Northwestern University Athletics
2004 Midlands Will Determine The Early-Season Leaders
12/8/2003 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
NUsports.com offers an early look at the favorites in the 10 weight classes based on team and individual entries.
125 lbs. -- Five of the top nine collegians will be entered into this weight class, with Kyle Ott (Illinois), as the lead-of-the-pack and favorite to win. Other competitors include Nick Simmons (Michigan State), Joe Dubuque (Indiana), Matt Pitts (Tennessee-Chattanooga), and Efren Ceballos (California-Bakersfield). Midland's place winners from 2003 returning are John Velez, Northwestern (4th), and Adam Smith, Penn State (7th).
133 lbs. -- Defending champion Zach Roberson, an Iowa State graduate, may return for Sunkist Kids in this division. But 2003 runner-up Mark Jayne (Illinois) may be the man to beat. Other challengers are Matt Sanchez (Cal-Bakersfield), Sam Hiatt (Northern Illinois), Dave Hoffman (Virginia Tech) and Josh Keefe (Tennessee-Chattanooga).
141 lbs. -- Nate Gallick (Iowa State) appears to be the number one collegian. Challengers are Michigan State's Andy Simmons, West Virginia's Brandon Lauer and Stanford's Brad Metzler. Others challenging for the title include Doug McGraw (Pennsylvania), Michael Martin (Illinois), Max Metzler (Howard), Rick Laforge (Hofstra) and Ryan Lang (Northwestern).
149 lbs. -- A wide-open weight class that will sort itself out in what appears to be a very even field. Coming in as the favorites are number one Trent Paulson (Iowa State) and Jon Masa (Hofstra), who placed third last year. Nipping at their heels will be Ty Eustice (Iowa), Jeff Harrison (Northern Iowa), Josh Wooten (Northern Illinois), Anton Dietzen (Illinois) and James Woodall (Penn State).
157 lbs. -- This division stands out as the loaded weight. All eight 2003 place winners are expected to return. This includes Midlands champion, Alex Tirapelle (Illinois), and Matt Gentry (Stanford) and the defending NCAA champion. The rest of the class includes Jake Percival (Ohio University), Travis Paulson (Iowa State), Matt Lebe (West Virginia), Brian Cobb (Schutz Wrestling Club), Paul Siemon (Hofstra), Derek Zinck (Lehigh) and Joe Johnston (Iowa). Chris Bono of the Sunkist Kids, with 36 career Midland wins may also return.
165 lbs. -- The defending champion, David Bolyard (Central Michigan), will be tough to beat. However, if 2004 NCAA champion Troy Letters (Lehigh) enters, he would be ranked on top. Other competitors include Nick Possolano (Iowa State), Matt Ellis (Oregon State), Matt Palmer (Columbia), Chris Stith (Virginia Tech), Jon Sioredas (Tennessee-Chattanooga), Mike Patrovich (Hofstra) and Zach Fryling (West Virginia).
174 lbs. -- If 10-time winner Joe Williams enters, he would be the undisputed favorite to win this weight class, as he recently won the 2004 Sunkist Open. Otherwise, the number one seed could be Eric Hauan (Northern Iowa). Others that might finish high include Pete Friedl (Illinois), Shane Webster (Oregon), Travis Frick (Lehigh), Andrew Roy (Rutgers), Mitch Hancock (Central Michigan), J. J. Holmes (Eastern Michigan), Imad Kharbush (Stanford) and Jake Herbert (Northwestern).
184 lbs. -- Defending Midlands and NCAA Champion Greg Jones (West Virginia) is the solid favorite here. His challengers are Paul Bradley (Iowa), Brian Glynn (Illinois), Kurt Backes (Iowa State), Eric Bradley (Penn State), Tyson Thivierge (Chattanooga Wrestling Club), and Dan Pitsch (Oregon State) and Ed Magrsy (Eastern Michigan).
197 lbs. -- 2002 Champion Jon Trenge (Lehigh) is expected to return and would be the obvious favorite. Trenge has 16 wins in his first three Midlands and could join the prestigious "20 in Four Club" with four wins in 2004. Only sixteen men have accomplished this feat out of almost 8,000 Midlands participants. His challengers are Emmett Willson, a Montana Northern graduate and 2003 Champion, J. D. Bergman (Ohio State), Scott Barker (Oregon), Chris Stretkowicz (Hofstra), Matt Monteiro (Cal-Bakersfield), Sean Stender (Northern Iowa), Pat DeGain (Indiana), and Tyrone Byrd (Illinois).
Heavyweight -- The big boys offer yet another wide-open weight class. If 2003 Champ Tommy Rowlands returns, he will be the favorite. Other competitors are Chad Lamer (Hawkeye WC), Matt Feist (Pennsylvania), Scott Coleman (Iowa State), Brent Miller (West Virginia), Mike Faust (Virginia Tech), Bode Ogunwole (Harvard), Bill Stouffer (Central Michigan), and Mike Behnke (Illinois).
