InterMat Staff

Event: UFC 123: Rampage vs. Machida Venue: Palace of Auburn Hills (Auburn Hills, Michigan) Date: November 20, 2010 The UFC Monster took the UFC 122 card from Germany off, as it was one of the lamest cards I can remember. Tonight's UFC 123 action is anything but lame. Any number of the card's matches could qualify as "Fight-of-the-Night." There's lots of action and some very interesting matchups. So let's break down tonight's card and try to make some holiday cash! Bookmakers beware: It's time to rob from the rich, and give to the poor ... Former Pride champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (30-8) is coming off a loss to former light-heavyweight champion Rashad Evans. Former champ Lyota "The Dragon" Machida (16-1) is also coming off his first career dethroning loss, a first-round beating at the hands of Shogun Rua. These are two hungry fighters coming off losses, and both display drastically different fight styles. Rampage is a street thug slugger with amazing wrestling and takedown skills. Machida is an incredibly illusive and unorthodox karate master. He has had a remarkable UFC run of 8-1, having gone the first seven fights without losing a single round! Total dominance. You can't beat Machida if you can't hit him. And therein lies the edge in tonight's fight. Rampage is a brute, and will aggressively chase the counter-punching Dragon. Growing frustrated with his inability to land strikes, Rampage will cause his own demise by taking chances. He will either get caught and find himself lights out on the mat, or he will look feeble as Machida gains an easy decision. Either way, I'm laying the –260 on Machida to win a fight tailor-made to his style. In the rubber match of three fights between former welterweight champion and Hall-of-Famer Matt Hughes (45-7) and former lightweight champion B.J. Penn (15-7-1), we have a great battle of two fighters who genuinely don't like each other. In 2004, B.J. went up in weight to catch an overconfident Hughes with a first round boa constrictor-like rear-naked choke. Hughes got his revenge two years later by putting a fatigued B.J.'s body into a crucifix, blasting shots at B.J.'s bald head. It wasn't pretty. But that was then and this is now. Hughes is on an impressive three-fight win streak, submitting Ricardo Almeida, KO'ing Renzo Gracie, and dominating Matt Serra. B.J. is coming off two, yes two, straight losses to Frankie Edgar, former Clarion wrestler. The oddsmakers opened the line two months ago with B.J. being a slight underdog. The public, including me, bet him early and often, and drove the line to B.J. being the favorite at –165! That's a HUGE line movement, my friends. This is a three-round fight. So B.J. won't have to worry about his cardio in rounds 4 and 5. I see B.J. stuffing the takedowns of Matt Hughes, and timing his openings to take a powerful second round KO win. If Hughes is successful in grounding B.J., that's not where you want to be either. Hughes' days of over-powering opponents is over. B.J.'s jiu-jitsu is lethal. B.J. by KO. Lay the –165. Lightweight George Sotiropoulos has stream-rolled through his UFC opponents, unbeaten at 6-0 in the Octagon. Sotiropoulus uses his world-class jits to exterminate his foes. His long, lanky frame makes for leveraged submission moves. But for those who saw Joe Lauzon's (19-5) lightning-fast transition into a devastating armbar against Gabe Ruediger last time out, know that Lauzon is not an easy out. This would probably be my choice for "Fight of the Night," as I anticipate back-and-forth strategy with changes from striking to mat work throughout. I can't stay off the value of getting Lauzon at +200 here. Let's hope for a close decision win to send us to the winner's window. Former Penn State NCAA champion and still undefeated MMA fighter Phil Davis (7-0) takes on big Tim Boetsch (12-3), a lead-fisted slugger, who will have his hands full on the mat, where this fight will most likely take place. A great wrestler will beat a slugger every day of the week. But at –600, Davis is too steep to play. I see an easy decision for the Nittany Lion, but I'll have splinters on the bench for this one. Former Cleveland State wrestler Gerald Harris brings an impressive 17-2 record with 10 straight wins and 5 straight KOs into the Octagon to do battle with Brazilian KO freak Maiguel Jose Falcao Gonclaves (25-3), who has had an amazing 21 KOs, mostly in the first round. Does this sound like a toe-to-toe slugfest, or what? It will be until Harris decides to go to the mat, where his superior wrestling skills will take control. Some brutal ground-and-pound will end this in the second round. I'll lay the –260 on Harris here. Now let's take a brief look at the glorious undercard ... FREE on Spike TV are two preliminary fights, and they should be good ones. Kick, strike, strike, strike, kick, kick, strike, kick, strike, strike, kick, strike, strike ... That's Matt Brown (11-9). Relentless attacking. A fan favorite. And a +130 underdog here against Brian Foster (14-5). I love Brown as a 'dog. A close decision will do. Experience rules. This is another great "Fight of the Night" candidate. When two great wrestlers get together, you often end up with a standing fight instead. Aaron "A Train" Simpson (7-1) takes on "The Phillipino Wrecking Machine" Mark Munoz (8-2) here, and anything can go. I give the edge to Munoz on experience. His brutal ground-and-pound will end this once he takes Simpson to the mat, which won't be easy. –150 is a reasonable price on Munoz. Veteran lightweight Tyson Griffin (14-4) is one of the best wrestlers in the UFC. But his opponent, Nik Lentz (19-3-2), has a strong wrestling background, as well. Griffin was the first to beat WEC's Urijah Faber, and he was the first to KO purple-haired Hermes Franca. But coming off his first KO himself (to Takanori Gomi), who knows how Griffin will rebound. I'm taking a chance here on the + 170 underdog Lentz to have enough to steal a split decision. Welterweight Karo Parisyan (19-5) is a judo freak. His tosses and leverage throws are fun to watch. But he has had a career full of set-back injuries, and he has never been able to reach his full potential. Dennis Hallman (49-13-2) is a legendary fossil with two wins over Matt Hughes on his resume. But those wins were a decade ago. Tonight he is fighting for his UFC relevance. So we have two fighters beyond their prime, fighting to survive in the sport and stay employed by the UFC. Sounds like fun to me. I'll take Parisyan by decision, and lay the modest –150. British lightweight Paul Kelly (10-3) like to stand and trade punches. Iowa's T.J. O'Brien is certainly the better wrestler here, and staying with that safe theme on a wrestling website like this, puts me in the underdog camp again here. I'll pull for O'Brien's upset at +145 with a judge's unanimous decision determing the outcome. I can't wait to see the replay of bomb-throwing Edson Barbosa when he tries to take submission artist Mike Lullo's (8-1) head off. I can't bet the fight at –500, but I did make a prop bet saying Barbosa would have tonight's fastest KO at odds of 5:1. So that's it. Five favorites, four underdogs, and two no plays. Let's see how we can do with our "fictitious" $100 bankroll. Let's lay $260 to win $100 on Lyota Machida to silence the Werewolf. Let's lay $165 to win $100 on B.J. Penn to bury Matt Hughes. Let's lay $130 to win $50 on Gerald Harris surviving Brazilian Goncalves. Let's lay $100 to win $200 on Joe Lauzon's skill set. Great value here. Let's lay $105 to win $70 on Mark Munoz derailing the A Train. Let's lay $60 to win $78 on Matt Brown's determination. Let's lay $50 to win $85 on Nik Lentz to outscore Tyson Griffin. Let's lay $90 to win $60 on Karo Parisyan to out-battle Dennis Hallman. Let's lay $40 to win $58 on T.J. O'Brien to upset Paul Kelly. Let's lay low and pass on Davis/Boetsch and Barbosa/Lullo. In total we are risking $1000 to win $801. Let's hope for the best! Don't forget to give some of your winnings to your local youth wrestling program, where tomorrow's champions are born. Enjoy the fights. I know I will.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- In a match-up of top-20 teams, No. 13 Lehigh won eight bouts, including a number of tight matches en route to a 25-6 win over No. 16 Michigan Friday night at Stabler Arena. Sophomore Joey Napoli keyed a seven-match Lehigh run to end the dual with a third-period reversal to defeat Eric Grajales 4-2 at 149. With the win the Mountain Hawks improve to 3-1 on the dual season while Michigan is now 1-1. “I’m really pleased with our performance,” said Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro. “Michigan is a really good team. They have a lot of new faces that have done some good things. For our guys to come out after last week and rebound like that was a great way to come back, and win a lot of matches late.” Wrestling: Michigan Post-Match Extra, Nov. 19, 2010 Lehigh received a huge boost from senior Mitch Berger at 125 as he erased a 4-2 first period deficit to defeat Sean Boyle 9-5. Berger scored takedowns in the second and third periods and added 1:43 of riding time as he evened his season record at 2-2. “Mitch is in great shape and he works really hard,” Santoro explained. “He’s gotten himself in a hole in a lot of those matches but he didn’t dig himself a hole tonight and he won that third period. That’s what he does.” In the next two bouts, Lehigh’s true freshman battled hard but dropped one-point bouts to tough opposition. At 133 Frank Cagnina suffered his first loss of the season, letting a 4-2 lead get away by giving up a pair of third period takedowns in a 7-6 loss to Zac Stevens. Stephen Dutton found himself down 4-2 after one period against third-ranked Kellen Russell, but battled back, scoring a takedown in the third period before falling short by a 6-5 score. Michigan’s only lead of the night was short-lived as Napoli rallied to beat Grajales and Lehigh picked up steam from there. Grajales led 2-1 after one period, but Napoli rode out the second period on top and after losing his riding time advantage, reversed Grajales and re-gained the riding time advantage for the extra point in his 4-2 win. The Mountain Hawks won a second match without the benefit of a takedown as junior Sean Bilodeau won 8-2 over Aaron Hynes at 157. After a scoreless first period, Bilodeau tilted Hynes for three points and then added three more near-fall points with a half nelson. The wrestlers traded reversals in the third period which cost Lehigh the major decision. The Mountain Hawks still took a 9-6 lead into intermission. “You’ve got to score points,” Santoro said. “There are three positions in wrestling and you have to win all three. You win two of the three; you’re going to win most matches.” After the break, junior Brandon Hatchett kept things rolling for Lehigh with a 5-4 win over Dan Yates at 165. The Wolverine scored the first takedown, but Hatchett reversed. A Yates escape put him in front, but Hatchett scored a takedown late in the first period to go up 4-3 and added an escape to open the second period. Lehigh picked up its first and only bonus points of the night at 174 as freshman Austin Meys posted a workmanlike 11-1 win over Justin Zeerip. The first period featured no scoring, and after Zeerip opened the second period with an escape, Meys took over, using his quarter nelson to earn a takedown and then using a spladle for three late near fall points to lead 5-1 after two period. In the third, Meys escaped and benefitted from two penalty points for stalling before adding a late takedown to clinch the major. Sophomore Robert Hamlin joined Napoli at 4-0 on the season with an 8-3 win over Hunter Collins at 184. After giving up the first takedown, Hamlin scored first in the first period and added takedown in the second and third periods. The Mountain Hawks won a wild bout at 197 as junior Joe Kennedy rallied to defeat Anthony Biondo in a battle of ranked wrestlers. Eighth-ranked Biondo scored in the opening seconds and built up over two minutes of riding time before Kennedy finally escaped. The wrestlers trade escapes in the second and third periods, and Kennedy sent the match into overtime by taking down Biondo with an inside trip in the final seconds. The match when into tiebreakers where Kennedy rode out the visibly tired Biondo in the first 30 second period then registered an escape and a late takedown in the second period, en route to a 7-4 win. In the final bout of the night, top-ranked heavyweight Zach Rey made two first-period takedowns stand in a 5-2 win over Ben Apland. Next up for the Mountain Hawks is three matches next Saturday at the Northeast Duals in Troy, N.Y. Lehigh will face No. 23 Virginia at 11:15 a.m., No. 11 Missouri at 2:15 p.m. and George Mason at 4 p.m. Results: 125 – Mitch Berger (LU) dec. Sean Boyle (UM) 9-5 133 – Zac Stevens (UM) dec. Frank Cagnina (LU) 7-6 141 – Kellen Russell (UM) dec. Stephen Dutton (LU) 6-5 149 – Joey Napoli (LU) dec. Eric Grajales (UM) 4-2 157 – Sean Bilodeau (LU) dec. Aaron Hynes (UM) 8-2 165 – Brandon Hatchett (LU) dec. Dan Yates (UM) 5-4 174 – Austin Meys (LU) maj. dec. Justin Zeerip (UM) 11-1 184 – Robert Hamlin (LU) dec. Hunter Collins (UM) 8-3 197 – Joe Kennedy (LU) dec. Anthony Biondo (UM) 7-4, t.b. 285 – Zach Rey (LU) dec. Ben Apland (UM) 5-2 Attendance – 2,032 Referee – Gary Kessel

ITHACA, N.Y. -- The No. 1 nationally ranked Cornell Wrestling team opened its season off on the right foot on Friday night by earning a commanding 24-10 win over No. 6 Central Michigan at the Friedman Wrestling Center. No. 1 Cam Simaz pinned his opponent at 197 pounds in front of a sold-out crowd, while the Big Red also picked up wins by Corey Manson (141), Kyle Dake (149), DJ Meager (157), Justin Kerber (165), Mack Lewnes (174) and Steve Bosak (184). Cornell is 1-0 for its dual season, while the Chippewas fall to 0-1. The match started at 125 pounds with No. 16 Frank Perrelli taking on CMU’s Kyle Waldo. After a scoreless first period, Perrelli chose to start the second period down on the mat, and he escaped for the only point of the period. Waldo chose to start the third period down and tied the match with an escape of his own to send the bout into sudden victory. Waldo gave the Chippewas a 3-0 team lead with a takedown 20 seconds into sudden victory. Next to take the mat was Joe Stanzione wrestling in his first dual match for Cornell. Stanzione faced off against No. 6 Scotti Sentes at 133 pounds. Sentes lengthened CMU’s lead to 7-0 with 9-1 major decision. At 141 pounds, Corey Manson looked to put the Big Red on the scoreboard and wrestled Scott Mattingly. The Cornell senior and his opponent were scoreless after the first, and Manson scored the only point of the second with an escape from his bottom position. Mattingly chose to start the third period down on the mat and within 18 seconds escaped. The Big Red wrestler consistently attacked his opponent and was finally able to convert for a takedown with 45 seconds left in the bout. Manson was able to retain control for 20 seconds before Mattingly was able to escape. Manson evaded his opponent for the remaining 25 seconds to win a 3-2 victory. At 149 pounds, No. 2 ranked Kyle Dake faced Donnie Corby. With no score after the first period, Corby chose to start the second down on the mat and reversed Dake to take a 2-0 lead. Dake escaped to come within a point. Dake chose bottom in the third and within 10 seconds reversed his opponent for a 3-2 advantage and never looked back. He nearly pinned his opponent for two back points, and with 2:10 in riding time, won a 6-2 decision to bring the Big Red within a point of CMU. In the final bout of the first half, DJ Meagher faced Eric Cubberly at 157 pounds. The two were once again scoreless after the first period. Meagher chose to start the second down on the mat and quickly escaped. With only moments left in the second, the Big Red grappler was able to convert for a takedown to give himself a 3-0 lead heading into the third. Cubberly escaped from his opening down position in the third, but Meagher took him down once again and rode him for the remainder of the period. With 1:06 in riding time, Meagher won a 6-1 decision to give Cornell a 9-7 lead. Results: 125- Kyle Waldo (Central Michigan ) DEC Perrelli, Frank (Cornell University) 3-1 133- Scotti Sentes (Central Michigan ) MD Stanzione, Joseph (Cornell University) 9-1 141- Manson, Hicks (Cornell University) DEC Scott Mattingly (Central Michigan ) 3-2 149- Dake, Kyle (Cornell University) DEC Donnie Corby (Central Michigan ) 6-2 157- Meagher, DJ (Cornell University) DEC Eric Cubberly (Central Michigan ) 6-1 165- Kerber, Justin (Cornell University) DEC Adam Miller (Central Michigan ) 7-2 174- Lewnes, Mack (Cornell University) DEC Ben Bennett (Central Michigan ) 6-2 184- Bosak, Steve (Cornell University) DEC Chad Friend (Central Michigan ) 4-0 197- Simaz, Cam (Cornell University) FALL Kelliher, Craig (Central Michigan ) (2:58) 285- Jarod Trice (Central Michigan ) DEC Snyder, Clinton (Cornell University) 4-2

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- University of Iowa Head Coach Tom Brands picked up his 100th career win and the Hawkeyes pitched two shut-outs Friday evening at the third annual Iowa City Duals at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa, ranked seventh in the nation in the most recent NWCA/USA Today Coaches Poll, posted wins over Iowa Central (45-0) and Coe College (44-0) to open the 2010-11 season. The Hawkeyes extended their dual winning streak to 63 matches overall, and 27 in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, with the wins. "This is not an off night," said Brands. "Coe College is a good team with good wrestlers. Iowa Central is a good team with good wrestlers, and you have to be ready. All that together, I'm surprised I feel as good as I feel right now." Five Hawkeyes - sophomore Mark Ballweg (141), and redshirt freshman Nick Trizzino (133), Dylan Carew (149), Derek St. John (157) and Ethen Lofthouse (174) - made their Carver-Hawkeye Arena debuts and Brands' recorded his 100th career victory against Iowa Central. Iowa scored bonus points in nine of the 10 bouts and posted a 33-2 takedown advantage. Ballweg, St. John and senior Jake Kerr (165) pinned their opponents, while sophomore Matt McDonough (125), Trizzino, Carew, Ethen Lofthouse, sophomore Grant Gambrall (184) and senior Luke Lofthouse (197) all scored major decisions. Junior Blake Rasing (Hwt.) picked up his first win at Carver-Hawkeye Arena and his 10th career victory with a 9-4 decision. Iowa had a short break after the Iowa Central win before taking the mat against Coe. McDonough, who is the defending NCAA Division I Champion at 125, opened the dual against Coe's Clayton Rush, who is the defending NCAA Division III Champion at 125. McDonough led 4-2 after two periods, but scored a takedown, three nearfall points and a point for riding time in the last 16 seconds for the 10-2 major decision. McDonough remains undefeated (13-0) at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, and has a 39-1 career record. Trizzino, Ballweg and Ethen Lofthouse pinned their Kohawk opponents, while Luke Lofthouse collected his 30th career win with a 19-3 match-ending technical fall in 5:47 over Stuart Maddox. St. John and Gambrall posted major decisions, while Kerr collected his 25th career win with a 6-4 decision over former Hawkeye Nick LeClere. Carew and Rasing also posted wins for the Hawkeyes. "I liked what I saw, for the most part," said Brands. "There are some things - you can point to two or three things like you always can. It was a little bit different feeling for me because you are expecting some things to unravel or that maybe weren't as strong as they looked out there." Cornell College posted two wins in the five-team event, beating Iowa Central (32-15) and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville (39-6). Coe (37-6) and Iowa Central (23-15) both posted wins over the SIUE Cougars. Several Hawkeyes will compete at the 29th annual Ryan Kaufman/Glen Brand Open Saturday in Omaha, NE. The two-division event will be held at the University of Nebraska-Omaha Fieldhouse. Competition starts at 9 a.m. Updated brackets will be available at www.omavs.com throughout the day. IOWA CITY DUALS RESULTS Iowa 45, Iowa Central 0 125 – Matt McDonough (I) maj. dec. Brandon Wright (IC), 16-3 133 – Nick Trizzino (I) maj. dec. Cordale Risk (IC), 8-0 141 – Mark Ballweg (I) pinned Seth Stender (IC), 1:22 149 – Dylan Carew (I) maj. dec. Joseph Winkler (IC), 9-1 157 – Derek St. John (I) pinned Jay Fowler (IC), 2:33 165 – Jake Kerr (I) pinned Jason Trushcheff (IC), 5:33 174 – Ethen Lofthouse (I) maj. dec. Austin Gelbach (IC), 15-3 184 – Grant Gambrall (I) maj. dec. Carl Foreside (IC), 19-7 197 – Luke Lofthouse (I) maj. dec. Nick Pica (IC), 14-5 HWT – Blake Rasing (I) dec. Seth McGregor (IC), 9-4 Iowa 44, Coe 0 125 – Matt McDonough (I) maj. dec. Clayton Rush (C), 10-2 133 – Nick Trizzino (I) pinned Drew Hinschberger (C), 1:53 141 – Mark Ballweg (I) pinned Chris LeClere (C), 6:10 149 – Dylan Carew (I) dec. James Locke (C), 6-1 157 – Derek St. John (I) maj. dec. Dale Handley (C), 18-5 165 – Jake Kerr (I) dec. Nick LeClere (C), 6-4 174 – Ethen Lofthouse (I) pinned Scott King (C), 4:01 184 – Grant Gambrall (I) maj. dec. Seth Rehn (C), 13-3 197 – Luke Lofthouse (I) tech. fall Stuart Maddox (C), 19-3 in 5:47 HWT – Blake Rasing (I) dec. Alex Burkle (C), 2-1 Cornell 32, Iowa Central 15 125 – Brandon Wright (IC) dec. Timothy Hood (C), 14-12 133 – Tigue Snider (C) dec. Cordale Risk (IC), 7-3 141 – Kevin Donahue (C) pinned Seth Stender (IC), 2:59 149 – Jacob Schwebke (C) dec. Chase Baxter (IC), 6-2 157 – Nicholas Loughlin (C) maj. dec. Jay Fowler (IC), 8-0 165 – Joe Hambleton (C) dec. Jason Trushcheff (IC), 4-3 174 – Derek Munsey (C) dec. Austin Gelbach (IC), 4-3 184 – Andrew Roberts (C) dec. Bryce Olson (IC), 7-4 197 – Nick Pica (IC) pinned Robert Widmer (C), 2:44 HWT – Seth McGregor (IC) pinned Wyatt Bauman (C), 1:56 Cornell 39, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville 6 125 – Timothy Hood (C) dec. John Petrov (SIUE), 6-4 133 – Tigue Snider (C) maj. dec. Cameron Vance (SIUE), 11-3 141 – Kevin Donahue (C) pinned Nick Capozzoli (SIUE), 1:44 149 – Jacob Schwebke (C) dec. Derrick Pousson (SIUE), 5-0 157 – Nicholas Loughlin (C) tech. fall Steve Ross (SIUE), 22-6 in 6:11 165 – Joe Hambleton (C) pinned Gabe Hocum (SIUE), 6:44 174 – Derek Munsey (C) dec. Jordon Bakley (SIUE), 7-5 184 – Andrew Roberts (C) pinned Terrence Connors, Jr. (SIUE), 1:47 197 – Robert Widmer (C) dec. Robert Cooney (SIUE), 6-2 HWT – David Devine (SIUE) pinned Wyatt Bauman (C), 1:54 Coe 37, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville 6 125 – Clayton Rush (C) pinned John Petrov (SIUE), 5:43 133 – Drew Hinschberger (C) maj. dec. Cameron Vance (SIUE), 9-0 141 – Chris LeClere (C) maj. dec. Nick Capozzoli (SIUE), 11-2 149 – James Locke (C) tech. fall Derrick Pousson (SIUE), 17-1 157 – Dale Handley (C) dec. Steve Ross (SIUE), 6-1 165 – Nick LeClere (C) pinned Gabe Hocum (SIUE), 2:27 174 – Scott King (C) dec. Jordon Bakley (SIUE), 11-4 184 – Seth Rehn (C) pinned Terrence Connors, Jr. (SIUE), 1:54 197 – Robert Cooney (SIUE) dec. Stuart Maddox (C), 6-1 HWT – David Devine (SIUE) dec. Alex Burkle (C), 6-5 Iowa Central 23, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville 15 125 – Brandon Wright (IC) dec. John Petrov (SIUE), 7-3 133 – Cameron Vance (SIUE) pinned Cordale Risk (IC), 2:22 141 – Seth Stender (IC) maj. dec. Nick Capozzoli (SIUE), 9-1 149 – Derrick Pousson (SIUE) dec. Kenny Chacon (IC), 3-0 157 – Steve Ross (SIUE) dec. Jay Fowler (IC), 5-0 165 – Gabe Hocum (SIUE) dec. Jason Trushcheff (IC), 9-4 174 – Austin Gelbach (IC) dec. Jordon Bakley (SIUE), 9-2 184 – Carl Foreside (IC) pinned Terrence Connors, Jr. (SIUE), 1:02 197 – Kolton Kersten (IC) maj. dec. Robert Cooney (SIUE), 9-1 HWT – Nick Pica (IC) dec. David Devine (SIUE), 6-5

Body Bar Invitational

Central Michigan at Cornell

ITHACA, N.Y. -- The No. 1 nationally-ranked Cornell wrestling team officially opens its season on Friday night by playing host to No. 6 Central Michigan at the Friedman Wrestling Center at 6:30 p.m. The Big Red will continue its weekend action on Saturday by playing host to the Body Bar Invitational in Newman Arena. Cornell brings eight nationally ranked wrestlers into the weekend with Mack Lewnes (174) and Cam Simaz (197) holding the top spots at their respective weight classes. MATCH INFORMATION DUAL #1: NO. 1 CORNELL VS. NO. 6 CENTRAL MICHIGAN MATCH TIME: FRIDAY, NOV. 19—6:30 P.M. SITE: FRIEDMAN WRESTLING CENTER, ITHACA, N.Y. 2010-11 RECORDS: CORNELL 0-0; CENTRAL MICHIGAN 0-0 SERIES RECORD: CORNELL LEADS, 2-0 THIS WEEKEND... The No. 1 nationally ranked Big Red wrestling team officially opens its season this weekend as it plays host to No. 6 Central Michigan on Friday night at the Friedman Wrestling Center. Cornell will continue action on Saturday by welcoming 10 teams to Newman Arena for the Body Bar Invitational. The Big Red finished last season in second place at the NCAA tournament and saw Kyle Dake win the title at 141 pounds. THE BODY BAR INVITATIONAL The Big Red will welcome 10 teams to Newman Arena for the Body Bar Invitational on Saturday. Wrestling will begin at 9 a.m. Teams Competing Army Binghamton Buffalo No. 6 Central Michigan Clarion No. 1 Cornell Drexel Ithaca College No. 18 Kent State Lock Haven Sacred Heart FOLLOW THE ACTION! Fans can watch the Big Red battle No. 5 Central Michigan on Friday night live with a subscription to Cornell’s RedCast. Live updates will also be available for both Friday’s dual and for the Body Bar Invitational on Saturday. Check wrestling’s page at www.CornellBigRed.com for links. AT THE HELM Rob Koll, the David R. Dunlop ’59 Head Coach of Wrestling, begins his 18th season as mentor of the Cornell wrestling program. In that time, Koll has amassed a 193-73-5 overall record in duals and has led the Big Red to 11 Ivy League titles. Cornell has captured four EIWA team championships and earned 32 EIWA individual titles. Koll, a four-time All-American and former NCAA champion, has helped Big Red wrestlers to capture six individual NCAA titles and 35 All-America honors. KOLL NAMED COACH OF THE YEAR Rob Koll was named InterMat’s 2010 Head Coach of the Year. Koll earned the honor after leading the Big Red to a program-best second-place finish at the 2010 NCAA tournament. The Cornell mentor also coached his sixth wrestler to win an NCAA championship with true-freshman Kyle Dake bringing home the title at 141 pounds. The Big Red’s second-place finish was also a best performance of any Ivy League program, and the highest placing of an Eastern school since Penn State won the team title race in 1953. BINGHAMTON OPEN Cornell had 32 wrestlers competing unattached last weekend at the Binghamton Open, and the Big Red captured the title at eight weight classes. Winning the championship in their respective weight classes were Tyler Biscaha (125), Joe Stanzione (133), Kyle Dake (149), DJ Meager (157), Justin Kerber (165), Steve Bosak (184) and Cam Simaz (197). Seven other wrestlers also placed for the Big Red including Frank Perrelli (fourth, 125), Mike Nevinger (sixth, 141), Jesse Shanaman (third, 157), Craig Eifert (fifth, 157), Marshall Peppelman (fifth, 165), Oney Snyer (third, HWT), Stryker Lane (fifth, HWT). Big Red wrestlers won 94 matches and picked up bonus points in 43. Cornell grapplers recorded 19 wins by fall, eight tech falls and 16 major decisions. ON A ROLL The Big Red finished the 2009-10 season with a 9-4-1 dual record and won its last six contests. Kyle Dake won his last 24 matches of the season on his way to an NCAA title. COUNTDOWN TO NATIONALS The Big Red wrestling team enters the weekend ranked first in the nation by the InterMat Wrestling Division I poll and will open its 2010-11 season facing No. 6 Central Michigan at the Friedman Wrestling Center. Cornell has eight wrestlers ranked individually with returning NCAA runner-up Mack Lewnes leading the country at 174 pounds. Two-time All-American Cam Simaz also holds the top spot at the 197 pound weight class. Returning NCAA champion Kyle Dake moves up a weight class to 149 and ranks second. Also in the top-20 of their respective weight classes are Frank Perrelli (16th, 125), Mike Grey (fourth, 133), Corey Manson (19th, 141), Justin Kerber (fifth, 165) and Steve Bosak (fourth, 184). The Big Red returns four All-Americans and seven NCAA qualifiers. SCOUTING THE COMPETITION The Chippewas head to East Hill for their opening dual on Friday. Central Michigan wrestlers competed in the Eastern Michigan Open and Michigan State Open the last two weekends. At the EMU Open, three wrestlers placed in the top six of their respective weight classes. Sophomore Christian Cullinan was the runner-up at 125 pounds, redshirt freshman Scott Mattingly was fifth at 141 and redshirt freshman Zach Cline finished sixth at 157. At the MSU Open, four wrestlers placed in the top six of the open division competing unattached. The Chippewas come into the weekend ranked fifth in the country and have four wrestlers individually ranked in their respective weight classes. THE FALL GUYS With two falls at the Binghamton Open, senior Mack Lewnes has earned 42 career pins. Lewnes holds the top spot in the Cornell record books after breaking his former teammate Steve Anceravage’s ‘09 record of 37. With 14 falls last season, Lewnes ranks second in pins in a season. Anceravage’s 2008 mark of 17 holds the top spot. Junior Cam Simaz also makes the all-time falls list with 20 career pins to tie for 12th place. UNIVERSITY NATIONALS Frank Perrelli won his weight class at the ASICS Freestyle University Nationals in April at the Stile Athletics Field House at the University of Akron. Mike Grey placed fourth, while Joe Stanzione took seventh. Corey Manson, Colin McDonald and Cam Simaz also wrestled in the tournament. With Perrelli winning his final’s match at 55 kg/121 pounds, he qualified for a bye to the finals for the University World Team Trials. His victory also qualified him to compete at the US World Team Trials. UNIVERSITY WORLD TEAM TRIALS Mack Lewnes finished second at University World Team Trials in June. Lewnes won the mini-tournament but lost to University Nationals’ champion Quinton Wright of Penn State in a best of three series. Joe Stanzione also wrestled in the tournament, but lost to two NCAA All-Americans. FRESHMEN STREAKING Kyle Dake was the fourth Cornell wrestler in the last five years to win the EIWA Freshman of the Year award and follows Troy Nickerson (2006), Mack Lewnes (2008) and Cam Simaz (2009). Harvard’s JP O’Connor was named the EIWA Wrestler of the Year after winning the NCAA title at 157 pounds. DAKE’S HONORS After being the first true freshmen to win the NCAA title in five years, Kyle Dake raked in the honors following his championship. He ended his rookie season with a 34-2 mark that saw him ride a 24-match winstreak that began with winning the title at the Southern Scuffle. With his title at 141 pounds, Dake was named Intermat Freshman of the Year, Amateur Wrestling News Rookie of the Year, and EIWA Freshman of the Year. SMARTY PANTS Justin Kerber and Cam Simaz were named to the 2009-10 NWCA All-Academic Team. Kerber ranked fourth individually on the list with a 3.85 grade point average in applied economics and management. The Big Red ranked 14th as a team with a 3.0812 GPA. Kerber made the team for the third-straight year in a row. Simaz was named to the list for the first time with a 3.34 cumulative GPA in economics. The 2009-10 All-Academic individual team included 61 NCAA qualifiers, 23 NCAA All-Americans, seven NCAA finalists and five NCAA champions. In all, 74 individuals representing 45 schools were honored on the All-Academic Team.To qualify for the All-Academic team, a wrestler must have at least a 3.2 cumulative GPA, and have either been an NCAA qualifier or won 60 percent of his total schedule – and must have competed in at least 60 percent of said schedule. The other way to qualify for the All-Academic team is to have a 3.0 GPA and been an NCAA All-American. IN PRINT The Cornell wrestling team was featured in the MomentumMedia book, “Making History: March 18-21, 2010” which highlights the record-setting performances and game-changing moments for the four Cornell winter sports teams. During the third weekend in March, 2010, Cornell University was at the pinnacle of the college sports world, competing for national championships and making headlines along the way. The Big Red wrestling team placed second at the NCAA Championships in Omaha - Cornell’s highest finish ever, and the best ever for an Ivy League team. Four Big Red wrestlers earned All-American status for the sixth straight year. HALL OF FAMER Wrestling great Dave Auble was inducted as a member of the 2010 class of inductees into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in June as part of the 34th anniversary class. One of the wrestlers in Cornell history, Auble won three straight Eastern tournaments in the 123-pound weight class and was voted by Eastern coaches as the outstanding wrestler two of those years (1959 and 1960). He won two NCAA titles in the same weight class and was voted the outstanding wrestler of the national tournament his senior year. His collegiate record from 1958-60 was a sparkling 51-1. The only loss came in the opening round of the National Intercollegiates in his sophomore year. His combined record in collegiate and AAU competition between 1958-60 was an incredible 75-2 with the other loss coming in the 1959 National AAU final round in the 125.5 class. He won the 1959 Pan American championship. In the Olympic year of 1960, Auble pinned the nine of 11 opponents and won all bouts in Olympic regional competition but just missed out on making the U.S. team by virtue of his second close loss at the hands of Terry McCann. In 1962 he placed fourth in the world championships in the 125.5-pound class. Auble made the Olympic team in 1964, finishing fourth in his weight class. He is a former head wrestling coach at UCLA and Campbell. ALL THINGS IVY With another 5-0 season against Ancient Eight foes, the Big Red won its eighth-straight Ivy League title last season. Cornell had nine wrestlers earn All-Ivy honors. Mack Lewnes was named Ivy League Wrestler of the Year, while Kyle Dake earned Ivy League Rookie of the Year honors. Lewnes and Dake were joined by Troy Nickerson ‘10, Mike Grey, Corey Manson, Justin Kerber, Cam Simaz and Josh Arnone ‘10 on the first-team. Steve Bosak earned a second-team nod. NEXT TIME OUT The Big Red will break for the Thanksgiving holidays and resumes action Dec. 3-4 at the Las Vegas Invitational.

TEMPE -- The eighth-ranked University of Oklahoma wrestling team won its first road dual of the season Thursday over No. 18 Arizona State, 32-7, inside the Wells Fargo Arena. The Sooners (3-0) rallied from a 5-0 deficit after ASU’s third-ranked Anthony Robles pinned the Sooners ninth-ranked Jarrod Patterson at 125 pounds. “It was an outstanding victory for the Sooners,” head coach Jack Spates said. “We had to win some tough battles, but we kept battling and we kept pulling out the close matches. Eventually we just broke their spirit and pulled away. We had a lot of hard-fought wins tonight.” Oklahoma’s Jordan Keller earned the Sooners first points with a 2-0 decision over the Sun Devils’ Ben Ashmore at 133 pounds, putting the Sooners within two points, 3-5. Zack Bailey, 2010 All-American and No. 1 among 141 pounders, continued his dominant season with a technical fall victory over Arizona State’s Kalin Goodsite, giving the Sooners their first lead, 8-5. In the 149-pound bout OU’s Seth Vernon secured a 6-1 decision over ASU’s Kenneth Ashmore to put the Sooners ahead 11-5. The Sooners Matt Lester dropped only the second bout of the night at 157 pounds. The Sooner dropped a close, 7-5, decision to ASU’s No. 3 ranked Bubba Jenkins to put the Sun Devils within three points of the Sooners. However, that was the closest Arizona State would come as Oklahoma won its next five matches to run away with victory. Newcomer Chase Nelson secured the Sooners first pin of the evening on ASU’s Tejovan Edwards with a time of 4:22. Arizona State’s Edwards lost the Sun Devils a point as he was penalized for misconduct, which gave OU a 17-7 advantage. The Sooners second reigning All-American, Tyler Caldwell, narrowly escaped ASU’s Eric Starks in the 174-pound bout with a 2-0 decision. Erich Schmidtke continued the trouncing by collecting an 8-6 decision over Arizona State’s Jake Meredith to give the Sooners a 23-8 lead. OU’s Keldrick Hall continued the trend of decision victories after he defeated ASU’s Luke Macchiaroli, 9-3. In the heavyweight bout Oklahoma’s Nathan Fernandez ended the night with a pin over ASU’s Levi Cooper in just 1:13. “It was a hard-fought victory over a really good team and I’m very proud of our guys,” Spates said. Next up, Oklahoma is set to host its annual Oklahoma Open next weekend, Nov. 27 at the Mosier Indoor track facility in Norman. The Sooners will take on Oklahoma City University at 9 a.m. and North Carolina State at 3 p.m. OCU and NCST will meet at 11 a.m. Admission is free to the public. Results: 125 – No. 3 Anthony Robles fall No. 8 Jarrod Patterson (OU), 6:55 133 - Jordan Keller (OU) dec. Ben Ashmore (ASU), 0-2 141 – No. 1 Zack Bailey (OU) tech. fall Kalin Goodsite (ASU), 20-3 149 - Seth Vernon (OU) dec. Kenneth Ashmore (ASU), 6-1 157 - No. 6 Bubba Jenkins (ASU) dec. No. 13 Matt Lester (OU), 7-5 165 – No. 19 Chase Nelson (OU) fall No. 16 Tejovan Edwards (ASU), 4:22 174 – No. 6 Tyler Caldwell (OU) dec. Eric Starks (ASU), 2-0 184 – No. 10 Erich Schmidtke (OU) dec. Jake Meredith (ASU), 8-6 197 – Keldric Hall (OU) dec. Luke Macchiaroli (ASU), 9-3 HWT – No. 13 Nathan Fernandez (OU) Fall Levi Cooper (ASU), 1:13

The NWCA All-Star Classic is a decades-long college wrestling tradition that attempts to pit the very best in the sport against each other in an off-the-books early season showdown. But as is true with most classics, time and a certain amount of apathy have worked to take some of the polish off the once-proud shine of the Classic. What was once the high-octane highlight for early-season competition has been slowed by event organizers, coaches, and wrestlers. The 43rd Annual NWCA All-Star Classic is sans premier talent. The several conspicuous absences (Darrion Caldwell of North Carolina State, Kyle Dake of Cornell, Andrew Howe of Wisconsin, and Jordan Burroughs of Nebraska) aren't a result of bad luck, they're intentional exemptions. Unwilling participants in an event that conceived with the fan in mind, has abandoned their desires. The myriad criticisms and questions are harsh but on-point: Why should they risk the injury, or a bad loss? Where is the promise of nationwide promotion? Where is the television coverage? Not all the blame rests on the shoulders of the NWCA. Being head coach is an increasingly high-profile job and many aren’t willing to take the risk of watching their stars stumble in the spotlight. Whatever the combination of reasons, the Classic is lacking its normal horsepower, but many fans, and journalists, are hopeful that in the years to come the event will get an overhaul and some much-needed detailing. Despite the lack of must-see-TV talent, there are 10 compelling matchups featuring some of the best wrestlers in the nation. Some fans have made the commitment to attend the event in person, while many more will use the great-big powerful Internet to achieve the live feed courtesy of LiveSportsVideo and Takedown Wrestling Media. Wherever you choose to watch, here is a look at the matchups and who is going to leave Sunday with a victory (unofficial, though it may be). 125: No. 3 Zach Sanders (Minnesota) vs. No. 5 Anthony Robles (Arizona State) Anthony Robles (Photo/Morgan Hennessy)Robles is one of the sport's most popular figures, and as a two-time All-American, he's one of the most accomplished wrestlers in the field. Robles is also a fan-favorite, leaving an unenviable task of knocking off Robles (at a charity event, no less) to Minnesota Sanders. The junior is the type of Big Ten talent that reminds fans of the Gophers NCAA championships days when their wrestlers were chiseled tough-nuts who competed with spite for their opposition (ala Ryan Lewis). If Sanders can stay off bottom and avoid getting underneath Robles he should pull off a close decision. If not, it could be a high scoring opener for the Classic. Prediction: Sanders dec. Robles, 6-3 133: No. 1 Andrew Hochstrasser (Boise State) vs. No. 2 Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) A true All-Star matchup! Oliver is coming off an as-expected All-American season for the Cowboys where he had a very public battle keeping his weight in check. Coach Smith made the very odd pronouncement this season that Oliver wasn't only staying at 133pounds, but that his weight management had improved. Most coaches don't address weight loss. Hochstrasser is the oldest man in Division I wrestling, having racked up a redshirt season and LDS mission. He's tough on top and built like a manhole cover so expect him to try and bully the maybe-tired-from-weight-loss Oliver. The latter's speed is a great equalizer and another season with the low single guru has probably allowed for even more technical attacks. Maybe I'm just being hopeful here, but I'm thinking big points. Prediction: Oliver dec. Hochstrasser, 10-8 141: No. 1 Zack Bailey (Oklahoma) vs. No. 8 Germane Lindsey (Ohio) Zack Bailey is my choice to win the NCAA title and the Dan Hodge Trophy. He's solid in all positions and with Sammie Henson calling his cell phone more than a Stage 5 clinger ex-girlfriend, he's odds-on to make the NCAA finals. Lindsey is talented and will again be an All-American, but in a matchup with Bailey he's short on experience and practice room competition. Assuming a healthy and motivated Bailey (and why not?), this won't be very close. Prediction: Bailey wins by fall over Lindsey 149: No. 5 Kevin LeValley (Bucknell) vs. No. 12 Torsten Gillespie (Edinboro) Who wants to take top? This is my favorite matchup of the night. LeValley is a fearless competitor who placed last season at the NCAA tournament and knocked off several top 10 wrestlers throughout the season. Gillespie, like his older brother Gregor, is a nasty, nasty rider with solid turns. I think this is a pick 'em, so I'm going to choose the favorite. Prediction: LeValley dec. Gillespie, 3-1 157: No. 1 Adam Hall (Boise State) vs. No. 4 Bubba Jenkins (Arizona State) Adam Hall (Photo/Tony Rotundo, Tech-Fall.com)Speed kills and this is a matchup of two gunslingers. However, Adam Hall's high crotch is tethered to the quickest trigger in college wrestling. I love Hall's intensity and ability to finish in a scramble. As a Virginian, I'd love to see the often-maligned Jenkins prove the naysayers wrong and produce an NCAA championship. However, Jenkins has been out of the starting lineup for a while and I see that rust affecting him in this event and he took a bad loss last week against a Division II opponent and didn't look much better against OU's Matt Lester on Thursday night. When matched up against a machine like Hall, who has the tools win it all, it makes for a lopsided win for the Blue Turfer. Prediction: Hall major dec. Jenkins, 13-4 165: No. 4 Josh Asper (Maryland) vs. No. 6 Shane Onufer (Wyoming) Asper just spanked Pride of New Jersey, Rutgers' Scott Winston, but will face a much more physical opponent in Onufer. I've loved watching the Wyoming junior progress as a wrestler and he'll be in the hunt for All-American status in 2011, but there's something special about Asper. The Maryland-native Asper has finished all of his matches this season by major or better and majored Onufer last season at NCAAs. I see this match going much the same way. Prediction: Asper major dec. Onufer, 12-3 174: No. 3 Jordan Blanton (Illinois) vs. No. 6 Nick Amuchastegui (Stanford) Brain versus brawn. That's likely a recycled sentiment for any match with Amuchastegui (Mooch) but for anyone who has seen the muscles stacked up on Jordan Blanton, it's damn near spot-on. Blanton has the intensity, focus and, coaching to win an NCAA title, and in the tournament I might pick him ... because he seems durable. However, with time to prepare and looking healthy and strong up from 165, Mooch is going to out maneuver Blanton, riding him for several minutes and taking away a hard-fought win. Prediction: Amuchastegui dec. Blanton, 6-2 184: No. 2 Joe LeBlanc (Wyoming) vs. No. 5 A.J. Kissel (Purdue) LeBlanc has placed each of the past two years and nothing is stopping him from competing for the NCAA title this season. He's stronger than most anyone (with the notable exception of Kirk Smith) and wrestles with intensity. Kissel is coming off a redshirt season for the Boilermakers and I don't think he'll have a lot of solutions for a very talented Mark Branch prodigy. LeBlanc in a lopsided victory. Prediction: LeBlanc dec. Kissel, 9-2 197: No. 4 Clayton Foster (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 5 Sonny Yohn (Minnesota) Sonny Yohn (Photo/Morgan Hennessy)Foster is coming up a weight to take on the returning 197-pound All-American, Yohn. Foster blasted Yohn last season at 184 pounds, beating him 13-1. Weight was obviously an issue for Yohn who moved up after the match. There are deficits wrestlers can make up for in one season, but a 12-point shellacking is not an easy adjustment. There will be many more matchups between the two this season, but the night will belong to Foster. Prediction: Foster dec. Yohn, 7-4 285: No. 2 Jarod Trice (Central Michigan) vs. No. 8 Ryan Flores (American) I was coaching at Columbia for Ryan Flores' first season and was impressed by his athleticism. He's unorthodox and loves to scramble with the big boys, often finding himself atop a mass of meat with five points in his back pocket. Under the leadership of Mark Cody, I'd expect those impulses to be toned down or directed into a very narrow game plan. Trice is more than a slab of beef. He's got tremendous athleticism and is a proven winner, placing eighth last season. The CMU junior is known to try some throws, playing right into Flores' flare for the dramatic. Want more drama? Flores is from nearby Buchanan High School in Bakersfield. Since I don't want to call the fall, I'll call the high-scoring close decision. Prediction: Flores dec. Trice, 11-10 (or fall)

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Hello Wrestling Fans its All Star Classic Weekend! Scott Casber and LSV's Westbrook Shortell take the Brute Adidas studios of TDR LIVE from Fresno, California. Ryan Freeman and Geoff Murtha will air LIVE from Clinton, Iowa and the Wildrose Resort for this weeks show brought to you by Kemin Agrifoods. Geoff Murtha joins us courtesy of Mass Mutual Financial Services. See below for release and schedule on All Star Classic Broadcast! This weeks show airs LIVE, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Listen on radio or on the computer or your Blackberry or I Phone with the I Heart Radio App. (Click on KXNO under Sportsradio) Our Guests Include: (All times Central) 9:01 Mark DiSalvo- Assist Coach Central Michigan 9:20 Adam Tirapelle- NCAA Champ Illinois (Live in our California Studios) 9:40 Gerry Abas- Assist Coach. Cal State Bakersfield 10:01 Dan Wirnsberger- Head Coach Bucknell University Bison 10:20 Jeff Murphy- Kemin's Big 10 and Big 12 report and Murphy's Top 20 Breakdown 515-491-7750 10:50 Maureen Roshar- Wildrose Resort Wrestling fans- Episode 84 of TDR TV wrestling news is now on. Check your TV Guide for listings. How to watch and listen- TDR and TDR TV. It's appointment Radio and TV! 6.1 MILLION HOMES AND GROWING! TDR on Radio: LIVE Saturday at 9:00 a.m. CST on 1460 KXNO in Iowa. Saturday nights at 7:00 PM Eastern on Supertalk 1570 in Michigan, TDR TV: Mediacom Cable Ch. 22. IA, MO, AK, NE, MN, IL Tues. 5 PM, Sat. 10 a.m. Time Warner Cable NY Ch. 813 (Check Local Listings) Comcast Cable Tennessee Ch. 96 Fridays 5 PM CATV- CCN, Pennsylvania Ch. 8 Fridays 5 PM Western Reserve Ohio Cable Ch. 9 Fridays at 5:30, Sat's 10 PM, Tues 11 PM Long Lines Cable NW Iowa, NE Nebraska, SE South Dakota- Ch 75 Premiers November 19 Friday at 6:00 Sunday’s at 4:00 Monday’s at 7:00 Time Warner Texas- Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Houston, Etc. -TBA Time Warner Southern California- Los Angeles, San Diego, Etc. -TBA Call your local cable operator and ask them to carry TDR TV, It works! TDR on Internet: You can join us 9 to 11 a.m. CST Saturday mornings at Takedownradio.com TDR TV On Internet: 32 various web sites now carry your favorite wrestling news show Thanks to our growing family of affiliates and our media partners at Livesportsvideo.com. Thanks to you for watching and listening!

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Takedown Wrestling Media’s Scott Casber, Olympic Silver medalist and 3 time NCAA Division One Champion Stephen Abas and 2001 NCAA Champion Adam Tirapelle will have the call at the 45th Annual All-Star Classic, live, from the Selland Arena in Fresno, California. On November, 21 at 2:00 PM, Pacific time, twenty of the preseason’s top ranked wrestlers will face off, in order to help save California wrestling. All proceeds from this year’s web cast will go directly to the Save California Wrestling Fund. Make sure to not miss a minute of some of the best preseason wrestling in the nation, LIVE and online. Live action from the event will be available on LiveSportsVideo.com for a pay-per-view subscription of $7.00. Click here to order and watch the games. Based in Syracuse, N.Y., LiveSportsVideo.com was founded by Bob Feldmeier, Sr. and Jake Feldmeier, both former student-athletes at Princeton, and holds U.S. Patent Number 7,340,765 for streaming and archiving sports online. Any wrestling program choosing to stream their content online can utilize this service for free. Please Contact Westbrook Shortell for more information. The National Wrestling Coaches Association, established in 1928, is a professional organization dedicated to serve and provide leadership for the advancement of all levels of the sport of wrestling with primary emphasis on scholastic and collegiate wrestling programs. The membership embraces all people who are interested in amateur wrestling.

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Takedown Wrestling Media and Long Lines Cable have established a relationship that will bring the popular TDR TV amateur wrestling program to more than 18,000 homes in Eastern Nebraska, Western Iowa and SW South Dakota area. TDR TV's national audience is now estimated at 6.18 Million homes. TDR TV's will air on Long Lines Cable Channel 75, Friday’s at 6:00 p.m. Sunday’s at 4:00 p.m. Monday’s at 7:00 p.m starting Friday November 19th , 2010 TDR TV is a 30-minute weekly TV news program covering all aspects of amateur wrestling in the U.S. Host Scott Casber updates viewers on the latest developments in high school, college and international wrestling, conducts insightful interviews with the sport’s top wrestlers and coaches, and shares his passion for the “oldest and greatest sport” in a fun, fast-paced show. TDR TV is already available on the Mediacom cable TV system serving six Midwestern states, Time Warner Sports NY, Comcast Cable in Tennessee and other systems and can be viewed online at www.TakedownRadio.com and at over thirty other affiliated amateur wrestling web sites. “Long Lines Cable distribution area is a hotbed for championship wrestling at both the high school and collegiate levels,” said Long Lines Vice President Bill Gaukel. “We’re excited to be adding Takedown Wrestling Media’s news program, TDR TV, for all of our subscribers who appreciate this outstanding and demanding sport.” Casber, founder of Takedown Wrestling Media, said, “This is another important step forward for athletes, coaches and fans of wrestling across the country. Long Lines Cable is a historical name in the business. They also understand the wrestling community. We view this is a very special opportunity to partner with Long Lines Cable in the distribution of TDR TV.” “Long Lines Cable will present our weekly program in the heartland where high school and collegiate wrestling has no equal. The broadcast area is home to a number of great programs like University of Nebraska at Omaha, University of Nebraska, Iowa State, Buena Vista, Morningside, Briar Cliff, Trinity and many others,” said Casber. “In addition, we’ll now have a deep penetration in a part of the country that features some of the best high school wrestling programs in the nation.” About Takedown Wrestling Media Takedown Wrestling Media was started 13 year ago as a single one-hour radio program broadcast from Clear Channel's KXNO studios in Des Moines. TDR quickly added Internet distribution of its audio format and over time began to broadcast live events along with its weekly program. Founder Scott Casber is well-known throughout the wrestling community, speaking to wrestling groups around the country and promoting the sport wherever he can. TDR TV was born as an addition to the radio program, initially available only on the Internet, but now available on 31 different web sites, as well as in six Midwest states through its distribution on Mediacom Cable. More information can be found at: Takedownradio.com About Long Lines Cable At Long Lines®, we earn customer loyalty through our service and support. We bring the latest innovations in telecommunications right into your home - from High Definition television to High Speed Internet and Wireless service. We also believe in investing in our communities, through our giveBACK program. We benefit the communities where we live and work through our volunteerism, local event sponsorships and charitable donations. Long Lines is a locally owned company that has been serving Siouxland communities for over 65 years. Advanced technology and the use of high-speed fiber optic networks has earned them a well-deserved reputation for quality and reliability in the telecommunications industry. Long Lines is Accessible. Their experienced Customer Care representatives are available to assist you with any issues you may encounter. You can receive the personal touch that Long Lines offers by talking directly to a representative. Long Lines is Flexible, providing all the services to meet your communication needs. Build and customize your own plan or bundle of services to create the package that is right for you. Long Lines is Convenient allowing you to Save time and money by having all of your communication services on one simple bill. Long Lines is Community-driven and dedicated to the places where you live and work. Long Lines takes pride in being a responsible corporate citizen through our volunteerism, charitable donations and local event sponsorships.

La Crosse, Wis. -- The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse wrestling team opened its 2010-11 home schedule with a 40-4 victory over UW-Whitewater Wednesday night in Mitchell Hall. The Eagles improve to 1-0 overall and 1-0 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) while the Warhawks drop to 0-5 overall and 0-2 in the conference. UW-L, ranked third in NCAA Division III, had four wrestlers win by fall Wednesday. UW-Whitewater, ranked 21st, took a 4-0 lead in the dual as seventh-ranked Adam Latella won by major decision (16-5) over UW-L's John Poppie at 197-pounds. The Eagles then won the next nine matches. Billy Mayer started it with a win by decision (9-4) at 285 over the Warhawks' James Zarate, who is ranked ninth in the country. Albie McKinney then started the wins by fall (2:11) for UW-L as he defeated Jed Wilson at 125-pounds to give the Eagles a 9-4 lead. Adam Sheley won by fall (2:40) over Matt Oliva at 133 and Bebeto Yewah defeated Brian Lewis by fall (4:19) at 141-pounds to make it 21-4. Yewah, the defending national champion at 133-pounds, is currently ranked second at 141. McKinney is ranked seventh. UW-L's Matt Mauseth, ranked third at 149-pounds, earned a win by decision (8-2) over Kegan Arthur to give the Eagles a 24-4 advantage. Ryan Farwell made it 28-4 for the Eagles with a win by major decision (10-2) over Cam Loomis at 157-pounds. Ranked fifth in NCAA Division III at 165-pounds, UW-L's Cory Ferguson won by fall (:12) over UW-Whitewater's Adam Zeh and a 34-4 Eagles' lead. UW-L's Scott Gifford (174-pounds) and Mitch Artist (184) won by decision to finish the dual. Gifford defeated Chesten Kesselhon (9-7) while Artist, who is ranked 10th in the nation, defeated Reid Dickerson (6-3). UW-L returns to action Saturday, Nov. 20 at the Auggie Open in Minneapolis starting at 9 a.m. Results: 125 #7 Lloyd McKinney (UWL) pinned Jedd Wilson (UWW) 2:10 133 Adam Sheley (UWL) pinned Matt Oliva (UWW) 2:20 141 #2 Bebeto Yewah (UWL) pinned Brian Lewis (UWW) 4:19 149 #3 Matt Mauseth (UWL) defeated Kegan Arthur (UWW) 8-2 157 Ryan Farwell (UWL) defeated Cam Loomis (UWW) MD 10-2 165 #5 Cory Ferguson (UWL) pinned Adam Zeh (UWW) 0:14 174 Scott Gifford (UWL) defeated Chesten Kesselhon (UWW) 9-7 184 #10 Mitch Artist (UWL) defeated Reid Dickerson (UWW) 6-3 197 #7 Adam Latella (UWW) defeats John Poppie (UWL) MD 16-5 285 William Mayer (UWL) defeats #9 James Zarate (UWW) 9-4

In wrestling, when you hit upon a winning strategy, you don't mess with success. Now in its fourth year, the Journeymen/ASICS Sprawl & Brawl tournament has a number of elements that make it a winner. Here are some of the aspects of this event -- to be held Sunday, Nov. 21 at Binghamton University's West Gym in Vestal, New York -- that make it appealing for participating colleges and their wrestlers, as well as for the fans in the stands: Wide range of participants: The 2010 Sprawl & Brawl tournament brings together 10 collegiate wrestling programs of great diversity: Schools of every size, from small private colleges to giant state universities, from various parts of the country, including New England, the Mid-Atlantic, and the Great Lakes regions. Among the schools on the roster for the 2010 Sprawl & Brawl: American International, Binghamton, Eastern Michigan, Harvard, Michigan State, Penn State, Rutgers, Sacred Heart, Shippensburg, and West Virginia. Sure-thing matchups: Unlike most college wrestling tournaments, where much-anticipated matches between individual wrestlers or teams sometimes don't happen because of unforeseen developments in the brackets, at the 2010 Sprawl & Brawl, all the team match-ups have been set in advance of the event. For example, say you're a Penn State fan. You can expect to see Coach Cael Sanderson's Nittany Lions wrestle West Virginia, then Harvard, then Rutgers. With that in mind, you can anticipate specific match-ups between individual wrestlers, too. That makes this event especially exciting for fans ... and the wrestlers themselves. Exciting match-ups: Event organizer Frank Popolizio is already anticipating some great duals at the 2010 Journeymen/ASICS Sprawl & Brawl, including the aforementioned Penn State vs. Rutgers: "Penn State is ranked sixth in the nation in some preseason polls, and Rutgers gained a couple transfers that should make this fun." Other duals that Popolizio mentioned as must-see events: Binghamton vs. Michigan State -- "both have solid individuals -- should be a well-balanced battle" -- and West Virginia vs. Rutgers, which he cited as an example where the teams are so well matched, one individual bout can determine which team walks off the mat the winner. Up close and personal: Popolizio describes Binghamton's West Gym as "fan-friendly ... It seats just over 1,000 people. There's no such thing as a bad seat. Fans are really close to the action ... It's an incredible opportunity for fans to rub shoulders with great wrestlers and coaches they might not usually get this close to." Local flavor: For folks in the Binghamton area, the 2010 Journeymen/ASICS Sprawl & Brawl is an unbeatable opportunity to see "local heroes" who are now competing at top college programs come home to wrestle in front of their friends and families. Among the New York natives competing on Nov. 21: Harvard's Paul Ligouri, originally from Wantaugh ... American International's Kyle Crisafulli, of Phoenix, NY ... Corey Jantzen and Steven Keith, both wrestling at Harvard, and both from Wading River-Shoreham. Justin Lister (Photo/Morgan Hennessy)What's more, the event is also a great chance to see Binghamton matmen take on wrestlers from all over the country. Among the Bearcats with Empire State roots: Donnie Vincent of Binghamton, Justin Lister (South Jefferson High, near Syracuse), Matt Kaylor (Burnt Hills), Anwar Goeres (Phoenix, NY), Nate Schiedel (Caledonia-Mumford), Lance Moore (Amsterdam, NY), Tyler Beckwith (Greene), and Dan Riggi (Scotia). In a 2009 interview with InterMat to talk about last year's Sprawl & Brawl, Popolizio said, "It's all about bringing greatness to this area. It's about promoting college wrestling in an area that doesn't have much in the way of college wrestling. It not only helps fire up fans in the area, but shows young athletes what's possible, that they can achieve greatness from wrestling." A November to remember in New York: The 2010 Journeymen/ASICS Sprawl & Brawl is just one of three major events put on by Frank Popolizio in the month of November to bring top-flight college wrestling to the region. In addition to Sprawl & Brawl, Popolizio is organizer for: Fall Clinic, Nov. 12-13, Shenendehowa High School, Clifton Park, NY. Featuring clinicians Cary Kolat (two-time NCAA champ at Lock Haven, 2000 Olympian), and Frankie Edgar (four-time NCAA qualifier at Clarion, UFC lightweight champ and current Rutgers assistant coach) and Rick Yarosh (former NY Section 4 wrestler who served in Iraq, and was welcomed into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in June as an American hero). 2010 Northeast Duals, Nov. 27, Hudson Valley Community College, Troy, NY. The major post-Thanksgiving tournament, attracting 15 of the top college teams and their wrestlers, and featuring a US vs. Russia freestyle event at halftime. For more information on the 2010 Journeymen/ASICS Sprawl & Brawl tournament on Sunday, Nov. 21, visit the website: http://www.journeymenwrestling.com/competitions

STILLWATER, Okla. -- In honor of former Oklahoma State University wrestler Ray Murphy, members of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and the athletic department will pass the bucket during the Bedlam football game Nov. 27 to raise funds for the Ray Murphy Endowed Scholarship. Murphy was a walk-on wrestler during the 1960s, captaining the 1968 national champion team and as a senior in 1969 finished second in the 145-pound weight class. He was an honor student and beloved member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. While getting his master's degree, he competed in an East-West All-Star match in 1970 when he was thrown to the mat in an illegal hold and landed on his head, paralyzing him from the neck down. On July 20, Murphy, 63, passed away as the longest living quadriplegic known to medical science. “There were three things that prolonged Ray's life – his faith, his friends and his love for OSU,” said Jim Blazer, a fraternity brother and head of the Ray Murphy Fund. “Ray lived for all things OSU and he loved the university more than anything. He would listen to the radio if a game wasn't on TV or he'd go online and read about academics, sports, new facilities, everything. He would read articles in the newspaper. That's what Ray lived for.” After his death, OSU athletics was inspired to endow a scholarship in his name. “Our goal is to reach $250,000,” said Dave Martin, senior associate athletic director. “It's the least we can do to honor such an amazing guy with an incredible will to live. He is such an inspiration to others.” This fund is expected to qualify for the Pickens Legacy Scholarship Match, which will provide a one-and-a-half-times match. Thus by reaching the goal of $250,000 in gifts and pledges, this fund would be worth $625,000 once fully endowed. For more information on the Pickens Legacy Scholarship Match, visit OSUgiving.com/PickensMatch. “T. Boone Pickens was a very active donor to the Ray Murphy Fund when Ray was still alive,” Blazer said. “He has a heart bigger than what people realize. It's people like him and Ray Murphy who show so much compassion for OSU that truly inspires others.” The scholarship will be awarded to wrestlers exemplify Murphy's outstanding academics, positive attitude and passion for OSU. “My only hope is that we give this scholarship to someone who has a heart for putting others before himself,” Blazer said. “He must first be a student, then an athlete just like Ray. I hope that we will be able to impact a student's life, just like Ray impacted mine and several others.” Direct donations to the fund are accepted at the OSU Foundation. Checks are payable to the OSU Foundation and note the donation is for the Ray Murphy Endowed Scholarship. The OSU Foundation serves as the private fundraising organization for OSU, as designated by the OSU Regents. Its mission is to unite donor and university passions and priorities to achieve excellence. Oklahoma's only university with a statewide presence, Oklahoma State University is a five-campus, public land-grant educational system that improves the lives of people in Oklahoma, the nation, and the world through integrated, high-quality teaching, research and outreach. OSU has more than 35,000 students across its system and nearly 21,000 on its Stillwater campus; with students from all 50 states and around 110 nations. Established in 1890, OSU has graduated more than 200,000 students who have made a lasting impact on Oklahoma and the world.

LARAMIE, Wyo. -- Wyoming senior, 149-pound Cole Dallaserra (Butte, Mont./Butte HS) and Air Force sophomore, 141-pound Cole VonOhlen (Jackson, Minn./Jackson County Central HS) have been named the Western Wrestling Conference's Co-Wrestlers of the Week as announced today by the league. Both Dallaserra and VonOhlen won their brackets at the 38th Annual Cowboy Open this past Saturday in Laramie. In his season opener, Dallaserra won the Cowboy Open Elite 149-pound title in a stacked weight class that included 2010 All-American Justin Gaethje from Northern Colorado. Dallaserra's path to his second consecutive Cowboy Open title included four wins, an opening match win by fall and a dominant 6-1 finals victory over Josh Kreimier from Air Force. Dallaserra's opening win of the day, by fall in 6:01 over Northern Colorado's Justin Gonzales, was the 60th of his career. VonOhlen opened the 2010-11 season with an individual tournament title, taking first place at 141 pounds in the Elite Division of the Cowboy Open for the second-straight season. VonOhlen, ranked 17th in the latest Intermat poll, posted a 4-0 record on Saturday, including a pair of victories over conference foes. In his first two bouts of the day, VonOhlen scored an 8-5 and a 2-0 decision, respectively, before recording a 9-1 major decision over Wyoming's Shane Doughman to move into the championship match. For the title, VonOhlen scored a 6-4 decision against Utah Valley's Wyatt Ray. The league honor is a first for Dallaserra and the third career award for VonOhlen. The Western Wrestling Conference, entering its fifth year of competition, is comprised of seven schools including the Air Force Academy, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, Northern Iowa, South Dakota State, Utah Valley and Wyoming. Other Nominees: North Dakota State: Vince Salminen, 157 pounds, Senior (Billings, Mont./Skyview HS) Northern Colorado: Sam Bauer, 125 pounds, Redshirt Freshman (Enumclaw, Wash./Enumclaw HS) Northern Iowa: Christian Brantley, HWT, Junior (Homewood, Ill./Mount Carmel HS) South Dakota State: Tony Vaske, 141 pounds, Freshman (Springfield, Minn./Springfield HS) Utah Valley: Ben Kjar, 125 pounds, Senior, (Centerville, Utah/ Viewmont HS) 2010-11 WWC Wrestlers of the Week: Nov. 16 – Cole Dallaserra (Wyoming)/Cole VonOhlen (Air Force)

Upper Iowa University head wrestling coach Heath Grimm and Waldorf College head women's wrestling coach Dustin Baynes will be radio show guests this week. “On the Mat" is a presentation of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum and can be heard live on the Internet at www.kcnzam.com or locally in Northeast Iowa each Wednesday from 5:00 - 6:00 PM Central time on AM 1650, The Fan. Feel free to e-mail radio@wrestlingmuseum.org with any questions or comments about the show. Grimm is starting his 11th year as the head wrestling coach at Upper Iowa University and is coming off the Peacocks' highest team finish in the NCAA tournament since they moved to Division II when they placed third last season. Grimm is a native of Osage, Iowa and was a two-time All-American at Luther College. Baynes recently began his duties as the head women's wrestling coach at Waldorf College in Forest City, Iowa. Waldorf College is the first school to offer women's wrestling at the collegiate level in the state of Iowa. A native of Ohio, Baynes wrestled at Limestone College in South Carolina and at Cleveland State University, where he also served as a graduate assistant.

THIS WEEK The defending NCAA and Big Ten champion Iowa wrestling team will open the 2010-11 season Friday, hosting the third-annual Iowa City Duals. The five-team event will be held on two mats at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Arena doors will open at 1 p.m. Following is the schedule of events: 2 p.m.: Iowa Central vs. Cornell College, Coe vs. SIU-Edwardsville 4 p.m.: Iowa vs. Iowa Central, Cornell College vs. SIU-Edwardsville 6 p.m.: Iowa vs. Coe, SIU-Edwardsville vs. Iowa Central Hawkeye Head Coach Tom Brands, who enters the season with a career dual coaching record of 99-26, will be looking to pick up his 100th victory. Iowa will also put its 61 overall dual and 25 home dual winning streaks on the line. If purchased in advance, tickets to the Iowa City Duals are $10 for adults and $5 for youth. If purchased at the door, tickets are $12 for adults and $6 for youth. The Iowa City Duals are also part of the Iowa wrestling season ticket package, which is $67 for the public and $55 for UI faculty and staff. Tickets can be ordered from the UI Athletics Ticket Office, at (319) 335-9323, or online at hawkeyesports.com. It will be UIAA Appreciation Day. UI Alumni Association members get one free admission for the entire event when they show their membership card. Hawkeye football fans may also get free admission when they show their Iowa vs. Ohio State football ticket. LIVE BLOGGING FROM CARVER-HAWKEYE ARENA A member of the UI Sports Information staff will offer interactive content for all of Iowa's home duals live via hawkeyesports.com. This feature gives Hawkeye fans the opportunity to voice their opinion by submitting questions and comments, while receiving up-to-the-minute play-by-play, notes and stats. The blog will begin approximately 15 minutes prior to the start of the dual. WELCOME BACK The head coaches of all four teams coming to Carver-Hawkeye Arena for the Iowa City Duals have ties to the Iowa wrestling program. John Oostendorp (Coe), Mike Duroe (Cornell), Luke Moffitt (Iowa Central) and David Ray (Southern Illinois Edwardsville) will all be making a return to Iowa City. Oostendorp (1990-93) was a two-time Hawkeye all-American at heavyweight, winning the 1992 Big Ten title. He and Hawkeye coaches Tom and Terry Brands were part of Iowa teams that won three NCAA and Big Ten titles, and posted a 55-1-2 dual mark. Duroe served as head coach of the Hawkeye Wrestling Club from 2003-05. Moffitt was a Big Ten champion at Iowa who earned outstanding wrestler honors at the 2002 Big Ten meet. He still fifth in Iowa school history for most pins in a season (19 in 2001-02). Ray lettered for the Hawkeyes in 1984. IOWA CITY DUALS PARKING INFORMATION Parking for the Iowa City Duals will be extremely limited in the vicinity of Carver-Hawkeye Arena throughout the entire day of competition. All parking lots will be screened and monitored to allow parking for only University of Iowa employees in their respective assigned lots. The Iowa Athletics Department is encouraging wrestling fans attending the Iowa City Duals to use a continuous free shuttle service from Hawkeye Commuter parking lots throughout the day. Buses will be designated to and from Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The shuttle will start at 1 p.m. The last pick-up from Carver will be 8:30 p.m. The only exceptions for parking near Carver-Hawkeye Arena during the day are as follows: Lot 46: - Limited number of ADA parking - "State Issued Permits Only" - $5.00 parking fee upon entrance; Media - parking placard needs to be requested from Traci Wagner in the SID office; Arena Commuter Lot: Placard issued - assigned contributor parking - any entrance; Remainder of lot will open at 3:30 p.m. - $5.00 parking fee - west entrance; Lot 65 (Finkbine Commuter): Extremely limited number of parking spaces open to the public - $5.00 parking fee upon entrance - when full will be directed to Ramps 3 & 4; Ramps 3 (Clock Tower) & 4 (Field House): Regular hourly parking rate will be charged; Softball and Varsity Track Complex: Free wrestling parking within walking distance (15 minute walk); Downtown Iowa City: Use parking lots or ramps and use the regular free Cambus service; Hancher Parking Lot: Use regular free Cambus service, Red and Blue routes. WRESTLING SUMMER CAMPS For dates and more information about 2011 Iowa Wrestling Summer camps visit www.iowawrestlingcamps.com. ON THE AIR Radio - Steven Grace and two-time Hawkeye NCAA champion and four-time all-American Mark Ironside will call the action live on AM-800, KXIC and hawkeyesports.com. At press time, all dual meets, except Iowa's duals against Chattanooga and Cornell College on Nov. 26, will be aired live on AM-800, KXIC. Action from the Big Ten and NCAA Championships, as well as the finals of the Midlands Championships, will also be aired live. Live audio broadcasts from all competitions will be available online at hawkeyesports.com. Broadcasts are available using the All-Access subscription ($14.95 per month or $119.95 per year). Internet - The 2010-11 Hawkeye wrestling media guide, press releases, meet results, and audio broadcasts are available on the University of Iowa's website, hawkeyesports.com. Current staff and student-athlete head shots are available at pics.hawkeyesports.com. IOWA CENTRAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE TRITONS Head Coach Luke Moffitt and the Iowa Central Tritons will be making their second appearance at the Iowa City Duals. The Tritons, who are ranked fifth in the NJCCA Division I national pre-season poll, have won five consecutive NJCAA team titles. Returning All-Americans Joe Colon (133) and Nick Pica (197) each won titles at the Warren Williamson/Daktronics Open earlier this month. Colon won the NJCAA national 125-pound title last season, while Pica placed third at the national meet. Moffitt, who is 71-10 in seven seasons at Iowa Central, has a 71-3 record against junior college teams. He is a three-time NJCAA National Coach of the Year and four-time Region IX Coach of the Year. Moffitt is assisted by Troy Bennett, Mark Rial and Justin McClintock. Iowa leads the series with Iowa Central, 3-0. The Hawkeyes won the last meeting (52-0) at the inaugural Iowa City Duals in 2009. COE COLLEGE KOHAWKS Coe is ranked fourth nationally in the NWCA Division III Preseason Coaches Poll, returning three all-Americans and six NCAA qualifiers from the 2009-10 squad that went 16-3. Senior Clayton Rush (125) is ranked first in the nation, while junior Nick LeClere (165) is ranked fourth. Rush is a three-time all-American and the defending NCAA Division III Champion. LeClere is the younger brother of former Hawkeye Dan LeClere (2008-10). Sophomore Drew Hinschberger (133), junior Dale Handley (157) and senior Seth Rehn (184) are also ranked in the top 10 nationally. Assisting Oostendorp is Tyler Burkle, Eric Casey, Marcus Kurtz, Ted Drees, Dusty Coufal and Nick Cole. The Kohawks opened their 2010-11 season Wednesday at Central College in Pella. Iowa holds a 3-0 lead in the series, winning 39-3 in 2009-10, 51-0 in 2008-09 and 50-0 in 2006-07. INTERVIEW POLICIES & PROCEDURES Members of the Hawkeye wrestling team and coaching staff are available for interviews Tuesday afternoons from 2:40-3:25 p.m. in the Field House Practice Facility. If you are interested in scheduling an interview outside that time, please contact Assistant Sports Information Director Traci Wagner at 319-430-6349. CARVER-HAWKEYE ARENA Carver-Hawkeye Arena has been the home of Iowa wrestling since 1983. The Hawkeyes are 180-18 (.909) in the arena, which includes a record 11 victories during the 2010 season. Iowa has recorded 18 undefeated seasons in the arena, with the most recent (11-0) occurring in 2009-10. The dual wrestling attendance record for Carver-Hawkeye Arena is 15,955, set when Iowa defeated Iowa State (20-15) on December 6, 2008. The arena seats 15,500 for a dual wrestling meet. IOWA WINNING STREAKS The Hawkeyes have won 61 straight dual matches, which is a school record. The current streak started with a win over Cornell (32-3) on Jan. 12, 2008, which was the first match after Iowa lost to Oklahoma State (19-14) on Jan. 5. That 61-match winning streak ranks fourth-best in NCAA wrestling history behind three Oklahoma State streaks. The Cowboys won 76 straight duals from 1937-51, and had two 69-match streaks (1921-32 and 1996-99). The Hawkeyes have also won 41 consecutive duals on the road, which is also a school record. That streak started with a 20-13 win at Iowa State on Dec. 9, 2007. Iowa has also won its last 25 duals at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. That streak, which ranks fourth-best in school history, started with a 27-13 win over Penn State on Jan. 20, 2008, which was also the first home match after the loss to the Cowboys. The school record is 55 (1/9/1977-12/18/1983). Against Big Ten opponents, the Hawkeyes have won their last 27 duals, including 12 at home and 15 on the road. The 27 league duals rank second in school history, while the 12 home duals rank third and the 15 road duals rank fourth. Iowa's school record for consecutive Big Ten wins is 98 (12/13/1975-1/28/1989), while the records for Big Ten home wins is 63 (1/17/1975-1/3/1998) and road wins is 54 (1/19/1974-1/28/1989). IOWA WRESTLING HISTORY Iowa's overall dual meet record is 877-215-30 (.795) in 100 seasons. The Hawkeyes have won 23 national titles and 34 Big Ten titles. Iowa's 51 NCAA champions have won a total of 78 NCAA individual titles, crowning six three-time and 15 two-time champions. The Hawkeyes' 102 Big Ten champions have won a total of 186 conference titles. There have been seven four-time, 18 three-time and 27 two-time Iowa winners. Iowa's 140 all-Americans have earned all-America status 286 times, including 17 four-time, 29 three-time and 37 two-time honorees. MCDONOUGH RETURNS TO LEAD HAWKEYES Defending NCAA Champion Matt McDonough returns to the lineup for his sophomore season. The 2010 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, McDonough posted a 37-1 record at 125 pounds last season. He boasted a perfect 23-0 dual record, going 8-0 in Big Ten duals and 11-0 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The 2009 Midlands Champion led Iowa in collegiate wins (37), dual wins (23), dual winning percentage (1.000) and major decisions (15), and ranked second in collegiate winning percentage (.974) and technical falls (4). He scored extra team points in 28 of his 37 wins, tallying 104 team points in dual comeptition. IN-STATE SUCCESS Eight of the 11 Hawkeye wrestlers listed in the probable lineup for Friday's duals hail from the state of Iowa, and three attended high school at Iowa City West. Sophomore Matt McDonough (125) is from Marion, redshirt freshman Nick Trizzino (133) is from Bettendorf, sophomore Mark Ballweg (141) hails from Waverly, sophomore Jeret Chiri (149) is from New London, junior Jake Kerr (165) is a native of Oskaloosa and junior Blake Rasing (Hwt.) is from New Hampton. Redshirt freshmen Dylan Carew (149-Tiffin) and Derek St. John (157-Parnell), and sophomore Grant Gambrall (184-Iowa City) all competed at Iowa City West High School. ALL IN THE FAMILY On the 2010-11 Hawkeye wrestling team, there are three sets of brothers, two wrestlers whose fathers wrestled at Iowa and two uncle-nephew combinations. Senior Matt Ballweg (157), sophomore Mark Ballweg (133/141) and freshman Jacob Ballweg (141) are brothers who hail from Waverly. They are the fifth set of three brothers to wrestle at Iowa, and the third set to be on the roster at the same time. The other sets of three brothers to compete for the Hawkeyes are Ed Banach, Lou Banach and Steve Banach; Marty Kistler, Harlan Kistler and Lindley Kistler; Mike Uker, Ben Uker and Joe Uker; and Lenny Zalesky, Larry Zalesky and Jim Zalesky. Junior Stew Gillmor (149/157) and freshman Walt Gillmor (165) are brothers from Donahue, while sophomore Nate Moore (133) and freshman Nick Moore (157/165) are brothers from Iowa City. Sophomore Matt McDonough (125/133) and redshirt freshman Nick Trizzino have fathers who wrestled for the Hawkeyes. Mike McDonough wrestled at Iowa from 1974-76, while Mark Trizzino was an all-American (1984) and four-year letterwinner (1981-84) for the Hawkeyes. Senior Luke Lofthouse (197) is the uncle of Hawkeye redshirt freshman Ethen Lofthouse (174). Nick Trizzino's uncle, Scott Trizzino, was a three-time all-American (1978-79-81) and four-time letterwinner (1977-79, 1981) for the Hawkeyes. CHAMPIONSHIP EXPERIENCE The Hawkeye wrestling staff of Tom Brands, Terry Brands, Mike Zadick, Kurt Backes and Danny Song earned a total of one Olympic gold medal, one Olympic bronze medal, five NCAA titles, nine conference titles and 12 All-America honors. UP NEXT The Hawkeyes will wrestle two duals Nov. 26 at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, IA. Iowa will face Chattanooga (2-1) at 6:30 p.m. and Cornell (0-0) at 8 p.m. at the Small Multi-Sport Center. Tickets are $10 for adults and $6 for youth ages 5-18.

PARK RIDGE, Ill. -- Sophomore Sean Boyle (Lowell, Mass./Blair Academy) of the University of Michigan wrestling team was named Big Ten Conference co-Wrestler of the Week on Tuesday (Nov. 16) in recognition of his performance in U-M's dual opener against Pittsburgh. The weekly honor is the first for Boyle in his collegiate career and the first for the Wolverines this season. He shares the weekly recognition with Illinois' Kyle Dooley. Boyle secured his first collegiate win over a ranked opponent with an 8-5 decision against the Panthers' 14th-ranked Anthony Zanetta at 125 pounds and set up the Wolverines' comeback win by pulling his team within two team points with one match remaining. Boyle controlled the early portion of the bout, converting on single-leg takedowns in the first and second periods, and fought off Zanetta's late rally to seal the victory. In response to the win, the Wolverine sophomore made his first appearance in the national rankings, earning the No. 17 spot at 125 pounds in the latest InterMat listing. Boyle is a perfect 5-0 on the season. The Wolverines will hit the road next Friday (Nov. 19) to continue non-conference dual competition against Lehigh in Bethlehem, Pa. The dual is slated for a 7 p.m. start at Stabler Hall.

St. Cloud State University senior Gabe Suarez (Las Vegas, Nev./Cimarron Memorial H.S.) was named as the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference wrestler of the week on Nov. 16. Suarez earned the league award by capturing first place at the 2010 Harold Nichols Cyclone Open on Saturday, Nov. 13 in Ames, Iowa. The tournament is hosted annually by NCAA Division I wrestling power Iowa State University. Suarez posted a 4-0 record to capture the championship at 141-pounds. To reach the top step of the awards platform, Suarez gained victories over three NCAA Division I opponents including Ian Squires of Boston University (dec. 13-3), and Ian Fisher of Oklahoma (dec. 7-3). In the championship match, Suarez posted a big 7-5 victory over Seth Noble of Northern Iowa. The trip to the Cyclone Open marked the beginning of the 2010-11 season for the Huskies, who were ranked #2 in the 2010-11 NWCA Division II preseason poll this year. SCSU was also selected as the top team in the 2010-11 NSIC preseason coaches' poll this winter. In 2009-19, St. Cloud State posted a 14-7 dual match record and placed 7th in the nation at the 2010 NCAA Division II championships under the leadership of Coach Steve Costanzo. Suarez is a returning NCAA Division II All-American at 141-pounds and he also serves as a team captain for the Huskies in 2010-11. SCSU will continue its season on Nov. 20 with a trip to the Auggie/Brute/Adidas Open in Minneapolis. Fans will want to mark Dec. 11 on their calendar, which is the date that St. Cloud State hosts the Holiday Inn/Husky Open in Halenbeck Hall. This all-day meet begins at 9 a.m. and it will feature many of the nation's top NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NJCAA wrestlers.

Lock Haven Pa. -- Clarion University 157-pound wrestler James Fleming (So. West Mifflin) was named the PSAC's “Wrestler of the Week” for his performances at the Knight Point Open and the Oklahoma Invitational during the last two weekends. On November 6 at the Knight Point Open, hosted by Clarion University, Fleming took first place at 157-pounds posting a 4-0 record. He opened with an 11-2 major decision over Keith Ryan (UPJ), then won a 15-0 tech fall over James Rafferty (Army), and wbf at 6:40 over Kirk Landon (Army) before posting an 11-1 major decision over Matt Jackson (Navy) in the finals. In the Oklahoma Invite hosted at Brockport, N.Y. on November 13, Fleming was 3-1 and finished second at 157-pounds among nationally ranked wrestlers. James reached the finals with wins over Clay Reeb (Oklahoma) fall 0:47, Rudy Chelednik (Army) major 12-0, and majored #2 seed Daryl Cocozzo (Rutgers) 11-0. Cocozzo was ranked #13 by Intermat. He lost to Oklahoma's Matt Lester 7-3 in the finals. “James has had a strong start to the 2011 season and is really deserving of this honor,” said Clarion's fifth year head coach Teague Moore. “He works very hard every day to improve his skills and has a great attitude towards wrestling. We're proud to have him in blue and gold.” Fleming had an outstanding freshman season at Clarion in 2010 posting an overall record of 28-8 at 149-pounds, placed 4th at PSAC's, 2nd at EWL's and qualified for the NCAA Division I Nationals. He was named the PSAC “Freshman of the Year”. Fleming, the son of John Fleming and Regina Fitzhenry, was a 4-time PIAA placewinner at West Mifflin High under coach Tony Salopek. He had a career record of 130-15. CLARION NOTES: Clarion wrestles Saturday on November 20th at the Body Bar Invitational in Ithaca, N.Y.

TEMPE -- A busy week of action awaits the No. 18 Arizona State University wrestling team this week as the Sun Devils (2-0, 0-0 Pac-10) play host to No. 8 Oklahoma (2-0, 0-0 Big 12) at 7 p.m. Thursday night at Wells Fargo Arena before hitting the road to compete in the Fullerton Open on Saturday in Fullerton, Calif. On top of those two events, both Anthony Robles (125) and Bubba Jenkins (157) will also travel to Fresno, Calif., on Sunday to compete in the 45th NWCA All-Star Classic presented by The Marines. OPENING WHISTLE • ASU is currently ranked No. 18 (NWCA/USA Today Coaches Poll) • The program recently signed six prep standouts to join the team next fall • Robles (125) and Jenkins (157) are both ranked in the national Top 5 • Robles and Jenkins both will compete at the NWCA All-Star Classic (11/21) • ASU moved to 64-9-0 all-time vs. Arizona schools with its 44th win in a row • 5 Sun Devils made their debuts at GCU with all five posting victories • Sun Devils went 16-4 individually with 10 combined wins by major/fall/forfeit • ASU is now 35-14-0 in its first dual of the year after 29-8 win at Grand Canyon • ASU is 32-16-0 all-time in home openers (won four in a row), but 0-2 vs. Okla. • ASU is 14-25-1 against Oklahoma all-time (9-9-0 in Tempe) WEB CASTING FS Arizona will be on hand inside Wells Fargo Arena for all five of the Sun Devils' home duals this season, starting with Thursday's dual with No. 8 Oklahoma. Scott Powell will be on the call this week as Arizona State looks to knock-off the visiting Sooners. To watch the free web cast, visit the Sun Devil page on FoxSportsArizona.com (a link will be placed on that page on Thursday). YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE: • High school teams can gain free admission into the dual by filling out and sending in the appropriate form by Wednesday. The form, labeled Team Unofficial Visit Form, can be found on the right side of the wrestling page on thesundevils.com. • Thursday's dual is the team's annual Gold Game, so all fans are encouraged to wear their gold to show their support of the Sun Devil Wrestling program. IN THE RANKINGS - TEAM The Sun Devils entered the 2010-11 season ranked among the Top 25 in three different ranking services, including No. 18 in the NWCA/USA Today Coaches Poll that was released Tuesday (November 16). In the other rankings, InterMat has Arizona State at No. 10 and W.I.N. Magazine has the Sun Devils at No. 18. STRONG SCHEDULE Looking at the NWCA/USA Today Coaches Poll, six of Arizona State's opponents are currently ranked in the Top 25 while the Sun Devils are one of four Pac-10 Conference teams in the rankings. Overall, ASU's schedule includes duals with No. 2 Oklahoma State, No. 8 Oklahoma, No. 14 Nebraska, No. 17 Oregon State, No. 19 Iowa State and No. 25 Cal Poly. Along with ASU, OSU and CPU, the remaining nationally ranked Pac-10 team is Boise State, who is No. 3 this week. IN THE RANKINGS - INDIVIDUAL According to Amateur Wrestling News, four Sun Devils enter the season ranked in the national Top 15, including a pair of wrestlers in the Top 3 of their weight classes. Anthony Robles and Bubba Jenkins both head into their senior seasons ranked third nationally at 125 and 157, respectively, while senior Ben Ashmore (133) and junior Te Edwards (165) are both ranked No. 15 at their weights. ALL-STAR SELECTIONS The 45th NWCA All-Star Classic presented by The Marines will be held on Sunday, November 21, at the Selland Arena in Fresno, Calif., and will feature a pair of Sun Devils as some of the best individuals in the nation get together for the annual exhibition competition. This year, Anthony Robles will face Zach Sanders (Minnesota) at 125 pounds while Bubba Jenkins will take on Adam Hall (Boise State) at 165, marking the 21st and 22nd times, respectively, a Sun Devil has been in the event. The last time a Sun Devil competed in the event came in 2007 when current assistant coach Brian Stith dropped a tough 2-1 decision to Trent Paulson (Iowa State). NEW ADDITIONS Last week began the early signing period around collegiate athletics and the Sun Devil wrestling program has added six individuals that will continue their academic and athletic careers at Arizona State beginning next fall. Those individuals include: Codey Combs, Kory DeBerry, Preston McCalmon, Lucio Murillo, Issah Meade and Blake Stone. DeBerry's older brother, Kyle, is currently a member of the Sun Devils. Look for more information to be released later on the newest Sun Devil wrestlers. QUICK RECAP: OPENING WEEKEND The Sun Devils opened their 2010-11 season on the road last Saturday as the visitors took wins of 29-8 at Grand Canyon and 41-6 at Embry-Riddle on the same day at two different locations. Overall, the Sun Devils went 8-2 individually in both duals and posted bonus points in 10 of those 16 combined wins, including four by major decision, five by pin and one by forfeit. ASU wrestled two road duals on the same day for the sixth time in program history and improved to 10-2 all-time on those days with four sweeps. COPPER STATE COMPETITIONS With the two wins on Saturday, the Sun Devils improved to 64-9-0 all-time against teams from the state of Arizona and extended their winning streak to 44 in a row in the process. The last time Arizona State lost to a fellow Copper State school came on February 13, 1973, when visiting Arizona won, 18-17. The Sun Devils also improved to 28-6-0 all-time in road duals inside the state after winning their 19th and 20th in a row. LIFTING THE LID With their 29-8 victory at Grand Canyon Saturday morning, the Sun Devils improved to 35-14-0 all-time in their first dual of the season. Following a 2-0 record on the road, the Sun Devils now turn their attention to their first home dual of the year with No. 8 Oklahoma in town. The Sun Devils are 32-16-0 all-time in their first home dual of the season and have won four in a row. The dual with the Sooners will mark the third time Arizona State has faced OU in its home opener with the Sooners winning the previous two instances, 32-7 (December 3, 1964) and 23-21 (December 4, 1985). DEBUTS Five individuals competed for Arizona State for the first time last weekend and all five won their debuts with the Sun Devils at Grand Canyon. The victorious newcomers included Kalin Goodsite at 141 (16-5 major decision); Luke Ashmore at 149 (12-5 decision); Bubba Jenkins at 157 (11-8 decision); Luke Macchiaroli at 197 (6-3 decision) and Levi Cooper at heavyweight (3-1 decision). STRONG STARTS Of the 10 Sun Devils that competed last weekend, six swept both of their duals on Saturday. Included in that list are Anthony Robles at 125 (two pins); Kalin Goodsite at 141 (two majors); Te Edwards at 165 (one decision, one major); Jake Meredith at 184 (one major, one fall); Luke Macchiaroli at 197 (one decision, one fall); and Levi Cooper (one decision, one forfeit). QUICK WORK Four different Sun Devils won by fall last Saturday, including Anthony Robles, who pinned both of his opponents. In all five pins, the Sun Devil picked up the victory in the first period each time. Against Grand Canyon, Robles had the lone pin at 125 pounds, winning in 1:49. He followed that later in the day at Embry-Riddle with a fall in 1:25. Also at ERAU, Eric Starks pinned his foe in 2:40 to get his first win of the year at 174 to start a stretch of three falls in a row that saw the team's fastest pin honor change hands twice. First, Jake Meredith stuck his foe in 1:19 of the 184 match to take the fastest pin from Robles (1:25), but, one match later at 197, Luke Macchiaroli stuck his opponent in 1:16 to take the fastest title early in the season. COUNTDOWN TO 100 Heading into his senior campaign, Anthony Robles holds a career record of 88-23 and needs 12 wins to become the 23rd different Sun Devil to break the century mark. Currently ranked 29th all-time in career wins at Arizona State, Robles will need 15 wins (103 total) to break into the Top 20 as he will tie with three others for 19th place, including current head coach Shawn Charles. With his 88 wins, Robles is currently tied for 27th all-time on the ASU wins list with current UFC World Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez. RETURN TO FORM At the end of the 2008 season, Bubba Jenkins walked off the mat at the NCAA Championships as the national runner-up at 157 pounds for Penn State. He followed that season with a perfect regular season before an injury saw him go 0-2 at the Big Ten and NCAA events. After sitting out last season and transferring to Arizona State, Jenkins is entering his final season ranked among the Top 5 nationally as he sets out to win a national title and collect his second All-America honor. He is currently 1-1 on the young season. PAC-3 One of the Sun Devils' newcomers at heavyweight this season is Levi Cooper, a native of Hubbard, Ore. The redshirt sophomore is not only entering his first season with Arizona State, he also is entering the third “first season” of his career. Coming out of high school, Cooper enrolled at Portland State, a member of the Pac-10, and competed for one year. At the end of that season, the program was discontinued, forcing Cooper to look elsewhere to compete collegiately. He got that chance last year at Cal State Bakersfield (also a Pac-10 member in wrestling) where he redshirted. After one year at CSUB, Cooper departed and is now in the mix for the starting nod at heavyweight this year for the Sun Devils. SCOUTING: #8 OKLAHOMA The Sooners are led by Jack Spates and come to Tempe with a 2-0 dual record following a 39-0 home victory over Central Oklahoma and a 28-7 road win at Buffalo. Recently, the Sooners won the Brockport/Oklahoma Gold Classic for the 12th year in a row with five individuals winning titles. Four Oklahoma wrestlers are currently ranked among the national Top 20 (according to Amateur Wrestling News), including: No. 8 Jarrod Petterson (125), No. 1 Zack Bailey (141), No. 18 Erich Schmidtke (184) and No. 12 Nathan Fernandez (285). IN THE SERIES: SUN DEVILS vs. SOONERS Oklahoma holds a 25-14-1 advantage in the series and has won the last seven duals in a row and 13 of the last 14 meetings. The last time Arizona State won came on January 8, 2003, in Tempe in a 21-21 score (ties were broken that year based on criteria, which ASU won). The series is tied, 9-9-0, when the two teams meet in Tempe with the Sooner winning the last three meetings inside Wells Fargo Arena, including a 36-7 decision two years ago. Last year, OU won, 24-11, in Norman. MARQUEE MATCH While each team has four individuals ranked nationally heading into the dual, only one match will feature a meeting between two ranked foes as No. 3 Anthony Robles takes on No. 8 Jarrod Patterson at 125 pounds. The two met last year in the quarterfinals of the Cliff Keen/Las Vegas Invitational where then-No. 3 Robles scored a 17-2 technical fall over then-unranked Patterson. SCOUTING: FULLERTON OPEN The Fullerton Open on Saturday will have a distinct Pac-10 flavor to it as five of the Conference's teams will be in action, including ASU, Cal Poly, CS Bakersfield, host CS Fullerton and Stanford. Also set to compete are Cal Baptist, Grand Canyon and Embry-Riddle, along with several junior colleges. The tournament will feature 10 weight classes with team scoring used to crown a champion. SENIOR SEASONS Five individuals are entering their final collegiate seasons, including local standout Anthony Robles, who has earned a pair of All-American honors after a solid career at nearby Mesa High School. The remaining seniors include Ben Ashmore, Bubba Jenkins, Orlando Jimenez and Lucas Mariacher. All five will be honored before the team's dual with Cal Poly on January 30 (2:00 p.m.) ALL IN THE FAMILY In the history of the program, 28 different families have supplied the Sun Devils with multiple wrestlers, including a pair of brothers this year and a second-generation Sun Devil. Brothers Ben and Luke Ashmore are the 26th set of brothers to be members of the Arizona State program while Luke Macchiaroli is the second member of his family to join the Sun Devils as his father, Tom, was with the program in the late 1970s. ASKREN ON STAFF Several weeks ago, head coach Shawn Charles rounded out his coaching staff with the addition of Ben Askren as an assistant coach. The 2008 Olympian and two-time NCAA finalist (at Missouri), who served as the program's Director of Operations last year, will assist with day-to-day operations once again while also working with technique on the mat with the Sun Devils. He joins Brian Stith (fourth year) as the program's assistant coaches this season. EARLY ACTION Last weekend, 17 members of the program entered the Embry-Riddle Collegiate Championships in Prescott as unattached competitors with 12 returning the Valley of the Sun with Top 5 finishes. Three Sun Devils reached the final and placed second, including Josh Sandoval (125), Kevin Radford (184) and Levi Cooper (285). Kalin Goodsite (141) placed third while David Prado (133), Joel Smith (149), Kevin Maelfeyt (157), Wesley Moore (184) and Michael Hawkins (285) all finished fourth. Dalton Miller (125), Derek Felton (165) and Bobby Bowman (174) also finished fifth. HE'S THE CHAMP On October 23, a new UFC World Heavyweight Champion was crowned and that champion is former Sun Devil All-American Cain Velasquez. The first fighting champion of Mexican heritage, Velasquez dispatched of former champion Brock Lesnar with a first round TKO to take the belt at UFC 121 in Anaheim, Calif. Velasquez is now the is the fourth different Sun Devil wrestler to hold a belt in the UFC. ALUMNI UPDATE • Aaron Simpson (7-1) will be fighting at UFC 123 as he takes on fellow wrestler Mark Munoz (8-2) in Auburn Hills, Mich., on Saturday, November 20, live on Spike TV. If the name Munoz sounds familiar, it is the same Munoz that wrestled for Oklahoma State. • Also in the UFC, Ryan Bader (12-0) will meet Jon ‘Bones' Jones (11-1) in a light heavyweight bout in Las Vegas at UFC 126 on February 5. NEXT TIME OUT Compared to this week, next week will be very quite for the Sun Devils as only one dual is on the schedule. Arizona State will open its Pac-10 slate at 7 p.m. on Saturday, November 27, inside Wells Fargo Arena as the Titans of CS Fullerton come to town. The event will be ASU's final dual of 2010 (two tournaments in December) and the last dual until No. 2 Oklahoma State comes to town for a 6 p.m. contest on January 2.

Though football is the main thing on the conscience of prep sports followers at this point in time, and for many states the start of wrestling is at least two weeks away, scholastic wrestling will be starting in a few states this coming weekend. And the season starts off with a major bang in the Sunshine State at the O'Town Showdown with a likely matchup between two of the best scholastic wrestling programs in the country. O'Town Showdown An absolute extravaganza of wrestling will convene upon the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at the Walt Disney World Resort outside of Orlando, Florida. Prime among the events is a 32-team dual meet tournament to be held on Friday and Saturday involving nine teams that finished in the top ten of their classification at the Florida State Tournament in 2009-10. Website for information: http://golddotsports.com/index.html Wrestling will start with four pools of eight teams, each pool then split into two. The top eight teams will be seeded, and placed into each of the pools, with the remaining teams blindly placed into positions. Teams will first wrestle the three teams in their sub-pool. After the first three matches, the last place team will be eliminated from the main draw. Within each pool, the three remaining teams will wrestle those remaining from the other sub-pool. After those matches, the 24 teams will be split into three tiers of brackets. The top two in each pool advance to the championship bracket, the next two to the consolation championship bracket (places 9-16), and the last two to the consolation pride bracket (places 17-24). Teams will then compete in an eight-team "umbrella-style" bracket for the remaining three matches. The 32-team field is anchored by a pair of state championship teams, fourth-ranked Brandon and 17th-ranked Oviedo. Other featured teams in the field include Lake Gibson and Northside Christian, which finished third in their respective state tournament divisionsPalmetto Ridge, fourth at state; South Dade, fifth at state; Winter Springs and Lake Highland Prep, both finishing eighth in the state; and Bishop Moore, which finished tenth. The following wrestlers in this field are nationally ranked in their weight class: 103: No. 8 Colton Howell (Brandon) 119: No. 14 Earl Hall (South Dade) 125: No. 8 Rossi Bruno (Brandon) 130: No. 13 Kevin Norstrem (Brandon) 135: No. 6 Tyler Liberatore (Brandon) 152: No. 10 Clark Glass (Brandon) 160: No. 8 Wally Figaro (Brandon) 171: No. 15 Geordan Speiller (Oviedo) 285: No. 9 Doug Vollaro (Oviedo) A showcase feature of this weekend event will be three dual meets involving NCAA Division I programs on the featured mat at the Jostens Center between Indiana, The Citadel, and Columbia. 11:00 a.m. ET -- Indiana vs. The Citadel 1:00 p.m. ET -- Indiana vs. Columbia 3:00 p.m. ET – Columbia vs. The Citadel Also part of the weekend will be the Gold Dot JV Challenge conducted on Friday and the Middle and Elementary School Folkstyle National Championships on Saturday. 2010 Cliff Keen Kickoff Classic The opening leg of the Roller World of Wrestling triple crown (aka -- the Trinity Award) will be this weekend in Tulsa, Oklahoma at the Expo Square Pavilion. Notable title winners in the 15-and-under division last year appearing in the high school rankings include Ryan Millhof (Archer, Georgia), Phillip Laux (Pekin, Iowa), Gary Wayne Harding (Collinsville, Oklahoma), and John Fahy (Trinity, Kentucky). Other champions at either the 15U or 12U levels that appear in the graduating class rankings include Davion Jeffries (Oklahoma), Ke-Shawn Hayes (Missouri), Luke Norland (Iowa), and Mason Manville (Virginia).

The University of Iowa wrestling program has long been a symbol of excellence. Just one indicator: the Hawkeyes claimed their 23rd team title at the 2010 NCAAs in March. The man at the helm for 15 of those national titles was none other than Dan Gable, Iowa's coach from 1977-1997. One book manages to capture the essence of both the Iowa mat program and coach Gable: the now-classic A Season on the Mat: Dan Gable and the Pursuit of Perfection. The book, originally published in hardcover in 1997, is available in an updated, tenth anniversary paperback edition from Simon & Schuster. A Season on the Mat provides an all-access backstage pass to the 1996-1997 wrestling season, Gable's last as head coach of the Hawkeyes. No writer is more uniquely qualified for the challenge than Nolan Zavoral. He once covered the University of Iowa wrestling team as a sportswriter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen ... then, years later, pretty much lived with the Hawkeyes for an entire season to write A Season on the Mat. Zavoral has been writing for over a quarter-century. He came to Iowa City from Milwaukee, first working as an editor at ACT (the organization that, among other things, produces the ACT college entrance exam), then as a columnist and sports editor at the Press-Citizen. "I covered a lot of Iowa wrestling for the paper," said Zavoral. "This was when Gable was head coach, and J Robinson was his assistant." While changing planes, a book comes to mind The idea for A Season on the Mat came to Nolan Zavoral at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, while still a writer for the Iowa City paper. "I was traveling with the team to Oklahoma State," said the author. "We were on a layover at the St. Louis airport, and (Gable) was reading a story in the paper about a serial rapist. He had this look on his face. Even realizing what had happened to his sister, it was a powerful moment." Nolan ZavoralAs a youngster, Dan Gable's teenage sister Diane -- his only sibling -- was brutally raped and murdered inside the Gable family home in Waterloo, Iowa while he and his parents were out-of-town on a fishing trip. "It gave me a reason to want to know more about him," according to Zavoral. With that observation in an airport waiting area, the sportswriter had his first thoughts about writing a book about Gable. After all, as Zavoral put it, "Interest in Dan Gable goes well beyond Iowa. People around the world want to know about him as a coach, and a person." However, the book would have to wait. Zavoral left the Iowa City Press-Citizen, first for USA Today, then, later, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Despite these career moves that took him away from the University of Iowa and the Hawkeye wrestling program, Zavoral held fast to the idea of authoring a book about Dan Gable and his wrestlers ... and kept in touch with the would-be book's subject. "Each year, I'd call Gable and ask if this was his last season." "Before the 1996-97 season, he said he was thinking 'this would be it.'" Gable gives the go-ahead Dan Gable (Photo/UNI Sports Information)With that message from Dan Gable, Nolan Zavoral took a leave of absence from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune -- without pay -- to pursue his dream of writing his book. "I wanted to be there for everything," said the author about his decision to spend the entire season with Gable and his wrestlers. However, it was very much an act of faith. "I didn't have an editor, didn't have a book deal ... I haven't felt that strongly about too many things in my life." From what Zavoral disclosed about his experience shadowing the Hawkeyes for an entire season, it seems he made the right choice. "There were so many stories -- grades, girlfriends, wives -- that went beyond the wrestling. I wanted to weave in these elements along with the main story of the last season of a great coach at a great program. Then the story became even more interesting as Gable had hip surgery in the middle of the season. He missed a couple duals, but he came out on crutches, thumping around. Nothing could stop him from his appointed rounds." An all-access pass For his book, Nolan Zavoral also sought to incorporate the stories of the Hawkeye wrestlers, such as Lincoln McIlravy, who was battling painful headaches, and Jessie Whitmer, who exceeded everyone's expectations by winning the 118-pound title at the 1997 NCAAs. All this was possible, thanks to Zavoral being granted total access to the inner workings of the program, including its coaches and wrestlers, for the entire season. The author sat in on team meetings, went to practice sessions, even traveled with the team to just about every wrestling event, from the first dual meet at Lake Okoboji in the far northern reaches of Iowa, to the NCAA Division I Championships at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, twin city to Dan Gable's hometown of Waterloo. Rather than conduct one-on-one interviews, Zavoral used a more subtle approach to gathering material for A Season on the Mat -- by observing. "I think the best material comes from observations -- sit back and watch others, listen to conversations -- rather than from direct interviews. I wanted people to be themselves." Going mano-a-mano with Gable Even with Zavoral's observational approach, there were some tense moments between author and coach. Larry Ownings gets his hand raised (Photo/AP)Sometimes, it was a quiet tension. A prime example: when Zavoral got Gable to watch a videotape of the TV broadcast of his upset loss to Larry Owings of the University of Washington in 142-pound finals at the 1970 NCAAs -- the Iowa coach's only loss in his entire high school and college career. [Link to Gable-Owings InterMat Rewind story] Here's how Zavoral described the scene in A Season on the Mat: A quarter-century later, Gable still had a tape of the match. He hadn't watched it in years -- too painful. But, at a friend's suggestion, in 1997, he brought it from home to the wrestling office and slipped it into the VCR ... This time, alone in the wrestling office, Gable watched grimly, pulling up a chair to just a couple feet of the screen. He saw himself score the first points of the match with a takedown. "Should have pinned him right there. But he was double-jointed in the shoulders or something. Always got away." He saw himself try an arm bar, and Owings slither out of it. "Got to get his arm back more." Gable sounded resigned ... The tape ran out. Gable took it out and switched off the VCR. "Well, that's it," he said. He meant, "That's enough." That wasn't the worst of it. "There were times when Gable said, 'We don't want you around,'" according to Zavoral. "I was taking an unpaid leave from work, racking up $13,000 in expenses. That's the last thing I wanted to hear." "I told him, 'The single-minded determination you want from your wrestlers, I'm putting into this book.'" "We had a number of come-to-Jesus meetings during the season." As the author explains it, "Gable wanted to read the finished book. I agreed to let him correct factual errors, but not other aspects." "He was concerned about how his parents were portrayed. I said, 'It helps others see who you are, where you came from.'" "From my work on the book, and as a writer for the Press-Citizen, Gable had seen me everywhere. In his estimation, however flawed the book may be in his point-of-view, I had paid my dues." Gable the wrestler and coach As A Season on the Mat makes clear, Dan Gable made a name for himself on the wrestling mat before becoming head coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes ... first, at Waterloo West High, where he was an undefeated, three-time Iowa state champ ... then, at Iowa State, where he compiled an incredible 118-1 record, with two NCAA Division I titles ... then, in 1972, winning the gold medal at the Munich Olympics without being scored upon. Dan GableJust before heading to the Olympics, Iowa head coach Gary Kurdelmeier ... and the Cyclone became a Hawkeye. In 1976, Kurdelmeier took an administrative job at Iowa, and Dan Gable was named head coach. In the 21 seasons Gable was at the helm of the Hawkeyes, his teams built a truly amazing 355-21-5 record, for a .940 winning percentage. His teams won 21 straight Big Ten titles, and 15 NCAA team championships. His wrestlers won 108 Big Ten individual titles, and a total of 43 individual NCAA titles. With those impressive credentials, it's easy to see why so many young athletes aspired to wrestle for Gable and the Hawkeyes. According to Nolan Zavoral, wrestlers who chose the University of Iowa had a good idea of what to expect. "Iowa wrestlers knew Gable and his reputation for his hard-ass coaching and practice ways," said the author. "However, he wasn't tyrannical around his wrestlers." In fact, coach Gable customized his approach for each wrestler, said Zavoral. "Wrestling's such an individual sport. As much as anything, Gable realized that. For example, if a wrestler had a lab that interfered with the scheduled practice time, he would let them practice at a different time." Having spent considerable time with Dan Gable first as a newspaper reporter, then during an entire wrestling season in writing the book, Nolan Zavoral gained a strong sense of the man beyond his public persona as one of the all-time great college coaches. "Whatever line of work you're in, there's something to admire about Gable's level of determination ... Yet, he's very much a family guy. This is a guy who's in a very macho sport, but his life is full of women. (Dan and his wife Kathy have four daughters, no sons.) He has a notable respect for women." "He's not an overt personality. Very low-key ... He can be a very introspective person. Despite his quietness, he could recruit and coach, and be front and center of a program that is the envy of anyone, in any sport." "He was a coach ahead of his time ... He knew how to get through to a kid, to feel out people," Zavoral continued. "As an only child, I can say that he had that kind of empathy." "He knew there would not be another coach quite like him -- single-minded, unswerving, passionate. He was smart enough not to expect others to have that same focus." "Gable's a very complicated human being. It's not fair to try to reduce him to the notion of being merely a dominating wrestler/coach." After a season with the Hawkeyes, time in the monastery After spending the entire 1996-97 season with the Hawkeyes -- and armed with tons of notes, quotes and observations -- Nolan Zavoral had three months to put it all together into a book. As he put it in the interview for this profile, "I had three months to write 100,000 words." How would Zavoral be able to get the book written with that kind of deadline pressure? By leading the life of a monk. Zavoral spent three months at St. John's Abbey, a Benedictine monastery located in splendid isolation in the woods outside Collegeville, Minnesota, northwest of the Twin Cities. (He had been religion writer for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.) "I lived in a cell, as they call the rooms where the monks reside," said the author. "It was very small, very sparse ... Every inch of the floor was covered in my notes, media guides, etc." "They grew their own food. Someone would read aloud during dinner -- not religious material, but thoughtful books and articles." "It was a great experience." Nolan Zavoral described one not-so-great, heart-stopping incident during his time at St. John's: "I was writing the middle chapters of the book. I would send a chapter or two at a time to my editor at Simon & Schuster. To meet a deadline, I was trying to send a chapter at 3 a.m. during an electrical storm which knocked off the power. I yelled, 'Oh, (expletive)!' and all the lights suddenly came back on." Writing in a monastery apparently provided the author the inspiration he needed. In A Season on the Mat: Dan Gable and the Pursuit of Perfection, Zavoral crafts a multi-dimensional portrait of Gable the coach and Gable the man, weaving in elements of his past -- along with what was going on in that final season -- in a seamless tapestry that takes the reader not only inside one of the great sports programs of all time, but also inside the heart and mind of one of its greatest wrestlers and coaches. A Season on the Mat: Dan Gable and the Pursuit of Perfection by Nolan Zavoral, published by Simon & Schuster, is available for purchase online at Amazon.com. A tenth-anniversary edition produced in 2007 provides additional, updated information on Gable and the Iowa program, including insights into Jim Zalesky leaving the head coaching position which he had inherited after Gable's retirement, and the Republican party's efforts to draft Gable to run for Iowa governor.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 18-ranked University of Michigan wrestling team won early and late to edge No. 14 Pittsburgh, 17-15, in its dual-meet debut on Sunday afternoon (Nov. 14) in front of 716 fans at Cliff Keen Arena. The Wolverines claimed five individual bouts, including the final two of the afternoon, and earned a pair of major decisions. With the Wolverines trailing by two points entering the final bout at 133 pounds, junior Zac Stevens (Monroe, Mich./Monroe HS) picked up a dominant 16-5 major decision over Shelton Mack to wrap up his team's late rally. Stevens built a significant advantage in the first, converting on a double leg and subsequent snap down before using a leg turk to add three late back points. He scored on three additional takedowns, including one at the final buzzer, and accumulated 3:04 in riding-time advantage. Sophomore Sean Boyle (Lowell, Mass./Blair Academy) put the Wolverines back into the driver's seat with an upset victory in the preceding match at 125 pounds, controlling 14th-ranked Anthony Zanetta from start to finish to claim an 8-5 decision. After taking the first lead on an illegal scissors around the head call, Boyle converted on a low single late in the opening frame and added a snatch single midway through the second to carry a 6-2 lead into the third. Zanetta cut the gap with a third-period single and was deep on another single for the final 25 seconds of the match, but Boyle neutralized the position along the edge to improve to 5-0 on the season. The Wolverines claimed three of the opening four matches to build up a significant lead prior the intermission. Senior/junior captain Kellen Russell (High Bridge, N.J./Blair Academy) opened the dual with an 11-2 major decision over Mike Tully at 141 pounds, using two takedowns and a pair of reversals to improve to 4-0 on the season. Fifth-year senior Aaron Hynes (Mt. Morris, Mich./Flint Kearsley HS) and sophomore/freshman Dan Yates (Hesperia, Mich./Hesperia HS) earned back-to-back decisions in key swing matches at 157 and 165 pounds, respectively. Hynes battled back from an early deficit against Donnie Tasser, scoring on a second-period reversal and third-period high crotch to win, 5-3. Yates cruised past the Panthers' Adam Counterman 7-0 in his varsity debut, earning the bulk of his points on a first-period body lock that put Counterman right to his back. He added a third-period escape and 2:26 in time advantage but, despite a couple flurries, could not quite find the final point necessary for bonus. Michigan's five losses were all decided by three points or less, while two required overtime. Sophomore/freshman Eric Grajales (Brandon, Fla./Brandon HS) demonstrated his potential at 149 pounds, scoring on a body lock, a two-point tilt and a second-period reversal but gave up four takedowns, including a single leg midway through the sudden-victory period to provide Dane Johnson the 10-8 win. Grajales nearly had the Panther wrestler on his back after a headlock a minute into the match, but the situation produced no points. Pittsburgh also won four straight matches at the upperweights to secure a five-point team lead after the heavyweight bout. Junior/sophomore Ben Apland (Woodridge, Ill./Downers Grove South HS) nearly pulled off the upset against No. 11-ranked Ryan Tomei in the heavyweight contest but gave up some late points to fall, 8-7. An Apland single leg late in the second period appeared to put the Wolverine wrestler in the driver's seat, but Tomei scrambled for a reversal with just one second remaining on the clock to take a one-point advantage into the third. Apland escaped to tie and remained on the offensive, but Tomei countered a careless shot, scoring on a double leg late in the final period. The Wolverines will hit the road next Friday (Nov. 19) to continue non-conference dual competition against Lehigh in Bethlehem, Pa. The dual is slated for a 7 p.m. start at Grace Hall. Results: 141 -- #5 Kellen Russell (U-M) major dec. Mike Tully, 11-2 U-M, 4-0 149 -- Dane Johnson (Pitt) dec. Eric Grajales, 10-8 SV U-M, 4-3 157 -- Aaron Hynes (U-M) dec. Donnie Tasser, 5-3 U-M, 7-3 165 -- Dan Yates (U-M) dec. Adam Counterman, 7-0 U-M, 10-3 174 -- Ethan Headlee (Pitt) dec. #16 Justin Zeerip, 3-1 SV3 U-M, 10-6 184 -- Max Thomusseit (Pitt) dec. Hunter Collins, 5-3 U-M, 10-9 197 -- #12 Zac Thomusseit (Pitt) dec. #5 Anthony Biondo, 3-0 Pitt, 12-10 Hwt -- #11 Ryan Tomei (Pitt) dec. Ben Apland, 8-7 Pitt, 15-10 125 -- Sean Boyle (U-M) dec. #14 Anthony Zanetta, 8-5 Pitt, 15-13 133 -- Zac Stevens (U-M) major dec. Shelton Mack, 16-5 U-M, 17-15