WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – York (Pa.) highlights a group of 16 teams that will head to Lamade Gymnasium on Friday, Jan. 11, for the start of the two-day 31st annual Budd Whitehill National Duals hosted by Lycoming College, as the field is again a very strong and deep one according to the schedule released by the rankings committee on Tuesday, Jan. 8.
 
One of the premier events in Division III wrestling, the tournament is named for legendary coach Budd Whitehill, who coached the Warriors for 37 years and won 376 matches and 10 Middle Atlantic Conference titles.
 
The tournament will once again feature four groups of four competing in a round robin on Friday, with the winners of the four groups being reseeded into a championship bracket on Saturday, Jan. 12, and competing in a four-team tournament for the championship. Brackets for Friday's second, third and fourth-place group finishers on Saturday will ensure each team five duals during the event.
 
York, ranked 13th in the nation, earned the top seed and will head Group A, which also features Williams, Oswego and Southern Virginia. The group will begin its run at the tournament at 9 a.m. on Friday, also hitting the mat at 12 p.m. and 3 p.m.
 
TCNJ, ranked 17th in the nation, earned the second seed and will head Group B, which also features Lycoming, Wis.-Eau Claire and Castleton and will wrestle alongside Group B at 9 a.m., 12 p.m. and 3 p.m.
 
Group C will feature 20th-ranked Washington & Lee as the top seed, along with Wilkes, Springfield and Ohio Northern. Rounding out the tournament, Group D, which will wrestle alongside Group C, features 23^rd-ranked Messiah, Wesleyan, Wis.-Stevens Point and Cortland. Both groups will begin their run at 10:30 a.m., also wrestling at 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
 
Six rounds of the duals will take place on Friday, Jan. 11, with four matches taking place in each round on mats spread across Lamade Gymnasium. On Saturday, Jan. 12, the tournament will conclude with four rounds of wrestling. The championship round is set for 1:30 p.m. with the tournament awards following at 3 p.m.
 
Lycoming enters the duals with an 8-2 overall record, which includes most recently sweeping four matches at the Lycoming Duals on Dec. 17, beating Muhlenberg, 34-11, Pitt-Bradford, 46-6, King's (Pa.), 59-0, and Penn College, 50-0. Along the way, 26^th-year head coach Roger Crebs earned his 400^th career dual meet win in the shutout of King's, as he improved to 401-135-2 in his career.
 
The squad is paced by senior Garrett Wesneski (Canton, Pa./Canton), ranked sixth at heavyweight in the latest NWCA rankings. Wesneski has compiled a 12-1 record this season with two pins and five wins by technical fall. He is a perfect 9-0 in dual meets. Nine Warriors projected to be in the starting lineup this weekend have posted winning records so far this season, including seven with at least 10 wins in sophomore Shane Casey (Catawissa, Pa./Southern Columbia, 125, 10-5), freshman Seth Andrus (Mill Hall, Pa./Central Mountain, 133, 10-2), junior Joe Santomarco (Manalapan, N.J./Manalapan, 141, 12-2), junior Trevor Corl (Howard, Pa./Bellefonte, 157, 12-2), junior Hadyn Swartwood (Jersey Shore, Pa./Jersey Shore, 165, 11-3), junior Travis Ogden (Clearfield, Pa./Clearfield Area, 197, 11-1) and Wesneski (285, 12-1).
 
The Warriors are looking to place at the event for the 20th time in its 31 years. In 2018, the Warriors finished 0-3 on Friday before coming back with wins over Millikin and Ohio Northern on Saturday.
 
Lycoming is seeded second in Group B and will open the duals by facing Wis.-Eau Claire on Mat 4 before facing Castleton at 12 p.m. on Mat 4 and TCNJ at 3 p.m. on Mat 3. The Warriors are 80-49 (.620) all-time at the duals and have won titles in 1997 and 1999.
 
2019 Budd Whitehill Duals Schedule
Schedule of Matches/Results
Friday, Jan. 11, 2019
Round 1 – Group A + B - 9 a.m.
Mat 1 – York vs. Southern Virginia                             
Mat 2 – Williams vs. Oswego
Mat 3 – TCNJ vs. Castleton
Mat 4 – Lycoming vs. Wis.-Eau Claire
 
Round 1 – Group C + D – 10:30 a.m.
Mat 1 – Washington & Lee vs. Ohio Northern 
Mat 2 - Wilkes vs. Springfield      
Mat 3  - Messiah vs. Wesleyan
Mat 4 – Wis.-Stevens Point vs. Cortland
 
Round 2 – Group A + B – 12 p.m.
Mat 1 – York vs. Oswego
Mat 2 – Williams vs. Southern Virginia
Mat 3 – TCNJ vs. Wis.-Eau Claire
Mat 4  - Lycoming vs. Castleton
 
Round 2 – Group C + D – 1:30 p.m.
Mat 1 – Washington & Lee vs. Springfield                         
Mat 2 – Wilkes vs. Ohio Northern
Mat 3 – Messiah vs. Cortland  
Mat 4 – Wis.-Stevens Point vs. Wesleyan
 
Round 3 – Group A + B – 3 p.m.
Mat 1  - York vs. Williams
Mat 2  - Oswego vs. Southern Virginia
Mat 3  - TCNJ vs. Lycoming
Mat 4  - Wis.-Eau Claire vs. Castleton
 
Round 3 – Group C + D – 4:30 p.m.
Mat 1 – Washington & Lee vs. Wilkes                    
Mat 2 – Springfield vs. Ohio Northern
Mat 3 – Messiah vs. Wis.-Stevens Point
Mat 4 – Cortland vs. Wesleyan