Big Ten Network to Air NWCA Division 1 National Duals Live

[TomM]

Big Ten Network to Air NWCA Division 1 National Duals Live
Date:     Thu 02/13/14 03:04 PM
LINK: http://www.nwcaonline.com/nwcawebsite/News/2014/02/13/big-ten-network-to-air-eas-sports-nutrition-nwca-division-i-national-duals-live
The National Wrestling Coaches Association has announced two live airings of the upcoming EAS Sports Nutrition/NWCA Division I National Duals presented by Hibiclens and the United States Marine Corps in honor of Cliff Keen.
The Big Ten Network will air one semifinal round live at 1 p.m. Eastern on Monday, February 17 and will come back to air the championship finals at 4 p.m. Eastern later the same day.
Big Ten schools Minnesota, Ohio State and Illinois are in the 14-team field this season.
Tim Johnson, Jim Gibbons and Shane Sparks will provide commentary and on-site interviews as they have all season long.With the Big Ten seeking its eighth-straight national championship, BTN's 2013-14 wrestling coverage, presented by returning sponsor Cliff Keen Athletic, is the most extensive in network history.
"We're extremely pleased to be working with the Big Ten Network again this year for distribution of the National Duals," said NWCA Executive Director Mike Moyer. "Last year at Minnesota, the Big Ten Network stepped up and got the event streamed, and now they're going beyond that to provide the wrestling community two of the nation's exciting duals that will culminate in a national dual meet championship."
Minnesota is the defending Division I National Duals Champion. The Golden Gophers are ranked No. 1 in the most recent USA Today/NWCA Division I Coaches Poll.
Launched in 2007, the Big Ten Network is in more than 52 million homes across the United States and Canada, including carriage by all the major video distributors.. In total, BTN and the Big Ten Digital Network, will provide live coverage for more than 50 wrestling events this season.
"The wrestling community has really benefitted from the creation of the Big Ten Network," said Moyer. "In the past, we'd only see it in a few pockets around the country. The Big Ten Network has the ability to bring the drama of a dual meet championship into the homes of wrestling fans nationwide like never before."
The first day of action will be streamed live on Flowrestling.org as part of the Flo Pro subscription service. Flowrestling will also provide live streams of the other second semifinal and the third-place match.
Matchups
Seed listed first, USA Today/NWCA Ranking in parenthesis
#1 (1) Minnesota first-round bye
#8 (19) Chattanooga vs. #9 (20) North Dakota State, 1 p.m.
#5 (17) Iowa State vs. #12 Kent State, 1 p.m.
#4 (13) Ohio State vs. #13 Hofstra, 1 p.m.
#3 (10) Oklahoma vs. #14 Bloomsburg, 3 p.m.
#6 (18) Illinois vs. #11 Central Michigan, 3 p.m.
#7 (16) Virginia Tech vs. #10 (25) Oregon State, 3 p.m.
#2 (4) Cornell first-round bye
Schedule
Sunday, February 16
Preliminaries – 1 p.m., 3 p.m.
Consolations – 5 p.m.
Quarterfinals – 7 p.m.
Monday, February 17
Semifinals & Consolations – 1 p.m. (One semifinal live on BTN)
Finals & Third Place – 4 p.m. (Finals live on BTN)
http://www.nwcaonline.com/nwcawebsite/Events/nwcanationalduals.aspx