How's Iowa doing in the 2013 Midlands Championships? Oh, just nine semifinalists, a 29-1 record among designated point scorers, and a commanding lead in the team title race. Not too shabby. Read on for more details.
TEAM STANDINGS
UPDATED BRACKET
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SESSION II RESULTS
CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET
125: 3-seed Cory Clark DEC (8-1) 6-seed Robert Deutsch (Rider)
125: 4-seed Thomas Gilman DEC (6-3) 5-seed Dylan Peters (UNI)
133: 2-seed Tony Ramos MAJ DEC (14-5) 10-seed Devon Lotito (Cal Poly)
141: 7-seed Josh Dziewa DEC (6-1) 2-seed Rick Durso (F&M)
157: 1-seed Derek St. John MAJ DEC (10-2) 8-seed John Greisheimer (Edinboro)
165: 2-seed Nick Moore DEC (7-4) 7-seed Pierce Harger (Northwestern)
174: 1-seed Mike Evans MAJ DEC (12-4) 9-seed Scott Liegel (Wisconsin)
184: 1-seed Ethen Lofthouse DEC (7-4) #9 Niko Reyes (Illinois)
184: 2-seed Jimmy Sheptock (Maryland) DEC (3-2) 7-seed Sam Brooks
197: 3-seed Nathan Burak DEC (9-7 SV) 6-seed Chris Penny (Virignia Tech)
285: 1-seed Bobby Telford DEC (6-1) 8-seed Adam Fager (Utah Valley)
Iowas has 9 of their 10 point-scorers alive in the championship bracket; Brooks' loss in the quarterfinals (to 2-seed Sheptock) is the only loss by an Iowa point-scorer so far. Iowa's point scorers here are Clark and Gilman at 125, Ramos at 133, Dziewa at 141, St. John at 157, Moore at 165, Evans at 174, Lofthouse and Brooks at 184, and Telford at 285. (Remember that Burak is technically wrestling unattached here and not as an official Iowa wrestler in order to preserve the possibility of him taking a redshirt this year.)
So far, Iowa wrestlers have mainly just wrestled to seed here, beating wrestlers that they would be expected to beat. Of course, there's one very notable exception to that statement: Josh Dziewa's impressive 6-1 win over Franklin & Marshall's Richard Durso, the 2-seed here. Durso was the 5th-ranked wrestler in the country at 141 (per InterMat) and a near-All American last year (he lost in the round of 12 at the NCAA Tournament) and he's easily the best win Dziewa has been able to notch in an Iowa singlet. Nicely done, Dziewa.
Also of note? Tony Ramos' quarterfinal win was the 100th of his Iowa career, which is a great feather in his cap. He's the 34th Iowa wrestler to accomplish that feat. We'll try to discuss it in greater detail after Midlands.
CONSOLATION BRACKET
149: Brody Grothus DEC (4-2) John Fahy (Illinois)
149: Brody Grothus MAJ DEC (10-0) Frank Goodwin (Maryland)
149: 7-seed Mike Kelly MAJ DEC (13-5) Coleman Hammond (CSU-Bakersfield)
149: Chad Walsh (Rider-UN) FALL (2:38) 7-seed Mike Kelly
149: Brandon Sorensen TECH FALL (19-4) Curt Delia (RIder)
149: Brandon Sorensen DEC (1-0) 11-seed Brandon Nelsen (Purdue)
174: Alex Meyer DEC (9-4) 5-seed Cody Caldwell (UNI)
174: Alex Meyer DEC (1-0) Ricky McDonald (Brown)
Grothus and Sorensen keep chugging along as Iowa's representatives at 149 in the consolation bracket. It's a little awkward that they're still alive while the presumptive starter at that weight (Kelly) is done wrestling here. If Grothus or Sorensen can record a few more good wins and finish near the top of the heap in the consolation bracket, Brands' decision at 149 may get a bit thornier...
SESSION III MATCHES
CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET (SEMIFINALS)
125: 3-seed Cory Clark vs. 2-seed Jarrod Garnett (Bison WC)
125: 4-seed Thomas Gilman vs. 1-seed Jesse Delgado (Illinois)
133: 2-seed Tony Ramos vs. 6-seed Alan Waters (Missouri-UN)
141: 7-seed Josh Dziewa vs. Steve Rodrigues (Illinois)
157: 1-seed Derek St. John vs. 4-seed Isaac Jordan (Wisconsin)
165: 2-seed Nick Moore vs. 3-seed Taylor Massa (Michigan-UN)
174: 1-seed Mike Evans vs. 12-seed Zach Epperly (Virginia Tech)
184: 1-seed Ethen Lofthouse vs. 5-seed Ophir Bernstein (Brown)
197: 3-seed Nathan Burak vs. 2-seed Christian Boley (Maryland)
285: 1-seed Bobby Telford vs. 4-seed J.T. Felix (Boise State)
After wrestling mostly to seed so far, the semifinal round is when the going figures to get a bit tougher for Iowa guys, particularly at 125, where Clark and Gilman have daunting challenges in the form of Garnett (an All-America last year) and Delgado (the defending NCAA champion at 125). Ramos has an interesting challenge in Waters, an All-America at 125 a year ago who's tough to score on and is very strong on top. St. John gets promising Wisconsin freshman Isaac Jordan in his semi, while Nick Moore has a very tough match with Taylor Massa (a potential stud at 165). Burak has a tricky semifinal against Boley as well, while Telford gets a chance to avenge his "loss" to Felix in last year's NCAA Tournament (he injury defaulted to Felix after sustaining a knee injury in his previous match). I don't expect Iowa to put all 10 wrestlers in the finals (although that would be fantastic), but I'll be disappointed if they don't at least place 6 or 7 in the finals.
CONSOLATION BRACKET
149: Brody Grothus vs. 3-seed David Habat (Edinboro)
149: Brandon Sorensen vs. 4-seed Zach Neibert (Va Tech)
174: Alex Meyer vs. 3-seed Elliot Riddick (Lehigh)
184: 7-seed Sammy Brooks vs. Rick Robertson (Wisconsin-UN)
As you can see, things get much tougher for our surviving 149ers today; if they can beat Habat or Neibert, that would be very impressive.
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This post will also serve as your open thread for Session III.
WHO: A slew of teams, including Iowa, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Virginia Tech, Illinois, Edinboro, and Michigan.
WHAT: Two-day tournament featuring wrestlers at all 10 weights.
WHERE: Evanston, IL
WHEN: December 29 and December 30
Session I: 9:30 AM Sunday
Session II: 7:00 PM Sunday
Session III: 12:00 PM Monday
Session IV: 8:00 PM Monday
TV: The finals (Session IV) will be live on BTN; I don't know if video coverage of other sessions will be available on Hawkeye All-Access ($$$)
RADIO: AM 800-KXIC (local) or Hawkeye All-Access (national; $$$)
TWITTER: @IowaWRLive, @Hawks_Wrestling, @hagertony, @Andy_Hamilton, @kjpilcher
The usual rules apply.