Here was last year's Midlands standings before SEMIS

[JonDMiller]

EVANSTON, IL -- Seven University of Iowa wrestlers advanced to Tuesday afternoon's championship semifinals at the 46th annual Midlands Championships in Evanston, IL. The Hawkeyes lead the team race with 93 points after Monday night's second session of competition. Iowa State is in second place with 82.5.

The Hawkeyes won seven of their 10 quarterfinals matches. Junior Brent Metcalf (149) scored a 21-9 major decision over Northern Iowa's Charlie Ettelson in his quarterfinals match, while senior Alex Tsirtsis (141) and juniors Daniel Dennis (133), Ryan Morningstar (165), Jay Borschel (174), Phillip Keddy (184) and Dan Erekson (Hwt.) all advanced to the semifinals with decisions. Tsirtsis picked up his 80th career win in the quarterfinals, while Morningstar scored his 60th and Borschel slotted his 45th. Metcalf extended his winning streak to 45 matches, while Borschel has won his last 15, Keddy has won his last 12 and Tsirtsis has won his last 11 bouts.

Iowa has the higher-seeded wrestler in four semifinal matches. Second-seeded Tsirtsis will face unseeded Tony D'Alie of Central Michigan at 141, #1 Metcalf will face #5 Steve Brown of Central Michigan at 149, #1 Borschel will face #5 Mike Miller of Central Michigan at 174 and #2 Keddy will face #3 Louis Caputo over Harvard at 184. Tsirtsis beat D'Alie (6-3) in the second round of last year's Midlands tournament. Metcalf and Borschel are both 1-0 against their Chippewa opponents, recording decisions with the two teams met at the Journeymen Duals in November. Keddy is 1-1 against Caputo, winning their most recent meeting at the NWCA All-Star Dual (3-2) in November.

In Iowa's other three semifinals, #4 Dennis will face #1 Jimmy Kennedy of Illinois at 133, #3 Morningstar will face #2 Nick Marable of Missouri at 165 and #8 Erekson will wrestle #5 Zach Sheaffer of Pittsburgh at heavyweight. Morningstar won his only meeting with Marable (3-2) at the 2005 Northern Iowa Open. It will be the first meeting for both Dennis and Erekson.

Hawkeye senior Charlie Falck, who was the top seed at 125, sustained a leg injury during his quarterfinal match with Clarion's Jay Ivanco and was forced to forfeit the bout. Redshirt freshman Montell Marion lost a 6-1 decision to Kennedy in a 133-pound quarterfinal, and junior Dan LeClere lost a 4-3 decision to D'Alie at 141. Falck, Marion and LeClere will join sophomore Jake Kerr (165) and true freshman Matt McDonough (133) in the consolation bracket.

Tuesday's semifinals and consolation matches are set to start at noon at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Fans can listen to AM-800 KXIC's Steven Grace call the action through the XXL All-Access audio broadcast on University of Iowa Official Athletic Site.

The championships finals and placing matches will start at 7 p.m. Tuesday night. Fans can watch the finals live on the Big Ten Network, and listen live on AM-800 KXIC or University of Iowa Official Athletic Site. Updated team standings and brackets are available throughout the tournament at Northwestern Official Athletic Site.



MIDLANDS TOP 10 TEAM STANDINGS - AFTER SESSION II

Place Team - Points

1. Iowa - 93

2. Iowa State - 82.5

3. Missouri - 73.5

4. Central Michigan - 64.5

5. Wisconsin - 64

6. Northwestern - 60.5

7. Purdue - 49

8. Maryland - 42

9. American - 36

Illinois - 36

Pittsburgh - 36



IOWA'S MIDLANDS QUARTERFINALS RESULTS (# indicates tournament seed)

125 - Jay Ivanco (Clarion) won by medical forfeit over #1 Charlie Falck (Iowa)

133 - #4 Daniel Dennis (Iowa) dec. #5 Conor Beebe (C. Michigan), 7-4

133 - #1 Jimmy Kennedy (Illinois) dec. Montell Marion (Iowa-Unattached), 6-1

141 - #2 Alex Tsirtsis (Iowa) dec. Chris Drouin (Arizona St.), 2-1

141 - Tony D'Alie (C. Michigan-Unattached) dec. #6 Dan LeClere (Iowa), 4-3

149 - #1 Brent Metcalf (Iowa) maj. dec. #8 Charlie Ettelson (N. Iowa), 21-9

165 - #3 Ryan Morningstar (Iowa) dec. Seth Garvin (Tennessee-Chattanooga), 9-3

174 - #1 Jay Borschel (Iowa) dec. Nick Corpe (Purdue), 7-2

184 - #2 Phillip Keddy (Iowa) dec. Jordan Blanton (Illinois), 8-3

Hwt. - #8 Dan Erekson (Iowa) dec. Dom Bradley (Missouri-Unattached), 6-0



IOWA'S MIDLANDS CONSOLATION RESULTS

133 - Matt McDonough (Iowa-Unattached) dec. Naveed Bagheri (San Francisco St.), 7-4

133 - Matt McDonough (Iowa-Unattached) dec. Josh Baldridge (N. Iowa), 5-2

141 - Jordan Lipp (American) dec. Mark Ballweg (Iowa-Unattached), 5-3

157 - Bryan Duetsch (N. Illinois) dec. Matt Ballweg (Iowa-Unattached), 13-11

157 - Nick LeClere (Iowa-Unattached) dec. Josh Moulton (E. Michigan), 11-9 TB-1

157 - Tyler Grayson maj. dec. Nick LeClere (Iowa-Unattached), 10-2

165 - Jake Kerr (Iowa-Unattached) dec. Robbie Micheals (Cleveland St.), 14-10

165 - Jake Kerr (Iowa-Unattached) dec. Andrew Sorenson (Iowa St.-Unattached), 3-2

184 - Brad Diechkhaus (N. Illinois) pinned Grant Gambrall (Iowa-Unattached), 3:50

197 - Chad Hanke (Oregon St.) maj. dec. Rick Loera (Iowa-Unattached), 15-4

197 - Brodie Ambrose (Iowa-Unattached) dec. John Schoen (Northwestern), 3-2

197 - Lamar Brown (Rutgers-Unattached) dec. Brodie Ambrose (Iowa-Unattached), 5-3

 

[JonDMiller]

EVANSTON, IL -- Five University of Iowa wrestlers have advanced to Tuesday night's championship finals at the 2008 Midlands tournament in Evanston, IL. The Hawkeyes are second in the team race with 138.5 points going into the final session. Iowa State leads the team standings with 149.5. Both teams have five scoring wrestlers in the championship finals and three in the consolation bracket.

Hawkeye senior Alex Tsirtsis (141) and juniors Daniel Dennis (133), Brent Metcalf (149), Ryan Morningstar (165) and Phillip Keddy (184) will all represent Iowa in the championship finals. Metcalf is wrestling for his second Midlands individual title, while the other four Hawkeyes are vying for their first.

Dennis, who is the #4 seed at 133, upset #1 Jimmy Kennedy of Illinois in the semifinals, 5-3 in the second sudden victory period. He will face #2 Nick Fanthorpe of Iowa State in the finals. It will be the first collegiate career meeting for Dennis and Fanthorpe.

Tsirtsis, the #2 seed at 141, scored an 8-1 decision in the semifinals over Central Michigan's Tony D'Alie. The Hawkeye senior takes an 11-0 season record into the finals against #8 Zach Tanelli of Wisconsin. It will be the first collegiate career meeting for Tsirtsis and Tanelli.

Metcalf, the top seed at 149, posted a 9-4 win over Central Michigan's Steve Brown in the semifinals. The Hawkeye junior takes his 46-match winning streak to the finals where he will face #3 Kyle Ruschell of Wisconsin. It will be the first collegiate career meeting for Metcalf and Ruschell.

Morningstar, the #3 seed at 165, scored a 2-1 upset over #2 Nick Marable of Missouri in the semifinals. The Hawkeye junior will face #4 Jon Reader of Iowa State in the finals. Morningstar scored a 2-0 win over Reader at the Iowa-Iowa State dual earlier this month.

Keddy, the #2 seed at 184, posted a 6-3 win over #3 Louis Caputo of Harvard in the semifinals. His 13-0 season record will be put to the test in the finals when he faces #1 seed Jake Herbert of Northwestern. Herbert pinned Keddy (3:44) in their only career meeting when Iowa faced Northwestern at the 2007 NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals.

Iowa's other two semifinalists - juniors Jay Borschel (174) and Dan Erekson (Hwt.) - lost their bouts and joined sophomore Jake Kerr (165) and redshirt freshman Montell Marion (133) in the consolation bracket. Top-seeded Borschel rebounded to beat #7 Mike Letts of Maryland, 7-4, his consolation match to advance to the third-place bout. Erekson, Kerr and Marion will all wrestle for fifth place. Kerr is competing unattached, and is not able to score team points for Iowa.

The championships finals and placing matches will start at 7 p.m. Tuesday night. Fans can watch the finals live on the Big Ten Network, and listen live on AM-800 KXIC or University of Iowa Official Athletic Site.



MIDLANDS TOP 10 TEAM STANDINGS - AFTER SESSION III

Place Team - Points

1. Iowa State - 149.5

2. Iowa - 138.5

3. Missouri - 116.5

4. Wisconsin - 90.5

5. Central Michigan - 82

6. Purdue - 77.5

7. Northwestern - 76.5

8. Maryland - 56

9. American - 53.5

10. Illinois - 52



IOWA'S MIDLANDS CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINAL RESULTS (# indicates tournament seed)

133 - #4 Daniel Dennis (Iowa) dec. #1 Jimmy Kennedy (Illinois), 5-3 SV-2

141 - #2 Alex Tsirtsis (Iowa) dec. Tony D'Alie (C. Michigan-Unattached), 8-1

149 - #1 Brent Metcalf (Iowa) dec. #5 Steve Brown (C. Michigan), 9-4

165 - #3 Ryan Morningstar (Iowa) dec. #2 Nick Marable (Missouri), 2-1

174 - #5 Mike Miller (C. Michigan) dec. #1 Jay Borschel (Iowa), 6-3

184 - #2 Phillip Keddy (Iowa) dec. #3 Louis Caputo (Harvard), 6-3

Hwt. - #5 Zach Sheaffer (Pittsburgh) dec. #8 Dan Erekson (Iowa), 5-3



IOWA'S MIDLANDS SESSION III CONSOLATION RESULTS (# indicates tournament seed)

125 - Ben Ashmore (Unattached) won by medical forfeit over #1 Charlie Falck (Iowa)

133 - Montell Marion (Iowa-Unattached) dec. Matt McDonough (Iowa-Unattached), 6-5

133 - Montell Marion (Iowa-Unattached) dec. #5 Conor Beebe (C. Michigan), 11-5

133 - #3 Steve Bell (Maryland) pinned Montell Marion (Iowa-Unattached), 6:16

141 - Marcus Hohen (Missouri) dec. #6 Dan LeClere (Iowa), 3-1

165 - Jake Kerr (Iowa-Unattached) dec. #7 Roger Smith-Bergsrud (Illinois), 7-4

165 - Jake Kerr (Iowa-Unattached) dec. Keegan Davis (Oregon St.), 6-4 SV-1

165 - #8 Andrew Howe (Wisconsin) dec. Jake Kerr (Iowa-Unattached), 7-3

174 - #1 Jay Borschel (Iowa) dec. #7 Mike Letts (Maryland-Unattached), 7-4

Hwt. - #1 David Zabriskie (Iowa St.) dec. #8 Dan Erekson (Iowa), 3-2

 

[pin2win]

Tsirtsis

miss saying that name when talking wrestling cuz when your sitting around a bar table pumpkin pushers are like "sertitis"?