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Now entering its 52nd year, the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships still stands apart. Renown as "the toughest tournament", Midlands has presented some classic individual battles over the years. Twenty different competitors have won Olympic Gold. And one of the most special aspects of Midlands - post graduates putting on their headgear and stepping to the line - has picked up the pace this season. Jason Welch, Nestor Taffur, Tyler Clark, Zach Sanders, and Joe Rau will all enter the brackets.
Plus, according to the twitters, BTN Plus will stream - for FREE - all eight mats, from the opening session thru the finals.
How about that? Two days of awesome wrestling, for the price of...on the house. Awesome work Midlands, and BTN! Here is your list of teams attending this season's Midlands. Rankings are from the good guys at InterMat, as always, and reflect their Tournament Power Index.
| Rank | School |
|---|---|
| 1 | Iowa |
| 4 | Edinboro |
| 9 | VaTech |
| 10 | Northwestern |
| 15 | Illinois |
| 17 | Wisconsin |
| 19 | Old Dominion |
| 23 | Penn |
| 25 | Indiana |
| NR | NDSU |
| NR | SDSU |
| NR | Eastern Michigan |
| NR | Air Force |
| NR | Maryland |
| NR | Purdue |
| NR | Harvard |
| NR | Princeton |
| NR | Rider |
| NR | Columbia |
| NR | Brown |
| NR | CSU Bakersfield |
| NR | Binghamton |
125 LBS
| Natl Rank | Wrestler |
|---|---|
| 1 | Delgado - Illinois |
| 4 | Gilman - Iowa |
| 5 | Dance - VaTech |
| 8 | Martinez - Air Force |
| 14 | Rodriguez - NDSU |
| 20 | Jeske - ODU |
| PG | Zach Sanders |
If Delgado wrestles (he's been missing a few duals lately), then he's your favorite on paper. But I don't believe the two-time NCAA champ has a Midlands title to his name yet. Post-grad Sanders adds a little spice to the mix here, and should make a run to the semifinals. Iowa's Gilman is the defending Midlands champ.
Our Pick: Gilman. Delgado holds the credentials, but he's been in and out of the lineup, and based on the last two seasons, December Delgado is not the same thing as March Delgado.
133 LBS
| Natl Rank | Wrestler |
|---|---|
| 1 | Schopp - Edinboro |
| 4 | Clark - Iowa |
| 7 | Richards - Illinois |
| 11 | Alexander - Maryland |
| 16 | Taylor - Wisconsin |
| 17 | Sabatello - Purdue |
| 19 | Norstrem - VaTech |
| PG | Tyler Clark |
The top two here, Schopp and (Cory) Clark, are probably a notch above the rest of the field, assuming Clark performs as well or better up at this weight as he did down at 125 last year. It's a reasonable assumption to make. But watch out for Zane Richards, and further down the field, Purdue's Danny Sabatello. Sabatello was wrestling well last February before turning in a disappointing NCAA. He's been looking strong out of the gate this season.
How fun would it be to see former Hawkeye Tyler Clark take out current Hawkeye Cory Clark? The guy who transferred from Iowa State to Iowa, and could beat Tony Ramos 3-2 in wrestle offs but couldn't win the starting spot in the Hawks' lineup - that's the guy who knocks out Tom Brands' projected finalist here. Sounds like a fun scenario to me.
Our Pick: Schopp. He's good.
141 LBS
| Natl Rank | Wrestler |
|---|---|
| 2 | Port - Edinboro |
| 3 | Carter - VaTech |
| 6 | Dziewa - Iowa |
| 9 | Mecate - ODU |
| 16 | Preston - Harvard |
This isn't exactly the deepest field in the tournament. Worse, Mitchell Port and Devin Carter have both proven to be a notch above the rest. The good news, though, is that we should have a whale of a final.
Our Pick: Port
149 LBS
| Natl Rank | Wrestler |
|---|---|
| 1 | Tsirtsis - jNW |
| 3 | Habat - Edinboro |
| 10 | Sorensen - Iowa |
| 11 | Cobb - Penn |
| 12 | Richardson - ODU |
| 18 | Krop - Princeton |
| 20 | Clagon - Rider |
NCAA Champ Jason Tsirtsis will be the prohibitive favorite. But on the bottom half of the bracket, we'll get a chance to learn a few things. The 'Boro's Habat is a returning All-American, and he'll probably run into one of Iowa's 49lbers - Brandon Sorensen, or Brody Grothus. The final result from those two will go a long way toward setting Tom Brands' Big Ten lineup.
Our Pick: Tsirtsis
157 LBS
| Natl Rank | Wrestler |
|---|---|
| 5 | Brascetta - VaTech |
| 7 | Matthews - Edinboro |
| 10 | Martinez - Illinois |
| 13 | Pack - SDSU |
| 15 | Schieidel - Columbia |
| 18 | Brill - jNW |
| 19 | Staudenmayer - Brown |
| 20 | Parson - Army |
| PG | Welch |
Brascetta broke onto the collegiate scene two years ago with a Midlands final appearance. But it's not known for certain whether he'll be competing this weekend, as he recovers from injury. Behind him are three young guns, all of whom possess podium talent - Matthews, Martinez, and Brill. And, depending upon his weigh-in, post-grad Jason Welch might steal the whole show from all of them.
Our Pick: Welch. No Welch? Brascetta. No Brascetta? Martinez.
165 LBS
| Natl Rank | Wrestler |
|---|---|
| 3 | Jordan - Wisconsin |
| 4 | Walsh - Indiana |
| 7 | Moore - Iowa |
| 8 | Harger - jNW |
| 12 | Morse - Illinois |
| 14 | Warner - ODU |
| 16 | Fierro - Bakersfield |
| 19 | Stafford - Air Force |
| PG | Nestor Taffur |
This should be a fun weight class. The top 5 all hail from the Big Ten, and, for the most part, know each other well. Iowa's Nick Moore holds the upper hand in that class - with the exception of recent addition Isaac Jordan, who bumped here from 157. And with Nestor Taffur lurking, things could get very interesting.
Our Pick: Moore
174 LBS
| Natl Rank | Wrestler |
|---|---|
| 3 | Evans - Iowa |
| 8 | Brunson - Illinois |
| 9 | Epperly - VaTech |
| 11 | Hammond - Bakersfield |
| 15 | Julson - NDSU |
| 18 | Jackson - Indiana |
Evans and Hammond are both returning All Americans. But this Epperly kid showed awfully well at the Penn State dual, and North Dakota State's Kurtis Julson has been known to pull an upset or two as well.
Our Pick: Evans
184 LBS
| Natl Rank | Wrestler |
|---|---|
| 2 | Thomas - Penn |
| 4 | Dechow - ODU |
| 8 | Brooks - Iowa |
| 10 | Zilmer - NDSU |
| 13 | Bernstein - Brown |
| 14 | Avery - Edinboro |
| 19 | Robertson - Wisconsin |
Thomas, Dechow, and Bernstein all made the podium last March. Robertson has shown well early in the year for Barry Davis at Wisconsin.
Our Pick: Brooks. This guy is fun to watch.
197 LBS
| Natl Rank | Wrestler |
|---|---|
| 6 | Burak - Iowa |
| 8 | Polizzi - jNW |
| 10 | Ayala - Princeton |
| 11 | Atwood - Purdue |
| 15 | Rotert - SDSU |
| 16 | McCall - Wisconsin |
Burak hasn't wrestled this year for the Hawks. His handful of matches on the season have come as "unattached". We'll have to wait for the brackets to see if he's in it at all. Outside of Burak, Polizzi is wrestling on his home mat, and will be the favorite, though Purdue's Bradon Atwood can give him a match.
Our Pick: Nathan Rotert, South Dakota State. Let's get nuts.
285 LBS
| Natl Rank | Wrestler |
|---|---|
| 1 | McMullen - jNW |
| 3 | Telford - Iowa |
| 5 | Medbery - Wisconsin |
| 6 | Walz - VaTech |
| 13 | Knutson - NDSU |
| 17 | Deuel - Binghamton |
| 18 | Henderson - ODU |
This sets up for (at least) four outstanding matches - two semifinals, one consolation final, and the championship final, which is likely to give us McMullen and Telford. I'd love to see a Medbery-Walz matchup as well - two big boys that can move.
Our Pick: Flip a coin. McMullen? Telford? Let's take McMullen.
From a team perspective, this looks like the Hawkeyes in a runaway.