Thursday, December 29
Evanston, Ill.
10:30:00 AM
Lehigh University
at
Midlands Championships
Hamlin, Kennedy reach semis to lead Lehigh on day one at Midlands
12/30/2011 3:56:00 AM | Men's Wrestling
EVANSTON, Ill. – Junior Robert Hamlin and senior Joe Kennedy reached Friday's semifinals to lead Lehigh on day one of the 49th Ken Kraft Midlands Championships Thursday at Welsh Ryan Arena. The Mountain Hawks sit in sixth place in the team standings as four other Lehigh wrestlers will compete for a spot in the top eight on Friday.
Lehigh placed four wrestlers in Thursday night's quarterfinal round and Mountain Hawk grapplers went 2-2 in those bouts. Five others tried to work their way back through the consolation bracket with freshman Mason Beckman and sophomore Steve Dutton advancing to Friday's placement round of 12.
Hamlin, the No.1 seed and top-ranked wrestler in the nation at 184 went 3-0 with a pair of major decisions to advance to the Midlands semifinals for the second straight year. A 16-8 major over Iowa's Vinnie Wagner earns Hamlin a semifinal matchup with the No. 5 seed Braden Atwood of Purdue, who he defeated 13-7 November 26 at the Northeast Duals.Kennedy, seeded second at 197, also defeated an Iowa wrestler in the quarterfinals, using a third period takedown to down Grant Gambrall 4-1. Kennedy opened the tournament with a major decision win over Marty Smith of Illinois and needed sudden victory to dispose of John Schoen of Northwestern. In the semifinals, Kennedy will face EIWA rival Micah Burak of Penn. Kennedy has won the last two meetings over Burak including a 6-2 win December 4 at the Palestra.
One of the biggest surprises for Lehigh on the day was the performance of junior Shane Welsh, who reached the quarterfinals at 149. The No. 12 seed, Welsh opened with a pin and then upset No. 5 seed Cole Schmitt of Wisconsin 4-2 in the tiebreakers to reach the quarters, where he dropped a 6-3 decision to Nick Lester of Oklahoma. Welsh can earn a spot in the top eight with a win over Kaleb Friedley of Northwestern on Friday.The Mountain Hawks' fourth quarterfinalist, senior Brandon Hatchett defaulted out of his quarterfinal against Peter Yates of Virginia Tech with an injury. Hatchett won his first two matches by major and regular decision respectively.
Beckman, in his first action up at 133, bounced back from a major decision loss to Devin Carter of Virginia Tech with consolation wins over Zach Horan of Central Michigan and Geoffrey Alexander of Maryland. He will wrestle No. 9 seed Tyler Clark of Iowa Friday with the winner earning a spot in the top eight.
In his first action since suffering a concussion November 20, Dutton also bounced back from a round of 16 loss. The No. 4 seed at 141, Dutton was upset by Brandon Nelson of Purdue 4-2, but bounced back with two wins, including a 7-3 decision over EIWA rival Matt Mariacher of American. On Friday, Dutton will open with No. 11 seed Bebeto Yewah of Wisconsin-Lacrosse.
Freshman Anthony Salupo and senior Kadeem Samuels both finished one win shy of the round of 12 at 149 and 197 respectively. Salupo opened with two wins, before falling to top seed Mario Mason of Rutgers. After winning his first consolation bout, he was eliminated by Penn's Steve Robertson in a 10-4 decision. Samuels, a place winner at 184 a year ago, dropped his opening round bout before reeling off three straight consolation wins. He was finally eliminated by Oklahoma's Keldrick Hall by a 7-6 score.
Lehigh's third entrant at 149, senior Kyle Rosser, opened with a major decision, but a pair of losses to Big Ten opponents left him eliminated with a 1-2 record.
Senior Brian Tanen and junior Kevin Bailey also competed for the Mountain Hawks on Thursday. Tanen went 0-2 at 157, while Bailey dropped his season-opening bout 10-8 to Bryce Hammond of Cal State Bakersfield and then defaulted with an injury.
Junior Joey Napoli competed unattached at 157 while deferring his eligibility. Napoli bounced back from a first round loss by winning three straight bouts, but was eliminated in the fourth round of consolations by Steve Monk of North Dakota State.
Iowa leads the team race with 79.5 points, with five semifinalists and five others alive in the consolations. Host Northwestern is in second place with 71 points, followed by Oklahoma (69), Edinboro (56), Illinois (47.5) and then Lehigh in sixth (47).
The 49th Midlands Championships conclude Friday from Northwestern's Welsh-Ryan Arena. Session three, with the championship semifinals and consolations begins at noon CT while session four featuring the championship finals will begin at 7 p.m.
133 – Mason Beckman
Rd. of 32: dec. Christian Cullinan (Central Michigan) 4-3
Rd. of 16: L by major dec. Devin Carter (Virginia Tech) 17-7
3rd round consolation: dec. Zach Horan (Central Michigan) 3-2
4th round consolation: dec. Geoffrey Alexander (Maryland) 6-4
Rd. of 12: vs. Tyler Clark (Iowa)
141 – No. 4 Steve Dutton
Rd. of 32: major dec. Andrew Schutt (Buffalo) 10-2
Rd. of 16: L by dec. Brandon Nelson (Purdue) 4-2
3rd round consolation: dec. Scott Mattingly (Central Michigan) 10-4
4th round consolation: dec. Matt Mariacher (American) 7-3
Rd. of 12 vs. Bebeto Yewah (UW-Lacrosse)
149 – Anthony Salupo (Eliminated)
Rd. of 64: dec. Josh Hensley (Adams St.) 9-6
Rd. of 32: Fall Aaron Heidersheid (UW-Parkside) 2:50
Rd. of 16: L by dec. Mario Mason (Rutgers) 10-3
3rd round consolation: dec. Matt Smith (Northern Illinois) 9-4
4th round consolation: L by dec. Steve Robertson (Penn) 10-4
149 – No. 12 Shane Welsh
Rd. of 32: Fall Steve Dewitt (Harper) 2:21
Rd. of 16: dec. Cole Schmitt (Wisconsin) 4-2, t.b.
Quarterfinals: L by dec. Nick Lester (Oklahoma) 6-3
Rd. of 12: vs. Kaleb Friedley (Northwestern)
149 – Kyle Rosser (Eliminated)
Rd. of 32: major dec. Mark Erickson (NDSU) 11-1
Rd. of 16: L by major dec. Eric Terrazas (Illinois) 10-0
3rd round consolation: L by Fall Kaleb Friedley (Northwestern) 2:01
157 – No. 9 Joey Napoli (unattached) (Eliminated)
Rd. of 64: L by dec. Ramon Santiago (Rider) 5-3
1st round consolation: Fall Joe Brewster (South Dakota State) 2:18
2nd round consolation: tech fall Napoleon Anciete (Utah Valley) 19-1, 4:40
3rd round consolation: dec. Nick Flynn (South Dakota State) 4-0
4th round consolation: L by tech fall Steve Monk (North Dakota State) 15-0, 5:00
157 – Brian Tanen (Eliminated)
Rd. of 64: L by dec. Shawn Perry (Wisconsin) 7-2
1st round consolation: L by major dec. Luke Smith (Central Michigan) 11-2
165 – No. 3 Brandon Hatchett
Rd. of 32: major dec. Matt Mougin (No. Illinois) 12-1
Rd. of 16: dec. Pierce Harger (Northwestern) 8-3
Quarterfinals: L by injury default Peter Yates (Virginia Tech)
Rd. of 12: vs. Ben Jordan (Wisconsin)
174 – Kevin Bailey (Eliminated)
Rd. of 32: L by dec. Bryce Hammond (CSU-Bakersfield) 10-8
2nd round consolation: medical forfeit
184 – No. 1 Robert Hamlin
Rd. of 32: major dec. Dan Santoro (Princeton) 12-4
Rd. of 16: dec. Joe Rau (Elmhurst) 11-5
Quarterfinals: major dec. Vinnie Wagner (Iowa) 16-8
Semifinals: vs. Braden Atwood (Purdue)
197 – Kadeem Samuels (Eliminated)
Rd. of 32: L by dec. Alex Thomas (Clarion) 7-4
1st round consolation: dec. AC Brown (CSU-Bakersfield) 9-3
2nd round consolation: major dec. John Gusewelle (NDSU) 14-4
3rd round consolation: dec. Jackson Hein (Wisconsin) 6-5
4th round consolation: L by dec. Keldrick Hall (Oklahoma) 7-6
197 – No. 2 Joe Kennedy
Rd. of 32: major dec. Marty Smith (Illinois) 12-2
Rd. of 16: dec. John Schoen (Northwestern) 3-1, s.v.
Quarterfinals: dec. Grant Gambrall (Iowa) 4-1
Semifinals: vs. Micah Burak (Penn)
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