InterMat Staff

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- Boise State University dominated Cal State Bakersfield in Pac-10 Conference wrestling Saturday (Jan. 12) night as the Broncos won nine of 10 matches to post a 35-6 win over the Roadrunners. The Broncos only loss came at 157 pounds when Boise State had to forfeit the match. Ranked No. 25 in this week's USA Today/InterMat/NWCA poll, Boise State evens its Pac-10 record at 1-1 on the season and is now 2-1 in overall dual matches this season. Cal State Bakersfield falls to 1-1 overall and 0-1 in the Pac-10. Matt Casperson got the Broncos off to a fast start in the first match of the dual when he pinned Garth Wara at the 3:48 mark of the 197-pound match for a quick 6-0 lead. Following wins by decision at heavyweight (Nick Smith) and 125 pounds (Alan Bartelli), and a major decision victory by Cory Fish at 133 pounds, Cam Jones pushed the Bronco lead to 22-0 when he pinned Elijah Nacita at the 5:44 mark of the 141-pound match. Adam Hall, ranked 12th at 149 pounds, handed Jeremy Doyle a 5-1 defeat before the host Roadrunners scored their only team points of the night in the forfeit at 157 pounds. The Broncos ended the dual with a Kurt Swartz and Kirk Smith winning by decision at 165 and 184 pounds, respectively, and Nate Lee posting an 18-7 major decision over Jason Points at 174 pounds. Boise State completes its three-day road trip through California on Sunday at Cal Poly. Following are complete results in the order they were wrestled.

FAIRFAX, Va. -- It was a successful Saturday afternoon at the Fieldhouse for the George Mason wrestling program as the team scored a pair of dominating dual meet victories. The Patriots were never seriously tested in defeating Campbell by 26 and VMI by 17 points. The Patriots won their first conference dual meet of the season in dominating fashion, defeating Campbell by a final score of 38-12. The Camels only won two matches during the entire meet, one by forfeit. Senior Joe Coughlin (133 pounds), freshman Greg Scott (165 pounds) and freshman Cayle Byers (197 pounds) all earned their victories by fall. Brian Wright earned a major decision at 125 pounds, while Brandon Bucher and Randy Oates won by technical fall at 149 and 174 pounds, respectively. The success carried over into Mason's second meet of the afternoon, as the Patriots immediately seized control by winning the first five matches to take a commanding 19-0 lead before VMI won its first match with a fall by Jayme Gordon at 165 pounds. After the loss, Mason rebounded by winning the next three matches before forfeiting at the heavyweight class to take a 29-12 win in the team scoring. In the opening meet of the day, VMI downed Campbell by a final score of 21-14. The Keydets scored big at the 165-pound weight class, earning six points when Jayme Gordon pinned Chris Mazzatta at 5:49. George Mason returns to the mat next weekend when it hosts the CAA Duals at the Fieldhouse on Jan. 18-19. All nine CAA wrestling programs will be in action at the two-day event.

NORMAN, Okla -- The No. 18 ranked Sooners defeated Michigan State and No. 20 Pittsburgh in a double-dual Saturday afternoon at the Howard McCasland Field House in Norman. The Sooners extended their record to 10-1 on the year, the 13th straight season of 10 or more wins under head coach Jack Spates. OU easily took down the Spartans by a final of 29-7 in the first match, but needed its undefeated senior leaders in Joshua Weitzel and Joel Flaggert to step up late in the second match to prevail, 17-15. "I am extremely proud of our guys," Spates said. "We were taken down to the wire versus Pittsburgh and our team showed a lot of character, a lot of fight to pick up the win." In match one versus MSU, 125-pound Joey Fio was quick out of the gate for the Sooners by recording a 15-6 major decision over Spartan Joel Trombly. Michigan State's No. 3 ranked Franklin Gomez evened the match at four with a 9-1 major decision over 133-pound Brian Shelton. Zack Bailey dominated the 141 pound bout by recording a 17-0 technical fall over MSU's Micah Carter. Junior Will Rowe defeated Tim Hammer by a 18-9 major decision at 149 pounds, and Chad Terry extended the Sooner lead to 16-4 by defeating 157-pound John Fulger in a 7-2 decision. Max Dean then recorded a 15-5 major decision over Rex Kendle in the 165 pound bout. Nick Palmieri put the Spartans back on the board with a win over 174 pound Jeff James, 4-1. Weitzel, Flaggert and Nathan Fernandez closed the match with decisions in the 184, 197 and heavyweight bouts to give Oklahoma the victory. Both the Sooners and Pittsburgh struggled to keep a lead in the last dual of the day. OU eventually took advantage of its senior leaders to pick up win number 10 win on the season. To begin the dual, Fio was awarded a riding point at the conclusion of the match to edge Boss, 3-2. Pittsburgh then picked up two victories with Conroy defeating 133-pounder J.R. Roman, 8-3, and Headlee topping Bailey by a final of 2-0. Rowe, now with a 10-0 dual record, surged the Sooners back into the lead, 7-6, with a dominating 11-1 major decision over Ciampoli. Spartan Matt Kocher defeated Terry by a final of 2-1 to regain the team lead, 9-7. Dean outlasted Pitt's Richards by a 3-1 final to take back the lead for Oklahoma, 10-9. OU's James then fought No. 1 Gavin down to the final period, but fell short by a final of 9-5. It was then up to Oklahoma's dominant tandem in Weitzel and Flaggert to put the Sooners ahead for good. Weitzel, blanked Sullivan, 5-0, and Flaggert recorded a 12-2 major decision over Crowell to give OU a 17-12 edge. Both Sooners own a 10-0 dual record on the season. OU prevailed in the match 17-15 after heavyweight Fernandez dropped the last bout, 2-0. Pittsburgh (8-2) went 1-1 on the day after topping Michigan State (3-5) in the first match of the day by a final of 21-14. "Our guys learned a great lesson today," Spates said. "We found out that if we battle hard and stay aggressive, good things happen." The Sooners will return to the Howard McCasland Field House next Friday, Jan. 18 for a dual versus another Top 20 team in No. 16 Tennessee-Chattanooga at 7 p.m. Doors will open to the public at 6 p.m. and admission is free. The first 500 fans entering the match will receive an OU team picture. A drawing will also be held, with the winner taking home a 26-inch flat screen television. Sooner wrestlers will also take part in an autograph session for fans at the conclusion of the dual.

HAMPTON, Va. -- No. 17 Illinois wrestled well but came up just short against No. 3 and top-seeded Oklahoma State in the championship match of the Virginia Duals, dropping a 21-12 decision. The Illini advanced to the title match with a 26-12 win against No. 23 Old Dominion earlier in the afternoon. No. 1 Mike Poeta (157) and No. 14 Patrick Bond each capped perfect weekends with wins against the Cowboys, moving Poeta to 19-0 on the season and tying his perfect start to last season, while Bond is 14-3. No. 13 Gabe Flores finished a strong day with a decisive 6-1 victory over OSU's Ben Ashmore at 125, and No. 9 Jimmy Kennedy nearly pulled off an upset of top-ranked Coleman Scott at 133, but lost a 3-2 decision. Ryan Prater lost his first match of the weekend, getting pinned in 4:33 by No. 6 Nathan Morgan, but Grant Paswall scored an 8-5 decision at 149. Poeta then topped #13 Newly McSpadden, 8-2, to tie the dual at 9-9. But OSU rattled off three consecutive wins at 165, 174 and 184. No. 15 Roger Smith-Bergsrud dropped a tough 3-2 decision to No. 5 Jake Dieffenbach, No. 16 John Dergo fell, 4-2, to No. 4 Brandon Mason, and Ben Friedl lost a 7-1 decision to Jack Jensen. No. 14 Patrick Bond capped a perfect weekend in his home state with a thrilling 6-5 win over Clayton Foster, cutting the deficit to 18-12. But No. 7 OSU heavyweight Jared Rosholt earned a 6-3 decision over No. 16 John Wise to cap the Cowboys' dual victory. Earlier in the afternoon against Old Dominion, Flores started strong with a 4-1 win over No. 17 James Nicholson then Kennedy posted a 7-2 victory that gave the Illini an early 6-0 advantage. Prater (141) followed with his third win of the weekend and second-straight against a ranked opponent, dispatching No. 13 Ryan Williams by a 10-6 score. After ODU got on the board with No. 18 Kaylen Baxter's pin of Paswall at 149, Poeta improved to 18-0 on the season with a 14-6 major decision and a 13-6 Illini lead. The Monarchs got within four points of Illinois when No. 20 Chris Brown earned a 7-2 decision over 15th-ranked Roger Smith-Bergsrud at 165, but No. 16 John Dergo gave the Illini some breathing room with his 12-2 dismantling of Nick Pullano. Redshirt-freshman Ben Friedl dropped a tough 6-5 decision at 184, but No. 14 Patrick Bond defeated David Mendoza by injury default and No. 16 John Wise finished off the dual meet victory with a 6-1 win over Roy Dragon III.

HAMPTON, Va. -- The No. 3 Oklahoma State wrestling team (10-1 overall) capped an unblemished run to the Virginia Duals title by picking up a 20-13 win over Pennsylvania in the semifinals and a 21-12 win over No. 17 Illinois in the championship Saturday at the Hampton Coliseum. OSU senior 141-pounder Nathan Morgan picked up a key win for the Cowboys when he pinned Illinois' Ryan Prater at the 4:33 mark to help lift OSU to victory. Morgan, known more for his proficiency as a technician than his ability to pin opponents, had only four pins in his career entering Saturday. He was the only Cowboy to earn bonus points against the Illini. "It seemed like all weekend it was a slugfest just trying to get comfortable," Head Coach John Smith said. "It was almost like we had a hangover from last week. This wasn't the same team that went into Iowa." Fellow senior Coleman Scott was a winner against Illinois to cap a perfect 4-0 weekend, as he notched a 3-2 win over No. 9 Jimmy Kennedy. The nation's top-ranked wrestler at 133 pounds, Scott now has two wins over top-10 opponents this year and three victories over ranked opponents. He wasn't the only Cowboy to taste victory over a ranked Illinois wrestler Saturday, as Jake Dieffenbach was a 3-2 winner over No. 15 Roger Smith-Bergsrud at 165 pounds, Brandon Mason was a 4-2 winner over No. 16 John Dergo at 174 pounds and Jared Rosholt was a 6-3 winner over No. 16 John Wise at heavyweight. Suiting up for the Cowboys for the first time this year at the Virginia Duals, 184-pounder Jack Jensen was impressive, picking up bonus points in both of his matches Friday and following that performance up by claiming a 7-1 win over Illinois' Ben Friedl Saturday. "Jack Jensen looked alive out there," Smith said. "Not that he wrestled people that he'll have to face to be an All-American, but he scored at key times when he needed to." No. 13 Newly McSpadden had a chance to pick up a big win at 157 pounds when he faced off against No. 1 Mike Poeta of Illinois, but Poeta controlled the match to the tune of an 8-2 victory. Scott, Morgan, McSpadden, Dieffenbach, Mason and Rosholt were all winners as the Pokes claimed a 20-13 win over Pennsylvania in the semifinal round. The Cowboys return to action at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 19 when they travel to Columbia, Mo., to face No. 8 Missouri

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.g {text-indent:3px;padding-right:3px;overflow:hidden;white-space:nowrap;letter-spacing:0;word-spacing:0;background-color:#FFFFFF; z-index:1;border-top:0px none;border-left:0px none;border-bottom:1px solid #CCC;border-right:1px solid #CCC;} .dn{display:none} .chip{background-image:url('http://www.google.com/images/spreadsheets/chip.gif'); background-repeat:no-repeat; background-position:top right;} .s1{background-color:#800000;font-family:Arial;font-size:80.0%;font-weight:bold;font-style:normal;color:#ffff00;text-decoration:none;text-align:left;vertical-align:bottom;white-space:normal;overflow:hidden;text-indent:0px;padding-left:3px;border-right:1px solid #CCC;border-bottom:1px solid #CCC;} .s0{background-color:#c0c0c0;font-family:Arial;font-size:80.0%;font-weight:bold;font-style:normal;color:#000000;text-decoration:none;text-align:left;vertical-align:bottom;white-space:normal;overflow:hidden;text-indent:0px;padding-left:3px;border-right:1px solid #CCC;border-bottom:1px solid #CCC;} .s8{background-color:white;font-family:Arial;font-size:80.0%;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:bottom;white-space:normal;overflow:hidden;text-indent:0px;padding-left:3px;border-right:1px solid #CCC;border-bottom:1px solid #CCC;} .s6{background-color:white;font-family:Arial;font-size:80.0%;font-weight:bold;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:bottom;white-space:normal;overflow:hidden;text-indent:0px;padding-left:3px;border-right:1px solid #CCC;border-bottom:1px solid #CCC;} .s5{background-color:white;font-family:Arial;font-size:80.0%;font-weight:bold;font-style:normal;color:#000000;text-decoration:none;text-align:left;vertical-align:bottom;white-space:normal;overflow:hidden;text-indent:0px;padding-left:3px;border-right:1px solid #CCC;border-bottom:1px solid #CCC;} .s4{background-color:white;font-family:Arial;font-size:80.0%;font-weight:bold;font-style:normal;color:#000000;text-decoration:none;text-align:left;vertical-align:bottom;white-space:normal;overflow:hidden;text-indent:0px;padding-left:3px;border-right:1px solid #CCC;border-bottom:1px solid #CCC;} .s2{background-color:#ff0000;font-family:Arial;font-size:80.0%;font-weight:bold;font-style:normal;color:#ffffff;text-decoration:none;text-align:left;vertical-align:bottom;white-space:normal;overflow:hidden;text-indent:0px;padding-left:3px;border-right:1px solid #CCC;border-bottom:1px solid #CCC;} .s3{background-color:#c0c0c0;font-family:Arial;font-size:80.0%;font-weight:bold;font-style:normal;color:#000000;text-decoration:none;text-align:left;vertical-align:bottom;white-space:normal;overflow:hidden;text-indent:0px;padding-left:3px;border-right:1px solid #CCC;border-bottom:1px solid #CCC;} .s7{background-color:white;font-family:Arial;font-size:100.0%;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:bottom;white-space:normal;overflow:hidden;text-indent:0px;padding-left:3px;border-right:1px solid #CCC;border-bottom:1px solid #CCC;} Weight ClassMinnesotaNebraskaPredictionMatch Points125Jayson NessPaul DonahoeNess, DecisionMinnesota + 3133Mack ReiterKenny JordanReiter, Decision Minnesota +3141Manny RiveraMike RoweRivera, Decision Minnesota +3149Jake MellmerJordan BurroughsBurroughs, Major Decision Nebraska + 4157CP SchlatterChris OliverSchlatter, Decision Minnesota +3165Tyler SafratowichStephen DwyerDwyer, Decision Nebraska +3174Gabe DretschBrandon BrowneDretsch, DecisionMinnesota +3184Roger KishVince JonesKish, DecisionMinnesota +3197Justin BronsonCraig BresterBrester, Major DecisionNebraska +4HwtYura MalamuraJon MayMay, DecisionNebraska +3Predicted Score:Minnesota 18-14

Minnesota defeats West Virginia, Central Michigan University of Minnesota Sports Information The defending national champion Minnesota Golden Gopher wrestling team stayed alive in the 2008 NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals, defeating both West Virginia and No. 5 Central Michigan Saturday in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The sixth-ranked Gophers (seeded fifth this weekend) rolled over the Mountaineers 32-9 in their first round match-up before squeaking by the Chippewas 20-16 in Saturday afternoon's second round. Minnesota, which is the two-time defending team champion in the annual 16-team Division I portion of the tournament, won 13 of 20 bouts in their first two duals and advances to face No. 10 Nebraska in Sunday's semifinal. The Gophers have won their past 10 National Duals meets dating back to 2006 and are attempting to become just the second team in the 18-year history of the event to win three titles in a row (Oklahoma State won three in a row from 2003-05). Minnesota's first meet of the tournament began bright and early at 9 a.m. against the unranked Mountaineers of West Virginia. One-hundred twenty-five pound sophomore Jayson Ness, sitting on a consecutive pins streak of six (tied for third-longest in school history) saw his streak come to an end but still gave the Gophers a 6-0 lead with a win by injury default. Seniors Mack Reiter (an 18-1 tech fall decision) and Manny Rivera (a pin in 4:48) followed Ness with victories of their own and gave the Gophers a commanding 17-0 lead in the dual. Two-time All-American Dustin Schlatter was held out of this weekend's competition due to injury, and his replacement (freshman Luke Mellmer) suffered a defeat before No. 6 C.P. Schlatter emerged with a win in the only match between ranked wrestlers in the dual. Schlatter scored a takedown with 30 seconds remaining to gain a 4-1 win over No. 17 Zac Fryling of WVU, giving Minnesota a 20-3 lead. 2007 NCAA qualifier Tyler Safratowich filled in for the injured No. 18 Scott Glasser at 165 pounds and won handily, a 6-2 decision. After a pin from No. 10 Gabe Dretsch at 174 pounds and losses by Brandon Sitch (filling in for second-ranked Roger Kish at 184) and Justin Bronson (197 pounds), the Gophers' newest heavyweight – former 197-pound sophomore Yura Malamura – scored an impressive upset victory over No. 13 Dustin Rogers of West Virginia. Despite giving up a significant weight advantage to the ranked heavyweight, Malamura used superior speed and quickness to emerge the 7-5 victor. The Gophers' next opponent, the fourth-seeded Chippewas, proved a much more difficult test. Despite a Kish loss at 184 pounds, the Gophers prevailed behind an important Dretsch upset of No. 3 Brandon Sinnott at 174 pounds. Minnesota is now 9-0 all-time against Central Michigan in dual meets, including 5-0 in National Duals competition. Ness improved his season record to 21-0 with yet another opening-meet victory at 125 pounds, topping No. 14 Luke Smith of CMU 8-2. The Gophers' lightweight dominance continued at 133 and 141 pounds, with Reiter and Rivera picking up their second wins of the weekend. Reiter picked up a bonus point with a 10-1 major decision over Conor Beebe, and Rivera defeated No. 16 Eric Kruger 7-5 to put the Gophers up 10-0 in the dual. After Mellmer was quickly pinned in the 149-pound match (making the score 10-6), C.P. Schlatter and Safratowich go the Gophers back on track. Schlatter trounced Tyler Grayson 8-2 to make the team score 13-6 in favor of Minnesota, and Safratowich picked up four more team points with a 13-5 major decision win of his own, setting up Dretsch's heroics. With a 17-6 lead entering the final four matches of the dual, Minnesota needed an individual victory in at least one to ensure a team win. Dretsch (who entered the weekend ranked 10th at 174 pounds) was up to the task and controlled the country's third-ranked wrestler for most of the match en route to a 6-3 win. The victory was Dretsch's third over a ranked opponent this season as Sinnott becomes is the highest-ranked wrestler Dretsch has defeated in 144 career matches. Kish, who had not competed in a meet or tournament in over a month due to injury, played it safe in his match with No. 3 Christian Sinnott but lost a tight 3-2 decision. It was just the second loss of the season for Kish (following a 3-1 defeat by No. 1 Jake Varner on Dec. 2) as he dropped to 8-2 on the season. With a 20-9 lead entering the final two matches of the meet, the Gophers simply needed to avoid being pinned twice to win the dual. Bronson accomplished just that at 197 pounds, lasting the entire seven minutes despite a 17-4 major decision loss. Malamura battled against the much-heavier No. 8 Bubba Gritter at heavyweight but closed out the meet with an 8-3 loss. The Gophers now advance to face the upstart Cornhuskers, a team many experts believed to be a tournament favorite despite entering the event unseeded. The Gophers' early-season victory over Nebraska was actually much closer than the final score (25-13 in favor of Minnesota) would suggest – the Cornhuskers won four of the eight matches in which they did not forfeit. The Gophers enjoy a 46-17 edge in the all-time series with Nebraska, with one of those wins (a 30-9 victory in 2001) coming at the National Duals. After missing the two teams' early-season match-up due to an injury, the Huskers have regained the services of 2007 125-pound national champ Paul Donahoe, setting up a potentially memorable match-up with Ness Sunday morning. The pair have met three times in their careers thus far – Ness won twice in 2006-07, but Donanhoe was a 5-2 winner at the 2007 NWCA All-Star Classic last November. If the Gophers can advance past the Cornhuskers, they would face the winner of Iowa and Michigan in the championship at 3 p.m. Gophersports.com will be on hand to provide match-by-match updates, and fans can also follow the action live via LiveSportsVideo.com and TakedownRadio.com. The NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals features 86 teams (including Divisions I through III, NAIA and NJCAA) and over 1,400 wrestlers on 18 mats of continuous competition. The University of Northern Iowa is hosting the event for the third straight year at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls. Nebraska upsets Penn State University of Nebraska Sports Information The tenth-ranked Husker wrestling team snatched six matches from Penn State to earn a 19-13 upset of the No. 1 Nittany Lions in the second round of the Nationals Duals on Saturday. The win improves Nebraska to 8-1 in duals this season and now pits NU against No. 6 Minnesota in the semifinals tomorrow at 11 a.m. Yet another young Husker stepped up for Nebraska as sophomore Mike Rowe made his season debut at 141 pounds and recorded a 6-4 win over No. 2 Jake Strayer. Rowe jumped on Strayer early by earning the first takedown, but a collision between Strayer's teeth and Rowe's forehead in the second period slowed Rowe down. Rowe battled blood throughout the rest of the match, but scored a reversal with a minute left in the final period to retake the lead and win. Junior Paul Donahoe notched the Huskers' only bonus-point victory in a tightly contested dual as he earned a 13-4 major decision over No. 7 Mark McKnight at 125 pounds. Donahoe entered the third period up just two but recorded three takedowns and an escape in the final stanza to widen the gap. Donahoe's two victories on Saturday were both over ranked opponents and improved him to 10-0 on the season and 7-0 in duals. The Huskers' four other wins were all by decision as each team only had one bonus-point victory. Sophomore Kenny Jordan recorded his second win of the day at 133 with a 2-0 win over Tim Haas, while fellow sophomore Stephen Dwyer also went 2-0 on the day at 165. Dwyer notched a 5-3 win over Dave Rella, before junior Brandon Browne won 5-4 over No. 17 Dave Erwin at 174. Junior Vince Jones clinched a Husker victory with his 10-5 decision over No. 14 Philip Bomberger at 184. Jones win put the Huskers up 19-6 with two matches left. The Huskers will look for revenge against Minnesota in the semifinals tomorrow at 11 a.m. The Golden Gophers earned a 25-13 dual win over NU on Dec. 6 in Minneapolis, but the Huskers forfeited two weights to give Minnesota 12 easy points. Iowa goes 17-3 in individual matches on Day 1 University of Iowa Sports Information The Iowa wrestling team handed Missouri its first loss of the season Saturday afternoon, beating the Tigers, 27-9, in the quarterfinals of the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals in Cedar Falls. Hawkeye Head Coach Tom Brands picked up his 40th career victory and Iowa improved to 9-1 this season with the win. Iowa will face sixth-seeded Michigan (12-1) in the tournament semifinals Sunday at 11 a.m. in the UNI-Dome. Fifth-seed Minnesota (8-1) and unseeded Nebraska (8-1) will meet in the other semifinal. Iowa, the second seed at the tournament, jumped out to a 24-0 lead against seventh-seed Missouri, winning the first seven weights. Junior Charlie Falck started things off with a 19-7 major decision over Tony Pescaglia at 125 pounds. Falck remains undefeated at 10-0 in dual competition, and is 15-1 in collegiate matches this season. Sophomore Joe Slaton (133) and Dan LeClere (141) followed with decisions, and sophomore Brent Metcalf picked up a 12-4 major decision over Josh Wagner at 149. It was Metcalf's 11th straight win and his second bonus-point victory of the day as he improved to 14-1. Sophomore Ryan Morningstar kept the Iowa momentum going with a 5-4 win over Michael Chandler at 157 and senior Mark Perry escaped in the tiebreak period to beat fourth-ranked Nick Marable, 3-2 in overtime. Sophomore Jay Borschel was one of seven Hawkeyes to score two wins on the day with a 13-2 major decision over Brock Wittmeyer at 174. Missouri put its first points on the scoreboard at 184, when Raymond Jordan scored a 3-2 win over Phillip Keddy. Tiger Max Askren followed with a 3:24 pin over Iowa's Rick Loera at 197. But Hawkeye senior Matt Fields put an end to Missouri's scoring run with a late takedown to defeat Mark Ellis, 5-4, at heavyweight. Fields improved to 14-2 on the season and 10-0 in dual competition. Iowa, who defeated unseeded Cornell, 32-3 in the tournament's opening round, went 17-3 on the day. Michigan posted first day wins over unseeded Northern Iowa (30-6) and Hofstra (19-15). The Wolverines are led by top-ranked Kellen Russell (141) and Eric Tannenbaum (165), and second-ranked Steve Luke (174). Tannenbaum and Luke went 2-0 on the day, while Russell went 0-2. The probable match-up of Tannenbaum and Hawkeye senior Mark Perry will be a rematch of the 2007 Big Ten Championship finals, which Perry won 5-2. Tannenbaum won the other previous meeting between the two, 6-2 in sudden victory at the 2007 dual in Ann Arbor. The Iowa-Michigan match will be broadcast live on AM800-KXIC and www.hawkeyesports.com. Live results and updated brackets are available at www.intermatwrestle.com and www.unipanthers.com. Iowa Public Television will air a two-hour taped-delay broadcast of the semifinals at 1 p.m. Rev Audio: Rev Audio: J Robinson (Minnesota) Rev Audio: Mark Manning (Nebraska) Rev Audio: Kenny Jordan (Nebraska) Rev Audio: Tom Brands (Iowa) Rev Audio: Brent Metcalf (Iowa)

The defending national champion Minnesota Golden Gophers will seek their third consecutive team title at the 2008 NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals this Saturday and Sunday (Jan. 12-13) in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The sixth-ranked Golden Gophers are seeded fifth in 16-team event and their first round match-up will come against unranked West Virginia on Saturday morning at 9 a.m. All matches for the 2008 National Duals will take place at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The University of Northern Iowa will be hosting the event for the third consecutive year. The 2008 National Duals will feature 11 of the nation's top 12 teams, with 15 of the 16 participants ranked nationally in the latest USA Today/NWCA/InterMat poll. Undefeated and No. 1 Penn State enters the weekend as the top seed, while No. 2 Iowa (#2), No. 4 Iowa State (#3) and No. 5 Central Michigan (#4) round out the top five seeds. Gopher sophomore Jayson Ness has a chance to make history this weekend. The undefeated 125-pounder (19-0 this season) has pinned 15 opponents this season and six in a row. The Gopher streak for most consecutive pins is eight (set by Tim Hartung in '97) and the single-season pin record is 20, set by current Gopher head assistant coach Marty Morgan in 1989-90. The 2006-07 All-American is currently ranked third in the nation at 125 pounds. West Virginia, Minnesota's first-round opponent, is the only unranked team in this year's National Duals. The two teams have only met up twice in Minnesota's 98-year program history, with both of those meets coming in National Duals competition. The Gophers were 33-3 winners in the quarterfinals at the 1998 National Duals (en route to their first-ever team title) and also emerged a 20-15 victor in the quarterfinals at the 2003 National Duals. A win against West Virginia could force a meeting with the Central Michigan Chippewas at 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon. The Gophers have not lost to the Chippewas in eight meets all-time, including four National Duals match-ups. The 2007-08 Golden Gophers have already faced two teams that will be participating in this weekend's event. Minnesota dropped a tough 18-13 decision against then-No. 2 Iowa State on Dec. 2 and topped then-No. 7 Nebraska by a score of 25-13 on Dec. 6 at the Sports Pavilion. Minnesota has won its last eight straight meets at the annual event. The Gophers defeated then-No. 1 Oklahoma State 21-14 in the 2006 final and also upset then-No. 1 Missouri 20-14 last year. The Gophers have won five National Duals titles since the 1996-97 season, with additional titles coming in 2002, 2001 and 1998. The Gophers dropped to No. 6 in the latest USA Today/NWCA/InterMat poll after Oklahoma State defeated top-ranked Iowa on Jan. 2. Minnesota regained their top ranking in the latest W.I.N. Magazine national poll, and also stayed No. 1 in W.I.N. Magazine's "TPI" (Tournament Power Index) rankings. Eight Minnesota individuals (Ness, Mack Reiter, Dustin Schlatter, Manuel Rivera, C.P. Schlatter, Scott Glasser, Gabe Dretsch and Roger Kish) are ranked in the top-20 of their respective weight classes. After the National Duals, the Gophers will host a home dual meet with South Dakota State Jan. 20 at the Sports Pavilion. Minnesota's most highly anticipated dual meet of the season will come on Friday, Feb. 1 against the No. 2 Iowa Hawkeyes at Williams Arena.

The Brute Adidas mobile studios of Takedown Wrestling Radio's will again be broadcasting the NWCA National Duals starting at 9:06 AM CST Saturday morning. Join Steve Foster, J. Carl Guymon, Scott Casber, Grant Turner, Chole Casber and Adam Haselhuhn for the color, interviews and play by play of this historic event. This year, we will partner with Live Sports Video and marry our audio with LSV's state of the art video on demand. Checkout LSV for semi finals and championship rounds. This is proving to be an exciting year in College Wrestling.

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. -- The Rutgers wrestling team, under the guidance of first-year head coach Scott Goodale, defeated EIWA conference foe East Stroudsburg 24-12 Thursday night at the College Ave. Gym in New Brunswick, N.J. The Scarlet Knights (3-4, 2-1) have won two in a row and three of their last four after starting the season 0-3. ESU (1-7, 1-2) dropped its seventh match of the season. "We really like wrestling at the College Ave. Gym," said Goodale. "I am very excited with how the kids are performing. They are wrestling very well, especially in the third period, and that was big for us tonight." The two teams traded the first two bouts with Chris Norrell (Phillipsburg, N.J.) winning at 157-pounds 8-5 and Matt Pletcher (Eastampton, N.J.) falling 5-4 at 165-pounds. Mike Whalen (Lake Hiawatha, N.J.) then won the 174-pound contest 17-2 for the technical fall, giving the Scarlet Knights an 8-3 team advantage. In the most exciting bout of the evening, Keith Dobish (Lodi, N.J.) came from behind to defeat the Warriors' Shane Mallory 11-9 in overtime. Dobish was down 9-7 with under 10 seconds in the third period before he put Mallory to the ground, tying the bout. Then with 20 seconds left in the first overtime, Dobish again got the takedown to pick up the victory for the Scarlet Knights. "Keith's come-from-behind win was huge for us," said Goodale. "His victory is just one example of how our kids are wrestling the right way. They never give up and that is what makes them winners." East Stroudsburg forfeited the 197-pound match to give Rutgers a 17-3 team lead. After Karim Mahmoud (Wallington, N.J.) fell 6-5 in the heavyweight bout, Ryan Jablonski (Norristown, Pa.) picked up three points for the Scarlet Knights at 125-pounds, winning 8-3 over Matthew Benedetti. At 133-pounds, Senior Dan Hilt (Manalapan, N.J.) looked to be headed to overtime tied 1-1 late in the third period, but a takedown by ESU's Matt Swallow with no time on the clock gave the Warriors the victory. With Rutgers up 20-9, victory became assured even though Reggie Parker (Upper Marlboro, Md.) fell 3-1 in the 141-pound contest. Jack Barrett (Metuchen, N.J.) finished off the scoring with a 9-0 major decision victory at 149 pounds. The Scarlet Knights look to build on their winning streak on Sunday, Jan. 13, when they take on Army and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) at West Point, N.Y., starting at 2:00 p.m. "We are excited to face Army and USMMA," said Goodale. "This will be a good indication of where we are as a program. I expect that we will wrestle extremely well on Sunday."

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The No. 21 Maryland wrestling team did what it had not done in 22 years by beating No. 22 Navy in Annapolis, 21-18, in front of a capacity crowd of 1,025 at Halsey Field House. The Terrapins opened with a pair of victories and sophomore Hudson Taylor recorded his 12th pin of the season en route to the win. Maryland, which never trailed in the dual, beat the Midshipmen for the first time since 1997. The highly-anticipated dual featuring the intrastate nationally ranked opponents started at 157 with freshman Brian Letters taking a 6-2 decision. Letters recorded a pair of takedowns in the first period but Spencer Manley also got loose of his grasp twice for a 4-2 Maryland lead. Manley chose down in the second and recorded the escape 20 seconds in to make it 4-3, but Letters earned an escape, a takedown, and got the bonus point for riding time in the third for the 6-2 win. Senior Ryan Kennett added to the lead with another Terp decision making it 6-0. Kennett had not wrestled in a dual since November 11, but he battled Matt DeMichiel to a 3-3 tie in the first period. DeMichiel took a 4-3 lead heading into the third with an escape in the second. However, Kennett scored all of the points in the final frame, including a three-point near fall with 10 seconds left to take the 10-4 win. The biggest match of the night came at 174 pounds with sophomore Mike Letts, ranked No. 7 in the country, facing No. 9 Matt Stolpinski. Letts started out strong, overpowering Stolpinski with four takedowns in the first period and a half to build an 8-5 lead. Stolpinski scored a takedown as time ran out in the second to make it 8-7. Letts started down in the third and escaped quickly to get the lead to two points. The two tussled for positioning and Stolpinksi eventually earned the tying takedown. He then parlayed that into a pin as he caught Letts off guard to tie the dual at 6-6. Junior Josh Haines, ranked No. 18 at 184 pounds, got things back on track for Maryland with a 5-2 decision. He picked up a takedown in the first and a reversal in the second then tacked on the riding time for the win. Taylor, ranked No. 8 at 197 pounds, continued his dominance with a quick pin of Tyler Moyer in 59 seconds to give the Terps a 15-6 lead. Twelve of his 19 wins this year have come by fall. No. 3 Ed Prendergast responded emphatically in the next match at heavyweight, matching Taylor's pin with his own in 14 seconds to make it 15-12. Maryland and Navy traded decisions at 125 and 133 with sophomore Brendan Byrne taking the win at 125 pounds. He secured the victory with a pair of takedowns, an escape, and the riding time bonus for a 6-2 win. The only points he allowed were a pair of escapes. The Terps held an 18-15 lead with two matches to go. Senior Charlie Pinto came back from his injury to wrestle for the first time since November 17 at 141 pounds and picked up the clinching victory. After a scoreless first, Glenn Shober got on the board first by choosing down in the second and getting the escape. Pinto responded with the only takedown of the period, though, to take a 2-1 lead into the final period. Two more takedowns in the third secured the win for Pinto, 8-2, making the team score 21-15. Navy would win at 149, but had to get the fall to force a tie. Bryce Saddoris could only come away with a 7-3 decision. The Terps (8-3) are back in action on Sunday, January 13 when they travel to Chapel Hill for their ACC opener against North Carolina. That match is scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ACC Select.

PORTLAND, Ore. -- The University of Northern Colorado wrestling team defeated Portland State 41-6 at the Peter W. Stott Center Wednesday evening. The Bears move to 2-4 in dual action this season, while the Vikings fall to 1-5. Northern Colorado won six of the eight contested weight classes, and won forfeits at 125 and 133 pounds. Both junior Daniel Prater (149-pounds) and freshman Patrick Carey (197-pounds) won by pins. Prater pinned Alan Dickey in 6:10, while Carey pinned Keena Washington in 5:57. Senior heavyweight Reece Hopkin, ranked 20th in the latest NWCA/InterMat rankings, won by technical fall over Zack Smith, 18-1. The other three bouts were all major decisions for the Bears, with senior 141-pounder Richard Lohr winning 10-1 over Camrun Arkills, freshman Justin Gaethje posting a major decision at 157-pounds over Brady Garner, 18-9 and junior Devan Lewis at 165-pounds winning 14-3 over Jordan Toney. The Bears return to the mat on Friday evening at Oregon. The Ducks are 9-5 this season and 0-3 in Pac-10 Conference action.

NORMAN, Okla. -- The No. 18 ranked Oklahoma Sooners look to post another 10-win season under head coach Jack Spates with two victories this weekend in a double-dual versus Michigan State and No. 20 Pittsburgh. The Sooner, Spartans and Panthers will collide at the Howard McCasland Field House in Norman beginning at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 12, 2008. A 10-win season would mark the 13th straight year under Spates in which the team has reached the double-digit total. "This weekend is going to match three historic traditions against one another," Spates said. "Fans should anticipate seeing some great competition. All three teams have numerous wrestlers ranked nationally and it should be an extremely competitive afternoon." Michigan State and Pittsburgh will dual at 2 p.m., followed by Michigan State versus Oklahoma at 4 p.m. The Sooners and the Panthers will square off in the last match of the day at 6 p.m. The Sooners are coming off of an impressive performance at the Lonestar Duals in Arlington, Texas, last weekend. OU dominated No. 22-ranked Navy by a final team score of 28-6. OU also defeated Cal-State Fullerton (27-6) and North Carolina (27-6). In the latest rankings, Oklahoma boasts six wrestlers in the Top 20. Sophomore Brian Shelton enters the rankings for the first week in the 133-pound weight class at No. 18. Zack Bailey is ranked No. 12 at 141 pounds, Will Rowe is No. 8 at 149 pounds, Max Dean is ranked No. 14 at 165 pounds, Joshua Weitzel is No. 7 at 184 pounds and two-time All-American Joel Flaggert is ranked No. 5 at 197 pounds. Pittsburgh landed three in this week's rankings. Matt Kocher is No. 4 at 157 pounds, Keith Gavin is No. 1 at 174 pounds and Zach Sheaffer is No. 11 in the heavyweight division. Michigan State has 133-pound Franklin Gomez ranked No. 3, as well as Joe Williams ranked No. 18 at 197 pounds. "We want to encourage the fans to come out and support the Sooners," Spates said. "This team is continuing to improve and we look forward to a great opportunity this weekend in Norman." Doors will open at 1 p.m. and admission is free to the public. The first 500 fans arriving to the match will receive an OU wrestling rally towel.

WASHINGTON -- The American University wrestling team returned home to Bender Arena Wednesday afternoon and had its way with Franklin & Marshall, defeating the Diplomats 36-11. Four Eagles tallied bonus points including Christopher Stout's win by pinfall as AU won eight of 10 weight classes. The meet started at 125 lbs. where Jasen Borshoff earned a hard-fought 2-0 decision over Jake Bucha. Borshoff's only points came in the third period when he escaped from his down starting position and was awarded a bonus point at the end of the match for riding time accrued in the second period. Franklin & Marshall did not wrestle at 133 lbs., forfeiting instead to Matt Mariacher. Kyle Borshoff wrestled Akio Aida at 141 lbs. and earned AU's first bonus points victory with a 28-11 technical fall. K. Borshoff built up a 24-11 lead with several takedowns in the first period and ended the match at the 3:17 mark with an escape and takedown off the second period's opening whistle. F&M's first team points came at 149 lbs. where Al Gianforti tech-falled Nick Pitas, 21-5, at the 5:58 mark. The Eagles got back on top with a Christopher Stout win by fall over Anthony Bongarzone at 157 lbs. Stout earned the fall 1:17 into the third period after leading the entire way. At the time of the fall Stout held a comfortable lead, 12-5. No. 10 Mike Cannon earned AU's second-consecutive bonus points win with a second round tech-fall over Andrew Smith, 26-10. Cannon began a steady stream of takedowns just 18 seconds into the match and stopped the clock with his final maneuver at the 4:23 mark and a bonus point for riding time. The Diplomats earned their second and final victory of the day when No. 20 Justin Herbert pinned Jonathon Powell just 34 seconds after the opening whistle. Andy Semple was quick to turn things around for AU as he registered a 6-4 decision over Dan Canfield at 184 lbs. in the next match. Semple took a 3-0 lead into the final frame after a first period takedown and second period escape. Semple outlasted Canfield in the third after the visitor scored two takedowns and added a riding time bonus point for good measure. F&M did not weigh in at 197 lbs., choosing to forfeit the points to Brooks Keefer. The nation's No. 1 wrestler at 197 lbs., Josh Glenn, moved up to the heavyweight class because of the Dips forfeit at 197 lbs. and closed out the meet with a 13-2 major decision over Nico Somer. Glenn earned two sets of back points in the first period after an early takedown and before the start of the second period had already accumulated 1:24 of riding time. Somer's only points came in the second period off a takedown but Glenn quickly reversed and finished out the frame in control. Glenn scored an escape and takedown in the final period and with 3:13 of riding time built up moved the final score to 13-2. The Eagles will be in action again this Friday, Jan. 11, as they travel to Columbia for a 6 p.m. showdown. AU will turn right around after the meet and head back to D.C. to take on Navy Saturday, Jan. 12, inside of Bender at 7 p.m.

DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke built an early 10-6 lead, but NC State won the last seven matches to hand the Blue Devils a 27-10 loss in the ACC dual-match opener for both teams. NC State evened its dual-match record at 5-5, while Duke fell to 4-5. Darrion Caldwell, ranked No. 9 nationally at 149 pounds, got the Wolfpack off to a fast start, literally, pinning Duke's Mike Bell in 58 seconds. The pin was Caldwell's 12th of the season and the 22nd of his career, tying him with Mike Lombardo (1985-88) for seventh place in NC State history for career pins. Caldwell improved to 20-3 on the season, matching his season total for victories from a year ago. Duke took the next three matches. Voris Tejada earned a 6-0 decision at 157 pounds against Ray Ward. Tejada improved to 23-9 overall in 2007-08. At 165 pounds, Addison Nuding had a big second period and won a 10-0 major decision over Jalil Dozier. Nuding, 20-6 on the year, gave the Blue Devils a 7-6 lead in team points. Aaron Glover used a takedown with 11 seconds left in the match at 174 pounds to win a tense 6-5 decision over Randy Goodman and give Duke a 10-6 lead in the team scoring. And that was the last victory of the evening for Duke. Ryan Goodman, a two-time ACC champion, defeated the Blue Devils's winningest wrestler, John Barone, by a 9-5 decision. Goodman rallied late to win the bout, which was tied 5-5 after two periods. Goodman, who missed all of November while playing football, improved to 11-4. Barone is now 24-4. Junior Mark Jahad won a 13-2 major decision over Duke's Robert Holbrook at 197, giving the team lead back to the Wolfpack at 13-10. Another close match pitted Duke's redshirt sophomore Mike Tunick and the Wolfpack's Bobby Isola at heavyweight. The first period was scoreless, but Isola wound up with a 10-4 decision to put the Wolfpack up 16-10. At 125 pounds, NC State's Taylor Cummings overcame a late lead by Duke's Kellon McKeon and took a 4-2 decision. Cummings, the defending conference champion, lifted his season mark to 15-8 with the win. At 133, freshman Darius Little took an 11-6 decision over Bryan Gibson with a strong final period. And eighth-ranked Joe Caramanica won the 141-pound bout by technical fall over A.J. Guardado. Caramanica wrapped up the tech fall by a 17-1 score with 41 seconds left in the bout. NC State returns to action on Saturday, January 12, at Liberty for a 7 p.m. match.

University of Michigan All-American Steve Luke has posted a 16-1 record this season and is currently No. 2 in the country at 174 pounds by RevWrestling.com. The only blemish on his record this season is a 3-2 tiebreaker loss to No. 1-ranked Keith Gavin of Pittsburgh in the finals of the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Luke was recently named the Outstanding Wrestler at the Lone Star Duals after posting a 3-0 record with three pins. Steve LukeThe junior from Massillon, Ohio placed sixth at the 2007 NCAA Championships after losing in the opening round. He is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree. RevWrestling.com recently caught up with Luke and asked him about being overlooked on a team with five wrestlers ranked in the top five, what he needs to do to avoid the opening round upset loss at the NCAA's again, his thoughts on high school freshman phenom Chris Phillips, what the Wolverines need to do to bring home the NCAA title this season, and much more. It seems that you have been one of the most overlooked wrestlers on a team with five wrestlers ranked in the top five nationally. You are 16-1 this season. You are a tiebreaker loss away from being undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the country, yet you are rarely mentioned when people talk about the best overall wrestlers in the country. Does the fact that you are a bit overlooked bother you at all? Luke: No. To be honest, I don't pay attention to it. I have a really demanding class schedule. I just go to class, study all the time, and go to practice. I don't pay attention to the forums. I don't even know that I am overlooked. I could care less. There are a lot more important things. You have had some ups and downs throughout your collegiate wrestling career at Michigan. As a freshman, you won the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational at 157 pounds with a victory over NCAA runner-up Alex Tirapelle of Illinois. But then you went 0-2 at the NCAA Championships and failed to place. When you reflect back on your freshman season, what goes through your mind? Steve LukeLuke: That was a rough year for me. It was the first year I was traveling a lot. It was tough making weight a lot at 157. I stuck with it. A few times that year I started feeling sorry for myself. I started to get sick of wrestling. But now that I'm up at 174 … the team is doing well, I'm doing well, so life is a lot better. Yeah, my freshman year was rough, but it's not a big deal. I got back on track. The next season you bumped up two weight classes from 157 to 174, which is quite a jump in collegiate wrestling. Compare and contrast the two weight classes from a styles standpoint. And what was the biggest adjustment you had to make to compete at 174? Luke: The 174-pounders are stronger, obviously. I lifted hard and got bigger, so I feel like I'm just as strong as any 174-pounder in the country. The 157-pounders are a lot quicker. The matches are a lot more fast-paced. At 174 pounds, the wrestling is more defensive, where you look for your shots. I still feel like since I bumped up two weight classes, my quickness and agility hasn't changed. It's question that I have to ask, even though it's a question you probably prefer to not hear. You are one of the top wrestlers in the country, but last season you were upset in the opening round of the NCAA Championships for the second straight time. What happened? Luke: I don't know … I guess that I just have to be more mentally prepared and not so nervous. It's the NCAA Championships. That stuff happens all the time. Unfortunately, it happened to me two years in a row. I think the same thing happened to JD Bergman (Ohio State). I know JD pretty well since we are both from Ohio. I guess it's just us Ohio kids who do that. Sean BormetYou have wrestled some great wrestlers over your high school and college career. Who is the toughest wrestler you have ever wrestled with, including in the practice room? Luke: The one who beat me the worst is Sean Bormet, who runs Overtime Wrestling Club. He's a little older than me and more experienced. There are different ways to say who is the toughest. If you are asking who is the toughest, like most physical and strongest, it would either be my high school coach, Brian Dolph, or our 184-pounder, Tyrel Todd. But if you are asking who took me down the most and beat me the worst, it would be Sean Bormet. In high school, you wrestled on the same team as Dustin Schlatter at Massillon Perry. As a freshman at the University of Minnesota, Schlatter seemed to be a scoring machine when he won his NCAA title at 149 pounds. However, the past two seasons, he has wrestled many close, low-scoring matches. From your perspective, what's the difference between Dustin Schlatter as a freshman and Dustin Schlatter as a junior? Luke: He's still winning matches. It doesn't really matter whether you beat people by 10 points or whether you beat people by one point. It's still winning the match. I think his freshman year, he went out there just wanting to prove himself and do well. People kind of overlooked him. That weight class was pretty stacked. It had (Zack) Esposito, Eric (Tannenbaum), (Jon) Masa, and a bunch of other guys. He really worked hard in the offseason. I think he trained at Minnesota that whole summer to get ready. Now, I don't know. He's been wrestling for a while. Maybe it's just wearing on him and he's not liking the sport as much. I actually just hung out with him over break, but we didn't really talk wrestling. We just hung out. This season, a high school freshman from Monroeville, Ohio named Chris Phillips won the Walsh Ironman at 171 pounds. Having wrestled in that event, put into perspective how tough it is for a freshman upperweight to win the Walsh Ironman. Luke: That's amazing. His weight class was pretty stacked, too, with Brian Roddy and Zac Thomusseit. That kid is just tough. I heard about him this past summer when he wrestled at Cadets. One my friends coached the Cadet team, so he was telling me about him. I didn't realize how good he was. That kid is definitely going to be something special. He's already one of the top high school wrestlers in the country at 171. Once he gets to college, I don't expect him to falter. He could be a factor in college by his junior or senior year of high school. I watched him on the Internet. He's really strong and built. His re-shots are unbelievable. Steve LukeHandicap the 174-pound weight class. In your opinion, who are the top three or four wrestlers who pose the biggest threat to you winning the national title this season? Luke: Like I said, I don't pay attention to that stuff. I don't even know what the rankings are right now. Keith Gavin always seems to step up at the right time. He's an unorthodox wrestler. He's hard to score on. He always wins the close matches. I don't know … the 174-pound weight class is a pretty uniform weight class. From about 1 to 15, everyone is so close. The kid from Central Michigan (Brandon Sinnott) is pretty tough. The Hofstra kid, Alton Lucas, has been wrestling really well this year. This weekend you will be competing in the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals. Michigan enters the event as the No. 6 seed. How much emphasis do you put on this event from a team standpoint? Luke: Well, it's a different atmosphere wrestling dual meet tournaments as opposed to individual tournaments. I mean, last year we went 0-2 at the National Duals, but then placed seventh at the NCAA's. We are all going to be wrestling top ranked guys because all the teams have top ranked guys and stacked lineups. Individually, everybody just has to focus on themselves. I think we can compete with any team. I think our dual meet team is pretty good, but I think our tournament team is better than our dual meet team. I think there is a big emphasis since we are wrestling the top teams, but it doesn't make or break a season. March Churella Sr. was added to the coaching staff this season. What has he brought to the program this season? Luke: He is really motivating. His philosophy on wrestling is unbelievable. He's the best technician. The way he is able to explain moves and the way he is able tot motivate me has really helped this year. We all talk about in the locker room and stuff. I think he has been a huge asset to our team this year. He runs some of the practices. Whenever he runs the practices, I just feel more pressure for some reason to work harder and do better. He'll bring different things to practices. Sometimes when the same coaches are running it, it's the same thing over and over. But then he'll come in and bring in a little twist. It's fun not doing the same thing every day. At this point in the season, it looks as though Michigan has five potential NCAA finalists with you, Kellen Russell (141), Josh Churella (149), Eric Tannenbaum (165), and Tyrel Todd (184). In your opinion, what is going to take to bring home the NCAA team title in St. Louis? Steve LukeLuke: Kellen, Josh, Eric, Tyrel, and I will have to perform our best at the end, plus get bonus points. We're all capable of placing in the top four. We're all capable of winning it too. But you never know what is going to happen at the NCAA's. But if we all place in the top four and get bonus points … and then we have guys like (Jeff) Marsh step in, qualify, and win some matches. (Anthony) Biondo, our 197-pounder, has been wrestling really well. Our 125 and 133-pounders, (Michael) Watts and (Chris) Diehl, have been picking it up. As long as we can get these guys there and scoring points, it would be big. If we can get guys like Watts and Diehl to get there and win a few matches, that would really help the team. Last year, we had five guys go and five guys place, but we had nobody else scoring points, while other teams had like eight or nine guys going and four guys placing. If we can all place high and get some bonus points along the way, we should do pretty well.

LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ -- Hofstra junior wrestler Alton Lucas, who captured the 174-pound title at the Southern Scuffle and split a pair of matches against ranked opponents this past Sunday, has been named the Colonial Athletic Association Wrestler of the Week for all competition from December 18 through January 7. Lucas, a West Babylon, NY native, won his first 11 matches of the season including five at the Southern Scuffle to win the 174-pound weight class. On his way to the title, he posted victories over the sixth, seventh and eighth ranked wrestlers in the country. This past Sunday, Lucas suffered his first loss of the season, dropping a 3-1 decision in sudden victory to third-ranked Brandon Sinnott from Central Michigan. He bounced back with a 5-3 victory over #12 Phil Moricone from Edinboro. Lucas, who is now 12-1 on the season, is ranked third in the W.I.N. Poll and sixth in the Intermat Poll. He shares the CAA Wrestler of the Week Boston University's Mike Roberts, who captured the 149-pound title and was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the Southern Scuffle.

The brackets for the 2008 NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals were released today, and the defending national champion Minnesota Golden Gophers received the fifth seed in the 16-team event. Minnesota's first round match-up will come against West Virginia on Saturday morning at 9 a.m. All matches for the 2008 National Duals will take place at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The University of Northern Iowa will be hosting the event for the third consecutive year. Undefeated Penn State enters the weekend as the top seed, while Iowa (No. 2), Iowa State (No. 3) and Central Michigan (No. 4) round out the top five. If the Gophers can beat West Virginia early Saturday, it could force a match-up with Central Michigan. The Gophers have not lost to the Chippewas in eight meets all-time, including four National Duals match-ups. The Mountaineers are the only team National Duals participant unranked in the latest USA Today/NWCA/InterMat poll. West Virginia sports a 3-1 dual meet record thus far in 2007-08 and also finished 12th at the NWCA/Cliff Keen Invitational in Las Vegas last month. WVU also made the same California trip as Minnesota in early January, defeating Cal State-Fullerton and Cal Poly in dual meets on Jan. 2-3 by scores of 27-14 and 24-12, respectively. The Gophers have only met up with the Mountaineers twice Minnesota's 98-year program history. Both of those meets have come in National Duals competition. The Gophers were 33-3 winners in the quarterfinals at the 1998 National Duals (en route to their first-ever team title) and also emerged a 20-15 victor in the quarterfinals at the 2003 National Duals. Minnesota is the defending two-time National Duals champion, winning eight straight meets at the annual 16-team event. The Gophers defeated then-No. 1 Oklahoma State 21-14 in the 2006 final and also upset then-No. 1 Missouri 20-14 last year. The Gophers dropped to No. 6 in the latest USA Today/NWCA/InterMat poll after Oklahoma State defeated top-ranked Iowa over the weekend. Minnesota regained their top ranking in the latest W.I.N. Magazine national poll, and also stayed No. 1 in W.I.N. Magazine's "TPI" (Tournament Power Index) rankings. A complete preview of the 2008 National Duals will be available Wednesday on gophersports.com.

NORFOLK, Va. -- Redshirt freshman James Nicholson (Des Moines, Iowa) was named the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Rookie of the Week for all wrestling between December 18-January 7. It is his first career conference honor and the first for ODU this season. The 125-pounder was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the Virginia Intercollegiate State Tournament last weekend, where he went 3-0 with two technical falls. His win helped lead ODU to a third straight team victory at the VA States. Prior to that, he went 5-1 for a 3rd place effort at the respected Southern Scuffle tournament in Greensboro, North Carolina. During the Scuffle, Nicholson faced the CAA's top ranked wrestler at 125, Dave Tomasette from Hofstra, and defeated the Pride grappler 4-2. The win propelled Nicholson to the top of the conference rankings and into the national polls for the first time in his young career. Nicholson is ranked by four national polls including a ranking as high as 13th by Amateur Wrestling News (AWN). He is 16-7 overall this season.

BLOOMSBURG -- Bloomsburg University wrestler Mike Sees (Northumberland/Shikellamy) was named the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Athletic Conference Wrestler of the Week for the period ending Jan. 6th. At the Southern Scuffle in Greensboro, NC on Dec. 29-30, Sees picked up his 100th career victory en route to a second place finish. The senior notched a 5-1 record, falling in the finals to third-ranked Jayson Ness of Minnesota. In the semifinals, Sees defeated Drew Forshey of North Carolina, 14-3, to reach the milestone. Sees is now 100-19 for his career.

THIS WEEK Second-seed Iowa (7-1) will face unseeded Cornell University in the first round of the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals Saturday at 11 a.m. at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls. The two-day annual tournament features 16 teams from NCAA Division I, 12 from Division II, 15 from Division III and NAIA, eight NJCAA teams, seven NCWA teams and five women's wrestling teams. The Division I field includes nine of the top 10 ranked teams in the most recent USA Today/Intermat/NWCA coaches poll. Central Michigan, Cornell, Hofstra, Indiana, Iowa State, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Northern Iowa, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Tennessee-Chattanooga and West Virginia will battle the Hawkeyes for the title. Results will be available at www.unipanthers.com throughout the tournament. Depending on the outcome of the Iowa-Cornell dual, the Hawkeyes will face either the winner or loser of the #7 Missouri-Indiana dual Saturday at 3 p.m. NATIONAL DUALS TICKET INFORMATION All-session tickets are $30 for adults and $22 for seniors and students. Individual session tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for seniors and students. Tickets may be purchased by contacting the UNI-Dome box office at 1-877-216-3663. NATIONAL DUALS SCHEDULE The following is the Division I tournament schedule for this weekend's NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals: Saturday, January 12 9-11 a.m. - Championship Preliminary Round 11 a.m.-1 p.m. - Championship Preliminary Round 1-3 p.m. - Championship Quarterfinal, Consolation First Round 3-5 p.m. - Championship Quarterfinals, Consolations First Round 5-7 p.m. - Consolation Second Round 7-9 p.m. - Consolation Third Round Sunday, January 13 9-11 a.m. - Seventh-Place Match 11 a.m.-1 p.m. - Championship Semifinals 1-2:45 p.m. - Third and Fifth-Place Matches 3-5 p.m. - Championship Finals ON THE AIR Online Radio - Steven Grace and two-time Hawkeye NCAA champion and four-time all-American Mark Ironside will call the Iowa dual meet action live on www.hawkeyesports.com. To listen, go to the wrestling schedule and click on the event. Broadcasts are available using the Hawkeye All-Access subscription ($6.95 per month or $49.95 per year) or the CSTV XXL Premium subscription ($99.95 per year). Takedown Wrestling Radio will also broadcast portions of the National Duals free of charge at Takedownradio.com. and KXNO.com. Online Video - LiveSportsVideo.com will present a free web cast of Sunday's championship semifinals (11 a.m.), third and fifth-place matches (1 p.m.) and championship finals (3 p.m.). Internet - Press releases, meet results and audio broadcasts are available on the University of Iowa's website, www.hawkeyesports.com. To access live dual scoring, go to the wrestling schedule page, select the event and click on the Livestats link. Current staff and student-athlete head shots can be found at pics.hawkeyesports.com. Television - Iowa Public Television will air a two-hour taped-delay broadcast of the tournament semifinals at 1 p.m. with live coverage of the finals at 3 p.m. Tim Johnson will provide play-by-play, and Jim Gibbons will provide color commentary. LAST TIME AT THE DUALS Iowa placed fifth at the 2007 N.W.C.A./Cliff Keen National Duals in Cedar Falls. The fifth-seeded Hawkeyes opened the tournament with a 41-4 win over Cal-Davis before losing to fourth-seed Oklahoma State (22-13) in the quarterfinals. Iowa rebounded to beat Nebraska (30-5) and eighth-seed Northwestern (22-18) in Saturday's consolation matches and defeated third-seed Hofstra (26-10) in Sunday's fifth-place match. HAWKEYE HISTORY AT THE DUALS Iowa has wrestled in 15 National Duals and has a 54-10-3 all time record in the tournament. Iowa has won the title three times (1992, 1995, 1996), placed second three times (1994, 1997, 1998), third six times (1990, 1991, 1993, 2001, 2002, 2003), fifth once (2007) and sixth once (2006). CORNELL BIG RED Cornell is 0-2 with losses to Wisconsin (18-21) and Penn State (10-35). The Big Red won the Body Bar Invitational in November, and placed third at the Reno Tournament of Champions and fourth at the Southern Scuffle in December. Head Coach Rob Koll is 154-59-4 in 14 seasons at Cornell. He is assisted by Tyler Baier (Cornell, 2005), Cory Cooperman (Lehigh, 2006) and Damion Hahn (Minnesota, 2004). The Big Red are led by juniors Jordan Lee (157), Steve Anceravage (174) and Zach Hammond (Hwt.), sophomore Adam Frey (141) and freshmen Mike Grey (133) and Mack Lewnes (165). THE SERIES Cornell leads the series, 1-0, winning the only meeting between the two teams - a 24-6 decision in Iowa City in 1965. OKLAHOMA STATE 19, IOWA 14 Iowa lost its first dual of the 2007-08 season Saturday night, dropping a 19-14 decision to Oklahoma State in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa entered the match ranked first in the nation and fell to 7-1 on the season in front of 14,332 fans. That attendance figure is the seventh-largest for a dual meet in NCAA wrestling history and the fifth-largest in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Oklahoma State, who was ranked as high as sixth and as low as ninth in the nation, improved to 6-1. "We got whipped," said Iowa Head Coach Tom Brands. "I don't like this feeling because it feels too much like last year - going up and down. We've got a lot of improving to do. I don't like it, but I wouldn't have it any other way because now we know what needs to be done. I'm going to put the loss on me first, and I'm sure there are at least five or six guys up in the (wrestling) room that are going to put it on themselves too." Iowa won four of the 10 weights, including two by major decision. Junior Charlie Falck opened the dual at 125 with a narrow 7-5 decision over Ben Ashmore. Falck fought off his back early in the third period and scored a reversal with one minute left to pick up the win. Sophomores Brent Metcalf (149) and Phillip Keddy (184) both scored major decisions, while senior Matt Fields closed out the dual with a 4-3 win over Jared Rosholt at heavyweight. Fields picked up his 75th career win, while Keddy posted his 25th. Oklahoma State won five of the six matches they were favored in, and added an upset to their six-win tally. Top-ranked Coleman Scott held off a late charge by second-ranked sophomore Joe Slaton at 133 to win 8-6. It was Slaton's his first loss of the season. Cowboy senior Nathan Morgan followed with an 8-4 win over sophomore Dan LeClere at 141. Juniors Newly McSpadden (157) and Brandon Mason (174) both scored decisions for Oklahoma State and senior Jake Dieffenbach upset second-ranked senior Mark Perry, 5-3, at 165. Oklahoma State 19, Iowa 14 125 - Charlie Falck (I) dec. Ben Ashmore (OSU), 7-5 133 - Coleman Scott (OSU) dec. Joe Slaton (I), 8-6 141 - Nathan Morgan (OSU) dec. Dan LeClere (I), 8-4 149 - Brent Metcalf (I) maj. dec. Quinten Fuentes (OSU), 20-8 157 - Newly McSpadden (OSU) dec. Ryan Morningstar (I), 4-2 165 - Jake Dieffenbach (OSU) dec. Mark Perry (I), 5-3 174 - Brandon Mason (OSU) dec. Jay Borschel (I), 2-0 184 - Phillip Keddy (I) maj. dec. Cody Hill (OSU), 12-2 197 - Clayton Foster (OSU) maj. dec. Rick Loera (I), 12-1 Hwt. - Matt Fields (I) dec. Jared Rosholt (OSU), 4-3 PERRY AIMS FOR RECORDS BOOK Senior Mark Perry needs six pins to break into the Iowa records book for career pins. The Hawkeye 165-pounder has 34 career pins, including nine this season. Former Hawkeye Lou Banach (1980-83) is ranked 10th in school history with 40 pins. His twin brother, Ed, holds the school record with 73 career falls. Perry has led the team in pins the last three years, recording six in 2004-05 and 2006-07 and 13 in 2005-06. CHAMPIONSHIP EXPERIENCE The Hawkeye wrestling staff of Tom Brands, Wes Hand, Doug Schwab and Mike Zadick earned a total of one Olympic gold medal, four NCAA titles, six conference titles and 12 all-America honors. Their combined college career wrestling record is 487-83-2 (.853). BIG TEN NETWORK SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED The Big Ten Network has released its 2007-08 wrestling schedule. Nine duals and the finals of the 2007 Midlands Championships and 2008 Big Ten Championships are scheduled to be aired on the network. Iowa will have two televised duals on the network. The Iowa-Ohio State dual on Jan. 18 in Columbus will air same-day taped-delay at 8:30 p.m. and the Iowa-Minnesota dual on Feb. 1 in Minneapolis will air live at 7:30 p.m. Both times are Central. BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS TICKETS GO ON SALE Tickets for the 2008 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, to be held at the University of Minnesota's Williams Arena Mar. 8-9 are now available. All-session tickets are $30 and may be purchased through gophersports.com, in person at the Minnesota athletics ticket office in Mariucci Arena or by calling 1-800-846-7437 or 612-624-8080. Single-session tickets, if available, will go on sale March 3. The 2008 Big Ten Wrestling Championships will feature a three-session format, with the Session 1 preliminary matches beginning at 11 a.m. on Mar. 8. Session 2 will get underway at 6 p.m. that same day, and the Session 3 championship matches will start at noon Mar. 9. Doors to Williams Arena open approximately one hour prior to the beginning of each session. Sessions 1 and 2 will feature four mats of action, while Session 3 will have live wrestling on three mats. The Williams Arena court will be extended to accommodate the four-mat setup. NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS RETURN TO ST. LOUIS The 2008 NCAA Wrestling Championships are scheduled for Mar. 20-22 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, MO. The Scottrade Center was the site for the national wrestling tournament in 2000, 2004 and 2005, and will host the event in 2009. The NCAA, University of Missouri and the St. Louis Sports Commission will co-host the event. Sessions I (11 a.m.) and II (6:30 p.m.) will be held Mar. 20, Sessions III (10 a.m. and IV (6 p.m.) will be Mar. 21, and Session V (10 a.m.) and the championship finals (7:30 p.m.) are set for Mar. 22. Tickets to the event are available at (866) 646-8849 or www.ticketmaster.com. All-session tickets are priced based on seat location. Following is the price breakdown. Plaza - $150 Mezzanine Center & Mezzanine Corner (1st 2 rows) - $120 Mezzanine Corner & Mezzanine End (1st 2 rows) - $95 Mezzanine End - $60 FAMILY FOUR PACK AVAILABLE The University of Iowa is offering a Family Four Pack ticket package for the Iowa vs. Indiana dual on Feb. 15. The package includes four tickets, four hot dogs and four drinks for $30. Orders can be placed through the University of Iowa Athletic Ticket Office or at 1-800-464-2957, 319-335-9327 or www.hawkeyesports.com. IOWA TICKET INFORMATION Tickets for Iowa's four remaining home duals are on sale at the University of Iowa Athletic Ticket Office or at 1-800-464-2957, 319-335-9327 or www.hawkeyesports.com. University of Iowa students will be admitted free to all matches with a student ID. Tickets purchased in advance are $8 for adults and $4 for youth. Tickets purchased at the event are $10 for adults and $5 for youth. IOWA WRESTLING HISTORY Iowa's overall dual meet record is 816-215-30 (.783) in 96 seasons. The Hawkeyes have won 20 national titles and 31 Big Ten titles. Iowa's 48 NCAA champions have won a total of 74 NCAA individual titles, crowning six three-time and 13 two-time champions. The Hawkeyes' 100 Big Ten champions have won a total of 181 conference titles. There have been seven four-time, 18 three-time and 24 two-time Iowa winners. Iowa's 130 all-Americans have earned all-America status 266 times, including 16 four-time, 28 three-time and 32 two-time honorees. NEXT COMPETITION Iowa (7-1) will kick off the Big Ten dual season Jan. 18 at Ohio State (9-1) in Columbus at 6 p.m. The Big Ten Network will air a taped-delay broadcast of the dual at 8:30 p.m. The Hawkeyes will then host Penn State (5-0) Jan. 20 at 2 p.m. in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- University of Northern Iowa 165-pounder Moza Fay has been named the Western Wrestling Conference's Wrestler of the Week as announced by league officials. This week's honor took into account wrestling action from Dec. 15 through Jan. 6. Fay compiled a mark of 5-1 from Dec. 15 through Jan. 6, which included three falls and a win over previously undefeated Jon Reader (Iowa State). Fay started his Christmas work with a 9-6 win over Iowa State's Reader in the Panthers' dual with the Cyclones. Fay then added a trio of wins at the Midlands tournament before capping the holiday season with a fall over Chattanooga's Nick Davis in UNI's 21-16 victory over the 10th-ranked team in the country. Fay picked up falls over Northern Illinois' Scott Wallace (3:23) and Harvard's Matt Button (3:05) at Midlands. Fay is now 13-3 on the season with a team-leading five falls. The Western Wrestling Conference is comprised of seven schools including the Air Force Academy, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, Northern Iowa, South Dakota State, Utah Valley State and Wyoming. Others nominated: Air Force - Jordan Tribble North Dakota State - Eric Hoffman Northern Colorado - Reece Hopkin Utah Valley State - Ben Kjar Wyoming - Eric Coxbill

NORFOLK, Va. -- The Old Dominion wrestling Monarchs (4-1) dropped the Delaware State Hornets (0-6-1) in dual action at home Tuesday night by a score of 48-0. ODU won all ten weight classes for the shutout, including a pin by sophomore Jesse Strawn at 184 lbs and three major decisions. ODU returns to the mat this weekend at the Virginia Duals at nearby Hampton Coliseum. The event begins Friday, January 11 at 9:00 am with ODU's first match beginning at 11:00 am against Lock Haven. The point differential was the second most for a victory in Coach Martin's four-year career at Old Dominion, shy of the record 55-point differential set against Wagner in 2004-05 during his first year by just seven points. It was also the first shutout for ODU since the Wagner dual. "Our guys wrestled well tonight," said assistant coach Jon Sioredas. "This gives us something to build on for this weekend at the Virginia Duals. It should give us a little bit of momentum." ODU jumped to a 4-0 lead when redshirt freshman Billy Chamberlain notched his first career dual victory in a 9-1 major decision. The Monarchs would then add 18 points to the team total as the Hornets forfeited the next three weight classes. The next match of the night was the 157-lb bout, where Dan Rivera earned his fifth win of the season with a 6-2 win over Kyle Robinson. His win put the Monarchs up 25-0 and brought redshirt sophomore Chris Brown to the mat for the 165-lb bout. Brown jumped to a quick 5-0 lead less than a minute into the match, with a takedown into a 3-second nearfall that nearly ended in a pin of his opponent, Brandon Gardner. Gardner would avoid the pin, but Brown kept on the offensive, tallying 10 points on the Hornet wrestler in the first three and a half minutes before head coach of the Hornets, Reggie White, pulled Gardner for the medical forfeit. With the match won 31-0 with four bouts to go, the Monarchs did not shy away, winning the upper weights as well. Redshirt senior Nick Pullano earned the second major decision of the evening putting up 15 points on Kyle Skinner and Strawn battled his way to his team-leading fourth pin during the second period of his match. David Mendoza put away Shawn Nowrey 12-1 at 197 lbs and in the tightest match of the evening, true freshman Andy Totusek won in the first tiebreaker, 2-1. After battling to a 1-1 tie with Zeb Davis of Delaware State, neither wrestler was able to score in the first sudden victory overtime period. In the tiebreaker, Totusek got the escape just four seconds in and didn't allow Davis to get up during the second thirty for the win.

WATERLOO, Iowa -- The National Wrestling Coaches Association will be hosting the 20th annual National Wrestling Duals on January 12-13 at the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The wrestling museum has teamed up with the NWCA and Bay Valley Foods for a special promotion during the event. Young wrestling fans will get FREE admission, when accompanied by a paying adult, to the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals on January 13. Each student will also get FREE admission, January 11-13, when accompanied by a paying adult, to the Dan Gable International Wrestling Institute and Museum. Each student will receive a free Dan Gable Asics poster from the museum. The museum will have special hours of operation during this event. They are as follows: Friday, January 11: 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, January 12: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, January 13: noon to 5 p.m.