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Hitting The Road
Northern Colorado returns to the road for a dual at Northern Iowa on Friday. The Bears are 0-4 all-time against the Panthers since the inception of the Western Wrestling Conference. In last season's dual, the Bears lost a 28-13 match at Butler-Hancock. Tony Mustari (125) won a major decision to start off the dual, then Casey Cruz (133) recorded a fall for the early 10-0 lead, but only Mitchell Polkowske (149) won in the next eight weight classes for the Bears.

Last Time Out
The Bears started WWC action, falling at Wyoming 33-6 and losing a close nail-biter to North Dakota State, 21-19 on Sunday in Butler-Hancock. Junior Justin Gaethje (157) was victorious in both duals, including the fastest pin of his career, 1:11, on Sunday over Vince Salminen. The Bears are now 0-2 in WWC contests and have three of the final four duals of the year at home.

First To 20
Junior Justin Gaethje (157) became the first Bear to 20 wins in the 2009-10 season with his fall on Sunday against North Dakota State. Gaethje is 20-9 this season and now 52-24 in his career.

Put Me In Coach
Rocco DePaolo did on Sunday what not very many would do for his team. He wrestled up three weight classes, competing at 174 pounds though he registers just over 150 on the scale. DePaolo has wrestled at four different weights over the last five matches, competing at both 157 and 165 at the Stanford Duals and 149 against fifth-ranked Minnesota. For his efforts, DePaolo was recently featured on themat.com.

A Quick Look
Northern Iowa is the perennial power in the young conference, the Western Wrestling Conference. The Panthers will be opening their WWC season hosting the Bears on Friday before hosting the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State on Saturday. Since the league began in 2007, UNI is 12-0. This season, they are 4-8 overall and have one ranked wrestler in Brett Robbins, who is 19th in the latest 149 pound poll by Intermat Wrestle.

Oh So Close
Senior Tony Mustari (125) is now just two victories shy of appearing on the school's all-time career victories list. Mustari sits with 86 wins, while Lanny Paulson (1980-83) and Marty Vigil (1988-92) are tied for ninth on the chart with 88 wins.

Honored - Twice
Both junior Justin Gaethje (157) and senior Kenny Hashimoto (141) have been named Western Wrestling Conference Wrestler of the Week this season. Hashimoto earned the award after his 4-0 performance at the Northeast Collegiate Duals, while Gaethje was honored after his wins against Ohio and fifth-ranked Minnesota.

Quick Pin
The award for quickest pin so far this season goes to senior Justin Tuell (285) at just 15 seconds. Tuell recorded his fall over William Lewman from Western Wyoming in the second round of the Old Chicago's Open. Northern Colorado has recorded 26 falls so far this season with senior Tony Mustari (125) and sophomore Casey Cruz (133/141) tied for the team lead with four each. Senior Kenny Hashimoto (141) has a team-best 21 falls for his career with the Bears.

Oh Captain, My Captain
Seniors Kenny Hashimoto (141 pounds), Tony Mustari (125 pounds) and sophomore Casey Cruz (133 pounds) have been named team captains for the 2009-10 season.

Next On Tap
The Bears take a break from WWC action but compete against two top-20 teams as they host #3 Oklahoma State on Friday at noon and are at #17 Nebraska on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. (Central).