NDSU Wrestling Makes First Trip to Big 12 Championships on March 5-6 in Kansas City

Saturday, March 5

Kansas City, Mo.

All Day

North Dakota State Athletics

Big 12 Championships

Photo by: Bob Nelson

NDSU Wrestling Makes First Trip to Big 12 Championships on March 5-6 in Kansas City

3/2/2016 4:37:00 PM | Wrestling

NDSU Wrestling Release.pdf
Live Results
Live Video (Pay Per View)

North Dakota State University (4-6, 2-2 #Big12WR) is scheduled to compete in the program's first-ever Big 12 Conference Wrestling Championships on Saturday, March 5 and Sunday, March 6, in the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo. ... Official pairings and brackets will be released on Friday evening ... Action gets underway at 11 a.m. Saturday. ... Here's the championship schedule:

Big 12 Wrestling Championships
Sprint Center, Kansas City, Mo.
Saturday March 5
11:00 a.m. - Session I - Preliminary & Quarterfinal Matches
5:00 p.m. - Session II - Semifinal & Consolation Quarterfinal Matches
Sunday March 6
9:00 a.m.    - Session III - Consolation Semifinals, 3rd & 5th Place Matches
1:00 p.m.    - Session IV - Championship Matches (Fox Sports Network regional affiliate)

The Lineup
Wt. North Dakota State (4-6, 2-2 #Big12WR)
125—#17 Josh Rodriguez (30-7 overall, 9-1 duals)
133—Nico Colunga (14-16, 2-6)
141—Mitch Bengtson (15-9, 4-2)
149—Clay Ream (18-14, 4-6)
157—Kyle Gliva (17-11, 3-4)
165—Grant Nehring (5-9, 4-5)
174— Blake Thompson (5-13, 2-5)
184—#4 Hayden Zillmer (28-3, 10-0)
197—Logan Paxton (6-17, 1-8)
285—Ben Tynan (18-10, 7-3)
InterMat rankings

Ticket Information
Single-day tickets for the 2016 Big 12 Wrestling Championship are now on sale ... This season's championship, which will take place March 5-6 at Sprint Center in Kansas City, marks the first neutral-site conference championship for the sport ... Tickets can be purchased at Big12Sports.com/buytickets, SprintCenter.com; charged by phone at 888-929-7849 and Price Chopper Box Office at Sprint Center ... Tickets start at $24, with premium seating priced at $36 and VIP seats available for $60. The two-day event will feature four sessions of action, two on Saturday and two on Sunday. Each ticket purchased gains access to one full day of competition. All session tickets are on sale starting at $40, with premium seating priced at $60 and VIP seats available for $100.

Coverage
The 2016 Big 12 Wrestling Championships will be streamed live through FloWrestling https://livecoverage.flowrestling.org/event/997-2016-big-12-wrestling-championships (pay per view) ... Live scoring will be provided through FloWrestling at FloArena http://www.flowrestling.org/arena/

Zillmer Finishes with 26 Straight Dual Wins, Eighth All-Time at NDSU With 102 Wins
North Dakota State University 184-pound senior Hayden Zillmer (Crosby, Minn./Crosby-Ironton H.S.) extended his consecutive dual winning streak to 26 matches with a tech fall on Feb. 21 against No. 22-ranked South Dakota State ... Zillmer's last loss in dual competition came on Feb. 2, 2014 against Scott Liegel of Wisconsin ... He is 40-7 in dual competition during his career ... Zillmer has a career record of 102-27 with 21 pins and is T8th on the Bison career charts with Brian Kraemer (197, 102-45, 2000-04).

NDSU 125 Rodriguez Reaches 30 Wins, 184 Zillmer Eyes 30 Wins
Entering this weekend, North Dakota State University has a 30-match winners in 125-pound junior Josh Rodriguez (Guadalupe, Calif./Righetti H.S.), who has put together a 30-7 record including 9-1 in duals ... The 30 wins are a career-high ... While another is closing on 30 in 184-pound senior Hayden Zillmer (Crosby, Minn./Crosby-Ironton H.S.), who is 28-3 and 10-0 in duals ... Zillmer leads the Bison with nine pins, Rodriguez is second with six ... Zillmer has a team-high seven major decisions and Rodriguez has a team best seven tech falls.

NDSU 184 Hayden Zillmer Earns Big 12 Wrestler of the Week Honors
North Dakota State University 184-pounder Hayden Zillmer was the Big 12 Wrestler of the Week on Jan. 6 following a third place showing at the 53rd Midlands Championships on Dec. 29-30 ... The Bison senior tallied a 6-1 overall record at the competition, with victories over two ranked opponents. ... That marked Zillmer's first Big 12 weekly honor and NDSU's first weekly award as an affiliate member of the conference.

Bison in the Rankings
North Dakota State was tied for No. 24 in InterMat.com 's Tournament Rankings (March 1) and No. 33 in WIN Magazine's Tournament Power Index (Feb. 23, 2016) ... Individually, in the InterMat.com (March 1) rankings, Josh Rodriguez is No. 17 at 125 pounds; Hayden Zillmer is No. 4 at 184 pounds ... In the Asics/Flowrestling Rankings (Feb. 23), Josh Rodriguez was No. 16 at 125, Hayden Zillmer is No. 8 at 184 ... In TheOpenMat.com (Feb. 23) rankings, Josh Rodriguez was No. 16 at 125 and Hayden Zillmer is No. 5 at 184 pounds ... In WIN Magazine's Feb. 23) rankings, Josh Rodriguez is No. 15 at 125 pounds and Hayden Zillmer is No. 8 at 184 pounds ... In the Amateur Wrestling News (March 1), 125 Josh Rodriguez is No. 16 and 184 Hayden Zillmer is No. 4.

Zillmer Places Third, Rodriguez Fourth at Midlands Championships
North Dakota State University 184-pounder Hayden Zillmer stormed through the consolation bracket to finish third and 125-pounder Josh Rodriguez placed fourth Dec. 30, at the Midlands Championships hosted by Northwestern University in McGaw Hall ... The Bison finished 16th in the team standings with 37.5 points.

Rodriguez' Third Place Finish Highlights NDSU Run at Reno Tournament of Champions
North Dakota State 125-pounder Josh Rodriguez won six of seven matches to place third and highlight the Bison run at the 2015 Reno Tournament of Champions on Dec. 20 ... Three other NDSU wrestlers placed in the top six at the event ... The Bison had 57.5 points and finished ninth in the team standings ... Clay Ream, finished fifth at 149 at the Reno TOC, while 149 Kyle Gliva and 141 Mitch Bengtson each placed sixth.

Zillmer Seventh, Ream Eighth at Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational
North Dakota State 184-pounder Hayden Zillmer placed seventh and 149-pound Clay Ream finished eighth during the final day of action Saturday, Dec. 5, at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational held in the Cashman Center ... NDSU was 22nd in the team standings with 37.5 points.

Five Former Bison to Be Inducted into NCAA Division II Wrestling Hall of Fame March 10
Five former North Dakota State student-athletes will be inducted into the 20th class of the NCAA Division II Wrestling Hall of Fame on Thursday, March 10, at the Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, S.D. ... The ceremony will begin at 6 p.m. ... NDSU's Todd Fuller (174, 1998-02), Steve Saxlund (167/184, 1997-01), Nick Severson (Heavyweight, 1998-02), George Thompson (134, 1994-98) and Ryan Wolters (190, 1994-98) are part of the Division II Wrestling Hall of Fame class that consists of 11 individuals and one former coach ... The Division II Wrestling Hall of Fame ceremony will be held in conjunction with a reception for coaches and dignitaries preceding the start of the 54th annual NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships ... Fuller, Saxlund, Severson, Thompson and Wolters join former NDSU wrestling head coach Bucky Maughan, Bill Demaray (177), Brad Rheingans (190), Lee Petersen (142) and Mike Langlais (142/150) in the Division II Wrestling Hall of Fame, which has enshrined 128 members.