Air Force Academy

Jan. 30, 2013

The Air Force wrestling team heads to West Point, N.Y., this Saturday, Feb. 2, for the 19th-annual All-Academy Championships, hosted this year by Army.

ABOUT THE ALL-ACADEMY CHAMPIONSHIPS...
The All-Academy Championships feature teams from eight service academies--Air Force, Army, The Citadel, Coast Guard, Merchant Marine, Navy, Norwich and VMI. Navy has won eight of the last nine team titles, including the last four championships.

Preliminary round for the tournament will begin at 10:00 a.m. (ET), followed by semifinals at noon. Consolation semifinals are scheduled to start at 2:00 p.m., while finals are slated to begin at 4:00 p.m. Updated brackets will be posted throughout the day at goarmysports.com.

LAST YEAR AT THE ALL-ACADEMY CHAMPIONSHIPS...
With placewinners in all 10 weight classes, including a pair of individual champions, Air Force placed second at the 2012 All-Academy Championships. Cole VonOhlen (149) and tournament Outstanding Wrestler Clay Gable (174) each placed first in their respective weight classes, as the Falcons finished with 105 points. Meanwhile, Navy captured its fourth-straight team title at the event, edging out the host Falcons with 109.5 points.

LAST TIME OUT...
The Falcons posted a 2-1 dual record at home over the weekend, including a 1-1 record in WWC competition. After dropping a 23-15 decision to North Dakota State on Friday evening, the Falcons posted a pair of victories on Sunday, defeating conference foe South Dakota State, 41-5, and in-state rival Western State Colorado, 35-4.

Three Falcons came up with wins against the Bison on Friday, led by freshman Josh Martinez, who pinned sixth-ranked Trent Sprenkle at 125 pounds. Junior Josh Kreimier also scored a fall at 157 pounds, while sophomore Dylan Hyder earned a decision at 133 pounds.

Air Force also won nine bouts versus Western State, including a forfeit victory by Kreimier. Stafford recorded a technical fall, Mitch Brown (125), McElhany and Hightower each scored major decisions, and Hyder, Logan Burch (149), Mohr and Alsup all won their bouts by decision.

SCOUTING THE FALCONS...
Air Force, which holds a 10-2 dual mark, is currently tied for 23rd in the latest InterMat poll and receiving votes in the USA Today/NWCA/AWN coaches' poll. The Falcons have three wrestlers who are listed in InterMat's individual rankings, with senior Cole VonOhlen (21-2) currently rated third at 149 pounds, freshman Josh Martinez (22-6) ranked ninth at 125 pounds and junior Josh Kreimier (18-3) ranked 20th at 157 pounds.

IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS...
This week, Air Force moves up to a tie for 23rd place in the InterMat team rankings. Meanwhile, the Falcons are also rated 22nd by WrestlingReport.com and 26th in W.I.N. Magazine's Tournament Power Index.

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

Freshman Josh Martinez continues to move up in the InterMat rankings at 125 pounds, currently rated ninth. He is also ranked ninth by Amateur Wrestling News and DI College Wrestling and 10th by W.I.N. Magazine and WrestlingReport.com.

Meanwhile, junior Josh Kreimier is listed 20th at 157 pounds in the InterMat rankings. He is also rated 16th by Amateur Wrestling News, 17th by W.I.N. Magazine and 19th by WrestlingReport.com and 21st by DI College Wrestling.

AIR FORCE ATHLETE/WWC WRESTLER OF THE WEEK...
Following his performance in a pair of duals versus North Dakota State and South Dakota State, freshman Josh Martinez was named the Air Force Athlete of the Week and the Western Wrestling Conference Wrestler of the Week.

Martinez posted a 2-0 record this past weekend as the Falcons opened up WWC competition. He earned a big victory in his first match of the weekend, defeating sixth-ranked Trent Sprenkle of North Dakota State Friday evening. Martinez earned a second-period fall over Sprenkle, pinning the defending West Regional champion in a time of 4:23. He added another conference victory on Sunday, defeating South Dakota State's Aaron Pickrel in a 12-4 major decision.

UP NEXT...
The Falcons are off from competition next weekend, but return to action on Saturday, Feb. 16, for a conference dual at Utah Valley.