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sports. Northwest Kansas Tech jumps into the NJCAA while Penn State-New Kensington fields a varsity program com- peting in the NCWA. 8. Keeping a close eye (again) on California. Cal State-Fullerton and Cal State- Bakersfield will still battle to keep their programs through fundraising efforts. Bakersfield, with a strong wrestling tradi- tion, fought off cuts through their athletic program and in the process, saw the retirement of longtime coach T.J. Kerr. Now Mike Mendoza takes the reigns and will need the support of the entire wrestling community to make sure his program sticks around. Fullerton has been taking steps to ensure they don’t get cut and Dan Hicks needs our support as well. 7. Saying goodbye to the NAIA. Several NAIA schools have petitioned
and been accepted for inclusion into NCAA Division II. Among them is Simon Fraser, a Canadian school in Burnaby Mountain, British Columbia. The Clan (yes, their actual nickname) will be the first non-American college in the NCAA. The program has many notable alumni who have performed well at the NAIA and International level including Justin Abdou, Arjan Bhullar and Olympic champion Daniel Igali. But as it impacts the top of the NAIA
ladder as Lindenwood, Notre Dame College and McKendree are all part of the move to Division II. Notre Dame College is the defending NAIA champion. Other schools making the move with wrestling programs are Minot State and Sioux Falls. 6. Women coaches get to work. The growth of college wrestling in the
NAIA isn’t just relegated to the men. The NAIA is where the sport has seen growth on the women’s level. College wrestling programs compete under the WCWA banner and Oklahoma City is the defend- ing champion. But worth noting this year will be the matside presence of the sport’s first full-time female head coach- es. Marcie Van Dusen, Alaina Berube and Toccara Montgomery are at the helm at Menlo, University of the Cumberlands and Lindenwood, respectively. Van Dusen and Montgomery have both represented the United States at the Olympics. 5. Down year for Iowa’s programs? Kevin Jackson’s Iowa State Cyclones
lost all three their returning All- Americans, including NCAA champions David Zabriskie and Jake Varner. If you think that’s rough, returning national champions Iowa lost eight starters, including NCAA champion and 2010 U.S.
and Marshall Peppelman. Does Josh Dziewa get the call at Iowa at 141? Could Lee Munster at Northwestern be thrust into the lineup right away? Keep an eye on Tyler Beckwith at Binghamton. It’s a smaller program, but the Bearcats are the defending CAA champions. 2. Can Matt McDonough, Kyle Dake
and Andrew Howe repeat as NCAA Division I Champions? While there are only three champions
from 2010 coming back, there are four returning champions overall once you factor in 2009 champion Jordan Burroughs. Burroughs and Howe will compete at the same weight (detailed above), but sophomores Matt McDonough and Kyle Dake now assume the role of hunted rather than the hunter. 1. Is 2011 the year of the Big Red? With Iowa losing a ton of returning
Wisconsin’s Andrew Howe won a 2010 NCAA title at 165 pounds.
World Teamer Brent Metcalf. The Hawkeyes will have returning
NCAA champion Matt McDonough in the line-up, but the rest of the starting roster will rely on highly touted recruits and vet- eran reserves to fill the void. 4. Jordan Burroughs vs. Andrew
Howe. Granted an additional year of eligibility,
2009 NCAA Champion Jordan Burroughs of Nebraska will move up to 165 pounds in search of his second title. The two-time All-American will have more resistance with returning NCAA champion Andrew Howe of Wisconsin unwilling to give up his crown. Howe, the U.S. Open champi- on at 74 kg, had a successful offseason, as noted by his Open championship and runner-up finish at the 2010 World Team Trials. Burroughs, dubbed the Usain Bolt of wrestling for his lightning fast quick- ness, is recovering from knee surgery. 3. Super Freshmen. As the college opens kick off in November and December, it seems every year there are some stud freshmen who start drawing comparisons to the sports’ greats with their hot starts. Could he be the next Cael? Threads like this start on message boards around the nation. There are loads of talented freshmen coming out of their redshirt year, but when it comes to true freshmen, who are the names to watch? Obviously Logan Stieber’s name will jump to the top of everyone’s list, but will he actually be in the starting lineup or will he redshirt? The same can be asked of the Alton twins at Penn State, Dylan and Andrew. Cornell has a pair of true frosh who could be impactful in their title run, Chris Villalonga
points, the focus shifts to Rob Koll’s Cornell Big Red. Cornell returns All- Americans Kyle Dake, Mack Lewnes and Cam Simaz. Troy Nickerson’s spot will be manned by Frank Perrelli, who has per- formed admirably in Nickerson’s absence from the lineup the last two seasons. Past All-American Mike Grey also
returns at 133. Justin Kerber was a Round of 12 wrestler last season at 165, a weight which graduated four All- Americans. Steve Bosak also finished in the Round of 12. So can Cornell bring the NCAA title to
the eastern seaboard for the first time since the 1950s?
19 USA Wrestler
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