coachknepper

MTSU Wrestling will only have two seniors this season: Anthony Patnode and Everett Colbert, who share the all current lead in all-time victories with 61. This is AP's 4th season and Colbert's 3rd. Sitting right behind them on the career wins list with 59 career wins is Junior Eric Feuerbacher who has missed the podium each of his first two seasons by 1 point. Here is a just a snapshot of the returning National Qualifiers with their last qualifying weight: 125: Shane Shaffner (Jr) and Anthony Patnode (Sr) 133: Eric Feuerbacher (Jr) 165: Everett Colbert (Sr/3rd year) 174: Khris Sawyer (So) 184: Jonathan Roberts (Jr) 197: Michael LaBadie (Jr-2012) and Robert Anderson (Jr) 235: Adam Wells (Jr) 285: Rashied Rayford (Jr) and Tyler Bond (Jr) Some of the guys that will be competing as Freshman this year for the Blue Raiders include but are not limited to: Nick Gray (Christian Brothers) Kyle Coder (Siegel) Jason Singleton (Siegel) Alex Lineberry (Arlington) Jordan Russell (Ooltewah) Zach Lusk (Coffee Co) Deionte Ewing (Siegel) Taylor Podany (Beech) Chase Hodges (Riverdale) De'ontae Greenwade (Beech) James McClanahan (Southwind) Gerard McQueen (West Creek) Alquane Edwards (Southwind) Not to mention the transfers or guys coming back to wrestling: Carlos Garcia (transfer from Iowa Western CC) David Chege (transfer from Purdue) Ryan Nell (transfer from Marion Military Institute) Elijah Baird (MTSU grad student) Charlton Thayn (MTSU grad student / assistant coach last season) Dustin Shaw (So) Other returners include: Edward Davila (So), Tim Vara (So), Nathan Williams (So), Ron Higdon (So), and Andrew Henry (Sr). The women's team will be anchored by incoming freshman Tori Stottlemeyer (Coffe Co) and Clarissa Ceffalo (Elizabethton) and returner Jasmine Cothran (Jr). The season kicks off on National Wrestling Day, November 2nd at the Patriot Open at the University of Cumberlands.

Coaches, We are in need of 2-3 more teams to fill a 16-team dual tournament. See the specifics below: Just a reminder about the MTSU Alumni Duals to be held at Smyrna H.S. on November 22-23, 2013. Weigh-ins for Friday will begin at 3 pm with a 4 pm start. There will be one pool for late weigh-ins (due to schools not allowing early dismissal...but each team in that pool will have the same weigh-in time of 4:30 pm with a 5:30 pm start). Weigh-ins for Saturday will be at 8 am with a 9 am start time. The dual entry fee is $200 per team. The competition will be held on 6 mats on Friday night for just high school and will be combined with an 8-team college dual tournament on Saturday. Final schedules will be released once the 16-team high school tournament is filled. I am still in need of 2 teams if anyone knows of a team that wants to fill the spots. Here is the updated list as of 8/15/13: Bearden Beech Centennial Eagleville Hardin Valley Lebanon (can this be confirmed by the new coach please?) Oakland Ravenwood Rossview Smyrna Stewarts Creek West Creek White House Wilson Central Waiting on final nod from Walker Valley?? This will be a seeded tournament and special attention will be given to separating teams from the same region. College teams: MTSU, Cumberland, Truett-McConnell, Arkansas Baptist, Southern Virginia, Marion Military, and Tennessee Temple. Sincerely, Coach Knepper Tournament Director 931-222-7213

Very sad news. The Langfords are an outstanding wrestling family.

Great hire!

Congratulations Coach Miller! Always good to go out on top!

Dickson Co had a scheduling conflict due to the shift from Region 7 to Region 6. This is the reason the 16th spot is currently open.

Coaches, MTSU is looking to add one more team into the Alumni Duals on November 22nd and 23rd of 2013 at Smyrna H.S. Each team will get 3 matches on Friday and 3 matches on Saturday. Cost is $150 payable to the MTSU Wrestling Foundation. The final day will coincide with the Collegiate Division featuring MTSU, Cumberland, Liberty, Marion Military, Arkansas Baptist, Southern Virginia, Tennessee Temple, and possibly Truett-McConnell. Last year's college division was won by Cumberland in a 19-18 win over Liberty in the finals after Liberty beat MTSU 24-19 in the semis. High school teams competing include: (as of 4/22/13): Bearden Beech Centennial Dickson Co Eagleville Hardin Valley Lebanon Oakland Ravenwood Rossview Smyrna Stewarts Creek Walker Valley (awaiting final word) West Creek White House Wilson Central Please e-mail me at coach.knepperATgmail.com or new MTSU Head Coach Steven Smith at sallen727ATaol.com to be the 16th team in this event. We would prefer a Memphis team with ties to the current MTSU team (i.e. Arlington, Southwind, Kingsbury, Christian Brothers ) or a Chattanooga area team with alumni ties (i.e. Soddy Daisy, McCallie, Heritage...) Thanks, Coach Knepper ps--I will be back for this tournament to run it as Tournament Director.

NCAA-D1 Alex Bennett (Franklin) - Gardner-Webb Andy Bennett (Franklin) - Gardner-Webb They will join older brother Zach..congrats!

Thank you Mark and I wish you all the best with the new Stewarts Creek program. Hopefully I will come back to the Alumni Duals in 2 Yrs and get to see a Gonyea wrestling for the Blue Raiders.

Angelo and GP have made contributions to the MTSU Wrestling team since I have been here in Tennessee.

NCWA Jason Singleton (Siegel) - MTSU - 133

one i forgot to mention that I had seen earlier in the month: NAIA Garang Madut (Glencliff) - Cumberland - 125

NCAA-D1 Scottie Boykin (Riverdale) - Chattanooga (197 verbal) NCWA Deionte Ewing (Siegel) - Middle Tennessee (184 verbal)

To those of you that I know outside of CoachT, you know that I have been in quite a rigorous job search over the past few months while finishing up my 6th year coaching the Middle Tennessee State University wrestling squad. That journey has finally come to an end and I will be returning to my home state of Ohio as I have agreed to take a Senior Engineering position with a company just outside of Columbus. Those of you in the know would recognize Worthington Kilborne and Hilliard Davidson as two of the better known wrestling programs in high school there. I tried very hard to remain in the state of Tennessee as I have enjoyed my stay here over the past 8+ years. Unfortunately the job market for my specific engineering talents did not afford itself to me and I had to look outside of the state ultimately landing closer to my family in Toledo, OH. It has been a blast seeing Tennessee Wrestling grow over the past 6 years and I am excited at the outlook for not only the private school teams like CBHS, Father Ryan, Baylor, and McCallie doing well nationally but teams like Soddy-Daisy, Cleveland, Wilson Central, Beech, Blackman, Pigeon Forge, and Clarksville doing quite well too. I see good things out of teams like Knoxville Halls, Bearden, Bradley Central, Siegel, Ravenwood, Germantown, and many others for years to come as well. The collegiate teams continue to do well and are continuously improving under solid leadership. It was great to be able to compete against Allen & Nicola's group over at Cumberland and I hope that Coach Steven Smith et al will continue to build that Middle Tennessee bond/rivalry. King and Chattanooga look great and will undoubtedly continue to do so at the NCAA level. In 2007, I approached a very young MTSU club team about potentially helping them become something more and that has led to over 100 men and women having the opportunity to wrestle in college that didn't have that opportunity before and has placed MTSU at a Varsity level in terms of scheduling/competition (not yet in budget). This next year the MTSU Wrestling Foundation will support 5 full scholarships for MT wrestlers as well as several other partial scholarships, which 5-6 years ago was unheard of. This program will continue to grow and hopefully make all Tennesseans proud of what I and many others (Cory Watson, Matt Coffman, Ken Hammonds, Troy Steffy to name a few) have helped to build. To those of you that devote your lives to coaching, supporting, or building wrestling: I salute you and will always hold you in high regard. I would like to thank a few other people for their support over the past few years along this journey as well: Jim Giunta (NCWA Executive Director) Jonathan Harmon Jeff Roberts John Feuerbacher Kim Feuerbacher Danny Jones Brad Wells John Heath John Salter Gordon Connell Steve Henry Don Elia Wendy Windsor Mark Gonyea Ronnie Bray Lee Ramsey Steven Smith Lucas Borneman Mike Westcott Rod Key Steve Solomon Frank Simpson Pat Simpson Angelo Giansante GP West William West Paul Vaughn Jeff Lester Mitchell Brunner Mike Kuziola William Branton (B.B.) Garrett House Mark Reeves BJ Malone John Brockwell (Ideas Tees) Chris Vandergriff (THE ANIMAL) Darrell Lauderdale Franky James Jerome Dooley Thadd Little Doug Badon John Kramer Bill Kennedy PA Bowler Kyle Davis Barry Clark Jeff Clark Mike Moyer (NWCA Director) John Licata (NWCA) Jennifer Boykin Gabe Gamadamis Charlie Warfield Mike Hatcher Stephen Petricca Derek Harrison Bill Seaman Josh Bosken Guy Harris Jonathan Simpson Matt Sells Barry Apland Scotty Garrison Charlton Thayn Maurice Patton Kimberly Little Al Miller Ben Jones Chris Adams Shannon Sayne David Isbell Randall Woodard Anthony Shingler Randall Jennings ---- I'm sure I'm missing a few...but it's almost 2 am and I need some sleep.

Most of these are from InterMat besides some that will be signing this weekend and aren't posted yet: NCAA Division 1 Brandon Brunner (Baylor) - South Dakota State - 133 lbs Houston Clements (Baylor) - North Carolina - 149/157 Kaleb Baker (Christian Brothers) - Arizona State - 149/157 Brett Walthall (Christian Brothers) - Chattanooga - 174/184 Michael Hooker (Father Ryan - transfer) - Chattanooga - 157 NCAA Division 2 Blaike Henry (Soddy Daisy) - King - 184 T.J. Satterfield (William Blount) - King - 197 NAIA none reported as of yet - Cumberland NCWA Division 1 Alex Lineberry (Arlington) - Middle Tennessee - 141 Christian Lozano (Beech) - Middle Tennessee - 125 De'Ontae Greenwade (Beech) - Middle Tennessee - 197 Taylor Podany (Beech) - Middle Tennessee - 285 Alandria Jones (Beech) - MT Women's Team - 139 (will compete in WCWA/NCWWA) Nick Gray (Christian Brothers) - Middle Tennessee - 125/133 Zach Lusk (Coffee County) - Middle Tennessee - 125/133 Tori Stottlemyer (Coffee County) - MT Women's Team - 109 (will compete in WCWA/NCWWA) Clarissa Ceffalo (Elizabethton) - MT Women's Team - 176 (will compete in WCWA/NCWWA) Devan Teaster (Heritage-transfer) - Middle Tennessee - 141/149 Carlos Garcia (McGavock-transfer) - Middle Tennessee - 141/149 Jordan Russell (Ooltewah) - Middle Tennessee - 149/157 Chase Hodges (Riverdale) - Middle Tennessee - 174 Kyle Coder (Siegel) - Middle Tennessee - 149/157 Alquane Edwards (Southwind) - Middle Tennessee - 133/141 James McClanahan (Southwind) - Middle Tennessee - 149 Greg Stratman (St. Benedict at Auburndale - transfer) - Middle Tennessee - 157 Gerald McQueen (West Creek) - Middle Tennessee - 141 not reported as of yet - East Tennessee State / Tennessee Temple For those that haven't heard yet, MTSU will be under "new" coaching next year: Men's Head Coach: Steven Smith (Carson-Newman / former Cumberland Asst) ~ served as Assistant for 2012-2013 season. Men's Associate Head Coach: Cory Watson (Lebanon / MTSU) Men's Assistant Coaches: Troy Steffy, Charlton Thayn, Ken Hammonds, BJ Malone Women's Head Coach: Andi Jones (Warren Co / Missouri Valley) Women's Assistant: Ashley Rucker (Univ of Cumberlands)

Noah Kurtz placed 7th at 174 in the Freshman Division for SBA and Cole Owens placed 8th at 122 in the Freshman Division...also from SBA. So 10 out of 11 were All-Americans. A lot of tough guys from MO, IA, and SD there.

170 lbs Soph..Chad Solomon finished 4th and Sean Kennedy finished 5th

16 of 36 Freshman thru Juniors are in Round of 16 9 TN Seniors will take a shot at a National Title starting tomorrow including 4 State Champs: 138 Mark Marchetti 1st at 145 145 Jacob Freeman 1st 145 Nate Croley 2nd 152 Alex Bennett 2nd 160 Andy Bennett 182 Bryson Begley 3rd 195 Scottie Boykin 1st 195 De'Ontae Greenwade 220 TJ Satterfield 1st

Junior Report: TN in 13th with 31pts (3 in champ / 13 in cons) 1. NY-83, 2. OH-75, 3. NC-72, 4. PA-67.5, 5. NJ-65 106 Kyle Lee - Franklin (0-1) 1. L by MDec 10-1 to Jacob Reyes (AZ) in Round of 32 2. vs loser of Wilson (GA) and Bourjeili (CT) in Cons 113 Christian Cerrito - Wilson Central (0-1) 1. L by Dec 5-3 (sv) to Troy Barklay (?) in Round of 64 2. vs Chase Gentry (NC) in Cons 120 Jon Boatman - Greeneville (1-1) 1. W by Fall in 2:49 over Joshua Straub (NY) 2. L by TFall 21-5 to Ryan Millhof (GA) in Round of 32 3. vs Derosa (MA) / Amancio (NY) in Cons 126 Michael Eckhart - Father Ryan (3-0) 1. W by Dec 11-6 over Hunter Franklin (GA) in Round of 128 2. W by MDec 11-3 over Carter Merecki (NY) 3. W by Fall in 3:40 over Anthony Davis (NC) 4. vs Bryce Meredith (WY) in Round of 16 138 Eddie Small - Wilson Central (3-0) 1. W by Dec 3-1 over Matthew Barber (NJ) in Round of 128 2. W by MDec 11-2 over Jake Smith (DE) 3. W by Dec 4-0 over Jon Silveri (NY) 4. vs Brogan Humphrey (KS) in Round of 16 Austin Richard - Wilson Central (1-1) 1. W by Dec 8-3 over Nigel Bostick (SC) in Round of 128 2. L by Dec 4-0 to Howie Kilpatrick (CT) 2. vs Barber (NJ) / Wilson (NC) in Cons Ayinde Bakari - Blackman (0-1) 1. L by Fall in 1:30 to Dallas Roemer (NC) in Round of 64 2. vs Gunter (PA) / Langan (NY) in Cons 145 James Simpson - Father Ryan (3-0) 1. W by Fall in 2:46 over Marshall Hill (LA) in Round of 128 2. W by Dec 3-1 over Collin Boylan (NJ) 3. W by MDec 9-0 over Nick Woslum (CA) 4. vs Larry Bomstad (MN) in Round of 16 Nick Patton - Centennial (0-1) 1. L by Dec 10-3 to Colt Constantino (MD) in Round of 128 2. vs Collin Boylan (NJ) in Cons 152 Noah Cartwright - Father Ryan (0-1) 1. L by Fall in 0:33 to Corey Rasheed (NY) in Round of 64 2. vs Dakota Fleming (CT) in Cons Thomas Huddleston - Clarksville (0-1) 1. L by Fall in 5:45 to Blake Miller (OH) in Round of 64 2. vs Edmond Hogan (IL) in Cons 160 Patrick Dooley - Franklin (0-1) 1. L by Dec 4-3 to Zack Winegardner (NC) in Round of 64 2. vs Konstantine Parfirveya (NY) in Cons John Hagey - Father Ryan (1-1) 1. W by Dec 11-5 over Rocco Hladney (DE) in Round of 64 2. L by Fall in 2:42 to Colton Jackson (FL) 3. vs Jones (FL) / Scrivens (AL) in Cons Tyler Sells - Blackman (0-1) 1. L by TFall 16-1 to Nicholas Fiegener (CA) in Round of 64 2. vs Dustin Turner (KY) in Cons 182 Jevon Brown - Blackman (0-1) 1. L by Dec 5-0 to Colten Carlson (MN) in Round of 64 2. vs Dylan Hermes (OH) in Cons 285 Austin Wells - Blackman (0-1) 1. L by Fall in 2:59 to Majah Couzan (GA) in Round of 32 2. vs Conor Karwath (LA) in Cons

Sophomore Report: TN in 10th with 32 pts (will be 34 in morning as they shortened Binns 2pts on win by fall over St Eds) 1. PA-70.5, 2. NJ-67.5, 3. NY-64, 4. NC-62, 5. FL-48 113 Lane Dickeson - Wilson Central (2-0) 1. W by Dec 7-5 over Anthony Monahan (VA) 2. W by Dec 14-7 over Austin Klutz (NC) 3. Vs Tyler Makosky (MD) in Round of 16 Devan Cyree - Tullahoma (1-1) 1. W by Fall in 5:09 over Kody Stevens (DE) 2. L by Dec 9-5 to Matthew Noble (NJ) in Round of 32 3. Vs Robinson (NY) / Messina (CT) in Cons 120 Bryce Triplett - Tullahoma (0-1) 1. L by Fall in 2:52 to Justin Stonier (PA) in Round of 32 2. vs Marshall Willis (MN) in Cons 126 Tristan Hackett - Beech (1-1) 1. W by Fall in 1:20 over Garrett Brams (MD) 2. L by MDec 13-0 to Brandon Stern (NC) in Round of 32 3. Vs Joseph Jaureguai (CA) in Cons 132 Elan McCasland - Beech (3-0) 1. W by Dec 7-0 over Jaleel Hitchens (NC) in Round of 128 2. W by MDec 12-2 over Hunter Hulse (NY) 3. W by Fall in 3:15 over Zachary Arnold (CT) 4. Vs Hayden Hansen (OK) in Round of 16 138 Nicholas Naughton - Father Ryan (1-1) 1. W by Fall in 3:55 over Noah Townsley (PA) 2. W by Dec 2-1 over Charles Pipes (MD) 3. Vs Jacob Trujillo (CO) 145 Josh Feuerbacher - Blackman (0-1) 1. L by Tech Fall 16-0 to Corbin Allen (VA) in Round of 64 2. Vs Adam Evans (PA) in Cons 152 Mike Binns - Sycamore (2-0) 1. W by Fall 4:44 over DJ Williamson (OH-St Eds) listed as 20-9 2. W by Dec 8-5 over Bryant Halsch (NC) 3. Vs Cody Hughes (ME) in Round of 16 Tyler Garrison - Blackman (0-1) 1. L by Fall in 3:41 to Peter Bearse (NJ-Blair) in Round of 32 2. Vs Tristan Nelson (SC) in Cons 170 Sean Kennedy - Riverdale (1-0) 1. W by Dec 5-3 (SV) over Idris White (PA) 2. Vs Trent Newlan (OH) in Round of 16 Chad Solomon - Maryville (1-0) 1. W by Dec 8-6 over Devon Pullen (VA) 2. Vs Taggart Haase (WI) in Round of 16 Michael King - Beech (0-1) 1. L by Fall in 1:41 to Atavian Oliver (NC) in Round of 32 2. Vs Jacob Seeley (CO) in Consolations 182 Jacob Cretin - Brentwood Academy (0-0) 1. Vs Zach Mor (SC) in Round of 16 220 Johnny Kramer - Wilson Central (0-0) 1. Vs Zac Faust (PA) in Round of 16

Ok..I didn't nap... Freshman Report: TN in 16th with 17pts 1. NY-55.5, 2. OH-51.5, 3. NJ-40.5, 4. MD-40, 5. PA-36 5 guys in Championship / 1 in Consolations 106 Blake Cyree - Tullahoma (3-0) 1. W by MDec 9-0 over Noah Walker (NC) 2. W by Dec 2-0 over Eddie Walz (NJ) 3. W by Dec 1-0 over Brandon Gould (NY) 4. vs Joey Prata (VA) in Round of 16 120 Landon Butler - Beech (0-1) 1. L by TFall 16-1 to Kellen Delvin (NY) 2. vs Gabe Blough (OR) in consolations 132 Corbin Hurley - Tennessee (1-0) 1. W by Dec 7-5 over Nicholas Bradley (CT) 2. vs Jonathan Lagoski (PA) in Round of 16 145 Kaleb Rippy - Beech (1-0) 1. W by Dec 5-2 over Tyler Ceparano (NC) 2. vs AJ Alford (SC) in Round of 16 182 Ben Stacey - Father Ryan (1-0) 1. W by Fall in 2:47 over Johnny Jackson (ZZ) 2. vs Edward Stemard (OH) in Round of 16 285 Christian Frans - Wilson Central (0-0) 1. vs Ethan Hannah (SC) in Round of 16

Full report to come after a short nap...exhausted...several guys are 3-0 already.

We are set with coaching, Steven Smith of Carson-Newman, Cumberland, and USAW fame will be the head coach along with 7 assistants. I will be aiding with Administrative and Foundation concerns.

I would be interested to know if the USA Season and/or FloNationals, USAW Folkstyle Nationals kept any Chattanooga or Memphis area kids from attending. There are 49 TN kids here this year and 43 of them are from the Mid Tenn area. Middle School 112 Jack Shrader - Franklin Freshman 106 Trey Chalifoux - Father Ryan Blake Cyree - Tullahoma Esteban Remillard - Summit 120 Landon Butler - Beech 132 Corbin Hurley - Tennessee 145 Kaleb Rippy - Beech 182 Ben Stacey - Father Ryan 285 Christian Frans - Wilson Central Sophomores 113 Devan Cyree - Tullahoma Lane Dickeson - Wilson Central 120 Bryce Triplett - Tullahoma 126 Tristan Hackett - Beech 132 Elan McCasland - Beech 138 Nicholas Naughton - Father Ryan 145 Josh Feuerbacher - Blackman 152 Mike Binns - Sycamore Tyler Garrison - Blackman 170 Sean Kennedy - Riverdale Mike King - Beech Chad Solomon - Maryville 182 Perry Baltz - Wilson Central Jacob Cretin - Brentwood Academy 220 Johnny Kramer - Wilson Central Juniors 106 Kyle Lee - Franklin 113 Christian Cerrito - Wilson Central 120 Jon Boatman - Greeneville 126 Michael Eckhart - Father Ryan 138 Ayinde Bakari - Blackman Austin Richard - Wilson Central Eddie Small - Wilson Central 145 Nick Patton - Centennial James Simpson - Father Ryan 152 Noah Cartwright - Father Ryan Thomas Huddleston - Clarksville 160 Patrick Dooley - Franklin John Hagey - Father Ryan Tyler Sells - Blackman 182 Jevon Brown - Blackman 285 Austin Wells - Blackman Seniors 138 Mark Marchetti - Father Ryan 145 Nate Croley - Pigeon Forge Jacob Freeman - Ravenwood 152 Alex Bennett - Franklin 160 Andy Bennett - Franklin 182 Bryson Begley - Dobyns Bennett 195 Scottie Boykin - Riverdale De'ontae Greenwade - Beech 220 TJ Satterfield - William Blount I'm happy to say that 25 of these young men have been or are currently affiliated with our Team Nemesis initiative in Middle Tennessee and I look forward to coaching many of these guys over the next four days. Coach Knepper Retired MTSU Wrestling Coach

from BLUERAIDERWRESTLING . com by Bryan Knepper Records are meant to be broken. This year, the MTSU Wrestling team set a record once again for NCWA National Qualifiers by qualifying 11 from the Mid-Atlantic Conference tournament held at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA on March 2nd. Last year’s squad qualified 9 individuals. The Blue Raiders will only take 10 guys on the trip despite the qualifications. The 125-lb weight class was dominated by The Apprentice School as both Junior Anthony Patnode and Sophomore Shane Shaffner made the semifinals against rival Apprentice. Patnode faced Jacob Michael losing 6-4 while Shaffner wrestled #1 seed Tyare Ford losing 16-6. Patnode had defeated AJ Dobzienicki of Bridgewater by technical fall 19-2 to get there while Shaffner scored a major decision 11-3 against Liberty’s Jeremy Beale. Both guys would win their consolation semifinals to reach the 3rd place match with Shane winning by fall in 4:14 over Cameron Banks, Apprentice and Anthony winning a 9-2 decision over Beale. Teammates battle for 3rd place in the MAC The 3rd place matchup went to Shaffner by a decision over Patnode 12-7. Shane and Anthony will both have great shots at becoming All-Americans with 20-10 and 25-7 records, respectively heading to Nationals. Eric Feuerbacher got the #1 seed at 133-lbs and did quite well making it the finals with wins over Charles Gray of Virginia Military Institute by fall in 4:33 followed by a 6-2 decision over the #4 seed Shane Smith of Apprentice in the semifinals. Feuerbacher ties up with Apprentice's Dwayne Roes in the 133-lb Finals Unfortunately Eric’s run at MTSU’s first conference title since 2009 fell short as he fell to another Apprentice wrestler, Dwayne Roes by a score of 4-2 in the finals. Eric heads to Nationals with a 22-7 record as a Sophomore. Last season he finished 5th in the MAC and 9th overall in the country. The 141-lb and 157-lb weight classes were both contested for MTSU by Freshman: Edward Davila and Nathan Williams. These guys competed hard but ultimately went 0-2 in the tournament and will try next year to become National Qualifiers. Davila lost to Josh Sanders of Liberty by fall in 4:55 and then lost to Derek Burhenn of Apprentice by a last second throw and pin at 6:59 after being up 13-10 in the match. Williams lost matches by fall to #5 seed Michael Custer of VMI in 3:57 and Matt Lamb of William & Mary in 1:41. Junior Everett Colbert always seems to get the toughest weight class in any given tournament and this was the case once again as 4 former All-Americans would be in his bracket (Clymer-Liberty, 2nd at 165, 2012; Busse-Liberty, 8th at 165, 2012; Ahearn-South Carolina, 5th at 157, 2011; Brower-William & Mary, 7th at 157, 2011). Earning the #7 seed, Colbert would have work to do in order to assure qualification into the NCWA tournament. That task became much more difficult as he lost his opening round match to VMI’s Spencer Buettner, a former NCAA wrestler, by the score of 5-4 on 1:07 riding time. Colbert then beat Gavin Oplinger of William & Mary by fall in 0:34 (fastest pin on the team this season) to keep his hopes alive in the tournament. He would win 9-3 against Darrick Gore of Bridgewater before losing to #5 seed Phillip Porto of Apprentice 5-3 in the consolation quaterfinals. This put Everett in the 7th place match versus Buettner once again. However, Buettner medically defaulted giving Colbert the 7th place finish. He ended up qualifying for Nationals due to an injury to a higher placer meaning he will take his 24-12 Junior record to Allen, TX. 174-lb Freshman Khris Sawyer battled in his weight class finishing with a 3-2 record on the day and qualified for the National Tournament placing 7th. His opening round win came against Maxwell Cromier of VMI by major decision 8-0. He then faced #1 seed Keyshaun Ward of Liberty losing by fall in 2:40 to the eventual Conference Champion. Dropping down the the consolations, Sawyer would face another VMI opponent in Skyler Kepley winning that match by a 12-7 score. In the consolation quarterfinals he got a rematch of his National Duals overtime loss with Kenneth Lowry of Apprentice. Unfortunately he lost this match as well by a score of 5-1. Khris then beat Steven Fowler of South Carolina by a 3-2 score to secure his spot on the trip to Nationals. His record heading in is 15-13. Sophomore Jonathan Roberts earned the #3 seed at 184 based on his stellar record on the season of 22-5 with no losses in Conference. He was seeded behind 2 All-Americans in Ben Brummel (3x AA from South Carolina) and Royal Brettrager (National Finalist in 2012 from Liberty). Roberts’ first match would also be a rematch from National Duals…the first match against #6 Josh Rodriguez of Apprentice ended in a 12-9 victory for Jonathan. This time Roberts distanced himself with an 18-6 win. His semifinals match would end in a 3-0 loss to #2 seed Brummel. The scoring came on a reversal in the 2nd and riding time. In the consolation semfinals, Roberts quickly vacated Josh Sturgill of Liberty from the tournament with a pin in 1:43. Roberts defeats Haas of James Madison by a score of 8-3 for 3rd place The consolation finals pitted Roberts against Stefan Haas of James Madison. He won this match 8-3 to secure 3rd place for the team and upping his record to 24-6 for the year. Freshman Tim Vara would go 1-2 on the day technically qualifying for Nationals but will not travel with the team. His matches were a loss to #1 seed Brettrager by fall in 2:14, a loss to Sturgill of Liberty 14-2 and a win by medical default over Caleb Jackson of Liberty for 7th place. He ends the season with a 4-3 record but will cut to 165-lbs next season. Anderson readies himself for his 5th place match vs Liberty Robert Anderson had a tough week of weight-cuts but made weight at 197 and made it to Nationals with a 5th place finish in Conference. He lost in the opening round to Luke Hanson of Apprentice by fall in 1:31 and then lost to the #2 seed Ryan Rowe of Bridgewater in the consolation semifinals in 1:18. However in the 5th place match, he showed his strength by literally bench-pressing Jacob Hood of Liberty off of him and turning his opponent over winning by fall in 2:28. Robert heads to Nationals with a 6-9 overall record as a Sophomore, many of those matches coming at 235. Adam Wells became a 2x National Qualifier by placing 6th at 235, an improvement over the 7th place finish the year prior. He would have the unenviable task of facing the #1 seed and finalist at 285 in 2012 Andrew Wilson of Liberty. Wilson pinned Adam in 2:32 sending Wells to the consolations. There he received a medical default over Zach Cox of Liberty (knee) followed by a big win over #5 seed Craig Carter of ETSU 3-2. This marked the first win over his in-state rival in his career and sent the Senior Buc home without a Nationals trip. http://blueraiderwre...ter-300x168.jpgWells takes on Siler of Bridgewater for 5th place In the consolation semifinals he would face rival and #2 seed Kevin Gray, which ended in a pinfall victory for the Apprentice standout in 3:28. Wells would then face Daniel Siler of Bridgewater for 5th place losing 5-2. Adam’s record heading to Nationals is 10-12 as a Sophomore. The 285-lb weight class would see 2 more Blue Raiders qualify for Nationals by a pair of Sophomores, Tyler Bond and Rashied Rayford. Tyler would make the NCWA Nationals with a 5th place finish. http://blueraiderwre...rty-300x168.jpgBond defeats Liberty for a 5th place MAC finish He got there with a loss to #4 seed Raul Leyva of ETSU by a decision 4-1. He then lost to #2 seed Ike Okoli (2012 All-American) by a 4-0 score. Tyler then defeated Josh Travers of Liberty in the 5th place match 3-1 and will take his 11-6 record to Nationals. Rashied Rayford got the #3 seed due to the guys in front of him being returning All-Americans. Receiving a bye to the semifinals he faced #2 seed Okoli of South Carolina and won by a score of 3-1 to advance to the finals, joining teammate Eric Feuerbacher. The 3-1 score was due to a last-second takedown to win the match. http://blueraiderwre...ice-300x168.jpgRayford faces the #1 wrestler in the NCWA in the MAC Finals. In the finals, Rashied would get his rematch from National Duals in which he lost 3-2 to #1 seed Ian Jones of Apprentice (Jones is the top-rated wrestler in the country this season). The match was neutral for all but 30 seconds in the contest, but was ultimately won by a stalling call in favor of Jones ending the match with a 2-1 victory over Rayford. The 2 will undoubtedly be top-5 seeds in the NCWA National tournament. Rashied heads to Allen, TX with a record of 23-6. The Blue Raiders finished 4th as a team behind MAC Champions Liberty University, Apprentice School, and James Madison (won 3rd by 1/2 point over MTSU). The team is set up for a top-10 finish in the NCWA-Division 1 this year with 8 weight classes represented in the tournament from March 14-16th in Allen, Texas. Final Team Scores: Top 5 Schools School Points 1. Liberty 201 2. Apprentice School 172.5 3. James Madison 94 4. Middle Tenn. State 93.5 5. Bridgewater 76.5