Joey Malia Season 2003-04

NCAA Championships
2003-Malia entered nationals unseeded and scored a first-round victory over Anthony Carrizales of Ohio, 15-13. In the second round, Malia jumped out to a 5-2 lead over third-seeded Ryan Lewis of Minnesota before losing by fall in a time of 5:54. After dropping into the consolation round, Malia scored an 11-5 victroy over Alejandro Alvarez of Cornell, before being eliminated by Tom Clum of Wisconsin, 7-3.

Big 12 Championships
2002-Malia defeated Missouri’s Chris McCormick with a 12-3 major decision in the pigtail match before dropping his second-round match to top-ranked Johnny Thompson of Oklahoma State, 8-2. Malia was eliminated by Zach Roberson of Iowa State, 13-7. Despite going 1-2, Malia received a wildcard to the NCAA Championships.

2002-Malia defeated Missouri’s Chris McCormick with a 17-2 technical fall in the pigtail match. Malia dropped his second-round match to second-ranked Johnny Thompson of Oklahoma State, 10-5, then was eliminated from the Big 12 Championships by Zach Roberson of Iowa State, 11-3.

Career Notes
2004-Splitting time between 133 and 141 pounds, Malia posted a 6-1 record, including 3-1 in duals, during the 2003-04 season. Malie earned Nebraska 15 dual points courtesy of seven dual takedowns. Malia had four pins.

2003-Malia compiled a 21-14 record at 133 pounds. He finished the season fifth on the team with 54 dual points and recorded a season-best winning streak of eight matches from Dec. 13 through Jan. 4. Malia took home a second-place finish at the Mat Town Invitational, dropping the championship match to then ninth-ranked Josh Moore of Penn State, 13-6. Of his 21 wins, five came by pin and five by major decision. Malia, along with Mitch Manstedt, won the Husker team award for the Most Improved Wrestler during the season.

2002 Malia compiled a 14-11 overall mark at 133 pounds. He finished the season ranked third on the team with 51 dual points and had a 2-5 record against ranked opponents. He recorded Nebraska’s quickest fall of the season against Cornell’s Alejandro Alvarez in just 47 seconds.

2001-Malia went 5-0 in his redshirt season before injuring his shoulder, which kept him out for the remainder of the 2000-01 open tournament schedule. In his only action, Malia took the 133-pound title at the UNO Kaufman-Brand Open on Nov. 20.

2000-Filling in for All-American Paul Gomez, Malia wrestled at 125 pounds as a true freshman, compiling a 12-8 overall record. Six of his wins came by fall, which was good enough for third on the team. His pin against Randy Katz of UC-Davis just 37 seconds into the match was the third-quickest pin of the year by an NU wrestler.

Before Nebraska-During his prep career, Malia left his mark in the record books in the state of Montana. In four years at Skyview High School, Malia won three state championships (1996-97 at 105 pounds, 1997-98 at 112 pounds, 1998-99 at 125 pounds) and set state records with 96 career pins and 22 consecutive pins. Malia set the school record for wins with a 133-4 record during his four years. He also shares the school record for pins in a season (30) with his twin brother, Ty. Malia was selected as a first team All-American by Amateur Wrestling News in 1998-99. In 1999, he won the National High School Championships at 119 pounds.

Personal-The son of Terri and Rich Malia, Joey has one sister, Kendra, and three brothers, Beau, Duke and twin brother Ty, who is a wrestler for Iowa State. Joey was born on June 26, 1980. He is a sociology major.