The finals of this year’s Division I National Duals will be twice as nice.
Instead of four teams advancing to the finals from regional competition as in 2012, there will be eight teams in the championship of the 2013 NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals Mat Mayhem event for NCAA Div. I wrestling programs, the National Wrestling Coaches Association announced Tuesday.
In addition to the four teams that win their respective regions, four teams have earned automatic bids: Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Ohio State. According to the NWCA, this new structure is designed to reward four of the top returning dual-meet teams with automatic bids to the championship final.
NWCA Executive Director Mike Moyer, this latest change is intended to boost attendance for the championship event, to be held Friday and Saturday, Feb. 23-24 at the University of Minnesota, 2012 Div. I National Duals champion.
"Historically, we have found that to optimize the fan support of the championship finals, you must have one or more local/regional teams, with a strong fan base, in contention for the championship," said Moyer. "In the past, we've had the National Duals in strong fan base regions, but if there isn't a local/regional team in contention, it just hasn't worked very well."
Some elements of Mat Mayhem remain unchanged from last year’s revamped version. For the second year, the 2013 Division I National Duals will be held over back-to-back weekends. Four regional events will be held Sunday, Feb. 17 at Cornell University, Kent State, University of Missouri, and Oregon State. The following weekend will be the championship at Minnesota.
This year’s participants include twenty teams, including 16 programs ranked among the top 25, and nine of the top ten teams. Of the top ten mat programs, only Penn State – defending NCAA Division I team titlewinner, and currently ranked No. 1 in most polls – will not be participating.
Here are details on the four regional events (to order tickets, click on the highlighted link):
- Location: Newman Arena, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.
- Participating schools: Cornell, Hofstra, Virginia, Nebraska
- Schedule: Semifinals at 1 p.m.; Finals at 3 p.m. Eastern
- Location: Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio
- Participating schools: Kent State, Oklahoma State, University of Northern Iowa, Wisconsin
- Schedule: Semifinals at 1 p.m.; Finals at 3 p.m. Eastern
- Location: University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo.
- Participating schools: Missouri, University of Wyoming, University of Maryland, Purdue
- Schedule: Semifinals at 10 a.m.; Finals at noon Central
- Location: Oregon State University, Corvallis, Ore.
- Participating schools: Oregon State, University of Oklahoma, Virginia Tech, University of Michigan
- Schedule: Semifinals at 1 p.m.; Finals at 3 p.m. Pacific
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