Hawkeyes In Third Place

Dec. 29, 2005

EVANSTON, IL – The University of Iowa wrestling team is in third place with 27 points after the first session of the 2005 Midlands Championships in Evanston, IL. Defending team champion Illinois leads the team race with 31 points. Five Hawkeyes advanced to Thursday night’s championship quarterfinals and nine other Iowa wrestlers are still competing in the consolation bracket.

Advancing to the championships quarterfinals are Iowa junior Lucas Magnani (125), freshman Daniel Dennis (133), senior Joe Johnston (157), sophomore Mark Perry (174) and sophomore Matt Fields (Hwt.). Magnani, the fourth seed, will face fifth-seeded Tanner Gardner of Stanford in the quarterfinals. Dennis, the fifth seed, improved to 9-2 on the season and will face fourth-seeded Andrae Hernandez of Indiana. Johnston, the second seed, improved to 8-2 with a pin and major decision in the first session. He will face seventh-seeded Chris Bitetto of Northern Iowa, bringing a 3-0 career record against the Panther to the match. Perry, the second seed, remained undefeated at 5-0 with a first session pin and major decision. He will face seventh-seeded Kenny Robertson of Eastern Illinois. The fourth-seeded Fields improved to 9-1 on the season, and will face fifth-seeded Ryan Allen of Wisconsin-LaCrosse.

Two of Iowa’s defending Midlands champions – seniors Ty Eustice (149) and Paul Bradley (184) – are not competing in the tournament.

Thursday night’s championship quarterfinals and consolation matches are scheduled to start at 7 p.m. (CT) in Welsh-Ryan Arena on the Northwestern University campus.

TEAM STANDINGS (Top 10 After First Round)
1. Illinois 31.0
2. Iowa State 29.0
3. Iowa 27.0
4. Northern Illinois 26.5
5. Central Michigan 26.0
6. Michigan State 25.0
7. Northwestern 23.0
8. Northern Iowa 22.5
9. Purdue 20.5
10. Cal State Bakersfield 18.5

IOWA’S SESSION I INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
125 Pounds
#4 Lucas Magnani (I) dec. Jose Escobedo (IN), 7-1
Magnani (I) maj. dec. Zach Bigboy (CSB), 11-3
Andy McArthur (HRP) dec. Trent Goodale (I), 9-2

133 Pounds
#5 Daniel Dennis (I) dec. Dionte Lacy (TRI), 15-8
Dennis (I) dec. Conor Beebe (UNI), 7-2

141 Pounds
#3 Alex Tsirtsis (I) maj. dec. Mike Hurley (CS), 16-5
Eric Kruger (CMU) dec. Tsirtsis (I), 4-3

149 Pounds
Brad Stockton (WAL) dec. Alex Grunder (I), 9-6
Rob Hitschler (PENN) pinned Grunder (I), 1:56
Bobby Latessa (HVD) dec. Brett Stedman (I), 5-2
Stedman (I) dec. Chris Smith (EIU), 6-4
Chris Seta (CAMP) dec. Stedman (I), 2-0
D. Zeman (IL) maj. dec. Derek Coorough (I), 10-1
Coorough (I) dec. #7 Ryan Hurley (CS), 10-9

157 Pounds
#2 Joe Johnston (I) pinned Y. Savenok (WHT), 5:22
Johnston (I) maj. dec. Matt Collum (ICCC), 20-9
Ken Andrews (OLV) pinned Brad Medchill (I), 4:24
Moza Fay (UNI) maj. dec. Medchill (I), 15-2

165 Pounds
Cole Pape (I) dec. Brian Daly (AUG), 6-0
#1 Travis Paulson (ISU) dec. Pape (I), 7-1
Oleg Polyatskiy (I) dec. Cole Williams (DUB), 3-2
Polyatskiy (I) dec. Lewis Hutchinson (LC), 7-6
#5 Will Durkee (NU) pinned Polyatskiy (I), 5:03
Eric Luedke (I) pinned Mike Kelly (WWC), 2:38
#3 Nick Baima (UNI) dec. Luedke (I), 9-4
John DeCeault (PUR) dec. Joe Uker (I), 8-1
#9 Max Dean (IN) dec. Uker (I), 3-2

174 Pounds
#2 Mark Perry (I) pinned A.J. Gregg (LU), 2:44
Perry (I) maj. dec. David Bertolino (ISU), 12-0
#4 R.J. Boudro (MI) pinned Ben Stedman (I), 2:13
Stedman (I) dec. James Reynolds (ADS), 8-4

197 Pounds
#2 Matt Delguyd (NW) dec. Adam Fellers (I), 5-3

Heavyweight
#4 Matt Fields (I) dec. Sandeep Singe (SFST), 8-3
Fields (I) dec. Rashard Goff (CSU), 5-2
Aaron Keough (PUR) dec. Michael Bucklin (I), 4-2