Northwestern University Athletics
40th Midlands Weight-By-Weight Breakdown
12/3/2002 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Dec. 3, 2002
EVANSTON, Ill. - With the 40th Midlands Championships less than a month away, the wrestlers expected to fare well in late December are becoming clearer. Here's an early look at the weight-by-weight breakdown of this year's tournament:
125 Pounds: Luke Eustice (Iowa) leads the 125-pound class. Eustice finished fifth in the 2001 Midlands and second at the NCAA Championships. He is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation. There are ten other competitors in the field ranked in the top 20, including Chris Rodrigues (North Carolina), A.J. Grant (Michigan), Kyle Ott (Illinois), Travis Lee (Cornell), Nick Simmons (Michigan State), Seth Lisa (West Virginia) and Efren Ceballos (Cal-State Bakersfield) also are in the mix.
133 Pounds: Cliff Moore (Iowa), the 2001 champion, returns to defend his title. He also finished sixth at the 2002 NCAA Championships. Fifteen of the top-20 wrestlers have entered, creating a strong field. Some of the other contenders include Zach Roberson (Iowa State), Matte Azevedo (Sunkist Kids), Foley Dowd (Michigan), Cory Cooperman (Lehigh), Phillip Mansueto (Cleveland State), Urijah Faber (Cal-Davis), Brandon Lauer (West Virginia) and Josh Moore (Penn State).
141 Pounds: Aaron Holker (Iowa State), the defending NCAA champion, is the favorite. He is currently the top-ranked wrestler in the country. Holker notched a fifth-place finish in last year?s Midlands. Others expected to make a run are Shane Cunanan (West Virginia), Dylan Long (Northern Iowa), Dana Holland (Arizona State), Doug McGraw (Pennsylvania), Scott Moore (Penn State), Luke Moffit (Iowa), Cal Ferry (Illinois), Jeff Ratliff (Ohio State) and Clark Forward (Michigan).
149 Pounds: Four-time Midlands champion and nine-time medalist John Fisher (Sunkist Kids) is slated to return. Dwight Hinson (Sunkist Kids) is back after placing in his first six trips to the Midlands. Other contenders include Billy Smith (West Virginia), Ty Morgan (Central Michigan), John Masa (Hofstra), Ty Eustice (Iowa), Jodie Giuricich (Pennsylvania), Jon Masa (Hofstra), Dustin Manotti (Cornell) and Karl Nadolsky (Michigan State).
157 Pounds: Chris Bono (Sunkist Kids), a three-time Midlands champion, returns as the favorite. He is currently the top-ranked freestyle wrestler in the nation. Yoshi Nakamura, a graduate of Pennsylvania, is the defending champion. Others expected to compete for the title are Scott Owen (Northern Illinois), Gray Maynard (Michigan State), Matt Anderson (Iowa), Keaton Anderson (Ohio State), Derek Zinck (Lehigh), Alex Tirapelle (Illinois), David Bolyard (Central Michigan) and Adam Britt (Virginia Military).
165 Pounds: Joe Heskitt (Sunkist Kids) and Matt Lackey (Illinois) know each other all too well and could meet again this year. Heskitt knocked off Lackey in the 2001 Midlands and 2002 NCAA finals. Heskitt is undefeated in Midlands competition. Some others to watch are Troy Letter (Lehigh), Johnny Clark (Ohio State), Noel Thompson (Hofstra), Chris Vecchio (Penn State), Drew Kelly (Northern Iowa), Oscar Santiago (Purdue) and Tom McMath (West Virginia).
174 Pounds: Joe Williams (Sunkist Kids) has owned this weight class for the last five years and he is the favorite again. Williams is shooting for a record ninth straight Midlands title. Greg Jones (West Virginia) won the NCAA title as a freshman and is expected to challenge for the title. Some other wrestlers in the hunt include Jeff Rusak (Old Dominion), Tyler Nixt (Iowa), Ryan Lange (Purdue), Matt Erwin (VMI), Brian Glynn (Illinois), Rashaad Evans (Michigan State), Mark Fee (Appalachian State) and Eric Hauan (Northern Iowa).
184 Pounds: This weight class is up for grabs. One of the favorites is Tyson Thivierege (Montana Northern), who reached the 2001 final as an unseeded competitor. Others are Jessman Smith (Iowa), Greg Parker (Princeton), Clint Wattenberg (Cornell), Jason Potter (Illinois), Mark Becks (Penn State), Ryan Wilman (West Virginia), Jordan Helm (Northern Iowa), Nick Ciarcia (Brown) and Ben Heizer (Northern Illinois).
197 Pounds: Lee Fulhart, a 2000 Midlands champion, is looking to regain his title after finishing second to Cael Sanderson last year. Some of the top competitors include Jon Trenge (Lehigh), Kyle Smith (Michigan), Chris Skretkowicz (Hofstra), Sean Stender (Northern Iowa), Anton Talamantes (Ohio State), Matt Greenberg (Cornell) and Nik Fekete (Michigan State).
Heavyweight: Defending champion Steve Mocco (Iowa) is the favorite. Mocco, who is ranked No. 1 in the nation, lost the NCAA title match to Tommy Rowlands (Ohio State), who is ranked No. 2. Five of the top-eight ranked wrestlers are scheduled to compete. Some other heavyweights to note are Kellan Fluckiger (Arizona State), Steve Kovach (Navy), Kevin Hoy (Air Force), Raphael Davis (Schultz Wrestling Club), Pat Cummins (Penn State) and Andy Bowlby (Oregon State). Mitch Clark (Ohio W.C.) is back after placing second last year, and Nick Preston (Sunkist Kids) has moved up from 197 pounds to compete.
