The 81
st NCAA Division I Wrestling Championship will begin on Thursday March 17
th and end on Saturday March 19
th. The NCAA Wrestling Pot of Gold awaits 10 NCAA Division I wrestlers at the "Wells Fargo Center" on Saturday, March 19
th, where the "Rainbow" ends and the best collegiate wrestlers in the nation are crowned.
Clarion will have 2 NCAA Qualifiers competing this year in 157-pounder
James Fleming (So. West Mifflin) and 165-pounder
Bekzod Abdurakhmonov (Jr. Tashkent, Uzbekistan).
The 81st NCAA Division I Wrestling National Championships will get underway on Thursday, March 17th with Round 1 beginning at 11am. A second prelim round will start at 6:30pm, followed by a round of consolations. Friday has the quarterfinals starting at 10:30am, with the semi's slated for 7:00pm Friday night. Saturday will feature the All-America place matches starting at 11am, with the championship finals scheduled for 7:30pm live on ESPN.
Fleming (30-2) is seeded 9th at 157-pounds and is slated to open the NCAA's against Sean McMurray of Michigan State who is a freshman with a record of 16-13 and placed sixth at the Big Ten Championships. McMurray closed the dual meet season strong with wins over #20 Brandon Zeerip (Michigan) and Wisconsin's Shawn Perry. If Fleming were to win his opening match he would advance to wrestle the winner of #8 seed Jason Welch (Northwestern) and Chase Nelson (Oklahoma).
Abdurakhmonov (35-10) received an at-large invitation to wrestle at 165-pounds and is bracketed to meet #9 seed Justin Kerber (Cornell) who is a senior and 30-4 overall this season. Kerber was the #2 seed at 165-pounds entering the EIWA Tournament last week, but lost, then injury defaulted and finished fifth at 165. If Bekzod were to win his first match he would meet the winner of #8 seed Scott Winston (Rutgers) and Dan Yates (Michigan).
Fleming (30-2) has had a tremendous season in 2011. He won the EWL title last week with a 15-0 tech. fall in the finals over Frank Hickman (Bloomsburg). He also opened with a pin of Cleveland State's Matt Donohoe at 4:00 and an 8-0 major decision over Pitt's Donnie Tasser. He also won rge Cornell Body Bar and Clarion Knight Point Open titles, plus was second at the Oklahoma Invite in Brockport, and fourth at Midlands.He has 11 pins and 5 technical falls this season.
Last year Fleming was 28-8 overall at 149-pounds and was 0-2 at the NCAA Division I Nationals in Omaha. He had 6 falls and 6 technical falls. He placed 4th at the PSAC's, second at the EWL's, 3rd at the Body Bar Invite in 2010 and was 5-2 at Midlands but did not place.
Fleming has a career record of 58-10 entering the NCAA Championships.
Abdurakhmonov (35-10) finished third recently at the EWL Championships at 165-pounds. He won his third place match by pinning LH's Dylan Caprio at 50-seconds. He opened EWL's with a pin at 3:30 over Caprio, then lost in the final seconds to Pitt's Ethan Headlee 3-2, wrestled back to defeat Bloomsburg's Josh Veltre 4-1 and then defeated Caprio again. Bekzod was the PSAC Champion in December, placed third at Oklahoma Invite and the National Collegiate Open in Clarion. He has posted 10 falls and 2 technical falls. In his first year at Clarion, he came to the Golden Eagles from Colby Community College (Kansas) where he was a two-time NJCAA runner-up.
Clarion fifth year head coach Teague Moore, no stranger to the wars at D-I Nationals, is preparing Fleming and Abdurakhmonov for their opening opponents. "We want to be aggressive and take the match to our opponents, said Moore. "The best thing for both wrestlers are to relax, wrestle their own style, and know that what they do best is how they want to wrestle at nationals. That is the best way for them to have a great tournament."
This year's team race is expected to be very close between defending champion Iowa (15-0-1), 2011 Big Ten Tournament Champions Penn State (17-1-1), the #1 ranked dual meet team Cornell (13-1), Oklahoma State (15-2-1) and Minnesota (15-4-1).
Last year in Omaha, Nebraska, Iowa won the team title with134.5 points, Cornell was second with 90, Iowa state third with 75 and Wisconsin fourth with 70.5
In 2009 in St. Louis, Iowa won the team title with 96.5 points, Ohio State was a very close second with 92 points, Iowa State third with 84.5, Nebraska fourth with 78.5 and Cornell fifth with 73.5.
Iowa also won the 2008 team title in St. Louis with 117.5 points, Ohio State was second with 79, Penn State third with 75, Nebraska fourth at 74 and Iowa State and Oklahoma State tied for fifth with 72 points.
In 2007 at the Palace at Auburn Hills, Minnesota won the team title with 98 points, Iowa State was second with 88.5, Missouri third with 80, Northwestern fourth with 71.5 and Oklahoma State fifth with 69 points. Oklahoma State had won the previous 4 team titles.
In 2006 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma State won the NCAA team title going away with 122.5 points, while Minnesota was second with 84 points and Oklahoma was third with 80.5.
In 2005 at the Savvis Center in St. Louis, Oklahoma State won the team title with 153 points, while Michigan was second with 83 at Oklahoma third with 77.5 points. 2005 was also the 75th Anniversary Year for NCAA Division I Wrestling where Clarion's Wade Schalles and Kurt Angle were honored as two of the top 15 wrestlers in the first 75-years of collegiate wrestling.
In 2004 in St. Louis, Oklahoma State won title with 123.5 points, Iowa was second 82 points and Lehigh and Ohio State tied for third with 77.5 points.
The closest team title in years was in 1999 at the Bryce Jordan Center at Penn State, when Iowa edged Minnesota 100.5 - 98.5 points.
CLARION NOTES:
ESPN TELEVISION - ESPNU WILL TELEVISE THE QUARTERFINALS FRIDAY AT 10:30AM, AND THE SEMIFINALS ON FRIDAY AT 7 PM... ESPNU WILL ALSO DO THE 11AM MEDAL ROUNDS STARTING AT 11AM AND ESPN WILLA IR THE FINALS LIVE ON SATURDAY NIGHT AT 7:30PM
Coach Moore led the Golden Eagles to a quality season in 2011 including the PSAC Team Championship in December and a fourth place showing at EWL's in March... The PSAC Title was the first in 16 years for Clarion ... In 2020 Clarion was 8-8 in dual meets, 3rd at PSAC's and 3rd at EWL's... Clarion had 2 qualifiers in 2010 & 2009, 1 in 2008 and in 2007, but did not have an NCAA Qualifier in 2006 for the first time since going to the D-I Nationals in 1967... In 2005 Clarion had 2 wrestlers at nationals Frank Edgar (141) and Chris Horning (157), with Chris Horning earning A-A status with an 8th place finish... 2005 was also the year that Clarion stood tall at the 75th Anniversary of the NCAA Wrestling Championships ... 15 wrestlers were named the best of All-Time.. Clarion's Kurt Angle and Wade Schalles were named 2 of the top 15 collegiate wrestlers of All-Time... 8 individual titles have been won including two by Kurt Angle (1990, 92), two by Wade Schalles (1972, 73), and one each by Sheldon Thomas (1996), Garry Barton (1972), Don Rohn (1973) and Bill Simpson (1973) ... Clarion also has 43 NCAA Div.I All-Americans ... Bryan Stout was Clarion's only 4-time A-A (1994-97) ... 3-time All-Americans include Kurt Angle (1990-92), Sheldon Thomas (1995-97), Don Rohn (1973, 74, 76) and Charlie Heller (1980-82)... Bob Bubb who coached Clarion from 1967-92 led Clarion to top team finishes of 4th in 1973, 6th in 1972 and 1987 and 8th in 1992 ... Under Bubb Clarion had 16, top 25 finishes at the NCAA's and 12, top 20 endings ... Jack Davis (1993-97) led Clarion to a 12th place finish in 1996, 14th in 1997 and 15th in 1994 and 95 .... Ken Nellis led the Eagles from 1998-2006 and his top team finish was 24th in 1998 and 26th in both 2000 and 2003... Clarion has an NCAA match record of 310-280 since 1967.
