ASHLAND, Ohio -- Notre Dame blanked the Ashland Eagles, 41-0, on Friday.

The No. 2 (National Wrestling Coaches Association, Basford) Wrestling Falcons won all 10 bouts, collecting four decisions, three majors, one tech fall and two pins.  Notre Dame (8-1) has now won three straight dual matches after losing to now-No. 1 St. Cloud State (Minn.) on Jan. 13. NDC's 41 team points mark a new season-high, and Saturday's shutout is the team's first since Jan. 24, 2010.

The win brings Notre Dame a piece of hardware -- it cinched the 2013 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title for the Falcons, a regular-season championship earned among five programs (Ashland, Findlay, Lake Erie, Notre Dame, Tiffin) who all faced each other in dual competition.

No. 19 (NWCA) Ashland (10-5-1) went into Friday night's match having won five of its previous six. The Eagles went into the night with three NWCA-ranked grapplers (Max Byrd-125, Michael Labry-133, Joe Brandt-197). Those three were turned aside with relative ease: Brian Hauser earned a 17-5 major over No. 7 Byrd; No. 7 (Basford) Marty Carlson pinned No. 4 Labry; and Brandonn Johnson downed No. 3 Brandt, 9-3.

Friday's action started with Hauser and Carlson earning their wins at 125 and 133, respectively. No. 8 (NWCA) Maurice Miller then majored Adli Edwards, 13-5, and the rout was on.

The rest of the way it was No. 7 Jeffery Pelton running his season record to 12-1 with a 19-4 tech fall over Zeb Beam at 157, No. 1 Joey Davis (now 22-0) collecting his third fall of the season, Johnson's win over Brandt, and No. 5 (NWCA) Orlando Scales crushing Tyler Houska, 14-2, as the feature moments.

Davis -- a three-time open tournament winner this year -- now has three pins, eight majors and three tech falls on his season record.

The meeting marked the first between the Falcons and Eagles since NDC defeated AU, 27-9, in South Euclid, Ohio, on Dec. 14, 2009. Friday's result, paired with a 24-9 win at Findlay last week, spells a combined 65-9 drubbing of nationally-ranked foes over the last seven days.

Notre Dame's trio of wins over AU's ranked foes came against three wrestlers who were a combined 78-5 heading into Friday. Labry was 28-0 at 133 before being pinned by Carlson.

Friday's result also spelled an end to Notre Dame's regular season. The Falcons will be back on the same Kates Gymnasium mats for the NCAA-II Midwest Regionals on Feb. 23-24.




Notre Dame at Ashland
Friday, Feb. 8, 2013
#2 Notre Dame 41,#19 Ashland 0
125 – Brian Hauser (ND) maj. dec. Max Byrd (AU), 17-5  4-0, ND
133 – Marty Carlson (ND) pins Michael Labry (AU), 5:32  10-0, ND
141 – Maurice Miller (ND) maj. dec. Adli Edwards (AU), 13-5 14-0, ND
149 – Jonatan Rivera (ND) dec. Dan Genetin (AU), 3-2  17-0, ND
157 – Jeffery Pelton (ND) tech. fall Zeb Beam (AU), 2:59, 19-4 22-0, ND
165 – Joey Davis (ND) pins Jake Piatt (AU), 4:25   28-0, ND
174 – Eric Burgey (ND) dec. Bryson Hall (AU), 5-4   31-0, ND
184 – Charles Mason (ND) dec. Brandon O'Neil (AU), 7-6 (OT) 34-0, ND
197 – Brandonn Johnson (ND) dec. Joe Brandt (AU), 9-3  37-0, ND
285 – Orlando Scales (ND) maj. dec. Tyler Houska (AU), 14-2 41-0, ND