Air Force Academy

Jan. 23, 2013

Weekly Release #8

The 24th-ranked Air Force wrestling team returns home this weekend for three home duals. First, the Falcons will open up their Western Wrestling Conference slate on Friday, Jan. 25, with a 7:00 dual versus No. 22 North Dakota State.

Air Force then faces WWC foe South Dakota State and Western State Colorado on Sunday, Jan. 27, at 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m., respectively. Also on Sunday, SDSU and WSCU will face each other at approximately 2:30 p.m.

TICKET INFORMATION...
Due to the Falcons' hockey game on Friday evening, admission to the North Dakota State dual will be $5 for fans over the age of two, while all of Sunday's duals will remain free of charge.

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

LAST TIME OUT...
The Falcons went 3-0 on their Golden State roadswing last weekend, defeating Stanford (24-12), Menlo College (37-3) and Cal Poly (39-3) in dual action.

Against Stanford, Logan Burch (149), Dan Barringer (174) and Devin Hightower (184) were the high scorers for the Falcons, each recording major decisions, while Dylan Hyder (133), Carter McElhany (141), Josh Kreimier (157) and Josh Mohr (197) all added decisions.

The Falcons won nine of 10 bouts against Menlo College, led by Hyder with a fall at 133 pounds. Kreimier, Barringer and Mohr each recorded technical falls, McElhany scored a major decision, and Josh Martinez (125), Burch, Jesse Stafford (165) and Bentley Alsup (HWT) all earned decisions.

In the final dual of the weekend, Air Force won eight of nine contested bouts, while Alsup picked up a win by forfeit. Burch recorded his first career fall to lead the Falcons against Cal Poly, while Stafford scored a tech fall. Martinez, Kreimier, Barringer and Mohr all notched major decisions, while Hyder (defeating 20th-ranked Devon Lotito) and McElhany both won by decision.

SCOUTING THE FALCONS...
Air Force, ranked 24th in the latest InterMat poll, enters this weekend with an 8-1 dual record and 0-0 mark in the Western Wrestling Conference. The Falcons have two wrestlers who are listed in InterMat's individual rankings, with senior Cole VonOhlen (21-2) currently rated fourth at 149 pounds and freshman Josh Martinez (20-6) ranked 11th at 125 pounds.

SCOUTING THE BISON...
North Dakota State, ranked 22nd in this week's InterMat poll and receiving votes in the USA Today/NWCA/AWN coaches poll, enters Friday's contest with a 5-7 overall dual record and 0-0 mark in the WWC. The Bison are coming off a 37-7 loss to seventh-ranked Missouri.

Leading the way for the Bison this season are a pair of top-10 wrestlers. Senior Trent Sprenkle is ranked sixth at 125 pounds with a 21-2 overall record and 12-0 dual mark, while junior Steven Monk is rated sixth at 165 pounds with a 25-3 overall record and 12-0 dual ledger.

SCOUTING THE JACKRABBITS...
South Dakota State enters this weekend with a 4-6 dual record and 0-1 mark in the WWC, following a 21-13 loss to No. 15 Wyoming last weekend.

Among the leaders for the Jacks this season is senior Dustin Walraven, who holds a 19-9 record at 149 pounds, including a 7-3 ledger in dual competition.

SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS...
Western State Colorado currently holds a 6-3 dual record on the season and will face Adams State on Thursday evening before heading to the Academy on Sunday.

The Mountaineers are led by sophomore Elliot Copeland, ranked second in Division II at 174 pounds.

IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS...
This week, Air Force moves up to 24th place in the InterMat team rankings. Meanwhile, the Falcons are also rated 24th by WrestlingReport.com and 27th in W.I.N. Magazine's Tournament Power Index.

Individually, Air Force currently has four 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 and DI College Wrestling and fifth by W.I.N. Magazine.

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 DI College Wrestling, 11th by Amateur Wrestling News and WrestlingReport.com and 12th by W.I.N. Magazine. Meanwhile, Josh Kreimier is rated 16th at 157 pounds by Amateur Wrestling News, 19th by W.I.N. Magazine and 22nd by WrestlingReport.com and DI College Wrestling.

In addition, WrestlingReport.com lists senior Josh Mohr in its rankings, rating him 32nd at 197 pounds.

WWC CO-WRESTLER OF THE WEEK...
Sophomore Dylan Hyder was named the Western Wrestling Conference Co-Wrestler of the Week on Jan. 22, earning the first weekly honor of his career.

Hyder helped lead the Falcons to a 3-0 record over the weekend, going undefeated in his three duals. On Friday, Hyder earned a 6-0 decision over Alex Manley in Air Force's 24-12 victory over Stanford, while finishing as the Falcons' top scorer against Menlo in a 37-3 win, pinning Zachary Johnson in a time of 1:28.

Meanwhile, in the Falcons' 39-3 rout of Cal Poly on Sunday, Hyder earned his first win over a nationally ranked opponent this season, capturing a 4-3 victory over No. 20 Devon Lotito. With his wins, Hyder improved to 6-2 in dual action this season.

NCAA FALLS LEADER...
In the NCAA's individual falls standings, senior captain Cole VonOhlen is currently ranked seventh with eight falls in a time of 21:36, despite missing the Falcons' last two weekends of competition. In addition, his eight falls are tied for fifth-most in Division I this season.

COLORADO CONNECTION...
The geographical make-up of the Falcons' roster this season is well-rounded, with 22 states and one U.S. territory represented. However, the state most Air Force wrestlers call home is Colorado, with 12 different Falcons hailing from the Centennial State.

Air Force's Colorado-laden roster was evident in last weekend's duals, with six Colorado natives in the 10-man lineup. Five of the six--Josh Martinez, Carter McElhany, Logan Burch, Dan Barringer and Devin Hightower--are from the Colorado Springs area, while Josh Kreimier is a Fort Collins native.

UP NEXT...
The Falcons head to West Point, N.Y., next weekend, Feb. 2, for the 19th-annual All-Academy Championships, hosted this year by the U.S. Military Academy.