Midlands 54: Follow the action live

Thursday, December 29

Evanston, IL

All Day

Wisconsin Badgers

Midlands

Midlands 54: Follow the action live

December 29, 2016 | Wrestling

Sixteen Badgers competing against elite competition in Evanston

EVANSTON, Ill. -- The Wisconsin wrestling team (3-0) is looking to carry the momentum from the first half of the season and carry it into the last tournament of the regular season at the 54th annual Midlands Championships in Evanston, Illinois.

The 54th annual Midlands Championships will take place on Dec. 29-30. Weigh-ins start at 7:30 a.m. on Dec. 29 and at 11 a.m. on Dec. 30. The first session begins at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday and the second session begins at 7 p.m. On Friday, the third session (semifinals, 7th-place matches, consolation rounds) starts at noon and the tournament concludes with the final session (1st, 3rd, 5th-place matches) at 8 p.m.

The prestigious Midlands tournament will welcome 71 ranked wrestlers and 38 top-10 wrestlers.

Wisconsin will travel Jens Lantz (125), Michael Cullen (125), Eli Stickley (133), Cole Martin (141), Andrew Crone (149), TJ Ruschell (157), Ryan Christensen (174), Hunter Ritter (184), Ricky Robertson (197), Mason Reinhardt (197) and Connor Medbery (HWT). Johnny Jimenez, Evan Wick and Zander Wick will all be wrestling unattached for UW.

Wisconsin has crowned a total of 18 Midlands champions in the history of the program. Timmy McCall had the best placing in the last two years, taking second place in 2014. That same year, Connor Medbery and Ryan Taylor both placed third.

MIDLANDS
Date	Dec. 29-30 \| ALL DAY
Location	Welsh-Ryan Arena \| Evanston
Mobile App	Badger Gameday
Live Stats	TrackWrestling
Brackets	All Brackets
Watch Live	BTN2Go
Social Media	@BadgerWrestling \| Facebook
Match Notes	Wisconsin
Tournament	Midlands

STRAIGHT FROM THE MAT

BACK-TO-BACK: Wisconsin ended the first half of its season in the best possible way, picking up back-to-back dual wins over Indiana and Northern Iowa for the Badgers' first Big Ten win of the season and first home victory of the year.
STONE COLE WRESTLER: Cole Martin has earned his place in the 141-pound starting spot after taking third place at the Cliff Keen Invite with a stellar 7-1 record and compiling a 14-4 overall record and 2-1 dual record.
TRICKY RICKY: Junior Ricky Robertson is on a roll, compiling a 14-5 record and a 3-0 dual record.
CROWNS FOR DAYS: UW has crowned at least one champion in every single tournament they have participated in this season.
BIG WINNINGS IN VEGAS: The Badgers had a historic weekend, clinching their best-ever finish at the Cliff Keen Invitational, finishing second with 113.5 points. They were just five points behind first-place Ohio State. Wisconsin crowned one champion in Connor Medbery while six others earned spots at the podium.