NCC Roundup: Wrestlers Start Season Ranked Nationally

This is a weekly series, chronicling news from North Central College's athletics program.

Wrestling

The wrestling team will begin the 2011-12 season ranked 11th among NCAA Division III institutions, according to the preseason rankings released by the National Wrestling Coaches Association.

For the Cardinals, who finished fourth at the Great Lakes Regional Championships and 26th at the Division III National Championships last season, it is their highest ranking in the poll since being ranked eighth in the final rankings of the 2009-2010 campaign. North Central is one of two College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) teams in the NWCA's top 30, as Augustana College is 21st.

Wartburg College (Iowa), the defending Division III national champion, begins the season ranked first nationally. The top five also includes the University of
Wisconsin-La Crosse, Coe College (Iowa), Ithaca College (N.Y.) and Cornell College (Iowa).

The Cardinals also have three wrestlers in the NWCA's individual weight-class rankings, as Nathan Fitzenreider is ranked second at 133 pounds, Andrew Zobac is sixth at 141, and Eric Oyster is seventh at 157.

Fitzenreider placed third at last year's national championships to earn All-America  honors and finish the season with an overall record of 37-3 at 133. He won five regular-season tournaments, as well as the CCIW and Great Lakes Region Championships.

Zobac went 40-9 last season, becoming the 10th North Central wrestler to win at least 40 matches in a season, and won a CCIW title at 141 before placing third at the regionals to qualify for his first national championships. Oyster went 19-9 a year ago, placing third at the regionals at 149 and also making the national-championship field.

North Central opens the season on Nov. 6, tarveling to Northern Illinois University to take on the Huskies and Stanford University in dual-meet competition.

Men's Basketball

The North Central College men's basketball team has been picked to finish second in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin this season, according to the annual preseason coaches' poll released Thursday.

The Cardinals, who went 15-11 last season and shared the CCIW Championship with Augustana College after going 11-3 in conference play, received 42 points and two first-place votes in the poll. Augustana received 47 points and five first-place votes to finish at the top of the poll. The Vikings finished with a 27-4 overall record in 2010-2011, winning the CCIW Tournament and advancing to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship.

Wheaton College was third in the poll with 39 points and one first-place vote, while Illinois Wesleyan University was rated fourth with 28 points. Rounding out the poll were Carthage College (27), North Park University (18), Elmhurst College (16) and Millikin University (7).

The Cardinals return three starters, Kevin Gillespie, Derek Raridon and Landon Gamble, from last year's team. Gamble was the team's leading scorer (14.1 points per game) and rebounder (5.2 rebounds per game) last season and was a First Team All-CCIW and Third Team All-Midwest Region selection. He was also named the Midwest Region Rookie of the Year by D3hoops.com. Raridon averaged 13.8 ppg and received Second Team All-CCIW honors for the second straight season last year, while Gillespie put up 8.2 ppg and a team-high 3.1 assists per game a year ago.

North Central opens the 2010-2011 season on Friday, Nov. 18, hosting Blackburn College in the first round of the Cardinals' annual Courtyard Chicago Naperville Tip-Off Tournament at Gregory Arena.

The College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin released its annual preseason coaches' poll on Thursday with the North Central College women's basketball
team picked to finish seventh.

The Cardinals garnered 11 points in the poll to secure the seventh spot in the
ranking. Carthage College was the top selection in the poll, garnering 45 points and four first place votes. Defending champion Illinois Wesleyan University is second with 44 points and three first place nods. Wheaton College is third with 38 points and one first place vote, followed by Millikin University (33 points), Elmhurst College (24 points) and North Park University (20 points). Augustana College was picked eighth with nine total points.

Women's Basketball

Voting is done by the CCIW's head women's basketball coaches. Each coach votes for the seven other schools in the conference in order of predicted finish. Points are assigned in reverse order of voting (seven points for first, six for second, etc.). Coaches may not vote for their own teams.

"We are excited about the experience we have in some of our returners, as well as the talent and athleticism in our newcomers. Last season, we were very guard-oriented, with much of our scoring coming from our perimeter game. This season, I am confident that you will see a more balanced attack, with increased productivity in the paint," said Cardinals' head coach Michelle Roof, now in her second season at the helm.

"Our goals are to get better defensively, while introducing a well-balanced offense that the players understand and enjoy playing. We came close to knocking off some good teams last season, but just couldn't quite finish those games. I expect that with more experience in our line-up and a better understanding of expectations, we will do a better job of closing."

North Central finished its 2010-2011 campaign with an 8-17 overall record and a 4-10 mark in CCIW play in head coach Roof's first season as coach.

The Cardinals open up the 2011-2012 season on Tuesday, Nov. 15, traveling to River Forest for a showdown against Dominican University at 7 p.m.

Embracing the role of a spoiler, the North Central College men's soccer team emerged from the Holmgren Athletic Complex on Saturday night with a
2-1 victory over host North Park University, thwarting the Vikings' bid at a regular season College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin title.

The Cardinals (10-5-2, 2-3-2 CCIW) drew first blood with a T.J. Simmons assist setting up a Michael Curtis goal in the 23rd minute. North Central maintained its slim lead at the half despite getting outshot by a 10-3 margin by the Vikings (10-2-3, 4-2-1 CCIW).

A penalty kick in the 62nd minute allowed North Park to even the score at one apiece as Markus Fodstad drilled home the shot.

North Central would not be denied as Simmons tallied his second assist of the night, setting up Ryan Carroll's game-winning goal in the 85th minute of action. The Cardinals victory denied North Park a chance at the 2011 CCIW regular season crown as the Vikings finish second overall in the league standings.

Mike McEvoy recorded five saves in goal for the Cardinals to pick up the victory while his counterpart, Tim Ahlberg, made five saves in the losing effort.

The win closes the 2011 season for North Central, enjoying its first 10-win season since Jim Kulawiak's 1999 team that finished 14-6-0.

Volleyball

The North Central College volleyball team closed the home portion of its 2011 schedule in grand fashion on Saturday, recording two wins and seeing a school record broken in the Benedictine University Eagle Classic at Gregory Arena.

The Cardinals defeated Lakeland College (Wis.), 3-0, and Edgewood College (Wis.), 3-1, to improve to 18-16 overall and clinch a winning record for the season. Junior setter Ryan Lally, meanwhile, eclipsed the North Central career record for assists against Edgewood, now owning the mark with 3,522 assists in her three years with the Cardinals.

North Central got off to a slow start against Lakeland, trailing by a 5-1 count early in the first set. The Cardinals gradually began to move back into contention, and trailed, 9-7, before scoring seven straight points on the serve of Kedryn Orrison to take the lead for the first time at 14-9. The Cardinals stayed in front the rest of the way and scored the final three points to post a 25-17 win.

The hosts emerged late in the second set to claim victory yet again, as a 6-1 run
extended a 13-12 lead to a 19-13 advantage and North Central scored four of the final five points in a 25-16 victory. A pair of extended scoring runs early in the third set yielded a 15-4 lead for the Cardinals, who held on to close out the match with a 25-14 win.

Orrison hit .533 with nine kills for the Cardinals, while Jenae Harner led the team in digs (11) and service aces (3) and Lally finished with 25 assists.

Lally finished with 37 assists in the fourth set, breaking the previous career record in the first set.

The Cardinals travel to Wheaton College on Tuesday for their play-in match for the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin Tournament. Action at King Arena is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

The North Central College volleyball team improved to 6-4 in home matches on Friday, rolling to a 3-0 victory over Benedictine University at Gregory Arena.

The Cardinals won all three sets comfortably, prevailing by scores of 25-19, 25-18, and 25-19 to defeat the Eagles (17-11) for the second time this season.

Women's Soccer

A pair of goals in the opening half of play proved to much to overcome on Saturday as the North Central College women's soccer team closed out its season with a 2-0 defeat at the hands of North Park University in a College
Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin match at the Holmgren Athletic Complex.

The host Vikings (8-8-1, 4-3 CCIW) opened the scoring in the 20th minute with Sarah Hansen finding Emma Lundeen for what turned out to be the eventual game-winner. Hansen added an insurance goal just nine minutes later off an assist from Anika Johnson to conclude the scoring.

Amy Frazzini and Halley Robertson combined to make nine saves in net for the Cardinals (7-9-1, 0-6-1 CCIW). Frazzini made the start, recording four saves in 45 minutes of work while Robertson took the second half, turning away all five shots she faced.

A one-two punch of Alicia Zimmerman and Krista Cota helped the North Central College women's cross country team capture its third straight College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Championship on Saturday at Montrose Harbor, outdistancing runner-up Illinois Wesleyan University by a 17-point margin.

For the second straight season and sixth time overall, the Cardinals claimed the
individual champion as Zimmerman traversed the 6,000-meter course in 22 minutes, 46.72 seconds to claim top individual honors. Cota was a close second, finishing in 22:48.58. The duo's efforts helped the 24th-ranked Cardinals tally 30 points in the team standings, winning the CCIW title for the third straight season and seventh time overall.

Illinois Wesleyan was second with 47 points followed by Augustana College (80
points), Wheaton College (111 points) and Carthage College (119 points). Elmhurst College was sixth with a team score of 126 while Millikin University was seventh with 214 points. North Park University competed but did not compile a score as only four runners participated.

Kala Bingham was the third Cardinal to cross the finish, placing fourth in 23:17.30 while Maggie Lapinski and Amanda Marek placed back-to-back in 11th and 12th places, respectively. Lapinski finished the 6K race in 23:49.73 with Marek crossing the tape in 23:52.49.

Amy Schwent and Jordan Wagner rounded out the varsity seven, Schwent placed 24th in 24:35 while Wagner finished 34th in 24:55.

Zimmerman, Cota, Bingham, Lapinski and Marek all earned All-CCIW accolades by virtue of their top 15 finishes while Mahesh Narayanan and his coaching staff secured CCIW Coach of the Year honors.

North Central is idle next week before heading to Rock Island on Saturday, Nov. 12 for the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional at the Saukie Golf Course.