The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- February 15, 1999

Division I Wrestling

Field: A total of 330 wrestlers will be selected with each conference or region being awarded a predetermined number of qualifiers. The team champion is determined by totaling the team points scored by each qualifying individual.

Dates and site: The championships will be March 18-20 at Penn State.

Information/results: The fax-on-demand telephone number is 770/563-1133 (pin code 1915). The request numbers are 5336 for the qualifiers, current brackets and team scores; 5337 for semifinals play-by-play and 5338 for finals play-by-play. The championship game story and results will be published in the March 29 issue of The NCAA News.

Championships notes: This is the first year the championships will be held under the new weight classes that were created in the off-season. The NCAA Wrestling Rules Committee increased the weight limit for each class by seven pounds in all divisions, which was the first change in classes since 1970 ... Iowa has won the last four team titles and 18 overall. All but the first two and the last came under now-retired coach Dan Gable. Long-time assistant Jim Zalesky led the Hawkeyes to last year's victory as a first-year head coach ... Oklahoma State, which held the top spot in the dual-meet rankings for most of the season, leads with 30 team titles overall, the NCAA record for all sports. The Cowboys last won in 1994 ... Oklahoma State leads in returning champions with representatives at each of the first two weight classes, which are now 125 pounds and 133 pounds. Teague Moore was last year's 118-pound champion. Eric Guerrero, the 126-pound champion each of the past two years, will look for a third straight title, this time in the 133-pound class ... Iowa's only returning champion, 197-pound Lee Fullhart, won his championship two years ago in the 190-pound class.