Midlands day one

Midlands Day One Results

Hoffman Estates, Ill.- Day one of the 55th Midlands is in the books, and Wisconsin wrestling has five of the 16 UW wrestlers still in contention to place. The Badgers are currently in 14th place out of 59 participating programs, finishing with 27 team points at the conclusion of the tournament's first half.

Senior Andrew Crone was the lone Badger to be in the championship bracket before he fell to seventh-ranked Joshua Shields of Arizona State by a 3-1 decision. Going 3-1 on the day, he will need a victory over Hunter Willits of Oregon State to guarantee himself a place on the podium.

Of the four matches Jens Lantz competed in today, all were decided by three points or less, with three of them being decided by a point awarded in the final seconds. Going 3-1 on the first day, the Ellsworth native will be seeking a win over Korbin Myers of Edinboro to clinch a placement.

Freshman Paul Konrath is still alive as he is wrestling unattached at 133 pounds. He fell to Lantz' future opponent Korbin Myers in a 3-1 decision after winning his opening round match, but then went on to win his next two matches, including a 3-2 decision over teammate Michael Cullen. He will be facing Paul Glynn of Iowa in a bid to reach the podium in one of the nation's most difficult tournaments.

Ryan Christensen started out slow, dropping his first match of the day, but won his next three matches to stay alive in the 174-pound consolation bracket. He will be facing Northwestern's Johnny Sebastian in his next matchup, whom defeated Christensen's teammate Jacob Covaciu earlier in the day.

Another Wisconsin wrestler still alive in the bracket is Hunter Ritter in the 197-pound weight class. Like Christensen, he dropped his first match of the day, but went on to win his next three matches, tallying a pin and a tech fall along the way. He will face Jacob Smith of West Virginia in the next round.

Day two of the Midlands Championships is slated to begin at noon (CT) and will continue when the championship matches will take place at 7:05. Live stats will still be available through Trackwrestling, with a live stream available through Flowrestling and BTN2Go. In addition, live updates will continuously be provided for all involving Wisconsin Wrestling through the official Twitter @Badgerwrestling.

University of Wisconsin Athletics

Related News

Players Mentioned

Ryan Christensen

Jacob Covaciu

Andrew Crone

Michael Cullen

Paul Konrath

Jens Lantz

Hunter Ritter

Related Videos