From Eddie Goldman’s ADCC News
ILLINOIS REPEATS AS MIDLANDS CHAMPION, FOLLOWED BY IOWA AND IOWA STATE
Submitted by: E.Goldman/Boxing & Wrestling Editor
Posted On 01/02/2005
Led by 133-pound champion, senior Mark Jayne, the University of Illinois placed nine wrestlers in the ten weights contested to capture their second straight team title at the 42nd Midlands Championships, held Dec. 29-30 at Northwestern’s Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, IL.
Illinois scored 130.5 team points, followed by Iowa with 119 and Iowa State with 110.5. A total of 60 teams competed.
2004 NCAA champion Matt Gentry of Stanford, who defeated Alex Tirapelle of Illinois in the 157-pound finals by a score of 8-1, was named the tournament’s Dan Gable Outstanding Wrestler. The 157-pound weight class was considered by many observers to be the toughest at this tournament.
Jayne won his 133-pound finals match with a takedown with 20 seconds left in sudden victory overtime to defeat third-seeded Matt Azevedo of the Sunkist Wrestling Club, 5-3, and win his first Midlands title.
‘Winning the Midlands for a second year is a great accomplishment for our team,’ said Illinois head coach Mark Johnson in an Illinois press release. ‘We have now proved that our program is on par with the best in the nation. I do still believe that we have not quite wrestled up to our potential yet. We had good performances from a lot of wrestlers this tournament and that was the difference, but each guy can still improve quite a bit and that is something to look forward to. I am very excited for Mark (Jayne). He wrestled a great match against a wrestler who had great success in both college and in the freestyle circuit. He beat a very experienced wrestler tonight.’
Iowa had three individual champions: Ty Eustice at 149, Mark Perry at 165, and Paul Bradley at 184.
Iowa State had one champion, Nate Gallick, at 141 pounds. ‘Overall, it was a good tournament,’ Iowa State head coach Bobby Douglas said, in an Iowa State press release. ‘We are improving and our conditioning is paying dividends for us. Overall I am pleased.’
Comcast Sports Net in the Midwest will air the Midlands finals on three tape-delayed broadcasts: Jan. 14 at 7 PM, Jan. 21 at 1 PM, and Jan. 25 at 7 PM, all CST. Make sure to check your local listings.
Here are the final team standings of the top ten teams:
1. Illinois 130.5
2. Iowa 119.0
3. Iowa State 110.5
4. Central Michigan 101.0
5. Michigan State 88.5
6. Northern Iowa 76.5
7. Northwestern 64.5
8. Indiana 63.5
9. Penn State 60.5
10. Lehigh 53.5
Here are the results of the finals in each weight class, with each wrestler’s original seed included:
125 — #1 Nick Simmons (Michigan State) maj. dec. #11 Grant Nakamura (Iowa State), 10-0
133 — #1 Mark Jayne (Illinois) dec. #3 Matt Azevedo (Sunkist), 5-3, sudden victory OT
141 — #1 Nate Gallick (Iowa State) dec. #2 Andy Simmons (Michigan State), 4-2, OT tiebreaker 1
149 — #1 Ty Eustice (Iowa) dec. #3 James Woodall (Penn State), 6-5
157 — #1 Matt Gentry (Stanford) dec. #2 Alex Tirapelle (Illinois), 8-1
165 — #3 Mark Perry (Iowa) dec. #4 Travis Paulson (Iowa State), 6-4
174 — #7 Jake Herbert (Northwestern) dec. #5 Mitch Hancock(Central Michigan), 11-6
184 — #1 Paul Bradley (Iowa) dec. #3 Kurt Backes (Iowa State), 4-2
197 — #1 Jon Trenge (Lehigh) dec. #2 J. D. Bergman (Ohio State), 6-4
285 — #6 Pat DeGain (Indiana) dec. #1 Matt Feast (Penn), 5-3
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