March 3, 2007
EAST LANSING, MI –
The Hawkeyes advanced five wrestlers to Saturday night’s semifinals at the Big Ten Championships in East Lansing, MI. Iowa went 5-5 in Saturday afternoon’s first round and is currently in fourth place with 42 points. Minnesota leads the team race with 66.
Iowa went 0-3 in its preliminary matches before #2 seed Charlie Falck scored a 5-2 win over Penn State’s Mark McKnight at 125 pounds. The win was Falck’s 20th this season. Iowa’s next win came at 141 when #6 seed Alex Tsirtsis upset #3 seed Andy Simmons, 2-1. Iowa finished the quarterfinal round with three straight wins, including major decisions from junior Mark Perry (165) and senior Eric Luedke (174), and junior Matt Fields’ (Hwt.) 60th career victory.
Saturday night’s matches include the championship semifinals and consolation matches up to the semifinals. Iowa’s bouts include Falck vs. #3 seed Angel Escobedo of Indiana at 125, Tsirtsis vs. #2 seed Ryan Lang of Northwestern at 141, #2 seed Perry vs. #6 seed Justin Fraga of Purdue at 165, #2 seed Luedke vs. #3 seed Steve Luke of Michigan at 174, and #4 seed Fields vs. #1 seed Cole Konrad of Minnesota at heavyweight. Tsirtsis is 1-4 against Lang, Perry is 1-0 against Fraga, and Fields is 0-2 against Konrad. Falck and Escobedo, and Luedke and Luke have never wrestled. Competition is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. (CST) at Michigan State’s Breslin Center.
TEAM STANDINGS AFTER SESSION I
Place Team Points
1. Minnesota 66
2. Illinois 44
Michigan 44
4. Iowa 42
5. Northwestern 39
6. Ohio State 38
7. Penn State 36
8. Indiana 35.5
9. Wisconsin 31
10. Purdue 11
11. Michigan State 8
IOWA’S SESSION I INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
Championship Preliminary Matches
149 – Josh Churella (MICH) dec. Alex Grunder (I), 10-6
184 – Tyrel Todd (MICH) dec. Phillip Keddy (I), 8-4
197 – Patrick Bond (IL) dec. Dan Erekson (I), 7-5 SV-2
Championship Quarterfinal Matches
125 – Charlie Falck (I) dec. Mark McKnight (PSU), 6-2
133 – James Kennedy (IL) dec. Mario Galanakis (I), 7-6 TB-1
141 – Alex Tsirtsis (I) dec. Andy Simmons (MSU), 2-1
157 – C.P. Schlatter (MN) dec. Ryan Morningstar (I), 6-4
165 – Mark Perry (I) maj. dec. Dave Rella (PSU), 13-2
174 – Eric Luedke (I) maj. dec. Matt Maciag (WIS), 9-1
Hwt. – Matt Fields (I) dec. Kyle Massey (WIS), 5-2