Missouri's Houdashelt Takes Home MAC Weekly Honor

Mizzou’s 149-pounder is the third Tiger to be named the Mid-American Conference Wrestler of the Week.

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Sophomore grappler Drake Houdashelt has been named the Mid-American Conference Wrestler of the Week for the week of January 23 the Conference announced Wednesday. Houdashelt claims his first weekly conference honor of his career after having a huge weekend against Northern Illinois and Northern Iowa.

This past weekend, Houdashelt was a scoring machine. In his match against Rob Jillard of NIU, the Mizzou grappler tallied eight takedowns, the most of any Tiger in a match this year. Six of those takedowns came in the third period alone en route to an 18-6 major decision, where Jillard could only score via the escape. Sunday against the 21-ranked Panthers of Northern Iowa, Houdashelt was victorious again by major decision over Bart Reiter, 12-3. He tallied four takedowns and a reversal in his team-leading ninth major decision. 

Houdashelt’s accolade marks the fourth time that a Mizzou grappler has been named as the MAC Wrestler of the Week so far in 2012-13. Senior-captains Nathan McCormick (133) and Dom Bradley (HWT) have also both been honored with this award, with Bradley claiming it twice. 

The Tigers 149-pounder, ranked as high as 13th in the polls, is 20-7 on theyear and has won 10 of his last 12 bouts. Eight of those 10 wins have come by either fall or major decision. 

Houdashelt qualified for the NCAA Championships last season as a redshirt freshman. He will continue his quest to qualify again in 2013 when No. 1-ranked Jordan Oliver of Oklahoma State comes to Columbia this Friday. The two will square off at this year’s Beauty and the Beast event. 

Grand View's Thompson receives NAIA Wrestler of the Week honor 

KANSAS CITY, Mo - Eric Thompson of Grand View (Iowa) has been named the NAIA National Wrestler of the Week, announced Wednesday by the national office. Thompson, who is receiving this award for the third time in his career, was selected based on his performances from Jan. 21 - 27.

Thompson, a native of Shell Rock, Iowa, improved to 32-5 on the season after going 5-0 last week en route to an individual title at the 2013 Grand View Open on Jan. 26. The junior heavyweight opened the event with an 18-2 technical fall against Dortanyia McIntyre of Ellsworth Community College (Iowa) before recording three-straight pins, including two against NCAA Division I wrestlers, by a combined time of four minutes and 12 seconds. Thompson defended his 2012 Grand View Open title with a 15-0 technical fall against NCAA Division I Northern Iowa's Cody Krumwiede. 

Thompson now boasts four individual titles this season with previous victories coming at the Loras Open (Iowa) on Nov. 3, the Harold Nichols/Cyclone Open (Iowa) on Nov. 10 and at the Simpson (Iowa) Invitational on Dec. 1. 

Nominees: Jahusa Marsh, Midland (Neb.); Brandon Gebhardt, Baker (Kan.); Javier Carbahal, Cumberlands (Ky.); Steadman Wang, Hastings (Neb.); John Sievert, Morningside (Iowa); Dillon Kifer, Jamestown (N.D.); Conor Young, Campbellsville (Ky.); Michael Gonzalez, Cumberland (Tenn.).

2013 NAIA Wrestlers of the Week
Week 1 (Jan. 9): Tyler Kacmarynski, Morningside (Iowa)
Week 2 (Jan. 16): Jarid Price, Baker (Kan.)
Week 3 (Jan. 23): Mitchell Lofstedt, Southern Oregon
Week 4 (Jan. 30): Eric Thompson, Grand View (Iowa)

Iowa’s Moore Named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week

Hawkeyes’ sophomore scores decision over top-10 opponent in team victory

Wrestler of the Week
Nick Moore, Iowa
165 – So. – Iowa City, Iowa – Iowa City West

· Recorded an 8-2 decision over Minnesota’s 10th-ranked Cody Yohn in Iowa’s 16-15 win against the Golden Gophers
·   Scored two takedowns, a two-point near fall, an escape and 3:41 of riding time to earn the victory
· Holds an 11-3 record on the season, including a 5-0 mark in Big Ten action
· Moved to No. 13 in this week’s individual rankings after holding No. 18 last week
·  Earns the first conference honor of his career
· Last Iowa Wrestler of the Week: Derek St. John (Dec. 11, 2012)

2012-13 Big Ten Wrestlers of the Week
Nov. 6                   Tony Dallago, Jr., ILL
Nov. 13                 Michael McClure, Jr., MSU
Nov. 20                 Matt McDonough, Sr., IOWA
Nov. 27                 Daryl Thomas, Sr., ILL
Dec. 4                    Logan Stieber, So., OSU
Dec. 11                 Derek St. John, Jr., IOWA
Dec. 18                 Michael McClure, Jr., MSU
Jan. 2   Robert Kokesh, So., NEB and Jason Welch, Sr., NU
Jan. 8                     Ed Ruth, Jr., PSU
Jan. 15                  Jon Gingrich, So., PSU
Jan. 22                  Scott Schiller, So., MINN
Jan. 29                  Nick Moore, So., IOWA

Josh Martinez Named WWC Wrestler of the Week

OREM, Utah – Air Force freshman Josh Martinez (Colorado Springs, Colo.) has been named the Western Wrestling Conference Wrestler of the Week, as announced today by the league. It marks the first career honor for Martinez and the fourth for an Air Force wrestler this season.

Martinez, who was ranked 11th in the nation at 125 pounds last week, posted a 2-0 record this past weekend as the Falcons opened up WWC competition. 

Martinez earned a big victory in his first match of the weekend, defeating sixth-ranked Trent Sprenkle of North Dakota State Friday evening. Martinez earned a second-period fall over Sprenkle, pinning the defending West Regional champion in a time of 4:23. He added another conference victory on Sunday, defeating South Dakota State’s Aaron Pickrel in a 12-4 major decision. 

Martinez, who was also named the Air Force Co-Athlete of the Week, now holds a 22-6 overall record on the season, along with a 6-0 dual mark. With his strong showing over the weekend, he moved to ninth in the national rankings.

Smith named USCAA Wrestler of the Week

Apprentice School sophomore heavyweight Ian Jones was named on Tuesday as the U.S. Collegiate Athletic Association Wrestler of the Week for the week ending January 27.

Jones, a sophomore heavy metal fabricator apprentice from Painesville, OH., was 3-0 with two wins by fall in the event to capture the heavyweight bracket of the Builder Invitational.  He opened with a win in 2:48 over James Perini of Ferrum College then advanced with a win in 4:08 over fourth-seeded Eric Calimanto of the University of Scranton.  In the finals he scored a 5-3 decision over second-seeded Denny Vaughan of St. Andrews University.

After the tournament, he was named the Champion of Champions as selected by all the weight class winners.  On the year, Jones is 31-3 with eight wins by fall to lead the team in victories and is second in wins by fall.

Copeland named RMAC Wrestler of the Week

Elliot Copeland
Western State
Sophomore, 174
Bennett, Colo./Bennett HS

Elliot Copeland won two matches on Sunday and helped Western State Colorado University defeat South Dakota State University 25-11. Copeland defeated both opponents by major decisions, winning 19-7 over SDSU’s John Nething and 19-9 over Air Force’s Dan Barringer. Those two wins completed a 3-0 week, after he scored a 10-9 decision against Jarod Purvis of Adams State on Thursday. He was the lone Mountaineer to win his match in the dual against Air Force. Copeland now holds a 23-2 record this season.

Yates Named ACC Wrestler Of The Week

Senior leads ACC regular-season clinching win and victory over #16 Oklahoma

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Virginia Tech 165-pound redshirt senior Pete Yates has been named the Atlantic Coast Conference Wrestler of the Week after leading the Hokies to an ACC regular-season clinching win at Maryland and a home mat win over No. 16 Oklahoma.

Yates, of Conyers, Ga., outscored his two opponents 32-0. On Friday, he took Maryland’s Domenic DeRobertis down in the first period and turned him four times for 12 back points and then escaped to start the second period to end it. Yates’ points proved crucial as the Hokies held off the Terrapins for a 20-19 victory that assured a 5-0 ACC regular-season finish and their 24th win in 25 ACC dual matches dating back to 2008.

On Sunday, Yates took down the Sooners’ Justin DeAngelis and turned him five times for 15 back points as he ended that match late in the first period. Yates is now 24-1 on the year and 14-0 in dual matches (5-0 in ACC matches). His 121 wins are the third-most in school history. With a 5-0 mark in conference matches this season, Yates is assured of the No. 1 seed in the 165-pound weight class at the ACC Championships, which will be hosted by Maryland on March 9. Yates was named the Most Valuable Wrestler of the event last season.

ODU’s Festejo CAA Wrestler of Week

LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ—Scott Festejo of Old Dominion University is the Colonial Athletic Association Wrestler of the Week, for all competition January 22-28.

Festejo, a junior 133 from Long Branch, NJ (Long Branch high), won both of his matches last week against CAA opponents who are ranked among the conference wrestlers.

The top ranked 133 in the CAA, Festejo defeated the second and third ranked wrestlers in the CAA from Rider and Binghamton to improve to 5-0 in CAA competition, 21-11 overall.

Bloomsburg's Hickman named EWL Wrestler of the Week

BLOOMSBURG — Bloomsburg University wrestler Frank Hickman (Castle Hayne, NC/E.A. Laney) has been named the Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) Wrestler of the Week for the period ending Jan. 27.
 
Hickman, a senior wrestling at 157 pounds, helped the 19th-ranked Huskies to a 15th-ranked Edinboro Friday night by a score of 19-18 (on criteria).
 
With the Huskies trailing in the match 15-0, Hickman got Bloomsburg on the board with a 19-4 win by technical fall starting a string of four straight victories that narrowed the gap in the match.
 
On the season Hickman, ranked 12th by the Amateur Wrestling News, is 19-3 and has won 10 straight matches. This is third honor for Hickman this season who has twice been named the PSAC (Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference) Wrestler of the Week.

Bloomsburg's Grant named PSAC Wrestler of the Week

BLOOMSBURG—Bloomsburg University wrestler Justin Grant (Easton/Easton) has been named the co-PSAC (Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference) Wrestler of the Week for the period ending Jan. 27. Grant shared the honor with Brendan McKeown of East Stroudsburg.
 
In the battle of nationally ranked teams the match came down to a battle of nationally ranked wrestlers. The Huskies' Justin Grant (Easton/Easton), ranked 17th, scored a 9-4 win over 18th-ranked Ernest James of Edinboro. Grant's victory over James tied the match at 18-18 setting into motion the tie-breaking procedures. The Huskies went on to win 19-18 on the third criteria snapping a seven-match losing streak to the Fighting Scots.

On the season Grant is 18-3 with all three losses to opponents ranked in the top 15 of the weight class. Grant was previously named the EWL Wrestler of the Week on Nov. 12, 2012.
 
Drew Lexvold Garners NSIC Wrestler of the Week

Sophomore Drew Lexvold of Minnesota State has been named the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference wrestler of the week as announced by conference officials Monday morning. The 141-lbs standout pinned both of his NSIC foes last week and owns an 11-5 record on the year.

After trailing 5-0 to Upper Iowa's Matt Paulus late in the second period, Lexvold used a reversal to spark his comeback, eventually leading to a pin at 4:40. Lexvold's fall gave Minnesota State a 9-3 lead, which it would never surrender. Lexvold returned to the matt two nights later and made quick work of Augustana's Brandon Charbonneau, as he pinned him in 1:02.

The Kenyon, Minn., native played a key role in No. 13 Minnesota State's sweep of ranked opponents last week, as it defeated No. 6 Upper Iowa 21-15 and No. 19 Augustana 21-19. MSU is now 7-2 overall and sits in a tie atop the NSIC with No. 1 St. Cloud State - both teams are 4-0 in conference action.

Lehigh's Shane Welsh named EIWA Wrestler of the Week

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Following wins over a pair of top ten-ranked opponents on consecutive days, Lehigh senior Shane Welsh was named EIWA Wrestler of the Week Sunday night. Welsh entered the weekend unranked at 149, but posted wins over No. 9 Nick Lester of Oklahoma Friday and No. 7 Scott Sakaguchi on Saturday in what was a 1-1 weekend for the Mountain Hawks on the mats.
 
Welsh’s 3-2 decision over Lester Friday at Stabler Arena proved to be crucial in Lehigh’s 21-14 upset of the 16th-ranked Sooners. After a scoreless first period, Welsh took a 1-0 lead on a locked hands call against Lester in the second period and later added a reversal to go up 3-0. Lester escaped in the second and added another in the third but Welsh held on for the 3-2 victory to bring the Mountain Hawks within a point of the Sooners after four bouts. Welsh’s win also avenged a 10-0 major decision loss to Lester at the Midlands Championships in December.
 
On Saturday, Welsh and Sakaguchi met in the final bout of the dual after the Beavers clinched what was a 20-14 victory. Sakaguchi scored the only takedown of the match before Welsh reversed late in the period. Welsh took the lead with an escape in the second period, only to see Sakaguchi reverse to open the third period. Welsh escaped and earned another point for an illegal figure four to the head, but riding time advantage for Sakaguchi sent the match into overtime at 5-5. After a scoreless sudden victory period, Welsh rode out Sakaguchi in the first tiebreaker period and then scored the winning reversal with four seconds remaining in the second tiebreaker period to win 7-5. 
 
With the victories, Welsh improved to 12-5 on the season. He has now won seven straight bouts since winning his seventh place match at the Midlands. 
 
The defending EIWA Champion at 149, Welsh is the second Lehigh wrestler to be named EIWA Wrestler of the Week this season. Joey Napoli received the honor in November after posting wins over two top six-ranked opponents at 157 on consecutive days.