Bison Send Eric Hoffman, Ryan Adams and Jacob Bryce to NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships
3/12/2007 5:00:00 AM | Wrestling
The championships will be held at the Palace of Auburn Hills with preliminary matches beginning at 11 a.m. EST on Thursday, March 15.
WHO'S COMPETING: The Bison will be one of 74 schools sending athletes to the event. Eric Hoffman (125 pounds), Ryan Adams (149) and Jacob Bryce (197) will be representing North Dakota State. All three individuals qualified at the NCAA West Regional in Cedar Falls, Iowa, on Saturday, March 3. Hoffman earned an automatic berth after winning the 125-pound championship. Adams and Bryce were two of 11 wildcards selected by the West Regional coaches after each placed third at their respective weight class.
Iowa State, ranked No. 2 in the country, leads the field, qualifying all 10 of their wrestlers. Top-ranked Minnesota, UT-Chattanooga and Wisconsin will all be sending nine wrestlers.
TOURNAMENT SCORING: The NCAA Championships will use the standard tournament scoring. Along with trying to advance individually through their respective weight brackets, wrestlers also earn points that go toward their team totals, where a school will be crowned team champion.
Here's a breakdown of how a wrestler can score points for their team:
Advancement Points
Championship Bracket 1 pt.
Consolation Bracket .5 pt.
Bye followed with win (Champ. Bracket) 1 pt.
Bye followed with win (Wrestleback Bracket) .5 pt.
Victories
Fall, Forfeit, Default or Disqualification 2 pts.
Technical Fall (with near fall) 1.5 pt.
Technical Fall (without near fall) 1 pt.
Major Decision 1 pt.
OFFICIAL WEBSITE: The University of Michigan and the Detroit Sports Commission are hosting the event and have set up a Web site with information on the event. The link includes news, ticket and hotel information and an event schedule. Just copy and paste the following link into your Web browser for more information. http://www.detroitsports.org/wrestling/index.html
WEST REGIONAL REPRESENTATION: Six out of the seven schools from the West Region will be represented at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. Air Force was the only school that did not qualify any competitors. Here's a breakdown of each school and the number of qualifiers.
School Qualifiers
Northern Iowa 6
Northern Colorado 5
Wyoming 4
North Dakota State 3
Eastern Illinois 2
South Dakota State 1
NDSU AT NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS: This is the first time that the Bison will wrestle at the Division I Championships but the Bison have a rich history at the Divsion II Championships. North Dakota State won national titles in 1988, 1998, 2000 and 2001. From 1981 to 2004, the last year the Bison competed at the championships, NDSU placed in the top 10 every year except 1996.
HOFFMAN WINS WEST REGIONAL; BRYCE AND ADAMS ALSO QUALIFY: It was a good day to be North Dakota State wrestler Eric Hoffman. The junior became the first Bison athlete to win a postseason championship since the school's transition to Division I, accomplishing that feat in his home state of Iowa.
Hoffman, a native of Davenport, defeated Nick Ramirez of Wyoming 14-11 in an overtime thriller to claim the 125-pound NCAA West Region title. Down 11-10 in the overtime session, Hoffman scored a reversal and two-point near fall as time expired.
Two other Bison earned one of the 11 wildcard selections and will join Hoffman in Detroit. Ryan Adams, a redshirt freshman from Coon Rapids, Minn., had a third-place finish but pinned runner-up Ryan Osgood of Northern Iowa at the 5:50 mark in the true-second place match at 149 pounds. Jacob Bryce, a sophomore from Glenwood, Minn., was also selected as a wildcard after finishing third at 197 pounds.
2006-07 REGULAR SEASON RECAP: NDSU finished the regular season with an 8-5-1 record, 3-2-1 in the first year of the Western Wrestling Conference. After a non-conference victory over South Dakota State, the Bison had their best finish in three years at the Virginia Duals, going 2-2 and finishing in a tie for seventh place.
North Dakota State won their first Western Wrestling Conference match in dominating fashion, blanking Utah Valley State, 46-0. It was the Bison's first shutout since Valentine's Day 2004 when they defeated Air Force 42-0. After a loss to Wyoming, NDSU would win their next four duals, which included wins over conference foes Air Force and Northern Colorado.
After losses to Oregon State and Northern Iowa, the Bison tied South Dakota State 19-19 in Brookings, S.D., on Sunday, February 19. It was the first tie for North Dakota State since 2001 and also the first tie in 51 meetings with the Jackrabbits.
NDSU extended their non-losing season streak to 39 seasons.
WESTERN WRESTLING CONFERENCE: North Dakota State and six other schools officially formed the Western Wrestling Conference (WWC) on April 27, 2006.
Along with the Bison, charter members of the Western Wrestling Conference will include: the United States Air Force Academy, the University of Northern Colorado, the University of Northern Iowa, South Dakota State University, Utah Valley State College and the University of Wyoming.
Last season the Bison went 4-1 against these schools. Their only loss came to Northern Iowa and their dual with SDSU last year was cancelled due to bad weather. To make up for it, the Bison will face the Jackrabbits twice this year.
POSTSEASON ELIGIBLE: Thanks to an NCAA ruling in September 2004, North Dakota State could reclassify its wrestling team to Division I in three years instead of five, making them eligible for the NCAA West Regional and the Division I Championships this year. NDSU is on track to reclassify in all sports by 2008-09.
