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Wyoming Set To Host 2001 West Regional Wrestling Championships
Feb. 26, 2001 LARAMIE, Wyo. -
The University of Wyoming will be hosting the NCAA 2001 West Regional Wrestling Championships this weekend at the Arena-Auditorium in Laramie. Wyoming will host Air Force, Eastern Illinois, Fresno State, Marquette and Northern Iowa Saturday beginning at 10:00 a.m. The six teams will be competing for 20 bids to the 2001 NCAA Wrestling Championships, which will be held March 15-17 in Iowa City, Iowa. The champion in each weight class will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA's while the remaining 10 bids will be chosen by the six head coaches following the day's competition as wildcards. The day will begin with preliminaries and consolation semifinals at 10:00 a.m. The second session will begin at 3:00 p.m. with consolation preliminaries and consolation semifinals. The final session of the day will begin at 7:00 p.m. with the parade of champions followed by the championship finals and consolation finals. True second matches will take place starting at 9:30 p.m. An all-day tournament pass is $16.00 for adults, $10.00 for UW students and $4.00 for kids 18 and under. A ticket to the finals session only is $8.00 for adults, $5.00 for students and $2.00 for kids. Tickets can be purchased at the door the day of the tournament. For more information or for any question call the Athletics Ticket Office at 1-800-922-9461 or 766-4850. 2001 marks the second year that the West Regional is in it present form. Eastern Illinois, Marquette and Northern Iowa all competed in the West Regional as original members until 1997. There was no West Regional in 1998 and 1999 as the three schools were moved to the East Regional. But when Air Force and Wyoming broke apart from the Western Athletic Conference in 1999 and helped form the Mountain West Conference they, along with current WAC member Fresno State, needed a qualifying tournament for nationals. So the West Regional was reborn with its strongest lineup of teams ever. Brigham Young University also competed in the 2000 West Regional, but the University eliminated the sport of wrestling after the 2000 season. Northern Iowa, which has won 13 straight West Regional team titles, won the 2000 title. The 2001 West Regional promises to be a competitive day of wrestling. Both Northern Iowa and Fresno State come into the Regional nationally ranked. In the Intermat team rankings Northern Iowa is #15 and Fresno State is #16, while in the National Wrestling Coaches Association poll Fresno State is #16 and Northern Iowa is #18. The Bulldogs enter the Regional with a record of 13-6 while the Panthers are 11-8. Air Force and Wyoming each have winning dual records and will have some individuals place high in their weights. There are eleven individuals competing who are nationally ranked in their respective weight classes. The leader of the group is Fresno State junior Stephen Abas. Abas is ranked #1 at 125 pounds and has a record of 26-0 this season. Abas was the National Champion at 125 in 1999. The toughest weight class appears to be at heavyweight, where three wrestlers are ranked. Senior Billy Blunt of Fresno State is ranked #3 with a record of 20-3. Paul Hynek, a sophomore for Northern Iowa, is #7 and Air Force junior Kevin Hoy is #15. Also at heavyweight is Brad Steele of Wyoming, who has won 20 matches and was nationally ranked much of the year. Other who are individually ranked are Derrick Hayes of Fresno State
(#16-133), Chad Boudreaux of Northern Iowa (#17-133), Scott Frohardt of
Air Force (#18-149), Nathan Vasquez of Fresno State (#9-157), Eric Brown
of Northern Iowa (#16-174), Kyle Hanson of Northern Iowa (#15-184) and
Craig Rumsey of Wyoming (#18-197).
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