ASHLAND - The third-ranked Southern Oregon wrestling team travels to Springfield, Ill., for the 2011-12 NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals this weekend at the Prairie Capital Convention Center.

Southern Oregon will enter the 16-team double-elimination tournament as the No. 3 seed. The Raiders will face Univ. of Cumberlands in a first-round dual at 11 a.m. on Saturday. The winner of that dual will advance to face either sixth-seeded Montana State-Northern or Morningside at 3 p.m. Top-ranked Great Falls earned the No. 1 seed, with Grandview picking up the second seed in the tournament.

"We're hoping for good things with the No. 3 seed," SOU head coach Mike Ritchey said. "We're wrestling University of Cumberlands right off the block and they're going to be a tough draw - they've already beaten one of the No. 1-ranked teams this year in Campbellsville. It should be interesting to see how that matchup goes."

Southern Oregon should be at full strength for perhaps the first time this season when the Raiders open the tournament on Saturday. Top-ranked Mitchell Lofstedt (Roseburg, Ore./Roseburg) will fill the 125-pound weight class slot for SOU. Miguel Baltazar (Culver, Ore./Culver) will wrestle at 133, with third-ranked Kyle Wirkuty (Portland, Ore./Centennial) and Brad Tamashiro (Hilo, Hawaii/Hilo) each traveling with a chance to compete at 141.

Fourth-ranked Jimmy Eggemeyer (Kodiak, Alaska/Kodiak) will wrestle at 149, with eighth-ranked Tommie Hooper (Burns, Ore./Burns) and Dalton Urrutia (Lebanon, Ore./Lebanon) each filling the 157 slot. Fourth-ranked Brian Lemmon (Heppner, Ore.) and eighth-ranked Derek Mestrovich (Boise, Idaho/Skyview) each slot in at 165, with No. 9 Brock Gutches (Central Point, Ore./Crater) going at 174. Second-ranked Austin Vanderford (Ninilchik, Alaska/Ninilchik) and No. 10 Derrick Rottenberg will each travel for the 184 class, with Ethan Hinton (Sequim, Wash./Sequim) at 197 and No. 12 Bubba Owens (Tillamook, Ore.) at heavyweight.

Southern Oregon came away with sixth-place finishes each of the past two seasons at the championships, and the Raiders defeated Lindenwood in the sixth tiebreaker of the 2009 championship match to clinch the 2009 national title. Coming in with the third seed, the Raiders will be looking to post their best finish since that 2009 championship.

"We have to take them one match at a time, one step at a time, and just get after it," Ritchey said. "The guys are excited, they're feeling good, and we're looking forward to a good trip."