Division II teams get ready for Championships this weekend in Kenosha, Wis.
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Craig Sesker (USA Wrestling)
03/05/2002
North Dakota State Coach Bucky Maughan knows exactly what his team needs to do at the NCAA Division II Championships. Maughan would know. His Bison have won the last two national championships. Second-ranked North Dakota State is taking all 10 wrestlers, including two returning national champions, to the NCAA meet on Friday and Saturday at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside in Kenosha, Wis. "The key for us is to wrestle aggressively and get after it," said Maughan, whose team rolled to the team title at the North Central Conference tournament. "We have to put matches away early. We just have to do what we can do and not worry about what other teams are going to do." Top-ranked Central Oklahoma is expected to battle the Bison for the title. The Bronchos, third at nationals last season, knocked off NDSU in the finals of the National Duals. Central Oklahoma has eight national qualifiers, including defending champion Cole Province at 133. The Bronchos also feature top-ranked Muhammad Lawal at 197. A new format could have a significant bearing on the team race as wrestlers are no longer seeded in the NCC meet. The 16-man bracket is now broken into four sections where the No. 1 finisher from one regional meets the No. 4 finisher from another regional. Wrestlers who finish second in their regional will face a wrestler who was third in a different regional. "North Dakota State and Central Oklahoma meet a lot early in the tournament," Nebraska-Omaha Coach Mike Denney said. "And we are matched with Ashland quite a bit. Those matches are big for the team race. It just depends on who gets hot." Maughan said he thinks the new format is fair. "Nothing ever goes as planned in this tournament anyway," Maughan said. "We have some kids who finished fourth in our conference that could win the national championship, that's how strong the North Central Conference tournament is." NDSU returns national champs in Todd Fuller at 174 and Nick Severson at heavyweight. Fuller has won the last two national titles while Severson pinned 2000 national champion Jon Madsen of South Dakota State in last year's title match. "We are counting on those two guys again," Maughan said. Third-ranked Ashland also qualified all 10 of its wrestlers. Fourth-ranked Nebraska-Omaha is taking eight wrestlers as is host school and eighth-ranked Wisconsin-Parkside. Sixth-ranked Nebraska-Kearney is taking seven wrestlers as are No. 10 Findlay and No. 13 Central Missouri State. South Dakota State, second in last year's meet, has six wrestlers in the meet, including Madsen. Defending champion Dave Vondy of Western State also returns at 165. Vondy has lost twice to Riley Ross of Nebraska-Kearney, including in the finals of the West Regional.