ISU in second at Midlands

EVANSTON, Ill. – Iowa State capped an up and down opening day of the Midlands Wrestling Championships by sending five wrestlers to today’s semifinals.

Advancing to the semifinals for ISU were 125-pound Tyler Clark, 133-pound Nick Fanthorpe, 157-pound Cyler Sanderson, 165-pound Jon Reader and 197-pound Jake Varner.

The bad news for ISU is that it still has a hurdle in the eastern part of the state to get over. Following Monday night’s championship quarterfinals and fifth-round consolation matches, defending-champion Iowa led the tournament with 93 points and ISU was second with 79 points. The Cyclones had a seven-point cushion against third-place Missouri.

“We need a little more attitude when we step on the mat,” coach Cael Sanderson said. “We need to fight a little harder, attack a little bit more, but overall we’re wrestling well. We definitely need to step it up a notch or three.”

Varner, the top seed at 197 pounds, turned in the top effort Monday as he barely broke a sweat in pinning all three of his opponents. Following a first-round bye, Varner stopped Northwestern’s John Schoen in 2 minutes, 25 seconds. He then pinned Rick Loera of Iowa in 2:58 and capped the day by pinning Old Dominion’s Jesse Strom in 1:29.

“I just came out and wrestled and did my thing and got two wins,” Varner said. “I just go out there and wrestle. It’s always fun making it this far.”

Reader also recorded a pin on Monday, sticking Hjordan Bakely of Harper in 2:29 in his opening match. Reader added three regular decisions, including a 3-1 win against Luke Manuel of Purdue in the quarterfinals.

“I’m still not satisfied with my matches,” said Reader. “You still have to ask more out of yourself to help the team.”

Fanthorpe endured a wait of nearly nine hours before finally getting on the mat, but when he did he made the most of his opportunity.

A third-place finisher in 2007, Fanthorpe got a pair of major decisions in his only two matches of the day. After a bye in the first round, he beat Bobby Joyce of Northwestern 18-6 and then stopped Missouri’s Tristen Schravrien 13-4 in the quarterfinals.

Clark pinned Joe Langel of Rutgers in 4:43 in his first match and then recorded a pair of 1-point decisions in making it to the semifinals and Cyler Sanderson had two major decisions and a pair of regular decisions on the way to the semis. His quarterfinal win was a 10-2 major decision against Tyson Reiner of Northern Iowa.

A couple of other bright spots on Monday came from 141-pound Dalton Jensen and 197-pound Kyle Simonson.

Jensen, who also made the semifinals, is not ISU’s designated 141-pound entry, so his points don’t count in the team standings, but his performance bodes well for the future as he pinned Matt Mariacher of American (3:35) and Trevor Melde of Rutgers (4:45) en route to the semifinals where he handed Eric Kruger of Central Michigan a 6-2 loss.

Simonson used a first-round bye and an 8-3 win against Ethan Winel of Tennessee-Chattanooga to reach the quarterfinals where he lost to Max Askren of Missouri, 11-1.

“They’ve done a great job,” Cael Sanderson said. “(Jensen’s) doing a great job and Simonson beat a ranked kid and they’re freshmen. Andrew Sorenson is in that same boat. We’re real proud of those guys. They’ve got an exciting future ahead of them.”

The day wasn’t without its disappointments. Nick Gallick, the No. 3 seed at 141 pounds, lost in the first round, but can still place in the tournament as can David Zabriskie, the No. 1 seed at 285 pounds. Zabriskie was upset by unseeded Dom Bradley of Missouri 3-2 in two overtimes in the third round.

ISU’s Mitch Mueller (149) and Jerome Ward (184) lost in the quarterfinals, but can still place in the consolation bracket.

“We lost some close matches, but we’ve got to learn from those,” Cael Sanderson said. “They’re little mistakes that are easily corrected, we just have to do it. There’s some good with the bad, we just have to make sure we’re looking at it with the right perspective and making progress instead of getting frustrated.”

Other ISU wrestlers who can still place include 125-pound Andrew Long, 133-pound Laramie Shaffer, 157-pound Nate Carr, Jr. and 285-pound Eric Thompson.

ISU also lost the services of 174-pound Duke Burk for the rest of the tournament and possibly longer. Burk appeared to have suffered a shoulder injury in his third-round match against Kyle Vanderhyde of Olivet and lost by a medical forfeit.

Cael Sanderson would not comment on Burk’s injury, but the Burk appeared to be nursing an injured shoulder as he left the mat.

By: Dick Kelly (Original here)