Big-time college wrestling fans may be scratching their heads this year, wondering exactly where those new uniforms out on the mats came.

None of the five "new" programs at the Div. I Championships this year are brand new, but they certainly were not here last year. Exactly who are these new guys from the Bears, the Bison, the Jack Rabbits or the Flames? Can any of these fellows win any matches at the Big Show?

Three of the teams are former Div. II powers, who had to sit out a few years before moving into the Div. I Tournament. All qualified in the NCAA West Regional. They have joined the new Western Wrestling Conference, which is scheduled to be recognized as a qualifier soon.

The Northern Colorado Bears, coached by Jack Maughan, have five qualifiers: Tony Mustari (125), No. 9 seeded Kenny Hashimoto (141), Luke Salizar (157), Shawn Vincent (184) and Reece Hopkin (285)

The North Dakota State Bison, coached by Hall of Famer Bucky Maughan, have three qualifiers: Eric Hoffman (125), Ryan Adams (149) and Jacob Bryce (197).

The South Dakota State Jack Rabbits, coached by Jason Liles, has one qualifier, Ryan Meyer (165). 

And yes, the coaches named Maughan are related, as Bucky is Jack's father.

Two are schools that used to compete in the Div. I Championships, then dropped wrestling, and have returned to the sport when the programs were reinstated.

The Liberty Flames, coached by Jesse Castro, have four qualifiers from the NCAA East Regional: Christian Smith (125), Tim Harner (141), Chad Porter (165) and Patrick Walker (285).

The Bucknell Bison, coached by Dan Wirnsberger, have three qualifiers out of the tough EIWA: David Marble (133), Andy Rendos (165) and Eric Lapotsky (197).

Getting victories at this tournament proved to be a very difficult task for all five teams on Thursday.

The first of the "new" team athlete to compete in the tournament was Luke Salizar of Northern Colorado, who drew No. 4 C.P. Schlatter of Minnesota in the pigtails at 157 pounds. Salizar competed gamely, but fell 9-1.

The first win came at 133 pounds, when David Marble of Bucknell defeated Tyler Dillashaw of Cal-Fullerton, 14-7. Marble placed sixth at the EIWA, but received the vote of the conference coaches to get a wildcard to attend the NCAA meet. Marble moves on to Thursday night's second round, where he draws No. 1 seed Nick Simmons of Michigan State.

Northern Colorado's Hashimoto was the only seeded athlete from this new pack of wrestlers, but he got a taste of the challenge at this tournament early. Darrion Caldwell of NC State cradled him up in the first period and scored a quick fall in 28 seconds, knocking the Bear back into the consolation rounds.

Bucknell was able to win its second match, when Andy Rendos beat Brian Perry of Stanford by major decision, 12-4. Rendos will face No. 3 Eric Tannenbaum of Michigan this evening.

"We are excited about our first round. We felt we had some good matchups, and we had a legitimate chance to go three-for-three. But going 2-1 in the first round is tremendous. Our program continues to progress," said Bucknell coach Dan Wirnsberger.

Bucknell tallied five team points in the first round, in a tie for 28th place after the session. The Bison were ahead of many establish programs, such as Lehigh, Arizona State, Bloomsburg (where Wirnsberger is the former coach), Purdue, Columbia and Lock Haven.

"We are excited for how we wrestled the first time back here," said Wirnsberger. "These guys are freshman here. None of them were intimidated. We are focused about going out there and competing. I hope we are just getting started."

Northern Colorado pulled in a win at 184 pounds, when Shawn Vincent beat Kyle Bressler of Oregon State, 10-3. 

"He got started right from the beginning," said Jack Maughan of Vincent. "He is a junior college kid who had a post-season last year. He opened it up a bit, against a guy who had beaten him in the dual meet this year.

UNC finished the day with a 1-4 record. The UNC athletes were affected by having to compete in the unique intensity that the Div. I Championships offer.

"We were tight a little bit," said Northern Colorado coach Jack Maughan. "Our first three matches came right out of the shoot early. There was a bit of stage fright there. For the match we won, we had three hours to get settled here. Now we have to get them to battle back the hard way."

The former Div. II teams in the field had to sit out of national championship competition, They were no longer in Div. II but not yet eligible for the Div. I tournament right away. It was a kind of forced limbo, something that was hard for both the athletes and their coaches.

"When you go 1-4, you evaluate how you do as a coach. We are feeling it out," said Jack Maughan "We haven't been at a national championship for three years. We peaked at the Regionals which is great. Even I am feeling it a little bit. I haven't coached at a national tournament in three years."

Three of the Liberty wrestlers drew seeded opponents. Christian Smith, a junior transfer from Virginia Tech and Duke, scored the first takedown against No. 2 Troy Nickerson of Cornell, but it was not long before Nickerson was able to earn a pin at 2:39 at 125 pounds. Liberty ended the session with four losses.

South Dakota State's first match of the tournament was also a loss, when Ryan Meyer lost to Zach Shanaman of Penn, 5-1 at 165 pounds.

All three of North Dakota State's wrestlers faced a seed in their opening matches. Eric Hoffman was defeated by No. 8 Gabriel Flores of Illinois, 2-0. Ryan Adams lost to No. 12 Dan Vallimont of Penn State, 11-2. Jacob Bryce was controlled by No. 9 Kurt Backes of Iowa State, 16-4.

"These guys are awestruck here," said Coach Bucky Maughan. "I have one freshman, one sophomore and a junior here. All will be back. They won't be in shock the next time. I am happy to have some kids here to see what it is like. You have to put it on the line here."

Maughan, who won a number of Div. II titles during his 43 years at North Dakota State, knows what it takes to build a program. He has been through numerous challenges to earn the right to be on the floor coaching here in the Div. I Nationals.

"It has been a tough few years. We need a few good recruiting classes from being ready. The first few years, we couldn't do anything. We were always in contention in Div. II. But when we made the change, nine kids transferred out. It has been a tough fight out of it," said Bucky Maughan.

Except for Bucknell, which had initial success in this tournament and has two athletes in the winners bracket, the other programs will have to make their mark in the consolation rounds. But, realistically, all of these programs are looking ahead, for an opportunity to truly compete at this level.

"We have the budget, we have the scholarships. We need another two or three years to come here and do something," said Bucky Maughan. "We have to get a higher caliber kid in the program. If you get a kid used to winning and put him against great competition, he will do what it takes to be a contender. Right now, they don't believe."

"The fact that we host the Junior Nationals will help, because all of these kids have been there," said Bucky Maughan. "That helps us a bit. But the real elite kids still may not come to us. We have Minnesota, Iowa, Iowa State, Nebraska and UNI in our area. Those are good programs to compete with."

His son Jack Maughan is looking to build his program with home cooking, keeping the best of Colorado at home to pursue their college wrestling dreams.

 "Four of our five here are Colorado kids. This move to Div. I is so Colorado kids don't need to leave the state to be Div. I. Now we have to rally the state behind it. We need to build a program our state can be proud of," said Jack Maughan.

They are all looking forward to a day when people will recognize their singlets and get used to seeing the hand raised for their athletes here at the NCAA Championships.