The Newberry College wrestling team opens up its duals schedule at home at the fifth annual Newberry Duals with weigh-ins set to begin Saturday at 8 a.m. in Eleazer Arena. The Wolves will wrestle Lake Erie at 9 a.m., Findlay at 11 a.m. and will finish the day with a 3 p.m. dual against Chadron State. Joining those four teams at the duals will be Limestone, North Carolina-Pembroke and Anderson. More Newberry notes are available at the bottom of the release.

Wrestling will take place on three mats. Each team will wrestle three or four matches. The teams with three matches will receive a bye in one of the four rounds. Live stats will be available for all matches while the Newberry matches will be streamed live. A live stats and video link will be listed at the bottom of the release.

"The Newberry Duals is a chance for teams from all over the country to compete and gain the opportunity to see teams we might not otherwise see," Valek said. "This year's event wouldn't be possible without the generous support of so many in the Newberry community. They make Newberry a special place to be."

Head coach Jason Valek's program has reached an all-time high when it was voted No. 1 by the Division II National Wrestling Coaches Association as released on Wednesday. It is the first time a Newberry team has been ranked No. 1 since the men's basketball team pulled off the feat during the 1976-77 season. It also marks the first school in the state of South Carolina to be ranked No. 1 regardless of sport during the 2011-12 school year.

Newberry has eight wrestlers ranked nationally and a lot of hype to live up to. It begins Saturday morning. Senior Connor McDonald (Rehoboth, Del.) will lead the way for Newberry from the 125-pound weight class. The Delaware native is ranked No. 1 in the country and is 3-1 with three falls in the early going. His only loss came at the hands of Rob Deutsch of Old Dominion.

Findlay's Michael Lybarger (174) joins McDonald as the only two No. 1 ranked wrestlers at the Newberry Duals. Over 20 nationally ranked wrestlers will compete.

National runner-up BJ Young (Jackson, N.J.) enters the Newberry Duals with a 10-4 record. Young (141) comes in No. 2 at 141 and figures to be a major piece of, what Newberry hopes to be, a national championship puzzle.

Mitch Brown (Omaha, Neb.) sits at 8-1 and No. 6 in the nation at 184. Matt Oliver (Toms River, N.J.) is 8-2 after winning both the King College Open and the Pembroke Classic. Oliver is ranked sixth at 133.

"We always welcome the opportunity to see quality competition," Valek said. "It helps us see where we are, where we are going and ,more importantly, what we need to improve."