InterMat Staff

125: No. 2 Matt McDonough (Iowa) over No. 1 Anthony Robles (Arizona State) McDonough has been on fire since losing to Northwestern's Brandon Precin in the finals of the Midlands in late December. He will have to get past Precin, who is one of the best wrestlers in the country in any weight class, in the semifinals. If McDonough and Precin meet, it will mark the fourth meeting of the season between the Big Ten rivals. There's no reason to believe those two won't meet again and I expect it to be another barn burner decided by a takedown. McDonough thrives on the big stage and won't be denied. It's hard not to like Robles. He's a class act who has been crushing opponents all season. Robles will cruise to the finals, picking up bonus points in every match along the way, including his semifinal victory over undefeated James Nicholson of Old Dominion. In the finals, McDonough will execute a well-devised game plan against Robles and win his second title in as many years. 133: No. 1 Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) over No. 2 Andrew Hochstrasser (Boise State) Oliver has been a bonus point machine this season, unlike last season when he won four matches at the NCAAs (en route to finishing fourth) by scores of 3-2, 6-4, 5-4, 4-3. He has been putting a lot of points on the scoreboard this season. One of the things I appreciate about Oliver is that he's never satisfied with his performance, which is going to take him a long way in his wrestling career. If the seeds hold, Oliver will face Wisconsin's Tyler Graff in the semifinals. Graff has a gas tank and wrestles hard the entire time, but I just think Oliver is too technically sound to lose to Graff. I expect it to be chalk on the bottom half of the bracket with Hochstrasser and Penn State's Andrew Long advancing to the semifinals. The Hochtrasser-Long semifinal match intrigues me because both are wrestling at a very high level right now. Hochstrasser has an advantage on the mat, but Long's attacking style could give him fits. Hochstrasser-Long is a tossup, but I'm giving it to the senior Hochstrasser. Hochstrasser-Oliver III (if it happens) should be another battle, but Oliver is wrestling too well to pick against him. 141: No. 2 Mike Thorn (Minnesota) over No. 4 Jimmy Kennedy (Illinois) Interesting statistic: The last three years a Big Ten wrestler has reached the NCAA finals at this weight class and none of those wrestlers won a Big Ten title the year they reached the NCAA finals. I expect that trend to continue this season. So against my better judgment, I'm picking against the undefeated Russell. I picked against him at the Big Tens. After Russell won his third Big Ten title in a loaded weight class, I told myself that I would never pick against him again. But I have somehow convinced myself that he cannot keep winning these tight matches. Kennedy, a two-time All-American, was on the brink of beating Russell in the semifinals of the Big Tens, but Russell found a way to win. In Kennedy's last NCAA appearance (two seasons ago), his championship run ended before it even started when he lost his pigtail match, so you can bet that still burns. Russell has won the first two meetings this season between the two, but it's a tall order to beat a wrestler as skilled as Kennedy three straight times. Thorn is placed on the opposite side of the bracket as his Big Ten rivals, with the exception of Penn State's Andrew Alton, who he could potentially see in the semifinals. Thorn has said countless times this season that he's wrestling without any pressure because in all likelihood he's hanging up the competitive shoes after this season. Jayson Ness ended his competitive career last season with an NCAA title. This year another Gopher, Thorn, will do the same with a victory in the finals over his longtime friend Kennedy. 149: No. 1 Darrion Caldwell (North Carolina State) over No. 6 Jason Chamberlain (Boise State) Caldwell is the best wrestler in all of college wrestling. No, not merely the most talented (he is also that), but the best. He has not lost an official college wrestling match in three years. Caldwell has beaten six NCAA finalists in college or freestyle, including a Dan Hodge Trophy winner twice (Brent Metcalf), a U.S. World Team member (Dustin Schlatter), and a U.S. Olympian (Doug Schwab). He is one of only three college wrestlers who has been on the U.S. National Team in freestyle. (Wisconsin's Andrew Howe and Missouri's Dom Bradley are the others.) Everyone is looking for reasons why Caldwell won't win an NCAA title this season, whether it's his conditioning, health, or the fact that he has only wrestled 14 matches this season and faced only one seeded wrestler. People read too much into Caldwell's matches prior to the NCAAs. Anyone who is familiar with Caldwell knows that he has a different gear for events that matter to him. Unfortunately for the other wrestlers in this weight class, this is an event that matters to Caldwell. Cornell's Kyle Dake, like Caldwell, is at his best when the stakes are highest. He's coming off an EIWA finals loss, but so was Cornell's Jordan Leen when he won an NCAA title in 2008. Dake is not afraid to mix it up and a semifinal showdown with Caldwell could see some fireworks. However, Caldwell is just too skilled for anyone in this weight class, including Dake. I see Chamberlain coming out of the bottom side of the bracket. Chamberlain gets overlooked nationally because he does not compete in the Big Ten or Big 12, but he is as skilled as anyone in this weight class not named Caldwell. His only blemish this season is to Oklahoma State's Jamal Parks. Chamberlain will edge Bucknell's Kevin LeValley in the quarterfinals before knocking off Penn State's Frank Molinaro in the semifinals. But Chamberlain's run will come to an end in the finals against Caldwell. 157: No. 3 David Taylor (Penn State) over No. 1 Adam Hall (Boise State) This weight class reminds me a little bit of the 157-pound weight class in 2009 that included Jordan Burroughs of Nebraska, Mike Poeta of Illinois, Jordan Leen of Cornell, and Gregor Gillespie of Edinboro, only because it includes four dynamic wrestlers who stand above everyone else in the weight class. But in terms of college accomplishments (to date), the 2009 group was superior. Burroughs, Poeta, Leen, and Gillespie were all NCAA finalists (three were NCAA champions) ... and only Arizona State's Bubba Jenkins has reached in the NCAA finals in this year's group. I see this year's "Big Four" -- Hall, Steve Fittery of American, Taylor, and Jenkins as being neck and neck with one another. Any of the four are capable of winning the title. I'm not in the camp that believes Hall should not have been the No. 1 seed. He's not only the highest returning NCAA finisher, but he has two wins over an NCAA runner-up (Jenkins) and beat Fittery in their last meeting. Taylor and Fittery have combined to beat one All-American this season. Like many, I've been following Taylor's career closely since he was a baby-faced high school freshman. When Taylor was in high school, I wrote in an article that he's going to go down as one of the best college wrestlers of his generation and I stand by that. I love his wrestling style. He's always trying to score points and is not afraid to take chances. If college wrestling had more wrestlers like David Taylor, the sport would have more fans. If the seeds hold in this weight class, the semifinals will have the fans in the sold-out Wells Fargo Center in a frenzy. I predicted Fittery to win the NCAA title last season when he placed fifth, and he's certainly capable of winning it this season, but I just think his wide-open style is going to play right into Taylor's strengths. I see Taylor beating Fittery by four to six points. Hall-Jenkins IV is a tossup match that probably won't be decided in regulation. The two know each other well and I expect it to be a low-scoring, strategic battle. I see Hall coming out on top and facing Taylor in the finals. In the finals, I see Taylor winning a very competitive match against Hall. 165: No. 1 Jordan Burroughs (Nebraska) over No. 2 Andrew Howe (Wisconsin) Anytime you have two NCAA champions in the same weight class, it makes for an interesting weight class. Burroughs' double leg has become virtually unstoppable, even for highly-ranked opponents who know it's coming. Oklahoma's Tyler Caldwell, a returning All-American, seems to have devised a match strategy to slow Burroughs down. But Caldwell will have to navigate through a tough bottom side of the bracket that includes defending NCAA champion Howe to even get another shot at Burroughs on the front side of the bracket. Howe is also looking to get another shot at Burroughs after losing to him in the finals of the Midlands. Howe missed the second half of January and all of February because of a hamstring injury, but came back to win his third Big Ten title. He was pushed hard at the Big Tens and needed overtime to win the semifinals and finals. The semifinal match between Howe and Caldwell (assuming they meet) will be tight, but Howe seems to find ways to win the tight matches (think Steve Luke) and I see him outlasting Caldwell. Burroughs will win comfortably over Sponseller in the other semifinal match. Burroughs-Howe I (Midlands) was 10-7 Burroughs. I see Burroughs-Howe II (NCAA finals) being somewhere around 5-2 Burroughs. 174: No. 3 Mack Lewnes (Cornell) over No. 1 Jon Reader (Iowa State) Lewnes was the No. 1 seed at the NCAAs as a sophomore and junior and came up short both years, going 0-2 as a sophomore and finishing runner-up last season. Now as a senior he's not seeded to make the NCAA finals because of regular season losses to the top two seeds, Reader and Penn State's Ed Ruth. Aside from those two losses, Lewnes has crushed his competition this season. Reader has wrestled like a man on a mission this season after failing to place last season at 165 pounds. He is undefeated on the season and wrestling with a lot of confidence. Ruth, a redshirt freshman, has some freakish skills and can be as good as he wants to be in this sport. He took Lewnes down three times en route to an 11-6 victory in the semifinals of the Southern Scuffle. In the Southern Scuffle finals, Ruth topped Virginia's Chris Henrich, 7-2. On the top side of the bracket, I expect Reader, the top seed, to come through and make the finals. On the bottom side of the bracket, I like Lewnes to make the necessary adjustments and get revenge against Ruth in the semifinals, setting up a Reader-Lewnes finals matchup. The first time the two seniors met this season, Reader edged Lewnes, 7-6. If they meet in the finals, I think it's a lower-scoring match ... I'll take Lewnes, 3-1, over Reader for the championship. 184: No. 5 Joe LeBlanc (Wyoming) over No. 6 Ryan Loder (Northern Iowa) This weight class is deep. As I see it, there are nine or 10 wrestlers in the mix for the title at 184 pounds. The top seed, Edinboro's Chris Honeycutt, is the lone unbeaten in the weight class, but is by no means a strong favorite to stand on top of the podium. Honeycutt won 7-2 over third-seeded Steve Bosak of Cornell, but has not faced any of the other seeded wrestlers in the weight class this season. Edinboro coach Tim Flynn is one of the best coaches in college wrestling and has a history of getting his wrestlers to peak at the NCAAs. Honeycutt certainly has the tools to make the finals, but will have his work cut out for him in the top half of the bracket with LeBlanc, Wisconsin's Travis Rutt, Minnesota's Kevin Steinhaus, and Penn State's Quentin Wright. I like LeBlanc, a two-time All-American, to come through the top half of the bracket. He took a loss to Northern Iowa's Ryan Loder at the West Regional qualifier, but his coach, Mark Branch, knows a thing or two about performing when it matters most. The bottom side of the bracket, much like the top half, has a handful of wrestlers capable of making the finals. Returning NCAA runner-up Kirk Smith of Boise State is the 11th seed, but his health is a major concern .... and in a weight class this deep, it's going to take a wrestler firing on all cylinders to come through. It might be too much to ask of a banged-up Smith to string together consecutive victories over highly-ranked wrestlers. I really like the way Loder and Oklahoma State's Chris Perry, both freshmen, are wrestling right now. Loder has only taken one loss, to LeBlanc, since December. Perry has won 12 of his last 13 matches, losing only to LeBlanc during that stretch. In the semifinals, I see Loder beating Perry for the second time this season, giving first-year head coach Doug Schwab his first NCAA finalist at UNI, and setting up rematch of the West Regional final for the NCAA title. Both LeBlanc-Loder matches have been one-point matches and I expect the rubber match in the NCAA finals to be another tight one ... with LeBlanc coming out on top. 197: No. 1 Cam Simaz (Cornell) over No. 3 Trevor Brandvold (Wisconsin) Simaz, the top seed and a two-time All-American, is someone Cornell is counting on to come through and score big points. Simaz has been No. 1 most of the season. The only blemish on his record is a 10-9 loss to Kent State's Dustin Kilgore in an action-filled match at the Body Bar Invitational in November. If the seeds hold, Simaz will meet Kilgore in the semifinals. Kilgore, though, will likely have to get past Iowa's Luke Lofthouse, who has been wrestling well, in the quarterfinals. Either way, I like Simaz to come out of the top half of the bracket. The bottom half of the bracket has two undefeated wrestlers in Oklahoma State's Clayton Foster and Brandvold. In addition, it includes Penn's Micah Burak, who has a win over Kilgore and a recent 1-0 loss to Simaz. Pitt's Zac Thomusseit is another wrestler who will be in the mix on the bottom side of the bracket. He has a win this season over Lofthouse and has only lost to Kilgore and Burak this season. I like Brandvold to beat Foster in the semifinals in a battle of two undefeated wrestlers. But in the end, I think Simaz gets the job done and wins the title. 285: No. 5 Dom Bradley (Missouri) over No. 3 Ryan Flores (American) A tough weight class to predict because all 12 seeds are close. Nothing would shock me in this weight class. Lehigh's Zach Rey has been the most consistent heavyweight this season, which is why he earned the No. 1 seed despite losing to Flores in the EIWA Finals. Bradley is one off day from being undefeated and the No. 1 seed. He took three losses one day at the Northeast Duals on Nov. 27, but otherwise has been perfect. I like Bradley, who is wrestling in his first NCAA tournament after sitting behind NCAA champion Mark Ellis, to avenge all three of those losses en route to winning the title. I see him taking out D.J. Russo of Rutgers in the quarterfinals, Rey in the semifinals, and Flores in the finals. Top Five Teams: 1. Cornell 2. Penn State 3. Iowa 4. Boise State 5. Minnesota

LA CROSSE, Wis. - Senior Clayton Rush (Aledo, Ill./Aledo) capped one of the best wrestling careers in school history Saturday night with his second-straight NCAA Wrestling National Championship at 125 pounds. Rush, wrestling in his third national final for his career, got down early, as Wisconsin-La Crosse's Lloyd McKinney put Rush on his back just seconds into the match. It was an instant flashback to Rush's freshman season, where he earned back points against Augsburg's Seth Flodeen before being turned quickly in the loss. This time, it was Rush that got a quick reversal to get back on top. McKinney took a 3-2 lead on the optional start, but Rush quickly took him down to take a 4-3 lead. Once again, Rush let McKinney out to tie the match at four before getting in on a single-leg takedown, taking a 6-4 lead. Rush led 8-6 at the end of the first period, as he fought off a shot attempt by McKinney late in the period. Rush owned 1:03 of riding time before McKinney escaped to start the second period. Starting the third period, Rush choose neutral, still having the point for riding time. A takedown by Rush, along with an escape by McKinney left the match at 10-8 before the point for riding time. "It means everything. This is why I'm here," Rush said. "The first one (National Championship) was sweeter, but this one is bittersweet. It's the last time I'll ever step foot on that stage as a wrestler." A four-time All-American, three-time finalist and two-time National Champion, Rush finished the season 35-1, while ending his career with a 129-11 record. He didn't lose a match to a Division III wrestler in the final two years of his career. Coe's other finalist, junior Nick LeClere (Coggon, Iowa/North-Linn) dropped a tough 6-5 decision to top-seeded Josh Terrell of Dubuque. Terrell scored early in the first period on a takedown, while mounting over a minute of riding time. LeClere earned the escape, making it 2-1, but Terrell already had 1:36 of riding time at that point. Just :09 into the second period, Terrell escaped from the bottom, taking a 3-1 lead. Terrell earned another takedown, but LeClere escaped, as Terrell led 5-2. At the end of the second period, LeClere got in on a takedown, leaving Terrell with a 5-4 lead at the end of the second period. With 1:17 left in the match, LeClere escaped, tying the match at five. LeClere wasn't able to get in on a takedown, as Terrell was warned for stalling with :11 to wrestle, but couldn't get the needed point. Terrell won on riding time 6-5. As a team, the Kohawks finished fifth with 67 points. Wartburg won the team title with 117 points, while Augsburg was second with 88.5. Host Wisconsin-La Crosse was third with 76.5 and Ithaca was fourth at 72.5 points.

The Peacock wrestling team claimed team hardware for the second straight year at the NCAA Division II Championships. Upper Iowa, led by National Champion Trevor Franklin, earned five All-American honors and also got wins from their other two National Qualifiers. The fourth place finish marks the second NCAA Team Trophy that an Upper Iowa athletics program has claimed since their jump up to NCAA Division II. Prior to last season, the last time the UIU wrestling program lofted an NCAA Team Trophy was following the 2002 NCAA Division III Championships when the Peacocks earned National Runner Up honors. Last year, the team tied with Nebraska-Kearney for third place led by National Champion Travis Eggers and three other All-Americans including Tyler Mumbulo (2nd place), Kyle Pedretti (3rd place) and Mitch Norton (3rd place). Upper Iowa’s 2011 National Qualifier Results 125 Trevor Franklin (4-0, National Champion) 133 Kyle Pedretti (2-3, Sixth Place) 157 Winston Robbins (1-2) 174 Mark Mueller (4-2, Fifth Place) 184 Mitch Schultz (3-3, Sixth Place) 197 Carl Broghammer (5-1, Third Place) 285 Zach Rosol (1-2)

La Crosse, Wis. -- The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse wrestling team finished third at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championships in Festival Foods Arena at the La Crosse Center Saturday night. The Eagles totaled 76.5 points while Wartburg College (Iowa) took the national tite with 117.0 and Augsburg College (Minn.) was second with 88.5. Ithaca College (N.Y.) placed fourth (72.5) and Coe College (Iowa) was fifth (67.0). St. John's University, Minn. was sixth (64.5) while Concordia-Moorhead, Minn. was seventh (52.0). Merchant Marine Academy, Mass. and the University of Mount Union, Ohio tied for eighth (37.0) while Elmhurst College, Ill. was 10th (32.0). A total of 60 teams competed. It is UW-L's fifth straight top-three finish under head coach Dave Malecek. The Eagles were also third in 2007 and 2009 while placing second in 2008 and 2010. UW-L's Bebeto Yewah captured his second straight NCAA III title Saturday, winning the 141-pound division with a 4-3 victory over second-seeded Jeremy Stierly of Ithaca College (N.Y.) in the championship match. Yewah, seeded first this year, won the 133-pound title last season. Yewah earned a major decision (14-5) over fourth-seeded Chris Albright of York University (N.Y.) in the semifinals Saturday morning. Yewah is aiming for his second consecutive NCAA Division III title after winning the 133-pound division a year ago. He will take on second-seed Jeremy Stierly of Ithaca College (N.Y.) in the championship Saturday night. The top-seed at 141, Yewah won by major decision (18-8) over Ces Antista of Williams College (Mass.) in his first match Friday before a win by decision (6-1) over eighth-seed Davis Alsieux of Centenary University (N.J.) in the quarterfinals. Yewah went 4-0 in the national tournament and finishes the season 27-2. The Eagles' Albie McKinney finished second at 125-pounds Saturday night, falling 11-8 to top-seeded Clayton Rush of Coe College (Iowa) in the title match. McKinney advanced to the championship final with a 2-1 victory over third-seeded Mark Kist of Wartburg College (Iowa) in the semifinals. McKinney, who has earned his first career NCAA III All-America honor, was the third seed this season. He defeated Steve Godine of The College of New Jersey by major decision (12-1) in his first match Friday before a win by fall (2:10) over Carl Deluca of UW-Oshkosh in the quarterfinals. McKinney went 3-1 at this year's tournament and finishes the year with a record of 21-8. He wraps up his career with an overall mark of 53-24. Mike Schmitz placed third Saturday at 174-pounds while Adam Sheley was fifth at 133-pounds and Billy Mayer sixth at 285-pounds. All three earned NCAA Division IIl All-America honors. It's the third straight award for Schmitz, who won the national title in 2010 and placed fourth in 2009. Sheley and Mayer earned their first career All-America award.

KEARNEY, Neb.-- Nick Walpole became the first UIndy wrestler to bring home a national championship in program history with a 4-2 win in the 149-pound bout of the NCAA Division II National Championships Saturday night at Nebraska-Kearney. The Greyhound's Matt Irwin was also an All-American at the meet, taking sixth in the 141 bracket. "I am extremely excited to be leaving with two All-Americans," UIndy head coach Jason Warthan said. "I truly believed coming into the national meet that we could leave with two national champions. Matt and Nick believed it as well." Walpole won the title in dramatic fashion, in being awarded a takedown just before the final buzzer of the third period to break a 2-2 tie. The title came over T.J. Hepburn of Nebraska-Kearney. With the national title win, Walpole finishes the year with a record of 41-3. Coming into the national meet, Hepburn was ranked No. 2 in the 149 weight class, while Walpole came in ranked No. 3. "Nick wrestled like he has all year," Warthan said. "He really doesn't do anything fancy. Everybody he wrestles knows exactly what he is going to do but he still gets it done. One of the things I always say to Nick before he goes into a big match is to find ways to win. He certainly did that in the finals when he was finally able to have a front headlock in the middle of the mat." En route to the title, Walpole won a pair of matches on Day I of the championships. He earned his trip to the finals via a pin in 5:59 over Mitchell Means of Fort Hays State in the bracket semifinals. Irwin earned his first All-American honors in his third time at the NCAA Division II National Championships, finishing sixth in the 141 bracket. "Matt came a little short of his goal but he has so much to be proud of," Warthan said. "He wrestled to win every match this weekend. Unfortunately, he busted up his ankle in his second match today which didn't allow him to move like he normally moves. Matt has had such a great career and he is very deserving of his All-American status." Irwin, who previously qualified for the national meet in 2007 and 2009, won both of his matches on Day I of the event to advance to the semifinals of the bracket. The Greyhound senior bested Jimmy Savala of Chadron State in his first bout, 9-6, and then then beat Jack Bachman of Pitt.-Johnstown 3-2 in the quarterfinals. Day II was not as kind to Irwin, who started the second session with a loss in the semifinals to the eventual champion, No. 1 Mario Morgan of Nebraska-Omaha, 5-3. Irwin then lost in the consolation semifinals and the fifth/sixth place match to earn his sixth place finish. As a team, UIndy finished 12th of 42. Nebraska-Omaha defended its team title by winning again this year with 102.5 total points. The Mavricks had three individual champions, and were followed by St. Cloud State in second place. Augustana was 2011's third place finisher. Prior to Walpole's championship, the Greyhounds have had five wrestlers finish second at nationals, but never first. Shane Perkey was the last UIndy grappler to make the final, losing in the 133-pound championship in 2008.

The Grand Canyon University wrestling program crowned its first-ever national champion this evening, as Todd Wilcox won the 133-pound title at the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships in Kearney, Neb. The team finished seventh overall among all Division II schools in only its fourth year in the program’s history, a 12-spot improvement from last year. Wilcox defeated Newberry’s William Young, 8-3, in tonight’s championship match. He finishes his season with a 21-match winning streak and an overall record of 36-3. Wilcox completes his career at GCU with 74 wins, the most in school history. “I feel like this tournament couldn’t have gone any better for me,” said Wilcox. “I have trained hard for this all year and felt coming in that this was going to happen. I knew I had to take of it on the mat and was able to do that.” No. 2 ranked Victor Carazo captured his second straight All-American award, finishing third at 174 pounds. He finished fourth last season. Carazo lost his semi-final match to No. 1 Ryan Pankoke of Nebraska-Omaha, 3-2. He then rallied to win the third-place match, a 5-2 decision over Kelly Henderson of Central Oklahoma. No. 5 ranked Eli Arizmendez captured fifth at 197 pounds, losing in the semi-final, but rebounding to win the third-place match. He finishes his GCU career with a 23-3 record. Ted Bristol took fifth at 157 pounds, defeating Cory Dauphin of Central Oklahoma, 9-2. Bristol finishes the season with a 21-12 record. No. 6 Ryan Becerra finished seventh this evening, his second straight All-American award. Becerra finished eighth last season. He completes his GCU career with 72 wins, the second-most in school history. Nebraska-Omaha won the team championship, the school's third straight title.

A CROSSE, Wis. -- Saint John’s University senior Minga Batsukh (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia/St. Benedict’s Prep, N.J.) became the first Johnnie to claim three national titles, regardless of sport, with a 7-4 win over Augsburg’s Tony Valek at the 2011 NCAA Division III Championships on Saturday, March 12. He was awarded with the tournament's prestigious Outstanding Wrestler award for his performance. The Johnnies finished sixth out of 60 teams in the tournament. Wartburg won the national title with a total of 117 points and seven All-Americans, including two national champs. Augsburg finished second with 88.5 points, followed by Wisconsin-La Crosse (76.5), Ithaca (N.Y., 72.5), Coe (Iowa, 67) and SJU (64.5). SJU tied with Augsburg and Wisconsin-La Crosse with the second-most All-Americans (5). Both the number of All-Americans (5) and the team’s finish (sixth) are program bests. Batsukh avenged his only loss of the season with a 6-5 win over Blaine Woszczak of Ithaca (N.Y.) in the semifinal this morning. Valek, meanwhile, upset the defending national champion Isaac Dukes of Case Western Reserve (Ohio), with a defensive pin at the 6:46 mark, in his semifinal match. Batsukh defeated Valek by scores of 6-1 and 5-2 earlier this season. He ended his senior season with a 26-1 record. Top-ranked senior Matt Baarson (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Champlin Park) lost to Coe’s Nick LeClere, ranked third nationally, 5-4. Baarson had LeClere on his back near the end of the first period but did not receive back points, and nearly tallied a takedown as time expired in the match but points were not awarded. Baarson posted a 3-0 shutout over James Myers of Olivet (Mich.) in his first consolation match but fell to Luke Miller of Ohio Northern to take fourth place. Much like his match against LeClere, Baarson nearly registered a takedown in the final eight seconds but could not get the call. He ended his senior season with a 28-5 record. Three of his five losses, including both at this year’s national meet, were decided by one point. Junior Dustin Baxter (Fairbanks, Alaska/West Valley) defeated Greg Rhoads of Wabash (Ind.) by a 6-2 decision in his first match Saturday and posted a 6-1 win over the College of New Jersey’s Mike Denver, ranked third nationally, 6-1. He defeated Alex Martocello of York (Pa.) 3-2 to claim third place. He ended the season with a 26-8 record. Junior Matt Pfarr (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson) lost to top-seeded Kyle Kwiat of Ohio Northern, ranked No. 1 nationally, 4-2 in his first consolation match Saturday. He ended the tournament with a 9-2 win over Frank Savegnago of Elmhurst (Ill.) to claim seventh place. Pfarr ended the season with a 29-9 record. Junior Chad Henle (Spicer, Minn./New London-Spicer) lost to fifth-ranked Adam Sheley of Wisconsin-La Crosse, 6-3, and defeated Corey Brown of Thiel (Pa.) 6-3 to claim seventh place. Henle ended the season with a 26-10 record. The five NCAA All-Americans (top eight) is a school record, breaking the old record of four set in 1997. Senior Tony Willaert (North Mankato, Minn./Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial) avenged an early-season 7-6 loss to Wisconsin-Whitewater’s Adam Latella with an eye-opening 12-3 major decision over the seventh seed in the first round Friday. Willaert dropped to the consolation via pin from second-ranked Jared Massey of Augsburg and was eliminated with an 11-9 loss to Dubuque’s (Iowa) Sam Johnson. Senior Chris Sandy (Spirit Lake, Iowa) lost his first match of the tournament, 4-2 to eighth-seeded David Alsieux of Centenary (N.J.), ranked seventh nationally. He was eliminated with a 6-3 loss to Luther’s (Iowa) Kevin Bokoski in his first consolation match Friday. Sandy was named the Division III recipient of NCAA’s Elite 88 Award, which is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA’s 88 championships.

LA CROSSE, Wis. -- Claiming a top-four national tournament finish for the 23rd straight year, the Augsburg College wrestling team claimed an individual national titlist, three runners-up and five All-Americans, while finishing second as a team at the NCAA Division III National Championships on Saturday at the La Crosse Center. Augsburg finished second in the team race with 88.5 points, with Wartburg (Iowa) claiming the team title with 117.0 points. Host Wisconsin-La Crosse was third with 76.5 points, while Ithaca (N.Y.) was fourth with 72.5 points and Coe (Iowa) was fifth with 67.0 points. St. John’s was sixth with 64.5 points, and Concordia-Moorhead was seventh with 52.0 points. Augsburg, winners of 11 national titles in the last 21 seasons, finished second for the 10th time in school history (nine in Division III, once in NAIA). Augsburg has finished among the top four teams nationally in Division III competition every year since 1989 and in the top 20 nationally every year since 1971. The Auggies’ 23-year top-four streak is the longest active streak among any NCAA wrestling program, regardless of division, and is 13 years ahead of the next-longest active streak. The 23-year streak is the second-longest overall streak in NCAA wrestling history, behind the 29 of Oklahoma State from 1928-59. Augsburg has placed in the top four in NCAA competition 25 times in school history – the most of any Division III program and the fifth-most of any NCAA wrestling program. This is also the 23rd straight year that Augsburg has claimed five or more All-Americans in NCAA Division III competition. Augsburg has had at least one All-American in national competition every year since 1977 – now 35 straight years. Augsburg 174-pounder Zach Molitor (SR, Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti HS) closed his collegiate career with a dramatic pin of Wartburg’s Bradley Banks in the national title match – the lone pin among the 10 national-championship matches. Leading 4-1 after one period, Molitor fought off a Banks escape attempt, pushing Banks to his back for the match-ending pin in 3:20. The pin was Molitor’s second in his four victories at the national tournament. A three-time All-American, Molitor reached the finals with a 4-1 win over defending national champion Michael Schmitz of Wisconsin-La Crosse in the semifinals – his first win in three matches against Schmitz this season. Molitor scored a takedown with 1:38 left in the first period and opened the second period with an escape, while building 1:40 of riding time to score the win. Molitor finished his senior season at 29-3 and 92-17 in his three seasons at Augsburg. He finished sixth nationally in 2009 and third in 2010. Including his initial collegiate season at North Dakota State in 2005-06, Molitor finished his collegiate career 110-30 in his collegiate career. Augsburg’s Orlando Ponce (JR, Hialeah, Fla./Hialeah-Miami Lakes HS) reached the national championship match for the second straight year, this time at 157 pounds, but was defeated in a heartbreaking overtime decision to Dan Twito of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (N.Y.). Tied at 1-1 after regulation, the two battled through two one-minute overtime sessions and two tiebreaker sessions with just an escape each. In the third tiebreaker session, Twito escaped 15 seconds into the 30-second period, and in the fourth, Twito held on for 29 seconds before allowing an escape, giving him the victory. Ponce reached the finals with a dramatic 3-1 win over Wartburg’s Carrington Banks in the semifinals. Tied at 1-1, Ponce scored the match-winning takedown with 15 seconds left in the third period. Last year’s national runner-up at 165, Ponce moved to 157 in early February, and finished 34-6 on the season and 90-30 in his career. Jared Massey (SR, Circle Pines, Minn./Centennial HS) reached the 197-pound national title match for the second time in his Augsburg career, but suffered a 9-3 loss to Wartburg’s Byron Tate. Tate countered an early Massey lead with three takedowns and 2:50 of riding time. The 2009 national champion and 2010 third-place finisher at 197, Massey finished his season at 20-2 and 79-4 in his three All-American seasons at Augsburg. Massey wrestled at Division I Wisconsin in the 2003-04 season, but spent four seasons away from college wrestling before transferring to Augsburg in the 2008-09 season. At age 26, Massey was one of the oldest wrestlers in the competition and finished his collegiate career 84-6. Massey reached the finals with a dramatic semifinal win, rallying for an 11-9, overtime victory over Bill Schindel of Mount Union (Ohio). Massey surrendered a three-point near-fall early in the third period to fall behind 5-2, but rallied in a back-and-forth struggle to cut the lead to 9-7 in the final seconds. Massey tied the match at 9-9 with a takedown at the final buzzer of regulation, then claimed the match-winning takedown with 33 seconds left in the first one-minute, sudden-victory overtime. Augsburg’s Tony Valek (JR, Belle Plaine, Minn./Scott West) reached the national finals at 149 for the second straight year, but suffered a 7-4 defeat to Minga Batsukh of St. John’s, who earned his third national title en route to receiving the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler honors. Batsukh pulled away from a close match in the third period, building 1:50 of riding time to score the win. Valek reached the title match with a win in a rematch of last year’s national-title bout, as he scored a stunning pin over defending national champion Isaac Dukes of Case Western Reserve (Ohio). The pin, with 14 seconds left in the third period, capped a dramatic final minute of the bout. Valek took a 2-1 lead with a reversal with 57 seconds to go, but Dukes countered with a reversal of his own with 36 seconds left. As Valek was maneuvering for another reversal, he was able to put Dukes on his back and score the dramatic pin. Valek earned the tournament’s award for most pins in least time, with three pins in 11:30 in the tournament. He finished his junior season at 37-6 and is 102-24 in his career. Heavyweight Chad Johnson (FY, Ferryville, Wis./De Soto HS), competing in his first national tournament, finished seventh in the field for his first All-American finish earlier on Saturday. Johnson finished his first Auggie campaign at 32-11. In the consolation semifinals, Johnson suffered a 5-3 defeat at the hands of Derick Hesson of Mount Union (Ohio), but rallied back with a 7-3 win over Judson Connell of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (N.Y.) in the seventh-place match. Johnson led 4-3 after the second period, then scored a three-point near-fall and 1:15 of riding time to secure the win. Among other Minnesota schools, St. John’s had five placewinners – champion Batsukh at 149, third-place Dustin Baxter at 184, fourth-place Matt Baarson at 165, seventh-place Chad Henle at 133 and seventh-place Mathew Pfarr at 174. Concordia had three placewinners on Saturday, with Phil Moenkedick repeating his national title at 184 pounds. Tom Bouressa finished fourth at heavyweight, while Justin Berns placed fifth at 157. St. Olaf, which finished 16th with 22.0 points, had two All-Americans on Saturday – third-place Ryan Timmerman at 141 and eighth-place Josef Waples at 165.

KEARNEY, Neb. -- The St. Cloud State University wrestling team capped off a record-setting season with a second place finish at the NCAA Division II Championships, as Blaine native and senior John Sundgren turned out a stunning tournament to win the National Championship in the 157-pound division Saturday, March 12 at the University of Nebraska-Kearney Health and Sports Center. The second place finish (90.5 points) is the best in school history after the Huskies placed seventh in last season’s championships as head coach Steve Costanzo was named NCAA Coach of the Year in a unanimous decision. The wrestling squad is also just the second team in SCSU athletics history to finish second nationally in NCAA tournament. The 1983 SCSU men’s cross country team was the first second place finisher in a NCAA tournament. John Sundgren (16-3) shut out Dillion Bera (26-8) of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside in a 4-0 decision in the championship round to claim the first SCSU wrestling national title since Gene Hanemann took the podium in 1995. Before Hanemann, the last Husky wrestler to win a title was Mike Rybak in 1967. "It was really big for our program, but more importanly it happended to a guy like John. He is a fifth year senior and there's nobody more deserving than him," said Costanzo of his national champ. In the final match of the tournament, sophomore Jake Kahnke (Shakopee) (28-2) lost a heartbreaking 4-3 championship match to Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference foe Matthew Meuleners of Northern State. Meuleners recorded a takedown in the final minute of the third and held on to revenge two regular season losses to Kahnke. Costanzo was named NCAA Wrestling Coach of the Year after leading the Huskies to a runner-up finish in the national tournament and a school record 19 dual wins during the 2010-11 regular season. Costanzo has now coached 47 All-Americans and three national champions in his head coaching career. Sundgren was Costanzo’s first recruit at SCSU and is his first individual national champion. The University of Nebraska at Omaha won their third straight national title with 102.5 points in part to three individual national champships.

Related Link: Results/Brackets LA CROSSE, Wisc. -- With two matches remaining in the 2011 NCAA Division III Championships, Coach Jim Miller and the Knights were looking for a way to put an exclamation point on the program’s eighth national title. They got it in the form of two individual national titles from junior 197-pounder Byron Tate of Clinton and senior heavyweight John Helgerson of West Union. “It was awesome to get the team title wrapped up early, but those two wins for Byron and John were sort of icing on the cake,” he said. “I am so happy for those two. I think I jumped 10 feet when John won, too. “This entire team got up here and earned this championship,” he added. “I’m very proud of these guys.” Tate’s second national title was paved with a flurry of second period takedowns to defeat Jared Massey of Augsburg 9-4. Helgerson took his first trip to the top of the awards stand with a thrilling 3-1 win over Elmhurst’s Mark Corsello. He caught Corsello’s legs towards the edge of the mat and scored the winning points with three seconds left. “It just feels unbelievable right now,” Helgerson said. “I can’t even put it into words how this feels for me and for the entire team. We’ve been battling back and forth the past few years with Augsburg, and we knew coming into this weekend it was going to be a battle. That was one of our biggest goals this year was to get the title back in Waverly. We knew, as a team headed into the final session tonight, we had a pretty good hold on it all. On the individual side of things, to cap off my career with a national title feels absolutely amazing.” “I am honored to be a part of the Wartburg wrestling program,” Tate said. “We took it one match at a time this year. First, I wanted to give my entire effort to win a team title, and then focus on my individual title here at La Crosse. I feel like I have accomplished a lot this season.” Junior 174-pounder Bradley Banks of Stockbridge, Ga., who hoped to join Helgerson and Tate on the top of the podium, ended as a national runner-up. Wartburg ended the meet with 117 points, besting the field by 28.5 points. NOTES – Wartburg’s seven individual All-Americans (senior 125-pounder Mark Kist of Eagle Grove – third; sophomore 133-pounder Tommy Mirocha of Davenport – fourth; senior 149-pounder Jacob Groth of Marshalltown – sixth; senior 157-pounder Carrington Banks of Stockbridge, Ga., fourth; Bradley Banks second; Tate and Helgerson national champions), crowned at the end of Friday’s session, continued a string of 16 years of five-or-more such honors. … The Knights’ two individual champions marked the eighth consecutive championship in which the Orange and Black have had at least one. … Helgerson ended his Wartburg career on a 21-match win streak, while Tate’s roll now stands at 50 wins in his last 51 matches.

A dozen years ago, Brock Lesnar burst onto the Division I college wrestling scene as a junior at the University of Minnesota. In just two short seasons, Lesnar became a two-time Big Ten heavyweight champ and two-time NCAA finalist, winning the national title his senior year at the 2000 NCAAs. In the decade since, the former Golden Gopher has made a name for himself beyond amateur wrestling, first in professional wrestling in the WWE, and now, in mixed martial arts (MMA), as a former UFC heavyweight champ who hopes to win back the title. Now a new book -- Brock Lesnar: The Making of a Hard-Core Legend by Joel Rippel -- covers all these aspects of Lesnar's life and career, and more. The right book, right on time If anyone were destined to write Lesnar's life story, it would be Joel Rippel. He is a long-time writer for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and has authored four books on Minnesota sports history. And, just like Lesnar, Rippel is a graduate of the University of Minnesota. The timing for a book on Brock Lesnar couldn't be better. More than a decade after first appearing on the radar screens of college wrestling fans, Lesnar continues to make headlines. This month, it was announced the former UFC heavyweight champ would return to the Octagon to face Junior dos Santos at UFC 131 in Vancouver, British Columbia in June. (The two UFC big men have been serving as opposing team coaches on the latest installment of the popular reality TV series The Ultimate Fighter.) Lesnar's name also popped up in numerous stories this month about his college rival Stephen Neal announcing his retirement from the New England Patriots after ten seasons as right guard. Neal defeated Lesnar in the 1999 NCAA Division I heavyweight championship match to win his second national title. First, a bit about Brock For millions of folks, mention the name Brock Lesnar and they immediately think of his meteoric career in Ultimate Fighting Championships, winning the UFC heavyweight title from Randy Couture after less than a handful of MMA matches. For others, Lesnar was "The Next Big Thing" in professional wrestling, becoming the youngest-ever WWE champ at age 25. Some of us are old enough to remember when Brock Edward Lesnar was the "next big thing" in college wrestling. In January 1999, Lesnar was recruited to wrestle at the University of Minnesota after head coach J Robinson saw the Bismarck State College heavyweight -- and 1998 national junior college champ -- demolish the competition at the Bison Open. Within days of coming to Minnesota, Lesnar became THE talk of the amateur wrestling community. The South Dakota native was the subject of numerous threads on wrestling discussion forums. Even Dan Gable weighed in. As a commentator on Iowa Public TV's College Wrestling series, the legendary wrestler and coach said this about the new Golden Gopher heavyweight: "When he strips out of his warm-ups, Brock Lesnar turns more heads than Cindy Crawford in a thong." In a weight class where a number of the competitors looked like the Pillsbury Doughboy, Lesnar's physique was something else. The 6'3", 265-pound Minnesota heavyweight appeared to be carved from granite. (The school's wrestling program capitalized on this fact by issuing a "Brockfast of Champions" poster, featuring Lesnar in his Minnesota singlet, complete with call-outs that provided a "tale of the tape" as to the measurements of his 20" neck, 52" chest, and more.) Lesnar's musculature wasn't the only thing that generated buzz in the college wrestling world. Right from the start, his on-the-mat performance got people talking. Within a couple weeks of becoming a Gopher, Lesnar pinned his way through four matches at the 1999 National Duals. Among his early pin victims: Iowa's Wes Hand, who became arguably Lesnar's top college rival. During the 1999 season -- his first in Division I -- Lesnar compiled a 24-2 record, including a 21-match win streak, and nabbed the Big Ten title. His two losses: to Iowa State's Trent Hynek early in the season, and, to defending heavyweight champ Stephen Neal in the finals at the 1999 NCAAs at Penn State. The following year, Lesnar lost only one match -- to Wes Hand -- but got revenge by defeating the Hawkeye big guy in the Big Ten and NCAA title bouts. Brock's real wrestling career, by the book ... Some biographies of former college wrestling champs who go on to find fame in pro wrestling give short shrift to their subjects' amateur mat careers, either by glossing over their real wrestling accomplishments in a few pages, or, in the case of one bio that comes to mind, being filled with glaring inaccuracies and misrepresentations. In his book, Joel Rippel manages to present a surprisingly complete presentation of the 33-year-old Lesnar's life that includes his growing-up years, and high school and college wrestling careers, as well as time in the WWE and UFC. As Rippel points out, Brock Lesnar grew up on a farm outside Webster, South Dakota. The book is rich with details on Lesnar's early wrestling career, starting in seventh grade ... and his on-the-mat accomplishments at Webster High School. Brock Lesnar: The Making of a Hard-Core Legend then takes the reader to college (with a surprising-to-most-readers side trip), first to Bismarck State College in North Dakota, where Lesnar was a two-time NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) All-American and 1998 NJCAA heavyweight champ. Then the book goes on to provide a look at Lesnar's two years at Minnesota, highlighting some of his most important matches as a Golden Gopher. After winning the heavyweight title at the 2000 NCAAs in a thrilling overtime match with Wes Hand, Lesnar's life was at something of a crossroads. As Rippel states in the book, Lesnar considered many options, including staying at Minnesota to play football for the Gophers, or try to earn a spot on the U.S. freestyle team to compete at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. Instead, he threw his hat into the ring ... the pro wrestling ring. ... then to the squared circle and Octagon The book then presents Brock Lesnar's pro wrestling career, first in the Louisville-based Ohio Valley Wrestling, a developmental league for Worldwide Wrestling Entertainment. As was the case with his Division I college mat career, Lesnar's career in the squared circle was meteoric, becoming the youngest-ever WWE champ at age 25, and a superstar recognized around the world. However, as Rippel points out, all that fame -- not to mention the rigors of travel and performing in the ring -- took its toll on the former college champ, and he left the WWE after about five years. Brock Lesnar (Photo/Sherdog.com)Again, Lesnar wasn't sure what to do next. After trying out for the Minnesota Vikings of the NFL, he found a new career in mixed martial arts, and, as in his previous personal combat endeavors, shot to the top of the UFC, the big-leagues of MMA, wresting the heavyweight title from another former college mat champ, Randy Couture, at UFC 91 in November 2008. Not everyone in the world of MMA was happy with Lesnar's fast ascent to the title. Rippel shares this quote from UFC rival Frank Mir that has a strong undertone of resentment: "If Brock Lesnar was never in the WWE, he would have never have gotten a title shot. And he knows that. But that's how people get paid. The bottom line is it's not always about who's a better fighter. All I remember from last time is him whimpering and wincing as I was tapping him ..." [Lesnar lost to Mir at UFC 91, February 2008 ... but avenged that loss at UFC 100 in July 2009.] Brock Lesnar: The Making of a Hard-Core Legend provides interesting, behind-the-scenes detail of what many would say was Lesnar's toughest fight: his serious battle for his health that took him out of action for nearly a year, and nearly cost him his life. The book concludes with Lesnar's triumphant return to the Octagon in defeating former NCAA Division II heavyweight champ Shane Carwin at UFC 116 in July 2010; it does not mention his losing the UFC title to Cain Velasquez, an NCAA All-American for Arizona State, at UFC 121 last October. Joel Rippel presents an even-handed biography of Brock Lesnar that strikes an appropriate balance among the various careers of the champ's life, including his amateur wrestling career. It is chock-full of quotes from those who know Lesnar, including former coaches and rivals. The one thing that astute readers may notice: all the quotes from Lesnar himself are from previous interviews, not direct one-on-one conversations between Rippel and Lesnar himself, which gives the book a bit of an "unauthorized biography" feel. (Don't worry; there aren't any salacious details.) Brock Lesnar: The Making of a Hard-Core Legend is available for purchase online from a number of sources, including Amazon. Brock Lesnar is one of four former University of Minnesota wrestlers to win an NCAA heavyweight title. (Only Oklahoma State has more heavyweight champs.) To learn more about Lesnar and his fellow Gopher big men titlewinners, check out Mark Palmer's InterMat Rewind article from May 2007. For photos and more info on Brock Lesnar and other NCAA Division I heavyweight champs from 1928-2000, visit NCAA Heavyweight Champs Yahoo group.

Related Link: Results/Brackets KEARNEY, Neb. -- Three was the magic number on Saturday night for the top-ranked UNO Maverick wrestling team, as the Mavs claimed their third straight national championship after three individual titles by the Maverick seniors at the NCAA Division II National Championships at the UNK Health & Sports Center. Mario Morgan, Ryan Pankoke and Aaron Denson all finished off magical senior seasons with their first career national championships. The trio lifted UNO to its seventh national championship in school history, the sixth in the last eight years and third in a row. UNO had not had three individual champions in the same year since 2006. It's the fifth time in school history that the Mavs have claimed three titles in the same year. The Mavs entered the final round with 90.5 points, four points ahead of St. Cloud State, the only team within striking distance. But UNO earned 12 points with its three victories for a total of 102.5. St. Cloud State got one national champion to finish with 90.5 points. Augustana finished third at 81.5. With UNO clinging to just a four-point leading entering the finals, No. 1 Mario Morgan got UNO off to a tremendous start with a 12-5 decision over No. 3 Dalton Jensen of UNK at 141 pounds. Morgan earned a takedown after an exciting scramble to begin the match, then earned another in the first period after Jensen escaped to take a 4-1 lead. Jensen earned a penalty point and an escape in the second period to draw within 4-3 heading into the third. In the final frame, Morgan escaped from the down position, then took Jensen down and added two near-fall points to take a controlling 9-3 lead. Morgan set Jensen free, then took him down one more time in the match. Morgan earned a riding time bonus point for the 12-5 margin, earning his third win in three tries over Jensen this season. Morgan, a four-time nationals qualifier who finished second in 2010, third in 2009 and did not place in 2008, ended his season with a 30-4 record and ended his career with a 130-38 record, placing him in a tie for ninth in school history in all-time wins. Top-ranked Ryan Pankoke clinched the team title for the Mavericks with a 3-2 decision over No. 6 Luke Rynish of Wisconsin-Parkside at 174 pounds. Rynish, who was ranked No. 1 most of the season, escaped from the down position to take a 1-0 lead in the second period, but Pankoke took the lead with a takedown. Rynish tied it up entering the third period with an escape, but Pankoke held a 1:16 advantage in riding time. In the third period, Rynish rode Pankoke for 17 seconds before Pankoke escaped, just barely long enough to eliminate the riding time factor. But Pankoke's escape was the final point he would need, as he countered any attack Rynish threw at him. Pankoke, who finished third place in 2010 in his only other nationals appearance, ended the season with a 41-2 record and a 116-29 career record. The Beaver Crossing, Neb., native led the Mavs in wins and closed his career with 34 straight wins. At 184 pounds, No. 3 Aaron Denson broke through for his first national title with a 6-4 decision over No. 2 Charlie Pipher of Western State. The Millard South grad took a quick 2-0 lead on a takedown, then accumulated 2:30 of riding time in a dominating first period. Denson added two more points in the second period on a takedown before Pipher reversed Denson to make it 4-2. Pipher tied the match with a takedown in the third period. However, Pipher needed to make up more than a minute of riding time, so instead chose to cut Denson loose for an escape. Denson held on to the 5-4 lead, turning away all of Pipher's attacks down the stretch. Denson finished the season with a 34-6 record and a 123-31 record for his career. Denson placed seventh as a freshman in 2008, second as a sophomore in 2009 and did not place in 2010, before adding the national championship to his resume this year. Other UNO All-Americans Earlier in the day in the consolation bracket, top-ranked George Ivanov bounced back from his first round loss on Friday to win five straight matches to finish in third place. Ivanov defeated No. 7 Jordan Shields of Mercyhurst to win the third-place match and secure 10 team points for the Mavericks. Ivanov finished his outstanding sophomore season with a 35-4 record while earning his second top-three finish in a row. No. 1 Esai Dominguez finished seventh at 149 pounds after a forfeit win in the seventh-place match. Dominguez was knocked into the seventh-place match by Jacob Horn of St. Cloud State on Saturday morning, 5-4. Dominguez ended his third straight All-American season with a 39-5 record. No. 3 Matt Baker fell to Carl Broghammer of Upper Iowa in a 3-2 decision at 197 pounds on Saturday morning to also be sent to the seventh-place match. Baker ended up eighth after falling to Daniel Stevenson of Findlay, 2-1, in the seventh-place match. Taylor Escamilla lost his semifinal match at 285 pounds to top-ranked Jacob Kahnke of St. Cloud State, 4-1. Escamilla was then defeated by No. 5 Jacob Southwick of Ashland in the consolation bracket, 2-1. Escamilla finished sixth after dropping a 3-1 decision to No. 7 Christopher Dempsey of Pitt-Johnstown in the fifth-place match.

The lineup has been finalized for the USA Wrestling National Team All-Star Dual Meet that will be held as part of the festivities at the 2011 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Philadelphia, Pa. The event is set for Thursday, March 17, between the first and second sessions of the NCAA Championships, on the competition mats in the Wells Fargo Center. It is free of charge and NCAA fans will not have to leave their seats to enjoy the action. There are seven matches as part of the All-Star Dual Meet. It opens with an exhibition bout between two of the United States top freestyle wrestlers, followed by a six-match USA vs. The World Dual Meet. There is a strong U.S. college connection among the participants. All nine U.S. wrestlers were highly successful college wrestlers, and four of the international competitors also were talented wrestlers in U.S. college programs. The opening freestyle exhibition match at 55 kg/121 lbs. will feature Americans Troy Nickerson and Nick Simmons. Nickerson was a 2009 NCAA champion and four-time All-American for Cornell. Simmons was a four-time All-American for Michigan State. This is Nickerson’s first match since his college career ended in March 2010. The first match in the USA vs. The World Dual Meet will be in Greco-Roman, and will feature 2005 World bronze medalist Justin Ruiz of the United States against 2006 World champion Mohammed Abdel Fatah of Egypt. Ruiz was a two-time All-American for Nebraska. The first freestyle match will be at 60 kg/132 lbs., featuring Derek Moore of the United States against Franklin Gomez of Puerto Rico. Moore now competes for the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program. Gomez competed in the 2010 World Championships for Puerto Rico. Moore was the 2007 NCAA champion for UC Davis. Gomez was a 2009 NCAA champion and three-time All-American for Michigan State. The 74 kg/163 lbs. freestyle bout will feature Ryan Morningstar of the United States against Muzafar Abdurakhmanov of Uzbekistan. Morningstar was a two-time All-American for Iowa and Abdurakhmanov was an All-American for American in 2006. Next is a freestyle bout at 84 kg/185 lbs., featuring Keith Gavin of the United States against Jaime Y. Espinal of Puerto Rico. Gavin was a 2008 University World bronze medalist. Espinal was a 2010 Pan American silver medalist. Gavin was a 2008 NCAA champion and two-time All-American for Pittsburgh. The match at 96 kg/211.5 lbs. will showcase J.D. Bergman of the United States against Israel Silva of Mexico. Bergman competed in the 2010 World Championships, and Silva competed in the 2009 World Championships. Bergman was a three-time All-American for Ohio State, while Silva was an NCAA qualifier for UT-Chattanooga. The final featured bout will be at 66 kg/145.5 lbs., with Brent Metcalf of the United States facing Heinrich Barnes of South Africa. Barnes placed seventh in the 2010 World Championships and has competed in three Senior World Championships. Metcalf was a member of the 2010 U.S. World Team. Metcalf was a two-time NCAA champion and three-time NCAA finalist for Iowa. Barnes was an All-American for Oregon State in 2009. “Any time we can get international competition in preparation for the upcoming World Championships, it is great for our program,” said USA Wrestling National Freestyle Coach Zeke Jones. “This is our training phase, and it’s good to have international matches here on U.S. soil. What greater place is there to showcase our future World and Olympic champions than at the NCAA Championships? This may be the only place where we can showcase international wrestling and American folkstyle at the highest level side-by-side.” This is the second straight year that a USA Wrestling exhibition will be provided free of charge to wrestling fans who are attending the championships. At the 2010 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Omaha, Neb., USA Wrestling hosted a Big Ten vs. Big 12 Challenge. For more information on the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, visit: NCAA.com/wrestling USA WRESTLING NATIONAL TEAM ALL-STAR DUAL MEET At Philadelphia, Pa., March 17 U.S. Freestyle Exhibition Freestyle 55 kg/121 lbs. – Troy Nickerson (USA) vs. Nick Simmons (USA) USA vs. the World Dual Meet Greco-Roman 96 kg/211.5 lbs. – Justin Ruiz (USA) vs. Mohammed Abdel Fatah (Egypt) Freestyle 60 kg/132 lbs. – Derek Moore (USA) vs. Franklin Gomez (Puerto Rico) Freestyle 74 kg/163 lbs. - Ryan Morningstar (USA) vs. Muzafar Abdurakhmanov (Uzbekistan) Freestyle 84 kg/185 lbs. – Keith Gavin (USA) vs. Jaime Y. Espinal (Puerto Rico) Freestyle 96 kg/211.5 lbs. – J.D. Bergman (USA) vs. Israel Silva (Mexico) Freestyle 66 kg/145.5 lbs. – Brent Metcalf (USA) vs. Heinrich Barnes (South Africa)

INDIANAPOLIS -- The NCAA and the Philadelphia Local Organizing Committee will make a donation of $25,000 to the Beat the Streets Philadelphia organization as part of the 2011 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. In addition, the NCAA and Beat the Streets Philadelphia will team up to sponsor a wrestling youth clinic during the championships. The clinic will take place on Tuesday, March 15, at 5:30 p.m. ET at the Wells Fargo Center. “The NCAA is committed to supporting the academic and athletic pursuits of young people as they prepare themselves for the future,” said Joni Comstock, NCAA senior vice president of championships. “Beat the Streets Philadelphia has shown they have similar goals for the local youth and it’s exciting for us to help with this initiative.” Beat the Streets’ goal is to use the sport of wrestling to reach as many kids as possible to help them develop character traits that will allow them to succeed not only on the wrestling mat, but in the classroom and in life. “Beat the Streets Philadelphia is extremely humbled and thankful for such a generous donation by the NCAA,” said Chris Hanlon, executive director of Beat the Streets Philadelphia. “This support will allow us to create opportunities for a large number of youth student-athletes in the inner city of Philadelphia. It is truly a testament to the NCAA’s effort to leave a positive impact on the community of Philadelphia following the 2011 Division I Wrestling Championships.” “Beat the Streets is providing invaluable new opportunities for youth in Philadelphia,” said Roger Reina, chairman of the Philadelphia Local Organizing Committee. “The sport of amateur wrestling provides meaningful life lessons in determination, commitment, dedication and perseverance. We celebrate the NCAA’s vision and generosity to support Beat the Streets, providing an even broader impact on young lives here in our city.” Approximately 240 youth wrestlers are scheduled to take part in the clinic, with the majority of them being wrestlers who participate on one of eight youth programs that Beat the Streets sponsors throughout Philadelphia’s inner city. The clinic will feature a number of current and former wrestling coaches and student-athletes as instructors, including: Matt Valenti, assistant wrestling coach at the University of Pennsylvania and two-time NCAA Division I National Champion; Brandon Slay, two-time NCAA Division I wrestling All-American at the University of Pennsylvania and 2000 Olympic gold medalist; and Doug Umbehauer, 2009 NCAA Division I wrestling All-American at Rider University. The 2011 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships will be held from March 17-19 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pa. For more information on the Division I Wrestling Championships, log on to www.NCAA.com/wrestling. About the NCAA The NCAA is a membership-led nonprofit association of colleges and universities committed to supporting academic and athletic opportunities for more than 400,000 student-athletes at more than 1,000 member colleges and universities. Each year, more than 54,000 student-athletes compete in NCAA championships in Divisions I, II and III sports. Visit www.ncaa.org and www.ncaa.com for more details about the Association, its goals and members and corporate partnerships that help support programs for student-athletes. The NCAA is proud to have the following elite companies as official Corporate Champions—AT&T, Capital One and Coca-Cola —and the following elite companies as official Corporate Partners—Enterprise, The Hartford, Infiniti, LG, Lowe’s, Planters, Reese’s, Unilever and UPS. About Beat the Streets Philadelphia The Beat the Streets Wrestling Program of Philadelphia is committed to helping establish youth wrestling programs in the Philadelphia metropolitan region. The organization will attempt to foster the holistic development of student-athletes by providing the resources to support an athletic program and an academic tutoring program across a group of local schools and community programs. For more information, visit www.btsphilly.org.

NCAA wrestling officials Kevin Tann, Rick Stahl and Curt Frost will be the radio show guests on March 14. "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 (Monday only this week) 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. Iowans Kevin Tann (Cedar Rapids), Rick Stahl (Marion), and Curt Frost (Gilbertville) will be officiating at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships March 17 - 19 in Philadelphia. This trio also is officiating at the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships March 11 - 12 at University of Wisconsin La Crosse.

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Every year there are bracket busters at the NCAA Division I Championships. You know ... the unseeded wrestlers who win the matches they're not supposed to win and prevent those matchups that were supposed to happen. So who will the bracket busters be this year in Philadelphia? I've come up with one potential bracket buster in each of the 10 weight classes to watch. These are 10 wrestlers that I think could pull upsets. 125: Anthony Zanetta (Pitt) Zanetta, a two-time EWL champion, went through a sophomore slump at the beginning of this season, but is firing on all cylinders heading into the NCAAs. He has won his last nine matches. Zanetta will face 10th-seeded Alan Waters of Missouri, a true freshman, in the opening round. If Zanetta can get past Waters, he will likely face seventh-seeded Ryan Mango of Stanford. Most fans are expecting to see the rubber match between Waters and Mango in the second round, but don't be shocked if that match does not materialize. In fact, don't be shocked if Zanetta knocks off Waters and Mango en route to a quarterfinal match against second-seeded Matt McDonough of Iowa. McDonough beat Zanetta, 10-6, in the second of last year's NCAA Championships. Nathan Pennesi reached the finals of the Reno Tournament of Champions before falling to Andrew Hochstrasser (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)133: Nathan Pennesi (West Virginia) Pennesi is a tough freshman from Pennsylvania who has been on a roll. He likes to wrestle from space and use fakes to set up his leg attacks. He's tough to score on in neutral and tough to ride. The only wrestler to beat him over the last two months is Edinboro's Eric Morrill. Four of Pennesi's six losses this season have come to seeded wrestlers and the other two to Morrill. He is paired in the opening round with two-time MAC champion and All-American Scotti Sentes of Central Michigan, who is seeded 11th. Expect that to be a tightly-contested battle. If Pennesi can pull the mild upset against Sentes, he will likely see another freshman in the second round, either seventh-seeded Tony Ramos of Iowa or Frank Cagnina of Lehigh. Pennesi has the tools to make a run to the quarterfinals. 141: Matt Bonson (Lock Haven) Lock Haven coach Robbie Waller's lone NCAA qualifier, Bonson, a transfer from Virginia, has the potential to make some noise in Philadelphia. He was an NCAA qualifier in 2009 for the Cavaliers and will head to Philadelphia with a 24-3 record. The only wrestler to defeat Bonson in the calendar year is All-American Tyler Nauman of Pitt, who edged him twice by two points. Bonson will face the winner of Levi Jones (Boise State) vs. Corey Manson (Cornell). If he wins his first round match, he will likely see third-seeded Boris Novachkov of Cal Poly, a wrestler who has also had a tight battle with Nauman this season. Eric Terrazas placed fifth at the Big Ten Championships (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)149: Eric Terrazas (Illinois) Buffalo's Desi Green, who is seeded 12th, will have his hands full in the first round against Terrazas, who is coming off a fifth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships. Terrazas has taken more losses this season than Green, but has faced stiffer competition in the Big Ten. If Terrazas can get past Green, he will see Oklahoma State's Jamal Parks, who is seeded fifth, or Minnesota's Danny Zilverberg, a wrestler he has beaten twice, in the second round. Don't be surprised if Terrazas knocks off a couple seeded wrestlers to reach the quarterfinals against Cornell's Kyle Dake. 157: Matt Cathell (Kent State) Cathell is a known commodity as a two-time NCAA qualifier, but he's a dangerous matchup for any wrestler because of his unorthodox style. He likes to throw and funk, plus he's tough on top. Cathell is coming off a disappointing performance at the MAC Championships, where he lost twice, but earned an at-large selection into the NCAAs. Cathell will face fifth-seeded Jesse Dong of Virginia Tech in the first round. Dong has won 18 of his last 19 matches. Interestingly, the one wrestler to defeat Dong during that stretch is Corey Mock of North Carolina, a wrestler Cathell has pinned twice this season. 165: Donnie Jones (West Virginia) The youngest of the Jones brothers, Donnie, a sixth-year senior, is looking to finish his career on the podium for the first time in his fourth appearance at the NCAAs. He has had a productive career at West Virginia, but has not been able to put it together at the NCAAs. Jones has a lot of tools and has proven over the years that he can battle with that nation's best. He beat NCAA champion Jarrod King of Edinboro a month before King won the title in 2009. Last year Jones took two-time All-American Ryan Morningstar of Iowa into overtime in the first round of the NCAAs, before losing, 4-2. Jones will face Ross Tice of Kent State in the opening round this year. If Jones beats Tice, he will face returning All-American Tyler Caldwell of Oklahoma, who is seeded third. Jones will certainly be a fairly big underdog if that match materializes, but he has the tools to make it interesting. 174: Matt Demichiel (Navy) Demichiel has only lost to Cornell's Mack Lewnes and Maryland's Mike Lett's over the last two months. He has two wins this season over 11th-seeeded Austin Meys of Lehigh, including one this past Sunday in the EIWA semifinals. Demichiel could find himself in the quarterfinals if he can get past 10th-seeded Nick Heflin in the first round and seventh-seeded Nick Amuchastegui of Stanford, a wrestler who has split two matches with Meys. Luke Rebertus has a win over Robert Hamlin, but lost to Joe LeBlanc in the finals of the Reno Tournament of Champions (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)184: Luke Rebertus (Navy) Rebertus is arguably the most dangerous unseeded wrestler in the tournament. He has a win this season over second-seeded Robert Hamlin of Lehigh and has wrestled several of the nation's top 184-pounders to close matches, including top-seeded Chris Honeycutt of Edinboro, who beat him 6-4. Assuming Rebertus can get past Gardner-Webb's Jonathan Velazquez, he will likely get another shot at Honeycutt in the second round. It's not beyond the realm of possibility that unseeded Rebertus upsets top-seeded Honeycutt. If that happens, it's anyone's guess who comes out of the top side of the bracket. 197: Brent Haynes (Missouri) Kent State's Dustin Kilgore's, the fourth seed, got a tough first round draw in Haynes, who went 3-2 at the NCAAs last season. Haynes has beaten several wrestlers in this weight class throughout his young career, including fifth-seeded Luke Lofthouse, who he hammered 7-1 last season. Watch the Kilgore-Haynes first round match because it could be interesting. 285: Brendan Barlow (Kent State) Don't read too much into Barlow's double-digit losses this season. He has been up and down this season and lost some tight matches to the nation's top heavyweights. He owns a 10-5 victory over ninth-seeded Cameron Wade of Penn State. Barlow beat second-seeded Jarrod Trice of Central Michigan to win the MAC title last season, but has two close losses to Trice this season. Barlow also has close losses this season to No. 1 Zach Rey of Lehigh, No. 5 Dom Bradley of Missouri, and No. 6 Ryan Tomei of Pitt. Barlow will get another crack at Tomei in the first round. Tomei won 6-5 the first time the two met. Expect another barn burner.

INDIANAPOLIS -- The NCAA announced the 50 at-large selections for the 2011 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. The wrestlers listed in alphabetical order by weight class join the 280 student-athletes that qualified automatically through the conference and regional qualifying tournaments over the past two weekends. It should be noted that there were originally 282 allocations provided to the qualifying tournaments on February 23, however, two allocations reverted back to the at-large pool. The at-large selections were made by the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee using the following selection criteria without priority order: head-to-head competition, qualifying event placement, quality wins, results against common opponents, winning percentage, rating percentage index, coaches ranking and number of matches contested at that weight class. 125: Tyler Iwamura Cal State Bakersfield) Joseph Langel Rutgers Jonathon Morrison Oklahoma State Brad Pataky Penn State Trent Sprenkle North Dakota State 133: Casey Cruz Northern Colorado Kevin Smith Buffalo Joseph Spisak Virginia Jordan Thome Army 141: Christopher Diaz Virginia Tech Christopher Drouin Iowa State Michael Mangrum Oregon State Trevor Melde Rutgers Vicente Varela Hofstra Colonial 149: Kyle Bradley Missouri Donnie Corby Central Michigan Torsten Gillespie Edinboro Matt Lester Oklahoma Joey Metzler Old Dominion Colonial Brian Stephens Virginia Tech 157: Matt Cathell Kent St. Jackson Morse Illinois Chase Nelson Oklahoma Donnie Tasser Pittsburgh 165: Bekzod Abdurakhmonov Clarion Joe Booth Drexel Colonial Ryan DesRoches Cal Poly Brandon Hatchett Lehigh Justin Kerber Cornell Thomas Scotton North Carolina Ross Tice Kent St. 174: Scott Giffin Pennsylvania Ryan McGarity Binghamton Colonial Rob Morrison Rider Colonial Jacob Swartz Boise St. 184: Brice Arand Oregon St. A.J. Kissel Purdue Mike Larson Missouri Nathan Schiedel Binghamton Colonial Kirk Smith Boise St. 197: Anthony Biondo Michigan Nikolas Brown Chattanooga Southern Peter Capone Ohio St. Matt Casperson Boise St. Ryan Smith Cal Poly 285: Ricky Alcala Indiana John Danilkowicz Virginia David Marone Virginia Tech Blake Rosholt Oklahoma St. David Wade Eastern Michigan

The brackets were released on Wednesday for the 2011 NCAA Division I Championships. Iowa's Matt McDonough is the defending NCAA champion at 125, has two wins over Northwestern's Brandon Precin, and has picked up bonus points in 19 of his 23 victories (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)To me, the two biggest surprises were Iowa's Matt McDonough not earning the No. 1 seed at 125 pounds and Kyle Dake of Cornell getting the fourth seed, as opposed to the third seed, at 149 pounds. Don't get me wrong ... I believe Arizona State's Anthony Robles, who earned the No. 1 seed at 125 pounds, is a tremendous wrestler who is having an incredible season. He's 31-0 with 22 technical falls, five major decision, two pins, and two decisions. He's also a two-time All-American and 13 of his wins this season have come against 2011 NCAA qualifiers. But let's look at the facts. McDonough is not only the defending NCAA champion, but has two wins over Northwestern's Brandon Precin, a two-time All-American and U.S. Open placewinner, with the most recent victory coming in the finals of the Big Ten Championships. McDonough is 23-1 and his only loss is to Precin, while Precin's only losses are to McDonough. McDonough has wins over four wrestlers who earned seeds, while Robles has wins over three wrestlers who earned seeds. In addition, McDonough has wins over two wrestlers seeded in the top five, while Robles has not beaten any of the top five seeds. (Robles' technical fall victory over No. 5 Zach Sanders of Minnesota at the NWCA All-Star Classic is not counted by the NCAA or used for seeing purposes.) Arizona State's Anthony Robles has been crushing opponents (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Some will say Robles deserves to be seeded ahead of McDonough and Precin simply because he's undefeated and McDonough and Precin have losses. But then what about James Nicholson of Old Dominion? He's also 31-0 this season, but earned the fourth seed. Should he be seeded ahead of McDonough and Precin? Or has Robles earned the No. 1 seed because of the way he has dominated opponents? One could argue that McDonough has been equally as dominant as Robles this season. He has picked up bonus points in 19 of this 23 victories, plus he has 11 more pins than Robles in seven less matches. With McDonough getting the No. 2 seed, it means a likely semifinal match against his Big Ten rival Precin, while Robles will face Nicholson in the semifinals if the seeds hold up. No disrespect toward the undefeated Nicholson, but Precin is the tougher semifinal match. Precin is the only wrestler to defeat McDonough this season. I think a stronger case could be made for Precin getting the No. 2 seed over Robles (Precin did win the last head-to-head meeting) than Robles getting the No. 1 seed over McDonough. While McDonough not getting the top seed at 125 pounds was surprising, Dake getting the fourth seed at 149 pounds, as opposed to the third seed, was equally as surprising to me. Like McDonough, Dake has won an NCAA title in his only attempt. I understand that current year data is most important when looking at seeding, so let's examine how the top wrestlers at 149 pounds have performed this season. North Carolina State's Darrion Caldwell, an NCAA champion, is the No. 1 seed. That's a no-brainer. Caldwell is undefeated, hasn't lost a college wrestling match since 2008, and has been on the U.S. National Team. But where it gets sticky is No. 2 through No. 4. Penn State's Frank Molinaro, a two-time All-American, earned the No. 2 seed. He's 28-2 this season and recently won a Big Ten title. He has been a beast, especially during the second half of the season. He has reeled off 15 straight victories. His losses this season are to Mario Mason of Rutgers, who is seeded seventh, and Dake. LeValley is 30-1 and his only loss is in sudden victory to Mason, 3-1, two months ago. Cornell's Kyle Dake edged Penn State's Frank Molinaro, 1-0, in the finals of the Southern Scuffle (Photo/Cliff Fretwell)When comparing LeValley's season to Molinaro's season, both have been impressive, but I have a hard time seeing how Molinaro's overall body of work this season puts him over LeValley. Of LeValley's 30 wins this season, five have come against seeded wrestlers, with two of those coming against wrestlers seeded in the top five. LeValley also has a win over Dake. Molinaro, on the other hand, has two wins against seeded wrestlers, including splitting matches with one of those two (Mason). When comparing Dake's season to Molinaro's season, both have two losses. However, Dake is not only the defending NCAA champion, but has the head-to-head win over Molinaro and the same amount of victories against seeded wrestlers. In addition, Dake registered an 11-1 major decision victory over Mason, a wrestler who has a win over Molinaro. With Molinaro getting the second seed, as opposed to the fourth seed, he does not have to deal with having Caldwell on his side of the bracket. Instead, it puts two NCAA champions, Caldwell and Dake, on the same side of the bracket. I'm not stating that I don't think Molinaro, who has been on tear, can't or won't beat LeValley or Dake. Molinaro certainly has the tools to reach the finals. However, it's my belief that both LeValley and Dake deserved to be seeded higher. Other thoughts on seeding ... The seeding at 157 pounds turned out like I thought it would. The weight class includes three undefeated wrestlers in Adam Hall of Boise State, Steve Fittery of American, and David Taylor of Penn State, plus an NCAA runner-up and Junior World champion in Bubba Jenkins of Arizona State. I believe all four are very close. I don't think I'm in the minority when I state that I'm excited to see how things shake out at 157 pounds. Fittery is ranked ahead of Hall in the InterMat rankings only because of Hall's loss to Jenkins at the NWCA All-Star Classic. That match is not counted by the NCAA or used for seeding purposes, but is used by the InterMat rankings committee. Therefore, Hall is not only undefeated, but he is also the highest returning NCAA finisher and beat Fittery in their last meeting at the NCAA Championships, so it makes sense that he's seeded ahead of Fittery. I expect all four wrestlers to make the semifinals, which is going to make for some incredible matches in this weight class on Friday night. I expected Cornell's Mike Grey to be seeded a bit higher than eighth, but also understand why the seeding committee placed him there. He has not competed much this season and lacks quality wins. He's 11-0 with his most notable victory coming over Penn's Rollie Peterkin, the 10th seed, 10-5. The two wrestlers seeded ahead of Grey, Tony Ramos of Iowa and B.J. Futrell of Illinois, have more quality wins this season.

Hempstead, NY - Hofstra University Director of Athletics Jack Hayes today announced that Head Wrestling Coach Tom Shifflet, who led the Pride to four Colonial Athletic Association Championships during his five years at the University, has resigned his position, effective at the conclusion of the 2011 NCAA Championships. Hayes also announced that Associate Head Coach Rob Anspach will become the 11th Head Wrestling Coach effective March 28. Anspach, a 2001 Hofstra alumnus with a degree in American studies, is in his ninth season on the Pride wrestling staff and his third as associate head coach in 2010-11. His tenure on the Pride coaching staff has resulted in a 112-58-6 dual meet record, eight conference championships and 33 league champions. A total of sixty-three wrestlers have reached the NCAA Championships during his nine years on staff including 11 that earned All-America honors. "I am truly grateful to Hofstra President Stuart Rabinowitz and Director of Athletics Jack Hayes for this opportunity and the confidence they have expressed in me to lead the Pride Wrestling program," Anspach said. "I am excited about the challenges that lie ahead and I feel I have the ability to continue leading Hofstra in the right direction. I would also like to thank both Tom Shifflet and Tom Ryan, both mentors and friends, for helping me get to this day." As a student-athlete, Anspach compiled a 69-51 record and made two trips to the NCAA Championships during his five-year career at Hofstra. As a freshman in 1996-97 he recorded a 20-13 record, placed third in the ECWA Championships, and was named to the ECWA All-Freshman Team at 158 pounds. A year later, he posted an 18-12 mark, placed third again in the ECWA Championships and captured the New York State Championships title at 167 pounds. After red-shirting in 1998-99, Anspach recorded his best collegiate season with a 20-15 mark and captured the ECWA title at 174 pounds to earn his first NCAA Championship bid. He also captured the title at the Congressional Cup in Washington, D.C., and placed second at the New York State Championships. As a senior in 2000-01 Anspach posted an 11-11 record, finished second at the ECWA Championships and earned a wild-card selection to the NCAA Championships. That season he also won his weight class at the Bearcat Open, compiling a perfect 4-0 record. The Pine Grove, Pennsylvania, native, who is now a resident of Hauppauge, New York, is engaged to be married to Ms. Alexandra Overkamp on August 5, 2011. "Rob Anspach has been the link between two very successful Hofstra coaches during the past nine years," Hayes said. "He brings solid experience as a coach and administrator and has great knowledge of the talent-rich East Coast wrestling community. We are confident that he will continue the Pride's winning tradition. In addition, as a Hofstra wrestling alumnus, he will continue to bridge the rich history of our fine program." Shifflet became the 10th head coach in Hofstra wrestling history on May 17, 2006. Since his arrival in Hempstead, the Pride reached a NCAA Championship finish benchmark as well as continued the tradition of excellence in the CAA. During his tenure with the Pride, Shifflet's teams posted a 61-34-5 (.635) dual match record, captured four CAA championships, produced 17 conference champions, sent 31 wrestlers to the NCAA Championships with six earning All-America honors and placing in the NCAA Championships top 20 twice including a school-best seventh place in 2007. Shifflet was also the major catalyst in the fund-raising effort and development of the Teague Ryan Wrestling Complex, which opened in 2009. "I would like to thank the Hofstra administration, my assistant coaches and our wrestlers for five outstanding seasons," Shifflet said Wednesday. "I truly enjoyed my tenure at Hofstra and look forward to supporting the program in the future." A four-time NCAA Championships qualifier and a three-time All-American as a student-athlete at Edinboro University, Shifflet has sent six or more wrestlers to the NCAA Championships in four of his five seasons. In 2007, he directed the Pride to an 18-4-2 dual record, a final record season ranking of ninth, the program's sixth straight Colonial Athletic Association championship and the school's seventh consecutive conference title, an upset victory of top-ranked Minnesota, a sixth-place finish at the NWCA National Duals and, most importantly, a seventh-place finish at the 2007 NCAA Championships in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Along the way, the Pride developed four All-Americans, seven conference champions including the CAA Wrestler of the Year and the Rookie of the Year. For Shifflet's efforts, he was given the Colonial Athletic Association Coach of the Year award, the first of two during his Hofstra tenure. In 2007-08 Shifflet directed the program to its 11th consecutive winning season with a 13-8 overall record and a 6-0 conference mark while leading Hofstra to its seventh straight CAA wrestling championship and eighth consecutive conference title. Along the way the Pride faced 13 Top 25 opponents and posted victories over #4 Iowa State, #13 Edinboro and #22 Old Dominion. Hofstra placed third at the Southern Scuffle, 10th in the Cliff Keen-Las Vegas Invitational, first in the CAA Championships with three conference champions and seven national qualifiers, and 15th in the NCAA Championships with two All-Americans and the Gorrarian Award winner. In 2008-09, Shifflet, faced with a rebuilding season, captured the University's ninth consecutive conference championship with three individual champions, posted a 10-6 dual record and a 5-1 mark in the CAA and sent eight wrestlers to the NCAA Championships in St. Louis. He was also named CAA Coach of the Year. The 2009-10 season was a year filled with injuries to starters in three weight classes while a fourth was red-shirted as the Pride struggled through a 6-12-2 season. Nonetheless, three Pride wrestlers qualified for the NCAA Championships. The Pride rebounded in 2010-11 to produce the fifth-most dual match victories in a single season with a 14-4-1 record. This season also included Shifflet's fourth conference title with four champions and six NCAA Championship qualifiers for the 2011 tournament that will be held in Philadelphia from March 17-19. Shifflet, who also served as an assistant at Georgia State, and Cornell, was the head coach at UNC Greensboro from 2003-2006. He has a 93-66-5 career record as a head coach. Shifflet, who has two young children, will be leaving coaching to enter private business.

Starting tomorrow in Hershey, Pennsylvania at the GIANT Center is the last state championship tournament of the high school year. And as the old saying goes, it's unequivocally saving the best for last. The Keystone State has perennially produced the most All-Americans at the NCAA Division I tournament. It is on this weekend that future All-Americans will be seeking PIAA titles. There are two big individual storylines in the big-school division, along with an absolutely wide open team race. The first is the journey of Nazareth's Zach Horan, who is ranked second in the nation at 130 pounds. The senior, bound for Central Michigan, has finished runner-up at state each of the last three years; and is seeking to avoid joining Bob Simpson (1985-1988) and Sam Coursen (1946-1949) as four-time second place finishers. With the presence of five qualifying tournaments for the 16 spots in Class AAA (big-school), the existence of lopsided brackets is to be expected. However, the one at 130 is beyond lopsided. Based on rankings compiled by Jeff Upson for http://www.thepapowerrankings.com, the top three wrestlers and four of the top six are in the same half. Starting at the top is the undefeated Horan, and joining him in the same quarter is undefeated three-time state placer Cameron Throckmorton (South-Western). The other quarter of the top half includes freshman sensation Solomon Chisko (Canon-McMillan), who is ranked No. 19 nationally, and returning state placer Scott Wolfinger (Quakertown). Not to say that the bottom half of the draw is exactly easy with the presence of four other wrestlers with state placement histories. In the third quarter of the draw is Joe Mazzi (LaSalle), a Powerade runner-up at 135 pounds -- also ranked No. 18 nationally in that weight, along with Brandon Choate (Blue Mountain) who finished third in the state last season. Mount Mat Madness champion Tanner Hough (Westmont Hilltop) is joined by 2009 state third place finisher Shyheim Brown (Central Dauphin) in the bottom quarter of the draw. All of this cluster of high quality is without defending state champion Steve Spearman (Erie McDowell), who did not make weight in the first week of his state series. Ranked No. 2 in the nation at 125, Penn State signee Nico Megaludis (Franklin Regional) is after a third state title -- having finished third as a freshman. Unlike Horan's weight class, this weight class is rather cleared out with only two other state placers present -- most notably Devon Lotito (Bethlehem Liberty), who was seventh at 112 pounds last year. Those two wrestlers would meet in the semifinals should each advance to that point. The other half of the draw represents a golden opportunity for somebody to earn a relatively unexpected state finals appearance. The rankings would suggest one of three names -- Jeremy Minich (Boyertown), Bobby Rehm (Penn Manor), or Zach McGinnis (Waynesburg). Each has state tournament experience, while Rehm and McGinnis are in the same quarter bracket. There are six nationally-ranked teams present in the AAA tournament, and five of them have a legitimate chance at the title; No. 25 Nazareth is only working with two qualifiers in Horan and Ryan Krecker (160). However, there is a sixth team in the title hunt in Council Rock South. Leading the way with six qualifiers to state are No. 26 Canon-McMillan, No. 31 Pittsburgh Central Catholic, and No. 43 LaSalle. Close behind with five qualifiers are No. 13 Central Dauphin, No. 17 Easton, and Council Rock South. The following is a breakdown of the other 12 weight classes in the Class AAA tournament. 103: No. 19 Billy Rappo (Council Rock South) enters the tournament as the slightest of favorites, though he has received no help through the bracketing. He faces Tanner Shoap (Chambersburg) in the first round, who enters the state tournament his freshman year with a 37-2 record. Should Rappo win that match, it is a likely quarterfinal bout against Brett Marino (Bethlehem Liberty), an opponent to whom he fell to defeat in late December. Should he navigate those two bouts, he would draw the second best wrestler in the weight in Powerade champion Colt Shorts (Canon-McMillan). Yet again, the other (top) half of the draw represents a golden opportunity for someone to advance to the finals -- and that should be either Colin Ochs (Governor Mifflin) or Zach Fuentes (Norristown). 112: Defending state champion Conner Schram (Canon-McMillan) enters the tournament ranked No. 6 in the country and the favorite in this weight. Given the nature of weight classes in the Keystone State, he has as reasonable a draw as one can ask -- reasonably clear sailing into the semifinal round. The likely opponent at that point would be Austin Miller (Hempfield), which represents a rematch of last year's state final; that assumes Miller gets past 2009 runner-up Paul Bewak (Hempfield Area) in the opening round. Two-time state placer Jordan Conaway (New Oxford) is the favorite in the top half of the draw, though he is looking at a quarterfinal against Corey McQuiston (West Chester Rustin) and a semifinal against state placer Anthony Cabrera (Bethlehem Liberty). 119: Though nine wrestlers have previous state placement credentials, and all but two have made the state tournament prior to this year, this weight class does not have any true national caliber standouts. The closest would be two-time state placer, returning state runner-up Corey Keener (Blue Mountain), who is a clear favorite to advance to the final though he could have an interesting semifinal against whomever clears the second quarter of the draw -- Matt Harkins (Hartboro Horsham), Dereck Enders (Big Spring), or Derrick Nelson (Waynesburg); Enders and Nelson meet in the first round of the tournament. The lower half of the draw represents total open season, though a semifinal match between CJ Palmer (Delaware Valley) and Tyson Dippery (Central Dauphin) would be a reasonable guess-timate. The headline first round match placers returning state third Palmer against two-time state placer Josh Polacek (Westmont Hilltop). 135: Dan Neff (Solanco), ranked No. 16 nationally at 140 pounds, is the headline figure of the weight class with a Super32 Challenge runner-up finish in this weight along with a runner-up finish in the 140 pound weight at the Powerade. His bottom half of the draw is about as clear as one can have, with only Mason Popham (Unionville) a returning state placer -- that would be a quarterfinal bout. Anchoring the top half of the draw are 2009 state placer Joey Rizzolino (Easton), state placer Matt Rappo (Council Rock South), and King of the Mountain MOW Ty Lydic (Greater Latrobe). Rizzolino and Lydic would represent a quarterfinal matchup. 140: This weight is a three-horse race between No. 11 Matt Cimato (LaSalle), No. 12 (at 145) Mitch Minotti (Easton), and Matt Martoccio (Council Rock South). Martoccio, a two-time state placer and 2010 Super32 Challenge placer, is alone in the top half of the draw. He earned that position based on a regional final victory over Cimato, but does have regional champions Tyler Manion (Pittsburgh Central Catholic) and Shane Miller (Middletown) floating in the other quarter of the top half. That said, look for Martoccio to be wrestling in Saturday evening's final against either Powerade champion and Junior National freestyle All-American Cimato or Reno champion and two-time state placer (also a Super32 placer) Minotti. Those two would meet in the semifinal roud. 145: A pair of three-time state placers and an undefeated wrestler forms the three-horse race in this weight class. No. 16 Nick Catalano (Canon-McMillan) has placed sixth, fourth, and third in the state; and based on his draw in the bottom half of the bracket is looking at relatively smooth sailing into a state finals berth. Up in the top half of the draw is senior Jayshon Wilson (Carlisle) -- who has placement finishes of sixth, seventh, and eighth -- along with undefeated junior Brian Brill (Central Mountain), also a returning state placer. Wilson and Brill are looking at a potential semifinal pairing. 152: All-everything freshman Chance Marsteller (Kennard-Dale) is ranked No. 7 in the country, and undefeated on the season with a title at the Powearde. This weekend he seeks to become the heaviest freshman to win a PIAA state title, and he is a clear favorite to do so. His toughest challenge should come in the semifinal round against returning state runner-up Lorenzo Thomas (Pittsburgh Central Catholic), whom Marsteller already defeated 8-3 in the Powerade final. The top half representative in the final should come from the winner of a quarterfinal bout between 2009 state runner-up Mark Havers (Bradford) and returning state runner-up Aaron McKinney (West Allegheny). 160: Two-time National Prep finalist -- and champion last year - Jason Luster (Pittsburgh Central Catholic) makes his PIAA state tournament debut ranked No. 3 nationally. While the clear favorite in this weight, he did get the unkind draw of returning runner-up Shane Springer (LaSalle) in the quarterfinal; though Springer's record indicates mixed results, he is dangerous as he can hit that headlock at anytime. Then, the semifinal match would be against twice fourth in the state Ryan Krecker (Nazareth). Despite losing the regional final to Krecker, and never before placing at state, Mike Ottinger (Parkland) sits pretty on the other side of the draw as the favorite to meet Luster in the final. A nominal challenge from Zach Thomson (Mechanicsburg) in the quarterfinal stands in his way. 171: The two clear favorites of the weight class are both undefeated -- Powerade champion Nick Bonaccorsi (Bethel Park) and Beast of the East champion JM Staudenmayer (Plymouth Whitemarsh). However, the bracket gods have slated them to meet in the quarterfinal round. Former state placer Cole Baxter (Butler Area), though losing to Bonaccorsi in the regional final is in the opposite half of the draw. 189: Defending state champion No. 4 Kenny Courts (Central Dauphin) would have to be considered a clear favorite even with the two stumbles at the Beast of the East. His path though is relatively hard, as he could have to beat two regional champions to reach the final in Perry Hills (Pittsburgh Central Catholic) and John Bolich (Upper Moreland); Hills was one of the two losses for Courts this year, while Bolich is an undefeated returning state placer. The two clear favorites in the lower half of the draw are a pair of returning fourth in the state wrestlers -- Josh Popple (Coughlin), who is undefeated on the season, and Phil Sprenkle (Dallastown); those two would meet in the semifinal round. 215: Three wrestlers stand out as the class of this field -- No. 12 Zachary Nye (East Pennsboro), undefeated and a returning state runner-up; No. 14 Joe Stolfi (Souderton), fourth at state last year and a NHSCA Junior National champion; and No. 20 Matt Idelson (Garnet Valley), Super32 champion this year and Beast of the East champion last year. Idelson beat Stolfi to win the regional title, and the resulting consequence is that Stolfi has to face Nye in a quarterfinal match up in the top half of the draw. The other quarter up top features undefeated Kyle McWreath (Trinity), 36-1 Tyson Searer (Lewiston) and 35-1 David Quackenbos (Red Lion). Idelson is pretty much a lone ranger in the bottom half, though freshman Thomas Haines (Solanco) should pair with Idelson in the quarterfinal and is a name to watch for in years to come. 285: Two undefeated wrestlers, two others that were undefeated until the regional final, and two others with just a single loss are among the participants in this weight class. Note that returning state finalist Zach Corl (Central Mountain) did not even make it to the state tournament. Averee Robinson (Susquehanna Township) is one of three returning state placers in this weight class, is undefeated on the season, and is in the second quarter of the top half of this bracket. However, joining him in this quarter is Anthony DiLonardo (Plum), who was undefeated up to last weekend's regional final. The other quarter of the top half features 37-1 Alec Gluvna (Corry). Anchoring the lower half of the draw is undefeated Powerade champion Cody Klempay (Canon-McMillan), who knocked off DiLonardo in the regional final. He projects to face returning state placer Josh Duplin (Westmont Hilltop) in the quarterfinal round. The other quarter of the bottom half features 34-1 Tim Maeschak (Williamsport) and Dawson Peck (Chambersburg) whose first loss of the season was to Robinson in the regional final. The featured stories of the small-school division are Jimmy Gulibon (Derry Area), who is ranked No. 1 at 119 pounds seeking his third state title in as many attempts. Should Gulibon win state this year, he will seek to win a fourth championship next year. Also, No. 20 Bethlehem Catholic enters the tournament with nine state qualifiers, and is a strong favorite to sweep the titles this year after taking home the dual meet crown last month. The following is a weight-by-weight breakdown of Class AA. 103: No. 3 Darian Cruz (Bethlehem Catholic) missed last year's state series with an injury; however, he is the prohibitive favorite to bring home a state title this year, though undefeated freshman Jason Nolf (Kittatining) stands as a potential semifinal opponent. 112: This is clearly the best weight of the small school division with four wrestlers having a state finals appearance to their credit plus the sensational freshman Zeke Moisey (Bethlehem Catholic), who is ranked No. 15 in the country already placing twice at the Super32 Challenge and earning podium finishes at the Walsh Ironman and Beast of the East. It is an unkind draw for Moisey, as he is projected to face 2009 state champion Nick Roberts (North Star) -- ranked No. 8 in the country -- in the quarterfinal round. Defending state champion Zain Retherford (Line Mountain), ranked No. 5 nationally, is one of three state returning/previous state finalists in the top half of the draw. In the quarter opposite of Retherford resides 2009 state runner-up Evan Link (Penn Cambria) and returning state runner-up Brad Farley (Bermudian Springs). 119: As covered above, Gulibon is No. 1 and a prohibitive favorite to win this weight class. His only loss this season is up one weight class when he battled Megaludis to the absolute wire in what arguably has been the national match of the year to date. He won titles at the Ironman and Powerade as well. Coming through the opposite half of the draw, look for Randy Cruz (Bethlehem Catholic) to earn a second straight runner-up finish. 125: Two of the nation's eight best wrestlers in this weight class have unfortunately been placed in the same half of the draw. Defending state champion Mason Beckman (Reynolds) is ranked No. 2 in the country, having won the Walsh Ironman for a second consecutive season; while Super32 Challenge champion and Powerade runner-up Geoff Alexander (Shady Side Academy) is ranked No. 8 nationally. Looking to benefit from this draw and make the state final is two-time state placer, and Super32 Challenge placer, Cody Wheeler (Towanda). 130: This is genuinely a tough weight class that is wide open with (at least) six returning/previous state medalists present. The top half of the draw features a projected quarterfinal between returning state placers Laike Gardner (Biglerville) and Brandon Pesarchick (Shamokin), with the winner likely to face two-time state placer and NHSCA Junior National champion Dave Makara (Burrell) in the semifinal round. The lower half of the draw features a projected quarterfinal placing returning state runner-up Coltin Fought (Benton) against 2009 state champion Arty Walsh (Schuylkill Valley), with the winner likely to face two-time state placer Dylan Durso (Reynolds) in the semifinal round. 135: Yet another balanced weight class with multiple wrestlers that could win it. After the regional final victory over No. 9 Ronnie Garbinsky (Tyrone Area), Jeremy Landowski (Burrell) enters the tournament as the slightest of favorites with a slew of momentum. He is looking at a likely semifinal match against sophomore Mikey Racciato (Pen Argyl), who placed third at state last year in the same weight Landowski placed seventh. The lower half of the draw features a likely quarterfinal placing Garbinsky, a Junior National double All-American (and two-time state placer) against senior Adam Matthews (Reynolds). Also in this half of the draw is returning state placer Michael DePalma (Jeanette). 140: Undefeated three-time state placer Luke Frey (Montoursville) is ranked No. 4 in the country and seeking to bookend his career with state titles, winning as a freshman with fourth and second place finishes the last two years. Frey is looking at the solid sophomore Austin Matthews (Reynolds) in the quarterfinal with FloNationals champion Travis Shaffer (Derry) floating around the opposite top half of the draw. 145: Senior Nick Hodgkins (Wyomissing) -- ranked No. 2 nationally -- has been all winning all the time this year with an undefeated record, including a Beast of the East title and a preseason Super32 Challenge championship. Hodgkins is seeking his third state finals appearance, having finished third, first, and second in his career to date. His likely finals opponent is 2009 state runner-up, and two-time state placer Zach Beitz (Juniata). 152: Defending state champion Nick Carr (South Fayette) is the strong favorite to repeat. Of some interest is a first round match placing him against returning state runner-up Kyle Dehaut (Bethlehem Catholic), who has had a disappointing year with a 28-11 record. 160: Two wrestlers stand head and shoulders above this field -- No. 4 Travis McKillop (Burrell) and No. 5 Cody Wiercioch (Charleroi). McKillop, a senior, has placed fifth each of the last two years; while the sophomore Wiercioch is a defending state champ and won the Super32 Challenge this fall. However, McKillop has won two out of three meetings involving the two wrestlers this year -- at the Powerade and last weekend's regional, while Wiercioch won at the WPIAL meet. These two are in opposite halves of the draw and would not meet until the final. 171: Five wrestlers enter this weight class as returning state placers, though No. 6 Nathaniel Brown (Lewisburg) is undefeated and the clear favorite having placed third and second the two prior years. Brown is looking at a likely semifinal date against sophomore Dakota DesLauriers (Burrell), a returning state placer and Cadet National freestyle All-American. In the lower half of the draw, junior Wes Phipps (Grove City) enters the tournament undefeated having also placed third at state last year. In the quarter bracket opposing Phipps, but in the same half, returning state placers Sam Guidi (Fort Cherry) and Colin Hedash (Northern Lehigh) should meet second round. 189: Defending state champion Stephan Ceremuga (Commodore Perry) enters as the favorite. 215: Both finalists from this weight class last year are in the field yet again -- defending champion Eric Laytos (Lackawanna Trail) with a 42-1 record and runner-up Matt Mongera (Seneca) is 40-0, both happen to be juniors as well. They headline their respective halves of the draw. In the opposite quarter of Laytos is undefeated returning state placer Garth Lakitsky (Tamaqua). Returning state placers Brian Beattie (Burrell) and Ryan Solomon (Milton) are in the same half as Mongera -- Solomon would draw Mongera in the quarterfinal round. 285: The top half of the draw features a pair of undefeated wrestlers -- Joel Yahner (Brockway) and Ben Ancheff (Williams Valley) -- along with defending state champion John Rizzo (Richland), who lost his first match in last weekend's regional final. Doling out Rizzo's first loss of the year was returning third in the state Jeff Tarley (Beth-Center), who anchors the bottom half of the draw along with returning state placer Wes Tillett (Shamokin). In the top half, Rizzo and Ancheff could meet in the quarterfinal round.

The NCAA will announce the 330 student-athletes set participate in the 2011 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships via a Web stream selection show on NCAA.com on Wednesday, March 9 at 6 p.m. ET. Shane Sparks will serve as the host as he unveils each of the 10 brackets in the championships field. Fans wishing to view the show can do so at the link below: http://www.ncaa.com/sports/wrestling/d1 Complete printable brackets will be available on NCAA.com at 6:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, March 9. Following the selection announcement fans are encouraged to tune into Takedown Wrestling’s annual NCAA Division I Championships Preview Show from 8 - 11 p.m. (ET). Host Scott Casber will be joined in studio by co-hosts Steve Foster, Jeff Murphy, Ryan Freeman and Geoff Murtha as they break down the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships bracket by bracket. The three-hour broadcast will feature several distinguished guests, including NCAA Division I Wrestling committee chair, Derek Van Der Merwe, and NCAA champion and National Wrestling Hall of Famer, Wade Schalles. Fans are encouraged to interact with on-air hosts through Facebook at facebook.com/ncaawrestling. Questions submitted through Facebook will be answered by the studio hosts throughout the show. There are three ways for fans to listen to the NCAA Division I Championships Preview Show, on NCAA.com, KXNO.com or through the I Heart Radio app on your Smart Phone (select sports radio/KXNO).

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Saturday night at the 2011 OHSAA state tournament belonged to three wrestlers who have left their mark on Ohio wrestling history. Three great wrestlers came into high school with lofty expectations and they lived up to those great expectations. Hunter Stieber, Cam Tessari and Chris Phillips all became four-state champions in Ohio the first time any school has had that many four-time state champions, the state hasn't even had that many wrestlers be four-time state champions in the same year. Those three join Logan Stieber as four-time state champions as the tiny school of Monroeville now has the most four-time state champions in Ohio history, what is more remarkable is before Logan Stieber came into high school they didn't even have a state champion. Hunter Stieber, Chris Phillips, and Cam Tessari joined Logan Stieber as four-time state champions for Monroeville (Photo/Mark Ransick)All three wrestlers dominated their finals opponents as none was pushed at all in their matches. At 135, Hunter Stieber wrapped up his high school career in fashion getting the fall in just a minute flat. Next up at 140 was Cam Tessari who came away with an 11-4 decision had the closest of the group in the finals. Both Stieber and Tessari will join Logan Stieber at Ohio State next year. Chris Phillips at 171 came way with his 4th state title as well with a 16-7 domination. What is most remarkable about Phillips is he won all his titles at 171 something that has never been done in Ohio history. There is no doubt that Ohio hasn't seen a group of kids assembled like that before and we will probably never see something so remarkable again. While the Monroeville "Triple Threat" was on display all night there was a lot of great wrestling as well through the divisions. The theme could be summed as expect the unexpected as nationally-ranked wrestlers went down throughout the night and no one was safe no matter how high the ranking. Matt Stephens of Graham took on No. 2 nationally-ranked Ian Miller of Oak Harbor. Stephens and Miller battled to a scoreless tie at the end of regulation with both wrestlers taking turns riding each other out. The action really heated up in overtime when Stephens got a body lock and lifted Miller up and to the mat, but Miller looked to have not given up the takedown. Stephens, however, was awarded the two which, was the right call as he shocked the arena winning his first state title. Nationally-ranked Kagan Squire of Wadsworth had defeated his opponent Joey Ward of Moeller three different times this year. On Saturday night, he was not able to make it four as Joey Ward pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the night, winning in triple overtime, escaping with less than 10 seconds left. Squire was not the only nationally-ranked wrestler to go down in the finals. Ironman runner-up Huston Evans of Graham lost 5-2 to Chaz Gresham of Goshen. Gresham controlled the action and hit two beautiful throws on the edge to convert them into takedowns. Bo Jordan (Photo/Mark Ransick)While upsets were frequent in the finals there were many favorites that walked away with state crowns again. Bo Jordan is well on his way to becoming one of the most dominating wrestlers in Graham history, which is no easy task. Jordan, only a sophomore, dominated his way through the state tournament, pinning every opponent this past weekend. During the state qualifying process Jordan had only one match not end in a pin he defeated that opponent by technical fall 19-4 in the district tournament. Teammates Nick Brascetta, Micah Jordan, and Isaac Jordan all won state titles, making it six individual titles for the Falcons this past weekend. To no one's surprise Graham won the state tournament with much ease for the 11th year in a row. Lakewood Saint Edward returned to its position on top of the big school division as they ran away with the state title over Massillon Perry and defending champion Wadsworth. St. Eds was led by Dean Heil, who came away with his second state title in as many years this time at 119. Heil was able to use a big move to knock off surprise finalist Max Byrd of LaSalle. Joining Heil on top of the podium was teammates Mark Martin at 152 and Dominic Abounader at 160 for both Martin and Abounader it was their first state titles. In the small school division St. Peter Chanel captured their first state title since the 1970s, winning over Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy. Besides the "Triple Threat" from Monroeville there were other nationally-ranked wrestlers winning state titles in Division III. No. 1-ranked nationally Nathan Tomasello captured his second state title with a 9-4 decision in the finals at 103. The match of the night in DIII had to be between former Graham standout Felipe Martinez, now at Genoa Area, and Dominic Prezzia of St. Clairsville. Martinez, who has missed much of the season, was taken into overtime as he was pushed by Prezzia the whole match. It wasn't until Martinez was able to hit a takedown to get back points did he lock up his third state title. Alex Utley in a perfect world could have been going for his third state title this weekend. Instead he finally broke through and won his first. Utley, up at 189, has been the victim of being in the same bracket as some of the best wrestlers in DIII getting stuck with both Zach Toal and Chris Phillips. Utley finally made the most of his opportunity by winning his first state title in dominant fashion, posting a 6-0 victory in the finals. The entire OHSAA state tournament lived up to the billing from the opening round matches to the pomp and circumstance for the parade of champions. Most importantly, though, history was made when the Monroeville crowned the three four-time state champions all in one night all there will most likely never see something so truly remarkable again. The odds of those great wrestlers coming together at one school in a tiny northern Ohio town are astronomically small. I was just glad I was able to witness history being made on the grandest stage for Ohio wrestlers.

Depth helps Clovis cap off magical season A record-tying nine individual state medalists propelled the No. 7 Cougars to a California state tournament championship in the single-class event held this past weekend. This came despite only three of those wrestlers finishing above fifth. Winning titles for Clovis was Daniel Gayton (119) and No. 18 Nick Nevills (285).Gayton earned his with a 6-3 finals victory over No. 17 Stevan Knoblach (Clovis West); while Nevills becoming only the seventh freshman to ever win a California state title, the first at heavyweight (also the first freshman heavyweight to place in state tournament history, which goes back to 1973). Also with a top three finish was No. 9 Zach Nevills (171), who lost 3-1 to Silas Nacita (Bakersfield) in the quarterfinals but avenged that loss with a 6-5 victory in the consolation final. Rounding out the Clovis placing contingent were Jonas Gayton (112) and Blake Thompson (152) in fifth; Taylor Ferguson (215) in sixth; Brady Bersano (140), Adrian Salas (160), and Dakota Gordan (189) in seventh. All of that was enough for the Cougars to amass 186 points, and record ninth state championship. Breathing right down their neck was No. 8 Bakersfield, which had eight placing wrestlers and 179 points in all. Even with six top four finishers, the failure of No. 18 Coleman Hammond (145) to reach the podium likely precluded the Drillers from earning the team title. Their lone champion was No. 1 Bryce Hammond (160), who earned a second consecutive state title, this time with a 7-3 victory over No. 7 Vince Waldhauser (Oak Ridge). Other place finishers were No. 20 Natrelle Deminson (130), Timmy Box (135), and Adam Fierro (152) finishing third; Micah Cruz (125) and Silas Nacita (171) in fourth; Maxx Ramirez (140) in sixth; and Ian Nickell (112) taking home seventh. Third in the team standings was Selma, all the way back at 100 points, with only three placers -- but all three were finalists. Winning titles were No. 4 Alex Cisneros (125) and No. 8 (at 135) Nick Pena (130), while No. 18 Justin Lozano (171) took home the silver medal. Cisneros, only a junior, earned his third consecutive championship with a 6-3 win over No. 12 Vince Rodriguez (Clovis North) in the final; Rodriguez had upset No. 6 Fabian Garcia (Turlock) in the semifinal round with a 2-1 victory. This tournament title puts him in line to become only the second wrestler in Garden State history to win four championships, the other being Darrell Vasquez (Bakersfield/Cal Poly). Earning second state titles were No. 4 Nashon Garrett (Chico) at 112, Pena at 130, Bryce Hammond at 160, No. 5 Tank Knowles (Calvary Chapel) at 215. Becoming the 16th three-time state champion was No. 1 Morgan McIntosh (Calvary Chapel) at 189. The Penn-State bound McIntosh has now gone two straight seasons without giving up an offensive point, and became the first wrestler ever to earn “Champion of Champions” recognition for a second time. Other weight class champions were Johnson Mai (North Torrance) at 103 pounds, No. 17 Chris Mecate (Redlands East Valley) at 135, No. 15 Isaiah Martinez (Lemoore) at 140, Jake Elliott (Oakmont) at 145, No. 20 Joey Davis (Santa Fe) at 152, and No. 11 Nikko Reyes (Clovis West) at 171 - who earned his first state title with a 7-2 victory over No. 18 Lozano. One last note is that nine returning medalists failed to ascend onto the placement podium this year. For full team standings, place winners, and brackets: http://www.tmi.150m.com/Results2010-2011/2011%20STATE%20BFinal.pdf McCauley makes mark as Apple Valley dominates yet again Winning his fifth title in six state finals appearances, the nation’s top overall senior Destin McCauley (152) anchored yet another dominating tournament performance by No. 1 Apple Valley at the Minnesota state tournament. Thirteen Apple Valley wrestlers made it to the state tournament, with eleven of the Eagle wrestlers placing -- all of them in the top three. As one of seven champions, McCauley won three matches by fall, with only an 18-2 technical fall in the semis precluding him from pinning out. Watch more video of Destin McCauley on www.theguillotineflo.com Also champions for Apple Valley were Jordan Kingsley (112), No. 13 Dakota Trom (125), No. 13 Mark Hall (130), No. 13 Matt Kelliher (135), No. 6 Brandon Kingsley (140), and No. 10 Jake Waste (171). Hall was challenged in a semifinal match against No. 15 (at 125) Ben Morgan (Forest Lake), who pushed him into the ultimate tiereaker, but Hall won the match 8-6. Finishing second were Daniel Woiwor (145) and No. 6 Steven Keogh (160), who was upset 8-5 by Kyle Begin (Anoka). Finishing third were Seth Gross (103) and Matt Hechsel (189). Rounding out the weight class champions were Tommy Thorn (St. Michael-Albertville) at 103 pounds, No. 8 Mitch Bengtson (St. Cloud Apollo) at 119, Zach Rohr (Hastings) at 145, Kyle Begin (Anoka) at 160, Nathaniel Swoyer (Willmar) at 189, Zane Peterson (Lakeville South) at 215, and No. 2 Donnie Longendyke (White Bear Lake) at 285. Bengtson was pushed in a 1-0 quarterfinal victory over Sam Brancale (Eden Prairie), a battle of defending state champions. Longendyke had two close calls in winning a repeat state title. The first was a 3-1 semifinal victory over No. 15 Parker Betts (St. Michael-Albertville); and a 3-2 tiebreaker victory over Brock Horwath (Stillwater), which avenged a loss from the prior week. Earlier in the weekend was the dual meet tournament for Class AAA, and in three dual meets, Apple Valley went 39-3 in the individual matches. The opening round was a 65-12 victory over White Bear Lake, the semifinal was a 70-0 victory over Prior Lake, and the final saw the Eagles prevailing by a 61-6 score against No. 48 Saint Michael-Albertville. Individual Brackets: http://www.tstuff.com (Search for 2011) Unofficial Team Standings: (Class AAA) http://www.tstuff.com/score11aaa.htm (Class AA) http://www.tstuff.com/score11aa.htm (Class A) http://www.tstuff.com/score11a.htm Dual Meet Results: (Class AAA) http://www.tstuff.com/2011/team113a.htm (Class AA) http://www.tstuff.com/2011/team112a.htm (Class A) http://www.tstuff.com/2011/team111a.htm Legacy programs rule day in Buckeye State The 74th annual Ohio state wrestling championships came to an end with champions in all three divisions representing programs that are well known for excellence. In Division I, it was No. 5 St. Edward winning its 26th state title since 1978. This championship came one year after their 13 year stranglehold on the big-school division had come to an end. In Division II, No. 4 St. Paris Graham won its eleventh consecutive championship and 13th in all with a record-tying eight in the finals. In Division III, it was St. Peter Chanel winning a fifth state championship; however, it was their first since 1988 -- a period of time in which they have finished second six times. Additionally, the Firebirds overcame the demons of seven finishes of either second or third in the last ten years. With 187 points, St. Edward distanced themselves significantly from No. 18 Massillon Perry and No. 29 Wadsworth in the Division I team standings. The Eagles brought down 10 wrestlers, and placed all of them inside the top five. Winning titles were No. 18 Dean Heil (119), Mark Martin (152), and Domenic Abounader (160). Finishing second were No. 20 Edgar Bright (112), Ty Walz (215), and No. 10 Greg Kuhar (285). Not only will all ten state qualifiers be back next season, all fourteen wrestlers that competed in the state tournament series will be back. Defending state champion Wadsworth finished third with nine state qualifiers, five of whom earned placement honors. Despite four finalists, the Grizzlies only could muster one champion -- No. 7 Nick Tavanello (215), a junior who earned his second consecutive championship. Finishing second were No. 7 Kagan Squire (125), Nate Ball (140), and Sheldon Brandenburg (160). They scored 96 points as a team, which is the second most in program history -- behind last year’s title-winning team. Also scoring the second most points in program history was second place finisher Massillon Perry, which earned 109 points (the only squad to score more was the 2004 state runner-up squad anchored by a pair of eventual NCAA champions in Steven Luke and Dustin Schlatter). The lone champion was Zack Dailey (140), with David Bavery (103) and Tanner Lemon (145) earning runner-up finishes. Working with eight wrestlers in all, four other earned placement finishes, while returning state runner-up Mitch Newhouse (119) fell short of the podium. Like the sun rising in the east and setting in the west is the dominance of Graham, which scored 230-1/2 points on the strength of six champions. The Falcons ascended 200 points for the fifth consecutive year, and scored their second most points ever -- with only the 2009 squad (anchored by Penn State redshirt freshman sensation David Taylor) having scored more points. Those Graham champions were No. 9 Ryan Taylor (112), Micah Jordan (119), No. 7 Nick Brascetta (140), No. 5 Bo Jordan (145), No. 11 Matt Stephens (152), and Isaac Jordan (160). Finishing second were No. 19 Case Garrison (135) and No. 5 Huston Evans (189). It was a magical Friday evening -- that semifinal round being one that has served as a roadblock for many Firebird squads in the recent past -- which catapulted Chanel to its first state title in 23 years. Working with four semifinalists, all emerged victorious in tossup matches. In the end, it was probable that they needed every last one of those victories to top CVCA in the standings. The lone champion was senior Cody Walters (160), for whom this championship was a full year in the waiting after being ruled out of last year’s tournament at check-in due to a skin condition. Finishing second were Aaron Assad (103), Dan Orrill (145), and Kennedy Smith (215). With additional wrestlers placing sixth and eighth, the Firebirds scored 99 points. Close behind with a second runner-up finish in program history was CVCA with 92-1/2 points, as the Royals were anchored by state titles won by No. 1 Nathan Tomasello (103) and No. 7 Alex Utley (189). Matt Dobben (140) and Matt Meadows (215) finished in third place, while an additional wrestler placed sixth. Third place in the standings went to Monroeville with 80 points, as a surreal five-year stretch in wrestling history was consummated when No. 1 Hunter Stieber (135), No. 2 Cam Tessari (140), and No. 3 Chris Phillips (171) all won their fourth state championship on Saturday night. Those three wrestlers -- when combined with Logan Stieber, who was injured during this true freshman year at Ohio State -- won a combined 16 championships at a school that had only seen one state finalist in its history (Drew Schafer, second at 119 pounds in 2003). Finishing as undefeated state champions in Ohio this year were Tomasello at 103 pounds, No. 7 George DiCamillo (St. Ignatius) at 112, No. 16 Stephen Myers (Reading) at 125, Stieber at 135, Bo Jordan at 145, Felipe Martinez (Genoa) at 152, Phillips at 171, Ethan Hayes (Dixie) at 215, along with Kyle Rose (Centerville) and Mimmo Lyttle (Swanton) at 285. For full results and team scores: http://www.baumspage.com/ohsaa/wr/2011/results.htm Garden State grappling absolute battle to the death The single-class NJSIAA state championships contested in Atlantic City this weekend were an absolute bloodbath with many undefeated wrestlers seeing their first loss, though there were ten that eventually ascended that top step of the podium. In addition, very few wrestlers left the tournament without at least having one match in which the outcome was not in doubt until the brutal end. The absolute star of stars at Boardwalk Hall was No. 1 Andrew Campolattano (Bound Brook), who became only the second wrestler ever to win four New Jersey state championships. He capped off an undefeated season in style with a 47 second pin in the 215 pound final against undefeated -- until then -- Michael Zeuli (Cherokee). Other match outcomes for Campolattano were 11-2 major decision, 15-0 technical fall, and first period pin. Taking a step further to joining Campolattano and Mike Grey (Delbarton/Cornell) as a four-time state champion was No. 2 Anthony Ashnault (South Plainfield) who owned the field at 112 pounds with victories by scores of 7-1, 8-0, third period fall, and 9-2. Ashnault remains undefeated for his career; should he do that the next two seasons, he would be the first in New Jersey history to accomplish that feat. All the debate over which team was best in New Jersey this year after the dual meet group state tournaments should now be considered patently absurd. No. 22 High Point asserted its superiority with four state champions, which was last accomplished in 1949 by Newton High School. Weight class champions for the Wildcats were No. 14 Nick Francavilla (125), Drew Wagenhoffer (140), Ethan Orr (171), and No. 17 William Smith (285). Francavilla won his third title with a 3-0 victory over Kyle Casaletto (Southern Regional), the same matchup and result as last year’s 112 pound final. Wagenhoffer most certainly earned his title after a 4-1 semifinal victory over No. 9 Devon Gobbo (Delbarton), and a 6-2 victory over 2009 state runner-up Joe Orecchio (Don Bosco Prep). Orr became a repeat state champion capping off an undefeated season, though he faced a rigorous challenge from four-time state placer Colin Hewitt (Franklin Regional) in the semifinal round -- a match in which Orr escaped with a 4-2 victory in the tiebreaker. Finally, Smith joined Orr as an undefeated state champion with a 3-2 victory over No. 13 Jack Delia (Hunterdon Central) -- which relegated Delia to a runner-up finish for the second straight year. In addition, Smith secured a 5-0 semifinal victory over the previously undefeated Greg Velasco (Keyport), who had taken third previously. Other Wildcat placers were William Hagany, sixth at 119 pounds; and Joe Gaccione, third at 145. The other six undefeated state champions were No. 2 Robert Deutsch (Eastern Regional) at 119 pounds, Anthony Perrotti (West Essex) at 130, TJ Miller (Camden Catholic) at 135, No. 4 James Green (Willingboro) at 145, Ryan Harrington (West Morris Medham) at 160, and No. 9 James Fox (St. Peter’s prep) at 189. Deutsch upended Troy Heilmann (South Plainfield) in the final 7-4, after previous victories by scores of 8-3, 12-2, and 5-3. Perrotti beat the previously undefeated Bryant Clagon (Toms River South) 4-2 in the final after two pins and an 18-2 technical fall in earlier matches. Green was tested just once in the tournament, a 6-5 victory over Pelal Deeb (Passaic Tech) in the quarterfinal round, as No. 13 Sal Mastriani (Don Bosco Prep) and No. 10 CJ Cobb (Williamstown) had stumbled to upset defeats before a potential meeting with Green. Harrington, only a junior, upended sophomore Jadaen Bernstein (Voorhees) 3-2 in a championship match placing undefeated wrestlers against one another; each finalist having beaten another undefeated earlier in the tournament. Fox, an unexpected Beast of the East champion in December, capped off a breakthrough year in dominating fashion with victories by 7-0, 8-2, 5-0 scores after a second period pin in the opening round. The sophomore Miller navigated the tournament’s most brutal weight class to earn a state title after finishing third as a freshman at 125 pounds. In the championship, Miller relegated No. 16 Tyler Scotton (Willingboro) to a second consecutive runner-up finish with a 4-1 victory in the tiebreaker. Earlier in the tournament, Miller also had two point victories over Alex Richardson (St. Peter’s Prep) and Scott Del Vecchio (South Plainfield). The 4-2 semifinal victory for Miller over Richardson came after Richardson had knocked off No. 5 Jeff Canfora (Delbarton), the tournament’s top seed, in the quarterfinals by a 9-6 score in the tiebreaker. In the lower half of the draw, Scotton had to battle to the final as well -- most notably in a 3-1 overtime victory over Lou Mascola (Seton Hall Prep) during the semifinal round, and a 3-2 ultimate tiebreaker victory over John Boyle in the pre-quarterfinal round. Rounding out the weight class champions were Brenden Calas (Seton Hall Prep) at 103 pounds and Christian Barber (Westfield) at 152. For full results , check the following website: http://gimp.escapesports.on-rev.com/LiveResults/NJSIAA/2011%20NJSIAA%20States.pdf Top programs pack punch at Michigan state tournament In the biggest three of four classifications, it was a select few teams that dominated the top step of the championship podium at The Palace of Auburn Hills this past weekend. The two programs that met in the team state final the prior weekend in Battle Creek in Division 1 each had three state champions. Detroit Catholic Central earned its titles in succession from Ken Bade (125), Logan Marcicki (130), and Alec Mooradian (135); while Oxford got champions out of Matt Frisch (145), Ben Ralston (160), and Prescott Line (215). Additionally, the Shamrocks of DCC had three wrestlers finish as runners-up: Andrew Garcia (152), Kevin Beazley (171), and Miles Trealout (189). Also earning a title in Division 1 was the classification’s best wrestler, No. 4 Freddie Rodriguez (119) from Grand Ledge. In Division 2, it was Michigan’s best overall team -- No. 15 St. John’s earning three champions, with another five wrestlers finishing second or third. Champions for the Red Wings were No. 18 Zac Hall (103), Jordan Wohlfert (152), and No. 2 Taylor Massa (160). No. 13 Jacob Schmitt (112) and Brant Schafer (125) finished in second place, while Josh Pennell (130), Payne Hayden (140), and Travis Curley (145) stood third on the podium. Rivals Lowell also had three champs in Division 2 -- titles coming from Gabe (140) and Andrew (145) Morse, along with Gabe Dean (189). Three other nationally ranked wrestlers earned titles in this classification: No. 3 Conor Youtsey (119) from Mason, No. 8 Jordan Thomas (171) from Greenville, and No. 10 Adam Coon (215) from Fowlerville. Dundee had six Division 3 finalists, including four winning championships. Standing atop the podium were Joey White (125), No. 17 Joe Rendina (130), Chris Rau (140), and No. 13 Justin Heiserman (189). Finishing in second were Nathan Wade (112) and Travis Reinhart (145). Lake Fenton saw three of its wrestlers win titles -- Zach Corcoran (135), Justin Melick (145), and Connor Brancheau (160) -- while Buddy Poyner (125) finished in second place. Also with multiple titles was Chippewa Hills, which had Zack Cooper and Devane Rodgers winning the opening two weights. No. 3 Roger Wildmo (152) from Durand, clearly the best wrestler in this classification, won his third title in four finals appearances this weekend. Of most significance in Division 4 was the absence of No. 3 Devin Pommerenke (285) - who wrestles for Rogers City - from the state tournament due to a torn ACL. Links to results for all divisions: Division 1: http://www.mhsaa.com/wrfiles/wrfiles/D1/11d1home.htm Division 2: http://www.mhsaa.com/wrfiles/wrfiles/D2/11d2home.htm Division 3: http://www.mhsaa.com/wrfiles/wrfiles/D3/11d3home.htm Division 4: http://www.mhsaa.com/wrfiles/wrfiles/D4/11d4rtlap008.htm Other tournaments this past weekend ... Wisconsin (Team) http://www.trackwrestling.com/teamtournaments/VerifyPassword.jsp?tournamentId=440009 Maryland (Individual) http://www.mpssaa.org/wintersports/wrestling/release.asp?release_id=398 New England Regional (Individual) http://www.newenglandsports.com/index.cfm?ChnID=39&SubID=-1&chncd=39,-1&itemid=6490&parid=-1&Org=cnesspa&CFID=15341530&CFTOKEN=61330469 This coming weekend ... The last state championship is held as Pennsylvania hosts its tournaments in Class AAA and AA. A preview will be posted on InterMat tomorrow (Wednesday).

Related Link: Results/Brackets LYNCHBURG, Va. -- Liberty wrapped up its fifth-consecutive NCAA East Regional Championship Sunday afternoon in the Vines Center, earning four weight-class titles while head coach Jesse Castro was also honored with his fourth Coach of the Year award. The Flames sent seven grapplers to championship bouts, with four coming out on top. Since the 2006-07 season, Liberty has now claimed the regional title each year, while advancing 24 wrestlers on to the NCAA National Championships. Liberty’s 88 team points in the event are the fewest since its first year competing in the event, when the squad finished with 86 points. Gardner-Webb wrapped up the second-place spot with 74.5 points, while also claiming four weight-class titles on the day. The 13.5-point margin of victory over the Bulldogs is the smallest in Liberty’s five wins since the 2007 season as well, when Gardner-Webb finished second, 17.5 points behind. Robert Jillard’s run to the 125-pound title began with a matchup against the 2009 East Region champion, Billy Chamberlain. Chamberlain, now wrestling for Sacred Heart, captured the title while competing for Duquesne, before the school cut the wrestling program. The graduate student showed his experience early, taking a 6-3 lead into the final period behind two takedowns and a reversal. However, in the closing period, Jillard came through with a reversal, and then scored three back points in the last ten seconds of the bout. His riding time edge pushed the final score to 9-6, and advanced him into the finals. Jillard started quickly in the Flames’ first championship bout at 125 pounds, scoring a takedown on Gardner-Webb’s Brett Kostern within the opening 20 seconds. The Franklinville, N.J., native extended his lead by tacking on back-to-back two-point near fall moves in the first, before Kostern escaped, ending the period at 6-1. Kostern tried to close the gap in the second frame by scoring a takedown, but Jillard gained two points of his own on a reversal with under five seconds remaining in the period. The Flames’ freshman escaped to open the final stanza before adding a takedown and two more back points to wrap up his 20th win on the season and a ticket to the 2011 NCAA Championship. His final advantage was 14-3. T. J. Mitchell gave the Flames two titles in a row, earning a trip to the NCAAs in his first attempt. Mitchell dominated his opening match-up with Sacred Heart’s Anthony Ricco at 133 pounds, giving up only one point in the bout. Mitchell held a 7-1 advantage going into the final period, where he posted six more points for a 13-1 major decision. In his title bout, Mitchell gained an early 2-0 advantage with a takedown, while also gathering 2:12 of riding time in the first period over Campbell’s Gabe Gardner. The Flames’ redshirt junior earned another quick takedown in the second period after starting in the neutral position, then capped off the period with two more near-fall points. Mitchell kept rolling in the final two minutes of action, escaping to start the period and adding another takedown to secure the Flames’ second individual championship with a 13-0 blanking of his opponent. Mitchell’s win ups his season record to 17-13 and sends him to the national event for the first time in his career. At 141 pounds, Seth Hicks faced a tough battle with Millersville’s Mike Greck. Greck used a reversal and a takedown in the second period to take a 5-3 lead into the final two minutes. Hicks came back to claim the lead, but a late escape and an illegal hold against Hicks allowed Greck to move on, 7-6. In Hicks’ third-place bout, the redshirt freshman fell behind 4-1 early, as Gardner-Webb’s Richie Spicel looked to earn his second win over the Flame this season. After ending the opening period with a 6-2 edge, Spicel tallied three more takedowns in the bout, winning 17-11. With the defeat, Hicks wrapped up the day in fourth place. Senior Peter Crawford became the third Liberty representative in the finals after knocking off Millersville’s Steve Hess at 149 pounds. Crawford built a 6-1 lead through one period, then rolled on to the 10-3 win. Crawford tallied four takedowns in the match and a two-point near fall for his 10 points. In Crawford’s championship bout, the senior looked to avenge a loss to Gardner-Webb’s Ryan Medved. The Runnin’ Bulldogs’ redshirt sophomore wouldn’t have it, however, picking up the 15-0 technical fall victory 3:19 into the bout, giving Crawford second-place honors in his first competition at the NCAA East Regional. Crawford wraps up his career as a Flame with 13 wins, while providing depth to the lineup at multiple weights during his four years of competing. Unfortunately for Liberty, redshirt junior Julian Colon was a scratch for the tournament. The tri-captain finishes his year with a 14-11 record at 157 pounds for the Flames. Chad Porter was the first wrestler to record a fall on the day, as he claimed a spot in the 165-pound championship with a pin (3:33) over Gardner-Webb’s Justin Guthrie. The pin was Porter’s ninth on the year. Porter then controlled his championship bout from start to finish, on his way to his fourth regional title. He scored two first-period takedowns to earn a 4-1 lead, and racked up over two and a half minutes of riding time through two periods. To close the bout, Porter escaped and added the riding time bonus to make the final 6-1, giving Liberty its third individual champion on the evening. Porter finishes his East Region career with an unscathed 20-0 record, which includes the East Regional Dual and East Regional Championship events, as well as individual dual meets with East Region teams. Freshman Royal Brettrager II turned out to be the Flames’ final qualifier at 174 pounds, and the third first-time qualifier for the hosts. Brettrager II started with a dominant opening performance, handing Gardner-Webb’s Erin O’Dell a 12-3 major decision. After building a 6-1 lead through one period, Brettrager added a reversal in the second. He escaped, scored a takedown and gained the riding time advantage for his final tallies. Brettrager then met Campbell’s Peter Comis in the finals, after Comis upset two-time defending regional champion, Shane Smith of Millersville, in the opening round. The Flames’ freshman was on the wrong end of two takedowns early, but that wouldn’t matter, as one move and a throw from Brettrager late in the opening period resulted in a pin (2:31). The win marked the sixth win by fall this season for the Kirtland, Ohio, native and the Flames’ fourth and final weight-class title on the evening. Aaron Kelley entered the finals the quickest of anyone, just needing 54 seconds to pin Zachary Moran of Sacred Heart in the 184-pound semifinals. Kelley then met Gardner-Webb’s Jonathan Velazquez in the final, who had defeated Campbell’s John Merickel, 5-2. After finding themselves knotted 1-1 in the final period of the championship bout, Velazquez came out on top after a scuffle for position. The takedown in the final 10 seconds of the bout ended the match 3-1, in favor of Velazquez, giving Kelley his second regional runner-up finish in his career. Kelly wraps up an outstanding career, posting a 75-60 career mark in a Liberty singlet. This gives the Parkersburg, W. Va., native a spot at the Bronze level of Liberty wrestling’s Eagle Medal Club, which honors grapplers with 60-79 career victories. At 197 pounds, Aaron Thompson advanced to the finals of his weight class with a 10-3 performance against Daniel Cox of Millersville. Three takedowns in the opening two periods led to a 6-3 lead for the Vinton, Va., native. In the final two minutes, he’d add an escape, a takedown and the riding time bonus for his 10 points. In the title bout, Gardner-Webb’s Travis Porter held the upper hand over Thompson for the second time this season, earning a win by fall (4:56) for the championship. With the defeat, Thompson was the Flames’ third runner-up finisher on the day. Redshirt senior Josh Pelletier faced a rough day in the tournament, after suffering a knee injury in warm ups. Paul Schweighhardt avenged a 4-0 loss to Pelletier at the East Region Duals earlier this year, this time defeating the injured Flame, 6-0. Pelletier then posted a medical forfeit in the third-place match. The Charleston, Maine, native completes his career with Liberty posting a 41-26 mark. At the conclusion of the event, Castro was named the 2011 NCAA East Region Coach of the Year. This is his fourth time being honored with the award, after receiving it in 2007, 2008 and 2010. Gardner-Webb’s redshirt senior, Jonathan Velazquez was named the event’s Most Outstanding Wrestler, winning both of his matches by decision at 184 pounds. The Flames’ four national qualifiers will now set their eyes on Philadelphia for the 2011 NCAA National Wrestling Championships. The grapplers will have 11 days to prepare for the event, which begins competition on March 17 at the Wells Fargo Center.