True freshmen Lee, Warner steal show on first day of Ken Kraft Midlands Championships
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by Richard Immel, USA Wrestling
Photo: Iowa true freshman Jacob Warner celebrates a last-second victory over No. 2 seed Jacob Smith of West Virginia at 197 pounds. Photo by Richard Immel.
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. – On a relatively calm opening day at the 55th annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships, a pair of true freshman teammates stole a large majority of the attention, and deservedly so.
Iowa newcomers Spencer Lee and Jacob Warner, both of whom are competing unattached at Sears Centre Arena this weekend, defeated No. 2 seeds to qualify for tomorrow afternoon’s semifinal round.
In the 125-pound quarterfinals, Lee worked his top game to near perfection on his way to a 15-0 route of returning All-American Sean Russell of Edinboro. In his other two bouts Lee was just as dominant, winning by fall in 1:20 and by technical fall, 17-2. He takes on Oregon State’s Ronnie Bresser for a spot in the championship match.
While not as dominant on the scoreboard as his Hawkeye counterpart, Warner looked every bit the part of a championship contender on his way to the 197-pound semifinals, where he will face fellow Hawkeye Cash Wilke. Warner capped off his day with a last-second takedown to edge West Virginia’s Jacob Smith, 3-1.
Both Lee and Warner have earned medals for the United States on the World stage. Lee was a Cadet World champion in 2014 and won back-to-back Junior World titles in 2015 and 2016. Warner picked up Cadet World bronze in 2016.
The Hawkeye starting squad finds itself in first place overall, 16 points ahead of Arizona State, with five semifinalists. Top seeds Brandon Sorensen and Michael Kemerer spearheaded the Iowa run on day one with five falls, one technical fall and one major decision between them. In fact, Kemerer owns four wins by fall with a total time wrestled of 9:54.
All 10 No. 1 seeds navigated to the semifinals including NCAA finalist Seth Gross of South Dakota State, post-graduate two-time All-American Nate Jackson of Princeton WC, and the returning Arizona State All-American duo of Zahid Valencia and Tanner Hall.
Action resumes from Hoffman Estates at Noon (CT) on Sunday with the semifinals and remaining consolation rounds. The championship finals are slated for 7 p.m. (CT).
The 55th annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships are being live streamed online by Flowrestling and BTN2GO. Complete brackets and match-by-match results can be found at Trackwrestling.com.
55TH ANNUAL KEN KRAFT MIDLANDS CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Hoffman Estates, Ill., December 29-30
Team Standings
1. Iowa 91
2. Arizona State 75
3. Rutgers 74
4. South Dakota State 64
5. Central Michigan 61
6. Northwestern 49
7. Princeton 45.5
8. Purdue 44
9. Illinois 41.5
10. Iowa-Unattached 36
Semifinal Matchups
125 pounds
No. 1 Nick Suriano (Rutgers) vs. No. 5 Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern)
No. 3 Ronnie Bresser (Oregon State) vs. No. 10 Spencer Lee (Iowa)
133 pounds
No. 1 Seth Gross (South Dakota State) vs. No. 4 Dylan Duncan (Illinois)
No. 6 Bryan Lantry (Buffalo) vs. No. 2 Scott Delvecchio (Rutgers)
141 pounds
No. 1 Mason Smith (Central Michigan) vs. No. 4 Tyler Smith (Bucknell)
No. 3 Cole Weaver (Indiana) vs. Nate Limmex (Purdue)
149 pounds
No. 1 Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) vs. No. 5 Jason Tsirtsis (Arizona State)
No. 3 Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton) vs. No. 2 Justin Oliver (Central Michigan)
157 pounds
No. 1 Michael Kemerer (Iowa) vs. No. 5 Justin Staudenmayer (Brown)
No. 3 Luke Zilverberg (South Dakota State) vs. No. 2 Joshua Shields (Arizona State)
165 pounds
No. 1 Anthony Valencia (Arizona State) vs. No. 5 Jon Schleifer (Princeton)
No. 3 Richie Lewis (Rutgers) vs. No. 2 Alex Marinelli (Iowa)
174 pounds
No. 1 Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) vs. No. 13 Garrett Sutton (Michigan)
No. 3 David Kocer (South Dakota State) vs. No. 7 Dylan Lydy (Purdue)
184 pounds
No. 1 Nate Jackson (Princeton-Unattached) vs. No. 4 Jordan Ellingwood (Central Michigan)
No. 3 Emery Parker (Illinois) vs. No. 2 Nick Gravina (Rutgers)
197 pounds
No. 1 Nate Rotert (South Dakota State) vs. No. 5 Frank Mattiace (Penn)
No. 3 Cash Wilcke (Iowa) vs. No. 7 Jacob Warner (Iowa-Unattached)
285 pounds
No. 1 Tanner Hall (Arizona State) vs. No. 4 Youssif Hemida (Maryland)
No. 6 Conan Jennings (Northwestern) vs. No. 2 Sam Stoll (Iowa)
Quarterfinal Results
125 pounds
No. 1 Nick Suriano (Rutgers) dec. No. 9 Zeke Moisey (West Virginia), 6-0
No. 5 Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) dec. Devin Schroder (Purdue), 3-1
No. 3 Ronnie Bresser (Oregon State) dec. No. 6 Luke Welch (Purdue), 12-7
No. 10 Spencer Lee (Iowa) tech. fall No. 2 Sean Russell (Edinboro), 15-0
133 pounds
No. 1 Seth Gross (South Dakota State) tech. fall No. 8 Ali Naser (Arizona State), 16-0
No. 4 Dylan Duncan (Illinois) dec. Paul Glynn (Iowa), 6-1
No. 6 Bryan Lantry (Buffalo) dec. No. 3 Korbin Myers (Edinboro), 7-6
No. 2 Scott Delvecchio (Rutgers) dec. No. 7 Micky Phillippi (Pittsburgh-Unattached), 6-2
141 pounds
No. 1 Mason Smith (Central Michigan) maj. dec. No. 8 Colton Schilling (Cal Poly), 11-1
No. 4 Tyler Smith (Bucknell) maj. dec. No. 12 Carter Happel (Iowa), 11-3
No. 3 Cole Weaver (Indiana) dec. No. 6 Yahya Thomas (Northwestern-Unattached), 6-3
Nate Limmex (Purdue) dec. No. 15 Pat D’Arcy (Princeton), 2-1
149 pounds
No. 1 Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) maj. dec. No. 8 Eleazar Deluca (Rutgers), 12-2
No. 5 Jason Tsirtsis (Arizona State) dec. Austin O’Connor (North Carolina-Unattached), 3-2 TB1
No. 3 Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton) dec. No. 6 Ryan Deakin (Northwestern), 7-5
No. 2 Justin Oliver (Central Michigan) dec. No. 7 Joshua Maruca (Arizona State), 8-5
157 pounds
No. 1 Michael Kemerer (Iowa) fall No. 9 Jake Danishek (Indiana), 4:24
No. 5 Justin Staudenmayer (Brown) dec. No. 13 Joseph Velliquette (Penn), 6-1
No. 3 Luke Zilverberg (South Dakota State) dec. No. 11 Mike D’Angelo (Princeton), 5-0
No. 2 Joshua Shields (Arizona State) dec. No. 10 Andrew Crone (Wisconsin), 3-1
165 pounds
No. 1 Anthony Valencia (Arizona State) maj. dec. Jacob Morrissey (Purdue), 18-7
No. 5 Jon Schleifer (Princeton) dec. No. 4 May Bethea (Penn), 10-4
No. 3 Richie Lewis (Rutgers) dec. No. 6 Logan Parks (Central Michigan), 3-1 SV1
No. 2 Alex Marinelli (Iowa) dec. No. 7 Jonathan Viruet (Brown), 3-2
174 pounds
No. 1 Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) maj. dec. No. 9 Josef Johnson (Harvard), 20-7
No. 13 Garrett Sutton (Michigan) dec. No. 5 Christian Brucki (Central Michigan), 8-6
No. 3 David Kocer (South Dakota State) maj. dec. No. 6 Johnny Sebastian (Northwestern), 11-3
No. 7 Dylan Lydy (Purdue) dec. Mikey Labriola (Nebraska-Unattached), 6-4
184 pounds
No. 1 Nate Jackson (Princeton-Unattached) dec. No. 8 Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh-Unattached), 7-4
No. 4 Jordan Ellingwood (Central Michigan) dec. No. 12 Mitch Bowman (Iowa), 6-1 TB1
No. 3 Emery Parker (Illinois) dec. Kayne MacCallum (Eastern Michigan), 8-5
No. 2 Nick Gravina (Rutgers) dec. Dylan Ammerman (Lehigh), 4-2
197 pounds
No. 1 Nate Rotert (South Dakota State) dec. No. 8 Christian Brunner (Purdue), 6-4
No. 5 Frank Mattiace (Penn) fall Kevin Mulligan (Rutgers), 1:46
No. 3 Cash Wilcke (Iowa) dec. No. 11 Pat Brucki (Princeton), 5-2
No. 7 Jacob Warner (Iowa-Unattached) dec. No. 2 Jacob Smith (West Virginia), 3-1
285 pounds
No. 1 Tanner Hall (Arizona State) dec. No. 9 Shawn Streck (Purdue), 3-1 SV1
No. 4 Youssif Hemida (Maryland) dec. No. 5 William Miller (Edinboro), 5-1
No. 6 Conan Jennings (Northwestern) dec. No. 3 Amar Dhesi (Oregon State), 9-2
No. 2 Sam Stoll (Iowa) maj. dec. No. 10 Zack Parker (Ohio), 17-5
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. – On a relatively calm opening day at the 55th annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships, a pair of true freshman teammates stole a large majority of the attention, and deservedly so.
Iowa newcomers Spencer Lee and Jacob Warner, both of whom are competing unattached at Sears Centre Arena this weekend, defeated No. 2 seeds to qualify for tomorrow afternoon’s semifinal round.
In the 125-pound quarterfinals, Lee worked his top game to near perfection on his way to a 15-0 route of returning All-American Sean Russell of Edinboro. In his other two bouts Lee was just as dominant, winning by fall in 1:20 and by technical fall, 17-2. He takes on Oregon State’s Ronnie Bresser for a spot in the championship match.
While not as dominant on the scoreboard as his Hawkeye counterpart, Warner looked every bit the part of a championship contender on his way to the 197-pound semifinals, where he will face fellow Hawkeye Cash Wilke. Warner capped off his day with a last-second takedown to edge West Virginia’s Jacob Smith, 3-1.
Both Lee and Warner have earned medals for the United States on the World stage. Lee was a Cadet World champion in 2014 and won back-to-back Junior World titles in 2015 and 2016. Warner picked up Cadet World bronze in 2016.
The Hawkeye starting squad finds itself in first place overall, 16 points ahead of Arizona State, with five semifinalists. Top seeds Brandon Sorensen and Michael Kemerer spearheaded the Iowa run on day one with five falls, one technical fall and one major decision between them. In fact, Kemerer owns four wins by fall with a total time wrestled of 9:54.
All 10 No. 1 seeds navigated to the semifinals including NCAA finalist Seth Gross of South Dakota State, post-graduate two-time All-American Nate Jackson of Princeton WC, and the returning Arizona State All-American duo of Zahid Valencia and Tanner Hall.
Action resumes from Hoffman Estates at Noon (CT) on Sunday with the semifinals and remaining consolation rounds. The championship finals are slated for 7 p.m. (CT).
The 55th annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships are being live streamed online by Flowrestling and BTN2GO. Complete brackets and match-by-match results can be found at Trackwrestling.com.
55TH ANNUAL KEN KRAFT MIDLANDS CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Hoffman Estates, Ill., December 29-30
Team Standings
1. Iowa 91
2. Arizona State 75
3. Rutgers 74
4. South Dakota State 64
5. Central Michigan 61
6. Northwestern 49
7. Princeton 45.5
8. Purdue 44
9. Illinois 41.5
10. Iowa-Unattached 36
Semifinal Matchups
125 pounds
No. 1 Nick Suriano (Rutgers) vs. No. 5 Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern)
No. 3 Ronnie Bresser (Oregon State) vs. No. 10 Spencer Lee (Iowa)
133 pounds
No. 1 Seth Gross (South Dakota State) vs. No. 4 Dylan Duncan (Illinois)
No. 6 Bryan Lantry (Buffalo) vs. No. 2 Scott Delvecchio (Rutgers)
141 pounds
No. 1 Mason Smith (Central Michigan) vs. No. 4 Tyler Smith (Bucknell)
No. 3 Cole Weaver (Indiana) vs. Nate Limmex (Purdue)
149 pounds
No. 1 Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) vs. No. 5 Jason Tsirtsis (Arizona State)
No. 3 Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton) vs. No. 2 Justin Oliver (Central Michigan)
157 pounds
No. 1 Michael Kemerer (Iowa) vs. No. 5 Justin Staudenmayer (Brown)
No. 3 Luke Zilverberg (South Dakota State) vs. No. 2 Joshua Shields (Arizona State)
165 pounds
No. 1 Anthony Valencia (Arizona State) vs. No. 5 Jon Schleifer (Princeton)
No. 3 Richie Lewis (Rutgers) vs. No. 2 Alex Marinelli (Iowa)
174 pounds
No. 1 Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) vs. No. 13 Garrett Sutton (Michigan)
No. 3 David Kocer (South Dakota State) vs. No. 7 Dylan Lydy (Purdue)
184 pounds
No. 1 Nate Jackson (Princeton-Unattached) vs. No. 4 Jordan Ellingwood (Central Michigan)
No. 3 Emery Parker (Illinois) vs. No. 2 Nick Gravina (Rutgers)
197 pounds
No. 1 Nate Rotert (South Dakota State) vs. No. 5 Frank Mattiace (Penn)
No. 3 Cash Wilcke (Iowa) vs. No. 7 Jacob Warner (Iowa-Unattached)
285 pounds
No. 1 Tanner Hall (Arizona State) vs. No. 4 Youssif Hemida (Maryland)
No. 6 Conan Jennings (Northwestern) vs. No. 2 Sam Stoll (Iowa)
Quarterfinal Results
125 pounds
No. 1 Nick Suriano (Rutgers) dec. No. 9 Zeke Moisey (West Virginia), 6-0
No. 5 Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) dec. Devin Schroder (Purdue), 3-1
No. 3 Ronnie Bresser (Oregon State) dec. No. 6 Luke Welch (Purdue), 12-7
No. 10 Spencer Lee (Iowa) tech. fall No. 2 Sean Russell (Edinboro), 15-0
133 pounds
No. 1 Seth Gross (South Dakota State) tech. fall No. 8 Ali Naser (Arizona State), 16-0
No. 4 Dylan Duncan (Illinois) dec. Paul Glynn (Iowa), 6-1
No. 6 Bryan Lantry (Buffalo) dec. No. 3 Korbin Myers (Edinboro), 7-6
No. 2 Scott Delvecchio (Rutgers) dec. No. 7 Micky Phillippi (Pittsburgh-Unattached), 6-2
141 pounds
No. 1 Mason Smith (Central Michigan) maj. dec. No. 8 Colton Schilling (Cal Poly), 11-1
No. 4 Tyler Smith (Bucknell) maj. dec. No. 12 Carter Happel (Iowa), 11-3
No. 3 Cole Weaver (Indiana) dec. No. 6 Yahya Thomas (Northwestern-Unattached), 6-3
Nate Limmex (Purdue) dec. No. 15 Pat D’Arcy (Princeton), 2-1
149 pounds
No. 1 Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) maj. dec. No. 8 Eleazar Deluca (Rutgers), 12-2
No. 5 Jason Tsirtsis (Arizona State) dec. Austin O’Connor (North Carolina-Unattached), 3-2 TB1
No. 3 Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton) dec. No. 6 Ryan Deakin (Northwestern), 7-5
No. 2 Justin Oliver (Central Michigan) dec. No. 7 Joshua Maruca (Arizona State), 8-5
157 pounds
No. 1 Michael Kemerer (Iowa) fall No. 9 Jake Danishek (Indiana), 4:24
No. 5 Justin Staudenmayer (Brown) dec. No. 13 Joseph Velliquette (Penn), 6-1
No. 3 Luke Zilverberg (South Dakota State) dec. No. 11 Mike D’Angelo (Princeton), 5-0
No. 2 Joshua Shields (Arizona State) dec. No. 10 Andrew Crone (Wisconsin), 3-1
165 pounds
No. 1 Anthony Valencia (Arizona State) maj. dec. Jacob Morrissey (Purdue), 18-7
No. 5 Jon Schleifer (Princeton) dec. No. 4 May Bethea (Penn), 10-4
No. 3 Richie Lewis (Rutgers) dec. No. 6 Logan Parks (Central Michigan), 3-1 SV1
No. 2 Alex Marinelli (Iowa) dec. No. 7 Jonathan Viruet (Brown), 3-2
174 pounds
No. 1 Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) maj. dec. No. 9 Josef Johnson (Harvard), 20-7
No. 13 Garrett Sutton (Michigan) dec. No. 5 Christian Brucki (Central Michigan), 8-6
No. 3 David Kocer (South Dakota State) maj. dec. No. 6 Johnny Sebastian (Northwestern), 11-3
No. 7 Dylan Lydy (Purdue) dec. Mikey Labriola (Nebraska-Unattached), 6-4
184 pounds
No. 1 Nate Jackson (Princeton-Unattached) dec. No. 8 Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh-Unattached), 7-4
No. 4 Jordan Ellingwood (Central Michigan) dec. No. 12 Mitch Bowman (Iowa), 6-1 TB1
No. 3 Emery Parker (Illinois) dec. Kayne MacCallum (Eastern Michigan), 8-5
No. 2 Nick Gravina (Rutgers) dec. Dylan Ammerman (Lehigh), 4-2
197 pounds
No. 1 Nate Rotert (South Dakota State) dec. No. 8 Christian Brunner (Purdue), 6-4
No. 5 Frank Mattiace (Penn) fall Kevin Mulligan (Rutgers), 1:46
No. 3 Cash Wilcke (Iowa) dec. No. 11 Pat Brucki (Princeton), 5-2
No. 7 Jacob Warner (Iowa-Unattached) dec. No. 2 Jacob Smith (West Virginia), 3-1
285 pounds
No. 1 Tanner Hall (Arizona State) dec. No. 9 Shawn Streck (Purdue), 3-1 SV1
No. 4 Youssif Hemida (Maryland) dec. No. 5 William Miller (Edinboro), 5-1
No. 6 Conan Jennings (Northwestern) dec. No. 3 Amar Dhesi (Oregon State), 9-2
No. 2 Sam Stoll (Iowa) maj. dec. No. 10 Zack Parker (Ohio), 17-5
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