Nick Baima Named Most Outstanding Wrestler at Midlands

12/30/2005 7:00:00 AM | Wrestling

By: UNI Athletics Communications

Team Standings (PDF)

Brackets (PDF)

EVANSTON, Ill. - University of Northern Iowa junior Nick Baima (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) made the most of his two days at the 43rd Annual Midlands Wrestling Championships by being named the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler after claiming the 165-pound title.

Although Baima was dominant in the tournament, he was far from the entire story as a total of four Panthers found their way onto the medal stand and fourth others missed out on the medal stand by one victory. Head coach Brad Penrith said after the tournament that he could not be happier with his team's performance after the Panthers tied for sixth place in the team standings with Northern Illinois as each team scored 79.0 points.

"I really thought we wrestled the best we have this season as a team," Penrith said. "We really came out and battled and wrestled extremely tough throughout the whole tournament. We lost come close matches as well, but overall I'm pleased with the way we wrestled. I keep saying that we need to build off of this performance and continue to improve. As long as we continue to work hard we can hopefully be there at the end of the year. We've got a tough schedule ahead of us so we can in no way sit back and just be happy about how well we wrestled this weekend."

Baima became the first UNI wrestler to win an individual title at one of the nation's most prestigious events since Dylan Long finished off back-to-back titles at 141 pounds at the 2003 Midlands.

Baima was able to score a 6-5 double-overtime win over Mike Poeta (Illinois) in the 165-pound title match. Baima was a perfect 6-0 in the tournament and he improved his record this season to 19-2. Baima has now won a career-best 11 straight matches.

"Nick got taken down twice early but he didn't panic," Penrith said. "Nick kept moving him around then he finally got a takedown and took the lead. Nick rode him out in the first overtime and then got the escape to win it."

Baima reached the final with a 4-3 semifinal win over Jared Frayer (GATOR WC). Frayer is currently an assistant coach for Harvard and is a former two-time All-American at the University of Oklahoma.

Poeta reached the final after scoring a 5-4 win over No. 1-seeded Travis Paulson (Iowa State). Baima has suffered only two losses this season and both have come at the hands of Paulson in two earlier tournament finals.

At 125 lbs., Seth Wright (Payson, Utah) placed sixth after posting a 5-3 record over the two-day tournament. Wright entered Midlands as an unseeded competitor. During Friday's action he recorded wins over No. 4-seed Luke Magnani (Iowa), 9-7, and an 8-2 win over No. 9-seeded James Thomas (Shippensburg). However,Wright dropped a 10-6 loss to No. 6-seeded Luke Smith (Central Michigan) in consolation semifinal. Then Wright had to settle for sixth place after losing via technical fall to No. 5 seed Tanner Gardner (Stanford) to finish the tournament.

At 141 lbs., C.J. Ettelson (Hudson, Iowa) came into Midlands as the No. 7 seed but battled his way to third-place finish with a 5-1 record. Ettelson scored an 11-7 victory over No. 4 seed Josh Wooton (Northern Illinois) in the 3rd/4th place match. Earlier in the day, Ettelson pinned No. 5 seed Cassio Pero (Illinois) at the 3:20 mark of their match. Ettelson then routed No. 6 seed Thad Benton (Pittsburgh-Johnstown), 13-6. Ettelson then pinned Brandon Carter (Central Michigan) in only 29 seconds in the consolation semifinal.

At 197 lbs., Andrew Anderson (Sioux City, Iowa) finished up strong with a fifth-place finish after notching a 4-3 win over No. 6 seed Nathan Moore (Purdue) in his final match of the tournament. Anderson notched a 7-2 win over Derek Nelson (Iowa State) and than added an 8-2 victory over Matt Delguyd (Northwestern) to reach the consolation semifinals. But Anderson dropped an 8-4 decision to No. 2 seed Matt Delguyd (Northwestern) in the consolation semifinal. Anderson posted a 4-2 mark in the two-day event.

Penrith also commended the efforts of Colby Goetsch (149 lbs.), Chris Bitetto (157 lbs.), Moza Fay (157 lbs.) and Tyler Rhodes (HWT) as the foursome missed out on the medal round by only one victory.

Illinois claimed their third straight Midlands team championship with 115.5 points. Central Michigan took second place with 112.5 points. Michigan State notched third-place honors with 99.0 points. Iowa took fourth with 83.0 points, while Iowa State took fifth place with 82.5 points. UNI and Northern Illinois tied for sixth place with 79.0 points.

UNI's next dual matches are slated for Jan. 5 in Stillwater, Okla., when the Panthers will take on both Oklahoma State and Army.

FINAL TEAM STANDINGS

 1. 115.5 Illinois
 2. 112.5 Central Michigan
 3.  99.0 Michigan State
 4.  83.0 Iowa
 5.  82.5 Iowa State
 6.  79.0 UNI
     79.0 Northern Illinois
 8.  66.0 Indiana
 9.  64.0 California State-Bakersfield
10.  62.5 Northwestern

UNI'S BOUT-BY-BOUT RESULTS

125 lbs.
Seth Wright (5-3)
W, Brandon Zoetway (CS-BAKE) - 14-8
L, #7 Pat Castillo (NIU) - 4-3
W, Jaryl Hunt (CLEVE-ST) - 15-7
W, Ben Hanisch (ISU) - 8-3
W, #4 Luke Magnani (IOWA) - 9-7
W, #9 James Thomas (SHIPP) - 8-2
L, #6 Luke Smith (CMU) - 10-6
L, #5 Tanner Gardner (STANFORD) - 16-1

133 lbs.
Chris Helgeson (2-2)
L, #1 Kerry Boumans (UNATT.) - 10-4
W, Eric Amstutz (COLUMBIA) - 9-2
W, David Armstrong (CLEVE-ST) - Fall, 1:29
L, Raymond Dunning (ASC) - 2-1

141 lbs.
Ryan Osgood (0-1)
L, #1 Nate Gallick (ISU) - Fall, 5:27

#7 C.J. Ettelson (5-1)
W, Larry Amedio (AUG) - 12-3
L, #2 Andy Simmons (MICH-ST) - 6-0
W, #5 Cassio Pero (ILL) - Fall, 3:20
W, #6 Thad Benton (PITT-J) - 13-6
W, Brandon Carter (CMU) - Fall, 0:29
W, Josh Wooton (NIU) - 11-7

149 lbs.
Colby Goetsch (3-2)
L, Brandon Lozdowski (NU) - 4-3
W, Jake Larson (UWL) - 7-4
W, Mark Powell (PURDUE) - 14-4
W, Jeff Tharp (EIU) - 8-0
L, Justin Metcalfe (NIU) - 6-4

157 lbs.
Moza Fay (3-2)
L, #4 Matt Lebe (W-VA) - 6-4
W, Brad Medchill (IOWA) - 15-2
W, Travis Koppenhafer (UNATT.) - 15-0
W, Matt Collum (IC) - 14-6
L, #8 Matt Kocher (UNATT.) - 7-3

#7 Chris Bitetto (2-2)
W, Casey Roddis (MACMUR) - Fall, 3:10
W, Travis Koppenhafer (UNATT.) - 4-3
L, #2 Joe Johnston (IOWA) - 11-5
L, Andy Keller (CMU) - 3-1

165 lbs.
#3 Nick Baima (6-0)
W, Mark Friend (UNATT.) - 20-8
W, Roger Bergsrud (ILL) - 1-0
W, Eric Luedke (IOWA) - 9-4
W, Beau Tresemer (AFA) - 13-6
W, #2 Jared Frayer (GATOR-WC) - 4-3
W, #4 Mike Poeta (ILL) - 6-5 2OT

174 lbs.
Curt Zinnel (1-2)
W, Mark Graves (NU) - 14-4
L, #6 Donny Reynolds (ILL) - 12-2
L, Danny Burk (NIU) - 3-2

184 lbs.
De'Andre Nunn (0-2)
L, Justin Barent (COLUMBIA) - Fall 5:27
L, Charlie Pienaar (SLIPROCK) - 4-2 sv

Dan Dunning (0-2)
L, David Gliesner (HARPER) - 5-0
L, Mike Corcetti (PITT-J) - 5-0

197 lbs.
Andrew Anderson (4-2)
W, Louis Puracchio (ILL) - 6-5
L, #1 Wynn Michalak (CMU) - Fall, 3:05
W, Derek Nelson (ISU) - 7-2
W, Jeff Clemens (MICH-ST) - 8-2
L, #2 Matt Delguyd (NIU) - 8-4
W, #6 Nathan Moore (PURDUE) - 4-3

Jeff Knoll (2-2)
L, #2 Matt Delguyd (NU) - 2-1
W, Octtavius Bellamy (UNATT.) - 7-5
W, Kurt Skartstedt (AFA) - 6-1
L, Jeff Clemens (MICH-ST) - 2-1

HWT
Tyler Rhodes (2-2)
W, #9 Jacob Lininger (SHIPP) - 4-3
W, #8 Joe Sapp (NIU) - 4-1
L, #1 Bode Ogunwole (HARVARD) - 2-1 TB
L, #3 Dustin Fox (NU) - 3-2 TB