ISU in First Heading Into Final Midlands Session

EVANSTON, Ill. ? It could come down to two matches, Iowa State versus Iowa in the finals of Tuesday's Midlands Championships in Welsh-Ryan Arena. Heading into the meet's final session, Iowa State was in first place with 149.5 points. Iowa is second with 138.5. Both teams have five wrestlers in championship competition and three competitors in wrestle-backs.

The Cyclone-Hawk championship showdowns are at 133 pounds and 165 pounds. At 133 pounds, the No. 2-seed Nick Fanthorpe of Iowa State will take on No. 4-seed Daniel Dennis of Iowa. At 165 pounds, No. 4-seed Jon Reader faces the No. 3-seed, Ryan Morningstar of Iowa.

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The ISU surge followed a strong session three performance by the Cyclones that was capped when Iowa State heavyweight David Zabriskie, out-weighed by more than 20 pounds, took down Iowa big man Dan Ereckson in the final minute of their consolation match at heavyweight. It was Zabriskie's second win over the Hawkeye this season.

“We had a good round,” Iowa State head coach Cael Sanderson said. “I think it will be determined tonight in large part on those head-to-head matches. Having Dave (Zabriskie) and Nick Gallick wrestle all the way back through the consolation rounds was huge for us.”

ISU's No. 1-ranked Jake Varner advanced to the finals receiving a medical forfeit in his semifinal. Varner has tallied three first period-pins in the tournament. He will face Dallas Herbst of Wisconsin in tonight's session in the 197-pound final. Varner beat Herbst 4-0 Nov. 21 in Madison.

Cyler Sanderson, the Cyclone 157-pounder, advanced to the Midlands finals for the first time with a semifinal victory over No. 3-seed Michael Chandler of Missouri, 9-5. Sanderson had edged Chandler in the Big 12 Championships, 6-5 last season. Sanderson faces former Iowa State wrestler and assistant coach Chris Bono in the 157-pound final. Bono is wrestling for the Chattanooga Takedown Club.

The 125-pound matchup for ISU's Tyler Clark is an exciting one. The Cyclone 125-pounder will face Northwestern's Brandon Precin, the No. 2-seed, in the finals. The sophomore beat Jay Ivanco of Clarion, 10-4 to advance to the final.

An Iowa State intrasquad match occurred in the consolation rounds between the third-seeded Gallick and redshirt freshman Dalton Jensen. Gallick and Jensen met in the finals of the Harold Nichols Cyclone Open, with Gallick edging Jensen 5-2. The familiar teammates pushed each other once again and Gallick was the victorious Cyclone Tuesday, decisioning Jensen 4-1. Gallick and Jensen will wrestle again tonight, for third and fifth, respectively.

ISU redshirt freshman Jerome Ward will face true freshman Jordan Blanton of Illinois for fifth place at 184 pounds.

ISU's Kyle Simonson made the most of his first Midlands Championships trip by placing eighth. The redshirt freshman was a non-scoring team member for the tournament but made the semifinals, fueled by an upset of No. 7-seed Patrick Bond of Illinois. Simonson finished in eighth-place after he dropped the seventh-place match, losing to Maryland's Hudson Taylor by fall in 1:25.

The Midlands Championships will conclude this evening with the final, third and fifth place matches taking place, starting at 7:20 p.m. The Big Ten Network is airing the final session live, beginning at 7 p.m.

Players Mentioned

Tyler Clark

Tyler Clark

Nick Fanthorpe

Nick Fanthorpe

Nick Gallick

Nick Gallick

Dalton Jensen

Dalton Jensen

Cyler Sanderson

Cyler Sanderson

Kyle Simonson

Kyle Simonson

Jake Varner

Jake Varner

Jerome Ward

Jerome Ward

David Zabriskie

David Zabriskie

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