InterMat Staff

EVANSTON, Ill. -- The ninth ranked Oklahoma wrestling squad finished third overall and claimed one champion among a talented field at the 2011 Midlands Championships, hosted by Northwestern University, on Friday, Dec. 30. Oklahoma finished the tournament taking home the third place trophy with 94.5 points. Iowa ran away with the title after tallying 152 points. Northwestern placed second with 105.5 points. Virginia Tech (76.5) and Edinboro (74.5) rounded out the top five. Leading the way for Oklahoma was redshirt sophomore Kendric Maple who won the 141 pound title to remain unbeaten (12-0) on the year. The Wichita, Kan., native entered Friday's semifinal matchup having earned bonus points in each of his last seven bouts. In the semifinals Maple defeated Iowa State's Luke Goetti, 13-1. In the championship bout, Maple downed Iowa's No. 1 seed Montell Marion, 5-3. In addition to OU's 141 pound champion, five other Sooners – Jarod Patterson (fifth), Nick Lester (fourth), Matt Lester (fifth), Bubby Graham (sixth) and Erich Schmidtke (fifth) – claimed top six finishes among their respective weight classes. Patterson finished fifth among 125 pounders after he fell to the eventual champion, Iowa's Matt McDonough, in the semifinals. In wrestleback action the junior was defeated by the top seed in Illinois Jesse Delgado. Patterson closed out the tournament with a 6-2 win over Central Michigan's Joe Roth. Nick Lester claimed fourth at 149 pounds. Lester dropped his semifinal bout to Rutgers' top-seeded Mario Mason and then downed Utah Valley's Josh Wilson, the seventh overall seed. The redshirt sophomore then dropped the third place match to Edinboro's David Habat. Like his twin brother, Matt Lester faced the top-overall seed in his weight class, Northwestern's Jason Welch. Lester fell to Welch, but was able to finish fifth among a talented field of 157-pounders after he defeated PU's Tommy Churchard, 10-3. Graham opened action dropping his semifinal matchup to Virginia Tech's Pete Yates, 4-2. In wrestleback action Graham dropped two close bouts to finish sixth in the 165 pound bracket. Schmidtke won two straight over Edinboro's Vic Avery and Iowa's Vinnie Wagner in the 184 pound wrestleback bracket before falling to the second seed in Northern Iowa's Ryan Loder. Schmidtke closed out the fifth place bout with a 5-3 win over Elmhurst's Joe Rau. Jordan Keller (133 pounds) and Keldrick Hall (197) were also in action in their respective wrestleback brackets on Friday. Keller fell to Stanford's Ryan Mango, the seventh seed. After posting a 3-1 record on Thursday Hall dropped his opening match in overtime to Maryland's Christian Boley, 8-6. Up next, the Sooners travel to Laramie, Wyo., to take on No. 20 Wyoming on Tuesday, Jan. 3 at 7 p.m.

EVANSTON, Ill. -- University of Iowa junior Matt McDonough earned his second Midlands title in three years to help the Hawkeyes win their tournament record 22nd team title at the 49th Annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championship. McDonough pinned eighth-seeded Jarrod Garnett of Virginia Tech in the 125-pound finals. Iowa piled up 152 points, 46.5 more than tournament host Northwestern (105.5). Oklahoma (94.5), Virginia Tech (76.5) and Edinboro (74.5) rounded out the top five. McDonough fell behind 2-0 in the opening period before rebounding and building a 7-4 lead heading into the second frame. He then put Garnett on his back with a headlock and finished the fall with 58 seconds remaining in the second period. The pin was McDonough's second of the tournament. He also added a major decision among his five victories en route to the tournament title. Four other Hawkeyes advanced to tonight's finals but had to settle for second place finishes. Tony Ramos (133) and Bobby Telford (Hwt.) each dropped overtime decisions in their respective finals. Ramos gave up a takedown in the first sudden-victory period against Virginia Tech's No. 2 seed Devin Carter. Telford was called for locked hands in the second tiebreaker and was unable to escape top-seeded Jarod Trice of Central Michigan in the heavyweight finals. Both losses were the first of the season for Ramos (15-1) and Telford (14-1). Montell Marion (141) and Ethen Lofthouse (174) also dropped decisions in their respective finals. Marion, the nation's top-ranked 141-pounder, fell 5-3 to Kendrick Maple of Oklahoma, the tournament's No. 3 seed. Lofthouse fell to Northwestern's fifth-seeded Lee Munster, 7-3, in the 174-pound finals. Marion's loss was his first of the season (14-1). Tyler Clark (133) earned a fourth place finish after falling to fourth-seeded B.J. Futrell of Illinois, 6-4, in the consolation finals. Clark finished the tournament with five wins in seven matches to record the highest Midlands finish of his career. He finished fifth last season. Michael Kelly (149) recorded a 3-2 decision over Utah Valley's seventh-seeded Josh Wilson in the fifth-place match. Kelly, who entered the tournament unseeded, finished the championships with a 5-2 record that included a pin and a major decision. The Hawkeyes finished the 49th Annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships with 11 place-winners and a combined 60-26 record. The top-ranked Hawkeyes return to the mat Friday, Jan. 6, at Indiana. Iowa will put its 83-dual unbeaten streak on the line against the Hoosiers at 6 p.m. (CT) inside University Gym. The Hawkeyes then host Oklahoma State on Saturday, Jan. 7. The Cowboys visit Carver-Hawkeye Arena at 7 p.m. To purchase tickets, contact the UI Ticket Office at 800-IA-HAWKS or online at hawkeyesports.com. Admission is $13 for adults, $7 for children, and $2 for kids five and under.

Related Link: Team Standings & Brackets EVANSTON, Ill. -- There's no hard data to back up this theory, but maybe it's somehow advantageous to enter the Midlands Tournament ranked outside of the Top 20. A year after then-No. 23 Missouri stunned the field and won the team title, No. 21 Northwestern placed four on the podium and used early-round bonus points to finish with 105.5 points and earn its highest finish in the 49 years of their prestigious annual holiday tournament. Previously, the Wildcats had finished in third place five times, most recently in 2006, when Dustin Fox and Jake Herbert won Midlands titles. Tournament champions at 157 pounds (Jason Welch) and 174 pounds (Lee Munster) led this year's charge to the podium. Youngsters Levi Mele (125) and Mike McMullan (heavyweight) advanced to the semis and finished in fourth place. In a match that was low-scoring but still entertaining, No. 3 Welch bested No. 4 Ganbayar Sanjaa (American) in a rematch from the 2011 NWCA All-Star Classic that Welch won 8-5. This version saw Welch's funky style help him fend off Sanjaa's offense in the first and third periods. Sanjaa had more quality shots, but Welch was able to scramble out and avoid surrendering points. Then in the second, Welch rode tough and earned a point after Sanjaa was hit with two stall calls. "We have a young team and guys are starting to win some key positions," Northwestern coach Drew Pariano said. "We're excited about this season." At 174 pounds, Chicago-native and freshman Lee Munster displayed a couple powerful double-leg takedowns and some solid defense against Iowa's Ethan Lofthouse to become the lowest seed (No. 5) to win a Midlands title this season. "I've been coming to watch the Midlands since I can remember, so tonight was a big night for me," Munster said. "[Still], I know I'm going to have to wrestle guys like Lofthouse and [Illinois' Jordan] Blanton in a couple weeks. After tonight, it's over and [onto] the rest of the season." No. 7 Kendric Maple of Oklahoma was named "Champion of Champions" and Outstanding Wrestler after he knocked off top-ranked Montell Marion of Iowa at 141 pounds. The raw but talented sophomore executed a gorgeous toe drag near the edge of the mat to earn his only takedown, then rode Marion out and earned an escape in the second to take a 3-0 lead with ride time advantage into the third. In that period, however, it was obvious that Maple was gassed and it was all he could not to get docked multiple points for stalling. No. 1 Iowa won the tournament handily with 152 points. As expected, Iowa's strong depth helped them place a tournament-high nine wrestlers on the podium. But the Hawks went 1-4 in championship matches and Brands said afterward he would have preferred to see them finish their matches better. Finals Match Summaries Numbers before wrestler's name indicate current InterMat national ranking 125: No. 2 Matt McDonough (Iowa) pinned Jarrod Garnett (UN - Va. Tech), 4:02 Like he does to many of his 125-pound opponents, McDonough simply overpowered Garnett. McDonough notched three first-period takedowns before locking up a power half and cranking Garnett over midway through the second period to earn the fall. 133: No. 4 Devin Carter (Va. Tech) dec. No. 2 Tony Ramos (Iowa), 6-4 SV1 After fending off several deep single-leg shots by Ramos in regulation and overtime, Carter used a slick left ankle pick to earn the takedown with 18 seconds left in sudden victory to earn his first Midlands title. 141: No. 7 Kendric Maple (Oklahoma) dec. No. 1 Montell Marion (Iowa), 5-3 The highest scorer in the tourney with 74 points, Maple got an early takedown with a nice toe drag near the edge of the mat, then did just enough in the third period to avoid excessive stall calls and hang on for the upset (see complete match recap above). 149: Jake Patascil (Notre Dame) maj. dec. No. 3 Mario Mason (Rutgers), 9-2 The former Purdue All-American and current Notre Dame College (Ohio) assistant coach used a pair of ball-and-chain tilts to rack up eight points worth of near falls in the second period and cost to a dominant victory. Five of Patacsil's six tournament wins were of the bonus point variety. He and 165-pound champion Steve Fittery (DCAC) tied for 20th place with 28.5 points each. 157: No. 3 Jason Welch (Northwestern) dec. No. 4 Ganbayar Sanjaa (American), 4-2 (See recap above) 165: Steve Fittery (DCAC) maj. dec. No. 13 Peter Yates (Va. Tech), 12-4 A four-time All-American who is used to having his hand raised in Evanston from his days at American, Fittery rolled to the 165-pound title via two falls and three major decisions. He proved too powerful for the lanky Yates, who made it interesting by scoring two first-period reversals before Fittery scored a 3-pt near fall in the second to clinch the match. 174: No. 13 Lee Munster (Northwestern) dec. No. 8 Ethan Lofthouse, 7-3 (See recap above) 184 No. 1 Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) dec. No. 7 Ben Bennett (Central Michigan), 5-2 The top-ranked Hamlin countered aggressive offense by Bennett in the first and third periods to score two takedowns and win a close match. 197: No. 3 Chris Honeycutt (Edinboro) dec. No. 9 Micah Burak (Penn), 4-0 A takedown in the first period was all the fomer184-pound All-American Scot needed to win his first Midlands crown. 285: Jarod Trice (UN) dec. No. 9 Bobby Telford (Iowa), 3-2 TB2 A locked hands call in the second rideout period cost Telford, the highly-regarded Hawkeye freshman, a monumental upset over the All-American Trice.

125: No. 2 Matt McDonough (Iowa) pinned Jarrod Garnett (Virginia Tech), 4:02 133: No. 4 Devin Carter (Virginia Tech) dec. No. 2 Tony Ramos (Iowa), 6-4 SV 141: No. 7 Kendric Maple (Oklahoma) dec. No. 1 Montell Marion (Iowa), 5-3 149: Jake Patacsil (Unattached) maj. dec. No. 3 Mario Mason (Rutgers), 10-2 157: No. 3 Jason Welch (Northwestern) dec. No. 4 Ganbayar Sanjaa (American), 4-2 165: Steve Fittery (Unattached) maj. dec. No. 13 Peter Yates (Virginia Tech), 12-4 174: No. 13 Lee Munster (Northwestern) dec. No. 8 Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa), 7-3 184: No. 1 Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) dec. No. 7 Ben Bennett (Central Michigan), 5-2 197: No. 3 Chris Honeycutt (Edinboro) dec. No. 9 Micah Burak (Penn), 4-0 285: Jarod Trice (Central Michigan) dec. No. 9 Bobby Telford (Iowa), 3-2 TB

125: No. 2 Matt McDonough (Iowa) vs. Jarrod Garnett (Virginia Tech) 133: No. 2 Tony Ramos (Iowa) vs. No. 4 Devin Carter (Virginia Tech) 141: No. 1 Montell Marion (Iowa) vs. No. 7 Kendric Maple (Oklahoma) 149: No. 3 Mario Mason (Rutgers) vs. Jake Patacsil (Unattached) 157: No. 3 Jason Welch (Northwestern) vs. No. 4 Ganbayar Sanjaa (American) 165: No. 13 Peter Yates (Virginia Tech) vs. Steve Fittery (Unattached) 174: No. 8 Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa) vs. No. 13 Lee Munster (Northwestern) 184: No. 1 Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) vs. No. 7 Ben Bennett (Central Michigan) 197: No. 3 Chris Honeycutt (Edinboro) vs. No. 9 Micah Burak (Penn) 285: No. 9 Bobby Telford (Iowa) vs. Jarod Trice (Central Michigan)

125: Jarrod Garnett (Virginia Tech) dec. No. 8 Levi Mele (Northwestern), 4-3 No. 2 Matt McDonough (Iowa) dec. No. 5 Jarrod Patterson (Oklahoma), 7-1 133: No. 2 Tony Ramos (Iowa) dec. No. 7 B.J. Futrell (Illinois), 6-2 No. 4 Devin Carter (Virginia Tech) maj. dec. No. 8 A.J. Schopp (Edinboro), 17-7 141: No. 1 Montell Marion (Iowa) dec. Adam Krop (Princeton), 3-2 No. 7 Kendric Maple (Oklahoma) maj. dec. Luke Goettl (Iowa State), 13-1 149: No. 3 Mario Mason (Rutgers) dec. No. 12 Nick Lester (Oklahoma), 4-1 Jake Patacsil (Unattached) pinned No. 10 David Habat (Edinboro), 1:24 157: No. 3 Jason Welch (Northwestern) dec. No. 11 Matt Lester (Oklahoma), 7-3 No. 4 Ganbayar Sanjaa (American) dec. No. 8 James Fleming Clarion), 5-4 165: Steve Fittery (Unattached) maj. dec. No. 4 Andrew Sorenson (Iowa State), 11-3 No. 13 Peter Yates (Virginia Tech) dec. No. 18 Bubby Graham (Oklahoma), 4-1 174: No. 13 Lee Munster (Northwestern) maj. dec. Luke Rynish (UW-Parkside), 9-0 No. 8 Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa) vs. No. 9 Jordan Blanton (Illinois), 8-6 184: No. 1 Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) maj. dec. No. 20 Braden Atwood (Purdue), 12-4 No. 7 Ben Bennett (Central Michigan) dec. No. 6 Ryan Loder (Northern Iowa), 5-3 197: No. 3 Chris Honeycutt (Edinboro) maj. dec. Byron Tate (Wartburg), 17-8 No. 9 Micah Burak (Penn) dec. No. 8 Joe Kennedy (Lehigh), 4-3 285: Jarod Trice (Central Michigan) dec. John Helgerson (Unattached), 3-1 TB No. 9 Bobby Telford (Iowa) dec. Mike McMullan (Northwestern), 4-2 SV

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. -- Despite not having entries at 125 and 174, No. 21 Kent State finished third at Lock Haven's Mat Town Invitational Thursday inside Thomas Fieldhouse. Freshman Ian Miller (Graytown, Ohio) was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler following a dominant showing at 149. The Golden Flashes totaled 110.5 points. No. 8 Michigan claimed the team crown with 141 points, while No. 9 Pitt was second with 126 points. "We would have contended for a championship if we wrestle those two weight classes," Head Coach Jim Andrassy said. "This was a good opportunity to give Nic Bedelyon a break." Miller chalked up his second pin of the day in the finals against No. 14 Tyler Nauman (Pitt) with an underhook pancake in the third period. He also scored major decisions in his opening round and semifinal bouts with scores of 17-6 and 13-4. "Everyone was impressed with Ian today," Andrassy said. "…the crowd, other team's coaches. It was supposed to be one of tougher weights going into the day and by the way he wrestled, I'm not surprised he got the award." Miller joined teammate Marcel Clopton (Shaker Heights, Ohio) in the semifinals of the 149-pound bracket. Clopton knocked off third seeded Owen Wilkinson (Lock Haven) 8-6 in the quarterfinals. The senior suffered an injury in the first period of his semifinal and settled for a sixth place once he could not continue. The Flashes had an even stronger showing in the 184-pound bracket. Sophomore Brandonn Johnson (Middletown, Md.), usually the Flashes' starter at 174, moved up a weight and wrestled liked he'd been there before. Johnson and junior Casey Newburg (Union, Ohio) each reached the finals, but did not compete against each other. Johnson topped the No. 3 seed, Andy Vaughan (Pitt) 2-1 in the opening round and had little trouble with No. 6 seed Sam Shirey (Bloomsburg) in a 10-3 quarterfinal victory. In the semifinals, Johnson pinned second seeded Hunter Collins (Michigan) 42 seconds into the second period. Newburg tallied first period pins in both his semifinal and quarterfinal bouts and earned a 12-3 major decision in the opening round. Sophomore Tyler Small (Littlestown, Pa.) and senior Brendan Barlow (Westerville, Ohio) each placed second. Small's only loss came to defending national champion Kellen Russell of Michigan. Small, who did not surrender a point in his quarterfinal and semifinal matches, was one of four Top 20 wrestlers in the 141-pound bracket. Barlow went 3-1 with a pin and a major decision. "Brendan wrestled really well in his first three matches," Andrassy said. "He just shut down in the finals." The surprise of the day for Kent State was junior Stevie Mitcheff (Lorain,Ohio), who went 4-1 in a third place performance. Mitcheff upset No. 23 Kyle Gilchrist (Columbia) 8-6 in the opening round. His only setback was a 4-3 decision against No. 18 Shelton Mack (Pitt). "Stevie's getting better," Andrassy said. "His knee's getting better and he's starting to get used to the weight class. And his semifinal could have gone either way." Juniors Keith Witt (Oak Harbor, Ohio) and Mallie Shuster (Newville, Pa.) each placed fourth. Shuster went 3-2 with a pin, a major decision and a 10-8 overtime loss in the 157-pound semifinal. Witt also went 3-2 with a pin and a quarterfinal win over No. 26 Brandon Palik (Drexel). "Keith was up 4-0 in his semifinal and let it get away at the end," Andrassy said. "Mallie was in control of his whole semifinal, but it didn't show in the score. We lost some close matches today and we need to get better in certain situations." The Golden Flashes will take a 14-day break from competition, before heading to the Virginia Duals Jan. 13-14. Senior Ross Tice (Brookfield, Ohio) is expected to make his return for the 16-team dual tournament. "I think this break is going to help us," Andrassy said. "And I think we're going to like where we're at as a team at the Virginia Duals."

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Junior Robert Hamlin and senior Joe Kennedy reached Friday's semifinals to lead Lehigh on day one of the 49th Ken Kraft Midlands Championships Thursday at Welsh Ryan Arena. The Mountain Hawks sit in sixth place in the team standings as four other Lehigh wrestlers will compete for a spot in the top eight on Friday. Lehigh placed four wrestlers in Thursday night's quarterfinal round and Mountain Hawk grapplers went 2-2 in those bouts. Five others tried to work their way back through the consolation bracket with freshman Mason Beckman and sophomore Steve Dutton advancing to Friday's placement round of 12. Hamlin, the No.1 seed and top-ranked wrestler in the nation at 184 went 3-0 with a pair of major decisions to advance to the Midlands semifinals for the second straight year. A 16-8 major over Iowa's Vinnie Wagner earns Hamlin a semifinal matchup with the No. 5 seed Braden Atwood of Purdue, who he defeated 13-7 November 26 at the Northeast Duals. Kennedy, seeded second at 197, also defeated an Iowa wrestler in the quarterfinals, using a third period takedown to down Grant Gambrall 4-1. Kennedy opened the tournament with a major decision win over Marty Smith of Illinois and needed sudden victory to dispose of John Schoen of Northwestern. In the semifinals, Kennedy will face EIWA rival Micah Burak of Penn. Kennedy has won the last two meetings over Burak including a 6-2 win December 4 at the Palestra. One of the biggest surprises for Lehigh on the day was the performance of junior Shane Welsh, who reached the quarterfinals at 149. The No. 12 seed, Welsh opened with a pin and then upset No. 5 seed Cole Schmitt of Wisconsin 4-2 in the tiebreakers to reach the quarters, where he dropped a 6-3 decision to Nick Lester of Oklahoma. Welsh can earn a spot in the top eight with a win over Kaleb Friedley of Northwestern on Friday. The Mountain Hawks' fourth quarterfinalist, senior Brandon Hatchett defaulted out of his quarterfinal against Peter Yates of Virginia Tech with an injury. Hatchett won his first two matches by major and regular decision respectively. Beckman, in his first action up at 133, bounced back from a major decision loss to Devin Carter of Virginia Tech with consolation wins over Zach Horan of Central Michigan and Geoffrey Alexander of Maryland. He will wrestle No. 9 seed Tyler Clark of Iowa Friday with the winner earning a spot in the top eight. In his first action since suffering a concussion November 20, Dutton also bounced back from a round of 16 loss. The No. 4 seed at 141, Dutton was upset by Brandon Nelson of Purdue 4-2, but bounced back with two wins, including a 7-3 decision over EIWA rival Matt Mariacher of American. On Friday, Dutton will open with No. 11 seed Bebeto Yewah of Wisconsin-Lacrosse. Freshman Anthony Salupo and senior Kadeem Samuels both finished one win shy of the round of 12 at 149 and 197 respectively. Salupo opened with two wins, before falling to top seed Mario Mason of Rutgers. After winning his first consolation bout, he was eliminated by Penn's Steve Robertson in a 10-4 decision. Samuels, a place winner at 184 a year ago, dropped his opening round bout before reeling off three straight consolation wins. He was finally eliminated by Oklahoma's Keldrick Hall by a 7-6 score. Lehigh's third entrant at 149, senior Kyle Rosser, opened with a major decision, but a pair of losses to Big Ten opponents left him eliminated with a 1-2 record. Senior Brian Tanen and junior Kevin Bailey also competed for the Mountain Hawks on Thursday. Tanen went 0-2 at 157, while Bailey dropped his season-opening bout 10-8 to Bryce Hammond of Cal State Bakersfield and then defaulted with an injury. Junior Joey Napoli competed unattached at 157 while deferring his eligibility. Napoli bounced back from a first round loss by winning three straight bouts, but was eliminated in the fourth round of consolations by Steve Monk of North Dakota State. Iowa leads the team race with 79.5 points, with five semifinalists and five others alive in the consolations. Host Northwestern is in second place with 71 points, followed by Oklahoma (69), Edinboro (56), Illinois (47.5) and then Lehigh in sixth (47). The 49th Midlands Championships conclude Friday from Northwestern's Welsh-Ryan Arena. Session three, with the championship semifinals and consolations begins at noon CT while session four featuring the championship finals will begin at 7 p.m.

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern went a perfect 4-for-4 in the quarterfinals and remains in second place with 71.0 points after Thursday night's Session II at the 49th Annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships. Four NU grapplers will wrestle in the semifinals tomorrow and two others are still alive in the wrestleback rounds for their respective weight classes. Northwestern trails Iowa, who leads the 43-team field with 79.5 points. Oklahoma is in third with 69.0 points. Session III, which includes the semifinal bouts, consolation rounds and seventh place matches, begins tomorrow at noon. No. 4 seed Levi Mele was the first Northwestern wrestler to reach the semifinals with his 7-0 shutout of No. 5 seed Trent Sprenkle from North Dakota State at 125 lbs. Mele will take on No. 8 seed Jarrod Garnett, who is wrestling unattached from Virginia Tech, after he pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the tournament pinning Illinois' No. 1 seed Jesse Delgado in 6:35 in another quarterfinal match. Mele brings a perfect 16-0 record with him into his semifinal bout against Garnett. Top-seeded Jason Welch then punched his ticket into the semifinals with a 13-4 major decision over Eastern Michigan's Aaron Sulzer at 157 lbs. Welch trailed 4-0 at the end of the first period but used a 13-0 run to secure the victory and meets No. 4 seed Matt Lester from Oklahoma in the semifinals. The quarterfinal major decision over Sulzer was Welch's fourth win by bonus points during the tournament (three major decisions, one pin). Welch also added to his unbeaten record and is now 8-0 on the year. Fifth-seeded Lee Munster was the third NU grappler to make it to the semifinals with a 3-1 win over Tanner Weatherman, who was wrestling unattached from Virginia Tech, at 174 lbs. With the win, Munster takes on UW-Parkside's (Division II) Luke Rynish, the No. 9 seed at 174. Rynish advanced to the semis due to injury default by the No. 1 seed Chris Spangler from Iowa State. Rynish and Spangler wrestled to double-overtime before Spangler defaulted out of the tournament. After defeating the reigning Big Ten champion at heavyweight in the morning session, No. 10 seed McMullan had the tall task of facing second-seeded Peter Sturgeon from Central Michigan. McMullan got out to a 4-0 lead but Sturgeon was able to come back and scored a takedown in the closing seconds of regulation to knot everything up at 6-6. McMullan then scored the winning takedown with 23 seconds remaining in overtime to win 8-6 and help Northwestern go 4-for-4 in the quarterfinals. It was McMullan's second upset of the day and he now faces No. 3 seed Bobby Telford from Iowa in the semis. Kaleb Friedely and John Schoen are both still competing in the wrestleback rounds. No. 9 seed Friedley pinned Kyle Rosser from Lehigh in 2:01 then defeated Central Michigan's Joey Kielbasa, 6-2 at 149 lbs. Friedley matches up against No. 12 seed Shane Welsh from Lehigh tomorrow. Schoen advanced due to a medical forefit to James Fox from Harvard and then used overtime to defeat Iowa State's Cole Shafer. After a 1-1 tie in regulation, Schoen scored the winning takedown with less than 10 seconds remaining in the sudden victory to advance, 3-1. Schoen meets No. 8 seed Mario Gonzalez of Illinois tomorrow in the wrestlebacks. Jameson Oster (133), Pat Greco (141), Colin Shober (141), David Helmer (157), Pierce Harger (165), Robert Kellogg (174) and Marcus Shrewsbury (184) were all eliminated from competition during Session II.

EVANSTON, Ill. -- The University of Iowa wrestling team advanced five wrestlers to the semifinals and leads the team race with 79.5 points at the 49th Annual Midlands Championships. Tournament host Northwestern is in second place with 71 points. Oklahoma (69), Edinboro (56) and Illinois (47.5) round out the top five. Iowa also has five scoring competitors alive in the wrestlebacks. Matt McDonough (125), Tony Ramos (133), Montell Marion (141), Ethen Lofthouse (174) and Bobby Telford (Hwt.) advanced to Friday's semifinals with quarterfinal victories Thursday night. McDonough, the tournament's No. 2 seed at 125 pounds, scored a major decision to earn a berth in the final four. Ramos, the tournament's top-seeded 133-pounder, defeated teammate and ninth-seeded Tyler Clark to earn a semifinal berth. Marion, Lofthouse and Telford each advanced with decisions. Clark is still alive in the consolation bracket with teammates Mike Evans (165), Vinnie Wagner (184) and Grant Gambrall (197). All four wrestlers dropped quarterfinal decisions. Thirteen of Iowa's 16 Midlands competitors are still wrestling. Michael Kelly (149), Nick Moore (165), Jeremy Fahler (184) and Blake Rasing (Hwt.) each picked up a pair of victories in the second session to advance. Brody Grothus and Mark Ballweg both suffered elimination losses in the consolation round. Ballweg dropped a 6-4 decision and Grothus was bounced by teammate Michael Kelly, 15-7. Ramos and Lofthouse will each get 2011 rematches in their semifinal bouts. Ramos will face Illinois' fourth-seeded B.J. Futrell, while Lofthouse faces the Illini's No. 3 seed Jordan Blanton. Both Hawkeyes scored victories against their opponents in Iowa's 20-13 dual victory Dec. 2. Ramos earned a 13-5 major decision and Lofthouse picked up a 6-1 win. McDonough will face third-seeded Jordan Patterson of Oklahoma. Marion will face Princeton's Adam Krop, the 12th seed, and Telford will face No. 10 seed Mike McMullan of Northwestern. McMullan defeated Rasing 4-3 earlier in the tournament. Session III of the Midlands Championships begins tomorrow at 12 p.m. inside Welsh-Ryan Arena on the campus of Northwestern University. Steven Grace will call the action live from Welsh-Ryan Arena on AM-800 KXIC and at hawkeyesports.com via Hawkeye All-Access. Updated team standings and complete tournament brackets are available throughout the tournament at nusports.com.

Tempe, Ariz. -- The No. 14 Nebraska wrestling team matched its best start in school history after sweeping two matches at the ASU Duals in Tempe, Ariz., on Thursday. The Huskers improved to 9-0 on the season by beating Boise State, 34-3, in their first dual, before shutting out host Arizona State, 42-0, in the last dual of the day. The losses dropped Boise State to 0-2 and Arizona State to 4-3 on the season. Nebraska won 19 of the possible 20 matches between the two duals, while recording a total of 11 bonus-point victories, including seven major decisions and three pins. The win against Arizona State was Nebraska's first shutout since 2008 when they beat Augustana (S.D.), 50-0, while the 42 points was the most allowed by Sun Devil team in school history. Senior Tucker Lane (Hwt) had one of the most impressive days of any Husker, defeating two nationally ranked opponents in No. 10 J.T. Felix (BSU) and No. 11 Levi Cooper (ASU). Lane cruised past Felix in his first match, 6-2, before taking down Cooper in overtime, 2-1, for his second victory over the Sun Devil wrestler this season. After swapping escape points in the second and third periods and a scoreless sudden-death period, No. 10 Lane was able to escape in the tiebreaker and held Cooper in the down position for 30 seconds to capture the victory. True freshmen Jake Sueflohn (141) and James Green (157) continued their impressive first seasons by recording four bonus-point decisions between the two. No. 11 Sueflohn kicked off his day with a major decision victory over No. 16 John Strait (BSU), and pinned Nathan Hoffer (ASU) in 5:29 for his 15th win of the year. No. 13 Green did much of the same by beating No. 15 George Ivanov (BSU), 12-1, and Victor DeJesus, 16-5, for his second major decision of the day. At 174 pounds, Tyler Koehn recorded NU's victory against Boise State by defeating Scott Bacon (BSU), 11-5, for 13th win of the year. In the dual against Arizona State, sophomore Caleb Kolb returned to the mat for the first time this season and did so in impressive fashion by taking down Jacob Graham, 18-6. No. 5 Robert Kokesh (165) remained perfect in dual competition for NU by recording a major decision over Michael Cuthbertson (BSU), and pinning Derek Felton (ASU) in 2:16 for his seventh fall of the season. Kokesh now owns a 16-2 overall record, with 11 of those being bonus-point wins. After a loss to Isaac Romero (BSU), sophomore Shawn Nagel (125) broke a six-dual losing streak by picking up his first pin of the season against Dalton Miller (ASU) in 1:26. No. 17 Ridge Kiley won two tight matches at 133 pounds, taking down Shawn Jones (BSU), 6-2, and Shane McGough (ASU), 6-1. Senior James Nakashima (197) led off both duals with a pair of victories, incluidng a major decision win over Derek Toney (BSU) and a 5-3 win over Tommy Burriel (ASU) to give the Huskers an early 3-0 lead over the Sun Devils. Redshirt freshman Brandon Wilbourn (149) won his fourth and fifth straight duals of the year to raise his season win total to nine. Wilbourn pushed past Steve Hernandez (BSU), 7-4, before dominating his second match of the day against Kyle McIntosh (ASU), 14-3. No. 9 Josh Ihnen (184) closed out each of the duals with a victory. The Sheldon, Iowa, native won by medical forfeit over No. 12 Jake Swartz (BSU), before defeating Kevin Radford (ASU), 10-3. The Huskers will return to action next Friday, Jan. 6, for their Big Ten home opener against the Ohio State Buckeyes at the NU Coliseum at 7 p.m. Friday's dual will be Military Appreciation Night at the NU Coliseum, with all active and retired military personnel admitted for free to the dual. Check back to Huskers.com for more information on the Nebraska wrestling team. NU 34, BSU 3 197- James Nakashima (NU) by major dec. over Derek Toney (BSU), 10-2 (NU 4, BSU 0) Hwt- #10 Tucker Lane (NU) by dec. over #19 J.T. Felix (BSU), 6-2 (NU 7, BSU 0) 125- Isaac Romero (BSU) by dec. over Shawn Nagel (NU), 5-1 (NU 7, BSU 3) 133- #17 Ridge Kiley (NU) by dec. over Shawn Jones (BSU), 6-2 (NU 10, BSU 3) 141- #11 Jake Sueflohn (NU) by major dec. over #16 John Strait (BSU), 14-3 (NU 14, BSU 3) 149- Brandon Wilbourn (NU) by dec. over Steve Hernandez (BSU), 7-4 (NU 17, BSU 3) 157- #13 James Green (NU) by major dec. over #15 George Ivanov (BSU), 12-1 (NU 21, BSU 3) 165- #5 Robert Kokesh (NU) by major dec. over Michael Cuthbertson (BSU), 9-1 (NU 25, BSU 3) 174- Tyler Koehn (NU) by dec. over Scott Bacon (BSU), 11-5 (NU 28, BSU 3) 184- #9 Josh Ihnen (NU) by medical forfeit over #12 Jake Swartz (BSU) (NU 34, BSU 3) NU 42, ASU 0 197- James Nakashima (NU) by dec. over Tommy Burriel, (ASU), 5-3 (NU 3, ASU 0) Hwt- #10 Tucker Lane (NU) by dec. (TB1) over #11 Levi Cooper (ASU), 2-1 (NU 6, ASU 0) 125- Shawn Nagel (NU) by pin over Dalton Miller (ASU), 1:26 (NU 12, ASU 0) 133- #17 Ridge Kiley (NU) by dec. over Shane McGough (ASU), 6-1 (NU 15, ASU 0) 141- #11 Jake Sueflohn (NU) by pin over Nathan Hoffer (ASU), 5:29 (NU 21, ASU 0) 149- Brandon Wilbourn (NU) by major dec. over Kyle McIntosh (ASU), 14-3 (NU 25, ASU 0) 157- #13 James Green (NU) by major dec. over Victor DeJesus (ASU), 16-5 (NU 29, ASU) 165- #5 Robert Kokesh (NU) by pin over Derek Felton (ASU), 2:16 (NU 35, ASU 0) 174- Caleb Kolb (NU) by major dec. over Jacob Graham (ASU), 18-6 (NU 39, ASU 0) 184- #9 Josh Ihnen (NU) by dec. over Kevin Radford (ASU), 10-3 (NU 42, ASU 0)

125: No. 8 Levi Mele (Northwestern) vs. Jarrod Garnett (Virginia Tech) No. 2 Matt McDonough (Iowa) vs. No. 5 Jarrod Patterson (Oklahoma) 133: No. 2 Tony Ramos (Iowa) vs. No. 7 B.J. Futrell (Illinois) No. 4 Devin Carter (Virginia Tech) vs. No. 8 A.J. Schopp (Edinboro) 141: No. 1 Montell Marion (Iowa) vs. Adam Krop (Princeton) No. 7 Kendric Maple (Oklahoma) vs. Luke Goettl (Iowa State) 149: No. 3 Mario Mason (Rutgers) vs. No. 12 Nick Lester (Oklahoma) No. 10 David Habat (Edinboro) vs. Jake Patacsil (Unattached) 157: No. 3 Jason Welch (Northwestern) vs. No. 11 Matt Lester (Oklahoma) No. 4 Ganbayar Sanjaa (American) vs. No. 8 James Fleming Clarion) 165: No. 4 Andrew Sorenson (Iowa State) vs. Steve Fittery (Unattached) No. 13 Peter Yates (Virginia Tech) vs. No. 18 Bubby Graham (Oklahoma) 174: No. 13 Lee Munster (Northwestern) vs. Luke Rynish (UW-Parkside) No. 8 Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa) vs. No. 9 Jordan Blanton (Illinois) 184: No. 1 Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) vs. No. 20 Braden Atwood (Purdue) No. 6 Ryan Loder (Northern Iowa) vs. No. 7 Ben Bennett (Central Michigan) 197: No. 3 Chris Honeycutt (Edinboro) vs. Byron Tate (Wartburg) No. 8 Joe Kennedy (Lehigh) vs. No. 9 Micah Burak (Penn) 285: Jarod Trice (Central Michigan) vs. John Helgerson (Unattached) No. 9 Bobby Telford (Iowa) vs. Mike McMullan (Northwestern)

125: Jarrod Garnett (Virginia Tech) pinned No. 6 Jesse Delgado (Illinois), 6:35 No. 8 Levi Mele (Northwestern) dec. No. 16 Trent Sprenkle (North Dakota State), 7-0 No. 5 Jarrod Patterson (Oklahoma) dec. No. 18 Joe Roth (Central Michigan), 5-1 No. 2 Matt McDonough (Iowa) maj. dec. No. 19 Jared Germaine (Eastern Michigan), 13-4 133: No. 2 Tony Ramos (Iowa) dec. Tyler Clark (Iowa), 5-3 No. 7 B.J. Futrell (Illinois) maj. dec. Joe Colon (Northern Iowa), 10-1 No. 8 A.J. Schopp (Edinboro) pinned No. 9 Steven Keith (Harvard), 5:30 No. 4 Devin Carter (Virginia Tech) dec. No. 10 Ryan Mango (Stanford), 11-5 141: No. 1 Montell Marion (Iowa) dec. Avery Garner (Utah Valley), 6-1 Adam Krop (Princeton) dec. Brandon Nelson (Purdue), 3-0 No. 7 Kendric Maple (Oklahoma) maj. dec. Bebeto Yewah (UW-La Crosse), 8-0 Luke Goettl (Iowa State) pinned Billy Ashnault (Rutgers), 6:24 149: No. 3 Mario Mason (Rutgers) dec. Caleb Ervin (Illinois), 4-1 No. 12 Nick Lester (Oklahoma) dec. Shane Welsh (Lehigh), 6-3 No. 10 David Habat (Edinboro) dec. No. 6 Eric Terrazas (Illinois), 3-2 Jake Patacsil (Unattached) tech. fall No. 13 Josh Wilson (Utah Valley), 17-0, 5:00 157: No. 3 Jason Welch (Northwestern) maj. dec. Aaron Sulzer (Eastern Michigan), 13-4 No. 11 Matt Lester (Oklahoma) pinned Daniel Kolodzik (Princeton), 1:44 No. 8 James Fleming Clarion) dec. No. 12 Kyle John (Maryland), 7-6 No. 4 Ganbayar Sanjaa (American) dec. John Greisheimer (Edinboro), 10-4 165: Steve Fittery (Unattached) maj. dec. No. 14 Mike Evans (Iowa), 15-7 No. 4 Andrew Sorenson (Iowa State) dec. No. 8 Bekzod Abdurakhmanov (Clarion), 6-3 No. 13 Peter Yates (Virginia Tech) by inj. def. over No. 9 Brandon Hatchett (Lehigh) No. 18 Bubby Graham (Oklahoma) dec. No. 7 Scott Winston (Rutgers), 3-1 SV 174: Luke Rynish (UW-Parkside) by inj. def. over No. 6 Chris Spangler (Iowa State) No. 13 Lee Munster (Northwestern) dec. Tanner Weatherman (Iowa State), 3-1 No. 9 Jordan Blanton (Illinois) dec. No. 16 Jimmy Sheptock (Maryland), 5-4 No. 8 Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa) dec. John Martin-Cannon (Buffalo), 4-3 184: No. 1 Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) maj. dec. Vinny Wagner (Iowa), 16-8 No. 20 Braden Atwood (Purdue) maj. dec. No. 16 Erich Schmidtke (Oklahoma), 12-2 No. 7 Ben Bennett (Central Michigan) tech. fall. Erich Smith (Penn), 15-0 No. 6 Ryan Loder (Northern Iowa) maj. dec. John Dickson (Virginia Tech), 14-2 197: No. 3 Chris Honeycutt (Edinboro) dec. No. 14 Mario Gonzalez (Illinois), 5-2 Byron Tate (Wartburg) dec. No. 10 Christian Boley (Maryland), 7-6 No. 9 Micah Burak (Penn) maj. dec. No. 15 Daniel Mitchell (American), 12-4 No. 8 Joe Kennedy (Lehigh) dec. No. 7 Grant Gambrall (Iowa), 4-1 285: Jarod Trice (Central Michigan) dec. Connor Medbery (Wisconsin), 6-4 John Helgerson (Unattached) dec. No. 13 Spencer Myers (Maryland), 3-2 No. 9 Bobby Telford (Iowa) dec. Quintas McCorkle (Clarion), 2-0 Mike McMullan (Northwestern) dec. No. 6 Peter Sturgeon (Central Michigan), 8-6 SV

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. -- The No. 8-ranked University of Michigan wrestling team crowned five individual champions en route to the team title at the Mat Town Invitational on Thursday (Dec. 29) at Lock Haven's Thomas Fieldhouse. The Wolverines, who boasted 11 total placewinners, accumulated 141 points in their first ever Mat Town appearance, finishing 15 points ahead of runner-up Pittsburgh. Michigan claimed five of its six championship matches, earning shutout victories in all five, as senior Zac Stevens (Monroe, Mich./Monroe HS), fifth-year senior Kellen Russell (High Bridge, N.J./Blair Academy), junior/sophomore Dan Yates (Hesperia, Mich./Hesperia HS), fifth-year senior Justin Zeerip (Fremont, Mich./Hesperia HS) and senior/junior Ben Apland (Woodridge, Ill./Downers Grove South HS) won at 133, 141, 165 and 174 pounds and heavyweight, respectively. Stevens, Yates and Apland captured their titles in similar fashion, using escapes and rideouts to claim 2-0 shutout decisions in their respective championship matches. Stevens defeated Pittsburgh's 19th-ranked Shelton Mack in the 133-pound championship -- his second win over the Panther wrestler this season -- after riding out the second period and earning an immediate escape in the third. The Wolverine senior, ranked 15th in the latest InterMat poll, earned a pair of bonus wins in the preliminary rounds, including a quick first-period pin against Franklin & Marshall's Robert Ruiz. Yates earned a mild upset over Drexel's 16th-ranked Joe Booth in the 165-pound final on a second-period escape and subsequent third-period rideout. He opened the tournament with back-to-back major decisions over Drexel's Anson Worrell (14-1) and Bloomsburg's Chris Smith (13-2). The tournament title was the second for Yates this season. Apland avenged an earlier loss to Kent State's 15th-ranked Brendan Barlow with his 2-0 heavyweight championship win. He earned his points on a second-period rideout and a third-period escape. Apland, ranked 18th, went 3-0 and claimed bonus points on a major decision in the quarterfinals and a semifinal pin over Drexel's Kyle Frey. Russell went 4-0 with four bonus wins at 141 pounds, including an 8-0 major decision against Kent State's 12th-ranked Tyler Small in the championship. The Wolverine captain, ranked second, converted on takedowns in the first and third periods, earned a third-period reversal and added an escape and riding time to cruise to his second tournament win of the season. Russell is 16-1 on the season. Zeerip used a big second period to cruise past Pittsburgh's Ethan Headlee in the 174-pound championship, earning a quick escape before finishing on a single leg and riding out the period. He ended the match with 1:10 in time advantage. It was his second win over Headlee this season. Zeerip, ranked fifth, went 3-0 en route to his second tournament title and earned falls in both of his earlier matches. He improved to 14-1 on the season. Michigan's additional finalist, sophomore/freshman Max Huntley (Emerald Isle, N.C./Blair Academy), dropped a narrow 3-1 decision to Pittsburgh's sixth-ranked Matt Wilps on an early takedown in the 197-pound final. Huntley went 3-1 in the tournament, opening the day with back-to-back pins in the preliminary rounds. Junior/sophomore Brandon Zeerip (Fremont, Mich./Hesperia HS) rebounded from an overtime pin in the semifinals against seventh-ranked Frank Hickman of Bloomsburg to place third at 157 pounds with a 5-1 record. He defeated Kent State's 20th-ranked Mallie Shuster, 8-4, in the placing match, scoring on a pair of takedowns before adding a two-point near fall. Junior/sophomore Mike Hillock (Massillon, Ohio/Perry HS), fifth-year senior Dave Johnson (Jenison, Mich./Jenison HS) and senior/junior Hunter Collins (Gilroy, Calif./Gilroy HS) placed fifth at 149, 165 and 184 pounds, respectively, while sophomore/freshman Jake Salazar (Midway, Utah/Wasatch HS) took sixth at 157 pounds to round out U-M's placewinners. The Wolverines will return to Big Ten Conference competition next weekend with duals against Northwestern and Illinois. U-M will travel to Evanston, Ill., on Friday (Jan. 6) for a 7 p.m. CST contest against Northwestern before heading home to face Illinois at 2 p.m. on Sunday (Jan. 8) at Cliff Keen Arena. Before the Sunday's dual, Michigan will host a free wrestling clinic from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Cliff Keen Arena. Fans can purchase tickets for the meet in advance via the U-M Ticket Office. Team Standings: 1. MICHIGAN 141 2. Pittsburgh 126 3. Kent State 110.5 4. Bloomsburgh 91.5 5. Columbia 87 6. Drexel 72.5 7. Lock Haven 51 8. Franklin & Marshall 27.5 9. VMI 27 10. Old Dominion 26.5 11. Sacred Heart 2

EVANSTON, Ill. -- The University of Iowa wrestling program sits in first place with 38.5 points following the opening session of the 2011 Ken Kraft Midlands Championships in Evanston, Ill. Of the Hawkeyes' 10 scoring competitors, eight are still competing in the championship bracket and two are alive in the wrestlebacks. Tournament host Northwestern is in second place with 34.5 points. Tournament scorers Matt McDonough (125), Tony Ramos (133), Tyler Clark (133), Montell Marion (141), Mike Evans (165), Ethen Lofthouse (174), Grant Gambrall (197) and Bobby Telford (Hwt.) advanced to the quarterfinal round. Mike Kelly (149) and Blake Rasing are still competing in the consolation bracket. Ramos, the tournament's top seed at 133 pounds, and Clark, the No. 9 seed, face each other in the quarterfinals. Ramos has outscored his opponents 43-12 en route to a pair of technical falls. Marion, the top seed at 141 pounds, advanced to the quarters with a pin and a 9-6 decision. Marion's fall 43 seconds into the match against Eastern Michigan's Corey Phillips was the fastest pin of his career. McDonough, the tournament's No. 2 seed at 125 pounds, used an opening round pin (6:01) and an 11-5 decision to advance to the quarterfinals. Lofthouse also scored an opening round pin and added a major decision to advance to the quarters. Evans, Gambrall and Telford each recorded a major decision en route to the quarterfinal round. Vinnie Wagner is also alive in the championship bracket. The tournament's eighth-seeded 184-pounder received an opening round bye before blanking Wisconsin's Timmy McCall with a 13-0 major decision. Mark Ballweg recorded a second-period pin in his opening bout but dropped an 18-4 decision to fall into the 141-pound consolation bracket. Iowa totaled four falls, two major decisions and a technical fall to advance 12-of-16 wrestlers past the opening round. Brody Grothus (149), Nick Moore (157), Jeremy Fahler (184) and Tomas Lira (197) dropped their opening bouts and fell into the consolation bracket. Grothus, Moore and Fahler combined for five wins in the wrestlebacks and are still wrestling. Lira dropped his second match, 11-9, and was eliminated from competition. Session II of the Midlands Championships begins at 7 p.m. tonight. Steven Grace will call the action live from Welsh-Ryan Arena on AM-800 KXIC and at hawkeyesports.com via Hawkeye All-Access. Updated team standings and complete tournament brackets are available throughout the tournament at nusports.com.

125: No. 6 Jesse Delgado (Illinois) vs. Jarrod Garnett (Virginia Tech) No. 8 Levi Mele (Northwestern) vs. No. 16 Trent Sprenkle (North Dakota State) No. 5 Jarrod Patterson (Oklahoma) vs. No. 18 Joe Roth (Central Michigan) No. 2 Matt McDonough (Iowa) vs. No. 19 Jared Germaine (Eastern Michigan) 133: No. 2 Tony Ramos (Iowa) vs. Tyler Clark (Iowa) No. 7 B.J. Futrell (Illinois) vs. Joe Colon (Northern Iowa) No. 8 A.J. Schopp (Edinboro) vs. No. 9 Steven Keith (Harvard) No. 4 Devin Carter (Virginia Tech) vs. No. 10 Ryan Mango (Stanford) 141: No. 1 Montell Marion (Iowa) vs. Avery Garner (Utah Valley) Adam Krop (Princeton) vs. Brandon Nelson (Purdue) No. 7 Kendric Maple (Oklahoma) vs. Bebeto Yewah (UW-La Crosse) Billy Ashnault (Rutgers) vs. Luke Goettl (Iowa State) 149: No. 3 Mario Mason (Rutgers) vs. Caleb Ervin (Illinois) No. 12 Nick Lester (Oklahoma) vs. Shane Welsh (Lehigh) No. 6 Eric Terrazas (Illinois) vs. No. 10 David Habat (Edinboro) No. 13 Josh Wilson (Utah Valley) vs. Jake Patacsil (Unattached) 157: No. 3 Jason Welch (Northwestern) vs. Aaron Sulzer (Eastern Michigan) No. 11 Matt Lester (Oklahoma) vs. Daniel Kolodzik (Princeton) No. 8 James Fleming Clarion) vs. No. 12 Kyle John (Maryland) No. 4 Ganbayar Sanjaa (American) vs. John Greisheimer (Edinboro) 165: No. 14 Mike Evans (Iowa) vs. Steve Fittery (Unattached) No. 4 Andrew Sorenson (Iowa State) vs. No. 8 Bekzod Abdurakhmanov (Clarion) No. 9 Brandon Hatchett (Lehigh) vs. No. 13 Peter Yates (Virginia Tech) No. 7 Scott Winston (Rutgers) vs. No. 18 Bubby Graham (Oklahoma) 174: No. 6 Chris Spangler (Iowa State) vs. Luke Rynish (UW-Parkside) No. 13 Lee Munster (Northwestern) vs. Tanner Weatherman (Iowa State) No. 9 Jordan Blanton (Illinois) vs. No. 16 Jimmy Sheptock (Maryland) No. 8 Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa) vs. John Martin-Cannon (Buffalo) 184: No. 1 Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) vs. Vinny Wagner (Iowa) No. 16 Erich Schmidtke (Oklahoma) vs. No. 20 Braden Atwood (Purdue) No. 7 Ben Bennett (Central Michigan) vs. Erich Smith (Penn) No. 6 Ryan Loder (Northern Iowa) vs. John Dickson (Virginia Tech) 197: No. 3 Chris Honeycutt (Edinboro) vs. No. 14 Mario Gonzalez (Illinois) No. 10 Christian Boley (Maryland) vs. Byron Tate (Wartburg) No. 9 Micah Burak (Penn) vs. No. 15 Daniel Mitchell (American) No. 7 Grant Gambrall (Iowa) vs. No. 8 Joe Kennedy (Lehigh) 285: Jarod Trice (Central Michigan) vs. Connor Medbery (Wisconsin) No. 13 Spencer Myers (Maryland) vs. John Helgerson (Unattached) No. 9 Bobby Telford (Iowa) vs. Quintas McCorkle (Clarion) No. 6 Peter Sturgeon (Central Michigan) vs. Mike McMullan (Northwestern)

Photo/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images Event: UFC 141: Lesnar vs. Overeem Venue: MGM Grand Garden Arena (Las Vegas) Date: Dec. 30, 2011 Two giants headline the last UFC card of the year. Former Minnesota NCAA wrestling champion Brock Lesnar (5-2) returns to the Octagon after more than a year off due to his continued bout with diverticulitis, a stomach ailment that has required two surgeries for the former champ. His opponent is the intimidating, kickboxing Dutchman Alistair Overeem (35-11 with 33 finishes!). This former Pride and Strikeforce legend has won 13 of his last 15 fights in the first round! His resume of victims is a 12-year collection of who's who in MMA. And, he hasn't lost in over four years! OK, you're thinking that Lesnar, a wrestler with enormous size, speed, and strength will use his patented double leg takedown to plant Overeem on his back, right? Well good luck with that! Overeem shucks off wrestlers like he's swatting mosquitoes on a Sunday picnic. A kick to the head or a powerful right hook will end this fight early in the second round. A future title fight with Junior dos Santos awaits. Take Overeem and lay the modest -135. Lesnar and Marty Morgan go back to the drawing board. In what could very well be the Fight of the Night (FON), red-hot lightweight Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone (17-3 with 13 submissions) takes on the younger of the Diaz brothers, Nate (14-7 with 10 submissions). Nate is coming off an impressive armbar submission of Takanori Gomi. while Cerrone has been destroying everyone not named Ben Henderson. This will be a tactical battle with lots of striking, and both fighters trying to go to the mat for submissions, their strength. Cerrone is the better striker and uses his kicks more effectively. He trains with Jackson's MMA and has also been working on his wrestling technique, his one weakness. Diaz has trouble with wrestlers. Everything Cerrone does is to set up his sharp submission game. But Diaz, a Cesar Gracie blackbelt, is nearly impossible to submit. That's what makes this fight so intriguing. The price is steep, but I'm laying the juice with Cowboy at -275. A unanimous decision is the call. Let's also lay some dough on this being the FON at +250 odds. How could it not be? I love welterweight Johny Hendricks (11-1 with 6 KOs), you know what I'm sayin'? This brash Okie State two-time NCAA champion likes to bang, and has a vicious uppercut in his arsenal, to go along with his great wrestling abilities. Former Purdue wrestler, Jon Fitch (23-3-1), is a grinder who has lost only to Georges St. Pierre in the last eight years! Wow, think about that. One loss in eight years! He is coming off a draw with BJ Penn, who then got out-boxed by Nick Diaz. This is a great opportunity for Hendricks, and Fitch is coming off shoulder surgery, so maybe the door is open? I'll give it a shot. Despite Fitch's amazing record and run in the UFC, I think Johny Hendo will find a way to win this one, either by a stunning KO, or by a close decision. The +195 price tag is a steal. Light heavyweight Vladimir Matyushenko from Belarus (26-5) is a 40-year old who has been fighting MMA for 14 years! Yet today he still delivers iron in his fists and can outwrestle and control his opponent better than most. He is coming off a TKO victory over the tough Matt Hamill. But, can he stay upright against the 24-year old rising star of Alexander Gustafsson (12-1 with 8 KOs), whose only loss is to Phil Davis? I don't think so. Sixteen years of age difference spells trouble for Vlady. I think this fight will be guns a blazing from the opening bell, with Matyushenko trying to get Gustafsson to the mat. Instead he will eat leather until the ref stops it late in the opening round. Gustafsson wins by by TKO at -280. Rounding out the main card, lightweight Nam Phan (17-9) is best known for his two toe-to-toe wild swinging affairs with Leonard Garcia. He has never been submitted. Well, meet young Jim Hettes (9-0), who has won all of his fights by submission, using five different techniques! This should be interesting. Phan will look for the KO, while Hettes will bide his time looking for that one opening to grab a limb or secure a chokehold. He's been perfect in that quest, and I'll take my chances that he can do it again at underdog odds of +195. A second round rear-naked choke ends this one. Take Hettes, and grab the underdog odds. Now let's take a brief look at the undercard filled with light-weight and welterweight fights........ Diego "Gun" Nunes (16-2) should get past a determined Manny Gamburyan (11-6), who has lost his last two to champion Jose Aldo and Tyson Griffin. A close decision cashes for Nunes at -275. Matt Riddle (5-3) has fought all his fights in the UFC. He needs a win to continue his journey. Newcomer Luis Ramos (19-7) comes off his UFC debut getting knocked out in just 40 seconds by Erick Silva. Riddle wins by rear-naked choke submission at cheap odds of -125. I think I will wish I had placed more on Riddle. Efrain Escudero (18-3) has been disappointing in the UFC. But he's back trying to end Jacob "Christmas" Volkmann's four-fight winning streak. Volkmann, a former Minnesota All-American wrestler, likes to outwrestle and control his opponent. Tonight Escudero shows he is back with a stunning triangle choke submission. Take the generous +215 underdog odds. Dong Hyun "Stun Gun" Kim (14-1-1) has made a career of fighting at tight quarters and winning with strikes. His only loss was a KO in his last fight to Carlos Condit, who is fighting Nick Diaz on Super Bowl weekend for GSP's interim welterweight belt. Sean Pierson (11-5) also has KO power, but no enough to derail Stun Gun. Kim wins a unanimous decision at a bridge-jumping price of -360. Journeyman gatekeeper Danny Castillo (12-4) may have his hands full with Anthony "The Assassin" Njokuani (14-5 with 8 KOs). In a back-and-forth striking battle, Castillo wins with a close split decision. The -175 odds seem reasonable to me. And, Ross Pearson (12-5) is technically strong with his striking and should have enough to get past former WEC fighter, Junior Assuncao (13-4), who is riding a seven-fight win streak of his own. Pearson wins a unanimous decision at -260 odds. So now let's try to turn around our temporary losing streak, and see what we can do with our fictitious $1000 bankroll. Let's lay $135 to win $100 on Alistar Overeem's UFC debut. Let's lay $110 to win $40 on Cowboy Cerrone to stop Nate Diaz. Let's lay $15 to win $37 on Diaz/Cerrone being the FON. Let's lay $60 to win $114 on Johny Hendricks' shocker over Jon Fitch. Let's lay $112 to win $ 40 on Alexander Gustafsson to retire Matyushenko. Let's lay $50 to win $ 97 on Jim Hettes' submission streak to continue. Let's lay $104 to win $ 40 on Ross Pearson. Let's lay $70 to win $ 40 on gatekeeper Danny Castillo. Let's lay $108 to win $ 30 on a Dong Hyun Kim bridge jump. Let's lay $50 to win $107 on Efrain Escudero to upset Christmas. Let's lay $75 to win $ 60 on Matt Riddle, and wish we had bet more. Let's lay $110 to win $ 40 on Diego Nunes. In total we are risking $999 to win $745 with eight favorites and three underdogs. "Let's get 'er done!" See you at the winner's window! Don't forget to give some of your winnings to your local youth wrestling program, where tomorrow's champions are born. Enjoy the fights. I know I will.

Head coach Will Short has helped carry on a tradition of excellence on the wrestling mat at Simley High School (Minn.), a tradition started by father Jim Short, a coaching legend in Minnesota. Will Short (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)Will Short was a two-time state champion at Simley before going on to earn All-American honors at the University of Minnesota. He has amassed over 300 career dual meet victories as a head coach, and guided the Spartans to state championships in each of the past four seasons. Simley is currently ranked No. 1 in the state (Class AA) and No. 8 nationally in the InterMat Fab 50. InterMat recently caught up with Short and talked to him about the Minnesota Christmas Tournament, The Clash, Lincoln McIlravy, son Jake, Apple Valley, team goals, and much more. Your team is coming off a runner-up finish at the Minnesota Christmas Tournament. Overall, what did you think of your team's performance? Short: I think it was good. I don't think it was great. I don't think it's the best we can perform. But I also saw signs of good things. I think we're getting close to where we want to be. Obviously, we're not where we need to be or where most of my kids' goals are set for the year. We had a lot of kids who did some things in the fall that were not wrestling related. We had seven starters who played football and were off the mat for three months. It's a little bit different situation over here because we have to get them back in wrestling shape, just like all other programs. They're not where they were in March of last year, but they're getting real close conditioning-wise. I think every week we make up ground. What was the message to the team after the Minnesota Christmas Tournament? Short: We saw a lot of positive things from a lot of kids. But we also see a lot of things that we need to work on. We need to keep going forward and continue to improve on a number of things that we're still doing wrong in matches. It wasn't completely negative, but obviously we've got things to work on. Your lone champion at the Minnesota Christmas Tournament was Micah Barnes, who signed to wrestle at the Division I level for Old Dominion. How important is it to have senior leader like him on your team? Short: Micah is a great influence on our kids. One thing that Micah has done that sets him apart from others is his dedication to the weight room. In that part he is a great leader for our team and a great role model. How will Simley's Clash team compare to Simley's Christmas Tournament team? Will there be any changes to your lineup, either in the form of additions or weight class changes? Short: Cody Hazelett, our starter at 195, is back. He just verbally committed to Northern Illinois University for a football scholarship. Obviously, that makes us a different team. I think Cody would have been a placewinner at the Christmas Tournament. He placed the year before, so it wouldn't be crazy for me to say he could have placed again. How high? I don't know ... maybe 5, 6, maybe 4, and maybe even 3. I don't know. I can't compare him because he hasn't wrestled those guys. But that will be a huge change. Juan Torres will be back in our lineup somewhere. Juan wrestled four matches. He's 4-0. He should help our team at The Clash. Obviously, your father played a huge part in building Simley into a state and national power. Compare your coaching philosophy to your father's coaching philosophy. Are they similar? Short: Yeah, we're similar. My dad and I have worked together for years. We found a way to work with each other. There aren't too many differences. We both have a goal and a dream to give our kids the best opportunity to be the best wrestlers they can be here at Simley and we work hard to do that. How much has the sport changed or evolved from the time you were competing in high school in the late 1980s to now? Short: The biggest thing that has changed is the amount of kids that wrestle full time. When I competed some guys would do some offseason wrestling, but almost all of us did something else. Now the kids are just full-time wrestlers. The best kids travel all over their country. They've wrestled 2,000 matches by the time they're in ninth grade. The level of commitment has gone way up. National tournament are all over the place. You used to just get one national tournament a year ... you would go to Fargo and that was it. Now you can get a national tournament pretty much anytime you want from April until the beginning of the high school season. There are many opportunities to put it on the line and train year-round. There are also a lot of club programs like PINnacale that bring the best wrestling techniques to everybody, which has improved the quality of wrestlers in a lot of programs. Good programs with very knowledgeable coaches tended to always have an advantage over other programs. Now I think any kid in any program who wants to seek out the best knowledge can find it and be a top wrestler in the country. I'll be honest with you, 20 years ago if you didn't have something in your system at your school, you were going to struggle to be a top wrestler. So I think those are the biggest differences in the sport of wrestling now compared to when I was wrestling. You faced Lincoln McIlravy of Iowa in the Big Ten finals in a classic match that went into overtime. Steve Marianetti once told me that wrestling McIlravy was pure torture because he would take you to a place physically where you have probably never been. How would you describe what it was like wrestling McIlravy? Short: Well, I wouldn't say it was pure torture for me. I thought it was fun because of the challenge that he brought to the mat, and the fact that you were in a war and were going to be in a battle for as long as it was going to take for somebody to win the match. I looked forward to that opportunity and I relished the competition of wrestling Lincoln. I just wished we had more matches. Your son Jake is one of the nation's top juniors and will be one of the top recruits in the country next year. How much has he started looking at colleges and jumped into the recruiting process? Jake Short (Photo/Jeff Beshey, The Guillotine)Short: We have had some preliminary discussions and he's talked to a number of coaches. After Fargo when I think he was performing at his highest level he decided to take a break and focus completely on football. When he was playing football he didn't talk much about wrestling. He talked to a few people here and there, but nothing real major. Now he's focused back on wrestling, so we're starting to have more discussions on it. He's got a short list of schools that he's very interested in. We'll keep going from here. But right now he's trying to get back to where he was when he was at Fargo. When you watch Jake wrestle, do you see any of yourself in him? Short: No. I don't. Well, I see some things just because of the way I teach wrestling. We're very different in the things we do. Sometimes I see a little bit of me in some of the things he does ... actually my nephew Mack a lot of times looks like I did when I wrestled. Simley is the No. 2 seed in its bracket at The Clash, with Brandon being the top seed. Will you do much scouting on Brandon? Or do you not look ahead at an event like The Clash? Short: We've got a list of the teams that we think we're going to see all scouted out. We know their lineups. We know where we think we can win, where we think it's going to be very competitive, and where we're maybe a little overmatched. We go in with a plan for every dual meet at The Clash before we ever even put our team together ... where we're going to need an alternate, where we're going to need guys to win certain dual meets. It's tough because you don't know where you're going to end up. We've got some tough tests right off the bat with Rapid City, and then St. Michael if you go by at the Christmas Tournament they placed ahead of us in eight weights. So it's going to be an extremely competitive dual just in the semifinals with Simley and St. Michael, who I think is a vastly-improved program. Of course with Brandon, we know them pretty well. We wrestled them last year, so we have good knowledge of their program. Thanks to you guys at InterMat and Flowrestling it makes it a lot easier for us coaches. We do our homework and make sure we're trying to do what we can do for our kids to be in the best position to win. Your program is at three major events with Apple Valley. How much do you pay attention to what is going on with the Apple Valley wrestling program? Short: Well, other than just competing against them, we don't really pay attention. They do what they do and we do what we do. That's kind of how I look at it. We compete against them. That's it. A lot of people have a lot of negative things to say about them, or positive things, or believe in what they're doing or what they're not doing ... you know what, to be honest with you, I don't care. They'll put a guy on the mat, we're going to put a guy out on the mat, and we're going to try to beat the guy they put out on the mat. That's it. You obviously face a brutal schedule in December and January with the Minnesota Christmas Tournament, The Clash, and Cheeshead. Do you try to peak for any of those events? Short: Well, I think that's a challenge with our program compared maybe some of these other programs like Blair, St. Paris Graham, St. Ed's, and Apple Valley, where their kids are full-time wrestlers. They can certainly steer their program toward a December or January peaking moment. I can't do that. It's not conducive. I don't have the kids until November. We have Thanksgiving and Christmas in there where you've got to give the kids a couple days off. Don't kid yourself ... We're going to try to be the best team we can be when we get there. But do I think the team that we are in January is the team that we are in March? No. I don't. I think we're going to peak at the state tournament like we have the last few years. We have wrestled fantastic state tournaments the last two years. Our kids have looked really, really sharp at the end of the year. I think they will again this year. We have a good plan in place to get them there. But I think the Simley team that wrestles at the March state tournament would beat the Simley team that wrestles in January. What are the goals for Simley's wrestling program this year? Short: We wear shirts that say 'Quest for Five.' Winning our fifth state team title would be our No. 1 goal, but also possibly cracking the top five in the nation, which means we would have to get an upset somewhere at The Clash to do that. We also want to have five individual state champions, and that would set a record here at Simley. 'Quest for Five' is kind of our motto for the season and those are our goals. This story also appears in the Dec. 30 issue of The Guillotine. The Guillotine has been covering amateur wrestling in Minnesota since 1971. Its mission is to report and promote amateur wrestling at all levels -- from youth and high school wrestling to college and international level wrestling. Subscribe to The Guillotine.

STILLWATER, Okla. -- The Oklahoma State family suffered the loss of a legend Wednesday as Cowboy great Myron W. Roderick passed away. Myron RoderickRoderick's legacy at Oklahoma State, as a student-athlete, coach and athletic director, will never be forgotten. The Winfield Kan., native began his storied history with OSU athletics as a wrestler from 1953-56, when he also earned three letters as a tennis player. In three years of collegiate wrestling competition, Roderick won 42 of his 44 matches and earned three NCAA individual titles, with one coming at the 137-pound class and two more at 130. He continued his career at the 1956 Olympic Games, where he lost a split decision to the eventual champion. At 23, Roderick took over the reins of the program and, just one year after winning his last individual NCAA title, became the youngest coach in any sport to guide a team to an NCAA championship. His teams continued his success and dominated the world of collegiate wrestling for 13 years, posting 140-10-7 dual record on the way to 13 Big Eight Conference titles and seven NCAA team championships. As a testament to Roderick's coaching prowess, he was named the NCAA wrestling coach of the year on three occasions and produced 20 individual NCAA champions and three Olympic gold medalists. He received the two highest amateur wrestling awards when he won Man of the Year in 1971 and when he was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. He also served as the head coach of the Cowboy tennis program from 1958-1967, claiming a 105-23-1 dual record and six conference titles. As an athletic director, Roderick guided the program at Oklahoma State for seven years from 1983-1990. Under his direction, OSU athletic teams won more than 30 Big 8 championships, as well as four NCAA championships. A 1952 graduate of Winfield High School, Roderick was born on Sept. 15, 1934, in Anthony, Kan. He won back-to-back wrestling state championships before coming to OSU. Roderick left Oklahoma State 1969 to become executive director of the United States Wrestling Federation, of which he was co-founder. He resigned from that position in 1974 to enter private business and take over the reins as executive director of the United States Racquetball Federation. He returned to OSU in 1983 as the university's eighth athletic director.

Gary Abbott of USA Wrestling and Eric Reed, head wrestling coach at William Penn University, will go "On the Mat" this Wednesday, Dec. 28. “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 5-6 p.m. Central on AM 1650, The Fan. E-mail radio@wrestlingmuseum.org with any questions or comments about the show. Abbott is the director of communications at USA Wrestling. He will review his top ten stories in wrestling for 2011. Reed is in his fourth year as the head wrestling coach at William Penn University. He was a two-time All-American at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

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! Happy New Years Wrestling Fans. The Midlands Championships take place this week. Join us there or listen on TheMat.com! This Saturday it's Takedown Wrestling Radio. Join Scott Casber and Brad Johnson with the Takedown Wrestling Headline News this Saturday from 9 to 11 a.m. CT/10 a.m. to noon ET. This week's guests: 9:01 Mark Matzek, Augsburg head wrestling coach 9:20 Mark Perry, Illinois associate head coach 9:40 Doug Schwab, Northern Iowa head wrestling coach 9:50 Ty Barkley, Max Muscle Sports Nutrition Update 10:01 Mark Branch, Wyoming head wrestling coach 10:20 Greg Randall, Boise State head wrestling coach 10:40 Marty Strayer, Penn State Wrestling Alumn 65' 10:50 Amy Ruble, Wildrose Casino and Resort 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.

Hard-hitting middleweights Court McGee and Constantinos Philippou are heading Down Under. UFC officials today announced that both fighters have verbally agreed to the contest, and bout agreements are expected to be finalized shortly for the UFC on FX 2 affair. Featuring Thiago Alves vs. Martin Kampmann and the semifinals of the UFC's four-man flyweight tournament, UFC on FX 2 takes place March 3 at Allphones Arena in Sydney, Australia. Read Story

Strikeforce veteran Chad Griggs is set to make his UFC debut against Travis Browne at UFC 145. Read Story

Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair Overeem may seem like a striker vs. wrestler battle, but the latter says there's more to the bout than surface comparisons. Read Story

Gegard Mousasi is still his biggest critic. Following a decision over up-and-comer Ovince St. Preux at Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal earlier this month, he is blunt about his shortcomings during the fight. Or rather, the end of the fight. But he's now got his eye on a Strikeforce title shot and a possible move to the UFC. Read Story