SPARTANBURG, S.C.- The Southern Conference announced today that VMI's Josh Wine has been named the Wrestler of the Week.

Wine, a freshman from Fredericksburg, Va., pinned Gardner-Webb's Evan Rhodes to give VMI the lead for good in the Keydets' 22-16 victory last Friday evening. The match was Wine's first in his collegiate career, as he pinned Rhodes at the 4:04 mark in the heavyweight match.

Wine, who competed with the Keydet football team this fall as a defensive lineman, led the team with three fumble recoveries.

The VMI wrestling team returns to action on Dec. 29-30, participating in the Southern Scuffle hosted by UNC Greensboro.

North Dakota State's Mooney honored by Western Wrestling Conference

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - North Dakota State 141-pounder Gabriel Mooney has been named the Western Wrestling Conference's Wrestler of the Week as announced by league officials.

NDSU's Mooney (Greenbush, Minn./Greenbush-Middle River HS) continued his impressive start to the season by earning a pair of victories at the Northwestern Duals on Saturday, Dec. 8. The junior won a 9-5 decision over Southern Illinois-Edwardsville's Nicholas Shumate, followed by a pin 2:22 into his match with ninth-ranked Northwestern's James Kohlberg. Mooney improved to 14-4 on the season, 4-1 in dual meets with 2 pins.

The Western Wrestling Conference is comprised of seven schools including the Air Force Academy, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, Northern Iowa, South Dakota State, Utah Valley State and Wyoming.

Others nominated:
Northern Colorado - Tony Mustari
UNI - Andrew Anderson
South Dakota State - Ryan Meyer

Iowa's Slaton honored by Big Ten

PARK RIDGE, Ill. - Iowa wrestler Joe Slaton has been named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week. Ranked #20 last week, the Cedar Rapids, IA, native was honored for upsetting fourth-ranked Nick Fanthorpe of Iowa State, 6-5, at 133 pounds Sunday in Ames. Slaton's win helped propel the Hawkeyes to a victory over top-ranked Iowa State, 20-13. Iowa moved into the nation's top spot yesterday for the first time since the 2003-04 season. Slaton is undefeated at 5-0 this season, and is the first Hawkeye to earn the weekly conference honor since Mark Perry in 2005.

Iowa (5-0) will host its first home duals of the 2007-08 season Thursday night in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes will face Northern Iowa (0-0-1) at 6:30 p.m. and Cornell College (3-1) at 8 p.m.

Oklahoma State's Dieffenbach honored by Big 12

STILLWATER, Okla. - Oklahoma State senior wrestler Jake Dieffenbach was recognized as Big 12 Wrestler of the Week for the week of Dec. 3-9, the conference office announced today.

Dieffenbach remained perfect on the year when he improved his season record to 5-0 with a 13-4 major decision win over Penn State's Dave Rella last Sunday. He scored a takedown in each of the three periods and had a three-point near-fall in the second stanza. A two-time NAIA National Champion while at Lindenwood University before earning his degree and enrolling as a graduate student at Oklahoma State, Dieffenbach already owns a pair of dual match wins over ranked opponents this year, as he knocked off No. 8 Mike Cannon from American, 11-7, and handed No. 16 Max Dean of Oklahoma a 3-2 defeat.

Dieffenbach and the Cowboys are in the midst of final exams this week, then return to action when they compete at the Reno Tournament of Champions on Dec. 18.