Non DI Talent At the Midlands = The 1990's

 



The 90's saw an abundance of non-DI talent shine at the Midlands.  Let's take a look. 

Augustana DIII Legend Raphael Wilson At The Midlands

Viking Raphael Wilson didn't lose much during his illustrious career. Winning three NCAA DIII titles, some of the only losses he took were at the 1991 Midlands.  Against DI competition he defeated opponents from Pittsburgh, Lock Haven, Missouri & Indiana in route to a 6th place finish.  

Eustacio Torres Places 8th as Matt Blevin pins his way to 4th at 1991 Midlands 

A dominating team in NCAA Division II wrestling, San Francisco State makes yet another appearance in Non DI Talent At the Midlands with quite a few more to come.  In 1991 the Gators had two make the award stand at the Midlands. Eustacio Torres at 158 lbs & Matt Blevin at HWT. 

Torres wasn't near as eventful as as Blevin, but he still managed to defeat Jamie Byrne of Northern Iowa in the R12 match to place by a 3-3, 2-0 score. Ironically enough, Byrne would go on to finish one match shy at the NCAA Division I championships too.  Torres would place 4th at the NCAA DII championships. 

Blevin came into the Midlands having already won an NCAA DII title.  After suffering a 5-0 loss to future Olympic Gold medalist Rulon Gardner, Blevin put one set of shoulders to the mat after the other.  Accumulating four falls in all, at a time of 5:20.  Still not good enough for the Gorriaran award though, as that was won by Tom Erickson with four falls in 3:54.  Among those Blevin pinned were BIG 10 runner-up Ray Mendoza of Ohio State, three time NCAA DI qualifier Jeff Scherma of Cleveland State & All American Perry Miller of Pittsburgh.  Blevin would finish 3rd at the NCAA DII's. 

Ranger Keeps Midlands Legend Off Podium 

What do you say about Jason Finucane's 1991 Midlands run at 150 lbs? While I suppose a lot could be said, what sticks out to be most is the DIII wrestler's 5-4 win over Mike Schmidlin in the blood round to place.  All in all Mike Schmidlin participated in 15 Midlands championships, taking home medals in 7 of those tournaments. It was a wrestler from a small school in a community of a little over 8,000 residents who kept him from earning another, thus taking his place in history.  Finucane finished in 8th. 

Earning NAIA Respect, Matt Campbell Shows DI Wrestlers the Northern Lights Through Miracle Run In Consolations

At the 1992 Midlands championships, Montana State Northern's Matt Campbell would have a miraculous run through the consolation bracket. The four time Montana High School State champion dropped a tight 5-4 decision to Bobby Soto of Cal State Bakersfield in the opening round & then never looked back as he scraped tooth & nail to a bronze finish.  Along the way he pinned Hawkeye Pablo Ubasa in just 13 seconds. Then he defeated Northern Iowa's Burke Tyree 9-3 as he knocked off Iowa State four time All American Eric Akin by a score of 4-2.  It would then be a 5-1 decision over two time All American David Land of Maryland as Campbell ended his final Midlands tournament with a 13-4 major over Brad Bruhl of Northern Iowa. Campbell would go on to win the NAIA title that season. 

Lassen's Gerald Carr defeats two All Americans in route to semi-finals 1994 Midlands 

Put into a pigtail, it was no bother for NJCAA wrestler Gerald Carr who defeated both Joel Morrissette of Michigan State (6-5) & Matt Nerem of Iowa (7-3) in route to making the semi-finals. As Carr would go on to place 6th, both Morrissette & Nerem later earned NCAA DI All American honors of 6th.  Carr would go on to become a two time DI All American in his own right once he transferred to Minnesota for his final two seasons of eligibility. 

Frances Aquino Earns DII Gators Another Midlands Medal 

 At 134 lbs in 1996, Frances Aquino defeated Division I opponents from Eastern Illinois, Edinboro, Cal State Bakersfield & Columbia to capture an 8th place finish for San Francisco State. 

Future DIII Legend Earns 8th Place As a Member of the NJCAA 

The legendary Rick Sanders of Portland State, who won two Olympic Silver medals in 68' & 72' may have passed away over 50 years ago, but I wonder sometimes if he wasn't reincarnated into future two time NCAA DIII champion Ben Shane of Wartburg. A unique, free spirited soul in his own right, Shane started off his collegiate wrestling career for North Idaho.  While he did many great things for the Cardinals, including earning a 4th place finish at the 1997 NJCAA championships, the other highlight of his time in NJCAA was earning an 8th place finish at the Midlands. In order to place, he defeated future MMA star Kenny Johnson 10-7 in the blood round. 

Clash of The Champions, Midlands 1996 

T.J. Williams in known for a lot of things. He's known for being a two time national champion for the University of Iowa & he's known for only having one loss during his three year stint as a Hawkeye. Before coming to Iowa, Williams competed for Lassen Community College where he was in one of the toughest Midlands brackets of all time. 

In the semi-finals he dropped a 6-3 match to two time NCAA champion Cary Kolat of Lock Haven. He would then drop a 4-4 t.b. to future NCAA champion Casey Cunningham of Central Michigan.  Who would he face for 5th place?  Another future NCAA Champion, Brett Matter of Pennsylvania.  The future Hawkeye defeated the Quaker 13-5 major decision. 

Two More For the Gators in 1997

San Francisco State would put two more on the Midlands award stand in 1997 with Damon Broadbent & Paul Healy. 

Broadbent, a junior at the time, competed at 118 lbs. He started off his day by pinning future PAC-12 runner up Randy Ruiz of Stanford. Knocked into the consolations himself, he came back strong defeating future EWL champ Jason Gabrielson of Edinboro & then earning Midlands place-winner status by defeating future EIWA champion Justin Bravo of of Pennsylvania.  Broadbent would earn an 8th place finish & later that season be crowned the NCAA Division II champion.  He was 2nd at the NCAA Division II championships as a senior. 

Healy was a senior at the time, who opened up his Midlands championships with a huge 8-5 upset over the *5 seed Ed Mosley of Harvard.  Mosley would later in his collegiate career make the EIWA finals & earn an 8th place finish at the NCAA DI championships.  Healy then scored another notable victory with a 10-5 decision over Kevin Keeney of Oregon, who today is part owner/operator (alongside Chael Sonnen) of Caged Promotions. Healy too finished in 8th place & later that season earned a 5th place showing at the NCAA DII Championships. 

Lassen's Marchette Defeats Series of DI Wrestlers to take 6th in 1997

The 1997 Midlands were a good time for Lassen Community College's Sonny Marchette. In order to make the award stand he had to defeat a series of NCAA DI qualifiers, as well as a two time All American.  He had wins over Isaac Miller of Michigan State, a two time qualifier. Ben Chunko of Bucknell, who would later earn a R12 at the NCAA's for Drexel. Mike Mendoza of Cal State Bakersfield who was a three time qualifier, and most impressive he pinned Sean Gray of Virginia Tech in 4:52, who went on to become a two time All American.  Marchette himself would go on to win the NJCAA title that season & later transfer to Iowa State. 

Mountain Cat Captures the Hawk's Eye At 97 & 98 Midlands 

Jody Strittmatter, who would later become a two time NCAA DI All American for Iowa, started his collegiate career off for Pittsburgh-Johnstown. While a Mountain Cat not only did he win back to back NCAA DII titles, he also had outstanding showings at the Midlands in both 1997 & 1998.  As a freshman he finished in 3rd place, with notable wins over Steve Garland of Virginia, Chuckie Connors of North Carolina & Mike Kawamura of Arizona State.  Ironically enough it is Garland who would upset Strittmatter three seasons later in the NCAA DI quarter-finals, 9-7 s.v.  Garland would finish as the NCAA DI runner-up that season, as Strittmatter took 3rd.  During Strittmatter's time at Pittsburgh-Johnstown, he won a Midlands title his sophomore season. His brother John was also a Midlands place-winner for Pittsburgh-Johnstown in 1998, taking a 7th place finish at 133 lbs. 

NAIA Legend Upends DI All Americans To Earn Two Midlands Medals 

One of only seven four time champions in the 65 year history of NAIA wrestling, Turk Lords more than once showed his ability to compete with NCAA DI competition.  At the 1996 Midlands, the Northern Light placed 6th, defeated Danny Faqir 4-3 in the process who would go on to take 7th place All American honors for Arizona State.  In 1998, Lords took out the *2 seed Sam Neider of Northwestern 3-3 tiebreaker in the quarter-finals.  Neider had placed 5th at the NCAA DI's the year prior & would go on to earn a second All American honor later that season with a 7th place finish.  In the semi-finals Lords took Iowa State NCAA DI runner-up Zach Thompson to a 3-2 decision.  Finishing in 4th place, Lords avenged a 4-2 loss he had suffered against Nick Muzashvili of Michigan State the year prior, upending the Spartan by a score of 10-5. Muzashvili would earn a 3rd place showing at the NCAA DI's later that season, placing 4th the year after. 



===

That about wraps it up for the best of the non-DI talent at the Midlands during the 1990's.  Make sure to check out Non DI Talent At the Midlands = The 2000's as it will feature an abundance of non DI talent that shined at the Midlands from 2000 to 2009.  

Non DI Talent At the Midlands = The 1980's

 

Lions Roar At 1983 Midlands 

Two of The College of New Jersey's best wrestlers of all time shined during their final Midlands appearance as Lions. Two time NCAA DIII champion Bob Glaberman & four time NCAA DIII finalist/two time champ Ron Bussey both made some noise at 158 & 150 lbs respectively.  Bussey who took 5th, only lost to Iowa legends Jim Heffernan & Marty Kistler, defeating everyone else in his way.  Glaberman's only loss was in the semi-finals to three time NCAA DI champion Jim Zalesky of Iowa by a score of 8-4. For 3rd place, Glaberman defeated Greg Elinsky, who would eventually go down in history as Penn State's first four time All American.  He defeated the Nittany Lion by shutting him out with a 5-0 decision. 

SFSU's Morris Johnson Defeats Future NCAA Champ & Future Olympic Silver Medalist

Morris Johnson was more than happy to show his NCAA DI competition that an NCAA Division II wrestler could go.  The 1983 NCAA DII runner-up entered the Midlands championships & stuck Jim Phillips of the Hawkeye Wrestling Club in 2:26.  He then had to face future Olympic Silver Medalist Matt Ghaffari of Cleveland State in the quarter-finals. After a loss in the semi-finals, Johnson would hand future NCAA champion Bill Hyman of Temple an 8-4 loss, before eventually settling for 4th. Johnson would go on to win the NCAA DII that season as he later had some international success of his own winning PAN-AMERICAN gold in 1986. 

From Walk On To Midlands Place-Winner 

Steve Tekander was not a sought after recruit in high school. There was no scholarship offer.  As a result he walked onto the Southern Oregon wrestling team & after a while he more than proved himself worthy of his varsity position.  As a junior during the 84'-85' season, he went into the Midlands paired with the *2 seed Greg Elinsky of Penn State (who noted above, is known for being Penn State's first four time All American).  In a huge upset, he upended the Nittany Lion by a score of 8-6. He would then go on to defeat Dan Boardman of Nebraska 5-3 in round two. In the quarter-finals, Tekander defeated Ken Sheets by a 6-4 decision. Sheets had finished one match shy of being an Olympian the summer prior.  Tekander went on to win back to back NAIA national titles. 

*NOTE*  - Another Southern Oregon wrestler who placed at the Midlands in the 1980's was Nathan Winner, who took 6th at the 1983 Midlands. Wasn't able to find out much about him. 

Cal State Bakersfield Continues DII Run Through Midlands Up To DI Transition 

As I said when covering Bakersfield in the 1970's edition of Non DI Talent At the Midlands I almost feel weird including them in this list because of how they were already so good to begin with. Nevertheless, they were in a DII singlet at the time, so it does count. Jesse Reyes a two time NCAA DII champion, who also went on to win the 1984 NCAA DI title, would finish second at the Midlands, losing to former Hawkeye great Harlan Kistler 12-8 in the finals. Darryl Pope, a two time NCAA DII champion who had DI finishes of 5th, 6th & 2nd, would finish as the Midlands runner-up in 1985. Ironically enough, it was a Kistler who bested him too! This time Marty, who defeated the Roadrunner by a 6-3 score. Pope would win the Midlands championship in 1986, which marked the Roadrunners first Midlands champion during their first season as a NCAA Division I program. Their other place-winner during their final season of NCAA Division II was true-freshman Rich Bailey.  After a 12-2 major decision loss in round one to Iowa's Greg Randall, Bailey worked his way back to 6th place. Redshirting the next season, Bailey finished out his career a two time All American, placing 4th as a junior & 5th as a senior. 

DIII Seras Shines for Albany

No one ever said you had to be a nice guy to be a wrestler.  Just as nasty of an individual off the mat as he ever was on it, Andy Seras had an outstanding career while at the now discontinued Albany.  While competing for the Great Danes he had NCAA DIII finishes of 2nd-4th-3rd-1st. At the 1984 Midlands he would take 6th place. As the *7 seed, he opened up with a 9-4 decision over future All American Jim Gressley of Arizona State.  He then defeated Mike Taylor 3-2, before besting Eastern Illinois' Chris McFarland 13-5 in the quarter-finals. As Albany's sole Midlands place-winner, the insolent one went on to international success capturing silver & gold medals from the PAN-AMERICAN championships.

Carlton Haselrig At the Midlands 

You hear wrestling fans talk all the time of how the Midlands used to be the premier in-season tournament. Some even go as far as to say that in many ways, it was tougher than the NCAA DI tournament. You hear people say these words, but it doesn't really dawn on you until you take into consideration that Carlton Haselrig of Pittsburgh-Johnstown, a three time NCAA DII champion & three time NCAA DI champion never won a Midlands title. If that testimony doesn't result in "case closed" for how incredibly tough the Midlands was at one time, nothing else will.  At the 1986 Midlands after a close 5-4 match with Arizona State's Rod Severn in the semi-finals, Haselrig was bested by Olympic legend Bruce Baumgartner 8-4 in the finals. In 1987, Haselrig dropped a 6-5 decision to Tom Erikson in the semi-finals, coming back to capture 3rd.  What I loved about this time era, and I wrote about extensively in my series Post Grads At the Midlands is that we got to see some of our fantasy matches. Today we sit and ponder, "Well as good as Gable Steveson is, how would he have done against Steve Mocco? Or Tommy Rowlands? Or Cole Konrad?"  We'll never know.  Back in the day though, because of how the Midlands was structured, there were times when we actually got to find out.  I think that's pretty cool & could be a selling point for wrestling once again. I digress. 

Dave Yahner's Fight Through The Consolations 

When looking through the non-DI talent to have memorable runs at the Midlands, Pittsburgh Johnstown's Dave Yahner's 1988 run is most impressive. The DII wrestler started off his Midlands tournament with a round one loss to Arizona State All American Jim Gressley in a 9-4 decision. Wrestling as if his life depended on it, he defeated Northwestern's Mike Funk a four time All American, 5-5 t.b.  He then defeated Dominic Black a All American for West Virginia 2-0. Having to face Gressley once again in the consolation semi-finals, this time it was Yahner who would get his hand raised in a 9-9 t.b. victory.  Yahner would finish 4th as he also finished 4th at the NCAA DII championships later that season.  He would go on to earn two more DII All American honors, placing 8th in 1990 & 3rd in 1991. 

Jim Gruenwald Puts Maranatha Baptist On the Map At Midlands 

As fate would have it, in the same write-up I go from one of wrestling's most polarizing figures to writing about one of wrestling's most benevolent.  Off the mat, Jim Gruenwald is one of the most encouraging, inspiring and charitable souls you'll ever meet. On the mat, it was a different story. When he entered the 1989 Midlands championships, I highly doubt anyone had ever heard of Marantha Baptist. I'd wager to say that even fewer realized they had a wrestling team. You see, Marantha Baptist at the time doesn't even really fit into any of the above categories.  While it wasn't NCAA DI, it wasn't NCAA DII, DIII, NAIA or NJCAA either.  Being in Wisconsin, it clearly wasn't CCCAA.  If you guessed that it might have been USCAA, you'd be wrong there too.  While the Sabercats eventually did compete in both the NAIA & the NCAA DIII during their time on the mat, they were for a long period, a varsity status school whose only post-season competition involved the unofficial NCCAA championships.  National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association.  

At the 1989 Midlands championships, Gruenwald placed 4th.  In 1991, his only loss was to Iowa's Tom Brands in the semi-finals as he came back to place 3rd. Along the way he defeated Cleveland State All American Dan Carcelli 3-2.  In his final year of collegiate competition, Gruenwald would once again take 3rd place honors at the Midlands. This time, his only loss being to North Carolina legend T.J. Jaworsky, once again in the semi-finals. In route to 3rd place, he defeated Michigan State All American Phil Judge 9-6 & future MMA star Kenny Johnson 2-1.  Post college, Gruenwald would win PAN-AMERICAN bronze. 



Non DI Talent At the Midlands = 1990's Coming soon! 

JT#1's Notes, Thoughts & Observations for Week 10 of the 22'-23' Collegiate Wrestling Season

 If you haven't gone to the bathroom yet, I'd go. When you come back, grab a snack and pour yourself a glass of water. We're gonna be here a while. Got a million thoughts and I'm not even sure where to start. 

Have you ever taken the time to realize how convoluted and difficult our sport is to understand? My girlfriend did not grow up in a wrestling family.  Outside of her little brother doing a year of pee-wee wrestling, her first real exposure to the sport is having me, an obsessive fan as a boyfriend. For most of our relationship, wrestling has been something I do on my own, as she has hobbies and activities that she does alone. She's accompanied me to a few events that I have covered to help things run smoothly, but she's never paid a lot of attention at those duals & tournaments. She really surprised me when I told her that I was getting tickets to the Soldier Salute & she said she wanted to go. 

I've been watching wrestling now for 31 years. It is something that I am so used to, so accustomed to, that it hadn't really hit me how confusing of a sport it is, until I had someone next to me asking 10,000 questions. 

"Why do the men have green and red, while the women have blue and red?"

"Why do the women do different moves than the men do?"

"Why in the women's match was that move worth 5 points & the guy over on the other mat did the exact same move and it was only worth two?"

"What does announcer mean this bracket was round robin & the other ones weren't?" 

It can be a difficult sport to understand for a newcomer and that's the only point I'm making. The reason why I'm making it is because I think sometimes we as diehard fans who have been watching the sport forever & who understand it well, aren't always patient with those who don't.  One of the unique things about wrestling is that most of our fans are not "just fans."  In fact I'd wager to say wrestling has very few, "Just fans."   What I mean by "just fans" are people who have no initial contact to the sport. Most people who love wrestling wrestled or they have someone close to them be it a son, daughter, nephew, niece, grandson, granddaughter, ect.  We have very few fans who never wrestled & who aren't connected through family/good friends. 

Moving on....

Saw a lot of debate and discussion over wrestling teams either not sending varsity to tournaments, scratching wrestlers at weights & all of the medical forfeits. This isn't good for wrestling. No matter how you spin it, this isn't good for wrestling. 

I made the argument that wrestling needs to realize its marquee value. Wrestling seems to talk out of both sides of its mouth. I can name many coaches who stand on a pulpit preaching to the community to get out and go to events. That we need asses in the seats of our tournaments.  Then these same coaches keep their best wrestlers at home.  Does that make sense?  When the list of teams for these events came out, I know I wasn't the only one to start dreaming up all of the great matches that were bound to happen.  Yet they didn't. 

Soldier Salute, Midlands & to a lesser extent Southern Scuffle, the term I kept hearing again and again, "Watered down."  Well, I will say this.  If who could have showed up, would have showed up, that's a term I wouldn't have heard.  

Many seem to think the solution here is to do away with having three major tournaments, and to even do away with two major tournaments, and only have one major tournament during this time of year.  Which will eventually lead me to another point.  I don't think we need to narrow it down to one major tournament. I think as long as we have everyone show up who an show up, all three of these will be the marquee events they're meant to be. 

Why aren't they showing up? 

I heard a lot of, "already wrestled in really tough competition, don't need to do it again. Need a break."  I empathize with that I really do.  On the same hand I find it sorta funny to hear from a sport that prides it self on being so tough.  Yet the truth of the matter is, the more competition you face, especially in a tournament where you could face a multitude of ranked competition, the more likely you are to get hurt/injured.  We don't wanna see anyone get hurt and hamper their chances during the post-season because of it. 

Which in a way gets me back around to the point I said I'd eventually get to. 

Soldier Salute took place in Coralville, Iowa.  Iowa Hawkeye country.  Xtreme arena is only a 2 mile drive from Carver Hawkeye arena.  I was expecting at least the finals to be sold out. Xtreme only seats a little over 5,000.  There's no reason that the place shouldn't have been packed. Yet throughout the entire tournament, I don't think it even got to half full.  I kept asking myself why.  This is Iowa.  All of Iowa's varsity wrestled in this tournament. I've been around the black & gold faithful since I was 7 years old. I know how most of the fans operate. They come to see their guys with little interest in other wrestlers from other teams, other than looking at sheets of paper real quick to see if who they're competing against is "good" or not.  So why if everything seemed to be in place, was the attendance not as good as it should have been? 

And frankly I don't know how attendance was at the Scuffle or at Midlands.  Was it better? Same issue? 

If same issue, maybe it has something to do with the fact that all three of these tournaments are held right smack after Christmas? An expensive holiday where many have already spent $$ on gifts and travel.  It's a thought.  


Is a solution to some of these issues shortening the season? I think it could be. It's awkward to hear that coming from me, considering how much I love wrestling, but I do feel the season is too long.  5 months is a long season. Some of these wrestlers by the time it is said and done will have over 50 matches. At this level of wrestling, that's a lot.  You're never going to get completely away from injuries, but I do think that a shortened season would help to lessen them dramatically.  I'd love to see collegiate wrestling for NCAA DI, DII, DIII, NAIA, NJCAA & Women's become a one semester sport.  Start in January go till middle of April.  It'd take some adjustments but I think for a multitude of reasons, the pros would far outweigh the cons. 

Whew....we haven't even covered the actual wrestling yet....You still with me? 


I saw a lot of great things at Soldier Salute.  A lot of great wrestling. First and foremost I have to say women's wrestling has come a long way. I remember the first time I ever saw women's wrestling live. It was in St. Paul, Minnesota in 2001. To be quite frank, it was nothing more than extremely strong women outmuscling women who weren't as strong as them. That was 90% of the matches.  Thursday and Friday, I saw an abundance of skill, technique and strategy. Women's wrestling has certainly arrived 

Dynamite Comes in Small Packages 

Sterling Dias isn't very big and she isn't very tall, but she's extremely tough.  She just plowed through the competition, not surrendering a single point throughout the whole tournament. They say what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas but I'm glad in this particular instance an exception was made. She's pure dynamite and I'm glad to see the Hawks have picked her up. 

McBryde Sisters Impress 

Who I had the most fun watching during the tournament on the women's side of things was the McBryde sisters of Life. While Latifah has the best tournament placing 1st, Jamilah placing 4th & Zaynah placing 5th were fun to watch too. They all have a great sense of mat awareness & excellent positioning. The way they're able to create openings and force action where it doesn't even seem to be is quite impressive too. The more training they get & the stronger they become, the more of a threat they'll be. 

Lee Vs Ayala Sparks!! 

A lot was said regarding the Drake Ayala Vs Spencer Lee match.  Heard many opinions and many speculations, but not sure if any of them got down to the nitty gritty of it. In my personal opinion, I was glad to see Ayala want to go toe to toe with Lee. I like that no fear, fighting spirit.  It amazes me how many took shots at him post getting pinned.  Not many look good against Lee. He's a three time NCAA DI champion, who will soon by Iowa's first ever four timer. He makes most of his opponents look stupid. Ayala will fill in next season & he'll contend for All American honors right away.

Now, you want a crazy take of mine??

I'm not real serious about this. In fact I'm not serious about it at all, but I don't hear anyone else suggesting it, so I will.  Maybe the hand on the face, shove & words exchanged was nothing more than a little showmanship to keep the stakeholders happy. You know the announcement before the Soldier Salute? UFC sponsors Iowa wrestling. Well President Dana White & sportsmanship are diametrically opposed. He ain't much for a handshake, pat on the back & a "good match."  Maybe Iowa simply wanted to impress a shareholder.  It's a stretch, but this day in age, who knows? 

Cowboy Looking Tough 

Spencer Lee is the meanest, toughest & nastiest bull in collegiate wrestling today & hats off to Wyoming's Jore Volk wrestling him as well as he did. He got bucked off a numerous amount of times as the bull threw him all around the corral. Nevertheless he kept getting back up for more. Anxious to see how Volk ends up doing the rest of the season. 

Sanchez Illustrates Race for EIWA Title Will Be All Out War 

There were a lot of overlooked upsets that happened at the Soldier Salute.  I don't know if many realize it, but for example, two time NCAA qualifier Andrew Cerniglia of Navy went 0-2. Just goes to show you how brutal and unforgiving this sport can be at times.  Another upset was Army's Julian Sanchez upending 2022 EIWA champ Matt Kazimir 6-4 in the semi-finals.  If you take a look at the EIWA standings at 141, you can tell how tough of a bracket it will end up being by season's end. 

Murin Looks Great, while Rathjen Proves Himself An Excellent Replacement in 23'-24' 

Man Max Murin is a fun wrestler to watch isn't it? The guy just seems to pull things out of nowhere. Many times throughout watching him this tournament I found myself saying, "How in THE Hell, did he do that?"  The guy gives absolutely nothing and fights like a mad dog in all positions. With that said, I'll say this.  Yes, I did speak my mind on the fact that Salute, Midlands and Scuffle did have a lot of backups/redshirts.  That doesn't mean that I can't see the positives within it though. For an all around wrestling fan like me, someone that follows the entire sport the way I do, there are advantages to seeing backups & redshirts at tournaments.  It lets you know what to look forward to in the seasons to come.  At the same time I'm also really glad I got to see the starter in this case.  May I add that, but it's clear as day to me that Caleb Rathjen is going to fill in very nicely for the Hawks when Murin's eligibility is up. 

Speaking of Backups....

Iowa certainly isn't hurting for talent at 197, that's for sure! Both redshirt Kolby Franklin & backup Zach Glazier looked very good this tournament. Franklin ousted Glazier 4-3 in the semi-finals but this is a wrestle-off for next season that I believe will be one of the best in the country. That Glazier is something else. Just an absolute gorilla on the mat. A glacier of solid, frozen ice.  Extraordinarily strong.  He went out and muscled VMI's Tyler Mousaw  to his back for a quick first period fall & then threw Northern Iowa's Waytt Voelker around the mat like a ragdoll in a 12-3 major.  Neither Mousaw or Voelker are pushovers. Mousaw will contend for NCAA qualification this season & Voelker, a redshirt for Northern Iowa, is 15-2 on the season. 

Moving on to the Midlands....

Northwestern Wins Midlands! 

Throw your *'s at me all you want. That's fine. I'm well aware. It doesn't change the fact of how rewarding it was to see host Northwestern finally win their own tournament. 58 Midlands championships & finally the Wildcats keep a title at home. You can only face the competition that is put in front of you & that's exactly what Northwestern did. 

125 lbs Take Aways

Eric Barnett of Wisconsin sure looked good.  The senior Badger who usually waits until the post season to start his engine, came into Chicago full throttle!  Looked tremendous in the finals Vs 2021 NCAA runner-up Brandon Courtney of Arizona State. Handled the Sun Devil 6-2.  Speaking of Courtney, it was nice to see him back but it makes one question, what's gonna happen in the months ahead? We have a CKLV champion & a Midlands runner-up, same weight, same team. Makes things interesting doesn't it? 

Diego Sotelo, where in the heck did you come from!?!?!  He came out of nowhere, and I do mean he came out of NOWHERE!  Enters the Midlands tournament with an 0-3 record. Get's annihilated 15-3 in the opening round by Michigan's Jack Medley. Then win after win, after win, ends up with the bronze medal. Unbelievable. A 5:34 fall over Penn's Ryan Miller & an 11-3 major over Lehigh's Sheldon Seymour.  I knew good things were happening at Harvard, but this took me by complete surprise. 

Pennsylvania's Michael Colaiocco Makes a Statement 

What a performance by Pennsylvania's Michael Colaiocco! Quarter finals knocks off All American Taylor LaMont of Utah Valley 8-1.  Then in the semi-finals has a wild match with two time All American Lucs Byrd of Illinois, knocking off the Illini 15-13.  Then in the finals, wrestles a tactical match to defeat two time All American Chris Cannon of Northwestern 3-2. Very impressive. 

Saul Ervin Takes a 6-5 record to a 5th Place Finish 

 With Cole Matthews of Pittsburgh doing Cole Matthews things at 141 lbs, what stuck out to me most in this bracket was the performance of SIUE's Saul Ervin.  The Cougar up to the start of Midlands didn't have much going for him this season, but man did he look good in Evanston. A 1:54 fall over Wisconsin's Joe Zargo, he then upset Jesse Vasquez of Arizona State 6-3 in the semi-finals. Ended his day with a 9-4 decision over Ryan Michaels of Pittsburgh. 

Yahya Thomas Champion of Champions 

It was very rewarding for me as a fan to see Yahya Thomas wrestle so well & for his efforts be awarded the Ken Kraft Champion of Champions. When this guy opens up and just lets it fly, he's hard to beat.  He proved that in a 3-2 semi-final over Doug Zapf of Pennsylvania & a 4-3 final over Kyle Parco of Arizona State.  Yianni Diakomihalis, Paniro Johnson, Austin Gomez, the name Yahya Thomas belongs right up there with them. 

Trevor Chumbley Contributes to Northwestern's Team Title 

In order for a team to win a team title, it takes a lot of individual efforts. That includes guys stepping it up and wrestling better than expected. That's exactly what Trevor Chumbley did.  He came in and as Larry the Cable Guy would say, he "got er done."  An 8-0 major decision over Cleveland State's Marcus Robinson, he then took out Garrett Model 6-1 in the semi-finals.  Finished out the day with a dominating 8-0 major over Wisconsin's Drew Scharenbrock. 

Nathan Lackman's Performance Overshadowed By Other DIII Wrestler 

There was a Division III wrestler who stole the show at the Midlands & as a result, Rhode Island's Nathan Lackman's respectable performance gets overlooked.  Nevertheless the Anchorman knocked off both Central Michigan's Tyler Hubbard as well as Hofstra's Lucas Revano in route to an eventual 6th place finish. 

Ed Ruth, Signed, Sealed and Delivered 

Illinois' Ed Ruth is proving himself to be every bit as good as the brochure said he would be.  Now at 15-1, he adds a Midlands championship to his resume. An impressive 4-1 victory over Pennsylvania's Nick Incontrera in the finals. 

DIII Well Represented by UW-Whitewater's Jaritt Shinhoster 

Again throw the *'s all you want, fact of the matter remains, Jaritt Shinhoster beat everyone put in front of him up through the semi-finals & then gave Pittsburgh's Reece Heller all he could handle in a 7-5 match.  The Warhawk defeated Neil Antrassian of Virginia 7-3 in the quarter-finals. Antrassian for the record came back to take 3rd & he's 15-3 on the season.  Shinhoster then defeated Brian Soldano of Rutgers 7-0 in the semis. Soldano who is also 15-3 on the season, came back to take 4th.  So no, Shinhoster wasn't defeating Max Dean or Aaron Brooks here, but nevertheless the DIII wrestler upended two solid NCAA qualifier material DI wrestlers to take home a Midlands silver. 

Lots of Positive Takeaways From 197 Midlands 

Zach Braunagel of Illinois Vs Braxton Amos of Wisconsin was an interesting final between two All American hopefuls. What was really fun to watch here, was the performance of Andrew Davison of Northwestern. The Wildcat has lived within the shadow of his more successful brother for quite sometime & how recompensing it was to see him finally have a moment of glory of his own.  In round two drops a hard fought 3-2 decision to Pennsylvania's Cole Urbas.  Then just plows through the competition, including upending Luke Stout of Princeton 7-4, who teched Urbas 20-4! How's that for parity!?!?! 

HWT Midlands Also With Positive Takeaways 

Lucas Davison must have been exposed to a little bit of gamma radiation as a kid, but I just cannot get over how incredibly powerful and strong he his. I thought freshman Dayton Pitzer of Pittsburgh, another incredibly powerful wrestler in his own right might match him in terms of strength. Nope.  The wildcat proved superior in a 4-0 decision.  It was also very rewarding to see Colton McKiernan take a 5th place finish. The Cougar has been dying for something of major significance to happen for him and THIS.WAS.IT. I would expect this success to be the psychological advantage that his career has been in such dire need of and I would expect it to have a positive result on his performance the rest of the season. 

Now for the Scuffle....

Matt Ramos Continues to Illustrate How Wise Move Down to 125 Has Been 

A CKLV runner-up & now a Midlands Champion, sophomore Matt Ramos has made it more than obviously that the move down to 125 lbs has been beneficial for him. The other guy that stood out to me this tournament was Stanford's Nico Provo. Drops a 3-1 match to Oklahoma State's Trevor Mastrogiovanni & then comes back through the consolations to eventually avenge that loss 9-3 for 3rd place. He also nearly majored Stevo Poulin 10-3 along the way.  Someone let Bernard Muir know that talent his school produces that he obviously ignores. 

Palmer With Another Impressive Scuffle Finish 

We all knew going into this thing that Daton Fix was gonna walk out champion, but Chattanooga's Brayden Palmer being his finals opponent was not a guarantee. 3rd last season, this is the second time in his career that Palmer has stepped it up and performed very well at this tournament. Must be something about having George McIntyre there in the flesh cheering you on. Palmer with a very impressive 7-4 victory over Ramazan Attasauov of Iowa State in the quarter-finals & even more impressive sticking Aaron Nagao of Minnesota in 2:36 in the semis.  

I was pretty comfortable thinking that Attasauov would be the Cyclone's starter this year, but it was Zach Redding who finished 5th to Attasaouv's 7th. Maybe things aren't as finalized in Ames as I once thought they were. 

Andrew Alirez A First For Northern Colorado? 

I don't know for sure, but I believe Andrew Alirez became the first wrestler from Northern Colorado to ever win a Southern Scuffle title. Don't hold me to that, but I believe he is.  Watching him perform the way he did here, I honestly think he could win the NCAA title this year. He's on fire.  In that case, I know for a fact he'd be the first Bear to ever win an NCAA DI title. 

March, Marches to Title at 149

If you've been reading my stuff for a while, you know that I've been talking for a long time now about how good Kellyn March is despite his record & mishaps. How rewarding it was to see him show the world what it is I knew all along.  A 9-3 victory over MAC champion Quinn Kinner of Rider in the semis, he was able to outlast Victor Voinovich and his tremendous gas tank in a 5-3 decision in the finals. 

As we move on to 157 lbs, have to comment on the tremendous intestinal fortitude and tenacity of Stanford's Jaden Abas. Comes in here and suffers a heartbreaking 3-1 loss to redshirt Michael Gioffre of Virginia, then rallies win after win to eventual come back for 3rd. Some would have folded after such a depressing loss. Abas meanwhile put his nose to the grind & just kept winning. 

Franek wins Second Scuffle Title as Stanford Proves too Much for Gfeller 

A great final between North Dakota State's Jared Franek & Purdue's Kendall Coleman.  Both of these grapplers are two of the finest wrestlers in NCAA DI yet to make All American status & I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see both of them on the podium in March.  

Kaden Gfeller of Oklahoma State went into this tournament a three time Southern Scuffle Place-winner with finishes of 1st-2nd-2nd.  He Looked to be in route for a fourth Scuffle finals appearance when Charlie Darracott of Stanford stopped him dead in his tracks with a huge 3-2 upset.  As Gfeller worked his way back to the consolation finals, he was once again stopped dead in his tracks by a Stanford wrestler. This time it was Daniel Cardenas who defeated the Cowboy 4-2! 

Griffith Wins Scuffle Title #2 with Challenge from Caliendo 

Stanford's Shane Griffith picked up his second Southern Scuffle title with a gallant challenge from North Dakota State's Mikey Caliendo who held him to a 3-2 decision.  The other wrestler who stuck out to me here this tournament was Missouri's Cam Steed. After dropping an 8-3 match to Caliendo in round two, he came back strong to finish in 4th place.  

Triston Wills Has Highest Scuffle Finish For Little Rock 

One of the things very rewarding about this tournament was seeing Little Rock have some success.  Triston Wills wrestled very well including notable victories over both Dominic Solis of Maryland & Julian Broderson of Iowa State. It was a shame so many of the matches in this bracket ended in Medical Forfeits, but it nevertheless still cool to see Little Rock with a bronze medalist. 

Travis Wittlake Back on Top Again 

Now it wasn't the toughest of competition, but nevertheless Travis Wittlake did win a Southern Scuffle title & within doing so hopefully found himself again. It'll be interesting to see how it effects his confidence throughout the remainder of the season. 

Pentz the Pinner!! 

A master of the headlock & a master of the fall, Owen Pentz poses a danger to absolutely anyone he steps on the mat with. Ethan Laird of Rider found that out the hard way when the Bison locked up him for a 6:03 fall. Overall have to comment on how impressed I was with North Dakota State over all this tournament.  Three champs, two finalist & two other place-winners for a total of 7 on the award stand. Very impressive. 

Zach Elam Wins Scuffle Title

Zach Elam did exactly what I knew he'd so. He came in here & without much trouble took the Southern Scuffle title.  What I have to comment on is the performance of Duke's Jonah Nisenbaum. I know at this point I probably sound like a redundant broken record, but I can't help. He's one of the best stories in collegiate wrestling right now & I want the whole world to know it. Awesome to see him representing the Blue Devils, with a 5th place finish. 


I swear to you most of my writings are not nearly this long.  We're almost done with my Week 10 review...but one more tournament to go over. 

Cooper Willis Upends All American to Win Citrus Title 

Augsburg freshman Cooper Willis has himself a great weekend.  An 8-4 victory over NYU All American Cooper Pontelondolfo in the finals of the Citrus Invitational. 

Schreiner's Austin Cooley Wins Citrus Title 

Not to be confused with West Virginia's Austin Cooley (who ironically enough is also a 197'er) Schreiner's Austin Cooley picked up a Citrus Invitational championship this weekend. The Allen, Texas native scored a 2:02 fall over two time NCAA DII qualifier Bryce Walker of UNC-Pembroke in the finals. 

RayShawn Dixon Pulls off Huge Upset 

Saving the best of the upsets of the Citrus Invitational for last, RayShawn Dixon of Ferrum pulled of a huge upset defeating two time NCAA DIII All American & 2022 DIII finalist Tyler Kim of Augsburg 4-3 in the finals. Huge win for Panther! 

Non DI Talent at the Midlands = The 1970's

 

Like the 1960's the 1970's had a handful of times where non-DI talent got to shine at the Midlands championships. Today we'll be looking at some of their most memorable moments. 

Tanniehill & Peterson Make For An All NAIA Final at 167

It's one thing for a non-DI wrestler to make the Midlands finals, but when both wrestlers are non-DI we have ourselves a very rare event! I've written about both Jim Tanniehill & John Peterson many times throughout this history of Johnnythompsonnum1.  Both were featured in "Gone, Lost & Forgotten" when I covered this history of both Winona State & UW-Stout, two programs we unfortunately no longer have.  Alabama born Tanniehill between the NAIA & NCAA Division I earned a total of 6 All American honors. Along with edging Peterson here by a score of 3-2, he went on to participate in four more Midlands championships, taking one 3rd and three titles.  Peterson's story is one I never grow tired of. 

John Peterson spent the majority of his career in the shadow of his older, more successful brother Ben. While Ben was a hero at the High School level, who everyone, everywhere sought after, John never even qualified for state.  Yet when Ben went on to become a superstar at Iowa State, John quietly went to UW-Stout.  It wasn't until his senior season, that things finally began to come together for him. The first of which was here, making the finals at the Midlands. He went on to place 5th at the NAIA championships & then went on to become an Olympic legend in his own right, earning both Silver & Gold medals.  Not bad for a guy that never made state in high school.  By the way, post college he won a Midlands title in 1971. 

Ron Ray Makes Midlands Semi-Finals at 167 in 1972 

Raised on the west side of Chicago, long before he became a national champion for the Oklahoma State Cowboys , Ron Ray was first a Ram for Wilbur Wright Junior College.  After winning his first of what would eventually become two NJCAA titles, he entered the 1972 Midlands championships as a sophomore making the semi-finals before eventually taking 6th place.  Like Peterson mentioned above, Ray is yet another wrestler who shined far brighter beyond High School, than he ever did in.  The best he ever did at the Illinois state championships was 5th. 

Ken Martin Takes Out Michigan All American Twice to Place 5th 

If you knew the wrestling career of Ken Martin, one thing was for certain, it was always exciting.  A two time 4th placer at the Wisconsin High School State championships, Martin went on to a stellar NAIA career at UW-Parkside. After finishing as the NAIA runner-up in 1971 as a freshman, he lost a controversial semi-final match at the NAIA championships in 1972 as a sophomore.  During the action, the scores table forgot to award Martin two backpoints.  As a result he ended up losing the match by 1 point to the eventual champion as he came back to take third.  Martin would win the NAIA title in 1973 as a junior. 

Going into his senior season, he made the Midlands quarter-finals where he was paired up with Michigan All American Jeff Guyton. Not only did Martin win the match, he majored Guyton 10-2.  He would later meet up with the Wolverine again, this time defeating him 7-3 for 5th place. 

DII Roadrunners Mow Through Competition at 1977 Midlands 

In 1987 The Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners became an NCAA Division I institution. Up until that point, they were one of the toughest NCAA Division II institutions in the country.  Not only did many of their wrestlers dominate at the DII level, many of them dominated at the DI level. A perfect example, was John Azevedo & Franc Affentranger at the 1977 Midlands.  Now maybe to some, considering what both had already done in their careers, it may not be all that fair to include them on a list like this.  After all Azevedo had started off his career at Oklahoma. He was in many ways, definitely good enough to be a DI wrestler.  A three time NCAA DII champ, he won a DI title in 1980.  Much the same could be said about Affentranger.  He entered this particular Midlands championships, having already won a DII title & having placed 3rd at the DI championships.  Nevertheless he was a DII wrestler, who earned a 3rd place finish, while in route upending two time BIG 10 champ Steve Hunt of Iowa in a tiebreaker.  Azevedo would lose to Mike McArthur, a two time All American for Minnesota in the finals.  Azevedo would then win a Midlands title of his own in 1979. 

Mike Rossetti Earns a Midlands Medal For DIII

An NCAA DIII champion for what is today known as The College of New Jersey in 1978, Mike Rossetti entered the Midlands championships to test his skills against the DI competition.  In round two, he faced Iowa's Mark Mysnyk whom he defeated 10-1. Ironically enough Mysnyk went on to become an orthopedic surgeon who once removed a large cyst from my sister's hand. At the time I had just began my love affair with this great sport & as a result Dr. Mysnyk gave my Dad a book he helped to author entitled Winning Wrestling Moves. With that little tangent off the side, getting back to Rossetti....He would then defeat future Illinois All American Kevin Puebla 3-1, before dropping a tough match to Wisconsin's Jim Hanson.  In the consolation semi-finals, he edged Jim Lord of Iowa State, a high school legend in the Hawkeye state who won three state titles for Lisbon.  Rossetti then dropped a very tight 4-3 decision to Mike Mangianti, another Midlands legend, featured in part 1 of my series entitled Post Grads At the Midlands. Rossetti finished in 4th place.  He would go on to win NCAA DIII title #2 later that season. 


Make sure to check out Non DI Talent at the Midlands = the 1980's.   As the 60's & 70's were quite interesting, the 80's were a whole new ball game.