January 8, 2008

Wrestling Heads To Northwest

Jan. 8, 2008

Weekly Release: At Portland State, At Oregon, Oregon Classic

Duals #6-7; Tournament #5

Northern Colorado (1-4, 1-0 WWC) at Portland State (1-4, 0-3 Pac-10)

Wednesday, January 9 • Portland, Ore. • 7:00 p.m.

Northern Colorado at Oregon (9-5, 0-3 Pac-10)

Friday, January 11 • Eugene, Ore. • 7:00 p.m.

Northern Colorado at Oregon Classic

Saturday, January 12 • Eugene, Ore. • 8:00 a.m.

 

Headed To The Northwest

Northern Colorado heads to the northwest corner of the United States to take on a pair of teams from the Pac-10 Conference and compete in the Oregon Classic. The Bears will face Portland State (1-4, 0-3) on Wednesday and Oregon (9-5, 0-3) on Friday and compete in their final tournament of the regular season on Saturday.

 

Series History

This will the first-ever meeting between Oregon and Northern Colorado, while the Bears are a perfect 4-0 against Portland State. Last season, NC won a 46-3 match over the Vikings in Butler-Hancock.

 

Starting With A Bang

The Bears started the Western Wrestling Conference season off on the right foot, defeating South Dakota State 29-10 at Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion on Saturday evening. Northern Colorado is now 2-0 against the Jackrabbits since the inception of the league last year and 7-17 all-time.

 

Home Opener Not Happy Affair

Facing one of the top teams in the nation in their home opener, the Bears fell to 11th-ranked Nebraska 38-6. It was just the second dual meeting with Nebraska in school history and the second-straight season the Bears welcomed a nationally ranked opponent into Butler-Hancock as last year #1 Minnesota came to town. In 1981 the Bears dropped a 33-11 decision to the Cornhuskers.

 

Working His Way

Senior heavyweight Reece Hopkin, with his win over Brady Punt of South Dakota State, now ranks 10th in school history in wins. Hopkin sports a career record of 85-29, with a 15-4 mark this season. He surpassed Bart Brown (1988-92), who compiled 84 wins in 117 bouts at Northern Colorado. Hopkin is now three victories shy of tying for eighth.

 

Three of Four

Sophomore 125-pounder Tony Mustari won the UNK Loper Open, posting a 3-0 record in the small bracket to win his third tournament of the year. Mustari also won the Cowboy Open to start the year and the Old Chicago/Northern Colorado Open where he was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler. Mustari now has a record of 19-4 in 2007-08, with three of his losses coming at the hands of nationally ranked wrestlers.

 

Honored

Senior heavyweight Reece Hopkin, currently ranked 19th in the nation by Intermat, was named the Western Wrestling Conference wrestler of the week after posting a perfect 3-0 record at the Northern Quadrangular.  This was the first weekly award for a Bear this season.

 

That's Outstanding!

Sophomore Tony Mustari was named the Outstanding Wrestler of the Old Chicago's Northern Colorado Open. Mustari won the 125-pound division, posting a perfect 4-0 record on the day, with two wins coming on pins. 

 

Nationally Ranked

Senior heavyweight Reece Hopkin is receiving national attention this season. He is currently ranked in four different national polls, ranking as high as 14th in the Wrestling Mall poll. Sophomore 125-pounder Tony Mustari is also ranked 22nd in the Wrestling Report poll.

 

A New Bear

Head Coach Jack Maughan announced the signing of Ray Hall to a National Letter of Intent. Hall will enroll at Northern Colorado in Fall, 2008.

 

Ray Hall, 160-pounds, Kansas City, Mo. (Oak Park HS)

Hall has earned 10 letters for Oak Park High School, with three to date in wrestling and track & field and four in football. He currently has a record of 116-22 for the Northman and won the 2007 Missouri state championship after placing third as a sophomore and second as a freshman. At the 2007 Junior Nationals in Virginia Beach, Hall took fourth place and he is a four-time All-American. He is projected to wrestle at either 157 or 165 for the Bears.

 

A Look Ahead

After hosting #11 Nebraska and South Dakota State, the Bears travel to the Northwest to face Portland State on Jan. 9, Oregon on Jan. 11 and compete in the Oregon Classic on Jan. 12. The next home meet for Northern Colorado will be on Jan. 26 against North Dakota in the Western Wrestling Conference.