"Both wrestlers showed what they are made of today," said first year head coach Matt Dernlan (right).  "Bekzod's third place finish was a thing of beauty. He went out, executed the game plan and took third place. - James lost that first match today, and was down 5-0 in the Sanja bout, but he showed real character coming back and winning that match. Both wrestlers have really dedicated themselves to the sport and this is the result. We are all so proud of their accomplishments, what it means to them and what it means to the Clarion Wrestling Community. Our intention is to use this momentum to continue to build the program back to its proud heritage," added Dernlan.

In his third place bout, Bekzod (Left vs Blevins) scored a takedown 24-seconds into the first period and rode Blevins out. "Bek" escaped n the second for a 3-0 lead, and Blevins escaped in the third to make it 3-1. Abdurakhmonov's takedown with 40-seconds left sealed the win. Blevins had a late escape and Bekzod had riding time for a 6-2 win.

"Bek's" first win came in a tough 5-4 decision over Peter Yates. Bekzod had an opening takedown and Yates escaped late for a 2-1 first period lead. Yates escaped in the second, and Abdurakhmonov escaped in the third to lead 3-2 plus had riding time secured. Yates scored a takedown, Abdurakhmonov escaped with about 30-seconds left to make it 4-4 - but Bekzod had the winning riding time for a 5-4 victory. Abdurakhmonov finishes his season with a record of 36-5 and a two-year Clarion record of 74-17.

 Fleming (below - right) won his exciting fifth place match against #5 seed Ganbayar Sanja (American), who was coached by former Golden Eagle head coach Teague Moore. Sanja had a first period takedown, and in the same flurry, was able to get three back points for a 5-0 first period lead. Fleming reversed back later in the first to narrow the margin to 5-2, and received a penalty point for Sanja's illegal interlockining of hands to make it 5-3. After no scoring in the second, Fleming chose top in the third and turned Sanja for a three-point near fall and a 6-5 lead. He rode Sanja the entire period and picked up a riding point for a 7-5 victory.

CLARION NOTES: Abdurakhmonov was 5-1 at nationals - and in two seasons at the NCAA's was 8-3 ... Fleming was 6-2 this year and has an NCAA career record of 7-6 in three years ... 184-pounder Steven Cressley was 0-2 and heavyweight Quintas McCorkle was 0-2 for the Golden Eagles at the 2012 nationals ... Clarion had an NCAA match record this year of 11-7 ... And in 46-years at nationals since 1967 - has a match record of 329-291 ... Under Coach Bubb from 1967 - 92, Clarion had 12, top 20 team finishes and 16 top 25 finishes ... Jack Davis (1993-97) led Clarion to a 12^th lace finish in 1996, 14^th in 1997 and 15^th in 1994 and 95 .... Ken Nellis led the Eagles from 1998-2006 and Teague Moore coached the Eagles from 2007 - 2011 ...