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JimBob
12-18-2007, 08:01 AM
College Wrestling

By MATT DOYLE World Sports Writer
12/18/2007


OSU at Reno Tournament of Champions

When: 11 a.m. Tuesday

Where: Reno Convention Center, Reno, Nev.

Lineups

125: Ben Ashmore (8-3)

133: Coleman Scott (9-2)

141: Nathan Morgan (11-1)

149: Quinten Fuentes (7-3) and Mike Bizzle (4-3)

157: Newly McSpadden (9-2) and Neil Erisman (9-4)

165: Jake Dieffenbach (5-0)

174: Brandon Mason (8-1)

184: Cody Hill (9-2)

197: Clayton Foster (10-2) and Jared Shelton (6-2)

285: Jared Rosholt (11-0)

Quick look: The fifth-ranked Cowboys are the highest-ranked team in the 28-team field. But OSU coach John Smith does not consider his team the favorite to win the event.

No. 6 Central Michigan is the tournament's defending champion. The Chippewas have nine wrestlers ranked in the top 20 of their respective weight classes, according to Amateur Wrestling News. The Cowboys have six ranked wrestlers.

OSU lost 21-18 at home to Penn State on Dec. 9.

"This is an important event for us. I'd like to see how this team bounces back after a loss," Smith said. "I have seen a step up in their workouts and focus. That doesn't always mean the results are going to be better unless you show some consistency."

The Cowboys are taking 13 wrestlers to the tournament, but only 10 can count toward the team scoring.

Smith will be watching how his two 197-pounders perform -- freshman Clayton Foster and Sand Springs junior Jared Shelton.

Foster has lost his last two matches -- to No. 9 Joel Flaggert of Oklahoma and top-ranked Phil Davis of Penn State. But he represents the future at the weight class as Smith decided not to redshirt him this year. Shelton was the starter at 197 last year and has been battling Foster hard in the wrestling room on a daily basis, Smith said.

"I've liked what Foster has done up to this point, but I've also seen a little fire in Shelton's belly because Foster is wrestling (as the starter)," Smith said. "We're going to continue to let that battle develop."

Pokes4Life
12-18-2007, 11:51 AM
Here are some early results:

125: Ben Ashmore won his first bout which pits him against #1 seeded Gardner. Talk about a bad draw. Ben has faced Gardner already this year and lost 4-0.

133: Coleman won his first by Maj Dec.

141: Morgan won his first one by T. Fall. He was facing some poor kid from a community college.

149: Mike Bizzle and Quentin Fuentes both had first round byes, and then Quentin won his first match by Maj Dec 10-2. No results for Bizzle's match yet.

157: Neil Erisman won his first match and now gets #1 seeded Jordan Leen from Cornell. Newly won his first round match by Maj. Dec 8-0 and could be facing #2 seeded Chase Pami from Cal Poly.

No more weights have results yet. In the higher weights, Dieffenbach is #2 seed, Mason is a #2, Hill is a #3, Foster is a #3 and Shelton is a #4, and Rosholt is unseeded (surprises considering his ranking, must be some strong competition at HWT) but he has a good draw and he would face the #4 seed guy first.

Pokes4Life
12-19-2007, 09:28 AM
Well we placed a distant 2nd (130) behind Central Michigan (152.50).

There were some disappointments, but we also had some guys step up.

The final brackets can be found here:
http://www.rtoc.net/tour_results/College%20Brackets/college_brackets.pdf

The positives:
Coleman Scott and Nathan Morgan both won their weight classes. Rosholt finished second which included beating 2 ranked wrestlers including #2 ranked Bubba Gritter. Rosholt has quietly had a VERY strong beginning to the season.

Dieffenbach, McSpadden, Mason, and Foster all finished 3rd. Dieffenbach still continues to impress. He lost to #14 Lewnes, but he beat #4 Pitsch.

Cody Hill and Ben Ashmore did not do as well as I thought they would have. But they are still RFr and show a ton of potential.

I'm curious with what Coach Smith will do in the spring semester. Tyler Shinn will be eligible again, and I wonder if he'll get the nod at 125.

bumpas34
12-19-2007, 09:37 AM
I think he would be crazy not to give Shinn the nod, unless he's lost something that we don't know about.