Update: Rivera upsets Lee at 125, but Iowa handily wins Midlands team title with DeSanto, Marinelli as champions

Top image of Sebastian Rivera of Northwestern, after winning Midlands title, by Mark Lundy, LutteLens


Second Image of Midlands champion Austin DeSanto courtesy of University of Iowa.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. – University of Iowa headed back home with some more hardware to load on the bus.

The Hawkeyes have made this trophy haul plenty of times in the past.

Second-ranked Iowa crowned two champions and won its 28th team title at Northwestern University’s 56th Annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships. Austin DeSanto and Alex Marinelli claimed individual titles, helping Iowa to 184 points, topping runner-up University of Northern Iowa by 64 ½.

UNI, third-place Northwestern, Princeton and Arizona State also had two champions, including the Wildcats’ 125-pounder Sebastian Rivera, who received Champion of Champions honor with an impressive 7-3 victory over Iowa’s NCAA champion and top-ranked Spencer Lee.

The Hawkeyes tallied the fourth-highest point total in tournament history, leading this year’s field with six finalists.

“We have a lot of work to do,” Iowa Coach Tom Brands said. “We’ve got two champions and six in the finals. Two—for-six, we have to do better than that and we maybe have to wake up from the break a little bit in some of those cases.”

Marinelli notched his second straight title and got a little revenge in the process. He posted a 5-3 decision over second-ranked and top-seeded Evan Wick in the 165 final.

“This whole season, I’ve waited a long time for that match,” said Marinelli, who lost by major to Wick in the NCAA consolation semifinals in March. “It killed me to lose so many points at the national tournament to him. That match was marked on my calendar for a long time. I’m happy he wrestled at the Midlands.”

The approach was to attack from his feet. Marinelli executed it well with two takedowns in the opening period, building a 4-1 lead after one.

“He came at me hard, which I like,” Marinelli said. “It was a driving finish. It wasn’t slap at the knee. It wasn’t slap at the leg. It was penetrate, finish (and) drive through him.

Wick had a rideout in the second and received two stall calls, but Marinelli showed progress from March when he gave up nearfall in a major-decision loss. Wick had to work harder to keep Marinelli down compared to the last match.

“Marinelli is a smart wrestler,” Brands said. “He makes adjustments. I can tell you he’s been thinking about that for a long, long time.

“We have to finish the deal on the bottom, but two first-period takedowns means he can score more. … That will really open things up. I like that performance, for sure.”

DeSanto claimed Iowa’s first title, watching as Rivera toppled Lee. He had some added motivation when he took the mat for a 15-5 major decision over Noah Gonser, who is Campbell’s first Midlands medalist.

“It fuels me a little bit,” DeSanto said. “It fuels me because I don’t want that to happen. I don’t want that to happen to me. I don’t want that to happen to him. I don’t want that to happen to anybody on my team. I want that to happen to the other guy.”

DeSanto continued his dominant roll through the bracket. He tallied three takedowns and two nearfall in the first and a pair of takedowns in the third against Gonser. DeSanto finished with a tournament-high 28 ½ team points. He finished his first Midlands title run with two major decisions, a pin, technical fall and won by disqualification in a semifinal over Illinois’ Dylan Duncan.

“I wrestled hard,” DeSanto said. “It’s a fun tournament. My first time here. It’s awesome.”

DeSanto’s victory tried to soothe the sting felt with Rivera’s victory. Lee had defeated Rivera twice – 7-4 and 12-0 – last season. Rivera opened the scoring with a takedown and a 2-1 lead after the first. He was had a feeling things would go his way from the start.

“I’m a confident dude,” Rivera said. “I’m not going to go out there and doubt myself. I felt like 10 seconds in the way he was wrestling, the way he was moving, II was going to beat this dude. There was no doubt in my mind.”

Rivera kept the action on his feet, adding two more takedowns. Rivera jumped Lee’s whizzer and threw in a leg in the waning seconds of the second period for the final one and a 6-2 edge.

Rivera wanted to work in space and was successful.

“He’s very good at getting that inside tie and getting to his offense. I eliminated that by being a left-leg lead this time and not letting him get going.”

“Just darting and disappearing on him. It worked out and finished my shots.”

Rivera was joined by teammate Ryan Deakin, who topped Iowa’s Kaleb Young, 6-2, for the 157 title.

UNI posted its best Midlands performance in program history. The Panthers had four finalists, which is more than any other Midlands.

UNI’s two champions also came at Iowa’s expense. Top-seeded Josh Alber beat No. 2 seed Max Murin, 5-2, at 141. Drew Foster, also a top seed, edged No. 2 Cash Wilcke, 3-2, at 184.

Alber said his title was a source of payback to UNI Coach Doug Schwab and his staff. They helped him mature to the person he is today on and off the mat.

“He’s a great guy,” Alber said. “When I win, it’s like going to him, too. I wouldn’t be here without him. I just owe everything to those guys. It just feels good to be able to give back to them a little bit for all they have given to me.”

Alber was up, 1-0, when Murin escaped to tie it. Alber dropped in and scored a takedown right away for a lead he didn’t surrender, adding another takedown in the final seconds.

“I could feel him get a little overly aggressive on me,” Alber said. “I knew he was reaching hard. I knew I had to fire one of my attacks and it worked out perfect for me.”

Max Thomsen (149) and Taylor Lujan (174) finished second for UNI. Bryce Steiert also reached the podium at 165, helping the Panthers finish ahead of five teams ranked ahead of them nationally.

“These guys really starting to believe in themselves and have the confidence that they are the best guys,” Schwab said. “We’ve been telling them. I know they are some of the best guys in the country, if not the best guys in the country. Now, they’re proving it when the lights are shining. You’ve got to shine brightest on the biggest stages and they’re doing a good job of that.”

Matthew Kolodzik (149) and 197-pounder Pat Brucki held their No. 1 seeds and won titles for Princeton. Kolodzik notched the lone takedown to beat Thomsen, 3-1. Brucki handled unattached South Dakota State freshman Tanner Sloan, 13-4. Princeton was fifth in the team standings.

Sloan became the first true freshman to reach the Midlands finals since Kolodzik and Lehigh’s Jordan Wood did it in 2016.

Arizona State NCAA champ Zahid Valencia took the 174-pound title, beating eighth-ranked Lujan, 17-7, in the final. Valencia recorded three majors and two pins en route to the championship. His teammate, heavyweight Tanner Hall, was also an individual champion, and the Sun Devils were sixth in the team standings.

Wisconsin was fourth, with no individual champions but seven placewinners.

MIDLANDS CHAMPIONSHIPS

At Hoffman Estates, Ill.

125 pounds
1st - Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) won by decision over Spencer Lee (Iowa) Dec 7-3
3rd - Pat Glory (Princeton) won by major decision over Connor Brown (Wisconsin) Maj 14-5
5th - Travis Piotrowski (Illinois) won by medical forfeit over Justin Cardani (Illinois - UNAT) MFF
7th - Kyle Biscolglia (Northern Iowa - UNAT) won by decision over Elijah Oliver (Indiana) Dec 3-1

133 pounds
1st - Austin DeSanto (Iowa) won by major decision over Noah Gonser (Campbell) Maj 15-5
3rd - Zachary Sherman (North Carolina - UNAT) won by decision over Josiah Kline (Arizona State) Dec 7-3
5th - Paul Glynn (Iowa) won by medical forfeit over Dylan Duncan (Illinois) MFF
7th - Colin Valdivez (Northwestern) won by decision over Jens Lantz (Wisconsin) Dec 1-0

141 pounds
1st - Josh Alber (Northern Iowa) won by decision over Max Murin (Iowa) Dec 5-2
3rd - Yahya Thomas (Northwestern) won by decision over Michael Blockhus (Northern Iowa - UNAT) Dec 8-1
5th- Joey Gould (Bucknell) won by major decision over Corey Shie (Army West Point) Maj 13-5
7th - Tristan Moran (Wisconsin) won by major decision over Ben Freeman (Michigan) Maj 11-2

149 pounds
1st - Matthew Kolodzik (Princeton) won by decision over Max Thomsen (Northern Iowa) Dec 3-1
3rd - Sammy Sasso (Ohio State - UNAT) won in sudden victory - 1 over Pat Lugo (Iowa) SV-1 6-4
5th - Jacori Teemer (Arizona State - UNAT) won by medical forfeit over Alec Pantaleo (Michigan) MFF
7th - Khristian Olivas (Fresno State) won by fall over Henry Pohlmeyer (South Dakota State) Fall 4:12

157 pounds
1st - Ryan Deakin (Northwestern) won by decision over Kaleb Young (Iowa) Dec 6-2
3rd - Zach Hartman (Bucknell) won by decision over Jeren Glosser (Iowa) Dec 8-3
5th - Eric Barone (Illinois) won by decision over Mike D`Angelo (Unattached) Dec 6-2
7th - Logan Parks (Central Michigan) won by medical forfeit over John Vanbrill (Rutgers - UNAT) MFF

165 pounds
1st - Alex Marinelli (Iowa) won by decision over Evan Wick (Wisconsin) Dec 4-3
3rd - Joshua Shields (Arizona State) won by decision over Bryce Steiert (Northern Iowa) Dec 3-2
5th - Jonathan Viruet (Brown) won by decision over Caden McWhirter (Northern Illinois) Dec 5-0
7th - Joseph Gunther (Illinois) won by decision over Jacen Petersen (Arizona State) Dec 6-5

174 pounds
1st - Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) won by major decision over Taylor Lujan (Northern Iowa) Maj 17-7
3rd - Brit Wilson (Northern Illinois) won by decision over Andrew Morgan (Campbell) Dec 11-5
5th - Willie Scott (Rutgers) won by medical forfeit over Ryan Christensen (Wisconsin) MFF
7th - Jairod James (Mount Union) won by medical forfeit over Ben Harvey (Army West Point) MFF

184 pounds
1st - Drew Foster (Northern Iowa) won by decision over Cash Wilcke (Iowa) Dec 3-2
3rd - Mason Reinhardt (Wisconsin) won by decision over Jackson Hemauer (Fresno State) Dec 4-1
5th - Gavin Hoffman (Ohio State - UNAT) won by decision over Christian LaFragola (Brown) Dec 4-3
7th - Trevor Allard (Bloomsburg) won by decision over Thomas Penola (Purdue) Dec 6-3

197 pounds
1st - Patrick Brucki (Princeton) won by major decision over Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State - UNAT) Maj 13-4
3rd - Lucas Davison (Northwestern - UNAT) won by decision over Rocco Caywood (Army West Point) Dec 6-4
5th - Jacob Warner (Iowa) won by medical forfeit over Thomas Lane (Cal Poly) MFF
7th - Josh Hokit (Fresno State) won by fall over Brett Perry (Buffalo) Fall 6:28

285 pounds
1st - Tanner Hall (Arizona State - UNAT) won by decision over Conan Jennings (Northwestern) Dec 4-3
3rd - Matt Stencel (Central Michigan) won by decision over Aj Nevills (Fresno State) Dec 10-5
5th - Mason Parris (Michigan - UNAT) won by medical forfeit over Jere Heino (Campbell - UNAT) MFF
7th - Tony Cassioppi (Iowa - UNAT) won by forfeit over Trent Hillger (Wisconsin) FF

Team Standings
1 Iowa 184.0
2 Northern Iowa 119.5
3 Northwestern 110.0
4 Wisconsin 97.5
5 Princeton 92.5
6 Arizona State 83.0
7 Fresno State 69.5
8 Army West Point 68.0
9 Illinois 65.0
10 Campbell 57.5
11 Central Michigan 56.5
12 Northern Illinois 53.5
13 Arizona State - UNAT 46.0
14 Brown 38.0
15 Bucknell 38.0
16 Ohio State - UNAT 33.0
17 North Carolina - UNAT 31.5
18 Northern Iowa - UNAT 29.0
19 Maryland 28.5
20 Penn 28.0
21 Rutgers 27.5
22 Purdue 24.5
23 Michigan - UNAT 24.0
24 Campbell - UNAT 23.0
25 South Dakota State 23.0
26 South Dakota State - UNAT 22.0
27 Michigan 21.5
28 Northwestern - UNAT 21.5
29 Cal Poly 18.0
30 Illinois - UNAT 17.0
Of 67 teams/clubs/unattached teams