Cyclones Look to Defend Midlands Title

12.26.2007 | Men's Wrestling

By: cyclones.com

AMES, Iowa -- No. 2 Iowa State (7-1) will return to the mat Dec. 29-30 in Evanston, Ill., at the 45th Midlands Championships hosted by Northwestern University at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The Cyclones look to defend its title from a year ago in the two-day tournament. Live stats will be available throughout the tournament on cyclones.com with the finals being aired live on the Big Ten Network.

Cyclone Notebook
-No 2. Iowa State (7-1) will take to the mat in Evanston, Ill., at the 45th edition of the Midlands Championships. Individual grapplers will wrestle as the Cyclones look to defend its team title from a year ago.
-For the fourth date in a row, ISU wrestling will be aired live. The Big Ten Network will feature the finals of the Midlands Championships live with a tape delay of the semifinals.
-The Cyclones seventh dual win came in Cedar Falls Dec. 16 over Northern Iowa, 39-10. The win marked head coach Cael Sanderson's 20th dual victory in his second year at the helm.
-Cyler Sanderson was dabbed as the Big 12 Conference Wrestler of the Week after his 2:12 pin of Northern Iowa's Jarion Beets. It is the first time that Sanderson has earned the honor.
-With the Midlands pre-seeds being released Dec. 17, eight ISU grapplers are listed in the top-eight. All-American Jake Varner and Cyler Sanderson have both received the two-seed at 184 and 157 pounds, respectively.
-Mitch Mueller (149) and Jon Reader (165) are seeded fourth, Nick Fanthorpe (133) and David Zabriskie (HWT) are seeded fifth, 197-pounder David Bertolino is seeded seventh and Mark Kist is the eighth seed at 125 pounds.
-In 123 matches, starters for Iowa State have amassed a total of 97 wins, 48 of which have resulted in bonus points (23 major decisions, 10 technical falls and 15 pins).