Minnesota State-Mankato ranked No. 1 in Division II for first time

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Mike Kirk (University of Central Oklahoma)
01/23/2008


EDMOND, Okla. - A championship effort at the Cliff Keen/NWCA Division II National Duals has earned Minnesota State-Mankato its first-ever No. 1 ranking in the NCAA Division II Wrestling Coaches' Association poll that was released Wednesday.

The Mavericks won the 16-team national dual tournament on Jan. 13 in Cedar Falls, Iowa with a thrilling 19-17 finals victory over North Region rival Nebraska-Omaha and were a near-unanimous No. 1 pick after receiving seven of the eight first-place votes cast in finishing with 159 points.

UNO earned the remaining first-place vote and stayed second in the poll with 153 points, while defending national champion Central Oklahoma was third with 153 points and previous No. 1 Nebraska-Kearney fourth with 136.

Rounding out the top 10 was Adams State (Colo.), Western State (Colo.), Minnesota State-Moorhead, Pittsburgh-Johnstown (Pa.), Upper Iowa and Newberry (S.C.).  MSU-Moorhead made the biggest leap, moving from 17th to No. 7 after a sixth-place finish at the national dual meet.

MSU-Mankato has seven of its 10 individuals in the rankings, topped by No. 1 Jason Rhoten at 157 pounds.  UNO also has seven ranked wrestlers, with 125 Cody Garcia and 149 Todd Meneely both No. 1.

The NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships will be held March 14-15 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and hosted by Upper Iowa.	

The top 20 poll, with points and their last ranking:

Rank		School (State)	Points		Last Ranking
1.	Minnesota State-Mankato	159		4th
2.	Nebraska-Omaha	153		2nd
3.	Central Oklahoma	144		3rd
4.	Nebraska-Kearney	136		1st
5.	Adams State (Colo.)	123		5th
6.	Western State (Colo.)	118		9th
7.	Minnesota State-Moorhead	110		17th
8.	Pittsburgh-Johnstown (Pa.)	109		6th
9.	Upper Iowa		96		7th
10.	Newberry (S.C.)	84		10th
11.	Ashland (Ohio)		66		8th
12.	Mercyhurst (Pa.)	65		16th
13.	Gannon (Pa.)		63		13th
14.	Indianapolis (Ind.)	59		11th
15.	Findlay (Ohio)		41		14th
16.	St. Cloud State (Minn.)	38		18th
17.	Chadron State (Neb.)	37		12th
18.	Limestone (S.C.)	31		19th
19.	Wisconsin-Parkside	24		15th
20.	Central Missouri	14		NR
Others receiving votes:  Augustana (S.D.), Fort Hays State (Kan.).

125 Pounds

1.	Cody Garcia, Nebraska-Omaha
2.	Nick Smith, Minnesota State-Mankato
3.	Tyler Mumbulo, Upper Iowa
4.	Curtis Schurkamp, San Francisco State
5.	Arsenia Barksdale, Adams State (Colo.)
6.	Joe Werner, Minnesota State-Moorhead
7.	Joey Morrison, Nebraska-Kearney
8.	Eddie Lopez, Western State (Colo.)

133 Pounds

1.	Brandon Reasy, Pittsburgh-Johnstown (Pa.)
2.	Shane Perkey, Indianapolis (Ind.)
3.	Tim Elliott, Central Oklahoma
4.	Raymond Dunning, Adams State (Colo.)
5.	Jesse Cruz, Western State (Colo.)
6.	Kelly Janke, Minnesota State-Moorhead
7.	Craig DeGreef, Wisconsin-Parkside
8.	Mike Nash, North Carolina-Pembroke

141 Pounds

1.	Kyle Evans, Central Oklahoma
2.	Steven Fittery, Shippensburg (Pa.)
3.	Doug Surra, West Liberty State (W. Va.)
4.	Jeff Rutledge, Nebraska-Kearney
5.	Travis Elg, Minnesota State-Mankato
6.	Matt Irwin, Indianapolis (Ind.)
7.	Shane Valko, Pittsburgh-Johnstown (Pa.)
8.	Ross Mountour, New Mexico Highlands 

149 Pounds

1.	Todd Meneely, Nebraska-Omaha
2.	Camille DuPont, Western State (Colo.)
3.	Brian Pogel, Mercyhurst (Pa.)
4.	Tee Adams, Upper Iowa
5.	Tommy Abbott, Minnesota State-Mankato
6.	Ryan Etherton, Nebraska-Kearney
7.	Shane Walton, Minnesota State-Moorhead
8.	Joey Deaguero, Adams State (Colo.)

157 Pounds

1.	Jason Rhoten, Minnesota State-Mankato
2.	Joe Ellenberger, Nebraska-Kearney
3.	Antonio Guerra, Findlay (Ohio)
4.	Muhammad Abdur-Rahman, Ashland (Ohio)
5.	Travis Eggers, Upper Iowa
6.	Noomis Jones, Adams State (Colo.)
7.	Eric Pretto, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville
8.	Michael Horton, Indianapolis (Ind.) 

165 Pounds

1.	Brett Hunter, Chadron State (Neb.)
2.	Zach Lee, Western State (Colo.)
3.	Aaron Denson, Nebraska-Omaha
4.	Andy Pickar, Minnesota State-Mankato
5.	Kyle Becker, Wisconsin-Parkside
6.	Alonzo Azumendi, Newberry (S.C.)
7.	Rockie Stavn, Minnesota State-Moorhead
8.	Keenan McCurdy, Nebraska-Kearney

174 Pounds

1.	Larry Wilbanks, Western State (Colo.)
2.	Ross Taplin, Nebraska-Omaha
3.	Evan Copeland, Adams State (Colo.)
4.	Cory VanGroll, Wisconsin-Parkside
5.	Tyler Tubbs, Minnesota State-Moorhead
6.	Marty Usman, Nebraska-Kearney
7.	Albert Miles, Pittsburgh-Johnstown (Pa.)
8.	Tim Matheson, Minnesota State-Mankato 

184 Pounds

1.	Jared Deaguero, Adams State (Colo.)
2.	Mike Corcetti, Pittsburgh-Johnstown (Pa.)
3.	Brent Pankoke, Nebraska-Omaha
4.	Heath Jolley, Central Oklahoma
5.	Dan Scanlan, Limestone (S.C.)
6.	Beau Severtson, Augustana (S.D.)
7.	Brad Padgett, St. Cloud State (Minn.)
8.	Luke Haag, Wisconsin-Parkside

197 Pounds

1.	Josh Majerus, Chadron State (Neb.)
2.	Jacob Marrs, Nebraska-Omaha
3.	Josh Ohl, Ashland (Ohio)
4.	Ty Copsey, Augustana (S.D.)
5.	Kelly Anundson, Newberry (S.C)
6.	Dan Stevenson, Findlay (Ohio)
7.	Donavan McMahill, Western State (Colo.)
8.	Matt Nelson, Minnesota State-Moorhead

285 Pounds

1.	Tervel Dlagnev, Nebraska-Kearney
2.	Brady Wilson, Minnesota State-Mankato
3.	Cy Wainwright, Newberry (S.C.)
4.	Travis Clark, Findlay (Ohio)
5.	Dustin Finn, Central Oklahoma
6.	Dan Goodson, Upper Iowa
7.	Trey Moss, Limestone (S.C.)
8.	Tony Lewis, Nebraska-Omaha