Northern Iowa shuts out Air Force; Coaches discuss if NCAA qualifying change will hurt WWC teams
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Competing with confidence in all 10 matches, Northern Iowa shut out U.S. Air Force Academy, 42-0, in a Western Wrestling Conference (WWC) dual against the on Saturday night.
Northern Iowa continued its WWC dominance with the win. It was their 10th straight conference dual meet win, and UNI has yet to lose to a conference opponent since this new league was created two years ago. The Panthers entered the meet ranked No. 22 in the nation. UNI won its second WWC meet in two days, stopping Northern Colorado, 28-13, on Friday night in Greeley.
After the match, both coaches discussed the new NCAA qualifying standards, where only individual conference champions automatically made the national tournament, and the rest of the field is selected through a committee process.
Last year, the WWC sent 20 wrestlers to the 2008 NCAA Championships from its first official conference meet. UNI had six individual champions and qualified nine athletes for the NCAA Championships. Air Force qualified four athletes for the NCAA Championships, including two champions and two runners-up.
This year, how will it work out for either of these teams and for the fledgling conference when it comes to NCAA selections?
"If we used this year's rules last year, we would have had eight," said UNI coach Brad Penrith, whose team improved to 6-4. "My 174 pounder and 141 pounder would have gotten in. This year, I am not sure yet. We will have to see what happens."
Air Force coach Joel Sharratt is mentoring a young team that now stands at 1-7 for the year. He has very strong feelings that the new formula will not only affect his team, but will have a detrimental impact on the conference.
"The only guys on this team that are going to the national tournament will be conference champions," said Sharratt. "Our conference may have two to four weight classes that have multiple qualifiers. We will lose a significant portion of our conference qualifiers.
When asked to predict how many WWC wrestlers will be at the NCAA Tournament in St. Louis in March, Sharratt said it could be 14, a loss of six athletes from last year. He believes the new system will hurt colleges from the smaller conferences.
"This system will decimate some programs. Here, we have great institutional support, regardless of how things work out. However, some other schools will struggle. Wrestling in this country is an at-risk sport, and this does not help," said Sharratt.
Penrith's Panthers are the top power in the conference, and wants to remain in that position regardless of the qualifying program.
"Even though there is a new system, we want to win the conference, get 10 champions and get 10 to the national tournament," said Penrith. "We don't want to put it in the hands of a qualifying committee. We will wrestle hard and look for that as our goal."
Both coaches agree that the WWC is getting stronger, and it will get tougher to win individual conference titles as the conference matures.
Besides UNI and Air Force, the league includes Wyoming, which looks to improve under its respected first-year coach Mark Branch. The three former Div. II colleges in the conference are making progress: the Univ. of Northern Colorado, North Dakota State and South Dakota State. Also competing in the conference, but not eligible for the NCAA Championships is Utah Valley State (2009-2010).
"It is getting stronger," said Penrith. "North Dakota State and UNC have been getting good recruits. South Dakota State added a few good kids this year. Joel (Sharratt) is doing a good job here. He has to find the athletes, especially with their admission standards, but they will get better because he is such a good coach. Mark Branch is also doing a good job up at Wyoming."
"I believe the conference is getting stronger," said Sharratt. "All these young energetic coaches are great. We didn't come here just to sit around. All of us will work to get their teams better. But it is hard to build a program. One of the strengths of recruiting is having NCAA qualifiers, and the new rules will affect that."
The match went as predicted, with UNI holding an edge in every aspect of the wrestling. The match began at 197 pounds, and UNI opened with a pair of nationally ranked wrestlers who set the tone for the evening.
Senior Andrew Anderson, ranked No. 15, defeated a game James Ciccone, 12-5 at 197 pounds. Freshman heavyweight Christian Brantley, currently ranked 16th, used his size and superior skills to defeat Josh Larson by technical fall, 25-9.
The 125-pound match was competitive, with UNI's Cruse Aarhus scoring a key third period takedown for a 6-3 victory over Andrew Zwirlein. The Panthers followed up with two straight pins, with Steven Fitzgerald putting away Tyler Untrauer in 3:35 at 133 pounds and Trent Washington decking Juan Carlos Pino in 4:26 at 141 pounds.
Brett Robbins was able to open up his offense at 149 pounds, playing let-him-up, take him-down in the third period for a dominant major decision of Alec Williams, 23-8. Winning the scrambles to score two takedowns and a reversal, Trevor Kittleson defeated Joseph Stafford, 8-3 at 157 pounds.
In a battle between the top wrestlers from each team, Mosa Fay, ranked No. 2 nationally, defeated NCAA qualifier Steven Crozier, 10-2. Fay jumped to a 5-0 lead with a takedown and three-point near fall in the first period, then controlled the rest of the match for the major decision, 10-2. Fay was fifth in the NCAA Championships last year and was the WWC Wrestler of the Year.
"He has wrestled really well this year," said Penrith of his star pupil Fay. "He has had two setbacks. He had one loss at the Midlands, and at the National Duals he didn't wrestle as well as he can. He has beaten five or six of the top 10 ranked guys. He has a great work ethic. He can win the national tournament, but needs to put together a great tournament when it counts."
UNI finished the shutout at 174 and 184 pounds, as Scott Hazen beat Tyler French, 9-1 and Alex Dolly scored a reversal in the final few seconds to beat Sterling Tribble, 6-4.
"We wrestled well on this road trip. We did really well tonight as a whole," said Penrith. "My 125 and 133 didn't compete last night, but tonight they did. We got the snowball rolling tonight."
Sharratt is working hard to help his team make rapid improvements as the season continues.
"We are a young team. We knew that coming into the season," said Sharratt. "We will be better on March 7 (date of conference meet). We have the warrior spirit. We won't bury their heads. We have not realized the goals of this program. We will redouble our efforts."
Univ. of Northern Iowa 42, U.S. Air Force Academy 0
At Colorado Springs, Colo., January 17
197 - Andrew Anderson (UNI) dec. James Ciccone, 12-5
285 - Christian Brantley (UNI) tech. fall Josh Larson (AF), 25-9 (6:07)
125 - Cruse Aarhus (UNI) dec. Andrew Zwirlein (AF), 6-3
133 - Steven Fitzgerald (UNI) pin Tyler Untrauer (AF), 3:35
141 - Trent Washington (UNI) pin Juan Carlos Pino (AF), 2:26
149 - Brett Robbins (UNI) maj. dec. Alec Williams (AF), 23-8
157 - Trevor Kittleson (UNI) dec. Joseph Stafford (AF), 8-3
165 - Moza Fay (UNI) maj. dec. Stephen Crozier (AF), 10-2
174 - Scott Hazen (UNI) dec. Tyler French (AF), 9-1
184 - Alex Dolly (UNI) dec. Sterling Tribble (AF), 6-4
Northern Iowa continued its WWC dominance with the win. It was their 10th straight conference dual meet win, and UNI has yet to lose to a conference opponent since this new league was created two years ago. The Panthers entered the meet ranked No. 22 in the nation. UNI won its second WWC meet in two days, stopping Northern Colorado, 28-13, on Friday night in Greeley.
After the match, both coaches discussed the new NCAA qualifying standards, where only individual conference champions automatically made the national tournament, and the rest of the field is selected through a committee process.
Last year, the WWC sent 20 wrestlers to the 2008 NCAA Championships from its first official conference meet. UNI had six individual champions and qualified nine athletes for the NCAA Championships. Air Force qualified four athletes for the NCAA Championships, including two champions and two runners-up.
This year, how will it work out for either of these teams and for the fledgling conference when it comes to NCAA selections?
"If we used this year's rules last year, we would have had eight," said UNI coach Brad Penrith, whose team improved to 6-4. "My 174 pounder and 141 pounder would have gotten in. This year, I am not sure yet. We will have to see what happens."
Air Force coach Joel Sharratt is mentoring a young team that now stands at 1-7 for the year. He has very strong feelings that the new formula will not only affect his team, but will have a detrimental impact on the conference.
"The only guys on this team that are going to the national tournament will be conference champions," said Sharratt. "Our conference may have two to four weight classes that have multiple qualifiers. We will lose a significant portion of our conference qualifiers.
When asked to predict how many WWC wrestlers will be at the NCAA Tournament in St. Louis in March, Sharratt said it could be 14, a loss of six athletes from last year. He believes the new system will hurt colleges from the smaller conferences.
"This system will decimate some programs. Here, we have great institutional support, regardless of how things work out. However, some other schools will struggle. Wrestling in this country is an at-risk sport, and this does not help," said Sharratt.
Penrith's Panthers are the top power in the conference, and wants to remain in that position regardless of the qualifying program.
"Even though there is a new system, we want to win the conference, get 10 champions and get 10 to the national tournament," said Penrith. "We don't want to put it in the hands of a qualifying committee. We will wrestle hard and look for that as our goal."
Both coaches agree that the WWC is getting stronger, and it will get tougher to win individual conference titles as the conference matures.
Besides UNI and Air Force, the league includes Wyoming, which looks to improve under its respected first-year coach Mark Branch. The three former Div. II colleges in the conference are making progress: the Univ. of Northern Colorado, North Dakota State and South Dakota State. Also competing in the conference, but not eligible for the NCAA Championships is Utah Valley State (2009-2010).
"It is getting stronger," said Penrith. "North Dakota State and UNC have been getting good recruits. South Dakota State added a few good kids this year. Joel (Sharratt) is doing a good job here. He has to find the athletes, especially with their admission standards, but they will get better because he is such a good coach. Mark Branch is also doing a good job up at Wyoming."
"I believe the conference is getting stronger," said Sharratt. "All these young energetic coaches are great. We didn't come here just to sit around. All of us will work to get their teams better. But it is hard to build a program. One of the strengths of recruiting is having NCAA qualifiers, and the new rules will affect that."
The match went as predicted, with UNI holding an edge in every aspect of the wrestling. The match began at 197 pounds, and UNI opened with a pair of nationally ranked wrestlers who set the tone for the evening.
Senior Andrew Anderson, ranked No. 15, defeated a game James Ciccone, 12-5 at 197 pounds. Freshman heavyweight Christian Brantley, currently ranked 16th, used his size and superior skills to defeat Josh Larson by technical fall, 25-9.
The 125-pound match was competitive, with UNI's Cruse Aarhus scoring a key third period takedown for a 6-3 victory over Andrew Zwirlein. The Panthers followed up with two straight pins, with Steven Fitzgerald putting away Tyler Untrauer in 3:35 at 133 pounds and Trent Washington decking Juan Carlos Pino in 4:26 at 141 pounds.
Brett Robbins was able to open up his offense at 149 pounds, playing let-him-up, take him-down in the third period for a dominant major decision of Alec Williams, 23-8. Winning the scrambles to score two takedowns and a reversal, Trevor Kittleson defeated Joseph Stafford, 8-3 at 157 pounds.
In a battle between the top wrestlers from each team, Mosa Fay, ranked No. 2 nationally, defeated NCAA qualifier Steven Crozier, 10-2. Fay jumped to a 5-0 lead with a takedown and three-point near fall in the first period, then controlled the rest of the match for the major decision, 10-2. Fay was fifth in the NCAA Championships last year and was the WWC Wrestler of the Year.
"He has wrestled really well this year," said Penrith of his star pupil Fay. "He has had two setbacks. He had one loss at the Midlands, and at the National Duals he didn't wrestle as well as he can. He has beaten five or six of the top 10 ranked guys. He has a great work ethic. He can win the national tournament, but needs to put together a great tournament when it counts."
UNI finished the shutout at 174 and 184 pounds, as Scott Hazen beat Tyler French, 9-1 and Alex Dolly scored a reversal in the final few seconds to beat Sterling Tribble, 6-4.
"We wrestled well on this road trip. We did really well tonight as a whole," said Penrith. "My 125 and 133 didn't compete last night, but tonight they did. We got the snowball rolling tonight."
Sharratt is working hard to help his team make rapid improvements as the season continues.
"We are a young team. We knew that coming into the season," said Sharratt. "We will be better on March 7 (date of conference meet). We have the warrior spirit. We won't bury their heads. We have not realized the goals of this program. We will redouble our efforts."
Univ. of Northern Iowa 42, U.S. Air Force Academy 0
At Colorado Springs, Colo., January 17
197 - Andrew Anderson (UNI) dec. James Ciccone, 12-5
285 - Christian Brantley (UNI) tech. fall Josh Larson (AF), 25-9 (6:07)
125 - Cruse Aarhus (UNI) dec. Andrew Zwirlein (AF), 6-3
133 - Steven Fitzgerald (UNI) pin Tyler Untrauer (AF), 3:35
141 - Trent Washington (UNI) pin Juan Carlos Pino (AF), 2:26
149 - Brett Robbins (UNI) maj. dec. Alec Williams (AF), 23-8
157 - Trevor Kittleson (UNI) dec. Joseph Stafford (AF), 8-3
165 - Moza Fay (UNI) maj. dec. Stephen Crozier (AF), 10-2
174 - Scott Hazen (UNI) dec. Tyler French (AF), 9-1
184 - Alex Dolly (UNI) dec. Sterling Tribble (AF), 6-4
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