Marianetti Brings Success to Elmhurst
Great article on IllinoisMatmen.com about Elmhurst head coach Steve Marianetti.
A call for links
Now that we are in the slow part of the DIII wrestling year, I am asking for help generating content for this site. If you come across an article or Sports Info release concerning Division III wrestling, please use the Contact link at the left to pass it on to me so it can be posted here.
Scott Miller Retires at Pacific
From Pacific University Sports Information
FOREST GROVE – After six years leading the Pacific men’s and women’s wrestling programs, Head Coach Scott Miller has announced that he is retiring from coaching.
Miller said that he plans to leave the mat after 17 years as a head coach at the Division I and Division III levels to enter private business in Spokane, Wash. Miller and his wife, Patti, are both natives of the Inland Empire region.
Miller said that the rigors of coaching two programs at one time has limited the time that he would like to spend with his family, which was a contributing factor to his decision. “I’m worn out,” Miller said. “We have two programs and they have taken all of my time. It’s really two years jammed into one.
“I still like coaching,” Miller added. “I could very easily coach again next year, but I think if I leave now it gives a new coach some good people to work with.”
Pacific Director of Athletics Ken Schumann praised Miller for his work with both the men’s and women’s programs over the last six years. “Scott has been a great member of our team for the past six years and, in addition to being a valued colleague, has done a tremendous job with our student-athletes in our wrestling programs.”
Simpson College Names Manny Head Coach
From Simpson College Sports Information
Simpson College Athletic Director John Sirianni has announced he has promoted Clint Manny to head wrestling coach. Manny replaces Ron Peterson who resigned earlier this year.
“Clint is ready for the challenge and IÂ’m confident heÂ’ll do a great job,” Sirianni said. “He grew up in Iowa, was very successful at Simpson, and understands what it takes to succeed at the conference and national level.”
Peterson also said Manny is ready to lead the program.
“Clint is a tremendous coach and has the vision to lead Simpson wrestling to new horizons,” Peterson commented. “He was born to be a college wrestling coach. He has the tools to help these student-athletes become champions.”
Manny moves to head coach after serving as a member of the Simpson staff for the past three years, two of which were as the full-time assistant. Manny was a student assistant for the Storm in 2005-06 as he completed his physical education degree. Manny became the all-time winningest wrestler at Simpson when he won three matches at the 2005 NCAA Division III National Championships. Manny concluded his career with a 148-24 record, breaking the old record of 146 (146-17-1) set by Travis Young (1989-92).
A three-time All-American for Simpson at 149 pounds, Manny was the national runner-up at 149 as a junior and as a senior. He spent all of his senior season ranked first in the weight class. Of his five losses as a senior (34-5), two were to wrestlers from NCAA Division I Oklahoma State including then No. 1 Zach Esposito and three were to nationally ranked Division III opponents. Manny was named Most Outstanding Wrestler of the 2004 Division III NWCA Duals. He was chosen Iowa Conference Male Athlete and Wrestler of the Week a total of four times in his career.
“I am very excited for the opportunity to represent Simpson College wrestling,” Manny said. “I am looking forward to helping build a program that already has a strong tradition. I had a great experience at Simpson and am committed to providing the same opportunities for future student-athletes. I would like to thank Ron for giving me the tools to succeed in the sport of wrestling over the past seven years.”
2008 NCAA Info
The page for the 2008 NCAA Championships can be reached by clicking “NCAA Results” in the menu to the left. Just some spring housecleaning to get ready for the offseason and next year. The 2009 NCAA tournament is now only 353 days away.
Empire Wrestlers of the Year
Senior Matt Miller (Muncy, Pa.) of Lycoming and freshman Blaine Woszczak (Manasquan, N.J.) of Ithaca have been named Empire Collegiate Wrestling Conference (ECWC) Wrestler of the Year and Rookie of the Year in voting by the league’s coaches and sports information directors.
Miller capped an undefeated season by winning the NCAA title at 197 pounds, blanking the top seed and defending national champion 2-0 in the final. Miller won the ECWC title at 197 pounds and finished the year (his only season at Lycoming) with a 20-0 record.
Woszczak went 32-14 and was a wild-card selection to the NCAA Championships, where he beat the tournament’s #6 seed before being eliminated. Woszczak, who placed second at the conference championship meet and was a three-time ECWC Rookie of the Week, is the second Bomber in as many years to win the award.
ECWC Weekly Award website
NWCA Scholar Individuals/Teams
2008 NWCA Scholar All-American Individuals
Congratulations to Williams having the highest team GPA in 2008
UPDATE: Joel VandeBoom of MSOE was inadvertently left off the list from the NWCA. He is a 157 lb. junior Architectural Engineering/Construction Management major with a 3.99 GPA.
Millikin Drops Wrestling
I don’t believe the official announcement has been made, but follow the link to InterMat for a letter from Millikin Assistant Coach Bill Rinker.
Final Results
Team Scores – Wartburg wins 6th title since 1996
Outstanding Wrestler:Â Josh Chelf, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
Coach of the Year: John Oostendorp, Coe College
Assistant Coach of the Year: Dustin Hinschberger, Coe College
Rookie Coach of the Year: Mike Clayton, Stevens Institute of Technology
NCAA Champions:
125: Seth Flodeen, Augsburg
133: Dave Morgan, King’s (2x champ)
141: Mike Bonora, Rhode Island (First NEWA champ since 1994)
149: Jacob Naig, Wartburg
157: Aaron Wernimont, Wartburg
165: Tyler Burkle, Coe (first ever from Coe)
174: Josh Chelf, UW-Lax (2x champ)
184: Romeo Djoumessi, Wartburg (undefeated)
197: Matt Miller, Lycoming (beat defending champ in final)
285: Dan Laurent, UW-Lax (#8 seed)
Fantasy Wrestling Results
In the comments of this post, calculate your score and post in the following format for each of the 10 weights. If you do not follow this format, I will delete your post and disqualify you.
Weight Class: Name, Place, Points
Then put your total at the end.
UPDATE 3/9/08 8:18pm:Â Current leader is TRY with 7000 points on the strength of the savvy pick of Kramer at 197 who paid out 700 points while only costing 50.
Streaming Video Link
Click below for the direct link to the NCAA streaming video of today’s semifinal and finals action. The semifinals start at 11am Eastern and the finals kick off at 8pm Eastern. You must have Internet Explorer for the link below to work, and you will have to sign up for a free account.
All-American Breakdown
Click the link for a detailed breakdown by conference, but here is how the conferences fared.
| Centennial | 3/11 |
| Empire | 5/18 |
| Great Lakes | 15/23 |
| Iowa | 25/32 |
| Metro | 5/17 |
| Midwest | 8/15 |
| NEWA | 5/14 |
| Ohio | 3/11 |
| Wisconsin | 11/19 |
2008 AA Distribution (full breakdown by weight)
NEWA Championship Finals
The NCAA tournament is well underway, and here is some video to hold you until the semifinals are webcast:
2008 NEWA Wrestling Championship Finals (select specific matches after clicking the link)
2 Rounds Streamed Live
The finals and semifinals this weekend will be streamed live at NCAA.com
Go to NCAA.com at the times listed below on Saturday to watch:
Semifinals: 11:00am Eastern
Finals: 8:00pm Eastern
NCAA Preview: 125
Weight Class Previews:
125 | 133 | 141 | 149 | 157 | 165 | 174 | 184 | 197 | 285
Weight Class Preview: 125
Qualifiers by Weight
Heilman has taken on all comers this season and come out on top every time except once against Rush, who he’s beaten three times, and twice against Big Ten opponents. He wrestles an attacking style but is not afraid to be unconventional when the need arises. The senior is talented and motivated to make that #1 seed stand up in front of the home crowd. He has 8 wins against national qualifiers including #2 Rush, #4 Struthers, and #7 Baatar. His quest, along with 159 others begins tomorrow.
Rush has had a brilliant freshman season and has four losses on the year. Three of those were to Heilman and one was to Struthers. He really gets after it and has enough talent to win this weight on the right day. The IIAC really dominates here with three of the top four seeds in Heilman, Rush, and #4 Struthers. #3 belongs to the unconventional Oster. He is tough enough as is, but he is an especially difficult matchup for a first time opponent. If he gets past Cohen in the first round, he’ll then face Vallejo for the third time in his career. Oster won the Wheaton tournament and stopped 2007 NCAA runner-up and #5 seed Flodeen in the regional final.
Sheetz is the #6 seed, and he is another highly touted freshman who came into college with impressive credentials. He has split with Struthers, but lost to Flodeen and Flickinger. He did top All-American Vallejo and Miller in the regional. Baatar steps in at #7 with a win over Flickinger but losses to the 1, 2, and 5 seeds. Flickinger is another returning All-American at this weight, and he is down at #8.
Vallejo comes in unseeded, but defeated Oster here last year on his way to an All-American finish. He’ll likely get another shot at Oster if the seeds hold. Moving on in this deep weight, there are previous qualifiers like Kingsland, McInally, and Penny that didn’t get seeds.
Looking at the bracket, there is no easy road, but Vallejo is set up fairly well to repeat his placing performance of last year, as long as he is ready for another go with Oster.
NCAA Preview: 197
Weight Class Previews:
125 | 133 | 141 | 149 | 157 | 165 | 174 | 184 | 197 | 285
Weight Class Preview: 197
Qualifiers by Weight
Miller has so far done an admirable job defending his NCAA title of a year ago, defeating #2 Bonander twice and not losing since an early season setback to Bollig. He was 2nd to Iowa State’s Bertolino at the Harold Nichols for his other loss of the year. While he’s tough on top, Miller is also able to win on his feet. He won’t have an easy road to a 2nd title, as he could see #4 Bollig, who defeated him, in the semifinals and Bonander in the finals. Both Bonander matches went into overtime, and neither wrestler was close to a takedown in the IIAC final. Still, Miller has to be the favorite to repeat.
Bonander has only lost in D3 to Miller, and he can hold his own with the best of the competitors here. He has defeated Kramer, Fogliano, Crespo, West, and Neumann to earn his seed. #3 Hartt is 36-1 with a win over Bollig and a loss in overtime to Holforty, though he won the first matchup. He had a disappointing end to last season in the region, but he turned it on this year to win the region and garner his #3 seed. Bollig has the win over Miller to his credit and has only a single loss to Hartt as a blemish on his record. This weight class has a very tough top four, despite the presence of only 13 competitors in th weight.
Fogliano has big move potential and has a 14-1 record, losing only to Bonander. Miller is undefeated in a similarly short season, while Holforty’s big win is over Hartt while also beating Neumann and Kramer. Crespo drew one of the byes in the first round, leaving him now one win short of All-American status, something that could be decided in the rubber match between him and Kramer. Each has one win against the other, and the third match may be for a chance to compete on Saturday.
Eric Vincent has yet to face any of the other qualifiers as a result of the unique King’s Point schedule, but he is a strong athlete who has come along well in his sophomore year. Of the unseeded wrestlers, Joe West is probably in the best spot in the bracket.
NCAA Preview: 174
Weight Class Previews:
125 | 133 | 141 | 149 | 157 | 165 | 174 | 184 | 197 | 285
Weight Class Preview: 174
Qualifiers by Weight
Josh Chelf blew through the competition last year and is poised to do so again this season. He was 4th at the Midlands, losing only to highly ranked D1 competition. He has yet to lose in D3 this year, though last year’s finalist Vanderhyde gave him a close match earlier this year, catching him in some upper body throws and Bath wrestled him close once as well. He’s defeated Bath, Lynaugh, Vanderhyde, Kehrli, Osgoodby, and Plowman this season and is coming off a 6-0 blanking of the #2 seed.
Bath was an All-American last year and is the #2 seed. He has 7 losses, but only the two to Chelf were in D3. He’s won big in some matches, but wrestled others closer than you would expect. Vanderhyde was 2nd here last year after a great run that ended against the powerful Chelf. He has missed a lot of time with injuries, but he’s done well down the stretch as he worked to erase the memory of a 16-8 loss to Owens in January.
Van Patten and MacWhinnie are two wrestlers who have not seen a lot of the other competition due to the schedules they wrestle, but both are talented and slotted in right where they belong in the bracket. MacWhinnie has split with Osgoodby and beaten Priest and DeCristo, while Van Patten has only wrestled Priest.
Moenkedick has burst onto the scene this year as a freshman with over 30 wins and his only D3 loss is up at 184 to Zabel. He has a lot of falls this year and won the Great Lakes region in impressive fashion. Jentz is the IIAC champ who is 3-2 against Kehrli and has beaten Lynaugh, Owens, and Brown. Owens is the NEWA champ who has beaten Vanderhyde but lost to Jentz. He also topped conference foe Czarneski a few times.
After the seeded wrestlers, there are some other returning qualifiers like Plowman, Osgoodby, and Reilly as well as sleeper pick and mid year transfer Reilly who has shown his talent in a half season of work.
NCAA Preview: 133
Weight Class Previews:
125 | 133 | 141 | 149 | 157 | 165 | 174 | 184 | 197 | 285
Weight Class Preview: 133
Qualifiers by Weight
Adam Johnson had a slow start to his college wrestling career. As a freshman at 141, he finished 28-21. However, he made the right choice to drop to 133 the next season and was rewarded with a 7th place finish at the NCAA tournament, a finish he improved to 3rd the next year. Now, he’s the top seed at 133 coming off a huge win over Lang in the regional final. He’s a tremendous athlete with a wide array of offensive skills and some talent on top to go with it. He has also defeated Morgan by a 4-3 score in December.
Morgan can’t be overlooked as the returning NCAA champ at this weight. His sole loss is to Johnson, and he’s defeated qualifiers and conference foes Sarinelli and Gummerson twice each. Also a 2x All-American, he is compact and very difficult to score on with good offense of his own. NCAA tournament matches often come down to one takedown, and Morgan is able to make one takedown stand up. Lang is the #3 seed here who is very dangerous with only the loss to Johnson in D3. He has 18 first period falls this year and only 6 regular decisions. At #4 is Helvey, who cannot be overlooked with his 4-0 win over Johnson this season at the Desert Duals. He was pinned by Lang, but has defeated every other qualifier he’s faced. He won in overtime against Nothern in the IIAC final in a match where Nothern was all over his legs but could only finish once.
All-American Kolinski is the 5 seed with wins over Sarinelli and Nothern. He’s wrestled just 20 times this year and will not go down quietly against a higher seed. Nothern’s offense kept him in the match against Helvey and could do so this weekend
An intriguing wrestler to watch this weekend is #8 Hulegaard. He is a 3x All-American who fell to 5th in the IIAC without wrestling either finalist. He’s not in a great spot in the bracket, if the seeds hold, as a win in the first round coupled with a loss to Johnson in the quarters would leave him facing Bartlett who has a losing record, but defeated Hulegaard last time out.
Beyond the seeds, Gummerson is another dangerous wrestler who had Morgan on his back earlier this year. Bartlett is in the interesting situation where he has to win once to place if he loses first round, but twice if he wins.
NCAA Preview: 149
Weight Class Previews:
125 | 133 | 141 | 149 | 157 | 165 | 174 | 184 | 197 | 285
Weight Class Preview: 149
Qualifiers by Weight
Naig has been a consistent top performer this year, losing only to D1 wrestlers and placing 2nd in the always tough Harold Nichols Open to start the year. He kept rolling from there, racking up an impressive number of falls on his way to and IIAC title. He has beaten Cook, Quist, Adams, Harrington, Kastel, Mauseth, and Smith. Cook closed the gap slightly in the IIAC finals, riding Naig out in the 3rd period, but he did not come close to turning Naig. The 2006 finalist is looking for his first title in 2008.
He’ll have his hands full, however, should he meet Holst in the final. Holst is having nearly the same type of year as Naig with a list of impressive wins including a 16-2 convincing win over Kastel in the regional final. He is also undefeated in D3 and has won a lot of matches by lopsided scores. He waited his turn at Augsburg last year, and this year he’s making it count. At #3 is the dangerous 2x All-American Spence who has big move potential at any time and he has also yet to be defeated in D3 with wins over Kastel, Harrington, and Mizer. Something has to give at this weight, as #4 LeBlanc also has yet to fall to a D3 opponent, though he has wrestled a lot of close matches this year and has yet to face another seeded wrestler at this weight. LeBlanc was 4th in 2006 before failing to place last year. He should get the job done here.
Moving on, Kastel and Harrington are at 5 and 6. Kastel has lost to the top three here but not to anyone else. He flows from one move to the next very well and puts points on the board. Harrington stays in solid position and just plain wins. Cammisa is a reach seed at #7, considering he is not a returning All-American and has not wrestled any of the other competitors at this weight. 23 of his 25 matches are against wrestlers from his conference, though he did miss some time with an injury. He’s tough on top, but untested.
The draw matters big for the unseeded wrestlers, and of them, Shank and Woszczak are set up fairly well in a tough weight.
