Ian Stephens won the 184 lbs weight class at the NCWA (ncwa.net) National Wrestling Championships. Sidney Garrett became an All-American placing 7th in the nation. The Crusaders finished 13th in the Nation.

Ian dominated the tournament by winning four matches. His closest match was in the finals against Ben Brummel from the University of South Carolina. Stephens defeated him 2-1. Big Hurricane Sidney Garrett took the tournament by storm when upset the number one ranked and undeated Michael Mullins from Marion Military School in the second round. It was pay backs for Garrett because Mullins had beaten him three times this year. Garrett would have to wrestle Mullins for the Seventh place finish where Garrett pinned him in the first period.

Coach Guy Harris says "I am real proud of the Ian and Sidney. They both work extremely hard and do the extra things it takes to become a champion. Also, I am proud that Matt Montgomery qualified for nationals. Although, he didn't place it was still an honor to qualify. The Lord blessed us with a good, safe, fun, and successful trip. I have thoroughly enjoyed coaching this team. We have a great group of guys that are a pleasure to work with. It's been a long season and I'm just ready to take a little time off right now and recharge my batteries."

Crusader Wrestlers battle tough at Conference competing against several highly ranked teams in the nation. Two to the top five teams in the nation are in our conference say Coach Harris, but we went head to head with them. We got beat in some matches but we beat them in matches as well. I'm proud of everyone of our guys for fighting hard.

TTU Wrestlers saw a little fruit from their hard work they have put in over the past two semesters. They manhandled MTSU for the second consecutive state dual meet crown. Ryan Hall, TTU's 141 pounder, and Shane Vibbert, TTU's 157 pounder, started the ball rolling by dominating and pinning their oppenents. Sid Garrett mauled his opponent like a bear robbed of her children. Eman Woods lost a hard fought match to a highly ranked oppenent. Coach Guy Harris says, "Emanual is our team leader, he is a strong man and will rebound from this loss quickly and be better for it."

By far though, the match of the night was 18th Ranked Corey Wright from TTU versus #4 Ranked Isaiah Bradley from MTSU. The match had several close possible takedowns at the end. The crowd was going wild chanting "Corey, Corey..." Corey would need that support as the match went into overtime. Corey wore his opponent down and threw him to his back in the final seconds of overtime. Coach Harris says, "That was mountain that Corey needed to overcome. He just showed he can beat the best in our league. He needs to finish strong this year by pushing himself to his limits. If he does that he could place or win at the National tournament."

MTSU is coming to TTU on Thusday 2/18/10 at 7PM to take on the TTU Wrestling team for the TN State Dual meet Title. Come support your TTU wrestlers. 4 TTU Wrestlers are ranked in or near the top twenty. Ian Stephens in ranked 3rd in the nation and should be a national champion this year.