ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The brackets are set for the 2008 NCAA Wrestling Championships that begin Thursday in the Scottrade Center in St. Louis and seven of a possible eight Oklahoma State wrestlers have earned national seeds.
At 125 pounds, Tyler Shinn (16-6 record) is the No. 12 seed. He opens against Penn State's Mark McKnight. Shinn and McKnight did not face one another when the Cowboys met the Nittany Lions on Dec. 9, but it was McKnight who took down Ben Ashmore with two seconds left in the third period to steal a 4-3 win that day. The winner of Thursday's Shinn vs. McKnight matchup would likely face Iowa's Charlie Falck in Friday's quarterfinal round. Though they did not face each other this year, Shinn and Falck split their two head-to-head meetings last season.
One of the top contenders in his weight class, OSU 133-pounder Coleman Scott (28-4 record) is the No. 3 seed. The NCAA runner-up last year and a three-time All-American, Scott's journey toward a national title starts with Pittsburgh's Jimmy Conroy. A potential second-round rematch with Oregon's Ryan Dunn is a notable one as the unranked Dunn shocked Scott with a 5-3 upset on Feb. 8 in Eugene earlier in the year. Other wrestlers in Scott's half of the bracket are second-seeded James Kennedy of Illinois, who Scott defeated by a 3-2 margin at the Virginia Duals earlier in the year and sixth-seeded Lou Ruggirello of Hofstra, who beat Scott, 3-2 at the Northeast Duals on Nov. 24 when Scott was still hampered by an injured leg.
At 141 pounds, Cowboy senior Nathan Morgan (29-3 record) enters as the No. 4 seed. A two-time All-American, Morgan is also a strong contender to bring an individual NCAA title to Stillwater. His journey begins with Northern Illinois' Patrick McLemore and should he win that match, Morgan will square off against the winner of the bout between Northern Iowa's C.J. Ettelson and Cornell's Adam Frey. Morgan beat both wrestlers during the regular season. Other wrestlers of note in Morgan's half of the bracket are top-seeded Chad Mendes of Cal Poly, Big 12 champion Nick Gallick of Iowa State, fifth-seeded Manuel Rivera of Minnesota and eighth-seeded Dan Leclere of Iowa.
Cowboy 157-pounder Newly McSpadden (21-9 record) matches up with Millersville's Jarrett Hostetter in the opening round. Should he win, he will get a shot at glory in the second round in the person of No. 2 seed Michael Poeta of Illinois. McSpadden lost an 8-2 decision to Poeta at the Virginia Duals earlier in the year.
At 165 pounds, Cowboy senior Jake Dieffenbach (19-5 record) could potentially ride a wave of familiar foes clear into the finals. Dieffenbach opens with Penn's Zack Shanaman, who he defeated by an 11-2 major decision at the Virginia Duals. Should he get to the second round, Dieffenbach would likely face 10th-seeded Michael Cannon of American, who Dieffenbach beat by an 11-7 decision at the Northeast Duals. A potential quarterfinals rematch with second-seeded Mark Perry of Iowa would be one of the more highly-anticipated bouts in the weight class, as Dieffenbach claimed a 5-3 win over Perry during the regular season. Should Dieffenbach beat Perry a second time, he could potentially face Missouri's Nick Marable in the semifinals. Marable and Dieffenbach went into sudden victory overtime in their only meeting of the year.
Oklahoma State 174-pounder Brandon Mason (26-5 record), an All-American last year, is the No. 9 seed this year. He faces a difficult draw this year that opens with Penn's Scott Giffin, who he beat, 6-0 during the regular season. In the second round, Mason could potentially get a rematch with Minnesota's Gabriel Dretsch, who upset Mason by a 5-3 score during the regular season. Should Mason avenge his loss to Dretsch, he would likely have a date with top-seeded Keith Gavin of Pittsburgh. Gavin knocked Mason out of the winner's bracket at last year's NCAA Championships and is 22-0 this year. Other wrestlers of note in Mason's half of the bracket are fourth-seeded Jay Borschel of Iowa and fifth-seeded Brandon Sinnott of Central Michigan.
At 184 pounds, Cowboy senior Jack Jensen (13-6 record) earned the No. 12 seed with a strong showing at the Big 12 Championship. Jensen will see Philip Bomberger of Penn State in the first round. The two did not meet when Penn State and OSU faced each other earlier in the season. Should he win that bout, Jensen could get a shot at revenge in the second round, where he would likely face fifth-seeded Joshua Weitzel of Oklahoma, who pinned Jensen in the regular-season finale in Norman Other wrestlers of note in Jensen's half of the bracket include No. 4 seed Christian Sinnott of Central Michigan, No. 8 seed Roger Kish of Minnesota and top-seeded Jake Varner of Iowa State.
Big 12 Heavyweight Champion Jared Rosholt (29-3 record) is the No. 5 seed in his weight class and will open against Pennsylvania's Trey McLean, who he beat by a 4-0 decision at the Virginia Duals. Should he win that match, Rosholt could face 12th-seeded Mark Ellis of Missouri, who Rosholt beat during the regular season, 5-3. If the seeds hold, Rosholt will get a chance to avenge one of his three regular-season losses when he faces fourth-seeded Matt Fields of Iowa. Top-seeded Dustin Fox of Northwestern is also in Rosholt's half of the bracket.
