2012 Budd Whitehill National Duals Central
2012 Budd Whitehill National Duals Bracket

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – SUNY Cortland highlights a group of 10 ranked teams that will head to Lamade Gymnasium on Friday, Jan. 13, for the start of the two-day, 20-team 24^th annual Budd Whitehill National Duals, as the field is one of the deepest in the tournament’s history according to the bracket released by the Brute-Adidas National Wrestling Coaches Assocation Division III rankings committee on Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 10.
 
SUNY Cortland, ranked eighth in the nation, earned the top-seed and will face John Carroll in the opening round at 9 a.m. on Friday, while No. 2 seed York (Pa.), ranked 12^th, will face RIT. No. 3 seed Wisconsin-Whitewater, ranked 18^th, will take on Case Western and No. 4 Messiah, ranked 19^th, will face Muskingum in the other two 9 a.m. matches.
 
At 10:30 a.m., No. 5 Springfield, ranked 23^rd, will face SUNY Oswego, No. 6 Wabash, ranked 30^th, will face host Lycoming, No. 7 Ohio Northern, ranked 26^th, will face No. 10 Thiel, ranked 27^th, and No. 8 Wisconsin-Stevens Point, ranked 28^th, will face No. 9 seed and defending champions, The College of New Jersey, ranked 21^st.
 
At 12 p.m., Williams, Trine, King’s (Pa.) and the College of Rhode Island will begin their quest at the tournament, facing the winners of the 9 a.m. round of matches.
 
The Warriors (2-3 overall) enter the tournament after splitting a pair of matches at Pa./N.Y. Duals against teams, SUNY Oswego (a 25-18 win) and RIT (a 19-16 loss) that are in the 20-team field this weekend.
 
Lycoming is led by senior 197-pounder Russ Korbul (Asbury, N.J./North Hunterdon), who has compiled a 12-4 record this year and added a 4-1 mark in dual meets. Korbul is listed on the honorable mention portion of the d3wrestle.com rankings.
 
Freshman Caleb Willey (Towanda, Pa./Towanda Area) has also been solid in dual meets, posting a 4-1 mark at 141 pounds, including a pair of wins at the Pa./N.Y. Duals that helped him earn Empire Collegiate Wrestling Conference Rookie of the Week. Senior Stephen Hinton (Montclair, Va./Forest Park) will also be key to the team’s success this weekend, as the 125-pounder has posted a 6-2 mark, including 3-1 in dual meets this year.
 
The Warriors are looking to place at the event for the 18^th time in its 24 years and for the first time since taking eighth in 2010. In 2011, the team opened the duals with a 24-13 upset of 21^st-ranked Springfield and finished the tournament with a 3-2 mark.
 
The first opponent the Warriors will face is Wabash, who posted a 3-1 mark at the Chuck Porter Duals at Knox College on Jan. 7. The Little Giants are led by a pair of nationally-ranked grapplers in 149-pounder Jake Strausbaugh, who is sixth, and 184-pounder Greg Rhoads, who is 10th.
 
In the second round, if the Warriors win, they will face King’s, Wis.-Whitewater, or Case Western at 3:30 p.m. on Friday. If they lose, they will face Wis.-Whitewater or Case Western at 2 p.m. on Friday.
 
Seven rounds of the duals will take place on Friday, with four matches taking place in each round on mats spread across Lamade Gymnasium. On Saturday, the tournament will conclude with five rounds of wrestling. The championship round is set for 3 p.m. on Saturday with the tournament awards following at 5 p.m.