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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- An 18th conference title for North Carolina and individual berths to this year's nationals will be on the line Saturday for the Tar Heels at the 2008 Atlantic Coast Conference Wrestling Championships at Maryland's Comcast Center in College Park, Md. Action will begin at noon with the finals set for 8 p.m. Junior Keegan Mueller, who is rated as the nation's No. 9 wrestler at 165 pounds, will lead the Tar Heel effort. He carries a 26-3 overall record into this year's event and went 5-0 in ACC matches this season. A winner of 20 straight bouts, Mueller has not lost since a 9-5 decision to then-No. 3 Pat Pitsch of Arizona State at the Cliff Keen Invitational Nov. 30. He is a perfect 16-0 in dual matches and has won 10 of his last 11 bouts by major decision, technical fall or pin. Mueller has three pins, five technical falls and six major decisions on the season. Joining Mueller in the national rankings is classmate Justin Dobies, who checks in at No. 20. He matches Mueller's unbeaten mark in ACC action and is 26-6 on the season with team-bests of six pins and seven major decisions. Both Mueller and Dobies are in search of their first ACC titles. Senior Drew Forshey, who has been out since early February with an ankle injury, is slated to return to the lineup at 125 pounds. The 2005 ACC champion at 125, Forshey is 13-8 on the season and went 3-1 in league action. Additionally, junior 149-pounder Vincent Ramirez is coming off back-to-back runner-up finishes, while sophomore Dennis Drury was a third-place finisher at 197 a year ago. Sophomore Danny Lopes (133), redshirt freshmen Nick Stabile (141) and Thomas Scotton (157) and true freshmen Kyle Kiss (174) and Nick Tenpenny (184) will be making their ACC Championships debuts Saturday. The winners of each weight class Saturday will earn automatic berths to the 2008 NCAA Championships, which are scheduled for March 20-22 in St. Louis.

Actual seeds will be released tonight. 125 1. Rollie Peterkin, Penn 112 2. Fernando Martinez, Army 98 3. Mike Rodriguez, Cornell 78 4. Brandon Kinney, Columbia 76 5. Greg Hart, Bucknell 44 6. Jasen Borshoff, American 41 7. Jake Bucha, F&M 28 8. Tony Comunale, Princeton 26 X. Allan Stein, Navy 1 133 1. Mike Grey, Cornell 112 2. Seth Ciasulli, Lehigh 98 3. David Marble, Bucknell 84 4. Joe Baker, Navy 70 5. Jeff Schell, Brown 54 6. Bryan Ortenzio, Penn 41 7. Whitt Dunning, Army 31 8. Matt Mariacher, American 8 X. Matt Swallow, ESU 6 141 1. Matt Kyler, Army 110 2. Kyle Borshoff, American 100 3. Steve Adamcsik, Rutgers 76 4. Corey Janyzen, Harvard 72 5. Adam Frey, Cornell 51 6. Rick Rappo, Penn 41 7. Luke Chohany, Bucknell 29 8. Sean Carr, ESU 24 X. Joey Breen, Navy 1 149 1. J. P. O'Connor, Harvard 112 2. Trevor Chinn, Lehigh 98 3. Cesar Grajales, Penn 82 4. Bryce Saddoris, Navy 72 5. D. J. Meagher, Cornell 56 6. Anthony Constantino, Col. 42 7. Kevin LeValley, Bucknell 28 8. Casey Thome, Army 13 X. Jack Barrett, Rutgers 1 157 1. Jordan Leen, Cornell 112 2. Dave Nakasone, Lehigh 98 3. Rob Hitschler, Penn 71 4. Spencer Manley, Navy 64 5. Christopher Stout, American 60 6. Matt Dunn, Columbia 47 7. Christian Snook, Army 31 8. Chris Norrell, Rutgers 12 X. Tom Fazio, Brown 4 X. Bobby Latessa, Harvard 3 X. Brantley Hooks, Bucknell 2 165 T1. Mike Cannon, American 105 T1. Mack Lewnes, Cornell 105 3. Zach Shanaman, Penn 81 4. Andy Rendos, Bucknell 73 5. Justin Jacobs, Navy 54 6. Matt Pletcher, Rutgers 39 7. Mike Galante, Lehigh 32 8. Matt Button, Harvard 14 X. Victor Mocco, Columbia 1 174 1. Steve Anceravage, Cornell 112 2. Matt Stolpinski, Navy 98 3. Justin Herbert, F&M 80 4. Alex Caruso, Lehigh 73 5. Scott Giffin, Penn 54 6. Shane Riccio, Bucknell 44 T7. Ryan Mergen, Army 18 T7. Shane Mallory, ESU 18 X. Mike Whalen, Rutgers 7 184 1. Scott Ferguson, Army 111 2. Lior Zamir, Penn 97 3. Josh Arnone, Cornell 86 4. Matt Gevelinger, Brown 61 5. Casey Caldwell, Navy 59 6. David Thompson, Bucknell 37 7. Kenji Porter, Columbia 34 8. Keith Dobish, Rutgers 18 X. Manuel Schubert, Lehigh 1 197 1. Josh Glenn, American 112 2. Justin Kerber, Cornell 86 3. Nick Sommerfeld, Columbia 84 4. Thomas Shovlin, Penn 79 5. Richard Starks, Army 59 6. Lamar Brown, Rutgers 42 7. Matt Parsons, Navy 19 8. Dave Williams, ESU 12 X. Branden Stearns, Brown 11 285 1. Ed Prendergast, Navy 112 2. Trey McLean, Penn 91 3. Levon Mock, Brown 81 4. Nathan Thobaben, Army 68 5. Maciej Jochym, Cornell 60 6. Chris Birchler, ESU 49 T7. George Hingson, Bucknell 12 T7. Ryan Flores, Columbia 12 X. Karim Mahmoud, Rutgers 10 X. Justin Allen, Lehigh 8 X. Sam Ritter, Princeton 1

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Augsburg College wrestling team has qualified seven individuals to compete at the NCAA Division III Wrestling National Championships, to be held this Friday and Saturday at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, aiming for a top-four national finish for a national-record 20th straight time. As a team, Augsburg has won 10 national titles in the last 17 seasons, and has finished either first or second nationally 18 times since 1975. Augsburg has earned an NCAA national trophy by finishing in the top four in national tournament competition each of the last 19 seasons -- a record currently unmatched by any other NCAA wrestling program in any division. Augsburg has also had five or more individual All-Americans (top-eight finishers in each weight class) every season since 1989. Augsburg enters the national tournament ranked No. 4 in the pre-championships Division III national poll, released on Feb. 26. Wartburg (Iowa), with nine national tournament qualifiers, is ranked No. 1, followed by No. 2 Delaware Valley (Pa.) and No. 3 Wisconsin-La Crosse. Both Delaware Valley and Wisconsin-La Crosse have eight national tournament qualifiers. The Division III national tournament will be held at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The facility will also host the Division II national tournament next weekend. Friday's two sessions (11 a.m. and 6 p.m.) eliminate the field to the final eight in each weight class, which earn All-American honors. Saturday's 10:30 a.m. session includes championship semifinals, wrestlebacks and third-, fifth- and seventh-place matches. Championship finals begin at 7 p.m. Augsburg is competing at the national tournament for the first time under new head coach Sam Barber, who spent six years as an assistant under Jeff Swenson. Barber was part of three national title squads and two national runner-up squads during his six years as an assistant coach under Swenson, with 46 All-Americans and 13 national titlists during Barber's tenure. Two All-Americans return to the Auggie lineup for the national tournament -- 125-pound defending national runner-up Seth Flodeen (JR, Cannon Falls, Minn.) and two-time All-American Robbie Gotreau (SR, Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS) at 184. Gotreau finished fourth nationally his sophomore season and fifth last season at 174 pounds. Flodeen (21-7 this season, 74-27 career) is currently ranked No. 5 nationally at 125, while Gotreau (26-11 this season, 136-37 career) is ranked No. 6 at 184. Two University of Minnesota transfers have shined for the Auggies this season. 133-pounder Travis Lang (JR, Bismarck, N.D.) is 34-2 this season, and was a starter at 125 on the Gopher squad in the 2005-06 season (he competed at the 2006 Big Ten championships). He is 70-21 in his collegiate wrestling career. 149-pounder Willy Holst (SO, Prescott, Wis.) generated a 10-5 record while at Minnesota, and has produced a 28-2 record this season at Augsburg. Lang is currently ranked No. 4 at 133, while Holst is ranked No. 2 at 149. George Lynaugh (SR, Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley HS) is competing at the national tournament for the second straight year. He is 23-11 on the season. Jason Adams (SO, Coon Rapids, Minn.) will be competing at the national tournament for the first time this season, and is currently ranked No. 10 nationally at 141 with a 28-8 record. Beau Hansen (FY, Albert Lea, Minn.) is competing in his first national tournament at 157 pounds and is 28-7. Augsburg is one of only six NCAA schools -- and the only Division III school -- to have won eight or more wrestling team national championships. In Division I, Oklahoma State has won 34 team titles, while Iowa has won 20 and Iowa State has won eight. In Division II, California State-Bakersfield and Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo have won eight national titles apiece. In NAIA history, two schools have won eight national titles -- Adams State (Colo.) and Central State (Okla.). Augsburg and Wartburg have been the powers of small-college wrestling over the past decade. Either Augsburg or Wartburg, or both teams, have finished among the top two in the NCAA Division III national championship race every year since 1990. Augsburg has won 10 of the last 17 Division III national titles (1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2007), finishing second seven times; while Wartburg won national titles in 1996, 1999, 2003, 2004 and 2006, finishing second eight times.

HEMPSTEAD, NY -- Twenty-four bids to the 2008 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in St. Louis will be on the line this weekend when Hofstra University hosts the 17th Colonial Athletic Association Wrestling Championship at the David S. Mack Sports Complex. The two-day CAA Championship begins at 1 p.m. Friday, March 7 with first round competition, quarterfinals at 3 p.m. and first round consolations at 8 p.m. Day two begins on Saturday, March 8 at 10 a.m. with second round consolation matches, followed by semifinals at noon, third round consolations at 2 p.m. and finals at 5 p.m. The CAA will send its champion and runner-up in each of the 10 weight classes to the NCAA Championships, along with four at-large selections, formerly called "wild cards". In last year's national championship in Auburn Hills, Michigan, four CAA schools, Hofstra (7th), Rider (30th), Drexel and Sacred Heart (tied for 40th) finished in the top 40 of the final standings. At last year's CAA Championship, the Pride of Hofstra captured their sixth consecutive CAA title and their seventh straight league crown (Hofstra won the 2001 ECWA title). Hofstra, which joined the CAA during the 2001-02 year, has captured every conference title since, including last year's crown which topped the host Patriots of George Mason for the most wrestling titles in league history. Six champions from the 2007 tournament return for the 2008 CAA Championship, although two have moved up a weight class. Hofstra seniors Dave Tomasette at 125, All-American Charles Griffin at 141 and Joe Rovelli at 184 and sophomore Lou Ruggirello at 133, Boston University sophomore Mike Roberts at 149, and Rider senior Doug Umbehauer at 174 return looking for titles again. Umbehauer moved up to 184 pounds and Rovelli moved up to 197 this year. While Hofstra, with all 10 wrestlers ranked in the top six in the CAA, is the favorite to win the 2008 tournament, this year's championship could be the closest since the Pride joined the CAA. The Pride has captured CAA titles by 41 or more points in each of the last five tournaments. In this week's CAA Rankings, Hofstra, which was ranked 17th in the final Intermat regular season poll, is the top ranked team in the CAA earning 48 points. The Pride has five number one-ranked wrestlers in Ruggirello (31-5), Griffin (30-3), sophomore Jonny Bonilla Bowman (15-11) at 157 pounds, junior Alton Lucas (22-4) at 174 pounds and Rovelli (23-4). Old Dominion, which has finished second in the CAA Championships the past two years, also has 10-ranked wrestlers and tallied 41 points. ODU has two top-ranked conference wrestlers in freshman James Nicholson (29-7) at 125 and sophomore Chris Brown (31-9) at 165 pounds. Rider, which placed second in the 2004 and 2005 CAA Championships, is third in this week's CAA Rankings with 33 points. The Broncs have two number one ranked wrestlers in senior All-American Don Fisch at 149, and Umbehauer at 184. George Mason senior heavyweight Harry Zander (15-3) is the final top-ranked conference wrestler. The Patriots are ranked fourth in the CAA Rankings. Binghamton, Drexel, Boston University, Campbell and Sacred Heart round out the CAA Ranking and tournament field. Brackets, results and other information and directions for the 2008 CAA Wrestling Championships can be found at http://www.hofstra.edu/Athletics/Wrestling/ath_wrest_08CAATourn.cfm. Links to this page can also be found on the Hofstra Athletics homepage (www.hofstra.edu/athletics ) and the Hofstra Wrestling homepage (http://www.hofstra.edu/Athletics/Wrestling/index_Wrestling.cfm ).

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. -- George Mason will travel to Hofstra University this weekend to compete at the 2008 Colonial Athletic Association Wrestling Championships at the David S. Mack Sports Complex in Hempstead, N.Y. The two-day event will begin on Friday and conclude the next day. The CAA boasts 18 nationally-ranked individuals and two nationally-ranked teams in Hofstra and Old Dominion. The Patriots wrapped up their 2007-08 schedule with a 13-5 overall record and a 5-3 mark in conference dual meets. Under the tutelage of Head Coach Mark Weader and Assistant Coach James Torres, a young and talented Mason team earned its most dual victories since the 1991-92 season, when the team won its first of five CAA titles. Individually, eight wrestlers rank in the top six of their respective weight classes in the conference. Freshman sensation Cayle Byers has been a force for Mason at the 197-pound weight class and is the team's lone nationally-ranked wrestler. Byers is ranked 12th by InterMat and 16th by Amateur Wrestling News in the final regular season polls. The CAA is particularly strong at 197 pounds but Byers is expected to compete for the title along with Hofstra's Joe Rovelli, ranked 10th by InterMat and 11th by Amateur Wrestling News, and Rider's T.J. Morrison, ranked 17th by InterMat and 12th by Amateur Wrestling News. Other Mason wrestlers that are ranked in the CAA are Brian Wright at 125 pounds, Joe Coughlin at 133 pounds, Brandon Bucher at 149 pounds, Frankie McLaughlin IV at 157 pounds, Randy Oates at 174 pounds, Bill Widener at 184 pounds and Harry Zander at the heavyweight class. Zander, the top-ranked heavyweight in the CAA, brings a 7-0 CAA record and a 15-3 overall mark into this weekend's tournament. At 174 pounds, Oates will look to upset Hofstra's Alton Lucas, who is ranked sixth in both polls. Hofstra has won the past six conference titles and enters the 2008 CAA Championships ranked 17th in the country. Old Dominion is not far behind, currently ranked 19th in the nation. Rider and Mason are ranked third and fourth, respectively, in the CAA team rankings and will attempt to challenge the Pride and Monarchs for the team championship this weekend. The wrestling action begins on Friday with the first round, quarterfinals and first round consolations, and picks up on Saturday with the second round consolations and semifinals early in the day. At 5 p.m., the consolation finals and championship finals will begin. A total of 24 wrestlers - 20 automatic qualifiers plus four wild cards - will earn the right to compete in the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships on March 20-22 in St. Louis, Mo. as a result of their performance at the conference championships.

Columbia, Mo. -- Missouri wrestlers Tyler McCormick (Leawood, Kan.) and Maxwell Askren (Hartland, Wis.) were named to the Academic All-Big 12 first team as announced today by the league office. A senior on Missouri's 12th-ranked team, the honor is the fourth for McCormick, a 133-pounder, who was one of two grapplers to receive a perfect 4.00 grade-point average. Askren, a sophomore who wrestles at 197 pounds, received his second first team accolade. This marks the eighth straight season that a member of Missouri's wrestling team was named to an Academic All-Big 12 team. Altogether, 13 wrestlers from the five league wrestling programs were named to the first team, while four individuals received second team honors. Student-athletes named to the Academic All-Big 12 first team are individuals who have maintained a 3.20 GPA or better, while the second team are those who hold a 3.00-3.19. To qualify, student-athletes must maintain a 3.00 GPA or higher either cumulative or the two previous semesters and must have participated in 60 percent of his teams scheduled contests. Freshmen and transfers are not eligible in their first year of academic residence. Senior student-athletes who have participated for a minimum of two years and meet all of the criteria except percent of participation are also eligible.

Lincoln -- The Big 12 Conference has named Nebraska student-athletes Craig Brester and Stephen Dwyer to the 2008 Academic All-Big 12 wrestling teams, the league office announced today. Brester, selected to the first team with 16 other wrestlers from the conference, earns the honor for the second time in his career. Dwyer was named to the second team with three other competitors. Brester and Dwyer are both sophomores, while Brester is a mechanized systems major and Dwyer is undeclared. First team members consist of those who have maintained a 3.20 or better grade-point average, and the second team has a 3.00 to 3.19 GPA. Nebraska returns to action this weekend as the Huskers travel to Stillwater, Okla., for the 2008 Big 12 Championships at Gallagher-Iba Arena. First-round matches begin at 11 a.m.

#8/5 MINNESOTA (14-7, 5-3) at 2008 Big Ten Championships Location: Minneapolis, Minn. Arena: Williams Arena Dates: Saturday-Sunday, March 8-9 Television: The Big Ten Network will televise Sunday's championship matches live, beginning at 2:06 p.m. Tim Johnson, Jim Gibbons and Ken Chertow will be on the call. Live Updates: Periodic bracket updates will be posted on the Gopher wrestling homepage, located at www.gophersports.com. Match-by-match play-by-play from Sunday's championship round (starting at approximately 2 p.m.) will also be available. Schedule of Events: Saturday, March 8: 11 a.m. - Session I (through Quarterfinals) 6 p.m. - Session II (through Semifinals) Sunday, March 9: 12 p.m. - Session III (7th, 3rd, 5th place) 2:06 p.m. - Championship Finals (1st and 2nd place) Big Ten Notes to Know: • The eighth-ranked and defending national champion Golden Gopher wrestling team will seek to defend its 2007 Big Ten title this weekend at Williams Arena (the Gophers also won the ‘06 conference title in Bloomington, Ind.). The 2008 Big Ten Championships kick off 11 a.m. (CST) on Saturday, March 8 and will wrap up with the championship finals on Sunday, March 9 at approximately 4 p.m. • Williams Arena and the Golden Gophers will play host to the Big Ten Championships for the first time since 1997. • Since snapping Iowa's run of 25 consecutive conference titles at the 1999 Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich., the Golden Gophers have claimed six of the last nine conference crowns while taking second the other three times. Minnesota has finished in the top three at Big Tens each of the last 10 years. Minnesota has crowned a Big Ten-best 29 individual conference champions since 1997. • The Gophers have three wrestlers looking to defend their 2007 Big Ten individual crowns. Last season, Jayson Ness (125 pounds), Dustin Schlatter (149) and C.P. Schlatter (157) won their respective weight classes in East Lansing, Mich. Departed heavyweight Cole Konrad was also a three-time Big Ten champion. • This weekend's event will be the final home competition for Minnesota's six partcipating seniors. Gabe Dretsch, Roger Kish, Mack Reiter, Manuel Rivera, C.P. Schlatter and Justin Bronson have wrestled in a combined 14 Big Ten Championships, winning four Big Ten individual titles (Reiter in ‘05, Kish in ‘06 and Schlatter in ‘05 and ‘06) in addition to two team titles. • Top-ranked sophomore Ness will continue his march to history this weekend as he takes on the best the Big Ten has to offer. Ness is a perfect 33-0 this season (8-0 in Big Ten competition) and is just two pins shy (18) of the Gophers' single-season pins record of 20, set by current assistant head coach Marty Morgan in 1989-90. Ness is 15-1 lifetime with five pins against this year's Big Ten field. • Ness is riding a 34-match winning streak dating back to last season and is one of only five undefeated wrestlers at the Division I level. His streak is the seventh-longest in Minnesota history at the second-longest active streak in the NCAA. • Minnesota currently boasts eight wrestlers ranked in the latest USA Today/InterMat/NWCA poll. Jayson Ness (No. 1 at 125 pounds), Mack Reiter (No. 9 at 133 pounds), Manny Rivera (No. 8 at 141), Dustin Schlatter (No. 3 at 149 pounds), C.P. Schlatter (No. 6 at 157), Tyler Safratowich (No. 11 at 165), Gabe Dretsch (No. 11 at 174) and Roger Kish (No. 9 at 184) all rank among the nation's finest. • Despite an up-and-down dual meet season, the Golden Gophers are still a favorite in a championship-style tournament. Minnesota is fifth in InterMat's Tournament Strength Rankings (56 points) and second in W.I.N. Magazine's Tournament Power Index (75 points). ‘RENOVATED' WILLIAMS ARENA PLAYS HOST TO BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS Minnesota's Williams Arena will play host to the Big Ten Wrestling Championships for the first time in 11 years this weekend. The last time the Golden Gophers hosted the annual conference tournament, Minnesota (led by two-time national champion Tim Hartung) finished runner-up to Iowa with 116.5 team points. Due to rule changes enacted several years ago (regarding when wrestlers are considered "in bounds" or not), four regulation-size wrestling mats no longer fit on the normal Williams Arena court. This weekend, the floor has been raised 13 additional inches and extended approximately 20 feet on the north and south ends to accommodate a four-mat competition floor set-up. BIG TEN SUPREMACY Since snapping Iowa's run of 25 consecutive conference titles at the 1999 Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich., the Golden Gophers have claimed six of the last nine Big Ten Conference crowns to overtake the Hawkeyes as the class of the conference. Minnesota added its 10th Big Ten title to the trophy case by claiming its second straight championship in 2007 in East Lansing, Mich. It was just the second time in school history the Gophers had won consecutive conference titles, with the only other occurrence coming when they won three straight from 2001-03. Minnesota has finished either first or second at the Big Ten Championships nine straight seasons and has placed in the top three each of the past 11 years. The Golphers have had a Big Ten-best 27 individual Big Ten Champions since 1999, including four last season. Cole Konrad captured his third individual title, while brothers Dustin Schlatter and C.P. Schlatter each won their second. Jayson Ness won his first individual Big Ten crown in his first conference tournament appearance. With their 2007 title, the Golden Gophers stayed in fifth place all-time with 10 team titles. Iowa leads the way with 31, followed by Illinois with 17, Indiana with 13 and Michigan with 11. The Golden Gophers have had multiple champions in each of the past nine years. Prior to this stretch, Minnesota had multiple champions just 12 times in the previous 73 years. Compared to the 27 titles in the last nine years, the Gophers had 19 Big Ten Champions in the previous 19 years. Golden Gopher Big Ten Championships: 1913c-41-57-59-99-01-02-03-06-07 2007 BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS IN REVIEW The Golden Gopher wrestling team crowned four individual champions en route to their second straight Big Ten Championship in East Lansing, Mich last season. Minnesota finished with 156 points, 55.5 ahead of second-place Wisconsin, the largest gap between the champion and its nearest competitor since 1996. Minnesota qualified nine wrestlers for the NCAA Championships, with all nine finishing in the top five in their respective weight classes. Cole Konrad became just the fourth wrestler in school history to win three individual Big Ten crowns, while brothers Dustin and C.P. Schlatter also successfully defended their 2006 Big Ten titles. Jayson Ness dominated the competition with two pins and a major decision on his way to his first conference title. Roger Kish was unable to defend his 2006 conference title, as he ran into top-ranked Jake Herbert in the finals. Manuel Rivera had a disappointing conference tournament while wrestling with a sore knee. The top seed at 141 pounds, Rivera had his 35-match winning streak snapped with back-to-back losses before rebounding to pin Illinois' Cassio Pero in the fifth-place match. Mack Reiter also got off to an unexpected start when he lost to Andrae Hernandez in the quarterfinals but took out his frustration by pinning three straight opponents in the consolation bracket to claim third place. Gabriel Dretsch matched his fourth-place showing at 2006 Big Ten Championships with a solid performance in 2007. Dretsch took fourth place with a 2-2 record, with his only two losses coming in overtime. Tyler Safratowich won his final four matches of the tournament to take third at 165 pounds. He avenged his only loss of the tournament, a narrow 6-4 overtime decision to Purdue's Justin Fraga in the quarterfinals, by defeating Fraga, 7-5, in the third-place match. WHOLE AT LAST Minnesota entered the 2007-08 season as the heavy favorites to repeat as both national and Big Ten champions on the strength of their nine returning starters and four returning All-Americans. But things have not gone according to plan at various points this year – the Gophers lost seven dual meets during the regular season (their highest total since 2004-05 and second-highest since ‘95-'96), including three conference duals. Injuries were the main culprit for the team's struggles. Former All-Americans Dustin Schlatter, C.P. Schlatter and Roger Kish all missed regular season time with various maladies, with Dustin Schlatter and Kish each missing significant action. In fact, the Gophers sent out their ‘A' lineup (one consisting of generally agreed-upon starters) just four times in 21 dual meets this season, with the last instance coming on Dec. 6. TOURNAMENT-READY While Minnesota's dual meet inconsistencies have dropped them to No. 8 in the latest national poll, experts generally agree the Golden Gophers will again be a force come tournament time. W.I.N. Magazine's weekly Tournament Power Index (TPI) projects the Gophers would finish second at NCAAs with 76 team points based upon individual performances, and InterMat puts them fifth with 56 points in its Tournament Strength Rankings. BIG TEN DOMINATES RANKINGS The Big Ten Chamionships are generally considered to be the most competitive conference championships in the nation, and this year is no exception. Nine of the conference's 11 teams are ranked in the top-25 of the latest USA Today/InterMat/NWCA poll, with a whopping 65 individual wrestlers also ranked in their respective weight classes. TOP EIGHT A FORCE Team depth hurt Minnesota during the regular season, but with all ten starters healthy at the most important junction of the year, the Gophers appear poised to make an impact during the postseason. The Gophers boast six wrestlers ranked in the top ten nationally, with two more ranked just outside that group. With tournament success based soley upon individual performance, Minnesota should be a force to be reckoned with in March. Minnesota's ranked wrestlers: #1/1 – Jayson Ness (125 pounds) #3/3 – Dustin Schlatter (149 pounds) #6/1 – C.P. Schlatter (157 pounds) #8/7 -– Manuel Rivera (141 pounds) #9/8 – Mack Reiter (133 pounds) #9/8 – Roger Kish (184 pounds) #11/11 – Gabriel Dretsch (174 pounds) #11/11 – Tyler Safratowich (165 pounds) PRE-SEEDS ANNOUNCED Although final seeding won't be decided until the coaches meeting Friday afternoon, the Big Ten released pre-seeds for the 2008 Big Ten Championships Monday. All 10 Gopher participants were pre-seeded: Minnesota's Pre-Seeds: 1. Jayson Ness (125) 3. Dustin Schlatter (149) 3. Tyler Safratowich (165) 3. Gabriel Dretsch (174) 4. C.P. Schlatter (157) 4. Roger Kish (184) 5. Mack Reiter (133) 6. Manuel Rivera (141) 6. Justin Bronson (197) 8. Ben Berhow (Hwt.) GOPHER SENIORS BY THE NUMBERS This weekend's event will be the final home competition for Minnesota's six partcipating seniors. Gabe Dretsch, Roger Kish, Mack Reiter, Manuel Rivera, C.P. Schlatter, and Justin Bronson comprise the remaining members of Minnesota's 2003 recruiting class, which was ranked first in the nation at the time.: A few facts about the 2008 senior class: • 1 – NCAA team titles (2007) • 2 – Big Ten team titles (2006, 2007) • 5 – All-American awards (Kish in '06 and '07, Reiter in '05 and '06, C.P. Schlatter in '07) • 4 – Big Ten individual champions (Reiter in '05, Kish in '06, C.P. Schlatter in '06 and '07) • 18 – Big Ten Championships appearances • 14 – NCAA appearances (Dretsch has three, Reiter three, Kish three, Rivera two, Schlatter two) • .758 – Dual meet winning percentage (75-24 overall record) • .700 – Big Ten dual meet winning percentage (28-12) • 676 – Individual match wins in collegiate competition (no redshirt matches counted) • .677 – Individual match winning percentage (676-323 record overall) NO BIG TEN SURPRISES FOR NESS Gopher sophomore Jayson Ness enters the Big Ten Championships as the favorite at 125 pounds, on the strength of his 33-0 regular season and No. 1 national ranking. But Ness also happens to be the only Golden Gopher to have previous collegiate experience against all 10 Big Ten wrestlers in his weight class. The Bloomington, Minn. native is 15-1 lifetime against the rest of this year's Big Ten field with five career pins, including an 8-0 record this year. NESS DOMINATES EN ROUTE TO RECORD Ness burst onto the wrestling scene as a redshirt freshman last year, storming to a 40-5 record and taking fifth at the 2007 NCAA Championships. This year, Ness has taken another step forward and established himself as one of the country's most dominant athletes. Ness is one of five remaining undefeated wrestlers in the country at 33-0 and has pinned a whopping 18 opponents, already the seventh-highest total in program history. Ness is just two pins shy of the Gophers' single-season mark of 20, set by current head assistant coach (and fellow Bloomington-Kennedy alumn) Marty Morgan in 1989-90. In addition to being just two pins shy of the Gophers' single-season mark (a record he could tie or break this weekend), Ness has scored bonus points in an amazing 76 percent of his matches this weekend (26 of 34). Ness has beaten nine ranked wrestlers already this season, including two top-five opponents (then-No. 3 Charlie Falck of Iowa and then-No. 1 Paul Donahoe of Nebraska). NESS HOLDS SECOND-LONGEST ACTIVE D1 WIN STREAK As he approaches the Gophers' single-season pins mark, Jayson Ness has quietly been approaching another historic distinction. The sophomore has won 34 consecutive matches dating back to his pin of Lock Haven's Obenson Blanc at the 2007 NCAAs. That is the second-longest active winning streak in Division I college wrestling behind 2007 197-pound national champion Josh Glenn of American University. Below is a list of the five longest active win streaks in college wrestling: Longest Active Winning Streaks in D1 Wrestling 1. 35, Josh Glenn, American (12/30/06-pres.) 2. 34, Jayson Ness, Minnesota (11/10/07-pres.) 3. 26, Keith Gavin, Pittsburgh (11/11/07-pres.), Chad Mendes, Cal Poly (11/11/07-pres.) 4. 23, Jake Varner, Iowa State (11/10/07-pres.) C.P. ON A ROLL Two-time Big Ten champion C.P. Schlatter will be counted up on heavily this weekend if the Golden Gophers are to win their third straight conference title. Despite missing a weekend of dual meet action due to injury (Feb. 15-17 vs. Illinois and Wisconsin), the senior captain has been on a roll of late, winning his previous 18 matches. That's a career-long winning streak; Schlatter has not lost since falling in overtime to then-No. 19 Chase Pami of Cal Poly Dec. 8. FIRST-TIMERS Minnesota will feature one of the conference's most experienced squads this weekend, with six seniors and a total of eight upperclassmen. But two Gophers – senior Justin Bronson (197 pounds) and redshirt freshman Ben Berhow (heavyweight) will be participating in their first-ever conference tournament. Bronson is a veteran of 102 career matches, while Berhow has wrestled only 30 times (he's 14-16 this year) at the varsity level. ‘MATCH OF THE CENTURY' LOOMS While the 2008 Big Ten Championships will undoubtedly feature a number highly-memorable matches, few contain the possibilities or generate the excitement that a Dustin Schlatter – Brent Metcalf (Iowa) 149-pound match-up does. These two former four-time high school state champions (Schlatter in Ohio and Metcalf in Michigan) met twice during their prep careers but have never faced off at the collegiate level. Schlatter and Metcalf last met when Schlatter beat Metcalf in the finals of the Senior High School Nationals in 2005 The pair are currently ranked No. 1 and No. 3 nationally in what is generally considered to be the country's deepest weight class. DRETSCH'S TOUGH STRETCH Gopher senior Gabe Dretsch has put together a fine career at Minnesota, going 106-51 and qualifying for nationals three times. This season, the Frazee, Minn. native has gone 26-9 and is currently ranked 11th nationally at 174 pounds. While Dretsch was a solid 13-6 in dual meets this season, the caliber of competition he has wrestled against is second to none in the entire nation. Dretsch has faced a whopping 13 ranked wrestlers since Dec. 29, including six from the top 10; he has won four of his last five against ranked opponents. Below is a rundown of Dretsch's recent matches against ranked wrestlers: Date Opponent (School) Result 12/29 #14 Alton Lucas (Hofstra) L, 3-4 12/30 #18 Eric Decker (Virginia Tech) W, 5-2 12/30 #11 Steve Anceravage (Cornell) L, 4-7 12/30 #12 Phil Moricone (Edinboro) W, 5-3 1/12 #3 Brandon Sinnott (C. Michigan) W, 6-3 1/13 #5 Brandon Browne (Nebraska) L, 2-3 1/13 #2 Steve Luke (Michigan) L, 3-5 1/25 #2 Steve Luke (Michigan) L, 3-9 1/26 #19 John Murphy (Michigan State) W, P (0:46) 2/1 #2 Jay Borschel (Iowa) L, 3-8 2/3 #7 Brandon Mason (Okla. State) W, 5-3 2/10 #15 Nick Hayes (Northwestern) W, 7-4 2/15 #15 John Dergo (Illinois) W, 7-2 ALWAYS CUTTING IT CLOSE Gabe Dretsch, along with fellow senior Manny Rivera, will be relied upon heavily to score points for the Golden Gophers as they seek to defend their Big Ten and NCAA titles. While Dretsch has posted a 26-9 record this year, he has also participated in a team-high 11 matches that were decided by two points or less. Dretsch is 5-6 in those matches. THE GIANT KILLER RETURNS Last season, Tyler Safratowich earned the reputation of being a "Giant Killer" after being inserted into the starting lineup at 165 pounds at Indiana on Feb. 2, 2007. Safratowich picked up the first two Big Ten wins of his career with a pair of impressive upsets over ranked opponents, knocking off No. 16 Max Dean of Indiana and No. 13 Roger Smith-Bergsrud of Illinois in his first two starts at 165. While wrestling at 157 pounds earlier that year, Safratowich also upset No. 2 Brian Stith of Arizona State on Jan. 2. Safratowich eventually earned the first NCAA qualification of his career and was just one win shy of earning All-American status, going 2-2 at nationals. This season, Safratowich began the season platooning with redshirt freshman Scott Glasser at 165 pounds, but took over the job in January due to a Glasser injury. Since that time, the junior has been one of the most consistent wrestlers in the Gopher lineup and broke through with a big win over No. 5 Jake Dieffenbach of Oklahoma State Feb. 3. He followed that with a dramatic 4-2 win over Ohio State freshman (and eighth-ranked) Colt Sponseller Feb. 24, propelling the Gophers to a 23-18 dual meet win. Safratowich is 9-9 over the last two seasons against ranked wrestlers and has two wins over top-five opponents. He climbed nine spots in the most recent USA Today/NWCA/Intermat rankings, going from No. 20 to No. 11. Safratowich's career victories over ranked opponents: Date Opponent (School) Result 11/18/06 #2 Trent Paulson (Iowa State) Med. For 1/2/07 #2 Brian Stith (Arizona State) D, 4-3 2/2/07 #16 Max Dean (Indiana) D, 10-4 2/4/07 #13 Roger Smith-Bergstrund (Ill.) D, 4-0 3/3/07 #17 Chris Vondruska (Ohio State) D, 6-3 3/15/07 #15 Steve Anceravage (Cornell) D, 8-4 12/30/07 #17 Chris Brown (Old Dominion) Med. For. 2/3/08 #5 Jake Dieffenbach (Okl. State) D, 5-1 OT 2/24/08 #8 Colt Sponseller (Ohio State) D, 4-2 GOPHERS END DUAL MEET SEASON ON HIGH NOTE It was senior day at the Sports Pavilion Feb. 24, and despite enduring a trying regular season, the Golden Gopher wrestling team did not disappoint in their final dual meet of 2007-08. Four of the six Minnesota seniors that started picked up individual wins, as the Gophers (14-7, 5-3 Big Ten) rounded out the regular season with a 23-18 victory over Ohio State (19-4, 6-2). The win snapped a two-meet losing streak for the Gophers, who welcomed back senior C.P. Schlatter after he missed the previous weekend due to an injury. Schlatter picked up his 26th win of the year over John Johnstone. Senior Justin Bronson (also held out the previous weekend) won the last dual meet match of his career as well, beating OSU's John Weakley 2-1. The highlight of the meet, however, came from Tyler Safratowich. The Minnesota junior held on to an early 4-0 lead to beat No. 8 Colt Sponseller's 4-2. It was Safratowich's third victory of the season over a ranked opponent and the second top-10 foe he has toppled. The team victory was the Gophers' 13th straight over the Buckeyes,which dates back to 1993. After going 0-4 in Williams Arena during the dual meet season, Minnesota finished with a 3-0 record in the Sports Pavilion. DUAL MEET DOMINANCE Minnesota has posted a 182-35 (.839) dual meet winning percentage since the start of the 1997-98 season. In seven seasons during that stretch, the Gophers have lost two dual meets or fewer, including a perfect 19-0 season in 2001-02. Before their Dec. 2 loss to Iowa State, Minnesota had won 23 consecutive dual meets dating back to Nov. 25 of last season. STREAKS END Minnesota's gut-wrenching loss to Iowa State on Dec. 2 ended a number of impressive streaks. Minnesota's 23-meet win streak, which was tied for the second-longest streak in Gopher history, came to an end. It also halted Minnesota's home winning streak of 14 meets, which dated all the way back to Feb. 20, 2005. The Gophers also lost to the Cyclones for the first time in the past five dual meetings between the two schools. Longest Winning Streaks in School History 1. 33 (Jan. 11, 2001 - Nov. 15, 2002) 2. 23 (Jan. 22, 1999 - Jan. 23, 2000) 23 (Nov. 25, 2006 - Dec. 2, 2007) 4. 19 (Dec. 2, 2005 - Feb. 17, 2006) 5. 18 (Feb. 2, 1997 - Jan. 18, 1998) 18 (Dec. 12, 1993 - Feb. 19, 1994) The loss dropped the Gophers out of the No. 1 spot in the NWCA/Intermat poll. Minnesota had been ranked first nationally every week since Jan. 21 of last season. IS MACK BACK? No Gopher endured a more trying regular season than senior Mack Reiter. The 2005 Big Ten Freshman of the Year and a two-time All-American, Reiter struggled at times and finished with a 19-6 overall record. But he responded to his critics during the Gophers' dual meet finale with Ohio State Feb. 24, putting together his most dominant performance of the Big Ten season. Reiter scored an impressive 11 points during the final two periods against No. 13 Reece Humphrey, earning an 18-2 technical fall. FOUR GOPHERS PASS CENTURY MARK While current senior Roger Kish was the only Gopher to eclipse 100 career victories last season (he currently has 113), four Gophers accomplished the feat in 2007-08. Senior Manny Rivera picked up his 100th lifetime win by beating Central Michigan's Eric Kruger 7-5 in overtime at the National Duals. Mack Reiter notched his 100th win by beating Kenny Jordan of Nebraska in the Gophers' semifinal loss at the National Duals. Another Gopher senior, C.P. Schlatter, just picked up his 100th career victory with an impressive 43-second pin of SDSU's Nick Genereux on Jan. 20. Gabe Dretsch, a three-time NCAA qualifier out of Frazee, Minn., won his 100th career match by pinning MSU's John Murphy on Jan. 25. Current Gophers Past 100 Career Wins Roger Kish (2003-pres.) - 113-24-0 Manuel Rivera (2003-pres.) - 107-37-0 Mack Reiter (2003-pres.) - 105-23-0 C.P. Schlatter (2003-pres.) - 107-28-0 Gabriel Dretsch (2003-pres.) - 106-51-0 SCHLATTER SENSATION Top-ranked junior Dustin Schlatter has established himself as one of the most dominant wrestlers in the country in just a short time in a Golden Gopher uniform. He posted a 65-match winning streak, the second-longest streak in school history, before falling in the semifinals at the 2007 NCAA Championships. Schlatter has won 94 of 98 career matches for a .959 winning percentage, which currently ranks as the highest career winning percentage in school history. One of the few freshman under Head Coach J Robinson not to redshirt, Schlatter put together one of the most remarkable rookie campaigns in school history in 2005-06 with a 42-1 overall record, with his only loss of the season coming against Mark DiSalvo of Central Michigan (11/26/05). He became the first freshman in school history to win an individual national title. This season, Schlatter is 15-2 (7-1 in duals) with two tech falls and three major decisions. Schlatter held 20 of his 38 opponents on the 2006-07 season to one point or fewer. He shut out 11 of those opponents, with six of of those matches resulting in tech falls. He shut out three straight opponents from Nov. 25-Dec. 6 by identical 15-0 margins. Overall, he had nine tech falls, two pins and two major decisions in 2006-07. Schlatter tied for third on the team with 78 points scored in dual meets. BAND OF BROTHERS Brothers C.P. and Dustin Schlatter have the distinction of being the only pair of brothers in school history to win individual Big Ten titles in the same season, which they have now accomplished in back-to-back years. Only two other sets of brothers in school history have both claimed individual conference crowns, with Gordy and Marty Morgan each winning Big Ten titles – Gordy in 1989 and Marty in 1990 and ‘91, as well Dan and Larry Zilverberg – Dan won in 1979 and ‘80, Larry in 1974, ‘75 and ‘76. In 2007, C.P. and Dustin also became just the second pair of brothers in school history to earn All-America honors in the same season, joining Gordy and Marty Morgan who accomplished the feat in 1989. No brothers in school history can claim having both won NCAA individual titles. FAMILY REDEMPTION Before missing six weeks with a hamstring injury, Dustin Schlatter suffered a rare loss in the finals of the 2007 Southern Scuffle (Dec. 30), falling to Boston University's Mike Roberts. However, his older brother C.P. Schlatter earned a form of family redemption in his own championship match at 157 pounds. The elder Schlatter defeated second-ranked Gregor Gillespie of Edinboro 5-2 in the final to pick up his first-ever Southern Scuffle title and avenge his brother's 3-2 NCAA semifinal loss to Gillespie a year ago. NESS VS. FALCK: ROUND FIVE APPEARS IMMINENT An old rivalry looks to be renewed this weekend as top-seeded Jayson Ness and No. 2 seed Charlie Falck of Iowa anchor the bracket at 125 pounds. These two old high school foes (Falck, who attended Apple Valley High School in Minnesota, beat Ness twice in three prep matches) are not strangers at the collegiate level. Last season, Ness proved to have Falck's number: The Gopher beat the Hawkeye three times in a one-month stretch, including a dual meet (8-0 MD in favor of Ness), the Big Ten Championships (a 12-1 drubbing in the final) and at the 2007 NCAA Championships (a 3-0 quarterfinal win). This season, Ness continued his domination with an impressive 14-2 major decision during the teams' Feb. 1 match-up at Williams Arena.

IRVING, Texas -- For the first time, live video coverage of the Big 12 Wrestling Championship will be available on the Big 12 Conference's official web site, www.big12sports.com. The postseason five-team championship is scheduled for Saturday, March 8 at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla. Preliminary action will be streamed with dual cameras so fans can view competition from both mats simultaneously. Finals will be provided courtesy of FSN, who will also be showing the event in its entirety on a tape delay basis the following week. Fans can check the Big 12 web site to see when the Championship will be shown in their area. The championship begins Saturday with preliminary matches starting at 11 a.m. on two mats. Finals start at 7 p.m. For more information on the 2008 Big 12 Wrestling Championship, visit big12sports.com.

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Chattanooga looks to win their fourth straight Southern Conference Championship. The Mocs won The Southern Conference Championship in 2007 with 117.5 points. UNC Greensboro placed second with 75 points and VMI was third with 41 points. The Citadel, Appalachian State and Davidson rounded out the bottom three places. Chattanooga's overall record is 11-6 and they are undefeated in Southern Conference action at 5-0. Maldonado, Edmondson and Koz return to defend their titles at their respective weight classes. Maldonado at 125-pounds, Edmondson at 184-pounds and Koz at heavyweight, but will wrestle at 197-pounds. Chattanooga won all but three weight classes last year at MatJam 2007. The 174-pounds weight class should be a battle. Co-Wrestler-of-the-year, Lloyd Rogers who is 24-3 will have some tough competition if he wants to get back to the NCAA tournament. Trevor Clavette of Davidson is 24-5, Darius Caldwell of The Citadel is 19-7 and Neal Martin of Appalachian State is 13-13. The 149-pound weight class puts two national ranked wrestlers Scott Ervin, ranked No.13 by InterMat, of Appalachian State at 33-5 and No.16 ranked Joey Knox of Chattanooga at 20-8. Seth Garvin of Chattanooga is 21-5 at 157-pound weight class. Garvin will face some tough competition in Eddie Hutchinson of Appalachian State at 17-9. Jeff Hedges, who is ranked No.16 by InterMat, is 24-9 overall. Hedges will have some tough competition against Tyler Anthony of VMI, who is 19-8 overall. Terreyl Williams of Appalachian State is 20-14 and should challenge for the title. Javier Maldonado of Chattanooga looks to repeat at the 125-pound weight class but will have to go through Frank Celorrio of Appalachian who is 12-5 overall and Ben Altman of Davidson is 23-10 overall. The 2008 Southern Conference Wrestling Championship take place on March 8, 2008 at McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga.

THIS WEEK: North Dakota State University hosts the NCAA West Regional wrestling tournament Saturday, March 8, at the Bison Sports Arena (6,000) in Fargo. It's the first NCAA championship event hosted by North Dakota State since the school's move to Division I in 2004-05. Action begins at 10 a.m. with the finals slated for 4 p.m. TEAMS AND QUALIFIERS: The six-team West Regional tournament will qualify 10 champions and 10 at-large wrestlers for the NCAA national championships to be held March 20-22 in St. Louis, Mo. Participating teams are Western Wrestling Conference members Air Force, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, Northern Iowa, South Dakota State and Wyoming. TIME SCHEDULE: First-round action begins at 10 a.m. with the semifinals coming at 11:30 a.m. Consolation semifinals begin at 2 p.m. followed by the final round and consolation finals at 4 p.m. True second-place matches will be held after the championship round if necessary, but there are no automatic qualifiers beyond the champion in each weight class. The 10 at-large entries will be determined by the coaches following the tournament. TICKET INFO: Tickets to the NCAA West Regional are available from the Bison Ticket Office by calling toll free (888) 231-NDSU or online at GoBison.com/tickets. General admission seats are $12 for adults and $6 for youth 17-and-under. Children 2-and-under are free with the purchase of an adult ticket. THE FACILITY: The Bison Sports Arena has been the site of five NCAA Division II national wrestling championships in 1971, 1976, 1983, 1991 and 1997. It is a 6,000-seat multipurpose building that is home to NDSU's men's and women's basketball teams and hosts indoor track and field meets. The last NCAA qualifying tournament at the BSA was the 2003 North Central Conference tournament, won by Nebraska-Omaha. NORTHERN IOWA IS KING: The Northern Iowa Panthers will be seeking their 23rd straight West Region wrestling crown Saturday. UNI has won 22 straight tournaments since 1986. The Panthers went 4-0 in the Western Wrestling Conference this year, winning the four duals by a combined score of 162-15. WESTERN WRESTLING CONFERENCE: North Dakota State finished in a tie for second with a 4-2-0 record in its second year in the Western Wrestling Conference. The Bison were fourth with a 3-2-1 record in their inaugural season. The wrestling-only conference is comprised of seven schools spread across six states, including Air Force, Northern Colorado, Northern Iowa, South Dakota State, Utah Valley and Wyoming. The West Regional serves as the NCAA qualifying tournament for the conference. LAST YEAR'S REGIONAL: North Dakota State scored 42 points to finish fourth in last year's West Regional at Northern Iowa. UNI won with 96 points, Northern Colorado was second with 73.5, Wyoming was third with 56, South Dakota State was fifth with 37, Air Force sixth with 32.5, and Eastern Illinois seventh with 28 points. NDSU qualified three wrestlers for the national tournament. Eric Hoffman won the 125-pound title, Ryan Adams was an at-large pick after winning the true-second match at 149, and Jacob Bryce was a at-large qualifier after placing third at 197. 125 POUNDS - Eric Hoffman, Sr., Davenport, Iowa...12-3 overall...4-1 in region...Pinned UNI's Caleb Flores, Wyoming's Cody Grant and SDSU's Alan Marvin...Majored AF's Zach Valdez, 9-0...Lost at UNC to Tony Mustari, 5-3...Wrestled 8th-ranked Rollie Peterkin of Penn at the Virginia Duals, losing 6-1...Ineligible for the first semester but compiled a 7-4 record in open competition wrestling unattached...Won last year's West Region title at 125 pounds but went 0-2 at nationals. 133 POUNDS: Eric Sanders, Sr., Wabasha, Minn...21-11 overall...5-1 in region plus a win by forfeit...Pinned AF's Samuel Sheppard in 1:56...Has three one-point decisions over Wyoming's Cory VomBaur (1-0), UNC's Blayze Bahe (6-5) and SDSU's Derek Pirner (5-4 in overtime)...Won 10 straight in duals before ending season with 14-5 loss at UNI to Josh Baldridge...0-3 vs. Top 20 wrestlers...Lost 18-4 to No. 10 Pat Castillo of Northern Illinois....Lost 14-4 to No. 2 Mack Reiter of Minnesota...Lost 6-5 to No. 16 T.J. Dillashaw of Cal State Fullerton. 141 POUNDS: Gabriel Mooney, Jr., Greenbush, Minn...22-9 overall...4-1 in region...Tech falls over UNC's Rocco DePaolo (16-0) and Wyoming's Brandon Gifford (15-0)...Decisions over SDSU's Jeff Cooley (6-3), UNC's Richard Lohr (6-4)...Lost 4-2 to AF's Jake Kriegbaum. 149 POUNDS: Ryan Adams, So., Coon Rapids, Minn...9-2 overall...1-1 in region...Won 9-4 over AF's Chris Szabolcs and lost 15-0 at UNI to Nick Pickerell...Sidelined by injury most of the year...True second place winner and at-large national qualifier last year...Went 1-2 at nationals with a 6-4 consolation win over VMI's Sam Alvarenga. 157 POUNDS: Adam Aho, Jr., Frazee, Minn...23-6 overall...4-2 in region...Decisions over UNC's Justin Gaethje (5-2) and Rocco DePaulo (8-2)...Beat Wyoming's Dane Fuhrman 4-2 and tech falled SDSU's Nick Genereux 18-2...Lost to AF's Tony Dorward 4-3 in overtime...Lost 6-4 at UNI to Tyson Reiner...Wrestled No. 4 C.P. Schlatter of Minnesota, losing by fall at 4:47...Won the NDSU Open and MSU Moorhead Open. 165 POUNDS: Vince Salminen, RFr., Billings, Mont...2-3 record at 165 pounds and 12-13 overall...Wrestled at 149 through mid-January...1-3 in the region...Edged UNC's Daniel Prather 6-5 at 149 pounds at the Minnesota Quadrangular...Pinned by UNC's Devan Lewis (2:10), majored by AF's Stephen Crozier (17-6) and pinned by UNI's Moza Fay (1:33). 174 POUNDS: Shannon Fettig, Fr., Kintyre, N.D...2-6 at 174 pounds and 7-10 overall...Also won an eighth match by medical forfeit over a junior college wrestler...Wrestled at 165 in the first two open tournaments...1-4 in region...Beat Wyoming's Kyle Morrow (4-2)...Lost to SDSU's Justin Retallic (4-2) and UNC's Ryan Johnson (11-3)...Pinned by UNI's Alex Dolly. 184 POUNDS: Kenny Moenkedick, RFr., Perham, Minn...5-3 at 184 pounds and 14-12 overall...Also won two tournament matches over junior college wrestlers...Wrestled at 174 pounds through mid-January...4-1 in region...Beat UNC's Ryan Johnson 6-5 at 174 pounds in the Minnesota Quadrangular...Lost 7-5 in overtime to SDSU's Tyler Sorenson at 184 before pinning UNC's Ed Matthews (2:09) and defeating Wyoming's Dan Barrone (6-4) and AF's Jacob Devlin (6-5). 197 POUNDS: Jacob Bryce, Jr., Glenwood, Minn...12-9 at 197 pounds, plus a 7-4 win over Northern Illinois heavyweight David Benner...5-1 in region...Beat UNC's Patrick Carey (8-5), pinned SDSU's Jeremy Swier (4:06), and beat UNC's Patrick Carey (6-1)...Majored AF's James Ciccone (19-9)...Pinned by UNI's Andrew Anderson (1:40)...Won by forfeit against Wyoming. HEAVYWEIGHT: Tyler Hemmesch, Fr., Elk River, Minn...13-13 overall...Also has a 5-1 record with four pins over junior college wrestlers...1-4 in region with the only win by forfeit against SDSU...Lost by tech fall to UNC's Reese Hopkin (15-0), decisions to Wyoming's Jason Still (7-2) and AF's Anthony Stegeman (7-4), and a major decision loss to UNI's Dustin Bauman (10-0)...Wrestled No. 6 Wade Sauer of Cal State Fullerton at the Lone Star Duals, a 6-0 loss. THE COACHES: Legendary head coach Bucky Maughan is in his 44th season at the helm of the Bison wrestling program. The three-time national coach of the year has compiled an impressive 443-136-12 record (.760) at NDSU and has led North Dakota State to four NCAA Division II national championships. Maughan has coached 30 individual NCAA champions and more than 170 All-Americans, and was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2003. Assistant coaches are Bret Maughan (7th season) and Kris Nelson (8th season), both All-Americans at North Dakota State, and the volunteer coach is Tommy Davis, a two-time ACC champion and four-time NCAA qualifier at North Carolina State.

EDMOND, Okla. -- Minnesota State-Mankato regained the No. 1 ranking in the final NCAA Division II Wrestling Coaches' Association poll that was released Tuesday and will take the favorite's role into next week's national tournament. The Mavericks earned their first-ever Division II No. 1 ranking in the Feb. 6 poll only to lose it two weeks later after a dual loss to Nebraska-Omaha, but MSU-Mankato jumped back on top after winning its second straight North Region title over UNO. MSU-Mankato was the unanimous No. 1 pick, receiving all eight first-place votes cast in balloting of coaches from around the country in finishing with 160 points. UNO fell to second with 149 points, while West Region champion Nebraska-Kearney was third with 147. Western State (Colo.) came in fourth in the voting, followed by Adams State (Colo.), East Region champion Newberry (S.C.), Midwest Region winner and defending national champion Central Oklahoma, Pittsburgh-Johnstown (Pa.) and tournament host Upper Iowa. UNO and UNK have the most national tournament qualifiers with nine, while MSU-Mankato, WSC, Newberry and Central Missouri have eight. The NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships are set for March 14-15 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The top 20 poll, with points and their last ranking: Rank School (State) Points Last Ranking 1. Minnesota State-Mankato 160 2nd 2. Nebraska-Omaha 149 1st 3. Nebraska-Kearney 147 5th 4. Western State (Colo.) 133 4th 5. Adams State (Colo.) 126 3rd 6. Newberry (S.C.) 119 7th 7. Central Oklahoma 118 6th 8. Pittsburgh-Johnstown (Pa.) 103 8th 9. Upper Iowa 92 11th T10. Ashland (Ohio) 79 9th T10. St. Cloud State (Minn.) 79 10th 12. Mercyhurst (Pa.) 68 14th 13. Chadron State (Neb.) 50 17th 14. Gannon (Pa.) 49 12th 15. Central Missouri 47 20 16. Indianapolis (Ind.) 46 16th 17. Findlay (Ohio) 35 13th 18. Wisconsin-Parkside 32 18th 19. West Liberty State (W.Va.) 22 NR 20. Augustana (S.D.) 20 NR Others receiving votes: Fort Hays State (Kan.), Limestone (S.C.). NCAA Division II Individual Rankings 125 Pounds 1. Cody Garcia, Nebraska-Omaha 2. Tyler Mumbulo, Upper Iowa 3. Nick Smith, Minnesota State-Mankato 4. Arsenia Barksdale, Adams State (Colo.) 5. Curtis Schurkamp, San Francisco State 6. Joe Mavins, North Carolina-Pembroke 7. Devlon Webb, Chadron State (Neb.) 8. Eddie Lopez, Western State (Colo.) 133 Pounds 1. Brandon Reasy, Pittsburgh-Johnstown (Pa.) 2. Shane Perkey, Indianapolis (Ind.) 3. Brett Allgood, Nebraska-Kearney 4. Jesse Cruz, Western State (Colo.) 5. Raymond Dunning, Adams State (Colo.) 6. Tim Elliott, Central Oklahoma 7. Craig DeGreef, Wisconsin-Parkside 8. John Putnam, Minnesota State-Mankato 141 Pounds 1. Kyle Evans, Central Oklahoma 2. Steven Fittery, Shippensburg (Pa.) 3. Jeff Rutledge, Nebraska-Kearney 4. Travis Elg, Minnesota State-Mankato 5. Tony Washington, Newberry (S.C.) 6. Doug Surra, West Liberty State (W. Va.) 7. Josh Hensley, Adams State (Colo.) 8. Gabe Suarez, St. Cloud State (Minn.) 149 Pounds 1. Todd Meneely, Nebraska-Omaha 2. Camille DuPont, Western State (Colo.) 3. Brian Pogel, Mercyhurst (Pa.) 4. Tommy Abbott, Minnesota State-Mankato 5. Tee Adams, Upper Iowa 6. Ryan Etherton, Nebraska-Kearney 7. Marcus Gordon, Ashland (Ohio) 8. Colby Robinson, Central Oklahoma 157 Pounds 1. Jason Rhoten, Minnesota State-Mankato 2. Joe Ellenberger, Nebraska-Kearney 3. Noomis Jones, Adams State (Colo.) 4. Antonio Guerra, Findlay (Ohio) 5. Andy Lamancusa, Mercyhurst (Pa.) 6. Muhammad Abdur-Rahman, Ashland (Ohio) 7. Travis Eggers, Upper Iowa 8. John Sundgren, St. Cloud State (Minn.) 165 Pounds 1. Zach Lee, Western State (Colo.) 2. Brett Hunter, Chadron State (Neb.) 3. Andy Pickar, Minnesota State-Mankato 4. Aaron Denson, Nebraska-Omaha 5. Kyle Becker, Wisconsin-Parkside 6. Mitch Norton, Upper Iowa 7. Keenan McCurdy, Nebraska-Kearney 8., Kyle Keane, Pittsburgh-Johnstown (Pa.) 174 Pounds 1. Marty Usman, Nebraska-Kearney 2. Ross Taplin, Nebraska-Omaha 3. Evan Copeland, Adams State (Colo.) 4. Cory VanGroll, Wisconsin-Parkside 5. Tyler Tubbs, Minnesota State-Moorhead 6. Albert Miles, Pittsburgh-Johnstown (Pa.) 7. Tim Matheson, Minnesota State-Mankato 8. Blake Malloy, Fort Hays State (Kan.) 
184 Pounds 1. Jared Deaguero, Adams State (Colo.) 2. Dan Scanlan, Limestone (S.C.) 3. Mike Corcetti, Pittsburgh-Johnstown (Pa.) 4. Keeno Griffin, Newberry (S.C.) 5. Heath Jolley, Central Oklahoma 6. Brad Padgett, St. Cloud State (Minn.) 7. Paul Sutton, Nebraska-Kearney 8. Lars Lueders, Western State (Colo.) 197 Pounds 1. Josh Majerus, Chadron State (Neb.) 2. Josh Ohl, Ashland (Ohio) 3. Ty Copsey, Augustana (S.D.) 4. Donavan McMahill, Western State (Colo.) 5. Kelly Anundson, Newberry (S.C.) 6. Matt Norton, Upper Iowa 7. Pat Walsh, Pittsburgh-Johnstown (Pa.) 8. Nick Wilkes, St. Cloud State (Minn.) 285 Pounds 1. Tervel Dlagnev, Nebraska-Kearney 2. Brady Wilson, Minnesota State-Mankato 3. Cy Wainwright, Newberry (S.C.) 4. Dustin Finn, Central Oklahoma 5. Dan Goodson, Upper Iowa 6. Zach Majocha, Pittsburgh-Johnstown (Pa.) 7. Jesse Laber, Mary (N.D.) 8. Tony Lewis, Nebraska-Omaha

Scott, Smith preview Big 12 Championships Oklahoma State University Sports Information Oklahoma State senior wrestler Coleman Scott and coach John Smith met with members of the media Monday in Gallagher-Iba Arena to preview Saturday's Big 12 Championship in Stillwater. Here are some of the highlights of what they had to say: Coleman Scott Regarding post-season competition: "I've been there before. A couple of the guys have. We need to wrestle like we know how to win and the title will take care of itself. I think we can definitely blow some people out of the water when we start wrestling well and they realize what big strides we've made the last couple of weeks." Regarding the importance of bonus points at the Big 12 Championship: "That's one thing we've excelled at when we were winning titles we were always getting bonus points whether it's a major, tech or a pin. You just have to keep going and extending your leads and breaking people. That's what we seem to do, peaking at the right time and doing that to guys at the end of the year." Regarding wrestling the Big 12 Championship at home in Stillwater: "It's a good feeling especially since we don't have to travel anywhere. I can't wait for it to be here. It hasn't been here since I've been here. It will be a good feeling being in front of our own fans. Hopefully we give them a good show." "I definitely like staying at home. It keeps my training schedule on. I know where I can eat and what I like to eat and stuff like that. I don't have to adjust for anything. I get to sleep in my own bed, which is nice." Regarding the team's preparation for the Big 12 Championship: "It's good. Everyone is excited. We're still making strides. We still have four or five days of practice. Everyone is really looking forward to that, and focusing on getting better these next couple of days and then focusing on the Big 12 come Saturday." Regarding what legacy he and Nathan Morgan will leave: "I think we both feel that we haven't done anything yet. Until we get that title, we want to solidify this year. Once both of us get that title we'll feel better about what we've done in our careers here." John Smith Regarding the Big 12 Championship: "We closed the gap in the Big 12. We have an opportunity. That's all you hope from this team right now. It's a tough tournament. When there's only five teams you don't get a lot of help. With this situation we have to focus on closing that gap and the only way to do that is win matches. It takes 10 guys participating. If you're going to win the tournament you can't have five guys taking fifth. It's just the opposite in the next tournament. If you have five guys doing great things there's a good chance you're going to get what you want." Regarding the importance of scoring bonus points at the Big 12 Championship: "If it's any indication from last year it's going to be pretty important. They always seem to be. I'm not sure we're in a position to score a lot. I think we are in the position to get some upsets. For us that's going to be important for us." "I've got four guys ranked fifth. Am I going to get bonus points? That's going to be hard to do. Jared Rosholt two against three. Shinn against Fio. Coleman Scott likely against McCormick which have been one point matches. I think we have the opportunity but if we are it's going to be in the third period." Regarding Nathan Morgan's knee injury: "He's bounced off that knee fine and been training well. He seems to be as good as he's looked at this later part of the season." Regarding wrestling the Big 12 Championship at home in Stillwater: "I think when you're at home if you get on a roll I think some magical things can happen. I don't know if needs to come down to one match. I know we're positioned pretty well. 125, 133, 141 are in pretty good position. We're in a good position at 57 if we're going to pull upsets. Sixty five with Dieffenbach. Heavyweight. If you're pushing those guys into the finals, you're going to be in good shape." Regarding Jake Dieffenbach in the 165-pound bracket: "It's very tough. 65 has a lot of balance there. There are several good kids. I think the conference has four solid wrestlers in there with him, with the fifth one showing some signs of being tough. It's a tough weight. It takes tough people to win it. I like the way Jake's wrestled the last couple of outings. It seemed like he struggled a little bit in January and I think a lot of that is based on the NAIA season which is very short. The longevity of the season got to him a little bit but he's refocused and I think his best wrestling is still ahead of him." Regarding how the team's preseason conditioning comes into play late in the season: "My conditioning program helps everyone who lets the negativity go. A lot of our matches we're training through them. We're not taking three days off and trying to peak for the match. Oklahoma, we trained right through it. That was probably a little bit of a mistake on my part." Regarding the wild card meeting following the Big 12 Championship: "It's probably the worst part of my job. They've never been very enjoyable. People have left upset and angry. They implemented some rules last year where it became a little more civil. The wild card is you're fighting for your kid. Everyone thinks they have an athlete who can make a difference and help at the NCAA Championships. It's like having your own child. Every one of these men wrestle hard for you and you want them to get that opportunity. One thing we've gotten away from is we need to help teams that can win championships. A championship in our conference helps all of us. Does it mean we need to take someone over someone who earned it more? You get into a point where the last four or five are real close and it's hard to distinguish a difference then we should award the spots to teams that have a chance to win championships. It's going to be tough this year." "Every time I leave I feel abused. Any coach can say that. It becomes personal in the wild card. You're telling me my kid isn't any good, that he hasn't done anything. It's just a fight. We're not holding hands and sharing a meal together." General thoughts on the Big 12 Championship: "I don't like the fact we're an underdog. I'm excited because of what I see in my guys and the way they're responding to our training and the attitude in the room. I've seen some things I really like. It doesn't mean anything if we don't execute on the mat." Brands, Iowa ready for Big Ten Championships University of Iowa Sports Information By Tom Brand's demeanor Tuesday, the Big Ten Conference wrestling championship couldn't come soon enough. Brands swayed, rocked and fidgeted during a 20-minute press conference inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. If focus and anxiousness had a face, Brands would be the obvious poster child. The No. 1-ranked Hawkeyes have two top seeds and six others seeded in the top four for the league tournament March 8-9 at Williams Arena in Minneapolis "I've been saying all year that we have a group of guys who love to compete and this is the best time of year to love to compete," Brands said. "We have a good group of guys." Iowa's top seeds are sophomore Brent Metcalf at 149 pounds and senior Mark Perry at 165. Junior Charlie Falck (125), sophomore Joe Slaton (133) and sophomore Jay Borschel (174) are all two-seeds. Sophomore Phillip Keddy is third at 184, senior Matt Fields (285) and sophomore Dan LeClere (141) are seeded fourth. Sophomore Ryan Morningstar is seventh at 157 and sophomore Chad Beatty is tied for seventh at 197. "It's important to have 10 weight classes representing themselves to the best of their ability and beyond that," Brands said. "That means wrestling above your seeds and if you're the No. 1 seed, doing it in dominating fashion. When you have 10 weight classes doing that, the team title takes care of itself." Minnesota has won six of the last nine Big Ten championships, including the last two. Iowa's last win came in 2004, but the Hawkeyes have won the last two times the tournament has been held in Minneapolis (1986, '97). Brands enjoys competing in hostile environments like the one the Hawkeyes will face this weekend. "Williams Arena is a great place to wrestle," Brands said. "They have good fans there. We'll have a good following there. Enemy arenas have always been attractive in my way of thinking when you're invading someone." Perry (18-2) received the top seed at 165 even though he has not competed since a 4-1 victory against Michigan's Eric Tannenbaum on Jan. 13. Perry is recovering from knee surgery and Brands says he is "100 percent." "The fur's been flying in our room with Mark Perry," Brands said. "He's been wrestling hard. He's been preparing his whole life for this, so down time doesn't concern me when you have a mindset like that and when you have an attitude like that." Perry is the defending conference and national champion at 165. Other Big Ten placewinners for the Hawkeyes last season were Falck (second), Fields (fourth), Morningstar (fifth) and Keddy (seventh). There are five Iowa wrestlers who will be competing in their first league tournament. One of those rookies is Metcalf (30-1), who has won 23 consecutive matches and is 9-0 against other Big Ten competitors at 149. Brands was asked what he thought of the 149-pound weight class, which features one of the marquee brackets in the tournament. "Balanced and tough," Brands said. "A lot of guys hoping and one guy that knows he can continue his rampage. I like our guy. I like him because of how his approach is and how his impact on his team is." Because of so many high seeds, there isn't a lot of opportunity for many of the Iowa wrestlers to have a break-through weekend. One is Morningstar, who is in a loaded 157 class. During his career, Morningstar is 5-12 against the rest of the field, 2-6 in dual conference dual action this season. "It's a new season for me," Morningstar said. "I have some overdue wins that need to come out and now's the time. Brands knows how to get us ready and we believe in what he's doing and what he's teaching. He'll have us ready no matter what, so that's a good feeling to have." The first session begins at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 8. "When they get ready to wrestle, it's a great group to watch and they are confident," Brands said. "All I know is that our guys, when they get ready to go, they're pretty doggone tough and they're fun to watch because they attack. They do it the right way."

The Dana College wrestling team will be sending 12 wrestlers to the 51st NAIA Wrestling Championships in Sioux City, Iowa, beginning on March 6. The tournament will be spread out over three days at the Tyson Event Center. There will be 272 wrestlers from 30 different teams participating in the event. Representing the Vikings are: Kevin Gray (16-11, SR, Topeka, Kan.) at 125 pounds, Burke Barnes (14-3, SR, Lake Stevens, Wash.) at 133 pounds, Matt Jacobson (7-18, JR, Craig, Neb.) at 133 pounds, Adam Manz (17-12, SO, Council Bluffs, Iowa) at 141 pounds, Ty Costa (9-14, FR, Turlock, Calif.) at 141 pounds, Jason Bilinski (30-6, SR, Pittsgrove, N.J.) at 157 pounds, Dan Pray (16-13, SR, St. George, Kan.) at 157 pounds, Ryan Tuzon (27-10, JR, Maui, Hawaii) at 165 pounds, Tony Ponce (20-17, SR, Derby, Kan.) at 174 pounds, Josh Ghobadpoor (8-6, SO, Dahlonega, Ga.) at 174 pounds, Ross Milam (24-19, JR, Omaha, Neb.) at 197 pounds, and Wade Jordan (29-8, SR, Coulee City, Wash.) at heavyweight. Dana College finished 8-4 in duals this year and 5-1 in Great Plains Athletic Conference duals. The Vikings won the GPAC tournament for the second straight season and crowned five individual champions. Dana College is coached by Beau Vest who is in his first season.

This week's edition of "On the Mat" will feature Mike Finn and Troy Sunderland. "On the Mat" is a weekly wrestling radio program that airs every Wednesday night. This week's broadcast can be heard live from 6-7 p.m. Central Standard Time. The Dan Gable International Wrestling Institute and Museum in Waterloo, Iowa, hosts the show. W.I.N. Magazine editor Mike Finn will be on the program for his monthly segment. Finn will provide a preview of the upcoming conference tournaments and an overview of the dual meet season. Sunderland is the head wrestling coach at Pennsylvania State University. His Nittany Lion team is currently ranked sixth nationally. Penn State finished the dual meet season with a 14-5 overall record and a 5-3 Big Ten Conference record. As a wrestler, Sunderland was a three-time All-American and a two-time NCAA runner-up for Penn State from 1988-1993. "On the Mat" can be heard live on the Internet at www.kcnzam.com or locally in Northeast Iowa on 1650, The Fan. Feel free to e-mail radio@wrestlingmuseum.org with questions or comments about the show.

THIS WEEK IN PANTHER WRESTLING Sat., March 8 at NCAA West Regional (Fargo, N.D. - 10 a.m.) The University of Northern Iowa Panthers' wrestling team will travel to Fargo, N.D., for the 2008 NCAA West Regional on Sat., March 8. The 20 individual qualifiers will advance to St. Louis, Mo., and the Scottrade Center for the 2008 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships March 20-22. UNI PANTHERS (7-5-1) Wt. Name Year Hometown 07-08 Record 125 Caleb Flores R-Fr. Rosemead, Calif. 6-13 133 Josh Baldridge Jr. Haysville, Kan. 5-5 141 C.J. Ettelson Sr. Hudson, Iowa 12-8 149 Nick Pickerell R-Fr. Albia, Iowa 18-7 157 Tyson Reiner So. Mitchell, S.D. 3-6 165 Moza Fay Jr. Anamosa, Iowa 18-6 174 Alex Dolly Sr. Mishawaka, Ind. 14-9 184 Andy O'Loughlin R-Fr. Independence, Iowa 10-14 197 Andrew Anderson Jr. Sioux City, Iowa 17-9 285 Dustin Bauman R-Fr. Stratford, Wis. 11-12 PANTHER POINTS NCAA WEST REGIONAL INFORMATION The NCAA has allocated 20 individual qualifying spots for the 2008 West Regional. The Panthers will join the host school North Dakota State along with Air Force, Northern Colorado, South Dakota State and Wyoming at the NCAA West Regional. Round one action will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday in the Bison Sports Arena. The semifinals will begin at 11:30 a.m., followed by the consolation semifinals at 2 p.m. The finals and consolation finals will begin at 4 p.m. The "True Second" matches will take place following the finals, if necessary. Immediately following the final wrestling action of the evening the coaches will take part in the Wild Card Meeting to determine all 20 qualifiers for the NCAA Championships. Ticket prices for the NCAA West Regional are $12 for adults and $6 for 17-under. Children 2-under are free with paid adult admission. To order tickets call the NDSU ticket office at (888) 231-NDSU or order online at GoBison.com/tickets. PANTHERS AIMING FOR 23RD STRAIGHT REGIONAL TITLE The Panthers will be looking for their 23rd straight West Regional championship on March 8. UNI has won the past 22 regional team titles it has entered. The last time UNI did not win the regional title came in 1985 when Louisiana State secured the team title. UNI'S NATIONAL QUALIFIERS UNDER PENRITH Head coach Brad Penrith and the Panthers' goal each year is to qualify all 10 wrestlers for the NCAA Championships. UNI qualified as many as nine under Penrith's tutelage at the 2003 West Regional. In 1986, UNI qualified all 10 of its wrestlers to the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. It is the only time in the Division I era that UNI has qualified all 10 wrestlers to the national meet. According to wrestling records kept by Jay Hammond, 66 teams have qualified 10 individuals in a single season to the national meet since 1973, including all 10 last season by Iowa State University. Year-by-Year Qualifiers to NCAAs under Penrith 2001 - 8 qualifiers 2002 - 8 qualifiers 2003 - 9 qualifiers 2004 - 7 qualifiers 2005 - 7 qualifiers 2006 - 8 qualifiers 2007 - 6 qualifiers Caleb Flores - 125 lbs. Redshirt freshman Caleb Flores (Rosemead, Calif.) will be making his first appearance at the NCAA West Regional. Flores went 2-2 against his regional opponents in 2007-08. He tallied six wins on the season, including four in dual competition. Josh Baldridge - 133 lbs. Junior Josh Baldridge (Haysville, Kan.) will be making his regional debut after transferring to UNI from Labette Community College at the beginning of the spring semester. Bahe has posted an overall mark of 5-5 since joining the Panthers. Baldridge is a perfect 4-0 against West Regional opponents this season with wins over Wyoming's Cory VomBaur (4-1), UNC's Blayze Bahe (5-2), SDSU's Nick Kulseth (9-1) and NDSU's Eric Sanders (14-5. C.J. Ettelson - 141 lbs. Senior C.J. Ettelson (Hudson, Iowa) is a three-time national qualifer and a two-time West Regional champion. Ettelson is 12-8 this season and has not lost to a West Regional opponent this season in four matches. Ettelson scored wins over Wyoming's Brandon Gifford (16-0), UNC's Richard Lohr (Fall, 0:54), SDSU's Jeff Cooley (5-0) and NDSU's Geoff Martin (Fall, 5:17). Ettelson owns victories this season over then No. 1-ranked Kellen Russell (Michigan), 9-3. Russell is currently ranked No. 6 in the nation at 141 pounds. Ettelson also tallied a 6-0 victory over No. 12-ranked Cody Cleveland (Chattanooga). Nick Pickerell - 149 lbs. Redshirt freshman Nick Pickerell (Albia, Iowa) will be making his NCAA West Regional debut as well. Pickerell is 18-7 overall this season, which includes a 3-2 mark in dual competition. Pickerell is 2-0 against West Regional opponents this season with wins over UNC's Daniel Prater (16-7) and NDSU's Ryan Adams (15-0). Pickerell picked up first-place honors in the 149-pound weight class at the Jim Fox Open on Dec. 8 and the Flash Flanagan Open on Jan. 5. Tyson Reiner - 157 lbs. Sophomore Tyson Reiner (Mitchell, S.D.) had been limited by injuries early in the season and posted three wins in his last five bouts this season. Reiner is 2-0 vs. NCAA West Regional opponents with victories over Wyoming's Dane Fuhrman (8-1) and NDSU's Adam Aho (6-4). Moza Fay - 165 lbs. Junior Moza Fay (Anamosa, Iowa) will be looking to qualify to the national tournament for the second consecutive season. Fay captured the 157-pound regional title in 2007. Fay reached the Round of 12 at last year's NCAA Championships in the 157-pound weight class. Fay is ranked No. 10 in the nation in the latest InterMat rankings. Fay is 18-7 this season including a perfect 4-0 against NCAA West Regional opponents. Fay has wins over Wyoming's Eric Coxbill (11-3), UNC's Devan Lewis (17-5), Air Force's Stephen Crozier (13-2) and NDSU's Vince Salminen (Fall, 1:33). Fay has split two matches this season with No. 7-ranked Jon Reader (Iowa State). Fay scored a 9-6 win on Dec. 16, while Reader tallied a 13-5 win on Jan. 12. Fay won the 165-pound title at the Loras Open on Nov. 10 and placed second at the Kaufman-Brand Open on Nov. 17. Alex Dolly - 174 lbs. Senior Alex Dolly (Mishawaka, Ind.) will attempt to earn his third trip to the NCAA Championships. Dolly won the 184-pound title at the 2005 West Regional. He then placed second at the 2007 West Regional and earned a wild card into the NCAA Championships. Dolly has posted a mark of 14-9 this season, which includes seven dual wins. Dolly is also 4-0 against West Regional opponents this season with wins over Wyoming's Kyle Morrow (2-1), UNC's Ryan Johnson (20-10), SDSU's Justin Retallic (Fall, 5:24) and NDSU's Shannon Fettig (Fall, 2:17). Dolly placed first at the Loras Open on Nov. 10 and placed second at the Kaufman-Brand Open on Nov. 17. Andy O'Loughlin - 184 lbs. Redshirt freshman Andy O'Loughlin (Independence, Iowa) will be making his first appearance at the NCAA West Regional. O'Loughlin has 10 victories on the season, including four in dual action. O'Loughlin posted a 2-1 mark against West Regional opponents with wins over Wyoming's Mikel Hoopes (11-9) and SDSU's Matt Wetterling (17-6). Andrew Anderson - 197 lbs. Junior Andrew Anderson (Sioux City, Iowa) will be looking for his third trip to the national tournament in as many years. Anderson has been a wild card selection in each of the two previous years. Anderson has posted an overall record of 17-9 this season, including an 8-5 mark in dual action. Anderson finished the regular season strong with six wins in his last seven matches. The 197-pounder is 4-0 against West Regional competition this season with wins over Wyoming's Dan Barrone (Fall, 6:49), UNC's Patrick Carey (Fall, 1:22) and NDSU's Jacob Bryce (Fall, 1:40). Anderson also received a forfeit dual win against South Dakota State. Anderson tallied wins over Wisconsin's No. 8-ranked Dallas Herbst (4-3) and Chattanooga's No. 17-ranked Matt Koz (6-1). He placed sixth at the Midlands tournament on Dec. 30, marking the third time in as many years he has placed in the top six at one of the nation's most prestigious open tournaments. Anderson also tallied first-place honors at the Loras Open on Nov. 10 and placed second at the Kaufman-Brand Open on Nov. 17. Dustin Bauman - 285 lbs. Redshirt freshman Dustin Bauman (Stratford, Wis.) will be making his NCAA West Regional debut after posting 11 wins this season at heavyweight for the Panthers. Bauman also notched seven dual wins. Bauman is 2-1 against West Regional opponents this season with victories over SDSU's Jeremy Swier (15-0) and NDSU's Tyler Hemmesch (10-0). WEST REGIONAL ON THE RADIO UNI Panther wrestling fans can follow the NCAA West Regional in the Cedar Valley by tuning in to 99.3-FM (KWAY) for all the action. Benjamin Hupke (play-by-play) and Benji Dolly (analyst) will have the call. UNI WINS SECOND STRAIGHT WWC REGULAR SEASON TITLE The Panthers secured its second straight Western Wrestling Conference regular season title with a 44-6 dual victory over North Dakota State on Feb. 24. UNI finished the 2007-08 conference dual season with a perfect 4-0 mark. UNI won the 2006-07 WWC title with an identical 4-0 league record. UNI DOMINATES WWC DUALS Not only did the UNI wrestling team capture its second straight Western Wrestling Conference title, the Panthers did so in dominating fashion. UNI outscored its WWC opponents by the count of 162-15. The Panthers lost only four bouts in league action this season. ANDERSON NAMED WWC WRESTLER OF THE WEEK University of Northern Iowa 197-pound junior Andrew Anderson has been named the Western Wrestling Conference's Wrestler of the Week as announced by league officials. Anderson (Sioux City, Iowa/East HS) posted a perfect 2-0 mark this past week to improve to 17-9 on the season. Anderson scored a 6-5 victory over Jacob Marrs (Nebraska-Omaha), who is ranked No. 2 in NCAA Division II at 197 pounds. Anderson then added a first-period fall at the 1:40 mark of his match with NDSU's Jacob Bryce, who was a national qualifier in 2007. Anderson has won four matches in a row to end the dual portion of the season. It marks the second time this season that Anderson has earned the league's top weekly honor (Jan. 23 & Feb. 27). UNI's Moza Fay has also been named the WWC Wrestler of the Week twice this season (Nov. 21 & Jan. 8). PANTHERS BLAST BISON, 44-6 The University of Northern Iowa wrestling team clinched its second straight Western Wrestling Conference regular season title championship with a 44-6 victory over the North Dakota State University Bison on Feb. 24 in the McLeod Center. The Panthers won nine of the 10 matches contested. UNI also tallied four falls and won the takedown battle, 21-5. "It's probably the best we've wrestled to date," UNI head coach Brad Penrith said. "We are a good team and we proved that today. NDSU is a good team too, but we controlled all facets of the game today. We just took them out of their game plan. We have two weeks to get ready for regionals. We are all on the same page now." PANTHERS TOPPLE D-II POWER NEBRASKA-OMAHA The University of Northern Iowa wrestling team secured a 22-15 dual win over Nebraska-Omaha, the nation's top-ranked NCAA Division II team. UNI won six of the 10 bouts against UNO on Thursday night in the Sapp Fieldhouse. UNI improved to 6-5-1 on the season, while Nebraska-Omaha dropped to 8-3 on the year. "I thought we wrestled pretty solid," UNI head coach Brad Penrith said. "We made a mistake at 149, when we were in control of the match, but other than that we put up a strong effort. Now we are gearing up for North Dakota State on Sunday." The Panthers now hold a 14-4 all-time series lead against the UNO Mavericks. THREE PANTHERS ON THE DEAN'S LIST Student-athletes at the University of Northern Iowa posted a 2.98 grade point average for the fall 2007 semester. In addition, the more than 400 student-athletes competing at UNI hold a cumulative GPA of 2.96. Of the 96 student-athletes named to the Dean's List were three members of the UNI wrestling team. Junior Andrew Anderson (Sioux City, Iowa), sophomore Charlie Ettelson (Hudson, Iowa) and sophomore Scott Hazen (Underwood, Iowa) were the three Panther wrestlers named to the Dean's List. "Our student-athletes' performance in the classroom equals their success on the field, court and pool," assistant athletics director for compliance Steve Schofield said. "They truly are students first and athletes second, and deserve a ton of credit for their hard work in the classroom. In addition, our coaching staffs have done a great job recruiting quality students to UNI, and emphasizing academics with their respective squads. Jennie Sell, athletics academic advisor, should also be recognized for the countless hours she works to help us achieve this level of success." A total of 96 student-athletes made the dean's list this past fall (GPA 3.5 or better), or nearly 25 percent. These student-athletes, listed below, have majors spread across all disciplines, in five separate colleges: Business Administration, Education, Humanities and Fine Arts, Natural Sciences and Social and Behavioral Sciences. Perhaps even more impressively, more than 50 percent of UNI's student-athletes recorded a grade point average of at least 3.0. UNI's student-athletes also had the same cumulative GPA (2.98) for the fall 2007 semester as UNI's general student population. MOZA PINS TO WIN Junior 165-pounder Moza Fay (Anamosa, Iowa) leads the squad this season with seven falls. Fay tallied his team-leading seventh fall of the season with a first-period fall over North Dakota State's Vincent Salminen at the 1:33 mark. Fay's fall helped UNI to a 44-6 dual win over NDSU. Fay reached the Round of 12 at last year's NCAA Championship and will be looking to make his second trip to nationals this season. C.J. JOINS TOP-20 WIN LIST Senior 141-pounder C.J. Ettelson upped is career win total to 92 with a pin win over NDSU's Geoff Martin. Ettelson is tied with Efonda Sproles (1979-82) for the No. 20 spot on the Panthers' all-time win list. Kirk Myers (1978-82) and Rich Powers (1988-92) are tied at the top of the list with 134 wins apiece. Ettelson is 92-45 overall in his career and 29-19 in duals. ETTELSON MOVES TO #7 ON UNI'S ALL-TIME FALLS LIST Ettelson moved to No. 7 on the Panthers' all-time pin list. He is tied with Joel Greenlee (1985-89) with 29 falls apiece. With one more fall, Ettelson would move into a tie for fifth with Dion Cobb (1979-84) and Dan Kjeldgaard (1993-97). Kirk Myers (1978-82) holds the Panthers' record for career pins with 61. KITTLESON LEADS TEAM IN WINS Redshirt freshman 149-pounder Trevor Kittleson (St. Ansgar, Iowa) leads the Panthers in wins this season with 21. Kittleson has posted a mark of 21-9 this season, including an impressive 5-1 record in matches ending in a major decision. Kittleson won his first-ever collegiate dual match with a hard fought 2-0 decision over SDSU's Weston Blasius. Kittleson has placed in the top six in five tournaments, including a championship in the Duhawk Open on Feb. 2. PLEDGES FOR PINS The 2007-08 wrestling season is well underway, but it's still not too late to participate in our second "Pledges for Pins" drive. Let's look at what is being accomplished with pledges for last year's team total of 48 pins that brought in nearly $25,000. A complete makeover of both sides of the West gym's north hallway, including action shots of all UNI national champions. (View the plans at www.thesignpeople.net; click on "Artwork," then enter "wrestling" as the "magic word.") Coach Brad Penrith's former office now serves as a wrestlers' study and video room and contains a desk for assistant Tolly Thompson. The room's new doors now open into the assistant coaches' office. A former athletic trainer's room was updated for the first time in about 30 years to become Brad's office. Exposed plumbing was covered in a tiny custodial office now used for wrestling supplies. Why is a Pledges for Pins drive necessary? Panther wrestlers compete in the first-rate McLeod center but sorely lack updated facilities in the West gym, which remains their home. This site pales in comparison to that of nearly every other Division I university, a definite recruiting disadvantage for the Panthers. In recent years, rising costs and lower state funds have combined to severely limit help from the university itself, so those of us who care about returning the UNI program to its stature as one of the top in the nation are lending our support. Any pledge amount, from $1 up, is welcome. Donors may specify a maximum number of pins for their contribution; for example, $20 for a maximum 50 pins ($1,000). Outright donations are also welcome, but PLEASE specify to the UNI Foundation that these are for the Pledges for Pins project. Contributors will be sent a statement at the end of the season, and all contributions are tax-deductible. Pledges and donations should be sent to Pledges for Pins, UNI Foundation Accounting, 1221 W. 23rd St, Cedar Falls, IA 50614 -0239. Last year, Panther wrestlers built an elementary school playground, moved a hospital daycare center's playground equipment, donated money for Christmas gifts for a classroom of low-income children (and sang them carols), read to children at area schools, and served as Safe Date escorts during Homecoming Week. And they did all this while posting the fifth-highest GPA in the nation, behind Duke, Stanford, Brown and Princeton! Now we can show them our spirit and concern. NCAA DIVISION I WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS IN ST. LOUIS The 78th Annual NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships take place March 20-22, 2008, at Scottrade Center in St. Louis. The Gateway City will once again host the tournament for two years as it heads back to the Arch in March. For tickets to the 2008 championships, visit Ticketmaster.com or charge by phone at 314/ 421-1888 or 866/ 646-8849 (toll free). For more information about the 2008 Wrestling Championships visit www.NCAAsports.com or www.stlsports.org/wrestling. Good seats are still available for the 2008 NCAA Wrestling Championships. Fans can order tickets by calling 866/ 646-8849 or logging on to Ticketmaster.com. Tickets start as low as $60. Groups of fifteen or more can call 314/ 206-7388 for great ticket discounts and special packages. THE Brad Penrith SHOW The Brad Penrith Show will be broadcast each Wednesday on KWAY (99.3-FM) from 7 p.m. - 8 p.m. Benjamin Hupke will serve as the show's host. BOOSTER CLUB MEETINGS The UNI wrestling Booster Club meetings are held the first Wednesday of every month at Biemann's Chuck Wagon on 2627 Center Street in North Cedar Falls (old 218). WEEKLY PRESS LUNCHEONS The UNI head coach Brad Penrith or a member of his coaching staff will be available at the weekly Press Luncheons held each Monday beginning at 12 noon in the back room of Pepper's Grill and Sports Pub located at 620 East 18th Street in Cedar Falls.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Tommy Rowlands, assistant coach for the Ohio State wrestling team, continued his bid for a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team after winning the gold medal at the 2008 Pan American Championships Sunday in Colorado Springs, Colo. Competing at 120kg/264.5 pounds at the Olympic Training Center, Rowlands shut out Brazil's Antoine Jaoude, 2-0, 4-0, in the gold-medal match. En route to the final, Rowlands, a 2007 U.S. World Team member, pinned world champion Alexis Rodriguez of Cuba in 1:54 in the opening match earlier Sunday. "That was a big win for me," Rowlands said. "He (Rodriguez) is a seven-time world medalist. This doesn't put me on the Olympic Team. It's definitely a nice steppingstone for me and one that I am proud of." After downing Rodriguez, Rowlands held Canada's Arjan Bhullar scoreless to win, 3-0, 2-0, in the semifinals, setting up the gold-medal match against Jaoude. Rowlands' gold medal helped the United States win the Pan Am championships with 64 points, edging Cuba for the title, which compiled 59 points. In his quest to compete at the Olympic Games in Beijing, Rowlands will participate at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials June 13-15 in Las Vegas.

Former Stanford wrestler and current volunteer assistant coach Matt Gentry has earned a spot at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. The 74 kg freestyle wrestler, who qualified for the Canadian Olympic Team in December, earned himself a spot in the Olympics yesterday, taking third at the Pan Am Championships in Colorado Springs. Gentry, a dual citizen of the United States and Canada, won a 7-0, 5-0 decision over Felipe Arangure of Mexico in his opening match and pinned Panama's Leonardo Gonzalez 27 seconds into his second match. Gentry then lost a close decision to the wrestler from Cuba, but bested Columbia's Wilson Medina (5-0, 10-3) in the bronze medal match. In the wrestle-off for true third to go to the Olympics, he pinned Puerto Rican Jaime Espinal in 1:45. As the highest finisher not already qualified, Gentry earned himself a spot in this summer's Olympic Games. Gentry has been competing internationally since graduating from Stanford in 2005. He won his first major international medal, a bronze, at the Pan Am Games last July. Gentry is Stanford's only NCAA Champion, having won the 157-pound title in 2004. He qualified for the Olympics on the same day his career win record was broken by current senior Tanner Gardner.

TEMPE, Ariz. -- The 2008 Pac-10 Wrestling Championships came to a close Monday night at McArthur Court in Eugene, Ore., where the Arizona State University wrestling team placed fourth overall on the strength of two individual champions and five Top 2 placements. Boise State won the team title with 152.5 points while Stanford was second at 106.5 and was followed by Oregon State (106), ASU (103) and CS Fullerton (101.5) in the Top 5. Individual championships were secured by Patrick Pitsch at 165 pounds, his third in a row, and at 184 pounds by Brent Chriswell. The title for Pitsch makes him the first wrestler in Pac-10 history to win the 165-pound title three times and just the third wrestler since weight classes were reorganized in 1998-98 to win the same weight three times in a career joining former Sun Devil Ryan Bader (197) and BSU's Scott Jorgenson (133). The finals opened with second-seeded and 17th-ranked Anthony Robles putting on a stellar performance at 125 pounds before falling just shy of an upset bid of sixth-ranked Tanner Gardner by dropping a 7-6 decision. Two bouts later, sixth-seeded Chris Drouin also came close to a huge upset, falling to undefeated and No. 1 Chad Mendes, 6-4, in the 141 bout. Pitsch, the top-seed in his weight class, was the first victorious Sun Devil in the finals, despite surrendering an early takedown. Trailing 2-0, Pitsch fought back to take a 6-4 upset victory over second-seeded and 17th-ranked Kurt Swartz (BSU) for his third crown. Two weight classes later, third-seeded and 15th-ranked Brent Chriswell pulled off a big upset of his own as he scored a 10-7 defeat of top-seeded and eighth-ranked Kirk Smith, a fellow freshmen. The final Sun Devil in the finals was one bout later where top-seeded Jason Trulson dropped a 3-1 overtime decision to Kyle Bressler (Oregon State) at 197 pounds. Three others ASU wrestlers competed in the medal rounds on the day as well, including Quinton Pruett, who placed fifth at heavyweight. Pruett, unseeded in the tournament, opened the day with a close 3-2 loss to third-seeded Charlie Alexander of Oregon. In the fifth-place bout, Pruett faced sixth-seeded Ricardo Alcala (UC Davis) and exacted revenge for an opening round loss with a 6-1 victory. Orlando Jimenez was pinned in 4:24 of the seventh-place bout at 149 pounds to earn eighth place while Todd Schavrien accepted eighth-place at 133 pounds after medically forfeiting his bout. Next up for those Sun Devils that have qualified will be the NCAA Wrestling Championships, set for March 20-22 in St. Louis.

Eugene, Ore. -- In a season already marked by impressive milestones, the 2007-08 Stanford wrestling team rallied today to hit its biggest one yet. The Cardinal won a tight race at the 2008 Pac-10 Championships, taking second place to record the highest Pac-10 finish in school history. The Cardinal entered the day in sixth, but won five consolation semifinal matches this afternoon to get its day two rally started. In the nightcap, senior Josh Zupancic and junior Luke Feist earned crucial bonus points in third place matches, and senior Tanner Gardner captured his second consecutive Pac-10 title. The three performances helped carry Stanford to its first-ever Pac-10 runner-up finish, with 106.5 team points. Gardner, Stanford's new all-time win leader, was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler, after pinning two opponents and defeating a top-20 wrestler in the championship bout. Gardner (38-1) started the evening session with a win in the 125-pound championship. With the decision, the two-time All-American became the first Cardinal wrestler in more than two decades to win back-to-back titles. Wrestling Arizona State's Anthony Robles, the nation's 17th-ranked 125-pounder, Gardner battled back from a deficit and earned a 7-5 decision. After a scoreless first period, Gardner was taken down and turned to fall behind 4-1. Within seconds, however, Gardner reversed Robles and put him on his back for a three-point nearfall, earning what proved to be the decisive points in the match. Gardner will compete at the NCAA Championships, Mar. 20-22, looking to become Stanford's first three-time All-American and second NCAA Champion. At 149 pounds, redshirt freshman Lucas Espericueta (25-12) fell to Oregon State's Kyle Larson in the third place bout, 8-3. Espericueta upset third-seeded Larson in the opening round of the tournament, but was unable to repeat the upset. Espericueta finished fourth and was one of eight wild cards selected for the NCAA Championships by conference coaches. At 157 pounds, Zupancic (36-6) won a decisive third-place match to secure his second straight trip to the NCAA Championships. The Cardinal All-American demolished unseeded Tim Patrick of Oregon State, earning a key bonus point with a 14-3 major decision. At 165 pounds, true freshman Kyle Barrett (7-6) was defeated by No. 4 Daniel Atondo of Cal State Bakersfield for third place. The unseeded Cardinal freshman, who had wrestled in just eight collegiate matches prior to the championship, posted a Cinderella run during the tournament, defeating three seeded opponents on his way to a fourth place finish. Feist (16-10) battled back with a vengeance in the 174-pound bout. In a rematch with his first round opponent, Todd Noel of Cal State Fullerton, the Stanford junior got revenge, earning a critical team bonus point with an 8-0 major decision. Feist will head back to the NCAA Championships for the second straight year, looking to earn his first career All-America honor. At 184 pounds, Zack Giesen (24-10) was caught on his back by tenth-ranked Ian Murphy of Cal State Fullerton, and lost by fall (0:58) for just the third time this season. Along with teammate Espericueta, Giesen earned one of eight NCAA wild card spots and will head to his second NCAA Championships later this month. The NCAA Championships will be held at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mar. 20-22. For the second straight year, Stanford will send five wrestlers to the event, one of the highest totals in program history. Gardner, Zupancic, Feist and Giesen will be making repeat appearances at the championships, while Espericueta, a redshirt freshman, will be making his NCAA debut. Stanford's highest Pac-10 finish prior to tonight was third place in 1985 and 1986. The Cardinal's only other second place finish came more than 40 years ago (1965), when the squad was part of the Athletic Association of Western Universities. Boise State captured the team title with 152.5 points, and Stanford edged defending conference champion Oregon State for second place, 106.5 to 106. Arizona State took fourth with 103 points, and Cal State Fullerton rounded out the top five with 101.5 points.

EUGENE, Ore. -- The Boise State University wrestling team captured the Pacific-10 Wrestling Championships in Eugene, Ore., with 152.5 points. "It was an awesome performance all weekend by all 10 of our wrestlers," said head coach Greg Randall. "We had only one goal coming here and that was the championship and nothing else." Cory Fish captured the first individual Pac-10 Championship of his career as he defeated hometown hero Ryan Dunn of Oregon 3-1. Fish recorded a two point takedown at the 0:51 mark in the in the first period and never relinquished the lead. He gave up an escape point in the first period as Dunn narrowed the lead to 2-1 but Fish responded with an escape of his own at the 0:03 mark in the second period and held on for his first conference championship. This was the first conference title for a Boise State wrestler since Ben Cherrington captured the 157-pound title in 2006. "This is the first title I have ever won in college," Fish said. "It feels great to win the one that really counts." Nate Lee, at 174-pounds, earned the Broncos second individual title of the Pac-10 Championships as he defeated the No. 3 seed Tyler Bernacchi of UC Davis 4-3. The match was tied at 2-2 entering the third period before Lee gave up an escape to go down one. The two wrestlers grappled until the 1:03 mark in the when Lee shot for the leg and connected on a two point takedown to take the 4-3 advantage. Lee was able to thwart Bernacchi's final attempts to score and held on for the victory. This was the first conference championship for Lee who took third place at in last year's conference championship. "I knew I was going to have a battle on my hands," said Lee. "I knew my game plan, he knew his game plan, you can't get shaken when points are scored against you, you just have to keep wrestling. The way our team has been training the past three weeks I knew I would last longer than him. Our whole team knew they were ready for this tournament and it has shown." At 157 pounds, Tyler Sherfey battled No. 1 seed Chase Pami of Cal Poly to overtime but fell in the first overtime period 3-1. Sherfey, the No. 3 seed, knocked off No. 2 seed Josh Zupancic of Stanford in the semi-finals to earn spot in the finals. Sherfey earned a trip to the NCAA Championships with his second place finish. This is the second consecutive season Sherfey has finished in the top three at the Pac-10 Championships at 157-pounds, he took third in 2007. Freshman and No. 2 seed Kurt Swartz reached the finals of the Pac-10 Championships at 165 pounds where he fell to Patrick Pitsch of Arizona State 6-4. Even with the loss, Swartz captured second place at 165 pounds and a trip to the NCAA Wrestling Championships in St. Louis, Mo., Mar. 20-22. Adam Hall finished second in the 149 pound weight class. Hall won two matches Sunday, Mar. 2, to earn a trip to the finals. Hall had already earned a place at the NCAA Wrestling Championships and decided forfeited to Morgan Atkinson to prepare for the national championships. Levi Jones captured the third place title at 141-pounds as he beat Nexi Delgado of UC Davis 8-5. Jones posted a 3-1 record at the conference championships to earn his third place finish. Matt Casperson finished third at 197-pounds as he outscored Riley Orozco of Bakersfield 4-2. Casperson fell behind 0-1 before rattling off three straight points to take a 3-1 lead which he would not relinquish. The final victory of the championships for the Broncos came at the heavyweight division where Nick Smith defeated Charlie Alexander of Oregon 5-2 to capture third place. Freshman Allen Bartelli won two matches at the Pac-10 Championships to earn a seventh place finish in the 125 pound weight class. He defeated Andre Gonzalez 8-3 for his first victory and then dropped Joseph Lucas of Oregon 2-1 in the seventh place match. "Winning the Pac-10 Championship has been this team's goal all year," said Fish. "It has been a great year for Boise State athletics with the wrestling team capturing a conference title, the men's and women's basketball teams earning a share of the conference champions, the tennis teams having a great start to the year and all the success of the gymnastics team." The 152.5 points recorded by the Broncos are the third-most in Pac-10 history and completed the largest one-year turnaround in Pac-10 history. The Broncos made up eight places in the standing from their 2007 finish (ninth) and nearly tripled their team score of 58.5 points. This is fourth Pac-10 wrestling championship in Boise State history with all occurring since 2000. The Broncos also have fourth second place finishes in the same time period. In total Boise State wrestlers recorded two first place finishes, four second place finishes and three third place finishes en route to the Pac-10 title. The Broncos will send nine wrestlers to the NCAA Wrestling Championships Mar. 20-22, in St. Louis, Mo.

All 10 starters for the defending Big Ten and national champion Minnesota Golden Gopher wrestling team were pre-seeded in the top eight for the 2008 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, to be held this weekend (Saturday and Sunday) at the University of Minnesota's Williams Arena. Undefeated (33-0) and top-ranked sophomore Jayson Ness earned the number one at 125 pounds, the only Golden Gopher to do so. Ness won his first career Big Ten championship last season as the number one seed. Minnesota had four top seeds last year en route to their second consecutive conference championship. Four other Minnesota wrestlers were pre-seeded in the top three for this year's event – junior Dustin Schlatter (No. 3 at 149 pounds), junior Tyler Safratowich (No. 3 at 165 pounds) and senior Gabriel Dretsch (No. 3 at 174 pounds). Also pre-seeded for Minnesota were seniors Mack Reiter (fifth at 133 pounds), Manuel Rivera (sixth at 141 pounds), C.P. Schlatter (No. 4 at 157), Roger Kish (fourth at 184), Justin Bronson (No. 6 at 197) and redshirt freshman Ben Berhow (No. 8 at heavyweight). The two-time defending conference champion Gophers boast one of the most experienced starting lineups in the Big Ten. Minnesota's starters have participated in a combined 17 Big Ten Wrestling Championships and won seven individual conference titles. The Big Ten pre-seeds are determined by a vote amongst the conference's head wrestling coaches after consideration of regular season results. The official Big Ten Championships bracket will be set on Friday, March 7. Tickets are still available for this weekend's tournament, which will be held at Williams Arena for the first time since 1997, and may be purchased via www.gophersports.com or by calling 1-800-UGOPHER or 612-624-8080.

PARK RIDGE, Ill. -- Conference officials announced the preliminary seeds for the 2008 Big Ten Wrestling Championships today. The pre-seeds are determined by a vote amongst the conference's head wrestling coaches after consideration of regular-season results. This year's Big Ten Wrestling Championships will take place on the campus of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minn. at Williams Arena on March 8-9. The official Big Ten Championships bracket will be set on Friday, March 7. Six different schools are represented as No. 1 seeds in the 10 weight classes. Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Ohio State all lead the way with the most top seeds at two each. Illinois' James Kennedy (25-4 at 133) and Mike Poeta (26-2 at 157) represent the Illini as top pre-seeds for this year's event. Kennedy is currently ranked No. 3 nationally at 133, and Poeta is No. 2 at 157, which is best in the conference in both classes. Brent Metcalf (30-1 at 149) and Mark Perry (18-2 at 165) earned top-billing for Iowa. The Hawkeyes were Big Ten regular season dual champions and are currently the No. 1 nationally-ranked team. Metcalf is the top-ranked wrestler in the land at 149. Perry is the defending Big Ten champion at 165 after defeating this year's No. 2 seed Eric Tannenbaum of Michigan in the 2007 finale. Perry is also ranked No. 1 in the nation at 165. Michigan's top seeds consist of Kellen Russell (26-5 at 141) and Steve Luke (27-3 at 174). Russell is ranked fourth in the country and finished with a 9-1 record in Big Ten matches. Luke will defend his 174 lbs. title this year after winning the Big Ten crown with a 5-2 decision over Penn State's James Yonushonis in last year's championship bout. Mike Pucillo (25-1 at 184) and J.D. Bergman (27-1 at Hwt.) represent Ohio State as No. 1 pre-seeds. The Buckeyes finished second in the Big Ten regular season dual standings this year. Pucillo's only loss this season came to Michigan's Tyrel Todd. Todd was voted as the No. 2 pre-seed for this year's event. Bergman's lone loss also came to the No. 2 seed at Hwt. in Northwestern's Dustin Fox. Rounding out the top seeds are Minnesota's Jayson Ness (33-0 at 125) and Northwestern's Mike Tamillow (27-2 at 197). Ness hopes to lead the Golden Gophers to their third consecutive Big Ten Championship and repeat as individual champion at 125. Tamillow is in search of his second consecutive 197 lbs. title after winning at last year's competition. Last year Minnesota won the conference championship with a score of 156 points and had four wrestlers win individual titles. Wisconsin (100.5) placed second and Iowa (91), Penn State (90.5) and Indiana (85) rounded out the top five. The complete list of pre-seeds follows: 2008 BIG TEN WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS PRELIMINARY SEEDS 125 lbs. 1. Jayson Ness, Minnesota 2. Charlie Falck, Iowa 3. Angel Escobedo, Indiana 4. Brandon Precin, Northwestern 5. Gabriel Flores, Illinois 6. Mark McKnight, Penn State 7. Nikko Triggas, Ohio State 8. Collin Cudd, Wisconsin 133 lbs. 1. James Kennedy, Illinois 2. Joe Slaton, Iowa 3. Franklin Gomez, Michigan State 4. Zach Tanelli, Wisconsin 5. Mack Reiter, Minnesota 6. Andrae Hernandez, Indiana 7. Reece Humphrey, Ohio State 8. Tim Haas, Penn State 141 lbs. 1. Kellen Russell, Michigan 2. Kyle Ruschell, Wisconsin 3. J Jaggers, Ohio State 4. Dan LeClere, Iowa 5. Garrett Scott, Penn State 6. Manuel Rivera, Minnesota 7. Keith Sulzer, Northwestern 8. Ryan Prater, Illinois 149 lbs. 1. Brent Metcalf, Iowa 2. Joshua Churella, Michigan 3. Dustin Schlatter, Minnesota 4. Bubba Jenkins, Penn State 5. Lance Palmer, Ohio State 6. Jake Patascil, Purdue 7. Ryan Lang, Northwestern 8. Grant Paswell, Illinois 157 lbs. 1. Michael Poeta, Illinois 2. Dan Vallimont, Penn State 3. Brandon Becker, Indiana 4. C.P. Schlatter, Minnesota 5. Craig Henning, Wisconsin 6. Jeff Marsh, Michigan 7. Ryan Morningstar, Iowa 8. John Fulger, Michigan State 165 lbs. 1. Mark Perry, Iowa 2. Eric Tannenbaum, Michigan 3. Tyler Safratowich, Minnesota 4. Colt Sponseller, Ohio State 5. Roger Smith-Bergsrud, Illinois 6. Matt Coughlin, Indiana 7. Dave Rella, Penn State 8. Rex Kendle, Michigan State 174 lbs. 1. Steve Luke, Michigan 2. Jay Borschel, Iowa 3. Gabriel Drestch, Minnesota 4. Nick Hayes, Northwestern 5. John Dergo, Illinois 6. David Erwin, Penn State 7. Nick Corpe, Purdue 8. Dan Clum, Wisconsin 184 lbs. 1. Mike Pucillo, Ohio State 2. Tyrel Todd, Michigan 3. Phil Keddy, Iowa 4. Roger Kish, Minnesota 5. Phil Bomberger, Penn State 6. Marc Bennett, Indiana 7. Ben Friedl, Illinois 8. A.J. Kissel, Purdue 197 lbs. 1. Mike Tamillow, Northwestern 2. Phil Davis, Penn State 3. Patrick Bond, Illinois 4. Dallas Herbst, Wisconsin 5. Joe Williams, Michigan State 6. Justin Bronson, Minnesota T7. Chad Beatty, Iowa T7. Anthony Biondo, Michigan HWT 1. J.D. Bergman, Ohio State 2. Dustin Fox, Northwestern 3. Kyle Massey, Wisconsin 4. Matt Fields, Iowa 5. John Wise, Illinois 6. Chris Kasten, Purdue 7. John Laboranti, Penn State 8. Ben Berhow, Minnesota

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Future Wildcats Jason Welch (Walnut Creek, Calif./Las Lomas) and Brian Roddy (Highland Heights, Ohio/St. Edward) both dominated the competition en route to state titles in California and Ohio, respectively. Welch, the nation's top-ranked recruit captured his third championship while Roddy earned his second. Currently, Northwestern's 2008 recruiting class has garnered seven state championships and 11 state medals in 12 attempts. Welch, who is expected to compete at 157/165 for the Wildcats next year, etched his name into state wrestling history. The 18-year old is just the 14th three-time champion in California history. Welch became the sixth wrestler to reach the finals in all four years in high school, joining such venerable names as Bakersfield's Darrell Vasquez (1999-02) and current Oklahoma State wrestler Nathan Morgan (2001-04). In addition to winning his third state title, Welch was voted most valuable wrestler by his fellow CIF state champions. The Dave Schultz Champion of Champions award is the most prestigious award given out at the event. Welch won the championship with an 18-8 victory in the finals. "California is very deep in wrestling talent and Jason is widely known as the most talented of the group," assistant coach Andrew Pariano said. "We know that we have a great wrestling coming to Evanston next fall, and more importantly, we know that we have a great person." Welch finished the season with an unblemished 49-0 record and is now an impressive 196-4 during his career. Brian Roddy became a two-time Ohio State Tournament champion on Saturday evening. His final match was a dominating 21-6 technical fall, earning him a second consecutive title at the 171 weight class. Roddy is now a three-time Ohio State finalist and four-time medalist at 171 lbs. "Very few athletes are able to excel at this weight during their freshman and sophomore campaigns and yet Brian found a way to get the job done," head coach Tim Cysewski said. "We can't say enough about his character and attitude. He is a great young man and will be an outstanding addition to Northwestern Wrestling." Throughout the tournament, Roddy posted three falls (1:19, 2:53, 0:56) and earned a technical fall in the finals at 5:02. During the sectionals, districts and states, only one match went into the third period and no matches went the full six minutes. Earlier this month, Eric Galka (Hobart, Ind./Hobart) earned his third trip to the state title match at the Indiana State Wrestling Championships.