TheMat.com Division I College Recap
John Fuller/TheMat.com
The Other Spartans
When most people in college athletics think of Spartans, they think of Michigan State. But this last weekend, North Carolina-Greensboro continued its stellar season with an 18-16 win over The Citadel.
To earn the victory, the Spartans relied on a technical fall in the final bout by 197-pound Daren Burns.
The win helped UNC-Greensboro break two school records in wrestling “one for most regular season victories (11) and another for most Southern Conference dual victories (4). The Spartans have clinched second place in the improving Southern Conference and will look to take a strong group to the NCAA Tournament that begins in just 23 days.
Speaking of”¦
The Southern Conference, Tennessee-Chattanooga also put up huge numbers over the weekend, ousting conference foe VMI 50-0 on Sunday. The Mocs, more known for Terrell Owens than the wrestling program, won four matches by fall, one by technical fall and three by major decision in the dual.
The win raised Tennessee-Chattanooga’s record to 14-10 against one of the toughest schedules in the country. It was also the fourth shutout of the season for this team.
But head coach Terry Brands somehow was not pleased, stating after the dual: “To the people in the stands, it may have looked like a dominating performance. But I noticed some things that we still need to work on and still need to perfect. We have less than two weeks before we head to the conference championships, and we will hit it hard on the practice mats until then.”
LEEding the Pack
Cornell’s Travis Lee, an NCAA champion at 125 lbs. two years ago and a three-time All-American, became Cornell’s all-time winningest wrestler on Friday with a 17-2 technical fall over Tony Curto of Bloomsburg.
The win gave Lee 135 career victories at Cornell, moving him past Mark Fergeson into first-place on the all-time wins list.
For the season, Lee is 29-1, 15-0 in dual meets, and is currently ranked first in two of the four major rankings. His only loss came to the Shawn Bunch, ranked No. 1 in the other two polls, a wrestler Lee has since defeated.
Streaking
Lee’s win gave him 21 straight wins, which is tied with Chris Pendleton for the eighth longest winning streak on the Division I level. Who is tops on the list? Oklahoma State’s Steve Mocco, who has won 64 consecutive college matches, dating back to the 2002-03 season.
Here is a list of the nation’s longest Division I winning streaks:
Steve Mocco (Oklahoma State) “64
Greg Jones (West Virginia) “42
Sam Hazewinkel (Oklahoma) “33
Troy Letters (Lehigh) “29
Ryan Churella (Michigan) “28
Ryan Bertin (Michigan) “26
Nate Gallick (Iowa State) “22
Travis Lee (Cornell) “21
Chris Pendleton (Oklahoma State) “21
Hodge Campaign
It’s not Joey Harrington’s face plastered in Times Square, but the web site West Virginia Sports Information put together for Greg Jones is the closest a wrestler has come to having a campaign for the Hodge Trophy, known as the Heisman Trophy of wrestling.
Jones, who has won two NCAA titles, is a heavy favorite to win another NCAA title this year at 184 lbs. He currently has a 106-4 career record at West Virginia and has dominated his weight class.
The Hodge Trophy has always taken into consideration a wrestler’s career achievements. If this is the case, then Jones is definitely the front-runner to win this award. Earlier this year, he became the first wrestler to win the Hardman Awards as the top amateur athlete in the state of West Virginia.
The web site for Jones’ campaign is www.msnsportsnet.com/gregjones/.
All Aboard
And possibly the most underrated team in the country right now is”¦. Navy.
The U.S. Naval Academy has quietly posted a great dual season. The Midshipmen have put together a 12-3 dual record, 5-1 in the EIWA and are poised for a strong postseason run.
On Saturday, Navy ousted Army 23-10, winning for the 38th time in the last 44 duals in this series. Navy won seven of 10 bouts in that dual meet.
With one of the best coaching staffs in the country, Navy is making a push to be a consistent top-20 team over the next five or 10 years.
Soaring Eagles
American University started the season with an 0-7 dual record. Three of those losses were by nine points or less, which sounds like a hefty margin, unless you factor in that American was forfeiting at least three weight classes all season.
The Eagles finished the season with a 4-4 record in their last eight duals and have actually begun to make a name for themselves. However, this is a true tournament team, and don’t be surprised to see this team finish in the top half of the EIWA.
Wrestling Gear
