Michigan's Hibbs moves from coaching to the PA announcer for the NCAA Tournament
People who attend the NCAA Div. I Championships have become familiar with the female voice of the tournament, Sandy Stevens, who has been working the PA with distinction for many years. The male voice who joined the NCAA Div. I announcing team for the last five years is Todd Hibbs, who is a resident of Michigan. 

Hibbs, originally from Ohio, came to Michigan to attend graduate school at Michigan State, and was on the wrestling coaching staff there. In 1988, when a job opportunity required too much time and made Hibbs give up his coaching, Michigan State coach Tom Minkel convinced Hibbs to serve as the announcer for the Michigan State Open and for home dual meets for the Spartans. His PA announcing career has taken off since then. 

His first NCAA National Championships experience came when Ohio Northern Univ. hosted the Div. III Championships and coach Ron Beaschler asked him to work the PA. That opportunity opened up the mike to Hibbs at the other two NCAA tournaments, and one year, Hibbs worked all three NCAA Wrestling Championships during the same year, the Div. III, then Div. II, then Div. I Championships in consecutive weekends.

Hibbs has returned to the coaching ranks, taking over the reigns at Div. III Olivet College in Olivet, Mich. The school had originally planned to drop the program, but after Hibbs first year as the coach, and with strong alumni support, the program was saved.

"Working this event anywhere is a privilege to have. Being a wrestler my whole life, this was a great opportunity for me. But to work this event here, where I consider this my home state, is terrific. My family and friends get to see me work, which they don't often get a chance. I was very happy to see when they decided to hold this tournament in Michigan," said Hibbs.

Was Hibbs nervous working the NCAAs in Michigan today?

"I was a lot less nervous here today than I was two weeks ago coaching at the Div. III Nationals," quipped Hibbs.

Some random notes from Day One

Minnesota has the most quarterfinalists with seven going into Friday's action, three more than any other school. Six teams have four quarterfinalists: Iowa State, Hofstra, Northwestern, Oklahoma State, Cornell and Michigan.

The quest for the Simmons brothers of Michigan State to win NCAA titles side-by-side will not be realized. Although No. 1 Nick Simmons won his second round match at 125 pounds, his brother Andy, seeded No. 8, was unable to finish his second round match, losing by injury default to Darrion Caldwell of NC State.

Cornell's Troy Nickerson, a returning NCAA runner-up at 125 pounds, was upset in the EIWA finals by Penn's Matt Eveleth. Nickerson, who still received a No. 2 seed here, has rebounded nicely, winning his first two matches by fall, pinning Christian Smith of Liberty in 2:39 and Collin Cudd of Wisconsin in 1:25. Eveleth, the No. 12 seed, lost his first match by Steve Mytych of Drexel, 5-0, then was eliminated by Marcus Orozco of Cal-Davis, 8-3 in the wrestlebacks.

There are 13 unseeded wrestlers in the quarterfinals: Jake Strayer of Penn State (133), Darrion Caldwell of NC State (141), Don Fisch of Rider (141), Michael Keefe of UT-Chattanooga (141), Tyler Turner of Wisconsin (149), Matt Coughlin of Indiana (149), Josh Zupancic of Stanford (157), Rudy Rueda of American (174), Brandon Mason of Oklahoma State (174), Josh Arnone of Cornell (184), Nick Roy of Michigan (197), Dustin Rogers of West Virginia (285) and Payam Zarrinpour of Sacred Heart (285).

Seven of these unseeded quarterfinalists knocked off two different seeded opponents.
* Caldwell, a freshman ACC champion, stopped No. 9 Kenny Hashimoto of Northern Colorado and No. 8 Andy Simmons of Michigan State
* Fisch, a junior who was second in the CAA, knocked off No. 5 Dominic Moyer of Nebraska and No. 12 Cassio Pero of Illinois.
* Keefe, a senior Southern Conference champion, beat No. 10 Kyle Ruschell of Wisconsin and No. 7 Brandon Rader of West Virginia.
* Turner, a senior who was sixth in the Big Ten, beat No. 9 Morgan Atkinson of Fullerton and No. 8 Aaron Martin of UT-Chattanooga.
* Zupancic, a junior who was second in the Pac-10, beat No. 8 Seth Martin of Lock Haven and No. 9 Chris Oliver of Nebraska.
* Rogers, a junior who was fifth in the EWL, beat No. 11 Spencer Nadolsky of North Carolina and No. 6 Ed Prendergast of Navy.
* Zarrinpour, a native of Shiraz, Iran, defeated No. 10 Cody Parker of Cal Poly and No. 7 Matt Fields of Iowa

Zarrinpour is the only native of another nation entered in the field this year. A senior, Zarrinpour is attempting to become Sacred Heart's first NCAA Div. I All-American. Zarrinpour was the CAA champion this year. He was eliminated in the round of 12 at the NCAA Championships two years ago, one match away from All-American honors. He competed for Iran's national Greco-Roman team prior to moving to the United States, where he competes for 1988 Olympian and 2004 Olympic Greco-Roman coach Andy Seras.

There will be an interesting matchup in the quarterfinals at 197 pounds, when No. 2 Josh Glenn of American faces No. 7 Craig Brester of Nebraska. These two athletes have somebody in common, former NCAA champion from Nebraska Brad Vering. Brester hails from a small town in Nebraska, Howells, which is also Vering's hometown. Vering is now one of the coaches for American Univ. and will be helping coach Glenn tomorrow against one of his hometown neighbors.

Oklahoma's No. 1 seed Sam Hazewinkel, who wrestles in college at 125 pounds, is also the No. 2 Greco-Roman wrestler in the nation at 121 pounds. He will get no break after this weekend, because the U.S. National Championships will be held in Las Vegas, Nev. on April 6-7. "I actually considered going freestyle," said Hazewinkel, "but I have been wrestling Greco-Roman for my whole life. I will be there to compete again this year."

Minnesota's No. 1 seed Cole Konrad was not pleased with his second round 9-1 win over Rashard Goff of Cleveland State.As a senior, Konrad is looking to win a second career NCAA title, but is even more focused on helping the Gophers win the team title. He is the only senior in the Minnesota lineup. "We are poised to win it here. This year, we have a motivated and talented team. Sure, I'd like to win it individually again this year. But it would be great to go out with both a team title and an individual one."

Only five weight classes have advanced all of their top four seeds into the quarterfinals: 125, 141, 157, 165 and 285.