Air Force Wrestlers Head to NCAA West Regional

Falcons will look to qualify for spots at NCAA Championships

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Senior Tyler French
Senior Tyler French

March 3, 2010

The Air Force wrestling team heads to Brookings, S.D., this weekend, March 6, for the NCAA West Regional. The regional, which will also double as the Western Wrestling Conference Championships, is being hosted this year by South Dakota State. The action is slated to begin at 10:00 a.m. (CT), while finals are scheduled to start at 5:00 p.m.

Ticket prices for the event are $15 for adults and $5 for students, while matside tickets are available for $25.

About the NCAA West Regional...
The NCAA West Regional, comprised of the seven members of the Western Wrestling Conference (Air Force, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, Northern Iowa, South Dakota State, Utah Valley and Wyoming), serves as a qualifying tournament for the NCAA Championships, which will be held March 18-20 in Omaha, Neb.

This year, the West Regional will receive 14 automatic qualifiers, based on the final Coaches' Panel Ranking, Rating Percentage Index (RPI) and Division I winning percentage. The breakdown of the 14 automatic bids per weight class for the West Regional is as follows: 125 (2), 133 (1), 141 (3), 149 (1), 157 (1), 165 (1), 174 (2), 184 (1), 197 (1) and 285 (1).

After all of the qualifying events have concluded, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will meet in person to select the reamining 46 at-large qualifiers, who will be announced on March 10.

Watch it on the Web...
To follow the action at the NCAA West Regional on the web, visit Tournament Central at gojacks.com. Complete coverage of the event, including free live streaming of the regional finals, will be available.

Last Year at the NCAA West Regional...
Northern Iowa won its 24th consecutive West Regional title in 2009, just edging out second-place Wyoming by a point and a half, with both teams winning four individual titles each.

Northern Colorado, which captured two individual titles, finished third, followed by North Dakota State and South Dakota State. Air Force, led by runner-up Stephen Crozier at 174 pounds, placed sixth overall.

 

 

Last Time Out...
The Falcons dropped their final two dual meets of the regular season, falling to Wyoming, 22-13, while dropping a 24-15 decision to Northern Iowa.

Freshman Cole VonOhlen (141) led the Falcons with wins in both of his matches, while senior James Ciccone (184) recorded a fall in his only match of the week, pinning UNI's Scott Hazen in a career-best time of 41 seconds. Also winning against Wyoming were Gabe Martinez (149), Alec Williams (149) and Stephen Larson (HWT), while Derek Gillespie (133) added a fall against Northern Iowa.

Scouting the Falcons...
Air Force finished its dual slate with a 6-11 overall record and 1-5 mark in the WWC, tying for sixth place in the conference regular-season standings.

Leading Air Force with a team-best 29 victories is freshman Cole VonOhlen, currently ranked 19th in the nation. Also reaching the 20-win threshold for the Falcons are senior Tyler French (21) and freshman Tyler Spangler (20). French was the West Regional champion at 174 pounds in 2007.

VonOhlen has also registered a team-high 12 falls so far this season, doubling the team-leading total (six) from the 2008-09 season.

In the National Rankings...
With an overall record of 29-6, Air Force freshman Cole VonOhlen is currently ranked 19th in the nation at 141 pounds in the latest Intermat poll. In addition, VonOhlen is rated 19th by D1 College Wrestling and 20th by WrestlingReport.com. He is also ranked 10th at 141 pounds in the Takedown Wrestling Media Dual Impact Index.

NCAA Rankings...
Freshman Cole VonOhlen was ranked 18th at 141 pounds in the final coaches' panel rankings for the 2009-10 wrestling season, and is ranked ninth in the final Rating Percentage Index (RPI) of the season. The coaches' panel rankings and RPI, along with Division I winning percentage, are the three tools used to allocate qualifying spots to the NCAA Championships.

Each qualifying tournament was awarded spots per weight class based on current year data. A threshold of a 0.725 winning percentage, top 28 in the RPI and top 28 in the coaches ranking was established to allocate 284 of the 330 championships field positions.

For each wrestler that reached the threshold in at least two of the three categories, his qualifying tournament was awarded a qualifying spot in that weight class. VonOhlen, who also holds a Division I winning percentage of .808, reached the threshold in all three categories, and helped earn a qualifying spot at 141 pounds for the NCAA West Regional.

Scouting the Bison...
North Dakota State concluded the regular season with a 9-7 dual mark and 2-3 record in the WWC, finishing fourth in the conference standings.

Leading the Bison is senior Ryan Adams, a two-time NCAA qualifier who owns a team-best 26-7 record at 141 pounds. Meanwhile, three other NDSU wrestlers have notched at least 20 wins on the season: Tyler Johnson (25), Justin Solberg (22) and Andrey Patselov (21), at 165, 125 and 149 pounds, respectively.

Scouting the Bears...
Northern Colorado concluded the regular season with a 3-14 dual mark and 2-4 record in the WWC, finishing fifth in the conference standings.

The Bears are led by returning West Regional champion Justin Gaethje at 157 pounds, who has a team-best 23-11 overall record. Meanwhile, three others--Tony Mustari (125), Brett Bahe (133) and Kenny Hashimoto (141)--all finished second in the region at their respective weight classes in 2009.

Scouting the Panthers...
Northern Iowa completed the regular season with a 10-12 overall record and 4-2 mark in WWC action, notching a third-place finish in the conference standings.

The Panthers are led by a pair of returning regional champions in Trent Washington (149) and Christian Brantley (HWT). Brantley has posted a 21-9 overall record to pace Northern Iowa this season, while Washington has recorded a 10-3 ledger on the year.

Scouting the Jackrabbits...
South Dakota State compiled a 2-11-1 overall record on the season, along with a 1-5 mark in the WWC to finish tied for sixth in the conference standings.

The Jacks are led by Tyler Sorenson, the 2009 regional runner-up at 197 pounds. Sorenson has posted a 26-5 overall record on the season.

Scouting the Wolverines...
Utah Valley concluded the regular season with a 10-3 overall record and 4-1 ledger in WWC action, notching a second-place finish in the conference standings. Utah Valley is making its first appearance at the NCAA West Regional after finishing its seven-year transition to Division I.

Leading the Wolverines is Ben Kjar, who is currently ranked ninth in the nation at 125 pounds with a 26-7 overall record.

Scouting the Cowboys...
Wyoming, ranked 25th in the nation, concluded the regular season with a 12-3 overall record and perfect 6-0 conference record to earn its first regular-season WWC title.

The Cowboys return all four of their regional champions from 2009, three of whom are currently ranked nationally in their respective weight classes. Leading the way is Joe LeBlanc (184), a returning All-American who has registered a team-best 32 victories on the year and is rated eighth by Intermat. Shane Onufer, the 174-pound champion in 2009, is currently rated ninth in the nation at 165 pounds with a 24-5 overall record, while Michael Martinez is ranked 11th at 125 pounds with a record of 27-7. Also returning is Cory VomBaur, the West Regional champion at 133 pounds last season, who has posted a 17-7 record on the season.

Up Next...
Qualifiers from this weekend's NCAA West Regional will compete at the NCAA Championships, being held in Omaha, Neb., March 18-20.

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