Moline's Musings

Midlands Field Strong As Usual

Posted by: Brian Moline

Monday, December 22, 2008 8:37 AM

The next challenge for the Illinois wrestling team is the Midlands Wrestling Championships at Northwestern on December 29 and 30.  There are 31 college and university teams competing in the event, plus a number of wrestlers that will compete wrestling with clubs or unattached. 

Northwestern calls this year's field the best in the 46 year history of the event, and it's tough to argue with that assessment.  Three of the top five teams in the country (Iowa, Iowa State, Missouri) will be competing, along with seven of the 11 Big Ten teams (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan State, Northwestern, Purdue, Wisconsin).  Other ranked teams in this year's field are Central Michigan (12th), Old Dominion (21st), Pennsylvania (22nd) and Pittsburgh (24th).

Illinois should be close to full strength for Midlands.  John Dergo wrestled for the first time on December 13 against Findlay and McKendree, and by all accounts was very sharp.  Mark Johnson indicated that Mike Poeta will likely not wrestle at Midlands, but should be back in January, likely for dual meets against West Virginia and Pittsburgh on January 9 and 10.  Troy Tirapelle's status for next week is also still uncertain, after he aggrevated a shoulder injury in Las Vegas.  Tirapelle did not wrestle against Findlay or McKendree at Huff on 12/13.

We'll probably see updated rankings released tomorrow, but don't expect much to change, as most teams didn't compete last week because of finals.

I don't think there will be much wrestling to blog about before Midlands, so this is likely my last entry until then.  Have a great Christmas, and I'll talk to you again soon.

bmoline@wdws.com

Comments

Be the first to share your opinion!