Hawkeyes advance five to semifinals at Midlands

EVANSTON, Ill. - Forgive University of Iowa's Tony Ramos for a sense of deja vu. See, he's experienced this already, but this time he plans for it to end differently.

The Hawkeyes' top-seeded 133-pounder reached the semifinals of the Midlands Championships for the second straight year, beating a familiar foe to face another one. Ramos scored a 5-3 decision over teammate Tyler Clark Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the Northwestern's 49th Ken Kraft Midlands Championships at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Ramos is one of five semifinalists for the top-ranked Hawkeyes, who were in first place with 79 1/2 points leading host Northwestern by 8 1/2 after day one.

Last year, Ramos reached the semifinals with a two-point victory over Clark only to lose his final three matches, including the fifth-place bout to Clark, to finish sixth. He will face fourth-seed B.J. Futrell, who beat Ramos in the semis last year.

“This time I have to reverse the wrongs,” said Ramos, who beat Futrell by major decision in December. “Last year I lost to Futrell. I have to go out and wrestle like I did in the duals.”

Ramos scored a takedown in the second and third periods, surrendering only escapes to Clark, who has battled for the starting spot. He has taken steps to avoid repeating last year's result.

“I think I'm the best in the country,” Ramos said. “If I don't think that, there's a guy in the room that is going to be in that spot.”

Ramos opened strong with two technical falls, but was upset about his quarterfinal showing. He said it will have to be better Saturday.

“I've got to pick it up,” Ramos said. “I have to get to another level.”

Iowa's other top-seed, Montell Marion, is pleased with being a semifinalist, but he would prefer to be more dominant.

“I'm happy about it,” Marion said. “My method of getting there is not what I want it to be. I need to open up my offense more and pick up my pace a lot more.

“If I do that, I'll start blowing my leads open and starting blowing the score wide open. That will make me happy.”

Marion advanced with a 6-1 quarterfinal win over Utah Valley's Avery Garner. He opened with a 43 second pin after surrendering the opening takedown and then reached the quarterfinals with a decision. The key is advancing, even if not at your best.

“The priority here is winning,” said Marion, who wrestles Princeton's 12th-seed Adam Krop. “I'll take a win. There is a certain way I have to win, and today it was just not how I choose to wrestle. It's not my style.”

Reaching that level isn't easy in the grind of the Midlands, but Marion said you have to find a way.

“It's not a cakewalk,” Marion said. “It's not a flip of the switch. You have to will yourself to do it.”

Second-seeded Matt McDonough sandwiched a decision between a pin and a 13-4 major decision over Eastern Michigan's Jared Germaine to reach the 125-pound semifinals. McDonough, however, won't get to avenge his only loss this season as Jarrod Garnett of Virginia Tech pinned Illinois' top-seeded Jesse Delgado in 6:35 of a quarterfinal.

Ethen Lofthouse (174) and heavyweight Bobby Telford also advanced to the semifinals.

Iowa State has two semifinalists. Fourth-seeded Andrew Sorenson advanced with a 6-3 win over Clarion's Bekzod Abdurarakhmonov at 165, but it was unseeded Luke Goettl who stole the show for the Cyclones.

Goettl scored an impressive upset over Penn's second-ranked and second-seeded Zack Kemmerer, a returning All-American, to reach the quarterfinals. He then pinned No. 10 seed Billy Ashnault of Rutgers to make the 141-pound semifinals.

“I don't think Luke has wrestled to his full potential, yet,” Iowa State Coach Kevin Jackson said after the quarterfinals. “I think he's capable of more than what he showed out there. It definitely was a big win for him and us.”

The Cyclones and Virginia Tech were tied for seventh with 43 1/2 points.

University of Northern Iowa's Ryan Loder was the Panthers' lone semifinalist. The second-seeded sophomore dominated his opponents, beating Virginia Tech's John Dickson 14-2 in the quarterfinals. Loder added a pin and major decision in the first day.

The Midlands was a breakout tournament for Loder last year, placing fifth and starting a winning stretch that lead to the NCAA tournament. UNI Coach Doug Schwab has seen an improved wrestler, who is displaying much more confidence than a year ago.

“I thought he's looked pretty strong,” Schwab said. “I think he's really picked up his offense the last two matches.”

UNI is 16th with 27 1/2 points.

Wartburg's fifth-seeded 197-pounder Byron Tate advanced to the semifinals for the second straight year. The two-time NCAA Division III champion was a Midlands runner-up last year, and took a step closer to the finals with a 7-6 win over Maryland's fourth-seeded Christian Boley. He will face top-seeded Chris Honeycutt of Edinboro.

Tate's former Wartburg teammate, John Helgerson, earned a No. 4 seed wrestling unattached. He placed fifth last year and reached the semifinals at heavyweight with a 3-2 win over Maryland's Spencer Myers.

Here are complete results after the first full day of competition.

Session II Final Bracket