Nick Simmons of Michigan State (125), Nate Gallick of Iowa State (141), Cliff Moore of the Hawkeye Training Club (149), and Jake Herbert of Northwestern (174) all added a second Midlands jacket to their collections. Illinois, on the strength of two champions, took home the team title for the third straight year by racking up 115.5 points. Central Michigan (112.5), Michigan State (99), Iowa (83), and Iowa State (82.5) rounded out the top five.
Herbert electrified the home crowd with a convincing victory over Perry. After a scoreless first period, Herbert scored a second period with back points to take a commanding 5-0 lead. Perry would add a late escape and takedown, but it was too little too late, as Herbert held on for the 5-3 victory.
"I feel like I mentally dominated him for five minutes and fifty seconds," said Herbert. "It's a seven minute match out there, so that's another minute and ten seconds that he's going to have to come back after me. I know that he's right in it. It's going to be a different match next time. I just have to stick to my game plan."
Herbert, who placed third at the 2005 NCAA Championships as a freshman, neutralized Perry's scrambling ability and funk by overpowering the Hawkeye on the mat.
"I wrestled in Pennsylvania," said Herbert. "We're all about the PA funk. That's Iowa's kryptonite. I mean, I grew up rolling around with the best guys in the country. I was trained by (Ray) Brinzer and (Ty) Moore. They're just as funky as they get."
With the victory, Herbert became Northwestern's first back-to-back Midlands champion.
Moore, who won his first Midlands title in 2002, registered a 6-4 decision over Mark DiSalvo of Central Michigan. According to the former NCAA champion from Iowa, this title is quite a bit different from the first.
"It doesn't compare at all," said Moore. "That first Midlands was pretty much my coming out. I had really only wrestled one competition before that, and that was an open competition out in Nebraska, because I had an injury on my knee. I had an ACL reconstruction, so I was just coming back. But it was great to come here and win this tournament again."
Les Sigman of Nebraska-Omaha, a three-time NCAA champion in Division II, completely dominated the heavyweight division. He registered two falls, one technical fall, and two major decisions. In the finals, Sigman shutout Matt Fields of Iowa, 9-0. Sigman also earned the first-ever "High Point Individual Scorer" trophy -- which honors the wrestler who scores the most team points.
"I thought I wrestled solid, but I still have some things to work on," said Sigman. "Other than those things, I was pretty proud of my performance."
Sigman entered the event seeded second after placing sixth at last year's Midlands.
"I got a lot of motivation coming into the tournament," said Sigman. "I didn't have a very good performance here last year, so I kind of used that to motivate me in my workouts."
Nick Baima of Northern Iowa, who won the 165-pound title, earned the tournament's "Most Outstanding Wrestler" award. Baima came through the tournament as the third seed, knocking off second-seeded Jared Frayer of the Gator Wrestling Club, before dispatching fourth-seeded freshman Michael Poeta of Illinois, 6-5, in the finals. Greg Perz of Eastern Illinois earned the tournament's "Fastest Fall" award with a 21-second fall. Troy Tirapelle of Illinois earned the tournament's "Most Falls/Least Time" award with four falls in 9:44.
Midlands Final Individual Results:
125: No.1 Nick Simmons (Michigan State) pinned. No. 7 Pat Castillo (Northern Illinois), 5:54
133: Tommy Vargas (Cal State Bakersfield) dec. No. 7 Jesse Sundell (Iowa State), 9-7
141: No. 1 Nate Gallick (Iowa State) dec. No. 2 Andy Simmons (Michigan State), 5-3 TB2
149: No. 1 Cliff Moore (Hawkeye Training Club) dec. Mark DiSalvo (Central Michigan), 6-4
157: No. 1 Alex Tirapelle (Illinois) dec. No. 2 Joe Johnston (Iowa), 3-0
165: No. 3 Nick Baima (Northern Iowa) dec. No. 4 Michael Poeta (Illinois), 6-5
174: No. 1 Jake Herbert (Northwestern) dec. No. 2 Mark Perry (Iowa), 5-4
184: No. 3 Pete Friedl (Illinois) dec. No. 1 Ben Wissel (Purdue), 3-1 SV
197: No. 1 Wynn Michalak (Central Michigan) dec. No. 3 Tyrone Byrd (Illinois), 7-2
Hwt: No. 2 Les Sigman (Nebraska-Omaha) maj. dec. No. 4 Matt Fields (Iowa), 9-0
Midlands Final Team Results:
1. Illinois -- 115.5
2. Central Michigan -- 112.5
3. Michigan State -- 99
4. Iowa -- 83
5. Iowa State -- 82.5
T6. Northern Illinois -- 79
T6. Northern Iowa -- 79
8. Indiana -- 66
9. Cal State Bakersfield -- 64
10. Northwestern -- 62.5
Related Articles:
Midlands Session III Recap
Midlands Session II Recap
Midlands Session I Recap
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