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March 19, 2013

2013 NCAA Wrestling Championships
Dates	Thursday, March 21 through Saturday, March 23
Location	Des Moines, Iowa  | Wells Fargo Arena
Championship Info	Championship Central
	Brackets | Qualifiers | Schedule of Events
OU Online	OU NCAA Notes | @OUWrestling
OU Info	2012-13 Roster | Coaching Staff

NORMAN, Okla. - Five Sooners will don the Crimson and Cream this week in Des Moines, Iowa, to compete at the 83rd-annual NCAA Wrestling Championships held inside Wells Fargo Arena. Action begins Thursday, March 21 at 11 a.m. CT, with championship finals to end the event on Saturday, March 23 at 7 p.m. CT.

Oklahoma will look to crown an individual champion for the first time since 2005, when Teyon Ware claimed his second consecutive title at 141 pounds, as the Sooners return two All-Americans to the national stage in 141-pounder Kendric Maple and 157-pounder Matt Lester - both automatic qualifiers to the 2013 NCAA Championships. The pair will be joined by two fellow automatic qualifiers: Cody Brewer (133) and Patrick "Bubby" Graham (165). Nick Lester will round out the five Sooners in Des Moines as an at-large selection at 149 pounds.

Brewer is OU's lone first-time qualifier at this year's event, and is one of three Sooners that earned seeds for the 2013 NCAA Championships. Maple leads the way for Oklahoma as the No. 2 seed at 141 pounds, Graham is the sixth seed at 165 pounds, while Brewer is the final seeded OU wrestler as the No. 8 133 pounder in Des Moines.

Maple will wrestle Maryland's Frank Goodwwin (7-9) in first round action, while Graham will face Stanford's Bret Baumbach (22-10) on Thursday night at 165 pounds. Brewer will take to the mat against Columbia's Matt Bystol (9-10) in his NCAA Championship debut. Nick Lester will face Utah's Josh Wilson (21-8), while twin brother Matt will wrestle against Air Force's Joshua Kreimier (27-4) at 157-pounds in their respective first round matchups.

ESPN will air each session of the 20 13 NCAA Wrestling Championships on its family of networks with full coverage of the First Round, Second Round, Quarterfinal, Semifinal, Medal Round and final match.

ESPN3.com is scheduled to air Thursday's opening rounds, while ESPNU and ESPN3.com will cover Friday's action. Saturday's medal rounds will air on ESPNU at 10 a.m. CT., while ESPN will broadcast the Wrestling Championship Finals on Saturday night.

Additionally, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships will introduce a different finals match order for this year's event.

The order of matches for the final session on Saturday, March 23, beginning at 7 p.m. CT, will start with the 174-pound weight class, followed in order by 184 lbs., 197 lbs., heavyweights, 125 lbs., 133 lbs., 141 lbs., 149 lbs., 157 lbs. and ending with the 165-pound match.

NCAA First Round Matchups

133: No. 8 Cody Brewer vs. Matt Bystol (Columbia, 9-10)
141: No. 2 Kendric Maple vs. Frank Goodwin (Maryland, 7-9)
149: Nick Lester vs. Josh Wilson (Utah Valley, 21-8)
157: Matt Lester vs. Josua Kreimier (Air Force, 27-4)
165: Patrick Graham vs. Bret Baumbach (Stanford, 22-10)