InterMat Staff

This week's edition of "On the Mat" will feature Mike Finn, J Robinson, and Mike Moyer. "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 bi-weekly segment. Finn will give an update on several key wrestling events, including Oklahoma State's recent win over Iowa, and the upcoming NWCA National Duals. Robinson is the head wrestling coach at the University of Minnesota. His Golden Gopher team won the National Duals and the NCAA tournament in 2007. During Robinson's tenure, Minnesota has won three NCAA team titles. His team is currently ranked sixth in the latest Intermat poll. Moyer is the executive director of the National Wrestling Coaches Association. The NWCA hosts the National Duals event that will be taking place in Cedar Falls, Iowa, this weekend. "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.

Jaran Rutledge, from Mundelein, Illinois (Carmel High School), won his 100th career match with the Knox College wrestling team Saturday. Rutledge finished a perfect 4-0 at the third annual Knox College Chuck Porter Duals hosted by Knox, giving him 101 career victories. For his efforts, the senior heavyweight was named the Knox College Prairie Fire Performer of the Week today. Rutledge, ranked sixth in the recent National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Division III individual poll, opened with an 8-3 decision over Chase Campbell, from Wheaton College. He followed with a 4-1 victory over North Central College's Rod Knowlton. Against Wabash College, Rutledge won via forfeit for his 100th career collegiate victory. He ended his afternoon by pinning Nicholas Hagen (University of Dubuque) in 4:12. Knox finished 0-4 at the Chuck Porter Duals. North Central won the six-team event with a 4-0 record. Rutledge became Knox College's first wrestling All-American by placing third at the NCAA Division III Championships last year. He was the first Knox wrestler to compete in the National Wrestling Championships since Tom MacMillan reached nationals for the second straight year in 1980. Last year, Rutledge finished with a 36-5 record and won individual titles at the Central College Invitational, the Northern Wrestling Association Tournament and the Great Lakes Regional. Thanks to his efforts, Rutledge led Knox to a 25th-place national finish. The biology major placed third at regionals and was an alternate qualifier as a sophomore for the 2005-06 National Championships. The Prairie Fire wrestling team returns to the mat Wednesday, January 9, at Augustana College. The dual meet is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke Wrestling opens its ACC slate on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in Cameron Indoor Stadium versus N.C. State. The dual meet marks the first home competition of the season for the Blue Devils and their only home match in the month of January. The Blue Devils: Duke is 4-4 so far this season in duals after going 1-4 at the Hoosier Duals on Nov. 24 and sweeping three opponents at the N.C. State Duals on Jan. 5. In their only team-scored tournament of the year, Duke took 21st place out of 29 teams at the prestigious Southern Scuffle on Dec. 29 and 30 in Greensboro, N.C. The Blue Devils will try to snap their 11-match ACC losing streak; their last conference win came on Feb. 18, 2005 against Virginia. Duke's most dominating wrestler at any weight this year has been 184-pound redshirt sophomore captain John Barone, who won at Pembroke and Davidson and placed second at the East Stroudsburg Open on Nov. 17. He was named the ACC's wrestler of the week on Nov. 27. Barone's 11-second pin of Mike Walsh of Limestone College on Dec. 1 was the fastest fall in Duke history, breaking an 18-year-old school record. He is 24-3 with 10 falls and an 8-0 ledger in duals in 2007-08. Barone's 59-19 overall mark as a Blue Devil is good for ninth place on Duke's all-time winning percentage list with a .756 clip. With four more victories, Barone will crack the top 20 for career wins at Duke and is only 10 wins away from tying the single-season wins mark with 14 regular season matches to go and the ACC Tournament. Another tough competitor is senior captain Kellan McKeon, who will represent Duke at 125 pounds on Wednesday night. McKeon is 19-8 this season with three falls and two top-four tournament finishes. He is 6-1 in dual meets. Sophomore Voris Tejada will get the nod at 157 pounds. Tejada has placed in the top five in three of Duke's four tournaments this season and is off to a 22-9 mark overall and a 3-0 record in duals. Junior captain Addison Nuding gets the call at 165 pounds. Nuding is 19-6 on the year with a second-place showing at Pembroke and a championship at Davidson under his belt. He is 6-2 in dual matches. At the heavyweight division will be redshirt sophomore Wade Van Sickle, who has three top three finishes this season in tournament action. Van Sickle has posted a 21-7 record with four falls this year and is 7-1 in dual meets and 43-31 overall as a Blue Devil. The Opponent: N.C. State is 4-5 this season and has yet to wrestle an ACC match. Four of the Wolfpack's five losses have come to teams from the Big Ten and Big 12, which are undeniably the nation's strongest conferences. Two of their losses--- Oklahoma and Iowa--- came against opponents ranked in the top 20. N.C. State is the defending ACC Champion and returns four of their five ACC champions from last year. Leading the way is sophomore Darrion Caldwell at 149 pounds and junior Joe Caramanica at 141 pounds. Caldwell is 19-3 this season with 11 pins and is ranked ninth nationally. Caramanica holds the seventh spot in the nation and is 19-4 with three falls. Most Recent Meeting: N.C. State avoided an upset in Raleigh on Jan. 10, 2007, as they defeated upstart Duke 26-15. The Blue Devils trailed only 16-15 going into the final two matches before the Wolfpack pulled away. Barone, redshirt junior Aaron Glover and redshirt junior captain Dan Tulley all picked up victories for Duke.

IRVING, Texas -- Jake Varner (Iowa State) has been named Big 12 Wrestler of the Week for his performances in competitions from Dec. 17-Jan. 5, the conference announced. Varner receives this recognition for the first time in his career. Varner avenged his 2007 NCAA Championship loss to former Northwestern 184-pound national champion Jake Herbert with a 3-1 sudden victory, on December 30 at the Midlands Championships. The sophomore, who placed third at the Midlands last season, became the 38th ISU wrestler to earn a Midlands title. During the course of the tournament, the All-American tallied three victories by pin, including a 5:54 stick of former Nebraska standout Travis Pascoe. He also notched a 2-1 semifinal decision over No. 6 Christian Sinnott of Central Michigan. Varner has pinned four opponents and owns a 12-0 record this season.

Colby, KS -- After a long holiday break, the Trojans were back in wrestling action at the Colby Tournament of Champions in Colby, KS. NIACC finished with six placers out of eight that competed with three champions. NIACC finished second as team with Colby winning the team title. Colby, currently ranked No. 4 in the country finished with seven placers and three champions. The Trojans of Colby matched up head to head with the Trojans of NIACC in seven weights with NIACC winning five of the seven. The tournament which is typically ran in a traditional 8-man bracket, was switched to a round-robin format due to a lack of numbers. NIACC was led by it's three champions, T.J. Moen (141), Albert White (149) and Glenn Rhees (174) who has made his return from an early season injury. Moen claimed the championship with a big win over No. 3 rated Lyobomir Kumbarov of Colby by a score of 8-2. Albert White claimed his second tournament championship of the year by defeating the same wrestler he did for the first title in T.J. Hepburn of Colby who is rated No. 5. Rhees, in his first tournament action since placing sixth at the Harold Nichols Open completed the day 4-0 with three falls to claim the title at 174. At 133, Cody Hogan finished second losing in the finals to Western Wyoming's Nick Mammalis. Despite only losing one match on the day, Aaron Hancock finished in third place at 165. The final placer was Beau Tudor at heavyweight placing third. "We have been working very hard since our return from the holidays," stated head coach Richard Fergola. Our guys turned a huge corner at Colby that will help us in the long run. The Trojans will have an action packed weekend starting with a home dual against region foe Minnesota West on Friday January 11th at 7:00 pm. The Trojans will then travel to Pella, IA for the Central College Open on Saturday January 12th at 9:00 am and then return home to host No. 3 rated Labette on Monday January 14th at 6:00 pm.

DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. -- The University of Northern Iowa wrestling squad picked up its first dual win of the season Sunday by knocking off No. 10-ranked Chattanooga, 21-16. The match took place at Lithia Springs High School in suburban Atlanta. UNI improved to 1-2-1 on the season, while UTC fell to 5-2. "Overall we wrestled extremely well," UNI head coach Brad Penrith said. "I'm really proud of how the guys bounced back from the early duals and Midlands." Redshirt freshman Andy O'Loughlin (Independence, Iowa) gave the Panthers a shot of adrenaline with an 8-5 victory over Chattanooga's Josh Edmondson at 184 pounds. Edmondson came into the match ranked No. 16 in the nation and had defeated O'Loughlin just a week earlier at Midlands, 4-1. However, O'Loughlin used a pair of first period takedowns Sunday to take charge of the match. Chattanooga's Matt Koz gained his own revenge at 197 pounds with a 10-4 victory over UNI junior Andrew Anderson (Sioux City, Iowa). Anderson secured a 6-1 victory over Koz in last weekend's Midlands tournament. Koz's victory tied the dual at 3-3. UNI's Dustin Bauman (Stratford, Wis.) put on a dominant effort in the heavyweight match with a 2-0 shutout of UTC's Matt Lettner. Bauman scored an escape in the second period and then rode out Lettner in the third to secure the riding time point. Bauman's win gave UNI a 6-3 lead in the dual. UTC's Javier Maldonado was able to hang on for an 11-8 win in his 125-pound match with Caleb Flores (Rosemead, Calif.). Maldonado came into the match ranked No. 9 in the nation, but Flores refused to give in and battled to the end, which included a takedown in the final 10 seconds to pull within three points. UNI's Josh Baldridge (Haysville, Kan.) made his Panther debut and was awarded a forfeit win at 133 pounds to improve the Panthers' dual lead to 12-6 against the Mocs. The Panthers' C.J. Ettelson (Hudson, Iowa) recaptured his winning ways with a strong effort at 141 pounds. Ettelson topped Cody Cleveland, 6-0, on the strength a first period four-point move. After getting on top early, Ettelson used the top position to take over the match and rolled up nearly four minutes of riding time. Cleveland entered the match ranked No. 16 in the nation at 141 pounds. Ettelson's win made it 15-6 in favor of the Panthers. "It's been bad start to the season, not exactly where I wanted it," Ettelson said following the match. "I wrestled a good match and it felt good for once. I went out and took control of the match right away. I haven't had a chance to get it going early, I've been giving up early takedowns. I went out and went right after him today." The Mocs' Joey Knox decisioned UNI's Charlie Ettelson, 4-2, at 149 pounds. Knox, ranked No. 20 in the nation, took an early 4-0 lead. However, Ettelson (Hudson, Iowa) notched a reversal in the second period and looked to have a two-point nearfall on the reversal, but was not awarded the points. Knox was then able to hang on for the 4-2 decision. Knox's win pulled UTC to within 15-9 in the dual. At 157 pounds, UTC's Seth Garvin tallied a 12-6 victory over UNI's Tyson Reiner (Mitchell, S.D.). Garvin led 6-2 midway through the third period before Reiner rallied to cut the lead to 6-5. However, Garvin was able to notch two more takedowns and extend the lead to five. Garvin then added a riding time point and his victory cut UNI's dual lead to 15-12. UNI junior Moza Fay (Anamosa, Iowa) clinched the Panther dual victory with a fall over UTC's Nick Davis. No points had been awarded in the match as Fay was able to gain the defensive fall over Davis in the first period at the 2:05 mark. It was Fay's team-leading fifth fall of the season and improved his season mark to 13-4. At 174 pounds, UTC's Lloyd Rogers dominated UNI's Alex Dolly (Mishawaka, Ind.), 17-6. Rogers led 8-4 after two periods but extended his lead with a strong third period. Rogers, ranked No. 9 in the nation, cut the Panthers' dual lead to 21-16 with the major decision. The Panthers will be in action again Saturday when they host the 2008 NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals in the UNI-Dome.

GREENSBORO, NC -- The UNC Greensboro Spartan wrestling team opened up the 2007-08 Southern Conference season with a 35-3 victory over the Bulldogs of The Citadel, Sunday at Fleming Gymnasium. The Spartans walked away with nine victories out of 10. The Spartans opened up their first conference dual of the season with a win at the 157-pound weight class. Senior Mark Ring blanked The Citadel's Keith Koziel with 8-0 decision. With the win, the Glassboro, NJ native is now 4-7 overall, 1-0 SoCon. Sophomore Byron Sigmon collected his third fall of the season at 165 lbs. Sigmon, from Claremont, NC, pinned the Bulldogs' Brenden Prince in 2:20. He improved to an even 8-8 overall record, 1-0 in the SoCon. First-year Mikal McKee tacked on his ninth win of the season with a 15-6 major decision victory over The Citadel's 174-pound Derek Sickel. A native of Asheville, NC, McKee was the youngest Spartan wrestler to place at the 2007 UNCG Southern Scuffle held last weekend at the Greensboro Coliseum and Special Events Center. He moved to a 9-8 overall record, 1-0 SoCon. The Spartans held a 14-0 team score advantage going into the day's fourth match before The Citadel was able to put up three points of their own. 184-pound Darius Caldwell nabbed The Citadel's first and only win of the dual with a 3-1 decision over UNCG's Nick Clark. Clark, a senior from Cohocton, NY dropped to a 2-8 overall record, 0-1 in the conference. UNCG's only nationally ranked wrestler, senior Daren Burns blanked The Citadel in the197-pound match to put points back in the win column for the Spartans. Burns, a native of Catawba, NC won a 3-0 decision over John Buck and extended the home-gym lead to 17-3. Currently ranked 11th at 197 lbs., Burns is now 21-3 on the season, 93-30 in his career. The win moved him even closer to surpassing UNCG's all-time career win record of 98-25 set by Joe Stanton (1993-97). A native of Winston-Salem, junior Ryan Hsu tabbed his 12th win of the season with a close, 4-3 victory over The Citadel's Aaron Brown in the heavyweight bout. At 125 lbs., Laurinburg, NC native, Mitchell Johnson defeated the Bulldog's Tyler Sim with a 6-4 decision. Johnson is now 6-9 overall, 1-0 SoCon. Jeff Hedges continued to show his determination and leadership on the mats as he won a fall victory in the 133-pound bout. The senior from Havre, MT pinned The Citadel's Anthony Easter in one minute to improve to a 12-9 overall, 1-0 SoCon record. Ben Wilmore (2-6, 1-0 SoCon) won the Spartan's eighth match of the day in the 141-pound weight class. The senior from Fort Worth, TX held the Bulldog's Michael Arias scoreless to win a 7-0 decision. In the final match of the day, UNCG's 149-pound Marcus Hannah defeated The Citadel's Derek Royster with an 8-6 decision. Hannah improved to 7-3 overall, 1-0 SoCon. The Spartans are back in action next Sunday, January 13 as they travel to Boone, NC to take on the Appalachian State Mountaineers. Matches are set to begin at 2pm. For more news on UNCG wrestling, ticket prices, a complete season schedule, and all other Spartan athletic information log onto www.UNCGSpartans.com.

Princeton, NJ -- The Cardinal wrestling team added two more wins to its season tally this afternoon, as the Cardinal topped East Stroudsburg 29-16, before demolishing Princeton, 32-10. Senior Tanner Gardner highlighted the day with two pins, and Stanford improved to 5-1 on the year. Gardner started the Cardinal off at 125 pounds in the first dual, pinning his second opponent of the weekend. With just one second remaining in the second period (4:59), Gardner put East Stroudsburg sophomore Matthew Benedetti on his back and gave Stanford an early 6-0 lead. The Warriors matched the effort at 133 pounds, however, as junior Matthew Swallow pinned Cardinal freshman Blair Matsuura in 4:58. The Warriors' Sean Carr then won a close decision over Stanford's Max Rosefigura at 141 pounds, scoring a late takedown to earn the 6-4 win and give East Stroudsburg the lead, 9-6. The Warriors' lead would be their last, however, as the Cardinal rallied to win four consecutive matches in the middle weights to go ahead for good. At 149 pounds, redshirt freshman Lucas Espericueta battled back from an initial deficit and dominated East Stroudsburg's Jesse Dunn for a 20-10 major decision. Josh Zupancic continued the onslaught, pinning the Warriors' Kyle Heselpoth in 4:34. Sophomore Peter Miller followed with a 9-0 major decision over East Stroudsburg's Joe Schick at 165 pounds to push the Stanford lead out to 20-9. Redshirt freshman Alex Muller tacked three more points onto the Cardinal total, winning his first career bout at 174 pounds. Muller scored two takedowns in the third period to come from behind and top East Stroudsburg junior Tom Pagano, 9-7. Click here to find out more! At 184 pounds, the Warriors' Shane Mallory finally halted the Cardinal momentum. Mallory and Luke Feist battled into overtime, but Mallory scored a reversal in the second overtime period and held on for a 9-8 decision. East Stroudsburg forfeited at 197 pounds, however, sealing the victory for Stanford. Chris Birchler won by major decision for East Stroudsburg at heavyweight to finish the dual, topping Mark Shughart, 23-9. The Cardinal then turned to the host Princeton Tigers, and Gardner once again set the pace quickly for Stanford. The senior 125-pounder earned his third consecutive pin and second of the day, sticking freshman Tony Comunale in the third period (6:07). At 133 pounds, Matsuura earned his first career dual victory to increase the Stanford lead to 9-0. The true freshman scored three points in the third period to win a 7-4 decision over the Tigers' Nikhil Pereira. Princeton forfeited the 141-pound match, and both teams bowed out of the 149-pound bout, pushing the Cardinal lead to 15-0. Espericueta wrestled up in the 157-pound bout and came out with his second career pin. The Cardinal redshirt freshman put Princeton junior Aaron Casp on his back in 4:46, and picked up his 16th win of the year. Miller pushed Stanford closer to the win at 165 pounds, earning his second victory of the day with a 9-6 decision over Alex Enriquez. Miller's three points pushed the Stanford advantage to 24-0 heading into the 174-pound bout. The Tigers earned their first points of the afternoon at 174 pounds, as Mike Alvarez pinned Stanford's Muller as time expired in the second period (5:00). Feist wrestled his second consecutive match at 184 pounds, and edged Princeton's Travis Erdman, 7-6, to seal the Cardinal win. Sophomore Jake Johnson pushed Stanford further ahead with his second technical fall of the year, beating Zach Morse, 19-2. The Tigers finished the day with a win at heavyweight, as senior Sam Ritter bested Stanford's Phillip Doerner, 15-7. The Cardinal will wrestle its third dual of the day later tonight, taking on the Wagner Seahawks at the New York Athletic Club at 7:30 p.m. Stanford demolishes Wagner New York, NY - Stanford wrestlers collected six pins and shut out an opponent for the first time in recent history tonight, posting a 52-0 rout over the Wagner Seahawks. Led by freshman Blair Matsuura's 32-second pin, the Cardinal scored bonus points in nine of the ten bouts and concluded its three-dual day with a perfect record. Stanford finishes the preseason with a 6-1 record, one of the best in program history. Stanford came out firing from the start. Senior Tanner Gardner (25-1) set the tone with his fourth consecutive pin and third of the day at 125 pounds, sticking Wagner's Nick Keshecki midway through the second period (4:00). Matsuura, a true freshman, followed suit, pinning the first opponent of his career in just 32 seconds. Matsuura (3-8) bested the Seahawks' Tyler Harmer to give Stanford a 12-0 lead after just two bouts. At 141 pounds, freshman Max Rosefigura (9-5) scored a late escape to narrowly defeat Mike Tutunjian, 8-7. Redshirt freshman Lucas Espericueta (17-7) dominated Patrick Larkin in the ensuing 149-pound bout, and came away with an 18-2 technical fall. At 157 pounds, 16th-ranked Josh Zupancic (23-5) picked up the Cardinal's third pin of the night and the second in under a minute. Zupancic put Sean Quinn on his back in 59 seconds and gave the Cardinal a 26-0 lead. Sophomore Peter Miller (12-6) continued the slaughter with a 15-5 major decision over Larry Peotter at 165 pounds. At 174 pounds, junior Luke Feist (5-6) nabbed Stanford's fourth pin of the match, pasting Wagner's Peter Morano to the mat in 4:24. Sophomore Zack Giesen (16-5) then saw his first action of the day at 184 pounds, and topped Eddie Broderick by major decision, 15-4. Sophomore Jake Johnson (17-7) picked up the fifth Stanford pin at 197 pounds, finishing off Anthony Interiano in 6:02. Senior heavyweight Phillip Doerner (15-10) then put an exclamation point on the win with the Cardinal's sixth pin, sticking John Graeffe in 6:01. The Cardinal returns to the mat on Jan. 18, beginning the 2008 Pac-10 season against Boise State and UC Davis in Davis, Calif.

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. -- Fifth-ranked Central Michigan University recorded a pair of milestone victories Sunday afternoon. Wins over No. 16 Hofstra, 22-14, and No. 13 Edinboro, 28-11, extended CMU's winning streak to a school-record 17 duals. The victories were Tom Borrelli's 194th and 195th at CMU, moving him into a tie with Chick Sherwood for the school's career wins record. Perhaps most importantly, however, the two wins over nationally ranked opponents provide CMU with momentum entering next weekend's National Duals. At 7-0, CMU is off to its best start since the 2002-03 team also opened the season with wins in its first seven duals. CMU was 0-1-1 in two duals with Hofstra last season; in both contests, the Pride built large early leads before CMU rallied late to the even the team score. Sunday's dual played out in exactly the same fashion. Hofstra (3-4) recorded major decisions at 125 and 133 to take an 8-0 lead that eventually ballooned to 14-3 at the midway point of the match. Pete Puckett's 6-4 decision over Anthony Tortora at 165 pounds, however, was the first of five straight CMU victories to close the dual. Brandon Sinnott, ranked third nationally at 174 pounds, followed Puckett with a 3-1 sudden victory decision over No. 6 Alton Lucas. Christian Sinnott scored a bonus point for the Chippewas with a 17-4 major decision at 184, and sixth-ranked Wynn Michalak put CMU in front for the first time (16-14) with a 7-0 decision over No. 9 Joe Rovelli. Bubba Gritter sealed the win with a pin of Tom Daddino. In both of last year's matchups with Hofstra, Gritter scored major decisions in the final match to even the team score. Edinboro (4-1) entered its matchup with Central Michigan having won 15 straight duals and 33 of its last 34 overall. The Chippewas won seven of the 10 individual bouts to extend their own winning streak and put a halt to Edinboro's. Eric Morrill gave Edinboro an early 3-0 lead with a 3-1 decision over Luke Smith at 125 pounds. CMU's Conor Beebe, Eric Kruger and Nathaniel Holt were winners at 133, 141 and 149, respectively, to put the Chippewas in front 10-3. Third-ranked Gregor Gillespie and No. 16 Jarrod King answered with major decisions for Edinboro at 157 and 165 pounds, however, giving the Scots an 11-10 advantage. As was the case in the day's first match with Hofstra, the Chippewas rallied with wins at each of the top four weight classes. Brandon and Christian Sinnott won by decision at 174 and 184 pounds, and Michalak and Gritter put an exclamation point on the day with pins at 197 and 285. Brandon Sinnott, Christian Sinnott, Michalak and Gritter were a combined 8-0 in the two duals, accounting for 34 of CMU's 50 total team points. Among their eight wins were three falls, one major and four decisions. CMU travels to Cedar Falls, Iowa for next weekend's National Duals. The 16-team, two-day tournament begins Friday morning.

TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Arizona State University wrestling team opened the new year in winning fashion Sunday afternoon as it swept all three of its match-ups as host of the 2008 Sun Devil Duals inside Wells Fargo Arena. On a day that honored the program's alumni, including the 20th anniversary of ASU's 1988 NCAA Championship, the Sun Devils scored victories over Army (22-13), Grand Canyon (42-10) and No. 23 Penn (21-17) to improve to 8-0 overall (2-0 Pac-10) on the year. With their 21-17 upset of No. 23 Penn, the Sun Devils moved to 8-0 on the year, marking just the fourth time in program history that a Sun Devil team has opened the year with an 8-0 or better record. The start is the best since the 1988-89 team opened the year 8-0 before tying and losing its next two duals. The day opened with the Sun Devils and Black Knights (5-4) meeting on the mats for the first time with ASU scoring the 22-13 victory. No. 10 Patrick Pitsch opened the dual with a pin at 5:35 to put ASU on top, 6-0. After Army won at 174, the Sun Devils would win the next two bouts, decisions by both Jake Cranford (184) and Jason Trulson (197), to push the lead to 12-3. After a loss at heavyweight, No. 19 Anthony Robles (125) scored an impressive 15-4 major decision before Todd Schavrien (133) won a 4-2 decision with a takedown 18 seconds into overtime for a 19-6 ASU team lead. After two losses, the dual ended with Alex Pavlenko scoring a 7-1 decision at 157 for the final team points and a 22-13 team victory. Up next was a battle of Arizona schools as ASU faced first-year NCAA Division II program Grand Canyon (Phoenix). The Sun Devils, who are now 54-9-0 all-time against teams from Arizona, picked up all seven of its victories by forfeit for the 42-10 victory. Winners for the Sun Devils included Pitsch (165), Cranford (184), Trulson (197), Kenny Lester (285), Schavrien (133), Orlando Jimenez (141) and Jerrad Trulson (149). After honoring the alumni in attendance, including the 1988 team, the Sun Devils took on the Quakers as former members of that championship team faced one another with Thom Ortiz guiding his ASU squad and Zeke Jones leading the Penn side. The Sun Devils fell behind early with decision losses at both 165 and 174, trailing 6-0. The tides turned at 184 as No. 18 Brent Chriswell earned a hard-fought, 2-1, upset decision over No. 13 Lior Zamir to not only cut the deficit to 6-3, but also spark the ASU bench. Jason Trulson tied the team score in the next bout as he won the 197-pound match with a 5-2 decision. The Sun Devils continued their momentum at heavyweight as Lester caught his opponent in a move, put him on his back and scored the pin fall at 1:49 for a 12-6 team lead. Despite an acrobatic loss at 125 pounds, the Sun Devils kept the momentum going with Schavrien scoring a 6-1 decision at 133 before Chris Drouin, who had a 3-1 lead, won by injury default at 141 when his opponent could not continue. Leading, 21-10, ASU lost the last two bouts of the day, but it was not enough for the Quakers as ASU won, 21-17. On the day, six Sun Devils went undefeated, led by 3-0 showings from both Schavrien (133) and Trulson (197). Also going undefeated were Jimenez (1-0), Cranford (2-0), Chriswell (1-0) and Lester (2-0. ASU hits the road for a trio of Pac-10 duals next weekend, all three of which take place in California. The weekend opens with a 7 p.m. (PST) dual at Cal Poly (San Luis Obispo) Friday night before heading to Bakersfield, Calif., for a 5 p.m. dual with the Roadrunners of CS Bakersfield on Saturday. The road trip concludes Sunday with a 2 p.m. dual against CS Fullerton in Fullerton.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- The ODU wrestling team earned its third straight win at the Virginia Intercollegiate State Tournament on Saturday as they tallied 107 team points. The Monarchs had 10 placewinners and six champs at the tournament, including the event's Most Outstanding Wrestler, redshirt freshman James Nicholson (Des Moines, Iowa). Nicholson grabbed two technical falls and a 4-3 decision over UVA's Ross Gitomer in the title bout for the win at 125 lbs. Old Dominion returns home to host Delaware State at the Ted Constant Center in dual action on Tuesday, January 8 at 7:30 pm. Nicholson (ranked #20 in the nation) won the weight at 125 and backing him up for ODU, Billy Chamberlain (Shippensburg, Pa.), also placed at the weight, taking third place. The Monarchs placed eight more in the tournament including winning five more weights. Kyle Hutter (Mokena, Ill.) won the 133 weight handily, #12 Ryan Williams (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) won the 141 weight and #18 Kaylen Baxter (Fairbanks, Alaska) swept through the 149-lb weight class. The other champs were Jesse Strawn (Holton, Kansas) at 184 and true freshman Andy Totusek (Omaha, Neb.) at the heavyweight slot. Redshirt senior Nick Pullano, junior David Mendoza and true freshman Roy Dragon III also placed for ODU, taking third in their respective weight classes. Old Dominion scored 107 team points in the tournament, ahead of UVA's 101 for second place, Liberty's 40.5, George Mason's 32.5, VMI's 16 and the Apprentice School's six team points. It is the third win in as many years for Old Dominion at the event. Old Dominion returns home to host Delaware State at the Ted Constant Center in dual action on Tuesday, January 8 at 7:30 pm. Next weekend, the Monarchs will take part in the annual Virginia Duals at Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Va.

Oklahoma picked up three wins Saturday to push its record to 8-1 on the season at the 11th Annual Lonestar Duals in Arlington, Texas. The No. 19-ranked Sooners looked impressive on the day, crushing No. 21 Navy, Cal-State Fullerton and North Carolina. "I thought this was a tremendous outing for us," head coach Jack Spates said. "Navy came in as a very good ranked team and we dominated them. I thought there were a lot of good matches and we were extremely tough all day." The Sooners jumped on Navy in the first dual, winning by a wide-margin of 28-6. The Sooners racked up 18 straight points after six decisions to put the match out of reach for the Academy. Joey Fio at 125 pounds, Brian Shelton at 133 pounds, Zack Bailey at 141-pounds, Will Rowe at 149 pounds, Chad Terry at 157 pounds and Max Dean at 165 pounds all scored decisions for OU to open up competition. Jeff James was defeated by Matt Stolpinski by a narrow margin or 3-2 at 174 pounds, followed up by a commanding victory by Joshua Weitzel with a 14-6 major decision over Parsons. Joel Flaggert recorded a fall in his win over Tyler Moyer at 197 pounds and heavyweight Nathan Fernandez dropped a 4-2 decision in double-overtime to Navy's Pronderast. It was much of the same story in match two versus Cal-State Fullerton. Oklahoma jumped out early thanks to a dominant 20-4 technical fall recorded by Fio. Shelton then posted a 5-1 decision over TJ Dillashaw and Terry was defeated 10-6 by Astorga. Rowe and Vernon both scored decisions back-to-back, followed by a major decision by Dean over Tedd Bristll, 10-0. James, Weitzel and Flaggert recorded decisions in their matches to push the score to 27-3, and Fernandez was defeated in the final match for a final team score of 27-6 against Cal-State Fullerton. The night cap pitted the Sooners versus the North Carolina Tarheels, marking the final match for both schools. Oklahoma once again flexed its muscles, taking the victory 27-6. Fio and Shelton picked up their third wins on the day by positing decisions to open the match, followed by Zack Bailey winning in a decision over Nick Stable, 12-8, to make the team score 9-0. Rowe gave the Sooners another boost by posting a fall over Vincent Ramirez, then teammate Chad Terry defeated Fiacco to put the match out of reach. Keegan Mueller topped Dean at 165 pounds, followed up with three decisions by James, Weitzel and Flaggert. Fernandez was defeated by Dobies in the heavyweight division. "Our team has improved over the break and it shows," Spates said. "The success we experienced today is something we can build off of heading into our tough upcoming schedule." The Sooners head back to Norman to prepare for a double-dual versus No. 20 Pittsburgh and Michigan State next Saturday, Jan. 12. The matches will get underway at 2 p.m. and admission is free to the public.

PRINCETON, N.J. -- The Rutgers wrestling program, under the guidance of first-year head coach Scott Goodale, defeated EIWA conference opponent Princeton 33-12 Saturday afternoon at Dillon Gym in Princeton, N.J. Rutgers picked up its first conference win of the season, improving to 2-4, 1-1 on the season, while Princeton fell to 0-4, 0-1 in the EIWA. "I am excited with how we performed," said Goodale. "We wrestled pretty well, especially considering it was our third match in two days. We are definitely getting momentum which is something we needed as a program." Against the Tigers, after Ryan Jablonski (Norristown, Pa.) was pinned by Tony Comunale at 125 pounds, Rutgers reeled off five consecutive wins to take a commanding 23-6 lead. At 133 pounds, senior Dan Hilt (Manalapan, N.J.) earned a 13-4 major decision over Nikhil Pereira. In the 141-pound bout, No. 20 Steve Adamcsik (Chester, N.J.) won by forfeit, as did Jack Barrett (Metuchen, N.J.) at 149 pounds. In the 157 pound contest Jamie Lijo (Stanhope, N.J.) earned a 12-0 major decision victory over Aaron Casp and then Matt Pletcher (Eastampton, N.J.) defeated Alex Enriquez 4-0 at 165 pounds. Princeton stopped the five-bout winning streak when Travis Erdman earned a 3-2 decision over McPaul Ogbonna (East Hanover, N.J.) at 174 pounds, but then another forfeit gave Keith Dobish (Lodi, N.J.) a victory at 184 pounds. In the 197 pound contest, Lamar Brown (Red Bank, N.J.) put the match out of reach with another major decision (10-0) over Zach Morse. In final bout of the day, in the heavyweight division, DJ Russo (Netcong, N.J.) fell to Sam Ritter 5-3. "The kids needed to see some success and they got that, so now they have more confidence," said Goodale. "In this sport it's all about confidence, so we will see if we can take this into Thursday's match against East Stroudsburg." Rutgers returns to the mat on Thursday, Jan. 10, at 7:00 p.m. when they face conference opponent East Stroudsburg at the College Ave. Gym. Admission is free to the public.

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Duke Blue Devils continued their impressive season on Saturday at the N.C. State Duals, as they came away from Reynolds Coliseum with three dual meet victories. Duke upended Anderson, 36-9, to start off the afternoon. The Blue Devils then dispatched of Gardner-Webb, 29-15 and finally took down Campbell, 30-12. With its three wins in Raleigh, the Duke squad improved to 4-4 on the season. Four Blue Devils went a complete and perfect 3-0 on the afternoon and two more finished up 2-0 on the day. All told, the 12 Duke wrestlers combined to go 21-6 with five pins, three technical falls and three major decisions. All six losses were decisions by seven points or less. Once again leading the way was redshirt sophomore captain John Barone at 184 pounds, who earned three crushing victories--- one by fall, one by technical fall and one by major decision. He is 24-3 in 2007-08 with nine pins and an undefeated 8-0 mark in duals. Barone's 59-19 collegiate record, which translates into a .756 winning percentage, ranks ninth all-time at Duke. With four more victories, Barone will crack the top 20 for career wins at Duke and is only 10 wins away from tying the single-season wins mark with at least 14 regular season matches to go. Sophomore Voris Tejada had a dominating performance at 157 pounds, winning all three matches with one major decision. Tejada is 22-9 this year and 41-17 in his career. His .707 winning percentage at Duke is 17th all-time. In the heavyweight division, redshirt sophomore Wade Van Sickle was 3-0 with one pin on the afternoon. He holds a 21-7 mark this season with four pins and is 7-1 in duals. Van Sickle's career record stands at 43-31. Junior captain Addison Nuding also picked up three wins, including two falls. Nuding is 19-6 this year and 6-2 in dual matches. He also now holds a 41-33 mark as a Blue Devil. Senior captain Kellan McKeon won both of his matches on Saturday in dominating fashion at 125 pounds, recording two technical falls. McKeon is now 19-8 this season overall and 6-1 in dual meets. At 174 pounds, redshirt sophomore Ben Wales was also 2-0 in Raleigh with a pin and a major decision. Wales improved to 13-10 this year with two pins and is 22-21 in his career at Duke. Putting in another good performance was redshirt freshman Robert Holbrook, who was 2-1 at the N.C. State Duals at 197 pounds. Redshirt senior Bryan Gibson (133 pounds), sophomore Spencer Jasper (141 pounds) and freshman Mike Bell (149 pounds) all won one match to add to Duke's dominating team performance. Gibson now has 68 career victories, which ranks 18th all-time at Duke. The Blue Devils next competition is their first home meet--- and only one in January. That will take place on Wednesday at 7 p.m., versus ACC foe N.C. State in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Darrion Caldwell picked up a pair of pins and a technical fall, all three matches ending in the first period, to lead NC State to a sweep of its three matches in the NC State Duals, held Saturday at Reynolds Coliseum. Caldwell and Joe Caramanica ended the Wolfpack's opening-round bout with Gardner-Webb with first-period pins to help NC State pull away 29-13. Ryan Goodman and Jalil Dozier had major decisions, and Taylor Cummings won a technical fall as the Pack scored big points and pulled away late. In the second round of the day, the Wolfpack wrestled both Anderson and Campbell, defeating Anderson 42-9 behind pins by Caldwell and Ryan Goodman, and technical falls from Cummings and Caramanica. The Pack dumped Campbell 29-6 thanks in part to technical falls from Goodman and Caldwell. The three match sweep improves NC State to 4-5 in dual matches. Caldwell, ranked No. 9 at 149, is now 19-3 on the season, one win shy of his total for all of the 2006-07 season. He now has 11 pins for the season, one more than when he set the school record for pins by a freshman a year ago, and 21 for his career. He ranks eighth in school history for career pins. Caramanica improved to 19-4 for the season, and 62-23 for his career. Goodman is now 10-4 for the year and 54-14 for his career. NC State will be in action again on Wednesday, January 9 at Duke. The match will begin at 7 p.m.

SOUTH GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas -- The No. 7-ranked University of Michigan wrestling team extended its winning streak to nine straight dual-meet competitions after sweeping its opposition at the Lone Star Duals on Saturday (Jan. 5) at the South Grand Prairie Warrior Coliseum. The Wolverines defeated Harvard (35-12), Columbia (43-3) and Appalachian State (32-9). The event kicked off with the Wolverines' most competitive and non-traditional contest, in which U-M earned a forfeit victory (141 pounds) and two injury defaults (165 and 184 pounds) en route to a lopsided 35-12 win. Harvard won three of the first five bouts and led the dual -- which only lasted an hour -- by three points at the midway point, but the Maize and Blue rallied with five straight wins at the upper weights to seal it up. Junior Michael Watts (Riverton, Utah/Riverton HS) gave Michigan the initial lead after the opening weight, using a pair of takedowns and six back points to cruise to an 11-4 decision over Dan Kelly at 125 pounds. The teams split the subsequent bouts and swapped six points as the Crimson's Shay Warren earned a quick pin at 133 pounds -- locking up a cradle on sophomore Chris Diehl's (Burton, Mich./Flint Kearsley HS) single-leg attempt at 1:26 -- before his team forfeited at 141. After two more, back-to-back Harvard wins, including fifth-ranked J.P O'Connor's narrow 4-3 decision on riding time over fifth-year senior Josh Churella (Northville, Mich./Novi HS), U-M scored six team points in each of its next three matches as fifth-year senior captain Eric Tannenbaum (Naperville, Ill./North HS) and senior/junior captain Tyrel Todd (Bozeman, Mont./Bozeman HS) each accepted injury defaults in the first period at 165 and 184 pounds, respectively, and senior/junior Steve Luke (Massillon, Ohio/Perry HS) picked up a first-period fall against Frankie Colletta. Luke, ranked No. 2 at 174 pounds, secured a quick takedown and used an arm bar to turn Colletta for three points before using the same to stick the Crimson wrestler at 2:00. Sophomore/freshman Anthony Biondo (Clinton Twp., Mich./Chippewa Valley HS) continued his tear at 197 pounds, scoring three takedowns and eight back points en route to a 15-0 technical fall over Jon Butler -- his second of the season. Sophomore/freshman Chad Bleske (Washington, Mich./Romeo HS) iced the Wolverines' victory with a 7-2 decision over Andrew Knapp at heavyweight. Bleske converted on a pair of double-leg takedowns and countered a Knapp shot for another takedowns in the middle frame to control the contest from start to finish. Michigan was just a match away from shutting out Columbia in its second dual contest of the day, claiming nine individual matches en route to a 43-3 win -- the program's highest point total and largest margin of victory in seven years. Seven Wolverine wrestlers earned bonus points, including Diehl, Churella, Luke and Biondo, who all tallied first-period falls. Diehl and Churella avenged their losses from earlier in the day as each picked up his second fall of the season to prematurely end U-M's matches at 133 and 149 pounds, respectively. Diehl used an arm bar to stick Jerome Greco at the 2:05 mark, while Churella, ranked seventh, turned Anthony Constantino for the fourth time late in the opening frame and came around to the front to seal up his pin at 2:54. Luke's fall -- coming at the 2:42 mark against Travis Creagen -- capped his dominant first period that opened with a five-point move, while Biondo needed even less time, locking up a cradle on an early single-leg shot to roll up Mike Bossetta just 20 seconds into his bout. Watts opened the dual with a 5-4 decision victory over 17th-ranked Brandon Kinney -- Columbia's lone ranked wrestler -- at 125 pounds. The Lion scored a late takedown in the third period to even the score, but Watts earned an immediate escape to stay ahead by one point. Fifth-year senior Jeff Marsh (Dexter, Mich./Dexter HS) and Todd added major decisions at 157 and 184 pounds, respectively, while Tannenbaum earned a dominant 16-1 technical fall at 165. The Wolverine captain, ranked No. 1 at 165 pounds, tallied three takedowns and nine back points to end his match with Joe Kushnerick at the conclusion of the second period. U-M closed the busy day in strong fashion, rallying from an early deficit with eight individual wins against Mountaineers, including two falls and two major decisions, to win 32-9. Freshman Kellen Russell (High Bridge, N.J./Blair Academy) earned his most convincing win of the day with a first-period pin against Marcus Cox -- the first fall of his collegiate career. The U-M rookie, ranked No. 1 at 141 pounds, scored two takedowns and a three-point near fall to lead 8-3 late in the frame before taking advantage of a scramble on the mat to stack up Cox and pin him at 2:49. With his perfect 3-0 mark at the Lone Star Duals, Russell improved his career record to 18-0. It is the best start for a U-M true freshman in program history. Luke secured the Wolverines' other pin against Appalachian State, sticking Brett Houghtman at 2:42 to earn three first-period falls in three matches. Luke struck immediately with a fireman's carry, sending Houghtman to his back for a quick five points, and, after using a chicken wing to pick up another three-point near fall, he finished on his third attempt late in the frame. Luke boasts four pins on the season. Tannenbaum and Todd used a plethora of takedowns to earn major decisions in their matches. Tannenbaum scored five, picked up a pair of stalling points and accumulated 2:26 in riding time to cruise past Tommy Hutchinson 13-2. Tannenbaum improved his record to 16-0 with three wins on the day. Todd, ranked fourth, converted on four takedowns and earned more than three minutes of riding-time advantage to win against Austin Trotman and extend his winning streak to 12. The Wolverines (10-1, 0-0 Big Ten) will compete in the prestigious Cliff Keen/NWCA National Duals on Saturday and Sunday (Jan. 12-13) in Cedar Falls, Iowa. U-M will be one of 16 teams competing in the Division I field. Hosted by the University of Northern Iowa, all matches will be held at the UNI-Dome.

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- No. 6 Oklahoma State handed No. 1 Iowa a 19-14 defeat Saturday in front of 14,332 gold-clad fans in Carver-Hawkeye Arena to claim their ninth straight win in the series and their 12th win in their last 13 meetings with the Hawkeyes. Including Saturday's win, Oklahoma State has now beaten the top-ranked team in the nation 11 times since 1977 and four times under John Smith. "We looked forward to this match for some time and we knew that scoring takedowns was going to be the difference and we did that," Smith said. "We didn't have much of a strategy going in except getting takedowns." Seniors Coleman Scott and Jake Dieffenbach both picked up wins over Hawkeye wrestlers ranked No. 2 in the nation, as Scott handed No. 2 Joe Slaton an 8-6 beating and Dieffenbach claimed a 5-3 victory over second-ranked Mark Perry. "This is nice, but it's not what I'm after," Dieffenbach said after being asked if Saturday's victorious trip to Iowa was the time of his life. "If I go 0-and-2 at NCAAs, nobody will remember me. If I win an NCAA championship, then I'll call it the time of my life." Though Scott's and Dieffenbach's were impressive, perhaps even more crucial to the Cowboys' team success were Newly McSpadden's 4-2 decision over No. 19 Ryan Morningstar at 157 pounds and true freshman Clayton Foster's 12-1 major decision win over Rick Loera at 197 pounds. Shendandoah, Iowa, native Brandon Mason was also a winner for OSU, shutting out No. 11 Jay Borschel by a 2-0 margin. "We're progressing every week," Scott said. "We're going to be there right in the mix at the end of the year." The Cowboys return to action when they compete at the Virginia Duals in Hampton, Va., January 11 and 12. Match-by-Match Breakdown: 125 pounds: Oklahoma State freshman Ben Ashmore's strong upset bid was bolstered when he recorded a three-point nearfall in the third period to take a 6-5 lead, but a reversal from No. 5 Charlie Falck with 54 seconds left in the match, plus a 1:14 riding time advantage gave Falck the final edge in a 7-5 decision. 133 pounds: In the most intense match of the evening, top-ranked Coleman Scott raced out to a 7-1 lead and held off a comeback bid by second-ranked Joe Slaton to claim a 7-6 win. Scott notched a takedown at the 1:41 mark of the first period for the only scoring of the opening stanza. After choosing down to open the second, Scott escaped at the 1:41 mark, then posted another takedown at the 1:18 mark to jump out to a 5-0 advantage. A Slaton escape with 19 seconds remaining in the period brought the score to 5-1 entering the third period. Scott bagged his third takedown of the match with 1:41 reaming to open up his widest lead at 7-1. Slaton rushed back with an escape and a late surge, but Scott kept the sophomore at bay and added a riding time point to claim the 8-4 win. 141 pounds: Nathan Morgan was the aggressor throughout the match to claim an 8-4 win over 10th-ranked Dan LeClere. Morgan notched one takedown in each of the three periods and held a 5-1 advantage after a takedown with 1:19 remaining in the second period. A LeClere escape with 29 seconds left in the second stanza trimmed Morgan's advantage to 5-2 heading into the third period. The final period started with a quick escape by LeClere to make it 5-3, but a takedown by Morgan with 51 seconds left brought the score to 7-3 and put the match out of reach for LeClere, who notched a late escape. Morgan added a riding time point to bring the final score to 8-4. 149 pounds: No. 2 Brent Metcalf established himself early and took the match to Quinten Fuentes for a full seven minutes to claim a 20-8 win over the Cowboy freshman. Fuentes was unable to take Metcalf down, with Metcalf logging eight takedowns and a reversal in a bout that was never in doubt. 157 pounds: No. 14 Newly McSpadden avoided a late takedown bid by 19th-ranked Ryan Morningstar in what ended up being arguably the key moment of McSpadden's 4-2 win. The scoring opened with a McSpadden takedown with 43 seconds remaining in the first period, followed by a Morningstar escape with 28 seconds left in the opening stanza that sent McSpadden into the second stanza with a 2-1 lead. After choosing down to start the period, McSpadden escaped to go up 3-1 with 1:43 left for the only points of the period. McSpadden rode Morningstar for the bulk of the third period, but an escape with 44 seconds left brought the score to 3-2. With Morningstar desperate for a takedown late in the match, McSpadden fought off his best effort to seal the win. He added 1:15 of riding time to bring the final to 4-2. 165 pounds: For those who were unsure of what OSU senior Jake Dieffenbach was capable of, he made a bold statement Saturday with a 5-3 win over reigning national champion and second-ranked Mark Perry. A scoreless first period that included very few shots was followed by a second period that saw Perry open the scoring by escaping at the 1:50 mark to go up 1-0. Things remained largely stagnant until Dieffenbach took the Stillwater native down with 19 seconds remaining, then turned the Hawkeye's biggest star two seconds later to record a two-point nearfall and bring the score to 4-1 entering the final period. Perry logged a takedown with 1:37 remaining to trim Dieffenbach's advantage to 4-3, but a Dieffenbach escape with 35 ticks left dashed Perry's hopes of a win. 174 pounds: Wrestling in his home state, OSU junior and Shenandoah, Iowa native, Brandon Mason claimed a 2-0 win over No. 11 Jay Borschel. After the two wrestlers went through the first period scoreless, Mason chose down to start the second and escaped with 1:38 on the clock for the period's only point. Down 1-0 to start the third, Borschel chose down. Mason capitalized on the sophomore's decision and rode him out the entire final stanza, finishing with 1:40 of riding time to claim a 2-0 win. 184 pounds: No.12 Phillip Keddy picked up a 12-2 major decision win over Oklahoma State's Cody Hill behind the strength of four takedowns and a pair of stalling calls on Hill. Keddy controlled the match from the start and finished with 4:10 of riding time added on. 197 pounds: Cowboy true freshman Clayton Foster announced his presence to the Iowa wrestling faithful by picking up a takedown and a three-point nearfall within the first two minutes of his 12-1 win over Hawkeye sophomore Rick Loera. Taking a 5-1 lead into the second stanza, Foster rode Loera out for the entire period. Starting the third period down, Foster notched an escape eight seconds in, then notched a takedown and a three-point nearfall to go up, 11-1 at the 1:07 mark. After 4:37 of riding time was added on, Foster was a 12-2 winner. Heavyweight: Jared Rosholt was cut under his eye early in the match and lost a slow-paced 4-3 decision to No. 8 Matt Fields.

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State wrestling defeated Ohio Friday night, tallying its first home dual victory of the season in the 39-0 win in Jenison Field House. Two Spartans earned their first career starts and dual wins en route to MSU's first shutout since defeated Eastern Michigan 39-0 on Feb. 1, 1998. With the win, Michigan State evens its record to 3-3-0, while Ohio dropped to 4-3-0. The match started with an Ohio forfeit at 125 pounds, giving the Spartans a quick 6-0 advantage. No. 3 Franklin Gomez remained perfect in dual action with his 13-3 major decision victory over Seth Morton. Gomez began the match with two takedowns in the first, sandwiching Morton's escape. In the second period, Gomez tallied an escape and another takedown, picking up three points. In the final period, Morton escaped twice but forfeited a point for stalling and couldn't overcome Gomez' two takedowns. With the win, MSU extended its lead to 10-0. At 141 pounds, Micah Carter made his first career start for the Spartans, and tallied his first dual win, taking down Germane Lindsey in a 12-6 decision. Carter jumped out to a fast 5-0 lead, with a takedown and three near fall points. Lindsey managed an escape, only to be taken down again to give Carter a 7-1 lead after the first period. The pair traded points in the second, then Carter started the third with another takedown. Lindsey fought back with an escape and eventual takedown, but Carter held on to capture the win, 11-6. Anthony Jones Jr. also started and won his first dual match, defeating Kevin Christensen 5-3 at 149 pounds. After a scoreless first period, Jones struck first with an escape, but Christensen took a one-point lead with a takedown. Heading into the third period, Jones gave up an escape but posted a takedown to tie the score 3-3, forcing a sudden-death overtime. Moments into the extra minute, Jones picked up two points with the winning takedown. John Fulger continued to dominate for the Green and White, picking up a 7-2 win over Clay Tucker at 157 pounds. In the second period, Fulger tallied the first points with a takedown, then earned three more with an escape and an additional takedown in the third. With a 5-0 lead, Tucker managed a reversal to put two points on the board, but Fulger quickly posted a reversal of his own, to seal the win for Michigan State. After the end of five bouts, the Spartans led Ohio 19-0. Coming out of intermission, Rex Kendle showed no signs of Michigan State letting up, as the 165-pounder posted the night's second major decision for the Spartans; Kendle defeated Kent Smith 10-2. Smith struck first with a takedown, but Kendle soon regained control with an escape and a takedown to finish the first period ahead 3-2. Kendle tallied the remainder of the points with an escape, two takedowns and two nearfall points. The eight major decision points boosted MSU's lead to 23-0. At 174 pounds, John Murphy earned the night's only fall, pinning Ryan Knapp in 6:44. The match started with an MSU 4-1 advantage after the first, and Murphy tacked on additional points to lead 9-2. With an early takedown in the third, Murphy lead 11-2 before pinning Knapp in the final minute. Nick Palmieri kept the Spartans' shutout alive with an 11-3 major decision victory over Erik Schuth at 184 pounds. Palmieri tallied two takedowns in the first, while Schuth managed a single escape. After a scoreless second period, Palmieri tacked on six points with three takedowns, but gave up two Ohio escapes. With the additional point from riding time. Palmieri chalked up the major decision win and added on four team points for the Spartans' 33-0 lead. MSU's No. 18 Joe Williams took a solid 5-0 lead against Chris Iammarino after two periods at 197 pounds. Iammarino gave MSU a scare as he tallied two near fall points, but Williams quickly rolled loose for an escape point. With a 6-2 lead, Williams took down Iammarino and inched Michigan State one bout closer to a perfect night. In the night's final match, Alan O'Donnell battled to the last seconds with Ohio's Jason Marshall. O'Donnell, who returned to the starting lineup after missing over a month with a knee injury, picked up three escape points after a scoreless first period, but Marshall maintianed a 4-3 lead with takedown points. Marshall extended his lead to 5-4 with an early escape in the third, but O'Donnell swept in to tally a takedown. Marshall eventually escaped again, and rebuttled with a takedown of his own, regaining the lead 8-6. O'Donnell inched back within one point with an escape, and with four seconds left in regulation, O'Donnell gave the fans a thrilling finish, taking down Marshall for the eventual 9-8 win. The Spartans return to the mat Saturday, Jan. 12 in Oklahoma City, Okla., taking on Pittsburgh and Oklahoma. Action begins at 2 p.m.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- With a 27-6 win over Kent State Friday, the No. 12 Ohio State wrestling team won its sixth consecutive match of the season at the M.A.C. Center in Kent, Ohio. The Buckeyes improve to 9-1 overall, while the Golden Flashes fall to 4-2 in dual action. Senior heavyweight and second-ranked J.D. Bergman kept his perfect record in tact at 15-0, including a 10-0 mark in dual competition. Redshirt-sophomore Mike Pucillo and true freshman Colt Sponseller remained undefeated in dual action, moving to 9-0 and 5-0 on the year, respectively. After dropping the first two matches at 125 and 133 pounds to give Kent State six team points, Ohio State reeled off eight consecutive wins, including major decisions by Lance Palmer (149), Jason Johnstone (157) and Bergman. Redshirt-junior and 10th-ranked J Jaggers gave the Buckeyes their first points of the match with a 3-2 decision over No. 13 Drew Lashaway at 141 pounds. Still down 6-3, No. 9 Lance Palmer propelled Ohio State to its first lead after handing Clint Sponseller an 11-1 loss. Never relinquishing the lead from that point, junior Jason Johnstone defeated Sli Bostelman, 13-2, to increase the OSU lead to 11-6. Clint's younger brother, Buckeye and 165-pounder Colt Sponseller decisioned his way to another win after beating No. 15 Kurt Gross, 8-5. At 174 pounds, Alex Picazo downed Mike Estep, 10-5, before Pucillo dropped Eric Chine, 8-2. John Weakley earned his sixth win of the season with a 13-9 decision over Michael Blackwell before Bergman sealed the OSU victory with a 17-6 win over No. 18 Jermail Porter. Ohio State will break from dual action when it participates in the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals Jan. 12-13 in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The all-day event will be hosted by Northern Iowa at the UNI-Dome. This is the first time since 2004 Ohio State has participated in the National Duals.

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly won six of 10 matches while coasting to victory against Oregon, 22-15, in a Pac-10 dual at Mott Gym Friday night. The Mustangs improved to 3-3 overall and 2-1 in Pac-10 action on the season. The key match of the evening for the Mustangs came at 197 as Arturo Basulto earned a 3-1 decision over Oregon's Shaun Dee. Basulto went down with an apparent shoulder injury and could have walked off the mat – which would've cut the Ducks' deficit to 19-18 with heavyweights remaining. However, Basulto returned to the match and battled through the pain, even earning an escape with 39 seconds, to solidify a 3-1 decision and Cal Poly's victory for the night. Chase Pami, ranked No. 10 in the nation, improved to 17-3 on the season with a 15-3 major decision over Oregon's Elliott Trace at 157. Micah Ferguson bounced back from a Thursday night loss to West Virginia's Kyle Turnbull for a 4-0 decision over Joey Lucas at 125. At 149, Eric Maldanado handled Jeremy McLaughlin for a 9-5 decision. Ryan Williams won his second match of the week with a 5-4 decision over Kyle Bounds thanks to riding time. Chad Mendes, ranked No. 3 in the nation, took the night off at 141-pounds as the Ducks forfeited the weight class, giving the Mustangs an easy six points. Cal Poly returns to action on Jan. 11 for a Pac-10 dual with Arizona State at Mott Gym. The match begins at 7 p.m.

Columbia, Mo. -- Improving to 5-0 for the fifth consecutive year, the seventh-ranked Missouri wrestling team held off Bucknell, 30-9, in the Tigers' home opener held in the Hearnes Center. Seven Tigers were credited with wins on the night, with five of the seven victories recorded as bonus point wins. "I was pleased with tonight's win," Head Coach Brian Smith said. "Bucknell is a good team and they showed us where some of our weaknesses are. We'll have to go back into the practice room and really work hard to get ready for the National Duals coming up next week." Starting the night at 125 pounds, sophomore John Olanowski (Virginia Beach, Va.) notched a 16-1 win by technical fall over Jose Matos in 5:41. Earning his seventh win of the season and second in four bouts by technical fall, Olanowski dominated Matos in the first period, outscoring the Bison, 10-1. Next with a Tiger victory was 15th-ranked senior Josh Wagner (Milton, Wis.) at 149 pounds. Coming off of a third-place showing at the Midland Championships, Wagner shutout Kevin LeValley, 13-0, to help Missouri regain its team lead, 9-6. The shutout was Wagner's third of the season and gives him 78 career wins. Thirteenth-ranked junior Michael Chandler (High Ridge, Mo.) improved to 15-1 on the season after besting Brantley Hooks, 14-3. All three of Hooks points came by escape, with Chandler totaling six takedowns and 3:09 of riding time for the win. The second bout of the night to feature two ranked wrestlers proved a close match between No. 3 Nicholas Marable (Collierville, Tenn.) and No. 20 Andy Rendos of Bucknell. Marable was first to score, earning a takedown with 1:33 left in the first period but Rendos escaped to end the period at 2-1. Choosing down to start the second period, Marable escaped in 22 seconds to take the lead and eventual 3-2 win. Junior co-captain Raymond Jordan (New Bern, N.C.) continued his dominating ways on the mat, securing an 18-3 technical fall victory over David Thompson at 184 pounds. Marking his fifth straight win of the campaign, eight of Jordan's 14 victories this year have been won by major decision, fall or technical fall. Competing against Thompson, Jordan took the Bison to his back three times, collecting nine points by nearfall. Making his first career start in the Missouri lineup, redshirt freshman Josh Skurnik (Kirkland, Wash.) earned his first dual victory with a 9-4 decision of Charlie Wonsettler. Wrestling at 197 pounds, Skurnik scored a takedown 12 seconds into the match, taking the Bison to his back less than one minute later. Throughout the match Skurnik controlled his opponent, riding Wonsettler for 2:54. Missouri's final win of the evening came from sophomore Mark Ellis (Peculiar, Mo.) at heavyweight. Recording his eighth fall of the season and doubling his previous career high pins mark, Ellis stuck George Hingson in 5:31. The Tigers will return to the mat next Saturday, Jan. 12, when they compete in the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) National Duals in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Corvallis, Ore. -- The Nebraska wrestling team won nine of the ten contested matches against Oregon State on Friday as the Huskers rolled to a 42-3 win and improved to 6-1 on the year. The Huskers notched seven bonus-point victories in their nine wins, including four pins in a total of 3:45 as head coach Mark Manning earned his 101st dual win at Nebraska. Junior Brandon Browne again led the Husker as he notched the fastest pin of the night (41 seconds) at 174 pounds. Fellow juniors Chris Oliver and Vince Jones also earned pins at 157 and 184, respectively, while Kenny Jordan notched his third pin of the year at 133 in 1:57. Sophomore Stephen Dwyer started the dual with a 12-2 major decision at 165 pounds, while sophomores Craig Brester and Jordan Burroughs also had major-decision wins. Brester won 17-4 to stay a perfect 6-0 in duals this season and Burroughs won 20-11 to gain his eighth major decision on the season. Senior Jon May earned a 4-2 decision while junior Paul Donahoe won 8-2. The Huskers face their first tough test of the year on Jan. 12 and 13 as NU travels to the National Duals in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- No. 6 Oklahoma State handed No. 1 Iowa a 19-14 defeat Saturday in front of 14,332 gold-clad fans in Carver-Hawkeye Arena to claim their ninth straight win in the series and their 12th win in their last 13 meetings with the Hawkeyes. Including Saturday's win, Oklahoma State has now beaten the top-ranked team in the nation 11 times since 1977 and four times under John Smith. "We looked forward to this match for some time and we knew that scoring takedowns was going to be the difference and we did that," Smith said. "We didn't have much of a strategy going in except getting takedowns." Seniors Coleman Scott and Jake Dieffenbach both picked up wins over Hawkeye wrestlers ranked No. 2 in the nation, as Scott handed No. 2 Joe Slaton an 8-6 beating and Dieffenbach claimed a 5-3 victory over second-ranked Mark Perry. "This is nice, but it's not what I'm after," Dieffenbach said after being asked if Saturday's victorious trip to Iowa was the time of his life. "If I go 0-and-2 at NCAAs, nobody will remember me. If I win an NCAA championship, then I'll call it the time of my life." Though Scott's and Dieffenbach's were impressive, perhaps even more crucial to the Cowboys' team success were Newly McSpadden's 4-2 decision over No. 19 Ryan Morningstar at 157 pounds and true freshman Clayton Foster's 12-1 major decision win over Rick Loera at 197 pounds. Shendandoah, Iowa, native Brandon Mason was also a winner for OSU, shutting out No. 11 Jay Borschel by a 2-0 margin. "We're progressing every week," Scott said. "We're going to be there right in the mix at the end of the year." The Cowboys return to action when they compete at the Virginia Duals in Hampton, Va., January 11 and 12. Match-by-Match Breakdown: 125 pounds: Oklahoma State freshman Ben Ashmore's strong upset bid was bolstered when he recorded a three-point nearfall in the third period to take a 6-5 lead, but a reversal from No. 5 Charlie Falck with 54 seconds left in the match, plus a 1:14 riding time advantage gave Falck the final edge in a 7-5 decision. 133 pounds: In the most intense match of the evening, top-ranked Coleman Scott raced out to a 7-1 lead and held off a comeback bid by second-ranked Joe Slaton to claim a 7-6 win. Scott notched a takedown at the 1:41 mark of the first period for the only scoring of the opening stanza. After choosing down to open the second, Scott escaped at the 1:41 mark, then posted another takedown at the 1:18 mark to jump out to a 5-0 advantage. A Slaton escape with 19 seconds remaining in the period brought the score to 5-1 entering the third period. Scott bagged his third takedown of the match with 1:41 reaming to open up his widest lead at 7-1. Slaton rushed back with an escape and a late surge, but Scott kept the sophomore at bay and added a riding time point to claim the 8-4 win. 141 pounds: Nathan Morgan was the aggressor throughout the match to claim an 8-4 win over 10th-ranked Dan LeClere. Morgan notched one takedown in each of the three periods and held a 5-1 advantage after a takedown with 1:19 remaining in the second period. A LeClere escape with 29 seconds left in the second stanza trimmed Morgan's advantage to 5-2 heading into the third period. The final period started with a quick escape by LeClere to make it 5-3, but a takedown by Morgan with 51 seconds left brought the score to 7-3 and put the match out of reach for LeClere, who notched a late escape. Morgan added a riding time point to bring the final score to 8-4. 149 pounds: No. 2 Brent Metcalf established himself early and took the match to Quinten Fuentes for a full seven minutes to claim a 20-8 win over the Cowboy freshman. Fuentes was unable to take Metcalf down, with Metcalf logging eight takedowns and a reversal in a bout that was never in doubt. 157 pounds: No. 14 Newly McSpadden avoided a late takedown bid by 19th-ranked Ryan Morningstar in what ended up being arguably the key moment of McSpadden's 4-2 win. The scoring opened with a McSpadden takedown with 43 seconds remaining in the first period, followed by a Morningstar escape with 28 seconds left in the opening stanza that sent McSpadden into the second stanza with a 2-1 lead. After choosing down to start the period, McSpadden escaped to go up 3-1 with 1:43 left for the only points of the period. McSpadden rode Morningstar for the bulk of the third period, but an escape with 44 seconds left brought the score to 3-2. With Morningstar desperate for a takedown late in the match, McSpadden fought off his best effort to seal the win. He added 1:15 of riding time to bring the final to 4-2. 165 pounds: For those who were unsure of what OSU senior Jake Dieffenbach was capable of, he made a bold statement Saturday with a 5-3 win over reigning national champion and second-ranked Mark Perry. A scoreless first period that included very few shots was followed by a second period that saw Perry open the scoring by escaping at the 1:50 mark to go up 1-0. Things remained largely stagnant until Dieffenbach took the Stillwater native down with 19 seconds remaining, then turned the Hawkeye's biggest star two seconds later to record a two-point nearfall and bring the score to 4-1 entering the final period. Perry logged a takedown with 1:37 remaining to trim Dieffenbach's advantage to 4-3, but a Dieffenbach escape with 35 ticks left dashed Perry's hopes of a win. 174 pounds: Wrestling in his home state, OSU junior and Shenandoah, Iowa native, Brandon Mason claimed a 2-0 win over No. 11 Jay Borschel. After the two wrestlers went through the first period scoreless, Mason chose down to start the second and escaped with 1:38 on the clock for the period's only point. Down 1-0 to start the third, Borschel chose down. Mason capitalized on the sophomore's decision and rode him out the entire final stanza, finishing with 1:40 of riding time to claim a 2-0 win. 184 pounds: No.12 Phillip Keddy picked up a 12-2 major decision win over Oklahoma State's Cody Hill behind the strength of four takedowns and a pair of stalling calls on Hill. Keddy controlled the match from the start and finished with 4:10 of riding time added on. 197 pounds: Cowboy true freshman Clayton Foster announced his presence to the Iowa wrestling faithful by picking up a takedown and a three-point nearfall within the first two minutes of his 12-1 win over Hawkeye sophomore Rick Loera. Taking a 5-1 lead into the second stanza, Foster rode Loera out for the entire period. Starting the third period down, Foster notched an escape eight seconds in, then notched a takedown and a three-point nearfall to go up, 11-1 at the 1:07 mark. After 4:37 of riding time was added on, Foster was a 12-2 winner. Heavyweight: Jared Rosholt was cut under his eye early in the match and lost a slow-paced 4-3 decision to No. 8 Matt Fields.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- In a match that came down to the heavyweights in the final bout of the night, sophomore Justin Allen earned an 8-2 decision over Phil Doerner to propel Lehigh to a 21-16 victory over Stanford Friday night inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. The Mountain Hawks won six bouts on the evening to snap a four dual losing streak and hand the Cardinal, coached by former Lehigh assistant Kerry McCoy, their first dual loss of the season. Lehigh improves to 5-9 in duals, while Stanford is now 3-1. Lehigh enjoyed a nine point lead with three bouts to go, but back-to-back losses at 184 and 197 left the fate of the dual in the hands of the heavyweights. After a scoreless first period, Allen escaped and earned a takedown in the second to build a 3-0 cushion. The North Carolina native added a pair of counter takedowns in the third, to secure his 12th win, and clinch the dual for the Brown and White. The dual began with the teams trading pins at 125 and 133. All-American Tanner Gardner put the Cardinal ahead with a fall over freshman Mitch Berger in 2:24, but sophomore Seth Ciasulli wasted little time in his Grace Hall season debut, taking down Blair Matsuura and stacking him up for a fall which came in just 17 seconds, the fastest Lehigh fall this season. The Brown and White built an 18-9 lead after seven bouts, with wins in four of the next five weight classes. Senior Jeff Santo and junior Trevor Chinn delivered wins by decision at 141 and 149 respectively, and after Josh Zupancic beat senior Dave Nakasone 8-2 at 157, sophomore Mike Galante and freshman Alex Caruso delivered wins by decision to put Lehigh up by nine. Stanford received some hope from its second bonus win of the night, a 13-3 major decision by Zack Giesen over freshman Kadeem Samuels at 184. Lehigh had a chance to clinch the dual at 197, but sophomore Alex Iacocca fell to Jake Johnson in a wild, back-and-forth affair 12-10. Iacocca scored first, but after yielding an escape was taken down, only to secure a reversal and two-point near fall at the first period buzzer. Johnson reversed to open the second, and then a quick trade of reversals made the score 8-7 heading into the third. In the final period Johnson secured two takedowns and riding time, to earn the two point win by decision, and setting up Allen for the dramatic finish at heavyweight. "We were going to need one of the final two, either Iacocca or Allen," said Lehigh head coach Greg Strobel. "I could see the look in Allen's face right before the match where he knew he had to go out and do it for the team. I was really pleased with the whole team in terms of the fight they showed tonight." The Mountain Hawks will return to the mats next Friday when they head to Hampton, Virginia to take part in the 26th Virginia Duals. Seeds and brackets for the 16-team dual tournament will be unveiled early next week, with wrestling action set to begin Friday at 9 a.m. All of Lehigh's Virginia duals matches will be broadcast live online at Lehighsports.com, with streaming audio powered by Yahoo! Sports.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- The Penn State Nittany Lion wrestling team, under the guidance of head coach Troy Sunderland, crushed Cornell 35-10 in a key Eastern wrestling dual match. The Nittany Lions, ranked No. 4 nationally, used three pins against No. 17 Cornell in front over 3,200 fans in Penn State's Rec Hall. Penn State, decked out in special white singlets to celebrate 100 years of Penn State wrestling, won seven of ten bouts, including pins from three of its upperclassmen. Three-time All-American Phil Davis (Harrisburg, Pa.), All-American Jake Strayer (South Fork, Pa.) and three-time national qualifier Mark McKnight (McDonald, Pa.) helped the Nittany Lions amass a stunning 14-1 edge in bonus points. While the pins thrilled the crowd, it was a win by Penn State's David Erwin (Urbana, Ohio) at 174 that highlighted the bout as the Lion sophomore beat No. 8 Steve Anceravage 6-4 to punctuate the team victory. After Cornell's Mike Grey posted a tough win to start the bout at 133, Penn State reeled off three straight wins. No. 2 Strayer got his pin at 141, freshman Garrett Scott (Alexandria, Pa.) got a forfeit victory at 149 (filling in for resting Bubba Jenkins, No. 3) and Dan Vallimont (Lake Hopatcong, N.J.) got a major at 157. Cornell's Mack Lewnes recorded a major at 165 and then Erwin took the mat for the bout's keynote win. An outstanding six point move as the bout ended gave the Lion sophomore a much-needed 6-4 win over the eighth-ranked Cornell wrestler and sent the Lion faithful into a frenzy. Phil Bomberger (Port Royal, Pa.) added a major at 184 before Davis, ranked No. 2 at 197, finished off a textbook cradle for a first period pin of his own. Cornell's Zach Hammond got a hard fought win at HWT before McKnight closed out the dual with his pin at 125. The Nittany Lions move to a perfect 5-0 on the season while Cornell falls to 0-2. The two teams could meet again soon as both Penn State and Cornell will trek to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, next weekend for the 2008 National Duals, hosted by Northern Iowa in the UNI-Dome. The tournament, which features nine of the nation's top ten teams and 14 of the top 17, will take place on Saturday and Sunday, January 12-13. Penn State's next home dual will be on Sunday, Jan. 27, when the Nittany Lions host No. 15 Indiana at 1 p.m. in Rec Hall. All Penn State duals can be heard locally on WBLF AM (970) and WKVA (920 AM). Tickets for all regular season duals are on sale now at the athletic department ticket office in the Bryce Jordan Center. Single-dual tickets are $5 for adults and seniors and $3 for students 18 and under. Penn State students with a proper student ID are admitted free! Fans can call 814-863-1000 or 800-833-5533 to order single-dual tickets. BOUT-BY-BOUT: 133: In the dual's first bout, Penn State senior co-captain Tim Haas (Camp Hill, Pa.) made his Rec Hall return after missing six weeks with an injury by facing No. 7 Mike Grey of Cornell at 133. Haas nearly got the bout's first points by turning Grey near the edge of the mat, but the Big Red freshman fought off the attempt. Grey then took Haas down at the 1:40 mark to go up 2-0. Haas quickly escaped to a 2-1 deficit, but Grey added one more takedown with :30 left to lead 4-1 after one period. Grey chose down to start the middle stanza and escaped to a 5-1 lead. Neither wrestler would notch a takedown in the second period, giving Grey the four point lead heading into the last period. Haas chose down to start the third but could not break free of a strong Grey ride for the duration of the period. The bonus point for riding time gave Grey a solid 6-1 win and put Cornell up 3-0 to begin the match. 141: Penn State All-American Jake Strayer (South Fork, Pa.), ranked No. 2 at 141, took on Cornell's Eric McGill. Strayer wasted no time in getting his first takedown, breaking out to a 2-0 lead at the 2:25 mark. Strayer cut McGill after a reset and added a second takedown with just under two minutes left in the opening period. With a 4-1 lead, Strayer once again cut McGill loose and notched takedown number three at the 1:00 mark. Strayer turned McGill to his back, nearly pinned McGill while riding him out, getting a three-point near fall to take a 9-2 lead into the second. McGill chose neutral to start the middle period, but Strayer was relentless. The Nittany Lion All-American turned a solid McGill shot into two points of his own, working through the McGill shot and stepping over the Big Red grappler to up his lead to 11-2 with 1:15 left in the period. Strayer rode McGill out and led by nine heading into the final period with 3:14 in riding time. Strayer chose down to start the final period and quickly escaped to a 12-2 lead. He then got in on McGill's right thigh, notched another takedown and cut McGill in an effort to work towards a technical fall. Strayer got another takedown with :30 left, cut McGill once more and had :20 to get the needed takedown. With :05 left, Strayer got the final takedown and clinched the technical fall, but with :01 left in the bout, Strayer stepped over McGill and planted his shoulders on the mat for a pin at the 6:59 mark. The six points put the Nittany Lions up 6-3. 149: With No. 3 Bubba Jenkins (Virginia Beach, Va.) taking the evening off for Penn State, freshman Garrett Scott (Alexandria, Pa.) moved up a weight to battle Cornell's Adam Frey at 149. But Cornell chose not to send a wrestler to the mat and Scott got the victory by forfeit, putting Penn State up 12-3. 157: The anticipated match-up of Nittany Lion Dan Vallimont (Lake Hopatcong, N.J.), ranked No. 11 at 157, and Cornell's Jordan Leen, ranked No. 7, did not happen as Cornell sent Drake Hovis to the mat. Vallimont got his first takedown early in the first period and led 2-1 throughout much of the opening stanza. Vallimont added a second takedown at the 1:13 mark, countering a Hovis shot to up his lead to 4-1. The Lion sophomore then built up a 1:48 riding time edge in maintaining his advantage throughout the rest of the period. Trailing 4-1, Hovis chose down to start the second period and escaped to a 4-2 deficit. A deep single leg by Vallimont led to another takedown and a 6-2 lead with just under a minute left. Hovis escaped for a quick point, but Vallimont continued his offensive pressure with a quick single leg, moving around behind Hovis to move out to an 8-3 lead after two periods. Vallimont, with over two minutes of riding time, chose down to start the third period and escaped to a 9-3 lead with 1:22 left in the bout. With :20 left, Vallimont clinched a major decision with a solid takedown that nearly resulted in a pin. With the riding time point, Vallimont posted a 12-3 major and pushed Penn State out to a 16-3 lead. 165: Penn State sophomore Dave Rella (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio) met No. 3 Mack Lewnes of Cornell at 165. Lewnes got in deep on Rella's right thigh and, after a scramble, broke out to a 2-0 lead with 1:00 left in the period. Rella escaped quickly to cut the Lewnes lead to 2-1, only to be taken down once more as Lewnes locked in on Rella's right thigh one more time and, after another scramble, secured the takedown with :05 left in the period to lead 4-1 after one period. Rella chose down to begin the middle stanza and escaped to a 4-2 deficit. Rella got in on Lewnes' leg, but could not finish the move and tie the score. Lewnes got his third takedown at the :30 mark to take a 6-3 lead after a Rella escape. Up by three, Lewnes chose down to begin the final period and escaped to a 7-3 lead. Rella upped his offensive pressure, but Lewnes was able to fight off each move, keeping the Nittany Lion from cutting into the Cornell lead. Lewnes added another takedown after a reset at the :50 mark, moving out a 9-4 lead after letting Rella up. Needing one more takedown to grab a major, Lewnes took Rella down at the :11 mark and got the riding time point for a 12-4 major decision. The victory cut Penn State's lead to 16-7. 174: Nittany Lion sophomore David Erwin (Urbana, Ohio) met Cornell's Steve Anceravage at 174. Anceravage entered the bout ranked No. 8 nationally. Anceravage took the first shot early in the period, but Erwin countered the move and nearly got a takedown of his own. Seconds later, Erwin locked onto to Anceravage's right ankle but could not get the takedown and the ranked Big Red grappler fought off the move once more. Anceravage nearly got a takedown as time expired in the first period, but this time it was Erwin who fought through the move. Erwin chose down to start the middle period and Anceravage quickly turned the Lion sophomore for two back points. Anceravage maintained control for the bulk of the second period and then, with just :07 left, Anceravage tried to turn Erwin but in the process got called for an illegal hold. Erwin, sensing an opening, then forced the ranked Big Red grappler to his back, gaining control for a two point reversal and three near fall points. In the period-ending flurry, Erwin went from down 2-0 to up 6-2 after the second period. Anceravage chose down to start the third and escaped to a 6-3 deficit. With Anceravage holding a riding time advantage, one more takedown for the CU grappler would essentially tie the bout. Erwin continued to shoot, forcing Anceravage back on his heels and holding on for an impressive 6-4 win over eighth-ranked Anceravage. The win put Penn State up 19-7 heading into the 814 pound bout. 184: Junior Phil Bomberger (Port Royal, Pa.) put his No. 15 ranking at 184 on the line against Cornell's Michael Moore. Bomberger opened up a big lead early with two takedowns in the first :45. Leading 4-2, Bomberger continued his offensive efforts, but the Cornell sophomore held firm with good defense and then, with :52 left, took Bomberger down to tie the score at 4-4. Bomberger escaped at the :30 mark to lead 5-4 and rode that lead into the second period. Bomberger chose down to start the second period and quickly escaped to a 6-4 lead. With 1:15 left in the second period, Bomberger moved from the middle of the mat and deftly put Moore, who entered the bout with a 20-9 mark, to his back for a two point takedown and a near fall. The five point move put Bomberger up 11-5 after a Moore escape. Moore chose down to begin the second period and escaped to an 11-6 deficit. Needing one more takedown to secure a major, Bomberger used a strong double-leg to get the needed points and, after riding Moore out and getting a riding time point, got a 14-6 major decision. The four points put Penn State up 23-7. 197: Penn State's three-time All-American Phil Davis (Harrisburg, Pa.), ranked No. 2 in the country at 197, met Cornell's Matt Panasevich. Davis wasted no time in thrilling the raucous Rec Hall crowd, nearly pinning Panasevich in the bout's first minute. The two-point takedown, three-point near fall combination put the Nittany Lion senior in control with a 5-0 lead. After a reset, Davis showcased why he's one of the nation's best by calmly working in on a cradle and pinning Panasevich at the 2:15 mark for his second pin of the year. The six points put Penn State up 29-7 and clinched the dual meet victory. HWT: Junior John Laboranti (Pittston, Pa.) took the mat at heavyweight for Penn State to face No. 10 Zach Hammond of Cornell. Laboranti, making his Rec Hall dual match debut, was an equal match for Hammond early on, battling the tenth-ranked Cornell junior through three solid minutes of scoreless wrestling. With no score after the opening period, Hammond chose down to start the second period and quickly escaped to a 1-0 lead. Neither wrestler could break through the other's defenses and the second period went by without any takedowns as well. Laboranti, trailing by one, chose down to start the third period and quickly got his escape to tie the score at 1-1. With just :25 left, Hammond got in on Laboranti's ankle and after a long tussle, managed to get the takedown with just :07 left to post a hard-fought 3-1 win over the talented Nittany Lion junior. The victory cut Penn State's lead to 29-10. 125: Nittany Lion senior Mark McKnight (McDonald, Pa.), ranked No. 7 nationally, met Cornell's Mike Rodriguez at 125 in the dual's final bout. McKnight wasted no time in setting the tempo, nearly taking Rodriquez down to start the dual. But the Cornell senior fought off the move and countered with a shot of his own. But McKnight allowed nothing and kept the bout scoreless midway through the first period. McKnight continued to set the pace, moving Rodriguez around the mat but not managing a takedown. With no score after one period, McKnight chose down to begin the second period. After a brief scramble, McKnight reversed the CU wrestler and quickly put him to his back for Penn State's third pin of the dual, getting the fall at the 3:37 mark. The victory, Penn State's seventh in the bout, gave Penn State a 35-10 final victory.