Sun Devils fare well at start of Midlands Championships
Day One Brackets & Team Scoring (pdf)
Three wrestlers with ties to the Arizona State University program are in contention to place among the Top 8 and the Sun Devil team is in 20th-place as the first day of competition came to an end at the 46th Midlands Championships inside Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Ill., on Monday night. The Sun Devils have scored 19.5 points overall so far with two wrestlers remaining in the competition that is being led by No. 1 Iowa, who has scored 93 points.
Behind the Hawkeyes are No. 2 Iowa State (82.5), No. 5 Missouri (73.5), No. 12 Central Michigan (64.5) and No. 10 Wisconsin (64) while the Top 10 is rounded out by No. 20 Northwestern (60.5), Purdue (49), Maryland (42) and a trio of teams tied for 10th in American, No. 8 Illinois and No. 25 Pittsburgh, all with 36 points scored.
At 125 pounds, fifth-seeded Anthony Robles advanced to the quarterfinals with a pair of impressive wins, including a technical fall and a pin, before dropping a close 2-1 decision to fourth-seeded Tyler Clark of Iowa State. In the same bracket, Ben Ashmore, who is competing unattached from ASU in the tournament, won a fall before losing a fall and then rebounded with two more pins and a technical fall to advance to day two. Both Ashmore and Robles need to win their opening bout on Tuesday to guarantee a place in the Top 8, but also would face one another in the next round as well.
The remaining Sun Devil in the competition comes at 141 where unseeded and fifth-ranked Chris Drouin also is one win from placing in the Top 8 with a 3-1 record on the day. Drouin pulled out an 8-4 overtime victory to open his day against the eighth-ranked and seventh-seeded Ryan Williams (Old Dominion) before taking a 6-4 decision in the second round and 6-1 win in the third round. He fell to the consolation bracket after giving top-ranked and second-seeded Alex Tsirtsis (Iowa) all he could handle in a 2-1 score.
Eight other Sun Devils competed on the day with four of them winning at least one bout. One of those winners was Te Edwards at 157 pounds as the true freshman made his collegiate debut. After falling in the second round, Edwards scored a 10-2 major decision over Nick Kolegraff (Iowa) before being bounced in an 8-7 decision. Also securing wins on the day were Orlando Jimenez at 133, Jake Meredith at 184 and Jake Cranford at 197.
Action continues Tuesday in Evanston, Ill., with the finals being broadcast live by the Big Ten Network.
Arizona State at the 46th Midlands Championships
Monday, December 29 Results - ASU Only
##/## indicates tournament seeding/national ranking
125 - #5/#8 Anthony Robles (2-1)
2nd Round - Robles tech fall BJ Futrell (Illinois), 17-2
3rd Round - Robles pinned Akif Eren (Purdue), 2:30
Quarterfinal - #4/#5 Tyler Clark (Iowa State) dec. Robles, 2-1
Conso 6th - Robles vs. Jason Lara (Oregon State)
125 - Ben Ashmore - (4-1) - competing unattached from ASU
1st Round - Ashmore pinned Izzy Montemayor (Northern Illinois), 2:17
2nd Round - Brendan Byrne (Maryland) pinned Ashmore, 6:36
Conso 3rd - Ashmore pinned Joe Langel (Rutgers), 2:16
Conso 4th - Ashmore pinned Andrew Long (Iowa State), 1:49
Conso 5th - Ashmore tech fall BJ Futrell (Illinois), 16-0
Conso 6th - Ashmore vs. #1/#1 Charlie Falck (Iowa State)
133 - Orlando Jimenez (1-1, DNP)
1st Round - #5/#13 Conor Beebe (Central Michigan) major Jimenez, 12-4
Conso 2nd - Jimenez major Leroy Rivers (Wildcat WC), 18-4
Conso 3rd - Josh Baldridge (Northern Iowa) defeated Jimenez, medical forfeit
141 - ns/#5 Chris Drouin (3-1)
1st Round - Drouin decision #7/#8 Ryan Williams (Old Dominion), 8-4 sv1
2nd Round - Drouin decision Collin Dozier (Michigan State), 6-4
3rd Round - Drouin decision David Yi (Wildcat WC), 6-1
Quarterfinal - #2/#1 Alex Tsirtsis (Iowa) decision Drouin, 2-1
Conso 6th - Drouin vs. #3/#3 Nick Gallick (Iowa State)
157 - Michael Swigart (0-2, DNP)
2nd Round - #1 Chris Bono (Chattanooga TD) major Swigart, 15-2
Conso 2nd - Buddy Graham (American) decision Swigart, 4-2
157 - Te Edwards (1-2, DNP)
2nd Round - Derek Sickles (Columbia) decision Edwards, 15-9
Conso 2nd - Edwards major Nick Kolegraff (Iowa), 10-2
Conso 3rd - Clint Arlis (Illinois) decision Edwards, 8-7
165 - Kyle DeBerry (0-2, DNP)
1st Round - Steve Crozier (Air Force) pinned DeBerry, 4:08
Conso 2nd - Josh Asper (Maryland) decision DeBerry, 3-2
174 - Eric Starks (0-2, DNP)
1st Round - Scott Giffin (Penn) decision Starks, 10-5
Conso 2nd - Scott Hazen (Northern Iowa) decision Starks, 5-4
184 - Jake Meredith (2-2, DNP)
1st Round - Meredith major Derek Cummins (Cleveland State), 14-4
2nd Round - #6/#12 Andrew Kissel (Purdue) pinned Meredith, 1:32
Conso 3rd - Meredith tech fall Aaron Jones (Northwestern), 15-0
Conso 4th - Octavious Bellamy (Wildcat WC) decision Meredith, 6-3
197 - Jake Cranford (1-2, DNP)
2nd Round - #2/#4 Max Askren (Missouri) tech fall Cranford, 18-2
Conso 3rd - Cranford pinned Justin Kuhn (Indiana), 1:40
Conso 4th - #5/#11 Andrew Anderson (Northern Iowa) decision Cranford, 5-2
285 - Imanibom Etukeren (0-2, DNP)
2nd Round - #6/#16 Rashard Goff (Cleveland State) decision Etukeren, 6-0
Conso 3rd - Paul Rands (Northwestern) pinned Etukeren, 2:04
Team Scores
1. #1 Iowa - 93.0
2. #2 Iowa State - 82.5
3. #5 Missouri - 73.5
4. #12 Central Michigan - 64.5
5. #10 Wisconsin - 64.0
6. #20 Northwestern - 60.5
7. Purdue - 49.0
8. Maryland - 42.0
9. American - 36.0
9. #8 Illinois - 36.0
9. #25 Pittsburgh - 36.0
20. Arizona State - 19.5