OSU wrestling: NCAAs up next

FROM THE OSU ATHLETICS OFFICE

Next Up For Cowboy Wrestling
2008 NCAA Championships
March 20-22, 2008
Scottrade Center (St. Louis, Mo.)

Television: ESPNU (quarterfinals until finals) -AND- ESPN (finals)
Radio: KSPI 93.7 FM (Rex Holt and Roger Moore)
Internet Audio: www.okstate.com

The Basics
  The Oklahoma State wrestling team (16-3-1 overall) goes after its 35th NCAA crown when the Cowboys compete at the 2008 NCAA Wrestling Championships at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis from March 20-22.

The Cowboy Contingent
  Oklahoma State will be represented by eight wrestlers at the NCAA Championships, as 125-pounder Tyler Shinn, 133-pounder Coleman Scott, 141-pounder Nathan Morgan, 157 pounder Newly McSpadden, 165-pounder Jake Dieffenbach, 174-pounder Brandon Mason, 184-pounder Jack Jensen and heavyweight Jared Rosholt will all be in action.

On The Air
  Rex Holt and Roger Moore will handle the call on 93.7 KSPI FM radio. The broadcast will be carried live worldwide via the internet on the official web site of OSU athletics, www.okstate.com.
  ESPNU will televise from the quarterfinal round until the final round, with the broadcast switching over to ESPN for the finals.

NCAA Wrestling Championship Schedule of Events
Thursday, March 20
11 a.m. – Session I: Scottrade Center
6:30 p.m. – Session II: Scottrade Center

Friday, March 21
10 a.m. – Session III: Scottrade Center
6 p.m. – Session IV: Scottrade Center

Saturday, March 22
10 a.m. – Session V: Scottrade Center
7:30 p.m. – Session VI: Scottrade Center

OSU’s Championship Pedigree
  No matter how you look at it, Oklahoma State wrestling is the premier athletic team in all of NCAA Division I sports, as the Cowboy grapplers boast a record 34 NCAA team championships and have won four of the last five NCAA titles.
  Through the years, Oklahoma State wrestlers have combined to win 132 individual NCAA championships and have earned All-America honors 418 times.

OSU’s John Smith: College Wrestling’s Winningest Active Coach
  Under coach John Smith, Oklahoma State has won five NCAA team championships (1994, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006). No other active coach has won more than three NCAA team championships. Minnesota’s J Robinson led the Gophers to NCAA titles in 2001, 2002 and 2007 and Oregon State’s Jim Zalesky won three national championships while coaching Iowa in 1998, 1999 and 2000.
  No active coach has mentored more individual national champions than Smith, who has produced 22 NCAA individual champs. The next closest coach is Robinson with 11 champions, despite coaching in seven more NCAA meets.

Smith’s Wrestlers Perform At The Highest Level
  The most successful active coach, John Smith also ranks among one of the all-time great coaches in the sport. In his 15 trips to the NCAA Championships, Smith has coached 80 All-Americans for an average of 5.33 All-Americans per year. His per-year average ranks second all-time only to former Iowa coach Dan Gable, who coached 7.24 All-Americans per year during his career.
  Smith is one of only eight coaches ever to average more than one individual national champion per year, with his average of 1.47 champs per year trailing only Ed Gallagher (2.85 per year), Dan Gable (2.14 per year), Art Griffith (2.08 per year) and Myron Roderick (1.54 per year).

Scott Can Join Short List Of Four-Time All-Americans
  Oklahoma State senior 133-pounder Coleman Scott has been the top-ranked wrestler in his weight class nearly all season and is a strong contender to win his first NCAA individual championship this year after placing second last year.
  Though an individual NCAA title has eluded him to this point, Scott has a chance to go down as one of the greats in Oklahoma State’s storied history because should he earn All-America honors this year, he would become only the 12th Cowboy ever to be a four-time All-American. The previous 11:

Name Year Place
Johny Hendricks, 157-65 2004-07 5-1-1-2
Jake Rosholt, 184-97 2003-06 1-3-1-1
Johnny Thompson, 133 2001-04 2-1-1-3
Tyrone Lewis, 165-174 2001-04 5-3-5-2
Eric Guerrero, 126 1996-99 5-1-1-1
Mark Branch, 167 1994-97 1-2-2-1
Pat Smith, 158 1990-92, 94 1-1-1-1
Kirk Mammen, hwt 1989-92 6-6-5-8
Mike Sheets, 167 1981-84 7-2-1-1
Ricky Stewart, 158 1979-82 7-1-1-3
Richard Hutton, hwt 1947-50 1-1-2-1

Scott, Morgan Are All-Americans Multiple Times Over 
In addition to Coleman Scott, who earned All-America honors by placing eighth in 2005, fifth in 2006 and second in 2007, OSU 141-pounder Nathan Morgan has a chance to become a three-time All-American. Morgan took sixth at the NCAA Championships in 2006 before placing fourth in 2007.

Mason A Returning All-American As Well
  As seniors and four-year starters with five All-America honors between them, Coleman Scott and Nathan Morgan receive most of the attention for the Cowboys, but 174-pounder Brandon Mason is a force for OSU as well. Mason was a 2007 All-American after placing fifth at the NCAA Championships and is capable of making a similar run this year.