Session I of the 2014 Midlands Tournament is in the books and, for the most part, it went according to plan. Of the 17 Iowa wrestlers* competing at the tournament, 15 remain in competition after Session I (which included multiple rounds; Topher Carton wrestled four times!). 11 of those 15 wrestlers remain alive in the championship bracket and will wrestle in the quarterfinals tonight. (There are only ten weights, but Iowa entered multiple wrestlers at some weights; not all wrestlers count towards Iowa's team point total; see below for details.)
As expected, a handful of wrestlers are competing "unattached," meaning that they are not officially affiliated with Iowa at this event (Iowa coaches cannot be in their corner and they cannot wear Iowa singlets) and their points do not count toward Iowa's team point total. True freshmen Seth Gross and Sam Stoll are wrestling unattached, as is Nathan Burak. Wrestling "unattached" allows all three men to preserve the option of redshirting this season and keeping an additional year of eligibility; Gross and Stoll will absolutely redshirt this year, Burak probably will not, assuming his health is good. (He's looked fine so far at the tournament.)
Only two wrestlers are out of the competition entirely -- Gross and Edwin Cooper. Gross went 1-2 at Midlands, while Cooper went the dreaded 0-2. Cooper moved up to 157 from 149 when it became clear he was the third wheel at the race down there; based on his results here, he's not much of a factor in the race for 157, either.
Bonus points have flowed freely thus far, with seven different wrestlers combining for eight pins so far. We've also seen Iowa wrestlers add five technical falls and eight major decisions in their wins thus far. Several Iowa wrestlers have looked good, but Nick Moore and Sammy Brooks have been especially good. Moore's two wins have come via an 18-3 tech fall and a pin in just over 4 minutes, while Brooks has been an absolute animal, winning both of his matches via pinfall -- and accumulating 33 points combined in those two wins before ending them with pins.
COMPLETED MATCHES
CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET
141: UN Topher Carton FALL (1:16) UN Andrew Lenzi (Penn)
141: #3 Josh Dziewa TECH FALL (17-1) UN Nick Tighe (Binghamton)
157: UN TC Warner (Old Dominion) DEC (8-1) #11 Edwin Cooper
197: #14 Shane Siefert (UW-Whitewater) DEC (9-8) UN Kris Klapprodt
125: #1 Thomas Gilman MAJ DEC (11-1) UN Isaac Andrade (South Dakota State)
133: #3 Cory Clark MAJ DEC (10-2) UN Vincent Pizzuto (Eastern Michigan)
141: #1 Mitchell Port (Edinboro) MAJ DEC (14-5) UN Topher Carton
141: #4 Todd Preston (Harvard) DEC (6-5) UN Seth Gross
141: #3 Josh Dziewa MAJ DEC (12-0) UN Ryan Ponte (Columbia)
149: #4 Brody Grothus TECH FALL (15-0) UN Cole Weaver (Indiana)
149: #6 Brandon Sorensen MAJ DEC (14-5) UN Mitchell Friedman (North Dakota State)
157: #5 Mike Kelly DEC (4-1) UN Justin Alexander (Maryland)
165: #2 Nick Moore TECH FALL (18-3) UN Nate Stadeker (Grand View)
174: #1 Mike Evans DEC (10-3) UN David Kocer (South Dakota State)
174: #10 Alex Meyer DEC (13-2) UN Wyatt Wilson (Indiana)
184: #3 Sam Brooks FALL (6:26) UN Daniel Olsen (Wheaton)
197: #1 Nathan Burak FALL (6:39) UN Rob Fitzgerald (Maryland)
285: UN Gage Hutchison (Eastern Michigan) FALL (0:51) #13 Sam Stoll
285: #2 Bobby Telford FALL (2:26) UN Jake Cochrane (Northern Illinois)
125: #1 Thomas Gilman MAJ DEC (14-5) UN Johnson Mai (Columbia)
133: #3 Cory Clark DEC (6-2) UN Jered Cortez (Illinois)
141: #3 Josh Dziewa DEC (4-0) #14 Brandon Wright (Grand View)
149: #4 Brody Grothus MAJ DEC (12-4) UN Jake Williams (Cumberland)
149: #6 Brandon Sorensen DEC (5-1) UN Gustavo Martinez (Grand View)
157: #5 Mike Kelly DEC (5-2) UN Jake Danishek (Indiana)
165: #2 Nick Moore FALL (4:18) UN Mark Mabry (Adams State)
174: #1 Mike Evans FALL (1:36) UN Nick Ferraro (Chicago)
174: #7 Frank Cousins (Wisconsin) DEC (8-6) #10 Alex Meyer
184: #3 Sam Brooks FALL (2:14) UN Jayden DeVilbiss (Luther College)
197: #1 Nathan Burak DEC (6-4) UN Anthony Abro (Eastern Michigan)
285: #2 Bobby Telford DEC (6-1) UN Dan Garwood (Virginia Tech)
CONSOLATION BRACKET
141: UN Seth Gross TECH FALL (22-6) UN Nick Tighe (Binghamton)
141: UN Topher Carton MAJ DEC (16-6) UN Jason Bing (Frankin & Marshall)
157: UN Francesco Fabozzi (Princeton) DEC (15-12) #11 Edwin Cooper
197: UN Kris Klapprodt FALL (1:32) UN Charles Kerkesner (Franklin & Marshall)
285: #13 Sam Stoll Marcus DEC (3-1 SV) UN Marcus Malecek (Air Force)
141: #13 Jordan Laster (Princeton) DEC (7-4) UN Seth Gross
141: UN Topher Carton TECH FALL (22-7) UN Jacob Macololooy (Columbia)
197: UN Kris Klapprodt DEC (10-5) UN Matt Idelson (Columbia)
POINT SCORING WRESTLERS
Iowa's scoring lineup: Gilman, Clark, Dziewa, Grothus, Kelly, Moore, Evans, Meyer, Brooks, Telford. #Midlands52
— Andy Hamilton (@Andy_Hamilton) December 29, 2014
This means that Brandon Sorensen and Nathan Burak's results do NOT score points for Iowa's team total.
TEAM SCORE
1) Iowa 47.5
2) Illinois 40.5
3) Northwestern 32.0
4) Edinboro 31.5
5) Virginia Tech 31.0
SCHEDULED MATCHES TONIGHT
QUARTERFINALS
125: #1 Thomas Gilman vs UN Ethan Lizak (Minnesota - unatt)
133: #3 Cory Clark vs #6 Danny Sabatello (Purdue)
141: #3 Josh Dziewa vs #6 Steven Rodrigues (Illinois)
149: #4 Brody Grothus vs #5 CJ Cobb (Penn)
149: #6 Brandon Sorensen vs UN Seth Lange (Minnesota - unatt)
157: #5 Mike Kelly vs #4 Chad Walsh (Rider)
165: #2 Nick Moore vs #7 Adam Fierro (CSU Bakersfield)
174: #1 Mike Evans vs #8 Chad Welch (Purdue)
184: #3 Sammy Brooks vs #6 Ophir Bernstein (Brown)
197: #1 Nathan Burak vs #8 Jared Haught (Virginia Tech)
285: #2 Bobby Telford vs #10 Garrett Ryan (Columbia)
CONSOLATION ROUNDS
141: UN Topher Carton vs #11 Jeff Canfora (Penn)
174: #10 Alex Meyer vs UN Conner Lefever (Wabash)
197: UN Kris Klapprodt vs UN Thomas Petersen (North Dakota State)
285: #13 Sam Stoll vs #7 Jake Henderson (Old Dominion)