March 21, 2008

ST. LOUIS--Five Pitt grapplers will compete on national television over the next two days, as ESPN and its family of networks will air portions of the 2008 NCAA Championships.

ESPNU, ESPN360.com and ESPN will combine for extensive live coverage of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships On Friday, March 21, and Saturday, March 22, from the Scott Trade Center in St. Louis. On Friday, ESPNU features more than five hours of coverage, with the quarterfinals at 11 a.m. ET and the semifinals at 7 p.m. For the second consecutive year, ESPNU will deliver the semifinals in a "side-by-side" format, allowing viewers to see both semifinal matches in each weight class at the same time.

ESPNU will telecast the Championship Medal Round on Saturday, March 22, at 11 a.m., while ESPN will air the finals at 8:30 p.m. During the Championship Round, the referees will wear microphones, providing fans with even more access to and understanding of the action.

ESPN360.com, ESPN's signature live sports broadband network, will offer one-stop access to all rounds of the championships. ESPN360.com will complement the ESPNU and ESPN telecasts by providing live coverage of all four mats during the quarterfinals and both mats in the semifinals, offering users the option to select the match they want to see.

ESPN360.com is now 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 Division I Wrestling Championships and hundreds of other live college and professional sporting events each month. The service is also available via more than 25 Internet service providers, including AT&T, Verizon, Insight, RCN, Frontier, Cavalier, Charter, Mediacom, Conway, Grande Communications and more.

Dave Armstrong will serve as play-by-play announcer alongside analysts Tim Johnson and Olympic gold-medal winner Jeff Blatnick, with Quint Kessenich reporting. Former Iowa State coach and wrestler James Gibbons will serve as a guest commentator describing the action on ESPN360.com.

NCAA DIVISION I WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE

Date                             Time (ET)         Event                                     Network    
Fri., Mar. 21                  11 a.m.             Quarterfinals (Session 3)            ESPNU    LIVE - 3 hrs. 

                                    7 p.m.               Semifinals (Session 4)               ESPNU  LIVE - 2.5 hrs.

Sat., Mar. 22                 11 a.m.             Championship Medal Round      ESPNU   LIVE - 3 hrs.

                                    8:30 p.m.          Finals                                       ESPN     LIVE - 2.5 hrs.