Las Vegas, NV (USA) – UFC® today announced it has reached a long-term agreement with ASN, the first 24-hour HD sports channel in Asia to distribute UFC programs in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Macau, Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand.

ASN will officially launch UFC programming on April 10 with UFC 112: SILVA vs. MAIA, a live event taking place in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates and featuring two world title fights. In addition to broadcasting live UFC events, ASN will also feature UFC® Unleashed™, a compilation highlight show featuring some of the best fight action in UFC history as well as select seasons of The Ultimate Fighter® reality television series.

Thomas Kressner, CEO of ASN, said, “ASN is thrilled to deliver UFC, the world’s fastest-growing sports organization to audiences in Asia and with HD production quality, our viewers will not miss a single striking detail.”

“We are excited to sign a deal with ASN and to distribute UFC on this HD sports channel,” said Dana White, UFC President. “Asia is a huge market for us, it has a deep-rooted history and appreciation for the martial arts. We are thrilled to be working with ASN and to deliver the UFC to all of our fans in Asia.”

Launched in 2009, ASN broadcasts exclusive, thrilling action from some of America’s biggest sports leagues including the National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), NCAA college championship basketball and football and NASCAR. Other programs include Formula Drift and extreme sports. With about 20 live games or events per week, ASN brings to Asian audiences more American sports action than ever before.

About All Sports Network
All Sports Network (ASN), launched in 2009, is the second sports network from Yes Television (Hong Kong) Limited. Yes TV is a media company which produces and distributes premium sports channels across Asia. Its football network Goal TV, comprises two 24-hour channels featuring top European football clubs and live games from major European leagues. Goal TV launched across 12 countries in 2004. ASN is the newest addition to Yes TV’s lineup, and is the broadcast channel for some of North America’s biggest professional and collegiate sports leagues, including the NFL, NHL, NCAA and NASCAR. ASN is the region’s first 24 hour high-definition sports channel. Together, GOAL TV & ASN entertain more than 100 million fans each season through their broadcast partners in the region.

Ultimate Fighting Championship® – www.ufc.com
Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, and headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., UFC® produces over twelve UFC live Pay-Per-View events annually and 30 live arena events around the world. UFC programming is distributed in the United States on Viacom, Inc.’s Spike TV and on Comcast, Inc.’s Versus network. Globally, UFC programming is broadcast in over 130 countries, territories and jurisdictions, reaching 430 million homes worldwide, in 20 different languages. Ancillary businesses now include UFC.com with over 5 million unique visitors per month, the best-selling UFC “Undisputed” videogame franchise distributed by THQ, UFC Gym™, UFC Fight Club affinity program, UFC Fan Expo™ festivals, branded apparel, trading cards, articulated action figures and other media including best-selling DVDs and a U.S. bimonthly magazine.

Ultimate Fighting Championship®, Ultimate Fighting®, UFC®, The Ultimate Fighter®, Submission®, As Real As It Gets®, Zuffa®, The Octagon™ and the eight-sided competition mat and cage design are registered trademarks, registered service marks, trademarks, trade dress and/or service marks owned exclusively by Zuffa, LLC and licensed to its affiliated entities and other licensees in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other marks referenced herein may be the property of Zuffa, LLC, its affiliates or other respective owners.

Do not abandon hope, Lebanon Catholic fans.

The Beavers’ chance at a District 3-A boys basketball title disappeared when they lost to Greenwood 48-33 in the semifinals on Monday night. But a team does not need to be a district champion, or even a finalist, to have a run in the state tournament.

Lebanon Catholic’s own history proves it.

Since head coach Scott Clentimack took the reigns of the program in 1998, the Beavers have entered the PIAA Class A playoffs four times as the third, fourth or fifth seeded team out of District 3. The Beavers’ record in those four state appearances is 6-4. Their only first-round defeat was in 2003, and that was in overtime.

Clentimack’s club cannot quite focus on states yet. They have a third-place contest with Millersburg at 6:30 p.m. tonight at East Pennsboro High School. The result will affect seeding in the state tournament only, as both teams know their seasons will continue into the following week.

But Clentimack sees the game as a starting point for preparing for states.

“You want to get some kind of momentum,” Clentimack said. “You feel better about the next game. The other thing is getting that bad taste out of our mouth [from losing to Greenwood]. We’re not going to go out there to go through the motions. And third looks better than fourth any day.”

The difference between third and fourth place is not a matter of pride only. The fourth-place team will have to face the District 12 runner-up in a play-in game for the right to meet the District 1 champion in the Round of 32. The third-place team avoids the play-in round and will face the District 6 champion next Friday.

Getting a good spot in the bracket can be important. It may have helped Lebanon Catholic in the district tourney. The Beavers were the No. 6 seed, which matched them up with No. 3 New Hope Academy in the quarterfinals. The Mighty Ants were 17-2 when they met the Beavers, but had little big-game experience. Lebanon Catholic won 74-61, clinching a state spot.

“I think we got a good draw being No. 6,” Clentimack said. “You have to be good, but you also have to be a little lucky.”

The “good” part of that equation has been the balanced scoring for the Beavers. They had five double-digit scorers against New Hope. Only two of them, Zach Arnold with 14 points and Nick Fortna with 11, were starters. Reserves Darius Zook (13), Michael Wolfe (11) and Timmy Orr (11) also were key contributors.

But the lack of one go-to shooter can backfire on the Beavers as well. No one scored double-digits in the 48-33 loss to Greenwood.

In addition to the times Lebanon Catholic made states as a District 3 also-ran, the Beavers have won three district titles since 2000. Those teams won at least two games each. The 2005 squad won three games before dropping the state semifinals to Bishop O’Reilly.

LEBANON COUNTY

- When the Lebanon Catholic girls lost to Camp Hill in the 3-A quarterfinals on Saturday, head coach Patti Hower was left heading into the offseason with 599 career wins. The 44-42 loss to the Lions on a basket with two seconds left was the fourth time in Hower’s career that her Beavers had their season end on a bucket at or just before the buzzer. The others were in the 1993 state second round (49-48 to Forest City), the 1994 state semis (54-52 to Lourdes Regional) and the 2008 state second round (43-42 to Bishop Guilfoyle).

- The top scorers in Lebanon County are now done with their seasons, so Annville-Cleona’s Trey Blanding and Cedar Crest’s Meghan Phillips take those titles. Blanding had 16.0 points per game, while Phillips finished with 20.3 per contest.

- Dylan Killian was closer than any other Lebanon County wrestler to winning a district championship last weekend. The Annville-Cleona junior won by tech fall in the AA-140 quarterfinals and edged Elisha Gaylor of Wyomissing 5-4 in the semifinals. But then Killian ran into Colin Shober of Schuylkill Valley, who now has a 46-0 record after beating Killian 20-5 for the gold. Killian, who is 33-7, is still in the mix at the South Central Regional Tournament, receiving a bye into the quarterfinals.

- Two other Dutchmen are still grappling in the regionals. Junior 112-pounder Tony Yohe will meet up with Dylan Long of Northern Lehigh in the Round of 16. Another junior, 125-pounder Chris Shifflet, will face off with Justin Mazza in the opening round. Yohe is 32-9 after finishing fourth in the District 3 tournament, and Shifflet is 36-7 after placing fifth last weekend.

High highs and low lows.

There are few other places that these are found so close together as in sports. Cedar Crest’s girls basketball team found that out on Tuesday evening.

In the month of February, the Falcons fought through a four-team race to win the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section I title with a tiebreaker victory over Manheim Twp. Then the Falcons won the L-L tournament, winning against a Lebanon County rival and defeating the top seed in District 3-AA in overtime along the way.

But less than 72 hours after hoisting the L-L trophy and cutting down the net, Cedar Crest’s season came to halt with a 50-39 loss to Hershey in the District 3-AAAA Round of 16.

“They played a solid game, and we came off of some emotional games,” Cedar Crest head coach Gretchen Hall said. “We’re coming down off of [the L-L final] and you’re trying to get up for this.”

The Falcons found themselves behind 25-15 at halftime to the Trojans, but there was still reason for optimism. Cedar Crest had trailed Lancaster Mennonite by 10 points at halftime of the L-L semifinals, and came back to win 52-42 in overtime.

The next day, the Falcons beat Solanco 53-48 for the league title. It was their 21st win of the season and eighth in a row. The last five of those wins came against teams with a combined record of 86-40.

Two of the wins were in overtime. Another, the regular-season finale against Penn Manor, was won on two free throws by Kirsten Clemens with four seconds left.

“We had so many of those close games, we were used to them,” Clemens said after the Solanco game.

With those kind of dramatics, it is understandable that the Falcons were at such an emotional high heading into the district tournament.

“It helps our adrenaline,” senior guard Jazmine Trimble said after the L-L final. “We’ve been in games like this so we know how to play at the end.”

Briefly on Tuesday, it looked like that would be the script again for Cedar Crest. It was a 3-point bucket by Jazmine Trimble that pulled the Falcons to within 32-20 late in the third quarter. But Hershey scored the next 11 points, and Cedar Crest’s season ended with what Hall described as a “devastated” locker room.

But as tough as the loss to Hershey was, it does not make the section or league trophies the Falcons won any smaller.

“This loss does not take away from anything we accomplished,” Hall said. “From the last few games of the season, we came a long way.”

The Falcons’ season also included senior guard Meghan Phillips scoring her 1,000th point in December at Solanco.

LEBANON NOTES

- Entering Wednesday’s nights games, Phillips still leads Lebanon County scorers with 20.3 points per game. Lebanon Catholic’s Hailey Carangelo is right behind her with 20.2. Elco’s Kayla Yoders is in third with 17.8.

- The top boys scorer, as it has been since New Year’s, is Annville-Cleona’s Trey Blanding with 15.4 points per game.

- Cedar Crest boys basketball coach Darren Bossert has announced that he will be stepping down. The Falcons were 15-29 in his two years at the helm.

- Annville-Cleona has seven wrestlers competing in the District 3-AA tournament this weekend. After winning his sectional, Dylan Killian has a bye through to the 140 quarterfinals. Killian was the only Lebanon County wrestler to win his sectional. Also grappling for the Red and White are Tony Yohe (112), T.J. Renninger (119), Chris Shifflet (125), Seth Lehman (130), Aaron Hartman (160) and Jeremy Gibson (189). Shifflet has the most wins in the county with 32.

- Local wrestlers in the 3-AAA tourney include Lebanon’s Keith Witmer (171) and Chris Ahnert (215), along with Palmyra’s Jake Martin (125).

- Swimmers are also getting prepped for districts. In boys’ AAA, Cedar Crest’s Allen Weik is the No. 2 seed in the 500-yard freestyle and the No. 3 seed in the 200 free. Also in the mix are the Falcons’ 200 medley relay and 400 free relay, both of which are seeded third. In AA, Annville-Cleona’s Travis Bohn is No. 2 in the 100 backstroke.

- In girls’ swimming, Maddie Hoch of Cedar Crest is the No. 2 seed in the 500 free. The Falcons’ 400 free relay is seeded third.

AMA Fight Club’s Charlie “The Spaniard” Brenneman is the most recent addition to the UFC’s welterweight roster, as FiveOuncesofPain.com recently learned from his camp of his signing to the promotion.

“Charlie is one of the hardest working fighters here at AMA Fight Club and has a ton of raw talent and athleticism,” said AMA trainer Mike Constantino in a press release issued to FiveOuncesofPain.com. “He continues to improve each and every day & I am looking forward to introducing his skills to the world.”

For any of those familiar with the popular television series “Pros vs. Joes“, Charlie Brenneman probably looks extremely familiar to you. The reason being is that Brenneman, along with his brother, were the very first champion’s of the show that pits normal everyday guys up against professional athletes. In Charlie and his brothers case, they had to go up against the likes of wrestling’s Goldberg, basketball’s Dominique Wilkins, among others.

A former wrestler from Lock Haven University where he studied to become a teacher, Brenneman quickly found that something was missing after a year of working a job in his studied field. He missed the competition he would receive in testing himself against another man during his days wrestling, and it was at this point that Brenneman decided on to pursue a path in the fight business.

Nicknamed “The Spaniard” due to his focus during the time spent in college and the time he currently spends as a substitute teacher, Brenneman ultimately decided to scratch that competitive itch by participating in a single amateur fight. The plan was to fight once and call it quits, however, things didn’t exactly work out like that for the assistant wrestling coach from East Stroudsburg University.

After his first taste of battle in that first amateur bout, Brenneman was self admittedly hooked to the sport.

It wasn’t long before Charlie found himself training alongside UFC fighters such as the Miller brothers; Dan and Jim, Frankie Edgar and others at the AMA Fight Club in Whippany, New Jersey. The gym, which is headed up by Michael Constantino, has been fundamental in the development of this highly touted prospect with an outstanding professional fighting record of 9-1.

Known for his vicious ground and pound, strong submission game and dangerous stand-up arsenal, Brenneman is equipped with all of the necessary tools to obtain success in the sport.

MMA fans are what Hunter S. Thompson described Dr. Gonzo as in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: Too weird to live and too rare to die.

Unlike teams sports like football and basketball, the fans live—and—die with an individual, rather than an entire team. While the casual American Football fan might be a Peyton Manning fan, ask any Indianapolis Colts fans and they will say that they will support the team, not the player. MMA fans live—and—die on whether or not a fighter is on a three fight losing streak or a five fight winning streak. There are those bandwagon fans that only become a fan when a fighter is doing well and will then quickly jump off when the fighter suffers a sudden defeat.

A fans will is truly tested when the sport comes under scrutiny by the media in stories that clearly goes for the “Human Cockfighting” angle rather than seeing the sport from the perspective of sports that is a human chess match. You’ll be surprised to see what happens when the e—mail of said sports writer probably gets filled with e-mails with counter-argument’s tearing the writer’s story down to the ground. I remember a story on a local website around the time Anthony Pettis made his debut in the WEC, and his debut was drawing interest from the local media. The writer “supposedly” saw the event where there was no referee, no gloves, and the ref ignored a fighter submitting to some “weird” arm—lock. He then went into the whole “Boxing is better” and that “The sport should be banned” drivel that most writers use. Shortly after the article went up, fans immediately attack the writer on his points, exposing his article as nothing more than a cheap attempt to gain views, and he promptly put up an apology for what he wrote.

There is a downside to being an MMA fan though, and those are the fans that care more about what a promotion is doing rather than and in the eternal MMA pissing war that started once the UFC started to pick up steam. While each side has good points, the idea of people aligning themselves with a company and not fighters show’s what fans true intentions are. I can only compare it to back in the 1990’s when pro—wrestling fans in Philadelphia supported the name ECW by buying up all the t—shirts with the ECW logo showing a disregard for the wrestlers who worked for the promotion. The death of PRIDE did little to help this as most hardcore—PRIDE fans began to support companies like EliteXC and Affliction just to see them beat the UFC. This leads to the companies going head—to—head against an opponent they are ready to face. Then when the company dies, they latch onto another company and so on and so forth. While this group doesn’t represent MMA fans, it is a growing concern that’s led to the rallying cry of “SUPPORT FIGHTERS, NOT PROMOTIONS!” on MMA message boards.

The reality with MMA fans is that we’ve been through the rise of the sport in the early 90’s, a dramatic downfall in the late 90’s, and an epic reincarnation in the last decade. This has made the fan base become a tightly knit group of fans, essentially a fraternity of fans who are going to argue whether Fedor could beat Godzilla one moment then come together in unison when they’ve just seen a classic. It interesting to see if fans of baseball would stick with the sport if there was another lockout….I’m guessing not.

Builders win National Team Title
03/16/2009 -
It must be something with hometown advantage. After participating in the National Collegiate Wrestling Association National Championships for 11 years, the Apprentice School brought home its first-ever team national championship on Saturday night at Hampton University Convocation Center. The Builders amassed 118.5 points to outdistance three-time defending champion Grand Valley State who scored 109 points in the 84-team event. The national championship for the wrestling team marked the first ever team championship for the Builders who have now won seven individual national champions. "I thought we had potential with this young team," said Apprentice School Head Coach Bruce Shumaker. "Right now it's amazing, they did a tremendous job this weekend and we got a championship now." He was honored at the post-event banquet as the 2009 National Coach of the Year. What helped the Builders as they had four wrestlers wrestling for third place or higher, while the Lakers had four wrestlers wrestling for fifth place and one for a national championship. The advancement point victories helped the Builders clinch the national championship halfway through the final round. Senior Cecil Lee became the first individual champion for the Apprentice School as he won the 285 pound championship match with a 4-1 decision over Tim Rose of Amerhst College. Lee iced the championship with a two-point takedown with 1:25 left in the third period and held on for his school record 46th victory on the season. Earlier Saturday he defeated Chris DeScantis of Pittsburgh 1-0 to advance to the finals. His 46 wins set the school single-season victory record that was held by current assistant coach Micah Amrozowicz with 45. The last individual champion for the Builders was York High graduate Sinque Holmes who won the heavyweight championship in 2002. " To do this in our area is quite a way to finish my career," said Lee. "It felt like I was at home with all the fans cheering in the finals." Freshman Marcus Chevres fell behind early in his match with Steven West for the 133 pound championship and lost a 16-7 major decision. On the season he finished with a 26-17 record and went 4-1 in the tournament. Earlier on Saturday the Norfolk, Va. native advanced to the finals with a 10-5 win over Joey Heersche of Kansas State. Senior Ty Holley lost 5-1 for third place at 141 pounds to Mike Girodano of Northampton Community College. Giordano put Holley into the losers bracket on Friday in a 3-2 decision. Holley finished 23-16 on the year. Earlier on Saturday he scored a 15-5 major decision over Jason Mustall of Mott Community College and defeated Mark Burchardt by injury default from Hudson Valley Community College. Junior Matt Perry finished eighth at 149 pounds after having to take a default in his match against Lance Goodell of Mott Community College. He finished his season with a 22-18 record and earned his second All-American honor. In his first match on Saturday, the Chesapeake, Va. native lost a 6-5 decision to Jeffrey Slaughter of Louisiana State University. Sophomore Will Harcum won 9-3 over Steve Bauer of Mott Community College to take fifth place at 165 pounds. That win avenged an earlier loss to Bauer in the quarterfinals on Friday for the Williamsburg native. He opened with a flurry taking an early 4-1 advantage and won his 34th match of the season. Earlier Saturday he won by fall in 1:43 over Michael Wright of Delaware and then lost an 11-4 decision to Nick Newell of Kansas State University. Freshman Charles Mills lost 14-6 to Oscar Huntley from U.S. Naval Academy Prep for third place at 174 pounds. Mills, a freshman from Republic, Washington, finished the year 28-14 and went 4-2 in the event. Earlier Saturday he lost a 4-2 decision to Richard Doherty of Grand Valley State in the semifinals and scored a win in 5:56 over Michael Bard of Delaware in the consolation semifinals. The championship was the sixth for the Apprentice School as the women's basketball team won the U.S. Collegiate Athletic Association National Championship in 2000-01 and 2001-02, while the men's team won championships in 2001-02 and 2002-03. The baseball team won the U.S.C.A.A. national championship in 2008 in St. Petersburg, Florida. Top 10 Teams (out of 84): Apprentice School 118.5; Grand Valley State 109; U.S. Naval Prep 96.5; Marion Military Institute 96; Central Florida 85.5; U.S. Military Prep 69; U.S. Air Force Prep 64.5; Mott CC 63, Northampton CC 56.5, Kansas State 56.5. 
 

Ian McCutcheon FloWrestling.org
There is not much that I can add to the discussion of David Taylor and Colin Palmer.  Unless something drastic happens, this will be the high school match of the year.  Potentially, it’s the high school match of the decade.  With six, soon to be eight, state titles between the two, this was a dream for anybody associated with wrestling.  I give all the credit in the world to Taylor for having the guts to bump up in weight class, to Palmer for accepting the challenge, and to both coaches for making it happen.  For anybody who had the privilege of being in the building, it looked like an absolutely electric atmosphere, worthy of the magnitude of the bout. 
Everything in the previous paragraph has been said a thousand different ways by writers, message board posters, and John Q. fan who heard about the match.  But after looking at the totality of the weekend, the thing that interested me most was not the match.  In one of his interviews with Flo, Colin Palmer was asked what happened in the third period, where his 4-3 lead became an 8-5 loss.  He answered that “I don’t really get pushed too much,” and “I don’t have anybody that pushes me for the full six minutes,” to flesh out his point that conditioning played a part in the result.  On the flip side, Taylor was excited to mention that there are four or five guys he wrestles with that are national caliber, adding “there’s always somebody that’s going to take you down in practice.” 
This is not a knock on St. Ed’s program, or an assertion of Graham’s dominance as a program.  They’re two of the top programs in the history of high school wrestling.  But it does raise the real dilemma that elite wrestlers like Taylor and Palmer face.  In most sports, you can practice your skills individually and excel.  Great basketball players can work on shooting and ball handling at all times.  Baseball players take batting practice and throw.  Golfers can practice any shot in the book.  But wrestlers need somebody else to wrestle.  Being great is really only half the battle.  Wrestlers that are successful at the highest levels need not only their own individual talent, but people around to push them, whether it be fellow wrestlers, assistant coaches, or whoever.  Although wrestling appears individual, the contribution your workout partners make immeasurable, and ultimately makes the difference between champion and runner up. 
Frankly, this is one of the things that hurt the chances for ever having parity in the college game.  Wrestlers who want to become the best need to go where they’ll be pushed.  I’ve complained in this space before that team talent is way too concentrated.  But when you go to Iowa as a middle weight, you’re not just going for the tradition, but for the chance to roll around with Brent Metcalf and Ryan Morningstar every day.  That’s how you become the best.  While Michael Beasley can be the best high school player in the nation, go play for a relative basketball nobody like Kansas State and still be national player of the year and a lottery pick, a wrestler would have serious trouble flourishing in the same situation.  Schools of that profile in wrestling simply can’t handle a kid like David Taylor.  Dan Gable could be coaching the team, but if he doesn’t have the people to roll around with he’s not going to reach his ceiling.  More than any coaching change, budget shift, or facility upgrade, this is what holds back mid and lower tiered programs from jumping a level. 
One final addendum.  I loved seeing the packed house for this dual.  But what made me really happy was listening to David Taylor’s interview where he spoke of the atmosphere for the match.  As a former high school basketball player who doubles as a wrestling junkie, it was great to hear that the Graham student section is led by the basketball team.  It’s great that there is a student section period.    So often, wrestling tends have an incestuous crowd, where only wrestling people go to wrestling events and support the sport.  Often it appears as if this is by design.  As an outsider, I’ve noticed wrestling folk tend to isolate themselves as a fan base.  I realize that is imbedded in the culture.  It’s a lonely sport, and being independent is how you get through it.  But that’s not a great way to build a fan base.  The Palmer-Taylor match was.  The main reason for this is it was accessible to everybody.  Taylor said that he saw so many people that have never been to a match before.  With two competitors of that caliber and an atmosphere like that gym, tidily-winks could be exciting.  And more than just wrestling people saw it live.  That’s important.  The first time I went to a wrestling match, I saw defending state champs Matt Ciasulli and Jeff Ecklof go at it in front of a sold out crowd in Easton’s gym.  The electricity in the room that night hooked me to the sport for life.  Hopefully the same thing happened to somebody else last Saturday.   

Wrestling Videos on Flowrestling

Ian McCutcheon Contributed to this article. Flowrestling did the poll.
 
We took a poll of Division I coaches as well as members of the wrestling media to determine who the top ten coaches in the country are.  Though not necessarily an order of the most successful, these are the coaches that do the best jobs with their programs.  No surprise, most of the top programs in the country are represented here.  There also was a poll taken to determine what coaches will need to see improvement in the next few years, or they may be feeling the heat, because of tradition, funding, or recruiting base.  Below are the results of the poll, with small assessments of each selection.Top Ten Coaches in the Country
 
1. Tom Borrelli, Central Michigan (MAC Conference) Athletic Director  Dave Heeke:  Nobody in the country does more with less.  Borrelli tops this list because he has built a national powerhouse out the Central Michigan Chippewas in his 17 year reign.  A year ago, he led the Chippewas to a 7th place finish at the NCAA Tournament, which is astonishing considering that he operates with a fraction of the budget of the Big Ten and Big 12 schools he consistently beats.  He is 188-85-6 in his career at Central Michigan, and has won nine MAC Championships.  But his most impressive accomplishments are beyond the MAC.  Every year there are a host of Chippewas contending for medals and championships, which is really the hallmark of any top program.  No other school in such a small conference has mirrored Central Michigan's success.  He has been able to draw top talent to Central Michigan despite the MAC as a whole being hampered by the old qualifying system.  With qualifiers opening up, even more wrestlers may be drawn to Mount Pleasant.  This is a scary proposition, seeing last year CMU had the nation's top ranked recruiting class.  The one piece missing from Borrelli's impressive resume is a NCAA Team Title, but that could be a very real possibility in the near future.

    Some things to look out for in 2009: His right hand man and first NCAA Champion Casey Cunningham was lured away by Iowa State. Mark Disalvo, a 2x All American (and a classic Central Michigan overachiever) has filled in nicely but who will train the Central Michigan upper weights? Wynn Mikahlik, NCAA Runner-up, and the Sinnott twins are going to have to try and fill the shoes of Casey Cunningham.  This year's version of the Chippewas will be a little wet behind the ears, but they sky is the limit for this young team in the coming years.2. Tom Brands, Iowa (Big Ten) Athletic Director Gary Barta: Its hard to argue with winning. Tom Brands restored the marquee program in college wrestling to prominence by winning the NCAA tournament with Iowa in just his second year as their head coach. It is hard to imagine how things could get any better, but he just might make it happen. Brands brought in a ridiculously talented staff this year with over half the Freestyle Olympians now residing in Iowa City. It is going to be hard to knock off Iowa this year no matter what the polls say. Wrestling is king in Iowa and Tom Brands is making the best of all the tools he has at his disposal. And at Iowa you certainly have tools.  Unlike any almost any other program in the county, Iowa is the golden child of the athletic department, as well as the marquee athletic team in the talent rich state.  But with that comes a serious pressure to win, as seen by Jim Zalesky being replaced after finishing 4th at NCAA's.  Some coaches would struggling to handle those sometimes unrealistic expectations.  But Brands is not most coaches.  Widely regarded as the most intense man in a sport full of intensity, Brands' greatest strength is the faith his wrestlers have in him.  The sign of a great leader is people's willingness to follow, and six kids were willing to give up a year of their college eligibility because they felt Tom Brands was the guy who was going to make them accomplish their goals.  Few higher compliments can be paid to a coach.   That certainly was a legal and public relations mess, but it solidified his place as a guy kids want to wrestle for.  But it's not just the "Iowa Style" kids that Brands has made successful.  One of this best moments as a coach had to be Mark Perry's first NCAA title. Perry was hardly a physical, in your face wrestler, and he and Brands butted heads on more than one occasion.   But Brands was able to get Perry over the hump, snap an eight match losing streak to Johny Hendricks (who is the type of guy I'm sure Brands dreams of coaching) and won his first NCAA title, as well as the first title for one of Brands' pupils.                     Some things to Look Out For in 2009: Loaded.  They could All American at eight weight classes, and they have six wrestlers legitimately competing for a national title. Iowa is the odds-on favorite. 3. Brian Smith, Missouri (Big 12) Athletic Director Mike Alden: Upon graduating from Michigan State, Brian Smith entered the coaching ranks by putting Western High School in Fort Lauderdale Florida on the state map. He slowly moved up the coaching ladder, stopping at Cornell and Syracuse before taking the Missouri job in 1998. Mizzou at the time was perennially in the cellar of the Big 12 and rarely considered for the top 25. Since that time Brian Smith has made the Tigers contenders for a national title. During the 2006-07 season they became the 11th program in the history of college wrestling to hold a #1 ranking, completing an astonishing rebuilding job.  They finished 3rd in 2007 and are currently ranked 4th for the 2008-9 season. Furthermore they are consistenly in the top ten in attendance, a sign of the change in culture in Columbia.  Missouri high school wrestling has also entered the national radar with such a strong college program in the state. The Columbia community is actively involved in the push to bring home a national title. So far, Brian Smith's coaching highlight was when his team stormed the stage in 2007 with two of the top individual awards at the tournament given to Ben Askren (Outstanding Wrestler award) and Matt Pell (most Pins in the least amount of time).  From Big 12 doormat, to National Championship threat, Smith's epic rebuilding job solidifies his spot.            Some things to Look Out For in 2009: Currently ranked fourth, Mizzou has outstanding upper weights. Can they punch through to the next level and produce multiple NCAA Champions.  They have plenty of oppurtunity with Raymond Jordan dropping to 174 and Nick Marable holding the preseason top ranking at 165. Also look out for Georgia native Dorian Henderson at 184 lbs. Showing outside promise is Max Askren who wrestled at the Olympic Trials and Mark Ellis at HWT.  They are one of the teams that has visions of knocking off Iowa.4. Tim Flynn, Edinboro (EIWA) Athletic Director Bruce Baumgartner: Tim Flynn is proof that it's not how much you have but what you do with what you have.  Flynn has produced 20 All Americans and National Champions Josh Koscheck and Gregor Gillespie in his decade long run at Edinboro.  What makes this impressive is that Edinboro is a 7,000 person school in the remote northwest corner of Pennsylvania where wrestling is the only sport that competes at the Division I level.  Part of the success is due to a strong tradition and support from his athletic director, former Olympian Bruce Baumgartner, but any coach that can keep Edinboro on the national radar year in and year out is worth his salt.  Flynn has less than every coach on this list in terms of budget and state of the art facilities, but keeps attracting and developing top talent.  His Fighting Scots have dominated the EWL, finished as high as 8th at the NCAA Tournament, and have done it all without the glitz and glamor of programs like Iowa and Oklahoma State.

        Some things to Look Out For in 2009:  Edinboro made headlines this summer by accepting the transfers of mega-talent Garrett Scott and former NCAA Champion Paul Donahoe, who each were dismissed from their previous schools.  Donahoe will wrestle during the 2nd semester, and joins a lineup with former NCAA Champ and human highlight film Gregor Gillespie, as well as potential All Americans Jarrod King and Chris Honeycutt.  Look for another EWL championship and a high finish at NCAA's for the Fighting Scots.   5. J Robinson, Minnesota (Big 10)  Athletic Director Joel Maturi: J Robinson built Minnesota from the ground up. He left Iowa over an ugly dispute over camp funds and set out to make his mark at a new program. He left coaching altogether, before resurfacing in the Big Ten at Minnesota. He took the team that was an afterthought and made it a perennial powerhouse squad. In his 17 years at Minnesota he is 318-103-3, and has coached 11 wrestlers to National Titles.  His team has also won three national titles and holds more trophies at the University of Minnesota than any other program. In 2001 after several heartbreak finishes at the NCAA championship J Robinson won the Tournament without a single NCAA Champion but an unheard of 10 All Americans. In 2002 the Gophers successfully defended their title. He also added a National Title in 2007.  J Robinson is nothing less than an iconic figure in wrestling and to some extent, in the Twin Cities metro area. However, his real legacy and influence may be made with his intensive camp system he pioneered. His camp blueprint has created one of the major systems of funding for college wrestling, and its alumns include a host of All Americans and National Champions.  He also is one of the great ambassadors of the sport, and his contributions extend far beyond competition. Few market wrestling quite like J Robinson.  He started the Border Brawl event between Iowa and Minnesota that became the biggest dual in the sport. He has done everything under the sun to promote his program and wrestling at University of Minnesota, particularly with his outside the box and controversial thinking. Besides his team making headlines he will often make the news in the Minneapolis area with his outspoken opinions. J Robinson holds more titles than anyone else on this list except for John Smith. He is not invincible, as his Gophers underachieved last season, where they were predicted to run away with a National Championship, but Robinson's squad is looking to turn the page and return to glory this year.            Some things to Look Out For in 2009:   Marty Morgan, J Robinson's right hand man left the staff to coach one of Minnesota's all time best wrestlers Brock Lesnar in MMA. How will the Gophers staff and team respond? The Gophers shouldn't be in title competition right now but they have an extremely young and talented team. They had arguably one the best recruiting classes in the nation last year, even after losing Jake Deitchler to the Olympic Training Center.  And while a team title may be a stretch, they have plenty of wrestlers capable of winning it all.  Jayson Ness was the odds-on favorite at 125, leading the nation in falls and finishing as Big Ten and NCAA runner up.  He moves up to 133 looking to make one more step up the podium.  They also return former NCAA Champ Dustin Schlatter, who is also bumping up a weight class in search of another title.  Another guy to keep your eye on is red-shirt freshman Zach Sanders.  Sanders is the most decorated wrestler in Minnesota state history, and should make an immediate impact in the lineup. 6. John Smith, Oklahoma State (Big 12) Athletic Director Mike Holder: Not many people have five NCAA titles to their coaching names. Then again, not many people are John Smith.  Smith is possibly the most decorated wrestler in American history, and has only expanded his legend in the coaching realm.  Smith took over a program decimated by NCAA sanctions at the tender age of 28.   He won an NCAA title in just his second season, but then Cowboys endured a ten year drought, watching Iowa and Minnesota pass them on the national scene. However, Smith brought the Cowboys back to glory in 2003 with an NCAA title as a mature and seasoned head coach. This was the beginning of a Cowboy four-peat, highlighted by one of the greatest teams in history.  The 2005 installment of the Cowboys crowned five NCAA champions, the most in history.  They also set an NCAA record for points scored and margin of victory. All in all, Smith has crowned 23 National Champions, and no doubt has many more on the way.  Few coaches have the international experience or the ability to surround themselves with championship caliber assistants like Smith.  Any wrestler would be crazy not to want to pick his brain.    

            Some things to Look Out For in 2009:  Obe Blanc, Jamal Parks, Clayton Foster, Brandon Mason and Jared Rosholt are wrestlers to watch for the Cowboys. Blanc is a former All American who transfers to Stillwater from Lock Haven after an Olympic red-shirt year.  Parks is a high school national champ that is fast, entertaining to watch, and in a wide open weight class. Clayton Foster just took 3rd in the Junior Worlds this summer, which some consider the second toughest tournament in the world. Brandon Mason moves down to 165, is vicious on top, and has already been on the podium.  And Jared Rosholt is ranked #1 in the preseason ranking at heavyweight. 
7. Rob Koll, Cornell (Ivy League) Athletic Director Andrew Noel Jr:   Rob Koll has taken the Cornell program to a point where it is a top contender for an NCAA Championship. And unlike any other coach on this list, he has done it without the aid of scholarships or red-shirt years, both not allowed by the Ivy League.  He also has to deal with the rigid academic standards that come with the Ivy League.  But despite these challenges, Koll has built a national power, unseating Lehigh as the dominant force in the EIWA and has put together a team with a realistic shot at a National Title.  He has not only built up the team he has built up the facilities. Through his savy business skills Rob Koll has found a way to build a standalone wrestling facility for his team that ranks as one of the best in the nation.  This will only help him draw blue-chippers to Ithaca.  Facility improvements, a top notch education, and the ability to compete for a winner are the selling points Koll has used to attract some of the nation's best recruiting classes.  He has bucked the common knowledge that great schools can't also have great wrestling, especially if they don't even have scholarships to give.

            Some things to Look Out For in 2009:  Cornell is in the hunt!!! The last NCAA Championship that Cornell won in any sport was in 1977 with a title in Mens Lacrosse, but the Big Red have as good a chance as anybody this season.  They have six former All Americans in their lineup, welcoming back National Champion Jordan Leen, Mack Lewnes, Steve Anceravage, and Mike Grey, and former All Americans returning from injury Troy Nickerson and Josh Arnone.8. Cael Sanderson, Iowa State (Big 12) Athletic Director Jamie Pollard:  When the Ohio State job opened up two years back, it set the wrestling coaching carousal in motion.  Cael Sanderson's name was rumored to be at the top of the Buckeyes short list.  Afraid to repeat their mistake from decades ago when Iowa State let legend Dan Gable flee to Iowa, the Cyclones acted quickly, announcing that Bobby Douglas had resigned at that they were hiring Sanderson effective immediately.  Everybody in wrestling knows of Sanderson's accomplishments.  Just like John Smith, he took over his alma mater at the age of 28.  In his first season, Sanderson was named National Coach of the Year, and the Cyclones were national runners up.  He also coached his first of what will be many national champions, with Trent Paulson claiming the title at 157 pounds.  Sanderson has the ability to put together stellar recruiting classes, as few high school wrestlers are able to say no to possibly the greatest collegiate wrestler in American history.  Iowa State has become a haven for upper weights, as the chance to roll around with Cael is one almost every wrestler dreams of.  

        Some things to Look Out for in 2009:  Some polls have the Cyclones ranked first, ahead of defending champ and archrival Iowa.  This is based on their incredible tournament strength, with potential National Champions Nick Fanthorpe, Nick Gallick, Cyler Sanderson, Jon Reader, Jake Varner, and David Zabriskie in the lineup.  They also match up well with the Hawkeyes in a dual setting.  Hopes are justifiably high in Ames this season.9. Tom Ryan, Ohio State (Big 10) Athletic Director Gene Smith:  For years, Ohio State was seen as a sleeping giant in college wrestling.  With all of the high school talent dripping out of Ohio, it was just a matter of time before the Buckeyes were one of the best teams in the country.  In any college sport, they key to success first and foremost is winning your turf.  This was Ohio State's problem, as top programs across the country came and plucked top talent right out of Ohio.  Not so anymore.  Tom Ryan established himself as one of the premier head coaches in the country by turning Hofstra into one of the best teams in the country, building a program at a school with no tradition, little support, and a conference with few qualifiers.  His success at Hofstra drew the Buckeyes attention, and his hire has paid off nicely.  The Buckeyes finished second in the country last season and crowned two national champions, including Mike Pucillio, who followed Ryan from Hofstra.  Almost more importantly, Ryan has started his domiance in Ohio recruting, signing Tony Jameson and Sean Nemac, as well as securing commitments from prep studs Colin Palmer and Logan Steiber.  If Ryan consistently wins Ohio, there is no reason he won't also win a National Championship.

    Some things to Look Out for in 2009:  With National Champions J Jaggers and Pucillio back, the Buckeyes feel like they can knock off Iowa for a National Title.  They'll need to replace National Runner up J.D. Bergman, but with Lance Palmer back at 149, Nikko Triggas and Reece Humphrey ready to make the leap from good to great, and high impact transfers Dave Rella and Cody Gardner making their debut, the Buckeyes will be right back in the thick of things. 10. Pat Santoro, Lehigh (EIWA) Athletic Director Joe Sterrett: Lehigh has entrusted former assistant Pat Santoro to return their program to glory after a rough 2007-08 season.  Santoro's rebuilding job seems to be ahead of schedule after the season's opening weekend where he defeated his former team, the 17th ranked Maryland Terripans.  Santoro had previously been the coach at Maryland for five seasons, overseeing one of the best turnarounds in any NCAA sport.  Maryland was a doormat in the ACC, operated with virtually no scholarships, and the program was at a crossroads.  Rather than drop the program, Maryland hired Santoro away from Lehigh and started the Fear the Turtle program, which led to the full funding of all their men's sports.  Blessed with the full compliment of scholarships, Santoro built a program on the verge of being a national power.  Last year, the Terps finished 17th at NCAA's, and Hudson Taylor was the first Terp All American in over a decade.  Both of these accomplishments seemed unheard of when Santoro took the job.  Lehigh hired him away from Maryland in part because he has led to Lehigh's decline.  Maryland's current roster looks like a Lehigh roster during their glory run in the early 2000s.  He has stolen kids away from Pennsylvania, specifically the Lehigh Valley, and Blair Academy, and those important pipelines have been a key to Maryland's resurgence.  If he can bring those ties with him to Lehigh, watch out.  

    Some things to Look Out for in 2009:  Lehigh's squad already looks improved after one dual.  Four wrestlers made their debut, with John McDonald and Zach Rey winning.  The key for Lehigh's tournament strength will be the performance of David Craig, the stud in their lineup.  Craig was the nation's top recruit and made the Round of 12 as a true freshman.  But his sophomore campaign was a bumpy one, and he spent the second semester on the bench due to academic issues.  If everything is back in order, Craig should contend to All American, and be the first step in Santoro's rebuilding project at Lehigh.    
Ten Coaches Who Need to Win

1. Tom Minkel (Michigan State): Once upon a time, Michigan State was one of the flagship programs of the Big Ten.  They are one of only seven different schools to win a National Championship since 1960.  But last season, the Spartans qualified just one wrestler for the NCAA Tournament. Seeing that the Big Ten received over 70 qualifiers, this number is particularly damning.  Michigan and Central Michigan have consistently been beating them to top level in-state kids, and although Michigan State has had stars in the past few years, they have struggled to develop a deep lineup.  This has the natives restless.  Tom Minkel needs a breakout year in a big way. His contract is winding down and there certainly are candidates eyeing this potential opening.

2. Thom Ortiz (Arizona State): Like Michigan State, Arizona State is one of the seven schools to win a title since 1960. Also like Michigan State, they no longer are a perennial top five team. However, unlike the Spartans, the consequences have been dire in Tempe.  The Sun Devils, once the premier program in the Pac-10, barely survived their athletic department's chopping block after last season. A few powerful alumni donated a boatload of money, and will expect a return on their investment. Therefore, Arizona State's struggles at the NCAA Tournament need to end soon. Anthony Robles will certainly be an impact wrestler this season, but more are necessary to restore this team to prominance.

3. Carl Adams (Boston University): There are number of disadvantages that Carl Adams has at Boston University. The first is that Massachusetts hardly provides him with a fertile recruiting base. Second, he is the third fiddle of winter sports at BU, where hockey is the undisputed king, and basketball is among the top programs in the American East. But he does have an advantage that many coaches across the county, including some in much bigger conferences do not: a full compliment of scholarships. In a day in age where so few schools have the allotted 9.9, BU needs to be able to produce more than one All American every 20 years. Mike Roberts certainly had a good year last season, and Hunter Meys was a big recruit, but these need to be the exception, not the rule, if BU wants to be a more national player, and if the balance of power will start to swing from the midwest to the east.

4. C.D. Mock (North Carolina): C.D. Mock certainly has recruited well, but does not have the expected national accomplishments to show for it in his tenure at North Carolina. He has had success in the ACC, winning a pair of conference titles, but has not been able to translate it into significant national success, with only Evan Sola attaining All American status under Mock. He has recruited Pennsylvania especially well, but the slew of highly touted wrestlers from the Keystone State have underachieved. Some in the Tar Heel camp fear that Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina State have passed UNC in the race for the ACC. In an ever improving conference, it's important that Mock and the Tar Heels keep up.

5. Rocky Bonomo (Lock Haven): Years ago, it was Lock Haven that was the dominant small program in Pennsylvania. Like Edinboro, Lock Haven is a small Division II school competing at the Division I level in wrestling. They too have a strong tradition of nationally competitive teams, with studs like Cary Kolat and Jamarr Billman both wrestling here.  The expectation of many in Pennsylvania is that they should still be strong. However, Pennsylvania talent has increasingly gone to Penn State, Lehigh, and Edinboro when they stay in state. There also has been a huge flock of talent leaving the state, particularly to go to the ACC.  This is partly responsible for that conference's resurgence, but also for the regression of schools like Lock Haven, East Stroudsburg, and Clarion. If Bonomo is going to turn the program around, he is going to need to start keeping some of these kids in state.

6. Jack Spates (Oklahoma): You might wonder what a guy who has had more top five finishes than 90% of the coaches on this list is doing on the hot seat. But a 39th place finish at last years nationals will put the heat on for any Oklahoma sport. Part of Jack Spates ailments may be contributed to Oklahoma's high school wrestling settling into the second tier nationally.  Clearly, there is work to do here.  They've started by revamping the coaching staff, the backbone of any successful program, as well as their facilities.  Jack Spates has recently raised the money and built a state of the art facility that has upped the ante on the the spending war between programs. Furthermore Jack Spates brought in Michael Lightner, former 4x All American and NCAA Champ, plus they have renovated their wrestling room, which gives them an advantage both functionally as well as the "wow" factor for recruits.  But with these new tools in place, success will be the expectation.  In early season competition at the Brockport Open the Sooners look stronger, knocking off Edinboro, Central Michigan and Kent State, all ranked opponents. With Oklahoma's tradition and history, the facilities they have, and the support from the Administration they need to be knocking on the door to the top ten and be moving towards the top five for next year.

 
7. Jim Beichner (Buffalo): Coach Beichner has accomplished some pretty phenominal things at the University of Buffalo.  He took over a program in the late 1990s that had won six matches combined in the four years before he was hired.  In his first five years, Beichner's teams had won 50 matches.  He's coached an All American in Kyle Cerminara, and revived a lifeless program.  Now it is time for Buffalo to take the next step.  They are one of the MAC's fully funded programs, and as we've seen earlier in this list, it is possible to be a national caliber team in that conference, just ask Tom Borrelli.  Tom Ryan built Hofstra's program around New York kids, for whom Buffalo is the only other option in the state.  Buffalo is also painfully close to both western Pennsylvania and Cleveland, two wrestling hotbeds.  If Coach Beichner can tap into these advantages, his program could be a sleeping giant.
 
8. Randy Stottlemeyer (Pittsburgh): Coach Stottlemeyer is an institution at Pitt.  He is one of the longest tenured coaches in the country, approaching his 30th year as head coach.  But it is tough to look at Pitt's program and think of the potential.  Located in the heart of wrestling country, Pitt has never struggled to bring in top notch talent.  But Pitt has had a problem getting over the hump and becoming the national program that they should be.  Keith Gavin the last two seasons certainly was a great story, but National Champions are too few and far between at this school.  This is a top 10 team waiting to happen, but they've even slipped in dominance in their own conference, watching Edinboro pass them in the last few years.  There are plenty of good kids at Pitt, most notably red-shirt freshman Tyler Nauman, but it's time for Pitt to be among the best programs in the country.   
 
9 Brad Penrith (University of Northern Iowa): Northern Iowa has always been the little brother of Iowa college wrestling.  It is tough operating in the shadow of Iowa and Iowa State, but the Northern Iowa advantage is in it is in Iowa.  I've alluded to Pennsylvania and Ohio as being the two strongest states in the country, but Iowa is the most wrestling crazy.  Traditionally, Northern Iowa has been very strong, but Coach Penrith's career record of 70-57 is underwhelming.  On one hand, I give him credit for going out and scheduling tough opponents, but they also compete in the Western Region, and their conference schedule is hardly like wrestling in the Big Ten.  Northern Iowa has posed as a major program for a while, but needs the consistency to actually be one. 
 
10. Dave Amato (Brown University): There is a deep divide in the Ivy League.  Cornell, Penn, and Harvard have clearly pulled away as the class of the league, leaving Columbia, Princeton, and Brown a step behind.  But Columbia has had a two time All American, Matt Palmer, in the recent past, and Princeton has just hired Chris Ayers, a young member of the Pat Santoro coaching tree.  Amato has been at Brown for twenty five years, but has only produced two All Americans, none since 1998.  Brown also has only had two winning seasons in the last decade.  They are hampered by a lack of scholarships in a major conference, which makes this one of the more difficult jobs in the country.  But the results have not been there.
 

FloWrestling.org

The most pressing and important issue in college wrestling is not whether Iowa can regain its glory and win their first team title under the new regime, whether the NCAA changes the qualifier system to give smaller conference wrestlers a chance, or how liberally stalling rules are enforced. The most pressing and important issue in college wrestling now, and maybe ever, is what is happening at the University of Oregon.

Everybody reading this probably knows the facts, so I’ll just give a Cliff Notes version. The past two years, the Oregon State Beavers have won the College World Series, bringing a boatload of attention to the school. While baseball is hardly a member of the ruling elite in college sports (and nobody will ever join basketball and football in these ranks), the College World Series is the third most high profile event of the year, and there is a serious price tag attached. It is fair to assume that the University of Oregon saw the success of their archrival and wants a piece of the pie. Oregon has not only picked up baseball, but is trying to put together the best program money can buy. They have built a state of the art facility and hired George Horton, one of the best coaches in the country, away from Cal State Fullerton. In addition to baseball, they are also picking up Competitive Cheerleading. Now I’m a college baseball player, and love to see more programs added, but Oregon has not gone about this the right way. Because as a balance for adding these two sports, the wrestling program is being cut. For more information, go to www.saveoregonwrestling.com.

While this decision certainly is troubling for the future of wrestling, there are plenty of people way more qualified than me to teach you how to help. And there are plenty of people that care. A petition to save the program has gathered well over 7,000 signatures and the Save Oregon Wrestling drive has netted upwards of 2.3 million dollars, putting it on its way to a goal of 6.5 million which would endow the program (although the Oregon athletic department has made it clear that the money raised makes no difference, probably the first time that has happened in the history of college athletics). Despite a bleak outlook, there are very determined people who have gained a louder and louder voice to protect yet another wrestling program from being cut.

This all brings me to last week’s debacle. Before February 19th, I doubt anybody outside of Eugene had ever heard of the Daily Emerald. I’m positive that nobody on the planet had ever heard of Jeffrey Dransfeldt. But anybody who has been on any wrestling related website or message board in the past week, Oregon’s little student newspaper and their sports editor are names that draw visceral reactions. The headline to Dransfeldt’s weekly column reads “Wrestling is being cut, but do you (or I) really care?�. Suddenly these very dedicated people were very angry people.

Now I have no place to dispute the subject matter Dransfeldt chose. If he feels passionate about why Oregon should drop their wrestling program, then by all means he should be allowed to write a column about it. Part of journalism is writing things that won’t be popular. It’s your job. He certainly took a lightning rod opinion, but if he could logically back it up and give me concrete evidence as to why it would be so beneficial for the school to drop wrestling, then I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree. That’s what freedom of the press is all about. But he didn’t do that.

Dransfeldt’s column is disturbing at best. Because he didn’t back his opinion up with facts about how the wrestling program is a budget drain to the University, or how he’s in favor of scaling back of athletics as a whole, or the program is scandal ridden and deserves to go, or Title IX is so out of whack at Oregon that unpopular decisions need to be made, or the potential for an Oregon baseball team is just too good to pass up. While I wouldn’t agree with any of these reasons, at least they would offer some sort of substance. There are no facts to back his opinion up. Instead he “will be the first to say sayonara� to the wrestling program for three reasons. First, nobody cares. Second, he broke his wrist wrestling in gym class when he was in junior high. Third, he likes to play pick up basketball. Are. You. Kidding. Me?

Of course, we need to take Dransfeldt’s observations at face value because “Many students on campus likely share my opinion. Ask nearly any student what they think about wrestling, and the reply will border on ambivalence� which is essentially a convenient way of saying, “Nobody is actually going to read this, and I want to make this point, but I don’t want to do any research.� He doesn’t look for attendance records (such as maybe the 4,000 people that showed up for the NWCA All Star Classic or the close to 2,000 people at the Oregon-Oregon State dual last week), and doesn’t even have a quote from someone in his apparent army full of wrestling-apathetic students. His support for the lack of attendance at Oregon’s instead rests on the fact that he has not attended a wrestling match in his three years at Oregon. As the sports editor for the school paper, isn’t that more a statement to your level of commitment instead of a reason that wrestling at Oregon is a failure. Plus based on the “attendance is the driving force beyond college sports� logic, shouldn’t Oregon also be dropping their cross country (who by the way are the defending national champions), lacrosse, golf, tennis, and track teams? After all, I’ve never seen a student section anywhere sold out for a golf match. Anybody can see from a mile away that is an misguided statement. Besides, if Oregon is anything like Lafayette (the school I attend), nobody reads the newspaper either, so that probably should fall by the wayside too.

The meat of Dransfeldt’s article comes from his tear jerking tale of woe from junior high, where the while wrestling the over aggressive Chad Stevens, Dransfeldt landed awkwardly on his wrist after he stopped trying and was thrown to the mat. The injury left Dransfeldt sprawled out in pain that was “instant and excruciating�, required his parents to take him to the hospital where he was X-rayed and fitted for a cast, and most importantly, kept him on the sidelines for much of his community league basketball season. He finishes by saying “The sport of basketball�the game I love�had been taken away instantly by the sport I hated.� I’m not making this up; this is the majority of the article. Fill in jokes as you see fit.

Finally, he complains that the wrestling team’s “move� from the Casanova Center to one of the recreational basketball courts for practice has cut into prime pick-up basketball. He then explicitly states that he equates wrestling’s importance with that of pick up basketball, and he can’t wait for the season to be over so there are more courts to play on. My major concern here is that he’s directing his anger at the wrong place. Shouldn’t he be more upset with the athletic department that kicked wrestling out of its facility and moved it to the Rec Center? If Dransfeldt is looking for a noble editorial to write that sticks up for pick up basketball, there’s the subject he should be attacking. He finishes by saying that the reopening of these pick up courts settles his score with wrestling by giving him more opportunities to play basketball, since wrestling took those opportunities from him years ago. There you have it; that is why Oregon Wrestling being dropped is a blessing.

This is the gist of Dransfeldt’s article. It is no more than a page long. I’ve only seen the online version, but in print it is probably just a sidebar on the front of the sports page next to a basketball article. When the paper hit campus, I’m sure only a handful of people read the article in print. Most of them were probably Dransfeldt’s friends (as somebody who dabbles in writing, that is usually your whole audience, and you need to beg them to read it). He probably thought this column would be published one day and forgotten the next. As Lee Corso would say, not so fast my friend.

The mistake is right in the headline. “Do you really care?� The answer has been a resounding yes. On the Daily Emerald’s website, the second most commented article has 15 comments. Dransfeldt’s article has an astonishing 664 response comment, most of them incredibly negative. Looks like he underestimated the outcry from the fans. By lunchtime on the 19th, the link to this article was on every wrestling website in the country. And suddenly, everybody with even a passing interest in college wrestling had read the article. Nobody was happy. Enjoy it Jeffrey, it probably will be the most read piece of your career. It also will be the most full your inbox has ever been. The rallying cry has been to flood him with e-mails expressing the disapproval of the wrestling community. The paper’s editor has also received her fair share of mail. He clearly opened a can of worms he never anticipated.

The backlash has good and bad qualities. It is a testament to the strength and solidarity of the wrestling community that so many people have picked up on this story and responded to it (I’m patting myself on the back for sending him an e-mail). The article even appeared on the Lehigh Valley wrestling site, which is over 3,000 miles away from Eugene. The internet is one of wrestling’s biggest allies, and it came through here. Without a few outraged wrestling fans posting the link everywhere, this story could have fallen by the wayside rather than become a rallying cry for Save Oregon Wrestling. Instead, plenty of people have publicly voiced their disapproval. Some of the comments left on the Emerald’s site have been intelligent, eloquent, and appropriate. The response piece three days later by Jeremy McLaughlin is particularly well done. As a member of the Oregon wrestling team, if anybody has a legitimate gripe it’s him, but he takes the higher ground. I commend him for that; he is clearly a class act. Other responses have given the wrestling community somewhat of a black eye. Personal attacks, insults, and threats undermine the popular support that such a negative article has created for wrestling. I urge anybody who thinks they should respond to Dransfeldt in this way to take a step back and think for a second. While it might make you feel better, it doesn’t do anything to actually help the cause. It also reinforces stereotypes of the wrestling community as barbaric, and as a sport with plenty of negative stereotypes, we shouldn’t fan those flames. But by all means, our sport should stand up for itself. If anybody hasn’t yet responded to this article, please do so.

Will all this kicking and screaming ultimately change Dransfeldt’s mind or save the program? Probably not. But what it does is say that wrestling is not going to take this sitting down. I’m glad that both the Daily Emerald and Jeffrey Dransfeldt are being held accountable for this irresponsible piece of journalism. It is offensive not only to the wrestling community, but to any college athlete, who can assume that not only could their sport be a flippant decision away from the chopping block, but that their own peers will not stick up for them. This is where Dransfeldt has failed his fellow students as a member of their paper. I hope the newly instated competitive cheerleading team practices on Dransfeldt’s precious basketball courts next year. In a small way, it will make up for the lost sport Dransfeldt’s school took away.

...Second-Ranked Missouri Wrestling Team Returns to Mats Wednesday...

Columbia , Mo. ? The second-ranked Missouri wrestling team and third-ranked Iowa State Cyclones put their 3-0 Big 12 records on the line in front of a record-setting 2,772 fans in the Hearnes Center, with the Tigers falling short of the victory, 27-12. Competing without two starters, Missouri managed only three wins on the day at 141, 174 and 184 pounds. The televised dual will be rebroadcast on Fox Sports Midwest, Saturday, Feb. 17, at 7 p.m. (CT) and Friday, Feb. 23 at Noon.

After suffering back-to-back losses at 125 and 133 pounds, freshman Ashtin Primus (South Connelsville, Pa.) put Missouri on the board with his 8-3 decision over Laramie Shaffer at 141 pounds. Shaffer scored first with a takedown but Primus was quick to rattle off an escape and two takedowns for a 5-2 lead entering the second period. Deferring his choice until the third period, Shaffer chose neutral to start the second and was taken down with 48 seconds on the clock. Primus was awarded his final point of the match after Shaffer locked hands (illegal hold) and Shaffer was credited with 1:30 of riding time for the final Tiger win by decision.

A string of Missouri losses at 149, 157 and 165 pounds brought up senior defending National Champion Ben Askren (Hartland, Mo.) at 174 pounds. The No. 1 ranked wrestler wasted no time in pinning is opponent, Grant Turner, planting the Cyclones' shoulders in the mat in 1:08. The fall was Askren's 22nd pin this season recorded in the first period and helped Missouri cut Iowa State's lead in half, 18-9.

Sophomore NCAA qualifier Raymond Jordan (New Bern, N.C.), ranked fifth in the nation at 184 pounds, gave Missouri an additional three team points with his 6-4 decision over No. 6 Jake Varner. Tied at three entering the final period, Jordan earned a takedown on the edge of the mat with 23 seconds left on the clock. Tallying 1:33 of riding time, Jordan defended his higher ranking with his 23rd win of the season. Jordan is a perfect 5-0 against Big 12 opponents.

In a match that paired No. 1 ranked Maxwell Askren ( Hartland, Wis.) against 10th-ranked Kurt Backes at 197 pounds, a defensive fall, gave Iowa State a 12 point lead that Missouri was unable to recover from. Scrambling on the mat, Backes came up with the pin in the second period ( 3:51) that ended Askren's perfect 26-win season.

"We'll move on," Head Coach Brian Smith said. "We need to wrestle better. We didn't wrestle our best today but we'll get back on track. In this sport rankings don't matter, it is how you perform in March that counts."

The Tigers will host their second to last dual of the campaign Wednesday, Feb. 14, when they take on Old Dominion at 8 p.m. (CT) in the Hearnes Center. Fans that bring a Missouri men's basketball ticket to the dual can purchase a ticket for $2. Missouri's final dual, featuring senior night, will be held Sunday, Feb. 18, 1 p.m. (CT). The University of Missouri will host the 11th annual Big 12 Championships in the Hearnes Center , Saturday, March 3. Tickets are now available for purchase and can be bought at the ticket office in Mizzou Arena, by calling 1-800-CAT-PAWS or by visiting the ticket office online at www.mutigers.com

Wt. Wrestler vs. Wrestler: Result MU ISU

125 #12 Nick Fanthorpe (ISU) decision John Olanowski (MU): 8-1 0 3

133 Nick Gallick (ISU) major decision Tim Kephart (MU): 14-3 0 7

141 Ashtin Primus (MU) decision Laramie Shaffer (ISU): 8-3 3 7

149 #19 Cyler Sanderson (ISU) decision #7 Josh Wagner (MU): 5-2 3 10

157 #4 Trent Paulson (ISU) tech fall#13 Nicholas Marable (MU): 20-5 3 15

165 #3 Travis Paulson (ISU) decision #7 Matt Pell (MU): 2-0 3 18

174 #1 Ben Askren (MU) fall Grant Turner (ISU): 1:08 9 18

184 #5 Raymond Jordan (MU) decision #6 Jake Varner (ISU): 6-4 12 18

197 #10 Kurt Backes (ISU) fall #1 Maxwell Askren (MU): 3:51 12 24

HWT #15 David Zabriskie (ISU) decision #20 Mark Ellis (MU): 8-4 12 27

Missouri Name Season Overall Dual Big 12

125 John Olanowski 18-14 18-14 4-9 2-6

133 Tyler McCormick 12-6 63-29 7-4 3-1

141 Ashtin Primus 31-11 31-11 4-7 4-4

149 Josh Wagner 24-8 61-32 10-3 6-1

157 Michael Chandler 18-7 37-23 6-2 2-1

165 Matt Pell 15-4 115-32 8-3 3-3

174 Ben Askren 32-0 143-8 13-0 9-0

184 Raymond Jordan 23-4 56-16 10-1 5-0
197 Maxwell Askren 26-1 26-1 11-1 4-1

HWT Mark Ellis 12-8 12-8 5-3 2-3