Grizzlies ranked 19th in Preseason National Poll

EDMOND, Okla.- The Adams State College wrestling team will begin the 2010-11 season as the 19th ranked team in the country according to the NCAA Division II National Wrestling Coaches Association's preseason poll.  The Grizzlies, who also have two individually ranked wrestlers in 141-pound junior Josh Hensley (Alamosa, Colo.) and 197-pound junior transfer Luke McPeek (Albuquerque, N.M.), have now been ranked amongst the nation's top 20 in 66 straight polls dating back to the end of the 2000-01 season.

The Grizzlies, who finished 13th at last year's NCAA Division II National Championships have placed in the top 20 each year since 2001, finishing as high as fifth on three straight occasions from 2007-09.

The Grizzlies received 24 points in the polling of eight member head coaches, who each ranked who they feel are the top 20 teams in the country.  They are one of six teams from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference to be ranked.

Nebraska-Omaha, the winners of the last two national championships, received all eight first place votes and topped the poll again with 160 points.

St. Cloud State (Minn.), which finished seventh at last year's national tournament, collected seven of the second place votes and takes second in the poll with 150 points while Augustana (S.D.), which took second at last year's national championships, was slotted third in the poll with 144 points.

Nebraska-Kearney, the RMAC's top team in the poll, was tabbed fourth with 136 points while Newberry (S.C.) rounds out the top five with 121 points.  2-time defending RMAC Champion Western State, also picked first in the RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, was picked sixth in the national poll with 111 points.

The other RMAC teams to be included were Grand Canyon (Ariz.), tied for 12th, San Francisco State, 16th, and Fort Hays State, tied for 20th.  All of those teams are associate members of the RMAC in the sport of wrestling and were picked third, fourth and tied for fifth in the RMAC poll.  Colorado State-Pueblo was also one of three overall teams to be in the others receiving votes category but not ranked amongst the top 20.

Hensley, who is coming off a seventh place finish at last year's national tournament, good to earn his first career All-America honor, is ranked third in the weight class to begin this year.  McPeek, who took sixth at the 2009 NCAA Division II National Championships while wrestling for New Mexico Highlands, has been tabbed fourth at 197 pounds.

The Grizzlies, who held their annual Green & Black Intrasquad Dual on Wednesday night, begin their regular season Saturday at the 38th Annual Cowboy Open to be hosted by the University of Wyoming in the Pokes' War Memorial Fieldhouse in Laramie.  Action on 10 mats and divided into Elite and Amateur Divisions, the latter of which is reserved for wrestlers of age 20 or younger, will begin at 9 a.m. and run throughout the day.

Bracket updates can be followed on TrackWrestling.com.