Ninth-ranked Air Force claims share of six events, defeats No. 17 Illinois NCAA.com

CHAMPS

PRESENTED BY COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Ninth-ranked Air Force claimed a share of all six event titles en route to a 423.800-400.500 victory against 17th-ranked Illinois-Chicago on Friday at the Academy's Cadet Center Gym. Freshman Tim Wang claimed four event titles, while seniors Tyler Huebner and Ben Zaiser rounded out the Falcons' sweep of first-place finishes. Wang won the floor exercise (14.750), pommel horse (15.100), parallel bars (14.600) and high bar (14.300), matching his career best and own Academy-record on the pommel horse. Winning the all-around with a career-best matching score of 87.200, Wang rounded out the competition with a third-place finish on the vault (14.500) and seventh-place score of 13.950 on the still rings. Huebner scored a 14.700 to win the still rings title, while Zaiser tied for first on the vault with a score of 14.550. Wang's 14.600 on the parallel bars paced Air Force to a sweep of the top five scores. Junior Nick Gaudlip finished second with a 14.400, while classmate Josh Ramos finished third with a 14.200. Senior Mac Ritchie (14.100) and junior Skyler Awisus (14.000) rounded out the top five on that event. Air Force also earned a sweep of the top four spots on the pommel horse. Senior Nick Owen scored a 14.700 to finish second to Wang, while Ramos and freshman Chase Cannon finished third (14.300) and fourth (13.950), respectively. The Falcons claimed four of the top-five scores on the floor and rings behind the combined wins of Wang and Huebner. Sophomore Denis Aurelius tied for second on the floor with a score of 14.450, while Ramos and Zaiser finished fourth (14.350) and fifth (14.300), respectively. Junior Gared Chapman scored a 14.450 to finish second on the rings, while Aurelius and junior Jon Spiro tied for third with matching scores of 14.250. Gaudlip placed second on the high bar with a score of 14.050, while Ritchie tied for third with a score of 13.750. Aurelius added a placement within the top half of the field on the vault, as he took fifth with a score of 14.100.

Jesse Mendez leads a freshmen wave in wrestling' s opening weekend

Ohio State's Jesse Mendez made his college debut and took out two-time All-American Lucas Byrd of Illinois in the finals of the Michigan State Open.

America' s military schools are training a generation of leaders — and college wrestlers

We talked to wrestlers and coaches from Navy, Army, Air Force and VMI about the value of service academies and how wrestlers can accomplish their goals at these institutions.

These are the top-ranked NCAA heavyweight wrestling contenders right now

Gable Steveson is one of the best heavyweight wrestlers in NCAA wrestling history. With the national tournament just weeks away, we talked to some of his competitors to learn more about the depth of the weight and what makes this year's class so special.