George Mason Head Wrestling Coach Joe Russell has a blog to keep fans up to date on what is happening at the Fairfax, VA campus. His blog can be found here.
Below is his 6th blog/post for George Mason wrestling…..

This weekend was good for Mason Wrestling. Friday we traveled to Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania for the Bloomsburg duals. We took 19 wrestlers. It was good to be together as a team. On Saturday we were able to win 2 of 3 duals. Our first dual was against East Stroudsburg. Each team won 5 matches. We won thanks to bonus points. Isenhour and Barnette won by major decisions. McLaughlin and Hembury won by pins. We lost our dual against Bloomsburg. We certainly had opportunities to win the dual, but we did not capitalize. Our last dual of the day was against Sacred Heart University. They wrestled us hard, but had to forfeit some weight classes, which put us in the position of being almost assured of victory before the dual even started. .. read more »

Three NCAA Champions and 19 All-Americans make up the 20 wrestlers selected for the 2011 NWCA All-Star Classic presented by the United States Marines Corps which takes place November 21 at Arizona State University.

Leading the selection of wrestlers is returning NCAA Division I Champions Jordan Oliver of Oklahoma State University and Kellen Russell of Michigan.

Oliver the returning 133 pound champion will meet third ranked B.J. Futtrell of Illinois.

At 141 pounds, returning NCAA Champion Russell, will have a rematch of his NCAA Finals match against Boris Novachkov of Cal Poly. Russell won the NCAA finals match 3-2.

The third NCAA Champion comes from the Division III ranks as two-time National Champion Byron Tate of Wartburg, becomes the first Division III wrestlers since 1989 to be selected for the event. Tate, who was also a Midlands finalist from a year ago, meets fourth ranked Chris Honeycutt of Edinboro at 197 pounds. .. read more »

The first NWCA/USA Today Division I Team Coaches Poll for the 2011-12 season has been released. Overall three conferences are represented in the Top 10 and eight conferences represented in the Top 25.

The NWCA/USA Today Division I Team Coaches Poll Committee is made up of one coach from each conference. A number one ranking is worth 25 points and a number 25 ranking is worth one point.

After winning their second NCAA Championship in school history, the first being in 1953, Penn State will start this season at the top of the poll, with four returning All-Americans, including NCAA Champion Quentin Wright. The Nittany Lions received seven out of ten first place votes.

The University of Iowa starts this season at No. 2, after a third place finish at the NCAA Championships. They also return this year with four All-Americans. The Hawkeyes received two out of ten first place votes in this pre-season poll. .. read more »

The 2011-12 wrestling season will showcase an exciting new format for the NWCA/Cliff Keen Division I National Dual Meet Championships that will feature four regional locations and a culminating “final four” championship. This concept, being dubbed “Mat Mayhem,” will include a variety of new exciting marketing content that will be released throughout the year.

The ultimate goal of Mat Mayhem is to create a premier national dual meet championship that will become a platform for growing spectator and media interest in wrestling both at the institutional and national levels.

The NWCA will unveil numerous interviews and promotional videos with competing coaches, sponsors, and staff in the months and weeks leading up to the event. This marketing effort is a collaborative effort between the NWCA and Dr. Coyte Cooper with Elite Level Sport Marketing, to help bring the excitement of competition to the sport of wrestling that will be centered on team competition. .. read more »