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Four Beavers named to PAC-10 All-Academic Wrestling Team

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State had four athletes named to the Pacific-10 Conference All-Academic Wrestling Team for 2001-02. Jed Pennell and Isaac Weber were named to the first team, Brad Wahrlich was named to the second team and Casey Horn earned honorable mention.

To be eligible for the team, a student-athlete must have a minimum 3.0 overall grade point average and be either a starter or significant substitute for their team.

Pennell, a sophomore from Cave Junction, Ore. (Illinois Valley HS), has a 3.80 GPA and is majoring in Exercise and Sport Science. This season, he was 18-13 with two pins and placed sixth in the Pacific-10 at 165 pounds.

Weber, a senior from Newberg, Ore. (Newberg HS), has a 3.20 GPA and is majoring in Political Science. This season, he was 25-12 with two pins, won the Pacific-10 championship at 184 pounds and advanced to the NCAA Championships.

Wahrlich, a senior from Alamo, Calif. (De La Salle HS), has a 3.20 GPA and is majoring in Art. This season, he had a 6-2 record with two pins at 165 pounds.

Horn, a junior from Salem, Ore. (North Salem HS), has a 3.04 GPA and is majoring in Human Development and Family Studies. This season, he was 19-8 with eight pins; he was seeded third in the Pacific-10 Championships but suffered an elbow injury in his first match that knocked him out of the tournament.

It's history

OREGON STATE ALL-TIME IN NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: Oregon State has placed among the top 10 at the NCAA Championships 18 times, including 4 times in the last 10 years - fourth in 1994, second in 1995, eighth in 1996 and 10th in 1998.

Oregon State's highest finishes at the NCAA Championships were second place in 1973 and 1995; the Beavers placed third in 1969 and 1970. OSU has placed in the top 5 on 9 occasions.

The Beavers have earned All-America honors 80 times, most recently with Eric Jorgensen placing fifth at 157 pounds last season. OSU has had an individual national champion 12 times, most recently with Les Gutches' back-to-back national titles at 177 pounds in 1995 and 1996.

Last season, the Beavers tied for 18th place at the NCAA Championships.

Pac it up

OREGON STATE AT PACIFIC-10 CHAMPIONSHIPS: Oregon State had 3 individual champions as the Pacific-10 Conference Wrestling Championships wrapped up March 3 at OSU's Gill Coliseum. Nathan Coy repeated as champion at 174 pounds, Jason Cooley regained the title at heavyweight and Isaac Weber won his first crown at 184 pounds as the Beavers finished fourth in the team race.

Boise State won the team championship, followed by Oregon, Arizona State and OSU. The three individual champions were the most for Oregon State since the Beavers had four in 1995.

"Congratulations to the seniors on their championships," OSU coach Joe Wells said of Cooley, Coy and Weber. "They've all dealt with adversity, injury, et cetera, et cetera and done a great job this season. They've continued to improve, and we're very hopeful of them breaking into All-America status at the national tournament and vying for a championship."

Also qualifying for the NCAA Championships were Jason Lovell, who placed third at 197 pounds, and Michael Delaney, who placed fourth at 125. Lovell will miss the national tournament due to injury.

Oregon State 133-pounder Nathan Navarro and 165-pounder Jed Pennell both placed sixth.

"Congratulations also to Michael and Jason on qualifying for nationals for the first time," Wells said. "It was a fine finish to the tournament, considering the horrific beginning we had."

OSU lost 141-pounder Casey Horn and 149-pounder Jordan Barich to injury in the first session on Saturday.

"I thought we fought well and dealt with the adversity as a team and bounced back," Wells said. "It was just a real topsy-turvy tournament with all these seeded athletes being knocked off. There was no respect for the no. 1 guy."

Coy won as a No. 1 seed, but Cooley and Weber were both No. 2 seeds who knocked off the top seeds in their weight class.

Coy became the first Beaver to win back-to-back Pacific-10 titles since Oscar Wood won at 142 pounds in 1998 and 149 in 1999. He beat Cal Poly's Steve Strange 7-3 in a rematch of last year's 174-pound final, in which Coy had pinned Strange.

This time, Coy had to score a takedown with 24 seconds remaining to take a 4-3 lead; he was eventually awarded a three-point near-fall as time expired.

"Nathan was going for the points at the end," Wells said. "He scooped him up last year with a cradle and it was close to same situation this year, but Nathan got him turned and got the near-fall at the end."

Cooley had won the heavyweight title as a sophomore in 2000, then was beaten in the final last season. Arizona State's Kellan Fluckiger, who had beaten Cooley 8-5 in last season's final, was again his opponent in another championship rematch.

The match was scoreless and neither wrestler had riding time going into the third period. Cooley, on top to start the period, was awarded a point after Fluckiger received two stall warnings; he also accumulated enough riding time for a point before Fluckiger escaped with 36 seconds left. When neither wrestler scored the rest of the way, Cooley had regained the heavyweight title.

"Jason is wrestling real well," Wells said. "He's learning to win the close matches and using his conditioning. That will be real important for him - to keep his cool and composure at nationals. It's a good field, but he'll be as good as anyone there. He needs to wrestle in similar fashion, and he'll be right in hunt."

Weber ran his winning streak to 11 with a 4-3 sudden-victory win over Jeremy Wilson, who had beaten Weber 6-4 in a November dual meet. After falling behind 3-1 when Wilson scored a takedown with 59 seconds left in the third period, Weber managed an escape with 53 seconds left; a second stall warning against Wilson tied the match with 16 seconds to go in regulation.

In the one-minute overtime, Wilson was again warned for stalling with 20 seconds remaining. That handed the victory to Weber. "He's also in there with any of them, right there with them," Wells said of Weber. "He's having a great year; he's having a lot of fun and sure enjoying it. He's coming right up against graduation and he'll be making a trip to Europe this spring for his undergraduate studies - what better way to finish off his academic year than with All-America status or a national title."

Going to the Wells

OREGON STATE HEAD COACH JOE WELLS: Joe Wells, now in his 10th season as Oregon State's head coach, has led the Beavers to a Pacific-10 title and 4 top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships.

The Beavers' 25-10 win over then-No. 11 Boise State last season was Wells' 100th dual meet win at OSU. Since taking over the Beaver program prior to the 1992-93 season, Wells is 115-69-1 for a winning percentage of .624.

The Beavers were Pacific-10 Conference champions under Wells in 1994 and he has twice been named the conference's Coach of the Year. OSU has finished in the top 10 at the NCAA Championships 4 times in Wells' tenure, placing second in 1995, fourth in 1994, eighth in 1996 and tying for ninth in 1998.

Under Wells, OSU has had 2 national champions, 15 All-Americans and 16 conference champions.

Wells was named the ASICS Oregon Wrestling Classic's Man of the Year for 1998 for his contributions to wrestling in the state.

Wells, who has coached numerous World Teams for the United States, is a 1972 Iowa graduate. He was a 2-time placer at the Big Ten meet and the 1976 U.S. Wrestling Federation freestyle champ. He spent 17 seasons as an assistant coach at Iowa and Michigan before coming to Oregon State.

That's pretty rank

BEAVERS IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS: Here's where Oregon State wrestlers are in the national rankings:

Pac man

Cooley sizing up the opposition

• has won 10 straight matches, scoring team bonus points 4 times
• career, 69-23 with 4 pins, team bonus points in 28 percent of matches (26 of 92)
• this season, 16-4 with 0 pins, team bonus points in 20 percent of matches (4 of 207)
• in current rankings, nationally, No. 7 by AWN, No. 7 by IM
• at Pacific-10 Championships, seeded second, placed first, went 3-0 with 0 pins;
  major dec. over Flynn Ficker, Cal-Davis, 10-1 in quarterfinals;
  dec. over No. 17 (No. 3 seed) Eric Webb, Oregon, 4-2 in semifinals;
  dec. over No. 9 (No. 1 seed) Kellan Fluckiger, Arizona State, 2-1 in championship final
• season summary:
• dec. over No. 18 Eric Webb, Oregon, 3-2 in dual meet
• dec. by No. 3 John Lockhart, Illinois, 3-2 in dual meet
• dec. by No. 5 Garrett Lowney, Minnesota, 4-1 in dual meet
• at Midlands Open, placed fifth, went 4-1 with 0 pins vs. wrestlers from 4-year schools;
  including pinned by No. 2 Tommy Rowlands, Ohio State, 2:13;
  dec. over No. 10 Kevin Hoy, Air Force, 3-1
• Dec. 14-Dec. 30, 5-match win streak
• dec. over No. 13 James Huml, Oklahoma State, 1-1 (OT) in dual meet
• dec. by No. 16 Kellan Fluckiger, Arizona State, 7-5 in dual meet.

Playing Coy

• has won 10 straight matches, scoring team bonus points 6 times
• career, 79-40 with 4 pins, team bonus points in 30 percent of matches (36 of 119)
• this season, 16-5 with 1 pin, team bonus points in 43 percent of matches (9 of 21)
• in current rankings, nationally, No. 13 by AWN, No. 11 by IM
• at Pacific-10 Championships, seeded first, placed first, went 3-0 with 1 pin;
  pinned Chris Petrie, Arizona State, 5:58 in quarterfinals;
  inj. def. over (No. 4 seed) Quinn Collett, Portland State, in semifinals;
  dec. over No. 13 (No. 2 seed) Steve Strange, Cal Poly, 7-3 in championship final
• season summary:
• dec. over No. 9 Steve Strange, Cal Poly, 3-1 in dual meet
• dec. by No. 2 Otto Olson, Michigan, 3-2 in dual meet
• dec. by No. 6 Jacob Volkmann, Minnesota, 5-0 in dual meet
• at Midlands Open, went 1-2 with 0 pins vs. wrestlers from 4-year schools;
  including dec. by No. 11 Jim Stanec, Cornell, 8-5
• dec. by No. 9 Ty Wilcox, Oklahoma State, 5-3 in dual meet
• out of lineup Nov. 23-Dec. 1 for personal reasons
• at Southern Oregon Open, tied for first, went 1-0 with 0 pins vs. wrestlers from 4-year schools.

Crossing Delaney

• career, 24-27 with 5 pins, team bonus points in 25 percent of matches (13 of 51)
• this season, 14-16 with 2 pins, team bonus points in 20 percent of matches (6 of 30)
• at Pacific-10 Championships, unseeded, placed fourth, went 3-2 with 0 pins;
  major dec. by Nathan Peterson, Stanford, 9-1 in preliminary round;
  dec. over Zach Enoch, Portland State, 7-4 in wrestleback preliminaries;
  major dec. over Robert Valenzuela, Cal State-Fullerton, 9-1 in wrestleback quarterfinals;
  dec. over (No. 4 seed) Matt Sanchez, Cal State-Bakersfield, 6-5 in wrestleback semifinals;
  major dec. by Nathan Peterson, Stanford, 12-2 in third-place final
• season summary:
• dec. by No. 14 Shaun Williams, Oregon, 12-7 in dual meet
• major dec. by No. 1 Stephen Abas, Fresno State, 14-5 in dual meet
• dec. by No. 9 A.J. Grant, Michigan, 4-1 in dual meet
• major dec. by No. 2 Leroy Vega, Minnesota, 9-1 in dual meet
• at Midlands Open, went 2-2 with 0 pins vs. wrestlers from 4-year schools;
  including dec. by No. 2 Leroy Vega, Minnesota, 9-3;
  medical forfeit over No. 14 Greg Schaefer, Indiana
• major dec. by No. 5 Jason Powell, Nebraska, 11-2 in dual meet
• at Las Vegas Classic, went 2-1 with 0 pins vs. wrestlers from 4-year schools;
  also had medical forfeit to No. 1 Stephen Abas, Fresno State
• opened season with 5-match win streak, including 2 pins, team bonus points in 3 matches
• at Southern Oregon Open, placed first, went 3-0 with 2 pins vs. wrestlers from 4-year schools.

Weber grills 'em

• has won 11 straight matches, scoring team bonus points 4 times
• career, 56-53 with 3 pins, team bonus points in 14 percent of matches (15 of 109)
• this season, 24-10 with 2 pins, team bonus points in 24 percent of matches (8 of 34)
• in current rankings, nationally, No. 14 by AWN, No. 16 by IM
• at Pacific-10 Championships, seeded second, placed first, went 3-0 with 0 pins;
  dec. over Will Carr, Arizona State, 10-3 in quarterfinals;
  dec. over (No. 3 seed) Charles Sandlin, Cal Poly, 3-1 in semifinals;
  dec. over No. 20 (No. 1 seed) Jeremy Wilson, Portland State, 4-3 (OT) in championship final
• season summary:
• dec. over No. 2 Andy Hrovat, Michigan, 7-7 (2 OT) in dual meet
• dec. by No. 8 Damion Hahn, Minnesota, 6-3 in dual meet
• at Midlands Open, went 2-2 with 0 pins vs. wrestlers from 4-year schools;
  including dec. by No. 19 Ben Heizer, Northern Illinois, 3-2;
  dec. by No. 6 Damion Hahn, Minnesota, 6-3
• major dec. by No. 3 Pat Popolizio, Oklahoma State, 11-2 in dual meet
• by No. 9 Travis Pascoe, Nebraska, 3-1 (OT) in dual meet
• at Las Vegas Classic, placed fifth, went 4-2 with 1 pin vs. wrestlers from 4-year schools;
  including dec. by No. 3 Andy Hrovat, Michigan, 6-1;
  pin over No. 10 Rob Rohn, Lehigh, 0:43
• dec. by No. 10 Jeremy Wilson, Portland State, 6-4 in dual meet
• at Southern Oregon Open, placed third, went 2-1 with 0 pins vs. wrestlers from 4-year schools.

Our Heavyweights place at Midlands Open

EVANSTON, Ill. - Oregon State's Jason Cooley took fifth place at heavyweight and the Beavers' Andy Bowlby was eighth in the same weight class as the Midlands Open wrestling tournament concluded Sunday evening. No. 25-ranked OSU placed 10th in a 65-team field that included most of the nation's top 25 teams and many top post-collegiate wrestlers.

Three other Beavers - 141-pounder Casey Horn, 165-pounder Jed Pennell and 184-pounder Isaac Weber - finished one win short of placing in the top eight in their weight class.

Cooley - ranked 14th nationally by Amateur Wrestling News and 10th by InterMat - and Bowlby guaranteed themselves a placing finish by winning their first matches Sunday morning. Cooley beat Brian Keck of the Wildcat Wrestling Club 6-4 in overtime, while Bowlby won by disqualification over 18th-ranked Kellan Fluckiger of Arizona State.

That set up a meeting between the two Beaver heavyweights in the wrestleback quarterfinals, and Cooley edged Bowlby 3-2. Cooley scored a first-period takedown and Bowlby earned his escape to make it 2-1 after one period. Cooley started the second period in the down position and escaped for a 3-1 lead; Bowlby escaped early in the third period to make it 3-2 and nearly got the go-ahead takedown when he got Cooley in a headlock, but Cooley slipped away to keep the lead.

"This is probably one of the best heavyweight fields they've had in a long time, and to have two heavyweights place is excellent," OSU head coach Joe Wells said. "We just need to do that in nine more weight classes."

OSU (5-3 overall, 2-1 Pacific-10) returns to action next Sunday at top-ranked Minnesota; the Golden Gophers finished third in the Midlands Open behind first-place Iowa and runner-up Iowa State.

"I thought we were real close to having a great tournament," Wells said. "I think part of it is wrestling good competition round after round after round - you've got to make adjustments and make a conscious decision to step it up a level. It's as much mental preparation as physical preparation.

"We had some great performances by individuals on a match-by-match basis; overall, we didn't perform as well as we're capable. We had some legitimate reasons for that (minor injuries hampered 133-pounder Nathan Navarro and 174-pounder Nathan Coy, who are both nationally-ranked) but that's part of the deal. It was a good experience and a good learning opportunity for us."

OREGON STATE AT MIDLANDS OPEN
(Amateur Wrestling News national rankings in parentheses)

TOP 10 TEAMS (65-TEAM FIELD) - 1. Iowa, 151; 2. Iowa State, 126.5; 3. Minnesota, 110.5; 4. Ohio State, 109; 5. Pennsylvania, 78.5; 6. Michigan State, 73; 7. Illinois, 62; 8. Indiana, 55; 9. Arizona State, 52; 10. Oregon State, 42.

125, MICHAEL DELANEY - dec. by (2) Leroy Vega, Minnesota, 9-3 in first round; dec. over Robert Potashnick, Northwestern, 4-1 in wrestleback first round; medical forfeit over (14) Greg Schaefer, Indiana, in wrestleback second round; dec. by Brandon Newill, Pittsburgh-Johnston, 3-0 in wrestleback third round.

133, (16) NATHAN NAVARRO - dec. over Pat Dowty, Eastern Illinois, 6-3 in preliminary round; dec. over Justin Walker, Stanford, 7-5 in first round; dec. by Cliff Moore, Iowa, 7-1 in second round; dec. over Kevin Rucci, Pennsylvania, 5-1 in wrestleback second round; dec. by Mark Jayne, Illinois, 10-5 in wrestleback third round.

141, (20) CASEY HORN - dec. by (12) Aaron Holker, Iowa State 11-4 in first round; dec. over Randy Pursley, Purdue, 3-0 in wrestleback first round; pinned Eric Keith, Michigan State, 6:28 (OT) in wrestleback second round; dec. over (15) John Giacche, Northwestern, 4-3 in wrestleback third round; major dec. by (9) Coyte Cooper, Indiana, 15-2 in wrestleback fourth round.

165, JED PENNELL - dec. over Cory DeBias, Rider, 9-2 in preliminary round; dec. by (6) John Hardy, Minnesota, 11-4 in first round; major dec. over Pat O'Donnell, Harvard, 13-1 in wrestleback first round; dec. over Ryan Kane, Northwestern, 8-3 in wrestleback second round; dec. by Scott Roth, Cornell, 12-6 in wrestleback third round.

174, (8) NATHAN COY - dec. over Ryan Hieber, Ohio State, 2-1 in first round; dec. by Nick Passolano, Iowa State, 2-2 (OT) in second round; dec. by (11) Jim Stanec, Cornell, 8-5 in wrestleback second round.

174, JAKE HUFFMAN - dec. over Jeff Pangborn, Central Michigan, 9-4 in first round; major dec. by (17) Greg Parker, Princeton, 14-0 in second round; dec. over Russ Vanderheyden, Central Michigan, 8-3 in wrestleback second round; dec. by (12) Gerald Harris, Cleveland State, 5-4 in wrestleback third round.

184, ISAAC WEBER - dec. over Andrew Curran, Northwestern, 5-0 in first round; dec. by (19) Ben Heizer, Northern Illinois, 3-2 in second round; dec. over Harold Penson, Stanford, 5-2 in wrestleback second round; dec. over Hunter Guenot, unattached, 1-0 in wrestleback third round; dec. by (6) Damion Hahn, Minnesota, 6-3 in wrestleback fourth round.

197, JASON LOVELL - tech. fall by (2) Owen Elzen, Minnesota, 3:59 (15-0); dec. over Venroy July, North Carolina, 5-4 in wrestleback preliminary round; major dec. over Robert Odell, Cal State-Bakersfield, 11-0 in wrestleback first round; dec. by Emmett Wilson, Montana State-Northern, 4-2 in wrestleback second round.

HWT, (14) JASON COOLEY, FIFTH PLACE - dec. over Jamie Salazar, Manchester, 5-1 in first round; dec. over Jack Leffler, Central Michigan, 5-2 in second round; major dec. by Mitch Clark, Ohio International Wrestling Club, 16-2 in quarterfinals; dec. over Brian Keck, Wildcat Wrestling Club, 6-4 (OT) in wrestleback fourth round; dec. over Andy Bowlby, Oregon State, 3-2 in wrestleback quarterfinals; pinned by (2) Tommy Rowlands, Ohio State, 2:13 in wrestleback semifinals; dec. over (10) Kevin Hoy, Air Force, 3-1 in fifth-place final.

HWT, ANDY BOWLBY, EIGHTH PLACE - dec. over D.J. Radnovich, Indiana, 3-2 in first round; dec. by Raphael Davis, Schultz Wrestling Club, 5-2 in second round; pinned Marc Bauknecht, East Stroudsburg, 0:29 in wrestleback second round; dec. over Steven Kovach, Navy, 2-1 in wrestleback third round; disqualification forfeit over (18) Kellan Fluckiger, Arizona State, in wrestleback fourth round; dec. by (14) Jason Cooley, Oregon State, 3-2 in wrestleback quarterfinals; dec. by Raphael Davis, Schultz Wrestling Club, 10-6 in seventh-place final.

Five Alive at Midlands Open

EVANSTON, Ill. - Oregon State has five wrestlers still capable of placing in their weight class at the Midlands Open after Saturday's opening day of competition. Still alive in the wrestleback bracket for the 25th-ranked Beavers are 141-pounder Casey Horn, 165-pounder Jed Pennell, 184-pounder Isaac Weber and heavyweights Jason Cooley and Andy Bowlby. Those five need to win their first match Sunday morning to be assured of placing among the top eight in their weight class.

Oregon State was in 10th place in the 65-team field after Saturday's sessions, and the Beavers are ahead of the other four Pacific-10 teams in the field (Arizona State, Cal State-Bakersfield, Oregon and Stanford). Iowa State is in first place, followed by Iowa, Ohio State, Minnesota and Pennsylvania.

Knocked out of the double-elimination event for OSU on Saturday were 125-pounder Michael Delaney, 133-pounder Nathan Navarro, 174-pounders Nathan Coy and Jake Huffman and 197-pounder Jason Lovell. Navarro and Coy wrestled despite minor injuries.

"We're operating with a couple banged-up guys, so we were attempting to see how we could do under a little adversity," OSU head coach Joe Wells said. "They wrestled some matches and got some good competition, and they're improving every day, so that's great."

The Midlands Open includes not only most of the nation's top 25 college teams, but also open-level clubs that include wrestlers who have competed in the World Championships and Olympics.

"We need to get more and better competition, and that' s just what we're getting," Wells said. "You have an opportunity here to get so many matches in such a short period of time - and good quality matches - that you really learn what you need to do and what you don't need to do. You eliminate those mistakes and gain that experience.

"Round by round, you have to step it up a notch and that's really good for them."

Horn, who was unseeded in the tournament, stayed alive in the wrestlebacks with a 4-3 win over seventh-seeded John Giacche of Northwestern. In the previous round, Horn had pinned Michigan State's Eric Keith in overtime. Next up for Horn is eighth-seeded Coyte Cooper of Indiana.

Pennell, also unseeded, will go against unseeded Scott Roth of Cornell on Sunday. Pennell beat Northwestern's Ryan Kane 8-3 to advance past Saturday's opening rounds.

Weber, seeded ninth, must get past second-seeded Damion Hahn of Minnesota in Sunday's first round. Weber edged unattached Hunter Guenot 1-0 to get through Saturday's action.

Cooley, seeded fifth, and Bowlby are one win away from going against each other in the wrestleback quarterfinals. To set up that all-Beaver match, Cooley must beat Brian Keck of the Wildcat Wrestling Club and Bowlby has to get past ninth-seeded Kellan Fluckiger of Arizona State.

Andy Bowlby claims USA Wrestling's top university honor!

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State heavyweight Andy Bowlby is the winner of the USA Wrestling's 2001 Championship Belt Series for University-level wrestlers, it was announced Thursday. Bowlby, an OSU junior from Newberg, Ore., won both the freestyle and Greco-Roman titles at the University National Championships and also earned a silver medal in freestyle at the Pan American Championships.

USA Wrestling's University National Championships cover the freestyle and Greco-Roman styles, while the NCAA Championships are for collegiate, or "folkstyle" competition.

Bowlby and the rest of the 25th-ranked Beavers (5-3 overall, 2-1 Pacific-10) left Thursday for Evanston, Ill., where they will compete in the Midlands Open on Saturday and Sunday.

before the Beavers departed Corvallis. "I think Andy fancies himself a freestyle and Greco-Roman guy - he's big and strong, and he's got good technique. He'll cause problems for anybody he wrestles.

"It's a great situation for him right now, because he and Jason Cooley (OSU's nationally-ranked heavyweight in the collegiate style) are really pushing each other, and they could both be nationally-ranked. It's wonderful to have two of the nation's best heavyweights."

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USA Wrestling is the governing body for the sport in the United States. Based on a point system, it crowns Championship Belt Series winners in each of its age-group levels: Cadet, Junior, FILA Junior World, University and Senior levels. Athletes only receive points on the specific age level where they compete, and points cannot transfer from one age level to another age level.

Bowlby claimed the University level Championship Belt Series with 163 points, defeating runner-up Jamill Kelly of Stillwater, Okla. by 40 points. University athletes are 18-24 years old and their class has graduated from high school.

Bowlby, competing for the Orange Crush Mat Club, won a double title at the University National Championships, claiming gold medals in both freestyle and Greco-Roman at 286 pounds. He also claimed a silver medal in freestyle at the Pan American Championships.

The Belt Series is based upon a point system, rewarding athletes for actual success in competition. Athletes who place in the major USA Wrestling events on the regional, national and international levels scored points in the series.

Each event is weighed according to importance and difficulty, in order to determine the most successful wrestler during the season. A wrestler also receives points for receiving the Most Outstanding Wrestler award and Most Falls award at the events. On the age group levels, points scored in both freestyle and Greco-Roman are combined for the final standings.

The Belt Series was created in 1990 to recognize America's most successful age-group athletes. Among the past age-group Belt Series winners are 2000 Olympic Champion Brandon Slay, 1999 World Champion Stephen Neal, 1998 World Champion and 2000 Olympic silver medalist Sammie Henson, 2000 Olympic silver medalist Matt Lindland and 1996 Olympic silver medalist Brandon Paulson. Seven former age-group Championship Belt winners claimed NCAA Div. I individual titles, as well.