Northwestern University Athletics
Jason Tsirtsis Wins #Midlands52 Title at 149 lbs.
12/30/2014 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling, Ken Kraft Midlands Championships
EVANSTON, Ill. - Sophomore Jason Tsirtsis was crowned the Midlands champion at 149 lbs. with his 2-1 victory in the first tiebreak over third-ranked David Habat of Edinboro. The win gave Tsirtsis his first Midlands title and increased his 2014 record to 21-0. He won five matches during the two-day Midlands Championships with his final three all coming in the first tiebreak session.
Tsirtsis is the first Northwestern Midlands champion since Jason Welch won at 157 lbs. in 2012.
The Wildcats earned seven spots on the podium at the 2014 Midlands. Mike McMullan and Pierce Harger both finished runner-up in their respective weight classes. Harger won five matches, including a win over second-seeded Nick Moore of Iowa in the semifinals. McMullan added four victories to his season total.
Stevan Micic (unattached) finished third with a 4-1 win over Kory Mines (Edinboro), Alex Polizzi was fourth, Johnny Sebastian ended up fifth and Dominick Malone won his seventh-place match earlier in the day.
Northwestern finished third in the team standings with 106 points.
Complete coverage and results from the final day of the Midlands can be found below.
Awards
Dan Gable Most Outstanding Wrestler: Taylor Walsh (Indiana)
Art Kraft Champion of Champions: Mitchell Port (Edinboro)
Gorriaran Memorial: Taylor Walsh (Indiana) (four falls, 7:35)
Fastest Fall Award: Louis Mascola (Maryland, 0:22)
Individiual High Point Trophy: 29 - Taylor Walsh (Indiana)
Session IV - Finals
Final Team Scores
1. Iowa - 189
2. Illinois - 130.5
3. Northwestern - 106
4. Edinboro - 101
5. Virginia Tech - 99.5
9:22 p.m. - Second-seeded Bobby Telford scored a takedown with seconds left to beat Mike McMullan in the finals at 285, 4-2. McMullen finishes runner-up, his highest finish at the Midlands.
9:03 p.m. - Alex Polizzi will take home fourth-place at 197 in the 52nd Midlands after being taken down in the first sudden victory by James Fox (Harvard). Fox won the match 6-4. Polizzi finished fifth a year ago.
8:35 p.m. - Johnny Sebastian (unattached) won fifth-place at 174 lbs. due to a forfeit from his scheduled opponent, fourth-seeded Brock Gutches of Southern Oregon.
8:30 p.m. - Indiana's Taylor Walsh gets a fall in 4:05 over Pierce Harger in the final at 165. Harger captured an early lead with a pair of takedowns, but midway through the second period, the fourth-ranked Walsh pinned Harger with a headlock to win the title. The runner-up finish is Harger's best career finish at the Midlands Championships.
7:53 p.m. - Jason Tsirtsis is a Midlands Champion! The 149-pounder earned a 2-1 victory in the first tiebreaker over No. 3 David Habat (Edinboro). The top-ranked Tsirtsis captures his first Midlands title with the win and moves to 21-0 on the season.
7:12 p.m. - Stevan Micic (unattached) beat Edinboro's Kory Mines for the second time in the 52nd Midlands to secure third-place at 125 lbs. The 4-1 win was Micic's fourth of the tournament. Northwestern has five wrestlers left to compete, including three in the finals.
Session IV Results
125: Stevan Micic (NU-unattached) dec. Kory Mines (Edinboro), 4-1
149: No. 1 Jason Tsirtsis (NU) dec. No. 3 David Habat (Edinboro), 2-1 (TB1)
165: No. 4 Taylor Walsh (IND) Fall No. 8 Pierce Harger (NU), 4:05
174: Johnny Sebastian (NU-unattached) MFF Brock Gutches (So. Oregon)
197: James Fox (Harvard) dec. No. 8 Alex Polizzi (NU), 6-4 (SV)
285: No. 3 Bobby Telford (Iowa) dec. No. 1 Mike McMullan (NU), 4-2
Session III
Team Standings after Session III
1. Iowa - 173
2. Illinois - 125.5
3. Northwestern - 103
4. Edinboro - 96
5. Virginia Tech - 94.5
4:01 p.m. - Dominick Malone became the first Northwestern wrestler to place at the 2014 Midlands with a 7th-place victory over Penn's Caleb Richardson. Malone's 7-5 win was his sixth overall for the tournament.
3:52 p.m. - Alex Polizzi earns a spot in the third-place bout at 197 lbs. with a 4-1 win over Jeff Koepke (Illinois). Polizzi scored an early third period takedown and rode out Koepke the rest of the way to secure his spot in tonight's match. At 174 lbs., Johnny Sebastian (unattached) will wrestle for fifth after being pinned with just one second remaining in the first period against Iowa's Alex Meyers.
3:14 p.m. - Stevan Micic (unattached) will wrestle for third tonight. Micic scored a major decision over Brown's Billy Watterson, 15-3, to earn a spot in tonight's third-place bout.
3:04 p.m. - Top-ranked Mike McMullan punches his ticket to the finals at 285 with a 4-2 victory over No. 7 Ty Walz (Virginia Tech). McMullan will wrestle against Iowa's No. 3-ranked Bobby Telford live on the Big Ten Network. At 197, Alex Polizzi marched on with a fall in 4:32 over Shawn Scott (Northern Illinois). He clinches at least a spot in the fifth-place match and will wrestle once more this afternoon for a spot in the third-place match.
2:33 p.m. - Sixth-seeded Johnny Sebastian (unattached) suffered his first loss of the Midlands at the hands of second-seeded Zac Brunson (Illinois). Brunson advances to the finals at 174 with his 8-0 win. Sebastian will wrestle in the consolation bracket with a shot at third-place on the line.
2:26 p.m. - Northwestern gets its second wrestler into the finals with Pierce Harger capturing an 8-5 win over No. 7 Nick Moore (Iowa). The match was tied at five with a minute to go in the third period when Harger escaped and earned a late takedown to clinch the victory. He will face top-seeded Taylor Walsh (Indiana) live on the Big Ten Network.
2:11 p.m. - Jason Tsirtsis is into the finals at 149! He captured a thrilling semifinal win over Iowa's Brody Grothus with regulation and overtime periods not enough to decide the match. After two sudden victories and two tiebreak sessions, with the match tied at two, Tsirtsis ended up with five seconds of riding time, enough to win the overall tiebreaker over Grothus. Tsirtsis will wrestle tonight in the 149 championship televised live on Big Ten Network. He will wrestle second-seeded David Habat (Edinboro).
1:50 p.m. - At 133, Dominick Malone loses a heartbreaker, falling 3-1 to No. 19 Kevin Norstrem in sudden victory. The loss pushes Malone to the seventh-place match, which will take place later this afternoon.
1:32 p.m. - Alex Polizzi continues to work his way through the consolation bracket at 197 lbs. with a tight 4-3 win over 20th-ranked Jared Haught (Virginia Tech). Polizzi has locked up a spot on the podium. At the same time, Stevan Micic (unattached) was taking on fourth-ranked and tournament top-seed Thomas Gilman (Iowa) in a 125 semifinal match. Gilman scored a late takedown and rode out Micic for the final 30 seconds to secure a 4-3 win for a spot in the final. Micic can do no worse than the fifth-place match but will get a chance to wrestle for a spot in the third-place match later today.
12:19 p.m. - Dominick Malone started the second day of the Midlands off in style with a 9-7 sudden victory over 17th-ranked Danny Sabatello (Purdue). Malone guarantees himself a spot on the podium with the win. He can still finish as high as third place.
Session III Results
125: No. 4 Thomas Gilman (Iowa) dec. Stevan Micic (NU-unattached), 4-3
125: Stevan Micic (NU-unattached) maj. dec. Billy Watterson (Brown), 15-3
133: Dominick Malone (NU) dec. No. 17 Danny Sabatello (Purdue), 9-7 (SV)
133: No. 19 Kevin Norstrem (Va Tech) dec. Dominick Malone (NU), 3-1 (SV)
133: Dominick Malone (NU) dec. Caleb Richardson (Penn), 7-5
149: No. 1 Jason Tsirtsis (NU) dec. Brody Grothus (Iowa), 2-2 (TB-2)
165: No. 8 Pierce Harger (NU) dec. No. 7 Nick Moore (Iowa), 8-5
174: No. 9 Zac Brunson (ILL) maj. dec. Johnny Sebastian (NU-unattached), 8-0
174: Alex Meyers (Iowa) Fall Johnny Sebastian (NU-unattached), 2:59
197: No. 8 Alex Polizzi (NU) dec. No. 20 Jared Haught (Virginia Tech), 4-3
197: No. 8 Alex Polizzi (NU) Fall Shawn Scott (NIU), 4:32
197: No. 8 Alex Polizzi (NU) dec. Jeff Koepke (ILL), 4-1
285: No. 1 Mike McMullan (NU) dec. No. 7 Ty Walz (Va Tech), 4-2
••••••
Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook, subscribe to the NU Sports Express e-newsletter and sign up to receive promotional text alerts for the latest news, schedule updates and video and to interact with NU. For more information on following specific Northwestern teams online, visit our Social Media page!
Players Mentioned
