ITHACA, N.Y.—The 2009 NCAA Wrestling Championships will be televised live from the Scottrade Center on Friday, March 20 and Saturday, March 21. ESPNU, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN360.com will combine for expanded coverage, and for the first time all 11 hours of coverage on ESPNU, ESPN, and ESPN2 will be presented in high definition.
The quarterfinals will air Friday, March 20, at 11 a.m. Eastern on ESPNU and ESPN360.com. The semifinals will be broadcast on ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN360.com at 7 p.m. For the third year, the semifinals will be featured in a side-by-side format, allowing both semifinals matches in each weight class to be seen at the same time.
ESPNU will telecast the Championship Medal Round on Saturday, March 21 at 10:30 a.m., and the finals will be at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN. During the finals, two referees per match will each wear a microphone.
ESPN360.com is ESPN’s broadband sports television network, and it will once again complement the telecasts with access to all rounds of the championships. ESPN360.com will provide live coverage of all four mats during the quarterfinals and both mats in the semifinals. Fans will have the option to select the match that they would like to see.
Dave Armstrong will serve as play-by-play announcer alongside analysts Tim Johnson and Olympic gold medalist Jeff Blatnick, with reporter Quint Kessenich, a former two-time county wrestling champion at New Yorks Lynnbrook High School. For ESPN360.com coverage, 1981 NCAA 134-pound champion wrestler Jim Gibbons, who coached the 1987 Iowa State Cyclones to the national title, returns as analyst and will be joined by play-by-play announcer Shawn Kenney.
ESPN360.com is available at no cost to millions of U.S. college students and U.S.-based military personnel. Users accessing ESPN360.com from an on-campus .edu or .mil network domain in the United States receive free, seamless access to the NCAA Div. I Wrestling Championships and hundreds of other live college and professional sporting events each month. ESPN360.com is also available via affiliated ISPs nationwide, including AT&T, Verizon, RCN, Insight, Frontier, Cavalier, Charter, Mediacom, Conway, Grande Communications and many more.
Live Coverage Schedule
Friday, March 20
11 a.m. ~ Quarterfinals Live ~ ESPNU HD / ESPN360.com
7 p.m. ~ Semifinals Live ~ ESPNU HD / ESPN2 HD / ESPN360.com
Saturday, March 21
10:30 a.m. ~ Championship Medal Round - Live ESPNU HD / ESPN360.com
6:30 p.m. ~ Finals Live ESPN HD / ESPN360.com