 174 pounds for the day and picked up a win over No. 11 Nathaniel Brown in his fifth weight class of his career. Bricker Dixon (133), Mike Nevinger (141), Jesse Shanaman (165) and Stryker Lane (HWT) all added wins for Cornell. The dual opened at 125 pounds with No. 10 Garrett facing Alex Abreu. There was lots of action right off the whistle, but it wasn't until midway through the period that Garrett notched a double leg takedown. The freshman added two back points to take a 4-1 lead. Abreu chose neutral to start the second. Garrett took him down once again and added two sets of back points to hold an 11-1 lead. Garrett reversed Abreu from his opening down position in the third and notched takedowns on his way to an 18-3 technical fall. At 133 pounds, sophomore Bricker Dixon took on Randy Cruz. After a scoreless first period, Dixon took down Cruz to take a 2-0 lead into the third. Cruz chose top to start the third. Dixon was hit with two stalling calls, but the Big Red wrestler won a 2-1 decision. Junior No. 9 ranked Mike Nevinger almost had Anthony Salupo pinned at 141 pounds in the first period but time ran out and the Big Red wrestler settled for a 5-0 advantage. Nevinger increased his lead to 9-1 in the second. Salupo reversed Nevinger from the Big Red's starting top position in the third. Nevinger escaped, but Salupo notched a takedown. With 1:08 in riding time, Nevinger won an 11-5 decision. At 149 pounds, junior Ryan Dunphy took on No. 20 Shane Welsh. Dunphy wrestled hard and took good shots in the first, but Welsh defended to keep the first period scoreless. Dunphy escaped to start the second for the only point of the period. Welsh escaped from his opening down position in the third to tie the bout at 1-1. Dunphy had to call injury time, and Welsh escaped from his choice down position to take a 2-1 lead. With 34 seconds left in the bout, Dunphy took down Welsh, but the Lehigh wrestler escaped to tie the bout 3-3 at the end of regulation. Dunphy almost had a takedown in sudden victory, but time ran out. In the first tie breaker Dunphy chose down. Welsh was called for an illegal hold giving Dunphy a point, but Dunphy was unable to escape. Welsh chose to start his choice down and had a reversal to win a 5-4 decision. At 157 pounds, freshman Chris Dowdy faced third ranked Joey Napoli. Napoli had a takedown in the first to take a 2-0 lead. The Lehigh wrestler reversed Dowdy in the second to go ahead 4-0. Napoli added takedowns in the third to win an 11-3 major decision with riding time. Jesse Shanaman held a 2-0 lead after the first period at 165 pounds against Albert Woody. Shanaman almost reversed Woody, but settled for a one point escape. Woody chose to start the third at neutral. Shanaman added another takedown to win a 5-0 decision. Three-time NCAA champion Dake moved up to his fifth weight class to face No. 11 Nathaniel Brown at 174 pounds. Dake quickly got on the board with a takedown and racked up 2:50 in riding time before the period was over. Dake had two takedowns in the second and added a reversal from his opening down position in the third. With 2:28 in riding time, Dake won a 9-3 decision. At 184 pounds, No. 2 Steve Bosak faced No. 5 Robert Hamlin. After a scoreless first period, Bosak immediately escaped from his opening down position in the second. Bosak almost locked up riding time in the third, but Hamlin escaped with 57 seconds in riding time. Hamlin notched a takedown with 20 seconds left in sudden victory to score the win. Sophomore Jace Bennett squared off against John Bolich at 197 pounds. The two wrestlers were scoreless after two periods. Bennett chose down to start the third, but was unable to escape and Bolich won a 1-0 decision off riding time. Cornell held a 17-13 lead heading into heavyweight. At heavyweight, Lane wrestled Jack Delia. Delia escaped to open the second period, but Lane took him down to take a 2-1 lead. Lane escaped to open the third and won a 3-1 decision. Cornell will welcome Princeton on Saturday, Jan. 12 for a 1 p.m. dual at the Friedman Wrestling Center. Results: 125: No. 10 Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) tech fall Alex Abreu (Lehigh), 18-3 (Cornell 5, Lehigh 0) 133: Bricker Dixon (Cornell) dec. Randy Cruz (Lehigh), 2-1 (Cornell 8, Lehigh 0) 141: No. 9 Mike Nevinger (Cornell) dec. Laike Gardner (Lehigh), 11-5 (Cornell 11, Lehigh 0) 149: No. 20 Shane Welsh (Lehigh) dec. Ryan Dunphy (Cornell), 5-4 (Cornell 11, Lehigh 3) 157: No. 3 Joey Napoli (Lehigh) maj. dec. Chris Dowdy (Cornell), 11-3 (Cornell 11, Lehigh 7) 165: Jesse Shanaman (Cornell) dec. Albert Woody (Lehigh), 5-0 (Cornell 14, Lehigh 7) 174: No. 1 Kyle Dake (Cornell) dec. No. 11 Nathaniel Brown (Lehigh), 9-3 (Cornell 17, Lehigh 7) 184: No. 5 Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) dec. No. 2 Steve Bosak (Cornell), 3-1 SV (Cornell 17, Lehigh 10) 197: John Bolich (Lehigh) dec. Jace Bennett (Cornell), 1-0 (Cornell 17, Lehigh 13) HWT: Stryker Lane (Cornell) dec. Jack Delia (Lehigh), 3-1 (Cornell 20, Lehigh 13)

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State wrestling defeated both Bucknell and Lindsey Wilson on Saturday afternoon amidst the Spartan Country youth tournament at Jenison Field House. The Spartans (4-3) beat the Bison 28-11 in the first match of the doubleheader and won 28-12 over Lindsey Wilson, while wrestling in conjunction with the 10-mat youth tournament that brought hundreds of young wrestlers together with the collegiate athletes. "One of our missions here is not only to put forth a good college program on the mat but to also foster youth wrestling and foster the future of college wrestling," head coach Tom Minkel said. "This largely goes back to Coach Chandler and Dave Dean, a former assistant coach here, they have done a marvelous job building youth wrestling in the state of Michigan. And this is what it's all about. There were hundreds and hundreds of young wrestlers here today and a lot of them will aspire to be Spartan wrestlers." Michigan State dropped the first three matches of the dual against Bucknell, falling behind early 11-0. However, Dan Osterman was able to turn the tide for Michigan State with a fall over Adam Healey at 149 pounds in 0:49, leading to seven straight victories for MSU. "That was huge," Minkel said of Osterman. "Not only to get the win but to get the fall, then immediately we were back in the dual and got some momentum. It was great timing on his part." David Cheza won in dominating fashion over Vincent Favia of Bucknell at 157 pounds. Cheza remained a perfect 6-0 in dual matches after a 12-2 major decision. Cheza had four takedowns in the match, added two near fall points and had 4:19 of ride time. Nick Proctor won a 9-5 decision over Robert Schlitt of Bucknell at 165 pounds and the Spartans took a 19-11 lead after the Bison forfeited the 174 pound match. Michigan State Spartans - Mobile App John Rizqallah won a narrow 4-2 decision over Robert Marchese at 184 pounds and Luke Jones beat Tyler Lyster at 197 pounds, 3-0 Junior heavyweight Mike McClure picked up a 7-2 decision over Joe Stolfi of Bucknell. Michigan State struggled early with Lindsey Wilson and the match was tied 12-12 before the 174 pound match. Brandon Fifield picked up a fall at 133 pounds over Leo Hardy in 1:16 after Brenan Lyon was pinned by Ethan Miller of Lindsey Wilson in 3:39. Roger Wildmo, a redshirt freshman at 149 pounds, picked up his first career dual win with a 5-2 decision over Zach McCormick of Lindsey Wilson. In a thrilling match at 157 pounds, Ryan Watts defeated Vincent Favia 5-3 in the third tiebreaker. The score was tied 1-1 after regulation and both wrestlers traded escapes before Watts was able to emerge with a takedown late. John Rizqallah remain undefeated in duals this season with a 7-3 decision over Ian Stephens at 184 pounds and Luke Jones won his second match of the day with a 11-1 major decision over Jacob Bradford at 197 pounds. McClure, ranked No. 5 in the country, improved to 20-1 on the season after pinning Jonathan Hupp in 3:09. The Spartans took down the Blue Raiders 28-12, winning seven of the 10 matches. "Today was very important," Minkel said. "I think the Bucknell match in particular; they have a good team and have some tough kids. We went out and lost the first three in a row. Even though that happened our kids fought hard and wrestled hard. We stayed together and got the job done. It was a good afternoon for us, certainly a step in getting us in the direction we want to go." Michigan State 28, Bucknell 11 125: Austin Miller(BU) dec. Brenan Lyon (MSU), 7-4. BU leads 3-0. 133: Paul Petrov (BU) tech. fall Christian Olanowski (MSU),18-3 (6:51). BU leads 8-0 141: Derrik Russell (BU) dec. Nick Trimble (MSU), 4-2. BU leads 11-0. 149: Dan Osterman (MSU) fall Adam Healey (BU), 0:49. BU leads 11-6 157: David Cheza (MSU) major dec. Vincent Favia (BU), 12-2. BU leads 11-10 165: Nick Proctor (MSU) dec. Robert Schlitt (BU), 9-5. MSU leads 13-11 174: Jordan Wohlfert wins by forfeit. MSU leads 19-11 184: John Rizqallah (MSU) dec. Robert Marchese (BU), 4-2. MSU leads 22-11 197: Luke Jones (MSU) dec. Tyler Lyster (BU), 3-0. MSU leads 25-11 HWT: No. 5 Michael McClure (MSU) dec. Joe Stolfi, 7-2 (BU). MSU wins 28-11 Michigan State 28, Lindsey Wilson 12 125: Ethan Miller (LW) fall Brenan Lyon (MSU), 3:39. LW leads 6-0. 133: Brandon Fifield (MSU) fall Leo Hardy (LW), 1:16. score tied 6-6. 141: Wismit Moinius (LW) dec. Nick Trimble, 4-1. LW leads 9-6. 149: Roger Wildmo (MSU) dec. Zach McCormick (LW), 5-2. Score tied 9-9. 157: Ryan Watts (MSU) dec. Joe Cozart (LW), 5-3 TB3. MSU leads 12-9. 165: James Haywood (LW) dec. Troy Lamson (MSU), 3-2. score tied 12-12 174: Jordan Wohlfert (MSU) dec. Jameel Bryant (LW), 5-1. MSU leads 15-12. 184: John Rizqallah (MSU) dec. Ian Stephens (LW), 7-3. MSU leads 18-12 197: Luke Jones (MSU) major dec. Jacob Bedford (LW), 11-1. MSU leads 22-12 HWT: No. 5 Michael McClure (MSU) fall Jonathan Hupp (LW), 3:09. MSU wins 28-12

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- The Illinois wrestling team started 2013 with a victory as they took down UT-Chattanooga 29-10 to improve to 4-0 on the season and 10-0 against the Mocs. Seven of the ten Illini won their matches including B.J. Futrell (141), Caleb Ervin (149), Matt Nora (157), Conrad Polz (165), Jordan Blanton (174), Tony Dallago (184) and Jeff Koepke (197). "One we got going we wrestled pretty well," head coach Jim Heffernan said. "B.J.'s pin got the momentum going our way and we got on a roll. After limping through last week we should be back to full strength for the start of the Big Ten season." The dual started at heavyweight as Chris Lopez dropped his bout 2-1 in overtime to Kevin Malone to put the Illini down an early 3-0. The Mocs continued their success as they got victories at 133 and 141 pounds. No. 7 Nick Soto majored Dominic Olivieri 14-1 and Marvin Lopez moved past Logan Arlis 5-3 to go up 7-0 in the team score. The Illini then won the next seven bouts, starting with No. 3 Futrell who pinned Dean Pavlou, his eighth opponent of the season and inched the team score closer, 10-6. At 149, Ervin moved past Jared Presley with a 11-4 decision to record his third dual match victory this season, while Nora notched his second dual win after moving past Trey Stavrum with a 8-1 decision. With four bouts remaining, No. 7 Polz continued his undefeated record in dual matches this season when he took down Josh Condon with a 5-4 decision to bump the Illini's lead to 15-10. Illinois scored bonus points in the next two weight classes with No. 4 Blanton and No. 11 Dallago. Blanton notched his fifth pin of the season to give the Illini six additional points while Dallago moved past Robert Prigmore by a 21-6 tech fall in 5:27. After moving up a weight class, Koepke won his first dual match victory after defeating John Shrader by a 7-2 decision to give Illini the 29-10 victory. The Illini will compete in their home opener this Friday, Jan. 11 against Big Ten rival Purdue at 7 p.m. at Huff Hall. Results: HWT: Kevin Malone (UT-CHAT) dec. Christopher Lopez (ILL), 2-1 SV1 (0-3) 125: #7 Nick Soto (UT-CHATT) maj. dec. Dominic Olivieri (ILL), 14-1 (0-4) 133: Marvin Lopez (UT-CHATT) dec. Logan Arlis (ILL), 5-3 (0-7) 141: #3 B.J. Futrell (ILL) pinned Dean Pavlou (UT-CHATT), 1:27 (6-10) 149: Caleb Ervin (ILL) dec. Jared Presley (UT-CHATT), 11-4 (9-10) 157: Matt Nora (ILL) dec. Trey Stavrum (UT-CHATT), 8-1 (12-10) 165: #7 Conrad Polz (ILL) dec. Josh Condon (UT-CHATT), 5-4 (15-10) 174: #4 Jordan Blanton (ILL) pinned John Lampe (UT-CHATT), 3:13 (21-0) 184: #11 Tony Dallago (ILL) tech fall Robert Prigmore (UT-CHATT), 21-6; 5:27 (26-10) 197: Jeff Koepke (ILL) dec. John Shrader (UT-CHATT), 7-2 (29-10)

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. -- The Lock Haven University wrestling team won six of 10 bouts and Mac Maldarelli’s (Merrick, N.Y./Nassau C.C.) major decision at 149 pounds sealed the deal today as the Bald Eagles edged their former Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) rival West Virginia, 19-15 in a thriller. Lock Haven (2-2) and West Virginia (1-3) entered the final bout of the day (149) tied at 15-15 after today’s match started at 157 pounds. The win marked the first for Lock Haven over West Virginia since 2005 and snapped a seven-match losing streak to the Mountaineers. Aaron McKinney (Imperial, Pa./West Allegheny), Fred Garcia (Donora, Pa./Ringgold), Phil Sprenkle (Seven Valleys, Pa./Dallastown), Harry Turner (Howell, N.J./Howell), Matt Bryer (Cochranton, Pa./Cochranton) joined Maldarelli as Haven winners on the day. Aaron Fry (Muncy, Pa./Muncy) opened the day with a hard-fought 3-2 loss to WVU’s Jason Luster at 157. The bout was tied 2-2 after two periods and Fry nearly rode out the third period, but Luster scored on a late takedown to earn the victory. McKinney (165) quickly put Lock Haven on the board with a 3-2 win of his own at 165. McKinney and Ross Renzi were tied at 2-2 after two periods, but McKinney dominated on top and rode out the third period for the thrilling, hard-fought win. WVU’s Bubba Scheffel pinned (5:09) Tyler Wood (West Chester, Pa./West Chester-Rustin) to put the Mountaineers up 9-3 after three bouts. At 184, Garcia got Lock Haven right back in it with a workmanlike, 3-1 upset win over No. 23 Lance Bryson. Garcia scored on a quick takedown and went to work on top, racking up 2:03 of riding time in the first period. Garcia chose down to start the second and Bryson was tough, erasing much of the riding time advantage, but Garcia did score on the takedown for the 3-1 advantage. The third saw some good action with Garcia pushing the pace throughout, but neither man could score. Sprenkle (197) used a riding time point to edge A.J. Vizcarrondo, 5-4 in another exciting bout. After a scoreless first period, Sprenkle led 3-0 after two. Sprenkle’s 1:05 riding time advantage was the key as the bout finished with a frenzy. Turner’s win at 285 marked the third straight Haven win and put Lock Haven in the lead for the first time in the match, 12-9. Turner wrestled outstanding from start-to-finish and shutout Phil Mandzik, 4-0. The two stayed scoreless after one period, but a second-period escape-takedown put Turner up 3-0 after two as he controlled the flow to the end. At 125, No. 29 Shane Young tied the match again with a thrilling win over Bobby Rehm (Lancaster, Pa./Penn Manor), 13-8. The bout was tied 5-5 after two periods and had the crowd on its feet in the third period as Young was able to hang on for the win. Bryer was nearly perfect on the way to this 7-2 win over Sean Fee at 133. Bryer led 6-2 after two and already had 2:47 of riding time. Bryer’s dominance continued in the third where he rode out the period on the way to the 7-2 win and a 4:47 riding time advantage. In the match’s marquee bout, No. 16 Nathan Pennesi beat Dan Neff (Quarryville, Pa./Solanco), 4-0 at 141. Pennesi’s win tied the match at 15-15, setting things up for Maldarelli’s fireworks. Maldarelli scored a late, first-period takedown to lead 2-0 after one. Starting the second period down, Maldarelli scored on a quick escape and a takedown as he jumped out to a commanding 5-0 lead after just two periods. In the third period, Maldarelli tilted Timothy Wheeling for a pair of points and collected a 2:52 riding time advantage on the way to the major that sealed the huge victory for The Haven. Lock Haven will return to action on Sunday, January 13 at the University of Pittsburgh. Lock Haven will take on Davidson and Eastern Michigan. Results: 157: Jason Luster (WVU) dec. Aaron Fry (LHU) 3-2 165: Aaron McKinney (LHU) dec. Ross Renzi (WVU) 3-2 174: Bubba Scheffel (WVU) pinned Tyler Wood (LHU) 5:09 184: Fred Garcia (LHU) dec. Lance Bryson (WVU) 3-1 197: Phil Sprenkle (LHU) dec. A.J. Vizcarrondo (WVU) 5-4 285: Harry Turner (LHU) dec. Phil Mandzik (WVU) 4-0 125: Shane Young (WVU) dec. Bobby Rehm (LHU) 13-8 133: Matt Bryer (LHU) dec. Sean Fee (WVU) 7-2 141: No. 16 Nathan Pennesi (WVU) dec. Dan Neff (LHU) 4-0 149: Mac Maldarelli (LHU) major dec. Timothy Wheeling (WVU) 8-0