Northwestern University Athletics
Session One Complete at 47th Midlands Championships
12/29/2009 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Dec. 29, 2009
Midlands Championships Web site (updated brackets/team standings)
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern advanced three wrestlers through the pigtail and true first rounds of the 47th Midlands Championships--which began with 369 wrestlers--Tuesday at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Junior Andrew Nadhir (149) and freshman Kevin Bialka (157) posted solid wins in the opening round, while Brandon Precin remains alive in the 125-pound championship bracket wrestling unattached for Northwestern.
Session I saw the championship bracket wrestle up to the quarterfinals, where Session II, which begins at 7 p.m. Tuesday, will resume action. Visit the 2009 Midlands Championships Tournament Central page for complete brackets and team standings through Session I.
Defending NCAA and Midlands champion Iowa leads the team standings by four points over Iowa State, with Missouri, Central Michigan and Lehigh rounding out the top five following Session I.
Bialka, Nadhir and Levi Mele will wrestle in Tuesday evening's consolation round matches.
Wrestling unattached in this his redshirt season, Brandon Precin broke open what was a tight match in the second period to defeat Harvard's Steven Keith, 11-4, in the start of his Midlands title defense. Keith managed to tie the match at four with a takedown late in the second period before Precin escaped to enter the deciding period with a 5-4 lead.
The two-time All-American turned it on after that, however, getting a takedown out of a neutral start to begin the third and holding Keith for a three-point near-fall, giving Precin a 10-4 advantage. Precin tacked on the riding time point as he moved on to the next round.
Precin was in similar control in his next match, which came against Trevor Deardon of Iowa State. Precin repeatedly was able to turn Deardon for back points, amassing a double-digit lead before finishing Deardon off with a pin at 4:24 to advance to the quarterfinals.
Northwestern received a big win by Bialka at 157, who took on 12th-seeded and 15th-ranked Bryan Deutsch of Northern Illinois less than a month after being pinned by Deutsch in NU's dual match versus the Huskies. Trailing 2-1 in the first, Bialka gained control for a two-point takedown and held that lead into the second frame. Bialka reversed out of the bottom position to begin the second, going up 5-2, and was solid on defense the rest of the match in winning 9-5.
Bialka took on fifth-seeded Keegan Davis of Oregon State in round three, with Davis taking a 2-0 lead into the second period before notching a double-leg takedown in the second to go ahead 4-0. Bialka was unable to gain traction in the match and eventually moved into the consolation bracket with an 11-2 loss.
On the mat adjacent to Bialka's first match, Nadhir took on an oppornent in Northern Iowa's Jamal Lawrence whose height posed a potential matchup problem for the NU wrestler. After a tightly contested first period, Nadhir began going in for takedowns with ease, gaining leads of 9-4 and 11-5 on his way to a convincing 18-7 major decision.
Nadhir met Iowa State's seventh-seeded Mitch Mueller in his next bout where he entered the second period trailing 2-0. An escape pulled Nadhir to within 2-1, but Mueller got a hold of Nadhir's right leg in the final minute of the second and turned it into a takedown. Mueller was able to gain control one final time at the one-minute mark of the third period and held on to win 7-2, sending Nadhir into the wrestlebacks with only his third loss of the season.
Northwestern's first bout of the day featured Levi Mele, who lost a 13-0 major decision to John Deneen of Illinois. Mele bounced back in a big way in the wrestlebacks later in the day, however, notching a 7-6 victory over Izzy Montemayor of Northern Illinois. Mele trailed 6-4 in the third before scoring the final three points of the match, including a takedown in the closing 15 seconds to avenge a one-point loss to Montemayor in NU's Dec. 3 dual with the Huskies.
Mele's day continues Tuesday evening with a match against Caleb Flores of Northern Iowa.
Two Wildcats at 133 pounds suffered tough defeats to open the day, beginning with Robert Joyce against fifth-seeded Kyle Hutter of Old Dominion, wrestling unattached. Joyce took Hutter into the third set trailing by only two points, but the Monarch scored an escape and a quick takedown to build an 8-3 lead, spurring him to a 13-4 victory.
Also at 133 was senior Eric Metzler, who started the second period against American's Thomas Williams with an escape to go ahead 1-0. Following an injury stoppage for Metzler, Williams notched the match's first takedown to go up 2-1. After an escape for Metzler, Williams again gained control, amassing the riding time point to win the bout 5-2.
Metzler was later eliminated from the tournament in a 13-6 loss to Rider's Jimmy Kirchner.
At 165, Robert Kellogg squared off with top-seeded Andrew Howe of Wisconsin, an NCAA finalist a year ago. Howe gained control early with a near-fall, taking a 6-1 lead on his way to a decisive 18-7 victory. NU starter Brian Roddy was knocked into the consolation bracket by Purdue's third-seeded Luke Manuel at 174 in an 8-0 loss.
At 184 pounds, junior Aaron Jones fell behind 4-0 early and fell subject to a three-point near-fall in the second as North Central's Gabe Youel took a 9-0 lead. Jones battled back to within 9-6 on a reversal in the third period, but Youel's riding time advantage proved too much to overcome as Jones lost an 11-6 decision.
Facing second-seeded and third-ranked Hudson Taylor of Maryland, John Schoen (197) came out strong on defense, trailing Taylor 2-0 late into the second period before Taylor notched one more takedown to close the period. Schoen continued to battle in the third, nearing several takedowns until one final takedown by Taylor sealed the win and gave him an 8-0 victory.
Complete results for Northwestern results are available below:
Northwestern Results -- SESSION I
125
Brandon Precin (NU-UNATT) def. Steven Keith (HARV), 11-4
Brandon Precin (NU-UNATT) fall Trevor Deardon (ISU), 4:24
John Deneen (ILL) Maj. Dec. Levi Mele (NU), 13-0
Levi Mele (NU) dec. Izzy Montemayor (NIU), 7-6
133
Kyle Hutter (ODU) Maj. Dec. Robert Joyce (NU), 13-4
Jay Ivanco (CLARION) dec. Robert Joyce (NU), 7-2
Thomas Williams (AMER) dec. Eric Metzler (NU), 5-2
Jimmy Kirchner (RIDER) dec. Eric Metzler (NU), 13-6
149
Andrew Nadhir (NU) Maj. Dec. Jamal Lawrence (UNI), 18-7
#7 Mitch Mueller (ISU) dec. Andrew Nadhir (NU), 7-2
157
Kevin Bialka (NU) dec. #12 Bryan Deutsch (NIU), 9-5
#5 Keegan Davis (OSU) Maj. Dec. Kevin Bialka (NU), 11-2
#6 Jake Deitcher (MINN-UNATT) fall David Helmer (NU-UNATT), 4:26
Greg Burke (WIS) dec. David Helmer (NU-UNATT), 5-2
165
#1 Andrew Howe (WIS) Maj. Dec. Robert Kellogg (NU), 18-7
Eric Cubberly (CMU) Maj. Dec. Robert Kellogg (NU), 10-2
174
#3 Luke Manuel (PUR) Maj. Dec. Brian Roddy, Jr. (NU), 8-0
Evan Brown (DBQ) Maj. Dec. Brian Roddy, Jr. (NU), 12-0
Alex Caruso (LEH) fall Paul Jackson (NU), 2:06
Bryant Craft (MSU) TF Paul Jackson (NU0, 17-0 (4:40)
184
Zach Benzio (NIU) dec. Marcus Shrewsbury (NU), 8-2
Scott Hazen (UNI) dec. Marcus Shrewsbury (NU), 8-2
Gabe Youel (NO. CENTRAL) dec. Aaron Jones (NU), 11-7
Derek Ross (NE Kearney) fall Aaron Jones (NU), 1:31
197
#2 Hudson Taylor (UMD) Maj. Dec. John Schoen (NU), 8-0
Ryan Malo (Williams) fall John Schoen (NU), 4:39
