Tsirtsis Goes for Second Straight Midlands Title
12/30/2015 4:11:00 PM | Wrestling, Ken Kraft Midlands Championships
Updated #Midlands53 Brackets
EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern junior Jason Tsirtsis will seek to defend last year's Midlands title when he faces off against Iowa's Brandon Sorensen in the finals at 149 lbs. tonight at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Tsirtsis advanced to his second straight title with a heart stopping 3-1 sudden victory decision over third-seeded and fourth-ranked Alexander Richardson of Old Dominion.
"Jason wrestled a great match against a good wrestler in the semifinals," interim head coach Matt Storniolo said. "We are excited that he has made it back to the finals for a second year in a row, but that is not the goal. Jason is here to win a title."
Tsirtsis and Richardson traded escapes in the second and third periods to head to overtime tied at one, where Tsirtsis won a scramble to come out on top.
He and Sorensen met three times last season with each coming down to the wire. Sorensen ended Tsirtsis' 42-match winning streak during the regular season last year in a dual meet in Iowa City. Tsirtsis responded by beating Sorensen for the 2015 Big Ten Championship and again in the third-place match at the NCAA Championships in St. Louis.
Dominick Malone wrestled three matches in the consolations at 133 lbs. on Wednesday afternoon and will wrestle for fifth place tonight after winning two of them. He beat Columbia's Angelo Amenta by a 15-0 tech fall before pulling an upset of 17th-ranked Mason Beckman of Lehigh, 7-6. He lost an 8-7 nail-biter to Rutgers' Anthony Giraldo in the final match of the session. Both of Malone's losses at the Midlands have come by one point each to Giraldo.
Malone is 5-2 during this Midlands tournament and has improved his season record to 14-4. He has four wins by fall or tech fall over the last two days and 12 such wins overall this year.
Northwestern sits in 9th place in the team standings with 58 points.
The finals of the 53rd annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships begin at 8 p.m. and will be televised live by the Big Ten Network.
#Midlands53 Results • Session III
9th Place • 58 Points
Semifinals
149: #3 Jason Tsirtsis dec. #4 Alexander Richardson (ODU), 3-1 (SV-1)
Consolations
125: Kris Williams (NEB-unatt.) Fall Garrison White (NU), 4:58
133: Dominick Malone (NU) Tech Fall Angelo Amenta (Columbia), 15-0
133: Dominick Malone (NU) dec. #17 Mason Beckman (Lehigh), 7-6
133: Anthony Giraldo (RUT) dec. Dominick Malone (NU), 8-7
174: Lelund Weatherspoon (Iowa St.) Fall Mitch Sliga (NU), 5:31
EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern junior Jason Tsirtsis will seek to defend last year's Midlands title when he faces off against Iowa's Brandon Sorensen in the finals at 149 lbs. tonight at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Tsirtsis advanced to his second straight title with a heart stopping 3-1 sudden victory decision over third-seeded and fourth-ranked Alexander Richardson of Old Dominion.
"Jason wrestled a great match against a good wrestler in the semifinals," interim head coach Matt Storniolo said. "We are excited that he has made it back to the finals for a second year in a row, but that is not the goal. Jason is here to win a title."
Tsirtsis and Richardson traded escapes in the second and third periods to head to overtime tied at one, where Tsirtsis won a scramble to come out on top.
He and Sorensen met three times last season with each coming down to the wire. Sorensen ended Tsirtsis' 42-match winning streak during the regular season last year in a dual meet in Iowa City. Tsirtsis responded by beating Sorensen for the 2015 Big Ten Championship and again in the third-place match at the NCAA Championships in St. Louis.
Dominick Malone wrestled three matches in the consolations at 133 lbs. on Wednesday afternoon and will wrestle for fifth place tonight after winning two of them. He beat Columbia's Angelo Amenta by a 15-0 tech fall before pulling an upset of 17th-ranked Mason Beckman of Lehigh, 7-6. He lost an 8-7 nail-biter to Rutgers' Anthony Giraldo in the final match of the session. Both of Malone's losses at the Midlands have come by one point each to Giraldo.
Malone is 5-2 during this Midlands tournament and has improved his season record to 14-4. He has four wins by fall or tech fall over the last two days and 12 such wins overall this year.
Northwestern sits in 9th place in the team standings with 58 points.
The finals of the 53rd annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships begin at 8 p.m. and will be televised live by the Big Ten Network.
#Midlands53 Results • Session III
9th Place • 58 Points
Semifinals
149: #3 Jason Tsirtsis dec. #4 Alexander Richardson (ODU), 3-1 (SV-1)
Consolations
125: Kris Williams (NEB-unatt.) Fall Garrison White (NU), 4:58
133: Dominick Malone (NU) Tech Fall Angelo Amenta (Columbia), 15-0
133: Dominick Malone (NU) dec. #17 Mason Beckman (Lehigh), 7-6
133: Anthony Giraldo (RUT) dec. Dominick Malone (NU), 8-7
174: Lelund Weatherspoon (Iowa St.) Fall Mitch Sliga (NU), 5:31
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