St. Louis, Mo. - It may be the first time in NCAA history that five Division I coaches agreed on a subject. What do they agree on? Who is a heavy favorite to win the team title at the 2005 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, March 17-19 at the Savvis Center.    
Bobby Douglas (left) feels that Oklahoma State is the top team in the country
""Oklahoma State University's the frontrunner, they have the best team I've ever seen the Cowboys put on the mat," Iowa State head coach Bobby Douglas said as he kicked off Wednesday afternoon's championship press conference.    Douglas' Cyclones are one of a host of teams expected to battle for second place this weekend.    Lehigh head coach Greg Strobel, whose team tied for third place last year, agreed with Douglas.    "Right now, Oklahoma State is the frontrunner, so we have to put more pressure on them," Strobel said.    But John Smith, looking to lead his Cowboys to a third straight national title on the shoulders of three No. 1 seeded wrestlers, does not want the title just handed to his team.    "This is one that we're going to have to earn," Smith said. "You've heard two other coaches make us the heavy favorite, but they've had comments that they're going to do everything they can to win and this is their shot. This championship won't be given to us. We'll definitely have to earn it."    Oklahoma State enters the tournament with nine wrestlers, one of five teams with that many competitors. Illinois and Lehigh, the two teams expected to put the most pressure on Oklahoma State, will have nine and seven, respectively.    But the Cowboys may have more firepower, including top seeds Zack Esposito (149 lbs.), Chris Pendleton (174) and Steve Mocco (285). Pendleton and Mocco have already won NCAA titles in their careers and Esposito was an NCAA runner-up last year. But to make matters worse for their opponents, All-Americans Johny Hendricks (165) and Jake Rosholt (197) will also return this year. Rosholt won an NCAA title in 2003.    Oklahoma State has also placed three freshmen in the lineup - Daniel Frishkorn (141) and true freshmen Coleman Scott (125) and Nathan Morgan (133), a move that did not stop the team from going 21-0 this season while also winning the Big XII Tournament.    "Obviously it's been a good year for us. It's been and interesting year and challenging," Smith said. "We've had several weight classes throughout the year that were undetermined until late in the year and that makes it a real challenge on our student-athletes."    But even with Oklahoma State's success, Illinois and Lehigh are both very confident teams. Both schools lost in dual meets to Oklahoma State this season.    "We are having one of the best years in the school's history. We won the Big Ten for the first time in 53 years, we lost in the finals to Oklahoma State in the National Dual meet and we have five returning All-Americans seeded in the top five," Illinois head coach Mark Johnson said. "We have fire power."    Strobel also felt that his Lehigh squad could make a run at the national title.    "This is the best team I've coached at Lehigh in my 10 years there. We have one senior, all the rest are juniors or sophomores and all seven of my guys have been to the NCAA's before. Five have been All-Americans, so have a decent team," Strobel said.    The first round of the 2005 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships will begin at 11 a.m. (Central Time). TheMat.com will provide complete coverage of the event.    March Matness moving?  Three of the coaches at Wednesday's press conference agreed that the wrestling season should be moved away from the NCAA men's basketball tournament, mainly because of media exposure, but the coaches could not agree on when the season should end.    
Mark Manning (left) wants to see the college wrestling season moved
"We should be a one semester sport. The wrestling season is too long. I would like to move it to April after the basketball season," Nebraska coach Mark Manning said.    However, Smith was looking at an earlier time.    "I think our season should be shortened a bit. It should have been moved a long time ago. I would like to finish it earlier and have the national championships the weekend before conference basketball championships are being played."    Douglas also agreed that the season should be moved, but did not have an idea of which way to shift it.    But the other two coaches at the press conference, Johnson and Strobel, both felt that the season should stay right where it is.    "This is wrestling season. Moving it would put us into an unknown where we don't know what we would draw," Johnson said.    "I would like to keep it where it is at this point in time," Strobel added.    No matter what, with the indecisiveness of the coaches, it appears that the season will not be moved anytime soon.