Stanford is rumored to have hired Alex Tirapelle to become the new assistant at the farm.  Tirapelle, a former Illinois standout (2x All American and NCAA runner-up) has been coaching at UC-Davis the last few seasons. he is a California native and seems a good fit for Coach Borelli and the Cardinal.

We will keep our eye on this one, but it is being reported by a few sources. We will look for official word coming out of the Stanford camp this week.

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.

This is a good read from Roger Moore. Article touches on a little Pac 10 history, this year's teams and individuals to watch and the Cal State Bakersfield fiasco. Davis should be a happening place on Friday and Saturday.

http://www.ncaa.com/blog/200910d1wrestling/2010/02/3-in-a-row-for-boise.html

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.

The movement is on, and it is not just to save Cal State Bakersfield wrestling.  This project is to save wrestling and build on it, over the next several years in the state of California.  Right now, it is Bakersfield that needs immediate help from the wrestling community and some willingness to work together by the university administration.  Please check this website out and help any way you can. It may be with your time, money, or willingness to make a call.  It all can help. 

http://www.savecaliforniawrestling.com/site_007.htm

The competition schedule is busy once again this coming week.  Lots of teams are right back in action, and many are getting heavily  into their conference dual season.  We have a summary of what is going on out west this week in college wrestling, and also for western teams on the road. 


Wednesday, January 13
North Idaho at Yakima Valley CC
North Idaho vs. Highline CC at Yakima, Wash.
Mesa State at Nebraska-Kearney

Thursday, January 14
Adams State at Chadron State
Southern Oregon at San Francisco State
Mesa State at Fort Hays State
North Idaho at SW Oregon CC
Cal Poly at San Francisco State
Cal Poly vs. Southern Oregon at San Francisco, Calif.


Friday, January 15
Adams State at Colorado School of Mines
Boise State vs. North Dakota State at Bozeman, Mont.
North Idaho at Clackamas CC
Northern Colorado at Wyoming
UC Davis at Oregon State
Cal Baptist at Grand Canyon
Cal Baptist vs. CSU-Pueblo at Phoenix, Ariz.
CSU-Pueblo at Grand Canyon


Saturday, January 16
Cal Baptist vs. Great Falls at Prescott, Ariz.
Cal Baptist vs. Simon Fraser at Prescott, Ariz.
Cal Baptist vs. Southern Oregon at Prescott, Ariz.
CSU-Pueblo at Embry-Riddle
Eastern Michigan vs. Stanford at East Lansing, Mich.
Great Falls at Embry-Riddle
Nebraska-Kearney vs. New Mexico Highlands at Grand Prairie, Texas
New Mexico Highlands vs. Newman at Grand Prairie, Texas
Utah Valley vs. Arizona State at Grand Prairie, Texas
Harvard vs. Arizona State at Grand Prairie, Texas
Harvard vs. Utah Valley at Grand Prairie, Texas
Air Force vs. Arizona State at Grand Prairie, Texas
Air Force vs. Northwestern at Grand Prairie, Texas
Brown vs. Air Force at Grand Prairie, Texas
Brown vs. Utah Valley at Grand Prairie, Texas
Western State at Grand Canyon
Clackamas Open- Oregon City, Oregon
Menlo at Embry-Riddle
Stanford at Michigan State

Sunday, January 17
Cal State-Bakersfield at Oregon State
Stanford at Central Michigan
Wyoming at Nebraska

Oregon State moved to 12-1 on the season with three wins in California. OSU is on an eleven match win streak as they go into the Pac 10 season. The OSU team also defeated Wyoming last week by a score of 28-8.  In California, OSU was bale to shut out Menlo and Northern Colorado, before knocking off Stanford by a 31-7 margin.  They are back in action vs UC Davis and Bakersfield this weekend at home.

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

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

 Roger Moore of WIN magazine- wondered...the East is on the Rise, and the West is on the Demise?Well the Stanford Cardinal did their best to dispel that notion last week. Second year coach Jason Borelli, took his squad to the Northwestern Duals in the wrestling-rich midwest.  They came home from the Land of Lincoln with a 3-0 mark.

Stanford beat 2 Big 10 teams in the process, as well as the 22x defending Western Region Champion (now WWC) University of Northern Iowa. The Cardinal took a 19-16 win against Purdue, a 27-6 thrashing of Northwestern, and a 19-12 victory over UNI. 

Related notes:

It will be interesting to see if Moore's assertion of  the ACC and Pac 10 heading in opposite directions holds true. It seems the west can hold their own with the ACC. The ACC had one team finish in the top 32 last season at the NCAA Championships. The Pac 10 had two, not exactly lighting the world on fire, but holding their own with the ACC. Unless I am mistaken, the ACC had 6 all americans last year, the Pac 10 had 8. Nothing against the ACC, wrestling needs teams from the ACC, Pac 10 and other conferences to step up on a national level. It just doesn't hold much water that the two conferences are worlds apart at this point.