UNI Wrestling Returns to Midlands

UNI wrestling at 53^rd annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships
Welsh-Ryan Arena – Evanston, Illinois

9:30 a.m. Dec. 29 – first session (10 mats)
7 p.m. Dec. 29 – second session (championship and consolation)
Noon Dec. 30 – third session (semifinals, consolation, 7th-place matches)
8 p.m. Dec. 30 – final session (1st-, 3rd-, 5th-place matches)

Live stats (Trackwrestling)
Video: Stream information for Day 1
Video: Stream information for Day 2
Watch the finals on Big Ten Network
COMPLETE NOTES

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – The UNI wrestling team returns to Midlands after skipping last year's competition.

"Vegas (Cliff Keen Invite) and Midlands are as close as you are going to get to the MAC Championships and NCAA tournament. That's why we go to them," said head coach Doug Schwab.

In 2013, the Panthers took fifth place, the team's best finish since 1974. UNI crowned its first champion (Joe Colon at 133 pounds) since 2005. Colon became the only wrestler to pin Iowa wrestler Tony Ramos in his college career.

Junior No. 12 Cooper Moore, who took fifth in 2013, is the Panthers' highest returning finisher. Dylan Peters took fourth in 2013, but he is not expected to compete this week.

"We'll know a lot more about where we are at after Midlands," said Schwab.

The Panthers will face 13 teams ranked in the top 25:

No. 2 Iowa
No. 3 North Carolina State
No. 8 Rutgers
No. 9 Nebraska
No. 10 Lehigh
No. 11 Illinois
No. 12 Oklahoma
No. 18 Iowa State
No. 19 Purdue
No. 20 Pittsburgh
No. 21 Ohio
No. 22 Indiana
No. 24 Old Dominion

UNI will be sending 15 wrestlers, including three freshmen and a senior who are all redshirting this season. Max Thomsen is one of three freshmen expected to compete unattached this week.

"I do like how he is competing," said Schwab. "There are some things we are working on with him, and he's doing a better job at those. He is setting up his shots better, and he is competing with a little bit of an edge. I like how he competed (at the UNI Open)."

PANTHERS BY WEIGHT AND FIRST-ROUND OPPONENT

125 – Leighton Gaul will step into the lineup after competing at 133 pounds last year. He took second at this year's UNI Open and tied for first at the Buena Vista Open. Gaul faces freshman Alex Madrigal of Old Dominion. Madrigal was ranked in the top 10 at 120 pound when he graduated from high school last year.
133 – No. 18 Josh Alber earned the sixth seed. He has two top-20 wins this year and took fifth at Cliff Keen. There are 10 wrestlers in the top 20 expected to compete at 133 pounds, including Iowa State's No. 5 Earl Hall, who accounts for two of his four losses this season. He faces Ronald Stevens of Oregon State. Stevens, a sophomore, went 7-12 last year at 125 pounds.
141 – Trevor Jauch drew the eighth seed and faces freshman Ian Cramer of Northwestern. Cramer was eighth at the California state high school meet last year. Jauch, a senior who transferred from Missouri, pinned No. 15 Jamel Hudson of Hofstra early in the season.
Jake Koethe is coming off his second consecutive Buena Vista Open win and will face Gabe Grahek of Wisconsin. Both are redshirt freshmen.
Jake Hodges will get a bye and face the winner of 15 seed Matthew Kolodzik of Princeton and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville's John Muldoon. Hodges is a sophomore who tied for first at the Buena Vista Open.
149 – Thomsen will be competing unattached and drew the 15th seed. He leads the team in falls, with six. He has won three open events redshirting as a true freshman. He won the Finn Grinaker Cobber, Buena Vista and UNI opens. He faces Devin Tortorice of Poeta Traning Center.
157 – Bryce Steiert knocked off two top-20 opponents en route to a sixth-place finish at the Cliff Keen Invite. He is the first true freshman to start at UNI since 2010. He is seeded 12th and faces sophomore Timothy Schaefer of Buffalo.
165 – No. 12 Moore earned the fifth seed. He took eighth at Cliff Keen. He is a two-time NCAA qualifier and the only Panther who won a conference championship last season. He is the second Panther to win two consecutive conference titles. Eleven of the top-20 opponents are expected to compete, including two of the three wrestlers who have handed Moore losses this year (No. 7 Chad Welch of Purdue and No. 14 Tanner Weatherman of Iowa State). He will face a wrestler who competed with his younger brother, Paden, at Jackson County Central in Minnesota. Luke Norland of Northwestern is a freshman.
174 – Taylor Lujan grabbed the sixth seed and will compete unattached. He is a four-time prep champion from Georgia and tied for first at the Buena Vista Open. He faces Buffalo's starter, Austin Weigel. Weigel went 17-14 last year.
Drew Foster will face sophomore Tyler Chay of Oregon State.
Freshman Jacob Holschlag will compete unattached against Josh Snook of Maryland. Snook has been the starter since his redshirt freshman year. He started at 165 and moved up as a junior. He was fourth at last year's Midlands.
184 – Cody Caldwell is a returning NCAA qualifier who won last year's UCM Open. He sits in a stacked weight class. Eight opponents in the top-20 are expected to wrestle. Two notable opponents are from the MAC, No. 3 Jack Dechow of Old Dominion and unranked Andrew Romanchik of Ohio who qualified for the NCAA championships last year. Caldwell is seeded 11th and faces Derek Nagel of Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.
197 – Cody Krumwiede will face the winner of 15-seed Jacob Berkowitz of Norhwestern and Lance Benick of Arizona. Krumwiede is coming off a championship at the UNI Open where he avenged a loss against Minnesota's Robert Steveson.
285 – No. 9 Blaize Cabell grabbed the Panthers' highest seed. He is seeded third and will face multiple familiar foes and have the opportunity to avenge losses from this year. Two of Cabell's losses have come from No. 5 Amarveer Dhesi of Oregon State (11-5 decision) and No. 16 Tanner Hall of Arizona State (4-1). Cabell also has losses against No. 1 Nick Gwiazdowski of North Carolina State (4-1) and No. 6 Ross Larson of Oklahoma (5-4). He has a win against No. 11 Billy Smith of Rutgers (9-3) already this year. He will face Mauro Correnti of Rider in the first round. The sophomore is a transfer from Lock Haven.
JJ Everard, who is redshirting, will compete unattached. The senior earned the 13th seed. He will face Brock Horwath of Wisconsin in the first round. Everard was a starter at South Dakota State before transferring this season. Horwath has always competed unattached for UW.

NOTABLE WRESTLERS BY WEIGHT
125 Sponsored by Tadaaki Hatta

#2 Thomas Gilman (Iowa)
#6 Ronnie Bresser (Oregon State)
#10 Tim Lambert (Nebraska)
#9 David Terao (American)
#15 Ryan Millhof (Oklahoma)
#14 Josh Rodriguez (North Dakota State)
#17 Sean McCabe (Rutgers)

133 Sponsored by Frank Paris and Bob Dane

#2 Cory Clark (Iowa)
#3 Cody Brewer (Oklahoma)
#9 Zane Richards (Illinois)
#7 Ryan Taylor (Wisconsin)
#5 Earl Hall (Iowa State)
#14 Eric Montoya (Nebraska)
Scott Delvecchio (Rutgers - Unattached)
#13 Geoffrey Alexander (Maryland)
Dominick Malone (Northwestern)
#18 Josh Alber (Northern Iowa)
#16 Dom Forys (Pittsburgh)
#20 Anthony Giraldo (Rutgers)
Brance Simms (South Dakota State)

141 Sponsored by Mark Massery

#2 Kevin Jack (North Carolina State)
#5 Chris Mecate (Old Dominion)
#3 Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers)
#8 Mike Racciato (Pittsburgh)
#10 Todd Preston (Harvard)
#17 Anthony Abidin (Nebraska)
#19 Rick Durso (Franklin & Marshall)
Jameson Oster (Northwestern)
#20 Steve Bleise (Northern Illinois)

149 Sponsored by Gary Sagui and Paul Scott

#2 Brandon Sorensen (Iowa)
#3 Jason Tsirtsis (Northwestern)
#4 Alex Richardson (Old Dominion)
#7 Jake Sueflohn (Nebraska)
#13 Michael DePalma (Kent State)
Kenny Theobald (Rutgers - Unattached)
#15 Matt Kraus (Arizona State)
#14 B.J. Clagon (Rider)
#20 Chris Perez (Princeton)
#17 Davion Jeffries (Oklahoma)
#19 Alex Griffin (Purdue)

157 Sponsored by Peter Karampelas and Don Duck

#1 Isaiah Martinez (Illinois)
#2 Ian Miller (Kent State)
#7 Thomas Gantt (North Carolina State)
#6 Cody Pack (South Dakota State)
#11 John Boyle (American)
#20 Chad Walsh (Rider)
Bryce Steiert (Northern Iowa)
#15 Lou Mascola (Maryland)
#16 Edwin Cooper (Iowa)
#19 Doug Welch (Purdue)
#17 Richie Lewis (Rutgers)
#18 Tyler Berger (Nebraska)

165 Sponsored by Dr. Russ Schneider

#3 Isaac Jordan (Wisconsin)
#10 Anthony Perrotti (Rutgers)
#11 Austin Wilson (Nebraska)
#6 Max Rohskopf (North Carolina State)
#17 Steven Rodrigues (Illinois)
#7 Chad Welch (Purdue)
#14 Tanner Weatherman (Iowa State)
#9 Clark Glass (Oklahoma)
#12 Cooper Moore (Northern Iowa)
#20 Devon Gobbo (Harvard)
#15 Connor Brennan (Rider)
Seth Thomas (Oregon State)

174 Sponsored by Bob Conlon

#6 Zac Brunson (Illinois)
#3 Alex Meyer (Iowa)
#9 Cody Walters (Ohio)
#7 Bryce Hammond (Bakersfield)
#12 Micah Barnes (Nebraska)
#11 Nate Jackson (Indiana)
#15 Lelund Weatherspoon (Iowa State)
#17 Matt Reed (Oklahoma)
#13 Jonathan Schleifar (Princeton)
TeShan Campbell (Pittsburgh)
Ricky Robertson (Wisconsin)

184 Sponsored by Robert Rowell

#8 T.J. Dudley (Nebraska)
#3 Jack Dechow (Old Dominion)
#7 Sammy Brooks (Iowa)
#9 Blake Stauffer (Arizona State)
#12 Hayden Zillmer (North Dakota State)
#16 Abram Ayala (Princeton)
#17 Pete Renda (North Carolina State)
Andrew Romanchik (Ohio)
Jeff Koepke (Illinois)
#20 Nicholas Gravina (Rutgers)

197 Sponsored by Bob Schnarr

#4 Nathan Burak (Iowa)
#12 Phil Wellington (Ohio)
#16 Aaron Studebaker (Nebraska)
#6 Reuben Franklin (Bakersfield)
#11 Anthony Abro (Eastern Michigan)
#13 Nathan Rotert (South Dakota State)
#17 Michael Boykin (North Carolina State)
#14 Brett Harner (Princeton)
Brad Johnson (Oklahoma)
#19 Jeric Kasunic (American)
Nick Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh)
Cody Crawford (Oregon State)

285 Sponsored by Robert Artoe

#1 Nick Gwiazdowski (North Carolina State)
#5 Amarveer Dhesi (Oregon State)
#6 Ross Larson (Oklahoma)
#11 Billy Smith (Rutgers)
#14 Collin Jensen (Nebraska)
#15 Brooks Black (Illinois)
#16 Tanner Hall (Arizona State)
#9 Blaize Cabell (Northern Iowa)
#20 Ryan Solomon (Pittsburgh)
Ray O'Donnell (Princeton)
Garrett Ryan (Columbia)
#10 Sam Stoll (Iowa)

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