Reader Dominant En Route to Midlands Title

EVANSTON, Ill. - After a couple of unfruitful trips to the Midlands finals, Iowa State's Jon Reader finally captured the elusive title with a 9-4 victory over fifth-ranked Ben Bennett of Central Michigan in the 174-pound title match.

Reader hit a very quick low single and immediately tilted Bennett for three points. After racking up over two minutes of riding time, Reader was reversed by Bennett to make the score 5-2 at the end of the first period. Bennett chose down to start the second period and was ridden the entire period by Reader. The senior from Davison, Mich. chose to start the third period in the neutral position. Bennett scored a controversial takedown, which Reader scrambled out of very quickly to make the score 6-4. Reader iced the match with a takedown with only 20 seconds left. He racked up over four minutes of riding time in a dominant 9-4 victory.

“This is a title that has really eluded me over the years,” Reader said. “It feels great to win at a tournament that is this difficult. I felt really confident that I would win and the quick takedown and back points helped me set the tone to the match.”

Chris Drouin could not hold off Tyler Nauman of Pittsburgh's comeback effort in their third-place match at 141 pounds. Drouin took an early 4-1 lead with two takedowns, but gave up a locked hands violation and a reversal. Nauman escaped in the second then in the third period he hit a cradle from the neutral position and pinned Drouin at the 6:26 mark.

Drouin finished the tournament in fourth place, while sophomore Chris Spangler, who was unable to wrestle his fifth place match against Iowa's Aaron Janssen because of injury, ended the tournament with a sixth-place finish at 165 pounds.

Team Scores

1. Missouri 103.5; 2. Wisconsin 95.5; 3. Lehigh 93; 4. Iowa 91; 5. Pittsburgh 82.5; 6. Oklahoma 82; 7. Central Michigan 72.5; 8. IOWA STATE 63.5; 9. Nebraska 63; 10. Illinois 60.5

Finals

174: #1 Jon Reader (Iowa State) dec. #3 Ben Bennett (Central Michigan), 9-4

3rd Place

141: #3 Tyler Nauman (Pittsburgh) wbf. Chris Drouin (Iowa State), 6:26

5th Place

165: Aaron Janssen (Iowa) med. forfeit Chris Spangler (Iowa State)

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Players Mentioned

Chris Drouin

Chris Spangler

Chris Spangler

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