Skip to content
College
USAW

WRESTLERS OF THE WEEK: Diaz, Serck, Rosholt, Brandvold, LeBlanc, VonOhlen honored by conferences

Share:

by Media Reports

Virginia Tech's Diaz named ACC Wrestler of the Week
By Steve Phillips
Atlantic Coast Conference

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Virginia Tech 141-pound junior Chris Diaz has been named the Atlantic Coast Conference Wrestler of the Week after posting a wild, last-second win in a battle between nationally- ranked opponents during the 15th-ranked Hokies match at eighth-ranked Lehigh.

The 10th-ranked Diaz picked up a takedown with one second left in the match to capture a 4-3 win over 17th-ranked Seth Ciasulli. Ciasulli got a first-period takedown and a stall warning point against Diaz to take a 3-2 lead. But Diaz kept fighting and was awarded the two points at the buzzer much to dismay of the Lehigh faithful, beginning a run of three straight weight-class wins by the Hokies. Diaz, a native of Camden, Del., improved to 25-3 on the season and 18-1 in dual matches.

Augustana's Carl Serck named NSIC Wrestler of the Week
Augustana Sports Information

Augustana's Carl Serck has been named the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Wrestler of the Week following a big victory in the Vikings' dual against Upper Iowa.

It is the second time in three weeks that Augustana has earned the NSIC Wrestler of the Week. Ty Copsey received the award on January 25.

Serck, a 174-pound sophomore from Hudson, S.D., recorded the biggest win of the dual for No. 6 Augustana. Serck, who is unranked nationally, upset No. 3 Mitch Norton 4-3. Serck, ranked third in the region, scored a takedown at the end of the first period and added another in the second to take a 4-0 lead. Norton, the top-ranked wrestler in the region, managed to escape from the second takedown and then escaped from the down position early in the third to cut the lead to 4-2.

Late in the match, Serck was called for stalling a second time, making the final score 4-3.

Serck's win was a bright spot on an otherwise disappointing afternoon for the Vikings. Even though Augustana won 6 of the 10 matches, Upper Iowa escaped with a 19-18 win when UIU 197-pounder Nick Shandri was awarded a medical forfeit victory when he was unable to continue his bout against Copsey.

Jared Rosholt named Big 12 Wrestler of the Week
By Gavin Lang
Oklahoma State Sports Information

STILLWATER, Okla. - After toppling the reigning NCAA champion last Sunday, Oklahoma State heavyweight Jared Rosholt was recognized as the Big 12 wrestler of the week, the conference office announced today. It is the first such honor of the season for Rosholt and marks the second time in his career that he has secured the recognition.

The honor marks the fourth time this season that a Cowboy has been singled out as Big 12 wrestler of the week. Freshman 165-pounder Alex Meade is a two-time honoree, with junior 184-pounder Clayton Foster taking home the accolade last week.

Highlighting Rosholt's effort last week was a 3-2 win over reigning NCAA champion Mark Ellis as part of the Cowboys' 24-9 win at Missouri on Sunday. The win improved Rosholt's career mark over Ellis to 6-2 and marked Rosholt's 24th consecutive win this season. After a scoreless first period, Rosholt was in the down position to start the second period. He escaped, then bagged a takedown to go up, 3-0. Ellis escaped on the edge of the mat with five ticks left in the period to bring the score to 3-1. Ellis took the down position to start the third and escaped before Rosholt could mount over one minute of riding time. From that point on, Ellis was on the attack but didn't generate any serious threat to the victorious Cowboy.

Earlier in the week, Rosholt was a 10-2 major decision winner over Northern Iowa's Christian Brantley. After a scoreless first period, Rosholt scored a takedown and escape in the second period before adding three more takedowns in the third period to add bonus points for his team.

The No. 1-ranked heavyweight in the nation, Rosholt has won his last six bouts against ranked opponents, including four straight over opponents ranked in the top 10. He has added bonus points in seven of his last 11 wins overall.

Rosholt and the Cowboys host Nebraska at 7 p.m. on Feb. 12. A win in that dual would be the 118th of Rosholt's career and would tie him for 14th on Oklahoma State's all-time list with Chris Pendleton and Ricky Stewart.

Brandvold named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week
By Karl Anderson
Wisconsin Sports Information

MADISON, Wis. -- University of Wisconsin wrestler Trevor Brandvold has been named the Big Ten Wrestler of the Week after going 2-0 last week with wins over two ranked opponents.

Brandvold, a junior ranked No. 8 at 197 lbs., defeated No. 11 Logan Brown of Purdue by an 8-3 decision on Friday night as Wisconsin beat Purdue, 27-11.

The River Falls, Wis., native followed it up with a 2-1 tiebreaker win over No. 14 Patrick Bond of Illinois on Sunday. Each wrestler scored an escape, forcing the match into sudden-victory overtime. No points were scored in the first overtime, but Brandvold registered an escape in the first tiebreak to win the match.

Winner of seven matches in a row, Brandvold owns a 14-3 record overall this season. He is 8-1 in dual matches and a perfect 5-0 in Big Ten dual meets. Against ranked opponents this season, Brandvold holds a record of 6-2.

Brandvold is the first Badger to be named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week this season. The last UW wrestler to earn the honor was Zach Tanneli on Dec. 31, 2008.

Wisconsin is back in action this weekend as the Badgers go on the road to Ann Arbor, Mich. to take on the Wolverines. Match time is set for 1 p.m.

LeBlanc, VonOhlen named WWC Wrestlers of the Week
By Aaron Voos
Western Wrestling Conference

Wyoming sophomore 184-pounder Joe LeBlanc (Meeker, Colo./Meeker HS) and Air Force freshman 141-pounder Cole VonOhlen (Jackson, Minn./Jackson County Central HS) have been named the Western Wrestling Conference's Co-Wrestlers of the Week as announced today by the league.

UW's All-American LeBlanc helped his team improve to 5-0 in the WWC with two dominating performances against league opponents on the road this past weekend, while VonOhlen led the Falcons to a second-place finish at the 16th-annual All-Academy Championships, earning an individual title in his first appearance at the event.

On Friday night against South Dakota State, LeBlanc, No. 9 ranked at 184 pounds, was leading 14-4 over David Michaud before getting his ninth fall of the season at 4:15. On Sunday against North Dakota State, he delivered with an 18-2 technical fall win over Kenny Moenkedick. LeBlanc racked up four takedowns and three nearfalls on his way to his 30th win of the season. It was also his 11th technical fall this year.

LeBlanc's overall record is now 30-4 with 24 bonus point margins (11 tech falls, nine pins and four major decisions). He has a 12-1 dual record this year, contributing a gaudy 57 team points and is 5-0 in the WWC.

VonOhlen, ranked 15th in the nation at 141 pounds, recorded falls in all three of his weekend matches, pinning Norwich's Nick Monaco in a time of 1:20 in the opening round, while notching a fall over fourth-seed David Yost of VMI in a time of 1:42. In the championship match versus Navy's Matt Pagan, seeded second, VonOhlen held a 3-2 advantage in the waning moments of the bout, before pinning Pagan with just one second remaining on the clock.

The true freshman from the Air Force Academy now has a team-best 12 falls on the year and improved his record to 26-5 overall.

This is the second time during the 2009-10 season that VonOhlen has won the WWC weekly award, the first this year for LeBlanc and the second of his career.

Read More#