PANTHER WRESTLERS HEAD TO THE WEST REGIONALS    THIS WEEK:  The 15th-ranked Northern Iowa wrestling team travels to Laramie, Wyoming, on March 3rd, for the NCAA West Regional Tournament. The region also includes Wyoming, Fresno State, Air Force, Eastern Illinois and Marquette. Twenty wrestlers will qualify for the national tournament from the West Regional.    THE COACH: Brad Penrith is in his first season as the head coach of the Panthers. Penrith is not new to UNI or the wrestling program as he has served as the top assistant coach for the past three years.  Prior to coming to UNI, Penrith spent the previous five seasons as an assistant at Nebraska, coaching the Huskers' lighter weights.  He also served a one-year stint as an assistant at Boise State in 1991-92, spent two seasons at Arizona State from 1989-91, and was a graduate assistant at Iowa.  As a competitor, he captured a Silver Medal at the *91 World Championships and was the Gold Medalist at the Pan American Games in '89 and '91.    REGIONAL HISTORY: Northern Iowa has won 15 consecutive regional titles and 17 of the last 20. Louisiana State won between 1983-85 while the Panthers took second place.  Last year they defeated Brigham Young by 50 points and qualified seven wrestlers.    PIN LEADER: After the regular season, Nate Lawrenz leads the team with nine pins.  His fastest pin of the season came at the Wendy's Duals against Cleveland State*s Warnock in 55 seconds.    AND THE WINNER IS: Mark Rial has beat nine out of the last ten oppenents he has faced. He started his winning ways by defeating Granger of Binghamton, at the Wendy*s Duals.  His loss came to Ryan Egan of Northern Illinois.    SUCCESSFUL SEASON: Paul Hynek leads the team in overall win this season, with a record of 24-4.  Hynek also has the most points on the team with 69 points. His opponents have only scored 12 points against him. Hynek has eight pins on the season with his fastest (0:45) coming against Tom Webb of Iowa Central.    50 PLUS: Three Panthers have hit 50 career wins. Senior Keith Weber (52), junior Nate Lawrenz (50) and junior Kyle Hansen (51).    INJURY REPORT: Nineteenth-ranked Chad Boudreaux (133) will not travel with the team to Wyoming due to an injured shoulder.  Red-shirt freshman Dylan Long will get the nod at 133.    REGULAR SEASON RECAP: UNI started the season out on a bright note, placing nine wrestlers at the Ryan Kaufman Open.  The dual meet season began with the first four matches against ranked Big 10 opponents --Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Purdue.  The Panthers* 23-13 victory over Purdue gave them their first win, which sparked them to win eight out of the next 10 matches.  Included in those wins was a 25-10 victory over West Regional*s Fresno State.  In a West Region triangular, Wyoming and Marquette visited Northern Iowa, with the Panthers defeating them 30-6 and 46-4, respectively.  UNI hosted Oklahoma State and Nebraska two weekends in a row.  The Panthers fought hard in the 31-9 loss to OSU and lost a close match, 26-20, against Nebraska in the final dual of the day.  The Panthers came back strong and defeated both Eastern Illinois and Northern Illinois.  In the final match of the season, the Panthers faced interstate rival and fourth-ranked Iowa State.  UNI came out strong but ended up losing the match 29-15.    PANTHERS FINISH THE SEASON IN AMES: The Panthers traveled to Ames, Iowa (Feb. 18) to wrestle the fourth-ranked Cyclones.  The meet started at 184, where number one Cael Sanderson defeated Kyle Hansen in a major decision.  Sanderson holds the NCAA record for consecutive wins, currently at 112.  UNI's Keith Weber (149) was a bright note for the Panthers, as he defeated eighth ranked Billy Maldonado in a major decision, 16-4.   Eric Dunmire (125) was also successful, as he beat the Cyclones' Jacob Moore, 21-6.  The Panthers wrestled well against the Cyclones only losing, 29-15.  Paul Hynek sat out due to an sore shoulder.    QUOTING THE COACH:  Panther head coach Brad Penrith made the following comments about the West Regional:    "Things are looking positive going into the West Regional.  We wish we could move Wyoming to a new location so we didn't have to wrestle in the mountains, with the altitude.  But that is just something our athletes have to prepare for and they need to be mentally strong.    "This is the most important tournament of the year.  If you don't win it then there is a good chance you are not going on.  If you don't go in there and represent yourself you might not get to go, even if you get true second. We have our work cut out for us if we want to take 10 guys to Nationals."    THE ROAD TO IOWA CITY:  This year*s NCAA National Tournament will be held in Iowa City, Iowa.  The tournament runs from March 15-17.   ESPN2 will televise the championships on tape delay starting at 5 p.m on Saturday (March 17).  The broadcast will make the first time that the wrestling championships will be taped and then aired the same day that the tournament occurs.    TOURNAMENT SUCCESS: Last year, the Panthers qualified seven wrestlers for the NCAA Tournament in St. Louis, Mo.  Seniors Tony Davis and Randy Pugh were honored as all-Americans after their success at nationals. Davis captured the title at 149 defeating Illinois* Adam Tirapelle. Pugh finished in fourth place losing to only one of his six opponents. The Panthers finished in 11th place in the overall standings.    2000 NCAA QUALIFIERS:  141 Nick Flach  149 Tony Davis (1st)  165 Nate Lawrenz  174 Randy Pugh (4th)  184 Kyle Hansen  197 Tony Wieland  Hwt Paul Hynek    2000-01 Dual Schedule/Results  Date Opponent Time  Nov. 26 Minnesota L 36-3  Dec. 8 Wisconsin L 20-19  Dec. 10 Iowa (Fox & IPTV) L 32-16  Jan. 3 Purdue W 23-13  Jan. 6 Texas Duals   Neosho CC W 43-6   Northwestern W 31-9   Fresno State W 25-10   Oklahoma L 23-15  Jan. 13 Ohio State L 30-3  Jan. 14 Wendy's Duals   Binghamton W 48-6   Ashland W 31-21   Cleveland State W 33-12  Jan. 20 Wyoming W 30-6   Marquette W 46-4  Jan. 27 Oklahoma State  L 31-9  Feb. 2 Nebraska L 26-20  Feb. 4 Eastern Illinois W 41-3   Northern Illinois W 31-10  Feb. 18 Iowa State L 29-15