Ryan Malo named ACC Wrestler of the Week
Virginia senior Ryan Malo (Georgetown, Mass.) has been named the ACC Wrestler of the Week, as announced Tuesday by the conference. 

In his first year at UVa after transferring from Williams College, Malo won the 197-pound championship at the Cornell Body Bar Invitational last Saturday. Malo's big win of the day came in the semifinals when he defeated No. 1-ranked Cam Simaz of Cornell by injury default. Simaz was injured at the 3:30 mark of the match and was forced to stop the bout.In the championship match, Malo racked up nearly four minutes of riding time to cruise to a 10-6 win over Minnesota's Scott Schiller.

Malo opened the tournament by rolling to a 12-3 major decision against Columbia's Shane Hughes.

Virginia returns home Sunday (Nov. 27) for a 1 p.m. dual against Virginia Tech. The match will be contested at John Paul Jones Arena. Prior to the match, the Virginia wrestling program will hold a clinic from 10-11:30 a.m. Tickets are available online at VirginiaSports.com and through the Virginia Athletics Ticket Office.

Kevin Steinhaus named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week
Minnesota redshirt sophomore Kevin Steinhaus has been honored as the Big Ten Wrestler of the Week after leading the No. 3 Golden Gophers to an upset win over then No. 2 Penn State on Sunday.

Steinhaus, now ranked fifth in the country at 184 pounds by InterMat, earned a 6-1 decision win over then-No. 1 Quentin Wright of Penn State, which helped Minnesota score a 23-14 victory over the then No. 2 Nittany Lions on Sunday.

Steinhaus is now 5-1 overall this season, with a record of 1-1 in dual matches and a 1-0 record in Big Ten duals. He was previously ranked eighth in the InterMat rankings before this past weekend’s contests. 

The award is the second Big Ten Wrestler of the Week honor for Steinhaus and the first for Minnesota since Steinhaus was honored with the accolade on Dec. 14, 2010.

Minnesota returns to action this Sunday Nov. 27 when they host North Dakota State at 2 p.m. inside the Sports Pavilion.


Niko Brown named SoCon Wrestler of the Week
Chattanooga junior 197-pounder Niko Brown has been named Southern Conference Wrestler of the Week for all competitions from November 16-22.

Brown went 2-0 in the Mocs’ two dual matches last week. He scored a 5-3 decision in the loss to Central Michigan but was the highlight in the win over No. 12 Stanford. The Mocs raced out to a 16-4 advantage but lost both matches at 174 and 184 to allow the Cardinal to close the gap to 16-12 with two matches left.

Brown quickly caught Alen Yen in a cradle and got the crowd of over 750 fans going at Maclellan Gym.  The junior from Kissimmee, Fla., forced Yen to the mat less than two minutes into the match for the pin, clinching the big win for the Mocs. 

Other Nominees: Kyle Blevins (Appalachian State), John Weakley (Campbell), Kelby Smith (The Citadel) and Justin Kozera (Gardner-Webb).

Chris Honeycutt named PSAC Wrestler of the Week
EDINBORO, Pa. (Nov. 22, 2011) – Edinboro University’s Chris Honeycutt (North Ridgeville, OH/ St. Edward) has been named the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Wrestler of the Week.  The senior is off to a 9-0 start and also took part in the 46th Annual NWCA All-Star Classic last night at Arizona State.  Honeycutt posted the lone fall of the night, pinning two-time Division III national champion Byron Tate of Wartburg in 32 seconds in the 197 lb. bout. (at left) 

Honeycutt earned All-American honors for the first time a year ago while competing at 184 lbs., coming in fifth at Nationals.  He moved up to 197 lbs. this year and has taken first place at the UB Open and the Michigan State Open. He is 9-0 with three technical falls and two major decisions, boosting his career win total to 99.  He came away with the championship in the UB Open two weeks ago, winning all five of his bouts, including a 7-2 decision over nationally-ranked Matt Wilps of Pittsburgh in the finals.  

He then went 4-0 a week ago at the Michigan State Open, defeating Nick McDiarmid of Michigan State by technical fall, 15-5, in the finals.

Josef Rau named CCIW Wrestler of the Week
Elmhurst College's Joe Rau has been named the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin's Wrestler of the Week.

Rau earned the honor by capturing the individual 184-pound title at the Concordia University (Wis.) Open on Saturday (November 19). Rau posted a perfect 4-0 record at the one-day tournament while not allowing a takedown. Rau opened with a 20-2 technical fall over Itasca's Jon Waldrup. He followed with a 17-4 major decision over Wartburg's Sam Upah in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Rau toppled Augustana's Jordan Richardson by a 12-1 major decision. Rau won the individual title with a 10-3 victory over sixth-ranked Dylan Azinger of Wartburg College. Rau is a perfect 5-0 on the season and is currently ranked third in the nation at 184 pounds.