Northwestern University Athletics
2004 Midlands Championships Notables
12/9/2004 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Midlands Notables in PDF Format
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Dec. 9, 2004
EVANSTON, Ill. - With the 2004 Midlands Championships less than three weeks away, NUsports.com offers a look into some notable storylines.
- By claiming the gold medal in the 2004 Olympics, Cael Sanderson continued a 28-year tradition that began back in the 1972 Olympics. In the `72 Munich Games, Dan Gable and Ben Peterson were the first Midlands competitors to win Olympic Gold. In the seven Olympics since then (1980 boycott not included) a Midlands participant has won an Olympic gold.
- 36 Midlands wrestlers have gone on to win Olympic medals starting with the 1968 Games in Mexico City.
-Ed Banach -- 1984
-Bruce Bamgartner -- 1984, '88, ` 92, '96
-Lou Banach -- 1984
-Don Behm -- 1968
-Tom Brands -- 1996
-Terry Brands -- 2000
-Chris Campbell -- 1992
-Nate Carr -- 1988
-Kendall Cross -- 1996
-Barry Davis -- 1984
-Stan Dziedzic -- 1976
-Steve Fraser -- 1984
-Dan Gable -- 1972
-Rulon Gardner -- 2000, '04
-Matt Ghaffari -- 1996
-Russ Hellickson -- 1976
-Sam Henson -- 2000
-Zeke Jones -- 1992
-Kevin Jackson -- 1992
-Dennis Koslowski -- 1988, '92
-Randy Lewis -- 1984
-Matt Lindland -- 2000
-Jim Martinez -- 1984
-Lincoln McIlravy -- 2000
-Kenny Monday -- 1988, `92
-Ben Peterson -- 1972, `76
-John Peterson -- 1972, '76
-Andy Rein -- 1984
-Cael Sanderson -- 2004
-Townsend Saunders -- 1996
-Bill Scherr -- 1988
-Dave Schultz -- 1984
-Mark Schultz -- 1984
-Brandon Slay -- 2000
-Chris Taylor -- 1972
-Bobby Weaver -- 1984
- Only 16 wrestlers are members of the prestigious "20 in 4" Club -- at least 20 Midlands wins in their first four Midlands tournaments. The latest addition to the esteemed club is Tommy Rowlands of Ohio State, who won his 20th match in the 2003 meet. There are two active wrestlers who could join this exclusive group in 2004: Jon Trenge of Lehigh has 16 wins through his first three Midlands and Cliff Moore, currently of Hawkeye WC, has 17 wins in his first three tournaments.
- The 42nd Midlands will produce the 8,000th individual entry into the tournament. This 8,000th will be recognized from among the 160 first-time entrants. The 7,500th entry was recognized in the 2001 Championships.
- Illinois -- the defending 2003 champion -- appears to be the favorite going in to this year's tournament. But the Illini will be pushed by Iowa State and Iowa, among others. Over 60 teams will be represented in this year's Midlands.
- The 2004 glamour weight class appears to be 157 lbs., which has an all-star cast ready to battle for the title. The defending Midlands champion, Alex Tirapelle of Illinois, defending NCAA champion, Matt Gentry of Stanford, and NCAA runner-up Jake Percival of Ohio University highlight the field. Trent Paulson of Iowa State was the 2003 Midlands champion at 149 lbs. and has since bumped up to the 157 lb. weight class. Muzaffar Abdurakhmanov of American University is one of the top foreign-born wrestlers (a native of Tashkent, Uzbekistan) in the field and is currently undefeated in 2004 with a big win over Percival. Matt Lebe of West Virginia and Brian Cobb of Schultz WC also placed at last year's meet.
