No holding back Illini’s Jimmy Kennedy at Midlands

Jimmy Kennedy’s face sported two noticeable mat burns — a small price to pay for success during Monday’s opening-round matches at the annual Midlands Wrestling Tournament.

Kennedy, a University of Illinois junior and the top-seeded 133-pounder, swept his first three bouts to earn a berth in Tuesday’s semifinals at Northwestern’s Welsh-Ryan Arena.

“I just go out there and wrestle my style and my match,” said Kennedy, who brushed off perceived pressure as the wrestler to beat in his class. “There’s a lot of good guys here, so everyone’s pretty much got a target on their back.”

The post-Christmas invitational, now in its 46th year, drew nearly 375 wrestlers representing 48 colleges or clubs. More than 30 NCAA Division I schools entered, including seven from the Big Ten.

 

Kennedy, a two-time high school state champ from Grant, beat Iowa State’s Laramie Shaffer 7-1 in his first match.

“I controlled my match,” Kennedy said. “I didn’t put as many points on the board as I wanted, but … I can’t complain.”

Kennedy then improved to 14-0 for the season after beating American University’s Jason Borshoff 6-2 and outlasting Iowa’s Montell Marion 5-1.

Northwestern 184-pounder Jake Herbert was among three Wildcats still alive for individual championships. He pinned Indiana’s Eric Cameron in 1 minute 18 seconds, his eighth pin of the season. He then dispatched Iowa State’s Jerome Ward, a St. Rita product, with a 19-4 technical fall.

The senior, a 2007 NCAA champion and two-time Midlands winner, is now 14-0.

Iowa, the defending Midlands and NCAA champion, topped the leaderboard with 93 points and had seven wrestlers in the semifinals. Iowa State was second with 79 points and five qualifiers.

Missouri was third with 72.5, followed by Wisconsin at 64, Central Michigan at 61.5 and NU at 60.5. Wrestling resumes at noon Tuesday. Finals are at 7:20 p.m.

 

By: Chicago Tribune (Original Here)