Southern Oregon's Garner named national wrestler of the week

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Prescott Garner of Southern Oregon has been named the NAIA National Wrestler of the Week, announced Wednesday by the national office. Garner was selected based on his performances from Feb. 4 - 10.

Garner, a native of West Linn, Ore., moved to 22-5 on the season with victories in Southern Oregon's duals against Simpson (Calif.) on Feb. 8 and NCAA Division III Pacific (Ore.) on Feb. 9. The sophomore, who is currently ranked No. 1 in the NAIA at 133 pounds, opened the week with a pin of Simpson's Chan Chao in 1:48 - his second fastest pin of the year. Against Pacific, Garner tallied his second pin of the week - sixth of the season - in 5:23 against Ryan Baxter despite wrestling out-of-class at 141 pounds. 

Garner is 11-0 against NAIA competition this season and has won by fall in six of his last eight matches. He is the second Southern Oregon wrestling to claim weekly honors this season, joining 125-pounder Mitchell Lofstedt, who previously won the award on Jan. 23 and Feb. 6. 

The final Wrestler of the Week announcement will be on Feb. 20. For the complete Player of the Week calendar, click here.

Nominees: Nathan Ryan, Morningside (Iowa); Blake Fruchtl, Hastings (Neb.); Wismit Moinius, Lindsey Wilson (Ky.).

2013 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)
Week 5 (Feb. 6): Mitchell Lofstedt, Southern Oregon
Week 6 (Feb. 13): Prescott Garner, Southern Oregon

Odie Delaney Repeats as SoCon Wrestler of the Week

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Odie Delaney earned his second straight Southern Conference wrestler of the week award and third of the season for all competition from Feb. 6-12. The selection is made by the league office.

The award is Delaney's seventh of his career, moving him into a tie with Appalachian State's Austin Trotman (2008-12) for the most in league history.

The redshirt senior won his only match of the week via pin as the Bulldogs downed Gardner-Webb 33-7 in league action on Sunday.

The Santa Rosa Beach, Fla., product, who is ranked 14th in the nation in the recently released NCAA coaches' panel rankings, pinned Gardner-Webb's Travis Porter in 4:03. Porter is ranked 33rd in the coaches' panel rankings.

The pin was Delaney's SoCon-best 14th of the season, regardless of weight class, and moved his season record to 31-7 overall and 9-1 in duals. He Is 6-0 in the league this year and has won 11 consecutive matches overall.

With 114 career wins, Delaney needs just four more to move into second place in Citadel history. He has 56 career pins and is 19-3 in SoCon duals in his career with three undefeated league seasons to his credit. 

A Bulldog grappler has been tabbed as wrestler of the week in seven of the 13 weeks during the 2012-13 season.
The Citadel (5-5, 4-2 SoCon) wraps up its SoCon slate at VMI (1-12, 1-2) on Friday in Lexington, Va., site of this season's SoCon Wrestling Championship held on March 9.

2012-13 SoCon wrestlers of the week
Nov. 7 - Nick Soto, Chattanooga
Nov. 14 - Niko Brown, Chattanooga
Nov. 21 - Odie Delaney, The Citadel
Dec. 5 - Patrick Myers, SIUE
Dec. 12 - Ugi Khishignyam, The Citadel
Dec. 19 - Ugi Khishignyam, The Citadel
Jan. 3 - Ugi Khishignyam, The Citadel
Jan. 9 - Zack Strickland, Appalachian State
Jan. 16 - Eric Montoya, Campbell
Jan. 23 - Marshall Haas, The Citadel
Jan. 30 - John Merickel, Campbell
Feb. 6 - Odie Delaney, The Citadel
Feb. 13 - Odie Delaney, The Citadel

Delgado Named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week

PARK RIDGE, Ill. – Illinois sophomore All-American Jesse Delgado was named the Big Ten Wrestler of the Week, the conference announced Tuesday, after the third-ranked Delgado upset No. 1 Matt McDonough (Iowa), 9-4, last Friday and scored a decision against Northwestern's Dominick Malone in the Illini's win over the Wildcats.

Against Iowa, Delgado scored two takedowns in the first period and McDonough escaped once to make the score 2-1 after three minutes. Delgado was on offense the entire second period, notching two more takedowns, while McDonough notched another escape. The Hawkeye grappler earned two more points by escape and a stalling call on Delgado in the third, but it was not enough as Delgado earned the riding time point and won, 9-4. With Delgado's win, the Illini wrestler broke McDonough's 42-match win streak. The last time the Hawkeye had dropped a match was to Delgado in December 2011.

The sophomore then earned his 17th win this season as he moved past Northwestern's Malone on Sunday by a 4-0 decision. He was one of seven Illini to win their matches as the Orange and Blue wrapped up their conference dual season with a 24-10 win over the Wildcats.

This marks the second conference honor of his career and first this season. The last Illini to be named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week was Daryl Thomas on Nov. 27, 2012.

Rutgersʼ Billy Smith and Vinny Dellefave share EIWA Wrestler of the Week

Rutgers red shirt freshman Billy Smith and red shirt junior Vinny Dellefave share EIWA Wrestler of the Week honors this week after the pair both upset ranked wrestlers to head the unranked Scarlet Knights to an 18-14 upset of #14 Bloomsburg on Friday.

Smithʼs record is now 20-4 with four pins, while Dellafave is 20-6. With the win, Rutgers improves to 15-3 on the season and Bloomsburg moves to 14-3. The Scarlet Knights are now 5-7 all-time against the Huskies, picking up their first win over Bloomsburg since RU came out on top on Feb. 26, 2003.