MIDLANDS CHAMPIONSHIPS No. 1 Hawks roll to title
By Craig Sesker EVANSTON, Ill. – The top-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes broke their own tournament scoring record en route to winning the Midlands Championships once again. The Hawkeyes crowned four champi-
ons and turned in a strong overall per- formance as the Midlands Championships concluded on Dec. 30 at Northwestern’s Welsh-Ryan Arena. Iowa won its record 24th Midlands title
by piling up 189 points to break its own record of 187.5 set in 2013. Illinois was second with 130.5 points, followed by Northwestern (106), Edinboro (101) and Virginia Tech (99.5). Hawkeye senior Mike Evans repeated
as champion at 174 pounds while class- mate Bobby Telford won his first Midlands title after two runner-up finishes. “Those are big accolades for those
guys,” Iowa coach Tom Brands said. “It was nice to finish on a high with Telford – that was a big win for him. Those guys wrestled well and it’s easier for them to move forward because of that.” The top-seeded Evans edged No. 2
Zac Brunson of Illinois 2-1 in the finals. The second-seeded Telford used a last-
second takedown to edge No. 1 Mike McMullan of Northwestern 4-2 in the heavyweight finals. McMullan defeated Telford in the third-
place match at the 2014 NCAA tourna- ment. “It’s a big win,” Telford said. “I had been
in that situation three times and I had been second twice. That kind of lingers with a guy. “This was my last chance at it. To para-
phrase Coach Brands, this is a chance to get the last feather in your hat with a Midlands championship.” Iowa sophomore Cory Clark (133) and teammate Nathan Burak (197) also won titles.
Burak was competing unattached. Clark finished a late takedown to defeat
Zane Richards of Illinois 3-2 in a battle of top young wrestlers. The top-seeded Burak, who has been
slowed by a knee injury, downed No. 6 Timmy McCall of Wisconsin 4-3 in the finals.
Burak, a returning All-American, was
pulled out of his redshirt during Iowa’s Big Ten dual meet win at Ohio State in early
January. Indiana’s Taylor Walsh was named
Iowa’s Cory Clark captured the Midlands title at 133 pounds. Mark Lundy photo. Port won the Champion of Champions
Outstanding Wrestler and won the award for most points scored after claiming the title at 165. Walsh headlocked and pinned Northwestern’s Pierce Harger in the finals.
Returning champion and No. 1 seed Thomas Gilman of Iowa dropped a 3-1 overtime decision to No. 2 Joey Dance of Virginia Tech in the finals at 125. “I don’t think we did enough offensively
as a team overall,” Brands said. “We need to get to our offense more. When we initiate, we’re pretty good.” Dance placed fourth at the 2014 NCAA tournament. “Last year, I didn’t really know what to expect,” Dance said. “This year, I’m ready to win a national title. I was already really confident before, but this is another thing on my resume. I might see him again at NCAAs.” Top seed and returning champion Mitchell Port of Edinboro earned a 4-1 win over No. 2 seed and 2014 NCAA run- ner-up Devin Carter of Virginia Tech in the 141 finals.
Award. “I lost focus a little bit in that match, but
my coaches helped keep me going,” Port said. “I needed to get some movement and get some action going. I just needed to get my feet moving and wrestle like I can.”
2014 NCAA champion Jason Tsirtsis of Northwestern won his third overtime bout of the tournament to earn the title at 149 pounds. Tsirtsis outlasted Edinboro’s David
Habat in the finals. “I didn’t get the title here last year,”
Tsirtsis said. “I took a couple losses. It feels nice to get a Midlands title under my belt after being in this tournament for three years.” Top seed Isaiah Martinez of Illinois
capped an impressive tournament at 157 pounds, stopping South Dakota State’s Cody Pack 6-3 in the finals. Illinois native Jack Dechow of Old Dominion put on a show in a 13-5 win over Penn’s Lorenzo Thomas in the 184 finals.
Dechow was fourth in the country last season.
USA Wrestler 9
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