November 2007 Wrestling Articles

Two-time All-American pursues first individual NCAA title this year.

By Travis Tindell, OSU Media Relations

Oklahoma State’s Nathan Morgan has enjoyed a good deal of success in his wrestling career. A three-time California high school state champion, Morgan has been a key component on two of the Cowboys’ unprecedented 34 NCAA title teams.

This year, Morgan looks to etch his name among the list of OSU’s 132 individual NCAA champions. A two-time All-American, Morgan took fourth in the 141-pound weight class at NCAAs last year as the Cowboys finished fifth in… more »

DISCLAIMER: I realize it is a little last to publish this journal. However, everybody who tried to watch the All Star Classic knows that the last two and a half matches were cut out of the live webcast. I’ve been waiting to put this up in case I could somehow see the rebroadcast and redo the journal. However, because of some technical difficulties of my own I can’t view the archived matches, so I’m going to have to send it in as is.

Here we are, live from Lafayette College. I’m sitting in front of my… more »

TROY, N.Y. - Down 16-6 with three matches to go against No. 5 Michigan, the Maryland wrestling team completed an improbable comeback to take down the Wolverines, 18-16, in its opening match at the Journeymen/BRUTE Northeast Duals. Redshirt junior Josh Haines took down the No. 3 ranked wrestler at 184 pounds, redshirt sophomore Hudson Taylor scored his first of three falls on the day, and redshirt freshman Patrick Gilmore completed the run to steal the win. The Terrapins went on to beat Appalachian State, 31-7, before losing to No. 9 Central Michigan.

The Terps were down 16-6… more »

NORMAN, Okla. -- The University of Oklahoma came out on top in eight of ten weight classes at the 37th Oklahoma Open held at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.

Sophomore Kyle Terry was the first of eight straight Sooners to claim titles with a defeat of Luke Ashmore of Oklahoma State at 141 pounds. Seth Vernon continued the Sooner success with a win over Willy Pendleton of Labette to take first at 149 pounds.

Chad Terry won over teammate Shane Vernon and Max Dean over Kyle Griffin of Oklahoma State to claim the… more »

The defending national champion Golden Gopher wrestling team completed a
three-meet sweep Saturday, beating Northern Illinois, Northern Colorado and
North Dakota State at the first-ever Northern Quad event at the UCR
Regional Sports Center in Rochester, Minn. Minnesota outscored its
opponents 109-21 and lost just four matches all day. They will enter next
Sunday’s Williams Arena showdown with Iowa State a perfect 3-0 in dual meet
competition.

Jayson Ness, Manuel Rivera, C.P. Schlatter, Dustin Schlatter and Gabe
Dretsch all went a perfect 3-0 on the day, while Mack Reiter, Scott… more »

Lincoln – The Husker wrestling team opened their home schedule with a 28-13 dual victory over a persistent Lehigh squad on Friday at the NU Coliseum in front of 828 fans.

Nebraska, ranked No. 14 in the nation, tangled with the Mountain Hawks into the eighth match of the night. David Craig scored a 9-4 decision over NU’s Andy Johnson at 184 pounds to pull Lehigh within two as LU looked for the upset. Sophomore Levi Wofford went down early in his 197-pound match and the Huskers looked to be on the ropes. Wofford collected himself to… more »

Sure, this is a cheap, gimmicky column. Everybody seems to write top ten lists to preview a season. But these are the things in each weight class that I really want to see. Obviously I want to see great wrestling. More often than not, college wrestling delivers that. But to step out of its niche, there are things in each weight class that can help the sport as a whole. The athletic heavyweight, a better relationship with football, the best rivalry in sport, expansion of programs outside the Midwest, all are things that can slowly start to be accomplished in… more »

The defending national champion Minnesota Golden Gopher wrestling
team will wrap up its final tune-up before the start of the dual meet
season this Saturday when they compete at the Kaufman-Brand Open,
hosted by the University of Nebraska-Omaha. The Kaufman-Brand Open is
the largest single-day collegiate wrestling meet in the nation.

The event will get underway at 9:00 a.m. at the Lee & Helene Sapp
Fieldhouse in Omaha, Neb. A total of 42 teams are expected to enter
approximately 650 wrestlers in the meet, making it easily the
country's largest… more »

Just wanted to let you know the "Patriot Open" at Valley Forge High
School is this Sunday. This is an open tournament for wrestlers of
all ages, from a 5-6 division through high school and even an open
division. More than 300 wrestlers are expected for this event. Five
mats will run all day, and a split start time will be used, check the
entry form (attached) for details.

This tournament is the first "Tournament of Champions" Qualifier of
the season, with top three place finishers qualifying for the TOC on more »

NORMAN, Okla. --
The Oklahoma wrestling squad will host defending ACC champion North Carolina State on Thursday, Nov. 15, at 7 p.m. at the Howard McCasland Fieldhouse. The match will mark the first home dual for OU this season.

"It is great to be home competing against the defending ACC champs," head coach Jack Spates said. "We are looking forward to representing the Big 12 with our young and aggressive squad."

Oklahoma is 6-0 all-time against the Wolfpack, with the most recent victory in 2004 by a 39-9 decision.

The… more »

The 42nd edition of the NWCA All-Star Classic presented by the United States Marine Corps comes to the Pacific Northwest for the first time in 17 years as Eugene, Ore., will host the annual wrestling spectacle.

This year’s lineup features six top-ranked wrestlers in Division I, one top-ranked wrestler in Division II, eight second-ranked wrestlers from Division I along with four #3’s and one #4. In all, 14 different schools will be represented and will comprise athletes from the Big Ten, Big 12, Colonial, EIWA, EWL, Pac 10 and Division II.

“We’re excited to… more »

Lou Ruggirello of Hofstra and Tyler Shinn of Okie State shook up the 133lb weight class this weekend. They beat Tyler McCormick and Coleman Scott respectively. That is the #2 and #1 wrestlers in the country falling, for all extensive purposes, in the opening weekend of the 2007-8 Season. I believe this is a foreshadowing of the chaotic things to come in 2008. It is anybody's game in every weight class. I think Hofstra is a team that is proving that if you do the right things to build a program you can make it happen no matter who you… more »

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- Matt Koz scored an 11-2 major decision over Ohio State’s John Weakley in the 197-pound match Saturday to secure Chattanooga’s 19-16 victory over the No. 8-ranked Buckeyes.

Koz, an Ohio native ranked as high as No. 11 nationally, extended the 19th-ranked Mocs’ lead from 15-10 to 19-10, an insurmountable lead with one match left.

“This is big, huge for us,” UTC Head Coach Chris Bono said. “But we can’t look at it like this made our season. It’s the first match of the year. I wish they would practice like they… more »

Another season is upon us but instead of predicting my favorites for the tournament or getting excited about the All Star Classic I find myself intrigued with the development of our sport today. This development is the progression of "wrestling styles" or the particular trends and techniques in wrestling. For my entire life I've heard the basic breakdowns of wrestling between an "Iowa Style" or a "Cowboy Style" but it seems that as time progresses, individuals develop their own approaches to our sport that separate them from others on the mat.

From the unique stance of Edinboro's… more »

Seven Cowboy Wrestlers Win Weight Class Titles At Central Missouri Open

Warrensburg, Mo. - Oklahoma State opened its 2007-08 wrestling season with a solid showing at the Central Missouri Open Sunday, as seven different Cowboys won their respective weight classes and an additional five OSU wrestlers were finalists in their respective weight classes.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the day came when OSU's Tyler Shinn knocked off teammate and top-ranked Coleman Scott with a 3-1 sudden victory in the championship bout at 133 pounds. Shinn and Scott have faced off three times since last Wednesday, with… more »

...Final Win Decided in Heavyweight Bout...

Hempstead, N.Y. -In a dual that came down to the final bout of the night, the sixth-ranked Missouri wrestling team came from behind to take down No. 13 Hofstra, 22-21, in the David S. Mack Sports Complex. A technical fall by sophomore heavyweight Mark Ellis (Blue Springs, Mo.) proved the deciding factor in the night's dual. Needing five points to win the battle, Ellis managed a 21-6 win in 6:39 to help the Tigers improve to 2-0 on the season.

"I'm pleased with the way our team fought… more »

New Book Chronicles Oklahoma State¹s Record-Setting 2005 Wrestling Season
³Cowboy Up² gives readers an all-access pass into an NCAA title season with
OSU.

Stillwater, Okla. Oklahoma State¹s unforgettable run to the 2005 NCAA
Wrestling Championship has been immortalized in author Kim Parrish¹s new
book, Cowboy Up, which is now available for purchase online at
www.okstate.com, at cowboyupbook.org and at OSU wrestling duals at
Gallagher-Iba Arena.

Cowboy Up, which includes a foreward written by OSU Head Coach John Smith,
provides readers with an insider¹s glimpse into every aspect… more »

NEW YORK -- Close, competitive matches were commonplace as the
Columbia Wrestling team opened the 2007-08 season with its annual
Blue-White Match before hundreds of fans and alumni at University Gym.

There were seven matches in all, as the Blue team emerged with six
victories for an 18-3 win.

While Columbia wrestlers still had to face teammates, this was the
first time this season that the team saw a referee, and a crowd
cheering behind them, creating a competitive atmosphere.

All seven matches were decided by… more »

Minnesota Gopher wrestlers Jayson Ness, Dustin Schlatter and Roger Kish will compete in the 2007 National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) All-Star Classic, the premier one-day collegiate wrestling event in the country. The 43-year old competition will take place on Monday, Nov. 19 at the University of Oregon’s McArthur Court in Eugene, Ore.

Including the defending national champion Gophers’ three participants, the field will welcome six top-ranked wrestlers, eight second-ranked seeds and four third-ranked selections from the recent Intermat / USA Today preseason national rankings. It will also include 18 All-Americans from the 2006 NCAA Championships, which… more »

NORMAN, Okla. -- Sooner fans attending the annual Red/White ranking match expecting great competition went home satisfied, seeing the white team top the red squad, 18-12.

Three matches went into overtime periods, including four overtimes needed in the 165-pound battle between senior Max Dean and freshman Ryan Smith.

"There were a lot of close matches and some incredible courage displayed out there tonight," head coach Jack Spates said. "It is certainly a great situation to have guys competing and pushing each other in every class."

Joey Fio put… more »