NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion University wrestling has signed five student-athletes to National Letters of Intent on Wednesday, ODU head coach Steve Martin announced.

Pete Baldwin, Brandon Choate, Robert F. Deutsch Jr., Chris Mecate, and Taylor Moeder have all signed NLI’s and will join the wrestling Monarchs next fall.

Pete Baldwin ( 149/157 • Kissimmee, Fla./Osceola)
Baldwin is ranked No. 32 overall in the nation by InterMat, having produced a career record of 271-20 while his high school record is 166-6 while winning a state championship and two second place finishes.

Baldwin won the Greco-Roman Southeast Regional Championship at 145-pounds last year and took third at the freestyle regional, beating three of the top-10 ranked high school wrestlers in the nation. .. read more »

NORFOLK, Va. – Joe Budi (Appleton, Wis./Kaukauna) cracked two of the NCAA wrestling polls after a solid performance at the Hokie Open, joining seniors James Nicholson (Des Moines, Iowa/Theodore Roosevelt) and Kyle Hutter (Mokena, Ill./Providence Catholic) in the rankings.

Budi, a native of Appleton, Wis., went 2-2 at the Hokie Open, defeating Duke’s Diego Bencomo and North Carolina’s Nick Tenpenny. Budi is ranked No. 20 by TheOpenMat.com and No. 23 by DIcollgewrestling.net.

After winning the Hokie Open at 125, Nicholson moved up to No. 7 in the DIcollegewrestling.net and TheOpenMat.com and is ranked No. 8 by InterMat. Nicholson defeated No. 10 Jarod Garnett of Virginia Tech in the finals. .. read more »

James Nicholson won the 125-pound weight class while Kyle Hutter took second at 133 on Sunday at the Hokie Open in Salem, Va.

The Monarchs had seven wrestlers take finishes in the top-six of their weight class, starting with Nicholson taking first at 125 and Eric Dunnet taking fifth, also at 125.

Nicholson was solid all day, starting the day with a 6-2 win over Kent State’s Steve Mitcheff, and following that with a 17-2 triumph over Gardner-Webb’s Brett Kostern. The Des Moines, Iowa native fell behind early to Chattanooga’s Presscott Garner in his next match, 6-3, but rallied for an exciting 17-11 win. He cruised past Iowa State’s Patrick Hunter 16-3 to reach the finals before topping No. 10 Jarrod Garnett (VT), 5-3. .. read more »

Old Dominion University wrestling returns five starters from a season ago and will break in five new starters in 2010-11. The Monarchs will rely on seniors James Nicholson and Kyle Hutter to help the underclassmen throughout the season.

ODU went 10-6 last season and had three Colonial Athletic Association champions. James Nicholson is the only returner of that group, and will look for his fourth-straight CAA title at 125-pounds.

“We have a young group that we want to get consistent daily improvement from,” ODU head coach Steve Martin said. “We’re looking for our older guys to lead by example on and off the mat to help the team with the adversity that is going to come throughout the season.” .. read more »

After coming off a second place showing at the 2010 National Collegiate Wrestling Association National Championships and dual championships, the Apprentice School wrestling team returns three NCWA All-Americans and a power packed recruiting class for the 2010-11 season.

A loaded recruiting class could help lead the Builders back to the top of the NCWA as the seven recruits all won over 100 high school bouts and combine for 10 individual state titles.

At 125 pounds, returnee Ty Ford (Norfolk, Va./Granby) will be joined by freshman Stephen Barlow (Richmond, Va./Varina) where he was a district champion. Junior Marcus Chevres (Norfolk, Va./Granby) will hold down the 133 pound spot after his second NCWA All-American honor when he came in second at nationals last year. .. read more »

NORFOLK, Va. — Old Dominion University wrestling will take on six opponents that were ranked in the top 25 last season, as ODU head coach Steve Martin released the 2010-11 schedule Wednesday afternoon.

ODU begins the 2010 campaign with its annual Blue/Silver intersquad match on Sunday, October 24 before hitting the road for its first 11 events of the season.

“We’re excited to release the schedule, just in our dual meets we face seven teams that were in the top 20 last season,” Martin said. “We’re also excited about our home matches, facing three teams that were ranked in the top 25. The basis of the schedule is to have us at peak performance at the end of the year.” .. read more »