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Iowa State University Athletics
ISU Clinches Midlands Team Title
12.30.2006 | Men's Wrestling
EVANSTON, Ill. – Iowa State wrestlers Nick Fanthorpe (125), Trent Paulson (157), Travis Paulson (165) and Kurt Backes (197) each advanced to the championship match of the 44th Midlands Tournament as Iowa State's wrestling team clinched its first team crown since 1981. ISU closed out afternoon competition leading with 149.5 points. Heading into tonight's final session, Iowa is a distant 46.5 points back in second place with 103 points. Central Michigan (94.5), Northwestern (94) and Indiana (90) round out the top five team scores.
“Overall we've wrestled an outstanding tournament,” head wrestling coach Cael Sanderson said. “I told the guys if they work hard they would like the way things would go. Our seniors have really stepped up so far. We have a lot of room to improve. That is the good thing when you think about it, we have more room for improvement than most of the teams we compete against.”
Fanthorpe, an unseeded freshman from the Chicago area surged into championship contention at 125-pounds by scoring a 4-2 semi-final decision over fifth-seeded Luke Smith of Central Michigan. Down 1-0 to open the third period, Fanthorpe tied the match at 1-1 when Smith was tagged for stalling, when holding onto the Cyclones' ankle. Fanthorpe took a 2-1 lead with an escape and then took Smith down with 42 seconds remaining to go up 4-1. Fanthorpe is the only unseeded wrestler to compete in the finals where he will square off against the third seed, Angel Escobedo of Indiana.
“Our coaches are always talking about position and being aware of where you are,” the Naperville, Ill., native said. “Holding the ankle is a stalling position and our coaches have addressed that with us. Wrestling is a push-and-pull sport that also requires balance. Smith is a strong kid. You gain a little more experience with each match.”
Trent Paulson pinned his third Midlands opponent, fourth-seeded Andrew Flannagan of Harvard, en route to the 157-pound title match. After scoring a reversal in the second period, the top-seeded Cyclone scored a two-point nearfall. From there he took Flannagan down again and was in position to get back points. Paulson registered the pin in 5:53.
“The coaches have stressed with me that I have many offensive tools I can use, the two-time All-American said. “I have worked in practice and competition to use more of those different attacks in the match.”
This will be Paulson's second trip to a Midlands championship match. In 2003 the senior took top honors at 149-pounds and was named the Midlands' outstanding wrestler. The senior will meet Illinois' Mike Poeta in the title bout.
Travis Paulson handed intrastate rival, Nick Baima of Northern Iowa, an 11-3 semi-final defeat. The two met for the 10th time and the third time this season. Paulson, the number two seed at 165-pounds, exploded offensively registering five takedowns against the Panther. Baima's only points came via escapes.
“I had seen the scoreboard,” the two-time All-American said. “I knew that one more takedown meant bonus points.”
In the finals, Paulson will meet another intrastate foe, Iowa's Mark Perry. The two collided in Iowa City Dec. 3 and Paulson came up short suffering a 6-4 decision, his only loss on the season. Paulson, ranked third by W.I.N. Magazine, matched up against Perry, ranked second, in the 2004 Midlands title match but finished runner-up by decision, 6-4.
The fourth Cyclone to make it into the championship bout was Backes by pinning the top-seed at 197-pounds, Josh Glenn of American in 1:58. Backes, seeded fifth, wasted no time as he scored an early takedown on Glenn before registering the pin.
“I got his ankle and then used my upper body to set it up,” Backes said. “When you wrestle against Cael in the wrestling room you start to develop his mentality. Why go upper body with a guy whose strength is there? Go for a weak spot. Once someone has your ankle it is pretty hard to recover.”
Making his second trip to a Midlands championship match, Backes will face Northwestern's Mike Tamillow. It is not the first meeting for Backes and Tamillow as they met early in Midlands competition in 2004 with Backes winning with an 11-7 decision. Both wrestlers have bumped up a weight class from last season, where they met on the mat at National Duals. Backes took a 7-5 decision.
Nick Gallick, the fifth-seed at 133-pounds, moved into the consolation quaterfinals with a 13-2 major decision over Penn's Andrew Gold. Gallick then scored a 1-0 victory over the eight-seed Corey Jantzen (Independent). The match went down to the wire, deadlocked 0-0, but a locked-hands call was all that was needed with two seconds remaining on the clock. Gallick put on an offensive show by recording a 15-0 technical fall of Northwestern's Eric Metzler. The 16-4 redshirt freshman will wrestle second-seeded Robbie Preston (Independent) for third place honors.
After suffering a 3-1 semi-final loss at the hands of Michigan State's Joe Williams at 184-pounds, Jake Varner will wrestle for third place. In consolation bracket action, the third seed handed the fifth seed Lous Caputo of Harvard a 5-3 defeat. Up next for the redshirt freshman will be the four seed, Christian Sinnott from Central Michigan.
At 141-pounds Mitch Mueller was downed by Iowa's Alex Tsirtsis in the semi-finals, 7-4. Moving into consolation bracket action, Mueller fell in a close match at the hands of intrastate rival, C.J. Ettleson of Northern Iowa, 5-4. For fifth-place, the Iowa City, Iowa, native squares off against the seventh-seed, Eric Kruger of Central Michigan.
Wrestling for fifth-place at 157-pounds will be Jason Knipp. He took a 4-3 opening consolation round decision over Victer Crenshaw of Cleveland State. Tied 2-2 in the final period against Northern Iowa's Colby Goetsch, Knipp tookdown the Panther with 13 seconds left to clinch a 4-2 victory. He will wrestle the eight seed, Brian Cobb (Road Runner WC) for fifth.
Wrapping up Midlands competition by placing seventh was Cyler Sanderson at 149-pounds. Wrestling unattached was true freshman Jonathan Reader who also placed seventh at 165-pounds.
The 44th Midlands Championship will conclude Saturday night with the finals set to begin at 7:30 p.m. in Welsh-Ryan Arena.
“Overall we've wrestled an outstanding tournament,” head wrestling coach Cael Sanderson said. “I told the guys if they work hard they would like the way things would go. Our seniors have really stepped up so far. We have a lot of room to improve. That is the good thing when you think about it, we have more room for improvement than most of the teams we compete against.”
Fanthorpe, an unseeded freshman from the Chicago area surged into championship contention at 125-pounds by scoring a 4-2 semi-final decision over fifth-seeded Luke Smith of Central Michigan. Down 1-0 to open the third period, Fanthorpe tied the match at 1-1 when Smith was tagged for stalling, when holding onto the Cyclones' ankle. Fanthorpe took a 2-1 lead with an escape and then took Smith down with 42 seconds remaining to go up 4-1. Fanthorpe is the only unseeded wrestler to compete in the finals where he will square off against the third seed, Angel Escobedo of Indiana.
“Our coaches are always talking about position and being aware of where you are,” the Naperville, Ill., native said. “Holding the ankle is a stalling position and our coaches have addressed that with us. Wrestling is a push-and-pull sport that also requires balance. Smith is a strong kid. You gain a little more experience with each match.”
Trent Paulson pinned his third Midlands opponent, fourth-seeded Andrew Flannagan of Harvard, en route to the 157-pound title match. After scoring a reversal in the second period, the top-seeded Cyclone scored a two-point nearfall. From there he took Flannagan down again and was in position to get back points. Paulson registered the pin in 5:53.
“The coaches have stressed with me that I have many offensive tools I can use, the two-time All-American said. “I have worked in practice and competition to use more of those different attacks in the match.”
This will be Paulson's second trip to a Midlands championship match. In 2003 the senior took top honors at 149-pounds and was named the Midlands' outstanding wrestler. The senior will meet Illinois' Mike Poeta in the title bout.
Travis Paulson handed intrastate rival, Nick Baima of Northern Iowa, an 11-3 semi-final defeat. The two met for the 10th time and the third time this season. Paulson, the number two seed at 165-pounds, exploded offensively registering five takedowns against the Panther. Baima's only points came via escapes.
“I had seen the scoreboard,” the two-time All-American said. “I knew that one more takedown meant bonus points.”
In the finals, Paulson will meet another intrastate foe, Iowa's Mark Perry. The two collided in Iowa City Dec. 3 and Paulson came up short suffering a 6-4 decision, his only loss on the season. Paulson, ranked third by W.I.N. Magazine, matched up against Perry, ranked second, in the 2004 Midlands title match but finished runner-up by decision, 6-4.
The fourth Cyclone to make it into the championship bout was Backes by pinning the top-seed at 197-pounds, Josh Glenn of American in 1:58. Backes, seeded fifth, wasted no time as he scored an early takedown on Glenn before registering the pin.
“I got his ankle and then used my upper body to set it up,” Backes said. “When you wrestle against Cael in the wrestling room you start to develop his mentality. Why go upper body with a guy whose strength is there? Go for a weak spot. Once someone has your ankle it is pretty hard to recover.”
Making his second trip to a Midlands championship match, Backes will face Northwestern's Mike Tamillow. It is not the first meeting for Backes and Tamillow as they met early in Midlands competition in 2004 with Backes winning with an 11-7 decision. Both wrestlers have bumped up a weight class from last season, where they met on the mat at National Duals. Backes took a 7-5 decision.
Nick Gallick, the fifth-seed at 133-pounds, moved into the consolation quaterfinals with a 13-2 major decision over Penn's Andrew Gold. Gallick then scored a 1-0 victory over the eight-seed Corey Jantzen (Independent). The match went down to the wire, deadlocked 0-0, but a locked-hands call was all that was needed with two seconds remaining on the clock. Gallick put on an offensive show by recording a 15-0 technical fall of Northwestern's Eric Metzler. The 16-4 redshirt freshman will wrestle second-seeded Robbie Preston (Independent) for third place honors.
After suffering a 3-1 semi-final loss at the hands of Michigan State's Joe Williams at 184-pounds, Jake Varner will wrestle for third place. In consolation bracket action, the third seed handed the fifth seed Lous Caputo of Harvard a 5-3 defeat. Up next for the redshirt freshman will be the four seed, Christian Sinnott from Central Michigan.
At 141-pounds Mitch Mueller was downed by Iowa's Alex Tsirtsis in the semi-finals, 7-4. Moving into consolation bracket action, Mueller fell in a close match at the hands of intrastate rival, C.J. Ettleson of Northern Iowa, 5-4. For fifth-place, the Iowa City, Iowa, native squares off against the seventh-seed, Eric Kruger of Central Michigan.
Wrestling for fifth-place at 157-pounds will be Jason Knipp. He took a 4-3 opening consolation round decision over Victer Crenshaw of Cleveland State. Tied 2-2 in the final period against Northern Iowa's Colby Goetsch, Knipp tookdown the Panther with 13 seconds left to clinch a 4-2 victory. He will wrestle the eight seed, Brian Cobb (Road Runner WC) for fifth.
Wrapping up Midlands competition by placing seventh was Cyler Sanderson at 149-pounds. Wrestling unattached was true freshman Jonathan Reader who also placed seventh at 165-pounds.
The 44th Midlands Championship will conclude Saturday night with the finals set to begin at 7:30 p.m. in Welsh-Ryan Arena.
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