SPARTANBURG, S.C. - UNCG senior Andrew Saunders has been named Southern Conference Wrestler of the Week for all competitions from December 1-7.

Saunders had a strong showing at the prestigious 29th Annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational this past weekend as he came away with third-place honors at 184 pounds. He began the tournament with a 7-2 decision before scoring a second-period pin against Ohio State's Peter Capone. In the quarterfinals, Saunders upset Purdue's A.J. Kissel, ranked fifth nationally, 5-2 to advance to the semifinals.

In the semifinals, Saunders fell to No. 11 Travis Rutt from Wisconsin and moved into the consolation bracket. Saunders then took down another Big Ten wrestler as he scored a 5-4 overtime win against Illinois' Tony Dallago. In the consolation finals, Saunders had a rematch with No. 5 Kissel and once again came out victorious, this time by a 3-2 score, to earn third-place honors.

Saunders, ranked 15th in the nation going into the weekend, is now ranked as high as eighth at 184 pounds by TheOpenMat.com and ninth by WrestlingReport.com. He checks in at No. 11 in the InterMat rankings this week, as well.

Other nominees: Kyle Blevins (Appalachian State), Turtogtokh Luvsandorj (The Citadel) and Alex Radsky (Davidson).

2010-11 SoCon Wrestlers of the Week

Nov. 24     Ivan Lopouchanski, UNCG

Dec. 1       Ivan Lopouchanski, UNCG

Dec. 8       Andrew Saunders, UNCG