Dec. 30, 2005

George Mason's wrestling team is tied with Duke University in 29th with 10 points each after the first day of the prestigious Southern Scuffle in Greensboro, N.C. at the Greensboro Coliseum's Special Events Center. This is the largest field with thirty-two teams and more than 500 wrestlers competing at the two-day event. Minnesota has the lead with 58 points over the University of Missouri (51.5 points) and Edinboro currently is in third place with 29.5 points.

The field is very strong at the event according the NWCA rankings that are used towards NCAA seeding. 54 of the wrestlers are ranked, including nine in the Top 5 of their respective weight classes. Ben Askren of Missouri is the top-ranked wrestler at 174 lbs. He was also the 2003 Southern Scuffle champ at 174. The tournament also features Minnesota's Cole Konrad at 285 lbs., who was the NCAA runner-up last year and currently sits ranked second in his respective weight class.

Three of Mason's twelve wrestlers competing in the tournament will compete on Friday in the wrestleback bracket, including Will Powars (133 lbs.), Mitch Webster (157 lbs.) and Joel Caruso (197 lbs).

Will Powars lost his opening round match by a narrow 11-10 margin to Virginia Tech's Sheridan Moran in arguably the most highly competitive division of the tournament as four of the Top 10 ranked wrestlers are competing in that class. Powars won three straight matches in wrestleback to stay in the competition.

Mason's Mitch Webster won his opening round match against Maryland's Jerad Villecco, 5-3 then lost to Old Dominion's Chris Brown in the round of 16, 6-4. Webster defeated Mike Sewall of Virginia in round three of wrestleback. Joel Caruso lost his opening match at 197 weight class to Maryland's Jerry Arari, but rebounded with a pin against Ohio State's Corey Morrison and a 11-6 decision against Konrad Dudziak from Duke in round three of wrestleback.

Championship matches are slated for 6:30 pm on Friday.

Mason Results
125 POUNDS
R64	Matt Swallow (E. Stroudsburg) def. Joe Coughlin (Mason)	6-5
WB1	Coughlin def. Braxdon Scaletta (Old Dominion)	14-7
WB2	Dan Mitcheff (Kent State) def. Coughlin	10-3
133 POUNDS
R32	Sheridan Moran (Virginia Tech) def. Will Powars (Mason)	11-10
WB1	Powars def. Zach Bowman (Pittsburgh)	8-5
WB2	Powars def. Billy Bullwinkel (The Citidel)	7-5
WB3	Powars def. Joey Slaton (Virginia Tech)	3-1
141 POUNDS
R32	Chris McCormick (Missouri) def. Chris Cartella (Mason)	26-11
WB1	Marcus Cox (Appalachian State) def. Cartella 	12-3
149 POUNDS
R64	Robert Henry (Mason) def. Aaron Gomoll (Ohio)	9-2
R32	Henry (Mason) def. Danny Williams (Minnesota)	9-4
R16	J. Jaggers (Ohio State) def. Henry	4-3
WB3	Joe Caramanica (North Carolina) def. Henry	6-3
R32	Dan Elliott (Gardner-Webb) def. Jay Chichester (Mason)	17-0
WB1	Aaron Gomoll (Ohio) def. Chichester	7-1
157 POUNDS
R32	Mitch Webster (Mason) def. Jerad Villecco (Maryland)	5-3
R16	Chris Brown (Old Dominion) def. Webster	6-4
WB3	Webster def. Mike Sewell (Virginia)	5-2
165 POUNDS
R32	(#4) Justin Nestor (Pittsburgh) def. Tyler Tisdell (Mason)6-0
WB2	Damian Johnson (Virginia) def. Tisdell	3-1
174 POUNDS
R64	Darius Caldwell (The Citadel) def. Randy Oates (Mason)	12-5
WB1	Jeremy Larson (Oregon State) def. Oates	6-3
184 POUNDS
R64	Mike Miller (Rider) def. Matt Moyer (Mason)	8-5
WB1	Derrick Morgan def. Moyer	4-1
197 POUNDS
R32	Jerry Afari (Maryland) def. Joel Caruso (Mason)	13-5
WB2	Caruso def. Corey Morrison (Ohio State)	Pin (1:12)
WB3	Caruso def. Konrad Dudziak (Duke)	11-6
R32	Mitch Kuhlman (Minnesota) def. Jim Martin (Mason)	9-1
WB1	Brent Blackwell (Gardner-Webb) def. Martin	Pin (1:45)
HWY
R32	Israel Silva (Chattanooga) def. Ryan Kittrick (Mason)	7-2
WB2	Koel Davia (Edinboro) def. Kittrick	3-2