Kearney's Hepburn RMAC Wrestler of the Week
By Sarah Meier
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
T.J. Hepburn, Nebraska-Kearney
Junior, 149
East Hampton, Conn. / Ledyard HS / Colby CC
At the Fort Hays State - Bob Smith Open, Hepburn was seeded second and won the 149-pound title this past Saturday. Hepburn was the only Loper to place first. At the meet, he recorded falls in times of 0:36 and 4:52. He also had a technical fall (18-2). Hepburn pinned fourth-ranked/third seed, Will Forrest of Central Missouri in the semifinals and also beat fi ft h-seed Jesse Snider, 9-4, in the
finals.

Delaney named SoCon Wrestler of the Week
By Jonathan Caskey
Southern Conference

SPARTANBURG, S.C. â€" The Citadel sophomore Odie Delaney has been selected as the Southern Conference Wrestler of the Week for all competition from December 2-8.

Wrestling in the 197-pound weight class, Delaney was 6-2 for the week with both of his losses coming against nationally-ranked competition. After falling to Erik Schuth of Ohio, Delaney rebounded by pinning Cleveland State’s Jeff Schuller. At the Penn State Open, Delaney went 5-1, winning all five matches by virtue of the pin on his way to a fifth place finish.

On the season, Delaney is 15-3 overall and 2-1 in dual matches, including one major decision and 12 pins. The 12 pins is tied for first nationally among all weight classes and all divisions for the 2009-10 season.

2009-10 Southern Conference Wrestlers of the Week
Dec. 2        Jake Young, Chattanooga
Dec. 9        Odie Delaney, The Citadel

Lewnes named EIWA Wrestler of the Week

Cornell wrestling's Mack Lewnes has been named EIWA wrestler of the week after winning the title at 174 pounds at the Las Vegas Invitational this weekend. Lewnes went 5-0 for the weekend with three bonus wins to help the Big Red to finish in second place as a team. 

Lewnes opened the tournament on Friday with two wins by major decision and one victory by fall. In the semifinals, he defeated Oklahoma's Jeff James, 7-3. The Big Red junior won his second-straight individual title in as many tries with a 5-3 victory over Nebraska's Stephen Dwyer in the finals. Lewnes won the title at the Reno Tournament of Champions as a freshman at 165 pounds. 

Lewnes is 15-0 for the season with nine bonus wins. He and the Big Red will be back in action on Dec. 29-30 at the Southern Scuffle.

Taylor sets school record for wins, falls; Named ACC Wrestler of the Week

Steve Phillips
Atlantic Coast Conference
Maryland 197-pound All-America senior Hudson Taylor has claimed his second Atlantic Coast Conference Wrestler of the Week honor of the 2009-10 season after a weekend in which he defeated three fellow nationally ranked wrestlers and became the program�s all-time leader in career victories and pins.

Taylor set the school record for career pins by picking up four to bring his collegiate total to 72. The senior helped the seventh-ranked Terps to a 41-0 ACC season-opening victory over North Carolina on Friday by pinning No. 11 Dennis Drury, which brought Taylor�s career pin total to 69, tying him with Jake Stork for most in school history.

Taylor broke the record on Sunday in the Penn State Open. The third-ranked wrestler in the country went 5-0 to claim the title at 197 pounds, winning three matches by pin and two matches over ranked opponents. Taylor�s record is now 17-0 on the season, with 13 of those victories coming by pin. Taylor�s wins in the Penn State open included an 11-5 decision over No. 19 Matthew Wilps of Pittsburgh and a pin of Virginia�s 15th-ranked Brent Jones, the ACC�s defending champion in the 197-pound weight class and the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the 2009 ACC Championships.

Hudson also set the Maryland career wins record with his stellar two days of work. The Pennington, N.J., native now has 140, beating the previous mark of 139 set by Brandon York (1998-2002), who was a four-time ACC Champion as well as a four-time NCAA qualifier.

Maryland plays host to Pennsylvania on Friday in the only dual action involving ACC teams this week as the schedule becomes lighter due to exam breaks. No. 18 Virginia will be the next team to resume action Dec. 19, when it makes a Saturday road swing to UNC Greensboro and Appalachian State.

Escobedo named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week
By Dan Mihalik
Big Ten Conference

Angel Escobedo, Indiana
Sr., 125, Griffith, Ind./Griffith
Escobedo earns his third career Wrestler of the Week award after being named Most Outstanding Wrestler at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational over the weekend. Ranked second in his weight class, Escobedo led the Hoosiers to a sixth-place team finish as he won the 125-pound tournament. The Griffith, Ind., native won six bouts, three by major decision, one by technical fall and another by pin. Now at 12-0 on the season, the senior knocked off two ranked opponents during the tournament in No. 20 Jason Lara of Oregon State in the quarterfinals and No. 3 Anthony Robles of Arizona State in the championship dual.

Last Indiana Wrestler of the Week: Paul Young (Dec. 1, 2009)
 
2009-10 Wrestlers of the Week
Nov. 10: Colton Salazar, Jr., PUR
Nov. 17: Cyler Sanderson, Sr., PSU
Nov. 24:  Reece Humphrey, Sr., OSU & Brad Pakaty, Jr., PSU
Dec. 1: Paul Young, Jr., IND
Dec. 8: Angel Escobedo, Sr., IND

Wyoming's Shane Onufer named WWC Wrestler of the Week
By Colin McDonough
Western Wrestling Conference
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - University of Wyoming sophomore 165-pounder Shane Onufer (Auburn, Wash./Auburn HS) has been named the Western Wrestling Conference's Wrestler of the Week as announced by league officials.

In what many consider the top early tournament in collegiate wrestling, Onufer placed third at 165 pounds this past weekend at the 28th Annual Las Vegas Invitational. In doing so, he beat All-American Andy Rendos from Bucknell twice. Onufer finished the tournament with a 5-1 record, 14-4 so far this year, and helped the Wyoming team to a 10th-place finish in the stacked field.

On Friday, Onufer opened the event with a major decision victory over Cody Hutcheson from Cornell. He then beat P.J. Gillespie from Hofstra (4-1), setting up a quarterfinal bout with No. 6-ranked and the event's No. 2-seed Rendos. Onufer knocked off Rendos by a score of 5-3 to advance to Saturday's semifinals.

He then lost by a slim margin in the semifinals to No. 8 Colt Sponseller from Ohio State (6-4), before winning two straight to finish the tournament. He beat Gillespie again by a score of 3-2, before getting his second victory in as many days over 2009 All-American Rendos in the consolation final. Onufer was aggressive from the start and stuck Rendos' shoulders to the mat at 2:15 in the first period to bring his weekend to an exciting end.

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 and Wyoming.

Other Nominees:
Air Force - Derek Gillespie, Jr., 141 lbs., Chesapeake, Va. (Great Bridge)
Northern Colorado - Justin Gaethje, Jr., 157 lbs., Safford, Ariz. (Safford HS)
Utah Valley - Flint Ray, Jr., 133 lbs., Roy, Utah (Roy HS)
Meade named Big 12 Wrestler of the Week
By Emily Franzenburg
Big 12 Conference
IRVING, Texas - Oklahoma State�s Alex Meade has been named the Big 12 Wrestler of the Week, it was announced. This is the first career Conference honor for Meade.

WRESTLER OF THE WEEK
Alex Meade, 165 pounds, Fr., Camden, Del./Caesar Rodney
Meade provided one of the biggest upsets of the season when he toppled No. 2 Dustin Schlatter of Minnesota on Nov. 4 as part of the Cowboys� 21-8 win over the No. 5 Golden Gophers. The OSU freshman recorded a takedown against the former NCAA champion and three-time Minnesota All-American just over a minute into the bout in what ended up being the key point of the match. A pair of escapes from Schlatter and an escape from Meade capped the scoring. Earlier in the week, Meade was a 5-1 winner over Oklahoma�s Tyler Caldwell in the first Bedlam dual of the season. On the year, Meade is 11-1 overall, including 3-0 in duals.

2009-10 BIG 12 WRESTLERS OF THE WEEK/MONTH
November: Eric Lapotsky, OU, Sr. 197
Dec. 7: Alex Meade, OSU, RFr., 165

St. Cloud's John Sundgren named NSIC Wrestler of the Week

By Nick Kornder
Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference

John Sundgren  (157 Lbs, R-Jr., Blaine, Minn. / Blaine HS)
St. Cloud State
Sundgren helped the Huskies gain a 3-0 record at the UW-LaCrosse Duals on Dec. 5th. Sundgren also went 3-0 on the day with all of his victories by pinfall. To open the day, he earned a 4:00 pinfall win over Andrew Dilworth of #17 UW-Stevens Point. SCSU went on to win that dual match by a 28-9 tally. Sundgren gained pin number two on the day with a victory over Willie Slayden of #28 Loras at 6:24. SCSU won the dual against Loras by a score of 48-0. To end the sweep, Sundgren pinned Ryan Farwell of #1 ranked UW-LaCrosse at 1:56. The Huskies won the match against UW-LaCrosse by a 25-13 tally. On the season, Sundgren owns a 7-2 overall record at 157-pounds for the Huskies.