SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- Notre Dame wrestled beneath its 2010 championship banner for the first time on Sunday at Murphy Gymnasium, and the Wrestling Falcons responded with an impressive 34-3 victory over Findlay.

The meeting between the Falcons (1-0) and Roughnecks (0-1) marked the first dual competition of the season for both teams. It also marked Notre Dame's first appearance on its home mat since winning the NAIA title last March.

Before an energized crowd of over 200 fans, the Falcons earned wins in nine bouts en route to compiling the 31-point victory.

The tilt in South Euclid also pitted a pair of ranked teams from the Buckeye State against each other -- Findlay is the current No. 8 on the DII Coaches' Association Poll; Notre Dame is the top-ranked squad on the NAIA Coaches' Poll.

“This was a really good win over a quality program,” said Head Coach Frank Romano. “I thought we wrestled really well on our feet and showed a lot of depth up and down our lineup.”

The match started at 174 pounds, with Findlay's Mason True picking up a hard-fought 3-2 win over top-ranked Cody Butzer, who came into Sunday's action undefeated at 6-0. Notre Dame immediately evened the score at 3-3 when No. 4 Alex Denman downed Ashton Brown, 6-1, at 184

No. 1 Derek Foore then put the Wrestling Falcons up for good when he blanked Dan Stevenson, 10-0. That bout was the first of nine straight wins for Notre Dame -- UF didn't garner another point on the afternoon.

Those nine straight wins were highlighted by three more major decisions (Orlando Scales at HWT, Dante Rini at 133 and Brett Freeman at 141), a pin (Jeffrey Pelton at 149) and a 2-0 win over the NCAA-II No. 5 at 165 (Kevin Hardy). Pelton's fall -- his fourth of the season -- came in 2:11.

“[Brian] Dean's win at 125 was big, I thought,” said Romano of Notre Dame's win over Ben Sergent. “He's a quality opponent, and that win kept our momentum going.”

The Wrestling Falcons will close out the 2010 calendar year when they travel to Indianapolis to compete in the Midwest Classic on Dec. 18-19. NDC will then enter a training period ramping up to their next dual competition of the season, which will be at the 2011 NAIA National Duals on Jan. 8-9.


NOTES FROM THE NEST …

ONE AND ONLY: Sunday's dual meet with Findlay marked the only home event on NDC's 2010-11 slate. Coming off its 2010 National Championship, Frank Romano and the Falcon coaching staff opted to enter their charges in a number of elite tournaments and in a pair of dual dates against NCAA-II foes (Jan. 14, Feb. 5). … Notre Dame went 10-1 in dual competition last season as part of going 21-6 over the last two seasons. With Sunday's victory, the Wrestling Falcons are now 6-1 in seven collegiate dual meets at home. Their only home loss came in 2008, when the Purdue Boilermakers prevailed in a 26-15 battle.

FOORE WINS, NO LOSSES: Derek Foore's 10-0 win marked his first major of the 2010-11 season. The top-ranked NAIA grappler at 197 is now 7-0 with four pins on the season. Foore is 34-0 in his career at Notre Dame. … Orlando Scales also remained unbeaten on the year; he is now 10-0.


No. 1 Notre Dame 34, No. 8 (NCAA-II) Findlay 3
Dec. 5, 2010 - Murphy Gymnasium

125: Brian Dean (NDC) dec. Ben Sergent (UF), 3-1 [NDC 14, UF 3]
133: Dante Rini (NDC) maj. No. 7 Jan Ulinksi (UF), 13-4 [NDC 18, UF 3]
141: Brett Freeman (NDC) maj. Chris Andrews (UF), 8-0 [NDC 22, UF 3]
149: No. 1 Jeffrey Pelton (NDC) pinned Jeff Carr (UF), 2:11 [NDC 28, UF 3]
157: No. 1 Thomas Straughn (NDC) dec. Adam Walters (UF), 7-6 [NDC 31, UF 3]
165: No. 7 Kevin Hardy (NDC) dec. No. 5 Michael Lybarger (UF), 2-0 [NDC 34, UF 3]
174: Mason True (UF) dec. No. 1 Cody Butzer (NDC), 3-2 [UF 3, NDC 0]
184: No. 4 Alex Denman (NDC) dec. Ashton Brown (UF), 6-1 [NDC 3, UF 3]
197: No. 1 Derek Foore (NDC) maj. Dan Stevenson (UF), 10-0 [NDC 7, UF 3]
HWT: No. 1 Orlando Scales (NDC) maj. No. 6 Matt Clum (UF), 15-7 [NDC 11, UF 3]

Attendance - 203, First bout - 174
Official - Chris Shears
Individual rankings: NDC -- NAIA Coaches' Poll, UF -- DII Coaches' Association