Takedown Report

College Results & News — # 82

TDR Editor’s Notes ; Almost a dozen stories about a look forward to the Division I qualifying conference tournaments and other national season ending tournaments in the NAIA, NJCAA and such.
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Breaking down the Pack’s chances at the ACC Tournament – NCS63
The ACC Championships are set for this weekend and who better to dig into the NC State prospectus with than the head coach himself Pat Popolizio. Of course, we’ve got host Brian Reinhardt to steer Episode 63 in the right direction. With the ACC pre-seeds released, we go weight-by-weight.
…. story and podcast at http://www.mattalkonline.com/podcast/pack-mentality/breaking-down-the-packs-chances-at-the-acc-tournament-ncs63/?mc_cid=0403468de8&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Seeding Announced For 2020 ACC Wrestling Championship
ACC Wrestling Championship Brackets
GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) — The Atlantic Coast Conference has announced seeding and brackets for the 2020 ACC Wrestling Championship, which will be held this Sunday (March 8) at Pitt’s Petersen Events Center.
The host Panthers lead with three wrestlers seeded No. 1 in their respective weight class brackets. Defending champion NC State, North Carolina and Virginia each earned two No. 1 seeds, and Virginia Tech has one. Seeds were determined by a vote of the league’s six head coaches. Each weight class champion and runner-up at the 2020 ACC Championship will earn All-ACC recognition. In addition to ACC honors, student-athletes will be vying for berths and seeding in the 2020 NCAA Wrestling Championships, which will be held March 19-21 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The ACC has been awarded 35 automatic berths – the second-highest total in league history – and is hopeful of earning several more at-large selections. 
The ACC ended the regular season with a league-record four teams ranked among the nation’s top nine, tying for the most among all conferences. No. 3 NC State, which posted an unbeaten dual meet record for the first time in the program’s 91-year history, was followed by No. 7 North Carolina, No. 8 Pitt and No. 9 Virginia Tech. …. full story at https://theacc.com/news/2020/3/3/seeding-announced-for-2020-acc-wrestling-championship.aspx?mc_cid=0403468de8&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Campbell seeks to repeat as Southern Conference champions
2019 Southern Conference champion Campbell won the 2020 SoCon regular season title, going undefeated in SoCon dual meets. Cary Kolat’s Camels are the favorite for the 2020 SoCon Wrestling Championships, set for Appalachian State in Boone, N.C. on Sunday, March 8. Campbell enters with a No. 19 NWCA Coaches Poll ranking, which is based upon dual meets. Top rival Appalachian State received votes in the NWCA Poll. In the Trackwrestling NCAA Tournament rankings, Campbell sits at No. 32, with Appalachian State at No. 40. The Camels won the dual meet against Appalachian State, 20-13 on February 13, winning six of the 10 matches. Campbell boasts three returning conference champions in Korbin Meink (125), Joshua Heil (141) and Chris Kober (197). Last year, Heil won his conference title up at 149, while Kober won his conference title down at 184. Appalachian State, coached by JohnMark Bentley, has two returning champions expected to compete, Codi Russell at 133 and Cary Miller at 285. Neither is expected to get the top seed, as they lost to Campbell wrestlers in the dual meet. Russell was beaten by Noah Gonser, 11-2, while Miller fell to Jere Heino, 3-2. Gonser and Heino both have higher national rankings than Russell and Miller. Last year in the SoCon finals, Russell beat Gonser, 9-4. …. rest of story and details at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2020/March/03/SoCon-Championships-preview?mc_cid=0403468de8&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

SoCon Announces Championship Seeds
BOONE, N.C. — App State has three wrestlers seeded No. 1 and three more seeded No. 2 as the brackets were released Wednesday for Sunday’s Southern Conference Championships at the Holmes Center. Tickets can be purchased by clicking HERE, and complete details about the event are available on the Championship Central Page by clicking HERE.
Jonathan Millner (149 pounds), Matt Zovistoski (157 pounds) and Thomas Flitz (174 pounds) earned top seeds in the eight-team league with help of their 7-0 records in SoCon duals. The No. 2 seeds went to Sean Carter (6-1 SoCon record at 125 pounds), Bradley Irwin (6-1 at 141 pounds) and Cary Miller (6-1 at heavyweight). The four other App State starters are seeded No. 3 in their weight classes: Codi Russell (5-2 at 133 pounds), Will Formato (4-3 at 165 pounds), Julian Gorring (3-2 at 184 pounds) and Demazio Samuel (2-1 at 197 pounds). …. rest of the story and seeds at https://appstatesports.com/news/2020/3/4/-27-wrestling-socon-announces-championship-seeds.aspx?mc_cid=dc3b99f003&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

NCAA DIII wrestling qualifiers announced for 2020 championship
INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA Division III Wrestling Committee announced today the participants in the 2020 NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships. The championships will be held March 13-14 at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  The American Rivers Conference will serve as the host.
VIEW THE 2020 BRACKETS
A total of 180 participants will compete in the championships. Student-athletes qualified for the championship by placing top-three in their respective weight classes at one of the six NCAA regional tournaments held on Feb. 28, 29 and March 1. …. story and list at https://www.ncaa.com/news/wrestling/article/2020-03-02/ncaa-diii-wrestling-qualifiers-announced-2020-championship?mc_cid=0403468de8&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

NAIA preview: Grand View seeks ninth straight national title, Viking star Hanson aims to be four-timer
BY JOHNNY JOHNSON, SPECIAL TO THEMAT.COM 
NAIA Wrestling website
No. 1 Grand View (Iowa) men’s wrestling will send 12 individuals to the 63rd annual NAIA Wrestling National Championship at the Hartman Arena in Park City, Kansas, March 6-7. The Vikings are searching for their ninth-straight team title. The Vikings of Grand View, led by head coach Nick Mitchell, secured the No. 1 spot in the final poll of season marking their 57th consecutive poll as No. 1 dating back to October 17, 2012. The Grand View Vikings went wire to wire the last five years securing the No. 1 every poll from preseason to post season. They have won eight straight national titles as a program. Since 2001, only Grand View (2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-2018, 2018-19, 2019-20), former members Notre Dame (Ohio) (2010-11) and Lindenwood (Mo.) (2006-07) have spent the entire season ranked No. 1. Grand View had four individual No. 1 wrestlers including Justin Portillo (125) Renaldo Rodriguez-Spencer (157), Kendon Lee (141) and Evan Hansen (197). …. story at https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2020/March/04/NAIA-Nationals-preview?mc_cid=dc3b99f003&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b
and more at
Grand View’s Evan Hansen takes aim at historic fourth NAIA national wrestling title
Before each season, Grand View coach Nick Mitchell instructs his wrestlers to fill out goal sheets. Evan Hansen’s list includes aspirations both simple and large. Good health. Overall improvement. World team.
Olympics.
When Hansen hands his list back, Mitchell always smiles — then grabs his own pen and fills in what Hansen forgot. …. story at https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/sports/college/2020/03/04/grand-view-wrestling-senior-evan-hansen-wants-historic-fourth-naia-national-championship-vikings/4953922002/?mc_cid=dc3b99f003&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Hawkeyes embrace being the Big Ten favorite
IOWA CITY — It may be the start of college wrestling’s second season, but the Big Ten Championships puts top-ranked Iowa in a role the Hawkeyes don’t mind. With all 10 wrestlers in the lineup earning top-three pre-seeds for the two-day tournament, which begins Saturday in Piscataway, N.J., the Hawkeyes will be among the hunted as they hunt for their first Big Ten tourney title since sharing it with Ohio State five years ago. “People will be coming for us, but we earned that. We wrestled the best teams in the Big Ten in the dual season, and we beat all those teams,” said Alex Marinelli, the second seed at 165 pounds. “We took down a lot of their top guys.  “When they look at the bracket and get a little nervous when they see they have to go through an Iowa guy, it’s a good thing. We respect our competition, but we’re also getting ready to deal with it.” Both undefeated on the season and ranked first in …. story at https://qctimes.com/sports/college/wrestling/hawkeyes-embrace-being-the-big-ten-favorite/article_df91a867-c96a-53b2-aa83-89bab04647bf.html?mc_cid=dc3b99f003&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Sesker Slant: Picking the Big Ten champions
By Craig Sesker For The Predicament
The Big Ten tournament is one of my favorite events of the season to watch. The quality of wrestling obviously is extremely high and the national rankings confirm that once again. Iowa is ranked No. 1 in the country with Penn State (second), Ohio State (third), Wisconsin (fourth), Nebraska (sixth), Northwestern (10th), Minnesota (11th) and Purdue (13th) also in the top 15 nationally. This weekend’s Big Ten Championships, to be held before sellout crowds at Rutgers, will be compelling to watch.
Here are my picks to win the Big Ten:
125 pounds: Two-time NCAA champion Spencer Lee of Iowa isn’t expected to be challenged in one of the conference’s weaker weight classes. Lee, believe it or not, is seeking his first Big Ten title this season. He’s taken his game to another level and look for him to pile up a ton of bonus points this weekend. Other top wrestlers at 125 are …. story at https://www.thepredicament.com/2020/03/sesker-slant-picking-the-big-ten-champions/?mc_cid=dc3b99f003&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

A Look Back at OSU’s First Wrestling Conference Title
Going back in time to 1917 and Ed Gallagher’s first conference title
One of the more common themes of feedback I receive from readers is they like to see historical looks at OSU wrestling. With the Big 12 conference tournament coming up next weekend and OSU going for their 52nd conference title, I thought I’d dig back and take a look at their very first one. In 1917 the then “Aggies” were led by second-year coach Ed Gallagher. He took over for A.M. Colville who was the coach in their first season of wrestling in 1914-15. The Aggies wrestled in the Southwestern Conference in 1917. Their entire season consisted of three duals, with two against Southwestern Conference programs. The first was a win over “Kansas State Normal” which is now known as Emporia State, the next a tie with Arkansas, and the final dual a 20-5 win over Texas. At the time duals only consisted of five weight classes: 125, 135, 150, 165, and heavyweight. Another unique thing from that time is Conference titles were determined by dual meet wins vs. the current tournament format we see. The first dual of the season with Kansas State Normal was not a conference meet. According to a 1917 article from “The Orange and Black” the Aggies wrestled at Emporia, Kansas and won two matches by fall, lost one by fall, and had two draws. … rest of story and newspaper clippings at https://pistolsfiringblog.com/a-look-back-at-osus-first-wrestling-conference-title/?mc_cid=0403468de8&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

Two-time defending champion Lehigh set to host 116th EIWA Championships at Stabler Arena
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh welcomes the other 16 EIWA member institutions to Stabler Arena for the 116th EIWA Championships as Lehigh hosts for the 25th time. The EIWA is the nation’s oldest wrestling conference, with Lehigh being the historically dominant team. The Mountain Hawks enter as the two-time defending champions after winning at Hofstra in 2018 and at Binghamton last year. Lehigh now owns 36 team championships and a league-best 217 individual titles. The Mountain Hawks won their last 11 duals to finish the dual season 10th in the NWCA Top 25 with a 12-3 record. Lehigh’s lineup features three returning champions and seven wrestlers with previous EIWA Tournament experience. Also at stake are 44 automatic berths to the NCAA Championships in Minneapolis.
Five Mountain Hawks appear in the latest InterMat rankings, led by senior Jordan Kutler, who is ranked third at 174. Lehigh also has six wrestlers ranked by FloWrestling and Amateur Wrestling News and eight by The Open Mat. In addition to Kutler, Brandon Paetzell (125), Josh Humphreys (157), Chris Weiler (184) and Jordan Wood (285) are ranked across the board by all four outlets. Sophomore Jimmy Hoffman (149) and junior Jake Jakobsen (197) are ranked by two outlets, while junior Nick Farro is ranked only by The Open Mat. Four of Lehigh’s ranked wrestlers are rated in the top 10 in their respective weight classes. The NCAA released the third Coaches’ Panel rankings and second RPI for the 2019-20 season along with the qualifier allocations for the NCAA Championships on February 27. …. rest of the story at https://lehighsports.com/news/2020/3/3/wrestling-two-time-defending-champion-lehigh-set-to-host-116th-eiwa-championships-at-stabler-arena.aspx?mc_cid=0403468de8&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

March 26, 2020 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized