InterMat Staff

Penn State won the team title at the 2011 NCAA Division I Championships this weekend ... making history in the process. The Nittany Lions became the first school east of the Mississippi River to win the national mat title since 1967, when Michigan State won the championship, and only the second Eastern program to grab the team crown, the first being ... Penn State, in 1953. What's more, this year's title was won within Penn State's home state, specifically, Philadelphia. The 1953 NCAAs were even closer to home, specifically, at Rec Hall on the Penn State campus, still the home gym for head coach Cael Sanderson and his wrestlers today. With the 2011 team title, Penn State becomes the only school to own two NCAA championships. A handful of programs have won just one title -- Indiana (unofficially) in 1932, Cornell College of Iowa in 1947, University of Northern Iowa in 1950, and Arizona State in 1988. Another handful has more than one title -- Oklahoma State has 34, Iowa won 23, Iowa State has eight, University of Oklahoma has seven, and Minnesota, three. Penn State now joins that elite club of multi-time team champs. A very brief history of Penn State wrestling Penn State has one of the oldest major college wrestling programs in the nation. The Nittany Lions first took to the mat in 1909; that year, they had just one dual meet, losing to, of all schools, Cornell University (the program that placed second at the 2011 NCAAs). In 1927 -- one year before the first NCAA wrestling championships were held -- Penn State made a significant hiring decision that would set the stage for the first national mat title. The school welcomed Charlie "Doc" Speidel as head coach. He was the sixth coach in two decades ... but unlike the others, Speidel stuck around for more than a couple years (34 to be exact), and made a positive difference in the program. Speidel, originally from New Jersey, cultivated relationships with some key high school coaches in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York, encouraging their wrestlers to continue their educational and wrestling careers at Penn State. As part of this strategy, sets of brothers would also find their way to State College -- in other words, the school got two or three talented matmen with a single recruitment effort. Another aspect that helped Penn State's mat program take off was school's explosive growth immediately after World War II, thanks to the G.I. Bill which made a college education accessible to military veterans. Together, all these elements worked together to help set the foundation for the Nittany Lions' mat success in the early 1950s ... which was instrumental in helping the school lure the NCAAs to State College. Bringing The Big Show to State College Starting in 1950, Penn State launched an incredible win streak that carried into the 1953 season. However, in 1952, because of budget problems, the school had placed strict travel restrictions on the wrestling program, severely limiting how many wrestlers could go to the 1952 NCAAs at Colorado State. So, immediately after the nationals that year, Charlie Speidel lobbied the NCAA to bring the national mat championships to Penn State. As coach put it, if Mohammed won't go to the mountain, the mountain will come to Mohammed. It worked; Penn State got the 1953 NCAAs. The NCAAs of six decades ago were much smaller events compared to what just concluded in Philadelphia. For starters, the 1953 NCAAs lasted just two days, not three. According to Jay Hammond's The History of Collegiate Wrestling, 166 wrestlers from 53 schools came to State College, "shattering the records set in 1951." (By contrast, 330 athletes competed at the 2011 NCAAs.) The venue was much smaller, too. At the time, Rec Hall had a seating capacity of approximately 6,000; Wells Fargo Center, site of the 2011 NCAAs, accommodated about 19,000 fans. The Nittany Lions of 60 years ago Penn State had a wrestler in each weight class at the 1953 NCAAs except heavyweight; Hudson "Hud" Samson, who usually wrestled what was called "unlimited" back then, dropped down to the 191-pound class, which was special for the NCAAs, and not usually wrestled. True to Speidel's "family philosophy," the Penn State starting lineup had two sets of brothers, the Dick and Joe Lemyre (wrestling at 130 and 167 pounds, respectively) from Mepham High in New York, and, from Newton, New Jersey, Don and Doug Frey, who wrestled at 147 and 157. Rounding out the roster: William Cramp at 115 (like 191, a weight class unique to the NCAAs); Bobby Homan, 1952 EIWA (Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association) champ at 123 pounds; Gerry Maurey, 1953 EIWA titleholder at 137; and George Dvorozniak at 177. Showtime! How did the Penn State matmen do in their home gym at the 1953 NCAAs? Cramp, Homan, Dvorozniak and Doug Frey did not place. Gerry Maurey, Don Frey and Joe Lemyre each placed third, earning All-American honors. Dick Lemyre made it to the finals, where he lost to Michigan's Norvand "Snip" Nalan. The Lion who came through was Samson. The 6'3" wrestler/varsity golf team member pinned his finals opponent, Charles Weber of West Chester State Teachers College, at 4:15 to win the 191-pound title. Other wrestlers who earned titles at the 1953 NCAAs included 115-pound champ Hugh Peery of Pittsburgh (son of Pitt coach Rex, older brother of Ed -- each of them three-time NCAA champs), University of Minnesota's Dick Mueller at 123 pounds, Lock Haven's Gus DeAugustino at 137, Cornell University's Frank Bettucci at 147, Jim Harmon of Northern Iowa (then called Iowa State Teachers College) at 157, Don Dickason of Cornell University at 167, Oklahoma State's Ned Blass at 177, and Dan McNair of Auburn at heavyweight. When the last match had been wrestled, Penn State had put 21 points on the board, putting the host school in first place ... and making them the 1953 NCAA team champions. The Nittany Lions had defeated 1952 team titlewinners, the Oklahoma Sooners, who placed second with 15 points. In third was Cornell University, with 13 points. Tying for fourth place with 11 points each was Oklahoma State, and Iowa State Teachers College. Penn State also led in terms of the number of All-Americans, with five earning that honor (by placing in the top four), out of ten weight classes. The Nittany Lions had a number of successful seasons after that championship season up through 1957, placing either second or third in the team standings in the mid-1950s, and crowning individual champs Larry Fornicola (137 pounds) and Bill Oberly (heavyweight) at the 1955 NCAAs, and 130-pound champ John Johnston at the 1957 NCAAs. Charles "Doc" Speidel retired in 1964, replaced by Bill Koll (father of current Cornell coach Rob Koll) and a succession of other head coaches, most recently, Cael Sanderson. During the years since the 1953 NCAAs, there were no more national team titles ... until now. There are a couple significant aspects that link Penn State's two national team titles. In both 1953 and 2011, the Nittany Lions had just one individual champ -- Hud Samson 58 years ago, and Quentin Wright this year. What's more, Cael and Company could claim five NCAA All-Americans ... the same number as in 1953. What are the prospects for Penn State adding to its collection of NCAA championships? Some college wrestling fans are already using the word "dynasty," anticipating more team titles from Sanderson, his current roster, and already-committed recruits. Only time will tell. Two books were instrumental in the writing of this story: Jay Hammond's The History of Collegiate Wrestling, and a book specifically about the 1953 NCAAs, A Turning Point by Jamie Moffatt and Roger Olesen. DVD copies of the original black-and-white, silent films of the 1953 NCAA finals are available for purchase direct from the host school. For contact information for the Penn State University archives, email mark@intermatwrestle.com To see more images from the 1953 NCAAs, including photos of all the finalists, visit the Yahoo group Vintage Amateur Wrestling Photo Annex 3 by clicking HERE.

Related Link: Coverage Section PHILADELPHIA -- It appears that a team east of the Mississippi River will win the 2011 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships title for the first time since the era of miniskirts and the Beatles ... but it may not be the team most in the college wrestling community would have predicted prior to the teams arriving in Philadelphia this week. Quentin Wright pinned Iowa's Grant Gambrall at 184 (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)At the end of the Session IV Friday night, Penn State is in first place, with 92.5 points ... while Cornell University, the pre-NCAAs odds-on favorite to win the team title, is in second, with 75 points. Right now, Penn State would seem to be in the driver's seat, with three finalists: Frank Molinaro at 149 pounds, David Taylor at 157, and Quentin Wright at 184. By contrast, Cornell has only one wrestler in the finals: Kyle Dake at 149. Complicating things for Cornell in the team title race: defending NCAA champ University of Iowa is hot on their heels in third place, just one point behind the Big Red. As with Cornell, Iowa has just one finalist in Matt McDonough, defending champ at 125. If either Penn State or Cornell wins the team title at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, it will be historic. It would be the first title to go to a program east of the Mississippi since Michigan State won it in 1967. For Penn State, it will be only their second NCAA championship; the Nittany Lions won the national title at home in 1953. For Cornell, it would be the first-ever. Semifinal Recap: 125: No. 1 Anthony Robles (Arizona State) dec. unseeded Ben Kjar (Utah Valley), 4-2 No. 2 Matt McDonough (Iowa) dec. No. 3 Brandon Precin (Northwestern), 3-1 A classic match-up between the two top seeds who have never wrestled each other in college. Robles is a senior, with a 35-0 record, and the 2011 Pac-10 champ. McDonough, a sophomore, brings a 27-1 record, the Big Ten title ... and is the defending national champ at this weight. When asked about the finals opponent, Robles said, "I don't know what he's going to bring to the table yet. I watched him. He's an intense wrestler. He's going to come at me, but I'm ready for it. I'm excited and I've been preparing all year, and I have one more match to win. He's a great competitor. Returning national champ, I have a lot respect for him, but he's standing in my way of reaching my trophy." In anticipating his title match, McDonough disclosed his game plan for his opponent that was very much the Hawkeye way: "Go nose to nose, head to head, and scrap. Obviously it's no secret that the way he wrestles, you got to adjust what you're doing a little bit. But that doesn't mean you're adjusting your aggressiveness, you're adjusting your pressure or anything else. It just means you're more aware in the positions you're in, and you got to know where you're at, at all times. Dangerous wrestler, you can't let him be dangerous. You got to close him off and you got to wrestle your match." 133: No. 1 Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) dec. Tyler Graff (Wisconsin), 5-2 No. 2 Andrew Hochstrasser (Boise State) dec. No 3 Andrew Long (Penn State), 6-4 Another top-two-seeds finals. Oliver, a sophomore, has a 28-0 record, and is the Big 12 champ ... while Hochstrasser, a senior, is 27-1 for the season, and the 2011 Pac-10 champ. In talking about this finals rival, Oliver said, "I faced him two times before this year. He's a real great competitor. I just try to go out there and stick to my style which is attacking and looking for my attacks and my shots and stuff and scoring points. So it should be a real fun match. And I'm looking forward to it. Like I said, he's a great competitor. He keeps a high pace, so should be a lot of scoring, hopefully just my part, but I'm looking forward to getting in there and fighting." When asked his perspective on his Cowboy opponent, Hochstrasser replied, "He's a great competitor, and he's real slick. So I'm going to try and shut him down and work my own stuff, make something happen. Feel like if I can make stuff happen, I put him in a different situation than he's been in." 141: No. 1 Kellen Russell (Michigan) dec. No. 5 Montell Marion (Iowa), 3-3, TB (riding time) No. 3 Boris Novachkov (Cal Poly) dec. No. 2 Mike Thorn (Minnesota), 9-3 Russell is a junior with a perfect 27-0 season and the Big Ten crown ... while Novachkov, a junior, takes a 31-1 season record and the Pac-10 title into the finals. Here are two opponents with some history between them that goes beyond the match they wrestled this season (with the Wolverine coming out on top). As Russell said in the press conference after winning his semifinals match, "We both know each other. We've been wrestling together since we were seniors in high school. So we both have drilled with each other and wrestled each other. We wrestled earlier this year. So I think it's going to be another close match like this, and hopefully there will be a bunch of scrambles." Novachkov referred to that previous match (at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational): "The match that he beat me, I felt that I wasn't as offensive as I should have been. And tomorrow, I'm just going to go out there and attack the whole match and try to put some points on the board." Russell seems to have a propensity to win his matches in the last seconds ... sometimes taking them past regulation. It would be no surprise if that were to happen Saturday night. 149: No. 2 Frank Molinaro (Penn State) dec. No. 6 Jason Chamberlain (Boise State), 4-1 No. 4 Kyle Dake (Cornell) dec. No. 8 Ganbayar Sanjaa (American), 4-0 While this championship match is missing top-seeded Darrion Caldwell of North Carolina State (the 2009 NCAA champ was forced to forfeit after being injured in his second-round match Thursday afternoon), a Molinaro-Dake title bout still promises to be one of the most-anticipated of the ten matches to be contested Saturday night for a number of reasons. The least of which: The team title could be riding in the balance. Kyle Dake capped off an incredible freshman year at Cornell with the 141-pound title at the 2010 NCAAs, and tons of accolades. His sophomore year has been a bit more challenging, with a 30-2 record, placing second at the EIWA (Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association) championships a couple weeks ago. Frank Molinaro, nicknamed "Frank the Tank" for his powerful physique and intense wrestling style that has rolled over a number of unsuspecting opponents, is a junior with a 32-2 season record and the 2011 Big Ten title. When asked what he took away from his last on-the-mat meeting with Molinaro, Dake replied, "Just wrestle hard, don't let him bang you or push you around and just wrestle your match. It was my first time back in over a month and I wasn't in tiptop shape, so tomorrow night's going to be a fun one. It's going to be a lot different." The Nittany Lion weighed in with what he had learned from wrestling Dake: "Last time I wrestled him, I had some opportunities to score in shots that I may not have shot as hard because I thought I would have more opportunities towards the end of the match. And you can't wrestle like that. And I learned that the first time I lost to him. "He stuck our defense. He's got good technique. And you have to secure the two, because he scrambles out of every position. So take that into mind going into the match. I will try to use my conditioning as a factor, I'll push the pace, and I want him to wrestle my match. And I gotta finish my shots." 157: No. 3 David Taylor (Penn State) dec. No. 2 Steve Fittery (American), 7-1 No. 4 Bubba Jenkins (Arizona State) dec. No. 8 Jason Welch (Northwestern), 8-5 The current Nittany Lion faces the former Lion. This is the kind of match with enough backstage drama to make any college wrestling fan salivate. Bubba Jenkins, a senior with a 20-3 record this season, once wrestled for Penn State but left Happy Valley not-so-happy with head coach Cael Sanderson, finding a happier home at Arizona State. David Taylor is one of Sanderson's star recruits, a freshman phenom with a perfect 38-0 record, who has helped to propel the Lions to where they are now, ahead of what most folks outside Pennsylvania would've expected. Adding to the intrigue: Jenkins and Taylor have worked out together and know each other's strengths and weaknesses. That alone should make this a match to remember. When asked about facing Jenkins in the finals, Taylor said, "He's a high quality wrestler, been to the finals before. Not a slouch by any means. He's pretty tough." The same question was posed to Jenkins: "I match up well with him. People have counted me out and pushing me out the window of being in the final because I had my surgery, and I kind of moved to Arizona and looks like I went on a little vacation out there with the sun and the palm trees ..." "We're not going to see anything different from each other except he's one year, maybe two years better than he was, and I'm better than I was." 165: No. 1 Jordan Burroughs (Nebraska) maj. dec. No. 5 Colt Sponseller (Ohio State), 14-6 No. 3 Tyler Caldwell (Oklahoma) dec. No. 2 Andrew Howe (Wisconsin), 2-2, TB (riding time) This will be a battle of Big 12 stars at 165 pounds. Jordan Burroughs, a senior, has an impressive mat resume, including a 2009 NCAA title in this weight class, a 2011 Big 12 title, and a flawless season record of 35-0. He missed out on much of last season -- including last year's nationals -- because of a knee injury in December 2009 and subsequent surgery. If he wins the title Saturday, he will become the first Nebraska Cornhusker wrestler to have won two NCAA titles. Tyler Caldwell, a sophomore, brings a 32-5 record to the title bout. With a win, he could help Oklahoma head coach Jack Spates close out his college coaching career on a high note. When asked about facing a familiar foe in Caldwell -- but not his expected finals rival, Howe -- Burroughs replied, "I wrestle anyone. Anyone who puts their foot out there on the line this weekend, I'm ready to dominate ... Me and Caldwell wrestled twice this year, we had tough battles and I know he's going to be out there. I'll wrestle him hard. It's tough to beat a guy three times in the same season, so he's going to be gunning for me. He's got some technique and things tacked down so it's going to be a great match. I just want to give the fans something that they paid a lot of money for." Caldwell shared his strategy for his match with the Cornhusker: "Stick to my style, stick to my wrestling and just wrestle a complete match, my style, focus on my performance and come out on top." 174: No. 1 Jon Reader (Iowa State) dec. No. 5 Chris Henrich (Virginia), 4-3 No. 7 Nick Amuchastegui (Stanford) dec. No. 3 Mack Lewnes (Cornell), 5-2 Jon Reader, a senior, has a 38-0 record -- and the Big 12 title -- going into the finals ... while Nick Amuchastegui, a junior, has compiled a 31-3 record this year, and was runner-up at the Pac-10 championships. In the post-semifinals press conference, Reader was asked about his finals rival. "I've seen him compete a couple times this year. We were actually in the same bracket in Midlands," said the Cyclone. "He's a great athlete, and he didn't make it this far in the bracket for nothing, and it's going to be a battle just like every final tomorrow for each guy. You gotta go out and compete." In talking about upsetting third-seeded Mack Lewnes in the semifinals, the seventh-seed Amuchastegui shared an attitude that may serve him well in the finals: "One of the things I try to do is not pay attention to who's ranked what this year and who's done what. I just go out there and wrestle the best that I can, wrestle my positions, know what I think he's going to do and make some adjustments according to that. But I think it was walking out there without really considering the things that it looks like from the outside, being 7th seed, him seeded higher and all that type of thing." 184: No. 2 Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) dec. No. 3 Steve Bosak (Cornell), 4-3, SV No. 9 Quentin Wright (Penn State) pinned No. 12 Grant Gambrall (Iowa), 2:52 Robert Hamlin is a sophomore nicknamed the "VerMonster" because he hails from Jonesville, Vermont, and, is, in fact, the first NCAA All-American from the state. He has compiled a 32-2 record, winning the 2011 EIWA title. Quentin Wright is 20-6, and the Big Ten champ. "We wrestled at the beginning of the year," said Hamlin of Wright in his press conference after the semifinals. "He had a slow start this year. I know he's really tough. He's got a great hitch, he's a good thrower. So I'm just going to go out and wrestle my match, just do my best, hopefully get the win, hopefully have some fun." The Nittany Lion addressed the same topic: "(Hamlin) was my first loss of the season and first match of the season. So it will be interesting to have him as my last match of the season. And so I'm excited to wrestle with him because just whenever you lose to somebody you want a second chance. They don't come around too often. I've had a lot of those this season, especially this tournament." 197: No. 2 Clayton Foster (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 3 Trevor Brandvold (Wisconsin), 4-3 No. 4 Dustin Kilgore (Kent State) dec. No. 1 Cam Simaz (Cornell), 10-9 Kilgore, a junior, with a 37-2 record and the 2011 MAC (Mid-American Conference) champ, could make some history Saturday night. If he wins the 197 pound crown, he will be the first NCAA champ in the long history of the Kent State mat program. By contrast, if Foster, a senior who's a perfect 26-0, claims the title, he'll be one of more than 100 champs in the long and storied history of Oklahoma State wrestling. Kilgore talked about the historical implications of possibly being the first champ for the Golden Flashes: "I know it would mean everything to Kent State, to my coaches, family friends, fans. Every coach I've ever had, they're backing me up 100 percent, and that's what I need. That's driving me more than anything, knowing that I have great fans out there." In his post-semifinals press conference, Foster mentioned his own personal history, and how far he's come as a Cowboy: "It was pretty much miserable in the beginning, didn't make it to nationals my true freshman year and not pushing myself more. Then my junior year I turned it around and got 6th place. Just put me over the hump for this year. Helped me out a lot confidence-wise." 285: No. 1 Zach Rey (Lehigh) dec. No. 5 Dom Bradley (Missouri), 2-1 No. 3 Ryan Flores (American) dec. No. 2 Jarod Trice (Central Michigan), 4-0 This will be the Clash of the Titans of the East, as both big men represent schools way east of the Mississippi River. Zach Rey, a junior, lost only one match all season ... and that was to Ryan Flores, a sophomore, in the 2011 EIWA finals. Rey has a 33-1 record, while Flores is 26-5. If Rey wins the heavyweight title, he'll be the second Lehigh big guy to do so; the first was Howell Scobey, 75 years ago at the 1936 NCAAs. If Flores beats the Mountain Hawk, he'll be the first heavyweight champ from American University. Both men talked about their Saturday night opponent in their Friday night press conference. "We're 2 and 2," said Flores. "What can I say about Zach Rey? He's a great competitor. He knows how to win. While our styles are very different, I think, as I said before, I'm the kind of person who adapts really well. I lost to him twice this year earlier. I won this last one. And I think it's going to go in my favor." Rey weighed in: "I'm excited to wrestle him again. Left a sour taste in my mouth last time I wrestled him, and I'm happy to get another shot at him. I'm real comfortable wrestling him last time in the finals." Standings (Top 10): 1. Penn State 92.5 2. Cornell 75 3. Iowa 74 4. Oklahoma State 65 5. American 56 6. Lehigh 53.5 7. Arizona State 52.5 8. Boise State 50 9. Minnesota 49.5 10. Wisconsin 44.5 The finals take place Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Eastern, and will be broadcast live on ESPN.

Related Link: Coverage Section PHILADELPHIA -- Injuries have denied a 2009 NCAA champ and a 2010 runner-up their title quests at the first day of the 2011 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia. Darrion Caldwell lost by injury default in the second round (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)North Carolina State's Darrion Caldwell, 149-pound champ who upset Iowa's Brent Metcalf in the finals at the 2009 NCAAs, was injured during his Thursday night match. On Thursday morning, 2010 NCAA 184-pound finalist Kirk Smith of Boise State -- the No. 11 seed -- forfeited before taking to the mat vs. unseeded Diego Bencomo of Duke University. The top-seeded Caldwell reportedly reinjured his shoulder during his match with Eric Grajales of Michigan in the second session. The two wrestlers had been in a scramble at the edge of the mat in the first period; then, after Grajales got up, the NC State wrestler remained on his back. At 2:02 of the match, Caldwell walked off the mat, forfeiting the match to the Wolverine. Caldwell had injured his shoulder in a rollerblading accident in August 2009. After surgery in that fall, the Rahway, N.J. native missed the entire 2009-2010 season, unable to defend his title at the 2010 NCAAs. (Brent Metcalf won his second national title by defeating Ohio State's Lance Palmer in the 149-pound title bout at the 2010 NCAAs, and has since graduated.) The injury precludes the possibility of a much-anticipated match between Caldwell and 2010 NCAA 141-pound champ Kyle Dake of Cornell University, who moved up to 149 and is the fourth seed. Among the bigger upsets in Session II: At 125, unseeded Ben Kjar of Utah Valley defeated No. 4 seed James Nicholson of Old Dominion, 2-1 133: No. 11 seed Scotti Sentes of Central Michigan shut out Iowa's Tony Ramos, the No. 6 seed, 2-0 141: No. 10 seed Todd Schavrien of Missouri beat No. 7 Tyler Nauman of Pitt, 3-1 157: Indiana's No. 12 seed Paul Young topped No. 5 seed Jesse Dong from Virginia Tech, 9-4 184: No. 12 seed Grant Gambrall of Iowa beat No. 5 Joe LeBlanc of Wyoming, 6-3 ... and, unseeded Diego Bencomo upset No. 6 seed Ryan Loder of Northern Iowa, 12-10 285: No. 10 seed Nathan Fernandez of Oklahoma defeated Iowa's Blake Rasing -- the No. 7 seed -- 3-1, SV1. Earlier in the day in Session I, more than a dozen seeded wrestlers lost to unseeded opponents. Among the highest seeds to be sent to the consolation bracket in the opening round: No. 6 seed Dallas Bailey of Oklahoma State at 165 pounds, and, at heavyweight, DJ Russo of Rutgers (No. 4 seed) and Ryan Tomei of Pitt (No. 6 seed). The 165-pound weight class took the biggest hit, with four of the 12 seeded wrestlers losing their first matches. Darrion Caldwell was the only top-seeded wrestler who did not advance to the quarterfinals round. Of the 80 wrestlers still in the championship bracket, only four are unseeded. (By contrast, at this stage of the 2010 NCAAs, 13 unseeded wrestlers were in title contention.) As for the team title race, Penn State is in first place at the end of the first day of competition, with 30.5 points ... and seven wrestlers still in the championship bracket. Right behind the Nittany Lions is Cornell, with 29 points, and four Big Red still in the title hunt. Defending team title winners Iowa are in third place, with 25 points; five Hawkeyes can still win a national title. Day 1 Standings: 1. Penn State, 30.5 points 2. Cornell, 29 3. Iowa, 25 4. Oklahoma State, 24 5. Boise State, 21.5 6. American, 21 6. Arizona State, 21 8. Wisconsin, 20 9. Minnesota, 19 10. Nebraska, 18.5 The quarterfinals begin at 10:30 a.m. Eastern on Friday.

Takedown Wrestling will again offer coverage of this years NCAA championships. Join Scott Casber, Steve Foster, Jeff Murphy and Caleb Nemmers along with a great cast of guests. Our schedule is as follows: Takedownradio.com Session 1 (Jeff Murphy, Steve Foster, Caleb Nemmers) Thursday, March 17 Session I Wells Fargo Center 10:30 A.M.. NCAA Fan Festival Lincoln Financial Field 1-6:30 p.m. USA Wrestling National Team All-Star Dual Meet Wells Fargo Center After Session I Wrestling Trivia Contest Fan Festival Stage 3:30-4:15 p.m. “Family Ties” Wrestling Hall of Fame Presentation Fan Festival Stage 4:30-5:15 p.m. Wrestling Families Autograph Session Fan Festival Stage 5:15-6 p.m. 2:30 NCAA Preview show taping- Scott Casber, Nate Carr, Wade Schalles Session 2 (Scott Casber, Steve Foster, Caleb Nemmers) Thursday, March 17 Session II Wells Fargo Center 6:30 P.M. to 9:30 P.M. or so Session 3 (Jeff Murphy, Steve Foster, Caleb Nemmers) Friday, March 18 Session 3 Wells Fargo Center 10:30 a.m. NCAA Fan Festival Lincoln Financial Field 1-7 p.m. USA Wrestling Team Practice Fan Festival Mats 2-3:30 p.m. Wrestling Trivia Contest Fan Festival Stage 2:30-3:15 p.m. Hall of Fame Wrestlers Autograph Session Fan Festival Stage 3:15-4 p.m. USA Wrestling Autograph Session Fan Festival Stage 4-4:45 p.m. Semifinals Preview Show Fan Festival Stage 5-6 P.M. with Scott Casber, Wade, Nate Session 4 (Scott Casber, Steve Foster, Caleb Nemmers) Friday, March 18 Wells Fargo Center 7 p.m. Session 5 (Radio 10 AM Eastern to 12 Noon, Scott Casber, Jeff Murphy, Steve Foster) then at 12 Noon, Scott Casber is out and Caleb Nemmers is in) Saturday, March 19 Wells Fargo Center 11 a.m. NCAA Fan Festival Lincoln Financial Field 1-7 p.m. USA Wrestling Team Practice Fan Festival Mats 3-4:30 p.m. Wrestling Trivia Contest (Finals) Fan Festival Stage 4:30-5 p.m. Hall of Fame Wrestlers Autograph Session Fan Festival Stage 5:15-6:15 p.m. Parade of All-Americans Wells Fargo Center 7:05-7:20 p.m. Session 6 The Championships (Scott Casber, Steve Foster, Caleb Nemmers) Saturday, March 19 Session 6 Wells Fargo Center 7:00

The USA Wrestling All-Star Dual Meet is set to take place at the 2011 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Philadelphia, Pa. The matches are scheduled for Thursday, March 17, between the first and second sessions of the tournament on the competition mats. The six-match USA vs. The World Dual Meet will feature NCAA champions, World medalists and Olympians. Below is a weight-by-weight breakdown with predictions for the dual. 96 kg: Justin Ruiz (U.S.) vs. Mohammed Abdel Fatah (Egypt) Ruiz, a 2005 World bronze medalist, returned to the international circuit last season and ended up finished fifth at the 2010 World Championships. So far this year, he has finished third at the Nikola Petrov International, second at the Grand Prix of Slovenia and fifth at the Dave Schultz Memorial. The former Nebraska Cornhusker was a two-time All-American in college. Fatah claimed a world championship in 2006 and has represented Egypt in a pair of Olympic Games. Last year, he moved up to 96kg and won gold medals at the Mediterranean Games and African Championships. Bottom Line: Fatah is clearly one of the most talented members of the international team. However, Ruiz has been one of the most consistent Greco-Roman wrestlers for the U.S. and has continued to look strong this season. Prediction: Ruiz dec. Fatah 60 kg: Derek Moore (U.S.) vs. Franklin Gomez (Puerto Rico) This is battle of NCAA champions. Moore won a title for UC Davis in 2007, and Gomez captured his championship in 2009 while wrestling at Michigan State. This season, Moore, a member of the U.S Army World Class Athlete Program, has placed second at the Sunkist Kids International and fifth at the Alexander Medved Invitational. In 2010, Gomez won bronze at the Central American and Caribbean Games and then represented Puerto Rico in the 2010 World Championships. In February, the former Spartan placed third at the Dave Schultz Memorial. Bottom Line: Gomez has always been stronger in freestyle than in folkstyle. At the Schultz, he defeated U.S. regulars Coleman Scott and Reece Humphrey. Moore will certainly be facing an up-hill battle. Prediction: Gomez dec. Moore 74 kg: Ryan Morningstar (U.S.) vs. Muzaffar Abdurakhmanov (Uzbekistan) Morningstar, a two-time All-American for the Iowa Hawkeyes, has surprised many with his early success on the freestyle circuit. Already this season, he has picked up silver medals at the NYAC International Open and Dave Schultz Memorial. Abdurakhmanov holds the distinction as the first EIWA champion in American University history. He earned All-American honors while wrestling for the Eagles in 2006. In 2009, he focused on MMA and split a pair of fights. Last November, Abdurakhmanov defeated Nick Marable as a last-minute replacement in the USA vs. Russia dual meet. He also finished fifth at the Dave Schultz Memorial this season. Bottom Line: Morningstar’s defensive style has translated well to freestyle. Abdurakhmanov has the edge in freestyle experience. However, he is returning from a long layoff and finished behind Morningstar at the Schultz. Prediction: Morningstar dec. Abdurakhmanov 84 kg: Keith Gavin (U.S) vs. Jaime Espinal (Puerto Rico) In 2010, Gavin won the challenge tournament at the World Team Trials, but ultimately came up short in the “best of three matches” final against Jake Herbert. This season, the 2008 NCAA champion for Pittsburgh has won silver at the Dave Schultz Memorial and bronze at the Cerro Pelado International. Espinal represented Puerto Rico in the 2010 World Championships after finishing second at the Pan American Games and first at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games. Bottom Line: Gavin and Espinal both wrestled Atsushi Matsumoto of Japan at the Schultz. Gavin defeated Matsumoto (3-1, 4-2) in the semifinals. Matsumoto defeated Espinal (3-1, 7-0) in the third place match. Prediction: Gavin dec. Espinal 96 kg: Wynn Michalak (U.S.) vs. Israel Silva (Mexico) Michalak, an NCAA runner-up in 2008 for Central Michigan, recently placed second at the Shaheed Bhagat Singh International. Also this season, he finished fourth at the NYAC International Open and took a bronze at the Sunkist Kids International. Silva was a member of the 2009 Mexican World Team and wrestled as a collegiate at UT-Chattanooga. Earlier this season, he finished third at the Dave Schultz Memorial. Bottom Line: Last October, Michalak defeated Silva (0-1, 3-0, 3-0) at the Sunkist Kids International. Prediction: Michalak dec. Silva 66 kg: Brent Metcalf (U.S.) vs. Heinrich Barnes (South Africa) Metcalf, the 2008 Dan Hodge Trophy winner, was a two-time champion and three-time finalist for the Iowa Hawkeyes. After leading the Hawkeyes to a national title in 2010, he finished the year by representing the U.S. in the World Championships. This season, he has won Silver at the Takhti Cup, Bronze at the Cerro Pelado International and fifth at the Ivan Yarygin Memorial Grand Prix. Barnes, a 2009 All-American at Oregon State, finished seventh at the 2010 World Championships. Earlier this year he took fifth at the Dave Schultz Memorial. Bottom Line: In the second round of the 2009 NCAA tournament, Metcalf pinned Barnes in 3:47. This rematch under freestyle rules should have a similar result. Prediction: Metcalf dec. Barnes

MACON, Ga. -- California Baptist broke from a handful of schools in the semifinals, then cemented their hold on first with two national champions and two runners-up to claim the national title at the NCWA Championships. The win is the Lancers’ second NCWA national title in two months, as they won the NCWA National Duals two months ago. The Lancers put five other wrestlers into the finals matches for a total of nine NCWA All-Americans, with two third-place finishes, two fifth-place finishes and a sixth among them. CBU’s run to the title began in Saturday morning’s semifinals, where Jimmy Martinez started it off with a 7-2 win over Scott Filbert of the U.S. Military Academy Prep School at 125 pounds. Chris Santana, another top-seed along with Martinez, continued it with a 6-4 win over Josh McCoy of Marion Military Institute at 157. Santana would go on to win the 157 title over Ryan Madson of MIT, while Martinez settled for second. Part of the Lancers’ rise came at the expense of their pursuers in two classes. At 197, CBU’s Caleb Gerl rode out a 3-0 win over Frank Bastien of Grand Valley State. Gerl later won the national title with a 2-0 win over Richard Rippy of Central Florida. At heavyweight, CBU’s fourth-seeded Alex Evers took a sudden-victory 4-2 win over top-seeded and defending national champion David Devine of SIU-Edwardsville. Evers later lost in the final to two-time NCWA All-American Corey Melinn of Grand Valley State, 3-2. California Baptist is in the middle of a transition into the NCAA’s Division II, and is competing in the NCWA during the interim. Grand Valley State led through the first three sessions, and kept pace with California Baptist despite losing its lead in the quarterfinals. The Lakers lost an opportunity to gain on California Baptist with its 1-3 overall mark in its semifinal matches. Melinn’s title at heavyweight was a fitting end to the Lakers’ runner-up finish with 121 points. Grand Valley was a three-time champion from 2006-08. Central Florida, the defending NCWA champion, placed third with 99.5 points, edging Southern Illinois-Edwardsville by a half-point. The Knights made a big move up three spots into third with a strong run in the semifinals, advancing three to the finals. Joshua Woods won his first national title at 235 pounds, giving UCF the edge on SIUE. UCF’s other highlights came from Stephen DeAugustino and Rippy. Both earned All-American honors again despite losing in their title matches, and became the 18th and 19th four-time All-Americans in the NCWA’s 14-year history. Southern Illinois-Edwardsville held its fourth-place standing based on the success of its 149- and 174-pounders. At 174, top-seeded Mike Dace won the national title over his non-scoring teammate Deshoun White, 4-2. White made an impressive underdog run through the bracket taking out the second- and third-seeded wrestlers (Daniel Hiller of the U.S. Naval Academy Prep and Kenneth Tribble of California Baptist) along the way. Hermon Gillum completed one of the best seasons in NCWA history with a 32-0 run and the championship of the 125-pound bracket. Gillum got an early lead and held on for a 6-4 win over top-seeded Jimmy Martinez of California Baptist. “I was undefeated going into the state tournament in high school too, but I lost,” said Gillum, a freshman from Flint, Mich. “I gained a lot from that. I didn’t feel as much pressure here, and was able to stay mentally focused better. I wanted to get more points in the third period, but (Martinez) was a good defensive wrestler. “It feels great to finish the season like this.” Daniel Swain of Douglas College, an NCWA member from British Columbia, also completed his season undefeated at 10-0 in winning the 149 bracket. Swain pinned Maryland-Baltimore County’s Daniel Carr in the final. West Chester got a finals push from national champions Dustin Tancredi (165) and Kevin Bacci (184) to finish sixth overall with 89 points. Marion Military Institute (Ala.) earned one national champion at 141 in Brandon Westerman, but also had five All-Americans behind him to break into the top five with 94.5 points. Other Tournament Notes: * The Apprentice School (Va.) slipped to seventh in the team standings after a runner-up showing last season and winning the national title in 2010. But the Builders, despite the finish, maintained their impressive steak of placing among the top 10 teams in each of the school’s 13 seasons as an NCWA member. Nine of those 13 seasons have seen Apprentice finish in the top three. * Eric Powell placed third in the 157-pound bracket to earn a third NCWA All-American award. Powell is the first student-athlete at Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades, a three-year school in Media, Pa., to achieve three-time All-American status in any sport according to his coach, Joe Silvestri. Williamson competes in the National Junior College Athletic Association in all other sports. Powell joins a list of only 40 other three-time All-Americans in the NCWA’s 14-year history. * Texas Tech heavyweight Caleb Andrews was his school’s lone entry at the nationals, and came away with an eighth-place All-American finish. He is Texas Tech’s first national placer since 2008, and the Red Raiders finished xxth in the Division II standings. * The NCWA continues to make inroads into the emerging wrestling states in the southeast. The Georgian wrestlers had a fine collective showing at the nationals as six home-state wrestlers earned All-American honors, including an in-state national championship match at 141 in which Marion Military’s Brandon Westerman topped Kennesaw State’s Kendall Albert, 4-1. The in-state wrestlers also came away with a fourth-place (Trevor Bailey of Marion Military), two seventh-places (Derek Wojcik of Mercer and Marvin Lawrence of Marion Military), and an eighth-place finish (Frankie Miller of Georgia). There were 33 wrestlers in all, nearly 10 percent of qualifiers, who were either from Georgia or were wrestling for in-state schools. * Northwest Missouri State won the NCWA Division II club standings with 45 points. Jordan Peter led the Bears with a national runner-up finish at 165, and NMSU also had a 197 All-Americans in Blake Schoeninger. This was the second season in which the NCWA broke its standings into Division I and II groups. MIT won the inaugural Division II title in 2010. * In the NCWA Women’s Division, Yakima Valley Community College (Wash.) ran away with the team title with 123.5 points, almost triple the total of runner-up Mercer. Chel-C Bailey (112), Stephanie Geltmacher (139), Chantelle Bailey (159), Faith Wasmund (176) and Kendra Cremeans (209) won national titles, with Maura Tynanes as a runner-up. Yakima Valley has won all three of the national titles the NCWA has sponsored the past three seasons. * In 2010, there were nine schools represented in the NCWA Women’s National Championships. That figure almost doubled this season to 16 programs with new qualifiers from programs at Central Washington, Mount Holyoke College (Mass.), Bowling Green, Colorado State, Kansas State, Southern Virginia, Southwestern Oregon CC and South Florida. NCWA CHAMPIONSHIPS March 10-12, 2011 at The University Center, Macon, Ga. FINAL RESULTS MEN’S DIVISION National Title Matches 125 – (2) Hermon Gillum, Mott CC, def. (1) Jimmy Martinez, California Baptist, 7-4 133 – (1) Colton Rasche, U.S. Naval Academy Prep, def. (2) Stephen DeAugustino, Central Florida, 8-4 141 – (2) Brandon Westerman, Marion Military Inst. (Ala.), def. (1) Kendall Albert, Kennesaw State, 4-1 149 – (3) Daniel Swain, Douglas College (B.C.), def. (1) Daniel Carr, Maryland-Baltimore Country, by fall 6:37 157 – (1) Chris Santana, California Baptist, def. (3) Ryan Madson, Massachusetts Inst. of Technology, 7-4 165 – (1) Dustin Tancredi, West Chester, def. (3) Jordan Peter, Northwest Missouri State, 11-4 174 – (1) Mike Dace, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, vs. (Un.) Deshoun White, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, 4-2 184 – (1) Kevin Bacci, West Chester, def. (6) Dalton Henderson, U.S. Air Force Academy Prep, by fall 0:53 197 – (2) Caleb Gerl, California Baptist, def. (1) Richard Rippy, Central Florida, 2-0 235 – (3) Joshua Woods, Central Florida, def. (8) Joe DiSalvo, Northeastern, 16-7 285 – (6) Corey Melinn, Grand Valley State, def. (4) Alex Evers, California Baptist, 3-2 Placing Matches (top eight earn NCWA All-American honors) 125 lbs. 3rd place – Sam Shames, Mass. Inst. of Technology, def. Scott Filbert, U.S. Military Academy Prep, 6-4 5th place – Alexander Chiricosta, Central Florida, def. Zachary Cottle, U.S. Military Academy Prep, by fall 2:58 7th place – Patrick Prada, U.S. Naval Academy Prep, def. Frankie Miller, Georgia, 7-4 133 lbs. 3rd place – Marcus Chevres, The Apprentice School, def. Kekura Musa, Maryland-Baltimore County, 12-0 5th place – Xenepher Austin, Marion Military Inst. (Ala.), def. John Petrov, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, 8-1 7th place – Hunter Wood, U.S. Military Academy Prep, def. Matt Morrill, Grand Valley State, 6-3 141 lbs. 3rd place – Luke Bilyeu, West Chester, def. Adam Bastow, Grand Valley State, 5-0 5th place – Michael Giorgio, Marion Military Inst. (Ala.), def. Quentin Leadbetter, U.S. Naval Academy Prep, by fall 6:29 7th place – Craig Blike, Dayton, def. Brandon Paige, New Hampshire, 6-0 149 lbs. 3rd place – Dylan Cataline, California Baptist, def. Trevor Bailey, Marion Military Inst. (Ala.), medical forfeit 5th place – Thomas Gillin, Central Florida, def. Adam Hulett, Hudson Valley CC (N.Y.), 13-6 7th place – Eric Biehl, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, def. Derrick Pousson, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, by default 157 lbs. 3rd place – Eric Powell, Williamson School of Trades (Pa.), def. John Combs, Colorado, 7-4 5th place – Josh McCoy, Marion Military Inst. (Ala.) def. Ricky Anderson, The Apprentice School, by medical forfeit 7th place – Austen Brower, William and Mary, def. Nate Falbe, Grand Valley State, 10-1 165 lbs. 3rd place – Bronson Gerl, California Baptist, def. Steve Ross, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, 3-2 5th place – Mike Ahearn, South Carolina, def. Randy Kocol, Cincinnati, 6-3 7th place – Marvin Lawrence, Marion Military Inst. (Ala.), def. Robert Tymes, Grand Valley State, 18-3 174 lbs. 3rd place – Cole Gracey, U.S. Military Academy Prep, def. Robert Hall, Grand Valley State, 6-1 5th place – Tahner Thiem, Wayne State (Neb.), def. Kenneth Tribble, California Baptist, 10-1 7th place – Derek Wojcik, Mercer, def. Jason Dack, Northeastern, 8-4 184 lbs. 3rd place – William Miller, U.S. Naval Academy Prep, def. Willy Crawford, Apprentice School, by fall 2:25 5th place – C.J. Knowland, California Baptist, def. Derek Marshall, Grand Valley State, 6-5 7th place – Ben Brummel, South Carolina, def. Brian Stapleton, Massachusetts, 6-1 197 lbs. 3rd place –Nathan Behrent, Florida Gulf Coast, def. Robert Cooney, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, 7-4 5th place – Frank Bastien, Grand Valley State, def. Jacob Laux, Mass. Inst. of Technology, 7-6 7th place – Brett Buckner, Radford, def. Blake Schoeninger, Northwest Missouri State, 4-1 235 lbs. 3rd place – Mark Koski, Florida, def. Travis Dickenson, Amherst, 2-1 5th place – Vince Pezzuto, California Baptist, def. Carl Worthy, Grand Valley State, 4-1 7th place – Ryan Kreppel, West Chester, def. Mark Howard, Marion Military Inst. (Ala.), 6-3 285 lbs. 3rd place – David Devine, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, def. Cody Quick, Middle Tennessee State, by fall 1:37 5th place – Bentley Alsup, U.S. Air Force Academy Prep, def. Frank Becker, Cincinnati, by fall 1:33 7th place – Charlie Farr, Mercer, def. Caleb Andrews, Texas Tech, 9-5 FINAL TEAM SCORES Division I Teams 1. California Baptist – 156.5 2. Grand Valley State (Mich.) – 121 3. Central Florida – 99.5 4. So. Illinois-Edwardsville – 99 5. Marion Military Institute (Ala.) – 94.5 6. West Chester (Pa.) – 89 7. The Apprentice School (Va.) – 78 8. U.S. Naval Academy Prep – 70.5 9. Md.-Baltimore County – 54.5 10. U.S. Military Academy Prep – 49 11. Mercer – 41.5 12. U.S. Air Force Academy Prep – 41 13. Mass. Inst. of Technology – 36.5 14t. Douglas College (B.C.) – 31 14t. Mott CC (Mich.) – 31 16. Middle Tennessee State – 29 17. New Hampshire – 28 18. Amherst – 22.5 19. Williamson School of Trade – 21 20. Penn State – DuBois – 19 21. Wayne State (Neb.) – 16.5 22. Georgia – 13.5 23. Dayton – 12 24. Colorado State – 10.5 25. Texas-Arlington – 10 26. Penn College – 8.5 27. San Jose State – 6 28t. Valley Force Military Acad. – 5.5 28t. East Tennessee State – 5.5 30. Rensselaer Poly. Inst. – 5 31. Florida A&M – 4 32. Blair Academy (N.J.) – 3.5 33. Southern Virginia – 3 34. Northland CC (Wis.) – 2.5 35. Connecticut – 1 Division II Clubs 1. Northwest Missouri State – 45 2. Cincinnati – 33 3. South Carolina – 29.5 4. Northeastern – 28.5 5. Kennesaw State – 23 6t. Florida – 19.5 6t. Colorado – 19.5 8. Massachusetts – 18.5 9. Hudson Valley CC (N.Y.) – 18 10. Florida Gulf Coast – 14.5 11. Illinois State – 13.5 12. North Florida – 13 13. Bowling Green – 11.5 14. Virginia Military – 10.5 15t. Texas Tech – 10 15t. William and Mary – 10 17. Radford – 8.5 18. Florida State – 7 19. Texas A&M – 6 20t. Texas – 5.5 20t. Texas State – 5.5 22t. SUNY-Albany – 5 22t. SUNY-Cobleskill – 5 24. Georgia Southern – 4 25t. Texas-San Antonio – 2.5 25t. Georgia Tech – 2.5 27. Delaware – 2 28t. Slippery Rock – 1 28t. Kansas State – 1 30t. Tennessee – 0.5 30t. Penn State – 0.5 30t. Lansing CC (Mich.) – 0.5 33t. Auburn – 0 33t. Michigan – 0 33t. South Florida – 0 33t. Virginia Tech – 0 33t. Winona State – 0 FINAL RESULTS WOMEN’S DIVISION Final Team Standings 1. Yakima Valley CC (Wash.) – 123.5 2. Mercer – 45 3. Florida State – 24.5 4. Winona State (Minn.) – 23.5 5. Northeastern – 19 6. Southwestern Oregon CC – 18 7. San Jose State – 16 8t. Central Washington – 15 8t. Mount Holyoke College (Mass.) – 15 10t. Florida A&M – 12 10t. South Florida – 12 12. Colorado State – 9 13. Bowling Green – 5.5 14. Southern Virginia – 4.5 15. Kansas State – 2.5 16. Auburn - 0 National Title Matches 105 – Kendra Nelson, Southwestern Oregon CC, def. Melanie McDuff, Florida State, by fall 0:37 112 – Chel-C Bailey, Yakima Valley CC (Wash.), def. Cady Chambers, Central Washington, by fall 4:20 121 – Kelli Rasmussen, Winona State (Minn.), def. Lauren Clark-Johnson, Mount Holyoke College (Mass.), 8-3 130 – Sophia Veiras, Northeastern, def. Sonia Beri, San Jose State, 14-5 139 – Stephanie Geltmacher, Yakima Valley CC (Wash.), def. Yury Zavala, Southern Virginia, by fall 0:33 148 – KaLia Burnette, Mercer, def. Sarah McCurdy, Southern Virginia, by fall 0:58 159 – Chantelle Bailey, Yakima Valley CC (Wash.), def. Christina Le, Mercer, by fall 2:20 176 – Faith Wasmund, Yakima Valley CC (Wash.), def. Jasmine Grant, South Florida, by fall 2:31 209 – Kendra Cremeans, Yakima Valley CC (Wash.), def. Maura Tynanes, Yakima Valley CC (Wash.), by fall 6:05 Other NCWA All-Americans (third-place finishers) 105 – Alaysia Permaul, Northeastern 112 – Samantha Lovelace, Yakima Valley CC (Wash.) 121 – Ricarda Garcia, Yakima Valley CC (Wash.) 130 – Amber Rodriguez, Yakima Valley CC (Wash.) 139 – none 148 – Felicia Fowler, Mercer 159 - none 176 – Mary Rosher, Mercer 209 – Saundrina Smith, Florida A&M

MINNEAPOLIS -- For the first-time ever, ESPN, ESPNU and ESPN3.com will combine to air all six rounds of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championship on Thursday, March 17, through Saturday, March 19, from the Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia. ESPNU HD will serve as the home of the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds Friday, March 18, starting at 10:30 a.m. and the medal round on Saturday, March 19, at 11 a.m. ESPN3.com will exclusively air the first and second rounds on Thursday, March 17, beginning at 11 a.m., and provide individual coverage of all four mats of the quarterfinals. ESPN HD and ESPN3.com will present the final round on Saturday, March 19, at 7:30 p.m. Todd Harris, Tim Johnson and Jeff Blatnick will call the matches on ESPN and ESPNU with Quint Kessenich reporting. Shawn Kenney and Jim Gibbons will call the action on ESPN3.com.

STILLWATER, Okla. -- Oklahoma State wrestling coach John Smith and team standouts Jordan Oliver and Clayton Foster previewed this week's NCAA Championships. The highlights: John Smith On his team going into NCAAs "This is a team that has overachieved all year, especially since the National Duals. For us to have a great tournament, we have to overachieve again. We have to have our best performance of the year to put ourselves in position to win a championship. When you look at where most of our guys are seeded, it's in that lower range of six-to-15. That's not a lot of team points. We're going to have to overachieve and I very much think that we can do that." On what he thinks about where his wrestlers are seeded "Some of them you like, some of them you don't. In the end, you're going to have to face somebody that's pretty good. Whether it's in your first match or whenever, it doesn't really matter a lot from the standpoint of being a team that needs to overachieve. We put ourselves in that position, but I believe that we're getting ready to have our best tournament of the year." On who he thinks will be Oklahoma State's top competition at NCAAs "Cornell, Penn State and Iowa, those three in particular. Boise State if they are healthy. I wouldn't exclude Minnesota or Oklahoma. I think we're going to see a championship tournament that could come down to five or six All-Americans. Where those All-Americans finish is going to determine the championship. You have got to have some guys on the podium up high because that's what scores points. On the podium down low doesn't score very many points." On senior captains Neil Erisman and Clayton Foster "Both of them have really wrestled beyond my expectations. Neil being injured most of the year, we were concerned if he was ever going to make it back. It was nip-and-tuck there for a while. He drew one of the best young wrestlers in the country in the first round, but Neil's a tough guy. This kid had to take a look at the bracket and say `my goodness, I drew Neil Erisman in the first round.' Neil's a good kid and it will be an uphill battle, but if anyone can win, it's him. "Clayton Foster got the No. 2 seed and it's well-earned by his performance. I believe he started off No. 9 in the country but has moved up to No. 2. Obviously that is overachieving and he has had performances that made people take notice. For Clayton here at the end, he just needs to lead his team the way he's been doing all year long and that's on the mat wrestling hard. He's got a great gas tank and he can wrestle forever. It's going to be an exciting time watching him perform." On the importance of Blake Rosholt and Jon Morrison getting at-large bids into the NCAA field "From the standpoint of getting them experience - both of them are young - you love to take them to the NCAA Championships, but if that's all they're looking at, that's all they're going to get. Both of them are going to have to wrestle above their heads to help the team. If you don't win a match, you don't help. Give yourself a shot and get yourself ready to wrestle. Be excited and for our young guys, that's what it's about. It's about getting excited and respecting the fact that you're as good as anyone in the country. They need to make sure that when they step on the mat, they're ready to show it." On Jordan Oliver's development since coming to Oklahoma State "He's much more aggressive on his feet. He's in attack-mode right now. Through his training and through his efforts, when the whistle blows, he's moving forward and looking to score. There's not a lot of fear of making a mistake. Not a lot of fear of if he forces something. He creates the action and he goes after points. That's the true development. He's been very good on top since we got him. I think he's gotten better on bottom since he's been here. From that standpoint, his strength and where he's really developed is in the mentality of attacking his opponent. It's pretty impressive after his second year, but he's going to have to keep that mentality during the NCAA Championships. It's going to be a tough tournament." On who he would compare Jordan Oliver to at this point of his career "You don't like to compare anyone until after the tournament because we judge everything on this tournament. To be undefeated and not win, it's not satisfying. That said, he's got a lot of the tendencies of Pat Smith. When I look back at Pat at that age, there was a lot of aggression and not a lot of fear. He wasn't worried about what his age was and he wasn't worried about his opponents. He was just worried about performing and pleasing the crowd. Jordan likes to hear the crowd and Pat did, too. It's because they like to step out and perform. They look at themselves as `I'm here to get the crowd excited' and that's putting points on the board and picking up bonus points." On if Jordan Oliver's discipline with his weight is a significant difference from last year "Yes, and that's maturity. He had a year where he had a chance to experience the downfalls and the disappointments and the struggles. Now, he had a great year last year for a freshman by finishing fourth in the toughest weight in the country. You get a little bit wiser. If you have a great passion to be the best, then you correct some of those mistakes. Experience means a lot at this tournament. He's had a little taste of it. We changed some things and that's why he's in position to be considered as one of the best wrestlers at the tournament. He's got to prove that. That's the good thing about wrestling. Nobody else can help you out there. You have got to prove it and that's what makes our sport great." Jordan Oliver On his preparation for the NCAA Championships "I plan on sticking to my same routine and sticking to my style, which is to go out and create action and make guys wrestle. I'm feeling pretty good and confident going into NCAAs." On how he got his start in wrestling "It all started when I was younger. My older brother wrestled before I did so it was a monkey-see-monkey-do kind of thing. I always looked up to my brother and once I saw him wrestling, it was always something that I wanted to follow. I went in and tried out for wrestling and ever since then, it just took off." On if he competed in any other sports growing up "It was just wrestling and football. I really liked football, but as time went on, I was getting too small to compete at the higher level, so I just focused on wrestling and ended up quitting football in ninth grade." On wrestling only an hour away from his hometown at the NCAA Championships "It's definitely going to be comfortable for me going home to wrestle for a national title. It's where I grew up and it's where a lot of my fans and supporters are. Just to be able to go home and wrestle for a national title in front of them is awesome and I'm very excited about it. It's not just about an individual title though, because we're also chasing the team title. To be able to do that in front of my hometown crowd is going to be awesome." On the biggest thrill of his wrestling career to date "I would say NCAAs last year, even though it didn't turn out the way I wanted it and I ended up taking fourth place, it was just an honor to be there and it was awesome competing against all the top guys in the country and looking at my bracket just knowing that I had a tough match every round. Every round it got better and that excited me because I like wrestling the best kids and I believe that if you're going to be the best, you have to beat the best." On if his career success against this year's NCAA field will be a factor "I think it fires them up. If you wrestle a guy two or three times and you have beaten him, he's not going to come back the next time wanting to lose again. He's going to come out fired up. I have to take it one match at a time. I've wrestled a lot of these guys before and I just have to do what I do best and that's go out and wrestle." Clayton Foster On if he's ready for the NCAA Championships "I'm definitely ready for it and can't wait to get there." On if being seeded No. 2 in his weight class bothers him "It doesn't bother me. Not this year. It doesn't bother me at all." On what he enjoys most about wrestling "Just the every day, being with this group of guys and hanging out. Dual meets are probably the most fun thing." On how the team has evolved since his freshman year "It's crazy how much we've changed from when I was a freshman until now. It's hard to explain, but there are tougher guys on the team now than there were in my freshman year. There are more guys that are willing to work hard and put the complaining behind them." On how he got started in wrestling "My dad was a coach, so I grew up with it." On if he played any other sports besides wrestling growing up "I played football and baseball in high school, but probably my only opportunity to go anywhere was in wrestling. I was from a small school in a small town and nobody looked for football or baseball players there. I guess I could have gone to a smaller school that wasn't Division I." On why he chose to come to Oklahoma State "The wrestling. Coach Smith." On how he has grown since coming to Oklahoma State "It's night and day compared to when I was a freshman. I'm a lot tougher. I have more technique and I'm more disciplined in my wrestling." On what he considers his best attribute on the mat "My conditioning and never-give-up attitude."

THIS WEEK Iowa's nine qualifiers will compete for the school's 24th NCAA team title at the 2011 NCAA Wrestling Championships, Thursday-Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pa. Competition is set to start Thursday at 10 a.m. (CT). The event is sold out. Iowa enters the tournament as the three-time defending team champion. The Hawkeyes have put together a series of NCAA title streaks, placing first nine straight times from 1978-86, six times from 1995-2000, three times twice (1991-93 and 2008-10) and two times from 1975-76. CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE Following is the NCAA Championships event schedule. Times are Central. Session - Day - Time (CT) - Mats - Competition Session I - Thursday - 10 a.m. - 8 - Pigtails & 1st Round Session II - Thursday - 5:30 p.m. - 8 - Consolation Prelims, 1st Round Session III - Friday - 9:30 a.m. - 8 - Championship Quarterfinals, Consolation 2nd & 3rd Rounds Session IV - Friday - 6 p.m. - 6 - Championship Semifinals, Consolation 4th & 5th Rounds Session V - Saturday - 10 a.m. - 6 - Consolation Semifinals, 3rd-5th-7th Place Matches Session VI - Saturday - 6:30 p.m. - 1 - Championship Finals NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS Updated brackets and team standings will be available throughout the tournament at www.ncaasports.com. ON THE AIR Radio - Steven Grace and two-time Hawkeye NCAA champion and four-time All-American Mark Ironside will call the action live on AM-800, KXIC and hawkeyesports.com. Free web audio broadcasts will be available during the event. Television - Sessions III, IV and V will be aired live on ESPNU HD. The championship finals will be aired live on ESPN HD. Announcers Todd Harris, Tim Johnson, Jeff Blatnick and Quint Kessenich will cover the event. Internet - Matches from Sessions I, II, III and VI will be broadcast on ESPN3.com. Press releases, meet results and audio broadcasts are available on the University of Iowa's website, hawkeyesports.com. Current staff and student-athlete head shots can be found at pics.hawkeyesports.com. NCAA QUALIFIERS Iowa is one of four schools to qualify nine wrestlers, while Boise State and Oklahoma State each qualified their entire 10-man lineup. Cornell, Minnesota and Missouri qualified nine competitors each. Seven schools qualified eight wrestlers, including Lehigh, Michigan, Oklahoma, Oregon State, Pittsburgh, Penn State and Rutgers. It is the 11th time in school history that the Hawkeyes have qualified nine wrestlers for the national tournament. The other years were 1956, 1962, 1972, 1975, 1979, 1984, 1999, 2000, 2008 and 2009. The Hawkeyes won NCAA titles with nine qualifiers in 1975, 1979, 1984, 1999, 2000, 2008 and 2009. IOWA QUALIFIERS BY THE NUMBERS Iowa's NCAA qualifiers have combined for one national title, two All-America honors and two NCAA appearances. Sophomore Matt McDonough is the defending 125-pound NCAA champion, while junior Montell Marion placed second at 141 in 2010. Iowa's other seven qualifiers - seniors Aaron Janssen (165) and Luke Lofthouse (197), junior Blake Rasing (Hwt.), sophomore Grant Gambrall (184) and redshirt freshmen Tony Ramos (133), Derek St. John (157) and Ethen Lofthouse (174) - are all making their first NCAA appearance. ALL NINE HAWKEYE QUALIFIERS EARN TOURNAMENT SEEDS All nine of Iowa's NCAA qualifiers earned seeds for the national tournament. Sophomore Matt McDonough, who is the defending NCAA champion at 125 pounds, is Iowa's top-seeded competitor, earning the #2 seed at that weight class. Senior Luke Lofthouse is seeded fifth at 197, while 2010 NCAA finalist Montell Marion is seeded fifth at 141. Hawkeye redshirt freshmen Tony Ramos (133) and Derek St. John (157) each earned the sixth seed, while junior Blake Rasing is seeded seventh at heavyweight. Also earning tournament seeds for the Hawkeyes are redshirt freshman Ethen Lofthouse (174-#9), senior Aaron Janssen (165-#11) and sophomore Grant Gambrall (184-#12). NCAA RECORDS Iowa holds five NCAA Championship records. The Hawkeyes hold records for most team points scored (170 in 1997), largest margin of victory (73.25 points in 1986), number of consecutive team titles (nine from 1978-86), most finalists (six in 1986 and 1997) and most individual champions (five in 1986 and 1997). Ten Hawkeyes have been named Outstanding Wrestler of the NCAA Championships since the award was first given in 1932. They are Chuck Yagla (1976), Bruce Kinseth (1979), Jim Zalesky (1984), Barry Davis (1985), Marty Kistler (1986), Tom Brands (1992), Terry Steiner (1993), Lincoln McIlravy (1997), Joe Williams (1998) and Brent Metcalf (2008). 2010 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS REVIEW Iowa crowned three champions and won its third-straight national team title Mar. 20, 2010, at the Qwest Center in Omaha, NE. Iowa's point total of 134.5 ranked 10th in NCAA history and tied for seventh in school history. Cornell placed second with 90 points. Iowa's victory margin of 44.5 points ranked ninth in NCAA history and eighth at Iowa. The Hawkeyes crowned eight All-Americans for the 12th time in school history and the first time since 1997, helping the team win its 23rd NCAA team title. Hawkeye senior Brent Metcalf (149) captured his second NCAA title, while senior Jay Borschel (174) and redshirt freshman Matt McDonough (125) each won their first. It is the first time that Iowa crowned three individual champions since Mark Ironside (134), Jeff McGinness (142) and Joe Williams (167) in 1998. McDonough was Iowa's first 125-pound national champion and Borschel was the first at 174. Hawkeye senior Daniel Dennis (133) and sophomore Montell Marion (141) each placed second at their respective weight classes, while seniors Ryan Morningstar (165) and Dan Erekson (Hwt.) placed seventh and senior Phillip Keddy (184) placed eighth to earn all-America honors. Metcalf collected his second NCAA title with a 3-2 victory over #1 seed Lance Palmer of Ohio State. The Hawkeye senior ended the season with a 36-1 mark and his three-year Iowa career (2008-10) as a two-time NCAA and Big Ten Champion and three-time All-American. Borschel had a strong showing en route to his first NCAA title, handing undefeated #1 seed Mack Lewnes of Cornell his first loss of the season with a 6-2 decision. Borschel was one of 19 Iowa wrestlers in school history to post an undefeated season record, going 37-0. McDonough won his first NCAA title with a 3-1 decision over Iowa State redshirt freshman Andrew Long in the finals. It was only the second time in NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships history that two redshirt freshmen met in a final. It looked liked Dennis was going to win his first NCAA title, but #1 seed Jayson Ness of Minnesota scored a takedown and nearfall points as time expired to collect his first national title with a 6-4 win. The crowd saw several scrambles in the 141-pound final between Marion and #1 seed Kyle Dake of Cornell, but Dake collected the 7-3 win and his first NCAA title. The NCAA team title wrapped up the 2009-10 season for the Hawkeyes, which was one of the best in school history. The Hawkeyes won their 34th Big Ten Championships title, crowning individual champions in Borschel and Erekson. The team was undefeated at 23-0 in dual competition, marking the 13th undefeated and untied season in school history. Iowa was also 11-0 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena and 8-0 in Big Ten duals, winning the conference regular season title. Iowa won the 2009 Midlands and 2010 NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals Division I team titles, ending the season on a 61 dual-match winning streak and shutting out eight dual opponents - both of which are school records. 2011 BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS REVIEW In the closest Big Ten team race since 1959, the second-ranked Hawkeyes placed second (Mar. 6) at Welsh-Ryan Arena while crowning two individual champions. Penn State won its first conference team title in school history with 139 points, edging out Iowa by one. Sophomore Matt McDonough (125) and junior Blake Rasing (Hwt.) each won individual titles for the Hawkeyes. McDonough collected his first Big Ten title with a 3-1 decision over Northwestern's Brandon Precin at 125. Trailing 1-0 after two periods, the top-seeded Hawkeye sophomore escaped to tie the score at 1-1. Both wrestlers were caught in an offensive scramble, but McDonough came out on top to score the takedown halfway through the third period. He rode the #2 seeded Precin the rest of the bout to post his 60th career victory and his 11th straight win. McDonough is Iowa's third 125-pound Big Ten champion. Former Hawkeye Jody Strittmatter won titles in 2000 and 2001. Rasing, who was seeded third, scored a takedown and two nearfall points in the third period to beat #4 seed Tony Nelson of Minnesota, 5-2. The win was Rasing's sixth-straight and improved his record to 17-5 this season and 35-14 in his career. The Hawkeye junior is Iowa's 12th heavyweight Big Ten Champion. Iowa has won the title at that weight class the last three seasons, as former Hawkeye Dan Erekson won titles in 2009 and 2010. Placing second for the Hawkeyes were senior Luke Lofthouse (#2 seed at 197) and redshirt freshman Derek St. John (#2 seed at 157). Lofthouse lost his finals bout with top seed Trevor Brandvold of Wisconsin, 5-2. St. John scored the first takedown in his finals match with top seed David Taylor of Penn State, but Taylor scored a takedown in each period to post an 8-3 decision. Taylor was named 2011 Big Ten Wrestler and Freshman of the Year at the conclusion of the meet. Hawkeye senior Aaron Janssen (#4 seed at 165) and redshirt freshmen Tony Ramos (#3 seed at 133) and Ethen Lofthouse (#5 seed at 174) wrestled back for third place, with all three Hawkeyes posting 2-0 records on the day. Janssen scored takedowns near the end of both of his matches, beating #6 seed Dan Yates of Michigan (3-1) and #3 seed Cody Yohn of Minnesota (4-2). Ramos received a medical forfeit from #8 seed Ian Paddock of Ohio State and posted a 6-2 decision over #4 seed B.J. Futrell of Illinois. Lofthouse avenged earlier season losses by beating #4 seed Luke Manuel of Purdue (4-1) and #3 seed Scott Glasser of Minnesota (6-3). Also wrestling back for the Hawkeyes were junior Montell Marion (#2 seed at 141), who placed fourth, and sophomore Grant Gambrall (#3 seed at 184), who placed fifth. Marion beat #5 seed Andrew Alton of Penn State (3-2) in the consolation semifinals before losing to #4 seed Jimmy Kennedy of Illinois (9-6). Gambrall was pinned by top seed Travis Rutt of Wisconsin in his first consolation match, but responded with a 10-2 major decision over #5 seed Tony Dallago of Illinois for fifth place. IOWA EARNS FOURTH STRAIGHT BIG TEN REGULAR SEASON TITLE Iowa earned its fourth straight Big Ten regular season title Feb. 20 with a 19-12 win over Minnesota in Minneapolis. The Hawkeyes posted a 15-0-1 (8-0 Big Ten) dual record for 2010-11, marking the third straight season that Iowa has posted an undefeated record, and the fourth straight year that Iowa has gone 8-0 in Big Ten duals. The win over Minnesota extended Iowa's unbeaten dual-match streak to 77, which is a school record. The Hawkeyes have now posted 21 undefeated seasons in school history. HAWKEYES LEAD NATION IN ATTENDANCE Iowa led the nation in average dual attendance for the fifth straight season, averaging 8,209 fans in six home duals in 2010-11. That figure breaks the previous national average record of 8,125, which Iowa set in 2009-10. The Hawkeyes also posted the largest dual crowd of the 2010-11 season with 11,895 against Iowa State on Dec. 3. Over the past three seasons, Iowa has averaged over over 8,000 fans per dual. When calculating national attendance averages, team must host a minimum of four duals to qualify and only single or double duals are counted toward the average, which disqualifies Iowa's season-opening Iowa City Duals. BIG TEN WRESTLERS OF THE WEEK Senior Luke Lofthouse (197) and sophomore Matt McDonough (125) earned Big Ten Wrestler fo the Week honors during the 2010-11 season. It was the first time that either Hawkeye earned the weekly conference honor during their careers. Lofthouse earned the last weekly honor of the regular season with his Feb. 20 decision over Minnesota's Sonny Yohn. Lofthouse closed out his collegiate dual career with a 7-4 victory over Yohn, helping the second-ranked Hawkeyes to their fourth-straight Big Ten regular season title. Iowa also extended its unbeaten dual streak to 77 with its 19-12 win over No. 5 Minnesota, ending the regular season with a 15-0-1 record. Iowa had a narrow 13-12 lead over the Golden Gophers, when Lofthouse, who entered the dual ranked eighth in the nation, took the mat against Yohn, who was ranked between fourth and seventh. Trailing Yohn, 3-2, at the start of the third period, the Hawkeye senior scored a quick escape to tie the score and added two takedowns in the final minute to give Iowa a 16-12 lead going into the final bout. McDonough earned the honor Feb. 1, after recording two pins to help Iowa beat No. 18 Northwestern (31-9) Jan. 28 in Evanston and top-ranked Penn State (22-13) Jan. 30 in University Park. Iowa's wins over Northwestern and Penn State extended its streak of unbeaten duals to 73, and helped the Hawkeyes jump to No. 2 in the next week's NWCA/USA Today Coaches Poll. McDonough entered the Northwestern dual against top-ranked and undefeated Wildcat Brandon Precin ranked second by Intermat and WIN, and third by AWN. Precin handed McDonough his first season loss and second career loss at the 2010 Midlands Championships in December, taking over the top ranking. Precin took a 3-0 lead Friday night and had the riding time point locked up mid-way through the third period when McDonough took the Wildcat senior to his back and recorded a pin in 6:11 to hand Precin his first loss of the season. Against Penn State, McDonough got the Hawkeyes out to a strong 6-0 start and kept the sold-out Rec Hall crowd quiet when he pinned Penn State's Nate Morgan in 4:16 to open the dual. The Hawkeyes held Penn State to its lowest point total of the season, while handing the Nittany Lions their first loss. Following are the 2010-11 Big Ten Wrestlers of the Week: Date Wrestler (Wt., School) 11/9 Ian Paddock (Ohio State) 11/16 Kyle Dooley (157, Illinois), Sean Boyle (125, Michigan) 11/23 Travis Rutt (184, Wisconsin) 11/30 Paul Young (157, Indiana) 12/7 Kellen Russell (141, Michigan) 12/14 Kevin Steinhaus (184, Minnesota) 12/21 Tony Dallago (184, Illinois) 1/4 Ed Ruth (174, Penn State) 1/11 Cole Schmitt (149, Wisconsin) 1/18 Brandon Zeerip (157, Michigan) 1/25 Cameron Wade (Hwt., Penn State) 2/1 Matt McDonough (125, Iowa) 2/8 Aaron Jones (184, Northwestern) 2/15 Kellen Russell (141, Michigan) 2/22 Luke Lofthouse (197, Iowa) IOWA WINNING STREAKS Iowa is unbeaten in its last 77 dual matches, which is a school record. The current streak started with a win over Cornell (32-3) on Jan. 12, 2008, which was the first match after Iowa lost to Oklahoma State (19-14) on Jan. 5. The Hawkeyes are unbeaten in 47 consecutive road duals, which is also a school record. That streak started with a 20-13 win at Iowa State on Dec. 9, 2007. Iowa's 15-15 tie with Oklahoma State on Jan. 16, 2011, broke the Hawkeyes' 69-match winning streak that started with a win over Cornell (32-3) on Jan. 12, 2008. That streak is an Iowa school record and ranks second-best in NCAA wrestling history behind an Oklahoma State streak. The Cowboys won 76 straight duals from 1937-51. Oklahoma State is tied with Iowa in second place, tallying two 69-match streaks (1921-32 and 1996-99). Against Big Ten foes, the Hawkeyes have won their last 35 duals, including 16 at home and 19 on the road. All three rank second in school history. Iowa's school record for consecutive Big Ten wins is 98 (12/13/1975-1/28/1989), while the records for Big Ten home wins is 63 (1/17/1975-1/3/1998) and road wins is 54 (1/19/1974-1/28/1989). Iowa has won its last 33 duals at home. That streak, which ranks fourth-best in school history, started with a 27-13 win over Penn State on Jan. 20, 2008, which was also the first home match after the loss to Oklahoma State. The school record for home wins is 55 (1/9/1977-12/18/1983). UNDEFEATED AT HOME The 2010-11 Hawkeyes posted a perfect 8-0 dual record in their home venue of Carver-Hawkeye Arena, marking Iowa's 19th undefeated season in the facility since moving from the UI Fieldhouse in 1983. Iowa has a 188-18 (.913) record in the arena, which seats 15,500, and has won its last 33 duals at Carver-Hawkeye. Iowa's last home loss was 19-14 to Oklahoma State on Jan. 5, 2008. The 2009-10 Hawkeyes went 11-0 at Carver-Hawkeye, which is the school record for most home wins in a single season. The dual wrestling attendance record for Carver-Hawkeye Arena is 15,955, set when Iowa defeated Iowa State (20-15) on December 6, 2008. GABLE RETIREMENT BANQUET PLANNED A retirement celebration for former University of Iowa Head Wrestling Coach Dan Gable has been planned for June 4th. The Hall of Fame coach will be honored with a reception and banquet at the Coralville Marriott hotel. The reception is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. with dinner scheduled for 6:30 p.m. and a program filled with memories and speakers to follow. Gable is considered by most to be the best collegiate wrestling coach in history. He was Iowa's head coach for 21 years and compiled a 355-21-5 record that included 15 national team titles. More information on the retirement celebration will be released in the coming weeks. AWARDS BANQUET SET FOR APRIL 1 Iowa will hold its annual postseason awards banquet April 1 at 7 p.m. at the Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in Coralville. Tickets are $40 and may be purchased through the University of Iowa Athletic Ticket Office one of the three following ways. The deadline for ordering banquet tickets is March 28. Tickets may be purchased in person at the Iowa Athletic Ticket Office, by calling the Ticket Office at (319) 335-9323, online at hawkeyesports.com or mailing payment ot the Iowa Athletic Ticket Office. If purchasing online, select the "Ticket Office" link, then go to "Buy Tickets". There will be a $6.00 processing fee if purchased online. If mailing payment, sending a check payable to the Iowa Athletic Ticket Office to the address below. There will be a $6.00 processing fee if purchased by mail. Iowa Athletic Ticket Office Attention: Wrestling Banquet Rm 402 Carver Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, IA 52242 A limited number of hotel rooms have been reserved at the Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in Coralville at a special rate under University of Iowa Wrestling. Hotel reservations for this block of rooms can be made on a first come, first serve basis, and must be received on or before March 18. Contact the Marriott Hotel and Conference Center in Coralville at (319) 688-4000 to make a reservation. UNATTACHED HAWKEYES TEAR THROUGH SEASON Seven Hawkeye wrestlers combined for 25 individual open tournament titles while competing unattached this season. True freshman Bobby Telford won the most individual titles (6), winning the heavyweight brackets at the Northern Iowa, William Penn, Glen Brand, Pat "Flash" Flanagan, Grand View and DuHawk Opens. Telford won his last 16 matches, pinned 13 opponents and posted a 23-4 record. True freshman Mike Evans won five titles at 174 - Kaufman-Brand, Northern Iowa, William Penn, Pat "Flash" Flanagan and DuHawk Opens - while going 22-2 and pinning 12 opponents. Evans ended the season on a 10-match winning streak. True freshman Michael Kelly won four titles - Kaufman-Brand, Northern Iowa, William Penn and Glen Brand Opens - while wrestling at 157 pounds. He was 25-5 at 157 and 165. Juniors J.J. Krutsinger (133) and Vinnie Wagner (184) each won three titles while competing unattached. Both won at the William Penn and DuHawk Opens, while Krutsinger won at the Grand View Open and Wagner won at the Glen Brand Open. Krutsinger went 14-1, while Wagner posted a 17-3 mark. True freshmen Nick Moore (157/165) and Matt Gurule (125) have each won two titles. Both won at the DuHawk Open, while Moore won at the Pat "Flash" Flanagan Open and Gurule won at the William Penn Open. Moore went 20-4, winning his last eight bouts, while Gurule posted a 19-9 record. ALL IN THE FAMILY On the 2010-11 Hawkeye wrestling team, there are three sets of brothers, two wrestlers whose fathers wrestled at Iowa and two uncle-nephew combinations. Senior Matt Ballweg (149), sophomore Mark Ballweg (141/149) and freshman Jacob Ballweg (141) are brothers who hail from Waverly. They are the fifth set of three brothers to wrestle at Iowa, and the third set to be on the roster at the same time. The other sets of three brothers to compete for the Hawkeyes are Ed Banach, Lou Banach and Steve Banach; Marty Kistler, Harlan Kistler and Lindley Kistler; Mike Uker, Ben Uker and Joe Uker; and Lenny Zalesky, Larry Zalesky and Jim Zalesky. Matt and Mark Ballweg are the 12th set of brothers to wrestle together in the Hawkeye lineup since the 1950s. The other 11 sets are Don and Tom Huff (1961), Mark and Scott Trizzino (1981), Lenny, Larry and Jim Zalesky (1981-82), Ed and Lou Banach (1981-83), Marty and Lindley Kistler (1984-85), Jim and John Heffernan (1987), Tom and Terry Brands (1989-92), Troy and Terry Steiner (1991-93), Ryan and Randy Fulsaas (2001) and Luke and Ty Eustice (2003-04). Junior Stew Gillmor (149/157) and freshman Walt Gillmor (165) are brothers from Donahue, while sophomore Nate Moore (133) and freshman Nick Moore (157/165) are brothers from Iowa City. Sophomore Matt McDonough (125/133) and redshirt freshman Nick Trizzino have fathers who wrestled for the Hawkeyes. Mike McDonough wrestled at Iowa from 1974-76, while Mark Trizzino was an All-American (1984) and four-year letterwinner (1981-84) for the Hawkeyes. Senior Luke Lofthouse (197) is the uncle of Hawkeye redshirt freshman Ethen Lofthouse (174). Nick Trizzino's uncle, Scott Trizzino, was a three-time All-American (1978-79-81) and four-time letterwinner (1977-79, 1981) for the Hawkeyes. There have also been five sets of twins to wrestle at Iowa. They are Ed and Lou Banach, Tom and Terry Brands, Ben and Brett Stedman, Troy and Terry Steiner, and Randy and Ryan Fulsaas. CHAMPIONSHIP EXPERIENCE The Hawkeye wrestling staff of Tom Brands, Terry Brands, Mike Zadick, Kurt Backes and Danny Song earned a total of one Olympic gold medal, one Olympic bronze medal, five NCAA titles, nine conference titles and 12 All-America honors. WRESTLING SUMMER CAMPS For dates and more information about 2011 Iowa Wrestling Summer camps visit www.iowawrestlingcamps.com. IOWA CITY TO HOST 2012 U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM TRIALS Iowa City has been selected to host the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Wrestling. The event will be held at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on the campus of the University of Iowa from April 21-22, 2012. Iowa City was one of three finalist cities to make final presentations on their bid to a selection committee on Jan. 12. The committee included USA Wrestling staff and athletes, as well as representatives from the U.S. Olympic Committee. The other cities to make finalist presentations were Columbus, Ohio, and Council Bluffs, Iowa. Initially, seven cities bid to host the competition. Those cities which were not selected for finalist presentations were Greensboro, N.C.; Hampton, Va.; Oklahoma City, Okla.; and Pontiac, Mich. "We are unbelievably pleased and humbled with the response we received from cities wishing to host our most valuable event property," said USA Wrestling Executive Director Rich Bender. "We would like to thank the leaders from all three finalist cities for their outstanding presentations. We hope that all of these cities continue to be involved with USA Wrestling and host wrestling events in years to come." The initial bid proposal for the event also included the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Weightlifting. Due to a scheduling conflict, USA Weightlifting could no longer hold Trials on the selected dates and stepped out of the bid process. The event will feature competition in the three Olympic styles of the sport - men's freestyle, Greco-Roman and women's freestyle. The competition will determine the U.S. athletes who will qualify to represent the United States at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England. The local organizing committee is led by the University of Iowa Athletics and the Iowa City/Coralville Area CVB and includes leaders from the City of Iowa City, City of Coralville and City of North Liberty. Among those serving on the host committee are legendary collegiate and Olympic wrestlers Dan Gable, Tom Brands, Terry Brands, Lincoln McIlravy and Cornell College coach Mike Duroe. "I believe this is a good decision for the future of wrestling at all levels. This will help increase the visibility of our sport. I see more growth for wrestling as a result. It gets me very excited," said wrestling legend Dan Gable from the local organizing committee. "The Iowa City local organizing committee was selected based upon their proven track record of hosting large and successful wrestling events, as well as a history of drawing strong fan support," said Bender. `We are committed to working tirelessly with the organizing committee and the entire community to host the most successful U.S. Olympic Team Trials in our history." "This community is fired up to welcome our nation's best to Carver Hawkeye Arena and will come together as they have so many times to produce a Trials that is remembered for years to come," said Joshua Schamberger, President of the Iowa City/Coralville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau "Our entire community couldn't be more excited by this news. We look forward to creating an athlete and fan experience that will carry on through London." Carver-Hawkeye Arena, which is located on the University of Iowa campus, serves as the home arena for Iowa's wrestling team, as well as Iowa's basketball and volleyball squads. The arena seats 15,000 for wrestling and is named after long-time wrestling supporter Roy J. Carver. The $47 million Carver-Hawkeye Arena - Addition and Renovation Project is underway to expand and upgrade facilities, and is scheduled for completion in time for the 2011-12 athletic year. This is the first time that the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Wrestling has been hosted in Iowa since USA Wrestling has served as National Governing Body in 1984. Carver-Hawkeye Arena hosted the NCAA Div. I Wrestling Championships four times (1986, 1991, 1995, 2001). The total attendance figures for the 1995 (80,389), 2001 (79,477) and 1991 (70.163) NCAA Championships rank ninth, 11th and 15th, respectively among NCAA Wrestling Championships. It also hosted the Big Ten Wrestling Championships three times (1983, 1994, 2005). A preliminary U.S. Olympic Team Trials qualifying event for wrestling was held in Carver-Hawkeye Arena in 1984. Other major wrestling competitions held at Carver-Hawkeye Arena include two NWCA All-Star Classics (1993, 1996) and two Cliff Keen NWCA National Duals (1998, 1999). The Field House at the University of Iowa hosted the first USA Wrestling Junior National Championships in 1971, and served as venue for the competition from 1971-1982. Iowa City also hosted USA Wrestling's Greco-Roman National Championships three times (1975, 1977, 1978). Iowa City also hosted the 1983 USA Wrestling Freestyle World Team Trials. "We are thrilled and excited with this remarkable opportunity to stage an event that will have the full attention of wrestling community not only in the state of Iowa and the Heartland, but the United States and the world. We are also delighted with the opportunity to showcase the revitalized Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Rest assured, the University of Iowa, the UI Athletics Department, and our city partners are ready to stage an event that USA Wrestling will be very, very proud of," said Gary Barta, Athletics Director of the University of Iowa. U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM TRIALS FOR WRESTLING 1984 - Allendale, Mich. 1988 - Pensacola, Fla. 1992 - Pittsburgh, Pa. (FS); Concord, Calif. (GR) 1996 - Spokane, Wash. (FS); Concord, Calif.(GR) 2000 - Dallas, Texas 2004 - Indianapolis, Ind. 2008 - Las Vegas, Nev. 2012 - Iowa City, Iowa U.S. NATIONAL TEAM ALL-STAR DUAL SET FOR MARCH 17 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. 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. USA WRESTLING NATIONAL TEAM ALL-STAR DUAL LINEUPS 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) NCAA FUTURE SITES & DATES Following are the future sites, dates and hosts for the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. 2012: March 15-17 - St. Louis, Mo. - Scottrade Center Hosts: University of Missouri, St. Louis Sports Commission 2013: March 21-23 - Des Moines, Iowa - Wells Fargo Arena Host: Iowa State University 2014: March - Oklahoma City, Okla - Ford Center Host: University of Oklahoma

One week, two programs lost. One reveling in the pinnacle of athletic achievement, the other a week away from taking four grapplers to the Division I tournament. Both program's alumni and supporters are left asking themselves the same question: What could we have done? Trev Alberts' horrific timing at the University of Nebraska-Omaha and the regional impact of losing another DI program in the South have meant emotional turmoil for fans of the sport. However, while the pain seems to be reaching critical mass, the truth is that there will be more cuts this season and in 2012. The only choice now is to wisen up to what motivates the decision-makers in amateur athletics, otherwise, this is might only be the death knell of our sport. What the administrations want -- and what programs need to create -- is cash, and lots of it. Wrestling has long enjoyed tenure under what has amounted to an NCAA entitlement program. While it's arguable that the current system is too profit-based, the wrestling media can't keep repeating this refrain as though it's a solution. Like it or not, the structure of the amateur athletics has changed fundamentally and to survive the wrestling community must adapt by creating income sources for every program. Unfortunately wrestling has never created a noticeable income for the institutions who've sponsored their activities. Even so, coaches and fans have expected those schools to increase budgets, scholarship allocations and academic support. During the 90's this type of athletic entitlement worked; profits were such that football and basketball could help programs make their bottom line -- the wealthy big brothers hand-holding us down the road to financial solvency. Times have changed. NCAA member institutions have decided to operate a profit-based model with non-revenue men's program forced to fend for their own self-interest. The recent economic downturn has meant that state coffers have dried up, alumni donations are largely at a trickle and sports like wrestling provide an immediate solution.For the first time ever college coaches are forced to either generate large donations, or else create a revenue stream. Failing to do so means that individual programs are essentially playing craps with their wrestling future. One method of income creation has been to call upon powerful alumni to repair the financial standing of the programs by donating millions to endow operational budgets. For example, the Columbia University wrestling program (where I was once a coach) received $3 million in donations over the past five years - the most recent of which came three weeks ago in the form of a $1 million gift by alumni and powerful Hoboken land developers, David and Michael Barry. Though Columbia was never in danger of being cut, head wrestling coach Brendan Buckley secured the program's future by giving the university several million dollars for their athletics fund, while he and the program receive a percentage of the interest gained on investment. However, not every school has the alumni power of Columbia, Michigan or Harvard. And even if they do, not everyone is as generous as those who went to school in Morningside Heights. The UNO cuts seem to follow a second method of revenue generation by cash-strapped athletic administrations to turn their bottom line from red to black: The Stick-UP. When Bucknell and Arizona State were eliminated, they each were handed a reinstatement amount. By axing the program the AD had showed a willingness to proceed without wrestling. Should they want to keep their program, they'd have to be self-financed. Both programs were eventually reinstated through the generosity of supporters, though that generosity came with hefty one-time price tags of $5 and $8 million, respectively. While the tactics are severe, the results aren't. No athletic program is turning down an $8 million infusion of cash. Don't be fooled by the banners and NCAA commercials, amateur athletics is run by professional bureaucrats. Despite these success stories, not all programs have been able to create powerful alumni bases capable of creating millions of dollars. Fresno State, UC-Davis, and Greensboro could never hope to buy their way back to solvency. However, thanks to the Internet and increased popularity of the sport, there is a third solution available to all programs: Profitable, market-based models that protect and leverage every programs most valuable asset -- content rights. Football profits are created when stations like ESPN buy the rights to an event. The station packages the content with hot sideline reporters, splices in 120 minutes (!) of advertising with 60 minutes of action and Voila, everyone is making money. With the exception of the Big Ten Network -- who has already proved wrestling is profitable by selling content and advertising -- programs around the country are simply giving content to consumers, por gratis. It's not just a crappy business plan for individual programs, it's costing the wrestling program the financial stability it'll need to rely on to survive further cuts. Premier among the sites aggregating free content is Austin-based Flo Wrestling. Overall the company has been a benefit to the wrestling community by providing a single platform from which to access technique videos, interviews and popular individual and team matches. However, while site visitors should be able to enjoy the news-like content of the site, they should have to pay to watch a dual meet, or tournament finals. Flo isn't to blame, though. The schools aren't asking to be paid, and in a confusing logic have decided that providing free content will help improve exposure which will then translate to better recruits and more money. The evidence clearly doesn't support this model. Handing over your most valuable asset will never be profitable for those creating the content, especially if they can't control the advertising. I was recently involved in some of the back-end advertising sales for the Midlands wrestling tournament hosted by Northwestern University. The tournament, like the Greensboro-hosted Southern Scuffle, draws some of the best competition in the nation and several thousand fans to their respective arenas. While I wasn't involved in ticket sales, there was an entry fee and the school profited from parking, concession sales and even some memorabilia. Where the school didn't turn a profit was advertising sales, my department, because we couldn't get an organization like Flo to pay for the content. The common response was that the wrestling community (that's you)wouldn't pay for content. Why not? To air the semifinals, the advertising and marketing director at Northwestern asked for good chunk of change from Flo. Under a short time frame Flo said they wouldn't pay for content. Had they paid the athletics department for the access to the information and page hits, then the Wildcats would have created a direct revenue stream. In addition to the sale of the event, the Wildcat marketing department could have then sold mat and banner space to the Marine Corps or Gatorade for another couple of thousand and Flo could have thrown a small Tapout logo in the corner. Win-Win, folks. Content as rich as wrestling should never be given away. The Flo team doesn't work for free, I'm not writing this article for free -- even persons who post YouTube videos are eligible for advertising dollars. Good content comes at a cost. Keep in mind that these marketing solutions could have been applied to the Southern Scuffle. And while I recognize that $20 or $30K in revenue may not have been enough to save the UNCG program, it can at least show a fledgling athletic department that one of their programs is willing to work to protect its financial health. There are only two solutions for individual programs forced to create revenue, either receive large charitable donations or create a dependable revenue stream. The plans aren't mutually exclusive; they can combine to help save dozens of programs over the next several years. The model would require that wrestling fans pony up an extra $100 - $200 a year for matches they want to see, which is tough in a gloom-and-doom economy, but look around the front page of the Omaha.com sports section, or your friend's Facebook pages and you'll be reminded of the alternative. The wrestling community controls its own fate. We've been relevant for centuries because we've been willing to work harder than anyone else, choosing to be resilient while others simply folded. Now is the time to expand, not wilt, by showing our athletic departments that we are more than just vocal reactionaries. Let's show them that we can be forward-thinking leaders at the ready to implement business plans and secure the future of our sport. Or we can just keep rolling the dice and hope for the best. It'll never be our program ... right?

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- UNCG and Director of Athletics Kim Record announced today the elimination of the wrestling program as a part of UNCG intercollegiate athletics. Record met with the team's coaches and student-athletes earlier in the day to inform them of the decision. "The University's Strategic Plan has a goal of increasing the competitiveness, accessibility and visibility of its intercollegiate athletics program. Over the past 18 months we have considered many strategies to accomplish this goal and it became obvious that painful decisions needed to be made." said Record. "It pains us as a department that things have come to this point, but in today's economic climate, tough decisions like this are having to be made around the nation. I would like to thank Jason (Loukides) and Daren (Burns) for all of the hard work they have put into the program, and we will do whatever is possible in order to help them further themselves professionally." One major objective of UNCG's Strategic Plan is to elevate the profile of the athletic department. In order to accomplish this in the most efficient manner, limited resources must be invested wisely. The elimination of the wrestling program will result in a cost savings of approximately $308,000 annually. Additionally, the 2010-2011 state budget repealed eligibility for out-of-state students on full athletic scholarships to be classified as in-state for tuition purposes. For UNCG, this resulted in a loss of $750,000 in student-athlete scholarship funds. "This decision demonstrates that every division at the university is doing its part to share the burden of cost-saving initiatives," said UNCG Chancellor Linda P. Brady. "These decisions are especially painful when students are directly impacted." Two full-time coaches and 35 student-athletes will be directly affected by this decision. The contracts of the two coaches will be honored through June 30, 2011. The 23 student-athletes who receive scholarship funds will have their current scholarship levels honored if they choose to remain at UNCG to continue their education. For those student-athletes who wish to continue their athletics pursuits elsewhere, the university will provide assistance to them. Per NCAA guidelines, student-athletes who transfer because their athletic programs have been eliminated will be able to compete immediately upon transferring.

The University of Dubuque wrestling program crowned the schools 3rd NCAA Champion and the team placed 11th at the NCAA Championships held March 11th & 12th in LaCrosse, WI. Josh Terrell (SR) won the NCAA title at 165 pounds and Sam Johnson (SO) became an NCAA All-American with a 6th place finish at 197 pounds. Josh joins the UD Wrestling programs history of NCAA Champions with (Evan Brown - NCAA Champion in 2009 & Gene Rowell - NCAA Champion in 1973). The 11th place team finish marks the third year in a row the program has finished in the top 12 at the NCAA Championships (11th in 2011, 8th in 2010, and 11th in 2009). UD Wrestling Senior Josh Terrell of Dubuque capped his college wrestling career as a four-time NCAA All-American posting a 4-0 record at the NCAA tourney over 3 returning NCAA All-Americans and one former NCAA Champion. Josh won what could be considered on of the toughest brackets at the NCAA tourney with 8 NCAA All-Americans and 2 NCAA Champions. Josh beat returning NCAA All-American Matt Magill of (New York University) in the first round 8-0, then beat returning NCAA All-American Corey Ferguson (UW-LaCrosse) 8-2 in the quarter finals, and returning NCAA Champion Luke Miller (Ohio Northern) 4-2 in the semi-finals. Josh finishes his career as a 4X NCAA Academic All-American and 4X NCAA All-American (a rare feat in NCAA college wrestling). In the NCAA finals match, Josh used a riding time point to win the NCAA championship at 165 pounds over returning NCAA All-American Nick LeClere of Coe College in the finals. Sam Johnson finished his sophomore as an NCAA All-American posting wins over Alex Fleet of (Trine), Tony Willaert (St. Johns), and William Mulligan (Johnson and Wales) before losing a close 3-0 match to returning NCAA runner-up Ryan Malo of Williams College ad #7 NCAA Seeded Adam Latella of WI Whitewater 6-8. For the 3rd year in row the University of Dubuque wrestling program finished in the top 12 in the nation. UD finished in 11th place only a 1.5 point difference from Elmhurst to just fall short of a top ten NCAA team finish. A list of the top 15 NCAAA team finishes were: Team Scores 1. Wartburg 117, 2. Augsburg 88.5, 3. UW-La Crosse 76.5, 4. Ithaca 72.5, 5. Coe 67, 6. St. John’s (Minn.) 64.5, 7. Concordia-Moorhead 52. 8 (tie). Merchant Marine Academy & Mount Union 37, 10. Elmhurst 32, ****11. Dubuque 30.5, **** 12. Ohio Northern 29.5, 13. Centenary 24.5, 14. SUNY-Cortland 23, 15. York College (Pa.) 22.5 The UD Wrestling program sent three wrestlers to the NCAA tourney for the second year in a row and came home with 2 NCAA All-Americans. Ryan Warczynski (SO) fell short of becoming an NCAA All-American after falling to the #2 NCAA seed Orlando Ponce first round and then in the consolation wrestle backs 5-3 to Michael Letcher (Ohio Northern). Ryan is a 2X NCAA Qualifier for the Spartan wrestling program and brings a lot of NCAA tourney experience to the program for the next two years. In addition the University of Dubuque Wrestling team placed 6th nationally putting them in the NCAA top 10 as an NCAA Academic Scholar Team for the third time for the program. They were 2nd in 2005 and 5th in 2006. Top 20 NCAA Academic Scholar Team Finishes: 1) Johnson & Wales 2) Williams College 3) Stevens Institute of Technology 4) Weselyn University 5) Augsburg College 6 University of Dubuque **** 7) Thiel College 8) McDaniel College 9) Springfield College 10) Olivet College 11) Cenetery COllege 11) University of Wisconsin Osh Kosh 12) York College 13) Wilkes College 14) Mount Union 15) Rochester Institute of Technology 16) Heidelbeurg College 17) Roger Williams 18) New York University 19) Suny College of Oneonta 20) Wabash College

125: No. 1 Anthony Robles (Arizona State) over No. 3 Brandon Precin (Northwestern) Robles won't be denied! He beats Precin, who beats McDonough in the semis. 133: No. 3 Andrew Long (Penn State) over No. 1 Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) Cael follower Long pulls mild upset in the finals over Oliver. 141: No. 1 Kellen Russell (Michigan) over No. 3 Boris Novachkov (Cal Poly) Russell caps off undefeated season with NCAA title by beating a game Novachkov. 149: No. 2 Frank Molinaro (Penn State) over No. 4 Kyle Dake (Cornell) I have been impressed with Molinaro all season. He avenges his loss to Dake for the belt. 157: No. 3 David Taylor (Penn State) over No. 1 Adam Hall (Boise State) Why would Taylor stop here? He won't. He gets major over Hall. Bubba Jenkins ... Maybe. 165: No. 1 Jordan Burroughs (Nebraska) over No. 2 Andrew Howe (Wisconsin) Future Hodge Trophy winner Burroughs upends Howe to finish season unbeaten. 174: No. 1 Jon Reader (Iowa State) over No. 2 Ed Ruth (Penn State) Will Ruth complete the freshman two-teamer? Nope. He loses to Cyclone Reader. 184: No. 1 Chris Honeycutt (Edinboro) over No. 2 Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) It's Edinboro over Lehigh in the finals. Honeycutt edges Hamlin. 197: No. 2 Clayton Foster (Oklahoma State) over No. 5 Luke Lofthouse (Iowa) Foster becomes Oklahoma State's lone champion, beating a Hawkeye in the finals, after Oliver falters. 285: No. 1 Zach Rey (Lehigh) over No. 3 Ryan Flores (American) Rey sticks Flores to win the title. Top Five Teams: 1. Penn State 2. Iowa 3. Wisconsin 4. Cornell 5. Minnesota

125: No. 1 Anthony Robles (Arizona State) over No. 2 Matt McDonough (Iowa) Much has been debated on blogs across the wrestling nation about the "fairness" of Robles in this weight class due to his upper body strength advantage. Regardless of where you land in the discussion, if you watch him wrestle and listen to him in interviews, you cannot help but admire and be inspired by the guy. Total domination is about the only way to describe his season! McDonough is the defending national champion and has had the kind of season that could have easily earned him the No. 1 seed as well. (See article) The semifinals should end up with two storylines: The undefeated Robles against undefeated No. 4 James Nicholson (Old Dominion) and the fourth match of the year between McDonough and No. 3 Brandon Precin (Northwestern). 133: No. 1 Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) over No. 3 Andrew Long (Penn State) This is one of the more difficult weight classes to predict in my opinion. The top five or six are all very close and this should lead to some excellent matchups in the quarterfinals. How does Oliver vs. Devin Carter, Ruggirello vs. Graff, Long vs. Ramos and Hochstrasser vs. Futrell/Peterkin strike you? Long has looked very good in his shortened season and the final should be a good one! 141: No. 1 Kellen Russell (Michigan) over No. 2 Mike Thorn (Minnesota) This weight class should be worth the price of admission alone from the quarterfinals on! Kellen Russell has made me a believer this year with three wins over Thorn, three wins Alton, two over Kennedy (one by pin) and a win over both Marion and Novachkov. I think he and Thorn will square off one more time in the final but there should be some great match ups in the preceding rounds. Montell Marion (Iowa) and Zach Kemmerer (Penn) in the quarterfinals should be action packed and the upset watch should be on high alert in this round when Matt Bonson (Lock Haven) toes the line with No.3 Novachkov. (For other potential bracket busters, check out article) 149: No. 2 Frank Molinaro (Penn State) over No. 4 Kyle Dake (Cornell) I may be completely wrong about the No. 1 seed Darrion Caldwell from North Carolina State, but I do not think he is in top form heading into the national tournament. He is undefeated in an injury-shortened season and has been dominant against inferior competition, but has not looked as good against better wrestlers. In the ACC tournament, he took injury time in both of his matches, was cautioned multiple times for stalling and gave up a stalling point with the clock stopped in the final against Derek Valenti (Virginia). Given that this is the same guy that nobody expected to be able to hang with Brent Metcalf two years ago, it may sound far-fetched to hear my prediction of No. 9 Donny Vinson (Binghamton) pulling the upset in the quarterfinals. I see the semifinals as Dake avenging an earlier loss to Vinson and Molinaro edging No. 3 Kevin LeValley (Bucknell). 157: No. 3 David Taylor (Penn State) over No. 1 Adam Hall (Boise State) Wow! Just when you thought the tournament couldn't get any better, along comes the 157-pound weight class. Three undefeated wrestlers and another two or three that have legitimate shots at the title! You could argue all day about which of the three without a loss has had the tougher schedule, but this is going to get settled on the mat! I expect Taylor and No. 2 Steve Fittery (American) to cruise into a semifinal showdown on the bottom half of the draw. Taylor has been unstoppable all season and has hardly been pushed, but he has not wrestled anyone that can compare to Fittery. That said, I have had the David Taylor Kool-Aid and expect him to follow in his coach's footsteps as a four-time NCAA champ. I am predicting a small wrinkle in the top half with No. 5 Jesse Dong (Virginia Tech) upsetting No. 4 Bubba Jenkins (Arizona State). Dong has only three losses all season with one of them a meaningless forfeit to team-mate Pete Yates, another to Taylor by decision (at the time the only wrestler to not lose by bonus points) and a "head scratcher" to Corey Mock (North Carolina). 165: No. 1 Jordan Burroughs (Nebraska) over No. 3 Tyler Caldwell (Oklahoma) Burroughs will finish the season 36-0 and win the title but will have a great semifinal match against No. 4 Josh Asper (Maryland). The other semi-final will also be a tight one with Caldwell edging No. 2 Andrew Howe (Wisconsin). Caldwell wrestled part of the season at 174 with losses against top tier guys Mack Lewnes (Cornell) and Colby Covington (Oregon State). Two of his three losses at 165 came to Burroughs with the last by a 2-1 score. 174: No. 2 Ed Ruth (Penn State) over No. 1 Jonathan Reader (Iowa State) Ruth got everyone's attention at the Southern Scuffle by beating then No. 1 Mack Lewnes (Cornell) and No. 2 Chris Henrich (Virginia). His only loss in 33 matches came to the current ACC champion Mike Letts (Maryland). I expect the semis to be Reader vs. No. 5 Henrich and Ruth vs. No. 3 Lewnes. 184: No. 4 Travis Rutt (Wisconsin) over No. 2 Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) I have Rutt getting to the final by way of a victory over No. 9 Quentin Wright (Penn State), who has been hot and cold this season but was hot in winning the Big 10 and seemed to be wrestling with a lot of confidence. He will upset No. 1 Chris Honeycutt (Edinboro) in the quarterfinals but, Rutt will get revenge for his loss to Wright in the Big 10 tournament. Hamlin will beat No. 3 Steve Bosak (Cornell) for the third time this season in the other semifinal before facing Rutt, who he lost to by one point in their regular season match. 197: No. 1 Cam Simaz (Cornell) over No. 3 Trevor Brandvold (Wisconsin) Simaz will beat the winner of the quarterfinal matchup between No. 5 Luke Lofthouse (Iowa) and No. 4 Dustin Kilgore (Kent State). I see Brandvold having a fairly straightforward road to his semifinal matchup with No. 2 Clayton Foster (Oklahoma State) who is also undefeated. Ultimately, Simaz wins the final due to his edge in quickness and athleticism. 285: No. 1 Zachery Rey (Lehigh) over No. 3 Ryan Flores (American) After not having a national champion since Troy Letters in 2004 (now an assistant with Penn State), Lehigh gets its second of the night. Rey reaches the final by defeating No. 4 D. J Russo (Rutgers). Flores beats No. 7 Blake Rasing (Iowa) in the bottom half of the draw. Top Five Teams: 1. Penn State 2. Cornell 3. Iowa 4. Wisconsin 5. Oklahoma State

125: No. 2 Matt McDonough (Iowa) over No. 1 Anthony Robles (Arizona State) Returning champ McDonough successfully defends his title and ends Cinderella season by Robles. 133: No. 1 Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) over No. 2 Andrew Hochstrasser (Boise State) Oliver has won by at least a major decision in 21 of his 24 matches this year. He beat Hochstrasser 5-2 a month ago. Expect a similar result when they meet in the finals. 141: No. 1 Kellen Russell (Michigan) over No.3 Boris Navochkov (Cal Poly) Russell finally gets over the hump and wins his first NCAA title. 149: No. 4 Kyle Dake (Cornell) over No. 2 Frank Molinaro (Penn State) Dake defeats an out-of-shape and disinterested Caldwell in the semis and has no problem beating Molinaro in the finals. Don't lose. 157: No. 3 David Taylor (Penn State) over No. 4 Bubba Jenkins (Arizona State) Freshman phenom and Cael-clone Taylor is too much for super talented Jenkins. Bad blood between Jenkins and former coach Sanderson will make for an interesting storyline. 165: No. 1 Jordan Burroughs (Nebraska) over No. 2 Andrew Howe (Wisconsin) Burroughs wins battle of two former national champions. Burroughs is too athletic for Pritzlaff protégé. 174: No. 3 Mack Lewnes (Cornell) over No. 1 Jon Reader (Iowa State) Lewnes rebounds from disappointing performance in Omaha and wins first NCAA title. 184: No. 4 Travis Rutt (Wisconsin) over No. 7 Chris Perry (Oklahoma State) Perry falls in footsteps of older brother Mark by peaking at the right time but hungry Badger Rutt wins wide-open weight class. 197: No. 1 Cam Simaz (Cornell) over No. 2 Clayton Foster (Oklahoma State) Simaz comes through and wins title for the Big Red, but it's not enough to catch Iowa in the team race. 285: No. 1 Zach Rey (Lehigh) over No. 3 Ryan Flores (American) Rey has been the benefactor of tremendous coaching throughout his high school and college career. He avenges first and only loss of the season by defeating Flores to win his first NCAA title. Top Five Teams: 1. Iowa 2. Cornell 3. Penn State 4. Oklahoma State 5. Minnesota

125: No. 1 Anthony Robles (Arizona State) over No. 3 Brandon Precin (Northwestern) This is top-heavy weight class, with any of the top three seeds capable of taking home the championship. I'll take Robles who has to be a feel-good story by any standard. 133: No. 2 Andrew Hochstrasser (Boise State) over No. 4 Tyler Graff (Wisconsin) Hochstrasser, who is one of those wrestles who seems to have been around forever, wins this tough weight class over Graff, who takes out Oliver in the semis. 141: No. 2 Mike Thorn (Minnesota) over No. 4 Jimmy Kennedy (Illinois) This has to be the toughest weight class in the tournament, with no fewer than six realistic winners. While Russell has been No. 1 most of the year, his close matches catch up with him against Kennedy, who seems to be in his 10th year at Illinois. 149: No. 1 Darrion Caldwell (North Carolina State) over No. 6 Jason Chamberlain (Boise State) Some have said that Caldwell has lost a step due to his shortened season. Even with a supposed step lost he is the class of this field, while Chamberlain sneaks in as a relative surprise finalist. 157: No. 3 David Taylor (Penn State) over No. 4 Bubba Jenkins (Arizona State) Young David Taylor is the new "Next Cael," with wrestling fans around the country drooling at his gaudy stats. He will prove them right at the Big Dance, outlasting the game Jenkins in the finals. 165: No. 1 Jordan Burroughs (Nebraska) over No. 2 Andrew Howe (Wisconsin) This is another top-heavy weight class, with Burroughs and Howe in a class by themselves. The only real challenge should be on Burroughs' side, where he will have to go through Colt Sponseller to reach the finals. Howe's health will be the biggest question on his end. 174: No. 3 Mack Lewnes (Cornell) over No. 1 Jon Reader (Iowa State) Seasoned veteran Lewnes will have to overcome the dangerous Ed Ruth on his side of the bracket, while Reader should "waltz" into the finals (waltzing being relative in the NCAA tournament). 184: No. 4 Travis Rutt (Wisconsin) over No. 3 Steve Bosak (Cornell) While 141 might be the toughest weight in the tournament, 184 appears to be the most wide-open. The big x-factor here is the health of Kirk Smith who, when 100%, would be the odds-on favorite. But reports on his health haven't been positive, and Smith wouldn't seem to be a big factor. 197: No. 1 Cam Simaz (Cornell) over No. 3 Trevor Brandvold (Wisconsin) The most intriguing match of this weight might be the potential semifinal with Brandvold and Clayton Foster locking horns. Simaz has the dangerous Dustin Kilgore and Luke Lofthouse on his half, but should persevere. 285: No. 5 Dom Bradley (Missouri) over No. 3 Ryan Flores (American) There isn't a true standout in the big boys division this year, although some of the top heavies have had good seasons. Bradley closes out the show with a hard-fought victory over Flores. Top Five Teams: 1. Cornell 2. Penn State 3. Minnesota 4. Iowa 5. Wisconsin

125: No. 2 Matt McDonough (Iowa) over No. 1 Anthony Robles (Arizona State) Meat grinder of a season should have McDonough ready for this stage. 133: No. 1 Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) over No. 3 Andrew Long (Penn State) Obvious credentials, but Cowboy staff always has their top guys ready at tournament time. 141: No. 1 Kellen Russell (Michigan) over No. 7 Tyler Nauman (Pitt) I can't find a reason not to like the Wolverine's chances. He hasn't given anyone any reason to doubt him. 149: No. 2 Frank Molinaro (Penn State) over No. 1 Darrion Caldwell (North Carolina State) Caldwell has the history, but even though the defending champ is undefeated, Molinaro may have actually had the better year. 157: No. 1 Adam Hall (Boise State) over No. 3 David Taylor (Penn State) I have been really impressed with PSU’s Taylor, but in the end the experience of Hall wins out. 165: No. 1 Jordan Burroughs (Nebraska) over No. 2 Andrew Howe (Wisconsin) Tough to pick against Howe, but I like Burroughs' draw better. 174: No. 3 Mack Lewnes (Cornell) over No. 1 Jon Reader (Iowa State) Not all No. 1 and No. 2 seeds are going to win. I have a hunch 174 will be one of those that doesn't go by the book. 184: No. 4 Travis Rutt (Wisconsin) over No. 7 Chris Perry (Oklahoma State) See my comments for 174. Rutt lost in the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament, but came back to finish a strong third. I look for him to carry that momentum through the NCAAs. 197: No. 2 Clayton Foster (Oklahoma State) over No. 1 Cam Simaz (Cornell) This class has a number of possible champions, but I like Foster and the Cowboy coaching staff. 285: No. 4 D.J. Russo (Rutgers) over No. 2 Jarod Trice (Central Michigan) No one in the 285-pound class -- aside from maybe No. 1 seed Rey -- stands out this year. A number of guys could win it. Top Five Teams: 1. Iowa 2. Penn State 3. Cornell 4. Oklahoma State 5. Wisconsin

125: No. 3 Brandon Precin (Northwestern) over No. 1 Anthony Robles (Arizona State) Precin gets revenge on his Big Ten rival McDonough before winning in his first national championship appearance. 133: No. 1 Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma St.) over No. 3 Andrew Long (Penn State) Oliver has beaten all comers this season, so no reason to think he can't take down former Big 12 wrestler Long. 141: No. 4 Jimmy Kennedy (Illinois) over No. 7 Tyler Naumann (Pitt) Coming off a redshirt season, Kennedy's only losses has been to Russell this season. He gets over the hump in the semis before beating another surprise finalist in the championship. 149: No. 1 Darrion Caldwell (NC State) over No. 3 Kevin LeValley (Bucknell) Caldwell wins yet another national championship with an explosive and exciting title match performance. 157: No. 2 Steve Fittery (American) over No. 1 Adam Hall (Boise State) Fittery caps off a dominant season with a win in the title match of perhaps the most competitive weight class in the country at the top. 165: No. 1 Jordan Burroughs (Nebraska) over No. 2 Andrew Howe (Wisconsin) The match that everyone wants to see ends the same way it did at the Midlands: With Burroughs wearing down Howe in a high-scoring affair. 174: No. 1 Jon Reader (Iowa State) over No. 3 Mack Lewnes (Cornell) Reader has owed this weight class all season, and beats Lewnes for a second time to take the title. 184: No. 5 Joe LeBlanc (Wyoming) over No. 4 Travis Rutt (Wisconsin) LeBlanc "cowboys up" and takes out a Big Ten rival in one of the most wide open weight classes in Philly. 197: No. 3 Trevor Brandvold (Wisconsin) over No. 4 Dustin Kilgore (Kent State) Another wide open weight class sees the Big Ten champ continue his winning ways to help the Badgers get Top 5. 285: No. 5 Dom Bradley (Missouri) over No. 3 Jarod Trice (Central Michigan) Perhaps the biggest upset of the tournament sees Bradley knock off Rey, then down Trice in a mild upset for the national championship. Top Five Teams: 1. Oklahoma State 2. Cornell 3. Iowa 4. Penn State 5. Wisconsin

125: No. 1 Anthony Robles (Arizona State) over No. 2 Matt McDonough (Iowa) Let me set up the Hollywood script. It's late in the third period, Robles is in the top position and has just erased riding time as they roll out of bounds. McDonough gives Robles a hard (but legal) shove as the whistle blows. You can hear Brands yelling in the background as Robles looks up to his mom in the crowd. She whispers "You can do it" as he makes his way back to the center. The camera cuts to an Iowa fan spitting tobacco into a cup. With 15 seconds to go, Robles gets a funky roll for the win as the time runs out. The crowd goes crazy and the camera pans to the crowd as a Kings of Leon rock ballad kicks in. 133: No. 1 Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) over No. 3 Andrew Long (Penn State) A weight with Mike Grey as the No. 8 seed and Scotti Sentes as the No. 11 seed obviously deep. Having said that, Oliver has all of the tools to dominate this weight class. He is fast, physical, and is technically sound. Look for Andrew Long to repeat his finals performance, but be outclassed and majored by Oliver. 141: No. 4 Jimmy Kennedy (Illinois) over No. 6 Andrew Alton (Penn State) Andrew Alton has had a great true freshman season, and right now he is preparing in the wrestling room with guys that are as talented as the guys at this weight class. Kennedy is a veteran that will work his way through a few sudden death victories to find himself in the finals. This is another very difficult weight class with a ton of talent. 149: No. 5 Jamal Parks (Oklahoma) over No. 2 Frank Molinaro (Penn State) Hypothesis 1: Caldwell has not gotten enough burn against top competition this year. Hypothesis 2: Parks has the talent and natural ability to hang with DC. The message board questions are going to come up after this tourney on whether Caldwell's 14 matches over two years were the reason why he didn't win it. 157: No. 3 David Taylor (Penn State) over No. 1 Adam Hall (Boise State) This weight class has a lot of intrigue that has already been discussed at length. To be honest, I am most interested in the results of my boy James Fleming. I am more fixated on his turn than I am on who Kristin Cavallari is dating ... and that is saying a lot. 165: No. 1 Jordan Burroughs (Nebraska) over No. 2 Andrew Howe (Wisconsin) As my uncle Jim would say, when Burroughs and Howe meet ... you can throw out the record books! My only concern with Burroughs is that he has teched and pinned so many of his opponents that he may not be able to hang with the slow, boring seven-minute pace of Howe. The winner of this weight is the likely OW winner. 174: No. 3 Mack Lewnes (Cornell) over No. 1 Jon Reader (Iowa State) Lewnes is finally working from an underdog position, which sets up perfectly for him. I expect him to beat Ruth in the semifinals and take down Reader in a 5-2 match in the finals. Experience and my 20+ years of breaking down brackets has taught me that you can't back a No. 1 seed that didn't AA the year before. Count on Reader at your own risk. 184: No. 11 Kirk Smith (Boise State) over No. 8 Kevin Steinhaus (Minnesota) This weight is the key to Penn State having a chance at the title going into Saturday. Unfortunately, it is likely that Kevin Steinhaus will take down Quentin Wright in the second round. Kirk Smith is very talented and should be able to control this weight class. He has had a tough year that will be quickly made up for in the championship weekend. Look for Smith to pull Boise State into the top four. 197: No. 4 Dustin Kilgore (Kent State) over No. 3 Trevor Brandvold (Wisconsin) Dustin Kilgore has basically worked over most of the competition this year. 26 of his 33 wins have been major decisions or better. His only losses were Micah Burak, who is on the other side of the bracket, and Cayle Byers who is no longer in the picture (but will be for Iowa next year). Kilgore is a future two-time national champion who will make Kent State proud. 285: No. 1 Zach Rey (Lehigh) over No. 2 Jarod Trice (Central Michigan) Heavyweights and white singlets are not a good combination. For the sake of all of the fans tuning in for the finals on ESPN, let's hope that Lehigh leaves the "championship singlets" at home. The future TV rating of our sport depends on it.

125: No. 2 Matt McDonough (Iowa) over No. 1 Anthony Robles (Arizona State) The wide open nature of the 2011 NCAA tournament in Philadelphia is shown in this opening weight class, where McDonough returns to defend his title and is not even the top seed. Five other wrestlers with All-American histories join him in this weight class. That top seed is Robles, an awesome human interest story, and he has an extremely manageable path to the final. On the other hand, McDonough has to navigate through the only wrestler to beat him this season -- Brandon Precin (Northwestern) -- in the semifinal round; Precin also has the highest placement among any wrestler other than McDonough. 133: No. 1 Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) over No. 3 Andrew Long (Penn State) Through the course of this season, Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) has been the dominant figure with an undefeated record and convincing wins over his rivals. In fact, it can be argued that he is one of the clearer favorites this coming week. Life will not be easy as 2008 All-American Mike Grey (Cornell) could be his quarterfinal opponent, while returning All-American Tyler Graff (Wisconsin) is a possible semifinal matchup. The lower half of this draw features two of the key x-factors in the team title race, with Andrew Long (Penn State) and Tony Ramos (Iowa) possibly meeting in the quarterfinal round -- that presumes Ramos gets past 2009 All-American Scotti Sentes (Central Michigan) in the second round. With the way Long has been wrestling since stepping on the mat in Happy Valley -- he was runner-up at 125 pounds last year while competing for Iowa State -- I have a hard time seeing him losing prior to the final, and that also includes a potential semifinal bout against 2009 All-American Andrew Hochstrasser (Boise State). 141: No. 1 Kellen Russell (Michigan) over No. 2 Mike Thorn (Minnesota) There are more returning All-Americans in this bracket then there are All-American slots to be given out this year (ten vs. eight). However, the standout wrestler of the season has been Kellen Russell (Michigan), who is undefeated and earned titles at Las Vegas, the Southern Scuffle, and Big Ten tournaments. That said, regular season success has not been a precursor to postseason performance for Russell in his past two tournament runs -- seeded third in 2008, he lost in the round of 12; while seeded first in 2009, he settled for seventh. Even with a tough path to the final -- Michael Mangrum (Oregon State), Zach Bailey (Oklahoma), and then either Montell Marion (Iowa) or Jimmy Kennedy (Illinois) -- I like Russell to be wrestling on Saturday night and earn the title. The easier (a very relative term) lower half of the draw, with only three All-Americans, is anchored by Thorn -- though he is looking at a quarterfinal against Tyler Nauman (Pittsburgh), a semifinalist last year. The other quarter of this half is the softest of the four with freshman sensation Andrew Alton (Penn State) and returning All-American Boris Novochkov (Cal Poly). One could say this is a draw that Alton must capitalize on for Penn State to win the team title. 149: No. 2 Frank Molinaro (Penn State) over No. 4 Kyle Dake (Cornell) Oh the odds one could have gotten at the beginning of the year on the championship match not being 2010 NCAA champion Dake against 2009 NCAA champion Darrion Caldwell (North Carolina State). However, that match can now only happen in the semifinal round. Dake's loss in the EIWA final has to concern Cornell fans, though the draw is rather manageable -- only a quarterfinal against Jamal Parks (Oklahoma State) would be a legit concern. On the other hand, Caldwell has two very potentially dangerous matches prior to the semifinal round -- projected to be with Eric Grajales (Michigan) and Ganayar Sanjaa (American). Molinaro has become something of a cult sensation due to the "Gorilla Hulk" moniker from the Flowrestling previews of Cliff Fretwell and Lee Roper. His performance is one of many x-factors that could propel the Nittany Lions to an NCAA title this weekend. 157: No. 3 David Taylor (Penn State) over No. 4 Bubba Jenkins (Arizona State) Why is the nation so fascinated with a redshirt freshman, who is a No. 3 seed at the NCAA tournament, and has not beaten an NCAA All-American this season?! Let me name you the reasons: a 34-0 record overall this season; a 16-0 mark against NCAA qualifiers; a 9-0 record against the six seeded opponents he has faced; and the fact he has earned a pin, major, or technical fall in all but two matches this year. Having seen Taylor ever since he was an undersized freshman at 103 pounds, and even before that in junior high, I've learned that picking against him is an absurd position to take. However, this is the weight class with a top four that has the wrestling nation in a tizzy. The semifinal involving Taylor and returning All-American Steve Fittery (American), both of whom are undefeated, could light the scoreboards up like Vegas. The other half of the draw features a fourth meeting between returning third placer Adam Hall (Boise State) and 2009 NCAA runner-up Bubba Jenkins (Arizona State); Jenkins won at the NWCA All-Star Classic, while Hall has won the last two meetings. Look for Taylor to replicate his mentor Cael Sanderson as an undefeated redshirt freshman with a finals victory over Jenkins that will have lots of drama on and off the mat. 165: No. 1 Jordan Burroughs (Nebraska) over No. 2 Andrew Howe (Wisconsin) Unlike Caldwell and Dake, this much hyped matchup between NCAA champions will happen in the championship round on the raised mat Saturday evening. When the two wrestlers met at the Midlands in late December, Burroughs emerged as champion with a dominant performance in the neutral position. After sitting out last year, 2009 NCAA champion Burroughs has set himself to be a legit candidate for the Hodge Trophy as the nation's most dominant wrestler. 2010 champion Howe will be a game finals opponent, but having to sit out over a month late in the season does not help his cause. 174: No. 3 Mack Lewnes (Cornell) over No. 1 Jon Reader (Iowa State) After earning All-American honors the first two years of his collegiate career, Reader had a very disappointing national tournament -- he lost in the opening round and then in the round of 12, failing to earn a spot on the podium. However, Reader has been a total buzz saw this year entering the national tournament with an undefeated record. The half of the draw opposite Reader features dynamite redshirt freshman Ed Ruth (Penn State) plus a trio of returning All-Americans. Look for two-time All-American Lewnes to avenge his Southern Scuffle loss to Ruth in the semifinal, a potentially key match for the team standings. Then, Lewnes is my pick to avenge his other loss of this season, with a victory over Reader to earn a championship that has been at least one year in the waiting. 184: No. 5 Joe LeBlanc (Wyoming) over No. 7 Chris Perry (Oklahoma State) Here's how unpredictable and wide open this weight is -- the guidance of the office secretary that picks based on names and uniform colors carries just as much weight as that of the many respected wrestling pundits that will provide an opinion on this weight class. The two most talented wrestlers in this weight are nowhere near full health -- 2009 All-American Quentin Wright (Penn State) and returning national runner-up Kirk Smith (Boise State). Even being nowhere near 100 percent, Smith has a golden opportunity given that he is the lone All-American in his half of the draw. However, my pick in that half is for the redshirt freshman Perry to go on a magical run to help the Cowboys in the wide open team race. Looking for a champion, my pick is two-time All-American LeBlanc, whom I like to clear the somewhat tougher top half of the draw. 197: No. 4 Dustin Kilgore (Kent State) over No. 2 Clayton Foster (Oklahoma State) Like the prior weight, this one is also wide open. The top half of the draw features three returning All-Americans, including the highest returning placer in this weight class -- Cam Simaz (Cornell), who placed third at this weight class last year. Simaz is looking at a quarterfinal against fellow All-American Sonny Yohn (Minnesota), before a semifinal date against yet another All-American in Kilgore. The Simaz vs. Kilgore match should be one of the many very entertaining matches of the tournament, and one that is friendly for a television audience. The lower half of the draw is dominated by a pair of undefeated wrestlers that took sixth last year at nationals -- Foster and Trevor Brandvold (Wisconsin). Foster, like Simaz in this weight, is a high profile figure that plays a key role in the team race. 285: No. 5 Dom Bradley (Missouri) over No. 2 Jarod Trice (Central Michigan) Unfortunately after the last couple years with heavyweight being dominated by more mobile wrestlers that open up matches, the top names this year are what this weight class is more known for -- low scoring matches that are very close to the vest. Therefore, that makes it a prognostication nightmare because matches can be decided by so precious little. Top Five Teams: 1. Penn State 2. Cornell 3. Oklahoma State 4. Iowa 5. Minnesota

The 2011 NCAA Division I Championships begin this Thursday with one of the most interesting team races in recent history. Three schools appear to be neck and neck and neck on paper: Cornell, Iowa and Penn State. Cornell and Penn State tied for first place at the Southern Scuffle, and Penn State defeated Iowa at the Big Ten tournament by a single point. All three teams have done an excellent job of strengthening their lineups throughout the season. Andrew Long and Quentin Wright of Penn State, Montell Marion of Iowa and Mike Grey and Kyle Dake of Cornell missed significant portions of their schools' schedules, but all are poised to be significant point-scorers for their team's respective run at the championship. Moreover, all three teams have excelled in the development of some of their non-heralded names into wrestlers who have piled up impressive wins throughout the season and can continue to rack up wins in Philadelphia. In November, it felt like no weight class was a lock. This has resulted in marquee matchups throughout the season in which predictions were sharply divided, most notably, the Midlands final between NCAA champs Jordan Burroughs of Nebraska and Andrew Howe of Wisconsin. But perhaps the rivalry that best typifies this season has been the one between Bubba Jenkins of Arizona State and Adam Hall of Boise State. On Nov. 21, Bubba Jenkins won a lopsided 12-4 victory. Less than two weeks later, Hall defeated Jenkins in overtime of the finals of the Cliff Keen Invitational. The drastic difference in results and the unpredictability of outcomes -- both in individual matchups, team dual meets and team tournaments has turned the phrase "that's why they wrestle the matches" into a cliché for the past five months. It's been a season that saw Cornell win the National Duals with a two starters missing from the lineup only to then get upset by Lehigh, one that has seen Virginia Tech defeat Oklahoma State and Wisconsin in consecutive duals only to then lose to Rutgers and one that saw Penn State take over the No. 1 ranking only to then lose big to Iowa. Because of this parity, a great number of schools and individuals have had high points throughout the season. Few would argue that what happens for three days this week is what matters most. There is no reason to believe that the momentum of unpredictability won't continue. That said, predictions must be made ... 125: No. 1 Anthony Robles (Arizona State) over No. 2 Matt McDonough (Iowa) McDonough's greatest skill has been his remarkable ability to finish leg attacks from an extended position. One of the bigger questions of the tournament is if he will be able to do that against a unique opponent like Robles. McDonough is 2-1 against Brandon Precin of Northwestern and Precin was 1-1 against Robles in the NCAA tournament two years ago, which makes the weight a three man race on paper. 133: No. 1 Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) over No. 2 Andrew Hotchstrasser (Boise State) In what is arguably the deepest weight class in the tournament, Oliver has proven himself to be No. 1 with two solid-but-close wins over the very aggressive and inventive Hotchstrasser. These two are the favorites to make the finals but the 3-8 placers are all up for grabs as a very talented field has been beating each other up all season long. 141: No. 1 Kellen Russell (Michigan) over No. 3 Boris Novachkov (Cal Poly) Kellen "The Gyro" Russell has been exceptional all season long. Two things have made him stand out from the field -- his ability to make last-second adjustments even in dangerous situations, and, more importantly how dynamic those adjustments are. Terms like "Great balance" and "great hips" don't do justice to the natural and developed abilities of Russell. Novachkov has exhibited remarkable defensive skills all season long and makes himself nearly impossible to score on. A brilliantly deceptive takedown by Rusell in the finals at Vegas was the only difference between these two. 149: No. 1 Darrion Caldwell (North Carolina State) over No. 2 Frank Molinaro (Penn State) The only uncertainty here is how fully Caldwell has recovered from a shoulder injury. He's won all 14 matches this season but hasn't seen the top competitors in the field. Anything resembling a normal performance from Caldwell should see him at the top of the podium, but shoulder injuries can be difficult to recover from. 157: No. 3 David Taylor (Penn State) over No. 4 Bubba Jenkins (Arizona State) It is VERY unusual to have three athletes enter the NCAA tournament undefeated, but Adam Hall of Boise State, Steve Fittery of American , and freshman David Taylor of Penn State have done just that. Moreover, the field contains former NCAA finalist and freestyle Junior World champion Bubba Jenkins as the No. 4 seed. All four have very different styles and the interest factor in the semifinals should be sky-high. 165: No. 1 Jordan Burroughs (Nebraska) over No. 2 Andrew Howe (Wisconsin) It is still unclear how healed Andrew Howe is from a hamstring injury suffered in January, but winning a third Big Ten title without showing any obvious problems certainly forces one to give him the benefit of the doubt to make the finals. The Midlands final between Burroughs and Howe met all the hype. Burroughs shot out to an early lead with two takedowns in the first period, but one could see Howe making adjustments as the match went on. If Howe were able to avenge the loss, it would not be the biggest surprise of the tournament. 174: No. 1 Jon Reader (Iowa State) over No. 3 Mack Lewnes (Cornell) Lewnes is sure to make adjustments from his loss to Penn State freshman Ed Ruth, who has been incredible all season long. 184: No. 2 Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) over No. 8 Kevin Steinhaus (Minnesota) Easily the most balanced weight class in the tournament. The placement on the podium will be based simply on who shows up to wrestle and how hungry they are each round. 197: No. 1 Cam Simaz (Cornell) over No. 3 Trevor Brandvold (Wisconsin) Simaz has shown the ability to both blow matches open and win tight matches. His gas tank makes him fun to watch and his dynamic style keeps fans on the edge of their seats. Simaz's only loss was to No. 4 seed Dustin Kilgore of Kent State in what was easily one of the best matches of the season. A semifinal rematch would undoubtedly yield the same type of excitement. The bottom of the bracket has two undefeated wrestlers: Brandvold and Clayton Foster of Oklahoma State. Both have been impressive. 285: No. 1 Zach Rey (Lehigh) over No. 7 Blake Raising (Iowa) As the saying goes, "Anything can happen at heavyweight," but the podium should see No. 1 seed Rey at the top after a close conference finals loss. Raising looked solid at the Big Tens, winning against a deep field. Cameron Wade of Penn State took a disappointing fifth at the Big Tens, but could easily outperform his No. 9 seed. Top Five Teams: 1. Cornell 2. Iowa 3. Penn State 4. Oklahoma State 5. Minnesota

125: No. 1 Anthony Robles (Arizona State) over No. 3 Brandon Precin (Northwestern) These two met two seasons ago in the quarterfinals and again for third place with Robles coming out on top in their first meeting, 9-0, but Precin getting the second meeting. It's difficult to know what these semifinals will produce but given the recent domination of Robles, it might just be the storybook ending many in the wrestling community have been waiting to witness. 133: No. 1 Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) over No. 2 Andrew Hochstrasser (Boise State) With the weight issues resolved there is nothing stopping Oliver from making good on his top seed. These two had an exciting first two matches, with Oliver winning the NWCA All-Star Classic, 8-7, and the February dual meet, 5-2. 141: No. 1 Kellen Russell (Michigan) over No. 2 Mike Thorn (Minnesota) Russell hasn't lost all season and with a style that both negates opponents funks and creates scoring opportunities for the Wolverine junior. Thorn has been bested, 8-4 and 3-1 this year, with neither match close. The final should will likely fall inside the same 2-3 point spread. 149: No. 4 Kyle Dake (Cornell) over No. 3 Kevin LeValley (Bucknell) Dake took his second loss of the season to LeValley during the EIWA finals. He'll have two weeks to figure out the riddle, and should he be healthy can earn a season split and win his second NCAA title. Yes, he also has to beat Darrion Caldwell (North Carolina State) in the semifinals. 157: No. 3 David Taylor (Penn State) over No. 1 Adam Hall (Boise State) The nation's most competitive weight class should mean exciting semifinals with Taylor and Hall emerging from likely matchups with Steve Fittery (American) and Bubba Jenkins (Arizona State). Could there be a significantly different final? Maybe. But when you have a 19-year-old Sanderson prodigy undefeated in March, it's best to consult history. 165: No. 1 Jordan Burroughs (Nebraska) over No. 2 Andrew Howe (Wisconsin) Howe is looking much better since his mid-season injury sidelined him after the first matchup with Air Burroughs. Howe's Big 10 finals against Colt Sponseller was a reminder that he can still win close, but a healthy Burroughs, who won the first meeting convincingly, will be too much for the defending NCAA champ. 174: No. 5 Chris Henrich (Virginia) over No. 2 Ed Ruth (Penn State) This selection is well within my rights as an alumnus of Mr. Jefferson's university. Henrich is gifted and should he be prepared for the ups and downs of the tournament. He will be ready for his semifinal matchup versus Jon Reader (Iowa State). Yes, Ruth presents a matchup issue for Henrich and beat him earlier this season at the Southern Scuffle, but I'm a homer and pulling for my fellow Cavalier. Go Hoos! 184: No. 9 Quentin Wright (Penn State) over No. 6 Ryan Loder (Northern Iowa) Ryan Loder is one of my favorite wrestlers coming into the NCAA tournament. With toughness on the mat and on his feet, Coach Schwab has found the guy to lead his young program for the next few years. However, he'll be hard pressed to defeat a confident Quentin Wright, who has come back from injury to not only beat Travis Rutt (Wisconsin), avenge a loss to Kevin Steinhaus (Minnesota) and win the Big 10 title, but become many fans under-the-radar favorite. Q-Ball it is. 197: No. 2 Clayton Foster (Oklahoma State) over No. 1 Cam Simaz (Cornell) Foster is undefeated, while Simaz took a one-point loss to Dustin Kilgore (Kent State). The recent Foster win over Jerome Ward by four points in the Big 12 finals showed he's prepared for the postseason, while Simaz had trouble scoring against Gabe Burak (Penn) in the EIWA finals. 285: No. 1 Zach Rey (Lehigh) over No. 3 Ryan Flores (American) This match is a tossup, but with Rey the more consistent performer. Flores has a very open style of a heavyweight, meaning he can on occasion give up, or score, points in bunches. Rey will play a conservative game that has given him a season full of success. If they meet in the finals it will be the fourth match this season, with Rey holding a 2 to 1 win advantage (5-2, 5-3, 2-6 TB). Top Five Teams: 1. Cornell 2. Penn State 3. Oklahoma State 4. Iowa 5. Wisconsin

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)