Wisconsin (95.5 points) was just eight points short of the first place title, obtained by Missouri with 103.5 points. The Cardinal and White’s second-place finish at this year’s Midlands Championships is tied for best finish at the event in school history. Wisconsin also placed second in 1987 with 70.50 points behind top finisher Sunkist Kids WC (105.75 points).
Entering the championship round, the Badgers had four wrestles in the finals, the most of any team in the tournament.
To kick off the day, No. 3 seed Graff advanced to the 133 lbs. championship after defeating Central Michigan’s No. 4 seed Scotti Sentes, 7-2. Graff captured his second-straight Midlands title at 133 lbs. after defeating Illinois' No. 2 seed BJ Futrell, 13-6, in the championship match. With the title, Graff is the only Badger on the 2010-11 roster to have won back-to-back Midlands titles.
As the No. 3 seed, Rutt came out big in the semifinals when he defeated No. 2 seed Lehigh's Robert Hamlin, 6-4, at 184 lbs. In the championship match, Rutt captured the Midlands title for the first time in his career after defeating No. 4 seed Josh Ihnen (Nebraska), 4-3.
With titles from Graff and Rutt, the Badgers have now garnered two top individual finishes at the last three Midlands Championships.
At 165 lbs., No. 1 seed Howe cruised to a 12-3 major decision over Missouri’s No. 5 seed Zach Toal in the semifinal match. However, Howe competed in one of the most anticipated matches of the night against Nebraska’s Jordan Burroughs (No. 2 seed), the defending 2009 NCAA Champion at 157 lbs. Heading into the match, Howe was riding a 51-0 winning-streak, but his impressive run came to an end when he fell to Burrough’s, 10-7.
The last time Howe dropped a collegiate match was on March 21, 2009 when he came up short in a 3-2 decision against Edinboro’s Jarrod King to finish second at the 2009 NCAA Championships at 165 lbs.
Wrapping up the Badgers in the championships was Schmitt at 149 lbs. In Thursday morning’s semifinals, No. 6 seed Schmitt upset Northwestern’s No. 2 seed Andrew Nadhir, 9-4 to earn him a trip to the title match for the first time in his career. In a hard-fought battle, Schmitt walked away with second place after dropping a 4-0 decision to No. 1 seed Kevin LeValley (Nebraska) in the final match of the day.
The lone Badger still in the wrestlebacks on Thursday, No. 10 seed Ben Jordan's journey to third place came to an end after he fell to No. 6 seed Rutgers' Alex Caruso, 6-2 at 174 lbs. Jordan finishes the 2010 Midlands with a 3-2 record.
Wisconsin hits the mat once again when the squad travels to the NWCA National Duals in Cedar Falls, Iowa Jan. 8-9.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now