NCAA wrestling notebook

Published: March 21, 2008

Some wrestlers don't relax after their matches, win or lose. With the importance of maintaining weight one of the chief concerns during the NCAA Wrestling Championships, cutting weight is also as much a part of the tournament as it is during the regular season.

Coleman Scott and Nathan Morgan both worked out heavily after their matches Thursday night.

"First, you have a sweat going from your match, so there's no sense in stopping it,” Scott said. "You throw your sweats on and start working. You don't want to worry about weight when you're wrestling during the day. You want to eat whatever feels good for the match and worry about it later that night.”

•Ervin wins consolation match: Former Weatherford wrestler Scott Ervin picked up a 5-3 win in the 149-pound consolation round Thursday night after losing his first match. Ervin is a senior at Appalachian State and entered the tournament ranked No. 12 nationally. He won three state championshipsfrom 2001-03. Ervin won three matches at last year's NCAA Championships.

•Perry dominates: Iowa's Mark Perry (165) had a strong opening day, pinning his first-round opponent at 2:14 and following it up with a major decision in the second session Thursday night. Perry wrestled at Stillwater High School and is the nephew of OSU coach John Smith. He defeated former OSU wrestler Johny Hendricks in the NCAA finals last season.

•Minnesota loves Bailey: Oklahoma redshirt freshman Zack Bailey (141) was popular among Minnesota fans because of his 8-7 upset of No. 8 seed Dan LeClere of Iowa. Bailey fell behind early but took the lead on a third-period takedown that brought a roar out of Gopher fans, who hope their team can edge the Hawkeyes in the team race.

Iowa finished Thursday's action in first with 29.5 points. Minnesota was tied with Central Michigan for fourth place with 24 points.

By Matt Patterson

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