InterMat Staff

ST. LOUIS -- Logan Stieber, a redshirt freshman from Monroeville, Ohio, won the 133-pound NCAA Wrestling National championship Saturday night at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis Mo. No. 2 seed Stieber defeated No.1 seed and defending national champion Jordan Oliver of Oklahoma State by a 4-3 score. The match began with Oliver gaining a quick takedown 17 seconds into the match. However, Stieber escaped 10 seconds later to make the score 2-1. With 30 seconds left in the first period, it appeared Stieber was going to earn his first takedown of the match as he was able to hoist Oliver into a one-legged position, but Oliver battled out and the score remained 2-1. In the second period, Stieber chose bottom and was able to escape eight seconds later, deadlocking the score at 2-2. After more than a minute of wrestling, Stieber was again able to force Oliver into a one-legged position, but this time he scored the takedown and sent the Ohio State crowd into a frenzy. Stieber earned the takedown with 20 seconds left in the second period, making the score 4-2. Oliver started the third period on bottom and was able to escape in 20 seconds, making the national championship a one point affair. Stieber fought off numerous blows from Oliver during the next minute and a half, refusing to give up a point. With 10 seconds remaining, Oliver shot at Stieber and was able to get him around the waist. The freshman from Monroeville, Ohio, stood strong and completed the upset. Ohio State finished the final day of the championships in fifth place with 64.5 points in the team race. Penn State (143) was first over Big Ten rival Minnesota (117.5), while Iowa finished third with 107.5 points. Overall, Ohio State boasted four All-Americans, tied for the second most in school history. The All-Americans for the Buckeyes were Logan Stieber, first place at 133 pounds, Cam Tessari, fourth place at 149 pounds, Nick Heflin, fifth at 174 pounds and Hunter Stieber, sixth at 141 pounds. Ohio State also set a team record for freshmen All-Americans with three (L. Stieber, H. Stieber and Cam Tessari).

ST. LOUIS -- Junior 149-pound Donnie Vinson achieved a rare and remarkable feat at the NCAA Championship. With his 12-10 win over 10th-seeded Cam Tessari of Ohio State on Saturday, Vinson capped a grueling run through the consolation bracket to place third. Vinson won seven straight matches - the only wrestler among 330 in St. Louis to win seven -- to become the highest-placing Bearcat in 10 years as a Division I program. It marked the first time in six years that any wrestler won seven straight matches at the NCAA Championship and it was just the fourth time in the last 14 years, according to the NCAA. “Overall it was an outstanding performance from all five of our guys,” sixth-year head coach Pat Popolizio said. “They all went .500 or better. I was extremely impressed with Donnie and Nick. For Nick as a true freshman to become an All-American, just shows his great potential. What a way to start his career! Donnie’s performance summed up our season ... he showed the heart, fight and will to win. Watching him win seven straight matches was one of the most exciting things I’ve ever witnessed as a coach. Words can’t describe how difficult it is to come all the way back like that, both mentally and physically. All these guys believe in what we’re about as a program and to get two All-Americans and finish in the top-15 as a team meets our goals for this season.” Heading into the evening finals, the Bearcats finished 14th place with 36.0 points. Popolizio and his staff produced two All-Americans for the first time and now have four All-Americans in the last four years. Binghamton’s five qualifiers went a combined 18-10 at the championship. In the high-scoring match against Tessari, Vinson scored four takedowns in the first period to forge ahead 8-4. He built riding time in the first period and added a reversal in the second period while maintaining his riding edge. A Tessari takedown at the second-period buzzer tightened the score at 10-9. Vinson escaped to start the third but was hit with a stall point, bringing the margin to 11-10 in the closing seconds. In the final five seconds, Vinson withstood a strong Tessari attack at the edge of the mat and with the riding time finished off a 12-10 win. Vinson finished his junior season with a 40-5 record and will bring 99 career wins into his senior season (99-24). In his 7th-8th place match, freshman heavyweight Nick Gwiazdowski ran into a tough seventh-seed in Jeremy Johnson of Ohio and dropped an 11-5 decision. Gwiazdowski was tied 3-3 late in the first period before Johnson scored a takedown and secured riding time in the first. Johnson added a takedown in the second and another in the third for the final 6-point margin. Gwiazdowski finished his impressive rookie season with a 30-9 record, including five wins at the NCAAs. He was the only “true” freshman All-American at heavyweight and one of just six “true” freshmen All-Americans at the entire championship. Vinson and Gwiazdowski will take part in the prestigious “Parade of All-Americans” and podium presentations in the evening session.

Matt McDonough won his second NCAA title (Photo/Larry Slater) ST. LOUIS -- University of Iowa junior Matt McDonough won the 2012 NCAA title tonight with a 4-1 decision over Penn State's Nico Megaludis in the 125-pound NCAA finals. The national title is the second of McDonough's career. He won the championship as a freshman in 2010 and finished runner-up last season. Senior Montell Marion and sophomore Derek St. John each earned runner-up finishes after dropping a pair of decisions in the 141- and 157-pound finals. McDonough, who has reached the NCAA finals in each of the last three years, wrestled through a scoreless first period before jumping on the board with a second-period escape. Leading 1-0 entering the third frame, McDonough surrendered a third period escape with 1:27 left in match. He then finished a single leg attack to grab a 3-1 lead before riding the Nittany Lion until the final whistle to pick up a riding time point (1:39) and earn the final 4-1 decision. The championship victory was the 100th victory of McDonough's career. He owns a 100-4 career record and became the 22nd wrestler in school history to win at least two NCAA titles. Only six Hawkeyes have ever won three national titles. "That thought crossed my mind today, you know, how are you going to make your legacy, how are you going to set your mark in the program," said McDonough. "I was a one timer, three time finalist. That's good, but I want to be in that group that keeps getting smaller and smaller, and that three time NCAA championship group is even smaller. Just like I said my freshman year, moving on to the next thing. It's not over yet. I'm not done yet. I've still got a year left. I'm moving forward from right now on." Marion battled to a 4-4 draw in regulation before surrendering the deciding takedown 23 seconds into overtime. Marion trailed 3-1 early in the second period before knotting the score 3-3 with 1:18 into the frame. Russell escaped and took a 4-3 advantage into the third frame before Marion battled back again and tied the match 4-4 with an escape at the 1:05 mark. The score remained tied 4-4 until Russell countered a Marion shot with a takedown in the sudden victory period to win 6-4. Marion finishes his Hawkeye career as a three-time All-American and two-time NCAA runner-up. He owns a 91-21 career record. St. John dropped a 4-1 decision to three-time NCAA champion Kyle Dake in the 157-pound finals. Dake scored an early takedown, a second period escape, added a point for riding time and allowed a point for stalling to earn the title. St. John finishes the season with a 21-3 overall record, a Big Ten title and his second All-America honor in as many seasons. The Hawkeyes finished third in the team race with 107.5 points. Penn State won its second straight NCAA title with 143 points. Minnesota finished second (117.5), and Cornell (102.5) and Ohio State (68.5) rounded out the top five. A record 112,393 people attended this year's wrestling championships. A single-session record 18,919 attended tonight's finals. The 2013 NCAA Wrestling Championships will be hosted by Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa. Iowa finished the season with six All-Americans and two Big Ten champions.

Related Content: Results|All-Americans|Day 3 Recap|Day 3 Interviews|Day 2 Recap|Day 2 Interviews|Day 1 Recap|Contest Penn State won its second straight title (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com) ST. LOUIS -- Penn State won its third-ever national title -- and its second in two years -- at the 2012 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at Scottrade Center in St. Louis on Saturday night, with three of five finalists winning individual championships. The Nittany Lions clinched the team title race during the medal round Saturday By the time the last title bout was wrestled, Cael Sanderson and Company had compiled 143 points ... 25.5 more than second-place Minnesota. The three Penn State wrestlers who were crowned champs in the Gateway City: Frank Molinaro at 149 pounds, David Taylor at 165, and Ed Ruth at 174. It was the first title for all three, and especially sweet for Molinaro and Taylor, who suffered humiliating losses in the finals at the 2011 NCAAs. When asked to compare his first team title to this year's, head coach Sanderson replied, "The first one's probably always going to be a little extra special. But I'm real happy for the guys. I think they wrestled great. They went out and did what they needed to do ... We had some incredible performances." In the 149-pound title match, the top-seeded Frank Molinaro got a 4-1 win over No. 7 seed Dylan Ness of Minnesota. It was the fourth time the Penn State senior had beaten the Gopher freshman this season. Molinaro used last year's finals loss to Cornell's Kyle Dake as inspiration this year, saying in the post-match interview, "Last year, I got killed and went back and trained as hard as I could for a year straight. Took a lot of heat, a lot of criticism from that match, but all it did was motivate me ... I had a lot of shutouts this year. I dominated people. And I had a blast doing it." Molinaro completed his last year with a perfect 33-0 record, and ends his career as a four-time NCAA All-American. David Taylor (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)At 165, top-seeded David Taylor capped his flawless 31-0 season with his first title, conducting a takedown clinic on No. 11 seed Brandon Hatchett of Lehigh, securing a 22-7 technical fall victory at 5:55. The sophomore from St. Paris, Ohio also earned Outstanding Wrestler honors for the tournament, and the Gorriaran Award for the most falls in the shortest amount of time (four in 8:46). With those four falls, Taylor seemed to be on his way to becoming only the ninth wrestler since 1928 to pin his way through the NCAAs ... but it was not to be. The last to do it was Oregon State heavyweight Howard Harris in 1980; among the others in this elite group are Bill Koll, Dan Hodge, and Dan Gable. When asked how much he had improved this season, Taylor replied, "I think it took me until the first match of this tournament to realize the improvement I've made. This whole year I think I wrestled with a little bit of I don't even know how to describe it -- I just wanted the NCAA tournament to be here. I wanted to be on that stage and make up for last year." Ed Ruth was the third Nittany Lion to win his first title, and leave St. Louis with a perfect 31-0 record. In a battle of undefeateds, the top-seeded sophomore earned a 13-2 major decision over third-seeded Stanford senior Nick Amuchastegui. Ruth had injury defaulted to Amuchastegui in the quarterfinals of the 2011 NCAAs, and it's a matter that has weighed in the minds of many wrestling fans ... and the wrestler himself. At the post-finals press conference, Ruth was asked if this was on his mind: "Oh definitely. I think about it last year. I think about it this year. I'm like, wow, we are two completely different wrestlers compared from last year to this year. And that whole situation, I didn't really look at it too much. The only thing that made me look at it much was the fans, what the people were saying on the Internet. And it's just getting me a big drive just to prove them wrong." Tony Nelson became the fifth Gopher to win a heavyweight title (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)Second-place Minnesota tallied 117.5 points, with Tony Nelson taking the heavyweight crown from defending champ Zack Rey of Lehigh on a takedown with just seven seconds left in the match to win 4-1. Here's how the native of Cambridge, Minnesota described it: "We got in a good scramble there and he had my leg. Just knew it was time. Had to score there. Couldn't give up that takedown. And I was able to spin around and catch his other leg for two. Really exciting." With the title, the second-seeded sophomore becomes the fifth Golden Gopher to win the heavyweight title, joining Leonard Levy, Verne Gagne, Brock Lesnar, and Cole Konrad. Iowa came in third place with 107.5 team points. Of its three finalists, only one -- Matt McDonough -- left Scottrade Center with a title, his second in three finals appearances, having won in 2010 but lost in 2011. The top-seeded Hawkeye senior earned the 125-pound crown this year with a 4-1 win over No. 10 seed freshman Nico Megaludis of Penn State. "Regardless of the weight, the sport of wrestling is a lifestyle like no other sport," the Marion, Iowa native said after Saturday night's win, the 100th of his collegiate career. "You have to live it, eat it, breathe it. Every aspect of your life has to include wrestling. And after my redshirt year, I realized what I wanted, and that was to be the very best, and I thought that would be going to 125 not because I'll get in the lineup, but because that's where I thought I would wrestle the best, I would be the most competitive, and I could improve myself the most." Kyle Dake became the first wrestler to win three NCAA titles and three different weights (Photo/Larry Slater)Cornell came in fourth in the team title race with 102.5 points, and all three finalists claiming individual championships: Kyle Dake at 157, Steve Bosak at 184, and Cam Simaz at 197. The top-seeded Dake won his third title in three years by beating No. 2 seed Derek St. John of Iowa, 4-1. The Big Red wrestler is the first to win three NCAA titles at three different weights, having won at 141 in 2010, then moving up to 149 last year. "(It's a) really good feeling, doing something that no one's done before," said the 35-0 Dake. "And it's a tough match. (St. John) went hard just like any Iowa guy would ... We were both battling. And I think that all great wrestlers appreciate a good battle. And I know it's not the outcome that he wanted, but he's a great wrestler. And he showed a lot of fight." No. 4 seed Bosak defeated defending champ Quentin Wright of Penn State, 4-2 SV, to win the 184-pound title. The two had grown up together in Centre County, Pennsylvania and trained together in high school, a subject that came up in post-match interviews. "We're friends. Great kid," said the Big Red wrestler. "But when it comes down to it, I was focusing on winning a national title no matter who it was. As far as I was concerned, it was a blank face I was going up against." Individual Champions (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com)The third Cornell champ of the evening was No. 1 seed Cam Simaz, who completed his college career by beating No. 2 seed Chris Honeycutt of Edinboro, 7-5, in the 197 finals ... after coming back from a 4-2 deficit in the second period. "I'll be the first to tell you that the plan wasn't to go out there and take him down, get a few escapes and start losing," said the senior. "Obviously that wasn't the game plan. But the game plan was to go out there wrestle hard for seven minutes. Hopefully outscore him. That's my game plan every single time." In fifth place was Ohio State with 68.5 team points, and one individual champ, No. 2 seed Logan Stieber, who scored a 4-3 win over No. 1 seed -- and defending champ -- Jordan Oliver of Oklahoma State in the 133-pound title match. What's next for the Buckeye freshman champ? A week off in Florida, then working on his goal to make the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team in freestyle. Another Big Ten school that could claim an individual champ was Michigan ... with Kellen Russell successfully defending his 141-pound title with a seesaw battle against fellow senior Montell Marion of Iowa, ending in sudden victory, 6-4 -- the third overtime match for the two conference rivals. "He's a great competitor, really good wrestler. And all of our matches are always tough," said the two-time Wolverine champ of Marion. "There were some takedowns it's not usually an easy takedown to score on, so his matches are always fun." Team Standings (Top 10) 1. Penn State 143 2. Minnesota 117.5 3. Iowa 107.5 4. Cornell 102.5 5. Ohio State 68.5 6. Oklahoma State 66 7. Illinois 62 8. Lehigh 61 9. Northwestern 42.5 10. Oregon State 40.5 NWCA Awards and Honors Gorriaran Award: Penn State's David Taylor (four pins in 8:46) Outstanding Wrestler of the NCAAs: David Taylor Coach of the Year: Minnesota's J Robinson NCAA Season-Long Performance Awards Most Tech Falls: Buffalo's Mark Lewandowski, Edinboro's Chris Honeycutt Most Falls: Oregon State's R.J. Pena (20 pins) Most Dominant Wrestler: David Taylor (513 points) News & Notes Taking attendance: The 2012 NCAAs set new records for fan attendance. Saturday night, 18,919 fans were in the stands of the Scottrade Center ... a new Session VI record. Total attendance for all six sessions was 112,393, shattering the record of 104,266 set last year at the NCAAs in Philadelphia. Big conference contrasts: The Big Ten had 12 finalists this year, while the Big 12 had only one (Jordan Oliver). The Big Ten had 34 wrestlers earn All-American honors; the Big 12 had only five -- its lowest total ever. All-American tallies: Minnesota had the most wrestlers place in the top eight in each weight class, with seven; Penn State, and Iowa had six All-Americans. Cornell had five All-Americans. Ohio State, Illinois and Lehigh each had four. Oklahoma State and Oregon State each had three All-Americans. Not one he'll want to remember: Oklahoma State's Jamal Parks -- the No. 2 seed at 149 -- had been undefeated this season ... but struggled at the 2012 NCAAs, and failed to place. Call him Iron Man: Binghamton's fourth-seeded Donnie Vinson lost his first match at the 2012 NCAAs ... then won seven straight bouts to place third at 149 pounds, earning All-American honors. "It was absolutely terrible, but awesome at the same time," said Vinson of losing first round and winning seven straight. "That's the second best thing you can do other than winning, and I did it with dominance."

125: 1st: No. 1 Matt McDonough (Iowa) dec. No. 10 Nico Megaludis (Penn State), 4-1 3rd: No. 2 Zach Sanders (Minnesota) dec. No. 6 Frank Perrelli (Cornell), 6-4 SV 5th: No. 8 Ryan Mango (Stanford) dec. No. 5 Nic Bedelyon (Kent State), 6-4 SV 7th: No. 4 Jesse Delgado (Illinois) dec. No. 12 Steve Bonanno (Hofstra), 3-1 133: 1st: No. 2 Logan Stieber (Ohio State) dec. No. 1 Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State), 4-3 3rd: No. 3 Tony Ramos (Iowa) pinned No. 10 Chris Dardanes (Minnesota), 6:49 5th: No. 6 Devin Carter (Virginia Tech) pinned No. 4 B.J. Futrell (Illinois), 1:45 7th: No. 8 Zac Stevens (Michigan) dec. No. 11 Steven Keith (Harvard), 13-11 141: 1st: No. 1 Kellen Russell (Michigan) dec. No. 3 Montell Marion (Iowa), 6-4 SV 3rd: No. 6 Boris Novachkov (Cal Poly) dec. No. 2 Kendric Maple (Oklahoma), 4-3 SV 5th: No. 4 Michael Mangrum (Oregon State) pinned No. 5 Hunter Stieber (Ohio State), 4:14 7th: Michael Nevinger (Cornell) dec. No. 8 Darius Little (North Carolina State), 10-3 149: 1st: No. 1 Frank Molinaro (Penn State) dec. No. 7 Dylan Ness (Minnesota), 4-1 3rd: No. 4 Donnie Vinson (Binghamton) dec. No. 10 Cam Tessari (Ohio State), 12-10 5th: No. 6 Tyler Nauman (Pittsburgh) dec. Justin Accordino (Hofstra), 4-3 7th: Scott Sakaguchi (Oregon State) dec. Nick Lester (Oklahoma), 1-0 157: 1st: No. 1 Kyle Dake (Cornell) dec. No. 2 Derek St. John (Iowa), 4-1 3rd: No. 7 Dylan Alton (Penn State) dec. No. 3 Jason Welch (Northwestern), 6-2 5th: No. 6 James Fleming (Clarion) dec. No. 5 Ganbayar Sanjaa (American), 7-5 7th: No. 11 James Green (Nebraska) dec. No. 4 Walter Peppelman (Harvard), 9-1 165: 1st: No. 1 David Taylor (Penn State) tech. fall No. 11 Brandon Hatchett (Lehigh), 22-7 3rd: No. 4 Bekzod Abdurakhmanov (Clarion) dec. Kyle Blevins (Appalachian State), 6-2 5th: No. 6 Peter Yates (Virginia Tech) dec. No. 7 Josh Asper (Maryland), 13-7 7th: Ben Jordan (Wisconsin) dec. No. 9 Conrad Polz (Illinois), 5-2 174: 1st: No. 1 Ed Ruth (Penn State) dec. No. 3 Nick Amuchastegui (Stanford), 13-2 3rd: No. 2 Chris Perry (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 7 Jordan Blanton (Illinois), 4-1 5th: No. 9 Nick Heflin (Ohio State) dec. No. 4 Logan Storley (Minnesota), 3-2 7th: No. 5 Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa) dec. No. 6 Ryan DesRoches (Cal Poly), 3-1 184: 1st: No. 4 Steve Bosak (Cornell) dec. No. 6 Quentin Wright (Penn State), 4-2 SV 3rd: No. 9 Austin Trotman (Appalachian State) dec. No. 2 Robert Hamlin (Lehigh), 3-1 SV 5th: No. 5 Kevin Steinhaus (Minnesota) dec. No. 3 Ben Bennett (Central Michigan), 3-1 7th: No. 1 Joe LeBlanc (Wyoming) med. forfeit over No. 7 Josh Ihnen (Nebraska) 197: 1st: No. 1 Cam Simaz (Cornell) dec. No. 2 Chris Honeycutt (Edinboro), 7-5 3rd: No. 5 Cayle Byers (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 4 Matt Wilps (Pittsburgh), 3-2 5th: No. 10 Sonny Yohn (Minnesota) dec. No. 9 Alfonso Hernandez (Wyoming), 4-1 7th: No. 11 Micah Burak (Penn) dec. No. 12 Joe Kennedy (Lehigh), 2-1 SV 285: 1st: No. 2 Tony Nelson (Minnesota) dec. No. 4 Zack Rey (Lehigh), 4-1 3rd: No. 10 Mike McMullan (Northwestern) dec. No. 3 Clayton Jack (Oregon State), 10-5 5th: No. 5 Bobby Telford (Iowa) med. forfeit over No. 1 Ryan Flores (American) 7th: No. 7 Jeremy Johnson (Ohio) dec. Nick Gwiazdowski (Binghamton), 11-5

Related Content: Results|All-Americans|Day 3 Recap|Day 3 Interviews|Day 2 Recap|Day 2 Interviews|Day 1 Recap|Contest 125: Matt McDonough (Iowa) 133: Logan Stieber (Ohio State) 141: Kellen Russell (Michigan) 149: Frank Molinaro (Penn State) 157: Kyle Dake (Cornell) 165: David Taylor (Penn State) 174: Ed Ruth (Penn State) 184: Steve Bosak (Cornell) 197: Cam Simaz (Cornell) 285: Tony Nelson (Minnesota) Cael Sanderson (Penn State)

Minnesota finished runner-up to Penn State (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine) Tony Nelson capped off the 2012 NCAA Wrestling National Championship with a heavyweight title. It is the first national title for a Minnesota heavyweight since Cole Conrad (2007) and it’s the Gophers first national champion since Jayson Ness won a title in 2010. Head Coach J Robinson was also named the 2012 National Coach of the Year. The Golden Gophers wrestling team finished second overall after recording 117.5 points for their best finish since winning the team title in 2007. Penn State was crowned team champions for the second consecutive year, after finishing with 143.0 points. Nelson was down 1-0 going into the third period and had 1:10 of riding time. The sophomore scored an escape to even the score at 1-1 with 1:36 reaming in the period. Nelson would score a takedown with seven seconds remaining to go up 3-1. He would ride him out to end the match and earn an additional point for riding time and the championship, with a 4-1 win. Nelson’s thoughts on finishing seventh a year ago and champion this season were all smiles. “You know, you work hard all summer,” Nelson said. “The offseason's huge for getting better and coming finishing seventh place last year, I wanted a national championship this year. I put the time in and I just have to thank God for everything he has done for me. He brought me here and now I am an NCAA champion.” Redshirt freshman Dylan Ness finished runner-up to Penn State’s Frank Molianro. Early in the first period Molinaro took a shot at Ness, but the Bloomington native countered it and nearly turned him on his back, before the both of them went out of the circle. Molinaro would score on a double leg takedown near the end of the first to go up 2-0. In the second period, Ness chose to defer until the third. Molinaro would score an escape early and Ness would block a few shots, to end the period down 3-0. Ness would score an escape late in the third period after Molinaro recorded 1:50 of riding time and end the match at 4-1. Note: The NCAA Division I Wrestling Championship all-time total attendance record with 112,393 for the week.

Related Content: Results|All-Americans|Day 3 Recap|Day 3 Interviews|Day 2 Recap|Day 2 Interviews|Day 1 Recap|Contest Nico Megaludis defeated Frank Perrelli to reach the NCAA finals (Photo/John Sachs, Tech-Fall.com) ST. LOUIS -- It was Penn State Day at the 2012 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at Scottrade Center in St. Louis Friday. No, there wasn't any official proclamation ... but it sure seemed that everything went right for the defending NCAA team titlewinners on Day 2 of the national tournament. The Nittany Lions went five-for-five in the semifinals Friday evening, putting a wrestler in half the title matches to be wrestled Saturday night, including freshman phemom Nico Megaludis at 125 pounds, Ed Ruth at 174, 2011 NCAA finalists Frank Molinaro and David Taylor at 149 and 165, and 2011 NCAA 184-pound champ Quentin Wright. What's more, Penn State has wrestled as if possessed, racking up bonus points seemingly at every turn. All these factors have put head coach Cael Sanderson's crew in first place in the team title race ... and in the driver's seat to win a second consecutive championship, and third overall. At the end of Session IV Friday, Penn State has 124 points. Minnesota was in second place with 101.5 points, and two finalists -- Dylan Ness at 149, and Tony Nelson at 285. In third place was Iowa, with 93 points, and three Hawkeyes vying for titles: Matt McDonough at 125, Montell Marion at 141, and Derek St. John at 157. Cornell, with 86 points, is in fourth place, with three Big Red wrestlers still in the title hunt: Kyle Dake at 157, Steve Bosak at 184, and Cam Simaz at 197. Finals will be wrestled at 6:30 p.m. CT Saturday. 125: No. 1 seed Matt McDonough (Iowa) dec. No. 5 Nic Bedelyon (Kent State), 15-7 No. 10 Nico Megaludis (Penn State) dec. No. 6 Frank Perrelli (Cornell), 3-2 SV2 A study in contrasts -- at least in terms of seeding (No. 1 vs. No. 10), class (junior Matt McDonough of Iowa, vs. true freshman Nico Megaludis of Penn State), and NCAA finals experience (third title match for the Hawkeye, first-ever for the Nittany Lion.) McDonough, the Big Ten champ, with a 35-1 record, is taking on Megaludis, with a 28-7 mark this season, for the second time this season, at the Iowa-Penn State dual in January, where McDonough got a 3-1 overtime win. When informed he would be facing Megaludis in an all-Big Ten final, McDonough said, "It's a chance I want back -- to wrestle him again, to improve on what I started on, but not just go off of what happened in the dual." Megaludis said of his finals opponent, "Obviously he's pretty good. But I'm excited. He's going to wrestle hard for seven minutes. I'm going to wrestle hard for seven minutes. He's on a mission. I'm on a mission, too. It's going to be a fight." 133: No. 1 Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 4 B.J. Futrell (Illinois), 4-2 No. 2 Logan Stieber (Ohio State) dec. No. 3 Tony Ramos (Iowa), 8-2 A classic match-up between No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, the sort of thing bracket engineers and wrestling fans seek. Oklahoma State's Jordan Oliver is a junior, with a 28-1 record, the 2012 Big 12 title, and the 2011 NCAA crown. Ohio State's Logan Stieber is a freshman, 32-2, with the 2012 Big Ten championship. The two finalists wrestled at the 2012 National Duals in mid-February, with Oliver getting a 7-3 win. At the post-semifinals press conference, Oliver looked ahead to Saturday night: "I feel good. Real excited about this next match. I wrestled Logan once before. But it's a new day. It's a new match. Anything can happen." When asked about Oliver, Stieber responded, "I've wrestled him before. I know what he's going to do, he knows what I'm going to do." The Buckeye added he would watch the film from the National Duals tonight. 141: No. 1 Kellen Russell (Michigan) dec. No. 5 Hunter Stieber (Ohio State), 5-2 No. 3 Montell Marion (Iowa) vs. No. 2 Kendric Maple (Oklahoma), 3-1 OT A second Big Ten finals, featuring two seniors looking to wrap up their careers with the NCAA title. Michigan's Kellen Russell is the defending NCAA champ, 28-1 this season. He won the Big Ten title two weeks ago by beating Montell Marion, 7-2, who has a 27-3 record this year as senior at Iowa. Russell weighed in on the man who hopes to deny him one more title: "I had a pretty big game plan (at the Big Tens). I'm sure he'll come back with something different. Just need to keep my attacks going and it should be an exciting match ... Pretty much all I want to do is be more offensive whether it's attacking at single or high crotch. The main plan is to stay offensive." Marion was asked to compare his semifinals opponent (Oklahoma's Kendric Maple) to his finals rival Russell. "When it comes to Russell, different kind of wrestler," said the Hawkeye, who was a 2010 NCAA finalist. "Maple is more of a counter style wrestler, counter offense. Russell is a scrambler, he's talented. Got to go out there and put a hammer on him, protect my legs, getting my tie, getting my score. The mantra: get your legs, get your tie, get your score." 149: No. 1 Frank Molinaro (Penn State) dec. unseeded Justin Accordino (Hofstra), 5-0 4:03 RT No. 7 Dylan Ness (Minnesota) dec. No. 6 Tyler Nauman (Pittsburgh), 8-5 Yet another clash of Big Ten wrestlers. Penn State's Frank Molinaro, a senior, brings a perfect 32-0 record to the finals, along with the Big Ten title ... and the experience gained from being in the NCAA finals last year. Dylan Ness is a freshman, 28-3, at Minnesota. In three matches between the two this season, "Frank the Tank" is 3-0 on Ness, including a major decision and a technical fall. Citing the fact Molinaro has easily handled Ness three times this year, a reporter asked if he would rather end his wrestling career with a tougher opponent. "No. I mean, whoever it is, it doesn't matter," said the Nittany Lion. "We prepare for anybody. I'm going to take Dylan like it's the first time I wrestled him. I'm not going to take him light. I'm going to go out there like it's the last match of my career, because it is." Dylan Ness (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)Ness was asked about those losses. "After that Big Ten loss, I had my father just telling me getting second in the Big Tens is a great thing to have and be that for a freshman, just to come back and learn from it, keep learning from these things," the Golden Gopher responded. "Just forget about that loss, especially now that I'm in the finals with him. And nothing else matters except for that seven minutes on the stage." Ness drew some laughs when asked what makes it so hard to score upon Molinaro: "He's just stays low. I guess it doesn't help that I'm 6', 149 pounder and he's 5', and five feet wide. Yeah, he's tough to score on, stays low, gets the head position down when you shoot. He's pretty quick, too." 157: No. 1 Kyle Dake (Cornell) dec. No. 5 Ganbayar Sanjaa (American), 4-0 No. 2 Derek St. John (Iowa) dec. No. 3 Jason Welch (Northwestern), 5-1 Kyle Dake is a junior, with a flawless 34-0 record, the EIWA (Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association) title, and two NCAA championships. Derek St. John, a sophomore, has battled back from injuries to craft a 21-2 season, including the Big Ten crown. Dake and St. John have never faced each other on the mat. "I just really wanted to get back on that stage and be able to show people what I'm made of, go out and win another national title," said Dake in the press conference after his semifinals win. When asked about going up against St. John, the Big Red wrestler responded, "Don't really know much about him. Just that he's an Iowa guy and he seems to win a lot of close matches, so it will be fun." What does it mean for St. John to make it to the finals? "It wasn't ever really a doubt in my mind that it wasn't possible. But had a little bit of a setback with the knee. Just kept marching forward." When asked what it's like to go up against a wrestler of Dake's credentials, the Hawkeye put things in perspective, saying he would wrestle like it's another match, albeit "a bigger, more important match." 165: No. 1 David Taylor (Penn State) pinned No. 4 Bekzod Abdurakhmonov (Clarion), 4:46 No. 11 Brandon Hatchett (Lehigh) dec. No. 7 Josh Asper (Maryland), 5-4 This match has the biggest differential in terms of seeding -- a No. 1 going up against a No. 11 seed. David Taylor is a sophomore with 31 wins, no losses for the season, the 2012 Big Ten title, and the experience of having been in the spotlight last year as an NCAA runner-up. Brandon Hatchett is a senior, 18-3, who won the 2012 EIWA title a couple weeks ago. The two wrestled in an early December dual meet, with the Nittany Lion coming out on top, 8-5. "He's a pretty good opponent," Taylor said of the man he'll face for the title. "Obviously he's in the national finals. I think he should have been a higher seed than 11. He obviously showed it by making it to the final." Hatchett addressed the issue of his low seeding, the result of having a torn AC at the Midlands which forced him to sit out much of the season, saying, "It gave me a little motivation. But I understood, because I was gone for most of the season, that I was going to be seeded low. If you want to be the best, you have to beat everybody, so it doesn't matter." When asked about his game plan for Saturday's finals, Hatchett broke up the press corps with his honest response: "I don't know. I haven't decided yet. Make weight, relax, about 10 minutes before the match I'll start panicking and figure that out." 174: No. 1 Ed Ruth (Penn State) tech. fall No. 4 Logan Storley (Minnesota), 16-1 (6:38) No. 3 Nick Amuchastegui (Stanford) dec. No. 2 Chris Perry (Oklahoma State), 6-3 Ed Ruth (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)Penn State sophomore Ed Ruth came to St. Louis with a perfect 26-0 record, the Big Ten title, and the No. 1 seed. Likewise, Nick Amuchastegui had a flawless 20-0 season, the Pac-12 crown ... but was seeded third, much to the consternation of some in the wrestling world, but, not to the Stanford senior, who, when asked whether his place in the bracket was an insult, responded, "No, I didn't feel like I got slapped in the face. I felt like I got the best chance to wrestle the two best guys in the bracket. If I beat them both, I'd come out feeling a lot better about the whole tournament." The two have a bit of history; Ruth was forced to injury default to Amuchastegui in the quarterfinals at the 2011 NCAAs. Amuchastegui made it to the finals, where he lost to Iowa State's Jon Reader. Ruth pinned his first two opponents in about 90 seconds each, using the cradle. That's something that his finals opponent is already thinking about. "Figure out how you want to defend it, figure out what you want to do against it, then execute it," said Amuchastegui. "Go out there, just like every match, everybody is good at something. Whoever they are, whatever it is, you got to figure out how to beat it and do it." Naturally, the Nittany Lion was asked about his cradle, too. "It's something I've been doing for years now," said Ruth. "The move I'm most comfortable with. Very confident in the strength of my arms. Every time I go out there, if I feel it, I'm going to shoot right for it." 184: No. 6 Quentin Wright (Penn State) dec. No. 2 Robert Hamlin (Lehigh), 3-2 No. 4 Steve Bosak (Cornell) dec. No. 9 Austin Trotman (Appalachian State), 4-2 SV This will be a battle of finalists from two teams currently battling for the team title who happen to be both from Centre County, Pa. Penn State's Quentin Wright, the only individual champ from the team that won the 2011 NCAA title, is a junior with a 30-3 record. Steve Bosak from Cornell is also a junior, 32-4 this year. The two were workout partners back in high school, from different schools, in adjacent weight classes. Wright defeated Bosak, 10-3, in the finals of the Southern Scuffle in December. When asked about that history, Wright put it in perspective: "Next opponent, I guess. Yeah, I mean, I'm really happy for him. We worked hard growing up. We were kind of like rival school workout partners on Sunday ... But, yeah, I'm excited that he's doing real well. We get a chance to wrestle each other tomorrow." Bosak was a bit more matter-of-fact in his response to the same line of questioning. "When it comes to wrestling, you have no friends out there. It's you and the other guy. You just got to look at it that way, with that mindset. And after the match, you can be friends." 197: No. 1 Cam Simaz (Cornell) dec. No. 5 Cayle Byers (Oklahoma State), 6-3 No. 2 Chris Honeycutt (Edinboro) dec. No. 3 Matt Wilps (Pittsburgh), 6-3, TB1 One more match-up of the top two seeds in the weight class. No. 1 seed Cornell's Cam Simaz is a senior with a 31-1 record, and the EIWA title; Edinboro's Chris Honeycutt is also a senior, 40-1, with the EWL championship. "That's a match everybody wants to see at 197," said Simaz after winning his semifinals bout. "Hopefully it turns out to be exciting .... But as far as Honeycutt goes, (we're) two totally different wrestlers. He's all jacked up and I'm string bean. Hopefully the 'String Bean' can pull one out for the little guys. We'll see what happens tomorrow." Honeycutt was more philosophical about the finals, saying it was his last wrestling match, as he plans to go into mixed martial arts competition after graduation. "Tomorrow is very exciting. I hope I can go out on a win. To win the National tournament as a fifth year senior, it's my last shot, my only time. I mean, it's a dream. It's a step in the right direction." 285: No. 2 Tony Nelson (Minnesota) dec. No. 3 Clayton Jack (Oregon State), 4-3 No. 4 Zack Rey (Lehigh) dec. No. 1 Ryan Flores (American), 7-1 Tony Nelson (Photo/Mark Beshey, The Guillotine)Minnesota's Tony Nelson, the second seed in the big-man bracket, was 31-2 as a sophomore, winning the Big Ten heavyweight title earlier this month. Zack Rey, a senior at Lehigh, had a 26-1 season ... with that one loss being to American's Ryan Flores at the EIWA finals ... the same Flores he defeated at the 2011 NCAA finals, and in the semifinals at the 2012 NCAAs. Rey was blunt in his assessment of being seeded fourth in the bracket, even as defending heavyweight champ. "I didn't care for my seed ... I mean, everybody knows the selection committee did a terrible job this season. That doesn't matter. You have to win five matches out here. Sometimes six to be a champ." What does it mean for Nelson to go up against Rey? "I'm excited to go out there, get a chance to knock off the defending national champ. I'm just going to, like I said, be active, move, try and wear him out, see what I can do."

Related Content: Results|All-Americans|Day 3 Recap|Day 3 Interviews|Day 2 Recap|Day 2 Interviews|Day 1 Recap|Contest 125: Matt McDonough (Iowa) 125: Nico Megaludis (Penn State) 133: Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) 133: Logan Stieber (Ohio State) 141: Kellen Russell (Michigan) 141: Montell Marion (Iowa) 149: Frank Molinaro (Penn State) 149: Dylan Ness (Minnesota) 157: Kyle Dake (Cornell) 157: Derek St. John (Iowa) 165: David Taylor (Penn State) 165: Brandon Hatchett (Lehigh) 174: Ed Ruth (Penn State) 174: Nick Amuchastegui (Stanford) 184: Steve Bosak (Cornell) 184: Quentin Wright (Penn State) 197: Cam Simaz (Cornell) 197: Chris Honeycutt (Edinboro) 285: Tony Nelson (Minnesota) 285: Zack Rey (Lehigh)

Related Content: Results|All-Americans|Day 3 Recap|Day 3 Interviews|Day 2 Recap|Day 2 Interviews|Day 1 Recap|Contest ST. LOUIS -- A number of recently-crowned conference champions had their dreams of a national title denied -- or, in some cases, deferred for another year -- in the first day of competition at the 2012 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at Scottrade Center in downtown St. Louis on Thursday. Meanwhile, Penn State -- 2012 Big Ten and 2011 NCAA team champs -- was in first place at the end of Day 1 with 38.5 team points and seven wrestlers alive in the championship bracket. In second was Minnesota with 33 points and eight wrestlers in the championship bracket. Oklahoma State was third with 28.5 points and four wrestlers in the championship bracket. With 27 points Cornell was in fourth place with four wrestlers in the championship bracket. Iowa finished the day in fifth with 26 points and six wrestlers in the championship bracket. Three No. 4 seeds -- including two conference champs -- were derailed from their title quest in Session I: At 149, 2012 CAA (Colonial Athletic Conference) champ Donnie Vinson of Binghamton lost to unseeded Nick Lester of University of Oklahoma. At 157, Harvard's Walter Peppelman -- a 2011 NCAA All-American -- was pinned by unseeded David Bonin of Northern Iowa. At 197, Christian Boley of Maryland -- 2012 ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) titlist -- was defeated by unseeded Cody Reed of Binghamton. Vinson, Peppelman, and Boley all rebounded to win in the wrestlebacks on Thursday night. Thursday evening saw even more upsets. Among the casualties of Session II: Virginia Tech's Devin Carter, ACC champ and sixth seed at 133, lost to No. 11 seed Steven Keith of Harvard (Carter had been ranked No. 1 in his weight class for a time this season.). Also at 133, third-seeded Alan Waters of Missouri -- 2012 Big 12 champ -- fell in overtime to unseeded Anthony Zanetti of Pitt. At 141, No. 7 seed -- and 2012 ACC titlewinner -- Nick Nelson of Virginia was topped by unseeded Zach Neibert of cross-state rival Virginia Tech. In the 149-pound bracket, fifth-seeded freshman Ian Miller of Kent State -- 2012 MAC (Mid-American Conference) titlist -- was pinned by unseeded Justin Accordino of Hofstra. At 157, sixth-seed EWL (Eastern Wrestling League) champ James Fleming of Clarion fell to No. 11 James Green of Nebraska. Iowa's Mike Evans -- the No. 5 seed at 165 -- lost to No. 12 P.J. Gillespie of Hofstra. At 197, 2012 Big Ten champ and No. 7 seed Mario Gonzalez of Illinois was defeated by Big Ten rival Sonny Yohn, the No. 10 seed from Minnesota. The quarterfinals begin at 10 a.m. CT on Friday. Team Standings (Top 10): 1. Penn State 38.5 2. Minnesota 33 3. Oklahoma State 28.5 4. Cornell 27.5 5. Iowa 26 6. Illinois 23 7. Oklahoma 19.5 8. Ohio State 19 9. Lehigh 18 9. Nebraska 18 9. Northwestern 18

Related Link: The MMA Outsider Podcast Archives The first ever live season of The Ultimate Fighter kicked off with a whopping 16 fights to determine who would earn a spot in the house. Between that and Bellator season six being in full swing, Richard and John had plenty of MMA to review. With that in mind, the boys brought in some help and welcomed back to the show T. D. Lott, a contributor at CageJunkies.com. Enjoy the roundtable discussion and stay tuned until next week, when we have an expert breakdown TUF Brazil.

Related Content: Results|Live Blog|Day 2 Recap|Day 2 Interviews|Day 1 Recap|Predictions|Contest NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships

The InterMat staff writers and executives have broken down the brackets for this week's NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in St. Louis, Mo., and made their predictions. Andrew Hipps T.R. Foley Tom Franck Josh Lowe Will Koe Jim Beezer UFC Monster Brian Jerzak

125: It's hard to pick against Matt McDonough when he dominates the No. 2 guy as much as has. Prediction: No. 1 Matt McDonough (Iowa) over No. 2 Zach Sanders (Minnesota) 133: 24 wins, 23 came with bonus points. That is domination. Prediction: No. 1 Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) over No. 2 Logan Stieber (Ohio State) 141: I am not picking against Kellen Russell until he gives me a reason. Prediction: No. 1 Kellen Russell (Michigan) over No. 3 Montell Marion (Iowa) 149: I hate going with all No. 1 seeds, but so far it has been tough not going against the favorites. Prediction: No. 1 Frank Molinaro (Penn State) over No. 2 Jamal Parks (Oklahoma State) 157: I am not a big fan of the lower half of Kyle Dake's bracket. If Dake wrestles solid I don't see him getting challenged. Prediction: No. 1 Kyle Dake Cornell over No. 3 Jason Welch (Northwestern) 165: David Taylor finishes the deal his second time around. Prediction: No. 1 David Taylor (Penn State) over No. 3 Andrew Sorenson (Iowa State) 174: I almost went with Chris Perry here, but Ed Ruth has faced such tough competition and keeps coming out on top. Prediction: No. 1 Ed Ruth (Penn State) over No. 2 Chris Perry (Oklahoma State) 184: Steve Bosak gets by Joe LeBlanc and then wins the rubber match (this season) against Robert Hamlin. Prediction: No. 4 Steve Bosak (Cornell) over No. 2 Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) 197: With 12 pins in 27 matches this season, Simaz has proven he is a great finisher. Prediction: No. 1 Cam Simaz (Cornell) over Matt Wilps (Pittsburgh) 285: Tony Nelson has gotten better all season and is peaking at the right time. Prediction: No. 2 Tony Nelson (Minnesota) over No. 4 Zack Rey (Lehigh) Top Five Teams: 1. Penn State 2. Cornell 3. Minnesota 4. Iowa 5. Oklahoma State

125: Zach Sanders' three losses this year were all to Matt McDonough, who will not be denied a championship after losing to Anthony Robles in last year's final. Prediction: No. 1 Matt McDonough (Iowa) over No. 2 Zach Sanders (Minnesota) 133: Jordan Oliver's only loss was to Iowa's Tony Ramos, who lost twice to Logan Stieber. All of Oliver's wins earned bonus points except his previous 7-3 win over Stieber. Oliver gets it done again. Prediction: No. 1 Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) over No. 2 Logan Stieber (Ohio State) 141: Kellen Russell recently beat Montell Marion, 7-3, to win the Big Tens. He will repeat the effort here. Prediction: No. 1 Kellen Russell (Michigan) over No. 3 Montell Marion (Iowa) 149: Frank Molinaro is an undefeated beast who dominated in the Big Ten tourney with two tech falls and a pin in less than a minute and a half. He's at the top of his game, and won't have Kyle Dake riding him throughout. I give him the nod over Jamal Parks. Prediction: No. 1 Frank Molinaro (Penn State) over No. 2 Jamal Parks (Oklahoma State) 157: I can't get off the No. 1 seeds with Kyle Dake. The two-time NCAA champ is in a class of his own. Fleming has won 14 straight and will surprise. Prediction: No. 1 Kyle Dake (Cornell) over No. 6 James Fleming (Clarion) 165: David Taylor has completely dominated his competition again this year, with only two wins being non-bonus affairs. Taylor will be the biggest favorite on the board. After failing in the finals last year, he won't lose this year. Prediction: No. 1 David Taylor (Penn State) over No. 3 Andrew Sorenson (Iowa State) 174: Like David Taylor, Ed Ruth has dominated this year with an undefeated record. Amuchastegui struggled through a December injury, but has enough to beat Ruth again. I mean, not all No. 1 seeds will win, will they? Prediction: No. 3 Nick Amuchastegui (Stanford) over No. 1 over Ed Ruth (Penn State) 184: Another match that could go either way. Prediction: No. 1 Joe LeBlanc (Wyoming) over No. 2 over Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) 197: Golden Gopher Yohn's upset run falls short. Prediction: No. 1 Cam Simaz (Cornell) over No. 10 Sonny Yohn (Minnesota) 285: Another Gopher falls short after Zack Rey gets his revenge over Ryan Flores. Prediction: No. 4 Zack Rey (Lehigh) over No. 2 Tony Nelson (Minnesota) Top Five Teams: 1. Penn State 2. Iowa 3. Oklahoma State 4. Minnesota 5. Cornell

125: Matt McDonough is 31-1 and knows what it feels like to wrestle on the big stage, having made the NCAA finals in each of his first two seasons wrestling for the Hawkeyes. He has beaten the less physical Sanders three times this year. This weight is a no-brainer. Prediction: No. 1 Matt McDonough (Iowa) over No. 2 Zach Sanders or No. 6 Frank Perrelli (Cornell) 133: Jordan Oliver has been completely dominant this year after winning his first NCAA title last year. His lone loss to Tony Ramos of Iowa was an anomaly. I expect a comfortable 4-5 point win over Stieber in the finals following a string of major decisions, tech falls, and pins. Prediction: No. 1 Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) over No. 2 Logan Stieber (Ohio State) 141: Kellen Russell has quietly gone 66-1 the last two seasons. He "finally" won his first title last year. Make it two in a row, as he defeats Boris Novachkov in the finals. Prediction: No. 1 Kellen Russell (Michigan) over No. 6 Boris Novachkov (Cal Poly) 149: Frank Molinaro has been a beast this year! Jamal Parks has been dominant as well, but less impressive against similar opponents. Molinaro's time in the weight room pays off as he exercises the demons of last year's lopsided loss to Kyle Dake (see below). Prediction: No. 1 Frank Molinaro (Penn State) over No. 2 Jamal Parks (Oklahoma State) 157: Kyle Dake is a gamer. As a two-time defending national champion, he knows how to bring it when the stakes are high. James Fleming and his unorthodox and controversial turn will surprise people, but won't be enough to dethrone Dake. Who says you can’t move up a weight class each year and continue to be successful? "Don’t lose." Prediction: No. 1 Kyle Dake (Cornell) over No. 6 James Fleming (Clarion) 165: David Taylor rolls through the tournament thanks to a savage tan and unstoppable offense. I expect a major decision or tech fall in the finals. Prediction: No. 1 David Taylor (Penn State) over No. 11 Brandon Hatchett (Lehigh) 174: Nick Amuchastegui was working Ed Ruth in the semifinals of last year's NCAA tournament before an unknown injury ended the match. Amuchastegui is the better wrestler, and will win the title if he can get by Chris Perry of Oklahoma State in the semis. Prediction: No. 3 Nick Amuchastegui (Stanford) over No. 1 Ed Ruth (Penn State) 184: Quentin Wright has been inconsistent at best this year. But so was J Jaggers on his way to winning two NCAA titles. Wright will be fueled by the prospects of winning the team title. LeBlanc will wish he had better competition throughout the year. Prediction: No. 6 Quentin Wright (Penn State) over No. 1 Joe LeBlanc (Wyoming) 197: Simaz hasn't lost a match on the mat all year. I think he'll avoid the same fate that plagued Mack Lewnes (underperforming) and win the title at 197 pounds. Prediction: No. 1 Cam Simaz (Cornell) over No. 2 Chris Honeycutt (Edinboro) 285: Ryan Flores looked hungrier than defending NCAA champion Zack Rey in the EIWA finals. Nelson will continue Minnesota's long tradition of successful heavyweights, but won't be able to overcome Flores' athleticism. Prediction: No. 1 Ryan Flores (American) over No. 2 Tony Nelson (Minnesota)

125: Matt McDonough owns the series and enters the event as a guy who has already "been there." It may be too much to ask for Zach Sanders to break the streak now. This event will be staged in St. Louis, which happens to be long way from Hollywood. Prediction: No. 1 Matt McDonough (Iowa) over No. 2 Zach Sanders (Minnesota) 133: Since Jordan Oliver's loss to Tony Ramos in early January, he has rattled off 14 straight victories of which eight were by a tech fall or pin. If he is back to his original form ... and it looks like he is ... he will be on top of the podium. Tony Ramos vs. Logan Stieber in the semifinals is going to be worth the price of admission. Prediction: No. 1 Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) over No. 2 Tony Ramos (Iowa) 141: Kellen Russell's aggressiveness in the Big Ten finals was encouraging. After the event, he spoke about wanting to stay aggressive through the NCAAs. Unfortunately in his case, past performance is an indicator of future performance, and I don't think he can keep it up when the stakes are the highest. I am predicting that he reverts to his defensive style and is beaten by the talented and explosive Kendric Maple in the finals. Prediction: No. 2 Kendric Maple (Oklahoma) over No. 1 Kellen Russell (Michigan) 149: Frank Molinaro and Jamal Parks have been the class of this weight the entire season, but this is still an extremely deep weight. Bracket busters are littered all over this chart like zits on a teenager's face. Upset alerts: Mario Mason over Jamal Parks in the round of 16, Corey Janzen over Cam Tessari in the first round, Eric Terrazas over Ian Miller in the first round. Prediction: No. 1 Frank Molinaro (Penn State) over No. 2 Jamal Parks (Oklahoma State) 157: The bottom half of this weight class looks suspect to me. Derek St. John had a fantastic Big Ten tournament where he continued his dominance over Welch. Unfortunately, in 20 years of breaking down NCAA bracket sheets, I have learned that you cannot count on wrestlers battling knee injuries with tape and pain killers. Dustin Schlatter was a more extreme but recent example of this. Expect James Fleming to win the crowd by successfully riding his boa constrictor headlock to the finals. Prediction: Kyle Dake (Cornell) over No. 6 James Fleming (Clarion) 165: As I write this, David Taylor has been picked on 1,023 of the 1,039 InterMat Big Show Pick 'Em Contest tickets. The 16 contestants that didn't pick Taylor to win the event also happen to believe in fairy tales (including the one where all NCAA coaches agree to name two team national champions -- one for the dual tourney and one for the individual tourney). Prediction: No. 1 David Taylor (Penn State) over No. 7 Josh Asper (Maryland) 174: In the age of online match viewing and televised NCAA matches on ESPN, I can't believe I was the only one that was able to catch the match last year where Nick Amuchastegui handled Ed Ruth over to the point that defaulting was the best option for him. And by the way ... when was the last time a guy went into the NCAAs with a crazy hairdo and it worked out? Ruth should have consulted Gregor Gillespie (2008, No. 1 seed, leopard print hair, finished fifth) before we went with his new "Black and Tan" style that he sported during the Big Tens. Prediction: No. 3 Nick Amuchastegui (Stanford) over No. 1 Ed Ruth (Penn State) 184: In my opinion, 184 is the most balanced weight in the event and will provide the theater or the team race with Steve Bosak (Cornell), Quentin Wright (Penn State), Kevin Steinhaus (Minnesota), and Grant Gambrall (Iowa) all having similar chances to score big points for their teams. If you are interested in the team results, you are not going to want to grab your Dippin' Dots during the wrestlebacks for this weight. Prediction: No. 2 Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) over No. 4 Steve Bosak (Cornell) 197: Cam Simaz has had a fantastic year and has proven that he is the top wrestler in this weight. Expect him to wrestle close matches over tough opponents (like Matt Powless in the quarters!), but be in the finals against Chris Honeycutt. If you are looking for a bracket buster at this weight, Sonny Yohn is streaky, but should not be overlooked as the No. 10 seed in the lower half of the bracket. Prediction: No. 1 Cam Simaz (Cornell) over No. 2 Chris Honeycutt (Edinboro) 285: I know better than to go against the retuning national champion on the big stage. Zack Rey is a gamer who will find his way to the finals. Others I am looking forward to watching at this weight: the intriguing and untested Odie Delaney, the streaky Peter Sturgeon, and the young Matt Gibson. Prediction: No. 4 Zack Rey (Lehigh) over No. 3 Clayton Jack (Oregon State) Team: 1. Penn State 2. Minnesota 3. Iowa 4. Cornell 5. Oklahoma State

125: Already a national champion, Matt McDonough (Iowa) seeks a second title in three years having been derailed by Anthony Robles last season in the final. Based on Matt McDonough 's long-standing dominance against three-time All-American Zach Sanders (Minnesota), including a 3-0 mark against him this year, if he's going to lose it will probably be before the final ... and that's not too likely either. Prediction: No. 1 Matt McDonough (Iowa) over No. 2 Zach Sanders (Minnesota) 133: One of the dominant wrestlers in the game today, defending champion Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) gave brief hope to his opposition losing in mid-January to Tony Ramos (Iowa) and with a close win at the NWCA All-Star Classic against B.J. Futrell (Illinois). However, the rest of his results -- including a 7-3 victory over Stieber -- are a reflection of his pre-eminent place in college wrestling today. As for a finals opponent, it probably will be another superstar in redshirt freshman Logan Stieber (Ohio State), who is 2-0 against Tony Ramos (Iowa) and dominated Devin Carter (Virginia Tech) in November ... those being his likely semifinal opposition. Prediction: No. 1 Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) over No. 2 Logan Stieber (Ohio State) 141: Even with a national title, four-time Big Ten champion Kellen Russell (Michigan) has had a mixed bag in his journeys to nationals. As a true freshman, he failed to earn All-American honors; as a true sophomore, he finished seventh; then last year, as a redshirt junior, he won the last three matches by the skin of his teeth. During the redshirt senior season, Russell has shown greater proclivity to open up his matches and score more points. Other than a single isolated loss, 6-5 to possible semifinal opponent Hunter Stieber (Ohio State), so far it's been a season to remember. Look for that to continue at the national tournament. The other half of the draw is wide open, with Boris Novachkov (Cal Poly) just seemingly due for a big tournament, though he's got the most unpleasant of paths to the final. Prediction: No. 1 Kellen Russell (Michigan) over No. 6 Boris Novachkov (Cal Poly) 149: Despite both of the top seeds being undefeated, much of the discussion about them has been about other aspects of their careers. For three-time All-American Frank Molinaro (Penn State), it's about last year's championship match against Kyle Dake, when Dake accrued over six minutes of riding time. While for returning All-American Jamal Parks (Oklahoma State), it's either the fact he didn't AA until just last year, or Cowboys' fans constantly hoping to see even more out of him. Both wrestlers are key cogs in their teams' national title hopes, and should be on the raised mat Saturday night. Prediction: No. 1 Frank Molinaro (Penn State) over No. 2 Jamal Parks (Oklahoma State) 157: Twice a national champion in as many years, it's hard not to see Kyle Dake (Cornell) wrestling on Saturday night for a third time. First off, he is darn good. Secondly, his half of the draw is manageable to say the very least. The highest returning placer, other than Dake, in this weight is Derek St. John (Iowa), who spent the second half of the season injured or wrestling through injury. He comes in off an impressive Big Ten tournament, with overtime wins over James Green (Nebraska) and Dylan Alton (Penn State), along with a last second victory over Jason Welch (Northwestern) in the final. Welch was moments away from the NCAA final last year, when he was one won scramble away from upending Bubba Jenkins in the semifinal round. Prediction: No. 1 Kyle Dake (Cornell) over No. 3 Jason Welch (Northwestern) 165: Question one: Can anyone beat David Taylor (Penn State)? Better yet, question two: Can anyone even keep it close against Taylor. The answer to both this year has been a resounding no, 19 of his 27 victories have come by pin or technical fall with another six being major decisions. Unless, the NCAA makes a late ruling allowing Bubba Jenkins or Jordan Burroughs to come back into the fold, or Andrew Howe comes out of Olympic redshirt, expect more of the same this weekend. The magical career continues for Taylor with a first national title, and the Hodge Trophy along with a litany of other awards. Prediction: No. 1 David Taylor (Penn State) over No. 7 Josh Asper (Maryland) 174: The most sure fire prediction this weekend is that Nick Amuchastegui (Stanford) will win the NCAA's Elite 89 award for the competitor in the championships with the highest GPA. Amuchastegui, the resident brainiac in Division I wrestling, will win that honor for the third consecutive year -- and go on to do things outside of wrestling that very few of us can even fathom. Despite being runner-up last year, and undefeated this year, he is the third seed this year in part due to only four victories over fellow members of the tournament field. It seems that he's on a collision course with fellow undefeated Chris Perry (Oklahoma State) in the semifinal round, after having beaten super-star wrestlers Ed Ruth (Penn State) and Mack Lewnes just to reach the final last year. In the other half of the draw, Ruth has steamrolled through 26 opponents, with only three victories by decision all year. Prediction: No. 2 Chris Perry (Oklahoma State) over No. 1 Ed Ruth (Penn State) 184: For yet another year, this is a weight class that could be wrestled multiple times and yield many a different winner. Throwing all results out the window, the wrestler with the greatest ability potential is Quentin Wright (Penn State). Unlike last year, he's been more consistent this year; on the other hand, he's not "hot" at the right time right now, having lost to Josh Ihnen (Nebraska) two weeks ago at the Big Ten tournament. Last year's championship final between Wright and Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) could happen on the front-side as a semifinal on Friday night. Prediction: No. 6 Quentin Wright (Penn State) over No. 4 Steve Bosak (Cornell) 197: Rare is the time that two wrestlers who were No. 1 seeds in a prior year appear in the same bracket in a following year. This is one of those times with Cam Simaz (Cornell) and Chris Honeycutt (Edinboro). Simaz has just one official loss this year, by a medical default; while Honeycutt also has just one loss, in the conference meet to Matt Wilps (Pittsburgh) -- an opponent he had beaten twice earlier in the season. In the half of the draw with Simaz, Cayle Byers (Oklahoma State) could pose a challenge. While Wilps is present in Honeycutt's half of the draw, along with Sonny Yohn (Minnesota) and Brent Haynes (Missouri). Prediction: No. 2 Chris Honeycutt (Edinboro) over No. 5 Cayle Byers (Oklahoma State) 285: Like at 184 pounds, last year's NCAA final could happen in the semifinal round on Friday night. Defending champion Zach Rey (Lehigh) is the tournament's fourth seed, while runner-up Ryan Flores (American) is the top seed. Flores beat Rey in overtime in the EIWA championship match two weekends ago. The bottom half of the draw should break down to Big Ten champion Tony Nelson (Minnesota) and Las Vegas champion Clayton Jack (Oregon State). Prediction: No. 4 Zack Rey (Lehigh) over No. 2 Tony Nelson (Minnesota) Top Five Teams: 1. Penn State 2. Oklahoma State 3. Minnesota 4. Iowa 5. Cornell

Unlike last year, most weights have a clear front runner. A number of the top seeds have single losses, but in most cases, have made adjustments after the loss and reestablished themselves as the favorite. 149, 184 and heavyweight appear to be the most wide-open weight classes. 125: Matt McDonough has a remarkable ability to finish takedowns from extended positions. His size for the weight class makes him very difficult to score on. Zach Sanders has been exceptional this year, but hasn't seriously threatened McDonough. Prediction: No. 1 Matt McDonough (Iowa) over No. 2 Zach Sanders (Minnesota) 133: Jordan Oliver has been brilliant this season. His loss to Tony Ramos of Iowa (his only defeat in the past two seasons) is difficult to explain. His solid win over the very talented Logan Stieber of Ohio State was quite impressive and U.S. wrestling fans can't help but hope that he shows up at the Olympic Team Trials next month. Prediction: No. 1 Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) over No. 2 Logan Stieber (Ohio State) 141: 141 is a balanced weight class, but Kellen Russell has been exceptional since his early December loss to Hunter Stieber of Ohio State. Indeed, "Gyro" has added offense this season and looked remarkable against a talented Montell Marion of Iowa in his fourth Big Ten title. Prediction: No. 1 Kellen Russell (Michigan) over No. 6 Boris Novachkov (Cal Poly) 149: An upset pick here. Frank Molinaro is a returning finalist and has been more dominant than Jamal Parks, but Parks' defense is exceptional and could allow him the opportunity to steal a win over the Nittany Lion. Prediction: No. 2 Jamal Parks (Oklahoma State) over No. 1 Frank Molinaro (Penn State) 157: Kyle Dake will look to become the first wrestler to win an NCAA title at three different weights -- and he is only a junior. What sets Dake apart from the field is his determination. He simply refuses to let people score on him and will make whatever last-second adjustments are needed to prevent points for an opponent. Jason Welch was undefeated until the Big Ten finals where he gave up a late takedown to Derek St. John of Iowa. Welch also has amazing defense, flexibility and funk, but it probably won't be enough against Dake. Prediction: No. 1 Kyle Dake (Cornell) over No. 3 Jason Welch (Northwestern) 165: David Taylor has been simply remarkable. The field really hasn't been able to test the sophomore. It's a safe bet he will redeem himself for his lone college loss at last year's NCAAs. Prediction: No. 1 David Taylor (Penn State) over No. 3 Andrew Sorenson (Iowa State) 174: Like 157 last year, the field features three undefeated wrestlers. Ed Ruth has been so impressive this season that it seems like if there was a 174-pound weight class at the Olympics, he would be a gold medal contender. His loss last year to Nick Amuchastegui seemed out of character and he should be at the top of the podium this year. Prediction: No. 1 Ed Ruth (Penn State) over No. 3 Nick Amuchastegui (Stanford) 184: As mentioned previously, 184 is pretty wide open, but returning NCAA finalist Robert Hamlin has looked strong throughout the season. His recent win over Steve Bosak of Cornell, avenged his only loss of the season. Prediction: No. 2 Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) over No. 5 Kevin Steinhaus (Minnesota) 197: A final between Cam Simaz and Chris Honeycutt would not look like a normal 197-pound bout. Both are extremely active and mobile. Prediction: No. 1 Cam Simaz (Cornell) over No. 2 Chris Honeycutt (Edinboro) 285: A pretty balanced weight. The absence of the injured Alan Gelogaev of Oklahoma State makes the weight class less interesting. Prediction: No. 4 Zack Rey (Lehigh) over No. 2 Tony Nelson (Minnesota) Team: With three undefeated No. 1 seeds (Frank Molinaro, David Taylor, and Ed Ruth), Penn State would appear to be a clear favorite in this year's NCAA team race. Championships at this event are won with frontline strength, which the Nittany Lions have in spades. In addition to their "Big Three" PSU features seeded wrestlers Nico Megaludis, Dylan Alton, Cameron Wade, and returning NCAA champion Quentin Wright 6. Even with a few missteps, Penn State would appear to have enough firepower to repeat as team champs. The battle for second place will probably be more hotly contested with Minnesota, Iowa, Oklahoma State, and Cornell battling it out. 1. Penn State 2. Minnesota 3. Iowa 4. Cornell 5. Oklahoma State

125: After having to endure an offseason filled with highlights of his 2011 loss to wrestling's newest poster boy, McDonough will secure his second national title. The Iowa junior has been wrestling his best when it matters most. Expect a 3+ point victory should he draw Alan "Dirty" Waters. Prediction: No. 1 Matt McDonough (Iowa) over No. 3 Alan Waters (Missouri) 133: The returning NCAA champion Jordan Oliver will make it two in a row with a lopsided victory over Logan Stieber of Ohio State. Oliver might've dropped a last-second decision to Tony Ramos of Iowa in the dual meet, but that was with less than two hours of recovery time after his large weight drop. Fully hydrated, there is little chance that Oliver is challenged in the semifinals or finals. Prediction: No. 1 Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) over No. 2 Logan Stieber (Ohio State) 141: Kellen Russell isn't afraid of a close match, and when it comes to close matches, he's been near-perfect. The four-time Big Ten champ had little problem with Montell Marion in the finals two weeks ago. Look for Maple to score big points on Marion early and hang on for the semifinal win. The finals match could be high scoring, but Russell has shown the ability to adapt, and he's been there before. Prediction: No. 1 Kellen Russell (Michigan) over No. 2 Kendric Maple (Oklahoma): 149: Jamal Parks has the ability to dominate opponents, and while Frank Molinaro hasn't had closer than a three-point match all season, he's yet to face a wrestler on par with Parks. It's a tossup, but Parks takes it in overtime. Prediction: No. 2 Jamal Parks (Oklahoma State) over No. 1 Frank Molinaro (Penn State) 157: Kid Dynamite has proved critics wrong again and again, and it's a fool's errand to bet against the NCAAs most athletic and explosive wrestler. However, should he get Jason Welch in the finals, look for the New York native to feel frustrated in staying on top and finishing shots. Also look for what will be the nicest scrambles of the tournament. Welch making it to the finals is contingent on his besting nemesis Derek St. John, which I think he'll do with several extra points. Prediction: No. 1 Kyle Dake (Cornell) over No. 3 Jason Welch (Northwestern) 165: Josh Asper was the true No. 2 seed, and though he now has to battle Cody Yohn of Minnesota in the second round, he'll recapture the seed in the quarters with a win over Shane Onufer of Wyoming. It'll be a nice season for Asper, who had the talent to win a title, but won't this year as he'll run into a very talented, very motivated David Taylor. The Penn State sophomore won't be denied. It's simply not happening. Prediction: No. 1 David Taylor (Penn State) over No. 7 Josh Asper (Maryland) 174: Ed Ruth's kryptonite, Nick Amuchastegui of Stanford, will be on the other side of the bracket, where he'll encounter a very talented Chris Perry of Oklahoma State. The undefeated Cowboy will head into the finals, but won't match up well with Ruth, who seems to be wrestling on a different level, especially late in matches. Prediction: No. 1 Ed Ruth (Penn State) over No. 2 Chris Perry (Oklahoma State) 184: The Vermonster is coming off a 3-2 won over No. 4 seed Steve Boask of Cornell in the EIWA finals. It was a win that avenged his only loss. There is nobody better than Hamlin right now and though LeBlanc has been wrestling well of late, he'll lose a close one-point decision. Prediction: No. 2 Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) over No. 1 Joe LeBlanc (Wyoming) 197: Though Chris Honeycutt lost in the EWL finals to Matt Wilps, expect an improved performance out of the Fighting Scot in St. Louis. Edinboro always comes to wrestle and Honeycutt will perform. However, Simaz (should he stay healthy) is the right combination of speed and strength to frustrate Honeycutt. Expect to see a three-point margin. Prediction: No. 1 Cam Simaz (Cornell) over No. 2 Chris Honeycutt (Edinboro) 285: Ryan Flores has a tough road to the finals. The senior wrestler drew a pigtail, then a possible match with a former teammate in Kevin Lester of Columbia. From there it's either Levi Cooper (Arizona State) who knocked of Zack Rey of Lehigh earlier in the year, or returning All-American Spencer Myers of Maryland. Should he manage that road, he'll likely face Rey in the semifinals, a wrestler he beat in overtime at the EIWA championships. After that's done, he'll face Nelson, who has had a great year, but look for him to have fits trying to stay off his back against a very dangerous Flores. Prediction: No. 1 Ryan Flores (American) over No. 2 Tony Nelson (Minnesota) Top Five Teams: 1. Penn State 2. Iowa 3. Cornell 4. Minnesota 5. Oklahoma State

125: Iowa's Matt McDonough has constantly been reminded of his NCAA finals loss a year ago to Arizona State's Anthony Robles. Clips of that loss to Robles were shown to almost two million viewers of the ESPYs, and millions of others on late-night talk shows. Those reminders have served as motivation for McDonough to get back on top. Minnesota's Zach Sanders, a soon-to-be four-time All-American, will go down as one of Minnesota's greatest, but he has not been able to solve the McDonough puzzle to date. Wrestlers like Teyon Ware and Mark Perry showed that all that matters is the final tournament in March when they won NCAA titles over rivals who had the upperhand. Sanders is hoping to be added to the list. Minnesota coach J Robinson has said that Sanders only has to beat McDonough once ... and he's right. But I'm not picking against McDonough. Prediction: No. 1 Matt McDonough (Iowa) over No. 2 Zach Sanders (Minnesota) 133: The 133-pound weight class has been one of the most talked about weight classes all season. Oklahoma State's Jordan Oliver took a surprise loss to Iowa's Tony Ramos in front of a hostile crowd at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Jan. 7. A day later, Ohio State's Logan Stieber, ranked No. 2 at the time, dropped a match to a hungry Chris Dardanes of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Since then, both Oliver and Stieber have separated themselves from the pack. The two met at a National Duals regional in February, with Oliver coming out on top 7-3. The match was tied 2-2 with 90 seconds remaining before Oliver pulled away late. Stieber was in on some shots in the match, but could not convert those shots to takedowns. Oliver racked up almost three minutes of riding time in that match. The match could not have played out much worse for Stieber. It didn't help that it was on Jordan Oliver's home arena either. There will no home mat advantage on Saturday night. I expect Stieber to win the takedown battle, use his top game more to his advantage, and avenge his loss to Oliver. Prediction: No. 2 Logan Stieber (Ohio State) over No. 1 Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) 141: Michigan's Kellen Russell has turned his wrestling up a notch this season with Donny Pritzlaff and Sean Bormet now on the Wolverine coaching staff, and several top senior level freestyle wrestlers at his disposal. Russell is coming off arguably the best match of his college wrestling career -- a 7-3 victory over Iowa's Montell Marion in the Big Ten finals. Russell was aggressive throughout the match and scored three takedowns off a single leg. I see Cal Poly's Boris Novachkov coming out of the bottom side of the bracket as the sixth seed to set up a rematch of last year's NCAA finals match. The two also met earlier this season in the consolation semifinals at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, with Russell coming out on top in tiebreaker. Prediction: No. 1 Kellen Russell (Michigan) over No. 6 Boris Novachkov (Cal Poly) 149: Penn State's Frank Molinaro and Oklahoma State's Jamal Parks are the top two seeds. Both are undefeated. Molinaro was untested at the Big Tens, picking up bonus points in all three of his matches. Parks has a likely second-round match against a dangerous unseeded wrestler in Mario Mason of Rutgers, who has beaten several quality wrestlers throughout his career, including Molinaro, Dylan Alton of Penn State, and Ganbayar Sanjaa of American. I like Parks to sneak past Mason, but I think Parks' run ends when he meets a red-hot Tyler Nauman of Pitt in the semifinals. Nauman, a senior, earned All-American honors in 2010, which included a quarterfinal victory over Parks. Molinaro will be too much for Nauman in the finals. Molinaro and Nauman met last month, with Molinaro getting the 5-2 victory. I expect a similar result when they meet in the NCAA finals. Prediction: No. 1 Frank Molinaro (Penn State) over No. 6 Tyler Nauman (Pitt) 157: I know better than to pick against Cornell's Kyle Dake at the NCAAs. He has been dominant this season, and what's scary is that he seems to perform at an even higher level at the NCAAs. Dake will likely see another EIWA wrestler in the semifinals -- either Harvard's Walter Peppelman or American's Ganbayar Sanjaa. Dake defeated Peppelman, 3-0, to win the EIWA title. Dake has not faced Sanjaa this season, but did defeat Sanjaa at last year's NCAAs, 4-0. St. John, an NCAA fourth-place finisher a year ago as a freshman, has battled a serious knee injury all season, and there was a point this season when many thought his season was done. Very few gave St. John a chance when he entered the Big Tens as the No. 6 seed. But the Hawkeye sophomore went on a spectacular (and unlikely) run, showing tremendous heart, to win the Big Ten title, which included a victory over Northwestern's Jason Welch in the finals. The match was a barnburner, with St. John scoring a last-second takedown to win. If the two meet again in the NCAA semifinals, expect another tight match that could go either way. I'm taking Welch to come out of the bottom side to face Dake in the finals. But Dake won't be denied in the finals. After Saturday night he will have three NCAA titles in three different weight classes. Prediction: No. 1 Kyle Dake (Cornell) over No. 3 Jason Welch (Northwestern) 165: There's not much I can say about Penn State's David Taylor that has not already been said. I was at Iowa State during the Cael era, and what Taylor is doing now is very similar to what Cael was doing as a collegiate competitor. He crushes everyone. It has gotten to the point where if Taylor doesn't get bonus points, people want to know if there is something wrong with him. Taylor is relentless and can score so many different ways. There are some very talented wrestlers in this weight class, but none are on Taylor's level. Maryland's Josh Asper was ranked No. 2 (behind Taylor) heading into the postseason, but suffered an overtime loss to Virginia Tech's Peter Yates, and slid to the No. 7 seed. I like Asper to bounce back from his ACC tournament loss and come out of the bracket, where he will get a crack at Taylor in the NCAA finals. But this is Taylor's weight class, and I expect him to get bonus points in every match this week, including his NCAA finals match. Prediction: No. 1 David Taylor (Penn State) over No. 7 Josh Asper (Maryland) 174: This might be the most intriguing of the 10 weight classes because it includes three undefeated wrestlers: Penn State's Ed Ruth, Oklahoma State's Chris Perry, and Stanford's Nick Amuchastegui. It's hard to pick against any of these three because they all have been dominant this season. Ruth and Perry get the most attention because they wrestle for top programs in power conferences, but Amuchastegui is the highest returning NCAA finisher in the weight class. He topped Ruth in the NCAA quarterfinals last season en route to finishing as NCAA runner-up to Iowa State's Jon Reader. I'm taking Amuchastegui to cap off a remarkable collegiate wrestling career with wins over two previously unbeaten wrestlers, and give Stanford coach Jason Borrelli his first NCAA champion. Prediction: No. 3 Nick Amuchastegui (Stanford) over No. 1 Ed Ruth (Penn State) 184: There are eight wrestlers capable of winning NCAA titles in this weight class, which will make for a very interesting quarterfinal round. Last season it was Quentin Wright who caught fire in March and won the NCAA title as the No. 9 seed. This season Wright comes in as the No. 6 seed after finishing third at the Big Tens. For Wright to reach the NCAA finals again, he will likely have to get past No. 3 Ben Bennett of Central Michigan and No. 2 Robert Hamlin of Lehigh. I like him to get past Bennett in the quarterfinals, but not past the Vermonster in the semifinals. Hamlin has a gaudy 61-4 record over the past two seasons. The top side of the bracket has four returning All-Americans, with Wyoming's Joe LeBlanc being the top seed. I'm taking Cornell's Steve Bosak to come out of the top side of the bracket with a win over LeBlanc in the semifinals, avenging a loss in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational finals in early December. That will set up an EIWA finals rematch between Hamlin and Bosak. It will be the sixth meeting between the two over the past two seasons. All five meetings have been either one or two-point matches. Hamlin won all three meetings between the two last season. The two have split two matches this season, with Hamlin winning the most recent meeting in the EIWA finals. I like Hamlin to win and become the first Vermont native to win an NCAA Division I wrestling title. Prediction: No. 2 Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) over No. 4 Steve Bosak (Cornell) 197: All season it appeared that Cornell's Cam Simaz and Edinboro's Chris Honeycutt were destined to meet in the NCAA finals. Both were dominant during the regular season. Two weeks ago Simaz cruised to his fourth EIWA title, while Honeycutt took a surprise loss in the EWL finals to Pitt's Matt Wilps, a wrestler Honeycutt had beaten twice this season. I don't see anyone stopping Simaz on the top side of the bracket. I see the bottom side of the bracket being up for grabs, with three or four wrestlers capable of reaching the NCAA finals. Call it a gut feeling, but I'm taking Missouri's Brent Haynes to come out of the bottom side of the bracket despite a recent loss in the Big 12 finals and a lopsided 14-4 loss to Honeycutt earlier this season. Haynes is a monster on the mat ... and if gets on a roll he will be tough to beat. But Simaz will be one getting his hand raised on Saturday night. Prediction: No. 1 Cam Simaz (Cornell) over No. 6 Brent Haynes (Missouri) 285: Returning NCAA finalists Ryan Flores of American and Zack Rey of Lehigh entered the postseason ranked No. 1 and No. 2 respectively. They met in the EIWA finals, with Flores coming out on top in overtime. Rey, a returning NCAA champion, comes in as the No. 4 seed, and a meeting with top-seeded Flores in the semifinals seems likely. I'm taking Rey to avenge his recent loss to Flores and reach the finals against No. 2 Tony Nelson of Minnesota. Rey has been on the elevated mat before and knows how to get it done when it counts. Prediction: No. 4 Zack Rey (Lehigh) over No. 2 Tony Nelson (Minnesota) Top Five Teams: 1. Penn State 2. Minnesota 3. Iowa 4. Cornell 5. Oklahoma State

If you are a fan of parity, then 2011-2012 was your season. The Iowa Hawkeyes, Penn State Nittany Lions, Minnesota Gophers, and Oklahoma State Cowboys all had their time atop the rankings. The wrestling season is a trudge and despite injuries and disappointments, these four teams, along with Cornell, managed to remain in title contention come March. In our pre-NCAA tournament ranking system, which uses the current seeds to determine team placements, Iowa will win the NCAA tournament title by 10 points over Cael Sanderson's defending NCAA champion Penn State program. The likelihood that all the seeds hold and that not a single wrestler registers a bonus point is impossible, which leaves fans and media to wonder which teams will perform by improving on their seeds, capturing bonus points, and coming away with individual national champions. One of the other factors deciding this year's race will be the effect this year's mismanaged seeding process will have on the No. 1 and No. 2 tournament seeds with formidable semifinal opponents. Falls, techs, and major decisions earned with consistency could make up for a faltering semifinalist, and a courageous Ironman-like performance by early losers should also impact the team race. Keep your brackets handy, with one of the most level talent fields, this year's tournament might come down to a single technical fall or upset run. It'll be "matness." Minnesota Gophers The Minnesota team is one of the most consistently performing squads in the nation. For 10 years every wrestler not named Ness has looked like the progeny of Luke Becker, big-thighed behemoths with vicious short offense. The Minnesota style wins, and this year the Gopher squad is loaded with talent and potential. The only thing holding them back from a team title in 2012 is lack of certain NCAA champion talent. The squad could make up for it by placing all their available wrestlers, a task that earned them the 2001 NCAA championship. J Robinson has nine seeded wrestlers, but does he have enough horses to win the team title? (Photo/Bill Ennis)That won't happen this year. The Gophers earned nine spots with four Minnesota wrestlers entering as returning All-Americans. All nine Gophers who qualified are seeded. Zach Sanders, seeded No. 2 at 125, and Tony Nelson, seeded No. 2 at heavyweight, are the team's best bets for reaching the NCAA finals. There are plenty of team points to be found in the wrestlebacks, but Minnesota isn't known for scoring bunches of bonus points, and while every single wrestler has a seed, four of them are lower seeds: No. 10 Chris Dardanes (133). No 9. Nick Dardanes (141), No. 10 Cody Yohn (165), and No. 10 Sonny Yohn (197). The three other Gopher wrestlers are seeded within All-American status: No. 7 Dylan Ness (149), No. 4 Logan Storley (174) and No. 5 Kevin Steinhaus (184) Without question, the number of weapons at J Robinson's disposal allows the team to think of making a potential title run, but to do that he'll need a convergence of good wrestling and luck. He'll need his two No. 2 seeds to make the finals, and for one to win in an upset. He'll then need all three of his seeded wrestlers to not just place, but earn bonus points and outperform their seeds. Finally, to win the NCAA title, Robinson will need two of his lower-seeded wrestlers to place. Seven All-Americans and and an NCAA champion might get the job done. Might. Prediction: Fourth Place, 79 Points (Five All-Americans) Cornell Big Red Cornell's Kyle Dake is a strong favorite to win at 157 pounds (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Coach Rob Koll has always led a well-balanced NCAA team, placing 13 wrestlers over the past three seasons, second-most behind Iowa. The team has two wrestlers entering as undefeated top seeds, Kyle Dake (157) and Cam Simaz (197). Other All-American candidates include No. 6 Frank Perrelli (125), No. 4 Steve Bosak (184) both of who can place with little additional support. To have a shot at a team trophy the Big Red will need another of their qualifiers -- Nick Arujau (133), Mike Nevinger (141), Chris Villalonga (149), Marshall Peppleman (165) and Maciej Jochym (285) -- to place, and one or two more to win at least three matches. Prediction: Third Place, 85 Points (2 Champions, 4 All-Americans) Iowa Hawkeyes The Brands brothers are hoping to bring the NCAA championship trophy back to Iowa City (Photo/Bill Ennis)There weren't many prognosticators willing to give Brands and Co. a shot at the title after Penn State won last year's tournament with a team filled with underclassmen. However, in true Iowa fashion, the team was able to rebound and see improved regular season performances from wrestlers like Tony Ramos (133) and Derek St. John (157), whose last-second takedown against Jason Welch in the Big Ten finals earned him a No. 2 seed and some much-needed momentum for the tournament. The Hawkeyes will almost certainly have a champion in Matt McDonough (125) and likely another finalist between No. 3 Montell Marion (141), Ramos (133), and St. John (157). Like many teams, the Hawkeyes' ability to win the championship will depend on their ability to score bonus points in the early rounds, but unlike other teams they have a secret weapon: Grant Gambrall (184). The unseeded wrestler spent most of his season at 197, and though he only has a 10-10 record, he's the returning third-place finisher at the weight class and has every ability to make the semifinals, or further. If Gambrall can help Iowa get six into the semifinals, then they can compete for an NCAA title. If not, then they might be destined to a runner-up position. Prediction: Second Place, 91 Points (1 Champion, 6 All-Americans) Penn State Nittany Lions Cael Sanderson's team has looked vulnerable this season, with a streaky Quentin Wright giving wrestling fans in Happy Valley cause for refilling their prescription blood pressure medication before the trip to St. Louis. The team is so loaded, and there are so many talents that feel generational, I can't come to grips with the idea that they won't all perform ... something they have a habit of doing (2011 Big Tens, 2011 NCAAs, 2012 Big Tens). If a team can show their will to win in three of the last three big tournaments, there is no reason to doubt their ability to do it a fourth time. Cael Sanderson has four potential NCAA finalists, with three of those wrestlers seeded No. 1 (Photo/Bill Ennis)For Penn State to win they'll need the Big 3 to win with bonus points. Top seeds Frank Molinaro (149), David Taylor (165) and Ed Ruth (174) haven't lost this season and have dominated opponents. None of them has had a one or even two-point match. That's 81 matches and not a single opponent could've gotten a last second takedown to secure an overtime. That's domination. Add in a potential finals run by Q-Tip Wright and you're looking at four potential NCAA finalists. What makes Penn State so formidable is that they will get at least three to the finals with plenty of extra bonus points, and potentially placings from a handful of other wrestlers: No. 10 Nico Megaludis (125), No. 7 Andrew Alton (157), and No. 6 Cameron Wade (285). On top of those likely placers are potential point-scorers Frank Martellotti (133) and Morgan McIntosh (197). Penn State scored 107.5 points at the 2011 NCAA tournament with one champion, two runner-ups, and a third-place finisher. This year's tournament will likely produce an additional champion, two more All-Americans than last season, and a whole bunch of bonus points. Prediction: Champion, 124 Points (3 Champions and 6 All-Americans)

The lineups have been finalized for the 2012 USA Wrestling National Team All-Star Dual Meet on Thursday, March 15 in St. Louis, Mo. The international-style event will held as part of the festivities at the 2012 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in St. Louis, Mo. This is the third straight year that a USA Wrestling exhibition will be provided free of charge to wrestling fans who are attending the championships. The event will be held between the first and second competition sessions on Thursday. It will be located at the Peabody Opera House, which is adjacent to Scottrade Center. The approximate start time will be at 3 p.m. The meet will start off with a Greco-Roman match at 66 kg/145 lbs., as a pair of USOEC Northern Michigan Greco-Roman stars will battle, Kendrick Sanders (Homestead, Fla./New York AC) and Jonathan Drendel (North Aurora, Ill./USOEC). Sanders, who started his career at Purdue before switching to full-time Greco-Roman, recently won a gold medal at the Dave Schultz Memorial International. The next four matches will be in men’s freestyle. Chase Pami (Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids), who was an NCAA runner-up at Cal Poly, will battle former Iowa star Joe Johnston (Columbia, Mo./Missouri WF) at 66 kg/145 lbs. Both were two-time NCAA All-Americans. The 74 kg/163 lbs. battle will pit 2011 U.S. Open runner-up Nick Marable (Columbia, Mo./Sunkist Kids), a two-time All-American for Missouri, against Tyler Caldwell (Wichita, Kan./Sunkist Kids), who starred for Oklahoma. Both were two-time All-Americans. At 96 kg/211.5 lbs., 2010 World Team member J.D. Bergman (Columbus, Ohio/New York AC), an Ohio State NCAA runner-up, squares off with former Virginia star Brent Jones (Colorado Springs, Colo./OTC). Bergman won three All-American honors for the Buckeyes. The heavyweight showdown features a pair of stars who are on Olympic redshirt, Chad Hanke (Dayton, Ore./Northwest RTC) of Oregon State against Jarod Trice (Highland Park, Mich./Gator WC) of Central Michigan. Hanke was second at the 2011 U.S. World Team Trials at 96 kg/211.5 lbs., but has moved up in weight this season. Trice boasts two All-American honors for the Chippewas. An additional bout may be added to the card later this week. The USA Wrestling All-Star Dual has become a traditional part of the NCAA Championships each year. This event will serve as a tune-up competition for the athletes prior to the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Wrestling, which will be hosted at Carver-Hawkeye Arena at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, April 21-22. USA Wrestling will also participate at the NCAA Fan Festival with National Team practice sessions, which are open to the public. Last year at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Philadelphia, the format was a USA vs. International Team match. Team USA won the dual by a 12-10 margin, At the 2010 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Omaha, Neb., USA Wrestling hosted a Big Ten vs. Big 12 Challenge, featuring Freestyle Team USA. The Big Ten earning bragging rights in the friendly competition. For more information on the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, visit NCAA.com/wrestling. USA WRESTLING NATIONAL TEAM ALL-STAR DUAL At St. Louis, Mo., March 15 Match lineups, with residence, club, and college affiliation 66 kg/145.5 lbs. Greco-Roman Kendrick Sanders, Homestead, Fla. (New York AC) -- Northern Michigan, Purdue Jonathan Drendel, North Aurora, Ill. (USOEC) -- Northern Michigan 66 kg/145.5 lbs. men’s freestyle Chase Pami, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids) -- Cal Poly Joe Johnston, Columbia, Mo. (Missouri WF) - Iowa 74 kg/163 lbs. men’s freestyle Nick Marable, Columbia, Mo. (Sunkist Kids) -- Missouri Tyler Caldwell, Wichita, Kan. (Sunkist Kids) - Oklahoma 96 kg/211.5 lbs. freestyle J.D. Bergman, Columbus, Ohio (New York AC) -- Ohio State Brent Jones, Colorado Springs, Colo. (OTC) -- Virginia 120 kg/264.5 lbs. freestyle Chad Hanke, Dayton, Ore. (Northwest RTC) -- Oregon State Jarod Trice, Highland Park, Mich. (Gator WC) -- Central Michigan

Pittsburgh -- The Wrestling Classic committee selected the Teams for the Dapper Dan Wrestling Classic, the most prestigious high school all-star wrestling meet in the United States. The Wrestling Classic will be on Sunday, March 25, 2012 at the University of Pittsburgh’s Fitzgerald Field House. This year, Team Maryland will challenge the Western Pennsylvania All-Stars in the preliminary dual meet beginning at 4:00 p.m. The feature match, between the Pennsylvania and USA All-Stars is at 6:00 p.m. View Team USA View Team Pennsylvania View Team WPIAL