InterMat Staff

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Nebraska wrestling team, in its first year as a member of the powerful Big Ten Conference, will be making its first-ever trip to Bucknell next month and tickets for the highly anticipated match between the Bison and Huskers in Sojka Pavilion will go on sale this Friday, Oct. 7. Fans wishing to purchase tickets to the Nov. 10 dual match can call the Campus Box Office at 570-577-1000 or visit its website, www.bucknell.edu/boxoffice. Tickets for the season-opening dual will cost $8 for adults and $4 for individuals 62 and over and 18 and under. Bucknell students, faculty and staff will be admitted free with ID. All seating will be general admission. Sojka Pavilion doors will open one hour before the 7 p.m. match. This will be the third time Bucknell has hosted a premier wrestling event at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison faced 23-time NCAA champion Iowa and Rutgers in a November 2009 tri-meet, and they hosted last March's 107th EIWA Championships, with the facility drawing rave reviews each time. Bucknell, which against the Huskers will be wrestling its 100th match since the program was reinstated prior to the 2006-07 campaign, has had at least one All-American in three straight years and has seen a Bison claim an EIWA individual title each of the last two seasons. Nebraska, which finished 12th at last year's NCAA Championships, has placed in the top 10 of the team standings at NCAAs six times since 2000 and has had at least one All-American every year since 1989. The Bison and Huskers met last November in Lincoln, Neb., and Bucknell held a one-point lead going into the final bout, but fell by a 19-16 score in the first-ever meeting between the two programs. The Bison will have four other home dates (Dec. 3, Dec. 17, Feb. 5, Feb. 12) in 2011-12, with each of those matches taking place in the team's customary home, Davis Gym. All home events in Davis Gym will feature free admission.

USAFA, Colo. -- Senior Alec Williams and junior Cole VonOhlen have been named co-captains for the Air Force wrestling team, as announced by head coach Joel Sharratt. Williams, a native of Fultondale, Ala., and VonOhlen, from Jackson, Minn., were voted by their teammates to serve as captains for the 2011-12 season. Williams has been a three-year starter for the Falcons and posted a career-best 26 victories in 2011-12, one of seven Air Force wrestlers to surpass the 20-win plateau last season. Meanwhile, VonOhlen, a two-time NCAA qualifier, becomes the first underclassman to hold the position of wrestling team captain at the Academy since Jack Black in the 1971-72 season. VonOhlen has recorded 75 career victories in just two seasons, including 44 wins during the 2010-11 campaign. “The team and staff are encouraged by the signal this leadership duo brings to our program, and the support and leadership they will provide ot their fellow team members,” said Sharratt. “The elected role of team captain at a service academy means a lot more than just being center mat for the coin flip; this is a true responsibility and others will be looking to these two great young men for a variety of inputs regarding development on and off the mat!”

Head Wrestling Coach Joe Russell has announced that Tommy Owen has been hired as an assistant coach for the Mason wrestling program. A native of Spokane, Wash., Owen was most recently the head coach of Central Valley High School in Spokane Valley, Washington where he was named the Washington 4A Region 4 Coach of the Year for the 2010-2011 season. "I am excited Tommy has joined me at Mason," said Russell. "Tommy comes from a great wrestling family and has grown up around college wrestling. He knows what it takes to build a program and develop successful student-athletes. We will work hard to make George Mason University proud of their wrestling program." Owen was also an assistant coach at Boise State University in the 2007-08 season where he helped the Broncos to a 2008 PAC 10 championship. He took over the assistant coaching duties after wrestling two seasons for Boise State. He transferred to the Bronco program following three years of wrestling at the University of Minnesota. "The thing I'm most excited about is being able to work with Joe," remarked Owen. "Being able to work for someone like Coach Russell is very special to me. I think Mason just hired one of the top wrestling coaches in the country. I felt he was a big part of all the success that Minnesota had while he was there." Owen has a long family legacy in wrestling and it helped him develop in to a well respected Division I wrestler and Division I wrestling coach. "A lot of people say you've got to learn through experience but for me I got to learn through listening from the experience of others, said Owen". It definitely fast tracked my coaching career because from a young age I was able to pick up on so much from other people. The experience and knowledge that I took from growing up in that surrounding was very important for me." Owen competed in the 141-pound weight class for the Gophers where he was a two-year starter. As a junior during the 2004-05 season, he finished the year with an overall record of 11-15 and placed seventh at the Big Ten Conference Championships, advancing to the NCAA National Tournament. His first year wrestling at Boise State was in 2005-06, but after competing in only one match an injury forced him to miss the rest of the season. Due to the early season injury, Owen was granted another year of eligibility from the NCAA. In his final season at Boise, Owen has hampered by another season ending injury after starting the season with a 4-6 overall record. Owen was a three-time Washington state champion at University High School and placed runner-up the other season. He was a high school national champion in 2001, and a cadet national champion and a 2000 junior world team member. His high school coach was his uncle Don Owen. "I'm excited to be able to come here and work in an environment where I will learn every day," reflected Owen. "It will make work fun and exciting and I think that will carry over to what we bring to the team. We're taking over a program and trying to bring a good attitude and the right mental approach to help these kids."

California Community College wrestling ranking have been released. 125: 1. Damien Gomez – Cerritos College 2. Jake Harrison – Cerritos College 3. Junior Davila – Fresno City College 4. Marc Collier – Bakersfield College 5. Phillip Hendrix – Mt. San Antonio College 6. Emilio Rivera – Palomar College 7. Eugene Cancino - Fresno City College 8. Justin Silva – Rio Hondo College HM • Andrew Wolochuk – Santa Rosa Junior College • Daniel Nguyen – Chabot College • Darren Salazar – West Hills College • Joel Rodas – Fresno City College • Ricky Ugarte – Lassen College • Sergio Sixto – San Joaquin Delta College • Yasier Alverez – Lassen College 133: 1. Chris Padilla – Fresno City College 2. Pierce Lowrey – Mt. San Antonio College 3. Isa Hurtado – Sacramento City College 4. Ralph Roja, Skyline College 5. Michael Ruiz – West Hills College 6. Rudy Delgado – Cerritos College 7. Auston Wulfert – Sierra College 8. Jeff Lobos – Lassen College HM • Jacob Barbarena – Cerritos College • Mack Chambers – Fresno City College • Morek Robbins – Santa Rosa Junior College • Nathan Monck – Sacramento City College 141: 1. Alberto Arreola – West Hills College 2. Kevin Rojas – Fresno City College 3. Eric Orozco – West Hills College 4. John Gay – Cuesta College 5. Jacob Depraect – Rio Hondo College 6. Anthony Kaouri – Cerritos College 7. Enrique Barajas – Sacramento City College 8. Aaron Pen-Kruger – Santa Rosa Junior College HM • Anthony Nebina – Fresno City College • Brian Ha – Skyline College • Efren Rodriguez – Sacramento City College • Marco Frantantoni – Cerritos College • Marcus Vargas – Cerritos College • Saul Garcia – Fresno City College 149: 1. Noel Blanco – Mt. San Antonio College 2. Seth Seneca – Santa Ana College 3. Conrad Rangel – Fresno City College 4. Pete Escandon – Fresno City College 5. Tim Nevarez – Sacramento City College 6. Paul Looper – Mt. San Antonio College 7. Milton Nkunku – Sacramento City College 8. Richard Morris – Santa Rosa Junior College HM • Alex Razo – Cerritos College • Laith Alnasirri – Sacramento City College • Marques Gebhardt – Skyline College • Owen Craugh – Lassen College • Voris Meeks – Cerritos College • Zach Mitchell – Cerritos College • Alex Rodriguez – Sierra College 157: 1. Ramon Estrada – Cerritos College 2. Jessie Baldazo – Sierra College 3. Brady Bersano – Fresno City College 4. Marcial Rodriguez – Lassen College 5. Miguel Torres – Fresno City College 6. Corey Flores – Santa Ana College 7. Shawn Porter – Sacramento City College 8. Jake Schilling – Fresno City College HM • Casey Schumacher – Santa Rosa Junior College • Marty Legaspe – Rio Hondo College • Zarek Sanchez – Lassen College 165: 1. Tigran Adzhemyan – Fresno City College 2. Trey Edmunds – Sierra College 3. Aaron Lopez – Santa Ana College 4. Joshua Newman – East Los Angeles College 5. Bret Schumann – Sacramento City College 6. Vinny Fausone – Santa Rosa Junior College 7. Alfonso Estrada – Cerritos College 8. Craig Sherman – Chabot College HM • Aaron Pickard – Sierra College • Anthony Spinella – Modesto JC • Brad Clark – Mt. San Antonio College • Gaaret Marinelli – Sacramento City College • Gavit Gevorgyia – Fresno City College • Josh Lujan – West Hills College • Zerek Sanchez – Lassen College 174: 1. Martin Fabbian – Fresno City College 2. Dwight Flores – Chabot College 3. Adam Charles – Skyline College 4. Ryan McWatters – Victor Valley College 5. Christian Milan – Cerritos College 6. Dylin Rodriguez – Sierra College 7. Allen Emmons – Sacramento City College 8. Logan Sackett – Cerritos College HM • Eric Gutterman – Santa Ana College • Jesse Mercado – Cerritos College • Lance Castaneda – Bakersfield College • Shaun Bry – Sacramento City College • Mike Macalister – Cuesta College 184: 1. Fito Rodolfo Juarez – Fresno City College 2. Erick Gomez – Modesto Junior College 3. Thomas Howard – Skyline College 4. Josh Cutts – Lassen College 5. Keith Nieves – Cerritos College 6. Tyree Cox – Cerritos College 7. Ken Steers – Sacramento City College 8. Bradley Beaudette – Cuesta College HM • Carlos Arana – Santa Ana College • Jesus Chavez – Sierra College (Has not competed yet) • John Aleman – Sierra College • Miguel Simon – Santa Ana College • Naweed Zemar yalai – Chabot College • Quentin Becker – Sierra College • Tyler Edwards – Sacramento City College 197: 1. Logan Paul Eickhoff – Shasta College 2. Gerson Nkunku – Sacramento City College 3. Martay Greer – Sacramento City College 4. Justin Whitten, Fresno City College 5. Aaron Dubois – Santa Ana College 6. Gene Griffith – Victor Valley College 7. Ismael Alvarez – Fresno City College 8. Jeff Monteiro – West Hills College HM • Anthony Gordon – Santa Rosa College • Austin Bergstadt – Sierra College • Colin Hart – Santa Rosa Junior College • Dominic Waters – Santa Rosa Junior College • Gearold Sotolongo – Shasta College • Matt Lopez – Rio Hondo College 285: 1. Richard Segovia – Chabot College 2. Sam Cervantes – Palomar College 3. Martin Gonzales – Mt. San Antonio College 4. Brian Klevies – Santa Ana College 5. Luis Contreras – Fresno City College 6. Mike Perez – West Hills College 7. Spencer Smith – Cerritos College 8. Buddy Barraza – Chabot College HM • Anthony Chu – San Joaquin Delta College • Brandon Rucker – Mt. San Antonio College • Bud Guinn – Santa Rosa Junior College • Caleb McDade – Sierra College • Daniel Gusev – Sierra College • Gerrardo Aguirre – Cerritos College • Leonard Castellanos – Santa Rosa Junior College • Ray Cisneros – Sacramento City College

Dave Whitsett, professor emeritus at the University of Northern Iowa, will go "On the Mat" this Wednesday, Oct. 5. "On the Mat" is a presentation of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum. The show can be heard live on the Internet at www.kcnzam.com or locally in Northeast Iowa each Wednesday from 5:00 to 6:00 PM Central on AM 1650, The Fan. An archive of the show can be found on www.themat.tv. E-mail radio@wrestlingmuseum.org with any questions or comments about the show. Whitsett is a professor emeritus at the University of Northern Iowa. He taught psychology from 1974 through 2001, and worked with the Northern Iowa wrestling team during the 1970s and 1980s. Whitsett co-authored a book called “The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer”.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- The North Carolina wrestling squad released its 2011-12 schedule on Tuesday and the Tar Heels will face another tough slate leading up to the ACC and NCAA Championships. Carolina will host three home dual matches along with the 2012 ACC Championships. Action gets underway for the Tar Heels on Nov. 6 when they travel to Blacksburg, Va. for the Hokie Open before back-to-back dual weekends in Hershey, Pa. and Latham, N.Y. The Hershey Duals (Nov. 12) will see Carolina take on a pair of top 25 finishers from a year ago in Illinois and Nebraska before closing out the day with duals against Ohio State and Boston. The very next weekend the Tar Heels will face off against top 10 finisher Lehigh, along with Penn and Rutgers at the Northeastern Duals. Carolina will close out 2011 in Las Vegas, Nev. as the Tar Heels will take part in the two-day Cliff Keen Invitational Dec. 2-3 before taking a break to close out the semester. The Tar Heels will open the 2012 calendar year at the Southern Scuffle in its new home of Chattanooga, Tenn. on Jan. 1-2 before opening the home and conference season Jan. 9 against rival Duke. Back-to-back weekends in Virginia follow for the Tar Heels as they will do battle in the Virginia Duals prior to a conference weekend at Virginia and Virginia Tech. Carolina will then host conference foe Maryland on Jan. 27 followed by a match against Navy the next day. The Tar Heels will close out conference action on Feb. 3 with a dual at NC State. To close out the regular season the Tar Heels will travel to Buies Creek, N.C. for duals against Northwestern and Campbell, followed by a trip to Charleston, S.C. for duals against Sacred Heart and The Citadel. Carmichael Arena will play host to the 2012 ACC Championships on March 3 as the Tar Heels will have home mat advantage in the yearly battle for the ACC crown. The 2012 NCAA Championships will be held in St. Louis, Mo. The Tar Heels sent three wrestlers to the NCAA Championships a year ago and will return the services of a pair of freshmen who reached the Championships in 157 pounder Corey Mock and 197 pounder Zac Bennett.

Over the past couple years Michigan's top recruits have made relatively early college decisions. Typically by the end of August or early September, we are hearing commitments from the top prospect in our state. Therefore, this year with Taylor Massa, who is not only the top-rated grappler in Michigan, but the No. 1 ranked prep wrestling recruit in the country, everyone has been highly anticipating his decision as we enter the month of October. Taylor MassaMonday, in front of a group of news outlets and school staff at St. Johns High School, Massa finally released the news that everyone has waiting to hear as he announced his intentions to be a Wolverine for the University of Michigan, who recently added two big name assistant coaches in Sean Bormet and Donny Pritzlaff, both of whom are about the same size as Massa. "I really want to go to the Olympics someday and I feel that I can do that at Michigan," said Massa, "The coaching staff and training situation has a huge impact on my decision, you can't really argue with workout partners and great environment I will have their. Plus I want to go to medical school and still train after my college career and that will work out perfect." Massa has been a mainstay on the national scene since the fall of his eighth grade year when he stormed through the Super 32 135-pound weight class and finished third over countless state champions and college bound seniors. Since then all he has done is win the biggest tournaments he can find and he has been the No. 1-ranked pound-for-pound wrestler in his class by InterMat since his freshman season. So why did it take so long for this mega-recruit to make a commitment? "It was one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make because I am so close with the Michigan State guys and me and Chris (Williams, MSU assistant coach) go back a long time," said Massa, who grew up just 21 miles from East Lansing and attended nearly every Spartan home meet. "He (Williams) has done so much for me and I grew up idolizing him so it made this decision really hard." The huge success that Massa had early on has put him in a rare situation of nearly always being the favorite to win, even at the toughest tournaments in the country. As a freshman and sophomore wrestling at upperclassmen weight classes, he was expected to win and he did so, in dominant fashion without a single hiccup along the way, leading to his current prep record of 179-0. "High School season gets a little boring at times, but I try to keep my same focus of one match at a time. I hate seeing people wrestle not to lose, I have learned that you cannot worry about how close the score is or giving up a takedown or what other people may think. I try to just put that stuff aside and focus on what I have to do," said Massa. Massa's future goals are even higher than his past accomplishments. When asked, he mentions winning four NCAA national titles and winning Olympic medals as his major goals. Last summer Massa made the FILA Junior World Team and competed at the World Championships, where he lost first round and failed to place. It was the first time in a long time that he was out that early in a tournament, and as he says, it was a great learning experience. "I learned that you have to learn to adapt to not being able to follow your normal rituals and routine. It was a great learning experience even though I didn't really wrestle as well as I would have liked. It showed me that I still have a lot to work on and it really fired me up about wrestling in the Olympics. Before this summer I wasn't one hundred percent sure if I wanted to make a run for the Olympics after college or be done, but wrestling overseas and seeing how corrupt things can get really lit my fire." Dealing with pressure and dealing with adversity is something that this young man has had to learn early. Although he is going to be a Wolverine next year, it was a former MSU Spartan who helped him with his mental approach. "One thing Franklin (Gomez) told me was, 'Wrestling is not my God'," said Massa. "I am not as religious as he is, but I think that although wrestling is a huge part of my life, it is not my life. If I lose I deal with it and move on. Life moves on. Learning to think that way has really helped me deal with pressure and losses." The future looks bright for this kid; however, he is not done yet. He still has one more season left at St. Johns High School, where the Red Wing team may be almost as dominant as Massa this year. The Massa effect on St. Johns has been amazing as the team that was relatively unknown across the state 6 years ago is now a national powerhouse. "I really didn't think we (St. Johns) would ever be this good. I knew we would have studs but I always thought we would have big holes that would be hard to fill but like my dad always says – when you are surrounded by great wrestlers you're bound to get a lot better," said Massa, "A perfect example of this is the Bender brothers who went from being below .500 their freshman year to being state qualifiers as juniors last year and potential placers this year. Guys like that have taken us to the next level as a team." St. Johns looks to win their third team state title this year, however, according to Massa and many others this could be there best team yet with the addition of strong freshman class that includes his younger brother, Logan. "It's cool that me and my brother will get to be on a team together. Ever since I was in middle school we have talked about this year being our year and this whole town is ready for wrestling season to begin." The whole town of St. Johns is ready for this season to begin, but the whole country is ready for Taylor Massa's college career to begin. He leaves as one of, if not the most highly touted prep wrestlers that the great state of Michigan has ever seen and only time will tell what he can do as a collegiate and international wrestler, but the future definitely looks bright and we will all have the pleasure of watching it unfold nearby in Ann Arbor. InterMat was granted permission to republish this article from MichiganGrappler.com. http://www.michigangrappler.com/files/High_School/HS11-12/massa_um.html

With the high school wrestling season's start fast approaching, InterMat will be taking fans across the United States of America on a tour of scholastic wrestling. From now until the middle of November, InterMat will introduce fans to the top high school senior wrestlers in the 49 states with scholastic wrestling. From Alaska to Florida, and Maine to California, fans will gain exposure to future college and senior level stars. Although Nevada does not produce the same number of All-Americans that states like California, Ohio, and Pennsylvania do, but Nevada produces some very good wrestlers every year. Nevada had six wrestlers that earned All-American honors in Fargo, and also a FILA Cadet National champion. Last year multi-time Fargo All-American Napoleon Aniciete (Las Vegas) signed with Utah Valley University. Some of the past Nevada standout wrestlers include NCAA Division I runner-up Chase Pami from Cal Poly (Cimmeron-Memorial, two-time 4A state champion), two-time Division I All-American Bryce Saddoris of the Naval Academy (Spring Creek, four-time 3A state champion). Also included in this list are current UFC stars Ryan Bader (McQueen), Gray Maynard (Bonanza), and Frank Mir (Bonanza). Nevada has 105 high schools that are divided into three divisions for wrestling. The main population centers are Las Vegas and Reno, with the rest being mostly rural areas. 1. Ray Waters (Spring Valley) Projected 2011-12 High School Weight Class: 170 Projected College Weight Class: 174 Analysis: Waters is a senior from Las Vegas. He lost in the 4A state finals to Fargo All-American Napoleon Aniciete. This was a battle of All-Americans because Waters was also an All-American in Fargo in 2010. You have to give Waters a lot of credit. He was wrestling and winning everything at 160, and he dropped down to 152 just so he could wrestle Aniciete. Waters finished the season with a record of 56-2. He won many large tournaments last year, including the Las Vegas Holiday Classic. 2. Jace Billingsley (Lowry) Projected 2011-12 High School Weight Class: 160 Projected College Weight Class: 165 Analysis: Billingsley is a three-time 3A state champion out of Winnemucca. Winnemucca is a medium -sized town in the northern rural area of the state. Billingsley placed second in the Sierra Nevada Classic and won it the previous season. He is also a standout running back during football season and a pitcher for the baseball team. 3. Bronson Ashjian (Cimmeron-Memorial) Projected 2011-12 High School Weight Class: 138 Projected College Weight Class: 141 Analysis: Ashjian, who wrestles for perennial Nevada power Cimmeron-Memorial in Las Vegas, finished this past season with a record of 59-3. He is a two-time 4A state champion. 4. Steven Elicegui (Wooster) Projected 2011-12 High School Weight Class: 171 Projected College Weight Class: 174 Analysis: Elicegui is the defending two-time 4A state champion out of Wooster High School in Reno. He placed first at the 2011 West Junior Regional in both freestyle and Greco-Roman. 5. Broc Westlake (Reed) Projected 2011-12 High School Weight Class: 195 Projected College Weight Class: 197 Analysis: Westlake, who wrestles for Reed High School in Reno, is the defending 4A state champion. He finished the season with a record of 37-6. He also placed fourth in the Sierra Nevada Classic. 6. Gus Duncan (Lowry) Projected 2011-12 High School Weight Class: 145 Projected College Weight Class: 149/157 Analysis: Duncan was the 3A state champion at 140 in 2011 and the 3A state champion at 130 his sophomore year. He is going for the lucky No. 3 this year. 7. Marcus Judd (Palo Verde) Projected 2011-12 High School Weight Class: 182 Projected College Weight Class: 184 Analysis: Judd finished the 2011 season with a record of 47-5. He won the Las Vegas Holiday Classic and finished third in the 4A state tournament. Palo Verde High School is located in Las Vegas. 8. Curtis Lampert (Spanish Springs) Projected 2011-12 High School Weight Class: 120 Projected College Weight Class: 125 Analysis: Lampert wrestles out of Reno. He finished third in 2010 and second in 2011. Hopefully with some hard work he will make his way to the top of the podium in 2012. His season record for 2011 was 40-8. 9. Dakota Sargent (Indian Springs) Projected 2011-12 High School Weight Class: 152 Projected College Weight Class: 157 Analysis: Sargent, who wrestles for Indian Springs, is the defending 2A state champion. Starting Sargent's sophomore season, he started working on only wrestling and has improved tremendously. 10. Ryan Nelson (Lowry) Projected 2011-12 High School Weight Class: 182 Projected College Weight Class: 184 Analysis: Nelson wrestles for 3A power Lowry. He is the defending 3A state champion and finished second in 2010.

Taylor Massa (St. Johns, Mich.), the nation's No. 1 overall recruit, has given a verbal commitment to the University of Michigan. He chose Michigan over Michigan State. Taylor Massa"It was an extremely tough decision," Massa told the Lansing State Journal. "It was extremely hard between those two schools, but in the end I feel like Michigan had just more of the Olympic route that I was looking to pursue after college. I would like to train to become an Olympic champ some day and I can do that at Michigan." Massa is a three-time state champion with a career record of 187-0. He won a FILA Junior National freestyle title this past spring. He projects as a 165/174-pounder in college. Massa is the third InterMat Top 100 recruit from the Class of 2012 to commit to Michigan. He joins No. 12 Rossi Bruno (Brandon, Fla.) and No. 35 Jordan Thomas (Greenville, Mich.). Other InterMat Top 100 recruits to commit over the past two weeks ... No. 31 Justin Koethe (Iowa City West, Iowa) to Wisconsin Listen to Interview No. 32 George DiCamillo (St. Ignatius, Ohio) to Virginia No. 36 Todd Preston (Blair Academy, N.J.) to Harvard No. 45 Dominick Malone (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.) to Northwestern No. 47 Devon Gobbo (Delbarton, N.J.) to Harvard No. 48 Dakota Trom (Apple Valley, Minn.) to Minnesota Watch Interview No. 56 Sam Brancale (Eden Prairie, Minn.) to Minnesota Watch Interview No. 62 Zach Nevills (Clovis, Calif.) to Stanford No. 67 Willie Miklus (Southeast Polk, Iowa) to Missouri No. 68 Matt Cimato (LaSalle, Pa.) to Drexel No. 80 Jack Dechow (Richmond-Burton, Ill.) to Old Dominion No. 89 A.J. Vizcarrando (Wyoming Seminary, Pa.) to Eastern Michigan No. 93 Micah Barnes (Simley, Minn.) to Old Dominion

College wrestling has proven to be the most successful form of amateur martial art for young mixed martial arts fighters. Dana White's said it, you've seen it, and the rankings reflect it. This weekend in San Louis Obispo, Calif. the growth of the wrestling to MMA relationship is being reciprocated when "Fight for Wrestling" hosts its fourth fight as a fundraiser, this time to support the Cal Poly wrestling team. The event will feature wrestlers Brandon Halsey of Cal-State Bakersfield and Mike Moreno a former Fresno City wrestler. Current Cal Poly student Mike Gahan. "I think the biggest misperception might be that we are struggling out here in some hellhole. We're not," said Cal Poly head wrestling coach Brendan Buckley. "We are special because many of our top alumni happen to be incredible fighters and this is a chance to raise more money for the program." The most famous of those alumni is former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell. The former Cal Poly captain was one of the first, and most successful, wrestlers to make the transition to MMA. His tightly cropped hair, bad-boy image and propensity for knocking out his opponents made him the highest PPV draw for several years inside the Octagon. He's so popular that the UFC retained his services as a businessman and has made him the lead face in many of their developmental projects. Just like Chuck sells, the organizers of the Fight for Wrestling are hoping that their MMA card will sell to local fans. The most recent wrestlers-turned-star, 2008 NCAA runner-up and current undefeated UFC featherweight Chad Mendes isn't scheduled to appear because he's training, but in his wake a bigger name might appear: Urijah Faber. "We're hoping he can still make it down from Sacramento," said Buckley. "I coached him for a bit at UC-Davis and think he'll make an appearance if his schedule remains pretty open, but that's one busy dude." The Fight for Wrestling is hoping to bring in $15,000 or more for one of California's last remaining Division I wrestling programs. Over the past few years several programs including UC Davis, Buckley's alma mater Fresno State and most recently Cal State Fullerton have all terminated their programs due to a lack of institutional backing and funding. As the economic crisis in California and college sports continues to grow it might take more inventive measures to ensure that schools like Cal Poly stay afloat, though Buckley insists that the Mustangs are in good standing. "We have some incredibly generous alumni and the support of the school," said Buckley who recently signed a 4-year contract with Cal Poly. "This fundraiser is the next step that I think programs need to be making to ensure their financial stability." The "Fight for Wrestling" isn't the first MMA-lead fundraiser. The Lock Haven wrestling program sponsored a similar event, the Mattown Mayhem, on Sept. 2. Which featured the likes of former wrestlers Steve Mytech and Aaron Anspach (both lost). The numbers are still being worked out but Lock Haven head coach Robbie Waller said they're expecting "some extra cash" to come into the program. In a down economy, every dollar helps. The MMA community has more money and fan interest in the two sports tend to overlap, making these fight nights a sure-fire fundraiser and likely a financial model that'll be used by several more schools in the future. The Fight for Wrestling card is the fourth in the series and has featured former wrestlers every event, including T.J. Dillashaw, one of the stars of The Ultimate Fighter Season 14. "Wrestlers love MMA and this fight is a direct way to benefit from that relationship," said Buckley. "I'm excited about the event and what it means to our program. These are going to be great fights." For more information on the event go to Fightforwrestling.com.

With the high school wrestling season's start fast approaching, InterMat will be taking fans across the United States of America on a tour of scholastic wrestling. From now until the middle of November, InterMat will introduce fans to the top high school senior wrestlers in the 49 states with scholastic wrestling. From Alaska to Florida, and Maine to California, fans will gain exposure to future college and senior level stars. Year in and year out the Buckeye State has churned out some of the best high school wrestlers the nation has seen. This year again is no different. Ohio has 14 wrestlers ranked in the InterMat Top 100. For the first time in years a soon-to-be four-time state champion doesn't headline the list. In fact, the top wrestling recruit has just one state title to his name. 1. Nate Skonieczny (Walsh Jesuit) Projected 2011-12 High School Weight Class: 138/145 Projected College Weight Class: 149 Nate Skonieczny is the only wrestler to defeat Bo Jordan (Photo/Kevin Schlosser, BuckeyeWrestling.com)Analysis: If it weren't for being stuck with two of the best wrestlers in the nation his freshman and sophomore seasons, Nate Skonieczny may very well be going for his fourth state title this year. However he was stuck in the same weight as Zach Neibert and Bo Jordan both of Graham. In fact Skonieczny gave Jordan his only high school loss to date at the Top Gun tournament in 2010. While only having a single state title Skonieczny has performed big on the national scene winning Ironman in 2009 and taking third last year. Skonieczny can score points and at the same time he's very hard to score on. Look for Skonieczny to be one of the best in the nation regardless of weight or class. 2. Huston Evans (St. Paris Graham) Projected 2011-2012 High School Weight Class: 195 Projected College Weight Class: 197 Analysis: Huston Evans is one of the most physically imposing wrestlers you will come across in the nation. His results are just as imposing to his opponents. Evans, a three-time state finalist and one-time champion, comes back this year hungry as ever to win a state title. Evans was a prohibitive favorite last year but was upset by the very talented Chaz Gresham. Evans an early commit to Virginia Tech will look to continue his dominance this year and will be one of the top 195-pound wrestlers this season. 3. Nick Tavanello (Wadsworth) Projected 2011-2012 High School Weight Class: 285 Projected College Weight Class: 285 Analysis: A dominant force at the 215-pound weight class for the past three years on both the state and national level. Tavanello a three-time placer and two-time champion now moves up to 285 this year where he will look to continue that streak. He will be pushed a little more but should be able to come out on top. A big man that can move on the mat he has committed his talents to Ohio State already in which he will look to anchor the 285 slot for years to come. 4. Kagan Squire (Wadsworth) Projected 2011-2012 High School Weight Class: 132 Projected College Weight Class: 133/141 Kagan Squire will be looking for the elusive state title in 2012 (Photo/Bob Tuneberg, BuckeyeWrestling.com)Analysis: Perhaps the most decorated wrestler on the national level Kagan Squire is also the only wrestler in this group without a state title. He has fallen short in each of the past years. Last year he was perhaps the most prohibitive favorite he lost to Joey Ward a wrestler he had beaten three-times that year and finished second for the second straight year. I do not see that happening this year. Squire should be in the top five of whatever weight class he lands. The 2011 FloNationals champion at 125 looks to capture that elusive state title to close out an illustrious high school career. 5. George DiCamillo (St. Ignatius) Projected 2011-2012 High School Weight Class: 120 Projected College Weight Class: 125 Analysis: DiCamillo broke through in a big way last year winning everything he entered in. He started the year off with a title at Ironman and finished it winning his first state title. He finished 4th in the rankings for Intermat last year. DiCamillo is still not committed on his college choice yet but should be a hot recruit for the 125-pound spot. 6. Isaac Jordan (St. Paris Graham) Projected 2011-2012 High School Weight Class: 160 Projected College Weight Class: 165/174 Analysis: The name Jordan is synonymous with Ohio high school wrestling. The family has a combined 16 state titles between the brothers and their sons now. Jordan was limited in participation last year due to injury but came back when it counted the most. He was an undersized 160, but still went on to win his second consecutive title. He will be joining his brother Ben at Wisconsin this fall. 7. Ryan Taylor (St. Paris Graham) Projected 2011-2012 High School Weight Class: 120 Projected College Weight Class: 125 Last season Ryan Taylor cruised to his second state title (Photo/Kevin Schlosser, BuckeyeWrestling.com)Analysis: Ryan Taylor becomes the third wrestler from Graham to join this list. Taylor will be going for his third state title this year. Last year Taylor cruised through the state tournament en route to another title. An explosive wrestler with an aggressive style, Taylor looks to have another outstanding year before heading to Wisconsin with teammate Isaac Jordan. 8. Chaz Gresham (Goshen) Projected 2011-2012 High School Weight Class: 195/220 Projected College Weight Class: 197 Analysis: Until last year Chaz Gresham was relatively unknown on the national circuit. A three-time state placewinner and state champion last year. Gresham stunned the crowd last year with two big lateral throws on Huston Evans to be crowned state champion. Gresham is a physical specimen with a lot of raw athletic ability. I look for him to only get better with time when he reaches the collegiate level. 9. Mark Martin (St. Edward) Projected 2011-2012 High School Weight Class: 160 Projected College Weight Class: 165/174 Analysis: Mark Martin may have the most upside of any wrestler in this class. Still raw and physical in many ways he has a lot of room for growth. Martin won his first state title last year after taking second the year before. This summer he took fourth out at Fargo at 160. This is just a sign of things to come for Martin who is poised for a breakout year. 10. Felipe Martinez (Genoa) Projected 2011-2012 High School Weight Class: 152 Projected College Weight Class: 149/157 Felipe Martinez will be looking for his fourth state title in 2012 (Photo/Kevin Schlosser, BuckeyeWrestling.com)Analysis: Entering freshman year Martinez was an Internet sensation thanks to a viral video of him wrestling David Taylor in the Graham room. Now fast forward three years and Martinez has transferred from Graham and looked less than impressive in holding on for his third state title last year. There remains doubts on whether he will continue onto the next level but make no mistake he still has all the physical tools and ability to be the best. If not for the transferring out last year and missing all but the state tournament series he would be the best in this class.

The Big Ten Network (BTN)'s television scheduled was released by several Big Ten schools this week; Wisconsin, Northwestern, and Minnesota all uploaded their schedules to the Web, announcing the matches they were excited to promote as being aired on national television. The wrestling community took one look at the schedule and immediately went nutty on Facebook and wrestling message boards. The problem for many posters seemed to be the lack of programming, especially live event coverage. Fans flooded BTN with Facebook posts describing their disappointment in the scheduling and sought reparation. "We are well aware of the wrestling community's displeasure with the current schedule," said Mike Vest, Communications Manager at the Chicago-based BTN. "But the schedule released by some of the schools wasn't really final and I don't think it tells the whole story." Indeed a follow-up post on USA Wrestling, which boasts 170k Facebook followers, mentioned that the Minnesota Gophers had added another live dual meet to the schedule. "The BTN is going to televise Penn State vs. Minnesota live ... that's now four duals live, but it's not enough live. Let them know you want to see more live wrestling on Big Ten Network." Wrestlers are a relentless bunch, huh? Vest described the decision-making process around what to schedule and when as a complicated matrix of travel schedules, event conflicts and managing expectations for all the interested sports fans. While he recognized that the number of live events are fewer than last season, he said that the total number of broadcasts across the online and broadcast platforms have actually increased since last season from 39 to 45 events -- growth which is consistent with each year of the BTN's coverage the past five years. Vest also said that the number doesn't include the student production initiative BTNU which could add to the selection of taped broadcasts provided by the network. "The BTN likes wrestling and it loves lives events. One of the misunderstandings is that wrestling fans think we somehow like tape delays. We don't. We love live events, they make more money because they draw more viewers." The problem is scheduling. Winter sports are played primarily on the weekends. Men and women's basketball are huge revenue generators for the network and take top priority. Add-in the coverage of ice hockey, volleyball and wrestling and you have five intercollegiate sports being competed at almost the exact same time (Friday night and Saturday afternoon) and consequently you're left with have-nots. Wrestling, at least this year, did not fare as well on the broadcast channel. "There are lots of things we need to consider, including protecting the attendance of the home team and the travel schedule of the visiting team. We could go live at 3 a.m. on Sunday morning, but that's obviously not in anyone's best interest." Vest said that Big Ten schools could work with the conference and the network (they're technically separate entities) to come up with a time that will benefit both teams and lead to a live broadcast. For example, if Brands and Cael can have a nice chat about schedules and make it work with the BTN, the Iowa vs. Penn State dual might air live on Sunday, Jan. 22. The wrestling community's premature response to the scheduling wasn't completely negative, argued Vest. "We are made aware of their frustrations almost immediately and can all work together to find solutions. We love the wrestling fans because it doesn't matter which teams we air, the fans like the sport of wrestling, not just a team, in sports like football it's all about who's playing and who we're airing." Four live events does seem light, and while that's frustrating for the fans, there is nothing keeping Flowrestling.com, TheMat.TV or other broadcast entities from negotiating with the conference to air television rights. To date that really hasn't happened. "We don't own all the content rights," said Vest. "We are given an allotment, but what we can't air, or choose not to air, becomes available for other networks and online providers. It's a pretty open marketplace." The wrestling community enjoys being frustrated and complaining has become our favorite knee-jerk reaction to what we feel is an abuse of our loyalty, or unwritten agreement. However necessary it's become for us to create villains and keep ourselves motivated, the BTN doesn't seem to be the richest target. The network took an original gamble in providing content, and has since increased their coverage of the sport -- they aren't a non-profit or governmental organization. They're a business. No, they weren't able to carry as many live programs this year as they did last year, but if the product is good enough and the fans want to see it live, there is a market for other networks or online content providers. Why not heckle the other providers for not providing any content? "One thing that I will say is that when the wrestling community gets onto a topic we are sure to find out about it immediately. Wrestling has a loyal fan base and as network we respect that and try to make sure that we can give them as many viewing options as possible."

Fight Now USA Presents Takedown Wrestling from the Brute studios in Des Moines, Iowa at 1460 KXNO. Takedown Wrestling is brought to you by Kemin Agrifoods! Join Scott Casber, Chad Kriz and Brad Johnson with the Takedown Wrestling Headline News this Saturday from 9 to 11 a.m. CT/10 a.m. to 12 noon ET. This week's guests: 9:01 Jeff Murphy, Kemin Wrestling Report 9:15 Brad Johnson, Takedown Wrestling Headline News 9:20 Clar Anderson, Duke head wrestling coach 9:40 Mike Clayton, Stevens Institute head wrestling coach 9:50 Ty Barkley, Max Muscle Sports Nutrition Update (third anniversary and special guest Matt Hughes) 10:01 Joel Sharratt, Air Force head wrestling coach 10:20 Tom Borrelli, Central Michigan head wrestling coach 10:40 Tony Greathouse, MichiganGrappler.com owner & Grappler Fall Classic director Takedown Wrestling is available on radio on AM 1460 KXNO in Iowa, online at Livesportsvideo.com, or on your Blackberry or iPhone with the iHeart Radio app.

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NEW YORK -- Andrew F. Barth Head Coach of Wrestling Carl Fronhofer has added former NCAA All-American and Pac-10 champion Adam Hall an assistant wrestling coach. "We are excited to have Adam join the Columbia coaching staff," said Fronhofer, who enters his first year leading Columbia's wrestling program after three years as an assistant. "He was a tremendous athlete at Boise State and an excellent student as well, so I think he'd be a great fit as a coach in the Ivy League." Hall had an outstanding athletic career at Boise State from 2006-07 to 2010-11, posting a 122-18 career record (87.1 win percentage) and wrestling in some of the biggest bouts in Broncos history. His 122 career victories rank second in Boise State wrestling history. He won two Pac-10 titles in the 157-pound class and qualified for the NCAA National Championships all four years he competed. Hall also earned All-America honors as a redshirt junior in 2009-10. Hall's success in the classroom was just as impressive as his success on the mat. He was named the 2010-11 Pac-10 Wrestling Scholar-Athlete of the Year after maintaining a 3.50 GPA during his five years at Boise State. In May, Hall graduated with a bachelor's degree in health science and was selected as one of 29 NCAA male student-athletes to receive a 2010-11 winter sports postgraduate scholarship. Hall was also named to the 2010-11 Capital One Academic All-District At-Large Team, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America. He earned NWCA Division I All-Academic and Pac-10 All-Academic honors for three straight years (2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11). "He took his academics very seriously, as well as his athletics," Fronhofer said. "I think it will be an easy adjustment for him to coach Ivy League student-athletes." Competing at 157 pounds as a redshirt senior in 2010-11, Hall went 30-2 (93.8%), capturing his second Pac-10 Championship and finishing fifth at the NCAA National Championships. He defeated Arizona State's Bubba Jenkins in a triple-overtime slugfest to defend his Pac-10 title. Hall entered the NCAA National Championships at a perfect 25-0 and earned the top overall seed. He led the Broncos in overall wins (30), dual wins (12) and dual win percentage (12-0, 1.000). InterMat ranked Hall as the No. 5 wrestler in the nation in the 157-pound class. As redshirt junior in 2009-10, Hall posted a stellar 32-3 record (91.4%) while competing in the 157-pound class. He took third at the 2010 NCAA Championships and earned All-America status after going 5-1 in six bouts as the no. 2 overall seed. Hall also won his first Pac-10 Conference title in 2010, avenging a 2009 title match loss to Cal Poly's Chase Pami with a 5-1 decision. He ended the 2009-10 regular season ranked No. 3 in the nation by InterMat. Hall finished the year with a team-high 32 overall wins and 16 major decisions and tied for the lead in dual wins (16) and dual win percentage (16-0, 1.000). As a redshirt sophomore in 2008-09, Hall posted a dominant 35-6 record (85.4%). Hall compiled a 25-7 record during his 2007-08 redshirt freshman campaign when he competed in the 149-pound class. He redshirted during the 2006-07 season. Hall will also train full-time as he works toward earning a spot on the U.S. Olympic team for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. "We're really happy about that," Fronhofer said. "That brings a whole different level of intensity and commitment to the sport. I think the guys on the team are really excited as well and I know the staff is. He's going to be a great addition."

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- CSU Bakersfield head wrestling coach Mike Mendoza has announced the 2011-12 schedule. CSUB opens the 2011-12 campaign by hosting the Roadrunner Open on Saturday, Nov. 5. The all day affair is the first time since the early 1990s that CSUB will be hosting an in-season wrestling tournament in the Icardo Center. The Roadrunners will take part in the annual Blue-Gold Meet on Nov. 10 before heading to Palo Alto for a double dual against Menlo College and Pac-12 rival Stanford on Nov. 13. Cal Poly heads to Bakersfield on Nov. 18 for the first home conference dual. After a one week break for Thanksgiving, the Roadrunners travel to Las Vegas for the Dec. 2-3 Cliff Keen Invitational. Oregon State enters the Icardo Center for a Pac 12 dual Dec. 10. CSUB returns to tournament action Dec. 18 for the Reno Tournament of Champions and Dec. 29-30 for the Midlands Championships. CSU Bakersfield begins the new year with a Jan. 5 dual against American University. The dual will be held at Clovis North High School at 6:30 p.m. The following night, the Roadrunners play host to Boise State at 7 p.m. CSUB closes the home slate with duals Jan. 15 against Northern Colorado and Jan. 29 against Arizona State. The regular season concludes Feb. 3-4 at San Francisco State. Feb. 3 sees the Roadrunners face the Gators in a dual followed by the California Collegiate Open on Feb. 4. The Pac 12 Championships will be held at Boise State on Feb. 26. The NCAA Division I Championships will be held Mar. 15-17 at the Scotttrade Center in St. Louis, Mo. "The coaching staff is excited for this season," Mendoza said. "We will have a lot of new faces in the lineup this season. Our schedule will be competitive and challenging as we face four teams in American (5th), Boise State (7th), Arizona State (10th), and Stanford (11th) that finished in the top 12 at the NCAA's last year. We are glad to be hosting six of those competitions in the Icardo Center." 2011-12 CSU BAKERSFIELD WRESTLING SCHEDULE DAY DATE OPPONENT LOCATION TIME Saturday Nov. 5 Roadrunner Open Icardo Center 9 a.m. Thursday Nov. 10 Blue-Gold Meet Icardo Center 7 p.m. Sunday Nov. 13 Menlo College Palo Alto, Calif. 12 p.m. Sunday Nov. 13 at Stanford* Palo Alto, Calif. 2 p.m. Friday Nov. 18 Cal Poly* Icardo Center 7 p.m. Friday-SaturdayDec. 2-3 at Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational Las Vegas, Nev. All Day Saturday Dec. 10 Oregon State* Icardo Center 5 p.m. Sunday Dec. 18 at Reno Tournament of Champions Reno, Nev. All Day Thursday-FridayDec. 29-30 at Midlands Championships Evanston, Ill. All Day Thursday Jan. 5 American Clovis North HS, Fresno, Calif. 6:30 p.m. Friday Jan. 6 Boise State* Icardo Center 7 p.m. Sunday Jan. 15 Northern Colorado Icardo Center 1 p.m. Sunday Jan. 29 Arizona State* Icardo Center 2 p.m. Friday Feb. 3 at San Francisco State San Francisco, Calif. 1 p.m. Saturday Feb. 4 at California Collegiate Open San Francisco, Calif., SF St., host All Day Sunday Feb. 26 at Pac 12 Championships Boise, Idaho All Day Thursday-Saturday ar. 15-17 at NCAA Division I Championships Scottrade Center - St. Louis, Mo. All Day

With the high school wrestling season's start fast approaching, InterMat will be taking fans across the United States of America on a tour of scholastic wrestling. From now until the middle of November, InterMat will introduce fans to the top high school senior wrestlers in the 49 states with scholastic wrestling. From Alaska to Florida, and Maine to California, fans will gain exposure to future college and senior level stars. The Class of 2012 is arguably the best to ever come out of Indiana. There are 13 wrestlers that are in position to become four-time state qualifiers, which is unheard of in a state with no wrestlebacks and only one division. Five of the wrestlers already own at least one state title, with six others that have wrestled under the lights at Conseco Fieldhouse. This year's senior class is so deep that two wrestlers who have finished in the top four twice are left out of Indiana's Top 10. 1. Jason Tsirtsis (Crown Point) Projected 2011-2012 High School Weight Class: 145 Projected College Weight Class: 141 Jason Tsirtsis (Photo/IndianaMat.com)Analysis: Indiana has been blessed over the past 10 years with some extremely talented wrestlers and Jason Tsirtsis is right in line to follow the likes of Angel Escobedo, Andrew Howe, Reece Humphrey and his older brother Alex Tsirtsis. While travelling all across the country, Tsirtsis has competed with and beat some of the best wrestlers in the nation over the past four years. He has notable wins over collegiate freshmen and sophomores wrestling in the FILA Junior age division and beaten many of the top wrestlers in the country while wrestling Cadet, Junior and FILA Junior age divisions. On top of his unquestioned wrestling skills he also gets it done in the classroom and is currently being courted by the likes of Northwestern, Oklahoma State, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Word is he is leaning towards staying close to home at Northwestern, but do not count out any of the others schools. Career Highlights: Career Record: 129-2 2011 state champion (140) 2010 state champion (130) 2009 state champion (125) 2011 FloNationals champion (135) 2011 Junior National freestyle champion (145) 2010 Super 32 Challenge runner-up (140) 2010 FloNationals champion (130) 2010 FILA Cadet National freestyle champion (63 kilos) 2010 Junior National freestyle third-place finisher (135) 2009 Super 32 Challenge runner-up (130) 2009 Cadet National freestyle runner-up (130) 2009 FILA Cadet National freestyle champion (58 kilos) 2008 Cadet National freestyle fourth-place finisher (119) 2. Kyle Ayersman (Lake Central) Projected 2011-2012 High School Weight Class: 126 Projected College Weight Class: 125 Analysis: Kyle Ayersman is looking to step into elite company with his third state title this year. In winning his first two titles, he had to work overtime, first defeating Paul Beck in overtime 2-0 as a sophomore and last year defeating Brenden Campbell in a wild 10-8 overtime match. Ayersman showed true heart and grit in the finals last year getting two takedowns with less than 15 seconds left in the match to tie the score. Ayersman has recently verbally committed to wrestle for the Purdue Boilermakers next year. Career Highlights: Career Record: 141-2 2011 state champion (119) 2010 state champion (112) 2009 state third-place finisher (103) 3. Mason Todd (Pendleton Heights) Projected 2011-2012 High School Weight Class: 120 Projected College Weight Class: 125 Mason Todd (Photo/IndianaMat.com)Analysis: Mason Todd could probably get the most improved wrestler award for this group as he has steadily improved each year and still has a lot of room to get better. After a fifth-place finish as a sophomore Todd wasn't much into the state title talk with the likes of Cody Phillips, Paul Petrov and Jarred Brooks in the same weight, but he proved many of the doubters wrong last year. He dealt Phillips his first high school loss at semi-state and then navigated the same tough field to capture a state title the next week. Career Highlights: Career Record: 117-8 2011 state champion (112) 2010 state fifth-place finisher (112) 2009 state qualifier (103) 2009 Cadet National freestyle seventh-place finisher (105) 4. Cody Phillips (Union County) Projected 2011-2012 High School Weight Class: 126 Projected College Weight Class: 125 Analysis: You know the Class of 2012 is loaded when a wrestler with two state titles and only two career losses is ranked fourth. Cody Phillips was undefeated his first two years at 103, but lost twice last year and finished third in the state. Phillips, dubbed "Pocket Hercules," is small in stature, but an absolute beast on the mat. He placed at Fargo in 2007 and after his second state title finished runner-up at FloNationals in his only national events. He has been ranked as high as No. 1 by many national ranking services, but fell after last year's finish at state. He has recently taken a visit to Minnesota and will also be visiting Purdue in the near future. Career Highlights: Career Record: 135-2 2011 state third-place finisher (112) 2010 state champion (103) 2009 state champion (103) 2010 103 FloNationals runner-up (103) 2007 Cadet National freestyle seventh-place finisher (84) 5. Brenden Campbell (New Castle) Projected 2011-2012 High School Weight Class: 120 Projected College Weight Class: 125 Brenden Campbell (Photo/IndianaMat.com)Analysis: The mark Brenden Campbell leaves on the state after this year will be either: one of the best wrestlers to only win one state title or one of the best to never win a state title. Campbell was ranked No. 1 all throughout his freshman season, but had to bail out of the state series after suffering appendicitis after regionals. He went on to place at Fargo that summer and has solidified himself as one of the top wrestlers in the state after placing third and runner-up the past two years. Career Highlights: Career Record: 151-3 State Appearances: 9th-X, 10th-third, 11th-runner-up 2011 state runner-up (119) 2010 state third-place finisher (112) 2009 Cadet National freestyle eighth-place finisher (112) 6. Jared McKinley (Perry Meridian) Projected 2011-2012 High School Weight Class: 132 Projected College Weight Class: 133 Jared McKinley (Photo/IndianaMat.com)Analysis: Jared McKinley is another wrestler who has steadily improved throughout his career going from being a qualifier, to fourth place to state champion this past season. He had one of the sickest headlocks in the state finals this year pinning his opponent just before the first period ended. McKinley had a great summer coming just short of placing at Fargo in Greco-Roman, but battling to a fifth-place finish in freestyle. His physical style of wrestling will translate well into college. Career Highlights: Career Record: 155-6 2011 state champion (125) 2010 state fourth-place finisher (112) 2009 state qualifier (103) 2011 Junior National freestyle fifth-place finisher (130) 7. Devon Jackson (Yorktown) Projected 2011-2012 High School Weight Class: 138 Projected College Weight Class: 141 Devon Jackson (Photo/IndianaMat.com)Analysis: As with Campbell, Devon Jackson could also be labeled as one of the best to win only one state title or one of the best to never win a state title. Jackson has finished second the past two years to nationally ranked Jason Tsirtsis and Ethan Raley. Tsirtsis needed overtime to defeat him as a sophomore and lost a tough 5-3 decision to Raley last year. Along with his in-state success Jackson has also placed twice at FloNationals including a third-place finish this past year. He avenged his only loss of the tournament in the third-place bout. Career Highlights: Career Record: 142-7 2011 state runner-up (135) 2010 state runner-up (130) 2009 state qualifier (112) 2011 FloNationals third-place finisher (130) 2010 FloNationals eighth-place finisher (130) 8. Jarred Brooks (Warsaw) Projected 2011-2012 High School Weight Class: 113 Projected College Weight Class: 125 Jarred Brooks (Photo/IndianaMat.com)Analysis: It is extremely rare that a Junior National freestyle runner-up will be placed in the eighth spot in these rankings, but with the talent pool so deep this year there was no choice. Jarred Brooks has been successful at every level of wrestling and last year was more or less his coming out party. He finished second in the state to longtime rival Mason Todd, second at the FILA Junior World Team Trials to Nicky Roberts of Pennsylvania and then second at Fargo to Nathan Tomasello of Ohio in a tough three period battle. Being the competitor that he is Brooks is none too happy with all of those red ribbons and will be looking to take home quite a few blue ones this season. Career Highlights: Career Record: 104-6 2011 state runner-up (112) 2010 state fifth-place finisher (103) 2011 FILA Junior World Team Trials runner-up (50 kilos) 2011 Junior National freestyle runner-up (112) 2011 FloNationals fourth-place finisher (112) 9. Connor Mullins (New Castle) Projected 2011-2012 High School Weight Class: 152 Projected College Weight Class: 157 Analysis: Going up in weight and keeping the same success level is never an easy task, but Connor Mullins has made it look easy. The second New Castle Trojan to be in the Top 10, he is looking to cap his career off with a state title after a runner-up finish this past season. Mullins has had an outstanding career while going up 40 since his freshman season. This past year he wrestled near his natural weight and placed the highest of his career. Look for him to stay near this weight for the 2012 season. Career Highlights: Career Record: 162-8 2011 state runner-up (152) 2010 state third-place finisher (130) 2009 state fifth-place finisher (112) 10. Tyler Willis (Indianapolis Cathedral) Projected 2011-2012 High School Weight Class: 170 Projected College Weight Class: 174 Analysis: Tyler Willis is another one of the wrestlers that was hard to rank due to him being at 160 his whole career. Nine of his 13 losses came as an undersized freshman wrestling many juniors and seniors. He has placed in the top three the past two years and is one that will be a heavy favorite for a state title this year. Along with his wrestling accolades he is a starter on the Fighting Irish football team that is one of the best in the state and nation. Career Highlights: Career Record: 129-13 2011 state third-place finisher (160) 2010 state runner-up (160) 2009 state seventh-place finisher (160) Honorable Mention Paul Petrov (Hanover Central) Career Record: 131-12 State Appearances: 9th-X, 10th-runner-up, 11th-fourth Tanner Lynde (Delphi) Career Record: 133-13 State Appearances: 9th-Q, 10th-fifth, 11th-third Kirk Johnson (Perry Meridian) Career Record: 136-18 State Appearances: 9th-X, 10th-fourth, 11th-fourth Brian Harvey (Indianapolis Cathedral) Career Record: 129-18 State Appearances: 9th-sixth, 10th-sixth, 11th-fifth Anthony Quiroz (Chesterton) Career Record: 101-19 State Appearances: 9th-runner-up, 10th-Q, 11th-fifth Quincey Richey (Brown County) Career Record: 102-9 State Appearances: 9th-eighth, 10th-Q, 11th-fifth Blake Rueger (Evansville Reitz) Career Record: 131-15 State Appearances: 9th-Q, 10th-eighth, 11th-fifth

The St. Cloud State University wrestling program will salute the accomplishments of John Sundgren on Saturday, Oct. 1 at 2 p.m. with a special "wall ceremony" in the SCSU Wrestling Room, which is located inside the Halenbeck Hall Fieldhouse. Sundgren won the 157-pound NCAA Division II national championship in 2011 and his national championship banner will be unveiled during the ceremony and will forever be immortalized on the wall of the wrestling room to inspire future champions at SCSU. Fans will also have the opportunity to watch a brief highlight video of Sundgren's run to a national title as well as getting his take on his storybook career with the Huskies. Following the ceremony, all are encouraged to stay for the Husky football game as they take on Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference rival Northern State University at 4 p.m. Concluding the first quarter of play, the 2011 NCAA National Runner-Up Huskies will be introduced. Prior to the game and after the Sundgren ceremony in the wrestling room, the country band DIAMONDBACK will be playing and food vendors such as Famous Dave's will be catering for your appetite outside of Husky Stadium. The“Wall Ceremony” is free and open to the public. Tickets for the football game against Northern State can be purchased at the gate or you can call 1-877-SCSUTIX or 320-308-2137 for more ticket information. So, come out and enjoy the Husky celebration and CELEBRATE! St. Cloud State University on Oct. 1. For complete information on the Sundgren ceremony, please call the wrestling office at 320-308-3159 or e-mail sscostanzo@stcloudstate.edu

Nik Fekete

What comes to mind when you think of adversity? Is it a loss of something or someone important to you? Is it an injury that interferes with your dream of being a champion? Is it when fatigue sets in during a grueling workout? Or maybe adversity comes through common effects of life. It may be an abundance of small daily problems that weigh heavy. How ever you describe adversity, it's usually something you would not have chosen, and it presents a challenge. Adversity allows you to know yourself at the heart. You find out more about you during hardships than any other time. Tough moments truly define our substance and might. The big moments are easy when we're on top. Society gives us big smiles and abundant applause. But not so when we're in deep waters and struggling to stay afloat; these times reveal a lot. What is it that allows some to defy logic or science and come back from being gunned down by circumstances that wipe most others out? How about those who survived and thrived in prison camps, torture, starvation, hours stranded at sea clinging to nothing but a small board, days stranded in the wilderness in freezing conditions, no food, and not knowing if they will survive; this has to be one of the most humbling experiences a human will ever face-will I live or will I die? In many cases we have a lot of influence over the answer. We all have had or will have adversity. We all have experiences that detach us from our dreams and wound us physically and emotionally; it's called life. Complicated days will make their appearance. Unexpected blows will knock us off our feet. We all have pages of desolation in our story. We're not alone, unique, or an exception. Outside forces may have caused our unexpected difficulty. It's unfortunate but common. We shout "It's not fair!" Forget about fairness. We think life should be fair, "it's not." Where did we learn this erroneous message? We may fall into self pity and curse the world. I warn against using adversity as an excuse not to act. We have all bathed in self-pity and can relate; consequently, it's a bath of filthy water; we feel the likes of physical and emotionally poverty. There is an acceptable period of time to contemplate. However, we can't afford to mull-over too long. There is a lot on the line, and we must persevere. Our survival may depend on us postponing our heartache for a later time or not at all. Your whole life up to this point has been preparation for this trail and moment; how will you grip it? You can handle whatever yarn is spun. It won't be easy or pain free. It's tough to persevere under stormy conditions you would never have chosen. The weight of physical and emotional pain can be brutal. However, misfortune can fortify and meet you head-on in ways and areas that only trouble can. You can build off of unfortunate circumstances. You can still advance. Are certain humans born with special resolution and moxie that allows them to endure misfortune? I don't know that answer, but I do know the world of full of people that not only survive, but excel and exceed what we would expect. How have you handled adversity in the past? How will you handle adversity the next time it slaps you in the face? The solution for adversity cannot be bought, charged, muscled, or tweeted. No, the solution is found in your thinking. You can mine for opportunities and find out what resources you can muster in this process of discovery. Inside of you is a reservoir of courage and strength that activates when called-upon. Humans have immersed themselves in this reservoir of influence since the beginning of time. This potent inner strength is obtainable when you call on it. Do we need people to help us through adversity? YES! Do many of us pray and believe in a god that will supply us with strength? YES! But it's our decision that will determine whether we move forward or not; no one can make this decision for us. Based on how we handle harsh conditions, one never knows what gifts can come from adversity. The blessings may take years to bloom. Or we may just get an experience that can be used to help another. Honest reflection tells us there is a growing society in the world. It is a society of those whose present success has been built on the wreckage of past failures and adversities. Know that ... Humans are made to come through Adversity is a fact of life that we have face Destitution can further you more than accomplishment and ease ever could You often have to outdo heart breaking struggle before attainment and happiness Adversity can be a turning point for you

With the high school wrestling season's start fast approaching, InterMat will be taking fans across the United States of America on a tour of scholastic wrestling. From now until the middle of November, InterMat will introduce fans to the top high school senior wrestlers in the 49 states with scholastic wrestling. From Alaska to Florida, and Maine to California, fans will gain exposure to future college and senior level stars. While the state of Nebraska does not annually produce large numbers of wrestlers that move on to the Division I ranks, every year there are a handful of standouts that could compete with the best in the country. Recent Division I success by homegrown University of Nebraska standouts such as Brandon Browne and Craig Brester (both now coaching at UNL) validates that there are true diamonds in the rough to be found at all corners of the state on a yearly basis. Last year's top prospect from the Cornhusker State, Nebraska commit Austin Wilson of Hastings St. Cecilia, finished runner-up at the NSHCA Senior Nationals. Two true freshmen from small schools that graduated in 2010 -- Shawn Nagel of Kimball and Nate Morgan of McCook -- ended up being starters for Nebraska and Penn State respectively. 2010 graduate Wil Brown of Chadron wrestles for Army. 2011 State champion Nyle Bartling of Syracuse is now competing for Tom Ryan at Ohio State. Another 2011 graduate, Logan Molina, is wrestling for Kevin Jackson at Iowa State. The Class of 2012 is led by Skutt Catholic standout Thomas Gilman, the best collegiate prospect from Nebraska since former Skutt standout Todd Meneely graduated nearly 10 years ago. 1. Thomas Gilman (Skutt Catholic) Projected 2011-12 High School Weight Class: 126/132 Projected College Weight Class: 125/133 Thomas Gilman (Photo/Dave Jedlicka, jedicheetah.com)Analysis: The nation's No. 5 overall recruit according to InterMat is a two-time Fargo freestyle champion, winning a Cadet National title in 2010 and a Junior National title over the summer. Gilman also won a FILA Cadet National title last spring and went 1-1 at the FILA World Championships in Hungary. A total student of the game, he has the intensity, focus and drive to be a future NCAA champion for whatever school he attends. It appears Nebraska and Oklahoma State have jumped in the lead for Gilman's services, but don't count Iowa out just yet. Gilman has two Fargo victories over current Iowa verbal Cory Clark. 2. Andy Janovich (Gretna) Projected 2011-12 High School Weight Class: 195 Projected College Weight Class: 197 or football Analysis: Returning state champion Janovich might be the best overall athlete in the state of Nebraska in 2011. He is a standout football player, but college wrestling coaches should be drooling over the possibility of a prospect that is a physical freak and has all the intangibles to be a star at the next level. He has not wrestled much nationally, but did beat graduated PIAA AAA runner-up and Harvard commit Josh Popple over the summer at the Disney Duals. He lost one very controversial match at the Disney Duals to St. Eds standout James Suvak. Nebraska is looking closely at Janovich, who is a complete physical specimen and has the potential to be the next Craig Brester. His work ethic and leadership skills might be better than his physical gifts. 3. Mike Shoff (Cambridge) Projected 2011-12 High School Weight Class: 285 Projected College Weight Class: 285 or Football Mike ShoffAnalysis: Although it is highly likely the two-time state champion Shoff ends up playing football at the next level, there is no doubt he could be a top flight national wrestling recruit if he chose that path. Only a narrow state finals defeat his freshman season has kept him from an unbeaten career. There's little doubt in my mind that Shoff could go toe to toe with any heavyweight wrestler in the country. The tenacious Shoff stands 6' 6" and is a full 285 pounds with great feet and agility and has a bench press of nearly 450 pounds. He already has a football scholarship offer from Iowa with Nebraska very close to offering. His father is principal at Cambridge. 4. Connor Bolling (Central City) Projected 2011-12 High School Weight Class: 121 or 126 Projected College Weight Class: 125/133 Analysis: Bolling is a two-time state champion from Central City, the team that knocked reigning king Omaha Skutt from the throne in last year's Nebraska state tournament. Bolling has great athleticism and tenacity with plenty of potential for improvement. His lone career loss in high school came in last year's state semifinals to Gilman, 12-5. He has had great success in the offseason at events like the Disney Duals, Fall Brawl and USA Wrestling tournaments. He has been receiving interest from Iowa State and Nebraska, among others. Honorable Mention Andrew Riedy Grand Island) Projected 2011-12 High School Weight Class: 132 Projected College Weight Class: 133/141 Analysis: Riedy should be one of three wrestlers in this class to become an elite four-time state champion. He is drawing recruiting interest from Nebraska, among other schools. Tyler Nation (Scottsbluff) Projected 2011-12 High School Weight Class: 138 Projected College Weight Class: 141/149 Analysis: Nation has been asked to walk on at Nebraska, but will likely look at other options as well. A strong showing at the Walsh Ironman in December could vault his stock in the eyes of college recruiters. Zack Denney (North Platte) Projected 2011-12 High School Weight Class: 138/145 Projected College Weight Class: 149 Analysis: Denney had a great junior season that included a solid victory over Tyler Nation and a narrow state semifinal loss to Omaha North's JaVaughn Perkins. Originally from Iowa, his coach is Dale Hall, the brother of U.S. Greco-Roman great Dennis Hall. Eric Coufal (Howells) Projected 2011-12 High School Weight Class: 121 Projected College Weight Class: 125 Analysis: Coufal comes from the same school that produced former Husker standouts Brad Vering and Craig Brester. He is a raw wrestler who could be a gem at the next level. He projects as a career 125-pounder in college. Carlos Rodriguez (Grand Island) Projected 2011-12 High School Weight Class: 145 Projected College Weight Class: 149 Analysis: The two-time defending state champion Rodriguez could well be the best wrestler on a loaded Grand Island squad, projected to be the top team ever assembled in Nebraska. He is an excellent scrambler with a ton of upside and great tenacity. Aaron Studebaker (Raymond Central) Projected 2011-12 High School Weight Class: 170/182 Projected College Weight Class: 174/184 Analysis: Studebaker is one of the top upperweights in Nebraska and is great from all positions. Brother Ethan was a former University of Nebraska wrestler. Jed Fenske (Sargent/Burwell) Projected 2011-12 High School Weight Class: 152/160 Projected College Weight Class: 157 Analysis: Fenske was the best 145-pounder in the state of Nebraska last year. He is powerfully built and a great athlete. He capped off an unbeaten season by tearing through the Class C state tournament. Fenske lost in the 2010 state semifinals, 4-2, to the now-graduated Austin Wilson.

UFC 135: Jones vs. Rampage Pepsi Center; Denver, Colorado September 24, 2011 Eighteen years ago The UFC was launched in Denver as an eight-man tournament of various mixed martial arts disciplines, with the winnerneeding to survive three fights in an evening to be crowned champion. I was fortunate to be watching the event live at the time. I soon became addicted to this old, but “new” sport of mixed martial arts. The smallest of the entrants, Brazilian Royce Gracie, wearing a white gi with belt attached, rolled through the tournament with his chokehold submissions that forced his opponents to “tap out”. Brazilian jui-jitsu was soon king, and young boys in impoverished countries took to the mats indroves to learn such techniques of self-defense. Soon athletes were cross-training, adding multiple fight disciplines to their resumes. One-dimensional fighters soon became a dying breed in the UFC. But, we learned that those with wrestling backgrounds were by far the better fighters. Whether it was the ability to control your opponent's body on the mat, or to use wrestling as a defensive tactic to avoid take-downs, those with a wrestling pedigree rose quickly to the top of the food chain. And, now the sport has exploded, and is the fastest growing sport out there. Everybody wants to be a fighter. Wrestling provides the foundation. Now the challenge for amateur wrestling is to find a way to keep their better athletes wrestling, when the BIG BUCKS are there for the taking in mixed martial arts! Many of wrestling's elite, have left that sport to become MMA fighters, like it or not, while amateur wrestling struggles to survive and cultivate a growing fan base. That's the challenge ahead........Intermat is here to bridge that gap and cultivate that relationship. The UFC Monster was born with the mission of winning money wagering on such events. For those who followed my picks for UFC 134, you would have won almost $300 ($292) from my selections! And, tonight's card has even more opportunities than that, as I find the card to be full of barking ‘dogs with outstanding ROI (return on investment) potential. Never have I played more underdogs on a UFC card than I am tonight!.......I feel like I'm watching a ‘dog show, not a fight event............wha.wha. So, let's take a look at tonight's action-packed 10-fight card, and try to make some money doing it. This is where the fun starts........ The main event is the light-heavyweight (205 lbs) title fight (5 rounds) featuring 24-year-old champion Jonny “Bones” Jones (13-1 with 8 KOs) battling the legendary Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (32-8), a trash-talking street slugger you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley. Rampage is strong with a rock hard head and lead in his fists. His experience has put him in many wars, and if he can avoid the KO from Jones, he could survive in the later rounds where Jones has never been. The public is pounding Bones Jones, and they should, but I have to take the value on the howling ‘dog at +400 now. Rampage pulls the upset with a stunning ground-and-pound victory in the fourth period. I mean, seriously, is Bones Jones going to win all of his fights?.............I think not. Is Rampage in his head? I hope so. I never bet on welterweight Matt Hughes (45-8, with 11 years of fighting)anymore, as he no longer dominates his division like he used to. He struggles to even win these days. But, he still has HOF credentials, and only takes those fights he expects to win. And, he expects to win here against the brash former wrestling AA, Josh Koscheck (15-5). Both are great wrestlers, but Kos likes to stand and bang instead. That has been his downfall (see GSP and Paulo Thiago for details). Hughes' striking has improved (ask Renzo Gracie about it...). And, nobody is going to dominate him on the mat. Therefore, I give the former champ a chance to survive the three-round onslaught, and out-work Koscheck to gain a narrow decision. Fighting is also a cerebral game, and Hughes has a big edge there. I'm betting on Hughes at an amazing +400 and I'm going for “Hughes by decision” at 6:1 odds! Koscheck was a late replacement for the injured Diego Sanchez, so that helps as well.......Mistakes cost Koscheck here. The beauty of betting big ‘dogs (anything over +200) is that you can win just one-out-of-three and still show a profit. Do the math. It works........So,let's try another: Heavyweight slugger, Mark Hunt (6-7, yes a losing record), takes on veteran Ben Rothwell (31-7), another heavyweight who likes to stand toe-to-toe and trade punches. Rothwell looked terrible in getting dominated and TKO'd by current champion, Cain Velasquez. And, Hunt is no Velasquez. But he does have a puncher's chance to land his powerful KO. And, at +275, I'll take my chances. Hunt cashes big with a second round “lights out” KO. While I laugh my way to the bank. If I hit just one of the above three fights, I'm ahead............so, let's move on. I love the punk Diaz brothers, Nick and Nate. Always have, always will. I guess I am intrigued how these non-athletic looking fighters are so good? They punch and paw at their opponents like girl's would fight. They frustrate and taunt and talk trash throughout their fights. And, their biggest weapon is often their middle finger. And, yet they win and win and win........It's younger bro' Nate's turn tonight. He has a 6” reach advantage that he will use well, as he puts his 13-7 record on the line against Japanese legend Takonori Gomi (32-7), a striker with a bit of ground game. Gomi was good enough to KO Tyson Griffin! But, he will get submitted here with that lanky triangle choke hold that makes Nate famous. Take Nate Diaz to cash tonight at -250, while his older brother waits to fight BJ Penn in a month. Undefeated heavyweight Travis Browne (11-0-1 with 9 KOs) should have little problem with Rob “The Bear” Broughton (15-5). Browne is the better striker and wrestler, and that's all it takes to control where this fight takes place. And, it takes place in my living room tonight. I will make a healthy play on Browne at -340, the nearest thing to a “bridge jump” for me tonight. A first round KO makes this one look easy. Shoulda bet more? Now let's take a quick look at tonight's undercard. The next two fights can be seen for FREE on Spike TV. The other three are available on the UFC's Facebook page. But the UFC Monster doesn't do Facebook. I'm old school. I love lightweight Aaron Riley (30-12-1) because he is old school, too, and always brings it. He is an aggressive striker who gives you your money's worth of effort. But he is a pure journeyman in the UFC, going nowhere, but still having a name to add to your resume. This is what TUF winner Tony Ferguson (11-2) is being fed here tonight, a stepping stone to a budding career. I would love to make the case for Riley's experience, but Ferguson's wrestling keeps me away from that. I'll make a small play on Ferguson at -350. Ferguson by decision. Good luck to Riley. When Tim Boetsch (13-4) dropped from a small light-heavyweight to a big middleweight, his punching power came with him. Nick Ring (12-0) presents a formidable opponent, but I like Boetch's deeper Octagon experience here, and slightly better wrestling skills to control the clinches and eke out a close decision win. Lay the -150 on Boetsch. Another unbeaten fighter bites the dust! Bantamweight Cole Escovedo (17-7) has had a few shots in the UFC, but he never seems to survive long enough to stick. Maybe tonight, huh, as a +160 ‘dog?.........Yes, I think so. Cole's ground game should be good enough to avoid submissions from his opponent, Takeya Mizugaki (14-6-2). A determined effort will be good enough to land me more money than I risk. I like getting +160 on a desperate fighter, trying to survive. Escovedo by submission. Light-heavyweight Ricardo Romero (11-2) is another underdog I like. He had won six straight before losing to Kyle Kingsbury at UFC 126, and is the better wrestler here. I think he wins by second round submission tonight against James Te Huna (12 5). I'll gladly accept the +130 odds to win. And, Eddie “The Filipino Phenom” Yagin (15-4-1) opened as a slight ‘dog to veteran Junior Assuncao (12-4), but the public has pounded him, making him now the -140 favorite! Why?.........Maybe because he (and Joe Warren) are the only fighters to ever beat the awesome Joe Soto? Maybe. And he beat him just a few months ago!.......I'll ride the momentum of that one, and will give Yagin a second round KO here. Lay the juice. So, that's it. Let's see if our money management skills can match our bold predictions: Let's lay $100 to win $400 on Rampage breaking Bones to shock the world. Let's lay $100 to win $400 on HOF'er Matt Hughes to humble Kos. Let's lay $100 to win $275 on wildman Mark Hunt to score a stunning KO. Let's lay $150 to win $ 60 on the younger Diaz brother, Nate. It's sub time. Let's lay $170 to win $ 50 on a Travis Browne “bridge jump”. 1st round KO. Let's lay $ 70 to win $ 20 on Tony Ferguson. No value, but should win. Let's lay $105 to win $ 70 on Tim Boetsch's better all around game. Let's lay $ 60 to win $ 96 on Cole Escovedo's return to the Octagon. Let's lay $ 60 to win $ 78 on Ricardo Romero by submission. Let's lay $ 84 to win $ 60 on Eddie Yagin to dominate with TKO. In all, we are risking $999 to win a whopping $1509. Let's git ‘er done!!! And, don't forget to give some of your profits to your local youth wrestling program, where tomorrow's champions are born! Enjoy the fights. I know I will.

DeKALB – Northern Illinois wrestling head coach Ryan Ludwig Thursday announced the addition of Ryan Tomei as a volunteer assistant coach. Tomei, who spent the last five seasons wrestling at national power Pittsburgh, will serve as a coach for the heavyweights on NIU's roster. “I am really pleased to announce the addition of Ryan to the Northern Illinois staff,” Ludwig said. “Along with a wealth of wrestling knowledge, he brings a passion for the sport that we thrive on here at Northern. He is still competing on the international level and brings great intensity into our wrestling room.” Tomei completed an illustrious career with the Panthers in 2011 with a record of 110-34 and 40 pins, which ranks second in Pitt wrestling history. A two-time NCAA qualifier, he also won the Eastern Wrestling League title in the heavyweight class during his junior and senior seasons, while also being named the EWL's Most Outstanding Wrestler both seasons. He also helped Pitt win their first-ever EWL regular season championship in 2010 and their first tournament championship in 2011. Additionally, Tomei won five regular season tournaments, while finishing fourth at the prestigious Midlands Championships as a senior. He was also a two-time Academic All-American and a four-time EWL All-Academic Team selection. For his accomplishments at Pitt, Tomei was named the male recipient of Pittsburgh's Blue-Gold Award, which is annually given to a senior who excels in athletics, academics and community service. Past winners of the award include Mike Ditka and Dan Marino. “I'm excited to help this program,” Tomei said. “We want to get some of these guys to nationals and get the team into an upward spin when it comes to getting better wins as a team.” A native of Irwin, Pa., he earned his bachelor's degree in clinical dietetics and nutrition. In high school, he went 79-11 and was named to the all-state team twice at Penn-Trafford High School despite only wrestling for two years.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- Seven home dates, highlighted by a visit from the defending national champions and the 100th meeting of Eastern Wrestling's greatest rivalry highlight the 2011-12 Lehigh wrestling schedule announced Thursday by head coach Pat Santoro. The Mountain Hawks will wrestle eight home dual meets in a schedule that includes three of the top six and five of the top 20 finishers from last year's NCAA Championships. “We have a really nice balance to our schedule,” Santoro said. “There will be some really tough competitions for our team. It will be a good measuring stick for us as we progress throughout the season. We'll have to rely on our senior leadership while we work with the talented young guys coming up. Santoro continued, “With the new National Duals format we had to change our schedule around a bit. What is nice is that we've picked up a Big 12 team and another Big Ten team in Oklahoma and Illinois, two very tough programs who we haven't wrestled in a while, so I'm excited about having then on our schedule. In the east, Penn State and Cornell will be very challenging, plus we're going back to the Midlands which is obviously a very challenging tournament.” The 103rd season of Lehigh wrestling begins with the annual wrestle-offs, scheduled for Thursday, October 27 inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. In a new twist, the Mountain Hawks will not open their season with a dual meet, but will instead send a full squad of regulars to the UB Open in Buffalo, N.Y. on Sunday, November 6. “We're going to take 20-25 guys,” Santoro explained. “I've wanted to go up to Buffalo for years. There's a big debate with tournaments versus dual meets and we've seen teams enjoy success doing both. This year we only have one tournament setting where we do multiple matches in a weekend, but this will give us multiple matches in a day to give us a feel of where we stand.” Lehigh's first dual meet will be on Saturday, November 12 when Santoro's alma mater Pittsburgh visits Leeman-Turner Arena. The Mountain Hawks' first three duals will be at home as the following weekend, Lehigh will host a tri-meet with Illinois and Clarion at Leeman-Turner Arena on November 20. Illinois will be making its first visit to Bethlehem since 1934, while Clarion will visit Bethlehem for the first time since 1997. Both teams feature former All-Americans from Lehigh's class of 2006 on their coaching staffs as Cory Cooperman was recently named a volunteer assistant at Illinois and Troy Letters was named the top assistant at Clarion. For the fifth straight year, Lehigh will spend Thanksgiving weekend at the Journeymen Northeast Duals in Troy, N.Y. This year the Mountain Hawks will wrestle three duals in New York's Capital Region, squaring off against NCAA sixth place finisher Arizona State plus Big Ten member Purdue and ACC foe North Carolina. The Mountain Hawks will wrestle their first true road dual and get their first look at an EIWA opponent on Sunday, December 4 when Lehigh meets Penn at the famed Palestra. On Friday December 9, defending national champion Penn State visits Stabler Arena for the 100th dual meet between the longtime in-state rivals. If the Nittany Lions can maintain a No. 1 ranking coming into the early December showdown, Lehigh will look to knock off a top-ranked team at Stabler for the second straight year. The Mountain Hawks upended then-No. 1 Cornell 17-15 last January for Lehigh's first-ever win against a No. 1 ranked team. “Lehigh-Penn State is always a great event,” Santoro said. “Whether it's here or there there's always an outstanding crowd. I have a lot of respect for the Penn State program. They're the defending National Champions so it should be a fun atmosphere at Stabler Arena, so we're looking forward to that.” The Penn State matchup will serve as the final dual before breaking for final exams and the holidays. Lehigh will return to action at the prestigious Midlands Championships, December 29-30 in Evanston, Ill. Lehigh will ring in 2012 on the road on January 8 when the Mountain Hawks square off against EIWA rival Cornell in Ithaca, N.Y. The Mountain Hawks knocked the Big Red off their No. 1 perch last January but Cornell rebounded to win its fifth straight EIWA team title and place second to Penn State at NCAAs. After the Cornell showdown, Lehigh will return home for three duals. Navy visits Leeman Turner Arena on Saturday, January 14 as the Mountain Hawks will look to exact payback from last year's upset loss in Annapolis. The Mountain Hawks will double up the following weekend, facing Rutgers on Friday January 20 at Stabler Arena and Bucknell the following afternoon inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. Lehigh will log some serious travel miles the following weekend with a pair of duals against top-20 finishers from last year's NCAA Championships. The trip begins on Friday January 27 in Mount Pleasant, Michigan against Central Michigan. From there it is on to Oklahoma to face the Sooners on January 29. The Mountain Hawks will close out the dual season against three Ivy League foes. Lehigh heads to New England to face Brown on February 11 and Harvard February 12. The regular season concludes February 18 when the Mountain Hawks host Princeton inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. Princeton will host the 108th EIWA Championships at Jadwin Gym on March 3 and 4, while the NCAA Championships will be in St. Louis at Scottrade Center March 15-17. The Mountain Hawks return most of their key contributors from last year's team which placed eighth at the NCAA Championships. Included in the group of key returnees are All-Americans Brandon Hatchett and Robert Hamlin, and heavyweight National Champion Zach Rey.