Northwestern University Athletics
Session Two Midlands Championships Notables
12/29/2001 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Dec. 29, 2001
EVANSTON, Ill. -
* Olympic gold medallist Rulon Gardner was named an Honorary Midlands Champion prior to the start of the evening rounds.
* 125-pound Cuban native Alexis Vila (Unattached) is two wins away from his first Midlands title. Vila is a two-time World Champion and an Olympic bronze medallist from the 1996 Atlanta Games. Vila is currently a member of the Michigan State coaching staff.
* With a 15-6 decision over Josh Janson (Ohio State), Yoshi Nakamura (Penn) becomes the 12th member of the "20 in 4" club. In four Midlands appearances he has compiled a 20-5 record.
* Joe Williams (Sunkist Kids) moves into a tie for second place with Bruce Baumgartner on the Midlands all-time wins list. Williams earned his 43rd win with a 13-5 win over Tyler Nixt (Iowa) in the quarterfinals.
* 197-pounder Cael Sanderson remained undefeated in both collegiate and Midlands competition with a quarterfinal technical fall win over Jon Trenge (Lehigh). He needs one more win to become only the second wrestler in Midlands history to enter the "20 in 4" club with an unblemished record. He is currently 19-0 in Midlands competition.
* Unseeded Tyson Thivierge (Montana State Northern) upset No. 2 Damion Hahn (Minnesota) in the 184-pound quarterfinals with an overtime victory.
* Mitch Clark (Ohio Int. WC) became the 13th member of the "20 in 4" club with a 16-2 quarterfinal win over Jason Cooley (Oregon State). Clark is now 20-3 at the Midlands.
* There have been 72 pins thus far in the championships. Andy Bowlby of Oregon State had the fastest pin in Day One action when he downed Marc Baukecht (East Stroudsburg) in 29 seconds. Eleven wrestlers have notched multiple falls.
