Air Force Academy

Jan. 9, 2013

Weekly Release #6

The 25th-ranked Air Force wrestling team opens its 2013 home dual slate this weekend, Jan. 11 and 13. The Falcons host No. 13 Oregon State Friday evening at 7:00 p.m., while taking on Northern Iowa and New Mexico Highlands on Saturday, beginning at 2:00 p.m. All three duals will take place in Clune Arena.

Meanwhile, the Falcons' JV team will compete at the Borah Duals, hosted by Western State Colorado, on Saturday, Jan. 12, while facing New Mexico Highlands on Sunday after Air Force's two varsity duals.

WATCH US ON THE WEB...
Free live video and live scoring will be available for all three of the Falcons' varsity duals this weekend by visiting goairforcefalcons.com.

LAST TIME OUT...
Air Force competed last week at the Southern Scuffle, finishing with three individual placewinners to secure eighth place in the team standings. Leading the way for the Falcons was senior captain Cole VonOhlen, who finished as the runner-up at 149 pounds, while freshman Josh Martinez placed fourth at 125 pounds and senior Josh Mohr took eighth place at 197 pounds.

SCOUTING THE FALCONS...
Air Force, ranked 25th in the latest InterMat poll, enters this weekend with a 3-0 dual record. The Falcons have two wrestlers who are listed in InterMat's individual rankings, with senior Cole VonOhlen currently rated fourth at 149 pounds and freshman Josh Martinez ranked 11th at 125 pounds.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS...
Oregon State, ranked 13th in both the USA Today/NWCA/AWN and InterMat polls, comes into Friday's dual with a 2-3 overall record, following a 19-15 loss to Boise State last weekend.

The Beavers have five wrestlers who are currently ranked by InterMat, led by senior Mike Mangrum, ranked fourth at 141 pounds. Heavyweight Chad Hanke is rated fifth, Scott Sakaguchi (149) is ranked ninth and R.J. Pena (157) and Taylor Meeks (197) are rated 10th in their respective weight classes.

SCOUTING THE PANTHERS...
Northern Iowa currently holds a 2-1 dual mark on the season and will face Northern Colorado on Friday evening before taking on Air Force on Sunday. The Panthers are coming off a 56-0 dual win over Iowa Western CC.

Three UNI wrestlers are rated in the latest InterMat rankings, led by Ryan Loder, who is ranked sixth at 184 pounds. Levi Wolfensperger is ranked 12th at 133 pounds, while Joey Lazor is rated 15th at 141 pounds.

SCOUTING THE COWBOYS...
New Mexico Highlands currently holds a 2-0 dual record and will host Adams State on Friday evening before facing the Falcons on Sunday. The Cowboys opened their dual slate last week at the Northwestern Mutual Triangular, defeating Embry-Riddle, 30-12, and Wayland Baptist, 34-16.

ABOUT THE BORAH DUALS...
Air Force will send a group of competitors to Gunnison, Colo., on Saturday for the 23rd-annual Tracy Borah Duals, hosted by Western State Colorado. The Falcons will wrestle in four duals, taking on the host Mountaineers, along with CSU-Pueblo, Colorado Mesa and Western Wyoming.

IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS...
This week, Air Force entered the InterMat team rankings in 25th place. Meanwhile, the Falcons are also rated 23rd by WrestlingReport.com and tied for 27th in W.I.N. Magazine's Tournament Power Index.

Individually, Air Force currently has five wrestlers ranked by various wrestling publications. Senior captain Cole VonOhlen, a returning three-time NCAA qualifier, is rated fourth in the nation at 149 pounds by InterMat, while he is ranked third by WrestlingReport.com, fourth by Amateur Wrestling News, W.I.N. Magazine and DI College Wrestling.

After an impressive fourth-place showing at the Southern Scuffle, freshman Josh Martinez moved into the InterMat rankings at 125 pounds, currently rated 11th. He is also ranked 10th by Amateur Wrestling News, WrestlingReport.com and DI College Wrestling and 11th by W.I.N. Magazine.

Meanwhile, WrestlingReport.com lists three other Falcons in its rankings, rating junior Josh Kreimier 29th at 157 pounds, senior Josh Mohr 30th at 197 pounds and junior Devin Hightower 32nd on the list at 184 pounds.

AIR FORCE ATHLETE/WWC WRESTLER OF THE WEEK...
Following his runner-up finish at the Southern Scuffle, Jan. 1-2, senior Cole VonOhlen was named the Air Force Athlete of the Week, as well as the WWC Wrestler of the Week. VonOhlen earned each of the awards for the second time this season.

VonOhlen posted a 5-1 record for the tournament, registering three falls and two decisions, including a 10-5 semifinal win over second-ranked Dylan Ness of Minnesota. VonOhlen's lone loss of the tournament came in the finals versus Oklahoma State's top-ranked Jordan Oliver.

UP NEXT...
The Falcons are back on the road next weekend, Jan. 18, when they head to Palo Alto, Calif., for a pair of duals. Air Force will face Stanford and Menlo College in non-conference action.