Air Force Opens Home Slate with Three Duals
1/18/2012 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Jan. 18, 2012
The Air Force wrestling team opens its home dual slate this week with three dual meets. First, the Falcons host conference foe Utah Valley on Thursday, Jan. 19, in a 7:00 p.m. contest in Clune Arena. Then Air Force will welcome Cal Poly and New Mexico Highlands on Saturday, Jan. 21, beginning at 5:00 p.m.
FOLLOWING THE FALCONS...
Fans who are unable to make it to Clune Arena this week for the Falcons' dual meets can follow the action on goairforcefalcons.com. A live video stream, along with live stats of each dual, will be available free of charge.
LAST TIME OUT...
Air Force posted a 2-2 record at the Lone Star Duals, defeating Brown and Central Baptist, while dropping matches against Chattanooga and Harvard.
Third-ranked Cole VonOhlen (149) led the way for the Falcons with a 4-0 record on the weekend, recording a fall, a technical fall and two decisions. Meanwhile, sophomore Greg Rinker (125) and freshman Bentley Alsup (HWT) each posted 3-1 ledgers on the day.
SCOUTING THE FALCONS...
Air Force currently holds a 3-3 overall ledger and 0-1 mark in WWC action. The Falcons are led by junior co-captain Cole VonOhlen, who is ranked third in the nation at 149 pounds with a 22-2 overall record and 6-0 mark in dual competition. Freshman Carter McElhany is second on the team with 18 wins on the season, while sophomore Josh Kreimier has registered 13 victories on the year.
VonOhlen also leads the Falcons in total falls with seven, while sophomore Greg Rinker is second on the team with six falls on the season. Meanwhile, freshman Bentley Alsup has recorded the fastest fall of the year for Air Force with a time of 26 seconds.
SCOUTING THE WOLVERINES...
Utah Valley enters Thursday's dual with a 3-4 overall ledger and 0-0 mark in the Western Wrestling Conference. The Wolverines are coming off a pair of losses at the Lone Star Duals, falling to Chattanooga and Oklahoma.
Leading the way for Utah Valley is Josh Wilson, currently ranked 13th in the nation at 149 pounds, while freshman heavyweight Dustin Dennison has posted a team-best 20 wins on the season.
SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS...
Cal Poly, ranked 19th in the latest InterMatWrestle.com poll, currently holds a 4-3 overall record on the year. The Mustangs, who split a pair of duals versus Stanford and San Francisco State last week, will visit Wyoming on Friday before facing Air Force on Saturday.
Three different Cal Poly wrestlers are currently ranked by InterMatWrestle.com, led by Boris Novachkov (141) and Ryan DesRoches (174), who are each ranked fourth in their respective weight classes. Meanwhile, Ryan Smith is currently ranked 18th at 197 pounds.
SCOUTING THE COWBOYS...
New Mexico Highlands currently holds a 2-3 dual record on the season and will visit Colorado Mesa on Friday before facing the Falcons on Saturday.
Among the leaders for the Cowboys are freshman Easton Hargrave, who holds a 12-7 overall record and 4-1 mark in dual competition, and transfer Igor Gomzin, with a 4-0 record on the season.
IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS...
Junior co-captain Cole VonOhlen, a two-time NCAA qualifier at 141 pounds, is currently ranked in the third in the nation at 149 pounds by several wrestling publications. VonOhlen is rated third in the nation by IntermatWrestle.com, W.I.N. Magazine, Amateur Wrestling News, WrestlingReport.com, The Open Mat and DI College Wrestling.
WWC WRESTLER OF THE WEEK...
On Jan. 17, junior Cole VonOhlen received his second Western Wrestling Conference Wrestler of the Week honor of the season and the seventh of his career.
VonOhlen led the Falcons with a 4-0 record at the Lone Star Duals, registering a fall, a technical fall and a pair of decisions. Among his wins was an 11-5 decision over Harvard's previously undefeated Corey Jantzen, currently ranked seventh in the nation by InterMatWrestle.com.
THE QUEST FOR 100...
Junior Cole VonOhlen enters this weekend with 97 career victories in his first three seasons and needs just three more wins to reach 100. He would become the first Air Force wrestler since the 2001-02 season to reach the 100-win mark. That year, four different Falcons--Kevin Hoy, Scott Frohardt, Terry Parham and Andy Peters--surpassed 100 wins for their respective careers. Hoy, who currently holds the school record for career wins with 162, was the only Falcon to reach the mark as a junior.
UP NEXT...
The Falcons are back on the road next week, Jan. 27 and Jan. 29, as they travel to North Dakota State and South Dakota State for a pair of conference duals.
Players Mentioned
