LITTLE MARGIN FOR ERROR
Some NCAA qualifiers have limited spots for stars
It’s time to start thinking about this year’s Div. I NCAA Championships, which will be held at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, Okla., March 16-18. But before that happens, teams will be striving to qualify as many individuals as possible in 11 different qualifying tournaments.
The NCAA formula for qualifying, which is adjusted by past NCAA results and primarily on which conferences produce the most top 12 wrestlers, continues to create controversy in conferences which are limited in qualifiers compared to the number of wrestlers ranked within those conferences.
The Big 12 has annually had the biggest complaint against the formula as the number of qualifiers has sometimes been smaller than the number of nationally-ranked wrestlers within that conference.
In the past two years, Tyron Woodley of Missouri (2004) and Nebraska’s B.J. Wright (2005) failed to qualify even though both were ranked among the top ten wrestlers at their weights.
This year, the Big 12’s qualification numbers rose from 36 to 38, but according to the Feb. 6, 2006, national poll by W.I.N., the conference also has 38 wrestlers ranked, which means the conference’s ranked wrestlers do not have a margin for error. The Mid-American Conference (MAC) also has just 19 spots available for six teams that have 17 ranked wrestlers, including four at 125 pounds.
The Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) also saw its qualification numbers rise but according to W.I.N., there are only 24 EIWA ranked wrestlers who will be shooting for one of the 44 NCAA berths.
On the other hand, four qualifying tournaments — Atlantic Coast Conference, Colonial Athletic Association, Eastern Wrestling League and Pac-10 — saw their number of qualifiers drop by one each.
The following is a breakdown of the qualifiers and what should be the main story lines going into each qualifier.
Atlantic Coast Conference
• North Carolina, now without two-time ACC champ and NCAA All-American Evan Sola (133) because of a shoulder injury, will be shooting for its 17th conference title but will be challenged by Virginia Tech, which has two wrestlers — 141-pound David Hoffman, who finished second to Sola last year, and heavyweight Mike Faust — ranked.
• Considering the number of quality wrestlers being redshirted this year by Virginia Tech, will there be enough qualifying spots — the ACC has the third lowest number (14) of qualifiers of all the tournaments — to handle the demand placed by the Hokies in the 2007 tournament?
Big Ten Conference
• Now in its 80th year, the Big Ten tournament is considered a mini-NCAA tournament as five squads — No. 1 Minnesota, No. 4 Michigan, No. 7 Penn State, No. 8 Illinois and No. 10 Iowa — rank among the top ten teams in the nation. The Gophers have won eight Big Ten titles, including three straight between 2001 and 2003. Michigan has won 11 team titles, the last coming in 1973. Illinois, with 17 team championships, captured its first in 53 years by out-distancing the Wolverines last March. The Hawkeyes have earned 31 team titles but only two (2000 and 2004) since having a string of 25 straight titles broken in 1999.
• The 184-pound class appears to be the toughest considering two defending Big Ten champs return in 2006: Penn State’s Eric Bradley, a two-time Big Ten champ, was rated No. 1 nationally before losing to Iowa State’s Kurt Backes and was replaced at the top by Purdue’s Ben Wissel. Meanwhile Illinois’ Pete Friedl, who won a Big Ten title at 174 in 2005, has moved up and is rated No. 5, nationally.
• The eight other champions of 2005 also return: Michigan State’s Nick Simmons at 125; Minnesota’s Mack Reiter at 133; Michigan’s Josh Churella at 141; Michigan’s Eric Tannenbaum at 149; Illinois’ Alex Tirapelle at 157 (he also won in 2004); Michigan’s Ryan Churella at 165 (he also won at 149 in 2004); Northwestern’s Matt Delguyd at 197; and Minnesota’s Cole Konrad at heavyweight.
• Even though 174 does not feature a returning champ, it does include Northwestern’s Jake Herbert, who finished second in 2005 and is rated No. 2 nationally.
• The 125- and 149-pound brackets are also strong considering each has at least three wrestlers ranked among the top five nationally. At 125, Simmons is the defending champ but is ranked No. 3 nationally behind 2005 NCAA champ Joe Dubuque of Indiana who recently edged two-time national runner-up Kyle Ott of Illinois. At 149, Minnesota’s true freshman Dustin Schlatter is rated No. 1 nationally, and just ahead of Iowa’s Ty Eustice (No. 2) and Michigan’s Eric Tannenbaum (No. 6).
• 133 also features a pair of former Big Ten champs: Wisconsin’s Tom Clum who won at 125 in 2004 and Purdue’s Chris Fleeger, who won at 125 in 2003.
Big 12 Conference
• This is also a mini-NCAA even though only five teams compete in this championship. All five are rated among the top 11 teams by W.I.N.: No. 2 Oklahoma State, No. 3 Nebraska, No. 6 Iowa State, No. 9 Missouri and No. 11 Oklahoma. Even though the Big 12 has existed since 1997, when OSU won the first of seven conference championships — Oklahoma has won the two other in 1999 and 2002 — the Cowboys also won 24 Big Eight team titles between 1959 and 1996. The Sooners won six Big Eight championships, nine Big Seven championships between 1948-57 and six Big Six titles starting in 1930. Meanwhile Iowa State has 14 overall conference championships (the last coming in 1993), while Nebraska has two (1949 and 1995). Missouri has never won a con
ference championship but did finish second to Oklahoma State in 2003.• Nine Big 12 champs from 2005 return, including six from Oklahoma State: Coleman Scott (125), Nathan Morgan (133), Zack Esposito (149), Kevin Ward (157), Johny Hendricks (165) and Steve Mocco (HWT). Esposito, Hendricks and Mocco are also defending NCAA titlists. Iowa State has two Big 12 defending champs in 141-pound Nate Gallick (who also won in 2004) and 184-pound Kurt Backes. The other returning champ is Nebraska’s B.J. Padden (197).
• Three other wrestlers also won Big 12 titles in 2004: Oklahoma’s Teyon Ware (141); Missouri’s Ben Askren (174) and Oklahoma State’s Jake Rosholt (184). Ware and Rosholt also won a pair of NCAA titles (both in 2003 and 2005). Askren finished second in the nation the past two years to Chris Pendleton, formerly of OSU.
• Gallick vs. Ware has become the biggest rivalry over the past three years, even though Gallick holds a 6-1 lead in the all-time series including a 5-3 win in the 2004 NCAAs (for fifth place) and 4-3 in last year’s Big 12s. Ware’s only victory came in last year’s NCAA final by a 3-2 margin while the Cyclone defeated the Sooner, 3-1, in last November’s All-Star Classic and recently by a 4-3 margin.
• Askren and Rosholt’s biggest challenge could come from a pair of Nebraska All-Americans, respectively: Jacob Klein at 174 and B.J. Padden at 197. Padden defeated Rosholt, 5-3, at the National Duals and later pinned the Cowboy in another dual meet.
Colonial Athletic Association
• The CAA tournament first started in 1992, when George Mason won the first of five team championships, but Tom Ryan’s Hofstra teams have nearly made it the Pride Invitational by winning the CAA the past four years, including last year when Hofstra won seven individual championships and grabbed nine of the 24 NCAA spots.
• Of those seven CAA champs for Hofstra, five returned this season: Charles Griffin, who moved from 133 to 141; Jon Masa (who also won in 2003) at 149; James Strouse at 157; Mike Patrovich (who moved from 165 to 174) and Joe Rovelli (184).
• Hofstra is the only CAA team ranked by W.I.N. while seven CAA individuals are rated: the five returning champs from Hofstra, Rider’s T.J. Morrison at 197 and Sacred Heart heavyweight Payam Zarrinpour.
East Regional
• The last time this qualifying tournament featured an eventual All-American was in 1999 when former Slippery Rock heavyweight Derek DelPorto finished eighth. This year, only one wrestler — Gardner Webb’s Daniel Elliott, rated No. 14 at 149 pounds — from this qualifying tournament is ranked by W.I.N. The native of Fuquay-Varina, N.C., was one of just three Eastern Regional qualifiers to capture a win at the Nationals, pinning The Citadel’s Levi Duyn in 5:47.
Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association
• The oldest post-season wrestling tournament, the EIWA — holding its 102nd event this March — should once again come down to either Lehigh or Cornell, which finished 1st and 2nd, respectively, last year with a 0.5 winning margin by the Mountain Hawks. Of the 24 EIWA wrestlers ranked nationally by W.I.N., Cornell and Lehigh have five apiece.
• The Big Red has both experience — senior Dustin Manotti earned three All-American honors (his highest finish was fourth in 2004) at 149 before moving up to 157 this year; while 184-pound senior Joe Mazzurco is the only Cornell defending champion in the EIWA and also earned a fifth-place finish in last year’s NCAAs at 174 pounds. The Big Red also have youthful potential, true freshman Troy Nickerson’s only loss this season at 133 pounds was to Oklahoma’s Sam Hazewinkel, and sophomore Steve Ancevarage is rated among the top 15 wrestlers nationally at 165 pounds.
• Of the current Lehigh wrestlers, no Mountain Hawk has had more EIWA and NCAA success than 165-pounder Troy Letters, who has won three straight EIWA titles and has compiled a 14-2 record at the NCAAs; finishing second as freshman in 2003, first as a sophomore in 2004 and third last season as a junior. The only problem is that Letters (12-2) on the season has not competed since he got injured in the first round of the Southern Scuffle at the end of December.
• If Letters does return, his biggest struggle could come against American University’s Muzaffar Abdurakhmanov, who became his school’s first EIWA champ last year, is rated No. 4 after moving up to 165 pounds this year. The senior from Uzbekistan also has a pair of teammates — fourth-ranked Josh Glenn at 184 pounds and 10th-ranked heavyweight Adam LoPiccolo — who are considered favorites to be in the EIWA finals this year.
Eastern Wrestling League
• Edinboro should be favored to win its fourth consecutive — and eighth all-time — EWL title, considering the Fighting Scots have four wrestlers ranked by W.I.N., including 133-pound top-ranked Shawn Bunch, who earned his school’s only individual EWL title while claiming second place at the NCAAs last year. But what’s really been noteworthy about Edinboro is that coach Tim Flynn has two freshmen — Ricky Duebel, ranked 20th at 125, and Gregor Gillespie, No. 8 at 149 — who have legitimate shots at EWL crowns and going deep into the NCAA tournament.
• West Virginia, which has won three (1996, 2002 and 2004) EWL team titles, has a similar make up to Edinboro considering the Mountaineers have four ranked wrestlers in their line-up; led by senior Matt Lebe, who won his first EWL title last year and is ranked third nationally this season. But coach Craig Turnbull (in his 28th season in Morgantown) also has a trio of freshmen excelling: Brandon Rader (8th at 141); David Jauregui (15th at 149) and Kurt Brenner (No. 13 at 174).
• Besides Bunch and Lebe, the only other returning EWL champ is Bloomburg’s Mike Sees, who is ranked 10th nationally at 125 this season and 174-pounder Jim Bertulis who is unranked this season after moving up from 165. Sees recently defeated Edinboro’s Duebel, 7-5, in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships.
Mid-American Conference
• Central Michigan has owned the MAC considering the Chippewas have won seven of the last eight championships and the last four team titles, including last year when the coach Tom Borelli’s team tied its school and MAC record with eight individual champions. That story should be no different this year considering CMU is ranked fifth nationally and returns four defending MAC champions:
Luke Smith (125, ranked 12th nationally), Jason Borrelli (133, ranked 13th), Mark DiSalvo (149, ranked 5th) and Wynn Michalak (197, ranked No. 1). And making life even tougher for CMU’s MAC foes is the fact that five other Chippewas are also nationally ranked: Brandon Carter (12th at 141), Andy Keller (16th at 157), twins Brandon (18th at 174) and Christian Sinnott (19th at 184) and heavyweight Bubba Gritter (14th).
• Considering that those nine Chippewas could eat up nearly half of the MAC’s NCAA qualifying spots, who are some of the other Mid-American wrestlers who have legitimate shots at making the Nationals? Start with Northern Illinois, where coach Dave Grant features two nationally-ranked wrestlers: 141-pound senior Josh Wooten, who won the MAC championship last year and is rated No. 15 nationally this year; and 125-pound sophomore Pat Castillo, who finished second at the Midlands and is rated No. 14.
• Perhaps one of the most intriguing possible finals matchups — not only in the MAC but the NCAAs — could come at 197 pounds, where CMU’s Michalak will be challenged by Buffalo’s Kyle Cerminara, who is rated No. 3 nationally and held a 33-0 record before losing to Michalak, 3-2, Feb. 5.
Pacific-10 Conference
• A year ago, Arizona State won its 15th Pac-10 team title in the 46-year history of the event. The Sun Devils, ranked No. 12 nationally, should once again be considered the favorites as coach Thom Ortiz has six wrestlers who are nationally rated, including a pair of defending Pac-10 titlists: Brian Stith (ranked No. 9 at 157) and heavyweight Cain Velasquez (No. 4). Both Sun Devils also earned All-American honors last March, while teammate Ryan Bader (ranked No. 8 at 197) finished among the top eight at the 2004 NCAAs. The other rated ASU wrestlers are junior Jeremy Mendoza (7th at 125), sophomore Pat Pitsch (11th at 165) and senior C.B. Dolloway (13th at 184).
• Four other defending Pac-10 champs also return: Boise State’s Scott Jorgensen (ranked No. 12 at 133) and Ben Cherrington (No. 11 at 157, after winning the 149-pound conference title in 2005) and Oregon’s Joey Bracamonte (No. 10 at 165) and Shane Webster (No. 7 at 184). Bracamonte pinned defending NCAA champ Johny Hendricks in the finals of this year’s Reno Tournament of Champions.
• Stanford is the host school for this year’s event and the Cardinal with the highest probable finishing potential is sophomore Tanner Gardner, who is rated No. 15 at 125. Of course, he must first defeat both ASU’s Mendoza and Cal Poly’s Chad Mendez (ranked ninth).
Southern Conference
• Tennessee-Chattanooga has dominated this event; winning 20 team titles, including last year’s championship when current Mocs Michael Keefe (141) and John Davis (184) won individual titles. But there are many new looks to UTC, including at the top where coach Joe Seay is in his first year at Chattanooga after winning two NCAA titles with Oklahoma State (1989 and 1990) and seven championships on the Div. II level with Cal-State Bakersfield (between 1976 and 1983). One of his higher-ranked wrestlers is junior Matt Keller (No. 7 at 133), who transferred last year from Nebraska, where he was a two-time NCAA qualifier.
• Another Nebraska transfer is Ryan Goodman, who is now competing as a redshirt freshman for NC State. Goodman, who was also a football quarterback at Nebraska, is rated No. 13 this year at 197 pounds.
• The Citadel, which has won SoCon titles in 1967 and 2004, is led by 149-pound senior Sean Markey who qualified for the NCAAs in 2003 and 2004.
West Regional
• Even without the powerful line-ups that Northern Iowa possessed in the past, the Panthers should win a 21st consecutive team title this year in Laramie, Wyom. UNI coach Brad Penrith does have at least two nationally-ranked wrestlers in Chris Bitetto (ranked No. 17 at 157) and Nick Baima (6th at 165), who captured a Midlands championship this past December.
• The bigger question about this regional is its future as these five programs — including Fresno State, Air Force, Wyoming and Eastern Illinois — are considering joining a new conference that will eventually include four programs that either moved up from Div. II (Northern Colorado, North Dakota State and South Dakota State) or have recently been created (Utah Valley State).
These programs will be eligible to compete for the NCAAs in 2007. n