Oregon State came in to the tournament needing a strong team effort, and that is what they got this weekend.  The team placed eight wrestlers in the top 4, and every man in the top 5 to bring the championship by two points over Boise State. Cal Poly was 3rd, after having a great tournament and being the first day leader.

Oregon State overcame a sluggish first session to put four wrestlers into the finals in session two.  Cal Poly put five wrestlers into the finals to lead after day 1. BSU placed three into the championship bout. Day two was set up to finish as a three team race, with several key head to head match-ups between the three teams.  

In the finals, Boise State won  two of the three, including Adam Hall's victory over Cal Poly wrestler Chase Pami.  Kirk Smith had a fall to get valuable points, but Oregon State had taken command after Colby Covington defeated BSU wrestler Nate Lee at 174 lbs. OSU won key 3rd place matches at 133 and 141, and when Matt Casperson defeated Chad Hanke by decision for 3rd place, OSU had won the team championship.

Overall, it was a great Pac 10 tournament, every team won at least one individual championship.  Cal State Bakersfield came ready to wrestle as well, putting three wrestlers into the finals and taking home two individual championships.  They wore black warm-up sweats and black singlets, rather than their traditional blue and gold school colors.  The Bakersfield administration informed the team and public two weeks ago that they would be cutting the program at the end of this year. The Roadrunner coaches and athletes, as well as wrestling community are still hopeful that they can save the program.

Individual winners were:  Anthony Robles-ASU, Boris Novatchkov-Cal Poly, Adin Duenas-Fullerton, Barrett Abel- UC Davis, Adam Hall- BSU, Nick Amuchastegui- Stanford, Colby Covington-OSU, Kirk Smith-BSU, Riley Orozco-Bakersfield, Mitch Monteiro-Bakersfield.

Adin Duenas (141) was named the tournament outstanding wrestler after winning the very tough 141 lb. weight class.

LCW heads to a few tourneys this weekend for coverage. UC Davis is the site of the 2010 Pac 10 Championships and we are there.  We will also be on hand for the 2010 Oregon High School State Championships, live from Portland, Oregon.

Stay tuned for our coverage of the great action.

Arizona State showed some good signs against the #2 team in NCAA, but came up short on Sunday.  ASU was able to win three of the ten bouts, but lost 30-10 to the Cyclones.

Anthony Robles trailed Andrew Long by a 10-2 margin, before going to work on top.  Robles scored three sets of nearfall points to earn a hard fought 12-10 victory at 125 lbs. Also winning for the Devils were Chris Drouin at 141, over #13 Dalton Jensen. Jake Meredith got the win at 184 for ASU. 

Vincente Varella came up a point short to nationally ranked Mitch Mueller at 149, falling 3-2. Eric Nye also dropped a 4-1 decision to highly ranked heavyweight David Zabriskie.

For the Cyclones, the win marked the 1000th victory in school history. They became the first school to gain this feat.

The matches were split 5-5, but Cal Poly pulled the dual out on bonus points on Friday night.  It was only the second time that the Mustangs have defeated the Sun Devils in the last 20 meetings.  Cal Poly, ranked #16, hosts #18 Oregon State tonight, in a big Pac 10 matchup.  Oregon State is riding a 16 match winning streak.

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/sports/story/1018182.html

It is time for a short break for most of al college wrestling after the Reno TOC wrapped up tonight.  Action gets going in another week or so with the Midlands and the Southern Scuffle, two premier college tournaments. Oklahoma State won the team championship, wrestling without starters Clayton Foster (184) and Albert White (149). They got a big boost in their lineup, as transfer Mike Benefiel has become eligible to wrestle for the Cowboys for the first time. He won the title at 174, and was named Outstanding Wrestler of the 15th annual Reno TOC. 

Team Scores:
Team Scores
1 - 154.0 - Oklahoma State
2 - 85.5 - Edinboro
3 - 83.0 - Penn State
4 - 77.0 - Arizona State
4 - 77.0 - Ohio
6 - 70.5 - Cal Poly
7 - 69.5 - Wyoming
8 - 57.0 - Boise State
9 - 54.0 - North Carolina
10 - 50.5 - Cal State Fullerton
11 - 43.5 - Stanford
12 - 42.5 - West Virginia
13 - 42.0 - UC Davis
14 - 38.0 - Cal State Bakersfield
15 - 32.0 - Navy
16 - 30.5 - Clackamas
17 - 28.5 - Eastern Michigan
18 - 18.5 - Upper Iowa
19 - 13.5 - Great Falls
19 - 13.5 - MSU Mankato
21 - 10.5 - South Dakota State
22 - 10.0 - Adams State
22 - 10.0 - Montana State Northern
24 - 8.5 - SW Oregon
25 - 8.0 - Southern Oregon


Here are the brackets from the TOC, thanks to tech-fall.com:

http://www.tech-fall.com/2010CLG/files/2009_Reno_College_Brackets3.PDF

Note: we will have more videos posted of the Cliff Keen Invitational coming soon. Please stay tuned.

125: Escobedo (Indiana) dec over Robles (ASU) 4-2
133: Boris Novachkov (cal poly) dec over Mike Grey (Cornell) 5-3
141: Reese Humphrey (Ohio St) dec over Filip Novachkov 5-3
149:  Kyle Ruschell Wisc) dec over Lance Palmer (Ohio St) 3-1
157: J.P. O' Connor (Harvard) dec over Adam Hall (BSU) 2-1
165: Andrew Howe (Wisc) dec over Colt Sponsellor (Ohio St) 6-3
174: Mack Lewnes (Cornell) dec over Stephen Dwyer (Neb) 5-3
184: Kirk Smith (BSU) dec in SV over John Dergo (Illinois)
197: Craig Brester (Neb) dec over Eric Lapotsky (Okla) 6-3
285: Nate Everhart (Indiana) dec over Tucker Lane (Neb) 3-2

The rise of the east and the demise of the west was what Roger Moore of WIN magazine alluded to in the recent column.  The column pointed more to the Pac 10 than the WWC  which UVU competes in, but generally speaking Moore's perception was that the east and west sides of the U.S. are heading in opposite directions when it comes to collegiate wrestling. Somebody forgot to tell the west that they were supposed to start the season by bowing down to the eastern teams and the more traditional powers of the midwest.  Utah Valley, a first year NCAA eligible team, won their third dual of the east coast swing in as many tries. The Wolverines were able to take 7 of the 10 bouts to win 26-10.

Earlier today, Cal Poly defeated #8 Missouri. These wins coupled with Stanford going 3-0 at the Northwestern duals last weekend should have a few people at least questioning the notion that the west is all but dead when it comes to wrestling. Stanford last week beat Northwestern, Purdue and Northern Iowa. 

ASU appears to be gaining a little steam, and BSU looks set for another strong campaign.  Oregon State looks to be gaining steam and will wrestle Wisconsin and Boise State this weekend.  Mark Branch is moving Wyoming in a good direction. Just maybe, the west is on the positive upswing.  Scores for the UVU-N.C. State dual are below.

Utah Valley 26, NC State 10
133 - Darrius Little (NCS) dec. Flint Ray, 10-7
141 - Dale Shull (NCS) major dec. Marty Carlson, 9-0
149 - Justin Morrill (UVU) injury def. Colton Palmer at 3:00
157 - Bobby Ward (NCS) dec. Richard Winger, 11-8
165 - Monte Schmalhaus (UVU) dec. Kasey Young, 12-5
174 - Brad Darrington (UVU) dec. Quinton Godley, 4-2 sv2
184 - Casen Eldredge (UVU) major dec.Jonathan Becker, 9-1
197 - Josh Woods (UVU) dec. Andrew Tumlin , 9-8
Hwt - Dylan Stadel (UVU) dec. Bobby Isola, 3-2
125 - #11 Ben Kjar (UVU) major dec. Taylor Cummings, 15-3

The LCW Athlete of the Week (for the week ending November 15th), is Anthony Robles of Arizona State University. Robles had another typical week last weekend, winning two matches by technical fall.  He disposed of Mark Jay Acosta of UC Davis by a score of 20-3.  He then followed it up later in the weekend by dismantling Fullerton's Andre Gonzales by a 22-5 margin in 6:18.

More importantly, the #3 ranked Robles  helped his team get off to a strong start.  The Sun Devils destroyed UC Davis by a score of 38-6, before shutting down Fullerton by an equally impressive 37-4 victory.  First year coach Shawn Charles appears to have the Devils moving in a positive direction, just a  little over a year since the university attempted to drop wrestling as a varsity sport. The attempt was thwarted by supporters and it now seems ASU is poised to re-strengthen their storied program.

This weekend will be full of events for wrestling fans and teams out west.  The NWCA All Star Classic comes to sunny southern California on Sunday, and will pit some of the nations best wrestlers against each other for bragging rights and an early season chance to take on a top opponent.  The dual will also serve as a fundraising opportunity for the the Cal State Fullerton program. Dan Hicks and his Titan program are trying to raise money to support wrestling in southern California for the long-haul.

Oregon State University hosts their first annual Wrestling Endowment Meet, and is bringing in two great programs.  The OSU Beavers look to be building a program and will have a chance to see where the stand with some good early season competition against Wisconsin and Boise State. The UW and BSU programs are both ranked  teams and it will give OSU a chance to measure themselves. It is a tri-dual and will feature some excellent individual match-ups.

ASU is off to a good start, and will travel to the midwest to take on two historical programs. The Sun Devils will face Oklahoma State and Oklahoma this weekend. Again, some good individual matches should take place.

ASU got off to good lead and never looked back in their dual against Cal State Fullerton. The Devils had a strong weekend overall, following up their win against UC Davis. ASU knocked off Fullerton by a 37-3 margin. Results are below.

http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-wrestl/recaps/111509aaa.html