Three Hawkeyes earn top-seeds for Midlands

Three University of Iowa wrestlers were listed as top seeds for the 49th Midlands Championships hosted by Northwestern University on Dec. 29-30 at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Tony Ramos (133), 141-pounder Montell Marion and Derek St. John at 157 were No. 1 seeds, while Matt McDonough was seeded second to Jesse Delgado of Illinois at 125.

Nine Hawkeyes earned top-eight seeds and two others were listed as top contenders at their respective weight classes.

Two things that stand out are the fact that Marion is listed. The two-time All-American and 2010 finalist received a lot of attention after being arrested for driving while barred Friday. No official word has been released by Iowa on his status, which could be good news for Hawkeye fans. Marion is ranked first at 141. St. John earned the No. 1 seed, but suffered a knee injury in a dual meet against University of Northern Iowa's David Bonin.

Bonin is listed as a "contender" at 157, while UNI's Ryan Loder is the No. 2 seed at 184 behind only Lehigh's Robert Hamlin.

Iowa State's Chris Spangler, who was named Big 12 Wrestler of the Week on Monday for a win over No. 3 Dorian Henderson of Missouri, is seeded second at 174. Andrew Sorenson (165) and Boaz Beard (184) are seeded fourth and 125-pounder Ryak Finch is fifth for the Cyclones.

Wartburg's Byron Tate, who participated in the NWCA All-Star meet in November, is seeded fifth. Tate was a Midlands runner-up last year.

The final brackets won't be determined until Dec. 29.

UNI and Iowa State University will also compete at the elite competition.

Below is the press release form the UI SID:

TOURNAMENT-BEST 11 HAWKEYES NAMED AMONG MIDLANDS TOP COMPETITORS

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Eleven University of Iowa wrestlers are listed among the top contenders at the 49th annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships. The tournament committee announced the top contenders field today. Nine of Iowa's tournament-best 11 top contenders are among the top eight seeds, including No. 1 seeds Tony Ramos (133), Montell Marion (141) and Derek St. John (157).

The Midlands Championships are hosted by Northwestern University Dec. 29-30 inside Welsh-Ryan Arena. Iowa has won 21 team titles at the Midlands Championships, more than any other team in the 48-year history of the event.

Final brackets for the event will be released the morning of Thursday, Dec. 29. A complete list of tournament contenders is as follows:

125:

1. Jesse Delgado, Illinois

2. Matt McDonough, Iowa

3. Jarrod Patterson, Oklahoma

4. Levi Mele, Northwestern

5. Ryak Finch, Iowa State

6. Trent Sprenkle, North Dakota State

7. Joe Roth, Central Michigan

8. Jared Germaine, Eastern Michigan

Other Contenders:

Shane Gentry, Maryland

Garrett Frey, Princeton

Nick Smith, Northern Illinois

Tyler Iwamura, Cal State Bakersfield

133:

1. Tony Ramos, Iowa

2. Devin Carter, Virginia Tech

3. AJ Schopp, Edinboro

4. BJ Futrell, Illinois

5. Cashe' Quiroga, Purdue

6. Brian Ortenzio, Penn

7. Steven Keith, Harvard

8. Ryan Mango, Stanford

Other Contenders:

Tyler Clark, Iowa

Jordan Keller, Oklahoma

Geoffrey Alexander, Maryland

Tom Kelliher, Wisconsin

141:

1. Montell Marion, Iowa

2. Boris Novachkov, Cal Poly

3. Zach Kemmerer, Penn

4. Kendric Maple, Oklahoma

5. Stephen Dutton, Lehigh

6. Matt Mariarcher, American

7. Zach Neibert, Virginia Tech

8. Mitchell Port, Edinboro

Other Contenders:

Frank Goodwin, Maryland

Jimmy Kircher, Rider

Billy Ashnault, Rutgers

Bebeto Yewah, UW Lacrosse

Adam Krop, Princeton

Scott Mattingly, Central Michigan

149:

1. Mario Mason, Rutgers

2. Jake Patacsil, Notre Dame WC

3. Eric Terrazas, Illinois

4. Ivan Lopouchanski, Purdue

5. Nick Lester, Oklahoma

6. David Habat, Edinboro

7. Cole Schmitt, Wisconsin

8. Josh Wilson, Utah Valley

Other Contenders:

Derek Valenti, Virginia (Unattached)

Stephen Robertson, Penn

Kaleb Friedley, Northwestern

Kevin Tao, American

Zac Cibula, Rider

157:

1. Derek St. John, Iowa

2. Jason Welch, Northwestern

3. Ganbayar Sanjaa, American

4. James Fleming, Clarion

5. Matt Lester, Oklahoma

6. Steve Monk, North Dakota State

7. Kyle John, Maryland

8. Donnie Corby, Central Michigan

Other Contenders:

Joey Napoli, Lehigh

Aaron Sulzer, Eastern Michigan

David Bonin, Northern Iowa

John Gresheimer, Edinboro

Dillon Bera, Wisconsin Parkside

165:

1. Steve Fittery, DCAC

2. Josh Asper, Maryland

3. Scott Winston, Rutgers

4. Andrew Sorenson, Iowa State

5. Bekzod Abdurakhmanov, Clarion

6. Brandon Hatchett, Lehigh

7. Peter Yates, Virginia Tech

8. Mike Evans, Iowa

Other Contenders:

Luke Manuel, DCAC

Ben Jordan, Wisconsin

Pat Smith, Minnesota (Unattached)

Lester France, Eastern Michigan

174:

1. Ryan DeRoches, Cal Poly

2. Chris Spangler, Iowa State

3. Ethen Lofthouse, Iowa

4. Jordan Blanton, Illinois

5. Greg Zannetti, Rutgers

6. Jim Resnick, Rider

7. Lee Munster, Northwestern

8. Jimmy Sheptock, Maryland

Other Contenders:

John Martin-Cannon, Buffalo

Phillip Joseph, Eastern Michigan

Chase Nelson, Oklahoma

Luke Rynish, Wisconsin Parkside

184:

1. Robert Hamlin, Lehigh

2. Ryan Loder, Northern Iowa

3. Ben Bennett, Central Michigan

4. Boaz Beard, Iowa State

5. Erich Schmidtke, Oklahoma

6. Brad Dieckhaus, Northern Illinois

7. Braden Atwood, Purdue

8. Tony Dallago, Illinois

Other Contenders:

John Dickson, Virginia Tech

Vinny Wagner, Iowa

Cameron Croy, Harvard

197:

1. Chris Honeycutt, Edinboro

2. Joe Kennedy, Lehigh

3. Micah Burak, Penn

4. Christian Boley, Maryland

5. Byron Tate, Wartburg

6. Daniel Mitchell, American

7. Grant Gambrall, Iowa

8. Mario Gonzalez, Illinois

Other Contenders:

Ryan Smith, Cal Poly

Alex Thomas, Clarion

Nick Vetterlein, Virginia Tech

Dan Rinaldi, Rutgers

AJ Kissel, Purdue

285:

1. Ryan Flores, American

2. Jarod Trice, Central Michigan (Unattached)

3. Zach Rey, Lehigh

4. Peter Sturgeon, Central Michigan

5. Bobby Telford, Iowa

6. Spencer Myers, Maryland

7. Ernest James, Edinboro

8. Blake Raising, Iowa

Other Contenders:

John Helgerson, Wartburg WC

Quintas McCorkle, Clarion

Mike McMullan, Northwestern

Atticus Disney, Cal Poly