Taylor named ACC Wrestler of the Week for fourth time By Steve Phillips Atlantic Coast Conference GREENSBORO, N.C. - Maryland senior Hudson Taylor has been named the Atlantic Coast Conference Wrestler of the Week for the fourth time this season. Taylor, a senior from Pennington, N.J., scored a major decision over defending ACC champion Brent Jones in the 197-pound weight class in last Saturday's regular-season finale at Virginia. The third-ranked Taylor helped the 10th-ranked Terps overcome a five-point deficit to defeat No. 23 Virginia and finish the regular season unbeaten in ACC dual competition. In a rematch of last year's 197-pound ACC Championship, won by Jones, Taylor defeated the 18th-ranked wrestler in the nation by a 13-5 score. The victory helped Maryland battle back for an eventual 22-11 team win. Taylor is 36-2 on the season and is tied for the NCAA Division I lead in wins.
Bailey named Big 12 Wrestler of the Week By Mitch Heckart Oklahoma Sports Information NORMAN, Okla. -- Zack Bailey of the ninth-ranked University of Oklahoma wrestling team has been chosen as the Big 12 Conference Wrestler of the Week, announced Monday by the league office. It marks the first career conference honor for the redshirt-junior, who has compiled a 23-5 overall record at 141 pounds this season, while going 4-1 against conference foes. Bailey, currently ranked third nationally, defeated No. 7 Jamal Parks of Oklahoma State by a 3-2 decision on Sunday in the second installment of Bedlam in Stillwater. The victory extended his winning streak to 13-straight matches this season. Trailing 2-1 with under a minute to go in the match, the Kansas City, Mo., product scored a takedown with just 33 seconds remaining in the third and was able to ride out Parks to seal the win. The win helped the Sooners claim three of the first four matches of the top-10 dual, giving OU a 10-3 lead. "This is a very deserving and great honor for Zack," OU head coach Jack Spates said. "This is a young man who has struggled for the past couple of years with injuries and surgeries, almost to the point of giving up the sport. For Zack to come back and battle to defeat an opponent who had beaten him twice before on a big stage really shows his character and determination." Bailey is near the top in several statistical categories for the Sooners, including third-most dual wins this season (14), as well as third on the team in dual takedowns (38) and dual points scored (135). The junior's 70 career victories are second-most on the team. Bailey and the Sooners are next in action at the 2010 Big 12 Championships, held this year in Norman at the Howard McCasland Field House on March 6.
St. Cloud State's O'Grady named NSIC Wrestler of the Week By Thomas Nelson St. Cloud State Sports Information St. Cloud State Universty redshirt freshman wrestler Shamus O'Grady (Elk River) has been named the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference wrestler of the week on Feb. 22. This marks the first time that O'Grady has earned NSIC wrestler of the week honors. O'Grady led the #10 Huskies to a big 32-7 victory over #9 Minnesota State on Feb. 19, in Mankato. O'Grady posted an impressive major decision victory over MSU's Ben Becker at 174-pounds in the NSIC dual. Becker entered the match ranked #6 in the nation at the DII level, while O'Grady was unranked in the latest NCAA DII national poll this week. O'Grady now owns a 17-11 record this season for the Huskies. Of note, St. Cloud State coach Steve Costanzo gained his 100th career victory as a collegiate wrestling coach with the victory at MSU. The Huskies finished their 2010 regular season with a 14-7 overall record. The 14 wins in dual meet action is the second most victories in a season in team history. The team record of 15 wins in a season was set in 1964-65. O'Grady and his teammates will now participate in the upcoming 2010 NCAA Division II Super Regional #3 wrestling tournament in Aberdeen, S.D. on Sunday, Feb. 28. The doors to the Barnett Center will open at 10:00 a.m. and wrestling action is scheduled for a start at noon.
Metcalf named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week By Traci Wagner Iowa Sports Information For the fifth and final time of his Hawkeye career, Iowa 149-pounder Brent Metcalf has been named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week. The senior from Davison, MI, is one of three Big Ten wrestlers to have earned the weekly conference honor five times in their collegiate careers. Minnesota's Ryan Lewis (2001-03), Michigan State's Nick Simmons (2004-07) and Northwestern's Jake Herbert (2004-09) are the other three. Metcalf, who is ranked first in the nation, earned the honor for helping the Hawkeyes finish out the 2009-10 season undefeated (23-0) for the second-straight season and pick up their third-straight Big Ten regular season title with wins over #3 Ohio State (32-3) and #14 Wisconsin (31-6) last weekend. The wins helped Iowa extend its school-record winning streak to 61 matches. Metcalf scored a 3-1 victory over #2 Lance Palmer of Ohio State Friday night in Iowa City, recording his 100th career victory and going undefeated (25-0) at Carver-Hawkeye Arena during his collegiate career. The Hawkeye senior received a forfeit in the dual at Wisconsin Sunday afternoon to stay undefeated at 29-0 and post a perfect 8-0 record in Big Ten dual competition. It's the fifth time this season a Hawkeye wrestler has been named Big Ten wrestler of the week, which ties Iowa's school record of five set during the 2002-03 and 2007-08 seasons. Metcalf (Jan. 5), senior Jay Borschel (174-Jan. 12), and sophomore Montell Marion (133-Jan. 19) were honored in January, and senior Daniel Dennis (133) was honored Feb. 2. It was the first time, since the Big Ten Conference started awarding the weekly honor during the 2001-02 season, that wrestlers from the same team earned the honor in three consecutive weeks. Metcalf is one of only two wrestlers to earn the weekly conference honor twice this season. Ohio State's Palmer (Jan. 26, Feb. 16) and Penn State's Cyler Sanderson (Nov. 17, Dec. 22) each collected the honor twice.
Sentes named MAC Wrestler of the Week By Scott Rex Central Michigan Sports Information MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Central Michigan sophomore Scotti Sentes (Fort Myers, Fla./Riverdale HS) has been named Mid-American Conference Wrestler of the Week. Sentes won both of his matches last week to help Central Michigan clinch the MAC championship. Sentes, ranked seventh nationally at 133 pounds, posted a 9-0 major decision over Ohio's Michael Fennell on Friday, then claimed a 3-2 decision over No. 8-ranked and defending MAC champion Danny Mitcheff (Kent State) on Sunday. The Chippewas shut out Ohio, 40-0, on Friday, then won at No. 20 Kent State, 21-13, to clinch the conference title on Sunday. Sentes has won eight of his last nine matches to improve to 18-5 overall, and he finished 5-0 in the MAC. He earns the conference's weekly honor for the second time this season and third time in his career. CMU finished the regular season 17-2 overall, 5-0 in the MAC, matching the school record for victories in a season. The sixth-ranked Chippewas won their 11th conference championship in the past 12 seasons. CMU will host the MAC Wrestling Championships at Rose Center March 6-7.
Wyatt Ray named WWC Wrestler of the Week By Aaron Voos Western Wrestling Conference LARAMIE, Wyo. - Utah Valley 141-pound redshirt freshman Wyatt Ray (Roy, Utah/Roy H.S.) has been named the Western Wrestling Conference's Wrestler of the Week as announced today by the league. Ray picked up a huge win for the Wolverines last week in UVU's 25-10 victory over Northern Colorado in Greeley. He defeated the reigning WWC Wrestler of the Week, Northern Colorado's Kenny Hashimoto, and earned his first dual victory of the season. Hashimoto is ranked No. 12 in the NCAA RPI and No. 21 in the most recent NCAA Coaches' Panel list. Ray took the early 2-0 lead over Hashimoto as he scored a quick takedown. Hashimoto then tied the score early in the second at two-apiece. Ray picked up an escape point in the third and a takedown to go up 5-2. He then held on to spoil Hashimoto's senior night as he beat him by decision, 5-4. The bout was only Ray's second dual match of the year, as he has recently been filling in for injured Wolverine senior Jeff Newby. Ray is now 7-3 overall and 1-1 in duals. With the win over UNC, UVU concluded its season with a 10-3 clip and a 4-1 mark in the WWC. This is the first career WWC weekly award for Wyatt Ray and the fifth time that a Utah Valley wrestler has been honored this season.
Bonilla-Bowman, Mytych named CAA Wrestlers of the Week By Jim Sheehan Hofstra Sports Information Lawrenceville, NJ - Hofstra University senior Jonny Bonilla-Bowman has been named the Colonial Athletic Association Wrestler of the Week for all competition from February 15-21. Bonilla-Bowman, a 157-pounder, won a pair of CAA major decisions last week against Rider and Drexel. The Pomona, New York native, who has now won 10 of his last 11 matches, defeated Rider's Zac Cibula, 24-11 on Wednesday, and Drexel's Joe Booth, 21-11 on Saturday. He is ranked second in the CAA and 17th in the nation, Bonilla-Bowman improved to 16-4 overall and 6-1 in the CAA. Bonilla-Bowman shares the CAA Wrestler of the Week award with Steve Mytych of Drexel University. Mytych, a senior 133 pounder from Wyoming, PA (Northampton), defeated the 20th ranked wrestler in the nation from Rutgers and won a major decision over the fourth ranked wrestler in the CAA from Hofstra. Currently ranked first in the CAA and 14th in the nation, Mytych improved to 30-6 overall, 7-0 in CAA duals. The CAA also announced that Nestor Taffur of Boston University and Jim Resnick of Rider University are the CAA Rookies of the Week. Resnick, a freshman 174 pounder from Media, Pennsylvania (Penncrest), won all four of his matches last week, including three CAA decisions and two pins, to improve to 5-2 in CAA duals. Resnick is ranked fourth in the CAA and now has 16 collegiate victories. Taffur, a freshman 149 pounder from Bound Brook, New Jersey (Bound Brook), defeated the top ranked 149 in the CAA from Rider in a 2-0 week. Ranked fifth in the CAA, Taffur improved to 4-2 in CAA duals with 16 wins on the season. The CAA Championships are March 5-6 at Rider University.